As the night passed, Sabine nursed her cup to emptiness, refusing to let it drain completely until well up to her bedtime despite its going cold. Finally she resigned, rinsed the mug out and washed it in her bathroom (she was doing her cauldron, anyway, as part of the unpacking process; to have run it down to the kitchens would have been a waste and handwashing works so much better than magic for these things, or so she said to herself).
It was rather coquettish of her, she thought, but she simply couldn't resist the temptation to sneak into the dungeons early in the morning and leave the mug on the wallside table next to Professor Snape's office before breakfast. It doubled as a paperweight, holding down a neatly clipped scrap of parchment with crisp, tightly looping script:
Loving thanks for the coffee, Professor Snape. I look forward to our future relationship- which, by the way, I hold high hopes for.
--S.T.
Severus opened his eyes slowly, loath to leave his large, comfortable bed. He had to teach today... Perhaps if he remained prone and silent, with his eyes closed, the little brats would think he had died. His lips curled into a morbid smile. He could hear the celebration now.
Stretching halfheartedly and rolling his shoulders about to awaken the circulation, he sat up, blinking blearily, and stomped over to the washbasin, making himself at least presentable before he set the coffee on to brew.
Looking out into his study through the open chamber door, he frowned over the towel that was drying his face and lowered the cloth, noticing an object on his small corner table that had not been there before.
Strange... His suspicions were immediately aroused.
Barefoot, the Master padded out into his office and prodded the clean coffee mug with a quill - he'd had far too much experience with bewitched objects recently to be careless. It appeared to be harmless, and he picked it up, reading the parchment beneath.
Smirking and shaking his head, he offered a satisfied growl to no one in particular and replaced the mug in its proper location before beginning his day.