Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form, nor am I making any money from this story. I do, however, own the plot and any characters that appear in the story that are not apart of the original series.

A Different Reality

By Constellations

-In Which Much Talking Ensues-

"I want to adopt Harry," Death answered, "I grown very fond of him these last few months you see, but I wanted to make sure you did not mind. You are his guardian after all since his parents are dead and that Black fellow is locked up in the wizarding prison of yours."

Stunned, Snape took a minute to fully register what he heard before chuckling. "I've never hear you sound so sincere before."

Death shot him a glare.

Unfazed (he'd been subjected to Death's glare too many times for it to affect him anymore), Severus smiled, "You have been like a second father to me, and I can think of no one better to raise Harry."

-§

Several hours later…

After deciding what was to be done with Harry, they'd had a nice chat about the many idiocies of the Wizarding World (a topic that came up quite often), argued over the advantages of pixies over house elves, and decided when Severus was coming to visit Death over the summer. It had been a long time since they had been able to sit down and talk and both of them enjoyed the exchange very much. But, as always, good things come to an end and after several hours of discussion, Death bid him farewell telling him to "get some rest… you look terrible" and to "not touch the liquor."

That was over an hour ago and all Severus wanted to do now was sleep.

Sitting in his comfortable forest green chair, Severus stared sullenly at the broken glass littering the floor. He really ought to clean it up, but he didn't feel like doing much of anything at the moment. The countless days of searching and little sleep over the past several weeks were beginning to take their toll and sleep was becoming oh so appealing.

Severus had a habit of wearing himself out during a mission. His body had the unusually ability of being able to sustain itself on little if any sleep for days, but he often pushed himself too far trying to complete the task he needed to do (Severus was extremely stubborn over things like this and hated leaving something unfinished). He'd been chided over this habit many times by Madam Pomfrey (though he never did listen to her pleas to not push himself too hard).

Unfortunately as tired as he was, Dumbledore would want him to check in before he drifted off to sleep and the last thing he wanted was for Dumbledore to call another search party. The first (and only) time this had happened was when he had returned to Hogwarts particularly worn out (during these times he was known to sleep for days afterwards in order to recoup) and had had fallen asleep in one of the lesser inhabited regions of the dungeons while attempting to return to his quarters. Dumbledore had of course noticed that he had reentered the wards and became rather worried when Severus had not come to report. Needless to say, he considered the whole episode that followed rather embarrassing and refused to have a repeat of the situation.

Knowing sleep would have to wait he sighed. Eying the shards of broken glass once more, he took out his wand, and muttered a quick 'reparo', carefully inspecting the glass once the spell was finished to make sure it looked exactly as it did before (which it did). Thanking the stars the glass was no worse for wear, (it was rather expensive) Severus slowly eased his way out of the chair. Downing a Pepper-Up potion to tide him over, he glanced longingly towards his bedroom before heading towards Dumbledore's office.

Slightly annoyed from lack of sleep, Severus moodily walked along the corridor, his cloak billowing behind him. Students scattered before him as he moved along, anxious to get to their next classes and be out of his way. No one wanted to be the one to get in his path when he was like this. The last person who had, had gotten over 50 points deducted from their house and still hadn't fully recovered from being fixed with the full extent of Severus Snape's deadly glare; which was why many of the students avoided him like the plague if possible when he was in one of his moods (These moods can be fairly accurately identified by analyzing the severity of his glare and the billowing of his robes). Luck, however, was not with a small third year Hufflepuff who was unfortunately unable to get out of Severus' path in time…

Seventy points later, a much happier Severus stood in front of the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office. Pausing to briefly study the stone figure, he said the password and waited for the hidden stairway to appear. Nothing happened. His annoyance starting to return Severus restated the password. "Fiddlesticks." Again nothing.

"I am afraid that is no longer the password and I am unable to give you entrance," said a gravelly voice.

Startled, Severus stared at the now life like gargoyle in slight shock. He hadn't known it could do that. "What do you mean you cannot let me enter?" He asked threateningly.

The stone figure eyed Severus disdainfully and sniffed. "You don't have the right password… you don't enter… surely even a simpleton like you could understand that."

If looks could kill, the statue would have been dead thrice over. As it was it took all of Severus' control to not blast the insufferable gargoyle to pieces. "Fine," he growled out, "I'll just do it the hard way." Focusing his concentration on the castle's magic, he asked for passage into Dumbledore's office. Almost immediately the castle granted his wish and the gargoyle (much to its indignation) moved aside to reveal the spiral staircase. Shooting one more glare at the statue, Severus sent a silent thanks to the castle before making his way up the stair.

§-§-§

Dumbledore smiled as Severus entered the room muttering darkly about obnoxious gargoyles, it was good to see the young man was his usually ornery self. He must have good news. "Lemon drop, Severus?" The man glared. Shrugging, Albus took one for himself, savoring the candy's sour flavor as Severus sat down in front of him. "Do you have any news of the boy?"

Severus took a long pause before replying, trying to thinking of what exactly he should tell Dumbledore. "I was not successful in finding the boy in my search, however, a good friend of mine contacted me soon after I arrived back at the school and I have discovered that Harry has been safely residing in his care these past several months."

Relief washed over Dumbledore as he listened to what Severus had to say and motioned him to continue.

Staring hard at Albus for a moment he spoke. "The last several weeks I have been thinking quite a bit about Harry and his future. Teaching Potions has always been a dream of mine, but with my new position here at Hogwarts I am afraid I won't be able to devote the time necessary in raising my godson." Drawing a breath, he went on, "My dear friend, Mr. Daemon Morte has asked for my permission to adopt Harry… and after careful thought and consideration I have decided to grant his request."

Shocked at how things were unfolding Dumbledore remained silent as he processed everything Severus had said. After a while he finally answered, "Harry is your godson and as such you are his legal guardian. I will not interfere with your decision." Eyes narrowing slightly he asked, "But I need to know… can this friend of yours be trusted?"

"I trust him with my life." Severus replied fiercely.

Seeing the honesty displayed on the young man's face, the twinkle returned to Albus' eyes. "It's settled then. Not many have gained such respect from you. But I do have one more question…"

Severus raised an eyebrow.

Dumbledore smiled, "He will be attending Hogwarts…" He asked, trailing off.

Severus gave Albus a look and smirked.

"What do you think?" He asked sarcastically.

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Please review and tell me what you think so far… your input, comments, etc are helpful.

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As a note…

The father/mentor relationship between Severus Snape and Death will be explained in future chapters to come…

- Many thanks to my wonderful friend and beta… Ashley

To all of you who reviewed… thank you very much!

Andromeda Snape-Malfoy – thank you for pointing out the chapter switch ups, I had no idea they'd gotten messed up (they're fixed now).