"Albus Dumbledore!" Severus Snape stormed from the floo into the headmaster's office early in the morning with a letter and pensive in his hands.
"Severus? What is wrong?" Albus asked from his desk, his normally twinkling blue eyes growing concerned. He was used to Severus's temper of course though he had never stormed into his office like this before.
"Do you remember? Did you ever even really forget? Did she send you your memories back as well?" Severus growled, glaring at his mentor.
Albus stared at him. "Severus, I have no idea what you are talking about. Did who send me memories?"
"Lily." Severus answered with pain in his voice.
"Lily?" Albus looked confused. He gestured at the chair in front of his desk. "Sit, my boy and tell me what has happened. Lily sent you something?"
Severus dropped into the chair and ran his hand over his face. Even Albus wasn't that good of an actor.
Albus patiently waited for Severus to start talking. He held out a small bowl he kept on his desk. "Lemon drop for your thoughts?"
Severus narrowed his eyes at him. "No." Old coot, he thought to himself, keeping his glare on the headmaster. "I received an interesting letter this morning along with this pensive. It gave me my memories back. Everything that the memory charm you cast ten years ago took away. The memories of my wife Lily and our son Harry!"
Albus's mouth dropped open. "What? I don't remember casting any memory charm." He protested.
Severus gave him a withering look. "Obviously." He sighed to himself and held out the pensive for Albus to view. "Hurry please. I must get to my son as soon as possible." Harry, Severus thought with guilt. He had treated his own son terribly this past school year. He had been bitter believing Lily had chosen to marry James Potter and had assumed that Harry was a replica of James, his tormentor when he himself had been a student. His heart ached as he thought of Lily and how much they had loved each other. His heart ached even more as he thought of his son. He needed to get to Harry who according to Lily's letter should have received one of his own, as well as his appearance changing. Harry must be so confused. He must also be horrified to find out that his hated potions professor was his father. I'll make it up to him, he promised himself. All he could think about was Harry, remembering the toddler he had held in his arms. He needed his son.
Harry had woken up feeling anxious though for a moment he could not remember why. As it all came back to him he jumped up and looked in the mirror. It hadn't been a dream. He was really Snape's son.
He heard his door being unlocked. "Boy! Get your lazy self downstairs and start breakfast!" Aunt Petunia snapped at him as she opened the door. She turned and walked away without even looking at him.
Harry rolled his eyes as he quickly got dressed. He knew his relatives would be sitting in the living room where Dudley watched his morning shows while they waited for him to make a breakfast that he probably would not get to have any of. Since the Dobby incident they had not been keen on giving him much food, not like that was anything new. Suddenly he froze as he started down the stairs. They would notice his appearance. What would he say?
"Boy!" Uncle Vernon practically screamed.
Nervously Harry made his way down the stairs and quickly went into the kitchen to start breakfast. As he had thought, they were all in the living room. Maybe they would not notice the change. It's not like they spent much time noticing him anyway, even when he was doing all the chores. He expertly started the eggs and bacon and began setting the table for three. Even when they did let him eat they never allowed him to sit with them. "We don't eat with freaks!" Aunt Petunia had snapped at him when he had been five and had asked why he always had to eat in his cupboard.
"Is our food ready yet?" Aunt Petunia demanded as she walked into the kitchen. She nodded when she saw the table set and the food laid out. "Finally. Now get out of our sight so we can have a proper breakf-"she stopped, staring at him. "Who-who are you?"
"It's me, Aunt Petunia. Harry." Harry answered quietly.
Aunt Petunia kept staring. "Freak!" she yelled. "What did you do? We told you we didn't want any freakishness in our house!"
Uncle Vernon lumbered in, Dudley waddling behind him. Although Dudley's eyes had widened at Harry's new look, he still went immediately for the food.
"How dare you do that hocus pocus in our house!" Uncle Vernon shouted as he advanced on his nephew, grabbing him by the neck. He started to shake Harry when suddenly he flew across the kitchen and slammed into the wall, unable to move.
"Don't you dare touch my son, you worthless muggle!"
Still gasping for air, Harry looked up from where he had fallen on the kitchen floor to see Professor Snape standing in the room with his ebony wand out and pointed right at Uncle Vernon. Despite feeling confused about what he had learned from his mum's letter, right then all Harry felt was relief.
"Vernon!" Aunt Petunia grabbed Dudley from where he was still stuffing his face and pulled him over to her husband who was trying to move from the wall. "What did you do?" She glared at Harry. "How dare you invite your kind to our home!"
"I didn't!" Harry protested. "Not that I'm complaining that he is here." He added, rubbing his throat.
Keeping his wand trained on the Dursley's, Severus made his way to Harry. "Are you all right Harry?" He asked in concern, his eyes darkening as he saw the marks on his son's neck. Harry nodded as he stood up, shocked to hear his professor call him by his first name. His father, he reminded himself.
Severus, despite his immense anger toward the muggles, couldn't help the sense of pride he felt when he saw the changes in his son. He was a perfect blend of him and Lily. Thinking of Lily, he turned towards her horrid sister. "How could you treat your own sister's son like this? How could you let that oaf you call a husband hurt him like that?"
Scared as she was at having an angry wizard in the house, Petunia still narrowed her eyes as she answered him. "I never wanted him. The only things he is good for is cooking and cleaning and he is not even good at that!"
Severus's obsidian eyes flashed and he growled as he took a step in her direction. He then noticed the table set for three instead of four. The hand holding his wand twitched, itching to send several painful hexes their way. "He cooks and yet there are only three places set?"
"We don't eat with freaks." Dudley piped up without thinking. His piggy eyes widened at the look on the tall wizards face and he cowered behind his mother, hoping he wasn't going to get another tail.
"You get out of our house!" Vernon was struggling to free himself from the wall. "We are normal, hardworking people-"
Severus snorted. "That's a laugh muggle. You make a child cook your meals and you don't even allow him to eat with you!"
"You're that friend of Lily's!" Petunia suddenly said. She glared at Severus. "I remember you now. It's your fault she got into all that freaky stuff and went to that strange school!"
"I see that you are still jealous even after all these years. So jealous that you took it out on your nephew?" Severus shook his head in disgust, though he himself wasn't any better. He had been cruel and unfair to Harry simply because he had looked like James and had been reminded of the boy who had bullied him in school. He hadn't remembered that after Hogwarts James had actually apologized to him.
"We never wanted him!" Vernon complained, though he looked nervously at the wand still pointed at him. Sparks had begun to fly from it.
"Wait a second. Didn't you call the boy your son?" Petunia asked as she looked from Harry to Severus, seeing the similarities. A mean look crossed her face. "So Lily wasn't so perfect after all was she? What a cheating slu-"
"Silencio!" Severus hissed at her. "You have no idea what you are talking about. Do not ever say anything against Lily again. She would be so ashamed of you, as would your parents!"
Severus turned to Harry who was staring at him wide eyed. "Let's go get your things. We are leaving here for good."
Harry looked up at him hopefully. "Really, sir? I mean professor-um..."
"It's okay Harry. We certainly have a lot to talk about. Let's go get your things." Severus glared at the Dursley's. "If you know what's good for you, not one of you will take a step out of this room until we leave."
"I couldn't even if I wanted to!" Vernon kept trying to pull himself away from the wall, his face red with exertion.
"Pity." Severus smirked as he left the kitchen and followed his son up the stairs. The smirk faded when he saw all the locks on the door Harry was opening as well as the cat flap. "What is this?" He hissed.
Harry flinched slightly at the angry look on Snape's face which seemed to get even angrier when he saw the window with the bars on it.
"This is your room? It is a criminal's room!" Severus seethed. He noticed his son's scared look and quickly occluded his emotions. "I apologize; I did not mean to scare you. I am just angry at how they have been treating you."
"Are you angry that you are my dad?" Harry asked softly, dropping his gaze. Some Gryffindor he was, all he felt was unsure of himself.
"No! Harry, as soon as I got my memories back all I could think of was getting to you." Severus assured him. He wanted so desperately to hold his son and ask for forgiveness for how he had treated him but he knew that this was a lot for Harry to absorb as it was.
Harry turned away to pack with a relieved look on his face. He had been afraid of being rejected like the Dursley's had rejected him. Not sure what he was supposed to call Snape yet, he ventured "Sir? Can I let Hedwig out to fly? She's been locked up too."
Severus had to control the wave of fury he felt at the admission that Harry had indeed been locked up, but he would deal with that later. "Of course. Tell her to go to Hogwarts." He waved his wand and the lock on Hedwig's cage disappeared as well as the bars on the window.
Harry smiled happily as he opened the window and Hedwig gracefully spread her wings and flew out. "Thank you, sir."
Severus nodded. "Are you ready to go?"
"Um, no. My school stuff is locked away. They are in my old room." Harry said feeling embarrassed.
"Your old room? Where is that?"
"The cupboard under the stairs." Harry admitted, holding his bag that held some of Dudley's old clothes.
"And that was your room?" Severus asked in disbelief. How had no one at the school known about this?
Harry nodded his face red.
Severus took a deep breath and then gestured for Harry to follow him downstairs. An alohomora opened the cupboard and Harry's school trunk flew over to them. Severus shrunk it and put it in his pocket as well as the bag Harry was holding and Hedwig's cage.
"Brilliant!" Harry breathed as he watched his items shrink. "Oh wait. What about Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia?"
"Oh, those spells should fade within an hour or so." Severus said casually. His dark eyes narrowed. "Although I should really go in there and-"
"No! What if you get in trouble?" Harry interrupted nervously. He may not know how he felt about Snape being his dad but he knew he didn't want anything to happen to him. Not now, when he finally had a chance for a real family. "They aren't worth it anyway."
Severus looked surprised for a moment but then his eyes softened. "So much like your mother." He reached his arm out. "Grab my arm, we are going to apparate. It may be uncomfortable for you."
Harry tentatively reached for his father's arm. "What does apparate mean?"
Severus turned them on the spot and the next thing Harry knew they were standing in front of the gates of Hogwarts.