Crisis of Confidence

by Helene3

Severus Snape is discovered as a spy, while on the run from the Death Eaters he unintentionally involves some muggles in the war between 'good and evil'.

1. Part One

CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE PART 1

Written by Helene Koopmans

Disclaimer: With the exception of Miss Sam Moore, Miss Verena Miller, Mister Alex Luxembourg, Tim, Hazel, and Erik Gaultier[1] non of the characters are mine. The magical world of Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers, I just borrowed it for fun. Mr. Rupert Giles belongs to the wonderfully creative Mr. Joss Whendon, Mutant Enemy etc. I do not intend to earn any money with this story at all, it is just a way of practising my writing. Please do not sue.

Note: Story shifts from present to past, all so-called flashback scenes are in italics to indicate the difference between flashback and present.
DECEMBER 10 2002

CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES 6 PM The cold was almost unbearable, almost. Outside all was quiet a crispy frozen world and not a breeze of wind. This had been going on for weeks had there been a wind it would have truly been unbearable to be out side. The figure of a man appeared, he was handsomely dressed as if going out for the night. An elegant long dark grey overcoat covered a custom made suit made of black silk. On his head, he wore a broad brimmed fedora hat. He made his way over the dangerously icy pavement in what seemed to be a rather clumsy manner, yet there was something extremely elegant in his movements. When he slipped and had to grab hold of a garden fence to prevent himself from falling, he moved with the grace of a ballet dancer. The figure stopped, looked around to see if no one had noticed him, and disappeared out of view.

There were no lights; there was no need for them. After all, what was the use of a lightning system in an empty derelict house such as this? Well, almost empty, in what had once been a cupboard, Marcus Lum lay sleeping. However, he would soon realise that he was not alone. Something moved from room to room slithering through the darkness, searching. Lum woke up slowly; no one is able to wake up with a start after drinking steadily for most part of the day. He rubbed his rather bleary eyes and wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him. Did he hear a noise, was that what had woken him up? Did he wake up at all? An old house is always full of sounds. Sighing, cracking, Yes, but this had not been a normal sound, his drowsy mind told him this was an artificial made sound, man made. It was the sound of a person desperately trying not to make a sound. Marcus knew he was not supposed to be here, but it was better than freezing to death outside. He'd used the place before and no one seemed to be bothered by it then. 'Hello?' he called out, his voice quivering, 'anyone there?' By now, the sound had stopped but the silence that followed was even more frightening. The house did no longer crack or sigh. It was as if it held its breath in frightened anticipation. Frantically, Lum searched his many coat pockets, years of living on the street had told him to always be prepared, or had it been the boy scouts? He could not remember now. Finally, he dug up a small penknife. He got up very slowly trying to be as quiet as possible. Nevertheless, before he even managed to get into an upright position he felt a cold, gloved hand close around his mouth and a strong arm slid around his waist. Marcus Lum was pulled back and as a tingling sensation went through him he heard a forcefully whispered hiss ' NOT.... A....SSSOUND...' after that he lost consciousness.

The chatter of half drunk, mostly happy people, smoky air, and cheesy pop music, only a little too loud to be able to hold normal conversation. Overall, it was a cosy atmosphere and a lot warmer than it was outside. Some of the customers left or were about to leave others had just arrived. A group of youngsters played pool in the corner of the pub. Probably they were underage but no one seemed to care. After all, it was a small village and should any of them misbehave they would be easy to find. A man entered the pub, definitely not a regular, and most definitely not a local. He wiped some snow of his coat and looked around, obviously searching for someone. Hunched over on a stool at a table in what was possibly the darkest spot in the pub, sat the well dressed man from the street, absent- mindedly rotating an empty whisky glass between his long slender fingers. The girl behind the bar watched the newcomer with a certain curiosity, for he was the second stranger in town, the well-dressed man being the first. She watched as the stranger sat himself down next to the well-dressed man, he seemed to be slightly shaken, but perhaps it was just the cold. Soon, new customers arrived and she lost interest in the two strangers. However, had she paid attention their conversation might have made her realise that these two men weren't just two normal strangers on a trip through the country side. The two men did not have so much a conversation as a silence, if there is such a thing as having a silent talk. Quietly, unobtrusive they poured over various notes, letters, and maps the elegantly dressed stranger had put on the table after the arrival of his friend. After yet another long silence in which the elegant man seemed to be contemplating some profound thoughts, his friend asked him, "Are you sure you're all right?" "Hmm what? Oh, yes, unfortunately I am. You see, it's my certainty that overwhelms me. Look about you and judge. Could anything be more ' right,' in the view of the envious world, than everything that surrounds us here." He pointed to the neatly laid out stack of papers, letters and maps, " Surely these are truly the mark of a person who is doing all right". "Ah, I see, do you perhaps mean there is too much?" a flicker of a smile crossed his companion's face, at times he could be very observant. " Yes! Oh yes, there is too much. There's too much. But there is nothing you or for that matter I can do about it, I am afraid." His cold emotionless blue eyes suddenly flared with fire and with an angry gesture, he wiped the neatly arrayed papers of the table. "There! That's about the only thing one can do about this and it is getting me no where!" The angry outburst seemed to have shocked his companion because it took him some time to reply, when he did speak it was in the quiet tones one speaks when dealing with a mentally unstable person. "How typical" the other thought, " treating me as if I am about to jump ship, while I have never felt more sane in my life than I do today". "Perhaps we should take a break," his companion suggested, quietly. "No! No breaks, what has to be done, has to be done. Ah! Don't ask me why, that's what is so bloody frustrating about this whole situation, that although I know that what has to be done has to be done, I do not have the foggiest idea why. Call it a crisis in confidence, or loss of faith. I simply don't know. All I do know is that it is too much, too much responsibility." His eyes lost the fire but instead of returning to their former state of non-emotion, there was sadness in his eyes now. He bent over to search through the mess of papers now lying on the ground. After a muttered curse, he found what he'd been looking for. "Here, take this for example. they ask too much of me. Why can't they see I am just a man? A person with fears, doubts, driven by emotion. I am no bleeding Superman, he does not exist, and I wish they could get it into their thick heads that he does not " He handed the thick parchment-like envelope to his companion. On the front of the envelope was written in neat copperplate handwriting: To the right-honourable Sir Erik Gaultier, However there was no address on it, just his name. His companion turned the envelope around; the same handwriting revealing its sender: M. McGonagall, Hogwarts. "Ah" was all his companion said. "Ah indeed, my dear Rupert, ah indeed."
DECEMBER 11 2002

Scotland
8 AM

The teacher's common room slowly filled up. It was an hour before the first classes of the day would begin and most teachers wanted to get a cup of coffee or chat a little before the start of what was sure to be a long day. Recent events had taken most of the joy out of teaching. None of them had ever felt so tired with a job they all loved to do before. Moreover, the children seemed to be less and less willing to concentrated and participate during class, and who could blame them, even the teachers felt they were wasting their time, and that their capabilities would be of more use somewhere else. Although the school had been more or less closed of from the out side world, news of new dead and wounded seeped in every day. More than one third of the children now seemed to be in the same predicament as their more famous classmate: they had become orphans. Tired eyes met tired eyes as Professor Hooch poured a cup of coffee and handed it to one of her fellow lecturers. The new situation had been particular strenuous on Hooch as it forced her to stay inside, the quidditch fields were now out of bounds. All she could now do was lecture on the theory of flight, and as she was an out of doors kind of person being cocked up inside made her temper run short rather quickly. Suddenly the door swung open and the headmaster strolled in. He rarely came to the common room anymore, as he did no longer teach any classes himself. Moreover, lately he had been rather busy with the management of the school. Intelligent bright blue eyes with a hint of mischief in them looked at the group of rather startled looking teachers. What always amazed his staff was how relaxed the headmaster still acted. It was as if everything was all right and they wondered how he was able to keep his good humour even though their world was rapidly falling apart. They knew he had a lot on his mind and they did not hold his good humour against him, on the contrary they were glad of it, for as long as Albus Dumbledore saw there was hope, there was still hope left. "Hello all" he said cheerfully, as he walked over to the coffee table to pour himself some tea", hope I haven't startled you all, I know nowadays it is rather uncommon to see me in the hmm, common room". The teachers smiled a polite smile in reaction to his pun. " But I have come here today to tell you all some splendid news, splendid indeed". He looked around to see if he had everybody's attention, which naturally he had. They were thinking, fast, perhaps too fast, could it be all over, had they won? He saw their eager faces and berated himself for the way he had chosen to introduce his announcement; he should have known that they would conclude that it was all over. But it was not over by far; the end of the battle was a long way away. He stopped smiling and his face turned serious, " I am sorry, I think I gave you all the wrong impression. I fear that our troubles will not be over for quite some time." He saw the disappointment on their faces; the desperation and the pain were almost too much to bear. "I am so sorry, " he said before continuing, " to disappoint you all. What I want to tell you all is that we have finally found a replacement for the rather unfortunate late Mr. Applebee. Yes indeed, we have found a new DADA teacher, and believe me he will help bring the end to all of our troubles a lot closer. "Not if he lasts as long as most of our DADA teachers, he won't" one of the teachers muttered. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, " O, no my dear madam Hooch, I assure you he will be with us for a very long time. Sir Erik Gaultier is an excellent wizard and a very competent teacher." Madam Sprout raised a hand " 'scuse me, headmaster, but I was wondering whether I was the only one who has never heard of a wizard named Erik Gaultier." Several people nodded in agreement with what Madam Sprout had just said. " Well my dear, you are quite right, Lord Gaultier has been one of the best kept secrets of the wizarding world, simple because until about a year ago he did not know he was a wizard." Indignant voices rose up from among the staff, " How can he teach DADA then? How can he teach at all?" The headmaster gazed over his staff and raised his hand to calm them down, " Erik held a job as a muggle professor at the time we discovered his hidden qualities. Moreover, before he became a professor at one of Britain's best so-called red brick universities he held a position as a diplomat for the muggle French government, later on for the muggle British government and he had various dealings with rather, shall we say unsavoury characters. Therefore, the board believes he is ideal for the job. Anyway, you will be able to ask him all this at lunch. Severus is picking him up from the station at Hogsmeade as we speak." Dumbledore was about to turn around and leave the room when a voice from somewhere at the back asked ' Headmaster? Why wasn't I informed of professor Gaultier's appointment?' All heads turned towards whomever had spoken; they wondered what about the reason behind the question for none of them had been informed about all this before today. All they had known was that Dumbledore and the board had been searching high and low to find a replacement for the late dr. Applebee. Sam Moore blushed slightly, she was the Non magic peoples studies Teacher. After the growing prejudice against muggles and muggle born wizards and witches, Severus Snape of all people, had suggested that perhaps it would be wise if their students were taught in the muggle way of life. Some such sort of class had already been in existence but Snape had felt that the best way to teach young wizards to deal with muggles was to have a muggle teach the subject. Nevertheless, everyone still called it Muggles studies; even the teacher who also happened to be the only muggle at Hogwarts used the politically incorrect term. Everyone felt that the title Non Magic People Studies was just too much of a tongue breaker. It had been Snape who had recommended miss Moore for the post of lecturer in Muggle Studies. Snape's recommendation came as a great surprise to everyone. Most people thought he would not want to be seen dead in the company of muggles, but professors Snape and Moore seemed to get a long just fine. Although there had been reports of loud rows between the two they always seemed to hang out together, if hanging out was a thing Snape would do that is. The relation between Snape and the muggle professor was a great mystery to both the student body and the staff. There was even a betting pool going 'round in which people betted on the way the two might have met. Minerva McGonagall's version was closest to the truth, but then again together with Dumbledore, she was one of the few who knew about Snape's history, first as a death-eater later as spy. Dumbledore looked a bit confused, then something seemed to dawn on him and he seemed horribly embarrassed, a thing not often seen, ' Oh my dear, I am so sorry. Yes, it was very wrong of me not to tell you. To be quite honest I more or less thought Severus would tell you.' ' Apparently he did not' miss Moore said than muttering something under her breath, which only professor Flitwick overheard, and he shuddered at what he heard. He was not aware that young ladies knew any of the terms she had just used. He did not know the meaning of half of them! Dumbledore looked concerned and said 'you are all right with it aren't you? I am afraid Erik is the only one suitable for the job. Especially now that. well we'd better discuss this in my office. Shall we say after lunch?' Sam smiled tightly 'Of course headmaster.' The headmaster nodded briefly and left the room. Most of the teachers crowded around miss Moore, eager to find out how it could be that she did know this mysterious new teacher, and just as she was about to tell them to piss off, the door flew open with a loud bang and a very angry Snape stormed into the room. He glared around, focused on Sam Moore and barked 'You outside with me NOW!' They had never seen Snape behave like this towards any of his fellow lecturers. He was always courteous, if sometimes a little curt. In addition, they had never seen him be this rude to Sam Moore. It was rumoured that whenever the two of them did have a row she was always the one who started it. Sam got up very slowly, and walked languidly towards Snape. ' But of course Severus, I'd be delighted to go outside with you, but there is a small thing I need to do first' she stopped in front of him. He eyed her impatiently. Everything happened fast after that. She lifted her knee and kneed Snape good and hard in the groin. The next thing they saw was Sam Moore bending over a groaning Severus Snape, hissing to him in such a menacing way no one would have held possible this petite woman be able to 'Now YOU come out with me.' She hauled the groaning professor to his feet and more or less dragged him out of the door. The door shut down quietly behind them. The teachers looked at each other and sort of smiled. This was most definitely one of the strangest days they had had after the beginning of the struggle.

'What the hell do you think you are playing at Severus?' She slammed the door to the dungeons close and pushed Snape against the wall. She knew they were on his grounds now, but somehow she felt she could handle him better here than anywhere else. She let go of him and he sagged down on the floor. He tried to get up but was in too great a pain to straighten himself. 'Trying to help' he said through clenched teeth. 'Now if you'll excuse me,' he said scrambling in a more or less upright position, ' I think I am going to throw up.' He stumbled towards the bathroom. He came out looking a little better, ' My God woman, where did you learn to kick like that?' She just glared. 'Yes, yes silly question.' Suddenly she stood in front of him again, invading personal space. She pulled him down by his collar so that they were face to face and said, 'What do you mean, help?' 'Help you and Erik.' She pushed him away ' Oh what is this? Hmm, the great, arrogant, cynical potion master turned Cupid?' ' That's not fair, you know me better than that,' he whispered hoarsely, angry. She looked away, 'Yes, of course, you're right,' and turned her back towards him. She was crying. He got up carefully and approached her; put a comforting hand on her shoulder but she brushed it away. Snape had had enough and roughly turned her around to face him. He pulled her towards her glaring but before he could tell her, what was on his mind, her hands went around his neck. She pulled him closer and kissed him violently. Snape tried to resist but could not. He returned the kisses fervently until they had to pull away to regain their breath. Snape could still feel the kick and he knew he'd be in agony if they continued. ' I am sorry, I am in no state to uh... well. We should not, not now. Not anymore.' ' Right, I am sorry Severus,' she let go of him and turned to leave the room, ' what a mess we're in 'ey' and closed the door. Severus Snape collapsed in a corner of the dungeon, rolled up in a ball, shoulders shaking as pent up emotions fought for release.

In the hallway Sam Moore cursed ' Fuck, fuck fuck it! What the hell am I doing?' shaking her head she turned back towards the dungeon.

The door to the dungeon went open softly, 'Severus?' A shuddering in take of breath came from the left corner of the dungeon. The candles were almost all out, the only light was the light seeping in from the tiny windows near the roof of the dungeon, and it was nearly impossible to see anything. ' Go Away' ' No, not before you tell me why you dragged me out of the common room.' ' Dragged you?' Snape snorted, ' if my memory serves me right, it was you who did all the dragging.' 'You know Sev, everything was A-Okay before this morning. I was finally starting to get my life back together and still help out then Dumbledore shows up with his little announcement. Please indulge me.' Her voice dripped with anger and even in the semi- dark Snape saw that particular dangerous glint in her eyes. He had hoped he would never have to see it again and seeing it now made him afraid and Severus Snape was not easily frightened. He stood up slowly, the few candles still burning cast odd shadows on his face, they could have made him look menacing, but instead he looked sad. ' I went to Hogsmeade to collect Erik from the station and he was not there. This worried me because he is always rather punctual and calls before hand if he is somehow unable to make it to a meeting. At least I know he used to be all that, before, well you know." Snape's voice trailed off and he swallowed before continuing. " I waited for about half an hour but as there is only one morning train coming into Hogsmeade so it was wasted time. After that I searched all of Hogsmeade, I even went to the Shrieking Shack. I tried to contact him in all ways possible, send various owls to people who might know where he is. Yes... I even called him on his mobile phone.' He fished something from his pocket and tossed it towards her. 'See even got one of my own' he said bitterly. She swallowed a sarcastic reply because she saw he was honestly hurt by what she had been about to say and instead said, ' I know, I know...' Silence, then ' Good, now please humour me and let me continue.Erik's cell phone was turned on but he did not answer, eventually I got his voice mail. Left a message, but he has not rang back yet.' He stopped, took a deep breath and continued, ' I tried to call him at his hotel, but he did not answer the phone there either, then I called the hotel's reception and they told me he had checked out two days ago. I asked you,' Sam gave a short mirthless laugh, ' to come outside because I hoped you would know more. Perhaps I should have been more courteous but we both know that when it comes to dealing with the 'famous' monsieur Gaultier, controlling one's temper is often the least of one's concerns ' While talking, Snape had sat himself down behind his desk; professor Merchant dragged a chair to the desk and sat down as well. ' I just wish you had told me Severus. Why did not you tell me? And why did not the headmaster say anything, surely he was aware of what history Erik and I and even you have together,' she had raised her voice without realising, but caught herself in time before it became a shout, 'sorry.' She got up and turned to leave. Wearily Snape said, ' tis okay, how could I not forgive you.' ' Tis okay, how could I not forgive you. Professor Moore turned around, 'Oh please Sev, don't say that. I don't deserve it, especially not from you. Not after, well.' 'Yes, well', an uncomfortable silence descended on the dungeon. They looked at each other through the half-light of the room. 'So what do we do now?' 'You have absolutely no idea where he might be?' ' We were not really on speaking terms after he, he. well. You know. he became too involved; it was as if he was not there anymore, when we were together. I know he did some similar jobs before we met, but anyhow.' ' I know, as you may remember Erik took my place after the incident which brought us all together. I need to ask something else. Do you believe that is, that is why, why we never worked out? Do you believe that if I had not come into your life you and Erik would.' Severus' voice trailed off. 'No, Yes, I don't know. I simply don't know. Probably not, if my friend and I had not "rescued" you, I would never have ended up at Erik's chambers and uh.' Sam blushed; Snape could see this even in the scarcely lighted room. He felt he had to changes the subject somehow and replied, 'do you remember when Dumbledore and I appeared on your doorstep and the first thing Erik did was hit me unconscious.' Sam smiled. ' Don't you dare laugh, ' he said good natured,' It was the worst week of my life. I haven't been knocked unconscious more before or after that day. Sure, tortured and the regular stuff but never physically knocked out. Feeling a little better now?' ' Yes, I think so. Hey, but what do you expect. You weren't particularly grateful to me after what we did for you, and as I recall you behaved beastly towards Erik.' 'So, I did. I do apologise, and I do believe I never really thanked you nor your friend for what you did that night.' Snape said looking a bit ashamed. 'Well, we did not have that much time did we?' 'No, you're quite right." He shuddered, " Shall we continue our conversation somewhere a tad bit warmer?' 'I thought you liked the chill of this place.' Severus raised an eyebrow, ' what ever gave you that idea; a hearty fire is what I like. It's just that that does not go well with my image. Now shall we go?' Sam rolled her eyes and followed her friend to his quarters. After entering his room, Snape muttered a few spells and the fireplace lighted itself. ' I wish I could do that,' Sam said a little jealous. ' Well, you've managed quite well without magic,' he looked serious again, ' you're still alive.' Sam nodded, ' hmm, yes. Even a wizard can't survive a nine-millimetre bullet hole through his heart. And crossbows, crossbows are very handy too,' Sam continued cynical. Suddenly she felt angry again, ' I just wish I had some magical powers too, perhaps I could have saved them then.' 'Sam, don't do this. You know that there was nothing you or I could do. Remember I was there too, and I do have magical powers. We were too late.' 'Sev, why did not Erik stop them? Why did not he do anything?' Suddenly he could see straight through her again, all her defences were gone and Severus understood for the first time what at happened that faithful night.

'He was there? Erik was there that night. Oh God Sam, why did not you tell me?' ' I mean, they were my friends, for Christ Sake! And he did not do anything, just let them murder half of my, our, team. Friends, they were his friends as well, he was there, well you called say they saw him as their mentor, they looked up to him. And.' 'Listen, I am not going to try to justify Erik's behaviour, but you know I used to be in that predicament as well. As Erik, I mainly acted as a scientist for Voldermort and his cronies, but once in a while he thought it good for me if I went "out with the boys" on a death eaters raid. I did some horrible things, things I could have stopped. Sometimes when I knew before hand what was going to happen I tried to find a way to get that information to my superiors. After all that's the job of a spy but when that did not work or I was only told location and target a few hours before it was going to happen I tried to avoid participating. I did not join in the slaughter but I did not prevent it either, how could I? It would jeopardise the entire undercover operation. It was, and still is war and in war, the lives of the many are more important than those of the few. I am not saying you have to like it, I don't even like it and I've been there, the uselessness of the whole situation, and there is not a single thing one can do about it because there are 'greater things' at stake. However, even though you don't like it try to understand it at least a little. I am quite sure Erik felt and still feels the same way about it as you do, if not worse after all not only did he lose some good friends and he lost you. I never had any one who loved me when I was in that situation ' Snape sat down next to the girl and put an arm around her, ' shh.' She snuggled up against him, they sat in amiable silence for a while, staring into the flames. ' Do you miss them?' he asked after a while, leaving out whether or not he included Erik with the 'them'. 'Every nanosecond of the day. Sev, I am sorry about being so angry with you, you do not deserve it.' 'Hmm, well. I am okay now. I am sorry I never told you about Erik's appointment. I should have said something; after all, I am your friend. But as your friend, I would have expected you to tell me that Erik was there as a death eater when we lost so many of our friends.' ' I know, its just that I, I don't know why I did not tell you,' She sighed, ' but um, should not we start figuring out what could have happened to our ' subject of conversation'?' 'We will, we will, but first please tell me how you figured out Erik was there?' Severus felt it might not be such a good idea to press any further but he was rather curious. ' Occasionally he saw chance to get away from the death eaters for some time. A week after the "incident" he visited me. He looked awful and I saw that he had been drinking rather too much. He told me everything, begged me to forgive him. We had an enormous row, which must have kept half the block awake. Anyway, I tried, I really tried, but I felt something had changed. After that night both, Erik and I had changed. I did not understand how a thoughtful, caring man like Erik could turn into such a monster.' Snape was about to say something, but she raised her hand, ' no, wait, I know what you're going to say, I know Erik already had a darker side to him before all this. One has to when one is in the line of work he was, is, in. But he was never evil. I know love should be unconditional but it is very difficult. It is very difficult to hold on to your ideals when the world around you falls apart. So many dead.' ' I don't believe Erik has turned into a monster at all,' Severus said. 'Look at me, I was a death eater for many years and I am not.' She smiled a little, ' Says the most hated teacher at Hogwarts.' Snape barked a short laugh, 'Ah! But that's just an image I have created for myself after many hard years of practice, well, you know what I mean. Seriously though I doubt Erik has been touched by Voldermort's evil at all. He is a lot stronger than you give him credit for.' 'Why did he changes so much then? We held no secrets for each other. But after that night he closed up.' ' Well, I, I, the only one I ever confided in after I left the death eaters was Dumbledore and that was already very difficult. I think it would have been even more difficult when one has to have such a conversation with the one, one loves. Perhaps Erik was afraid you might not understand. Dumbledore is a very wise man who has seen a lot but I doubt he even exactly understands what that life is like.' Sam got up from the couch and started to pace around the room, she spoke, ' and then, then he left, just like that. He did not leave a note, and never contacted me ever.' She swallowed back tears, 'No one at the ministry wanted to tell me what could have happened to him. They said they did not know, but they must have known. I mean, even Dumbledore seems to have known where he was and he never spoke to me about it. Sev? Did you know? 'cause, cause I believed he was dead.' Severus raised his hands in defence, ' No, Dumbledore came to me a week ago to ask me whether I thought Erik Gaultier was the right man to fill the unfortunate Mr. Applebee empty place. I was as surprised as you were this morning. I had to ask Albus twice to confirm that he had indeed mentioned Erik's name. Like you, I believed Erik must have died during one of the death eaters' raids. I never believed he had turned to the dark side, as I said, he is too strong for that.' Snape fell silent. Sam had her back turned towards Snape, and stood staring into the fire, ' you know, I still hear his voice. Not a day goes by that I don't hear his, sometimes rather sarcastic, tone reminding me of something. That's why I thought he was dead. Now it turns out he is not and that he is coming to join us here. How do I handle that?' ' I think Erik must feel exactly the same.' 'Yes but he could have said no. Why would he suddenly don't mind to see me again after, what is it? Almost a year?' ' A year already?' Snape looked puzzled. Sam sighed, ' Yes, everything happened very fast.
SEPTEMBER 21 2001

OXFORD ROAD, MANCHESTER

3 AM

Graduate students Verena Miller and Sam Moore made their way home after a good night's clubbing. They both felt slightly drunk but had decided to walk back to their hall of residence instead of taking a cab. It was a lot cheaper and perhaps would help clear their minds a bit. They had just passed Saint Mary's Hospital when they heard shouting and someone running after them. When they'd first come out to this city people had warned them against walking down the street at this time of night. However, thus far nothing had happened. Especially Sam seemed to have the ability to become invisible whenever someone potentially dangerous approached her (although actually this did not only happen when there was a case of danger, she also always managed to escape the attention of the many people handing out flyers in front of the Student Union.) Now however, they felt slightly worried ' Uh Sam don't you think we'd better run or something?' Verena asked sounding a bit scared. ' No I think its okay, just walk on confidently' The man, for it had been a man running after them, ran passed them towards the crossing of Upper Brook street, when seemingly out of nowhere two men appeared in the middle of that crossing. In the distance behind them, Sam and Verena heard at least two more people approaching at a fast pace. It began to look more and more as if they were watching a chase, the chase of the man who's just brushed passed them, because when he saw the two men in front of him he looked around wildly for a means of escape. There seemed to be no way out. He cursed and raised some sort of weapon. The two men at the crossing raised similar weapons, one of them spoke ' Well, well, Severus, you did not really believe you could escape us now did you?' The man called Severus did not answer, a deadly, threatening silence hung thickly in the air. ' Oh, bugger, V I believe you were right, we got to get away from here.' Sam whispered. So far no one seemed to have noticed them or at least given them any attention at all. Sam doubted the man who'd ran passed them had actually seen them, after all if you're being chased long enough, tunnel vision starts to set in. ' Uh I guess we better hide, right about now would be a good idea. ' Verena whispered back. The women ducked into the parking lot opposite Saint Mary's. Just as they crawled away behind an old Vauxhall, they heard cursing and at least two people were yelling at each other in a foreign language. ' That sounded a lot like Latin' Verena whispered. 'Suss.' Lots of strangely coloured lights flashed around and then there was a shout and silence. After about ten minutes Verena whispered 'You think it is safe now?' 'Wait here I'll have a look' 'No way! If you go out there I am coming with you.' 'Fine' They waited for another five minutes but all they heard was the first morning birds singing and the sound of distant traffic. The two girls crawled carefully away from the shelter of the car and out of the parking lot. ' I feel ridiculous, ' Sam said as they'd crawled about a yard,' I am going to stand up now and walk.' They both got up from the low crouch they were in and looked around. The streets were abandoned except for someone lying face down on the pavement. He was not dead because they could see him withering on the ground as if in great pain. ' Should we go and see if we can help him?' ' Are you crazy, there must have been a reason why he was being chased.' ' Yes but he is in pain, we can't just leave him here, we should at least get him to the hospital.' 'Hmm,' said Sam seemingly deep in thought, 'Yes, you're right.' They walked up towards the man, the pain he had been in seemed to have subsided somewhat for he lay almost still now. 'Oh, he stopped moving, do you think he's dead?' Verena kneeled down besides the man she felt his pulse. Suddenly the spasms started again, he cried out in agony. 'Sir, sir, can you hear me, I am going to get help, and the hospital is just a few yards back.' She tried to calm him down saying ' he's burning up, must have an enormous fever. Schuss, its okay' she touched his forehead but that seemed to worsen the spasms. Through tightly clenched teeth he said 'Go away, leave me.' Sam said 'No you're going to the hospital' ' N...o., no.. Hos..hospi.tal, promise no Hospital. Can..... not..endanger, mug.llss...' and he passed out, the spasms having taken up all of his strength. ' What the hell did he mean by mug. Lls? And endangering them?' ' I don't know, are we going to get him to the hospital or not?' Verena asked. Sam shook her head, 'No.' 'What? are you going to just leave him here?' ' Of course not, no we take him home.' 'That is even more stupid than leaving him here.' ' Well he did specifically say he did not want to go to the hospital.' 'Sam, the man was delirious!' 'Are you going to help me get him up?' 'You really enjoy this don't you, this is not some action film you know!' In the end Verena helped her friend anyway, against her better judgement for she felt that they were getting into something way out of their depth. The walk from that crossing to Anson road and Pankhurst Court usually took about ten minutes now it took them twenty. Halfway there the man had briefly woken up and vomited all over Verena's shoes. Sam had great difficulty not to start throwing up as well; she detested watching people being sick. Verena sort of snorted and said ' well it was your idea to take him with us.' Sam glared and when she felt the wave of nausea fade away, she said 'be glad I did not start as well, you know what I had for dinner, at least he did not seem to have that much left in his stomach.'

"Alex, Alex open up!" Alexander Luxembourg 5th year medical student, opened his door and looked sleepily at the person who had woken him from a rather pleasant dream. ' Sam, it is four o'clock in the morning, I have to be in hospital at 8.' ' Sorry Alex, medical emergency.' Alex looked her over ' Nothing wrong with me, you. well never mind, patient is in my room, come on.' As he walked into Sam's room the smell of vomit hit him, ' Don't tell me someone's got alcohol poisoning or something.' He grumbled.

' No, its my shoes,' Verena said. 'Your shoes smell of vomit? I thought sweaty feet were worse enough.' A sigh from Sam, ' No the patient vomited over her shoes, I told her to take them of before we got into my room but she forgot. Sam gave Verena a nasty look but she glared back just as hard. Breaking eye contact, Sam said ' anyway, the patient is lying on my bed.' A thousand questions crossed Alex's mind but he as he saw the state "the patient" was in he knew those could wait. The man on the bed seemed to be conscious. ' Sir, my name is Alex Luxembourg, I am now going to examine you' ' I thought I said no doctors' the man rasped. ' No, no, Alex is not a doctor, yet. He's one of our housemates.' ' Oh, and that makes it alright does it?' Alex ignored the comment 'what's your name Sir?' ' Non of your business' 'Fine' Alex felt the man's pulse, and set about to examine the rest of his injuries. Sam said to Verena, ' come on we'll wait in the living room, and please get those shoes out of my room!' Verena grinned. After giving her friend a friendly kick Sam said, ' you bitch. Alex we'll be in the living room.'

Verena turned on the TV, 'Oh great BBC learning Zone' she flopped down on a chair. Sam walked into the kitchen ' want a cup of tea?' ' No, thanks; better make that a coffee for me. I guess we have to stay up for a while.' 'Uh' Sam replied, ' Oh shite a got a class at nine' ' Well, you can forget about that.'

Alex walked into the living room 'under the circumstances, he'll be all right, but he should really be in hospital. He has two badly bruised ribs, a broken nose, and a mild concussion and there is something else wrong as well but I can't put my finger on it. It almost seems as if his nerve system has been fried from the inside out. He went into a spasm when I checked his reflects.' ' He does not want to go to hospital' said Sam, leaning against the doorpost of the kitchen holding two cups of steaming coffee. ' Coffee?' Alex took one of the cups, 'Thanks', Sam placed the other one on the table in front of Verena. ' Can I go see him?' she asked. 'Yes he was awake when I left him.' Alex sat down on a chair next to Verena, ' could you tell me what is going on?' Verena told him everything they had seen. After she had finished Alex put his cup down and looked at her, 'you're mad, why did you bring him here, you know nothing about him, he might be some drug addict for all you know.' ' Did you find anything that might indicate drug abuse?' He shook his head, ' No but he does have a weird tattoo on his left forearm, it seems to be glowing red.' He stood up shaking his head, ' Mad, I am going to bed now, let me know if his condition changes. Night.'

Alex had opened the windows and the smell of vomit was almost gone, luckily. Sam sat down besides the man. 'Hello, my name is Sam Moore, how do you feel now?' ' Why did you take me here miss Moore?' he asked wearily. She shrugged, ' I don't know, seemed the best thing to do. You would have died or run over by a car if we had left you there.' ' But you don't know me.' 'No, I don't now do I, mister..?' Severus Snape felt too tired to lie, to fight this girl, 'Snape, Severus Snape. I would shake hands with you if it did not hurt so much' he grimaced. ' well, mister Snape, I would like you to tell me more about yourself and what happened out there... tomorrow. It seems best if you get some rest now. If you promise not to go throwing up again I'll stay here.' Some sort of thin smile appeared on his lips. 'Sorry about that, you seemed to be awfully uncomfortable with it.' 'Yes I was, I am... where you conscious?' 'Yes, your friend and you make quite a funny act together you know that?' He said, ' if I had not been in so much pain I would really have enjoyed your bickering. Married long are you?' 'Very funny, you're really a nice guy aren't you?' 'Have to be in my line of work' 'Which is?' He sighed and she said 'Yes you're right it can wait until tomorrow. Get some rest.' She grabbed a sleeping back from under her bed and unrolled it. 'Night.'

There was a knock on the door, Verena walked in, ' Sam, you'll be all right? Want me to stay here as well, to keep an eye on our patient?' 'No, no I'll be fine, he is in no condition to do anything funny, except abuse me verbally perhaps.' 'Okay, Good night' 'Night'

'Father no!!, Please.' Sam woke up from the shouting. She saw Mr. Snape tossing in his bed, panting, sweating like a pig. Obviously he had a rather bad nightmare. He woke up with a start 'wha, what?' ' Shhh' she said, 'it was just a nightmare. Its alright, go back to sleep.' 'Okay.' Apparently he was not really awake, because he immediately did what he was told. He lay back down, closed his eyes and went back to sleep. She had not actually had a chance to really look at him. He was rather tall, had a somewhat oddly featured yet still handsome face, although a bit on the pale side. She got out of "bed" and into the bathroom to fetch a damp cloth. Gently, she wiped Snape's brow, he still had a bit of a fever, but her ministrations soon seemed to calm him down. At around eight in the morning Snape had finally fallen into a more calm sleep. At nine o'clock, Sam woke up with a hell of a headache and a stiff neck. 'Argg'. She stared around her, wondering why she was lying on the floor. Slowly her brain catched up with her, 'Ah, oh bugger, class.' She looked at the now peacefully sleeping Snape, got up and left the room. 'Ow, no good, head hurts.' Sam wobbled towards Verena's room and knock ' V, you awake?' 'No!' 'Yes you are, I am going to class, and can you check on our "guest" from time to time?' 'Uh.' 'I'll take that as a yes, see you at one.'

8.30 AM Sam Moore showered and dressed quickly. She ran towards the bus feeling slightly sick, and saw the bus drive off just before she got there. 'Well fuck me sideways! No not you, silly' She said as a leery teenager almost choked on his 7-up and gave her a curious look. She stormed into the Arts building, ran up the stairs, before she entered her teacher's room she stopped to catch her breath. Carefully she opened the door, ' Sorry I am late professor.' ' Ah miss Moore, I was wondering what had happened to you today, glad you decided to show up after all, as you know it was at your suggestion we're having this tutorial' Erik Gaultier looked up from his paperwork, 'my God, Sam, you look awful. Been out drinking have we?' 'No, well yes but not that much, something happened last night when we were on our way home. Verena and I witnessed an robbery of some sort, and I think I probably slept for less than an hour. Can we start now?' 'Hmm, I don't think you're in any state to take in anything we were supposed to discuss. Let's get a coffee and just chat a bit about what you want to write your thesis about.' 'Uh, okay.' They went out to the cafe behind the refectory and got a coffee. They sat in silence for a while, sipping the hot drink. Sam's headache had faded and she looked at her professor, suddenly she saw him in a completely different way, she had always liked him but now there was something new. 'Uh, uh' she thought, 'that's weird.' 'Miss Moore, hello? What could possibly be so interesting about my features, hmm, if you continue like this you'll stare a hole in my head.' 'Sorry.' 'Surely, you could not have been wondering about my face now could you. I mean at start of term when I began to work here I explained it all.' ' Yes professor you did, and no I was not staring at your face. Well I was but not in that way. But I do believe we should not really have a conversation like this.' ' Yes you're quite right. You know miss Moore, I really enjoy the tutorial, you have some interesting and novel ideas, not all correct, of course.'

'Naturally, and thank you,' she replied, a tad offended. ' No really, I do understand where they come from and as long as you can support your ideas I will not think any less of them. I might not agree with them but that's a different matter altogether. I believe you'll make a fair change at getting a first and I would like to be your thesis tutor.' ' Thank you sir, I , I don't know what to say' ' Oh, it is quite all right. You do have to promise me something though; you can't show up in the state you were in this morning anymore. You'll need all your energy and concentration to work on your thesis.' Sam nodded, ' I'll do my best sir, but as I said it was not clubbing or alcohol abuse which got me in this state. Trust me I don't want to go through what I went through last night ever again.' Professor Gaultier stared at her, ' you said you were attacked did not you?' 'Well not me, a friend, but we, that is Verena and I saw it all, but professor I don't think this really concerns you.' 'Hmm I do believe it does, you see you are a student of the University of Manchester and therefore all professors are at least a little responsible for what happens to their students. You did not report this attack to the police?' ' No, not yet, actually it had not crossed my mind yet.' She said. ' Well I suggest you should, but I recommend you get some sleep first. See you next week at the seminar, ' and he got up, ' I am afraid I have to prepare a lecture for this afternoon; I am giving a rather tedious first year class on Spenser. It is not so much the subject as the students that make it tedious though.' 'Thank you sir, and good luck with your class.' 'Uh, thank you I need that.'

12.15 AM After doing some shopping Sam Moore walked home, she'd missed the bus again and it was not as if she enjoyed taking that old smelly bus anyway. The sun was out but it was rather cold, her breath left little clouds gently floating in the air. As she walked down the street Miss Moore was completely unaware that she was being followed.

Erik Gaultier's real passion would always lie with music. However, literature came as great second best and he liked teaching. He had been many things before he became guest lecturer at the University of Manchester but he thoroughly enjoyed this job. Actually he did not have any degrees at all, but one thing the jobs he'd had before he became a professor of English and American Literature had taught him was how to get your hands on some very nicely forged papers. He'd also had the right connections and after pulling a few strings it did not take too much to get the job. His acquaintances seemed rather glad to be rid of him, for the moment. All in all it was a lot better than the work he'd done before, that usually involved getting your hands dirty and working on your own. Now, for the first time he was surrounded by people and most of these people were eager to learn from him. In the beginning he had had some trouble adjusting to his fellow lecturers and the life style of a professor but he'd quickly gotten over that. Erik Gaultier had led a very nomadic existence and he knew that one-day in the not so distant future he would have to leave again. He just hoped it would not be too soon. Professor Gaultier put his copy of "Edmund Spenser's Poetry" down and looked out of the window. His eyes caught a familiar figure, as Sam Moore passed by on the street below. Were his eyes deceiving him or was she being followed? 'How odd, ' he thought. Quickly he grabbed his coat and hat and ran downstairs, on the way almost pushing the faculty's secretary of the stairs, ' Terribly sorry, m'dear' he shouted while he ran out. Outside he saw the retreating figure of miss Moore, and lo and behold, a man trying to follow her. Erik, who had some experience in tracking down people without being noticed immediately, saw that this man was not up to the job. Against his better judgement he decided to follow miss Moore and her shadow. A small voice in his head kept shouting, ' get back to your office and finish that lecture,' but he ignored it and replied, ' oh let me, just for the fun of it.'

The man following miss Moore was not aware that someone was now following him as well, and Sam Moore did notice anything at all for she was deep in thought, although her thoughts weren't that far away from one of the men following her. She was thinking about her thesis and what to write it about. Sam felt she was a very lucky girl to have "caught" the attention of professor Gaultier, he was one of her favourite professors but very difficult to please. He did not suffer fools gladly and it had surprised her a bit that he had not been angrier with her when she got to the tutorial too late. Now that she thought about it, it occurred to her that he hadn't seemed too awake himself either. Furthermore, during Monday's lecture he had seemed a bit absentminded and sometimes forgot where he was in his lecture, which had never happened before.

Erik yawned, recently he had had trouble getting to sleep and when he finally slept he dreamed the most strange and sometimes awful dreams. Fragments of his past were mingled with scenes seemingly sprouting from some fantasyland. His dreams were peopled with elves and goblins and a lot of dark basements as well. Despite his tiredness he kept pace with the people he was following, it had been awhile since he had done anything like this but he still knew how to do it. They seemed to have arrived at Sam's Hall of residence. To professor Gaultier's amazement they had arrived at the Hall where he had his own chambers, he was surprised that he had not come across miss Moore at all. Then again, Sam Moore was somewhat of loner and probably only went to the main building to collect her mail or pick up packages. The man following Sam jumped behind some trees as she suddenly half turned and walked into a more or less hidden door underneath a pair of stairs. He obviously thought she would come out through that door again, but Erik knew she'd probably take the exit at reception. He wondered what he should do now, follow the girl or see what the man was up too. Then he heard a high tone and the man was gone. 'Hmm, that's odd,' he shrugged and decided that it was best to get to his rooms and get some sleep, he would phone the secretary to tell them he was ill. However, curiosity got the better of him and he walked past the stairs leading to his chambers and through to reception. He just saw miss Moore turning a left corner past Eaglesfield. Nodding a brief greeting to the woman behind reception he walked out and after Sam Moore. The girl passed Ewings building, so that was the reason why he had not seen her before, she stayed in Pankhurst court, the self catering part of Dalton Ellis Hall. He was at the parking lot when he heard screaming and shouting and the sound of what seemed to be an explosion. Miss Moore had just crossed Denison Road and started to run towards Pankhurst. Erik followed quickly. More shouting as he arrived at the door, Sam had disappeared inside and he went after her. Smoke filled the air; it seemed to come from the flat on the first floor. The fire alarm went of as he pushed open the door to flat four. A girl was lying in the hallway, he felt her pulse, and luckily she was still alive. Then he heard Sam Merchant shout, ' Verena! Where the hell are you? What happened?' Erik Gaultier followed the sound and as he came to the end of the hall way saw the remains of what had once been a room, Sam Moore was standing in the middle of the chaos. She looked up ' Hello professor. I can't find Verena. She, do you think she was here when this happened?' He looked around the room and smelled the air, he did not see any traces of human remains nor did he smell the rather distinct smell of burned flesh. ' No, I don't think so. You don't seem surprised to see me.' 'Uh, what?' 'I said, oh never mind, any idea what happened here?' 'No, no and I can't find V. Where is she?' she shouted, almost hysterical, ' Oh shite! Snape.' And she ran towards another room. Erik followed her once again, ' Sam tell me what is going on. The fire brigade will be here soon and you have to give them some explanation of what happened.' He went into the room after her, this room was in disorder as well, completely ransacked, and drawers were pulled out of the closet, clothing lying around but not a trace of the person Sam seemed to be looking for. ' Sweet Jesus, what happened here,' a familiar voice said. Sam turned around, brushed passed a rather startled Erik, ' Thank god you're safe! Oh he's with you.' ' Yes Severus and I took a little walk; I thought that might do him some good. He does not seem to like sunshine too much though' Severus Snape shrugged, looked around the room and said 'Oh no.' 'Oh no what' Sam asked. 'Remember, I said you should have left me? Well this is why. As long as I stay here your lives will be in grave danger. I have to go.' Verena looked rather impatient, ' we have had this discussion before; you are not fit to travel. Look at you, we were outside for about ten minutes and your completely exhausted.' Erik Gaultier spoke at last, ' can somebody please explain to me what is going on?' For the second time within 24 hours Verena told the whole story. 'I believe I have to agree with your friend, Alex, it is madness,' he stated after Verena had finished her narration, ' how on earth could you drag a complete stranger into your house. You don't know anything about him at all. Really, Sam I would have expected more of you.' ' Thank you for your support professor. More criticism, that's really something I CAN NOT USE RIGHT NOW OKAY!' she shouted, kicking some books out of the way, ' someone should check on Hazel, she did not look too well.' Verena followed Sam outside, 'What's professor Gaultier doing here?' "Beats me, this is one strange day Verena, really utterly weird. Hazel? Hazel can you hear me?" Just as she said,' It is okay, help is on the way' some firemen rushed in followed by two paramedics. They got a stretcher and took Hazel to the hospital. Verena went with them in the hopes that she might be able to recall who was responsible for the attack.

Erik and Snape were left alone in the room; standing amidst the chaos they eyed each other. Snape moved first, he lunged at Erik with a reckless anger, Erik moved out of the way elegantly and took hold of Severus' right arm, he twisted it on Snape's back. Severus felt something pricking his throat. 'I advice you not to move an inch more, miss Moore has not saved you to find you dead with your throat cut, now has she. Erik slowly removed the knife from Snape's throat, 'Nice isn't she' he hissed as he held the harpy in front of Severus' eyes. ' For a stuffycollege professor, you are remarkably quick, but not quick enough.' Snape somehow managed to get free of professor Gaultier's hold and out of the way of the harpy. ' I greatly dislike using violence but there seems to be no other way.' He hit Erik hard on the head and he'd lost consciousness before he hit the ground. ' See you,' Snape opened the window and was about to jump out when he remembered something; he picked up the knife and pocketed it. Then he retrieved a pen and some paper from the mess on the desk and wrote; Dear miss Moore, I thank you for your care, am afraid it is impossible for me to stay any longer. Do apologise to your professor for me, I did not mean to hurt him but there was no other way . S.S.' He put the note on the limp form of professor Gaultier, climbed on the desk, looked down 'Oh, this is going to be unpleasant' and jumped.

'Now, mister Snape will you.... oh my God! Professor? Professor!' as she knelt down she saw the note, ' Bastard!' 'I beg you pardon?' professor Gaultier said as slowly regained consciousness. ' I did not mean you sir, and I am glad you're alright.' 'Just a horrible head ache that's all.'

'Join the club. What are you doing here?' As Erik opened his mouth to explain a police detective came through the door, ' Hello, could you please explain what happened here?' 'No' Sam said. 'No? No you don't want to explain or No you don't know what happened here?' the police officer looked less than pleased. ' Sir, I am quite sure the young lady did not mean anything by it, all this came as rather a shock I am afraid. My name is Erik Gaultier, I am a professor at Manchester University and I have my chambers at Dalton Ellis. Shall we talk outside?' Sam left Erik to settle it with the police; she stared out of the window wondering where the mysterious mister Snape could have gone. Erik came back into the room, ' Well that settles it; the police does not have any more questions, for now. We'd better clean this mess up shall we?' 'uhm' Sam said still staring out of the window. She turned around, ' I asked you already, but what are you doing here?' He told her. 'That's madness,' 'Why? I mean, you ask me to believe your mister Snape's story, but you don't believe I saw someone following you when I went home?' ' Why did you go home anyway? I thought you had a class to give.'

' Yes I do, I did, but I did not feel very well and thought it best to go home and try to get some rest. Besides half of those nitwits probably haven't read what they were supposed to read anyway. They are a lost cause." He began to pick up books and clothes and put them on a heap in the corner. ' You know you don't need to do this, I mean what would professor Stibbs say if he saw one of his fellow lecturers cleaning up some mess in a student's room.' ' That is a very good question miss Moore,' a new voice said from the doorpost, ' Erik, a word please.' Professor Gaultier paled a bit as he got up to go outside with Professor Stibbs, Head of Dalton Ellis Hall. 'Please excuse us miss Moore,' professor Stibbs said as he and Erik left. The police detective came back in just after professors Gaultier and Stibbs had left. 'Miss?' ' Sam, Sam Moore.' 'Could you come with me please, I need to take your statement on what has happened here. Oh, and miss Moore please don't clean up your room any further.' ' Sorry.' They stepped outside of the room and she told the policeman everything she could remember. He started to look at her as if she had lost her mind. ' You're sure it really happened that way? And you have no idea who this Snape character is and where he is now?' 'No, sir, I am afraid not.' ' Thank you miss, you know you're quite lucky and very stupid, you do realise it is very dangerous to take someone you don't know home with you.' ' So I have been told, sir. Thank you sir.'

She found professor Gaultier outside, leaning against a tree in the courtyard, he was smoking a cigarette. 'You know those things will kill you.' ' As I recall you smoke to don't you?'

'Oh, fair enough. You know I could really use one right now. '

He smiled and gave her his packet of cigarettes. After silently finishing his smoke he dropped the cigarette and put it out with the heel of his shoe, ' I better get to my chambers. I never would have thought you lead such an exciting life.' ' Thank you very much. What did Professor Stibbs say?' ' Oh, he wanted to know what had happened. The police told him I was the first member of staff to arrive at the scene of the crime, what ever that may be, and professor Stibbs just wanted an explanation. Also, he told me the police would probably ask me to come over to the police station to give a statement.' Sam looked her professor over, ' did you tell professor Stibbs you were following me, professor? Hmm?' Professor Gaultier blushed slightly and stuttered, ' no, no of course not I mean, that uhm.' ' Lost for words are we? That does not happen often does it?' she smirked. ' I, I am a bit tired, not getting enough sleep lately.' ' Well, you better get some sleep then don't you; at least you still have a room to go to sleep in. See you on Monday, sir.' He looked shocked, ' Yes, until Monday.' ' Didn't know I was so cheeky either, now did you?' Sam Merchant did not care anymore whether or not she offended her professor and lost her chance at getting him as her thesis supervisor. The reality of the events had finally begun to sink in and the lack of sleep was catching up with her. 'You know miss Moore, I am sure professor Stibbs will find you a place to stay.' He said as he walked away. 'Arggg!' She kicked the door and went inside. Tim stood looking aghast at the mess around him as Sam bumped into him when she ran inside. 'Sam, what happened to Verena's room?' Got blown up don't ask me why or how. Now if you'll excuse me I need a strong cup of tea and a lot of sleep. Oh and don't be surprised if you see a lot of policemen walking around. '

'Sam...' but she'd already disappeared into the kitchen. Tim followed her, ' Sam, please tell me more.' ' I can't its all very weird, you would not believe it anyway. Want some tea to?' She took her cup and went into the living room. ' I thought you were going to get some sleep?'

'I do, but I can't go in my room, police is in there. Ah speaking of the devil, ' she said as two police detectives walked in, ' just talk to them, they know as much as I do, if not more.' She sat down on a chair and closed her eyes.

6.30 PM Chattering and noisy clattering of cutlery. Dalton Ellis Hall staff was having dinner. Erik Gaultier was deep in conversation with one of the girls from behind reception when he got tapped on the shoulder, 'ah, professor Stibbs, what can I do for you?' ' Can you come to my room after dinner?' 'Of course, sir.' 'Professor, what was that all about?' the girl asked. Erik shrugged, ' Professor Stibbs probably has some more questions to ask about what happened at Pankhurst earlier today.' 'Oh, yes you were there weren't you?' 'Yes.'

7 PM

Severus Snape felt miserable, he still hurt from the attack last night and the jump from miss Moore window had not done him any good either, on top of it his entire left arm throbbed annoyingly. Even after he had discovered Snape's treason Voldermort still seemed bent on calling him. He probably saw it as a nice way of long distance torture and a permanent reminder of vulnerability for Snape. Severus shifted position; he'd been sitting crouched down between a car and lamppost for what felt like eternity. After he had fled from Pankhurst Court he made his way towards the railway station. He had to get back towards Hogwarts and knew he could not apparate without being detected by the death eaters. He had to get home the muggle way, ' never thought I would think of Hogwarts as home,' he muttered. He still berated himself for the loss of his wand; luckily he could perform some wandless magic as well. Snape got up carefully and made his way towards the station's entrance. He had picked Victoria Station, it was the largest station and it would not be too difficult to disappear into the morning rush crowd. All he had to do now was wait.

Verena Miller got home shortly after seven, she'd stayed with Hazel in the hopes that she would wake up soon, but Hazel had not regained consciousness yet. Verena hate herself for what had happened to her flatmate. If she had not let Sam dragged that strange man home, none of this would have happened, this all just gave to show that her gut feeling had been right. She wondered what would happen now. As she entered the flat she heard shouting coming from the living room, she went in and saw Sam crying in one corner and two of their flatmates shouting at her. Tim and Alex were also there and apparently were trying to calm everyone. Verena heard Sam say, ' I know I know it is my fault I am sorry, I am sorry, I will go, I'll go.' Sam got up and ran out of the door. 'Sam! Wait!'

9 PM Sam found herself in front of professor Gaultier's chambers, after she had fled her flatmates she had walked for what seemed hours around the neighbourhood, but had eventually ended up back on Dalton Ellis Hall grounds. ' Want to talk about it?' a familiar voice spoke softly. She spun around, ' Professor, yes, no, I don't know. I don't even know what I am doing here, I am sorry ... I better go back.' Professor Gaultier smiled a weary smile, ' Sam, something is obviously troubling you, please tell me how I can help. Come in.' Erik Gaultier opened the door and let her in. She told him how her housemates had reacted, how angry Kate and Moira had been with her. Sam said she even felt that Verena blamed her for what had happened. Of course, partly her flatmates were right. If she had not pressed Verena to help her get that Snape person home this would not have happened. He would probably have died but Verena's room would still be in one piece and Hazel would not be in hospital. Lack of sleep, irritated nerves and anger with herself got the better of her and she felt tears starting to fall from her eyes. Erik let her; he went to fetch some tissues and a glass of water. When he got back Sam lay curled up on his couch still shaking but no longer crying. He gave her the water and tissues and sat next to her on a chair, 'If you want you can stay here for the night. Tomorrow morning I'll talk to Verena and if you want also to your flatmates. Now get some sleep.' He got her a blanket and a pillow and went to the kitchen to make a nice cup of tea. When he came back into the living room the girl was fast asleep. He sat down in a chair opposite the couch and just watched her. He did not notice it when he fell asleep. Now it was Sam's turn to have nightmares, she tossed and turned in her sleep and eventually fell of the couch. Erik woke up with a start as he heard a soft thump. While rubbing his right leg to bring some live back into he looked around and saw the girl lying on the ground, she was only half awake. She let out a cry, Erik kneeled down beside her and spoke to her, trying to calm her. He lifted her up and laid her back on the couch. 'Shhss,' softly he started to sing a wordless lullaby. He continued singing until she completely calmed down. Carefully he got of the couch and tucked the girl in. He walked over towards the light switch and turned of the light. Erik returned to his chair and sat once again down to watch over the girl. He woke up the next morning with an awful crack in his neck and pins and needles in his right leg. Professor Gaultier blinked and turned his head around a few times to get rid of the crack. After that he watched over Sam, she still seemed vast asleep, probably tired out completely by the events of the previous day. He got up slowly, stretched and walked towards the kitchen to make some breakfast.

SEPTEMBER 22 2001 Victoria Station, Manchester 8 AM Severus Snape moved quickly and unobtrusive among the many morning rush passengers. He had bought a ticket for Glasgow and from there on would try to get on any other public transport that would bring him as close to Hogwarts as possible. His body ached all over; he had trouble breathing properly as his ribs were badly bruised. Alex had put a tight bandage around them but still. Snape felt his nose started to bleed again, 'damn' he thought as he wiped the blood away with his sleeve. A fine sight he made, he'd terrified the man behind the counter when he bought his ticket, 'ah well, nothing I can do about it now.' Carefully he boarded the train, and sat down on the closest chair he could find. Ignoring the looks of his fellow passengers he closed his eyes and tried to catch up on some sleep.

Scotland 4.20 PM After an awful ride through the country on the back of a lorry, Snape had finally arrived at Hogwarts gates. His nose still bled from time to time, and breathing became more difficult by the minute. He'd started to cough up a little blood and that had worried him greatly. He walked through the gates and stumbled down across the lane towards the castle. It was a very clear and cold day and Snape shivered. He started to cough again and soon the cough became so severe he could no longer stand up straight. Snape sank onto his knees and felt he was coughing his guts out. ' Oi you over there! What do you think you're doing 'ere?' Filtch had spotted the figure while he was walking around the grounds in search for children breaking the curfew. When Filtch saw who it was he, instead of helping Snape, ran back towards Hogwarts. Snape wheezed, ' you bastard' in between coughs. However, Filtch soon returned with madam Pomfrey and professor McGonagall in tow. ' Oh Severus, careful now,' madam Pomfrey said as she started to work on him. He could not stop coughing, and had difficulty breathing. Wheezing he grabbed McGonagall's robe to get her attention. He tried to speak but all he could do was splutter and spit out blood, after that he lost consciousness.

September 25 2001 Scotland 7.30 AM Severus Snape woke up after being in a coma for three days. Madam Pomfrey had worked night and day to safe his life. It seemed that one of the bruised ribs had in fact been so badly bruised that it broke after Snape's jump from the window. After breaking it had punctured his left lung. 'Hello Severus, how are you feeling,' the headmaster asked him. ' Like hell, what do you think Albus,' his voice rasped and he could not do more than whisper. He felt angry but not at Dumbledore and his answer had held no menace towards his mentor. It was all directed inwards. He had failed once again. ' I am screwed Albus, horribly screwed. They know.' ' Ah' ' Yes, ah.' Snape started coughing again and Madam Pomfrey came rushing out of her room, ' really headmaster, I told you not to up set the patient. You better leave now.' ' Yes, I will, I come back as soon as we can talk for a little longer.' 'Wait,' Snape said between coughs, ' two girls saw what happened they saved..." he coughed again, " pardon...they saved me..." ' Severus it is alright, we'll take care of it, get some rest.'

8 AM Dumbledore walked slowly into the teacher's room, it looked as if he was dreading something. ' Hello everyone, you all heard that Professor Snape was brought in five days ago severely injured. I am afraid I cannot and will not explain what happened to him. I fear you all have to trust me that Professor Snape is a very honourable man, despite certain rumours which have been circulating lately.' The headmaster shot an angry glance at Sirius Black, who stood cowering in a corner. ' All I can say is that professor Snape was attacked by Death eaters while on a mission from the ministry of magic, and that he is one lucky man to have survived this attack.' Dumbledore passed around the room, seemingly in thought about what to say next. He paused, turned around and sank down in a chair. He appeared not to be aware of the people around him and stared blankly out of the window. Madam Hooch politely cleared her throat and asked, ' was there anything else you want to tell us, headmaster?' Dumbledore looked startled, ' hmm, what? Oh yes.' The teachers had never seen their headmaster being so absentmindedly. ' What was it, ah; the attack on professor Snape was witnessed by two muggle girls. Severus said they saved his life, after the death eaters left him for dead. I fear they might be in grave danger if 'you know who' finds out that professor Snape is still alive and more important who saved him. Now, the Ministry knows what happened to Severus but luckily for us they do not know yet about the two girls. I want to get to them before any clumsy ministry officials try to obliterate their memory.' ' Why Albus?' Minerva, ' should not we leave this kind of business to the Ministry. We have enough trouble keeping the school safe, as it is. Why get involved with muggles?' ' Because, my dear, quite frankly I feel that the Ministry and the entire magical community have kept ordinary people into the dark for too long. We all know that muggles and muggle born wizards are one of You-Know-Who's main targets and it seems only fair to prepare them. Moreover, if their memories are obliterated they will be come a very easy target for Voldermort's death-eaters, because they will not have a clue as to in what kind of danger they are.' 'But why these two girls, does not our Ministry have contact with its muggle equivalent?' 'Yes, and I am not saying we will not obliterate part of their memory after we have figured out what they know but I want to do it the correct way. Lately, the ministry has been rather sloppy with its methods of preventing muggles from finding out about us. They either wipe out almost all of these poor people's memory leaving just dribbling idiots behind, or they forget to obliterate parts.' The headmaster fished a some newspapers from the an inner pocket of his robes and threw them on the table.' These are muggle newspapers, granted they're of the gossipy kind but recently there has been a increase in so-called paranormal reports, most mentioning the appearance of a skull, with a snake protruding from its mouth, above houses where people died under suspicious circumstances. The Ministry has too much on their hands at the moment to be able to deal properly with these murders. Some non magical people are starting to ask awkward questions, we can't possible answer without revealing ourselves.' 'I see.' Professor McGonagall said, ' but we are very short of staff at the moment and I don't see who can go out there.' 'I will go myself, together with Madam Hooch, that is if you have no objection,' the headmaster turned towards Madam Hooch. She nodded sharply, 'can't Severus go? I mean he knows what those girls look like, where they live.' 'I know, but Madam Pomfrey does not want him to leave hospital-wing for at least two days.' 'Bugger Poppy,' a deep voice rasped from the doorpost, the professors turned around in shock. Professor Severus Snape stood leaning against the doorpost, breathing heavily. He looked menacing, his hair was even more dirty than usual and he had a three day stubble. Snape's eyes stood blazing and he looked around challenging anyone to say something. ' I am going with you, no buts!' September 25 2001 Manchester 7 PM Just as he was about to put dinner on the table the doorbell rang. He put the bottle of wine down and went to answer the door, " Ah hello miss Moore, come in." "Hello professor, thank you for inviting me." He smiled and let her in, hanging her coat up while she made her way to the living room. He walked after her and said, " Well, I was just curious about how you were. How are you settling in, in your new room?" "Oh its very nice, I am very great-full for your help. Also, my former housemates are no longer mad at me. But I guess that's mainly because Hazel is okay, and she forgave me. She actually said she would have done the same if it had happened to her."

He was glad to hear the girl's life was getting back into shape again. He mentioned towards the dining table and asked her if she would like to sit down. She smiled back at him, it had been a while since he had seen her smile. He had cooked a simple yet tasty meal, using a mixture of oriental herbs and spices with typically English food. As far as she was concerned dinner was delicious. They talked about various subjects but the main subject was not, as one might have expected, about what had happened only a few days before but about university life and thesis writing. They were half way through dinner when there was a polite knock at the door. Professor Gaultier was slightly puzzled, as there was a perfectly good doorbell next to his door. He got up with a sigh, excused himself and walked over to the door to open it. Sam Moore could not really see nor hear what was going, all she heard were voices which were getting louder by the second. "Excuse me Professor? Is everything all right?" she called out towards the hall way. But before she got an answer, she heard Professor Gaultier shout, " Get out! Go away. Who ever you people are, leave Sam Moore alone, she has enough on her mind already!" She got up from the table and walked over there the door. Just as she got there Erik Gaultier was in the middle of punching an haggard looking Severus Snape. As Snape tumbled to the ground, Sam noticed a stranger standing a little further down the hall. The man looked ancient and was wearing the most curious outfit she had ever seen. It looked as if he had wondered out of an old Hollywood movie, only mixing up his clothes along the way. The old man was wearing pyjama bottoms, a double breasted jacket, waistcoat, bow tie and a night cap.

----------------------- [1] Though his personality and life is partly based on The Pretender and The Phantom of the Opera.