"Severus you look awful." Sprout commented. "Perhaps you should call it a night?"
"Can't." Snape hissed. "In all of my time teaching, I have never failed to return the essays on time, I refuse to let it happen now." he almost growled, determinedly going through the essay in front of him, before he hissed bringing a hand to his forehead.
"And what isn't done today will have to be done tomorrow." Moody snorted. "Postponing is a sloppy mans way of living."
McGonagall send Moody a stern look, which only made Moody shrug.
"You do look sort of ill." Burbag commented towards Snape. "Have you tried to ask Poppy? Maybe she could give you something."
Snape send her a very annoyed glare. "I am the potions master, she get her stock from me, do you really think I haven't thought of taking something?"
Burbag blinked. "So.. you are in pain?"
Snape halted, suddenly realising his slip and then tightened his jaw. "It's nothing." he then muttered.
"But Severus, if you're in pain." she started.
"I said it is nothing!" Snape growled a little to loudly, his own pain clearly making him more sullen than usual. But as the teachers kept looking worried at him he took a deep breath, wanting them to stop looking at him that way. "My head just hurts a little, and I am sure it's only because of a little stress." he said in a calm restrained tone. "And if I don't finish these, it will only end up in more stress, so if you would just let me."
"We are all a bit stressed." McGonagall conceded. "we barely managed to get the dragons sorted out and now there is Yule ball to worry about."
Snape nodded a little relieved for her swift explanation so he wouldn't have to bother with any of his reasons, which were actually a lot.
"And we really wouldn't want Dumbledores little charity to get more ill, now would we?" Made-eye snorted.
Snape's head snapped up as he looked furiously at Moody. "And what is that supposed to mean?" he sneered.
"I think you know exactly what it means." Moody returned. "Or perhaps he is just keeping a dark wizard around in the hopes that that said dark wizard will repay the debt." his voice had a weird curiouse ring to it, which how ever was lost on Snape, who only needed so little to be tipped off.
Snape rose up, both his hands flat on the table as he looked furiously at Moody. "If you think.."
"Severus!" McGonagall cut him off before he even could get started. "Alastor!" she looked sternly at Moody. "We don't fight each other in here." She crossed her arms as she still looked sternly at Moody. "And we treat each other with respect." She said, capturing Moody's brown eye.. the big rotating blue one though, was aimed straight at Snape.
For a moment Snape still stood there, looking darkly straight back into Moody's blue eye, before clinching his jaw and slowly sitting down, his eyes never leaving Moody, he reached for his quill, and finally broke eye contact as Snape determinedly went back to the papers, though it only lasted around two seconds before Snape let out a great gasp in surprise, he tipped over the ink well over so the ink covered the parchments, as Snape grabbed his right forearm with his left hand as he hissed in obvious surprise and pain.
"Severus!" Burbag surprised called out for him.
Severus silenced as he wide-eyed stared at where he was gripping his arm, and then his black eyes turned to Moody, Moody who had a sadistic smile on his lips.. though he quickly covered up with the usual grim frown.
No one else saw it though, as they were busy looking at Snape.
"What happened?" McGonagall asked, while Sprout helpfully vanished the ink before it would do any damage to the essays.
Snape was silent, but a dark shadow was to be found on his face.
"Severus." McGonagall started. "Let me see." She laid out her hand with the pawn upwards, obviously intending for Snape to give her his arm.
Snape however instead retrieved his arm, pulling it up to his chest.
"Severus." McGonagall repeated, this time a little more sternly.
It took some moments, but finally Snape gave up his arm, to lay it on the table, as he looked at McGonagall.
Very carefully not to touch, McGonagall pulled the sleeve away. "Oh my." She muttered. "This really doesn't look good does it?"
On his arm was the mark, not entirely black but close enough and what more, it looked extremely annoyed, the flesh around it deep red looking like it could become infected at any moment, like a fresh burn wound and there were several blisters both open ones and closed ones, it was not a pretty sight. "Will burn salve help?" McGonagall asked.
"No." Snape shook his head. "I tried it." He assured.
"Isn't there anything?" McGonagall asked.
"No." Snape took his arm back and quickly covered it up. "And I will be fine, it will be fine." he muttered annoyed.
"And what if it doesn't?" Burbag asked. "What if.."
"Then it's no use worrying about it now when there is clearly nothing to be done about it." McGonagall told sternly. "As we have all ready established once this evening, we have far to much on our hands just as it is, all this tournament business and ministry insisting on meddling while we actually try to run the school as usual." She shook her head. "We should all have head aches."
"One will have to wonder." Sprout sighed. "What could possible be next?"
Snape remained affected though, and had obviously trouble finishing grading all the essays, several times McGonagall caught him in hissing or taking himself to the head, and as the hours drew late the teachers left for a well deserved rest, except Severus who was determined to be done.
"Severus." McGonagall sighed tired as they were alone. "It's not only the tournament distressing you is it?" she asked. "Your fear he is coming back?"
Defeated Snape laid down his quill as he closed his eyes, for a moment he was sitting in silence there as McGonagall glanced at his still frame. "Yes." He finally said in a dry croaked voice, it was like he had to use strenght to make his voice even so it wouldn't shake, so his fear wouldn't become obvious. "Karkaroff fears it to, and he fears that I have something to do with it, the officials here fears that the two of us is working together to bring Potter down and Moody." Snape furrowed his brows. "Some thing is wrong with him."
"He is very paranoia, but he is on our side." McGonagall assured.
"He knew." Snape suddenly stated. "That the mark would hurt earlier.. perhaps." Snape furrowed his brows. "It was even him who did it."
"Now who's the one who is paranoia?" McGonagall asked a little annoyed. "That is impossible and you very well know it."
"I am telling you Minerva, something is going on right beneath the surface, and it's huge." Snape informed.
"And I believe you." McGonagall assured. "But when there isn't anything to do, it's foolish to exhaust one self over it, if this is really so big we will probably all need to be at our fullest in the future."
"We need to uncover it and stop it now before it comes that far." Snape argued. "And we can't afford to dismiss anything in that regard." He looked determinately at McGonagall. "Who put Potter's name in that goblet? What was the point of putting his name in the goblest? Why are the marks acting so strange? Both mine and Karkaroff's, where's Barty Crouch senior? What's wrong with him? What is going on around here?"
"And you don't fell that is to many, to difficult questions to handle for one single person?" McGonagall asked.
"Doesn't it drive you insane to know that all of this is probably happening, right beneath our noses?" Snape asked, and then sighed as he shook his head defeated. "Call me mad, but they I think it's all connected." he told honestly.
"Severus listen." McGonagall sighed. "You look horrible, more dead than alive and you will need to rest if you don't want to faint in class in front of your students."
Snape clinched his teethes.
"I knew you would hate the thought of that." McGonagall smirked. "I know this seems like being lazy on the job, but just hand out a little fewer essays to the first to third years for a while, for your own good, if you can cut back on anything else, just do it, I promise I wont tell... if you need someone to cover for you" she trailed off.
"I will think about it." Snape mussed.
"And that is probably all your going to do." McGonagall almost rolled her eyes. "And if there is nothing to do, stop thinking about it, ever since you were eleven you have been thinking way to much and hard, it's not healthy"
Snape grimaced bitterly.
"I'll slip some sleeping potion in your drink at dinner if you get worse." McGonagall warned.
Snape looked disbelieving at her. "Don't you dare."
"Don't you dare giving up on us." McGonagall returned sternly. "Don't you dare to test your limits when there is no need." and then she shrugged. "Good night Severus." she at last greeted while heading out of the room.
"Good night." Snape shrugged, returning to the essays and sighed relieved as he realised that he had just finished the last one.