Finding a Father by LilPadfoot16
Past Featured StorySummary: [COMPLETE] What happens when Harry finds out that his father is alive? How about when said father is his hated Potions professor? Harry has to deal with the fact that he is a Snape while trying to cope with Sirus’ death in OotP. Summer before and during sixth year. OotP spoilers. This is in response to Severitus Challenge.
Categories: Parental Snape > Biological Father Snape > Severitus Challenge Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required)
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama
Media Type: None
Tags: Alternate Universe, Snape-meets-Dursleys
Takes Place: 6th summer
Warnings: Abusive Dursleys, Suicide Themes, Torture
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 24 Completed: Yes Word count: 97851 Read: 200721 Published: 22 Jan 2005 Updated: 02 Aug 2005
Edge of the World by LilPadfoot16
Author's Notes:
This Chapter: In the second to the last chapter of this fic, the final battle proceeds with Harry determined not to let anyone else get hurt, but even the best of plans get messed up, causing more grief for Harry.

On the very last day of January, the thirty-first, Harry had a strange, foreboding feeling that something was going to happen. He was distracted in all of his classes, and when he messed up a simple step in Potions, Snape fixed him with a strange look but didn't comment other than to tell him to start his potion over.

With classes finally over for the day, Harry escaped up to the Tower and up to his dormitory. He stowed his bag away and hid behind the curtains of his bed. He rubbed absently at his forehead and lay down, though he wasn't tired at all.

What was Voldemort planning? The attacks had gotten so close. The teachers all looked worried, as though they were expecting Voldemort to burst in at any moment or something. He closed his eyes and slowly felt himself being pulled into an uneasy sleep.

***

Harry woke gasping for breath. This was the first time in months Voldemort had managed to break down his shields.

He dived out of bed and tugged on his robes. Voldemort was coming. He had to get ready. This was it. It was all coming down to this, the final battle.

“What're you doing?” came the sleepy voice of Ron.

“I'm going for a walk. Go back to sleep,” said Harry as he picked up the knife that had remained hidden in his trunk all this time.

“'Kay,” said Ron sleepily. “Be careful.”

“I will,” said Harry. ‘And you'll be safe in bed while I do this,' he thought.

He tugged on his shoes and left the dormitory. Almost in a daze, he walked down the seven flights of stairs and stood in the entrance hall.

‘I'm waiting, you bastard,' he thought viciously. Almost as if Voldemort had heard his thoughts, the doors slammed open and in strode Voldemort, alone. Harry's scar burned, but he ignored it. He had more important things to deal with, like taking out Voldemort.

Suddenly, he heard a door bang open and a voice call out, “Harry!” Voldemort smiled and Harry turned with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Severus, my traitor, so nice to see you again. I heard you've acquired a son. Too bad you won't be enjoying him any longer,” Voldemort purred. He raised his wand and made a slashing movement with it.

“Dad, no!” cried Harry as a streak of purple slashed across Snape's chest, sending him flying backwards. He ran over to Snape and felt tears prick his eyes.

This was the same curse Dolohov had used on Hermione in the Department of Mysteries. The one that would have been lethal if Dolohov hadn't been silenced… No!

Snape couldn't be dead, he just couldn't. There was so much they hadn't done together, so much they'd never said… He'd never gotten a chance to tell Snape how much he loved him either.

White-hot fury blazed through his chest. This was all because of Voldemort. He stared up and glared furiously.

“Aww, is wittle Harry cwying?” mocked Voldemort.

Harry glanced back at his father's body and this time, felt love course through his veins. ‘Do it now,' he could almost hear Snape say. He knew what to do.

He raised his wand and cried, “Avada Kedavra!” just as he heard footsteps skidding to a halt on the grand staircase. Voldemort's eyes betrayed his shock as the green curse made its way toward him, then slammed into his chest, sending him to the ground.

Harry stared at the spot where Voldemort lay, feeling cold numbness spread throughout his body. Voices buzzed around him now, but he ignored them. He had one final thing to do.

Harry numbly pulled out the silver knife he had brought with him out of his pocket and held it in a firm grip. He started forward and felt hands grab his robes.

“No, I have to do this,” he said as he shook himself free.

He knelt beside Voldemort's body and held up the gleaming knife. He paused and looked at Snape's body, then plunged the knife into Voldemort's heart, sending thick red blood everywhere. He stayed where he was, frozen with shock.

“You're done,” he whispered fiercely as he felt tears streak down his face. “You're finished, you evil bastard.”

And there, his energy dissipated, and he collapsed onto Voldemort's bloody corpse.

~Snape's POV~

Snape woke feeling as though he had been trampled by centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. He groaned a he opened his eyes and found himself in the hospital wing.

Slowly, details of why he was here trickled into his brain. The last thing he remembered was Harry yelling as a purple curse shot towards him. Harry! What had happened to him?

He quickly sat up and gasped as pain shot through his ribs. He clapped a hand to his chest and tried to calm his breathing as Madam Pomfrey approached.

“Where's… Harry?” he choked out. The Medi-Witch averted her eyes. “Where?” he demanded.

She glanced slightly to her left, drawing Snape's attention to a bed completely surrounded by white curtains.

“He had no external injuries that I could find, but he hasn't woken up at all,” she said quietly.

“How long?” he asked.

“Three days. You've been out for the same time. That was a really nasty curse, but I think its effects weren't as strong because of this.” She held out a scorched metal chain. Snape took it and examined the ruined necklace.

“What happened?” he asked her.

“Harry killed You-Know-Who, then stabbed him in the heart with this.” She picked up a blood-crusted knife wrapped in a bit of black cloth. Snape recognized it immediately as one of the Snape family relics he kept hidden in the basement of the manor.

How had Harry gotten it? So many unanswered questions, and Harry only lay in the bed next to him.

“I want to see him,” he announced.

Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes. “You're staying in bed until you are healed,” she said.

“He's my son, and I want to see him,” he exclaimed.

Madam Pomfrey pulled out her wand. “You're not going anywhere, even if I have to immobilize you.”

Snape glowered, but lay back down.

“Good, now stay there while I fetch your potions.”

***

Several days later, Snape was growing antsy. Madam Pomfrey was forcing as many potions as she could on him and she wouldn't let him leave his bed at all, not even to see Harry, who was still unconscious.

Late one afternoon, though, when Madam Pomfrey thought he was asleep, he overheard her talking to Dumbledore.

“…most likely traumatized. I think he believes that if he remains asleep, he won't have to face reality.”

“Perhaps having his friends around will get him to wake up.”

After that, Harry's friends began visiting him regularly. Once or twice, he was sure he heard Ginny Weasley in there crying.

He longed to be able to ascertain Harry's condition himself, but Madam Pomfrey kept such a strict watch on him that he never got a chance to even try and escape his bed.

Then, ten days after he'd woken up, Madam Pomfrey finally let him leave his bed for a short while to see Harry. Madam Pomfrey pulled back the curtains surrounding Harry's bed and Snape carefully walked the few feet across.

He sat in the chair Madam Pomfrey conjured and looked at Harry's still form. His face was pale against his dark hair, giving him the very image of death. Snape grasped one of Harry's limp hands in his own and heard the curtains slide closed behind him.

“Harry, please wake up. Madam Pomfrey says you don't have any external injuries, but she doesn't know why you won't wake up. I want to know that you are really all right.” He paused, feeling awkward. He'd wanted to see Harry since he'd woken up, but the words he wanted didn't seem to want to be vocalized.

He brushed Harry's hair off his face and noticed that Harry's scar seemed to be fading. On a whim, he pushed up Harry's left sleeve and saw that the Dark Mark was gone. He checked his own left arm and saw that his Mark was gone too.

“We're free,” he said quietly. “Wake up so you can enjoy your freedom.”

But Harry didn't wake up. Nor did he for the next two weeks. He showed more signs of life, though.

Snape would wake frequently hearing Harry whimpering softly, but the boy would never open his eyes. Madam Pomfrey finally confided in him her fear that he was afraid to face reality.

Snape grew even more worried at hearing this, adding to his restlessness.

~Harry's POV~

Harry drifted in a sea of his memories. He would watch one occasionally. They were sometimes good and sometimes bad, but they no longer bothered him. Nothing compared to the anguish he'd felt when he'd seen Snape cursed by Voldemort himself.

He'd rather stay here, trapped in his own mind, then face a world without his father. He stayed there a seemingly interminable time in silence before he heard voices. They sounded like Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. He could swear that he heard crying several times. But no Snape, the one voice he truly wished to hear…

More time passed, and suddenly, Snape's voice broke through his thoughts.

“Harry, please wake up. Madam Pomfrey…”

He was imagining things, he had to be. Snape was dead, he had seen him die. He shook off the tiny thread of hope that had affixed itself to him and tried to stay rational. It wasn't possible for the dead to come back to life. Dumbledore had said that when Sirius had died.

But that was when the nightmares started. The final battle replayed in his mind, only this time, he plunged the knife into Snape's chest. Then Sirius would appear and say how he had killed another father, that it was his fault.

And after each nightmare, Snape's voice would talk to him, calming him, but at the same time, setting him up for more nightmares.

After one particularly nasty one with Snape's corpse getting back up and blaming Harry for his death, he was once again greeted by Snape's voice. But this time, it wasn't soft and comforting. This time, Harry heard pleading in Snape's voice. He was pleading for Harry to wake up.

Harry was desperate to settle the question of whether Snape was alive once and for all, but his instincts were telling him to stay in this world, where everything was fine and safe. But this world was no longer his. It was too full of memories that made him feel sick and cold inside.

He finally came to a decision. He would show his Gryffindor bravery once again and if things were like he expected, he would deal with it. He wouldn't hurt himself again, not again, but he would live. That was the important thing.

~Snape's POV~

Snape gripped Harry's hand after his latest nightmare. He had been released from the hospital wing, but spent the nights there so he would be with Harry if he needed him. This nightmare had been particularly bad, and Snape found himself breaking down to pleading with Harry to wake up.

He was nearly about to give up for the night when Harry's eyelids fluttered, the slowly opened to reveal dazed green eyes. Then, those same green eyes widened and Harry jumped backwards. He rested on the palms of his hands, panting slightly, as he stared at Snape.

“You're… you're…”

“alive?” finished Snape for him. “You should have seen me a month ago.”

Harry shook his head. “I saw you… die.”

Snape attempted a small smile as he held up the ruined amulet. “Seems some things turned out to be quite practical. This absorbed the power of the spell, keeping it from killing me,” he said. “As you can see, it's quite useless now.”

Harry blinked several times in rapid succession. “So… so, I wasn't imagining things when I heard you?” asked Harry in a thick voice.

“No, I've been here every time you had a nightmare,” confirmed Snape.

Harry bit his bottom lip and looked even closer to breaking down completely. Snape sat on the bed and put an arm around Harry.

“I'm still here, and I don't plan on leaving for a long time,” he said gruffly as Harry turned and pressed his face into Snape's robes. Snape put his other arm around Harry as the boy soaked his robes with tears.

As his sobs subsided, Harry looked up and said quietly, “I love you, dad.”

Black eyes met glittering green eyes, and Snape tightened his hold around Harry.

“I love you too.”

***

Several days later, when Madam Pomfrey was assured of the health of her patient, Harry was released in time for dinner in the Great Hall. Snape brought him robes and after Harry changed, they walked down to dinner together.

Harry was tired from the exertion, but managed a grin when the whole of Hogwarts stood as one for him. Snape walked with Harry to the open seat beside Ginny, then continued on to his seat at the staff table.

“Welcome back to Mr. Potter!” Dumbledore proclaimed before raising his hands and making dinner appear.

***

Harry finally had the chance to have a normal life. He went on dates with Ginny, went to classes, and ended the year with high marks in all of his classes, including Potions. A celebratory spirit seemed to have taken over the Wizarding world, and Harry's exit from the Hogwarts Express in June was cause for much excitement.

Snape met Harry at King's Cross with a Portkey, and they quickly escaped the hordes of people after Harry said goodbye to his friends.

***

Summer passed by quickly and Harry entered his seventh year at Hogwarts. Harry achieved the NEWT's he needed to become an Auror, but declined to apply. He also turned down all other job offers. He had something to do that was much more important: settle down with his family.

Harry had proposed to Ginny Weasley in the spring, and after she graduated from Hogwarts, they had plans to be married. Harry planned for the ceremony to be as small and quiet as possible. That would be fairly simple, as it was to be held on the grounds of the manor.

In the meantime, however, Harry planned to spend the year having fun with his friends and getting to relax for a change. If anyone, Harry definitely deserved to have a bit of peace and quiet. He shouldn't have had to earn it, but now that he had, Snape was going to do his damnedest to make sure Harry got it.

The End.
End Notes:
Next Chapter: Chapter 24: A New Day


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