A/N: I am sure that all of you know of the passing of Richard Harris by now, and although I wouldn't presume to be able to do justice to a tribute fic, I would highly recommend reading "Eulogy for a Headmaster" by the incomparable Strega Brava.

And to help dry a misty eye after, try the little fic I found called "Mrs Norris, Frustrated, Poetical" by chilly-a. Verses of poetry to Argus Filch. Yes, Filch. From his cat.







Other Plans ~*~





Sirius went to where the group of aurors was standing together inside the main entranceway updating each other as they prepared to change shifts. Keath and Kaneene were going off duty and Evan and Dunstan were relieving them.

"Sirius." Evan acknowledged him as he approached.

"Good morning." He addressed the foursome. "Quiet night?"

"Yeah. No problems at all." Answered Keath, trying to suppress a yawn.

"Good." Sirius turned to the eldest of the group. "May I speak with you?"

She nodded and followed him a few steps away.

"I know it's been a long night for you, but do you have a few minutes to look at a map?" He asked her.

"Of course." She replied a bit tiredly. "Let me see it."

"I don't have it with me. It would be better if we looked at it elsewhere." Sirius said quietly.

Kaneene frowned a little. "Why?"

Sirius looked at her meaningfully, and then glanced quickly at the others nearby. "Trust me, it would."

Kaneene turned back to speak to Keath. "I've got a few things to check out for Sirius, I'll be back in a while."

Her brother kept talking to Dunstan and Evan, but raised a hand to wave and acknowledge that he'd heard her.

Sirius led Kaneene along the hallways.

"Where on earth are we going?" She said after they'd walked a ways.

He pointed up ahead. "Just down this last hall."

She followed him to his door and he unlocked it with a word. Kaneene followed him in and looked around the sparsely furnished room. "So who's your decorator?" She smirked.

"Kaneene, I just moved in." Sirius replied with a hint of exasperation. "I've been a bit busy to worry about matching my curtains and bedspread."

"So, where's this map you made me stay awake to see?" She asked, looking around.

He beckoned her across the room as he spoke. "I can only show it to you under two conditions." Sirius smiled at her.

"Conditions?" She asked, looking confused "You dragged me up here to give me conditions?"

"Yes." He replied, putting his hands on his hips.

She thought him a bit odd for a minute, and then decided she was too tired to argue. "Ok. Whatever."

"No. I'm serious Kaneene." He said a little more sternly.

She saw that he was and she nodded in agreement. "Alright, what are they?"

"First, you can't show or tell anyone about this map, other than your brother and cousins. They have to agree to the same." He said.

"Fine." She replied slowly, wondering what he was playing at. "Second?"

"You absolutely have to give it back when you're done with it." Black said soberly.

She was amazed at how insistent he sounded. "Of course, why wouldn't I?" She asked, curiosity now getting the better of her.

"You haven't seen it yet." Sirius grinned at her.

She looked at him suspiciously for a minute and then agreed. "Fine. You'll definitely get it back."

Sirius nodded and motioned for her to move closer to the table on which he had spread a ragged piece of parchment. It was blank.

Kaneene snatched it up. "Now what on earth am I supposed to do with this? Are you pulling my leg, Black? 'Cause let me tell you if you're joking around after I haven't had any sleep....." She went silent as Sirius slowly lifted the blank sheet out of her hand and placed it back on the table to touch it with his wand. She raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Kaneene frowned and opened her mouth to say something but stopped as she watched the spidery lines and green lettering appear across the page. It was obviously a map of Hogwarts. She read the inscription from Mssrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.

"This is amazing, Sirius." She looked at the detail and noted the small labeled moving dots, and her eyes went wide. "Where did you ever get this? I've never seen anything quite like it." She said with awe. "Look, there's Keath leaving Evan and Dunstan."

She looked up at Sirius who was grinning at her. "I have to admit, I'm impressed, Black. This most certainly will be very helpful." She returned her attention to the parchment on the table. "Someone with a lot of talent spent a lot of time making this, and it looks like just the thing we need."

"A lot of time." Sirius agreed quietly.







Kaneene agreed to meet Sirius later that day after she'd had a chance to get some sleep, so that he could go over the map with her in greater detail. She headed back to the part of the castle that she was temporarily calling home and wondered more about the tall dark haired man as she walked.

For her entire career as an auror she had always thought of Sirius Black as one of the most dangerous, darkest wizards to ever be thrown in Azkaban, (and then of course escape.) Every auror knew the story of how he had killed Peter Pettigrew and a dozen other people with one curse the very day after Voldemort met defeat.

Since Halloween that had all changed once it had been discovered that without a doubt, Pettigrew was in fact alive and one of Voldemort's horrid Death Eaters. Even though Fudge had issued a full pardon immediately, Black still had to undergo a series of investigations and interviews with a large number of officials from the department of Magical Law Enforcement over the next few months. Kaneene had made it a point to give as much helpful testimony as possible and to be present for as many of the proceedings as she could.

She had been impressed with the way he had handled himself on Halloween, but even more so at the way he'd handled what he'd gone through after. Most of all she was impressed that the man had ever survived that much time in Azkaban, and had been resilient enough to remain the kind, caring person that he seemed to be. She knew that he was no angel, and that he had a mischievous sense of humor, but for her that was all part of the appeal.

Kaneene smiled as she walked, thinking of how the handsome wizard had been flirting shamelessly with her. She knew he was interested - knew SHE was interested. After all, with those deep blue eyes and that roguish smile, how could she not be? She was enjoying their flirting - a little game of fox and hound with the chase being almost as much fun as the capture.

' Almost as much fun.' She thought wryly, as she made it to her door, and she decided that she was definitely looking forward to her afternoon meeting with Mr. Sirius Black.







Lorien and Harry had decided to meet again to pursue Harry's desire to explore his potential for wandless magic. Poppy was busy treating a student in the medical ward, they moved to an empty classroom instead.

"So what do you think, Harry?" Lorien asked as she sat on a desk. "Anything in particular you want to explore?"

Harry nodded. "I've been doing some reading since the last time we met."

"About Nemorosi magic?" Lorien sounded surprised.

Harry nodded. "Yes. I want to try an elemental summoning spell." He said eagerly.

Lorien was impressed with the fact that Harry had taken such an interest and done some research on his own. She nodded in agreement. "Alright, Mr. Potter." She said with a smile. " Shall we start with Calling of the Winds?"

Harry grinned broadly. "That sounds great. Will you show me?"

Lorien nodded and stood up. "This is the simplest of the elemental summonings to learn, but it is by no means an easy spell to master. The degree to which you can summon the winds is related directly to your experience and magical potential, so it varies greatly from individual to individual." Lorien told Harry. "Of course you would expect that I would be more adept at it than you, just as my mentor is much more adept at it than I am."

"He's a stronger wizard?" Asked Harry.

Lorien smiled mischievously. "Let's just call him more experienced for now."

Harry laughed.

"You need to invoke the four winds in order to perform the summoning, and create a mental image of the strongest winds you have seen in order for it to be effective." She explained. "Let me show you first, Harry."

Lorien performed a series of simple gestures as she invoked the four winds, starting with the east. "Eurus.. Notus.. Zephyrus.. Borus."

Harry was expecting the spell to work but not strength of the gust of wind that swept into the room and pulled him off balance as it yanked at his robes. His hair blew wildly as the door to the classroom slammed shut and a nearby chair tipped over. He looked to Lorien who looked back at him, but was obviously still focused. She let the winds blow for a few seconds longer and then waived a hand dismissively. "Finite incantatum."

The winds died, and Harry felt his robes settle back around him.

"Want to try?" Lorien asked playfully.

"Definitely!" Harry said eagerly.

Harry's first attempt at summoning the winds was successful, but less than spectacular. Harry watched with one eye open as he invoked the north and final wind and a small gust of air swept into the room and rustled a few papers that were strewn about on the floor before it petered out. He frowned immediately.

Lorien laughed when she saw his expression. "Harry! Did you expect a monsoon wind the first try?"

Harry realized that his expectations might be a little unrealistic and grinned sheepishly. "I guess not."

"That was actually quite good for your first try, Harry." Lorien patted his shoulder. "Try it again."

Harry tried several more times over the next half hour with similar results.

Lorien knew he was getting a little frustrated, and decided they'd leave it for now. "I suggest that you work on your mental image this week and that we try again later." She said. Harry reluctantly agreed. He hated to stop at this point, but he just wasn't making any headway tonight, and he still had homework to do for Transfiguration.

"Have patience, Harry. You're doing very well." Lorien spoke words of encouragement to the young green eyed wizard as he left the classroom, and he finally smiled a little.







Noah was a little disappointed that Harry Potter was not going to be one of his tutors.

"But Hermione is one of his very best friends, Noah." Remus said, trying to placate the pouting six year old.

He had told Marlina that all three of the students he had asked were happy to help, and he had arranged for her to meet with all three earlier in the day.

"They were all great. Remus, I can't thank you enough. You've been so good to Noah and to me." She spoke sincerely to him.

"I'm just happy I could help." He replied, pleased that she thought he was. "It's hard to be on your own in a new situation and sometimes it makes the biggest difference just to have a friend."

"You have been an excellent friend, Remus. I only hope I can return the favor at some point." She smiled sweetly at him.

Noah came to stand next to Remus as he sat near Marlina. "We're friends too, right?" He asked in a voice that said he didn't want to be left out.

Remus looked at the boy and smiled. "Absolutely, Noah."

Noah gave him the biggest hug and Remus was sure part of his heart had just melted.









The next few days were busy for Lorien, and for the third time in less than a week she was treating Fred Weasley for another 'cauldron burn'. She knew that he was full of it the first two times he'd given her the fabricated story, and by the third incident she finally had to say something as he left.

"Fred, either quit messing with whatever you're blowing up, or for goodness sake let George detonate them for a change."

Fred had merely smiled and bowed with a flourish and then walked out the door.



Lorien was shaking her head and smiling when Poppy came in.

"Was that Fred Weasley again?" Poppy asked, looking back at where the red headed boy had just exited.

"Yes. Third time this week." Lorien replied.

"You've seen him three times?" asked the older witch. "I saw him once the other day myself."

"Don't tell me, cauldron burn?" Lorien asked.

Poppy laughed. "Something like that, I believe."

"Those twins are a menace." Lorien complained with a smile, and rolled her eyes.

Poppy became more serious. "Speaking of cauldron burn. I was talking to Forsythia today. She said that Snape hasn't retrieved the usual amount of wolfsbane from her this past week."

Lorien suddenly frowned.

"Do you think he forgot?" Poppy asked in a concerned way.

"Probably." She lied. She knew he never forgot.

"I figured as much." Pomfrey said as she walked toward the office. "Lorien, be a love and remind him, would you?"

"Me?" Lorien asked, a little unsteadily. The thought of going to talk to Severus about the wolfsbane potion at this point did not appeal to her in the least.

"Yes, if you would, dear. It appears that you irritate him less than I do." Pomfrey snorted.







Lorien was pacing in her room trying to decide if she really needed to do this. Snape hadn't been at dinner as she'd hoped and she was dreading a confrontation. He obviously had chosen not to prepare the wolfsbane potion this month and she was furious that he would take his frustration with her out on Remus.

She looked at the time and sighed. If she was going to be able to get him to make the potion she needed to go now. Remus needed to start taking some tomorrow and so it would have to be made tonight.



Lorien stood outside the door for a long time and made herself think of Remus as a raging, snarling, murderous beast instead of the large ordinary wolf that had lain so peacefully with her on the other side of the door. She couldn't bear it. Remus had experience enough hurt and disappointment these past weeks, and Lorien was determined that he was not going to have to experience the werewolf dementia with this month's moon on top of everything else. The potion made all the difference in the world to him and she was going to see to it that he got it.

She knocked sharply.

She knocked again.

"Enter." The customary annoyed tone came from the depths of his rooms behind the heavy door.

Lorien sighed. Was this ever going to be awkward and messy. She was sure that he was just as angry as she was, and the thought of dealing with Severus when he was very angry held little appeal for her. For all she knew, he probably despised her by now. Why else would he do something as hurtful as refusing to make the potion Remus needed? The thought of him doing something so spiteful made her mad, and she decided that her own anger was the best weapon to arm herself with to get through this. She braced herself and opened the door, quickly stepping inside.

Snape was standing near the fireplace and looked up at her as she came in. She stood where she was and stared at him angrily, trying to stay in control.

"Mistress Lorien," Snape began slowly, his voice low and dangerous. "Tell me, why am I not surprised to see you on this particular evening?" He folded his arms across his chest, his slender fingers draped over his elbows, and waited.

"You know exactly why I'm here, Severus." She said sternly, acutely aware of how timid she really felt when he spoke to her like that. She was determined not to let him know.

"Why don't you remind me?" More than a hint of sarcasm met her ears.

"I want you to make the wolfsbane potion for Remus." She said firmly.

"Tonight?" Snape asked somewhat incredulously. He snorted. "Huh! I don't think so." He said smugly.

Lorien took a couple of steps toward him and then caught herself. "But you have to." She said, not quite believing that he'd turned her request down so carelessly. "He needs it." Her voice was slightly more desperate.

"Does he now?" Snape replied looking at her steadily with an unblinking black stare.

"Yes." She took a deep breath, hoping it was not too obvious and spoke softly. "Severus, please."

"Getting a bit desperate?" He asked in a slightly amused tone. "Alright, I might be....persuaded." He looked at her meaningfully as he uncrossed his arms and sat in the armchair he favored near the fire.

Lorien stood there in disbelief. Was it her imagination, or did he just insinuate that...? Surely he didn't.

Snape leaned his chin on his fingers as he propped his elbow on the arm of the chair and gazed at her steadily. "Sit." He ordered.

She gave him an angry look but decided it was probably best to comply and walked toward the other chair. The one she had sat in across from him before. She went to be seated and then she saw him shake his head.

"Not exactly what I had in mind." He informed her in his silkiest voice. His eyes flicked to his own lap, and then met hers again.

Lorien's mouth opened, and closed again before she said anything, and she closed her eyes for just a moment to steel herself. He was going out of his way to make this as difficult and unpleasant for her as possible. Bastard. Did he think that was going to deter her from getting what she came for? Well, he was going to have to try a lot harder than that. She held her head up and went to him, quite angry, and sat on his lap.

"Better." His arms went around her and she flinched. "Now," he said as she sat there rigidly, "how badly do you want this, Lorien?" She didn't like the tone in his voice. "How badly does he need this?" He continued.

She felt herself swallow hard before answering. "Very badly." She answered him in a voice barely more than a whisper, not meeting his eyes.

"Really? Interesting." He mused, trailing his hand along the edge of her chin. She flinched again a little when his fingers met her skin. "So then tell me, Lorien, just how much do you want to...convince me?" He asked her in that low voice, dangerous now again. "Just how far are you willing to go....to get what he so badly needs?"

She couldn't believe this was happening. She wanted to run from the room and the dungeon as fast as she could, but she knew she couldn't. She forced herself again to picture the raging beast that Remus would become with the full moon if she couldn't get Snape to make the potion. She'd already been the cause of so much pain for Remus, surely she could do this to ease his troubles a little. After all, he would go to great lengths for her even now, she was sure.

She sighed and looked at Snape. "I'll do whatever you wish." She sounded slightly defeated. " Just please help Remus."

He was quiet for a moment, and she found the expression in the midnight gaze unreadable. His next question surprised her. "You care about him that much?"

"Yes." She looked into the dark eyes, trying to determine exactly what was within them.

"I see." He said softly, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose then, it must be a very great thing for you to care about someone even more." His steady gaze never wavered.

Lorien was in shock and couldn't find a single word to say at first. Finally she spoke. "You know?"

He nodded.

Realization dawned on her. He'd just gauged how strong her feelings were for Remus, already knowing that she'd chosen him over the werewolf. "So you never really meant to make me.....convince you?"

"Of course not." He said, a little amused.

Lorien was unsure whether to be relieved or appalled, and found herself drifting toward angry again until he spoke. "Perhaps the time for anger has passed?" He spoke softly to her and took her hand in his.

She settled for scolding him but she was finally starting to fight off a smile "You are an evil wizard, Severus Snape." She said, trying to sound indignant and not completely succeeding as the smile started to win.

"At times." He sighed, smiling just a bit himself. He saw the confused look on her face now, and spoke again when she hesitated. "I had a conversation with Lupin."

"You did?" She asked numbly.

"Yes." Severus replied. "He came here not long ago and told me about your decision."

"He did? Why?" Lorien couldn't imagine why Remus would have any reason to discuss her with Severus.

"He wants you to be happy, and for some unfathomable reason, he thinks you'll forgive me." Snape averted his gaze a little.

So Remus had gone to great lengths for her. She spoke quietly and laid her hand gently along the side of his face. "He's probably right."

Snape drew her against him, intending to kiss her and then stopped. He spoke in a concerned manner when he gently pushed her away. "I truly regret my words the other day, Lorien. They were not coming from a rational mind at the time."

"I know." She said. Lorien understood Snape's animosity toward Sirius, and how it had affected his treatment of her.

"I'm not good at this." He said, looking away from her.

"At what?" She asked. She knew what he was trying to get around to, and she fully intended to make him say the words.

"At apologizing." He said, gritting his teeth just a little. "At dealing with my feelings, or anyone else's feelings."

"You're apologizing?" She asked. She was damned if he wasn't actually going to say 'I'm sorry' after he'd already deviously lured her into revealing just how much she cared about him before risking exposing his own feelings.

He looked back at her quickly and then away again. "I am." He replied. "I am truly sorry for how I treated you, Lorien. I know it's no excuse, but when I thought of you with....with HIM, I guess I just snapped."

She was trying not to smile again at this point. "You care about me that much?"

He swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes." He admitted softly.

"And I suppose then, that it must be a very great thing for you to admit it." She said wryly.

He finally looked into her eyes again. "You have no idea." He said stiffly. "Do you forgive me?" He asked, watching her carefully.

"Of course." She kissed him tenderly for a moment and then looked at him with a mischievous smile.

"What?" He asked when he saw the way she was looking at him.

"Just this." She pressed herself against him and kissed him fiercely until he was sure that he might be too weak to stand.

"Now," she said when she finally released him and stood up. "Will you make the wolfsbane potion for me?" She figured that kiss might go a long way toward convincing him.

Snape stood as well. "Tonight?" He asked again. "I don't think so."

"What?" Lorien gasped, unable to believe he was still refusing. "But, Severus..."

He moved next to her and smiled slyly. "Do you really thinks it's necessary for me to make it two nights in a row?"

Lorien's eyes went wide for a second and then she laughed. "You mean you already....?"

"Yes." He answered her. "Besides, my dear," he said, bending suddenly and causing her to gasp a little as he swept her off her feet, "I have other plans for tonight."











A/N: "The Potions Master's Other Plans."

I found that I enjoyed writing this chapter so much, that I had trouble deciding if I should post it as it is here, or a bit more from Snape's POV, which I also found amusing. This version is PG-13, so it stays with the story, but I'm posting the Snape POV as a separate chapter on it's own, just for fun. It's upgraded to R, because it continues along into the bedroom, but no real smut. Just a little more naughty than I normally write.