Disclaimers: Please see Chapters 1 and 2 for all disclaimers

Shot outs…

Lady of the Dog Star… So glad you're back! Hope to hear from you again soon!

Mercury Gray… Hope cute and fluffy alleviated your bad day when you read the last chapter.

Angoliel… Is she an animagi? Maybe. You'll have to wait and see.

Evenstar Elanor… It was meant to be a little mysterious, my friend. You'll have to wait and see, too.

Wyall Jared… I thought the coyote worked well for Severus.

Chapter 23: Gamesmanship

The sun was up when Serena finally woke up. Her arms were stretched out and crossed in a very cat-like position, which she found very odd. Lately she'd taken to sleeping curled up and wrapped in her blankets. She started to turn over with a smile, but it faded away as she realized she was alone. She pulled Severus' shirt closer to her.

"How odd," she whispered. When she woke up Serena could have sworn she felt Severus stroking her hair. But that was impossible. Severus was in prison, waiting for his trial to begin tomorrow. Her lip trembled, but she forced herself to swallow the tears.

Going through the mechanics of getting ready, Serena drifted into the shower and then out for breakfast. Her eyes were distant and her manner stiff. She ate whatever Mina put in front of her, but didn't taste any of it. From the stove, Mina kept throwing worried glances at Serena but those went unnoticed as well.

Still lost in her thoughts, Serena pulled on her robes and headed out the door to her classes. She was almost grateful to have a full class schedule; while she was teaching she could put the outside world far from her thoughts. Serena's second to last class of the day was one of her most challenging. Anything that brought Slytherin and Gryffindor together in the same room usually meant some fireworks, although most of the students had been wisely subdued since Severus had been arrested. No one wanted to tempt the ire of their Defense Against Dark Arts professor.

"Before you go," Serena said to the class as they wrapped up for the day, "be sure to finish the homework I assigned. I won't be in tomorrow, as you know. However, I believe most of you remember Professor Remus Lupin? He will be filling in tomorrow and he's been apprised of all of your assignments. I expect that you will all be on your best behavior."

Draco Malfoy slouched a little lower in his chair. He smirked and said, "Best bring the flea powder tomorrow." Crabbe and Goyle snickered and in front of them, Harry, Hermione and Ron stiffened angrily, but before they could defend one of their favorite former professors, Serena slapped the flat of her hand on her desk. The noise made everyone flinch.

"Mr. Malfoy, you will be joining me for detention this evening," she snapped. "You know I don't tolerate disrespect like that in my classroom."

"But Professor…"

"Another word and you'll have detention tomorrow with Professor Lupin as well. Care to continue to push your luck?"

"No, Professor." Malfoy's voice was sullen. And he flushed a little under the gleeful glances of the Gryffindor students.

When he arrived for his detention that night, Draco found a copy of A Deconstructive Analysis of the Densaugeo Spell by Armando diAllegro. He suppressed a groan; diAllegro had a reputation of writing some of the driest, most difficult text books to get through.

Serena didn't even look up from her desk. "I expect a detailed report from you on the three reasons diAllegro finds for the use of a densaugeo spell when dealing with Cornish Pixies." Her eyes flicked up to see how Draco reacted.

The corners of his lips twitched, but Serena couldn't tell if it was a smile or a frown. "Yes, Professor," was all he said.

The assignment wasn't as difficult as it first sounded. The three or four paragraphs about Cornish Pixies were on page 22 of the tome; if Draco could stay focused, he could probably get most of the assignment done in three or four hours. If he got lazy and started to skim the book, then it would be very easy to breeze right by it and he would end up reading the entire thing.

His body language was stiff as he sat down and Serena knew he was still angry of the detention. Classes had ended at 2:00 that day, and because of the detention, Draco had missed his Quidditch practice. As he hunched over the book and started to read, Serena leaned back in her chair, thinking about her encounter with Narcissa and about her threat.

Could I do it? Serena wondered. He's an arrogant, insulting young man who's as infuriating as his father is, but he's never done anything to me directly. Could I really curse him? Would I? She tried to imagine what it would feel like to let the words Avada Kedavra actually leave her mouth. Tried to imagine what Draco would look like as he dropped. Would he be surprised? Or would it happen too quickly?

The nauseated feeling the bloomed in her stomach answered Serena's first question. She wasn't a killer. Her threat to Narcissa had stemmed from her deep fury over what happened to Severus, and her need to keep someone in the Malfoy family off-balance. It was gamesmanship, nothing more. Her inner musings were abruptly interrupted. Narcissa Malfoy stormed into the classroom with her skirts swirling around her.

"What is my son doing here?"

Another long pause between chapters, so thank you to everyone who is sticking with the story. Hope you're still enjoying it. Please read/review and let me know what you think!