Chapter 14:

Old Enemies, New Wounds:

"You wanted to see me?" Severus asked ten minutes later, his tone cold and indifferent as he looked at the man in distaste, knowing what was likely to come.

"Ah," Remus said, looking up from the papers on his desk when Severus entered. "Yes, I did. Please, come in, have a seat."

Severus strode further into the Defence room, but didn't relax his stance or sit down. "Come on, Lupin," he said coolly. "I know this isn't a social call. What is it?"

Remus put down his quill and leaned back in his chair, surveying the man for a moment before rising and walking around his desk, leaning on its edge comfortably. "Very well, Severus," he said conversationally. "You never were one for idle chit-chat." Severus snorted, eyeing him warily. "What is it you're after?" Remus asked, ignoring the man's rudeness.

"What do you mean?" Severus asked; his voice dangerously low.

"Oh, come now, Severus," Remus answered. "I'm not stupid. I'm talking about Harry. He's the 'Boy-Who-Lived', the 'Saviour of the Wizarding world', there has to be something you want. What is it? Gold? Fame? To be able to say you were his lover?"

Severus sneered.

"Not that it's any of your business, but no," Severus replied, growing angry. Remus smiled. "Actually," he said. "It is my business. As James' friend, I am only looking out for Harry's best interest, and that is not you. He's part of my pack, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure you've nothing to do with him."

"Harry's a grown man and if you must know," Severus muttered through tight lips. "Abbey is our daughter, if you hadn't guessed already."

Remus blanched. He had hoped that the resemblance was merely coincidental and that another had fathered the girl; that Harry had merely led her to believe the man was her sire because no one else was around after Draco. "What did you do, Severus," he asked. "Slip him a potion so that he'd be enamoured of you?"

Severus' eyes glittered dangerously. "No," he said firmly, glaring at the man before him, hatred of the man flowing through him.

"Forgive me if I find that hard to believe," Remus intoned.

Severus' control slipped with this statement and he spoke without thinking. "Damnit, James! Is it so hard for you to believe that I'm in love with your son, and he's in love with me? You always did hate me… Well, I have news for you; I won't let you come between us! I never meant for you and Lily to die!"

Severus paled when he saw the look of shock on the man's face and stumbled backward as though from a physical blow, grasping for the wall as his legs threatened to give way. "Oh, God," Severus whispered, collapsing against the wall and sliding to the floor, burying his head in his hands.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, his voice barely a whisper as he clutched at his desk for support; his knuckles white, his grip was so tight, but Severus didn't answer. "You killed them," Remus muttered quietly, and still, Severus didn't speak. The man drew his wand, seeing red. "You're the reason their dead. You killed them!" Remus yelled, holding his wand level with Severus.

Severus looked up and seeing the look on the man's face, knew he was about to be Avadaed. "Would you really leave Abbey without a father?" Severus asked quietly. There was no pleading in his voice. It was just a simple question. "Or Harry to raise another child… alone?" Severus watched as a look of disbelief crossed the man's face. "Yes, Lupin," he said quietly. "That's what caused Harry to faint. His body was under too much stress. He's pregnant… I can hardly believe it, but Poppy assures me I'll be a father – again."

The man glared at him, standing rigidly, but slowly lowered his wand. "Does Harry know about this?" Remus asked coldly.

Severus nodded. "Yes," he confirmed; his tone still quiet. "He woke not long after you left."

"He knows about the baby," Remus asked icily. "Or that you killed Lily and James?" Severus knew it was pointless to try to tell the man what really happened, so he remained silent. "On your feet," Remus commanded, waving his wand threateningly. "You'll be telling Harry everything before the Ministry is contacted again."

He herded Severus to the door at wand point. "You may have slipped through their fingers once, even Albus testified for you… in a matter of speaking. However, I knew you were no good. It seems like you will go to Azkaban, after all. What? Did you think you'd get out of it by fathering children with Harry? You had to know that someone would find out eventually; and here, the truth comes to light by a slip you made after all these years. Ironic, isn't it?"

Severus didn't reply and Remus pushed him roughly from the room. "Get moving," he said in a snarling tone. "Funny how after all these years of walking the fence, the great spy makes an amateur mistake, landing himself in a courtroom three days after being pardoned."

Harry was eating his soup and talking with his daughter about what she had seen while exploring with Dobby when he heard Madame Pomfrey shouting outside. He jumped when the door burst open and looked up in shocked surprise to see Severus forced into the room at wand point by Remus.

"What's going on?" Harry cried, looking from Severus to Remus for an explanation of what had happened while they had supposedly been meeting to talk.

Severus looked at him sadly, but merely lowered his gaze dejectedly as Remus shoved him into a chair. "Poppy," Remus shouted, but had no need to, because the mediwitch was right behind him. "Please take Abbey with you, Harry, Severus and I have some things to talk about."

Poppy looked worriedly to Harry and Severus, but nodded slowly, beckoning the little girl. "Daddy?" Abbey asked; her voice filled with fear as she looked from her father to her uncle and back before turning her gaze to him.

Harry smiled at her faintly and nodded reassuringly. "It'll be all right, baby," he said softly and nodded toward Poppy. "Go on, you can explore with Dobby some more or I'm sure Poppy will give you a nice treat while we talk," he murmured and looked to the mediwitch, who nodded in understanding. Holding her hand out, the little girl grasped it tightly and followed her from the room, closing the door behind them.

Harry turned to glare up at Remus, throwing back the covers and swinging his legs off the bed though he remained sitting. "Now," he said angrily, once his daughter was gone. "Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?"

Severus wanted to answer him, but remained silent, knowing the man wouldn't let him speak until he wanted him to, so he stared out the window, swallowing hard.

"Remus?" Harry asked, his eyes glittering dangerously. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? What the hell happened?"

"Harry," Remus replied coolly. "Do you know who's responsible for your parents' death?"

Harry paled, looking to Severus, who glanced at him fleetingly. "Yes," Harry answered, his voice laced with anger. "Peter Pettigrew. I know that already. What does that have to do with this?"

"Ah, yes," Remus said. "I didn't think he'd tell you."

"Tell me?" Harry asked, feigning ignorance. "Tell me what?"

"It appears," Remus said airily. "That Pettigrew wasn't working alone when he betrayed your parents to Voldemort."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked vehemently, glaring at the sandy haired man.

"Why don't you tell him, Severus?" Remus asked in a holier-than-thou tone. "Obviously, he didn't understand what you told him. On the other hand, did you just neglect to mention that little titbit of information? Were you scared he'd turn you away if he knew the truth?" Remus jeered.

Severus sighed heavily and cast Harry a pleading look. "Stop it, Remus!" Harry shouted, causing the man to look at him in surprise. "I already know! Just – just shut the hell up!" Harry pushed himself to his feet and moved along the bedside table, grasping it for support as he reached for Severus. Severus' head jerked up when Harry stood and both he and Remus rushed to the young man, seeking to support him before he fell. "Stop!" Harry cried, glaring at the sandy haired man, causing him to pull back.

Remus swallowed convulsively as he watched Harry allow Severus to help him, but refused to sit down. "You – you knew about this?" Remus asked in disbelief. If anything, he thought Harry should be angry with the man beside him, but he appeared to be angrier with him than he did Severus.

"Yes, I knew!" Harry spat, seething. "He told me when he found me outside the manor grounds – it seems," he continued with a sneer. "That Draco reset the wards, denying him access to the manor. Did you not see what happened in the hospital? It's Draco you should be angry with; he's the one who tried to enslave me, not Severus."

"Harry," Severus murmured, seeing the young man's legs trembling beneath him more obviously, he reached out to draw him onto his lap.

"Shut up," Remus sneered at the man. "Don't even think about touching him!"

"Fuck off, Lupin!" Harry bit out angrily, causing the man to start in surprise when his head shot up from nodding as he agreed to allow his lover to help him. With Severus' assistance, Harry sat down, sighing in relief to get off his unsteady legs.

"Harry," Lupin said in confusion. "How can you trust him? How can you even stand to be around him, knowing that he's the reason your parents are dead?"

Harry leaned his head against Severus' chest as the man wrapped his arms around him protectively. "It's easy," Harry replied, gazing at the man as he sat nestled against his lover. "I know they had to die. I don't fault him for what he had to do. Or are you forgetting the prophecy?"

Remus made a face of disgust as he watched Harry relax against the other man, but at his words, an expression of disbelief and confusion replaced it. "What about the prophecy?" Remus asked. "What do you mean you don't fault him for what he had to do? Lily and James would still be here if he hadn't betrayed them to Voldemort."

Harry smiled, realizing now that there was a likely reason behind Dumbledore separating them after they had been together. "I see," Harry murmured quietly, lowering his eyes a moment as he thought on this. "Albus didn't tell the Order the full prophecy… thanks a lot, old man."

Albus smiled down at them from a picture not far away. 'You're quite welcome, my boy,' he thought, his blue eyes twinkling merrily. 'Sometimes, the greatest victories won, are those whose battles are fought on ones own.' Silently, Albus slipped out of the frame unnoticed, a smile still on his face.

"No," Severus said softly, eyeing the man as he placed a kiss to his lover's hair. "It appears more than what we had first suspected, remains a mystery."

Remus growled. "What are you talking about, Harry?"

"You've no idea if James and Lily would be here today if not for Severus," Harry replied, returning his hard, icy gaze to the man for whom he was quickly losing respect. "Highly probable, yes, but not certain. Its true Voldemort wouldn't have been looking for them if not for him, but there's no guarantee that they would be alive. Actually, you yourself told me that they died so that I could live… which is true; if Voldemort had heard of the prophecy through some other means, I would not be here today if they had not sacrificed themselves for me."

"Harry," Remus asked in befuddlement, wondering if the man had lied and slipped him some kind of potion. "What are you talking about? What do you mean 'full prophecy'?"

"What I'm saying, is that yes, it true that my parents died so that I could live, I don't doubt that! However, even then, merely because I had lived when Voldemort tried to kill me, I was destined to defeat him, but I didn't have the power to do that. Every time I faced him when I was here at school, it was their sacrifice that kept me alive, nothing else. The prophecy spoke of 'a power that the Dark Lord knows not'; I never had it, that's why he kept coming back."

Harry felt Severus tighten his hold on him and took comfort in his presence.

"It wasn't until my sixth year here that I found out what it meant, and like it or not Remus," Harry said, looking at the man with barely bridled anger. "Severus is a part of that. If it weren't for him, Voldemort would have won."

"You don't know that, Harry," Remus said, trying hard to disregard what the young man had said. He was sure that Severus had him under some sort of spell or potion now; he just wondered why Madame Pomfrey had not been able to detect it.

"I don't know that, do I?" Harry asked sarcastically, glaring at the man. "What makes you so sure?"

Remus didn't answer, but pushed on. "Harry," he said pleadingly. "He killed James and Lily; your parents! They were my friends, part of my pack, just as you are by them, and Abbey is by you. Harry, he deserves to go to Azkaban."

"You will not touch him!" Harry snarled through clenched teeth as he glared hatefully at the man who had dared utter such words. "You say that I am part of your pack because of my relationship with your friends; because I'm their son. Well, what about Abbey? You dare to say that she is part of your pack as well, because she is my daughter, yet you fail to acknowledge her father! I swear Remus, if you dare take him from me, to hell with you pack! He's my chosen, my mate!"

Severus' breath hitched at this proclamation and Remus looked at Harry in shock. "Harry," Remus tried once more.

"No!" Harry snapped, finally lifting his head to look at the man fully, though he didn't move from his lover's lap. "Do you think I'mstupid? I know that my father hated him and I know that you and Sirius hated him by association, but I also know that if they were still alive, Voldemort would be running this place and I would probably be dead by now. It is because of their death that Voldemort was able to be defeated."

Harry paused for breath and Remus looked at him curiously, knowing better than to speak. "It was because of Severus that he was defeated, not me. I know I dealt the final blow, but I couldn't have done it without him and he wouldn't have been there if my parents survived."

"Harry," Remus chanced quietly. "How can you say that? You're their son. What was the 'power the Dark Lord knows not'? And how could Severus have given it to you… if it was something he'd already had, why didn't he defeat Voldemort himself?"

Harry swallowed dryly and Severus handed him the glass of water. "Thank you," he murmured, taking a drink to soothe his throat before handing it back. Severus returned it to the table as Harry returned his attention to the sandy haired man. "Severus didn't have it to kill Voldemort," Harry answered. "But that didn't prevent him from giving it to me." Remus wrinkled his brow in confusion.

"The answer," he continued, "is Abbey. It's because of the blood magic my mother left me," Harry clarified. "She died to protect me because she loved me so much. It was love that protected me when Voldemort tried to kill me. Voldemort was deluded; he thought that love was a weakness and therefore, commanded that all children of his Death Eaters brought up not to show love and compassion, including Draco. Whether you believe it or not, Remus, I love Severus. Dumbledore told me that my ability to love was my strongest weapon… I didn't understand him then."

Harry paused, letting that sink in to see if it helped the man understand what he was saying. Apparently it didn't, because the man looked even more befuddled. Harry sighed and continued his explanation.

"Severus gave me Abbey," Harry murmured. "It was because I didn't want her growing up in a world wrought with evil that I was able to defeat Voldemort. She wasn't even born yet, but I loved her so much… just like I loved her father," he whispered, turning to gaze up into Severus' fathomless eyes.

"Albus was right," Harry said, turning back to the sandy haired man. "Love was my greatest weapon. It was because of the love I held in my heart for my unborn child along with the blood magic my mother left behind, that I was able to tap into Abbey's magic, combining it with my own and defeat Voldemort once and for all."

Remus sat down on the empty bed in shock. Harry was right; he remembered hearing Dumbledore mentioning Harry's ability to love, but even he had not understood what the old man had meant.

"Please," Harry said, drawing his attention and the man noticed he looked as frail as a helpless child did as he lay in the other man's arms. "I don't care what you think, Remus. I love Severus, and I won't let you take him from me. I'm an adult now, and I have my say at what goes on in my life. I know you just want to protect me and make my father proud, Remus. What about me, what of my happiness, doesn't it matter? Doesn't that matter too?" Remus could do nothing but nod his head as he watched the younger man's eyes become heavy. "I'm tired now," he murmured curling into Severus' arms. "Please… go away."

Severus' gaze flickered warily to the sandy haired man, who merely nodded once more before rising slowly and leaving the room, shutting the door quietly behind him as Severus laid Harry down gently on the bed, tucking him in.