By Alarun
Chapter 3
"What are you doing in here? You're not a Gryffindor!" The shorter of the shadows snapped angrily. The taller gave him what might have been a reproachful look, because he cowed his head and remained furthermore silent.
The two shadows walked silently into the Common room. Snape stopped pacing as he recognized them first.
"Remus? Sirius?" He grinned, "Whoa, you guys look really old."
"And you look really young, Severus. I couldn't help noticing that there weren't any faculty or staff around when Snuffles here and I arrived by floo. Would you please explain what happened?" Remus Lupin, ever polite, folded his arms over his patched-up robes and looked down at the young Snape, an amused expression on his face.
Snape and Hermione went about explaining the situation to Remus, competing with big words, as Ron looked on in dismay.
Sirius Black snorted—much like his animagus form—and gave Harry a big hug. "What's he doing here, Harry?" He asked none-to-quietly.
"You and I are brothers, Sirius." Snape's shoulders slumped as he looked over to the shaggy-haired adult, blinking in confusion. "What the heck happened between 1982 and now?"
"Brothers! Did you hit your ---Did he hit his head?" Sirius Black directed the question at his godson, upon deciding that if Snape was indeed delusional, he wasn't lucid enough to properly respond to an interrogation.
Harry merely shrugged, and Snape made a confused noise.
The Potions Master-To-Be mumbled something complicated that ended in "potion," and stalked out of the Gryffindor Common Room, his school robes billowing out behind him as if he was simply a short version of his adult self.
Hermione followed him without hesitation, trailed by a protective Ron, and a more reluctant Harry. Remus and Sirius ---who was still scowling slightly ---went after them.
Severus led them quickly through the halls, navigating easily around crowds of drunken students and moving staircases, to the dungeons. Albus Dumbledore appeared to be dancing in his red and gold boxer shorts, holding up bottles of alcohol.
Once he got to the bottom of the stairs, however, he halted so suddenly that Hermione walked into his back, making him yelp.
"Sorry about that." Hermione told him, gripping his upper arm. He frowned at her.
"I don't know the password for my private rooms. They're down here, aren't they? I'm the Potions Professor, so my rooms would have to be down here …" He trailed off, distracted and scowling at the cold stone walls.
"We'll go to the classroom. There might be something there." Snape walked to the iron bound oak door, pushing it open and marching confidently in, striding between the desks to the head of the room. He was rifling through his desk when the others entered the room.
"What in the world are you looking for?" Sirius Black transformed back into a human, glaring and crossing his arms.
"Something. Anything. Proof." Snape swept some graded reports to the other side of his desk, looking around. He tried to open the drawers, but they were locked.
Frowning again, he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a thin, stiff piece of wire. With it, he began picking the lock of the center drawer, knowing better than to try Alohamora on something magically protected.
"Why, you --!" Sirius was obviously remembering something from his school years, because he looked furious. "I knew it was you!"
Severus sneered at the desk, pointedly ignoring Sirius. Suddenly, there was a muffled click and he opened the drawer carefully. Knowing himself, there was probably some sort of nasty spell hooked onto this desk.
There wasn't. He ruffled through that drawer, and, finding nothing, continued on to the upper right drawer.
Fifteen minutes of searching later, Snape made a quiet exclamation of surprise. He sat up, holding a small, covered pewter dish. Upon lifting off the heavy lid, they saw that it was filled with a thick, silver liquid. Harry examined it –-it reminded him of mercury.
"All right, I give up. What is it?" Harry looked at the sixth year.
"It's a pensieve."
***
"Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei Severus Snape---"
"Oh, shut up, Sirius."