The world was cold, dark and forboding... until one turned on the light which could be located on the right side of the door. Then things got bright and cheery. Snape turned the light back off. 'Ahhh, desolate calm again.' he thought, wondering then if he had put the milk back into the fridge last night. If not, his karate-master would be pissed.
"Keeeyaaaa! Severus why you never put milk away!" Master Kip yelled while karate chopping Snape across the back.

"Huufff." replied Snape - it was too early in the morning for him to be knocked around like this. He did a hap-hazard roundhouse kick and somehow managed to land flat on his back. "Stuff it Master Kip," growled Severus, again being hit by the small old man. After Snape had killed Dumbledore Voldemort had told him to keep a low profile. So Snape went and hid in the mountains with the only man who knew the truth - knew that Snape had been instructed by Dumbledore himself to kill, well Dumbledore. This man was named Kip, but many who were in awe of his skills were told to call him "The Man with TEN fingers." . This to Snape showed that the people in awe of Master Kip were in fact as dumb as rocks. All normal men had ten fingers. 'Dumbasses.' thought Snape, a flicker of a smile appearing on his face when he thought of those "in awe" professing their admiration of a man with ten fingers. It did keep the creepy fan mail away, though - so that was a plus.

After Master Kip was done "scolding" Severus he instructed him to go out to the barn and milk the cow aka "Moosie". Snape scowled, but went outside anyway to fetch the milk. He walked along a twisting dirt path to a small thatched roof of a barn and entered slowly. Moosie eyed him with utter contempt as he walked in, she had never liked him - although he didn't know why. He had never done anything in particular to warrant such a lack of affection, he merely existed. When he had told this thought to Master Kip, the day before, Kip had replied "Now you must know how some of your students felt." And had walked out of the room. Snape had let him leave, and hadn't spoken to him about it since. Still, he looked at Moosie, regardless of how much truth the statement held he was at least not a cow.

Moosie snorted indignently as he approached her with the bucket.
"Easy, girl." he said as silkily as he could. Moosie kicked Snape squarely in the chest, knocking him back into the wall. "Dammit, Moosie!" he yelled, baring his teeth at the cow. Moosie stared at him with a look of utter defiance. She was just daring him to try again, daring him to try and tame her wild spirit. "Concentrate, Severus."
Snape whipped around, expecting to find Master Kip behind him. He found no one. "Kip?" questioned Snape, a slight uneasiness coming into his voice.

"I'm up here, Severus." Snape jerked his head upward, only to find Master Kip sitting on the ceiling beams above.

"How much of that did you see?"

"Enough to know that you were right, Moosie does seem to have quite a zesty dislike of you."

"You see, I told you!" hissed Snape, "That cow truly hates me!" Master Kip slowly descended from the ceiling via the rope ladder dangling a few feet away from Moosie and replied,

"But it surely is nothing that you cannot handle? You have been hated by student, colleague and strangers alike, correct? Why would a cow's hatred afflict you any worse?"

"You sure do know how to make a man feel good about himself." sneered Snape, rubbing the hoof marks off his black sweater and wincing in slight discomfort as he did so.

"You're going to feel that in the morning." commented Kip.

"I feel it now." shot Snape

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't now the morning?" asked Kip, a smile of gentle humor creeping across his face. Snape just glowered at him.
After a brief period of silence Kip said, " Well, aren't you going to try again? Or will we be milkless forever?"
Snape was astonished by Kip's ignorance. The cow would not let Snape near it, therefore there would be no milk - ever... unless Kip did it. Kip seemed to guess Snape's thought process for after awhile he said, " I will not milk this cow for you, Severus. This is your first test, get Moosie to trust you. Befriend her, Severus and you will have completed your first challenge."

Snape looked at Kip, "A test? I thought studying under you here meant studying fighting - not cows. When the arrangements were made by Dumbledore to allow me lodging and training here after - well - after - did he know of this mockery?"

"Mockery? Hardly, Severus... Albus knows my methods... I will not only train your body, but also your soul. I will teach you to open your eyes and your heart - that is what training under me means. Now, I believe you have a cow to befriend." And Kip strode out of the barn and back up to the house, leaving Severus staring after.

"Hello again, Moosie." Snape said quietly, keeping a distance away from Moosie's back legs. Moosie meanwhile was looking at him calmly, waiting for his next move. He looked her in the eye and continued to observe her further, he was unsure of what exactly one did to befriend a cow. Not really an average everyday problem one finds them self in the situation of solving. He gingerly reached out his hand to pet Moosie. She watched him closely as he stroked her head. Snape soon found himself muttering his inner thoughts aloud.

"Why do you hate me so much, Moosie? What is it about me that allows such aggression when you do not even know me? Is it my nose?" Snape blinked, had he just asked a cow if it hated his nose? He looked to Moosie, who seemed to understand what he was saying very well, as there was a slight smirk on her face. "Moosie? Will you be my friend and give me milk?" asked Snape, in a soft tone. Moosie shook her head "no", but then seemed to motion to the window. Snape, puzzled, went over and looked out it.

There was not much to see except the early morning light playing on the mountainous surroundings. Snape mumbled, "I don't understand, Moosie."
The cow then indicated for him to look downward, he did so and was amazed at what he saw. Below the window was a tiny baby rabbit, seemingly crying in the wet dew that coated its fur. There was a small scratch on its upper left leg and it seemed to be alone. In the bushes some ways away Snape detected movement, and he saw to his dislike a fox's tail swishing away through the leaves. He understood now, Moosie wanted him to make sure the little rabbit would be taken care of - and hadn't intended to give up any milk until that purpose was fufilled. Snape exited the barn and cuddled the wounded rabbit in his arms. He then went back to Moosie, retrieved the milk and went back up to the house to see what he and Master Kip could do for this tiny animal now wriggling in his arms. Snape advanced into the house, wondering if Kip was trying to turn him soft. It certainly seemed like it. It was as though Kip had seen the Muggle movie "Snow White" and was determined to get Severus little animal friends. "I'll be damned if he thinks I'm going to be his maid with my 'little animal friends'." muttered Snape, finding it increasingly difficult to keep a hold on the young rabbit. "Kip?" he called, glancing at the ceiling to make sure he wouldn't be caught off guard again.

Kip walked in from the living room at just that moment and said, "Yes, the ceiling is a nice shade of white this time of year, isn't it?" with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Did you get the milk?"

"Yes, but you see - this little rabbit here, Moosie wanted me to take care of it - it was the only way to get her to give me milk - it's injured badly."

"Oh don't you worry about my brother, he'll be fine, just trying to sneak in and steal my secrets again."

And with that there was a sudden pop and a slightly younger version of Kip, with darker hair and eyes, broke from Snape's arms and ran out the door.
Snape raised an eyebrow at Kip, who replied, "Moosie, I believe didn't want you to help him, you see, she takes great dislike to the man, as he has tried to do me harm many times. She knew you'd bring him to me."

"But why would your brother choose a small rabbit to be his Animagi - surely a larger animal would've been a more prudent choice."

"He does not have a single Animagi for he can turn into anything, it is a rare gift and he should be happy with it - but no, it cannot be - for the weak minded are never happy with the special gifts they do have, so much so that they try to steal gifts from others... instead of working for them themselves."

Kip sighed and rubbed his eyes, he then put a tea pot on the stove and began to boil water. Severus, meanwhile, put the milk into the fridge. Snape was watching Kip closely, it wasn't very often that Kip would be depressed - but when he was Snape knew what usually happened, in fact he was mentally preparing himself for it right now. "Many mumbling mice," rumbled Kip's deep singing voice 'Oh God - there he goes.' thought Snape - wincing a little.
"Are making mumbling music in the moonlight- mighty nice. Many of them have names of golden hues, some are George, and some are Bob... but some are Kip just like me. JUST LIKE ME!"

'Atleast he's not impersonating Cher again.' thought Snape, and then scowled bitterly as Kip switched tunes.

"If I could turn back time..."

Somewhere in the distant hills far below them lay Godric's Hollow. Had Snape known this, and known of Harry's plan to make a trip to there he perhaps would not be so relaxed. It was true - Snape hated the boy, but that didn't change the determination Snape had seen in his eyes, when they fought on that long ago, dreadful night. The night he had killed his mentor, the night he had killed his friend. Harry was determined to kill him for it, and he knew that regardless of how much dislike he had for Harry he would have to convince him of the truth... otherwise the Wizarding World would be cast forever in a shadow of darkness.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had traveled to Godric's Hollow, after much planning and preparation, by way of the Night Bus. They had lodged in a small hotel in view of a river that ran east of the town. As the sun had risen so had they, all gathering in the eating area of the hotel. They were quiet for sometime until Hermione broke the silence by asking,
"Is any of this familiar to you, Harry?"

"Hermione, I was one when I was last here, of course not." Harry replied, as Ron crossed his eyes dazedly at Hermione.

"Oh shut up, Ron." Hermione said, batting him with a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"But, Hermione, I didn't say anything!" protested Ron, and he was hit again.

"You better listen to your woman, Ronnikins." came Fred's voice from behind them.

The twins were in fact both sitting directly at the table behind them.
"Fred, George! What are you both doing here?" blurted through a mouth full of muffin.

"Well, mum told Fred and I to come alng and make sure you three were alright."

"Bloody overprotective woman." muttered Ron shaking his head.

"Aw, little Ronnikins is embarassed by his mummy!" grinned the twins together.

While Ron and Hermione had turned to the twins they had neglected to realize that Harry, had disappeared. The reason that they had come so early to Godric's Hollow was a simple one. Harry, by some miraculous way had gotten a message from Fawkes. It had a detailed account of one woman who had spotted Severus. The only problem Harry faced was getting rid of Ron and Hermione. He had to face Snape alone. There was no other way. No. Other.Way. He had tried explaining that to Ron and Hermione, but they just wouldn't budge. They had come with him, but now, Harry knew, he must climb the mountain alone.

The mountain was big. And Scary. And slightly larger up close than from a distance. Harry groaned. Then he remembered a spell he had learned in Transfiguration Class. He had never gotten it to work before- but he figured he'd try it anyway. He pointed his wand at a rock and yelled, "Equis!" The rock turned into a kangaroo.
'Shit,' thought Harry, 'it was supposed to turn into a horse.' After a moment of pondering Harry awkwardly hopped onto the kangaroo's back and began to "ride it" up the mountain. Harry thought bitterly to himself what biting remarks Snape would come up with if he saw Harry now, "What's the matter, Potter, Australia confiscate your broomstick?" or perhaps, "The Great Potter's training animals to do his bidding now, guess Granger's put House Elves off limits, eh?"

He hated Snape. And he hated having to make an entrance into battle on a kangaroo. Halfway through the trip up the mountain the kangaroo turned back into a rock, leaving Harry to fend for himself. 'Well, at least I don't have to make my entrance on a kangaroo.' thought Harry, who was tempted to try the spell again but had no wish for it to go awry even worse than the first time and leave him stranded there with a monkey who only wanted to pick non-existent bugs out of his hair and eat them.