A/N: I've gotten a few reviews of people who didn't like that Severus isn't snarky anymore. This story is about redemption and healing. Severus' snark was a defensive mechanism, born of bitterness and self-hate. He'll come into his own again by the end of the story but he won't be as snarky as before. I'm sorry if this is not what you wanted from a Severus Snape story.

Her face contorted into a grimace of pain. He jerked his hand away. She gasped.

"I'm sorry!" Severus blurted out.

Mette sat up, breathing deeply, holding her head.

"I'm so, so sorry," he repeated, cursing his lack off attention. Anger scratched at the surface of his mind from underneath.

"It's alright," Mette said, taking another calming breath and slowly shaking her head. "I'm okay. It wasn't as bad as last time. You pulled away real quick." She opened her eyes and smiled crookedly. "It's easy to forget, isn't it?"

"I understand now what you meant back then, after I found you in the corridor. About people touching each o—" His mouth fell open. "Wait!" he exclaimed and rushed into his bedroom. There, beside his bed, lay the satchel he had brought back from his second visit to Stolberg. He picked it up and brought it to Mette, who greeted him with a quizzical look.

"Open it," he said, holding the satchel out to her. She untied the cords and extracted two triangles made of thin black leather from the satchel. One was about as big as her palm, the other was slightly longer. A small loop was attached to the tip of the triangles and a bigger loop to a corner at the base. The base itself was connected to a short, intricately braided strap. Mette marvelled at the objects, running her fingers over the material. A sudden look of understanding appeared on her face. She gave Severus an excited glance, then slid the small loop over her ring finger and the larger one over her thumb. Severus sat down next to her and clasped the strap around her wrist. Mette smiled at the black triangle that now covered her palm.

"It's so soft, I can barely feel it," she said. She fastened the other glove to Severus' hand and interweaved her fingers with his. "You made them." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Yes."

She took his face in both her hands, intently looking at her gloved hand as she did so. Nothing happened. She let out a delighted laugh before she kissed him.

"Can you forgive my blunder?" Severus asked.

"Are you kidding? Let's try these out, shall we?" She wiggled the fingers of her gloved hand.

While Severus, to a certain extent, let himself be swept along, he was still nervous about having to take off his trousers. Mette, however, seemed to be perfectly happy with what he could give her tonight.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Spring came and Severus finally felt like he had room to breathe. There had been only minor articles about him in the Daily Prophet. Also, since the press conference, Claire had settled down and stopped pestering him. She even gave the two of them a friendly smile whenever she saw them.

While his guilt was still constantly gnawing on him, the sessions with Xanimus helped him to increasingly accept it as a part of his life. By acknowledging that it was there, he could give it space, stopping it from turning around and around in his head. "Practice kindness towards yourself," Xanimus kept saying. "Whenever you realize you are brooding on the past, pull yourself back and think about the present instead. Counter every negative thought with a positive one."

Severus heeded this advice as best he could. He had always assumed needing help was a sign of weakness. Now, he started to realize that being able to accept help was a strength.

The days got longer and warmer and Mette and Severus went for long hikes together. He also took her into the Forbidden Forest to show her the Thestrals. She couldn't see them, but she could hear and feel them. Their mere presence left a deep impression on her. Often, the two of them just sat by the lake together after dinner, talking, or simply keeping each other company.

"Did you know the Ministry introduced two new holidays after the war?" she asked him one evening.

"I did not. But I assume they are meant to celebrate our victory?"

"Yes." Mette looked at her hands. "The second of May is called Commemoration Day, in honour of those who died. It's a day of reflection and contemplation. There are no real lessons, The other teachers talk to the students about the war and politics all day. Last year, I just sat with the students and tried to learn a bit about British Wizarding History.

"And on the third of May, there's a feast... and a ball." She started absent-mindedly plucking out leaves of grass. "It happens here, at Hogwarts. This is where the battle was fought, after all, so I guess it makes sense. It's called the Feast of Life. There's a ball." She laughed nervously. "What do you think about dancing, do you like it? You don't seem the type, but one never knows, right? I don't want to assume anything." She was plucking at the grass more quickly now. "But I guess you won't want to be in a room full of people commemorating the battle, seeing as you played a role in the whole thing. And there will be other people coming to Hogwarts, maybe even Harry Potter. Although, he wasn't there last year, they say he's had enough publicity and lives quite a withdrawn life right now. I mean, I get it, he—"

"I'd like to go there with you," Severus cut short the torrent of words. "To the ball," he clarified with a small smile. She finally looked at him, a little red in the face, laughing. She wiped the leaves of grass from her hands, leaned against his shoulder and put her arm around his waist.

"That's wonderful. Thank you."

"And I do remember some basics of ballroom dancing."

"Really?" she looked at him in surprise. "I'm intrigued!"

Severus's heart made a little leap. He'd just had an idea.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

His claim to remember how to dance had been exaggerated. His wish to go to the ball with Mette hadn't. With Xanimus' help, he managed to find a Muggle VHS tape explaining the basic steps of the most important dances. He practised a little every day while Mette taught lessons. In spite of himself, he was excited at the prospect of dancing with her, even in front of people. It was time to brave the wizarding world at large.

For practice, he decided to go to Diagon Alley. None of the clothes in his wardrobe were smart enough for a ball – he needed proper dress robes.

As he stepped out of the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron, he was relieved to find the bar empty. The morning sun was reflected off the cobblestones of Diagon Alley, which was not busy, either. Nonetheless, he kept his head down, his face hidden between curtains of hair, while he walked towards Madam Malkin's. Every now and then, he looked up to see if people were staring at him. He thought he saw two witches whisper and look in his direction, but nothing else happened.

The bell above the door in the robes shop tingled. He stepped inside.

"Coming!" a female voice sang. Severus stood in the middle of the shop, looking around. The left side of the small room seemed to be entirely devoted to Hogwarts robes. He saw some Quidditch uniforms as well. He turned away. To his right, long racks held witches' dress robes, sorted by colour. The portion of the rack holding all shades of green was close to him. He thought he saw something very closely resembling the dress that Claire had worn on Valentine's Day. Severus took a step closer. The robes on the rack jerked into motion. The entire rainbow of garments slid past him, dresses briefly fluttering on their hangers and turning before him to advertise themselves before they flew up and retreated to the end of the ever-moving queue. Quickly, Severus took a step back. The parade of robes came to a halt. From behind a curtain at the back of the shop, a stout witch appeared, carrying a large, flat box containing lots of little cylindrical items in different colours

"Good morning, what can I do for—" the box fell and spilled spools of thread everywhere, which unravelled as they rolled away in all directions. Madam Malkin stared at him, her eyes wide. She turned the slightest bit, as if wanting to run away, but stayed rooted to the spot. Severus took out his wand. She threw up her hands and took a step back. As he waved it, the spools rolled themselves up and soared neatly back into the box, which came flying into his hands. He stowed his wand and held the box out to her.

"I'd like to buy some dress robes," he said.

Madam Malkin kept watching him through narrowed eyes as she stretched out her arms and snatched the box from his hands "You are Severus Snape," she said. "What do you want?"

"To buy dress robes."

She didn't move.

He took a breath. "The things the Prophet wrote about me are exaggerated. I have no desire to rise to power. I don't know how I came back to life. I just need to buy some dress robes."

"So, you weren't a Death Eater?"

"That was a very long time ago."

"Oh, and that's supposed to make it better?"

"No, of course not. I have deeply regretted it ever since."

Madam Malkin threw up her arms in exasperation, upsetting the box of spools yet again. "Harry Potter grew up an orphan and had to spend his youth trying to escape the most dangerous wizard of all time, and you called that man your Master! You think that your regret is enough to redeem you?" She was almost yelling.

The bell tinkled again. Madam Malkin looked past him towards the door and her face lit up for a split second, then she resumed glowering at him. Before she could break into another tirade, however, a dreamy voice behind him said, "Professor Snape?"

He turned and saw a young woman with waist-long hair so fair it was almost white.

"You came back," she said matter-of-factly. She stepped forward and took both his hands, scrutinizing his face for a moment. "How old are you?"

He was too stunned to answer. She let go of his hands, saying, "You were so brave. It must have been hard to look Voldemort in the eyes and not lose yourself for so many years." She looked past him and at the robes lining the walls. Her face assumed a quizzical expression. "Are you buying new clothes? I suppose you didn't have any when you woke up. Were you scared?"

Luna Lovegood was stripping away every pretence. "Yes," he heard himself say. She nodded, although he hadn't clarified which of her questions he had answered. "I want to buy dress robes," he added lamely.

"I'll help you." She drifted towards a rack with robes, ignorant of Madam Malkin's alarmed look. She quickly pulled out a few robes and said, "Come to the mirror." Not knowing what else to do, he obeyed. Luna held a set of pale green robes on a clothes hanger in front of his chest. He vigorously shook his head. Next were robes of a deep chocolate brown. They were more to his liking, but Luna cast them aside decidedly. Finally, she held a set of light-coloured robes before his chest. They were a dust grey with the merest hint of purple. "This works. I know you prefer black, but these would look really good on you. Put them on."

Hesitatingly, he took the robes and went into a changing cubicle. While he changed, he heard Luna chat to Madam Malkin. Apparently, Luna was also here to buy clothes for the ball. When he stepped back out, the girl smiled and nodded. Madam Malkin pressed her lips together, but then said, "I'll need to take them in for you. Step onto the pedestal."

Before he did so, Severus looked into the mirror. Luna was right, the colour of the robes did something to make his skin look less pale. It "worked", as she had put it. While Madam Malkin pinned the robes, every now and then sticking a pin into his skin without apologizing or even acknowledging it, Luna had waved her wand to arrest the rack's movement. Now, she wandered along the row of dresses, letting her hands glide over them. It reminded him of how he had picked his wand using the magic it sent out. He remembered Luna. She had been jarringly wacky as a student. But maybe she just saw the world differently from other people. His face grew hot when he remembered having witnessed others picking on her. He had never stopped them.

"I'm sorry," he said loudly enough for her to look up. "I'm sorry for looking away when you were teased. I should have done something."

She smiled vaguely. "That's okay. I figured you had bigger things to worry about. And you know, when you're different from everyone else, it's much easier to find out who really is your friend. Then, there's a good chance they like you because of who you are, not in spite of it."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Two days later, Minerva approached Severus and Mette at lunch and asked them to her office. After they had sat down in front of her desk, the Headmistress said, "I have analysed those patches you gave me. Or at least, I have tried. They disintegrated soon after I cast my first revealing spell. Their makers clearly wanted to make sure that their secret stays safe. Luckily I had a very good idea who those makers— who the maker is." The Headmistress pressed her lips together and the shadow of an emotion crossed her features.

"My guess was correct. Severus, you might remember the Weasley twins?"

Severus nodded, frowning slightly.

"Fred Weasley gave his life during the Battle of Hogwarts," Minerva continued.

The battle. Severus was suddenly painfully aware that many students probably died that night. A memory pushed itself into his mind. The night when he had overheard the prophecy and told the Dark Lord about it was vivid before his inner eye. Had the knowledge he had delivered to the Dark Lord made the second Wizarding War possible? Were his actions the pivoting point of the war? So many had died. And he had been instrumental to their deaths. The spiral of thoughts turned ever faster around him, squeezing the air out of his lungs. He had forgotten how to inhale. His arms and legs got stiff and tingled painfully. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't obey him.

Mette appeared before him, her mouth was moving but he could not hear her. He was slipping away.

Something warm touched his cheeks and pulled him out of the spiral. Still in shock, he heard rapid breathing and saw Mette's face contort. She started crying, sobbing quietly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Minerva jump up but managed to say "Don't!" warningly enough for her to not approach them. He had been pulled out of one agony just to be tossed into another. He wished there was something he could do to help Mette. He tried to calm his own breathing, feeling stupid and useless. Seeing her hurt was painful. He knew that she needed to go through all the emotions, but the wait was excruciating. I'm doing this to her, he thought as he watched her trembling body.

Finally, Mette started to calm down. Severus exhaled, only now realizing he had held his breath.

"Now," Mette whispered. Severus closed his eyes and laid his hands on hers. The world around them slowed and came to a halt. In the quiet centre of it were he and Mette.

Eventually, Mette took her hands away. Severus jumped when Minerva's voice asked, "What are you two doing?" Mette returned to her seat and quickly wiped her face on her sleeves. She proceeded to explain to Minerva about her gift.

"Well, I must say!" the Headmistress uttered after Mette had finished. "I assume this is the thing you mentioned you wanted to do 'research about' when you started here?" After a pause, she added, "Are there any Seers in your family?"

"No. At first, I also thought it must have something to do with Seeing. But Severus realized that it was actually a form of Legilimency." She smiled at him.

Minerva looked back and forth between the two young people, saying, "It seems you have... bonded over this." Although her tone was crisp, Severus thought he saw the merest hint of a smile. "Will you be alright?" she asked, addressing herself at both of them. When they nodded in unison, she cleared her throat and said, "I suppose in that case, we can continue with what we are here for.

"As I was saying, I assumed correctly that the patches were manufactured by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The business started out as a joke shop, and is still primarily one. However, they also carry a line of more serious equipment that is currently being used by different departments of the Ministry, mostly the Auror Office. I have inquired with George Weasley and he confirmed that the patches are listening devices. He also assured me that their line of espionage instruments is not on display and only a number of registered Ministry officials are allowed to order them. Naturally, Claire Blanchard is not among them."

Mette groaned.

"Would you have liked her to be responsible?" Minerva asked pointedly.

"No, no. I would simply like to know who has been listening in on us!" She shuddered. "To think that someone put that thing on me..."

"I have already turned the matter over to the Auror Office. They will lead an investigation. However, with the patches gone, I cannot promise you anything."

Thanks for reading again! Leave a review if you liked it and don't forget to subscribe :)