Hello, everyone! I am getting lots of time writing today, as I live in an area that got slammed by this awful snowstorm. I'm a Yankee, so I laughed when the news predicted 3 whole inches of snow- that's nothing where I come from! But the South hardly ever gets snow, so they aren't equipped to deal with it like Ohio or Massachusetts are. I can't get out of my house, which is just fine with me! I have three cats curled up in front of a roaring fireplace, a warm blanket across my lap, a glass of wine (excuse my spell-check today lol), and Fanfiction! ;)

Stick around at the end of the chapter for a lovely long list of all our most recent favorites/follows/reviews!

"Get away from me!"

"Get your wand out of my face!"

"Back off, Black, I mean it!"

Hearing Severus' voice downstairs in the main hallway, Anne dropped her book on her bedroom floor with a bang. It was late in the evening, and it was the middle of the week. What was Sev playing at?

She checked her hair briefly in the mirror and hurried down the stairs. Severus and Sirius were squaring off in the hallway, each pointing a wand in the other's face. Anne paused on the staircase, one hand trailing on the banister. Sirius, backed up against the wall, gave her a bemused, albeit furious, look. "Call off your guard dog," he demanded.

Severus, his back to the stairs, let out a low hiss. "I'd watch your mouth, if I were you."

"Sev."

At Anne's voice, he turned, keeping his wand leveled at Sirius' nose. "Where have you been?" he demanded. "I've been waiting."

Anne rolled her eyes. "I didn't know you were here! Please," she begged, reaching out to them both. "Stop this. It's so childish."

"Get him away from me," Severus demanded softly.

Sirius made a face and held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I don't know what your problem is, Snivelly," he snarled. "But I'll thank you to back off."

Severus took a half-step back as Anne descended the rest of the staircase. She took his elbow and began leading him towards the library. He shot an angry look at Sirius over his shoulder but held his tongue until they were alone and Anne had closed the door behind them. As the latch clicked shut, he spun on his heel. "How dare you leave me to meet that- that trash- at the door."

Anne frowned. "How was I supposed to know you would drop in unannounced?" She sank into an old black leather armchair as Severus began to pace. "What's happened? I haven't seen you this agitated in years."

"He-" Severus gesticulated wildly with his finger, stabbing at the air as he stuttered. "He-"

"Who?" Anne asked.

"Potter!" Severus snarled.

Anne sighed and settled back into her chair. "What did he do now?"

Severus stopped pacing suddenly. "He saw it."

"Saw what?" Anne was becoming exasperated.

"Everything," Severus spat, resuming his circuit. "Anne, he saw…" He ran a shaking hand through his hair and sank down onto the sofa. "He saw everything."

Anne got up and moved to sit beside him. "Start from the beginning," she said calmly, taking his hands in hers.

Severus pushed her away and stood to his feet, staring at the empty grate. The room was dark and cold- Anne had never seen anyone use it. Severus' shoulders seemed hunched, as if he was holding back. She bit her lip, frightened that Umbridge had perhaps found some other way to torture the Hogwarts staff. She waited patiently for Severus to explain.

Finally, he sighed. "Potter came by my rooms earlier- for our Occlumency lessons. Just as we prepared to start, Malfoy came by to tell me that somehow that idiot Montague managed to get himself lodged in a toilet on the third floor. I left, and when I returned, Potter was nowhere to be found. I had left the Pensieve out on the desk-"

"You had Dumbledore's Pensieve?" Anne frowned, confused.

"He let me borrow it. For the lessons." He raised his eyebrows. "The first night, Potter managed to put up a Shield Charm when I tried to enter his mind. It rebounded, and he saw- well, he saw memories I would rather have remained private."

"And what exactly have you been putting in the Pensieve?"

Severus looked away. "Things I don't want Potter to see."

"What?" Anne snorted. "Everything?"

Severus spun on his heel. "Anne, I'm being serious!"

She held up her hands. "Okay, okay, I was just kidding."

"It isn't funny," Severus muttered, turning away.

"So, Potter looked in the Pensieve while you were gone," Anne surmised, feeling a sense of cold dread settle in her stomach. "And you caught him when you came back." She paused. "What exactly did he see?"

Severus gave her a mournful look. "Do you remember the day she stopped talking to me? The day I called her-"

"Yes," Anne cut him off, not wanting to hear the word 'Mudblood' spoken out loud. She lifted a hand to her mouth as she processed what he meant. "Oh, no," she whispered, watching Severus' face carefully. "He saw Potter and Black-"

Severus looked away. "He saw everything, Anne."

She sighed. "Oh, Sev." It was the day they had taken their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.s in fifth year. Anne had gone back to the Ravenclaw common room to study for her last exam, Arithmancy, and had missed the altercation, but the story had been all over the school almost immediately. People had whispered in the corridors about how Potter and Black had tortured Severus Snape out by the Black Lake- how they had levitated him into the air and spun him upside down, revealing long, pale legs and greying underpants- and how, in his subsequent lashing out at Potter, Severus had accidentally called Lily a Mudblood when she came to his defense. 'Mudblood' was a word only Slytherins or Death Eaters used- a horrible, insulting name- and Lily had consequently refused to even acknowledge Severus again. Their friendship was over.

Anne, coincidentally, had suffered the same fate- Lily had assumed she had agreed with Severus' mistake when she sided with him publicly. Not long after the incident, Lily had started dating James Potter, and the two eventually married and had Harry. Anne would not have been surprised to find out that the memory Harry had seen in the Pensieve was, in fact, Severus' worst. She understood now why Severus had reacted so strongly to running into Sirius in the hallway. "What did he say?"

"I didn't give him a chance to defend the actions of his pig of a father and godfather. I threw him out."

"You what?"

Severus' eyes flashed. "I threw him out," he repeated. "I told him to never come anywhere near my office again."

Anne frowned, refusing to be baited. "What about the Occlumency lessons?"

Severus snorted, sinking down to sit beside her on the couch again. "Let Dumbledore teach the brat, if he's so keen."

Anne leaned forward and took Severus' face gently in her hands. "Sev, you can't do that. Dumbledore has vanished- no one knows where he is anymore. The boy needs your help."

He pulled away, shaking his head. "No, I won't do it. Not for the offspring of that swine."

"He's her boy, too, Sev."

He raised an eyebrow in response, and Anne immediately regretted bringing up Lily's name. She tried to backtrack. "He's only a child. You can't just dump him from lessons that might one day protect him from the Dark Lord."

"I do what I please!" Severus jumped to his feet. "I do not answer to you, Anne."

She rolled her eyes and sat back. "So what are you going to do now?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his raven black hair. "I have to go back now. Headmistress Umbridge-" He stressed the word "Headmistress" with a sneer, "-will lose her froggy little mind if she finds out I left the school premises. I just- I had to talk to you. I can't believe-"

"Don't hold it against him, Sev, please." Anne leaned forward, her blue eyes pleading. "Promise me. He's only a boy."

Severus spun around to look at her. "Do I not do enough for him? Do I not answer the Dark Lord's call whenever I am summoned? Do I not risk my life whenever Dumbledore asks and spend my precious free time training the boy in lessons that he is obviously not bright enough to grasp?" He threw his hands in the air. "Is that not enough?"

"Shhhh," Anne soothed, reaching out for him. "Sev, don't do this." He collapsed beside her and allowed her to entwine her arms around his neck and slide into his lap. She brushed his black hair back from his face. "Don't do this to yourself. You work hard, and everyone in the Order respects you for it. Harry owes you his life."

He sighed and let her kiss him. "You don't need to lie to me. I just-"

"You just needed someone to talk to, who won't judge you for being angry at Potter." She resumed kissing him, trailing her lips along his jawline to his neck.

"Anne," he said finally, pulling away. "I'm not doing this here."

"It's been weeks, Sev," she pointed out, reaching for him again and grinding her hips against his. "Please?"

"This is Black's house," he hissed, looking fearfully over his shoulder at the door to the library.

Anne sat back far enough to meet his eyes. "All the more reason to take advantage of me here."

He smirked. "Fair enough." He slid a hand to cup the nape of her neck under her long, heavy hair. "Come here, then, minx."

Anne laughed softly as he began kissing her neck and slid her pale hand down between them to stroke him through his robes. "On one condition."

"What's that?" He murmured, refusing to be distracted.

"Try to be kinder to the boy."

Severus paused and rolled his eyes. "I'll do what I can."

She gave him a crooked smile. "That will have to do for now."

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