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.
Chapter 5
The next morning Harry awoke to find the memories of the previous day flooding back to him. Groaning he rolled out of bed and got dressed. He did not see Ron anywhere and only assumed he was already at breakfast. Snatching his shoes on the way out the door, Harry made his way down to the Great Hall, but he felt no urge to eat at all.
When Harry walked in, Ron waved him over to the table. There was still only one, and Harry could see Severus' spot was empty. Staring down at his empty plate, Harry's appetite waned even further.
"Come on, mate, the strawberry tarts are to die for."
"I can't eat. Snape is now my father. For the rest of my life I will be known as Harry Snape. Would you be able to eat?"
Ron's shoulders slumped, and he dropped his fork. "I guess not, mate. How about we go for a little trip into Hogsmeade after breakfast?"
"Are we allowed into Hogsmeade without supervision?"
"Who said we were telling anyone. All we have to do is say we are going to the library and use your cloak," Ron said, his eyes dancing mischievously.
"You got yourself a deal. I've never been to Hogsmeade, is it fun?"
"You have not lived until you have been to Honeydukes. It has every sweet you could think of and some you would not believe, and then we could go to the Shrieking Shack. It's supposed to be haunted."
Harry's eyes got round at the word haunted, but his appetite seemed to come back, and he put two sausages and some eggs on his plate and tucked in. The two were so rapt in conversation that they did not see Snape walk in and take a seat beside Dumbledore. Only when Ron had finished his third strawberry tart and was reaching for his fourth did Harry know, and then only because of the small gasp that came from Ron.
Harry looked up to see what Ron was staring at and saw his so-called father staring back at him. What was that in his eyes? Harry couldn't tell for all he had ever seen in his potion master's eyes was hatred for him.
"How did you sleep last night Harry?" came the question from his lips.
Harry didn't speak for a long time, and then he finally seemed to find his words. "I slept fine, now if you will excuse me, I am heading off to the library to do some studying," and without a glance back Harry got up and left the Great Hall, Ron at his heels.
Severus looked at Dumbledore for help, but the old coot did nothing but smile at him. Infuriated, Snape got up and followed the two boys out the door. Stepping out into the entrance he saw them going up to the Gryfindor common room. Standing at the bottom of the stairs he called out to them. "The library is not that way. Could you two perhaps be up to something?"
"We were headed off to get our books, as if it were any concern of yours," Harry smarted off before running up the last part of the steps.
Snape looked as if someone had slapped him hard, and stood there with his mouth open. Ron turned back towards him, his normal fear of the man briefly forgotten, and walked back down till they were almost face to face.
"What did you expect, sir. You thought that you would tell him you were his father, and suddenly he would forget that you made him miserable all last year." Snape grew silent at these words, and only glared at the boy. He really did hate the gall of the Weasley boy. Ron saw the look on his face and snorted.
"You did believe it didn't you. You must be as dense as you claim Neville to be." Ron was laughing, but he could see he had gone too far as Snape's face went from pale to a bright shade of red. Squeaking, he took off in a run up the stairs.
Ron and Harry were now in the tunnel that Fred and George had shown Ron last year.
"Ow, you are stepping on my foot," Harry yelled out.
"Well, why are we still under this thing, it's not like anyone is going to see us here."
Harry groaned and realized Ron was right. Taking off the invisibility cloak he pulled his wand. "Lumos" he said and then the path in front of them was lit. They laughed and joked about the many things they would do in Hogsmeade and how they would be in so much trouble if they were caught. Soon the path sloped upwards, and they both got back under the cloak.
Pushing open the trapdoor, both boys stepped out of the path and into Honeydukes' storage room.
"We should keep the cloak on and go outside. It will seem odd if we are coming out of the back room."
Harry nodded his head, and they walked into the shop and out the front door. Stepping over into an alcove, they removed the cloak, and Harry shrunk it and placed it in his pocket. Now both boys grinned and headed back into the shop.
When they walked back in Harry's eyes grew wide. He had never seen so much candy, and he wanted to taste them all. His first stop was by the gumballs. He glanced over them all, but his eyes came to rest on the one that said "Powder keg gum. A blast in your mouth with every piece." Harry picked up the gum and knew he would have to leave a piece out for his cousin Dudley. Imagining the look on his face when his mouth exploded made Harry giggle.
Next both boys bought some chocolate frogs and a box of Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. With their goodies in a bag, they left the store. Stepping out into the street, they could see it was still decorated in Christmas lights and wreaths everywhere. This was great as people we milling about, and no one noticed two boys in the crowd.
The next stop was the Quidditch shop, where both of them drooled over the Nimbus 2001. It took Harry dragging Ron by the arm to get him out of there, but he finally succeeded.
"Where to next, mate?" he asked Ron.
"How about a bite to eat, and then we can go to the shack."
Harry agreed, and soon they were sitting outside a little cafe and looking at the menu. When the waitress came up, Harry ordered a bowl of soup to warm him up. Despite the jumper he had on, the cold was starting to get to him. Ron ordered a sandwich, bowl of soup, and a hoagie. Harry snickered when the waitress deposited their orders, but Ron smacked him and handed Harry his drink.
"What is this?" Harry asked, for it looked similar to the mead his Uncle Vernon drank.
"It's butterbeer, mate. Nothing better."
Harry looked at the contents of the mug with a calculating eye, but as soon as he took the first sip, he was hooked. Chugging it down in one gulp, he motioned the waitress over and asked for two more. Harry and Ron sat in almost silence, for both were shovelling food in at an alarming rate. Ron however broke the silence.
"Harry, I know this is not the right time or anything, but Snape being your dad and all. How are you about that?"
Harry choked on his butterbeer and ended up spitting it all over the table. "How would you feel, Ron, if you suddenly found out he was your father? My whole life is a lie, and the only thing that isn't a lie is you and Hermione. My uncle and aunt never loved me, so why should I think that he would. He told me probably because Dumbledore made him, and if he thinks I am going to start calling him Dad, he should go to St. Mungo's and have his head examined."
Ron chuckled nervously, but answered him, "I don't know what I would do, just know I am here for you."
"Thanks, now could we stop being all mushy and head to this scary shack you keep telling me about?"
Ron grinned. "Of course! Come on, let's go."
They didn't slow down until they had gotten to the top of the hill. There, sitting on top of it, was a very old shack.
"This thing is supposed to be haunted. People say they hear screams coming from inside every full moon."
Harry gulped, but his curiosity was stronger than his fear, and he walked up to the door and walked in. They walked around the bottom floor before going up the creaking stairs, stopping twice for Ron to remove his foot that had went through one of the steps. When they got to the top they saw one door, and both pulled their wands and went through it.
Inside the room was a bed, and on the floor a tattered mattress. Upon closer inspection, they noticed the mattress had red splotches on it.
"Is that blood?" Harry said, his voice cracking.
Ron mutely shook his head and pointed next to the bed. There hooked to the wall was a chain, and around it was fur or some type of hair. Both boys looked out the window, saw that the sun was starting to set, and began backing out of the room. Ron was about to turn and run when he stumbled and fell. Harry went to help him up, but gasped out loud.
Ron's face went pale. "What is it, mate?"
"Look, there on the floor," Harry said, pointing right beside where Ron was lying. Ron rolled to his right, where Harry was pointing, and saw that on the floor three names were scrawled -- "Moony, Prongs, and Padfoot." That was not what had made Harry pale, though; it was the picture beside the names -- a stick figure of someone holding a wand, but the stick figure had a noose around his neck, and beside it was scrawled the name Severus Snape.
Harry hauled Ron to his feet and both took off running as fast as they could out of the shack. They had run without looking down the hill and, taking a wrong turn, went right into Knockturn Alley.
