Trial & Error

Prologue: Mission... WHAT?!

Prologue: Mission... WHAT?!

Severus Snape slowly slipped away from this life while looking into the eyes of his first love's only son. He saw the misery and the inexplicable sadness at the passing of the man he had always hated in the eyes of the young man. Harry Potter. Severus sighed as he finally let out his last breath. He knew he was ready to go, even if a part of him wished he could stay to help the boy he now considered the equivalentr of a son.

Severus Tobias Snape never really thought about what would happen after he died. He couldn't really force himself to. Now, he knew. Severus ascended from his body into a bright white light. He 'awoke' upon something soft, like the most comfortable bed you could imagine.

He was staring into the concerned eyes of Remus Lupin and James Potter. Standing a little behind the two were Lily Potter nee Evans, Sirius Black, and Eileen Snape nee Prince. Severus blinked. "Mother?"

Eileen smiled sadly and moved forward to Severus' side. She took his hand in both of hers and kissed his knuckles. "Hello, Dear. I'm so proud of you." She kissed his brow. "Love, we need to ask you to do something. If anyone deserves to rest, it would be you, but you're the only one who can do this."

Eileen patted her only son's hand before brushing his hair out of his eyes and backing up to stand beside Lily. Remus and James both moved forward again. Remus got a wet cloth to wipe his forehead as James sat on the side of Severus' bed. Remus handed James the cloth, who nodded in thanks. James began running the cloth over Severus' face, who raised his eyebrow in offensive question.

James laughed sadly and shook his head. "I let go of all of that childish idiocy a long while ago.. I only hope you can find it in yourself to put it behind us. I realized almost twenty years ago that you were always the more mature of us." James looked away in something Severus barely glimpsed as embarrassment.

Severus looked up at Remus, who gave an almost imperceptible nod. He pointedly glanced at Sirius, and Remus nodded in the same way again. Severus nodded back in the same fashion before his jaw dropped. "Wh.... When did you..?"

Remus smiled at Severus' astonishment and horror, and shook his head. "About an hour or so before you."

Severus bit his lip to try to keep his composure. "Remus, your son... I'm so sorry."

While Sirius was looking at Severus in something akin to horror and the others with shock that he had said so aloud, Remus smiled softly. "Not your fault, Severus, and I wouldn't blame you even if it were." At the man's raised eyebrow, he explained further, "I know you would tear yourself up about it more than I ever could, so there would be no point."

Severus nodded thoughtfully but shook his head a second later. "It is my fault, if you think back far enough. If I hadn't defected to the Dark Lord, and then betrayed Lily and.. and James, then..."

James cut him off there. "If you went with that line of thinking, it would be mine and Siri's fault for making Hogwarts so bloody awful for you, so you had no one to turn to."

Sirius nodded. "Or, it would be my parents' fault for raising me the way they did, so that although I tried, the lines between right and wrong were blurred."

Lily sighed. "Really, it's no one's fault Sev, and there's no reason for you to beat yourself up over it." She gave him a stern look. "Besides, you're not done yet."

"What?" Severus looked at them all one by one. "I'm dead, Lily, there's no way I'm not done."

Remus stepped forward again. "Yes, there is. Severus, what if I told you that we had been given the option to send you back to one specific moment in your life, a moment that could change everything? What if we could send your mind back into your 21 year old body?"

Severus looked everyone present in he eyes, but each were looking at him expectantly. "I... I... When? When would I go back to? What would you have me to do? How is this possible?"

James stepped forward here. "We would send you back to the night Tom Riddle lost his body the first time. You would have to go very soon though, or the window will shut. We would have you do things the proper way. Unfortunately, it won't be easy, or enjoyable for the most part. The good news is, you may be able to keep so many from being massacred."

Sirius stepped forward then and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "As to how, that is mostly my fault. I started thinking about who we could send back if we were able, and for once I had a good idea. I know, a shocker in itself. But, when the higher ups agreed to it forty-one point three five minutes ago, while you were still out cold, it seemed impossible to be true. Until they told me I had one hour to convince you to accept your mission and send you back. Its a ten minute ritual."

Severus sat there for a moment, and then blinked owlishly up at Sirius. "What's the plan and how exactly will this work? Talk quick."

Two minutes later, Remus was leading a spluttering Severus into the adjoining room. This room was smaller and set up in a seance setting. Everyone else involved was sitting around the edge of the circle. Remus set a still-stunned Severus in the center and took the remaining seat around the circumference. "Severus, are you sure you wish to do this? You can still back out."

Severus glanced up at his mother and smirked half-heartedly. "Of course, Mother. Why wouldn't I wish to do this?"

"Very well." Sirius sounded much more mature than ever before. "Let us begin."

Ten minutes later, Severus Snape disappeared from the Afterworld, only to be jolted into his 21 year old body in the Headmaster's office on November 1, 1981. Severus looked around himself and then at the clock. Albus had already returned and informed him of the events of the night before. Severus got up, glanced around the room again,and headed off. He had a mission to begin!