A/N: Someone pointed out that when I'd left a plot hole of Lily not crying on the Hogwarts express, I didn't need to say something about letting the readers fill in whatever blanks they wanted. Almost immediately after reading that I got a great idea and decided on what I wanted to. So many thanks to DragonReader18. I missed out on an opportunity to pull a Jojo where I pull off something amazing and everyone goes 'HOLY SHIT did you plan this too?!' and I laugh nervously but with a confident grin and striking a wildly impractical pose 'Of course I did! I plan everything from the very beginning!'.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. And I'm still a little upset that fanfiction writers everywhere have to say things like that. I firmly believe it should just be implied at this point.

Warning: This story will contain adult situations and language.

Half-Blood Emperor

Chapter 5

Severus Snape stretched languidly from his position on the bed, arching his back and reveling in the pleasant sensation. Once he was done with that, and shook off the desire to go back to sleep, he slipped out of bed and changed out of his sleepwear and into some casual clothes that Rilney had left out for him neatly folded on the chair. In his past life, he was a huge stickler for following a morning routine of brushing teeth and showering before doing anything else.

Now that he was reborn in this new life of an adolescent wizard on summer break, he finally managed to break his habit and push off his daily ablutions until later in the day. More specifically after he'd get any brewing done. Especially if he didn't have any obligations to be in the presence of people today.

The dark haired young man padded his way down stairs, not even bothering to stifle his yawn as he made his way to the dining room and sat down. He'd barely touched the chair when there was the sound of fingers snapping, and an array of delicious smelling breakfast foods appeared in front of him in the same vein as if he were back at Hogwarts.

"Good morning, and thank you Rilney."

"Good afternoon master, and you're welcome." The elf greeted him with levity while correcting him, though he could detect the hint of relief in her voice that he was up and about after a good night's rest. Checking the time, he found it was twelve oh one on the dot, cheeky little bugger.

'Hmm so I slept in? Well at least I feel good now. No lingering pains or bruises from yesterday.' He mentally cataloged.

He finished one cup of tea before finally tucking into his first meal of the day. All the while making a mental note to get some coffee. There was nothing wrong with real English tea, in fact it was quite good, but it just didn't have that powerful, robust flavor that required generous helpings of cream and sugar to get down. That was to say nothing of the caffeine buzz such a beverage would bring.

'Another mental note: See about getting Starbucks going early. And get in on the ground floor of it while I'm at it.' Thinking of yet another profitable future investment. He was a little on the fence about this one though, not really being sure if people will be ready for something like that in this time period. Even now, it was still too easy to forget just how many things happened before he was even born in his past life, that hadn't even been a thought in this current point in time.

Star Wars wasn't even a thing yet!

He mechanically ate while wracking his brain on what year the first Star Wars movie comes out. Would he already have graduated from Hogwarts before then?

Less than an hour later, Severus and Rilney could be found outside setting up what little equipment they would be using for today.

First up was the flexibility testing. And to say the improvements were impressive would have been a drastic understatement. Were before, when he reached both arms behind his back, one above and one below, he was able to easily touch finger tips.

Now? He could just barely clasp his wrists.

When he bent down to touch his toes the previous day and had to strain to do so; he could now place both palms flat on the ground.

The raven haired boy was grinning in excitement at the very visible increase in basic flexibility, and the proof that the permanent boost from the ritual worked as advertised.

They quickly moved on to the next test, the twenty meter dash.

Rilney was once again manning the stop watch after setting up the lines while Severus kept his breathing even as he slightly hunched over in the ready position.

"I'm good to go Ril." He stated.

Rilney gave a nod of affirmation and snapped her fingers creating a muffled bang sound to set him off while she started the stop watch.

It felt like he was flying. All of his muscles were moving with an optimized grace that he didn't have yesterday, aiding in his ability to cut through the air as he moved to the goal line. And just like that, it was over in the blink of an eye.

Quite literally in Rilney's case. Luckily she was a good house elf, so no matter how impressive her master might be, she wasn't about to let him down. Especially in a task that he entrusted to her.

"Time?" Severus asked once he got over how amazing his new speed seemed.

"O-one point seven four master." She stuttered out. Even though she had seen it, it was a whole different level having the proof in numbers right in front of her.

"That's almost half the time." He mumbled to himself.

Shaking his head to get himself ready, he took a starting position again to run a few more times.

In the end, he was panting and slightly exhausted. It did make sense to him though, cats weren't known as endurance animals after all. But the explosive speed was something else altogether. The ritual enhancement to his body had concretely doubled his sprinting speed. It boded very well for what attributes of creatures he planned to use next in order to round out his abilities. And not just physical; he had a few ideas on being able to augment his intelligence if he can get ahold of something of a sphinx. And a more perverted part of his older self couldn't help but wonder just how effective veela hair might boost his natural charisma, laying the groundwork for his teenage years that were fast approaching him. It might even give him an aura to attract women.

Only ten minutes later found Severus bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet in anticipation. This was the moment of truth. The dreaded dodge ball exercise. He was eager to pit himself against it again and determined to put up a better showing than the day before.

Rilney snapped her fingers causing a few red balls to rise into the air around her as she began waving her arms around, taking control of them. She was worried about this part. Not that she feared for her master's safety, that's why they were using these rubber balls instead of his first idea to use iron bludgers. But her master had gotten so frustrated last time. She knew that Severus was just disappointed that even though they started off slow, it didn't take long at all before he just couldn't keep up. The loyal house elf just hoped that he will have improved here as much as in the other exercises. She hated seeing him upset.

Severus waved both hands in a 'come on' gesture, "Let's have it." He said simply.

And have it he did as Rilney sent one rubber ball after another in the same slow build up pace as before.

The ritually enhanced wizard focused on the incoming projectiles while keeping his breathing steady. 'Nothing fancy, no showing off or getting arrogant. I just need to do the bare minimum to not get hit.' He thought as he leaned out of the way of the first one.

The second one that was already half the distance to him altered course slightly in an attempt to intercept him in his new position. He waited until the last moment before twisting his upper body and leaning the other direction, allowing it to pass him by with an inch to spare.

Suddenly his ears perked up at the sound of displaced air and he somehow just knew without even looking that the first ball was on a return trip right for him. Trusting his new instincts, he crouched down and felt the ball pass over him by a hairsbreadth.

His sensitive ears picked up Rilney's sharp gasp of surprise, but he had no time to revel in his small victory with the other ball bearing down on him. He rolled out of the way of this one.

Severus stayed in a low crouch with his feet spread wide, one hand touching the grass in front of him with his left out to the side for balance, ready to spring one way or the other when the next volley came. He was actually having a lot of fun with this now.

Rilney beamed happily at her master. He'd improved so much that he made it look effortless as he moved his body around to keep from being touched. He didn't even realize that she wasn't holding back anymore, well... not much anyway.

She tried one last maneuver to catch him out by sending a few balls skimming close to the ground, forcing him to jump into the air. Just as she planned, another ball was already on an intercept course, and he should have no means of avoiding something now that he was air born.

Only he did. With a stunning feat of awareness and body control, he threw his hands and corkscrewed his body, causing the ball to cleanly miss him.

All of the balls dropped along with Rilney's jaw at the display while her masters body seemed to unconsciously correct itself on the way down so he landed lightly on both feet.

Severus meanwhile, was trying to catch his breath as he put his hands on his hips and looked around when no more dodge balls were heading for him. "Not bad." He managed to get out. To him, it seemed like they'd been at it for hours, when in reality it was just under five minutes.

"Cat like reflexes!" He said with a grin towards his house elf once he breathing was steady enough.

Rilney happily made him a snack before dinner along with a pitcher of ice tea. Afterwards, Severus enjoyed a nice, lukewarm shower to cool down from the days strenuous activities.

The next day saw Severus waking up earlier. He felt like today should be a lazy day of research. Now that he had to wait for his magic to finish adapting to the changes before he could perform another ritual in a few months. Because of that, he thought about taking a crack at enchanting. Not that he'd actually get anywhere with it today, maybe getting through one of the books he picked up in Diagon Alley so he can get a better understanding for making his own enchanted items.

Severus was enjoying another stunning breakfast made by Rilney, when an owl winged its way in through the open window and landed in front of Severus. He swallowed the last mouthful of food as the owl imperiously held out its leg with a letter attached.

"That's odd. Who would be sending me... mail..." He trailed off as a pit of dread settled in his stomach as he remembered that he promised to write Narcissa as soon as he could this summer. Sure enough, he recognized her handwriting when he opened the letter after taking it from the owl and handing it a left over piece of bacon.

"She is going to be so pissed at me." He lamented.

A quick snap of fingers and the last vestiges of his breakfast was cleared away, only to be replaced with a full complement of writing supplies.

"Master Severus didn't tell me he had people to write to."

"It kind of slipped my mind." He mumbled embarrassed at his forgetfulness, as he dips the available quill into the inkwell.

About this time, the bird had finished its treat and promptly flew out the window and away into the morning sky.

Severus stared after it for a few moments. "Well change of plans. Guess I need another trip to Diagon Alley today after all."

Quick on the up take, Rilney offered her help. "I can take your letter for you when you've finished Master Severus sir."

The dark haired young man turned a smile her way before responding. "Not this time Ril. Lots of people underestimate just how useful house elves are; and I don't want to disabuse them of that notion and lose our advantage. I need a proper mail owl anyway."

Rilney's little heart practically burst with joy at her master telling her how useful her, and her kind really are. And also at the fact he confided something so important to her. She nodded her head vigorously and popped away to clean the house with a renewed fervor.

After Severus finished the letter, he cleaned himself up and changed into more appropriate clothes for going out in. Slacks and a nice button up shirt. No casual wizarding robe to go over it sadly, but he didn't have one yet, and it was still summer so it was plenty warm outside. Besides, he's still a child in everyone's eyes so he has a little more leeway with such things; and it's not like he was going to a formal meeting or anything.

Once he was ready, Rilney popped next to him and offered her hand for him to take so she could pop him to the alley. He reached out, but hesitated a moment.

"Is something wrong Master Severus sir?" She asked.

"No, I just had a thought. Perhaps I should go and see if Lily's busy or if she would like to come." He said when he realized it would be the polite thing to do. Narcissa's letter had reminded him that he had been neglectful of people who were his friends... technically.

"That sounds wonderful Master Severus!" She happily exclaims while checking him over, making sure his clothes are neat, buttons buttoned, and shoes are tied.

He chuckles a little at her fussing over him. "Don't get too excited. I think her and I will take the knight bus. That way she'll have her own method of transportation without having to rely on me.

After giving Rilney his plan for the day, Severus pulled a few of the smaller precious gems and jewels that he set aside to be traded in first, and put them in his small expanded pouch that he'd gotten from his last trip to Gringotts.

He left out the front door and trusted Rilney to take care of the place while he was gone, and to be ready in case he called her for something. Not that anyone would be able to get to the house considering the simple muggle repelling ward he put up, and how unlikely it was that a random witch or wizard would pass by.

It was a fifteen minute leisurely stroll to Lily's house, in which Severus took the time to take in the good weather while it lasted.

'I really should get out more. People will think I'm a shut in if I stay inside researching all day. Bah! It doesn't matter what they think. I'm doing this so I'll be able to handle anything and live a life of ease and luxury.' He thought to himself. 'Besides, I only really care about the opinion of one person in the neighborhood who could call me out on it, and she doesn't actually know how much time I spend cooped up.'

The dark haired boy finally came to the tan colored house that his friend resided in, and rang the doorbell.

"Oh hello Severus." Petunia greeted him shyly when she answered the door.

Petunia Evans was Lily's older sister by one year. The girl on the cusp of puberty was somewhat plain with a comely face and long, brown hair that fell to the middle of her back. Right now she was still a young girl, and while Severus could see how, when she grows up, she could become a rather unpleasant woman with a too long neck and a long drawn face, she could just as easily become the cute girl next door type. He supposed it was all down to the life she might lead and if she takes care of herself.

"Good morning Petunia. Is Lily free today? I'm going to Diagon Alley and thought to ask if she wanted to come as well." He greeted, explaining why he was here a few days earlier than planned.

She very perceptibly frowned before answering in a hate filled tone. "She's here, I'll go get her."

'Oh that's right. She's crazy jealous that her little sister was blessed with the better looks between the two of them. And that she's special by being a witch. Lily having magic, and all that entails, while she doesn't.' He thought.

Severus recalled the last time the three of them where together, and how Petunia was making her envy of Lily clear to see. He was pretty sure he said something about how a good sister would be supportive, or something along those lines in order to make the non-magic sibling feel guilty for being a prat. He just wanted her to knock it off with the snide comments at the time.

He was looking at her in a new light now though. Sadly it was through the lens of a potential test subject. Severus figured she was very likely a squib, and that opened up a whole realm of possibilities.

That would have to be put on hold for later though. She returned with Lily who promptly threw her arms around him in a warm hug.

"Hey Lily. I'm heading off to Diagon Alley today to pick up a few things. Thought I'd drop by and see if you'd like to come with?" He asked.

She squealed happily for twofold reasons. First was the ingrained genetics of women that made them love to shop; the second was for the fact that they were going shopping for magical things in particular.

"Let me go ask my parents if they'll give us a ride. Be right back!" She said before Severus used his new and improved reflexes to grab her hand and hold her back before she could take off.

She turned back to him and looked at him questioningly. "Don't worry about transportation. I figured we'd take the knight bus and see what it's like."

He could feel the waves of giddy anticipation rolling off of her in droves. "That's brilliant! Let me go ask if I can go then." And she was off as soon as Severus let her go.

Severus chuckled in amusement, then turned his gaze to the scowling visage of Petunia. He could plainly see the hurt in her eyes as she tried to hold back tears, and thought that this would be a good time to get some practice in, and maybe make things a little better for the Evens sisters in the long run.

His voice got her attention and they made small talk about inconsequential things as he dived into her mind with legilimency. What he found there was just as he feared. A girl burdened by insecurity and jealousy. So he started making a few small tweaks here and there. Nothing too drastic that would be noticeable, but definitely setting her in a better direction.

The first thing he did was change the object of her jealousy. Now instead of being so focused on how Lily has magic and Petunia doesn't, she's more upset that Lily is better friends with Severus. It's a simple thing to make her now crave attention and approval from Severus, he's such a great guy after all. Lily won't stop talking about how cute and smart he is; and if perfect Lily is so interested in something then it's only natural to be interested as well.

Severus loved it when he didn't have to make big changes and could just redirect and repurpose what's already there.

He made one last quick change when he heard Lily's rapid footsteps approaching. To Petunia, it would feel like her own idea.

If she wanted Severus to notice her, then she had to be better. She'd have to become the best she could be. The question then became, what could she do that Lily couldn't? Excelling in her mundane education would be a good start. 'Severus is obviously attracted to intelligent women, even if he doesn't know that about himself yet.' She thought.

Maybe she should take gymnastics? Petunia had heard some of the older girls in school who had boyfriends say that they liked flexible girls, whatever that meant.

To Severus, it would be a good test to see how far someone would take a mental nudge in a direction of something they might not have considered before. It would also be interesting to see what Petunia comes up with on her own and what she thinks will impress him. Depending on how well it goes, he might just have a valuable maid/secretary/bodyguard in the future.

"They said yes! Let's go Sev. Bye Tuni." Lily said in a rush as she grabbed hold of his hand and started dragging him away in her excitement.

"Bye Petunia." He managed to say with a small wave before turning around the right way to walk with Lily.

The two made their way to a secluded and quiet part just down the block.

"Well? How do we get the knight bus?" Lily asked with obvious exuberance.

"Don't worry, I'll show you." He said before taking one last look around to make sure there wasn't anyone in the vicinity.

Severus pulled his wand out of his makeshift wand holster on his left arm, just a simple leather band worn on his wrist that allowed his wand to remain tucked against the inside of his forearm, and held it up as though he were calling a taxi.

Lily kept her eyes locked on what he was doing, and because she was paying such rapt attention to him instead of the surroundings, she was taken completely by surprise from the sudden bang of the knight bus appearing on the street next to them.

"EEP!" She let out a strangled squeak and jumped what Severus would later swear at least a foot in the air.

When Lily calmed her racing heart somewhat, she had her breath taken away all over again when she laid eyes upon their transportation. It looked like the kind of bus one would see in the heart of London; if it didn't have three decks instead of two that is... and if it wasn't something so eye catching as a vibrant purple.

"Welcome to the knight bus, a service for the stranded witch or wizard. Name's Ernie Prang and I'll be your conductor. Six sickles and elven knuts per person. For a sickle more you get hot chocolate, toothbrush, and warm towel." He recited quickly with the ease of long practice.

Severus took hold of Lily's hand this time and led the wide eyed girl up the steps. He reached into his pocket with his other hand, and pulled out his pouch, then pulled out his last galleon that was left over from his previous shopping trip and handed it over to Ernie.

"Are there lids for the hot chocolate or are they spelled to be spill proof?" He asked.

Ernie, for his part, seemed quite shocked that someone asked such a question before gathering himself and giving an answer.

"Err... No. Nothing of the sort." He said. 'Is that why no one ever wants the beverages?' He thought.

"Hmm. Pity. Do you want a warm towel or a toothbrush Lily?" Severus directed to his companion.

"Umm... No?" She said, still taking everything in.

"Just the change then please." The dark haired boy finished pleasantly and held his hand out.

"Where too?" The subdued bus driver asked.

"Leaky Cauldron." Severus said, already leading Lily to an empty seat.

"Next stop Leaky Cauldron! Be there in about two minutes!" Ernie called out to the sparsely populated bus.

The two children had barely gotten settled when the call came out, and the bus took off like a shot. It was a bumpy, twisty journey. All that could be seen of the outside were blurs as the industrialized landscape of Cokeworth was left behind.

'Yep... Everything I thought it'd be.' Severus thought as he held on to the seat trying not to be tossed out of it while Lily held onto his arm just a hair too tightly, giving away her nerves.

The ride ended and Severus was amused to see that Lily couldn't get off fast enough. Once the both of them where on the sidewalk of Charing Cross road, a loud bang signified the bus taking off to wherever its next destination was.

"That was... that was..." Lily tried to say, starting and stopping trying to find the words.

"A little bit of a bumpy ride I know. But what can you do?" Severus said.

"That was incredible!" Lily squealed as though she hadn't paid attention to a word her friend said.

Severus 'hmmd' at her questioningly as he held the door to the Leaky Cauldron open for her.

"It was like a muggle roller coaster ride. No! Even better! And that's just an everyday thing magicals use for transportation? I'm surprised more muggleborns don't pay to ride the knight bus for the sake of riding it." The red head bubbled excitedly.

Severus 'hmmd' in an agreeing tone this time as he led them to the alley behind the dingy pub and pulled his wand out to start tapping the correct sequence of bricks.

"I wonder what other kinds of things can be done with magic. What do you think people would want in a magical amusement park?" Severus asked out loud, both to himself and his friend.

"With the proper application of magic I'm sure muggle rides could be adapted to be even more fun when they don't have to adhere to the constraints of physics. Of course, safety can be easily increased as well to compensate." Lily said, really getting into the possibilities.

"Oh, oh and a petting zoo! Think of all the cute magical animals that young children can get to see." Lily continued going off on tangents of things that a magical theme park might need.

"I think those are all great ideas Lily. Definitely something we can do once we've finished school." Severus said, casually activating one of the imbedded neural triggers he'd put in Lily's head. It was already a natural human response that by using 'we' instead of 'I' or 'you' in conversation, to think of doing whatever was being discussed together. Severus made a small little modification to connect anytime Lily thought of the two of them together with pleasure. It would start off small, and the amount of pleasure Lily got would correlate to how positive the context of them being together was. Like Pavlov's dogs and positive reinforcement for desired behavior.

'I probably shouldn't compare what I'm doing with Lily to training dogs.' Severus thought to himself before shooting a glance in Lily's direction.

Sure enough, his childhood friend was blushing up a storm and had a goofy grin on her face when she noticed him looking at her. Lily's smile turned demure as her eyes looked anywhere but in his direction.

"I'd like that." She said in almost a whisper, but Severus heard.

"It's something to think about. We'll have to do something for income when we become adults, might as well enjoy it and have fun."

They made plans for Lily to browse Flourish and Blotts while Severus went to take care of business at the bank.

Said business only took five minutes, four of which was spent waiting in line for an available teller. He left another good impression on the goblins of Gringotts when he finally had his turn and upended his pouch, spilling three small, precious gems and starting off the haggling at five hundred galleons. The goblin countered with one hundred starting a back and forth until they met at three hundred and forty seven.

Severus met up with Lily and bought her a book on household charms she was interested in. Too say he was surprised that she wanted a book like that would be an understatement, but it was clarified when he got her talking about it.

As it turns out, she wasn't interested in being a doting housewife just yet and getting a jump on what the wizarding world deemed as necessary skills for any young witch. Of course, the part of her that was still a child was fascinated with the possibility of finishing chores quickly and easily. The genius part of her however, was instantly enamored with the idea of animation charms. To be able to cast a spell and walk away, letting it run on its own until it either completes its task, or runs out of magic.

He was reminded that it was that beautiful brain of hers that drew him to her. He knew he made the right decision to alter the future and make her his, despite his wariness of changing things so much that they'd become unrecognizable.

Things are already too different now, he reasoned. Might as well go all in and really start stacking the deck in his favor. The first step would be to gently yet quickly mold Lily. To make her more receptive to his morally questionable activities. It would be best to start small, he'd already done a little bit with legilimency as a test to see what he could do with it. There were a few weeks left of summer that he could get in good practice with.

He needed to be careful to do it gradually though. Severus wanted to teach her occlumency eventually for her own defense, and that meant he would have to finish making any changes well before then. And that also meant that he'd need to be subtle and manipulate her into making the decisions he wants on her own. Luckily, another absurd factor of legilimency was that it could be such a light touch, that if done correctly, wouldn't leave a trace. There was no 'magical signature' residue left behind after a few hours; and if a mind healer were to look, all they would find was a person making their own choices that they came up with their own reasons for justification.

Sweet Merlin, how have telepaths like Charles Xavier not taken over the world in every iteration of literature? Probably because they were better human beings than the adult who'd taken over the body of a young wizard. It did make some sense now how Voldemort is supposed to do so well in the upcoming war.

Oh well, too bad for him. Severus knew, as soon as he fully realized his situation, that he would rule this world eventually. He wouldn't settle for anything less. He could use numerous excuses to justify it, but ultimately it would always boil down to because he could. The simple fact was, for all of Dumbledore and Voldemort's vaunted knowledge and power, it would amount to nothing to someone like Severus. And for a variety of reasons too.

The foremost of which being foreknowledge. Not just of how the future was supposed to play out, but because he understood them. How they think, what drives them, what they are capable of doing and how they will act given different situations.

Dumbledore is very much a general who leads from the rear. Sending off those who are young and impressionable to fight, and sometimes, die for 'the light'. He'll try and gather all the information that he can and use it ineffectively to save as many as he can on both sides of the war, because he knows how precious life is; and, on some level, believes everyone can be redeemed.

Severus also suspects that one of the many reasons he won't directly get involved in any battles isn't necessarily because he could lose ownership of the Elder Wand, but because he knows he's old and won't be around forever to fight the wizarding worlds battles for them. Then again, perhaps Severus is being overly optimistic of the old man there.

Either way, Dumbledore is most likely to use the law and diplomacy. Should those fail, the aged headmaster is then most likely to use people who are firmly loyal to him to get what he wants through manipulation. A direct confrontation is only really possible if someone were to march directly into Hogwarts, even then, one would still have to deal with the staff first. No matter what, it seems like Dumbledore will only deal with any given situation indirectly; using his titles and prestige to cow any opposition into submission. Riddle will sadly disabuse him of that always working.

Ah Riddle. The blunt bludger to Dumbledore's sharpened quill. If Severus didn't know any better he'd think that Voldemort had read 'The Art of War'. The soon to be revealed dark lord will have every level of the enemy, in this case the ministry, infiltrated with loyal minions. Say what you will about his brutal, terrorist tactics, but they will be effective. Studying his targets, striking in the dead of night by cutting off all forms of communication and evacuation, then using overwhelming numbers to completely wipe out a family overnight, topped off with leaving a giant neon calling card in the sky.

Rinse and repeat, over and over, again and again. It can lead to a very demoralizing position for anyone who opposes him, especially if you follow Dumbledore and he's so kind as to tie a hand behind your back by telling you not to kill anyone.

Severus mentally snorted, it's as if everyone forgets that they can use magic just as well to defend themselves. It's not like death eaters have a magic shield capable of stopping a killing curse. If everyone just made a one for one trade before they were killed in the war, the death eaters numbers and support would have dwindled quite quickly. Then again... not everyone is a vindictive asshole like Severus.

Besides, there was a lot that he just didn't have the time or inclination to process, like the number of death eaters attacking vs how well defended the average home could be made. Trying to put a conflict into numbers of woulda, coulda, shoulda, got messy fast and wasn't something he cared enough about to bother with.

No, Severus won't be bothering with the war at all in fact. Not until the later years if he's needed to step in and clean it up. Instead he'll be spending most of that time making sure that himself, and those that belong to him will be unassailable from both sides.

Part of the benefits of being reincarnated into the body of a wizard with the knowledge of an era far into the future is the wealth of ideas that comes with it. In his first life, he was a child of the entertainment media age. Because of something so simple and widespread as the internet, and how much everyone had at their fingertips, now in the body of someone who could warp reality, he was virtually a bottomless pit of things he could make happen given enough time and effort.

Despite all that however, efficiency was the name of the game. He didn't have time to fool around or experiment with anything the wizards and witches just hadn't thought of yet. Instead he had to take what was already available, already proven in this world, and abuse the absolute shit out of it. That was why he was so grateful for the room of requirement and the library index. It was quick access to ridiculously overpowering rituals, notes on forgotten potions, and tomes upon tomes of magic that even this world hasn't seen in centuries.

It honestly felt like he put real life difficulty on easy and put cheat codes in for easy leveling... 'Son of a bitch! I'm going to have to wait forever for video games to catch back up to where I was.' His errant thought derailed his minor bout of obsessive power lusting.

He really needed to get laid to mellow him out, but it would be about a year and a half to two years before he could. Severus was counting the days, he missed sex so much. Puberty was already getting into full swing for him, he couldn't remember if this was earlier than in his previous life or not, but regardless, the soon to be second year Slytherin didn't think he'd be able to charm his way into girls knickers yet no matter how suave he was. Everyone sadly still thinks he's only twelve, and he had too much pride to mind control someone into sex. Delicate mental manipulation to make them beg for it yes; imperious and obliviation no.

The jarring realization of how long he had to wait for all things electronic to get back up to speed did bring him back to thinking about the Voldemort and Dumbledore problem though.

Voldemort couldn't be trusted, and was absolutely insane. He had such potential to be great, that if he had only been more patient and less prone to violence, then he could have had the entire British wizarding society handed to him on a silver platter. Well, insanity was one of two possibilities. The other, and in Severus' mind more likely reason, was that Voldemort was greedy, selfish, and an idiot. Tom Riddle was known to engage his brain when he was a student because of necessity by being a halfblood in a pureblood house, and an assumed muggle born before that. But afterword when he graduated, he went on a pilgrimage of sorts to learn everything he could and gain more power.

There was nothing wrong with that, and no such thing as 'too much' power. But it's like he completely forgot all the skills, guile, and charisma that allowed him to become the king of Slytherin house. It would have been so easy for him to use his influence on the Wizengamot to get anything he wants; he could have ruled this place either from in the spotlight as minister, or from the shadows as a true master manipulator.

What does he do instead? He practically said 'Nah fuck it. I'm going to beat them all into submission with overwhelming force.'

Severus could only shake his head at the sheer stupidity of having every advantage and just tossing it aside for the high of making people fear you and bow down in supplication. But then, perhaps that's why Voldemort did it? Maybe all of this was just him getting back at the purebloods who made his first years in Hogwarts difficult, the halfblood Dumbledore who refused to help him when he asked, and all of the muggle born for their ignorance? Maybe it was because he just wanted everyone to kiss the hem of his robes?

In the end, Severus did have two aces up his sleeves. Time and anonymity. Even though Voldemort is already moving, Severus knew it will still be a few more years before it really erupts into war and drags everyone into it. And as for staying unknown, women aren't the only ones who see him as just another twelve year old wizard. To everyone who cares to look, he's just some unimportant halfblood in Slytherin who does really well in all his classes. A non-entity as far as everyone important is concerned.

By the time the war is in full swing, and Severus is old enough for either side to consider recruiting, he will already be powerful enough to tell them they can go fuck themselves. And hopefully be immortal enough to get away with punching both the light and dark lords in the dick.

That should be doable. The easy part even. The hard part now was going to be keeping Narcissa and Bellatrix out of Voldemort's clutches.

If Severus recalled correctly then they would be forced into some kind of arranged marriage. The part he wasn't really sure on was if it was orchestrated by Voldemort as some sort of backroom deal, or if the Blacks would have done something similar anyway to strengthen alliances?

Bugger... looks like he'd have to tip his hand and get involved anyway. At least he still had the advantage of time. It should still be a few more years before negotiations even begin.

He came up with a few ways off the top of his head on how to handle the Blacks. The first, was if he could somehow convince the two remaining Black sisters to leave their family in order to do what they wanted, like when their oldest sister Andromeda eloped with a muggle born. But that had a lot of pitfalls that would need careful navigating to avoid. Not least of which was the fact that neither girl wanted to be cast out of the family. And Severus couldn't blame them for that, not just because the Blacks were a prestigious house, but because it was a tall order asking anyone to discard their pride in such a way, even if it is a way to avoid an undesirable fate.

The next option, funny enough, was taking the dark lord route. It's up to the head of house Black to make marriage contracts. No head of house, no contracts.

Of course this came with its own set of problems just like anything else. Someone else would just become the patriarch of house Black, and there was no guarantee they would be smart enough to let Bellatrix and Narcissa choose for themselves instead of trying to force them to be with someone unworthy.

It could very easily explode into a situation where being the head of house Black would be a fast way to catch a quick case of death. At least until it came down to either Sirius or Regulus. As much as Severus disliked the future Marauder, he could at least be counted on to not maliciously fuck over his cousins. And Regulus was still young. He could easily be shown that his cousin's happiness was in his best interest.

But all of that would be messy, and time consuming, not to mention that something could go wrong or just not pan out the way Severus hoped it might. Still a solid 'plan B' though.

The third way he thought up to help his future lovers, was probably the most effective. All he had to do was be the person chosen for Narcissa and Bella to marry. To do that, he'd have to be stupidly rich, which was going to happen regardless. Then, he also needed prestige and influence. This was also something attainable with his inventions and potions in the near future.

The only part that had him really stumped was how to get the family to betroth both of them to him. Guess he'd just have to be extra rich and famous. Or a liberal application of mind control. Either worked for him.

It's not like he was the heir to multiple houses... "Wait a minute." Severus said aloud.

"What's up?" Lily asked, turning around from where she had be stroking the feathers of a common eagle owl, drawing a hoot from it when she stopped.

"Oh sorry, I was just lost in thought." Severus answered. 'Like what the Prince family tree is looking like these days?' His mother had run away with a muggle, and from the original Severus' memories, she never talked much about them, only mentioning his grandparents in passing.

Was his mother cast out of the family for marrying a muggle? Was Severus still a Prince or not? It was getting to late in the summer to dig up information on them. Perhaps he'd have Rilney look into his family while he was attending classes in Hogwarts and give her something to do.

"Well this owl at least seems to like you." His friend said, drawing his attention back to her.

Severus looked down and noticed that at some point, his hand had reached out to scratch the owl's plumage which the owl seemed to take great pleasure in.

He grinned. "Well the whole point of this trip was for me to get a mail owl."

The raven haired boy thought he'd said something wrong when Lily's green eyes went wide at his admission. His fears were short lived however when the corners of her mouth started twitching. She tried to stifle a giggle which caused her to snort, and then she completely lost the battle to keep from laughing her heart out.

"Oi, what's so funny?" Severus asked, apparently having missed a joke somewhere.

Lily quickly got her laughter under control before letting him in on it. "Y-you haven't written anything to Ms. Black all summer." She managed before giggling cutely again.

For his part, Severus colored in embarrassment that Lily figured it out so quickly, and on the first try. "Yeah, yeah I forgot, laugh it up. At least I'm resolving it now." He huffed.

He couldn't tell that the blush adorning Lily's face was less because of her laughing fit, but because she'd also pieced together that if he hadn't been writing to Narcissa Black, then that meant she was the only friend he'd been talking to and spending time with this summer. It gave her a warm feeling like dozens of pixies in her stomach flittering about.

"Might as well take this one. He seems agreeable." Only to hear an indignant hoot and see the owl in question puff up its chest.

"She Severus. She's a beautiful owl." Lily said, calming the bird down and stroking its feathers again.

"Of course she is." Severus mumbled in agreement.

They picked up the owl and a cage for her and took them both to the front to buy her.

Once they reached the front counter and set the owl and cage down to buy them, Lily touched her friends shoulder to get his attention.

"So what are you going to name her?" She asked.

Severus rolled his head from side to side, then jokingly said, "How about Minerva McGonagowl?"

He was met with a screech of vehement denial from the owl as she tried to bite the fingers on his hand that reaching out to pet her, only to meet empty air as his hand jerked back thanks to his improved reaction time.

Lily slapped his shoulder repeatedly while chastising him. "Severus you prat! That's not nice, what if Professor McGonagall found out?"

"I don't know, I thought she'd be flattered." He chuckled as he fended off his friend. "Alright, alright fine. No more owl puns for names. Which is too bad... because I think Owlivia would have been great." He said, causing Lily to renew her hitting his shoulder and the owl in question to glare menacingly at him.

They eventually settled down and completed the transaction with the bemused shopkeeper. Once they left, the young witch and wizard settled in on an outside table at Florean Fortescue's ice cream shop for lunch. While ice cream couldn't be considered a real lunch, to Lily they were still kids, and it's not like they had ice cream every day. And in Severus' case, it was one of the benefits to having lived as an adult in his previous life, being able to eat what he wanted, when he wanted. Little things like that made life more enjoyable.

In between bites of ice cream, they would throw out names back and forth to see if the owl would take to any of them. So far all they knew was that the owl didn't approve of any Disney princess names, nor any 'common' human names.

Sighing in exasperation, Severus tried another track. "What about something cool since you don't seem to like 'girly' names? How about Talon?"

The owl looked at him piercingly for a moment, then another, and then finally bobbed her head up and down and hooting in agreement.

Severus's forehead 'thunked' into the table in resignation. "Great. My owl's a tomboy."

Now it made sense why she didn't want to be named after a princess or a flower.

Lily patted his back consolingly with one hand while finishing her ice cream with the other.

After they finished lunch they continued shopping. Severus let her run around and buy a few things while making notes of a few items out of her price range that she'd taken an interest in. He'd be sure to come back later, or get a mail order form so he could have her next birthday and Christmas presents ready to go. He wasn't the type to put up with last minute shopping nonsense for those occasions.

The last stop for them was the Apothecary. Once inside, Lily marveled at how nice the store was. The prices might have been a bit more expensive, but there was a greater variety than what was available at Slug and Jiggers.

While Lily was busy browsing the shelves, Severus had gone up to the counter to place an order. This was the other major difference in this potions shop, compared to others. They would order rare ingredients for customers as needed if they didn't have something in stock.

Sadly he didn't have enough for Re'em blood yet. He wanted to use that for the same empowerment ritual that Salazar Slytherin himself went through. Severus didn't know how, or why he'd need super strength. But he wanted it anyway.

What he was here for today, was to put in an order for dragon's blood. But not just any variety of dragon. A Hungarian Horntail. Dragon's blood is an ingredient called for in many potions, but those usually aren't breed specific, meaning you could use any type of dragon.

But Severus would only settle for the best. And while each dragon had something different that set it apart from their sub species, Chinese Fireball for their breath, Ukrainian Ironbelly for defense; the Horntail was the most magically powerful, and dangerous of any breed.

From the research notes of the Founders, he'd gathered that using such a powerful magical creature would provide a huge boost to everything all at once. Severus would be immune to nearly any kind of fire with Fiendfyre being the exception. His physical strength should also rise a noticeable level. But the real treasure was in a dragon's innate magic resistance.

But dragons are magic, and because of that, they will shrug off most offensive spells below an advanced level.

Sure, their hide confers much of their protection, that's why so many things are made from it, such as gloves for safety that all students are required to have for certain classes. 'They pretty much raise dragons like livestock'. Severus mentally snorted at his line of thinking. In fact, he was sure that the only reason they didn't dose them to the gills with draught of the living death in order to harvest renewable parts from dragons, such as blood, scales, and teeth; was for some stupid reason like it being 'inhumane' or some such moral nonsense.

The last wonderful side effect of using dragon's blood will be a boost to his own magic's growth. A wizard or witch's magic grows as they age and mature, an increase to his base magic at his current age will provide an exponential increase for the years to come. A lot like compound interest actually, and Severus preferred to work smarter, not harder.

Some people like Voldemort would use dark, sacrificial rituals, often at the expense of human lives, for just a small increase in power. The worst part was that most of those could only be used once, or in some cases, couldn't be used at all if other rituals had already been done. None of that was even taking into account all of the complicated and tedious requirements of some of them, such as the phase of the moon and stars (turns out astrology does have an impact), or how some have vague interpretations of what qualifies as an integral component, like when Voldemort needed 'blood of the enemy'.

And speaking of; interpretations are actually a huge part of almost every ritual. Take the one he did the other day for example. He had to have a clear image in his mind of what he wanted to take away from the cat, and keep a razor focus on it. If Severus wanted it, during the ritual, he could have given himself cat ears and a tail, or the senses of a cat like having slits instead of pupils that allow him to see better in the dark. All he wanted was the grace and reflexes, and that's all he got thankfully.

Severus was told the expected date of delivery for his order and thanked the clerk. It didn't actually matter when it came in for him. It would keep for a few years under stasis charms, but he had plans to use it on this year's Samhain.

On the way out, Lily picked up her own order form to look over when she got home. Severus had a feeling the red head would be up all night making lists of what ingredients are used for which potions and how much they cost.

The younger years of Hogwarts students only bought basic and plentiful ingredients that are used in most potions while they learned the proper techniques for preparation and safety. The mid to later year students got a few more for complicated potions, but by and large, most of the rare or delicate ingredients were provided by Professor Slughorn for his O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. classes.

Lily, much like Severus, was far too smart to be constrained by what was taught in the average class, and so both looked to self-study in this particular subject. Although while Lily was a natural genius, Severus had to force himself to learn more of the art of potion brewing. The original Severus had prodigious instinct when it came to potions, and thankfully that transferred over. And while he had been close to O.W.L. level before even starting Hogwarts in this branch, the new Severus wanted to accelerate the pace so he could get to the good stuff.

The two finished their shopping trip on a high note, and Lily was ready to face the knight bus this time now that she knew what to expect.

Once they were dropped off and Severus was walking Lily home, she asked him if he wanted to stay for dinner.

He politely declined. It was still early afternoon and he was more mentally drained from his trip with Lily than when he goes on a research and plotting binge.

The raven haired boy walked home with Talon in her cage in his arms. "Today was a good day."

Talon hooted in agreement.

Severus planned to take the rest of the evening off, he'd put off and write a response back to Narcissa in the morning.

A/N: Fun fact, the Knight Bus was first implemented in 1865. Also, when I started this story, I really stressed over how much to make the magical currency worth compared to its mundane counterpart. I really wish I'd just picked arbitrary numbers now. I had to go back and double check to make sure I was being consistent. But, on a happy accident, the bus trip ended up being under two pounds per person. Which I think is right for the time period... Pretty sure... I don't feel like looking it up.

A/N2: I know that Andromeda was supposed to be the middle sister, not the eldest. But I've already tweaked a few people's ages for this story a little bit to make it all fit. For this story, Andromeda graduated the year before Severus started Hogwarts, and immediately eloped with Ted Tonks.

A/N3: I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. It sat at like 6,500 words for a week before I finally finished it today. Some readers whom I'm talking to have suggested I shorten the chapter lengths to around half what they normally are so I can update more often. I like that idea and I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks too. Are these chapters too long, just right, or not long enough? Let me know. As always, thank you all for reading. See you next time.

A/N4: I don't know why, but when I posted this chapter everything was in italics. That was kind of annoying. I had to highlight and un-italics everything, then meticulously go through and reapply it where it belonged.

A/N5: Getting real tired of having to put more author notes post updating. But I logged in today to find that for some reason reviews aren't showing up. I've looked at some of the forums and boards, and most are along the lines of 'It's just a glitch that happens, wait it out and eventually they'll show up'. Luckily I'm getting email notifications of them so I am reading them. Thank you.