Title: Family Affair

Author: Daeleniel Shadowphyre

Feedback: darkone2813 at mindspring dot com

Fandom: "Harry Potter" series, by J.K. Rowling

Genre: Angst/Drama

Rating: R (Maybe only PG-13, but R is safer.)

Notes: Please reference the prologue for the summary, disclaimer, and any other relevant information.

Distribution: Ask, and ye shall receive.

Chapter One:

July 31, 1999

Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office

Professor Albus Dumbledore glanced up at the calendar on his office wall and sighed. He knew what day it was, and it wouldn't change just because he had looked at the calendar for the eighth time that morning. Still, it was a little hard to come to grips with. Fifteen years. Of course he had known who Harry's parents were before he'd ever come to Hogwarts, but… that had not made it any easier to watch as Harry grew up without the father he needed.

Nor was it easy to watch Severus go through those long years without his son.

Frowning, Dumbledore stood and crossed to a mirror that had been spelled to act like a window. The sunlight outside was reflected back to him from the glass, but it did not match his mood. He had received a report from Arabella Figg regarding Harry's current situation with the Dursleys, and he was not happy. Never mind that Vernon and Petunia Dursely had never been two of his favorite people. No one should treat a child the way Harry was treated. Clearly, something had to be done, and soon. But what?

With a sigh, the Headmaster of Hogwarts turned away from the mirror/window and returned to his desk. His eyes fell on a piece of parchment resting there, and his lips twitched in amusement. He supposed that he would never know how it had gotten around to all the students in such a short amount of time, but there it was. A petition to reinstate Remus Lupin as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. He picked it up and reread the list of signatures, smiling fondly.

Hermione Granger's name was at the top of the list, just above Harry's own name. Beneath the two of them was a list of no less than nine Weasleys, Molly and Arthur and all of their offspring. From there, the list went on to include Oliver Wood, former Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, and Penelope Clearwater, Lee Jordan, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Terry Boot, Colin and Dennis Creevey, and just about every student in the school. Dumbledore had even had the delight of seeing young Draco Malfoy's name on the list, although few other Slytherins had signed.

Near the tail end of the list was Hagrid's name, followed by the names of other professors at Hogwarts. Sybil Trelawney, Artemis Sinistra, Freja Hooch, Poppy Pomfrey, Minerva McGonagall, March Flitwick, Ceres Sprout, and - at the very end of the long list - Severus Snape, scrawled in his almost spidery handwriting. Dumbledore's smile broadened. As much as Severus tried to deny it, the young Potions Master was a touch fond of Remus. He had proven so only two years earlier when, having been informed of Remus's appointment to the position, Severus had responded dryly that he had better look up the recipe for the Wolfsbane potion before anyone came to harm. To any other person, that statement would not have signaled any type of fondness… until one realized that Severus had not immediately protested the admittance of a werewolf to the teaching staff. But then, Remus Lupin was not just any werewolf. And he and Severus had a certain history between them that was not insignificant.

With a sigh, Dumbledore set aside the parchment and turned to another considerably less pleasing roll. The message was from the current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Behind the mask of strictly political politeness, the man was asking what Dumbledore was playing at getting Arthur Weasley so worked up, that You-Know-Who was dead and gone and wasn't coming back, so why was Dumbledore making so much fuss over nothing? The old wizard frowned at the parchment; Fudge always managed to sound as if he were whining, even on parchment. The fact that the bumbling fool wouldn't acknowledge Voldemort's return even when it was right in front of his face was a source of considerable annoyance. Although it had been rather rash of Severus to abruptly and openly display the Dark Mark in the Hogwarts infirmary….

Harry had seen it, Dumbledore was sure. There was no way he couldn't know about Severus's past now. Well. That was probably all to the good, considering the facts of not only Severus's past, but Harry's own that the boy had yet to learn. Dumbledore had received Remus's owl only that morning, reminding him that the illusions the younger wizard had placed on Harry fifteen years ago would begin to wear off today, and that the boy had better be told, and soon. Remus was rather protective of Harry, especially since he was one of the few people to know the truth, the others having been Dumbledore himself, James Potter, Lily Evans, and Severus. That Sirius Black, as the boy's godfather, had not been included in this minor "conspiracy" of sorts was both a blessing and a hassle. He would not only have to be told, Dumbledore mused with a faint smile, but sedated to keep him from tearing Severus apart with his bare hands!

That brought Dumbledore back to the main problem-- what to do about Harry's current situation. It was more than obvious that Harry could no longer stay with the Dursleys, but where to send him? Dumbledore found himself toying with the idea of Harry staying at Hogwarts for the summer. The old wizard wondered just how many of the staff members would object to having a student among them for the rest of the summer. Minerva might protest that such things were against the rules, but Dumbledore knew that the stern Professor of Transfiguration had a soft spot for the boy, as did many of the Hogwarts teachers. Even Severus, although he would be hard-pressed to admit it to anyone, even to those who knew the truth.

Especially Severus….

Yes, that was another point that needed attention. Dumbledore knew that Harry had to be told, but was Severus ready for the responsibility that would place upon him? He had been protecting Harry ever since the boy had come to Hogwarts, and Dumbledore fancied that it must pain the Potions Master to act as if he hated the boy. He never asked, however, and Severus never volunteered personal information unless he could not avoid it.

Just as Dumbledore was about to get up and go in search of him, Severus himself walked into his office.

"Ah, Severus!" the older wizard beamed. "Delightful of you to stop by. Would you care for some tea?"

"No, thank you, Albus," Severus replied, his tone the faintest bit stiff, his gaze wary.

Oh, dear. Remus must have owled him a reminder as well. He never looks that formal unless we are discussing Harry.

"Well then," Dumbledore sighed, trying not to look or sound too disappointed, "to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" About as unexpected as the sun rising in the East.

"I am certain you know very well why I am here," Severus said, his voice as dry as autumn leaves. "My son turned fifteen today."

Dumbledore blinked in surprise. It was rare indeed when Severus referred to Harry as his son. Usually he did not do so unless there were no other witnesses to overhear him, and even then only when he was pressed. Then the aged wizard took note of the bleak look in the younger man's eyes, the tensing of his shoulder muscles, and understood.

"You are concerned for him, then?" Dumbledore asked quietly, not wanting to alarm Severus into denial. That would not do. He was not disappointed, as Severus gave a slightly bitter laugh and averted his eyes to Dumbledore's bespelled mirror.

"The illusions will begin to wear off now, or so Lupin tells me," the Potions Master answered in a somewhat hollow voice. "He is… bound to notice a difference in the way he looks."

"Quite so," Dumbledore murmured, then brightened. "Which is an excellent reason for him to spend the remainder of his summer here at Hogwarts!" Seeing Severus's alarmed look, he amended, "Well, one reason out of several others. I had been considering the notion when you entered."

"I would think that the other professors would object to having a student here for the summer," Severus remarked frankly.

"Do you have any serious objections?" Dumbledore asked interestedly. Severus grimaced.

"Another thing; Black will have to be informed, and I'd rather it be done from a distance," he said, then added wryly, "I'm rather fond of my head, and would not wish to lose it to Black's inevitable fit of pique."

"I will tell him myself, being as there was a letter left in my care for him," Dumbledore responded, nodding. "To return to the topic of conversation-- Have you any strong objections to Harry's spending the summer here?"

Severus's face shuttered.

"The circumstances regarding my feelings toward both the boy and the question at hand differ rather drastically from those of my colleagues," he said stiffly. Dumbledore simply looked at him, and finally Severus sighed. "Yes, I do. There is the matter of--" he broke off and gestured to his forearm where Dumbledore knew the Dark Mark to be burned into the young wizard's flesh. When Severus spoke again, it was with a haunted, quiet intensity that Dumbledore had only once before seen in his Potions Master-- on the night he learned of Lily's death. "I will not put the boy at risk like that."

"Severus," Dumbledore spoke with a quiet intensity. "Have faith. You have protected Harry thus far quite well, despite the odds that were stacked against you. We shall manage."

"If you so believe," Severus responded softly, almost like a prayer. Dumbledore found a part of his mind wondering if the young man he considered a son had ever prayed before in his life. For that moment, Severus was not the stern, cold Potions Master that haunted the Slytherin dungeons, but a worn and weary man who had seen more heartache in his thirty-seven years than anyone ever needed to know. Then Severus shook his head; the moment was broken and Severus was in control again. "Well," the black-haired wizard said at length. "How soon do you wish me to go and retrieve him? I assume that was what you intended when you suggested that my son spend the rest of the summer on school grounds?" One eyebrow was raised in an ironic half-challenge, which Dumbledore ignored.

"I had thought that you would be the one to bring him, yes," the old wizard admitted, nodding. "As for when, well, the sooner the better. Before the middle of next week, certainly." Severus frowned; he knew as well as Dumbledore that the middle of next week was in only four more days.

"Forgive me, Albus," Severus began silkily, and Dumbledore thought that this squirming uncomfortable feeling he was experiencing might be just how the students might feel under the Potion Master's cold gaze. "But I was under the impression that Harry would be safest with those Muggle relations of his. Was that not the reason he was placed with them in the beginning?"

"It was," Dumbledore replied levelly. He would not be intimidated by one of his former students! "Circumstances change, I regret to say. That 'haven' is no longer the safe placement it once was. I have only recently become aware of how much that is the case," he added, more to himself than to his audience of one. Severus gripped the arms of his chair, white-knuckled, though it was the only outward sign he gave that he understood precisely what Dumbledore meant.

"I see," he replied. "Very well. I will leave on the Hogwarts Express the day after tomorrow and return with the boy that evening. I assume all will be ready by then?" Dumbledore nodded, and Severus stood. "Then with your permission, Headmaster, I will take my leave."

"One other thing, Severus," Dumbledore said with some amusement as the Potions Master turned to regard him with a wary eye. He's a suspicious lad still.

"I have just received an interesting piece of post this morning," he went on, holding up the petition. "A request for Mister Lupin to be reinstated as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this coming term."

"Indeed." Severus's expression gave away nothing.

"There are quite a number of signatures," the old wizard continued, a gleam in his blue eyes. "Some rather interesting."

"Really?" The former Slytherin was almost drawling, now. Dumbledore gave up, smiling fondly.

"Go on, Severus," he said in amusement. "I'm sure you have much to do."

"Ye-es," Severus drawled, his tone as dry as autumn leaves, "and a batch of Wolfsbane potion to brew so as to be ready for when Lupin arrives."

With those words, the tall, imposing young man swept out of Dumbledore's office with all the dignity of a young lord, leaving the Headmaster to laugh quietly to himself before returning to his - tediously irritating - paperwork. Much was left to be done before Harry's arrival at Hogwarts for the rest of the summer.

Much to do indeed.

To be continued…