Chapter 5

WARNINGS: Mentions of rape

Severus returned to the school as the sun rose in the sky, yet another night without sleep, but he knew that even if he had made it back earlier he wouldn't have slept. When he made it to his office though he was surprised to find it occupied,

"Mr. Potter, sorry for my delay in coming, I did not know you were waiting on me." Severus said calmly as he stepped into his office, the boy turned to look as he spoke.

"It's no problem, Sir. I was fine to wait, I am sorry to bother you so early in the morning."

"It is fine, I was already awake. How may I help you?"

"I was wondering, do you serve Voldemort? I know you said you are a spy, and that you do not agree with all he does, but you do agree with his reasoning, and well, I have heard a lot recently and I have realized a lot recently about the way things are and I don't know if I fully agree with him but I think Voldemort might be on to something. I mean, I don't know everything but I know that the prejudice of this world has harmed people and anyway, I know answering this question could be dangerous, but nobody will tell me the truth and Dumbledore won't talk to me and I don't know what to do because after what I have learned and seen I feel like maybe Voldemort isn't as bad as they say he is…"

"But you are scared to say that, because all you have ever heard of him was bad." Severus interrupted the boy and finished his thought. He had felt the same way when he had started asking questions in his fifth year. He had been raised with the truth but even then the teaching of Hogwarts had made him question it.

"Exactly."

"I am not going to say I will not answer your question, but, I do not think it is what you actually need. The opinions of others can not be what makes you make decisions otherwise you will never actually make one. You need to find out the actual truth for yourself. So, instead of directly answering your question quite yet, I am going to give you a pass to the restricted section of the library with a list of three books that tell the actual unbiased truth of what has happened in the last war and a little bit before and what has happened since. I will answer your question, and I will not hide the truth from you, but If you will trust me just long enough to read these books, you won't be making your decision based on others opinions. Is that okay with you?" Severus asked, he didn't want the boy to not come to him anymore, but he also didn't want Harry to think that others' opinions were always what he needed to look for.

"Yes sir, that is fine. Thank you for helping me."

"That is what I am here for. The point of being a student is to learn the truth, and the point of being a teacher is to help in any way that you can. I wouldn't be teaching if I didn't want to help you find the truth."

"Even if the truth costs you your job?" Harry asked, curious as to how willing Snape was to help him. He was beginning to understand that the man was very different during war time than when he was during peace. Which made sense to Harry, because when one had hope that things could get better it always improved their mood.

"Even if it cost me my life." Severus answered the boy truthfully. He wanted these children free from the power of the evil man who currently sat as headmaster of Hogwarts, and he would die for that cause if he needed to.

"Is the truth worth that, Sir?"

"Harry, if there is one thing you learn from me, let it be this: the truth is the single most important thing you could ever know. It changes everything, saves us even. The truth is one of the only things in this world worth dying for."

"What else is worth it?" Harry asked, curious as to what the man valued above all else.

"Family, whether chosen family or birth family, is always next. Then, I think good and love are the only other things worth such a high price." Snape had never told these things to anyone, but he had made a decision not to lie to the boy, if this is what the boy wanted to know, than this was what he told him.

"What is the difference between birth family and chosen family?"

"Birth is the family you share blood with, so your parents, your aunt and your cousin for example. Chosen family is those people in your life who even though you do not share blood you treat them like family, love them like family. So for you I would assume that would be Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger."

"What if you wouldn't choose your birth family?" Harry asked, he thought that maybe Snape knew about his aunt and uncle and the way he was treated by them, but he wasn't sure, and he was curious as to what this man he was beginning to understand thought about it.

"Unless they have broken the unspoken vow of family, I believe you do not have a choice but to choose them. But, there are family members who will break that unspoken vow, and therefore they lose the bond of family."

"How would one break the vow?"

"Family is never to intentionally hurt or harm each other. They do their best to love each other, do what is right and best for one another, and protect each other. Therefore, a family who physically or mentally abuses you, beats you for no reason, starves you, locks you away like a prisoner, and treats you like a pet or servant, they have broken the vow. From what I can gather your aunt and cousin have done so, therefore you will have to choose your family, for that I am sorry." Severus explained, his voice hard but kind. Harry could hardly believe that this was the same man that had taught him potions all these years, but for some reason Harry just knew that this version of the man was the real one. All the things that had happened were not who he truly was, now, for some reason unknown to Harry, Severus Snape was who he was born to be.

"Thank you for answering my questions, Sir. And thank you for the books." Harry said, standing to leave.

"You are welcome. If you have any questions while reading, or any questions at all, my door is always open." Severus replied, allowing the boy to leave. He then sat at his desk, he needed to write to Remus. He was going to have to place spells on it that he knew Remus could break, but that would be secure enough to keep the letter from being read by anyone who may get it instead. Which meant he had to hope that Remus remembered the spells his friends had stolen that Severus had created himself. He wasn't sure what to write exactly, but he decided with all that had happened so far he would be blunt. So he asked him to do the ancestry spell, then he asked him to tell him what he knows of the Dark Lord and the first war. He was hoping that if Remus knew the truth and sided with their mother and Voldemort, that it would be enough of a hint to get him to open up. At the end of the letter he wrote an open invitation for a visit before signing his name and sealing the letter. He then stood from his desk and headed to the owlery to send it, before going to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Remus was in a run down hotel room on the outskirts of London, he had been on a mission doing some work for Dumbledore and had recently been called back to London to meet with the headmaster after what had happened during the tournament. He was sitting on the edge of the bed trying to force himself to pack up and keep moving but he just didn't want to. The war was starting again and he was stuck, he hated it more than anything else, he just wished he had been able to escape it when he had a chance, but Dumbledore was surprisingly hard to escape. Although Remus supposed he should have guessed that he would be, nobody that corrupt was ever easy to escape. It didn't help that no matter how stupid he was the death eaters seemingly refused to capture him and allow him a chance to switch sides, or at least be freed from this. A knock on the window broke him out of his thoughts and he moved to open the window and let the owl inside. He had never seen the owl, but when he pulled the letter from it's talon it stayed where it was,

"You are waiting for a response then?" Remus asked the owl, throwing it a treat from his bag. He then looked at the letter, it was in Snape's loopy handwriting. He could tell there was a spell sealing it, he just had to think about what it would be. He didn't think Snape would be dumb enough to put a common spell on it, not if he really wanted to protect its contents. So, it would be a more sophisticated spell, likely something the typical wizard or witch would not know. It would be one of the ones he invented that Remus knew, which only left around two or three options. Remus cast the anti-spell to each option that it could be, and the seal fell from the page. As he read it his mouth fell open in shock, Severus was clearly hinting at a different question than he was really asking, this could be Remus' way out. Why on earth did he want him to take an ancestor test though? Oh well, at this point Remus was willing to do almost anything to get out from under the control of Dumbledore. When he cast the spell though he barely could keep his legs from giving out on him in shock. The one different thing about a wizarding ancestry test than a muggle one was that the spell would tell you the relationship of the people on your list. Remus didn't care to look beyond his parents, not with what he was reading,

Father: Albus Dumbledore

Mother: Haven Snape Riddle

Relationship/way of conception: Rape

Snape. Severus was his brother, or at least his half brother. He was hinting at asking Remus if he sided with Dumbledore or not. It didn't take Remus long to realize that he was going to risk everything, if Severus sided with Dumbledore and Remus got sent to Azkaban, so be it, but if by chance his brother didn't, this was the path to freedom he had been waiting for.

"You won't need to carry a reply, I think I will visit in person." Remus told the owl who still sat on the window seal. He then moved to the fire in the corner throwing floo powder into the fire,

"Slytherin Office Hogwarts." Remus spoke clearly into the fire, that was what Severus had written at the bottom of the page. He then stepped through, hoping the man wouldn't hex him for being forward. When he stepped into the office, he saw Severus sitting at a desk against the far wall, he was writing something.

"Hello Remus, I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Care to explain why and how our mother was raped by Dumbledore?" Remus asked, his voice harsh but refusing to wait for the basic greetings to be over.

"Happily. He is an evil bastard with a hunger for power, I plan to kill him before the end of the war, you are welcome to help." Severus answered, still looking at the paper he was writing on, but Remus could hear the anger in his voice.

"Gladly."

"So you do know the truth."

"Yes, Flitwick taught me it when I was here at school. It wasn't easy, I was clearly surrounded by people who were never going to agree, but I didn't have a way out and they were someone to talk to. I didn't know that you knew… That you were my brother."

"Don't beat yourself up for it, I didn't know until last night, until mother finally told me." Severus replied, finally looking up to meet his brother's eyes.

"She's alive?" Remus asked, Severus nodded before standing and replying,

"As is my father."

"Who is your father?"

"Whose side of the war are you on?"

"Voldemort's. I would bear his mark if he would ever get good enough death eaters to capture me long enough to tell him that."

"You don't think he is evil?"

"No, I know too much of dark magic to think that. Who is your father?"

"Voldemort." Severus answered calmly, pouring firewhisky into two glasses, pausing before he continued, "If you really want to bear the mark I think I can arrange that, they want you back."

"Back?"

"Yes, they were already in a relationship when he raped her. My father thought of you as his own. He won't ever tell you that, he doesn't do emotions well, but you will learn how to read him, you will eventually be able to understand the things he actually means when he says things. For example, if he ever tells you he is proud of you, it means he loves you. Although he will never say it." Severus explained.

"If it's any comfort my father never says it to me either." Remus half joked, taking the glass of whiskey that Severus handed to him.

"Well yes, and your father got you bit by a werewolf, mine at least has the decency to care about my wellbeing."

"He what?"

"Ahh, you didn't know. He wanted to make sure you were brave enough for Gryffindor after being corrupted by mother and my father. So, in his corrupt and evil way he got you bitten."

"Killing him is sounding better by the minute."

"Patience. We have much to do before we can make that move. First, we have to show Harry the truth, then hopefully he can lead his classmates to it as well. Our goal is to save as many of these children from him as possible." Severus stated, he knew his brother would be happy to hear about that.

"Good. He deserves to know. He isn't his father."

"So I have been learning."

"Are you allowed to go to your father whenever you want?" Remus asked, curious as to whether he could meet his mother on the same day he met his brother and learned of his family.

"Not typically, but I believe he will make an exception. Follow me." With that Severus set his glass on the desk and left the office through the door to his private quarters. He grabbed his cape and mask, shoving his extra cape into Remus' hands before leaving through the door into the hall.