Severus

Chapter One

So, I just finished the seventh book and decided that Severus couldn't die; I decided that I would try and re-write his future whilst trying to write a plausible, believable, explanation to how he was able to survive.

The first few parts will be covering my bases, writing him back into the ending, and explaining stuff but I then hope to add him into the epilogue and go from there. How I do that, I'm not sure. I'm toying with him having a child start at Hogwarts at the same time as Albus but, again, I'm not sure.

All pictures and most characters are not mine, I don't claim them as my own and I don't make any money from using them or writing this.

Hope you enjoy!

~*~

Severus Snape stood in the shrieking shack staring down at himself; staring down at his broken, battered and abused body, wondering how on earth he hadn't seen this coming and silently damned himself for being so foolish to trust that he'd be safe so long as the dark lord believed his lies.

Was he dead?

He'd heard of out of body experiences but he was sure that this wasn't one; for one thing, his body seemed perfectly solid. He stared down at his hands and splayed them out, in the air, and examined them for a moment before tentatively bringing his left toward his right held his breath as he prodded the skin of his right hand with his left forefinger. He wasn't sure what he expected but was stunned to find that he was perfectly solid.

"My dear Severus"

Snape whirled around, groping his robes for his wand but it wasn't there. The voice, however, didn't belong to an enemy, no, it belonged to none other than Albus Dumbledore. "Dumbledore!" He gasped, clutching his hand over his heart and tried to slow his breathing.

"I am very sorry, my dear man!" Albus apologised sincerely, his eyebrows knitting together in concern as he watched his successor gasping for breath. "Are you alright?"

Nodding, Severus held out a finger, asking for 'just a moment' to recover himself. Albus waited patiently, his eyes twinkling beneath his half-moon spectacles. Severus stared at Dumbledore, expecting him to disappear and, as he stared, he took at the wizen old man who, somehow, looked a little younger than he had a year beforehand but then that might be because he was dressed in deep purple robes that Severus hadn't seen on him in many years. "How is this possible?" Severus asked after a moment or two; he'd stopped clutching at his heart but he was still panting a little. "How are you here?"

"I am here because you are here, Severus" the older wizard replied.

Not happy with Albus' answer, Severus raised his eyebrows and said, "please elaborate, headmaster." Trying his utmost not to sound confused or annoyed at Dumbledore's very unhelpful answer.

"Ah, Severus" the old headmaster smiled "but I am no longer headmaster."

"You are the true headmaster of Hogwarts" Severus retorted without even needing to think about it "whether alive or dead, this will never change."

Dumbledore flushed a little at the words. "You honour me when it is not deserved."

Severus snorted quietly, shaking his head. "Shall we return to the matter at hand?"

After surveying the younger man, Albus nodded. "You are," he started slowly "as some would say, neither here nor there; you are in...well" he looked around "in limbo, I suppose, with three choices."

Blinking rapidly, Severus tried, again, not to look confused; this time, however, he was not annoyed. The answer had been satisfactory but it still confused him and he began to wonder that, perhaps, he was not quite himself and then he caught sight of himself out of the corner of his eye and was reminded that he couldn't possibly be himself when there were two of him in the same room. "And what are those three choices?"