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 Severus Makes a Visit-
The next three years slipped by as Severus delved into his new position at Hogwarts. Though many students simply couldn't comprehend or appreciate the subtle art of potion making, there were a few who truly understood… and they were enough to make teaching worthwhile. And of course as an added bonus, he now had more opportunities than ever to take away House points. One of his major goals was to surpass Lydia Sarbeck, a 19th century Transfiguration professor, who held the record for taking the most House points (And the way he was heading, he could easily reach that goal).
But as entertaining as terrorizing students could be, Severus found that come holidays, he was just as anxious as the students to return home.
It was the middle of Severus' third year of teaching and today was the last day before Christmas holidays. Everyone's spirits were high (even Severus was in a better mood at the prospect of visiting his old home again) as they finished up their classes and clambered into the Great Hall for the Christmas feast.
Dumbledore had really outdone himself this year. The Hall was decked out with festive decorations and dripping in magical ice and snow, transforming the Great Hall into a winter wonderland. Carols played softly in the background and even the suspended candles were decorated with twigs of holly.
Taking his customary place at the head table, Severus smirked as shouts of indignation and dismay suddenly filled the Great Hall. Some one must have placed mistletoe at the doorway again. The prank had been overused for decades and rather cliché but the effects however… Unlike regular mistletoe, when coupled with a charm this particular strain rendered unsuspecting people immobile until they kissed. Juvenile, but the results were amusing. Thankfully, for everyone's sake, its magical properties only became active during the Christmas season.
The rest of the feast progressed with little mishap and the students were soon herded back to their respective dormitories, eager for their departures the following morning.
Severus had had a decent time during the feast and after having a surprisingly entertaining conversation with Minerva McGonagall (it seemed she and Albus were the only members of the staff who would willingly sit beside him) discussing recent events; Severus bid her and Albus goodnight (adding a 'Merry Christmas' just to see their reaction). That said, he then left the Great Hall and leisurely walked down to the lower dungeons, leaving a stunned McGonagall and an amused Dumbledore in his wake.
Perplexed, Minerva turned to Dumbledore and asked, "Is he alright Albus? I could have sworn I almost saw Severus smile."
Dumbledore only smiled and left her to her musings as he made his way up to his office, humming what suspiciously sounded like 'Its Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas...'
§-§-§
Exhausted from the trip♦, Severus stood in front of his old home and smiled slightly, taking in its appearance. When one thinks of Death's abode, they usually picture something dark and foreboding usually resembling a castle of some sort. However, as usual, they would be wrong in this thinking. Death had no idea how that particular rumor had come about, but leave it to the human imagination to think of something so ridiculous… for they were the only ones gullible enough to actually believe it.
None the less, it was a very odd house, with a total of three stories (not including the Tower, as Death fondly called it, which was a perfect place to star gaze) and was colored various shades of dark blue and whites, with silver gray trim on the edges. Though that in itself was not odd, the architecture most definitely was.
The best way to describe it was to imagine the many types of architecture that had surfaced throughout the centuries and to picture them all thrown together. He was very fond of architecture⌂ and over the centuries he had added many additions based on the newest design. It made for an unusual look, but Death seemed to like it and the house did seem to leave a distinct impression upon all who viewed it, which was probably part of the reason why Death had it the way it was.
Emerging from his thoughts, Severus readjusted his grip on his bag and walked under the Roman style columns to the door. As he approached the door, it swung open to reveal the familiar sight of a large twisting stair case (reaching both the second and third floors) and a room done in various shades of blues, some nearly white to blue black.
"Finally… I was wondering when you were going to arrive," drawled the voice as Death materialized beside him.
Severus smiled. "It's good to be home."
"It's nice to have you back. I'll have you know Harry's been bouncing off the walls all day because of you. Nearly ran myself ragged trying to keep up after him," Death paused before continuing, "He's missed you..."
The sound of excited footfalls interrupted Death as yells of 'You're here! You're here!' echoed through the house, announcing the four year olds' presence as he rushed down the stairs to greet his godfather. "I would have never guessed." Severus replied sarcastically as Harry enveloped him in a bone crushing hug.
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Notes:
♦The house was located on an entirely different plane than that of the mortal world and was impossible to reach unless you knew where you were going. Even then, it took a lot of energy and power to travel through planes like Severus had just done (nothing he couldn't handle, mind you, but it was on the whole a rather draining experience), especially without a guide. Unfortunately, good guides were hard to come by nowadays, so he had had to make the trip on his own.
⌂It was one of the few hobbies that he had continued throughout the centuries and it kept him occupied. Unfortunately, his projects never were able to keep him occupied for long… it only took him several days to finish an addition and that was because he paid strict attention to details (He hated when other immortals just waved their hands to build what they desired… architecture was an art and not something to be sloppily accomplished).
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- A round of applause to my marvelous beta (and best friend) Ashley… who is an expert at finding mistakes I've written.
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Please review and tell me what you think so far… your input, comments, etc are helpful (and always appreciated).
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A big thank you to all my reviewers...
Starangel12106
Risi – Yes Harry will be attending Hogwarts...
Hakkai - Gojyo - Goku – Sanzo
Brenna8
Alisu – I'm glad you like it. The idea of using Death as a character did originate from reading a Discworld novel, but all likeness hopefully stops there.
K
HecateDeMort
Sabrina451
N0b0dy's ang31
Fiery Phoenix – Harry's time at Hogwarts will definitely be interesting, to say the least
Kaaera – Hmm you're guess was pretty close. Daemon was not intentional, I just happen to like the forms of that name. But Morte does mean death in Italian.
Gaul1 – thanks for the encouragement
Bourne-shadow-childe
Stormyronin
Slimpun
JE aka Yessina – thank you… and Severus will be playing a pretty large role in Harry's life, though more so after he starts to attend Hogwarts
Rarity88 – I'm glad you're enjoying it.