Holy crap, talk about a delayed update. My goodness. I'm sorry for how long this has taken. Real Life has been killing me. And for those of you who thought Harry took Snape being his father well, well think again.

Chapter 4, Father?

Location: Egyptian Temple, Middle of desert, Monday, July 8 1996, dawn

Raven sprinted through the long winding hallway, the breeze filtering through his wavy, black hair. His bare feet struck the alabaster floor silently, powerful legs thrusting him forward. His back muscles flexed in anticipation despite the unsavoury sight he knew he would find.

"Your Father has arrived."

Snape was here. If he wasn't so focused on running he would have spat a curse.

"They're at the border. Would you bring them here?"

He snarled as he flew around a corner, not heeding the enraged shout of the monk he nearly collided with; as if they needed a reason tho treat him with disdain.

There, at the end of the hallway, he could see the incoming sunlight streaming in from the courtyard. Propelling himself through the archway, he spread his wings and beat them rapidly to gain altitude.

Thirty meters up his eyes finally finished adjusting to the abrupt light and he looked out over the horizon. The sun hadn't been up more then an hour so the desert wasn't a bed of coals quite yet, for which Raven was grateful.

Scanning the boundaries of his vision he tried not to become entwined in the rapture of flying or the beauty of the terrain. It was hard not to get caught up in the rhythmic beating of his wings.

He returned his attention to the temple, his new home, and searched briefly for the road that lead travellers and supply trains to a night of safety and peace from the harsh land. He followed it carefully; he didn't want to miss their 'guests.' He wondered idly who else would have come.

He dropped until his feet were nearly skimming the dusty path, his wings kicking up sand clouds behind him. He could see four figures in the backdrop of the desert but the rising heat and shifting sands were making it difficult to make out anything distinctive.

Raven flared his wings and touched down, coughing as he inhaled dust into his lungs. Stumbling out of the floating sand he patted at his tunic and pants. Looking up he realised the group in the distance had stopped.

He sighed.

Should he wait for them to finally come; he could see them slowly begin moving in his direction once more. He almost imagined he saw Snape's billowing black robes.

He snickered. His father would not be wise to wear such clothes here. Already the day's heat was settling into his onyx feathers; he would need to be inside before it got too scorching or his beautiful wings would suffer, and him with them.

He pulled the offending appendages in close to himself, like a cloak, to act as a shield against the sun, and to keep them out of the way.

Now he waited.

Sitting himself down in the soft sand at the side of the road he pondered what to say when his father arrived. What could he say?

He fingered the talisman he had received from Teldrom his third day at the temple. He ran his fingers along the cold metal seeking out grooves in the miniature raven. Without this necklace their entire story would fall apart.

"Hello?" He rose to his feet, sliding the talisman back under his tunic's neck line. Standing a short distance away was the order.

He recognised Dumbledore instantly; it was impossible not to. The red-head on the far left was too young to be Mr. Weasley and, on closer inspection, was revealed to be his eldest son, Bill. To Dumbledore's left was the unmistakable form of Remus Lupin, who looked far more worn than Raven had ever seen him; beyond that, for the first time in the teen's memory, he appeared truly defeated.

But what drew Raven's attention was the figure standing between Bill and the headmaster.

Severus Snape the old, looming bat.

And yet, Raven thought gazing at the man from under the fringe of his pitch black hair, he's not looking so old, looming, or bat-like today. He had to hold back a snicker at the pale blue shirt and tan trousers the man was wearing. Even his face was different, less stressed. His hair, while still greasy, didn't seem so disgusting. Maybe it was the lighting.

Raven didn't know how he should feel at seeing the man again.

He had a family. A screwed up one, but still.. His father might not be so nasty to him now that "Harry Potter" was gone.

And yet the man had abandoned him. How does one respond to such an act?

"Are you from the temple?" Bill asked as he approached, slightly ahead of the others. Of course they would bring Bill, he was probably the only order member who knew the language and wasn't on some other mission.

"I am" He bowed respectively to the group as they came to a halt less than three meters from him. He bit the soft flesh on the inside of his cheek. 'I'm not ready for this. They're going to find out.' "I was sent to bring you to our home."

"You knew we would be here?" The red-head asked, startled.

"There are wards around the border." Raven laughed lightly. Bill looked discomforted, probably due to it being his job to sense wards.

"Bill," Dumbledore stepped forward so he was abreast with the other, younger, man. "What has the boy said?"

"Would you prefer that I speak English?" The four flinched, startled, when he spoke and Raven felt like joining them, abet for a different reason. No matter how many times he heard himself speak English he couldn't get used to his new, foreign accent. The wonders a magical talisman could achieve. They however only heard the slight rasp left over from Voldemort's torture.

"That would be helpful." Raven nodded at the headmaster as his gaze drifted back to his father and his heart began to race. They made eye contact abruptly and Raven could see recognition and horror spread across the older man's expression.

"Raven?"

He tensed at the whispered name. This was the moment of truth; how Snape treated him now would set the base for their relationship for the future.

The others had frozen and with a quick glance Raven could see realisation dawn on there faces. They seemed to be waiting for what was to come as much as he was.

"Is it really you?"

Raven scowled, all his pent up anger seeping to the surface. How dare this man only now show an interest in him?

"So what if I am?" He demanded fiercely. "It's not like you ever cared in the past."

He was gratified to see the older man's eyes twitch, from anger or otherwise, Raven didn't know. He ruthlessly smothered any feelings of guilt at the possibility of causing his father any pain. Whether at the Dursley's or at the temple his life would have been a living hell. Snape deserved all the pain he was getting.

Snape, for his part stared at Raven for several long moments before, to the boy's astonishment, he bowed his head in apparent shame. It was impossible to see through the veil of hair guarding his father's face but the slump of his shoulders told all.

"You're wrong, Raven." The whispered words drew a faint growl from the half-demon. "You have every reason to be angry. I'm not saying you don't. But you're wrong in thinking I never cared."

"Angry?" Raven snarled. "You think I'm angry? You abandon me in a hostile environment where anything could have happened to me! You never even came to check up on me! Why do you think they gave you the location to the temple in the first place? It certainly wasn't for owl purposes." Snape struggled briefly for a response before Raven cut him off. "You know what? Forget it." He turned away, back towards the temple. "I don't care. It doesn't matter. Let's get out of this heat."

With his back turned to the others he didn't see his father's flinch, nor the hidden pain in his eyes.

Severus pulled his shoulder out from under Albus's hand. He didn't need useless platitudes. What he needed was for his son to talk to him. Listen to him at the very least. However, his son was striding away from them at a punishing pace and they hurried to catch up. He made a point of striding up next to Raven, though he didn't speak. He merely observed.

His son was shorter than he had expected, though in hindsight it wasn't that startling, after all, his mother's height hadn't been overly impressive. He was a beautiful blend of both his parents; Severus's angular cheek bones and lank hair, and his mother's pert nose and large doe eyes, though the colouring was certainly and gift of his own. He had almost feared Raven would have had Jamilia's unnaturally bright blue eyes. He also seemed to have inherited Severus's build as well. All straight lines and not an ounce of fat.

He was dressed simply, from what little Severus could see under the strange black cloak he was wearing around his shoulders. A cream tunic and black trousers. Both appeared well tailored. Soft tan leather boots came half way to his knees. All pointed toward a life of moderate wealth in a small community such as temple life would be. His eyes drifted back to the cloak. Curious.

Apparently he wasn't the only one to think so.

"Interesting style, my boy." Albus said, a soft smile gracing his lips. "I've never seen such material. Where did you come across it?"

Raven glanced back at the headmaster, not even pausing as his sight passed Severus over. "I didn't come across it. It came to me."

With that the cloak flared outward forcing Severus to leap backward to avoid collision. There was a billow of sand they had to shield their eyes from. When the dust had settled Raven stood facing them, a massive pair of wings spread around him. There was an almost arrogant smirk on his face that was entirely ruined by the single tear that slipped down his cheek.

"This is my curse."

As suddenly as they had expanded they were gone, pulled in close to his body and again he was shrouded in his cloak of black feathers. They watched in silence as Raven resumed his stride up the barren road.

Severus swiftly returned to his place at his son's side.

"How is it a curse?"

Raven stared resolutely ahead. "They tell the whole world I am a monster."

"Monster?"

His son chuckled darkly without an hint of humour, "Isn't that what a demon is? Isn't that why you didn't want me? Most parents don't abandon their children unless there is something wrong with the child."

Severus stumbled, his chest constricting. Is that what his son thought? That his own father thought he was a monster? A creature not worth having?

"Raven," He began, uncomfortable with their conversation being listened in on by the others. He glared back at them and Albus slowed his pace and signalled for Weasley and Lupin to do the same. Once the three were out of immediate earshot he continued. "My reasons for not taking you in are many and all of them are complex, but none of them are because there is something wrong with you. And you are not a monster."

Raven turned and fixed him with a violent glare. He opened him mouth, no doubt about to deliver a angered tirade. But then he closed it again and frowned. It was several moments before the boy spoke, and even then he didn't look at Severus but at the growing structure in the distance.

"Why?" The words were soft and, dare Severus say it, fragile. He sighed.

"That's a difficult question to answer." His son shot him a dark look under his fringe. "Peace, Raven. The main reason at the time would have to have been the dark lord."

"You mean the half-blood bastard who killed all those people before I was born."

Severus gaped for a moment in shock. Recovering quickly he nodded. "An interesting way to put it, but yes. At the time I was a spy, passing information to Albus Dumbledore, the old man behind us." Here Raven turned to look over his shoulder at the others, verifying they were still there. "It was a terrifying time. No one knew who to trust or if the dark lord would attack their neighbourhood next. After my encounter with Jamil-your mother in August of '79 things proceeded to grow worse for me. With all that was happening, it was the darkest time of my life.

"Then, nine months later I received a letter from the head monk at the time. He told me of you, and your mother's death." He could see Raven flinch out of the corner of his eye. A soft spot. Now he knew at least one thing, aside from himself, the boy probably wouldn't want to talk about. "I won't say I was upset at the news. But it changed things. I was deep into the dark lord's ranks at the time, ferrying what information I could the Albus. I couldn't take in a child, certainly not one the dark lord would try his hardest to manipulate into a weapon at his disposal."

"And what about after?" Raven asked. He no longer sounded angry, but resigned. "Surely you could have taken me in after the dark lord had fallen."

Severus sighed weakly. This was one of those loaded questions he had hoped to avoid.

"Yes, theoretically I could have." He steadfastly refused to glance down at his son. "However, many of the dark lord's followers were still free, and there was a strong possibility the dark lord would return."

Raven stared resolutely in front of him as the road wound its way up a small rise to pass through a cluster of bolders.

"So," He said softly, a strange emotion he had yet to hear colouring it. "It didn't matter that aside from Teldrom, there wasn't a single person willing to speak a kind word to me. It didn't matter that I have scars left over from their treatment of me. It doesn't matter at all how much pain I went through every single day. All that mattered was that I couldn't be used against you."

"No!" Severus was horrified. How could the boy think that? What had the people here done to him? "Raven, that's not-"

He reached out to grab his son's shoulder but was viciously shaken off.

"Don't touch me!" Raven turned to him with a snarl. "I hate you. If you had even once shown any interest in me, then maybe my life wouldn't have been living HELL! Humans, you think words make everything better. You make a mistake and say you're sorry and everything is ignored, but you never actually learn. You make the same errors over and over but rarely face the penalties because everyone is so damn forgiving. I'm not like you. Actions are what matter to me. If you CARED so much you would have at least visited. Even just once. I hate you!"

With that Raven spread his wings and took flight, kicking up dust and rubble, forcing the four adults to shield their eyes. Severus, anticipating his son's move, swiftly dodged out of the small cloud of debree and rushed up the road after the shadowy form as it rose higher into the air and flew toward the temple. He should have waited to explain after Raven had calmed down from first meeting him. Bloody brilliant, Severus. Antaganize him, why don't you.

Reaching the top of the rise he took his eyes of of the dark figure above and beyond him and lowered his gaze to make sure he wouldn't run into anything. As he caught sight of the massive structure before him he couldn't help stumbling to a halt.

My god...

Teldrom was at his desk filling out reports on the progress of one of their new apprentices when the door to the room was violently thrown open. He had just enough time to stand and catch sight of a black colored blur before his papers were scattered to the floor as his charge leaped over the desk and latched himself to Teldrom's chest. He could feel the boy's still too thin arms wrap around him.

"Please," Came a desperate whisper. "Please don't make me go. He doesn't want me."

Again, I am sorry for how long this has taken. I've been having some medical problems and anxiety issues. I am also sorry with how short it is. My muse has been flitting from one story line to another without even looking at this one. Looks like an up hill battle from here. I apologize.