Disclaimer: Not mine. It seems it never will be. Damn

A/N: Fourth story in the "Just plain life" series. Life and work at Hogwarts

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Sirius/Remus (implied, not explict)

Warnings: Mentions of homosexual relationship (just mentions, though. Nothing explict. Sorry)

Indregents of a good crystal ball

Part one

When Harry Potter and Severus Snape quarreled the reason always seemed to be Sirius Black. That didn't always mean he had actually done something - although sometimes it was his pranks that fueled the fire.

However, more often than not it was Snape saying something sarcastic about Sirius and Harry jumping to his godfather's defence. Not that Harry always approved of Sirius' antics - as Snape so „nicely"put it: „Black is an eternal brat with mind frozen at the age of nine."- and sometimes (quite often) Harry agreed with him. But family was family and Sirius was all the family he had. At least at the moment, when Sirius and Remus had broken up yet again. For about the twelfth time in three years' space. Harry personally suspected they just liked making up.

So, Sirius was mostly the cause. Of course, it usually went from there, bringing up all the insults and problems they'd ever had with each other. From Harry's schoolyears („...and always favouring your own house, could you be more unfair!"- „Oh, Mister Potter could not take a little attention turned to somewhere else than him."), to recent events („You just have to poison them before my class, do you? I can believe accidents happen in Potions - especially knowing your teaching manners - but seven times in a row!" - „There would not be any accidents in my class, if you would refain from predicting students the detentions they will get from me. You of all people should know prophesies tend to be self-fulfilling, especially when there are idiotic children involved!") and so on. And on. And on.

Hermione said they reminded her of her grandparents. Ron almost had a coronary at that („The idea! Eww... 'Mione, I didn't need that mental picture!").

This time it seemed there actually would be a reason. Sirius had tried creeping into Snape's rooms to set up one of the most devious pranks he had ever thought of. However, he never made it. It seemed, Snape had been expecting something like that and set up wards especially customed for Sirius. Nothing life-threathening or affecting others, but when Sirius tried to enter uninvited, he was instantly coloured green from head to toe.

Neon green with little flashing silvery stars. And no matter what spells he tried, he couldn't get ride of it.

Snape took great pleasure in informing Sirius that the colours could not be removed by spells, but shold turn back normal given some time. Like three or four weeks. Or maybe five.

Understandably Sirius was not too pleased with his looks (in fact he was very, very displeased). Conviently forgetting his own plans for Snape, Sirius cried for justce - and went ranting to his godson.

Harry was in the progress of grading the sixth years' Divination essays ("Mars and Uranus in conjunction - how will it influence your week?") and getting more and more irritated. Did they really think he was stupid? There was no way Mars could cause being eaten by a flobberworm (did Draco really cover those in the Care of the Magical creatures?). If they thought they could make it all up and get good grades... Well, they were in for a surprise. Harry firmly pushed an uninvited memory of his own Divination homeworks into the far dusty corner of his mind. Teachers were allowed to be hypocrites, at least in some things, he reasoned.

His mood did not improve when his godfather came crashing through the door, cursing Snape and all his family to the hell and back. It did, however rise several levels once Harry got a good look at Sirius. Neon green was so not Sirius' colour.

A good one, Snape.

Harry put the quill on the table and moved aside the essays he'd been grading.

"Well, what happened this time?"

"That son of a necrophilic bitch, that fucking..."

And Sirius went on, going through several generations of the Snape family, giving the explict descriptions of sexual acts both physically and psyhically quite impossible. Mostly due to the uncompatibility of partners' anatomy.

Harry listened facinatedly. He was no innocent, but somehow he had never though somebody could have so creative mind. Even if the creativity was a little on the ... sick side.

At last Sirius run out of breath (and words).

"Um, Sirius, I don't know if you noticed, but the sexual preferences of the Snape family do not actually explain your new... colours."

Sirius took a deep breath. For a moment Harry thought he was going to start cursing again, but it seemed Sirius had wented off enough steam to give some understandable explanations.

Bit by bit the story came out. Harry honestly didn't know if he wanted to laugh or strangle Sirius. His godfather deserved some fun after everything that had happened to him, but really... Sometimes Harry wished he didn't have to be the levelheaded grown-up in their little family. He was only twenty, for god's sake!

It wasn't so bad when Remus was around - mainly because the two Marauders were off causing trouble somewhere and enjoying it with childish glee. Actually, if you looked at their antics, it was really amazing how they managed their joint professorship competently, but so far there had been no complaints from students (or parents). Students certainly loved the History of Magic in professors Black and Lupin's presentation. There were also those rumors about historical spectacles held in class...

Oh well, Harry supposed he just felt a bit jealous of what Sirius and Remus had. That brought him back to the problem at hand - Remus was off somewhere and Sirius was really getting on Harry's nerves. Couldn't those two just make up already!

Harry listened to Sirius' story with half an ear, at the same time trying to put together the graphic of the "ups and downs" of Sirius and Remus' relationship in his mind. The results were quite statisfying - Remus should be back in few days. Of course, the sight that was waiting for him was a little more colourful than usually...

Harry shook his head. Those silvery stars were actually sort of hypnotizing.

And were they really blinking to the tune of "God save the Queen"?!

Part two

Anybody entering Potions Master Severus Snape's private storeroom in the dungeons of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry would have been treated a rather unusual sight. The aforementioned Potions Master was on his fours trying to reach something from under the counter(1). From the far back corner under the very low counter. So it was probably a good thing nobody happened to enter.

With a loud bump followed by a muttered curse Severus Snape emerged from under the counter. He sat on his haunches and varily touched the back of his head. The action brought out a wince of pain and another curse. More descriptive this time. With a veary sight he put the spoon he'd been fishing for on the counter - making sure this time there was no way it could fall under the counter again - and went to fetch the pain numbing potion.

Gulping down the rather foul-tasting potion Severus massaged his temples with one hand. He hated headaches. God saw he'd had enough of them recently. Putting up with Black and Lupin as the History of Magic teachers had been bad enough, but now Potter had joined them as well. It seemed somebody up there really hated him.

Maybe that guy - what was his name? - was right. Hell really exists and we live in it. Anything after this life can only be better.

And to think the day had gone so well... The image of Black in his new colours brought a smirk on Severus' lips. His mood rised several notches. Well, I guess not everything is lost after all.

The smirk faded as his gaze fell on the spoon. It was dirty. His best spoon was dirty!

It was an ordinary looking wooden spoon. Not particularily expensive neighter beautiful, there were no enchantments on the spoon (in Severus' opinion any idiots who went near a potion with spells that were not part of making that potion got what they deserved), it wasn't new either. So most of the people would have found nothing worth attention in that spoon. The truth was there actually was nothing worth attention in the spoon. Severus Snape just counted it his "lucky spoon" and used it in making difficult potions.

Silver stars had been rather tricky.

Severus eyed the spoon carefully. Yes, it definetly had to be cleaned. His gaze went to the sink in the corner of the room. The sink had only one tap. Snape sighed again. He really should have let hot water be brought in years ago, houselves could do it quickly. But he always forgot. He only remembered when he needed hot water. Like now, or every time he thought it would be nice to wash his hair only to turn away from the cold water and swear to call the houselves right away after he finished his newest experiment. Usually at that point he started to contemplate the next step in his latest development and any thought of needing some renovations done in the dungeons went right out of his head.

Cleaning spells? Have you ever tried using cleaning spells near high potent potions? Don't. The houseelves cleaned even Snape's rooms without magic not to speak about his private research lab or storeroom.

Looking one more time at the sink Severus grabbed the spoon and made his way out of the door setting up the wards and locking the door as he went. The Potions class had good wards and there was nothing potentially dangerous among the indregents and potions in class stores at the moment, he could do the cleaning spell there.

As he strode through the corridors Severus could feel his good mood returning. He just couldn't wait to see Lupin's face tomorrow.

What's going on now? At this rate I'm never going to finish grading those essays! First it's Sirius complaining about Snape and the absence of Remus - and whose fault is that? - then it's Dobby who's decided I should eat more, then it's Malfoy... Interesting where'd he get that Runespoor from? And now it's Albus with his "emergency staff meeting"!

Harry stomped down the stairs and headed to the orange coloured door of the staff lounge. There were some places in the castle that rather clearly mirrored the Headmaster's peculiar sense of humor.

The carved cat head on the door opened it's violet eyes and looked at Harry.

"You are late, professor Potter."

"Glibberts!"

Harry's voice managed to convey just how irritated he was. And Albus' passwords weren't helping any.

"My, my, are we in bad mood today?"

Harry gave the cat a glare that wouldn't have shamed a certain other resident of Hogwarts. Remembering the events that had followed the last time it had been on the recieving end of such expression (although not by Harry) the cat decided not to tempt it's luck. The door opened and Harry stormed in. He made his way to his usual chair, ignoring the startled faces of his colleagues.

He sat down and looked around daring anybody to say something. But the Hogwarts professors had had a long practice with Severus Snape so there were no comments. Something was out of place, though. Sitting next to Sirius was... But Remus wasn't supposed to return before tomorrow, the earliest... Albus must have called him back, this was getting serious. Harry turned his attention to the Headmaster.

"It is nice of you to join us, Harry. Would you like some tea? The bisquits are good, too."

Albus' eyes twinkled the usual way at Harry's tantrum. Sometimes it really was annoying.

"No, thanks. What's the urgent matter that couldn't wait a bit?"

He didn't have time for this nonsence, he had essays ta grade, a shopping trip to make (while students might not have cared it was important what blend of tea you used for the tealeaves reading; Harry never used the more potent ones in class), he really had to go over his lesson plans for the term and many more things. Harry scowled at the other teachers causing quite a shock on some faces. Hermione looked dissaproving (ups, in for a lecture later), Ron was clearly trying (and not succeeding) to keep a straight face, Malfoy was openly enjoying the situation, Snape... Snape looked understanding. If to think of it, he would. After teaching for some months Harry could just see why Snape treated students the way he did (although Harry still didn't approve the man's methods - most of the time), and dealing with Albus...

Hmph, finding common ground with Snape, who'd have thought?

"Ah, yes. The matter." The twinkle in the Headmaster's eyes faded. Harry felt a little uncomfortable - absence of that maddening twinkle usually meant the things were really bad.

"There is a problem with miss Marygold. I was informed by her parents that she might not return to Hogwarts."

Marygold, Marygold... Harry searched his brain for something to go with the name. Ah, there it was, Tracy - or "Triss" as she preferred it - Marygold, a Hufflepuff fourth year. Not particularily good in Divinations, but not bad either. She had no talent, but she studied hard. Anybody could predict the future to some extent with technical means (cards, tealeaves, etc) and some logic, so studing Divinations really helped to deal with the subject. The predictions were not very accurate, though.

And there had been that incident in his class right before the holidays...

"Fine, that's it for today. I think everybody is anxious to get to their christmas shopping, so let's finish early."

Harry studied the faces around him. Some looked rather quilty. There's going to be a shopping rush in Hogsmeade today, he thought amusedly, it seems not everybody has bought their christmas presents in advance.

And not everybody had been paying attention to the lesson as well. Harry guessed it was usual with the christmas break at the door (actually, starting tomorrow). He supposed next year he should leave the class right before the break for "meditation" like professor Trelawney had done. Whatever he thought about the woman, he was finding that sometimes her methods really had had a reason behind them. Well, that was experience - she had been teaching Divinations long before Harry's birth.

"Don't forget to hand in your essays before you go. Yes, Andrew, I know you were in the hospital wing for the most of the week, professor Sprout told me. I expect your essay tomorrow morning."

The boy flashed a relieved smile at Harry. There had been a Slytherin-Hufflepuff quidditch game last Friday. Andrew Higgins was the Hufflepuff keeper.

"Merry cristmas, professor Potter. Have a nice holidays!"

Harry smiled at the girl in front of him.

"Thank you, Miss Marygold. Merry christmas to you as well. To all of you," he added rising his voice slightly, "enjoy your holidays."

A chorus of "Merry christmas, professor Potter" answered his words.

Harry reached to take the essay Triss Marygold was holding out to him. His fingers brushed the girls hand - and he fell into the rainbow.

"Professor Potter? Are you okay? Should we call madam Pomfrey?"

Harry blinked. He was standing in the middle of his classroom still holding Triss' essay. His students looked concerned, but not much. It wasn't the first time Harry had had a vision in class. He looked at Triss, trying to remember the vision. A swirl of images, nothing concrete. Just a vague sense of danger. Possible danger. And the possibility wasn't big either.

"Did you See something bad, Professor?" A girls voice, breathless and exited. Lilac Brown was almost as bad as her older sister when it came to Divinations. But she had talent. Some.

"I don't know, Lilac. It's just a feeling. It's more like... it's possible something bad might happen to Triss and it's somehow connected with the forest. I'm sorry, Triss, I can't tell anything better."

"It's okay, professor, I'll just avoid forests at all costs. Besides, it's middle of winter - why would I go to the forest in the first place?"

Harry nodded. It sounded reasonable. There really wasn't anything he could do at this point. Still... He hated when his visions were blurry like that. Sadly, as future could change in a blink of moment, most of the predictions were like that.

"Just be careful. And tell your parents, deal?"

"Yes, professor. I'll be careful. Bye!"

Harry watched as she left the classroom with her friends. He tried to convince himself everything would be fine, her parents would look after her. But despite all the convincing he couldn't get ride of the unpleasant feeling in his gut. I will write to her parents, he decided, and tell them to be careful.

Harry snapped back to the present.

"What about Triss Marygold, has something happened to her?"

"Yes, Harry. I'm afraid so. There has been an unfortunate incident. Miss Marygold and her parents went to New Zealand for the christmas vacation. They went sightseeing on the night of a full moon. It seems Miss Marygold wandered away from her parents by accident and met a werewolf."

Gasps and muffled exclamations met the Headmaster's words.

Harry felt the pain and anger swell up in his chest. He'd foreseen the danger, but hadn't been able to do anything. Too often it was like that. What use did his talent have if he couldn't even protect those around him. The smiling face of the Hufflepuff girl appeared in front of his mind eye. Triss Marygold...

"No, she's not dead or badly harmed. It seems her parents were aware that something dangerous might happen and reacted quickly. She was, however, bitten."

Dumbledore paused, waiting for the implication to sink in.

"Miss Marygold has become a werewolf. Her parents owled me, informing me about the problem. They are understandably worried about the situation and afraid that it might be not possible for their daughter to continue her education in Hogwarts. That is the reason I called for an emergency meeting. For the second time the staff of Hogwarts has to decide if the student with this kind of problem will be allowed to contionue attending Hogwarts."

Harry's eyes - as everybody else's in the room - went to Remus. Remus, Harry realised, Remus must have been the other student Albus is referring to.

Remus was looking at his clenched hands in his lap, refusing to meet anybodys gaze. His knuckles were white. Sirius put his hand on his mate's shoulder. Despite the stars there was nothing funny about him now.

Minerva was the one to speak for all.

"Albus, I think you already know our answer," she looked around the room receiving several nods and no objections. "It is the same as the last time. Miss Marygold will always be welcome in Hogwarts. After all, it should be easier this time, with the Wolfsbane potion developed."

In the silence following her words Severus Snape found himself the centre of attention. Well, he wasn't about to protest. Despite everything, he trusted Albus' ability to protect the students from the Marygold girl. And he himself was there in case things got out of hand.

"I am making the potion every month anyway. I can easily double the amount if needed."

His answer seemed to seal the matter.

"Thank you all." That damned twinkle was back in Albus' eyes. "I will owl Mr and Mrs Marygold right away. The meeting is closed."

With those words the Headmaster exited the staff lounge, leaving the professors on their own.

I guess that's it. Severus Snape gathered his spoon and turned to leave. Albus' summon had caught him on his way to the Potions classroom. Well, the staff lounge was far enough from his storeroom. He cast a quick cleaning spell on the spoon. Good. Now, he had many things to do before the beginning of the term. Like brewing the Wolfsbane potion. He'd better get started .

As he left the room he could hear Lupin's voice:

"You know, Sirius, if I'd had any idea you like green and silver so much, I'd have decorated our living room in those colours. Do you have something to tell me?"

The words were answered by Black's irritated cursing. Severus thought he heard his name mentioned as well. I guess they have not made it through the "making up" part yet.

Harry looked after the Potions Master ignoring his godfather and Remus' bickering. Why had Snape brought a big wooden spoon with him to the staff lounge?

Chapter Three

It was quite long into the night when Harry crept back into the staff lounge. Stupid passwords or not, the room was the only one in Hogwarts that held a working coffee machine.

For some reason - and to their ultimate shame - the house-elves just couldn't get knack of making good coffee. Harry supposed the house-elf food-making skills might be hereditary - and if so, then centuries of making tea might have damaged their ability to make coffee. Especially the kind of coffee Harry liked - Sirius tended to use what was left in the coffee pot to oil his bike. He swore it was the strongest and best oiling-liquid he'd ever gotten his hands on. Harry didn't quite know if to be pleased or offended. However, in Sirius' case being compared with The Bike was probably highly complimentary.

Harry reached the door and whispered the password inwardly cringing. The cat didn't even bother to wake up. The door opened silently and Harry stepped in. Then he paused.

The room was filled with the delicious aroma of well-made coffee. Of course, the maker would never forgive himself anything else than "well-made", that Harry was sure of.

Severus Snape sat on his usual place, a cup of coffee floating in the air next to him as he looked through the pile of papers in his lap. Harry couldn't make out any concrete spell patterns around the cup.

Damn, I thought of us only Albus was capable of wandless magic!

Hearing someone entering Severus raised his head and looked at the newcomer. Potter. Still not free of his annoying habit of midnight strolls, then. Severus carefully avoided the thought that he himself had a penchant for those as well. What did Potter want? Cup in the other's hand cleared the matter. Coffee - of course.

What happened next took Severus totally by surprise.

"Help yourself."

He certainly hadn't meant to say that.

"Thank you."

Severus watched carefully as Potter moved to fill his cup and then to sit on the couch. Well, he supposed he could deal with Potter's company for some time. Coffee made it quite bearable.

Harry took a sip from his cup and almost purred in delight. The coffee was just the way he liked it - strong, pure, hot.

Must remember not to burn my tongue. It had happened sometimes.

Harry let the warmth settle in his stomach and looked at Severus who was sipping from his own cup. The man had obviously mad the coffee and was now enjoying it.

Okay, trust Snape and me have the same taste in coffee. That almost - almost - made him wonder what more could they have in common. Harry cut that thread of thought before it got dangerous.

I have just lived as a monk for far too long. I'll go to Hogsmeade tomorrow and... decisively he took another sip. Mmm... Wonderful... Yeah, he could do that, it was holidays. Teacher's work, as he had discovered, didn't leave too much time for personal life. Actually, it didn't leave any time at all.

But man, did he have children suddenly - without any of the pleasurable parts of the process, and did those children have problems. Actually...

"Sorry to disturb you, Misterr Snape" - Snape had gone from professor Snape to Mister Snape, Harry was still Misterr Potter - "but I'd like to speak to you about Marion Zabini."

Snape looked up clearly annoyed, but made a gesture for Harry to continue.

"She has some troubles with Potions..." Harry started but was cut short.

"She is worse in Potions than Longbottom ever was and that says something. Her total disregard of my instructions..."

"She can't read."

Silence.

Then, disbelievingly:

"What do you mean "Can't read"?"

"That she can't. She has never learnt. I asked her and she told that she just couldn't follow written instructions because nobody had ever taught her how to do that."

Harry had never seen Snape speechless. He'd wondered if students like that were ordinary appearances, but it seemed not. Still something in Snape's expression... the way he didn't seem very surprised... And when Harry thought back to Crabe and Goyle...

Snape didn't stay quiet for long. The man had an amazing recovery time no matter whether he was dealing with cruciatus or mundane school problems.

"Can't read you say? But she doesn't seem to have problems in other classes. I'd have heard if it was so."

That was true. Gossip of every sort was exchanged in teachers' lounge daily, with students' success or failures an inseparable part of it. Harry had heard Snape berate Zabini often enough, but had brushed it aside. When was Snape not complaining about students? But now he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he should have noticed sooner and investigated the problem. Even Snape didn't complain totally without a reason...

Brushing his feeling of guilt to the back corner of his mind to be meditated on later, Harry tried to find the best words to explain. He had given the situation some thought earlier intending to bring it up on the next staff meeting, but now there was the problem with Triss... Anyways, he thought he'd found the answer.

"Most of the classes are practical. In Transfigurations Minerva explains and shows what the students have to do several times over; so it's with Neville's classes and Malfoy's and... Well, nearly everybody else's. But you tend to write the instructions on the blackboard and just leave it or let students read from the textbook."

"I explain too!"

That sounded a little too defensive for Severus' liking. Damn you, Potter!

Luckily Potter didn't notice, or didn't show he noticed. He went on explaining eagerly:

"Not everybody's a genius in Potions. You're brilliant in Potions, the youngest Potions Master ever. I've heard people saying you're the best Potions Master there's been and those were experts speaking, and you love your art, everybody knows that. But you forget Potions isn't everybody's interest. Some people just... don't get it. And there's nothing they can do."

Severus was surprised. He would have never thought he'd hear something like that fro Potter. And the man seemed sincere. Maybe he even was...

Harry was... astonished. Yes, that was the right word for it. Where had that speech come from? And he'd meant every word of it. Oh, yes, he'd already known he didn't hate Snape. Looking back to his school years he could say he actually never had, not really. And after starting to work at Hogwarts he'd sometimes felt, how to say it - understanding? Those really weird moments when they would suddenly look into each other's eyes over the great table and know what the other was thinking (Did Albus really have to read Hagrid's letter - which in detail described his last attempt in breeding new "interesting" animals - out loudly during the breakfast in the Great Hall?) because they were thinking it themselves. Yes, sometimes...

With an effort Harry brought himself back to present and found Snape looking at him questioningly. He shrugged to show nothing was wrong.

"Anyways, it's your lectures where she needs to read, mostly, so she's failing there. She has a quick notes quill for homework, but that doesn't help her to read the notes she's made."

"All right," said Snape slowly. "She can't read. Why didn't she say it before, that stupid girl? I knew there would be trouble as soon as she was sorted into Gryffindor! Zabinis have been in Slytherin for centuries."

"Four hundred thirty six years, actually."

Harry snorted at Snape's irritated expression and explained.

"Marion told me. And yes, she had... trouble, with her father. It seems her father told her she would be expelled from Hogwarts if she told anybody about her problem. I discovered it quite accidentally. I usually explain them what they have to do, but that day I'd just had a vision before their class and had a headache, so I told the students to read the instructions from the textbook. She's usually does fairly good in Divinations, so when she wasn't able to complete the exercise I knew something was wrong. I asked her to stay after class and then sat her down and asked what was wrong. It all just came flowing out, I guess she was tired of acting as if everything was alright. I don't know how Minerva missed it, though."

"Minerva..." Snape made a dismissing gesture and for once Harry didn't feel like protesting on behalf of his old Head of House. "You Gryffindors tend see only the good side of things. Still, this time I can't say much for I missed it as well. I should have known there might be serious problems. Archterius Zabini is famous for his old fashioned ways even among the fiercest conservatives. He believes things should be as they were at the beginning of time. I remember the scandal when his first wife left him. Took their daughter with her - you remember Blaise Zabini, she was a Slytherin in your year."

"A bit boyish girl? Quiet and beautiful and knew how to come out on top of everything?"

"I'm not going to ask the origin of that knowledge."

"Mhm, yes. Better not. Right, back to Marion. So you think she can't read because her father didn't want her to learn?"

Sometimes the Wizarding society still threw Harry in the hoops. He could see why Hermione tended to pull her hair in exasperation so often.

"That can be it, yes."

And Snape said it like it was the most usual thing in the world. In this case Harry agreed with Hermione - something had to be done. He was still reluctant towards her plan using Harry as the figurehead for reforms, but... Wizards!

Harry combed his hair with his finger. It didn't make his hair look any better, but the gesture helped him think. Just don't start pulling, not yet. You'll be bald before thirty.

"So now she's in Hogwarts. She needs to learn how to read, right? And there aren't any programs to help her, I suppose?" Snape shook his head. "So what do you do in cases like that, sit around and wait for the students to learn themselves?"

Harry could tell from Snape's expression that yes, they did just that. Well, that could not continue, but...

"Okay, I sat with her for a while and explained things, but I have no idea how to go about teaching somebody to read, I don't know the methodology, the system..."

Now that he thought of it the answer seemed rather clear, why hadn't he thought that before?

"Hermione. I'll ask Hermione. Yes."

He looked at Snape.

"Thank you."

The answer to Harry's words was a rising eyebrow.

"What for?"

"For helping me to think."

The eyebrow rised even higher.

"You're welcome."

Suddenly remembering why he had come to the staff lounge in first place Harry looked into his cup. The coffee had long gone cold. He supposed Snape's half-full cup was in the same state. But it was okay, maybe he'd get some sleep now. And Snape too, he certainly looked like he needed it.

Harry stood up and stretched. Then he looked at Snape.

"The coffee was good, thanks for sharing."

"It's cold now." Snape was looking rather intently into his own cup.

Wonder what does he see in there?

Harry turned to leave. As he raised his hand to open the door he suddenly saw it clearly - Snape won't apologize for the way he treated Harry at school, not ever. And Harry, too, wasn't the apologizing kind. But then, maybe they won't need it.

He looked back over his shoulder.

"It can be made again." He said.

At Snape's surprised gaze he broke into a smile and explained:

"Coffee."

As he walked out of the door Harry thought that maybe - just maybe - he had seen Snape smile.

A/N:

1) I was stuck with it for a long time, trying to find a word to describe the kind of piece of furniture I had in mind. I'm still not sure if it's the right word. Just imagine a kind of brown old buffet on small legs. It's really difficult to wash or dust the floor under it because it's so low - and the position you have to take to reach under it is really, really stupid - especially if anybody sees you. Your grandmother/grand aunt might have something like that.

2) I got the name Triss Marygold from Andrzey Sapkovsky (not sure about the name, I've only seen it in kyrillitza (russian alfabet), so I might have written his name wrong). He's got a really good fantasy series (I've read 6 books so far and loved it), Triss is not a main character, but she's important enough and I like her. Triss is a strong sorceress (чÐродейкРin russian) too.

3) I had a strong compulsion to use the name Henry instead of Andrew, but well...

A/N2: If you think the problem Harry brings up is unbelievable in advanced countries you're wrong. It's a situation I had once in my teaching practices, and the boy was in the seventh form.

Okay people. If you oppose the idea of Harry having a sexual relationship with another male (in this case with Severus Snape), please do not read futher.

To all the others – sorry, I don't seem to manage any real action (meaning the kissy stuff. It's terribly tame in my opinion).

Next: "Siblings, Friends and Lovers"