A/N- Not sure yet whether to keep this as is, or to expand upon the story. Severus is slightly OC, but this is AUish anyway.

The boy of fifteen sat up, gazing into the world of white. Slowly that world shifted, formed, a potions lab, much like the one at his school, came into focus. He groaned, brushing his messy black hair out of his face, pondering whether he had fallen asleep working again. He pushed himself up, hoping against hope that the potions professor would not appear. Although he liked Professor Anglar, the man did not believe in experimenting or creating. He was all about cut and dry instructions and not trying to better the potions. Albus disagreed with him. Albus liked to experiment, he liked to create, and above all else, he loved to challenge past notions. He gazed around the lab, wandering over toward a cauldron. He glanced down at the sizzling liquid with a frown. This was not the pain potion he had been trying to brew. This was something else entirely. He glanced at the next table, where another potion brewed, with a frown. He had only been brewing one potion, for Professor Anglar did not like him alone in the lab, and trying to brew more than one made it more likely that he would get caught.

A tall man with greasy black hair and a long nose lounged against the doorway. He watched the young boy, the boy who looked, at least from here, similar to himself. To be in Summerland, the child must be dead...but he didn't seem dead. Perhaps he was not in Summerland, but somehow called here, to this room of the boy's creation. His too, perhaps, as some of those potions looked oddly familiar. But to be here, in this room, the boy must at least be unconscious. Severus Snape raised an eyebrow, watching the boy poke around the cauldron. Foolish child might get himself hurt, or worse, messing with things he did not comprehend. To be harmed here could adversely effect the world outside of where ever here happened to be. "Ahem."

Albus spun around, one hand a mere inch away from a bubbling cauldron of nasty green liquid and the other reaching for his wand. Severus gasped, staring into those green eyes. He knew those eyes, but it couldn't be. It couldn't be. That was years ago. "Who are you?" Albus sputtered. "I? I think I should be asking you that, boy. Meddling in someone elses lab. Foolishly playing like all your nasty friends." "You aren't Professor Anglar." Albus shrugged, glancing back at the potion. "Professor.. Ah Anglar, the dolt. How he made Master I will never know. I heard he took over my classroom after Slughorn retired, but then you must be from Hogwarts. Name?" Severus raised an eyebrow, smirking as he watched the boy's expression. "From? Well, I guess that explains why my potion disappeared. Where are we then?" Albus replied causally, easily avoiding the question about who he was. Severus eyes traveled to the boy's forehead then back to his eyes. 'Well, at least not that brat.' He thought, schooling his features into his usual scowl. "Answer me." "I am Albus. Albus Potter." He sighed, turning back toward the potion. "Get away from there!" Severus snapped, grabbing the boy's wrist before he could stir the cauldron, almost as if the boy was doing it without thinking. "Of course you are a Potter. Brave, foolish, idiotic Potters. Never thinking before they act. That potion could be dangerous. Without knowing what has already been done to it, stirring it more could ruin it! Or worse!" Severus scolded, glaring at the boy. "Potters are not idiotic! Well, minus my brother of course. But he tries." Albus retorted, returning the glare with one of his own. "Who are you? What do you know of my family?"

"I? I am Severus Snape." Albus blinked, frowning at the man. He squinted at him for a moment, then merely nodded. "Of course. You do bear a resemblance to your portrait. Or rather, it resembles you. So you are the great Severus Snape. My father spoke well of you." "Ha. I doubt Harry Potter spoke well of me. I knew your father boy." Severus snorted, a very un-Severus snort. Albus merely laughed. "He did. He once told me that I was named after two great headmasters of Hogwarts. One was the greatest wizard of all time. The other was the bravest man he ever knew, and that's saying something for dad. Albus Severus Potter. Al to my friends though. Albus is just...old."

"Potter named you after me?" Severus snapped, outraged at the guts of the brat-who-lived, and more than a little bit pleased, if he dared to admit it to himself. Al merely shrugged. "He said that I am a lot like you. Even if I had been in Gryffindor, he says I would still be like you." "How? How can you, a brat of Potter's, be anything like me? I was a great Potion Master, a practitioner of the Dark Arts, and a loyal servant of the Dark Lord." Severus scowled, bewildered. "You forgot a fighter of the Dark Arts and last I heard, you were loyal to Dumbledore, not Voldemort. Actually, you betrayed the 'Dark Lord'.' Al smirked, raising in eyebrow at Severus. Severus froze, the uncanny resemblance in attitude and wit shocking to him. "If you are not a Gryffindor, may I ask which house you do belong to?" He asked quietly, contemplating the boy before him. "Slytherin." "And your father was fine with that?" "He said that Slytherin gained a great wizard and that not all wizards who were housed in Slytherin were bad. Many of them were great wizards." Al shrugged again, tired with the conversation and wanting desperately to explore the potions around him. To create without restrictions. He did pause briefly though. "Am I dead?" "No. Merely unconscious or in a sort of dreamlike state. I assume you will stay in this state for a while." Severus replied, frowning at the boy's seemingly disinterest in his own well being. "Good. More time without Angler down my back." Al grinned, turning to a slightly pink brew. Severus watched the boy for a moment before waving his wand and muttering an incantation. "Hey!" Al snapped, glaring into the now empty cauldron. "Why? Why did you vanish them? I want to learn! To explore! To create! Not to recite the same instructions over and over. I want to change the world of potions! Not just be another boring follower!" The boy ranted, glaring at Severus. Severus met his gaze easily, waiting for the boy to finish his rage. "Are you quite done?" Al nodded, stamping his foot in frustration. "Really! I would expect such behaviour from a child, not from someone who wishes to be a potions master. Not someone who wants to enchant minds and ensnare souls." Severus drawled dryly. Al blushed, gazing down at his feet. "You want to create, explore, and expand. But you cannot do that alone or without guidance. You are a mere child, Albus. One wrong ingredient can cause a poisonous draft or mass explosion, much like the one that landed you here. If you will obey me to the letter, I will help you brew. If I believe you are ready, of course." Al glanced up at him, his bright green eyes gleaming with hope. "Come. Show me what you can do." Severus ordered in a softer voice, silently pleased that his namesake might become a great potions master.