The next day Marya poked her head into the door of the dungeon after classes were over. Snape was busy clearing away the last of the ingredients for the potion of the day, which had been a rather complicated wart-removal unction.

"Hello," she softly called out to get his attention. And blushed as he looked up. The embarrassment of last night was still fresh in her mind.

"What can I do for you?" he asked in a can't-you-see-I-am-busy tone.

"I was wondering – I just about ran out of my wound cleaning potion last night, and I need to make some to refill. Could I borrow some dried Scleranthus flower? Please?"

Observing his rapidly creasing brows, she hastily added, "You will have it back by Tuesday, I promise. I tried to place an order with the Apothecary, but they are out right now. I don't want to wait that long in case....something else happens."

"Very well. You may go into my office and take what you need. Second shelf on the bottom left." He bent back to his task with an air of dismissal.

Within seconds, Marya had found what she was looking for. Shaking the amount she needed for her potion into a small brown paper back, she tried to sneak out quietly without disturbing him any more.

"Just a moment." Seems he had thought of something. She stopped at the door, and turned to face him. "I was wondering...." His voice trailed off.

"Yes?" she asked, puzzled.

"I was wondering – healing and runes seem like an odd combination. I would not have thought....."

Marya grinned. A personal question – not what she had expected. And not something he did very often, of that she was sure. This riddle must have really been bugging him.

"That is easy enough to explain. I was accepted at St. Mungo's Hospital for my vocational training. Healing was my first choice. Well," her face clouded over. "I actually wanted to become an Auror. I wanted to get back at those who.....well, you know enough of my story,' she ended lamely. "But I didn't make the cut. So I decided on Healing. I found that I had a lot of empty time before and after shifts. Runes was one of my favorite subjects here in school – so I decided to take a class, part time, but healer training takes a couple years longer than a Runes certification normally does, so it worked out fine.

Runes to me are like a puzzle – you have to figure out the different symbols, piece them together slowly. It's a challenge. And you never know what you are going to find out. Some mystery that has been lost, some forgotten knowledge of the ancient ones... I found it helped me relax. Take my mind off things. Working on the ward can be...hard." She swallowed, then smiled.

"Anyways, that is all there is to it. When I graduated, Uncle Albus sent me an owl with an offer of the Runes professorship – seems good Runes teachers are hard to find." Chuckling at his smirk, she was well aware that Ancient Runes knowledge did not rank high on the priority list of the vast majority of students – or teachers, for that matter.

With a sneer, he went back to an earlier point. "Stuck at home with Runes? Didn't you have anything better to do, like going out with giggling groups of girlfriends?"

Smiling, she shook her head. "Somehow, you seem to have arrived at the conclusion that I am at the center of the social universe or something like that. Now you answer a question for me. What do you remember about me from the time I was your student?"

He looked clearly taken aback. "Well, I.......Um......."

"Anything at all. I was in here for seven years."

He was racking his brain. "I remember you passed with an O on your N.E.W.T."

"Ok. Anything else?"

"You were quiet. A good student."

"And.......??"

Staring at her, he was drawing an absolute blank. Finally with a diffident shrug he said, "That's all."

Marya had been observing the expressions on his face. "There's your answer. I get rather... shy around people. People just don't seem to notice me much. I have never been much of a social butterfly." Seeing the uncomfortable look that had come over his face, she laughed. "Heavens, it's not a big deal. I don't mind being by myself; I am happy enough. There are people who care for me. Believe me, it is really not anything I have deep wounds in my spirit about, or something like that," she said in a teasing voice. "So there you have your explanation."

She turned to leave. "I really should get going with this, though. Thank you so much. See you at dinner?" And with that she was gone.