Fair and Foul by Lemon Curd

“Because I am not”, he replied calmly.

“But - ” Hermione started, no doubt about to mention the birth certificate, but caught herself. “You were friends with Harry’s mother at school, and Rose has her eyes, too, and she has to have had Rose while she was still in school.”

“That is all correct. Nevertheless, I am, regrettably, not Rose’s father. Potter, are you sure you wish to know the truth?”

“Of course!”

“It will not be to your liking, and, perhaps, not appropriate for your age, even.”

“There’s nothing that could be worse than what we know already!” Snape and his mother? Seriously, how could it get any worse than that?

“Very well, then. I suppose you have a right to know. Sit down.” Snape gestured to the chairs in front of his desk, where Harry and Ron had sat after arriving at Hogwarts with the flying car.

Reluctantly, Harry sat down. Hermione pulled the other chair close to his and sat down. “Is it that bad, sir?”

“Very. There is a reason I did not tell Rose. Yes, Miss Granger, I know you have been corresponding with her.” Snape buried his face in his hands for a moment. “Perhaps it is best to start with the plain facts. Rose’s biological father is Gilderoy Lockhart.”

That couldn’t be! Lockhart was such an empty-headed idiot – well, had been, and even if it wasn’t nice to say bad things about the dead, Harry couldn’t help thinking it. In any case, his mum surely would never ever, in the history of ever ... but then, Hermione had had a crush on the man ...

On Hermione’s face, though, there was only nameless horror.“Did he use a love potion?”

Snape’s only answer was a nod.

Harry felt nausea rise in his throat. Had Lockhart planned the same with him? But ... why? “Why?!”

“I cannot answer that”, Snape said at last, his voice sounding strangely hoarse. “She was head girl and a member of an exclusive club for gifted students the potions teacher hosted. He might have wished to create a ... permanent association with her to further his own career.”

“How did he know she wouldn’t get an abortion?”, Hermione asked.

“There is little doubt that he planned to keep her under his thrall until that was out of the question. I managed to give her an antidote in time, but ...” Snape turned his face away, hiding behind his greasy hair.

“It was too late to legally get an abortion?”

Snape looked at Hermione, his eyes narrow. “You know rather a lot about such things, for your age.”

Hermione shrugged. “I read my mother’s feminist books.”

“Ah.” That seemed to be a sufficient explanation for Snape, his features softened. “Lily was a feminist, too. And there would have been time. But after Madam Pomfrey told her she was expecting a little girl ... I begged her to reconsider, but she said she just could not go through with it. So I did what I could to limit the damage.”

“But why didn’t she get Rose back after she finished school?” He would have noticed an older sister on the family photos.

“Because at the time Lockhart attacked her, she was already going out with James Potter. I told her he wasn’t worthy of her love if he blamed her, but in vain. Rose was kept a shameful secret”, Snape said, gently, as if ... as if he felt bad for Rose.

And suddenly, it hit Harry. “You’ve hated me!”, he yelled. “You have hated me all this time because of who my dad is, but Rose – Rose –” His throat went tight and he couldn’t speak anymore. Tears streamed down his cheeks without him being able to stop them.

“Rose is legally my daughter.” Snape said quietly.

That wasn’t any comfort at all. To think that it was more or less coincidence that Rose had a father who cared about her and Harry had nothing -

Snape pushed something over the table towards him. A handkerchief.

It was Hermione who took it and gently placed it in Harry’s hands. “Harry has a point, sir.”

“Apologizing won’t do any good, now, will it?” Snape replied brusquely. “Now, if you would excuse me, I have to talk to the headmaster.”

“Didn’t he say he had urgent matters to attend to?”

“Do I look like I care, Miss Granger? After what he did, listening to me is the least he can do. You may remain here until Mr. Potter has composed himself, provided that you don’t touch anything.”

And with that, he vanished through the floo, too.

“I’m so sorry”, Hermione said. “I had no idea – I honestly thought your mum just had a relationship with Professor Snape –”

“And I thought it couldn’t get worse than that”, Harry said glumly, his voice hoarse from crying. “Now I wish that had been it.”

They sat there, none of them saying another word, for quite some time.

**

Severus stepped into the office. “You asked me to protect the boy. How am I supposed to do that when you willingly throw him in harm’s way?”

Dumbledore looked up from reading documents, obviously nothing urgent at all. “I would never do that, Severus.”

“The Dursleys, Albus. You were all too happy to let me believe the boy was being spoiled. But you know. You have known all this time. Explain yourself.” Severus was ready to kill the old man. He hoped there was a good explanation, but how could there be? How could there be a good reason to leave the Boy Who Lived with such a family?

Dumbledore nodded calmly. “As you know, Lily’s sacrifice protects Harry from Voldemort and his followers. But – and that is the problem here – only as long as he lives where her blood is still alive.”

“Her blood is alive in him! Lily was not a bee. Her sister is not more related to her than her own child!”

For a moment, the bit about bees confused Dumbledore, Severus saw with satisfaction. “It is how the magic works, I am afraid. There needs to be another blood relative besides Harry.”

“How about we place him in a foster family together with his cousin?”

“His cousin would be sufficient, but we have no grounds to remove Dudley from his family’s care. He seems to be a rather spoilt boy, but the harm to his character will not make a sufficient case for the muggle authorities.” Dumbledore folded his hands. “I admit that I have considered using my influence to ... but would I still be better than Voldemort if I did that? I will certainly remind Petunia of what she owes her sister, but ...”

“Suppose Harry had another blood relative? One you did not know about?”

“I am sorry, Severus, but there is no one. I studied both family trees for hours when I was informed that Petunia never treated him as her own. Improbable as it seems, there are no estranged aunts, uncles or cousins. Both sets of grandparents only had the children we know of.”

“Suppose Harry had a half-sister.”

Dumbledore was stubborn, eccentric, foolish at times, but never stupid. “Your ‘personal matters’? A child? That solves a puzzle. There never was another woman, was there?”

“Never.”

“I thought not, but then, I can be wrong, at times. It appears I was wrong about Lily. She never seemed the type ... or was it before she married James?”

“Yes. A child was impregnated right under your nose. I wonder what the Board of Governors would say to that.” Not that he would ever tell them.

“Not by you, then?” Dumbledore concluded.

“Obviously not. Even if she had – had she had such feelings for me, I would never have put her future at risk like that.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Your vices have always been more of the mind than of the body. And yet ... Lily would not have ... it was rape, was it not?”

Severus inclined his head.

“And she went to you, her old friend ... I admit I am surprised that she did not trust James with it ...”

“Potter? He never forgave me for having been her friend, even, and would have been hot-headed enough in his jealousy to attack the rapist and drag it all into the public. He would never have let her have the baby.” No, Potter would either have blamed Lily, or tried to pretend it had not happened. Rose would not have fit into that.

Not to mention that, had it all been dragged into public, abortion would have been the only way.

“But you did?”

“It was not for me to decide, was it?” He had considered it utter madness to give birth to the child, to a chain that would forever tie her to her rapist. But Lily had wanted it, and he had respected her decision. “Her daughter has always been named Rose.” And once upon a time, Severus had cherished the hope that he might become Rose's father.

“Rose. She does not live with you?”

“No. Originally, Lily wanted to leave her with her parents, but after the car accident ... we found a nice family in France. Rose speaks English, and will be able to translate for Harry if needed.”

“Will they take him in at such short notice? You cannot reveal the real reasons.”

Of course not. It would be preferable if they did not even realize who Harry Potter was, that he was a celebrity. “We will just have to hope that Rose being reunited with her brother is sufficient reason for them.”