THIRTY-FOUR

"Well?" she asked without preamble after the door had closed behind her. He sat at his desk, quill flying across the essay in front of him.

"The Board is meeting tomorrow to choose which of the Heads of House will be made Head," he said without looking up. He scrawled a jagged 'P' at the top of the essay and switched it out for a new one.

"Isn't Professor McGonagall the obvious choice? She's been Deputy for years."

"The Dark Lord has enough sway with the Board that he will instate whomever he wishes as Head, and it will not be Minerva McGonagall."

"You?"

"Yes." The essay received an 'A' and he looked up before he began marking the next one. "I was instructed to be photographed with my forearms bare at the Ministry over the weekend, and I was. The photograph will run alongside an article about how Dumbledore summoned me to him in his dying hour to remove the Mark from me as thanks for my service to him during the first war. Obviously, since I was outed as a spy in that aftermath, I have been living in hiding from the Dark Lord, glad for the protection of Albus Dumbledore and Hogwarts castle."

"I see."

"Naturally, it will be a glad day, indeed, when I am named Headmaster, and will therefore continue to have the protection of the castle's fortifications between me and those who know me to be their enemy."

"You don't think parents will worry about you being a target? Putting their children in danger?"

"The Board will think of that, too," he said, sneering down at the essay. (This one was a 'T,' and he wrote 'REWRITE BY FRIDAY' across the top of it.) "In cooperation with the Ministry of Magic, a contingent of Aurors will be guarding the children. Instead of the two or three off-duty Aurors Dumbledore allowed to linger in Hogsmeade, there will be at least that many in the school at all times, and twice that in the village."

"Who chooses the Aurors on duty?"

"I do." He set aside the last essay (another 'T,' but this time without an offer of another chance) and looked up at her.

"Well that's interesting."

"Indeed," he said. "Of course, the Dark Lord will select the Aurors he wishes the leave exposed down in Hogsmeade and those he wishes to snoop around the school. They will be spying on me as well as the students. They will even, more than likely, be keeping tabs on whichever Aurors are sent to us that aren't already under the Dark Lord's thumb."

Hermione frowned. Severus Banished the stack of completed essays to a table across the room and Summoned a stack of exams.

"Let me," she said after she'd watched him mark the first one. "They're third years, and there's a key. You can finish with the other essays."

"Very well."

He pushed the exams her way and smirked approvingly when she charmed a quill to mimic his handwriting, then he Summoned a stack of essays (seventh years, if the density of them was any way to judge it) and began.

It was nearing midnight when they finished his marking. He hated that he'd left it as long as he had (though there had been good reasons for the lapse); usually, he was finished with the work within a week and could enjoy the holidays. It had been a quiet evening spent in Hermione's company, though. Pleasant.

"It's late," he said. She was staring into the fire, having finished the last of the exams (she'd marked all of them but her own class's, in the end) before he'd finished updating his grade book with all the new scores.

"Why didn't he Mark you again?" she asked, turning to pierce him with a calculating look.

"Should I go ask again?" He was defensive. She looked… suspicious. Like he hadn't played his part right.

"No. I don't mean—" She glared, then rolled her eyes. "I just mean, it's odd that he wouldn't Mark you again."

"He thinks I will be more effective without a Mark. At least for now," he said. "He hopes the Order, the Ministry, might trust me this way even without Dumbledore."

"But people already knew you had a Dark Mark," Hermione said, rubbing at her temples. "Isn't is suspicious that—"

"Yes." He lurched to his feet and began pacing the length of the room. "Yes it is."

"I suppose you can't exactly say that to him."

"No."

"You could run," she suggested.

"And what of you? What of the school?" He stopped his pacing to glare at her. "I have a part to play."

"I know." She sounded resigned and he didn't like it.

"You should return to your dormitory. You will be missed." He turned from her to put his marking things away. The essays and exams were in the order that he'd have the classes, and his lesson plans were where they needed to be as well. He would need to buy more red marking ink the next time he was near the shops.

"Lavender has been asleep for hours, and doesn't care if or when I make it to my bed," she said. He could hear the frown in her voice. "And the Patils are leaving to stay with family in India; they didn't even come back for the funeral."

"A wise choice. Mr. Patil works for Gringott's as a liaison for Muggle parents. He's always been vocal about making connections with Muggles and Muggleborns."

"I didn't know that."

"You wouldn't," Severus said, trying not to smirk because she would misinterpret it. "He's been vocal but ineffective."

"Oh."

He finished putting his things in order and turned to her again, out of excuses. "You really should leave."

"Are you sure I can't stay with you tonight?"

He wanted to say she could. He wanted her with him, in his bed. He wanted to wake up holding her just as he had that morning. It was a horrible idea, though.

"Please?"

He pulled her to him and wrapped her in his arms. He could feel her magic hum against him, warm and comforting and sturdy. She was small and soft, and her hair tickled under his chin.

"How do you know Miss Brown has been asleep for hours?"

"Castle told me."

"You asked when she went to sleep?" he scoffed.

"No. Castle just tells me what people are doing."

"I see."

"It doesn't tell you?"

"No."

"That is ridiculously unfair."

Severus laughed and held her closer. He wondered if he'd be able to let her go if he were to give her a proper good-night kiss.

A/N: More soon!