Chapter 5

"So next thing I know I wake up in that godforsaken prison cell with Albus bloody Dumbledore standing over me," Harry growled once he had finished recounting the important parts. "He fed me truth serum each time when he visited to get every bit of information of the future out of me. I'd like to sock him in his All-knowing-twinkling-eyes," he added while grumbling.

When no sound came Harry finally struggled to sit up a bit to look at his old professor.

"Mr. Potter..." Snape hissed, voice so dangerously calm that Harry gulped as he felt he might get disemboweled like a flobberworm if he uttered something wrong.

"You've graduated Hogwarts, yes?"

"Yes..." Harry answered.

"I am assuming you'd fulfilled your ambition of becoming an Auror," Snape continued.

"Uhm... yes...."

"And according to your own words you've traveled extensively, am I right to assume,"

"Yes..." Harry gulped nervously.

"Then Mr. Potter, how come a flobberworm has more brain cells than you?!" Snape questioned. "Do you have dementia? Or did you simply forget the spell to scan for poisons," the dour man now hissed.

"I knew you were going to call me a dunderhead," Harry sighed.

"I'm not calling you a dunderhead Mr. Potter. I'm calling you the King of Dunderheads... the Grand Poobah of Dunderheads! Your recklessness has actually managed to make me speechless!"

"I admit, it was a lap of judgment to trust Dumbledore so much," Harry agreed as Snape stared him down. "And this is the result of that," He motioned to his weakened self. "I spent a good three decades just thinking about revenge and I will make it hurt,"

"And does this revenge of yours entail joining the Dark Lord?" the professor asked seriously.

"What?! No!" Harry uttered while looking askance. "Honestly I want to stay out of this war entirely. Heck, I might even offer old Moldypants a truce considering I'm not his Horcrux anymore,"

Snape stiffened at the mention of 'horcrux'. Harry noticed and then said "So the Headmaster told you about it already?"

"No Potter," Snape stated. "I happened to overhear Albus talking with Sirius and Remus one night. They did not know I was on the other side of the door. I did my own research after that,"

"Sirius and Remus know?" Harry asked perplexed. "This didn't happen in my timeline,"

"What happened in your timeline?" The Potion Master now asked.

"Eh, nothing really. I only found out about it from you when you..." Harry got quiet for a moment. He looked at Snape and then back down to his hands that had been wringing the sheets.

"When I what Mr. Potter," Snape pressed.

"You know.... It's getting awfully hot in here," Harry tried to change the subject but Snape's gaze on him unnerved him.

"Mr. Potter... explain..." the older man pressed.

"You gave me your memories when you lay dying in my arms Snape!" Harry snapped back. "There I said it! Are you happy now?!"

"Ah so that's it," Snape just nodded.

"That's it?! That's it? Harry hissed, a bit of his parseltongue ability coming through causing Snape to shiver. "How are you that nonchalant about your own death?!"

"Because I've come to terms with it a long time ago Mr. Potter," Now it was Snape's turn to be agitated. "I'm a spy, or at least I was." He growled. "I had given up hope of seeing the end of the war long before you were a toddler,"

"You were the bravest man I knew," Harry said quietly as he placed a skinny hand onto Snape's. "Yes, you were nasty to me in school, you likened me to my father and held onto old grudges but you also saved my life. You jumped to shield Hermoine, Ron and I from a werewolf, you tried to save my life in first year, sorry about Hermoine setting you on fire by the way,"

"Miss Granger did what?!" Severus uttered slackjawed.

"Uhm... anyway.... Moving on..." Harry quickly muttered. "What I'm trying to say is Snape that your actions had a lasting impact on me. I named my middle child after you by the way,"

"Poor kid," Snape stated which earned him a light smack to the elbow.

"What I meant was that, yes, you were a pain in the arse to me but also the one dragging me out of dangerous situations. I hated that you never got to see the peace your sacrifices brought. So you should value yourself more," Harry declared. "Be selfish for once Snape," he then said. "I'm not going to let you die again,"

"If only things were as easy as you say, Mr. Potter," Snape stated. "I've basically lost Albus's protection after the events of your counterpart's fourth year. It's only a matter of time before I am delivered to the salivating jaws of the Ministry,"

Harry gave Snape an indescribable look at his last statement. He knew for a fact that the man had been gathering information from Voldemort's camp well into his seventh year. Even as Headmaster he had tried to keep the students as safe as possible, which sadly Harry only found out after his passing from two muggleborns that spoke at the funeral.

"Mr. Potter, what happened during the Triwizards tournament in your timeline?" The potion master asked decisively. "It was around that time that the Headmaster began treating me differently,"

"Huh, well it was your standard year in my opinion. You know, teen drama, the usual of the DADA teacher trying to kill me, Hermoine keeping Rita Skeeter in a jar," Harry shrugged while Snape raised a brow at the jar comment.

"Moldyshorts resurrecting," Harry stated getting that far-off look Luna sometimes got. "Cedric's spirit asking me to take his body back. Used the portkey in the trophy and everyone was cheering until the crowd realized that Cedric wasn't moving. Moody dragged me away and well... should have known my DADA teacher was a Deatheater,"

"I think therein lies the difference Mr. Potter. Those aren't the sequence of events I remember happening." Snape stated which caused Harry's brows to shoot up.

"Huh?" the young man....... Or rather an old man in a young man's body.... Uttered while looking perplexed.

"I'm assuming my counterpart in your timeline never arrived at the graveyard," Snape asked.

"Yeah, Dumbledore asked you to stay behind and make up an excuse later to get into Riddle's good graces."

"I figured it was something like that," Snape sighed. "I will be very frank with you Mr. Potter, I did end up going to the graveyard that night, in this timeline at least. The Headmaster's insistence that I stay back was... excessive, probably because he got the details of the future from you. He laid it on thick and I wasn't convinced so I openly defied him. My vow to protect you... well, this timeline's Harry... had been screaming at me."

"Oh Merlin," Harry whispered while Snape continued.

"I made it to the graveyard around the time you and the Dark Lord's duel was starting. As he was mid-cast of the Killing curse I blew my cover and severed his wand arm," the Potion master admitted. "Afterwards chaos followed and I dove at you and Mr. Diggory's body while summoning the portkey.

"Fuck," Was all Harry had to say to that turn of events really.

"The Headmaster of course was very irate that I went against his orders. Now he hadn't a spy in the Dark Lord's camp and my home in Cokeworth got burned down in retaliation. In the end, I had to stay at Grimmauld for the summer until another safe house could be acquired, though I don't think the Headmaster spent a lot of time on that issue. He was quite dismissive of me whenever I broached the subject. In the end, I renovated the basement into a pseudo lab and bedroom. Black simply refused to give me one of the guest rooms and told me to sleep on the floor." Snape spat. "I get it was his house but he was the one that lent it out to the Order and I was still a member."

"Wait, if you were at HQ during this summer then......" Harry's eyes widened.

"I heard shouting and came out of the basement. When I reached the stairs your counterpart was bleeding out at the foot of it with your godfather just staring into the abyss at the top." Snape sadly relayed. "Ironic isn't it," He muttered. "In this timeline, you ended up dying in my arms,"