Severus Tobias Snape had been extremely grateful that Auror Shacklebolt had taken the time to alert him that an arrest team was on the way. It had given him the chance to look upon his son one last time. He had never expected it to end this way. After four years of badgering and belittling the boy because he had believed him to be the son of his arch-nemesis it had been a shocking revelation that he was not; that all the while he had been tormenting his own son.

He smiled sadly as he thought of that day in potions. He had gained Ministry approval for his fifth year students to brew and used an ancestry potion that would reveal the last three generations. He had sort permission as a roundabout way to help the boy. He had been asked by Dumbledore to give the child Occlumency lessons. During these lessons he had seen some of the abuse Harry suffered at the hands of his relatives. Snape had thought if it could be proven that the Potter brat had other family then perhaps he could live with them.

He had deliberately teamed Harry up with Draco Malfoy so that there would be no sabotage attempt on Harry’s potion. He had been well aware that over the years Draco had deliberately ruined many of Potter’s potions. He had paired up others the same way. There was no way any of his snakes would ruin their own potions. He had also taken competency into account making sure each team had at least one proficient brewer.

He had watched over the class as they brewed. He could find no fault with any potion not even Longbottom’s. Well he was paired with Parkinson. Granger was with Goyle so no problems there either. He had waited until the potions were ready and bottled before having the students add the last ingredient – three drops of blood. After that the vial was corked and shaken until the blood was mixed. The final stage was pouring it onto a piece of parchment where it would spread out and draw up a family tree.

There had been a lot of murmurs and exclamations at what was revealed. He had watch Potter hoping to see a smile, a spark of curiosity to indicate that he had found someone. He hadn’t expected the look of sadness and betrayal that had given away to anger. What had happened next had been completely unexpected, the boy had left his work station and marched up to the front of the room, drew back his arm and punched Severus in the jaw as he called him a fucking bastard.

As Harry readied to land a second punch he had grabbed the boy with one hand and spun him sideways. With the other hand he delivered half a dozen solid whacks to the boy’s behind. “Start packing up,” he growled to the now silent class before turning and dragging Potter out of the room through the adjoining storeroom and into his office. He left the somewhat dazed boy standing in a corner with instructions not to move.

Back in the classroom he watched as they packed up. The majority of them left quietly. He had told Granger and Weasley to get out twice before he threatened detention. When the last of the students made their way to the door Draco had come forward with a folded piece of parchment,. “It’s Potter’s Sir. No one else has seen it besides me and I won’t say anything. I suggest you look at it before you punish him further.”

Draco closed the door as he left and Snape had quickly cast locking and silencing charms. He sat down at his classroom desk placing the parchment on the blotter in front of him. What could have made the boy react like that?  Why would Draco seek clemency for the messy haired boy? There was a lot of animosity between the two. Malfoy should have been smug over what had happened and Potter’s possible expulsion.

With deliberate movements he unfolded the parchment and smoothed it out before looking down. His eyes went straight to the name at the bottom – ‘Henry Severus James Snape’. He blinked several times sure that his eyes were seeing things but when he looked again the words had not changed. Below the boy’s name was ‘31 July 1980 Godric’s Hollow’. Above that ‘Severus Tobias Snape, 9 January 1960, Spinner’s End’ and ‘Lily Anne Gryff, 30 January 1960, St. Mungo’s, London. Married 31 August 1978, Hogwarts, Scotland’. He waved his wand across the parchment casting a quick spell that would reveal any more details about Lily. ‘(Adopted 16 February 1960, Henry and Rose Evans)’ appeared next to her place of birth.

Severus was somewhat shocked at this information. Petunia Dursley was not blood related to Harry at all. The whole reason Albus kept sending the boy back there was the ‘blood wards’ that were supposedly in place because Petunia and Lily were sisters. All this time he had been at risk from the Dark Lord and his followers.

He sat there reflecting on what he had just discovered. Lily had married him not Potter. The brat wasn’t Potter’s but his. But why did he look like James and not himself? And why couldn’t he remember any of this? It was a few more minutes before his thoughts quietened down and he felt in control again. He looked at the parchment once more, ‘Henry Severus James Snape’. Harry was his son. Harry was Lily’s son. Harry was… waiting in his office. Standing up he grabbed the parchment and made his way to the other room.

To his surprise the boy was still where he had left him. “Are you under control, Harry?” he asked quietly. He had deliberately used the boy’s name in hope of sounding somewhat friendly. After all it had been as big a shock for the boy as it had for him.

“Yes Sir,” he had responded just as quietly.

“Come and sit down. I think we should talk before we go looking answers.” As the child sat Snape could see that he had been crying. Whether it was from the new found revelation or the impromptu spanking he didn’t know. “I know you are angry and hurting but will you listen to me before you start yelling and asking questions?”

“Yes Sir.” Harry had sat opposite him with his head bowed.

“I don’t remember any of it. Not being married to you mother or your birth or how you came to look like James Potter. The potion doesn’t lie Harry, if it says I’m your father then I am. What I suggest we do now is go to the Headmaster and see if he knows anything.”

“Are you going to ask him to expel me?”

“Expel you? Why would I do that?”

“I hit you, remember.”

Severus had absently rubbed his jaw before smiling at the boy, “Not a bad punch either,” he mused. “No I’m not going to ask him to expel you. I’m not even going to give you a detention. You were rather emotional and no doubt in shock over what you had discovered. I can’t take back the spanking though.”

“Had worse,” Harry muttered.

“I know. That was the main reason why I got permission for the fifth years to brew that potion. After seeing your memories I thought that if you could show Albus you had other family he would give them guardianship.”

“Would… would you have wanted me?”

He could hear the desperation in the boy’s quietly spoken words. He wasn’t sure just how bad things were at Privet Drive but he knew that Petunia had hated magic. At first she had been jealous of Lily and when she realised that she would never have what her sister had the jealousy had turned to hate and scorn.

“Yes Harry I would have. I loved your mother dearly and I would have wanted the gift she had given me – you.”

He saw a tear drop from the boy’s chin. The child was crying but no sound was forthcoming. He left his side of the desk and moved to Harry’s side. He moved the other visitor chair closer, sat down and put his arms around the boy. That had been Harry’s undoing and he clung to Severus weeping. Snape felt something shift within his chest; his broken heart had started to mend.