Dumbledore sent Serenity breakfast in bed by way of the house elves, allowing her to avoid the inevitable stares and whispers that would be humming around the Great Hall when the children gathered. She gratefully accepted the excuse and after finishing the tea and crumpets, she reclaimed some of her old rooms. She knew that Dumbledore would not object, after all, he wanted her to remain at Hogwarts as a Professor. He would welcome any step she made in that direction. Serenity tried to tell herself that she just needed the workroom and stores in order to successfully complete her investigation into Mr. Caruthers' infection. She was aware that something more territorial was happening, but she chose not to deal with it yet.
For now, she would focus on the problem of Mr. Caruthers' mysterious infection and avoid thinking about the embarrassment that awaited her outside the walls of the workroom. Some things never did change, did they?
The base potion for the experiments clarified quickly under her steady hand and she split the mixture between the waiting smaller cauldrons, all squat and ready over their individual fires. She carefully measured out the medical samples provided by Madame Pomfrey and began the task of testing for interference. The base potion would locate the presence of werewolf genes and hormones and would colour differently according to the source, saliva, blood, semen, hair, flesh, bone. In this kind of infection, any source material containing genetic material from a werewolf could have been used as the form of transmission. The testing of the victim's blood, urine and stool samples would give an indication of how the genetic material had been introduced into the system. If it had been injected or magically inserted then there would only be traces of werewolf genes in the blood; if it had been ingested then it would also show up in the either the urine or stool sample according to whether it had been in drink or food. The experiments should determine the origin of the genetic material and how it was introduced to Mr. Caruthers' system.
Serenity became immersed in her work; she didn't notice the passing of time as she tended the cauldrons. She would split the contents of a cauldron and add new ingredients to get further clarification of results, more detailed information. Then she would move to another cauldron, splitting and refining information. She absent-mindedly ate the finger food snacks and drank the ever replenished tea that the house elves silently deposited just outside the containment area of her workspace. It was an old arrangement. She had not requested the service and barely noticed it as she focused on the parameters of her experiments. Her only deviance from the task was to allow her thoughts to tumble empirically through her mind as she digested experiences and mindlessly allowed them to impact upon her psyche. It was a form of meditative thought that had developed over time. In the past she had used it to work out problems and decide how best to deal with them, nowadays it worked to inform her about herself and help her to cope with her state of being.
The sunlight didn't shine in this part of the dungeons, the workroom was sealed to outside light to point of obsession and thankfully the living satsuma had not thought to change this arrangement. He had probably never used the room. The house elves had always kept the room impeccably clean, but nothing had moved since the day that Serenity...should she refer to herself in the past tense as Serenity or Severus? Nothing had moved since the day that Draco brought Death Eaters into the castle and they had run from the castle. Serenity refused to think about her actions that day, the choices denied to her and the ones that she had made since. A timeless quality entered the room and she felt the aspects of her past and present self coalesce as though they were one and the same. In a way, she supposed that they were. She was majorly the same person, albeit with different form and hormones. There were many small differences but in that moment, when spirit was the guide and being, the sameness was all that shone for Serenity. It was bizarrely comforting. It was also an epiphany for the discomfited woman. For the first time since the final battle, she truly felt like herself inside her new skin. She was home. Not simply in the blasted school but inside herself. Not old and not new, but complete for the first time in a long time. Something shifted in her, suppressing shame and accepting fully what, where and how she was.
She moved the cauldrons around. She isolated the origin material as blood and relegated all the extraneous origin samples to the sidelines, they floated from their flames and lined themselves up against the far wall to cool before she took samples and disposed of the remainder. She noticed a slight brief waft of air but merely shielded the flames; she never looked up to see the people who had entered the room.
Albus, Remus and Hermione stood carefully outside the containment area. Albus smiled, signalling silence and conjured chairs for them to sit on as they sat and watched the woman working meticulously before them.
Serenity frowned at the transmission samples. They all showed signs of genetic material, which indicated that the werewolf blood had been introduced through both food and drink. It was not clear enough. Gathering two new ingredients from the store behind her, she took another cauldron filled solely with the base potion and added both stool and urine samples too it, once infused she added the Wild Genger and Peony Root. These ingredients would help to measure the acidic content of the samples and determine whether they were primary or secondary transmission. She repeated the experiment with the urine and stool samples separately and then as a control with rat dung. She quickly dismissed the control as all three potions turned a dusty green, each showing it as a primary transmission. There was no variation of colour in the mixed sample, which showed that the transmission had been made through a substance that was partially solid and partially liquid, some kind of jelly perhaps.
The cauldrons were all banished to the sidelines. Serenity sipped at lukewarm tea and examined the magical transcription of the experiments. Something in the potential make-up of the transmission substance clicked in Serenity's mind and she summoned back the mixed sample. She quickly extracted a sample of the digested matter from the transmission substance and placed it into a clean cauldron. In the bottom cupboard of a storage unit was an old box of confiscated items, she dug around briefly in the box and retrieved what she was looking for, a small sweetmeat in a yellow wrapper that proclaimed the legend "Canary Cream". Serenity carefully unwrapped the sweet and made a paste of the sweet in the bottom of another cauldron; she then retrieved a vial of blue liquid from the store and poured it over both samples. Identical plumes of purple smoke belched out of both cauldrons. As it faded, Serenity examined the contents of the cauldrons, twin pools of a deep violet coloured sludge remained. Proof positive.
Serenity sighed, flicked off the flames under all the cauldron tripod-stands and collapsed into the leather swivel chair by the merchant's chest. She lolled her head back, kicked the chair into a swivel and tucked up her legs, allowing the momentum to ease her thoughts.
A chuckle brought her out of her reverie and she looked up as the chair came to a halt and saw the four Professors sat on the other side of the room. Albus looked highly amused, Serenity frowned at him but it rapidly turned into a smile.
"I know how Mr. Caruthers became infected."
"I suspected as much. It is a joy to watch you work Serenity."
Hermione sat forward, staring at the line of cauldrons before turning to face her former Professor.
"That was amazing. I wish we could have seen you work like that when we were at school."
"You never seemed to need much encouragement or inspiration Miss. Granger. A book and a homework assignment usually did the trick."
"Well, yes, but still, if I had seen you work like that then I might have gone into Potions."
"Ah well, then you wouldn't have excelled in other areas and I might not be here today to offer you new inspiration."
Serenity was smirking at the younger woman, absent of spite and full of amusement.
"Pardon?"
"You don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?"
"When I was…when this…after the final battle, I had stumbled away from the battlefield. I was taken to St. Mungo's. I awakened for a while and knowing what had happened to me, I gave a false name. I was put into a room with another patient, he didn't make it and I was left alone. You were the one to nurse me back to health. There were others, but you were there more than anyone else. You did more than just your duties; you brought music and you talked to me, no-one else talked to me, it made a lot of difference, the difference between giving up and making an effort to recover myself. I often wondered if you would have taken such great care of me if you had known who I was."
Hermione stared, casting her mind back and trying to remember. She grasped at the image of the broken fragile woman and anchored it in her memory, securing it to her knowledge of Serenity and to that of Professor Snape as he was before the battle. A mental montage of classroom dominance, the moment before the curses hit, the hospital horrors and the strong female role model that swivelled before her full of emotions that she had once been too immature to realise were warring inside her teacher. She tugged on the bodice of her dress, a subconscious action reminding her of her emulation of this fascinating woman. Did a change of gender open up understanding or was it time, age and experience or had Professor Snape changed and become different with the changes in her life. Perhaps it was one and all of these factors. Her exploration of her position lasted but a moment.
"I would have. We knew the truth. Professor Dumbledore had made certain that we would know the truth. Otherwise his plans would have been pointless. There would have been no point in you being trusted at Voldemort's side, ready to aid us, if we had no trust of you, if we hated you. It was difficult, but we did know where your loyalties lay. If I had known who you were then, I would probably have made more effort."
Serenity raised a single eyebrow. A gesture so familiar and recognisable that it acted like an emotional catalyst, removing any internal resistance in those present to the acceptance of Serenity's identity. It merged the past with the present in clear and familiar way. There was a heavy silence which was quickly broken by the gentle laughter of Professor Lupin.
"Well, we always seem to end up back at Hogwarts don't we? I am pleased to see you at work again Professor Snape, no matter how much has changed over the years. It is good to see you truly well."
"Hear hear."
Albus was heartily pleased. He hoped that the rest of the school would be as welcoming as his staff. He was a phenomenal judge of character, even if he did say so himself. He would not count the latent attraction that he knew was bubbling away between the two of them as an ulterior motive for quicker acceptance. After all, was that not as good a sign of acceptance and change as anything? Now, what was to be next? Ah yes.
"Well, now that you have completed this stage of your investigation, I think it would be advisable for you to get a proper dinner. Remus, I believe you missed dinner this evening too. Perhaps you could make sure that Miss Snape does actually eat..."
"Albus!"
"Now now my dear. It is just dinner. I have not forgotten you so easily that I forget your inclinations. Consider it fatherly concern rather than meddling…"
"The 'food' is not where I think your meddling lies, old man."
"No? Ah well, regardless, you do both need to eat. I look forward to hearing your findings in the morning Serenity, so I will say goodnight for now. Professor Granger, did you not have an appointment with Professor Weasley this evening?"
"Oh my goodness. Goodnight Professor Snape, Remus, Albus."
"Ren."
"Sorry?"
"My friends call me Ren. I have not been called Professor Snape for a very long time. I prefer Ren or Serenity if that is too informal."
"Well then, if you can cope with Hermione, I am sure I can cope with Ren."
Albus rubbed his hands together and his eyes threatened to turn into twin white giants, his heart expanding in his chest like well-warmed dough.
"Well, till tomorrow then."