A/N And yet again, I forgot to put up the signs over the first chapter.

Snape pauses in the middle of his traumatic recollections and nods.

Well sorry. Here:

DISCLAIMER: It all belongs to JK Rowling.

Points at herself: me not JK Rowling.

Snape rolls his eyes

Quiet, you, or I'm summoning a Dementor. Oh yeah, this story is, of course, completely AU, but from Dumbledore's appearance in the first chapter, anyone should have guessed.

Snape nods in agreement.

Snape woke in the middle of the night. He sighed.

"It is time," he said to himself, "I can't stay sane any longer, no matter what I promised Harry."

He smiled wryly. Having fits like last night was not all he had ever done in Azkaban. To occupy his mind he had started to recollect his favorite poems and books. He had recited endless potions recipes. And he had discovered a very rare power.

He was a True Animagus.

The Animagus power had been diluted over the centuries, and while Animagi were rare, True Animagi were virtually non existent these days. True Animagi were not limited to just one animal they could transform in; they transformed into any animal.

Until now he had not considered escape. He had waited, not for Harry, but for Dumbledore. Hoping against hope that the old man would come to see him, come to ask him what had happened when the first shock of the attack had worn off. But Dumbledore never came, and he had given up hope that he would. He sat down and ate the gruel one of the guards had put in his cell. If he was to escape, he'd need his strength.

Hogwarts

Dumbledore was about to retire for the night when he heard noises. Lots and lots of noises. He sensed Harry in front of the Gargoyle, but he was clearly not alone.

The door opened and Harry entered, dragging a body behind him. Minerva McGonagall followed him.

"Here, Headmaster," Harry spat out, "this worthless piece of shit has some information. I trust you will actually listen this time."

Dumbledore sighed. Harry had refused to be anything but formal towards him since the day he had brushed the boy's requests aside. Harry didn't trust him anymore. He had to admit, though, that the boy had grown up. The skinny, pale youth had grown into a tanned, slender, but muscular man. The summer after Snapes arrest Harry had point blank refused to go back to the Dursleys. He had sent them a note to say he would never come back, and if anyone tried to force them into taking him in they should refuse. Harry, Dumbledore realized, had become an independent adult.

A year after Severus' arrest Harry had graduated, but he had refused the formal Auror training Dumbledore had arranged for him. He instead had gone to Gringotts, got all information on his accounts, and bought a mansion in a quiet part of the country. There he trained. And from there had he carried out his Order missions, and, Dumbledore was sure, his own missions as well. Like this one.

He focused on the man in front of him.

"Lucius!"

Harry smiled grimly. "Yes, Lucius. It took me six months to find out he was the man I was after, and over two years more to actually get my hands on him. But now I do, don't I, Lucius?"

The man sneered. "You can't defeat the Dark Lord, Potter."

Harry sighed. "We'll see about that. Meanwhile, why don't you tell Dumbledore what you told me, the other night, and I might just reconsider killing you."

Malfoy shuddered. "The Dark Lord found out Snape was a spy. He wanted to kill him, but then he thought of a better punishment. He framed him. I took Polyjuice and pretended to be Snape. We attacked the village and killed everyone in sight. I made sure people saw me…as Snape. It worked. The Dark Lord was quite pleased with me, and gave me a place of honor as one of his lieutenants. Even if he was very angry that you prevented the Kiss."

His eyes flashed. "And the Dark Lord will come for me! He will hunt you down if you kill me, Potter!"

Harry clicked his tongue in exasperation. "He is already hunting me down, whether I kill you or not, Lucius. But then again, I did promise, didn't I? So instead of killing you, I'll just hand you to your son. I'm sure Draco will be delighted to see you."

He thrust the chains that kept Lucius bound towards McGonagall. "Take him to the Aurors office and make sure you hand him over to Draco."

The witch obeyed immediately and left. Harry turned to an ashen faced Dumbledore.

"I suppose you are willing to listen to me now. Too little, too late. Get Severus out of that hellhole NOW!"

Dumbledore shook all over as he made the necessary arrangements. It was nearly dawn when Harry and Dumbledore reached Azkaban to fulfill Harry's promise.

Azkaban

Dawn. Time to leave. Dementors weren't at their best in the sun, and it was early enough for the human guards to be still sleepy. He focused and transformed into a mouse. He had once been a black mouse, but with the demise of his clothes his fur had faded to a brown/grey as well. Nevermind. It would do very well for the occasion.

Just as he slipped out of his cell and ran along the dark corridor, he heard voices. He hid in a small alcove in the wall.

"Honestly, Sirs, I don't know why you bother. It's not like he can be sane after three years in here."

An angry voice answered. He knew that voice. Harry!

Then another voice. A-Albus? Albus had come…? His instincts were to transform back to his human form, but his rational mind kept him from it. For all he knew Harry had given up on him and they were here to have the Kiss performed after all.

He quickly followed them, close enough to hear their conversation.

"It's my fault," he heard Albus say, desperate.

"Yes," Harry's voice agreed, harshly.

"Harry, my boy…"

"Do not call me that, Headmaster! Do you think I don't know you called Severus that once, too? Do you think I will let you hurt me like you hurt him? Let me tell you something, Headmaster. That man would have died for you. He would probably still die for you. If you use your power over him to force him to forgive you, I will hurt you just as much as you hurt him. Are we clear on that?"

He couldn't help but grin. Harry had truly embraced his Slytherin side, then.

"He will stay with me, of course…" Dumbledore said, voice trailing off in tears.

"No, headmaster. I will take him to my mansion."

Harry had a mansion? Interesting…

He turned and slipped away, through the gates until he reached the water. There, he transformed again and swam towards the other shore.

Azkaban

The cell was empty. All three looked at the room, dumbstruck. Harry recovered first, smiling to himself, but didn't say anything. The guard panicked.

"This can't be true! He can't have escaped! We brought his gruel in last evening and he was here, having one of his fits!"

Dumbledore collapsed on one of the chairs. "Severus…" he whispered.

Harry's Mansion, the following night

Harry was awoken from his sleep by the wards going off. He grabbed his wand from under his pillow, jumped out of bed and rushed out.

He looked around until he saw a glass cage in the middle of the lawn. He grinned.

"Well, well, what do we have here," he said, pointing his wand at the scrawny black cat that paced frantically in the cage, looking for a way out.

"You seem to have set off my Animagus wards. Now, the question is, will you transform yourself or do I have to do it for you?"

The cat looked at him and immediately transformed. Harry gasped, but then a smile broke through on his face.

"Hello, Severus."

He was just in time to catch the man when he collapsed.

Snape woke up to bright sunlight. He looked around and noticed he was laying in a soft, kingsized bed, in clean pyjamas. The room was painted in white and silver, with hints of green and large windows overlooked a lake.

A house elf appeared.

"Professor Snape is awake! Dobby will fetch Harry Potter immediately!"

The house elf snapped his fingers and Harry appeared in the room.

"You…you let your elves summon you?" Snape managed, hoarsely.

Harry took a glass of water from the bedside table and helped him drink.

"No. They just let me know I am needed and I apparate to them if I think I should. How are you feeling? Dobby, could you do me a favour and bring up some light soup for Professor Snape? Mix some of the nutrient potions I keep in my private stores in it."

"Not your professor anymore, Harry," the man smiled slightly.

"I see you kept your promise of staying sane," Harry retorted, a wide grin, "But you needn't have escaped, you know. We came to get you yesterday."

"I know. I followed you back to my cell. But I didn't want to transform in front of Dumbledore, so when I heard you mention your mansion I decided I'd just go there. Used floo, but it only got me as far as the tiny house a mile down the road."

"Yes, that is the nearest floo connection. That is also where my wards begin. You're lucky the Animagus ward doesn't extend that far or it'd have taken me hours to find you."

"Am I really free, Harry? They won't hunt me down?"

Harry shook his head. "Not hunt you down, no. Search for you, that they do. Dumbledore has half the Ministry looking for you, and the entire Order."

Dobby reappeared, carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and some crackers.

"Eat something. You never were too heavy, but now you've reached nearly skeletal proportions. Dobby, we will have to feed him up and spoil him."

The elf bounced excitedly. "Oh yes, Harry, Dobby will take care of the professor!"

Harry laughed when Snape groaned.

Later, Harry got some of his own robes for Snape to wear. They were too short and too wide, but some deft wand work fixed that easily. Dobby brought in a tall glass of milk, laced with more nutrient potion.

"He'll bring you something to eat or drink every two hours," Harry said, "and he won't accept any refusal."

Snape nodded and drank some milk. Then he sighed.

"Harry…I escaped because I felt I couldn't stay sane much longer, not because I didn't believe you, honestly…"

"I know. If you want to know, it was Lucius. Polyjuice potion."

Snape clenched his fists "Where is he now?"

Harry grinned evilly. "I let Draco have him."

Snape looked up in surprise. "Draco?"

"Yes. Draco came to me shortly after you were thrown into Azkaban and told me his father insisted on him getting the Mark. He didn't want to. It took a while for us to trust him, but in the end we did. He is an Auror now. Lucius killed Pansy Parkinson. I never thought much of her, but she was Draco's friend. I almost feel sorry for Lucius now that Draco has him."

Snape nodded. "Yes, I remember they were friends. What about your friends, Harry?"

Harry grimaced. "We keep in touch. Ron and Hermione married the summer after we graduated. They have baby girl, two months old now. They named her Molly. We…don't see each other as much as we used to. We've grown somewhat apart."

"I'm sorry. I hope I didn't…"

"Only partially. Our disagreements over you of course didn't help. But it would have happened anyway. I had to train and focus on getting you out and defeating Voldemort, and their priority is their family now. I do visit. I'm Molly's godfather after all. She does really look remarkably like her grandmother…the same temper, too."

They both smiled, lost in their memories of the caring, brave Weasley matriarch, whose temper could even make Dumbledore shudder.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Severus?"

"Is there…I mean…do I have somewhere to go to? Did the Ministry…"

Harry sighed. "Yes, Severus, they took it all. I managed to salvage a few personal items from Hogwarts, but your own house, your money, they took it. They gave it to the Order."

"Oh." Severus sat very still for a while. "It went to a good cause, then, at least. But…"

A hand on his shoulder stopped him. "You'll stay here. I had planned to bring you here anyway. And I've set up a vault in your name two years ago. There's some money in it, only a fraction of what should be yours…"

"How?" Severus asked, confused.

"Whenever I ask the Order for money for expenses made on missions, I add another ten percent or so, which goes to your vault. Basically, I'm stealing back your money."

Severus stared at him, then burst out laughing.

"Harry, when you said you were going to embrace your Slytherin side I never realized how big that Slytherin side really is."

Harry grinned happily. "Well, I am the Boy Who Lived, and a Gryffindor, so no one suspects me of being…creative with my bills. There's about 10000 galleons in there now. And tomorrow I'm going to make Dumbledore give you your house back."

"It hasn't been sold, then?"

"Oh, yes it has. To me, although they don't know that. I used another name. I could give it back to you right away, and I will, but I want Dumbledore to buy it back from me to give it to you. That way we will also get back a good deal of your money."

The following day, at the Order meeting

"Silence, please."

The Order members slowly quieted and looked at their leader expectantly.

"First off, yes, what you read in the Prophet was correct. Severus Snape is indeed innocent. He also escaped, merely hours before we could get him out. It was Lucius Malfoy who committed those crimes, disguised as Severus."

Ron and Hermione glanced guiltily at Harry.

"Do we know where he is, Albus?" Minerva McGonagall asked.

"No. We don't even know how he escaped."

"Maybe he's an Animagus, like Siri…" Ron trailed off, seeing Harry's face.

"Severus is no Animagus," Dumbledore said, "I would have known. It is a mystery, but the fact remains that he is innocent. While everyone is looking for him, it is merely to bring him back here so he can be cared for, not to harm him."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, sure. And what does he have to come back to? You've taken everything from him. He doesn't even have a house to live in anymore."

Dumbledore blushed. "I'm sure arrangements…"

Harry broke in angrily. "I think he'd rather sleep on the streets of Knockturn Alley then living with YOU, headmaster. I suggest you give him back his house, and put the notice in the Daily Prophet so that he can return there."

He saw the twinkle return in Dumbledore's eyes. Clearly the old man thought that if Severus came to his old house, he would be able to talk to him.

"I would, Harry, but the house is sold."

"Then buy it back. With the money you also took from him you should be able to. He'd be paying for his own house, essentially, but I suppose its better then nothing."

"Very well, I'll contact the owner. I can give no reassurances though."

Harry nodded curtly and stood up to leave.

"Where are you going? We're not done yet."

"Yes we are. I'm tired. Tracking down Lucius took a lot of energy. I won't be going on any missions for a while."

Draco smirked. He and Harry had resolved their differences and developed something akin to friendship over the past years. Harry looked at him, and Draco knew he should follow suit.

"I agree with Harry. Talking with my Daddy was tiring," he grinned evilly, "I just came to hear if there was any news about Severus, but since there is not, I'm off."

They left the insulted group at the table and walked towards Hogsmeade.

"So, Draco, what did you do to Lucius?"

The blonde smirked. "Do you really want to know?"

Harry shuddered. "Guess not."

The Slytherin laughed. "Nothing permanent, Harry. Just extremely painful."

"Too bad. Anyway, you're coming to my mansion now."

"Good, I look forward to seeing Severus again."

He laughed at the astonished look on the other's face.

"Come on, Harry, you're the only person Severus would go to. And being in the Ministry so often I happen to know that the person whose name is on the papers for Severus' home is not the person who actually paid for it…"

"Merlin, Draco, must you be so smart?"

"I can't help it, I was born that way. But don't worry, I won't say a thing. Besides, you planned to tell me anyway, so what's the harm?"