Severus Snape was relieved to be back at Hogwarts. The free time he had during school breaks allowed the Dark Lord to summon him at his whim, and he took advantage of that, a lot. It had given him more time to speak with Draco though, but unfortunately the sullen teenager was no more willing to take his assistance than before. He spoke with Narcissa as often as he was able when visiting the Manor. She informed him that her son seemed determined and his energy seemed somewhat renewed by the end of the break. Since Severus had no idea what caused the change, he couldn't determine if the boy had made progress or just gone round the bend.
His only real respite had been Christmas. It seemed like even Death Eaters wanted to spend the holiday with their families. He'd decided to once again retrieve his mother's tea set. He'd stopped by a local tea shop for a few sandwiches and pasties to go along with the biscuits that Hermione had gifted him. Like last year, he reminisced. He thought on his mother and Lily and Mrs. Davies. He saw past the pain of their deaths and reveled in the moments that they had shared together. It felt….good to revel in those pleasant memories. Time seemed to dull a bit of the ache that he had carried with him since their passing. He wondered also if the connection and friendship that he had forged in the present helped to ease the pain. Whatever the reason, he appreciated that he was able to look back and treasure whatever brief moments of happiness that he had from his childhood. Afterwards he had summarily deemed that the holiday had been well spent.
*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*
The children had gone home raving about the new extracurricular program. Word traveled from parents to the Board of Governors. Additional funding for the program was secured and additional was offered if the school was willing to start classes geared towards the first through third year students who felt left out. Several professors were more that willing to provide classes for the younger years. One family had gone so far as donating the latest in state-of-the-art wizarding exercise equipment.
Such generosity was unexpected, but parents were delighted over how excited their children were to learn. Some were even more delighted once they realized that their children's marks had improved just so they could keep participating in the program. Several wizarding publications had reached out to the school for interviews and requests to sit in on classes for articles. Even Voldemort was pleased with the program. Although, that was most definitely kept from the paper and the population in general.
Voldemort had actually been busy during the winter holiday. Several Muggle raids were carried out, along with attacks on Muggleborns and Blood Traitor families. That may be another reason parents had embraced the program so readily. They too wanted to give their children the best chances of surviving the war.
Severus returned to the castle to find Tonks and Shacklebolt arranging the new gym. They had been given two rooms to work from this semester. One would be their gym. The other would be their training space. He surveyed the new equipment. The weights had safety charms built in to prevent injuries. He was eying the running mats when he was approached by Shacklebolt.
"Ah, Severus, look at the bounty that your "little" idea has generated," the wizard said with a wide smile. "The mats are the newest model. They have the ability to transfigure into multiple terrains, accommodate inclines and even stairs. Much better than what we had during our schooling, eh"
The other wizard was impressed. "Indeed," Snape said. They had minimal training equipment in his day as a beater on the Slytherin team. They mostly did sprints and excessively practiced. A few weights were provided, but anything else seemed too "Muggle" to be appropriate. "How do you specify your preferred terrain, speed and the like?" he asked the other man.
"Ah, yes," Kingsley said as he plucked a small card off the floor. "You just tap the corresponding card to activate it." He pulled out his wand. He gave the card a little tap, and pictures started to appear on it. "Then you just select your course. We have the option of a track, mountain, forest, or what have you. Select the one you want…." He tapped on the mountain. "and wait for the mat to respond." The mat at their feet jerked to life and transformed into rough mountain terrane. "just use the slide here to adjust the incline." he pointed his wand to a bar that ran the length of the card. "Once your done just get on and start walking. The mat will adjust to your pace so you don't have to constantly adjust it."
"Fascinating," Severus replied and listened intently as Kingsley gave him a thorough tour of their new gym.
*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*
Other instructors had quickly opened up their classes to the younger years or developed new classes for them. Everyone was excited by the influx up funds. Severus had agreed to participate in an all-ages series of classes with Madam Pomphrey and Professor Sprout. Each course would take three days to complete and would be based on healing ailments and injuries. They wanted to start out easy so the first course would be on curing a cold. They course would start with a class on foraging for the ingredients, the next would be for brewing and the last would go into the details of administering their potion. Slughorn, of course, found himself "too busy" to assist so Snape had stepped up instead.
Tonks had a Muggleborn friend that volunteered to teach yoga a few times a week in another all-ages class. Severus didn't understand the appeal but some of the students had become fiercely dedicated to it. Several other aurors had volunteered to help with combat training as well. They helped teach hand to hand combat to the older students, and basic self defense to the younger ones. The results were quite evident in Severus's DADA classes. The students started grasping the spells that he taught quickly. Their dueling had also greatly improved.
*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*
By some miracle Potter made progress in his Occlumency lessons with Hermione. She had told him in their first meeting of the semester that she believed the boy to be ready to start practicing with a Legilimens. The headmaster had already decided that he would be the one to work with Potter during the lessons he was already having with the boy. Although, later Severus would take over. They told the two that this was due to the headmaster's busy schedule. In reality the curse was slowly sapping the old man's strength.
Potter surprised them all when he was able to bring up a weak shield the first time Dumbledor tried to enter his mind. It wasn't much, but it was something to build on. Hermione was more that excited that their hard work had paid off. She continued to work with him to improve his shielding. Severus was happy for the little witch, but he was certainly not looking forward to taking over Potter's lessons.
*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*S*
Severus looked to the clock at the back of his classroom and sighed inwardly. He planned to speak, yet again, with Draco at the end of class. Talking sense into that boy was like pulling teeth. They both knew he needed help, yet the boy simply would not accept it. As much as he cared for the boy, he very much wanted to throttle him.
"Draco, a word," the potions master said as the students filed out of his class. The boy rolled his eyes and motioned for his friends to go on without him.
"Sev, do we have to do this again?" Draco asked. "It's getting tiresome."
"Oh, this is tiresome for you?" the professor snarled. "Do you think I enjoy it? Do you think I want to grill you on this? Do you think that I want to see you struggle, to wonder if you'll survive the mission, if your mother will, if I will?"
"I'm sorry mother asked you for an unbreakable vow. I truly am, but I didn't ask her to do it. I didn't even know she planned to approach you, but I will survive this so you don't have to worry about it," Draco responded.
"Oh, thank you for the reassurance," Snape hissed as he stood and rounded on the boy. "I guess I can just go about my business then. You can not do this alone, Draco. You're a fool if you think you can. You are going to get your family killed."
The blond backed up towards the open door. "I know what the stakes are. I can't manage to forget it for even a fucking second. So, you don't have to remind me, Sev. Besides, I do have help," the boy said.
Severus was taken aback. This was news to him. Depending on who it was, this could be a blessing or a curse. "Who?" he asked. "Who is helping you? Not Crabbe and Goyle, I hope. They are imbeciles and likely to get you caught."
"Of course, it isn't them," Draco answered looking particularly insulted.
"Your aunt then?" he pressed. "She's as mad as a hatter and just as likely to get you killed."
"No, it isn't aunt Bella either. I'm aware of her…..limitations," Draco replied coolly.
"Then who? Who is helping you?" Severus demanded.
"It's none of your bloody business, Sev. This is my mission, not yours. The Dark Lord tasked me to do this, and I'm not about to let you peruse their mind the way you just tried to do in mine," the blond said looking bitter and hurt.
"What do you expect, Draco?" the professor said. "You are being stubborn and a lot of lives are on the line. What would you have me do?"
"Trust me!," Draco exclaimed. "Trust that I know what I'm doing. Trust that I won't get us killed."
"I can't do that. I made a vow and I intend to keep it. Just tell me who is helping you, if I believe you have a suitable partner. I'll leave you to your mission. I'll stop questioning you," Severus responded.
Draco took a deep weary breath. "Have it your way then, Sev, but don't even think of invading their mind." He looked to his godfather for acceptance of this term, but received no reply.
"Fuck it," Draco said in defeat. "You probably won't be able to get in her mind anyway. Her occlumency shields are good. I guess they'd have to be, considering that you trained her yourself."
Severus gasped in surprise and horror. "Granger," he whispered.
Draco took another step towards the door, "Oh, and thank you for that little sob story. It really came in handy." The boy smirked and slipped out the door. He'd disappeared into a group of passing students, before Severus even had a chance to say another word.