Memories Not my Own

Breathing hard, he ran around the corner and down the stairs, black cloak billowing behind him. I only hope I'm not too late... he thought frantically as he skidded across from a large oak door. He threw it open and stopped just inside the door, hooded faces turning to stare at him. There was a pause as the surprise within the room faded.

"Severus...such a surprise. We hadn't been expecting you until at least tomorrow." Said a high, cold voice from one corner of the room. Severus shivered as he heard it.

"I know. I was just-" he stopped and stared. There on the floor, lying motionless was a girl. She appeared to be staring at the ceiling, a look of horror still frozen on her face. Severus slipped onto his knees where he was, muttering: "No."

He was too late.

She was already dead.

''''''''

Severus Snape sat up, breathing like he had just been doing in the dream. He placed a hand on his forehead, trying to regain his train of thought. A dream...it was just a dream... He got out of bed, trying to remember what it was he had been thinking before he went to sleep. Perhaps something had triggered the memory...

He stood in his marble bathroom and splashed cold water on his face--that, at least, succeeded in waking him up the rest of the way. He stared at his reflection and winced. The man in front of him looked old, worn, and quite ugly. His nose was crooked, his hair was greasy, and his skin was a terrible sallow. His look of utter disgust did nothing to help the appearance, and he sighed.

"Apperacea," he muttered quietly. The appearance changed slightly. The wrinkles faded quite a bit, leaving only faint traces of where they had been. The sallow skin turned pale and white, and his crooked nose straightened--but only just. Damn. It will probably never be straight, he thought angrily as he started his morning routine.

Life for Severus Snape was unchanging in most ways. He woke up, stormed out of the room and into Hogwarts's Great Hall, ate a small breakfast of black coffee and toast, stormed into his classroom, skulked about the classroom, annoyed the Gryffindors, appeased the Slytherins, ignored Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, (as long as it was in his interest) graded papers, attended dinner (albeit angrily), and went to bed. Every day: the same routine. Every night: the same terrible dreams--unless, of course, he took his Dreamless Sleep draught. He looked at his bedside table. Yes, there was the vial he had forgotten to take. He cursed to himself before dressing into his typical black robe. As he used the appearance charm again, he scolded himself.

The more you avoid the potion the more likely you are to have terrible dreams. Have you learned nothing from years of living, Severus?

No, no, I've learned something, a quiet voice taunted nastily from the back of his head. I've learned to never--never mess up. It will haunt you for the rest of your life.

He flew out of his room as quickly as he could, small voice still ringing in his ears as he strode towards the Great Hall. He narrowly missed running into something---a student. "What are you doing here?" he said furiously to the boy in front of him.

"J-just walking, sir. To the dormitories," the boy replied nervously.

"Then walk the correct way. That way." Snape said, pointing the opposite way the boy had been coming. The boy looked behind him in confusion before a look of dawning recognition came over his face.

"Oh...of course. Sorry, sir." The boy scuttled that way, looking back in scared bewilderment as he went towards the Slytherin dormitories.

"First years..." Snape muttered as he continued to breakfast.

~~~

Hermione Granger was tired. That of course, was to be expected. She had spent the night previous studying anything and everything she could get her hands on before school had started. Ron, one of her best friends, and her slight crush since first year, had complained as he always did. "But can't you just show up to class like everyone else does? It's sixth year! No one will care if you know what we're doing or not!"

"They may not care, but I would like to be as prepared as I can be. And don't you have some last minute summer homework to finish?" she had snapped back. That, of course, had made him walk away. Ron hated anything to do with the word: school, and much preferred talking about Quidditch if possible.

He and Harry, Hermione's other best friend, were obsessed with Quidditch. Last year, of course, didn't make it any better. Fred and George Weasley, Ron's older twin brothers, had nominated themselves as a sort of Siamese twin captainship for the Gryffindor team. Now that they had graduated, Harry had become captain. Now Ron and he were discussing strategies right and left, and Hermione knew that the only way either of them would pass their studies was if the teachers pushed their grades up automatically. Which, she thought nastily, is probably exactly what some of them do.

This morning, the first day of school, was one of the slowest she had ever experienced. Waking up did her no good, and she would need at least three cups of chocolate mochas to keep her going through classes. She was always excited to learn, of course, but it would be difficult when she was falling asleep in her Transfiguration books. Reaching the Great Hall long after Harry and Ron had disappeared out of the Common Room, (she didn't have them to come and knock on her door anymore and wake her up, being a school prefect and in her own room,) she came into the scene of utter chaos--at least where students were concerned.

Draco Malfoy, Harry's worst enemy next to Voldemort himself, had started some sort of fight with he and Ron, and Ron and Malfoy were currently heating up the room by trying to kill each other near the Gryffindor table. It must have just started right before she walked in, because the teachers were just standing up, wands out, shouting down at the scene before them. Just my luck on a morning I'm tired, she thought as she grasped her own wand and ran down in the growing throng of watching students. The teachers seemed to be trapped behind students, and Hermione realized they would have a harder time reaching them from where they were. It would be best if she got there first.

Just as pushed past the last students and reached them, she shouted for them to stop. It wasn't until after she had said it she realized she hadn't been alone in her cry. Severus Snape, the hated Potions Master and all around non-conversationalist teacher, had reached them at the same time she had. Grabbing onto Ron's arm, she pulled him away from Malfoy as Snape did the same to Draco.

"Here now! What is the meaning of this?" Snape hissed as he turned Malfoy around to look him in the eye. He glanced angrily up at Ron, who was trying to fight off Hermione.

"He started it, sir!" Ron shouted as he broke free and stood in a huff next to Hermione.

"Only after he pushed me," Draco, who had a black eye, drawled with his usual penchant for trouble.

Ron started forward. "Why you bastard--"

"Mr. Weasley!" Professor McGonagall had reached them and was wearing an extremely stern look on her face. "For one thing, we do not tolerate that sort of language here. And for another--" she looked over at the smug look on Draco's face. "Ten points from both of you. I simply do not understand why the two of you can't get along! Or at least avoid each other." Draco glared and Ron and Ron glared back. "But always searching for trouble..." She shook her head sadly. "Go to Madam Pomfrey's and get patched up, will you? And then straight to class!" She stormed off to the Head Table.

Before Draco could leave, Snape pulled him back towards him. Hermione strained to hear what he said. "No more trouble," Snape hissed coldly before shoving him off towards the door. Draco turned and gave a searching look at Snape before disappearing off into the corridor.

Hermione was still standing, wand in her hand, when Snape turned to her. "What is it, Miss Granger?"

Hermione stared. "You look different, Professor."

He turned his head, looking strangely at her. "What?"

"You look normal." She immediately realized how that had sounded. "I mean, you don't look tired or anything and you look younger."

"Sit down, Miss Granger," Snape said icily, turning to go back to the Head Table.

Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table slowly, following Snape with her eyes. Something was different. She knew it.

As Snape reached the Head Table, he immediately grabbed the attention of Dumbledore. "Do I look...different to you?"

Dumbledore stared at the man before him. Tiredly, he replied: "Stressed, perhaps. But no more than usual."

Snape looked put off, and tried again. "What I mean is, is my appearance charm still working?"

Dumbledore laughed slightly. "Why yes, Severus. And the stress doesn't make it look much better." Snape sat down next to the Headmaster pensively. "Why?"

"Miss Granger seemed to think I looked different--younger." He looked up at Dumbledore. "As if she could see right through the charm."

Dumbledore looked over at Hermione, who had still been looking up at Snape, ands had turned quickly away. "Perhaps she could." He remained silent, and offered no more counsel. Snape ate his breakfast sullenly before starting Potions that morning.

Hermione left the table, still wondering what she had seen. Whatever it was, she hoped it was done for the day.

~~~

"Seeing as how it is your first day back, I don't expect your attention to be quite as good as I assume it will be by tomorrow. However, I do hope you will try and not transform your classmates into anything ridiculous." Professor McGonagall still looked stern, and most of her class assumed that would not change for the rest of the year. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were stationed at one desk, taking turns as they attempted to change a pixie into something more substantial: like a wild boar as Neville had done. "Although perhaps something a bit less dangerous might suit you," the Professor had added after it had chased Neville around the room.

Hermione waved her wand and turned her Pixie into a perfect goldfish--complete with bowl. Ron scowled and attempted to transform his Pixie, only to free it from it's magnetizing spell and have it fly up from the desk and pull his hair.

"Maybe we should try something smaller...you know, plankton or something," Ron muttered as the he brushed the pixie off of him. It flew over to Harry and took his glasses.

"Perhaps you should've read the chapter like we were supposed to at the beginning of class," Hermione said haughtily as the pixie flew into the air with the glasses and held them threateningly over the goldfish bowl.

"What were you doing, anyway?" Harry asked as he caught the pixie and rescued his glasses.

"Erm, well, drawing a diagram for Quidditch. I figured a good play we could do," Ron said sheepishly.

Hermione tsked. She may have become lenient when it came towards most rule breaking, but when it came to studies, she was still strict as ever.

Professor McGonagall came over to praise Hermione's fish. "Now, Hermione, why don't you transform it back for the class?"

Hermione smiled and waved her wand again. However, there was a burst of light where she had just waved her wand. Everyone jumped back a bit, but Hermione was still staring at the spot the light had been.

"Voices...have to hurry...can't stay here..."

"What's your name?"

"She can't stay here, they'll find her."

"My name is Guenevere."

"Do you like that?"

" I can't run!"

"Don't leave me, please! They'll kill me!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Hermione screamed and fell, unconscious, to the floor.