Wow, so it's been a very long while. I am so very sorry it has taken this long to write again. I had lost the inspiration for this story, but now I have some new, fresh ideas. So I've gone through the whole story again and changed and corrected/rearranged a few things, though nothing big.
Here's what has happened so far:
-Albus Severus Potter found a diary in Aunt Petunia's attic that belonged to his grand-mother; Lily. He discovers that his biological grand-father is not James Potter, but Severus Snape.
-Albus tells Harry and Harry is shocked and goes to the Shrieking Shack to clear his mind.
-In the middle of the night the kids go to Hogwarts to speak to Snape's portrait
-Harry and Ginny can't find the kids and go on a hunt to find them.
-They enter a Death Eater apartment and Harry gets hit by a spell
-Harry is cleared of any side effects from the spell and he goes to Hogwarts with Ginny where they find James is unconscious because a portrait fell on him because portrait Snape got angry. Snape lost his temper because he thought the children were mocking him by declaring they were his grand-children.
-Soon after, Harry has a heart attack.
-Snape is in Harry's body and he, with the help of Albus, search for a way to reverse what has happened.
-Harry wakes up on a beach and speaks to his mother.
-He also speaks to Sirius, Fred, Remus and James.
-James tells Harry that things with Snape in the afterlife are peaceful and that he has been at peace in the afterlife.
-Harry also finds out that his mom and Snape are together in the afterlife and that he only has a matter of hours before he returns to his real life.
Now on with the story:
Severus POV
It had been a long three days of searching through my journals with the help of Al. He insisted on being called Al and did not like being called Albus because he felt like he was being scolded. Reluctantly, I have come to learn many things from this self-assured thirteen year old. I have learnt that he enjoys reading, almost as much as his Aunt Hermione, he is very thorough when doing research, his favourite color is red (I blame it on the influence of all the Gryffindors that surround him) and is allergic to dust like I am. Al is also terribly embarrassed of his cracking voice and the first time that it had happened to him he thought that there was something terribly wrong with him and that he would lose his voice permanently. I think I have laughed more in the presence of Al then I have ever laughed my entire laugh. He is a smart and ingenious boy and it would have been my pleasure to have taught him if I were still alive.
Whenever I close my eyes now I keep having odd dreams; they never repeat each other and it is as though they are a continuation of a long story. I have been suspecting that these are not merely dreams but memories of my afterlife. My most recent dream has been the most shocking yet.
Regulus Black had come to speak to me after my meeting with Albus. He had explained to me that after being part of one of the most brutal revels he had become disgusted with himself for joining Voldemort. He had become withdrawn and was only at the gatherings physically. What had pushed Regulus to the edge was the mistreatment of his house elf, Kreacher. Kreacher had come back, almost dead, after being the test subject for the defenses of one of Voldermort's horcruxes. Regulus had begun to plan a way to take revenge upon Voldemort. He had made a duplicate of the locket and placed a note within it. He had then ordered Kreacher to take him to where the horcrux was hidden. Once at the basin containing the potion, Regulus had ordered Kreacher to take the locket and replace it with the fake one. When the potion had been drunk Kreacher was to leave him and find a way to destroy the locket. Regulus, after drinking the potion, was delusional and in agony. I felt guilty because I had been the one to brew that potion for the Dark Lord. Regulus, thirsty, had gone to the lake to drink and had been dragged down by the inferi. Regulus had drowned and his body had been trapped in that lake as an inferi. That was, until Dumbledore and Harry had gone to the cave and set it all on fire. Regulus' body had been burnt and he had finally been set free.
For a very long time I had stared at him in horror. He had only been a boy when he died and I felt even more disgusted that I could have ever joined ranks with a monster that had ruined so many young lives. Regulus had then surprised me with a smile and told me reassuringly that he didn't remember his time as an inferi and that he was glad he could have done a little something to help bring Voldemort down.
"Because of my acts in helping bring him down and because I was so young when I joined his cause, I have been pardoned and allowed to live here." He had gestured around what looked like a green living room.
"This is the only place within this realm that I can go, but the rooms are limitless and I can have visitors. I'm glad. I was so worried I would end up in Hell with all the other Death Eaters."
"Why aren't you allowed to leave?" I asked dumbly, worrying the same fate would fall upon me. Would I never be able to see Lily again? Regulus' face had dropped.
"I helped with your cause Severus, but I was never on your side. I still believe in pureblood supremacy; it was the way I was raised." He shrugged. "By I did not agree with Voldemort's ways. The reason I am not in Hell is because I was so young when I joined the Death Eaters but I did commit some heinous crimes. I am confined to this house because I helped your side, but I wanted Voldemort defeated for my own reasons and not anyone else's. It's not such a bad existence, you know, sometimes Sirius even comes to visit."
Before I could question him more (are we meeting because you are telling me the same fate will fall upon me? Will I be alone in a house for the rest of my existence?) I awoke.
A knock sounded on my door and I put the small book Draco had given me on my coffee table.
"Enter." I said, as I began making a pot of tea. Al came in with an excited look on his face.
"Severus, I think I found the solution." Al said as he pointed to a page within one of Draco's books. I put the pot of tea down unto the table and walked as normally as I could to him. I grabbed the book (Illegal Spells of the 13th Century) from his hands and quickly read the entry.
Corpus Conmutatis
This spell is a Noir Spell. It is rareli used because of its strange side effects. The effects are said to range from a number of different outcomes:
Death is the moste evident outcome and the moste likeli.
Being able to see earthbound and non earthbound spirits is also a very common and benefishal side effect. N.B. If you try this spell on your own person the only known outcome is death. Do not try this spell thinking you will be able to speak to a dead compatriot to gain information from them. You will die.
The last and moste rare of outcomes is to switch bodies with a dead relative. This occurrence has only happened twice and in both instances the switch occurred between the one that was hit with the spell and the moste recently deceased, biological relative. The first case in which this had occurred resulted in the later death of the one hit by the spell. The second resulted in the dead one returning to the spirit world and the live man to return to his body. It is unknown how this was accomplished.
This spell has been considered illegal since May 2 1202, according to The Restriction of Darke Spells and Potions Acte of 1202.
Sources
The Unfortunate Death of Ellis Bigsly, the First Man to Die from Being Hit by An Experimental Spell, Witch Press, 1082
I Can See the Dead: Accounts by Men Who Claim They Could See the Dead After Being Hit by an Experimental Spell, Wizard Weekly, 1098
Body Switch Spell Results in Death, Transfiguration Weekly, 1156
Happy Ending for All; Body Switch with a Dead Man and Adventures in the Spirit World, Transfiguration Weekly, 1192
Rise in Death due to Attempts to Recreate the Body Switching Spell, The Daily Prophet, 1201
The Restriction of Darke Spells and Potions Acte has been Inacted, The Daily Prophet, 1202
I reread the article twice. Everything about the spell fit with this situation except for the part about being biologically related. I told this to Al.
"Um, actually you are related." Al said with a guilty look.
"What, how?" I asked, incredulous.
"I'm gonna start looking in the archives for Happy Ending for All. You should read the book I gave you. Grand-ma's diary? It should answer your question. Um, I'll see you later." He left Draco's book behind.
A million thoughts are running through my mind. Harry and I are related? How? Oh God, could I be related to Lily through Tobias? Hopefully, a distant cousin. If not, that would be disgusting; we had sex! Oh God, we had sex. My mind started spinning and I frantically looked for Lily's book. Where could it have gone? I left it right there. No, right there. There were books everywhere, it would take me all night to find Lily's diary. I sat in my chair and breathed. Think, where did you put it? The answer quickly came to me: desk; left front corner. I looked up and walked to my desk but the diary was not there. It must have fallen. I looked underneath the desk. There it was. I picked the diary up gingerly and looked at her name on the cover; Lily. I stared at her handwriting for a few moments before opening the diary.
The pages had turned slightly yellow with age. I looked at the first page and saw my own hand writing:
To: Lily Evans
I know how much you love to write your thoughts down. Hopefully you will find this book useful for that purpose.
From: Severus Snape
I turned the page to the first entry.
June 5th 1979
Dear diary,
I had forgotten that Sev gave me this. After our falling out in fifth year I didn't even want to look at this book, so I had hid it under my bed. We still haven't talked to each other. I miss the friendship we had. I miss him. I saw him in Diagon Alley today. He looks so pale and sad. He's been through so much in his short life. I wish he had made better decisions...
It all comes back to the diary and we're almost at the end of the story. Hopefully you liked this chapter. I can't promise that I will update soon, but my goal is to update within this month. Please review! I'd love to know what you think (good or bad).