The Girl in the Mirror
((((Author's note: This is currently unbetaed, and came from a conversation on a group I belong to that there had yet to be written a believable Girl!Harry story that actually involved a change in gender, so I took it upon myself to write one. I hope you enjoy it. I will be stealing some elements from many stories. I do not own any of the characters or situations involved, so don't sue me.)))
His entire life, Severus Snape had loved potions. He viewed it as the greatest of all forms of magic, the most powerful of them all. Any dunce with a wand, he would reason, could kill a man painlessly, or mend a broken bone. But with the most subtle potions, a poison could be brewed that was so untraceable that the only one who knew the victim had been poisoned would be the assassin himself, with everyone else seeing the poor victim fall to a debilitating and painful illness, as the potion would mimic a dangerous and deadly disease. A slight adjustment to that same potion, and it would mend a broken bone to the point that there would be no scar whatsoever, in fact the bones themselves would be stronger for it. As he created each potion, he viewed it as a work of art.
He knew he wasn't the best teacher, but he was not going to mollycoddle a group of brats into thinking they were great brewers because they could follow instructions out of a book. In fact, of the entire fifth year roster, in all 4 houses, there were only five students who he would say could brew perfect potions. Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass from his own house, Padma Patil from Ravenclaw, Susan Bones from Hufflepuff, and, he loathed to admit, Hermione Granger from Gryffindor. Four purebloods, and a muggleborn. He would, of course, lavish praise on his own students, (and equal but undeserved praise on that little snot of a godson of his Draco), and acknowledge the successes of Patil and Bones. Had Granger been in any house, or even been a friend of anyone but Potter, he would at least have given her less grief.
All these thoughts were running through Snape's mind as he sat and graded papers during the combined 5th year Gryffindor/Slytherin potions class. And as if the little brat could read his mind, he saw Potter raise his head to glare at Snape, who just glared right back. The mutual staredown would have continued until he either made potter's life miserable or the bell rang, but the inside of his left arm began to burn, and the mark hidden beneath the sleeve turned a deep red, almost black. Snape was being summoned.
"Class dismissed." He called out, knowing that no one would complain about a five minute reprieve. "Mr. Malfoy, ensure that all potions are bottled and placed on my desk." He swept from the room, making certain to keep one arm behind him to keep his cloak flaring out as he turned… he had an image to maintain after all. The sound of breaking glass and the indignant squawk of some poor Gryffindor almost put a spring in his step as he made his way to the headmaster to let him know of the summons he had just received.
Several hours later, the largest group of Death Eaters that Snape had ever seen assembled at one time gathered in a large field where they had been called. Many were unmasked, some probably even unmarked, and Snape made mental note, with some surprise in a few cases, of those he saw there. The toad-like Madam Umbridge gave him a little wave and a girlish giggle, answering an unasked question of his, and making him feel abit sick. He noted several students, including a hufflepuff, two ravenclaws, and a Gryffindor besides the expected crowd of slytherin supporters. All in all the 10 students gathered with their defense professor, each giving him a nod of greeting or a curious look. He made his way to his place at the left of the dark lord's silent visage, bellatrix lestrange in position at Voldemort's right. To her right was the sniveling worm Pettigrew, and Lucius malfoy stood to snape's left, sneering out at the crowd.
"SILENCE!" The dark lord called out, and all conversation ceased as all the assembled and marked death eaters knelt quickly, the uninitiated following quickly. There would likely be no punishment curses at this meeting, snape realized as their slowness to kneel went unpunished, likely owing to the Dark Lord beginning to realize that the cruciatus curse did not win followers as easily as it swayed the opinions of the disobedient.
Voldemort gazed out at his assembled followers, a sneer on his snake-like face. He removed a sheet from the silver pedestal in front of him, and pulled a chained object from his robes. "Today, we make history." He smirked "Or rather, re-make history. With this.. and a spell that has come to my attention, we shall finally be rid of Harry Potter once and for all!" A cheer went up from the assembled, especially from some of the students, at that proclamation.
From his spot to Voldemort's left, Severus was becoming uncomfortable. He had no way to slip out of this meeting, no chance at getting a message to Hogwarts. Dumbledore had rammed into his head time and again that their chance of victory lay with Harry Potter, for reasons Severus did not begin to understand, and any chance at continuing his life at a spy would require him to find some way to deliver a warning back to Hogwarts. That seemed impossible, however, and Severus could only hope that Dumbledore would buy the fact that Severus had no warning about this latest plot. He just increased his concentration and turned to focus back on the spell the dark lord was beginning.
"I call upon Chronos, guardian of time, by blood let the gate be opened!" He cut his wrist and let a drop of blood fall on the time turner, which suddenly began to light up, and slowly turn. "I call upon Artemis, goddess of the home, with flame I command, turn your eye from this child! With the silk of a spider, I call upon Atropos, let his thread be cut short. I call upon Lachesis, let his thread be unwoven, and I call upon Clotho, let his thread be unspun. Let the child of James and Lily Potter be unraveled from the tapestry of time. FILIUS PEREO!" He thrust his wand at the time turner, and a stream of bright white light shot from it, and a mist began to swirl around the podium. Sounds of amazement came from some of those assembled as the mist took the form of a sleeping Harry potter, laying in his bed at Hogwarts. Suddenly the images eyes shot open, and the sounds of Potter screaming in pain resounded through the room. Voldemort gave a tight smile of triumph, and poured more of his concentration into the connection. The image of potter began to emit light from its eyes and ears, a very deep purple light, matched by the color of the time turner.
Then the tide turned. Suddenly the purple light flickered green, but not the sickly green of the killing curse, but a brighter, purer green. Potter continued to scream, but suddenly voldemort joined him in screaming. The time turner's lazy revolutions sped up, until it was just a blur of motion. Suddenly Snape could hear the sound of phoenix song, and in a flash of green, the image of potter disappeared, and the white light pouring from voldemort's wand reversed itself. The image of a spider seemed to crawl up the strand of light, and the face of the dark lord seemed to melt into itself. Voldemort's face seemed to begin to melt, and suddenly pain shot from the dark Mark on the arm of every death eater there, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Then in a blast of purple light and the sound of something being ripped apart, the timeturner and podium it stood upon exploded, throwing the inner circle and voldemort himself back several feet, and knocking out everyone in the area.
Severus awoke to groans and cries of pain. He noticed several wizards and witches looking at their wrists, and realized that the white masks and robes had vanished, leaving many of them in day robes or house robes. He looked at his own arm and saw only raw, red skin where his mark had once been. A supposition began to crawl up his spine, and he looked for the figure of his master. He found him laid out on the ground a few feet away, being tended to by Bellatrix lestrange. A longer look made him realize that the transformations that Voldemort had sacrificed so much of himself for had been stripped away, and only the form of Tom Riddle, age 68, lay still on the ground. Severus couldn't tell whether he was alive or not. Lucius Malfoy, apparently, had decided he didn't need to wait.
"This!" He cried out, "Is all we have to look forward to serving this half-blooded fool. Yes! Voldemort was a half-blood. A powerful one, but a half-blood nonetheless! I call upon you, purebloods of noble decent, to join me in a movement of true purity!"
"Why should we follow you!" One voice cried out. "What would the dark lord think of your words!"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Malfoy cast, and the dissenter fell to the floor dead. From his position to one side, severus couldn't tell who cast the next spell, but suddenly spells were flying around the room. Old scores were being settled first, he realized, as the lestrange brothers both fell to Nott's wand, who was then felled by Draco Malfoy. The students assembled seemed to be panicing, shooting what spells they knew to protect themselves, but unable to keep any who would attack them at bay. Umbridge tried to herd them away, but they were divided up, as some parents called their children to them, and others seemed to almost ignore their presence. He kept himself under cover, until he saw the figure of voldemort stirring, as if fighting for breath. None seemed to care what was happening, in fact Pettigrew was creeping up behind Lestrange with his wand raised as she tried to provide cover for her fallen master. Snape made a snap decision, and quickly dropped Pettigrew with the killing curse. Bellatrix shot him a grateful look, and he made his way to her. The two cast a strong dome-shaped shield over them, and crouched over the fallen dark wizard.
"Master…" Snape whispered, realizing the opportunity being presented him here, "Can you hear me?"
"I… can," Riddle coughed. Voldemort just no longer seemed a name for him, not at the moment at least. "Who is still faithful among my men?"
The two uninjured wizards exchanged glances. "Just the two of us, my lord. Nott was as well, no doubt, but he has been killed by the younger malfoy."
Riddle coughed, blood staining his lips. "Traitors, all of them. Bella…. Use your portkey, and take me back to the manor. Severus…. Kill any you wish. Then use the old man to have the rest arrested. Let none of them escape."
"Yes master," Severus whispered, and the two disappeared. The shield fell, and Snape quickly and coldly dispatched Umbridge, Malfoy Sr, and the other undersecretary that was in attendance, MacLeod. He then grabbed his order portkey, and was quickly whisked to the Headquarters of the order of the Phoenix. He ignored the decrepit house elf, and tossed a handful of floo powder into the fireplace.
"Headmaster's office, Hogwarts!" He called, and stepped into the fireplace. He was scanned by one of the headmaster's security spell, and then allowed to step out into the office itself. "Headmaster!" He called out, "Are you here?"
"Yes I am, Severus. I am hoping you can shed some light on what has been happening with Mr. Potter."
Severus quickly recounted the meeting, and then gave the coordinates of the meeting place, where the little civil war was no doubt still going on. Dumbledore nodded, and floo-called Amelia Bones, who dispatched orders to her best aurors to arrest and detain, with lethal force authorized. That done, Dumbeldore turned a somber expression to his potion's master.
"Thank you for your help in this, old friend. Now I have another matter that I could use your help with, in the hospital wing. As you I am sure can surmise, we have… a situation with Mr. Potter. Anything you can do would be appreciated, both by me, and his friends."
"Just what is wrong with that little brat this time?" He snapped, still abit tetchy from the drama that he was just involved in.
"Severus, please. I know you do not hate Mr. Potter nearly as much as you let on, and with the decline of Voldemort's following, I do not feel you need to act as harshly as you have been. But Mr. Potter is…has suffered from the spell, and is still not conscious. We have taken him to a private room, and I have assured his friends that we would do everything we can to take care of him. Please, come with me."
Severus nodded, and followed Dumbledore to the hospital wing. Outside the main room, he noted the 2 youngest weasleys, granger , and lovegood waiting anxiously in some chairs outside a closed off area. Dumbledore greeted them warmly, and snape just nodded to them as they passed the privacy curtains, and entered the closed bed area. Snape looked at the body laying in the bed, barely breathing and quite bloody, then back at the headmaster in disbelief. Dumbledore just nodded sadly, and snape turned back to face the bed again.
"Oh sweet Merlin," he breathed.