Harry woke up to a slight tug on his Hickman. "Hurts," he tried to roll over to escape the tug, but strong hands on his back kept him in place.

"Sorry, sweetie," Miss Adamson apologized. "The tubes got a bit tangled while you were sleeping.

"Is it morning?" Harry opened his eyes as Miss Adamson placed her cold, gloved hands on his chest. He shivered.

"Yes," Severus draped a blanket so that it covered his back and side, but left his chest bare for Miss Adamson to finish her ministrations. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess," he answered not feeling horrible, but not good either.

"No pain?" the Potions Master handed Harry his glasses.

"No," Harry confirmed as he slipped his glasses on, bringing the room into focus. "Did you stay here all night?" he turned his head to look up at his professor.

"I did," Severus pushed a stray piece of hair off his forehead.

Harry smiled, a feeling of warmth spreading over his limbs. He had long ago given up the dream that someone would take care of him like a parent would. He was nearly sixteen after all, a little over a year from becoming a legal adult in the wizarding world, but the way Severus was treating him made him remember the little boy in the cupboard that he had been, the boy that wished upon a taped up star every night for someone to whisk him away from the Dursleys and raise him as their own.

"Okay, Harry," Miss Adamson said as she secured the tubes from his Hickman to his body with a large transparent dressing, "You're free. I need to stop by the lab to pick up some test results, so it may be a little bit longer than an hour before I return, not that I think you mind." She winked.

He shook his head, his eyes lighting up from the potential extra long break before Miss Adamson returned with his next chemo bag. 

"And Severus, I'll bring those forms for you," the Specialist wrote a quick note in his chart, and Harry felt the round disc on his bracelet warming, an indication his medical records were being updated simultaneously.

"Thank you. I appreciate it," Severus nodded his head.

"What forms?" Harry asked the minute Miss Adamson left his room. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. Your treatments are progressing as they should," the Potions Master nudged Harry to sit up. He sat up against the pillows, his blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

"Then what are the forms for?" Forms worried Harry since they correlated to painful treatments or tests such as his chemotherapy and bone marrow biopsy. He looked at Severus who was looking at him as if he were an experimental potion. "Sir?"

"Don't call me that," Snape snapped.

Harry jumped back, not understanding what he'd done wrong. Sure, the Professor said Harry could call him Professor of even Severus, but he never explicitly said not to call him sir. In fact, Severus insisted upon it during their Occlumency lessons until it became a habit for Harry to address his professor as such.

Severus ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'd prefer it if you'd call me Severus or Professor."

"Okay," Harry edged towards the side of his bed. The snappy Snape wasn't someone Harry wished to be around, especially not when he was worried about why Miss Adamson was bringing back some forms for Severus to sign. "I'm just going to go take my shower now." He pointed towards the bathroom door before setting his feet on the floor and pushing himself up to a standing position. Dizziness assaulted his senses and Harry grabbed the side of his bed to steady himself.

"Harry, wait," Severus wrapped an arm around his waist. Harry wanted to recoil, hating when people grabbed or touched him without warning him first, but to allow himself to recoil would throw him off balance and onto the floor or face-first onto his bed depending on which way he fell.

"I want to take a shower," he whispered in protest despite Uncle Vernon's voice echoing in his head reminding him that freaks don't protest, but do as they're told.

"This is more important," Severus nudged him towards his bed.

"Am I dying?" Harry blurted out. His hand flew to cover up his mouth. Harry hadn't meant to say that. He hadn't even been thinking it, at least not consciously. Was that the reason Severus didn't want to discuss the forms? The Professor didn't want him to know he was really dying?

"You are not dying," Severus' hold on his waist tightened. "Must I assign you lines until you believe me?"

"Then tell me what the forms are for!" Harry backed away from Severus. His knees hit the back of his bed causing him to fall backwards. Severus caught him and eased him into a sitting position.

"If you will sit and listen, I'll tell you, but you must calm down first," the Potions Master sat down on the edge of the bed, his hand smoothing down the duvet.

Frustrated, Harry let out a rather angry sigh. Why couldn't anyone just tell him something straight out? It was like everyone filtered what he was told and while he appreciated it at times, it was annoying when he wanted the truth.

"Calm down," Severus reached out to rub the back of his neck. "You'll only tire sooner if you don't."

He pushed Snape's hand away. "Just tell me! It's my right to know." Harry glared at his professor. Didn't they have an agreement about Snape asking for his opinion before deciding anything concerning his health?

"It is," Severus sighed, "though I must caution you that you might not like the answer."

"The chemo isn't working, is it? That's why it's making me so sick." He reached for his Hickman. If his treatments weren't working, what was the point of having the added accessory when he could use the time he had left to fly or other times he wasn't allowed to do while on chemo?

"Harry, no!" Severus yanked his hand away before he could grasp the tubing that limited his freedom. "This has nothing to do with your treatments or your cancer. I repeat, the chemotherapy treatments are working as they should. The forms are nothing but a technicality due to a mistake in the previous ones I signed."

"Technicality? Did the medical proxy paperwork not arrive at the Ministry in time so you have to resign the forms now that they have?" he reasoned. Harry hadn't seen the official forms since they were sent off to the Ministry and from what he understood the approval took a day or two at the most.

"It's similar, but not quite."

"Explain it to me," Harry crossed his arms. He wanted it spelled out for him, not a game of Twenty Questions.

"Very well," Severus held out his hand until a small wooden box came zooming through the door. Placing the small box on the bed before him, Harry watched the Potions Master trace his fingers over the lid before looking up at him, his brow furrowed in worry. "I received a letter from Wizarding Child Services denying my request to become your medical proxy."

"What?" Harry blinked. What would happen now? He shuddered thinking about the possibility of needing the Dursleys to sign the consent forms for him. If he couldn't get Uncle Vernon to sign a permission slip to visit Hogsmeade, it would be near impossible to get him to sign forms consenting for his treatments. His relatives would rather see him die. There was no doubt about that.

Severus held his hand up to silence him. "Yesterday, when I said I had to run a few errands, I actually went to the Ministry to sort out the issue. It seems that all along I never needed to petition for rights to become your medical proxy."

"Huh?" Harry was growing more confused by the second.

"I always had the right to make medical decisions for you even though I was completely unaware of my rights," the Potions Master stood up and began to pace in front of Harry. What was Severus trying to say? Why would he always have the right to make decisions for him? That was a parent's right and next to that a godparent's. Wait. No, it was impossible, wasn't it?

"No," Harry whispered loud enough to make Severus stop dead in his tracks. "You can't be." He looked back and forth between himself and Severus. He couldn't see one single resemblance besides a similar hair color and millions of people had similar hair colors including his dad.

"Harry," the Potions Master kneeled down in front of him and covered Harry's hands with his own.

"Are you...?" Harry trailed off, unable to produce the last word of his sentence as tears threatened to spill down his cheeks.

All his life all he wanted was one of his parents to be alive and now he wasn't sure if he wanted that, if he could accept what Severus seemed to be implying. The man was nicer to him now, but could he accept that his... he couldn't even say the word in his mind, being horrible to him for five years? And why now? Why not when his parents were killed and he was left at the Dursleys' doorstep like an unwanted orphan?

Severus nodded once as he loosened his grip on Harry's hands.

Snape is my dad? Harry pulled his knees up to his chest. This couldn't be happening. First, Sirius died, then he got cancer, and now this? He knew things happened in threes, but this was too outrageous, too insane to even consider. His mother would never cheat on his father. The one thing everyone always said about her was how caring she was. How could she do this to his father, err James? How could she do this to him? Didn't she love him enough to sacrifice herself for him? But if so, why would she ever leave him to be raised by the Dursleys when he could've been with his... with a relative that would've cared for him better than the Dursleys!

Rocking back and forth with his eyes closed, Harry waited for the dream or nightmare, he wasn't sure which, to end so he could wake up and have everything return to normal. Well, as normal as things would ever be for Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Merlin, did that mean he was really Harry Snape? It didn't even sound right together!

"Harry," Severus placed a handkerchief in his hand. The calloused hand remained there for a few moments before pulling away.

"How?" Harry forced out, squeezing the handkerchief. One part of him wanted to throw the handkerchief against the wall and throw a glorious tantrum that would make a toddler proud, but the other part of him wanted answers before making any rash decisions.

There had to be a small chance that it wasn't as it seemed. That he wasn't some accidental child from an illicit affair, unwanted from the very beginning. Harry couldn't handle knowing he was never wanted. At least when he was growing up with the Dursleys he had the illusion his parents loved him even if they were dead. Not for the first time Harry wondered if it would've been better if he'd never been born. It seemed like his life caused trouble for everyone around him and this was the icing on the cake.

"You were wanted before you were ever born." Harry felt the bed dip and a second later one of Severus' trembling arms wrapped around his shoulders. "I... Lily and I reconciled after the pensieve memory you witnessed as I mentioned before. Forgive me if I cannot recall the details at the moment, but apparently-"

"What do you mean apparently?" Harry glared. Either Snape knew or he didn't.

"I'll get to that if you let me continue," the man raised his voice the tiniest bit. "Apparently after a Death Eater meeting-"

He flinched. Harry had almost forgotten Snape was a former Death Eater. Merlin, his d-dad was a Death Eater! Spy or not, the Potions Master must've done horrible things for Voldemort, the very wizard who was hell bent on killing him.

"-I visited your mother. We were close friends even after Lily married James. On that night I expressed my wish to have a child. James was leaving on an Auror mission for a month and overheard our conversation," Severus paused and Harry could hear the lid of the box open and close in a rhythmic pattern a few times before stopping. "James gave Lily permission to fulfill my wish."

Harry's eyes went wide. From what he knew, the two hated each other and for his father to... Damn! He was starting to confuse himself. For James to give Snape permission to do that, he really didn't need the mental pictures that started appearing in his mind, was akin to Sirius getting along with Snape and that would've never happened.

A hand gently gripped his chin, nudging his head up to meet the Potions Master's eyes. "They gave me you, Harry. You lived with me until you were almost a year old when I became terrified the Dark Lord would discover I had a son and make me promise you'd grow up to be a Death Eater. I couldn't do that to you, so I left you with Lily and James and obliviated myself."

"If you don't remember, how can I be sure it's true?" Harry grasped at straws. It sounded like something off those daytime shows Aunt Petunia always watched, not real life.

"I brewed a paternity potion yesterday morning upon receiving the letter," Snape sighed as Harry wiggled away from his hold. "It doesn't lie, Harry. I'm sorry you have suffered for decisions made by my rash, younger self. I would've only done it for your protection."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Harry jumped up, his anger winning over his desire to have a father. "Because of your rash decisions, I had to grow up wondering how long I'd have to go in between meals as I was locked away in a cupboard that was just big enough to hold a small mattress that was more fit for a toddler than me! By the time I was nine, I couldn't even stretch out my legs when I lay down! Couldn't you have found out sooner?" He picked up one of his school texts that was sitting on his trunk and flung it at the wall.

"The only person that knew after Lily and James died was the Headmaster, and I had him swear an Unbreakable Vow that he wouldn't tell me unless the Dark Lord was dead or you died or was dying. I admit that in my youth I didn't anticipate the Headmaster twisting the Vow to work in his favor," Snape took a few cautious steps towards him. "Please understand, Harry."

"I can't! Not when every adult lies to me and promises things they never come through with!" Harry backed away. He knew there was a reason he shouldn't have started to trust Snape. The Potions Master was just like every other adult. He lied and then expected Harry to forgive him. Not this time! Harry refused to back down. He'd never be Harry Snape no matter what a paternity potion said! His father died for him and all Snape did was bring doom to his life.

"I haven't lied to you. I only found out because your mother left this box for me at WCS. If anyone, blame Dumbledore! He knew the entire time and still sent you to those wretched Muggles," Snape strode over to the wooden box. "Would you rather hear it from a letter your mother wrote or perhaps a collection of memories?"

"No!" Harry stomped his foot and balled up his hands into fists. "Don't try to pass off the blame to Dumbledore! It was your choice! Didn't you want me enough to ensure that if something happened to my parents that you'd remember?"

"Fear makes people do stupid things, and I clearly wasn't thinking straight that day. Please Harry, give it a chance. I want to be your father," the Potions Master pleaded, holding up the open box that Harry saw contained the aforementioned pensieved memories. "I haven't had the time to work on a memory restoring draught, but as soon as I have the chance, I will. Lily wouldn't lie, and I want to remember what I obliviated from my memory."

Harry softened for just one moment, as he remembered why Snape hadn't had any time to brew the draught. The Potions Master had been too busy with helping him through his treatments. Treatments that Harry wasn't sure he even wanted anymore. There was just too much he was expected to handle. He was only fifteen, definitely not old enough to carry the weight of the wizarding world on his shoulders.

"I'm done," Harry declared before he lost his sanity completely. Maybe seeking out Voldemort wasn't such a bad idea. At least that way his death would be quick and relatively painless. "And the name's Potter!" He retreated to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. It wouldn't keep Snape out, but the lock would send the message that he wished to be left alone.

-----

Severus wasn't sure if that went better or worse than he expected. At the very least, Harry was showing emotion instead of bottling it up which was good. Sighing, Severus sent the wooden box back to his bedroom until Harry was ready to know more. He'd give Harry time to think and process the new information. Hopefully after the shock wore off his son would be more receptive to their newfound familial relationship.

Even though Harry had time to sulk, Severus had things to do. Harry's room wouldn't clean itself and he'd be damned if his child got an infection or picked up a virus on his watch. With a flick of his wand, Harry's bed was stripped and the linens were banished to Harry's hamper for the house elves to wash with hypoallergenic detergent that was free from any harsh chemicals that might irritate Harry's delicate skin. He walked over to the wardrobe and retrieved the light blue Egyptian cotton sheet set, light blue duvet, and a clean mattress pad. While he could spell the clean linens on, Severus preferred to do it himself. He cast a sterilization charm on Harry's mattress and pillow before making the bed, complete with a freshening charm on the sheets to give Harry some extra comfort when Miss Adamson returned with the next bag of chemo.

After casting an extra general sterilization charm around the room and returning Harry's Potions textbook to his trunk, Severus stepped over to the bathroom door and put his ear to it. He could hear the water running and remembered that Harry hadn't bothered to grab a clean set of clothes so he strode back over to the wardrobe and pulled out a comfortable outfit and set a shrinking charm on it to last for two minutes which gave him enough time to slide the miniaturized stack of clothing under the bathroom door.

With Harry's room ready for him, Severus moved to the kitchen and proceeded to disinfect the countertops. Then, he brought out a bag of frozen mixed berries from the freezer cabinet since Harry's counts were starting to nosedive along with some yogurt from the cold cabinet to make Harry a smoothie. He poured the smoothie into a glass and placed a cooling charm on it before retrieving Harry's morning meds and placing them in a small plastic cup.

Since Harry's needs were taken care of, whether the child liked it or not, Severus allowed himself to brew an extra strong cup of coffee and took it to the sofa to savor. Flurry jumped on his lap the second he sat down, giving him a pitiful look from being ignored. "Sorry," Severus petted her behind her ears. She purred and stretched out on his lap. If only Harry would forgive him as easily.

He sighed. Severus hadn't expected Harry to jump for joy once he found out Severus was his father, but the amount of anger Harry carried towards the idea hurt him. Hadn't he shown the boy he cared for him? If nothing else, Harry couldn't say Severus hadn't protected him, at least in the wizarding world, and he had convinced Albus not to send Harry back to his relatives this summer. If he would've known about the situation sooner, he would've tried to ensure Harry never had to return to the Dursleys since he didn't tolerate child abuse at any level. After Harry's outburst, Severus was more curious than ever to know just what lines the Muggles had crossed. He was determined to get answers and file charges if necessary, but nothing could be done without Harry's cooperation.

Severus pushed Flurry off his lap before standing up and sending a cat hair removal spell and freshening charm towards his robes. The Specialist was due to return any minute, and it wouldn't look good if he couldn't even get his child to come out of the bathroom. Taking the plastic cup full of pills and smoothie, he returned to Harry's room to find it just as he left it without Harry in sight.

Not at all surprised, Severus set down the cup and smoothie on the nightstand. He crossed the room to the bathroom door and knocked on it. "Harry," Severus refused to address his child as Potter. The child would have to get over it. "Miss Adamson will be here any moment."

"Go away!" Harry yelled.

"I know you're angry, but it's important your treatments continue on schedule," Severus held himself back from sending an Alohamora at the door.

"I don't want any more chemo!"

He couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. Nobody ever wanted chemotherapy, but Harry needed it in order to survive his leukemia. "Harry, you're getting the chemo."

"You can't make me!" Harry's voice grew louder. Severus guessed Harry had moved to the door.

"Frankly, I can," he responded to the childish remark. Perhaps Harry was choosing to make up for Severus missing the terrible twos now. "You have your mother to thank for never severing my parental rights."

A loud bang sounded from the bottom of the door. "Just wait until I turn seventeen. Then you can't make me do anything!"

"No, but at least you'll be alive to hate me then." Severus counted to ten in his head. The child was really trying his patience this morning, but he made himself keep his temper in check since Harry deserved a bit of leniency considering the situation. Severus had turned the child's world upside down for the third time in the course of a month.

When Harry didn't respond, Severus grew worried. Had the child hurt his foot from kicking the door? Had he passed out? "Harry," Severus tried to keep the worry out of his voice, but failed, "I'm coming in."

Severus sent a wandless Alohamora at the door before opening it a crack in case Harry was lying on the other side. When the door didn't meet any resistance, he pushed it open and scanned the small room for his child.

It didn't take but a second for Severus to spot Harry bent over the toilet, vomiting once again. He crossed the room in three steps and knelt down beside his son. Harry sat up, but the glare directed at him lost all its potency because blood was running out of his child's nose. Severus summoned a handkerchief. "Lean forward a bit."

"What?" Harry wiped his nose with the back of his hand and Severus watched as his son's eyes grew wide and fear set it.

"Lean a little forward," he repeated and wrapped his hand in the handkerchief before pinching Harry's nose. "Relax. It's from your platelet count dropping. Let me know if you start to feel dizzy."

Harry didn't say anything, but leaned sideways until he was resting against his chest. Severus wrapped his free arm around his son to hold him upright while he waited for Harry's nose to stop bleeding.

After ten minutes, Severus removed his hand from Harry's nose. The bleeding had stopped, but Harry would need a blood and separate platelet transfusion to prevent further reoccurrences since his counts wouldn't rebound on their own until this week of chemotherapy was through.

"Sit up," he loosened his hold. Instead of sitting up, the child sunk further into his side. "Harry?" Severus grew alarmed. He had noticed the boy had shut his eyes, but he hadn't shown any signs of passing out.

Severus reached for his wand and cast a quick diagnostic spell over Harry. The results came back as normal as they could be for a child battling cancer and showed that Harry hadn't passed out, but simply fell asleep.

"Brat," Severus whispered under his breath as relief flooded through him. He couldn't return Harry to bed yet since his head needed to stay higher than his heart for a little longer, so Severus was stuck sitting on the floor with an armful of sleeping teenager.