Chapter 3: The Way Things Work
{A/N: Here's Another Update...I know it's been a while but I had to work...excuse the mistakes...Late post}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S
{"She held me spellbound in the night...Dancing shadows and firelight...Crazy laughter in another...Room and she drove herself to madness
With a silver spoon...Well I know you want a lover,...let me tell your brother, she's been sleeping... in the Devil's bed... And there's some rumors going round...someone's underground... she can rock you in the night time...til your skin turns red..."} Witchy Woman, The Eagles
Unknown Location, Unknown World...
Familiar darkness had surrounded Severus Snape when he finally managed to open his blurry obsidian eyes. With his mind in a state of fog it had been little use in trying to piece together how he came to be in a strange bed in an even stranger room. A little involuntary stretching had alerted him to the fact that he had not been in bed alone. The sudden sensation of a warm body being next to him seemed to clear away some of the fog in his mind as he pulled back the covers. First he had believed that he was a victim of consuming entirely too much firewhiskey, but upon seeing the notorious bushy hair of his sleeping companion, he knew this was not the case. The events of the previous night had still been very much a blur as he took in the naked sleeping form of one Hermione Jean Granger.
"M-Miss Granger?" said Snape launching himself out of bed in the wake of his shock.
Much to his chagrin, his appearance had not been a shock to her as her amber eyes fluttered open and a satisfied grin filed across her pale face. Her lengthy curls dangled at her shoulders as she crawled from beneath the covers letting her exposed breasts sway with her movements and shifted her hips like a cat would it's tail.
"Mmmm." she said licking her lips as she reached for the naked form of her Potions Professor. "If I needed to be convinced of your relation to the boss you've definitely gotten my vote."
Before Snape could object, she waved her hand and he found himself climbing back into bed with the beautiful seductress. He hardly had a breath escape him as Hermione Granger wrestled him onto his back and straddled his thin pale hips. She had not seemed the least put off by his various telltale scars, sickly pale flesh, and lean muscular frame.
Snape closed his eyes as she kissed him from his bare chest all the way up to his neck in the same place as the night before where Voldemort's villainous pet snake Nagini had bitten him during the second wizarding war.
"Just relax Professor." said Hermione in a low seductive tone as she ran her warm wet tongue along the sensitive pale flesh of his neck. "Let me show you again how much it pays to be a witch who knows exactly what she is doing."
The Potions Professor found himself groaning unable to resist the seemingly insatiable young witch's charms. He had not planned to take advantage of his student but it seems she was not leaving much room for choice on his part.
Hours Later...
Snape awoke as Hermione gathered her things. He had been treated to the sight of Harry Potter...well apparently he had been Harry Snape in this strange universe...strolling into the room with a big smile upon his sallow face. Snape found himself looking over Hermione Granger and taking in the sight of her slender frame and recalling their lustful couplings. His apparent son had been pleased that he had enjoyed himself.
"Morning father." said Harry happily. "I see you've had a good night as well...Hermione comes highly recommended you know."
Snape rolled his eyes.
It had been quite some time since he had any sort of sexual release. Between the second wizarding war, nearly dying, and teaching full term once the dust settled following his near death experience.
He had still been a bit groggy in the wake of it.
"If you don't mind...I would like to get dressed in private." said drawled Snape in a bored tone.
"Sure thing." said Harry pleasantly. "Breakfast is being served in the sitting room."
"Sitting room?" asked Snape confused by what he was being told.
"Well yes." replied Harry with an eerily pleasant smile, and a twinkle behind his emerald eyes that reminded Snape of Albus Dumbledore. "Don't tell me you were so pissed last night that when got to the apartment you didn't notice."
Snape looked over at the retreating form of the bushy haired seductress whom had taken him of what was mostly likely a carnal journey for the record books. Only he had not remembered a single thing about the encounters let alone how good they felt. All he had known when he opened his eyes for a second time that late afternoon...afternoon...he had hardly had time to notice the time difference. What the hell? What did she do?
"I was for the most part occupied." he replied pushing down the vast node of panic that flashed through him at the realization of the time change.
Harry chuckled at this. His emerald green eyes held a flicker of pride as he noted all the possibilities of what had gone on between his father and his worker. He had merely been trying to arrange a form of release for the seemingly tense pale wizard...given all that he had endured prior to his arrival at his club.
"I wouldn't doubt it." he replied. "I have to say, I'm a bit surprised that she's taken an interest in you."
"I can't imagine why." replied Snape not at all showing any enthusiasm given his recent encounter.
Harry chuckled again.
"They always told me that you were a very interesting wizard father." he said approvingly. "I am happy to see that the legend does wonders for the real thing."
Snape rolled his eyes. His son this version of Potter may be...but that didn't make him any less of a nuisance.
"Away with you boy." said the annoyed Potions Professor waving away the younger wizard dismissively.
"As you wish father..." said Harry still with that sickening smile. "I'll be down stairs awaiting you for breakfast...or rather lunch given how long you two have been at it."
Snape rolled his eyes a second time as Harry disappeared out the impressively designed door. It had been made of fine mahogany wood and a good deal thick. The entire space now that he had actually taken time to take it all in was a good deal impressive. The flooring had been a black marble color with a rather large four poster black bed draped in Slytherin colors...silk sheets of forest green and a large comforter also in black, soft to the touch and fitting something he would have no doubt chosen for himself if he had those kind of galleons.
The pillowcases had been a forest green silk color as well and oh so plush despite the slippery smooth covering. The mattress...Snape could hardly believe it was a mattress come to think of it. He felt not a single spring out of place and oddly enough he had not heard the sound of them...not even when Hermione Granger had accompanied him to bed.
Hermione Granger.
It had been strange having her beside him within this strange bed naked as the day she was born and seemingly comfortable with the strange dynamic of this world. Snape may not have been able to resist her charms like so many others needy men in this world but he had noted the sadness behind her supposedly vacant amber eyes.
Pushing his thoughts aside for more pressing issues...Snape got out of bed and made himself presentable oddly finding himself without his frock coat. He had appeared in more of a casual state of dress as a result, with his long sleeve button down shirt loosened at the collar. He had seen little point in buttoning it all the way to the top given he had no coat to put on over it. His same black trousers had been provided though the were noticeably cleaned and repaired from the damage sustained when he arrived.
He had also noted during the discovery of his nakedness in bed, that his wounds had healed as well. He found it much easier to function with replenished energy and a well healed body. His mind seemed to have recovered from Miss Granger's meddling as well, thought the heat from her slender frame being pressed against his own pale lean form had not faded from memory.
The dour wizard made the trip down the stairs noting the place in which he awoke had been far more extravagant than the club he had come to understand was run by his apparent son.
Downstairs...
Harry had been smiling brightly as he stood to greet his now fully dressed father. He waved his hand like a king sitting upon his throne and Snape was immediately approached by two beautiful of not equally miserable girls, whom he had known to be former students of his as well, Padma and Parvati Patil. Snape had also recalled that Padma had been sorted into Ravenclaw and her twin sister Parvati had been sorted into Gryffindor house. Though it seemed that both girls despite not being Slytherin managed to find work with Harry.
"Hello Professor Snape." said Padma seductively.
"Can we get you anything sir?" asked Parvati.
Snape shook his head and waved them off dismissively. A beautiful as the girls had been, he had been of the most part sated when it came to carnal desires thanks in large part to Miss Granger's antics. The Potions Professor sat on the rather large black sofa sectional that had been placed in the middle of the room. It's a sorted colors of black and white pillows had been interesting as well as the other extravagant features of this sitting room. It seemed to be much like the office but much more grand.
The floor had been white marble of all things and the walls painted with a thick black paint that seemed to gloss in the light that was trapped into the room. There were colums of white highly polished as well and a large serpent emblem on the larger far wall. The letters spelling out N-A-P-E excluding the forest green serpent picture for the letter S had been pained in white. Making it spell SNAPE along the wall for all who entered to see and know the kind of pride Harry placed in his father's name.
"I have to say father...it's a bit surreal seeing you here...in the flesh after all these years and all those stories." said Harry giving his father a rather sad smile. "My father the great powerful dark wizard Severus Snape, who battled that evil bastard Dumbledore and saved countless lives be they Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff."
Snape arched an eyebrow at the mention of the four houses of Hogwarts. Apparently his current time self had been a lot different from the man they knew here.
"I am not someone to be revered boy." said Snape a little more than bitter at the image his son was conjuring of him.
Harry sighed.
"Oh but you are...father...you are the only hero this world has ever known." he said getting to his feet. "What that evil bastard Dumbledore has done to everyone...there is hardly a witch or wizard that doesn't want to see the old prick bite the dust."
Snape still could hardly believe what he was being told. Dumbledore...Albus Dumbledore was the wizard of this age as hated and feared as the dark lord had been for him in his time.
"W-Why would Albus...?" started Snape still struggling to come to terms with the idea of his mentor, his father figure being the reason for this era's undoubted ruin. "What is there to fear from Albus?"
Harry took a moment to study his father as if this was some kind of practical joke. Then he exhaled noting the far off look in his father's eyes.
"Albus Dumbledore is a cold blooded murderer and a power hungry tyrant father." he said. "I've told you he had the Weasley clan killed off with the exception of Ron the bartender and Ginny over there."
Snape noted Ginny Weasley's presence.
"I told you that he had been raping Granger for months before she broke out of Hogwarts and fled the city." continued Harry. "Father...he's not the benevolent old man you have been so attacked to...he is ruthless and cunning...he has no regard for anyone except himself...he had even turned his fury upon McGonagall once he found out that she helped me escape his traps at the school."
"Minerva?" asked Snape recalling everything he knew about the older witch. "W-What has he done to her?"
Harry noted the strange flicker of attachment Snape seemed to have for the older witch. Of course it was to be understandable. He had known all about his father's history with the witch.
"From what I was told...he had her strung up and beaten causing her right eye to become damaged...she can hardly see out of it." said Harry.
Snape balled his fists as the images of Minerva McGonagall flooded his mind. He had loved the old woman as if she were of his own mother. Despite the house rivalries and her lack of attention to her Gryffindor students when he was a boy...Minerva and he had a bond like no other once he became a full fledged Potions Professor at Hogwarts and he had only been 21 then.
"I-I haven't heard much about her since then." said Harry all the while noting his father's change in attitude. "Am I wrong to assume that you two were close where you come from?"
Snape sighed with the image of the Minerva he knew so well playing in his mind. He couldn't imagine her being hurt in such a way. His protectiveness over her had come as a shock to him as well more so than usual.
"You are not wrong." he replied at long last getting control over himself. "She is a dear friend."
Harry dismissed the girls and stood on his feet stepping over to the gigantic window overlooking the city below. There wasn't much aside from some more glitz places all fancy like Harry's place and some less extravagant. Other places were hollowed out shells of businesses long closed down or forgotten abandoned buildings and homes galore below. War had ravaged the streets and torn areas apart. It was clear that whatever was going on in this strange world, Snape had found himself once again in the middle of a power struggle.
"Listen father...things are different around her...and I don't want some two-bit Dumbledore boot-licker taking you out." said Harry with actual concern etched across his pale face. "The people you thought you could trust are numbered in few and getting smaller."
"I understand." replied Snape noting the Slytherin in his son's frame of mind.
He too got to his feet and looked out the window. This was some truly messed up place to be trapped in. It was also abundantly clear that his son needed his help in some way...though he was yet to figure out how he could assist him.
"I told you I was a baby when he killed you." said Harry suddenly with a blank expression upon his pale face, his looks more in the line of his father's.
"I believe you did." replied Snape not wishing to hear the details of his supposed death in this timeline.
"You were holding me." said Harry. "Uncle Lucius had come to get me as you requested...Dumbledore had attacked without warning...he knew the only way to get to you was through mother and by extension me."
Snape felt a sudden sharp intrusion as the images flooded his mind at an alarming rate.
{ October 31st 1981,
Severus Snape had been in a hurry as he made his way toward his home in the middle of the night. Spinner's End had apparently not been safe enough for Lily and the baby. The Potions Professor had been terrified but hid it well given his main concerns had been for his wife and barely a year old child. Lily had been trembling not so much from the cold because the house had been warm and toasty from the heated fireplace. It's orange glow had been bouncing off her pale flesh in such a way it etched itself to memory.
"S-Severus." she said relieved when her husband came through the front door.
The sense of urgency had been rather thick in the air.
"We must hurry." said the steady voice of Lucius Malfoy as he entered the room carrying little Harry wrapped for the weather despite the decision to travel by floo.
The small baby with emerald green eyes had not made a single cry seeing to draw from the impeccable inner strength of his father.
"Harry." said the dour wizard taking a moment to look over his one year old son.
The boy met his father's obsidian gaze and smiled in the strange pleasant way of babies. Snape turned his attention to his trembling wife. She had been a sight, with her vibrant red hair and emerald green eyes...from the day they met as children playing beneath a hollowed out willow tree, she had been the best part of his life.
Their time together at Hogwarts nearly a blur as he vaguely recalled the day he nearly lost her and the day he got her back. He vowed that nothing could or would keep them apart ever again.
She and Harry meant the world to him and he had made up his mind to fight till the death to ensure that they survived this war.
"Severus...I don't want to leave you." said Lily in tears as she fully gave in to fears and clung to her husband.
Something about this dreadful night did not sit well with her. Being that it was also all hallow's eve made it even more of a frightening time given all that would come about this day.
"Lily." said Snape trying to reassure his wife in the best way he knew how. "I need you to look after Harry...I have no doubt in my mind that the old man is coming here...so I want you and our boy to be safe."
"Severus I don't like this." she said feeling uneasy. "He may be your father but Dumbledore is not going to let us be happy...he said as much when we got married."
"Then I'll deal with him." Snape assured her. "But I need to know that you and Harry are safe...Lucius and Narcissa will see that you are looked after."
"Why can't you come with us?" asked Lily. "You promised me that you would never leave us alone...that we would be together forever."
"Lily." said Snape not wishing to go back into the terms of his promise. "I love you...and I will always love you...but I want you safe...this battle is not yours to fight...Potter had gone straight to him I know it."
"Sev, James has changed." said Lily. "He's not the same cowardly boy that needs his friends to feel secure anymore."
"Lily...I will not argue with you over the likes of James Potter, but believe me when I tell you...he has not changed...and he has most certainly reported our efforts to Dumbledore...it is the reason the old man is on his way here."
Lily sighed.
She knew there was no arguing with Severus. She had loved her husband but some times he could be a bit thick-headed. Especially when it comes to his feelings about James Potter. She supposed it was due to the fact that James had feelings for her when they attended Hogwarts and she had briefly dated the bloke up until that fateful day she was brought back to Severus and they never parted since. Lily had since forgiven James of his follies and saw him as a good friend. Severus had never trusted him. Out right accused him of being a spy for Dumbledore.
"I'd hate to spoil this little spat...but we have to get moving." said Lucius still holding Harry who was now chewing on his tiny little hands.
The handsome Pureblood had dreaded getting drool on his favorite attire on his worst day but made an exception for the boy this time. His mild suffering had not been lost on Snape as he smiled at his son as if to congratulate him on making Lucius Malfoy of all people squirm.
"Be careful." said Lily meaningfully as she pulled Severus into her embrace and they shared a heartfelt kiss.
"Always." replied Snape returning her kiss and embrace equally.
Snape turned his attention to his son. The feeling that he would never see the boy grow into a man had been very real and weighed heavily upon him.
"Harry." said the Potions Master with a sad smile. "My little Harry...take care of your mother for me...and do try and be a good man."
The one year old simply cooed and tried to eat his father's fingers.
"I love you, my son..." said Snape softly running his long pale calloused fingers through his one year old's unkempt raven hair. "Always."}
Snape found himself feeling sick as his mind had been brought back to the current timeline where he found himself of standing next to a fully grown Harry Snape.
"It's one of the few memories I have of you." said the green eyed wizard in a saddened tone. "I didn't even know I had it until I hit my head on some years back on the Quidditch field."
Snape said nothing seemingly shaken from seeing Lily again after all this time. She had been a radiant vision of beauty and he had loved her for so long.
"Just ad I remember her." he said after some more silence. Though he appeared to be miles away as he spoke of her.
"I loved your mother very much." said Snape admitting out loud to his son what he couldn't to Harry Potter back in his timeline.
"I suppose what you told her is true then..." said Harry looking at Snape. "That you would love her..."
"Always." replied Snape cutting Harry off in his sorrowful tone.
The green eyed wizard seemed to understand.
"I hope you understand the way things work around here." said Harry changing the subject noting that his father's heart had been heavy enough without the constant reminder of his mother's murder replaying for them both. "Dumbledore is the enemy as well as his order of Phoenix."
Snape couldn't believe what he was hearing. Albus Dumbledore and The Order of Phoenix were the evils of this world. He didn't want to hazard the guess that Tom Riddle and his death eaters were leading up the resistance. After some more words of warning, Snape and Harry sat down to lunch, where Harry tried to inquire as much as he could about Snape's time with Hermione. The dour wizard refused to give any details...well he couldn't really give any details as he was yet to recall them but he still would never have spoken of it.
Harry contented himself by telling his own wild stories giving detailed accounts for the rest of the afternoon then resumed his usual business while Snape relaxed, pretty much having the run of the place. Snape mostly made his way back to his appointed room, the images from Harry's shared flashback still vivid in his mind. He had been married to Lily Evans and she had loved him. It was enough to sustain him as he drifted off to sleep with the images of the beautiful witch imbedded into his mind, thinking that perhaps later he would inquire more about this strange timeline and those that live in it.