Twelve years later...
Severus Snape was lying awake in his bed, contemplating the images of the night before. The mark on his arm was burning and he'd been having the same dream for several weeks; he was standing in a small torchlit chamber, staring into the face of a monster with red eyes and pale flesh. It was barely recognizable as human, but he knew exactly who it was, or who it used to be... Though he was trembling with fear, still he remained, staring the creature down like a dog. It raised it's wand, but before it could finish an incantation, a flash of green light had shot from his own wand and the creature fell, but did not die.
He was surprised by this, but still he kept fighting, like a fierce Samari. The creature attacked him several times, but he evaded them all. He had to do something, it was either fight or die, and he didn't plan to settle for the latter. The battle waged for what seemed like ages, and neither dualist was going to surrender, it would be a fight to the death against a seemingly immortal foe.
In most of the dreams, the creature finally hit it's mark, and Severus Snape felt himself die; he imagined it would be excruciatingly slow and painful, like all his organs and sinews were being ripped from his flesh at once, and his body burning white hot from the inside out, until there was only sweet blissful darkness...
But in a few of the dreams, he became victorious; Snape hit the creature with some unknown curse, while at the same time a curse from the other side of the room hit the creature, and it died the exact way Severus had imagined he'd die. He desperately wanted to know where the curse came from, but for some reason he always awoke before he could find the other dualist...
What did it all mean? He thought. For a moment, Snape considered asking Trelawney about it, but she would probably call him mad, everyone was just so convinced that Potter was the one who had to kill the creature. Ironic, she always insisted her students keep an open mind, yet hers was closed to anything that might prove her wrong, strange how such things tend to occur, isn't it?
"Where is Professor Snape? He should have been here by now!" Minerva McGonagall said to no one in particular.
"Can't we start the meeting without him? All he ever does is complain anyway." Gilderoy Lockhart commented.
"Professor Lockhart, you make a good point but he must be here for this. It is likely she will be sorted into his house, and I think it only fair that we give him advanced warning." Dumbledore meant the last as a joke, but the rest of them didn't seem to find it too funny.
"Headmaster, this is no laughing matter!" McGonagall scorned, "She nearly killed one of her professors, if you remember! I don't think we should let her come to Hogwarts; she is too dangerous, Albus."
"I understand your concern, Minerva; but we have to be sensible! True, she did almost kill a man, but I'm sure there was a reason. She's not all that dangerous, the girl just needs a bit of guidance." Dumbledore responded.
"Yes, a bit of guidance and a swift kick in the keaster!" McGonagall was actually yelling now, "Don't you remember what happened the last time you allowed a criminal to attend Hogwarts? And need I remind you, he hadn't even tried to kill anyone at the time? Now just look at all he's done!"
"All the more reason Severus should be here! He can provide the necessary discipline and he would be able to keep her out of trouble. He could act as a sort of mentor you might say." Dumbledore stated.
"Ha," Lockhart said under his breath, "Severus, a mentor? Right..."
"Did you have something to add, Gilderoy?" Dumbledore asked skeptically.
"Well, if you're concerned she'll turn out like Riddle, I don't think a former Death Eater would be the wisest choice. A person like me, on the other hand..." Lockhart boasted.
"...Would likely become her next victim. Of course, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing." Snape finished, a threatening smirk upon his thin lips.
"So you've decided to join us after all, have you my friend?" Lockhart said sweetly.
"I am not your friend, Lockhart." Snape said firmly, then looked to Dumbledore, "I do apologize for my tardiness, Headmaster. I've been having some troublesome visions lately, however I am quite sure they are insignificant," as everything about me is anymore! he thought to himself, "But I do assure you, it will not happen again." Snape finished respectfully.
"Perfectly understandable. The meeting doesn't officially begin for another few minutes anyway, you're actually quite early Severus." Dumbledore confirmed, giving a disappointed look to the rest of the staff.
"So, why does she need a mentor, anyway?" Lockhart asked, "You never gave Potter a mentor, what's so different about her?"
"Professor Lockhart, I do not expect you to understand this, but Harry has had a mentor ever since the night it happened." Dumbledore was suddenly very saddened, but wiped his eyes and got over it quickly, "However, she does not; the girl may as well be an orphan for all her father has done to raise her. Nobody's ever cared that much about her, which is likely the reason she seems so violent. Though I have confidence that she can be reformed if someone will just give her a chance."
"But I still don't understand why it has to be him?" Lockhart said, pointing his thumb at Snape.
"I have my reasons, Gilderoy." Dumbledore responded, "I would trust him with my life, and now I trust him with hers. I feel that the girl can be a great asset to this school, all she needs is a little discipline. I just happen to believe Severus is the right man for the job. You may leave now, I have said all that is necessary at the moment, good evening." Then Dumbledore quietly left the staffroom, the rest followed.
Snape was at the back of the line, thinking about his recent string of nightmares. He usually didn't even remember his dreams, but this one seemed very significant. Was it a foreshadowing of some kind, and why was he fighting Voldemort? Oh, he wasn't complaining, of course- it was just odd, that's all; Snape wanted the Dark Lord dead as much as the next man, but Trelawney's prophesies stated it was Potter who had to kill him. Snape never held much faith in that nonsense anyway, but he had on occasion made a prediction or two that seemed to come true, though he'd always assumed it was just some self-fulfilling prophesy he'd invented:
"...The human psyche, be it wizard or non-wizard, often has a tendency to want to prove itself ; we are egocentric by nature. Thus the self-fulfilling prophesy: if one believes something strongly enough, it will become their reality..." Snape remembered, and in fact had thrived on the quote; it was empowering, though these dreams just didn't make sense in that context. It was nearly driving him insane and he hated to ask for help, but he had to figure out what they meant so he could sleep soundly once again.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, may I speak with you, if its not too inconvenient of course?" Snape said once the rest of the staff had cleared the corridor.
"Certainly you can Severus, what is on your mind, my friend?" Dumbledore said brightly.
Snape tilted his head in thought for a moment, "I was just thinking of these visions, these strange dreams I've experienced lately; It sounds ridiculous, I know, but could you tell me something of them?" he said quickly, barely recognizing the voice as his own.
"I thought you said they were insignificant, Professor Snape?" Dumbledore answered, Snape's pale face suddenly reddened by about half a shade, but only for a moment .
"Yes, I did say that, but I do not believe the statement is completely correct."
Dumbledore's vulture-blue eyes opened wide behind their trademark lenses, "Oh, I see." He responded, "Sherbet Lemon!" he said to a statue of a golden griffin at the end of the hallway. It turned around to reveal a large door which led to Dumbledore's office, "Come, perhaps we can discuss this in greater detail while we are alone, occasionally these walls have ears." Dumbledore explained, and Snape cautiously followed him into the room.
"Have a seat Professor. We're all friends here, there is nothing to worry about." Dumbledore smiled, still Snape remained as he always was, an ever-present frown upon his face.
"I do apologize, Headmaster," he said, as he sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room, "I feel like such a child coming to you this way."
"Don't. After all, you must have thought it was quite important, else you wouldn't have said anything to me. Now, about the dreams, what happens in them?"
"I am in a dimly lit room and I'm fighting a pale creature with red eyes." Snape started, his voice almost childlike and his hands more clammy and pale than usual, "It tried to attack me, then I used the killing curse, but it did not die. I'm very frightened at this point but I know I must fight on despite the fact that I cannot win. In most of the dreams, it completely destroys me. In others I defeat the creature though victory is not mine alone; there is another one. I cannot see them, but I can see the light from their wand. It's all very strange, we are perfectly synchronized; our curses hit the creature simultaneously and it dies on contact.
I know that the Dark Lord would not be so easy to defeat, but the fight is not what troubles me, it has more to do with the other dualist. I can't seem to stop thinking about them; I want to find out who is on the other side. It almost feels like my very life depends on knowing who they are, I just don't understand, I've never felt that way before."
"How do you know it's Voldemort you're fighting?" Dumbledore asked.
Snape looked up, his dark eyes staring straight into Dumbledore's, "What do you mean? Who else would I be fighting?"
"Perhaps it's not a person you're fighting, but an idea." Dumbledore said, Snape just stood up and looked at him like he was mad.
"I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Dumbledore." he said ominously, "I should have known better than to ask you about this. Apparently you don't know as much as you think you do, goodnight." Then Snape left without another word, slamming the doors behind him.