Chapter 15
A/N: Sorry for the long wait...I've been having problems uploading my stories onto this site...I think I figured it out though.. This chapter is officially the halfway point in the story. It should be more fast paced and exciting after this (hopefully..hehe). Thank you to everyone that reviewed! I don't have everything written out yet...far from it in fact...so if you have any ideas/criticisms...things you'd like to see, let me know.
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The next morning Severus sat at breakfast, trying to choke down some dry toast and tea. Apparently his resistance to healing potions was becoming more troubling than he realized. He should feel better by now, but instead he still felt feverish and sick. Enduring Hagrid's angry stares wasn't exactly improving his morning either. He knew breaking into the gamekeeper's cabin was a bad idea, but Katherine had insisted...
"What are you staring at?" Katherine asked, leaning in from behind his chair.
"Nothing." Severus sneered at her, but his angry look was broken by a loud dry cough.
"You're not feeling better?" Katherine asked, taking a seat in the chair that had just been vacated by Professor Flitwick moments before. "Maybe I should give you a stronger potion."
Katherine reached up to feel his forehead but dropped her hand when Severus narrowed his eyes at her, looking like a vicious creature of prey.
"Maybe you should mind your own business." He said in a low dangerous voice.
"Well, aren't we chipper this morning."
Katherine crinkled her nose for a moment, looking confused, and then grabbed for his cup of tea.
"What are you doing?" Severus asked, nearly too tired to argue with her.
"You've added a flu-be-gone potion." Katherine sniffed the cup and then put it back down. "Not my personal choice, but it should help."
Severus glared at her, trying hard not to burst into a fit of anger. He liked his personal space, and no one knew how to violate it quite like Katherine.
"It has a very strong smell." She explained, looking a little sheepish.
The sudden sound of heavy wood scraping against the floor caused both Severus and Katherine to turn their heads and glance at the end of the table. Hagrid was rising, staring daggers at both of them.
"What are we going to do about him?" Katherine asked.
She knew that if somebody had broken into her home they would have explaining to do, and she wouldn't be nice about it either.
"Maybe I should go over there..."
"No!" Severus nearly screamed, and then lowered his voice. "You've done enough damage already with your bumbling incompetence and futile attempts at intellect."
Katherine ignored the comment, deciding that it was much to early to start fighting like school children again. Severus sneered at her and rose on weak knees, leaning heavily on his chair for support.
"You should really rest." She said through clenched teeth, secretly wondering why he was even more appealing when they were arguing.
"I'll take care of this." He said, hesitantly letting go of the chair and making his way towards the towering Hagrid. He looked back over his shoulder at Katherine, with an expression on his face that she could not read.
He turned around again, and started speaking to Hagrid, who stood with his arms crossed in front of his huge chest. They were too far away for Katherine to guess at what they were saying, but Hagrid looked extremely angry.
"Katherine dear?" A now familiar voice chimed in.
Katherine reluctantly turned away from the two men to face Poppy, the only person that Katherine could really count as a friend.
"We should really be going." Poppy said, looking anxiously across the great hall. "Classes will be starting in a few moments, and then come the patients."
Katherine smiled, but gave a longing look towards Severus and Hagrid. She felt bad just leaving him...after all she had heard that Hagrid was half-giant, and even though he seemed sweet...
"Is something wrong?" Poppy asked over her shoulder as she began to walk away.
"Not really." Katherine said flatly, reluctantly following.
Once the two reached the hospital wing Katherine quickly slipped away into the storeroom. She rummaged around for a little bit, before finding the bottle full of dark red liquid that she was looking for.
When she reemerged she found Poppy speaking with a shifty looking girl, who was sitting on the edge of crisp white bed.
"Are you sure you're just not trying to get out of Herbology? You don't look sick to me..." Poppy was saying.
"Oooo....my stomach." The girl cried melodramatically.
Poppy narrowed her eyes, apparently not believing this one bit.
"Poppy?" Katherine said, almost sorry to interrupt the show. "Would be alright if I ran down to the dungeons for a moment? I have something to give to my husband."
"Well...I suppose so." Poppy said. "But make it quick dear."
Katherine nodded, and then breezed out of the room with her skirts flying out behind her. She was so intent on reaching Severus's office that she forgot all about the trick step Poppy had once warned her about. She went flying forward, her leg stuck painfully in an awkward position. The glass bottle she had been holding fell to the floor with a loud clank, but thankfully did not shatter.
"Oh for the love of Merlin!" Severus hissed, sticking his head of his office further down the hall. "Are doing this on purpose?"
With his robes billowing impressively behind him he glided down the hall and then up the stairs.
"Doing what on purpose?" She asked, wincing painfully.
"Put yourself into difficult situations for the sole purpose of ruining my life."
"Not really." Katherine snorted. "But you should have told me I had this effect on you earlier, than I would have tried."
Severus glared at her, and then bent down and put his hands under her arms. His hand accidently brushed against her chest and Katherine let out an angry sigh in protest.
"Do you want me to leave you here!" He snapped, looking positively murderous.
"No." Katherine said, meekly allowing Severus to tug until her leg came free.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to keep her balance right away, and went tumbling forward. Severus reached out to steady her. There was something gentle about the gesture, which caught Katherine by surprise. For a moment she saw something flash in Severus's eyes, but before she could guess as what it was, he was sneering at her once again.
"Why were you down here in the first place?" He asked in an irritated voice.
"I wanted to give you some of this potion, it should really help your throat."
Severus narrowed his eyes, and noticing the potion bottle, picked it up from where it had fallen. He turned it over in his hands, and then uncorked it, smelling it carefully.
"I'm not trying to poison you. But being that we're not exactly the most trust worthy bunch, I understand."
Severus scowled. He hate being reminded of the fact that she was a Death Eater. Even though he was becoming more and more unsure of exactly why he hated it...
"I didn't make this." He said, now holding the potion at an arms length from his body.
"I know, Poppy must have bought it. You should really take it."
Severus looked at her blankly, and then slowly tucked the small bottle into his robes.
"I'll think about it." He said cooly. "Excuse me, I have a class in a few moments."
He turned and walked back towards his office, and Katherine carefully made her way back up the stairs, feeling slightly victorious.
Walking past the windows on her way to the hospital wing she almost felt like skipping. It was turning out to be a lovely day, warm and full of the rich smells of autumn. Maybe later she would skip lunch and go sit out by the lake. The sun would feel good on her face, and the loved watching the leaves change...
Suddenly Katherine found herself colliding with something very large and very solid.
"Oh I'm sorry!" She exclaimed, forcing her dreaming eyes to focus. "I wasn't watching..."
She stopped speaking when she realized who she had bumped into. Hagrid was looking down at her, a slightly perplexed expression on his face.
"It's a'right." He said much more kindly than Katherine had been anticipating. "Sorry about this mornin'."
"What?" She blurted out.
"The dirty looks an' all." Hagird said, looking at her strangely.
"Oh...right." Katherine looked very uncomfortable. "Well, I'm really sorry too...about the other night."
"It's a'right." Hagrid said. "Just hope ya feel better."
"Thanks...I guess." Katherine said, her voice thick with confusion.
"Oh, Professor Snape told me..." Hagrid said, his kind voice dying out as a student walked by.
"Told you what?" Katherine whispered.
"Just hope ya feel better. That's all." Hagrid said, his face going pink. "I best be off."
Before Katherine could say anything else Hagrid nearly ran down the hall and then out of the front doors.
"What just happened?" Katherine asked herself, shaking her head.
'I wonder what Severus told him. Merlin only knows...'
Katherine pushed open the doors leading to the hospital wing, still deciding whether or not she should be angry. Severus had gotten them off the hook, but it just figures that he probably made her sound unhinged while he was doing it.
The hospital wing was empty, save for Poppy who was shuffling through papers. She was mumbling something about nose bleeds, and getting to the bottom of things. Katherine stifled back a laugh, and collapsed down onto on of the pristine white beds. This was going to be a long day...
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Severus stalked in between the rows of tables, glaring at his N.E.W.T. potions students. Each was as incompetent as the next, in his eyes at least. The boy wonder Harry Potter himself was sitting in the front row, next to a very studious looking Hermione Granger. Severus snorted as he walked by, he despised them both. Potter, because he was Dumbledore's golden child, a title that he clearly did not deserve. Granger, because she was a know it all, and a stubborn one at that. Severus watched out of the corner of his eye as Harry picked up a vial of crushed scarab beetles and shook them violently before literally dumping them in his steaming cauldron. Severus could have shuddered at the pure lack of respect for the art. His movements were brutal and uncaring, and the look on his face expressed nothing but sheer boredom.
"Potter!" Severus barked.
Harry looked up from his cauldron, looking more defiant than afraid. Sometimes it surprised Severus at how much the boy had grown. Despite the mutual hatred they shared, Severus could not help noticing. Lately he had become independent, defiant even. He was no longer afraid of authority, and was making it clear little by little that he could be a force to be reckoned with.
"Ten points from Gryffindor." Severus dropped his voice, he knew all his students would strain themselves silly to hear him.
"For what?" Harry said, looking incredibly uninterested with the whole affair.
"For your lack of respect. It's not wonder your potions are nearly always botched, substandard, rubbish."
Severus wasn't sure exactly what he expected. The insult was barely even that, and they both knew it was true besides. He suspected that if the youngest red headed son of Weasley were here Potter would have at least put up an argument. Instead Harry just shrugged, and went back to his potions. Severus felt his jaw go slack, and then felt the heat of sixteen pairs of teenage eyes burning him. They were all staring, waiting for his reaction. They expected hissed insults, detentions, perhaps even bloodshed. Severus was sorry to disappoint.
"I'll be watching you...Potter." He spat out in an angry whisper.
Harry shrugged again, and turned back to his bubbling cauldron. Severus moved along, narrowing his eyes at Harry at every opportunity. He was leaning over a Gryffindor's mess of a potion poised to make a sarcastic comment when it happened. Just as he opened his mouth he heard a fantastic crack behind him, and spun around to find Harry fallen off his chair, covering in a sticky emerald green mess.
"What happened Potter?" Severus hissed, even though it was clear what had happened. Harry's cauldron had exploded, seemingly for no reason at all. This was not an explosive potion, no matter how badly you botched it.
Harry staggered to his feet, looking more disgusted than hurt. Hermione emerged from under the table, careful not to knock over her own cauldron. She reached out to help him, and surprisingly did not recoil at the horribly sticky feeling of the potion against the smooth skin of her hand.
"I'm fine!" Harry said in a biting tone.
Hermione looked hurt, but helped him anyway.
Severus heard a round of chuckling from the Slytherin side of the room. He spun around with a flourish of robes. Normally he wouldn't act on such petty childish pranks, especially if they were played on Potter. But he knew who did it, and for some reason the thought of the boy was making his blood boil. Maybe it was because he was just like his father. And his father had possessed, and if Severus's suspicions proved correct still possessed, someone that he now had a vague yet growing want for.
"Malfoy!" Severus headed toward him, looking like a lion after its prey. "Explain yourself."
Draco's smile quickly faded, and Severus caught him trying to hide his wand under the table.
"Give me your wand." He said in a cold voice.
"What?" Draco said, looking towards Crabbe and Goyle with a confused expression.
"Now Mr. Malfoy!"
Draco reluctantly handed the wand over, and Severus quickly pocketed it.
"When you prove yourself responsible enough for an instrument of such power and destruction, I will gladly return it."
Severus sneered, but inwardly he was almost afraid to turn his back. He had heard from the order what had happened when the ministry came to confiscate the Narcissa and Draco's wands, after Lucius had been brought to Azkaban. He had given Shaklebolt a nasty bruise in a stunning display of muggle fighting. Of course Draco had gotten his wand back before the start of the term, but it had been a traumatic experience. This time Draco did not move from his seat, but into shook in what looked to be a mix of silent shame and fury.
"Potter, hospital wing." Severus called out as he walked by. He opened a draw to his desk, and then dropped the wand inside. Murmuring a spell he forced it to close, and then seal shut. He then turned back to the class just in time to see Potter stagging out of the room, trying to pry his sticky feet off of the floor.
A half an hour later Severus dismissed his weary class, and began collecting the vials of potion that each student had left marked on his desk.
"Another zero for Potter." He whispered under his breath. "What a shame."
"This is about her, isn't it." Draco said suddenly.
Severus looked up coolly, he thought that everyone had gone.
"About who?" Severus turned a vial over in his hand...the color was all wrong.
"Your wife."
Severus nearly dropped the vial in surprise, but managed to regain his composure before Draco could notice.
"You were acting out of line Mr. Malfoy." Severus did his best to appear cold and collected.
"But I've done things like that before..."
"That I didn't see!" Severus snarled.
"Did you know that she helped to break me father out of Azkaban?" Draco said, in a low voice.
Severus felt his already pale face lose all of its color. He may as well have assumed, but he never thought...
"If I was to go to the ministry..." Draco began.
"If you do, be sure to tell them where your father is hiding while your at it." Severus said, glaring at the young Draco.
"My father will hear about this...then he::: will hear about this."
"Do you think the Dark Lord is concerned with your little problems Draco? Do you think he would make me give your wand back?"
Severus gave a cruel laugh, but his heart was racing. Draco narrowed his eyes, and turned to leave. When he reached the door he turned around, and spoke in a chilly tone.
"I hope you know that your wife is a wh..."
Draco was silenced but a flick from Severus's wand.
"Enough." Severus said. "Detention with Flich tonight, then we'll see about getting your wand back."
Draco left, slamming the door behind him. Severus slumped down in his seat, shutting his eyes. He knew he shouldn't blame the son for the sins of the father, but he had done it before, in more than one case. He picked up the students vials and locked himself in his office. He had an hour until his next class, and he would fill it with work. Work would chase away his thoughts of Katherine, the fact that she had helped to free Lucius from Azkaban, how he had lashed out at Draco and how Draco and responded in return. The young Malfoy was getting bold, a dangerous thought. But work would bury all these thoughts. Work was a safe haven if Severus had ever known one.
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"There you go." Poppy said, spraying the last bit of the milky white solution on her patient. "Just give it a few minutes to work."
Harry watched in boredom as the sticky green potion began to soften, and then slowly slide off of his skin and clothing.
"Don't touch it." Poppy said over her shoulder as she went to return her supplies to the storeroom. "It'll still be a bit sticky."
Harry sighed and then yawned. Stuck in the hospital wing again...he knew this place far too well by now. He stared at the matching rows of clean white beds, then up at the ceiling rafters. Boredom was a killer...
He lifted up his head in interest when the door squeaked open and divination professor and resident crackpot Sybil Trelawney walked in, mumbling to herself no less. Katherine Snape stood up from behind a desk full of parchment and crossed the room to meet her.
"What ever is the matter professor...Trelawney, is it?"
Trelawney stared at her carefully through her thick rimmed glasses before speaking. "I need a potion, I have the worst head ache imaginable."
Harry snorted. He imagined that staying up in that smoky tower classroom sprouting garbage all day would give anyone a headache.
Katherine nodded and produced a yellowish potion from the cabinet behind her. Trelawney swallowed a spoonful gratefully, and then smiled.
"Much better." She shook her head as if she was dispelling the last of the pain. "Now...have I met you before dear."
"Yes...I see you at dinner now and then." Katherine replied, looking like she'd rather be someplace else.
"Ah...the new Mrs. Snape then?"
Katherine sighed, and then nodded. Poppy had mentioned this professor, said she was well off her rocker...
"May I read your palm?" Trelawney asked, pushing her glasses further up her nose.
"I...what?" Katherine looked helplessly towards the door that Poppy had disappeared behind.
"Come on dear, I 've done it to all the staff. Except your husband...he wouldn't let me touch him."
Katherine laughed, somehow she didn't doubt this.
"Come dear, I have the sight you know. The rarest of gifts...I can see into your.."
"Alright!" Katherine said, thrusting her hand outward. If it got this woman to shut up...
"Now then," Trelawney said, turning her hand over and running her fingertips over the palm. "Let's see..."
Katherine fought the urge to roll her eyes, especially when she saw Potter watching. No need to degrade the staff in front of the students...no matter if the student was supposed to be a sworn enemy.
"You're very troubled dear." Trelawney said, squinting at her palm. "Yes, very troubled indeed."
Katherine tried to pull her hand away, but Trelawney held tight.
"You will betray the one you love, you will bring heartache and misery to all that..."
"Not this rubbish again!" Poppy cried, entering the room looking like an angry mother hen. "Let her go."
Trelawney looked up, about to protest, when Katherine pulled her hand away. Poppy sighed and shook her head.
"I'll be going then." Trelawney said, looking at Poppy. "To where my gift is appreciated. But don't forget, I see it on you dear."
"See what?" Katherine whispered, though she guessed she'd rather not know the answer.
"The grim." Trelawney said in a low quivering voice. "I've never seen it so strong before. It is in your eyes, in the very reflection there, it hangs about you like a foul stench. You will bring death to the one that you love, you are the reaper in disguise...."
"Enough!" Poppy yelled.
Trelawney gave her a sour look, but then pulled open the door and left all the same. Katherine stared at the spot where she had been standing for a long moment. Her lower lip starting to quiver with a mix of emotions.
"Don't let her get to you dear." Poppy said patting her on the back. "She's said that to everyone at one time or another."
Harry watched curiously from his bed, trying his best to seem disinterested. This was oddly interesting, though he had no idea why.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait...I've been having problems uploading my stories onto this site...I think I figured it out though.. This chapter is officially the halfway point in the story. It should be more fast paced and exciting after this (hopefully..hehe). Thank you to everyone that reviewed! I don't have everything written out yet...far from it in fact...so if you have any ideas/criticisms...things you'd like to see, let me know.
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The next morning Severus sat at breakfast, trying to choke down some dry toast and tea. Apparently his resistance to healing potions was becoming more troubling than he realized. He should feel better by now, but instead he still felt feverish and sick. Enduring Hagrid's angry stares wasn't exactly improving his morning either. He knew breaking into the gamekeeper's cabin was a bad idea, but Katherine had insisted...
"What are you staring at?" Katherine asked, leaning in from behind his chair.
"Nothing." Severus sneered at her, but his angry look was broken by a loud dry cough.
"You're not feeling better?" Katherine asked, taking a seat in the chair that had just been vacated by Professor Flitwick moments before. "Maybe I should give you a stronger potion."
Katherine reached up to feel his forehead but dropped her hand when Severus narrowed his eyes at her, looking like a vicious creature of prey.
"Maybe you should mind your own business." He said in a low dangerous voice.
"Well, aren't we chipper this morning."
Katherine crinkled her nose for a moment, looking confused, and then grabbed for his cup of tea.
"What are you doing?" Severus asked, nearly too tired to argue with her.
"You've added a flu-be-gone potion." Katherine sniffed the cup and then put it back down. "Not my personal choice, but it should help."
Severus glared at her, trying hard not to burst into a fit of anger. He liked his personal space, and no one knew how to violate it quite like Katherine.
"It has a very strong smell." She explained, looking a little sheepish.
The sudden sound of heavy wood scraping against the floor caused both Severus and Katherine to turn their heads and glance at the end of the table. Hagrid was rising, staring daggers at both of them.
"What are we going to do about him?" Katherine asked.
She knew that if somebody had broken into her home they would have explaining to do, and she wouldn't be nice about it either.
"Maybe I should go over there..."
"No!" Severus nearly screamed, and then lowered his voice. "You've done enough damage already with your bumbling incompetence and futile attempts at intellect."
Katherine ignored the comment, deciding that it was much to early to start fighting like school children again. Severus sneered at her and rose on weak knees, leaning heavily on his chair for support.
"You should really rest." She said through clenched teeth, secretly wondering why he was even more appealing when they were arguing.
"I'll take care of this." He said, hesitantly letting go of the chair and making his way towards the towering Hagrid. He looked back over his shoulder at Katherine, with an expression on his face that she could not read.
He turned around again, and started speaking to Hagrid, who stood with his arms crossed in front of his huge chest. They were too far away for Katherine to guess at what they were saying, but Hagrid looked extremely angry.
"Katherine dear?" A now familiar voice chimed in.
Katherine reluctantly turned away from the two men to face Poppy, the only person that Katherine could really count as a friend.
"We should really be going." Poppy said, looking anxiously across the great hall. "Classes will be starting in a few moments, and then come the patients."
Katherine smiled, but gave a longing look towards Severus and Hagrid. She felt bad just leaving him...after all she had heard that Hagrid was half-giant, and even though he seemed sweet...
"Is something wrong?" Poppy asked over her shoulder as she began to walk away.
"Not really." Katherine said flatly, reluctantly following.
Once the two reached the hospital wing Katherine quickly slipped away into the storeroom. She rummaged around for a little bit, before finding the bottle full of dark red liquid that she was looking for.
When she reemerged she found Poppy speaking with a shifty looking girl, who was sitting on the edge of crisp white bed.
"Are you sure you're just not trying to get out of Herbology? You don't look sick to me..." Poppy was saying.
"Oooo....my stomach." The girl cried melodramatically.
Poppy narrowed her eyes, apparently not believing this one bit.
"Poppy?" Katherine said, almost sorry to interrupt the show. "Would be alright if I ran down to the dungeons for a moment? I have something to give to my husband."
"Well...I suppose so." Poppy said. "But make it quick dear."
Katherine nodded, and then breezed out of the room with her skirts flying out behind her. She was so intent on reaching Severus's office that she forgot all about the trick step Poppy had once warned her about. She went flying forward, her leg stuck painfully in an awkward position. The glass bottle she had been holding fell to the floor with a loud clank, but thankfully did not shatter.
"Oh for the love of Merlin!" Severus hissed, sticking his head of his office further down the hall. "Are doing this on purpose?"
With his robes billowing impressively behind him he glided down the hall and then up the stairs.
"Doing what on purpose?" She asked, wincing painfully.
"Put yourself into difficult situations for the sole purpose of ruining my life."
"Not really." Katherine snorted. "But you should have told me I had this effect on you earlier, than I would have tried."
Severus glared at her, and then bent down and put his hands under her arms. His hand accidently brushed against her chest and Katherine let out an angry sigh in protest.
"Do you want me to leave you here!" He snapped, looking positively murderous.
"No." Katherine said, meekly allowing Severus to tug until her leg came free.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to keep her balance right away, and went tumbling forward. Severus reached out to steady her. There was something gentle about the gesture, which caught Katherine by surprise. For a moment she saw something flash in Severus's eyes, but before she could guess as what it was, he was sneering at her once again.
"Why were you down here in the first place?" He asked in an irritated voice.
"I wanted to give you some of this potion, it should really help your throat."
Severus narrowed his eyes, and noticing the potion bottle, picked it up from where it had fallen. He turned it over in his hands, and then uncorked it, smelling it carefully.
"I'm not trying to poison you. But being that we're not exactly the most trust worthy bunch, I understand."
Severus scowled. He hate being reminded of the fact that she was a Death Eater. Even though he was becoming more and more unsure of exactly why he hated it...
"I didn't make this." He said, now holding the potion at an arms length from his body.
"I know, Poppy must have bought it. You should really take it."
Severus looked at her blankly, and then slowly tucked the small bottle into his robes.
"I'll think about it." He said cooly. "Excuse me, I have a class in a few moments."
He turned and walked back towards his office, and Katherine carefully made her way back up the stairs, feeling slightly victorious.
Walking past the windows on her way to the hospital wing she almost felt like skipping. It was turning out to be a lovely day, warm and full of the rich smells of autumn. Maybe later she would skip lunch and go sit out by the lake. The sun would feel good on her face, and the loved watching the leaves change...
Suddenly Katherine found herself colliding with something very large and very solid.
"Oh I'm sorry!" She exclaimed, forcing her dreaming eyes to focus. "I wasn't watching..."
She stopped speaking when she realized who she had bumped into. Hagrid was looking down at her, a slightly perplexed expression on his face.
"It's a'right." He said much more kindly than Katherine had been anticipating. "Sorry about this mornin'."
"What?" She blurted out.
"The dirty looks an' all." Hagird said, looking at her strangely.
"Oh...right." Katherine looked very uncomfortable. "Well, I'm really sorry too...about the other night."
"It's a'right." Hagrid said. "Just hope ya feel better."
"Thanks...I guess." Katherine said, her voice thick with confusion.
"Oh, Professor Snape told me..." Hagrid said, his kind voice dying out as a student walked by.
"Told you what?" Katherine whispered.
"Just hope ya feel better. That's all." Hagrid said, his face going pink. "I best be off."
Before Katherine could say anything else Hagrid nearly ran down the hall and then out of the front doors.
"What just happened?" Katherine asked herself, shaking her head.
'I wonder what Severus told him. Merlin only knows...'
Katherine pushed open the doors leading to the hospital wing, still deciding whether or not she should be angry. Severus had gotten them off the hook, but it just figures that he probably made her sound unhinged while he was doing it.
The hospital wing was empty, save for Poppy who was shuffling through papers. She was mumbling something about nose bleeds, and getting to the bottom of things. Katherine stifled back a laugh, and collapsed down onto on of the pristine white beds. This was going to be a long day...
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Severus stalked in between the rows of tables, glaring at his N.E.W.T. potions students. Each was as incompetent as the next, in his eyes at least. The boy wonder Harry Potter himself was sitting in the front row, next to a very studious looking Hermione Granger. Severus snorted as he walked by, he despised them both. Potter, because he was Dumbledore's golden child, a title that he clearly did not deserve. Granger, because she was a know it all, and a stubborn one at that. Severus watched out of the corner of his eye as Harry picked up a vial of crushed scarab beetles and shook them violently before literally dumping them in his steaming cauldron. Severus could have shuddered at the pure lack of respect for the art. His movements were brutal and uncaring, and the look on his face expressed nothing but sheer boredom.
"Potter!" Severus barked.
Harry looked up from his cauldron, looking more defiant than afraid. Sometimes it surprised Severus at how much the boy had grown. Despite the mutual hatred they shared, Severus could not help noticing. Lately he had become independent, defiant even. He was no longer afraid of authority, and was making it clear little by little that he could be a force to be reckoned with.
"Ten points from Gryffindor." Severus dropped his voice, he knew all his students would strain themselves silly to hear him.
"For what?" Harry said, looking incredibly uninterested with the whole affair.
"For your lack of respect. It's not wonder your potions are nearly always botched, substandard, rubbish."
Severus wasn't sure exactly what he expected. The insult was barely even that, and they both knew it was true besides. He suspected that if the youngest red headed son of Weasley were here Potter would have at least put up an argument. Instead Harry just shrugged, and went back to his potions. Severus felt his jaw go slack, and then felt the heat of sixteen pairs of teenage eyes burning him. They were all staring, waiting for his reaction. They expected hissed insults, detentions, perhaps even bloodshed. Severus was sorry to disappoint.
"I'll be watching you...Potter." He spat out in an angry whisper.
Harry shrugged again, and turned back to his bubbling cauldron. Severus moved along, narrowing his eyes at Harry at every opportunity. He was leaning over a Gryffindor's mess of a potion poised to make a sarcastic comment when it happened. Just as he opened his mouth he heard a fantastic crack behind him, and spun around to find Harry fallen off his chair, covering in a sticky emerald green mess.
"What happened Potter?" Severus hissed, even though it was clear what had happened. Harry's cauldron had exploded, seemingly for no reason at all. This was not an explosive potion, no matter how badly you botched it.
Harry staggered to his feet, looking more disgusted than hurt. Hermione emerged from under the table, careful not to knock over her own cauldron. She reached out to help him, and surprisingly did not recoil at the horribly sticky feeling of the potion against the smooth skin of her hand.
"I'm fine!" Harry said in a biting tone.
Hermione looked hurt, but helped him anyway.
Severus heard a round of chuckling from the Slytherin side of the room. He spun around with a flourish of robes. Normally he wouldn't act on such petty childish pranks, especially if they were played on Potter. But he knew who did it, and for some reason the thought of the boy was making his blood boil. Maybe it was because he was just like his father. And his father had possessed, and if Severus's suspicions proved correct still possessed, someone that he now had a vague yet growing want for.
"Malfoy!" Severus headed toward him, looking like a lion after its prey. "Explain yourself."
Draco's smile quickly faded, and Severus caught him trying to hide his wand under the table.
"Give me your wand." He said in a cold voice.
"What?" Draco said, looking towards Crabbe and Goyle with a confused expression.
"Now Mr. Malfoy!"
Draco reluctantly handed the wand over, and Severus quickly pocketed it.
"When you prove yourself responsible enough for an instrument of such power and destruction, I will gladly return it."
Severus sneered, but inwardly he was almost afraid to turn his back. He had heard from the order what had happened when the ministry came to confiscate the Narcissa and Draco's wands, after Lucius had been brought to Azkaban. He had given Shaklebolt a nasty bruise in a stunning display of muggle fighting. Of course Draco had gotten his wand back before the start of the term, but it had been a traumatic experience. This time Draco did not move from his seat, but into shook in what looked to be a mix of silent shame and fury.
"Potter, hospital wing." Severus called out as he walked by. He opened a draw to his desk, and then dropped the wand inside. Murmuring a spell he forced it to close, and then seal shut. He then turned back to the class just in time to see Potter stagging out of the room, trying to pry his sticky feet off of the floor.
A half an hour later Severus dismissed his weary class, and began collecting the vials of potion that each student had left marked on his desk.
"Another zero for Potter." He whispered under his breath. "What a shame."
"This is about her, isn't it." Draco said suddenly.
Severus looked up coolly, he thought that everyone had gone.
"About who?" Severus turned a vial over in his hand...the color was all wrong.
"Your wife."
Severus nearly dropped the vial in surprise, but managed to regain his composure before Draco could notice.
"You were acting out of line Mr. Malfoy." Severus did his best to appear cold and collected.
"But I've done things like that before..."
"That I didn't see!" Severus snarled.
"Did you know that she helped to break me father out of Azkaban?" Draco said, in a low voice.
Severus felt his already pale face lose all of its color. He may as well have assumed, but he never thought...
"If I was to go to the ministry..." Draco began.
"If you do, be sure to tell them where your father is hiding while your at it." Severus said, glaring at the young Draco.
"My father will hear about this...then he::: will hear about this."
"Do you think the Dark Lord is concerned with your little problems Draco? Do you think he would make me give your wand back?"
Severus gave a cruel laugh, but his heart was racing. Draco narrowed his eyes, and turned to leave. When he reached the door he turned around, and spoke in a chilly tone.
"I hope you know that your wife is a wh..."
Draco was silenced but a flick from Severus's wand.
"Enough." Severus said. "Detention with Flich tonight, then we'll see about getting your wand back."
Draco left, slamming the door behind him. Severus slumped down in his seat, shutting his eyes. He knew he shouldn't blame the son for the sins of the father, but he had done it before, in more than one case. He picked up the students vials and locked himself in his office. He had an hour until his next class, and he would fill it with work. Work would chase away his thoughts of Katherine, the fact that she had helped to free Lucius from Azkaban, how he had lashed out at Draco and how Draco and responded in return. The young Malfoy was getting bold, a dangerous thought. But work would bury all these thoughts. Work was a safe haven if Severus had ever known one.
-------
"There you go." Poppy said, spraying the last bit of the milky white solution on her patient. "Just give it a few minutes to work."
Harry watched in boredom as the sticky green potion began to soften, and then slowly slide off of his skin and clothing.
"Don't touch it." Poppy said over her shoulder as she went to return her supplies to the storeroom. "It'll still be a bit sticky."
Harry sighed and then yawned. Stuck in the hospital wing again...he knew this place far too well by now. He stared at the matching rows of clean white beds, then up at the ceiling rafters. Boredom was a killer...
He lifted up his head in interest when the door squeaked open and divination professor and resident crackpot Sybil Trelawney walked in, mumbling to herself no less. Katherine Snape stood up from behind a desk full of parchment and crossed the room to meet her.
"What ever is the matter professor...Trelawney, is it?"
Trelawney stared at her carefully through her thick rimmed glasses before speaking. "I need a potion, I have the worst head ache imaginable."
Harry snorted. He imagined that staying up in that smoky tower classroom sprouting garbage all day would give anyone a headache.
Katherine nodded and produced a yellowish potion from the cabinet behind her. Trelawney swallowed a spoonful gratefully, and then smiled.
"Much better." She shook her head as if she was dispelling the last of the pain. "Now...have I met you before dear."
"Yes...I see you at dinner now and then." Katherine replied, looking like she'd rather be someplace else.
"Ah...the new Mrs. Snape then?"
Katherine sighed, and then nodded. Poppy had mentioned this professor, said she was well off her rocker...
"May I read your palm?" Trelawney asked, pushing her glasses further up her nose.
"I...what?" Katherine looked helplessly towards the door that Poppy had disappeared behind.
"Come on dear, I 've done it to all the staff. Except your husband...he wouldn't let me touch him."
Katherine laughed, somehow she didn't doubt this.
"Come dear, I have the sight you know. The rarest of gifts...I can see into your.."
"Alright!" Katherine said, thrusting her hand outward. If it got this woman to shut up...
"Now then," Trelawney said, turning her hand over and running her fingertips over the palm. "Let's see..."
Katherine fought the urge to roll her eyes, especially when she saw Potter watching. No need to degrade the staff in front of the students...no matter if the student was supposed to be a sworn enemy.
"You're very troubled dear." Trelawney said, squinting at her palm. "Yes, very troubled indeed."
Katherine tried to pull her hand away, but Trelawney held tight.
"You will betray the one you love, you will bring heartache and misery to all that..."
"Not this rubbish again!" Poppy cried, entering the room looking like an angry mother hen. "Let her go."
Trelawney looked up, about to protest, when Katherine pulled her hand away. Poppy sighed and shook her head.
"I'll be going then." Trelawney said, looking at Poppy. "To where my gift is appreciated. But don't forget, I see it on you dear."
"See what?" Katherine whispered, though she guessed she'd rather not know the answer.
"The grim." Trelawney said in a low quivering voice. "I've never seen it so strong before. It is in your eyes, in the very reflection there, it hangs about you like a foul stench. You will bring death to the one that you love, you are the reaper in disguise...."
"Enough!" Poppy yelled.
Trelawney gave her a sour look, but then pulled open the door and left all the same. Katherine stared at the spot where she had been standing for a long moment. Her lower lip starting to quiver with a mix of emotions.
"Don't let her get to you dear." Poppy said patting her on the back. "She's said that to everyone at one time or another."
Harry watched curiously from his bed, trying his best to seem disinterested. This was oddly interesting, though he had no idea why.