A/N: I can never begin to thank all of you enough for all your kind words and comments about this story. It always amazes me to see how many adds and favorites this fic has. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Without further ado, enjoy the warm fuzziness with a dash of seriousness.

Love's Power

With his eyes still closed, Severus said a silent prayer for the young Auror they had left behind in Cokeworth. He couldn't believe it. Any of it really. No matter how he tried to excuse his behavior, it always came back to the fact that there was no excuse for any of it. He had done terrible things, and only he was to blame for it. No one else. At least Lily had been partially correct in her letter about that. He truly couldn't use the Marauders' despicable actions as an excuse for his joining the Death Eaters. He should have been stronger and resisted taking the easy way that so many Slytherins nowadays were taking. That had been his fatal error. One of many he had been making lately, it seemed.

"Ya can't blame yourself, son," Tobias said quietly a few moments later.

Severus held his tongue, though, not wishing to fight with his father, or anyone really. Instead, the young man reopened his eyes finally and headed towards a cage that contained a small barn owl. He grabbed the quill from the nearby table, scratching out a quick note onto a piece of parchment before he tied the message to the barn owl's foot and sent it off to its unspoken destination. His eyes followed the bird as it gracefully took flight, flying over the turbulent waves of the sea.

"We have a few hours before it arrives," Severus announced after the owl disappeared into the horizon. The poor thing would likely reach Hogwarts in the afternoon sometime by his estimate.

"Are we safe here?" his father asked, glancing warily around the old farmhouse.

"For now."

Tobias nodded slightly before he moved about, checking his surroundings out. Every now and then, he'd pause for a moment and glance back at his son. However, he'd move on to the next area not long after, realizing that Severus wasn't in the mood to talk just yet.

Severus didn't know how to explain it, but he couldn't believe for a single moment that his father had murdered anyone, accidental or otherwise. He'd freely admit that his father clearly had some rough edges to him, but so did a lot of people from Cokeworth. Everywhere one would look were desperate lost souls who'd beg anyone who would listen to save them from the darkness within. It just didn't make sense to him. Lying to get out of trouble, cheating at a card game, hell fighting with a random bloke on the street, Severus could see his father doing. But killing? He raised his eyes slowly and glanced over at his father, who was currently examining the fruit basket on the dining table. He knew absolutely nothing about this man in front of him. So, why in the nine hells did he trust the man so much? Was it just that they shared blood? Was that it? Or was there something else, something Severus couldn't describe?

"Tobias?" he called out hoarsely.

"Yeah?" his father grunted, turning towards him instantly. His father's kind blue eyes fell on him once more, and Severus felt that indescribable feeling bubble up within again.

"Tell me about yourself." When he caught his father's eyes narrow on him, he swallowed and glanced away. He felt . . . nervous, maybe. He couldn't explain it. Everything seemed different now. Had his future self felt this way, too, after he had spoken with their father, he wondered to himself.

"All right," Tobias replied with a listless shrug, heading back towards him while still clutching the photo album in his hands. "What do you wanna know?"

"Anything. I'm not picky."

Tobias laughed softly, though. "Not now you're not, but ya sure used to be when you were little, Severus." His father then shook his head before sitting in the armchair across from the sofa. "Well, it's like what she said. I never knew my mum. Grew up in Cokeworth under Dad's watchful eye in this rundown shack." He scoffed as a memory clearly flashed behind his eyes. "Your granddad wanted to pass on the skills of our ancestors at an early age. Taught me how to pick a lock when I was just—good lord—eight or nine, I think. Said learning from books don't teach ya shit about life. Not like picking locks and stealing will. Good ol' Dad."

"Were you caught?"

"Oh, loads of times at first. Could barely hold the damn things in my hands, so I'd always drop the damn things on the front step. But I got better. He saw to that. Every mistake became a painful lesson." Tobias shrugged. "The officers and me were on a first-name basis by the time I was twelve."

Severus frowned. "So you had a criminal record?"

His father jerked his head. "Yeah. Course that's how Dad wanted it. If he'd steal anything, he'd look at serious time. Me—I could steal and just get a few days here and there in detention, and a caseworker who'd pat me on the head telling me not to do it again. Boys will be boys was the old saying they'd use. Boys will be boys."

Could that have been it? Was Severus just genetically predisposed to criminal behavior? No. That was asinine. Everything that had led him to this life had been due to his actions. Chloe proved that. He had no one to blame but himself.

"When I was thirteen/fourteen, Dad realized I was good at cards. So, he'd take me to this little dive over on 19th to play with the boys." Tobias shrugged. "I'd play there once a week. At least at first. My first game I made over a hundred pounds. He was so proud that day. Bought me my very own pocket knife."

Severus blinked as a distant memory stirred in his mind. "You used that knife to make those little figurines you'd give Mum sometimes, right?" He caught his father's wide grin instantly.

"That's right." Tobias laughed quietly. "I caught her drawing the things when she was pregnant with you. She'd just stare at the damn things for hours on end, no care in the world. So, I figured that I'd try my hand at making one just once." His grin widened somewhat. "Only time I seen her smile as big as the day she first held you in her arms, son."

Severus nodded slowly. He could feel the warmth and love in his father's voice. It didn't make sense, though. His father abandoned them. Granted, it seemed to be due to the Aurors' belief that Tobias had killed people in a pub, but for years there had been—

"I don't understand. This doesn't make sense, Dad. None of it. You—you left us." Severus stared at his father, feeling his breathing become shaky. "I found Mum at the table that morning, crying. She said you had left for good, and that you weren't coming back ever. She had a note, Dad."

Tobias reared back instantly. "Note? Son, I didn't write no damn note saying any of that shit. I swear on my life I didn't."

"I saw it, though."

"I don't know what ya saw, Severus, but I didn't write no note saying that I was leaving you and your mum. I wouldn't."

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I now," Tobias admitted quietly, shaking his head in disbelief. "I asked to speak with your mother after they took me away. They refused. Said they couldn't risk me speaking and harming her. A day later, I got a public defender who said he worked out a deal. Said if I signed some papers and admitted to the murders, they'd take death off the table and give me a chance at parole with good behavior. Good behavior I can do." He then winced, rubbing his neck. "When it suits me at least."

"But she said that you knew you weren't allowed any visitors, to have contact with me," Severus argued, recalling Chloe's earlier words.

"Yeah, that's right." Tobias nodded. "That was in the fine print of the papers, though, son. I didn't read through any of it. The defender said it was a good deal, so I just signed, thinking it'd let me have a chance at seeing you one day."

"That's idiotic. Why wouldn't you have read them before you signed them?"

Tobias hung his head and closed his eyes, though.

"How could you have done something so stupid?" Severus snapped, glaring at his father. He couldn't believe it. His father had cost them, him, everything. "Mum would have fought for you if she knew the truth. She would've hired someone and gotten you out of that mess. Even if she was upset with you, she wouldn't have let the Ministry railroad you like that. How could you have been so stupid, Dad?" He scoffed when his father sat there silently. "Are you really that naïve to think the Ministry, that any law official, isn't above breaking the rules in order to close a case? If you had just read—"

"I couldn't, Severus," Tobias whispered. "I couldn't read it."

"Why the hell not? Because of your laziness, I—"

"It wasn't laziness," his father growled, standing up outraged. "I couldn't read it, Severus."

"What do you mean, you couldn't read it, Dad? The Ministry doesn't put it into hieroglyphs!"

"They might as well have!"

Severus clenched his jaw tightly to keep the anger inside for a moment. He couldn't believe his ears. How could his father have been so naïve and foolish? He would've have thought prior experience with law enforcement would have taught his father something, but clearly that wasn't the case. A thought then occurred to him. What if he had this all wrong? What if his father wasn't saying he couldn't read it because the papers didn't make sense, but because he couldn't read in general? He stared at his father, unable to speak. Oh.

"It was full of that mumbo jumbo stuff that they always have when it comes to breaking the law. That's all I recognized, though. Everything else was just" Tobias shrugged "foreign."

"You said you wrote Mum every day?" Severus asked quietly, watching his father nod slowly.

"That's right. Every day. I never knew if she ever got them, though. Seems like I got that answer now unfortunately."

"You wrote them, though? Every day?"

Tobias's eyes narrowed on him in confusion. "That's what I'm saying, yeah. Why?"

"So, you can read? At least somewhat."

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Severus shook his head. What did it matter at this point anyway? His father had admitted that he couldn't read the papers the Ministry had coerced him to sign. What difference did it make if the reason he couldn't read them was because he was either illiterate or not versed in legal jargon? None whatsoever, really. "So, you signed the papers, thinking it'd make it so you could see us again. When did you learn the truth about what you actually signed?"

"As the defender was walking out the door." Tobias shrugged. "He thanked me for not fighting any of it, saying it'd have been a waste of time anyway based on the evidence they had against me. Git then said I did the right thing sparing you and your mum the embarrassment. I didn't know what he meant right then, though, so I asked him about it. That was when he said that the plea deal was me doing solitary confinement in some ratty old cell, getting the chance of parole after nine years of good behavior. I was thinking how it'd be a piece of cake. Nine years. You'd be nineteen, a young man. I mean, I'd miss most of you growing up, but nine years seemed doable. Until he said how I had just signed away custody of you to your mum. He told me how El couldn't bear to be married to a murderer like me, that she didn't want you anywhere near me anymore. And, well, shit, you know your mum. She'd rip a man's face off with her teeth if he came anywhere near you just to keep her Prince safe."

Severus closed his eyes. He was beyond confused. He clearly recalled finding his mother sitting at the kitchen table, clutching that hastily written note in her hands crying over it on his eleventh birthday. Things didn't match up with what his father was saying. His mother hadn't filed for divorce. She had spent that night trying to beg Severus for forgiveness, telling him how sorry she was for upsetting him so close to his birthday. She hadn't left his side once that night, no matter how hard the young ten-year-old tried to push her away. Well, not until he had to go unfortunately, that was.

"She didn't file for divorce. She wouldn't have had time for it. Not with trying to fix things with me," Severus stated, shaking his head in disbelief. Young children frequently misremembered things of their childhood, sure, but not that many things nor be that far off base either. Would they?

"I don't know what to say, son." Tobias shrugged, sighing heavily. "The papers I got, that I poured over the next few months, they were written by your mum's hand."

"But she didn't—"

"Don't take it as me blaming her, Severus," his father argued. "Cause I ain't. Not one bit. Your mum had every right to send those papers to me and get custody of you. I mean, it's the one thing that made sense out of all this. She would've done so to keep you safe. No matter the cost, son. You know your mum better than me at this point, so you know I'm speaking the truth."

Unfortunately, his father was right. His mother would have stopped at nothing to protect him. It was the main reason why he had kept the truth about Roger from her. He knew the moment he told her that Roger had been beating him that he would have been the one responsible for breaking his mother's heart once more. It wasn't her fault that she had fallen in love with a child abuser. Not at all.

"Plus, it sounds like Roger makes her happy, so . . ."

Severus couldn't hold back his loud scoff and eye roll.

"Hey, don't be like that. I know you two don't see eye-to-eye for some reason, but—"

"Oh, really? And how do you know that exactly?"

Tobias shrugged his shoulders. "Your mum wrote to me a few months after you ran away."

Severus blinked. Eileen had written to her seemingly murderous ex-husband to ask about him? Odd. He had thought at the time she was too blind in love with Roger to notice him anymore.

"She was worried sick about you. Told me to write her if you came to see me. You didn't of course, but I told her that if you had, I promised to send ya back to her right away."

"Another promise you broke," Severus pointed out bitterly.

"Yeah, well, you're an adult now the way I see it. Free to make your own mistakes. And, well, it ain't like I got a forwarding address for your mum anyway anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Last message I ever got from her was this album," Tobias stated, motioning to the leather-bound photo album Chloe had given him prior to their leaving. "There was a note, too, that told me to keep it safe for her while she and Roger were away on vacation. And that had to be, shit, a year or two ago. All my letters since get returned, unopened."

"But you said that you weren't to have contact with—"

Tobias shrugged. "Since when did I ever not bend the rules, son?" When Severus rolled his eyes, his father merely laughed before he continued. "Chloe would chide me for sending them, saying that it was futile. But I had to try, you know? Just to make sure that El knew she wasn't alone. She sent one of my letters for me once, Chloe I mean. Guess it was to try and trap you, though, looking back on it now."

"Did Mum every reply?"

"Nah. The three messages I ever got from her were one-sided only. She made no mentioning of my letters. But that's all right. I was just happy to hear that she was all right."

Severus nodded slowly, digesting this new information. He knew without a doubt in his mind that his mother hadn't had the time to send divorce papers the day of Severus's tenth birthday. So, how was it then that his father supposedly received papers bearing Eileen's hand exactly? Had someone forged them to get Tobias out of the way for some reason? Or was it that his father was lying to him?

He pressed his lips together firmly, deep in thought. What would his father gain by lying to him? Sympathy? The chance to turn Severus against his mother? No, none of that made sense if one took into consideration that his father hadn't asked for sympathy. Not to mention that Tobias hadn't said a bad word about Eileen since Severus and Harrison's arrival. So, that led to the former then; someone had forged the divorce papers to get Tobias out of the way for some reason. But why and who?

Severus's gut cried Roger's name instantly at the 'who' part. Only that didn't make sense, though. Roger had worked with Tobias at the mill when it was still in operation. They weren't what one could say were friends, but Severus knew that his father had gone to the pub with the man more than a few times, much to Eileen's displeasure. However, the part that made it most unlikely the case was that Tobias never had any of his acquaintances or coworkers over at the house, or even at the diner where Eileen worked. So, how had Roger, who had never been introduced to Eileen before that time, learned Eileen's handwriting much less her syntax for the messages?

"You keep that up, and I'm gonna have to open a window to let out all the smoke, son," Tobias teased with a cheeky smirk. "So, go on then. Tell me what's got you thinking so intensely."

"I-it's nothing," Severus replied evasively. How could he even begin to start that conversation with his father?

"Bullshit. Now, come on. Tell me. Don't mince words with me. I'm a big boy. I can take it."

Severus blinked before shaking his head. He had forgotten how colorful his father was. Time had certainly faded that attribute in his mind.

"Really. It's nothing."

Tobias scoffed, rolling his eyes this time. "Son, you always were a wretched liar. Now, go on."

If only his father knew how skilled he had become at lying over the years . . .

"I was merely speculating who would want you out of the way. That's it."

"Well, shit, that's easy." Tobias gave a loud laugh. "Every damn person I ever swindled money out of at the pub. Or taught a lesson to. But I doubt any of them would have the guts to. Not to mention the brains that would have been required to pull something like that off."

"Wait, what?" Severus stared at his father, dumbfounded. "You considered that someone may have set you up, and you still signed that bogus plea deal?!" He couldn't believe it. Clearly, he had inherited his mother's intelligence.

"Did I consider it? Yeah, course I did. But do I think it happened? Hell, no. For the reasons I just told you. None of them would have had the balls to do it."

"What about Roger?"

"What about him?" Tobias replied with a half-scoff of disbelief.

"After you left, he came by the house a lot, saying that he wanted to help Mum and stuff. He'd give us money and . . ." Severus shrugged. "About ten months after you disappeared, Mum and he were dating. Like everything was wonderful in the world." The twenty-one-year-old tried to keep the deep-seeded anger at bay, but he could tell he was failing.

"Bitterness ain't a good look on you, son. Just so you know."

"It's not bitterness!" Severus snapped before he clamped his mouth shut tightly.

"Then, what is it?" his father asked quietly, every bit of him displaying seriousness now.

"Nothing. Forget I said anything." Severus shook his head, his eyes falling onto Harrison who had been watching a butterfly fluttering on the window. When he felt his father's rough hand lightly grasp his chin and turn his head back towards Tobias, he couldn't help but tense out of instinct.

Tobias made no motion that he had noticed the flinch, though. He merely said in a cool, firm voice, "Talk to me, Severus."

"You'll just say that it's bitterness again," the young man replied, wincing inwardly at hearing the sound of his own harsh voice. There had been a time when he would have never spoken like that to anyone, much less his father. Oh, how the years had hardened him.

"Bitterness doesn't usually make a person flinch," Tobias bluntly stated.

Severus closed his eyes instantly, wishing that he was anywhere but there. He felt his father release his chin soon after, forcing him to reopen his eyes and stare at the older man.

"Tell me the truth. Did he lay a hand on you? Did he touch you?"

If they had been talking about anything else, Severus may have smiled just slightly at hearing the protectiveness and caring of his wellbeing in his father's voice.

"He didn't . . ." Severus's voice faltered slightly as he swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat. "He cared for Mum." As if that statement explained everything that Roger had put him through and wrapped it all up into a nice bow. He was beyond pathetic. Honestly.

"That don't make it right, son, and you know that."

"I didn't say it was right!" Severus replied through clenched teeth, his temper getting the better of him momentarily. "I just—his hitting me doesn't matter now. He got what he wanted; he has Mum all to himself, and she has him. The end."

"Oh, it sure as hell ain't the end. Not until I knock that bastard so hard his ancestors feel it," Tobias growled, mirroring his son in holding back his own temper. He then shook his head, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "Did El know? Ah, hell, what am I saying? Of course she didn't know. She'd have gutted him right then and there with a spoon."

Severus couldn't help but laugh quietly. His father was likely right. Eileen was known for being fierce. So, killing someone with a spoon was not out of the question for her, given the right circumstances.

"So, I take it after all this happened and you ran, that's when you joined these bad guys? Dead Eaters or whatever?"

"Death Eaters," Severus quietly corrected as he slowly shook his head. "No. I, I joined them before leaving that last time."

Tobias whistled instantly, causing the young man to glance at him in confusion. "It's just I don't see how any of that could be, son. I mean, shit, your mum knew whenever I called out sick and went to the pub instead. And here you are, telling me that after I was gone that she just stopped noticing things? That sure as hell don't sound right to me. Because the El I know would have sure as hell noticed you getting into a bad crowd and setting you on the straight and narrow five seconds after you even thought about joining them."

"Yeah, well, after you left, she picked up a lot of extra shifts at the diner, so she wasn't really around much. She tried to be, but having food and roof over our heads were more important."

Tobias sighed somberly. "I'm sorry, son."

"What for? It wasn't your fault."

"It was, though. If I had just did as your mum asked instead of—"

"Really, Dad. Stop," Severus said, holding up his free hand. He then shook his head with a heavy sigh. "A girl I knew at Hogwarts said to me once that if we spent all our time on the 'what ifs' in life, we'd never truly live."

"Smart girl."

"Yeah, she is." The young man then glanced at Harrison.

"She still around, that girl you used to know?"

Severus nodded slowly. "As far as I know. We're not really close if that's what you're thinking." She was more of an annoyance in his eyes, truth be told. However, he wasn't one to tell his father that.

"It wasn't. I was just wondering about your friends and stuff. Since we went through my amazing life story after all," Tobias half-joked.

"There's not really much to tell."

"So it'll be a short story then." His father shrugged. "I'll still listen to it anyway."

The young man sighed heavily. "All right. Well, you left, so Mum started working more. I spent most of my time over at the Evans's house with…" He felt a sudden surge of anger at just the mere thought of Lily that he quickly suppressed. "Roger would come around every now and then. Mum mostly sent him away, saying we didn't need his charity. But, you know, he still came anyway."

"You got your letter it sounds like and went off to that school your mum went to."

"Yeah. I got it in the summer. Mum took me to get all my stuff and send me off."

"Was it all you were hoping for? That fancy school you'd used to go on to me about?"

Severus shrugged.

"What's that mean?" Tobias said, mimicking his son's shrug.

"It was… different, I guess."

"Different? Now, what the hell does that mean?"

"It was school, Dad. That's it."

"School?" Tobias repeated with a scoff. "Son, Pembroke is a school. This place was a damn magical castle that—"

"I didn't fit in, okay?" Severus snapped, cutting his father off. "I didn't fit in, and some other stuff happened, and it wasn't what I had imagined it to be."

His father's eyes narrowed on him. "What are you saying here? That you got into some schoolyard brawls? That sort of thing?"

"In a way, but it doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done. No use crying over spilled milk now about it."

"Severus," his father said calmly, giving him a familiar 'Out with it' look.

"Dad, look—"

"No. You look. You started this conversation by trying to get to know me. So, go on. Let me in and tell me about yourself. Nothing you say will make me love you any less, son. Promise you that. And I know. I suck at promises, but it's the truth."

The twenty-one-year-old groaned, laying back against the sofa and closing his eyes.

"Come on, son. Just tell me."

"Why? What difference could it possibly make?" Severus grumbled.

"It'd give me a glimpse into the man I see before me. Now, out with it. Before I have to use my secret powers."

Severus's head snapped towards his father. "What secret powers?"

"If I told you that, then they wouldn't be a secret anymore. Now, out with it."

"I don't think you do have secret powers."

"Try me."

He frowned, staring at his father. What secret powers could his father really have? Magic? Chloe had told them that earlier. So, then what was it?

"Do you really want to take that risk, son? Going up against me and my secret powers just to avoid telling me some bad news?"

Severus remained strong, though. He had no intention of letting his father in on that part of his life. Not fully.

"Even your mother couldn't resist my powers. And you know El."

Hearing Harrison's soft gurgle, Severus glanced down at the little boy. At the sight of Harrison's 'You better tell him' look, Severus glanced away with a wince. It'd seem even Harrison wanted him to tell Tobias and not risk it. Sighing silently, the young man's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"There was a kid in my class who liked Evans, like I did. Only I couldn't tell her that I liked her. That and he thought he was Merlin's gift to the world. We honestly hated each other's guts. He had this little gang of idiots who'd follow him around, and more than a few times we'd cross paths and…fight. Only he didn't fight fair most of the time. So, with that git and his friends around giving me a hard time, it wasn't the paradise I thought it'd be."

"Your teachers knew?"

Severus scoffed. "Oh, yes. They knew. But Saint Potter could do no wrong in their eyes. I'm actually rather impressed he didn't get awarded points for it."

"Sounds like I should give a few of them a piece of my mind," Tobias stated gruffly.

"It won't do any good."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Because Potter's dead now, forever memorialized as a saint." He then sighed heavily. "After I left, I never saw him again." Unless one counted the stupid wedding announcement and later birth announcement of their son, which he didn't. Severus's words then echoed around the room as Harrison cooed and tugged on his sleeves. He couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt. "Actually, that isn't fair."

"Huh? What isn't?"

Severus glanced down at Harrison before he spoke. "My anger at him. He may have been a git to me for seven years and made my life hell, but he didn't deserve to be murdered." He pushed back Harrison's hair softly. "He died protecting his family. That's sort of honorable."

"Eh, maybe, but I'm still partial to saying he was a prick who needed a good punch to the face."

The young man snorted before his eyes darted back to his father. "You asked me about my friends earlier." Severus shrugged. "I don't have any. Not really. I hung around a few people at Hogwarts, but it was mostly because I felt powerful around them. I wasn't really close to them, though. And Evans, well, the minute she got to Hogwarts and around others, I wasn't special anymore."

"What about that other girl you talked about?"

Severus sighed. "She was a year behind me. We weren't close. I'd tutor her every now and then when Slughorn forced me to. She was…all right, I guess."

"She was all right?" Tobias repeated slowly.

"Yeah, as in she didn't make my life hell like everyone else."

"Sounds like just the girl for you, Severus."

The young man rolled his eyes. "I'm not looking for that. I've got enough on my plate without having to worry about silly girls. Much less ones who are off in Italy or somewhere."

"All right. All right. I was just saying." Tobias then shrugged. "Because, you know, sometimes a man's got an itch that he's got to scratch and, well…"

Severus grimaced instantly. "Yes, well, as you can see, Dad, that itch has been scratched." His eyes darted down to Harrison.

"Yeah, and it wasn't a protective scratch either, it sounds like."

He groaned loudly. "Dad!"

"Though, I'll give you this, son. You made one hell of a lad."

Slowly, Severus turned back to his father. "Thanks." Even if Harrison wasn't really his, that thought was nice to hear.

"Any time." Tobias then clapped his hands. "Now, what do you say to lunch?" However, before Severus could answer, there was a sharp knock at the front door. "Or not."

A/N:Who do you think's at the door? :D