A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. This is the first Harry Potter fic I've attempted, so please be kind (and give me lots of advice!)
No one knew how it happened. It might have been a bitter enemy carrying out his or her last act of revenge, or it could have been a friendly-fire intended to save his life; but there was no denying what happened. Instead of a bloodied corpse lying on the floorboards of the Shrieking Shack, there was a healthy – if not terribly frightened – five year old boy, with long black hair and tearful obsidian eyes.
It has been six years since the Last Battle. The door to the Defence against Dark Arts classroom flew open to welcome its instructor, despite the man not lifting a finger or wand to demand it. Word of mouth is that the man is so in-tuned with Magic itself that it wields itself to his desires even without any prompting.
"Welcome to Defence against the Dark Arts, which, in my opinion, is a rubbish title for a course in a magical institution such as Hogwarts." The man shot the castle's stone walls a dark look, as if they were to be blamed for the apparently unsatisfactory naming of his subject. "Therefore, from today onwards, I will refer to this course as 'Defence and Dueling', and I expect all of you pathetic, snot-nosed weaklings to conform to this label; unless you think that you are above my teachings – in which case, you are more than welcome to inform the Headmistress that you will be self-studying for your OWLs and NEWTs."
The first-years shuffled uncomfortably at the hard tone in their DADA – no, the abbreviation should be DD now – instructor's voice. The initial excitement of meeting Professor Harry Potter was starting to feel more like a sinking feeling in their eleven-year-old stomachs.
"MR SNAPE!" Professor Potter snapped suddenly. "What is the incantation required to disarm one's opponent?"
Severus Snape, first year Ravenclaw, looked up in panic. "I don't know, sir."
"Is that so?" The professor gave him an inscrutable expression. "Such a shame." 'To your former self' was left unspoken, but Severus heard it all the same. He hung his head in shame. His guardian had told him all about his circumstances before he came to Hogwarts, of course; and needless to say, Severus was a little intrigued and a little horrified at the thought that he was once a Death Eater, a spy, a Potions Master, a Head of House, a Headmaster, a pardoned war criminal turned war hero… and ultimately, an unfortunate victim of a permanent deaging curse.
To be fair, Severus and his guardian were not at all surprised that he was sorted into Ravenclaw, for he has always been a quiet and studious boy (at least for the past 6 years); but it seemed like the rest of Hogwarts had taken his sorting as a personal insult. Never before, in the history of Hogwarts, had a sorting been followed by total silence from the staff table. Even Theia Lestrange (niece thrice removed to the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange) and Marcus Greyback (illegitimate child of Fenrir Greyback who was hidden away in the muggle world by his mother until the news of his biological father's death came to light) had received a small, polite applause from their respective Heads of House.
The only saving grace was that Severus was quite used to being ignored. After all, he had spent the last six years of his childhood in relative solidarity. It wasn't that his guardian was spiteful or negligent per se; but he always assumed that Severus would be able to fend for himself and entertain himself in the huge manor. Severus stifled a sigh. After his guardian's explanation, he finally understood it. Understood why he was allowed to wander around unsupervised in a manor full of dark curses and hexes. Understood why he was expected to spend endless amount of time in the library or potions lab. Understood why he was given looks of confusion or disappointment whenever he said that he didn't know something. All of them didn't see him as Severus Snape, the little boy; they saw him as Severus Snape, the infallible war hero, the Bravest Man Who Ever Lived, the Spy Who Fooled the Dark Lord, the Man Who Sacrificed Everything for Love… and the nickname goes on and on. There was nothing the press loved more than a tragic love story, as Severus has come to realize through reading old newspaper clippings of himself.
"I'm sorry, sir." He bowed his head to hide the tears that were threatening to form in his little eyes. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't remember anything about his past life! To some extent, Severus blamed his former self for being such an accomplished man. If only he wasn't such a glorified figure, Severus would not be burdened with so much expectations right now.
Something in Professor Potter's eyes soften at the sight of the boy's vulnerability. "Not at all, Mr Snape. It is a fourth year spell, and you were the one who first taught it to me when I was in school. I'll also have you know—" His voice raised a notch to command the attention of the rest of the class. "—that this spell was the one I used to vanquish Voldemort. Can anyone tell me what the incantation is?"
Severus hesitated a moment before raising his hand. He had read enough of history books to memorise every bit of the Final Battle.
"Yes, Mr Snape?" Professor Potter asked patiently.
"Umm… It's Expelliarmus, sir."
"Very good!" The pride in Professor Potter's face voice was so thick that it was as though Severus had just used that spell to defeat Voldemort himself.
Severus smiled a little, although he was wincing on the inside. The excessive praise was almost as bad as the disappointed look he had gotten earlier.
For some unfathomable reason, the smile he gave seemed to return Professor Potter to his bitter mood at the start of the class. "In this course, I will teach you how to dance with dementors, wrestle with werewolves, vie with vampires and duel with dark lords. You will need to bring every last ounce of wit and cunning into this class, because I will not stop at curses and hexes. No, as your course progresses, I expect you to use everything you know – from simple colour changing potions to complicated astrological charts – against your opponent. That is, if all of you mindless sheep can stop cowering long enough to pick up your wands."
Professor Potter swept a massive sneer at all of them, before waving his hand at the blackboard. "Alright, today we will start with…"
Severus' next class was Charms with Professor Flitwick. Since his guardian told him that Professor Flitwick had already been his professor the first time round, Severus was half-hoping that the professor would treat him normally.
"Good job, Mr Snape." The professor exclaimed when he managed to master the Levitation Charm ahead of his classmates. "Five points to Slytheri – I mean, Ravenclaw."
Well, almost.
"Time's up, bottle a sample of your potion and leave it on the table." Professor Slughorn announced.
Severus peered down at his cauldron, pleased to note that his potion had achieved the desired shade of lilac.
"A perfect attempt, Mr Snape." Professor Slughorn didn't look happy, despite his words. "A word-by-word execution of the recipe in the book."
Severus's shoulders sagged dejectedly as he packed his bag. If perfect wasn't good enough, what was?
"Mr Snape, please have a seat." Headmistress McGonagall said gently. Severus had been summoned to her office after dinner at the end of his first week in Hogwarts.
Severus bowed his head shyly and took a seat. McGonagall looked delighted at his choice of furniture. Severus could only guess that there was some back story related to the wooden chair that he did not know of.
"Now, Mr Snape, how are you coping with Hogwarts?"
Severus fidgeted in his seat. How was he supposed to answer the question? Technically, nothing was wrong; just… strange. "Everything is fine, Headmistress."
"Are your friends giving you any trouble?"
"No, ma'am." He didn't have any anyway.
"What about your classes, are they going well?"
"I think so, ma'am." Severus answered, before taking a breath. "Has my performance been… unsatisfactory?" He asked tentatively, dreading what his professors have been saying about him.
Headmistress McGonagall looked surprise for a moment, before schooling her features into a calm expression. "No, of course not, Mr Snape. I apologize, I did not mean to insinuate anything of that sort. In any case, please feel free to visit my office if you ever feel the need to talk to someone."
"Yes, ma'am." Severus bolted from the office as fast as he could.
"Severus, my boy, slow down!" A voice panted after him as he was racing up Ravenclaw tower.
Severus wheeled around so quickly that he almost felt dizzy, but found no one behind him. Was this supposed to be a prank?
"Here, my boy, in the portraits!"
Severus looked around closely and finally spotted an old man dressed in a gaudy, bright-coloured robe, with piercing blue eyes twinkling behind a pair of half-moon spectacles. "Who are you?"
"Why, my boy, my name is Albus Dumbledore." The old man said calmly, without a trace of offense taken. "I was your Headmaster when you were studying here in Hogwarts the first time round, as well as when you were teaching."
"Oh…" Severus was at a loss for words. "I'm sorry I didn't recognise you, sir."
"No, no, I'm the one who should be sorry, for asking so much of you in the past…" Albus' twinkle dimmed a little, before coming back with full force. "But no matter, I'm glad that you got the chance to redo your life."
"It's not much of a chance if I'm expected to do the same thing all over again." Severus mumbled under his breath.
Albus gave him a sad twinkle – if that was possible – and leaned towards him conspiratorially. "As I have told a great man once, it is our choices that define who we are. It is the same for you, Severus. Don't let your past dictate the present. Don't you know? The present is called the present because it is a gift."
Severus raised an eyebrow sceptically. "With all due respect, sir, the present is called the 'present' because in 549 B.C. there was a Grecian scholar who mistakenly transcribed a text from—"
A jolly laugh interrupted his impromptu lecture. "I see a leopard doesn't change its spots, whether de-aged or not." Albus was wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eyes. "It's so good to see you again, my boy. Thank you for surviving." There was a quality of softness in Albus' eyes that Severus couldn't place. He had a gut feeling that this man was not just his headmaster, but something much more.
All the same, Severus felt a lot better since his arrival at Hogwarts. "Uh, thank you, sir. For your concern."
"No worries, my boy. Come have a chat with me in the Headmistress Office any time you like. Or we can always meet somewhere else if you so desire, as long as there is a portrait frame. Just let Fawkes know and he will pass me the message."
"Fawkes?" Severus asked, lost in translation.
"That will be Professor Potter's phoenix, my boy. I guess you haven't had to make a trip to his office then? That's a good start. It is in my understanding that Professor Potter can be a little… strict… with his students."
Severus thought that that was the biggest understatement of the century. From his friends' stories, Professor Potter was practically a slave-driver when it came to detentions. And if you ever so much as mentioned 'Defence against the Dark Arts', he would look as you as if you were Voldemort incarnate. Try saying 'You-Know-Who' to his face and he would jinx your pumpkin juice to taste like soap for the rest of the week. No, strict was definitely not the word to describe Professor Potter.
As it happened, Severus did manage to sneak a peek at Fawkes about four weeks into the semester. He was caught reading a different text than that assigned by Professor Potter in class, and had been summoned to the man's office that night.
"Explain yourself, Mr Snape."
"About what, sir?" Ravenclaw or not, Severus still had a little sense of self-preservation. He was not going to own up to an alleged wrongdoing without being told exactly what it was.
The corners of Professor Potter's mouth quirk a little, as if suppressing a smile; before returning to the normal scowl he always wore. "Why were you reading a different text in class, Mr Snape? If you find my teaching to be not up to your standards, then I assure you that you can choose to sit it out for the rest of your academic career. I'm quite sure that I've made that clear in the first lesson?"
Severus kept his head bowed and bit his lip, hoping that Professor Potter would end his rant and let him off with a detention or docking some House Points.
However, he could not have chosen a worse way to react. To Harry Potter, Severus Snape should bow to no one. The man – no, boy – had done enough bowing to last him the next five lifetimes, and Harry definitely did not want him to be bowing to him, of all people.
"LOOK UP!" Harry growled at him, his voice coming out a lot sterner than intended.
Severus raised his head in panic. His eyes met his professor's blazing green ones and finally understood why this man was The-Boy-Who-Vanquished-Voldemort. Professor Potter's aura had flared to full force, like a blazing fire that was consuming everything in the room; including Severus himself. Severus found that he could not look away, no matter how much he wanted to. He was infinitely lost in the blazing green orbs, feeling a mixture of fear, reverence, respect and dread all at once.
Luckily, Harry caught himself just in time and reined in his emotions before Magic could react instinctively. "Leave." He said flatly, averting his eyes from Severus' innocent black ones. "Twenty points from Ravenclaw for reading unauthorised materials during class."
Severus nodded and turned to leave hurriedly, but stopped in his tracks just before he was completely out the door. "Uh, sir…?" He started, before trailing off uncertainly. Perhaps now wasn't the best time to ask the professor about meeting his phoenix.
He was too late, however, Professor Potter had heard the beginning of his question. "Yes?"
"Uh… I was wondering… Can I speak to Fawkes?" He mumbled, staring at his shoes awkwardly.
There was a tense silence following his question. Severus peeked up slowly and found Professor Potter looking at him with what could only be described as an expression of pure sorrow, before snapping back into his usual scowl and left the office, slamming the door behind him.
Severus gaped after his professor's retreating figure in bewilderment. He had not intended to chase Professor Potter out of his office! All he had in mind when he asked the question was to greet the phoenix and to tell Headmaster Dumbledore he said hi. Not that he missed the old man or anything; but it is not every day that you get a chance to examine a phoenix close-up. And as Severus did not intent to come back to Professor Potter's office any time soon if he could help it, he thought that this might be his only opportunity.
He approached the perch slowly. "Uh, hi, Fawkes."
Fawkes looked delighted to see him. It gave an excited chirp, before swooping down onto his shoulders and picked at his hair tie with its beak.
"Hey, stop it!" Severus tried to bat the phoenix away to no avail. It seemed like Fawkes was attacking his hair tie with some misplaced sense of vengeance; only flying away once it had come undone and his hair had fallen all over his shoulders. Then, Fawkes settled back on his perch, clicking its beak victoriously as if proud of its achievement and beamed at him.
Severus pushed his unwillingly-liberated hair backwards and sighed. Great, even the bloody phoenix wanted him to be Potions Master Professor Snape.
A/N: So I came up with this idea to do a reverse role Severitus/Snarry (as in, mentoring during school years and romance after Severus is of-age). What do you think? Will this be feasible?
Both characters are OOC as of now (but of course, there will be some back story as to why Harry is behaving like this; and Severus' behaviour has already been explained due to the fact that he is raised differently this time round). In essence, Harry will behave like Severus and Severus will behave like Harry.
I usually try not to grovel for reviews, but do leave a line or two if possible as this is my first HP fic; so I don't really know what you readers want yet.