He opened his eyes once, and bright daylight hit them, so he closed them again with a groan.

"Oh! Let me get those!" a voice much softer and kinder than Madam Pomfrey's piped up, then he heard footsteps and the sound of closing curtains. "There. All better!"

Heels clicked on the tile, and his bed dipped slightly under her weight. He opened his eyes, and was glad to be able to see. His dark eyes rested upon the form of a woman. She had red, almost orange hair, smooth pale skin, and a wide, smiling face. Her violet eyes were bright with promise, and the gap in her teeth was gone.

"Hey," she rubbed a thumb over his cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"...OBVIOUSLY, I've been better." he was surprised at his hoarse voice. "How... how long have I been...?"

"About a week. All of the students that had been out of place will start school

soon, with parent's consent of course."

"And Potter?" he asked.

Her smile softened to one among friends. "He's fine. Vouched for you, he did. Made sure you were cared for. He's treating you like family. Honestly, you may be the closest thing to family he has now."

She pulled a pocket watch from her bosom, as she was wearing a tight grey dress. A blush crossed Snape's sallow skin. "Ah, he'll be here any moment." she closed the pocket watch, and who should stroll in but Harry Potter, his green eyes shining.

"How is he, Professor Timble?" he asked, and the synapses in Snape's brain started firing.

"Timble... Bethany?" Severus grasped her hand. "Bethany, I'm so sorry I didn't listen all those years ago."

"It's alright, Severus. Just get better, and I'll forgive you of anything." the woman smiled. She kissed his forehead and left, her dress clinging to her curves. Harry and Severus stared after her until she closed the hospital wing doors.

Harry then took to Snape's side in her absense.

"Potter, I'm sorry that I've been so cruel to you. You didn't deserve it." Severus decided that he was going to be a new man. A... well, not COMPLETELY new man, just a bit friendlier.

"It's alright, Professor. You were just trying to protect me without getting too attached. I'm sorry I always suspected you of doing evil anytime something went wrong. And for blaming you for the troll incident in my first year." Harry mumbled the last part, but looked at him with those green eyes, the ones that always made him feel terrible, but this time, they had no effect on Severus. They were just a pair of pretty green eyes, not hypnotic reminders of his worst mistake.

Lily didn't effect him anymore. He was free to feel other emotions besides pain and remorse. He could finally move on.

The weeks marched on, students milling about, helping clean the now destroyed Hogwarts. Severus was visited by several students, mostly Slytherins, with a sprinkling of Gryffindors and Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw. But he was visited most by Bethany, who would fluff his pillows and tell him about the progress on the school. She would help Madam Pomfrey change his bandages, and would tell him about Germany, and muggle friends she had, and an interesting plant she found that Pomfrey wouldn't let her bring in.

Soon, he was healed, and the school year was about to begin. She had been visiting at her usual time, slightly dust covered from cleaning up the school.

"Where have you been today?" Snape pleasantly asked, sitting up in his cot.

"Well, I started in the west wing, and picked up some of the rubble near the girls' second floor bathroom, and ended cleaning your chambers." Bethany crossed her long, still dirty legs. The scuffs on her knees suggested that she had been scrubbing floors.

"What?" he bolted out of the cot, his nightclothes wrinkled from sleeping.

"Well, I had to clean your chambers. Alphabetized your potion ingredients, sanitized your cauldron, beat the rugs outside, caught the iguana lurking under the bed, cleaned the guest room, dusted off the photos, washed your laundry, made your bed, found all the missing throw pillows, and moved my things into the guest room." she listed them off her fingers, and Snape turned to her, disbelief in his eyes. She caught

the look and started explaining herself.

"I- I was asked by McGonagall to take care of you, and since I haven't my own room..."

"When were you planning on telling me this?" his voice was filled with suspicion.

"...When school started." she admitted.

"Well," Severus sighed, then took a cleansing breath. "I guess it would be best. Just in case I need help, or you need someone to show you the castle."

A smile broke across her face, and she hugged him tight. "Don't worry. I'll be a great room mate!" she gushed.

All this cheerfulness was going to kill him, if the students who still hated him didn't get to him first. At least it wasn't that damn snake.