I feel awful, because I never planned to abandon Lies. I had every intention of finishing it, and though it went through a few iterations, I always had a plot in mind as I went. However, I started this a long time ago, and I've changed a lot.. and I put a lot of myself into the story, so as I changed, it got harder and harder to write. Not to mention I've been rather busy over these years too.

So, to honor all of you who have stuck around so long, waiting to see if I ever update, I'm updating. I'm sorry I can't give you an entire ending, but if I keep waiting, I'll never even get this much up. So, it's up to you. There's a slight possibility that this might inspire me to actually finish writing, even if it's more abrupt than I originally intended. But then again, I might not, and now you can at least not be left hanging about where I was going!

I'm sorry again that this can't be a TRUE update in the full sense of the word, but I do want to thank you all for all the incredible reviews, and for sticking around. You are awesome readers, and I wish I could be as good a writer as you all deserve. Maybe someday...

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Anyway, I planned that this fic would go through the summer AND half the school year. I laugh at my notes when I see them.. it turned out VERY differently than I planned. Originally Harry was going to use his Metamorphmagus abilities to sneak off alone, impersonating different students and finally "creating" a few students just to keep from being caught. He was also going to rescue Snape from Voldemort around Christmastime.

Obviously it went a little slower than that, so I re-evaluated. Originally, I had it come out eventually that Harry was a metamorphmagus and Snape realized that he was Harry's father (he hadn't known because he was charmed to look different and then when the charm wore off, he was using metamorphmagus skills to make himself look like he used to), told Harry, and they had to deal with their being father and son. During the summer. Then I came up with a THIRD way to end the story which was what I was working toward when I just ran out of steam.

It went like this. Shortly after all that happened in the last chapter that I wrote, Snape comes back from the Dursleys. He is trying to justify his anger toward Harry, so he blames Harry for how the Dursleys treated him... he must have been pretty awful for them to treat him that way! Of course, Harry's just been through a HUGE emotional ordeal, so he understandably erupts perhaps a little more than he would otherwise... and magically kicks Snape clear out of Grimmauld Place.

This all happens while everyone's in the kitchen discussing what happened with Harry and how they are going to help him, so no one knows. A day or two later (while life goes on and they try to help Harry recover) Dumbledore comes asking if anyone has seen Snape. Of course, no one actually has, except Harry, who says he hasn't. Dumbledore leaves, still trying to find Snape.

About a week passes.. And then Snape appears out front of Grimmauld Place (outside the Fidelius charm) tortured almost to death and out of his mind (like Neville's parents). What Dumbledore didn't tell anyone when he was asking about Snape was that Voldemort had found out he was a spy... and his being stuck outside of Grimmauld Place gave them a chance to get him.

Luckily, St. Mungo's has been working on a new treatment for people who have been tortured this way. If they can be treated soon enough, a skilled Legilimens can go in and remove the memories that have driven the person insane, leaving them more or less back to the person they were before. Dumbledore has to be the one to do it, since he is a skilled Legilimens and the only one who can get past Snape's Occlumency shields safely.

So, Snape is back to normal more or less, but Harry has to deal with the fact that by not telling everything, he was part of the reason that Snape got tortured that way. Actually, it helps him to understand where the adults have been coming from for the whole story... doing what they thought was best, not asking him or telling him things that they didn't think were important. And he understands how bad it feels for them to know they messed up.. and he learns to forgive him.

In an epilogue from Dumbledore's perspective, we find out something interesting. You see, when Dumbledore was in Snape's mind, cleaning out the torture memories, he finds out that Snape thought there was a possibility that Harry was his son. No, they didn't have sex... James was infertile, or so it seemed, so Lily asked Snape for a potion.. what she didn't know is that to get back at James, Snape put one of his hairs in it, so that it would be keyed to him. Then Lily and James got pregnant, but the baby looked like James. Lily had figured out what Snape had done and charmed Harry to look like James, not knowing that he was a metamorphmagus. As a result, Harry's metamorphmagus skills hardly came out, until the charm wore off. Oops! And Snape thought that James had successfully fathered a child and Lily hadn't needed to use the potion.

However, Dumbledore knew at this point that Harry was a metamorphmagus, and realizes that Harry probably actually IS Snape's son. However, he makes the decision that having them both find that out at such a late date, and after everything that has gone between them, isn't a good idea. So, while he's erasing the memories of Snape's torture.. he also erases the memories of the potion and his adding his own hair! And the story ends with neither of them aware that they are father and son.

Okay, okay, I'm twisted. I like surprising endings.. what can I say?? So it was a Sevitus story.. they really were father and son.. but not your average one, since when we end the story the only one who knows is Dumbledore!