Lyra watched her brother laugh at something Sirius said with a small smile of her face. Remus looked nice like this-happy. She hadn't seen him like this in a long time. "So, Lyra, a man in the picture?" asked Sirius flirtatiously.

"Er, no?"

"Shame. Can't say that I'm not happy about it, though." His eyes examined her up and down appreciatively. She blushed. The last time a guy hit on her...that was a period of time she'd rather not think about. Even with said guy, she just wasn't one of those girls that guys flirted with. She wasn't ugly, but she wouldn't call herself beautiful either. She was rather average. "Ay! Not my sister, you doof."

"Relax, Moony. It's just flirting." Lyra's smile broke immediately. She looked up to make sure the two men didn't notice. She was safe. She swiftly put him in the 'stay away' category. She had two categories she placed people in- 'safe' or 'stay away.' It saved her a lot of heartbreak and kept her away from the wrong sort. Sirius wasn't the 'wrong sort,' but he was exactly the type of boy she'd fall for. He was also the type of boy who would break her heart into a million little pieces. She'd only just met him and she tried to avoid categorizing people too soon but she didn't need innocent flirts that wouldn't end up going anywhere except for maybe a night of exhilarating sex

"...poor Lyra," Remus was saying.

"Huh?"

"You have to work with Snape." The way that he said the Professor's name wasn't with the hate that sparked in Sirius- it was as if the meaning of that should have been obvious. "I have no idea what you're speaking about."

The two men exchanged looks. "Well, he's not the easiest man to work with," said Remus.

Sirius snorted, "That is the biggest understatement of the century. Seriously, Lyra, you should've been a Gryffindor. So brave."

"For what? Working with Snape? He was pretty amenable, for your information." That wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. The Professor hadn't spoken much to her after they started the brewing process. They worked side-by-side (well, he worked, she listened and passed him ingredients when needed) in a silence that was neither comfortable nor awkward.

"I'd be careful if I were you. If Snivellous is being amenable to you, he wants something from you. You're a pretty girl, you know, I wouldn't put it past him to...force his way when things go south."

"Now, now," Remus said, looking a little uncomfortable, "Severus wouldn't do anything with the Headmaster here. If Professor Dumbledore says he trusts him, then I trust him. And, if he's not giving Lyra any trouble, I'd say that's a good thing."

"I can handle myself. Besides, I don't think he's like that." She didn't know him too well, admittedly, but she trusted him for some reason. Then again, she trusted him as well.

"6:15...fuck, staff meeting." Staff meetings were the banes of his entire existence. They were long and tedious and Filius always asked question after question, extending them. 'I'd rather be bleeding half to death in front of the Dark Lord than this.'

"And, I would like to introduce Professor Dolores Umbridge, she-"

"Hem-hem," a lady dressed in all pink stood forward, looking as if she had seen a delicious treat. "I look forward to working with all my colleagues," she looked across the room, showing her dislike for Hagrid immediately. Her eyes stayed on Severus for a moment longer than he appreciated, flicking towards his left arm for a second before continuing on her inspection. Severus smirked. So, Fudge had told her about his little...demonstration a couple of months ago. "I'm sure we'll become the best of friends."

Severus wasn't able to hold himself back, "Over our dead bodies."

"Severus speaks for himself," Albus quickly amended. Minerva looked as if she were about to agree with Severus, but Umbridge continued on as if she hadn't just been interrupted. "Our goal this year is to grant the students a ministry-approved education. The poor dears, they've not-"

"Poor dears indeed if they're to spend a year under your authority. Is the curriculum not ministry-approved?"

Umbridge glared at him. "No, considering the nut-jobs that have taken this position the years prior. Not acceptable at all."

"And you are?"

"Severus!" Reprimanded the Headmaster, giving Severus a solemn look. Severus ignored him and continued; the Headmaster was always terrible at choosing Professors, "Pray tell why it has taken the Ministry this long to get Hogwarts under control, Madam?"

She turned scarlet. Severus smirked. "Are all your professors this- this rude, Headmaster?"

"Not at all, Dolores. Severus is...a unique case, I suppose. Anywho…"

A long 3 hours later, Albus closed up the meeting by asking if anyone had any questions. For once, Severus raised his own hand, speaking before Albus called on him, "The funds for the students, Headmaster?"

"As always, it is divided equally, Severus." Well, that much was obvious. It wasn't right in Severus's opinion. He knew for a fact that the other Head of Houses didn't use nearly as much of their funds on the student needs as he did. Though, to be fair, they didn't have as many students in need of it. Their money was spent o ntheir own subjects since they often had no other use for it and no matter how much Severus tried to convince Albus to change it, the Headmaster wouldn't budge.

"The number, exactly?"

"30 galleons and 80 knuts for each house." Severus ran the math mentally. That wouldn't be nearly enough! A robe, a first-hand robe was, at the lowest, about 7 galleons, 1 sickle, and 8 knuts. And, that wasn't even counting the other stuff that students needed to be replaced. "But that's not-"

"It's all we have this year, Severus. Anything else? No? Can I speak with you, Severus, in my office?"

"Yes, Headmaster."

"Severus, you need to control your mouth in front of her. She's ministry appointed, her objective is to take me out of office."

Severus's mouth took an 'O' shape. "Well, her ministry-approved tripe makes sense now. I just thought this was one of your other poor choices of a Defence professor."

"Nope," Said Dumbledore grimly, "I thought I told you the Ministry would be keeping a closer eye."

"You did, my mind was elsewhere, I suppose. Good evening, Headmaster."

Severus sighed as he sank on his couch. He was having trouble meeting ends with the money. The number was dramatically low this year. He brought out a paper and quill, making a list. First-hand robes were at the top of the list of priorities, but he needed to save space for the basic supplies such as quills and textbooks. These needed to be replaced on a more regular basis, particularly the quills. He sighed. If anything, he could find second-hand robes and try to fix them up himself...he wasn't handy with Transfiguration charms or sewing charms, which was the problem, but he could try to figure it out.

'The things I do for these kids.' He put the paper away. There wasn't much he could do now. He'd have to wait until the students were sorted and he got an idea of their financial situations to get a proper count of the students. The problem was that there were many muggle-born funds put in place, which basically took care of the whole of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. There weren't any funds for pureblood children whose families refused to pay for their own stuff.

It was honestly surprising how much more common this was than people thought. Severus had several families whose money went to the eldest while the youngest was left with the hand-me-downs. Then, there were the families that hadn't enough money to afford the best. While there are funds they could apply for, these types of families were generally much too proud to seek outside help, leaving Severus to deal with it instead.

It wasn't one of his responsibilities to buy them new robes and such, but his Slytherins were already at a disadvantage with the entire school hating them. He didn't need to give the other houses and more reason to bully them. He groaned. If only he could not care.

A/N: The money situation might seem unlikely, but hear me out. There aren't that many Hogwarts students, about 143 per year (according to JKR's statistics.) That's about 35 per house if they were split evenly.

Slytherin, I think, would have the least amount of students in their house since they mostly constitute of purebloods and the occasional half-blood.

So, let's say there's like 25 students, give or take, in each year. And, let's say there are 2-5 students per year that are neglected or poor or whatever may be the case that causes their financial status not great. Now multiply that by 7 and suddenly you've got anywhere from 14-35 students that he needs to provide for. It's not only robes, but textbooks and other equipment. That's a lot of money.