Severus himself was sitting at the table, well into Chapter 3 of the Dark Rituals book. Both of the others he had read parts of before, residing, as they did, in the Snape family library. Dark Rituals, however, was a new find, and he was eager to devour it. Had it come into his possession in his other life, he would have no doubt conned Evan Rosier into trying some of them with him. Unfortunately, most of the rituals seemed to require more than one participant, so he could only soak up the theory for now.

Caught up in the complexities of a low level summoning, he only peripherally noted his door opening.

"I see our potions master is no less the scholar at twelve than at forty," a male voice he didn't recognize stated.

"I was thirty-nine, not forty," Severus corrected distantly, still trying to work out exactly how the summoned demonnelle was related to a real demon.

The man behind him laughed, effectively breaking Severus's concentration. He turned around, with an annoyed sigh and rolled his eyes. "Who are you, anyway?" The man was older and more stooped than his steady and deep voice had led Severus to think. Late forties, likely, though Severus admitted his ability to judge age was less than well practiced.

"Gideon Nott," he answered with an amused smirk. "Forgetting your friends, now, Severus?"

Severus sneered back. No doubt a Death Eater acquaintance of his older self. "Those worth forgetting."

"I'm wounded, Severus." Despite the teaing tone, his eyes did reflect something that Severus tentively identified as pained sadness.

"What do you want, Gideon?" If the grown-up was going to make such extensive and familiar use of his given name, Severus could only return the favor.

The man hardly seemed to notice. Interesting. Perhaps they'd been closer than originally supposed. Severus wasn't sure if that was indicative of his elder self's excellent spying tactics, or something more disturbing. He hadn't had any real friends here, had he? Nott's light banter hadn't seemed at all forced. "Breakfast is downstairs. Come along."

The table had places set for two, across from each other, halfway down its impressive length. Severus counted ten chairs along one side. It seemed a shame only two would dine there now. Looking impressed at the white panelled walls, arched ceiling, and regularly spaced suits of armor lining the room, Severus asked, in an awed whisper, "What is this place?"

"Nott Manor," Gideon answered proudly.

Perfect, thought Severus smugly, but kept the emotion from his expression. Really, Nott must not have ever seen Hogwarts or Snape Manor, or he would have known this room, though rich and in good-taste, shouldn't have phased Severus, twelve years old or not.

They sat at the arraged places, and began to eat the morning meal. Encouraged by his earlier success, Severus opened conversation, "Gideon?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

Nott smiled at him wryly. "You've already asked several. Go ahead."

"Were we good friends?" The question wasn't the one he had intended. He had meant to ask about Voldemort, where was he? When would he be back? What were his intentions, in regard to Severus? But somehow that other one slipped out.

The configuration Nott made with his mouth could not be termed a smile. It was too sad, and perhaps too rueful. "I thought so. What you thought of me, though, we may never know."

Severus blinked. What did he mean by that? Why wouldn't he know? Oh. "Because I was a spy."

Nott looked surprised. "You know about that?"

He shrugged. "Dumbledore told me when I woke up."

"So it was true, then." He sounded like someone told him Santa wasn't real. Apparently, he hadn't truly believed it. Hadn't wanted to.

Severus took a bite of eggs, not looking away. He was sure Nott found it disconcerting. It was only fair. He found Nott disconcerting. He wasn't supposed to have real friends in the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters were the bad guys. He chewed and swallowed. "What happened, Gideon? How am I twelve? Why am I twelve?"

Nott looked away, eyes tracing the woodwork lining the tops of the walls. "I don't know what gave you away. We were summoned. We of the Inner Circle, all but you. Once we had arrived, and taken our places, you were called. You apperated into the center of the circle. Looked a little surprised, but you hid it quickly. You asked what was wrong. Our lord told you that you had betrayed us.

"You denied it, of course, but our lord would hear none of it. Had Lucious take away your wand." Severus felt a cold chill slide down his back. Wandless, revealed as a spy, surrounded by enemies he had betrayed, his chances had been, well, he hadn't had a chance. By all rights, he should be dead. Nott continued, "Traitors are severely punished, you know."

"I expect my older self knew even better," Severus answered the rhetorical non-question faintly. Traitor. Such an ugly word, for what he had thought a brave and noble action. But if, as it seemed was the case, he had ever truly been on the Death Eaters' side, that was exactly what he had been. His stomach twisted. No wonder his older self was so sour. Guilt if you turned, guilt if you didn't. Fortunately for Severus Take Two, he didn't intend to ever be a true Death Eater. Can't betray something you never followed.

Nott dropped his gaze back down to his guest. "I expect he did," he agreed with the palest hint of ironic humour. Mostly, though, he was just sad, as though speaking off a recently deceased friend. In a way, that was exactly what he was doing.

"How am I twelve?" he asked again, to bring the conversation back on track.

His eyes sought the intricate carving again. Severus thought it was a distancing mechanism, rather than proof of dishonesty. His voice resumed the narrative in a flat tone, "Lucious took your wand," he reiterated, picking up the story exactly where he left off. Severus thought he saw a slight flinch in the pause before he began to reveal new information. "There were the expected crucios, first." Severus winced. He could remember the one he'd been given that first meeting. He had passed out from pain after only a few seconds. His elder self apparantly had a much higher pain threshhold, so survive several and still be conscious.

"You didn't scream, of course, you never do." Severus stared at him. How could anyone not scream? "Can't help the writhing on the ground. I think that's part of the curse." Well, that was an interesting theory. Maybe he'd research it when he got back to Hogwarts. "So once everyone had cast theirs -"

Severus's eyes widened, and couldn't stop the interruption, "I got a crucio from everyone present? How many were there?"

"The whole Inner Circle, eleven not including yourself, plus our Lord himself who cast both the first and last ones." Thirteen. Thirteen crucios.

"And I didn't die, go insane, pass out, or even scream?"

Nott looked back down at him in surprise. "They were only two minute bursts." Thirteen times two, twenty six.

"I spent almost half an hour under the crutacious and was perfectly fine at the end?"

"'Perfectly fine' isn't how I'd term it. 'Still sane and aware' is better. I've seen battered toys with their heads sewn back on that looked healthier. They, at least, don't twitch so much." Severus shuddered. Nott's eyes returned to their previous study. "You lacked the strength to stand, but you did manage to push yourself into a kneeling position, and meet Lord Voldemort's stare. That, by the way, is what convinced most of the others of your guilt, if they didn't take it at our lord's word. Voldemort just smiled and wordlessly circled you twice. You stayed perfectly still, aside from involuntary spasms caused by the crucios, looking straight ahead. He eventually came to a stop. "He said there was a potion his new potions master was developing that he wanted to test. You would be the perfect test subject. Expendable, but of use if it worked."

"Youth potion."

"More than that. Time reversal. Takes away memory as well as physical aging, though the drinker should retain their adult powers. Even if the potion was proven, you'd have been a prime candidate for it. You had been ours once. We would just need to be sure that whatever led you astray last time, didn't happen again."

Severus bit his lip and hunched forward. The scents of eggs and bacon grew stronger, and made his stomach roil. He wished he hadn't taken the few bites that he had.

"Severus?"

He schooled his face to neutrality and looked up. Nott was looking at him in concern, which only made it that much worse.

"You made a mistake," Severus said quietly.

"Oh?"

"Pomphrey said I was physically ten, but I remember turning twelve. The potion isn't properly aligned."

Nott stared at him a long moment before he started to laugh. "Only you, Severus." He shook his head, grinning, "Eat your eggs before they congeal, kid." He set about following his own advice. As Severus forced himself the eat and not throw it back up, his mind tried to telepathically tell Nott the Death Eater's real mistake. You went back too far. In second year, I hadn't decided. That 'making sure whatever led me astray last time not happen again' works both ways. Dumbledore's side was doing a much better job of it.

Or perhaps the mistake was simply You shouldn't have sent me back to Hogwarts.

Nott, of course, couldn't hear either.

Dumbledore studied the small sparrow picking at the seed he put at the bottom of her cage. Nothing special or identifiable about her. Just a normal wild sparrow. "Priori Ensoceli."

A ghostly image of Severus appeared between the bird and Headmaster. 'Imperian Avia Come here.' The shade cast. The image of the sparrow arrived at his side, and the shade tied a piece of parchment to its leg. 'Bring this to Dumbledore at Hogwarts, as quick as you can. Now, go!' The shade pushed the bird out through a window opened barely wide enough to admit her. The scene evaporated.

Aside from the knowledge that Severus knew a spell that Albus would have wished he didn't, it didn't tell him much. The window, the only piece of scenery that had shown itself, could have been found anywhere. He sighed. Placing a tracing spell on the little creature, he opened the cage door and urged her to go home. She pecked a few more seeds, then flew across the room and out the window. He watched her fly south for a short while, but knew it would be hours before she was likely to return to her original haunts, if ever.

He was about to close the window when another oncoming bird caught his eye. A few minutes later, it had settled on his ledge, and he was untying the paper from the crow's leg. On impulse, he cast the same spell on this one as he had on the sparrow. Sure enough, Severus appeared again, casting the lesser imperious. This time, the bird couldn't fit through the window's opening, so he had some difficulty attaching his letter. When he did, he sat back on his knees. 'To Dumbledore at Hogwarts.' He glanced behind him nervously, 'Well, go, already!' he told the bird impatiently when he turned back to it, then pushed it off the ledge it was precariously balanced on. As the scene faded, the boy quickly stood, turning his back on the window, as if trying to hide it. 'Just watching the birds, Gideon.'

Albus cast the tracing spell on the crow as well and sent it on its way.

He closed the window, considering the implications of the name Severus had spoken. It wasn't so much the identification of Gideon Nott that worried him. It was that Severus had called him by his first name. When adult Severus had done it, that had been understandable, but it was ominous that twelve year old Severus would call an adult 'stranger' by his given name so quickly.

Albus opened the note, and found that the page was half the size of the last one, though he had written rather more. Nott Manor, one DE, house elves, no him, potion caused 12, trying to convert me, learning.

The headmaster took a moment to decipher each cryptic remark. Obviously, Nott Manor was his current location. One Death Eater, almost certainly Gideon Nott, and house elves were guarding him. Voldemort was not present. A potion had been used to turn him twelve. He was still on the light side, despite efforts to the contrary on the Death Eaters' part. The last word worried him. Albus feared his captors would find an all-too-eager student in Severus. Neither boy nor man had ever needed encouragement in the subjects they were likely to teach.

The headmaster turned to his fireplace, and tossed in a half-pinch of floo powder. "Mundagus Fletcher."

A brown-haired head appeared in the flames. "Albus?"

"You know of Severus's predicament?"

"I heard he's missing. Never came back from a meeting. I expect he's dead, Albus."

Albus shook his head. "He's been seen since then, Mundagus."

The auror's eyebrows rose. "Oh?"

"He was back at Hogwarts for two days."

"Was?"

Albus sighed. "He went to another meeting, though we know beyond a doubt that Voldemort knew last time that he was a spy."

"Is the man suicidal?"

Albus would have laughed at the irony if it weren't so awful. "Neither suicidal, nor a man, Mundagus."

Mundagus frowned suspiciously. "He hasn't been turned into a vampire or some such thing, has he, Albus?"

At least things weren't that bad. "Rumour holds that has already happened long before a week ago. No, he's a boy."

"A boy?" he repeated.

"A boy. Twelve years old."

Mundagus frowned in consternation, "Then what in Merlin's name was he doing going to another Death Eater meeting?"

Albus looked away. In hindsight, it was an unforgivable mistake. At the time, it had somehow made sense. Now, though, he couldn't recall his reasoning. "Severus insisted."

"A twelve year old. Albus, you're a school headmaster. Surely, you don't let all your students, or even your teachers, get away with walking over you like that."

"Normally, no," Albus agreed, "but Severus was in a delicate position. He's been Marked again, this time against his will. He was furious. If I hadn't given my blessing in being a spy some indeterminate time in the future, I'm sure he would struck out on his own as vigilante. I had not expected he would find a way to attend only two days later. I was not informed that he had until after he had gone."

"By whom?" Mundagus asked, sounding bemused.

"Harry Potter, actually."

Mundagus laughed. "Of course he would get himself involved somehow."

"Anyway, Severus is at Nott Manor and needs a rescue. As of my last correspondance with him, there is only Gideon Nott and the house elves with him."

The auror looked surprised. "Correspondance, Albus?"

"He has been able to pass along two notes to me since his abduction."

He shook his head, "It's not an abduction if he went willingly."

"Just find him for me, Mundagus."

Severus pointed his wand at the cage of mice Gideon had brought for 'practice'. The morning's lesson had been quite informative. If he hadn't known it before, he was certain now that Voldemort had very definite plans for his future. Big plans. Why else start with the Unforgivables? "Imperio." he cast, chosing one of the little white animals at random, and affecting an attitude of casual boredom. That would cater to and impress the high-born purebloods who tended to become Voldemort's Death Eaters.

Weak-willed creatures, mice. Imperious was definitely overkill. But they did offer a convenient target. The victimized mouse began doing a kind of dance that no self respecting mouse would ever consider doing. Imagining the poor thing must be utterly mortified by this point, he put the furball of its misery, "Avada Kedevara." The green light jumped from wand to mouse and it fell over. The remaining curse he had no inclination to use unless neccessary for his role as spy. Brainless, weak-willed, and doomed to die anyway, even mice didn't deserve that pain.

He was about to throw two killing curses to see how fast he could throw one after another, when a Pop! interrupted his test. He pointed his wand at the intruder instinctively. He didn't recognize the man, and he didn't wear the robes of a Death Eater. The Headmaster's rescue party? Mustn't jump to conclusion, though. "Who are you?"

The man frowned at him, eyeing the drawn wand with distaste. "Albus said you were but a boy, but this is ridiculous."

The Headmaster's rescue party, or at least pretending to be. Can't relax yet. "Should I know you? You're from Hogwarts?"

"Mundagus Fletcher. Auror."

Truth or trick? Severus wouldn't put it past Voldemort to try and test him. Had to play this carefully. "Oh. Hang on a sec." He backed away from the man, shifting a little to the right, thus clearing the way between them, as the bed had been in the way before. He suddenly shouted, feigning fear. "GIDEON! AUROR!" He then pointed the wand just over the supposed auror's shoulder. "STUPIFY!"

The auror looked completely taken aback as the spell crackled past him, then his brown eyes darkened in anger and threatened violence, as he advanced on Severus. Almost certainly a real auror, if the I'm-going-to-kill-you-now-and-be-danged-what-Dumbledore-thinks-of-that look was anything to go by. He briefly wondered how he knew what that kind of look looked like before he saw the door to his room open, and Nott step inside, taking in the tableau. The Death Eater raised his wand in preparation of a spell.

Trying to head it off by casting one faster, he aimed his own wand in the same spot the Stupify had gone. "AVADA KEDEVARA!" he shouted, and the green light sped in the general direction of the auror. Nott froze, a surprised and pleased look on his face. Fletcher, his years of experience kicking in, dodged the curse, thankfully making it less obvious that Severus had not aimed to hit. Unfortunately, Severus was fairly sure the auror might not realize this fact.

Fletcher came out of his defensive roll only a short distance from where Severus stood. For Nott's benefit, he dodged the first grab the auror made for him, and 'accidently' catching his foot on the mouse cage, he fell. The auror was upon him in a second, gripping his arm like he was an escaped convict. Knowing he was well and truly taken, he tried to pull free, so Nott would be able to honestly report that he had bravely struggled against his abduction back to the Ministry's care.

The auror cast an apperation spell, and the room flickered and was replaced with the beautiful sight of Hogwarts. Relieved, he grinned, and relaxed. Just had to get within the apperation barriers, and he'd be safe.

"Expelleramus!" His wand flew from his hand to Fletchers, and the man's grip on his arm seemed only to tighten. He was half-pushed, half-led toward the castle by an obviously very pissed auror.

"It wasn't going to hit you!" he protested, knowing exactly what must have infuriated him. Being on the receiving end of a killing curse would seriously annoy anyone. "I was just proving to Nott that it wasn't me that tipped you off about where I was!" The auror completely ignored him, and continued frog marching him in the direction of the school. He felt like a six year old who had been caught by an angry grandmother with his hand in the cookie jar and was being dragged by his ear to face his parents for the crime.