Author's Note: Thanks to all of my reviewers! Sorry it took so long to get this last chapter out! I've been so busy with graduation and such (I HAVE A DEGREE! YEAH!) Many thanks to Lisa for helping me with the little things!
Chapter 3 – The First Week at Hogwarts
Disclaimer: I own nothing created by JK Rowling
Holly was late to breakfast the next morning. She stumbled into the Great Hall to see that most everyone was halfway through breakfast.
"Good morning, sunshine," Paul smirked when Holly took her seat next to him. Simone and Victoria were nowhere to be seen.
"Mmmrph," was her reply as she reached for the coffeepot. Pouring the steaming liquid into her mug, she looked around. Everyone was wide awake and chattering on amongst themselves.
"Rough night?" Paul quipped, taking a big bite of his breakfast. He grinned at her rumpled appearance.
Holly told him about her dream about the crazy lady with blue hair, wrapping her hands around the hot mug, enjoying the warmth.
Paul laughed, "Are you serious?"
Holly nodded, "I swear it was the butterbeer. What's in it anyway?" she asked.
Paul, his mouth full of food, didn't answer.
Holly shrugged and took a deep drink from her mug. Grimacing, she swallowed it.
"What's the matter?" Paul asked.
"This isn't coffee!" she exclaimed angrily.
"Of course it's not. It's tea," he said, looking at her strangely.
Holly glared at the offending tea, "Where's the coffee?"
"Coffee? We don't usually have coffee, dearest. We're English, remember? We drink tea," Paul explained to her as if he were explaining the simple concept of being English and drinking tea to a four year old.
Holly groaned and put her face in her hands.
"Are you hungry?" Paul asked.
"Unnngh," came the reply.
"Come on, you've got to eat something," he urged, "We have another day of meetings. Today's agenda is lesson plans."
Holly glared again, "Fine, what do you English eat for breakfast?"
Paul smiled swiftly and handed her a platter of something that looked very unappetizing.
"What is that?" Holly demanded.
Paul smirked with unrestrained glee, "Blood sausage."
Holly turned positively green, "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Well after lunch I expect all of you to prepare a final draft of your lesson plan for this year. Remember the guidelines I've given. This is due no later than 4:00 this afternoon," McGonagall said, dismissing the rest of the faculty. It had been a three-hour meeting, and this was the first break the staff had been given.
"Great," Holly muttered under her breath to Paul.
"Tell me about it," Paul replied in the same tone of voice.
"I'm starving," Holly said, "What are we doing for lunch?"
By that time Simone and Victoria had caught up to them, "How about going into Hogsmeade for lunch?" Simone suggested.
"Wonderful idea," Paul said, with his usual gusto.
"No butterbeer this time," Holly laughed.
Simone and Victoria exchanged puzzled looks and Paul grinned.
"Last night I had the strangest dream about a madwoman with blue hair," Holly explained.
"Perhaps it's because you're in a new place?" Victoria supplied.
The foursome had reached the Entrance Hall when a voice called out from behind, "Professors!"
All four turned to look. It was Headmistress McGonagall.
The Headmistress swept up, "Where are you going?"
"The Three Broomsticks," Paul said.
"What about the lesson plans?" McGonagall's patience was wearing thin.
"We thought to do them after lunch," Simone said.
"I think it would be prudent for all of you to stay here and work on them. You can take your lunch in the Great Hall," the Headmistress said in a no-nonsense tone of voice.
"What's the difference between here and the Three Broomsticks?" Holly questioned; the words left her mouth before she could bite them back.
McGonagall's face went white, "Professor Quiggle, do you find it absolutely necessary to question each and everything that I say?"
"Well, no. I just thought it might be better to get out of the castle for a while," Holly explained.
The other three watched the spectacle before them with shocked amusement.
"Professor Quiggle, if you would like to continue your employment with Hogwarts School, you would do well to cease your questions," McGonagall said coldly.
Holly's stomach fell. She really couldn't afford to lose her job. "Sorry, Headmistress. We'll be glad to stay here," she replied resignedly.
McGonagall smiled thinly, "Good. I expect to see you all in the Staff Lounge no later than 4 o'clock."
Simone, Victoria, and Paul watched in amazement as the Headmistress walked away.
"You've got guts, don't you?" Victoria breathed.
"What? Why does she insist on keeping us all on such a short leash?" Holly asked aloud.
"Dumbledore," Paul explained grimly.
Simone added, "She didn't always used to be like this. She was always a bit strict, but after this summer, I think she lost it."
"Well I hope she gets it back," Holly replied in a dour tone.
"Don't we all?" Victoria answered.
Silence prevailed for a few moments, before Paul burst out, "Well come on then! Last one to the Great Hall has to sit next to Filch!"
After lunch, the four were headed to an empty classroom to draft their lesson plans. Holly had decided at lunch that English food did not agree with her tastes in the least, and made a mental note to Owl her family to send her packages of Muggle junk food. It had only been two days, and already she was desperately craving a cheeseburger and a box of Oreo cookies. So caught up was Holly in her fantasies of Oreo cookies and cheeseburgers, that she ran right smack into a stone column at the edge of one of the main corridors. Her face met the stone with a sickening crack and blood immediately began to pour down her face. Stars blazed in her vision.
"Merlin's beard!" Paul gasped, paling as he saw his friend's injury.
Simone and Victoria turned and their eyes widened at Holly's accident.
"Hospital Wing," Simone instructed as Victoria thrust her handkerchief at Holly in an attempt to staunch the blood running down her face.
Paul, meanwhile, stood rooted to the spot, pale and gaping – utterly useless.
As the two witches led their absent-minded friend towards the infirmary, Victoria yanked the sleeve of Paul's teal blue merino wool robe in a motion to follow.
"What happened?" Simone asked.
"I was walking and dreaming about cheeseburgers when I ran smack into the wall," Holly explained in an unintelligible and muffled voice. Nobody really understood her and just nodded uncomprehendingly in response. Luckily, the Hospital Wing was only a few corridors away. When they reached the entrance, Madam Pomfrey was bustling about in her usual fashion over the Potions Master; it looked like she was applying a salve to a wound on his arm.
"Poppy! She's bleeding! It's so horrible!" Paul cried out, though it came out as more of a horrified screaming jumble of words.
Madam Pomfrey, startled by their entrance, nearly dropped the jar of salve all over the surly Potions Professor, spilling quite a copious amount onto his jet black robes.
Severus grimaced as the salve ran down his robes, collecting in a small pool at his feet. Forgetting all about her previous patient, Poppy Pomfrey shoved the jar of salve into the irritated professor's hands and nearly tripped over herself in an attempt to reach the Transfiguration Professor, whose front was nearly covered in blood.
"My stars!" cried the medi-witch, "What happened?"
Holly tried to explain in with her unintelligible and muffled words, but apparently the information didn't get to the healer's ears either. She stared, dumbfounded, as Madam Pomfrey immediately stopped the bleeding and righted Holly's broken nose.
Holly winced in pain as the bones knit themselves back together.
"Is she going to die?" Paul cried out.
Simone elbowed him sharply, muttering, "Bloody fool."
Poppy gave Paul a stern look, before replying, "Professor Osbourne. It was a broken nose, for pity's sake. Get a hold of yourself, man."
Paul blushed.
Severus, who had been watching the whole situation with a mix of amusement and irritation, smirked at the effeminate man in disdain.
"Honestly, Osbourne," he said smoothly, "It's as if you've never seen blood before."
Paul turned a deeper shade of crimson before straightening his posture, "Severus," he said stiffly, acknowledging the dark wizard.
It was right then that Madam Pomfrey remembered him, "Oh Severus!" she cried, yanking the jar of salve from his hands, "I am so sorry – " she paused and looked him up and down, "how did you get that all over yourself?" she asked quizzically.
Severus scowled and drew his lips into a menacingly straight line and said nothing.
The foursome, forgot about the Potions Master, and began to talk amongst themselves while Madam Pomfrey attempted to pull the salve from Professor Snape's robes with a Scourgify charm.
"Well, what happened?" Victoria demanded.
"I told you, I wasn't paying attention and I walked into a really hard stone wall," Holly said quietly, her cheeks flushed scarlet with embarrassment.
"You walked into the wall?" Paul shrieked.
Simone elbowed Paul again, "Will you please shut up?" she hissed.
Paul ignored this, "Pray tell, how does one walk into a wall?" he asked, laughter creeping into his voice.
Holly smiled falsely at him, "When one comes to a place that has absolutely inedible food and one is starving and dreaming of a big fat greasy cheeseburger rather than those idiotic lesson plans. That's how one walks into a wall, dearest." Her voice was tight and strained. The last thing she wanted was for that ass of a wizard to hear about her latest foibles.
"Greasy cheeseburger?" Paul looked disgusted, "Disgusting."
Holly looked evenly disgusted, "Blood sausage," she replied, "Absolute nastiness."
As Madam Pomfrey finished with Severus, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation on the other side of the wing. He could have laughed when he had heard that that capricious American had actually walked into a wall.
"There you are, Severus," Poppy said, "Remember to come and see me twice daily for the application of that potion, it's not that I doubt your ability to apply a potion yourself, it's just I'd rather record its progress. Amazing stuff this is. It will have that scar gone in almost no time at all. It's a blessed thing too, that the famed Chinese Potions Master Jin Li came to the last International Wizarding Medicine Conference last month. Incredible that he could create a potion that could counter Dark Magic, don't you think Severus?"
Severus' hand went instantly to his left forearm where the remnant of his Dark Mark was hidden beneath the dark sleeve of his robes, "Right," he said softly, nodding slightly, "Thank you, Poppy."
Madam Pomfrey smiled at the disgruntled man, "You are quite welcome. Now off with you. I've got to check on my patient!"
Severus turned to leave; as usual his black robes were billowing out behind him like a threatening storm cloud.
Holly watched him leave and pondered aloud, "Does he always mean to look intimidating?"
Victoria gave an unladylike snort and Paul giggled.
Simone smoothed out a non-existent wrinkle in her robes, "He probably doesn't mean it, it's probably just a part of who he is," she said, throwing a disdainful look at the door through which Severus had just exited.
Holly rolled her eyes, "Whatever," she sighed, "He probably gets his jollies from making everyone believe that he's important."
The four wizards finished their lesson plans just in time to escape McGonagall's wrath. The Headmistress snapped up their plans and gave them a small smile on their way out of her office. For now, Holly Quiggle's employment with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry remained intact.
The next three days went by without incident. There were no more encounters with Professor Snape, nor were there any further altercations with the Headmistress, nor had there been any more disturbing dreams for Holly. The night of the third day, Friday, all that seemed to change.
The teachers were taking their dinner, as usual, in the Great Hall. As usual, Holly was complaining about the distinct differences between American and British cuisine; and as usual, Paul was quickly snipping up her comments with witty retorts of his own. The staff was halfway through dinner when an enormous black owl flew in through the high windows, headed straight for the staff table. The huge bird encircled the Staff Table a few times before unceremoniously dropping a small parcel into Holly's bowl of soup, splattering not only Holly herself, but Paul and Simone as well. The three glared up at the imposing creature who was perched on the edge of the table, awaiting a reply.
Picking the parcel from her soup with two fingers, Holly quickly performed a Scourgify charm on it before opening it. Once the letter had been removed from its packaging, Paul snatched from the witch's hands and began to read aloud to his three partners in crime.
Holly shrugged helplessly at the wizard.
Paul noisily cleared his throat and began, "Dear Professor Quiggle, On behalf of all the staff here at MPS we deeply apologize in the delay of delivering your things to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We will have your parcels delivered to Hogwarts at eight o'clock this evening. Please sign this letter upon your receipt and send it back by our owl. Again, we deeply apologize for this delay and are enclosing the latest copies of CosmoWitch UK, Witch Weekly, and Wizarding Today magazines as to make amends for our delay. Thank you and we hope you will continue to use our service for all of your shipping needs. Very sincerely, Mitch Smalls"
Holly glanced at the rest of the bundle, which Paul and Victoria attacked with zeal. A couple of magazines to make up for not having clean underwear or a toothbrush for the last five days? There was only so much one could do with a Scourgify charm. Holly rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Do you have a quill?" she asked.
Paul, who was already deeply engrossed with an article in CosmoWitch UK, fumbled in an inner pocket of his chartreuse-colored robes and produced a fluffy electric blue quill feather.
Holly took it and smirked, but nobody on their end of the table seemed to take notice. She smoothed the letter from MPS so as to write her reply when she realized the quill held no ink, nor did Paul produce a bottle of ink either.
"Ink would be good too," she said dryly. Her friends paid no attention. Sighing, Holly took out her wand and transfigured Victoria's dinner plate into a bottle of black ink. She scrawled her response at the bottom of the parchment as Mr. Smalls had indicated and tied it to the impatient owl's leg. It flew off immediately, and as Holly turned to face Simone, her blazing green eyes met a pair of dark onyx eyes. Severus Snape was staring at her.
They held gazes for the briefest of moments before the hook-nosed professor broke eye contact and started talking to the Headmistress. Holly felt an involuntary shiver down her spine and began to ponder the fact before Simone broke her reverie and said, "Honestly, I just don't understand how Gilderoy Lockhart still manages to achieve Witch Weekly's Sexiest Wizard Alive award, when he can't even tell the difference between his own mother and a hippogriff."
After dinner, Holly, Paul, Simone, and Victoria made their way to the Entrance Hall to await the MPS delivery wizards. Fortunately, they did not have to wait for long. After about ten minutes of waiting, a delivery-wizard arrived by broomstick; even in the dim light no visible trunks were in sight.
"Where are my things?" Holly muttered to Victoria.
"Perhaps they forgot?" she supplied.
The newly-arrived wizard dismounted his broom and stepped into the light of the Entrance Hall, and all four of them almost fainted with shock. The wizard stood very tall with dark brown hair that flopped quite sexily over his cerulean blue eyes. Even under his MPS uniform robes, they could all tell that he had quite a good looking physique.
Disconcerted by the gaping stares of the Professors, the wizard smiled and pulled a clipboard from his robes.
"Er, yes, I have a delivery for Professor Quiggle," he said.
The four Professors didn't say anything at first.
The delivery-wizard gave them all a strange look before Holly regained her composure, "Yes, that's me."
The MPS wizard flashed a dazzling white smile that made Paul and Simone swoon.
He held out the clipboard, "Sign here, please."
Holly looked past him into the night, "Um, where are my trunks?"
The delivery-wizard looked perplexed, "Trunks?"
Holly's eyes grew wide and her expression stormy, "Yes," she responded in a tight voice, "My trunks."
The delivery-wizard looked surprised for a moment as well before his face broke into a smile again. "I'm just kidding," he said, "I've got them."
Simone was perhaps the only one who found the humor in the situation. She giggled girlishly as the delivery-wizard reached into his robes and pulled out Holly's trunks, which had been shrunk down to the size of Galleons.
Holly carefully snatched her belongings from the outstretched hand of the wizard before her and set them on the ground.
"Sign here, please," he said again, pushing the clipboard towards the angry blonde witch.
"You hold on," she said, pulling her wand from her robes. Pointing it at her trunks, she said, "Engorgio." Her trunks swelled back to full size. After satisfactorily examining the outside of her trunks for her name and address, she gave a cold look at the delivery-wizard and yanked the clipboard from his hand and scrawled her name with the attached quill.
She made a move to hand back the clipboard to the wizard but found him otherwise engaged in conversation with Simone.
"Simone," he was saying, "What a beautiful name. Of course I expected nothing less. With a beauty like yours, I assumed you would have a beautiful name."
"Oh, Robert," she gushed.
Holly exchanged quizzical glances with Victoria, who rolled her eyes. Paul, of course, was paying no attention to them, as his icy blue gaze was riveted to Robert's rear end.
Holly turned to Victoria and said, "Shall we leave the peanut gallery and take these up to my chambers?"
Victoria pulled her wand from her pocket and said, "Best idea you've had all day." She pointed her wand at the trunks, "Locomotor trunks."
It was late before Holly and Victoria had finished unpacking only Holly's clothes (they had decided to leave the rest for the next day). As Victoria's chambers were on the other side of the castle, near the Hufflepuff dormitories, she decided to stay the night in Holly's chambers. Neither of them had heard from Paul or Simone for the rest of the night and the two were speculating on what had become of their two friends.
"I think," said Holly, transfiguring the drab sofa in her common room into a comfortable bed, "That Simone and that cute moron Robert will be on a date by the end of the week."
Victoria laughed as she conjured some pillows, "Perhaps Paul will be there as well."
Holly wrinkled her nose, "You think that Simone is into that kind of stuff?"
"Oh no! That's not what I meant!" the Arithmancy Professor said quickly, blushing, "I meant that Paul will try to seduce Robert for his own."
"Oh," replied Holly, conjuring a blanket for the bed, "Well Robert doesn't strike me as being that way, you know?"
Victoria laughed, "We'll see."
Holly yawned, stretching her arms overhead. "Well, I've got to get some sleep if I'm ever going to survive McGonagall's meeting tomorrow."
"Good night then," Victoria said in a drowsy voice, settling down into the newly transfigured bed.
"Night."
Holly awoke to the pressure of a kiss upon her lips. She could feel the smoothness of the cool silk sheets beneath her and the warm pressure of a body moving above her-inside of her. She breathed deeply, the sandalwood scent of her lover meeting her nostrils. Her hands were entangled in the silky hair of the one who was kissing her so fervently. She felt every caress of her lover, her senses blinding her.
The kiss broke suddenly and Holly opened her eyes. She felt her lover's lips nibble on her neck and could not stop the name that threatened to escape her lips, "Severus."
Holly awoke with a start, her heart pounding her chest. What the hell is wrong with me? she thought frantically, still feeling the heat of his hands upon her. Severus? Severus Snape? The one and only Ass Extraordinaire? The Severus Snape who hasn't washed his hair since 1989? Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew.
She tried to close her eyes again, only to be met with the picture of making love with the acerbic Potions Master. She felt revolted; she felt violated, yet strangely intrigued.
Oh yeah, can you imagine if that had been real? She thought in annoyance, as she actually began to think about it, she squeezed her eyes shut as if to remove the thought from her brain altogether.
Ok, no. I will NOT think like this. Must have been the soup at dinner. Yes. That's it. The soup. I will never eat soup again. She breathed deeply as if to clear her mind, and readjusted her blankets. She fell back to sleep immediately and was yet granted with another dream.
"Goyle, take her," came a voice, rasping with evil. The loud wailing of a baby nearby did not drown out the rasp of the voice.
Holly turned around to find that the owner of the voice was a very tall man with ruby-colored eyes. Frozen with fear, Holly could only watch the man as he snapped his fingers and another man, who she presumed was Goyle, whose face was covered with an imposing white mask advanced towards her. She willed her feet to move, but they would not.
She saw the man with the red eyes headed off towards her left, towards the cry of the baby.
"No!" she cried, her body finally hearing her mind's frantic call. She struggled to race after the red-eyed man, to save the baby, but strong arms pulled her back and roughly shoved her to the ground.
She kicked, flailed, swung, and bit as hard as she could, but this man pinned her down easily, as if there was no effort involved. The man looked her over with a perverted gleam in his eye. "Oh, yes," he said, "I'm definitely going to enjoy you."
Holly's eyes widened and she struggled harder as the man tore off her skirt. She felt his disgusting mouth on her neck, and his fingers shoving roughly in the most private of places. Holly felt the urge to vomit heavily in her throat. Tears welled in her eyes – not from pain, but from shame. Before this monster could do anything else, Holly felt the weight of his body thrown off of her. She looked to see who it was and saw a huge man. He knelt down next to her and reached out and grabbed her arm.
"No! Get off! No!" she screamed and kicked with all of her might.
"Holly!" cried a voice, as the grip on her arm grew tighter.
"No! Stop! Please!"
"Holly! Holly! Wake up!"
Holly's eyes opened. Her normally friendly green eyes were frantic with fear and she was shaking uncontrollably.
"Holly! Holly! Are you all right?" came a frantic voice on her right.
Holly focused her green eyes on the owner of the voice. It was Victoria. Tears welled up in her eyes and she sat up, drawing her knees to her chest.
"Don't let him come back," she begged.
Victoria gathered the blonde witch into her arms, "Don't let who come back?" she asked softly.
Suddenly the door to Holly's chambers burst open and Simone, Paul, and the DADA instructor, Remus Lupin burst into the room ruffled in their nightclothes with their wands brandished in front of them.
"What is going on in here?" Simone demanded, upon seeing Holly cowering in Victoria's arms.
"We heard screaming, are you two all right?" Lupin asked calmly.
Before anyone could answer, the Headmistress, in her usual tartan bathrobe and kerchief, and Professor Snape, equally disheveled in his nightclothes, appeared at the doorway, wands at the ready.
"What on earth is going on in here?" McGonagall demanded, upon seeing almost half the teaching staff gathered around the Transfiguration Professor's bed.
"A-a nightmare," Victoria ventured.
Severus rolled his eyes and thrust his wand back into the pocket of his black bathrobe.
Holly's red-rimmed eyes saw the Potions Master and her face flushed scarlet. "It's stupid, it was nothing, really," she said, her voice still carrying traces of hysterics.
McGonagall sighed heavily.
"You call that nothing? I was in a good sleep and I heard you all the way to my own chambers," Simone said, "What happened?"
Holly wiped her eyes on the back of her hand, "I promise, nothing."
Lupin looked very concerned, "Perhaps we can help?"
Holly started to protest once more before Victoria interrupted, "A nightmare," she said, "It was five minutes before I could wake her."
"What about?" Paul asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," Holly said stubbornly, "Sorry I woke you all up."
Everyone was silent for a moment. Severus was the first to break the silence, "Well now that we know that Professor Quiggle isn't being attacked by wild puffskeins, I think it would be appropriate to venture that we can all go back to our chambers," he said sarcastically, sneering at the rest of the faculty.
Lupin pierced Snape with a glare, which was returned with equal force.
McGonagall sighed again, "Well I'm relieved to see that everything is all right. I would recommend to Professor Quiggle that she spend the rest of the night under a Dreamless Sleep Potion, so that we may all be able to sleep through the night," she said, her voice crisp with irritation, "Severus, if you would please administer the potion."
"Of course, Minerva," he replied, his voice cold and flat. He turned and stalked back down to the dungeons to fetch the potion as requested.
The Headmistress turned to face the others, "I am going back to bed, I would suggest you all do the same. Tomorrow will be a long day," she said pointedly before readjusting her tartan kerchief, "Good night."
"Good night, Headmistress," came the chorus of tired voices.
McGonagall left and that's when Paul unleashed on Holly, "What in the hell scared you so badly?" he demanded.
Holly cast a furtive glance at the DADA Professor.
Simone caught on and waved her hand dismissively, "Remus is all right. Go on then."
Holly took a deep shaky breath, "It's really horrible. There's a little girl, maybe ten years old, and I see everything through her eyes. There was a huge disgusting man in black robes with a white mask over his face---"
"A Death Eater?" Remus interrupted, his brow furrowed.
"Is that what they are?" Holly countered, "Pathetic little men who cower behind big scary masks? That rape little girls?"
Nobody said anything, so Holly took it as affirmation of her previous statement. "Death Eaters," she snorted derisively, "Idiots. Pathetic. I guess it must make them some sort of masculine hero to be able to rape children." Tears sprung to her eyes once more.
"So, what happened then?" Paul ventured quietly.
"One of those Death Eaters (she said the word in a disgusted tone) grabbed the girl, well me I guess, and threw me on the ground and started to rape---"
Holly stopped when she noticed Severus at the door, a stormy expression on his face. Apparently, he had heard Holly's endearing description of what she felt was a typical Death Eater.
"What is it, Severus?" Remus asked, forgetting McGonagall's request.
Severus displayed a small vial of red liquid, "Dreamless Sleep, you idiot."
He walked soundlessly over to Holly, who by this time was as red as the vial of potion. Their eyes met and Holly could only see her earlier dream of the two of them. Breaking the gaze she looked down at the proffered potion. Almost as if entranced, she looked at his hands, slender and white with long fingers. She could almost feel the trail they left on her body in the dream. Her reverie was broken by an acid voice, "Professor Quiggle, are you sure something didn't come into your chambers and addle your mind?"
Holly looked up at him and her blush deepened, "Ye-eah," she said, lifting the potion from his hand. Her fingers brushed his and she wanted to die from embarrassment at the shade of red that she turned when she touched him.
She stared at the potion for a minute, before Severus came out with, "Do you need instructions on how to take a potion, Professor?"
Holly was positively puce, she quickly uncorked the vial and took the potion, which tasted like the way old socks smell. "Gross, that is so disgusting," she sputtered.
The Potions Master rolled his eyes and held out his hand. Holly slowly put the vial back into his hand, still muttering about the taste.
"Thanks, though," she said suddenly.
"Excuse me?"
"I said thanks, Severus," Holly said, her eyes glazing over with drowsiness.
Severus gave her a strange look before he swept out of Holly's chambers, closing the door behind him.
All of the other Professors in the room stared at her, eager for questions, but to no avail. Holly had fallen asleep.