Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to Harry Potter.
Summary: Harry finds out that he isn't who he thinks he is and this realization will change the fate of his world forever. DARK Harry, EVIL Dumbledore. Rating may change in later chapters.
New chapter, I hope everyone has enjoyed the first two chapters so far. In this chapter it is Severus' turn to find out that Dumbledore has been using him as a pawn.
Thanks to my reviewers so far. Nuavarion asked me a question about the first two chapters which is addressed at the end of this chapter. I hope my answer clears things up.
Feel free to tell me if I'm spelling things wrong. I will correct them. I don't have a beta but if you guys really think I need one I'll consider taking one on.
Okay on with the story
Severus Snape was making his way through the narrow streets of Diagon Alley. It was getting late and Severus was exhausted. He hated his work as a spy for Albus Dumbledore and the man's precious order. The act of spying brought back too many memories of things Severus was trying to suppress.
He remembered his first years as a death eater, when Ana had still been alive. He had loved that woman with all his soul and it had nearly ruined him to loose her. He yearned for the days when he, Ana, Lucius, and Narcissa would ride into battle as the head of Voldemort's forces. They had been called the Dark Lord's Four Horsemen, not even Dumbledore knew his role as a former general. He may have betrayed the cause that Voldemort fought for but there were some things that were protected in his mind. Things that not even vertaserum or occulemency would have made him reveal.
Then there was the most wonderful year of his life. The year and sixteen days that his son had been in his life. He remembered how Ana would glow when the topic of their child was brought up. They had loved Malachi with all their being and the little child had been spoiled endlessly. If the boy were still alive today he and Draco would have been unstoppable. Who would dare challenge the nobility among pure blood society? The two children were the heirs to Voldemort's legacy after all. Draco would inherit it all one day and Severus would support the boy above all else. He was Draco's godfather after all.
Even after he had turned himself in as an "unwilling" member of Voldemort's forces Severus had still maintained certain ideals. These were the things he locked away in the inaccessible part of his mind. Dumbledore would never know unless he told him personally. With a sigh Severus had looked around his suroundings. It had starting to get dark and the shops owners of the stores had shooed their remaining customers out with gentle patience.
Severus didn't know why he had decided come to the alley today. He had needed to get some rare potion ingredients to replace his stock and he had needed the newest potion book from Flourish and Blots. Other then that he really hadn't had a reason to come. I had to get away from the castle. If Malachi had still been alive the boy would have turned sixteen today. Severus made a quick decision and decided that he would not go back to the castle that evening. He had quickly made his way toward the Leaky Cauldron and approached the bar. Tom waved to him and he had flagged the innkeeper over.
"I need a room for the night Tom. I'm too tired to apparate back to Hogsmead and floo travel does nothing for my head." The innkeeper had nodded in understanding and returned with a key. Severus had taken the offered item eagerly and had ordered dinner to be brought to his room. After he had recieved acknowledgement from Tom that his meal would be sent up he went upstairs. He had found the room easily and let himself in.
He had been pleasantly surprised to find a warm bath waiting for him and a note that informed him to relax and bathe before receiving his meal. He did so and as he was stepping out of the bathe a heated bathrobe had appeared. He had dressed and settled himself at the table where a piping hot plate of wonderful food had suddenly appeared before him. A bottle of chilled red wine had also been sent up and Severus was grateful for the temporary reprieve that good alcohol would offer him from his emotions.
The alcohol did wonders to relax him and he fell asleep early. Shortly after midnight, however, he was awakened by a light tapping on the window of his room. It had taken him a few seconds to realize that the tapping was an owl that wasn't going to leave till it got his attention. With a sigh of aggravation he pushed the blankets away and went to the window. As soon as he opened it a black owl flew hooting frantically. By instinct Severus held out his arm and the owl flew to him. It immediately landed and became silent as Severus reflexively scratched the bird under its beak.
Suddenly he had realized what he was doing and lifted his arm to stare at the bird. Black owls were not common. In fact they were the breed of owls that Voldemort had kept to give as gifts to his followers. Only the inner circle had owls such as these.
"Hermes?" He asked in disbelief. The black owl fluffed its feather and hooted happily. The reaction of the bird caused more confusion in Severus' mind. Hermes was one of a pair of owls that Voldemort had given him when his son had been born. Hermes' brother was Lancelot and was a present to his son. Severus had seen neither owl in fifteen years. Severus was confused and frustrated by the memories that Hermes was bringing back. He looked down to find a letter attached to the owl's leg. He had immediately taken Hermes over to an owl perch by the bed and the bird hopped from his arm to the perch and held out his leg.
Severus removed the letter and turned it over in his hands. There was no address. All the envelope had written on it was his name in delicate script. "Severus Snape" He recognized the handwriting instantly. He would have known Ana's handwriting anywhere. With trembling hands he had opened the letter and stared at the items included within. The first thing he removed was a letter addressed to him.
The letter
My Dearest Sev:
If you are reading this then sometime during the last sixteen years I was killed or something has happened to me that has prevented me from stopping the sending of this letter. I am terribly afraid that something will indeed happen and I will not be there to protect you and our darling Malachi.
I believe that Albus Dumbledore will try to use you against Lord Voldemort. I do not know what he will do or how he will go about accomplishing this but I fear that something will happen. I do not want my family to be manipulated like tools and I fear for our son's safety. This message is charmed with extensive anti-memory charms that will remove any memory spell that has been cast on you. If Dumbledore is manipulating you these spells should allow you to remember the truth. If you are still in the service of the Dark Lord and nothing has changed then you will remember nothing and my fears will remain unconfirmed. This letter is also charmed to only be sent if both you and Malachi are alive.
Severus had stopped reading at that point and stared at the words, "if both you and Malachi are alive." Was it possible that his son still lived? With shaking hands he had continued reading.
I have placed charms on these letters so they will only seek out the distinct magical auras of you and Malachi. If Malachi is not with you then you must seek him out and protect him from Dumbledore. He is our son Severus and will need his father when he finds out the truth about his past, if there is truth to find out. I don't know what will happen. This package will be sent when our son turns sixteen. I hope I am there to see that wonderful day but if I am not then he will at least know that his mother loves him.
I sent Malachi his birth certificate, my birth certificate and several items that I do not want to see come to harm. With those items he might try to seek you out. If you can please find him first. He needs to know that his father loved him. I implore you to do whatever you can to protect our son Severus.
Also never forget that no matter what has happened to me that I loved you, our son, and our lord more then anything in the world.
With love:
Your most loving wife and soul mate
Ana.
Severus had stared at the letter in disbelief. Malachi was still alive? That thought repeated itself over and over in his head as he sat there. The letter now lay forgotten on the table beside the bed and Severus tried desperately to stop the shaking of his fingers as he had started removing items from the envelope. His wife had sent him a small album of photos, legal documents, gifts that the couple had given each other throughout their marriage and her jewelry box.
He had opened the box with trembling hands and found several things his wife had cherished above all else. The first thing he noticed was the wedding rings that he and Ana had given each other. He had missed that ring and had never known until now what had happened to it. The other object that caught his eye was a locket. He had opened it to find two small pictures. One was of Malachi shortly before his first birthday and the other was a picture of the three of them after his son's first birthday party. They had been curled up on the couch with his son and wife asleep against him.
The simple had pictures brought tears to his eyes. As he had looked at the pictures other memories that had obviously been repressed by charms started to reveal themselves. He was lying in a shaking heap on the bed as wave after wave of sensory information started crashing through him. He was afraid he would get lost in the tide of memories and quickly used the occlemency he had learned from his master to set up shields about what was new and what he had believed was accurate.
When the tide had finally stopped Severus decided that he needed to mediate to best sort the information out. He carefully prepared his mind and waded into the tide. As he sorted things he carefully made amendments to his actual memory one incident at a time. The process was exhausting and took a couple hours but he managed to get through everything and form a new timeline that made sense.
Memories
The first thing he found out was that the Potter baby had been born and the next morning Albus had received an urgent floo call from James. Severus had been in Dumbledore's office at the time. He had been able to hear James blubbering on about Harry being dead before the old wizard could get the man to shut up. Severus had been overjoyed by the information he had received but pretended as if he had heard nothing before he had excused himself.
The day after that he and his family had been attacked by a strike team personally led by Dumbledore. The man had killed Ana and taken Severus and Malachi back to Hogwarts. Severus remembered the emotional numbness and terror that had flooded though him when he had been separated from his son. At the time he had no idea what had happened to his the child. Then he had been dragged before Dumbledore and the man had turned toward him. As the man had done so he had found his son asleep on the man's lap. Anger had overwhelmed him and he had demanded the boy be given to him and that Dumbledore had no right to do what he was done.
The headmaster had laughed and told him that he knew exactly what he was doing. He was making sure the wizarding world got what it deserved. They needed a savior and the Potter's son was dead so that hope was dead. Dumbledore had known that Severus had overheard part of the conversation with James, and he was going to make sure that Severus got what his years as a Death Eater made him deserve. Dumbledore had told him that he had arranged the attack and that Malachi would be placed with the Potters whose memories would be modified. Malachi son would grow up as their child and Severus would never remember what Dumbledore had done.
Severus remembered sitting their in the chair across from Dumbledore's desk as the feeling of panic had risen inside of him. There was no way he was willingly going to let that madman do something like that to his son. In the end he really had no choice though. A simple body bind was all that had been needed and he got to watch for three agonizing hours as his son had been force feed every appearance changing potion and every charm imaginable was used to make the changes long lasting.
By the time that bastard was done his son was an exact replica of the Potter's 3 day old infant. Then to add insult to injury he called the Potters by floo and he had gotten to watch from under an invisibility cloak as Dumbledore erased their memories and gave them his son as theirs.
Once they had gone Dumbledore proceeded to edit his memories so he believed that Malachi and Ana had died at the hands of Voldemort. Believing that Voldemort had betrayed he had confessed his role as a Death Eater and became the man's spy.
There had been other memories that he had edited as well but they were minor in comparison to that revelation. When he was finished Severus had felt drained and an emptiness he had never felt had filled his soul.
With an aggravated sigh he had looked at the clock. It was only about 3:00 or 3:30 am and he knew that if I was going to correct what had happened he had to find Harry before it was too late. Within minutes he had collected his things and called Hermes to him. He had told the bird to fly to Malfoy manor. He had then written a quick note to Lucius which informed the man that he would be visiting on matters pertaining to family and to expect his arrival with a guest.
Such a cryptic message was sure to get the man's attention. He and Severus were related after all and the man had loved Ana and Malachi almost as much as Severus had. There was no doubt in Severus' mind that Lucius would help him set things straight. Before Severus could go to Malfoy Manor he first needed to find out how much Harry knew about his past.
Reviewer Questions:
Nauvarion: You asked why Harry and Draco are in different years because they are the same age and would be in the same level. You are right in a way. Malachi, Severus' son is the same age as Draco but Harry Potter, James' son is a year younger.
As explained in this chapter Dumbledore changed Malachi's appearance so he would look like the infant the Potter's lost. He then warped the memories of anyone who knew the Potter baby died so that this"minor" fact was forgotten. If this still doesn't make sense email me orreview again asksing for clarification.
Keep reviewing,I appreciate each and every one.