Severus stood, stunned, as Samantha walked briskly away. My gods! Imagine! Wings! To sweep and swirl across the sky at will, without a broomstick keeping you aloft. He wondered what other secrets the girl had to hide. Intrigued, he followed her, summoning his ever-useful invisibility cloak as he went.

She knew He was following her. The ghostly pale man, whom she could sense had experienced horrors unheard of firsthand. She felt nervous. It had been difficult to discern his thoughts. She could not tell if he had been the victim or the perpetrator of the horrors. Shuddering slightly, she increased her pace, but was still aware as he disappeared under the invisibility cloak. Cloak! She summoned her cloak and shoes and continued to walk swiftly. Undaunted, they caught up to her and she put them on as she went. He was following her more quickly now, to keep up. She broke into a mad dash, and sprinted up the school's steps. Once inside the doors, she leant against them, panting. Frightened, she decided the best course of action would be to hide before the man entered, too. Realizing the charm she had used earlier had been useless, she ran further into the school, greatly anxious to place much distance between herself and the Man.

Severus flew inside the school doors, but she was gone. He was sure he would see her again, though. Ignoring a startled group of first-year Hufflepuffs who had seen his mad dash, he began a brisk trot up to the Headmaster's office. He was certainly going to get to the bottom of this, no matter what it took. His curiosity had been piqued. As Dumbledore seemed to know everything, Severus decided a cup of tea at his office would be worth the tidbits of information he would wring out of the old man.

She leant against the rounded stone wall of the owlery, panting. That had been close. She decided to wait out the time before her meeting with the Headmaster in the relative safety around her, as He would surely be searching still. With a relieved sigh at her decision, she leant against the cool wall behind her and slid slowly down the wall, careful not to sit in any droppings. The rustling of the owls above her, and the warmth that the birds created slowly lulled her to sleep…

Half an hour later, Snape left the office scowling. Along with his infernal hints and twinkling blue eyes, Albus hadn't let out a single clue about the girl, and asked him to come back in half an hour. The nerve! Half an hour was barely enough time to get his cauldron simmering. There would be no experiments today. Another week of teaching snot-nosed little brats how to make basic potions. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

Samantha was startled awake by her inner sense. She could tell someone truly powerful was approaching. It would be best to be prepared. Standing up, she rubbed the grogginess from her eyes and took a casual pose by a window. From here, she could attack with either hand, and still be close enough to the window to make a quick exit if needed. The sun was setting and the footsteps grew nearer. The door opened, and she tensed. A dancing pair of blue eyes and a long crooked nose appeared. She relaxed slightly as Dumbledore entered the room, laughing at her own foolishness. Hogwarts was well protected. After a moment, she nodded ascent to his request for a cup of tea, and followed him from the room.

Severus grumbled and muttered to himself as he neared Albus's office. He snapped the password (Mars Bars) at the gargoyle and stepped onto the revolving staircase. Entering the office without so much as a knock, he flew in and collapsed on his usual chair without looking around. "Albus, remind me again why I'm here." No answer. He glanced up. No Albus. Looking around the room, he spotted a chair at the far end of the room with its back to him. A student's robes peeked out from the edge of the chair, feet were pulled up, and the head pulled down, hiding. He grinned, holding in a snicker. He still had it. Deciding to ignore the student until Albus arrived, he settled into his chair. Albus arrived less than thirty seconds later from one of his back rooms, carrying an enormous silver tray with three teacups on it. Severus grunted a greeting to him, then raised an eyebrow at the cups, clearly asking why there were three instead of the usual two. "One for you, one for me…and one for Samantha." Albus replied happily.

Samantha, sitting in a chair, waited for Albus to come back with the promised tea, anxious to meet the Professor she would study under. Bored, she moved the chair to face the window at the far corner of the room. Somebody burst into the office. She turned, then swore under her breath. It was He. The man who had seen her fly, then had followed her, was sitting in the same room. If she let her presence be known, he would most likely recognize her and corner her. Thinking fast, she ducked and pulled up her feet, hoping and praying he hadn't noticed her. She heard a soft snicker, then Albus came back carrying a tray and three steaming teacups. She heard her name called, and quickly changed her hair color. Hopefully that would be enough. Pretending to be confident, she got up from the chair and hauled it over to the desk. She snuck a glance at the Man, but he appeared to be busy frowning at Headmaster Dumbledore. Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow at Samantha's new auburn hair, but chose not to comment. "Severus, this is Samantha, the Independent." Severus sighed. Duh. "She will study under you for the next year or so, until she is caught up with the others at her age level." Severus and Samantha both became ridged, then began to protest at exactly the same time. Samantha from pure terror, Severus from anger. "You can't expect me to give up my own..." "I can't! Not him, anybody else, please! I swear I'll catch up myself if I have to…" "…not enough I give up my days teaching brats, now my life! Well I …" Albus held up a hand, cutting them both off mid-sentence. "I have my own reasons for this match. The decision is final." Samantha felt as though her stomach was sinking through to the ground. She began to shiver, but not noticeably. As the decision was final, she decided she had better get herself back under control, and quickly.

Severus realized Albus had on the expression he used when he was ready to fight to the end. It would be useless to protest until Albus was calm again. It would be easier to provide the girl - Samantha – with a room for the night and try to settle this tomorrow.

Albus regarded them both solemnly. He had thought long and hard about this decision. He was too busy, and the other teachers had classes plus work for the Order. He was not belittling Severus's usefulness. He was their only spy inside the circle of deatheaters, after all. It was just that he only had to work once a month or so – whenever he was called by Tom – and he had the most free time. A nagging feeling inside his head protested. That wasn't the only reason. Severus needed a friendly face. He was alone too much. He skipped meals, hated his job at Hogwarts, and was a double agent. He needed somebody extraordinary to show him the light. Albus would have loved to – Severus was like a son to him. He fully understood him like nobody else could, and was the only one Severus would trust with his fears. He needed a way to break their bond, and have Severus focus his emotions on another. He was an old man, on the top of a powerful dark wizard's hit list. He was also a key figure in the fight against the dark lord. Chances were that he wouldn't survive past the year. He needed somebody to be there for Severus when his death was proclaimed, or he would crack. He loved him like a son. Loved him enough to let him go.

Samantha was ideal. Young and strong, with a hidden power Albus couldn't identify. She wasn't accepted by the other houses, so without Severus, she would be a loner. He hoped that if Severus became responsible for her well being, he might be moved to act accordingly, and forge a connection through interaction. It was a perfect plan.

Albus shooed them out the door, with the excuse that she may want to get settled in. He called a house elf through the fireplace, and asked it politely to bring Samantha's luggage to Professor Snape's quarters. After the house elf grabbed the bags and disappeared, he looked at his desk and sighed.

Throughout all that commotion, the once steaming tea lay cold and untouched.