The Third Parent

The Third Parent

It was a week into the yearly imprisonment and torture that Harry laughingly called summer vacation. His aunt and uncle weren't horrible to him and his cousin Dudley hadn't raised a finger to hurt him since he got to Privet Drive. Of course that probably had more to do with the fact that Harry had been locked in his room the second that they got there. At least they let him have his stuff and allowed him to let Hedwig fly around. They fed him, most of the time. He could always look forwards to one exquisite meal of cold canned soup a day, two if he was lucky and his aunt was generous. So far he had had seven smallish bowls of soup and seven half full glasses of water. Not that he complained he was too depressed to complain. Every night he could see his godfather fall through the curtain. In most of these dreams he was the one holding the wand that killed him. Every single god damned night he heard that horrible laugh. Now in his dreams he was seeing Sirius alive and well complaining of a pain in his chest before Harry pushed him into the curtain.

Harry was brought out of his musings by a tapping on his window. He was surprised that Hedwig had come back so soon. He wouldn't complain though. As Harry got up to let the owl in he saw that it wasn't Hedwig. It was a rather largish raven, or a crow perhaps. He could never tell the difference. Harry let it in and the bird gave him a letter and then flew away. Harry opened it, he didn't care if it was jinxed or not.

To my child Harry James Potter.

If you receive this letter then the first thing it will mean is that both your mother and I are dead. The second thing it means is that the charms and wards we used to conceal your parentage will begin to fail in approximately one day. We tried to extend them to last as close to your sixteenth birthday as possible but they will most probably fail before then. The third thing it means is that you are most probably confused and require a good explanation. Your mother and I loved each other dearly and we wanted a child but the Healers said that our genes weren't compatible. In this instance what normally would have happened in the muggle world is we would have gone to a fertility clinic and gotten a donors sperm to do the job, but we wanted to do a more magical approach to things. We chose the triplicity charm, or the third parent charm. This is where the two parents find a third party whose genes are compatible with both of the other two parents. This person then knocks up the hopeful father by using a male pregnancy potion and the resulting fetus is then moved to the mother's womb where it incorporates one of her eggs. So in effect the child has three parents. Normally the third parent would be involved in the offspring's life but given the nature of what this individual did, a.k.a. spying, we felt that it wouldn't be safe for either of you to have you know about each other. So I guess it's time for the big reveal, best sit down for this. Your third parent and father is Severus Snape. I found out his genes were compatible by accident. Your third parent was supposed to have been Sirius but he got squicked out when I approached him about it in a pub. I thought he wouldn't turn this opportunity down but... Anyhow I was depressed and drunk. The next day I woke up in Severus' bed naked, hung over and pregnant. And yes I am positive that he's your father as he was naked and hung over as well. That plus we did a paternity test on you when you were born. I don't know if you know him but odds are if he's teaching, like he has been threatening to do at the time of this letter, then you most likely know him as the only person who would hire him and the headmaster for the place that we have picked for your education are one and the same. If you do know him and hate him, as I suspect that you might given what he's capable of when he hates someone like oh say me, please understand that I deserve his anger for some of the things that I have done to him. I just hope that when he finds out that you are his child he will treat you better. I will always love you.

James T. Potter, your loving father/mother

Harry looked at the letter in his hand and then out the window. He crumpled it up and threw it in the wastebasket.

"I don't need this bullshit." Harry lay down on his bed and tried to forget everything that he had read that night.

Harry's life was normal until the next day at around that time when he got the letter the day before. He felt a tingling sensation that started in the area of his stomach and spread outwards. He felt as if his entire world had gone wacky. He could feel his limbs stretch and lengthen as he felt other as if he were made out of wax and were being reshaped by a sadistic three year old. When it was all done he went to the full-length mirror that he had solely because Dudley had gotten angry at it when he saw that he had put on some wait earlier this summer. Surprisingly little had changed. But it was obvious enough that anyone who glanced at him would notice. His hair was no longer unruly; it was completely straight and darker than it was before. Harry looked at his nose and was thankful that it wasn't Snape; it was his mother's. His lips were also different; they were his mother's now. His eyes were still the same bright green they had always been. And his face was still shaped the same, except that his cheeks were now more like Snapes than his mothers. His complexion had also changed, he used to be very pale but now he was pinker. He looked down, his limbs were longer and he was taller. His hands had long precise fingers and he was certain that if he wanted he could brew a wolfs bane potion himself.

"Where the hell'd that idea come from? As if I don't have enough in my life already I have to put up with this now too. Fuck. I'm going to bed and when I wake up I had better be myself again."

Professor Severus Snape was working in his lab on wolfs bane potion, as their new teacher happened to be Lupin. Severus could claim to hate him all that he wanted but at least he wasn't as bad as some of the other teachers that they had. He was at a tricky place when a large raven came in. Snape didn't like Ravens as much as crows but he still preferred them to pygmy owls. Snape ignored the bird until he was finished and could spare some time for the bird. He took the letter and watched as the bird flew off.

He carefully checked it for jinxes and the other such stuff then opened it.

To Severus Snape

I am writing you because there is something very important that I must tell you. You of course know by now that James and I had a son but I must tell you that he is as much your son. The wards and charms used to protect his parentage will have failed by now and I must tell you that he is the result of the third parent charm. You most likely will know how this is possible and remember when you got James pregnant. I thought I should let you know that it was not our intention to have you as a third parent, it was supposed to have been Sirius. But he backed out. That is how you got to be Harry's other parent. Please, I know that you aren't horrible so please look after him. You remember what I told you about my sister, you can bet that she would have married someone like her, and if Harry is stuck with them he will not be treated decently. Please take care of him.

Sincerely

Lily R. Potter

Snape snorted at the thought that he was a parent.

"Fuck me, when will I learn to not think with my ass."