Chapter 1: Finding Family

Severus was seated in front of the Headmaster's desk waiting for him to start the meeting.

Albus sighed and popped a Lemon Drop into his mouth, his eyes were twinkling madly.

'Oh great, I wonder what that old fool wants me to do already; school just got out yesterday!' Severus thought to himself.

"Severus my boy I would like it if you could go to Harry's house and keep an eye on him for about two days then I want you to bring him here. I have some things to tell you two." Albus said.

Severus' eyes went hard "No! Absolutely not. I will not go to the brat's house!"

The twinkle in Albus' eyes disappeared. "Severus please. I need you to."

Severus sighed, Albus always got his way. "Fine! Can't I just go get the brat now?"

Albus shook his head "No I need you to see how he is treated there. I don't trust anyone else to do it." Albus explained.

Severus growled but finally agreed.

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Severus apparated to Number Four Privet Drive. Then he walked up the path and stopped at the white door. He charmed himself invisible then he slowly opened the door and walked in.

When he got inside, he noticed that there were no pictures of The-Brat-Who-Lived anywhere. To tell the truth, if he didn't know any better, he would have thought Harry James Potter didn't live here. The next thing he noticed was a whale sitting on a peach colored couch. Oh correction, it was not a whale. It was actually, if you could believe it a man.

Severus looked around the room some more and noticed a cupboard door locked with six different kinds of locks. His brow creased looking at the locks.

'I wonder what they keep in there.' Severus thought.

The human whale of a man stood up and walked through a doorway. Very few things surprised Severus but he was surprised the man could fit through the doorway. Severus followed the large man. He looked around himself and noticed it was obviously a kitchen. There was a small circular table in the middle of the room with three chairs surrounding it.

'Why are there only three chairs? Aren't there four people in this house?' Severus thought to himself.

The human whale sat down at the table and grabbed the newspaper. Severus walked over to an empty corner and just stood there for a while.

All of a sudden a loud sound came crashing down the stairs. The sound was so loud it sounded like a herd of elephants. A young boy that looked like a lard walked into the room.

"Pa, when is breakfast? I'm hungry." Dudley complained while sitting down at the table.

Vernon looked over at his son and growled "As soon as that freak gets the bathroom done." Vernon answered.

A few minutes later Harry slowly came down the stairs. Harry then cautiously entered the kitchen.

"Well it's about bloody time!" Vernon yelled. “You're late getting breakfast, boy! Get started!”

Harry put his head down. He was tired and upset. He'd been up since very early and he didn't want to deal with either of the male Dursleys. But when his uncle yelled at him for not having breakfast, it just snapped something inside of Harry. He got angry.

"Well maybe if you wouldn't have made me clean the fucking bathroom spotless you would have had breakfast earlier!" Harry yelled back forgetting his place and who he was talking to.

Vernon jumped from his chair. Harry's face paled when he saw his uncle coming for him. he was in front of Harry and slammed him up against the wall. Harry yelped when his head met the brick wall.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that, boy!"

Harry dropped to the ground. Vernon grabbed the small boy by his hair and picked him up. Once Harry was standing up, Vernon forced him to bend over the table. He then proceeded to beat the boy with a wooden spoon he gotten off the counter. After he was done beating the boy, he threw him on the floor and spat on him. Harry curled into a tiny ball hoping it would be over soon. Hoping he was done. Hoping he would just die. His last thought before two large hands grabbed him up and started dragging him towards the hallway was 'Why me?'

Severus watched in horror as the human whale beat and then picked the fragile boy up by the arm and pulled him to the cupboard with the six different locks. Vernon literally threw Harry into the small cupboard and slammed the door shut then he locked all six locks and walked back to the kitchen.

Hours later, when everyone left the house for their daily routine, Severus unlocked the door and opened it. Harry was sitting there looking out the door but he did not move a muscle.

Severus knelt down and looked Harry in the eyes. The once bright excited emerald eyes were now dull and had no emotion showing in them.

Harry looked at the man who was knelt in front of the doorway looking at him strange.

"Mr. Potter?" came a familiar silky voice but it didn't have the normal vicious tone to it.

Harry looked at him "Professor Snape."

"Come, I'm taking you to Hogwarts." Severus grabbed Harry's arms and gently lifted him out of the cupboard. Harry stood outside the cupboard and looked at Severus.

"Why did you come here?" Harry asked

Severus rolled his eyes "I just told you that. I am not repeating myself. Now where is your trunk?"

Harry lowered his eyes to the floor then muttered "I'm sorry." He then pointed to the cupboard. Severus knelt back down and saw the trunk in the back of the very small room. He pulled it out, noticing the large padlock on it. He quickly vanished the padlock then shrank the trunk to fit in his pocket.

Severus sighed "Come let's go." Severus held his hand for Harry to take.

Harry flinched back a little when Severus put his hand out to him. But once he realized he wasn't going to hit him he looked at the hand, then looked up at Severus in questioning.

"Mr. Potter take a hold of my hand so we can apparate." Severus explained

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?" Harry asked cheekily

'No wonder he got paddled today, he is so cheeky! If I ever had a son, he would never be cheeky or they would quickly find themselves over my lap!" Severus thought.

Harry grabbed Severus' hand and with a pop they were gone. Harry fell on his butt when they landed.

Harry looked around his surroundings. He saw Hogwarts and Hagrid's hut and the Whomping Willow.

'Home.' Harry thought as his eyes lingered by Hogwarts.

Harry and Severus walked the path up to the castle. Albus was waiting for them at the Great Doors. When they reached Dumbledore, they stopped.

Albus looked from Harry to Severus smiling widely; his eyes were twinkling so badly.

“Why Severus,” Albus twinkled. “I wasn't expecting you two until tomorrow.”

“Well, circumstances led to me taking him out of there now,” the dour Professor said.

"Well, you're here now. Come, my boys, we have much to discuss." Albus walked to his office. Severus and Harry followed closely behind.

Once they got to the office Albus said the password then walked up the stairs and sat behind his desk.

Harry and Severus both took a seat in front of the huge desk.

"Why am I still here, Headmaster?" Severus asked

"Because Severus, I need to talk to the both of you about something. But, first things first, what did you witness at the Dursley's?" Albus asked

Severus' eyes went dark. He then looked over at Harry who's eyes were squinted in confusion.

Severus finally looked back at the Headmaster "Many things. I saw Mr. Potter talk back and get shoved up against the wall. I saw him get spit upon and also I saw his uncle paddle him while he was forcefully held over the table."

Albus' twinkle went dull, looking at the small boy, "Harry is that true?"

Harry shook his head "No."

"Do not lie!" Severus looked at Harry incredulously.

Harry glared at him. "Who says I'm lying?"

"Mr. Potter!" Severus scolded

"Harry, please tell me the truth." Albus said softly.

Harry thought about lying again but he knew if the greasy bastard saw it, he wouldn't win anyway. So he decided he better just tell the truth.

Harry lowered his eyes to the floor and whispered "Yes sir."

Albus looked saddened that Harry wouldn't look at either of them. He was also greatly upset that he placed Harry in that household in the first place.

"Harry, have you ever told anyone about this?" Albus asked the young wizard in front of him.

Harry looked up at the Headmaster and said softly "Once, but that didn't turn out good. Of course they believed my relatives more than me. I'm just a freak. Ever since then, I figured it was hopeless." Harry shrugged his shoulders.

With his head down, Harry did not see the grimace on both elder wizard's faces when Harry referred to himself as 'Freak.'

Albus sighed "You do know in light of these circumstances we will not send you back there anymore, right?"

Harry looked up at the Headmaster. He won't be going back. He couldn't help the small gleam of hope that was rising in his belly.

"Where do you suppose he will stay?" Severus asked hoping to God it wasn't Hogwarts.

Albus smiled "I already have that figured out."

"Where?" Severus asked

"This is what I wanted to talk to you two about-" Seeing Severus was going to interrupt Albus put his hand up "Let me explain, Severus. Now Harry, your biological father was not James Potter. It was and is Professor Snape." Albus smiled at Harry. Harry's eyes went wide.

"How is that possible?" Severus asked "He looks nothing like me."

Albus took his eyes off of Harry to look at Severus in shock "Well Severus do I need to tell you about the birds and bees?"

Severus was taken aback by the knowledge that the Boy-Who-Lived was in fact his son. He just absentmindedly shook his head no.

"Good,” Albus said oblivious to the internal struggle that was haunting his Potions' Professor. “Now, you remember that night with Lily you had?" Severus nodded. "Okay, well that night is when you conceived Harry. Now, as to why he looks nothing like you, that's because he has a very intensive Glamor on. Lily put it on as soon as he was born." Albus explained.

Severus stared at Harry, his son, his and Lily's son. The boy he just witnessed being beaten and degraded with an attitude problem was in fact his son.

'Great, I'm the greasy git's son. How wonderful.' Harry thought to himself angrily.

Harry looked at Albus hoping so badly this was all just a cruel joke.

Albus saw the look on Harry's face and shook his head "No, Harry, this is no joke."

Harry sighed "Bloody Hell."

"Language!" Both adults scolded.

'It's English.' Harry thought to himself.

Albus looked at Severus and smiled "See, you'll be a great father."

Severus looked at Harry 'I'm going to have my hands full. Geez, the Hogwarts trouble maker is my son. I can't believe it. It was just one night, one bloody night! How am I going to be a father after everything I put him through? Will he ever be able to forgive me?' Severus thought to himself.

'God what's Ron and Hermione gonna think about this? This can't be true. They're just trying to get my hopes up for a true family and then later they're gonna be like "Sorry!" Ugh! I could look past last years unhappy times with him, if he can. What the Hell am I thinking the Batman of the Wizarding World could never see past things. Hmm... I like that name I think I will call him that for now on; Batman. Ha, wait till I tell Ron. He'll agree. He does look like Batman. It's a good thing I introduced him to Batman last year or he would have no idea who I was talking about. I just can't believe this! Did mum cheat on dad or was this before they were married? And what the fuck did she see in him? God, to think I share his genes, it makes me want to throw up! Ugh I hope I don't have that bloody nose of his, I'd look like Pinocchio! Or that slimy, grease ball on top of his head called hair. I could so live without those pleasant traits.' Harry thought.

Albus looked from Harry to Severus, they were both lost in thought.

Harry finally broke the silence "Well... Uh, I've got loads of homework to do, so I'll talk to you later." 'Or not.' Harry thought.

Harry quickly walked from the room, and basically ran to his common room.

Once Harry was gone, Severus turned to Albus. "This can't be true, Albus. It was only one night!"

Albus raised his eyes brows "It most certainly is, you knew what you were getting into when you decided to have sex with Lily. And now you have a child to care for, he will need you to be there for him as he grows." Albus said.

Severus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine."

Albus smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

"How long have you known about this?" Severus asked rubbing his forehead.

Albus went quiet.

Severus looked up and glared at him "Answer me!"

Albus sighed and said "Since he was born, but I thought it would be better off if you two didn't know because of you being a Death Eater. I did what I thought was the best."

"I would have quit being a Death Eater if I would have known I had a son to care for." Severus said

"But we needed a spy." Albus objected.

Severus rolled his eyes "You could have had many others to do it for you."

Albus sighed "I'm sorry, Severus."

Severus looked at him "It's alright it's already done, no turning back now."

Albus nodded his head then looked at Severus and smiled "You're gonna have your hands full, my boy."

Severus raised his eye brows "Yes well, he will NOT be doing the things he did this year without consequences, and he will soon realize that too."

Albus chuckled and nodded his head.

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Harry slumped onto the common room couch. He was lost in deep thought and he couldn't find the way out.

'Will he want me? Doubt it. He loathes you. Don't think like that. He will accept you! No, he won't. No one does. I'm the Freak! Don't think like that. If he does accept me, will he soon realize how big of a mistake I am? You're not a mistake! Yes I am. Everyone says so. Uncle Vernon is not everyone. Now that was a scary thought. Would he be just like uncle? Oh, I certainly hope not! What am I gonna do? My life sucks! I hate this! Why can't I just be normal and have a happy family, a true, real family? That won't happen so don't get your hopes up. Professor Snape won't take you in. He hates you. Would you even want him as a father? After everything he's done to you? I can forgive. I can start over. He can't. I bet he could if he tried. Ha, who are you kidding, he has no feelings except hate. I could change that. Doubtful. I feel like tacos, oh wait just got off topic. He could be just like everyone else and give me the cold shoulder for everything. He could. He wouldn't. But he could. No doubt I'd deserve it. You don't deserve this. You deserve much better and even if it's that Slime Ball giving it to you then you need to grab a hold of it like a Bull Rider. I'd rather face a wild Bull right now then this! I could be getting punked. I don't know they sounded pretty sure of themselves. Maybe I should just leave it for now. If he comes to me, then that means he wants to try it. Which is doubtful. Holy shit I'm tired. All this thinking is making me exhausted!' All this was running through Harry's mind.

Harry got up from the couch and went to his dorm where he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

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Morning came too quick for Harry's liking. He slowly climbed out of bed and got ready for the day. It became breakfast time but Harry couldn't bring himself to go down to the Great Hall and face everyone.

'They probably know all about Batman being my father. They also probably know about what my relatives did to me. And they're making fun of the fact. They wouldn't do that. Are you so positive about that? Fine, I guess I won't go down yet. One more day without food won't hurt. I guess I better just get my essays done for school. I hate this! I finally get a chance for a normal family and the guy hates my living guts! Just my luck. He doesn't hate you. Then he does a poor way of showing it. You got a point there. Shit, what am I gonna do? I want a father but Snape could never feel anything but hate. Are you seriously saying you'd give that bastard a chance? Yeah, I guess. He's better than no father at all. You might be surprised. I'll give him a chance if he can. If not, then I am just going to pretend nothing happened. Seems like a plan.' Harry got up and went to the table where his books were placed, then he started on the essays he was given.

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Severus was in a daze. After thinking on it all night, he really was liking the idea of Harry being his son. But the one thing that really worried him was that the boy would deny him. After everything he had put the child through last year, it was most likely that Harry would deny him.

'What am I thinking? The Boy-Who-Lived would not want me as a father. Are you sure? Yes, after everything I put him through this year he'd be better off without me. No, he wouldn't. This little boy needs support from his father. He needs to know what love is and you can give it to him. I don't know if I can. I didn't really have much of an example when I was growing up. You have, Albus. You got a point there. Well I guess I'll talk to him about it today. Good. Wow, I'm hungry. Time for breakfast.' Severus thought.

Severus walked down to the Great Hall and sat down at the table they always put down during the summer.

Albus looked up at him and smiled "My boy, have you seen Harry yet this morning?" Albus asked

Severus looked around the Hall and noticed he wasn't there, he looked back at the Headmaster and shook his head "No."

Albus sighed "Knowing him he's still asleep."

At that Severus chuckled and Albus smiled, happy he could finally get Severus to laugh. Severus hasn't laughed in a while.

"Who can go wake Harry up?" Albus asked. No one rose their hands they were all too busy talking to each other. "Severus, my boy, will you go wake your son up?" At that statement everyone stopped talking and looked up.

"Who's your son? I didn't know you had a child." Minerva said

"Harry is my son. And I didn't know until yesterday when Albus told me." Severus explained.

Minerva's eyes went wide "Harry is your son?"

Severus rose his eyes "Yes. He's my son."

"That poor child, I pity him." Lockhart, the new Defense teacher, announced sadly.

Albus rose his eye brows "Now, now, Gilderoy, be nice! This is probably the best thing that's ever happened to the boy."

"Wow, he must not have had a lot of good things happen to him then." Gilderoy said, sounding even more sad by the minute.

"Gilderoy Lockhart! There is no need for that, apologize to Severus now." Albus said madly

Lockhart had to stop himself before he rolled his eyes "I'm sorry, Severus." Lockhart said not sounding sorry at all.

Severus rolled his eyes. He then stood up to go wake Harry up.

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Severus walked to the Gryffindor common room. When he got there, he said the password and walked in. He looked around himself and noticed Harry sitting at the table doing his essays. He walked over to the table and sat down in front of Harry.

Harry looked up when he heard someone sit down at the table; it was Snape.

Severus looked at Harry and smiled "Good morning, Harry."

'Wow did he just smile? I had no idea that was possible!' Harry thought amazed by this new discovery.

"Morning." Harry said smiling back.

Severus was happy that Harry actually smiled at him, which is a good sign... Right?

"Do you know it's breakfast?" Severus asked his son.

"I'm not hungry," Harry said dismissing the discussion.

Severus noticed that Harry, for some reason, did not want to talk about this so he pushed for the reason.

"When was the last time you actually ate something?" Severus asked remembering the three chairs at the Dursley's kitchen table.

Harry looked away. Severus noticed the hurt look on his face.

'I'm not worth food anyway.' Harry thought to himself angrily

"That doesn't matter," Harry finally said.

Severus looked at his son shocked "YES, it does! Your aunt and uncle may not have thought feeding you was important enough, but let me tell you something, while I am your father, you will eat."

'Does this mean he actually wants to try it?' Harry asked himself hopeful.

Harry looked up at him. Severus gazed back at Harry and saw a tiny flash of hope go across his emerald eyes.

"Come, time for breakfast," Severus stood up and waited for Harry to do the same.

Harry sighed but stood up and followed Severus to the Great Hall for breakfast. When they arrived at the Great Hall, they sat down at the table and began to eat.

Severus looked over at Harry to make sure he was eating something. Harry had a couple of sausages on his plate with syrup to dip them in.

Minerva looked over at Harry and gave him a tight smile.

'Great, so they do know.' Harry thought to himself

Harry looked up at all the Professors and noticed one he never saw before, he smiled at him and said a polite "Hello."

Lockhart looked up and smiled at Harry, Harry smiled back again. "Oh, it's the great famous Boy-Who-Lived." Harry's smile disappeared very quickly. Severus took notice of that and wondered why.

"You don't like your name?" Gilderoy asked baffled by that.

Harry glared at him "Would anybody want that name if your parents died but you survived? Especially if it's your fault?! I didn't think so."

"Well you're definitely not what the Daily Prophet says." Lockhart glared back at him.

Harry laughed, annoyed at how little people know about him. "You have no idea." with that he stood and made his way to the Great Hall doors to go back to his common room.

"Mr. Potter! Come back here. I am not done speaking with you." Gilderoy yelled after the retreating boy.

Harry stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around to glare at him "I really don't like you."

Severus agreed with Harry but didn't say anything. He didn't want in any more trouble with Albus.

"Severus! Control your son!" Gilderoy yelled.

Harry looked between Gilderoy and Severus. Was he going to get in trouble for what he said? What would the professor say? Would he be angry with him?

Severus shrugged "I can't,” Harry's eyebrows rose to his hairline. “Because I agree with him. I don't like you either. I thought you understood that a while ago, Lockhart." He smiled at Harry then stood up and walked with his son out of the Great Hall.

“Let's go to the kitchen, Harry,” Severus said. “We can eat uninterrupted.”

Everyone watched as father and son left the Hall. Gilderoy looking flabbergasted at what just occurred, Minerva shaking her head, and Albus quietly sipping his tea.

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They walked to the kitchen in a awkward silence. When they sat down at the kitchen table Dobby appeared.

Harry jumped at the sound of the House Elf appearing.

Dobby looked at Harry and nodded his head "I's is sorry, Master Harry Potter."

Harry looked so confused at that statement "Please don't call me Master Harry Potter. It makes me sound like a crypt keeper or something. It's just Harry."

Severus chuckled to himself.

Dobby bowed his head again "I's is sorry, Harry."

Harry smiled and nodded.

Dobby brightened and looked from Harry to Severus and asked in an enthusiastic voice "You's want something to eat?"

Severus nodded "Yes, we would like breakfast please, Dobby."

Dobby nodded and was gone in a pop.

Harry eyes went wide "What was that?"

Severus smiled "That, Harry, was a House Elf. One of the many that works for Hogwarts. House Elves are normally owned by a family. Dobby is but he also likes to help out here. The House Elves are the creatures that prepare our food everyday, and clean up the school."

"Wow." Harry sighed

Dobby came back with a pop. He was carrying three trays, one in each hand and the other was amazingly on top of his head. Harry wondered if maybe someday he could carry something on his head.

Dobby sat the three trays down at the table and bowed then left with a pop.

Harry looked at the three trays, one was filled with sausages, eggs, and pancakes. The other was Pumpkin juice, and hot tea for Severus. The third tray had buttered toast with jelly in little containers on the side.

Severus and Harry started filling their plates and ate.

After they were all done eating Severus turned to Harry.

"Harry, I have a question." Severus said

Harry looked up at his father while he sipped his juice.

"You don't actually blame yourself for your mother's and James' death do you?" Severus asked “You do realize that wasn't your fault.”

Harry looked up at him and cocked his head to the side "It wasn't?"

Severus' jaw dropped "No, child, it's not. Where did you hear that it was?"

Harry just looked away. "They lied about everything."

“Who?” Severus asked.

“My relatives.” Harry's breathing became more shallow.

Severus looked at Harry "What did your relatives lie to you about?" Severus asked

Harry finally looked at him "Everything! They said my parents died in a car crash then. When I finally found out that wasn't really what happened, they said if I wouldn't have been born they would still be alive. Is that true or is that a lie, too? Everything has been a lie in my life. Who my father was; a lie. Who I really am is a lie. What else is a lie?" Harry had tears pooling in his emerald eyes.

Severus looked at Harry and wrapped his arm around his son's shoulders "Nothing else. Harry, it's not your fault that they died."

After Harry was calmed down Severus decided now would be good to talk about their new discovery.

TBC