A/n: Sorry about the lack of Author's note the previous chapter, in a hurry to post I forgot to write it. As it were, this is my second attempt at a Harry Potter fanfic and I realize this is not an easy fan base to write for. Details, names dates and times, occurrences are almost impossible to remember how to spell not to mention who they are in the book. The only thing I ask you to take into consideration while you read this is the idea that Severus was not always so controlled and solid. I imagine he grew to be that way after Lily's death. So for the first few years Severus will have a large temper, be an emotional rainbow as he grows and mourns Lily and their memories together. I also ask you help me with names. In the first chapter I realize I was spelling Lily's name wrong half way through. If I misspell another name please tell me. Otherwise I will be drawing from both the books and the movies and intend to mainly focus on Severus's P.O.V as well as Harry's when he comes to the right age. Since this is my fanfiction there will be some inconsistencies with books and movies and I mean no disrespect to either the Author J.K. Rowling or the large amount of people who helped to create the movies.
On a separate note, I have NO CLUE if this will be slash or not. I marked this as M because there will be violence, instances of mental instability and several occasions of sexuality (mostly in dreams).
IF this turns into a slash I will let you know but as of now I do not plan for that.
Another note, there will be a few Dumbledore Severus sense but none are meant to be slashy either.
Please read and enjoy.
Chapter Two
Hogwarts my Acquaintance
A warm breeze blew in through the large window that Severus sat next to. He did not have anything with him, save the small black back that hung from his waist. His black cloak hung around him like death as his miserable face looked out the window. He was pale and the dark circles under his eyes showed his lack of sleep, his long thin fingers shaking as he tapped them on his knee.
Being in a place like this made his heart heavy, the ach in his chest was making him dizzy at times. How long would it take to stop mourning like a child? Severus knew life wasn't fair, but the amount of time he had spent crying, or throwing things about, taking long walks and then laying in bed for hours with out truly feeling anything but guilt and remorse, it was maddening.
He saw a dark brown owl fly by the window and a sudden memory came to his mind. His knuckles turned white as he fisted the edge of his cloak in frustration, trying to stop the memory from surfacing.
"But Sev, with out love life just isn't worth living." Lily laughed as she allowed him to push her on the swing.
"Love, my parents don't love each other and they don't love me. I don't think love is an emotion that everyone can feel."
Lily jumped from the swing and fell to her knees rolling down the hill near by. Severus quickly ran after her laughing as she came to a stop and lay looking up at the pale blue sky, "Sev, everyone can feel love for someone or something."
"Could I love you?" Severus asked giving her a hopeful smile.
Lily cocked her head to the side and stood holding her hand out to him, the boy took it greedily and Lily giggled, "The love shared between friends is one of the best kinds!"
The two ran off towards the rest of the playground, Severus with a real smile on his face for the first time in a long time.
"Professor Snape?"
Severus came back from the memory and breathed out heavily, he looked up at the older witch before him. He quickly centered himself and gave a twitch of a smile, "Please forgive me, I have recently… I am not myself today." He stopped himself from sharing too much. Severus had decided it was time he change his personality, drawing himself inward he sat up straighter, "I am not a professor yet, you can call me Severus Professor McGonagall."
"None sense, when you sign this you will officially become a teacher at this school. You will also be the head of the house of Slytherine. I expect you to give me a list of your own house rules within the week and to have your curriculum for your classes drawn up and handed in as well."
McGonagall seemed just as tight and hard as she was when Severus was in school. He remembered the day they had been sorted and how mad he had been to be separated from Lily; he had begged McGonagall to switch him to Gryffindor after the feast that first night. Of course she had refused saying that the Sorting Hats decisions were final.
He had sat on his four-post bed, knees to his chest looking at the other sleeping boys. He had never felt so alone but the next day Lily had found him at breakfast and asked if he would want to eat breakfast outside with her. Lily had been such a lifesaver. She hadn't turned on him just because they had been sorted into different houses.
"As it were, you may call me Minerva when we are not in front of the students and I shall call you Severus as well. Formality between teachers is saved for when we are in front of the students." There was a silence for a moment as Severus nodded and leaned forward to sign the parchment that was before him.
He then stood and pulled his cloak tighter; he was always cold these days despite the sun burning brightly. As he turned to leave with out saying anything to McGonagall he heard her make a noise and a turned back, "Severus… I don't know what you have been through, but as it is… I am sorry for your lose."
The man couldn't bring himself to thank her, he did manage a nod as he turned and strode out the door of her office. He was only four or so large strides away when once again McGonagall stopped him, her head was leaning out of her office door as she called, "Don't forget to stop in and see Dumbledore, he always wants to speak with the new teachers! I am sure you remember the way Severus, the password is Gumdrop!"
Severus didn't look back as he moved quickly down the hall. It took him a moment to remember where to go, it had been so long since he had been in this school. The frustration was growing and Severus had to clutch his fist to keep his temper under control. He stopped a moment as he turned down another hall and cursed as he looked down each hallway as his mind started to sizzle.
And you wonder why Potter seemed the better option to Lily… you can't even find your way through the God forsaken castle!
Hr tried to hush the voice that was crawling up into his brain. Severus had several moments of further inward struggle before he finally breathed in a sigh of relief as he found the giant golden gargoyle that lead to Dumbledore's room.
Severus spoke the password and took a deep breath as he stepped onto the first stair and rose up. He waited a moment and then walked up to the big wooden door and knocked. There was no response and Severus grew agitated, he pushed the door open and came to see the office was empty.
Stepping in the door the young man looked around and realized it hadn't changed a bit; there was absolutely no difference. The night he had apparated outside the office door it had been dark. Severus hadn't been able to see much of anything. But now he gazed at the walls and shelves covered from floor to the endless ceiling with bits and pieces and knicks and knacks and thingy's and doohickeys and just about any other silly word to describe junk.
On the perch behind the large desk sat Faux and the bird stared at him suspiciously.
A pressure in his head made him raise his hands to his eyes as he leaned against a very familiar wall and took in a deep breath.
"Mr. Snape, Miss. Evans, I sincerely hope that neither of you were responsible for what happened at dinner tonight. Mr. Potter's goblet wouldn't have exploded like that with out a very complex spell put upon it. I dare say the one who did it could be in very serious trouble." Came Dumbledore's soft and gentle voice from behind the desk.
Severus looked to see Lily's eyes were red and guilty and terrified. He knew what he had to do.
"It was me sir… I did it. Lily tried to stop me, but James had shoved passed us and knocked Lily over today. He didn't even help her pick up her things… I thought… I just wanted to…please don't punish her because I misbehaved." Severus said looking at her then at his feet.
Dumbledore stared at the two and then gentle clapped his hands together, "Mr. Snape, fifty points will be taken from Slytherine and you will serve two weeks detention with Professor McGonagall. I hope there won't be any more disturbances this year from either of you."
The two nodded and ran from the office completely missing the older man's smiles as he chuckled at them.
"You didn't have to do that Severus." Lily had said as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Potter deserved it, he was rude and always seems to tease you in the worst ways."
"He is just immature but I wasn't talking about the exploding goblet. I meant you didn't have to take the whole punishment."
Severus was stopped as Lily pulled on his arm and the young boy turned to her, "Come on Lil, I wasn't going to let you take the blame. You had nothing to do with it."
"But I gave you the idea… it was my idea you just carried it out."
"Lily, you will never have to take punishment for anything as long as we are together. I will always be here to protect you. Even if it's just from McGonagall's detentions."
Lily smiled and as she often did wrapped her arm through his and leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked towards the Great Hall.
"I am so lucky to have a friend like you Sev."
"Friend." Severus said softly as he came back from his memories, he still stared at the very spot he had stood with Lily so long ago. How he wished he could have made her understand. That hadn't been a silly childish comment that had been a promise. He would always protect her, and yet somehow Lily was dead. He had failed her in so many ways and now-
"Ah Severus, it is good to see you here. I am elated you took up my offer to be on the staff here at Hogwarts." Dumbledore had appeared out of nowhere and Severus tightly pulled in his flooding emotions. He fought back the tears that had just about surfaced and suddenly he realized he was still leaning against the wall. He shoved himself up and stood straight with his hands behind his back.
Dumbledore crossed to him and circled once slowly mumbling as he did so. Severus felt his heart start to speed up, he remembered the day the Dark Lord had sized him up like this. Right before he had had the dark mark burned into his flesh and despite the obvious change of scenery that slow circle made Severus want to cringe. He stood firm though and waited as he had done when Voldamort had been the predator.
Dumbledore was a different predator because he wasn't looking for weakness or for anything that may have made Severus unworthy, oh no, he was looking for what made Severus human, he was looking for Severus's soul.
Holding firm and not allowing the man to spook him Severus cleared his throat and Dumbledore came to stand before him.
"McGonagall asked me to come and see you. She seemed to think you enjoy meeting your new staff members despite the fact we have met many times before."
"Oh yes! Tradition dear boy it's just tradition. I like to welcome each teacher individually and ask if they should require anything while they stay here. Liquorish wand?"
Severus shook his head and did not say anything; he simply stood and stared at the man. Silence rang true as Severus was looking for that satisfactory gleam in the old wizard's eye so he could dismiss himself.
"A good start would be, perhaps, a personal potions chamber? Surely you do not want to work on your own personal brews in the class room." Dumbledore said. It would seem the man wasn't going to let him leave until Severus asked for something.
Remaining silent Dumbledore approached the young man and placed both hands on his shoulders. "Severus, I don't expect you to grow comfortable here overnight. This type of thing is rather outside your usual place of existence. However, help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who need it. If you change your mind and desire anything, my dear boy, you tell me and it shall be done. I am here to help you and to give you any advice you might need."
Dumbledore turned his back and headed towards his desk as Severus reluctantly spoke up, "Perhaps a…" Severus stopped as his eyes fell on to that damn spot a few feet away.
The old man waited, staring at the dark eyes of the man who had suddenly grown pale and shaky, "Nothing, I will tell you if I require anything further." Severus turned and headed towards the door.
"Oh and Severus, I would ask you to come back here after dinner so that we can discuss a few things about the beginning of the school year yes? Once you have settled in and eaten something?"
Severus gave a curt nod and removed himself quickly from the room. After a moment of hesitation he glanced back up the stairs and shook his head. He had never really needed anything from anyone. He wouldn't start begging like a peasant and he sure as hell would not ask for help from Albus Dumbledore. In so many ways he hated that man, the man who let Lily die. But at the same time, he hated himself because he was also to blame; his blind ignorance of the situations that had unfolded could not be barred from his memory forever. Eventually Severus would have to pay for his sins.
OOOO
Severus had been in his personal chambers; the only thing that had been in them at first was a shabby bed, a few cupboards and a closet. The fireplace was nice and big and would produce an obscene amount of heat. In the dungeons however, heat was in short supply. The room was spacious but in no way was it fancy nor did it show any sign of sophistication. Severus would have to redo this entire place.
The personal bathroom and a tiny kitchen were off down a very short corridor and Severus couldn't imagine what he would need that ridiculous looking kitchen for anyway. Pulling his wand from out of his sleeve Severus muttered a few words and the kitchen vanished. With another wave of his hand the bathroom was extended into the now empty kitchen area. His bathroom was large now and he would have more then enough room for his potions and other hygienic items.
The room seemed a bit larger too; it was rather humorous to think of how easily the castle could change according to the nature of the person residing in it. Severus was surprised the whole bloody thing hadn't capsized right off the side of its perch and crumbled into the lake. With the corridors shifting and the staircases changing and everything else, perhaps it was only a matter of time.
It took him only an hour to retrieve all of his belongings from his small pouch. Severus having placed an extension charm on it, found most of his belongings filled the room quickly as his wand and some simple magic did most of the work. Turning to the bed, Severus gave one last quick flick and suddenly a large four-post bed took the elder ones place. The blanket's deep emerald green seemed to be the only color in the room and the silver details sewn into the edges shined in the dim light. He set his pouch on a near by table and left heading to his office to see what he would have to look forward to for the next fifty years or so.
Perhaps that was presumptuous but Severus couldn't help feeling that Dumbledore wanted to make this a permanent situation. It was very rare to have a teacher at Hogwarts for only a year or two but who knew what waited for Severus in the future.
Severus arrived at his office and noticed that there were a lot of items left behind from Professor Slughorn. He would have to go through everything and take inventory so he knew what was here and what he would need to purchase. A sudden feeling of fatigue came over him and Severus decided he would have to tackle this task later. He glanced around the office again and realized just how messy it was, he would have to clean this place out as quickly as possible. There was a rustle from a pile of crimpled papers on the floor and Severus didn't even bother to wonder. He strode from the office rather put out.
As he walked down the hall, not sure what he should do he heard rushed footsteps behind him and turned to see the medi-wizard Madam Pomfrey hurrying towards him.
"Oh Professor excuse me! I have been looking all over for you!" She looked slightly flushed but her eyes were warm and her smile was kind so he stopped and gave a small bow, "Madam Pomfrey, what can I do for you?"
"Oh please, call me Poppy!" The medi-witch said with a small laugh. Severus gave her a soft look as he waited, the woman stared at him a moment before regaining her composure, "Dear me, I am so excited for the children to come I have forgotten myself. I was wondering, well it is, you see Horace that is to say Professor Slughorn used to brew my medi-potions for me… I was wondering if I were to reimburse you for your troubles… perhaps you would consider… its just there are so many children and sometimes I run short…and Dumbledore said you were quite talented…"
"It would be my pleasure to help you take care of the children whilst I am at the school Poppy." Severus said with another slight bow of his head.
Poppy's smile spread across her face and she seemed to relax a bit. "Oh that is wonderful of you Severus. I am relieved. I was worried I would never make enough sleeping draught. A lot of the first years have a hard time sleeping away from home and they flood in almost nightly for the first few weeks."
"Anything I can do to help." Severus said trying to keep his face expressionless and his voice calm.
"Wonderful! I will have a list prepared for you sometime this week and if you require any help just let me know!" Poppy sounded grateful and Severus gave a third and final bow of his head as he turned to go.
"Oh, one more thing!"
Severus reluctantly stopped and realized that this was the third time a professor had stopped him as he tried to walk away. Severus slowly turned to look at the woman and gave his very best effort to not curse her.
"The night before the students arrive on the train we have a little get together, the other teachers and I. If you would like to come… well… we would love to see you there."
The invitation was friendly and Severus could tell her offer was genuine. He did not want to agree since he had no desire to go. Instead he gave a small smirk and said, "If I get all of my work done for my classes, and of course if I can get all your medi-potions brewed I will most definitely make an appearance."
Poppy gave a hopeful smile and a nod too, but they both knew he would probably not even remember the invite. Severus turned and again, for the third time and continued his walk.
The grounds of the school hadn't changed much since he had been a student and he subconsciously found himself taking a very familiar path. He walked along the lakes edge and then as he grew further from the main grounds of the school he slowly walked up a hill. The hill extended up higher and higher until suddenly he came upon an old elder tree. It seemed to sag a little; perhaps it was tired after years of students climbing in it.
Severus turned to look out over the small valley below that led to the school. He sat a moment and allowed his cloak to bellow out around him as he took a deep breath and suddenly felt like the air up here was the sweetest he had tasted in years. It smelled familiar and the surrounding tree and tall grasses made him almost smile as he settled in and lay on the ground.
He pulled out his wand and with a slow flick of his wrist a small sprout of lilies had popped up from the ground. He flicked his wand a few more times lazily as here and there up and down the hillside and under the tree small sprouts of lilies grew to full bloom. Severus knew he was not the best at this kind of magic. The lilies would not last long and he often wondered why he could never sustain charms and simple spells like this one. Perhaps it was because he lacked the devotion required to perform such beautiful magic.
The smells of the flowers filled his nose and against his will he faded into another moment of his life.
"How do you do that? I am going to fail my charms class if I can't get these bloody things to work!"
Severus violently flicked his wand at the three small balls that lay on the grass before him. The Elder tree swayed in the breeze and Severus looked over to Lily who had her three balls spinning gently around as if they were waltzing.
"You are trying to hard Severus. Look, it doesn't take much, just a light flick and then pull the tip of your wand up and just like that…"
"Yeah, just like that. It's easy for you… I can't get mine to float let alone look so whimsical."
"Think of something happy, or something you enjoy doing. Think of someone special and I promise you will be able to do this."
Severus sighed but when Lily leaned against him and shoved he smirked and picked up his wand. Severus tried to clear his thoughts, something happy, something he enjoying doing… someone special…"
Lily.
"Sev look! You got it!" The girl's red hair was tussled due to the breeze but she leaned over and gave him a small hug and a big smile as the boy watched his three balls spin around like rotating planets.
"Told you, now try the flower one. See if you can do this one." Lily flicked her wand and waved it gently over the grass, the tips of the blades lightly stroked her wand and soon behind a small trail of flowers popped up.
"Why would I want to make flowers grow?" Severus said with a rather dark chuckle.
Lily looked at him and seemed a little hurt, "They are just basic charms and spells. You said you wanted to learn some of the simple stuff that I did for Maddie and Dana. I grew flowers for Maddie when she was sick and I made a doll dance for Dana when her pet owl passed away. It's not about how useful it is for you but how wonderful it can be for others."
Severus felt guilty and tried to hide his shaking hands, he always shook when he realized he had upset her.
He gave a reassuring smile and said, "Your right, sorry Lil."
The girl nodded and repeated the motion adding more flowers to the already crowded flowerbed.
"So no words right? Just think flowers and move the wand like that?"
"One of the simplest forms of magic there is Sev. All you have to do is want to make something special for someone else. The perfect example is I know you like dandelions." Lily waved her wand for the third time and a rather large group of dandelions grew in the center of the small trail of flowers before her.
Severus smiled, "Weeds can be beautiful too."
Lily nodded and leaned over to take his hand, which shakily held his wand.
"Just a quick little wave and think of something that you would like to give to someone."
Severus imagined a beautiful bed of roses for Lily to smell every day and a few feet away a rose bush bloomed with several large white, yellow and pink roses.
"Oh Severus! That is beautiful! I told you you had it in you!" Lily quickly got on her hands and knees and crawled toward the bush. Severus blushed when he caught himself admiring her backside and looked away as the guilt flooded him.
"Wonderful, simply beautiful!" Lily kept praising as she took the time to smell each flower individually and then turned and gave him a great big smile.
"You really are full of surprises." Lily had sad as she came back over to sit next to Severus. They both leaned back against the trunk of the tree and took in a deep breath.
When they exhaled Severus gave a small sigh and said, "It always smells sweeter up here. Even with out all your frilly flowers." His voice was joking and Lily gently nudged him with her elbow, "I think the breezes up here come from over the mountains. I hear on the other side it's just fields and fields of flowers. I would love to go there and see if it's true."
"Maybe someday we can adventure over the mountains then."
"Don't be silly that would take forever."
"Well, once we graduate we kind of have forever. We could make it our last big trip before we do the whole growing up thing." Severus said, secretly holding his breath that she would agree.
"Hmm, well one last adventure before we start our real lives would be pretty cool. Especially if it's to a field of flowers and if my folks don't freak out then sure thing Sev. Count me in."
Severus felt his heart jump and knew that spending a few months lost in the mountains with Lily would be the best time of his life.
"Come on, it's almost time for dinner. Race you down the hill!" Lily shouted as she stood and ran off. Severus watched her for a moment before he too took off at a sprint. Last time she had won she rubbed it in his face for days.
Even though deep down Severus had known the trip would never happen the idea had often filled his mind and at times when he was alone or when the rest of his house was asleep he would lay awake and think of what wonderful adventures into the mountains they could have but would never take and it became his most cherished secret.
Severus still lay there, the sun had sunken further behind the distant mountain peaks and that sweet smell still filled his mind and his nose and he felt dizzy. Sitting up didn't help either. He looked over to his right to see the old rose bush that he had made such a long time ago. It had grown into a ghastly thing; vines reaching out down the hill, others reaching towards plants near by. No roses rested upon the thorny vines and Severus felt his heart sink.
That rose bush was the splitting image of Severus's life. He had tried to be the type of person Lily had wanted him to be. Kind, caring, not selfish or mean and in the end she had wanted to see him bloom into the man she would want to be with. But his thorns had grown long, his vines had reached out and started to choke her and instead of following her into the light he had shied away and tried to drag her into the dark.
As the years went by and the pain of watching her grow further away from him had made him bitter and angry, his thorns had gotten worse and instead of a bush he had grown into a nest of bloody thistles and thorns and his vines wrapped tightly and suffocated the life out of anything beautiful and kind that came near him.
Lily had been so far away but never out of his reach and soon his shadow had fallen on their house and now his misadventures had taken their toll. Lily had been lost.
Tears streamed but he didn't snivel, he was beyond that. He cried silently now since he had recently been trying to control his emotions and outward gestures. As much as he hated to admit it, Hogwarts was his last chance at having a relatively decent life. No one else would have had him despite the rumors that he was an informant. If he allowed his back lashes to affect those around him, if he couldn't control his rage and frustration then he soon wouldn't have a home here either.
Yes, Severus had to change and if he was to have any shred of happiness or at least simplicity in his life it would be here at Hogwarts and he would not be able to act like a child here. Life wasn't fair and Severus Snape was not going to allow it to be cruel to him anymore.
Severus got up and headed down the hill to get something to eat, he wished with all his might that Lily could be in front of him running, challenging him to keep up.
OOOOO
"You wished to see me after I… settled in." Severus said reluctantly as he once again faced Dumbledore. Twice in one day was really too much but he had little choice. His pep talk earlier had allowed him the strength of nerve and the temperance of his emotion so that he could make it through this conversation with out snapping.
"Indeed I did, thank you for remembering. Would you like a butter taffy?"
Severus shook his head again, little did he know the offers of candy from the old man would never stop despite how often Severus turned it down.
"Not a loss I suppose, your refusal simply means that there is more for myself to enjoy and I do enjoy a good taffy. Now, on to business, we have recently in the past month or so discussed certain expectations that come with this teaching position have we not?"
Severus suddenly realized where this was going and he gritted his teeth, set his jaw and clenched his fists behind his back.
"I can tell by your silence that you remember. I've never met a man whom I can so easily have a one sided conversation with. You, my boy, are few for words but big on charisma."
Severus still stood silent; he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his temper from flaring. He could never tell if the old wizard was insulting him or praising him.
"Now, as it were you agreed to visit with Lily's son Harry once a month."
"Excuse me sir? Visit? If I remember your instructions were to check in on him once a month to make sure he was adjusting and doing well. There was never a word about visiting."
Dumbledore rounded his desk slowly and gave taffy to the large red phoenix that sat staring at the two. The bird took it up and swallowed the piece whole, "There have a been a few changes and we shall go over each one individually, should you agree to the terms we will sign a small contract that will not allow me to change the terms nor allow you to neglect your responsibilities."
"I never agreed…"
"Agree or not you made a promise to me and a promise to Lily and you will at least listen to what I have to say before you refuse."
Dumbledore's voice had been rather strong for that single moment. Severus kept his composure, however, and nodded once so that Dumbledore knew he was at least listening.
"Thank you, now Severus, I do not expect you to take on the full role of guardian. I do not expect you to spend every day with Harry and I don't expect you to learn to like him or ever feel more then the blatant responsibility of keeping him safe. Do you understand and agree?"
Severus nodded again and waited.
"Now, as I have said before your only responsibility would be to visit him once a month for the first few years. He will not be able to talk much and he won't remember you at all but I require that you visit as I have said and make sure that everything seems to be in… working order."
"Sir?" Severus asked with question.
"I will not, as muggles say, beat around the bush. The dark Lord attacked Harry only a month ago. He has since been with his aunt and uncle and has not had any form of medi-wizards or witches look him over. I simply want to be sure in the next year or two of his development that there are no… hindrances to Harry's most basic abilities. Motor skills, recognition and of course the most important his ability to be happy. Also, I would find great pleasure in it if you could bring a smallish animal around him at some point when he is three or four to see how he responds to it."
Severus raised an eyebrow but didn't ask.
Dumbledore continued, "When he reaches the age of five you can discontinue the visits and from then on pop in once a month with a concealment charm. Just to make sure he continues to grow up happy and healthy and that no last minute side effects seem to reside somewhere in his subconscious."
"And what of the year he comes to Hogwarts."
"At that time, you will stop watching him until he returns back to his aunt and uncles at the end of the year. Once a month during the summer means that once he starts school you will only need to check on him a few months a year. Only when he is not here under my protection." For some reason Dumbledore had repeated himself multiple times using different sentences. Obviously this part was important to him.
"At the end of his seventh year you will be allowed to discontinue your duties to the boy and will be able to continue work here or move on as you see fit."
"You want me to watch that boy for 17 years?" Severus asked taking hold of his cloak behind his back and gripping it with all his might.
"You knew what this was when you signed up for it. Once a month isn't as bad as you think and the years will go by quickly. You will be very busy with students and exams, homework and helping Madam Pomfrey. Not to mention Quidditch games, extra curricular activates and what I am sure will become your favorite pass time, detention. And I am assuming if your class is as complex as your personality I think plenty of students will need tutoring. You will hardly notice that one day a month."
Severus stood there like a statue and weighed his options; the only reason he was at the school is because Dumbledore wanted him to watch Harry. If he refused he may be sent away. Lily would want him to help Dumbledore protect her son. Severus recalled the boy's eyes and felt a muscle in his face twitch.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers before he put his head down and said, "Hand me that damn quill Albus…before I change my bloody mind."
Dumbledore smiled softly and quickly handed the man a quill, which had a dark red feather. No doubt from the old wizard's pet that sat there, the soul witness to Severus's act of servitude. When Severus signed he noticed the ink was red, it shined a moment and then faded into am almost black color. His signature was underlined and he held the quill back to Dumbledore who took it and went to sign as well, at the last minute he stopped though and Severus looked confused.
"One last item I forgot. It is written here that neither you nor I can change what was agreed upon tonight, but there is a clause that allows me to add any given paragraph should an addendum be made."
Severus glared at the man and just about pulled out his wand to light the blasted parchment on fire, "However, no additions can be made unless we both sign in agreement."
The younger man relaxed a little and through clenched teeth said, "Is there anything else you forgot to mention?"
Dumbledore thought a moment and then signed on the line saying, "Ah yes, once a month when you visit the boy you are required to come back here to my office when you are done to give me an update. I want to be kept informed. If you forget I will send you an owl every hour until you come and tell me how the visit went."
"Anything else?" Severus managed to say with less resentment.
The old man looked at him as the parchment rolled up and floated to Dumbledore's hand. It disappeared when he snapped his finger and he glanced at Severus with a small smile.
"It wasn't on the contract my dear boy but if you ever need to talk or would just like to have a cup of tea I am always available."
Severus nodded once and then gave a slight bow, much the same as what he had given to Madam Pomfrey and he turned to leave.
"Tomorrow Severus, please visit the boy tomorrow."
"You and your staff should really practice finishing everything you have to say before the person you are talking to turns to walk away!" And with that Severus slammed the door and descended the steps.
Tomorrow, he had to go see the little brat tomorrow. This was the beginning of the most annoying part of his life and he was going to have to learn to deal with it.
