Title: Liberation

Pairing: Snarry (Severus/Harry), Lucius/Narcissa, Draco/?, Remus/Sirius

Genre: AU, Drama, General, Romance

Warnings: SLASH, AU, minor OoC, mild character bashing

Summary: When Harry turned one, his parents made a decision. By binding him to another they hoped to free him from everything… Harry receives a letter just before the start of summer vacation at the end of 6th year and faces a very startling series of truths…Alive! Albus & Sirius. HBP out the window as well as the end of OoTP.

NOTE: Posts will be once a week after the first two, which I am posting together until I run out of pre-written chapters.

One- A Letter

Harry Potter descended on his trunk with a righteous fury, throwing his clothes into the offending item pell-mell, snarling under his breath. Yet again the Headmaster had seen fit to send him back to Privet Drive for the summer. Never mind the fact that Sirius had been freed as of the end of his tumultuous 5th year, he was being forced to spend another summer in hell because of a stupid blood ward.

He spun and kicked the trunk in his irritation, swearing under his breath when it reminded him that metal won against flesh every time. He sank onto his four-poster and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his foot. Harder to ignore was the fact that he knew some of his anger was placed against Sirius himself as well. Harry had told him more than once that he hated being stuck with the Dursleys, yet once again when the issue had come up the older man had folded like a stack of cards against the Headmaster. For someone who had escaped Azkaban prison and survived being on the run for two years afterward he had a startling lack of spine.

He snorted to himself. The tone of that mental comment had sounded fearfully close to the ever-present snarky attitude of the resident Potions Master himself. Snape kept himself confined to the dungeons these days; he had ousted himself as a spy preventing the murder attempt of the Headmaster last week. It was sobering to think that the Death Eaters had managed to penetrate Hogwarts itself with the help of newly-initiated Death Eater Theodore Nott.

Conspicuously absent had been Lucius Malfoy and his sneering wife, but Harry was counting the small blessings. The fight on the grounds of Hogwarts had been fierce enough. If not for Harry going against the Headmaster's direct orders and gathering the DA, they likely would have lost the confrontation all together. As it was, Voldemort was dead and the remainder of the Death Eaters were scattered across the country and shaking their heads and licking their wounds.

Come to think of it, his banishment back to Privet Drive was probably his punishment. The Headmaster had scolded him privately and then had told him he would not be allowed to stay with Sirius and Remus at headquarters that summer, eyes twinkling all the while (seriously, had that man swallowed a bottle of glitter as a child?).

A loud hoot broke into his mental thoughts and he looked up, startled. A handsome and very annoyed screech owl sat on top of Hedwig's cage, rustling its feather impatiently. The moment he relieved it of its burden the owl took off, cuffing him on the head with one wing as it passed. The parchment looked like a letter, addressed to him in unfamiliar yet carefully scripted handwriting. It was the date of the square, red stamp that shocked him. July 31st, 1981.

This letter had been written on his first birthday! He turned it over, studying the wax seal. It was gold in colour, depicting a Griffin and two crossed swords on a chevron. He broke it with one nubby fingernail, grimacing at the state of his hands, which had borne the brunt of his nerves over the previous year.

Inside was a letter, written in the same handwriting as the envelope. He looked to the bottom of the parchment and his heart stopped. James Ignotus Potter. Tears filled his eyes as he realised the handwriting was his dad's. What kind of name is Ignotus? he snorted. Still he treasured the signature, strange middle name and all. Besides some vague facts and one not-so-kind memory he knew very little about his father.

Settling back on the bed he began to read.

Dear Harry,

As I write this I am watching you play with your mother's hair. You are so precious to me, my son. If you are receiving this than I am dead, and I can only hope that I died defending you and your mother, for you both are my world and I would do anything to keep you safe. Anything, as it turns out, may possibly be quite a shock for you.

When you were born both your mother and I were becoming disenchanted with Albus Dumbledore. Understand this, Harry, I respect him greatly. But respect and agreement are two very different things. When he was willing to fight the Dark head-on it was one thing, but the subterfuge and political dancing is quite another.

In case you don't know, both Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy are spies for the Order of the Phoenix. I would hope you know about the Order by now, if you don't then it is most easily summed up as a group of people who are trying to fight against Lord Voldemort. Don't fear the name, Harry, nor the man. Fear is his greatest weapon against you, without it he is powerless. Not quite, but close enough for our conversation.

Back to the main topic. Your mother and I had been investigating alternates and we have decided at this point to go neutral. Why, you may ask? Because of you, my precious son. Dumbledore talks of nothing but his prophecy nowadays and there are only two babies that fit it. You and Neville Longbottom, the son of my friend and fellow Auror Frank Longbottom. He and his wife Alice have decided to go neutral as well. We don't believe that the outcome of the war should fall on two babies' shoulders.

Unfortunately Harry, neutrality is far harder than simply saying 'I refuse to fight anymore'. Strangely enough, though Severus Snape plays both sides of the war, he is actually a neutral individual, as is Lucius Malfoy, on this bizarre playing field called life. Which is why, Harry, we made a difficult decision today.

Harry, my precious son, this was originally your mothers' idea. It took her some time to convince me, nearly six months as a matter of fact. First Severus and I had to lay aside our considerable bad start and see each other for who we really are. Once this was done, I realised several things about him. Hopefully, those things will eventually become clear to you as well.

We met here at Godric's Hollow. Myself, Lily, Severus, Lucius and our witness Remus Lupin. Remy no doubt thinks you already know about this, but he doesn't know Albus the way I do. After all, the man gave him an education and for this he has a considerable blind spot to his faults. The topic of our meeting was serious; I wanted to give my son a safe and neutral future. You would always be a hot political item for your family fortune, name and political standing.

To this end, Harry, I did something I swore that I would never do. I officially betrothed you, my precious only child, to my wife's best friend Severus Tobias Snape. I hope you can forgive me Harry; I always hated the idea of betrothals when I was younger. But I fear that without this you would become a pawn to the Ministry of Magic and Albus Dumbledore, neither of which I can stand the thought of.

Severus swore on his magic that he would protect you and give you guidance when necessary. He told us he would be unable to do so openly unless you were Sorted into Slytherin, but I see many snake-like tendencies in you, my sneaky son. I will say this right now, my son, I love you and am prouder of you than you can ever imagine, no matter what house you are in.

If things have gone wrong and you had no idea of this before now, talk to Severus. He no doubt thinks you were informed of the betrothal upon your 2nd year at Hogwarts per our will. He does not open his heart nor lower his walls easily, Harry, but he IS an honourable man and will be good for you.

All my love,

Your father,

James Ignotus Potter

Reaching the end of the letter all Harry could think through his stunned disbelief was what the HELL?