Author's Note & Thanks: ccbchunks and MoroTheWolfGod. Is this story going to become dramatic? I hope not. I'm not very good at sustaining drama. As for Sev being a girl…with the exception of Hermione, Ginny, Professor McGonagall, Pansy, and Millicent, everyone who has major roles in the books are men. It gets very annoying to have to type out Professor Snape, Snape, Severus, the potions professor, the greasy git, the dark haired teacher, et al all the time. So much easier to use a pronoun but when most everybody is male, that can be difficult, so that was ruled out unless I changed his gender. Which I felt completely comfortable with doing, so I did.

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If one had looked out the Hogwarts window into the evening gloom, an odd sight would've met their gaze. However the students and faculty were engaged in dinner, so they missed the sight of Professor Snape carrying a bedraggled dog in a most drunken way.

Snape found it a relief. The last thing the teacher needed was to present a less than spectacular appearance to the student body. Slipping silently beyond the Slytherin dormitory, Severus paused at the office door.

Glancing in once, the head nodded in satisfaction. Everything was as it should be and the wards were fully engaged. One day, the house elves would be able to break the wards carefully constructed about the room. Not being a fool, Severus knew very well that many students tried to trick or use the house elves blind devotion to get them to do what they wanted them to.

Until that day, the potions master's office was sacrosanct.

Entering the office, the teacher put the dog down on the couch. Conjuring up a thick afghan and a warming charm, the shivering dog was wrapped in it. Straightening up, Severus went to the shelf and began to pull out various ingredients. Unfortunately, until the dog was less starved, a more effective potion would be impossible to help him heal.

Even the ones in the infirmary, less potent that they were, were too powerful for him. So, she had to create one out of what she had available.

Severus hated doing that. If there was one thing that dismayed her, it was making an inferior potion-no matter how necessary it was. In her mind, a weak potion meant that the potions maker was ineffectual.

Nevertheless, she was a healer and she would do what was necessary to insure the health of anyone who fell into her care. Even if it was a mangy cur from off the streets that would never be grateful for all the hard work like everyone else around here, she bitterly thought.

Soon, the heady scent of a potion brewing in the side potions room filled the office and the dog blearily blinked its dark eyes open. His leg gave off a spasm of pain and he relaxed his muscles, feeling it leave him alone after a time.

Once it was gone, he processed his situation. For a moment, he didn't know who or where he was but allowed himself to enjoy the rare feeling of security that enveloped him. Glancing about him idly, he blinked sleepily and burrowed into the welcoming warmth.

Then a sight froze his blood cold.

In the anteroom was a familiar person. He knew that body. That hair. That posture was unmistakable.

Without a doubt that was Severus Snape.

Eyes narrowing, a growl escaping from a tight throat, he watched the professor stiffen and glance his way. Putting aside the work for the moment, Severus walked towards him and bent down, hand outstretched. Weakly, he tried to bite the hand that came at him but his animal self was to starved for human affection that it did not listen to him.

Severus' eyes narrowed, though she did not relent in her careful ministrations. Rising, she walked to the fireplace and fire called down into the kitchens. "I need food suitable for a dog. Mind you, Glassy, the dog is ill. I want nothing that will aggravate his stomach and will be able to soak up the potions he needs to heal."

"Of course, Professor. Anything else you need?" the house elf asked. The voice was more dignified. More polished than any other house elf in the castle because of the peculiar way he'd been treated.

"No, there is nothing else I require," the stiff answer came with a reproachful look. Glassy may be a house elf from the Snape's ancestral home but that gave him no cause to think that he could dictate to the professor.

Glassy remained unmoved. Nothing the current Snape could say would sway him from his appointed duty. That duty seeing to it that the professor did nothing to damage the precarious health she'd always had. "Right. One meal for an ill dog and some tea with a sandwich for the professor coming right up."

"Glassy," Severus began but it was too late. The house elf had ended their call. "Dratted elf. Give them their freedom to be free of their encroaching care and they continue to help you as they see fit."

The dog said nothing, panting heavily. While Severus had been distracted, he'd tried to move and found that he was as weak as a dead leaf. His luck was definitely against him, he thought.

Severus went back into the anteroom and continued to work through Glassy's arrival. The house elf stood outside the office door and recognized the magic at work preventing him from entering. Shaking his large head, he did what he had to do to bypass the security and entered the room.

The dog growled in warning but this time, Severus did not respond. It wasn't that she wasn't aware of the sound; it was just that she wasn't concerned by it.

There were only two who could use their magic to enter this office-Glassy and the Headmaster. Besides, the potion was in its most delicate phase and would need all her attention to prevent sludge from forming.

Staring at the dog, the elf's head could only shake in wonderment of the predicament before him. Obviously, the animal had been in the forest for sometime if the smell was anything to go by. Going into a small room at the opposite end of the office, near the classroom, Glassy turned on the water.

Warmed to an acceptable level, he headed back into the main room. Distastefully, he hoisted the dog aloft and into the air, heading for the shower and dropping him under the warm spray. With firm hands, he scrubbed off the accumulated grime and dirt on the dog, taking care not to soak the bandages on the leg.

Once that was done, he turned off the water and moved back into the office. Severus had emerged from working and was sitting down, munching on the sandwich absently as she perused the work before her. Glassy hid a smile of satisfaction and began to feed the dog, watching it carefully.

There was something off about this beast, though he couldn't quite tell anyone what. It was more a feeling than anything else. After that had been accomplished, he turned to Severus and asked. "Will you be needing anything else?"

"No, thank you, Glassy," she dismissed the elf. "I can take it from here. Thank you for your assistance-and the sandwich."

"It was my pleasure," Glassy bowed and left.

Silence filled the room and the occupants sat in it. One tense with an incredible amount of pressure while the other read on in oblivion. Finally, the stress of the days caught up with him and the dog went to sleep.

The scratching sound of the quill sounded long into the night and when the clock chimed the midnight hour, Severus merely glanced up before resuming her work. It was only when the sixth sense of someone wandering about the school after hours that the quill was placed into the inkpot and the professor rose.

Brushing down the dark robe as she stood, Severus pocketed her wand and made her way out into the hall. She only paused once to make sure that the mutt was comfortable and asleep. Rewarding her door, she made her way to the source of the discomfort.

"Ah, Mister Potter, what are you doing here?" she drawled, shaking her head. Somehow, it was no surprise that the boy was about.

"Professor," he coldly greeted. "Detention with Mister Filtch."

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that our caretaker would release you after hours?" she silkily drawled. "Without a pass? He knows the rules and has respect for them-unlike some I could name."

The green eyes glared at him, then widened with fear. Without turning around, Severus knew that it what was there wouldn't be pleasant. Yet, the professor knew it had to be faced and turned with a sigh to see the dementor. Dark eyes narrowed, willing away any thoughts that might attract the boggart to her own fears.

Because this was not a real dementor. It couldn't be.

As coolly as she did anything, she withdrew her wand and pointed it at the dark form. An unknown word passed through the tight lips and the shape disappeared utterly. Nodding in satisfaction, Severus replaced her wand.

Harry blinked. "How did you do that?"

"That is none of your concern, Mr. Potter. Now, take yourself off to bed." Severus dismissed the student from mind, until the boy was nearly out of earshot. "Do not let this happen again. These halls are full of secrets and blind passages. If you were to run into another boggart, it would have the same effect on you that a true dementor would. You would lie in these halls for years before anyone found you."

"Greasy git," Harry muttered beneath his breath. "Yes, professor."

"And Potter?" she called. "I will check your story with Mr. Filtch. If you have lied to me, I will see you in detention-and suspended from Quidditch."

"You can't do that!" he protested.

"Are you forgetting who I am, Mr. Potter?" she bowed mockingly and watched him go.

"Severus, I haven't seen you all day. Join me for tea," Headmaster Dumbledore half asked from the shadows. "Harry will be safe. The ghosts will make sure of it."

It was not a request and the professor knew it. "As you wish, sir." She spoke through semi-clenched teeth. A 'discussion' with the Headmaster never turned out well for her.

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So, any good?