Severus Snape paced furiously. Why did the headmaster insist upon him continuing this role? Did

Dumbledore know that he hated this? He grumbled some more, his fists opening and closing tensely. So much could go wrong. So much could be lost in an instant if the slightest mistake happened during these meetings like the one that was about to happen. If he was honest with himself, it scared him.

"I must not fear," he said to himself, beginning the litany he had once read before this terrible thing had started. "Fear is the mind killer."

If he was really honest with himself, he just wanted to leave and spend the rest of his life by himself, doing the things he wanted to do. But that wasn't possible. He had made his mistakes, and now he had to take responsibility for them, no matter how distasteful it was.

"I will face my fear and let it pass through me."

Snape knew his story was no different than the millions of other people who lived in the world. Even muggles, he granted. It was not a comforting thought. Everything that had happened, everything that had turned him into the bitter person he had become could be tracked back to one thing. It was always about a girl. The girl that had shown him kindness. The girl that he had helped to destroy. Oh how it ate at him.

"Only I will remain."

There was a knock on the door. The meeting time had come. His visitor entered and took a seat across from him.

"Potter." The name was spat out, full of all the shame, bitterness, and guilt combined to portray anger. "I hope you have practiced your Occlumency, because I'm not in the mood for more of your failures tonight."

The mask that Severus Snape had spent so long constructing had snapped back into place, just in time.