Title: A New Severus Snape
Rating: T (for now)
Pairing(s): Severus/Hermione (hopefully)
Warnings: Canon Divergence, Ron bashing?
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Summary: During the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort casts a de-aging curse at Harry. His intention is to return Harry to his infancy, to the age when he survived the killing curse, and make the Avada Kedavra stick this time around. Snape gets in the way of the curse, though, which de-ages him seventeen years.

Voldemort is eventually defeated, but Snape is stuck at age twenty. When Hermione and her friends come back to school in the fall to start their seventh year, they're surprised to find that Snape is still de-aged and still stuck at Hogwarts trying to find a cure.
Prompt: battle
Word Count: 601
Notes: For the Too Many Cooks Challenge. Each drabble will be between 100 and 800 words.
wendymarlowe and I are sharing a universe. We are going to be alternating drabbles and supply each other with one word prompts. We aren't allowed to write anything that doesn't agree with the canon we've already established. The challenge ends when one of us feels we can't write another drabble.
Feedback: Yes

Hermione looked at the strewn bodies. Her mind went back to what she was forced to witness in the heat of battle. The potion that Voldemort had made — it was absolutely terrible. She hoped Snape hadn't made it, but he had been Voldemort's resident potion master. He probably had a part in its development. The potion acted like a nerve gas. It was horrible for anyone who came in contact with it. It hadn't needed to be ingested to work; it just had to make contact with one's skin. It wasn't hard for that to happen, either, especially in the chaos of fighting.

Her eyes sought out her friends. The fighting was still happening and she knew she shouldn't have stopped for recollection. A second of her stopping might have ended in her dying.

Her eyes landed on Ron fighting some random Death Eater and Hermione wanted to roll her eyes. It was amazing he made it to seventh year. He really was an incompetent wizard. She went to help and with her power added in, the Death Eater didn't stand a chance.

Hermione kept her eyes open for the mysterious potion, the one seemingly invented just for the battle. She had to watch her step.

She looked for Harry. She knew he had been making his way to Voldemort and he might need help. She immediately ran in the direction she had initially seen him go. She dodged curses that weren't aimed at her. In fact, no one seemed to be paying her any special attention, something she was grateful for.

Her main goal was not Voldemort's death — even though she wanted it — but to make sure Harry survived. He had already given his childhood up because of a megalomaniac and the manipulations of a Headmaster who thought himself to be god. Harry deserved to have a future, and Hermione was determined to make it happen.

Hermione reached the forest and ran inside. She heard the sounds of fighting and followed them. The scene she came upon wasn't something she thought she'd never see. Harry was facing Voldemort head on, but he had been doing that for years. That wasn't the surprise. The surprise came from Snape who was fighting Voldemort along with Harry. The two of them were actually working together without arguing like they were prone to do.

Hermione, along with everyone else, had been unsure where Snape's allegiance truly lied, but this proved it to her. Why else would he be risking everything if he wasn't truly on their side?

Voldemort cackled and Hermione shivered at the sound.

"This will fix it so everything happens the way it should have the first time."

Hermione didn't have to wait long to wonder what he meant. He shot a curse at Harry, a curse that Harry wouldn't be able to dodge or block. Snape must have seen it, too because he pushed Harry out of the way to take it instead.

When the dust settled, where Severus Snape, feared Potion Master once stood, now stood someone who was younger. A lot younger. He looked only a little older then her in fact.

Harry recovered from the shock faster that Voldemort and gathered the power he needed. With no more Horcruxes, Voldemort could finally be killed.

Voldemort foolishly believed the master wand would kill Harry and tried to shoot a killing curse at him. It rebounded against Harry's disarming curse and struck Voldemort, killing himself.

There was silence. Hermione felt like weeping. It was finally over. She turned her gaze to Snape. What was going to happen with him, though?