A/N Just a warning....there is perhaps just an eensy bit of angst in this one for the Snape-lover...

I loomed in the doorway of my Potions classroom in gathering wrath. How dared they…

"Um," said Potter.

"Er," said Granger.

Ah, the eloquence of the Hogwarts final year student. I folded my arms. I still stood in the doorway, injecting fury into the glare with which I seared them. They looked panic-stricken. Potter's hair, never neat, was practically standing on end. I supposed he had dragged himself out of bed to take part in this little stunt of his. Even in my anger, I was conscious of a ridiculous urge to go try and straighten it.

I have particularly acute hearing. I caught quite well the muttered exchange between the two of them once their central nervous systems had recovered from the shock of my presence.

"Can't you obliviate him!" Potter hissed to Granger. I supposed this idiotic thought could only be in jest.

"Don't be stupid," Granger breathed back. "The man's a walking jinx-repellent. I've never seen anyone wear so many counter-charms…"

My brows lowered. All very entertaining. However –

"You," I stated darkly, impaling them with my gaze, "have been stealing from my private stores."

"Um, yes. Really, we are very sorry," Potter managed to stammer. "But, it was sort of important…"

"Oh?" I demanded silkily. I took a step towards them. I towered above them. "So, do enlighten me. Just – what - is so important that you would risk explusion for it?"

"Expulsion?" I heard Granger squeak into Potter's ear.

I smirked. Abject fear. Just the thing.

"Ah? You seem to be having some trouble recalling. How unfortunate. Well. Let me see for myself," I said softly, advancing into the room and peering into the cauldron.

I examined the green and silver liquid, and looked up sharply. What in Merlin's name - ?

"This is A Cloud of Unknowing!" I barked at them. "I can think of no good reason why you should be making such a thing. It is a restricted potion, as I am sure you, at least, Miss Granger, are well aware of."

They said nothing.

I thinned my lips. "You still seem to have remarkably little to say for yourselves. First of all, I will Vanish this concoction. And then, we shall begin to discuss your punishment."

I began to wave my wand. "Evan-"

"NO!!" Potter jumped in front of the cauldron and inserted himself between the potion and my wand.

I was fairly confident that Vanishing students was a sackable offence. I lowered my wand. "Get - out – of –t he – way, Potter," I instructed through gritted teeth.

"Er. No. Sir," he replied, meeting my eyes. He looked nervous but determined.

I rolled my eyes. This, of course, was the inevitable outcome of allowing students to dribble on one's couch. They began to think they could take liberties.

"Potter!" I repeated. "I told you to move!"

"No," he said again. "Please, Professor…it's really important…"

"Yes, well, you have yet to explain to me just why that is so, have you not?" I pointed out grimly, tapping my wand on my arm. It was most unlikely the Headmaster would actually allow me to have them expelled. I contemplated instead several truly unpleasant punishments, which started with mincing tubfuls of horned slugs and progressed to scrubbing the floor of the potions classroom. With a toothbrush.

"Well, it's all my fault, really," Potter said in a rush. "I, er, told my dorm mates something I shouldn't have. It was about someone else. It was an accident. And.. I need them to forget I ever told them. …."

Oh, really? All Potter's fault. He had acted without thinking. Goodness me.

"And is this nauseating story supposed to impress me?" I demanded.

"Well, you see, I really don't want this other person to be hurt by what I said," Potter went on, watching me as he spoke.

"And am I supposed to care about this?" I sneered.

There was silence.

"That is one of the lamest excuses for illicit activity I have ever heard," I told them in menacing accents. "And whatever makes you think raiding my private store is justifiable in order to correct your social errors?"

"I'm sorry about that," Potter said. He was very earnest. "Erm, Professor, you can punish me all you want…"

I raised my eyebrow. I did not need his permission.

"…but," he went on, "please, the potion's finished, let us use it…"

I bored my eyes into his. Hm - "Potter!" I snapped suddenly. "Your mental shields are down!"

"Um, yes," he said, a little guiltily. "I know..I think it was the spell.."

Capio Data. Yes. Very likely. However, as my arm was burning now really rather persistently, this was definitely not a good time for Potter to decide to lower his defences.

"You need to protect your mind, Potter!" I growled at him fiercely.

I clicked my tongue. I was getting distracted. I eyed Granger and Potter narrowly. The damned boy would look so anguished. Potter's misery never used to bother me in the least. The more, the better, in fact. Perhaps it was since the final showdown with the Dark Lord had started to haunt the fringes of my dreams….his face, green eyes glazed with death, staring endlessly up at the indifferent skies.

I hissed through my teeth. I was...well, not weakening; Severus Snape was a stranger to such signs of softness. But perhaps I would give them one last opportunity to explain themselves.

I could not simply let them use the potion, of course. Modifying memories was a dangerous art. At least they appeared to have had the sense not to attempt obliviation as the answer to their indiscretions. Of course, given the basically mindless nature of the average Gryffindor, one could argue that actually it would have made no difference, but…Still. Were I to even consider allowing them to use this potion, I would need to know what it was for, and whether it could be harmful.

"I must insist," I went on implacably, "on knowing just what you are trying to have your unfortunate room mates forget."

Silence. Again.

"Well?"

I was becoming very impatient of this charade.

"It was to do with an Order member," Harry said quickly. Would that be enough? he thought desperately. Surely, Snape would be as anxious as they to protect secrets surrounding the Order….

Snape's eyes were drilling into his again. Truth, Harry thought. It was to do with an Order member.

"If that is so," Snape said, his voice even more dangerously soft, "you have been even more insanely stupid than I believed to be possible. Just how indiscreet have you been, Potter?"

"I…"

Harry's mind had run aground. He could not think of a single thing to say. If he lied, Snape would know. If he told the truth….Harry cringed away from the very thought. His mind stuck endlessly on the scene in the Gryffindor dormitory, with Ron, Seamus and Dean laughing and mocking; if Snape ever knew about that….

I let out a sharp exclamation. This was ridiculous. We would be here all night. My arm was hurting. It was very late.

I took another step forward and stared grimly into Potter's eyes. He tried to duck away, but too late.

Images whirled in his head. He was a mass of emotion: panic, horror, guilt; I couldn't disentangle it. His mind was fixated clearly enough, however, on a particular scene in one of the Gryffindor dormitories -

I swallowed, and my breathing thinned.

No –

Laughing. Gryffindors. Laughing. At me. And - my....affliction.

Singing! The Finnigan boy leading the chant…."Maybe we should sing it next Potions class…"

Oh, no, no….

The refusal of my mind made no difference. The song still rang out, over and over, in Potter's memory, perpetually replayed. "Maybe we should sing it next Potions class."

I had seen enough. I released him, violently, from the spell. He staggered backwards.

"Professor," he stammered wildly. "It was an accident…please believe me…that's why we're here, we wanted to put it right…"

I did not heed him. It was cold; I was shivering. "Who wants to see me taking off Snivelly's pants?" an all-too-familiar voice mocked in my head, as it had mocked me constantly through the intervening decades.

"So," I said to Harry Potter, oh so very softly. "That is your idea of an entertaining evening, is it? How very fascinating, Mr Potter. And then you became worried you would get into trouble, so here you are, stealing my ingredients and breaking into my laboratory…."

Fury squeezed the breath out of my lungs. I could not continue. It was so very cold in the dungeons. My stomach clenched.

I could not continue. I turned on my heel. I shook my hair forward so that it obscured my face.

I walked away.

No! Harry thought desperately

"Professor!" he shouted after Snape's retreating form. Snape's gait was jerky, as if he were physically wounded but too proud to seek assistance. "Wait – please….!"

Hermione grabbed his arm. Her voice was very shaky when she spoke. "Harry, I don't think he's in a mood to listen to you…did he read your mind? What did he see?"

"Oh, just the worst bit," Harry said bitterly. "That bunch of cretins making fun of him in the dorm…He thinks I did it on purpose…He thinks I told them for a laugh…"

"You can explain tomorrow…It'll be all right…." Hermione said. She didn't sound terribly convinced. "It'll be all right, Harry, it'll be OK…look, at least we've got the potion. No-one else need know. That's got to count for something."

That was better than it could have been, Harry supposed. At least Snape wouldn't have the humiliation of the entire school knowing, and singing stupid songs…But he had seen it in Harry's memories, Harry standing by while his dorm-mates made fun of him…Snape didn't understand that Harry had wanted to make the potion to protect him, not just to save his own skin from Snape's justifiable wrath…

"Harry!" Hermione said, urgently. "Here. Quickly. We've got to go back…"

As swiftly as possible, they cleared away their mess. Harry levitated the cauldron and, in moments, he, Hermione and the potion were hidden by the invisibility cloak. They still had Filch to worry about, although at the moment Harry felt hanging upside from the caretaker's manacles would be no worse than he deserved.

The journey back seemed to take forever. Harry was troubled by his scar, which kept searing with bursts of pain. Snape had been right. He needed to repair his defences.

Snape…

The Fat Lady barely opened her eyes when they gave the password to re-enter the Gryffindor common room. Harry and Hermione ripped the invisibility cloak off and stared at each other, still stricken.

"OK," Harry sighed finally "What do I do with this potion now?"

"Vivesce," Hermione murmured, passing her wand across the surface of the cauldron. "There. It's active. Just leave it in your dormitory overnight. But, er, Harry – you'd better sleep down here if you don't want your own memories modifying…"

"Oh. Yeah."

Although, Harry thought miserably, a nice bit of obliviation would be just the ticket right about now.

Harry took the cauldron carefully upstairs and hid it under his bed. Hermione had assured him the magical fumes would circulate from there quite efficiently. Ron muttered in his sleep and turned over as Harry crept through the dorm, but he did not waken. Harry slipped as silently as he could out of the room, and downstairs to the common room. He chose a sofa, and curled up on it.

Damn it, he thought wretchedly. Damn it…how would he ever get Snape to forgive him?

Somehow he didn't think forgiveness featured prominently in the psychological landscape of Severus Snape.

I strode through the dungeon corridors, cursing myself. How had I ever thought...

Potter had told the Gryffindors. Doubtless he thought it would impress them. So what that he had later regretted his actions? – most likely when he realized that, inevitably, the blame for such an ugly rumour would be pinpointed to him? Couldn't have the Golden Boy sullied by an underhand and malicious act like that, now could we? Not Potter, the heroic, the noble.

Severus, I tried to calm myself. He said it was an accident…

Right.

And they did make the potion, nobody will know...

But somehow, strangely, that didn't seem to be the point. Potter had told them. They had all had a great time making fun of me. Just like his father. And yet, had I really thought, even for a moment, that Potter might actually have begun to see as more than Snape the bastard, the greasy old git? Had I come to imagine he actually enjoyed my company; had even begun to rely on me for emotional support?

Fool. I mocked myself for my stupidity. He had, of course, just been using me for what he could get. Potter had needed something. The world would - naturally - provide. I had stepped forward and played my required role. And now -

Fool. My breath stabbed in my lungs. I had begun to trust him. I had thought he was not, after all, like his father…whom that even greater fool, Albus Dumbledore, had been trying to persuade me to forgive for years.....

I snarled. And that thrice-cursed Mark on my arm would keep on burning!

I let the cold of my dungeon wrap itself around me. Colder, colder, leeching away thought, sucking out feeling... Breathe, I instructed myself: seek the stillness. Clear the mind.

Focus on the stones: a familiar litany.

Obsidian. Black and shiny; nothing adheres to obsidian. Pain slides smoothly off its slippery surfaces. It cannot grasp on to it.

Crystal. Spikes of glass: bitterness impaled, congealed: frozen. Yes. Frozen.

Granite. Hard, bleak, weathered. Ponderous and heavy.

Granite.

Granite endures.

I concentrate on granite.

Tevkins – ooh yes, and then everything gets even worse.......

juliedecarson – mm, yes, your poor heart…thanks for kind review, and hope the angst levels aren't too high!!!

Amethyst Rain - thanks loads, what a nice review…and YUMMY hot cocoa and waffles…can I still keep it..I'll be nice to Snape soon, honest

Lilith11 – thanks for your many reviews all arriving at once..! And I do update usually at least once a week…sometimes more….

Jaws - lol, and here's me doing some Snapey angst for you as well….

Padawan Jan-AQ – well, they finished the potion! but, then.....

tomfeltatonofme - poor Snapey..not even furious, really…just hurt….awwwwww

MYSTICAL PANTHER – no, not good….evil smirk.

Persephone Lupin – wow, thanks lots! Glad you've been enjoying it, hope you'll continue to do so.

ShadowedHand – well, I considered a Deus Ex Machina way out of things and decided in the end things would just have to follow their inevitable path to doom and destruction!!!!

snarkyroxy - /me covers Snape's tender ears….well you were kind of meant to laugh a bit at the last chapter, before the mega angst kicked in again!!!

Sakia Ishida – thank you! I'm not being very nice to my poor characters at the moment, but, they'll get over it. Maybe.

Read300300 – hehe, thanks so much. Umm, having a sense of my plot over the next few chapters, you'd better kept that virtual inhaler to hand!

Vyxagallanxchi – well on the bright side they've half-fixed it….at least no-one else will remember…. And maybe Snape will learn how to forgive…………??? Poor Snape…Harry is going to have to find a way to fix this….

Adenara Yatman – yeah, I think Harry is thinking sort of along those lines…

Silverthreads – Perhaps Voldemort has had a word with Murphy?

Beth5572 – thanks, Terri!

Lady Lynn – thanks! Um, this was a bit evil too, wasn't it?

XiaoGui – yes, caught and sussed out…poor Snapey…..someone will need to be very nice to him to make up for this….

Molly Morrison – I loved your solution. I think Snape might have preferred it to witnessing the memory, :- (

lucidity – nooo….as you spotted…there really wasn't a plausible way for this to go well!!