My apologies for not thanking my reviewers by name! Rest assured that I am grateful for each and every one of you! Here's hoping you'll each come back time and time again ;)

Also thanks to everyone who added me to their author alert! It makes me happy

And my apologies, this part is a little shorter than the first one. Some are just longer than others 

……………………………………………

Severus stepped into his quarters without truly realizing he had done so. His mind was entirely preoccupied with things he hadn't thought about in years.

Unconsciously, he lowered himself into the lone chair before the already lit fire. He sat forward restlessly and stared into the flames. Memories drifted through his mind, each from a time that seemed so long ago. Giving himself a mental shake, he brought the tumbler of firewhiskey to his lips. He couldn't even recall pouring the drink, as he had been so taken by the past.

'Damn that Potter,' he thought irritably. He had tried to forget such things for a reason, and here a single unwanted night with the boy had drudged them up again.

Downing a second shot of the whiskey, he stood and set the bottle upon a small table. He then turned to a small cupboard. With a flick of his wrist, the wards protecting the enclosed shelf were dispelled, allowing him to open the doors. Inside was a small collection of corked vials. He pulled one of the vials from it's place and closed the cupboard once again. A few incantations drifted from his lips, replacing the wards before he strode off to his bedroom.

Clothes were quickly shed, then he drank the sleep draught and set the empty bit of glass aside. Hopefully, his memories wouldn't disturb his dreams.

……………………………………………………………….

He awoke early the next morning. It was normal for him to wake in the twilight hours, as he preferred to get to the hall before it became crowded with students. It seemed an unspoken agreement amongst the staff that he would chaperone those few early risers that seemed to trickle into the hall about a half hour after he did. As such, there was also a mutual respect between himself and those few students. They were, after all, somewhat alike. They seemed to have few if any friends, and enjoyed their solitude, just as he did.

Today would prove to be a bit different however. Today, as he sat sipping his black coffee, reading through an essay written by one of his more intelligent seventh year students, another presence entered the hall.

He barely glanced up as she entered. She was nearly silent as she moved, as she always had been. She didn't walk so much as glide across the floor, closing the distance between them quickly. For a moment, and only a moment, he had the impression that she had wanted to speak to him, but no, she simply settled into the seat next to him. There was no recognition from her as she began fixing her coffee.

Turned as he was, to the right while his left arm lie on the table, he was able to see her quite easily, even as he feigned reading the parchment still held in his hands.

He watched as she added sugar to the dark liquid, then stirred it without spilling. He realized she'd gotten better over the years, more precise in her movements. Once upon a time, she might have shattered three cups on the floor before successfully completing the task.

His eyes drifted to hers, though there was no meeting of gazes, no sudden spark. Had he been expecting one? No, not with her. Never with her. The dark lenses that covered her eyes forced him to remember her limitation.

She had to know he was there, but the lack of recognition made him bolder. He set the paper aside.

While she still wore the dark glasses, she no longer wore the cloak as she had when they were students. Her hair was straight and black as the void, gathered loosely in a tail that hung over her left shoulder. Her robes, much like his, were black and without ornamentation, though he could see the buttons down the front of her shirt had tiny silver serpents embossed upon them. He wondered if her eyes were as silver as he remembered.

She seemed oblivious to his scrutiny, and said nothing as she sipped her coffee and nibbled on her bagel. He reluctantly returned to the paper as the first of the early risers entered the hall.

……………………………………..

Harry awoke with a dull burning in his scar. He smirked and rubbed at the offended flesh, wondering what Riddle had done to make it burn. Usually it hurt a lot, but this time it was different; it seemed more distant. He wondered why.

The sensation ceased as he dressed, and he shrugged it off by the time he joined his friends on the way to breakfast.

They had waited up for him last night, and he was touched that they would wait, even after the argument they'd had. Apologies were made and Harry laughed at what an arse he'd been. When they asked how the lesson had gone, he sadly explained that he wasn't allowed to discuss it, but they all smiled when he decided aloud hat it might not be so bad this time around.

As they entered the hall, it was already fairly full. The Gryffindor table's occupants shifted enough to let the trio take their usual seats. Once they were settled and began to gather their breakfast, Hermione nodded toward the Staff Table. "There, you see Harry? That's Professor Umbrae."

Harry twisted himself enough to get a view of the instructor he hadn't managed to meet. Was she really the same girl from Snape's story? He frowned a bit, watching the new instructor. She was sitting near the end of the table, next to Snape's empty chair. She was sitting back in her seat, the table before her was empty, and her head was tilted forward just slightly. With her dark glasses, she looked as if she had fallen asleep. None of the other teachers were talking to her, and it made him wonder if she really was asleep, or if she was as antisocial as the Potions Master.

Hermione was talking again, but he only caught the tail end of what she was saying. "-say she's a Slytherin."

"What? Sorry, I was thinking."

She gave him a look, then took a bite of her eggs before repeating herself. "She seems okay in class.. but they say she's a Slytherin."

"Oh, I know that. She was in the Class ahead of-" He cut off, realizing he shouldn't have gone into it. Hagrid's habit of slipping must be rubbing off on him.

"You know? Class ahead of who?" She watched him curiously, but he shook his head.

"Sorry, I'm not supposed to say.."

Ron leaned over to him, giving him a little shoulder shove. "You already said most of it, you might as well tell us the rest!"

Harry sighed and thought about it for a moment. "Alright, but I'm not telling you anything more." Both his friends nodded and leaned close, so they wouldn't be overheard as he whispered. "She was in the class ahead of Snape."

"How'd you find that out?"

"Snape told me last night.. Kind of.. Anyway, I'm not supposed to tell anyone!"

"Tell us what, Mate?" Ron grinned, and patted his friend on the back. Hermione nodded and smiled, and Harry did as well, all three understanding that they shouldn't repeat the information to anyone.

Harry wondered though.. Where did the confidentiality line lie? Her class didn't seem like a big secret. That information would probably come out in it's own time anyway. He decided it was about trust, and Snape probably wouldn't be too happy if he knew Harry had told, even if it didn't seem to mean much.

Breakfast pulled to a close, and they all began gathering their things, readying to head off to their first class. Harry looked toward the Staff table, where the teachers were also departing for classes. He frowned as he noticed Professor Umbrae was already gone. When had she left?

………………………………………….

Transfiguration had been an exorcise in humility. The class had been trying to cast what McGonnagal had called 'Simple Transfigurment Illusions'. The students hadn't thought them very simple at all.

The idea had been to alter a small box visually, while leaving it physically the same. Only a few of them had managed anything close to the goal, but McGonnagal had explained that she didn't expect anyone to get it the first time, and that they'd be working on it for the rest of the week. What a fun first week!

The students laughed and grumbled about the assignment as they headed off to their next classes. Quite a few Gryffindors gathered together as they walked, seeing as quite a few of them were all headed for the same class.

Harry was looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts, for a few reasons. Mostly, he decided it should be pretty easy this year, seeing as his DA group had gotten so far ahead of the class itself. Even Neville looked confident, and it made his heart soar.

He was also curious about this mysterious instructor. The almost wistful look on Snape's face as he'd described her.. well, it made him wonder what sort of relationship she had had with the snarky Potions Master.

They filed in as best they could and took their seats. Hermione had explained on the way to the class that they had been instructed to always sit in the same place as they had in the first class. Since Harry hadn't been in the class, Hermione and Ron had reserved a seat for him. As they sat, Harry glanced around the classroom.

Unlike the years before, when the class had been held in what was considered a normal classroom, this year it had been moved to the dungeons. This particular dungeon was fairly spacious, and was divided into two areas. The first being the tables and chairs where they were currently sitting, while the other, larger area was simply open space. The two areas were divided by moveable dividers, made of a dark, lacquered wood.

In the back of the room were several empty cages, and more arcane looking artifacts that Harry couldn't even guess as to what their purpose might be. The stone wall had no real windows, but a single enchanted 'window' near the ceiling let in what appeared to be muted sunlight. In addition to that, each student had a single candle on the table before their seat, presumably for them to work by, though at the moment, none of them were lit. Tapestries lined the wall below the window, some in color, but most seemed to be shades of black and gray. Harry wondered if they were really gray, or if the dim light simply made them appear that way.

At the front of the room, the instructor's desk looked as though it matched the dividers, as it was made of the same dark, lacquered wood. Behind the desk several perches stood off to either side of the blackboard. Large birds occupied two of these perches. One, Harry could tell was an Owl, mostly black with a spattering of grayish speckles, and darker gray feathers framing it's black face. As if away of his gaze, it turned to look at him, it's eyes glowing a faint red. A little startled, he looked at the other bird. It was about the same size, but it's feathers were completely black, and it's beak was longer, and black as well. 'A Raven.' He realized, smiling a bit. Hadn't Snape said her first name was Raven?

The entire class was startled as the heavy door closed with a loud, resounding thud. Professor Umbrae moved from the door and toward the front of the room. Turning swiftly once she got to the desk, she leaned back against it, looking out over the students. There was a sudden intake of breath as everyone noticed her eyes.

Her glasses were off and hanging from the breast pocket of her shirt. The small silver specks of her eyes drifted over the class slowly as she waited for the students to settle once more. "Good morning Class. It's so nice to.. see you." She smirked, and Neville sank back in his seat, looking a bit pale. "Relax. To defend against the dark arts, you must be comfortable in the presence of them. It doesn't help if you all panic like rats." She waited a moment more, as everyone composed themselves and remembered where they were. "Excellent." She looked directly at Harry. "So good of you to join us today Mr. Potter."

She moved behind her desk and came back to the front with a stack of parchments, then began setting one before each student as she continued speaking. "As I explained to the class yesterday, I have somewhat of a.. disability. And since none of you were able to figure out what exactly it was, I thought I'd give you more to work with. Anyone?" Ron and Hermione shared a glance, and the bushy haired girl slowly put her hand up. "Please enlighten me Miss Granger." She smiled frostily as she set a parchment before her, and paused to hear what she had to say.

"I believe you have a.." She fumbled a moment for an appropriate word, "condition known as the Eye of Darkness." No one seemed to notice Neville shrink back in his chair again. Umbrae seemed to be waiting for more, so Hermione cleared her throat and continued. "It is an ancient form of Dark Magic which allows the bearer to see in perfect darkness, as well as sence the movement and presence of other beings.. both live and dead."

"Excellent. Fifteen points to Gryffindor." There was a soft sigh of relief amongst the Gryffindor portion of the class. Slytherin though she might be, perhaps she was going to be more fair than Snape had ever been.

She returned to handing out the parchments. "I want you all to know what you're dealing with, so you aren't so unnerved by it. Yes, the Eye allows me to see in the dark, but it has many limitations of it's own."

Neville's hand slowly crept into the air. Harry smiled at him, trying to give him more courage. Neville stopped shaking. "Yes Mr. Longbottom?"

"Eh.. is that why you were wearing sunglasses yesterday?"

She smiled at him, and he seemed to relax a little more still. "Quite so. You see, while I am at home in the darkness, Light, can be a problem. During the day, I am, for all intents and purposes, blind. As many of you asked about yesterday. Which is also why this classroom will usually be dark." She had finished passing out the papers and returned to her spot, leaning on the desk. "However, I do not wish for any of you to ruin your eyes, so you will use these." With a wave of her hand, each of the candles were lit. They cast light down onto each students workstation, but did not seem to illuminate the room anymore than it had already been.

"You can ask more questions about the Eye later if you must. For now, let's move on. It has been brought to my attention that this class is not on even ground. The lack of a regular instructor, as well as.. other factors, have divided this group. I cannot even begin to teach you anything without knowing how uneven the playing field is. So if you will take up your quills," they shuffled around to do so, "and look at the paper before you. It is simply a test to see what you know. Be honest, and make your answers as detailed as possible. Do not discuss your answers, and do not help your classmates. This is not going to be a graded test, it is simply to see what you know. You have the rest of the class period to work on it. If you do not finish here, I expect you to complete it tonight, and hand it in tomorrow." She moved back behind her desk again and sat down, opening the waiting book. "You may begin."

…………………………………….

Harry hung back as the rest of the class spilled out into the hall. Once the last of his classmates was gone, her stepped up toward Umbrae's desk. "You wanted to see me professor?" After most of his fellow DA members had turned in their papers, she had looked and asked him to remain after class.

"Off the record Potter.. I wanted to tell you that you seem to have done a very good job with your Defence lessons."

He frowned, and was about to say something, but she stopped him. "No, I know all about your study group. I even know who was in the group. But as I said, this is off the record.. I commend you for educating your fellows while that toad, Umbridge, taught basically nothing. I may call upon you in the future to assist in supervising the class."

He blinked, blushing just a bit at the praise. "Oh, sure. No problem. I'll do what I can." She nodded, and returned to reading through the pages, without really dismissing him.

"Uhm.. Professor?"

"Yes?"

"Eh.." He frowned, trying to think of a way to ask his question without crossing the boundries of his agreement with Snape. He couldn't find one. "Nevermind."

She glanced up with a curious expression. "Well if you need something, you know where to find me."

He nodded mutely, and slowly headed out of the room.

………………………………………………