A/N and Plugs: This one is nearly done. I think I only have two or three chapter left. Of
course, I've been thinking that since chapter five. Again, if you like this story, try On The Side.
It's short and cute and fluffy. If you want something dramatic and fabulous, try kcinlondon's story.
It's absolutely wonderful and finished, so you don't have to deal with cliffhangers like some of us
did. PS, KC I hope you don't mind me plugging for you. You deserve more reviews. If you do
mind, let me know and I'll take it off.

Enough of that. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Your encouragement means
so much to me. I hope you all enjoy this and the followinf few chapters.

Title: Minnaloushe part 12

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Snape woke the next morning feeling surprisingly well. His muscles were a little bit sore,
but there was none of the dull aching that usually accompanied the curse. He washed up, and
went to breakfast like normal. The only difference was that Shadow seemed a little more clingy
than usual, choosing to stick close to him rather than visit the other professors and their tasty
breakfasts. At the head table, Snape made certain to catch Dumbledore's eye. He gave the
headmaster a meaningful look that both had come to understand through years of experience.
They would meet at the first break between classes.

For Snape, classes dragged on at an excruciatingly slow pace. He was distracted from the l
esson by the previous night''s events and by the task set before him and, indeed, the whole school.
His third year Ravenclaw class was surprised and confused when he dismissed class a whole five
minutes early and forgot to assign them any homework.

He hurried out of the classroom and through the halls. Students pushed and shoved t o get
out of his way. They knew by the look on his face that to annoy Snape today would be to get a
detention worse than death. Because of that, it took him very little time to get to the stone gargoyle
that guarded Dumbledore's office. "Peppermint stick."

He found Dumbledore pacing the floor of his office. The headmaster stopped when Snape
entered the room.

"Severus, are you all right." Dumbledore's fist concern always seemed to be Snape. This was
part of the reason Snape was so loyal to him. No one had ever shown that much concern for him
in his life.

Snape nodded. "Better than usual, actually." He answered.

"Did Voldemort curse you?"

"Three times, but I seem to have recovered more quickly this time. I think Shadow had something
to do with that," He looked down at the cat, who was sitting patiently at his feet. "though I'm not sure
what."

Dumbledore smiled and nodded. He knew that a pet would be good for Snape.

They were both still standing, so Dumbledore offered him a seat in a comfortable leather armchair,
and then took the other for himself. They both sat quietly while Snape gathered his thoughts.

"Albus, they're going to try to attack Hogwarts." Snape's voice was urgent, almost desperate; a
plea to the Headmaster to tell him what to do. When Dumbledore didn't respond, Snape took it as a
cue to continue. "Voldemort was angry with me last night because I wasn't sending any useful
information to him. After he finished...punishing me, he enlisted me to help plan the attack. I have
the most complete knowledge of the school and all of the spells that protect it. I told them how each
of the spells work, and they developed counter spells. They've got counter spells for nearly every
ward on the school. I don't think they'll be able to find one for the apparition ward, and they don't
really know about the dark magic detector that we've been working on this year. I didn't tell them
about it since I've decided that I have no idea that you're working on it." He smiled slightly at the
floor. The dark magic detector would be a very powerful tool against Voldemort. Only three people
in the school knew about it, so Snape felt safe keeping the information to himself.

Dumbledore smiled too. "You did very well Severus. Now, when are they going to attack?"

"We have plenty of time. I convinced them that the best time to attack would be end of term.
They didn't like the idea of waiting at first, but then I told them that students and staff are completely
preoccupied by the exams at the end of term. No one would expect anything." He decided not to
mention to the Death Eaters that something like this always happened at the end of term, especially
since Harry Potter and his friends started school.

"Well then, I'd say that we're doing very well. Of course we'll set up new spells around the
school and update some of the old ones. I think it best, Severus, if we keep this information between
you, McGonagall and I. Things are getting bad, and sometimes, I fear that I don't know who to trust."

Snape nodded in complete agreement. Not only was it dangerous to put trust into too many people,
but this was Hogwarts. If more than five people knew something, then the whole school knew it.
Secrets were difficult to keep.

"Well," Dumbledore rose to open the door for Severus. "We'll meet here tomorrow night after
the students are in bed. We can start planning our defense then."

Snape rose too, and sighed deeply. It was always such a relief to talk to Dumbledore after a Death
Eater meeting. It felt as though an oppressive weight had been taken from his shoulders by the
formidable wizard. Dumbledore always knew what to do.

"Take great care, Severus. I have no doubts that there are those in this school who are watching
you. You're too great a friend to loose through carelessness. "

"Thank you, Albus." One corner of Snape's mouth turned upward again in a faint smile. It
meant so much to him that someone cared.

"And YOU," Dumbledore continued, crouching down to pet Shadow on the head. "You take
care of him. Sometimes he forgets to take care of himself.

You're telling me?> Shadow rubbed up against the offered hand and purred in reassurance.
Wizard and cat left the room with no further comment.

**********

For the next several weeks, Snape, Dumbledore, and McGonagall met in secret, planning and
developing new defenses and strategies. Most of them, they decided, would go into effect at the
end of March. They were complicated and powerful spells that took a great deal of energy to
maintain. If they tried to set them up too early, someone was bound to notice. Not to mention the
fact that they would be too drained to fight if the Death Eaters did manage to break through.

There were some smaller spells that they managed to set up earlier though. They finished the
dark magic detection spell. If dark magic was used anywhere in the school or on the grounds, the
three of them, and only the three of them would know about it immediately. They also charmed all
of the paintings and statues to watch for anything suspicious in the school, even if it was something
as mundane as a student wandering the school at night. They implied that some school property
had been damaged and they were looking for the culprit so that rumors didn't spread amongst the
portraits.

Other spells and charms were added; one or two every week. By March, Snape was already
starting to feel a little more secure about the school safety. They had a long way to go, but they
still had nearly a month to prepare.