Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own them. I do dream about owning Alan Rickman, but alas, 'tis only a dream. :p

Chapter 106

"All right, Harry. You've managed to go one week without blowing anything or anyone up. You can go two."

"You know, dear, the first sign of madness is talking to yourself."

Harry made a face at the talking mirror and headed down to the common room.

Eventually Ron, Hermione, and Neville joined him.

"Snape teaching today?" asked Ron quietly.

"Probably," said Harry. He imagined potions was going to be a nightmare.

"You're not getting sick from being out in the cold last night are you?"

"No. I feel fine. Thanks for coming to get me by the way. It's hard to tell how long I'd have been out there."

"Are you going to show him the letter?" asked Neville curiously. (He had been in the common room when they had returned from the lake, so Harry had mentioned the letter to him. None of his friends, however, knew what it said.)

Harry shrugged. He hadn't decided one way or another yet.

When they entered the Great Hall, they saw a peculiar sight.

The Slytherin table was completely empty.

A glance at the Head Table showed that Snape was also missing.

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, who, once again, just shrugged.

"Quiet down," called out Professor Sinastra.

"Why can't we leave?"

"Your Head of House has something to say."

"I thought you were our Head of House since Snape's dead."

Severus unmelded himself from the shadows. "I assure you, Mr. Goyle, that I am not dead."

A first year girl that had been seated near where Severus had came from screamed. He glanced down at her. "Sorry, Ms. Carr."

He then turned his attention on the rest of the room. "How many of you believed I was dead?"

Severus saw the children of Death Eaters raise their hands, as well as a few others. He noticed that Malfoy's hand didn't raise. 'Interesting,' he thought.

"I do apologize for my absence. I assure you that I do not normally take a three-week sabbatical from the school, but it was unavoidable." He conjured a stool and sat down on it. His left leg was still bothering him, but he wouldn't let anyone know that.

"You all may as well get comfortable. I have something important to talk to you about."

"What about breakfast?" asked a second year boy.

"I have to finish my essay. I need to go to the library."

"Silence!" yelled Severus. "Clearly you all have forgotten how to behave in my absence." He was pleased to see a few people cringe at his tone. "Breakfast will arrive in a few minutes. As for your homework, it should have been done the night before." The last he directed to the girl who had spoken up.

Severus then unfastened his left sleeve and raised it to show everyone his inflamed Dark Mark. (Albus had temporarily removed the coil that morning.)

"Now, contrary to what the Ministry says, as I'm sure many of you know, the Dark Lord has returned. The fact that my Dark Mark is darkened in and moving is proof of that.

"Years ago, during the first war, I became a Death Eater. The reason does not matter, but I regretted it immediately.

"Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, Marked me. This Mark takes my power and gives it to him. He can summon me by it. He can also cause pain through it. The reason it is so inflamed is because he has been torturing me."

"Why?" asked one of the first years.

"Because he's a traitor," a 6th year called out.

"Silence!"

Again, everyone cringed at his tone.

"What do you all know of the Dark Lords plans for the Wizarding World?" He didn't want to deal with the traitor comment.

To Severus' surprise, a second year spoke up - one of the few muggleborn children that had been sorted into Slytherin. "He wants to bring blood purity supremacy back."

"Does anyone know what that means?"

"Once our world is rid of tainted blood, we can begin to take over the muggles," said Crabbe.

"And why would we want to take over the muggles?" asked Severus.

"Because we are superior to them."

He raised an eyebrow. "What makes us superior to them, Ms. Parkinson?"

"We have magic and they don't," she said haughtily.

"That makes us different from them, not superior. Tell me, has it ever occurred to any of you that if we didn't occasionally marry muggles, that we would die out?"

"No we wouldn't."

"Mr. Selwyn, there are very few pure-blood families left that are unrelated. The reason there has been an increase in the number of squibs these past few years are because of the marriages that have been occurring with less than three degrees of cousins between them."

"True muggleborns pop up sometimes," said one of the 7th years. "They could pick up the slack."

Severus snorted. He could only imagine what Granger would do to the boy if she had heard that comment.

"But the Dark Lord wants to get rid of the muggleborns, too," commented Gabriella Nott.

"Therein lies the problem," said Severus. "Essentially the Dark Lord would cause our way of life to become extinct. Contrary to popular belief, muggle blood does not dilute magical blood - at least not to the extent that everyone believes."

"But there are witches and wizards that don't have enough magic in their blood to come to Hogwarts."

"There are indeed, but did it never occur to anyone that we are the exception to that rule? Not them? They out number us, just like the muggles do. Every year there are approximately the same amount of students that enter Hogwarts, and I imagine the same holds true for the other big named schools as well. It's nature's own way of making sure that the elite, which is us, do not take over everything. We are schooled here to help protect our world. Our magic is a gift, as well as a great responsibility. Right now you are learning how to use your gift and that makes you very impressionable.

"The Dark Lord is abusing his talents. Yes, he may have the occasional good idea, but those ideas have long turned to madness."

"You don't sound very Slytherin, sir," interrupted Selwyn.

"I assure you that I'm as Slytherin as they come. Right now, my job is to make you understand - to give you the truth so that you can make an informed decision. Just remember this before any of you choose. There are things worth preserving in this world, and it can be done without torture or death.

"Dark times lay ahead for all of us. For many of you, you will be presented with a choice. Before you make that choice, ask yourself these three questions.

"First, what do you want to do with your life? Does whatever you want in life leave room for torture, rape, and murder?"

Severus saw a few of the students turn green at the thought.

"Secondly, do you believe you can preserve the pureblood traditions, and there are many good ones worth preserving, without needing to conquer muggles? I will say that it is possible. There are pureblood families that are not allied with the Dark Lord that carry on many old traditions just fine.

"And third, do you want the Dark Lord to have access to your power? To turn it back on you if you upset him?"

Severus stood up and banished the chair he had been seated on.

"Some of may feel as if you don't have a choice as to whether or not to join the Dark Lord, but you do. You may see me at anytime. My office hours remain the same. Now, are there any immediate questions?"

"Is Potter really your son?"

Severus bit back the retort he had been about to say because he had expected this question. And he was finished hiding.

"Yes, he is my son. That is all I am going to say on the matter. Finish your breakfast and think carefully on everything I have said."

He then strode to his office where Albus would be waiting to reapply the silver warding coil.

"How did it go, Severus?"

"As well as to be expected."

"I really should call Harry down here to apply this with me. The Latin version isn't going to work as well."

Severus rubbed his temples. "I hate to ask him."

"You know that he won't mind."

"He has double potions right before lunch. Can you come at lunch? What you're doing now should hold me until then."

"I'll be here."

Harry splashed cold water on his face. It was the break right before potions.

"Come on, Harry," called out Ron from the bathroom doorway.

"I'm coming," he said as he glanced in the mirror before finally turning away.

To his surprise, when he walked in, Snape was already seated at the desk.

He quietly set up his area and took a seat.

To his ever-loving graces, class proceeded normally. Snape lectured for the first hour and for the next, they prepared a neutral base using acidic ingredients.

Snape paid him no more attention that he did Malfoy.

"Mr. Potter, before you go to lunch, I'd like word with you."

"Yes, sir."

"What did you do?" asked Neville.

Harry shrugged. He had been doing that a lot lately.

After everyone had left, Snape waved his wand - causing the door to shut.

"How are you feeling, sir?" asked Harry automatically.

"That is one of the reasons I asked you to stay behind. I had to remove the coil this morning to show the Slytherins my Dark Mark. The Headmaster reapplied it, but I'm afraid it's not doing as well as when you both do it together."

"You showed the Slytherins your Dark Mark?"

"You haven't heard?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My first class this morning was with the Ravenclaws, and well, no one is going to gossip in your class."

Snape smirked.

"Why didn't you call me out of class? I wouldn't have minded. I don't like it when anyone is in pain."

"You do not need to miss any more class, and the pain is tolerable. The Headmaster will be here in a minute, which gives me a chance to speak to you about something important."

Harry searched his mind, trying to recall out what he had done wrong.

"I am aware that you have been hiding your intelligence and I want to know why."

Harry fidgeted. That had been the last thing he ever expected Snape to say. "I don't know what you mean."

"You're a horrible liar," Snape said with a slightly bemused expression.

Harry sighed. "It's second nature to me. I learn the stuff. It shouldn't matter what the tests show."

"Why is it second nature?"

Harry fidgeted again. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Snape stood and walked out from behind the desk. Before he could speak though, Harry saw the slight limp.

"Your leg is still bothering you? Have you told Madam Pomphrey?"

"My leg will be fine in a few days. I assure you that I am taking good care of it."

"I'm sorry I didn't get you out sooner. Maybe if I had caused that distraction earlier, you wouldn't still be hurt."

"Harry, quit worrying about me. I am fine." Snape said as he leaned back against the front of his desk. "Why is it second nature to hide your intelligence?"

"Because I was punished if I did better in school, in anything, than Dudley."

Snapes' hand tightened around his wand. "But your aunt and uncle no longer matter."

Harry shrugged. "It's not like I hide how smart I am in everything."

"I will not tolerate it anymore, in any of your subjects."

His eyes widened. "Why should you care? They aren't your grades."

"I care because you are my son, whether you have come to terms with that yet or not. Your grades can highly affect what you can do when you graduate. I care because it is my job to care. I care because I can."

That little speech left Harry slightly stunned, so it was perhaps a good thing that the Headmaster came in the room when he did.

Harry glanced at the clock with a frustrated sigh. It was currently three a.m. He had woken from a nightmare about 30 minutes prior.

Even with his occlumency shields up, it didn't seem to help anymore. He figured he would need to tell Dumbledore soon. Maybe with all of the things he had been through lately, he wasn't doing something right.

Quietly, he got up and retrieved his mothers' letter from his trunk.

He re-read it a couple of times.

His mother really wanted him to try with Snape.

Harry ruffled his hair out of reflex.

He desperately wanted a family, a true family, a family that actually wanted him (unlike the Dursley's). He had always wanted a real family. Snape was, technically, his family now.

Malfoy had told him that this was a good thing.

But Harry didn't know how to be a son. Merlin knows he's not had any experience at it.

Besides himself and Dumbledore, Snape was right up there on top of Voldemort's 'to kill' list, so Harry being around him wouldn't bring any additional harm.

Harry realized with a jolt that he wanted this, he wanted a real family, a place where he could belong. He wanted to be a family with Snape.

He picked up his photo album and looked at a picture of him and Sirius.

"Forgive me, Sirius. I won't ever forget you, and I promise I will avenge you, but please understand about all of this. I know you hated Snape, but he can understand me. I think that you want me to be happy, and while I'm more confused than anything right now, I think I could eventually be happy."

The picture of Sirius waved at him while grinning at the camera.

And for what Harry resolved would be the last time, he cried.

A/N: I really, really hope I explained what Snape said to the Slytherin's in a decent manor. (I also hope that there were no random point of view shifting in there anymore either. I reread it multiple times to make sure I got them all.) Anyway, mom's wedding is finished and they are back from their honeymoon, so I'll be going back to VA in a couple of days. The next chapter is almost finished. I'll aim for a week from now. However, if anyone can convince this headache I've had for a week now to go away and stay away, I might be persuaded to post it sooner. :p

Oh, and yes, Lord Moldy-shorts plans go deeper than just conquering muggles, but some of his plans for world domination (and the like) are far too complex to involve the students, so Snape didn't touch on that. He figured he would touch base on what he could get them to understand, not on anything that would likely be over their head.

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July (if you celebrate it). If you don't celebrate it, then I hope everyone had a good regular day then! :D

A/N: Oh, and I think I got all of the previous chapters line breaks issues sorted out. That took a lot longer than I thought it was going too. lol