Albus Potter and the Journey Through Time

Saving Professor Snape

I am so, so sorry I didn't supply you guys with a chapter yesterday, but I had some serious writer's block. I couldn't figure out what do do after the previous chapter's cliffhanger, so I racked my brains for ideas. Hopefully, this is a good chapter for you guys. Just so you know, this chapter is a multi-perspective chapter. It wouldn't have worked any other way.

WARNING: Mildly strong language courtesy of Severus's mouth.

It had been hours since Snape caught the brothers sneaking around. It was nearing six o'clock. Neither of the boys could find something to do, and Albus's frustration finally got the better of him.

"I told you we shouldn't have gone, James!"

"I know! But what else were we supposed to do?"

"I don't know," Albus retorted sarcastically. "Maybe follow Professor Snape's instructions?"

"But what about Dad?" James asked.

"Yeah, what about him?" Albus bit back. "Not like he's dead, is he?"

"But Snape might be doing something to him!"

"Will you shut up! Professor Snape is a good person! He'd never do anything harmful to Dad!"

"He hasn't proved that to me yet!"

"HE DOESN'T NEED TO!" Albus screamed.

"WHY NOT?!" James screamed back.

"BECAUSE DAD WOULDN'T HAVE NAMED ME AFTER HIM, THAT'S WHY!"

There was a nasty silence between the brothers. Then, James gave Albus a dirty look. For some reason, that hurt Albus deeply.

"So it's about that, is it?" James spat out nastily, breathing hard. "Him being your namesake and all that?"

For some reason, this comment made Albus burn up inside. It gave him a sick feeling. His next words rolled out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Neither of your namesakes were responsible for giving Dad the crucial information to defeat Voldemort. Both of mine were."

This time, James looked hurt. "Neither of your namesakes really cared about Dad. They probably both just used him."

Albus's anger flared. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" James screamed back.

Before he could stop himself, Albus ran towards his brother and tackled him with James being caught unawares. He aimed a punch to his brother's nose and missed, hitting his eye. James kicked Albus's stomach, throwing him off. Before Albus could get back up, he pinned the green-eyed boy down and punched him square in the face. Due to Quidditch, his hits were much stronger than his brother's, and Albus recoiled. The Slytherin quickly recovered, though, and grabbed James's neck. He managed, with much difficulty, to roll over and pin his older brother down. He successfully punched his nose this time. James clutched his nose and quickly got up. He ran toward Albus. Albus, watching very carefully, whipped out his wand. James quickly whipped out his own.

"So, you want to duel. Fine. But I know more spells than you do. You really sure you want to get your arse handed to you?"

"Bring it," Albus said darkly. "Flipendo!" he roared, and James was knocked into the bookshelf.

"Rictusempra!" James shouted back, but Albus dodged quickly and fired the same spell on James.

James couldn't jump up quickly enough and started laughing uncontrollably. As he was laughing, he shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Albus's wand was knocked out of his hands. As Albus reached for his wand, James recovered from the Slytherin's Tickling Charm. The young Gryffindor then yelled, "Levicorpus!" and Albus was hung in the air by his ankle. His robes fell over his head, and James started laughing uncontrollably again. This time, it was natural.