Dark blood- The truth comes out

Helloooooo everyone! I am so glad you've been enjoying this and I want to say a huge thankyou to all of you who have been reading this so far! I would like to thank Anthro79, BellaBellaCullen1, Blackstar-Moonshadow, , Harley725, HikariNoAnkoku, Irinaa3, KidouSeverus, Lily F. Lux, Lup C, Madlenita, ParseltongueSpeaker, Procrastinator, Raven Lockwood, Rignach, Ta O Zbyt Wielu Nickach, Water Child, Zarathustra, alicefiresage, animal8, cheshirecat55, didydid, elianam, evilwing2004, hhargrove, jaw12801, lilyginnyrose, , nightworldangel, oreomonstar, orphen chica, rose51794, sarahbluerose130, snape4life26, sugar ninjas, Ai kouu, Almaviva, AwesomeReaderAndWriter 357, Cosmos89, Fa07, FireSenshi2, Kyubi-female, LiuanTobit, SavSnape, lilynetta, mzperx, rati5back, secretstories, issylovesthedragons and GoodNaughtyGirl For reading this story and acknowledging it. And of course my other favourite peops who review, I love you guys too so thank you lilyginnyrose,GoodNaughtyGirl, Linda, Madlenita, HikariNoAnkoku, Harley725, Irinaa3, Guest (with no name:), SavSnape, mzperx, LiuanTobit, Water Child 1990, , snape4life26, Kurama159, Ayla-tan, 00, Procrastinator12 and JulieSnape02 cuz you guys all reviewed and made me even happier:) THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Anyways This has got to be my longest chapter yet. I really loved writing this so as always, tell me what you think! I personally love Sev in this but that has always been the case *HUGS SNAPE TIGHTLY AND RECIEVES DEATH GLARE FOR SAID SNAPE* Anyway Here we go-The truth comes out! (Finally *phew*)

Everything was black and all was silent. His eyes were closed. Someone was holding his upper body, he could feel it- one arm around his torso, another supporting his shoulders and head. A different gentle hand placed itself on his chest as something cold was pressed against his lips. Cold? He opened his mouth to protest but as soon as he did or tried to, the cold thing went in followed by a horrible viscous liquid to the back of his throat. Oh, a potion. He coughed after a moment which caused whoever was giving him this potion to remove it from his mouth quickly. Then several hands pushed him up and rubbed his back as he brought a shaky hand to his mouth to prevent the coughs spraying germs everywhere. When he stopped, he shuddered for a moment and gave a sigh, before he heard several voices and was pushed so that he fell back into whoever had him in their arms before. The arms wrapped around him gently again but with a firm grasp. He struggled weakly against them but then someone shushed him and the potion was given to him again. As he drank it, he could hear a thumping-a heart beat he recognised, towards his right hand side. That meant he was against someone's chest. He frowned and tried to open his eyes. After several tries he was successful. He groaned softly upon his awakening and could see several blurry shapes above him with some looking down at him. His sense of hearing suddenly returned.

"Look, I think he's coming out of it!"

"Thank Merlin!"

"I-I can't believe it!"

"I know-I me-mean like how is that ev-even possible?"

"Is it...really him?"

"I hope so!"

"Have Ron and Lavender gone to madam Pomfrey yet?!"

"They're taking too long!"

"What about Headmistress Mcgonigal!? She would want to see this!"

"I'll-ill go and get the headmistress as-as well!"

Severus groaned slightly more loudly this time and tried to sit up. Almost immediately the blurry figures looked at him and approximately ten hands pushed him back down into the arms again. This was irritating. He couldn't do much with so many hands around. He tried to recall what had happened and blinked several times in order to get rid of the blurriness. Then his eyes widened as they cleared.

He had been securely placed in Potter 's arms on the floor with his students crowded around him. Several had tear tracks on their cheeks and many were shouting out random statements like the ones he had heard before. Potter at this moment didn't have his eyes on him but Severus was looking up at Harry. Until Harry looked at him and his eyes widened with something akin to relief.

"You're awake. I'm so relieved sir!" He said with a shaky voice. Why so shaky? Then Severus realised what must have happened. When he looked at his reflection in Harry's glasses he saw dark, glazed, obsidian eyes staring back at him. His eyes. Severus Snape's eyes.

No! The spells had come off completely and he probably looked like himself again.

He struggled frantically but Harry tightened his grip and pinned his arms down against his sides.

"No Snape you have to stay like this. If you move you could hurt yourself even more"

Even more? Then he remembered something vaguely. A cauldron had exploded showering him in debris only because he was too weak and dizzy at that moment to put a Protego spell on himself. The consequences were that he now had a large open gash going from the side of his torso to his stomach which Harry was holding (probably to staunch the bleeding) and he had a very high fever because he hadn't had time to finish brewing the antivenom which he was supposed to have taken the night before. He spoke out but his throat felt raw and his breathing was shallow. He was also starting to feel lightheaded.

"Need...anti..."

Harry blinked then looked at Hermione. "Hermione! Run to his store cupboard and find something to heal his side. Quickly!"

Within a matter of minutes, Hermione managed to give him a potion which cleared most of the dizziness and sewed his side back together so that he wasn't bleeding to death anymore. He nodded his gratitude and closed his eyes in submission though it wasn't the potion he had in mind. Just then, the door opened and Draco walked in followed by an annoyed headmistress Mcgonigal.

"Is what I have heard true!? That-" she stopped dead in her tracks as she took in the prone figure on the ground. Then her face turned red with a mixture of pain and anger as she stood above him and starting yelling.

"Professor Slade! How dare you mock the staff and students with this cruel trick. I understand you were skeptical of our love for Severus in the meeting but this goes well beyond disrespect! Why this is beyond unacceptable!"

"Min-Minerva..." He sat up slowly this time and Potter let him go this time because of shock at Minerva's reaction. Snape's eyes were still closed. He placed one hand on the ground to steady himself and brought the other to hold his pounding head. How could she not realise it was him!? He would have thought he looked quite like...well himself. That it would be quite obvious!

"...it's me...it's really me..." He whispered.

"This is not possible!" She was still angry. Then he opened his eyes and stared at her.

"Minerva...it's me...believe me...please...I-I'm so sorry..." He continued to whisper. But he noticed she had stopped looking angry and was instead fascinated with his eyes. Of course they had always been a mystery to her, but now they stood for something more and meant alot to her. She thought she would never see them again. Severus' dark mysterious, obsidian eyes. He was about to close them again to reduce the amount of light affecting his head when she whispered a gentle "nox", took in his frail appearance and knelt next to him. It all made sense. The way he brewed and his handwriting on the potion bottle, his knowledge of the school. When Alder had called him Severus. That his painting didn't speak. She should have known then, they were all such obvious signs.

There wasn't a chance she would overlook the possibility that Servine Slade could very well be Severus Snape. She couldn't process it for a moment and knelt there with tears welling up in her eyes. Her heart leapt with hope and disbelief and Harry looked at her with similar hope and tears. To Harry, if this man was Severus then he had every chance to say everything he had wanted to say and every opportunity to get to know him. Of course only if this wasn't a lie.

"So is it...is it really him? Is he really Severus?"

"I am not sure, Harry...but I think..."

Minerva, in response shuffled forward and took Severus' shoulders. He offered no resistance probably because he was too weak and didn't say anything as he closed his eyes. He was shivering too despite him being quite warm. She frowned. Did he have a fever? She placed a hand on his forehead and was stunned at the heat that radiated off it. A very high temperature was felt.

"Harry what happened?"

"I went to ask him for help with our potion and he was about to explain something to me when our potion exploded. He told everyone to get down and put a protective spell around me and Ron but didn't have time to defend himself hence..." Harry gestured to the bloody mess that was Severus' left hand side. She was glad they'd healed his side but her frown grew larger as Severus didn't say anything. He opened his eyes but they seemed to become more dull and glazed by the second.

"But that doesn't explain this high temperature he has. Look, feel it"

Harry put his hand against Severus' cheek and gasped. That was no ordinary fever, but more something that had developed. The students stood over them, watching in fear but also excitement. If this man was professor Snape then that meant he was alive and they could thank him. Harry felt this excitement too but it was soon replaced by concern that the man's sudden illness and fever that could kill him before they could even talked to him. This strengthened his resolve. If he was Severus then Harry was not going to waste the chance. He wouldn't lose him a second time.

Severus felt multiple hands feel his head but he was starting to feel lightheaded again and blocked the voices out. He would pass out again unless someone had the potion he needed. Then he heard the dungeon door open again and suddenly...

"Severus! Merlin child how could you let this happen?! Why didn't you take the potion!?" It was Albus. Severus felt a warm feeling of relief but that soon turned into fear. The fight they had earlier was still in his mind. And it was unlikely Albus would talk to him let alone help him-

"Minerva the potion in the cauldron on his desk will help him. Harry give him to me and get it! Hurry, he doesn't have long!"

Then Severus felt his body being transferred again to older hands. He was laid down with his head on Albus' lap. He looked up at his mentor who was upside down and breathing became more difficult. The venom was taking it's toll.

"I'm so sorry...Albus...made a ...mis-mistake...I-" he was cut off by a potion Albus was administering to him. His eyes widened when he recognised the antivenom and downed it immediately . After what seemed like the most tense minutes, he felt way more alert. His breathing returned to normal and his complexion gained more colour. He could handle things much better now. He opened his eyes wide, took a deep breath and sat up no longer shivering.

Minerva could not believe what she had just witnessed and heard.

"Albus?! Did he just say Albus!?" She turned to Alder in shock who still had his charms in place. He sighed and waved his new wand in the air chanting a complicated spell. A second later Albus Dumbledore was seated next to her with Severus by his side. The whole class gasped and Harry smiled widely. Both were alive! Two people who had supposedly died in the war to save and help him had survived! Harry felt a warm sensation grow in his heart as he looked at Albus and Severus who had their heads down.

"Are you...is it actually you...headmasters?"

Severus jumped a little at the title but Albus looked up and nodded warmly at Harry.

"I believe it has been a very long time since we last spoke Harry. I think headmaster Snape here would also agree, wouldn't you Severus?" But Severus' mind was still reeling at what had happened. They had been discovered and now there was nothing he could do to deter them. Forget everything, these children must hold a great amount of hatred even if their headmistress expected them to miss me. It was all for show, how could they not despise him? How could they want him alive? He knew they would be shocked at this discovery but they were still probably secretly itching to throw him into Azkaban after deciding to punish him themselves.

"Pro...professor Snape? Headmaster Snape?" Harry tried again. He lifted his head and realised every pair of eyes in the room was trained on him. They wanted him to answer. What did they want him to say?

"I...don't know what to say..." Was his not-so intelligent responce. Harry's face saddened instantly when he saw tears down Severus' face. Severus hadn't even realised he had been crying silently. Minerva and Albus stood up and pulled him to his feet.

"I think...perhaps we had best go to my office. I would like to ask a few questions. Harry come with us. I think perhaps you should also be a part of this as you are a witness to what happened. The rest of you are to say nothing of this. We are yet to affirm the legality of the situation. Do not say a word to anyone else in the school. I will inform everyone later of my decision at dinner. Go to your dormitories and get on with your written class work there"

Everyone tore their eyes of the headmasters and went to pack up their things to leave.

Minerva cleared her throat. "Well now if you three would care to accompany me to my office" and they left the dungeons.

Minerva guided them to the room and turned on the fire. Severus couldn't help but feel nervous. He thought he could sense she wasn't entirely convinced. Harry on the other hand seemed absolutely thrilled and couldn't take his eyes of him. Albus noticed Severus' discomfort at being scrutinized and chuckled to himself. Severus glared at him but gasped when he felt Minerva trap him in a warm hug. Albus and Harry raised their eye brows in surprise mirroring Severus.

"Minerva...what are you doing?"

She inhaled his scent and smiled. It was just like him. His voice, reaction, manner, everything was all him. He was alive. She then turned and did the same to Albus and found she thought the same thing. They were here and surely any poly juice potions would have worn off by now. She stood back to have a look at them and gave a wobbly smile.

"Is it really you two? Could it really be that you're alive?"

"Yes Minerva. It really is us. I rescued Severus from bleeding to death by what I thought looked like snake bites. I took him from the shack and looked after him." Harry looked at Minerva at the mention of Nagini. He remembered watching Severus get bitten by the accursed thing and couldn't be more glad of its death.

"And as for me, well I have been alive for quite a while. I remember Severus had a similar look on his face when he first saw me" Severus scowled.

"Well take a seat. I am sure Harry is as curious as I as to how you came to be here and how you survived."

They all sat down on sofas in the warm lounge area and Minerva summoned tea. They sipped and continued.

"So Severus, how did you survive?"

"Well you now know Albus found me. He took me to a hidden hut in the forest and took care of me. I was unconscious for a while but managed to live long enough for Albus to get to me."

"And that is why your body went missing. We searched for a long time but found nothing. We never guessed you had survived and was taken by Albus, speaking of which..." Harry turned to Dumbledore. "How come you're alive? It's amazing"

"No my boy. What you did was amazing! You defeated Voldemort and that child is something to be proud of! But I must confess I am alive because of very ancient magic that I delved in."

"What do you mean Albus?" Minerva was intrigued but he waved it off.

"That is for another time, but let's just say I have many tricks up my sleavee. Right now though I want to know how you feel about all this. Are you surprised?"

"Surprised! I am very surprised! I can't believe that my only father figure, Albus Dumbledore is alive! And that the professor, the man who has protected us all, professor Snape, is still alive! But..." Harry looked slightly sad for a second but Severus noticed.

"But...what, Harry?" Harry looked up at the wizard in surprise.

"You've never called me Harry before" Severus' cheeks went slightly red as he blushed. Harry was surprised that he had made Severus Snape blush. The man continued to appear evermore human with every extra minute Harry spent around him.

"W-Well I couldn't call you that with the dark lord around could I!" Harry laughed then stopped and gazed at the headmasters kindly.

"But...why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell us you were alive? That was what professor Trawlawny had said right? That you were hiding something? Was this it?"

Albus made eye contact with Severus and the potion master sighed. "I...Yes that was the secret I suppose. And as for why we hid this...the reason was that I thought you all..." Minerva leaned in to listen.

"We all what, Severus?" He looked at her with pain filled eyes.

"You all hated me. Wanted me dead. I...was cruel, a death eater and was one of the worst one's because I was traitor who killed Dumbledore. I thought that if I walked in here the students would want to kill me and I was such a coward and I-" His throat clenched. He swallowed and his eyes became distant. "I deserve it..."

Harry stared up at him looking absolutely horrified. He turned on Snape and spoke firmly. "You are not a coward Snape. You are the bravest most loyal person we have ever seen. Everyone here has missed you and so many people feel they owe their lives to you. You do not deserve anything other than a bloody award for being the most self-sacrifing idiot!" Snape flinched in surprise and frowned at being called an idiot. But Harry kept on going.

"It's true! How could you even think we don't appreciate what you did for what you did for my mother Lily-"

"Enough!...enough..." Severus put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. Everytime he thought of Lily his heart felt as though it would chatter. The three watched him sadly but didn't say anything until he took his hands away and looked up.

"So what happens now? Are we going to reveal this to the rest of the school?" Albus began to twinkle as the question was asked. Minerva laughed at Albus' cheeky grin.

" We will surprise them Severus! We shall walk in rather dramatically looking like ghosts and will claim we were risen from the dead!

In the middle of Albus' tirade, the floo could be heard from the other room. Both headmasters stiffened and Minerva looked up. A very concerned Poppy came in along with Ron. She caught sight of the two headmasters and gasped.

"Merlin, so it's true!" Her eyes watered and she hugged them both tightly around their necks. Severus patted her awkwardly.

"Poppy don't cry" Severus had always hated to see her sad but he didn't understand why she was now. She let go of them and sat next to Minerva while Ron sat next to Harry and stared at Snape and Albus.

"Harry...Are they..?"

"Yep. I think it is definitely them. We were just in the middle of discussing how we would tell everyone" Harry grinned as he caught Severus' scowl. Poppy looked at Severus and pulled out her wand. She cast a diagnostic spell and gasped.

"Severus you've been poisoned! How long have you had this much venom in your body?!" Everyone looked at him shocked but he waved them off.

"It's nothing. I am fine-"

"Severus this is not nothing. You are running a fever constantly and according to this the venom is draining you. Have you been taking anything?"

" One of the potions I should be taking. I'm meant to take seven but I haven't had time to make them"

"No wonder. It looks like you've been overdosing on antivenom but that didn't stop other symptoms. Why did he collapse in class?"

"Ah our potion exploded and he was sprayed. It stripped off the glamours and cut him on his side."

"You've been hurt Severus? Show me your wounds and Ill heal them right now. And then Ill brew the potions you need. By the look of this venom you are in no shape to stand and brew several potions. You should be resting. In fact I'm taking you to the hospital wing"

"No no not necessary. Someone gave me a potion that healed my side though I would like a blood replenishing potion. I do feel slightly dizzy still." Poppy jumped to her feet and went to get him the potion. Minerva got into a conversation with Harry and Albus while Ron looked at Snape.

"You know. I don't regret mucking up my potion now that I know it means I know you are alive. Thank you for everything you have ever done for us headmaster" Ron beamed at him and Snape gazed at him curiously.

"Are you not upset?"

"Why would I be?"

"Because I'm alive? Do you not hate me? I was always harsh to you three"

"Why would I be? You saved our lives. You put yourself at risk constantly and we didn't even appreciate it. The fact that you're alive means we can now show how grateful we are. You don't even know how bad Hermione felt when she realised how brave you were." He laughed and Snape smirked.

"Yes the know-it-all can be known to fret too much" he was actually joking with Ron Weasly. Since when had that happened.

After Poppy gave him the potion they talked for a while more before Minerva reminded Severus.

"Severus you need to rest. I think perhaps a few hours before dinner in the hall should suffice. Albus make sure he gets some rest" He nodded and stood up. Poppy left promising to find out more along with Ron who knew Hermione was waiting and Minerva went up to her desk too saying she would see them at dinner. Albus and Severus were about to leave when Harry stopped him.

"Ummm if its ok with you can I speak to professor Snape in private for a few minutes. I really need to talk to him." Albus nodded and went to the dungeons through the floo while Severus stood there looking at Harry.

"What is it Harry?" But Harry took him by his wrist and made him sit down on a sofa again. He then sat opposite Snape and spoke.

"While I was mourning you I thought of all the things I would say if I ever got the chance to see you again. I am so lucky I have that chance now because there is so much I am grateful for. Firstly I never wanted you to die. After I saw your memories I hated the fact that you were gone before I could even get to know you. The real you who wasn't a spy who put his life at risked. The brave, kind and loyal person my mother knew-" Severus made to speak but Harry silenced him.

"No headmaster this is something I need to say. Please listen. I want to get to know you. I want you to be cared for again. Merlin knows how much care you got here when you were headmaster. But there are so many people who care for you at the moment and you deserve nothing less. I promise you though, that I will not leave you. I won't make the mistake of letting you walk into danger like you did when you died. I will make sure you are protected just as you protected me all these years. Thank you Snape. Thank you so much for looking out for me all these years. Thank you for giving so much to end Voldemort and thank you for being so loyal to my mother and to Dumbledore and the cause. I won't lose you again Snape, I won't let it happen." Severus looked up at him slightly dazed. Wow the boy had thought about this. But the boy had thanked him and that made it all worthwhile since it was the closest thing he had to Lily.

"I...thank you Potter...Harry" Harry gave him a huge smile.

"Sir I think perhaps you should rest. You can sleep till dinner this evening. You may need to gather your strength for then cuz I'm sure everyone will be surprised" They stood up and headed to the floo but just as he was about to turn to leave Harry stopped him again.

"Professor Snape I'm sorry" he smiled cheekily.

"What wh-" he was about to ask why but then felt arms tighten around his waist and he was pulled into a tight hug with Potter's head resting on his chest. He stopped and looked down at him. The boy wanted to hug him and he had to admit it did feel nice especially since he had deprived himself of human contact for so long. He put a hand on Harry's head and sighed.

"I suppose I must get used to this if this is part of your gratitude"

"Mhmm"

"Well then." He tentatively put his arms around him and hugged Harry back. Harry tightened his hug in response. Then he let go of Snape and ordered the wizard to get some sleep. And Snape slept with no nightmares till it was time to go to the great hall.

TBC:D