Mirror, Mirror

After the debacle in the Great Hall all he wanted to do was hold his daughter. Snape had a private entrance to his room in the dungeons so Percy wouldn’t have to go through the Slytherin common room. The world wasn’t his anymore. The golden trio and Neville Longbottom were all in Slytherin while the Slytherin king was a Gryffindor. Just like Terence promised to watch over those four, he agreed to watch over Draco. He was still young and hadn’t cursed his soul yet. In the great scheme of things Draco hadn’t done much wrong, just a child trying to make his father proud.

As he was rounding a corner in the dungeons, he ran into the four that were on his mind.

“Why aren’t you in your common room?” he asked them.

“You’re not a prefect so I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Ron replied. The tone was a new one. He had heard his little brother be annoyed, whiny, stubborn, angry, and upset. This was…something new, and he couldn’t place it.

What were they doing in the hallway looking suspicious? He would have to mention this to Terence, he didn’t think Snape would care.

“We were just on our way,” Harry said before ushering the others away deeper into the dungeons. Unlike Ron, which was a tone he had heard from Harry a lot. It was the one he used to placate. Something was definitely up.

He knocked three times on the secret entrance to Snape’s chamber. After a moment, the man himself opened the door looking more tired than he had earlier.

“What is it?” the older wizard snapped.

“I was hoping to check on Lucy. Is that alright?”

Snape’s black eyes seemed to soften some. “Obviously.” He stepped out of the way and let him through the door. Percy had to wonder what it would look like to an outsider. A fifteen-year-old coming to a professor’s private chambers late at night. It wouldn’t look good for either of them but worse for Snape.

“Because some staff have family outside of the castle, only an approved list of floos can be connected to the ones here. The Headmaster had already approved Grimmald Place when Potter went to live with the dog.”

“Why do you hate Sirius and Remus so much?”

“Hate? I don’t hate. I loathe. I despise. I detest. Hate is not a strong enough word. The reason why is my own and no one else’s business.”

“Fine. I just want to see my daughter and make sure she’s alright.”

Snape led him to the floo and then went off into another room of the chamber giving him privacy. He went into the floo, Snape said that Dumbledore wouldn’t be able to detect it because of the precautions he made.

The first thing he noticed when he arrived was crying and several voices.

“Make a face,” he heard Sirius say.

“I am.” That was Remus.

“Maybe she doesn’t like your face,” Bill said.

“I think she’s missing Percy, she won’t even eat,” Remus said.

That got Percy moving, he found the three in the parlor. “She hasn’t eaten?” he asked, sounding harsher than he planned.

The three jumped but he didn’t care. He walked over to the cot and picked his daughter up. She settled almost instantly, a bottle was handed to him, and he started to feed her.

“We didn’t expect you tonight. Thought you would be too busy to visit,” Bill said, looking a bit relieved.

He knew why, Bill hadn’t dealt with a baby since Ginny was little. Percy had been helping take care of his nieces and nephews since they were born. Then when he found out he was pregnant he devoured every parenting and pregnancy book he could find, not even just the wizarding ones either.

“I missed her too much. Anyway, I’m not a prefect this time around so I don’t need to be there.”

“How is Harry settling in?” Sirius asked.

Percy shifted uncomfortably; he really didn’t want to be the one to tell him about the four Gryffindors turned Slytherins. “Um…well, I wouldn’t know. They aren’t in my house.”

“That’s disappointing but no shame in Ravenclaw,” Sirius said. Percy shook his head. “It better be Hufflepuff.” Again, another shake.

There was shock on Sirius and Remus’s faces, but it didn’t last. Sirius started cursing so much that Lucy started to cry.

“Calm down, Padfoot,” Remus said but it sounded hollow.

“Why didn’t you tell us he was sorted into Slytherin to begin with, I would have sent him elsewhere,” Sirius demanded.

“Because in my time, Harry, Ron, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom were sorted into Gryffindor. But tonight, they were all put in Slytherin buy the hat. And Draco Malfoy who was a Slytherin and took the mark at sixteen was just sorted into Gryffindor.”

“What is Snivellus playing at?” Sirius snapped.

“Don’t be daft, the Sorting Hat was created by the founders using old magic, not even Dumbledore could alter it, let alone Snape,” Remus said.

“What happened then?” Sirius looked broken.

“I don’t know. Something me or Terence did altered this timeline. That was the goal but not like this. I’ll try to work out why, but it won’t change anything. Harry is a Slytherin, as is Ron,” he said looking at his brother.

“Mum and Dad are going to be surprised but they’ll adjust. Ron isn’t going to hear the end of it from Fred and George though,” Bill said.

“Dumbledore looked like someone just told him Santa didn’t exist, expect pushback. He may even come and visit sometime soon. When he does, hide Lucy, too many questions,” he said, kissing his daughter on the head before handing her back to Bill. “I’ve got to get back to my dorm. Terence promised to look out for them. I’m trusting you with her, you’ve got to trust us with them.”

He didn’t wait to hear anything else, he just wanted to get back to Hogwarts and figure things out. If he put his mind to it, he could find out what happened, he just knew it.

Once he was finally in his dorm room, he felt like he could relax. His arms and heart ached for his daughter, but he was trying to save her future…all of their futures. None of his dormmates were in the dorm and he decided it was a great time to write in his diary. Since coming back he had put everything into it. Every memory and everything that happened during the lead up to the second wizarding war, the war and after.

Opening his trunk, he went to grab his diary but came up empty. He searched again, thinking he misplaced it. Grabbing his wand, he pointed it at the trunk. “Accio diary.” Nothing happened.

Where was it? He remembered putting it up a few days ago. He hadn’t written in it for a few nights, but he always left it in his trunk not wanting anyone to find it. He didn’t have any charms on it to keep people from reading it because he wasn’t at the burrow. There were only a few people that would try and read it, but none were at Grimmald Place.

Thinking back, he tried to remember the last time he saw it. It was the night he was talking to Terence about Dumbledore. There was no reason for Terence to read it because he knew everything that happened anyway. There were things he put in there that Terence probably didn’t know but it wasn’t from secret keeping just because it wasn’t important.

“Harry.” Once he said it, he knew it was true. If Harry heard him and Terence talking about him, he would assume that Percy wrote about him in the diary. He was right but Percy wrote about everything. The Department of Mysteries, the mirror, Lucy, and all that entailed. The Horcruxes, what he knew about them and what he was trying to learn. His distrust of Dumbledore and the man not caring about the safety of his little Army. Percy had put every thought, fear, question, and answer into that diary. Even having to magically add more paper so he could write everything he needed. The reason being incase something happened to him and Terence, the others would know where to start.

The boy who lived must have told Ron, Hermione, and Neville while on the train. Having read that they had fought together during the battle. Knowing how close they had become; it must have been shocking. It explains why they chose Slytherin, they needed to keep Dumbledore at bay. It must have been Hermione’s idea; she was a very bright witch.

That didn’t explain Draco though so he would have to just go with the Sorting Hat had a plan. The Hat was a master of Legilimency, it was how it was created. Meaning that the Hat knew more than it should, he just hoped it kept its big fat mouth shut.

It was going to be a long seven years. He didn’t think he’d be able to talk Granger’s parents into moving her like he did the last muggleborn. The boy had become so depressed Severus had been worried about his safety. Dumbledore wouldn’t listen though he just said that he should try and befriend the child. He was a professor, not a student’s friend. How would that even look? Maybe Dumbledore thought the line was alright to cross but he knew better.

“Professor?” Severus had been checking on the new students in the common room. They had two hours until curfew but usually first years stuck to the common rooms the first night.

At least Potter didn’t sound like his imbecile father, he looked just like him though, except his eyes.

“What do you want Potter?”

“What was my mother like?”

He froze in place not knowing what to say. Black would have never told the boy about his friendship with Lily. He didn’t think the two time-traveling busybodies would have told him either.

“How would I know?”

“I overheard Sirius and Remus talking, they said you were her best friend.”

“I’m shocked they could get something right.”

Remus was just as guilty as Sirius and James for his torment. He tried to give as good as he got but it was two on one. Remus just turned his head and ignored it, even after he became a prefect. Once in a while when he was completely outnumbered the rat would join but never when Severus still had his wand. They always disarmed him because they knew he would have been able to defend himself if they didn’t.

“How long were you friends? Was it hard being in different houses?”

For some reason, he found himself answering. “We were nine, she was my best and only friend. We had a falling out when we were fifteen.”

“Why?”

Severus cleared his throat. “It’s not important, it was a long time ago and it’s over now.” He turned and walked away, causing his robes to billow behind him.

Just thinking of her and that time of his life was painful. He became what Black and Potter made him. When he was eleven, he wasn’t a bully. He didn’t want to hurt people. All he wanted to do was get away from his dad and his drinking, his mum, and her crying, wanted to not feel scared every night. But Hogwarts wasn’t the sanctuary he thought it would be.

For the first four years in Slytherin he was treated like a sub species. But then he started showing out in Potions and word got around. By day he was trying to dodge Black and Potter and night he was trying to make friends. It wasn’t like any other house would make friends with him, so his only option was Slytherin. Not that he would make friends with Gryffindor. But Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw weren’t so bad. Hogwarts law must say somewhere Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff may be friends with each other, but Slytherins should only be with Slytherins. He knew a lot was from the pureblood attitude, one reason he was looked down on so much in his house.

“I’m going to show Harry and his friends the way to their classes before curfew,” Terence said, looking at Severus.

How could he love a face and hate it at the same time? It was so much like his other father’s he was surprised no one noticed. This is the boy he carried and gave birth to; he didn’t need any test. He looked like his other father, but you had to really look to see it.

“You are not a prefect.”

“We both know they won’t help them. They are part of our house; I should be helpful.”

“That’s not a Slytherin trait.”

“Nah, guess the redheaded Gryffindor is rubbing off on me.”

After Terence and the four first years left, he realized who Terence had been talking about. There was no way he would allow his son to be involved with a Gryffindor. Percy was one of the smartest ones, but he had a child and not to mention from a different time. But then again so was Terence…no, it couldn’t happen.

Not only would he have to put up with James Potter’s son, he now knew that Sirius Black’s son was in his house. Sirius could never find out that Terence was his son. The night Terence had been conceived was not a good memory.

Fourteen, he was so young and stupid. It was Halloween night and Lily had convinced him to go with her to Sir Nicholas’s Deathday party. He should have said no, told her he was sick…something. But no, she was his best friend and if she wanted him there, he would go. What she didn’t tell him was the only reason she knew about it was because of James Potter.

Once they arrived James was after her like an annoying prat. Of course, she didn’t really tell him that she didn’t want his attentions, she flirted back. Which left Severus alone and realizing no one was watching the fire whiskey. That was when he found out just the taste made him sick. He told Lily he was going back to his dorm, but she just waved him off, too busy giggling at whatever Potter had said.

He had made it a few feet outside the room which thankfully was in the dungeons. Meaning he would be in his common room soon. As he started to walk away from the morose, even for him, party he was stopped by a hand on his arm, forcing him to turn. He had his wand out before he faced the person stopping him.

“Where are you going Snivellus?” Black asked, invading his space.

“Back off Black.” One on one he could take the imbecile as long as he had his wand. But physically the boy had over a stone on him and was taller too.

“Can’t stand to be away from your Death Eater friends? You really are pathetic, aren’t you?”

Maybe he had something really wrong with him because after that, Sirius pushed him into an empty room. He saw the lust in the other boy’s eyes and for one time he decided to act first. Sirius had been shocked when he kissed him but only for a moment before kissing him back. He would like to say that it moved the ground beneath him, but it was awkward at least on his part. Sirius had been experienced but that didn’t help Severus. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. Maybe his memories of that night were distorted by what happened the next day.

“You tell anyone about last night and I’ll kill you myself when you do take the mark.”

The day that he called Lily a mudblood, the day that Black and Potter humiliated him in front of the whole school including Lily. It had been a mistake not to pay attention to them. That was the day he had decided to deny Malfoy who had been after him to join the cause. Writing almost daily telling him that the Dark Lord was interested in Severus’s talents. After the humiliation, the loss of his best friend and already the loss of his child, he had nothing to gain from not joining. No one cared about him, not on either side, he might as well become what they all thought he was already.