Darkness Shadows Light

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN - EAGLES MAY SOAR HIGH, BUT WEASELS DON\'T GET SUCKED INTO JET ENGINES

The following morning found Snape and Harry getting ready for their visit to Snape\'s pas. s. Harry was feeling worried about his husband. He had been particularly quiet since he had returned from sending the letter to his parents and speaking to Dumbledore, and Harry coulnse nse sadness and worry emanating from him. Harry assumed this was due to their trip today and did not attempt to delve any deeper.

The Daily Prophet had brought more revelations, most of them already known to them, including the clearing of Sirius\' name and the birth of Harry\'s son. It had also leaked out that Ron was wanted for questioning over the incident leading to Voldemort\'s death. It seemed that he had completely disappeared. Harry was not sure whether he was upset or relieved over this, after all despite what Ron had done, he did not wish to see him sent to Azkaban. Harry knew the Ministry wanted to speak to him, but up until now Dumbledore had said he was not well enough. Something that was bound to change when they found out he was up and about.

\'Are you ready, Harry?\' Snape asked quietly, breaking into Harry\'s thoughts. Harry could feel the apprehension in his husband\'s mind and gave him a reassuring smile.

\'Yes, I\'m ready, though I\'m not sure Matthew is! I never realised babies needed so much stuff.\' He waved helplessly in the direction of the bag filled with nappies, bottles, formula, baby wipes and all the rest of the paraphernalia that was considered absolutely necessary. Snape couldn\'t help smilsmile at the look on the younger wizard\'s face.

\'Wait until he\'s a little older, then you\'ll have to add baby food and lots of toys to keep him amused to the list!\' he teased.

Harry pouted, but was secretly pleased that he had managed to lift his lover\'s spirits a little.

\'Well for that you can carry the bag,\' he retorted. \'And I\'ll carry Matthew.\' He picked up the carrycot.

Snape frowned. \'Are you sure that\'s a good idea? You\'re still not totally recovered and your record with the Floo system isn\'t the best.\'

\'I\'m perfectly capable of looking after my own son,\' replied Harry in a firm voice. \'And I haven\'t had an accident on the Floo in years.\'

\'So you\'re probably long overdue for another one.\' Snape muttered under his breath, but knowing there was no point arguing when Harry used *that* tone of voice. Fleetingly Snape wondered when he had become the hen-pecked husband...

They headed to the headmaster\'s office where they were to Floo from. Harry had insisted they walk there because he claimed he needed the exercise, but Snape secretly thought it was so he could show off his son. What he did not want to think about was what they students would make of him walking by Harry\'s side. He knew there was no need to hide his and Harry\'s relationship any more and he certainly knew that rumours had already started to fly around about his constant visits to Harry\'s room, but as yet he was unwilling to admit to those he had to teach that yes, he actually did have a heart and yes, he had in fact given it to the Boy Who Lived. He hated to think what this would do to his reputation as a miserable, snarky bastard - a reputation he had taken pride in cultivating over the years.

It was typical of his luck that the first person they met was Ginny Weasley. However, from the look on her face, she at least knew some of the truth.

\'Hi, Harry. Professor Snape,\' she acknowledged quietly. Her eyes involuntarily slid to the baby. \'How is he?\'

\'He\'s fine,\' said Harry uncomfortably. \'Have you spoken to your parents recently?\'

Ginny nodded her head.

\'Don\'t worry, I know he\'s not my nephew and I know what Ron did - both the good and the bad - and I just hope you won\'t judge the rest of us by what he did.\'
\'Of course not!\' replied Harry in surprise, the thought not having crossed his mind. \'Your family has always been there for me, but I\'d have thought after all that\'s happened that it would be more likely you wn\'tn\'t want to know *me*.\'
Ginny shook her head vigorously.

\'Mum\'s pretty upset with you at the moment,\' she admitted. \'But what Ron did was terrible. He betrayed you and nearly got you killed. *He\'s* the one I\'ll never forgive.\'

\'Please don\'t say that,\' replied Harry in despair. \'You don\'t know the whole story. Ron was under a lot of pressure and he wasn\'t thinkingionaionally. I\'m as much to blame as he is.\'

Ginny looked at him doubtfully.

\'What do you mean?\' she asked.

\'I can\'t explain it now,\' Harry said, conscious of the time and his impatient husband beside him. \'I\'ll come and find you tomorrow if that\'s okay?\'

\'Sure,\' she replied. \'But I don\'t think anything could make me forgive my brother.\' And with that she left them and they continued their walk to Dumbledore\'s office.

\'Did you really mean that?\' Snape finally said.

\'What?\'

\'That you don\'t blame Ron Weasley.\'
rry rry sighed. \'I didn\'t say he wasn\'t to blame entirely, but he was my best friend for too many years for me not to understand at least partly what was going through his mind. Why? Do you blame Ron?

\'Totally,\' Snape replied in a deadly tone, his eyes flashing with anger. \'What he did was unforgivable and if I ever see him again I will take great pleasure in tearing him limb from limb - without magic.\'

Harry looked at him, wide-eyed.

\'Surely you don\'t mean that...\' he began tentatively, only to be swiftly interrupted.

\'I mean every word of it,\' he replied. Habbeabbed Harry\'s free hand, uncaring now of what people might think. \'I nearly lost you because of him and I cannot forgive that.\' He looked at Harry wonderingly. \'Sometimes I think you have no idea how much you mean to me. If you had died I don\'t think I could have carried on.\'

Harry couldn\'t speak. Too many emotions were fighting for suprem Al Although he knew how his husband felt by the many actions that spoke as clear as words every day, it was unusual for him to actually voice them.

\'You would have carried on, you know,\' he finally said. \'Matthew would have needed you more than ever and I know you are too responsible to let him grow up without either of us.\'

\'Perhaps,\' Snape said, still holding on to Harry\'s hand tightly. \'I am just glad I will not have to find out.\' *At least not yet...* he couldn\'t help adding silently.

\'What do you mean by that?\' Harry asked, confused. \'*At least not yet*, you said.\'

\'I didn\'t say that,\' Snape replied, dismayed that his thoughts had been detected.

Understanding dawned. \'So you *thought* that, but why?\'

\'Harry, can we please discuss this later,\' he said irritably. \'I have enough on my mind at the moment.\'

\'I\'ve noticed,\' Harry replied dryly.

They walked the rest of the way in silence to the gargoyle guarding the headmaster\'s office. They saw more than a few students, but what any of them thought about the pair being hand in hand, was silenced by the glares from their least liked teacher. Harry had thought after the first group they passed, his husband would let go, but if anything, he seemed to clasp his hand even tighter.

\'Well that should nicely fire the rumours,\' said Harry wryly as they went up the stairs to Dumbledore\'s office. \'I wonder how bef before one of them sells the story to the Daily Prophet?\'

\'Does that matter to you?\' Snape asked him, looking at him with unfathomable black eyes.

\'I don\'t know, a bit, I guess,\' Harry replied uncomfortably. \'I mean it would be nice if my life wasn\'t considered fair game to gossip about. Anyway,\' he continued with a faint teasing smile, \'I can\'t imagine you\'re too eager to be known as the husband of the famous Harry Potter!\'

\'It had to come out euallually,\' Snape replied seriously, ignoring the teasing. \'Better now than in six months time when everyone\'s forgotten how much they owe you.\'

\'And you,\' Harry reminded him. \'I wouldn\'t have stood a chance without you and Matthew.\'

\'I\'m sure everyone will soon forget that,\' Snape replied dryly. \'God forbid that Harry Potter has to share the limelight.\'

Harry looked at him, slightly hurt.

\'You don\'t mean that, do you?\' he asked.

\'Hmm,\' was the non-committal reply. Any further response was cut off by the arrival at Dumbledore\'s office.

Once the obligatory cooing (from Dumbledore, to Matthew - who stared at him in disbelief) was over, Snape and Harry were finally allowed to use the floo.

\'Well here goes nothing,\' Snape breathed, entering the fireplace, quickly followed by Harry and the baby.

Harry stumbled as he exited the fireplace at the other end, only to be adroitly caught by his husband. Harry waited for the \'I told you so\' but none was forthcoming. Instead, his husband abruptly let go of him at the sound of footsteps entering the room.

\'Severus,\' came a tone of voice that sounded to Harry scarily like his husband at his most forbidding. \'We were pleased to receive your owl, but we didn\'t realise you would be bringing a guest.\' The tone did not sound pleased.

Harry looked up and got a startling image of what his husband would look like in thirty years time. The man was tall with black hair that was just starting to go grey at the temples and his eyes were dark brown. The forbidding air that Severus Snape put on like a cloak was instantly noticeable in this older version. The eyes flicked to Harry\'s forehead and widened slightly.

\'I see this is not any ordinary guest. Tell me, Severus, why have you brought Harry Potter with you? Are you not yet old enough to fight your own battles?\'

Harry could barely hold back his anger at the contempt in the older wizard\'s voice.

Snape glared at his father, but his words were coldly polite. \'Harry is my husband and wished to come with me. He also thought you might like to meet your grandchild.\'

Any response the startled elder Snape was going to make was cut off by the entry of another.

\'Grandchild!\' exclaimed another voice. A woman entered the room, tall - though not as tall as her husband - with long brown hair captured in a plait and she was dressed in pale green. She looked a good ten years younger than her husband did. \'Did you just say we have a grandchild?\'

She almost floated over to where Snape and Harry were standing. For a moment she looked at her son wordlessly before pulling him into a tight hug.

\'I\'ve missed you so much,\' she murmured tearfully against his shoulder.

\'I\'ve missed you too, mother,\' Snape replied in a tight voice.

Eventually she let go of her son and her gaze turned to Harry.

\'Harry Potter,\' she murmured almost reverently. \'We have heard so much about you, it is a pleasure to meet you.\' The she turned back to her son, a puzzled look on her face. \'He is your husband?\' she asked uncertainly. \'I thought he was your student...?\'

\'He was,\' Snape admitted reluctantly. \'But in the past year he came to mean far more to me.\'

A snort came from his father.

\'So you have added corruption of innocents to your list of sins,\' he accused. \'And you say this child is yours? The papers said the father was one of those Weasleys.\'

\'Matthew is my son,\' Snape replied firmly, keeping his anger reined in with difficulty. \'The Weasley boy was just a diversion to stop Voldemort finding out I had betrayed him, and to keep Harry and our son safe.\'

\'So it\'s true you changed sides then?\' Snape senior asked gruffly.

Snape bowed his head.

\'Twenty years ago I made a terrible mistake and I have spent almost all of that time trying to rectify that mistake. Now, at last, I am free of Voldemort, as is the rest of the world. I know nothing can ever make up for my choices, but I am ready to move on from there...Are you?\' He looked up at his father, who studied him with hard eyes for a long, tense period. But then something softened in them and he slowly held out his hand.

\'Welcome home...son.\'

Snape grasped the hand and then was pulled into a half-hug.

\'I knew you would make us proud in the end,\' his father said when he finally released his son. \'And now I think it is time we met your family properly.

Snape beckoned for his husband to come forward. Harry looked at him in bewilderment over the strangeness of the last few minutes, but cautly cly came closer.

\'Mother, father, this is my husband, Harry Potter and our son, Matthew James Potter-Snape.

Harry held out his hand.

\'Pleased to meet you, Mrs Snape, Mr Snape,\' he said politely.

\'As my wife said earlier, it is a pleasure to meet you. The world is in your debt rid ridding us of the Dark Lord.\'

\'Severus did far more than me,\' Harry replied pointedly. \'If it hadn\'t been for him I would have already died several times over and I certainly wouldn\'t have defeated Voldemort without him by my side.\'

\'So noted,\' said Mr Snape, a faint smile crossing his face. \'I admire your loyalty, it is very rare in one so young.\'

\'I may be young in age, but I had to grow up a long time ago.\' Harry was not going to forget the remark about \'corrupting young innocents\' in a hurry. He didn\'t know quite what to make of either of Snape\'s parents, but he was determined to be seen as an adult and certainly not as the Boy Who Lived.

\'I can see what my son sees in you,\' Mrs Snape said with approval. \'And I am looking forward to hearing how you ended up together, but first can I please see my grandchild?\' The last part was almost plaintive and Harry had to smile.

\'Of course,\' he replied, putting down the carrycot and picking Matthew up before handing him to his grandmother. She held him gently, her eyes filling with love.

\'He\'s adorable,\' she replied quietly. \'I never thought I would have andcandchild.\' She looked up at Harry. \'Thank you.\'

The rest of the day passed off without incident, though at one point Snape had gone to the study with his father, and whatever they talked about had left them both looking a little thoughtful.

\'Well that went a lot better than I expected,\' Harry said cheerfully when they were eventually back at Hogwarts in Harry\'s rooms. Matthew, exhausted by the day\'s activities, was soundly asleep.

\'Yes, yes, it did,\' replied Snape distractedly, obviously deep in thought.

\'Severus, is there something else on your mind?\' Harry asked his husband. \'Before I thought you were just apprehensive about today, but now I get the feeling there\'s more to it than that.\'

Snape stared at Harry, debating whether to broach the subject that had been on his mind since yesterday evening.

\'Harry,\' he said tentatively. \'What are you going to do now?\'

Harry looked at him in surprise at what he thought was an abrupt change of subject.

\'I don\'t know, maybe have a shower, read a book. Nothing special.\'

\'No, I don\'t mean this instant. I mean with your life. As you said yesterday, you\'re free. You have no needstaystay at Hogwarts anymore for your safety. You could do whatever you desired.\'

\'Well, I\'m not exactly completely free. We do have a baby here and that kind of limits my options.\' Harry replied.

\'I am perfectly capable of looking after Matthew if there is a career you wish to pursue.\' Snape said a little gruffly. \'Don\'t feel that you are being forced to stay here.\'

\'Severus, you work full time already and I don\'t what our son to be brought up by house elves,\' Harry replied seriously. \'But I did have an idea a while ago that might be a good solution, though it really depends what you think...\'

\'Yes?\'

\'I thought about taking my teacher\'s certificate.\'

Snape couldn\'t hide his surprise.

\'You want to teach?\' he asked incredulously. \'Which subject? And how exactly will you working full time as well be a good solution?\'

\'Ally lly I\'d quite like to teach Potions,\' Harry replied quietly.

\'But Hogwarts only requires one Potions master,\' spluttered Snape. \'Unless...\' the idea filled him with dread. \'You plan to teach elsewhere?\'

\'Have you ever heard of job-sharing?\' asked Harry. \'It\'s quite popular in the muggle world. Instead of having one person working full time, you have two people working part time. It would mean whilst I\'m working you could be with Matthew and when you\'re working, I would be looking after him. I want *us* to bring him up and this way we can. Plus,\' Harry added happily. \'It would mean we get to see lots of each other.\' Harry looked at his husband awaiting his reaction. He didn\'t have to wait long as he found himself being soundly kissed.

\'Have I ever told you how brilliant you are?\' Snape purred in his ear.

\'So you like the idea?\' Harry asked breathlessly.

\'I do,\' Snape looked at Harry hesitantly. \'As long as you\'re sure this is what you want. I don\'t want you to feel you have to stay out of some misguided loyalty.\'

\'Of course it\'s what I want!\' exclaimed Harry; suddenly realising what had been on his husband\'s mind. \'I love you and I want to spend my life with you. Even if I had chosen a different career, my life would always have included you.\'

\'But don\'t you want to see the rest of the world?\' asked Snape uncertainly, still not convinced.

\'That\'s what holidays are for! Of course there are lots of places I want to go and things I want to do. But we have a whole lifetime ahead of us to do them together.\'

Finally convinced of his husband\'s sincerity, Snape pulled Harry into his arms once again and just savoured the feeling of the younger wizard in his arms.
\'Together,\' he whispered in Harry\'s ear. At that moment he knew, no matter what the world had in store for them, however Matthew turned out, Harry would always be at his side.

THE END

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! The sequel is currently in the works (so far up to six chapters). I will publish here if anyone is interested...