Things were not going as Dumbledore had planned. He had eyes and ears everywhere, and when a rumor of a Death Eater who had previously evaded Azkaban promising information about someone on Dumbledore's own staff, there could only be one assumption.

Snape had always sort of assumed he would go to Azkaban. Dumbledore had vouched for him, putting his own reputation on the line and offering him a job. Being a powerful legilimens, he knew that people assumed Albus had peered into his mind and concluded his innocence.

And just because Avery was too stupid to lie low and not murder people, that reputation would be tarnished.

Avery had been there when Severus had taken the mark. Having those he considered his friends there, Avery and Lucius among them, had felt somewhat comforting. Looking back, Severus could not believe how stupid he was, just for a bit of camaraderie.

"Severus Snape must cease to exist," Albus was saying, and Snape was back in the present. "Temporarily. I think the knowledge that he's too late to spill his secrets will be enough to dissuade Avery, don't you agree?"

That was rhetorical, because Snape would be forced to do whatever the plan was anyway. Tensely, he said. "I suppose."

"You could take on a new identity," he continued to muse out loud, "but then we will need to find you a new identity, and you will need to act the part. How is your acting, Severus?"

Severus did not dignify that with a response.

"You see, you're so authentically you, Severus," said Albus, and that did not sound like a compliment, "that I'm not sure it would fool anyone. My proposal is to change your body completely, until it is safe and necessary for you to make a dramatic return."

"Necessary," repeated Snape, "and by that, you mean…?"

"You are an invaluable asset to the light, Severus." Dumbledore rested a hand on the man's shoulder. "You must know that. I believe there are things to come, and I will need your help. But until then…perhaps you died in a fiery explosion in the Potions classroom?"

"I would never be so careless," he snapped, "think of something realistic, or don't bother at all."

They decide to go with the fire plan.

"You can't possibly keep all of this, Severus." The potions master already had piles of books and rare ingredients and had entered the chambers with another armful, plus a stack floating magically behind him.

"These are expensive," he growled, "if I come back to find them destroyed, I will kill you."

"I understand sentimentality. But surely you can find some of this again. What reason is there to keep an old potions textbook?"

Snape snatched the ratty book from the old man's hands.

"You will especially keep this."

Albus raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Of course. I'm sure I can find space. It won't be for long, I'm sure. It's a momentary setback, until I can find a more permanent solution."

"When I will be useful, you mean." Murmured Snape, his voice low and dangerous. Albus smiled at him.

"When it will be safe."

Snape snorts and rolls his eyes.

"Would you prefer the alternative? Even if I can keep you out of Azkaban, I cannot promise to keep you here."

And you are only of use to me when I can keep you under my thumb, is what Snape heard in the silence that followed. In the end, Snape knew he would do as Albus ordered. He brewed the potion and the result were two tiny vials, one like liquid pearl and the other an emerald green color.

"I do believe I'm going to miss you."

Minerva was included in the plan, because of course she was. Nobody was better at transfiguration than she, and Albus suspected that might be needed to hide Snape's more prominent features.

But she did not know everything. She knew the bare minimum, at Snape's insistence. Already, he could see she was disappointed in him. A Death Eater, even though Dumbledore had vouched for him. Would he ever stop disappointing people, he wondered.

She had suspected, when he first joined the Hogwarts staff. Everyone knew the people he hung around with, everyone knew his affinity for dark magic. But Dumbledore had insisted he wasn't; that Snape was a trustworthy, talented young man who just wanted to teach Potions.

Minerva thought that faking one's death rather than be outed as a Death Eater was a bit extreme. But just the same, she did not want to see Snape in Azkaban. And she did not want to see Dumbledore's name dragged through the mud for allowing a Death Eater to work at his school for over a decade.

"It's only for a few years, so I'm told," Snape looked pointedly at Albus, who pretended not to hear him. "I'm sure you will survive."

"But who will I gossip with?"

"That's not my problem." Snape rolled his eyes, then regarded Minerva with a soft look. It wasn't a smile, but it was close. "You can write down the particularly interesting bits for me to read later, if you must."

"I will," Minerva smiled. Snape wanted to smile back.

He really did love it. The access to potion ingredients, that is. He hated teaching, and he hated the students, and he hated being responsible for those students as the Head of House. But he did like the huge iron cauldron hanging in the center of the classroom.

And his coworkers were mostly fine as well, he supposed.

Severus Snape was starting to feel too much like a person and he downed the potion with a grimace. It tasted terribly bitter.

"Will you keep my body in the closet?"

"It's not like that at all. You will simply be in a less conspicuous form."

"A chair," Snape offered dryly, motioning towards Minerva. No wonder Albus had included her in the plan.

"A child," said Albus, sounding as though he did not want to reveal this at all.

Snape sputtered and turned to Albus with a sudden fury, "What!"

"They might look for a body," Albus soothed, "they won't think to look for—"

"A child!" Snape was seething. "I refuse!

"You've already taken the potion," Albus pointed out. When Severus lunged for the second vial, Dumbledore was faster.

"Albus! You said he agreed to this!" Minerva accused.

"It seems I may have neglected a key detail," Dumbledore sounded apologetic, but Snape saw through it. He was furious, like a feral animal as he stared the older man down. The wizard only smiled, a bit sadly. "You really do have to trust me, Severus."

"You are holding the antidote." Severus had his wand ready to hex the old wizard, consequences be damned, when his body seized with a wave of nausea. He wavered just long enough for Albus to dispose of his wand.

If looks could kill, Snape would be a basilisk.

Minerva cut in, her voice soft and heavy with emotion. "We'll take care of you."

Snape wanted to laugh at the absurdity. Albus Dumbledore had not cared for him at all as a student. He had already demonstrated that he would fail at that, and spectacularly. A sudden wave of nausea, so strong it was painful, made him stumble instead. Both Minerva and Albus rushed to his side and he brushed them off, then immediately doubled over onto his desk.

This, like so many things in his life, was going to happen without his consent, whether he wanted it or not.

"I was a horrible child," Snape warned. This he knew to be true. He had heard it his entire life.

"I was your professor once already," Minerva replied, trying to add a bit of humor into the situation, "I'm sure we can manage."

Snape wanted to protest. His memories of school are tainted and sour. He cannot recall her being kind to him then, although she might be considered his friend now. She was the closest thing to a friend he has had in a while. Even Lucius, who Snape loved despite everything, cannot have the candid conversations that he and Minerva had.

It felt like he was dying. And wasn't he? He would cease to exist, frozen like some fairy tale, until the time Albus deems him as necessary again. If he ever did. That is an unsaid worry festering in the pit of his stomach. He may never come back. He only hoped his mind does not remain, so he cannot comprehend the betrayal.

If this was not true death, he will not see his mother again. Nor Lily. She was certainly in Heaven, where he would not go. But he has always thought that perhaps his mother would be waiting around for him, to see him off. She was probably going to hell too, but one of the nicer levels.

When the pain intensified, Snape nearly cried out. But he had endured worse before and he simply grits his teeth and his entire body burns with piercing intensity and his bones crack and shrink.

At some point, blessed unconsciousness consumed him.

"Albus!" Minerva turned to the man, looking equally furious and terrified. "You didn't say he would be that young!"

"I confess, I didn't know." Albus had not exactly anticipated that Severus would be the exact age to attend Hogwarts as a student again, but he had been prepared to wait a year or two.

"Then what do you propose we do?" Minerva, motherly despite her insistence otherwise, had gathered the child into her arms, robes and all. "Albus, he is a toddler!"