A/N: Wecome to the Nytdmare one and all. Glad to see new names and very happy to see the loyal regulars! Hope this story goes off as well as the last one. I can tell you that from what I have written, what I have outlined, and what I need to write, that this story is definitely going to be longer.
The first few chapters set up what's happened since Christmas holiday, Lorien's return to Hogwarts, and tell us more about Marlie Perkins. For all you witches and wizards that aren't as old as Remus and Severus, the new professor is named after the host of the OLD nature series 'Wild Kingdom' - Marlin Perkins. It used to air just prior to the Wonderful World of Disney, on Sunday nights when I was very young. (Now I've really dated myself. :P)
Things pick up a bit after that when we hear distant rumblings from Voldemort, Lorien agonizes over her decision, and Sirius and Draco both make plans for a party. "Sirius and Draco?" you ask? Just wait, you'll see. :D
Reflections on the Fall ~*~
Lorien had stayed at the quaint house with the charmed garden for a few days before she felt ready to tell Perth everything that had happened to her. She found him sitting on the bench in his garden one morning and she went to join him.
"Ben ilyan." He spoke and looked up from a book as she sat down.
"Good morning." She was quiet and he knew that she had something to say.
"So what is it?" he asked gently.
"A lot's happened since I saw you last," she said quietly as she looked around the garden.
"I bet. I do read the paper, you know," the older man teased her.
"The Death Eater attack was awful, Perth," Lorien told him, thinking back to Halloween again.
"I can imagine," he said sympathetically.
She told him about the night at the ministry and how it had ended on the roof in the confrontation with Ian Fincastle.
"Fincastle was always a bad egg. I never trusted him from the moment I met him. Ah, but that's a whole other story. Continue, please." Taber looked at her expectantly.
"Well, anyway, Fudge was safe, the Death Eaters were gone, and five of them are in Azkaban," finished Lorien.
"Thanks to the aurors and your friends," he added.
"Yes," she replied.
"You think a lot of your friends, it shows when you speak of them," Taber observed.
"Yes, all three of them. It's just that's where my problem lies," she replied.
"One of them is more than a friend? I suspected as much last time we met," Taber said.
She answered quietly. "Two of them."
"Oh." He spoke kindly. "Tell me about them, Lorien."
She told him about how the two relationships had come about, and how things had been left with both back at Hogwarts.
"I see. It sounds as if Remus cares about you very much," Taber observed.
"He does." Lorien nodded.
Perth continued. "I would caution you about getting close to a man like Severus if..."
"But you don't know him like I do," Lorien began to protest.
Taber frowned a little. "Let me finish. I was about to say that I would caution you about Severus if you hadn't already told me about his actions on Halloween. Indeed, he sounds like a complicated person, but I think it's obvious from what you've told me that he cares about you as well."
"I know he does," she said.
"I'm not helping much, am I?" Taber smiled at her.
"No." She pouted momentarily and then laughed.
Taber pondered things for a minute, and then spoke to Lorien again. "Tell me what you like best about each."
Alright, that was easy enough, Lorien thought. "Remus can make me laugh almost no matter what." She paused for a moment. "Severus has a fascinating mind."
"What do you dislike most?" Taber queried.
"Lupin tends to be over protective and maybe a little chauvinistic." She frowned slightly.
"Gryffindors look at it as being chivalrous," Taber commented. "And Snape?"
"He's difficult," she admitted.
"I realize that, but surely there must be something you dislike most?" Taber asked.
"No. I mean he's difficult. About everything. He's difficult to get to know, difficult to deal with, difficult to get close to," Lorien explained.
"And you like this man?" Taber asked as he laughed a little.
"Yes," she replied sheepishly.
"Tell me one last thing. How do you feel when you're with Remus?" he asked. She started to answer but he cut her off. "One word," he told her.
She thought about it for a minute. How did she feel, and how would she sum it up in one word? "Safe," she replied finally.
"And Severus?" he asked.
She hesitated for a minute. "Definitely not safe." She found herself thinking out loud and she frowned at the answer she had given before she had really decided on what she wanted to say.
"Not safe? That's two words." Taber smiled. " 'Not safe' covers a lot of ground, Lorien."
"I'm sorry. It was the first thing that came to mind," she said.
Taber smiled warmly at the younger woman. "I'm afraid I haven't got the answer for you Lorien. You're the only one who has that answer."
"I knew you were going to say that," she replied.
Taber tried to reassure her. "The answer will come to you in time."
"You sound like Dumbledore," said Lorien.
"And Dumbledore is a very wise man, isn't he?" Taber chuckled.
On the first day of classes, Harry couldn't believe the term had started again already. The holiday break had flown by, as had last term, and he found himself thinking about the fact that every term brought with it strange events. Sometimes wonderful, sometimes dangerous, but always strange and amazing.
Last term had been no exception and Harry thought about three of the things it never seemed possible would happen. A woman had actually taken a liking to Professor Snape, Sirius Black had been given a full pardon and was a free man, and Neville Longbottom, other than the first day of classes had made it through the entire fall without anything exploding. He actually passed potions with slightly more than the lowest required marks.
Before the first potions class of the new year for the Gryffindors and the Slytherins, there was a lot of anxiety. The potion that they would be working on today called for the use of dragon's bile, which if not used with extreme caution had an explosive potential.
Snape himself was wishing he was someplace else as he walked down the hallway to the classroom. He slammed the door open when he entered the class and shot Granger a look. He was in no mood to deal with another melted cauldron today.
Hermione saw the meaningful glare the professor had given her and scrambled to move closer to Neville. The Potions master had long since given up on keeping her from helping the timid boy, and she knew he definitely wanted her supervising today. It wasn't that Snape was being nice, it was more a matter of self preservation.
"I hope you all have carefully read the instructions for today," Snape began, eyes going from one table to the next. "I want you focused on what you are doing, and I expect everyone to exercise the utmost caution."
Snape's intense gaze came to rest on the Gryffindors at the back of the room. "Let me give all of you fair warning now. I will not tolerate any distractions, and the first person I find not paying attention to what they are doing will lose their house twenty points. Have I made things clear?"
A murmur of acknowledgment rippled across the room, and the students began to work on the day's potion. Snape paced between the tables with his hands clasped behind his back supervising and offering biting comments as needed. His gaze went to Longbottom and Granger's table at regular intervals.
Neville and Hermione had managed to get most of the way through the potion formula and she watched nervously as he added the next few ingredients. The potion remained the right color. The next component was three drops of dragon's bile and Hermione automatically reached for the small bottle herself. She was surprised when Neville's hand got to it at the same time and she looked at him.
"I'll do it," he said quietly, but he looked her in the eye. She was surprised that he would voluntarily even touch dragon's bile, but there was no mistaking that he meant to complete the potion himself.
"You're sure?" she asked.
He nodded and she pulled her hand away. "Ok. Three drops. That's it and we're done."
Most of the Gryffindors nearby began to look very concerned as they realized that Hermione was letting go of the small vial. Harry and Ron began to look at each other with trepidation.
Neville knew they were looking at him, but he knew he could do this. All he had to do was focus, keep his hand steady, and add three drops.
"Do it, Neville," Hermione encouraged him and he willed his hand not to shake as much as usual. He could see out of the corners of his eyes that Snape was not at any of the nearby tables, and he raised his hand over the cauldron. If he ever knew that the Potions Master was standing directly behind him, he probably would have fainted dead away.
Neville added precisely three drops, and set the vial down as the potion became the required murky green. He sighed a deep sigh of relief as Hermione beamed.
"You did it!" she whispered.
Neville turned excitedly to point out the color of the potion he had just completed to Harry and Ron, but his gaze met an obstacle of black robes. His eyes traveled slowly up to meet the intense scrutiny of the professor standing silently behind him.
Snape stared the timid teenager in the eye for a long moment and then to Neville's complete surprise gave a barely perceptible nod and walked away. And then class was over.
Everyone finished cleaning up, picked up their things and began leaving, and Neville ran to catch up with his classmates to share his excitement.
Snape watched to make sure that every vial of dragon's bile was safely stored away and then his eyes swept the classroom to make sure it had been properly picked up. He saw that Granger had stopped as she picked up the last of her books and was regarding him with a thoughtful expression. When his gaze met hers she gave him a small smile and turned and left the classroom.
Snape's eyes narrowed for a brief moment and then it occurred to him that she had just expressed her approval of his acknowledgment of Longbottom's small accomplishment. He found himself annoyed, and then amused that the young woman took it upon herself to do so. As if he needed approval from one of his students, especially a Gryffindor witch.
Yet, it puzzled him that he was glad she approved, and it took him a while to figure out why. She had come with Longbottom when Lorien had brought them to the dungeon, and Neville had obviously taken something away with him from that night. Granger approved of the fact that he had given even the slightest acknowledgment, and it pleased him because he knew that Lorien would have approved too.
"Damn it!" he swore aloud to himself as he caught himself thinking of her again. He had promised himself he wouldn't dwell on the Nemorosi witch after she left and had failed miserably keeping that promise over the past month. He didn't like the fact that even absent, she was constantly on his mind. He didn't like it, but he couldn't help it. Which also irritated him.
Sirius Black was on his way to see Albus Dumbledore in response to an owl he'd received from the Hogwarts headmaster. He had no idea what the older man wanted, and he was curious as to what this would be about as he climbed the stairs to the headmaster's office.
The older man greeted him as he walked through the door. "Sirius, how are you? Please, sit down." He indicated the usual chair.
"I'm fine, and you?" Sirius asked in return.
"Fine, fine," Dumbledore replied. "How do you like your new arrangements in Hogsmeade?"
"I love it," said Sirius.
"As does Harry, I suspect," the headmaster said with eyes a-twinkle.
Black smiled and nodded. "I think he's actually looking forward to summer break this year."
"Good. Have you spoken to Remus lately?" Dumbledore asked, continuing to make small talk.
"Yes," Sirius replied.
"How is he doing? I haven't really wanted to come out and ask him," the headmaster admitted.
"Fine. Better, but he misses her," Sirius replied softly.
The headmaster nodded, understanding exactly what Sirius was saying.
"You didn't really ask me over to talk about Remus, though, did you?" asked Sirius.
"No." Dumbledore smiled. "I have a problem, and I think maybe you can help me."
"I'll be happy to if I can. What is it, Albus?" Sirius asked.
"I'm sure that I don't have to tell you about the concerns I have over the increasing presence of the Death Eaters," Dumbledore said.
"We're all concerned," said Sirius.
Dumbledore sighed. "I also wish that the papers weren't so quick to point out that five of them are in prison thanks in part to Hogwarts staff."
"You worry about retaliation?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, and you know I worry about Harry. I worry about all the students' safety," Dumbledore replied.
Black nodded in agreement, and then gave the headmaster a questioning look. "What does that have to do with me?"
Dumbledore looked very serious. "I think it's time we stepped up security around here. I don't want the staff or students to feel like they're in a prison, but I want all the measures taken to protect the school evaluated and reinforced where needed. I need to know where our weaknesses are."
Sirius still looked confused.
Dumbledore smiled. "I want to put you in charge of Hogwarts security, Sirius."
"Me?" Sirius asked, looking quite surprised. "What do I know about security measures?"
"You know how to get around a good deal of them," Dumbledore replied slyly.
Sirius smiled.
"Besides, I need someone that I can place the utmost trust in. Someone I can absolutely rely on. I believe that's you," said Dumbledore.
"I'd be happy to do it," Sirius replied.
"Good. Excellent. Oh, and of course it would be a paid position as well, Sirius. You'll be on the staff payroll," Dumbledore informed him.
The headmaster had just solved a problem for the newly freed fugitive as well.
As head of Slytherin House, Severus Snape now faced another problem since the night of the attack on the Ministry of Magic. It was a complicated issue and Snape was at a loss as to how to best deal with it. Part of him wanted to ignore it and tell himself it just didn't matter, but a deeper part of him knew that sooner or later it was going to become even greater trouble if he didn't find a way to address it. His problem was with Malfoy. Not Lucius, but Draco Malfoy.
He had known the bright boy all his life and he knew that Draco had always looked up to him and respected the friend of his father that appeared to be a model Slytherin of purest blood. That had all changed the night he sent Lucius Malfoy to Azkaban.
For a week after Halloween, Draco had been kept at home by his mother, Narcissa, until she decided what to do. She wanted to transfer him immediately to Durmstrang, but something kept her from doing so and it had taken her a short while to figure it out. She wanted Draco at Hogwarts for two reasons, actually. First because she wanted her son educated at the finest of the wizarding schools, and second because she now realized the importance of having a connection on the inside. She wanted Draco there since he might play a crucial role if the opportunity ever presented itself for revenge.
Draco himself had at first not believed the reports he'd heard. He felt numb and confused and it took him a long time to realize the man he had always admired had betrayed his father. It didn't take him long to make up his mind about how he felt once that realization set in, and a seething hatred was rapidly developing in his heart for the head of his house at school.
For weeks after Halloween, Snape would find Malfoy staring back at him in class, in the hallway and in the Slytherin common room if he needed to venture there. He always met the boy's eyes steadily, but without malice. He knew Draco felt betrayed, and he understood why. The younger Crabbe and Goyle were silently hostile as well, but they were of no concern to him.
This term looked as if things were going to be worse, and Snape knew that it would not be long before things came to a breaking point. No one understood the way the boy's housemates feared him, the way the Gryffindors ridiculed him better than Snape. No one would understand what it was like to have so much hate bottled up inside at that age either. Snape had been there himself, and he wanted to spare Draco the same fate that he seemed inevitably destined for. He only wished he knew how.
