So this is a different take on the time jump premise, and also my first Harry Potter fanfiction, though I have been lurking in the shadows for some time.

Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, obvs. I'm just playing.

…

Chapter 1

"Fucking hell!"

Severus Snape lurched forward and placed his hands heavily against the wall of the shack. He felt a little blood trickle from the wound on his neck where the fucking snake had bitten him after that psycho decided to slit his throat. He welcomed the fact that He Whose Name Was An Anagram was ridiculously predictable. If he'd Avada'd him like any sane wizard would have then Snape wouldn't be here right now. Even he hadn't quite managed to find a way around an Avada.

He applied a little dittany from a pot inside his robes, and placed a small bandage against his neck then downed another vial of blood replenishing potion and some pain relief. He surmised that the venom from the snake had led him to bleed more profusely, but the antivenin he'd taken both before and after the snake bite countered most of the side effects.

He took in his surroundings. He expected to hear some sounds of battle, and yet there were none. In fact, there was no noise at all bar the sound of the shack creaking and leaves blowing on the trees. And it was daylight, which was also unexpected. It had been evening when he cast the extremely tricky and seldom used moventur tempore spell, and if he'd been accurate in his casting then it would be an hour or so later than when he'd been bitten.

He suspected that something might have gone wrong. Maybe he'd jumped a little further forward than planned.

He sealed the bandage against his neck, held out his wand and headed for the exit of the shack. Everything seemed different, yet he couldn't exactly work out what it was. There was a peace in the air that he couldn't fathom. He hoped it meant that the Dark Lord was dead, but he truly had no idea. He looked down at his left arm and pulled back his black woollen coat and shirt to view the dark mark. It certainly wasn't as dark as it used to be, having faded to a dark grey colour, and he smiled to himself at the thought of finally being free.

He looked around the room and noted that the shack seemed cleaner and less junk filled than when he cast the spell.

He left the shack to find out that it was an overcast yet still bright Scottish day which gave no indication of what time it was. He cast a tempus which confirmed it was just after 11am. He looked around. There was no evidence of any battle having taken place, in fact everything looked a damn site neater than it had been the last time he'd been here. The outside of the shack didn't seem to have changed at all, but the grounds were in good condition. He wondered when Hagrid had had time to do that. Assuming the half-giant was still alive, anyway.

He walked around enjoying the peace and quiet, and headed up to the Hogwarts gates. There was no indication of any students around which was only a good thing. He placed his hands on the gates and felt Hogwarts' magic recognise him and allow him entry to the school grounds.

He started on the path towards the main entrance at a slow pace, however before he'd got too far he heard the crack of apparition and Minerva McGonagall appeared pointing her wand at him, a look of initial disbelief on her face instantly replaced by suspicion and anger.

"Expelliarmus," she shouted before he had chance to defend himself, and she caught his wand with her spare hand. "How did you get this wand? This is Severus Snape's wand. And how have you polyjuiced yourself into him? The Aurors are on the way, you should know. You will probably be sent to Azkaban for this. Who are you? What are you…"

"One question at a time maybe?" He ran his hand over his head and looked up to the sky. He was not in the mood to deal with McGonagall and play twenty questions. He just wanted to get back to his bed and sleep for several days.

He sighed deeply, pleased that the Scottish witch hadn't continued her questioning. "Minerva. I don't know why you think I am anyone other than myself. And therefore, I have my own wand. I have never used polyjuice potion, and I cannot think why anyone else would want to polyjuice themselves into me." He held out his hand for his wand. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like my wand back so I can go back to my rooms and …"

Minerva was gaping at him as he spoke, but held onto his wand.

"Back to your rooms?"

"Yes. I'm tired. I don't know what's happened here. Clearly I jumped forward more than I planned, and I'm sure you want an explanation, but I will speak to you in a few days' time."

"Jumped forward?"

Severus stared at McGonagall. He had no idea what her problem was.

She took a deep breathe and crossed her arm, a wand in each hand. "Are you trying to tell me, that you think you are Severus Snape?"

"Who the hell else am I?" He yelled back. This was becoming annoying.

"Severus Snape died over twenty-one years ago."

Severus' body went cold and he stopped breathing. He stared blankly at her, not quite understanding what she was saying.

"Excuse me?"

"Severus Snape died twenty-one years ago on 2nd May 1998," she repeated. "He was killed by Lord Voldemort and his snake Nagini. So you are not him, no matter how much you look like him and think you are him. As I said, the Aurors are on their way. No one is going to appreciate this joke."

"Did you just say twenty-one years?" Severus asked, a little dumbfounded. That couldn't be possible. Twenty-one years was ridiculous. He could accept he'd been out by a few days. Maybe even a few weeks or possibly a month? But over twenty years?

He looked at McGonagall more closely. She did actually look older than he remembered, and to be fair the time he was headmaster had been tough on everyone. She also appeared a little shorter than he remembered despite the fact she appeared to be standing upright to face him. The lines on her face were more pronounced, and her neck and hands also showed increased age.

"Headmistress, is everything okay?"

The shout came from behind him and he tuned to see four aurors heading towards them both, wands at the ready.

"He'd not armed," McGonagall told them. "I have his wand, though I haven't searched him."

Three of the aurors approached and stood around him while the fourth, a blonde female in her early thirties, cast several detection charms. When she was happy with these, she lowered her wand, but the others kept theirs raised.

"Why does he look like Severus Snape?" She asked Minerva. "How did he get the polyjuice potion to do that? It's a restricted potion." She raised her wand at him and gave him a sinister smile. "That alone carries a sentence of two years in Azkaban, and I'm sure once we tell the Wizengamot which wizard you are imitating, they will increase that sentence exponentially."

Severus swore under his breathe. He did not have the patience for this.

"I don't know what you think I have done, but I can assure you I am Severus Snape. I am not under polyjuice potion, and I would really like to get back to my rooms so that I can have a shower and wash the blood off my neck. I'd then very much like some sleep."

"Your neck?" McGonagall asked stupidly.

"Yes," he growled. "My neck where that fucking snake bit me." He indicated to the bandage on his neck which McGonagall appeared to have missed prior to then.

She came closer to him within touching distance and placed her fingers to the bandage on his neck. He didn't normally allow anyone to touch him, but this seemed necessary for some reason. She frowned and looked at the drying blood on her fingers.

"How did you get into the grounds?" She suddenly asked, the lines between her brows deepening as she frowned at him.

"Through the gate, obviously. How else would I have got in?" He was really tired of this now, and wanted to be alone to try and take stock of what he was being told.

"But the castle won't allow entry to anyone other than a teacher or someone I allow entry to, such as the aurors."

"I do hate to remind you Minerva, but I am a teacher here."

"No," she argued. "You are not."

She was clearly not listening to a word he said. He non-verbally summoned his wand which had been slack in the fingers of her left hand and look two paces towards the school before the 4 aurors and McGonagall had drawn their wands on him, and he'd been hit by 3 separate disarming charms, causing him to land in a heap a few metres away. As he raised his head he was hit by one final spell before the world went black.

.

Minister for Magic Hermione Granger couldn't help the smile on her face as she looked around the large office she'd inherited only a few short weeks previous. Things had been a little hectic since she'd taken over from Kingsley Shacklebolt as Minister, and she'd hardly had the time to move into her office, let alone appreciate the room.

It was a large corner office on a high floor with gorgeous views of London. The room had a separate seating area comprising of two dark brown leather sofas and a mahogany table between the two. It also had its own bathroom which she was looking forward to utilising. The sofas sat either side of the large fireplace, which had a comfortable sheepskin rug in front of the hearth. There were many large bookcases lining the walls which were filled with books that came with the job, plus some of her own she'd brought from her old office, but had not yet had chance to properly sort so had been stowed somewhat haphazardly on the shelves.

She was happy enough with the decor, but felt the some plants would make the room more habitable. She made a mental note to speak to one of her secretaries to get that sorted. That she had more than one secretary was enough of a culture shock to her, and she had no idea what she'd do with them.

This was the first day that she'd had to herself, and she looked at the large pile of paperwork that had already accumulated and needed her attention. Oddly, she was actually looking forward to it.

The clock on her mantlepiece above the fire chimed that it was one in the afternoon, and she took a seat at her desk, enjoying the peace and quiet.

That was until Harry Potter exploded into her office, anyway.

"Harry!" She wined in an exasperated tone. "What the Merlin is wrong? I know we're old friends and all, but you can't just burst in here!"

"I know," he replied. "As do the four secretaries that I just bypassed. I suspect that I will get quite the telling off later." He smiled at her. "However, there is a situation at Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?"

"Yep." He sank down on one of the sofas and took one the biscuits on the table. "It seems Severus Snape has returned."

Hermione sat down opposite him and frowned. "That's not possible. He's dead. We both watched him die after he gave you those memories."

"Yes, well, that's what I thought until about an hour ago."

"What changed?"

Harry told her what the four aurors had reported. He'd been asked to personally attend Hogwarts by Minerva and had seen an unconscious Snape with his own two eyes. The aurors involved had their memories modified by a senior Unspeakable so they wouldn't tell anyone what had happened.

Hermione took stock of what she'd been told. "Okay, so you're telling me that Severus Snape reappeared at Hogwarts as if no time had passed to him? That can't be right. How are they so sure it's him? It could be anyone?"

Harry ran his hand through his already messy hair. "He was given the antidote to Polyjuice, and nothing happened. It didn't work. Not to mention the fact that he had the exact same throat injury we witnessed him getting, which was still bleeding, by the way, and Hogwarts let him in the gate. The building would not have let him in if it didn't recognise him as a teacher."

"And have you tried legilmency or veritaserum?" Hermione asked.

"We need him to be conscious for that," Harry stated. "He was hit by a stunner and taken to the hospital wing. Poppy felt keeping him unconscious was a good idea. She spent some time fixing his neck and a few other injuries he appeared to have. In fact, she noted there were wounds suggestive of him having being beaten not long ago." He ate another two biscuits. "Its a damn good job the students weren't in, can you imagine how much worse it could have been?"

The Minister frowned at him. "Are you suggesting that this really is Severus Snape? But we went to his funeral. I know it was a closed casket, but wouldn't someone have noticed if it wasn't really him?"

"You'll want to read this."

Harry sighed and reached into his robes, handing her a document labelled 'Top Secret'. She skimmed it a first time before swallowing thickly and reading it again more slowly.

The document was addressed to the head of Magical Law Enforcement and detailed that Severus Snape's body had never been found. She remembered that her and Harry had told the aurors what had happened to him and where, and they assumed that his body had been removed from the shack. Later on the morning of the 3rd May 1998, her and Harry had gone back to the shack. They didn't think that his body would still be there, but they wanted to pay their last respects to him anyway. Hermione had thanked him for all he'd done to protect them.

The document further noted that on closer inspection by Unspeakables, temporal magic had been detected in trace amounts in the room he'd died. The MLE had made the call to declare Severus Snape dead, hold a funeral for him and declare him the hero he was. Harry had, after all, told everyone in public that Snape was dead and had been in love with Harry's mum.

For five years after the battle, she was aware that the shack had been kept under guard, but she had bought the story that dark magic was ingrained into its walls, and it needed to be kept shut. The real reason was that they were waiting for Severus Snape to reappear. No one knew in what state he would be, so they waited.

After five years they made the assumption that he must be actually dead. Temporal magic was very difficult, after all, and known to be inaccurate with a high mortality rate. Snape was then ruled officially dead by the Ministry.

Expect that he wasn't, and it seemed he had jumped forward over 21 years.

"Wow," she noted as she passed the document back to Harry. "How do we deal with this?"

Harry smirked at her. "No idea, though you're the Minister for Magic, so I'm deferring to you on this one."

She threw a biscuit at him which he caught with a Seeker's grace and ate it. "Thanks. I suppose Kingsley knew about this?"

"I guess he must have."

"I may need to catch up with him. He did promise if I needed any help that he would be there for me."

"He might regret that!"

"I know. I'm assuming we need to go back to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, Minerva is expecting us. I've already told Ginny I'll be late home today. Ron has the kids today anyway as she was interviewing all day." Hermione could see the look of pride in Harry's eyes as he spoke of his wife and her successful career as a sports journalist. "Can we take the floo? I'm not sure I want to face your secretaries right now."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Wimp. Some Gryffindor you are." He grinned at her. She grabbed her outer robes and her and Harry flooed to Minerva McGonagall's office.

She always found it odd being at Hogwarts again. The place looked exactly the same as the time she'd been there as a student, to the point that it even smelled the same. But everything else was wrong. The students were wrong and the teachers were definitely wrong. The headmistress and Poppy Pomfrey were the only ones still at the school from her days, with most of the others having retired or decided they couldn't face any more time in the school after what happened there.

Minerva stood up as soon as her and Harry flooed in, and indicated to her small sitting area, a pot of tea instantly appearing with 3 cups.

"Minister, thank you for joining us so quickly."

Hermione rolled her eyes. She wasn't quite used to being called Minister yet, despite the fact she'd been working towards the job for 20 years.

"Please, it's Hermione." Minerva gave her a slight dip of the head.

"I assume Mr Potter has told you everything?"

She nodded her eyes straying the portrait of Severus Snape on the wall. His portrait had never animated like the other ones, and no one had been able to work out why. It seemed the answer was because he wasn't actually dead, just suspended in time prior to that day. Minerva and Harry followed her eye line.

"How is he?"

"Grouchy, from when I spoke to him."

"So normal then?" Harry asked.

Minerva gave him a slight smile. "He had no idea that he'd been gone for over twenty-one years. He thought it was a month at the most. I can't imagine what that would be like to find out. Let's face it, right now he's younger than you two are."

Hermione's cup of tea froze mid air. She was right. Hermione was forty in less than 2 months' time, and Severus Snape was still thirty-eight. What would he make of her and Harry?

"I'm not sure if Harry and I are the right people to speak to him. We were there when he 'died' and there is way too much history between us all."

"I agree," Harry added. "I told the world that evil Severus Snape was actually a good bloke in love with my mum for twenty years and protecting her son. I'll be lucky if he doesn't hex my balls off the moment he sees me!" Hermione could tell that Harry hadn't thought about this prior to being here. If he had, she suspected he'd have let her go alone.

Minerva appeared to consider their comments but shook her head. "I have thought about that, but the two of you are also two of the most senior witches and wizards in the country. This needs to come from you."

Hermione knew she was right. It didn't mean she wanted to do it.

Minerva continued. "I wasn't there, but Poppy had since woken him up and spoken to him. She was always a little closer to Severus than the rest of us. I don't know what she's told him, but it's probably best that he knows a little before you go and see him." She indicated to the tea on the table. "Finish that first and then we'll head on over."

Hermione glanced at Harry who looked as sick as she felt. Ten minutes later, her and her best friend were trailing behind Professor McGonagall both feeling like they were heading into the worst of detentions. Despite being a fully grown adult, Minerva had a way of making her feel forever like she was twelve years old.

.

Severus Snape stared at the date on the front page of the unopened Daily Prophet. He couldn't quite believe that the date was the 25th July 2019. He should have been 6 months off his 60th birthday, and yet he'd skipped the last twenty-one and a bit years. Poppy had told him the outcome of the war, that Harry had defeated the Dark Lord after destroying all of the Horcruxes, including the one inside him, but not until he'd managed to spill all of Severus' secrets to the whole world. Severus was beginning to wish that the snake had killed him after all.

He looked over to the floo in the main room of the hospital wing and saw that Poppy was having a conversation with, presumably, Minerva.

He wasn't in the mood to deal with her just yet, but he also felt incredibly weak. One of the side effects he was aware of from the moventur tempore spell was that it tended to cause a period of dizziness, nausea and weakness afterwards. He assumed that in jumping so far his symptoms would be more severe. It was another reason he'd be keen on returning to his own rooms, but he didn't have any rooms here anymore. In fact, he wasn't sure he had anything anywhere.

Poppy came back into his room, a knowing smile on her face. "Minerva is on her way back. She's with the Minister for Magic herself, along with the Head of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Joy," he snarked. Poppy just smiled at him and left him in peace for a moment.

A few minutes later he heard the outer door to the hospital wing opened, and a few seconds after that his own door opened. His mouth dropped open when he saw who was standing there.

It was McGonagall who spoke first. "Severus, I'd like to introduce you to the Minister for Magic Hermione Granger, and Head of the MLE, Harry Potter. I'm sure you two remember Severus Snape?"

Severus Snape felt sick. And a few seconds later the small lunch he'd had was vomited over the side of the bed.

….

Thank you for reading - I'd love to know your thoughts.