Disclaimer: I don't own harry potter or any of the characters related, but I do own this plot (however weird it may seem)
PUH-LEEZE READ THIS, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND, MY CHILD:
Well, I suppose I should clear a few things up. It might seem confusing, about Snape's mental thing... Basically, what happens is he reverts to either memory. I actually have a pretty scientific reason ^_^ well, in theory anyway. Before anything happened with Dumbledore messing with Snape's memory, he already had a problem. However much knowledge and information he could gain, his mindset was stuck in the form of a child. Basically, he could learn new things but only in a third person sort of way. He was able to see things through different shoes but not change his 'style'. (like being angry at other people for small things even though they couldn't help it, bad example though)
He was stuck in the most comfortable memories he'd had...Almost immediately after he became a double agent, he went insane. So to take away the pain from fighting Voldemort's psychic hoo ha, he just lived in his good memories. When his mother was always with him. So in his first outburst, he was really confused as to why his mother wasn't with him. He was fighting Voldemort's call again at the time, and he couldn't handle it (making him go to his nice nice memories) That's when Hermione walked in and he subconsciously chose her to play the part of his mom.
The thing is, I made it sound like what Hermione was saying was concrete. Example: "'Professor Snape? Mental condition?' It made sense to her seeing as how the professor was always just a little creepy."(first chapter). Though I wrote the statement in the narrative, I was merely portraying her view on the subject, not the whole truth. So I'm not justifying Snape's personality as a mental condition. Nuh uh, that's just him. His mental condition keeps him in a child-like state. It's...different and the rest will be explained during the duration of the story. I'm sorry if I made Snape seem that if he were sane, he'd really be a 'regular' person, because I of all people would hate it if that were to happen. Dude, Snape's Snape. Can't try to change that, can I?
Dumbledore cast Obliviate on Snape, seemingly making him forget his memory, but that's not really what it was. The memory wasn't just erased but blocked by a wall in his mind. Meaning, he can only remember one set of his memories at a time. Before the time of this story, he rarely changed to his other set of memories, but he did change once in a while (when fighting voldemort's calls) making it noticeable to people who spent enough time with him. But after his subconscious chose Hermione as his 'mother', it sorta poked a a big whole through the wall, making it easy for him to revert to either set of memories, but not mush them together. So basically, when he remembers who his mother is, details about her and acts as if Hermione really is his mother, that's when he's "switching memories" BUT his character is the same, even if one is more simplistic than the other (might seem).
the above goes out to Lauren-sorry about the mixup, just because someone has a mental problem doesn't mean they don't have a personality, right? I'm sorry if i accidentally uhm, insulted you (if i did...), I didn't have all the character come out in the first chapter because I want to keep a suspenseful yet eerie mood...........is it working? i'd like another review from you @.@
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione simply gawked at him and the situation for a moment before anger overcame her and she threw him off of her. Not wanting to take any chances, she screamed "Petrificus Totalus!" as soon as she could. 'I guess I'm not going to breakfast,' she thought.
She levitated a quite paralyzed Professor Snape towards Dumbledore's office. Luckily, she met nobody on her way there. When they'd gotten to the entrance to the office, she checked her watch. 'oh..thirty minutes early, oh well, this can be considered an exception' she thought while staring at her seemingly deranged potions master.
"Peppermint!" and the door opened to reveal a well decorated room.
"Ah, Ms. Granger, I wasn't expecting you so soon! Did you get enough sl-" and with that he promptly closed his mouth.
"He...attacked me again this morning...well this time, I'm not quite sure if it really was an attack." She said, confused by her own words. "OH! Finite Incantatum!" she said loudly as she realized how agitated her professor must have been getting.
As soon as she'd released him from her spell, he fell to the floor and glared up at her. "WHAT may I ask was that all about?!" he yelled at both of them.
"No! Proffessor Snape was outside, outside of the Gryffindor common room! He was waiting for someone named Elena..." and the name suddenly became significant to her. "Your mother, it was your mother!"
Professor Dumbledore got up from his seat and peered over his stack of books to stare straight at him. Snape was agitated, but more than anything, he wanted answers. 'What the fuck is going on?' he thought as Hermione was edging over towards the both of them, "Ahem, Professor Snape, Classes will be starting soon, perhaps it is best if you go to your classroom to prepare for your lesson. I will be sending Ms. Granger to her next class."
Snape left the room staring blankly at Hermione, who was as confused as He.
"Alright, now lets get down to business," said Dumbledore. After looking down at his desk, he simply asked, "You've checked out 'Magical Mental Maladies', have you not?"
"Yes, sir" she said, looking at the floor. She felt ashamed for something she could not control.
"I trust you've uncovered the reasons behind Professor Snape's sudden outbursts?"
This time, she could only nod.
At this, he smiled. "I feel that I have a great deal of responsibility in this...problem. Alas, his feelings regarding his mother are something I cannot control." He seemed strained to say this next part, "You see, He's subconsciously chosen you as the part for Elena." A small noise from her at this instant, but it soon faded. "It is something nobody can dictate, but we can help him. I've learned from certain sources that both he and Elena have worked as double agents against Voldemort. The author of the book you've read didn't have that specific bit of information. I can't be sure, but I believe this to be the source of his...insanity. As you know, his mother was the only other person to have been diagnosed with the same mental illness as him.
"He's told me himself that working as a double agent against Voldemort was very difficult. He's informed me that Voldemort keeps a variation of the Imperious curse on all of the members of his inner circle. Apparently, successfully fighting the voice that drives Voldemort's other supporters leads one to insanity.
"I can't keep him like this any longer." He looked solemnly into her eyes.
"What do you mean, professor?" She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"I'm saying he would be happiest if you were to be his mother. I'm asking you to pretend to be Elena when he turns."
She was curious as to what happened to Snape's mother before she agreed to anything. "Sir, if I may ask, where is Professor Snape's mother now?"
He sighed and replied mechanically. "She has passed away. She died during a raid against a small village which was mostly comprised of witches and wizards. Nobody there knew she was working as a double agent. A small group of wizards found her hiding in an alley and saw her death eater robes. They killed her believing they were doing the right thing. I received this information from Professor Snape shortly before I altered his memory."
"Altered, sir?"
"I'm afraid so...It was by my hand. I could stand his depression no longer, but my spell backfired and turned your professor into the cold person many see him as today. He held onto the bitterness that the memory of his mother's death would have left him with, but he had no understanding of it. It led unto more bitterness until he found no good in much of anything but people like himself...and me because I am the last good thing he remembered before he was Obliviated."
"Kind of ironic..." she said before she'd realized it.
He laughed a little. "You're quite right. But still, I must ask you if you will be willing to be his mother until he is comfortable in your presence and will not revert back to his 'normal' self at the slightest change in environment. Will you do this for the both of us?"
She nodded, as was customary to any of Dumbledore's requests, but a thought came to her. "How long do you think this transformation would take, sir?"
He sat back down at his desk and looked as if he were thinking deeply. "I would say perhaps a month. He has changed since your last encounter with his...deranged self, has he not?"
"But...what will you do after he does not change back? Surely you can't have a teacher who has mad fits and calls out to his mother!" She looked horrified at the thought, and figured perhaps maybe, that the normal Snape would actually be better than any new enlightened one.
"At that point, we will make sure that he never has to come back to his Obliviated self again." When she looked confused at his answer, he elaborated a bit furthur. "There is a death draught in my own stores that I've kept with me should a mission of mercy arise. I believe it is the time to use it for the mercy of his tortured soul. He will surely die happy with his mother beside him."
She looked completely shocked from his answer.
Sometime later, after a bit of tea and a talk with Dumbledore, she trudged to her Arithmancy class.
~~~~~~~~~~
The day had been draining, and Hermione found herself asleep within her dormitory by 8 PM.
Her dream that night had been entirely confusing. She was in the shrieking shack, not alone, but after much of trying to get her friends' attention, she realized they could not see or hear her. She stood in the far end of the room, listening and waiting for something to happen. She couldn't move from her spot, she walked in vain as her legs floated in mid air.
"Harry, what should we do about it?" Ron looked imploring as he flicked pebbles off the table and into the fire. "You know she'll think it's something horrible..."
"We should at least try to explain to her...I tried earlier, but I scared her on accident. Damnit, we can't do this without her!" He had leaning with his elbows on his legs and his hands on his head. "I'll tell her the truth next time...We can carry out our plans when Hermione is with us," he said with his hands still on his head.
"And after?"
"We'll begin recruiting. We have to be careful...not to gain attention amongst the staff until we have our plans full and ready. They will not understand until we can present our ideas in a way that won't sound bad... Why does the magic community have to consider everything that isn't familiar as something horrible? "
"Don't worry Harry, if they truly consider your answers, even wizards and witches will appreciate what we're going to do! It took me a while to understand too, don't you remember?"
At that, Harry smiled and was reassured. But Hermione stood in mid air and was horror struck. 'What are they planning? What wouldn't I understand that RON does?'
Ron smiled and stated nostalgically "Doesn't this remind you of spew?"
The last thing Hermione could remember in her dream was Harry's soft laugh.
~~~~~~~~~
-WHEW that was the most difficult chapter I've written yet. A lot of explaining just took place @.@ I hope this satiates some of you for at least a bit, and PLEASE Read and Review! I need the reassurance to keep writing. *boo hoo* well thanks for reading anyway, you can expect the next chapter to be up within the week! (I'm on a roll XD) btw, sorry for making dumbledore slightly ooc, I needed a character who could explain...stuff @.@ and yes, I'm aware I said spew instead of S.P.E.W. That's how Ron says it! It's funny! Not lying! *sobs*
PUH-LEEZE READ THIS, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND, MY CHILD:
Well, I suppose I should clear a few things up. It might seem confusing, about Snape's mental thing... Basically, what happens is he reverts to either memory. I actually have a pretty scientific reason ^_^ well, in theory anyway. Before anything happened with Dumbledore messing with Snape's memory, he already had a problem. However much knowledge and information he could gain, his mindset was stuck in the form of a child. Basically, he could learn new things but only in a third person sort of way. He was able to see things through different shoes but not change his 'style'. (like being angry at other people for small things even though they couldn't help it, bad example though)
He was stuck in the most comfortable memories he'd had...Almost immediately after he became a double agent, he went insane. So to take away the pain from fighting Voldemort's psychic hoo ha, he just lived in his good memories. When his mother was always with him. So in his first outburst, he was really confused as to why his mother wasn't with him. He was fighting Voldemort's call again at the time, and he couldn't handle it (making him go to his nice nice memories) That's when Hermione walked in and he subconsciously chose her to play the part of his mom.
The thing is, I made it sound like what Hermione was saying was concrete. Example: "'Professor Snape? Mental condition?' It made sense to her seeing as how the professor was always just a little creepy."(first chapter). Though I wrote the statement in the narrative, I was merely portraying her view on the subject, not the whole truth. So I'm not justifying Snape's personality as a mental condition. Nuh uh, that's just him. His mental condition keeps him in a child-like state. It's...different and the rest will be explained during the duration of the story. I'm sorry if I made Snape seem that if he were sane, he'd really be a 'regular' person, because I of all people would hate it if that were to happen. Dude, Snape's Snape. Can't try to change that, can I?
Dumbledore cast Obliviate on Snape, seemingly making him forget his memory, but that's not really what it was. The memory wasn't just erased but blocked by a wall in his mind. Meaning, he can only remember one set of his memories at a time. Before the time of this story, he rarely changed to his other set of memories, but he did change once in a while (when fighting voldemort's calls) making it noticeable to people who spent enough time with him. But after his subconscious chose Hermione as his 'mother', it sorta poked a a big whole through the wall, making it easy for him to revert to either set of memories, but not mush them together. So basically, when he remembers who his mother is, details about her and acts as if Hermione really is his mother, that's when he's "switching memories" BUT his character is the same, even if one is more simplistic than the other (might seem).
the above goes out to Lauren-sorry about the mixup, just because someone has a mental problem doesn't mean they don't have a personality, right? I'm sorry if i accidentally uhm, insulted you (if i did...), I didn't have all the character come out in the first chapter because I want to keep a suspenseful yet eerie mood...........is it working? i'd like another review from you @.@
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione simply gawked at him and the situation for a moment before anger overcame her and she threw him off of her. Not wanting to take any chances, she screamed "Petrificus Totalus!" as soon as she could. 'I guess I'm not going to breakfast,' she thought.
She levitated a quite paralyzed Professor Snape towards Dumbledore's office. Luckily, she met nobody on her way there. When they'd gotten to the entrance to the office, she checked her watch. 'oh..thirty minutes early, oh well, this can be considered an exception' she thought while staring at her seemingly deranged potions master.
"Peppermint!" and the door opened to reveal a well decorated room.
"Ah, Ms. Granger, I wasn't expecting you so soon! Did you get enough sl-" and with that he promptly closed his mouth.
"He...attacked me again this morning...well this time, I'm not quite sure if it really was an attack." She said, confused by her own words. "OH! Finite Incantatum!" she said loudly as she realized how agitated her professor must have been getting.
As soon as she'd released him from her spell, he fell to the floor and glared up at her. "WHAT may I ask was that all about?!" he yelled at both of them.
"No! Proffessor Snape was outside, outside of the Gryffindor common room! He was waiting for someone named Elena..." and the name suddenly became significant to her. "Your mother, it was your mother!"
Professor Dumbledore got up from his seat and peered over his stack of books to stare straight at him. Snape was agitated, but more than anything, he wanted answers. 'What the fuck is going on?' he thought as Hermione was edging over towards the both of them, "Ahem, Professor Snape, Classes will be starting soon, perhaps it is best if you go to your classroom to prepare for your lesson. I will be sending Ms. Granger to her next class."
Snape left the room staring blankly at Hermione, who was as confused as He.
"Alright, now lets get down to business," said Dumbledore. After looking down at his desk, he simply asked, "You've checked out 'Magical Mental Maladies', have you not?"
"Yes, sir" she said, looking at the floor. She felt ashamed for something she could not control.
"I trust you've uncovered the reasons behind Professor Snape's sudden outbursts?"
This time, she could only nod.
At this, he smiled. "I feel that I have a great deal of responsibility in this...problem. Alas, his feelings regarding his mother are something I cannot control." He seemed strained to say this next part, "You see, He's subconsciously chosen you as the part for Elena." A small noise from her at this instant, but it soon faded. "It is something nobody can dictate, but we can help him. I've learned from certain sources that both he and Elena have worked as double agents against Voldemort. The author of the book you've read didn't have that specific bit of information. I can't be sure, but I believe this to be the source of his...insanity. As you know, his mother was the only other person to have been diagnosed with the same mental illness as him.
"He's told me himself that working as a double agent against Voldemort was very difficult. He's informed me that Voldemort keeps a variation of the Imperious curse on all of the members of his inner circle. Apparently, successfully fighting the voice that drives Voldemort's other supporters leads one to insanity.
"I can't keep him like this any longer." He looked solemnly into her eyes.
"What do you mean, professor?" She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"I'm saying he would be happiest if you were to be his mother. I'm asking you to pretend to be Elena when he turns."
She was curious as to what happened to Snape's mother before she agreed to anything. "Sir, if I may ask, where is Professor Snape's mother now?"
He sighed and replied mechanically. "She has passed away. She died during a raid against a small village which was mostly comprised of witches and wizards. Nobody there knew she was working as a double agent. A small group of wizards found her hiding in an alley and saw her death eater robes. They killed her believing they were doing the right thing. I received this information from Professor Snape shortly before I altered his memory."
"Altered, sir?"
"I'm afraid so...It was by my hand. I could stand his depression no longer, but my spell backfired and turned your professor into the cold person many see him as today. He held onto the bitterness that the memory of his mother's death would have left him with, but he had no understanding of it. It led unto more bitterness until he found no good in much of anything but people like himself...and me because I am the last good thing he remembered before he was Obliviated."
"Kind of ironic..." she said before she'd realized it.
He laughed a little. "You're quite right. But still, I must ask you if you will be willing to be his mother until he is comfortable in your presence and will not revert back to his 'normal' self at the slightest change in environment. Will you do this for the both of us?"
She nodded, as was customary to any of Dumbledore's requests, but a thought came to her. "How long do you think this transformation would take, sir?"
He sat back down at his desk and looked as if he were thinking deeply. "I would say perhaps a month. He has changed since your last encounter with his...deranged self, has he not?"
"But...what will you do after he does not change back? Surely you can't have a teacher who has mad fits and calls out to his mother!" She looked horrified at the thought, and figured perhaps maybe, that the normal Snape would actually be better than any new enlightened one.
"At that point, we will make sure that he never has to come back to his Obliviated self again." When she looked confused at his answer, he elaborated a bit furthur. "There is a death draught in my own stores that I've kept with me should a mission of mercy arise. I believe it is the time to use it for the mercy of his tortured soul. He will surely die happy with his mother beside him."
She looked completely shocked from his answer.
Sometime later, after a bit of tea and a talk with Dumbledore, she trudged to her Arithmancy class.
~~~~~~~~~~
The day had been draining, and Hermione found herself asleep within her dormitory by 8 PM.
Her dream that night had been entirely confusing. She was in the shrieking shack, not alone, but after much of trying to get her friends' attention, she realized they could not see or hear her. She stood in the far end of the room, listening and waiting for something to happen. She couldn't move from her spot, she walked in vain as her legs floated in mid air.
"Harry, what should we do about it?" Ron looked imploring as he flicked pebbles off the table and into the fire. "You know she'll think it's something horrible..."
"We should at least try to explain to her...I tried earlier, but I scared her on accident. Damnit, we can't do this without her!" He had leaning with his elbows on his legs and his hands on his head. "I'll tell her the truth next time...We can carry out our plans when Hermione is with us," he said with his hands still on his head.
"And after?"
"We'll begin recruiting. We have to be careful...not to gain attention amongst the staff until we have our plans full and ready. They will not understand until we can present our ideas in a way that won't sound bad... Why does the magic community have to consider everything that isn't familiar as something horrible? "
"Don't worry Harry, if they truly consider your answers, even wizards and witches will appreciate what we're going to do! It took me a while to understand too, don't you remember?"
At that, Harry smiled and was reassured. But Hermione stood in mid air and was horror struck. 'What are they planning? What wouldn't I understand that RON does?'
Ron smiled and stated nostalgically "Doesn't this remind you of spew?"
The last thing Hermione could remember in her dream was Harry's soft laugh.
~~~~~~~~~
-WHEW that was the most difficult chapter I've written yet. A lot of explaining just took place @.@ I hope this satiates some of you for at least a bit, and PLEASE Read and Review! I need the reassurance to keep writing. *boo hoo* well thanks for reading anyway, you can expect the next chapter to be up within the week! (I'm on a roll XD) btw, sorry for making dumbledore slightly ooc, I needed a character who could explain...stuff @.@ and yes, I'm aware I said spew instead of S.P.E.W. That's how Ron says it! It's funny! Not lying! *sobs*