As Severus rounded the downward staircase leading towards the Slytherin Dungeons, he stopped near the Kelpie Statue for a moment. A feeling of nostalgia briefly overtook him as he remembered something from the very distant past.

"Wow, really?! The Loch Ness Monster is real, Sev?!" he recalled Lily asking with the wide-eyed wonder that only a child could have. It was one of the first things he had revealed to her after their friendship began. Those big eyes, so hungry and eager for knowledge. And he had been the one privileged enough to have made all of those dreams come true for the special girl. It gave him value, peace, and happiness to actually be appreciated by someone. After all, his parents were either too angry or too broken to have properly raised him.

There were so many things that had come and gone from Severus' mind across the long, exhausting, miserable life he had lived before. However, every little detail of his time with Lily was crystal clear to him, like a blinding Lumos in a pitch-black night.

"She really has been the light of your life." he thought to himself as he turned away from the statue and continued down the stairwell. "But now it's time to make your own bloody light, Snape."

Once he arrived at the blank wall which marked the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room, however, he realized just how fallible his memory of anything not related to Lily was. Specifically, what the blasted password to enter the doorway was.

"What had it been?!" he thought impatiently as his foot began tapping on the stone floor. Hundreds of passwords had been used during his time as a student. It changed every fortnight after all, thousands more than that since his time taking up the mantle as Head of Slytherin.

The only way for him to recall was to go back within his memories, to a much more pitiful period in his life. His eyes shut, trying to recall that night…

The night he had last spoken to Lily. Shambling down the steps with his shoulders slouched, his black eyes to the floor, his face red with tears, and overall just an embarrassment of a human being. Returning to his 'friends' after failing in his bid to restore the only thing of value that he had stupidly destroyed. He watched from the eyes of his younger self as he wiped his nose onto his baggy robe sleeve, sniffled like an idiot, and mumbled in a voice which lacked any form of confidence.

Severus opened his eyes back up, determined to shove that shameful memory to the dark recesses of his mind where it belonged, hopefully never to be remembered again as he spoke with strength and purpose.

"Parselmouth."

The base of the wall immediately transfigured into the coils of a serpent as they slithered upwards and carved out a doorway. He stepped forward, entering the watery stairwell which led down into the den of snakes.

Passing by the younger students whose names he had long forgotten, Severus marched into the common room, his robes billowing like wings behind him. He ignored the hushed whispers and curious glances of the first through third years who had just started their morning routine, as he had only one purpose in mind.

Evan Rosier was in his usual spot at the fireplace. Sitting on the large sofa with his arms and legs splayed outward so as to take up two spots, ever the arrogant and dominant king cobra in this era. Even sixth and seventh years who were older than Rosier fell in line before his wickedly sharp tongue and his constant show of dominance. Once upon a time, Severus had idiotically idolized this boy.

"Ah, Snape." Rosier grinned. "Just the man I wanted to see. We've got a lot to talk about after what happened yesterday. Sit down." he motioned towards the plush armchair across from the sofa.

Severus knew that tone well. It wasn't a request that Rosier was making. It had been a demand. One that he refused to acquiesce to as he remained standing.

Waiting for a few moments for Snape to oblige, Rosier's amused expression nonetheless remained as he continued anyway.

"Alright then. I'll make this plain so that even your awkward, stuttering self can follow, half-blood. If what you did to Mulciber last night was an attempt to take out some competition, then congratulations. I didn't know you had it in you to be so ruthless to make your way up in the world. I could put in a good word for you to my cousin Bella if that's what it was."

Before Severus could respond to that smug face however, the sharp, silver glare of Evan Rosier returned, dripping with venom.

"I could forgive you for fancying the Evans girl too. She's pretty, especially for a Mudblood. You could use her and be done with her and I couldn't care less so long as you've still got your priorities straight. If, however, what you did to Mulciber had some ulterior motive besides 'career advancement', then this conversation will be much more unpleasant for you."

Severus kept his wand hidden within his sleeve, wishing that he had been able to afford a side-holster for it as he had done in his later years. This was undoubtedly going to be a messy situation. Despite his caution, he looked down at the blonde fifth year with continued defiance.

"Your 'career' is a dead-end, Rosier. You, Avery, and the rest of the wanna-be Death Eaters can line up like pawns on a chess board and I'll knock you all down one by one. Consider this my resignation."

Rosier slowly got to his feet, looking down at Severus from his two-inch height advantage before sneering. "Seems that someone grew a spine. I take it that you and the two Mudblood girls were using the Potions lab to brew yourself some Skele-Gro potion?"

Avery, the sniveling tag-along that he was, cackled like a hyena along with half of the Slytherin common room. The other half, which included Regulus Black, continued to gaze in astonishment and disbelief at Snape's behavior while Rosier continued his tirade of insults and threats which everyone present knew would be backed up.

"You know, Snape, you've been acting like a fool ever since the day Potter embarrassed you at the lake. Clearly you're horny for a shag with the Mudblood girl and are willing to throw all of this away for her. I'm giving you one last warning. Know your place, grovel for forgiveness and I might spare you another trip to the Hospital Wing."

"I won't be going alone." Severus spat, bracing himself.

"Out of my sight! Depulso!" Rosier immediately drew his wand and cast a banishing charm to blast the defiant Slytherin away.

Severus tried to slow his velocity with a nonverbal Arresto Momentum, but much like his attempt within the Hospital Wing, the spell was unsuccessful. As a result of his failure to cast it, he crashed violently against one of the large, glass windows looking out into the depths of the Great Lake. If the windows hadn't been reinforced with age-old enchantments, he would have broken the glass and flooded the chambers.

The rapidly growing crowd of Slytherin students parted as Rosier marched towards the fallen body of Severus, sneering in that demeaning, predatory glare.

"I want everyone in this common room to watch what I do to this filthy half-blood!" the blonde wizard demanded. "Let this be an example of what happens to those disloyal of the values set forth by our house's great founder!"

Slowly, shakily, Severus got to his feet as he regained his composure from having the wind knocked out of him. He raised his ebony wand, continuing to glare, unblinking and without fear at his foe. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted.

Rosier flinched, attempting to use a Shield Charm to block the spell before it was evident that his foe had failed to cast. In no time at all, Rosier was leading the entire common room in a hearty laugh at Severus' magical difficulty.

"Not only is your blood flawed, but it seems you lost all your magical talent as well, Snape!"

Severus felt a pit beginning to form in his stomach, cursing himself for not having gotten used to casting spells as Dumbledore had described. He'd been too hasty to have been a match for Rosier.

"That's alright. You've given me your life's work anyway, half-blood scum." Rosier flashed a toothy, malevolent grin as he waved his wand, performing a wordless cast.

Severus saw an incredibly familiar flash of white light before searing pain erupted on his left cheek. He lost his footing once more, but was able to catch himself before falling down completely. However…he noticed several drops of blood trickle down onto his pale hands. Rosier had hit him with a mild but potent cast of Sectumsempra. Had it been used verbally, there was the very real possibility that Severus may have been seriously injured, or worse.

By now, Severus' entire lifetime of ill-fated choices seemed to taunt him even more than Rosier and the rest of Slytherin House did. He'd been foolish enough to entrust his own spell, his weapon, to a dangerous boy who would soon be a Death Eater. The very same spell which would cut a piece of Alastor Moody's nose. All in some stupid attempt to gain influence and status with the very people who were now trying to toss him aside like trash and would do much worse to Lily.

"I'd wager that you're going to need to learn to cast all spells in the same, visceral manner as the Patronus Charm." he recalled Dumbledore's words amidst his silent reflections.

His entire first life had been nothing short of a disaster, and unless he learned how to focus his emotions within combat, this one would end just as horribly.

"Time to send you back to the Hospital Wing, Snape." Rosier chuckled as he began to flick his wand in the shape of a Z. If Severus was hit with a blasting curse, that would be it. He'd have failed in his quest to shake allegiance to Rosier, and might have done more harm than good for all the students watching him be nothing more than a useless idiot who got hospitalized again. He needed to protect himself and now. If he couldn't protect himself, he couldn't protect Lily.

"Confringo!" Rosier enunciated, and a small ball of flame blew from the tip of the wand, rocketing towards Severus.

And there was nothing he wanted, needed more than to protect Lily.

"Protego!" Severus shouted, feeling that need as the bright light of the shield charm blocked the impact of the blasting curse, leaving an audible boom echoing throughout the common room as well as a plume of smoke where the spell impacted.

From the shroud, Severus recalled those big, green eyes of little Viridi from his dream. How they disarmed him, melted away any pain or hostility lingering within his heart as she excitedly asked her father to tell her a bedtime story.

Disarmed…

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted, beginning to understand and feel the rhythm of what he needed to do to cast spells from his heart and emotions.

Rosier's ash wand flew out of his hand, raising the evil teenager's ire as he held out his hand. Clearly he was attempting to summon it back with a nonverbal, wandless Accio, a feat of skill that Severus was well aware someone like Rosier could accomplish despite being a fifth-year.

It wasn't in time, however, as Severus had already pointed his wand at Rosier's, recalling the weightless feeling that accompanied his meetings with Lily since he had been reborn. The peace he felt, knowing that she was alive, and for the moment, safe.

Severus' cast of Levioso had also been nonverbal, but nonetheless more powerful than his foe. The wand rebelled against its owner, levitating in the air as it seemingly ignored Rosier's cast.

"Damn you, Snape!" Rosier shouted as he abandoned all wizarding etiquette and simply opted to charge towards Severus. Despite being only slightly taller, Evan Rosier was significantly more muscular in his frame than the malnourished and skinny Snape. The reborn Slytherin wouldn't have a chance in a physical fight.

So far, everything that Severus had done channeled from his positive emotions, memories, and fantasies. He wondered, however, if the same would also apply to more negative and haunting experiences. His angry outburst in Dumbledore's office and the destruction of the Gargoyle had been signs that his magic was just as powerful amidst distress, perhaps even moreso. He knew the spell that would halt his rival's advance, but needed to find a feeling to describe it…

Severus recalled the final year of his life. He remembered the chill in the air, even during what would otherwise be a warm day. The cold, empty feeling that plagued every inch of the Hogwarts grounds thanks to the presence of those dreaded Dementors following the school's takeover by Voldemort. And despite the protection offered by his own Patronus, Severus was forced to simply endure it. After all, no other Death Eater could cast such a pure and heartfelt spell, and doing so would blow his cover.

"Glacius!"

Severus's wand sent forth a projectile of bitterly cold air which immediately stopped Rosier in his tracks as if he'd been hit by a full body-bind curse. The boy's skin hardened like glass, and his fist, ready to strike, was motionless, mere inches from connecting with its target.

It was time for one final spell as Rosier glared at him despite his immobility. A feeling that Severus never wished to feel again as he recalled the conversation in Dumbledore's office. A day he would never forget. November 1, 1981. The day he had learned of Lily's death; the day his whole world came crashing down.

With a hint of tears in his black eyes, Severus choked out the spell. "Descendo!"

Rosier smashed violently downward; his ice-covered prison shattered into countless tiny pieces that stabbed into his flesh when he hit the ground. Just like that, the most feared student in all of Slytherin House was unconscious, and with dozens of superficial wounds that stained his immaculate, first-class robes with blood.

Pressing his wand against his gashed, bleeding cheek, Severus silently recalled the beautiful, adult woman in the mirror. The woman, real or not, whose smile and love for him seemed to stitch a wounded heart that had bled for decades.

"Vulnera Sanentur…" he began to sing out the counter-curse to his magical blade. Immediately, he felt relief from the nagging pain as the wound slowly cleaned and closed itself, leaving nary a scratch.

The rest of the common room was a sea of wide-eyed shock, unable to comprehend how the obviously skilled but awkward teenager they once knew stood victorious, and now unscathed, against the most dangerous student in their house, if not the entire school. Chief among them was Jacob Avery, shivering in fear and backing away.

"All of you have a choice." Severus declared as he lowered his wand. "Some of you might have had friends, or family members. People that you grew up with and cared for before Hogwarts. And just because you were sorted into Slytherin and they weren't, people from all of the other houses may have cut ties with you, distanced themselves from you. Understand that there is a reason why!"

Severus made eye contact with Regulus again, regarding his fellow Slytherin with a nod before looking down at his fallen opponent. "It's not your fault and it's not theirs. It's people like Rosier and the Dark Lord! People who ruined the reputation of our proud house and made it stand for blood purity above all else! There's a reason why all of you were sorted into Slytherin and it goes beyond the stupid politics that have been preached by your parents. The Sorting Hat saw someone with a great and potent future! Where's your pride? Your ambition? Your dreams?! Carve out your own paths and find some bloody backbone rather than just falling in line!"

The silence within the large chamber was somehow deafening. Faces from Severus' past who never paid him any attention or respect during his teenage years; all eyes were now upon him. A reputation he had taken years to earn as a teacher had been obtained in the space of a single duel within their common room.

"Make your choice this summer. If you still stand with people like this, then I give you no pity and you'll share the same fate I gave him today because then you are my enemy. Stand for yourselves. For the friends and family you may have lost to this tripe you've been fed for years! Do that and you have nothing to fear from me. Slytherin used to stand for greatness. Not some faceless legion of followers gathered behind a madman. Wizards like Merlin who changed the whole world and gave all of us something to aspire to become. It will be that way again!"

Severus picked up his school bag from the floor and marched towards the boys' dormitories. Not a single student in the sea of green stood in his way as they parted to clear a path for him.

While each of the students' followed Severus with their eyes until he was out of sight, none of them seemed more taken aback and intrigued than one particular fourth-year Slytherin student. Regulus Arcturus Black…

Author's Note: It's been a long, winding road filled with failures and frustrations, but I think it's safe to say that Severus has begun to learn how to cast his magic within the demanding, heated moments of a wizarding duel. Will he get back to the powerful wizard he once was? Or could he perhaps go further beyond that? What are the implications of a common room full of students that watched Sev defeat Evan Rosier? Stay tuned for all of this and more!

Some of you who read Tempus Vita may remember the scene at the lake where Severus and Rosier faced off. This is the equivalent of that scene, although in retrospect, I hated how I had Rosier blatantly cast an Unforgivable Curse with several eyewitnesses. The way I've written him has to be smarter than that, so no actions meriting an expulsion have been revealed yet. However, this may not be the last time that Severus has to deal with this particular foe...

As always, thank you for your reviews, especially those of you who are more detailed and thorough in your analysis! Folks like TJ Jordan, RedHood001, maxisaraviamgs , and so many more with your frequent and thought-provoking reviews make all of this so worth doing. Please keep them coming and I hope to update again soon!