Harry wasn't sure what to make of his new circumstances. He was so used to feeling angry and confused now that it almost felt abnormal to feel normal, like he once had. A burden was missing from his heart, but it left a gaping hole that made him feel sort of numb and empty.

He felt awkward too, not knowing how to proceed now that he knew his father knew about the situation, and now that he knew he did not hate him. Whether or not he wanted him and wanted to take responsibility for him was another question altogether, and it was one that Harry wasn't sure of himself. He was 17 now, and while he still longed dearly to be loved and wanted, and have somebody watching out for him, he wasn't sure how to go about life as other people his age did who had parents doing these things for them. He had always grown up taking care of himself. It wasn't until Hogwarts that he had had any friends even willing to look out for him, and even then he was unaccustomed to letting them in on his worst troubles, as Ron and Hermione had found out in the last month.

Harry knew that he owed Ron and Hermione an explanation, especially after breaking Ron's nose, but he didn't know how to go about that either just yet. Just for the moment he felt like he had to piece himself back together and deal with his father, and find out what was going to happen from here on out. Somehow Harry had come to want him as his father, even though he had spent the last six years deeply disliking the man, but Harry wasn't sure if it would go both ways. And the way Harry had acted since the start of term a month ago probably hadn't helped things. Would the man even want a son whom he'd had to drag kicking and screaming through the castle? Would he want somebody who had been so disrespectful towards him? Damn, but these were hard things to think about. Harry had been so broken inside... so lost. Would he understand that?

Unsure of whether or not he was wanted around, Harry did not go to see his father for two days after he had shed the secret that was causing him so much torment, and Snape never called for him, so he wasn't sure of how to proceed at all. Did they go on acting as teacher and student? Was it ok to tell other people the truth about Harry's real parents? Where did Harry go for the holidays now? Sure as hell not back to Privet Drive, and that was the one and only thing he did know for sure.

Harry didn't know it, but Severus' thoughts were much the same. Why hadn't Harry come to see him since that night? Did he not want to be his son? How did he go about asking the boy such a thing?

Severus was still reeling with this information. He had spent so much time despising the boy, thinking that he was everything that he clearly was not. He had completely overlooked the parts of Lily that clearly shined through in the boy, and had mistaken everything else to have been inherited from James.

He reflected back on the brief glimpse of his son's life he had been allowed to see in his mind. His aunt seemed cruel and taunting, and his uncle had had no mercy on him whatsoever for his typical teenage outburst. He dearly hoped that the rest of Harry's life hadn't been the same, but now that he thought about Harry's appearance through the years, he feared that it had been. Harry had already implied that he received beatings more often than not. He should have noticed when the boy came back to school each year just a little skinnier than when he'd left... when he came back wearing old clothes that were too big... the way he devoured meals three times a day as if it were a treat he'd never be allowed again. But no, he had been stubborn and naïve and had refused to see the boy... he had refused to see his son.

Because it was the weekend he had not seen the boy in classes, and he had already told him that he was no longer required to fulfill the remaining two weeks of detentions. By Monday night he could no longer stand the thought that perhaps Harry did not want him as a parent, and had to find out. As Harry exited the Great Hall alone Severus rose from his seat and followed him out into the empty Entrance Hall.

"Harry."

Harry turned around at the gentler than expected voice of his father. Not sure of what to say, he was left with no choice but to stand there wondering what his professor father wanted.

"May we speak in my office?"

Harry stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and nodded, and then followed Severus down to the dungeons and into his office. Once inside Severus did not wait to take a seat. He closed the door and said, "You know that my office will always be open for you, do you not?"

Looking up with surprise, Harry said shyly, "I didn't know if you wanted me down here or not."

A small frown creased his brow. "Of course I do. I did not mean to give you the impression that I did not."

"Oh... I didn't mean that you did, I just, wasn't sure." Just as Harry was surprised with the new tone the man was now taking towards him, Severus was surprised by the gentleness and meekness with which his son now spoke. It was vastly different than the cheeky attitude he had received earlier in the month.

After a brief pause, Severus said, "I was unsure how to proceed. I did not know how you thought of me, or if you wished to have anything to do with me."

Harry scratched his head. "I... I do."

Pondering the pause, Severus said, "You do not sound positive."

"It's not that," Harry said, feeling very awkward all of a sudden again, "it's just that this is new to me. I never had anyone who wanted me around before."

"Your... other, relatives did not treat you as a son?"

Harry shook his head. "Definitely not."

"Then we are both treading on new ground. I have never had a son, and you have never had a father."

Suddenly a question popped into Harry's mind and he had to know the answer, so he blurted it out. "Why did my mom lie? Why did she say I wasn't yours?"

Severus had been thinking about the same question over the past two days, and had still not come up with a reason. "I do not know. We were engaged to be married and were living together, and then I was called upon by the Headmaster to enter into the Dark Lord's ranks and become a spy, which you already know. When I returned from my first meeting with the Dark Lord, she... your mother, informed me that she would no longer marry me. She moved out the next day and refused to reply to any owls I sent trying to reconcile. It was only a few months later that she married James Potter, and I assumed that she had left me for him."

Harry was biting his lip again, a habit that Severus noticed the boy seemed to be fond of when he was anxious.

"You have something else you wish to ask?" He crossed his arms and leaned back on the front of his desk now wondering if his assumption was right.

Nodding, Harry said, "What do we do now?"

"Can you be more specific?" He tried not to sound sarcastic, but the habit was a hard one to break.

"I mean... I don't know... I didn't know if you wanted me or not." Even to his own ears the question was fumbled and awkward.

"I have already said that my office is open to you."

"No, I mean... you know." He was almost afraid to ask because he didn't want to be turned down. "As a son," he finally said, scuffing his sneaker on the office floor and looking down.

Severus uncrossed his arms now and stood up straight. He lifted Harry's chin so that he could see his eyes, and said, "Had I known you were my son, I would have never allowed you to suffer at the hands of your relatives, or anyone else. You would have been living with me to start with. The fact that you are older does not change the fact that I now know you are mine."

Thinking on the answer, Harry decided that even though it had been said in a very round about way, that yes, his father did indeed want him as a son. Knowing this seemed to fill some of that empty void that the previous burden had left.

"I don't want to go back to the Dursleys," he said.

Severus took another step closer. "And you will not have to."

While some relief swept over him, it didn't make it to his stomach, which started to churn angrily as the potion from a few days before began to wear off. Harry had been feeling the effects of the ulcer all day and had wanted to ask for more potion, but wasn't sure how. He didn't want his father to know how weak he was.

Seeing the uncomfortable look and the paleness of Harry's face, Severus asked, "How is the ulcer? Has the potion worn off yet?"

Harry's eyes widened, had he read his mind? He nodded, and Severus went to his cupboard and pulled out another bottle of the silver potion. He handed it to Harry without reservation and Harry swallowed it eagerly, letting the wonderful sensation of being pain free wash over him again.

"How many times have you had this potion now?"

"Three. Draco only managed to get one bottle for me."

Severus nodded, again deeply surprised that Draco had been helping his son.

"Depending on how bad the ulcer is, it may take several more doses of the potion to heal it completely. Whenever you feel the potion wearing off you must come to me immediately for more, or else the ulcer will get worse in between doses. Once it is healed you will continue to take the potion for a week or so to make sure that stress does not bring it back."

"Thanks," Harry scratched the back of his head. Was his father telling him he had to do it? Or was it a suggestion. Shaking himself mentally Harry told himself that he was being stupid. He didn't know why he wouldn't want to get rid of the ulcer, so he might as well do as his father told him for the time being.

Still feeling awkward at talking amiably to the man whom had been a thorn in his side for the last six years, Harry thanked him again and said something about finishing up some homework so that he could make an escape. The silence in the small office was killing him because he didn't know what to say or talk about, and he wasn't entirely sure just how to act.

In the common room Harry spied Ron and Hermione doing homework in a corner by themselves. Still feeling awkward from the visit with his father professor, he decided that he couldn't feel any more so, so he'd better apologize to his friends and get it over with. Apologizing wasn't actually the problem... it was the disclosing his life and real identity that was.

"Er... can I talk to you?" Harry hedged as he stood in front of them. They looked up from the book they were sharing, and then at each other.

"Yes," Hermione said almost too eagerly. Ron looked less enthused. They had already made up their minds to talk to him again about whatever was bother him, and Ron didn't want another broken nose.

Harry motioned for them to follow him up to the boy's dormitory when he saw that the other seventh year boys were all down in the common room.

In their dorm Harry sat down on his four poster, and Ron and Hermione sat down on Ron's bed facing Harry expectantly.

"I er... I'm sorry," Harry said, scratching the back of his head. "For everything I mean. I didn't mean to hit you Ron... it's just that Draco's been really nice to me and he's been helping me, and then you went and said that about him and I lost control. And I haven't kept you in the dark because I wanted to... circumstances just made it so I felt like I had to."

Ron stayed silent and Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment before she asked, "What has Draco been helping you with?" She thought she knew what it might be, because she had looked up Harry's symptoms some time ago, and had seen Draco with the same symptoms in their previous year.

"I had an ulcer and he stole some potion and gave it to me."

"Draco Malfoy stole for you?" Ron asked incredulously. Harry nodded.

"I didn't ask him to, but he did. He said he was going to get an ulcer just watching me have one."

"Well why didn't you tell us? Hermione could have made the potion for you!"

Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. "That is a very difficult potion to make Ron. I couldn't get my hands on half the ingredients without a handful of Galleons."

"The ingredients are expensive?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. "Very. The potion itself is worth a small fortune."

Suddenly Harry felt very guilty. His father must have been paying a fortune to keep making the potion for him. He would have to talk to him about it later and offer to pay him back.

"My gran had an ulcer once," Ron said. "The Healer gave her some root to chew on because she couldn't afford the potion."

After another awkward silence, Hermione said, "But that can't be all that's been bothering you? I mean... you've been really off. Why did you want to be called James all term? We can tell you've been really angry about something."

Harry started to bite his lip again. This was the tough part. He wasn't sure they'd accept the fact that he wasn't Harry James Potter, but really Harry Snape.

"I uh... I found something out this summer about my parents, and you won't like it. I didn't want anybody to know until I got things figured out."

"What is it?" Ron asked, curious. He tried to think what exactly the worse news Harry could have gotten about his parents, but couldn't imagine anything.

"My dad isn't James Potter..." Harry was going to finish the sentence, but decided not to just yet because he wanted to gauge his friends reactions. Hermione raised her brows and Ron furrowed his brow, trying to think of who Harry's father might be.

An awful idea hitting Ron, he suddenly blurted, "Well it's not Lucius Malfoy is it?!"

"What?" Harry half laughed in surprise. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, because you and Draco... he was helping... it's not him?"

Harry shook his head. "No."

"Well who then?" Ron asked. Hermione seemed just as curious but was content to let Ron keep asking the questions at the moment.

Scratching his head, and waiting for the fallout, Harry said, "Our Potion's Master."

Ron snorted with amusement and tried to cover his laugh. "Come on Harry, be serious!" Hermione however saw the serious look on Harry's face.

She nudged Ron gently and said quietly, "I think he is being serious Ron." Ron stopped laughing and looked at Harry's face to assess the truth in that.

"No fooling? Snape's your father?"

Harry gave a single nod. "He and my mother went together in school. They were engaged after they graduated, and then one day she just up and left and married James a little while later, but not before she told aunt Petunia that I was a Snape. She let slip this summer."

"Oy." Ron made a face and looked sickened.

"Harry, we had no idea. We knew you were trying to deal with something big, but not this," Hermione said gently.

Harry shrugged. "I just wanted to make him as pissed off as I was. I didn't mind doing the detentions because I knew it made him mad every time I showed up late. But I don't have those detentions any more. He told me I didn't have to finish them."

"You told him?" Ron asked, looking shocked and also as if he were watching a soap opera unfold before him like on the Muggle picture box.

"He knows now. He's been giving me more ulcer potion."

"How did he take it?" Hermione asked.

Another shrug. "I dunno, ok I guess. He seemed surprised, but he wasn't angry. He just... accepted it I guess."

"So... what? You're going to go be his son now? Just like that?" Harry didn't like the tone in Ron's voice. It was almost accusatory.

"Well it's not like I'm switching sides or anything!" Harry said indignantly. He wanted his friends to understand desperately, but he didn't know how to make that happen. Hermione nudged Ron in the ribs hard again though, and Ron closed his mouth, which had been hanging open.

"Harry, it's great that you found out. I know it doesn't seem like it, but now you really do have a parent. Have you talked to him anymore about it?"

Harry shrugged for a third time. "Yeah, sort of. I don't know where it will end up though. I'm not used to having somebody tell me what to do."

Ron pulled a face. "It's awful," he said seriously. "You've seen the chores and things my mum makes me do. But you're seventeen now... you don't have to start doing what he tells you. You're an adult. I don't think you legally have to do anything he says at s point."

Biting his lip for a second, Harry said, "I know that." He looked at his watch and said, "I'm going to do some homework. All my grades are up and I don't want to let them fall again."

Hermione seemed surprised again and Ron pulled another face. "Your grades are all up?" she asked.

"I had to make sure they were up so they couldn't kick me out for being a troublemaker."

Impressed Ron said, "Thought it out didn't you. I reckon if Fred and George had thought about it they might have gotten better grades too."

Hermione retrieved her and Ron's books and homework from the common room and brought them back up to the boy's dormitory. The three of them studied on Harry and Ron's beds until the other boys came up to go to bed.

Before climbing into his own bed, Ron gave Harry one last assessing look that Harry didn't miss. He held his arms up for a moment, and said, "Still the same old me."

Ron nodded. "For now." And then he climbed into his four-poster and closed the curtains.