"No." James said flatly, freezing in the doorway to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and actually dropping Lily in his shock. Lily gave a cry of surprise and pain as she fell to the floor. She glowered up at him, and shoved him backwards as she got to her feet. "No way."

"What was that for?" She demanded. "You could have giv—" About to ream him out, her voice caught in her throat at the sight that beheld her. She cleared her throat and managed to calmly eke out, "I definitely was not expecting that."

"Prongs you're blocking up the d—" Sirius began to complain, before he, too froze. "OK, someone please tell me that I've died and gone to an alternate universe where everything is wrong. Because that would be the only way that this is possible."

"What's going on?" Remus exclaimed exasperatedly, as he, Miranda, Harry, Hermione, and Ron bumped into James, Sirius, and Lily who were standing right in the middle of the doorway. "You're causing a scene."

"It's so…so horrible I dare not speak its name." Sirius responded, quite affectedly.

Remus rolled his eyes and pushed his friends aside. "Surely it's not that bad, it's just Def—whoa."

"Told you so." Sirius remarked, smugly, but he quickly sobered up after another glance at the object of his loathing.

"Who would allow for such a thing?" Miranda sputtered, just sidling into the room, eyes widening in surprise.

"Dumbledore." Ron replied glumly, making his way to his seat. "Sometimes he really is off his rocker."

"But isn't this against the natural order of things…of life?" She exclaimed.

"I would think so."

"Oh, honestly! You're all acting as if it is the end of the world." Hermione muttered derisively, pushing her way into the room.

"I would vote that it is…this kind of—of horrible occurrence must only signal the apocalypse." James responded. "There's no other plausible explanation."

"Yes, we all dislike him, but I do think you are all overreacting. There are more unlikely things which could happen."

"Like what?" Sirius challenged her.

"Like the six of you time traveling, perhaps?" Hermione tossed over her shoulder, as she sat down.
"But they've got that…that git teaching classes?" James asked in disbelief. "What's next?"

"OK, I would like to register my astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor." Sirius stated flatly.

Harry shrugged as he finally entered the classroom. "Believe me, I agree."

"But Snivellus…teaching?" Sirius spat out.

"Teaching my son?" James exclaimed. "What was Dumbledore thinking?"

"More like what was he drinking." Sirius grumbled. "Who would ever give that slimy, greasy, git teaching credentials? Still as slimy and greasy as ever he was…looks like he still hasn't bought that bottle of shampoo, eh?"

Harry snorted.

"Potter!" Snape barked suddenly, sweeping down upon Harry in his usual way, robes swishing out behind him.

James and Sirius made a grab for their wands, but Lily halted them with a glare and a curt shake of the head.

"What?" Harry retorted, stopping halfway to his seat and staring impudently at him. "Sir." He added coolly, before Snape had time to correct him.

"Looks like that will be ten points from Gryffindor for your tardiness." He announced, tone malicious. "Can't you manage to get to class on time for once?"

Harry opened his mouth to retort, but Snape was not close to finished.

"Oh, here comes another of Potter's patented cock and bull excuses."

The Slytherins began to laugh and jeer at him; Harry felt his face flush.

"Enlighten us all, Potter." Snape said waving his arm grandly. "Were you hounded by autograph seekers in the hall?" Snape flashed him a cruel smile.

"Actually, Professor, you are mistaken." Harry seethed, very aware that the entire class had gone silent and was watching the exchange with great interest.

"Harry…no." Hermione said softly, agonizingly, lowering her head to the desk.

Snape was silent for an instant, fuming. Icily, he remarked. "Mistaken, am I, Potter?"

"Yes, sir." Harry replied saucily, a slight smirk playing upon his lips. "If you'll only look at a clock, Professor, you'll see that I'm actually early." He nodded his head towards the door. "Five minutes so, in fact, sir. Well, only two minutes now, due to your rousing welcoming speech. People are still arriving, see?" Harry even stunned himself; he wondered where he had mustered more than his usual audacity.

"Then I'll make it twenty points from Gryffindor for cheek; how's that Potter?" Snape snarled.

"Grand, sir." Harry replied with a sneer; he seemed to have gained confidence from having his parents so close by, enough confidence to squarely backtalk Snape. Or rather, he wanted to impress James and Sirius. "As long as I'm being reprimanded for something I actually did."

Snape glowered at him. "We'll make it a round thirty then. Go find your seat." He spat.

"Of course, sir." Harry replied simply, sliding into a seat next to Hermione.

"What were you thinking?" Hermione hissed at him.

Harry shrugged. "Dunno. It just seemed like the thing to do."

Hermione merely gaped at him.

Ron smiled. "That was bloody brilliant! Did you see the way his face changed colors?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see the group of time travelers approaching him, Marauders in the lead, Lily and Miranda following them more sedately, though both girls looked slightly scandalized at Harry's display.

Harry grinned back at Ron. "I just don't kn—" He began.

Snape had heard him though and came swooping back over to their table; Harry suspected Snape was about to take another ten points off for talking in class. However, a most curious thing happened. Snape, whirled around to face him, black eyes flashing, and for a second Harry had a wild notion that Snape might actually strike him, when suddenly he stiffened. James, Sirius, and Remus, were standing right in front of him now, though of course Snape couldn't see them. Snape's eyes ticked from Harry's face over to their general direction; his forehead creased slightly. He slowly rose to his full height, and a noticeable shiver went though him as if awaking from a bad dream.

Softly, to himself, Snape whispered. "It can't be."

Lily grabbed James and Sirius quickly by the back of their robes and yanked them back behind Harry, Hermione, and Ron, away from Snape, while Miranda pulled away Remus.

Hermione leaned as close to Harry as she could, and whispered in his ear so softly Harry could barely hear, "Can he sense them?"

Harry did not hazard a response, only stared blankly and innocently at Snape, hoping with every fiber of his being that Snape could not sense the Marauders, and moreover would not be able to somehow implement Harry in whatever it was Snape thought was going on. The rest of the class, meanwhile, were talking in hushed tones to one another, wondering excitedly what was going on.

Snape glanced around the room wildly yet searchingly, an all-too-familiar feeling of dread coursing through him. "Impossible." He murmured softly, but couldn't quite convince himself. "No." His hands clenched into fists nails biting into his palm, his nostrils flared, his eyes darkened, and his lips curled into an angry and grotesque grimace. For a moment Harry could have sworn he saw an emotion very like fear pass over his face, but that was instantly replaced by an expression of the deepest loathing.

"Looks like old Snivellus remembers us." Sirius remarked, a roguish grin slowly forming on his face, eyes glittering with excitement.

"This will be fun." James said, an equally mischievous grin creeping across his face.

"Shut up!" Lily hissed at them.

Snape abruptly stiffened once again, slightly cocking his head to one side, while what seemed to be a thoughtful, hopeful look appeared in his eyes for a fleeting moment. Lily was gazing at him, mouth dropped open in horror. She was sure he hadn't heard her, positive—her spell would have alerted her—yet he seemed as if, well, as if he could sense her somehow, along with James, Sirius, and Remus. She let go of them and wrung her hands nervously. However, she breathed a sigh of relief when the look vanished as quickly as it had come; Snape glanced down at his hands and shook his head vehemently as if trying to get rid of an all-too-persistent thought.

Lily glanced around the room, at all of the students looking confused and anxious, and noticed Harry's hands shaking slightly, evidently as worried as she was that they might get found out.

"Harry, just sit still and calmly pretend that you have no idea what's going on." She told him gently, leaning down to whisper into his ear.

"That won't be a problem." Harry murmured softly, barely moving his lips for fear of rousing Snape's attention. "I don't have any idea what's going on here."

"Everything will be all right in the end." Lily assured him, unconvincingly.

She looked up into Snape's face and smiled, glad that he seemed to not notice or sense her anymore. Unfortunately, for one of the few times in her life, Lily found she had no idea what to do, a realization which sent a chill through her bones. She would just have to wait and see, and hope everything would be all right in the end, yet she had a sneaking suspicion that things were about to get worse, not better…

What is going on here?

The words thundered over and over again in Snape's mind. Everything had, on the whole, seemed to be completely normal to start out. He had arrived to class, prepared to make another largely futile attempt to impart some kind of sense into the students, glowered as the Gryffindors filed in, nodded to Draco who seemed to be looking a good deal paler than usual (Snape thought he should probably check up on him later). Snape had been put into a good mood by seeing Potter lagging behind most of the other students, strutting slowly up to his seat as if he owned the place, too much like his father for his own good; Snape had pounced on the opportunity to rip into Potter mercilessly and wipe that arrogant smirk off of his face. And that was where things began to go utterly wrong.

Potter, instead of shooting him a glare and backing down, actually had the audacity to talk back to Snape, and prove him wrong! It was nearly unheard of. Potter never held his ground that long, usually Granger reined him in. Furthermore, after Snape had ordered him to his seat, he began to chatter with his little Dream Team of Granger and Weasley. Snape whirled around, ready to lambaste him and assign a weeks worth of detentions, when the oddest feeling had overcome him. It was an all-too-familiar feeling, one most unpleasant which called upon his deepest loathing…

"It can't be." Snape whispered.

Years of hatred came rushing back to him all at once...flashes of all of the horrible experiences he had suffered at their hands…his worst memory of public humiliation…

Snape glanced around the room searching for his tormentors, but knowing at the same time that they could not really be there, right now.

It is impossible. The worst of them are both dead thankfully, the werewolf is lounging about somewhere, exiled from the general population, and Pettigrew is groveling to the Dark Lord somewhere.

"Impossible." He murmured softly. "No."

And yet, it felt as if they were in the same room as him, that ragtag group of arrogant little brutes that called themselves 'The Marauders'. His childhood tormentors. It seemed as if they were right in front of him! But he didn't believe it, it was nonsense, he couldn't believe it.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Potter sitting there, feigning innocence, staring up at him with his brilliant green eyes, Lily's eyes, before another strange feeling seized hold of his heart in an icy grip. For an instant it felt as if she was there, too. But that notion was as ludicrous as the first. She was dead too, dead largely to his own doing. Snape suddenly found himself thinking about Lily, thinking about how she used to look, how she had always attempted to stick her nose in where it didn't belong and tried stick up for him, how he had foolishly insulted her in his rage at being humiliated that day after their OWLs in fifth year. He thought, fleetingly, of what it might be like had she lived, and felt sickened with himself for wondering...

He looked down at his hands, and shook his head furiously, trying to get rid of the idiotic notion.

When Snape looked up again a moment later, he almost had a heart attack. There, standing behind Harry, wringing her hands nervously, was a beautiful young woman. She wore black Hogwarts robes, and was leaning down, whispering into Harry's ear, while her long, auburn hair fell into her face. She straightened up, raising her head in a dignified manner, and looked right into Snape's cold, black eyes, with her sparkling green ones, a smile lighting up her face. Snape knew her instantly: Lily Potter, Harry's mother.

Impossible!

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! I promised I would try and get an update in this week, so here you go. I'm sure there are some spelling errors; I'll try and do a cursory edit tomorrow. And yes, I know, cliffhangers are evil. ;)