For some reason Minerva was having difficulty concentrating. It was Friday morning, and she was right now supervising a pop quiz on her sixth years. But her heart wasn't into it. Instead, it was with a little black haired girl in the eastern tower who had for the first time gurgled a word that sounded a lot like 'mummy'. She smiled at the thought, and at that exact moment, her eyes locked with Ms. Granger, who had been looking at her. Ms. Granger smiled broadly and winked. Minerva gave her a short smile and looked away. She couldn't wait for class to end. She had one hour free, and she thought she'd go and spend it with her daughter. If only she knew, she would be visiting Athena much sooner.

The silence of her class was suddenly rudely broken when the classroom door burst open, splintering wood and scattering a few papers in the process. There was no scream nor whimper as all eyes fixed, horrified, onto the angry figure at the door. His hair was messy, as if he had run it through continuously with his fingers, the top button of his robes undone and the usually pale face now was red with suppressed anger. Minerva felt herself shiver in fear; she had never seen Severus so angry. She wondered which Gryffindor student had been silly enough to test the patience of the Potions Master.

"Severus, I don't appreciate having my class interrupted in such a manner," she said, putting on her best strict voice, even if her insides did not mirror the feeling. She continued to regard him coolly even when the angry man broke into a sneer that chilled her blood and though involuntarily, she took a step back. She had seen this face before, just never aimed towards her.

"And I don't appreciate being kept in the dark, Minerva" he replied, the tone mocking, his even attitude not matching his angry features. Minerva felt her heart rate increase. She knew from experience to expect the worst when Severus was at his calmest.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, glad that her voice did not tremor. He took a step closer to her, his dark eyes glinting dangerously.

"You know what I'm talking about, Minerva," he said. Still with the calm voice.

"No, I don't," she insisted. Suddenly his face contorted into greater anger and with a flick of his wand, an unoccupied table went flying through the window, smashing the glass into a million pieces. Several students screamed and dove under their tables. Minerva took out her wand and held it up to him.

"Stop it, Severus! You'll hurt someone," she screamed. By now, he was face to face with the transfiguration teacher. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Harry, Ron and several of the boys stand, their wands poised at the potions master.

"And you've hurt me, Minerva." He answered unaware of the wands pointed to him. He was so angry. He wanted to lash out at someone. He wanted to hurt someone, to ease some of the pain in his chest. But as he faced the slightly shorter Professor, all he wanted to do was kiss her. And that made him angrier. He grabbed Minerva's shoulders, his grip hard. She dropped her wand as pain shot down her arm, but managed a warning look to her students. Don't attack, her look seem to say.

"Severus, calm down. Let's talk this over. How have I hurt you?" she said calmly. She mustn't aggravate him. He was obviously having an insane moment. She must be careful so he won't harm any of the students. Then he did an unexpected thing. He loosened his grip on her shoulder and trailed a finger down her cheek, tracing her upper lip, his eyes softening as he looked deeply into her blue ones.

"What does she look like? Is she beautiful like her mother?" he asked. The anger was gone, he no longer shouted but he was loud enough for all to hear. The students were exchanging confused looks. Only Harry, Ron and Hermione were looking uneasily at each other. In her surprise at the sudden change, she didn't understand what he was saying.

"What?"

"Minerva, I want to see our daughter," his words sent a wave of shock, horror and astonishment through the students. But it didn't measure up to the horror flowing through Minerva's body.

"How did you know?" she asked. Severus snapping out of his moment stepped back and looked at her.

"Does it matter how? I know now. Minerva, I want to see my daughter," he said, his tone left no room for argument. Minerva couldn't say anything even if she wanted too. Without looking at her students, she walked out of the classroom, her steps fast, and the potions master just a second behind her.