Silence

1

"I will not have a Slytherin child!"
"Then leave!"

They were fighting again, all over Harry's sorting. Harry didn't care that he was sorted into Slytherin, as he was with his friend Hermione Granger. Harry sighed and set aside a book he had been trying to read, sighing. He had had enough of James, and was dying to protect his mother.

So, summing up the courage to face James Harry stood and walked into the kitchen, moving quickly to stand in front of his mother. Lily was surprised, as Harry always seemed scared of James, or under-confident when he was around. Harry glared at James, eyes widening when James' hand came down and smacked him in the face, hard. Harry cowered suddenly, everything rushing to him at once as his mother yelled.

"Severus!" She called out, backhanding James and standing in front of him. There was a loud pop! Before Severus Snape was standing in the kitchen. Lily's angry face and Harry cowering on the floor, covering his face, was enough for him to connect the dots. Angrily he turned on James, binding him up quickly as a snarl formed on his face.

"How dare you touch him," Snape snarled, placing his wand at James' throat. James got a defiant look in his eyes. "I knew you slept with the slimy snake, you whore," James growled in Lily's direction. Snape heard enough, snapping his fingers as James disappeared.

"We'll let Lord Black deal with him," Snape said offhandedly, waving his hand before he crouched down in front of Harry. The boy was obviously in a panic attack, so Snape waited, instructing him to breathe deeply and follow his instructions as he did a grounding technique, successfully bringing him back to the present.

Snape opened his arms and Harry dove into them, squeezing the man tightly. "I would advise when we go to Hogwarts that you stay in my quarters, and Harry should be safe in the Slytherin dorms," Severus directed towards Lily. He stood, holding Harry in his arms as Lily sighed, running a hand through her hair before hugging Harry and Severus.

"I'm not a baby," Harry complained and Lily simply smiled. She caught Severus eyes, a silent pleading to tell Harry the truth. Severus nodded and walked to Harry's room, sitting him on the bed. Harry looked up at the man with Lily's eyes, craving validation.

"Are you my dad?" Harry asked, causing Severus to pause for a moment, glancing at the inquisitive boy before looking away. Severus sighed and sat next to him, drawing him into a hug.

"I know it's hard to understand why I haven't been around, but I am your father," Severus started, hesitating as he didn't know what to say or how to say it. But looking at Harry, in his bright green eyes, hope shined and understanding.

He wasn't the child of a monster.

-

Sirius was beyond angry when James showed up at his house, cursing Lily and calling her a slut. "She wasn't with you, you two were broken up when she...conceived," Sirius snapped finally. Lily had come to him in tears that night, begging and pleading for him to assure her she wasn't wrong for it.

Sirius knew more than James thought he did. He saw the way Harry flinched when he was around him, he recognized the signs from his past, but he couldn't get Harry to admit it so he could do something.

Sirius was not expecting a letter the day James left, explaining everything that happened. He couldn't believe that James would hold prejudice even when it came to his own child. Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair, taking floor powder and throwing it in the fire place.

"Potter Manor!"