Title: Past, Present, Future

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 19

Harry and Ron were finally allowed out of the bed two days later. Both sighed with relief, until after lunch that day when Mrs. Weasley came flying out of the floo and engulfed her son in a bone-crushing hug.

"I have never been so worried in all my life. My baby, Ron, how do you feel?" When Mrs. Weasley got no response, she immediately froze. "Ron, answer me!"

"I believe you are crushing the boy, Molly," Severus said, from where he was standing.

Molly let Ron go, but then saw a very pale and somewhat smaller Harry and gathered him up in the same hug. Harry's eyes grew wide and Severus could see that the overly protective mother was causing him some pain, so with a graceful step, he pulled Harry free and gathered him into his grasp. Severus then ushered all three of them to the kitchen table where cups of tea and juice awaited them. Mrs. Weasley seemed worried when Harry only ate two bites of his biscuit, but Severus told her that he didn't need to stuff himself so soon after his bout with illness.

All of them sat around the table, until Remus came through the floo and told Severus that Dumbledore would be arriving after his meeting with the officials from Wales.

Mrs. Weasley turned to Severus. "Ron is completely over this mysterious illness? I can take him home now correct?"

Severus nodded his head. "He will be just fine, Molly. Both boys, I think, have learned not to eat strange candy, even if they think it is safe."

Molly Weasley hugged Harry one last time and stepped into the floo. Ron walked over to Severus and Harry. "Professor, thanks for not telling my mother what we did. I guess you are not as bad as I thought."

"Perhaps you will learn from this and make better decisions, here and in class, but I do thank you, Mr. Weasley, for telling me where to find the shop."

Ron hurried off into the floo before his Potions' teacher could dwell on what they had done and turn him into a toad or something.

Once Ron was gone, Severus turned to Harry and motioned for him to go sit on the couch. "I think it is time we had a talk." Severus conjured a blanket for Harry and made sure he was comfortable before he began. "I have some things I want to know, now that it is just you and I." When Harry did not look like he was going to say anything, Severus looked him right in the eye. "All I want to know is why, Harry. Am I so horrible that you would rather die than have me for a father?"

Harry sat for a long time staring into the flames of the fire, until finally, squaring his shoulders, he turned to face his father. He didn't know how to start, so he assumed the best place to start was the beginning.

"I guess it is because for as long as I can remember I haven't had a father. Uncle Vernon made it very clear from the start that I was a bastard left on his doorstep and should be grateful they didn't send me away. I dreamed every night someone would come and take me away, and every morning I would wake up to find myself still there. Uncle Vernon would merely yell when I was younger, but one day he stopped yelling so much and did much worse things." At this point Harry's eyes misted up, but he choked down the lump in his throat and went on.

"He would lock me in the cupboard for days, and after a long time in there, I forgot what light looked like. He would punish me with no dinner if I brought home bad grades in school, and then say I was trying to show up Dudley if I brought home good grades. Eventually I stopped trying, I mean what was the point. The people at school never bothered to ask why I was smaller, or even when I was sick. Days seemed like an endless torture, and my only purpose on this earth was to be a maid to my aunt and uncle. I was so happy the day Hagrid came to pick me up. It meant I was not the worthless thing they had always claimed; it meant I was special. But then I met you, and you made sure I knew I was not special. You went out of your way to embarrass me, humiliate me, and belittle me. I was used to it at home, but at Hogwarts I thought I was safe from that." Harry couldn't even look at Severus anymore after that.

Severus sat listening to everything, his emotions all churning the sick feeling in his stomach. Had he really taken the only safe place the boy had ever known and turned it into a living hell?

"Harry, I didn't know, honestly. I never knew about you, and I am afraid your mother's rejection years ago turned me into a bitter and stern bastard with no thought as to whom I hurt. The day I got that letter telling me you were my son, my heart exploded into a thousand pieces. No longer was I alone in this world. I had a son. I want to be the father you have never known, and I want to start by telling you that I love you, and I am here for you. The other day my life came to a halt. I have never felt a more agonizing pain than seeing you lying there and not being able to help you. Can you forgive a man whose life has been filled with mistakes? Can you find room in your heart to let me inside?"

Harry felt as if he could not breathe. His whole life he had only wanted this -- someone to love and to be loved back. He lunged off the couch and wrapped his arms around his father's neck, eyes spilling tears of happiness. Harry pulled back from Severus and saw that his face, too, was covered in tears. "I have waited for this day, and I am sure mom would be happy."

"That is certain, as your mother was a light that shone brighter than any star in the sky. You have her eyes, and in them I now see her beauty smiling back at me."

Harry, still weak from his battle with the poison, yawned again. "Why don't you rest for just a few minutes, and I will go see about getting us some dinner?"

Harry agreed and closed his eyes for what he thought was only a few minutes, but an hour later, he did not hear Albus Dumbledore step through the fireplace.

Severus did not get up to greet him like he normally would have. He merely sat at the table sipping his tea now and then and staring off into space.

"Severus, how is Harry? I have a few questions I would like to ask him about this shopkeeper."

"He is asleep, Albus, and I will not wake him. He needs some rest." Severus said, even though he was still not really looking at the olden wizard.

"Severus, do not dwell on things. He is better now."

"Am I really capable of being a good father to him, Albus? He has been in my care for a week and he nearly died."

Albus Dumbledore walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You will learn, Severus. Any man can have a child, but it is a father who is there through it all. How will you deal with this when school begins again?"

"I will not deny my son. He has gone through enough rejection in his life. Right now he needs someone who will support him and give him the love he has been missing all these years."

Smiling, Albus stood up and showed himself to the floo. "I will see you and Harry in one week back at Hogwarts. I will inform the teachers, and I shall leave it up to you to inform any others, if you wish."

Severus took in what Albus had said and went over to watch his son sleep. Taking a seat by the fire, he pulled Harry into his lap and, out of habit, checked him for a fever. Soon the days caught up with Severus, too, and he drifted off to sleep.

There, in that little house, was the picture of a family as the two sat curled up asleep, Severus' protective arm over Harry. They had moved past their differences; now to see how the rest of Hogwarts would react to the news.