Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

No I haven't died, and yes this is a real chapter. Thanks for all the reviews and comments and thank to my new beta Rain in the Dark for all the help. Sorry for the insanely long delay it's been pretty rough for me these last few months. My brother was in the hospital to get his gallbladder out (he's ok now) but I had to work a lot more to help with the bills. My current boss is trying to fire everyone at my work, the heavy rain is making leeks in my roof and I have to move soon not knowing where I'll be going. So not a lot of good stuff has happened to me in a while. On the plus side my cousin's getting married to a really nice guy, and NY Comic Con is coming up. While I can't promise the next chapter will be out soon I'm hoping the more positive vibes will inspire me even though this is a busy time of year for me.

I do plan on finishing this story even if it does take a while. I should mention there will be some character death throughout this story. Who and when I'm not going to say. Also this is going to be a multiple point of view story mostly switching between Severus and James' POV but other character's thoughts will be explored later in the story. I was going to split this chapter in two since it wound up being more than twice as long than I had planned but I had a specific stopping point in mind and didn't want to break up the flow. So enjoy a nice long chapter.

Heaven, Hell and Everything in Between

Severus Snape felt like he was trapped in a long dark tunnel with no way of knowing if he was heading toward the exit or burring himself deeper. He had no sense of time or space, but he knew he had to keep going. He was so close he could feel it. Suddenly he heard a voice. It was soft and warm, and it was calling to him. He turned and tried to follow it as it echoed around him. This was it, this is what he was trying to find. He reached out his hand blindly, hoping for something to hold onto, and then he felt it. It was a hand reaching out to him, pulling him out of the darkness and at last into the light.

Severus's eyes snapped open, more awake then he had been since his attack. He was forced to shut them again due to the bright light. But he forced himself to quickly adjust, for he saw something beautiful and he needed to see it again. He heard her gasp as his vision slowly came into focus and almost cried in pure joy. Lily was there, standing before him; lovely, radiant and alive. For a moment he thought somehow God had been merciful and he had been allowed into heaven. But surly, no one would allow him entry after all the terrible things he had done, for the greater good or not.

So his dreams must have been real then. Somehow he had come back to the end of his 6th year where the war was still only in the shadows, before he had taken the Dark Mark, and a time when Lily was not only still alive but not dating Potter. Unfortunately, they were no longer friends in their 6th year. Despite his many attempts Lily simply refused to even acknowledge him, so eventually he was forced to admit defeat, while in the back of his mind he had hoped his rise to power would somehow impress her. Merlin, had he really been that foolish? But the truth was that he had been a complete and total fool when he tried to justify his actions while lying to himself.

Well, not this time, that foul tattoo would never blemish his skin, not in this lifetime. He would protect her this time around. He would undermine his former Lord and take him down before he knew what had hit him. He could finally apologize to Lily for all his mistakes and ensure they would not be repeated. And here she was, even though she swore to never to speak to him again, here she stood before him. He couldn't wait to embrace her, begging her for forgiveness and kissing her feet even though he knew he was unworthy.

But as he opened his mouth to speak, he gagged on something large and long shoved down his throat. He tried to raise his hand to inspect the foreign object, but it was so weak it barely rose above the bed sheets. It was like the euphoria of seeing Lily alive was wearing off and he was only now realizing how much pain he was in. Years of suffering through the Cruciatus curses had heightened his pain tolerance, but there were very few places on his body that didn't hurt. His left side was pulsing with hot agony, and he felt like someone had taken a chainsaw to his neck and tried to decapitate him. He realized that the thing in his throat was breathing tube and fighting it was only costing him air.

Lily looked down upon him with a sad expression. He hated seeing her sad, and he hated it even more that once again he was the cause. "I'm… I'm glad you alright, Se-Snape." Severus cringed at her use of his last name. "Well, alive at least- I mean…" she seemed to lose her nerve now that he was awake. "I know we're not friends anymore, but I never wanted you dead. No one deserves to be hurt like this, maybe you'll remember that when you're out with your… friends." His heart sank at her cold tone. "But I doubt that." And with that she let go of his hand, and Severus was too weak to hold on. As she turned away to leave, he tried to cry out and beg her not to. He had so much to say, and she was right there and might have even listened, but the tube was in too deep to spit out and his would be poetic apology came out as a choking gasp. She paused in the doorway as if she was debating whether or not she should go back. "Did she change her mind?" He though while watching her in the doorway looking remorseful. "Did she know her words were hurtful? Did she perhaps regret that she had said them?" But suddenly he heard Madam Pomfrey coming back into the room. And with one fleeting glance his angel vanished from his sight.

The pain of his body was nothing compared to the ache he felt as he watched Lily leave the room. He barely noticed the nurse fuss over his vitals that had gone haywire only moments ago. 'How cruel.' He thought, 'I finally get the chance to see Lily and say everything I've wanted to say for so many years… and I am unable to speak and she was unable to hear.' As the nurse sedated him and he was blissfully welcomed back to the darkness, one stray thought crossed his mind. 'Perhaps heaven rejected me after all… for this is truly Hell.'

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While Severus slipped back into a deep sleep his rival, James Potter, was having a very rough week as well. First there was the horrifying attack on Snape, then he and his friends were accused of the crime, and now he had to wait for a second interrogation which only made him look guiltier. And as fun as the first one went with good old Birchwood, an ever vigilant Mad Moody was sure to be a blast. His friends and fellow Marauders were being very supportive, especially when they saw Moody dragging a furious Birchwood from the room kicking and screaming all the way.

Moony, who was already interviewed by the paranoid Auror, was trying to reassure James that it wasn't that bad. Too bad Remus was a lousy liar.

"And he's going to be ten times worse if he listens to anything Birchwood was screaming about." James said in an angry frustrated tone while he watched a few first year Hufflepuffs scurry away at the sight of him. "I can't believe this." He snapped as he watched the younger students disappear around the corner. "I tried to help that stupid greasy git and now everyone treating me like I'm... Snivellus." It wasn't just the Hufflepuffs either. The Ravenclaws were avoiding them as well. Even the members of their own house were eyeing them suspiciously, but the worst were the Slytherins.

Being the number one pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen, they had come to expect amateurs trying to outdo them, as well as victims seeking retribution. Usually Snivellus was their biggest rival, even though they would never tell him that, but now it was like the entire house of snakes had declared war on the quartet.

It had been nearly a week after the attack, and Snape had yet to return to school. They didn't know that he had in fact been relocated back to the school only the day before. But Snape's presence was definitely felt. So far they had been hexed, jinxed and cursed at. And those were the nice Slytherins. James suspected some of Snape's smarter Death Eater buddies were organizing the more spiteful "pranks", which they all knew were attacks in disguise. The Devil's Snare that found its way into their pots in Herbology was no accident, and neither was the little mishap in potions that left Peter and Sirius with second degree burns and no hair. Sirius was more vocal about losing his hair and wouldn't stop complaining until Madam Pomfrey grew it back. These were only a few of the many incidents, and the worst part was that they couldn't pin it on any one person and trying to blame the Slytherins in general was only getting them more glares. But the worst, while it wasn't painful or life threatening, was when someone had snuck a niffler into their dorm room, and it tore the place apart looking for shinny objects.

James, who had galleons hidden in just about all of his possessions, fared the worst. He wasn't sure what made him madder: the fact that his all of his stuff was ruined, the fact that Remus's good robes were now rags or the fact that they didn't think of it first.

Remus was looking at his already shabby clothes and trying to fight back tears. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't take it so hard, Remus." He said, pulling out a set of robes with only two long scratches in it. "See, this is fixable. I'll bet we can get Alice Briton to patch this up." Remus snatched his robes back.

"She might, if she or anyone else were talking to us." The bitterness in his friend's voice made James go over to comfort him.

"Look, this will all let up once I've had my interview." Although he wondered what was taking so long for Mad Moody to get back to him. "I'll just get you a new wardrobe this summer, so don't worry about it."

But Remus just frowned even more. "James, you know how I feel about charity. You always overdo it on birthdays and Christmas as it is. I can't accept-"

"No." James insisted. "It was my fault that everyone thinks we attacked Snivellus, so it's on me."

Remus whipped his head around in shock. "But that wasn't your fault!"

James smiled and held up Remus's most tattered robe. "And this isn't yours." Remus still looked like he wanted to protest, so James made him a counter offer. "Tell you what, help me get an "O" on my Charms final and then you'll have earned them." James could tell he had finally won him over. Charms wasn't his best subject, and since Lily Evans was avoiding him like the plague, he ready did need the help.

"Oh, alright, but only if you really do get an "O" and don't buy me anything before then." James slapped Remus on the back.

"Done! Although it looks like we'll be going to class naked at this rate. Might be worth the detention to see the look on old McGonagall's face when we-"

"AH HA!" Sirius suddenly shouted, making the rest of them jump. "I never thought I'd be grateful for being a Black. This stupid old trunk was cursed not to open for anyone that wasn't pure blood. Guess the niffler couldn't claw his way through. How'd it get in here anyway?" he pondered as he dug through his trunk.

Peter answered, speaking for the first time since they arrived to find their room in shambles. "The window's open, maybe someone levitated it from outside."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter as he started going through his spare uniforms for him and his friends. "Don't be stupid, Peter, no one could have levitated that thing all the way from the ground to the tower."

But this made Remus think. "You know, they could have been on a broom. Then it wouldn't have been very far from the window." Sirius smirked.

"You always were the smart one, Moony. You should go into teaching when you get out. You'd make a great Professor." While Remus blushed at the praise, James noticed that was Peter scowling. 'Maybe Sirius had been a bit harsh on Wormtail.' He though. 'Peter was the one who thought of the window first.' But it was hard to tell what the other boy was thinking, he kept quiet, like he usual did with little complaint.

While James was wondering about Peter Sirius got lucky and fished out four sets of non-shredded robes they could use until theirs were repaired. The ones that could be repaired anyway. Sirius handed Peter a robe much too large for him, and while he still said nothing, James noted it was dirtiest of the four and spotted with potion stains.

"Thanks, Sirius." Peter said with a bit of strain in his voice.

This didn't go unnoticed by James as he turned back to their smallest charge. They were all a bit distressed, but something about Peter was… off. After Sirius and Remus left the room, James held back a bit so he could talk to Peter alone. "Hey, Peter, are you OK?" Peter almost jumped, as if he wasn't expecting to be acknowledged.

"Who, me? I'm fine."

And then it happened again. James saw another set of strange images flash through his mind. First image was a demolished cottage that seemed familiar to him. Then a random image of Wormtail in rat form appeared before his eyes, only for some reason he was missing a toe. A dark figure was hunched over in a chair, shaking as if in agony. In front of him was Dumbledore, the twinkle missing from his blue eyes, looking sadly at the figure in black. "Lily and James trusted the wrong person." Before James could begin to work out what that meant he was hit with another one. "I had no idea, Wormtail, that you were craving more dangerous assignments," a familiar voice said silkily to an image of an older Peter. "This can be easily arranged: I shall speak to the Dark Lord —" 'What?!' thought James as he saw an image of a shiny hand, as if it had been made on silver.

"I can speak to him myself if I want to! JAMES!" James jumped and shook his head. 'What the hell was that? There's no way that Peter would ever be…'

"JAMES, SNAP OUT OF IT!" Peter was now shaking his shoulders, staring at him with a worried look in his eyes. "James… a-are you alright? You spaced out again, and you wouldn't answer me even though I was shouting at you."

James starred back, a little unsure how to respond. "Sorry, and what do you mean again?" He had a few other smaller flashes lately, but they were only for a few moments. He didn't think anyone else had noticed.

Peter looked even more worried at his friend's words. "You haven't noticed? James, ever since Snivellus was attacked you keep getting these weird looks in your eyes and you're dead to the world."

James gulped. He didn't realize it was that bad. But then, if it was that noticeable, why didn't Sirius or Remus tell him? Or… or was it the fact that Peter sometimes noticed little things, even if he was often oblivious to the obvious? But he pushed all that aside, trying to focus on the present, even though he was really starting to get worried, not just about the visions but what they were about.

With a realistic smile painted on his face he tried to reassure his friend. "Don't worry about it, Peter, I'm sure it's nothing." Peter didn't look very convinced, so James tried to change the subject. "Oh, would you mind switching robes with me? Yours are longer, and for some reason my stretching charm trends to wear off rather quickly on close."

Caught by surprise by the abrupt change in the subject, Peter held up his stained robes and looked at the ones James was holding. They were indeed shorted and much nicer-looking. "A-are you sure? These are pretty damaged."

James, still smiling, grabbed the larger robes from Peter and with a wave of his wand transfigured all of the stained patches to resemble the Gryffindor crest. As he held out his new master piece, Peter couldn't help but applaud.

"Wow! That's fantastic!"

"You bet it is. Just wait until those stupid Slytherins get a look at me in these. I love making a prank against me backfire." He said as he changed. "Well, I'd better get going, I'm supposed to check in with McGonagall. Hopefully she knows when Mad Moody's coming back, so we can put this all behind us." But just as he was about to leave, Peter stopped him.

"James, I-I know you can handle just about anything, but I really think-"

"Of course I can, I've just been a little distracted lately and have a lot on my mind. So you can stop worrying so much, you'll go bald before you're 30."

"OK." Said Peter reluctantly. "But I really think you should tell Madam Pomfrey -"

"I said I'm fine." James snapped, starting to lose his patience. He regretted this as Peter flinched and backed up.

"I know, but-"

"But what?"

Peter gulped and averted his eyes, but with sear determination he said in a rush, "It's just… Snape had the same look in his eyes just before he was attacked."

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While James was struggling to figure out just what was wrong with him, Severus Snape was slowly recovering in the hospital wing. While he absolutely hated the tube in his throat, it did prevent him from being questioned for the time being. Plenty of time to think up a good story and decide what his next move should be. He tried to figure out just how long he'd be out of action, but he feared it would a lot longer than he'd like. Arthur Weasly was bitten several times in the chest, but the healers knew what kind of snake had bitten him. Even then he didn't leave the hospital for a while. Severus was still bleeding from the neck on occasion. He wished he could just tell them what snake it was and exactly how to stop the bleeding, and thus cut his recovery time down by half. But then he would have to explain how he knew what bit him when no one else saw what he did. That was not a conversation he was going to have. So he'd just have to wait.

For now time was on his side. But Severus knew that losing it could have dire consequences. So while he was stuck in the hospital wing, constantly under observation, he did the only thing he could, he planned. Planning and scheming were two things he was very good at, and now that he was overloaded with all this new information he definitely needed to sort a few things out. The top things on his list were, of course, the Horcruxes.

The Dark Lord had intended to split his soul into seven pieces, a powerful number in the world of magic. But instead he made an extra by mistake. The extra was Harry Potter. The boy had somehow given him his memories, and the information about the horcruxes came bubbling to the surface. Severus could only guess how or why any of this happened, but he theorized while he was looking into Harry Potter's green eyes he looked a little too deep. Something in the boy must have wanted to tell someone this great and terrible secret that he and his friends were keeping. Whatever the reason, he at last had the missing half of Dumbledore's plan and now he was in place to do something about it.

There were only five of the seven horcruxes around in this time. Harry Potter hasn't been born yet, and the Dark Lord wouldn't meet Nagini for quite some time. 'Thank Merlin for that.' He thought to himself. He didn't think he could bring himself to ever get close to that monster of a serpent again after being killed by those sharp fangs, this time surviving by just a few moments.

So that left five to seek out and destroy. The diadem of Ravenclaw would be the easiest to find in theory. But this wasn't 1997, this was 1978, and the room of requirements would look a lot different now than it would in the future. The marker Potter used to hide his potions book in his 6th year was the broken Vanishing cabinet, but that didn't get moved into the room until Potter's fifth year after Montague had been shoved into it by the Weasly twins. He shuddered at the thought of both the cabinet and the fact that Potter Jr. was cuddling up with his personal potions book. He put the more disturbing image out of his head and turned his attention back to the vanishing cabinet. Peeves broke it in Potter's Second year, but did it work now or was it already defective? He made a mental note to look into it. It had the potential to be both deadly and useful to him.

So while the Diadem he could easily get to, the others were going to be trickier. He wasn't quite sure when the Dark Lord had given the Cup of Hufflepuff to Bellatrix or when he had given the Diary to Lucius. He also wasn't sure what was more dangerous, breaking into Gringotts and escaping on a dragon or facing a deranged Bellatrix while trying to steal something that belonged to her precious Dark Lord. The dragon was looking more appealing by the minute.

Now Lucius, on the other hand, he might have better luck with. He suddenly remembered Lucius had received a mysterious gift from the Dark Lord at his wedding. He never did share what it was but Lucius couldn't help himself and bragged about it. His wedding would take place during Easter break, but being in and out of a coma made it very difficult to keep track of time, and the days kept blending together. He had probably missed the wedding or was going to be incapacitated when it happened. It was just as well, he wasn't prepared to be in a room full of Death Eaters and the Dark Lord when he had no intention of joining them again. Not this time. While he may have been useful as a spy, it would take too long to gain the Dark Lord's trust again. Time he didn't have. He had to find a way to stay close to Lucius without becoming a Death Eater. That was going to be tricky, but if he could fool the Dark Lord for years than he could think of something.

The relationship between Lucius and Severus was… complicated. They were friends in a way, but Lucius was only interested in his talent and what Severus could do for him. He was using him, and Severus was well aware of it. It was beneficial for him as well. He was introduced to people that would normally never look his way, educated in the wizarding way that he couldn't get at home, and sold to the Dark Lord. Not that he realize at the time that was what happened, nor that it was a bad thing. One of the things Lucius did for cause, besides funding and bribing officials in the Ministry, was finding prospective Death Eaters. Not just lackeys that were good with offensive spells, but more valuable members that were either in a position of power or had something special. Severus was one of the special recruits. His skills in Potions, his talent for dark arts and his eagerness to prove himself landed him in the Dark Lord's sight. He didn't blame Lucius for his involvement in with the Death Eaters. As a young man Severus had been ambitious and thirsty for power. He had joined willingly, thinking he would become someone of great importance, someone powerful and someone wizards and witches everywhere would respect. So eager… and so foolish. He had no one to blame for that mess but himself. But this time everything would be different. He had been given a second chance at life and he wasn't about to muck it up this time around. He would have to keep his enemies close without getting in too deep.

The two that he might have a bit more trouble with was the locket and the ring. That blasted ring. Of all the horcruxes that was going to be the toughest to find. All he really knew was that it was supposed to be in the home of the Dark Lord's Grandfather. He didn't know much else, except that it was in Great Britten. Severus speculated that since Potter didn't find and destroy the Horcrux himself he didn't ask too many questions. His memories from Potter weren't complete memories, just clips and flashes. He would wait on the ring, there was still a chance he'd receive more information later on.

The Locket was the newest of the five horcruxes, and Severus didn't think it was in place yet. While the Dark Lord has had the locket for years, he didn't make it into a horcrux until recently. He didn't hide it until just before Regulus Black died. Severus didn't know of Regulus's fate until he received Potter's memories, but he felt sorry for the boy. One of many who joined up not fully realizing what they were getting into until it was too late. He wouldn't die until next year, so maybe there was a chance he could help the boy and get his hands on the horcrux.

And that led to another problem. He had no way of destroying them. He wasn't about to go into the Chamber of Secrets and kill the basilisk, and fiendfyre was dangerous even in the most capable hands. He wasn't willing to risk burning down the school and exposing his plot to the world. No, he needed a different way. He also needed more information on the horcruxes themselves.

By the time the healer came back to check on him, Severus had found himself with a rather long to-do list and decided to call it a night. He suspected they were adding a sleeping draft to his pain potion, so he let himself drift off. He couldn't do much from bed, and ever since Lily's visit he had been having lovely dreams of her. Now that she was alive it was like his mind was allowing himself to remember the happier times. But he would never forget. She was safe for now, but soon she would be targeted and his dreams would once again turn into nightmares. This time, he swore to himself, he would keep her safe no matter what the cost.

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Unbeknownst to Severus Snape, some of the same images were popping up in the mind of someone else. James Potter was seriously worried he might be going mad. Ever since the attack on Severus Snape strange and horrible images were bombarding his mind whether he was asleep or awake. He was lucky to get an hour or two of sleep a night, and his school work was suffering. Even in his favorite class, Transfiguration, McGonagall was getting worried about her best student. By now both Remus and Sirius had noticed his strange behavior, but he was stubbornly refusing to let them try and help. The truth was ever since Peter mentioned he was acting like Snape had the day he was attacked he had been trying to distance himself from them. He didn't want them to get hurt if the thing that got Snape attacked him as well.

But his resolve was failing. He wanted to tell them, but that might make them suspects again and he couldn't tell any of the teachers, he would be carted off to St. Mungo's before you could say "Mad".

And one day, nearly three weeks after the attack, everything changed. His reality, beliefs, and his trust all came crashing down around him. During his N.E.W.T. Transfiguration class he had his worst episode yet. He was standing in front of a wrecked house with the dark mark hanging ominously above the caved in roof. He didn't want to go in, he was afraid of what he would find, but he had to. Maybe they were just injured and could still be helped. Slowly he crept to the door, which was blown off its hinges. He could see something lying just beyond the entrance, no, not something, someone. He could see from the shoes that it was a man.

Once again, James was experiencing emotions that weren't his. He felt a mixture of relief and fear all at once. This wasn't the person he was looking for, maybe she escaped. Moving cautiously, he stepped around the body and looked down, and James found himself starring face to face with his own corpse.

The image stopped abruptly as James let out a terrifying shriek and jumped from his seat. The other students jumped as well and looked around confused to see what it was Potter was screaming about. With Snape's attack fresh in her mind, Professor McGonagall abandoned her lesson and raced to James. But with all the confusion some of the students were trying to back away from the screaming boy and got in her way. James tripped on someone's bag and fell to the ground, hitting his head on a desk along the way. The last thing he saw was McGonagall quickly toward him with a scared look on her face.

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While James was being brought back the hospital wing, Severus Snape was celebrating the removal of that ghastly breathing tube. He still needed a spell to make sure he wouldn't stop breathing, but it was a thousand times better than that horrid contraption. He was supposed to rest his voice before trying to talk, and he knew as soon as he was able they would be asking him what happened. Fortunately, he knew exactly to say to keep some attention off of him for the time being. It was just before supper, but he was starting to fall asleep again. He hated the fact that his insomniac sleeping schedule was all over the place, but there was little he could do about it. Best to get better so he could begin his plans.

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Severus was out like a light when Potter was brought in. While Madam Pomfrey was able to fix the cut on James' head in moments, she told him wasn't sure of the cause of the strange behavior. She woke him up, but he James very disoriented and confused. After a few more tests and she was sure there was no concussion or brain damage, she gave him a sleeping draft laced with a bit of dreamless sleep and he was out like a light.

James didn't wake up again until 5:00 the next morning. He was still a little confused, but he felt more rested than he had in weeks. Last night, after he ate his supper, Professor Dumbledore came to see him and asked how he was feeling. James tried to remember what happened, but he couldn't remember how he had gotten hurt. The headmaster seemed to believe him, but said he would like to talk again in the morning. Unfortunately, with his memory loss he had to stay in the hospital wing until Madam Pomfrey was sure he was OK. To make matters worse, he was in isolation and unable to see his friends who were, no doubt, threatening to break down the doors if he was kept longer than a day.

Now that he was awake, James was feeling fine. And while he toyed around with the idea of escaping, he knew Madam Pomfrey was not one to be crossed, especially after what happened to Snivellus. But why couldn't he remember what happened during transfiguration? It felt like there was a blank spot in his mind just waiting to be filled. And he knew he wasn't going to like it.

Right now, though, he was bored, he didn't even have his school books with him to try and catch-up with his homework. Unable to stay in bed any longer, he got up and went looking for a drink of water for lack of anything better to do. As he wandered to the end of the hospital wing, he heard a sudden and violent cough.

James's eyes were drawn to a secluded corner blocked off by privacy walls. He wondered who it could be, he was supposed to be the only one here tonight, and everyone else had already been discharged. With his usually reckless curiosity he moved closer to the bed secluded in the corner. But a funny thing happened, the closer he got the more he started to remember how he ended up in the hospital wing. He grabbed his head as memories of the broken house and finding his own dead body came rushing back. He held back a scream, but not the grunts of pain as more and more memories he had seen over the last few weeks assaulted him one after another.

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Severus Snape awoke with a painful cough. He clutched his neck, trying to soothe in. When he was sure the coughing fit had subsided, he took a few small sips of water to ease his burning throat. He was relieved that there was no blood this time. It meant his throat was finally starting to heal and that he didn't have to call Madam Pomfrey. He was about to lay back down when he heard someone just outside of the privacy curtain surrounding his bed. He slowly reached for his wand that he had hidden under his pillow trying to stay as quiet as he could. There was a powerful disillusionment charm placed around his bed after Lily had snuck in, so no one beside her, Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore and McGonagall should have known he was there. Nevertheless, he kept up his guard, he was still very weak and it could be anyone out there. Suddenly the screen was shoved aside, and standing before him was a slightly deranged James Potter, staring at him like he had seen a ghost.

"Y-you!"James said in a shaky voice, trembling slightly. Severus kept his wand on the other boy, but didn't make any sudden movements. "What did you do to me, Snivellus?"

Severus was a little unnerved by the wild look in his rival's eyes. He didn't know what he was raving about or how he saw through the disillusionment charm.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Potter, but I haven't been able to get out of bed since I was nearly killed several weeks ago. You may wish to have Madam Pomfrey examine your head, your brain seems to be more muddled than usual." He would have gone on longer, but his throat seized up. His voice was also very rough from the damage and the weeks of non-use.

James Potter, however, wasn't very sympathetic. "Cut the crap, Snivelly! What the Hell happened the day you nearly bled out all over me? Ever since then I've been seeing things. At first I didn't know what I was seeing, but now I do. Somehow I'm seeing your memories!"

Severus' eyes snapped opened. What in the name of Merlin was this fool playing at? "Unless you've become a world class legilimency master overnight I'd say that was highly unlikely, and that head examination I mentioned before seems even more necessary."

Not surprisingly, this only made James angrier. "If my head's damaged it's because you've done something to it!" Severus was getting a little concerned. Fortunately, Potter seems to have left his wand back at his own bed and he still had a way to summon Madam Pomfrey if he needed help in a hurry.

"Why don't we calm down a bit and elaborate on how I supposedly broke your brain?" He said in a calm voice, trying to keep the other boy from attacking him. He had learned over the years how to take down just about any opponent, even the ones who were stronger then himself. But he was always cautious around crazy people. Nutters like Bellatrix were hard to predict, and for someone like Snape, who liked being in control, he tended to avoid mad people when he could. Unfortunately, right now he couldn't, so he'd have to deal, even if that meant listening to Potter Senior's insane rants.

James wasn't fooled by Snape's calm demeanor. He knew he was dealing with a little snake, waiting patiently for a change to strike. He was kicking himself for leaving his wand at the other end of the ward, but he wasn't about to turn his back on Snape, even if he was bed ridden. He needed answers, answers that only the little greasy git could give him.

"I don't know how you did it or even what you did, but ever since then I've been getting flashes of memories. Memories I know now are yours. Like when you were almost bitten by Remus, when you called Lily… that word, but that's not all. I'm seeing stuff that hasn't happened yet, but they're just as real as the others."

Severus raised an eyebrow but didn't interrupt, he needed to know just what the other boy thought he saw.

"I saw that my best mate wound up in prison, another became a death Eater, and me… dead at my own front door." Now he had Severus's full attention. He didn't know how it was possible, but somehow Potter had gotten into his head. "And then there were a lot of other things that didn't make a lot of sense. And then…" he paused, looking consciously at the injured boy. "…I saw you die. That weird bloke with red eyes and no nose set his huge snake on you." This was bad, Snape thought. "How did you die somewhere else and are alive here?" James asked as if he was confused by his own question. Snape was livid, he was finally in position to stop the Dark Lord before it was too late, and this imbecile and his big mouth could cost him everything.

James's eyes fell upon Snape's neck and pointed. "There… that snake bit you right there." Severus had to think fast."And it killed you…so how the bloody hell did it happen again, and this time you survived?"

Severus used legilimency to gently probe Potter's mind for the memories he was raving about. It was easy, they were in the forefront of his mind. They were choppy clips of his own memories that seemed to be scattered everywhere. Worst of all, some seemed to be newer than others, meaning even if he obliviated the idiot there was a chance others would pop up. He couldn't kill him either. They were the only ones in the hospital wing. Two go in, one comes out, you do the math. He cursed to himself; he didn't have a choice, he would have to let Potter in on some of the details before he told the wrong person.

He took a deep breath and thankfully didn't start coughing again. "Because… the snake didn't attack me in the hallway outside the transfiguration room several weeks ago, I was attacked in the shrieking shack on May 2nd 1998."

James Potter looked even more confused. "That's… that's not possible."

"Normally I would agree with that statement, but in this case it's true."

"You… you're not Snape. Who the hell are you?"

"I am in fact Severus Snape, but not the one you remember. The easiest way to explain my situation is that I lived my life until I was 38 when I was struck down. Somehow my consciousness, presence, or soul was sent back to that night outside the transfiguration room, and for reasons even I'm not sure of I relived my death."

Severus waited as James tried to take this entire information in. "So you're telling me you're from the future and that you came back from the dead?"

"More like reliving my life, I don't think I actually passed all the way through the veil. At least not that I remember."

"You expect me to believe that."

"Whether you believe me or not doesn't alter the fact that it's true. How else do explain all of those images of events that have yet to come to pass?"

James was looking a little green. He didn't want to believe what Snape was telling him, but somehow he knew it was the truth, he could feel it was the truth. But if that was true then all of those images were real. Sirius was going to wind up in prison, Peter would become a death Eater, and himself… dead. But surely that couldn't be their future, there was just no way.

"How did this- I mean, how is all of this possible?"

"I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that."

"Well, how about how I somehow got stuck in your head? Any answers for that?"

Severus did have an idea, it was just a theory, but it could keep Potter at bay and buy himself some time. "This is only a theory, but as I lay dying the first time I allowed some of my memories to become tangible so that they could be found and used by… the right person." He paused, not sure if he should mention Potter's son just yet. "Since I ended up reliving my death as my spirit merged with my younger self, I also ended up repeating my actions at the time of my death. It's possible some of my memories, more than I was trying to release, escaped, mixing with my blood."

"So when I tried to save you, I got drenched with your blood and they seeped into me by mistake?"

"It's the best theory we have right now."

James collapsed into a nearby chair, finally seeming to grasp the situation. "Now what do we do?"

"What do you mean we?"

"We've got to tell someone, we've got to stop all of those…things from happening. Dumbledore-"

"Absolutely NOT!" Snape shouted, but abruptly broke out into a coughing fit. He grabbed his throat, trying to soothe his still healing injury. "We tell no one." He choked out, grabbing a glass of water.

"You expect me to just sit here knowing there's a war coming, knowing people are going to die, knowing what's going to happen to me and my friends? You're barking."

Sensing he was about to lose control of the situation, Severus switched tactics. "Let one word slip about anything you've seen and I let it slip that you and your little friends are unregistered animagus. Not to Dumbledore, but right to the Aurors who I'm sure will take it much more seriously than the Gryffindor loving headmaster."

His threat had the desired effect and James' eyes shot open. "How?.. You wouldn't." Severus gave him a look. "O.K., maybe you would." James gave the Slytherin a side-glance as if he was contemplating something.

"I wouldn't try anything funny, Potter. We're the only ones in this room, anything happens to me they won't hesitate to blame you, especially after all those rumors going around that you're the one who put me in here in the first place." James' face went red.

"I wasn't going… I'm not like you, you sneaky little bastard."

"Sure you weren't. I'm sure it never crossed your mind."

"How do I know you still won't blame me? I'm sure it's crossed your mind."

"Oh, believe me, it's tempting. But I think I'll hang on to that as insurance." He had to stop as he started coughing again. "I'm afraid we'll have to finish this conversation another time. If I keep coughing, the monitoring spell will alert Madam Pomfrey."

"Great." James muttered to himself, not happy with any part of this situation. "Why you? Why couldn't someone decent come back, someone who could fix things for the better? I'll bet you're just itching to help raise your master to power and bring on a world of darkness."

For a moment it didn't seem like Snape was going to answer, but suddenly out of the darkness the Slytherin's low raspy voice broke the silence. "And why would I help someone who tried to kill me?" James looked back at the other boy and remembered the image of him dying from a huge snake set upon him by a frightening man with red eyes.

"Wait, he's the one that-"

"Oh yes, I realize he doesn't look like that right now, let's just say his outer self reflected his more internal nature later on." Severus would let the other boy think this was all about revenge. And it was, in part, but he wasn't about to let his rival know his real driving force behind him wanting the Dark Lord's destruction. He wouldn't understand, wouldn't believe. No, but revenge was something the other boy could comprehend.

James stood up, but didn't move as if he was unsure he should leave or not. Severus though had one more thing to say to the other boy. "Remember to keep your mouth shut, Potter, and meet me back here this evening, I'll have a task for you."

James wished he had his wand with him. How dare that little git threaten him and then order him around? "Why should I help you with anything? Maybe I should just turn myself in right now and have the Aurors give you a dose of veritaserum."

Snape remained calm and didn't rise to the bait. "As if you would let your friends get arrested just to prove you're not as crazy as everyone is going to think you are after you try and tell anyone I'm reliving my life. We both know you don't have it in you." James was fuming at the fact that Snape had called his bluff. He couldn't even think of a comeback.

"But don't fret, Potter, I think you might actually enjoy the task I have for you."

James scoffed. "I seriously doubt that."

"Oh, well, I think you might change your mind once you hear what it is." Snape said with a dark silky tone.

"And just what the hell is it, Snivellus? What do you want from me?" James snapped. Snape's eyes flashed dangerously when he heard that hated nickname again, but for once he wasn't going to rise to the bait. He had more important things on his mind.

"You're going to help me take down the Dark Lord."

To be continued…

Next time: The World I've Known

My name is James Potter. All my life I was sure I knew just how the world worked. Light was good, dark was bad, Gryffindor were heroes, and Slytherin were villains. My friends and I could do no wrong, all Death Eaters were pure evil to the bone and Severus Snape was nothing more than a greasy git and wanabe Prince of Darkness. Damn him for making me question everything.