Harry might have been oblivious to the silence and the tension in the room, but Severus was not. Against his better judgement he had staged the first act in this little drama, now the interrogation and the explanations could begin. But as he felt the slim body of his son pressed against him, Severus knew he had made the right decision. All of the people in this room were Harry's family, if not by reason of a blood connection as he himself had discovered he was, then certainly by reason of emotional connections. Severus was not happy about putting any portion of his life on display for anyone; he had kept so much about himself bottled up for so long, it had become an ingrained habit to keep it that way.

Apart from his mother, only one other person in his life had ever known the real Severus Snape. That of course had been Lily Evans. And that had been a very long time ago. The only other who had come so close to knowing the real him was Albus. Severus had become used to confiding in the old wizard...almost as if Albus was a parent.

But even though he was not going to be revealing the whole of himself to these people,  even the part of him that concerned their mutual interest, Harry, was too much for him to feel comfortable exposing. But his concerns were not just his own anymore; there was now another whose views had to be considered. Harry could have gone against him and told their secret, but no, he was trying desperately to do as Severus had instructed, even though it had not felt right for him. He had put his own desires aside to please the man who had spent the last five years making his life a living hell.

Now it was Severus's turn to do his bit to please Harry.

Even the Dark Lord knew only what Severus had told him and what he had allowed him to access during his foul attempts to plumb the very depths of Severus' mind by means of Legilimency. And though Severus did not think his soul was worth very much, he could at least rest easy in the knowledge that his own could be considered almost pure, compared to that of the man who had ordered him to commit most of the depraved acts that tarnished his soul.

In his own way, he was trying to make amends, but he had no hopes that he would ever have a totally clear conscience. But Albus Dumbledore continued to give him hope that he could at least ease his soul's burdens, and Severus wanted to believe him. He had no illusions that he would ever obliterate all the terrible deeds which were attached to his name; not all of them had been sins of the mortal variety. It was the lesser ones that pricked his conscience the most. The ones that he had not been ordered to commit in the name of pure-blood supremacy...but the ones he had happily heaped, one on top of the other, until the target of the abuse had changed from a bright-eyed, eager student to a suspicious, bitter protagonist who had tried to give as good as he gotten but who had always been hindered by his inherent goodness. Harry, of course, was the worst of it, but Severus was fully aware that he had been a far from exemplary teacher; he had no patience with the less than stellar students, and they were few and far between.

The simple fact of the matter was that he was not a nice person...he never had been. Not even when he had had the benefit of Lily's softening influence; she had failed to soften him and he had failed her. Perhaps he would be able to avoid doing that with their son, if he tried very hard. Severus knew he had a lot of ground to make up and he knew that it was not going to be smooth sailing; he was a foul tempered man and it didn't take much to set him off.

Harry had been there, Harry had been vulnerable and Harry had been in his power. It had been easy to intimidate and mentally abuse him, and it had been despicable, more so in view of the fact that Severus had known that Harry was his cousin.

As Harry now loosened his hold and stepped back, his face glowing with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment, Severus looked at the messy black hair and the fine-boned face, the arched eyebrows and the brilliant green eyes, and wondered anew at the fact that the boy was an obvious mixture of James, Lily and himself, and that he had failed to ever see the likeness to himself in all the time that he had known Harry. Though perhaps it wasn't such a surprise...Albus had never noted a likeness either. Perhaps Harry was growing into the Snape part of his looks. Severus sincerely hoped that what Harry already had from the Snape gene-pool was all he was going to get!

Severus could never have guessed that the knowledge of having contributed some of the genetic material that made up the young person before him, would, in such a short time, have had such a profound affect on him...in short, that his being a father, could come to mean so much. He had never had any aspirations towards siring a child, and if he was being brutally honest, he had to admit that even if he had won Lily's heart, he would not have wanted to share her with a child.

Selfish to the core.

"Harry, what's going on?"

Harry's head snapped around towards Ron, but without saying a word, he looked back at Severus, his face now registering extreme guilt.

"I'm sorry," he said to Severus in an agonised voice, while in the background, Arthur was admonishing Ron to be quiet.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Harry. I started this."

"Started what, precisely?" asked Molly, who was standing with a colourful tea-cosy clutched to her chest, her voice positively rigid with disapproval. She ignored Arthur's long suffering ‘Molly', and marched around the table to put a proprietary arm around Harry's shoulders. Short of shaking her off, Harry had no choice but to fall back several paces as Molly guided him forcefully backwards.

Severus raised his eyebrows, his obsidian eyes cold as they pierced Molly's normally kind, brown ones. "You do not need to protect Harry from me, Molly."

"Really, Severus?"

"Mrs Weasley, it's all..."

"Hush, Harry dear. You don't need to say..."

"Molly!"

"You have a very nasty mind, Molly," bit out Severus, his ever-ready temper flaring at what she seemed to be implying. The bloody woman actually thought that he had taken a sixteen year old boy as his lover!

"What else are we..." screeched Molly.

"I think..." began Dumbledore calmly, but his voice was cut off as pandemonium broke out in the Burrow's kitchen and several things happened at once. Arthur, supremely embarrassed, tried to pull Molly away from Harry, while Harry wrested himself out of her enfolding embrace and staggered several steps back towards Severus.

Ron surged to his feet and yelled, "What the bloody hell is going on, Harry?" while Hermione tried to pull him back down into his seat making desperate shushing noises.

Minerva tried to help Arthur guide Molly into a chair, but Molly was  pointing a shaking finger and screeching that she wanted that man out of her house, and out of Hogwarts before her children, Harry and Hermione stepped foot back in the school. Bill had added his voice to his father's entreaties for his mother to calm down.

Ron sank back into his chair but he was still arguing loudly with Hermione, gesticulating towards their friend and Hermione was hissing at him to be quiet while trying to grab at his flailing arms. The noise was intensifying as most of the people present tried to be heard above the ruckus. Severus impaled a struggling Molly with his best basilisk's glare while Arthur shot him an apologetic glance. Arthur wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he knew that it was not the conclusion that Molly had jumped to.

Harry just stared around, appalled, at the noisy, emotional crowd of people and cursed his desire to want to let everyone in on his changed circumstances. Snape had been complying with his wish, and Harry knew he had not wanted to, and this was the outcome. Fleur was now hanging off Bill's arm as he rested his hands on his now-seated mother's shoulders and Mr Weasley squatted in front of Molly, still trying to calm her. Professor McGonagall hovered nearby, her lips pursed and she kept on shooting looks of disapproval towards Severus. Harry didn't know what that was about; she knew the true circumstances, why wasn't she trying to talk sense into Mrs Weasley? Why wasn't Dumbledore taking charge for that matter...he was just sitting there looking disappointed, his head in his hand and his long fingers massaging his forehead.

Harry couldn't believe the conclusion that Mrs Weasley had jumped too. It defied belief on every level. Did she really think that he would allow...that he would welcome... Harry couldn't even complete the thought in his own head. He was the one who had thrown himself into Severus's arms. Did Mrs Weasley think he was gay? Did she think that he was so pathetic that he would allow a man old enough to be his father...Harry shook his head and huffed out a bitter laugh as he turned away from the scene. Old enough to be his father...precisely!

A firm hand grasped Harry just above his elbow and began to pull him towards the living room. Harry tried to pull his arm away until he realised that it was Severus who had hold of him. He relaxed his elbow and allowed himself to be pulled along. There was a sudden lull in the noise level, but Severus didn't halt his determined stride around the table. Harry could feel his rage.

Harry realised that he still held his mother's book, but that his Snitch was on the table. He looked back instinctively and in that instant, Severus came to an abrupt halt and his grip tightened to the point of being painful on Harry's upper arm.

Harry grimaced and looked around to find Ginny blocking the doorway. She looked scared, but determined as she looked up into his father's angry face.

"Move aside, Miss Weasley," bit out Severus.

"Gin..." said Harry hopelessly.

"Please, Professor Snape, don't go." Ginny swallowed. "Don't go until this has been settled."

"Miss Weasley..."

"Please, sir! Mum has jumped to the ..."

"Ginny, get away from him. Harry...Arthur...LET ME UP!"

"MUM," yelled Ginny, maintaining her position in the doorway but looking angrily at her mother.  "Stop It! You're being ridiculous. You are so wrong."

"Ginevra Weasley..."

"No, Mum...just listen! Professor Snape is..."

"Thank you Ginevra, my dear...but I will take over from here." Dumbledore's powerful voice silenced everyone else in the room. Harry eased his arm out of his father's punishing grip-it was easy now as Severus had loosened his hold-and putting his mother's book under his arm,  he gave his abused flesh a cursory rub before reaching around Severus for Ginny's hand. She slipped it into his and he pulled her close to him.

Severus bowed to the inevitable and uncharacteristically, he seemed to droop a little, leaning against the door jamb. But when he crossed his arms it was a very Professor Snape-ish action. Harry looked at him to try and gauge the level of his anger and he sighed in relief when Severus looked at his and Ginny's clasped hands and gave the smallest jerk of his head to indicate that he was not angry about that.

"Albus, this is my hou-"

"Molly, I think that you have caused quite enough of an uproar for one evening." The powerful voice held everyone's attention, except Severus's, seemingly-he was looking down at the floor, his face set in its usual harsh lines. Molly was swelling with indignation.

"Albus, why would a man who has always loathed Harry and showed just the other day how much contempt he holds him in, suddenly pull him into an embrace?" she asked in a furious voice.

"A very good question, Molly, and one that has an answer that I know you will find difficult to believe, but which can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt." Molly's lips pressed together so firmly, Harry was reminded forcefully of Aunt Petunia.

"But allow me to ask my own question Molly. Why would Severus pretend to hold Harry in such disdain if he had, in actual fact, developed entirely different feelings for him?"

Molly raised her chin defiantly. "Well, I suppose to allay suspicion," she said but she didn't sound entirely convinced. Harry could feel his face flaming spectacularly as he listened to the innuendo-laden speech going on around him.

"And yet, he walks in here quite openly tonight, gives Harry a gift and then a hug in front of everyone." Molly stared at Dumbledore for a moment and then she buried her face in her hands. Harry wasn't sure if she was crying, or if she was indicating that she didn't want to hear anymore; like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

"Albus..." began Arthur, distressed to see his wife so upset and being told off as if she was a child. Albus held up an imperious hand and Arthur fell silent immediately. Dumbledore exuded such a presence, it did not occur to Arthur to point out that this was his home and if he wanted to speak, then he most certainly would. Bill sighed and shifted away from his mother, leaving her in his father's capable hands. He put his arm around Fleur's shoulders and pulled her close.

Ron was looking at the table where his clenched fist rested with Hermione's hands clasped around it. Hermione was staring avidly at her headmaster, but directed the occasional furtive look at Harry and Severus, oblivious to the fact that she was virtually holding Ron's hand.

Albus continued, but his voice was a little less censorious. "I am more than a little upset Molly that you could jump to the conclusion that you have done when you have sat at the same table as Severus at countless Order meetings. You have fed him, you have invited him into your home and he has been teaching your children since Bill started at Hogwarts. Have you ever heard one single rumour of any impropriety?"

Molly pressed her fingertips against her lips to try to hide a slight quiver. She looked away from her interrogator and after casting a furtive glance at Severus's seemingly indolent figure, she lowered her gaze to her restless, intertwined fingers. Knowing that tears were imminent, Arthur pressed his handkerchief into his wife's hands. She immediately began twisting it into tight knots. He knew that she was totally ashamed of her outburst, but would take a while to acknowledge that she had been in the wrong.

"He won't let anyone get to know him, Albus," Molly said in a quavery voice. "How are we supposed to know what he is capable of. And he is a Death..."

"No, he is NOT!" boomed Dumbledore beginning to pace up and down in a billow of dark robes.

"I do not need you to defend me, Albus," snarled Severus pushing himself away from the door jamb and glaring at Molly. Arthur drew himself up a little, prepared to defend his wife if needs be. "What I do or..."

"Thank you Severus, but I have the floor now," said Albus in an uncompromising voice.  "I do not wish for this unfortunate episode to be any more protracted than necessary." Severus's eyes narrowed and he looked as intimidating as Harry was used to seeing him in Potions lessons. Mrs Weasley's shoulders were shaking as she sobbed into Arthur's handkerchief.

If he had been the only part of the equation, Severus would have just left, but this had to be fixed for Harry's sake. He couldn't drag the boy back to Hogwarts and sequester him in the dungeons until term started, even if his instincts told him to do just that. He knew that it would not be fair to separate Harry from his friends and keep him locked up for the foreseeable future.

This whole scenario had not gone according to his plan. Harry's effusive hug had thrown him. He had meant to soften the shock of his revelation by giving Harry a gift and allowing the gathering to see that the relationship between the two of them had changed. He had not factored in the boy's demonstrativeness and the bloody Weasley matriarch had jumped to the worst possible conclusion. He should have realised that Harry might make some such move after the hug they had shared in the garden the other day.

Now that he thought about it, Harry's penchant for physical contact was something that had only recently come to light. He had never seen him being in the least physically demonstrative before, even with the female third of the Gryffindor Triumvirate. He had seen Granger throw her arms around Harry in the way females were known to embrace their friends, male or female, but Harry had always been embarrassed by these displays and had moved out of the embrace as quickly as possible. It was amazing the things that you could witness from the teacher's table in the Great Hall. The hordes of students were usually oblivious to the staff's presence unless someone was addressing them from the top table

He eyed the clasped hands of Harry and Ginny and wondered if perhaps the awkward male teenage habit of being reluctant to make any affectionate overtures to anyone at all, was over because young love had sprung into being. He remembered his own awkwardness when it came to physical contact with even his mother...something that he had been sorry for when it became obvious that he was going to lose her far too early and he had never expressed just how much he had loved her. He also remembered his willingness to touch Lily in any way, shape or form because he had loved her since they were both ten years old. Albus was talking again and Severus tuned in, tamping his anger and his old regrets down as much as possible.

Dumbledore's voice had softened to a kindly tone and Molly's sobs were subsiding somewhat. "I know that you are a mother, Molly and I would be loathe to second-guess you when it comes to the safety of your children-and I know that you consider Harry to be one of your own-but in this instance, you are way off the mark."

There was silence for several heartbeats and Molly kept her eyes on her agitated fingers and the wet, ruined handkerchief. Harry had to avert his gaze because even though she had said and inferred some horrible things, he still didn't like to see her upset. He looked at Ginny when she squeezed his hand and she gave him a tiny smile; Harry knew that he had her full support and that she was apologising for what had happened between the two of them earlier that day. Harry squeezed back, also apologising, but he couldn't muster a smile, not even a little one. He glanced back at his father who was just staring stonily at the opposite wall. He did not look like he would appreciate any interaction at the moment. Harry sighed. God, he hated this.

Dumbledore was continuing doggedly. "When Harry was ill, and before he had regained consciousness..."

"Professor Snape is my father!" burst out Harry, and every eye in the room snapped towards him. Harry looked just as shocked as everyone else...he had not meant to say that. He looked from Professor Dumbledore who was staring at him over the top of his spectacles and Severus, whose black eyes bore into Harry's green ones, his expression now inscrutable. But as neither Dumbledore, nor his father made any attempt to silence him, Harry continued. His eyes skittered to Ron whose mouth was hanging open slackly and Hermione whose lips were also parted in a small silent, shocked ‘oh'. Whatever theory she might have been on the trail of, this was definitely not it. Big shock! No-one would come up with this theory. He had to be the only freak in the world who would have two biological fathers.

"I'm sorry sir," said Harry, looking back at Dumbledore, "but this whole thing is mad!"

"Harry, dear..." said Mrs Weasley in a breathless whisper. "What are you saying..."

Ginny squeezed Harry's hand again, and he glanced at her. Her brown eyes were fastened on him and he could see that she had realised what his angry words had meant back when he had yelled at Dumbledore after his adventures in Godric's Hollow. She had filed his angry words away, just as Dumbledore had asked her to. She had never let on to anyone that he had yelled those unlikely, furious words. She had never pushed him for an explanation, even though she must have been totally confused. She had been willing to wait until he was ready to give her an explanation. Harry couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her in his life.

But right now Harry had to finish what he had started because everyone was waiting with baited breath and various expressions of incredulity. He took a deep breath. "Professor Snape and my dad...err, James Potter...they were cousins...first cousins. And Professor Snape was really good friends with my mum. They knew each other from when they were kids, before they started at Hogwarts..." And Harry told the story as quickly as he could, including only the salient points: James terrible injuries, the blood donation, the fact that James and Severus were first cousins, and Severus's magical signature attaching itself to James because they had been so similar.

When he fell silent, every eye remained focused on Harry, until, one by one, every person in the room moved their gaze to Severus. It was Hermione who broke the silence and it was obvious that she was very nervous, as her voice emerged a little squeakily. "But...but sir," she said, addressing Severus. "Any book in which I have ever seen a reference to magical blood...well, they all say that unlike Muggles, wizards cannot use another's blood because the magical signatures will attack each other, leading to the wizard who receives the blood either having his powers totally destroyed, or...or to his dying."

Harry didn't think his father was going to deign to answer, but after a few moments of tense silence, Severus did speak. "In normal circumstances, Miss Granger, that would certainly have been the expected outcome for the recipient of donated magical blood. That is why the Blood Replenishing Potion was developed and why it is such a potent brew. In most circumstances, the potion does the job of a blood transfusion. But James had lost so much blood, he virtually had no red blood cells left for the vital components in the potion to latch onto, which is how it works. James was moribund, and Lily cooled his body so that his heart was beating minimally and his brain activity was nothing more than a baseline...just enough to keep him alive while she came and made the request of me to donate blood to my cousin.

"Lily worked in the Department of Mysteries and she studied the properties of magical blood. She had taken the study further than anyone else had ever done before, and it was her belief that because James and I were first cousins...and more than that, that my mother and James' father were twins, and their father was an identical twin, as was their mother.

Everyone was hanging on Severus's every word, and Hermione's eyes were shining as they always did when she was learning something new.

"But wasn't that still a massive gamble?" she asked, her voice hushed.

Severus dipped his head in acknowledgement. "It was. But the only outcome without taking the gamble was that James would die. Taking the gamble, he could still die, or he could live but no longer have any magical powers, or at the very outside, he might survive and lead a perfectly normal life. Lily was willing to take the chance. I complied, and James survived with his powers intact.

"But unbeknownst to any of us, his magical signature had changed fractionally because mine had been incorporated into his. The two signatures were so similar, they did not battle each other, but James' blood accepted mine and the two signatures joined. In short, James' genetic makeup changed."

Silence ensued for more than a minute as everyone tried to assimilate these facts to the best of their abilities. Harry knew that the explanation had been delivered in the simplest possible terms, but it was such an amazing series of events, it was difficult to comprehend.

Dumbledore's voice broke the silence. Harry was grateful because everyone was looking at him as he had been afraid they would look at him when they found out that he was a freak show for a whole new set of reasons. "Minerva, perhaps a fresh cup of tea would not go astray. I think we could all use a pick-me-up."

"Of course." Professor McGonagall bustled around Molly's kitchen with ease, boiling the kettle, finding the tea canister and making a fresh brew in the gigantic earthenware teapot. Cups and saucers were still on the table as well as the jug of milk and the sugar. Molly didn't even try to get up to help her; she did not seem to notice that another woman had taken charge in her kitchen. Her face was pale and she kept her gaze in her lap. Her fingers had stopped their agitated movement now, though. It looked as if she was trying to come to terms with what they had all just been told.

Harry was led by Ginny to the table and they both sat down opposite Ron and Hermione. He could not meet either of their eyes and when a cup of tea was put in front of him, he grabbed it and sipped it gratefully. Ginny kept hold of his hand under the table. He was very glad for the warmth of the contact; it kept him grounded. This whole thing was a nightmare. But at least it was out there now and everyone really had no choice but to accept the fact that Severus Snape was his father.

Dumbledore had taken a cup of tea across to Severus and stood with him while they both drank.

"So, Severus..." Mr Weasley was the one who broke the silence this time, and returned them to the subject. Harry tensed. What now? "I am a little confused. Harry says you are his father. And you say that your magical signature combined with James Potter's and changed his makeup..."

"What it all boils down to Arthur," said Severus in a tight voice that defied anyone to interrupt him, "is that Harry's genetic material is a combination of James and Lily Potter, and myself. In essence, it means that Harry has two fathers."

"Mais non! C'est impossible!" Fleur had spoken for the first time. Seemingly, her credence had been stretched to the limit. From the looks on the faces around the table, it appeared she was talking for all.

Severus ground his back teeth together. He wasn't going to stand here and discuss this any further. He strode to the table and with admirable restraint, he placed his cup and saucer down carefully. He glared at Fleur, and Bill drew himself up and glared right back while putting down his own cup and drawing Fleur against him again. Harry cringed. It looked like Severus was going to say something scathing to Fleur, and then Bill would have to tell him to back off and the hostilities would recommence.

But it was Dumbledore who spoke. "No, my dear Miss Delacour, you are wrong. This is not impossible, I assure you. Improbable, yes, unbelievable, definitely. It is something that, as far as I know, is unprecedented in the magical world. I have never seen any thing like this documented before, and since this has all come to light, I have looked, I assure you.

"Even though magical blood is a very different proposition to Muggle blood, I believe that Lily Potter, in her short time of making a study of the subject, drew upon some of the qualities that distinguish Muggle blood and applied the same principles to Magical blood. In short, Muggles can only be given blood from someone who has the same blood group as they do. There is an exception, but that is not relevant to this discussion.

Harry privately marvelled that Dumbledore had researched this so thoroughly. How many wizards would even care about anything Muggle, especially the differences between magical and Muggle blood...well, he supposed anyone who was Muggle born might. And Dumbledore, obviously. Harry had been raised by Muggles and even though he had never been happy in his life, pre-Hogwarts, he knew that he would never be able to totally leave the Muggle world behind.

"Lily's research led her to the conclusions that Severus has already explained to you. And then when it looked as if her fiancé would die, she was in a position to put her theory to the test. She had nothing to lose; one way she would definitely lose him, the other way, there was the slimmest chance.

"She took that chance and she went on to marry James and they had a son." Dumbledore looked at Harry affectionately and Harry, his face bright red, stared down at his clenched hand on the table top. Ginny squeezed his other hand but he couldn't return the gesture. This was way worse than he could have ever imagined.

‘And the remarkable young man that we know Harry to be has just been through his own major health crisis, just as his father, James did. And during the course of his treatment and care, Severus made the totally unexpected discovery that James and Lily's son also has some of his genetic material. There is only one way that could have happened. So, in essence, Harry has three biological parents."

Arthur leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. He rubbed his rough chin, and stared at the floor. "This is...this is, as you say Albus, improbable and unbelievable. It is an awful lot to take in."

"Imagine how Severus felt, Arthur," said Dumbledore simply. "And Harry. It has not been an easy transition for either, especially considering their past-shall we say-colourful history."

"But that is precisely one of the things that I do not understand. Severus knew he was Harry's cousin and yet, from everything we have seen and  been led to..."

"I think we have had enough entertainment for one night, Dumbledore!" bit out Severus, pushing himself away from the wall where he had returned when Albus had started his recital. "I do not intend to put any more of my life on display." He looked at Molly and her brown eyes skittered away from his cold gaze.

"Thank you for the invitation, Madam. You will forgive me if I do not extend the social niceties to saying that I had a wonderful time." Molly put her hand over her mouth and looked as if she was going to burst into tears again.

"Severus..."

"Do you wish to come home, Harry?" asked Severus, cutting Arthur off. "Or do you wish to stay with your friends?" His voice was carefully neutral; he was going to leave the decision to go or stay, up to Harry.

"Severus, you don't have to go...please." Severus ignored Arthur, who had risen to his feet. Both men watched Harry rise and Arthur moved forward.

"Harry, please. Help us come to terms with this."

Harry looked at Mr Weasley, then at everyone else. "I've come to terms with this, Mr Weasley, so I don't know why it has to be so hard for all of you. This is my life...and Professor Snape's. I thought you might like to know what was going on with me because you have always made me so welcome within your home and your family."

"But it's not really important that you all accept it. It was me who wanted you all to know because I didn't want to keep pretending that we hated each other. Professor Snape didn't want anyone to know because it could be dangerous for him.

"But I kept pushing, and so he gave in because I said that no one here would ever give away our secret." Harry stepped close to Severus.

"I get that you can't accept this, but please, you must keep it a secret. That's very important. Now that I've got a dad who is able to be there for me-and he is there for me-I don't want anything to happen to him." Harry turned his back on everyone and Severus put a hand on his shoulder as Harry passed him, and kept it there as he followed. He was glad that he didn't have to speak because there was something wrong with his throat.

"Harry!" Ginny had jumped up and running to him, she threw her arms around his neck. Severus continued towards the Floo. "I accept it. It doesn't make any difference to the way I feel about you," she said into his neck. "I'm happy that you have a father."

"And you must know that I wouldn't care, Harry." Hermione was there, and she was holding out his two birthday presents. Ginny stepped back to allow Harry to take the gifts, and then Hermione had her arms around him. "You're the same person that I've been best friends with for the last five years." She looked across at Severus and smiled. "The only thing that has changed is that we now know a bit more about your family history."

"Harry...Severus, please don't go." Molly had risen to her feet and was looking at the two dark-haired wizards imploringly.

Harry looked at her and gave her a sad little grimace of a smile. "I'm sorry Mrs Weasley, but I've had enough for one day and I need to go home with my dad. Maybe you could send my stuff on to Hogwarts tomorrow." Severus now had a handful of Floo powder. Just before he stepped into the grate, Harry turned back and looked at Mrs Weasley again. "Thank you for the party. It was really great."

He smiled at Ginny and Hermione and then he and Severus were being whisked away in a flash of green flames.