Darkness covered the side of the mountain but wasn't aloud into the small opening in the

side which was a cave. It's inhabitants had lit a fire, which was keeping them warm. Wormtail

stood by the wall of the cave as Voldemort sat beside the fire.

"Damn! I knew it."

The small balding man behind him moved forward, shaking. "Something the matter, my Lord?"

"Peter. How about we take a little trip?"

"A trip, my Lord. May I ask what for?"

"Take a look here." Wormtail moved torwards the fire. Voldemort pointed into the flames.

Within them, he could see Severus Snape teaching his class, going from desk to desk. "I put a

charm on that fool, one that I had invented. One to bring him back to me. To make him power

hungry, and evil once more. But it has failed to work properly."

He stood up and threw his empty bottle of fire whisky into the fire. "My Lord? Why would

you want him back on our side after what he did? After he betrayed us, and fought against us?"

"Peter, Peter, Peter. I was hoping that he would come back because of the numerous

potions of which he can concoct. He is the only one that I know of with such a large amount of

knowledge on potions. For me to conquer the wizarding world, I would need his help." He paused,

and because of his drunkeness, swayed on his feet. He put out an arm and caught himself against

the wall of the cave. "Plus, him and I had something personal."

Peter had a look of confusion on his face, but asked no questions. "Be ready to leave

tomorrow. We're going to pay a little visit to our dear friend."

***

The grounds of Hogwarts was now covered in a white blanket of snow. Tracks made by the

students led to the green house and back. Owls flew over head every morning delivering and

sending Christmas cards. The great hall was decorated for the holiday spirit along with the

corridors.

The coldness was very intense. It made the dungeons colder than they had been, for as

long as Severus could remember. The stone walls were ice cold at night, and the floor although it

was wood, was cold as well. The students started wearing their cloaks and dragon skin gloves all

through out potions class. Severus and Sheyliegh spent much time trying to keep the fire going.

But it just wasn't enough to keep the rooms warm.

"Why the hell does it have to be so bloody cold?"

"It's winter. And honsetly, I think you need to get used to it, because the way things

are looking, it's not going to be warming up anytime soon." Sheyliegh was trying to warm her

hands by the fire which was lit in the classroom. Her and Severus were the only ones in the room

now.

"Damn. Hey what time is that Christmas dance for the students next week?"

"I think Albus said seven. Why? You're not wanting to go... are you?"

"Me? No, no. I was just thinking. Maybe we could go back to London and visit your mum

over break. I mean, we could leave the night of the dance. But only if you'd want to. She did

invite us to stay with her over break. And frankly, I think it's a brilliant idea. Seeing how

cold it is here in the dungeons."

"I suppose we could. But we should probably ask Albus first. You know, just to make sure

that he doesn't need any more people to chaperone the dance. As long as the other teachers are

here, they shouldn't have too much trouble." She walked away from the fire, and went over and sat

next to Severus by the window. "I know that Minnie's staying. And of course Sybil's staying. She

hasn't any place to go. And as for the other teachers, I don't see any of them having any where

to go."

"Yes. I suppose you're right."

"But we still should ask first. I'll go and talk to him after dinner tonight."

The students started coming into the room. Sheyliegh and Severus put their conversation

on hold, and attended to their teaching duties.

***

December 18, there was a vibe coming from the students all day. All through lessons they

seemed to care nothing for the lesson, but talked amongst themselves of the dance that night. Who

was going with who, and who was going to wear what.

Severus and Sheyliegh had gotten the okay from Albus and had packed their suitcases

already to take off. The thought of getting away from the dungeons was one that the two of them

looked very much forward to. It had gotten even colder from before. The average high temperature

was around fifteen below zero. They had had to move potion lessons to the room of requirement and

were stuck studying out of books because they couldn't do their potions up there.

The last class left the room leaving Sheylieigh and Severus. "Want to get something to

eat before we leave?"

"Yeah. I would hate to show up and make your mum think that we were expecting food."

Severus opened the door for Sheyliegh and then caught up with her, matching her strides. "Well

we've got an hour and a half to kill."

"Let's go down to the living quarters. I want to make sure that I have everything

packed."

"And then?" Sheyliegh did nothing but giggle in reply. But that was a clear enough sign

for Severus. They rounded the corner of the cold dungeons and walked into the living quarters.

Before Sheyliegh could make it to her suitcase which was sitting beside the harth, she

felt Severus' arms come around her and he tackled her down on the couch. His hands went for her

stomach and he began to tickle her. "Sev!" Sheyliegh laughed until she couldn't any more.

They paused and looked into each other's eyes. It seemed as if the surroundings

disappeared, and they were the only ones in the universe. "I love you." Severus bent down and

started to kiss her neck. She giggled like a little girl.

"So, my Sevvie's back. Hm?" Severus lifted his head and looked into her silver eyes.

"Yes. And I'm not going any where fast." He crawled off top of her and swooped her up

into his arms. He carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the bed.

Severus laid down beside her. Sheyliegh was lying on her back, and Sev was on his side

facing her. He brought his hand up and started to caress her cheek. "Everytime you do that, I get

cold chills down my spine."

"Every time you smile at me, I get cold chills. And every time you yell at me too..."

"Sev!" She picked up a pillow and hit him with it playfully. But he tackled her once

again, and soon had her pinned to the bed. "It's nice to see those old familiar eyes again."

"It's nice be have you here with me like this again. How long has it been since we've

done anything like this, again?"

"Hmmm... if I recall right, I believe it's been since last night." Sheyliegh giggled as

Severus kissed her once more.

***

"Severus! I thought you were leaving?"

"Yes we are. Just decided that we would come and get something to eat first. If that's

okay, headmaster?"

"Of course of course. You better dig in now though. You're a half an hour late. All the

food from the buffett table will be gone soon." Albus looked over to his neice and smiled at her.

"Tell Grace I said hi and give her my love, would you dear?"

"Of course. You know, you should come for Christmas."

"Thank you Sheyliegh. I'll keep that in consideration."

After everyone was done socializing, the food disppeared and the band that had been asked

to play, struck up. "Well, shall we be on our way my dear?" Severus stuck out his arm, and

Sheyliegh linked hers to it.

"After you." But before they could get anywhere, the doors to the great hall swung open.

It wasn't hard to miss because of the amount of light that emerged from outside the room. The

great hall had been light only by fairies flying around the ceiling. But now a great flood of

light made it's way into the room.

Everyone stopped at once to turn and see what was going on. But no one was there.

Suddenly a green skull was errupted into the air. It had a snake coming from the mouth. The dark

mark. Children let out screams and ghasps. The teachers started rushing the children out of the

room. No one was quite sure yet of what was going on. All they knew was that they weren't safe.