May 1984

Harry had long since been saved by his real father Severus Snape, but he still referred to him as Sevie, and not daddy. Severus did not mind this name, although if anyone else had even dared to call him this, they would have died a most horrible death, and slowly at that.

Severus woke and entered the kitchen of his home in Shropshire. No one knew that Harry had survived that night, and Severus had no intention on telling them. However, as he sat there pondering the issue, he knew deep down that he could not hide the fact forever. Harry would have to attend school. As much as Severus would like to think of himself as all knowing, he was not the best at charms, nor transfiguration. Potions and defense he could teach Harry when he came of age, but the others he knew Harry would have to learn elsewhere.

"I could send him to another wizarding school," he thought, but he quickly waved it away, as there was no wizarding school to him but Hogwarts. Grumbling to himself, Severus realized he would have to inform someone else that Harry existed, and he could think of only one person he knew to keep his secret -- Dumbledore.

Realizing it was time to get Harry up, he walked into the bedroom. Lying there on the bed was Harry, small for his age and looking all of two instead of almost four. Severus smiled down as he pushed the stray hair from Harry's forehead.

"It is time to wake up, Harry."

Harry mumbled something incoherent, but Severus began to pull the covers away. Harry was ready for him, though, and grabbed the edge of the sheet, wrapping it around himself and curling into a ball.

"Harry, get up this instant! We have somewhere we need to be today."

Harry shot straight up in the bed, pulling the covers from around his waist. "Where are we going?"

Severus could not contain his laughter. "We are going to see Professor Dumbledore. Why is it you will not willingly get up for anything other than surprises?"

Severus knew he would not get an answer from Harry, as the boy did not talk much these days, preferring to play by himself. He waited till Harry came back out of the bathroom and then helped him into his clothes.

"Harry, I have to tell you that I am going to tell him that you are my son." Severus told Harry all of his plans for the day, about how they were going to Hogwarts to tell Dumbledore and then off to Diagon Alley to pick up a few things. He knew Harry could not comprehend what a huge step this was, but Severus' nervousness was getting the better of him, and he rambled on and on.

Harry quirked his head to the side and stared at Severus. "Are we going now?"

Seeing Harry would not wait much longer, Severus took the child by the hand and led him over to the floo. Picking up Harry and holding him tightly, Severus threw down the floo powder and called out, "Hogwarts Headmaster's Office."

Dumbledore was just sitting down to a cup of tea when his fireplace roared and Severus stepped out. What made Dumbledore drop the biscuit in his hand was that there was a child in Severus' hands, and Severus Snape did not like children to his knowledge. Remembering his manners, Dumbledore stepped from around his desk and offered his hand to the Potions Master.

"Severus, to what do I owe this visit, and, more importantly, who have you brought with you?" he asked, looking down at the child still clutching Severus' hand.

Severus picked Harry up and sat him in a brown leather chair and then took a seat beside him, but he could not sit still and stood, pacing the floor in front of the headmaster's desk.

"I thought I could keep this a secret. I thought I could keep him from harm," Severus rambled while pacing.

"Severus! Would you stop pacing and just tell me what this is about and who this child is?"

Severus stopped, face lined with what Albus thought looked like fear. "This is my son, Albus; this is Harry."

Albus' tea cup shattered on the floor. "You can't mean... He is dead, Lily and you, but how?"

"It is a long story, Albus, and one I wish to only tell once. Can we do this perhaps over lunch? Harry has not eaten yet."

"Come, Severus, we will eat in the Great Hall. No one is around today, with the exception of Minerva. Do you have a problem with her knowing as well?"

"I suppose not. People will know sooner or later that I have a son, but we must not let it be known for now that he is Harry Potter."

The Great Hall was expansive and quite scary to the three year old child. Lingering behind his father's robes, Harry was not seen by Minerva until Severus sat down. The gasp was enough to have Severus give her a smirk, and then he helped Harry climb up and have a seat.

For the next hour Severus told them both the story of how he had arrived at Godric's Hollow and found Lily and James both dead. He also told them of the night before when Lily confessed to him of Harry's real parentage.

"I will not have his life in jeopardy any sooner than it has to be. He will be known as Harry Snape until he comes to Hogwarts."

"Severus, think of what it will mean to the wizarding world to know that the one who defeated Voldemort survived. It will give them hope that he will not return."

"I do not care about the wizarding world, Albus! I care about my son, and I will not have him hunted."

"Calm down, Severus. We would not dream of bringing harm to him."

"Minerva is right, Severus, but I think your son has grown too curious about his surroundings."

Severus turned to see Harry looking at all the pictures and talking to Nearly Headless Nick. Harry seemed unaware that the person he was talking to was dead; he only saw a friendly face. It probably helped that Severus sent the ghost a glare to tell him that any showing Harry of his decapitation would have him wishing he were somewhere else.

"Perhaps I could show Harry around for a few minutes, while you and Albus finish with your chat," Minerva suggested.

Severus was reluctant to let Harry out of his sight but nodded his head in agreement. He watched Harry take Minerva's hand and walk out of the Great Hall and did not think anything of it until he heard an earsplitting scream.

Knowing it was Harry, Severus jumped from his seat, pulling his wand from his robes as he ran for the door. Not far behind was Dumbledore, who also looked a bit worried. But as they rounded the corner, they saw Minerva glaring at Peeves.

"You will leave him alone or have Severus to deal with!" she said, pointing her own wand at the ghost who was floating in front of the boy.

"I was only trying to scare the little imp. You don't have to call Severus."

Minerva pulled Harry to her and tried to stem the tears that were flowing down his face, but Harry was not going to be coddled.

"I want my Daddy!" he cried, and before Minerva could stop him, he ran from her arms and straight into Severus'.

"Daddy! The ghost scared me. He is not nice at all," whimpered Harry, who was still clinging to Severus like he was his lifeline.

Severus did not care about Peeves. He didn't care about the people staring at him as he shed tears. All he cared about was that Harry had just called him 'Daddy' for the first time ever. Standing up, he held Harry close to him, afraid to let go, afraid that it was only a dream, until Harry spoke.

"Don't cry, Daddy, I am all right."

Severus swiped away the tears and cleared his throat. "Albus, I am taking my son out for the day. We will have to discuss this some other time."

With a slight nod of his head to Minerva, Severus walked out the front doors of the school thinking what a perfect day it would be to walk.