"Who's the grown-up?" Malcolm Baddock asked curiously, shooting a look full of innocent inquiry at Fletcher.

"Auror," Severus answered shortly.

Startled, Graham looked between the man and his new classmate. "Um. Why?"

"'To protect the student body and prevent further dark activity,'" he quoted in a bitter voice.

Malcolm seemed to need a have a turn to say "Um. Why?" Though he did have the additional mental faculties to add, "And where were you yesterday?"

Severus gave him a sour smile, "Where was I, yesterday? Ah. Yes. Getting arrested. Hence the watchdog."

Both second years pulled back. They exchanged a look and seemed to draw support from one another. Malcolm mustered his courage and asked, "Arrested doing what?"

He decided this would be a good time to sneer up at the auror. "Nothing."

"Young Mr. Snape is a Death Eater," Fletcher growled. "There are witnesses to his use of Unforgivables. I suggest you not associate with him."

Severus glowered up at him, but his stomach twisted at the neccessity. He had liked Malcolm and Graham. Granted, not as much as he had his own friends, like Evan Rosier, but for only a few days acquaintance, he had thought the potential for friendship was definitely there. All sign of regret he kept from his face.

At the auror's announcement, Graham had jumped out of his chair and retreated a few steps in horror and disbelief. Malcolm gave Severus a calculating look, then turned to Fletcher. "Do we have to share a dorm with him still?"

Severus surpressed the unexpected hurt at this rejection. I asked for this, he reminded himself. If I want to spy, I have to do this. He transfered the glare to Malcolm. Thank Merlin for Matty. I'd go mad if I had to live like this all day.

"The Headmaster has arranged a high security room for him, apart from the Slytherin dormitories."

At this disclosure, Severus lowered his head, not looking at any of the Slytherins who had turned their attentions to this new piece of drama and gossip. He let himself show the shame of getting caught, and the anger at the restriction and loss of dignity. He heard the whispers start to spread, sliding both directions along the Slytherin table, and even across to the Ravenclaw table across the aisle. From there it would spread through the school. Professor Snape was a verified Death Eater. He could soon start expecting the cold shoulder or worse from every one but Malfoy and his ilk. And even they might get scared off by Fletcher.

Graham and Malcolm relocated to another part of the table, and Severus ate in silence. The highlight of the meal was when McGonagall entered the room trailed by a small brown-haired boy with pale but freckled skin, greenish-blue eyes, and a nose somewhat smaller and straighter than his own. The pair marched down the central aisle, the Transfiguration professor carrying the Sorting Hat.

Despite the vicious spreading rumours, this sight drew eyes and silence. By the time they had reached the front of the Hall, Dumbledore had stood up before a curious sea of attentive faces. "I would like to take this time to introduce a new third year student. Matthew Groves has been studying in Beaubaxtons for the last two years, but after an unfortunate incident, he has been given to my custudy and transferred to Hogwarts. I hope you all make him feel right at home. Matty?"

Whispers spread up and down the Slytherin table as the boy sat on a stool, and the hat fell down over his eyes. "Dumbledore's custody?" "Say Slytherin." "Wonder what incident he means?" "Isn't he a little small for a third year?" The nearby whispers were abruptly silenced when Fletcher kicked the back of his chair, and said, altogether too loudly. "The poor kid wouldn't be here if you hadn't killed his parents."

Severus jumped to his feet, glaring at the auror, and drawing the attention of everyone but Matty. "I did not kill his parents! I wasn't anywhere near his parents! I tried to kill you, but, obviously, I missed!"

Shocked silence filled the room. And into this silence, the hat called out its verdict.

So that had been why when the hat came off, everyone was looking so startled and disturbed. He had wondered about the lack of applause. Good to know it didn't have anything to do with him. Er. Well, with that him. Matty.

Severus walked down the aisle, following McGonagall. His height had remained the same, that of ten year old Severus Snape. That had been quite tall for a ten year old. A little above average for a first year. A little below average for a second year. Definitely short for a third year. He hoped he wouldn't get beaten up. Casting a nervous look at the Slytherin table, he was a little startled to see himself glaring at his own breakfast. He knew he'd live this again later, from that point of view, but it was still weird.

He knew he was drawing looks, so he was very careful not to give his near-future-self more than a passing glance. He took in the room, pretending it was the first time he ever saw it. Truly, it was still amazing when you thought about it, and he gave the enchanted ceiling the reverent appreciation it deserved but rarely received after first glance. It was an very impressive spell, wrought by the Founders themselves ages ago.

As he and McGonagall reached the front, he barely listened to Dumbledore's introduction of himself as he studied the student body. He hadn't really had a chance to as Severus Snape. Then he had known he would be Slytherin, so he had understandably ignored three-quarters of the Hogwarts population. Before he got very far, though, McGonagall touched his shoulder, and he took the stool provided for this purpose. The Hat slid down over his eyes for the second time in his life.

*Severus Snape again, is it?* the hat's insidious voice asked into his very thoughts.

No. I'm Matty Groves, he told it with a hint of mental irony. Didn't you hear Professor Dumbledore?

Severus could have sworn the hat laughed. *Still a clever one. Getting more devious by the day, too, it seems.*

Please, not Slytherin. After a moment's reflection, he added, Nor Hufflepuff. He still had some dignity. No Snape - er, Groves - should ever go to Hufflepuff. He would not make his father spin in his - little plot of dirt by getting sorted into there. Not that the old man would like Gryffindor any better . . . which left really only one option. Ravenclaw, please.

*Oh, no. Not that you aren't bright, young man, but your driving force is not knowledge.*

That came as a surprise. It isn't? Evan Rosier, and even Gideon Nott had seemed to think so. He reminded the hat of all the books he had devoured.

*No. You seek control. Of your self, of your future.*

Control was definitely a Slytherin trait. Drat.

*But Matty Groves isn't quite the same person as Severus Snape, now is he?* the Hat asked, with enough of a nudge-nudge-wink-wink feel to it to make Severus wonder if it was Salizar himself who had enchanted the hat. No, Salizar would have been more subtle. Probably Godric then. Again the hat seemed to laugh. *Criticizing the Gryffindor founder, are we?*

Severus mentally shrugged. He always came across as the reckless hero. Most of his House do, too.

He could feel the hat's smirk. *And what do you call being an untrained twelve-year-old spy against one of the world's darkest forces in centuries?*

Severus sat stunned on the stool. He'd never really looked at it in that light before.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Well, at least, he was in good company. Reckless hero, indeed. Father was spinning for sure. The hat came off, and the other students were just sort of looking at him like they couldn't remember why he was sitting there. There was a small smattering of applaused from the Gryffindor table, but not like he was expecting. Feeling somewhat let down, he joined his new classmates, smiling uncertainly at Harry as he sat down.

James's son stared at him, startled, for a few moments before recovering and smiling back. Severus could almost see him thinking 'Severus Snape is in Gryffindor?!' No wonder Harry was stunned. Severus shrugged in mild embarrassment. So much for all his anti-Gryffindor insults.

He didn't get why everyone else was looking at him so oddly, though. They couldn't know who Matty Groves really was, could they? One way to find out really. "What's wrong?" he asked a boy who looked to be about his new age, which was to say, thirteen.

The kid shook his head, obviously not willing to talk about whatever it was. "Nothing. Just steer clear of Snape."

How intriguing. "Snape?"

The other boy pointed over to the Slytherin table. "The one with the auror watching him. He used to be our potions professor, but now he seems to be a Death Eater." Wow. Rumour spread even quicker than Severus would have guessed.

He gave a hard look at his alter ego. "Those bastards killed my - lots of people."

"Your parents?" the boy asked sympathetically.

Severus gave him a startled look. Dumbledore had said he would be vague about that. "It doesn't seem real," was all he said by way of confirmation. "They were just there last summer. They can't really be gone. Nobody's even actually said they were dead. Just 'they're not here anymore' or 'they can't take care of you' or" you wouldn't have had much time left with them even in your own time or "'you'll be living with your great-uncle now at Hogwarts.'" Severus fought back threatening thoughts. Now was not the time.

"Your great-uncle." Perfect distraction. He couldn't have asked for better.

Severus couldn't hold back the smile. "Headmaster Dumbledore, of course."

"NO WAY!" Heads turned in their direction. The other boy pointed at him, in case his housemates weren't sure about the subject of his next statement. "His great-uncle is Dumbledore!" He fumbled in his bookbag and pulled out some kind of contraption that Severus couldn't identify. Holding it in front of his face, he turned back to Severus, who was then utterly blinded by a flash of brilliant light.

"Colin!" Harry exclaimed, half-appalled, half-laughing.

Severus grabbed the edge of the table, waiting for the dots and splotches of color to go away, and blinking rapidly. When the fuzzy shapes that moved resolved themselves into his new housemates, he focused on the other boy, Colin, apparently. He had to look a little off to one side, so the big green blob wouldn't cover the other's face. "What was that thing?"

"Camera. Would you autograph the picture?"

Severus looked up at Harry, seeking help. The older boy was only barely holding back a laugh. No assistance there, he turned back to Colin. "Why?"

"Because you're ALBUS DUMBLEDORE's nephew!"

Knowing it was a mistake even before he uttered it, he said, "He's my legal guardian, too."

Colin was on his feet. "NO WAY!"

"And Harry Potter's already like a big brother to me." He was going to regret this. He was so going to regret this. But the look on Colin's face . . . oh, it was beautiful. He could only silently beg all the fates that he had overestimated the taller boy's age and he was really in second year, not third. He hadn't paid that much attention to the Gryffindors in his true year, but he thought he might have seen Colin there.

"NO WAY! Dennis!"

Severus's hopes were dashed. The shorter boy who approached at this summoning was definitely Colin's little brother. Unfortunately, he was sure that it was Dennis who was in second year. "Dennis, take a picture of us." Colin thrust his camera into his brother's hands, and took up a position at Severus's right side, draping an arm around his shoulders, and smiling. Severus managed to close his eyes in time to avoid the seering pain in his eyes again. Once again he prided himself on being a quick learner.

"Harry," Severus pleaded when his shoulders were released, and the two brothers began talking excitedly with each other. "Please tell me he is not in third year," he begged, too quietly for Colin or Dennis to hear, but loud enough for Harry and the red-headed boy and frizzy-haired girl next to him to understand. The red-head burst out laughing, and Harry and the girl looked like they were trying not to.

"Fourth year," Harry granted his greatest wish, still smiling.

Severus could not contain the relieved sigh. Of course. If Dennis was so small for his age, Colin most likely was, too. Fourth year. "Whew. Thank Merlin."

"You really brought it down on yourself," Harry chided.

Severus nodded. "I know. And what's worse is I knew it beforehand, too."

Harry laughed. "Of course you did, S-Matty."

"I did."

"I believe you."

"I did!"

It was all Severus could do to keep the sneer in place as he watched himself be assaulted by Colin Creevy. From this vantage point, it really was funny. When the elder Creevy threw himself at Matty so Dennis could take the picture, he did release a few chuckles, though in a last ditch effort he turned them from light amusement to superiority.

Katryna Tragyl, the third year who had first spoken to him, turned at the sound. "What's so funny, Severus?"

He looked at her, startled. There was no animosity in her words at all. Only curiousity. He thought quickly and decided that, offered friendship, even a guilty Death Eater would take it. He was even almost certain the girl was pureblood, making it easier to justify. He pointed over at his other self. "Gryffindor antics. They've already nearly killed their new kid once."

She laughed, completely without malice or any other negative emotion. "Oh, that's just Colin. Overly enthusiatic, but mostly harmless. My brother's in his class. Kib's got the greatest stories about him."

"You're brother's in Gryffindor?" he asked, disbelievingly.

She shrugged. "Get used to it. My family's all over the place. One Hufflepuff, one Ravenclaw, three Slytherins, and three Gryffindors. Well, make that four for Slytherin and Gryffindor, if you count our parents."

"Big family."

Laughing again, she said, "That's one way of putting it. Most people remark on the House split first, though."

Severus shrugged, grinning just a little. "How many am I likely to run across?"

"The twins - one Gryffindor and one Ravenclaw - are in sixth year, Kib's fourth in Gryffindor, I'm Slytherin in third. Everyone else is graduated. Not sure how many of the four of us left you'll run into, though. Probably just me." She looked over at Fletcher. "Keep running up against the Ministry, though, you might meet Jansten. He's an auror. My second-oldest brother. He was Slytherin. Oh, and my Ravenclaw brother, Clarence, absolutely adores you. Doesn't talk about anything else in his letters home. Losing you for a teacher completely crushed him. I wouldn't be too surprised if he sought you out at some point."

"Someone actually liked my older self?" he repeated, completely stunned. This was news.

She laughed, it seemed to be her natural state of being. How she was a Slytherin, he didn't understand. "Clarence is just bloody weird. Brilliant, but weird. Nobody tries to understand it. His passion or obsession, depending on your point of view, is potions, which is why we just accepted that you were his favorite teacher. What we couldn't fanthom was that you seemed to like him back. He's not even in Slytherin."

"Harris laid the foundation," Severus said, then froze. What had he just said? Who in the bloody name of Merlin was Harris?

Katryna's pale blue eyes were wide. "I thought you didn't remember anything after '68."

"I don't. Who's Harris? That just popped out."

"My oldest brother. Slytherin. You hated each other, or so I thought."

Severus only shrugged, having no idea what his older self's opinion of the past student was. "Excuse me, I need to talk to Headmaster Dumbledore." He paused, just before climbing to his feet. "If you could not tell anyone about this, I'd appreciate it."

She grinned, and drew and imaginary zipper across her mouth. "My lips are sealed." She flashed her dimples, smiling sweetly. "I'll find a way for you to pay me back."

Oh. So that was why she was in Slytherin.