Author's Note: This chapter's song is Mr. Brightside by The Killers.

February 12, 1994

On Saturday morning, Danielle woke up with a cold. This was the first time she had gotten sick since she had arrived at Hogwarts. Her nose was stuffed and runny, she ached all over, and her throat was sore and scratchy. Danielle dragged herself to breakfast because she felt like she should, but by the time she was seated she regretted even getting out of bed. And because she was sneezing loudly, none of the staff really wanted to sit next to her. There were so many colds going around Hogwarts right now, and since many of the staff had already gotten sick, they were avoiding Danielle at all costs. Even Remus seemed to be reluctant to sit with her today. But at least since the whole staff was avoiding sitting with her, it made it less obvious that Severus was avoiding her too. He was just one of the crowd now.

So Danielle ended up between Pomona, who was getting over a cold herself, and Remus. Danielle grabbed a whole jug of orange juice and firmly placed it in front of her. It was hers and she was not sharing it with anyone! But none of the food was remotely tempting. She wasn't having stomach problems, but she just didn't have any appetite. All she managed to choke down was a little toast.

As she attempted to eat, she felt as if someone was watching her. She glanced up and was surprised to see Severus peering at her, a concerned look on his face. He looked away as soon as Danielle made eye contact. Danielle sniffed and blew her nose, glad she could hide her emotions behind her cold. Seeing Severus staring at her like that just brought all the emotions she was trying to bury come back frightfully close to the surface.

"You feeling pretty rotten?" Remus asked her, causing Danielle to jump a bit. Then she realized he meant her cold.

"Like death warmed over," Danielle moaned then took a sip of her juice.

"Would you like me to stop by with some hot soup later?" he asked her kindly.

"That would be amazing! I might not be very good company, though," Danielle sniffled.

"You're always good company, though don't hold it against me if I sit a bit further away than I normally would?" Remus asked with a smile.

"I was actually going to ask you to sit as far from me as you could for your own safety," Danielle told him gratefully.

"Then I will be by later," he promised her.

Danielle shuffled slowly back to her room, when she heard footsteps running up toward her. Danielle turned, expecting it to a student, but she was surprised to see Severus, his dark robes billowing behind him. She thought about turning and walking away, but she was so sick it just took too much effort.

"Yes?" she asked him in what was meant to be a cold manner, but it just came out scratchy from the condition of her throat.

"I thought you'd need this, since I knew you'd be too stubborn to go up to the Hospital Wing," Severus said pressing a vial of something into her hand. Danielle looked and saw it was a cough potion.

"More like too exhausted. This cold is knocking the hell out of me," Danielle told him. "Thank you." He nodded.

"If you need more and are too tired to go to the Hospital Wing, let me know. I have plenty in stock," he told her.

"How long is it supposed to last?" Danielle asked him, relishing the fact that he had approached her and was speaking to her.

"It should wear off some time mid-afternoon. Come get some then."

And before Danielle could attempt to continue the conversation, he turned and rushed away. But Danielle was happier than she had been in months. Severus had approached her and spoken with her! Maybe they could be friends again. She missed him terribly, and just being with him for those few minutes made her feel as good as any potion could make her feel.

Although when she reached her bedroom, she tested that theory. Severus' cough potion was amazing. Her throat felt completely normal and it also took away her congestion. Danielle decided to lie down and take a nap, to make up for all the sleep she didn't get last night when she started feeling congested. She was out about a minute after her head hit the pillow.

In his lab, Severus worked on a batch of Pepper-Up Potion for Poppy, and wondered if approaching Danielle had been a wise decision. In truth, he had felt like someone had stuck a knife in his gut when he saw Danielle look so sick and pathetic. Despite that, he thought she was still beautiful with a bright red nose, pale cheeks, and dark circles under her eyes, something he had never imagined possible. It was completely on impulse that he had hurried off after to give her the potion, which had actually been meant for Pomona. But she should have enough until he finished this brew and he would give her more at lunch. All he knew was that he was nearly jittery with anticipation of Danielle coming by to see him. He had to keep working to force himself not to dwell too much. Maybe, just maybe, she and he could try to be friendly again. For the first time in weeks, he felt hopeful.

Danielle awoke much later in the day, feeling the congestion returning and her throat scratching. Still, the six or so hours of relief the potion brought her were positively blissful. And best of all, Severus wanted her to come to him. She took a little time fixing her hair and making herself presentable before seeing him. Maybe after another dose she'd feel up to a walk outside. She hadn't gone with a walk with Severus since before school started, and with all the kids at Hogsmeade, chances were no one would see them…

She stopped short. Oh no! she thought. This was the probably the Hogsmeade visit where Harry got caught, and Severus would try to see what the Marauder's map did. She remembered how angry he had been in the book, and that was with less personal issues than he was dealing with now. She knew that if Severus saw the map and was insulted by it, any chance of him being receptive to rekindling their friendship would go down the drain. Obviously, he was familiar with the nicknames for the Marauders and would go apeshit because of Remus! She had to intercept him.

She tried his quarters and office first, but he wasn't at either of them, which meant he was probably waiting near the statue of the One Eyed Witch. Problem was, she had no idea where the One Eyed Witch was. But luckily, she almost immediately found Nearly Headless Nick, who was more than happy to tell Danielle it was located in the third floor corridor. Danielle took off at top speed, praying she would either find Severus there alone, or that he wasn't there yet and she could head him off.

But as she ran up, her worst fears were realized. Severus was towering over Harry, looking ready to drag him down to his office. Danielle raced over to try to fix things, before they got any worse.

"What's going on?" Danielle asked, her voice scratchy and rough, but audible.

"Mr. Potter's head was seen in Hogsmeade earlier by Mr. Malfoy," Severus said in his beautiful silky voice.

"And I take it you believe Mr. Malfoy?" Danielle asked.

"Indeed I do. As we both know, Potter has an Invisibility Cloak, explaining why only his head was visible," Severus said softly. Danielle inwardly groaned. How would she avoid having Harry reveal the Marauder's Map without further antagonizing Severus? She was totally up shit's creek without a paddle and she desperately wished she had awoken earlier.

"It sounds like Malfoy's having hallucin-" Harry started, but Snape interrupted.

"Malfoy is not having hallucinations," Severus said flatly. "If your head was there, so was the rest of you."

"I've been up in Gryffindor Tower like you told-"

"Can anyone confirm that?" Severus asked. Harry looked down at the floor, a dead giveaway that he was guilty as charged.

"Well, I suppose we should take him to the headmaster then," Danielle said. Better to get Harry in trouble with Dumbledore than let Severus continue this interrogation.

"I don't think so," Severus sneered. "I am more than capable of dealing this."

"I never said you weren't, I just think that this is such a serious offense that we should inform Dumbledore, since Harry is risking his safety, especially when all these measures were put in place to protect him," Danielle said.

Harry looked at the stern look on Professor Katz's face, which was eerily similar to McGongall. He knew Professor Katz had a reputation for being a very kind hearted person. To hear her describe his infractions in such a way made him feel deeply ashamed of himself.

"Everyone from the Ministry of Magic downward has been trying to keep famous Harry Potter safe from Sirius Black. But famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself. Let ordinary people worry about his safety! Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to with no thought of the consequences," Severus snarled.

"Calm down, Severus. Let's take him to the headmaster's and let him deal with this matter. Why make more work for ourselves, especially over such a serious matter?" Danielle said, but as she did she knew she made a mistake. Her intervention made him more curious about the matter.

"Potter, turn out your pockets!" Severus ordered. Harry stood there, looking terrified, knowing the game was up. "I said turn out your pockets!"

Harry slowly removed a bag of Zonko's products. Harry insisted Ron had given them to him previously, but Severus wasn't falling for it. Damn Occulmency, of course he never fell for anyone's lies. We are so fucked, Danielle thought to herself. And then, Severus made him turn out his other pocket and the parchment that the Marauder's Map was written on.

"What is this?" he asked Harry.

"Spare bit of parchment," Harry he answered.

"Surely you don't need such a very old piece of parchment? Why don't I just throw it away?" Snape said.

"No!" Harry cried, clearly panicked.

"Let me see…" Severus murmured, examining the parchment. A million ideas ran through Danielle's head, and each and every one of them was automatically filed under Bad Idea, Do Not Try! She drew a blank and prayed this would play out okay in the end.

"Reveal you secret!" Nothing happened. "Reveal yourself!" Still nothing. "Professor Severus Snape commands you!"

And Danielle could barely hold back the enormous cringe she wanted to make. For now, writing started to appear.

"Mr. Mooney gives his compliments to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."

Danielle groaned. This was not good. She felt a stab of irritation that Remus had to be the first on in the parchment to respond. Why did he have to ruin all her progress with Severus today? Now he'd never speak to her again.

"Mr. Padfoot agree with Mr. Mooney and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."

Great. As usual James Potter had to make things worse. Danielle knew he was Harry's father and all, but she kind of hated him for finding ways even from the grave to make Severus miserable. Although he looked a lot more furious than miserable.

"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."

Oh, she was so not giving Puppy any treats tonight! And Severus resembled a tomato on the verge of exploding.

"Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day and advises him to wash his hair the slime ball."

Danielle just buried her head in her hands. Could it get any worse.

Remus chose that moment to come around the corner. Yes, it just got worse.

"Good afternoon, how is everyone today?" Remus said in a perfectly friendly way, but the smile wiped itself off his face as he observed the looks on everyone's faces. Severus stalked forward toward Remus.

"Lupin! I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this," he said thrusting the parchment into Remus' hands. Remus' eyes widened in surprise as soon as he saw it, but he managed to keep his cool as he read the insults that appeared.

"Well?" Severus asked impatiently. "This parchment is obviously full of Dark Magic. That's supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got such a thing?"

"Probably from Filch's office or someone who was in Filch's office," Danielle improvised wildly.

"What?" all three guys said together.

"I was in Filch's office earlier this year to get some extra toilet paper for my quarters, and I saw it on his desk," Danielle said. Remus looked like he bought it, as he must have known Filch had ended up with the parchment. Severus looked unsure whether to believe her or now, and Harry obviously knew she was lying as the Weasley twins had it for the last few years, but he wisely remained silent.

"You don't think he got this directly from the manufacturers?" Severus asked Danielle. She knew exactly what he meant.

"No. It was in Filch's office. And Harry, do you know any of the gentlemen who were named on the parchment?" she asked, knowing how he would answer.

"No," Harry said confidently, for at the moment he did not know Remus was Mooney, nor had he met Sirius or Wormtail.

"It looks like a Zonko's product to me," Remus said smoothly. "But I shall examine it further to see if it is anything more than a parchment that insults anyone who reads it. Harry, may I have a word with you about your vampire essay?"

And with that, he and Harry were heading down the hallway, leaving Danielle and Severus alone. Severus turned to Danielle, a look of fury in his eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled at her.

"Trying to make sure you didn't confiscate that parchment," Danielle said, praying that the truth would set her free.

"Why? What is it?" he asked.

"It becomes a map of the school that shows where every person in the school is at a given time. Harry needs it because he uses it over the next couple of years to fight Voldemort," Danielle said as calmly as she could.

"So you knew I'd be finding Potter here?" Severus asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes. And I was afraid things might go wrong and you'd read the parchment," she told him. "I wanted to spare you going through that."

"Do me a favor. The next time you want to spare me something, stay out of my business. You bring nothing but misery to me," he shouted.

"Severus, don't-"

"No! I've had enough of you bringing all this extra stress and anger and misery to me. I was better off without you!"

And with that, he turned and left. Danielle stood there stupidly for a moment, then she started the long walk to the Hospital Wing. She had woken because she needed a cough potion, and as she obviously wasn't going to get it from Severus, she had to go see Poppy, who was very busy and quickly got her the potion but didn't even have time to talk. Luckily she gave Danielle enough for the next three days, so she wouldn't have to walk back when she felt awful. She returned to her quarters and was about to take her potion and go to bed, when there was a knock on her door.

Hoping it was Severus, Danielle flung open the door. It was Remus was with pot of soup.

"I said I would bring you some soup," he said gently. Danielle ushered him in and pulled out some spoons and extremely oversized mugs she could use as bowls. She prepared a bowl for each of them, then sat to eat. The hot soup felt good on her sore throat, and although the chicken noodle wasn't quite as good as her grandmother's, it was excellent.

"Thank you, Remus," she told him. She had been mad at him earlier, but he had no idea that they would be gathered in the hallway having an altercation he'd walk in on. Plus, the stupid Map. It's not like he knew he'd have to be co-workers with Severus one day, or that the Map would pop up during as awkward a situation. She sighed, wondering if she'd ever have another chance to fix things with Severus.

"Knut for your thoughts?" Remus asked her.

"I'm just having one of those days," Danielle whispered. Remus sighed and wrapped an arm around her and she curled up next to Remus. Maybe she had to just forget Severus and focus more on what she had with Remus. After all, if she was being objective about it, Remus would never be as hurtful as Severus had been. Maybe she was better off without him.

An hour later, Severus slunk down the hallway where the teacher's quarters were located. He had felt very guilty about blowing up at Danielle. After all, she had still, despite their estrangement, tried to help him because she cared about how he felt. If he asked himself who really cared about him, he could count all those people on one hand without even using all of his fingers. It just showed him how rare people who really cared were.

He felt terrible. Maybe it was time for him to swallow his pride and admit to her he missed her and wanted to be friends again. He'd get used to her spending time with Lupin, who according to Danielle, would be out of a job by the start of the summer. He could bid his time and Lupin would be gone. So he had gone to Danielle's door with a couple of vials of cough potion and was about to knock, when he heard laughter. Two voices, male and female, laughing. One of them was Danielle, and it took him a while to place the second voice. Lupin. Well, she really didn't need him. Feeling more lost and hurt than he could ever remember, Severus went back to own quarters to sit alone and mope.

AN: I picked Mr. Brightside because Severus is like the guy in the song, seeing his girl happy with another guy and feeling like crap. Danielle isn't feeling great, but she is really trying hard to move on. Let's see how well that works. By the way, sorry about the late posting. I wanted to use as many quotes from Harry and Severus' conversation in this chapter, so I had to go to Barnes and Noble and copy the quotes I wanted down. That took way longer than I thought. Plus, my husband had some work related stuff he needed to discuss with me. But I will be back on schedule tomorrow.