Hours turned to days and days to weeks. Each one a bit similar to the previous whenever Harry, as Calla went to the park with his sisters. He still could not think of himself as a girl, but had no qualms donning the dresses his grandparents and mother suggested he wear.

Severus wasn't at the park every day. Sometimes he'd be gone for days on end. Which worried him, recalling the glimpse of his professor's life during those horrifying Occulmency lessons. However he was not about to lay the blame at the young Severus Snape's feet.

He sighed as he sat down at one of the picnic tables.

Lily turned her gaze to him where she sat reading. "Calla, what's wrong?"

With a small smile he placed one hand to his cheek and his elbow on the table. "I'm worried."

"Sev again?"

"Yes. We haven't seen him in three weeks."

"He's disappeared before. Maybe his family is on vacation."

He highly doubted that. "If his family can afford a vacation they can afford better clothes and hygiene for Sev."

She blinked. "Hygiene?"

"You know. Soap. Shampoo. Conditioner. Clean clothes."

"Oh." Her brows furrowed. "I thought they were just his play clothes and he liked gardening."

"Maybe," he said so as to appease her. Yet even that explanation didn't sit well with him. Perhaps if he hadn't seen and known the future that was ahead of Snape then he'd be far more apt to think up something so mundane.

Standing up he said, "I'm going to his house." The young Severus Snape never said where he lived, but he knew where to find him. Spinner's End.

Lily stared at him. "You know where he lives? How?"

"Magic?"

She blinked up at him before standing. "Well where then?"

"Spinner's End."

She gasped. "Calla!"

"What?"

"We're not allowed to go there. Mother and Father forbid it."

"Will you tattle if I go check on Sev?"

She shook her long red tresses. "No. But you're not going alone. Maybe we could ask Petunia?"

"No!" He cleared his throat. "Sorry Lily, but you know what she thinks of him. She'd tattle on us."

"I suppose you're right." She took his hand. "Well then Calla, lead the way."

Harry blinked, "I didn't think you'd want to break a rule."

"I don't like too, but this is something you want to do Calla."

He nodded and with a smile took her hand. "This way."

There did not feel to be any magical wards. Not when they crossed the street once they were certain it was safe to do so. Not when they sneaked through the bushes between two different houses. Nor on yet another street crossing.

"Here we are," he said when he came to a halt across the street form the Snape house on Spinner's End.

He felt Lily shudder.

"Lily? Are you okay?"

"Yes. This place..."

Harry glanced down the empty street. Where broken windows and peeling paint appeared to be the norm. At one house there seemed to have once been a hedgerow of roses now wilted and dying. When the wind rustled a grating sound of metal scraping metal caused them both to wince.

They turned to their left and saw a rusted swing set and a slide tipped onto its side. The grass around it over grown in places and in others only bare hard rock and soil.

Lily squeezed his hand. "I don't like this place."

"Neither do I, but Severus is here."

With a deep breath he hurried to the porch of the Snape family dwelling.

He and Lily both froze when they heard a crash and shattered glass.

Lily turned to him with wide eyes. "We need to get out of here."

"No." He turned from her and knocked on the door.

A gaunt faced woman opened the door. One of her cheeks looked red.

He held back a grimace at the smell coming from the house of stale beer and old sweaty socks smelling far worse than any gym socks he'd ever come into contact with.

The woman stared down at shim/s her and asked, "My dear, who might you be?"

"I'm Calla, and this is my twin sister Lily. We wanted to know if Severus could come out and play."

Slack-jawed the woman was quiet for several long seconds.

Lily, "Ma'am?"

She gave a small shake of her head. "I'm sorry dear. I just had no idea my Severus had any friends."

Harry thought that was just sad, but didn't comment on it. "We haven't seen him in awhile and missed him."

Mrs. Snape gave a small nod. "I wont be but a moment. Let me see if he wants to come out."

Lily and he glanced at each other. They were silent while whatever was going on inside seemed to calm down.

Harry wished he could be a bug on the wall. Or not, he shuddered as he recalled a certain Animangus.

Minutes later the door slowly creaked open.

Harry turned to look and saw Severus. His nose was bandaged and his hair lank. "Severus," he wanted to ask what happened, but felt it best not to pry and instead offered his hand, "would you like to join us for an adventure?"

Lily had no qualms, "Sev, what happened to you?"

Severus took Calla's hand and shook his head. "I don't wish to discuss it."

"But you're hurt."

Harry sighed, "Lily, if Severus doesn't want to talk we can't make him. We can however help him have fun today." He didn't think young Severus got much chance to do so. Except maybe when he was reading his books. Even as a man he always had his nose in a book if not over a cauldron.

Severus squeezed his hand. "And what adventure are we going on?"

Lily shook her head. "I don't know. Calla never said."

Harry, the one they knew as Calla grinned. "I was thinking we might go collect some plants. It'll be practice for collection potions ingredients."

He noticed a spark of interest in Severus's gaze and heard Lily clap her hands with a delighted lilting laugh.

Yet where was he supposed to go, he wondered, to find any plants worth collecting. Not only had he and Lily only recently discovered they were witches – although he knew he was a wizard despite the bizarre turn of events which had found him in his mothers twins body decades before his own birth – but he didn't think there was much of anything magical growing about.

Lily asked, "So, where should we start looking for some plants?"

"The forest we passed while on our way here," he suggested.

Severus nodded, "A forest is apt to have a few interesting specimens. Ones which may even be true potions ingredients."

Realizing he still held the young Severus Snape's hand he let go and turned to skip down to the sidewalk. He still couldn't get used to dresses. Didn't his mother and aunt – or aunts as the case might be – wear anything else he wondered. "Let's go."

It didn't matter to him if they were caught. Lily hadn't said anything more about it being forbidden, but he was certain it was. Obviously her twin sister Calla wasn't the best of influences. Yet if they went back to their house Petunia was certain to interrupt them by being simply horrid to Severus who already had enough troubles at home.

He wondered if he should tell someone, but also knew that if this was truly some twisted yet real time travel he couldn't alter the past. Not that he thought Calla had ever been a part of his mothers past or that of his greasy potions professor's.

The man had loved his mother. He'd chosen the wrong path as a youth, but he'd turned the tides. Not that he made a good teacher. The man was a bully, but he didn't seem to be much of one now. Just a youth bullied by his own family. That was worse than being bullied by strangers at school.

Lily, "Calla!"

He paused, "What?"

"Where are you going?"

"The forest."

He heard her laugh. "Look around Calla."

Blinking he glanced from his right to his left. Felt his cheeks burning. "Oh!" He giggled. "I wasn't paying attention. Sorry."

Chancing a glance at Severus he saw the corners of the young boy's lips twitch.

Grinning he said, "It's okay Sev. You can laugh."

While he and Lily giggled, Severus only managed a smile. Which was jaunting with his nose bandaged up. He wished he could save Severus from things like that happening to him. Somehow. Yet without truly altering the past. For even the tiniest misstep he realized could result in far worse than the future held for any of them.

Lowering his gaze to the ground his eyes rounded. "Oh wow!" He knelt on the ground by a cluster of white flowers. "Valerian."

Severus knelt down between he and Lily. "I believe this is used in real potions."

Harry asked, "How is it you know this?"

"My mother's old text books."

Lily smiled. "It must be wonderful to have those to read. Calla and I have nothing to tell us about magic."

Severus blinked. "Well, perhaps I can bring a book out on the weekend. Then I can tell you all about Hogwarts."

Harry felt compelled to ask simply so no suspicion could be drawn, "What's a Hogwarts?"

"Not a what, a where."

Lily, "Oh?"

Severus nodded. "It's a school for witches and wizards."

He and Lily both glanced at him filled with awe. Perhaps for different reasons. Lily because she'd never heard of the place before and Harry because he remained in awe of how different young Severus was compared to his future self.

"Wow," Harry and Lily said in unison.

Lily, "When do we get to go there?"

Severus answered. "When we're eleven years old we'll each get a letter by Owl Post and then start when the next school year begins."

Harry grinned and glanced down at the flower, gently using his hands to move the dirt so as not to damage the root of the Valerian.

All three of them grew silent as they heard the rustling of leaves followed by a screech of a voice.

"Calla! Lily! Where did you two get off to. Mother and Father are going to be cross."

Harry frowned and stood up with the Valerian in his hand. He glanced to Severus and held it out, "Please take this Sev. I don't think Petunia would let I or Lily keep it. You have books, maybe you can tell us more about it next time?"

Severus blinked and carefully took the Valerian in hand.

Petunia at that moment burst through a couple of bushes and glared at all three of them. "That boy is a bad influence. You two come home right now!"

Harry cringed and Lily sighed.

He glanced back at Severus and whispered, "See you soon."

Petunia grabbed his hand and Lily's too and dragged them out of the forest paying no heed to Severus Snape who was but a child himself.

"We can't just leave him there," Lily tried to tug her hand out of Petunia's.

Harry nodded. "We should escort him home," but he worried might be in wait at home for him.

Petunia stared at them. "No. He's a freak and we don't need to associate with his horrid family."

Harry tugged his hand out of hers though Lily hadn't quite managed it. "Stop calling my friend a freak Petunia!"

Just then the wind picked up forcing Petunia to let go of Lily as she herself flew a few feet back on her rump landing in the grass at the edge of the forest they were near to leaving.

Lily gasped and ran to Petunia to offer her a hand while glancing at Calla, "Calla! What did you do?"

Harry blinked, "I... I'm sorry."

Petunia smacked Lily's hand away from her and stood up glaring. "See!? I knew that boy was a bad egg. He's teaching you to do bad things."

Harry frowned. "He hasn't taught me anything of the sort," it wasn't a lie. Severus Snape hadn't taught him to do anything bad. Certainly never on purpose. But he'd never learned anything from his potions professor when the man had been only a child before his time at Hogwarts. "It's spontaneous magic produced by strong emotion and as neither I nor Lily have been taught much about magic we're not best able to control it in all of its forms. Yet."

Petunia stood there breathing hard, eyes narrowed and angry.

He turned to Lily, "Lily, please take Petunia home. I wont be long." With that he turned to see the boy that would one day be his professor staring at him with wide eyes and the smallest hint of a smile.

A look he felt certain had been directed at his mother from his memories, but instead he was staring at him. While in Calla's body. The twin of his mother. 'Confusing.'

He held his hand out to Severus.

Severus shook his head. "No Calla. You go with your sisters. I'll be... fine."

"Are you certain, Sev?" He wasn't so sure about him being okay, but he couldn't argue with both Petunia and Severus.

"Yes."

He gave Severus's shoulder a small squeeze before turning to walk off back to the Evan's house with Petunia and Lily. It didn't matter if he were to be grounded for not telling his 'current' parents where he'd gone. Lily might not like it, but no doubt Petunia would. Yet to keep an eye on the young Severus Snape, well he'd do it again. Especially with whatever abuse was going on in that household of Spinner's End.