Disclaimer: Sadly, Harry Potter and all his friends belong to J.K. Rowling. I just borrowed some to play a prank on them. xD
This is a story for a friend of mine. She told me she looked for something like that (xD) and was happy not finding it. So I had to write a story about it xDD.
Warning: hints of slash (Just a little bit.)
Something in his mind.
The night was dark. Outside the castle a storm was howling and the trees were bowed to the wind. Some of the howling willow's branches had broken and were lying on the ground, waiting for Hagird to put them away. But not that day. Not that day, when a storm like that was blowing raindrops as huge as snitches through the blackened sky.
That day, the lessons outside were cancelled and because of that the classes ended early. In their free time, the most of the students stayed in their houses or in the library, so no-on was in the floors, when a slim, slightly creepy looking figure rushed through them. The mouse-grey hair of the figure was unkempt and long and the figure seemed to go bald. Next to the figure was a cat, no, not just A cat – THE cat. The only cat every student of Hogwarts was afraid of. Mrs Norris. So the figure next to her was Argus Filch. And he was on a mission.
Normally, his mission would be chasing students through the castle, punishing them for their wrong-doing or ambushing them. But that day, it wasn't. That day was a special day. A very special day. And because of that, the caretaker had been extra careful while choosing his cloth. He had been thinking a lot about them and was wearing, because of this, a suit. Yeah, a real suit. A little crumpled, a little torn and a little old, but it was a suit - a brown suit with a white, a little filthy shirt and a blue, violet necktie. Not really nice so see, but the caretaker had taken a lot of effort to look so… good.
He had to, it WAS a special day after all.
So the caretaker strode through the castle, nearly running because he was a little bit late that day. He strode to the entrance with the gargoyle, stopped there and took a deep breath before whispering the password.
"Lemondrops", he whispered and the gargoyle opened the entrance for him. The stairs took long to bring him on the top to the door he was longing for. Oh, he had been longing for this all day and night the last fifty years. And now, now, now he was getting what he was longing for!
When the stairs stopped at the door, and Filch knocked, some rustling could be heard, and then a soft voice, calling him in.
Filch looked down to the cat next to him.
"From now on, adults only, my dear one", he said, "wait here for me."
Argus Filch knew Mrs Norris would do what he was telling her. She would let him go.
Another deep breath taking and a last time combing through his hair with his fingers, and after that, Filch was opening the door to Albus Dumbledore's room.
He went in.
Albus Dumbledore was standing in front of his desk, waiting for him. Waiting for him to arrive.
Filch closed the door and locked it. His hands still on the doorknob, he stopped.
Then a sheepishly smile showed on his face.
"Albus" he said, nodding to greet the headmaster.
The answer was a bride smile. It was so bright like the sun and Argus Filch nearly had to close his eyes because it was blinding him.
"Argus, my dear one" Albus said, still smiling and leaning on his desk.
"I…" Argus Filch stopped, not sure how to continue.
"Yes?"
"I…" He took again a deep breath. "I wish you a happy birthday."
"Thank you, my dear one" Albus answered while lifting an eyebrow. "Why are you greeting me from the door. What's with my birthday kiss?"
Smiling happily the caretaker let go of the doorknob. He strode to the headmaster, leaning forward with puckered lips while looking on the headmaster's mouth where he would place that kiss.
With a scream loud enough to wake up Snape in the dungeons, Albus Dumbledore awoke from his dream. His nightmare, to say it correctly. Sitting up in his bed, he covered his lips, looking around in his room, searching for the caretaker. He was not there. Of course he wasn't, this was Albus' bedroom after all. Gasping for breath it took a while to calm down enough so that Albus knew, what he needed now.
So Albus Dumbledore stood up, got dressed with his sapphire blue dressing gown and left his bedroom. With flying steps he left his private rooms and escaped to the kitchen of the castle. The kitchen was empty, as always in the middle of the night but that was all right. Dumbledore took a cup out of one of the cupboards and set a cauldron with water on the fire. After that he started to look for the chocolate.
He was still not calm enough that his fingers weren't shaking any more, but he guessed, he soon would be.
"Headmaster" Albus fingers lost his grip and chocolate bar and cup dropped. A shattering sound told him, that the cup had broken.
A sighting behind him, then the cup repaired itself.
"You're okay?"
The voice was soft, softer than any student had ever heard it.
It took a moment for the headmaster to answer that question. "I am, Severus, I am."
The potion master lifted an eyebrow.
"You are." It was not a question, but Albus could hear, that the young wizard didn't believe him a bit.
"I am" he said. "I just had something on my mind so I didn't hear you coming."
"You had." The same tone as before.
"I…"
"You must have a lot on your mind – and a lot scary things it must be, to wake me in the dungeons with your screaming."
"I wasn't screaming. I was just… just thinking in my rooms."
"You weren't" Snape's voice was soft again. "I'm nearly sure I really heard you scream."
"When you would have heard, Minerva would be here with you now."
That argument was something Snape couldn't deny.
"So you had just something on your mind. And that something did't let you scream and it wasn't scary at all." Snape clearly didn't believe him.
"Yeah… yeah… it is a lot. And it WAS scary."
The answer of the potion master was that he took the hot water from the fire, filled the headmaster's cup and put the chocolate in. After that he gave it to Albus, while pushing him to a chair to sit down. Without looking and with a tip of his want he filled himself another cup of hot chocolate and sat down in front of the headmaster.
"What are you doing?" Albus asked bewildered. He knows that Snape never drinks hot chocolate. He even guessed, that the potion master hated this drink.
"I wait 'till you have cleared that something from your mind" the potion master answered while sipping on his drink. He grimaced and took another sip.
"How can you drink that every time you 'have something on your mind'?"
"I like it. It calms me down" the headmaster answered.
"Does it?" With this, the potion master drank again.
"Yeah."
"Then drink."
And the headmaster took a sip. The chocolate tasted bitter sweet. It was a little too less from it in the cup, so the drink tasted a little bit of water, but it was all right. After all, there was not every time a potion master who made him some hot chocolate and stayed with him until he was able to stop shaking.
"Thank you for coming" he said.
"You have woken me up. I wouldn't have been able to sleep again."
Both of Snape's sentences were a lie, but Albus Dumbledore was happy, that someone cared for him - even if it was a night owl potion master who had a magical sensor on the kitchen door to hear when the headmaster was taking another round to the kitchen after a nightmare.
But after all, no-one could chose his friends.
Please review. I would like to know what you think about it.