The Proposal

I stood alone in the empty dorm room. All of the other girls had gone ahead of me. I took my time folding my clothes and packing my suitcase again. For me, the prospect of leaving Hogwarts again wasn't as exciting as it was for everyone else I'd shared a room with. They all had husbands, fiancés or boyfriends to go home to. Me, I had a divorce to finalize and a trial in front of the Ministry of Magic to prepare for.

Lucky me.

I was just on my way out the door when a friendly pair of eyes appeared just before me. I smiled at the Headmaster and set my suitcase down. Before saying anything, Professor Dumbledore held his arms out and gave me a warm, friendly hug.

"I am so happy you were able to join us this weekend, Elizabeth," he said before letting me go. "I do hope you enjoyed yourself."

"Absolutely," I said with a confident nod. "More so than I expected."

"Splendid!" Dumbledore clasped his hands together and sighed. He peered at me through those unique spectacles and smiled. "Now, you remember that I want you to write me if you need anything - anything at all. I'll be more than willing to lend a hand to those who deserve it." His last few words threw a rain cloud over my horizon. He must have known it, too. I saw the frown appear on his face.

"I'm not so sure I deserve any help from anyone," I told him. "I think I deserve exactly what's ahead of me. I've gotten myself into this mess and it's up to me to get out of it, even if that does mean I'll lose my PhD and spend a few years in You-Know-Where."

"Nonsense Elizabeth!" Dumbledore cried. "You were betrayed and tricked by a man who you thought loved you. None of this was your fault. I'll not let anything happen to you." Dumbledore put his hand to my cheek and smiled as he nodded. "I promise."

There wasn't a soul on the planet I trusted more than Albus Dumbledore. Even if it weren't for his supreme powers and his confidence, I still think I'd have found reassurance in his words. He'd helped man witches and wizards out of sticky situations in the past, and if rumour has it – Snape was certainly one of them.

Snape. Now there was a subject I perhaps should not have taken up with Dumbledore. Up in the Hospital Wing after my suicidal attempt with the Eau Noir, his words of wisdom left me with a tiny reassurance that my life would shape up for the better – not for the worst.

'Don't trouble yourself Elizabeth, once you've had a taste of what the future has to offer you, you'll have forgotten all about him and you'll find love again. By the time you're his age now, you'll both understand why I cannot allow you to bid him farewell this evening.'

I think those words have been permanently committed to my memory. Sure, I did fall in love and I did – for the most part - forget about Professor Snape after a few years, but what good has that done me? Daemon was a Death Eater.

He's still a Death Eater. And if Voldemort is ever restored to his power again, I'll not live to see the end of it. He'd make sure of that. Anyone who ever stood up to him ended up dead.

Everyone except that little boy.

Harry Potter.

He must be nearing the age to receive his first Hogwarts letter. It can't be more than a year or two before he discovers who he really is. Perhaps his re-entry to the wizarding world will bring comfort and reassurance to people like me.

Perhaps.

I had just reached my hand out to open the large, oak doors at the head of the castle when I heard an exceptionally cold, icy voice sound behind me.

"Ms. Sullivan."

The way he sounded my name wrought a tiny shiver. He sounded mocking, yet intrigued all at the same time.

Before I turned around, I set my suitcase down and slowly turned my neck to look at him first. He was standing at the bottom of the staircase leaning up against the railing. His arms were crossed in front of him and he wore a particularly twisted, devious smile on his crooked mouth.

I watched him as he made a sudden move forward. He pushed his black robes off of his arms and let them billow out behind him as he neared me. I swallowed hard and felt my palms begin to sweat once he stood near enough for me to smell his subtle aroma of nectar and spice. For a brief moment I closed my eyes as I inhaled the enticing scent.

"I have a proposition for you," he told me.

"Oh? And what's that?" I asked him curiously. My eyebrows instinctively narrowed into a curious squint as I could not imagine what he of all people had in mind for me.

Professor Snape reached into his robes and pulled out a tattered piece of parchment and held it out in front of him for me to look at.

It was a list of potions. More specifically, rare and complex potions I happened to excel in concocting. I let my eyes skim all the way down to the bottom of the list and then met his captivating black eyes with an inquisitive stare once I was finished reading. "Not one for legibility, are you Professor? Did you write this list as you hurried to stop me just now?"

Instead of a reply, I received a sinister trademark glare. His eyes narrowed into tiny slits and I could see his lips curve disapproval. Had I still been a student, my snide comment probably would have earned me a ten-point deduction from my House.

"I'll need these for my seventh year students," he told me as he delicately placed the parchment back into the inner-left pocket of his robes. "For a FIAMA graduate, this should be easy work."

"You want me to brew these for you?" I asked him.

"Well I wasn't going to suggest you appraise my handwriting," he half yelled at me.

"What's in it for me?" I asked him. "You can't expect me to put my whole life on hold to spend the rest of the week concocting these simple potions for you, can you?" Little did he know just how much I dread going back to the life I gladly put on hold to come here in the first place… well… until I remembered all about him! I think I gladly would have accepted such an offer, should it have been offered by anyone besides the snide Potions Master.

"You offered to help me now, didn't you, Ms. Sullivan?" Professor Snape distinctly reminded me. "Or would you rather I call you Miss Chamberlain?"

At the mere mention of my maiden name, I could feel my jaw nearly touch the floor.

Professor Snape's dark, empty eyes popped wide open for a split second and then burned fiercely into my own. "That's right Elizabeth, I know who you are. Don't think that in ten years of absence I could have forgotten you." It first occurred to me after hearing this particular tone that perhaps he wasn't asking for my help because he could use it, but instead because he desperately needed it and had no other choice. Either way, he didn't sound as if he wanted me to accept his proposal. "A decade certainly hasn't depleted the resemblance you bear to the child I once knew."

For a brief moment I saw his eyes graze disapprovingly up and down my body once again. I can't explain how it happened, but he seemed to warm every part of my body his glimpse touched.

"If it is still your wish to lend me your expertise you can take my offer or leave it."

Again, I swallowed hard as I debated back and forth. As I thought I closed my eyes and imagined which fate was worse. Home? Or here?