Darkness Shadows Light

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - I DON\'T HAVE AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM, YOU HAVE A PERCEPTION PROBLEM

Snape started when the proximity wards to his rooms alerted him to someone\'s presence. For a brief moment his heart jumped as he immediately thought of Harry, only to be instantly dismissed by his common sense reminding him that he had keyed Harry to the wards months ago.

Next he heard a faint scratching noise. Wand out, he cautiously approached the door and opened it slightly. The next thing he saw was a muzzle pushing its way through the gap. Instantly Snape knew who this had to be and he tried to slam the door shut, but too late as Sirius transformed and shoved his foot in to stop it closing.

\'Go away, Black,\' snarled Snape.

\'No I won\'t,\' hissed Sirius. \'You\'ll let me in unless you want your dirty little secret known to the entire world!\'

Snape froze. Surely Harry wouldn\'t have told him? Then he remembered how difficult Harry found it to lie to anyone, let alone those closest to him.

Keeping a close grip on his wand, he warily opened the door the rest of the way. Despite this he never even saw the punch coming and was only aware of it when it connected with his chin and threw him halfway across the room.

Glaring, he rub rubbing his aching jaw.

\'What the hell was that for?\' he demanded. *As if I don\'t know*

\'*That* was for fucking my godson and then for fucking him around.\' Sirius said harshly.

\'I\'m glad to see your language is as elegant as ever,\' Snape retorted sourly, getting up and heading to his potions cabinet. Selecting a healing potion he drank it in one gulp, instantly feeling the swelling going down and the pain lessening.

\'If that was the only reason you came here tonight, you can leave now.\'

\'Actually that wasn\'t the reason I came to see you at all, it\'s just the usual reaction I get to seeing you. This time I found it impossible to rein in. I actually came here to talk about Harry.\'

Putting the bottle down, Snape sat down in his armchair, ungraciously gesturing for Sirius to sit down as well.

Sirius took a seat and stared at the other wizard.

\'I have *no* idea what Harry sees in you,\' he muttered.

\'Nor do I,\' Snape offered dryly. He settled back in his armchair. \'So exactly why and what did Harry tell you?\'

\'Harry told me to stop me banging young Ron\'s head against the wall,\' Sirius replied wryly. \'I was quite upset with him as I believed he was responsible for Harry\'s condition and putting him in even more danger.\'

Snape couldn\'t help the smirk.

\'I would have liked to have seen that,\' he murmured half to himself. The image of a terrified Ron and a livid Sirius a pleasing picture in his head.

\'Yes, Harry told me you don\'t seem to appreciate what Ron\'s doing to save your hide.\' Sirius baited. Snape rose with alacrity.

\'I don\'t trust that boy,\' Snape snapped. \'He\'s always fawning over Harry.\'

\'Oh my god,\' Sirius said, eyes opening wide. \'You really are jealous!\'

\'Nonsense,\' he replied angrily. \'I just wish he\'d keep his hands off my...\' he stopped abruptly.

\'Your what?\' asked Sirius, some of his malevolence resurfacing. \'Harry\'s not your anything. He told me how cold you\'ve been and that last night you finished with him. Just tell me Snape, what exactly do you want with Harry? Do you give a damn about him, or do you just fuck any willing student?\'

\'My feelings towards Harry are none of your business,\' Snape replied icily. \'And I resent the implication that I have acted improperly with any of my other students.\'

\'Then why Harry?\' Sirius asked exasperatedly.

*Because he is Harry. Because I love him. Because without him life is cold and grey* was what he thought.

\'As I\'ve said, that is *none* of your business.\' Was what he said.

\'Of course it\'s my business!\' cried Sirius. \'I\'m the closest thing to family that he has and he\'s hurt and confused and I just want him to be happy even if that means accepting you...\' he finished helplessly, throwing his hands in the air and feeling totally out of his depth.

\'I doubt that it will ever come to that. As Harry told you, we are no longer together and it will be best for him if it stays that way.\' *No matter how much I want to be with him*

\'Loath though I am to admit it, I have to agree with you. Harry is far better off without you, though he doesn\'t seem to see it that way.\' Sirius got up and started prowling around the room restlessly. \'But we\'re not talking about just the two of you any more, we\'re talking about a third party, an innocent party. Do you really want this child to grow up not knowing who you are?\'

\'There\'s little choice,\' Snape said tiredly. \'If Voldemort knew...\'

\'Screw Voldemort!\' interrupted Sirius heatedly. \'What do you want?\' *Please tell me you want nothing to do with either of them so I have an excuse to hit you again*

No reply came from the man sitting tensely in the chair. Sirius\' restless eyes fell on a pile of papers on the desk with Harry\'s name on. Curious, he quickly scanned the top one and then flicked through the rest of them. They appeared to be medical reports.

\'What are you doing with reports on Harry\'s health?\' Sirius asked suspiciously.
Snape glanced up and for a moment their eyes locked. In them Sirius saw a vulnerability he had never seen before.

\'Albus seems to think I should be kept informed of their well-being,\' he replied in a tight voice. Sirius looked at the papers again. They had the creased, crumpled look of articles that had been read over and over again and their very position at the front of the desk intimated that they had been looked at recently.

*Oh shit, the greasy git really does care* Sirius realised with dismay. Against his will he began to feel sorry for the other wizard who truly believed Harry was better off without him and had to watch whilst someone else publicly acknowledged his baby as their own. All these years he had believed the potions master was incapable of any of the finer feelings, but now he was faced with the fact that he could and did feel things deeply and was suffering greatly. The only thing he had to comfort him were a few pathetic pieces of parchment. Abruptly he put them down.

\'I think I\'d better go,\' Sirius said weakly. This was all too much for him to assimilate now, he needed time to think.

\'I think that would be a good idea,\' Snape replied stiffly.

Without a backward glance he left Snape\'s chambers, transforming back to dog form as soon as he was back in the corridor. He had promised Harry he would stay in the area for a few days, in which case he needed to see Dumbledore.

Decision made, he headed for the headmaster\'s office...

******

\'So I really don\'t get it at all,\' Sirius finished exasperatedly, looking at the headmaster for guidance. \'Harry loves Snape, Snape\'s obviously cares deeply for Harry and yet all they do is argue and hide from each other.\'

Dumbledore looked at the frustrated man opposite him with amusement. He had assumed the animagus would be vehemently against his godson and his nemesis being involved, but he actually seemed more worried about Harry\'s happiness and, even to some extent, Snape\'s.

\'I\'m sure they\'ll work it out in the end,\' said Dumbledore soothingly.

Sirius immediately looked suspicious.

\'Albus, you love to get involved in this sort of thing, I can\'t believe you\'re staying out of this!\'

Dumbledore looked serious for a moment.

\'I firmly believe this is something they need to sort out for themselves. I don\'t think any interference would be appreciated. In fact if Harry hears about your visit to Severus, he\'ll probably be most upset with you.\'

\'For the talking to him or the hitting him?\' Sirius asked sardonically.

\'Ironically, I think he would be more upset that you were discussing him.\'

\'So, I\'ve just got to leave them to muddle along?\'

\'I think that would be best,\' replied Dumbledore calmly.

\'Okay,\' Sirius replied resignedly. With that discussion over, they turned to a more serious subject.

\'So do you really believe that this baby could be a dark wizard?\' he asked the elder wizard.

\'There\'s no certainty at this stage,\' he replied. \'I firmly believe th goo good upbringing can be a large factor. I have often wondered what would have happened to Tom Riddle if he\'d had two loving parents.\'

\'But then look at Harry,\' argued Sirius. \'He had a terrible upbringing with that wizard-hating muggle family and yet you couldn\'t find a soul with more goodness than his. And yet Pettigrew had a wonul, ul, loving family and look how he turned out!\'

\'Peter is weak, Harry is strong.\' Dumbledore replied simply. \'That is not the issue in this matter.\'

\'Then what is?\'

\'I think we will have to wait and see,\' was the cryptic answer.

Sirius sighed, sensing this was the best he was going to get out of the headmaster.

\'Anyway, as to Harry\'s request for you to stay in the area. I think as long as you stay as Snuffles most of the time it will be okay if you stay in Harry\'s room. I will add another bedroom on for you. It might be a good idea for Harry to have some extra protection until we find out Voldemort\'s reaction to the news.\'

Sirius nodded gratefully and thanked the headmaster.

\'There is just one thing I request,\' the headmaster continued as Sirius got up to leave. Sirius looat hat him enquiringly. \'If you feel the urge to hit my potions master again will you at least count to ten first?\' The blue eyes twinkled merrily.

\'I\'ll do my best, but I can\'t promise anything!\' was the amused reply as Sirius took his leave.

It was only as he was padding back down the corridor that he realised that he had forgotten to mention Harry\'s increased powers to Dumbledore. Shrugging his shoulders - at least mentally - he resolved to make sure Harry told him at the earliest possible opportunity...