Harry Potter: A True Family

Dumbledore's Office

It was a week after Snape's compliment. Monday again, Harry thought darkly. He got up and went down for breakfast. Mail was particurarly heavy that day. An owl dropped a letter on his plate, right in his eggs. He picked it up and read it. It said: 

Dear Harry, I hope you are having a good year. I wish to speak to you urgently. Please come to my office tonight at eight o'clock. The password is "peppermint". As you will notice, there will be others there. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry was getting worried, what could be so important that the Headmaster had to see him tonight? His appetite was ruined so he just got up and went to his first class of the day, Charms. He rushed through the rest of his classes. He was anxious. Time was passing by way too slowly.

When the time finally came, Harry walked out of his dorm room and started on his journey to the Headmaster's office. As he approached the gargoyle, he whispered "peppermint". The gargoyle let him through immediately. He noticed that Professor Snape and Lilliana were already in the office sitting down. As the professor noticed him, he sneered ever so slightly.

"Oh Harry, my boy, you came. Please have a seat." With this, Dumbledore pointed to a seat next to Lillian. "Would you like a lemon drop?"

"No, thank you." Harry said as he sat down in the seat.

"Well since we are all here and sitting down, I should get down to the point. I beg that you will all understand. Is everyone ready? This is a very sensitive subject" Dumbledore asked cautiously. Everyone nodded.

"Harry, my boy, I don't know how to tell you this. I won't sugar coat it or lie to you. James is not your father." Dumbledore continued.

"WHAT!!! Professor, what do you mean James is not my father?" Harry screamed.

"Calm down Harry. I am not done yet. As I have said before, James is not your father. He merely adopted you. He blood adopted you, so that's why you look like him and inherited his last name. Lily was pregnant when she got together with James. As to your real father, Harry... your real father is sitting in this room right now." Dumbledore replied calmly.

Oh no, oh no, oh no Harry thought. So it was either Snape or Dumbledore. Harry knew though. It couldn't be Dumbledore. It had to be Snape. Lillian was his sister after all. That's why they felt so close. But Snape... his father. Harry couldn't take this. He rushed out of the office, ignoring the yells behind him. He thought he heard Snape yell at Dumbledore. Harry was confused though. Dumbledore probably knew all along. Why did he let Harry live with the abusive Dursleys? The Dursley beat him mercilessly last summer, to the point where he thought anyone getting too close to him was going to hit him. He got panic attacks and nightmares because of them. It could have all been prevented if Dumbledore just told them. He heard Dumbledore and Snape walk up behind him.

"Harry, I understand your reaction. But before you get mad at me there is a reason why I haven't told you both this year. It was to keep you and Severus safe. If Voldemort found out that you were Severus' son, he would have killed Severus just to get to you. But now that he has been defeated, there is no worry." Dumbledore said, the twinkle gone from his eyes. 

He turned to Snape.

"Severus, I know this must be a shock to you. But Harry needs a loving family. You may choose if you want to keep him and make him part of your family. If you do choose to keep him, I will make sure that the Ministry understands the situation and the story and I will make it easy for you to adopt him, even though he is already your son, no one knows, and as his last name is Potter, you will need to adopt him." Dumbledore said.

"Albus, I will need some time to think about this. I will need personal thinking time as well as time with Lillian. I hope you understand." Snape said, all of the coldness gone from his voice, and replaced by something else, something close to resembling warmth.

Harry left. He had too much on his mind. As he was walking, he heard Lillian come up besides him. She gave him a hug which he returned. He needed this comfort badly. His brain hurt with all the new information. His whole life had been a life. His father had been a lie. It was just too much to take in. They walked in silence, until they reached the dungeons. Lillian left, and Harry was yet again alone. He felt a panic attack coming. He had to get out of there fast. He ran up to the top of the stairs and stopped. He all of a sudden broke out into a panic attack. He started screaming words that he couldn't even hear. But he was sure he heard the word "help". He heard someone moving behind him. He turned and found Professor Snape standing behind him, with something like concern in his eyes.

"Calm down, Mr. Potter, it's fine. You're safe." Snape said somewhat concernedly. 

Seeing that this did not calm him down. He raised his hand to grab the boy's arm gently. Seeing the raised hand, Harry flinched and drew back. Snape tried grabbing his arm gently again and succeeded.

"Come along Mr. Potter. Let's go to my office and get you some Calming Draught, you'll be fine." Professor Snape said calmly.

Harry followed Snape to his office. Once there, Snape gave him a Calming potion. He already felt better, and a bit embarrassed.

"Thank you, sir. But sir, how come you didn't just take me to the hospital wing, how come you brought me here?" Harry asked, hoping for a sweet answer.

"Because, Mr. Potter, I wanted to save myself a trip. If I took you up there, Madam Pomfrey would have made me come back down here to get the potion." Snape said, even though that's not what his eyes told Harry.

"Oh" Harry said, dissapointed. He expected his professor, well father, to say something nice, but he felt foolish for hoping something like that.

Harry quietly excused himself from the room. He felt like Snape didn't care about him. He felt tears coming so he rushed to his dormitory where he let his tears fall on his pillow. For the first time in a long time, the nightmares returned.