Title: A Serpentine Choice

Pairing(s): Harry/Voldemort, Remus/Sirius

Rating: M

Summary: After the events at the graveyard at the end of his fourth year, Harry's perspective on magic is turned upside down. On top of that, he begins to find that his body is changing, and it's not just puberty. And wait. Snape is his father? Severitus. Dark!Harry. HP/LV

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. I make absolutely no money from writing or posting this. The characters, the universe, the inspiration for everything I write, all belong to the amazingly talented J. K. Rowling, et al. The underlined portions were copied directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

One absolutely freezing cold ride later, Harry thought his numb fingers were going to stick to his broom when his tried to dismount. But they had finally arrived... wherever they were. Harry looked around. He seemed to be in a normal muggle neighborhood in London. But there must be something more here, he though. Sure enough, Moody came up to him and thrust a piece of paper under his nose.

"Read this. Memorize it." he said simply. Harry did.

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found and Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

What did that mean? Harry looked around, bewildered, as Moody took the paper and burned it.

"Concentrate on what you just read, Harry." Remus said softly

Harry did so, thinking to himself about the words he had just read that had been written in a familiar hand. And suddenly, a building appeared, between Number's 11 and 13.

"Whoa." Harry whispered, as Remus guided him up to the front steps and tapped his wand on the door. He heard the sound of many locks, and the door opened. The escort party slowly filed inside the house behind Harry and Remus. The house was old, and undeniably Dark. It didn't seem very well cared for, but to Harry, a once magnificent house stood there. Someone turned on the lights, and old fashion gas lamps that lined the hall turned on.

"Harry!" A familiar voice called out quietly.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, though he felt the need to keep his voice down as well. He rushed forward and embraced his godfather tightly. "I missed you." he whispered.

"I missed you too, kiddo." his godfather said, holding Harry as if he would never let go.

Remus approached the two, placing his hand on Sirius's shoulder and squeezing reassuringly. A bright smile appeared on Sirius's face, and he held Harry at arm's length.

"You grew your hair out!" he said, chuckling. "Molly's going to have a fit."

"Yeah, Sirius, about that... maybe we could talk later? Just you, Remus and me?"

"Sure, Harry. But why don't you go upstairs and see your friends now? I know they've been waiting for you. And a meeting's about to start, and Dumbledore won't let you join."

Remus frowned slightly, but smiled when Harry looked at him. "Go on, Harry."

Harry grinned, and bounded up the stairs, only to run into Ron.

"Harry, mate! We were wondering when you would get here. Come on, Hermione's waiting for you as well."

Harry couldn't believe how casually Ron was acting. Did he have no idea how angry Harry was at him? He must not, because he slung a friendly arm over his shoulder and lead him into one of the bedrooms.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, rushing forward to give Harry a tight hug. "I missed you so much! I'm so sorry you couldn't come here earlier, I know how much you hate your relatives, and it must have been driving you crazy to have no news-"

"Driving me crazy? You two have no idea what it was like. Being stuck with my muggle relatives, having no idea what was happening in the wizarding world after Voldemort's return. For all I knew people were being killed off daily!"

Hermione made a nose of sympathy. "Oh, Harry, that must have been horrible. But haven't you been reading the Prophet? Surely something like that would have been reported."

Harry laughed darkly. "Hermione, I don't trust a word that paper prints anymore. And neither should you."
A familiar anger came over him. They expected him to get his news from the Daily Prophet? Knowing full well that it had been printing lies about him, and was probably in the Minister's pocket? And here they were, living in the Headquarters of the resistance against Voldemort. They must know all sorts of things, having that privilege.

"Why didn't you tell me more in your letters?" Harry asked quietly.

"Dumbledore told us it was too dangerous to put anything in the mail. Said it could be intercepted." Ron said, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Well, why didn't you just give the mail to one of the people guarding me, and they could give it to me?"
"They weren't supposed to interact with you, Harry." said Hermione. "You weren't even supposed to know that they were there.

"Oh. I see how it is. Let's not tell anything to Harry, who just faced the Dark Lords resurrection!"

"It wasn't like that, Harry-"

"Yes. Yes it was." Harry said, and with that, he turned and stormed out of the room.

Harry found himself in a house in which he had no idea of the whereabouts of anything. He decided to climb the stairs, and see what he could find. At the very top, he opened the door, only to find Buckbeak.

"So that's where you go to." he murmured, bowing at the hippogriff, who bowed back. Friends once again, he approached the creature and began to pet him. Buckbeak seemed pleased to have a visitor, and Harry decided to stay upstairs until the meeting was over, and he could speak to Sirius once more He was still angry at his friends, and at the moment he wanted nothing to do with them. If he did, he might say something he would regret. He slid down the wall to sit on the floor, crossing his legs and resting his head in his hands. He didn't know how much time passed as he contemplated what had just happened. Being rescued from the Dursleys, discovering the Order of the Phoenix. Fighting with his friends.

All of that on top of his mysteriously changing disappearance. Not only had his hair grown, and had changed in texture, but he was slowly growing taller, faster than could be accounted for by natural growth. It seemed to have started on his birthday. His build was beginning to change to. He was still skinny, of course, but it seemed that his height now suited his weight, rather than him looking more gangly. It was something he planned on asking Sirius and Remus, as soon as he could get them alone. He didn't know how long he sat there, thinking, when there was a knock at the door.

Harry looked up. It was his godfather, followed by Remus. The two men shut the door behind them.

"Hey, Harry. Ron and Hermione told me that you guys had a bit of a fight." Sirius said, sitting down across from Harry, Remus sitting next to him.

Harry nodded. "It's just... I'm so angry with them, for listening to Dumbledore so blindly. And I'm not that happy with you two, either. Being kept in the dark, especially after what I went through, is really hard."

Sirius nodded sympathetically.

"I know, Harry. It must have been awful. And I know how you feel. Even though I have a better idea of what's going on, I'm stuck here. I can't even leave the house."

Harry realized that he and Sirius were in the same boat, and his anger at him vanished.

"I just don't know what to do. And... and I've been having some trouble. Like my hair. It just grew like this, overnight."

"Really?" Remus asked, frowning. "That's... unusual."

"It's not only that. My body.. it's changing. And it's not just puberty, Sirius, so don't even make any jokes."

Sirius grinned sheepishly.

"What kind of changes, Harry?" Remus asked, seeming more concerned than Sirius.

"I'm growing taller, quickly. And I'm not as skinny as I was. Which is odd, because my diet hasn't changed at all." If anything, Harry thought, he should be thinner, after what Aunt Petunia put him through every summer.

Sirius nodded. "I'd noticed you'd changed, but I thought it was just a normal growth spurt. I'm not sure what it could be, Harry. Usually wizards don't see changes like that until their 17th birthday."

Remus was looking away from the two, rather uncomfortable. Sirius was the first to notice.

"What's the matter, Remus?" he asked, frowning. "Do you know anything about what's happening to Harry?"

Remus looked torn for a moment, before he took a deep breath, visibly making his decision.

"Yes... I know."

Sirius and Harry looked at him expectantly, and Remus began to explain.

"It wasn't supposed to happen until your 17th birthday, so that you would think it was normal. You weren't ever supposed to know, either of you. Or James."

"Know what, Remus?" Sirius asked.

"Know of Harry's true parentage." Remus said solemnly.

"What do you mean, my true parentage!" Harry exclaimed. "James and Lily Potter are my parents!"

Sirius was nodding, his eyes wide.

Remus shook his head. "No, Harry. Lily is your mother... but James isn't your father."

Harry felt his whole world and everything he ever knew collapsing about him. His father wasn't his father.

"Then... then who is my father, Remus?"
"Severus Snape."

Remus had to place a silencing charm around the room to contain the outrage that followed his announcement. Sirius and Harry were both shouting about greasy gits and how Lily would never, ever go for a man like Snivellus, and if he was Harry's father whywere they nothing alike, anyway?

Remus waited for the two men to calm down, which took a while, and began to explain.

"Briefly before your parents got married, they got into an awful fight. James had been raised a pureblood, however much he didn't believe in pureblood propaganda, and there were certain things that he didn't believe in. One of those things is the rather old-fashioned perspective that wives of Lords should stay in the home, and not have proper careers of their own."

"Wait one second. My father... I mean James Potter, was a Lord?"

"No one has told you before Harry?" Sirius asked, surprised. "Yes, he was Lord Potter."

"Oh."

Remus continued.

"Their fight about it was so terrible, we thought they were going to break up. And they did separate, for about two weeks. But what Lily never told anyone was that she went to her old friend, Severus Snape, after she fought with James, for comfort. I don't think she would have ever told anyone, once she reconciled with James, but one day she came to me. I don't know why I was chosen. I suppose it was because she thought I wouldn't go rushing to James with the news. She told me that she was pregnant, and that it wasn't James's child."

Both Sirius and Harry were silent for a moment, both in shock. Both of their lives had been turned around, again.

"You mean... mum cheated on da- James?" Harry asked quietly. "With Snape?"

"Lily and Severus were very close when they were young, Harry." Remus said. "It's not surprising that she would go to him when she needed someone. The fact that they slept together, well. I'll reserve judgement on that, personally."
Sirius didn't know what to think. The son of his best friend, really wasn't. But he loved Harry, so much. Did the fact that Snivellus was his father change that? No, he decided. Harry could become a Death Eater and fall in love with Lord Voldemort and he would still love him. And it was clear that Remus felt the same loyalty towards the boy.

Harry was in shock. When he had seen his appearance in the mirror on the morning of his birthday, he's had no idea that it would lead to... this. Ever since Hagrid had come to him on his 11th birthday, and told him that his parents were heroes, he had looked up to James Potter. His father was his idol. And now... now he didn't know what to do, or what to think.

"Does.. does Snape know?" Harry asked tentatively.

Remus shook his head. "No. Only Lily and I knew, and now you and Sirius. Lily didn't want James to know. She was brilliant at charms, you know, and cast a charm on you that would conceal your true appearance until you turned 17, when it would reveal your natural looks slowly."

"Well, what made it wear off early?"

"It must have been the ritual. The one that Voldemort used." said Sirius. "Rituals are odd things, and their side effects can be strange. It must have disrupted the charm."

Harry nodded slowly. That made sense to him.

All three of the men were silent now. Sirius and Harry were in shock, and Remus couldn't believe he broke his promise to Lily. He had sworn never to tell anyone, and here he had, spilling the news at the first sign of an unexpected development. He supposed he just couldn't really lie to Sirius. Not about something like this. Wanting to stop the depressing mood in the room, he spoke.

"Well, I have some good news, Harry, Sirius." he said brightly.

"What is it?" Harry asked sullenly.

"Guess who you're new defense against the Dark Arts teacher is at Hogwarts this year?"

Harry perked up. "No way."

"Yep. The Headmaster told me he couldn't find anyone else, and if I didn't do it, the ministry would step in. Well, I couldn't let that happen, so I said yes."

"That's amazing, Remus!" Harry exclaimed, throwing himself into his pseudo-godfather's arms. "Finally, we'll have a decent Defense professor again. And it will be great to see you more often."

Sirius was grinning ear to ear. "Remus! Why didn't you tell me? I'm so happy for you!" But Sirius's smile began to look forced. What would his life be like if Remus wasn't there to be with him.

"I have more news for you, Sirius. Dumbledore said you could visit Hogwarts, as long as you stayed in your animagus form, in my quarters."

Sirius laughed, and wrapped his arms around Remus, kissing him soundly on the mouth.

When they separated, they both looked at Harry, anxious about his reaction. After all, while homosexuality was more accepted in the wizarding world than it was in the muggle world, it still wasn't entirely mainstream.

Harry just smiled at them. "You two are together? It doesn't surprise me. I'm glad you can stay with each other throughout the school year."

"You don't mind, Harry?" Sirius asked apprehensively.

"Not at all. Besides, it would be a bit hypocritical of me, wouldn't it?"

"Hypocritical? Harry, you're-"

"Bisexual, actually. I just figured it out this summer." he said, blushing slightly.

Remus and Sirius both congratulated Harry on his news, and they spent some time in the room with Buckbeak, just spending time talking. It was something that Harry had never had before, and he relished it.

Far too soon for Harry's liking, Ginny came upstairs and knocked on the door. "Mum says dinner's getting cold, and you'd better come down and eat something." she said. The three men rose, and made their way downstairs to the kitchen. The rest of the Weasley's were there, apart from Charlie, who was still abroad, recruiting. Harry also recognized Tonk, the auror with the punk hair. Only, her hair was bright blue now. Harry wondered what kind of spell she used to do that.

"Hey, Harry!" everyone at the table greeted him, and Mrs. Weasley even came forward to give him a bone crushing hug.

"Oh, Harry dear, you've grown! But you're still much too thin. And what happened to your hair? You'll have to let me cut it for you..."

"Now, Molly, let Harry have his hair long if he likes." Sirius interrupted, placing his hand on Harry's shoulder.

Mrs. Weasley gave Sirius a glare, but let the matter drop. They all sat down at the table, and welcomed themselves to what was left of dinner.

"So, Harry, I'm surprised. I would have thought you would have started asking question about Voldemort right away." said Sirius, giving no hint to the conversation they had upstairs.

Harry shrugged. "I figured it was no use, since no one had volunteered to tell me anything."

"Well, I think you deserve to know at least something, considering what you've been though-"

"Sirius! Harry's too young to be in the Order, as you well know."

"Yes, Molly, I know. But you don't have to be in the Order to ask questions, and not everything we knew is classified. Harry deserves to know something about what's been happening."
Molly looked fit to burst.

"It's not up to you to decide what's good for Harry to learn!"

Sirius looked quite angry at this. "I should think it is! I am his godfather. His parents chose me to take care of him after they died."

"But Dumbledore said that we weren't to tell him-"

"More than he needs to know, I remember. But I don't intend to tell him that much. He deserves to know, Molly, after all that he's been through, more than any of us!"

"But he's still-"

"He's not a child, Molly!"

"He's not an adult either!" said Mrs. Weasley, the color rising in her cheeks. "He's not James, Sirius!"

"I'm perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly," said Sirius coldly.

"I'm not sure you are!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!"

Before it could break out into an all out brawl between Molly and Sirius, Remus interrupted.

"I think it better that Harry gets the facts — not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture — from us, rather than a garbled version from … others."

"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, breathing deeply and looking around the table for support that did not come, "well … I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has got Harry's best interests at heart —"

"He's not your son," said Sirius quietly.

"He's as good as," said Mrs. Weasley fiercely. "Who else has he got?"

"He's got me!"

"Yes," said Mrs. Weasley, her lip curling. "The thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?"

Sirius started to rise from his chair.

"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry," said Lupin sharply. "Sirius, sit down."

Mrs. Weasley's lower lip was trembling. Sirius sank slowly back into his chair, his face white.

Remus turned to Harry. "Did you have any questions?"

"Wait one moment. Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, out. I don't want you hearing any of this." Amongst protests the Weasley children and Hermione filed out of the kitchen, protesting that Harry would tell them what he learned anyway. The thing was, Harry wasn't to sure that he was going to.

"Yeah. Er, has Voldemort done anything? As far as I can tell, there's been nothing in the news that would indicate anything he's done. Why hasn't he made a move yet?"

"Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself at the moment," said Sirius. "It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up."

"Or rather, you messed it up for him," said Lupin with a satisfied smile.

"How?" Harry asked perplexedly.

"You weren't supposed to survive!" said Sirius. "Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he'd come back. But you survived to bear witness."

Harry nodded, rather pleased with himself to have disrupted the Dark Lords plans so.

"At the moment, he's just recruiting. Building up his army once more. Witches and Wizards who want to join him, and Dark Creatures. And he's using Lucius Malfoy and others to keep the Minister blind to what is happening."

"How can the minister be so blind?"

"He's obsessed with power, Harry, and somehow he had been convinced that Dumbledore is after his position, you as well." said Remus.

"Well. That's just stupid. Dumbledore could have been minister years ago if he wanted to."

"Quite right. We're just wondering if the minister is that blind and power hungry, or if there's something else going on."

"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters, it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?" asked Harry desperately.

"Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry," said Sirius. "He tricks, jinxes, and blackmails them. He's well-practiced at operating in secrecy. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in, he's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on them at the moment."

"What's he after apart from followers?" Harry asked swiftly.

He thought he saw Sirius and Lupin exchange the most fleeting of looks before Sirius said, "Stuff he can only get by stealth."

When Harry continued to look puzzled, Sirius said, "Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."

"When he was powerful before?"

"Yes."

"Like what kind of weapon?" said Harry. "Something worse than the Avada Kedavra — ?"

"That's enough." Mrs. Weasley said, returning to the kitchen.

Thank you for reading!

Harry is still in shock about the revelation concerning his father, and so has not had time to react properly yet. Right now he is more concerned with making sure that no one finds out.