1The characters and canon situations in the following story belong solely to JK Rowling, Scholastic and WB. I am not making any money from the publishing or writing of this story. Please note that all text between asterisks (*) is either a complete quote or partial quote from Rowling's text.

Chapter One

*"Kill."

There was a terrible scream. Harry saw Snape's face losing the little color it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake's fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor.

"I regret it," said Voldemort coldly. He turned away; there was no sadness in him, no remorse. It was time to leave this shack and take charge, with a wand that would now do his full bidding. He pointed it at the starry cage holding the snake, which drifted upward, off Snape, who fell sideways onto the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck. Voldemort swept from the room without a backward glance, and the great serpent floated after him in its huge protective sphere. Back in the tunnel and his own mind, Harry opened his eyes; He had drawn blood biting down on his knuckles in an effort not to shout out. Now he was looking through the tiny crack between crate and wall, watching a foot in a black boot trembling on the floor.

"Harry!" breathed Hermione behind him, but he had already pointed his wand at the crate blocking his view. It lifted an inch into the air and drifted sideways silently. As quietly as he could, he pulled himself up into the room.*

A loud pop sounded in the room and Harry dropped back down, worrying about what new horror had arrived. A moment later, he lifted himself up enough to see a tall man standing in the middle of the room. He had shoulder-length wavy, black hair and was wearing mostly muggle clothing with black dragonhide boots; but with his back to the tunnel, Harry couldn't see who it was. The man stood in the room for a moment looking around before noticing Snape lying on the floor in an ever-increasing puddle of blood.

"Snape! What in the nine hells happened!" The man quickly knelt by the black-clad body and began searching through his own clothing for something. Pulling out a metal case and opening it, the man began pulling out vial after vial of liquids. He opened a small silver vial and poured the contents over the large wounds in the dying Potion Master's neck. Wisps of smoke came out of the bites left by Nagini. Snape began to groan and thrash about as the man held him down and waited for the mortal wounds to close. As soon as they did, he grabbed another vial and tried to pour the contents down into Snape's open mouth. Snape attempted to turn his head away, but the man held on and muttered, "Fawkes' tears did the trick, now come on, Snape.. this is one of your own. Clearly you're not afraid of your own work, now…" He succeeded in getting the liquid into Snape, closed Snape's mouth and pinched the large nose shut. The Potion Master flailed around a bit more before succumbing and swallowing the liquid.

"Just a Blood Replenisher. Clearly needed as it looks like you've got more blood on the floor than in you, at present. You could say 'thank you', you wanker," said the man with a chuckle. "Now, could you tell me where everyone is, and what the bloody hell happened to you?"

Snape began struggling to get up. The man helped him to a sitting position, then let go. Snape raised a shaking hand to push his lank hair out of his eyes so he could see whoever it was that saved his life. When his gaze fixed on the man crouched next to him, he froze. Snape stared at the man, growing even paler if possible. He blinked once. Twice. Raised his hand again to swipe at his eyes before looking again. He gaped, then tried to say something, clearly having difficulty forming words.

"Any day now, Snape…" said the man.

"BLACK!" came the incredulous shout.

"Of course it's me! Now what is going on! Where is everyone? By the time I came to at the Ministry, everyone was gone, including the Death Eaters I was dueling, and no one was at headquarters. In fact, HQ looks like its been trashed! So I Apparated here so I could sneak into Hogwarts and try to find you or Minerva, or anyone. And what happened to you?"

"Black?" Snape shouted again, shaking his head. "I am dead and I must be in Hell. Has to be Hell if Black is here," he muttered.

"Harry, no!" came a strangled whisper from the corner of the room. The two men pulled their wands and stood up as quickly as they could. Snape stumbled a bit from weakness, then he violently shook off Sirius' supporting grip from his arm.

Harry bolted out from the tunnel and ran into the room, his two faithful friends behind him, wands drawn. They almost ran into Harry when he abruptly stopped; staring at the man in front of him.

It was Sirius Black. His godfather. Standing there and breathing.

Looking healthier and slightly younger than when he last saw him two years ago. Standing next to Snape. It can't be Sirius! He wouldn't help Snape! A Death Eater! The man who killed Dumbledore! Harry's eyes blazed as he turned his wand to aim directly at his former professor's heart.

"Harry, no!" Sirius yelled, jumping in front of Snape.

"I don't know who you are, but if you're protecting that murdering bastard then you're obviously not my godfather, and you're just as evil as he is!"

"Harry! Put the wand down! You don't understand!"

"Understand? He killed Dumbledore! Murdered him right in front of me! He's a Death Eater! And so are you for all I know!" Harry screamed. Hermione and Ron stood to either side of him, holding their wands on the two men. Ron's hand was shaking in fury as it held the wand pointing at Snape. Hermione's hand was steady, but her agitated and confused glance was bouncing between Snape and the man claiming to be her best friend's deceased godfather.

"You don't understand, Harry. Yes, Severus did kill Albus, but only because he was under a vow to! Dumbledore's vow!" Sirius said. Snape's wide eyes snapped to Black's face.

"How…." Snape trailed off in a hoarse whisper.

"Albus left Minerva and me a full Pensieve. We know everything," Sirius said softly, before turning his gaze to meet that of the stunned man next to him. "I know the form of your Patronus, Severus," he said so quietly that the three young people barely heard him.

Snape struggled to collect himself; shuddering visibly. "That is a good fairytale, Black," he hissed, "but I know Albus did no such thing. That aside," he muttered, turning his wand so it was aimed at Sirius' neck, "would you please continue your little story; preferably skipping the boring parts and telling me how it is that you are breathing?"

"What are you on about, Snape?" he growled out, trying to flinch away from the wand biting into his jugular.

"Black. Is. Dead. Who the hell are you?"

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Sirius snapped.

"Black died in the Department of Mysteries two years ago. Tell me who you are.. do not make me ask again!" Snape growled, digging his wand into Sirius' neck even harder.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I'm not dead! Two years…? What the hell are you talking about!"

"Siruis went through the veil! He got hexed by Bellatrix and fell through the veil! It happened right in front of me, I saw it!" Harry yelled.

"What..? Harry…" he trailed off, his voice becoming sad and wistful, "I was there too. I didn't get hit by anything, don't you remember? It was Hermione. We lost Hermione…"

"What!" Hermione screeched.

Sirius' eyes finally took in the bedraggled-looking girl of the trio. They widened as his mouth dropped open. When he finally regained the power of speech, he stammered out "Granger? But… but… you died! We lost you to Dolohov's curse!"

Grumbling, Snape grabbed the shaken man by the shoulder and whipped him around. Raising his wand he barked out "Legilimens" and dove into Sirius' mind. With the state of shock he was in, the Marauder's mind offered no resistance to the Potion Master's search.

After a long, tense moment, Snape broke off his search and turned his back on the others in the room. "It's him. Merlin knows how, but it is Black," he muttered as he swiveled around to face the group. "Only… it is not entirely him."

"Speak plainly, Snape!" Harry spat.

"He is Sirius Black, only it appears that he is not 'our' version of him. He fell through the veil whilst dueling Rookwood at the Department of Mysteries only a couple of hours ago. He fell through the veil, and came out of it.. in our reality."

"Our…? You mean he's the Sirius Black of another reality? An alternate dimension? Like in the multi-world theory of…"

"Exactly, Miss Granger, and please spare us the lecture on muggle quantum mechanics, we don't have the time!"

"Gods, it is so good to see you, little bookworm," Sirius said softly, tears in his eyes as he gazed at a stunned Hermione.

Harry stood gaping as he looked at the godfather he lost to the veil in his fifth year. The man he loved like family but hardly got to know as he was taken from him far too quickly. "Sirius..?"

The animagus' gaze snapped back to the Boy-Who-Lived, then turned to Snape who was standing behind him. "Okay," he said shakily, "so if I am from another dimension, can you catch me up to speed on what is going on in this one? Why were you injured? What's going on?"

"The Dark Lord had Nagini attack me so he could assume mastery of the Elder Wand. He assumed I was the current master because I killed the previous master. Dumbledore."

"Speaking of that," Harry said darkly, turning his wand on the Potions Master yet again.

"Harry, I'm going to go out on a limb here and think that not everything is different here than from my world. If that is true, then this Snape isn't guilty of murdering Albus either."

"What on earth are you talking about!" Harry screamed.

Snape hissed through his teeth as his eyes flashed menacingly. "Your former headmaster forced me to do his bidding, once again. I told Albus about what the Dark Lord had planned for Draco...to kill Albus Dumbledore. He agreed that Draco should be saved, and if I couldn't turn him from his task, then I was to be the one to carry it out. I would have to kill my mentor and friend...Albus called in the Life Debt I owed him to ensure that I followed through with it. I did not want to… Gods know I did not want to do it… but he forced me. Bastard had no care for the state of my soul. Said it would be a 'mercy killing' as he was already dying. Then, I took an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy. She realized that Draco wouldn't be able to go through with it; he's no murderer. But he would try because it was the only way to save himself and his family. He would try, and he would either die in the attempt or be killed by the Dark Lord for his failure, just as intended. So I took the vow to save my cover and the life and soul of my godson, " Snape said, clearly agitated.

"He was already dying?" Hermione asked quietly.

"The ring he found at the Gaunt cottage. It was cursed and Albus released it upon himself when he destroyed it. The curse would have taken over and killed him quickly if I didn't try to stop it. I gave him a potion that slowed it down, but didn't cure it. I tried for months to find a cure but nothing could stop it completely. That night on the tower only sped up the inevitable. Albus had less than a month left at that point," Snape muttered.

"So he had you kill him to save Malfoy?" Harry spat, incredulously.

"Also to save my cover as the Order's spy in the Dark Lord's inner circle, and be able to come back to the school to protect the students after the Dark Lord took control!" Snape snapped back. "Oh yes. Just yet another task I have performed for my master, Dumbledore. Have me risk my soul. Have me become hated more than ever and hunted. Have me kill him... 'all for the greater good'," he sneered mockingly.

"And you are saying that in this reality Albus did not leave his memories about this plan to anyone?" Sirius asked, clearly confused.

"Of course he did not," Snape snarled. "Not only would that have made sense, but it would have been too decent of the bastard. He only cared that I lived long enough to make sure that Potter did what he's supposed to do, not of my own life or innocence."

"That makes two of us," Harry said, finally lowering his wand.

Snape raised a puzzled brow as he looked at his former student. "Finally figured out that our former headmaster was not as noble as he liked to appear?"

"He manipulated and deceived too many people," Harry said quietly. "But in some things he was right. Too right. I have to finish this, and only I can do it."

"What are you talking about, Potter?" Snape asked darkly.

"The prophecy, Snape."

"What of the horcruxes?"

"We've been destroying them all. We got to Ravenclaw's diadem, and that leaves only Nagini."

"Nagini is not the final horcrux," Snape muttered, his face looking like it aged ten years in mere seconds.

"Then what is the final horcrux?"

"You, Potter. You." Snape turned abruptly and raised a shaking hand to drag through his hair. He released a shuddering sigh before turning to face Harry. Black eyes held and pierced green. Lily…

"On the night the Dark Lord tried to kill you, when Lily cast her own life between you as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded and a fragment of the Dark Lord's soul was blasted off and latched itself onto the only living soul left in that collapsed building. Part of the Dark Lord now lives inside you, and it is that part that makes you a parselmouth and gives you that connection with the Dark Lord's mind. And while the Dark Lord's soul fragment remains attached to you, he cannot die. Thank Merlin he has been completely unaware of it all of these years," Snape said softly, his gaze still locked on Harry's.

"Dumbledore told me that you must die, and that the Dark Lord himself must be the one to kill you. That it is essential."

Another long silence. Then Snape said, "I am sorry, Potter," he began, managing to not spit Harry's name for once. "I have been protecting you all these years… protecting you for Li..," he broke off abruptly, "…but Albus protected you because he thought it had been essential to teach you and let you grow stronger. He kept you alive so that you could die at the right moment," he finished bitterly.

Harry stood there shaking, and then felt his legs collapse under him as the blood left his face. Considering the shocks he'd received in the last few minutes, it was no surprise. Sirius leapt forward to grab his godson's arm. "Harry?"

The Boy-Who-Lived turned bleak eyes to his former mentor.

"I… I guess I knew that, somehow. It makes sense… too much sense…" he muttered over the quiet sobs of Hermione.

Slowly, very slowly, he stood up, and wavered on his feet like a newborn fawn. His breathing steadied, his legs stilled, and he raised cold, clear eyes that shone with determination to his former professor and his godfather.

*Suddenly a high, cold voice spoke so close to them that Harry jumped and flourished his wand, thinking that Voldemort had reentered the room. Voldemort's voice reverberated from the walls and floor, and Harry realized that he was talking to Hogwarts and to all the surrounding area, that the residents of Hogsmeade and all those still fighting in the castle would hear him as clearly as if he stood beside them, his breath on the back of their necks, a deathblow away.

"You have fought," said the high, cold voice, "valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately."

"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured."

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

Both Ron and Hermione shook their heads frantically, looking at Harry.

"Don't listen to him," said Ron.

"It'll be all right," said Hermione wildly. "Let's – let's get back to the castle, if he's gone to the forest we'll need to think of a new plan – " .*

"To catch you up to speed, Black, the Dark Lord is here with all of his Death Eaters. It is war, it is the end," Snape said darkly. "Let us go. Potter, I assume you have your cloak?" At Harry's nod, he continued, "Very well, you three use that, I will Disillusion myself and Black, and head to the Headmaster's office. I do not believe it would be a good idea for anyone else to see us at present." The Golden Trio nodded silently, all of them still too shaken and stunned from everything to even mutter a protest. Donning the cloak, they made their way back through the tunnel.