Harry Potter 1. Prologue

This fic is my own take on what would happen if Snape had a second chance; inspired by JK saying that if Snape had a second chance, he would not become Death Eater. Also inspired by "The Moment it Began" by Sindie, I just thought it'd pan out differently if he was allowed to go right back to the very beginning and change things.

I own nothing but my own creativity. Just wait till Snape hits the auction houses though…

* * *

Some time after Harry, Ron and Hermione had left, Snape sat up, puzzling as to his renewed vitality.

"Odd." He said simply. Trying to stand up, he found that something was holding him back. Looking down, a haze of blue light seemed to extrude from his back and head down to – his body?

Beneath him on the floor was himself, and sitting up was – also himself? Immensely puzzled at this turn of events he stayed sitting for a few moments, not trying to get up until a chill sensation on the back of his neck made him turn round. A dark figure in a black cloak had appeared in the room behind him; it bore a scythe.

"Oh." Snape said, realisation dawning. "I'm dead." Not answering, the figure swung its scythe down and severed the link between Snape's "self" and his body, jerking him forwards as the previous tension disappeared suddenly.

"What happens now?" He asked the figure once he had stood up, but it merely pointed past Snape as a clapping noise started. Looking round, he saw the person of Albus Dumbledore clothed all in white, he was applauding. Snape looked back to the dark figure, but it was gone. Looking back to Dumbledore he simply said, "Well?"

"Well Severus, you have succeeded." Dumbledore replied; a slight golden glow was surrounding him.

"Succeeded?" Snape asked. "I just died!" He pointed out.

"Ah but Severus, these conditions need not be mutually exclusive." Said Dumbledore. "Because of your efforts, this war is finally at an end. Thanks to the memories you just supplied Harry with, he may find it in himself to do what must be done."

"And die?" Snape asked pointedly.

"And die as he must. Though there too, things need not be exclusive." Dumbledore said, his usual merry twinkle in his eye.

"I see." Snape replied, though truthfully he wasn't quite following Dumbledore's explanation.

"My dear chap, I suppose I must show you." Dumbledore sighed. "Follow me." And walked through the wall of the shrieking shack. Following, Snape found himself in the grounds of Hogwarts, Harry Potter just coming out of the school's main doors. Although he wore his invisibility cloak, he was still visible to the watchful eyes of Snape and Dumbledore and they followed him into the forest in silence. They watched impassively as he confronted Voldemort, and as he was killed and Voldemort collapsed.

They continued watching the scene as the Death Eaters clustered around their master with only a slight, unexplained chuckle from Dumbledore. They made no noise and no words passed between them, up until Neville burst from the crowd and cut off Nagini's head, earning an impressed intake of breath from Snape. When the fight had finished, and Voldemort had fallen in the dust, Dumbledore turned to Snape;

"Now you see why I told you that you had succeeded?" He asked.

"I begin to." Replied Snape doubtfully.

"Well Severus, the powers that be in this world have decided to give you what you have most wanted for a long time." Snape remained silent. "You are to have the chance, to go back and make changes."

"I am?" Snape asked incredulously. "People are allowed to do that?"

"Not often." Dumbledore admitted. "Only when they have made great personal sacrifice to the cause of good." Silence again, from Snape. "You will retain all the memories of your past life, though dimmed slightly. You won't remember exactly what you will have for breakfast the next day, but you will remember important things."

"And shall I be starting right over?" Snape asked, sneering. "I don't think I could handle nappies again."

"You will be starting on a spring afternoon in your tenth year, I believe you were hiding behind a bush." Dumbledore said, beaming. Snape instantly tensed.

"You mean -" He started.

"Yes; I mean the first day you talked to Lily Evans as she was then called." Dumbledore replied.

"And I have free reign to make changes as I see fit?" Snape asked, trying to find the flaw in this proposal.

"As you see fit, knowing major future events; although there are a few rules. You may not share knowledge of your previous life with others, not even me." He said sternly, knowing it had crossed Snape's mind.

"I understand, please continue." Snape said, meekly.

"Your skills will be that of an underage wizard, you may be able to remember many spells and much of your acquired knowledge, but you are in your pre-pubescent body of nine years so don't expect miracles." A chuckle. "Also your previous life's memories will not enter a Pensieve nor leave your head." Stern again. "Just a precaution, you will be tempted more than once to share your experiences and They'd rather avoid that."

"I understand clearly. My thanks Headmaster for this – unique – experience please pass them on to "Them". Hopefully I shall not require it a second time." He raised his wand in salute, and fair well.


	2. A Second First Meeting

"Goodbye Severus, may it be a long time before we meet again." Dumbledore said with a tear in his eye. Snape was about to reply when he had a sudden feeling of falling backwards, Dumbledore's face seeming to be at the end of a very long tunnel. And then he was on his back, looking up at the sky from behind a bush. He could hear the sounds of two girls playing…

Getting up, Snape peeked around the bush; Lily and Petunia Evans were on the swings in the park, Lily going higher and higher until she soared off her swing and fell cat-like to the ground. He shrunk back as she picked up a fallen flower from near his hiding place, and thought to himself. He could remember his previous life, just. But he could remember his new life; what he'd had for tea today, what he'd done yesterday – sitting here and watching Lily several times before. He decided on that instant that things would be different this time; with the experience of a grown wizard behind him there was nothing that should daunt him.

"How do you do it?" He heard Petunia ask, and on instinct he knew he should appear.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Snape said as he jumped out of the bushes. Petunia ran away; _just like last time_, he remembered. A flush of embarrassment went through his cheeks as he looked at Lily, and choked down the answer that he gave last time.

"What's obvious?" She asked, looking at him curiously.

"I know what you are." He replied.

"What do you mean?" She asked

"You're … you're magical." He said, determined not to let there be any hint of insult this time round. He instantly regretted it however, even at the age of nine it sounded like a corny chat-up line.

"I'm, what?" Lily asked.

"You can do magic." Snape explained. "You're a witch, like my mum. I'm a wizard! Or at least I will be when I've been to school."

"A wizard?" Lily asked disbelievingly. Snape was relieved, _so far so good_.

"Pah!" Exclaimed Petunia, wandering back over to when she saw her sister wasn't going to follow suit and run away. "_I_ know who _you_ are. You're that Snape boy. They live down Spinner's End by the river." She told Lily. The tone of her voice still suggested she did not consider it a worthy address. Snape thought quickly, last time he'd let his mouth get away from him and it had cost him, this time he would think things through first. "Why have you been spying on us?" Petunia asked.

"Wasn't!" Snape retorted, internally frowning at himself for his immaturity. It seemed that Dumbledore was telling the whole truth when he said that he would not be quite himself. He knew just as much as he'd ever known, but he acted like a nine year old boy if he didn't think carefully first.

"Lily, come on, we're leaving!" Petunia said, her voice shrill. She got a few paces and then she realised that her sister wasn't following her. Lily had hesitated, half turned away and half still facing Snape. Her face a confused split between curiosity and anger. _'Yes!'_ Snape thought. She was considering it this time.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" Lily asked Snape quietly, so Petunia wouldn't hear her. "Same time?" Snape's heart skipped a beat. She actually wanted to talk to him this time, last time he'd had to pester her for a week before she'd listen. _'What a difference a word makes…'_

"Yes." He said hurriedly as Lily turned and ran after her sister, throwing a few glances over her shoulder as at Snape as she went. He stayed standing in the same spot until she was out of sight.

He turned eventually and walked off down the river towards Spinner's End and home. It was strange, he had barely ever thought about his childhood, or his parents, in his old life, even when he was in his house. And now he could remember them vividly as the ten-year old boy who had lived there all his life. He remembered that his mother had told him to be back early because she was cooking dinner; he remembered that his infantile self had stayed out late to watch Lily Evans. His father would probably beat him for his disobedience, but his ten-year-old self was used to it. _His thirty-eight year old self would barely be able to control itself though._


	3. Goals

I should point out that I'm not aware of any special information about the dates surrounding Snape's encounters with Lily. I have randomly made them so that he makes friends with Lily shortly (about a month) before attending Hogwarts, thus making less for me to write. Obscene amounts of thanks go to Microsoft for making a clock program that allows a humble writer to backdate and find out what day a date was. General obscenities go to Microsoft for stopping their program at 1980 so I had to work out nine years of dates by myself.

* * *

Later that night, Snape was lying in his small room with a piece of parchment. At the top he had written the word "Goals." He was trying to work out where life had gone wrong, and what he could do about it. Sucking his quill nervously, and then chiding himself for acting like the small boy he was, he started to write.

_Tuesday July 29th 1971_

_Park_

He then crossed this out, as he seemed to have manoeuvred around it.

_Monday August 4th 1971_

_Dropped branch on Petunia Evans' head._

He considered this for a while. Lily had been upset with him for several days after he had done that so it was definitely an event he wanted to avoid. Snape lay back and wondered if his younger mindset would allow him to control his magic at this young age.

This whole business was strange. Life after death had never been a subject that troubled Snape, as for most of his life he had sought not to die at all, and for the rest he hadn't cared. But that he had been allowed to come back and try again was mystifying. Either things could change, and the all powerful They that Dumbledore had mentioned did not mind, care, or think it important; or things would turn out exactly the same as they had before, in which case They had a very cruel sense of humour. Or events would unfurl in a completely different way to reach the same end in the grand scheme of things.

Which ever was the case, Snape was determined to make the most of this second chance, the Dark Lord was off the agenda for a start; he wouldn't be joining the Death Eaters any time soon. One thing that was for sure was that he would not let his childish fascination with dark magic interfere with his life this time round. Getting up, he lifted up a loose floorboard and pulled out three books, _Les Grimoires Horribilis_, _The Testament of Solomon_, and _Thee Construction of Magics Most Dark_. Walking over to the small hearth in his room he placed all three books in it and reflexively reached for where his wand should be. Cursing his lack of wits, he looked for a box of matches that he had kept next to the fire when he was younger. He then carefully and fully burned all three books page by page, his inner child screamed at the destruction of his most cherished possessions but he paid no attention.

When this was done he sat on his bed and considered his next challenge, as an adult he had masterful control over his feelings, but he remembered not being able to do that so well as a child. His lack of control had upset Lily when he'd met up with her again when he'd accidentally dropped a branch on her sister' head. He lay back on his bed thinking upon the magical lore he had collected during his life. As a child, magic is an instinctual force surpassing spells, this much he knew, and only proper training and acquisition of a wand to channel the magic through could stop these uncontrolled outbursts. He tried to remember exactly what had happened that night in the thicket by the river. Petunia Evans had snuck out after her sister to see what she was doing with "that Snape boy" and he'd lost his temper at her. It should be a simple enough matter to control himself this time round if he knew she was there.

Rolling over and taking his piece of parchment and his quill he moved onto his next problem.

_Wednesday August 27th 1971_

_Found Petunia Evans' letter._

This had been a bone of contention between Lily and her sister later on the platform on September 1st that had overflowed onto the train and made Lily hate him for a while. For the whole of Lily Evans' wizarding life the rift between herself and her sister had been a sore point that had upset her profusely. If Snape was to avoid the scene on the platform, he would have to do something about that.

_Option 1: Do not find Petunia Evans' letter._

_Option 2: Tell Lily Evans not to tell her sister about it._

_Option 3: Confront Petunia Evans about the letter straight away to get it over with._

He thought about this, and then scribbled out the word "Confront" and changed it for "Ask."

Option one was probably not going to work, because Lily would have noticed the letter eventually. Option two was a bad idea, Lily wouldn't understand why she mustn't tell her sister she'd seen the letter; she might even confront Petunia straight away and make things worse. That left option three, which seemed distasteful to both the young and old Snape. He would have to pander to Lily's pathetic sister's happiness and be "nice" to her. He groaned inwardly.


End file.

Harry Potter