Disclaimer:  Everything recognizable from the Harry Potter universe belongs to J K Rowling, no infringement is intended to any copyright holder

Beloved on this Earth

~ 0 ~

'How did the dinner go last night?' Harry asked as the two of them sat by the edge of the lake, Lois with her toes dangling in the cool water, while Harry lazily threw bits of bread from the cheese sandwich he was eating to the giant squid.  She hadn't wanted to eat lunch inside today; it was too nice.  After mentioning it to Harry, he had taken her down to the kitchens where he had introduced her to his friend Dobby, who along with the other house-elves had quickly produced a picnic large enough for ten.

'It was okay,' Lois admitted and actually it had been.  No further mention had been made about Quade and Lois and Snape had managed to finish the evening on speaking terms.

'What's the new Professor like?' Harry asked interestedly.

'Quade?'

'Yeah.'

'I didn't really get much chance to talk to him,' Lois said, still cringing when she remembered their introduction.  'He seemed nice enough though.'

'I bet he's not as nice as Professor Lupin though is he?' Harry asked, a matchmaking gleam in his bright green eyes that Lois had no intention of disabusing him of.

'No, I definitely like Remus,' she said honestly.  'Thank goodness, because Moody's a bit scary; I wouldn't have much fancied one-on-one tutoring sessions with him,' she shivered.  Although Harry had warned her about Alastor Moody, meeting him had still been a big surprise.  She knew all about the impostor who had taken his place last year, and Moody's penchant for "constant vigilance" appeared to have increased tenfold following the incident.  His one magical, wildly spinning eye seemed to be jet powered and he was constantly reaching for his wand while searching the shadows for attackers.

'Yeah,' Harry agreed, 'even worse than being stuck on your own with Snape,' he grimaced. 'And that's saying something.'

'Harry, be nice,' Lois scolded, 'he only ever says good things about you.'

'He does?' he asked incredulously.

'Certainly, in fact when I told him what we had planned for lunch today he insisted on coming along.  He said I could run through some potions theory out here and he'd go over your summer homework assignment with you; to give you chance to redo it if you need to before term starts,' she said in a tone of voice that implied Snape was bestowing a great favour.

'Oh no,' Harry muttered, looking frantically around and stuffing the remainder of his sandwich hastily into his mouth with one hand, while grabbing a cake with the other.  'Sorry Lois,' he mumbled around a full mouth, 'gotta go.  Tell Snape I never came okay?' he said in the process of levering himself up when he saw her huge grin.  'Wait a minute – when would you have even had time to tell him?' he said with dawning realisation.  'Lo-is!  He didn't say that at all did he? That's a dirty trick, threatening Snape, and while I'm eating as well,' he grumbled, sinking back down onto the blanket with a relieved huff of breath.

'Sorry,' she laughed, 'I couldn't resist and it didn't seem to affect your appetite too badly,' she said nodding at his hand, which was now clutching a completely smooshed éclair, a casualty of his desperate dash for freedom.

'Ughh,' he groused pulling his arm back to lob the destroyed pastry out to the squid, before rinsing his sticky hand in the lake.

'I'll remember this,' he warned, but with a slight grin on his face showing he wasn't really annoyed.

Lois shook her head in resigned exasperation, wondering how the two people she liked best at Hogwarts could be so blind to each others good points. 

'Are you looking forward to term starting?' she asked as Harry selected another cake, aware that he must be missing the company of friends his own age.  He had headed off to meet up with Ron and Hermione last week at Diagon Alley, under Mr & Mrs Weasley's strict supervision.  Lois had been invited but had declined not wanting to intrude on his limited time with his friends; she would meet them soon enough anyway.  Luckily, Harry had very kindly offered to buy the items she would need for the upcoming term and changed some muggle money for her at Gringotts.  

'Yes,' he agreed with a sigh.  'It's much better here than with the Dursleys, but I'm not used to having all of Gryffindor tower to myself - it's more lonely just because it normally isn't, do you know what I mean?' he asked, aware of his convoluted reasoning.

Lois nodded reaching over to grab a chicken leg from the hamper.  'I do,' she consoled, 'but it won't be long now.  And I want you to think back to this conversation when it's the middle of winter and you've got twelve foot of combined parchments to get ready for classes the next day; you won't remember why you were in such a hurry for term to start then!'

Harry laughed, lounging back on the blanket they were sitting on, levering himself immediately upright again with a pained yelp.

'Are you okay?' Lois asked concerned.

Harry reached into the back pocket of his trousers and pulled out part of a folded newspaper that had obviously jabbed him, with a grimace.  'Yeah, just forgot I had this,' he muttered unfolding it.  'Ron owled it to me last week and I've been meaning to give it to you for days,' he said passing the newspaper over.

Lois took it from him noting it was dated not long after she had arrived at Hogwarts.  She stared for a moment, awed as she always was by the moving wizarding pictures it contained.  'What am I supposed to be reading?' she asked her eyes skimming over mundane news items and Quidditch scores. 

Harry reclaimed the paper and examined it before turning it over, giving a satisfied grunt when he found what he was looking for.  'Here it is,' he scowled handing it back.  'You're famous Lois.'

Lois warily looked down at the article he was referring to.  There was no picture attached to it, but the huge headline made it noticeable enough. 

DUMBLEDORE'S  RECRUITMENT  DRIVE

By Rita Skeeter

Exclusive Ministry sources have revealed to me today that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has made yet another bizarre appointment to this years school staff.  Dumbledore, who apparently still has no restrictions placed upon his authority by the Ministry of Magic, despite last years horrifying incident involving Barty Crouch (both senior and junior), has this term enticed the last surviving Eadon to return to her wizarding roots.

Achelois Eadon (or Lois as she now prefers to be called) was cruelly raised as a muggle following the tragic death of her mother Niahm Eadon at the infamous Monkswood raid of 1972.  As some of our older readers will remember, all six mediwizards in attendance - including Niahm's twin brother Niall - were killed when You-Know-Who's Death Eaters returned to the scene.  The area had earlier been declared safe by none other than Hogwarts own returning staff member, the unhinged ex-Auror, Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody.

This reporter wonders whether Miss Eadon is aware of her co-workers pivotal role in the negligent actions that contributed to the death of both her mother and uncle. Some say an argument could also be made to lay a third death at his door - distraught at the loss of his children, Conall Eadon was himself dead less than three months later in suspicious circumstances.  While official reports cited murder during a Death Eater raid, rumours have always persisted that the unbalanced Eadon took his own life following unsuccessful treatment for depression.

With the return now of Miss Eadon, a request for special dispensation has been made to the Ministry by Dumbledore to allow her to begin training under Hogwarts Matron, Madam Poppy Pomfrey, without fully qualifying as a witch first.  This unprecedented move however, may not be the simple act of altruism it first appears to be.   Dumbledore, who is already out of favour with some corners of the Ministry, is gaining no friends with his recent attempts at scare mongering. The unconventional Headmaster maintains that the Dark Lord has returned and is urging the vulnerable pupils under his care to carry the message home.  According to an ex-school governor, Dumbledore's insane obsession is causing him to shirk his responsibility to the school, while busily rallying like-minded troops in preparation for battle.  If this is the case, why did he spend time seeking out the muggle raised Eadon and then take her firmly under his wing?  Does she perhaps have a place in his future plans that we know nothing about?  If so, he is keeping it strictly under his hat and refused to comment when questioned by a Daily Prophet reporter.

Are any of his insane claims true? It seems highly doubtful.  The most likely explanation, is that the past-his-prime Headmaster is simply trying to recreate his glory days following his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945 and is heartlessly scaring an undeserving wizarding community in an attempt to do so.

**

'This is all wrong!' Lois declared hotly.  'Dumbledore didn't find me, you did!  And my grandfather didn't kill himself, the Headmaster would have told me!  And what about all these lies she's telling about Dumbledore, making him looks like some egotistical halfwit?  She hasn't even got my name right,' she finished morosely poking the offending article out of her sight.

'It could have been worse,' Harry said with remembered bitterness.  'You should have seen what she wrote about me last year - I was a laughing stock; Hermione should have left her a bug,' he mumbled, shaking his head dismissively when Lois looked at him questioningly.  'At least yours doesn't really say anything bad about you,' he tried to comfort.

'It isn't good though; I look like some tragic little orphan Annie - I had a wonderful childhood!  "Cruelly raised as a muggle," she muttered angrily.

Harry nodded agreeing.  'What about the stuff about Moody?' he asked cautiously.  'Do you think it's true?'

'I doubt a single word that woman has ever written is true,' Lois said in disgust. 'Anyway, even if it was, it's hardly as though he did it on purpose is it?' she asked pragmatically. 

'So you're not angry?' 

'Of course not,' Lois said in real surprise.  'He was only doing his job, it was the Death Eaters that killed my mom, not him, or whoever it was that cleared the area.' 

But as they headed back to the castle later that afternoon, she couldn't help but wish Harry had forgotten to show her that newspaper article altogether.

***

Early the following morning Lois stood examining herself critically in the long bedroom mirror.  She was wearing one of her mother's robes again, this time in plain black, her hair pinned neatly at her neck.  Her intention was to look as efficiently witch-like as possible for her first day with Poppy Pomfrey and this was the closest she could get.  She would have been far happier in her nurses uniform; the comfortable familiarity would have given a much needed boost of confidence and helped to still the nervous rolling of her stomach.  She pulled a face at her reflection; time was ticking and standing here gawping at herself would accomplish nothing, she thought, quickly heading out of her room and down the short corridor that led to the Infirmary.  Pushing the large door open she walked in to find Poppy leaving her office, a welcoming smile appearing on her face when she spotted the younger woman.

'Lois, good you're here!' she said.  'Are you looking forward to this?' she asked in a friendly tone and Lois felt her nerves begin settle with the older woman's warm manner.

'I'm a little nervous,' Lois admitted. 'This is a pretty big change to what I'm used to.'

'I'm sure it is,' Poppy comforted, 'but we're both in the same line of work after all, just different methods.'

'I'll say,' Lois laughed. 'I imagine muggle medicine must seem very primitive to wizards?' she asked.

'It's true lots of wizards tend to scorn what muggles have accomplished, medicine included, but I've always been amazed with what they can do without magic,' Poppy confided.  'And of course I've always kept a particularly interested eye on the developments in muggle medicine.' 

'I'm surprised,' Lois confessed. 'From what I've seen and from the small amount Professor Dumbledore and Severus have told me, wizards are far more advanced than us.'

'That's true enough, but all of our skills rely on magic; we heal injuries with spells, our potions and medicines are made using magical ingredients and methods.  If we lost our powers we'd be like babes in the wood, but muggles have managed to cure so many diseases and progressed so far with nothing but their own ingenuity… marvellous, just marvellous.  Now,' she said in a more business like tone, 'tea first I think and then we can get started.'

Five minutes later Lois found herself comfortably ensconced in a large chair in Poppy's office.  The older woman settled herself opposite her in a matching chair and gave a pleasurable sigh.  'I always look forward to the summer holidays but after the first week or two, I'm itching to get back,' she admitted.  'So Lois, Albus tells me you worked as a muggle nurse?' she probed.

'Yes I'm a… I was a senior staff nurse, an RSCN, which means I specialised in children's nursing.  My last post was on a seventeen bed children's medical ward.'

'All ages?' Poppy questioned.

'Three to sixteen year olds, mostly general medical cases; cystic fibrosis, diabetes, blood disorders, that type of thing, but also some surgery and oncology patients.' 

'How long are the children in hospital for?' Poppy questioned.

'Varies.  Some of the really poorly children can be with us for months, but we had facilities for a parent to stay with them if they want so it isn't too frightening.  Children's wards aren't as regimented as normal hospital wards,' Lois explained, 'which is partly why I like it so much; there aren't any set visiting hours or strict bed times or nap times as such.  We try to make it as pleasant as possible for the kids, although there is a hospital school for long-term stays, which no one is pleased to hear about,' she said with a smile. 

'What made you choose children's nursing?' Poppy questioned.  'I don't know how muggles manage to watch children suffering and not be able to heal them.  I know magic can't cure everything,' she admitted, 'but we can fix most things.'

'I know, it's not easy sometimes,' Lois admitted.  'I told you we had oncology patients on our ward, which is especially tough; a lot of the time the families are having more difficulty accepting it than the children.  Some days I must confess I wonder if it's worth it, but never for long.  It is worth it and there's nothing better than seeing a child recover and go home well and happy.  Plus I'm always busy, which I like - there's certainly no time to be bored!' she smiled wryly.

'Well,' Poppy said, 'I can't promise you'll be quite as busy here, but I'm sure you won't be bored.'

'No,' Lois agreed, 'I won't have time - this will be like starting from scratch.'

'It's not quite that bad,' Poppy insisted. 'In fact, although you'll obviously need to do a lot of catch up work on the magical areas, you've already got a head start on the majority of trainee mediwizards.'

'I have?'

'Yes, to qualify as a mediwizard there are three main areas of study: healing magic, healing potions, and anatomy and physiology – you can't repair the human body if you don't know how it works,' she pointed out reasonably.  'Of course as you're a nurse, you'll already know most of that, which means we'll be mainly concentrating on healing magic and the use of magical preparations.  I think it would be better to focus initially on magical preparations until you're a little further along with your charms classes with Filius.  I've spoken to him about it and he seems to think that after a few more weeks work on basic charms, we can start concentrating on healing magic.  Does that sound okay?' she asked Lois who nodded, glad Poppy wasn't about to throw her in at the deep end.

'My wand,' Lois remembered suddenly, 'Filius said to ask you about it.'

'Yes he mentioned it,' Poppy said.  'He tells me it suits you perfectly as far as he's seen?'

'I think so,' Lois agreed.  'Of course it's the only wand I've ever used, so I've got nothing to compare it with.  He did say mediwizards only use certain types though?'

'Yes, the magical core used is unicorn tail or phoenix feather, because of the healing properties of both animals.  Your mother's wand would definitely have used one of those, so we might as well wait until you actually start using it and if we have any problems, we'll arrange a visit to Ollivander's to choose your own.'

Lois nodded feeling vaguely relieved.  She liked the fact she could use her mother's wand, it felt nice somehow to have a connection to her.  Not only that she had already become quite fond of it; it felt right in her hands.

'So, do you have different branches of medical magic?' she asked taking a sip of her tea.  'I mean in the muggle world, medicine is separated into different specialities and disciplines.'

'Not as such,' Poppy replied.  'Basically a fully trained mediwizard can treat all conditions apart from psychiatric, but there are different skill grades based on your training and experience.  Most illnesses can be dealt with in a mediwizard surgery, or at the scene if it's an accident, but some diseases and magical injuries need longer treatments and for that a patient would go to St Mungo's Hospital.  Now hospital mediwizards do specialise because they have to treat dark illness and injuries, the type of things that aren't easily curable, or in some cases, can't be cured at all.'

'I see,' Lois said with a shiver.  'So how do you actually diagnose a patient?' 

'Spells for the main, but first you have to assess the patient's condition and symptoms.  Once you have a good idea of what the most likely problem is, you use the appropriate spell to pinpoint the cause and then the correct healing spell to cure it.  Smaller wounds and external injuries often only require a topical preparation to heal them and again, it's just a matter of experience and training in assessing the injury and deciding on the appropriate treatment.'

'Is that all there is to it?' Lois asked.  'Couldn't any wizard just learn the spells to be a mediwizard then?'

'No, no,' Poppy said quickly.  'It's not that easy.  As with most things, with enough time and effort it can be learnt, but like all other branches of magic, you'll do best at what you have a natural aptitude for. A sensible wizard, unless he was very powerful, wouldn't attempt to heal any but the most trivial injury.  It's too risky; you're dealing with the human body, a mispronounced word or an incorrect spell could cause huge problems, even death.  Although saying that, there isn't a wizard past the age of seventeen who doesn't think he can heal a broken bone,' she snorted disparagingly, 'which generally just means more work for me, and more pain for the patient.  If you don't get it exactly right, at best the limb will always ache and be weak and eventually you'll just have to remove the bone and regrow it completely, which is more painful than breaking it in the first place.'

Lois nodded slowly.  The consequences of a tiny mistake in mediwizardry were certainly more serious than in normal medicine, she realised with a tinge of worry.

'Right,' Poppy said briskly, 'let me tell you what I actually do here.  First and foremost I have a policy of  "Don't ask, don't tell."  Children, as I'm sure you'll agree, are notoriously inquisitive and unfortunately most of them have almost no sense of fear, especially the boys, which results in a lot of broken bones and visits to the Infirmary suffering the effects of illicit potions and spells gone wrong.  Oh, the Headmaster knows practically everything that goes on here,' she assured Lois, 'but if the children think they can't trust me not to tell on them, they won't come to me when something serious happens and that's when it gets dangerous.'

'I can imagine,' Lois said honestly.

'There's also an intense rivalry between the Houses - too much in my opinion,' she said with a sniff.  'Children need to have certain level of competitiveness to keep them interested, but they take it too far.  Especially the Gryffindors and Slytherins,' she said with a dark look. 'The number of times I've had children in here with hexes they can't undo or just plain old bloody knuckles from fighting,' she shook her head in aggrieved fashion before continuing.  'The next biggest cause of injury is accidents in classes.  Learning to be a witch or a wizard involves a great deal of practical work and you can't learn without making mistakes, so I get a fair number of magical reversals to take care off.  Last, but not least, there's also quite a bit of simple mothering.  At the start of every year I'm inundated with tummy aches and temperatures that are more often than not just children feeling homesick.  Eleven is very young to be living away from home and it hits some of them harder than others.'

'It all sounds like a lot of work for one person,' Lois said impressed.

'Sometimes it is, which is one of the reasons I'm so glad you're here,' she answered with a smile.  'Plus I must confess, I'm quite excited about working with Niahm Eadon's daughter.'

'You knew my mom?'  Lois asked nervously, hoping Poppy wasn't expecting her to have some kind of untapped genius for mediwizardry.

'No, but I know about the Eadons of course,' she said with a smile at Lois.  'One of the foremost healers the wizarding world ever had,' noticing the daunted expression that crossed Lois's face at her words she said kindly, 'I suppose that must be a bit intimidating, having a reputation like that to live up to?'

Lois nodded grateful the other woman understood.  'A little,' she agreed with a slight laugh.  'I've never exactly been top of my class in my studies,' she admitted.  'Don't get me wrong, I'm good at what I do, but it didn't come without effort.  I always wanted to work in medicine, but everything I've achieved came with hard work, not some innate ability.'

'Ah,' Poppy said as though some mystery had been cleared up.  'Albus explained to you about your family's abilities?'

Lois nodded unhappily.  'I really don't think I inherited them,' she insisted.  Somehow, even amidst all the weirdness she had been exposed to since discovering she was a witch, this was still just a little too weird.

'You don't think, or you don't want?' Poppy asked intuitively.

Lois let out a deep breath and gave a slight tilt of her head in agreement.  'Don't want I suppose.  Anyway,' she hurried on, 'the Headmaster said being empathic would be an advantage.  From what you've told me, being a mediwizard only needs skill with a wand and knowing what potion to use - how would it even help?'

'Well, when one of the children comes to see me they're able to tell me what's wrong with them – cough, cold, broken bones, dragon bites,' she tutted darkly.  'But if the injury or illness is more serious they may not know what's wrong with them, or if they're unconscious they won't be able to tell me.  That's when having empathic skills would be invaluable. Normally at that point I'd have to cast spells over the entire body to find the cause of the problem, which can be a slow and laborious task and wastes valuable time.  If you did inherit your families abilities, with training you should be able to instantly hone in on the site of the problem without having to look for it.'  

'That doesn't sound too bad,' Lois admitted, for the first time not shying away from the possibility of having empathic abilities.

'Also apparently, if the connection with the patient is particularly strong, you may even be able to heal less serious ailments with a touch.'

'Yes Professor Dumbledore mentioned that,' Lois said vaguely, seeing no point in bringing up Harry's claims at this point. She would wait and see what happened once her training began; there was no point borrowing trouble.

'The empathic skills we know about of course, because people saw them being used over the years,' Poppy continued, 'the rest of the story's were really only ever rumours and after your family… passed away,' she said carefully.  'I think they just became more exaggerated over the years.'

'What rumours?'  Lois asked warily.

'Oh,'  Poppy said surprised, 'I thought you already knew.  Well, mostly that along with the healing the Eadons could read minds and emotions with a touch, that sort of thing.'

Lois laughed relieved.  'I think we can safely rule that out,' she grinned.  'I doubt there's a person I've ever met that I haven't touched, and I've never had a single blinding flash of otherworldly knowledge.  Might have been nice though,' she said thoughtfully, imagining not having to guess what Severus was thinking before giving a little shudder - maybe not, she didn't think she was quite ready for that.

Poppy smiled too. 'Well as I said just gossip, something the wizarding world thrives on as you'll soon come to learn.'

'I've noticed,' Lois said in a gloomy voice, before concentrating on Poppy once more.  'You were telling me about how you worked?' she reminded.

'Oh yes, well for the main the Infirmary is completely self-sufficient thanks to Professor Sprout and Professor Snape - they're the two people we overlap most with in the school; Sorrel provides us with the ingredients for the potions and ointments and Severus brews them.  I understand you've only had Severus for company for most of the summer?' Poppy broke off to say.  'He hasn't been causing you too many problems I hope?' she asked in a resigned voice, as though expecting Lois to have a long list of complaints ready.

'No, no,' Lois answered honestly. 'We had a few hiccups at the beginning but we're getting along fine now.'

'Really?' Poppy said in a very surprised tone.  'He hasn't been rude to you?'

'Is he ever anything other?' Lois laughed.

'I suppose not,' Poppy replied with a fond small.  'Actually I've always had rather a soft spot for young Severus.  I hadn't been at Hogwarts very long myself when he started here.  Such a dark, scowling little creature he was; my first patient of the year as well – brought up to the Infirmary on only the second day with a broken nose after starting a fight with a third year Gryffindor twice his size,' she remembered with a disbelieving shake of her head.  'And that wasn't the last time I had to patch him up by a long shot.  I regularly had him and Sirius and James in here after brawling or duelling.  I have no doubt Severus was to blame for most of it, but there was just something about him that got to me; so proud and arrogant, even as a frightened first year. Although from what I know about his parents that wasn't surprising - a couple of colder fishes you'd be hard pushed to find,' she tutted disapprovingly. 

'I can't picture him like that,' Lois said, enthralled and saddened by this glimpse into his past.

'No, well,' Poppy said, suddenly seeming to realise how much he would hate it if he knew what she was disclosing about his childhood.  'It would be hard to imagine him as a little boy now unless you knew him back then I suppose,' she finished diplomatically. 'It's strange having Remus and him back here all grown up – how the years do fly by, makes me feel positively ancient,' she said with a smile. 'And both of them so talented too: Remus in the dark arts and Severus such a wonderful potions master - incredibly gifted.  He saves Hogwarts an absolute fortune in store brought supplies for the Infirmary.  Of course the only downside is that he has to make them on a smaller scale so they don't taste as palatable.  Still they do the same job and the nasty taste's gone in a minute,' she said with a satisfied nod.

'I had to have a Pain Potion from Severus when I arrived here,' Lois said surprised.  'I didn't think it tasted bad, in fact I don't think it really had a taste at all,' she said her brow crinkling in recollection.

'That little rotter!' Poppy stormed.  'I knew he was doing it on purpose!  "Simply not possible to improve the taste in batches this small Poppy; the amount of flavouring needed would spoil the potency of the potion.  You wouldn't want to give the students inferior quality medicines would you?"   I should have known!  You just wait until I see him!' she raged.

Lois winced cursing her big mouth.  Severus was going to kill her for this. 'Umm Poppy,' she said cautiously, 'if you should decide to… talk to him about this, do you think you could not mention me?'

***

Pushing her quill aside, Lois stood stretching cramped muscles that had formed while sitting hunched over her books on the long sofa in Snape's private sitting room.  In addition to her continuing potions lessons, Severus had also begun tutoring her on the trickier aspects of history of magic.  Lois had initially been looking forward to beginning this class knowing as little about the wizarding world as she did, but had very quickly realised her mistake.  Although Harry had tried to warn her that Professor Binns was dull, words simply did not exist in the human language to do justice to just how mind-numbingly tedious he was.  After only her second lesson, she had known she couldn't stand a single one more.  She had decided she would simply have to continue her studies using textbooks alone, when Severus's offer of assistance had been made and she had nearly snatched his hand off in eagerness.

The lessons had initially been tagged onto the end of her potions classes, but three days ago after catching her wearily suppressing a yawn and shifting uncomfortably on the hard wooden stool in the dungeon, Lois had been pleasantly surprised when Snape had suggested that as no equipment was needed, they may as well use his rooms to study in.  Considering how dank and depressing the dungeons were, Severus's private quarters were unexpectedly cosy.  Dark, certainly, having no windows, but his chambers had none of the musty dampness of his classroom and were instead warm and comfortingly cave-like, lit by soft lamps and flickering candles.  Collecting her books together, Lois looked over at her companion who had risen when she did.

'Are you still going to have time for this when term starts?' she asked him worried she would be putting him out, but realised the foolishness of her question almost as soon as she asked it.  Going on previous behaviour, she had no doubt he would tell her the second she was becoming a nuisance.

'I would imagine so, but should it cease to be the case, I'll let you know,' he said remotely, not about to mention he had only offered his assistance for the opportunity to spend more time with her and was hardly going to back out now.  The additional tuition was already more work than she knew anyway.  He had forgotten more than he remembered from his childhood history classes, which had necessitated some hasty research before each visit.  'It makes a refreshing change not to be teaching a bunch of unwilling imbeciles in any case.'

'Severus,' she rebuked resignedly. 'How can you possibly make your lessons enjoyable for the students with an attitude like that?' she asked without much hope of changing his mind - they had had this discussion before.

'My aim is not to hold enjoyable classes, my aim is to teach lessons that are informative and of sound academic value.'

He had considered for a second biting his tongue and not arguing back for fear of alienating her further after the debacle at dinner the other night.  Unfortunately on this subject, silence was quite simply beyond him.  What was most annoying was that the incident that had resulted in his newly found caution, had all been so unnecessary.  While Quade had been an unpleasant shock at the time, on further reflection he had decided the other man's resemblance to her late husband was actually to his benefit.  He was banking on Lois not wanting to spend much time around a living reminder of her loss.  He hoped so anyway.  It was unfortunate he had not had chance to reach this conclusion before meeting him  – that way he could have avoided making a fool of himself in front of Quade and offending Lois into the bargain.  To give her her due though, she hadn't harped on about his comments once she had accepted his apology.  Nevertheless he was still slightly wary, but not wary enough to keep quiet.    

'Well if not for the students, what about for your own sake - wouldn't classes be pleasanter if you weren't constantly waiting for them to do something to annoy you?' she asked practically.

'What do you suggest I do - grin at them like an idiot when they disregard my perfectly clear instructions and cause accidents injuring themselves and their classmates?  Or perhaps ignore the fact that they have clearly not even read, let alone understood the homework I have assigned them and have chosen instead to turn in a piece of work completely unrelated to the subject and written in ridiculously large handwriting purely to comply with length requirements?' he questioned sarcastically. 

'No of course not,' she said with a touch of impatience. 'I'm just saying you could be a little less… strict with them.' she continued carefully, aware she was verging on shaky territory.

'Thank you for your… suggestions Lois, but I have no intention of changing my teaching methods at this late stage,' he said with lofty finality.  'It wouldn't work in any event; children enjoy having a teacher that they hate, it's all part of the school experience,' he shrugged unconcerned.  His job was to teach potions, which he did - even when it meant dragging them to a bare smidgeon of understanding, kicking and screaming all the way.

'Well in all fairness Severus, you don't make it easy for people to get along with you,' Lois said gently, erroneously imagining him to be bravely hiding his upset at the student's animosity behind indifference.

'I'm well aware that I am disliked.  I've heard what they call me behind my back – greasy, big nosed git, being one of the nicer insults.'

'Children can be unpleasant,' Lois said with a wince, 'but I'm sure that if you just tried…'

'I am not referring to the children,' he said without expression, 'but the other Professors.  In fact I heard Minerva use those exact words just last week.'

'She did not!' Lois raged indignantly on his behalf.  'Why I would never have expected…' she trailed off as she saw the slight twisting of his lips, while his eyes gleamed with amusement.  'Severus,' she said slightly shocked, 'are you teasing me?'

'Your gullibility really makes it almost too easy,' he mocked, smiling fully now and for once not one of his sneering, nearly-smiles.  Lois was amazed at the difference it made to his features; his whole face softened, his normally harsh expression filling out to leave him almost handsome.  She only became aware that she was gaping at him when he stopped smiling and looked down at her, all humour vanishing in an instant.  'What is it?' he asked in a cold tone.

'Nothing,' she answered hurriedly, not wanting to spoil his sudden good humour.  'Actually Severus I think your nose fits your face perfectly,' she said, partly to draw his attention away from her idiotic mooning and partly because it was true.  'And your hair isn't really greasy,' she said reaching up to run her fingers through it, feeling the texture slightly. 'I bet you've washed it this morning?' she asked smelling the clean fragrance that had been released with the movement of his hair. 

She didn't notice the statue like stillness that had overtaken Snape while she continued unselfconsciously examining his hair.  It felt wonderful he admitted, her soft warm form circling his body, while she leaned into him on tiptoe to gain better access because of his greater height.  He was brought back to full awareness when she tugged sharply on his locks.

'Well?' she questioned.

'Well what?' he asked distractedly.

'Did you wash it this morning?'

'Oh.  Yes, yes.' he finally managed brusquely. 'Why?'

'I wonder what causes it to be so limp,' she mused, before suddenly clicking her fingers in front of his nose.  'I bet it's standing over those cauldrons all day,' she said with a nod.  'All that stuff bubbling and steaming away over the years, it's probably coated your hair.  Mine gets like that if I use styling products on it.  Not that I use them that often – my hair's poker straight; hours of effort and it doesn't look any different.'

Snape privately thought her hair looked beautiful as it was, the soft golden shimmer of it gleamed with health and smelled divine whenever she brushed close enough for him to breath in its sweet fragrance, which thankfully was often.

'I have something I think,' she said.  'Be back in a sec.'  It was slightly longer than the second she had promised, but not by much, when his door opened and she dashed in, panting slightly and clutching something in her hands.

'Here it is,' she said holding up a large clear bottle for his inspection.  'It's a muggle shampoo for removing build up.  I'm sure there must be a magic equivalent,' she chattered on, 'but of course I don't know what it is.'

He looked on amazed at her thoughtfulness.  She had continued treating him like a friend, despite the busyness of her schedule and the numerous other people in the castle who she could spend time with. What surprised him the most was that she had chosen to befriend him when he was, quite frankly, at his absolute worst - apart from his active Death Eater days of course.  The tension of Voldemort's return, the constant threat of attack and his fears for the future of not only the wizarding, but also the muggle world, had caused his already miserable disposition to plummet spectacularly.  And Lois didn't seem to mind; she sought him out, she teased him out of his doldrums and made him wish he had met her years ago, before his life had taken such a very wrong turn. 

But his pleasure in his discovery was shadowed by the realisation that wonderful as it was that she was his friend, she saw him only as a friend.  What he wanted was a hell of a lot more, but Lois he knew didn't feel that way.  Much as he loved her numerous unthinking touches and hand squeezes, they plainly didn't arise from feelings of passion - she treated him with the same open friendliness she showed all the other males of her acquaintance.  She was never awkward in his presence, he had never seen her eyes darken with desire or her breathing speed up when she was close to him - she displayed none of the symptoms of attraction, symptoms he was experiencing with worrying regularity.  If he didn't get himself under control, she would begin to suspect and what worried him most of all, was the possibility of losing her from his life now, in whatever capacity she was willing to be there.  Don't mess this up, he ordered himself harshly, she wants a friend, be a friend and thank the gods she allows you even that. 

His mini-lecture over Snape glanced back to where Lois had been standing seconds before, only to find her gone.

'Severus,' he heard her yell from his bathroom, 'come on, let's try this out!'

'Now?' he asked startled, walking into the other room to find her fiddling with the temperature control on his shower.

'Yes, come on,' she grinned.  'This isn't a ruse to get you naked honest - just push your robes back from your collar and duck your head over the shower cubicle.'

He complied with her orders, more out of surprise than any real desire to try out the product, bending awkwardly to prevent the water from running down his neck.  Lois held the showerhead over his hair while Snape lathered up the shampoo, repeating twice as she instructed.  Wringing his wet hair out, still bent almost double, Lois handed him a towel to dry it with.  Before he had managed more than a few half-hearted swipes, she was grabbing the sleeve of his robe and pulling him back into his sitting room, forcing him down onto a low chair.

'I'll dry it so we can see what it looks like shall I?' she said happily.

His panicked, 'Hold on!' had barely formed on his lips, before she had reached for her wand and raised it above his head.  Within seconds his hair was dry and most surprising of all, still there. 

'You know how to do a drying spell?' he croaked, still not over the horrific image of him wandering Hogwarts halls, completely bald – reversing accidental magic was sometimes tricky.

'Are you kidding me?' she laughed.  'I'm living in a freezing castle with hair hanging down my back and no electricity.  That was the first spell I got Filius to teach me.  And look at you!  I think that stuff did the trick!' she said in a satisfied tone running her fingers through his hair again.  He was only allowed to enjoy the wonderful sensation for a second, before she was dragging him back into the bathroom to show him his image in the mirror.

In truth Snape could see very little difference; the same sallow face, dominated by an overly large nose stared back at him; his hair such a deep, inky black that light seemed unable to penetrate the strands and sat instead trapped on top, glinting with a falsely oily sheen.  He supposed it did look a little less limp and stringy now, he admittedly grudgingly, but it was doubtful anyone else would even notice, and given the package as a whole, it certainly didn't seem worth the bother.  She looked so pleased smiling up at him though he didn't have the heart to tell her what he had been thinking, so instead said sincerely, 'Thank you Achelois.' 

'You're very welcome,' she said with a quick hug of his arm.  'I tell you Severus, keep this up and you'll be beating the women off you with a stick.' 

Snape gave a short bark of laughter at that, genuinely amused.  'The day that happens my dear,' he said sceptically, 'is the day I willingly drink a poison that Longbottom has prepared the antidote for.'

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

A/N   Sean Mulligan – Snape's age:  I did check up on this before I started the story but as the information has never been definitely stated in the books, no one is 100% accurate.  However, what I've been working from is that J K Rowling did say in a comic relief interview last year that Snape is aged "about 35 or 36."  As she answered all the on-line questions in the present tense, I took it to mean (quite probably incorrectly) that that was his age now (i.e. during the Goblet of Fire timescale of 1995), which means in my story he would have been born in 1960 and yes, only 21 at the time of Voldemort's defeat.  I also read somewhere that the Potter's were 21 when they had Harry, which again would give an approximate 1960 birth date.  I don't know the Slytherin Rising series, but until the books gives us the facts I suppose he can be pretty much any age we want and we're all still right – thank goodness!

To everyone who mentioned it – I'm sorry; the romance is a slow burner, but it'll come.  I'd like to say it will be worth the wait, but that's just setting me up for a huge fall!  The only thing I can promise is that they'll be together long before the story ends, but the reason for the slowness is that I want them to be firm friends before they finally get to the romance.  Snape isn't an easy man and he also has those skeletons in his closet that need to come out first - without a strong liking and understanding between the two of them beforehand, I don't think a romance could work.  Anyway, although Lois will more than likely realise Snape is attracted to her long before Snape would believe that she could be attracted to him, she isn't really quite ready to fall in love again yet, lust, yes, but that's not what I want; what can I say?  I'm a romantic – at least when it comes to fiction :)

I'm telling you this because I know it can be frustrating when you're waiting for something to happen in a story and it doesn't.  I thought at least this way you'll be prepared for the wait even if you don't like it :)  Anyway, I hope you'll be able to bear with me - I'm honestly not doing this to tease you, but because I really can't change the pace at this point or it would mess up the plot for the rest of the story (such as it is!)

Gosh – lots of explanation going on up there and reading it back, I've obviously put a worrying amount of thought into fictional characters – that can't be good.  I'll be quiet now.