Chapter 4

WARNING: Mentions of rape

Severus was in his office, he knew it was well past nightfall, and he knew that he should probably try to get some rest, but instead he sat at his desk. He wasn't working, the papers he still had to grade sat in a pile untouched, and the potion ingredients for the potions he needed to brew for Pomphrey sat in a pile waiting to be used. He simply sat. Thinking. He was waiting on a call from his father. Waiting to be able to ask his mother for the truth. Waiting for Harry to come to him or for there to be a chance for him to go to Harry. He was waiting on his mind to stop constantly going, for the fear of this being fake to fade away. So there he sat, as he had every night since the tournament, staring at the fire across the room doing nothing. He didn't even speak when there was a knock at the door, so when it opened he looked up about to snap out in anger before seeing who it was,

"Flitwick."

"Severus."

"What are you doing here? Surely you have better things to do."

"Of course I have other things to do, as I am sure you do. Or is it part of your job to stare into the fire?"

"I was just thinking for a moment." Severus answered, sighing as he let the anger and snappiness go, he needed someone to be able to trust, Flitwick is the only one in the school he could do so with, it wouldn't do to run him off.

"Seems to be the thing to do tonight. Earlier tonight Harry was in my office doing the same thing, although his thinking had more questions than staring into fires."

"What kind of questions?"

"Well he came to my office to ask me why you hated his father."

"I didn't hate his father." Snape almost growled.

"So I told him, just as I told him that you only hate one person. Although, I did not think it my place to tell him who that person is. After I explained what happened between you and his father he asked some other questions about what you had talked to him about. He asked quite a bit about prejudice and your father."

"I'm glad he is actually thinking about it. I was worried that since it came from me he would ignore it."

"He might have, if you had not taken the time to tell him that it wasn't his fault Cedric died."

"Others told him the same, I do not know why that would change the situation."

"You are very right, others did tell him that. Alas, though, none of them told him how that was the truth though. Only you told him what was actually at fault. The boy is smart, he doesn't like being lied to, and he doesn't just accept random statements, he blamed himself and until you told him why it couldn't have been his fault, he believed that it was." Flitwick explained, Severus had lifted a very heavy burden from the boy's shoulders, and that would never be forgotten.

"Yet another reason why others should know the effects of dark magic. He shouldn't have carried that burden at all, let alone for as long as he did."

"I agree, but until things change it will never happen." As Filius spoke Severus' arm began to burn, he grabbed it with his other hand, pushing up the fabric of his sleeve.

"He's calling." It was just a whisper but the other man heard,

"Go, I will inform the headmaster where you are."

"Thank you, Flitwick." With that the younger man swept out of the room and down the dark corridor leaving the charms professor alone.

Severus had immediately responded to the call, then he had calmly waited for the entirety of the meeting, acting as if he was just another death eater, hoping that his father would ask him to stay behind. Yet, the meeting had ended, and the dismissal given and his father had said nothing, so, Severus did something stupid,

"My Lord, If I may have a word with you, privately." He spoke, kneeling as he did so, hoping that his father wouldn't punish him, and hoping that his feigned humility would make the others believe that he wasn't favored for some reason. Severus heard Lucius take a sharp intake of breath, he knew that Severus was closer to the Dark Lord than most, but he didn't know the truth, and he was sure his friend would be punished for that. Severus didn't dare look up at his father, he just stared at the ground hoping and praying that his father would consent, and maybe not hex him.

"Very well." It was all that was said. Nothing else. The others in the room would think nothing of it, and Severus could hear them apparating away. But, Severus was not just anyone, and he could hear the anger in his fathers words, so he kept his eyes fixed on the ground.

"Shall we go to the study?" His father asked, he then turned and left forcing his son to scramble to stand and follow without another word. When they entered the study Voldemort slammed the door, locking it with a spell and placing a silencing charm before turning to his son,

"What the HELL do you think you were doing!" He yelled, every bit of anger that Severus had heard in his earlier words coming out.

"I needed to talk to you, and you didn't ask me to stay, Lucius always stays until everyone else leaves so it wasn't like I could just wait, and you were walking away…."

"So you just decided it was the best thing to speak up? I raised you with more of a brain than that! You never speak up." Voldemort spat, his words like venom. Severus saw his mother transform out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't dare turn away from his father, he at least knew better than that.

"I. Had. To." Severus replied, his voice just as dangerously low. If anyone else had been in the room it would have been easy to see the resemblance between the two of them. Severus had never fully looked like his father, although he shared his hair color and eyes, he never would be called his fathers doppelganger, but when he was mad, it was almost impossible to see the difference.

"WHY!?"

"Because you have been hiding things from me!" Severus yelled back, his fist clenched by his side, as his eyes were locked in a power struggle with his father.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"What did he do to mom?" Severus had stopped yelling, his voice deadly calm and controlled, his eyes flashing with anger and power.

"I will tell you what I…."

"ENOUGH!" Haven's voice cut off her husband, as she stepped between the two men, pushing her husband back.

"NO! You are not writing this off and covering it up. I deserve to know the bloody truth about the man you are forcing me to place myself under like a lost puppy, like I bloody need him." Severus spat.

"Fine. I will tell you. But, Severus, you must understand that this is not going to help you in any way, and it might make your mission harder, because at the end of the day you have to go back to Hogwarts and you have to pretend to serve him." Haven said, her eyes sad and her voice suddenly tired.

"I can handle it."

"Very well. When I was in my seventh year, Dumbledore took a liking to me. When it started I wasn't sure why, I thought maybe that it was just him being a teacher wanting to help a student, I was wrong. When he started getting weird and standing really close to me and touching me more than he should I asked him to stop, he gave me detention for talking back to him. He forced himself on me over and over. By the time I made it back to the common room my clothes were ripped, I had bruises forming and I couldn't stop the tears. Flitwick found me, he asked me what had happened and I told him. He helped me clean up, gave me a new uniform, and told me that his door was always open if I wanted to talk about it and that he would handle Dumbledore. He covered it up, but Dumbledore never touched me again, so I didn't say anything. But, I missed my next period, and found out I was pregnant. Flitwick once again helped me, we hid the pregnancy until the end of term and then your father and I stayed with him over the summer, the baby was born halfway through the summer and we were able to find a home for him. Tom and I married and you came quickly after. It wasn't until later that I discovered that Dumbledore had found out about the child, he had found him and in fear of him having been corrupted by Tom and I, he got him bit by a werewolf in hopes that it would make the boy braver and get him sorted into Gryffindor. The boy ended up going to Hogwarts the same year you did, and to Dumbledore's pleasure, he was sorted into Gryffindor and placed in the perfect spot to be brainwashed and controlled, and I lost the ability to reach him, to protect him from the lies. Flitwick long ago apologized for his stupidity, his own prejudice and has done his best to make up for it. The entire time the two of you were at Hogwarts he watched over you, and did his best to show you both the truth. He thinks he might have succeeded with my other son, but he was never sure." Haven explained, tears falling throughout the story. Her words were forced and shaky. Every now and then Severus would see his father tighten his grip on the back of the chair he stood next to, the anger clearly written on his face. Severus didn't know what to think, he was shocked, hurt, angry. He wanted to kill Albus Dumbledore.

"Who is my brother?" In reality Severus knew who the only werewolf in his class had been, but he wanted to know for sure.

"Remus Lupin." Haven answered. Severus only nodded in return, his anger radiating off of him. Voldemort was looking at his son, he could feel the power swirling around him, the magic radiating through him. He had never seen his son like this, never known the extent of his power. Yet, he was beginning to realize just who his son was. He was strong and defiant, he didn't let fear control him, he always pushed through. He welcomed pain like an old friend, and he never let others' words and opinions change who he was. He was kind and loving and he held others over himself. He struggled with grudges and he tended to never give up on revenge, but everyone had faults and he clearly inherited that from Voldemort himself, so he couldn't very well hold that against the boy.

"I hate him." Severus' whispered words broke Voldemort out of his thoughts, he glanced to his wife to see a sad look on her face, tears falling silently down her face. She never used the word hate unless she truly meant it, and she had raised Severus the same way, so him saying it meant he truly felt that way.

"Me too." Voldemort replied, looking at the brokenness the man had brought on his family made him hate him more each and every day. It didn't help that the man had basically taken away his second son from him. Remus had never been his flesh and blood, but he had loved him just as he loved Severus.

"I will try to contact Remus, and see where he stands. Harry is already asking good questions that are leading him to the truth, I won't let that bastard have him." Severus explained, he moved towards the door.

"Be careful, Severus, he doesn't know who you are and if he finds out.." Haven said, moving to hug him before he could walk away. She knew the danger her son was walking into on a daily basis, she wasn't going to let him walk away without giving him a proper goodbye.

"I will."

"I love you." Haven said, pulling back from the hug and looking him in the eyes.

"I love you too, Mom."

"Goodbye Severus, watch your back." Voldemort spoke from the other side of the room, receiving a nod in reply from his son before he left the room. Once his son had left, Voldemort moved to his wife and pulled her into a protective hug. He knew that his family could take care of themselves, but he still would protect them from everything he could. He had failed her all those years ago, he wasn't going to again. Dumbledore would fall, he would be removed from power and he would never see outside the walls of Azkaban again.