A/N: Everything has a reason. :) Enjoy.

Troubling Answers

So there it was. The truth at last. There was no denying the hatred penned in her letter for him. He couldn't even spin her words this time, as he had always done before, to make it so she came out as being the perfect goddess on the white marble pedestal with him at her feet, worshiping her. No, that pedestal he had placed her on so long ago had shattered into a million pieces with the very first sentence in her letter. Angelic perfection, crafted with decades of self-protecting lies, had been replaced with the cold, ugly truth; Lily Evans-Potter was a bitch.

Seething, the twenty-one-year-old clenched his hand tightly around the letter before crumpling it up into a tight ball. Had he truly meant nothing to her? After all their years of friendship? For Merlin's sake, he had been the one to introduce her to the damn Wizarding World in the first place! He had been the one to teach her spells, complicated ones way beyond their years (let alone ones that a Muggleborn would know), before they even set foot in Hogwarts! Hell, he had even taught her all about Potions before they even received their letters! And this was the thanks he received for all that, a bitchy letter from a self-centered shrew? Well, screw her then and the damn horse she rode in on. He didn't need her. He hadn't needed anyone. Ever.

As his mind replayed Lily's hate-filled words, his anger increased. How dare Dumbledore reveal his begging him and the Dark Lord for her life, his relaying the fatal Prophecy to the Dark Lord, and his all-around being weak! He clenched his jaw even tighter. How dare that old man! Oh, certainly he knew without a doubt that Dumbledore was using Snape's temporary moment of weakness to his advantage. The old man rarely missed any such instances after all. But to do something so . . . And people believed that the Dark Lord was the only dark wizard around. Dumbledore and the Dark Lord had a lot in common in Snape's opinion. The bastards!

He hated them. Hated all of them! The Marauders, Lily, the Dark Lord, Dumbledore. With every bit of his damaged soul, he hated them! A part of him, in fact, hated his future self as well. He had been fine before his future self had appeared. He had been able to believe his protective lies about Evans and continue the delusion of his happy-ever-after ending. He had been content working with Dumbledore to defeat the Dark Lord in secret. Now, he just wished them all to hell.

In a span of a night, his life turned upside down. A child—whom he should have hated—was in his arms, snuggled warmly against him in a loving paternal-like embrace. A lost love—whom he should have been devastated to lose—was now just a shrew he wished he would forget. A mentor—whom he should have felt resolute loyalty to—was now just a figure of disgust. A father—whom he should have continued to ignore for the rest of his life—was now someone he was longing to know more about. And an enemy—whom he should have wanted to use any means to destroy—was now just another foe that would be someone else's problem this time.

He was just about to continue his silent rant when he heard and felt a nearby explosion outside. Death Eaters. His eyes quickly darted down to Harrison, checking the boy over for any signs that it had woke him. When he found none, he rubbed the boy's back gently and slowly got up out of the bed, heading for the door. However, the door opened before he reached it.

"Ya all right?" Tobias asked, looking both Harrison and Severus over for any injuries. It seemed the nearby explosion had woken the older man up and caused him to check on them.

"We're fine," Severus answered stiffly, feeling horribly unsure of himself as he held Harrison against him. They could not stay there with Death Eaters nearby. Not unless he wanted to explain why he was in the home of a Muggle with a toddler in his arms. Drawing in a slow and calculated breath, he quietly suggested, "We should find somewhere else to stay for the night."

"Normally, I'd agree," his father started to say before another loud explosion shook the house. Several items off in the general direction of the living room rattled violently from its force. "But this is really the safest place for us right now."

Severus frowned in response. It had been years since he had been near Muggles, much less his father, so he wasn't used to having to explain his every action anymore. "I'm certain you believe that. However, I can use my magic and take us away from here without them knowing it."

"Yeah, I know, but—"

"Dad," Severus interrupted naturally, hardly noticing he had called the man that. "Trust me."

"It ain't that I don't trust you, Severus. It's that—" Another loud and powerful explosion cut Tobias off. This time the force had sent them staggering to nearby walls, nearly knocking both men off their feet.

"We don't have time to argue!" Severus grabbed his father's arm, thinking of an old farmhouse on a cliff as he started to turn on his heel with Harrison.

"NO!" Tobias shouted, looking horrified as he reared back. "I can't, son," the older man begged, a haunted look entering his blue eyes.

Severus's eyes narrowed on his father in confusion. The man seemed to understand his intentions at least partly. His mind briefly pondered if his mother had Apparated Tobias and her somewhere before Severus was born. "If you're worried that you'll sick up, it's perfectly—"

"It ain't that. I don't give a damn if I look like an idiot in front of ya, Severus." Tobias ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair, shaking his head. "I can't leave. If I do, they'll . . . I can't leave." The way Tobias had said that caused Severus to feel a chill run down his back. Just what was his father so afraid of?

"If we don't leave, they will come in here and kill us."

"No."

"Yes," Severus argued. "I know these people. They will stop at nothing—"

"The thingamajig around this damn place won't let them in, son," Tobias countered firmly. "Please. Just trust me this one time."

Severus blinked at his father's fierce declaration. What was he talking about? What thing?

"It only let you in because you're my son," the older man quietly continued, sighing heavily. "And even then I wasn't sure it would."

"What thing are you talking about?"

Tobias shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't know its name. Shit, it's been so long I can't even remember when they did it anymore. But it keeps me from leaving and tracks the things going on in here for the most part." He sighed heavily. "The moment you entered the house, they likely noticed it. But with those idiots out there, blowing things up, I guess they're too damn busy to send someone here like I thought would happen."

"Who's 'They'?" Severus asked hesitantly, feeling his gut clench in uncharacteristic dread.

"The authorities. Forget what they call themselves in your world anymore."

Severus took a step back, staring at his father. "What?" The Aurors were on their way?

Tobias glanced down at the floor, though, and remained quiet. He had a pained look on his face, as if he was recalling something in his mind.

A flash of bright light then lit up the room, nearly blinding Severus in the process. He shielded his eyes instinctively before he quickly lowered his hand at the sight of a red-cloaked woman who had suddenly appeared inside the cottage with her wand drawn. A strange crackling rippled throughout the cottage then as some form of protective magic took over. A shield, he assumed soon after.

With Harrison still against him, Severus awkwardly drew his wand as well, pointing it at the hazel-eyed woman. "Lower your wand!" he commanded, his posture clearly defensive.

"I could ask you to do the same, Severus Snape," the tan woman replied with a scoff, her eyes trained on him. "All right there, Toby?"

"Still in one piece at least," Severus's father quietly remarked, his shoulders relaxing somewhat. "Now, could ya two lower those damn things? Please." Severus kept his wand trained on the unknown woman, though, noticing that she, too, didn't lower her wand. "He ain't a threat to you, and ya know it, lass. So, please, just lower it. Before one of ya gets hurt." Neither Severus nor the other woman did so, though. "Chloe, please. I'm beggin' ya, lass. Lower it."

Severus's eyes narrowed when he noticed the woman's eyes dart towards his father briefly before she sighed quietly.

"Unfortunately, I cannot do that, seeing as how your son is a known associate of—"

Severus felt his heart skip a beat. This woman, whoever the hell she was, knew he was a Death Eater. Everything would come crashing down in a few moments, he knew. He'd lose Harrison, after the brat had finally started to grow on him . . . somewhat. Furthermore, he'd be called out in front of his father as a murderer and a child abductor. He couldn't explain why, but that unsettled him greatly.

"Is a known associate of Bumblebore," Tobias cut in, not realizing he had said Dumbledore's name wrong. "Yeah, I know. But yer pointing a wand at my grandson and son, Chlo, and I ain't too keen on that. Ya understand?"

"Grandson?" she repeated, confusion flooding her face momentarily. "There's no grandson listed in your file."

"It's a recent development," Tobias stated rather snottily. "Now, will ya lower the goddamn stick for the love of God?"

After another few moments of absolute silence, Chloe finally lowered her wand, holstering it soon after but keeping her defensive posture as if she expected an attack at any moment. With Death Eaters nearby, though, Severus didn't blame her for that at all. He silently slid his wand back up into his sleeve as well a moment later and glanced between both of them. He was missing something obviously.

"Thank you."

"What's he doing here, Tobias?" Chloe questioned, her eyes resting on the older man. "You know that you're not allowed to see him. In fact, you're not to have any visitors here besides me."

Severus's eyes narrowed on her. His father wasn't supposed to see him? Why? He glanced towards his dad, noting his father's pained look as he stared down at the ground.

"The boy just needed a place to crash with Harrison. That's all, Chlo'."

"You're not allowed to have contact with your son, Tobias. You know this. It was the agreement you signed upon in order to receive a chance at parole."

Severus's mind swam instantly with a million thoughts. His father had signed away his rights for parole? What the hell was going on? Who was this man who stood in front of him anyway?

"Because the truth is worse than what you've thought all these years," his father's voice echoed in his mind.

"What did you do?" Severus asked breathlessly, staring at his father. All this time he had thought he had been the bad sheep in the family. But now it was starting to look like it ran in the family.

"Ya got understand, son . . ."

Severus turned back to Chloe, noticing that she was watching him with mild interest. "What did he do?" He caught her soft sigh instantly.

"That's something you need to ask your father, I'm afraid," she replied with a half-shrug. "I'm not at liberty to divulge Ministry-case details."

"You're an Auror?"

"Yes. I'm in charge of your father, making certain that he abides to the terms of his parole to the letter. Which he seems to have decided to toss away tonight."

"My father's a Muggle," Severus said quietly, mostly to himself as he stared at them in confusion. He had grown up all his life believing that to be fact. And now, after everything else he had been so convinced about had been discovered to be the opposite of his beliefs, he couldn't believe it.

"Actually, your father is a Muggleborn by our latest estimates," Chloe corrected softly. "We haven't been able to confirm it without a doubt, though. You see, it would seem that a year after your father was born, your paternal grandmother just vanished. I've searched through the Muggle and Wizardry databases and found little to no records of her. In fact, on your father's birth certificate, it only lists her initials, whereas your grandfather's name was listed in its entirety. It was almost as if your grandmother just appeared one day and disappeared the next. Now, your grandfather, however, I've managed to confirm his ancestors were all Muggles from Cokeworth and the surrounding areas."

He glanced back at his father. "But you didn't—I never saw—I don't understand." He turned back towards Chloe. "How do you know he can do magic? That he's a wizard?"

"Well, one, there's record of his birth at Hogwarts."

"What?" His eyes snapped back at Tobias.

"He didn't attend, Severus. Your grandfather saw to that."

"I don't understand," Severus quietly said, his mind racing with thoughts.

"I never saw the letter. If it weren't for Chloe digging into my past, I wouldn't even have known about it in the first place. She was the one to find it at that fancy school of yers." Tobias sighed heavily. "He wasn't known for bein' friendly. With anyone really. Only thing he ever really liked was drinkin'. Drinkin' and smackin' me around a bit. Toughenin' me up, he'd call it."

Severus recalled Roger for a brief moment, but remained quiet.

"As I'm certain you've seen over the years, physical abuse can go one of two ways," Chloe cut in a second later. "Either the victim will attempt to lash out at his or her attacker one day to exact revenge, or the victim will remain powerless in the situation and take the abuse silently. In your father's case, he took the abuse, which led him to instinctively suppress his magic in order to ensure there was no reason on his part for his father's beatings."

Unfortunately, Chloe was right. He had seen the after effects of the two paths before. He had lived the first way, lashing out at all of his attackers one way or another over the years. And the second, he had seen a fellow housemate refuse to stand up for himself, taking the abuse day after day rather than fighting back. Finally, when the young Slytherin had had enough and fought back, he found that his magic refused to cooperate, leaving him powerless and forced to take the assault from his fellow classmates who were, as they too called it, toughening him up.

"Did Dumbledore know?" Severus demanded, his anger bubbling up inside him. If that meddling old coot had interfered with his father . . .

"Did he know, what? That your father could do magic?" Chloe shook her head. "No. He's not even aware of your father's existence really. As was how the Ministry wanted it, honestly."

That statement gave Severus's instant pause. "Why? What's so special about my father?"

"Nothing really," Chloe replied with a shrug. Severus brushed off his father's outraged huff. "The Ministry just doesn't, shall we say, appreciate the headmaster's interferences with matters that concern the Ministry."

Severus turned back towards his father. "What did you do, Dad?"

"Sev—"

"No. You promised you'd tell me in the morning. It's morning now. What did you do?" He caught his father's shoulders slump as his head fell forward again. "What did you do, Tobias?" His eyes briefly glanced at Chloe as he watched his father struggle for the words. It was during this time that he finally noticed the dark scar just underneath her right eye. He had seen her before he realized. However, he couldn't piece together where he had seen her before. Turning back, he sighed. "Dad, tell me."

"I-I don't know, son." When Severus clenched his teeth and growled in disgust, Tobias quickly started to ramble. "Honestly, I don't. One moment I was in the pub down on 10th, mindin' my own damn business, nursing a drink in hand. Next, some damn git is talkin' shit, and I knock him a good one. Fucker draws a knife, and then it all goes black. That's it, Severus. That's all I remember."

Severus glanced back at Chloe instantly then. Things weren't making sense. He could believe that his father went to the pub after his mother had kicked him out yet again. Severus had witnessed that many times. But he couldn't understand what had happened to make the Aurors interested in a random bar fight, much less one that sounded like it was fought with fists not wands.

"Something else had to have happened. What was it?"

"I don't know! I mean, they said I-I killed 'em, but I don't remember any of it. After that, the next thing I remember is four or five people with sticks pointed at me."

"That doesn't make sense." Severus glanced at Chloe, catching her frown. "Unless I'm a complete moron and have no understanding of the law, that's clear self-defense."

"Normally, it would be," she replied flatly before she turned away.

Unable to shake the feeling that there was more to the story and that he wouldn't get it, Severus inhaled slowly, clearing his mind. He then concentrated on Chloe, nonverbally casting Legilimens on her. He found himself in her mind soon after, quickly searching and finding the info he needed.

Blood dripped nearby onto the floor . . . splintered wood lay chaotically around the room . . . a gaping hole had been cut into the wall . . . bodies were strewn about haphazardly . . . horrified screams filled the air . . . the smell of death lingered in the air.

Severus pulled back from Chloe's mind a moment later, feeling even more confused than before. The entire scene had looked like something from a movie. It didn't seem at all real to him. The Aurors thought his father had done that? Truly? No, it seemed more like a bomb had gone off.

"What evidence did you find that pointed to my father?"

Chloe sighed, as if she had gotten bored with the conversation. "He was the only living person in that pub. Everyone else was . . . bits and pieces. Which matches up perfectly with a severe case of accidental magic. He felt threatened and reacted."

Severus's eyes narrowed even more on her. "But you found no magical signature that tied him to the crime, correct?"

"I wouldn't expect you, a known Death Eater—"

There it was. The insult he had been waiting for. He knew the young Auror couldn't maintain her false niceties for too long. In his usual cold manner, the young man drawled, "I was vouched for by Albus Dumbledore in case you've forgotten." Severus heard her scoff instantly and glared in response.

"Death Eater? What's that?" Neither answered Tobias, though. "Son, what's she talking about?" he asked, clearly puzzled.

"You alerted the others earlier, didn't you?" Severus asked a few moments later, feeling his stomach clench in apprehension. At no time had she seemed worried about the Death Eaters that were trashing Cokeworth. Agitated by his presence, yes, but not worried.

"If you're referring to the other Aurors, yes, I did." Chloe held a defiant gaze with Severus. "You may have convinced Dumbledore that you're a good little Death Eater, but I've seen your work. Cutting curse, isn't it? Your trademark?"

Severus instantly pulled Harrison closer, his hands clenching instinctively. He had never used his specialized curse to kill anyone before. If he were honest, he'd have admitted that he frankly didn't have it in him to kill yet. To injure, however, was a different story. There had been many poor victims over the past few years that he had left wounded by his curse. Had it not been for Dumbledore's vouching of him, he likely would have been in Azkaban instead of at Hogwarts for his crimes.

"It's funny, really," Chloe said with a soft laugh, full of coldness. "None of the others could understand why I would jump at the chance to be near your father after what he had done. But then, they never knew our history together, Severus." She forced a mock smile to her lips. "You see, you and I met before. Do you recall?"

He could hear the bitterness in the young Auror's voice. His stomach lurched as he came to the sick realization that he had been the one to give her that thin, dark scar underneath her right eye. There was no one more dangerous than a victim bent on revenge. He should know after all.

"Lass, I don't know what you think my boy did, but—"

"Tobias, please," Chloe quietly interrupted, speaking kindly to him. "This isn't between us. It's between your son and me." She then turned back, the anger quickly returning to her hazel eyes. "It was in Manchester a few years back. In this little two-story home where you and your brothers decided to slaughter an entire family for the hell of it one night."

"What?!" Tobias yelled, cutting in once again. "Severus, tell me that ain't true."

Chloe, however, continued, holding Severus's gaze. "There was Angela, thirty-six, mother of two. She was repeatedly violated in front of her husband Darren, thirty-seven, before one of your brothers, Rodolphus I believe, slit her throat and then his. Then there were the two little angels they had. The youngest, sweet Corey, five—you remember him, don't you?"

Severus closed his eyes, recalling that night perfectly now. He hadn't even wanted to go hunting that night, but the Dark Lord had ordered him to go out with the others to taste the glory of death. Instead, Severus had tasted only bile as he had vomited all night afterwards.

"And then there was me," Chloe stated coldly. "I was sixteen. My family and I had just celebrated my birthday a week before. That night, I will never forget it. But you see, the one thing I remember most of all, out of all that, wasn't my parents' screams and then the silence. No. It wasn't even my brother. No, the thing I remember the most about that night was Rebastan Lestrange turning to you, Severus. He ordered you to finish me off." She scoffed in disgust, shaking her head. "Oh, sure, you raised your wand to me. Made it look real good, but you didn't finish me off. You and your brothers left afterwards, likely to celebrate another job well done. I wonder what they'd think if they knew the truth. That you hadn't killed me. That you left me there, alive and bleeding severely."

"I'm sorry," Severus said quietly, swallowing back his emotions.

"The witch who tended to me at St. Mungo's said I was lucky to be alive. Lucky, can you believe it? My whole family had been slaughtered, but, dear Merlin, I was lucky," she snarled, anger seeping into her words. "The witch, whom I owe everything to really—she listened to my sob story, about how you and your brothers murdered my family. Do you know what she said then? She told me that I had choice to make now. That I could tell the Aurors the truth when they came later about being in that house and how I had received my injuries. You see, strangely enough, I wasn't found with my family in that two-story house. No, it was almost as if someone had come back and brought me to St. Mungo's afterwards. Either way, I could tell them the truth and put myself back into danger, or I could lie and make a new life for myself and get my revenge later when I was older. So, the Aurors came and asked me how I received my injuries, and I lied through my teeth and told them everything she had told me to say. They left, no questions asked. I stayed there at St. Mungo's for five months under her care, under her guidance. When I was released, she spoke with a few of her Ministry friends . . . and voila, here I stand as an Auror before the man who did this to me."

"Lass—"

"Tobias, shut it," Chloe snapped, glaring at him briefly before her eyes returned to Severus. "You see, when I saw that you were here, that you had finally returned, I didn't know what to think. I mean, you truly didn't remember Severus. It was all over your face. You had no clue." She scoffed, shaking her head. "Then again, I'd imagine, I was hardly the only one you left behind bleeding."

"If you wish to kill me—"

"I don't want to kill you. Don't get me wrong, though. I wanted to. I mean, for years I thought I wanted to kill you, but death would be too good for you." Her wand quickly returned to her hand as she pointed it dangerously at him. "You see, what I want from you is to know why. Why didn't you kill me? Why did you leave me there alive? Was it to make me suffer more? Or—"

"It was none of that," Severus replied, deathly quiet. He closed his eyes, feeling young Harrison gently rub affectionately against his cheek as if to comfort him. He could start to see why his future self had left the boy with him. The child was truly loving and accepting. Both of which were things Severus had desperately yearned to feel just once. "I didn't kill you because I couldn't, Chloe. I couldn't find it in myself to raise my wand and use it to kill another human being." He inhaled softly, glancing at her as he spoke the truth. "I still can't."

"So, you're weak?" she said bluntly.

He flinched but inclined his head a moment later.

"Well, that's a damn lie," Chloe scoffed out instantly. "Any human who can't kill isn't weak. That's a lie your master has led you to believe. One of many."

A powerful blast, however, yanked them back to reality. Severus grabbed the wall, still keeping a firm hand on Harrison. He caught Chloe's brief flicker of fear as more blasts shook the cottage violently before she quickly recovered. The Death Eaters had found them.

"The barrier won't last for much longer," she loudly called out over the constant barrage of magical explosions against the cottage's outside walls. "Not with the spells they're using currently." Her hazel eyes darted to Tobias before returning to Severus. Her free hand went up into the air before she yelled out, "Accio photo album." A thick leather-bound book flew into the room a second later, seemingly coming from one of the back bedrooms. "Take it and leave."

Tobias wordlessly grabbed the album from her, giving Chloe a puzzled look.

"If you lower those wards—" Severus warned, realizing what the young witch was planning. But it was too late. The magical barrier around the cottage suddenly vanished, and a side of it blasted apart as a result, allowing the dark robed individuals to flood inside. Instinctively, he snatched a hold of his father's arm and turned on his heel, feeling the familiar tug behind his navel as he did. A rush of sound then roared in his ears as he Disapparated his father, Harrison, and himself far away.

The trio reappeared a moment later, crashing down outside the farmhouse on a cliff. Severus and Tobias quickly scrambled to their feet, knowing that danger was still likely nearby. They rushed inside, poor Harrison jostled horribly and screaming bloody murder, slamming the door behind them. A tingle of warmth then spread through them as the ancient wards were raised. Only then did the two men glance at each other and close their eyes.