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IT'S WHERE MY DEMONS HIDE – GAVIN MIKHAIL

After carefully studying all the students for over a month, Severus started to notice some peculiar things about his Slytherins. Many of them were dulled in their spirits, they were yea-sayers and lacked ambition. They didn't want to beat their fellow students at anything and they were never arguing against anything. They were perfectly nice and adaptable, but they weren't striving.

"It is not right!", he bellowed one evening in October at Hermione, as they talked about it in her rooms.

"They're Slytherins, but I can't see a single Slytherin trait in them. It is as if it was beaten out of them."

Hermione put a stack of essays on her desk and turned to Severus.

"I am sure nobody would beat out anything of them", she said softly. "They're too proud for that, but just think about it for a moment. The school has been very different when I was here and when you were here. Rivalry was expected and clear house classification was expected."

She walked over to the sofa, sat down and beckoned him to join her.

"Wizarding society has changed since then. Houses and families are not arguing anymore over whose worldview is correct and whose isn't."

"It is not the worldview I am talking about", he said heatedly. "Do you think I want them all to be pureblood worshippers again?"

"No, of course not."

"It is the fundamental characteristics, Hermione."
She eyed him carefully.

"Gryffindors are still brainlessly daring…-"

"Thanks", she huffed.

"Ravenclaws are still aloof bookworms and Hufflepuffs are still… well, Hufflepuffs."

Hermione laughed at the fact that he couldn't say anything bad about the house.

"Slytherin is barely a shadow of itself."

He sank down onto the sofa next to Hermione. It upset him, even more than he cared to admit. Was he the bad person here for wanting them to be proper Slytherins? Was there such a thing?

"Why don't you talk to one of your prefects or your Head Girl?", Hermione suggested. "Miss Avery is a nice girl and she knows her house very well."

Severus furrowed his brows at her. How did Hermione know? He didn't think she'd chat about Slytherin house politics to Miss Avery.

Hermione pulled her legs up onto the sofa and tucked her feet under Severus's thighs. As if she was reading his thoughts, she continued: "It is very obvious once you keep an eye on her. They look up to her and she might as well be Head of House. If you worry about anything Slytherin, she is the person to talk to."

"How do you know?", he wanted to know, sounding a little bit more snarky than he had intended to.

"I've watched her."

"Why has nobody else told me this?", he demanded to know.

"Because nobody else cares very much. Professor Slughorn was Head of House and Slytherin has integrated well under him over the past years. The staff are happy that there is peace in the school, so there is no reason for them to keep an eye on it."

"And why did you?" Severus felt slightly defensive now.

"I didn't actively. I just kind of noticed that she is quite the character." Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "It's not obvious, but don't you sometimes get this hunch about a person?"

"No", he replied bluntly.

Hermione rolled her eyes in reply, but smiled at him afterwards.

"Well, a hunch can be a good thing sometimes", she said cryptically and Severus could see the familiar volcano bubbling in the depths of her eyes.

His senses immediately heightened.

"Is that so?", he drawled.

"If it hadn't been for a hunch I had about you", she said softly, "we probably wouldn't be where we are today."

She moved around and crawled over to him, placing herself onto his lap.

"And what kind of hunch was that?", he asked her, slowly moving his hands from her knees up to her hips.

"The first time we met in Geneva. In the café", she started to explain. "You have been decisively vicious and snarky."

"It is known to happen", he returned sarcastically.

"Well, my hunch told me that you might not have been as opposed to seeing me as you pretended to be", she said casually, but the heat in her eyes was nearly driving him mad.

As she lowered her face to kiss him, he stopped her by placing both his hands on her cheeks.

"I made you come to Arraxy", he suddenly and unwillingly confessed.

She looked at him confused and he had to swallow down his nervousness. Why was he suddenly nervous?

"I saw your name", he said slowly. "I read about your talk at the university. I wanted to know if it was really you. So I made Clemency go to your presentation."

Hermione sank back a little bit. He could feel his heartbeat in his throat.

She hates you now. You have finally managed to make her hate you. Congratulations, loser.

She looked at him completely dumbstruck.

"That is all I did", he added quickly, tightening his grip desperately around her waist. "Meeting you the second day in Geneva was a coincidence. And I would have never influenced anythi…-"

She put a finger on his lips to shut him up. Severus looked at her apprehensively, but very slowly the most loveable smile appeared on her face.

"And here I was, thinking we have been fated to be together by the constellation of the stars at our birth, and Destiny, the warrioress, had fought her way through to us, beyond country borders and through decades."

She is being silly. And you're totally in love with it.

He wrapped his arms around her torso and pushed her down onto the sofa to kiss her steamily. Her skin was hot under his touch, as he slid up her shirt and squeezed the soft flesh of her waist.

"I am glad you were looking for me", she panted under him as he moved to kiss her throat.

He slowly pulled back and looked into her fawn eyes. The eyes that he couldn't ever get enough of, the eyes that he wanted to look into every day for the rest of his life.

"I am glad you didn't leave", he replied.

Their intimacy was exciting that night. He started loving her on the sofa, slowly undressing her and paying attention to all her needs. He kissed her deeply, caressed her neck and every inch of her face.

"I love you", he whispered, looking into her eyes. "I don't know what I would do or be, if you had not stayed with me."

"And I don't know a reason why I shouldn't have", she simply replied.

He kissed her lovingly, but a feeling of desperation rose in him.

He would do anything do keep her by his side. He did not want to be without her, he could not be without her.

Could he live without her? No. He could exist, nourish himself and breath air. But he would not live without her. She had shown him how different life and existence were. She had given him a taste of life, fed him with her love. With her he was breathless, but he didn't need air. He would breath and flourish in her divine glory.

Live was a gift and emotions were a treat, and she had shown him it. And once she left, live would leave him and he would return to shallow existence.

Yes, he could exist without her, be a shell that held a dark soul and an evil mind. But he could not live without her.

"Stay with me", he whispered, sounding more desperate that he wanted to. "Please."

"I will, I would be mad not to."

She looked at him softly, taking his face into her hands and kissing his cheeks and lips. "You are a wonderful… wonderful man, and I love you with all my heart."

He kissed her deeply, soon wandering down her neck and resting his lips on her neck.

She had stopped covering her scars and he kissed the soft pink line than ran across her chest.

He loved her scars and for some odd reason they even turned him on. The scar he currently caressed with his lips was a testimony of her brilliance, the mind that he loved so ardently. At the young age of fifteen she had already been quick witted enough to avoid certain death by simply muting her opponent, a fully grown Death Eater.

The thin cut on her neck and the word etched into her arm where marks of her unwavering braveness, stamina and resilience. She was proud, she loved life, and she fought for what she believed in. She was the goodness and kindness of this world, and he would make sure she was aware of it every day for the rest of her live.

They were lying in each other's arms for half an hour before they got up to start their day.

"You know what annoys me about teaching?", Hermione said as she tied up her hair into a bun at the back of her head.

"Hm?"

He looked at her with raised eyebrows over the rim of his cup, that he was just drinking his coffee from.

"I am down by about fifty percent of my weekly orgasms."

She said it in such a casual and sober manner, that Severus couldn't help but choke on his coffee laughing.

She furrowed her brows at him. "Do you find that funny?"

"No, no", he said quickly, but couldn't hide a grin. "Not at all."

She pursed her lips at him.

"It's easy for you to laugh about it. You came once when I came three times then. And now you still come once when I come one time."
He grinned mischievously at her.

"As far as I can remember, you did not only come once last night", he drawled in his most Professor-Snape like tone. "Neither… did I."

"You know what I mean." She smiled at him lovingly. "Anyway, the orgasms I get now all happen in one night, because most evenings we're too tired. And I am unable to move for three days after a night like the last one."

She sighed theatrically and he walked up to her and took her face lovingly into his hands.

"I shall be more tender with your delicate body the next time", he said smiling. "But sometimes…"

He licked his lips subconsciously, then he cleared his throat and gave her a kiss onto the forehead. "I will be more thoughtful of your teaching schedule in the future."

"No, that's the wrong approach", she shook her head and smiled at him. "I need you to be like this more often, so I get used to the workout."

She kissed him tenderly, but sucked and bit his lip softly. It immediately send hot blood into Severus's groin. A wicked smile adorned her face, as she picked up a stack of parchments.

"I shall be waiting for you in your rooms tonight", she said. "Enjoy teaching today, Professor Snape."

With that said she departed for her first class that day, and left him heated up as he was in her rooms.

"Thank you for seeing me, Miss Avery. Take a seat."

Severus sat behind the desk in his office and nodded towards the chair opposite of him. Miss Avery did as told and politely waited for Severus to store away his unfinished essays. He really just did it to stall some time. Why the fuck was he so nervous about talking to a student?

You are getting old and soft, mate.

"How is the term going for you?", he asked her, folding his hands on the table and eyeing her.

"Very well, Professor. Thank you", she answered politely, but as cold as he expected her to be.

"Which N.E.W.T.s are you taking?"

"Potions, Transfiguration, Charms and Herbology, Sir. I would like to study Alchemy after I am finished."

"Why are you not taking Alchemy N.E.W.T.s then?", he inquired.

"Not enough demand. Professor Ladice trains me and Matt Corcoran independently on a Saturday afternoon."

Severus nodded. Mr Corcoran was a seventh year Ravenclaw who also was in his Advanced Potions class. He had now also finally found out the Classics professor's name.

"I asked you here to talk to you about the Slytherin students", Severus introduced the topic. "I hoped that you would have some insight as their Head Girl."

"That depends on what you want to know, Sir."

Severus looked at Miss Avery thoughtfully. He was certain she could have given him information on anything he wanted, but she was a Slytherin. She wouldn't give it to him just because he asked, even though he was her Head of House.

"I do not want to know anything, Miss Avery", he said soberly. "I would much rather tell you something."

He leaned back in his chair and eyed his student carefully. Her face was expressionless, too expressionless. She had learnt to look like this and Severus knew it, because he had done the exact same. He also wondered if she also thought of him as the Death-Eater that he was.

"It is not a crime to be in Slytherin", he said.

"We know that, Sir", she replied coolly.

"It is also not a crime to portray Slytherin characteristics."

She didn't reply to that, but Severus knew she understood what he was talking about.

"If someone cannot distinguish ruthlessness from ambition, rogue from cunning, or segregation from fraternity, it is not our fault", he stated calculatedly. "Will you pass that message on in an appropriate manner?"

Miss Avery assessed him, and he didn't blame her. Her gaze was cool, but her eyes betrayed some of the thinking that was going on behind them.

"I will, Sir."

He nodded once and spread out his essays in front of him again.

"Thank you, Miss Avery. You are dismissed."

"Good evening, Sir."

The girl left this office and Severus put down his quill. He hoped that he had planted the right thought in her mind and that she would return to him soon, to talk about the things he actually wanted to talk about.

He had the weird hunch, that Slytherins were acting un-slytherin-like on purpose, and he wanted to find out why.

The next couple of weeks passed rather uneventfully. However, when it came closer to Halloween Severus was starting to feel the familiar uneasiness that always haunted him around that time of the year.

For many years he had to deal with Dumbledore's preposterous belief that Lily's death alone caused Severus's mood at Halloween, and whilst that wasn't entirely incorrect, there was much more behind it.

Yes, he blamed himself for Lily's death, but what bothered him just as much, if not even more, was the fact that it had marked the beginning of everything. It reminded him of his life, which he had hated ever since he could think.

It had begun so much earlier, when Lily had decided that she had enough of him, which retrospectively Severus could understand. He had been hateful and he had supported his friend's anti-muggle and evil views. She had no longer been able to ignore his behaviour; he had demanded sympathy from her for being bullied, yet he had done exactly the same to others. He had been a hypocrite.

Lily had not friend zoned him, neither did she fall out with him because of James Potter. For years she had tried to convey to Severus that muggleborns were as much a part of the magical world as anyone, and that she wasn't an 'exception', which he had always said, simply to not appear even weaker in front of his Slytherin-companions. And he had believed it then. It was all he had been exposed to. He hadn't understood that the people that had finally accepted him, might not have been right in all their acting and beliefs. Yet, Severus had never learnt from it, or at least not early enough.

He had been shaped by the circumstances in his early life, even before he had met Lily, and he had made the wrong decisions based on it ever since then. He had not been pushed towards the Death Eaters solely because of a girl, but also because of adults that had failed to care for him, failed to teach him about black and white and grey, or taught him that he was only worth that, what he could do for them.

And all of it had led to that Halloween. Even that night he hadn't cared about anyone else but Lily. He hadn't cared about any of the other Muggleborns, not to mention Lily's family. He hadn't cared about the Longbottoms; he would have not even blinked, had they been the family that the Dark Lord had decided to wipe out.

But they hadn't been. It had been the Potters and it had led to the Dark Lord's downfall, which in itself hadn't been a bad thing, but the years of uncertainty followed by years of terror were. Years of destruction, cruelty and inhumanity. And it had all been caused by a series of unfortunate circumstances and events, and one stupid young man's hunger for attention.

He had only cared about the one friendship he had ever experienced, thinking it had been love, because he had never actually learnt what a real friendship was.

Severus had fought two wars for Lily. He did it because he loved her, but he had thought a lot about it during the past ten years. He would never admit it, but he had thought of Potter and his friends. They had fought in wars for him. Hermione had fought for her friend, and Severus knew she would have died for the stupid Potter-boy, if she had had to.

That was when he had realised, that it was friendship, deep and true friendship, maybe slight obsession, that had pulled him towards Lily Evans.

The thought had occupied him for the better part of the past decade, and it had taken him a few years to understand and come to terms with it. However, now that he knew what love felt like, it was much easier to accept it.

However, it did not change his mood on Halloween. He was in a place that was laced with bad memories. Bullying, abuse, hate, corruption, exploitation and death. Hogwarts was very peaceful now, he recognised that. His memories however weren't and they made it so hard for him to feel at home.

He had the habit of drinking himself into oblivion on Halloween, and intended to do exactly that, but unfortunately Minerva had remembered that habit of his and had put him in patrol together with Hermione.

"Thank you very much for you concern, Hermione", he snarled at her. "But I don't think I need a babysitter. You can leave."

"What are you talking about?", she asked befuddled as he stalked ahead of her, down the sixth floor west corridor.

He twirled around, his teaching robes billowing around him just as they have always done.

"Do you think I don't know that Minerva has set you up to look over me tonight?", he spat at her.

She looked taken aback and one of those incredible few seconds happened, when her face went through several emotions. Her features turned into a resolute but loving expression.

"I am sorry that I have to break it to you", she said, "but that is complete and utter nonsense."

He snorted and turned around to walk away, but she grabbed for his hand.

"What are you…-"

"Calm down", she interrupted him tenderly. "Nobody is here."

He scanned their surroundings quickly, the expression on his face not changing, and he finally looked at her coolly.

"I was supposed to patrol the fourth floor", she said casually, but the heat in her eyes gave her away before she even continued. "But I knew where I could find you."

A small smile adorned her lips and she longingly let her gaze wander over his body.

"I remember when I walked the corridors alone, thinking about you and what you could do to me in those alcoves."

"Don't be ridiculous", he snapped. "We weren't even like this then."

"Just because you weren't yet licking me then, doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about it", she said cockily and stepped closer, giving him a seductive look.

He grabbed her by her arms quicker than he realised himself and pushed her away.

"Don't mock me", he drawled dangerously at her.

"I'm not…-"

"Just leave me alone", he bellowed.

He let go of her and she looked at him exasperatedly. Severus simply turned his back on her and hurried down the corridor.

"Sev…"

She came after him, but it clearly cost her a lot of energy to keep up with his long strides.

"Sev, let's just…-"

"Can you really not follow the simplest instruction, Miss Brainy?", he snarled at her in a whisper.

She opened her mouth to say something but the words didn't come out.

"If you don't mind", he continued in his venomous tone, "I would really like to continue my rounds now. Why don't you go and have a little kindergarten party with your school friends?"

"What is wrong with you?", she asked fiercely.

"What is wrong with me?", he repeated in a sarcastic voice. "Where would you like me to start? At the point where I became obsessed with my only childhood friend? Or when I decided that joining a lunatic's murderous army would be a good idea?"

"Severus…-"

"When I singlehandedly created the basis of a wizarding war? Or at the point where I decided to fuck a former student?"

He hated himself for saying it. He didn't even mean it, but he simply felt like raging and it was the first thing that came into his mind. What he did not consider were Hermione's feelings.

"You don't mean that", she whispered in shock.

"And why wouldn't I? You are my school bully's son's brainy best friend. What is it, if not wrong?", he drawled in his most icy and Snape-ish tone.

She shook her head and looked at him speechlessly.

"Just go and get drunk on butterbeer with that oaf Longbottom and Miss Loony. They are at least…-"

"Shut up", she interrupted him bluntly. "You are the most intelligent man I know, but you can also be the most unreasonable", she added. "I will leave you alone. Please, only come looking for me once you've decided to drop that idiotic behaviour."

With that said, she turned on her heal and left him alone.

He didn't think about what she had said at first. He wallowed in his self-pity, just as he always did on Halloween. Only when he walked into his rooms and opened up a drink, it started to dawn upon him, that he had behaved like an arse.

Does that surprise you? You are an arse.

And he would have deserved much, much worse than the way she had reacted. It made him incredibly sad, realising how kind she was and tolerating, and how vicious and spiteful he was.

He also knew that he had only behaved the way he did, because he was used to it. It had been a tradition: on Halloween he was a snarky, vile and hateful person.

He hadn't meant a single thing of what he had said about her. He didn't see her that way. She wasn't Potter's friend to him, and ever since he had met her again, she hadn't been. It hadn't crossed his mind a single time. She had just been Hermione, a person in her own right, just as she deserved it. His Hermione.

He had only wanted to be snarky, because that's what he had to do on Halloween. He was a cruel sinner, and it was what he expected of himself. He had to be self-loathing and violent on Halloween, because he had caused violence in the world that night many years ago. He deserved the pain and despair that came with Halloween.

However, once he started thinking about it, he realised that neither the feeling of despair nor the pain were even a fraction of what they used to be.

Had he forgotten what he had done? No. Did he still blame himself for all the things he had done? Yes. Did it rule his everyday life and impact his mood? Well, this is where he would have usually said yes, but it wasn't true anymore. There was a new feeling that ruled him much more than the feeling of guilt or pain.

He wanted to go to Hermione, he wanted to lie next to her and listen to her soft breath until he fell asleep.

But he felt bad. He hated himself on a good day, but even more so when he had one of his nasty days; not because he was nasty in general, that was a rather enjoyable thing to do, but because he was also nasty towards Hermione, and he hated hurting her.

She never mentioned it, and she never reproached him with it. It was never a question whether he could still go and see her; she accepted him with open arms and an open heart, even when he'd been the most terrible version of himself.

The real reason why he didn't go to see her now was to punish himself. He didn't deserve her kindness. He felt horrible for how he was; vile, derisive and unpleasant, and yet he could always count on her to love him. He felt as if he was taking advantage of it. If she didn't punish him for his bad behaviour, he needed to punish himself.

But wasn't it punishment enough to see her walk away from him? And to know it had been him that had pushed her away? Hadn't she said once, that she would let him push her away over and over again, until she broke?

He didn't want to be that person. Why was he the kind of person that needed telling it in the first place? He wanted to be better than that, for her.

He put his drink away and decided to go to her room. He felt like a lousy, snarky crook that took advantage of her seemingly unconditional love. She would find a reason to excuse his behaviour, when in reality there wasn't an excuse. And she would explain it to him in the most tender and loving way, until he would believe her. And it would make him feel good and his addiction to her would increase by another ounce.

He stood in the small alcove on the fourth floor, behind the tapestry with Picus on it, and stared at Hermione's chamber doors. He should return to his own rooms. He felt as if he was using her.

He was using her, to lift his own spirits, and all he did was lower hers.

He must have stood there for quite a long time, because he suddenly heard the lock in the door and it swung open, but only about two inches. She wasn't there, but he couldn't leave anymore now that she had opened the door.

When he stood in her dark rooms is was quiet. He couldn't see much, as there wasn't as much moonlight as in his own rooms, but he knew his way around. He moved towards the spiral staircase that led up to her bedroom. He made his way to the top of the stairs and looked at her. She was sleeping.

Why is she sleeping? She opened the door? Did she open the door? Where is Crookshanks?

He watched her for a while and thought about leaving again. He felt absolutely lousy.

She was the loveliest, kindest and tenderest person he had ever known. Who was he compared to her? Before her, he was helpless and breathless. The earth, and everything that lived on it, was helpless and breathless over her sheer existence.

"Severus?" Her voice sounded sleepy.

"I didn't want to wake you up."

She turned in her bed and he could make out that she had moved over onto one side.

"Come", she said quietly and pulled the duvet back.

He didn't even think about leaving again, once he had heard her tender voice.

Merlin, you preying piece of shite.

"I don't even have an excuse", he said sadly.

"No need for an excuse", she murmured. "Come…"

"Hermione… I'm…"

She groaned.

"You're a prick and nothing excuses your behaviour…"

That was unexpected.

"… but I am tired and the bed is getting cold. So get your arse in here. We discuss the rest tomorrow."

There was no need to say anything to that, so he simply took of his shoes and clothes and slid in beside her. He didn't dare touch her however.

"God, Sev you're the most annoying person sometimes", she moaned and moved over to him. His body was cold from standing outside in the corridor for ages, and her hot skin burnt him, physically and emotionally. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and let the touch sink in, straight through his skin into his heart, where it wrapped him up and caressed him tenderly.

"I don't know why I… why I am like that", he tried to explain.

"I do."

He didn't reply, hoping she would explain.

"You shouldn't be here", she continued.

She was right, he didn't deserve to be with her tonight.

"Hogwarts is not doing you any good."

What was she talking about?

She didn't say any more and his thoughts raced, but her soft body against his own softened the blow. He didn't know what to reply.

"Now, relax that mind of yours", she said. "There is no need to argue or talk about this now. It's who you are, but I do not condone it. We are going to have a serious discussion tomorrow, but I love you no matter what."

"You shouldn't", he said half-heartedly.

"For Merlin's sake. Shut it, and sleep."

He relaxed his breathing and started to draw circled on her neck, because he knew it would send her to sleep. When her own breathing was calm and deep, he buried his nose in her hair and closed his eyes.

"I love you so much", he whispered against her head. "So, so much. You cannot fathom the extent of it."

They did have a discussion on the next day, however, Hermione didn't explain what she had meant when she had said 'Hogwarts wasn't doing him any good'.

Of course, she just pretended that it was nothing, but he knew better than that. He realised very quickly that she was thinking hard on it, and decided to leave it at that. She would sooner or later talk about it, it was in her nature. She could not resist the urge, and he could wait that long.

A couple of weeks later Severus had to visit Teddy Lupin in the hospital wing.

The class had been brewing a common antidote to poisons, when shortly before the end Lupin Jr's cauldron had exploded and burnt him slightly on one side of his face and his arms. It wasn't tragic, but Severus had sent him to the hospital wing anyway.

"I am… I am sorry for causing a mess…, Professor", the boy stuttered whilst Madam Pomfrey applied some balm to his arms. Severus had never been particularly hostile towards the boy, but he was terrified nonetheless.

"There is not much one can do wrong with this antidote, Mr Lupin. Yet you have managed to make it explode. Two points from Hufflepuff", he said coolly.

"I know, Sir. I… I have brewed the potion before… My granny doesn't want me to experiment with potions at home… I… I hoped I could…-"

"You experimented with the potion during my class?", he drawled. "Another two points from Hufflepuff."

"Now, Severus…", Madam Pomfrey tried to chastise him, but a merciless look from Severus made her shut up. She only sighed and pursed her lips in discontent.

"I thought… if… if I crush the mistletoe berries… their effect would increase", Teddy explained quietly.

Severus raised his eyebrows at the boy. Was he genuinely using his brain to brew potions?

"And why would you want to increase their effect, Mr Lupin?", he asked the boy soberly, but not viciously. Although the name hurt on his tongue.

"I thought, if I crush one berry and could use its juice, I wouldn't need a second berry."

"Mistletoe berry juice reacts unfavourably with some herbs of your standard ingredient", Severus explained. "You want to keep the skin on the berry to protect it, but still get its benefits."

"Which herb does it react with?", the boy asked eagerly.

Severus couldn't decide if he should chastise the boy for being a nuisance, or if he should rejoice in the fact that there was one of those rare children that had an interest in potions. Maybe he wasn't a nuisance after all.

"It reacts with the chamomile. If you want to use crushed mistletoe berries, you have to completely leave out the standard ingredient and use Honeywater, mint springs, stewed Mandrake and essence of Lavender instead."

The boy's eyes widened with interest and a smile nearly escaped Severus's lips. Only nearly, though. He looked at him sternly.

"Brew the antidote again with the altered ingredients. You can pick up the instructions tomorrow morning and bring the finished potion to my office by tomorrow night. If it is brewed correctly, and by that I mean absolutely flawless, you shall be awarded two house points."

Teddy had jumped off the bed once Madam Pomfrey had told him he could leave and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, Sir."

"I do not tolerate random experiments in my classroom. In the future, if you intend to alter the instructions, you will inform me and get my approval. Otherwise you shall lose more house points than you can ever earn in your next seven years at this school."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

Teddy Lupin ran out of the hospital wing.

"No running in the corridors, Mr Lupin!", Madam Pomfrey yelled after him whilst she cleaned her hands in a bowl of water.

Severus looked at the matron and thought it might soon be time for her to retire. How old was she? She must be Minerva's age.

"I will send the next batch of Pepper-up potion tonight", he informed her and turned to leave.

"Thank you, Severus", she replied with a kind smile.

He never really knew what to do with such a gesture and simply inclined his head, his features remaining stoic. Then he made haste to leave.

"It's good to have you back", she said before he had reached the door. "And to see you healthy."

He turned around and looked in Madam Pomfrey's kind, wrinkled face. It was incredible how much this woman had done for him throughout his whole life. And she hadn't made a fuss over it, ever. He always thought she had just helped him because Dumbledore still needed him alive, but now he couldn't help but wonder if she simply was a genuine, helpful and kind person. It would make sense. Why else would one become a healer?

Despite all the horrible night he connected with the hospital wing and her presence, he gave her a weak smile.

"It's good to be back, too."

He wasn't entirely sure if he actually meant it, but it felt like the right thing to say. And for once in his life he wanted to do the right things.

He left the hospital wing in a hurry, feeling completely at odds with the positive feeling this whole visit had created in him.