DISCLAIMER: see the first part

A/N: The alternative universe part starts in this chapter. This is the first time I've actually subverted cannon, so I would appreciate feedback and constructive criticism.

I apologize for the long wait. I start school on Monday, and I was forced to attend orientations. Updates should come more regularly now.

RESPONSES TO REVIEWS:

Severinus, cloudshape, lilyqueen777, Heart of the Wizard, Verse: Thank you so much!

Bookwmnjan: Well, I'm sorry you didn't like it. At the same time, I kind of have to admit that I'm flattered that you found it chilling. I was aiming for that, actually. I try to portray the professors as fallible, weak, flawed people, and people do become exhausted and depressed, even Gryffindors. Thank you for the review.

Vaughn: Thank you for mentioning that. It was particularly difficult for me, since I've only ever written "between-the-scenes" stuff before. I'm glad you thought it worked.

Silverthreads: Thank you. I appreciate your pointing out the mistake, but could you tell me which paragraph it's in, maybe? I couldn't find it.

Lilith11: Thanks. I'm glad that Dumbledore unnerves you. I rather intended for him to in this case.

"And I imagine she'll need Pepper-Up," said a soft voice at the very edge of my consciousness. A chilly hand came up to my cheek, and the subtle magic ran into my face. It was all I needed to pull me the rest of the way. Severus stood over me, smiling sadly, his hair flying in an unkempt imitation of James Potter. "Minerva? Minerva? Do you know where you are?"

"It does not look like Majorca."

The smile fell immediately, and he asked, "Were you in Majorca, Minerva?"

"No, you daft boy," I grumbled. My voice sounded disgustingly weak, but I was glad that Severus seemed to be the only person within hearing distance. He would understand that no one else must know that I had displayed such weakness. The room was small, and the stone walls were windowless. Tapestries hung, a fire burned, and candles guttered, making the room look as it must have when the castle was first built. Though warm, the bed was small, too small to be my own, and the room was far too green. I took a guess. "I believe this is your guest bedroom, is it not?"

"It is."

"Master Severus?" I turned my head the other way, and Dobby the house elf stood with phials on a tray.

"Thank you." Severus levitated them across the bed and began measuring and mixing this and that. His hands blurred, and I blinked my eyes in an attempt to clear my vision. It failed. When he handed me a small glass full of aquamarine liquid, I drank unquestioningly. "You'll feel better in a few hours... Would you like to go to St. Mungo's? Poppy thinks it is for the best."

"No." I tried to sound firm.

"I told her that you wouldn't approve." He rested his hand on my forehead, apparently to check for a fever, and nodded. "Shall we consider ourselves even?"

"I never held you in my debt."

"I did. Shall we consider ourselves even?"

When he repeated the question, I realized just how serious he was. I sighed, "Of course, Severus."

At my request, he explained what had happened during Hagrid's escape and how the children, particularly the fifth years who had seen my exploits during their Astronomy OWL had reacted. Apparently, the school buzzed with its usual outlandish gossip, and the Slytherins were perpetuating rumors by sharing my whereabouts with the rest of the students. Worrying about something so inane actually calmed me. I could handle interoffice politics. It was a relief, then, when Severus offered to read aloud until I fell back asleep. (He was irritatingly insistent that I sleep as much as possible, which seemed ridiculous considering that I had been unconscious for nearly twelve hours.)

I must have drifted off, however, for when I woke, Severus was in the middle of a stanza, his voice raw from too much use, and his own eyes drooping. I was prepared to protest his stopping. Then I heard it too, a desperate rapping on the apartment's outer door. When I made no protest, Severus set down the blue leather anthology. He rose as he straightened his outer robes. Patiently, he said, "That's likely Draco in a panic about his History of Magic exam. You know how he worries... I may be awhile."

"Of course," I said as dismissively as I could. I could only imagine how my own students were coping. Miss Granger was likely having every kind of fit imaginable, and Marcus McGregor probably went catatonic after his last NEWT. The boy had been studying ten hours a day for the past three months. I should be with them. If I had not been so headstrong, so damned foolish, I could have done something. I could have been up there in the Tower reassuring them, comforting them as surely as Severus was calming Draco.

The fit of self-pity was interrupted by an explosion from the sitting room. I felt a pulse of unrestrained magic, the storminess unique to an adolescent's loss of control. Draco Malfoy would never have been so careless to let his magic control his emotions, so I slipped carefully out of bed and made slow progress to the door to listen to the conversation.

I head voices from the entryway beyond the sitting room. Draco Malfoy's was not among them. "Please, Harry, calm down!" Hermione Granger exclaimed. Her voice was shrill and panicked. Apparently, it was Mr. Potter's rogue magic wreaking havoc with Severus's breakables. "We have to see her. It's urgent!"

"Professor McGonagall is not a well woman, Miss Granger. Kindly leave my apartment." He had affected the voice he used in the classroom, ice and velvet pouring over the words.

Harry Potter fairly screamed, "If it was anyone else, you wouldn't-!"

"Detention, Potter."

"Did you just give him detention for... Bloody bastard-"

I laughed. I'll admit that it was unprofessional and juvenile, but I never tired of hearing students' reactions to Severus. Of course, I would have to severely reprimand Mr. Weasley for addressing a teacher so disrespectfully, but I could postpone that until I officially resumed my duties.

Miss Granger exclaimed, "Don't help me, Ronald!" I could easily imagine the look on her face, the affectionate exasperation that so often mauled her features when she spoke to Mr. Weasley or Mr. Potter. Her voice became an undercurrent of pleading. She made a soft squeak when I heard the tinkling of broken glass hitting the stone floor. Any pretense at calm left her voice, and she begged, "Please, Professor Snape, people could die if we don't see her! Please!"

"Severus," I called as loudly as I could. The other students were prone to gross exaggeration, but Miss Granger seldom did. I was apt to trust her. Severus swooped back into the hall and fixed his glower on me. I was momentarily aware of why the students so feared him. "What has so upset Weasley, Granger, and Potter?"

"They have declined to tell me, citing my alleged prejudice against Black."

I looked at him, expecting more, but none came. "Show them in, Severus."

"Minerva-"

"Severus," I overrode him, my voice slicing through even his infamous ice, "we agreed that you would not do this. Show them into the room immediately."

For a moment, I thought he wanted to attack me. Rather, I thought he was going to do. I suppose that the number of times I'd been at wandpoint over the past few weeks, it was something of a given that I would be mildly paranoid. Then, he raised his eyes to the ceiling so much like the children he detested. "I would ask you to remember this when they send you into fits."

After helping me onto the sofa, he left the room and returned brief moments later with two breathless students in tow. Miss Granger paled when he gaze fell on me. She officially looked more panicked than I had ever seen her; she was clinging to Weasley's arm. Before her, Mr. Potter's fingers played with the hem of his t-shirt and looked ready to vomit. "Now, tell me what brought you down here unescorted." I tried very hard to sound harsh that they would dare to disregard Umbridge's orders.

"I was trying to concentrate on... on my OWL, but I saw... Professor McGonagall... Vold-You-Know-Who has Sirius at the Department of Mysteries. It was just like my dream last summer. He's going to kill Sirius!"

Miss Granger gave a soft sob and quickly covered her mouth as if she'd just screamed a disgusting swear word.

"I see," I said. My mind swirled. Not for the first time, I had to squelch the desire to hate Albus for leaving me in charge. It is nearly impossible to remember that the man does not know everything when, Merlin knows, he walks around exuding omniscience. I did what any good schoolteacher would do. I hid behind logic and rules. "We will temporarily ignore the fact that you should have learned to close your mind to such visions by now and look at this objectively. Have you spoken to Mr. Black recently?"

"Y-yes, ma'am, we spoke the night... the night Fred and George left."

"I will not ask how you managed that. Did he seem concerned?"

"No, I guess not..."

"Professor, you know... Sirius hasn't been in his right mind recently. He might not have noticed a threat, so... I told Harry that maybe we could... Maybe you could give us permission to contact him or, or at least Professor Lupin."

Reluctantly, I shook my head. "You know that Professor Umbridge watches the fires very closely."

"It was a distraction," Severus said, and I recognized the tone of voice. He had worked out something he had been considering for awhile. "The Weasleys left when they did so that you could contact London."

"We may have discussed it," said Miss Granger noncommittally. She gasped and straightened. "What if we could do it again? Professor McGonagall, would you call... London... if we could manufacture some distraction?"

"What do you think, Severus?" I asked softly. As ill and stretched as I was, I did not trust myself to make the decision. It was quite possible that I was letting my emotions get in the way of the objectivity Albus had tried to teach me.

He murmured, "There are no plans to go after Black."

"You are privy to You-Know-Who's every plan?"

"I am not, as you well know, but Lucius has not mentioned it either," he said. He looked at me, his eyes veiled.

"Lucius Malfoy does not tell you everything."

"Near enough to it. He would tell me this. He would think that it would please me."

"See? Hermione, I told you!" Weasley exclaimed, and Miss Granger slapped him on the back of his head.

"Believe me when I tell you that informing Lucius Malfoy that I have allied myself with Sirius Black would do nothing to secure the mutt's safety." He turned back to me and whispered, "Is that what you would have me do? Ask Lucius? He would suspect."

The response was not as straightforward as the students had obviously expected. Lucius and Severus had been close friends for decades and trusted each other with nearly everything. In the back of my mind, I had long suspected that Lucius knew where Severus's loyalties lied and did what he could to divert suspicion. Perhaps their friendship was enough. "Would he do anything about his suspicion? His family is allied with the Blacks."

"Narcissa does not dictate his movements, and Sirius is not technically, legally a member of the family any more."

"We don't need the bloody Malfoys," Potter said, spitting out the name like a mouthful of liver and onions, "just someone to keep Umbridge's attention away from the fires long enough."

Hermione spoke up softly. "She does hate Harry and me quite actively. Sir, if you were to take us up to her office and tell her that you found us... I don't know, something dreadful..."

"Necking in the bushes," said Ron, and Hermione shot him a scandalized glare.

"She would likely beat you," Severus said. He sounded less delighted than I imagine the children expected him to be. That it had come down to that at Hogwarts, that children at Hogwarts had to actually fear beatings, sickened me. I fell against the pillows.

Potter exclaimed, "I don't care!"

"Nor do I," Hermione whispered, though without the same enthusiasm.

"Then I cannot allow this," I said so firmly that all three of them looked at me, obviously shocked at my forcefulness. "We'll have to find another-"

"Do the Legilimens," Potter said suddenly, and he turned to Severus with pleading eyes. For obvious reasons, this was his last resort, and I almost vetoed it out of hand. "You'll be able to tell if Vold-You-Know-Who put it there, won't you? You could tell with the dreams."

"I could tell with the dreams because it was perfectly obvious that you had never been in the Department of Mysteries, and I know that the Dark Lord has been."

"But maybe you could. If you won't let me call him, you have to at least do this!"

"Potter..." I thought he was going to protest, to be the voice of reason that we so obviously needed. However, after a moment of silent contemplation, he said, "Very well. Come here. Do not fight me, and I will do my best to make this quick."

Potter crossed the room quickly. The look of apprehension on his face confused me. I had to wonder if it was fear of what Severus was about to do, or what he might find once there. I assumed it was the latter because, ducking his head with more manners than I had ever seen him use before, he said, "Thank you, sir."

"Deep breath," Severus said, once again as calm as ever. He pulled his wand out of the folds of his robe, pointed it, and said, "Legilimens."

He did it as gently as possible, I know, because Harry barely flinched. Sagging slightly, Severus's eyes widened, and he dropped his wand to the ground. Severus fell onto the edge of the sofa while the boy folded onto the floor. Miss Granger flew to his side. She cradled him against her chest, stroking his hair while he fought with his tears, and looked up at us. "What did you see, Professor?" Weasley asked in a tiny voice.

"I told you it was unlikely that I could make any determination, but... I think it best if we contact Lupin."

"Oh, God," Harry whispered. He strained against Hermione's restraining arms, but she held him more tightly. "Let me go, Hermione!"

Every piece of glass in the room exploded, and Hermione began to sob hysterically as she flung herself over Harry to protect him from the shards. Severus whipped his wand out and transformed all the glass back to sand. It sprinkled over me and the children harmlessly, and he sighed. Meanwhile, Harry Potter, either distraught at his friend's state of mind, at what he had seen, or at the ambiguity of Severus's response, followed suit.

I knew that in my current state I could not cope with two hysterical children, and Severus was never in any condition to do so. On top of everything else, he wove where he sat, looking lost and nauseous. It was only a few weeks ago that he had been unconscious in my guestroom. How could I expect him to rectify this melodrama unfolding in his own? Attempting to sound authoritative, I said, "Yes. Yes. Forget Umbridge. I will accept any consequences... Contact Remus. Tell him to find Black as quickly as possible."