A/N: Hi everyone^.^ I hope you haven't lost interest in this story... I'm sorry for the update delay, it's taken longer than I thought to know how to continue it but I think I have enough to cover a couple more chapters and I hope I get inspired as I write so I can finish this (and some more of my stories) before Christmas holidays end.

For now... a change of POV to make things easier for me... I hope you don't mind... ;-) ENJOY!

** I apologize in advance for the grammar and spelling mistakes you will surely find...

The punishment - 5 - keep the secret

The hospital wing of hogwarts was usually a quiet and empty place, but since professor McGonagall had been punished in public, only at night you could hear no noise coming from behind its double door.
At every hour of the day, if you stood at the hall, you could hear voices and laughs coming from the inside, and if you crossed the double door, you found yourself surrounded by dozens of flower buckets, hundreds of get well soon cards from the children, baskets full of sweets and candy and people... lots of people, children and professors, coming to cheer up their teacher and keep her company.
"Shouldn't we do something about it?" Alecto Carrow asked as she walked by the hospital wing with her brother and Severus.
"You made a martyr of her and now the children see her as a heroine... if you try to stop it now, you'll only make it worse..." was Severus answer.
"Well, we'll let her be for now but I have a few ideas to put her down in her place once she get out from that hospital bed..." Amycus said with a mischievous smile on his lips.
"I'm sure you do," Severus muttered, "now if you excuse me, I have work to do..." he said.
"But it's dinner time!" Alecto exclaimed.
"Unlike you two, I prefer eating on my own rather than being glared by the entire school in the main hall..." he said.
Once he'd made sure the two professors were far enough, he went back on his steps and entered the hospital wing at the same time some students were coming out. He didn't walked towards Minerva's bed... he stayed at the door until the nurse, who had been left alone with her patient, noticed him and then went into her office followed by her.
"You should talk to her," Poppy said after closing the door behind her.
"I don't think she wants me to listen me..." he said.
"That's it then, I can't keep her in here anymore, Minerva's anything but stupid and she knows she's fine enough to get back in her chambers and teaching again..."
"No, you must keep her in here a few more days, until I've come up with something else..."
"Severus, I've given you more time than I could, Minerva knows there's something going on... she's going back to her rooms tomorrow, so unless you come up with a better idea than having her prisoner in the hospital wing, you should tell her what Amycus wants to do..."
"She wouldn't believe me, she doesn't trust me..." Severus said letting his body fall on the nurse's chair.
"That's because you've done nothing but lying to her... now be brave and start being honest with that woman, Severus!" Poppy said showing a temper that was rarely seen on her.
"I can't... let her go back to her rooms, I'll think of something..." and after that he left and the nurse came back to her patient's bed.

"What did the headmaster want?" Minerva wondered sitting up on the bed and taking some chocolates from the nearest basket.
"He came to check up on you..."
"Yes, sure... I bet he's dying to give my teaching position to some friend of his... I won't give him the pleasure..."
"He's worried about you, Minerva..."
"I'm in this bed because of him..." she responded.
"He tried not to harm you, I saw it, his lashes hardly brushed your skin... how many times do I have to tell you?"
"That's because he's a coward... he wasn't that gentle when he stunned Dumbledore at the clock tower..."
"Oh, Minerva... if you could only look at him without all that resentment, you would see he's the same man we used to know..."
"But I can't... Dumbledore is dead, he killed him, and that I can't forget."

Back in the Headmaster's office, Severus was having a large glass of firewhiskey near the fire... that had lately become her daily dinner time routine. He rested his head back and closed his eyes... During his early days as a Death Eater he had seen the Carrows "in action"... they had no mercy and they had fun with other's suffering... He specially remembered the time when they attacked a house on the east coast, it was the home of the then director of the Daily Prophet... they tortured to death the poor innocent man whose sin had been publishing an article about Dumbledore's fight against the Dark Lord and after, Amycus decided to have fun with the man's beautiful wife, who after savagely raping, he took with him to keep humiliating. That's why Severus knew very well what Amycus meant when he said he wanted to put Minerva down to her place and he wouldn't let that happen...
For the past five weeks he had been able to keep Minerva in the nursery thanks to Poppy, but of course he knew that would do it for the entire year anyway... He had to think of something, he needed to keep Minerva away from Amycus, and if he couldn't enclose her then he would have to make her leave the castle.

It was dark and quiet in the Gryffindor dorms when a shadow rushed in and grabbed one of the sleeping students. The boy, unaware of what was happening struggled to get free until they reached the common room and at the light of the fire he could see his headmaster's face in front of him.
"Kidnapping students at the moonlight, professor Snape?" the boy teased.
"Don't play smart with me, Longbottom, we both know you're scared to death..." Severus said, letting go the boy and sitting down on one of the chairs. The common room was empty, of course, since it was past midnight already, "Have a sit."
"What is that you want?" Neville wondered taking a chair not too close not too far from the headmaster.
"I happen to know you are the lidder of some kind of resistance group..." the professor said with his usual tone.
"I don't know what you're talking about..." Neville was nervous, his voice and hands trembled.
"Of course you do... don't worry, I'm not here to harm you or ask you to stop whatever is it your group does..." Severus said, "I'm here to ask you a favour..."
"We don't help traitors, professor..." Neville talked bravely and Severus breathed hard to keep his temper down.
"I guess you do appreciate your head of house..."
"Are you planning on punishing her again?"
"No, but Amycus Carrow does... he wants to harm her and I want to prevent it to happen..."
"Why?"
"My reasons are none of your business, Longbottom." he glared at the boy and Neville shivered, "Now, I don't care what story you come up with, but I need you to convince her that she needs to leave and take her out from the school the sooner you can..."
"Why don't you just fire her?"
"Because she doesn't trust me, if I fire her she'll know I want her away and will make everything to stay... I want her far from the Carrows before it's too late and right now you're the only person who can help me keep her safe..."
"Even if you're saying the truth, I can't help you... I don't know how to take her out from the school..."
"Yes, you do..." Severus said smiling and suddenly showing a large picture of a young lady to the boy... "Let me introduce you to Ariadna Dumbledore... you will hang her in the room of requirement and she'll show you the way out... what you use the passage for will be none of my business as long as you take Minerva to safety."
"Why are you doing this?" Neville asked taking the picture on his hands, "I mean, if you're in our side why...?"
"Things are never easy, Longbottom, and I'm more useful as a traitor... so I hope you'll keep my secret and say nothing, not even to Minerva."
"No, of course..."

TO BE CONTINUED...