AN: So I had this chapter and the next all typed out and ready to go. Then my computer poofed them. I was not amused. I finally found the beginning fragments for this scribbled in a notebook yesterday and typed it out as best as I could remember. So here it is.

And its still not mine.

Tommy was surprised two days later to discover that he was incredibly pissed at Kimberly. He'd thought he had gotten over it, that she didn't really have the power to hurt him that way anymore, but apparently he was wrong. Her accusations that he would stoop so low as to use children in a fight hurt him, a lot, and in typical Tommy fashion he had channeled that hurt to anger. Anger that he'd had no chance to vent or even really acknowledge since she was once again avoiding him.

So, unsurprisingly, that night when Severus invited him down to dungeons for a drink he agreed. He hadn't had a drop of alcohol since the school year started and he seriously needed a drink. Severus took the opportunity to introduce him to FireWhiskey and, unsurprisingly, Tommy got totally pissed. Then the whole sorry story came pouring out onto the unwilling shoulder of the stoic Potions Master. Well, the whole story minus the little, tiny, insignificant detail that they both used to be Rangers, which probably inhibited Severus' understanding of the problem, but even drunk Tommy had control over that secret.

Poor Severus had no idea how to respond to this torrent of information that he'd neither asked for nor wanted. Sure he found himself actually enjoying the company of this muggle man, and he would even go so far as to say they were becoming friends, as unlikely as that may seem, but he didn't really need to know all about the previous relationship between Tommy and the brunette Muggle Studies teacher.

Of course, if Severus thought he'd had problems when Tommy was pouring out his heart he soon discovered that really he had a bigger one. Like, what on earth was he going to do with the 6ft of passed out muscle sprawled in his doorway? That was as far as Tommy had gotten when he got up to leave and now Severus had to figure out what to do with him. Leaving him there obviously wasn't an option, the draft would be intolerable, but it wasn't like there was anywhere in his quarters for a man of Tommy's size. He had no guest bedroom and the sofa was more of a loveseat and far to short for a man of his height. At the same time he wasn't sure of his own ability to levitate the unconscious man up two flights of stairs given his own, partially inebriated state.

With a sigh Severus contemplated the worn soles of the running shoes decorating his carpet. The idea of leaving him there was unfathomable, but what to do with him? For a moment he considered calling a house elf to move the man to his own quarters, but just as quickly nixed the idea. Inviting a house elf into his domain would be disastrous. He'd finally trained them to leave his quarters, lab and office alone; it would hardly do to encourage the little buggers now.

Before he could come up with a solution the section of the wall concealing the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room opened. Panicked that it would be a student, though that would be like suicide for the student dumb enough to be leaving his common room well past curfew, Severus cast about for his wand intent on casting a Disillusionment spell on the prone man before him. Just as he found it and began the incantation he noticed that the person who had come through was not a student but rather a fellow teacher. The very teacher, in fact, who was partly responsible, in a roundabout way, for the mess he currently found himself in. Just was he was about to ask for her aid Kim noticed the dark haired man sprawled half in the hallway.

"What the?" She started and then the identity of the man she was seeing registered. "Tommy?!" Animosity momentarily forgotten she darted forward and dropped to her knees beside him, quickly glancing down his body for injuries. As she did so she noticed the Potions Master behind him and leveled a fierce glare at him. "What the hell happened here Severus?" To be honest she wouldn't put it past the man to have hexed Tommy, no matter how friendly the two had seemed to be. Severus was not the most friendly of men; she ought to know having spent a lot of time in his presence over the last few years.

"He passed out on his way back to his own quarters."

Kimberly was about to make an issue of it, something along the lines of perfectly healthy men just don't randomly pass out, but then she noticed the acrid smell of alcohol coming off the man beside her. "You were drinking." It wasn't a question.

"Yes. I introduced him to FireWhiskey. His tolerance level amazes me. Most muggles get trashed with just a shot, maybe two, but he managed five before it began to faze him. Drinks like a seasoned pro he does. Quite intriguing."

"Its probably because of our . . ." she broke off, horrified to realize that she'd nearly revealed their secret.

Severus proved that he was not all that dimwitted even after half a bottle of FireWhiskey, probably because of the copious quantities of it he had consumed in his past. "Because of your what?" He asked. FireWhiskey might not affect his intelligence but it did suppress his Slytherin cunning and bring forth his brash bold Gryffindor, the part he'd deny till his last breath if he were asked about it.

"Our shared past." Kim managed finally. "We spent a lot of time drinking in high school," she decided on an outright lie, "all of us have high tolerance levels," mixed with a bit of the truth. The safe bit of the truth, that their tolerance levels were all improved because of the connection to Morphin' Grid, not the nasty, terrible secret revealing part of the truth that included the reason behind the increased tolerance levels.

If Severus suspected any part of that for the lie it was he didn't show it. Rather his impaired Slytherin mind was busy, albeit more slowly than normal, cataloguing Kim's behavior since she had noticed Tommy. Even now, while she was talking to him, most of her attention was on Tommy, as were, he noticed with a hidden smirk, her hands. Gently skimming up and down his back, occasionally brushing into his hair or across the part of his face she could reach it almost seemed to him as if Kim had no idea what she was doing. Most curious.

"Perhaps you could help me Ms. Hart. Having imbibed a significant quantity of FireWhiskey myself I have no wish to see the results of levitation spell up two flights of stairs. Could you perhaps do the honors and assist me in getting Mr. Oliver to his rooms?"

"Why not call a house-elf?" Kim asked, suddenly suspicious. Severus was a Slytherin after all and they rarely did anything for purely altruistic motives.

"And invite the nasty little things in to the quarters they are expressly forbidden to enter? Not bloody likely. I spent years getting them to stay away, I'm not likely to compromise that now."

Kim giggled. The Potions Masters hatred for house elves in his personal quarters, lab and office was legendary. And it was whispered amongst the staff that if he could clean his classroom half as efficiently as they could then he'd have banned them from there was well. As it was he took every opportunity, namely every detention, to bar them from the classroom as well. "God forbid," she said, pulling her wand out of the pocket of her jeans. Standing she pointed the slender piece of wood at Tommy. "Levi corpus" she muttered, watching as his body rose to hover at waist height. Turning she made her way down the hallway, carefully monitoring the spell keeping Tommy afloat.

"So, how do you know Mr. Oliver?" Though he now knew a great deal more of her history with Tommy than he really wanted to know, Severus had an idea and to make it work he needed information from both parties. This would be the hard part though, there was no love lost between himself and Kim.

The smooth baritone surprised Kim, she hadn't realized Severus had followed, and her hand wobbled, following the motion of her hand Tommy also wobbled in midair and spotting this Kim hastily firmed her grip.

"And why do you wish to know Severus? I didn't think you were particularly concerned with the lives of your fellow staff members."

"Ordinarily I am not. But I will admit that I enjoy Mr. Oliver's company and since you can obviously claim an acquaintance with him I was simply curious as to how that came about."

Kimberly took so long to consider her reply that they were nearly to Tommy's quarters before she gave her answer. An answer that was much more honest that Sever was expecting. "We dated in high school. Then I broke his heart. I haven't seen him in over a decade. I don't know that we could even qualify as acquaintances anymore since he probably hates me, and with good reason."

"Why would you assume that he hates you?"

"Because I wrote him a Dear John letter. Because I was too much of a coward to break up with him in person. Because he's not said more than a few words to me all year and those few words were after I accused him of unfairly giving my son detention. And then there's my sons. He has to be suspicious about the boys."

"Does he have reason to be? Are they his?"