The next morning, Kerri went down to the dungeons immediately after breakfast. Pushing open the door, she peeked in. Professor Snape sat at his desk, looking over papers. When she stepped into the room, he glanced up, expressionless. He motioned for her to set up the cauldrons, then returned to his grading. Kerri quickly laid out the cauldrons and the ingredients for the day's potion, which happened to be a levitation charm. Hawk feathers, hazel bark . . . just as she set out the last bottle, the first years crowded into the room.

Snape set down his papers at once, beckoning to Kerri. She came over obediently, refusing to show fear this time. "Yes sir?"

He glared down his nose at her. "You will be aiding the first years today. You will answer any questions I do not. You will obey any orders I give. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

He turned to start the class, stopped, and turned back to whisper in her ear. "And if anything suddenly takes off, be sure to catch it."

She stared after him in shock. Had that been a joke? From Professor Snape? That was . . odd. To say the least. Maybe he really had started to put up with her. Or maybe he's just looking forward to getting you out of his hair, said another part of her mind.

Then she didn't have time to worry about it as class began. The air filled with the spicy scent and shimmering vapors of the potions. A hand shot up amidst the steam and Snape looked at her. Screwing up her resolve, she walked over, praying her voice wouldn't shake. Fortunately, the question was a simple one.

"Um . . Can I get some more feathers? One of mine blew off the table, and I can't find it." the little first year girl asked.

Kerri looked to Snape who rolled his eyes and nodded. She turned to the girl, "Of course. I'll be right back." She quickly returned to the table and placed the feathers in the girl's hands. After she was thanked, she immediately walked back to her designated spot. She wiped her sweating palms on the sides of her robes. I did it . . . I did it. . . I really don't want to do it again!

"Miss Harper." She glanced up to see Snape, not surprisingly. "From now on, you have no excuse to keep from talking to them," he whispered, "But do not also assume that you have excused yourself for your earlier behavior, nor that you are safe from being sent away. There is still an enti-"

At that point, he was interrupted by screams. Several first years and a cauldron were floating in the air. As if propelled by an invisible wind, they began to dart all over the dungeon. As they watched, the cauldron hit a table and spilled its contents across it. Chaos ensued.

"All those still on the ground, exit the dungeon at once!" Snape yelled above the din, dodging a flying first year. "Do not touch anything!" Not waiting to see if anyone followed his instructions, he pulled out his wand and began aiming at the air-born students, administering a counter-charm. Kerri followed suit, standing by the door to herd them out.

Suddenly a yell behind her caught her attention. The cauldron had made a swift about-face and knocked Snape's wand from his hand. She watched as he dived to the floor to avoid another pass. "Miss Harper, do you think you could assist me?" He spat out from his prone position. Shoving the last student out the door, she scooped up his wand and then had to dive for cover from a shower of broken glass herself. As the glass headed for Snape she yelped a warning a second too late. He managed to dodge the majority of it, but a few pieces caught the sleeve of his robe and ripped it to shreds. "Miss Harper!" He snapped, holding his hand out for the wand.

Kerri froze. No. Her mouth worked soundlessly. No. She could not take her eyes away from Snape's left arm. No. It can't be. He turned to face her, anger in his eyes. Not that. She saw Snape speaking, couldn't make out the words past the roar in her ears. Not them. The wand fell from her nerveless fingers. Not him. She felt as if she would be sick. Why didn't they tell me? As he walked toward her, she took one step back then another. Why didn't they tell me it was him? She broke and ran, leaving the wand and a class of confused first years behind her. WHY?

***

Somehow, through her haze of tears, Kerri made it back to her room. Stumbling in, she landed in a corner, sobbing. Willow nuzzled her cheek, mewing in confusion, but she couldn't get a response out. The rest of her cats milled about her, but she ignored them as well. Slowly, at the touch if many cold noses, the keening sobs stopped, to be replaced with almost death-like silence.

Suddenly, a swift knocking at the door scattered the cats. "Miss Harper! MISS HARPER!!" Kerri didn't move from the corner she was curled up in. "Miss Harper, open this blasted door at once, or I will do it for you!" A few seconds of silence later, the door flew open and hit the wall with a crack. Snape stormed in, his robes billowing about him. He slammed the door behind him and locked it with a quick spell. When he turned back, Kerri still had not moved. She stared at him with empty eyes.

He grabbed her shoulders and dragged her to her feet. "Do you have any idea what you have just done?!" he roared. When she didn't respond, he continued, "You broke you agreement! You risked my life and that of the students when you ran off!" she stared vacantly of into space. He shook her and her eyes finally focused on him. Seeing the absolute terror in them, he stopped shaking her and hissed, "Damn it, say something, girl."

She blinked at him like she had never seen him before. Her mouth worked for a few seconds and words finally trickled out. "Sorry . . ." she whispered.

Furious, he tightened his grip. "No you aren't!" He thundered. "If you really were, you wouldn't cower in the corner like you do! You wouldn't allow my class to be disrupted just because you are too much of a coward to take action yourself! You wouldn't resort to subterfuge and lying to try and save your worthless skin! You wouldn't suddenly abandon everyone in the middle of a crisis! I cannot stand fools, I cannot stand cowards, and most of all, I cannot stand those who let themselves be hurt because they're too afraid to stand up and say something!"

As Snape spoke, he could see hot blood rush into the terrified girl's cheeks. He watched as her fear slowly turned into anger. As he continued, he saw her stretch to the breaking point. But he kept pushing. Suddenly, she snapped, and screamed back in his face. "Shut up! Shut up!! How dare you! You - you Death Eater!!" Her eyes grew huge as she saw the expression on Snape's face. But the words kept pouring out. "Yes, I know! I saw! They told me! They told me that there was a Death Eater at Hogwarts! They told me you and your kind killed my family just because we had Muggle blood! Don't tell me I was too young to know! I saw you! I saw my parents on the ground, not just dead, but torn to pieces, because you didn't have the decency to leave them alone! They told me I had to hide because the Death Eaters would come back and get me too!" Tears began to pour unheeded down her face and her voice rose to a shriek. "How dare you!! You killed them, damn you!! And then you ran away!! You ran to Dumbledore because you couldn't face what you had done!! How dare you!!"

Snape released her arms and stared at her as she crumpled to the floor, sobbing. "How dare you . . Mommy . . . Daddy . . . How dare you . . ." She began to rock back and forth on her knees as she cried, wrapping her arms about herself. "They came . . . they came and the house was on fire . . . Mommy told Daddy to run . . I fell . . . They hid me . . . They wouldn't run . . They wouldn't run . . Mommy!" Snape shivered as Kerri's voice became that of a little girl's, wailing in fear, "Mommy, get up . . .Daddy, please . . . why is it all red? . . . no . . go away . . .please . . . no . . nooo!! . . .please . . no . . ." Her sobbing rose hysterically. "Why didn't they tell me it was you? Why did you kill them? Why did it have to be you? Why?"

Snape knelt down beside her and said forcefully, "Miss Harper, listen to me." Coming to herself, she took a great breath and Snape clapped his hand over her mouth. "Please just listen to me. I will not deny I am, was, a Death Eater. I will not deny that I killed for Voldemort. But I swear did not kill your parents! I am no longer a Death Eater! Look at me, Miss Harper!"

She stared him straight in the eye and slapped his hand away. No trace of fear now, her gaze was laden with hatred. "I cannot believe you." she hissed venomously. "Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater."

"Then what will you do now, Miss Harper? Go back to the Aurors?" He saw he had struck a nerve.

"That's none of your business!" she snapped, avoiding his eyes.

"I believe it is. You see, Miss Harper, the Aurors entrusted you to Dumbledore, who in turn entrusted you to me. If you do not return to them, you are required to remain here, as my student."

She stood and glared at him, a sneer forming at her lip. "I am an adult!"

"Then act like one! You know this is your only chance to make you own life. I'm giving you the opportunity that I did not receive! I had the same hidden anger and hate you do! With Voldemort back, who knows what will happen to you. You are still on his death list, just like all the other children who's parent they killed." His eyes narrowed, "Do not think you are alone in your pain. Look at Potter, at Longbottom! Go ask the Diggorys' who lost their son! Go look for a house-elf named Winky. She lost her master and his family!" He grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eye. "Don't you dare be so self-centered that you think you are alone in your loss!"

She yanked herself away and walked over to the window. Snape watched her shoulders shaking as she fought to get herself under control. After staring through it in silence for several minutes, she spoke softly. "You wanted desperately to be rid of me before. Why, now that I wish to be rid of you, do you insist on keeping me here? I could leave now and you would never have to see me again. Why do you want me to stay so badly?"

Snape crossed his arms. "I refuse to be wronged by you."

She spun around, eyes flashing, "Wronged by me?"

"You believe I killed your family. I did not, and have sworn as much, yet you insist on retaining this hatred against me. I refuse to let you leave until this matter has been cleared up."

"Why do you care for what I think?"

"Why do you care for what I was?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

Snape remained silent, staring at her. She strode over to him and faced him. "Let us compromise," she offered bitterly, "You and I will personally brew some Veritaserum, I will not trust any that you have previously made. I will administer it to you and then you will tell me the truth. And then, only then, will I believe you."

"Veritaserum takes months to properly distil," Snape protested. "and if you do not trust me, why must I be there? Why can't you simply go and purchase some yourself?"

She looked him in the eye, and her expression softened ever so slightly. "That way, we will both trust the other."

"Why?"

"You gave me a second chance," she answered, returning to the window. "I will give you the same. I do have a code of honor, unlike some people, " She turned, her gaze hardening once more. "And I refuse to stay in your debt. Now, please leave. Please."

Snape swept a mocking bow, "As Milady commands." Kerri didn't even twitch at the sarcasm. He turned to leave, unlocking the door. "Goodnight, Miss Harper."

As he slipped away, he thought he heard her whisper, "Goodnight, Professor Snape," but he couldn't be certain.