Disclaimer: I own nothing.

To Die for Rebirth

Chapter 2

Rescuing Harry

The Headmaster's office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was deserted in the middle of that night, spare for an old man with long white hair and beard scribbling last minute paper works before he was going to turn in for the day. Albus Dumbledore had a boring day full of mundane office duties for his roles in Wizengamot, ICW, and Hogwarts. He was really too old for all that. When the time came he would gladly release all his posts but with the current war waging he had no choice. Without a warning, green fire erupted from his fireplace and a black-clad figure stepped out into the quirky office full of strange instruments.

"Headmaster!" Severus Snape called as soon as he was out of the fireplace. Albus noticed a tint of panic and worry lacing his voice. "Yes, Severus? I am quite surprised to see you here this late. Is there any problem?" he said and gestured his hand to the chair at the other side of his desk.

"Yes. I need to check on Potter right now. Here, you'll understand when you read this," Severus said and dropped a small brown parcel carefully to the headmaster's desk. "You can read the letter but please don't look at the memories just yet," he said quickly, turned back to the fireplace, dropped a pinch of Floo powder and shouted, "The Leaky Cauldron!"

Dumbledore looked at his Potions Master in wonder. "Just what could have made him lose his composure like that?" he thought. Shaking his head lightly in amazement, Dumbledore opened the parcel and took the letter.

He had to read the letter three times before comprehending the magnitude of it. He just hoped that Harry Potter would be safe from any harm.

The Potions Professor appeared by Floo at the Leaky Cauldron. Once he got out, the black-clad man directly apparated to a secluded lane by Privet Drive, Surrey. He brisk-walked to house number four and took notice of the unusual quietness and the lack of lights in the house. Shrugging away the irregularity due to the late hour, he discreetly entered the house after unlocking the door with a simple alohomora. The inside of 4 Privet Drive was pitch dark as the only light he got was from the streetlamp located two houses away. With a whispered lumos, Severus examined the house.

There was no hint that revealed the existence of one Harry Potter in that house. Hanged photographs on the wall only displayed a married couple and their blonde-haired fat son. Severus recognized the woman to be Lily's sister. He had met Petunia when he was young during the pre-Hogwarts time. The Snapes and the Evans used to live in the same neighborhood at Spinner's End. Shaking his thought of Petunia and Lily, he casted a magic detection charm used to identify magical items and signatures. From his wand, two faint strains of light reached out to two different locations. The nearer one pointed to the cupboard under the stairs, which he decided to check first.

Another alohomora opened the locked cupboard. Severus peeked inside and found Harry's magical trunk and Hedwig's cage stored inside. Finding the light switch next to the door, he flicked it on. However, the light bulb won't turn on. He drew the conclusion that something is wrong with the electrical fuses, as the garden lights were not on either. He put more power to his lumos spell and illuminated the small cupboard.

On the floor he saw a small worn cot that he would normally deduce to be a house-elf's. But knowing how anti-magic Lily's sister was, he dismissed the possibility. He came to the only possibility. This was, or at least used to be Harry Potter's room. He noticed several old drawings on the walls and the ceiling which would definitely be Harry's judging by the strokes he was so familiar of after grading his essays for five years. The number of drawings could only mean one thing: Harry Potter was frequently locked in. Guilt ran its course on him as he had always treated Harry as a spoiled brat who was worshipped at home and everywhere else. But looking at the reality now, he would have to apologize as soon as he could especially with the now-known truth that he was his father. With that mental reminder, a shot of anger directed towards the Dursleys came into his mind. He was so going to hurt them.

Severus had to engage active Occlumency to control his anger and guilt. After a minute or so he regained control and withdrew from the cupboard. He closed the door and followed the other strain of magic upstairs. He was terrified to see the strain go inside a door with three padlocks and a cat flap attached. They seemed to be newly installed. The padlocks were left open so Severus adopted a fighting stance in case someone was waiting inside.

With alertness he kicked the door open. The door did not completely open because it was blocked by something big, someone big. He bent down cautiously, still keeping his wand out, and checked on the body blocking the door. A quick check revealed a dead Vernon Dursley. Dursley's body was still warm and Severus easily identified electrocution as the cause of death. Severus shook his head with regret for not being able to hurt the whale himself and kicked the man's body aside. The room was in a mess. It seemed that some explosion had happened recently and Vernon landed on the electric socket. "Served him right," Severus mumbled softly.

He saw a silhouette lying limp on the small worn bed and his heart skipped a beat. Severus approached the bed tentatively, not having the courage of lighting up the room with stronger lumos.He was afraid to find out the condition his newfound son would be in. The journey to the bed took him faster than he had wanted because of the small size of the room. Harry Potter was lying there naked and limp. He did not resemble the infuriating young Potter boy he was so used to see in school. Instead, he saw some resemblance to himself despite Lily dominating the features. He was definitely not in a good physical condition and with such physique Severus could bet that his son's magical core was not in its prime either. Cold rage engulfed the Potions Master. The condition Harry was in brought many different scenarios that could have had happened to him on the hand of Vernon Dursley. He just wished that things were not too extreme – little did he know. While he was angry towards the Dursley before, he was enraged to the point that Vernon Dursley should be glad he was dead right now.

Severus finally grasped the gravity of the situation and quickly ran a diagnostic charm over the boy. At least the magical detection charm detected his presence, which was a good indication of Harry being alive. He was glad that Harry was at least alive, although only barely. Another spell provided him with his son's level of magical reserve. It was running pretty low despite there was evident of magic being lashed out in the room. 'This should be the case Lily had written about. Such thing will only happen to Pot- Harry. Aren't there enough weird things happening to you? The philosopher's stone, Slytherin's Chamber, Triwizard champion, the latest department of mysteries debacle…' Severus mused.

Based on Harry's reserve level, it would not be possible for him to travel via magical means. Severus decided to use the traditional Knight Bus due to its low magical exposure. He took off his coat and wrapped it over Harry before carrying him downstairs. A few quick spells shrunk Harry's trunk and other belongings, which flew into Severus' pocket. He then left the house quietly and boarded the Knight Bus as soon as it arrived. He would leave Dumbledore and his turkeys to do the clean up work later.

Dumbledore was still at his desk, considering the recent information that he had gotten. Harry Potter was never a Potter at all. This changed a lot of things. Harry would still be the Child of Prophecy because Severus should have defied the Dark Lord more than three times. If the information went public, Harry might lose some sway that his name had carried. Potter was a well-known light supporter. Severus Snape, however, was a renowned Death Eater. He really needed to figure out how to overcome this problem.

The Hogwarts ward informed him of the arrival of his Potions Master via the main gate. The method of arrival caught the headmaster by surprise, as the Floo network would be a faster way to reach the castle. This could only mean one thing: either Harry or Severus was in trouble and could not travel by magical means. Albus consulted the Hogwarts ward and proved his theory right. The father and son were heading towards the infirmary. Bringing Severus' parcel with him, he quickly walked to the fireplace and shouted, "Hogwarts Hospital Wing!"

When he stepped out after an exhilarating ride he found the infirmary to be empty. "Poppy! Get ready for a patient or two!" Dumbledore called and knocked on the matron's chamber to alert her about the arrival of his two favorite men.

"Headmaster! What in the name of Merlin has happened? It's half past one for God's sake! Let me get dressed properly and I'll be out in a minute!" said Poppy sleepily.

Dumbledore did not wait for her and started preparing one of the beds when he heard Severus' hasty footsteps. "Poppy-!" Severus called loudly until he realized that the headmaster was already there. "Headmaster. Thank Merlin you are aware of my arrival." With long steps he reached the first bed and laid Harry Potter carefully on the table. He then collapsed on a nearby armchair and kept silent to regain his self-control.

Poppy Pomfrey walked out of her chamber and assessed her surrounding. She was about to scold the headmaster and Snape for waking her up in the middle of the night until she realized that she had a patient lying on one of the beds. Her professionalism took over. Forgetting the previous agenda she had in mind, she hurried to her patient and ran various diagnosis charms.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore conjured another armchair next to Severus and sat comfortably, waiting for his man to calm down patiently. When Snape's face became composed, he said, "I trust the transformation did not go too well?"

"It was worse, Headmaster. Potter- Harry was definitely not in a good physical condition and neither was his magical reserve. It seemed that some backlash happened during the transformation but I did not really comprehend what really happened. When I found him he was already unconscious. Vernon Dursley is also dead, in the same room. His uncle died of electrocution. I suppose we will have to ask Harry to find out what took place before the transformation. However, it might be hard for him to recall. He was naked when I found him, Albus! I'm sure you understand what I'm implying here," Severus gave a complete recollection of the events from his point of view. He got emotional towards the end of it and started shaking lightly.

To say Dumbledore was flabbergasted would be an understatement. He had no idea that Vernon Dursley would ever do such a hideous thing. "How did that happen? What about Petunia and her son?"

Shaking his head lightly Severus said, "They were not in the house. I assume Vernon had sent them away. Anyway, I trust you will arrange someone to clean up the mess? Muggle negative publicity towards Harry may cause our side trouble as well."

"Yes, I'll do that right now. Anyway here's the parcel. You should read the second page of the letter since you are still addressing your son as Harry," Dumbledore handed the parcel to him with a small encouraging smile although his face still looked quite grim. He then got up and left to settle the situation at 4 Privet Drive.

Severus took out the second page of the letter and found his son's birth certificate.

Birth Certificate

Sebastian Severus Snape

Born to Lily Annabelle Potter and Severus Amadeus Snape
July 31st, 1980
23:59

To be continued…

A/N: There you go! The second chapter. This chapter took me a while to write because I have to balance between putting too much details and keeping the story flow. I don't like the first and last part of the chapter either. I'm crap in writing action-full scenes! *facepalm*

I was also trying to work out the plot. I finally settled in making Harry skip his 6th year to train and get used to Severus. No, Harry won't be coming back under different name either. You'll have to wait and see how things work out in the end. But I'll try to get Harry in contact with several students his age (many witches too!).

Thank you for the reviews, story alerts and favs. Also for those reading the story anonymously. Please keep them coming! :D. Reviews help me to know what improvements can be made. Suggestions and flames are welcome too!

Review. Review. Review! ~Jollybird