Perhaps Another Time, Severus [A Severus Snape Fanfiction]

1994

1994
Shaylah stepped into the Headmaster's office. Her eyes scanned the many portraits on the walls. Severus of course had told her about it all. The old wizard behind the desk stood as the two women crossed toward him. His long white beard hung down to the desk and his eccentric robes were embroidered with gold. Dumbledore. In her time he had long since been dead, murdered at the hands of his loyal friend. Her husband. Though it was all planned and agreed to, Severus still carried heavy guilt. She had never met him in life, but the knowledge of his death loomed in her mind.

The old wizard spread his arms and met them on the opposite side of his great desk. "Welcome! Miss Epans was it?" Shaylah nodded her head, taken aback by the fact that he already knew who she was when neither she nor McGonagall had spoken a word. The old wizard stepped forward and offered his hand. Shaylah took it and an odd shadow passed behind the wizard's eyes. It was like a flash and then it was gone. He pulled his lips up into a wide smile as if he hadn't faultered at all. "Albus Dumbledore."

"Pleasure to meet you sir." Said Shaylah.

"Miss Epans is the homeschooled student who wants to be an Auror." McGonagall cut in. "She needs to take her N.E.W.Ts."

"Ah yes. I received your transcripts just yesterday. I'm afraid you'll have some catching up to do, as you're a month behind."

Shaylah fought to keep the surprise from her face. Transcripts, she didn't have transcripts. As far as Hogwarts knew at this point in time, she didn't exist. She hadn't even given him her true name. She saw a twinkle in the old man's eye and her concerns dwindled. If somehow she did have transcripts, that saved her from having to concoct more lies. "Oh, y-yes sir. That won't be a problem."

"I expect it won't, your grades show you're proficient in all areas except potions."

"Yes sir, I'm dreadful at them but I've been practicing."

"I'll be sure to mention to Professor Snape that you'll need extra lessons." Her heart leapt at the sound of his name, but she let nothing show on the surface.

"Albus, she must be sorted so that we may put her in a dormitory." McGonagall chimed in. Shaylah was thankful for the change of subject.

"Ah, yes." Dumbledore stretched his arm toward a dusty old hat that sat on a high shelf. He twitched his fingers and it began to float toward McGonagall. She swiped it from the air.

"There are four houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin." Shaylah heard the disdain punctuating the name of the last house. Severus' house. He had playfully told her that she belonged in Slytherin but if she were placed anywhere else, he would learn to deal with it. They had both laughed heartily at that. He would love her no matter what house she was placed in and they both knew it.

The old brown hat seemed to scowl at her as if they had woken it from a peaceful sleep. "Alright let's see." It mumbled in her ear. "Ambitious. I see you've done a lot of work for a certain organization. I think Slytherin is the place for you, it's where your heart lies."

As McGonagall removed the hat from her head, Shaylah could have sworn she saw it wink. Could the hat see all the life she had lived? Not just the eighteen years she existed in now. It's where your heart lies. What had it meant by that? Perhaps it was just the ramblings of an old sorting hat.

"Alright. The Slytherin dormitories are in the dungeons. I will lead the way." Said McGonagall as she turned toward the door.

"It was wonderful to meet you Miss Epans, I'm sorry we didn't have more time to speak." Said Dumbledore as Shaylah turned to follow the green witch. She waved over her shoulder as they disappeared down the stairs. Her mind was racing with everything the hat and Dumbledore had said. It was all so odd. Perhaps she was overthinking it all, she was in a new place and a new time. Her senses could be overloaded and causing her anxiety.

She followed McGonagall back down the stairs and once they had reached the ground floor, they went down one more flight of steps. They arrived at a blank stretch of wall and Shaylah thought certainly this was not their destination. McGonagall uttered the word Salazar and the wall disappeared before them. A dimly lit hall stood on the other side waiting for her. "You will start classes on Monday, so that gives you tomorrow to get acclimated and I will ask your Head of House if he will accompany you to Diagon Alley for the materials you have yet to acquire. Welcome to Hogwarts Miss Epans." McGonagall turned on her heels and left Shaylah standing nervously in the doorway to her dorm.

Shaylah took a deep breath and stepped through the wall. When she turned back it was a solid wall, she couldn't see through to the other side. She started down the hall, it was shorter than she expected. Sparse sconces were her only source of light before she found herself in the great common room. Green couches and carpet lined the space. There were more sconces in the large room but it was still fairly dim. Great portraits of landscapes dotted the walls, the water rushing over rocks or tall grass blowing in a field.

Three girls sat on two of the great green couches. Shaylah hadn't expected anyone to be up so early but the girls seemed to be studying. A girl with black curly hair tied in an untidy bun on her head looked up and smiled at Shaylah. "Hi. I've never seen you before." She said.

"I'm Shaylah Epans. I was homeschooled but I came here to finish my last year." She smiled.

"I'm Carrie Crane." Said the dark haired girl. "This is Marsha Braves," She gestured to a red headed girl with a face full of freckles and thick rimmed glasses. Shaylah and Marsha waved at each other. "And this is Lexi Braves." She gestured to the girl sitting next to her on the sofa. Her eyes were a brilliant blue and she had the same red hair as her sister. Shaylah could tell they were sisters. "We are all in our final year here too. It's nice to meet you." Carrie concluded.

"It's nice to meet you all too," Shaylah said a bit awkwardly. "Would one of you mind showing me where the lavatory and the dorms are?"

Carrie sat the book that had been teetering on her knees down on the table that sat between the sofas. "I will!" She joined Shaylah and locked her arm in the crook of her elbow. "I hate studying." She whispered.

Carrie showed Shaylah the way to the lavatory and which bed would be hers in the room of four. Shaylah caught her reflection in the mirror and her face paled. Her cheeks were fuller, the laugh lines around her mouth were gone and her hair was much fuller and longer than she normally kept it. She looked exactly as she did when she was eighteen. She had expected it, but she hadn't braced for it. She looked nothing like her thirty-two year old self. Even her body was different, there were no stretch marks from bearing children or scars from her time in the Order.

She turned on the faucet and filled her hands with water. She splashed the water on her face but nothing changed. She ran her hands over her face, her skin even felt different. She finally pulled the photo of her family from her pocket, their smiling faces soothing her nerves. She made her way to her bed, placing the photo safely back in her pocket. She tucked herself into the thick green blankets and was quickly overtaken by sleep. Her dreams threw her into the future if only for a few hours.