Snape was lying on the floor in the Shrieking Shack, slowly dying. He woke up in an empty room.

"Where am I?" Snape asked.

"You are in the realm of the fates." a voice replied.

"And what exactly am I doing here?" Snape countered.

"We, the fates, have decided to give you a second chance."

"I didn’t realize that the fates were like Albus." Snape snorted.

Ignoring Snape's comment the voice continued. "We have decided to send you back to the end of Harry's fifth year. You will be given the chance to fix some of your mistakes."

"Couldn’t you send me back to my fifth year? That’s when I made the biggest mistake of my life and the others were a result of that."

"We did consider that but if we did that Harry might not exist and we could have an even bigger problem."

"I understand that. Why not back to Harry's first year? Why back to the end of his fifth year?"

"We don’t want to change history too much. Sirius was fated to die that way and we can't change that. Just remember that Harry will be very upset about his godfather and you just refused to continue Occlumency lessons but you need to offer the continue them. Your time here right now is limited. You must listen to me- Dumbledore will understand what has happened but he will not have the information you now possess. Voldemort's horcruxes need to be destroyed and Harry needs your help. Try to be nice to him but try to not appear suspicious. If anyone besides Dumbledore finds out about you being sent back, you will be sent forward again and things will remain the same, but after today's date you can tell people of you want to with consequence."

"But-"

Just as Snape started to say something, he was whirled back in time.

---------

"There you are Severus. Albus wishes to speak with you." said Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, of course. I was just on my way to see him." Snape replied.

Snape briskly walked toward Dumbledore's office. When he arrived he realized that he could not remember the password from two years ago, from now! Snape corrected himself. Then suddenly the Gargoyle staircase sprang to life and Dumbledore walked out.

"Ah. Severus. Just the man I wanted to see." Dumbledore said as he saw Snape.

"Good evening, Dumbledore." Snape said as he followed Dumbledore into his office.

"I don’t know if you're aware, but I do know that you came from the future. The fates told me that they were going to send you back in time to try to change things. The fates rarely do this. I hope they have made the right choice because this is our second and last chance."

"They told me that you would know, but how am I supposed to change things?" Snape questioned.

"You can start by telling me what you know about what is supposed to happen over the next two years." Dumbledore answered.

"Ok. I'll tell you what I know. Just before term starts your going to find a ring and put it on your finger. I'm able to contain the curse, but you only had a year to live. You gave me the Defense against the Dark Arts job. Lucius is sent to Azkaban after the fiasco at the Ministry and to be punished the Dark Lord assigns Draco to kill you but in the end he intends me to do it. You ask me to do it to save Draco's soul and I do. I fled with the rest of the Death Eaters and everyone is convinced of my loyalty to the Dark Lord. The next year I was named Headmaster of the school. Potter and his friends didn’t attend school but in May they came here to find the last of the Dark Lord's horcruxes. There was a huge battle at Hogwarts and the Dark Lord thought it would be best to kill me so he could gain control over the Elder Wand. I gave Potter my memories so he would know of my true allegiance. The Dark Lord then set out to fight Potter. I don’t know if Potter made it or not, but I'm thinking not because the Fates wouldn’t have sent me back if he was successful."

"Okay. So I have to not be tempted by a ring, keep Lucius out of Azkaban, not give you the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, find and destroy the horcruxes and make sure Harry has the knowledge to survive." Dumbledore replied simply.

"It would appear so." Snape said.

"You probably want to get your things together. The end of term feast is tomorrow and I'm fairly certain you aren't packed. I have decided that you will be spending the summer at Headquarters, along with Harry. As you know, he needs your help more than ever."

"Of course Albus. I will see you at the feast."