Disclaimer:  I do not own the books of Harry Potter – well I do, but only the objects not in a 'I wrote them' sense

Someone who was believed to be wise once said that patience was a virtue.  As with many pieces of wisdom it has been handed down through the ages and accepted as true without much examination.  Dear reader let me put you straight.  Patience is not a virtue, it is a skill; one that requires an immense amount of effort to perfect.  Although it is wrong to generalise a group of people on the basis of something as flimsy as the House they were sorted into, it is safe to say that for Slytherins, patience was a skill that they rarely bothered with.

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Augusta Sinistra's foot was tapping insistently of its own accord.  She was not even aware of its action.  Unfortunately her companion in the eerily deserted corridor was being made more than irritated by the movement.

Severus prided himself on his ability to concentrate in the most trying of situations.  Perhaps the strain of weekly Crucio sessions was beginning to tell, perhaps it was his frustration at not being able to reach his charges, whatever the reason, he was finding it nigh on impossible to block out the sound of the persistent hammering of Sinistra's high-heeled shoe on the smooth slate floor. 

Behind him Augusta was peering over his shoulder at the unmoving wall, tensing her hands open and shut as she waited for a solution to present itself.  Oblivious to her colleagues rising ire at her unconscious foot tapping she let out a sigh.  For Severus it was the straw that broke the camel's back.  He whirled round angrily.

"For God's sake woman can't you be quiet for a minute?" he demanded, "If you can't do anything more useful than stand and look over my shoulder I suggest that you leave!"

He caught the fleeting expression of shock, followed closely by one that he couldn't quite identify before Augusta schooled her face to its normal impassive tone.  He immediately chided himself internally, Augusta was one of the few faculty members of who's loyalties he was unsure, he did not need to create unnecessary animosity between them.  Before he could apologise Sinistra had turned and walked away from him.  Well, walked is no entirely accurate, had Augusta Sinistra been a child it would be appropriate to say that she flounced, however given her mature years we shall use the term 'stalked'.  Thus she didn't notice a rather large pile of books floating mid-air and approaching her on the exact same trajectory as the path she was taking.

There was a resounding crash, followed by loud expletives from both victims.  Snape, who had hurried down the corridor at the sound, bit his lip and failed to conceal his amusement at the scene in front of him; further raising Augusta's wrath.  Books were strewn haphazardly on the floor, some were suspended not far from the ground.  Severus supposed that these were resting on the unfortunate Goyle who was unable to move due to having to deal with Professor Sinistra's rage at being knocked over.  Leaving her to expel her anger on the boy, he bent gracefully to scoop up the texts closest to him, raising an eyebrow at some of the titles, these really were some of the most advanced theoretical guides that Hogwarts possessed.  He coughed quietly breaking his colleague's tirade.

"What?"  Severus flinched at the abrasiveness of her voice, realising that she was still upset both from colliding with Goyle and from his earlier harsh words.

"These books that Goyle has fetched from the Library," he paused here, trying to phrase his question in a manner least likely to cause offence, "they seem to be of a rather advanced nature.  It seems unlikely that the older students would have used these to experiment with, though I call them dunderheads, I do believe that they possess a small modicum of respect for the ancient spells.  They would not experiment in full view of their peers when they know the probability of unforeseen results will be clearly visible for all to see."

"Yes, I do agree with you Professor Snape," she replied, remembering to maintain formalities in front of Goyle, "unfortunately, from the tale Mr Goyle has recounted, I believe that the problem of entry into the common room may well be due to some grandstanding by young Mr DeVries."

Snape racked his brains for background information on Marmaduke DeVries, he remembered the boy's older brothers.  There were nine in total, keen minds as far as he could recall, somewhat arrogant, but this was only to be expected from boys of such an old and distinguished house.  Marmaduke was the youngest with eight years between him and the next youngest, it was common knowledge that he had been an accident.  His father had been somewhat disappointed that he had not been a girl and from what he understood from the boy's brothers he was the favourite of his mother and thus kept in order by his elder siblings. 

"I'm not sure I follow you."

With a pained sigh, Augusta filled him in on DeVries Jr's bookish habits.

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Author's Notes:

Hmmm, well… been on a bit of a break.  Back now, as you can see.  This was another background chapter.  More drama to come soon.  And yes, this time soon, does mean within the next couple of days, rather than the next month.  (It's a New Year's resolution, let's see how well I do…)

Happy New Year everyone!