Harry's hand swiped through the dense foggy air as he tried to catch a shimmering silver emblem of two snakes on either side of an emerald inside a circle. The object was strangely enough hovering above his head. He growled when he missed it by a few inches and tried again. He didn't know why he was attempting to catch it. Just that he had to do so for some reason.

Slowly, the mist that had blurred his surroundings filtered out. He inhaled slowly and leapt towards the emblem in a last ditch effort to catch it. With a hard thump a moment later, he hit the floor, crying out as he did.

"Harry!" Hermione called out somewhere next to him. "Are you all right?"

The twelve-year-old groaned, slowly pushing himself up before glancing at her in confusion. Since when had Hermione shown up? Or Ron for that matter?

"Did I get it?" Harry replied groggily, looking around for the object.

"Get what?" Ron stared at him for a moment. "You fell out of bed just now, mate."

"I did?"

"Yeah. Must have been some serious dream you were having, too."

Harry frowned, rubbing his head. "Oh." He sighed. He hadn't had a dream that vivid for years. And he certainly hadn't had a dream that caused him to fall out of bed before. He slowly pushed himself up with a wince, heading back to bed to sit on the edge.

"Is everything all right in here, dears?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she walked into the room. Her eyes quickly darted to each of the kids to look them over before resting on him. She bustled over to him a moment later, drawing her wand. "Let me fix your nose for you, Harry, dear."

"My nose?" He then rubbed his hand against it before swallowing at the sight of his blood.

"Episkey," she muttered under her breath with her wand pointed at his nose.

Harry yelled out in pain before groaning. He then caught Mrs. Weasley's soft apologetic smile.

"There we go. Good as new, love." She then glanced at Hermione and Ron. "Wash up and then come downstairs for breakfast, you three." Her eyes moved back to Harry. "You have a letter from your father as well, dear."

Harry's stomach clenched. "Is everything all right?" She only smiled faintly before nodding and walking out of the room, leaving them alone again.

The three Gryffindors quickly did as was instructed before rushing downstairs. Harry felt himself slowing when he saw the letter on the table. Had his father decided he didn't want Harry anymore? Or was it saying that Harry was not to come to Hogwarts? Or maybe something happened to his dad? The twelve-year-old swallowed again before picking up the envelope and opening it.

His green eyes passed over the hurried cramped handwriting of his father's with his heart in his throat because of his nerves.

I apologize, Harry, but I will not be able to make it to King's Cross to see you off today as we had planned. Something unfortunately has come up that I must deal with. I'll explain more when you arrive at Hogwarts.

 

Severus T. Snape

Harry sighed before he carefully folded the letter up and stuffed it back inside the envelope.

"Everything all right there, Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked quietly, glancing at him from over the folded down Prophet.

"Yes, sir. Just something's come up, and he can't come today."

"Ah." Mr. Weasley sighed before glancing at his wife and sharing a brief look with her. "Well, I'm sure Severus wouldn't have cancelled if it wasn't important."

"I know," Harry quietly replied, glancing at his plate of food.

"Well, you best eat up then, dear." Mrs. Weasley gave him a faint warm smile.

"Of course, Mrs. Weasley," the twelve-year-old softly said. He brushed off the looks from the others. He didn't want their pity right then. After all, he should have expected his dad not coming. It wasn't like it was really that big of a deal. Who cared if he had thought this would be the first year he'd be like all the other kids, normal and not a freak? He sighed and quietly started to eat his breakfast. His dad was busy. It didn't mean anything. None of it did.

~FKTF~

Snape frowned as he impatiently waited in the hospital wing. He glared at Madam Pomfrey as she continued her examination slowly. Why the blasted woman couldn't go any faster was beyond him. Furthermore, why the hell Dumbledore had instructed him to stand here and babysit her instead of being with his son was yet another baffling item on a very long list of things Snape had complaints over.

"Hmm," Madam Pomfrey said as she waved her wand over the bones that were atop of the cot.

"Perhaps you can speak English, Madam," Snape said through clenched teeth.

She glanced at him sharply before speaking in clipped tones, showing her annoyance with his snappish attitude. "Without a doubt, I can say that this man was, in fact, a wizard."

"That's impossible. My father was a Muggle."

"Be as that may, this man is not, Professor." She frowned. "And before you even start to say they exhumed the wrong body, let me just say that these wounds to his bones are consistent with your spell. In fact, I'm finding numerous traces of your magical signature on him. And all the curses you stated you used on your father to torture him before you killed him, I'm finding that evidence on this man's skeleton to support your claims. You killed him."

"I've killed a great deal of men in my life, Madam," Snape hissed, clenching his fist at his side angrily. He had led the Aurors straight to the damn body. There had to be a mistake. This was his bastard of a father. "What of the DNA?" He watched her, knowing that she had compared her sample of the skeleton's bone marrow to Snape's blood just a few moments earlier. "Is it a match?"

"The DNA is not even close. You may have killed him, but he's not your father, Severus."

"How certain are you? What's the percentage?"

"Ninety-eight percent," she replied with a sigh.

"How is that possible?" Snape clenched his fist by his side again, growling in frustration. "He had the same arrogance that night that he had when I was growing up. That he was above all of us. That he was stronger than everyone. He told me I didn't have the guts to kill him as he lay there bleeding. That man was the same man I grew up with. He was the same man who beat my mother and me for the hell of it. Your tests are wrong, Madam."

"No they're not, Severus. I'm sorry, but he's not your father. See for yourself. Collect some of his marrow and then test it against yourself. The results will be the same. This man you killed was not your father, Severus."

"Then, who the hell was he?"

"I don't know. I'll send a sample to St. Mungo's for them to check, see if they have a file on him, but I don't know who he is. He didn't attend Hogwarts for certain."

Snape shook his head angrily as he paced for a few moments to let off some steam. He then exhaled and addressed her once more. "Are you able to test his marrow at all to see if there were any potions in his system before he died, Madam?" She nodded slowly.

"I am. And I'm currently analyzing it for traces of Polyjuice as we speak. It'll be a few moments before my spell is complete, though."

"Fine." Snape's eyes then darted towards the opening door to the hospital wing. He involuntarily tensed when he watched his colleague slowly head to them.

"Oh dear. Do I have the wrong day, Madam Pomfrey?" the younger witch said with a soft laugh as she ran a hand through her dark curls.

"Of course not, dear. You're right on time," the matron replied, smiling politely. "Sit on that cot, and I'll be with you in a moment, Aurora." She then turned towards Snape. "Severus, you'll have to forgive me. You can wait in my office, however."

"There's no need, Poppy." Aurora laughed again. "Severus can wait out here with his creepy skeleton. It's just a follow-up after all."

"You're certain?"

Aurora nodded, smiling warmly. "Yeah, Poppy, I'm sure. It's fine. I don't mind." She then glanced towards him. "I see someone got some sun this summer, though."

Snape merely inclined his head, unable to say anything right then.

"You look nice, Severus. Healthier this year." Her warm brown eyes darted momentarily at Madam Pomfrey who waved her wand over Aurora before her gaze returned to Snape.

"Thank you," he quietly replied. He felt oddly uncomfortable around Sinistra for some reason. Then again, it was likely due to him having dreamt about her most nights now.

"Harry's not here?"

"No. He's returning with the Weasleys," he answered her.

"Oh. That's sad."

His eyes brows furrowed for a moment at Sinistra's words before he forced himself to adopt a more neutral look. He didn't know why, but he found himself numerous times showing his emotion around the witch now. It was unsettling to say the least.

"He likely enjoys this arrangement better than me being with him, Sinistra."

"If you think that, then you clearly need to spend more time with your son, Severus. Harry probably wishes you were there with him. He's wanted a father for so long, you know?"

"Yes, well, life doesn't always go the way you plan it, Sinistra." He felt rather annoyed and disliked her insinuation. How dare that witch claim he didn't know his son.

"What the hell does that mean, Severus?" Aurora snapped, crossing her arms.

"It means that our headmaster told him to stay here with me, dear," Madam Pomfrey chimed in. "Oh, don't give me that look, Severus. It's not as if you were going to tell her."

"Albus ordered him to stay here?"

"If you two are quite finished discussing me as if I'm not here," he cut in sharply, "perhaps we can focus on getting Sinistra the hell out of here so we can finish our matter, Madam."

The matron shook her head before she addressed the younger witch. "You're fit to return to duty, Aurora. I would still like it if you remained on light duty, however, but you may return to teaching."

"Thank you, Madam." Sinistra smiled warmly before standing up. She glanced at Snape before sighing. "If you want, I can go for you, Severus."

He shook his head. "I think not."

"So, you'd rather your son just think you don't care, is that it?"

"I don't like your tone, Professor," he growled, glaring at Sinistra.

"Tough," she flatly replied. "Because, frankly, I don't like your thinking that your son is better off with the Weasleys than with his father."

"You're treading on dangerous ground, Sinistra," he hissed, taking a step towards her. Normally, his current actions would send people fleeing or backing down, but not Aurora. She took a step towards him with no signs of backing down.

"Yeah, well, I'm not the only one there, Snape," she retorted, glaring up at him. "Your son has wanted for years to have a normal family, a normal life. You think he's getting that with the Weasleys right now, knowing that his father isn't able to be with him—to be like all the other students who have their parents send them off? Let me go for you, Snape."

"You're not his mother, Sinistra."

"No. I'm not. I wouldn't dare claim that I was, but he needs someone there for him. Someone he doesn't have to share." She then took another step towards him. She was close enough to him now that he could smell her shampoo and feel her breath against his face. "You're stuck here because of Albus, so dammit let me go for you, you stubborn arse. Or do I need to pull rank on you?"

"Just how do you plan to accomplish that, Sinistra, hmm? I'm damn more intimidating than you are. You'd lose and end up looking like a fool."

"Only one who would look like a fool here is you, Snape."

Baring his teeth, he released a low growl before he snatched a hold of her left forearm. However, instead of hissing the rant on the tip of his tongue, he found himself thrown into her mind unexpectedly. He inhaled sharply in response and quickly tried to pull himself back out of her mind. He saw various flashes of her memories before they melded with his own. He swallowed back the bile that had collected in the back of his throat because of the dizzying effect this unforeseen act had. He tried harder to pull himself out of her mind, stopping for a brief moment when he saw a darkness rapidly approaching. The air left his lungs when he recognized the face as being the Dark Lord's before he was finally thrown out.

After coming back to himself, Snape stared at Sinistra for a few moments. He could tell by the confused look on her face that she had seen it as well. He drew in a slow breath.

"W-what was that? What just happened, Severus?" Sinistra's voice was shaky.

"I'm not certain." He glanced at Pomfrey. His mind quickly flooded with possible explanations, but each one was more unlikely than the previous. "Did you perform an autopsy on Quirrell last term?"

"I did."

"What did you find?"

"Well, other than the fact that he was badly burned," the matron answered with a shrug, "I found evidence to suggest that You-Know-Who shared Quirrell's body. Much like how a parasite does." She held up a hand when he opened his mouth. "There were traces of a foreign genetic material inside a hollowed out cavity that stretched from his lower lumbar region to his head. I'm guessing that's where You-Know-Who resided. I tested a sample to see what it was, not knowing at the time, and my results were unfortunately inconclusive at best. It had the typical human chromosomal number of forty-six, but the base pairs were altered and manipulated as if someone had stripped away the human elements. It wasn't until the headmaster suggested I test the sample against You-Know-Who's DNA that I connected everything and realized what happened."

Snape drew in a slow breath. "Did you test us, Pomfrey? To see if he had transferred into a different host after Quirrell's death?"

The matron's eyes narrowed on him for a moment before she glanced at Sinistra. "Well, yes of course. There was no evidence to support that, however. Why?"

"Check us again, Pomfrey. Just do it." He sighed silently when he watched the matron wave her wand over both of them. If either of them was being inhabited without their knowledge, then—

"You're both clean." Pomfrey then folded her arms as she looked between Snape and Sinistra. "Now, will you tell me what that was all about?"

Snape shook his head. He said nothing when Pomfrey informed Sinistra that she could leave. His mind was already trying to figure out what his accidental Legilimency with the witch meant. He had to be on his guard, ready for anything. He couldn't afford to make a mistake this time.

~FKTF~

Meanwhile in London, Harry silently followed the Weasleys through King's Cross Station. He found himself glancing around at all the happy families and feeling his mood worsen with each family he passed. He had talked to his father and thought he had stressed how much he wanted the man there this year. The young Gryffindor must not have stressed it enough, though.

As the others slowed when they approached the magical barrier, Harry felt the urge to kick and scream bubble up inside him. It wasn't fair. He had a father now. He was supposed to be happy like Ron and Hermione. It wasn't supposed to be like this anymore. He barely noticed that he had a sour face similar to his father's as he watched the Weasley clan minus Ron enter the barrier and vanish.

"You coming, mate?" Ron asked as he turned towards him. Harry only shot a wicked good impression of his father's glare at the redhead, however. "All right. Fine. See you on the train then." Ron shook his head before he too entered the barrier and vanished.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Harry growled, kicking at the ground as he death gripped the handle of his trolley. His green eyes then darted up to the clock, shaking his head. He still had several minutes to enter the barrier before it closed.

Slowly, Harry turned back, glancing around just in case his father had managed to drop whatever it was that he was doing and had shown up. The twelve-year-old only saw more smiling happy families, Muggles he'd imagine, board their trains. It wasn't fair. He shook his head and started towards the barrier, grumpy as all hell.

"Harry! Stop!" a voice suddenly shouted behind him.

The young boy instantly stopped and whirled around at the sound of his name, stumbling as he did. His trolley now rested against the very edge of the now solid barrier, which he didn't notice of course. A smile tore across his face when he saw the approaching person.

"I know I'm a poor substitution for your father, but—"

"No. It's perfect." His mouth snapped shut when he caught himself about to say 'mum' to the witch. She wasn't his mum. No matter how much he wished she was. "Thank you, Professor." He laughed softly before hugging the woman fiercely.

"Your father wanted to be here, Harry," she explained, her fingers affectionately running through his raven locks just like a mother would do. "To tell you the truth, he's actually in a rather bad mood because he can't be here with you. The headmaster unfortunately ordered him to stay at Hogwarts for some reason or he'd have been here." Harry nodded slowly against her. She smiled down at him, laughing. "Let's get you all settled in, all right?"

Harry pulled back with a wide grin. He was about to tell her that he was ready when he noticed her eyes dart off at something in the distance.

"Is something wrong?" he asked quietly. He didn't like the look on her face. However, his attention was quickly diverted when he heard the bells in the distance. He listened to them for a moment before realizing with a sick feeling that it was eleven o'clock now. His heart dropped. He had missed the train. He opened his mouth to tell her when he felt the ground shake violently beneath them and heard fierce crackling from the barrier as it vanished.

"Come with me, Harry. Now," she whispered, wrapping an arm around him before steering him away from where the barrier had been. Her eyes darted continuously around the station as she wore a look of puzzlement.

"Is something wrong?" he asked again.

"I'm not sure. Just stay close to me, Harry."

The young boy nodded slightly and took a sideways step closer to her as they walked towards the exit, slowly passing by a large frosted-paned glass window that hid the locker room from view. He could feel from how tense she was that something was definitely wrong. He didn't know what, but judging by the way she was acting she didn't like something she had seen.

They walked a few more feet before a series of loud and powerful blasts from various directions sent them flying through the air and crashing through the frosted glass window on their right. They slammed down hard onto the ground a moment later. Harry inhaled sharply as he felt his head connect with something. Another loud boom, somewhere to their left this time, rippled through the air and sent more debris flying. She quickly shielded his body as Harry closed his eyes tightly. What was happening?

"Spread out," a gruff voice shouted above the terrified screams from somewhere in the dust and smoke clouds. "Leave no survivors!"

Harry inhaled sharply before glancing at her. She pressed her finger against her lips to silence him and then motioned that they should crawl towards the back of the empty room to get out of plain sight. He nodded, and quickly and quietly started to do just that with her beside him.

A few moments later, when they were nestled and hidden, he glanced at her and watched her look around the room. When he felt her try to pull herself up, he quickly followed suit. He then noticed what she was looking at through the dense cloud of smoke and dust. There was a door just a few feet from them that led outside.

"There should be a," she started to say with a wince, grabbing her side, "a diner a few blocks from here we can go to and Floo back."

"What about the others?" Harry whispered, glancing nervously towards the dark area outside of the room. His friends. His classmates. Their families.

"My only concern right now," she inhaled sharply as she winced again in pain "is you, Harry." She wrapped an arm around him before closing her eyes. "I'm sorry, but we have to go. Now." She then took a step towards the door, which Harry followed with a heavy heart.

She was right of course. Whoever these people were, there was no way he and his mum—professor—could save them. They opened the door a moment later and walked out into the alley, quickly heading towards the diner.

Harry kept close to her, glancing up nervously whenever she'd let out a soft groan. Her side clearly was bothering her, but she was trying to push past it. It had to be a Slytherin trait he guessed. They continued walking through the back alleys. He wondered for a moment if they should have headed towards the sidewalk instead, where there were many people, but he kept quiet, trusting her. There had to be a reason why she stuck to this alleyway, and Harry just likely wasn't seeing it at the moment.

At the feel of the ground violently shaking again, he was sent forward, grabbing the wall beside him to keep himself steady while noticing that she had done the same. He swallowed, scared out of his mind but quickly put on the brave face like a good little Gryffindor. If she could keep from being scared, so could he then.

"We're almost there, Harry. Just a little bit longer," she whispered, inhaling with a soft rasp before coughing harshly.

"Maybe we should rest?" When she shook her head, he glanced down at the ground. She was becoming paler as they continued heading to the diner, and it was starting to worry him.

"We can rest," she drew in a deep breath with another wince, "once we get back to Hogwarts. Until then, we need to keep walking."

"All right, Mum." Harry didn't even notice what he had said, but neither did she, though. They continued slowly towards the diner, which seemed to be another block from them. However, they stopped instantly when a brick wall suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Well, well, well." There was a low sinister chuckle behind them. "What do we have here, hmm?" Soft footsteps walked towards them. "I spy a pretty little thing and her boy out for a stroll."

Harry glanced up at her, wondering if he should grab his wand to back her up. But she merely gave him a soft smile and winked. Slowly, they turned around, her mood shifting instantly.

"Please." Her voice was shaky, hesitant now, as if she was terrified and extremely worried. She was a damn good actress he thought. "My son and I mean you no harm. Please?"

Harry pressed himself further against her when the chuckling sinister man in long black robes finally reached them. The young boy didn't like the way the man leered at his m—professor.

"No harm, hmm?" the man purred, leaning towards her before brushing back her stray dark curls. His eyes briefly darted to Harry prior to him scoffing. "Anyone ever tell you that you're all kinds of pretty?" He smirked when the young boy reacted on instinct.

"Leave her alone, you creep!"

"Oh, my, my, my. What a fierce little warrior your son is." The man chuckled darkly once more. "Be a good little boy, and maybe I won't rough your mum up too badly. All right?"

"Please. I'll—I'll do anything." She pulled Harry closer to her.

"Anything? Now that's more like it." The man's eyes trailed down her thin blue dress, his dark smile widening. He then reached out, grabbing her throat and yanking her closer to him. He chuckled as he drew a small knife, the blade slicing through one of her straps a moment later.

"Stop it. Leave us alone!" Harry yelled, unable to hold his words in any longer. What was she waiting for? He broke free of her hold then and went to draw his wand. Unfortunately, before he could, he found himself quickly wrapped up in thick ropes, carelessly tossed to the side like rubbish. "No! Mum! Help!" Harry shouted, hoping someone could hear him—his mind in sheer panic mode. The rest of his cries for help were silenced by another of the man's spells. The young Gryffindor, however, struggled as much as he could, trying to break free to help her.

"Now, that we won't be interrupted, where were we? Ah, yes, here we are." The man lowered his head to kiss her bare shoulder before he grunted.

Harry's green eyes darted frantically between the man and his mum. He didn't even notice again that he had called her that once more. Instead, he watched as the man yelled silently, falling to his knees a moment later. What had happened?

"Next time, make sure your victim isn't a witch, you jackarse," she growled, kicking the incapacitated man backwards. Revealing that she now had her long silver wand drawn, she flicked it towards Harry, releasing him from his bonds. "Are you all right, Harry?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Never better," she said with a warm smile. "We should get out of here before my curse wears off. Men don't tend to enjoy that particular curse." She laughed softly when Harry's eyes widened in comprehension.

Harry swallowed visibly. She had cursed the man's . . . bits? It was no wonder the man wasn't trying anything anymore. That hurt. The young Gryffindor followed, noticing that she had a bit more of a pronounced limp as they continued. He remained quiet, though.

A few minutes later, they were just about to reach the diner when a familiar man stepped out of a darkened alcove from their right. Harry gasped, taking an involuntary step back. It was the man from Birmingham.

"If yer thinkin' about headin' to Shelly's, you'll find a piss load amount of baddies there, lass." The man's blue eyes briefly flickered to Harry before he settled on her again.

"I'll take my chances, thank you."

"A bettin' woman, are ya?" He chuckled, shaking his head. "Ya know what the number one rule about bettin' is?" He took a step towards her, causing Harry to tense again but the young boy noticed that she didn't back down from the man. Did anything scare her?

"No I don't. Enlighten me."

When the man's hand quickly extended and snatched a hold of the side that had been bothering her, she gasped instantly and tensed against Harry.

"Never think yer invincible," the man replied with a quiet whisper before releasing her.

Harry had his wand drawn, pointing it at the man but he was pretty certain Wingardium Leviosa wasn't going to do much good here. His eyes narrowed for a moment, though, on the blood on the man's fingers. He then glanced towards her, finally noticing the darkened spot on her dress. She had been bleeding this whole time, and he hadn't noticed it.

"Lower yer wand, boy. I'm not a threat to either of you. Or didn't yer dad tell ya that I saved yer life that day?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked quietly, wrapping a supporting arm around his mum—professor—to help support her for a moment. She was becoming rather heavy, leaning against him but he guessed that was because she was finally succumbing to her injury.

"That shop he dropped ya off at while he went off to play hero? The shopkeeper who died? Ring any bells, Potter?"

"You killed him."

"Yeah. Ain't gonna get choked up over it either. That shopkeeper would have sold you up the creek faster than you could say fiddle sticks." The man's blue eyes then darted back to her. "Oh, honestly, woman." He took another step forward before finding Harry's wand thrust into his gut. "Potter, if I were you," he growled, glancing down at Harry, "I'd kindly remove that damn wand before I snap it into two. She's hurt, and ya don't know how to do any sort of magic to fend me off. So, lower the wand and let me get you two to safety. Unless ya want to die like some stupid hero when those bad guys finally figure out ya two are takin' the alleyways? Yer choice."

Harry glanced up at his mum and then glanced back at the man. "You can help her?"

"I can try. Best thing I can offer. We got a deal?"

"Yeah."

The man scoffed. "Yer grandmum would give ya hell for trustin' so blindly. Come on, Potter." He gently grabbed her from Harry before easily picking her up bridal-style and carrying her into a nearby building with Harry following.

Harry didn't know why he trusted this man, but the man was right. He hadn't hurt him when they had first run into each other. And he hadn't hurt them now. Not really. Maybe Harry was doing all this, trusting him, to find out for sure if this was his dad's dad, his grandfather. After all, the twelve-year-old wasn't quite ready to call him Grandpa yet.

"Get the door, Potter." The man tossed a key to him, and Harry quickly rushed past them. Once the door was open, the three entered and the door quickly shut behind them. The man instantly headed towards the small bed in the room, gently laying her atop of it. "Go to the cabinet to the left and open it. Bring me the clear bottle on the second shelf. Oh, and the bottle of whiskey, too. She'll likely need it." Harry did as he was told, returning with the items silently. "Good. Set them right here."

"What are you doing?" the young boy asked curiously as he watched the man douse his hands in the liquid from the clear bottle.

"Sterilizin' my hands so she doesn't get an infection or nothin." The man then sighed, glancing at Harry. "She's got a bit of glass in her side that needs to come out."

"But . . ." She had been walking with glass inside her?

"Yeah, well, she ain't no Muggle clearly, Potter." He frowned when Harry seemed only more confused. "Without borin' us to hell and back, just know that Magical folk can sustain greater injuries than Muggles can. It's cause of yer magic."

"You can do magic, though, too. I saw you."

The man scoffed. "Yeah, but it ain't like yers, Potter. I'm closer to a Muggle than a wizard." He then jerked his head towards the boy. "Ya might want to look away for a bit if ya get squeamish."

"I don't." Harry bit his bottom lip as he watched the man rip the tear in her dress back further so he could examine her wound. It looked like one of those bullet wounds they sometimes showed on the telly. He pressed his eyes closed really tight when he saw the man yank a jagged piece from her side and squeeze the laceration. He swallowed at the sound of the clinking as the shard of glass fell into a metal bowl. He heard one more clink before he heard the sounds of tape being torn off. "Is she going to be all right?" He hesitantly peeked, noticing the thick gaze taped down now to cover her wound. Briefly, he recalled several times where he had to do this for himself thanks to the Dursleys' wonderful treatment.

"Yeah. Her body'll heal itself now." The man walked to the sink before washing his bloodied hands. "She'll wake up in a moment."

Harry nodded slightly, glancing back at her and frowning.

"Dad said he killed you," the young boy softly said to break the silence as they waited, averting his eyes from the man.

"Did he now?" The man scoffed. "Do I look dead to you, Potter?"

"No, but." He shrugged. "It's what he said."

"I never met him, Potter. Didn't have a chance to thanks to some bastards who thought it'd be fun to rip another family apart. Whoever he killed, it wasn't me."

"Then how do you know he's your son?" Nothing made sense anymore. Was the man lying or was his dad?

"He's got his mum's eyes." The man chuckled softly. "And her cheekbones if we're honest."

"Have you been watching him for a long time?"

"As much as I can, yeah." The man then sighed before he headed back to them. "Time to wake Sleepin' Beauty up." He drew his wand then and pointed it at her. "Rennervate."

Harry's eyes darted back and forth as he waited to see what that spell did. There was so much about magic that he didn't know yet, and it frustrated him. He always felt ten steps behind his classmates who had been around it all their lives. When he caught her slowly coming to, he glanced at the man.

"Mornin' there, sunshine," the man loudly said with a wide grin. "Nice of ya to join us. Here ya go. Ya better drink this." The man held out a bottle to her, motioning for her to drink it. When she coughed violently a moment later after swallowing, the man chuckled softly before taking the bottle back from her.

"Who in their right mind gives a person whiskey?" she growled.

"Well, sorry that it ain't yer precious magical stuff, princess, but it's all I have currently. And hell, it's just to take the edge off anyway, so quit yer damn complaining. Could have made ya suffer through the pain like the right fool ya were being. Would have served you right to suffer, too."

"Who are you?"

"Could ask you the same thing. Without the damn attitude yer sportin' of course." He shrugged.

"I asked you first. Who are you?"

"A friend, princess. That's all ya need to know."

Harry winced when he watched her quickly try to sit up only to hear her cry out soon after and grab her side. He then glanced at the light brown haired man. The man's blue eyes were twinkling in amusement. The young boy could see maybe just a hint of his dad in this man . . . so maybe this man was his grandfather? He wasn't certain yet. Maybe it was just idle fantasy that he wanted to believe that this man was his grandfather—just like he wanted his professor to be his mum instead of Lily.

"Ya want some help there, sweetheart, or should I just wait here for ya tire yerself out?" The man leaned back on his heels, crossing his arms as he watched her.

"I don't need your damn help, you son of a bitch," she snapped, glaring at the man.

"Feisty, aren't ya? I can see why he likes ya. Bit like El is."

"El?" Harry and she both asked simultaneously.

"My wife. Or rather she was my wife. Not sure if she'd still be married to me after I been missin' for—hell, thirty-two or some odd years."

"Who are you?"

"I told ya, princess. I'm a friend."

"Not good enough. Who are you?"

"Dad's dad," Harry spoke up, cutting the man off.

"What? Harry, Severus's father is dead."

"Gee, thanks there, lass," the man said with a snort. "He likely killed someone, but it wasn't me there, princess. Promise."

Harry watched her eyes narrow on the man.

"A good lie is always better to believe than the truth," she retorted.

"Maybe, but I ain't lying, princess."

"His father was a Muggle. He couldn't do magic, and he most certainly didn't have a wand. So, you're lying again."

The man shrugged casually. "Technically, I'm closer to a Squib there, princess, but all right." At the sound of a nearby explosion, the man's eyes darted to the window before he glanced out. "Looks like the baddies are havin' some fun today blowin' things up. We should probably get ya two back to Hogwarts before they get any closer."

"If you're truly his father like you claim to be, then you're coming back with us and proving it."

He laughed, shaking his head. "Persistent little lass, aren't ya?" He glanced around for a moment before pouring out the rest of his whiskey. He strode across the room, running a bit of water into the empty bottle and rinsing it. "Sorry it ain't any smaller." Turning back to face them, he then cut his finger with a switchblade, squeezing his blood into the empty bottle for collection. "Ya can test that against his." The man then sighed softly when there was another loud explosion, rattling the building this time. "Sorry about this, princess." He waved his wand at them, and a spell quickly enveloped the two—knocking them out instantly before they could even hope to fight back.