More and more often one could meet the students learning in the corridors; the library, usually quite empty, now seemed to be bursting, so I had to avoid that place, even though until now it had been my favourite. However, I found it a good omen, in contrast to the prevailing epidemic of hysteria.

During Thursday's History of Magic lesson, Arianna Hopkirk interrupted my lecture on the 20th century Ministers for Magic, bursting into tears and claiming that she was too stupid to take her O.W.L.s. When I had sent her with her best friend to the hospital wing, I heard a knocking on the door, and Professor Flitwick's face appeared in the doorway. The man entered and explained that Miss Palmer had sunk into real despair during her Charms class and begun to implore to let her go back home before she completely defiled her name during the oncoming exams.

However, it was only one of many days like that; the closer it was to the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, the more often such cases occured. The culmination of all that was the moment when one seventh-year Hufflepuff stood at the top of the Astronomy Tower and threatened that he would jump, unless the Headmistress allowed to erase him from the list of examinees.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Montgomery," said McGonagall who, fortunately, that day happened to be in the castle. "Nothing bad will happen if you fail, and believe me that Professor Longbottom cannot praise you enough, and he does know what he's saying... I'm certain that you have at least one N.E.W.T. sewn up."

After that even the mass panic seemed to have faded away, even though every now and then a couple of students had to be sent to the hospital wing, so Madam Pomfrey could apply her famous Calming Draught.

"I'm teaching a bunch of idiots," I heard Snape's sigh; he was just poring at the desk, correcting the essays he had assigned. Right next to him stood over a dozen phials waiting for their turn. "I'll be genuinely surprised if half of them pass."

I could not help but smile. I glanced at him from behind my own pile of assignments; at that moment, I was just trying to get over some really cloudy text about the uprising of goblins, and it caused me to start losing my temper as well.

"I'm convinced everyone will pass," I answered, and Snape looked at me in surprise. "After all, they have a great teacher."

"Are you trying to bribe me with compliments, Shirley?" he asked, and I laughed quietly.

"I'd like to remind you, sir, that my marks don't depend on you anymore," I replied, faking seriousness.

"Your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s didn't depend on me, either," noticed Severus, putting his quill aside and rubbing his wrist.

"Maybe not, but thanks to you, I had a great base."

Snape grimaced softly, as though he really did think that I was trying to corrupt him. After a moment, he moved his chair and stood up. To my surprise, I noticed that he approached me, and once he stood just a foot away from me, he gently ruffled my hair.

"I'd love to have been able to teach you then. You're a talented student. All I regret is you being so... conservative," he said in a familiar to me, gentle tone, which made my heart get softer. "Potions need not only following strict rules... they need a heart. It would be enough if you just opened your mind a little."

I really loved it when he talked about potions with so much affection; he spoke about them as though they were a kind of magic greater than any other, as though spells did not have the same power. Therefore I had no doubt that he was better as a Potions teacher than a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, even though he strove for the latter so much. His fondness of potions was also quite useful for the students, even though hardly anyone liked him.

"You left me in good hands," I assured him. "Professor Slughorn was really a wonderful teacher."

Snape raised his eyebrows a bit.

"Better than me?"

I knew he was just teasing me; I could notice that in his eyes. The longer I knew him, the more ashamed I was whenever I thought of the moments when I had been accusing him of coldness and lack of affection. Now I finally knew that he was simply capable of concealing them perfectly.

"You've got me there, Professor," I laughed, and he responded with a soft smile, before he leant over my essays.

"There's a mistake... it's Hodrod the Horny-Handed, not Ragnok..." he muttered, pinpointing the name in the essay. "And here again... and here." He finally closed his eyes, sighing, then asked, "Whose is this essay?"

I glanced at the top corner of the roll.

"Dante Pucey," I replied, then bit my lip. Dante Pucey, Adrian Pucey's cousin, was a Slytherin.

"I'll talk to him," Snape growled, then moved away from me, so he could return to his pile of assignments, which did not seem to get any smaller.

I felt it was going to be a long evening.

Summer came to Hogwarts quite early. It was sad to look at the students, who instead of indulging themselves in enjoying the wonderful weather, had to hide in the dark corners of the library or empty classrooms to study. However, I understood them perfectly.

Several times, I tried to convince Snape out of the castle, to have a walk with me on the school grounds, but he always refused, grimacing.

"I swear that if you ask me that question just once more, I'll transfigure you into some potion ingredient and use during my next class," he growled at last, so I had to give up, which made me quite upset, since according to what I had promised him, I could not go anywhere without his company.

"All right, all right," I muttered and slumped down onto the bed.

I felt like in a cage, but I was perfectly aware of the fact that Snape had every reason not to let me go anywhere by myself, so I did not even try to protest.

"You'll never cease to surprise me, Shirley," he said, glancing at me from over the cauldron, in which he was currently preparing something. "I thought that you'd still be trying to convince me... 'The grounds are almost empty at this hour... no-one's going to see us, anyway...'"

I laughed shortly and looked in his direction.

"I promised I'd be careful," I replied. "I've got no intention of quarreling with you, knowing you're right, and since you're busy..."

Snape raised one of his brows slightly, but said nothing. I watched him adding different ingredients so carefully, as though each of them was worth a fortune. Finally, after about a quarter of an hour, he put out the fire under the cauldron, and poured the contents into several bottles. Then, he put them on one of the shelves.

"What now?" I asked.

"A poison, which I'll try on you immediately, if you don't shut up," he answered calmly, aiming the tip of his wand at the cauldron, which at once became completely spotless. One more wave of his hand, and it disappeared.

I sighed quietly, then reached for a book. Now, I no longer assigned any essays to my students; I wanted them to focus on studying, therefore I had some more time for myself. And I needed it, because recently fatigue really got to bother me.

Before I found the page on which I had finished, though, the text was covered by Snape's white hand. As I tried to understand what was happening, he took the book out of my hands.

"I swear that if you say a word about this to anyone, you won't leave this room until the end of the school year," he hissed. "Understood?"

I had no idea what he was talking about, but without a second thought, I nodded. That was when he took my hand and helped me onto my feet. For some reason, my heart began beating faster, but I hoped he did not feel that. I also needed to avert my sight, because I felt my cheeks burning with a blush – something I did not want him to see.

He led me towards the door. We walked out into the dark corridor, but Snape did not slow down even for a while, so I needed to jog so I could keep up with him. We were not crossing any desolated corridors, just the very same we usually walked down every day, so when we got onto the ground floor, we could come across studying people. Some of them even looked at us and greeted us, but Snape seemed not to even notice them.

Finally, we turned towards the Great Hall. I wondered where we were going, because the Great Hall was completely empty at that moment; it was bound to fill in two hours, when everyone would come to supper.

Our footsteps echoed across the walls, and I glanced over my shoulder to check if anyone was following us. When I did that, I felt a tug.

"Are you going or not?" asked Snape quietly, and I immediately turned my head and sped up. I regretted not being in a better shape, because I was already out of breaty, yet Snape kept his face pace.

At last, we got to the door leading to a side chamber. Snape opened it, and then, as soon as we walked in, closed it quickly. There was nothing fascinating in there; at one time, the chamber quite probably had its functions, because there were some tables and chairs standing all around, and on the walls hung some tapestries, yet now, all of that was covered in dust, as though no-one had entered that place for a many years.

"I told you once that I'd known this castle for a long time, and much better than you, right?" he asked, a strange smirk upon his face, and I nodded in bewilderment. I did not really know what it had to do with that strange room.

However, I was about to get to know. Snape turned and jabbed the tapestry on the wall opposite us several times with a wand. It squealed quietly and rolled up, revealing stone door, concealed so well that for a moment I thought I was staring at a bare wall.

"What is..." I began, but Snape once more aimed his wand at the right place and with a quiet groan the door cracked open.

I blinked, not sure where he was leading me, but I was too curious not to follow him when he reached his hand towards me, smiling encouragingly. It looked like he had been wanting to share that secret with me, but had never really had a chance to do that... Now, though, he swelled with happiness and pride.

I returned the smile rather shyly, putting my hand on his, and he immediately led me through the door.

At first, I needed to squint my eyes, not accustomed to this brightness. Soft breeze brushed against my skin, so there was no doubt it was just one of the secret ways out the castle. It did not lead to Hogsmeade, though, but to a vast meadow on a hill. If we walked closer to the edge, we would notice something resembling a low cliff, and underneath, the Lake, glistening in the sunlight.

That place was totally separated from the rest of the castle. One could not get to any other place from the spot we were at, but we could notice a few students walking on the grounds or studying by the shore.

"Wonderful," I whispered, completely awestruck, looking around and taking in all those views. I could not believe that it was all true, even though the whole castle was magical. Yet that place contained a completely different kind of magic.

"I don't know if anyone but me knows this secret," Snape spoke up. "I think that at one time Dumbledore did, but now... now, I'm glad that there is no-one else who would come here to clear their mind."

I glanced at him, but he was not looking at me. He set his eyes upon some point in front of his, and I did not disturb him; actually, I looked around as well, once again letting myself get carried away by admiration.

"Now, you are here... but I want you to know this secret," he added just as quietly. The grip on my fingers tightened, and I could not help but smile. My thumb gently caressed the back of his hand. "I want you to know every single one of my secrets."

His confession took me completely by surprise; never in my life would I have supposed that he trusted me so much. I wondered how I had deserved that – how I would ever deserve... I did not say a word, though.

"I've never brought anyone here. Even Lily," he explained in a low voice after a moment, then sat down on the grass, and I followed. "Even though I knew this passage back then. When I was at school... when I was at school, I found it useful, especially when Potter and his bunch decided to show how funny they were."

A light grimace rushed across his face. He did not explain, though, what he had meant; I guessed, however, that there had been no warm feelings between him and James Potter and his friends. Never would I have thought, though, that the father of the famous Harry Potter could have acted like that.

"To Lily, I've shown a lot... but not as much as to you, Shirley. That's why I'm not going to let some idiot tell you that I confuse you with her. At... at some point, it might have been like that," he admitted, finally glancing in my direction. "But not now."

He cupped my cheek in his hand, and – just like a couple of months before – caressed it with his thumb, as though wiping away some invisible tears.

"I think Lily would've liked you, if she'd had a chance to meet you," he added after a while. "You're a bit alike. But only a bit."

He leant in and placed a kiss on my forehead, so similar to the one I still remembered from the time when I had been in a coma.

"I promise that every single secret of yours will be safe with me," I answered, closing my eyes. His touch was in some strange way soothing, as though it could take away all of the everyday worries. As though it could move us to a world that existed for no-one but us.

"I know," he replied. "You wouldn't lie to me. You're a coward, but not a liar... However, recently you proved that you are not such a great coward." A smile appeared on his face. "Even though not many wizards would be able to do it."

I blushed a lot. I knew he meant those moments spent in the seat of the Death Eaters. I wondered what had made me do all that back then; maybe it was my fear that had prevented me from betrayal? But did it make any sense? How could one cowardice prevent from another?

"I'm not sure," I muttered hesitantly, but Severus shook his head.

"But I know it perfectly," he interrupted me. "To protect the ones you love, you'd be able to do everything. And this kind of courage is much greater than the one the Gryffindors keep bragging about. It's not wrongly labelled stupidity, but true nobility."

I could not help smiling. When he embraced me, I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, letting the sunlight play on my face. At that moment, I prayed I would be able to stay with him like that forever... but peace was not something that was meant to be.