A/N: Sorry I haven't updated for a while now, I have been revising for my end of semester exams, I'm into my second week of exams already. So this chapter is a bit longer to make up for it, 11 pages long or 4,300 words. I'm glad that you like the twist in ch.15, there will be another twist in the next chapter, but I won't spoil it here.

QsDaughter: all I can say is that Severus is in denial and doesn't truly believe it yet, in some subsequent chapters he will get over the denial and move onto another stage, maybe anger, self-pity etc.

Claire: No there won't be any Severus/Sirius or Severus/Remus, it's not really a romance, and I don't really have anything new that won't make it cliche-y.

On with the story.

Chapter Sixteen

It was late in the afternoon when Victoria awoke; Severus was called to the infirmary because Victoria had insisted that she thank her rescuer personally. Severus was sitting next to Victoria's bed whilst Albus was sitting on the other side.

"If you hadn't shown up I'm sure I would have been dead by now," Victoria said to Severus as she held onto his left hand.

"It was just good timing," Severus said.

"I guess Lady Luck was smiling down on me last night," Victoria joked.

"Why were you there last night?" asked Albus.

"Well, I was coming to see you, Professor Dumbledore," Victoria said, "It's about he-who-must-not-be-named,"

"Please, call him by his really name," Albus said.

Victoria hesitated before saying quietly, "Voldemort,"

"There, that wasn't so bad was it," Albus said, "Now why did you want to see me,"

"He has propositioned my parents, he wants them to join him," Victoria said, "I didn't know who else to turn to; Cornelius Fudge is still denying the return of Voldemort,"

"What does Voldemort want with your parents?" asked Severus.

"My father works for the Ministry in the Department of Investigation, and my mother is a MP working in the Department of Defence," Victoria said.

"It looks like he is trying to control both the wizarding and muggle world," Severus said.

"The situation is more serious than I first thought, I will have to see if I can meet the muggle Prime Minister as soon as possible and explain the situation to him," Albus said.

"Fudge will not like you going over his head about it and contradicting what he claims to be the truth," Severus said.

"Screw Fudge, I can get my mother to arrange a private meeting with the Prime Minister," Victoria said.

"Yes, as soon as possible, Victoria," Albus said, "Now about your predicament, I have some contacts within the Ministry and can arrange protection for you and your parents, and if worse comes to worse I have a few tricks up my sleeve,"

"Thank-you, Professor," Victoria said as she bowed her head.

"There is nothing for you to worry about, I will make the necessary arrangements, you just rest and recover," Albus said.

***

Late Friday evening, Severus was just marking some second year essays when he heard a knock at his office door. Severus looked at the old clock hanging above the door and saw that it was 7:30pm, most of the students were in their respective houses and the teachers, like him, were marking the backlog of homework from the Christmas holidays in their offices or the teachers lounge. Severus usually stayed away from the teachers lounge when ever possible, there were always too many people, and even as Seraphina he had decided not to break from tradition.

"Come in," Severus called out.

The brass door knob slowly turned and the door swung open, a seventh-year Slytherin was standing on the other side, "Professor Snape, I was wondering if you could help me with some homework, I'm a bit stuck on a question," the student said.

"Of course. Brian Mallon is it not?" asked Severus, as he watched the lean built blonde cross the threshold and close the door. Brian was the eldest of a family of five, his parents were suspected Deatheaters, but that fact had not been proven yet.

"Yes, professor," Brian answered.

"Take a seat, please," Severus said as he indicated to a worn mahogany chair, Brian sat down and folded his hands on his lap.

"Let me just get a copy of the work I set," Severus said rising from his seat Severus went over to a cabinet behind him and opened the top draw, as Severus had his back to Brian he did not see the wand that was aimed at him.

"Petrificus totalus," Brian shouted.

The spell hit Severus square in the back, he immediately stiffened and fell backward hitting his head on the stone floor. Brian walked cautiously around the desk, and placed two fingers under Severus' jaw to check that he was still alive, Brian allowed himself a smirk as he waved his wand over Severus and said "Caecus corpus," slowly Severus began to fade until his image disappeared. Brian prodded the air where Severus was as if to make sure his spell had worked.

Standing up Brian pointed his wand at the space where Severus was and cast a levitating charm, motioning with his wand Brian directed the invisible Severus in front of him as he began to make his way through the castle. There were a few people still wandering around the castle as curfew wasn't until 9pm, or 10pm for the upper years.

Brian had just emerged from the stairwell that connected the dungeons with the ground floor of the castle when he felt something jab him in the small of his back, turning abruptly Brian saw nothing behind him.

"Surprise, surprise," Severus' voice said from the emptiness.

The space that Brian was staring into began to shimmer and Severus appeared, standing in a fighting stance, wand pointed towards Brian, who began to back away in fright and tripped over his foot, landing on his back.

"B-b-but.I.y-you," Brian stuttered, his green eyes wide with disbelief.

"You were not listening when I addressed all of Slytherin house on Sunday were you?" Severus asked, "Slytherins possess both cunning and patience, and I used both on you. If you have ever read Hogwarts: A History you will know that, unless you are a powerful witch or wizard, your magic is automatically diminished in the hallways, it is very useful to prevent the students from hexing each other to death. All I had to do was wait till you stepped out of my office,"

"You were never unconscious?" Brian said.

"No," Severus replied, "Now I believe that you have some explaining to do,"

Brian looked up at Severus and quickly scrabbled to his feet and ran down the hallway, Severus sighed and aimed his wand at the retreating figure, "Stupefy," he said. The spell hit Brian and he fell crashing to the ground, his momentum carrying him a few extra feet.

Severus walked over to the crumpled heap and cast 'pertrificus totalus' at it, the crumpled head straightened and stiffened immediately, "Mobiluscorpus," Severus said. Severus led the way to Albus' office, passing a bemused first-year Hufflepuff along the way, "His has been misbehaving," Severus said as way of explanation. The Hufflepuff stared in both shock and horror before quickly running the other way.

Severus knocked twice before entering Albus' office; Albus was sitting behind his desk reading through his daily letters, looking up Albus noticed the floating figure of a student behind Severus. Having set the student down on the floor Severus related the incident to Albus.

"Did you use wandless magic to free yourself?" asked Albus.

"Yes, it took a little longer than I would have liked," Severus said.

"The counter-curse is quite difficult," Albus said.

"Shall I get some veritaserum to question Mr Mallon?" Severus suggested.

"No, that would not be a good idea yet," Albus said, "he is not yet eighteen and therefore a minor, we need to contact his parents before we proceed,"

Within the hour Brian's parents had been contacted and had arrived, they immediately demanded their son be revived and released, which Severus complied to. The Mallons were seated in front of Albus at his desk and Severus was standing next to Albus, as he gave an account of the reason why they were summoned.

Jonathan Mallon hit his hand against the desk and stood up sharply, pointing an accusatory finger at Severus, "How dare you accuse my son of such atrocities, wench" he shouted.

Severus sneered at Jonathan and said "That's Professor Snape to you,"

Jonathan fell silent and eyed the young girl in front of him, "So you are Severus' cousin?" he asked.

Severus nodded.

Layla Mallon placed a white-gloved hand on her husbands arm, "Please, dear, I think it would be better if we all sat down and discussed it," she said.

Jonathan regarded his wife for a moment before straightening his black robe and sitting down, he looked back at Albus and said, "My apologise, Professor Dumbledore, but I cannot believe that my son is capable of such acts,"

"Oh, Jonathan, I think we should tell them the truth," Layla said quietly. Both Brian Jonathan looked at Layla, a fleeting look of puzzlement graced Jonathans face before it changed to neutrality.

"It happened during the Christmas break," Layla began, "One of my first cousins died in a horrific accident, she and Brian were quite close. He was upset at the time, of course but I had no idea how much so, I should never have sent him back here so soon. My poor baby, he must be suffering some kind of breakdown, there is no other reason that he would try to kidnap a member of staff. Its all my fault, I should have let him stay home, I should have been there for him," Layla said as she dabbed at her eyes with a white cotton handkerchief. Jonathan but an arm around his wife and gently stroked her blonde hair.

Albus and Severus exchanged a look, which read ' I-don't-believe-that-story- but-we-have-no-proof'

Jonathan gave his son a pitying look, "Don't worry, Professor Dumbledore, I will place him into St Mungo's right away. Thank-you for your time, and once again my apologise for our son's behaviour," Jonathan said as he stood up and ushered his family out of the office.

"Well, that turned out well," Albus commented when they left.

"You are not going to let them go, are you, Albus?" Asked Severus.

"We do not have proof to say whether young Mr Mallon is really having a breakdown or not," Albus said.

"What about veritaserum?" Severus suggested.

"We would still have to get his parents permission to administer it," Albus said.

"I guess my lying low at Hogwarts did not go as planned," Severus commented dryly.

"We must think of ways to protect you," Albus said.

They both fell silent, thinking.

"Why don't I be sorted by the Sorting Hat," Severus said, "I think one of the problems with my house is that some of them do not believe me to be a Slytherin, therefore I am an outsider,"

"Yes, if you were sorted as a Slytherin you could gain their trust, and it would be easier for them to go to you as they did when you were still Severus," Albus said as he 'accio-ed' the Sorting Hat too him.

Albus held out the hat to Severus, "Do you think you would still be a Slytherin?" he asked with a mischievous smile.

"Of course I am," Severus said as he snatched the Hat from Albus.

"But you seem to be displaying rather Gryffindor characteristics lately," Albus said.

"I definitely have not," Severus retorted as he placed the Sorting hat on his head.

Albus waited as the Hat began analysing Severus' mind for the prominent trait(s), finally the Sorting Hat yelled out, "Slytherin," Severus visible relaxed. Taking off the Hat, Severus happily proclaimed, "Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin,"

"Good to see you in such a happy mood, I now have my idea to put forward," Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Severus eyed the Headmaster suspiciously, that look usually meant he was going to suggest something that the other person wouldn't like and then force that person to agree with him.

"I think you need a bodyguard," Albus said.

"A bodyguard," repeated Severus, "I do not need a bodyguard,"

"If the person kidnapping you was stronger you may have already been half- way to Voldemort by now," Albus said.

"Okay, I agree with you on that point, but who would you suggest. It would look rather conspicuous would it not if I was shadowed by another person," Severus said.

"It's rather good that you agree with the inconspicuous part," Albus said, "because I suggest that Snuffles be your bodyguard,"

Severus looked at Albus blankly, "I would rather be guarded by a Norwegian Ridgeback," he said, "I will not agree to being watched by that cur,"

"Severus, think of all the advantages, he knows Hogwarts, he is recognised by everyone, he is inconspicuous, he is good at charms," Albus said.

"He is an idiot, hot-tempered, inept at advanced magic, troublesome," Severus countered.

"I not able to protect you when you are with Voldemort, I may not be able to protect you when you are outside Hogwarts, but I will be damned if I let you be harmed when you are here," Albus said as he slapped the desk to emphasis the last word.

Severus regarded his mentor, the fire in those blue eyes said that there was no other option, "Fine, Albus," Severus said grudgingly, "pair me with that troublesome dog,"

Dumbledore smiled and went to the fireplace, using the intra-floo system he called Remus and asked him to bring Snuffles. Moments later Remus and Snuffles emerged from the fireplace, Severus was now sitting in front of Albus' desk Remus took the seat next to him and Snuffles laid down on the other of Remus.

"What can I do for you, Albus?" Remus asked.

Albus relayed the night's event to Remus.

"And you just let them go?" Remus said.

"I am afraid I had to, there was no evidence against what they claimed," Albus said with a sigh, "So we, Seraphina and I, have come up with several ways to protect her from future mishaps, she has just been sorted,"

"Really, what house are you in?" Remus asked Severus.

"Slytherin," Severus said with a touch of pride, "as if I could have been anything else,"

"The second measure is to assign her a bodyguard who can shadow her yet remain inconspicuous," Albus said, "Which is were you come in Snuffles,"

The black dog looked up at the mention of his name and cocked his head to the side in puzzlement.

"Snuffles, why not change so we can discuss this in a more comfortable matter?" Albus asked.

Snuffles stood up and with a muted 'pop' transformed back into his human guise, stretching himself Sirius commented, "God, it's good to be human again,"

Remus suddenly nudged Severus with his foot, and gave him a weird look and indicated to Sirius, confused at first Severus finally realised what Remus was trying to say. In a surprised voice he asked, "Sirius Black, but is he not a fugitive?"

"No, he was wrongly accused of that crime," Remus said, "It was all Voldemort's trickery,"

"Yes, you have my word on that," Albus said.

Severus eyed Sirius suspiciously, and then composed his face back to neutrality.

"Hi," Sirius said to Severus, and then sat down on the chair that appeared next to Remus.

"Sirius, you heard what happened," Albus asked, Sirius nodded. "I have a proposition for you, I would like for you to be Seraphina's bodyguard,"

Without hesitation Sirius answered, "Of course, Headmaster, I am in your debt,"

"What plausible explanation would we give to the students when they ask why Snuffles is now following Seraphina around?" asked Remus.

"Well, the attack on Seraphina will no doubt find its way into the student rumour mill, so if anyone asks we can say that Snuffles saw the attack and somehow decided that he was going to protect Seraphina," Albus said.

"The most plausible lie are the one with a bit of truth in it," Severus said with a smile, "So when do you propose Snuffles protects me?"

"I was thinking twenty-four seven," Albus said.

Severus' eyes widened, "You want me to spend every hour of every day with him?" Severus said.

"Do you think that's a good idea, Albus?" Remus asked.

"I do not know when they plan to attack you again, after this failed attempt they may send someone more powerful and try to kidnap you in your sleep," Albus reasoned.

"Where is he going to live, sleep?" Severus asked.

"I was thinking we could add another room into your quarters, that way Sirius can be on hand if anything goes wrong, and he can begin protecting you as soon as you wake up," Albus said, "No if no one has anymore questions we can regard this topic as settled,"

The three former students shook their heads and stayed silent.

***

It was almost midnight when Severus, Remus and Sirius had completed adding the finishing touches to Sirius' new room, the new room was built next to Severus' own room and decked out in Gryffindor colours. There was a decorative four-poster bed against the far wall, and several oak furnishings placed about the room. Earlier they had added a portal in the lounge that linked Severus' quarters with Remus', this was so that Sirius could move from quarter to quarter without being spotted and also if Severus was attacked in his room it acted as an emergency escape route, the portal itself was disguised as a full-length mirror set into a wrought iron frame.

Remus and Sirius were collapsed on the bed while Severus sat down on one of the armchairs. "I never knew making a room like this would be so tiring," Remus said.

"Well, we are manipulating the magic that is Hogwarts," Severus replied.

"Let's get a bite to eat," Sirius said as he stood up, "this moving business really works up an appetite,"

Severus and Remus followed Sirius into the lounge; Sirius was looking about the place in puzzlement, he looked at Severus and asked, "How do you send for a house elf, Seraphina?"

"I do not," Severus replied,

"What do you do when you need something?" Sirius asked.

"Either I go to the kitchens or I use the kitchenette," Severus said.

"Kitchenette, where?" Sirius asked as he looked around the room, to see if he had missed something.

"The door is behind that picture," Severus said as he pointed to a tall oil painting of the Tree of Life that was a few feet away from the door to the Laboratory. Sirius went over to the picture and tried to find the handle. "The password is 'edere'," Severus said.

"Edere," Sirius said to the portrait, turning to Severus, "to eat, isn't it.

Severus nodded.

Kitchenette was perhaps the wrong description for the room, there was enough room for eight or ten people to stand around comfortable, but if it was compared to the kitchens of Hogwarts it was small. The kitchenette was a modified version of the Hogwarts kitchen, work surfaces ran along the sidewalls, halfway along the far wall before met a large fireplace where a large black cauldron hung. The sink was to the left whilst the oven and hobs were to the right; a small table with four chairs was situated in the middle of the room. There were a lot of cabinets that ran underneath the work surfaces, some shelves along the left wall, and two cupboards stood at either side of the room near the door.

"You call this a kitchenette," Remus said as he surveyed the room.

"Where do ya keep the food?" Sirius asked as he opened one of the cabinets near him, he closed it when he found only crockery.

Severus walked over to Sirius and opened several cabinets next to him, "Here is some junk food, if you want a proper meal the food is over there," Severus said pointing to the cupboard in the right corner by the door.

Remus joined the duo by the cabinet and looked inside, there were a multitude of large jars, which held food Remus didn't seem to recognised, in the far cabinet there were food that he did recognise, cookies, bread, crisps. Pulling out a box of chocolate chip cookies Remus asked Severus, "How come there's so much food here?"

"The house elves stock most of the food, and it seems that Severus liked to pick-up exotic food wherever he went," Severus said, pointing to a jar in the cabinet he went on, "these are termites fried in black beans from the Philippians,"

Remus' face paled, "Termites? I don't think I want to know what's in that jar," he said pointing to a jar with short stubby white things in.

"Grubs," Severus said.

"I'll stick to the cookies," Remus said.

When the three of them had grabbed what they wanted they returned to the lounge, placed the food and drinks on the coffee table and arranged themselves on the floor. Sirius opened a bag of sugared mini-muffins, "So, Seraphina, how's teaching at Hogwarts?" he asked.

Severus looked up at Sirius and answered, "Good,"

"Are the students a problem?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing I cannot handle," Severus replied.

Silence fell on the three as they ate.

"Smile you two, who died?" Remus asked with a smile.

Severus and Sirius looked at Remus, his smile faltered.

"How about a game?" Remus suggested.

"I have a pack of exploding snaps in my bag." Sirius said, "I'll just go get them,"

As soon as Sirius disappeared into his room Remus looked at Severus, "You could be a bit less stand-offish," Remus said.

"I am trying," Severus said, "It is just.you know,"

"Look at it this way, you are gonna have to work together for a long time, you could try a bit harder," Remus said.

"Fine, I'll try but do not expect a miracle," Severus said.

"What's that about a miracle?" Sirius asked as he came out of his room with a deck of cards.

"Oh, that I would win against her at exploding snaps," Remus said.

"You forgot about me, I'm the king of exploding snaps," Sirius laughed.

"We'll see when we play," Severus said.

***

The trio played exploding snap until half one when Remus announced that he needed to wake up early in the morning to chaperone the students to Hogsmeade, when Remus had left via the portal Severus bade Sirius a goodnight.

A terrifying scream woke Severus up from sleep; he sat up in his bed and quietly got out of bed. Severus opened his door a crack and looked into the lounge there was no one there, another scream pierced the darkness, it had coming from Sirius' rooms, quickly Severus crept to Sirius' door and swung it open. All of the torches in Sirius' room lit up; there was no attacker in there. Sirius was tangled in his sheets thrashing about wildly; another scream emitted from him mouth.

Severus ran to Sirius' bedside and grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him hard, "Wake up, Sirius, wake up," Severus yelled at him.

Sirius sat up, his eyes snapped open and he grabbed Severus around the neck, his eyes were unfocused and he was breathing heavily, a feral expression was on his face. Severus froze not wanting to provoke Sirius in his half-nightmare like state. Gradually Sirius' eyes focused and his breathing slowed down, suddenly he pulled his hands away from Severus' neck as if they were on fire and backed away from him.

"Sorry," Sirius said quietly, "I don't know what came over me,"

Severus stood up and walked out of the room, crossed the lounge and entered his laboratory. Opening up the nearest cupboard Severus took out a small vial half-full with a smoky purple potion, when he got back to Sirius' room he offered the vial to the other man. Sirius accepted the potion and asked, "Dreamless sleep?"

"No," Severus answered, "that's a calming potion, in the long-run dreamless sleep would only cause more damage than good, your mind needs to be able to sort out its memories,"

Sirius unstoppered the vial and downed the potion; he pulled his knees to his chest and rested his forehead on them. Severus turned and walked slowly to the door, as he reached the threshold he glanced back at Sirius, closing his eyes a sudden defeated look crossed his face. Closing the door Severus walked over to the bed and sat down, "What were you dreaming about?" Severus asked.

Sirius remained quiet, "Azkaban," came the muffled reply, "I can still feel the Dementors, sucking out my memories, leaving me with nothing,"

"I am not going to pretend that I understand what you are going through, I have never been in close proximity to a Dementor for longer than a few hours. I remember how horrible it was, I would not even wish it on my worst enemy," Severus said, he looked over at Sirius and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It is all behind you now, you are not in Azkaban; you are at Hogwarts, you are safe here," Severus said.

"I know, Remus has been helping me through it for over two years but I.it's just burnt into my memory," Sirius said, "When I was there all I could see was the bad memories, I still can't remember most of my other memories,"

"They will all come back eventually, your mind just has to readjust to not being in Azkaban anymore, when it settles everything will come back to you," Severus said.

"I think all that kept me sane in there was that I would get Pettigrew and clear my name but it's kinda hard to do that being a dog. If someone finds me then it's a one-way ticket back to the slammer, I'd rather die before going back in there," Sirius said.

"Don't worry, we will get Pettigrew and clear your name," Severus said, "besides, I will kill you before the Dementors can drag you back to Azkaban,"

Sirius gave a laugh and looked up at Severus, "There's no doubt that you're a Snape, you have a twisted sense of humour," he said with a smile.

Severus returned the smile, "I learnt from the best," Severus said, "It is getting late I think you should try to getting some sleep,"

"I don't want to go back to that dream," Sirius said.

"I will stay here till you fall asleep," Severus said.

Severus helped Sirius back into bed and tucked the sheets around him, the lights in the room dimmed. Sirius closed his eyes and settled in, "Thank- you," he whispered.

*****