Chapter 2
Sirius tore his arm away from Snape’s slippery hold as soon as he felt the world re-steady around him. He stumbled blindly away from the greasy bastard, leaning against a nearby tree, just breathing, hoping the dizzy spell would end sooner rather than later.
A few feet away, Lily appeared safely, with James and Remus on either side of her. Side along Apparition was never fun, but trust went a long way. James and Remus both looked considerably less waxy, than Sirius and Peter.
“Happy, Black?” Intoned Snape, cynically. “All your limbs are left intact. Didn’t even leave an eyebrow behind.”
Sirius’ glare would’ve made any less obnoxious asshole cower, but Snape just smiled blandly at him. Before Sirius could come up with a decent comeback, someone cleared their throat behind them. The group of teenagers tensed and looked up, Sirius’ hand snaking to his wand as if by instinct.
They were met with the sight of a very tall man, with a curtain of greasy hair and a nose that was as insanely out of proportion on his face, as it was on the face of his younger counterpart. Sirius expected him to scowl, since he’d only ever seen looks of hatred directed his way from Snape, but Older Snape just looked shocked and… were those tears in his eyes?
James seemed to have come to the same horrific conclusion. “Err,” he began awkwardly, messing his hair up as he always did when nervous or uncomfortable. “Hi?”
Snape’s eyes snapped away from Lily’s face, who’d been growing increasingly uncomfortable under the man’s heavy gaze. They darkened as they settled upon James, mouth corners turning down in an almost involuntary reaction to his presence. “Potter.” He drawled. “How unfortunate to see you again.”
James frowned. “Likewise, I suppose.” He said, eyes flickering to Young Snape. “One of you is quite enough.”
Snape pursed his lips and his eyes moved to Sirius. They narrowed in even more intense dislike. “and Black. Just can’t seem to stay away and leave us all in peace for more than ten minutes, can you? Even from beyond the grave, you must continue to provoke me.”
Sirius balled his fits and titled his head in defiance.
But Snape had already moved on to Remus, who just made his lip curl silently in disgust and then Peter, who for some reason received an unparalleled look of loathing. Snape looked positively murderous and Peter – understandably – shuffled nervously, trying to shield himself from the older man’s ire behind Sirius’ shoulder.
“I can make an educated guess whose fault it is that you’re all here,” Snape continued, when he finally turned away from the increasingly trembling Peter.
“Actually it was Severus’ fault.” Lily interrupted and she nudged her old friend in the ribs. When he remained silent she hissed: “Tell him the truth and quit lying to yourself for once in your lifetime, Severus. Honestly.”
Older Snape, who’d frozen at the sound of Lily’s voice, turned to his younger self, eyes knitted together in a stern frown of disapproval and authority. “Tell. Me. What. You. Did.”
Younger Snape swallowed nervously, before he quietly told the future version of himself everything. By the end of the tale, Older Snape was pinching the bridge of his nose in tired exasperation. “Teenage idiocy is a trait even I suffered from. But at least I grew out of it.” He shot Sirius a look that made Sirius’ blood boil in indignation.
“Still, kudos to you for reaching out to me. Colour me pleasantly surprised by your common sense.” Drawled older Snape.
“It was Peter’s idea to approach our future selves.” Sirius felt the desperate need to point out, since their Snape had been so dismissive of his friend.
Older Snape too, looked infinitely annoyed to hear this. “Well, in that case it’s even more of a relief that you chose to contact me and not the future Pettigrew.”
“We wanted to, but Sniv…” James cut himself off when Older Snape’s venomous gaze turned to him. “Snape,” he amended quickly. “contacted you before we could. We first tried to contact Sirius.”
“Well, had you landed yourselves a month back that would have worked.” He didn’t give them all a chance to process the fact that Sirius apparently hadn’t died as young as Lily and James, but recently. “Though I don’t know how helpful Black would’ve been. He’s never been the same since Azkaban.”
Snape smiled nastily, as he watched the teenagers’ mouths drop. “Oh yes,” he said silkily. “Black spent twelve years in Azkaban for the murder of twelve muggles and a wizard, with just a single curse.”
“WHAT?!” Sirius caught James’ wide, incredulous eyes and let out a small, slightly hysterical laugh. “Bullshit, I’d never do that!”
“Oh, you were innocent.” Said Snape almost lazily, as if as an afterthought, like this wasn’t a crucial fact he should’ve lead with. “Still, the Dementors fed on you all the same and except for the Order, no one believes in your innocence. To the wizarding world, you are and always will be, Voldemort’s right-hand man.”
Sirius was hard-pressed to believe anything this man said. “Bullshit. Everyone knows how much I hate all that blood purity shite.”
“Everyone knows you’re a Black and in the end, that meant more.” Snape said. “Even to your friends.”
“You’re lying, I’d never lose faith in Sirius!” Protested James hotly, winding an arm around Sirius neck and pulling him closer protectively.
Lily nodded fiercely from beside him. “We wouldn’t let him rot for a crime he didn’t commit!”
“Maybe,” Snape said noncommittally. “but you were already dead. I was talking about some of his other friends.” His eyes trailed meaningfully to Remus.
Remus looked appalled at the accusation. He turned to Sirius, eyes very earnest and pleading as he promised: “I do trust you Padfoot, I know you’d never hurt anyone like that. I’d never believe you’re a Death Eater, I swear!”
Sirius clapped Remus on the back, granting him a reassuring grin, before shooting Older Snape another glare. “I know that, Moony. Snape is just being a wanker, trying to create tension for no reason. I trust all of you.”
“Me too.” James said empathetically. “None of us would ever betray one another.”
Older Snape’s snort of derision was steadfastly ignored. “Your loyalty will make a fool out of you,” he muttered, ominously. “Trust is like glass. Only a buffoon would rest lots of weight on it.”
A strained silence followed his words. “Bloody hell.” Sirius eventually stage-whispered to Young Snape, a hint of genuine astonishment detectable in his silvery grey eyes. “You’re even more of a bitter, cynical sod as an adult then you are right now. I didn’t even think that was possible.”
James and Peter snickered and Remus and Lily rolled their eyes fondly. The two Snapes sent him identical twin glares, but Sirius grinned back, unfazed. He was just happy he’d managed to defuse the tension.
“Whatever.” Groused Older Snape. “Let me contact Dumbledore. He can deal with you imbeciles, I don’t want to see you anymore. I deal with too many idiotic teenagers throughout the school year already.”
That made Lily look up. “Dumbledore’s alive?”
Something foreign flickered in Snape’s dark eyes. “Yes.” He then said. His murmured follow-up; “For now.” was only heard by Remus thanks to his heightened sense of hearing. Remus sent the man a strange, searching glance, that went unnoticed by everyone around them.
Older Snape made a sharp jerk with his chin, gesturing towards a big oak tree standing nearby. “Sit.” He commanded, like they were a bunch of misbehaving animals. “And stay seated, until Dumbledore fetches you or I give you different instructions.”
Sirius and James shared a dumbfounded look, when the man simply left without another word, as if it hadn’t even crossed his mind that the teens could possibly disobey him. “C’mon,” said Snape as he dutifully plopped down under the assigned tree. “Don’t make him mad.”
“Are you scared of yourself right now?” Asked Remus in amused bemusement.
“Can’t say I blame him.” Peter muttered, as he joined Snape under the tree. “Ancient Snape is one intimidating mother fucker.”
“Ancient!” Spluttered Young Snape, indignantly, over Sirius’ and James’ appreciative laughter. “He isn’t ancient, he looks like… like he’s thirty or something.”
“I don’t know,” Sirius said conversationally, as he stalked towards the tree to sit beside Peter. “I’d say he’s pushing forty. Perhaps fifty, if he’s got good genes.” He gave Younger Snape an over-exaggerated once-over. “Which… he doesn’t.”
“Piss off.” Grouched Snape, crossing his arms over his chest huffily. “Shame you’re dead, or I bet you’d have been the ugliest old man, out of all of us. You’re not at all much to look at yourself, you know.”
“Well now he’s just lying.” James joined his peers under the tree, leaning his back against the tree trunk and resting his head on Sirius’ shoulder. “Don’t worry Padfoot,” he declared dramatically, pressing a sloppy kiss to Sirius’ cheek. “you’ll always be my first and only man-crush.”
Sirius threw back his head and barked out a laugh. “And you’ll always be the cause of my first bi panic, Prongs.” He responded with feigned solemnity.
Snape looked disgusted and turned to look at Lily, as if expecting her to share his plight. To his horror, Lily just looked amused.
“Nah,” James teased. “We all know that honour goes to Remus.” His smile turned wicked as he saw Sirius duck his head, suddenly embarrassed. “I actually very vividly remember the moment you realized how hot our resident nerd is. Your face, Padfoot, it was a work of art.”
“No,” Sirius denied quickly, blush suddenly high on his cheeks. “I don’t fall for straight guys, I’ll have you know I have an excellent gaydar. And I know when I started to like guys, thank you very much. It was in the changing rooms after Quidditch training in third year and I realized you were ripped-”
Sirius happily went on a tangent, patiently explaining the attractiveness of sweaty jocks to a dismayed Snape, whose left eye was twitching. The now horrified expression on his face, only served to egg on James and Sirius more.
As the pair purposefully riled Snape up by starting an animated discussion on their celebrity crushes, Peter and Lily joining in enthusiastically by listing off various attractive witches and wizards, Remus refrained from participating. Instead, he mused about the possible age of Older-Snape, hoping to determine what year they found themselves in exactly.
By the time a delicate popping sound announced the arrival of Albus Dumbledore, Remus hadn’t come to a definite conclusion. Snape looked ready to be swallowed by the ground, Lily’s cheeks were as red as her hair from blushing and Sirius, James and Peter were all in stitches, sides hurting from their continuous laughter.
The group quietened down as Albus Dumbledore stepped into the moonlight, blue eyes as twinkly as ever and white beard glistening silver. The man had already looked so old in their time, that he didn’t seem to have aged even a bit in the years that had passed since they’d last seen him.
“Professor!” Lily said, jumping to her feet and beaming up at him in obvious relief. “It’s so good to see you!”
Albus Dumbledore looked at his ex-student, the late mother of the courageous boy he’d come to regard as a grandson. He had to turn away for just a moment to compose himself, before he felt ready to turn back and face her. “Hello, Miss Evans.” He said warmly.
Lily’s smile had faltered a little. “Are you alright, Professor?”
“I am quite well, my dear.” Assured Dumbledore. “It is just wonderful to see you, after all these years.”
Lily nodded in understanding, grimacing at the reminder of her impending death.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Professor,” Remus broke in. “How many years has it been, since Lily and James died, exactly?”
Dumbledore’s face cleared as his eyes found the boys huddled underneath the tree. “Mr. Lupin!” He greeted jovially. “How delightful. And Mr. Snape! And Mr. Pettigrew.” He nodded to the latter, distinctly less exuberant, though he tried to hide it very skilfully.
He didn’t respond to Remus’ question, Sirius noted, as the elder wizard turned to greet him. “Mr. Black, I must say it’s wondrous to see you again, my dear boy.” Dumbledore told him, sounding very sincere.
“Likewise, Professor.” Sirius said politely.
Dumbledore’s eyes moved to the boy sitting beside Sirius. “Mr. Potter.” He breathed, sounding both emotional and awed. “It’s been too long, my boy. Way too long indeed.”
James grinned up at their elderly headmaster. “Hello, Professor.”
“How long has it been exactly?” Questioned Severus Snape, who’d evidently also noticed Dumbledore’s lack of proper answer.
Dumbledore tore his gaze away from James’ face and turned to Snape, who was frowning up at the old wizard.
“Lily and James passed in 1981.” Dumbledore told them. “It is now 1996.”
Sirius couldn’t help but gape. “We’ve been misplaced almost twenty years in time?”
Dumbledore nodded and sent him a thin-lipped smile that was probably supposed to come across as reassuring. “I am afraid so.”
Before the group could respond to this revelation, he held up a single hand. Sirius noticed that it was blackened, as if it had been severely burned. He wondered whether it was a recent injury or an older one and what the story behind it was. “I will tell you everything you’ve missed in recent years and I promise I will try to find a way to get you back home, but first I’d like to bring you to Hogwarts with me. It is dangerous to stay out after dark nowadays.”
“Dangerous?” Remus questioned, as if Dumbledore hadn’t just told them he’d answer any questions later. “Dangerous how?”
“We’re at war.” Older Snape said, from where he’d slunk into the shadows, making everyone except Dumbledore – who looked permanently serene – jump.
Lily’s eyes were very wide and very frightened. “At war?” She repeated hoarsely. “With whom? Voldemort?” She paled at Older Snape’s grave nod. “Still?”
Sirius hadn’t necessarily thought about the war that had been on the horizon in their time much, since their arrival here, but now that it had been brought back to his attention, he too was shocked to hear that the war had been going on for two decades. That’s a lot of war and death, especially for a small community like theirs.
“We had a period of temporary peace.” Dumbledore said. “But yes, Voldemort and his Death Eaters are at large once again.”
Suddenly, the future looked very bleak indeed. Sirius’ grim eyes met James’ worried ones.
“Still,” Dumbledore said, drawing from his well of seemingly eternal optimism and cheeriness. “Let’s not dwell on the future, for now we ought to focus on the past. Come, Professor Snape has kindly offered to lend us use of his fireplace.”
Dumbledore and Older Snape both turned and started to make their way across the lawn, to a Muggle street full of Muggle houses. The teens had no choice but to scramble to their feet and follow like a bunch of little lost ducklings. “Did he just call him Professor?” Whispered Peter incredulously to Sirius as they walked.
Sirius shrugged. “He’s a smart enough bloke, I guess.”
“I am smart.” Defended Snape from behind them, apparently mistaking Sirius’ comment for sarcasm. “I’m the best Potioneer of our year and I always get great grades for DADA.”
“I know, but, and don’t take this the wrong way,” said Peter nervously. “you’re not the most patient person I’ve ever met. I was just genuinely surprised you’d want to take that path.”
Snape frowned, unused to any of the Marauders refraining from insulting him and not having to come up with an equally offensive retort. He acquiesced with a nod. “I’m not very patient.” He agreed. “and I don’t like interacting with a lot of people at once, children especially. Right now I can’t imagine ever wanting to be a teacher at all.”
“I suppose a lot changes in the future.” Said Lily gloomily, still stuck thinking of her, James and Sirius’ deaths.
James wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I bet once we’ve saved your life, you’ll become a Professor yourself, Lils.” He said bracingly. “Charms. Or Potions, if you’re feeling up to competing with Sni-Snape.”
Lily looked thoughtful at that. “Maybe.” She said.
Snape didn’t look thrilled at the fought of having to compete with Lily for his future occupation. Probably, Sirius thought, because everyone knew that Lily was more than talented enough for the job and way more suited to be around children then Snape could ever be.
They came to stop in front of a dingy house that made Younger Snape scowl. “We live here? Still?” He asked his older-self in frustrated exasperation. “Why?”
“It’s ours,” Older Snape answered without looking at the teenager. “and it’s home. Now, let me just make sure a certain rat isn’t lurking around the corner. It wouldn’t do, for the Dark Lord to hear of your presence from any source but myself.”
He left Dumbledore and the group fifteen and sixteen-year-olds on his front porch. Dumbledore didn’t look perturbed by the casual mention of Voldemort at all, but the Marauders and Lily were discomfited. “He’s gonna sell us out to Voldemort?” Asked Peter, confused and a little terrified.
“Not unless I tell him to.” Said Dumbledore, which made five sixth of the children breathe easier, while the statement confused younger Snape. At his age, he wasn’t at all buddies with the Hogwarts’ Headmaster and this apparent change of heart and loyalty, surprised him even more than his sudden, future desire to become a teacher, had.
Older Snape returned. “The coast is clear. But I do advise we hurry.”
Snape crossed his arms, frowning unhappily as he followed his older self through the front door. The others followed silently. The house was very clean, very Muggle and filled to the brim with books. That’s all Sirius had the time to notice, before they came to a stop in front of the fireplace.
Older Snape – apparently unable to wait to get rid of all of them – quickly threw Floo-Powder into the hearth, watching with satisfaction as the yellowy flames turned green.
“Ladies first,” Dumbledore told Lily, gesturing her towards the fire. “Say ‘Headmaster’s Office Hogwarts’ and please take a seat while you wait for the others to follow your example.”
Lily did so, quickly trailed by James, Remus, the younger Snape, then Peter and lastly Sirius who was assured by Dumbledore that he’d follow soon; he just had one more thing to discuss with Older Snape. Dumbledore’s eyes dipped down to his blackened hand and Sirius had a sneaky suspicion he knew what the discussion would be about.
“Thank you for helping us.” Sirius said begrudgingly to Snape, pointedly ignoring the older man’s look of surprise, as he ducked his head and stepped into the enchanted fire. “Headmaster’s Office Hogwarts!” The teen said loud and clearly. He disappeared in a swirl of emerald flames.