A Seed in the Thorns by JAWorley
Summary: When a front page Prophet article declares, "Harry Potter Got Me Pregnant!" Harry knows he's in for an interesting year, especially considering he didn't do it. Even the fat lady won't let Harry into the common room until he shows her he is a true Gryffindor. This revelation leads to a surprise for Severus Snape.
Categories: Healer Snape, Parental Snape > Biological Father Snape, Teacher Snape > Professor Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Draco, Dudley, Dumbledore, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, McGonagall, Neville, Original Character, Other, Petunia, Pomfrey, Ron, Shacklebolt, Tonks, Vernon
Snape Flavour: Canon Snape, Snape is Kind, Snape is Loving, Snape is Secretive, Snape is Stern
Genres: Angst, Drama, Family, General, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery
Media Type: None
Tags: Hospitalization, Injured!Harry, Pregnancy, Spying on Harry! Snape
Takes Place: 7th summer
Warnings: Abusive Dursleys, Character Bashing, Neglect, Physical Punishment Non-Spanking, Profanity, Romance/Het, Suicide Themes, Violence
Prompts: Father Not to Be
Challenges: Father Not to Be
Series: JAWorley's Challenges
Chapters: 9 Completed: Yes Word count: 17911 Read: 103192 Published: 18 Sep 2010 Updated: 17 Dec 2010
Story Notes:

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1. A Wonderful Summer by JAWorley

2. The Scope of Injustice by JAWorley

3. Friend or Foe by JAWorley

4. Tares Arise by JAWorley

5. A Friend in Need by JAWorley

6. The Man His Father Was by JAWorley

7. Hard Truths by JAWorley

8. The Kind of Son A Father Wants by JAWorley

9. Redemption by JAWorley

A Wonderful Summer by JAWorley
Author's Notes:
The chapters for this story will often be less than 6 pages typed in Word. Reviews welcome. I've been working on this story for a while and finally decided to answer my own challenge! The story is almost done so I'll be posting the chapter fairly rapidly.
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"The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
- Matthew 13:24-30 KJV (Note: A tare is a thorn).

Chapter One - A Wonderful Summer

"Sod off Potter!" the fat boy spat down at his cousin, who was lying in the dirt holding his side where he had kicked him hard with his cleats.

Harry groaned and rolled over, still clutching his side. "Prick," he said to his cousin's retreating back. Dudley didn't even glance back at him.

It took Harry a minute to feel up to getting up off the cold dusty earth, but he eventually managed, his side protesting as he rose to his feet. His new jeans were ruined... he would have to remember not to buy new clothes right before returning to Privet Drive in the summer. Through the new hole in his pants he examined his bloody knee, which had been the first casualty as his cousin had sprung on him from behind a bush. As he tried to dust off his pants and shirt he noticed a hole in his shirt too where his cousin had ripped it. "Sodding prat," Harry breathed, unaware of somebody watching him quietly from behind.

"Is that any way to portray a hero to the press Potter?" Harry spun around to find Draco Malfoy with a camera. "Imagine that Potter," he sneered. "Me going on vacation only to see famous wizard boy who lived getting beaten up by his own Muggle cousin." He snapped a picture of Harry in his torn, dirty clothes, with a fresh bruise blossoming above his eye. He wished desperately not for the first time that week that his aunt and uncle had just left him at home by himself instead of dragging him on vacation with them... as it was he had to sleep in the car instead of in the hotel, and Dudley was intent on using Harry like a punching bag again now that they had ample time alone.

"Go ahead, take your pictures then Malfoy," he said, moving his arms in a mock way so that he looked like a body builder showing off his muscles... only Harry had none to show off.

Draco's lip curled and he lowered the camera. "You're pathetic Potter." With this he moved off shaking his head. Harry smiled, not giving Draco the satisfaction of getting upset. If the picture ended up all over school than Harry would claim he had run into a burning building to save a child or something.

The rest of the week passed with Harry trying to hide from Dudley and read the one textbook he was allowed to bring on the trip. And then finally they were back at 4 Privet Drive where Harry had his own room and did not have to sleep in the car in the parking garage of the hotel. Hedwig returned from Ron's shortly after he got into his room and he collapsed on the old mattress. Springs stuck up in all the familiar locations, but he didn't care so long as it wasn't the car.

"POTTER!" No, but that couldn't be uncle Vernon bellowing at him could it? "POTTER! GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE!" But it was, and Harry heaved himself off the bed and out into the hallway. What had he done now?

Harry found Uncle Vernon in the living room trying to fix the TV... for some reason it had gone staticky. After a few moments Uncle Vernon turned on him. "What the devil do you think you're doing lounging around the house boy? There's work to be done!" Harry sighed as he saw the stack of suitcases piled in the entryway where Uncle Vernon was pointing. "When you're done hauling those upstairs you can go pull weeds in the back garden and then fix dinner you lazy arse!"

Momentarily Harry thought about disobeying his uncle as he scratched the back of his neck. He was tired of being the one doing all the chores all summer long... even on vacation he'd been made to do the family's laundry and run around bringing them all takeout to eat while the others went and saw all the sites.

Apparently Harry had been deep in thought and had waited too long because now his uncle was right in front of him shoving him hard into the hallway where he tripped backwards over a suitcase and banged his head rather hard at the foot of the stairs.

"You good for nothing-" Harry knew he was in trouble now as his uncle's fists clenched and a vein throbbed ominously in his temple, but just then the bell rang announcing somebody was at the front door. Uncle Vernon and Harry both stopped and looked to the front door. The bell rang again as if the person on the other side was impatient, and Uncle Vernon turned back to Harry with a menacing glare. "Stay put boy, we're not done here yet."

Taking the command literally, Harry didn't move an inch as Uncle Vernon went to the front door and opened it to reveal somebody Harry couldn't quite see because his uncle's frame was so big. Next second though and a silky voice made Harry's insides squirm. "I need to speak with Harry Potter."

Uncle Vernon rounded to glare at Harry for bringing another ‘unnatural freak' to the door, and Harry just lay there dumbly on top of the suitcases staring back and forth between Professor Snape and Uncle Vernon, both who seemed to be quite angry.

"Alone," the professor said in that deadly tone that usually made students at Hogwarts go clammy. Vernon narrowed his eyes at Harry menacingly before moving off back to the broken TV muttering something about Harry getting what he deserved later on.

When they were finally alone, Snape took in the scene before him with Harry lying sprawled over several suitcases on the floor, head against the bottom step of the stairs. It certainly looked uncomfortable, he thought, and surely Harry wasn't there of his own accord.

"Get up Potter," Snape said, as if he had tasted something unsavory as he had spoken. Harry scrambled to his feet, his head pounding as he did so.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape was holding out a copy of the daily prophet, which Harry hadn't seen him take out from an inside pocket in his robes. Harry reached out for the paper and on the front page saw the picture of himself with torn clothes and a bloody knee, and a brilliant bruise on his left temple.

"I can't believe Draco sent this to the paper!" Harry half shouted angrily. Now everybody would know for sure that he had been beaten up by a Muggle, and his social life was sure to be nil once he returned to school.

"Well?" Snape was waiting for something, and it took Harry a moment to realize he hadn't answered the question.

"What? This?" he said pointing to the picture. "Dudley beat me up in the park across from the hotel. Draco came up behind me with a camera just after it happened. I can't believe he put this in the paper!"

Harry had not noticed the headline just below the picture and as he was staring at his Professor, Snape said, "And how do you explain this?" He pointed to the article below, and to another picture, this time of a young girl he recognized but couldn't remember the name of.

Eyes widened as Harry read the inch tall headline, "HARRY POTTER GOT ME PREGNANT!"
"What!?" Harry choked as he read the words. "That's crazy! I don't even know her! She's not even in my year or house!" Snape gave him a dubious look and Harry scanned down the article to see what else it said. Apparently it claimed that Harry had been beaten up by the girl's father after he had found out that Harry had gotten his, "little Susan" pregnant.

"That's ridiculous," Harry said. "I've never even had..." he paused at a raised brow from Snape. He wasn't sure he wanted to admit that he was a virgin at sixteen years old, but clearly he was going to have to in order to get himself out of this mess.

Snape held his hand back out for the paper. "The Headmaster seems to think you need keeping an eye on Potter. I have been ordered to retrieve you and bring you back to the castle for the summer."

Harry's eyes widened. "Really? I get to go back?" There was too much hope in Harry's voice for Professor Snape's liking, but he nodded anyway.

"Be right back," he said gleefully, knowing he would avoid a solid thrashing from Uncle Vernon. He ran up the stairs to his room, threw what remained of his things into his trunk, and locked the lid tight. He let Hedwig loose out the window and told her to find him at school, and was back out into the hallway dragging his trunk in three minutes.

"So it's you is it?" Aunt Petunia was sneering at Snape from the kitchen at the bottom of the landing.

Snape glanced sideways at her and then pointed to the spot in front of him. "Get down here Potter, I don't have all day." Being downright obedient Harry hurried to the bottom of the stairs with his things. Snape waved his wand at the trunk and it shrunk to fit in the palm of Harry's hand. Harry picked it up and followed Snape out the door.

"Bye Uncle Vernon!" Harry made a show of waving to his uncle gleefully as he walked out the door, and his Uncle glared at him as he slammed the door closed.

"You are far too happy considering the amount of trouble you are in Potter," Snape growled as he led the way down the sidewalk.

Harry shrugged. "I didn't do it," he said innocently.

"So you say..." the Professor trailed off.

"So I know," Harry told him solidly.

"And she would just claim that it is your child why?"

Harry thought on it for a moment. He had no clue why. "Money?" he tried to a look of consternation from the Potion's Master. "Maybe she just didn't want to get into trouble... I bet that's it."

"How that makes sense is beyond me Potter."

"Isn't there some spell that can tell if the baby is mine?"

"No."

"Well is there a spell to tell if I'm a virgin?"

Snape smirked and it irked Harry. "The famous boy who lived? No one will believe it."

"At the risk of ruining my social life forever, there has to be a spell since no one will take my word for it."

"Hm," Snape thought on it. He did not know of a spell, but Harry seemed truthful seeing as how he was risking the all-important teenage social status that he had gained as the school's resident hero.

"See, you do believe me," Harry said triumphantly. Severus lead them up a small driveway and Harry realized he was being taken to Mrs. Fig's house.

"I did not say that Potter. You would do well to be quiet seeing the amount of trouble you have somehow gotten yourself into. It is possible that there are reporters hiding nearby or following us."

"Is she connected to the floo?" Harry asked as Snape knocked on the door.

"Temporarily, now be, quiet." Harry closed his mouth at the command. Somehow he was going to salvage the rest of his summer, he thought to himself, even if he had to wade through reporters, at least he would be at Hogwarts where he was safe from beatings and where he would be fed and could sleep in a proper bed.

The End.
End Notes:
Please, no nasty comments about my including scripture at the start of the story. I am Christian and other authors often put quotes from other writing at the start of their stories. The quote I used at the start of the story matches with my story well, so I used it. So I'd appreciate it greatly if I didn't get any flames for being Christian and using scripture. Thanks.

Other non-flame reviews welcome much!
The Scope of Injustice by JAWorley

Harry didn't like the look the elderly woman had given him when she had answered her door and then rushed them into the parlor where a roaring fire was going.

"Isn't it hot in here Mrs. Fig?" It was sweltering in the room on the already hot day.

"Quiet hoodlum," she told him as she handed Snape a small jar of green powder.

"I didn't do it!" Harry insisted when he noticed a copy of the prophet on a small end table near the fireplace.

"Well somebody sure did!" She waved her hands in the air.

Snape shook his head and handed the jar to Harry. Wanting to get away from the woman who had often babysat him for Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, who was currently giving him the same distasteful look Snape was, Harry took a handful of powder, stepped into the fire, and shouted, "Hogwarts," as he threw the powder to his feet.

Flames whipped around him as he spun, seeing various rooms beyond a thousand different fireplaces. Finally he saw the Great Hall in the castle and stepped out. McGonagall was waiting for him.

"Come along Potter," she ushered him out of the grate and out into the Entrance Hall. She too was glancing sideways at him, as if he had done something seriously distasteful.

"I didn't do it," Harry repeated from minutes before.

"Yes, well, we will see."

It wasn't long before he was facing the stone gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. At the password the gargoyle leapt aside and admitted Harry and the Transfiguration professor up the spiraling stone steps.

At the top of the stairs McGonagall didn't wait to knock, and instead pushed the door to the Headmaster's office open. Inside were Dumbledore, Tonks, and Shacklebolt. Great, Harry thought to himself, now the whole Order will know that I'm a virgin, or else they'll think I'm irresponsible and will never admit me to the Order.

"Harry, have a seat," the Headmaster offered solemnly. Seeing the other Order members just standing there Harry felt uncomfortable taking a seat... he felt like he would be interrogated and tortured if he did.

"Thanks, but I think I'll stand sir," he told him.

"Whatever you wish," came the Headmaster's reply.

"Harry, something of grave importance has come to our attention... it is very important that your reputation not be soiled in our current situation... the world needs to believe-"

Harry cut him off. "I didn't do it sir!"

Dumbledore remained silent as the other Order members glanced around at each other uneasily.

"You're nearly 17 Harry," Shacklebolt said. "It's time to grow up and take responsibility for your actions."

Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Why don't you take responsibility Shackelbolt? Because I sure didn't get her pregnant!" He was shouting now. "I've never even had sex!" There, he had said it, and now everybody knew, and his social life was ruined.

The Order exchanged uneasy glances again. "Not even once Potter? You can't tell me girls aren't falling all over themselves for you." Shackelbolt was grasping at straws.

"For your information they're not. And no, not even once."

Shackelbolt frowned. "Wait, you're not ga-"

"No!" Harry was frustrated now.

"Almost 17, not gay, and never had sex. That sum it up neatly for you?" They could feel the aggravation to his cutting tone. "Isn't there just some spell you can do to tell if I have or haven't?"

"Yes," Dumbledore stood now and moved around next to Harry so that he could perform some spell Harry had never heard before. He touched the tip of his wand to Harry's shoulder and incanted something that sounded Dutch to Harry's ears. Nothing happened.

"Well?" Tonks asked. There was a hopeful tone to her voice that Harry wasn't sure of.

"The chastity spell has proclaimed him clean."

"Mind if I check for myself?" Shackelbolt asked, perhaps wondering if Dumbledore wasn't covering for Harry by messing up the spell in some way.

Harry threw his arms up in the air. "Have at it. I can't even believe there is a spell for this. And I can't believe nobody believes me," he finished indignantly. Shackelbolt checked as well, and the spell again came up clean. Apparently Harry had passed the test.

"Satisfied?" Harry asked. There were nods around the room and Harry finally slumped down into the offered chair. "I don't even know her," he said. "I don't think I've ever even talked to her in the hall. Isn't she in fifth year?"

"She is a fifth year Ravenclaw Harry," Dumbledore informed him. "And under the Veritas Serum she has testified that you were the one that got her pregnant. She also said she was tricked and perhaps given a potion to make her more agreeable to the idea."

"Ugh," Harry ran his hand through his already wild hair. "Guess that rules out her lying about it."

"Maybe somebody was charmed to look like Harry, or her memories were altered," Tonks put in.

"Even so, I doubt anybody will believe that seeing as how it's in the front page." Shackelbolt was right... if it even got printed in the paper that Harry wasn't responsible for this, it would probably make the back page.

"We already know the paper lied," Harry said. "Didn't it say I got beat up by her father?"

"Well, they did have a picture," Tonks said, as if all the sudden not believing Harry again.

"My cousin did that on vacation... he ambushed me in the park. Then Draco got the whole thing on camera."

"Perhaps we should be having words with Mr. Malfoy then," Shackelbolt said.

"Agreed," Tonks also said, some of the same aggravation in Harry's voice coming across in her own now.

Dumbledore moved back to his seat now. "Seeing as how Harry is obviously not responsible for this matter, I believe he should be returned to his relatives house for the remainder of the summer. It is perhaps best to keep him out of the prying eyes of the wizarding world at the moment."

"Well perhaps Harry doesn't want to go back," Harry said, miffed that he was being talked about as if he weren't there at all.

The Headmaster sighed. "Harry we've been over this. You must return." Harry immediately thought of the thrashing waiting for him should he go back to Privet Drive... and then the next thrashing for Snape showing up at the front door. He was tired of being beaten, starved, and made to do all the housework.

"Send me back and I promise to try to get every girl I come across pregnant." It was a defiant statement that surprised the others, but still told them that Harry held the power in the room at that moment.

"Harry!" McGonagall was shocked.

"You have my word," Harry said, ignoring her and staring the Headmaster down.

"We could always potion him so that he can't," another Auror member suggested.
Harry didn't like the sound of that and his mind fought through ideas quickly to come up with something else.

"Or I could always just lie and tell the press that it is my baby and that I won't take care of it or whatever her name is... and I'll say it just like that." Fleetingly Harry had an image of Dudley stomping his feet throwing a temper tantrum when they were younger... and he felt as if it were him throwing a tantrum there in the room just then.

"I see we have no choice," the Headmaster said, disappointed. "All we have ever done is for your own good Harry," he said calmly. Then he dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
Harry rose from the chair, avoiding the eyes of all gathered there, and made for the door.

"And Harry..." Harry paused but didn't turn around. "This constitutes a deal... you will avoid all you have said that you will do should we send you back."

Harry nodded. "You have my word." He left the office door open as he descended down into the rest of the castle.

* * *

"Well Potter?"

It was Snape. Harry was walking down the corridor wondering what the Gryffindor password might be. He guessed he would just have to find McGonagall in her office later or during a meal.

"Well what sir?" Harry gritted his teeth.

"They are letting you stay the summer?"

"Provided I don't lie to the press and tell them it's my baby."

Snape glared at him and seemed to be raking him over with his eyes, assessing what madness would prompt Harry to lie about such a thing that would cause him so much trouble.

"You don't have to look at me like that," Harry said. "I didn't do it. They did a test and saw I was telling the truth."

"Why then would you lie about it?"

"Because I'm not going back." Here Harry had to fight not to look away, ashamed, but failed in the end. He knew the way he was treated wasn't his fault, but it was still hard not to feel as though it were.

"And you have told the Headmaster how you have been treated?"

Harry looked up and scoffed. "You said it yourself. I'm the boy who lived, and nobody will believe me. You know what, nobody has believed me about anything every step of the way... this, the triwizard tournament, the chamber of secrets... who the hell is going to believe... you know." He had started angry and found himself run out of steam by the end.

When Snape didn't answer Harry threw his hand down in an awkward way, as if saying it didn't matter. "I do what I have to to survive. So just leave me all the hell alone about it." He walked away, feeling a firey gaze against his back he was sure would be there, and wondering if he could earn detention or lose house points during the summer. No reprimand or demand to return came though, so he continued on to Gryffindor tower.

The fat lady glared him down when he stood before her, asking to be let in without a password. "The password is reset during the summer and anybody can enter. But I don't think you shall enter here today."

Harry frowned. "Why?"

"You think you're a Gryffindor? Brave and responsible? I think not. You just go and take responsibility for your little foray into adulthood." She crossed her pudgy arms, as if she meant not to budge.

"I didn't do it!" Harry half shouted, feeling indignant.

"And with an attitude like that, you'll never be a Gryffindor, even if you haven't done anything. James Potter, now he was a Gryffindor," she said pointedly, chin in the air as if proud of him.

"Yeah, well I'm not him," Harry said. "And you have to let me in."

"You're right about one thing, you aren't him. And I don't have to do anything without a password." She was angry now, and left the portrait out the side. Harry huffed and kicked the stone wall below her frame that was supposed to be the entrance to the common room. Where was he going to sleep now?

The End.
End Notes:
What do you think so far? Theories as to what will happen?
Friend or Foe by JAWorley

"Severus?"

Severus turned from the portrait he had been talking to, finding Minerva coming up behind him. "Yes?"

"Have you seen Mr. Potter? I haven't seen him for days and Madam Justice said he's not been into Gryffindor tower."

He narrowed his eyes. Of course he would be required to tell her, since she was the boy's head of house, but he knew that Potter just wanted to be left alone for the time being.

"I believe he has been sleeping in the hidden guest room beside the kitchens. Madam Justice would not let him into the tower because he would not own up to something he did not do."

"What? He told you this? She has never refused to let a Gryffindor into the tower.'

"I witnessed it. She told him he was not a Gryffindor." He remembered vividly how irritated Potter seemed to be when told he wasn't as good as his father. Or perhaps he was irritated because he didn't want to be compared to him.

"I'll have words with her," she said, suddenly stiff. "I need to have words with Harry about his little performance in the Headmaster's office. I've never seen him throw such a childish fit."

"Perhaps he had reason," Severus suggested, not wanting to give away a secret that was not his to give.

"Oh tosh," she said, waiving her hand. "Why would he want to return to school instead of going home? Really Severus, I believe you are the only one who likes it here that much." She thanked him for the information on Harry and walked towards the kitchens.

Severus narrowed his eyes after her retreating back. He did not enjoy staying in the castle through the holidays as much as she thought. What on earth would make her believe that he didn't want to go to his own home? He shook his head and moved off for the dungeons. He did not envy Potter the lecture he was about to receive.

* * *

Harry muttered under his breath as he hovered his trunk up the stairs towards Gryffindor tower. He was content to stay in the room by the kitchens where it was quiet instead of moving back into the boy's dormitory, where he was sure everybody would be talking about him as if he were some criminal, just as Mrs. Fig, Snape, and the Aurors had all done. But no, Snape had to go and tell McGonagall where he was staying, and he had then endured a 45 minute lecture on decorum and instructions to move back into the tower.

Harry lowered his trunk to the floor in front of the picture of the fat lady. She had her arms crossed.

"Think you're coming in?"

"Professor McGonagall told me to."

"Oh, so now you want to follow the rules? A little late for that isn't it?"

"Are you going to open up for me or not?" He was angry again now. He hated being angry.

"Not with that tone young man."

Harry muttered something under his breath and grabbed the end of his trunk, dragging it off down the corridor, not bothering to lighten or levitate it. It was only 24 more hours until the other students arrived back in the castle, at which point he could enter with the rest of the students, because the portrait hole would already be open. He settled into a guest room down the hall, and locked the door tight.

In the pit of Harry's stomach, he began to feel anxious about the return of his peers. What would they say? Surely they had all seen the picture in the paper, and who could refute that? What about Susan, would she be in school this year? Would she pester him to take care of her, or would she be angry? She had testified under Veritaserum that it had been him, so she must believe it herself. And then there was Ginny to contend with. They were still dating the last time he checked, but that was weeks ago, before this whole ‘Potter can't keep it in his pants' incident spread across the headlines. Rita Skeeter's articles had been getting bolder in the passing days since his return to Hogwarts. She had even gone so far as to say he was a sex-a-holic that needed serious medical attention before he became incurable.

With the same anxiousness also came a longing to be with his friends again. Surely they wouldn't believe the nonsense Skeeter printed? He felt isolated, and he hated isolation more than feeling angry or hurt. Returning to Hogwarts had always meant an end to his summer isolation, and he wondered if it would still be so this year.

Saturday came and went, Harry trying to finish up the last of his summer assignments before his friends returned, and before he knew it, the time had come to meet his friends.

The night was cool, and Harry decided that instead of waiting in the Entrance Hall he would take a stroll down to the school gates and take a Thestral drawn carriage up to the school with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, if she was still talking to him that was.

By the time he made the gates, students were already piling into carriages. It was dark and nobody seemed to notice him there, searching for his friends. After a few minutes he spotted orange hair, and made his way towards Ron.

"There you are," he said with a grin.

"Here I am," Ron grumbled. What a response, Harry thought to himself. Ron didn't look happy, and he wondered if he and Hermione had been fighting again. He turned to Hermione instead, and said, "How was your summer?" He took her book bag, which was heavy and full of books, and threw it up onto the carriage for her. She never went anywhere without it. "Thanks Harry. It was good... and yours?"

Harry noticed that her voice and smile seemed strained, and tried to ignore it as he climbed onto the carriage behind her and told her about having plenty of time to finish his summer work.

"That's good Harry," Hermione said quietly, and then tried to catch Ron's eye as the carriage lurched forward, but Ron seemed determined to look anywhere but inside the carriage.

"So what about... Susan?" And there it was. He knew it would come up, but he almost wished it wouldn't. The sooner the better he thought. Better to clear it up than to deal with Ron's avoidance and Hermione's strained smile any longer.

"I didn't do it," Harry told Hermione plainly.

She raised her brows and Ron turned to stare at him. "Excuse me?"

"I had nothing to do with it. The papers are lying. I've never even met her."

"They had a picture Harry, and she took Veritaserum," Ron told him. Harry sensed the edge to his friend's voice, and noted it so that he could avoid escalating Ron's mood to anger.

"Draco took the picture on vacation right after Dudley beat me up. And I don't know about the Veritaserum. Dumbledore reckons maybe someone took Polyjuice to look like me, or her memories were modified somehow."

"And why would someone do that?" Ron's voice was snarky now and sarcastic.

"I don't know," Harry said. "Tarnish my name maybe. Dumbledore thinks they're trying to turn the public against me so that when Voldemort attacks I won't have any support."

Ron snorted, and Harry clenched his fists. "Dumbledore and Kingsley both did a chastity spell on me the day they brought me back... and I passed. I've never had sex, and that's a spell you can't fool with Polyjuice or memory modification."

"I believe you Harry," Hermione suddenly put in, and Ron shook his head and looked away again.

"Thanks. That makes you and the Order."

"And Ron," Hermione put in, kicking Ron's leg across the carriage.

"Strike that out Hermione," Ron told her, waving his hand. "Believe whatever silly lies you want to, but I'm not so easily fooled."

"No? You seem to be fooled by Skeeter," Harry said.

"You know what? You just stay away from my sister Harry. She cried for the last three weeks you know... that's your fault. And she thinks she's going to forgive you too, how sad is that? You just stay away from her. Swear to God Harry, if you touch her, you're dead. She's too young to have a baby, and so is Susan." Suddenly Ron stood up and jumped over the side of the slowly moving carriage. "I'll walk from here," he said up to Hermione as the carriage moved past him and up the drive.

"Ron!" Hermione shouted back. She and Harry watched as another carriage behind them carrying some Hufflepuffs slowed enough to pull Ron up, and then was lost to darkness as Ron and Hermione's carriage picked up speed.

There was silence for a moment, before Harry said, "You'd better join him."

"What?"

"In the Entrance Hall. This is going to be one of those years. If you're dating him you'd better stick with him."

"He's being ridiculous."

"Maybe you could learn to perform the chastity spell and do it in front of him. Then he might come around."

"That's a good idea, but I don't know where to find it."

"When Dumbledore did it, it sounded like he spoke in Dutch."

"Well, that's a start. There's a big Dutch section in the library."

"Until then, just stick with him. I'll understand."

"I just don't understand him sometimes."

"Just forget it Hermione. If I'm still alive when he comes around, you know where I live."

They were quiet the rest of the way up to the castle. At least Harry now knew what he was in for. If his best friend didn't believe him, then there was no chance he could deny it to the rest of the student body and be believed.

The End.
End Notes:
Reviews? I know the chapters are rather short, but the story is meant to be. Thanks.
Tares Arise by JAWorley

"There he is."

"Prat."

"I didn't think he was like that."

"He seemed so nice."

"He must have drugged her. I know her and she's not like that."

"Do you think he did it?"

"It was in the papers."

"Hey Potter! Keep it in your pants next time!"

Harry's face turned red as he walked through the bustling Entrance Hall. The start of term feast had been a nightmare. Nobody had sat next to him except Ginny, and she only stayed long enough to tell him that she forgave him, even if he did do it, but that they couldn't date anymore. People stared and chattered, and some slurs were thrown his way, despite the Headmaster's speech about looking for the deeper truth and being responsible with what you believed.

It had only taken Harry one night to figure out that sleeping in the dorms wasn't going to work out. Ron wasn't speaking to him, and Dean and Seamus had spelled all his pants zippers closed while he slept, so that the next morning he couldn't get into any of his jeans, and was forced to enlarge his pants, then put them on and shrink them again. It was with great satisfaction that the fat lady watched Harry drag his trunk back out the portrait hole the next afternoon, and down the hall to the guest quarters he had inhabited the night before the return of the students. "When you decide to be a Gryffindor, you'll be welcomed back," she called after him, but he tried to ignore her. What was being a Gryffindor? Wasn't he already a Gryffindor by being responsible in the first place and not having sex before he was married and ready to take responsibility?

It was the second week of classes now, and Harry tried to keep his face from turning red every time he heard the whispers as he passed. The Headmaster had advised him in a note sent by owl to ignore the comments, but with shouts like, ‘Keep it in your pants next time,' it was getting harder to ignore.

Harry was starting to feel isolated again, with Ron ignoring him and Hermione sticking by her boyfriend, and Ginny giving him strained smiles but otherwise not speaking to him. It wasn't until lunch one day that somebody finally decided to sit next to Harry on the far end of Gryffindor table.

Startled that there was suddenly somebody across from him, Harry looked up to find Neville. "Hi," he said, unsure. Neville was giving him an awkward look, as if trying to figure something out.

"My gran doesn't think you did it," he finally said, staring straight at Harry and ignoring his food.

"And what about you?"

"I don't know. Did you do it?"

"No. Did the others send you to find out?"

"No. I wanted to know. I don't want to be friends with somebody who doesn't take responsibility though." There it was again, that big word people had been throwing at him so often lately.

"If the baby was mine, I would. But it's not. They did a chastity spell on me and I was cleared, which is why I haven't been expelled."

"Oh."

"Everybody knows Rita Skeeter prints lies, but they believe them anyway when it comes to me."

Neville finally remembered that there was food on his plate, and scooped up a mouthful of potatoes. "You're so popular everyone thinks you did it."

"Except your gran."

"And me," he said. Harry nodded.

"Thanks. Hermione said she believed me too."

"Have you figured out how she tricked the Veritaserum yet?"

Harry eyed him closely. "I don't know if she did. She probably isn't to blame at all. Somebody could have used Polyjuice or modified her memory."

"What if she did do all of this on purpose?"

With a sigh Harry scanned the crowd and found Susan sitting by herself at Ravenclaw table, looking down at her plate but not eating. "I guess she had a good reason then. I don't think she's in with Voldemort."

They ate in silence for a while before Luna came up to them and sat down next to Harry. "Hello Harry. Hello Neville."

"Hi Luna," they said in unison. Harry knew that she and Neville were dating now, and was happy for them.

"So what will you name the baby Harry?"

Harry set his fork down and looked at her. The question seemed innocent enough, and she didn't seem angry, even though she didn't believe him.

"You're not mad at me?"

"Oh, love is a beautiful thing Harry. Perhaps you were wrong in engaging in such activity so young, but so was Susan. She doesn't blame you you know."

"Oh," Harry said. He'd almost forgotten that Susan and Luna were in the same year and same house.

"She told you?" Harry asked after Neville had handed Luna a piece of celery.

"She doesn't like to talk about it, but I'm the only one in the house who will talk to her, so she does sometimes. She feels badly that others are treating you this way."

"Well that's something," Neville said brightly, trying to cheer Harry up.

"Thanks," Harry said, although he didn't feel like being cheerful at all.

Occasionally Neville and Luna continued to sit next to Harry at meals, but they also began to get flack from other students for associating with ‘that Potter character,' and so the meal time visits lessened at Harry's insistence.

Even though Harry was aware that all of the Professors had been informed that he was innocent, he still caught the glances some of them gave him when they thought he wasn't looking. Perhaps McGonagall had told them all of Harry's promise to try to get every girl he met pregnant if he was ever sent back to the Dursley's again. It was fairly childish, he reflected later, again recalling images of Dudley stomping his foot to get his way, but he reminded himself of the escaped beatings and impending punishments. There was a price to be paid for all things, and he supposed the price for his escape from the Dursleys was the treatment he would receive all year, and perhaps for the rest of his life. He had a plan though... if he couldn't handle the stares and comments after graduation, then he'd move to America, or some other country he'd always dreamed of visiting. There nobody would know him, and he could move on with life.

* * *

"Mr. Potter."

Harry had just come from the guest quarters and locked the door with a spell when he heard the silky voice behind him.

Severus did not fail to notice the sigh that escaped the boy's lips. "Yes sir?" He scratched the back of his neck and looked tired, as if he hadn't gotten any sleep.

"I believe you were told to move back into Gryffindor tower, were you not?"

"Yes sir. I did."

"For how long?"

"One night."

Severus crossed his arms and tried to conjure a look that would make Potter cower, but couldn't manage it. He had been watching closely, along with the rest of staff, as Potter was abandoned by his friends and treated like garbage. He wasn't the only one of course, Susan Lewitt was being treated much the same, and even Draco Malfoy seemed to be on the outs with Slytherin this year. But Harry seemed to be enduring the worst of it.

"So you figure you're in enough trouble already, that breaking one more rule will do no harm?" He wanted to know how Potter was doing without asking, and the last time he had encountered him, making him mad seemed a good enough way to get him to speak, even if he had done it unintentionally.

"Or maybe I just didn't want to live with people who hate me all year," Harry said, irritated now. There, it had worked, Severus thought with some satisfaction.

"What was that?"

Severus came to his senses and schooled his face neutral. "What was what Potter?"

"That," Harry said pointing at Severus' face, fairly angry now, "right there. You smirked when I got mad."

With a roll of his eyes, Severus said, "Do not make up things that are not true Potter in order to get out of trouble."

Harry shook his head and crossed his arms. "So I'm in trouble now for living where I won't get pummeled in the night or wake up to find my stuff ruined or my pants all glued shut?"

"So dramatic Potter," Severus said. "I did not tell you that you could not stay in the guest quarters. I was merely curious as to why you had disobeyed your head of house. It is up to her whether or not you may stay where you are."

"So you're going to tell on me again? I had to sit through a 45 minute lecture last time."

"One that you deserved from what I hear Mr. Potter. Under the circumstances it is probably not in your best interest to have access to a secluded room with a bed when the press has lead people to believe this to be the cause of your little problem."

Harry bit his lip. He hadn't thought about that. If any other girls got pregnant, and he was sleeping on his own in his own room, there could be even more trouble for him.

"I'm not moving back into the tower. Put some spells on my room so no girls can enter if you want. I'm not going back." Harry walked off, and Severus let him go. When Harry was gone, Severus did as Harry had suggested, not because he didn't trust the boy, but because if anything did happen, he could prove that no girls had been into Harry's room.

The End.
End Notes:
From here on out, there really won't be much of Ron, Hermione, or Ginny in the story. This is really meant to center around Harry, Susan, and Snape, and at some points, Draco. Next chapter almost done. Thanks for any reviews!
A Friend in Need by JAWorley

Harry had a lot of time to himself to think. At meals by himself, studying in the library in a secluded corner with no one to help him, laying in bed alone at night, watching his old friends talk without him, and watching Susan from a distance.

She caught him watching a few times, but he always looked away, and she never said anything to him. He cringed every time he heard someone talk about her in the halls or say something bad to her face. He was confused to say the least. Here she was, the cause of all his current problems, but he felt awful for her. Whoever the father was, he wasn't taking responsibility for her, and she wasn't getting any help fending off the cruel remarks being tossed at her so casually. If Harry had learned one thing in life, it was that you could not unsay a cruel word. But you could say as many kind ones as you wanted, and people were not choosing the latter.

It was when he heard the word ‘slut' come out of Justin Finch Fletchy's mouth that he decided to take a stand. Susan stood there crying, clutching her books to her growing belly, and people around her laughed, aside from Luna, who looked pale.

"Why don't you say that to me Justin?" Harry said, dropping his book bag on the corridor floor. Justin sneered and the hall quieted, aside from the sound of Susan's tears and Luna trying to comfort her.

"Why didn't you just keep it in your pants Potter? Don't see the rest of us going around knocking up younger girls, do you? And she was a slut to sleep with you, wasn't she?"

"One more time Justin," Harry warned, fists clenched at his sides.

Justin smirked. "Slut." A laugh had just escaped his throat when he found himself being slammed hard into a wall. The crowd scattered as Harry pummeled Justin. He felt the boy's nose cracking under his fist, and then a rib, and there was blood everywhere. Somebody was hitting Harry from behind, or many somebody's, but he wasn't stopping. They could say what they wanted about him, but she didn't deserve that.

Finally he was pulled clear of the fray and was being restrained by professor August, the seventh year Apparation instructor. Justin lay on the floor, dazed and starting to bruise, and Harry looked to the left to find Snape restraining several of Justin's friends, some of them older than Harry, who had been trying to beat Harry off of Justin.

"What happened here?" August was asking, but Harry felt dazed too, as if someone else had temporarily inhabited his body. He had never initiated a fight before, and seeing Justin lying there now, as he so often had himself, he felt ashamed, as if he had become uncle Vernon. He felt weak and out of steam and didn't struggle against the strong arms holding him.

"Potter went bezerk!" one of Justin's seventh year friends shouted angrily.

"Yeah, he just tackled him and started to pummel him!"

"And what did Mr. Finch Fletchy do to deserve such an attack?" Snape was asking, but to Harry the voices seemed distant as he allowed his guilt to eat at him. Uncle Vernon, Uncle Vernon, I'm just like him. I'm a jerk, he thought.

There was silence, and then Luna spoke up from somewhere to his right. "He called Susan a slut sir. Three times."

All eyes turned to Harry now, and Severus noted how bad the boy looked. Almost as bad as Justin. For someone who wasn't responsible for Susan, who had never even spoken to her before, he displayed an extraordinary penchant for protecting her.

"Is that true Potter?"

Harry came to himself suddenly and looked up.

"Potter, is it true?" August was asking him.

"Yes sir," he said, a sadness leaking through his voice that Severus picked up on.

"Potter, Wagner, Degraw, McClaggen, you will each get one detention for fighting, and twenty five points from each of you. Mr. Finch Fletchy will be rewarded with three detentions for his disgusting remarks, as well as lose fifty house points."

"That's not fair!" Wagner, the one who had been kicking Harry's legs from behind shouted as Snape released him from the spell that held him against the wall.

"Regardless of what you think is fair Mr. Wagner, Finch Fletchy lost the choice when he chose to throw slurs at a defenseless young lady who did nothing to him."

Snape instructed Justin's friends to take him to the Hospital wing, and as they moved off, August escorting Harry to see Madam Pomfrey as well, Harry heard somebody in crows whisper, "Defenseless? Not with Potter finally coming around."

Madam Pomfrey tisked and ho hummed about students fighting as she treated Harry and Justin. It appeared that Harry had done a lot of damage, but not as much as he himself had sustained. Harry supposed it was because he was so used to feeling a damaged body, that when he got two cracked ribs, and a bruised spleen, he didn't notice.

Finally Harry was released, just before dinner, and had barely made it into the corridor before Snape was there, raking him over with his eyes again.

"Don't give me that look," Harry said without any enthusiasm.

"Potter, don't test my patience. I have been lax with you for the last month and a half, but you are not allowed to say whatever you wish to me."

Harry grit his teeth, but refrained from what he really wanted to say, which would not have been in his own best interest.

"I came to tell you that your detention is to be served tonight with Professor Sprout in greenhouse 3 at Midnight."

"Yes sir."

"Threaten all you want Potter, but if you get in a fight again, for whatever reason, you will get two detentions. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir."

Harry didn't feel like eating dinner, so he went straight to his room to start his homework. He didn't feel like enduring the stares and nasty comments he was sure to get. When he sat to start his Transfiguration reading however, he found he couldn't concentrate. Just like Vernon, just like Vernon, I'm just like Vernon. He definitely did not want to be like uncle Vernon. All he wanted was for people to take him seriously for once and to leave Susan alone. They would take him seriously now though, he hoped.

He was quiet through replanting Mandrakes with Professor Sprout at midnight, and she didn't press him to talk, for which he was thankful. The next day Harry found out just how seriously people took him.

As was so often the case now, people chattered about him as he walked past, but now they stopped when he came near enough to hear, or when he looked over at them. "Calm down Potter," Dean said as he walked by, "don't beat me up too."

Harry hung his head in shame and walked on. He hadn't made things any better on himself.

Other people expressed similar sentiments as Dean throughout the day, but he was relieved to see that nobody was giving Susan a hard time today.

"Just one more reason for you to stay the hell away from Ginny," Ron said in his ear as he passed by on his way to lunch. Harry stopped walking as Ron went into the Great Hall, and sighed. He supposed he was right. If he had lost his temper like that with Justin, who was to say what he would do around Ginny.

"Not hungry?"

Harry turned slowly to find Susan standing there, hugging herself protectively.

"Not really, no," Harry said quietly.

"Because of them?" She nodded towards the sound of laughter in the Great Hall.

"Because of me," Harry said quietly.

"I don't understand."

"I beat up Justin. I shouldn't have done that."

"Oh, I see." She looked away, and Harry frowned.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I meant, I should have handled it differently. I don't want to rule by fear, like Voldemort."

She looked up at that and he remembered once again that people weren't used to hearing the name.

"I'm sorry about the way they're treating you," she said.

"Why?"

"Because it's cruel. I didn't mean for them to do that. I didn't think they would."

Harry shook his head. "Why did you do it then? Why did you say it was me?"

"Why did you stand up for me?"

Harry frowned. "I had to. I couldn't let them call you that."

"Then you have your answer."

With a sigh Harry resigned himself to the fact that she was not going to tell him. He also knew that she was the only other person in the castle that knew what it was like to be an outcast. He could either continue on his path alone, and let her do the same, or he could be friends with her and try to tough it out together. She certainly looked like a friend in need... or maybe he did. Either way, he was tired of going it alone.

"Want to get a bite to eat?"

She looked up at him, full eyes ready to brim with tears.

"You- you want to have lunch with me?"

"Well who am I going to eat with, Draco Malfoy?" Harry gave a short laugh then and she gave a strained smile, something he was too used to seeing now from Hermione and Ginny.

"Sounds like fun," she said, and they entered the Great Hall together, to much chatter and awe from the rest of the student body, and staff.

Severus Snape watched as Harry and Susan tried their best to ignore the stares and rumors as a friendship blossomed.  How Potter continually managed to surprise him, taking the responsibility that wasn't his own, he would never know.

 

The End.
End Notes:
Reviews? I see lots of reads in the counter, but not a lot of reviews. Thanks for reading, what do you think?
The Man His Father Was by JAWorley
Author's Notes:
Banner

His face fell in shadow as he crept along the half darkened corridor. It wasn't quite the evening yet, but rain washed down the stained glass windows and clouds darkened the sky outside, making it necessary to light the torches in the castle.

In the distance, he could hear her laughter, light and airy at something the boy had said... no, at something the man had said, for that is what he was, no longer a boy, but a man who had taken on some vast, unending responsibility that was not his to take. Is that what it meant to be a Gryffindor? What did it mean to be a Slytherin then, sharp and cunning, and loyal yes, but cowardly? It was not only that he was being irresponsible... he wanted to take it on, to make it his, but could not for the consequences he should have to pay for even thinking about it, for admitting that the baby was his, that he loved her more than he had ever loved another person.

There was the laughter again, and he paused. She used to laugh when he spoke... used to be holding his hand and kissing his lips, but no more. Now she was there for Potter to take. Why had she said it was his child? Was she embarrassed? No, remember you fool, it was I who failed to respond to her owls. Potter was the safe bet, the one who would take the fall instead of her.

He leaned against a cold wall next to a suit of armor and banged his head, bangs falling forward into his face. Coward, he told himself, that is what you are isn't it? Afraid of being shipped off to some other school, or locked up, or beaten because you got a girl pregnant... not just any girl, but a mudblood. A mudblood that you love. He had watched uneasily at first as Potter stuck up for her, happy that somebody was doing what he wasn't, and then anxiously as they began eating meals together, studying in the library side by side, holding hands... weeks had gone by and the castle was sure now that it was Potter's baby and that he was finally doing right by Susan. Weeks had gone by and she had kept her mouth shut, not told a soul that he, the Slytherin coward was the father.

What a mess he'd gotten himself into now. He could neither eat nor sleep, and his mind strayed from work to her and the baby, and to Potter's grubby hands all over her when he wasn't looking. Who knew what they were doing now that there was no chance she could get pregnant... again. He thought of hexing Potter, or killing him in his sleep in that guest room the Headmaster let him stay in. But no, just more weight on his conscience. What could he do, what could he do? His mind raced as the voices grew softer, moving towards the library. I have to do something, he told himself. But what?

* * *

"What now?"

Susan's voice was soft as they sat on the corridor floor at the end of the hall in a darkened part of the castle, far from prying ears. Harry had just told her that he would take care of her and the baby, and claim them as his own.

"I dunno. I wasn't ready to be a father yet. I have some money in my vault to get by on. I still have a year left in school after this, and you have two. Maybe we could move away and hire a tutor to get us through OWLs and NEWTs."

"You would do that?" Her eyes were big and round, and shiny. Harry couldn't help but be reminded of Ginny's eyes, and his heart throbbed then, a sharp stab as if a knife had been lodged that could not be removed.

"I don't know what else to do. What do your parents think?"

"My mom wants to be supportive, but my dad is mostly angry. He saw the picture of you beat up in the paper and said he wished he could get his hands on you to do what the Prophet said he did."

"Yeah, well let's hope he doesn't get the chance."

She laughed nervously then. "I didn't mean for all of this to happen to you."

"I know," Harry said. "You told me."

"I feel really bad."

"Are you going to tell me why you said it was me then, if you didn't mean for this to happen?"

"Why haven't you asked me that yet?"

"I figured you had your reasons."

"You aren't mad at me?"

"It's a hard situation to be in. I can't blame you. I just want to know why."

She fidgeted with her fingers then, clasped together. "I was... scared. And embarrassed."

"Why were you with somebody if you were embarrassed of them?"

"I love him."

"Still?"

"Yes. I wasn't embarrassed then. I'm embarrassed to say that I got pregnant, because I thought he loved me, and then when I owled to tell him I was pregnant, he ignored me. He hasn't spoken to me since. I thought he cared."

"Who is it?"

She bit her lip in the same way that Ginny and Hermione often did. "I can't Harry, I just can't. He's in your year though, and he's a Slytherin."

"Well that narrows it down... there's only six of them."

He thought it over and said, "I didn't think anybody liked Slytherins except Slytherins."

"Some of them date out of the house."

"So... you're pureblood then?" he was trying to make sense of it.

"No. Maybe that's why he hasn't spoken to me... because I'm... you know. A mudblood."

"That's a dirty word. Don't say it."

"Ok."

Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we'll figure something out."

* * *

"Hem hem."

Harry stopped walking and narrowed his eyes, looking around the dark corridor. He could have sworn he'd just heard Umbridge's fake cough, even though he knew the witch was banned from Hogwarts since the end of the previous year for cruel and unusual punishment of students and staff.

"Hem hem." There it was again. Deciding that there was no one in the corridor ahead of him, he backtracked a dozen paces and came to the short corridor with the entrance to Gryffindor. It was empty aside from the portrait of the fat lady. Harry had frequently considered burning her portrait for what she'd done, not letting him into the common room... it wasn't like she couldn't flee to another picture, but he had decided against it in the end.

"Mr. Potter."

"Yeah?" He was cautious and uncertain.

"Would you like to come in?"

Harry frowned. Had he heard right? He was fairly tired and was perhaps hearing things. "Excuse me?"

"Would you like to enter the common room?"

"You're inviting me in?"

"Yes."

Harry stood up straighter and scratched his head. "Without a password?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You are a worthy Gryffindor now."

Harry walked up to her and stopped a few feet short. "What are you talking about?"

"You are finally the man your father was."

"I don't understand."

"You have done the right thing."

At the risk of being denounced as a Gryffindor again, Harry cleared his throat and said, "Even though I wasn't the one responsible in the first place?"

"Despite of the fact that you weren't the culprit, you still stepped up and took responsibility. And that is a noble pursuit, worthy of entrance to Gryffindor tower."

Harry paused, thinking about it. He felt out of place in the guest room, as if he didn't belong anywhere, but he had moved out of the tower for a reason. "No one will accept me if I move back in," he said.

"They will have to deal with me should they refuse to treat you as a Gryffindor would."

"So... I tattle?"

"Do I look like the bare patch of wall that guards Slytherin?" She had her hands on her hips now. Harry shook his head, and she said, "There are portraits in the common room and stairwells, are there not? Go in Mr. Potter, and sleep well."

He felt anxious all of a sudden and he wasn't sure why. Here he had just been proclaimed a Gryffindor again, and he felt too cowardly to go in.

"Go on. Off to bed with you before you're caught out and lose house points."

She swung open and Harry hedged forward, unaware that a tall, dark haired Potion's Master lurked in the shadows around a corner, heart gripped tight as if he'd just seen a ghost.

Inside, the common room was mostly empty aside from a few younger students playing a game by the fire, a seventh year studying for owls in the corner, and red head reading quietly on the couch.

"Harry?"

"Ginny."

"What are you doing here?"

"I think I still live here."

"I thought Lady Justice wasn't letting you in."

"She called to me in the hall and told me to go inside."

"Oh." Ginny looked to the ground. "I've seen you around with Susan."

"Yeah."

"Are you dating now?"

"I don't know. My friends disowned me and my girlfriend dumped me even though I told them all I was innocent. And the only other person in the castle being singled out is Susan. She needs me."

"So that's a yes?"

"So that's an I don't know what we are. Friends helping each other." He rubbed his eyes then. "I'm tired and I have a test in Potion's tomorrow. I'm going up to bed."

"Cast a de-jinxing spell first," she warned him as he moved off. "I think Seamus hexed the bed in case you came back."

Harry turned. "To do what? Or do I want to know?"

"Probably better if you don't. Just run the standard counter jinxes over it before you climb in."

"Thanks." He turned and went up the stairs, feeling as though he were in a foreign place, somewhere he was unwelcome and didn't belong.

When he opened the dormitory door, he found his dorm mates lounging on Dean's bed playing some Muggle board game Harry hadn't yet seen. They all looked up at him and Neville exclaimed happily, "Harry! You're back!"

Ron scoffed and said, "Forget something?"

"Yeah, my bed." Harry pulled out his wand and ran through several counter jinxes and hexes, satisfied when the spells turned blue several times proclaiming the bed clean. The other boys, aside from Neville, narrowed their eyes, and Harry climbed in. When nothing happened to him, he closed the curtain, cast a silencing charm so they couldn't hear him, but he could hear them, and then cast a protective barrier to keep himself safe. Finally feeling secure, Harry lay back and stared at the hangings. He hadn't quite had time to think about it yet, but something was bothering him. It was what the portrait had said about finally being the man his father was. What did that mean?

When Harry hadn't claimed Susan, he fell short of his father. But then when he had taken responsibility for her, even though she wasn't his responsibility, he suddenly met the standard? He lay for a long time thinking about it, far longer than the other boys stayed up. And as he drifted off to sleep, his mind somehow became more alert to his subconscious thoughts and worries. When he woke up, he knew that his perceptions of his parentage were mislead. Someone, not James Potter, had gotten his mother pregnant. And then, Gryffindor that he was, James claimed Lily and they covered it up. But if James wasn't his father, who was?

The End.
End Notes:
Comments? By the way, Harry's thoughts about setting the fat lady on fire came straight from a reviewer... I laughed so hard when I read it. Great idea! I love to hear all reviews!
Hard Truths by JAWorley
Author's Notes:
Another short chapter. Note: There's a fair bit of violence and blood in this chapter. You can skip the violent bloody part when you get to it if it bothers you, although it's short.

"Harry, are you ok?"

"Huh?"

"You seem... off."

Harry frowned. "Fine. I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine."

He was sitting on the floor beside Susan again, this time on a large pillow he had conjured for her. It was getting more difficult for her to sit on the floor now with the baby growing in her body.

He let out a sigh and wrapped his arms around himself. He felt out of sorts truth be told. If his father wasn't James, then he didn't know who he himself was. He wasn't a Potter. Who was he? Not a Weasley, at least that much was certain, because he didn't have orange hair.

"I didn't tell you something."

"What?"

"That night the portrait let me back into the tower... she told me I was finally the man my father was. Said that now that I decided to take care of you, even though the baby wasn't mine, that I was finally like my father. I thought about it, and I think she was trying to tell me that James wasn't my dad. He just took responsibility for me."

"Oh Harry, are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"No wonder you've been so distant lately."

He sighed again. "How do I even find something like that out? What if he didn't even know about me? Or what if he did and didn't want me? I'm just like the baby in your stomach."

"How do you mean?"

"He'll never even know who his father is... or who her father is."

"It's a him Harry, and his father will be you."

"Susan, I wish it were true. I do. But I don't even know who the real father is. And the truth is, it just isn't true. I can be the best stepfather I can, but he's not my son. I'm not James Potter's son..."

"He's Draco's."

Silence followed her words into the empty corridor.

Harry looked over at her. "You're positive?"

"Yes."

"You fell in love with Draco Malfoy, got pregnant, and then claimed it was his enemy's son?"

"Yes. I'm so sorry Harry!" She seemed mortified, as if Harry would turn away from her now.

Harry let his head hit the wall behind him. "No wonder Draco's been so out of sorts. There's no chance people will think this is my child now. He's going to have blond hair."

"Maybe not Harry. I have dark hair.'

"Doesn't matter. Remember that wizarding genealogy class they make the third years take for one term? Wizarding genes win out over Muggle genes. You're half, so his blond hair will win out over your brown." Harry's eyes widened suddenly and then he said, "Which means my dad must still have black hair!"

"What do you mean?"

"My mum's hair was red and she was half, so my dad must have had black hair too, just like me."

"That doesn't narrow it down much."

"No, but it's a start."

* * *

Harry wasn't sure if he was more pleased or amused to see the fat lady preventing people from entering the common room in the following weeks. Ron, Seamus, Dean, and several others had taken to waiting around for groups of people to go in and out of the common room in order to enter themselves. Harry never did have to tell Lady Justice who was causing him trouble, she always just seemed to know. It was too bad she didn't have control over students from other houses as well.

While the comments about him and Susan had lessened significantly, some slurs were still occasionally thrown Harry's way, especially by the Slytherins. Harry noticed that Draco kept his mouth shut for the most part, and in general seemed unhappy and depressed. Perhaps Draco had his reasons for ignoring Susan, although Harry couldn't understand why. She was beautiful, and funny and kind, and if Harry weren't still in love with Ginny Weasley, he would give his whole heart to Susan without any restraint. He wanted to be free of the love of one or the other, but found that an impossible task now. And as much as he wanted to do the right thing by Susan, he had the feeling that Draco wasn't giving up his responsibility completely of his own free will. He just didn't think it was right to raise up Draco's son if Draco wanted the chance. And maybe he didn't, Harry didn't know, but he did know that Draco was downright depressed, and looked a far sight thinner than he did when the term had started.

* * *

Harry had a bad feeling that he couldn't shake. It had been with him when he'd woken, so much so that he double checked all of his things to be sure they hadn't been cursed by his housemates. All through lunch Harry couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. Nobody seemed to be staring at him any more or less than usual, Susan was fine, Ginny was fine, even Ron and Hermione seemed well. Snape was a little off, in a Draco sort of way, but Harry knew that wasn't it.

Unwilling to go to sleep when such a bad feeling still plagued him, Harry left the common room just before curfew and made his way to the Entrance Hall, thinking about taking a walk and maybe making a visit to Hagrid, whom he hadn't seen in a few weeks.

The grounds were dark and cool, and the grass was wet from recent rains. Snow would be falling soon, Harry was reminded when the cold wind picked up and he was forced to wrap his arms around himself for warmth.

"Excuse me."

Startled, Harry turned around to find a large middle-aged man with black hair and glasses staring at him. He seemed to be on his way up to the castle. "Are you Harry Potter?" Harry's heart skipped a beat. Black hair, glasses, wizard... it's my father, it's my father. He's come for me.

"Yes?" his voice was too hopeful, and he found himself betrayed when the man took a long step forward and grabbed Harry's collar.

"I'm Gary Lewitt. Susan's father."

Harry could feel the blood draining from his face, and perhaps it was a good thing as next second there was a fist hitting him in the face repeatedly. Harry fumbled for his wand, but couldn't find it in the darkness, and his arms failed to block the blows. One good punch took the wind out of him, and another had Harry gasping for breath. He hadn't faced punishment of this kind since two summers before, when he had forgotten his wand in his room and had accidentally knocked over uncle Vernon's favorite bag of golf clubs.

His attacker threw him roughly to the ground and the attack continued with hard boots on Harry's back and sides. And then when Harry was barely conscious, the blows stopped, and a cold voice was too close for comfort.

"You stay away from my Susan. You're to have nothing to do with her or the baby. If you touch her, or any girl under the age of 21 again, I'll kill you. Do you understand?"

Harry gurgled, unable to get words to come out of his mouth, and the man seemed to take his response as yes.

"Don't make me come back to make good on my threat boy," and then he was gone, and Harry blacked out.

* * *

Severus Snape knew something was off. It wasn't that he'd encountered the caretaker's mewling cat in the Entrance hall, or even that Draco had just confessed to him in his office of his undying love for Susan and their unborn child. No, something else was amiss, and he had to find out what. The second floor, and Great Hall were empty. Severus was just about to check outside when the oak front doors opened and admitted Gary Lewitt. Perhaps that was the issue. He had never liked Mr. Lewitt. He had been a few years behind Severus in school, and even then he was an annoyance.

"Mr. Lewitt," Severus greeted.

"Just here to see my Susan Professor," the man gave him in return. "She hasn't been writing."

"I believe she has been preoccupied with schoolwork and tests. And perhaps Mr. Potter."

The man paled. "What?"

"Regardless of his innocence, Potter has been defending Susan against all insults and rumors. He is one of her only friends within these walls."

He scoffed. "Don't give me that, ‘regardless of his innocence' crap. My Susan told me-"

"Young pregnant girls frequently lie Mr. Lewitt. Mr. Potter was given the chastity test twice by aurors and he passed both times. There can be no doubt that he is not the culprit."

Severus took note of the sudden paleness on the other man's face and then noticed the blood on his hands. "Have you been fighting Mr. Lewitt?"

"Wha- oh, fell," he said distractedly. "I- I just remembered. There's something I've got to- I have to go."

"What about Susan?"

"Another time!" he called, before rushing out the door, not even bothering to close it behind him.

His bad feeling intensifying, Severus followed him out the door. The man was already out of site, running down the drive into the darkness. Walking down the steps, his ears were perked for any sound amiss in the night. It was not until he was down the steps and twenty steps down the walk that he heard a groan from the bushes. He withdrew his wand, knowing that it was not unheard of for animals from the forest to sometimes wander out onto the grounds. A swift lumos however revealed no animal, but instead a bloody mess that was a student lying on the cold wet grass in a heap. Not just any student, but Potter.

Severus knelt quickly next to Harry, trying to assess his injuries through so much blood. Harry's eyes cracked open, but in the darkness what he saw was dark hair and he waved his arms feebly in front of his face to fend of a non-existent attack. "Nnno- didn't- please-" he cried, words slurring.

"Lewitt's gone Potter, stop fighting."

"H- help."

"Hold on," Severus said. He stowed his wand in his pocket and scooped Harry up into his arms. "Just hold on."

The End.
End Notes:
Comments? What do you think will happen next? How do you feel about what happened to Harry? What will Severus do? What will Susan or the other students do when they find out? What about Draco after his confession to Severus? Thanks so much for all your reviews so far!
The Kind of Son A Father Wants by JAWorley
Author's Notes:
The long awaited next chapter is up! It turned out a bit longer than expected. Enjoy and don't forget to review!

His chest felt heavy as he drifted in and out of consciousness. He was aware that he was being carried down stairs, through various darkened corridors, and finally into a quiet room, although he only caught glimpses of things as he concentrated on trying to breath. Harry was also quite sure that he was delirious, because he could have sworn it was Snape carrying him down into the dungeons, and that he was in the man's private quarters bleeding all over his leather couch.

When Harry let out a harsh laugh, followed by a gurgle and a cough, Severus hurried in from the bathroom with several bottles. So it was him, and he wasn't hallucinating, Harry mused. How his life had taken a turn towards this end he wasn't sure, he thought as his professor gave him a look he couldn't discern, because it seemed too near to concern.

"You find something amusing Mr. Potter?"

"I'm in your quarters," Harry rasped. He tried to lift his arm into the air, but his arm was too weak to manage, and instead he coughed again in place of a laugh.

"I fail to see what's so funny," Severus said as he uncorked a bottle of brown ooze and held it up to Harry's lips, a hand under his head to lift it slightly so that he could drink it. It burned on the way down and Harry was shaken with a wracking coughing fit that he thought would never end. After long, tense moments of not being able to breathe, the weight in his chest lightened a little, and he sucked in deep breaths, still coughing a little.

"Ugh," Harry groaned, squeezing his eyes closed. His throat still burned and he asked, "What was that?"

"You had fluid in your lungs... probably blood. The potion was necessary to clear it out so that you could breathe properly."

"Is that what Pomfrey would have given me? Why didn't you take me to her?"

Snape didn't answer for a moment because he was pouring a pink potion into a bottle with a little orange potion and shaking it up until it started to fizz. Just as Harry's head started to spin and he felt like passing out again, the Potion's Master turned around and was tilting Harry's head back again so that he could drink the potion. This one didn't taste pleasant either, but it didn't burn like the last one had.

"It is exactly what Madam Pomfrey would have given you. Now be still so that I can heal some of your other injuries." He said several familiar spells and Harry felt his shoulder pop back into place painfully. Finally Snape answered his other question. "You are not in the Hospital Wing because Poppy is at St. Mungo's consulting a midwife for miss Lewitt."

"Susan? Is she ok?" Harry tried to sit up but found himself being pushed back onto the comfortable couch.

"Don't be foolish, lie back down." Harry obeyed, not because he loved obeying the snark in the man's tone, but because he felt weak and there were stabbing pains in his chest were it felt like someone had speared him with a big fork.

"Miss Lewitt is fine." He was forcing another potion on Harry now. "It is a consultation for January when she is due." He could see the boy visibly relax and wondered at how close he had grown to the girl who had made life very hard for him in the past two months. It was no wonder that Draco was so jealous. Severus looked back over at Harry just in time to see his face pale visibly.

"Potter?"

Harry didn't respond, and his eyes seemed unfocused.

"Harry?" Severus tried. Instead of an answer however, what he got was projectile vomit splattering his shoes as it hit the floor between the couch and the coffee table he was sitting on.

The boy on the couch looked mortified, and immediately started to stammer apologies, even as he swayed weakly on the couch where he had propped himself. Severus stood and reached over to push the fifteen-year-old back down yet again.

"Yes, well, that can sometimes happen with the first potion I gave you. Lay still and close your eyes until the nausea goes away."

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Harry repeated under his breath. "Can I just go back to Gryffindor?"

"No. You will be staying here until you are fit to stand or until Madam Pomfrey returns."

Harry closed his eyes and tried not to think about the barf on the floor that the professor he often hated was now cleaning up with a spell, or that he was in the man's home. For some inexplicable reason, Harry wanted Ron and Hermione just then rather than Madam Pomfrey. Perhaps it was the thought that they might be a comfort, as they had always been when he was in the hospital wing, but he wasn't sure, especially now that he hadn't spoken to Hermione in months and since Ron was still avoiding him like the plague.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Harry suddenly asked, voice small as he tried to fight sleep. The man was rubbing a bruise salve on his arms where he had been kicked lying down and it was relaxing.

"I can be meaner if you'd like Potter." The last thing he needed was for Potter to go babbling about how his professor kidnapped him into his private quarters only to be rude to him.

"I just wondered how my life is so upside down," Harry said, finally unable to keep his eyes open at all as his head pounded and other injuries continued to throb.

"I wouldn't expect any less. You are my-" he paused, not sure he wanted to divulge his secret yet. And it didn't appear that he'd have the chance this night, because the boy was soundly sleeping, unaware that his father watched over him.

* * *

Draco paced. It was four am and he couldn't get her out of his mind. Only hours before he had confessed to his head of house about his one beautiful night under the stars out on the grounds with Susan last spring, and how he felt so ashamed for not taking care of her. He'd hoped it would relieve some of the constant nausea and anxiety pent up inside, but it had done nothing for him. He could feel Susan slipping through his fingertips. He'd heard a rumor that the baby was a boy, and that Susan and Harry were compiling a list of names. That was what had pushed him over the edge. It should be him and Susan compiling a list of names. What would his father do to him though? Flashes of heavy objects flying at him from the mantelpiece in his father's study flew through his mind from a previous incident having nothing to do with a girl, but having to do with him befriending the one boy in the house that was known to be a mudblood. No, his father would not be happy, and he would be sent away if he were lucky, and dead if he was not.

He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. He hated his life. He always had. He hated his father, he hated the plans his family had laid out for him, he hated his own personality. The only thing he had loved was Susan and even the thought of their child, whom he could take fishing and teach to be everything the opposite that he was. To hell with being written out of the family fortune, but if he was dead or sent away permanently, he would not be able to take care of Susan and their son. A name flashed through his mind then, Aster, and he wished he could run to Susan and tell her that he wanted their son to be Aster Malfoy. The fact that he couldn't... strike that, the fact that he was to cowardly to sent him into smacking the sides of his head several times until his ears were ringing. "Coward!" he shouted aloud to nobody in the empty corridor deep in the dungeons. "Coward," he whispered to himself. "Coward. Coward. Coward."

* * *

"Sir?"

Severus turned to see Harry swaying in the kitchen doorway, unsteady on his feet. Rushing over and catching him just in time as he tilted a little too far sideways, he placed him in a vacant kitchen chair and gave him a stern look.

"I instructed you to stay on the couch, did I not?"

"Yes sir," Harry said, hand to his head and looking like he was trying to steady himself.

"Impatient, just like your father," Severus murmured, going back to the counter where he had been preparing dry toast to give to the boy to help fight the nausea the potions given to him the night before had caused.

Harry laughed then and Severus raised a brow as he gave half a glance back to him. "What Potter?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not as much like him as you want me to be. You like insulting me and you've had it wrong all these years." He wasn't smiling anymore as Snape turned to face him, two slices of toast on a small plate that he now set before him on the small kitchen table.

"How so Potter? I know for a fact that your father is impatient, especially when ill."

"And? James Potter's not my father, how's that one for you?" Harry narrowed his eyes and Snape sat down on the only other chair at the table.

"As I said," he repeated slowly. "Your father is impatient."

Harry bit his lip. He had been considering asking a professor if they had any ideas as to whom his mother might have been with, but had been unsure whom to approach. And now here was Snape telling him he knew exactly who his real father was.

"You know him?"

"Intimately well."

Harry scratched his head. "Don't suppose you'll tell me who it is. Nobody ever trusts me with information about my own life." He bitterly recalled losing Sirius at the end of the last school year in the Department of Mysteries.

"You have yet to ask." The words hung there in the silence, and Harry was almost afraid to know now. What if it was somebody who knew he was his son, just as Draco knew about his son, but didn't want him?

"Did... did he want me?"

"He did not know until recently."

Harry was biting his lip again and asked, "Do I look like him?"

"You have his hair and thin frame, and your mothers eyes, which forcefully remind your father whenever he sees you that you are your mother's child."

Harry frowned now. So it was somebody he saw often?

Severus was anxious now, something that didn't happen to him often. What if Harry outright rejected him? He deserved it if he did.

"He works here?"

"Indeed."

"And I look like him?"

"Yes."

Harry's eyes flitted up suddenly to rake over Snape's long black hair and thin but muscular frame. He was the only male professor at Hogwarts with black hair. Professor August had brown hair but he was much too tall, a good half-foot taller than Snape even who was taller than Harry.

Speechless, Harry sat quietly thinking things over. Snape had been a lot less snarky to him this year, but then again most professors were nicer to him now than the start of the term. And Snape had taken him here when hurt and taken care of him instead of dumping him on McGonagall.

"Does my father want me now?" His words were barely audible as Harry stared down at the table.

"He always has, even before he knew you were his own. Jealously blinded him and made him sarcastic and naive." Harry looked up and their eyes locked. "I'm so sorry... son."

* * *

Harry felt numb as he exited Professor Snape's quarters a few hours later, finally strong enough to stand on his own without falling over thanks to a strength potion Snape- no, that his father had given him. There was a lump in his throat that he couldn't seem to rid himself of. Yesterday he was still Harry Potter, orphan boy who was often neglected and pushed around by the only family he had left. Today he was just Harry, and he wasn't sure exactly who he was anymore. He suddenly felt as if the abuse and neglect received from the Dursley's was needless because all of this time his father was right there before him, and even living with the snark would have been better than being neglected. Verbal abuse made him angry, but emotional abuse was something he hated because it always made him feel worthless deep inside.

"What happened to you then?"

Harry narrowed his eyes as he rounded a corner in the dungeons and a narrow stream of light filtered in through one of the only dungeon windows. Harry hadn't realized it was morning until now. Finally Draco shifted a little from where he leaned against the wall and Harry caught sight of his blond hair and unblemished face.

"Gary Lewitt happened to me," Harry said flatly and kept walking, realizing that there was still a lot of blood on his clothes and he was still fairly bruised. Draco's face fell and he pushed forward off of the wall.

"What do you mean?"

"No worries Draco, I took the fall for you, so you can just keep pretending that the baby's mine and nobody will ever be mad at you."

"Snape told you?"

Harry stopped now. Of course it had been obvious he'd just come from Snape's quarters as it was the only room down the short hall he'd just left.

"No, Susan told me. You broke her heart you know. She still loves you but you ignore her."

Suddenly angry, Draco stepped forward and asked, "And what about you Potter? Do you love her?"

Harry sighed, really altogether to tired for fighting at the moment.

"In a way that I want her to be happy and be taken care of. But her heart isn't whole unless you're a part of it, and mine isn't whole unless it's with Ginny. Thanks to you, nobody is happy."

"But you're dating her now, I've seen you holding hands."

"Two outcasts clinging to a life raft. What am I supposed to do when all my friends abandon me... just off myself?" He couldn't deny he hadn't thought about it once or twice on particularly lonely nights spent watching his friends across the common room talking and laughing without him.

Draco looked chastised and looked down to his feet, which were scuffing soles on the cobbled floor.

"Do you even love her?"

Draco nodded and Harry sighed.

"Then stop pretending you don't. Whatever reasons you may have for not telling her, forget them. Because she's hurt and she's more important than whatever image you're trying to protect."

"I can't," Draco said, pained and looking up. "They'll send me away, and I won't be able to take care of her."

"You're rich, aren't you? Pull all your money out so they can't get at it, hire tutors for the two of you and move away so you can take care of the baby. You can file for some kind of rights I think. You're almost 17 so you should be able to file for rights."

Laughing, Draco spat, "What. And Gary Lewitt's just going to let me take his daughter away?"

"That's something you'll have to work out. I suggest with her mother. You've got a choice: keep running and lose Susan and your child forever, or take a stand and fight for what's yours. I would."

Walking away and back up through the castle, Harry realized then that he hadn't been fighting for what was his. He had let his friends go, he had lost his honor, and most importantly, he had just accepted that Ginny was gone for good. Resolve hardening, he made his way up through the castle, finally able to ignore the stares he got.

The End.
End Notes:
It took a long time, but finally this chapter is done. And there's only one chapter left after this. This will definitely be finished by Christmas!
Redemption by JAWorley
Author's Notes:
Final chapter! Merry Christmas all!

He couldn't explain why, but Harry felt relieved. He loved Susan, but at the same time knew it wasn't right to raise Draco's child if he wanted the chance. He had an entirely new perspective on it now that he knew he had been raised by people other than his father when his father wanted the chance. Circumstances were different now, but Harry reveled in the idea of being free from such responsibility. He really wasn't ready to be a father yet. He already felt gypped as it was, as though he had lost out on having a childhood and had been forced to grow up all too quickly. It was selfish, he knew, but he wanted one last year at Hogwarts to be a boy before he was forced to become a man and deal with adult responsibilities more so than he already was.

Even though Draco had made no promises to step up and take responsibility for Susan and their child, Harry felt like he had gotten through, and suddenly had faith that the other boy would do what was right, not because it was right but because he wanted to.

Over the next week, Harry recovered from the damage Susan's father had done to his body, although he never told her who had done it, and mulled over his new familial revelations to himself. Rumors had spread that Justin Finch Fletchy had cornered Harry and taken revenge for beating him up earlier in the year, but Justin was keeping his head low whenever Harry was around, and Harry was content to ignore every person who had ignored him or put him down all year.

Christmas was coming on and Harry had decided to stay over again, along with Susan and Draco, who still wasn't talking to her. Harry felt disappointed as they neared the holiday and it was the eve before students were to board the train and go home for a couple of weeks. He had hoped by now that Draco would have made a move, but it had not happened yet and he only hoped it was because the boy was making plans or trying to get emancipated from his parents before talking to Susan.

Harry was just on his way down to the dungeons to speak to Snape (whom he was still having trouble thinking of as ‘dad') and had just come into the Entrance Hall when the front doors opened to reveal Gary Lewitt.

The two dozen or so students mulling around the Entrance hall with their belongings stopped to look at him, and then at Harry. Harry froze and noticed that Draco, who had been leaning against a banister talking to another Slytherin had done the same. What happened next was confusing to all in the hall who did not know that Harry was not the father, for Harry quickly pulled out his wand and stepped in between Mr. Lewitt and Draco, ready to defend himself and the other boy. Susan's father did not fail to notice the protective stance the boy had taken in front of the other boy... the Malfoy boy whom Susan had once spoken of on a holiday at home.

Susan's father took a few steps forward and admired the boy who stood steadfast with his wand raised high instead of running from the man who had unjustly beaten him to a pulp. Nobody noticed Severus Snape standing in the entrance to the dungeons watching the scene unfold as well.

Quietly Harry turned slightly and said to Draco, "Run. I'll hold him off."

But then Draco had his wand out too and it was aimed at Susan's father, and he said to Harry, "I'm done running."

"Good."

The hall was quiet, and all eyes were on Draco and Harry as Gary Lewitt advanced on them without a wand.

"You're not welcome here," Harry said plainly, determined that any man like Gary Lewitt was not a good influence on Susan or her baby.

"I have come to apologize."

Harry heard Draco swallow next to him. "Apology accepted. Now leave," Harry said, eyes narrowing as the man came ever closer to the tip of his wand.

"Mr. Potter, I should not have beaten you two weeks ago, even if you were the father. It was not until Professor Snape informed me that you passed the chastity test twice administered by Aurors and then continued to stick by my Susan that I realized how blind and unkind my anger made me." There were little gasps around the hall and Harry glanced over to see Ron staring off into space halfway down the stairs from the first floor. Harry stuck his chin out just a little bit, feeling defiant all of a sudden and not knowing why.

"And judging by your protectiveness not only of my Susan, but of... another boy, I see you knew who the real father was and did not tell his secret, even at your own expense. You are a true friend." There was another gasp as people suddenly noticed Draco again and the look Mr. Lewitt was giving him.

"Harry-" They looked over to see Severus standing close now, "lower your wand. He's made his peace and now he can leave."

Gary Lewitt nodded and turned to go, but suddenly the Potion Master's hand shot out and caught his wrist, and loud enough only for the two men and Harry and Draco to hear, Severus said, "And if you ever, touch my son again, you will never again see the light of day, do I make myself clear?"

The man's eyes widened along with Draco's, and he nodded, before freeing himself of professor's grip and moving off out the doors fairly quickly.

With a pointed look to Harry and then Draco, Severus said, "I suggest the two of you remove yourselves from prying eyes and ears." He moved off then, back to the dungeons.

Draco looked at Harry, and the look of thankfulness he got was enough. Draco ran up the stairs to find Susan and Harry was content to know that things would turn out all right in the end. He would be there to make sure of it, to help his new friends in whatever way he could.

As he watched him go, Harry didn't notice the students staring at him until Neville cleared his throat. "Better move off you lot. We told you that you were wrong and you were content to throw slurs and believe lies the Prophet fabricated. Maybe next time you won't be so dimwitted."

He cuffed Harry on the shoulder and then moved off. Harry did the same, moving off towards the dungeons to follow the one person that year that had looked out for him.

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

"We didn't know."

"We're sorry."

Shamed whispers followed him across the Entrance Hall and then he was left to his thoughts again in the dark empty corridors leading to his father's office.

He knocked on Snape's office door a few minutes later and was bade to enter. Harry moved inside and sat down in a visitor's chair even though not invited to do so. They were silent for a few moments before Severus said quietly, "I may not be the type of father that a son wants, and I understand if you do not choose to pursue a familial relationship with me. However, despite the foul, nasty things I might have said to you in the past, Potter or not, you are the very type of son a father wants, and if you'll have me, I would be honored to be your father. You have become a fine man without my help but I would still like to-" he was cut off suddenly and startled as a mass of black hair and teenager had flown into his arms, holding him tightly.

They were quiet for a few moments before Severus heard Harry's muffled voice say, "I have to learn how to be a good dad, so that someday I can be one."

He ran his hand through the boy's hair and said, "Someday in the distant future I hope," and Harry nodded. "Then I will do my best to be a good role model for you."

Severus couldn't see it, but Harry was smiling into his father's robes, happy for the first time in a very long time.

* * *

"Sod off then," Draco said playfully as he shoved into Harry at the end of Slytherin table where he, Harry, and Susan sat eating Christmas dinner. There was a smattering of students and staff, but Draco was the only Slytherin student left so the three of them had chosen to sit at Slytherin.

"What, I think Harry James is a wonderful name to name a baby boy," he laughed then and Susan shook her head.

"He will be Harry Gary Malfoy."

"Forget it," Harry and Draco said in unison as Draco took Susan's hand under the table.

"Besides, we decided on Aster," Draco reminded her, and she nodded.

"Yes, it's a lovely name. Aster Harry Malfoy."

Harry looked up at them then and was met with two pairs of smiling eyes. "What?"

"Aster Harry Malfoy," Draco repeated. "And we wanted to know if you'd be his godfather."

"Me?"

"Yes you," Susan said with another little laugh.

Harry's cheeks turned red and he said, "Well I'll need someone to spoil, won't I?"

"Well you get to potty train him in a year and a half," Draco said pointedly, and Harry shook his head.

"We'll need some cheerios. That's how they taught me and Dudley."

"Cheerios? What's that?" Harry and Susan laughed and there was more than one pair of eyes on them at the staff table.

"It's such a wonder how friendships blossom in the most unlikely of places," Minerva commented to Severus, watching the three students from three different houses and backgrounds playfully ribbing each other and laughing.

Dumbledore leaned in to Severus then and said, "Like father like son?"

He shot the older man a look and said, "Indeed." It had not been fun explaining to him how Harry James Potter was really Harry James Snape, and how he would be spending his holidays at the Snape manor from this point on.

"Friendships have a magic all their own," McGonagall said dreamily, and Snape nodded. Especially when Lily or her child were involved, he thought quietly to himself, eyes once again turning to the new friends, who would not be separated.

* * *

"Harry! Harry! Open up!"

Harry roused and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before rising and opening the door to the guest room he'd been staying in for the Christmas Holiday. Draco promptly fell inside, hair a mess and cheeks red from running.

"It's time! She's in the Hospital Wing!" Faster than he thought possible, Harry threw his jeans on over his pajama pants and then a white t-shirt, and ran out the door barefoot, right on Draco's heels all the way up to the Hospital Wing. The baby wasn't due for another few weeks, but it seemed, at least to Harry any way, that he was anxious to get out into the world after being cooped up for so long in such a small space. Especially since everything was better now between Susan and Draco. He'd even given her a ring with the promise to make it official as soon as she was 17 or emancipated like he was.

They were stopped abruptly at the entrance to the Hospital Wing by the screams coming from inside. They gave each other a look and wondered if they should go in or not.

"I believe your place is inside," came a voice from behind them, and both boys startled and looked up to find Severus standing there in the darkened corridor, looking sleepy himself since it was three in the morning.

"Are... are you sure? She might not want-"

"She does."

Draco looked uncertain and Harry tried to give him an encouraging look, although he was having trouble with encouragement himself. If he were still in Draco's shoes, he would be stressed out beyond anything right now.

Finally Draco pushed open the door and crept inside as the screams got louder momentarily before the door shut tight again.

"You too," Severus said, prompting Harry to enter.

"But I'm not the father."

"No, but she wanted you both there."

"Oh." Harry sighed and said, "She sounds like she's in a lot of pain. I don't think I want to ever put somebody I love through that."

"Which is why it's a good reason to restrain from such activity until an age when both parties can appropriately cope with it. Inside with you. It is something you would do well to see and remember."

Harry swallowed then and pushed the door open, noticing that his father did not follow him inside. He blew his bangs up and noticed that Draco was there holding Susan's hand, looking scared and uncertain at how much pain Susan was in.

It was nearly four thirty when Susan's screaming stopped, only to be replaced with a weak little wailing from Aster Harry Malfoy, the newest addition to Harry's surrogate family.

"He's beautiful," Susan said, looking up lovingly into Draco's blue eyes. "He has your hair and eyes," she said, running her hand through the soft full head of blond hair.

"Congratulations, we're father's!" Harry shouted happily at Draco, slapping him on the back. Harry laughed then and Draco did too, but he still wore such a look of shock on his face that Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Harry had the feeling that the birth was a traumatizing experience for Draco and that he had the same desire Harry did to never put a person through the experience again.

Susan handed the baby to Draco and it didn't take a genius to see that it was love at first sight as Draco held the little boy, who was now sleeping, bundled in a warm blanket. Harry looked back to see Severus, Pomfrey, Dumbledore, and McGonagall clustered together now near the door watching the new family, and then looked back as Draco was handing little Aster to him.

"What am I gonna do without you here when your mommy and daddy move away?" Harry asked the sleeping little boy quietly. "There's going to be no one here to complicate my life." Aster cooed, and Harry gave a little laugh. "See, you already know uncle Harry loves you, don't you?"

Standing by the door, McGonagall asked Severus quietly, "Have the Lewitt's agreed to let Susan out of school?"

He nodded. "Yes. The Malfoy's were furious when Draco emancipated himself and removed all of his money from the family vault. He hired tutors for the two of them and has a small house in Hogsmead ready for them, and with a threat of charges for Mr. Lewitt's ludicrous act against a minor, they agreed to let Susan move in with Draco."

"We will have to make arrangements for Harry to visit more frequently than regular Hogsmead weekends," Albus said quietly, and Severus nodded.

"I promised he would get the chance to see what a good father was so that he could learn to be one," Severus said quietly. Then he nodded towards Draco and said, "I believe he will have many opportunities to learn."

"Yes he will," Harry said quietly to the bundle of baby in his arms as he handed Aster back to Draco and watched in awe as the new father held his son tight, promising him a better life than he had had. "Yes I will."

The End.
End Notes:
Hope you enjoyed this story! I loved writing it!

Ok, so just so that I don't leave it a big cliff hanger, here's what happened after this chapter:

Harry and Ginny eventually get back together, although it takes a while longer for Ron to come around, they also become friends again eventually. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sometimes even go to visit Draco, Susan, and Aster in Hogsmead with Harry towards the end of the school year.

After Ginny graduates, Harry and Ginny get married and end up moving in down the street in Hogsmead from Draco and Susan. Draco and Susan both finish school through tutoring and Draco gets a job working with the department of Magical creatures so that he can work in the Forbidden Forest and always be close to Susan and Aster. Susan gets a job for the Daily Prophet and ensures that all stories are verified through multiple reliable sources to prevent lies from being printed. Harry and Ginny have two children, who grow up with Aster.

As far as Severus and Harry go, Severus and Harry grow very close, and Severus even becomes like a father to Draco and Susan since the Malfoy's have nothing to do with Draco and the Lewitts don't come around very often.

The end. The rest I will leave up to your imagination, such as Ron/Hermione etc.

Also, I used a scripture at the start of this story, and I wanted to more fully explain my use of it. The scripture talks about how an enemy will come and throw tares (thorns) into your field when you've got something good going for you (in the scripture it was referring to the Kingdom of Heaven). When the thorns are discovered, the servants ask if they should go pull them up, but the master says not to because they will end up pulling up all the good wheat with the thorns. Instead he says to let the thorns and wheat grow together, and then in the end pull the thorns out and harvest the wheat. This is what Harry did. He took a bad situation and lived with it, pulling the thorns out in the end and taking what was good to make his life better. If you want to know more about my faith in the Bible feel free to check out my Bible study blog below: http://christianbiblestudyblog.blogspot.com/

Reviews welcome and wanted, but again, please no flames about my use of scripture or me being a Christian. Thanks, and thanks for all of the wonderful reviews thus far and in the future!


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