September and October were pretty much uneventful for Harry. His cough ended about three days into the new term, much to his satisfaction. He also found that his friendship with Hermione and Ron was changing. Not only were their Prefect duties taking up a lot of their time, he noticed that when he was around them, they were mostly too caught up in each other. Because of this, Harry spent more time with Neville and Ginny.

It was near the end of September when Ginny brought up the slight change in Harry's appearance. He noticed some small changes, like his hair color and the shape of his face, but didn't think it was that noticeable. In the back of his mind, he was wondering what was causing the changes. He hoped it wasn't yet another consequence from his link with Voldemort.

Harry also met with Remus more often and learned quite a bit about his parents. In his talk tonight, before heading to the Halloween Feast, he let things slip about his life with the Dursley's. He hadn't planned on discussing any of it, but Remus had a way of making him talk. Luckily Remus didn't ask a lot of questions, and he was in a pleasant mood for the celebration in a few hours.

~SH~

Seated, unfortunately, next to Remus at the staff table, Severus looked around the Great Hall. The floating jack-o-lanterns, bobbing slowly above the house tables, were still giving off an orange-yellow glow while bats continued flitting around the room. He noticed the students at the tables enjoying the Halloween Feast had dwindled down quite a bit. Looking up and down the table he was sitting at, he found there were more than enough teachers to watch over the students left in the room. Wanting some time for himself, he quickly slipped out the side door of the Great Hall and went down to his private quarters in the dungeons.

Giving a long sigh as he closed and charmed his door locked, he walked to the dining area to prepare his nightly cup of tea. Walking past his desk in his study, he spotted a small brown-paper wrapped box. He didn't recall seeing it before the Feast, but continued to make his tea anyway. Carrying the cup of tea, he went back to his desk and set the cup down. He picked up the box. Written in a handwriting he recognized from many years ago, was his name.

He quickly placed the box on the desk, and beginning to feel a bit shaky, sat down. He looked at his name written on the box again and stared at it in confusion for a few minutes. He couldn't understand why he'd be receiving a package from this person. Slowly he tore off the paper and opened the cardboard box. After removing some packing material, he pulled out a thick envelope. Under the envelope and cradled in more packing material, was a small, red, heart-shaped glass bottle with a gold stopper sealing the contents. He placed the envelope on the desk, picked up the bottle and brought it up close to his face, trying to discern what it held inside. Not being able to tell, he carefully placed it back in the box, and turned his attention to the envelope.

He flicked the hair out of his eyes, nervously picked up the envelope and flipped it over so he was looking at the back of it. With a shaky hand he slipped a finger under the flap and unsealed the envelope. He pulled out the four pieces of parchment inside and unfolded them. He then began to read the letter written by someone he never thought he'd hear from ever again.

My Dearest Severus,

I don't even know where to begin. But I'm going to assume that if you're reading this, Harry is alive and James and I have died. I just wish everything you sacrificed for Harry and I wasn't for nothing.

I know you haven't any idea what I am writing about so please let me explain. The red heart-shaped bottle that was included with this letter contains some of your memories. Your real memories. When you're done reading this letter, please remove your altered memories and replace them with your real memories. You'll understand a little later, I promise.

After we graduated from Hogwarts, I decided to spend time with you, even though I was seeing James. Over the months, we grew closer than we ever were while at Hogwarts, when we had to hide our friendship. I soon stopped seeing James because I was falling in love with you. I knew you were a Death Eater, but I couldn't tell my heart to stop loving you.

You proposed to me in September 1979, and we decided to get married in late March 1980. In November of 1979, we were both surprised and delighted to find out that I was pregnant with our first child. I can still see the smile on your face and hear the joy in your voice when two seconds after you found out we were to have a son, you shouted that his name was to be Harry.

In early March 1980, just a few weeks before we were to be married, you had overhead the Prophecy. After telling the Prophecy to the Dark Lord and finding out that he figured the child to be Harry, you came to me hysterical. You said that because you were a Death Eater we couldn't get married; that the Dark Lord could get to Harry easier if it was known that he was a Death Eater's son.

After discussing all our options, you had made a decision all on your own. Knowing that James and I at one point loved each other, you met with both of us. You pleaded with the two of us to get married and for James to raise Harry and love him like his own son, even though it was killing you to give up your family. I didn't agree with you then, and I still don't. But you didn't want to put all of us in terrible danger. You wanted to keep me and Harry safe.

The next day you begged me to alter your memories of the time we were together since our later years at Hogwarts up until that day. You said that you couldn't live with the pain of giving up Harry and myself and didn't want to go on living knowing the love you felt for us. A tiny bit of you also felt this would be a good way to hide any information from the Dark Lord since you were still working on mastering Occlumency.

I'm sorry, my love, but this is where I couldn't comply fully with your wishes. Before I finished the memory altering spell on you, and without you knowing, I took your real memories and placed them in the heart-shaped bottle. I didn't want you or Harry to go through life not knowing the truth. I knew that if James and I didn't make it out of this war alive, that I would want Harry to live with his father, his real father; the one who truly loved him. James loved him yes, but not like you did for the few months before he was born, before your memory was altered. I wanted Harry to know the truth of how much you sacrificed for him.

After I altered your memories and before Harry was born, I cast a charm on him to make him look like James and myself. The length of the charm I chose was approximately sixteen years. When Harry turns sixteen, the charm will slowly fade and his true appearance will begin to show. As much as I wanted Harry and you, Severus, to know the truth, I wanted to make sure that Harry would be old enough to understand it. That is the reason you're receiving this letter now, and not years earlier. It was charmed to be delivered on the anniversary of my death during Harry’s sixteen year. I could have cast the charm on Harry to last him all his life, but I just couldn't. I'm sorry I wasn't able to follow your wishes to have you forget for the rest of your life.

Knowing that you might not acknowledge the truth, with the altered memories you were given, and because Harry would need to know the truth after he turned sixteen, I wrote similar letters as yours for Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Professor Dumbledore. If Remus wasn't alive to receive the letter, one would be sent to Sirius, and so on. And in the event you were not alive when Harry turned sixteen, the same would apply only they would be receiving the letter, along with the bottle of your memories.

Severus, I know you're finding this hard to believe, but it is true. The memories in the bottle, your memories, prove it. I'm begging you, please talk to our son. Let him know the truth, and the real you. Not the you that came about because of your altered memories. Please let Harry know he still has a loving father. And please change your altered memories with the real ones; for you and for Harry. Just seeing your memories won't be good enough. They'll only be like snapshots. You need to replace your memories. When you replace them, your feelings and emotions will return as well.

I never stopped loving you Severus, even after James and I were married. You don't know how hard it was for me to look at our Harry and not think of you. He may have looked like James, but I could always see you in him. Please take care of our son, Severus.

Love Always,

Lily

Severus put down the letter, quickly got up from the desk, and started pacing his living room, black robes billowing every time he pivoted around. At the far end of the room, he slowly turned around while in thought, then stalked back to the desk and looked at the letter, a scowl forming on his pale face. There was no way in hell Dumbledore's arrogant 'golden boy' was his son.

"Who would dare play this type of trick on me," he snarled to the empty room. "This is pure rubbish." He picked up the glass bottle and narrowing his eyes, stared at the contents to see what was really in the bottle. He shook it and watched the contents slosh inside. "Probably just sugar water." He put the bottle back in the box and threw the letter in on top.

He quickly grabbed the box to dispose of it. He walked in front of the fireplace and was ready to throw the entire box in to the roaring fire. He had the box just inches from the flames when he suddenly stopped. His breathing came faster as he stared at the box. Something deep inside was telling him that it wasn't a joke. He gave an angry huff, turned around from the fireplace and hid the box in the far corner of the room; the darkest space he could find. He couldn't get rid of it, but he didn't want to see it either.

After removing the box from his sight, Severus grabbed his now cold tea and went to the kitchen. He threw the tea in the sink, rinsed the cup out and decided to fill it instead with fire whiskey. After reading that letter he definitely needed a stronger drink than tea. With his drink in hand, he took a seat by the fireplace. He tried to clear his mind of the letter in between sips. The farther along in his drink he went, the less he thought about the box and its contents; though it never completely vanished from his thoughts.

Hours and almost three-quarters of a bottle of fire whiskey later, Severus couldn't stand it. He slammed the cup on the table next to his chair and stalked over to the box. He crouched down and looked at it a few seconds before picking it up. He walked back over to the chair and set the box on the table.

Reaching in the box, he took the letter out and read over it again, twice. "This has to be that werewolf's doing," Severus spat. "Potter is not and will never be my son. I do not care what this letter says, I don't want to…" Severus stopped his rambling as he fixed his eyes on Lily's signature. He stared at 'Lily' like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Like it was the only way he was to get oxygen to breathe. He then realized there was no way this letter could have been written by anyone but Lily. She had a certain way she wrote her name whenever she wrote to him. No one knew of it as far as he knew. And he doubted anyone could imitate it if they did. But he needed to be sure.

Severus pulled out his wand from his robes. He pointed it at the letter. "Ostendo sum scriptor." A blue mist floated out the tip of his wand and formed the words Lily Evans Potter. He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and just stared at the letter.

Lily did indeed write the letter in his hand. No one knew the charms that he and Lily used on all their correspondence. After receiving a fake note early on while at Hogwarts, Lily found a charm they would each use on any letters they wrote and received. This charm, along with a certain incantation, would reveal the true scribe of any written document. It had come in handy on more than one occasion in the past. He never thought he'd have to use it ever again.

Severus sunk down in the chair while still holding the letter. He couldn't take his eyes off Lily's name. With his free hand, he grabbed his cup from the table and took a drink. While holding the cup with his arm resting on the chair's arm rest, the most horrible thought he ever had slammed to the forefront of his mind. The cup dropped from his hand and smashed into pieces on the stone floor. "Potter is my son."

Not wanting to believe it, but needing to see it for himself, he set the letter down on the table and picked up the heart-shaped bottle. He ignored the broken cup and puddle of fire whiskey on the floor next to him and quickly walked to his pensive in the other room. He removed the gold stopper and poured the contents into the pensive.