"Do not jest with me Miss Parkinson," he said, rubbing his temple as he tidied up a stack of essays on his desk.

"But sir it's true! He walked right in and sat down on the couch next to Draco! You'd better hurry because Draco looked murderous when I left!"

He rolled his eyes but followed her out of his office at a brisk pace nonetheless. True to her word, there was Harry bloody Potter, lying on the common room floor in a scuffle with Draco and several other Slytherin boys, even some in seventh year.

"Get out of our house!" Draco was shouting as he tried to lift Harry and drag him across the floor to no avail because Harry was desperately holding on to a wooden couch leg. Secretly Severus had to admire his grit, because he held tight despite the kicks and punches he was receiving.

"Enough!"

The commotion and shouting stopped as every eye in the room turned to look at the cross Potions Master.

"Sir, he just came right in!" Draco panted, exasperated.

Harry sat up and wiped a little blood from the corner of his mouth. "It's my common room too! Tell them Sev! Tell them I live here!" There was a desperation in his voice, but it didn't deter the shock and anger Severus suddenly felt aimed at the boy.

"OUT! GET OUT!" He pointed a finger at the still open entrance to the common room, face tinged red.

"But tell them! I live here!"

"OUT POTTER!"

He took three long strides to where the boy sat and hauled him to his feet. Harry looked confusedly up into his face and wondered at how odd the name Potter sounded coming from his lips. This wasn't right. He wasn't James Potter... and he wasn't Harry Potter either... and how were the two of them connected?

Suddenly Harry was being dragged down the hallway to cheers from Slytherin house, and he felt hurt by it. How disgraceful to be dragged from your own common room like a common traitor.

And then he was in an office he'd yet to see being thrown into a chair. Apparently this office belonged to his friend, although he still couldn't figure out why he looked different... older somehow. Maybe he'd finally brewed that aging potion they'd been talking about for so long and tricked the Headmaster into hiring him? He was so confused.

"DO NOT EVER, call me by my given name again Potter!"

"But Sev... I mean sir, why? I don't understand."

"I don't know what you think you're playing at Potter, but the game is over. You can stop pretending to have lost your memory now. You have crossed many lines today and I am not pleased!"

"But I didn't do anything!"

"You snuck into my house Potter, MY HOUSE! Go sneak into LEMON DROP house!"

"I didn't sneak ANYWHERE! I remembered the password! Lemon drops! Just like it was when I left it! I thought it was cauldron or pride at first, but then I realized it had been changed again." He fidgeted with his fingers just then, and it bothered Severus just how familiar the gesture seemed to be.

"What did you say?"

Harry repeated himself and confirmed that the man had heard right. He knew three of the five passwords the house cycled through every year.

"What are the other two passwords?"

Harry thought a moment and then said, "Restricted, and Sluggy."

"And who told you these passwords?"

A frown came along with his answer. "Professor Slughorn! What's wrong with you?"

"And when did you meet Professor Slughorn?" Slughorn had stopped teaching at Hogwarts the day after James and Lily Potter had died.

"Don't be silly! The day we were sorted into Slytherin Sev. Has your mind gone barmy too? They didn't say you'd been hit in the head, just me. Why are you so angry with me? Dumbledore said if I remembered my common room I could go in." Although still not sure why he was in trouble, he was suddenly feeling very empowered. Many memories had come flooding back to him in the last half hour, although some still didn't make any sense, such as where Lucius Malfoy and his other friends were and why there were so many people at Hogwarts that he didn't know aside from having been introduced to them three weeks before.

"You are not Harry Potter," Severus said quietly, realization dawning on him as he sat down behind his desk heavily.

"I've been trying to tell you all that. I don't feel like Harry Potter. I don't even know who that is! Is he related to James somehow? I'd heard he had a cousin at Durmstrang."

"What is your name?"

"You don't even know your best mate? Come on Sev, it's me, Joshua."

"Joshua?"

"Yeah, Joshua Illatoby Ignotious." He held up his arms as if showing his muscles and gave a short laugh that faded when he saw how pale Severus had grown.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."