Since I know everybody reads these Author's Notes, I'm including a plea for help in this one. No, not professional help. We already know I need that. *clears throat* Anyway, I need help thinking up names for Kerri's cats. If you have any ideas, please e-mail them to me, or leave a suggestion in a comment. Just in case you don't remember all the cats, there's the giant gray tabby, a calico, a "glossy black one," and another gray one. There's also two that I haven't really come up with yet, but one's a motherly white cat. The other's open for suggestions. Finally, there's a soon to be introduced, high-strung, tortoiseshell, female cat. So, if anyone has ideas for names let me know! I'll give you credit when they're used. Thanks! *bow, scrape, grovel*

Also, more answers this time too! It's also going to be my obligatory "feel-good" chapter, so if happiness (and/or Snape trying his darndest to destroy said happiness) isn't your thing, I promise it'll get darker and nastier later. In part, at least.

"Uhhh . . . Gods . . Feel like hell . ."

"Well, you certainly look it, Miss Harper. And unfortunately for you, I'm not here to help that. You have a lot of explaining to do, and I'm not leaving until I hear all of it."

Startled, Kerri reached for her bed curtains - only to find they weren't there. A quick check revealed that there were no cats on the bed either. "Where-?" she asked, confused, before she remembered what had happened. That explained why she was all bandaged up. And why her head was pounding. She groaned. That also meant that the voice she had just heard wasn't a nightmare. She opened her eyes, squinting in the bright light coming through the Hospital Wing window and just barely made out a thin form bending over her. "Go 'way."

"No, I don't think so." Snape smiled sardonically. He was still annoyed at Dumbledore for being so certain that he was actually worried about the girl. Worried about my reputation as a teacher, maybe. Worried about a legion of Aurors marching over to Hogwarts to string me up, certainly. Worried about her, not in a thousand years! "I've waited a week for answers while you've been sleeping, and Madame Pomfrey is only going to give me so much more time. Besides," He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "You're still too weak to put up much of a fight. So I want to hear the whole story now."

"The whole story?" asked Kerri cautiously, knowing he was right about her being too weak. "What story?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Miss Harper. I want to know why you so desperately don't want to return to the Aurors, why a Death Eater came to Hogwarts to get you, why your personality is so screwed up, what your relationship with Longbottom is, and also about that." He pointed to her left arm and smirked. "We're not hiding any odd marks or anything, are we?" He expected her to explode over that last comment, but she remained silent. To his shock, he saw a tear roll down her cheek. Blasted girl. Why can't she keep the same personality for more than a day? "Well?"

"I-" Her voice came out as a squeak and she started again. "I don't remember much from when I was young. But I can tell you what I do know.

"When I was about three or four years old, Death Eaters came to my family's house. My parents hid me in a closet when they came, so I didn't see much. The Death Eaters fought with my parents. I could hear the yelling. It scared me, so I crawled as far back into the closet as I could. Suddenly, they started cursing anything in sight. The house was in flames in no time at all." Part of her brain hissed, Why are you telling him this? It's Professor Snape, for Merlin's sake!, but she kept talking, despite her mind's protests. "I only survived because my mother crawled into the closet to shield me with her body. She was ripped apart by the curses, my father too. As for me, I was burnt, bruised, but more or less in one piece." She clenched her left fist. "My arm, however, was hexed right off. They never did find it, so the one I have now is false. Made entirely of magic."

Snape stared the smooth skin of her hand. If it was fake, the Aurors certainly made a good job of it. He could see a pulse thrumming softly underneath the skin. The knuckles of her tightly clenched fist had even turned white. Kerri's lips twisted in a bitter smile. "Looks real, doesn't it? I didn't know it was fake either until I tried to . . ." She broke off and bit her lip. "Well, I'll get to that later.

"Someone found me under what was left of my mother's body and brought me to the Aurors. Apparently, I was a total wreck. That's why they kept me. It was over a year before I could do anything other than curl up in a corner and shake. Slowly, very slowly, I got better. I think they would rather I hadn't." The smile vanished. "I never knew why. I was like a secret that they didn't want anyone to know. And so I lived with them for fifteen years like that: encouraged to be neither seen nor heard. But not by everyone."

The words started coming faster. She knew she had begun babbling, but she couldn't help it. She needed to let someone know, even if it was Snape. "There were two who cared for me. An Auror and his wife. I called them Mama and Papa. They cared for me, because no one else did. They were the ones who coaxed me out of my catatonic state. They even let me meet their son once. He was the only person close to my own age I ever saw before coming to Hogwarts. None of the others let me near their children. But Mama and Papa were different. They were so kind to me. So kind. Then one day they didn't come to see me. The others told me that they were never coming back. That the Death Eaters . . . Oh Gods . . ." Her voice caught in her throat and she wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her head in her lap. "Damn them . . "

She started to cry then, loud sobs that shook her slight form. Snape sat there, waiting for her to control herself. When she had finally cried herself out, he asked quietly, "They were Longbottom's parents, correct?" Kerri nodded, unable to speak, and he continued, "Why were you not allowed to be with those your own age?"

She shrugged, still on the brink of tears. "Probably for the same reason the rest of the Aurors didn't want to be around me either. I often wondered about that. For the longest time I thought it was because my power is so unpredictable." Her bitter smirk returned. "I can only manage the most basic of spells like my hair charm some of the time, and it used to go completely out of control. What little of it there is. At least, that's what they tell me. Now, my power seems to come and go. That's why I don't usually use my wand."

"And why you ruined a perfectly good potions knife on the Death Eater when a Stupefy charm would have done the trick." She managed to look almost embarrassed as Snape withdrew the aforementioned knife from his robes and offered it to her. "It didn't clean up very well. Pity you can't use sharpening charms on these things." he added, glancing at the nicks along the rather dull blade. "Perhaps 'perfectly good' was a bit of an overstatement. But then, most of them weren't made for self-defense."

Kerri took it from him and laid it on the bedside table muttering a reluctant "Thank you," before she continued. "As I was saying, at first I thought they didn't want to be around me because of my instability, but later I decided it was because they didn't think I was entirely . . . stable, and my powers were just a convenient excuse. Especially after Mama and Papa didn't come back." Her voice sank to a whisper. "When they told me that they had - that they weren't coming back, I felt so empty. Like I'd been orphaned all over again. So, I - I tried to kill myself. By slitting my wrists. That's when I found out my arm wasn't real, when it didn't bleed. It looks the same the whole way through, as if it were made of plastic. They caught me before I could try the other one. After that, I couldn't make myself care enough to try again. I think they put a spell on me to make sure of that." She glanced up and saw that Snape was frowning at her. For some reason, the expression on his face hurt her more than anything else she'd been through recently. "What? Are you going to shun me now too?"

The helpless look on her face reminded him sharply of himself at that age, and he quickly dove back behind his shield of bitterness and sarcasm to kept the memories from surfacing again. "Oh, don't be a bloody nit, Miss Harper. And stop feeling sorry for yourself. Do you really think that I have any right to hate a student because of her mental status? We're all a little insane by now. No, you've given me plenty of other reasons to hate you."

The last comment pierced through her shell of self-pity and dredged up her earlier anger. "Bite me."

Snape's frown deepened and he leant forward until he was only an inch away from her face. He caught her chin in his free hand, having learnt by now that that was the only way to make her pay attention at times like this. Staring into the girl's startled eyes, he hissed, "That's not something a kitten should ever say to a snake. Especially one that saved your rather worthless life. Watch your tongue, Miss Harper." Retuning to his chair, he remarked, "I often wonder what I did to get you as a student. Why, in Merlin's name, did you have to be interested in potions?"

To his surprise, the girl answered his rhetorical question. "Potions is one of the few things in this world that I can rely on. It's like math. If you follow the recipe correctly, it always works. Nothing else does . . ." She blushed and fell silent when she realized that she was speaking aloud before quickly changing the subject, "Er . . You said I've been asleep for a week?"

"Yes. It took a while for even Madame Pomfrey to build your strength back up after your escapade." He smirked. "However, the way you've been babbling, I think she still has a ways to go."

"Miss Harper," Madame Pomfrey stuck her head in the door. "You have some more visitors. Do you feel up to talking to them?" The tone of her voice clearly said that all visitors should be banished from Hogwarts, but Kerri nodded tiredly.

"Yes, please, I'd like to see them." When the nurse ducked out of the room again, Kerri glared rather pointedly at Snape. "Will you -?"

"No." Snape interrupted. "I think not. I, for one, have grown sick of the way I have been treated lately. If you're as much of an adult," he sneered the word, "As you say you are, then act like one for once in your life, Miss Harper. Most mature wizards and witches try not to jump to conclusions. Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'innocent until proven guilty'?"

"Er . . . Are we interrupting?" Harry cast a nervous glance over at Snape, who continued to glower in the corner.

"Oh, no, of course not!" Kerri quickly reassured him before sending her own glance at the sour-faced man. "Professor Snape was just leaving, right?"

"Wrong." Snape answered curtly. He settled back into his chair and crossed his arms. He glared as Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid filed into the infirmary. The children moved rather conspicuously to the other side of the bed, away from the professor. Beneath the combined disapproval of Snape and Madame Pomfrey, the planned cheering-up withered rather quickly. Instead, Kerri faced four worried faces.

"Don't look so down, I'm still here, aren't I?" She attempted a smile that seemed fake even to her.

"Despite your best efforts to the contrary, it would seem to be so." The cruel, silky voice behind her grated its way up one nerve and down the other. She forced herself to keep the horribly false smile, despite the pain it caused her. After all she had told him! How can he be so cruel?

Thankfully, Hermione spoke up then, before Kerri could whirl around and give him a piece of her mind. "Kerri, why was that Death Eater here? Why did he attack you?"

Kerri looked down at her hands. "M-my parents were killed by Death Eaters. I'm j-just some unfinished business they still need to clear up." She bit her lip against the tears. "Lucky me." she whispered bitterly. A thought struck her then and she glanced up. "Is Neville all right?"

Hagrid smiled kindly. "He's jes' fine, Kerri. Jes' a littl' shook up. He doesn' like blood very much, sets 'is stummach on edge ye know. But he's right as rain now."

"W-what about the Death Eater? I-is he g-gone?" Her voice began to acquire a hysterical edge again. "Oh, please say he's gone."

Hagrid reached down and patted her clenched hands gently, causing the whole bed to shake. "Dumbledore 'imself had 'im shipped off a while ago. Oh, an' I've had a few o' the house elves look after yer cats. Woulda done it meself, 'cept they make me sneeze. The cats, that is, not the elves. Ye don' need ta worry about nothin', Kerri." He straightened suddenly. "That reminds me. I got sumthin' for ye." He began to dig through his voluminous pockets. "I know I had that jes' a moment ago."

A few minutes later, after Hagrid had placed two chocolate frogs, a ball of twine, a handful of suspicious- looking pellets, a seashell, five river stones, a pocket watch, a bundle of young carrots, a scrap of fur, and assorted pocket change on the bed next to Kerri's, he extricated a twig with an impressive-looking feather tied to the end, and Willow. The gray ball of fuzz was received with great delight, and he quickly clawed his way up to his usual shoulder before washing himself furiously. Hagrid grinned again. "He snuck outta yer room, lookin' fer ye. Fang found 'im and brought 'im to me."

Kerri smiled gratefully and pointed at the stick. "What's that?"

The grin on Hagid's face threatened to bisect his head. "It's a toy for yer cats. I . . er . .had Professor Flitwick charm it for ye. It'll move around on its own." He demonstrated by wiggling the feather in front of Willow. The little cat stopped washing, and began to track the feather with his eyes. Hagrid released the end of the stick, but the toy remained suspended in the air, flicking back and forth. Willow pounced, missed, and turned a somersault down his mistress's chest. Not discouraged in the least, he continued to chase it up and down the bed. "It's also gotta Durability Charm on it, so it doesn' get ripped apart."

Kerri threw her arms around Hagrid's neck. "Thank you so much! It's the best present I've ever gotten!" Hagrid blushed and muttered about it being nothing, but everyone could tell he was pleased. He continued to grin and mutter as he refilled his pockets, and gestured at the bed side table. "Yer friends brought ye some stuff too."

My friends . . . Kerri glanced down at the small stack of candy sitting invitingly by her elbow and felt tears threatening to spill. "I-I . . ."

"It's a thank you present," said Ron proudly. "If it weren't for you, we'd all probably be in the infirmary too."

"Or worse." added Harry.

Kerri looked up, eyes shining. "Thank you. I-I-I don't know what to say."

The four well-wishers smiled and Hagrid spoke for them all. "Aww . . . T'warn't nothin'."

Madame Pomfrey clapped her hands. "I hate to break this up, but my patient needs her sleep. You can all come back tomorrow." She began to push them towards the door. "You too, Severus."

"In a moment. I need to speak with my student about the assignments she's missed," the cool voice behind her announced. Kerri blinked. She'd forgotten that Snape was even there.

"Oh all right. But only for a few more minutes." She continued to shoo the others out despite their protests.

She had almost gotten them all out of the room before Hagrid stuck his head back through the door. "By the way Kerri, don' ferget to thank Professor Snape for the feather. It's from 'is potion stores."

"What part of 'go away, she needs to sleep' don't you understand? Now scat!" Chuckling, Hagrid scatted, Madame Pomfery close behind him.

Kerri turned around to stare at Snape in surprise. "What?" he snapped, annoyed. "Your dratted cat made a stop in my classroom on the way to Hagrid's hut and snatched it from my desk when I was doing an inventory of my stores. I could hardly use it in a potion then, so rather than chasing the thing down, I just let him keep it. I had nothing to do with Hagrid turning it into a toy."

"Oh." said Kerri in a small voice.

"At any rate, once Madame Pomfrey gives you a clean bill of heath, we'll make the trip down to Hogsmeade, where, I assure you, you will purchase a new one to replace the one your cat stole." He stood, forestalling her disbelieving outburst, and nodded his farewell. "I will see you in class."

Well, I never! Kerri flopped back onto her pillow in a huff. "He didn't want to be thanked," she complained to Willow. "He even wants me to pay for my present. What a complete-"

"Don't be so hard on him, dear. Severus is bound to be a tad out of sorts, having spent the better part of a week in the infirmary keeping an eye on you." Madame Pomfrey bustled back into the room. "The poor man must have blamed himself for what happened to you. He is responsible for you after all."

To hide her discomfort at this revelation, Kerri hugged her knees to her chest and looked away. "I never asked him to be."

"Well, he's been less than pleased about the whole arrangement as well, but I think you're taking it rather hard." She patted Kerri on the head. "I know he can be a tad overwhelming at times, but why don't you give him a chance? And get some sleep, dear. You've had a rough time and you're still recovering. Go to bed."

What is it with this school and second chances? Kerri leaned back, Willow curling up at her feet. She was asleep before her head touched the pillow.