Business As Usual

Severus Snape was striding along the corridor, his black cloak billowing behind him, his step a little lighter than usual and wearing an expression - although still neither friendly nor happy - not nearly as grumpy as what his students were used to. Actually none of his students had ever seen him like this for the very simple reason that his mood only reached this immense level of cheerfulness whenever said students were not present.

It had been a very warm and sunny day at the end of the second week of the summer holidays but now as time was drawing closer to midnight it was finally becoming colder in the castle again. He had longed for these holidays probably as much as the students this year, being convinced he had enough to do already without wasting his time trying to teach annoying students who seemed to be completely unwilling to learn anyway. But the students' absence wasn't the only thing improving his mood so immensely: over the last few days he had begun to realise that Sirius Black's death had had a greater influence on him than he had thought at first. It had simply taken him a little to allow everything to settle and to understand that this time he was gone for good, that he would never have to see his face again or hear his voice again. And that had left him with a feeling of relief, just as if a burden he had been carrying with him unknowingly for almost his whole life had finally been taken off his shoulders.

Albus Dumbledore turned around the corner and Severus greeted him with a curt nod that clearly showed he did not intend to stop on his way for a little meaningless chat and walked past him. He had only left him two steps behind when the headmaster called him back.

He stopped walking, glared down at the floor for a moment and then turned around to face him. Just a minute. Dumbledore added.

Of course.

I will have to talk to the Minister tomorrow and I wanted to let you know that I decided on not informing him about the Order or your exact position.

May I ask why? Severus himself had never trusted Fudge but he had actually expected the headmaster to fully cooperate with the Minister now that it had finally dawned on everyone that the Dark Lord had truly returned. Mind you, of course not before they had all seen him in person, standing in the middle of the Ministry's entrance hall.

Regarding you, I don't trust this information to be handled with the confidentiality it deserves - so to them you will remain nothing more than a teacher at this school. Once one of the Dark Lord's followers but now pretty much unconcerned in anything that is happening. The headmaster smiled at him.

A coward hiding away from his former master, in other words.

And there's no use in anyone else knowing about the Order, I prefer always having a few tricks up my sleeve. Dumbledore added.

Severus nodded. He had never questioned the headmaster's decisions before and now as times got worse he would definitely not start to.

Oh, and there's something else. Dumbledore said, unsuccessfully trying to awake the impression as if there really was something he had nearly forgotten about.

I have to ask you a favour.

Severus immediately felt a headache building up somewhere around his temples.

One of the security barriers set up around the Dursleys' home doesn't seem to work flawlessly anymore... Dumbledore continued.

No. I know what you're aiming at.

...so I will have to send someone out to fix that. I'm sure you could do that for me?

Why me? Why on earth me?

I'm convinced there are dozens of people scrambling for this task. Severus replied.

Yes, there would be indeed, but these people are either busy with something else or might not even be capable of doing this job.

Severus frowned. What sort of security barrier are we talking about here?

A Distorquens Spell.

Severus hesitated for a moment before he replied. Casting that spell is apt to land any wizard in front of a court. He said in a low voice.

I'm aware of that but I'm afraid when fighting the Darkness we mustn't neglect the possibility of making use of the Dark Arts ourselves. Am I right to assume that you're familiar with this spell?

Dumbledore nodded. Very well then. We should receive clearance within the next hour, be prepared. With that said the headmaster turned away again and left him standing alone in the corridor.


Severus took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment and decided to rather walk up the stairs to the staff room - one hour seemed barely enough time to even start doing anything else so he could just as well get another cup of coffee to keep himself awake. He couldn't think of anything to do anyway. Aside from sleeping, but that wasn't really a choice anymore now.

When he opened the door he was surprised to find the room not as deserted as he would have expected it to be. McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick were sitting at the end of the long table, discussing over some papers spread out in front of them. They all looked up for a moment when he stepped into the room but quickly went back to what they had been talking about. From what he heard while discovering that there actually was no more coffee left it was another discussion about the school budget - for a moment it had left him surprised to realise that the everyday life in this castle had to continue despite everything that had happened lately. Nonetheless, he didn't really want to be drawn into that discussion so he turned around and strode across the room towards the door again.

McGonagall called him back the moment he reached out for the handle. Do you have a minute?

He turned back around to face her.

I'm just being polite, I know you're only waiting and have nothing to do. McGonagall cut him off with a victorious smile. So would you sit down for a moment please?

He gave in, slowly walked along the table and took a seat next to Professor Sprout. McGonagall gave him a stern look for the very annoyed expression he was wearing, leaned forward and placed a piece of parchment on the table in front of him.

Potions supplies have been using up an immense part of our budget over the last years. She said, leaning back in her chair. In the next term, due to the additional Defence Against the Dark Arts classes and the new lessons in Wizarding and Muggle Protection Law, there will be even less money available.

Can you imagine that I happen to have about a thousand things on my mind slightly more important than the school budget? Severus asked, sounding as if he really had no idea what she was aiming at.

Can you make any cuts? She asked.

He replied curtly, leaned back and folded his arms in front of his chest.

You haven't even taken a look at it. She said, gesturing at the paper in front of him.

No, I haven't. Snape replied. I don't have to because I know there's no room for any cuts to be made.

McGonagall leaned across the table again and put her hand onto the parchment to point at some lines. What about this? She asked. As far as I know that potion is pretty antiquated and some of the ingredients are really expensive. Why don't you change that for something cheaper as well as more useful?

It is useful. That potion is the best one to teach the students some very important skills they need in order to complete more advanced potions.

Fine, so what about this one? McGonagall asked, turned the paper over and pointed at something else.

You wouldn't dub a potion to cure hypothermia useless, would you? Severus asked and arched an eyebrow.

Today there are spells that can do the same. She said.

I'm well aware of that. Still, this potion is a lot more powerful. He replied and glanced over at the clock in the corner of the room. I'm most sorry I couldn't help you but I really have to leave now. Good luck with your task and rather don't touch the potions budget as long as you don't know what you're doing. He said, rose from his chair and walked towards the door without being called back a second time.

He had only made it along the corridor and around the next corner when he suddenly remembered why he had walked up to the staff room in the first place - aside from the coffee he hadn't found there anyway. He came to a sudden halt and turned around to walk back to where he had come from.


Forgot my folder. He muttered as he pushed the door to the staff room open once more. He took a few long steps towards the shelf on the other side of the room, grabbed the folder with the applications for his NEWT lessons for the next term and walked back towards the door that hadn't even fallen closed again yet.

What about the Auratum-potion? McGonagall asked. As far as I know it still doesn't turn iron into gold, does it?

Snape sighed. That's correct. Yet again, it is the basis of several other important potions.

We all have to make some concessions... She said.

Snape cut her off. But I really do need those ingredients, I'm afraid there's nothing to discuss about that anymore. The potions classes have been on a tight budget for years already and it's been getting constantly worse, so if you're trying to save any more money there you'll have to cancel the whole class. Just let me know if you decide on that so I can start looking for a new job. Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, for example. With his final statement made he turned away and finally left the room again just to nearly trip over Dobby the house elf, standing right in front of the door.

Headmaster Dumbledore says that Professor Snape sir is to leave in exactly ten minutes, sir! The elf said quickly while staring up at the man that was obviously trying to make him vanish under his glare.

A slightly maniac smile crept onto Snape's face. He hissed, his grip tightening around the folder in his hand. Take this back to the staff room. He muttered, nearly knocked the elf over when handing the folder to him and set off along the corridor.


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AN: Hm, well. I thought about maybe making this a longer story. I'm not quite sure yet if that's a good idea; what do you think? A big thank you to those people leaving me a review although I forgot to beg for them in my author's notes ;)