Chapter 7 Albus Severus

Author: dEBB987 Beta: Nyx the Author

For an infinitely long moment nobody moved, a heavy silence filling the room with tension before Dumbledore finally decided to speak.

"There's no need to be wary Severus, they are invited guests." the headmaster said softly, which made Snape glare briefly at him before the dark gaze focused back on Aura. Merlin, why was the man so on guard—?

…Oh no, please let me be wrong.

"Aura," Harry said a little more severely than he intended, which made her look up at him with anxious, confused eyes "Was this man the one you encountered in the Apothecary?"

"Ah, um… yeah?" Aura said tentatively, not understanding Harry's reaction. He mentally cursed his luck; of course she had encountered Snape in her only errand to Diagon Alley. Suppressing the urge to sigh tiredly, he simply crossed his arms before continuing to question "Did you discuss over the ingredients you purchased?"

"…He had the last vial." was the attempt at justifying her actions, which made Harry shake his head disapprovingly.

"That was not the question. Let me phrase it differently, did your disagreement develop into a fight?"

"Of course not Hadrian-sama! Violence is bad!" she exclaimed childishly, knowing that her youthful appearance was an advantage commonly used to make the enemy underestimate her. This was her way of saying Harry hadn't allowed fights in her mission, even if she couldn't answer fully due to the wizards' presence.

Deciding this conversation was going nowhere, he turned to face Snape, who was regarding him with something between disbelief and dread.

…what exactly caused that reaction?

"Professor Snape, I assume?" the man narrowed his eyes and gave a sharp nod, the dark gaze now completely focused on Harry. The action made him wonder why he was suddenly considered the bigger threat, but that was something he probably wouldn't understand until he could listen to Aura's report regarding their encounter.

"While I admit I don't fully understand the situation, it seems I must apologize on Aura's behalf." the phrase made Aura lower her head in embarrassment, her body tensing in very-well-acted mortification. "She is young, so I suppose she may have acted a little recklessly… I will speak with her on this matter once we go back home, I assure you."

He extended an arm to hug her shoulders, silently letting her know he wasn't actually mad, and was only putting up a front for the wizards present in the office. He used to give this small speech whenever one of his sons caused trouble actually, so the act came perfectly natural, like a parent that was just waiting to arrive back home to scold their child at length.

Snape didn't seem satisfied at all by his speech, but gave a curt nod either way. The Potions Master was still on guard however, the wand grasped so strongly that his knuckles were turning white. Harry wanted to excuse himself and leave Hogwarts, but just in that moment Dumbledore questioned to know how they had met each other.

Bloody great. Harry just wanted to go back home, was that too much to ask?

It was even worse when neither Snape nor Aura answered the headmaster's question. Deciding that he may as well listen to the teacher's version, Harry turned to look expectantly at the man, whose expression had turned blank and still refused to speak.

Merlin this was weird.

"Is it alright if we listen to your version Professor? I'd like to make sure she doesn't omit anything later." Harry tried to do the parent-approach once more. Aura seemed to understand, since she crossed her arms and turned her gaze to the opposite direction, like a defiant child refusing to admit she had done something wrong.

Snape narrowed his eyes minutely at them, before finally opening his mouth to speak.

"Who are you?"

Well, that was certainly not what Harry expected him to say.

"Oh, that's right. I apologize, Albus speaks so frequently about Hogwarts' teachers it's like I already know everyone." he smiled sheepishly, nodding in greeting since he knew the other probably would refuse to shake hands "I am Lord Hadrian Peverell, pleased to make your acquaintance."

If Snape was surprised to hear the last name 'Peverell' he certainly didn't show it. The Potions Master simply turned to Dumbledore questioningly, as if for confirmation, which made the headmaster smile and nod, before tilting his head in curiosity.

"Did something happen Severus?"

"…That is the creature I met in Knocturn alley." Dumbledore simply laid back on his seat, waiting for Snape to elaborate further, but Harry didn't give him the chance.

"Her name is Aura." Harry frowned defensively, which made Snape tense up even more. Dumbledore raised his hands to make calming motions, insisting they could discuss this calmly over warm tea, but was interrupted by the deafening sound of something crashing.

The anti-apparition wards that protected the Headmaster's office had been completely shattered, in a manner so forceful it disrupted the magic almost physically, the wards falling like broken, irregular pieces of glass around the walls of the office until they completely disappeared upon reaching the floor.

The source of this situation was the [Gate] that had appeared in the middle of the room.

Harry cursed loudly, in a manner that made Aura gasp since he usually tried not to use foul language when in front of the elf twins, before he turned to look at the clock that hung in the office, just above the numerous portraits of the previous headmasters.

A single minute after midnight, 12:01.

But Harry had told them he would return to the manor before the bloody day ended.

After a certain battle in Nazarik's world almost claimed Entoma's life, Harry had placed a new security measure. Any servants venturing outside would carry an item that worked like a locator, transmitting a signal Harry, Albedo and Demiurge could track, so they could send reinforcements if the situation called for it.

Harry, being who he was, didn't carry any such thing.

… but Aura was a different story however.

Deducing the bunch of paranoid NPCs had come to Harry's 'rescue', he reached the [Gate] with a quick movement, looking to the naked eye as if he had simply appeared next to it, and stuck his right arm through the portal.

The purpose of the hand motion was clear on Potter manor, a raised hand telling the worried NPCs to stop.

"Aura," Harry all but barked, which made her straighten in attention and nod seriously at him "Go through and tell them everything is fine. I will go back once I've helped Albus place again the anti-apparition wards they just shattered."

"Y-yes, but um, Hadrian-sama…" it was odd how Aura sounded so much like her brother in that sentence, but since Harry was obviously in a bad mood it was to be expected "That would leave you alone—"

Harry silenced her with a single look, annoyance practically oozing from him, before taking back his arm from the portal. He quirked an eyebrow and took a step to the side, so the path to the [Gate] was not obstructed by him anymore.

Aura understood her argument had been dismissed, so she walked towards the portal slowly, looking up at him with puppy eyes that begged for him to reconsider. Harry simply sighed and raised a hand to her shoulder when she reached the portal, looking impassively at her.

"I need to stay and repair this." he muttered softly, and he wasn't precisely talking only about the wards "I will be fine, so go."

Aura lowered her head, looking miserably at the floor before she finally went through the [Gate], the purple, magical access immediately closing after her. The silence in the room hung so heavily it could be cut with a knife, so Harry moved very, very slowly to face the wizards in the room, trying to decide how he was going to explain this to them.

Merlin, this could not have been worse—

"Albus!" a shout was heard along with the green flashing of the fireplace, as Mcgonagall joined them in the headmaster's office "The griffin didn't let me go through no matter how many times I said the password! What is—"

Her stern, but overall worried gaze quickly took notice of Harry's presence in the room, which made her fall silent and take out her wand.

Fucking great.

Harry repeated the motion he had made when he first met Dumbledore, slowly raising his sleeves to show he was unarmed. The action made Mcgonagall relax slightly, even if it had the opposite reaction on Snape. Harry wanted to curse at him, not really understanding why the man had to distrust him so much.

A wandless wizard was not supposed to be threatening at all goddammit.

"Albus," Harry called softly to the headmaster that was still immobile, standing behind his desk "Would you please block temporarily the fireplace? I'd rather if this situation wasn't widely known."

"Ah, of course." Dumbledore finally snapped out of his shocked posture, making a wand motion directed at the fireplace, which made Snape practically snarl out.

"Dumbledore! Did you not see what just happened?!"

"Albus, what's going on?" Mcgonagall immediately asked, looking at the three of them apprehensively. It was the same face she did when she suspected the Weasley twins had successfully pulled another prank, conveying the feeling of 'Do I really want to now?'

"I think we should restart by renewing the anti-apparition wards, if that is fine with you?" Harry said serenely to Dumbledore, doing his best to ignore Snape's fierce, distrustful gaze.

"That would be the best my boy. Minerva, if you could please support me?" Mcgonagall nodded at him, still confused, but trusting Dumbledore's unperturbed mannerism as a telltale that everything was under control. They made the same wand motion, almost completely synchronized, which brought up the anti-apparition wards the [Gate] had easily shattered in the office.

Once that was done Dumbledore brought a third chair towards the front of his desk with a sharp wand movement, before sitting down on his own. Harry slowly approached the chair on the left and sat down, but neither Snape nor Mcgonagall used the other two vacant seats.

"Albus, what happened to the wards? I was afraid something had happened when I felt them going down—" the head of Gryffindor started to say. As Deputy Headmistress, she was linked to the protective wards of Hogwarts, even if the only one capable of altering them was the current Headmaster.

Even when they had only shattered in the headmaster's office, it had happened in a manner so violent that it was enough to unsettle the connection Mcgonagall had with them.

"Something did happen" Snape interrupted her, dark eyes still meaningfully focused on Harry. He met the harsh gaze head on, nodding once in repentant confirmation before turning his head towards Mcgonagall.

"Please let me introduce myself. I am Lord Hadrian Peverell, and sadly, the one behind this unfortunate incident." he said while lowering slightly his head at the three people present in the room "I apologize for the trouble I have caused."

"What was that?"

"What happened?"

Both Head of House spoke at the same time, which made them briefly exchange a look, before Dumbledore spoke in a calming, although tired tone.

"You don't have to explain if you don't want to Harry." the others, Snape particularly, seemed to want to protest upon hearing this statement, but Dumbledore simply continued with "No damage was done and it is quite late now… We can leave this discussion for another day, I am sure everyone must be tired."

That seemed to work on the Head of Gryffindor, who looked worriedly at Dumbledore's exhausted posture before her mouth formed a thin line, swallowing the words she had wanted to say. Snape narrowed his eyes at Harry before he too, focused on the headmaster, sharp eyes searching for something on the old face. Snape didn't seem to like what he found, since he shook his head lightly in disagreement, but didn't say anything else.

The headmaster had just played them masterfully, working on their worry about his current health to calm them down. It made Harry want to smile knowingly at him, but in the end he simply settled for a grateful nod before he stood up from his seat.

"Thank you Albus, in that case let us meet another day. Can you unblock the fireplace so I may return?" he requested softly to Dumbledore, who complied with a simple wand motion. Harry thanked him before bidding a good night to everyone present, Mcgonagall answering with a silent nod, while Snape simply ignored it, still watching carefully every single move Harry made.

Taking a fistful of Floo Powder, he called for the Leaky Cauldron before disappearing in a flash of harmless green flames. Upon arriving at the intended fireplace, he answered Tom's greeting distractedly, going out of the pub with long strides towards the muggle world. He walked for a short while until he felt he was calm enough to greet the NPCs without giving them an earful, before he turned towards the first dark alley he found and apparated away to Potter Manor.

Unsurprised to see them waiting anxiously for his return, the NPCs gathered in the backyard knelt as one in front of him, heads hanging low in apparent distress.

"I assume Shalltear was the one to open the [Gate]" it was not a question, but the vampire still nodded, looking at the grass as Harry had yet to give them permission to raise their heads "Did you all agree with that action? Answer yes or no only."

After the smallest pause a synchronized chorus of 'yes' resounded from them, still looking down at Harry's feet. He brought a hand to massage his brows, eyes closed as he mentally counted to ten to calm down before he spoke again, this time more softly.

"You may rise your heads." his servants waited respectfully for a short moment before following the directive, looking up at him apprehensively "I understand you only acted out of worry, but that was not the appropriate course of action. You should have sent me or Aura a [Message] if you wanted to inquire about our situation."

"We tried, Hadrian-sama". Albedo spoke as the representative, delicate brows furrowed in a mix of uneasiness and confusion "but the spell would not go through, as if the connection was blocked."

Harry hummed in surprise at that, trying to recall if there was anything in Hogwarts that could cause that effect, but his thoughts came back empty. Deciding to think about it on a later date, he looked down to Albedo and quirked an eyebrow before inquiring "Why did you not send Lyre then?"

"There was not enough time—"

"Phoenixes can teleport to the places they have visited previously. It would not have been longer than the time it took you to write a note." Albedo lowered her head, admitting reluctantly that it hadn't crossed their minds.

It was natural, if they had thought Harry and Aura were in danger, they had probably disregarded all other possibilities and tried to reach them as soon as possible. He could picture them moving hastily in panic around the manor all too well.

He nodded in understanding, asking them to rise. They stood up slowly, anxiously, but Harry simply shook his head in a resigned manner, somewhat used to this.

"I was not aware Hogwarts was protected against the use of [Message], we will need to investigate on the matter. Did the [Mirror of Remote View] not work either?" he asked just to be sure, which made Albedo shake her head in negative.

"In that case, if a similar situation happens in the future, send Lyre to me and ask it to bring me back. No notes, no explanations, but a phoenix should drag less attention than the [Gate] you attempted to use today." Harry reprimanded lightly, which made them straighten up steely and express their understanding.

Satisfied at their answer, he dismissed them, requesting only Aura to stay. Once they were alone Harry crossed his arms and looked expectantly at her, which made her smile sheepishly at him before she began to recount her side of the events.

Aura started to explain how Snape had been the one to have the last ingredient, that the man had, for some reason, tried to attack her but she simply deviated the curse in response, before offering the basilisk venom in exchange of the vials with ingredients.

This summarized explanation was not enough for Harry to understand why Snape had acted in such a manner, so he asked Aura to close her eyes and focus on the memory, before he raised the tip of the Elder Wand to her temple and took a copy of it.

Dismissing her with a reassuring pat on her shoulder, just so she was aware he truly was not mad; Harry went directly to his personal chamber, wanting to reach the bottom of this before he had to cross paths with Snape again. Placing the memory in the pensieve, he watched it replay in front of him.

By the time it ended Harry was torn between cursing to the heavens and hitting his head against the nearest wall.

Aura had shown quite clearly how fast her reflexes really were and how strong she truly was. It had not been a proper fight, but it was enough for Snape to determine that she could go head on unarmed and still win easily.

She had, also, addressed Harry as her 'Lord', so now he completely understood why Snape had transferred his wariness from Aura to him at the mention of his name. Not only did that sound way too similar to the manner Death Eaters addressed Voldemort, but the man probably wondered on the reason Harry was considered a leader to begin with. Power, intelligence, charisma; all of the above? The answer didn't matter; it only served to make Harry a threat.

Harry passed a hand through his hair distressfully, which made Lyre sing to him from its perch. He looked at his familiar warmly, smiling at it when he realized not everything was against him. Having a phoenix as familiar was like screaming to the world he was a 'Good wizard' so that should, at least, dispel some of the distrust of the Potions Master.

The following day after that first encounter, in the late morning, Snape was pacing frantically in front of Dumbledore, having cancelled the Potion's class he was supposed to be giving at this hour.

"By Merlin's beard Dumbledore! I don't care if that man has a bloody phoenix, that doesn't make him any less dangerous!" Snape fumed, feeling even more infuriated at the calm, unpreoccupied expression that did nothing to cover Dumbledore's amusement; blue eyes twinkling merrily from behind half-moon spectacles.

Snape felt torn between feeling affronted and feeling glad that those twinkling eyes were back. They had diminished when Dumbledore had started to use another wand (something the old man had refused to explain to any staff member) before it completely disappeared when Azkaban lost control over the dementors.

Begrudgingly, he admitted to be glad of the return of those shining eyes, if only to himself. The headmaster looked better rested, even if he had yet to recover completely from sleepless nights, his gaze was not as tired as it had been these past months. The attention span was infinitely larger as well; something Snape noticed when Dumbledore chuckled, instead of asking him to repeat himself.

"He does have one actually."

"A what?"

"A phoenix." was Dumbledore's cheerful response. Snape sneered at that, quickly deciding that he had changed his mind, those damned twinkling eyes could go to hell for all he cared.

"That's not the point." he hissed, glaring at Dumbledore in a manner that usually made First years cry, but the headmaster simply smiled infuriatingly at him.

"I know Severus, I know. I cannot reveal much about him, but believe me when I say he has my complete trust."

"Why?" he demanded, not for the first time.

"I have been tolerant enough to answer that question already," said Dumbledore, but he did not sound very tolerant anymore. "My answer has not changed."

"You admitted to not know what that— that thing that appeared in the room is. How can you—?" Snape pressed unrelentingly, knowing better than anyone Dumbledore's tendency to trust people in spite of overwhelming evidence that they did not deserve it.

"Severus" Dumbledore interrupted with a tone of finality, looking seriously at him "Please listen to me."

"That's what I've—"

"No Severus, you're hearing, but you're not listening." Dumbledore stressed the last word, which made him humph in exasperation "I am sure. I trust Hadrian Peverell completely."

"Well, I don't!" he said, as loudly as before. He couldn't continue pressing the matter however, since in that moment a patronus reached the office, a brilliant stag suddenly standing just at his left side.

"Good morning Albus. Do you have time for tea? I'd like to properly explain what happened last night." Snape recognized the silky voice of the Lord he had met, the source of this whole discussion with Dumbledore, and frowned at the shining stag before it dispersed.

Dumbledore smiled and sent his phoenix patronus with an affirmative response, before looking at him with dumb, twinkling eyes.

"You will stay for tea, won't you?"

Infuriating old coot, as if he would let Dumbledore meet with that man on Hogwarts grounds, like the events of the night prior hadn't happened?

No way in hell.

He frowned and nodded sharply, sending his own doe patronus to the Potion's class to let his students know he wasn't going to arrive to this one either.

Refusing to take a seat, he positioned himself on the side of the room opposing the fireplace, waiting tensely for the 'guest' to arrive. Dumbledore in the meantime, called for Winky to request tea, something he didn't really comprehend since that house elf was obviously incapable of following simple instructions; just like the dunderheads he was forced to tolerate and teach every year.

In the end, the set of tea had yet to arrive when the fireplace lit up, green flames flaring for a short moment before the man stepped into the room, shaking off the ashes from his robes with a few well-placed pats.

The motion made him narrow his eyes, why do that instead of using a wand? What kind of wizard would leave their home without their one and strongest tool? Snape had wondered the same last night, which made him tighten his hold over his own wand.

"Hello Albus, Professor Snape" Lord Peverell greeted amiably, smiling at them both. Snape wanted to scoff, noticing the magical bird that was perched over Hadrian's shoulder, knowing fully well that Dumbledore was probably now looking at him with amused 'I told you' eyes.

The phoenix that had more golden feathers than red sang a short note while looking at Fawkes, which made Dumbledore's familiar release a similar one. Hadrian made a small motion of the head, and the phoenix batted its wings to fly over to the perch Fawkes was currently at, doing odd noises that were similar to a conversation.

"Hello Harry" Dumbledore answered happily while Hadrian sat down. The nickname made him feel uncomfortable, since it reminded him of the Potter brat. They looked quite alike now that he thought of it, were the Peverells related to the Potters somewhere on the line?

Just then a resounding Crack! signaled the entrance of the house elf, the creature holding the tray with shaky hands, which made the porcelain cups clink against each other. Hadrian quickly bent down to take the tray from Winky, rightfully fearful that it may end up falling to the floor, and placed it over the desk with a warm 'Thanks'.

…Which was something no Pureblood Lord would ever do. Any other would have waited for the tray to fall and then punish the house elf, or stop the fall of the tray with magic.

A part of him could now see why Dumbledore got along with Hadrian.

"Severus, won't you come take a seat?"

He glared at the headmaster in response, which made the old man sigh and apologize to Hadrian. The latter dismissed the issue with a hand motion, before starting to serve the tea.

It was only after everyone had their cup of tea (Snape had refused to have any) when Hadrian laid back on his seat with a relaxed sigh, making a circular motion with his empty hand.

Snape could feel the magic shift around them as a new ward was placed. Did he make that wandlessly—?

"Now that the privacy ward is up I can begin to explain" Hadrian said lightly, confirming his theory. The revelation made him tense, a wizard that was proficient at wandless magic was bound to have a terribly high control over their magical core, and be strong enough to be able to use it without the conduct the wand offered.

Now Snape understood why carrying a wand was not strictly necessary for him.

Ignorant of his thoughts, Hadrian simply sipped at his teacup calmly, the perfect picture of tranquility, before the words were finally released.

"But first" the man said turning his head to look at him, with emerald eyes that were just a shade darker than Lily's had used to be "I spoke with Aura last night when I returned. I truly apologize for her behavior; there was no need to act so harshly for a simple vial of Bursting mushroom."

Snape narrowed his eyes, frowning at Hadrian before deducing the man was not going to say anything else until he accepted the apology, so he nodded once at him. Hadrian smiled and thanked him, something he brushed aside as unimportant before the man turned towards Dumbledore once more.

"That being said, regarding the magic of last night… that portal was made by a spell created in our homeland. I admit I didn't know it could get through anti-apparition wards like that though, that was new for me too." What did he mean by 'homeland'? The country he came from?

Dumbledore didn't seem to share his confusion however, since the old man simply nodded in understanding before saying "I expected as much. What was the reason it was used however?"

The question made Hadrian sigh tiredly, placing the cup back to its small plate a little too harshly. Had the cup been filler, the tea in it would have splashed out.

"Remember when I said Aura is not the only one accompanying me?" Dumbledore nodded at the question, while he filed the information in the mental folder he was creating about the dangerous man "Well… I had sent a letter to them specifying I would return before the day ended, so when the clock reached midnight they started to worry, and decided to come to see if everything was fine."

"They must be very fond of you, to come in your aid so fast. Not that it was needed of course, but the thought is certainly charming." Dumbledore said warmly, taking the small spoon out of his teacup and placing it on the tray.

Hadrian chuckled, murmuring something that sounded like "You have no idea" as he sipped at his tea again.

"How many are traveling with you?" Snape spoke for the first time since Hadrian's arrival, looking inquisitively at the man.

"Only seven. The rest of us stayed back in our land." Hadrian said impassively with a light shrug.

"And where exactly is your land?" he scoffed, knowing fully well the man was mocking him for his lack of knowledge, purposely letting out that tidbit of information since Dumbledore seemed to know already.

"In a place no one can reach." Hadrian smirked, which made Snape want to curse him "That is really not something you need to worry about. I will leave in due time, once my mission is fulfilled."

"Harry" Dumbledore said warningly, silently asking with his eyes if he was sure this was something he wanted to say. Hadrian simply nodded at him however, before turning his head towards Snape again.

"I traveled to this country to avoid a second war, to definitely destroy Voldemort" the statement surprised him, even if he didn't externally show it, but Hadrian didn't seem to have finished "Professor Snape, do you know what a horcrux is?"

Merlin!

"A horcrux" he whispered astonished, not paying attention at the silent exchange of looks between Dumbledore and Hadrian "That's how he did it, he made a horcrux."

"Not only one." the words cut through his shock like a sharp knife, a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold traveling down his spine. Making a single horcrux was bad enough, terrible enough, rotten enough; how many had Voldemort made?

"Sit down, this will be a long conversation." Hadrian said softly, extending a hand towards the vacant seat at his side.

"…Why are you telling me this?" the last traces of his distrust forced him to say, since this was not the kind of information you could share with just anyone. He was surprised to see Hadrian give him a sincere smile, one that seemed to hold so many emotions he couldn't even begin to discern, before he answered with "Because I know. Of what you have gone through, of what you have done, both good and bad."

The shock that had numbed him twisted upon hearing those words, transforming into something much more terrible.

Anger.

White knuckles from clenching his wand too hard, and gritted teeth from effort to remain silent, he was aware that his current posture exuded an animosity that was like acid — burning. His face was red with suppressed rage as he swung around to face Dumbledore with cold, freezing fury, thinking the old man had betrayed his trust. The action made Hadrian hurriedly add "Albus didn't tell me, I can swear it under an Unbreakable Vow if you need me to."

"Then how?" he roared, feeling exposed for the first time since Lily's death "How do you know?"

"You told me." Snape didn't know what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't that bullshit. The man continued before he could retort however "I don't come from this timeline. A Severus Snape that was on the verge of death was the one to explain this to me… or well, show it to me would be more accurate."

"Do you think me stupid?!" he snarled, but the man simply shook his head and placed a vial with swirling, grey liquid over the desk's surface. Memories.

"Go through them. If you still want to discuss afterwards I will hear you out." Snape hesitated, looking harshly at Hadrian with clenched fists, the nails cutting at his skin until it drew blood.

"Please Severus." Dumbledore spoke softly with a pleading gaze, which finally swayed him to stride closer, taking the vial with a quick, harsh motion that showed his anger.

"Fine." he spat out the word as if it burned him, making a wand motion towards the cabinet where Dumbledore kept his pensieve "I will play along for now."

Harry watched as the Potions Master left to use the pensieve, thankful for the fact that Snape hadn't fired any curse at him.

It would have made Solution come out from her hiding place in the ceiling to interfere, and wouldn't that be fun to explain?

No matter how much Harry insisted the NPCs wouldn't let him leave unaccompanied. He decided to agree with the loud request for their peace of mind, knowing they would worry needlessly if he didn't bring someone along with him.

But at the same time, coming accompanied would have made Snape even more wary, which would in turn make it more difficult to break through his distrust, to make the stubborn man listen.

So he had chosen the Pleiade, giving her the order to remain undetected at all times. Solution had arrived with him through the fireplace, using her stealth skills to hide from everyone else. It wasn't invisibility per se, but more something like melting through the ceiling and walls, so Dumbledore couldn't see through her disguise not even with his special set of spectacles.

Solution couldn't hear their conversation however, since Harry hadn't included her on the privacy wards. He did this knowing that she would have reacted negatively towards Snape if she could hear the man, so the decision on whether Harry needed to be protected or not was based solely on what she saw.

"Are you sure Harry?" Dumbledore asked again, this time out loud instead of just conveying the question with a look. Harry smiled, gently answering with a couple of words.

"Albus Severus."

He chuckled at the confused look the headmaster sent him, before elaborating "That was the name of my second child, named after the men that did everything in their power to keep me alive, to help me survive."

Dumbledore inhaled sharply in surprise, letting out a shaky breath as he closed his eyes and processed the information.

"I feel honored." Dumbledore's eyes shined with unshed tears when he opened them, smiling brightly at him "I'm sure Severus would too, even if he never admitted it out loud."

The comment made Harry snort; before he took the cup and drank the last sip of his tea "The portrait's reaction when they first met was certainly something."

They placed the empty set of tea in the unoccupied side of the desk and spoke calmly for a while, until Snape came back from seeing the memories.

"Prove it." was the first thing he said, but the voice had completely lost all the bite it had before. Harry nodded at him, extending his right hand towards Snape.

"An Unbreakable Vow." he explained simply, which made Snape take a hold of his hand before placing the tip of his wand over it. Harry repeated the same oaths he had made with Dumbledore, word by word, noticing how Snape flinched at the mention of the prophecy in the last vow.

Mimicking what he had done with Dumbledore, Harry looked up to meet the dark gaze, silently questioning if there was something to add, which made Snape voice a single statement.

"I hereby swear I won't reveal your true origin to anyone that isn't already present in this room, unless it is done with either yours or Dumbledore's consent." Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise, not having expected him to swear confidentiality, until the reason Snape did it dawned to him.

Nodding in silent understanding, Harry voiced the oath the other was expecting from him.

"I hereby swear I won't reveal the reason you chose to join Dumbledore's side to anyone that belongs to this period of time, unless it is done with your consent." Snape narrowed his eyes at the condition, which made Harry shrug lightly while taking back his hand, before he elaborated "In the future there was a biography made about you, so that information is well-known for the ones accompanying me."

In his defense, it was only a half-lie since the biography bit was true… even if said book was not the reason the NPCs knew about where Snape's true loyalty laid.

The man sighed through his nose before nodding, finally taking the vacant seat at Harry's side. He felt oddly satisfied at the action, as if he had won a particularly hard conquest, before Snape's next words brought him back to the present.

"How old are you then Potter?"

…Right, he would need to explain everything again. Mentally sighing, he took a breath to recite again the chain of facts he had given to Dumbledore, answering the questions thrown at him the best he could, sometimes even doing small demonstrations of spells he had learned in other worlds.

Knowing it was going to be another long day, he was glad that at least the NPCs were entertained back in Potter manor.

AUTHOR NOTE:

Hi guys! How are you? There were more things I wanted to cover in this chapter, but as I started to write this is what happened haha I can't say I'm not satisfied with the result however, writing Snape was certainly fun.

I can imagine as every class waited the whole hour out of the Potion's classroom since Snape didn't say anything after that last patronus was sent. The students would be too fearful to leave, and would stay awkwardly blocking the hallway until a Prefect or some other teacher gave them permission to "just leave already!". Specially the first years *snickers*

The set of memories Harry gave to Snape was the one he originally sent to Dumbledore, just so you know.~

The meeting with student-Harry should be coming soon, maybe in a couple more chapters? I'm looking forward to write about the NPCs reactions! I have it as a draft at the moment, but it is sure to be interesting haha.

Oh well, I'd say this is April's chapter with 6.3K words = 15 pages in Word, but the next one may be ready within the month since I already have some 2K words as a draft. Wish me luck! Thanks for reading and hope you liked it~

P.D. Sorry if you're waiting for my other story, the next chapter for that one is in draft with only 800 words in it haha. I think there will be another chapter for this one before I go back to writing Master of Death in Nazarik.

Nyx: Check out my stories as well!

dEBB: Most certainly please do!