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Severus sat on his bed, staring at the dull ceiling before he heard a cat flap crack open. Glancing over his shoulder, he warily eyed the served food and sighed heavily. 'How is this my life?...' He wondered dully while his mind took in his entire life.
Ever since he was a kid, his mother had him on a strict potion regime, making him drink something that kept him 'safe'. Only after three years of doing research in Hogwarts, he find out it was a Creature Inheritance Blocking Potion and his mother was provided with the ingredients by Albus Dumbledore. So, he delved into Occlumency to speak to his inner creative spirit and they agreed to let him free after his OWL's.
Thus, during his OWL's, after losing Lily and the last shred of dignity, Severus hid n the Forbidden and stayed awake in his Creature form, a beautiful young Nundu. In his hybrid form, Severus' hair was slightly messier than usual but he had super strength, long claws and sharp fangs. His breath was deadly to those he chose and he had a thorned tail. In full creature form, he was a magnificent young spotty leopard with a fuzzy nape and a powerful aura to subjugate any other creature.
He first learnt of his superiority in the magical creature food chain when he was roaming the Forbidden Forest during the Yule Holidays. Severus had allowed his creature to be set free and they trudged around the middle until they came upon the home of Acromantulas. Aragog himself seemed wary of Severus' presence and asked him to simply leave. Severus realised he would've been dead if they knew he was actually a wizard and quickly scampered off to avoid his secret getting known.
Then, before the end of the year, disaster struck. Severus was pranked by Sirius Black to the Shrieking Shack. He had been obsessed with knowing more about Lupin since his creature could smell a wolf on him all the time. Of course, he should've concluded it on his own but he was too obsessed and ended up walking straight into the trap. And as he faced the werewolf, he could only do one thing to save his own life... He let loose.
His Nundu and Lupins wolf fought viciously, ripping each other's fur coats. During the full moon, Lupin did have a power-up. But it was nothing to Sveerus's Nundu. Eventually, when Potter came crawling to save Severus' ass, he ended up nearly getting into the middle of the battle and quickly hurried off to find Professors. He had read of Nundu's and knew the danger everyone was in if this wild beast was let free.
Of course, Minerva had quickly called the Aurors despite Albus' claims it was fine since he was there and it took everything in the Ministry to actually subdue the beast. In the end, it took fifty Aurors, twenty Unspeakables and multiple Hogwarts staff members to actually get a restraining spell on the creature and he was locked up. Before Albus could even get a word in, the Department of Mysteries asked for custody of the Nundu and the Minister approved swiftly, not wanting to deal with the outcome if he denied it.
And so, the next thing Severus knew, he was awakened in a dull room with a tall and buff man towering him with a stern look. Severus had feared the man at first until he found out the Department of Mysteries simply wanted to protect him and learn more of his kind. They promised to set him free when they deem the world safe and Severus agreed calmly. He spent years simply locked up and studied for his NEWTs, which his guard, Helios Nott, cousin to Lord Nott, helped in any way possible.
He got the best scores in the history of Britains educational system but was never seen at the ceremony. Instead, Severus was with Helios, training to use his creature for the goodness of the world. He practised martial arts and began creating his own vary of spells. His arsenal of skills widened day by day as he learnt things one wouldn't at Hogwarts and soon Severus became a crucial member of the Unspeakables squad.
He finally sat up to take a sip of water while dragging his tray closer. Recently, a new batch of teens was working in the Unspeakables quarters and they all haven't met Severus personally so they fear him, unlike the others. Only Helios' good words made them brave enough to approach and thus nobody but the Unspeakables and Department of Mysteries knew of the Nundu working undercover in special missions.
One day, when Rookwood gained a turn to feed the Nundu, he faced Severus with a look of surprise. He had known Severus during the Marauder era back in 1971. But one day, the boy simply disappeared and the Marauders became worse without their bully target. Now, to find the young Potioneer prodigy sitting in the bedrock room for the Nundu, things began to click in place and he gasped.
"A creature inheritance?" He asked softly, catching the younger boys attention swiftly.
Severus' onyx eyes widen slightly in recognition while he muttered, "Y-Yeah... Au-Augustus Rookwood, right? You were Regulus' old friend..."
"Yeah... what happened to you, Senior Snape? You suddenly left school! Rumour has it your mother died and you ended up on the streets, which honestly would be bullshit since you were one of the smartest students in your batch! Hell, you made Sluggy run for his money whenever you brewed!" Ranted the brunette while lowering the tray with Severus' usual dinner and taking a seat by his side. "Wait... So you were the Nundu that attacked the wolf at the Shrieking Shack?"
"More like Lupin attacked me," huffed the raven head while picking up his utensils to dig in, ignoring the fact he just dropped a major bomb on an Unspeakable.
"Hold the phone... Remus Lupin is a werewolf and Albus Dumbledore simply allowed him to be in a school of young students without them knowing the dangers that could've happened?"
Severus hummed in agreement before slurping his noodles and added while pointing his fork in a circle, "And he allowed Black to get away with the fact he led me there with a simple slap on the wrist."
"WHAT?"
Severus Snape had just doomed all of Albus Dumbledores plans...
It wasn't until three weeks later Albus Dumbledore was taken into the trial, James Potter was demoted, Sirius Black was fired, Lily Evans became the joke of the streets since she was found in a _______ position with her old Potion Master, Slughorn. The Hogwarts staff were questioned, Goblins stepped forward to speak their piece and secrets were brought alight.
What broke the last straw though, was when Severus' case was brought up.
Many years back, during the Shrieking Shack incident, a young girl had witnessed the entire situation, unbeknownst to them and nobody Obliviated her. So when people were asking around for Albus DUmbledores crimes, she came up with clear memories of the accident and it caused an uproar. Severus has forced forward and things were hectic.
Severus had been requested to keep his creature in check while in court and tried for his inheritance. Many creature haters tried to et him executed, but those of the knowledge knew the Nundu's creatures were secretly kind creatures if left alone and the only reason it would fight was in danger. After intensive Legilimency, they found out the truth behind the Marauder bullying (which ruined the Potter image even more) and Black was shunned by the world.
As Lily Evans and James Potter were sent to an Azkaban prison (Evans since she broke a marriage contract by having an affair) they had one problem. Lily had a one-year-old child, and she didn't know who the father was. There was no way Black would take custody while Lupin and the Potters have all passed away. Thus, it left Lily's muggle sister, the magical-hater Petunia. Albus had his blue eyes sparkling at such an opportunity and it made the Potion Master's stomach churn uncomfortably. And so, Severus took a stand for this.
Severus made it clear Petunia wasn't fit to raise a young wizard since he's seen first-hand how harsh she would act towards their kind. The supplied memories destroyed any chances such a plan could continue and Albus was dragged away with a red face. Severus kindly requested full custody since he was currently financially stable. His coworkers gave full reports of his creatures kindness and protectiveness to his own friends and they all believed this young man would be safe in a motherly Nundu's hand.
And so, Severus Snape now sat in his old childhood house at Spinners End, all cleaned up, with the little tyke on his lap while offering the nub of a milk bottle. As Halloween struck midnight, a soft knock echoed through the house and Severus slowly stood up, ruffled his son's messy hair and went to open it. Behind the wooden door, a young man in a pressed suit, a bouquet in hand and his brown locks gelled back gave a warm smile.
"Hello, I'm Tom Marvolo Riddle..."