"Reset or Something Like it" (Eventual Severus/Lily) T?
Characters/Pairings: Eventual Lily/Severus
Ratings/Warnings: T but may change
Summary: This is a time-traveling fic where everyone who died in the first and second Wizarding War returns back to 1976 because of a decision Severus made in the afterlife. Severus is OP and Voldemort's defeat is not the main goal in Severus' life.
Chapter One
In an old, rundown shack surrounded by strewn, broken furniture were two men. One man, with large circular spectacles, knelt beside the other, the shins of his jeans absorbing the growing puddle of blood beneath him. He moved the long stick in his hand in an oval pattern as he siphoned the last of the silvery-blue substance from his counterpart into a flask. A gurgling breath could be heard strikingly loud in the silent room as the dying man struggled to speak.
“Look at me,” he rasped.
Green eyes met black and the room dissolved into darkness.
A grey fissure could be seen as if from a distance, widening alarmingly into a large crack exposing the monochrome world behind it. A strong pull could be felt from it, beckoning any bystander to come explore its depths. Not allowing room for resistance, long, thin splits appeared from the opening, branching out into the darkness until one grey line met another and broke off like black jigsaw puzzle piece. It floated away as if it were malleable, hovering over the crevice, twinkling like a polished jewel before the world exploded into a sea of white and grey hues as shapes constantly shifted eradicating what little darkness was left. A strange echo as if hearing a group of people converse from under water, their voices reverberated in rippling waves as the world began to solidify into armchairs, portraits and large bookcases.
Sitting behind a writing desk appeared a dazed man with black shoulder-length hair. His black eyes darted around the room in bewilderment as a fireplace appeared in front of the armchairs, as well as a fully furnished display cabinet beside it. Several plumes of black smoke appeared on his desk, spiraling upward to create an outline of an object before solidifying into a perch, ink and quill and dozens of piled blank parchment paper. Upon seeing the perch, the man abruptly stood, his chair noiselessly skidding back as his head scanned the wall of empty portraits surrounding him.
“Severus,” a masculine voice hissed out.
Severus swiveled in place, body tense and posed to run or attack as he searched for the owner of the voice.
A tall shadow stood in front of the active fireplace as if it had been there all along. It seemed transfixed on one of the empty portraits above the mantelpiece. There was something about it that seemed inhuman.
“Hogwarts? How fitting.” The figure said in teasing lilt but it did nothing to alleviate his suffocating presence in the room.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Severus discreetly searched for his wand in the immediate area but came up empty-handed.
The shadow darkly chuckled. “Can you really not deduce based on your last memory?”
Severus studied the shadow and noticed the outline of a cowl from the light of the fireplace when he tilted his head up to collect the portrait by its golden frame. Severus cautiously weaved behind his chair, making sure to not make it too obvious he was trying to put as many things as he could in between the stranger and himself.
“How predictable,” said the figure, his voice tense and short as he examined the back of the empty portrait. “Once again you’re protecting a mortality that does not exist.”
Severus’s eyes swept the room even as his brows furrowed in confusion. Trying to keep the stranger engaged while tactfully looking for a way out, Severus pitched his tone to utter confusion and offense. “Mortality? You seem familiar with me. Do I know you?”
Time seemed to stop for the duration it took for the figure to respond. When he did, he tossed the blank portrait into the fire and turned to face Severus. The darkness of the cloak blended seamlessly with the opening of the cowl. There appeared to be some the of spell or ward that was preventing the face from being exposed. There was no eyes, a mouth that could be seen. Within the cowl, it was devoid of anything human. It was eerily black.
“Know me?” The being took two slow measured steps to the stairs before appearing on the landing in front of the writing desk. He loomed over Severus like a giant, the height of more than two men. His size alone could destroy all of Severus’ efforts to maintain distance. The power that exuded from him hung heavily in the air. Severus’ back touched the wall unaware he had even taken a step. His chest noticeably heaving in panic as the being inspected him like one would a bug about to be squashed.
“W-who are you?”
At a close distance, the figure’s cloak appeared to move like cascading water with every predatory step it took forward.
“I have many names.” There was an underlying growl as he spoke, it was akin to an excited lion, ready to strike, sure of its kill. “Soul Thief, Reaper and Grim to name a few but most will know me most notably by my given name, Death.”
Severus gaped, wide-eyed. “Death?” His gaze cast downward unseeingly at the ridge of the chair in front of him. “I’m dead?”
“No, not quite. You’ve never been fully dead.” Death sounded almost irritated to admit it.
Severus’ eyes snapped into the depths of the cowl, no longer as fearful now that he knew who was in front of him but rather the probability of still being alive. “How do you mean?”
“You are damned, Severus. Doomed to live a cursed life, a half-life fated to always end tragically.” Death waved his hand in a blasé manner as if to imply he’d said this all before. “No, the real difference in all this is your remorse, your guilt. That has always been the key.”
“My guilt?” Severus said slowly.
“Yes,” Death elongated the word, pleased. He turned his body so only the lip of the hood could be seen but Death’s inflection as well as his body language gave the impression that he was patiently luring Severus into a false sense of security. “Your past lives lacked the remorse to be able to gain this opportunity. Shame your guilt wasn’t directed where it needed to be but such is the way of curses.”
“Forgive me for sounding a bit like a parrot, but what opportunity?”
Amusement permeated the air but as frightening as it was to be Death’s newest toy, Severus focused on getting answers.
“Centuries ago, one of your past lives had a seemingly clever idea to use himself as an experiment and ended up splitting his soul.”
Severus turned inward in thought but Death continued undeterred.
“To split one soul, one would usually conduct a ritual of sorts to both segregate and tether both souls together to create a conditional immortality but your predecessor pushed the limits with simplicity and tore his own soul through the use of the killing curse. He had a vessel readily available to automatically absorb one of the shards while the other half passed on to be reincarnated. Because there was no ritual to tie both souls together, both souls worked independently of each other making reincarnation possible.”
Death bent at the waist to lean on the writing desk but that and everything on it disappeared with a plume of smoke until all that separated Severus from Death was a simple chair. “You will unite with the missing half of your soul. I’ve waited a millennia for an opportunity like this to arise and I’ve caught you in time before you could be sent away for reincarnation.”
Death exposed an elongated gloved finger and touched the chair blocking him from Severus and it disappeared without a trace.
Severus stared blankly at where he thought Death’s eyes would be. “And?”
“And?” Death mocked. “Speak your mind, Severus. Enough hiding.”
“How is merging my soul an opportunity? Couldn’t I choose to not reincarnate?”
“Bravo, Severus. Bravo.” The sarcasm hung heavily in the air. “No one has ever thought of this loophole before.”
Severus sneered. “Spare me the dramatics. Just send me to whatever hell there is for people like me and be done with it.”
Death clasped his hands together still slightly bent in a gesture of submissiveness, but his playful tone belied that. “A hell, you say? It’s true. That’s what it’ll be if you choose not to reincarnate. You will be shackled to the world you left behind. An apparition of what you once were, manifesting the very guilt that steered your life.” Death raised a gloved hand as if to snap his fingers. “Well, if that’s what you want…”
Severus’ hands instantly raised in a placating manner. “No, please.”
“Ah, I see.” Death seemed all too pleased. “We both know there was nothing back there anyway. No, what you seek is in the past.”
A huff escaped Severus’ lips. He downturned his head in submission releasing his ebony locks from behind his ears to fan out in front of him.
Death plucked a tendril of his hair using his thumb and forefinger and lifted it out of Severus’ face. “I can do it, you know, send you to the past. You could go back to any point in your life and re-experience your greatest moments of happiness and prevent your greatest regrets. As long as you merge with the other half of your soul.”
Severus turned to face the tall windowpane, breaking the hold Death had on his hair. The world outside the Headmaster’s Office was a black and white carbon copy of what one would usually see if they were to stand in his place, but the grounds were devoid of all the staff and students who resided in the castle. How long could he put off answering before he was swept away to be reincarnated or chained to stay in the world he left behind as a ghost?
“Would I be able to go back in time to my school days?” Severus’ voice sounded young and vulnerable, even to himself but he didn’t overcorrect it in fear he would come across as arrogant and lose this opportunity.
“I can make it so.”
Severus let out a long stressed sigh, the window remained unaffected by his breath.
“There is a catch.”
Severus held back a snort as he closed his eyes. “Of course there is.”
“Your curse is an annoying little thing, tainting all it comes across.”
Death joined Severus to look out the window where neither of their reflections shown on the glass.
“I was there all throughout your life all along watching and waiting, altering when I could to help you find a way to find your other half. When I discovered the steps you were willing to take to compensate for your lapse in judgment, I knew I had to reach you. Through mortals, I’ve tempted you into accepting one of my artifacts. A wand made of elder made to amplify the power you’ve always wanted. An invisibility cloak to hide you from your enemies and a stone to bring back the dead.”
Severus frowned.
“Even though they were all within arm’s reach, Severus, the curse stripped you of the ability to take it. I’ve tried once more in the last moments of your life. I’ve brought you the boy who held all three, all you had to do was touch any of the artifacts and claim it and it willingly would have gone to you but the curse prevented you from doing so. It more than took your choice, it took your life. To prevent that from happening again, I will fill the emptiness that your other half left behind. When you merge with your soul, I will step aside and it will be as it should be."
“Why?” Severus shook his head, his face scrunched in confusion. “Why is my curse so important for Death to personally be involved?”
The silence that followed was deafening. Did he overstep himself?
“The act of splitting one's soul is manageable when done in the traditional sense. It’s a tactic I have used to capture the more corrupt. In my stead, these individuals take many lives in their lifespan making my work much easier but there is always repercussion for stepping into my role. The actions of your past self have hindered my ability to step in and remove such individuals myself. I can no longer cause an accident to happen to their soul shards and to make them mortal again. There is now an infestation of soul shards in the world and it’s affecting the balance that keeps me here.”
Expecting Death to say more, Severus turned his head to face him but something in the black depths of his hood stared back at him effectively pinning him in place.
With firm determination, Death said, “I will never go back there again.”
Death yanked his hood back revealing his gleaming red eyes which were striking against his dark grey skin and peeking out from the gaps of his silvery-white hair were pointed ears. Severus had a brief moment to reflect how human Death looked before a gloved hand pushed him off balance and the world erupted into smoke. Severus fell beyond the once-grey world into a kaleidoscope of colors.
TBC...
Cool little story. I wonder how it will all turn out and how everyone would react to their little situation.
Chapter Two
Severus gasped, jerking forward feeling as if he were just catching himself from falling. His labored breathing sounded loud in his ears as he placed a hand over his eyes to block the piercing light that surrounded him. He wrestled past the pain of his pounding headache to seek the peace behind the walls of his mental shields, letting out a sigh of relief when he succeeded. He pulled his hand away, blinking blearily at his surroundings and the familiar wide lawn near the lake within Hogwarts. He sat in confusion as to why he, now Headmaster, would be leisurely sitting down in such a vulnerable position outside when he should have been monitoring his less-than-savory staff members.
He went to stand but was yanked back by the straps of his bag he had hooked in between the bend of his elbow and the branch of the bush behind him. A paper must have dislodged from somewhere on him from his abrupt motion and he watched it flitter in the air before falling slowly to the ground next to him. Not one to waste an opportunity to have another clue as to why he was there, he snatched the slightly curled sheet from the ground and skimmed through the first few lines before furrowing his brow and rereading it at a much slower pace.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
First Name: Severus
Surname: Snape
Candidate number: 1976-34
OWLS- Defense Against the Dark Arts
Exam 1
14 May (Afternoon)
Severus flipped the paper around to see if there was anything else of notice but other than the listed questions there was nothing else hinting why he would have his old exam paper in hand. As the cogs in his head slowly turned, the memory of Death’s preternatural voice echoed in the forefront of his mind.
“What you seek is in the past…I can make it so…”
A melodious laughter sounded at a distance, followed by a splash of water and an accompanying giggle. Severus’ head perked towards that direction subconsciously stilling his breath to hear it better.
There’s no way. It can’t be.
A delighted screech lingered in the air but the feminine laugh that followed reverberated straight into the chambers of his heart. Severus stood without thought, letting his bag and exam paper fall to the ground. He walked past the bushes as if hypnotized, eyes zoning in on the group of females who were dipping their feet into the water. He slowly stumbled his way forward, eyes searching frantically for familiar characteristics until he saw her.
Lily.
Her auburn hair glowed in the sunlight. Severus felt his eyes sting, his heart tightening to an uncomfortable degree. He watched entranced as Lily tucked a lock of hair behind her ears, her green eyes shining in mirth. How he missed her.
It was when he drew close enough for her to notice the fear widen her eyes did he remember something Death had said.
“Shame your guilt wasn’t directed where it needed to be…”
It was at that moment Severus realized Death did not bring him back to rectify his mistakes with Lily. It was already too late, more than enough damage had been done based on her reaction. She had never feared him before.
His feet stopped of their own accord, the abruptness of it had him rocking forward slightly. He felt a lump form in his throat as his eyes softened when they met her confused ones. This was it then. There was no other way about it. Now that he was back, he had the chance to close Lily’s chapter in his life and push forward. He won’t be the main culprit to her demise this time. He no longer needed her light to know what he had to do.
“Levicorpus.”
Severus internally cursed as he felt magic take hold of him and attempt to flip him upside-down in the air. He swiped downward mid-motion in a powerful display of wandless magic and the jinx fizzled out. He turned to face his three assailants as they surrounded him, wands at the ready.
“Potter,” said Severus incapable of holding back a sneer as he summoned his own wand to his hand.
“Snivellus,” the teen responded with unrestrained disgust.
“Careful, James,” said the other in a loud whisper. Severus noted it was Remus Lupin by his shabby clothes and his light brown hair. “Remember what he did. He killed him. He killed Dumbledore. He’s powerful. He-“
Severus’ eyes narrowed.
“Enough!” Growled the last member of their party. Sirius Black. A hot-tempered wizard who sidestepped to try and take Severus’ back. “Dumbledore trusted the greasy git. He probably tricked him. Never again.”
Severus angled himself so he was facing all three taking a step backward when they tried to overtake him. He scanned the area wondering if anyone else was planning on joining in. He briefly caught Lily’s uncertain gaze before deflecting a spell aimed at his neck.
“Don’t look at her,” said Potter, a strange glint in his eye. There was an eagerness coming from him that differed from the other two. “Don’t even breathe the same air as her.”
On Potter’s signal, the three of them shot three different spells and Severus stepped out of the way and raised a shield but much to his surprise the spells rebounded and hit his aggressors. Potter immediately doubled over in pain. Lupin trapped himself in his own rope spell while Black fell to the floor, seemingly unconscious. As much as he would have liked to take credit, the spell didn’t hit his shield but another that appeared at the very last moment. His eyes naturally found Lily’s pale face in the crowd but her attention was drawn to the hill. Severus followed her line of sight to McGonagall as she took short agitated steps towards them.
“Three against one? Three against one!” McGonagall flicked her wand at Black reviving him before rounding on the three of them. “First Peter, now this? What has gotten into you three?”
She glared at Black who crossed his arms and stubbornly refused to meet her eyes. She pursed her lips in disproval and turned her full attention to Lupin unraveling his binds. “And you! I expected much better from you. A prefect doing this not only reflects badly on our House but on the school as well. As if I don’t already have enough on my plate with the Ministry here. Up, Mr. Potter.”
Potter remained kneeling, hunched over, his back rising and falling with each breath.
“That’s enough of the dramatics. I merely reflected the spell you cast. Up!” She bent to collect him by the arm but he collapsed without its support exposing the gash on his abdomen and the blood pouring from it. “Good heavens!”
McGonagall conjured a stretcher and swiftly levitated him up to it. She turned presumably to face Black and Lupin but paused when she noticed a worried Lily had joined their side.
McGonagall frowned. “Another Prefect.” She looked like she had more to say but probably thought it unwise in the current situation. “Mr. Snape,” she called over her shoulder. “I suggest you return to your dorm for now and you three,” she signaled to Lily, Black and Lupin, “follow me.”
She then returned up the grassy hill with Potter in front and disappeared through the entrance with Lily and the other two trailing behind her like lost ducklings.
Severus stood in place still stunned from what just occurred.
How did they know?
Were they from the future as well?
…What did they tell Lily?
Severus ignored the heavy gazes of his remaining audience and followed the trail of blood back up to the double doors and veered from it to go down towards the dungeons. He overheard a group of Hufflepuff students talk amongst themselves before he turned the corridor.
“-they found McKinnon in a secret room by the Gryffindor tower.”
“Aw, too bad. I was rooting for her.”
“She killed those two Slytherin boys!”
“Serves them right, they probably deserved it those slimy snakes. McKinnon was dead long before I was.”
They quieted as he neared, shooting him suspicious glances when he passed by them to open the dungeon door and let it slam behind him. He stayed behind it, ears perked to listen in.
Marlene McKinnon.
He had known her distantly as one of Lily’s friends who had died from a death eater ambush in her own home. They massacred her entire family using her as an example of what would happen when one declines the Dark Lord’s offer. Severus’ gut clenched in apprehension. Things were not following the same sequence as they were in his past. He thought he held the advantage of knowing the future but he was starting to suspect that more people have returned to the past than he thought.
Severus strained his ears but he couldn’t hear anything beyond the thick oak door. He let out a sigh pivoting in place to make his way down the staircase to the Slytherin Entrance.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Ms. Evans, please step outside,” said McGonagall as she used her body to block the scene behind her.
Lily nodded dumbly, eyes still transfixed where she last saw James bleeding out unconscious before the curtains around his bed closed.
Remus touched her arm, “C’mon, Lily. He’ll be fine.”
McGonagall guided her out when she didn’t move and closed the doors of the infirmary behind her.
Sirius immediately lashed out at Remus forgetting or not caring that McGonagall was still there. “It’s Snivellus’ fault he’s in there.”
“It’s Mr. Potter’s own actions that led him into the hospital wing just as it’s your actions and lack thereof,” McGonagall raised a brow at Lily, “that will lead to your detentions.”
“Aw who gives a fig about detention,” replied Sirius brusquely.
McGonagall’s voice tightened in warning, “I would hope you would considering you’re still a student in this school.”
Sirius scoffed.
Remus attempted to calm him down by placing a hand on his shoulder and reminding him where he was by saying his name.
Sirius shrugged him off. “I won’t be for long.” He stepped forward until he was peering down haughtily at McGonagall from his tall height. “You can deduct whatever points and issue however many detentions you want but I won’t ever regret trying to rid the world of trash like Snivellus.”
“Sirius!” Remus interjected.
Sirius ignored him. “You’ll find, in time, that you’ll even thank me for it.”
McGonagall’s face was expressionless but there was a twitch in her jaw that belied the emotion underneath. “Regardless of your opinion on this matter, Mr. Black, it would behoove of you to take a step back or an expulsion would be the least of your problems.”
There was an ominous sound that sounded suspiciously like cracking glass echoing in the corridor before Sirius jumped back. He shot her a wary look as a wave of small tremors surged throughout his body.
McGonagall appeared unimpressed by his performance. “I see something has changed in the past week to have led to this insanity within Gryffindor. I think my leniency has met its end and if you can’t abide by the rules of this school you all can very well leave.” She met each of their eyes as she spoke next, pausing a touch longer on Lily and Remus. “Against my better judgement, I’ll attempt once more to bring things into perspective. If you decide to leave this school, you will be leaving behind the prestige and reputation that employers search for when hiring new workers. Regardless of how high you mark in your exams, you’ll more than likely be overlooked amongst those with gleaming recommendations that cross their desks. It is here, in Hogwarts, where your Professors have those connections. Every proprietor and leader that you know of has sat in your seats, walked these halls and made their own name within the school. As prideful as everyone is of their own House now, imagine the alumni who have used it as a foundation for their success. How would they perceive those who have turned their backs on such a monumental part of our wizarding society? As budding young adults, I must stress the importance of such a decision.”
Silence hung heavily in the air as Lily and Remus stood in rapt attention waiting for McGonagall’s next words. Even Sirius was affected by her speech though he was rebelliously standing aloofly refusing to meet her eyes.
“I will give you until Friday to decide. Detention will be exactly at seven. Not a minute later.” She walked passed them with practiced ease of having already regained her command presence. “Twenty points from Gryffindor. Each.”
Sirius curled his lip at her until she turned at the end of the corridor before he said, “Who cares about the ruddy points when there’s a war going on.”
Remus’ mouth dropped in astonishment. “I care!” He pushed Sirius knocking him off balance. “You don’t speak for me. You can go off on your own and live off your riches but I don’t have that luxury!”
Sirius scoffed, “Oh, please. How good would your education be if you’re dead?”
“There’s still time for that,” Remus frowned.
“So you think.” Sirius brushed off non-existent dust from the front of his robes presumably to continue avoiding eye contact. “There’s too many of us that came back and who knows, we may have another Marlene in our hands but from the other side.”
Remus paled. “Still,” he faltered, “don’t ruin my only chance at this. I don’t have many opportunities as it is.”
“Fine. Fine,” Sirius waved his hand dismissively. “Keep me updated on Prongs. I’m going to go to the kitchens for a snack.”
Within seconds, Sirius was gone leaving Lily and Remus behind.
Remus rubbed his hand over his face. “I hate when he does that.”
Lily smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Yeah, he’s a bit of a loose cannon.”
“I don’t think he’s all there still,” Remus let out a long exhale. “He was in Azkaban for twelve years and even after that, he was trapped in his childhood home. You know how awful that place was for him.”
“I know. You’ve told me.” Lily patted Remus’ arm consolingly. “It’s okay to be angry at him, Remus. It doesn’t make you less of a friend.”
“I wish it was just him,” Remus raked his hand through his light brown hair. “I don’t remember James being that vicious as schoolboys. That spell is something I would’ve expected out of Sirius, not James.”
Lily’s eyes glazed over in thought. “Yeah.”
“It’s been three days since we all came back. A lot has changed.”
There was a long stretch of silence before Remus realized that Lily was no longer paying attention. He gave her a pitying look. “Let's take a walk and clear our minds. We could both use it.”
“Yeah,” said Lily, distractedly following him.
Several minutes passed with the corridor appearing seemingly empty. Light filtering through the stained glass and elongating its design throughout the length of the corridor. A distortion appeared from the shadow of an alcove before an elderly man with a long silvery beard shimmered into view.
TBC…
