Chapter One: The Time-Turner

(Early March, 1976)

Severus Snape slammed the wooden door of the girl's lavatory behind him and slid down the marble walls onto the floor. He angrily rubbed his eyes, trying to wipe away the oncoming tears that were threatening to spill down his cheeks. Try as he could, he could not help crying–it was the only way he could cope with the emotional and physical pain he had to endure every single day.

He got up to look at the mirror and examine the damage done to his left jaw, which he could feel pounding angrily as if punishing him for not fighting back, hurting him for not protecting himself.

As if I need any more pain, he thought as he traced his fingertips along the purple bruises.

The physical evidence didn't matter, with his extensive knowledge of potions he could easily concoct the Bruise-fading potion but it was the emotional pain that stained his entire being, that marked his soul with a coal-black hatred and animosity of everybody around him.

It was lucky for Severus Snape that no girl ever came into the girl's lavatory, which made it the perfect place for him to hide and think. Of course, Moaning Myrtle was always there, however she knew better than to disturb him. She'd learnt that lesson the very day they first met.

Severus Snape had burst through the doors crying as a first year, with blood dripping down his nose.

"Ooh, what happened to you?" Myrtle had asked, much to the shock of Severus.

He fell backwards, frantically looking around to see where the voice was coming from.

"I'm up here, silly!" She sang, and he looked up at her, bewildered.

"Who are you?" He asked, half-embarrassed that someone was seeing him in his current state, and half-amazed that there was a ghost right in front of him. Of course this was not the first ghost he had ever seen, he too had been greeted by Nearly-Headless-Nick on his first day at Hogwarts, but he had never seen a ghost who looked like a child before. Her skin was pallid and her eyes were the darkest of blacks; it made him feel very uneasy.

"I am Myrtle Elizabeth Warren. Now don't go calling me 'Moaning Myrtle' like those girls do. Haven't seen them in a while, actually."

Severus gulped and took a step back.

"Why is your nose bleeding?" Myrtle giggled, pointing to the drops of blood that dotted his school robes.

Severus suddenly remembered why he had come here in the first place and ran to the toilets for some toilet paper.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Myrtle noted as he held the scrunched tissue to his nose.

Severus eventually shoved some toilet paper in his nose to stop the flow when his arm grew tired of holding up the tissue. He turned to Myrtle who had begun inspecting one of the toilets.

"They beat me up."

Myrtle turned around in astonishment, the weird boy was talking to her?

"I just came in here for some peace."

Myrtle pondered for a bit, wondering what to say, if she should say anything at all.

"I know what it's like. To be bullied." She admitted, floating to the window located at the top of the lavatory.

"Of course, they never hit me." She peered down at Severus, looking at his bruised eye.

"But they made fun of me. Called me names. And when I died, they didn't even care. Took them hours to find me."

Her face contorted in sadness at the memory as she relived the day of her death in her mind.

"I'm sorry." Snape said lamely, he couldn't think of anything else to say. Although he felt pity for the girl, he had experienced worse than her in his opinion, physically at least.

"I'll leave you be. But if you ever need anyone, I'm here." She told him, before floating through the door.

From that day on Myrtle left Severus to his own company in the lavatory, knowing he wanted to be alone. Sometimes, though seldom, they would talk about their lives, and he confided with her about how he felt like Lily, his only friend, his only other friend he corrected when Myrtle gave him a look, was drifting away from him. He would tell her about how she fit in easily; everyone liked her. Later on as he grew older, he confessed his feelings for her, although Myrtle had long suspected it to be the case. And now here he was, in his fifth year, still coming back with a bloody nose, bruised face, and even broken bones.

Myrtle was about to float off into the corridor to find the prefects bathroom, a place she liked to go to sometimes when Severus wanted to be on his own.

"Wait, Myrtle!" Severus called out.

Myrtle smiled to herself before she turned around to face Severus, overjoyed that today was one of those days where Severus wanted to talk with her. She felt too lonely nowadays, and it was always nice to have someone to talk to.

"He keeps talking about her. It makes me really mad, I'm scared I'm gonna say something and—"

"Fight back, you mean? Look Severus, I know you don't want to make it worse or anything but if he's saying things about Lily, then..."

"He's not saying anything bad about her."

"Then what's he saying?"

"Well... that he wants to go out with her and stuff."

"Oh."

"I know it's not like he's doing anything wrong but—"

"You like her, I know. Look, all I'm saying is that if you stood up for yourself maybe he would stop."

"It's not that simple. It's not just him. It's his gang. Sirius, Remus and the lot of them. And I do get them back sometimes. If James hex's me, I sure as hell hex him back!" Severus argued.

"Hexing is one thing but actually telling them to stop is another. Besides, you can't only fight back when it's one-on-one. When they're together, you don't even try! Do you want to carry on like this? With your jaw looking like Nancy Turnbull's hair?"

They both started laughing which temporarily broke the ever-growing tension that had begun to sneak its way into the girl's lavatory; Nancy was a girl in Severus' year and she had eaten some hair-colour changing toffee that she had got as a Valentine's Day gift from Samuel Phillip. She didn't know of the toffee's colouring powers however, and she was also unaware that the toffee had gone off, a long time ago. Her hair had turned a dark purple, and she couldn't get the colour out.

"I'm just scared, Myrtle." Severus confessed, embarrassed.

Myrtle gave him a pitiful smile and floated towards the door. "The next time I see you, hopefully you won't be sporting bruises."

I could always do the Bruise-fading potion before I come in here, thought Severus before he realised he was just trying to stop himself from actually standing up for himself. But he was tired of always having to deal with this internal conflict. Sometimes he wished he could just skip to the future, where he'd be 30 years old, a successful wizard known for their extraordinary gifts in spell-making. Maybe he would work in the ministry. His brow creased as he remembered Potter's dad worked there. Maybe not then. Maybe he could be a dark wizard. After all, his talents were rare and could be useful. He sat there, dubious. At least as a Death-Eater he would have respect. He would have power. Maybe then Lily would finally notice that he was more than some loser with long greasy hair and that he had more to offer.

But he had to see. See what his future was like. If it was even worth living. Severus pulled the blood-stained tissue out of his nose and headed out the door, to the library.

The Triwizard Tournament: A Recount from the Winners, The Wondrous Effects of Love Potion, Teacher's Guide to Teaching Herbology. Severus ran his finger along the books of the bookshelf as he tried to find anything about Time-Turners.

Time-Turners: Where to get one and how to use them.

Finally, Severus thought. Carrying the book with him he sat down in one of the many free tables, unusual for the normally busy library, and began to read.