When she stepped out of the fireplace into his office Freddie found Snape was already in the lab, taking the stasis spell off the potions.

"I assured Madam Pomfrey I would have these done for her by tomorrow," he said. "You will assist me."

"Even though it's after curfew?" she asked, smiling.

"Yes. I told Dumbledore we had several potions to complete. He gave us permission to go to London and by extension to stay up late to finish our work," he said. "At least, that is my interpretation."

"Cool," she said happily. She took her cloak off, folded it, and placed it on the workstation. Then she took Ziggy's bag from around her neck and placed it on her cloak. She opened the bag so if he decided to crawl out he could.

"Slice that marshmallow root for the Cough Tonic," Snape instructed as he stirred one of the cauldrons.

"Yes sir," she said obediently.

It was after midnight when Freddie took a break from the potions to check on Ziggy. He had crawled out of the bag and was mewing piteously.

"I think he's hungry," she said, pushing her damp hair back from her forehead. The steam from the three cauldrons had made the room hot and humid. She'd taken her sweater off and was left in her black tank top and jeans.

"Your bag from Magical Menagerie is on my desk," Snape said, stirring crushed ivy leaves into the potion.

"Thanks."

Freddie shivered as she stepped out of the lab into his outer office. It was much colder there and her sweat dried instantly on her skin. She grabbed the bag Matt had given her and returned to the warmth of the lab. She sat at the workstation and Ziggy blindly crawled towards her, mewing, as she prepared the dropper of unicorn milk.

"Here we go Ziggy," she said, scooping him up with one hand. She pulled the cloak across the table and set him down on it, keeping one hand on his back while she guided the dropper into his mouth with the other. This time he needed no encouragement and began to eat immediately.

"You're going to be just fine now aren't you?" she cooed at him. "My big strong baby."

She heard Snape let out a snicker but when she glanced over her shoulder at him he was concentrating very pointedly on his potion.

"I'm going to have to wake up at least twice during the night to feed him," she reflected. "Matt said every four hours."

"What are you planning on doing about classes?" Snape asked.

"I'll bring him with me, of course. In his little bag."

"I cannot help you if you get in trouble," he warned.

"We won't get in trouble," she said confidently. The dropper was empty now and she took it from Ziggy. The little kneazle crawled around her cloak for a minute until he found her hand. He rubbed his head against her hand then curled up against her with his tail covering his little nose.

"Bless his heart," she said fondly. "I'm sure he'll know to keep quiet during class, as long as I keep him fed. I should be able to time his feedings between classes but if I have to sneak off to the bathroom to feed him I will."

"Hm. There is a spell you can use that will obscure his sounds if he starts to meow to where only you can hear him. It's a spell I invented, Muffliato."

"Oh yeah! You used that before."

"Did I?"

"Yeah, when we had our duel," she said. She felt her face grow warm as she recalled the duel they'd had last year. He'd used the Muffliato spell on the door to keep the sounds of the duel from disturbing any passersby. She remembered how much fun it had been – exhilarating, even more so when he'd used a nonverbal spell to hoist her into the air upside down. She'd been wearing a skirt and he'd seen her underwear for the first time.

"Perhaps we should have another duel," he said with a small smirk that indicated he was thinking of the same thing she was.

"Perhaps we should," she said, stroking Ziggy with her free hand. "But not tonight."

"No," he agreed. "It is late and I'm sure you're tired."

"Me? No way! I could kick your butt with one hand tied behind my back," she said confidently, even though she knew it wasn't remotely true. "You're the one who's probably too tired. You're old after all and out of practice."

He narrowed his eyes at her and crossed the room in an instant to tower over her.

"Do not tempt me, little girl," he growled, but she could see the glitter of excitement in his dark eyes. She couldn't help the shiver that ran through her that had nothing to do with the cold.

"M-maybe tomorrow," she stammered, swallowing heavily. "We could duel tomorrow."

"You are behind on your homework," he said dismissively, walking back to the bubbling cauldron. "You told me you had a charm to practice and you never did."

"Well I got a little side tracked," she said, gently moving her hand away from the sleeping kitten so she could prepare the next ingredient for the potion. "I can practice the Drought Charm in the morning. It's still the weekend and there should be plenty of puddles to practice on after the rain we had."

"Hm. Master the Drought Charm tomorrow and then we can discuss the possibility of a duel."

"Yes sir," she said with a wicked grin. "Then I can beat you with one arm tied behind my back."

"Be careful, Miss Gray," he said in his silky tone. "I may just hold you to that."