Diary and Property of Lily Evans, student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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Those were the first words Harry saw when he opened the journal-like book. So, this was a diary. Somehow, he wasn't as surprised as he expected himself to be. After reading Draco's diary, he felt as though nothing else could surprise him at the moment. Well, there was no way he was going to bed now. Harry sighed and began to read.

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September 1st, 4th Year

At this moment, I am ecstatic with joy... Today, I'm FINALLY going back to Hogwarts from my long, horrible holiday. Petunia's married the ugliest man on earth, and my parents actually like him... This crazy summer is driving ME crazy!

Also, I've missed the Marauders sooooooooooo much. I mean, what's life if there isn't anyone around to add a joke or two to your day? And there's Severus... He's my boyfriend. I havn't been able to write to him because his family would murder him if they found out he was dating a Muggle-born, Gryffindor girl. In fact, I think the whole school would have heart failures. A Gryffindor with a Slytherin would seem crazy enough, but Severus and ME? I would never have guessed.

Sev's very friendly if you get to know him, but unfortunately, people normally think of him as cold and scary. Not that I blame them, Sev's 'death-glare' can make the trolls run for the mountains. But I love him, so nothing's going to stand in our way.

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Harry gaped at the page. What was going on? His mother used to date SEVERUS? What about his father, James? He continued.

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September 25th, Fourth Year

Damn them, those bastards! How could they do that to their OWN SON!!! Curse them...

Okay, I better begin at the beginning. Sev's been acting strangely from some time ago, and after much arguing and pleading, I convinced him to tell me what was wrong. He showed me the Dark Mark imprinted on his left forearm. I was shocked, and I over-reacted a bit, I think. I grabbed my wand and was about to curse him when I saw that he was wandless. Which was why I sat down and listened to what he had to say. As soon as he finished talking, I regretted my harsh actions. I convinced him to go to Dumbledore and he agreed.

When he came back, he said that he had agreed to spy for the Light side. I'm worried about that part, it would surely put Sev's life in danger... But what could I say? There's nothing I can do at the moment.

Oh, and I better write down the story between me and Severus. We met ever since our first year, but of course, no Grffindor would bother with any Slytherins. Or so everyone thought. I always disapproved of the house rivaries. They create too much problems between houses, and remind me of the time Petunia referred to me as 'freak'. So, I was determined not to join into all that mess. Instead, I approached Slytherins and tried to befriend them. Of course, I was rejected and stared at, and cursed so many times that I can't even count, but I kept trying and trying. Severus was the only one who was polite to me. Others, they cursed me and tease me, but Sev just looks at me with an emotionless expression and asks me politely, to leave. I kept on trying, especially with Sev. Once, I even recieved a hard-earned smile from him. Of course, he only behaves politely when no one is around; as soon as a Slytherin or Gryffindor appears, he starts sneering and smirking at me. By now, I knew that this as all an act.

By the time we reached out third year, I was hopelessly in love. We dated in secret at night, sneaked off to Hogsmeade when no one was watching...

So now, I'll say it one more time. CURSE HIS FAMILY, curse them for doing such a vile thing to their own son... Oh, I've got to go to Charms lesson now. Severus said he'ld come to our table to harass the Mauraders so he has an excuse for sitting next to me.

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This was even more unexpected. Harry was slightly dazed at what he had read. He flipped through the diary and decided to look for more important entries. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in his mother's thoughts, it was just that he had to find out what was going on between Sev and Lily first, before he could throughly enjoy the book. As he was flipping through he book, a picture fell out. There was Lily, wearing a long white gown, and beside her, there was a younger version of his Potions Master! Looking at the back of the picture, he found he words, 'Severus and Lily Snape on their wedding day.' This throughly shocked Harry. At first, he had thought that perhaps it was just a short-term relationship, like the one he and Cho used to have. But to find a photo of his mother and Sev's WEDDING DAY was just too much. It meant that Lily was Sev's wife before she married James. All this was getting confusing. He looked through the book again until he found several pages marked with red paper. Turning to the first marked page, he began to read.

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June 2nd, Sixth Year

James found out about me and Sev today. Sev and I were meeting in the empty classroom when James walked in. Apparently, Sirius had told him to meet the rest of the Mauraders in an empty classroom, and he had chosen the wrong class. Thank goodness it wasn't Sirius who saw us, he would have freaked.

James was stunned, but we told him the whole story. He agreed to help us, since, you see, rumors had been flying around for quite a while that James and I were couples. Later that night, James on-purposely asked me out in front of the whole Common Room. I was sooo embarassed, but of course, I agreed.

Oops, bed time. It's two in the morning already since Sirius insisted on celebrating our first date. Little does he know how wrong he is.

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Harry eagerly flipped to the next marked page. This page was near the end of the book, written after Lily graduated from Hogwarts.

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Dear Diary,

About the wedding problems that I was writing about a few weeks ago, (here, Harry made a mental note to check out the entry) , we've found a risky solution. Severus and I are now secretly married. We married yesterday in private with James as our witness.

In public, James proposed to me, and we made a big deal about our so- called wedding, which took place this morning. Every Gryffindor and professor attended and everyone wished as good fortune and blah, blah, blah... Right now, I'm in the new house that Sev and I bought (we told everyone else that it was James' and my house), waiting for Sev to come back from that Death Eater meeting. I'm worried about him, he's been missing too much sleep.

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Harry checked the clock. 2 a.m. Deciding to skip some entries, he flipped through the book until certain words caught his eyes.

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I'M PREGNANT!!!!! I went to the Muggle doctor this morning and found out my suspicions were true. I haven't told Sev yet though. When he came back yesterday, he seemed so tired that I jsut put him straight to bed. I'll tell him another time.

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Harry skipped more pages until he was on the last entry. Here, he began to read again.

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Oh, god, I got news today that Severus has been killed by Voldemort... It can't be true, no.... It just can't! I never got a chance to tell him about our child; Oh, how I regret it now that I didn't tell him sooner.... Now, he'll never find out. I think my heart is breaking and I feel as though I'm slowly being torn apart. Sev was my life, and now, he's gone...

And even worst, to stopped sticky questions about the new-born baby that was born yesterday, I had to write on all legal documents that the baby's name was Harry James Potter. At least, all the legal paper says that he's Severus' son... Won't it be a shock if something happens and they decide to check out Harrys' identity in the future...

Harry's the most precious child ever born, in my mind. His hair is silky black, and his eyes are a shade of emerald green. Many of his features reminds me of Severus. For some strange reason though, I have this feeling that Sev's not dead. I now it's a stupid feeling, but it's just there. Oh, how I pray that it's true...

Now, James and I live in Godric's Hollow, pretending we're married. No one, not even Sirius or Remus, knows about this fatal secret. To stop questions about Harry looking like Sev, we put the boy under the Altering charm and several potions. The charm should wear off in a good number of years, but hopefully, by then, the truth shall be known and Harry can be who he really is again.

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The diary dropped onto the bed, sliding through nerveless fingers. Harry could not believe it. NO, it was NOT possible, how could Severus be his father? It wasn't as if he minded, but, Severus, HIS father? It was an unbelievable concept. And his appearance had been altered. Now did he really look like?

Suddenly, a line from the diary rang through his head: 'The charm should wear off in a good number of years'. That meant that sooner of later, he would change his appearance. And how did the charm work? What if it caught him by surprise?

Ignoring the fact that it was past three in the morning, Harry jumped out of bed and ran towards Severus' quarters. Fortunately, he didn't run into Filch or Mrs. Norris. Letting himself into Severus' rooms with the password, "Muggle," he rushed into Sev's library.

He froze in the room; it was enormous, and every shelf was covered with books. There was no way he would be able to find this. Which left only one choice.

"Severus!" he cried, shaking the Potions Master. The teacher was awake in a second, looking at him with concerned eyes. "What's wrong, Harry? Did you have a nightmare?"

Harry shook his head and asked, "Sev, tell me, how long does it take before an Altering charm wears off?"

The Potions Master just looked at him, a stunned expression on his face. "That's why you woke me up?" he asked softly.

"Please, Severus," Harry begged. "It's urgent!"

"Well," the teacher began. "An Altering charm lasted for the maximum of seventeen years. More commonly, it lasts sixteen or fifteen years. Then, it starts to wear off."

Harry gasped as thoughts ran through his head: he had been cast under the charm when he was born, and now he was sixteen years old. But Sev had told him that Altering charms mostly wore off in fifteen to sixteen years. And he had turned sixteen in July... So that meant...

Suddenly, his heart seemed to stop as realization hit him. These days, he had been growing extremely quickly; he was almost taller than Ron. What if it was because the charm was wearing off? And his hair, he had noticed, had been more managable lately. He knew for a fact that Sev's hair was straight and black...

"Harry?" Harry opened his eyes and found Severus standing in front of him, a concerned look in his eyes. "What's wong?"

Harry didn't know what to do. Should he tell Severus, or keep it to himself? And who would help him if he didn't tell anyone? There was only one thing he could do. Taking a deep breath, he launched into the tale of how he had found the diary and what he had read.

**************

Severus couldn't believe it as he heard Harry revive what he had read... To say that he was stunned would have been an underestimate. A part of him felt embarassed, a part of him, reliefed. So Lily hadn't betrayed him. He had been deeply hurt when he had come back and heard that Lily had married James... it was the first time he had trusted, and he had been so sure that Lily had betrayed his trust. He had vowed never to trust another agin, for fear of getting hurt, yet he had found himself opening up to Lily and James' son. And now, here was Harry, telling him about what he had read.

"So," Harry said quitely after a moment of silence "This means that your my... father."

Severus sat in silence for a few minutes, then answered, "Yes. I am." Outside, he appeared cool, but inside, he was a hailstorm of emotions. He felt anger, fear, concern, relief, all that and more.

"What do we do now?" Harry asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"What do you mean, what do we do?"

"Exactly what I said," Harry replied. "And about the Altering Charm... I turned sixteen in July. What will happen once I..." His soft voice trailed off.

There was no need to continue anyway. Severus knew what Harry meant. What would they do when the charm wore off? What would people say if they saw that Harry resembled the Potions Master? His face burned just thinking about it.

Harry seemed to have noticed his uncomfortableness, for the boy said, "Um... Severus? It's okay, you can pretend this never happened if you want." The Gyffindor's tone was quiet, and Severus flinched at the slight note of pain in them. "I don't want to ruin your life."

Severus hastened to reassure him. "Child," he said softly, reaching over to brush his hand on the boy's shoulder. To his surprise, Harry flinched away at this touch.

"Harry," Sev tried again. This time, Harry didn't flinch. The Potions Master reached over and pulled the boy into a tight embrace. The Gryffindor immediately stiffened, but as Severus murmured his name soothingly, he felt the boy relax.

Suddenly, the boy began to sob quietly on the teacher's shoulders. After a few minutes, the Gryffindor asked, "Severus?"

"Yes, little one?"

"Why did... mother think you were... dead?"

Severus sighed deeply and looked into those green eyes. He wasn't sure this was the time, but it didn't seem as if he had a choice. "I was away on a death eater meeting," he said finally. "Voldemort wanted everyone else to think I was dead so that I could sneak back in and murder Albus and the rest of the Aurors unnoticed." He shuddered at the thought. "Albus was the only one who knew"

"Did Dumbledore know about... you and my mother?"

Severus shook his head. "No."

"And..." Harry trailed off. "No, never mind."

"Harry, what's bothering you?"

"Um.... what's going to happen after the charm wears off? Can you put the charm on again?"

Severus shook his head again. "No, you can't put the charm on again... a person can only use the altering charm once in his or her life... otherwise, it may shorten the life span. As to what will happen, I don't know yet. I suppose we're going to have to tell everyone..."

"I'm tired," yawned Harry, getting up. "I didn't get any sleep, I was reading. Bye Severus, I'm going back to my dorm."

"You can stay here," the Potions Master said. "Come on, I have a spare bed in the guest room."

Despite Harry's protests, he found himself tucked into bed ten minutes later. "You always get what you want," he groused.

"I know," Severus replied teasingly. "Good night, little one."

"Good night, Sev."