Footprints in the Snow

by welfycat

Book 6 The war is now in full swing and Rachel and Severus are tasked with seeking the end while surrounded by threats. Danger awaits both inside and outside Hogwarts, but sometimes the real challenge comes from within themselves.

9. Professor Nash

The sixth years in their study group, minus Neville, who wasn't taking Arithmancy, started up the main staircase early on Monday morning after breakfast. Rachel had taken a few sips of pumpkin juice but otherwise avoided eating. Even though she was taking the modified Nerve Tonic at night, she still felt a little sick to her stomach most of the time. It didn't bother her too much until she was confronted with the smells of food.

Certain smells were worse than others. Sausage made her stomach turn violently, so did whatever was in the shepherd's pie, as she discovered last night. She knew she needed to eat, but for now she was just doing the best she could not to be ill in the Great Hall. She would be taking the modified Nerve Tonic for another two months, but hopefully by then everything would be back to normal.

"I don't understand something," Millie said as they climbed.

"What's that?" Hermione asked.

"There are at least a dozen classrooms on the first three floors of Hogwarts. There are only twelve classes that Hogwarts offers. Why is one of our classes on the seventh floor?"

They all looked at each other for a moment.

"That's a really good question," Hermione finally said.

"I suppose either they let the professor pick a classroom, which I don't think is true, because our Defense class is in the same room every year, or it's just tradition," Theo said. "Maybe Professor Vector wants her classroom to be close to her office or her quarters."

"It seems silly for all of us to have to go all the way up there when she could come down here," Millie said.

"It is a little silly," Hermione agreed. "But at least we're not taking Divination. Apparently you have to climb a ladder to get into the Divination classroom, and that's all the way up the North tower."

Rachel thought it was a good thing all around that they weren't taking Divination, though Luna seemed to enjoy the class. She made it to the fifth floor staircase before she sank down onto the steps, her legs shaking too badly to support her. "I need a break."

Millie sat down next to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. I just, I need to sit for a moment or I'm going to fall." Her heart was pounding in her ears and she felt like she'd just run laps or done some other seriously exerting activity. "I am really out of shape."

"I think that's to be expected. You couldn't even walk until three weeks ago," Theo said, coming down a few steps so he could face them.

"It's probably going to take a few weeks for you to get back to where you were," Hermione agreed. "It looks like your hands are shaking harder right now too."

"All of me is shaking harder. It will get better in a few minutes." At least she hoped it would. "You can keep going without me."

"No, we have time," Theo said.

"Yes, we're still early for class," Hermione said as she checked her watch.

"We're definitely not leaving you here on your own," Millie said, nudging Rachel with her arm.

"Thanks." She did wish this wasn't happening, but for now she concentrated on taking slow and deep breaths. The sooner she got the shaking to stop, the sooner she could start climbing the stairs again.

"Is everything alright here?" Professor Vector asked as she came to a stop on the stairs below them.

Rachel felt herself flush with embarrassment. "I'm just having a little trouble with the stairs, ma'am. I'll get there."

Professor Vector peered down at her. "Have you considered asking Madam Pomfrey for use of one of the charmed chairs to get around until you're feeling better, Miss Snow?"

"I was using a charmed chair this summer, but I can walk now. I just need to take breaks now and then," she explained.

"There's no shame in using supports as long as you need to, even if you can walk, sometimes what your body needs is to heal more first. I had my right leg completely regrown a number of years ago and needed to use a charmed chair for months, even when I had the leg back. Be gentle with your body, it's the only one you get," Professor Vector said. "I'll see you in my classroom, but take your time. I'm also aware that you shouldn't be traveling through the school by yourself, so keep at least one of your friends with you."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you," Rachel said.

They watched as Professor Vector continued up the staircase and then she was out of sight.

"If people can have their limbs regrown, then why did Professor Moody have an artificial leg?" Hermione asked.

"The curse was probably affecting his whole leg and they had to contain it. Curse damage isn't like other damage," Millie explained.

Rachel knew that firsthand now. "I wonder if he ever saw a specialist in curse damage. The one I saw really helped me."

"They're rare. That's a difficult field to get into. That requires Healing training, usually a Mastery in Defense for curse knowledge, and sometimes a third field like Potions or a spell creation field to develop treatments," Theo said. "I assume the specialist you saw wasn't from Britain?"

"No, Germany," she said, recalling Specialist Weber's accent.

"Still, having a limb regrown is no small procedure. I wonder why Professor Vector needed it done. It's not usually done except in young children with birth defects or if the limb is damaged beyond repair, which is pretty unusual," Millie said. "You wouldn't think a professor would encounter a situation where that would happen."

"Maybe she wasn't always a professor," Hermione suggested.

Rachel thought that maybe Professor Vector had been hurt in the last war, but she didn't want to suggest that out loud.

"Rachel? Millie? Are you alright?" Daphne asked as she and Pansy came up the stairs.

"Just taking a short break," Rachel said, wondering if she could stand and keep going so people didn't keep coming across her.

"It is a long climb first thing in the morning," Pansy said. "We'll see you in class."

Rachel waited until they'd gone by before she pushed herself to her feet. She was still shaking pretty badly and found that she didn't trust herself to turn around and start climbing up the stairs. Sighing, she sat back down again. "This might take a little bit. Hermione, why don't you and Theo go on to class, that way someone is taking notes. We'll be there soon."

"We still have some time," Hermione said. "Let's give it another five minutes and see how you do."

"I hate holding all of you back."

"You're not holding us back, we're merely waiting with you. It's not a problem, Rachel. We don't need to be ten minutes early to class," Theo said.

"It's really fine, don't worry about it. We'd rather be with you, anyway," Millie agreed.

"And it is like Professor Vector said, be gentle with yourself. You've made huge strides in two months. There's no sense in pushing yourself into a relapse," Hermione said.

"That can happen?" Rachel asked, a little alarmed. No one had said anything to her about that.

"Well, with muggle illnesses it can, I'm not sure how applicable it would be here," Hermione admitted.

"My mom says sometimes patients make themselves sicker while they're recovering because they push themselves too hard," Millie said with a shrug.

"Is everyone okay?" Susan asked as she and Padma started up the staircase.

"Fine, just resting," Rachel said.

"Do you need us to fetch a professor or Madam Pomfrey?" Padma asked.

"No, we're okay. We'll see you in class in a few minutes," Millie said.

"Alright," Susan said, giving them a worried look before they continued on.

Rachel waited until they were alone again and pushed her back to her feet. "I think I can do this."

"Would it help to hold onto my arm?" Millie asked.

"Probably," Rachel said after she considered it for a moment. At the very least that would help stop her from falling.

With one hand on Millie's forearm and the other on the staircase railing, she began climbing the stairs again, though at a slower pace than they were going before.

She was shaking badly again by the time they reached the Arithmancy classroom on the seventh floor, but they arrived just as the castle wide chime sounded to indicate the beginning of the class period.

Professor Vector nodded to them. "Come, take seats up front. With so few of us, it makes sense for us all to be up here. I'll take your summer homework and we can begin."

Grateful to be sitting, Rachel managed to get her homework out of her bag and then rested her hands on the desk. She wasn't sure she could take notes even with her charmed quill at the moment.

"First, I'd like to congratulate you all on your OWL scores. Everyone in this classroom received either an Exceeds Expectations or an Outstanding on their Arithmancy OWLs. I am pleased that you chose to continue with this class. We have a great deal of work ahead of us, some of which, as I'm sure you've been looking forward to, delves into the creation of spells. That will come later. For now, what we're going to be looking at are equations that describe magic and how those equations can be expressed as wand movements," Professor Vector said, tapping her wand against the chalkboard to reveal complicated graphs with equations written under them.

Rachel pulled out some parchment and her quill and got ready to get to work. Hopefully her hands, and the rest of her body, would cooperate with her.

At the end of class, with a pile of notes and homework, they left the classroom.

"This is going to be a lot of work," Millie said.

"It's exciting, isn't it?" Hermione asked, sounding all too enthused about the prospect of homework. "Think what we're going to be able to do with this someday."

"It is interesting, at least," Theo said.

They parted company with Millie on the sixth floor and made their way to their Ancient Runes class, where Neville was waiting for them.

Where they'd only had eight people in their Arithmancy class, they now had eleven people in their Ancient Runes class. The professors hadn't been joking when they'd said a fair number of people would drop their classes after taking their OWLs.

Rachel pulled out her new textbook, Advanced Rune Translation, from her bag, along with her homework, a piece of parchment, and her quill. Now that she was back in classes, she actually thought she was doing okay. Apart from the staircase. But classes were familiar and everyone was focused on the professor. She thought she'd be able to do this. At least, she didn't feel as bad as she had yesterday, and that could only be a good thing.

---

"I assume we wish to sit in the back?" Hermione asked as they approached the Defense classroom on Monday after lunch.

"Given our history with Defense teachers, I think that's only wise. Given everything, I'd much rather the new Defense professor prove herself to us, rather than giving her the benefit of the doubt," Theo said.

Rachel had thought Professor Nash had seemed okay, but she was reserving judgment for now.

"I'd rather sit in the back, just in case," Millie said.

"Me too," Neville said.

"I'm not objecting to that," Hermione said. "Maybe the third row? Our class is bound to be smaller now that people have had the opportunity to drop it."

"That works fine with me," Theo agreed.

They were the first people into the classroom, though the door was open, and they quickly occupied the third row. Rachel was glad to be sitting again and was now dreading having Quidditch practice on Wednesday. If this was how her body was reacting to an average school day, she couldn't imagine trying to hold onto a broom directly afterward.

What she really wanted to do was go take a nap, but they already had a pile of homework from their first two classes and there would undoubtedly be more homework assigned here too.

Slowly the rest of the class filtered in. Rachel was pleased to see all of the people who had been fifth years in the DA show up. That must have meant they had done well on their OWLs. The only non-DA member to take the class was Padma, and Rachel decided that she would invite her to the DA as soon as they got it up and running.

Professor Nash entered the classroom just as the chime announced the start of class. She was still not wearing a robe, just a long skirt and a blouse. "Welcome everyone. My name is Maureen Nash. I've come to understand from the students I had earlier today that you address your teachers by Professor and their last name, which is fine by me, though Ms. Nash is also fine if you'd prefer that. I am the magical Defense instructor at the Western Academy of Magic in the United States. I'll be teaching here for this school year. If you don't mind, I'd like to start with roll call, but it's going to take me a little while to learn all your names."

They had fifteen students in their class, which wasn't too bad considering how spotty their Defense education had been over the past five years. Professor Nash went through the roll in alphabetical order, nodding to each of them as they raised their hands.

"There, now that's taken care of, we can begin. I understand that everyone in this class passed their exam last year, however, as I'm not familiar with your exams that doesn't give me much to go on. I'll be administering a private exam to each of you, with half the class taking it today and half on Thursday when we meet again. For your homework for this week, I'd like for you to write a short essay about what you've learned during your magical Defense classes and what you feel you could use improvement on, and to read chapter one in your assigned textbook. I'm asking those of you who take the exam today to not tell your classmates what is on it," Professor Nash continued.

Hermione raised her hand.

"Yes, remind me of your name," Professor Nash said.

"Hermione Granger, ma'am. When you say magical Defense, is there another type of Defense that you're differentiating it from?" Hermione asked.

"At WAM we also have a physical Defense class, where students are taught martial arts, though I understand that isn't offered at Hogwarts. Usually students who are particularly interested in magical Defense will pick up physical Defense as an elective after two years. Those two classes are required for those who wish to join the Junior Defense Training Corps at the school. Those students who graduate in the Corps often go on to the National Defense Academy or to careers in law enforcement," Professor Nash explained.

Even though Rachel didn't particularly want a career in law enforcement, she found herself a tiny bit jealous. It would have been good for her to take extra classes in Defense for a number of reasons. Maybe she wouldn't have felt so helpless and weak if she was prepared to defend herself. Maybe she wouldn't have been kidnapped.

"I also understand you've had a variety of Defense instructors over the past few years who have had drastically different teaching styles. In my class, on Mondays we will study theory and on Thursdays we will have practical exercises. As I've had this question in my previous classes, I will assure you, you will not be reading your textbook in class nor will I be reading a book to you. Does anyone have any questions before we begin with your private exams?" she asked, looking over the room.

People shook their heads, seeming a little more relaxed now that they knew what type of professor she planned to be.

"Alright then, I'll have Bones through Longbottom wait in the hallway outside the classroom, Miss Abbott, you'll stay behind. The rest of you are dismissed until Thursday," Professor Nash said.

The class left the room, chattering among themselves.

"We can wait for all of you," Theo said.

"I wonder what she's going to test us on," Hermione said, looking nervous. "It seems that her school has different standards for Defense than Hogwarts. What if she asks us to do spells we don't know?"

"If you don't know them, no one will know them," Millie said. "Besides, we'll all probably be about on the same level, almost the entire class was in the DA last year."

"Are we still comfortable with asking her to be our staff sponsor for the DA?" Rachel asked, taking a seat on the floor against the wall.

"Is there any harm in asking?" Neville asked.

"I don't think there is," Theo said.

"Well, let's see what she asks us to do on the exams, that should give us an idea what to expect from her," Hermione said. "I wish my name were closer to the beginning of the alphabet, I want to be done."

"The waiting is the hardest part," Rachel agreed. "But I doubt she's grading us on this. I think she wants to see how Hogwarts teaches Defense compared to what she's used to. That way she's not teaching us things we already know, or jumping further ahead than we're ready for."

"That's what I think too," Theo said, sitting down next to Rachel.

"I just wish I had known that she was testing us." Hermione pulled out her wand and began to silently make wand motions.

Rachel watched for a moment before she took out her Arithmancy textbook. She might as well use this time for something and she wasn't entirely clear on what they'd covered in class.

Hannah came out of the classroom a few minutes later looking a bit ruffled and Susan was called in.

"How was it?" Terry asked, everyone watching.

"About the same as our OWLs," Hannah said. "No written part, all spells."

Hermione's shoulders relaxed. "That's okay then. Not that I mind a written exam," she quickly clarified.

Rachel smiled and shook her head slightly as she refocused on her textbook.

By the time Neville returned after his exam she thought she understood what Professor Vector had talked about this morning and she was now ready to do her homework.

They made their way to the study room, they had fourth period free on Mondays, and settled in their usual spots.

"So, we're not supposed to talk about what was on the exam," Millie began.

"We're not," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows at Millie.

"But, you should know, there's a boggart at the end of the exam," Millie continued.

Rachel was sure she felt the blood drain from her face. There was no way she could let anyone see what form her boggart now took.

"She told us in advance, it's not like she sprung it on us," Hermione said.

"It was pretty unpleasant," Neville said flatly. "I'd really rather not deal with a boggart again."

"Me neither. Mine changed," Millie said. "I managed to deal with it, but it was a surprise."

"Mine changed too," Hermione admitted quietly.

"What did yours used to be, Hermione?" Theo asked.

Hermione covered her face. "It's embarrassing. And juvenile."

"Well, we were thirteen the last time we saw a boggart, it's not surprising your fear was juvenile," Neville reasoned.

"It was Professor McGonagall telling me I failed everything and I was being kicked out of Hogwarts," Hermione whispered. "Now it's…now it's Death Eaters, coming for my parents."

The room was quiet for a moment.

"Mine is a Death Eater too, telling me they've killed all of the people I care about and they're about to kill me," Millie said, looking down.

"Mine's still Bellatrix," Neville said.

Rachel pondered that for a moment. Maybe her boggart had changed again to Death Eaters or to the Dark Lord. That would make sense, given what had happened. But she still couldn't risk it. If it hadn't changed, she couldn't let anyone see Severus like that.

"I think those are very sensible fears," Theo finally said. "We're all afraid of the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord and we have very good reason to be. This is a war. We know that people are going to die. People have died already. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that many of the students around our age have Death Eaters as boggarts."

"Do you think yours will have changed?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. I guess I'll find out on Thursday," Theo said.

Rachel supposed she could try to find a boggart to see what it turned into, but she doubted she could do that by Thursday afternoon, and she definitely would have to explain what she was doing to her friends. She considered it but decided against it. She'd just have to decline that part of the exam and take a lower grade.

"Well, let's get started on homework. Let's start with Arithmancy since it will take the most time, then Ancient Runes, and we can do the Defense assignment after dinner," Hermione said.

"We are going to have no free time this year," Millie said as she pulled out her books.

Rachel silently agreed. She wanted a nap, but it would have to wait until all her homework was done. She knew that once she fell behind there would be no catching up.

---

First thing on Tuesday morning they went out to the greenhouses for Herbology. There were twenty people taking Herbology across the four Houses, so at least they divided evenly into groups of four. Rachel paired with Theo and joined Draco and Blaise. It was a bit of a quiet group, the boys watching each other warily as Professor Sprout gave a lecture on the Snargaluff plants that they would be tending in their next class. Their homework assignment was an essay on the tending of the plant and the uses of Snargaluff pods.

After Herbology they went up to Charms, which was the only class to have retained enough students to need to be divided into two sections. Rachel was glad that the Slytherins were paired with the Gyrffindors, which meant the sixth years in their study group had all their classes together.

They were set to practicing non-verbal spell casting, starting with the first spell they'd learned in first year - wingardium leviosa. Everyone sat with their wands out, pointing at feathers on their desks in front of them.

Rachel mouthed the words silently as she made the wand movements, focusing all of her effort on trying to make her feather move. She thought it was a little ironic. She'd spent a lot of time during the summer between her first and second year trying to whisper this incantation and here she was now trying to do it silently.

At the end of class, only Draco had managed to make his feather move, but Professor Flitwick seemed cheerful nevertheless and had assured them they would get it eventually. They were assigned an essay on non-verbal spell casting and were told to keep practicing on their own.

"That is definitely harder than it seems," Hermione said as they walked down to lunch.

"Well, I suppose there's a reason they don't teach it to us before we're NEWT students. We'll get it with some practice," Theo said.

"I can ask Severus and Sirius and Remus if they have any tips for us," Rachel offered. She'd rather get the hang of it quickly and then spend time on their other homework projects.

"I think that would be a good idea. I think we could use the help," Neville said, frowning down at his wand before he tucked it away in his robes.

"Yeah, any help is good help at this point," Millie agreed.

They parted ways for lunch and Rachel managed to get herself to eat half of a turkey sandwich and to drink some pumpkin juice. She wasn't particularly hungry but she knew she needed to eat something. The food sat uncomfortably in her stomach and she wondered if she was eating too much. Or maybe she wasn't eating the right things.

"Ready for Potions?" Theo asked.

"You have no idea how glad I am that I dropped that class," Daphne said.

"Me too," Blaise said.

Pansy shrugged. "I only received an Exceeds Expectations on the OWL but I'm a little bit relieved. My parents would have wanted me to take the class if I'd gotten an

Outstanding."

Crabbe just silently shrugged. He was still sitting a little bit apart from the rest of the sixth years.

"Well, let's go get our cauldrons," Millie said as she stood. "I'm not entirely sure why I'm taking Potions, come to think of it."

"Because it's fun?" Rachel suggested.

"They don't think it's fun," Draco said as he joined them.

Rachel glanced at him and then at Millie and Theo.

Theo shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly call it fun."

"I definitely wouldn't call it fun," Millie said. "It's scary. I never know if I'm going to do something that's going to make the whole thing blow up."

Rachel frowned at her. "We've been in the same class for five years and you've never blown up a cauldron."

"Because I'm working with you, or with Hermione, or with Theo," Millie said.

"You do fine," Theo said. "Besides, now we're NEWT level, we're each working on our own cauldrons."

"And you did your OWL potion on your own, didn't you?" Draco pointed out.

"Yes, but that was an easy potion," Millie said.

"You're better at potions than you think you are. Did you look around and see everyone's cauldrons at the end of the exam?" Rachel asked.

"I did, it was pretty funny," Draco said, Theo raising his eyebrows in disapproval at the comment.

"I didn't look, I was too focused on my own, was it bad?" Millie asked.

"I saw a few smoking cauldrons," Rachel admitted.

"While most people didn't have a smoking or boiling over cauldron, many people seemed to have missed a step or miscounted their stirs, or something else that meant their potion didn't turn out quite right. I got a glimpse at the samples they'd gathered at the front table, I was in the front row, and most of them weren't brewed correctly," Theo said.

"Hi Curbin," Rachel called as they passed Curbin's portrait.

"Hello Miss Rachel. Keeping out of trouble?" Curbin asked.

"Doing my best," she called. "Alea iacta est," she said to summon the door to the common room.

"Professor Snape was a little grim with the password this time," Draco commented.

"He was? What does it mean?" Millie asked.

"The die is cast," Theo answered. "Supposedly Julius Caesar said it just before crossing the Rubicon and starting a great civil war. We'll see you in a few minutes."

Rachel joined Millie as they headed toward their dorm.

"Is that…blood?" Millie asked as she came to an abrupt stop.

Rachel stared at the door to the sixth year girls dorm. There was a reddish brown substance roughly painted on the door. "That's the Dark Mark, isn't it?"

"Well. I think that's what they were aiming for at least. Do you think it's blood?" Millie repeated.

"Expecto patronum." Nothing happened and Rachel frowned at her wand.

"I'm guessing your thoughts are not in a happy memory place right now. Hold on a second. Expecto patronum." Millie's zebra Patronus materialized. "What am I saying?"

"Just ask him to come to the girls dorms but tell him it's not an emergency," she directed.

"To Severus Snape. Could you please join me and Rachel at the girls dorms. It's not an emergency," Millie said, and her zebra hurried away.

"The Carrow Twins were still at lunch when we left, weren't they?" Rachel asked, reminding herself that this was no reason to panic.

"They were, but that doesn't mean they didn't do this earlier. Whatever it is, it's dried." Millie frowned. "I want to go check on Midnight, but I'm worried that there is a trap or a curse on the door."

Rachel hoped very much that it wasn't Midnight's blood. She swallowed and stepped closer to the door.

"Rachel-"

"It's okay, I'm not going to touch it, I'm going to try some of the revealing spells Severus taught me," she said, drawing her wand again.

The general spell to detect charms and curses revealed nothing. The charm to check for poison also showed nothing. A more specific charm to detect curses came back negative as well. "Well, I'm not showing anything. At the very least, whatever is on there isn't poisoned. I still think we better wait for Severus before we open the door."

"What's taking so long? We're going to be late," Draco said as he appeared in the hallway. He scowled at them but the expression vanished entirely as he saw their door.

Theo joined them, frowning at the door. "You've summoned Professor Snape?"

"Yes, just a few minutes ago," Millie said.

"He was still in the Great Hall when we left, it will probably take him a moment to get here," Theo said as he looked at the door. "This wasn't done in the past twenty or thirty minutes. There are drips, which means they let it dry naturally instead of casting a Drying charm. I'm sure Professor Snape will know who had a free period this morning. This must have taken a little while to do."

Rachel nodded absently. "There wasn't anything on your door? Or on any of the other doors in the boys hall?"

"Not on our door, but I'll go check. Draco, stay here with them," Theo said, pulling his wand and hurrying away.

Draco glared after him but then shook his head. "So, suspects. Hestia and Flora. Maybe Simon and Maxwell, they're losers, but I could see them doing something like this. Michael Pike. Maybe Selina and Ella, but I kind of doubt it's a third year."

Millie had wandered a little further away. "Nothing on the other doors. Just ours."

Theo returned a few moments later. "Nothing on any of the boys' doors."

Rachel supposed that was a good thing.

Severus rounded the corner into the hallway, looking rushed and holding his wand. "Is anyone hurt?"

"No, but we haven't touched the door in case it's trapped," Rachel said, stepping back so he could get a good look at the door.

"We think it's blood," Millie said.

Severus came closer to the door and examined it. "Whoever did it fancied themselves an artist, these are brush strokes." He began silently casting spells at the door. "Salamander blood, from a potions kit."

Rachel was relieved that it wasn't Midnight's. Or human. "You said you were going to cast a ward so that only the sixth year girls and Astoria could get into our dorm, was that already done?"

"Yes, I did that on Saturday, your room should be secure," Severus said. "I'm also not detecting any traps or curses, but let me go first."

They watched as Severus opened the door and stepped through.

"Your room seems untouched. I will have the House Elves clean your door while you are in class and I will question students in the House. For the time being, let's collect your things and go to class," Severus said. He paused and then turned to Rachel. "Assuming you are well enough to go to class, if you need time to rest or if you'd like to go to the hospital wing, that's fine."

"I'm fine," she assured him. After everything she'd been through a salamander blood painting of the Dark Mark wasn't going to frighten her. It wasn't even that good of a painting.

"Midnight," Millie said, kneeling down and scooping up her cat. "Thank Merlin you're okay."

"I recommend keeping your cat safely in your dorm or in your company, Miss Bulstrode," Severus said.

"I will, believe me I will," Millie said, her face half buried in Midnight's fur.

Severus stepped aside to let them into their dorm and Rachel collected the things she needed for class while Millie fussed over Midnight. "Do you want me to go stay in Severus' quarters this year?" she asked.

Millie looked up. "What? No? I mean, not unless you want to. I'm already a target by being your friend, Rachel. I'll stand by you no matter what happens. If you feel safer in Professor Snape's quarters, then that might be a good idea, but I want you to be here if you want to be here."

"I want to be here," Rachel said, though she was relieved by Millie's words. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

"I can protect myself. We can protect each other," Millie said, nodding before turning to collect her cauldron and potions kit.

They went with Severus to his classroom and found five students waiting outside.

Severus opened the door with a wandless gesture and everyone went inside to their seats at the front and middle of the classroom.

Rachel wasn't surprised to see Susan, who she knew was aiming for the Healers program when she finished at Hogwarts. Terry and Padma were also not surprises, they were both Ravenclaw prefects and were near the top of their class. The rest of the class was Rachel's study group and Draco.

"Welcome to NEWT potions. By now I can trust each of you with a cauldron and we can move on to the more subtle nuances of potions that are often lost students who are less willing to put in the time and effort to become proficient in the basics of brewing potions. Expect the difficulty of this class to increase accordingly," Severus said as he stood at the front of the classroom and looked them over.

"Before we begin brewing, I would like to make you aware of an opportunity. The Wizarding Schools Potions Championship will take place at Hogwarts this year. This is a competition between five of the premier wizarding schools in the world and has been taking place once every seven years since 1407, with disruptions for the global wizarding war. I will be selecting a team of four students to represent Hogwarts. If you would like to enter, please submit your team to me by the start of next week," Severus continued.

Rachel felt her jaw drop. There was going to be a tournament at Hogwarts - a potions tournament, no less - and he hadn't told her. Why?

Hermione had her hand in the air.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Who are the other schools who are competing?" Hermione asked.

"Ilvermorny, Uagadou, Mahoutokoro, and Koldovstoretz, from the United States, Uganda, Japan, and Russia, respectively," Severus said. "Needless to say, preparation for this competition will require a great deal of work. Please keep that in mind before forming a team. Today we will start with brewing the Draught of Living Death. Please use the instructions on the board instead of the ones in your textbook. Copy down the instructions from the board, because they are part of your homework assignment."

Rachel quickly wrote out the instructions onto a piece of parchment. She felt a little bit weird at the idea of brewing this potion since it was the potion that had killed Mr. Crouch. Preparing the ingredients wasn't too bad, though she charmed both her knife and her stirring rod to help with her shaking hands, but her mind kept going back to the blood drawing on her dorm room door. Obviously it was a threat.

It was a threat. And now they were bringing a bunch of unknown students into Hogwarts. And they were probably going to have professors with them. And then there was whoever was judging the competition and they'd be in Hogwarts too.

What had happened to making Hogwarts safe?

And Severus hadn't told her. She thought that was the part that was bothering her the most. This would obviously affect her, and he hadn't told her.

"Is everything alright, Miss Snow?" Severus asked as he stopped by her desk.

"Can we talk after class?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, of course. Do you need to not brew right now?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Keep your mind on your cauldron then."

Rachel got back to work, double checking her ingredients before she started brewing. By the end of class she had what she thought was a decent cauldron full of Draught of Living Death. She put a sample in a vial, labeled it, and vanished the rest from her cauldron. She began cleaning up and noticed Draco edging towards her.

"So, Potions competition, we should form a team," he said.

She blinked at him. "You want to form a team? With me?"

"Of course. I assume you want Theo, that just leaves one slot to fill," Draco said.

Rachel finished putting away things in her kit. She supposed she should at least try to be part of the competition. That would look good on her application for a Mastery. "Alright. What about Hermione?"

"Hermione?" Draco repeated.

"She's top of our class and that includes Potions," Rachel said, getting up to get a cloth to wipe down her table.

"Memorizing a book does not a potions brewer make," Draco said stiffly, following her.

"You, me, Theo, and Hermione," Rachel said. "I don't think anyone else in this class is going to want to do it. Who else would you have for the fourth slot?"

Draco frowned but didn't answer.

"We're not doing this, are we?" Theo asked as he joined them at the sinks.

"We're forming a team, right?" Hermione asked before anyone could respond as she pushed to the front and began washing her stirring rod.

Rachel picked up a cloth and wet it in the sink. "I'll do it if you will."

"Of course, we will," Hermione said, hurrying away.

Draco sighed heavily.

"Shouldn't we ask Millie and Neville?" Theo asked.

"We should," Rachel agreed, though she was positive neither of them were going to want to do it. "You don't want to do it?"

"I'm not against it, but it does seem like we're adding another thing to our already busy workload," Theo said, squeezing water out of his own cloth.

Rachel nodded. "We are. I'll find out more about it and we can decide if we want to submit our names."

"Alright," Theo said.

Rachel went back to her table and finished cleaning up and putting things away.

"By now you should be finished with your potions. For homework, I want you to compare the instructions on the board to the instructions in your textbook and determine why the changes were made," Severus instructed. "You're dismissed once you've handed in your sample and have cleaned your workstation."

Rachel grabbed her things and moved to where the rest of the study group was gathered.

"No way," Millie was saying. "Count me out."

"Count me out too. This is far from my best subject," Neville said, shaking his head.

"I'm going to stay and talk with Professor Snape for a few minutes," Rachel told them.

"See if you can find out what the scope of the competition is. Whether it's all year or what?" Theo asked.

"I will," she said.

"We can wait for you in the common room," Millie said. "Unless you want us to wait here?"

"In the common room is fine," Rachel said. The blood message was worrying, but not that worrying.

"You're sure?" Theo asked. "After what just happened?"

"Yes, I'm sure. It will be fine," she assured them.

"We'll see you soon then," Millie said.

"What just happened?" Hermione asked.

"We'll tell you in a moment," Theo said.

Rachel went to Severus' office and set down her things.

Severus joined her a minute later, his hands full of potion vials. "I understand why you're concerned. Do you want to move into my quarters for the year?"

"No. Draco suggested a few people as suspects. Hestia and Flora. Michael. Simon and Maxwell. He thought Ella and Selina might be possibilities, but I'm not sure why," she said, sitting down in one of the student chairs.

"Ella and Selina both have expressed their support for the Dark Lord's actions," Severus said, setting the vials in a rack and then sitting down. "I will interview all of them and other students if necessary. We will find out who did this and make sure they are not a threat to you."

Rachel frowned. How many other people in Slytherin House thought the Dark Lord was right? Probably more than she realized. "Why didn't you tell me about the Potions competition?"

"Because I did not want to cause you additional stress this summer, you needed to be focused on recovery. The impact on you should be minimal," he said steadily.

"You realize that I'm planning on entering, right?" she asked, deciding to point that out first before moving onto the other problems involved.

"I would recommend against that. Your schedule is overloaded as it is and you are still recovering. Septima mentioned you were having some trouble with the stairs."

"Not that much trouble, I'm pretty recovered. I just needed to rest after climbing five flights of stairs. Also, it kind of does affect me. There's going to be a bunch of people in Hogwarts that we don't know," she said.

"For just over two weeks, from the end of January to the middle of February. We will have additional security at this time. I'm intending to see if I can have an auror assigned to you for the duration of their visit. Also, the Death Eaters have not reached any of the countries where we're going to have visitors from. Most of them will not even really be aware of the war," he said.

Rachel wasn't sure having an auror assigned to her was a solution she was comfortable with. "Is that safe for them? Won't the Dark Lord want to attack while this is happening?"

"The Dark Lord will not attack Hogwarts at this stage. He needs to recruit and prepare before that's even a consideration. We should have years before that's a real possibility. He will not go against Albus lightly. I will keep you safe. Whatever it takes, I will keep you safe," he said, watching her intently.

She sighed and tipped her head back. "I'm not going to be safe until the Dark Lord is dead." And then she would be dead too, so it wouldn't matter all that much.

Severus was quiet for a long moment. "I can understand why you don't feel safe right now. I'm certain that the Dark Mark being scrawled on your door in blood was frightening. Anyone would be frightened."

"I'm not frightened. I'm realistic."

He rubbed his chin with his hand. "It's clear to me that the measures we're taking to protect you aren't making you feel safe. Can you think of anything that would help you feel safe? Would you like for us to have a conversation with Albus or with Torey about what would help you feel safe?"

"Nothing is going to help me feel safe." She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. "It isn't safe, Severus. Pretending to be safe isn't going to do me any good."

"I'm not saying that you should lower your guard. I'm also not saying that you shouldn't be cautious, or that you shouldn't stay close to people who can protect you, or that you shouldn't be aware of your surroundings. What I am saying is that steps have been made to protect you from the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters, and I believe they are effective steps. Hogwarts and the grounds are covered in anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards. No one but the Hogwarts staff can utilize the floos to leave Hogwarts, if a student attempts to use the floo connection, it will just direct them to another floo within Hogwarts. All of the staff are aware that you need to be guarded. The portraits have all been asked to keep an eye on you and to alert a staff member if they see you followed, accosted, or attacked. You're with your friends in the castle and I believe they are in a position to help defend you from a hostile student and will be able to summon help. You have your phoenix pendant, which you can use to summon Albus immediately if you are in a threatening situation. You can activate your message bracelet to tell us where you are if you can't send your Patronus. If you ever leave the castle and the wards, I will be by your side. Is there an attack you're anticipating that we can think of a way to prevent?"

Rachel fingered her message bracelet. She knew all of her friends were wearing message jewelry as well. "I don't know. I just keep feeling like someone is going to grab me. I don't like having people behind me," she said, looking down at her lap.

"That makes sense. It's okay that you're scared. Anyone would be. I think that feeling will pass as you get used to being at Hogwarts again. You told me you needed some time to adjust," he said.

"I know there are anti-apparition wards for locations. Is there an anti-apparition object that makes it so you can't apparate that person or that object at all?" she asked.

Severus frowned. "I've never heard of anything like that, but I will ask Albus and see what we can come up with. You cannot be apparated within Hogwarts or on Hogwarts grounds."

"House Elves can. And Professor Dumbledore's phoenix can," she pointed out. "What if Lucius Malfoy's House Elves show up in the night to take me?" That was a new thought she'd just come across and she quite wished she hadn't.

"Albus has already modified the wards this summer. The only House Elves who can apparate within Hogwarts have been given tokens to wear that allow them through the new wards. Albus' phoenix will only apparate, if that is what it's doing, on his command," he said.

"Does our home have those wards? Can those wards be put on our home? What about Grimmauld Place?" Now that she'd had the thought of House Elf kidnapping it was a little upsetting.

"If it would help you feel better, I could ask Albus to place those wards on both locations, though they are both under the Fidelius charm and other House Elves would not know where to find them."

Rachel nodded quickly. "Yes, if it's not too much work for him."

"Would it help you to feel better if we simply requested that the Ministry assign you a guard from the aurors or the MLE patrol?" he asked.

"No. I don't think I want someone following me around. And you're right. No one can take me from Hogwarts. It's just…" She frowned as she tried to think of the words she wanted. She wasn't scared. She just didn't want to be taken again.

"It's okay to be frightened. I'm frightened as well," he said when she didn't continue.

"You are?"

"Yes. You being abducted was one of the worst moments in my life. I'm not sure anyone can fully understand that who isn't a parent. I will do anything to stop that from happening again."

Rachel watched him for a moment. She knew he cared about her, but she still never really expected him to say it like that. "You're still in danger too. He wants to kill you as much as he wants to kill me."

"He does, but I am in a far better position to protect myself. There are still things I want to teach you. Spells. Tactics. When you're ready. Given that we're in Hogwarts, I think we can safely leave apparition lessons until they're offered in the new year," he said, nodding.

She sighed. They had gotten way off track from the conversation she'd been intending to have with him. "I should be going, I have homework to do."

"Alright. Are you getting enough sleep? Enough to eat?" he asked.

"Yes to both," she said, collecting her bag, her cauldron, and her potions kit.

"You have enough doses of the modified Nerve Tonic?"

"Yes, you gave me enough to last until Sunday. I'm taking it every evening, just like usual," she said, moving toward the door. "I'm okay. I'll see you in class on Friday."

"I'll see you in the Great Hall for meals before then," he said pointedly.

"You will, I just meant face to face. Bye." She left before he could offer an escort to the common room.

Third day back and things were already a lot. It was going to be a long year.

---

Rachel sat in the hallway outside the Defense classroom with her friends and a small portion of the Defense class who still had to take their exam. She kept running through in her mind how she was going to do this. The professor would tell her that the next part of the exam was the Boggart-Banishing spell, and she would say that she was declining to face the boggart and would take a zero for this portion of the exam.

Simple. Then why was she so nervous about it? What if Professor Nash insisted that she face the boggart, or released it before she had a chance to run away?

Pansy exited the classroom, her mouth in a thin line, which meant she was upset and trying not to show it. "Your turn, Padma," she said before walking away with her head held high.

Padma stood, smoothed her robes, and then entered the classroom, pulling the door closed behind her.

Rachel exhaled. She was next then.

"You'll do fine," Millie said, looking up from a textbook and patting Rachel's knee.

"It wasn't that bad. We covered pretty much all of it in the DA," Theo agreed. He had also looked shaken when he'd exited the classroom, but he had quickly regained his composure.

She couldn't explain to them that she wasn't worried about the exam itself, just the boggart.

"And it really is a very minimal portion of our grade. So even if you make a mistake, it will be alright," Hermione added.

"Thanks," Rachel said, though her grade was the last thing on her mind. She decided that if Professor Nash moved to release the boggart, she would run from the room and hopefully she would be fast enough that the boggart would focus on Professor Nash instead. That was about the only thing she could do, other than refuse to go in the classroom, and that would cause more problems than it would solve.

She drummed her fingers on her knee restlessly. She had read the newspaper this morning. They'd reported that the Brockdale Bridge had collapsed, killing at least a dozen muggles. It was listed as a Death Eater attack, though they weren't specific about how the bridge had collapsed. Rachel couldn't help but wonder what the point was. Most of the magical world wasn't going to care that much about muggles being killed. And those who did care were already opposing the Dark Lord.

It was just senseless death and murder. And it would keep happening until she stopped it.

Compared with that, her troubles with a boggart seemed pretty small, but somehow that didn't stop her from worrying about it. If her boggart wasn't Severus, if she knew for sure it would be Death Eaters or the Dark Lord, she would just face it and deal with it. But she couldn't let anyone see Severus like that.

How did someone make the Dark Lord funny, anyway? She tried to imagine him showing up as her boggart, threatening to kill Severus and her friends, threatening to torture them. She couldn't think of anything that would make that funny. Maybe later she should ask how her friends had made the Death Eaters as boggarts funny for their exam.

The classroom door opened again and Padma stepped out, still clutching her wand. "Rachel, you're next."

Rachel got to her feet and pulled out her wand.

"Good luck," Neville said.

"You'll do fine," Theo added.

"Thanks," she told them. She exhaled again and drew a slow breath before walking into the classroom and pulling the door shut behind her.

Professor Nash was seated in one of the student desks and had a pile of parchment in front of her. "Rachel Snow, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," Rachel said.

"Very good. We're just going to run through a few spells. I'm not interested in testing reaction times or dueling ability today, I just want to see what spells you know. Direct all of them toward the dummy, if you would. I'm aware you're studying non-verbal incantations, but I'd prefer if you say the incantations for the purpose of this exam," Professor Nash said, nodding in the direction of a dummy.

It was the same model that they had found in the Room of Requirement, though it looked a little more worn than the ones there. "Yes, ma'am," she said again, facing the dummy and holding her wand ready.

"The Knockback jinx."

"Flipendo," Rachel said, making the wand movement that was a little like a squiggly check mark.

"Disarming charm," Professor Nash said, making notes on the parchment in front of her.

"Expelliarmus." The dummy shook as the spell hit it.

The list went on, growing more difficult, but they were all spells that they had taught in the DA. Rachel noticed that she wasn't asked to do more dangerous spells like the Cutting hex or the Exploding charm, which was probably just as well inside the school.

"Very good. I'm impressed with your class. Now, there is a boggart in the cabinet at the end of the classroom. Go ahead and use the Opening charm to open the cabinet and use the appropriate spell to handle the boggart," Professor Nash said.

"I'd like to decline this portion of the exam and receive a zero," Rachel said, feeling like her chest was being constricted.

"No one is being graded on these exams, it's only for me to find out where everyone is at so I can be an effective teacher. I understand that facing a boggart is a frightening experience, but I can assure you that I will not let it harm you," Professor Nash said steadily.

Rachel shook her head. "I know the Boggart Banishing spell, the incantation is riddikulus and you have to think of something that makes the boggart funny so you can laugh at it. Laughter drives a boggart away. However, I'm not willing to show anyone my boggart form. It's personal."

"All boggarts are personal, but I promise you I will not reveal your boggart's form to anyone," Professor Nash began.

"My boggart is not a spider or a dark creature or a bloody eyeball. It's private," Rachel snapped, recalling some of the boggarts she'd seen from her classmates in third year. "Is there any other portion of the exam you'd like me to perform?"

Professor Nash looked at her for a long moment and then shook her head. "No, that's all. Please send in Ron Weasley."

"Thank you," Rachel said, feeling her heart race as she left the classroom. "Ron, your turn."

Ron grimaced and headed toward the classroom.

"Did it go alright?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, fine. I knew all the spells, but it didn't matter that much. I asked and Professor Nash said we aren't being graded on this, she just wants to know what we know," she said, collecting her bag from next to Millie.

"That's kind of what I figured," Theo said as he got to his feet. "Charms or Herbology homework first?"

"Herbology," Neville said. "Then we can spend the time after practicing non-verbal spells."

"And we can take a break this evening," Millie said. "After Charms and Herbology homework, we're caught up until tomorrow."

"Thank goodness," Neville said.

"Let's go get started then," Hermione said.

Rachel tried to push everything out of her mind. It was fine, she hadn't had to face the boggart. Now she could focus on homework. And then she could take a break.

---

Severus sat down behind his desk on Friday afternoon with a small sense of relief. At least classes were finished for the week. The first week was always one of the worst as students relearned boundaries and appropriate behavior. He had a few stacks of summer homework left to grade, another pile of assignments his sixth years had just handed in, and a note from Rachel indicating that she, Draco, Theo, and Hermione were planning to try out for the potions competition team.

While he was slightly annoyed by that, he wasn't too concerned. He had two teams from his seventh years and he thought Tristram, Tracey, Helen, and Declan would probably be the competing team for Hogwarts. He would assign the three teams a brewing trial similar to the ones that would be in the potions championship and whoever did the best would be the team he handed off to Slughorn.

It still irked him that the man would be in the castle. He'd made the effort to remain cordial to Slughorn, but he felt that Slughorn had been a poor Head of House, a poor Potions teacher, and a poor example of humanity in general. However, Albus was correct in sheltering Slughorn. Despite how Severus felt about the man, he was a decent brewer and had half a dozen notable potions inventions credited to him. They could not allow him to be recruited by the Death Eaters, either willingly or unwillingly.

Severus also was supervising detentions following dinner and would be for the coming month. He had used legilimency on his students to discover the truth. He'd been reluctant to do so, and he was certain Albus wouldn't approve, but he would not let a threat to Rachel stand. Not now. He'd held the conversations under the pretext of NEWT and OWL advising for the older students, casually asking them how their summers had been and scanning their memories for instructions from Death Eaters or the Dark Lord. He'd been gratified not to find any, but he still wasn't letting down his guard. He'd given them advice on the subjects they were taking and career advice when requested, and had then asked if they had seen anything regarding the vandalism in the dormitories.

The older students had all been surprised, they hadn't seen or heard about it. Selina and Ella, two third year girls, had denied it, but it was immediately clear it had been their handiwork. A quick peek in their minds told him they had concocted the plan together, but Selina had been the one to paint the Dark Mark.

Severus had assigned them each a month of weekday detentions, lectured them about what the Dark Mark meant, told them he would not stand for threats made against any of his students, and indicated he would be writing to their parents. Ella had promptly burst into tears, but Selina had remained stone faced. He planned to have private talks with each of them about the path they were currently walking and where it would lead them. He wasn't aware that any of their relatives were Death Eaters, but that didn't mean much.

Part of him was relieved that there had been no real threat behind the Dark Mark appearing on Rachel's dormitory door, but he had already learned the cost of underestimating people and he was not ready to fully dismiss Ella or Selina as a threat to Rachel. They were old enough to carry an illegal portkey or to pass information to Death Eaters.

He looked over his desk, trying to put things into an order in which they needed to be accomplished, but was interrupted by a knock on his office door.

"Enter," he called, resting his hand on his wand. The door opened and Maureen Nash peered in. "Do you have a moment to speak privately, Professor Snape?"

"Call me Severus, please," he said. "Come in. We can speak privately here."

"Maureen, then. I'm sorry we haven't had much of a chance to speak other than in passing," Maureen said as she pulled the door closed behind her. "I've still been getting settled in this past week, it's been a big change."

"I'm sure it has. Please, sit down," he said, coming out from around his desk to join her at his table. He was a little wary, their track record with Defense professors was not good, but he hoped that if he were a teacher in a foreign school, someone would at least offer him the courtesy of listening to him.

Maureen sat. "I understand that you are Rachel Snow's father? And her Head of House?"

Severus froze. What could have happened in a week's time to necessitate this? Usually it was Rachel coming to him to tell him about the misdeeds of the Defense professor, not the other way around. "Yes, I'm her adoptive father, and her Head of House. Has something happened?"

"Not quite, though I am concerned. I'm concerned for a number of reasons, actually, but let's start with Rachel. I have given all of my students fourth year and up an informal exam, just to see where their Defense education is at. I understand that some of their Defense professors have had some odd ideas of what should comprise a Defense curriculum," she said, clearly trying to be polite.

"That's one way to put it. A number of our Defense professors these past few years have inadequately filled the role, for one reason or another," Severus said, hoping to let her know she could be frank with him.

"Despite that, some of the students performed very well, particularly the sixth years. Rachel did well on her exam, except there was a problem. She refused to face the boggart, and when I prompted her, she indicated that her boggart was private," Maureen explained.

Ah. That was a different problem entirely. "I have seen Rachel adequately perform the Boggart Banishing spell. I believe she is concerned that her boggart will be related to the trauma she suffered in June. Rachel was abducted by Death Eaters and was tortured. She is still not ready to face it and at this point she refuses to participate in any sort of discussion regarding it."

Maureen stared at him, her mouth forming a small 'O'. "I beg your pardon," she finally said.

Severus resisted the urge to sigh. Why had Albus left him to explain about the war? Shouldn't he have told her before inviting her to Britain? "How much do you currently know about the war in Britain?"

"I'm aware that Britain is formally at war with a dark wizard commonly called You-Know-Who and that he has a group of terrorists called the Death Eaters. But why on earth would they abduct and torture a school child?" Maureen asked.

"Rachel has been targeted by the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters since she was a baby. The Dark Lord killed her parents and wishes to kill her as well. She is sometimes referred to as the Girl-Who-Lived, as when the Dark Lord attempted to kill her as a baby, her mother's sacrifice reflected the Killing Curse back at the Dark Lord and disembodied his soul for a number of years. The Dark Lord regained his body a little over a year ago," Severus explained, wishing again that Albus had been the one to do this.

She blinked a few times, seeming to try and process that. "Then, if you'll forgive me for asking, why is she not dead if she was abducted by this Dark Lord?"

Severus closed his eyes for a moment. "Because the Dark Lord is inclined to torture and we managed to rescue her before they could finish killing her."

"Dear God," she said flatly.

Severus thought 'dear god' pretty much summed up the situation.

"Well. This explains a number of concerns I had about other students' boggarts. When I teach boggarts at WAM, we typically see phobias, monsters, and the fear of rejection. If a student's boggart is a person, we investigate to make sure that the student isn't being harmed. But here…I had a number of students whose boggarts were people in hoods and masks threatening to kill or torture them or their friends or family members," Maureen said.

"The hood and mask apparel is generally what the Death Eaters wear when they attack. Most students will have seen pictures in the newspapers by now," Severus said. He was unsurprised that the students were having these fears. They were very reasonable fears these days.

"There are two students who I am still concerned about, both in your House. Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy both had boggarts that were adult men who were threatening them with death and bodily harm, among other threats. Judging from their features, I'm going to make the assumption that they were their fathers, or perhaps uncles. Does Hogwarts have a system of investigation to make certain they're alright at home?" she asked.

"Draco Malfoy has been emancipated, his father is a Death Eater who tried to kill him recently. Theo Nott is now living with another family, his father is a Death Eater who cast a torture spell on him that would have killed him without intervention," Severus explained.

"I see." Maureen sat for a moment. "How many other children of Death Eaters should we be concerned about? What actions do we need to take to ensure their safety?"

"Albus and I are keeping a close eye on the situation. If you believe a student is in danger, please seek their Head of House and we will investigate accordingly," Severus said, feeling a frown tugging on his lips. Malcolm Baddock was the one he was worried about. He had again shown up starving and was still insistent that he was fine at home. Severus was leery about reporting this to Family Services for a number of reasons, but he was running out of options.

"Are the students who have been rescued from these situations receiving help and support?"

"They've been offered it and they know they can ask for help at any time," Severus said, watching her. He was grateful that she seemed to have the students' best interests in mind. That was a refreshing change for a Defense professor. "I'm sure the situation here in Britain must come as a shock."

Maureen shook her head. "The world is aware that Britain is at war, but most of them are concerned about it being contained here and not spreading to the rest of Western Europe. I don't think anyone has realized how it's impacting the children here. I realize this is probably a better question for the Headmaster, but in your opinion as a teacher, how safe is this school?"

And wasn't that a complicated question. "I believe the school itself is safe from the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters for at least the next year or two. Albus is a powerful wizard, probably the most powerful wizard in Britain, and the Dark Lord will hesitate to bring the fight here." At least until he'd accomplished his other goals. The government would fall before Hogwarts did.

"I suppose that's something," she said.

Severus watched her, hoping he hadn't scared her away from the Defense position so soon.

"I guess my next question should be is if there is anything else I should know?" she finally asked.

"I would recommend not leaving the safety of the castle and the grounds," Severus said, hoping that Albus had already given her that warning. "And, regarding Rachel, I generally ask that the staff keep an eye out for her, and that if she needs to leave class that either Millicent Bulstrode or Theodore Nott accompany her. She is still vulnerable and we fear that she may be attacked by students whose beliefs align with the Dark Lord's."

"Some of the students support him?"

"Yes. I'm afraid that while the Death Eaters can be considered terrorists, this is very much a civil war. A number of people in our government stand with his beliefs, if not his actions. A fair portion of purebloods are allied with the Dark Lord, even if they don't fight for him. Many students bring their beliefs they were taught at home with them, though some change their beliefs while they are here," he explained.

Maureen shook her head again, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Well, this has been enlightening. Thank you for explaining some things to me."

Severus inclined his head. "I am available if you have other questions, or if you have concerns about Rachel or other students in my House."

"Thank you," she said again as she stood. "Well, a teacher's work is never done. I'm certain you have things to do, so I will leave you now."

"Good day," he told her and watched as she let herself out of his office.

Shaking his own head, Severus went back to his desk. He could understand Albus not going into detail about the war while he was trying to get a professor to come here, but he should have told her more than he did before she had accepted the position.

He reorganized his piles of essays so that the ones that needed to be handed back sooner were at the top of the stack, recovered his grade book from beneath a rack of vials, found his red ink quill, and prepared to work until dinner time.

---

Rachel glanced over the people who were trying out for the team. It was a fairly small crowd, almost all lower years, and thankfully there were only a handful of people in the stands watching. "Who here is trying out for Keeper?"

Timothy raised his hand and so did Graham.

She nodded. "We'll have you go last, but go ahead and fly with the others for tryouts. Just fly for now, then we'll introduce the Quaffle, then the Bludgers. Get started."

The team watched from the ground as everyone took off. Rachel was pleased to see that all of them at least knew what to do with a broom, even the two very young girls. "Does anyone know who the two girls are?"

"The girl with the long black braids is Viola Richmond. She's a second year. The other one is a first year, I don't know her name," Martin said.

"Alright, go up there with them. I'll be in the stands so I can actually see," she said. "Give them a few minutes then bring in the Quaffle, but I want anyone who can't fly off the field before we introduce the Bludgers. Draco, can you guard the goal once we bring out the Quaffle?"

"Sure," he said.

"Let's go then," she directed. She mounted her broom and very carefully flew herself up into the stands. She knew she couldn't both hang onto her broom and watch the people trying out at the same time.

Daryl's flying had improved since last year, but not enough that Rachel considered him a serious contender for the Chaser spot. Maynard had also improved, he was less hesitant now, but he was easily being outflown by Harper.

Rachel had already discussed Harper with the team and Scarlett, Stephen, and Martin had all agreed that Harper's behavior had improved and that they would be alright with him on the team. She was willing to let him take the spot, but she wanted to have a talk with him first.

Viola was flying well, her thin braids streaming out behind her as she wove through the other players. She made a quick weave through the goal hoops, one of Rachel's favorite maneuvers, and headed back in the other direction. The first year girl was also flying reasonably well, she'd clearly been on a broom before, but she was avoiding the other players entirely.

She watched the back and forth as the Quaffle was brought out, nodding as Harper received a pass and then scored on Draco. She gave them about ten minutes of back and forth play before she blew her whistle and quickly used the Amplifying charm so she wouldn't have to shout. "If you don't want to be on the field with the Bludgers, take a seat. Harper, come here."

Harper flew over and landed in the stands a few feet away.

Rachel ended the Amplifying charm with a finite. "Come sit for a minute. We need to talk."

Harper looked at her warily but sat down next to her.

"I take it you want the Chaser spot?" she asked.

"I do. I'd be a good fit for your team," he said. "I've had plenty of experience in the youth leagues in the summers."

"How are you doing at controlling your temper these days?"

"Better. I'm working on it. I did apologize to you about last time, but I'll apologize again if you want," he said, his gaze fixed on the other players.

She shook her head. "No need. Are you going to be okay with playing half-bloods and muggleborns? Can you handle yourself when competing against the other Houses? My policy is that we don't purposely foul the other players."

Harper nodded. "I can work with that. I can adapt my play style to fit with the other Chasers. And I'm okay with people with other blood statuses. I punched Michael in the face last year. Broke his nose."

Rachel turned to look at him with wide eyes. Here they were talking about him controlling his temper and he says something like that? "Why?" she asked.

He looked at her, his expression grim. "Because he was my friend, for a while. And he laughed about you being tortured. I saw you in the hospital wing, you were asleep, but people were saying that you might never get out of that hospital bed again. So, when he laughed about it in our dorm room, I punched him."

She turned her attention back to the tryouts, not quite sure what to do with that information. "Alright. I don't need you to punch people for me, no matter what they say about me."

"It wasn't for you, not really. It was because of the things he told me and what he was trying to get me to do. And I believed him, because I wanted a friend. But he was never really my friend. You should watch your back around him. He's dangerous."

"I will." And she would tell Severus. He definitely needed to know if Michael was trying to influence people. "Thanks."

"Anything else you want to know?" he asked.

"No, when we try out Keepers, I want you to take shots on the goal with them," she said.

He smiled, though he looked uncertain. "Alright." He took off again and Rachel watched for a moment before she blew her whistle and cast the Amplifying charm again. "We're trying out Keepers now. Fifteen shots each, starting with Timothy. Viola, come over here."

People began rearranging themselves on the pitch and Viola flew over and gracefully landed next to Rachel.

"Come sit down for a minute," Rachel said after ending the Amplifying charm, her eyes still on the pitch. "You're not interested in the Chaser spot, are you?" She hadn't seen Viola going for the Quaffle.

"No. I want the reserve Seeker spot," she said as she sat down.

"Why?"

"Because it's the best position on the team. You should see yourself fly, you're amazing. I want to fly like that. I want to train with you," Viola said earnestly.

Rachel grimaced. The whole point was that she couldn't fly like that anymore. Not right now at least. "You understand that it's possible you won't play a game for the next two years? I'm recruiting for a reserve Seeker because I'm not sure I'll be able to play in the game in October. I intend to retake the Seeker spot as soon as I'm able."

"I understand. But I'll still be allowed at team practices, right?" Viola asked. "You'll train me to fly like you?"

"You'd be required to be a team practices, yes. And I will train you as much as I can. I'm having a little bit of trouble flying right now, but I intend to get better." Hopefully sooner rather than later. "It's kind of a thankless position for you to be in."

"No, I want it. I want to fly with you. When you can, of course. And I want to be on the team, even if I don't take the full Seeker role until my fourth year," Viola insisted. "Do you want to release a practice Snitch and see me catch it? I can do it."

Rachel paused for a moment, watching Timothy make a save. "No need, I've seen you fly. You know what to do on a broom and the rest can come with practice."

The Keepers traded places and they watched quietly for a few minutes as the Chasers began taking shots on the goal. She was definitely going with Timothy, but that wasn't a surprise given that Miles had trained him last year.

"The Slytherin team is the best team in the school and I want to be on it. I intend to try out for the League once I finish at Hogwarts. I am committed, I promise," Viola said.

"What team in the League?" Rachel asked.

"Magpies for me, but I'd also take Ballycastle," she said immediately.

Rachel nodded. They were both good teams and were consistently near the top of the League.

The Chasers took their last shots at Graham and Rachel stood and blew her whistle again. "Let's head down to the pitch, I need to talk with my team."

Viola nodded eagerly and took off.

Rachel carefully flew back down to the pitch, unable to ignore the way she was shaking on her broom. "Team with me, the rest of you wait for a few minutes." After her team was gathered around her she cast a privacy ward around them.

"Thoughts? Concerns?" she asked.

"Timothy should take the Keeper spot," Martin said. "I'm not just saying that because we're friends, but he's much better than Graham was."

This got nods from the rest of the team. "We're okay with Harper in the Chaser spot?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's not terrible now. Not my favorite person ever, but not terrible," Scarlett said.

"What were the two of you talking about?" Draco asked.

"I wanted to know if he had better control over his temper." She wasn't entirely convinced he did, but he did seem to be trying.

"Harper was the best one trying out, I think he's the right one for the spot, and sharing a dorm with him has actually been mostly alright for the past six months or so," Stephen said.

Rachel nodded. "And I want Viola for the reserve Seeker position, unless any of you have objections."

They shook their heads. "You're training her, she's your pick," Draco said.

"Thanks," Rachel said, ending the privacy ward and turning to the people who had tried out. "Thank you everyone for coming out, we really appreciate it and you all flew well. We'll be taking Harper for the Chaser position, Timothy for the Keeper position, and Viola for the reserve Seeker position."

There were a few grumbles as the others left, but nothing like the explosion they'd had last year.

"Welcome to the team. Practices are Wednesdays, four thirty to six, and Sundays, one to three. Draco will help you two get fitted into uniforms, I'll help Viola. If you have questions, let any of us know," she said.

"Thank you!" Viola shouted before she turned, mounted her broom, and flew off of the pitch.

"I'm glad to be on the team," Timothy said, looking proud.

"Me too. We're going to kick ass," Harper said.

"Alright. We'll see you all Wednesday," Rachel said. She waited for a moment while the team dispersed and then followed Scarlett back to the locker room.

"Well, at least they're enthusiastic," Scarlett said.

"That they are," Rachel said, though she thought she could do with a little less enthusiasm. She yawned. She really wanted a nap, but she still had homework she needed to do before that was even a possibility. Maybe they could wrap up by eight and then she could be in bed by eight thirty.

"How are you doing, Rachel?" Scarlett asked, once they reached the locker room.

Rachel put her broom away and then sat down. She hadn't bothered changing for this. "Fine. Just tired. I should be able to fly better, it's just going to take some time."

"You will. Take your time. Now that we've got a reserve Seeker, there isn't so much pressure on you," she said.

"Now that we've got three people in the team in your year, you're going to have to recruit and train when you're seventh years. I plan on leaving you a functional team when I leave Hogwarts and I want you to do the same for the others," she said.

Scarlett nodded as she changed. "I've heard about what's happening with the Gryffindor team from Ginny. Apparently they're an utter disaster right now. I promise I will leave our team in better shape than that."

"Good." Rachel thought that Scarlett would be her pick for Captain when she was gone, but Severus might want someone who would be Captain for more than one year.

"Alright," Scarlett said as she finished tying her shoes. "Let's head back to the castle. I've got things to do and I'm sure you do too."

"I do," Rachel agreed, thinking of her Transfiguration homework. Professor McGonagall had jumped right into the theory on animate conjurations and they had a whole two feet to write. "Professor Snape asked you to walk back with me from Quidditch practices?"

"He did. He seemed to think it was more likely I would be with you after practice than the boys would. I understand why. You did get kidnapped coming back from Quidditch practice a few years ago," Scarlett said, leading the way out the door.

"I didn't. I followed a dog and a cat down into the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow and things just kind of went downhill from there," she said, aware as she said it how ridiculous that sounded. "My godfather didn't exactly kidnap me. He just used me as leverage so that he could get a trial."

Scarlett looked at her with her eyebrows raised. "The weirdest shit just happens to you, doesn't it?"

"You have no idea," Rachel said, shaking her head. No one except Severus really had any idea. She would rather keep it that way though, at least for now.

---

Rachel wasn't entirely surprised to find that Severus' office was empty when she arrived for dinner. There were piles of essays on his desk, ready to hand back, and she hoped that he hadn't been stuck grading all day. She was never, ever going to be a teacher. It was bad enough writing the essays, let alone grading hundreds of them.

She went through the permeable wall and found Severus in his armchair, frowning at whatever he was reading. "Did you have a good day?" she asked, heading toward the sofa.

"It was passable. I finished what needed doing, at least. How was your week?" he asked, setting down his quill.

"Not bad. Busy. I went with Harper, Timothy, and Viola for the team. I think they'll be a good fit."

"You're comfortable with Harper? You don't feel threatened by him?"

"No, I don't, and the others on the team said he was doing better with them. I think it will be alright. Did you know Harper broke Michael's nose last year?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "No, I did not know that. When did that happen?"

"Last week of school. I imagine you were busy with other things. Anyway, Harper says to watch out for Michael and it sounds like Michael is attempting to sway people towards Death Eater stuff. I thought you should know, but I don't know if he's doing it this year." She shrugged. She wasn't entirely sure what Severus could do about it, but he should at least know.

"I will keep an eye on it. I should tell you that I found out who painted the Dark Mark on your door," he began.

"Selina and Ella right? I heard rumors that they each wound up with a month of detention, but no one knows why." That rumor had been making the rounds in the common room since Thursday. Rachel was rather glad no one else had heard about the Dark Mark on her door. She'd rather not deal with the resulting drama.

"That's correct. I will be keeping a close eye on them as well and attempting to convince them of their folly," he said, nodding. "Maureen came to see me on Friday."

"Oh?" she asked, feeling a sinking feeling. She hadn't thought her not facing the boggart was a big enough deal for Professor Nash to tell Severus. Perils of having her guardian easily accessible to her other teachers, she supposed.

"She told me you refused to take on the boggart during your exam. Is that true?"

Rachel shifted uncomfortably. "That's true." She bit her lip for a moment and decided to go with a half truth. "I wasn't sure what form it was going to take. I figured it wasn't going to be a dementor, I'm not really scared of them anymore, but…it could have been a number of things and I just wasn't comfortable with Professor Nash seeing that."

"It seems reasonable that it may have become one of the Death Eaters who hurt you, or the Dark Lord. I can understand if you're not ready for that sort of reminder yet," he said, his tone gentle.

She felt even worse for deceiving him, but she couldn't tell him what form her boggart had taken last year. "I just couldn't. And I know how to deal with a boggart. You've seen me do it."

"I have. As I said, it's alright if you're not ready yet. Ten weeks is not that long ago. Are you having nightmares?" he pressed.

"No, I'm still not dreaming at all." And that was a huge relief. At least she could sleep.

"How about your scar?"

"Haven't felt much from it this week, except on Friday night it twinged pretty bad and I felt…I'm not sure how to describe it. Committed maybe? I felt like I had a plan of action and wanted to go through with it." Experiencing the Dark Lord's emotional states was a weird phenomenon that she was still getting used to. At least it happened relatively infrequently.

Severus' frown deepened. "I presume you weren't doing or thinking anything at the time that would have caused that emotion within yourself?"

"No, I was getting ready to go to bed. When I feel what he's feeling, it's usually pretty clear that it's not me. He gets angry sometimes and that's rather foreign." She shrugged again. "I don't know. I'd rather it wasn't happening, but at least it's not hurting me or causing problems."

"I'd rather it wasn't happening as well. I will check with Albus and see if he's made any progress on a way to block this connection. Is there anything else I should know about?" he asked.

"No. Things are okay for the most part. Oh, I need more of the modified Nerve Tonic, I only have one vial left," she said, telling herself she wasn't lying to him. Things were mostly okay. She was managing.

"I'll get those for you before you leave, I have them in my private lab. Let's have dinner."

Rachel left her bag by the sofa and went to the dining table, listening as Severus requested their dinners through the floo. A moment later a plate of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and green beans appeared before her, along with a glass of pumpkin juice. She frowned down at the food. She didn't want to eat this. It was too…too something. Whatever the emotion was, she couldn't figure it out, but it definitely wasn't from the Dark Lord.

"Is everything alright?" Severus asked as he sat.

"I hate to waste food, but I can't eat this," she said, deciding that she needed to say that rather than staring at the food for the next half hour.

"Is this a problem with the food or a problem with your stomach?"

"A little of both. I'm really having trouble with the smell of meat while I'm on this potion," she said, figuring that was true, though it wasn't the whole problem.

"If we vanish the meat will you be able to eat the rest?" he asked.

She considered it. "I'd be able to eat the potatoes, I think."

"That is definitely not enough for a meal. What else would you like to eat with the potatoes and I will ask the kitchen to send it up?" he asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

Rachel tried to think about that. Nothing in particular sounded good. "A bread roll maybe. I don't know. It's hard to eat on this potion, it makes food taste different and my stomach hasn't been very settled."

"How about eggs in some form? They have protein. Carrots maybe? Or an apple?" he asked.

"A bread roll, a hard boiled egg, and some raw carrots," she agreed.

Severus nodded. "I will get that, you go into my lab and get the modified Nerve Tonic vials, a Nutrient Restoration potion, and a vial of Stomach Soothing potion if you need it."

Rachel got to her feet and went down the hallway into Severus' lab. There was a part of her that wished she could spend more time in here. It was a nicely outfitted lab that was very organized. It was a quiet brewing space. In here you could almost forget the rest of the castle and its occupants even existed. She found the vials of modified Nerve Tonic waiting for her on the counter and then she opened the potions cupboard and looked through the contents. There were things in here Severus probably shouldn't have. She recognized Veritaserum, Polyjuice Potion, and a few others that were probably at least restricted. Grabbing a vial of the Nutrient Restoration potion, she closed the cupboard back up and went back into the main area.

Severus was already back in his seat and now there were a few small plates around Rachel's place.

She put the vials of modified Nerve Tonic in her bag and then came back to the table. "Thanks. I know I'm kind of being a pain." She quickly downed the Nutrient Restoration potion, trying not to taste it, and then filled her mouth with pumpkin juice.

"If this is what it takes for you to eat, then this is what we will do. You have less than two months and then you can stop taking the modified Nerve Tonic and hopefully that will settle your stomach. Are you managing alright in the Great Hall?" he asked.

"Yeah, there's usually a main dish that I can eat," she said, knowing she was stretching the truth again. She ate. Not particularly regularly, but she ate every day at least.

"Let me know if it becomes a problem, you can always take your meals here if you need to," he said.

"Thanks," she said again. She began with the potatoes, because those were fairly easy to eat. "What do you know about non-verbal magic? Is there a trick to it that I'm missing?"

"Non-verbal magic requires focus and preparation. As you have learned spells over the years, you've taught your magic to perform them. A spell that you've cast a hundred times is far easier than a spell you've cast only once or two. When you cast the Wand Lighting charm, do you even bother with the wand movement any more? Do you think about the desire for light?" he asked.

"No, I just kind of point and say lumos," she said.

He nodded. "Because you've taught your magic what to do when you want a light. Some teachers suggest that you try saying the incantation in your mind while you are first attempting to learn non-verbal magic, but I recommend against that, as you're not truly breaking the spell from the incantation in your mind. We use incantations to focus ourselves and to direct magic, but there is nothing magic about the word lumos. That's just the focus. Other languages have similar spells using different words entirely."

Rachel fiddled with her fork as she considered that. "And the spells are in latin because that's when our spells were created?"

Severus shook his head. "I assure you, most of our spells do not come from ancient Rome. Latin was used as a scholarly language through a fair portion of Western Europe for centuries. Much of English derives its roots from latin, as you've been taught with the etymology for spells. The spell creators could have just as easily used English for their spells, but even that would differ from what we speak now. English has evolved over the past two thousand years, moving from old English starting in the fifth century, to middle English, which was around the Norman conquest, and moving to modern English around the sixteenth century."

"But they used latin?"

"You have to understand that masses of people being able to read is a historically recent phenomenon and primarily the focus through the seventeen century was for people to be able to read the bible. It wasn't until maybe two hundred years ago that there was a push for even children of commoners to learn to read. Literacy rates among witches and wizards were generally better than average for any given time period, but most of those writings were in latin or in runes. There weren't really any magical texts in English until about four hundred years ago," he explained.

"How do you know all this stuff?" she asked, though they were now far from the original topic.

"I was curious about how spells came about and did some research, which led to different research. Back to my original point though, incantations are a tool to guide our minds and our magic. Practice casting a spell verbally, and then trying to cast it again nonverbally directly after. Notice the way your magic feels, notice the way that you are guiding it, focus on what you're trying to achieve," he said. "And eat your food before it gets cold."

Rachel rolled her eyes but went back to her potatoes. "Can I have a pass to the Restricted Section?"

"What do you plan on using it for?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Just to see what's in there. Don't you think it's odd that in a school there are books we can't look at?"

"In a non-magical school, yes. In a magical school, there are certainly spells and magics we do not want younger students messing around with. I will give you a pass to the Restricted Section if you promise me to show me what spell you wish to cast or what potion you wish to brew before you do it," he said.

"Okay, I promise. I wasn't planning on casting or brewing anything. I'm mostly just curious." She was a little surprised. She hadn't actually expected him to give her the pass.

"I will warn you, while Albus has had the worst of the Dark Magic books removed from the library entirely, there are still some books in there that have rather gruesome descriptions."

"Did you go in the Restricted Section as a student?" she asked.

"Yes, though not with a pass."

Rachel grinned. "I thought you told me you didn't get into trouble at school."

"I didn't get into trouble, I was never caught. Now eat your food," he said, nodding at her plate.

She went reluctantly back to her food but she wondered if Severus realized how similar to Sirius he sounded when Sirius was telling her about all the mischief he'd gotten up to at school. It was probably best not to tell him. She settled in, glad for the quiet, and for the moment away from the rest of the school.