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Promises of Forever	By : Ravenheart Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Snape/James Views: 18939 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from this story and no copyright infringement is intended

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
- 22
A/N: I fear some of you will
kill me for this chapter... I hope not! And I hope James' rant will
soot everyone's moods... but I will not bet on it =/

Tittle: Promises
of forever

Chapter: 21
– Severus

Pairing: James
Potter & Severus Snape

Summary: James
survived that fated Halloween night, now with an infant by his side
he has to face adulthood and a world that demands his son. Thank
goodness he has Severus Snape on his side.

Warning:
Character Death, OOCness, cuteness, AU, Harry's three months old
instead of 15 months. Manipulative!Dumbledore, Evil!Tom Riddle

Disclaimer: This
is a work of fiction, written to win the NaNoWriMo challenge. No
money is being made from this and no copyright infringement is
intended.

Previously: Down
in the room, James shifted with Harry, putting his six month old son
in a better position, grinning as he put his feet on Severus' lap. It
was to that scene that Dumbledore walked in, causing both groups of
people to silence themselves as they watched the old man.

Severus'
testimony.

“What can we do
for you Mr. Dumbledore?” James asked, rocking the baby back and
forth.

“Surely we're
past last names now James.”

“That's Lord
Potter to you Mr. Dumbledore; and you lost any right that might have
concerned me or my son with this farce of a hearing.” he
sneered and Albus couldn't help but be reminded of the resident
Slytherin.

“James... I'm
sorry but you did force my hand... you completely ignored everything
I had to say about Harry, my theories and the blood wards...”

“And for that
you're trying to get Harry away from me.”

“It's for the
greater good.”

“Greater good?
Since when do you use Grindewalds' headlines to do anything?”
He growled and saw Dumbledore go even more pale than usual.

“It is for the
greater good Lord Potter.” He replied, voice hard. “He
needs to be trained, I have my suspicions of what happened that night
and if I'm right he might need to die at a later date, he'll need a
reason to do so.”

“So you come
here, and not only do you want to get my son away from me, you want
him to die for you? I've got news for you professor.” He
sneered, stressing the use of the tittle. “You're only a
professor, a gifted one surely and with more magic at your disposal
than some of us, but you're only a professor. You're not a puppet
master or chess master. You're politically powerful I agree, but only
because you beat a Dark Lord in a duel. You're not some sort of god
or overlord to decide who will live and who will die and you're
certainly not my boy's guardian to even think of deciding what to do
with him to fit in your schemes!” he said angrily, glaring at
the century old headmaster, only keeping himself from shouting by
looking into inquisitive green eyes.

“We'll just see
about that won't we James? Your son is too important to this world to
just be left in your hands and that of a Death Eater's.” He
looked at Severus and the later flinched at the pure animosity he
could read in his eyes. “I'm disappointed in you Severus, truly
disappointed.” he said before getting out of the room.

“And he actually
believes I care?!” Severus muttered, astonished. “I
didn't want to be at the end of that look but to actually believe...”

“Albus believes
everyone should bow to his wishes... when they don't he tends to
throw a temper tantrum.” Alastor said, peeking at the curious
infant. James just snorted at his former boss.

“He's not gonna
scream like a banshee you know.” He laughed, looking at
Alastor.

“You never
know... they can scream worse than a banshee, trust me, I know.”

“I trust Severus,
we've been testing this for the past week, it's the only thing that
gets him to sleep without a crying fit.” James murmured,
caressing the wild curls on his boy's head.

“If only you had
invented this 20 years earlier...” Alastor mumbled, only to
hear Severus snort.

“I was in my
mother's womb 20 years ago.” he replied.

“And my youngest
was around your spawn's age and shrieking.” Alastor smirked,
watching Severus mutter about not having a spawn and James turn an
interesting shade of pink.

Above the four wizards,
the rest of the Wizengamot watched – looking down from the
one-way ceiling – with mixed reactions to the scene bellow,
some outraged that James had the cheer unmitigated gal to actually go
against the headmaster and actually insult him, and others in deep
thought. But throughout the shouting it was the whispered voice of
one Robert Mae, one of the Minister's advisers, that cut through the
battle of wills.

“He wants to kill
a baby.”

“He doesn't-”
started another wizard, only to be interrupted by a glare from the
older man.

“Yes he does! He
wants to send the boy to his death, that equals murder in my book,
maybe not now, maybe not in a few years, but it's still premeditated
murder! And for what? Wizards and witches who won't even fight for
their own freedom? No, absolutely not, Madam Minister, I've come to a
decision already, there's no need to go on with the trial for me,
I've got more important business than a professor throwing public
tantrums.”

“I see...”
The woman whispered, impressed – despite herself – with
Mae's rant.

“I'll cast my
vote now if you don't mind, I doubt I'll chance my mind regarding
this... this travesty.” the wizards hissed, raising his wand
and bringing it down in an arc, the magic in the room automatically
gathering the vote in a sheet of parchment that would remains sealed
until the end.

“I agree,”
came the voice from the blond male. “I have no idea what he was
thinking and how he got the Wizengamot to actually vote to take
action but... this is a farce, and it's something I'm not willing to
be a part of.” Lucius sneered, reminding a lot of people of his
Death Eater days.

And he pointedly
ignored the muttered 'for once' that came from the back of the room
as he cast his vote and left. He had to see his own son now.

Downstairs, at the
holding rooms, Severus was sitting, staring at the wall, his hands
idly caressing the legs resting on his lap, thinking about the
incoming questions; James – with his feet on Severus' lap –
was watching his son, as Harry made faces at Alastor and tried to
reach the head auror with his chubby hands, he tried not to think on
how this could be the last time he held Harry.

He tried not to think,
but Albus' visit had shaken him, badly, and his mind was starting to
come up with the worst case scenario.

What if he lost? What
if Petunia and he husband (he couldn't remember his name) got custody
of his son? What if Harry forgot him?

He could feel his eyes
burn as he thought of his baby boy not recognizing him when he went
to Hogwarts, but he didn't realize he was crying until he saw a tear
drop land on Harry's forehead, the baby touching the liquid and
frowning cutely at him.

“James?” he
heard Severus calling.

Severus knelled next to
him, turning the beloved face towards him. His heart gave a painful
tug as he saw the tears falling from hazel eyes.

“What is it
dearest?”

“They're taking
my baby away from me, Sev.”

Severus swallowed, he
wished he could say that 'no, they aren't' or even a 'don't be
stupid', but he knew the decision was still hanging, he knew Albus
was influential enough to sway the decision.

And he hated him.

“We don't know
that James, if they do, we can always count on plan B.” Severus
said, trying to reassure both James and himself, his thumb caressing
the cheekbones of his beloved.

“They're still
taking Harry away from me.” The younger man said, his voice
taking on a slightly hysterical quality to it.

Severus felt Moody
moving behind him, before Harry was lifted up by the head auror and
James lurched forward, grabbing said auror's wrists.

“James, you need
to let go of Moody.” Came Severus' voice, seemingly far, far
away.

“He... He's...”

“No, he's not.
He's not taking Harry anywhere, he'll just hold Harry for a moment so
you can calm down.” He said, holding James' face so the former
auror could only stare at him.

At last, the leader of
the Marauders nodded, accepting the help given, even as he kept a
sharp eye on Moody and his movements.

“That's a good
lad.” Alastor said, putting the six month old on his shoulder,
gently patting his back looking up and narrowing his eyes at the
court above them. He knew he couldn't say anything about the ones
looking down on them, but he wished he could. He wished he could have
told him about the horrified faces, on how most of them had cast
their vote – though he knew not if they were favourable or not
– and there were 20, maybe 25 people remaining from the usual
40.

He pretended not to
notice as one of his favourite apprentices broke down, no doubt
howling in expected grieve, the sound only being held back by Snape's
silencing bulb. He swallowed as he looked at the time, it was 9:50am.
It was time to go back.

Holding a now sleeping
infant he turned to the couple, taking a moment to consider the men.
One of them he liked as much as a jaded man like himself could like
someone, while the other... the other stood for everything he had
ever hated.

“Time to go back
lads.” he muttered, handing the baby back to his father.

As he led the men back
to the court room, he noticed the grim looks, no doubt they were
feeling as if they were going to the execution, and there was nothing
he could do about that.

They walked through a
short corridor, one with many doors and all of them leading to either
interrogation rooms or holding rooms. The corridor led to the door
behind the Minister's chair and directly inside the courtroom.

“Time to face the
music,” James muttered, his hold on Harry tightening, unwilling
to let go of the infant.

They sat themselves
while waiting for the Wizengamot, James with his attention on Harry
while Severus eyed the press, the public and the witness section of
the room. It was all a bit claustrophobic for him what with the
muttered conversations and the clicking of cameras.

He felt faint as the
members of the Wizengamot walked in the room, even more so as he
noticed the reduced numbers, and he wondered if that was a good thing
or a bad thing. Swallowing the saliva that had gathered in his mouth,
he stood up when called, walking on unsteady legs towards the witness
stand.

He repeated his name
and age before his former Headmaster stood up, staring at him with an
unreadable stare.

“You're a former
Death Eater Mr. Snape. The evidence to that can be found on on the
Ministry archives, why should we trust you with any babe, let alone
Harry, a child who will need constant attention and care because of
his status?”

Severus stared back at
him, leaning back on the chair.

“As you said, I'm
a former Death Eater, and that's because of Harry's mother. I could
say that, the debt I owe to his father and his late mother is enough
to keep me 'in line' so to speak.” he said, letting his voice
carry, making the quotation marks with his fingers. “But,
honestly, even if those debts weren't there I wouldn't do anything to
harm that child.”

“And... how can
we believe your word Mr. Snape?”

“You don't have
to believe anything Albus,” the greasy haired man said, getting
gasps and horrified looks from the gallery and furiously scribbling
quills from the press. “The only one who has to believe in me
is James and, later on, Harry. Both of them already know that I would
rather lose my magic than to harm my son.” He ignored the
strangled noises coming from the persecution, steadily looking at
James, who had turned to face him to fast Severus was surprised he
still had his head and neck attached.

“Your son? Record
shows that Harry James Potter is the son of James and Lily Potter,
unless...”

“Please get your
head out of the gutter Mr. Dumbledore. Lily was faithful to James and
vice-versa. Harry, while not my son by blood, is the son of my heart,
and I rather face the Dark Lord wandlessly than to see my son in any
type of pain.” He pointedly glared at the Headmaster, “And
that includes my own actions as well.”

“Your honour,”
the goblin begun staring pointedly at Albus.

“What's the point
of this questioning? I understand there was some concern over the
relationship, but Mr. Snape has proved time after that that he would
not harm Harry Potter, in fact, quite the opposite has happened since
the beginning of November.”

“Overruled, Mr.
Vendevie, sit down and let Mr. Dumbledore continue with his
questions.”

“Thank you,
Minister. One last question, Mr. Snape... You claim to love Harry as
your own son, what about his father?”

“I...”

“Your honour!”
the goblin cried, glaring at Dumbledore. “Mr. Dumbledore is
trying to cause discord between my client and Mr. Snape. This hearing
is about my client's son, not the relationship he has with someone
else.”

“Your honour, the
feelings Mr. Snape harbours for Mr. Potter can cause a direct
relation on how he will treat Harry in the future! If they for some
reason separate, what's to say that Mr. Snape will not change his
mind and his actions towards the boy? It has been known to happen
that people will harm the children to get to the parents. There's
nothing saying the Mr. Snape is not one of those people.”

The Minister stared at
both parties, conflicted. How did she get stuck in this situation?
Right, Dumbledore and Wesley were both crafty little bugs that were
persistent beyond reason. Anyway, she knew that was Albus said was
true, it did happen.

“Sustained. Mr.
Snape, please answer the question.”

For the first time
since he sat on the witness stand, Severus paled, staring around the
courtroom. James was not looking at him but his neck and ears were a
lovely shade of red that Severus thought should remain only for him
and behind closed doors, the press was waiting the answer along with
the other 2 marauders. Albus was essentially asking him if he loved
James, but the question was... Did he love James?

He knew he lusted after
him, he, just as well, that he could easily live apart from James. He
knew that wasn't love, not yet, but maybe he was heading that way?

“I don't know.”
he answered, finally.

Dumbledore smiled, and
he couldn't help but be smug at the given answer.

“Thank you, Mr.
Snape.”

“Mr. Vendevie?”
the Minister asked, staring at the goblin.

“The defence has
no questions for Mr. Snape your honour.”

“I see... you may
step down, Mr. Snape.”

Severus stepped down
with the same wobbly knees as he went up, sitting shakily beside
James, the questioning playing over and over before his eyes.

Could he have done
something different? Could he have helped more? He didn't know, just
like he knew not if this thing with James was just a passing fancy or
if it was the love he sometimes wondered if he was worthy of.

“I'm
sorry.” He whispered, not looking at James, his elbows resting
on the table as he hid his face in his hands.
- 20
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- 22
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Promises of Forever