Mum's Letter

Harry; SeverusxLily mentioning

Rated T

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Mum's Letter

Finally everything had settled down since the war ended and I defeated Voldemort. The victory obtained after all of the drama happened a month ago and now it had finally settled. But that still didn't stop the influx of letters full of thanks and gratitude I was getting. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad people are grateful for what I did, but it was really nothing; I wanted to be done with it just like everyone else. However, not only was I known for surviving the Killing Curse and defeating Voldemort, but now known for doing it again and succeeding with no chance of his resurrection. Being Harry Potter would never guarantee any sort of privacy, alone time, or being left alone when I didn't want people around. Sometimes I wished that I wasn't Harry Potter; sometimes I wished I had a different last name that wasn't so popular with all of Wizarding Britain.

At the moment I was in Diagon Alley on my way to Gringotts. I wasn't sure if the goblins would be so happy to see me considering the last time I was here, I destroyed the place with Ron and Hermione and flew away on their dragon. Stopping in front of the large, white building and debated whether or not I should go inside. But I did need to look over my parents' wills and receive my inheritance, so I decided to forgo my hesitance and walk in. Before I could however, a familiar voice called out to me.

"Harry!"

Turning around I saw Ginny running up to me, a smile on her face. I gave a small smile in return, knowing that it was forced. Ever since the end of the war, Ginny had been persistently bugging me about whether we were getting back together. I couldn't blame her for wondering since I kissed her in Hogwarts on the night of the battle. I must have unintentionally instilled some hope in her. To be truthful, I just didn't have feelings for Ginny anymore, not the way she had them for me. It sounds crazy considering I dated her, then broke up with her to protect her, and basically watched her on the Marauder's Map while hunting Horcruxes. But despite that, I actually had time to think and I've come to realize we aren't exactly suited for each other. It was possibly Mrs. Weasley pushing us to be together coupled with Ginny already liking me before we ever met and the fact that I wanted to be a part of the Weasley family more than I already was that led me to believing that Ginny and I were great together. Now that I thought about it, I didn't focus on her much to begin with when we were dating.

"Hey, Ginny," I replied.

Ginny smiled at me and I cringed slightly from the amount of adoration and love she held in her eyes for me; luckily she didn't notice. Pushing her red hair behind her ear she said, "Fancy seeing you here."

Nodding I said, "I guess so."

"Anyway, I was just wondering if you thought about us getting back together. You said you needed some time to think and it's been a week. So are we going to start dating again? If so, I already know the perfect place you could take me," Ginny said, her brown eyes sparkling as she spoke.

Closing my eyes, I knew what I was about to say was going to crush her spirits. Taking a deep breath I said, "Ginny, I've been doing some thinking, and not just about you, but everything else as well. And I have come to the conclusion that after everything that I have been through and looking back on how I really feel about you, I think it would just be better if we were friends rather than boyfriend or girlfriend."

Ginny looked completely taken aback and she spluttered, "Wh-Wh-What do you m-mean?"

"I mean that I don't like you the way you want me to, Ginny. I'm not even sure I did that way when were dating before," I said. "I'm sorry Ginny, but there is no way we are ever getting back together."

I knew I had hurt her feelings extremely, but I was standing by what I said and no one was going to change my mind about it. As I watched Ginny run off crying, I began getting my mind ready to deal with the storm that was going to be the Weasley brothers and their mother. Ginny is spoiled by them all and is used to getting her way, not to mention they all already expected me to date and marry their little sister who had them wrapped around her fingers, so they weren't going to be too happy with this news. Oh well, I've dealt with worse things.

Turning back to Gringotts I climbed the stairs and entered the bank, giving a nod to the goblin that was standing by the door. I walked into the main room and walked down the large aisle, wondering if the goblins were over the stunt that my friends and I pulled. Judging by their fierce glares and grumbling, obviously not. Reaching the main desk I said, "Excuse me."

The goblin looked up from his parchment and stared down his nose at me before saying, "Mr. Potter, thank you for freeing our world."

"Uh, you're welcome," I said, kind of surprised that I wasn't being spoken to harshly or with disregard. Even though the goblins all seemed to look the same to me, I didn't recognize this one. "I um, I came to accept my inheritance and look at my parents' wills."

"Of course, Mr. Potter. Please follow me," the goblin said before hopping down from the large desk and walking down a hallway. I followed him to an office where he told me to wait for a bit. Not even five minutes after he left, another goblin walked in, and this one female though. She looked at me and smiled saying, "Hello, Mr. Potter. My name is Sheevannalynn and I will be helping you today."

I nodded and said 'hello' while waiting for her to sit in the chair behind the desk and get situated about why I was here. Finally she said, "You are here to accept your inheritance, yes?" I nodded in response. "Alright then, I will need to take a drop of your blood and place it here on this Acceptance of Inheritance form and then you will be able to view you're parents' vaults and their wills. Now usually their wills would be with the Ministry, but for some reason your mother insisted hers be in her vault."

"Why?" I asked out of curiousity.

"I can't say, but I imagine that it was because she has something on hers that doesn't match up with her husband's and didn't want anyone in the Ministry to know it. I can't blame her though; those wizards and witches are too nosy for their own good. Now if you will please extend your hand, we can get the inheritance underway," Sheevannalynn said.

I gave her my hand and watched as she pulled out a small knife and placed the on the tip of my middle finger. She quickly and swiftly sliced it, me barely flinching from it, and allowed by blood to drip on the document right over the line to place my signature. I watched as the blood splatter seeped into the document before disappearing altogether. I watched it as I healed by finger, wondering what would happen next. Even now, I'm still not completely versed in the world of magic. A few seconds later, a name appeared on the line, my signature. However what it said shocked me completely.

Harrison Severus Snape

"Wh-What is this?" I asked in confusion and shock.

Sheevannalynn looked at the paper and said, "This would be your acceptance of your inheritance, Mr. Pot-, no Snape."

Snape? Snape? Why in the world would the name Harrison Severus Snape appear and not Harry James Potter, my real name? Before I could ask any more questions to the nice lady goblin, she said, "Now let us go to your mother's vault. It was stated that you see hers first right after you accepted your inheritance. Also, she requested that as soon as you enter it, take the letter with your name on it and read it in privacy. She said it would explain everything. Now, let's go."

I nodded dumbly as I followed the goblin, my mind whirling with what I had just seen. We rode down to the vaults in silence until the cart finally stopped in front of a large vault with engravings of lilies on it. This was my mother's vault; it would be hard to mistake it for anyone else's. Sheevannalynn pulled out a key and unlocked the vault, opening the door wide.

Stepping inside I was amazed at all of the fancy things inside of the vault, most likely coming from her marriage to my dad. But if so, then why would the Acceptance of Inheritance document have Snape as my last name and not Potter? Remembering about the letter, I looked around for it and finally spotted it. It was sitting in the middle of a bunch of mum's things, obviously from the Muggle World. They looked like treasured possessions of hers that she got before moving to the Wizarding World. Walking over to it, I picked up the envelope that obviously held the letter in it and was shocked once again to see the name scrawled on it in what was mum's handwriting.

Harrison Severus Snape

What was going on? Whatever it was, mum's letter obviously held the answers.