It was late and Snape was in his office grading the papers his fifth years had written on the properties of crystallized mint leaves and how they are used. More then half of the students forgot to mention it was used in the dreamless sleep potion which made him wonder if they were even reading their potions book. He just finished reading the last paper when there was a knock at the door.

"Enter." he said, surprised a student was up this late. Harry walked nervously in which surprised Snape even more.

"Harry, you're supposed to be in bed..." Snape said concerned.

"I know sir...but, uhh...the portrait of Salazar Slytherin woke me up and uhh...said I have somebody named Tom Riddle's soul inside of me. Uhh...he said something about a potion I can take to get rid of it and if you don't know how to make it, he said he will help you." Harry explained scared and somewhat breathless.

Snape couldn't believe it. How could a portrait know Harry was a horcrux? That was very odd...but if Slytherin knew how to make the potion, he couldn't pass up this opportunity

"Where is this portrait of Slytherin?" Snape inquired.

"He's in hall going to the boy's dorm rooms. I'll show you." Harry said.

"Just a moment," Snape said, gathering a clip board, a quill, and some parchment. He and Harry soon headed to the portrait.

Harry started hissing at the portrait when they got to it. Snape knew Harry was a parslemouth so this didn't surprise him. He just had to tell Harry to be careful about speaking parsletongue around others since most people considered the ability to speak to snakes the sign of a dark witch or wizard.

"Mr. Potter, you're speaking parsletongue. I doubt the head of your house can understand what you are saying." Slytherin calmly said.

"Parsletongue?" Harry asked.

"The Snake language. To most witches and wizards, it sounds a series of hisses. You have to be careful about speaking it around others as most people consider the ability to be a sign of an evil wizard. However, it is just another ability. For example, some people can change their looks by just thinking about it. You can understand and speak to snakes" Snape explained to Harry.

Snape then though that maybe he could see if he can get Harry to locate the Chamber of Secrets and claim the basilisk just in case he failed to stop Ginny Weasley from being processed by Voldemort's diary.

"Well phrased, Professor." Slytherin responded.

"Now what is this about Harry having a piece of a person's soul inside of him and a potion to rid him of that soul fragment?" Snape asked Slytherin, trying to hide the fact he already knew those facts.

As Snape wrote down the directions to make the potion, he found the conversation that followed was very enlightening. Slytherin was not at all as Snape had expected to be. He expected Slytherin to be a sinister, dark man like Voldemort. Instead he came across as a man who history misjudged. He was more of a person who shunned the dark arts and had absolutely no love of his supposed "heir" - Lord Voldemort.

First thing the next day, Lucius Malfoy arrived to meet with Snape. Although, Snape wasn't looking forward to this conversation, he knew he had to speak with Malfoy. One small mistake-one misstep and his plan would be ruined. They went to his office in the dungeons and Snape cast the appropriate privacy spells so no one would over hear them.

"Lucius, I must speak to you about Draco. You know how fond I am of your son, but Draco is quickly becoming an embarrassment to Slytherin House and to the Malfoy family. In the time since I sent my first letter, he has received more detentions and has lost even more house points. Slytherin, for the first time I can remember is in a distant 4th place in the running for the House Cup. Rumor has it that he thinks you can bail him out of every situation he is in. I know you appointed me his godfather but I think it is best that you talk to him about his behavior and explain to him the repercussions of his behavior. He needs to know that you are not going to be around rescue him from each bad decision." Snape explained.

Snape poured tea for Lucius and himself while he awaited Malfoy's reaction. Malfoy looked concerned.

"I see... that is disturbing. I will talk with him. Out of curiosity Severus, what kinds of things has he done?" Lucius asked, sipping some tea.

"Harassing students, talking back to instructors, and stealing. Also, he struts about the school as if he owns the place. He constantly refers to your position on the board of governors to excuse his behavior." Snape answered.

"He sounds worse than that James Potter was in your year... I guess Narcissa and I will have to keep a closer eye on him. I would ask the house elves but Dobby always finds a way to turn the simplest tasks into a disaster..." Lucius replied clearly appalled at his son's behavior.

"Indeed." Snape said thinking about how true that was as he sipped his tea. Hopefully with some luck, Draco could change for the better.

"Also, Lucius, there is also something I want to talk to you about. It concerns the Dark Lord." Snape continued.

Lucius looked up after setting his cup down.

"The Dark Lord is not dead Lucius. Our Dark Marks haven't completely gone away. I know enough about them to know that they won't completely go away until the Dark Lord is dead." Snape continued.

"I see..." Lucius replied nervously.

"And I also found out that one our fellow Death Eaters hasn't taken advantage of his unique situation."Snape explained.

"Who?" Lucius asked curious.

"Petter Pettigrew. It appears that Black didn't kill him and he has been hiding out all these years as a rat. He's here at the school pretending to be a student's pet." Snape answered.

"Are you sure? I wasn't aware that you knew Pettigrew was a Death Eater and a rat Animagus." Lucius said a little surprised.

"I'm positive it is him. The rat has been in school for many years. I'm also aware that Pettigrew was the Potters' secret keeper and that Sirius Black was not a death eater. I'm sure when the Dark Lord returns, he will be furious at Pettigrew for not taking advantage of his apparent death to seek him out." Snape replied.

"Agreed..." Lucius said.

"I believe we should punish Pettigrew for his failure to find the Dark Lord. I am working on a way to get him to return to human form. While we are at it, we should also do something to make the Dark Lord's job easier. When Pettigrew is shown to be alive, we should use his existence to get Sirius Black's name cleared of all charges. Once Black is out of prison, he will no doubt try to get custody of Harry Potter. Since he is the boy's godfather, he will win any custody suit against muggles." Snape explained.

"How would that help the Dark Lord?" Lucius asked.

"Dumbledore set up protections on Potter that will only work if Potter calls his aunt's house home. Change that, and it will be easier for harm to come to Potter. The Dark Lord, if you remember, is obsessed with killing Potter to the point where he wouldn't let any of us do it for him even if the opportunity arose." Snape explained remembering when Voldemort announced that he believed Harry was a threat.

"Sounds like an interesting plan... It will no doubt humiliate Dumbledore to find out he was the traitor. I'll make sure to it that part of Sirius' compensation of being in prison is custody of his godson. However, I can imagine Dumbledore will put up a fight. He and I are competing for the ear of that idiot of a Minister, and Dumbledore is the head of the ICW and the Wizengamont. Not to mention he is on every other chocolate frog card. He will no doubt try to use his influence to prevent it, but he will lose." Malfoy said smiling mischievously while taking another sip of tea

After the meeting with Lucius, Snape started to compose a letter to Remus Lupin. It would be best if he meet with him before Sirius was freed. Since his meeting with Remus would be suspicious to any member of the school staff, it would also be best if they met in a place where members of the Hogwarts staff didn't frequent. However when they met, Snape would bring his Pensieve-showing Lupin the truth would convince him faster than just telling him.

All that decided, Snape wrote in his letter.

Remus Lupin

Please meet me at The Shrieking Shack at noon tomorrow. It's urgent that I speak to you.

Severus Snape

After sending the letter off, Snape then wrote a note to Harry requesting him come to his office after lunch. Harry's own owl seemed quite eager to give Harry mail. When he got back to his office, he took the Resurrection Stone out of his desk. He had removed the stone from the ring and put into a necklace Harry that Harry could wear. He knew Harry would want to keep the stone on him and, not wanting to risk Dumbledore recognizing the stone from being from a ring that the young Tom Riddle wore, he hoped that making it part of a necklace would be the best way to hide it. He would give the necklace to Harry during lunch.

Harry had just left Snape's office. He was a little disappointed that Professor Snape hadn't made the potion yet the professor had told Harry that he needed to get some ingredients. The sooner he could get that piece of Tom Riddle out of his head, the better. But Harry was excited-the professor had given him a necklace with a stone that Snape said would allow him to talk with his parents when he touched the stone.

"What did Snape want Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry started heading to his room. Ron and Hermione followed him curious.

"He wanted to give me this. He said it would allow me to talk to my parents." Harry replied, a little unsure once he was sure nobody else was listening.

"But aren't your parents dead?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. He said it would bring them back-sort-of-as long as I'm touching the stone." Harry answered.

"Well, why don't we go test it?" Hermione suggested.

"Let's go to Ron and my room. I doubt anyone would be there." Harry replied.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat on Harry's bed. Harry touched the stone while thinking about what he could say to his parents. Then, his parents appeared in front of him.

"Harry?" Lily Potter asked.

"Mum? Dad?" Harry said excited and carefully not to stop touching the stone.

"Harry, we missed you. Wait a second, Harry...did you get sorted into Slytherin? Or is this some kind of joke?" James Potter asked confused.

"Uh... Yeah?" Harry replied.

"I guess Sirius has been teaching you to be really sneaky...I'm sure he fainted when he found out where you sorted...anyways, are these your friends?" James asked again.

"Yes. I'm Ron Weasley." Ron replied.

"Hermione Granger." Hermione said, intrigued by what she was seeing.

"A Weasley in Slytherin? Now that's a first..." James muttered.

"I don't mean to change the subject but Sirius got sent to jail shortly after you died." Harry said nervously remembering what he had read.

"What happened?" James asked, shocked.

"He murdered Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles with a single curse. He also was the one who told You-Know-Who where you were hiding." Hermione answered.

"He couldn't have told Voldemort where we were hiding! He wasn't our secret keeper. Peter was and if he is dead, we haven't seen him since we died. I'm almost afraid to ask this, but if you aren't living with Sirius, who are you living with? It's not my sister, is it?" Lily asked concerned.

"Yes..." Harry said nervous...

"What was the Ministry thinking placing you with her? She and her husband hate magic!" Lily shouted.

Ron's pet rat Scabbers had woken up and seemed almost terrified at and trying to get out of its cage, catching James' attention.

"Whose pet rat is this?" James asked, walking up to the cage.

"Mine. His name is Scabbers. He's been in my family for like ten years..." Ron answered.

"Scabbers is no rat. Go get a teacher right away! This rat is Peter!" James said angrily.

"Hermione, go get Professor Snape." Harry asked Hermione.

"Severus Snape? He's a teacher?" Lily asked shocked.

"He's head of Slytherin and teaches potions." Harry answered.

Hermione left and returned with both Snape and McGonagall moments later. McGonagall gasped when she saw Harry's parents in the room. Snape whispered something to her that Harry couldn't make out.

"I thought I'd never see you as a teacher Snivellus..." James rudely said to Snape.

McGonagall was not amused. "That was out of line Mr. Potter! If you weren't dead, I would instruct you to go help Filch scrub the fourth floor corridor for disrespect to a teacher. Parts of it are still sticky from that prank you and your friends pulled in your 2nd year." she snapped.

James hung his head and muttered "Yes, professor." Harry could hear him mutter, "I am dead and she still scares me."

"Now, let's see if you are right about this rat being Pettigrew." McGonagall said. She waved her wand and red spell came out and hit the rat. The rat dropped to the bottom of his cage and appeared to fall asleep. She opened the cage and taking the rat, set him on Ron's bed. She shot another spell that caused the rat to turn into a small man.

"I'll contact the Ministry. It appears Pettigrew isn't as dead like how we assumed he was. They will get to the bottom of this." Snape said before rushing out of the room.

Snape was quite pleased. His plan had worked perfectly-Sirius Black was would soon be out of Azkaban. He hadn't expected Harry to use the stone so soon but, never the less, the plan worked. It was most fortunate McGonagall came to his office asking if he could have his students make some simple potions she could use to teach her NEWT level students how to turn one potion into another as that they had gotten the hang of turning water into lemonade sooner then she had anticipated. He walked down the hall, to the Slytherin common room. A few students were there playing exploding snap or trying to read. Snape went to the fireplace and threw some floo powder into the fire and shouted, "Ministry of Magic, Auror office."