Snape woke and stretched. His meeting with the Dark Lord had been remarkably short. He had returned to Hogwarts less than an hour after leaving it. Even Minerva had joked that it was probably a record. Later he had taught Maggie another potion, and while not perfect, it was very nearly.

He stood and called Dobby, requesting their breakfast. He wondered how many more meals in the Great Hall he could miss before Umbridge called him to task on it. He would have to speak to McGonagalll about perhaps switching off meals in the Hall with him so he could avoid any more attention from that Ministry woman.

He could hear Maggie moving about the bedroom. He smirked when he recalled that Katrina had said Maggie wasn't a 'morning person.' His daughter had certainly inherited that from him and not her mother. Kat was a disgustingly cheerful person in the mornings. He himself was useless without a couple cups of coffee or tea in his system.

As he moved to the kitchen, his thoughts hovered on Katrina. He had to admit that he was beginning to miss seeing her. He had enjoyed their daily conversations. They had agreed to begin dating again, each of them knowing that the other had changed in the sixteen years they'd been separated. Their 'first date' was scheduled for the night he brought Maggie home. Katrina had already made reservations at a fancy muggle restaurant for the two of them.

He brought his mind back to the here and now as he poured himself a cup of tea from the teapot Dobby had just placed on the table. He slowly sipped it, his mind again wandering, when Maggie entered.

"Good morning," she said quietly.

He glanced up at her. Her wet hair was wrapped in a towel, but she was otherwise dressed. "Good morning."

"Do you have many classes today?" she asked, pouring herself a cup of tea and grabbing a scone from the tray.

"Only three," he said, mentally reviewing his syllabi for each class. "I have the second and fourth year Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff classes as well as the fifth year Slytherin/Gryffindor class." He sighed at the thought of this last class. He wondered which of his students would tamper with the Gryffindor potions today. Generally Draco Malfoy was the culprit, but any of the Slytherins were capable of endangering his whole class. He finished his tea and refilled his cup.

Maggie scrutinized him, "Did you eat anything?"

"You sound like your mother," he said, scowling.

Maggie laughed, "I'll take that as a compliment. You didn't answer my question."

"No, I didn't," he said in a tone that was generally sufficient to end a conversation.

"Is there nothing here to your liking?" she asked, persisting just as her mother would.

He turned a cold glare on her, "I am not in the mood to eat."

"You really should eat something, father," she said softly, obviously not intimidated by his stare.

He sighed and finally conceded, picking up a scone and slowly eating it. Maggie gave him a bright smile and he silently decided that it was worth it for him to have given in to her demands.

-- --

Harry sighed softly as he finished his breakfast and left the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione. He was glad that the school year was almost over. His mind had kept turning back to the beautiful girl he had met in his Muggle Studies class. Maggie's eyes kept invading his dreams when Voldemort was absent from them. He had already decided that he would do whatever he could to write to her this summer. If he thought she would get a letter from him now, he would have Hedwig take one, but he somehow didn't think it would get through to her.

This was their last week of review classes and he was almost looking forward to his O.W.L.'s the following week. Today they had Transfiguration followed by Charms and then a double lesson of Potions after lunch.

It was all he could do to remain focused on the review lessons of the morning. He found himself penning short notes to Maggie instead of the review notes Ron and Hermione were taking. At one point, Hermione glanced at his notes and elbowed him in the ribs, "Pay attention," she had hissed.

He had given her a small smile and shrugged, stowing the notes away and trying to focus on the remainder of his Charms lesson.

They got to lunch and Hermione gave him a knowing smile, "So, Harry… Who were you writing notes to during lessons?"

"Huh… Oh…" he hedged, not exactly sure if he wanted his friends to know that he was writing to Maggie.

"Oi, come on, mate!" Ron said from Hermione's other side. "Who is she?"

Harry sighed and leaned closer to his friends, "You remember that girl from our Muggle Studies class? Maggie Smith?"

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, causing some of the other Gryffindors to glance their way.

"Shh!" he immediately hushed her. "Look… It's… well… It may be nothing but we spent a lot of time talking and…"

"Don't worry, mate," Ron said, settling back to his meal. "We won't tell anyone, right Hermione?"

"Of course we won't," she reassured Harry, focusing on her own meal now.

Harry felt a bit better for having gotten it off his chest. He smiled and tucked into his own lunch.