Summary: The past will come back, the present will change them, now what will the future hold?
Disclaimer: I do not own them, sad but true
A/N: Yes this is an AU fic. Reviews are welcome, flames are shared with friends for amusement.
To the reviewers!
darkforces: thank you
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nicky12330: errr hope you enjoy it
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starlit jewel: yes Harry is Snape's son, sorry
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Chapter 3
When dinner was over, Harry and Ron bounded up the stairs back to the common room. Bursting through the door, both moved to sit and play a game of wizard chess. Ron was about to sit down when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a present wrapped still under the tree.
"Harry, look, we've missed one!" he said, pointing to the gift. "I wonder whose it is?"
Both boys looked at each other and then took off in a run to see who would get to it first. Ron tackled Harry by the couch and landed right next to the gift. Reaching for the card he read aloud. "To Harry, love Mom." Ron's face instantly paled, along with Harry's.
Harry sat down staring at the card in his hands, but unable to move.
"You should open it, Harry. Want me to give you some privacy?"
Harry shook his head. "No, Stay here with me. I don't know if this is a time I wish to be alone."
Shaking his head in understanding Ron sat down beside his friend and handed him the present.
Harry gingerly pulled the bow off the top and removed the wrapping paper. Inside was a book much like the one Harry had seen at the Dursley's, but on the top was a note.
"Maybe you should read the note first, mate. Maybe it will explain the book."
Harry nodded his head and began to read aloud:
Harry
I am sending you this gift. I wanted to tell you this long ago, but I couldn't you were too young. I think you are old enough now to know the truth. James was not your father in the sense of the word that he did not give you life. He did care and love you deeply, but your father is someone else. I know you may have met him already, and if I know him, you may dislike him too, but give him a chance. Your father is Severus Snape, and he may seem cruel and unworthy of love, but beneath that cold exterior is someone who loved you more than life itself. Give him a chance, Harry. He needs you, as I am sure you need someone, as well. Tell Ron not to overreact, for I know he will. I saw you two were destined to become great friends. I must go now, but know I loved you, and your father loved you. The book will show you just how much.
Harry was stunned. He wanted to scream out that his mother had to be wrong, but she would not tell him this if it were not true. How could Severus Snape be his father? He hated him. He loathed the very air he breathed. Harry looked to Ron for some answers, but saw Ron was sitting there, mouth open, eyes wide as saucers, and shaking.
Ron finally noticing that Harry was looking at him and said, "Maybe you should look in the book."
Ron scooted closer as Harry opened it. There, on the first page, was his mom holding him, he guessed right after she had him. Tears were pricking at his eyes, and he quickly turned the page before he lost control and turned into a blubbering idiot in front of Ron. The next photo was of him crawling around on the floor and Severus Snape standing behind James. Harry turned page after page, and in each one Severus was there. He looked at the last page and saw two pictures. One was Snape and his mom, he guessed in some far off place hugging each other, and the other picture was Severus holding him up in the air, and he was laughing.
Harry could take no more and closed the book. "How…why, after all this time?" he said to Ron, hoping he would know something. Ron merely shrugged and put his arm around Harry.
"This is a shock, Harry, but I am here for you, even if the greasy bastard is your father. How could he not know? How could he treat you that way, his own son?"
What neither of them had noticed was the man standing in the room.
"Perhaps I could answer that question, Mr. Weasley," Snape said, peering down at Harry.
Ron got up to leave, but Snape stopped him. "You might as well stay. It is not as if you will not find out anyway."
Harry wanted to scream at him. He wanted to tell him what a piss poor job he had done as a father, but he told himself he would hear him out first. Going over to the couch, he took a seat beside Ron. Severus sat down in the chair and lit a fire in the fireplace. The cold stare Harry was giving him sent chills down his spine.
"I guess the best place to start is at the beginning. I met your mother in school, as you well know. She was a kind and sweet girl, and the only true friend I had. She would defend me when James and Sirius taunted me and comfort me later when their taunts had gone too far. In our last year at Hogwarts, I was to receive the Dark Mark, but I could not go through the initiation. It seemed I was to rape a muggleborn. When they showed me it was your mother I could not go through with it. We spent the night talking of our plans for the future, and she begged me not to turn to the dark lord."
"But you did! You turned to him, and you did his bidding didn't you!" Harry spat. "How could my mother love you? How could she ever trust you?" Harry screamed, while Ron held him back.
"Let me finish!" Severus said, glaring at Harry for interrupting. "DO you think this is easy for me, foolish boy."
Harry sat back down on the couch. "Finish your story then, but do not expect me to start calling you Father of the Year."
"As I was saying, Lily and I made plans to travel France together after graduation. James was none too happy about this, and he and Sirius made sure I knew not to go near Lily. When your mother found out what they had done she was furious and told them they did not rule her life. We left and spent a glorious week in France. There she told me of your aunt and how she had married some muggle named Dursley who hated magic and how they never spoke. I told her of my father and his cruel ways, and before the week was over, we found ourselves in love. We spent one night together, and whether you believe it or not,your mother and I loved one another. We parted ways after that, as I had fallen in with the wrong crowd and taken the mark. Your mother was furious, but she knew I felt shamed by what I had done.
"You should be ashamed, you hook nosed bastard," Ron said, letting it slip before he thought. "You became a bloody death eater, raping and killing at will. I would have told you to drop dead."
"Well, it is a good thing you are not Lily then, isn't it, Mr. Weasley? Now one more outburst, and I will silence you until I am through.
Lily came to me and told me she and James were expecting, and that she had to get married for the sake of the baby. She never once revealed that you were my son and not James'. I went to your house several times and watched you take your first step, eat with a spoon for the first time, all these things, of course, unknown to James. I looked at you and often wondered if you were my son, but Lily always said you were James' son. She said she was glad that you did not have to go through life worried about your father being a spy that could be killed on a whim. I went to the house to warn her that night that the Dark Lord was coming, but I was too late. By the time I got there, she and James were dead, and Dumbledore had whisked you off to her sister's. I had years to build up the hatred. It was not toward you at first, but when I laid eyes on you, it was. You reminded me of what I could never have with Lily, and that brought out the demon within me. I am sorry for the many times I have taunted and teased you, but how was I to know?"
Harry got up and ran from the room. This was all too much to take in. He'd had no family, and now the man who made his life hell all last year was his father. Tossing himself onto his bed, he let loose the tears he had been holding back.
Severus was stunned, but he expected the reaction he got.
"You can't really blame him, you know," Ron asserted to break the silence. "You have been a bastard to him, and now you want him to except that you are his father. Do you know he has never even had a proper Christmas, never had a present until mum made him one? He has lived in hell for years, and all because you didn't have enough willpower to say no. If you hurt him in any way, I will make sure you regret it," Ron said, standing up to follow Harry up the stairs.
"You know, Mr. Weasley, you would have made a right fair Slytherin yourself, all things considered." Snape said no more and got up to leave.
Ron walked into the room and saw Harry lying on the bed, tears still drying on his face. He placed hand on Harry's shoulder. "I'm here if you want to talk about it," was all he said before he climbed into his own bed and laid down.
Harry rolled over and cried himself to sleep. He had no idea how to adjust to this new information and, truth be told, felt kind of betrayed. Again his whole life had been a lie, and this was the worst lie of them all, for now Severus Snape, most feared teacher, death eater, and all around bastard, was his father.
