Disclaimer: These characters belong to J.K. Rowling and are not mine. You know the drill.

A/N- Thanks to all who reviewed.

Power in All its Glory

Chapter 2: Meditation

Severus Snape sat in his office meditating.

He took slow deep breaths in and out, clearing his mind of all thought.

Meditation had helped him through many years of being a Death Eater. It not only helped prepare him for the Dark Revels and his other Death Eater duties (and his duties as a spy) but had also helped him block out his pain from the many curses Voldemort threw at him when he was not pleased. Even worse were the memories of what he had done and seen while in the Dark Lord's service. Meditation had helped keep him sane through all of that.

However, it was not a Dark Revel that he was preparing for.

It was his seventh year Potion's class.

In some ways, this was worse. During the first six years, his students were stupid, inexperienced, and easily intimidated. By their seventh year, they had more knowledge, skill, and courage. In short, they thought they knew it all and believed that they were invincible. This was a very dangerous combination. They took more risks, and their mistakes had greater consequences. As he had learned in working with potions, there was no room for error.

He took a deep breath. It was very important to have control of your mind and your body.

And your heart.

The thought crept in.

It was getting harder and harder to clear his mind these days. He had to admit to himself the real reason for his intense meditation before class. It was not the many foolhardy seventh year students he would be facing in another fifteen minutes. It was the one know-it-all female that had the Death Eater turned spy, terrified.

Pain, fear, anger.

These were all emotions he was comfortable with. In a way, they were his friends and had kept him company for many years.

Now she was introducing him to feelings he was not used to. He knew they were there inside him, but they were atrophied, like muscles unused for many years. These emotions of love, happiness, and of needing someone else were foreign to him. And like unused muscles, the flexing of these feelings was causing him a great deal of pain.

Professor Snape looked at his hourglass. Soon it would be time. He always waited until the students were in the classroom before swooping in. He had heard the mutterings from other staff members that he was a bit of a Drama Queen. Whatever that meant. (He assumed it was a muggle phrase.) What they did not understand was that it was necessary to create an impression upon these students. They learned to fear him and even hate him. He had intimidation down to an art form. This was what he understood the best: fear, intimidation, and hate. These emotions made sense to him. These were the core ingredients in his relationship with the students at Hogwarts. Until recently.

He thought back to the events over the last few weeks. Someone had embarrassed him, humiliated him, and made a fool of him. The worst part was he still had no idea who had done it.

Unfortunately, it resulted in the students not taking him as seriously as before. Even though the reverse-love potion had worn off, he still had several females looking at him in a new light.

Including Professor McGonagall.

He had his suspicions, however, that she was just toying with him for her own amusement.

She definitely needed a hobby.

Actually, none of the students were taking him seriously. The words of the muggle song he had hummed while under the influence of the potion had been leaked to the whole school. He frequently had students humming the tune around him and then giggling. Some brave students actually broke out into song.

They regretted their behavior, of course, when they were serving detention with Filch. Although he originally had them serve detention with him, there were so many that he turned them over to Filch. The man was overjoyed to be able to punish the students, and Snape was worried he was going to actually hug him when he gave him the news.

The worse by far was having to endure the presence of Miss Granger. Not because she laughed at him, or because she made fun of him, but because she told him that she loved him. He did not know what to think or feel. He was happy, angry, and frustrated all at the same time.

There goes that pain again. Damn her!

Breathe in. Breathe out. Meditate.

He survived the Dark Lord. He could survive a certain infuriating, but enticing, Gryffindor. It was with this resolve that he swooped into his seventh year Potions class.