Chapter One
Monday
Snape paced back and forth in the his rooms, ignoring the ticking clock beside him that warned him he wasn't running on schedule. By now he should be leaving for breakfast, but today that could all be ignored.
Snape needed control over his actions. Ever since binding himself to the Dark Lord and then after tying himself to Dumbledore, Snape had been at the mercy of others' commands. Find out this, kill them, brew this, teach him, the demands were endless but it was nothing more than he deserved. When you got to the crux of the matter, both decisions- joining the Dark Lord and Dumbledore- had been his own. No one had forced him to comply.
That was why Snape controlled what parts of his life he could. He controlled whether he brushed his teeth first or had a shower before, he decided if the Order's potions should be brewed before those for the Hospital Wing, he dictated when homework was given and what it was.
He.
And even his own body would not stand between him and the order he had created. So when the morning suddenly snapped into existence twenty minutes before he had planned to wake, giving him twenty minutes to fill and twenty minutes less of sleep, Snape was quick to find the point of disturbance. As it was, the problem seemed…strange, to say the least.
Racing pulse, uncontrollable sweating, rash covering the lower abdomen tapering off just under ribs, dilated pupils and throbbing migraine. Snape catalogued his symptoms. The worst of them was the rash. In fact, he believed it to be the cause of his earlier rising. The rash covered his entire stomach, reaching around and continuing across his lower back. It was blazing with heat and Snape had to quench the urge to jump straight back into the shower, turn the taps to freezing and bask in it. After a while though, the heat would become a bearable background pain. That was what he hoped, anyway.
If it was just the heat then perhaps he wouldn't have woken up, but coupled with the inane desire to scratch himself it was too much for him. He restrained himself by clenching and unclenching his fists. The movement however was causing his cold hands to become sore and soon Snape was also suffering from cramps in his hands.
Snape massaged his hands, trying to work the cramps out. He succeeded but realized that his hands would be sore for most of the day.
Snape sighed in annoyance and ceased his pacing. He wasn't a healer although he did have a rudimentary knowledge in the art. All he knew was that he was ill and it didn't seem to be something that would conveniently disappear. He pursed his lips as he worked through his options and found that the only one that was best involved including another person.
He had no choice in the matter: an appointment with Pomfrey would have to be arranged. Idly catching himself scratching his stomach Snape scowled. A meeting would be needed as soon as possible.
The chiming of the clock broke him out of his musings, but Snape's scowl deepened as he saw that there were only fifteen minutes left until breakfast was no longer served. Officially there was no need for him to go, he only had to be present for seven out of the many meals served during the week, to ensure that there was always a number of teachers watching over the students as they ate. Unofficially the Headmaster had made it clear in his twinkling way that breakfast was a compulsory event. Unless, of course, one was taking an extra rest after spending the night bowing down to a crazed mad man. There were a few other exceptions to the Must-Attend-Breakfast rule; supervising detentions or oversleeping to name a few, but neither was an excuse for him. Dumbledore would know he had no detentions to supervise, and Severus Snape sleep in? The idea was laughable.
The door slammed shut behind him as Snape exited his private rooms and entered into the Potions classroom. He took a quick glance around making sure everything was ready for the first class of the day; first year Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. A surprisingly quiet class.
His robes made the usual swishing noises as they billowed behind him- he wouldn't admit to anyone how long it had taken him to perfect that. It was childish perhaps but it gave his person that little bit extra.
As he entered the Great Hall, Snape veered to the left, to walk down the side of the Slytherin table. He looked over the members of his House as he strode past. Most of them were calmly eating their food, some had obviously already finished and were spending the remainder of the meal talking with the people around them. Snape approved. His House was pleasant to look at and well behaved. Unlike the Gryffindors. Glancing over at them Snape noticed at least ten students standing up, many more throwing their hands all over the place to empathize a point they were making and others were indiscriminately pulling food towards them and stuffing themselves.
Well, perhaps that might be a small exaggeration, but in contrast to the Slytherins – even the rest of the school - the Gryffindors were loud, annoying and had trouble closing their mouths while chewing.
Snape looked away from Ron Weasley in disgust.
Climbing the steps that would lead up to the Staff table Snape noticed someone sitting in his seat. All he could see was the top of a head, with a mop of dirty blonde hair tied back into a high ponytail. A woman then.
Standing behind her, he caught sight of her hands. They too were pale like his, though the fingers were shorter and pudgier.
"I couldn't believe my ears! 'Miss! You're wrong!' Of course I did the usual narrowing my eyes and glaring at him - by the way, have you noticed most children start coughing uncontrollably when you glare at them? Mm? Anyway, some of the class were looking at him as if he was right and the rest thought he was bonkers. And do you know why I was 'wrong'?" The loud affronted voice paused. "Apparently, oh you are not going to believe this! Apparently those Muggles have said - and how they even decided this is beyond me, their 'scientists' have said Pluto isn't a planet! Yeah." she huffed. "I. I don't even know what to say. Well, I just told him that that's great Kayne - and seriously, these Muggleborn names are getting crazier every year. I had a girl called Peaches and another called Bubbles. Pfft, do these parents have a really warped sense of humour? Anyway, I told him that in the Muggle world Pluto may be a moon, but here," the word was emphasized with a jab at the table, "here, in this world, for their exams, here they will and†have to†let Pluto be the planet it is!" The woman finished her speech with a satisfied sigh and lent back, popping a piece of bacon into her mouth.
"While that was certainly an...entertaining story and I am overjoyed I was able to be here to hear it, I'd rather you keep your story-telling to your seat." Snape looked down balefully at the woman who had jumped and was now gazing back at him with wide blue eyes.
Blue eyes that were now looking panicked. She began wheezing and looked frightened. "Can't -" she began choking, making loud gasping noises and was attracting attention from the rest of the staff and students, " -breathe."
Snape stood there staring at her, thrown for a moment, before moving into action. He leant over her and smacked his hand against her back, using the side of his hand for maximum force.
The bacon flew out of her mouth, no longer obstructing her breathing.
The bacon flew straight into Snape's face.
They both watched each other for a moment, the woman nervous and mortified, Snape expressionless.
"Leave. My. Seat. Sinistra." Each word was said plainly, without anger.
The lack of expression and anger worried Sinistra even more and she was quick to leap out of the chair and excuse herself. "Well, um, ah, thank you Professor Snape. Ah, if you'll excuse me, it's bedtime for me now!" She gave a nervous laugh. "Bye." She weakly waved and walked away speedily.
Snape ignored her retreating figure and sat down, also ignoring the looks he was getting. Using a napkin he wiped the side of his face before accepting a clean plate from Professor Vector, who was seated to his left.
"Terribly sorry about that Snape, it's my fault; I asked her to tell me the story and we didn't have time to eat breakfast and then talk after, and well, you know Aurora, she'd forget the story by lunch." Professor Vector offered his apologies.
"Judging by how offended she was, I doubt she'll forget it by lunch. Dinner perhaps." With that Snape began eating, and said nothing else during the meal.
I would like to thank VickyVicarious (.net/u/1529434/VickyVicarious) for being my beta. This does of course mean that if you have a problem with any of the SP&G you may contact her through her profile and let her know. I'm sure she would appreciate it.
Personally, I would appreciate any reviews you would like to give, even if it is 'hey, I'm reading your story!!'
What can I say? I like reviews.
The next chapter will be posted on Tuesday, either the 30th or the 6th. After that there will be one chapter posted per a week.
Sarah.
