Explosive Consequences

Groaning at the warmth against his face, Severus rolled over and buried his head underneath a pillow. No. The sun couldn't be up yet. It was much too early for that. As he nuzzled further into his warm bed, he felt himself start to drift back asleep. Just five more minutes of peace. That was all he required. Then once those five minutes of tranquility passed, he could return to reality.

"Should I come back? Or do you need another moment fondling your pillow alone?"

Severus nearly shot up from his bed at the sound of his mother's voice. His eyes flew open, and his breath caught in the back of his throat. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on his pillow before he released it and stared into his mother's dark eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"And a hello to you as well, brat," she replied with rolled eyes and a sigh. "Now, get up. Your father made breakfast."

"What?"

Her hands went to her hips, and she stared down at him as if he was an idiot. "You may have been attacked and God knows what else, but I know there's nothing wrong with your hearing." She then shook her head and sighed heavily before she grabbed a black terry robe from a hook on the wall near her. Without a word, she tossed it at him, hitting him in the face with it. Experience taught him that she had done this on purpose. "Unless you want to sulk in here all day and miss your first day of school, that is?" She turned away from him and stalked out of his room, leaving him alone again.

First day of school? He then bit back a groan. That was right. The brats would be coming back today for the Start-of-Term Feast. He would have to resume his annual torture session that was called 'teaching' them. With his shoulders sagging a bit, he swung his legs over the side of his bed and pushed himself up off the mattress. He supposed he should at least make an appearance.

He tossed the terry robe back onto his bed, though. There was no way in hell he was going out in to his sitting room in a robe. At least not with his parents there. He quickly dressed in a pair of navy jeans, a black button-down shirt, and his usual dragon hide boots.

The moment he reopened his bedroom door, the scents of bacon, eggs, waffles, and a half-dozen other scents assaulted his nostrils. What was his dad feeding, an army? No doubt, the house elves were going to be in an uproar about this as well. They found it their life mission to make sure he never went hungry. As he passed Harrison's bedroom, he paused for half-a-moment and glanced in, finding the room empty. No doubt, Grandpa Tobias and Grandmum Eileen had woken the little rascal up earlier.

Sure enough, when he rounded the corner, he heard the loud squeal from his son.

"Daddy!"

Severus chuckled quietly when the little boy launched himself at him full speed. How this little brat had so much love was beyond him. He bent down and picked Harrison up, smiling when his son kissed his cheek and wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Have you been good for Grandpa and Grandmum?" he asked his son.

"I's very good, Daddy."

"Oh?"

Harrison grinned and then babbled on about something Severus only half understood. However, when he caught Tobias's nod, he knew that the short answer was 'Yes.'

"An owl came for you earlier," Eileen stated coolly, pushing a small parcel across the tabletop towards him. "Harrison tried shaking that package to see if it was breakable, but it seems to have held together surprisingly enough."

Knowing his mother as well as he did, Severus understood that she was being sarcastic. There was no way in hell she'd let her only grandchild put himself in harm's way. No. Knowing Eileen, she likely had done every Dark Spell revelation charm she knew before she'd even let Harrison be in the same room as that package.

He set his son into the high-chair beside his own chair at the island in the kitchen then, charming the high-chair to ensure Harrison would be safe in it. Once he was convinced his son was fine, he sat next to the boy.

"Well?"

Glancing at his mother, he frowned. "What?"

"Aren't you going to open it?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Later." He reached for the stack of waffles and promptly had his hands slapped as a result. "What the hell, Mother?"

"Open it first, then you can eat."

"Why?"

"Because your son won't be able to concentrate on his bacon unless you do," she replied matter-of-factly. "Now, be a good boy and do as you're told."

Severus frowned before he glanced at his dad.

"Oh, yeah, no. I'm just the cook here," Tobias declared, holding his hands up in the air.

Groaning, Severus realized that there was no way he was going to win this argument, so he gave in. Grabbing the parcel, he ripped open into the brown wrapping. When he saw the box underneath, his brows furrowed. Gently, he lifted the lid and glanced inside.

"A bottle of wine? That's it? Well, that was disappointing," Eileen huffed, turning away from him and the small half-bottle.

Rolling his eyes, Severus carefully removed the bottle and inspected it. It was a bottle of elf wine. Top shelf variety too, he noticed. He then saw the note at the bottom of the box. Setting down the bottle, he pulled out the note and opened it, recognizing the elegant handwriting again.

Severus,

I didn't think 'Sorry' was a good enough apology for how we left things the other day, so figured your favorite bottle would do. At least according to Madam Rosmerta and Tom, this is your favorite. If not, sorry about that as well. Anyway, hope you're feeling better.

Aurora Sinistra

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He could imagine her hand running through her tight curls as she wrote this. Her nervousness was clearly apparent with every word.

"How we left things the other day?" Eileen read over his shoulder.

The young man snapped shut the letter and sighed, glancing at her.

"Do you mind, Mother?" he drawled.

"Who's this 'Aurora Sinistra'?" She turned towards her husband when her son didn't answer. "Tobias?"

"A lass who fancies our son," his dad answered. "Ya met her last spring when we were in London gettin' ice cream."

"Did I? I don't recall."

"It was the lass who's face fell when she saw Harrison."

Severus frowned.

"Oh, well." Eileen stood a bit taller then. "And to think I almost sent her a letter back asking her to meet me for tea one of these days."

"Just because she reacted to seeing Harrison, it doesn't mean she's a bad person, Mother."

"No? Then you want to be with someone who doesn't accept your son?"

"That's not what happened at all. None of us know what was going through her head. Yes, she may have seemed a bit disappointed when she saw him, but that doesn't mean anything, Mother."

"It means that your son's not good enough in her eyes because—"

"Or it could just mean that what she thought she knew about me was different from what she was expecting. It wasn't like she totally wrote me off after that, though. She still cares for me."

"Because she sent you a bottle of wine?" Eileen replied with a scoff.

"No, because she defended me, Mother, stood up for me when I was unable to after my attack. She brought me here to Hogwarts, in fact. She could have taken me anywhere in the world, but she brought me back here."

"Oh, how wonderful for her. To bring you back to the death trap that is Hogwarts. How grand."

Severus opened his mouth to retort some particularly spiteful things when he quickly closed it again at the sight of little Harrison's head whipping back and forth like he was watching a tennis match. He'd continue this later. When there weren't small ears around.

"You have a guest outside. Shall I inform her that you're otherwise occupied?" Salazar stated from his portrait above the mantel.

"Who is it?"

"Miss Le Fey," Salazar replied coolly.

"Who?" Eileen said, glancing at Tobias.

"Another lass, El. Brought Severus up to the castle yesterday and here last night when he was too weak to walk."

Severus caught his mother's surprised look. "Just how many women do you have in your life nowadays anyway?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that asinine question with a response, Mother." He then redirected his attention to the portrait. "Let her in, Salazar." He turned to the door, pushing himself off his stool to stand as Demetri walked inside.

The younger witch stopped short, though, glancing at the family sitting around the table. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I was just on my way down to the Great Hall when I ran into the Harpy of the Hospital Wing." She smoothed over the front of her skirt nervously before she continued. "She was on her way down here to no doubt tell you off for escaping her clutches yesterday. I told her I was coming here to see if you're all right, though, and she gave me these and told me to tell you that you can't hide from her forever." She knew she was rambling and chalked it up to today being the first day of the term. Actual classes wouldn't start until tomorrow, but she'd meet the students tonight at the Opening Feast. She pulled out two potion bottles and handed them to Severus.

Severus smiled softly at her, grabbing the bottles. "Thank you, Demetri."

Another voice behind him unfortunately spoke as well. "So, Demetri is it?"

Severus whirled around and caught his mother's predatory smile.

"I hear you're the one to thank for saving my son. I don't suppose you're single, are you? Because my son here has wretched taste in women."

"Mother!"

Demetri glanced from Severus to his mother, returning the woman's smile hesitantly "I am," she replied, not confirming which question she was actually answering. "Maybe he hasn't dated the right women yet. He'd need someone who can take his snark and give it back tenfold."

"Yes, well, if you're both finished," Severus replied huffily before he drank both bottles of green and blue potions.

"Clearly you're just the woman—"

"Mother, enough!"

Eileen rolled her eyes and waved her hand. "As you can see, he doesn't accept help readily. Would you like to join us, dear? We were just about to open this bottle of pathetic wine he received. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course, you do. Sit. Please." She motioned next to the empty chair beside Severus, clearly not going to take 'no' as an answer.

"Oh, trust me I've found out firsthand just how well he receives help from others." Demetri sat at the table and raised an eyebrow at Severus, who was staring at her looking none-too-pleased with her. "But, I found his bark to be bigger than his bite."

Eileen's smile grew. "I like this one, Severus." She then leaned towards Demetri. "What are your thoughts on children?"

Demetri knew she shouldn't pander to the woman, but she was having fun watching Severus squirm. Payback was a bitch, and he owed her. "I love children. I'm an only child and have always pictured myself having a big family of my own."

Eileen clapped her hands together like a child getting her Christmas wish. "Excellent. Hear that, Tobias? She wants a big family as well."

"Mother!" Severus snarled, throwing down his napkin.

"Oh, hush, dear. Your mother's chatting with your future wife."

"Eileen," Tobias said with a sigh, crossing his arms at her.

"What? From what I see, Demetri is ten times better than this other witch. She at least brought him to receive medical aid. I mean, honestly, a bottle of wine as an apology? Please. As if one could buy forgiveness."

Demetri glanced at Severus, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Other witch?"

Severus scoffed. "Mother is referring to Aurora, whom she's under the impression will be the next Dark Mistress."

"Aurora, a dark Mistress?" Demetri snorted. "You're more likely to be a centerfold for—"

"I was, dear," Eileen cut in. "Miss April," she stated, gesturing to herself. Her grin widened as she rolled her eyes at her son's gagging. She then adopted a more business-like tone. "So, you know this other witch then?"

Demetri cocked her head, not expecting that answer. "Uh, yeah, I know Aurora. We went to university together. She actually helped me get the job here. Well, sort of. She told me to apply at least."

Eileen's eyes narrowed on her. "She got you the job here? Why?" She then waved her hand. "Actually, I don't care. She clearly is the reason for this incredible unlucky streak my family has been having lately." She turned to Severus and gently tapped the top of his head. "Why can't you just be with a good girl like Demetri?"

Demetri frowned, though, unable to let Eileen's words go without argument. "I doubt Aurora is the cause of any of this. She actually saved him from his attackers."

"Yes, so he says. I'll believe her purity once she shows herself." Eileen sighed heavily.

Demetri narrowed her eyes. "She told me of the attack herself when she had me come get him from the gates. And in all the years I've known her, I have never known Aurora to be a liar."

Eileen seemed to have grown tired of the subject, changing it a moment later. "So, other then checking up on my son, any other plans today, dear?" she asked Demetri suddenly.

Demetri glanced at Severus before she shrugged. "I don't have plans as of yet, but the day did just start."

"That it has, dear." Eileen beamed, clearly thrilled with her answer.

"Actually, Demetri and I must be going, Mother," Severus cut in, moving to stand. "We have a meeting with the Headmistress that I just recalled." He paused for half a moment to kiss the top of his son's head and inclined his head to his father. "So, if you'll excuse us." He was almost to the door when he snatched his teaching robes and threw them on. It seemed to be then when he noticed that he was the only one leaving. He turned back. "Demetri, aren't you coming?" he called back to her, giving her a hard stare that screamed that he'd hex her if she didn't get a move on it.

Demetri nodded before she slid off the chair and stood. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Snape." She smiled at Tobias and gently ruffled Harrison's hair before she followed Severus out.

As soon as they were out of sight and hearing range, Severus sighed heavily. "I apologize for that just now. Mother tends to act like a lunatic whenever someone new is around."

She laughed. "I can see where you get it from now. I'm sorry if I stirred the pot with playing along with her questions, but I think it more than makes up for you ranting and raving at me last night."

He paused, glancing at her. "Get what?" He frowned. "If you're referring to my sarcasm, you're grossly mistaken." He bristled at her insinuation before he continued down the darkened corridor.

She sighed. She hadn't meant to upset him. He was just so touchy sometimes. "Remind me to keep Morgana away from your mother," she stated quietly. Maybe she could change the mood again. "Or else we'd be married off before dinner, and our firstborn would be named already." She caught his frown deepen. Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say on second thought.

"I'm not looking for love or to be married or anything like that. It's not why I'm doing this, Demetri. No matter what she or anyone else states." He glanced at her. "Do you understand? I don't even know Aurora really. And the memories I received—it doesn't make it fair really. Not to mention, my mother is unfortunately correct in the fact that Aurora is not here. She..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair as his voice trailed off.

She held up her hands in front of her. "You really need to learn how to take a joke, Severus, or you'll give yourself a stroke or something flying off the handle all the time."

"I don't like this, Demetri. Not one bit."

She sighed. There really was no way to get him out of his melancholy mood, was there? "I get it, and I can't even imagine what you're going through right now. I can't stand to see my friends hurt or in distress and not know how to fix it."

He pinched his lips together as they continued up the stairs to the main castle.

She sighed as he got quiet, mentally kicking herself for making him mad again. How the hell was she supposed to help him when he was just so emo all the time? Honestly.

It was a good minute before he finally sighed as well and spoke again. He made sure not to look at her when he spoke. "I had another dream about her again last night. Likely one of his memories." His voice was low as if he was afraid of someone overhearing.

She glanced at him, moving closer when he spoke to hear him better. "Was it a good memory?"

He glanced at her before he glanced down at his feet dejectedly. "Depends on your definition of good, I suppose." He stuck his hand in his pocket.

It took everything in her not to throttle him right then. As it was, she replied neutrally, "I know you're a smart man, so you know what the definition of good is. Now, you wouldn't have brought it up if you didn't want to talk about it."

"We were just laughing in it, Demetri. That's it. Just laughing as if everything was perfect." He wet his lips and frowned even more. "She was pregnant, so it had to be near when . . ." His voice trailed off again before he closed his eyes. "I've barely said more than a dozen or so words with her in the entire time that I've known her. And yet, right now, I feel so angry, worried, helpless. I don't like this feeling." He shook his head again. "I've tried removing the memories. Bottled them up and hid them away. But the feelings are still there."

"Do you think that's wise? The emotions are attached to those memories and without them," she shrugged, "well, it can't be good for you, Severus."

"It's better than Oblivating myself," he mused aloud.

"I highly doubt it."

He stopped and reached for her arm before he thought better of it and let his hand drop. "What am I going to do when she does show up? How am I going to face her when I have all this . . . intimate knowledge of her, knowledge I shouldn't have, Demetri?"

"Talk to her. Be you. This you, Severus." She tapped his chest once before she dropped her hand to her side again. "You already mean a great deal to her from the stories she shared of her time here. She saved your ass in London, too, and made sure you weren't left here alone without an ally." She shrugged. "You don't have to marry her or jump into a relationship the moment she returns, though. None of us are expecting that. Well, none of us that know what really is going on." She sighed. "To be honest, we don't know what was changed when the timeline reset. We really don't. And your future self, well, he's proof that the future really isn't set in stone."

"Yes, but there are consequences from his actions. Consequences we're just now starting to feel." He sighed, shaking his head. They were rounding the corner when a loud boom reverberated from somewhere nearby. He quickly grabbed her to yank her back as a part of the castle came crashing down. Another loud sound exploded across the way from them. Speaking of consequences . . .

Demetri stumbled into him, grabbing a fistful of his robes as he pulled her away from the blast. She fumbled in her robes for her wand. She barely got a Shield charm around them before the second explosion occurred.

"What the hell is going on?" she yelled, her heart beating wildly in her throat.

He shook his head. "I don't know!" His eyes darted to the dungeons before he inhaled sharply at what he saw. "No." He turned back to her with a slightly horrified look before he blinked it back. There was no time for fear. Not now. "We need to evacuate the school. Get Filch and the others. Use the tunnels that lead to Hogsmeade. They know the tunnels like the backs of their hands." He then ran towards the dungeons, blasting aside the rubble that had fallen.

"Be careful!" she shouted after him as she made her way to the caretaker's office in the opposite direction of him.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. The timeline had to be reacting to something again. But what? What could it possibly be reacting to this time? He slashed his wand violently in the air towards another large hunk of stone that hindered his progress. When it cracked and split a moment later, he crawled in between the chucks and rushed down the corridor littered with debris. His feet splashed as he started running through water that had puddled on the floor. One of the windows must have been destroyed in the blast, he assumed.

As he neared the portrait that guarded his rooms, he found himself slowing and his grip tightening on his wand. Someone was standing outside of his rooms, clearly having expected him.

"Get out of the way," he snarled at the unknown person, raising his wand threateningly.

"Put that away," replied the unknown man, flicking his hand at Severus dismissively.

The man's spell slammed hard into Severus's chest and threw him back against a nearby wall. as he stared down at him, the man's lip curled upwards, disappearing into his scruffy beard.

"Your girlfriend's not here to save you this time, Professor. It's just you and me." The man stalked towards him, a knife slowly sliding down into his hand as he approached menacingly. His sterling gray eyes bore holes into him.

Severus tried to scramble to his feet, only to find himself unable to move. His dark eyes widened, and he tried to work out which curse the man had used on him in order to find its countercurse. His mind was racing. There had to be a curse used.

"You destroyed the Prime timeline. Fucked it up royally in fact. And for what? So, you can get in your bitch girlfriend's knickers sooner this time?" The man scoffed, bending down and glaring at him. "Do you understand all the trouble you've caused, Professor? What we have to do now in order to fix your superb screw up of the timeline? All these deaths, all of the blood spilled, all of it, is on your hands." The man sneered, his yellowing teeth glowing from what little light there was.

Blood? What blood? Severus's black eyes darted to the empty portrait of Salazar. He could see the water pooling out from underneath the portrait, and he felt his stomach drop.

"Oh, sure, there's people like Nevins who think this is a wonderful opportunity," the man continued. "That you deserve a little bit of happiness after all that you've gone through in your pathetic life. But he doesn't know what we know. What you've awakened with your meddling. We had a good thing going here until you came along." He brought a hand up and swept his reddish-brown bangs to the side and out of his eyes. "A really good thing, but now you've gone and fucked it up." The man scowled before he grabbed a fistful of Severus's robes and yanked him closer. "You just had to go and do that, didn't you, Professor? You couldn't just leave things the way they were." He then tossed him back and scoffed. "Well, then, like the Prime timeline, we'll just have to let you watch your family die once again. Won't we?"

Severus's black eyes darted to the man. This man knew what had happened in his Future's timeline? His eyes searched the man's robes to find the Ministry insignia, but he found none.

"Let's see how you handle that again. I'm guessing you'll eat your wand the minute you see their bodies." The man's terrible grin grew. "Too bad I can't get the bitch here as well, but they'll have to do." He turned back to the portrait when it started to groan and bulge. "I'd say they've been without oxygen for at least a minute or two now." He shrugged. "Pity. The boy was cute after all. But then again, he shouldn't have been near you."

Severus growled, fighting against the spell that held him in place. He wanted to rip the man's head off. Tear him apart limb by limb. Never before did he wish he could kill someone as much as he did now. The man deserved it and then some. His anger increased as the man laughed merrily, as if the whole thing was just an innocent joke.

"Until next time, Professor Snape," the man drawled, leaning in dangerously close to him before he rushed down the corridor and disappeared around a corner a moment later.

None of the damn countercurses were working. Not a single one of the goddamn things was. He was stuck against the wall and floor. He couldn't even move his head for Merlin's sake. He knew he had his magic. He could feel it bubbling inside him. No. It wouldn't be like this. It wasn't supposed to be for fuck's sake! Why the hell was it always him? Hadn't he paid enough? Hadn't he— He gasped when a sudden, unexpected pain rippled through him.

His vision started to blur, and the corridor in front of him started to move in and out of focus. He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. What was going on? Was he dying? Was that what was happening? He didn't feel like he was, but he certainly did feel strange.

When he reopened his eyes, he saw Salazar staring at him from the portrait. The bulge from before was gone, and the only one groaning now was himself. Even the water had seemed to stop pouring out from the bottom of the portrait now. Severus let his head fall back against the cool, stone wall and stared upwards at the ceiling. Idly, he noticed he had moved, but it didn't fully register.

Another ripple of pain coursed through his veins. He tensed and gasped. It was like a hundred tiny needles sticking him all over at once. Footsteps vaguely entered his ears, but it sounded so far away that he didn't pay much attention to it. He had to keep fighting. He had to. His family needed him. They were—something. Why couldn't he recall what it was now?

He closed his eyes again. The symbol of Fate's Warning Morgana had informed them about flashing rapidly behind his eyes on a never-ending cycle. He could see it carved into the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and half a dozen other places he couldn't readily identify. They flashed faster and faster until finally it was all just a big blur of flames in a large room with a crystal in the middle that contained the four Houses' colors.

"I told you once before, Severus, that your story wasn't quite finished yet," an amused voice purred from somewhere off in the distance. Or maybe it was in his mind. It was too hard to tell anymore. Everything felt so far away now. "Hush, my boy. All is well. Help is always provided at Hogwarts if one asks."

All was well? What drugs was this person on? His family was . . . He groaned when he saw familiar blue eyes stare into his suddenly. Tobias? There was another voice. Quieter than the first. He tried to concentrate on it, but the voice remained just whispers.

"It was nothing more than a trick what he showed you earlier. They're all fine," the first voice explained. "And you need not worry about him getting too far. I've taken care of that piece of rubbish once and for all. So, rest, my dear Severus."

Rest? How could he rest? While he now saw his father's face, he couldn't really understand anything that was going on. And it seemed his dad didn't hear the other voice either. Just Severus did.

"Daddy?"

Harrison? His head whipped towards the sound, seeing the boy uninjured and safe, slowly approach with Eileen beside him. They were safe. But . . .

"Rest now. It'll make sense later," replied the first voice quietly.

When Severus came to several hours later, he found himself in a strange bedroom. The walls were a horrid flowery design pieced together haphazardly. It was as if the decorator had run out of wallpaper halfway through and just started grabbing whatever was nearby. He slowly rolled over, wincing gingerly when he felt a sudden stabbing pain in the left side of his abdomen. He moved his hand to where he had felt the pain, his fingers soon brushing against the thick fabric dressing that had been wrapped around his abdomen.

His eyes then narrowed before he pulled back the covers fully and glanced down. When he saw the tinge of red on the white dressings on the left side, he closed his eyes and let the covers fall back down. He had been injured it seemed.

"You're awake. Good," his mother said quietly, slowly walking into the room with a glass of water in her hand. "How do you feel?"

"Where are we?" he asked instead.

"Far away from the castle and everything," she replied, her lips pursing as she sat down beside him. "Now, answer my question. How do you feel?"

"All right, I guess." His dark eyes narrowed on her. "Where's Dad and Harrison?" The questions then pooled out of him. "And Demetri? And the others? Is everyone all right?" His heart contracted when he saw her eyes fall to the floor. "Mum?"

"Tobias is with Harrison in the sitting room, keeping him occupied with a game of Go Fish or something. And Demetri, she's fine as well. She's in a nearby room."

"And the others?" he repeated, his eyes taking note of her every nonverbal cue.

"Bumps and scrapes for the most part. All except for a Professor Trelawney, I'm afraid."

"Sybil?"

His mother inclined her head slowly. "When the first explosion occurred, she was walking down the stairs in her tower. When the second explosion happened, it sent parts of the Astronomy tower into hers and, well, she didn't make it. We'll leave it at that." She set the glass of water on the night stand beside him.

He may not have gotten along with the Divinations professor, but he was saddened to hear of her passing. Sighing, he gently pushed himself upright and back against the headboard.

"What about the man that attacked me?"

Eileen's face broke out into a nasty grin almost instantly. Clearly, she was gleeful about whatever had happened to him.

"According to Minerva, he was found dead on one of the statue's spears in the farthest corridor in the dungeons. She believes he bled to death slowly, which I'll sleep just fine knowing."

"He's dead?" Severus repeated, staring at her with his mouth hanging open slightly. How would he know how that man knew all that he knew now?

"He is."

"He was an Unspeakable, Mother."

"I don't care if he was the Minister of Magic himself, Severus. He attacked you and died. I will shed no tears for him I assure you."

"He knew, though, Mum. He knew that my future self had come back; that he had seen his future wife and unborn child die in front of him. He knew!"

"And that gave him the right to attack you? No, Severus. It didn't. I don't care what your future self did. You're not him. You're just the unfortunate boy who has to clean up his mess."

"But, Mum!"

"But nothing, Severus," she replied harshly, frowning at him. "You didn't go back in time. Your future self did! There's no reason the Ministry should be punishing you for what another version of you did. None whatsoever!"

"The fact remains, though, that they are! This is the second attack I've had! The second one, Mum! Do you understand that?"

"Of course I do, you silly boy! Why else would I have brought you here?"

"You think this crappy cottage is going to hide me from them?" he asked, scoffing. "In their eyes, I committed some horrible crime and ruined the status quo for the Ministry. That's what he claimed I did. Why he was justified in the attack."

"He's wrong, though," a voice spoke up from the doorway.

Severus's eyes darted to the entryway, and he involuntarily tensed when he saw Nevins.

"Yes, your future self did ruin the Department of Mysteries spectacularly, but he was wrong, Professor Snape." Nevins remained where he was when Eileen glared daggers at him. "Our way of doing things is wrong."

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Eileen hissed at the Auror.

"Considering the Ministry, Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and you-name-it is either destroyed or heavily damaged, no, I don't," Nevins replied with a polite smile.

"They're destroyed?" Severus repeated, staring at him.

"Each of them suffered heavy damage earlier. In St. Mungo's case, there's not a hospital left. Nor is there a Ministry currently."

"What happened?"

"Well, at first I theorized that it had to be the timeline reacting to something and lashing out violently." Severus had thought the same thing earlier. It seemed, though, that they both had been wrong. He waited for Nevins to continue. "However, upon further inspection of the damage at St. Mungo's and Ministry, I've now corrected that theory and believe it has less to do with the timeline and more to do with the Ministry's dirty little secret."

"What?" Severus frowned in confusion. "What dirty little secret?"

Eileen huffed, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Who cares, Severus? It's the Ministry's problem, not ours."

"Actually considering your son is an Ashmore, Eileen . . ."

"Oh, please! No one cares about that line anymore," she groused. "It's Ashmores this, Ashmores that. What's so good about them anyway? They were murdered."

"There should not be a living ancestor to the Ashmores, as you well know. And yet here in this very cottage are two."

"So, what?" she threw back.

"Someone in the Ministry doesn't want that to get out, Eileen."

"Again, not our problem," she replied flatly, crossing her arms.

"It is your problem when the good-ol'-boys of the Ministry are attacking your son because of it."

"Why would the Ministry not want that to come out?" Severus asked, interrupting them. Honestly, they were arguing over the stupidest thing ever. That wasn't the most important question. "Just because it would show they were wrong and Ismerelda did survive?"

Nevins rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Best guess?" Severus nodded to him. "I'd say that it was Aurors who murdered the Ashmores in the first place."

"What?" Eileen and Severus both said.

Severus glanced at his mother, noticing that she too was now looking at him. The Ministry had killed them? It was preposterous. The Ministry of Magic would do many things to protect itself, lock innocent people up in Azkaban just for starters, but to sanction a massacre of a family?

Nevins shrugged. "It's the only thing that makes the most sense."

"What's your evidence?"

"You've been attacked twice now by rogue elements in the Ministry. Both of which were unfortunately upon further inspection discovered to have been from the Department of Mysteries. I can't tell which departments they were from, just that I know they're not from mine, but their credentials stated the Unspeakable title so that's for sure. Now, while I admit that it is rather annoying to have to constantly correct the timeline thanks to your future self's muddling of it, neither me nor my two colleagues would attack you for it."

"Why?"

"Why?" Nevins repeated before he gave a big laugh. "If it wasn't for your future self, we'd still be seeing the effects of Voldemort on Time itself. You know, since he went against Time and, hell, fate itself in order to remain alive. If you could call what he was doing living, that is. And trust me, that whole debacle with him wasn't pretty. Every single department was affected. Not that we talked about it with other departments, but I digress. We'll take the minor alterations, Severus, over that any day."

"So, what you're claiming is that no one in the Time department of the Department of Mysteries attacked my son, correct?"

"Exactly," Nevins replied with a smile.

"Forgive me, but that sounds like a load of crap if ever I heard it. You may not have—"

"Eileen, why would we attack your son? Because his future self came back to fix his own life and as a result fix everyone else's? Please," Nevins scoffed. "While time turners are supposed to be heavily regulated, the occasional ones slip through the cracks. Usually they come from the old families. If we, as the Department of Time, attacked every person who ever wanted to fix his or her past, we'd have several families extinct by now. It wasn't us."

"Well, you're a Ministry official."

"Yes, I am, but I harbor no ill-will towards your son, any version of him—past, present, future. Hell, I don't even mind the feeble attempts to fix the timeline by your son's former classmate. I mean, her heart is clearly in the right place, even if she doesn't even know that it was her research that started us on this path in the first place."

Eileen's eyes narrowed as she considered what Nevins had said. Severus, however, cut in before she had worked anything out.

"How do I get the Ministry to stop attacking me? They're clearly out for my blood."

"Perfect choice of words if ever there was one," Nevins drawled. "If they get rid of you and your father, then there's no more living descendent of the Ashmores. So, obviously, the only option we have is to make sure the entire world knows the truth before they can do anything."

Severus stared at him, his mouth slightly open. Nevins had to be joking? Alerting the entire Wizarding World to something they had believed for decades was a lie?

"And just how do you plan to do that, Nevins?" Eileen asked skeptically. "Send an owl to the Daily Prophet?"

"An owl?" Nevins chuckled again. "No, my dear, Eileen. I plan to use howlers. Scream it to the world so they cannot not hear it. After all, history has taught us that the group that makes the most noise usually gets the message out faster."

"Howlers? You've got to be joking."

Nevins only grinned, though. "Rest up, Professor. I have a feeling we'll have several reporters here within the hour."

"You already sent them?!" Eileen shrieked, placing a hand to her chest in pure horror.

"Of course I did. No time like the present, you know?" Nevins then turned away and left.

"I cannot believe him. If it wasn't for . . ." Eileen's voice trailed off before she shook her head violently. She then pointed her finger at him, glaring down at her son. "You are not to date this Aurora Sinistra. You are not even to be near her. Is that understood?"

"What?" Severus's eyes narrowed on her. His mother usually was far from sane, but this was beyond lunacy now. "Why?"

"You have to ask?" she snapped, her eyes darkening. "It's because of her that all this happened. We could have had a nice, relaxing family moment. But instead we're stuck here. Far from Cokeworth, our home. All because your future self couldn't—"

"Don't you even dare, Mother," he stated deathly quiet. If she even so much as finished that sentence, he was going to hex her to the moon. He caught her surprise followed by disappointment.

"You already care for the tart, don't you?"

"You don't know her."

"Nor do you, Severus," she pointed out coldly. "All you know about her is the good moments that your future self had. Once again, you're overlooking her flaws and banking everything on hope and love. When will you get it through your head that you don't need a woman's love in order to be happy?"

"I am happy."

"Then stop chasing after her like she's the reason you breathe! That's what got your future self in trouble after all. He couldn't pick up the pieces after losing her, so he decided to be God and ruin everyone's future."

"Perhaps if you actually experienced love and loss yourself, Mother," he spat out, glaring at her, "you'd understand why he couldn't."

"If I experienced love and loss myself?" she repeated incredulously. "Are you seriously that idiotic, Severus? I gave up everything for your father. My wand, my friends, my family. Everything! And do you know where it got me? A hole in the ground because some bastard decided that you, my only child, needed to be groomed into hating Muggleborns and Muggles, to become a cold-blooded murderer! I went through hell, you stupid boy, thinking that I had lost you forever. That I would never see you again!" Her black eyes went completely cold. "Experience love and loss myself? How about I take Harrison from you and lock you up for decades, starve you, beat you, all for the hell of it Severus? Make you believe that the man you loved, that you gave everything up for, was an abusive prick too on top of all that! So, go ahead, you stupid boy. Judge me!" And with that she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.