Author's Note: Before I being I just want to say that I do not own Harry Potter or Doctor Who, nor any of their characters or plots. I only claim this original plot line. Enjoy!
What Matters
Hogwarts-The Headmaster's Office
It was quiet in the room, the only sound was coming from the man who sat behind the rather large oak desk; tapping his long fingers against the surface. His long black hair hung limply around his face, the lack of combing it that day had left it looking greasy and untidy. His face was pale and gaunt, though it had always been that way even from his childhood. The most distinguishing features of the man's face was the long hook nose and eyes that were as dark as his hair. The man often thought they more reflected the color of his soul. Black. Dirty. Corrupted. But it was the ever present frown on his face, now sneering in slight anger, that caught the attention of one of the paintings on the wall. The newest painting in fact.
"Severus it is late. Thinking at this hour will not be fruitful."
The man turned his head to glance up at the portrait of his old teacher and former colleague. Severus Snape still had conflicting thoughts about killing the former headmaster of Hogwarts. Even months after the deed had been done. Sure, they had the whole event planned, down to Potter being present and Death Eaters invading the school. Still, it weighed heavily on his shrinking conscious. Albus Dumbledore had been the wizard to help turn himself over to the light side of the war in exchange for the protection of Lily Potter formerly Evans. At the time it had been worth risking his life and betraying Voldemort. Anything to keep the one woman he had loved safe. Even after she choose another man. In the end though, she and James Potter had put their faith in the wrong person. And just like that she was gone.
After her death there was an anger inside him that just wouldn't leave. A burning hatred turn between the one who actually killed her and the foolish old man who had promised to keep her safe and failed. And, if he were honest with himself, some of that hatred was to himself also. For he had went to his Lord and told him of the prophecy, which without it, could ave saved the Potters from Voldemort's wrath. But with all that hate Snape still hadn't wanted to be the one to kill Dumbledore. He felt as though he had enough blood on his hands already and his soul torn to shreds.
Snape sneered. "I have done nothing but think for weeks Albus, there is too much to do. Too much to watch out for."
"I know watching out for the children has never been harder Severus-" Dumbledore started, but was cut short.
"Do you? Do you really?" Snape now had turned his entire focus to the portrait. Eyes blazing.
"You have only had to watch them when the danger was outside this castle, when the children were out of reach of Voldemort's clutches. Not to mention the help you had from the staff. Now the Carrows are torturing students and the staff have turned their backs to me. You know nothing of hardship!" he snapped.
Snape was slightly peeved that only now that Dumbledore was a portrait could he really feel confident enough to say what he thought. Sure, he had before in the past, but he always kept a certain restrain. Now that had gone too.
"I am not questioning the amount of danger and unrest you must take caution of Severus. You have always done everything I've asked of you and more."
"And just look where that got me."
It was true. After Harry Potter survived the Killing Curse and became The Boy Who Lived, Snape's job as a double agent became even harder and much more thankless. He protected the Potter brat through his years at Hogwarts's, which would not have been half as hard if the little brat could just stay out of trouble for five minutes. But Harry Bloody Potter could not just help himself and caused numerous lines of age on Snape's face. He was hated by many; students, other teachers, the Order, and just faceless others. Most would have to do with his switching of sides and avoiding Azkaban. Others would hate him for the way he treated the famous Potter child. Then there were the dunderheads of students who thought of him as plain unfair and horrid. Frankly he could not care any less for the majority of those people. He was a bitter man and never though anything less. But he also felt that he had earned the right to be so, after everything. Being a double agent was leading him down a path to his own death.
"You have always done the right thing Severus. If people only knew, I am positive they would appreciate everything you have sacrificed for them." Albus said quietly, like he always had.
Snape snorted. "No one would give a damn if I died tomorrow."
The former headmaster open his mouth to speak, but an odd sound filled the office. And being in a magically castle where a poltergeist roamed freed, suits of armor walked around occasionally, and where something is blowing up on a regular basis, both men knew this sound was just off.
Vroop...Vroop...Vroop...Vroop...
Snape looked around to try and find the source of the noise, thinking it might just be another Weasley product a student had sent after him. He had gotten a few of those since the school year began. His eyes raced around the room until they caught a glimmer of something coming into focus at the room's center. Only seconds later did the large object become solid. And there, in his office, stood what looked like a blue muggle call box. Snape himself had never used one, but growing up on Spinner's end he was used to seeing and knowing some of the muggle devices. Though he was sure they did not usually leave where they were originally placed.
"Ah, I did wonder if he was going to show up." Dumbledore said behind him.
Snape turned his head to glare at the portrait. " Do you know what that is?"
The old man smiled and his blue eyes twinkled behind the half moon spectacles. "I know who that is Severus. An old friend, please do not hex him."
Before Snape could think of a retort he heard the creak of a door opening and focused back on the call box, wand raised. The door opened quickly and for a moment nothing came out.
"Who's there! Show yourself!" Snape demanded.
A figure popped out of the door way. A man who could only be in his thirties with brown hair and wide eyes stood there. He was dressed in muggle clothing, the bow tie and jacket alone was enough to convince Snape this was not a wizard. That was further proved when the man reached into his pocket and pulled out, not a wand, but some sort of beeping metal stick and pointed it at Snape. The tip lit up green. A smile was on the man's face.
"Hello there! Would you mind pointing your wand elsewhere? You could take an eye out of you're not careful." said the stranger, who was indeed, very strange. Not concerned with himself being hurt, but with Snape putting out an eye. Imbecile.
"You are trespassing in a school and have broken into my office, no I will not be lowering my wand. Who are you?" Snape sent the man his best glare that usually had students running. The man only smiled more.
"I'm the Doctor! Nice to meet you. And I'm not trespassing, I was invited." the Doctor said before storing his metal stick back into his jacket pocket.
Snape wasn't deterred. "You are a muggle doctor? One that just happened to end up in the most guarded place in Britain. I think not." he raised his wand a little higher.
"I'm not a doctor, I'm the Doctor! Not so much of a muggle, but I guess I'm not human either." he said that last part mostly to himself in thought. "As for your security, well, my TARDIS likes to go where she likes, legally or not."
"You have ten seconds to give me an actual reason not to kill you...Doctor. This is my school and I will remove anything I see as a threat." And he would without hesitation.
"Your school? No, that can't be right! I know I'm not the best with keeping track of time, but it hasn't been that long since my last visit. Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster."
The mild look of panic on the Doctor's face gave Snape just a bit of satisfaction, he was holding more cards now.
"Former. He died months ago."
"No." the Doctor whispered.
"Yes. I killed him." Anger started showing on the Doctor's face, along with disbelief. "But if you won't take my word for it, ask him yourself." Snape lifted his left hand and gestured to Albus's painting on the wall.
The Doctor wasted no time moving through the room, not even sparring Snape's wand a second glance. He acted as though Snape was not a danger to him, not even a little. That irritated the old potions master.
The man stood below the portrait, his eyes dimmed a little. "Albus?"
"Hello again my old friend. You are different from the last time I saw you." the old headmaster smiled down, genuinely happy to see him.
"I could say the same of you. I'm sorry I wasn't here to, to say goodbye." the Doctor swallowed a lump in his throat.
They hadn't known each other long, or maybe that was just him and his lack of a concept of time. To the Time Lord they had met only a handful of times, randomly, but they talked about many things. The war, Harry Potter, what candy was the best, and so much more. To the Doctor all of their meetings came and went in the blink of an eye, but to Dumbledore they had been going on over decades. He had met Albus in his previous regeneration, confusing and amusing the old man with his shoes and suits. Not to mention his hair, but what really stood out was his first reaction. How the Doctor had resembled some person named Barty Jr., he almost got hexed for that unfortunate coincidence.
The portrait of his old friend looked back to Snape. "Severus, this is a friend of mine, he goes by simply the Doctor. Doctor this is a former student and employee of mine, Severus Snape."
The Doctor turned to Snape, recognition in his eyes.
"That's right! Albus spoke of you quite highly Mr. Snape." he held out hand in greeting.
"Professor Snape." the dark haired man growled while lowering his wand, but made no move to take the Doctor's hand. "And it is still unclear if you were invited here or not. Just because you knew Dumbledore does not mean you are welcome."
"I gave the Doctor permission to visit Severus. He usually pops in every few years or so to talk." Dumbledore explained in his typical patient way.
"Then why are you here now? Do you have any idea what could have occurred if you had came when I had people in here? Or worse the Carrows?" he glared at the Doctor "I would have no way to cover for you and you would have made things impossible to fix. They would have killed you."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Who are the Carrows? And why would people want to kill me?"
"Other than for your sheer annoyance?"
"Severus." Dumbledore chided him like he was still a boy in school.
Snape repressed another scathing retort. "The Carrows are Death Eaters who would have killed you as soon as they found out you were not a wizard or worse. They could have summoned the Dark Lord. Do you know how much explaining I would have to do? I already have enough to worry about without your idiotic behavior ruining everything."
"Well it looks like I came at the right moment then. What exactly would I have been ruining though?" the Doctor asked as he inspected the numerous objects littering the shelves. He picked up several quickly, giving them a once over before setting them down again. The man obviously didn't like to stand still.
"Oh nothing of importance, just myself protecting a school full of ungrateful child for their ungrateful parents from the evils that are raining down upon this world." Snape explained sarcastically. The Doctor seemed to miss to the tone though as he turned to look at Snape.
"Sounds important enough, but I'm wondering why you think those people are ungrateful? Because of you they are relatively safe yes? These kids will be able to go home alive after the war reaches its end, trust me, they'll be grateful."
"And just how would you know that?" Snape bit out. "These people hate me. No matter how this ends that will not change."
"Why is that?"
"Because people do not change."
The Doctor looked into the other's black eyes. "You did."
Then there was silence as the two men stared down the other and Dumbledore's portrait watched on, knowing there was little he could do. The ringing silence only last moments before the Doctor smiled again. He walked over to the TARDIS.
"How would you like to take a trip with me Professor?"
Snape could do nothing but look after the strange Doctor in confusion. The Doctor noticed and immediately started to explain, all the time walking around in front of the box, hands flapping about.
"Right, maybe an explanation would help. So! This" he patted the blue box "is the TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Basically, it can travel anywhere in time and space. And it's mine."he smiled at the expression on Snape's face. One of disbelief and bewilderment.
"Lair! There's no magic that can do that, not even remotely. The only item capable of time travel are Time Turners and those were all destroyed! As for distance, a portkey can do that."
"It's true though! I normally don't offer rides, but occasionally I meet a few people who are just extraordinary. They all get one ride to anywhere or any when of their choosing."
Snape rolled is eyes."So you will take me in that box to any place I wish?"
"No." the Doctor replied. "I will take you where you need to go."
That caught Snape's attention. "And where would that be?"
The Doctor merely turned and opened the door to the TARDIS. "Come with me and find out."
With that the strange man stepped inside his box and out of sight. Snape could only stand there and battle with himself on whether to follow. To go with a man who he knew nothing about, possibly to a place he did not know would be a very Gryffindor thing to do. It was rash, uninformed, and completely insane. He was a Slytherin damn it! They thought things through and knew when to not do something that would cause them harm. Or if it did not benefit them. There was no way he was going with the madman.
"Go."
Snape looked back at the portrait with undisguised doubt.
"Why?"
"It is what you need to witness to continue moving forward."
"Is that why you went with him?" he asked the former headmaster.
"I saw the future, what could be. I knew then that I was making the right choices."
With that Snape strolled towards the TARDIS, but before he stepped inside he called by over his shoulder.
"I do too much for you."
He stepped inside and closed the door, never hearing the faint "I know." coming from the portrait.
As soon as the door closed he heard a dull click and knew it had locked. Surely a simple alohamora could open it, but that would be a last resort. Turning to look more at where he was Snape almost gawked at the large room. He knew from experience that places could look small, but be magically enhanced to be bigger on the inside. However, that was what wizards were capable of. The Doctor already mentioned he wasn't human or a wizard. Interesting to say the least. Said person looked up from some sort of machine in the center of the room.
"Ah, looks like you decided to tag along after all!" the Doctor was practically bouncing with excitement. Snape was unimpressed.
"Would it kill you to act your age instead of like a first year who sees our staircases move?"
The Doctor's smile shrank a little. "Ow come on Professor! What's the point of being an adult if you can't act like a child every once in awhile?" he pulled a lever and the whole ship was moving.
"Where are you taking me?" Snape demanded while he hung on to the railing. Not that the ship was thrashing about, but he could feel it moving. It unnerved him slightly.
"The future." was the quick reply, the Doctor tilted his head slightly. "About nineteen years into the future. I'm positive you'll recognize the place." The lever was lifted again and Snape knew the ship had stopped.
The Doctor walked past Snape to the door. "Ready?"
Without answering Snape followed him right out the door. Despite the oddness of his arrival, Snape still had a lingering doubt about the Doctor's claims at time travel. That all changed when he stepped out of the ridiculously named machine to find the headmaster's office gone, along with all of Hogwarts. Instead of night, it was daytime and he stood at platform 9 ¾. This could only be King's Cross Station in London.
"So you proved that you can travel in that box, but how do I really know this is the future?"
Thinking it over the Doctor looked around before smiling and clapping his hands together.
"Well I could just go get you a newspaper or something of the sort, but a man like you would need something more convincing. Why don't you look over there?" he pointed towards the train.
Snape turned towards the area he was pointing and saw many families with their kids about to board the train. This was nothing new to him, but it did seem to be September as the train didn't board at any other times, except for holidays. There was also a distinct lack of fear swirling around due to the war. Still, that could mean anything. He was about to tell the Doctor that he needed something more when a man caught his attention. He was an man in his late thirties if he had to guess, standing with a woman of similar age with red hair. Red hair he knew he recognized. Around them were three kids, two boys and a girl, all of younger ages. But what drew his attention to the familiar man was that he had seen him before. A long time ago, but the last he saw of him he wasn't so old yet. And he had been lying dead in his house, with his wife laying dead upstairs. That was one difference, the other was that this man had green eyes, her eyes. A lightening scar was visible on his forehead.
"That-that can't be..." he whispered.
"Harry Potter, age thirty six with his family. If we wait another few minutes I'm sure we'll see others as well." he looked at the potions master turned headmaster "I would suggest though that we hang back a bit. You have a very distinct appearance, some may recognize you."
"Is that a problem?"
"Well yes, most people are not used to seeing dead people walking around." the Doctor answered with a less cheery tone.
A weight settled in Snape's stomach. Of course he knew that was how this was all going to end for him. He would either be killed by those he protected because they thought him a traitor or by the those he secretly worked against because he was traitor. However, having someone else talk about it so certainly was chilling.
"Don't worry. You've got time left to do what needs to be done." the Doctor tried to assure him.
"I have been a double agent for over a decade and faced a man an entire country trembles before many times. I'm not afraid of death." he sneered.
"Alright you're not." the Doctor held his hands up in surrender "Just saying that it's okay to be. It doesn't make you anything less."
Before Snape could say anything to that he noticed another family joining the Potters. A red headed man and a woman with frizzy hair tied back in a ponytail. Years showed on both of them, but he would always know a Weasley when he saw one. Not to mention the annoying girl who always knew too much and would flaunt it. They were followed by two children, a girl and a younger boy. He couldn't say he was surprised at all. Weasley and Granger had been a forgone conclusion to many who met them, along with Potter and the youngest Weasley.
"Weird to see your former students like this?" the Doctor asked as he too watched both families talk among each other.
"More like shocked they made it this far." he replied trying to appear casual while his mind was reeling,
"Well there's another one, just past the Potters and Weasleys."
Sure enough when he turned his gaze he found the head of shocking blond hair. Even after all these years Draco Malfoy retained his youthful hair color, not a single gray hair could be found. Matching him almost exactly was a young boy being fussed over by a woman with dark hair. Even his godson had gotten married and started a family. That fact made a slither of warmth spread in him. It meant that Draco had escaped his father's shadow and his own forced path to the Dark Lord.
"Is this what you wanted me to witness? The brats I protected living to have families of their own?"
The Doctor shook his head. "No, but now we're going to get a little closer. Keep you head down, but your ears open." He grabbed Snape's forearm and guided him forward, just behind a pillar that separated them from the Potters. Snape could just barely see what was happening, but he could hear everything. Ginny Potter lead her oldest son and daughter away from her husband and youngest son. The son was kneeling on the ground pretending to tie his shoe. Harry Potter knelt down too.
"What if, what if I get sorted into Slytherin?" his voice was so small and young and scared.
"Albus Severus" Potter started, but Snape had frozen at the name. "You were named after two headmasters of Hogwarts. One was a Slytherin and though I branded him a coward he was, in fact, the bravest man I ever knew."
"But what if-" the boy continued.
"Then Slytherin house will have gained an excellent student." Potter said firmly, but kindly.
After a moment the father and son got up and rejoined their family. Snape and the Doctor walked back to the TARDIS and got inside without saying a word to each other. Snape's mind was reeling from everything he had just seen and heard. The Doctor was messing with the controls again and then pulled the lever.
"He does you know." The Doctor said as the ship took off.
"What?" Snape broke off from his thoughts to look at the bow tie wearing man.
"Albus Severus Potter gets sorted into Slytherin house while his older brother James Sirius Potter is in Gryffindor. Little Lily Luna Potter becomes a wild card and is put into Ravenclaw, although many thought Gryffindor would have been better given her temper. Rose Weasley is sorted into Ravenclaw as well and Hugo Weasley will eventually join Gryffindor too. Scorpious Malfoy will shock everyone and become a Gryffindor while Teddy Lupin is in Hufflepuff. And every single one of those kids knows what you did for them. For their parents. For the wizarding world. Your portrait gets many visitors from those particular children. So never believe that people are ungrateful to you Severus Snape. Because they are, they just don't realize it yet."
"How do you know all of this?"
The Doctor smiled as the ship landed again. "I've been alive for over nine hundred years. I've seen the birth of time and the end of it. Is it really so far fetched that I know their futures? What if I were to tell you that all of this is just a story in another dimension? Anyway, the point of this little trip is to show you that we all die someday. But that doesn't mean were forgotten. That what we did in our lives ceases to matter when our hearts stop beating. Life is short, but actions live forever. So Severus Snape, go and live forever."
When Snape left the TARDIS that day and watched it fade away, never to be seen by him again, he knew two things.
That he was going to die by this wars end.
And that despite hating having to do it for so long, hating what he did do at times, and that he would have given up long ago if it weren't for a memory of green eyes, who he was and what he did mattered. Even long after his death.
He sat back down in his chair as the sun started to rise.
Severus Snape had things to get done.
This one shot was done in memory of Sir Alan Rickman who died yesterday on January 14,2016. He was a brilliant actor, a great friend to those who knew him, and someone who brought life to a character in a way only he could. Thank you Alan for being the perfect Severus Snape. You will be missed. *Raises wand*