AN: Thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter! Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it as much as the last one. Please let me know what you think with a review!

And as usual; I don't own Harry Potter or his world.

Enjoy!

Third Times a Son

Chapter 4

Severus walked to the front and took the outstretched envelope from Hermione, nodding his head to her as he did. Turning around to head back to his seat, he was stopped in his progress by Griphook. "Please, Mr. Snape, if you would follow me. Mr. Potter has set aside a room just for you to view your envelope." Not waiting for an answer, Griphook proceeded to the open side door and went through.

Severus just stared at the open door. Why would he want anything from Potter and why would the brat think he would want to view this envelope in a private room. Of all the arrogant, spoilt, and presumptuous…

"Mr. Snape follow me. Your envelope is charmed to open for you only but also charmed to open with only you present. You will not be able to view its contents in this room. Mr. Potter has left specific instructions regarding your inheritance." Griphook was standing in the entryway not too pleased to have to repeat himself. Humans.

Severus looked to Hermione and she nodded but did not smile. In fact, her face looked sad, moroseful, and something else? Pity? Sorrow for him? Huffing in exasperation, he followed the goblin through the door.

Once settled in a comfortable chair in front of a roaring fire with a tea set on the table before him, Severus took his rather large manila envelope and broke the seal. There were several items within, and he reached in and took out the letter first. He would never admit this to anyone, but he was curious as to what the Potter brat could possibly leave him let alone say to him from beyond the grave that would require privacy. He had all intentions of never opening this envelope. He was sure that this must be a mistake and that Potter was enacting some sort of revenge on him that was to be played out in front of all his family and friends. He looked to the letter noticing the scratch of Potter's scrawl making his stomach roll and flip.

Another thing he would never admit to anyone…ever…is that he liked the Potter brat…always had. He found him to be a strong willed and courageous man. Someone who was too good of character to be seen with the likes of him. He would have corrupted the boy. Ruined his reputation. That's why he distanced himself from him. Potter was everything Severus wasn't; loyal, honorable, loving, forgiving, and moral. Too pure to be seen with the likes of him. Oh, how he wanted to be on better terms with the boy, but he owed the boy too much to hurt him like that. Potter freed him from the enslavement of the Dark Lord and for that he would always be grateful and never hateful.

Severus was shocked and sad when he found out Potter passed away. He didn't even know he was sick! When he read it in the Prophet he fell to his knees in his quarters and wept. He's only ever cried like that for one other person, his Lily. Why did it hurt so much, why did his heart feels like it exploded in his chest? He didn't know. Severus just knew life wasn't fair. "Why!" he would scream over and over again to his empty room. It took him over an hour to stop the ugly crying before he laid himself in a fetal position on the stone floor and silently cried himself to sleep. He woke up several hours later, his eyes barely opened for the puffiness and his head hurt. Migraine. Typical of Potter to give him a migraine.

Severus just stared at the envelope. Feeling the lumps inside it and thought back to the last time Potter engaged him in conversation. He wondered how it would have gone if he hadn't been so abrupt with the boy. He could have easily agreed to some form of comradery, the boy just wanted to get to know him as a person for heaven's sake! It's not fair that the boy is gone, and he is still here. What did he ever do to deserve the life he was given! Getting angrier at himself, he tossed the envelope onto the side table and looked to the letter Harry personally wrote to him, the letter that was two parchments long and started reading.

Severus Snape,

I'm sure you're wondering why I left you this letter. There are so many things I wanted to tell you when I was alive, but since I never got the chance to do so I had no choice but to write this letter. Well I did have a choice, I didn't have to write this letter or tell you all the things I'm about to, but I feel it is the right thing to do. Plus, I'm sure mum will not be too pleased with me when I see her that I didn't communicate better with you. Yeah, I'm sure I'll hear an ear full from her about all this but at least I'll be able to say that I tried, and I told you.

First, let me start out by saying that I'm not the son of James Potter. When I was around seven or eight I found a letter my mum wrote to someone she loved very much. In the letter she professed her love to him and her excitement over the fact that she was pregnant with his child. She was telling him all the plans she had for them, for their future, but also that she was scared for him because of Voldemort.

I guess you've figured out that the letter was for you. I always knew you loved my mum because I always knew you were my dad. So many times, I wanted to tell you. To show you the letter but there never seemed to be the right time. Then, after the war, it just wasn't meant to be. I kept the letter with me wherever I went, and I took it out to read it whenever I felt down. I could feel the love she felt and that always made me feel better. At the bottom of the letter she expressed her fears about Dumbledore. You see, she told him of her pregnancy and he immediately wanted her to get rid of it. When she refused, he told her not to tell you about it and for her leave you for your safety and for hers. She refused that too and she started to feel uncomfortable being in his company. Finally, he agreed to let her be and told her to be careful. She promised she would, but something told her to be wary of him.

This letter was dated two months before her and James got married. I also found other letters and pictures from my mum and from you, but this letter was the last one addressed to you. After that all the letters are addressed to James. They were not as emotional as the letter she wrote to you, like they were written by someone who didn't know what love felt like. And the fact that she never delivered them was telling. I think YOU were her true love and I think someone made her forget you. I don't have proof and I can't say I know for certain the reason behind this deception, but I think my mum was obliviated of all your loving memories and given different memories. I'm sure you were at a loss as to why my mum suddenly left you for James, right?

Who would gain from this? Who had the power to do this? I have my suspicions but I'm not going to tell you. All I know is my mum loved you truly and I'm your son. You're probably spewing insults about now and I don't blame you but it's all true. I'm your son. Always have been and whether or not you accept it, I will always be. Though, it will always be said that I'm a Potter in the history books. I wanted to change all that but again it was not meant to be.

Anyway, that's just the beginning of my letter to you. You see, I was cursed by a rogue curse on the day of the final battle. We never were able to figure out the exact curse or if it was a combination of curses but essentially it messed up my blood, degraded it is more like it. Which in return affected all my organs. It took a few years, but eventually the curse is what killed me. No one knew of the curse except for Ron, Hermione, Minerva, Poppy and the Weasleys. I didn't want my remaining time spent dealing with what would have come of the public knowing or the pity looks I would receive from everyone. I just wanted to spend my days enjoying the people closest to me and doing the things I've always wanted to do but couldn't. I can honestly say that I have no regrets regarding my last few years except one: you.

You are my one regret. I should have tried harder to befriend you, to tell you the truth, to get to know you as a man instead of a professor. In this regard, I am a coward. Funny, I consider myself pretty brave when it comes to confrontations, but for some reason when it came to you I just couldn't do it. You've been through so much over the years, you're the bravest man I know. Brave or not, coward or not, I should have made more of an effort to tell you the truth and for this I am truly sorry. I failed you and denied myself the gift of you and I only hope I can find forgiveness in the afterlife for myself, as I hope one day you will forgive me also.

Look at me, going on like you would have welcomed me as your son so easily. I don't think you would have though. You would have fought me tooth and nail, demanded proof and still it probably would have taken you weeks to accept it. I do know you fairly well. I should, I have been watching you since the day I entered Hogwarts. Watching, studying, memorizing. You were my family and although at age eleven I didn't fully understand why you treated me the way you did, I still held you in my heart. When you struck down the Headmaster that horrible night, you broke my heart. Not only for the loss of a great man, someone I loved more than anything, but for the loss of you. I felt then that I was to never have you, never know you and you would hate me always as an enemy instead of loving me as your son. My heart shattered that night never to be put back together until the day of the final battle, when you showed me your memories.

You know what happened that day, how I walked to my death only to survive in the end. But there is something you don't know about that day. Something I never told anyone, not even my closest friends. When everything was over and the dead and injured were being collected and healed, I went back to the Shack to find you. I just had to. I had to bring your body back to the Castle, but when I found you, you weren't alone. You had your eyes closed, I thought you were dead, and mum was leaning over you whispering something into your ear. She was stroking your hair back and caressing your face and I knew she remembered loving you. When she spotted me, she didn't move from her spot, but told me how proud she was of me and my father. How she knew we could do it, that she never had any doubt. She told me that she loved you very much and that it wasn't your time to be with her. She looked to you, love pouring off her, and put her hand on your chest and whispered something I couldn't hear. That's when you opened your eyes and I thought for sure you looked right into her eyes because she got all choked up and whispered she loved you. But you didn't say it back, instead you acknowledged me and brought me back to the present. The rest you know. I think mum saved you that day, even though the healers say it was the preventive measures you took before meeting with Voldemort.

Wow, this letter is quickly becoming a book, so I'll start closing this thing up. I want you to know that despite everything that's happened between us, I'm proud to say I'm your son. The letter from mum is my most precious possession and I planned on leaving the letter with you along with this one, however, I wasn't able to procure the letter form Hermione in time and she is still in possession of it. She knows that I intended for you to have it and therefore will make sure you receive it. Also, I have included the memories of that scene in the Shack for you. It is so beautiful and touching I felt it was your memory too. Please know that even though we might not be on good terms, I do not hate you. Our relationship has always been nonexistent, and I've accepted that. I accept the fact that you are unaware of the truth, that you just don't like me, but tolerate me, that I remind you of her and what you lost. I hope that from this day forward, you can think about me and not feel hate. And I know you, so don't feel ashamed, self-loathing, regret, or sorrow either. Don't lose yourself in the bottle either, you have work to do. I want you to feel at peace with the knowledge that despite everything I love you, always had even when my heart told me not to. I want you to live a happy life, Professor, find love again. Mum would want that too.

Your son

Harry Tobias Snape aka Harry James Potter

(that's what it said in the Hogwarts book before the Headmaster changed it)

Putting the letter down in his lap, Severus just sat there staring at the fire his mind replaying Harry's words. Harry Potter is his son. His flesh and blood. How? Why would someone do this?

Thinking about this past year with him teaching at Hogwarts, suddenly everything made sense. All the times Potter tried to engage him, apologies for his stunts during his Hogwarts years and his forgiveness for things that he did during the war. "Damn! Why didn't you just tell me!?" he screamed to the fire. Standing and pacing the room. The letter falling to the floor forgotten. "Why did you not tell me when you first arrived at Hogwarts! Things could have been so different for you!...and for…me." he finished softly. Circling the room at a faster pace now, throwing his arms here and there. "Why? Why did you never tell me, even when you knew the end was coming?" Because you would have never listened to the boy. You pushed him away one too many times and he gave up on you to die without the love of a father. The little man in his head gladly reminded him. "Bugger!"

Sitting back down and collecting the letter, he reverently folded it back up and placed it on the table next to him. He wiped his face with both hands, he was surprised to find he'd been crying this whole time. Crying…something he hasn't done a lot of. But now he is openly weeping for what he could have had and for the life of someone that ended way too soon. Now he understood why Potter set this room up for him and he silently thanked him for it.

When he finally settle himself, he thought about what Harry wrote in the letter. Funny, it took his death to finally see the Harry in Harry Potter. But the more pressing issue is someone obliviated his Lily. That's why she left him! He never did understand what happened between them just that she fell in love with Potter and she didn't want anything to do with him anymore. He was devastated by that, so much so he listened to Malfoy and went to meet Lord Voldemort. But who would do that to them? Who would do that knowing she was with child? Did Dumbledore really do this? And more importantly, did Dumbledore know he would go to Voldemort when she shunned him? He needed answers, but where?

Seeing the large envelope on the table he reached for it and upended the contents onto the table. There are several items he recognized. A wand, three vault keys, a vial of memories, several deeds; some with the Black seal and others with the Potter seal, an invisibility cloak and a shiny golden snitch. Picking up the cloak and letting it run through his fingers he started crying all over again.

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