Chapter 22

As soon as the three students were gone, the weak smile on Andraste's face disappeared. "I think I need a nap," she told Severus and headed to the bedroom.

"You didn't eat much breakfast. Can I get you some food?"

"No, I don't think I could eat right now if I wanted to." A small smile momentarily crossed her lips as she looked up at him. "How do you know I wasn't eating at breakfast? You were ignoring me."

"I was trying. Failed miserably. I don't think you realize how sorry I am, Andi. If I hadn't been such a bastard, none of this would have happened."

"It's not your fault, Severus. No more than it was mine. After Jeremy found me again, he wouldn't have stopped until he thought he owned me."

"I should have been there to protect you."

"You didn't know."

"The kids tried to tell me, Andi. If I had just listened..."

"It's over, Severus," she interrupted. "What happened happened and now it's over." Severus had no idea how to respond, so he sat there silently, waiting for her to say something else. "I want to be able to teach tomorrow so I need to get some sleep. Why don't you go down to dinner?"

"Absolutely not. I'm not leaving your side."

"Then at least have some food brought up to you, ok?"

"Will you eat with me?"

"We'll see," Andraste sighed; too emotionally and physically exhausted to argue.

"Good enough. I'll be right back." True to his word, Severus returned quickly carrying a tray full of food. Andraste picked at it; hungry enough to eat, but too nauseas to eat much.

"I don't suppose you're tired?" she eventually asked.

"Very."

"Would you mind holding me until I get to sleep?"

"How about if I hold you until you wake back up?"

"Even better." Severus put the dinner tray away and laid down. Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, he vowed to himself that he would never let her get hurt again; and silently prayed that it would be a promise he could keep.

"Severus," a gentle voice called out to him, bringing him out of the dreams he had been in for hours. "Honey, it's time to get up." He opened his eyes to see Andraste leaning over him, smiling brightly.

"How are you, beautiful?" he mumbled, still half asleep.

"Wishing we didn't have to get up, but we do." Severus sat up on his elbows and looked at the woman next to him.

"Really, how are you? Are you sure you're up to teaching?"

"Honestly, Sev, I feel great. I know that I should still be upset, but I feel like I finally resolved that part of my life...and I really am okay."

"Well then, I believe we have a sixth year Slytherin/Gryffindor class to deal with. Did you plan on making them ill?"

"I was thinking it might be fun. Can I make Draco sprout the horns he acts like he has?" Severus smirked at her, picturing it in his head.

"I think he's already quite enough of a demon. Ferret fur, however..." Andraste broke out laughing and got up from the bed, getting ready with a wave of her hand.

"Hey, beautiful; I was wondering; if you can get dressed so easy, why did we have to go shopping?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you'd hate it," she said with a smile; and walked out of the room. By the time Severus was ready Andraste was sitting on the couch, coffee in hand. "You take longer to get ready then most girls."

"No, I do not."

"I'm a girl. I would know."

"Not everyone can wave their hand and be done with it, Andi."

"Okay, true. But you still take forever. I'm on my third cup of coffee."

"I take it I'll be teaching class and you'll be spending the rest of the day peeing?"

"Severus."

"I know," he interrupted, laughing. "Bite me."

"Actually I was going to say I love you."

"I love you too, Andi."

"That, and bite me."

When Professors Andraste and Snape walked in to the potions classroom, most of the students were already seated. "Morning, Professors," Harry said. Much to the shock of the other students, Severus was the first to return the greeting.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter; how are you?"

"Fine, and yourself Professor Snape?"

"Wonderful; how are you feeling?" he asked, a smirk on his face that made Harry squirm a little.

"Um, I feel fine, why?"

"No reason, Mr. Potter, Professor Snape said with a smile and continued up to the front of the class where Andraste was waiting to begin.

"Cute, Sev," she whispered to him, turning to the students before he had the opportunity to chide her for calling him that. "By now I'm sure you've all got a general idea what to expect today, but I have something a little extra planned for this class, since we are in Advanced Potions. The symptoms that you should start feeling right about now can be cured only by properly combining two of these." Andraste gestured towards the board, and the class groaned in unison as a list of 12 potions appeared. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask Professor Snape or myself." Ignoring the dumbfounded expressions staring up at her, Andraste refocused her attention on Severus, who was now sitting behind his desk looking very amused.

"Five galleons says Mr. Longbottom blows his up."

"I'll take that bet," Andraste retorted, "and I'll raise you breakfast in bed that he and Ron are the first group done."

"Fine. It'll be nice for you to wait on me for a change."

"Funny, Sev," she whispered, laying extra emphasis on his hated nickname. "Shall we browse the progress they're making?" Severus nodded and stood up from his desk, following Andraste around the room. Most of the students had figured out which potions they needed to combine, and were talking in hushed tones about how to combine them safely. When they finally got to the Ron and Neville's table, they found that the two had already chosen a selection of ingredients and were busy preparing them. "How's your cure coming, guys?"

"Great. I think we've got it figured out," Neville told her.

"Fabulous. You're making me proud...and richer," she said, ignoring the confused looks they gave her. Her attention was pulled away from them, however, and into a conversation Severus was having with the next table.

"I would strongly suggest you get to work, Mr. Malfoy."

"She can't just make us sick. My father..."

"Your father is of no consequence to me or this class. Now do the assignment." The anger burning between Severus and Draco was enough to make most of the class stop what they were doing and watch. Draco sneered at Professor Snape and stalked towards the ingredient table, mumbling under his breath.

"Would you like to share that with the rest of us, Mr. Malfoy?" Andraste asked. Draco wheeled around, facing her.

"Absolutely, Professor. I said that traitors always get what they deserve. And so do their little girlfriends. But I here you got what you deserved last night." The room practically exploded with the fury pouring off of Severus.

"How dare you, you little prat. Get out. And do not ever set foot in this classroom again."

"My father won't allow this."

"Then do have him take it up with me personally. Just tell your dear mother not to expect him home if he does. NOW GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM!" Draco fled through the dungeon door, a mix of humiliation and anger in his eyes. The silence he left behind was broken by Ron piping up cheerfully.

"Can we applaud you again, Professor Snape?" Andraste did her best to suppress the laughter threatening to shake her composure before requesting that the class return to its work.

"That was interesting," Andraste said quietly to Severus when he rejoined her up front. He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a loud boom echoing through the class.

"I believe you owe me five galleons, Professor," he informed Andraste before turning towards the table the sound had come from. "Well done Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Weasley. Five points to Gryffindor for winning me the bet I made with Professor Andraste."

"But sir," Neville interjected shyly, "I think that was supposed to happen."

"I assure you it was, Mr. Longbottom," he replied; turning back to Andraste with a smile. "So about the money you owe me..."

"It was supposed to explode?"

"Yes it was, as you would have known if you had paid attention to what they were making. The heat from the reaction between the Dragon's Blood and the liquidamber seed pod is what makes the mandrake have the effect it does."

"You cheated."

"No, I didn't. I simply said that it would explode. You assumed that was a bad thing." Andraste stared at Severus, thinking he was definitely Slytherin through and through.

"Professor Andraste?" Hermione said, bringing a small vial to the front of the room. "I think we're done."

"No, your not," Andraste replied, her face turning slightly red.

"Yes, she is Professor Andraste," Severus told her, examining the potion Hermione was holding. "Five points to Gryffindor," he said with a triumphant smile, "for winning me another bet."

"My apologies, Professor Andraste. Had I known it would help him I wouldn't have brought it up," Hermione said, sounding slightly disgusted and throwing Professor Snape an angry look.

"It's okay, Hermione. Why don't you and Harry take some of this, I'm sure the ringing in your ears is getting annoying. Once you're done I'd like to talk to you for a minute." Hermione nodded in agreement and headed back to her table. "Did you see that?" Andraste asked Severus.

"Yes, I did. It seems Miss Granger is upset with me."

"That does appear to be the case. I'm gonna go have a chat with her; there's no reason for her to be angry."

"I'm not sure I agree with you, Andi." Andraste waved his objection off and headed out the side door, motioning for Hermione to follow her. Once they were both in the office, Andraste shut the door and sat down on Severus' desk. "Would you like to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why?" the student said innocently.

"The look you just gave Professor Snape, for starters. Are you angry at him?" Hermione looked at Andraste for a minute, not sure quite how to answer.

"Yes," she said with a sigh. "And honestly, I don't see how you're not. What happened yesterday was his fault. He could have stopped it if he would have just listened."

"And I could have prevented it if I had told someone about my history with Jeremy."

"It's not your fault!"

"That's my point, Hermione. It's not my fault. But it's not Severus' fault either. The only person that's to blame here is Jeremy. He's the one that did it, and he's the only one that you should be angry at if you need to be angry."

"But if he had listened to us..."

"Hermione, I understand why you're upset, but you have to understand where I'm coming from too. A thousand things could have been made the difference; Professor Snape could have listened, Dumbledore could have not brought him here, I could have stood up for myself and told him to go to hell as soon as he walked back into my life. The point is, he is the only one to blame. It's no more Severus' fault than it is mine. Either way, Hermione, you know I adore you, and you also know that I love Severus very much. It's important to me that you two get along.

"You know he's old and greasy and gross, right?" Hermione asked, trying to resist giggling, but gave in when Andraste started to laugh.

"Not to mention mean, and temperamental, and occasionally mopey." Andi pointed out. The two girls laughed and talked for several more minutes before heading back to the main classroom. When they got back, all of the students were cured and in the process of cleaning up their messes.

"I think you owe them a speech, Andi," Severus told her when she came back to the desk.

"Guess I do," she said, and then turned to the class. "Can I have your attention for a minute?" She waited a moment while the students settled down and focused on her. "The other classes get a 'you can do it, so do it from now on' talk here. I'm gonna spare you the entire speech and just say it. You proved yourselves today. Not to me and Professor Snape, but to yourselves. You wouldn't be in this class if you weren't capable of scoring rather high on what I believe was a rather difficult exam, so there is no reason you can't get great grades in here. This class isn't required, but to be in it, a lot of work is. Each of you today took two potions you knew and made one you didn't. For your homework, due Friday, I want you to give me a complete explanation of how and why you did what you did today. And I want you to invent a new potion that we'll try out Friday. You are all welcome to go when your area is clean. Have a good night."

When Andraste was done, she sat down and chatted amicably with some of the students while others were finishing up. When the last of them were gone, she locked the classroom door and headed to the office where Severus was waiting for her. "So what are the plans for tonight?" she asked, taking a seat on the only clean corner of his desk.

"I have more papers to grade."

"Oh, Joy. Let's take them in and get this over with." Andraste grabbed an armful of papers, and Severus followed her, carrying the rest. Once they settled in at the kitchen table with a fresh pot of tea, they set to work reading over essay after essay in silence. Hours passed before Andraste stood up to stretch. "It's 7:30. We need to go if we want food."

"Time does fly when you're having fun, doesn't it?" he replied dryly, and followed her out the door. Dinner was calm and quiet; even the students seemed subdued by the storm that was raging outside. The only thing said that held any significance to Andraste was Dumbledore's request that they join him in his office at 10 o'clock.

"What do you think he wants to talk about?" Andraste asked as they walked back to the dungeon.

"This has been such a week that one can only venture a guess. I suspect, however, that it's to do with Voldemort."

"That was my thought to," she replied. They managed to finish grading all of the papers just minutes before they were expected in the headmaster's office.

"Why does that move for you?" Severus asked her, referring to the statue they had just passed that normally guards Dumbledore's rooms.

"Because I want it to," she said simply, refraining from any other explanation. When they reached the top of the stairs, they were greeted by the Albus, Minerva, and Remus. The other professors in the school, it seemed to Andraste, were never invited to these meetings. "Please, do make yourselves comfortable," Dumbledore told them, motioning to the chairs beside the other teachers. Once they had sat down with a cup of tea he began. "I think it is time we discuss what the best course of action is with Voldemort. It is time that this situation is resolved once and for all." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, but made no move to speak, so he continued. "Andraste, you have demonstrated to us all time and again that you are very powerful; possibly the most powerful of us because of the nature of your abilities. The question, however, is are you willing to fight? This is not your war, and we can not force you into something that you are not comfortable with."

"Voldemort has made this my war, Albus, and I am more than willing to do whatever I can to help end it."

"I suspected you would say as much, Andraste, thank you," the Headmaster replied. "Now, I wonder," he said, leaning forward and adjusting his glasses, "what of your powers we do not know." Andraste sighed audibly, wondering how she was going to explain this to them, her other ability is considered by the wizarding community the darkest of the dark magics. "I can not physically harm another with my magic," she began, the hesitation in her voice apparent to everyone.

"Please continue, Andi," Albus said, after a long pause. Andraste took a deep breath and glanced at Severus, wondering how he was going to take this news. "Physically is the key word."

"Meaning, what?" Severus prodded after she went quiet again.

"Meaning I can see auras, a persons energy or soul." Deep breath, she told herself, forcing oxygen into her lungs. "And I can destroy it." The room sat in silence as the others tried to process this information. Andraste looked to Severus, hoping for some sign that he wasn't scared, that he didn't hate her.

"How do you know that?" he questioned.

"I've done it before," she replied. "It's not pleasant, and it's not easy, but I have done it."

"Do you realize what the Ministry would do if they found out, Andi?" Professor Snape said, an edge of sadness and panic in his voice.

"That is why they will never find out, Severus," Dumbledore answered. "I must ask you Andraste, when you did this. And to whom."

"It was years ago, Professor Dumbledore," she told him, reverting to his formal name out of trepidation more than anything else. "There was a serial killer in Chicago, where I lived until this happened. He came up on me one night when I was walking by the lake. When he attacked me I could see into his mind, into the deaths of the other girls he had murdered. And it wasn't just this life. I could feel that his soul had always been like that...dangerous and violent. I'm still not sure where I got the incantation from, the words just came out of my mouth without me telling them to. I must have chanted for several minutes while he laid at my feet, wiggling around like a dying snake. I watched his soul leave his body, and I reached out and destroyed it with mine. I don't regret it, Albus. And I'd do it the same way if I was in that situation again."

"There's no reason for you to regret it, Andi. You did what you had to do. And probably saved a lot of lives in the process," Severus told her, laying a comforting hand over hers.

"Professor Snape is right, Andraste. Now I think we should all get some rest, and think about how to proceed from here. This weekend many of the parents will be coming in, and so the Order will use the opportunity to gather here without the extra people being noticed. Saturday morning at 10 o'clock."

"Will Lucious be here?" Professor Snape asked, a frightening look on his face.

"No, Severus," Dumbledore replied, "Mr. Malfoy withdrew Draco from Hogwarts shortly after you kicked him out of your class."

"It's a shame," he replied. "I am looking forward to seeing him again."

"You will most certainly get your chance," the Headmaster promised. "Now get some sleep, all of you." The professors filed out of the office, each heading off towards their rooms.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Severus asked Andraste once they had settled in for the night.

"Because I'm already enough of a freak, and I didn't want to scare you. You're already irked enough by me being able to read your mind so easily."

"You don't scare me, Andi," he assured her, laying a quick kiss on her forehead. "Besides," he added with a smile, "you reading my mind doesn't bother me anymore."

"You know, Severus," she said, ignoring that she knew he was lying, "you should see how much your aura has changed since I met you."

"I'm sure it has, Andi. I know how much my life has changed." Andraste smiled at him, and moved closer, taking in his warmth as she let herself drift off to sleep in his arms.

Hours later Severus was jolted out of a sound sleep by Andraste shooting upright in the bed beside him. "I've got it!" she said excitedly.

"Got what? And why aren't you asleep?" he asked; only half awake. He was brought to full alertness as she jumped from the bed and headed out of the room.

"I know how to defeat Voldemort!" she called behind her and then disappeared through the doorway.