Annelyse had waited for him to make it back safely. Her dark blue eyes searched his figure for any sign of injury, but she couldn't be sure. She remembered during her first year when a Troll had broken into Hogwarts how he tried to stop it and ended up with a long, deep gash on his leg. Any other would have stopped to treat themselves, but Professor Snape didn't even mind it. He instead went after the Troll to make sure it won't hurt anyone else. She had come across him that evening in one of the hallways, and he didn't tell her anything other than to get back to her dorm. He didn't punish her, he didn't threaten her - even though she had been breaking the rules.

This time, when she saw him walking away as if nothing had happened, she sneaked away from the girls' bathroom and tried to follow him again, just to make sure he wasn't hurt. Snape had withdrawn himself into his study, as she expected, so Anna knocked on his door.

The man barely had time to throw his cape off his shoulders and sit down when he heard the knock. Had he been followed? Had he been too deep in thought to notice? "Who is it?" he asked in a careful tone.

Anna looked both ways to make sure nobody else knew she was there. "Professor Snape, may I?"

He forced himself to stand and opened the door to see Rosier there. "If you're here to ask about your project, I won't give any counseling sessions today."

"I'm here to thank you, professor. I hope you're alright," she said softly.

The man closed his eyes for a moment, banishing any unsolicited thoughts from his mind. "I told you it was nothing serious. You didn't need to have cast Episkey."

Annelyse smiled briefly and turned to leave. "I'm sorry if I disobeyed you."

She hadn't. They both knew it. There was no instruction against her gesture. Snape watched her head towards the Slytherin house entrance and was about to close the door to his study. He had to dry himself, take a shower, maybe make some tea... That should take his mind off of things, but then Annelyse Rosier stopped and looked past her shoulder. She caught him staring after her and she looked like she was about to say something.

"...Professor, would... would it be alright if I took some of your time this weekend?"

Snape took a brief moment to consider his answer. "If you require it..."

"I greatly appreciate it," Annelyse said as a small smile lit up her face. "Good evening, professor."

"...Good evening, Rosier." The man sighed and withdrew himself behind a closed and locked door. It was nothing unusual for Rosier to ask for counseling. She was a bright and quiet girl, he didn't mind tutoring her. Yet, this time, Snape got the feeling that she didn't want to discuss potions, charms, or the history of magic.

As Anna returned into her room, she found Selena, Katherina, and Draco talking about the events of the day. They stopped once they saw Annelyse enter the room. Selena knew her well enough to catch the hint of pink on her pale face and the spark of joy in her dark eyes, but that didn't mean she knew the reason for that. Anna hanged her cloak and went to pour herself a glass of water on her nightstand.

"Where have you been?" Draco asked.

"Nowhere," the girl responded briefly. "What happened to your hair?" she asked once she noticed Katherina. Selena was cutting her hair short, almost like that of a boy, barely reaching the lobe of her ear.

"It's not important," Katherina sighed. "Are you alright? We've been worried."

Anna nodded. "Are you? Did Weasley come down from the ceiling?"

"He did," Selena answered. "What was that thing you had him drink?"

"Professor Snape gave it to me. He said it would help us through the tunnel fast so I could go ask for help. We're friends, so I gave it to Weasley."

"Sounds like him," Draco noted with a sigh. "Why were you with Snape, anyway?"

"He's the Head of Slytherin," Anna said in an obvious way. "Who else would you have preferred me to call? Flitwick? Hooch? McGonagall?"

"Right," Katherina chuckled. "At least it's ended, right?"

Anna nodded and sat at her desk. It was perfectly clean in her absence. She opened the different drawers and took out the ink, a quill, notebooks, and a few books. "Yes, I suppose. Out of curiosity, Selena, why have you run like that?"

The girl looked away and felt her face catching fire. "I-I...!"

Katherina stood and looked herself in the mirror of the girls' shared vanity. "Thank you, Selena - twice today," she chuckled. "I think we've taken enough of your time, right, Draco?"

The blond was oblivious. "Wait, I'm curious to hear-!"

"Yes, we have. We'll be leaving now - take care!" Katherina literally pushed Draco out of the room.

Confused, Draco obeyed and allowed her to drag him into the hallway. "What the hell was that?"

"It's obvious Selena won't open up while we're present. Let's let them talk and if it's something that concerns us, Anna will most probably tell me. You can come to my room if you want that."

"You girls and your complicated emotions..." he mumbled to himself. "Let's play some chess. We haven't in a while."

"Oh, my! You're actually right this time!" Katherina teased him.

"Of course! I'm always right!" Draco puffed his chest proudly, going towards their common room.

"Not what I remember," the girl whispered.

"What was that?" Draco spun back towards her on his heel.

"What was what?" Katherina tried to play innocent, as she took half a step back.

"You know what I mean!" Draco began to chase after her.

"No, I don't!" The girl laughed as she ran into her room and swung the door to close it, but Draco stopped it and let himself in.

"I think you do!" He cornered her and began another tickling play fight.

That evening, Draco's father seemed extremely irritated for some reason. They didn't get time in private to talk about it, but the man had been glaring at Dumbledore for a long time, his words sharper than usual. Since the teenagers didn't see any of the man's anger directed at them, they assumed it had little to do with anything they might have done and so, they decided to ignore it. Katherina began to learn from Draco that his father had a way of solving things on his own and usually in his favor.

Tomorrow was a Saturday, so they weren't worried about catching enough sleep before their morning classes. They could fool around and chances were, after the most recent events, nobody would dare say anything about it.

Selena also had time to calm down and work through her emotions. Anna didn't press her into spilling out her feelings before she understood them herself. That was perhaps the reason why the girls were close in the first place, as they found each other's company easy to tolerate. Selena levitated the ends of Katherina's hair into the trash and then laid in bed. She wasn't tired, but she found the feeling of her pillows comforting. They smelled of home, and that was everything she needed. The girl watched Anna at her desk as she read and flipped through the pages, looking for passages she needed in her essay.

"If you're ready to talk, I can take a break," Anna said without lifting her eyes from the paper.

"Um... I think... I might like someone," Selena uttered slowly.

"Ron Weasley?" Anna said as she turned towards her with a serious but soft expression.

Selena had blushed and burrowed her face into one of her floral pillows. "...Is it really that obvious?"

Anna smiled. "To me? Yes. I've figured it out about a week ago. I doubt that others realized it, though... if it makes you feel any better."

Still scared that people might put two and two together, Selena looked up. "I can't even talk to him without Ginny standing in my way!" she whined.

"Put her on a leash," Anna chuckled softly. "I'm serious. Stand up to her!"

"I can't!" Selena threw herself on her back, holding the pillow in her arms. "I don't want them to think I'm a bully! We already have this reputation..."

Anna hummed. She found her reaction slightly amusing. "Don't take it as an insult, but you're a Slytherin, not a Hufflepuff. You can stand up to her and you will. You don't have to be a bully to stand your ground. You can just call her bluff, even if you do it in a polite way."

"I'm not sure I know how," the girl sighed. She sat up and set the pillow aside. "Katherina told me to make friends with someone else from the Weasley family. I tried to approach the twins, but they... called me a little viper creeping around..." She lowered her amber eyes.

It took her some self-control not to laugh about it. Did she get bullied by Fred and George Weasley?

"Besides, he's a Weasley... My family will be disappointed," Selena continued.

"It could have been worse," Anna tried to lift up her spirits, "you could have fallen in love with a muggle, or a werewolf."

"No!" Selena cringed. "But... they're still going to be mad about this."

"What do you care?" Anna sipped some water from her glass. "I get that you love your family, but this is precisely why they should support you in your choices. Did they ask you to marry anyone yet?"

Selena shook her head. "I don't think they've made up their mind, but I doubt Weasley is going to be one of their options."

"Here's what I say. Try to approach Ron - I suppose that's a short from his actual name?"

"From Ronald, yes," Selena said as she listened to her friend.

"Ronald sounds better if you do need to present your parents with this idea, but first, make sure you two feel the same for each other. There's no need to tell anyone if he likes somebody else, right? Or perhaps he doesn't like you that way - that's totally fine. It's best to leave unrequited passions wither, and with time, they will. What you need to do now is talk to the boy and sort things out."

"But what if he doesn't like me?"

Anna grinned a little. "At least he's not Malfoy. He will probably say he doesn't feel the same and avoid you for a few weeks until you two feel comfortable being colleagues again, no bitterness or anything."

"But you don't have any crushes... do you?"

The question caught Anna off guard. She turned back to her desk. "No, I don't. I had a crush on Solomon Abbot before coming to Hogwarts, and then I found out he's a Hufflepuff, and he is too soft for me. Speak of this and I will cut your tongue," she said in a constant tone.

That ability to go from sweet and lovely to cruel and scary is what made Selena fear her sometimes. The change was so subtle that she could never predict it.

"You know I don't talk!" the girl defended herself.

"I know," Anna said as she skimmed what she had already written for her essay. "Are you pairing up with Zabini for Professor Snape's latest assignment?"

"I don't want that, but I have no partner..."

"Ask Professor Snape if you can work alone," Anna suggested.

"I think I'm more scared of talking to him than Zabini!"

"He's not that bad if you show some interest in his class..."

Selena sighed and took her pajamas. She began to change as she contemplated the idea. "I don't know... I'm scared to answer his questions, I feel like I will make a mistake and he will ridicule me. I do all of my assignments on time, but I don't think that matters much. It's mandatory, after all, so I don't expect to gain anything from this."

"If I try to talk to him for you, he might turn it down simply because it's me asking. You're a Slytherin, love - you don't need a lawyer doing the talking for you."

The girl looked herself in the mirror of their vanity. She was in a pastel green nightgown. Selena sat down, unbraided her hair, and began brushing it and spreading oil infused with rose petals through her nearly silver locks.

"Can't I work with you? Would it be too late for that?"

Anna sighed. "I've always worked alone... I doubt I'll be the best team player for you."

"I don't need the best, I just need someone who cares."

This earned her a smile from Anna. "Let me guess - you want me to tell Professor Snape about it?" The girl turned and saw her roommate smiling brightly, her amber eyes pleading. Anna chuckled and shook her head. "Now I know why you're a Slytherin..."

Selena looked confused. Was that a yes or a no?

"You could manipulate the devil himself if you tried hard enough, you cunning little angel..."


Author's notes:

Always glad to see you there, Ghostwriter71. I've just published The Losing Game featuring Snape and one of the OCs I have used in this story. It's a heavily aesthetic story, quite different from this one, and definitely not my usual read (or write, for that matter). Still, it didn't feel right to leave it in the background here. You can find it here:

s/13779817/1/The-Losing-Game