Chapter Two

The group of ninja's left the Fifth Hokage's office and made their way for the meeting-place quickly and silently. Lee stole glances at the four of his teammates, and was disappointed by what he saw. Shino was looking stony-faced as usual (not that you could really tell what his facial expression was), Shikamaru was watching the clouds with a wistful look, and Neji was staring straight ahead, intent on nothing other than arriving at their destination. Kankuro was the only exception, who was looking around at the Village in curiosity-not having the chance to see it all that often.

Lee decided that this lack of disinterest was reason enough to make conversation with him…that and the fact that Neji had discovered Lee looking at him and was giving him the death stare.

Lee gradually grew closer to the Sand Ninja, and then spoke, "What were the qualifications that allowed you on this mission?"

Kankuro looked over at Lee, and shrugged, "there are certain things that Puppet masters can do that no other ninja's can. We move things without touching them, which Tsunade-sama believed was a good magic substitute. The thing I'm curious about is you-are you really a Wizard?" the Sand Nin was looking at Lee with inimitable approbation. Lee's face turned red at the sudden attention.

"I…there is a chance, yes. It was recently discovered that my father was a professor at Hogwarts, and so there is a possibility that I too may be able to use magic." Lee's reply was awkward and chunky, but Kankuro was wide-eyed and full of curiosity. Lee didn't like the attention so he attempted to end the conversation there. Kankuro had other ideas.

"So, if you discover that you can do, like, magic…would you be a ninja or a wizard?" Kankuro asked innocently.

Lee snapped, "A NINJA! Why would I ever waste my time with such a thing as magic? I have people who care about me here! In my opinion, Wizardry is nothing more than a distraction from my life goal: To become a splendid ninja, even without using Ninjutsu or Genjutsu."

Kankuro looked taken aback, "I-sorry…I didn't mean to offend you, but hey," Lee looked at Kankuro, "I think it's really cool that you made a goal like that and are sticking to it. My dream is to become the best puppet master ever…even better than Sasori…" Kankuro looked down as he said he last part. Lee bit his lip, upset that he had exploded like that, and appreciative that Kankuro had commended him on his dream. Nobody but Guy-sensei had ever done that before.

Lee replied in a thunderous, confident voice, "I am sure that you will reach your goal if you believe in yourself and try hard enough!" He added the Nice Guy Pose as a bonus and watched Kankuro crack a small grin.

"Geez, you're so intense!" Lee would have been a bit offended, but he knew it wasn't meant in a cruel way. Kankuro laughed quietly and gave Lee a friendly smile.

They talked a bit more, until the village entrance came into view. The party slowed down and stopped near the enormous arch, waiting for the mysterious transportation-supplier. After a minute, two figures leapt from the bushes.

"Hey guys! Ready to go?"

"Ireni? What are you…" Lee tried to grasp the reason that the ice elf would be popping out of nowhere…but since she tended to do that a lot, he let it drop.

"Well, since I'm the only one able to travel to Hogwarts and back with five other people on my tail, Tsunade-sama said that I could come in order to supply transportation! Of course, I'm not allowed to stay with you (that was part of the deal) but still!" Ireni moved forwards to link hands with the ninja before her. "Okay, on the count of three we'll go. One…two…three!"

Snape was truthfully and without a doubt worried. His son was due to arrive any moment, and he didn't know what he would say, what he would do. He looked down at his feet and noticed the dark imprints on his floor going in a circle around his bed. He was pacing yet again.

The sky outside was bright, and the clock beside his bed read twelve past eleven. His son was due any time now, and as the minutes ticked by, he grew more and more anxious.

Snape hadn't heard from the mystery writer since the night before, and it-along with the arrival of his son-was profusely on his mind. He was sure that he had seen that handwriting before. The owl too had a faint air of familiarity about it. Snape wondered why he couldn't remember…

Suddenly, there was a knocking on the front door. Every inch of Snape's stomach jumped, and he began to sweat in fear. Every question that he had been asking himself for the past week came rushing back to him all at once. Nausea almost stopped him in his tracks, but he made his way quickly for the front door. His hand was trembling fiercely as he reached for the bronze door knob. It turned easily, and Snape pulled it open to reveal his son.

Lee wasn't sure he was ready to see his dad. It was odd, Lee had trained his physical strength for so long, but he hadn't trained his emotional strength at all? How did one go about doing such training? Would his father know?

They stood in front of his house, looking up at it. The teleportation had been a success, and now there was nothing separating Lee and Snape. And yet, everything was separating them in Lee's mind.

Lee stopped thinking immediately, knowing that each question could only lead to more, and leave him feeling sick. Neji, Shino and Shikamaru weren't paying attention to Lee, oblivious to his internal suffering. To them, this was just a short stop necessary for completing the mission. The only people that seemed to care about him were Kankuro and Ireni.

"I-I do not think…I am…ready…" Lee choked out. He was literally coughing and tripping. Ireni looked at him with a sad expression on her face, and squeezed his hand tighter. Kankuro, who was a bit confused about the circumstances, gave him a pat on the back and a reassuring smile.

The door was right in front of them now. Lee reached forward slowly, and rapped his fist against the hard, smooth wood. His heart was pounding, and it hurt his ribs.

Snape looked down at the boy in front of him. His hair was cut into a neat bowl shape, and his eyebrows were enormous. He was tall, only a few inches shorter then Snape. Snape looked at this boy, and saw himself.

"I…I…Hello, Father…" Lee said awkwardly and with much pain.

"H-Hello, Son…" Snape replied in an out-of-character voice. He knew he was on the verge of tears, but luckily years of practice of hiding emotions kicked in, and Snape simply gawked.

"I…I do not…" Lee tried to form words, but tears were already streaming down his face and his eyes shown with emotions, "I am sorry! I am so sorry!" Lee broke down and cried into Snape's chest. Snape, not knowing what to do, wrapped his arms around his son's shoulders. He closed his eyes tight and allowed a single tear to trail down his face. He wasn't used to showing his feelings, but he realized that it felt…good.

Behind Lee, Snape saw a group of five children. There was a girl who was crying with an enormous smile on her face, and a boy who was awkwardly grinning with happiness for his friend. Behind them, there were three boys who looked awkward and out of place. Of them, the only one showing a small smile was the brown-haired boy with the lilac eyes. He was trying hard to conceal it.

Snape looked down at Lee, who was still clinging to him. Silent tears streamed down his face and onto his fathers robe. Snape sighed and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment.

The man in front of Lee had shoulder-length black hair and a hooked nose. He was average height, a few inches taller then Lee. He seemed sure of himself, and strong inside and out-the exact thing that Lee himself strived to be.

He didn't know what to say. In his mind, he had pictured the meeting with himself using his signature introduction ("I am Rock Lee, the handsome Green Devil of the Leaf Village! Pleased to meet you, Father!" Followed by a thumbs up and a shine of the teeth) however, the words would not come.

"I…I…Hello, Father…" Lee sputtered, choking on his own words. He silently cursed himself for being so emotionally weak, and inwardly winced from the pain in his heart.

"H-Hello, Son…" Snape replied, stony-faced. Lee would have been discouraged by the face, but he could tell that it was only pasted on. His father was as shaky and awkward as he was.

Suddenly, Lee remembered all the thoughts he had had about his father. They were cruel thoughts, and most of them he could already tell were completely wrong. Snape wasn't some barbaric, unloving father who had sent Lee and his mother off to die, he hadn't even known about Lee! Snape had love buried deep in his eyes, and Lee could see it.

"I am sorry! I am so sorry!" Lee cried, feeling himself fall into Snape's arms. He hadn't meant to be so forward, so fast. He was used to Guy-sensei, who always told him to express his emotions. At first, his heart stopped, and he was worried he would be rejected for the hug; but then Lee felt arms wrap around his shoulders, and a single wet drop fall on his shoulder. The arms were shaky, but strong.

The ninja's loud sobs quickly grew quiet, and he was simply leaning into his father's chest, hoping the moment would never end; hoping that his father would love him forever.

It was later in the night, and Snape was alone in his room. Snape knew it was between two and three in the morning-he would have stayed up later, but Lee and his friends had been tired. Now he was alone with his thoughts…

His son had been much different than he expected. He's been more fun, and loving and overall incredible. He was strong-he had shown that right away when he ran 2,000 laps around his house (from the joy of meeting his father) in less than 30 seconds. Snape had been bewildered by the show of speed and agility at first, but knew he would get used to it.

The professor had no clue how long he had been wrapped up in his thoughts, but suddenly a loud owl hoot alerted him of a letter at his window. He slowly stepped out of his bed-still in a trance from the emotional event-and moved towards the window. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the bird.

It was the same bird that had delivered the message the night before! He let the beautiful creature in, and gently removed the new note. As he felt it in his hands, he realized there was something within the papery boundaries. This was a package as well.

Snape uncurled the note and let the item fall into his hand. It was a gem of some sort-blood red. It seemed to glimmer, even though there was no light shining on it. In the very center, there was a black orb that Snape could just barely make out.

Sitting the gem on his dresser, Snape opened the letter.

Dear Severus,

It seems from your response that you have changed-at least a bit. If you care enough now to ask of my identity, then you must have. Anyway, I cannot tell you. Not yet anyway. You see, I'm in a bit of a 'situation' at the moment, but I won't go into that (not from fear of boring the new 'Curious Severus Snape', but because of my personal reasons.) Now, as for your son…you called him 'Lee'; that is not his name. I don't know if you have more than one son, but that is not his name. My offer still remains, if you wish to meet your only or other son.

Always Yours

Snape almost choked. Could he have more than one son? Was it even possible? He tried to think back, tried to remember all previous affairs. There was only one woman that he had ever gotten close enough to to actually have a child with…he thought…but there was a deeply buried memory of somebody. Why couldn't he just remember?

Another part of the note bothered him. The fact that the writer had thought that he wouldn't care about who they were. Had there ever been a time when he would have written the note off as unimportant? Of course there had; his Death Eater days. He had been playing as a spy for Dumbledore of course, but his personality still reflected his supposed position around this time. How else could he have fooled the great Voldemort?

Snape tiptoed into the kitchen and grabbed a slice of leftover bacon. He took it into his bedroom, and fed it to the owl before writing his response.

Dear Mystery Sender,

Not remembering who you are, I obviously don't know when you knew me. But it obviously wasn't recent, because the way you place me is very much out of my character. Anyway, I can hardly believe that I have another son. If it is true, send me a photograph. Also, what is the gem that you sent me?

Severus Snape

This was all that Snape could think to say, so he ended his letter tightly. He gave it to the owl, and watched it fly into the sunrise…the sunrise? Was it that early already? Snape knew he had to get at least a bit of sleep, so he hopped in bed, hoping he could fall asleep. He had a long day ahead of him.

*****BAW! Father and son-ly loovvveeee 333 warms my heart, it doth!

Anyhoo, I'm gonna repeat that this is an old story. OLD. It's not very good, and it's a bit more serious than I'm used to writing. There's also the fact that Lee is being a BIT OOC (or is it OCC? I can never remember) but u know, if he spent his ENTIRE LIFE trying to become better than people who had gifts while he had none, and then found out that it all might have been a waste of time, he SHOULD be pretty mad? Plus, if you were an orphan and all of a sudden u met ur dad that u never knew...well...

I dunno, it's just a guess at how to describe these emotions guys! JUST A GUESS!

Oh and BTW, if it wasn't obvious, this is after Snape "died", but he's still alive. Its AFTER the last book, but I changed it in the fact that Snape is still alive, and so is Dumbledore if I remember. So basically nobody's dead :)