8 Nov 1991, Friday, After Curfew

Hermione Granger had learned that once you were in Slytherin House and it was after curfew there was no way to leave without Professor Snape knowing about it. He had wards all over the entire House that helped him to keep an eye upon his Snakes. Since she needed, or actually wanted, to do research on ghosts and spirits, Hermione was determined to devote her entire weekend to the research.

That really wasn't the real reason for her slipping out just before curfew and before the wards were activated. Hermione hadn't told anyone, but she was certain that the Restricted Section would have a much more pertinent tome for her study. At least, that's what she hoped and since no one in the first through third year was even allowed to ask for a pass to the Restricted Section, Hermione felt she had no other choice than to disobey the rules. And, she hoped... dearly hoped, that the wards around Slytherin House wouldn't know she was gone.

Hermione slipped easily into the library and she was glad of her dark robes and that she wasn't full grown, yet. Staying to the shadows the bushy-haired Slytherin girl made her way through the stacks to the very back of the library.

The Restricted Section took up the entire wall at the back of the library. All the books, scrolls, and old parchments were behind shelves that were behind copper screening that had tarnished and had gone slightly green with age. As Hermione looked over the shelves she had to wonder why wards weren't put up to keep the students, like herself, from getting into the restricted material. Upon reaching for one likely book, she learned why wards were unnecessary.

Upon touching the heavy tome, Hermione felt a terrible spark arc out and sting her fingers. Simply reacting she dropped the lamp she was carrying that held one of her blue flames within it. The glass shattered, everywhere, and the little magical flame snuffed out. The lamp remains first hit a corner of the shelf, and then Hermione's foot and she let out a squeal.

"Who's there?" demanded a gruff voice.

"Merlin help me!" gasped Hermione under her breath. "It's Filch."

An ominous yowl sent Hermione running from the Restricted Section and darting through the stacks. A few times the shadows were so dark she clipped her hip upon a shelf or a desk. Even so, to her thankful graces, the door of the library wasn't all that far away and she was soon through it. Unfortunately, Mrs. Norris was right behind her which meant that Filch wasn't too far away.

Hermione quickened her run into a sprint, dashed up a nearby staircase, and found herself in a long corridor that had a slow, upward slope. A meow from Mrs. Norris only informed her that she was hardly home safe. With a stitch in her side, she increased her speed until she came out of the corridor.

Up ahead an ornate door slowly opened and without thinking about it, Hermione went through the door, and it slipped shut behind her.

Hermione's feet stopped abruptly right before she ran into... her parents.

Her mother smiled sweetly at her, proudly even, and Hermione let out a small gasp. Her father stood next to her mother and the pipe he always had in his mouth was gone as he smiled, too. The absolute pride and approval in their eyes was horribly painful. It was something she'd never seen before, yet she had always wanted.

Hermione rapidly shook her head. "No. You're not real." She scowled sharply. "I know you don't want me. Not anymore. I know it." She turned away from the mirror just as the Grangers shifted and changed. Unable to resist a perverse need to turn back Hermione spun round.

The little girl watched as her father put a pipe into his mouth and then reclined with his paper onto a worn out, dark green upholstered chair and a matching ottoman.

"Da?" Hermione said softly as her fingertips trailed down the hard glass. She watched in dismay as her father snapped open his paper obscuring his face. Hermione then looked up at her mother. "Mum?" She hated the hopeful feeling that welled in the smile that wavered upon her face as she looked up into the eyes of the now severe looking woman before her.

With a terribly disappointed glance, the woman turned away from her daughter.

"Mum! Mum! Please come back!" Hermione's fist banged angrily against the glass but her mother kept walking past her father and up the stairs to her bedroom. Hermione laid her cheek against the cold, unforgiving surface as she imagined her mother stepping into her overly large room where she had three closets crammed full of dresses she never wore. On her dresser were eight jewelry boxes made of stained pine that held some of the most magnificent jewels the little girl had ever seen. Her mother had always slapped her hand away from the jewels. She had never been allowed to try anything on.

Suddenly Hermione jerked backwards as the living room she had grown up in faded to be replaced by the somewhat faded view of another library. A wonderful library where she had access to all the books in the world. She watched as Narcissa walked through the smokey, faded view, and into the library. The beautiful woman, who wore a simple, yet very lovely gown of pale peach that set off the silken waterfall of gold that was her unbound hair, glided over to Lucius who was seated at an ornate desk. He turned slightly in the mahogany chair and accepted a parchment from his wife. Lucius held it up so Hermione could read that the parchment was her O.W.L.s and they were all Os! Lucius smiled proudly at her. Narcissa turned and also graced Hermione with her approval.

Hermione then marveled as a figure of herself leapt into view and threw her arms around Narcissa. Narcissa embraced her fully, in a manner her own mother never had. Lucius rose from his desk, handed the image of Hermione her test results and he bestowed upon her forehead a kiss. When Hermione's image went to embrace Lucius, he didn't push her away, but drew her into his arms.

The real Hermione never knew she had slid down to the floor, sitting upon the cold stone, as she watched the two scenes continually play out. Hermione had no idea that her magic, her wish, had changed the inherent magic of the mirror. It fed upon her like a silent vampire as she remained trapped. Beneath her the chill of death seeped into her skin, spreading. The little girl never realised that she was starting to freeze.


Snape's Slytherin House wards were more complete than any of his students realised. They soon learned, though, that not only was it impossible to leave after curfew, but he would know at once if one of his Snakes wasn't within the House at curfew. Most of the older students knew this for it was more often than not the first years, and sometimes the second years, who tried to stay out after curfew and sneak back in later.

Consequently, when nine in the evening chimed throughout the castle, Snape knew at once that one of his Snakes had not made it home on time.

Snape had been grading some last minute quizzes for his fifth years when he felt the internal 'chime' of his wards around Slytherin House that let him know someone was missing. Putting away his quill, the ink, and then the quizzes, he Summoned his teaching robes, draped them over his shoulders, and left his office to go to the common room.

He soon had everyone assembled and as he counted the heads of his Snakes, he had his prefects do so as well. A quick comparison of numbers showed that one Snake was missing. Of course, during his counting he was absolutely certain who was gone.

"Does anyone know where Miss Granger is?" he asked all of his Snakes. He glanced towards Harry and Draco who were usually not to be found with their friend.

Draco shrugged, but it was Harry who spoke up, "I saw her go up to her dorm just as me and Draco did, sir."

Snape's gaze then shifted to Hermione's dorm mate, Millicent. "Miss Bulstrode? Did you see Miss Granger go to bed?"

She shook her head, then nodded. Snape's concerned frown deepened into a scowl. Millicent quickly explained, "I did see Hermione, sir, but then she said she forgot one of her textbooks in the common room. I was reading and I never really noticed that she hadn't come back."

Snape drew in a steady breath. "Everyone is to go to bed, now," he ordered sternly. He started to leave and step through the portrait hole when someone tapped his arm. He glanced over his shoulder to see his son.

"Could I help look for Hermione, Da... uhm, sir?" he asked quietly.

"No, you may not, Mr. Snape," he replied a bit too curtly. "I am the Head of Slytherin House and Miss Granger is my responsibility, not yours."

"But Hermione's my friend," Harry said stubbornly.

"Go to bed, Mr. Snape. This instant!" Snape pushed his way through the portrait door. He was too angered by Hermione's disappearance to see the angry scowl his son sent to his vanishing back.


After an hour of searching fruitlessly for his missing Snake, Snape had gone to the Headmaster for help.

"I have done a Point-Me Spell, Headmaster, and there was nothing!" insisted Snape as he glared at his wand held loosely in his hand. "I checked the library. Miss Granger might have been in there. Filch found a broken lamp in the Restricted Section."

Dumbledore scratched his beard. "I wonder what she could have been doing in there?"

"Miss Granger was worried about my son and Mr. Malfoy and what had happened in the Ministry. I believe she might have been doing further research on possession," Snape explained, only smudging the truth. After seeing the broken lamp he had concluded that after the talk the children had with him that evening that Hermione had decided to research more about ghosts and spirits. She had said then that she wanted to know just how Voldemort was sustaining his existence.

Unfortunately that knowledge did very little in helping him to find the girl. It was also frustrating and worrisome that his Point-Me Spell, usually quite infallible, had given him nothing.

"Headmaster?"

Snape looked up from his ruminations to see Remus Lupin. Before he could effect a good sneer at the man's appearance, he saw Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick follow the werewolf into the office.

"I am terribly sorry for waking everyone," apologised Dumbledore, "but we have a missing student and we need your assistance in finding her."

"Who is it?" asked Pomona with a look of motherly worry on her face.

Snape spoke up, "Miss Granger. According to her friends she seems to have left the Slytherin common room at around 8:30 tonight. Mr. Filch found a broken lantern in the library."

"Oh my!" gasped Flitwick. "She hasn't been abducted, has she?"

"We hope not, Filius," said Dumbledore quietly, yet the expression on his face showed that he was already concerned about such a possibility. "I would like for all of us to search the castle for one hour. If the child is not discovered in that time, I shall call the Aurors and report that she is missing."

"A simple Point-Me Spell should take care of that," said Remus with a suppressed yawn.

Snape did sneer then. "Do you think I have not already tried that already, Lupin?"

"Severus, please," the Headmaster cautioned gently. "I tried several location spells as well. Please, do your best and send a Patronus message if you should find Miss Granger."

Dumbledore ushered the Heads of Hogwarts Houses out of his office. At the bottom of the stairs, they parted to various areas of the castle.


-A Map-

Remus Lupin hesitated briefly at the bottom of the stairs beside the gargoyle. Snape was already heading back towards the dungeons when he made his decision.

"Professor Snape! Wait, if you would?" he called out.

Snape paused in place and turned slowly to face Remus. He glared, but it was a half-hearted one. He was far too worried about Hermione.

Remus stopped in front of Snape and quickly ran his fingers through his hair. Before the Slytherin could say anything snarkish, Remus declared, "I may have a way to find Miss Granger."

"Well?" asked Snape when it seemed no explanation was forthcoming.

"In my office," Remus finally said. He motioned for the Potions professor to follow him and they made their way quickly to Remus' Deputy office. Once through the doors, he sealed them and put up a Silencing Spell.

The office was much neater and no longer cluttered with the paperwork that Snape had first found the Gryffindor nearly buried in. A bit of decorating had been done as well; bookshelves, odd knick-knacks, and not a single moving portrait in sight. Not even the landscape that pictured some quaint old farmland was an enchanted one.

"No portraits, Lupin?" Snape asked flatly, the inflection not showing his curiosity.

"Portraits can be notorious gossips, Professor Snape." He levitated the landscape up nearly a foot to reveal the bare, grey stone beneath. "I've never much cared for them."

Snape nodded absently. He felt rather the same way about portraits. A wizard couldn't always trust the word of a magical, talking portrait. He had always disliked the notion that portraits of all the past Heads of Hogwarts adorned the Headmaster's office. Supposedly acting as advisers. No one ever seemed to take into account that a few of those Heads had been as notoriously corrupt as any political official could manage to be.

"What are you doing, Lupin?" Snape asked he saw the werewolf tapping certain stones in an odd sort of rhythm.

Remus glanced over his shoulder. "I'm trusting you, Severus, with another one of my secrets. Now, quiet." Remus, interrupted by whatever he had been doing, had to start over.

Snape wondered what other sort of secret Remus might have considering his greatest one was his most damning. A grating noise kept his thoughts from wandering any further when the stones moved aside to reveal a hidden cabinet with a very Muggle combination lock on it. Remus deftly spun the dial left, then right, left again, and right one last time. The ancient looking cabinet sprung open and he removed a large piece of parchment folded over several times.

"I had not ever thought I would use this," Remus muttered.

The Potions Master would not admit he was intrigued as he wondered what the bit of parchment might be that it needed to be hidden away by both magical and Muggle means. He moved over to Remus' desk as the man spread the parchment out; unfolding it, smoothing over the heavy creases.

It was blank. Snape almost, stupidly, stated the obvious. Remus, seeming to know what was going through the Slytherin's mind, looked his way and smiled rather smugly.

"What is this, Lupin? I have a child to find and so far I can only see that we're wasting time!"

"Oh ye of little patience," Remus mis-quoted deliberately. He then tapped his wand to the parchment and spoke softly, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

To Snape's astonishment, black ink bloomed at the center of the parchment and then spread out like defining branches in angles, circles, and curves. It was soon easy to see that the ink was mapping out the foundation and each floor of Hogwarts castle. Each floor and room was labeled in a fine, and precise hand. The striking peculiarity of the map didn't end there, though. Once every portion of the castle was drawn small dots began to appear. Most of the dots clustered in the various dorms of the Houses. They were labeled by the name of each dot and were so crowded that they overlapped each other.

"Wherever did you get this, Lupin?" Snape breathed in wonder as he watched the dot labeled Albus Dumbledore pace back and forth in his office.

A rather keen bit of magic that James, Sirius, Peter, and I managed around our fifth year," replied Remus, his voice a bit wistful.

Snape looked away from the map. "None of you could have done this."

Remus frowned at the tone of jealousy that Snape had not hidden in his voice. "You aren't the only one who can read a book, Severus," he chided.

"Yet you have no idea how to deal with a Howler," Snape bit back.

Remus rolled his eyes at Snape. "And I suppose it was something you knew how to do the first time you encountered several at a time?"

Snape's lips thinned. Actually, he hadn't. In his first year he had been rather humiliatingly burned by seven Howlers from irate parents complaining to him about their precious witch or wizard's grades. From then on he decided he had to find a way to disarm the vicious little letters so he at least could read them. "How did you wind up in possession of the Map?" asked Snape to divert the werewolf's attention from the past. That, and he had questions he would have answered.

"James. Wisely he gave the Marauders Map into my keeping before he signed his entire estate away to the Headmaster."

Snape noted the sneer of distaste upon the werewolf's scarred face. "Not all of the Marauders thought that move a smart one?"

Remus looked up from the map at the Potions Master. "I thought it boneheaded, Professor Snape," he bit out darkly. "And, I wasn't a Marauder by then so I was not consulted."

"Then how did you know of this action by Potter?" Snape was certain this dreadful Power of Attorney decision had not been widely known. He had not been privy to much information in the Order of the Phoenix but surely someone would have objected had they known.

"Peter," sighed Remus. "Even after I distanced myself from Sirius and James, Peter could not help telling me everything those two were up to." Remus returned his attention to the Marauders Map as he muttered, "And, Peter came with the Map. I always expected that rat's squeak would earn him..." his eyes widened as he caught something on the map.

Snape catching the hesitation in the wizard's voice, and the tenseness of the werewolf's body he bent over the map. "What is it, Lupin? What do you see?"

Remus pointed at a label scurrying along a corridor outside Gryffindor tower. "You tell me, Severus. What do you read?"

Snape squinted the label as the feet beneath it went into the Gryffindor common room. "That is impossible," he muttered. "Peter Pettigrew is dead."

"I wove a Truth Spell into the magic of the Marauders Map, Severus, that," he tapped the label that was now circling before the fire in the Gryffindor common room. "...is no lie. That is Peter Pettigrew."

Snape straightened. "I cannot be distracted by another mystery, Remus." He shook his head and purposefully looked away from the curious label of a wizard that should be dead. "I need to find my Snake before she falls into some mischief I cannot aid her with." Irritably, Snape tapped his finger upon the map. "Shall we see if we can find Miss Granger, Lupin?"

Remus nodded and studied the map and the dots as did Snape. He finally spotted the girl's dot up on the seventh floor in a room labeled – Mirror Chamber.

"She isn't moving," stated Snape.

"Let's get to her quickly then," said Remus as he folded the map and tucked it into his robes. "She might be hurt."

The two wizards quickly left the office and made their way as swiftly as possible to the seventh floor. Not long after arriving they came across the same, welcoming door that had opened so smoothly for Hermione. They entered cautiously, wands drawn.

"Miss Granger!" Snape saw the girl seated upon the bare floor in front of some sort of mirror. Her body was visibly shivering. He started to go towards her, but Remus grasped his arm preventing him from doing so.

"She's mesmerised, Severus, by that mirror," he whispered as he stared warily at the thing that was pulsing grotesquely. "I think it may be unwise for us to get too close."

They studied the mirror from their positions as both of them kept their gazes from the reflective surface. Snape then pointed at an odd inscription over the top of the mirror, "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. That makes no sense," he glowered. "That is no language I have ever heard of."

Remus smiled, "That's because it's backwards, Sev..."

Snape shot a glare at the werewolf. Remus glared right back. He was tired of having to address the wizard that was his colleague so formally. "Considering the fact that I am technically your superior, and because it annoys the hell out of you, I'm going to call you by your name, Severus. So deal with it." He then pointed sharply at the inscription and translated, "I show not your face but your heart's desire."

The Potions Master felt a tiny smirk begin to appear over his lips at the indignant backbone from the Deputy Headmaster. He couldn't show it, though so he returned his attention to the mirror. "I think this is the Mirror of Erised," said Snape.

"I thought that was a myth," Remus interjected quietly.

Snape did sneer. "Obviously not. How are we going to get her away from that thing?"

Remus frowned at the pulsing it was doing. He waved his wand, incanting a rather complicated spell. As Snape did his best to translate the Old Latin in his mind, he was just able to figure out that the werewolf was performing a sort of Diagnostic Spell that checked for an active curse. Once finished, Remus cursed, again in Old Latin.

"I don't know how it's doing so, Severus, but that... thing... is feeding on Miss Granger's magic."

Remus whipped his wand down sharply, and conjured something from the air. A deep red cloth fell over the mirror obscuring its reflective surface and breaking the spell it had over Hermione.

Snape gave the smug looking wizard beside him one of his really annoyed scowls. "A drape, Lupin?"

The Deputy shrugged with a slight upturn to his lips, "It worked, didn't it?"

"M-m-mother?" Hermione tried to rise, to remove the offending cloth, but she was cold and stiff.

Snape moved away from Remus, removed his outer teaching robes, and threw them over the chilled girl. "Miss Granger?" Her eyes were still upon the mirror even though she could no longer see what images had been in it. He lightly grasped her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Miss Granger, can you hear me?" Her lips were blue, as were the ends of her fingers. Her skin was as pale and as cold as porcelain.

Hermione's eyes blinked slowly as she came back to reality. "Mum left me," she murmured sadly. "Da... well, he's da, isn't he? Do you think he knows he has a daughter? I don't think so. Aunt Narcissa says my parents haven't even written back to them. I wrote..." her voice was beginning to speed up, "and they never answered me! I don't think they want me anymore!"

"Miss Granger," Snape said softly. He was rather mystified by what the child was babbling on about. "I do not..."

"So disappointed," Hermione sighed mournfully. "I'm never going to be what mummy wants." She laid her cheek against her teacher's shoulder.

Snape lifted the girl into his arms as she sagged heavily, passing out. Rising, he pushed past Remus and made his way to the Infirmary.

Neither noticed that one of her hands was gripped tightly about something.


Madame Pomfrey had finished her examination of Hermione and spelled several potions into her. When the girl was suitably tucked in, she went over to the two wizards that had been waiting for a diagnosis.

"Miss Granger's magical core is fine although exhausted. As though it put up some sort of fight. She is also suffering from Hypothermia. I have given her a Magic Strengthener, and a Tissue Regenerator, since she had some damage on her fingers and anywhere her open skin touched the floor. Lastly, I gave her a Nutrition Potion which will aid the other potions in working quickly." The medi-witch clucked her tongue. "Where did you find her?"

Remus' answered before Snape, "Seventh floor, an abandoned room. It was like ice in there."

"Miss Granger was on the floor," added Snape.

Poppy nodded, "Well, she just needs a good night of sleep, now. And, you two need to leave." She shooed the two men out of the Infirmary and then lowered the lights before heading to her own quarters.


Outside of the Infirmary in the corridor, Snape was taking Remus to task about the mirror. "That mirror is a Dark Artefact and shouldn't be any place where children can get to it!"

"I'm not the one who put it there!" snapped Remus. "I will see about getting it moved, though. What do you think she was even doing up there?"

"I am guessing that someone, probably Filch, caught her in the library and chased after her," replied Snape as though the other man should have known.

"Filch?" blanched Remus. "Don't tell me he's still here?" Snape stared in astonishment at Remus. "Is he? He terrified me when I was a student. Scary old bugger."

Snape shook his head lightly. "What is with you, Lupin? You don't know about Filch, you haven't even talked to your House, yet... or have you?" A sheepish look from the wizard caused Snape to snort with derision. "Are you even qualified to be here?" growled Snape suddenly.

"I didn't want to work here, Severus!" Remus shouted right back. "It's all Albus' fault!"

Snape had something else to say, but he had been shocked by that response and it momentarily stunned him. Remus' expression remained angry, frustrated, frozen upon his face.

Finally Snape spoke, but it was slow, careful. "What is Albus' fault? Did you not want the jobs?"

Remus' golden eyes narrowed, the pupils widened, and it took every muscle Snape had to not back away. Somehow, without even knowing what he was thinking, he had roused the wolf in the man before him.

"I had a good job, Severus. I was tutoring and caring for the four children of Quincey and Anne Mortimer. Do you know who he is?" demanded Remus. He didn't wait for Snape to answer. "He's a Squib. Quincey is the liaison between the Muggle and wizarding worlds. Two of his children are Squibs and two will wind up here." He drew in a deep breath and Snape noticed that the light in the man's eyes faded. The wolf was being pulled back. "I taught and lived with them for ten years, Severus. I was there for the births of two of their children. Anne bought my Wolfsbane for me and once a month I slept on their library hearth. Their children knew what I was, and none of them were afraid of me." He snarled, then, "It was a damn good job so why the bloody hell do you think I'd even want to work here? Especially with you here!"

Snape didn't know what to think so he just turned away and walked towards one of the dungeon entrances. He had gotten quite a length away when he turned and strode back. "Did you not want to finish what Potter and Black started?" he hissed.

Remus reared back. "Are you insane?" He glared. "Forget I asked that. Of course you are, you black beetle. I told you already that I stopped hanging around them. Did you never notice? There were two people, you imbecile, who nearly lost their lives that night: you and I!"

Snape frowned, doubly hard as he thought back to his last two years. He really hadn't paid all that much attention to the Marauders and their dynamics. All he knew was that Lily had become a part of them. But, as his mind skimmed over those foggy memories, he did recall. He remembered one evening at dinner in the Great Hall. Just a fleeting glance towards, not the Marauders, but Remus himself at the end of the Gryffindor table. It had registered then, just for a moment, that Remus had been by himself since that night.

"I was sworn never to speak of that night," muttered Snape.

"As was I, Severus," added Remus. "On threat of death. Was your silence so guaranteed?"

"The Headmaster told me that you would be important to the Cause against the Dark Lord. He emphasised to me that if I spoke to anyone but you of that night your death would be legal and swift." Snape's eyes narrowed. He could not recall ever having seen the werewolf at the Order of the Phoenix meetings.

Remus leaned back against the corridor wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "The second I was able to leave Hogwarts I went immediately to the Muggle world, Severus. I wanted no part of Dumbledore's mad idea to set me down in the midst of a wild pack of werewolves in order to recruit them." Remus shook his head slowly. "Albus didn't understand how different I was from them. They chose the form of the wolf, and to stay in that form always. They wanted nothing to do with wizards either Light or Dark."

Snape acknowledged the information. "Those werewolves are neutral just as the Centaurs are."

Remus agreed, "Yes."

"Why did you come back to our world, Lupin?" inquired Snape.

"I shall have to plead either stupidity or insanity, Severus," chuckled Remus wryly. "The Mortimer children were preparing to either go to Hogwarts or to public school in a years time. Mr. Mortimer was only trying to be helpful in continuing my employment through recommending me to the Board of Governors."

"If they ever find out…" Snape began referring to the fact that Remus was a werewolf, and considered an illegal being - a werewolf that was a wizard.

"Would you believe they know, Severus?" Remus smirked as Snape's jaw almost dropped open. "Thank Balor Thorn, the Governor Superior of the Board. He's a very strong advocate concerning the legalisation of werewolves who want Wolfsbane and to go to Hogwarts. It was he that approved my appointment as Deputy Headmaster."

"And 'twas Albus who thrust the position of Head of Gryffindor and DADA substitute teacher onto you." Snape pinched the bridge of his nose, and in unconscious imitation of the Deputy Headmaster he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

Both wizards glared at a cluster of Ravenclaw students that began to stare at them as they passed. They averted their gazes, and hurried away.


Hermione woke blearily to the voices that seemed to be arguing somewhere in the corridor. As she raised a hand to rub at her eyes, she was aware of her tightly rounded fist. Opening her fist and wincing at the pain in her stiff fingers, she looked down upon a rather unassuming stone of pale pink and mottled by what appeared to be flecks or flaws of other types of stone. Almost like granite, but, despite its irregular shape, it was smooth and felt like silk.

Hermione remembered that the stone seemed to have fallen from the Mirror just before she felt an overwhelming sadness engulf her heart.

Slipping from the Infirmary bed, she found her school robes folded neatly on a shelf in the bedside table. Her wand was upon the small table's surface. Grabbing her robes, she slipped the stone into a pocket then refolded the robes. Yawning and shivering slightly, Hermione promptly climbed back into bed, forgetting about the stone. She was very soon asleep.

Across the Infirmary, in a corner behind a privacy screen, Professor Quirrell moaned painfully yet did not wake from his coma.


Suddenly, Snape grabbed Remus by his robes and dragged him into motion. The action was so quick that the Deputy Headmaster didn't even think to protest. He just trotted after the Potions Master down through the dungeons until they went through a hidden door and he was thrust onto a sofa.

Snape then threw himself exhaustedly beside the werewolf. "I do not fear you any longer, Lupin. I admit to a few nightmares but I do not fear you."

"Yet, you still do not want me here," muttered Remus. "You knew I was coming…"

Snape interrupted sharply, "Dumbledore told me nothing, Lupin. Minerva told me that you were the only applicant for the Deputy job, but she and I both know that the Head of Gryffindor House had to be as much of a surprise to you as it was to us. She was removed from the position the day you arrived!"

Remus frowned in puzzlement. "No. No that's not right." He glanced up as he leaned forward and laced his fingers together worriedly. "Severus, Mr. Mortimer was trying to find some reason to keep me employed in his house. It was not possible. I had interviews lined up with several other notables in the Ministry Liaison office when Mr. Mortimer told me of his recommendation to the Board of Governors for Hogwarts Deputy Headmaster. I was…" he sighed, "... hesitant to accept."

"Me?" asked Snape.

"At first I thought you might not appreciate my presence but when I met with Albus he told me, and I quote 'Severus has quite forgiven you for that night, my boy. Would there have been any other reason for him to have eased your suffering with the invention of the Wolfsbane?'" Remus stilled his nervous fingers. "Severus, I would not stay here and make your lif... situation miserable."

Snape was quiet for several minutes as he laid his head back and closed his eyes. He then spoke, biting out the words, at first, "I do not revile you, Lupin. Nor do I, repeat, fear you. However, I do worry about the students here because I could find no evidence that showed you were doing anything about your... furry little problem once a month."

"Anne bought the Wolfsbane for me from an apothecary in France, Severus," he sighed heavily. "Antoine D'Lisle. I didn't want anyone here to know where I was on the off-chance that it might endanger the Mortimers."

"And D'Lisle's customer list is sacrosanct," whispered Snape.

For a long moment, both men were quiet and then Remus spoke up, "Your worry for the children is understandable, Severus, but you do still resent me." Snape glared tiredly at him. Remus shook his head. "My actions, when I was following James and Sirius around, are inexcusable, Severus. I may not have been the one to hex you, but I know I could have grown a backbone and done something to help you."

"Yet you did not," Snape bit out. "Too afraid of Potter, were you?"

Remus nodded. "You don't know how many in Gryffindor were, Severus. Me, most of all, I think. I was terrified of anyone discovering my secret and I was..." he lowered his head and Snape just watched him. "James and Sirius really would have never known, but Albus told them."

Snape shot up straight on the sofa. He scoffed, "He what?"

Remus smiled wearily. "They were my dorm mates and the Headmaster was certain they would understand and that it would be good for all of us."

"That's madness!" gasped Snape. "What if either Potter or Black decided to turn you in?"

"It was Peter I was more worried about," Remus chuckled ineffectually. "He put up a royal fuss. If Albus hadn't promised to teach them how to become Animagi..." he stopped as he saw the further outraged expression on his colleague's face. "Sorry. I probably shouldn't have mentioned that." He shrugged in resignation. "James and Sirius were willing to accept me after that. Peter was a little more reluctant, but eventually he learned the discipline. He was bitterly disappointed when he learned what he was."

Snape rose to his feet and paced angrily. "Animagi! They were Animagi? And Dumbledore taught them." He glared towards Remus, but the Deputy was able to tell that the glare wasn't meant for him. "As a bribe?"

Remus nodded. His head was beginning to ache and he massaged his temples. Rummaging in his pocket, he took out a bar of Honeydukes chocolate and broke off a piece. As he ate his, he offered the chocolate to Snape.

"No. Thank you." To Remus' surprise, the Potions Master suddenly vanished through a shadowed doorway.

Remus waited patiently wondering if he'd allowed his mouth to run off too much. It was obvious, though, that Albus had mislead him and had not spoken to Snape. He lowered his head into his hands. He didn't mind confessing to Snape, but after a few hours the wizard would return to distrusting him. The sarcasm would be back, as would be the hateful insults and Remus would be worried the entire time that Snape would break his silence and tell all.

"Migraine Relief Potion." Snape's sudden arrival startled Remus.

"What?" asked Remus as he glanced at the small phial in the Potions Master's hand.

First he shoved a phial of his own Migraine Relief Potion at the Deputy Headmaster. "For your headache," Snape declared. He watched the man swallow down the dose and then he moved to sit in his chair. He swung one leg up onto the ottoman. "My son," he said with a slight huff.

"Harry?" whispered the other man.

"You are a werewolf. This means you are a danger to him, and to his friends, Remus. What assurance do I have that you will not harm him?"

"Ten years, Severus," Remus leaned forward on the sofa. "I was with the Mortimers for ten years. D'Lisle managed to modify the Wolfsbane…"

"I noticed the changes," murmured Snape.

"Yes. With those changes I was able to sleep upon the Mortimer's hearth with their dog. I kept my mind, Severus. I have no new scars. These are all old." Remus touched his cheek and ran his fingertips over a series of white, slightly raised scars that he had caused from his own wolfish claws. "I am more at peace with what I am than I have been for a very long time."


Harry was getting very tired of pacing in the Slytherin common room. It had been hours and hours and hours since his father had gone off after Hermione and Draco had fallen asleep in front of the fire.

His pacing took him in front of the fire, and in a fair imitation of Snape, he stood, arms crossed, glaring into the flames.

"Hours and hours," he ground out. Harry made his decision, then. He strode to the portrait that led into the Slytherin common room and was startled when it remained in place.

"Hey! Let me out!" he demanded of Salazar Slytherin's painted visage.

"My apologies, little Snake, but Professor Snape has decreed that no one is to even attempt a sojourn beyond my portrait," Salazar bowed superciliously.

"Sojourn?" asked Harry. He let out a small snarl. "That's it. I'm sending away for that stupid dictionary!" Harry stomped back up the stairs to his dorm to prepare an owl order since he was unable to seek out his father.

Down in the common room, Draco stirred from his sleep and yawned and stretched. "Is it time for breakfast, yet?"

"Go to bed, young Snake," order Salazar.

Draco yawned again, slid off the sofa, and blearily made his way up to his dorm.


Snape nodded and steepled his fingers, resting the fingertips against his chin. "The morning I met you coming out of the Headmaster's office. You appeared rather angry. Why?"

Remus closed his eyes as his voice recited somewhat mechanically, "I was angry when I went to see him. Halloween was such a farce with him introducing me as the new Deputy AND the Head of Gryffindor. I refused the position and told him I wasn't about to be his 'Gryffindor Boy' and if that was the reason he brought me here, I would just as soon quit and return to the Muggle world."

Snape eyed Remus shrewdly. "You were never part of the Order of the Phoenix."

Remus shook his head slowly and regretted even that motion. "When I turned eighteen I was approached by Albus and told that my 'place in the conflict with Voldemort' was assured." He smirked at Snape's widening eyes. "Yes, my reaction as well. In that moment I discovered why the Headmaster had kept my secret so well. He wanted the wild werewolves on the side of the Light and he expected me to be his spy amongst them."

"Why weren't you?" Snape did not like the fact that it appeared as though Remus had been groomed to be a spy just as Snape eventually was.

Remus raised his arms, "What was there for me, Severus? A werewolf educated as a wizard. I couldn't risk applying for any wizarding jobs because someone would soon discover what I was and you know that werewolves are not allowed to gain employment, get married, or have children."

Snape nodded, "Persona non grata."

"Very," scowled Remus. "That and I lost my parents to that Italian Portkey accident when I was fifteen. Forever vanished with ten other witches and wizards. There was nothing here for me so I escaped to the Muggle world."

"How did you get the job with Mortimer?" inquired Snape.

"Minerva McGonagall," supplied Remus. "She has a squib cousin, Edward McGillicutty, who worked in the Ministry Liaison's office. Edward told her about the Mortimers and Minerva told me that they needed a tutor." For a moment his eyes closed, shutting out the past. "Dumbledore has refused to hire someone for the Head of Gryffindor in a bid to shame me into taking it." He let out a sigh. "I've been thinking lately I may have no choice."

Snape's fingers drummed angrily upon the arm of his chair. "I have no love for Gryffindor and its students, but they do not deserve this. You are caught up in your work as Deputy, are you not, Lupin?"

The werewolf nodded. "What are you thinking of, Severus?"

"Accept the position, Lupin, and go see your Lions. I have no doubt that with Minerva gone, they are in need of a good guiding force."

"Severus! I can't possibly...!" Remus began to protest.

"Do not quail on me now, Lupin!" Snape grumbled with irritation. The other man sank further into the sofa. "You already told me how much you did for the Mortimers and their children. Instead of four children, you now have the House of Gryffindor, and I am quite certain you can be what they need."

"I don't want the damn job, Severus!" Remus griped.

"Then take your backbone to the Headmaster's office," Snape rose from his chair. "Make Dumbledore hire somebody else if you have not the stomach for Gryffindor!"

Remus had risen to face Snape, but something in the other man's demeanor made him pause. "Severus… what is going on?" A tendril of understanding crossed his features. "Has this to do with Harry?" Snape's lips pursed tightly shut. "If this has to do, somehow with Harry, then I have to know, Severus. His parents..."

"I'm his father!" growled Snape believing, for once, that biological or not, he truly was Harry's father.

Remus snapped right back, refusing to be cowed, "James was Harry's father!" He lowered his voice to an apologetic, cajoling tone as he continued, "As I was once his friend, I owe it to him to make sure that Harry is safe."

Snape didn't quite answer as Remus expected. "If you wish to truly be on Harry's side then take the job and become Dumbledore's lackey, Lupin."

"I do not… understand, Severus," frowned Remus.

"Do not just make a show of being Harry's friend because at one time Potter… James, was your friend. Be here, for Harry, and protect him from the Headmaster," Snape spoke carefully. He wondered, himself, what he was thinking. He didn't trust the werewolf, did he? Did he imagine such trust was possible?

"What is Albus doing to Harry?" Remus asked with deep concern.

Snape told Remus of when he picked up Harry from his awful relatives, to what he and Lucius had learned the uncle was, the damage Petunia had caused. With the exception of the Cruor mea cruor adoption - he gave Remus the story he had given the HEadmaster. His words illustrated all too starkly what a danger Albus Dumbledore was to Harry but also to how the old wizard was a danger to every child in Hogwarts.

"I understand that much of the wizarding world believes You-Know-Who to be dead, Severus," said Remus slowly, "but, our Saviour because of a prophecy? Because Albus believes Harry vanquished him? That is monstrous!"

"This is what Harry must be protected from, Lupin. Will you do the…" Snape smirked, "...the Slytherin thing, and protect him from those who expect Harry to be the next Albus Dumbledore?" Remus chuckled and answered with a nod of his head. "Then, do what Albus has asked of you, but do so for those children that require a Head of House that cares about their health and welfare, take on the position."

In mid-thought, Snape's face darkened. Remus peered at the Potions Master. He wondered what had so de-railed the wizard.

"Animagi," muttered Snape. "Take out that Map of yours, Lupin."

Remus did so and spread the blank parchment upon the wide coffee table. He then muttered the silly incantation that revealed all of Hogwarts. For a long moment he watched as the Potions Master studied the Map. "What are you looking for, Severus?"

"That," he pointed to a label that scurried across an abandoned classroom. "You were Animagi. The Weasley boy, Percy, his rat recently ran away before term began and has not returned. Was Pettigrew by any chance a rat Animagi?"

Remus nodded slowly as he began to watch the label of Peter Pettigrew settle for the evening in a broom closet. "He ought to be dead, Severus."

"Murdered by Sirius Black with twelve innocent Muggles," sneered Snape darkly. "Yet, all that was found was Pettigrew's severed hand. And…" his tone grew calculatedly enlightened, "no evidence of those 12 Muggles was ever found. They were only known of because your friend implicated himself by telling any who would listen that he killed them. Did Pettigrew know the Imperius Curse?"

Remus' face soured as he recalled the past. "He did. Sirius beat the little rodent up after he had used it on Doreen O'Day so he could… get fresh with her. Thankfully he never used that Curse again. Do you believe Peter used the Imperius Curse on Sirius?"

"I am not certain, Lupin, but the capture of Black was luridly reported in the Daily Prophet and I do recall that it was strange that Black kept telling everyone, and I quote, 'I killed Peter Pettigrew and 12 Muggles. I burned them all!' Over and over and over."

Remus nodded. "Imperius Curse. We need that rat, Severus."

"You catch him, Lupin. I need to take care of my Slytherin in the Infirmary and my son." Snape Summoned a small cage, and tossed it to the Deputy Headmaster. "It is a magical cage charmed to keep whatever rodent you put in it asleep."

"I'll hunt down Peter, Severus. I will discover the truth about Sirius." For a long moment he stared at the cage. Remus was about to ask Severus about visiting Harry but then thought better of bothering to ask. He doubted the Potions Master would ever sanction such a visit.

The Potions Master rose from his chair, and waved Remus to his feet. The discussion was obviously ended, and the Deputy Headmaster did not have his answer. Snape tapped his door with his wand to open it but then stopped the werewolf just as he stepped over the threshold. "You can visit Harry, but you must allow me to prepare him first."

Remus felt frozen. Had Severus actually offered? "Thank you. Thank you, Severus." He started to leave, but Snape's voice stopped him once more.

"Be prepared for some difficult questions from the boy, Lupin."

Remus Lupin merely nodded and left.


9 Nov 1991, Saturday

Harry wasn't talking to his father. In support of his best friend, Draco decided he wouldn't talk to Professor Snape either. Both boys had learned of Hermione's whereabouts at breakfast and Harry was angry that his father had never come back to the common room to tell him if Hermione was all right.

The rumour circulating was that Hermione had gotten lost in the depths of the dungeon (which sometimes happened to first years) and she had panicked. As it was very cold where she was found, she had succumbed to hypothermia and was being treated for it. It was prefect Tara Anglaise that let Harry and Draco know that Hermione had been found in one of the attics on the seventh floor. She then escorted the two first years up to the Great Hall.

Up at the staff table, Snape was uncomfortably aware of his son's pointed, and angry glances at him. He knew he should have returned to at least tell Harry what had happened to Hermione, but the truth was that he had simply forgotten. After that long, and revealing conversation with Remus, he had gone to bed with the remnants of a very low headache.

Snape had Floo'd Poppy early that morning and had asked her to keep Hermione there. He realised he needed to have a talk with the girl before his son came to visit. As Harry aimed another dirty look at his father, Snape sighed knowing that he would have to have a talk with his son, as well.

Rising from the remains of his coffee and breakfast, Snape left the staff table and went down to the Slytherin table. He stopped by Harry and Draco. "I will be speaking to Miss Granger this morning. You may both visit her in an hour."

"Yes, sir," said Draco obediently. Harry said nothing until Draco nudged him.

"Okay... sir."

Snape didn't reply to his son's hesitation and left the Great Hall for the Infirmary.


Remus, who had gotten very little sleep last night, was now in his office and dealing with the never-ending paperwork. Not for the thousandth time did he wonder why the Headmaster's correspondence was funneled through his office. Most of it was from parents, of course, and the other was the obligatory owl mail junk that was an ever-growing stack of brochures that advertised everything that a school such as Hogwarts was apparently in desperate need of. Most of those Remus threw away.

A few pieces of the owl mail were missives from the Ministry, but it all came from minor departments, and workers who usually wouldn't be allowed to speak directly to the Headmaster. Remus would open those, skim over them, and depending on the subject matter, either he dealt with the correspondence, or forwarded it on to Dumbledore.

It really made him miss his tutoring position. He felt like nothing more than a glorified secretary, or worse, an errand boy.

Leaning back in his desk chair, he put down his quill, and thought back to his mornings at the liaison's mansion. Right about now the butler, Jabot, would be bringing him his tea just the way he liked it as he prepared the day's lesson plans for the Mortimer children. Or, as it was a Saturday, he and the children would be taking morning tea together as they planned an excursion.

The youngest, Alyce at the age of nine, loved the park during clement weather and she always asked for that. Her twin, Austin, was enamored of the nearby arcade and always saved his coins for it. Remus had welcomed the Mortimer twins home after their birth. An honour he would never forget.

Wendy was thirteen and had recently begun to see the appeal of boys. The eldest, at sixteen, Quincey, jr. made it his job to watch over Wendy.

All of the children had been home tutored by Remus. He'd waited with Quincey senior at the birth of the twins, and he admitted to himself, that he had grown to love each of the children.

Remus had never envisioned an end to his time at the Mortimers. Of course he knew everything came to an end sometime, but he had hoped that he would remain in the position for as long as the children needed him. He had thought, at first, that he was being let go when Quincey had come to him one evening.

"...it is an opportunity, Remus," said Quincey as he handed the tutor a small glass of brandy. The liaison between the Ministry of Magic and the Prime Minister of England was a wiry, thin man with dashingly wavy brown hair, and intellectual, square-framed glasses that framed intelligent, blue eyes.

"I understand that, Quincey, but I had hoped to stay here... well, as long as I was needed." He glanced down at the brandy, disheartened.

Quincey smiled and patted the young man's shoulder. "Remus, I know you have been preparing to leave. Maybe not today but you and I both know the children will be going to their various schools next term."

Remus wasn't being let go, and he had been setting up interviews here and there with other Ministry Liaisons but he felt no better knowing that he had been offered the position of Deputy at Hogwarts. "Why wasn't the position given to one of the teachers?" he asked suddenly.

Quincey leaned back in the overstuffed, wing-backed chair. He shrugged. "I suppose no one wanted it. As I understand from Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall resigned from the position because it was too much for her on top of her other duties. I have to believe that although qualified, none of the other teachers really wanted the extra work."

Remus swirled his brandy snifter. "If anyone finds out what I am..."

"Doesn't Dumbledore already know?" asked Quincey.

Remus nodded. "I would never have been able to attend Hogwarts had it not been for Albus. It was he who has kept my secret all these years."

"I suppose he's also the one that kept you from registering as a werewolf when the Dangerous Creatures Act was passed in 1972?" asked Quincey.

"I wouldn't have been allowed to continue at Hogwarts if I had registered." He sipped at his brandy. "If it weren't for you and Anne, I wouldn't have the life I have."

Quincey smiled. "True, but just think, Remus. You'd be back in the wizarding world where you could use your magic again. And, at Hogwarts." He stood up. "Also, I know you're paid well here, but the Deputy Headmaster position would pay you better and it would put you in a position to possibly help others like yourself. Opportunity, my friend." The politician patted his shoulder and left Remus to think about his future.

"Opportunity, my furry foot!" he groused as he watched three owls dump more mail onto his desk.

"Good morning, Remus!" The Headmaster used the connecting entrance between their two offices to sweep in, rather too merrily, wearing yellow and orange robes that were beginning to make Remus regret his meagre breakfast. "You wished to see me?"

Remus watched as the Headmaster seated himself and his eyes were twinkling, rather knowingly. Remus suppressed his sigh. "I have decided to take on the duties of Gryffindor's Head of House, Albus."

Dumbledore beamed and clapped his hands together. "I am so pleased to hear that, Remus. I do regret that I sprung the job upon you, but I only did so because I have faith in you, my boy." Remus smiled, warily. "I think it would be a good idea for you to call a meeting there this afternoon. I shall go with you and smooth over any difficulties."

Remus held up his hand. "I have a few conditions, Albus." The twinkle in the Headmaster's eyes dimmed slightly, but the smile remained in place. He looked askance at the newly arrived correspondence. "I don't see how Minerva managed this job for so long practically on her own." He shook his head, then spoke firmly, "Therefore, I would like someone, preferably someone already on staff, to assist me once a week for three hours. In turn, I want that person financially compensated."

Dumbledore shook his head slightly. "I'm not sure that could be done, my boy."

Instead of bluntly addressing the Headmaster's disapproval, Remus took another tact, "I realise what you went through in thinking of me for this position, Albus, and truly, I am honored by your trust and faith in me. However, you must understand that I only accepted the position as your Deputy because I wish to meet Harry and hopefully to become a part of his life." His amber eyes sparkled disarmingly and Dumbledore smiled briefly, though he was listening with trepidation. Remus could tell that the older wizard was not looking forward to having another argument with him as there had been over the unexpected addition to his duties, that of the Head of Gryffindor.

Dumbledore nodded slowly, "Yet you see some difficulty in that goal."

"To say the least, Albus." Remus sat back down at his desk and began to sort through the mail he had received as he continued, "You misled me about Severus' distrust of me." He glanced sideways at the old man who appeared rather unconcerned about what his Deputy had just accused him of. Remus continued, "I quite understand that he would not care to allow me near his son. However, I think it possible that were he my assistant, I may be able to convince him that I do not wish to bring any harm to Harry, and that I would very much like to resolve our differences."

"Very sound reasoning, Remus, and I would have no hesitation in speaking to Severus upon your behalf. In regards to your need of an assistant, that is," Dumbledore spoke graciously. Remus continued his sorting and did not look up from his job, nor did he say anything. "Even though Severus has aided you two or three times..."

Remus put down the mail in his hands and laced his fingers together as he leaned slightly upon his arms against the surface of his desk. "I'm afraid I will have to insist upon this, Albus. I know you need both a Deputy and a Head, but I admit, here and now, I do have my selfish reasons for having stayed this long. James was my friend despite our parting ways in our sixth year. Harry is, regardless of what Severus' says, a link to the past I've lost." Remus let out an aggrieved sigh. "I shall say it one last time, I wish to resolve my differences with Severus so that I may be permitted a place in Harry's life."

Dumbledore was immensely satisfied to know that Harry was so uppermost upon the young wizard's mind. He anticipated some adversity in convincing Severus to accept additional duties as Remus' assistant; especially since his Potions professor seemed to be getting more intractable lately. He would accomplish it, though. He needed Remus, compliant, that is, and he did not wish to have to remind his Deputy that the life he'd had so far was due in great part to Dumbledore having kept Remus' secret.

"I believe then, my boy, that we are in accord with what is most important here." The Headmaster rose from the chair he'd been seated in and smoothed his beard. "I shall speak to Severus later this afternoon."

Remus smiled warmly, "Thank you, Albus. Now, I think I need to get back to clearing my desk."

Dumbledore chuckled. "That you do. And, I shall meet you afterwards to greet your Lions." He bowed slightly and left his Deputy's office.

Once the older man was gone, Remus dropped his head into his hands. I am not cut out to be a Slytherin, he thought wearily. Yet, he had discovered that the man he had thought of as saviour, mentor, and then friend, was very well equipped to be as crafty as any Slytherin he knew. No. That was unfair to Slytherin.Albus was a manipulator who would use whatever he had to gain the agenda he desired. Somehow, that made the old man seem even more dangerous than a long, disembodied Dark wizard.


Hermione had just finished breakfast when her Head of House arrived in the Infirmary. She gave Snape a shy smile as she shifted against the pillows behind her and smoothed her blankets.

"You are looking much improved, Miss Granger," he noted that although the child smiled at him, there was a melancholy tint to it. He summoned a chair and drew it close to the edge of her bed.

"I'm feeling okay, sir," she spoke quietly and then glanced nervously around the infirmary before settling her gaze onto her hands.

"Professor Lupin and I found you after curfew last night, Miss Granger." She said nothing. He observed as her fingers laced together haphazardly and tightened in what had to be a painful grip. He leaned forward and pried the fingers apart gently. "The mirror that we found you in front of is a most insidious Dark Artefact," he said, still untwisting her tight grip upon her fingers. "Men have been known to have wasted away over the pleasant dreams it reveals to them." Once the fingers were all loosened, he patted the child's hands as they rested on top of the blanket. "We found that you had passed out." He raised his dark eyes to capture her soft brown orbs in his solid gaze.

Hermione drew in a steady breath, "I couldn't look away, sir," she whispered. "At one point, I think I did, but the mirror wouldn't stop with the images and I couldn't... I couldn't keep my eyes away."

Snape nodded solemnly, "For some odd reason, the Mirror was drawing your magical energy from you." Hermione clutched her chest and gasped. "Have you any idea why it might have done that, Miss Granger?"

She frowned in thought, then spoke carefully, "It's supposed to show what you desire," she said softly. "And, it did, at first. I saw my parents..." her voice faded as she realised that her Head of House was listening. She hung her head. "I saw them as they should have been, but I knew better. I knew it was all false, sir. And, I told the mirror it was and I got mad... at them, and at the mirror. Then I saw..." she stopped, feeling as though she had confessed more than enough.

"It showed you what you truly desired?" Snape asked warily.

Hermione nodded. "But, it kept switching between the truth and what I desired. It, it was sickening. Like a very bad carnival ride."

A tiny tear slipped from one of Hermione's eyes and she sniffled in shame. "I love my parents, sir, I really do."

Snape noted that the girl seemed more to be trying to convince herself than him. He remained quiet, listening completely.

Hermione's fingers began to twist together again, and Snape leaned forward once more to part them. When he did so, her left hand convulsively grasped at his own left hand. He did not pull away as she twined her fingers in his and took a deep breath as she continued to hold on.

"My father was... disinherited by his family when he married my mum. I've never met anyone from his family and da' just doesn't speak of them. Mum's always talking about them, though. They're supposed to be very important, you know? Mum has shown me photos of them in the papers doing all these charity things. And, she wants us, me and her that is, to be with them."

Another tear slipped from her eye and splashed upon the back of Snape's hand. It was getting uncomfortable leaning over in this awkward position, so he moved to sit upon the edge of Hermione's bed. Now he took the child's other hand in his so he was holding them both. This prompted more from the girl.

Hermione's voice wavered once, but became strong, too strong for an eleven year old. She went on to tell her teacher about all the plans her mother had once had for her. There had been music lessons, etiquette lessons, speech lessons, more lessons than even Snape had ever guessed one could subject a young child to. Almost from birth she had been taught to read the classics and then, after her sixth birthday, her mother had taken her to ballets and Shakespeare plays.

"One afternoon we were supposed to go see Madame Butterfly and da' got into an argument with mum over it because he didn't like the adult themes. While they were yelling at each other, I ran out of the house and down the street to the park..." that confession brought forth a flood of tears and Hermione couldn't speak for a moment.

Snape gave the girl a handkerchief to blow her nose while he dabbed the tears away. Finally, she blurted, "They both hate me because I'm a witch!"

"They are your parents, Miss Granger, and you their daughter..."

Hermione interrupted sharply, "I heard them arguing! Mum was disappoint... disgusted by my magic and da' he just wanted to give up." Tears spilled down her cheeks. "They both wanted to give up on me."

In distress, ashamed, and hiccuping from her tears, Hermione related one of the many terrible argument her parents had had when she had received her letter from Hogwarts.

Jean and George Granger had made the trip to Diagon Alley for Hermione's school supplies and it had been a nightmare for the poor girl. Her father had remained silent, while Jean had criticized everything she saw. Upon getting home, her mother's words had been so hateful, not just towards her own daughter, but Jean Granger had also denigrated her husband for having produced a mutant for a daughter.

"And da', he simply said he could only agree and locked himself in his study!"

The girl gave him the most mournful expression he had ever seen before on a child. There was loneliness, hurt, and, most distressing of all, the desperate hope in a child that loves two people who do not return it. He wasn't at all surprised to find himself with a lap full of sobbing child. He sighed, silently, as he reminded himself that this was one of his littlest Snakes.

Snape couldn't solve all their problems, but as their Head of House, he could be there to hold them when the tears became too much to bear. After all, a faraway voice deep in his memories, whispered to him, how many times did you wish to be held, and no one would; never Tobias, and too often Eileen was mourning her own lot in life.

If any of Snape's colleagues were asked not a one of them would say that Professor Severus Snape was the sort of man to comfort an upset child. He rather considered he wasn't, but in his mind, his Snakes were different. For one, as their Head of House he was responsible for them, as a parent might be, for the time they were at Hogwarts. That explained his strict rules, the bedtimes, regulation of diet and making certain that his Snakes ate at the prescribed times, regular medical check-ups, and the monitoring of their study time, homework, and grades.

Snape didn't particularly like offering such 'Hufflepuff' comfort to his Snakes, but he at least understood that to be thrust into a strange world at age eleven where most of the school was naturally indisposed towards you because of your House affiliation, was not an easy thing. In his nearly eleven years as a Head of Slytherin House he had dealt with homesickness in first and second years, abuse (as many of his Snakes came from the hard homes of ex-Death Eaters or Pureblood families that practiced a harder discipline), onset of puberty (never a comfortable time no matter how old an adult he was!), broken hearts, loneliness, tragedy (illness at home, or death in the family), the loss of a familiar, and more. No adult in charge of a group of children in which he needed the children to trust him (keeping his Snakes from becoming eventual recruits for the hoped for rise of Voldemort was only one of many reasons to cultivate their trust) could ignore a child in need of a kind touch, or even a hug. His prefects helped with such comfort, but sometimes he was the only one around.

When the new Potions professor and Head of Slytherin House had had his first year with his Snakes, he learned that his own personal comfort didn't matter when it came to something that his Snakes, his children, needed. No, he did not much care to be touched, or hugged, and he made sure that the adults around him knew it. The rest of the students might think he was a 'looming bat' or a 'greasy git', but the fact was, they were not his Snakes and therefore what they thought did not matter.

Holding the upset girl in his arms, Snape now had a better understanding of Hermione's need to be better than everyone else in everything she did. She was seeking approval of all the adults around her, but none of them really mattered when the approval of the two adults she wanted would doubtfully ever give it. Not for the first time did the Potions Master regret the fact that Hogwarts staff didn't have a better idea of the sort of home life their Muggle-born children came from. If anything, he expected it to be harder for those children who had to leave behind parents, and siblings, who may not entirely understand just what it meant when their child had magical powers.

In Hermione's case, her father was apparently an inattentive sort, whereas her mother had planned her daughter's entire life from birth to be some sort of Social instrument that would allow her mother into those prestigious circles she wasn't permitted access to due to her less-than-acceptable familial circumstances. When her mother learned that those plans had all been scrapped because Hermione was a witch, Snape had no doubt the woman had simply turned away from her child. And, her father? Had he taken his daughter's side? Supported her possible future? Obviously the man hadn't.

Hermione had wept herself into exhaustion so Snape tucked the girl back beneath the blankets as she slept. For a moment he remained by his little Snake's side. After fifteen minutes he rose, did a quick Scourgify to clean the area on his robes that had received the most of her tears, and left the Infirmary. It had just now struck him that he had not received any correspondence of any sort from the Grangers.

There was a mystery now. It was Lucius who had told him that the Grangers had wanted an official report on the incident in which Hermione had been hurt by three Gryffindors. As she had still been in Gryffindor House, he would not have received any correspondence from the girl's parents, but now he questioned if there had been any at all. He would write to the Malfoys to find out if they had ever spoken via parchment to the Muggles.


Once his correspondence was completed, Snape decided it was time to speak to his son, who was undoubtedly still angry with him for not having told him about his friend in the Infirmary.

Snape found Harry with his Draco outside the library in one of the wide corridors as they watched snow falling outside. In the distance was Hagrid's hut swathed in white and looking as picturesque as any greeting card with the smoke from the fire puffing from the chimney. The Potions Master only gave the pretty image a cursory look as he blended into the shadows to listen to the two children speak.

"Don't you have to dance at a ball?" asked Harry of Draco. They had been discussing the famous Malfoy's Winter Ball.

"I can dance, but kids aren't really expected to beyond the opening waltz," replied Draco.

"I don't know how to dance," Harry began drawing squiggles in the condensation his breath had caused on the cold windows.

Draco breathed upon a pane of glass and began to draw, too. "My mother says that Hogwarts should have classes that teach dance, and etiquette, and stuff like that."

"Why?"

"Well, because," Draco stated matter-of-factly.

"Because, why?"

Draco shrugged, since he really didn't have the answer. For a moment longer Snape watched as the two boys kept drawing, happily enjoying each other's silence. He gave them another moment, in case there was more to their conversation. When it was clear there was not, he stepped from the shadows and spoke, "Gentlemen."

Draco let out a gasp and Harry jumped. The boy then exploded angrily, "That's not funny!"

"I am not aware that I was making an attempt at humour," Snape comment drolly.

Harry glared sharply and then turned back to the window. "It's Saturday, so we don't have any classes, so what do you want?"

Snape leaned against the wall to eye his son. "I came to let you know that Miss Granger will be leaving the Infirmary today after she has had a bit of rest. You are both welcome to visit her should you wish."

Harry grunted, but said nothing else. Oddly, it was Draco who asked the question Snape thought he would hear from Harry. "How come you never came to tell us what happened to Hermione, sir? Harry couldn't sleep at all and I kept having awful dreams."

Still looking at the window, Harry showed he had been listening by nodding in agreement.

It was getting a little chilly in the alcove by the windows, so Snape cast a general Warming Charm and then transfigured a nearby, small gargoyle into a bench that he seated himself upon. "It was my intention to return and to let you both know what happened with your friend, but I had an unexpected meeting that ran late and I..." he sighed as he chose to confess his flaw, "I simply forgot."

Draco accepted the excuse and expected no more from his Head of House. However, Harry did expect more and he faced his father with a stern expression and his arms crossed over his narrow chest. Snape thought the boy looked a bit like a miniature-me and very nearly smirked over the resemblance. Wisely, he kept his stony, yet contrite visage visible, and regarded his son.

"And?" Harry finally prompted with an annoyed huff of his breath.

Snape inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment as he replied, "I apologise for my lapse."

Harry's posture relaxed and Draco glanced over his shoulder at his friend. Draco, who had known Professor Snape almost all of his life, had never known the man to apologise to anyone. It was weird, but he guessed that it was all right for the father to apologise to the son. That's what families did, right?

"So, is Hermione all right, Dad? Where was she?" asked Harry.

Snape would not go into detail, but he did tell them, "She is fine, now. Miss Granger had gotten herself terribly lost after remaining out beyond curfew."

Draco asked worriedly, "Is she going to get a detention?"

"As I have not yet spoken to Miss Granger about a punishment for breaking curfew, I will hold that decision in judgment until we may speak about her breach of curfew."

Both Harry and Draco nodded and started to leave, but Draco turned back. "Sir? If you do give Hermione a detention, just remember she's a girl, okay?"

Snape's eyebrow rose in question. "Indeed, Mr. Malfoy. And you have reminded me of this obvious fact for what reason?"

Draco smirked as though the reason were obvious. "Girls aren't like boys, sir, that's all. They're delicate, you know? So, if you make her clean cauldrons can you just make her not do so many?"

"You do realise that Miss Granger has done detention with me before?" he asked the two boys.

"Yeah, but," said Harry slowly. He didn't finish his thought.

Draco smiled smugly, "And you weren't mean to a girl, were you, sir?"

Snape nodded curtly, releasing the boys. Only after they had vanished from sight did he allow himself to laugh.


10 Nov 1991, Sunday

Snape was unable to speak to Hermione until after breakfast Sunday morning. He sent her a small note to see him in his office. She quickly read the note, ignoring the inquisitive heads of Draco and Harry that tried to read over her shoulder. Once finished, she folded the note and tucked it into her robes and finished her grapefruit. Both of her friends had respected her desire to not talk about what had happened to her, despite their obvious curiosity.

"You going to be okay, Hermione?" asked Harry as he watched his friend pick up her ever-present bookbag. Even on weekends the girl wasn't far from it.

"I'll be fine, Harry. I really shouldn't have been out after curfew," she replied.

Draco grinned, "It was a great try, though, Hermione!"

She smiled at Draco, hefted her bookbag over her shoulder, and left the Great Hall for her professor's office.

"Enter," Snape's voice came from within the office after Hermione's shy knock. Hermione opened the door and Snape glanced up from a stack of essays he had been grading. She stopped at his desk and he regarded her for several minutes before remarking, "You are a clever girl, Miss Granger. I have never had a first year figure out that my alarm could be circumvented by staying out of the common room after curfew. Second years, a few, but never a first year." He watched as her lips thinned tightly as she did her best to suppress a smile at the compliment. He continued, "Fortunately, you did not know that I also have an alarm that lets me know that someone is missing."

"So you could find me," Hermione said quietly.

"Indeed," he replied starchly. "I expect, though, you will now think twice about attempting to circumvent my wards." Hermione nodded. "I always require verbal answers, Miss Granger," he prompted.

"I won't do it again, sir," she agreed. Hermione gripped her hands together tightly behind her back.

"Finally, we must address your unauthorised effort to access the Restricted Section." Hermione grimaced slightly. "I know you are familiar with the rules regarding the Restricted Section, Miss Granger?"

She nodded dejectedly as she recited, "First and second year students are not allowed in the Restricted Section of the library. Third years are allowed if escorted by a teacher. Fourth through seventh years are granted access if they have a pass from their Head of House."

Snape rose from his desk chair and slowly moved around to stand in front of the first year girl. "Hmmm. How odd, Miss Granger, that despite you clearly knowing what the rules are in regards to the Restricted Section, you felt not a one applied to you."

Hermione looked up at the disappointment in her teacher's eyes and sniffed back a tear. She didn't get to cry this time. She really had not been thinking, one little bit. Her obsessive need for research had taken over and she just had not thought out, at all, what she had been intending to do.

"I wasn't really thinking, sir," she said lamely.

"No, Miss Granger. You were not. A young lady with your intelligence should have been able to get into the Restricted Section and out with at least one book before Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris had even entered the library on their patrol." As he swept back behind his desk, Hermione's mouth dropped open in astonishment. Snape seated himself with a dramatic move that billowed his robes in a neat drape behind him. He smirked at the open-mouthed child. "We are Slytherins, Miss Granger. Our stealth is legendary." He tilted his head slightly to the right. "You would still have been caught by me," Snape declared blithely, "but you would not have been caught by a cat and a simple caretaker."

"S-sir?" Hermione was puzzled. Were her actions, in some odd, back-handed way, being encouraged? "I don't understand."

"Let me be clearer, then, Miss Granger. I neither condone your intentions, nor your rule breaking. Neither do I approve your reasoning; that you wished to further your research into possession. You went about this entire adventure like a Gryffindor who only stops to think what she is doing at the last minute and I know you are more intelligent than that. So, in addition to a detention this evening at 6pm with me, I expect an essay from you on how, precisely, you should have handled this little episode." Snape paused as he caught a slight smile from the little bookworm. He held up a hand, stopping any expression of joy as he warned, "As scintillating circuitous as I expect your essay to be, Miss Granger, there is only one, acceptable outcome that I expect for your conclusion. Omit it, and your essay will just earn you another detention. Understood?"

Hermione gave him a wide-eyed look as her mind already spun over the content of her essay. She nodded sharply, then whispered, "Yes, sir. I understand."

Snape dismissed Hermione and she, somewhat dazedly, walked out of her teacher's office. In her mind rang the question, what was the only outcome?


Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon in the Slytherin common room working on her essay for her punishment. She had most of her homework completed, except for a test in Charms that she would review for that Sunday, late evening.

At one point Harry and Draco had arrived, looking for her to go play out in the snow with them, but she sniped crossly at them, and they wisely left the bookworm to ponder over her essay.

At a half hour before her detention, she despaired of ever figuring out what the outcome should have been. She glared into the fireplace knowing the answer had to be a plain and simple one, but she just wasn't thinking; thinking like a Slytherin, that was.

Hermione shifted as something lumpy and hard bit into her thigh as she sat gazing into the flames. Puzzled, she felt the odd lump and realised it was in her pocket. Slipping her hand into her pocket she pulled out an odd little stone. It was the one she thought she had dreamt about while she was in the Infirmary.

Holding it up to the flames, its pink, flecked surface blossomed with sudden warmth. No longer pink, it was now a deep, translucent crimson. So surprised was she by the stone's change, Hermione almost dropped it. She marveled at how the flames weren't simply reflected in the stone's surface, but appeared to burn from its very heart. It was very beautiful!

A sound of Salazar Slytherin's portrait opening had Hermione stuffing the stone quickly back into her pocket. It poked her thigh again, but a better shifting on the sofa had it out of her leg's way. She promptly forgot about it.


Snape had retreated to his private lab to brew some potions for the Infirmary and to advance a bit of his latest experiments when his lab Floo flared green, allowing the only person to have access to his lab, into the private setting. Dumbledore brushed away at the soot on his orange and yellow robes, and gave Snape his most disarming smile. The Potions Master sneered while he put three bubbling cauldrons under a Stasis Charm.

"And how is Miss Granger today, Severus?" asked the Headmaster as he slowly walked, as if interested, past a shelf of cauldrons and other lab implements.

"Miss Granger is fully recovered and is working upon an essay I assigned her for yesterday's little adventure," Snape replied. Casting sidelong glances at the Headmaster, Snape added, "I do have to wonder how a Dark Artefact like the Mirror of Erised found its way to Hogwarts."

Dumbledore plucked a silver stirring rod from the rack of stirrers on a shelf. He bounced it in the palm of his hand to gauge its weight. "We really must do some spring cleaning of this castle, my boy." He twirled the stirrer until it was nimbly taken from his hand by a silent and wandless Summoning Spell from Snape.

"Spring cleaning," nodded Snape as he put down the silver stirrer on his work table.

"I confess, there are so many storerooms... well, junk rooms some of them, and not all of them carry the benign within. I rather stumbled, literally, over the Mirror of Erised this Summer." Dumbledore turned to his Potions professor and smiled apologetically. "I still get lost, at times." He shrugged and then continued his perusal of the lab to include the shelf of weathered, leather covered Potions journals, books, and periodicals. "Fortuitous, though. It was perfect for the Philosopher's Stone."

Snape suddenly stopped his careful count of stirring of the one potion in front of him. His gaze narrowed, but settled on nothing as the Headmaster was now behind him. "What do you mean, Headmaster?"

"I know that we have had sharp words as concerns the Stone, my boy, but you really must trust me. I would never bring harm to the children in this school..." he looked up from the book he held in his hands to greet Snape's glare. The young wizard had abandoned his potion and had turned to face the Headmaster. "The traps set are a mere diversion, my boy," said Dumbledore returning his attention to the book and flipping a page. "Would it have eased your mind had you known, for certain, since my word appears to be dust to you these days, that the Stone has always been perfectly safe?"

Snape's teeth ground together angrily for a moment. "May I remind you, Headmaster, that we now know, for certain, that the Dark Lord is within the walls of Hogwarts? He has killed three unicorn and two Centaurs. It quite appears that he was in possession, if not still, of Quirinus Quirrell. Might I also remind you, sir, that it was you who told me that you do not trust Harry Potter, my son, because he might be another Dark wizard?"

"I never said that Harry was another Dark wizard, Severus," admonished Dumbledore. "But true, I did not trust him. However, he did cast a Patronus. Wandless. And, as I believe, it was quite a powerful one." Snape frowned, letting Dumbledore see his puzzlement. "A Dark wizard is incapable of casting magic that is pure Light."

"I am a Dark wizard," grumbled Snape.

Dumbledore chuckled and patted the younger man's arm. "You're not Dark, my boy! Acerbic, snarky, a stickler for rules and such, but you're hardly Dark."

Snape crossed his arms over his chest belligerently. He refused to outline his many sins to Albus Dumbledore. The man was very well aware what he had done as Dumbledore's spy. Perhaps his transgressions did not make him Dark, but his soul was certainly rather smudged.

"Regardless, Headmaster," Snape waved his hand sharply at the man. "The safety of the Philosopher's Stone matters little to me. I am concerned about a much greater threat that endangers all the students. HE is in this school yet you have done nothing more than had me Legilimens Quirrell."

"On the contrary, my boy," said the Headmaster as he replaced the book back on the shelf and moved to stand in front of Snape. "I have cast a series of wards around the Infirmary to further trap the spirit of..."

"The Fiend," corrected Snape.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, yes. Voldemort is trapped."

Snape was not cheered by that information, especially when the Headmaster's eyes wandered over his shoulder to one of the bubbling cauldrons. Shrewdly he concluded, "Yet you are not certain that it could be trapped in the Infirmary."

"I am sure that he is!" Dumbledore's eyes returned to those of his Potions Master. "A Fiend, a disembodied spirit, requires a living anchor. Harry, being quite young, may have been enough for Voldemort to 'hold on' to life, but Quirinus made a better anchor, and if Quirinus had sympathies for Voldemort, it may make him, even in his coma, a strong anchor."

"However, something still disturbs you about Quirrell and the Fiend, Headmaster," deduced Snape.

"Voldemort, Severus," Albus corrected wearily.

"I will no longer dignify that evil with a name, Headmaster. If you do not care for the technical term of Fiend, then I shall be more than pleased to use Harry's appellation of 'monster'," stated Snape.

"Tom Riddle, then," snapped the Headmaster. "To answer your question, although Tom is trapped by my wards, I haven't a way to destroy him." Dumbledore suddenly changed the subject with an unconcerned smile. "Until we can deal with that, though, I have come down here for another matter, Severus."

"And what might that be?" asked Snape warily.

"Poor Remus is finding his duties to be a bit more than he can handle and I have agreed that he is in need of an assistant." Snape's eyes narrowed sharply in warning, but the Headmaster had deftly turned away to run his fingers over the clean and drying phials. "I suggested you since you have assisted Minerva before in the Deputy duties, and I do understand that two or three times you have also helped Remus get settled in."

"I teach, Headmaster. I am Head of Slytherin House." When it appeared that the older man wasn't listening, Snape added, "I find myself the father of an eleven year old boy, who was abused by his guardians. I am busy."

"One day a week, Severus, and just a few hours out of the day." The Headmaster turned back to his Potions professor. "Ah! You could even bring Harry with you, Severus. Don't you think it would be nice for him to meet a contemporary of Lily and James?"

Snape glowered in reply.

Dumbledore let out a mild huff of irritation. "Whatever you choose, Severus. However, I think you can take a few hours out of one day of the week to assist Remus. Decide on a day, and then notify the man."

At that point it was an order and no longer a request. It did not matter, of course, that he was already inclined to help the other wizard after speaking at length with him. Snape simply turned away from the Headmaster and back to his potions. He wished he could say that he was unaware of the old fool departing silently, but he wasn't.


An unscheduled, and completely useless (meaning surprise) meeting with the Board of Governors delayed Remus' meeting with his soon to be new responsibility, that of Head of Gryffindor House. Tea was shared, Dumbledore had nothing but praise for his new Deputy, and Remus figured out very quickly that no one on the Board knew of his subsequent appointment as a Head of House.

After an hour in which personal questions were asked, ad infinitum, and his office was scrutinised, Dumbledore ushered the members of the Governors Board out of Hogwarts and returned to escort his Deputy to Gryffindor tower.

Two elves had been dispatched while the wizards made their way to the tower, to gather together all of the House. Upon entering, they discovered an absolute disaster.

The Gryffindor common room was a mess. Homework and even someone's clothing littered floor and furniture. Books were left haphazardly wherever and some had fallen to the ground. What was worse, though, was that some of the older students had turned the common room into their very own 'snogging pad'.

Dumbledore's eyes lost their twinkle, and Remus ground his teeth together so hard, he let out a low growl that warned the students present that there were adults in the room.

Remus snapped sharply, "Get this mess cleaned up in fifteen minutes or Gryffindor is going to have an unprecedented 200 points loss today!"

Dumbledore gave the younger man an approving smirk as the students in the room jumped to their feet and began to clean. "I have a feeling we ought to inspect the dorms as well, Professor Lupin."

Remus nodded sourly. He hated even imagining what could be going on in the dorms.

Fifteen minutes later, every last Gryffindor was rousted from whatever they had been doing (and there were a few who shouldn't have been doing what was discovered they had been doing as girls had been smuggled into the boys dorms which had never been warded as the girls dorms were) and were now shabbily and red-faced assembled in the common room.

Dumbledore's gaze was like chipped ice as he addressed the students, "I had never thought to express my displeasure in my own House. I am dismayed to have seen displayed here this late afternoon the worst traits of Gryffindor. As such, as of this moment, the two prefects are dismissed from their duty." He glared tightly at a young, and very pretty seventh year girl whose cheeks appeared to be permanently stained with a blush of shame (she had been found in deshabille with her boyfriend). Beside her, a pale seventh year boy, swallowed convulsively. He did not wear his school robes, but his white shirt was noticeably inside-out.

Snickers from the twins were immediately quelled by a warning snarl from Remus. He took over, preventing Dumbledore from saying anything else. "I am Professor Remus Lupin, your new Head of House." Remus quelled the rise of rather sarcastic applause with a simple, hard, amber glance. "What I found here today is simply appalling and it will not be repeated. Is that understood?" It took a minute before the assembled Gryffindors realised they all needed to politely respond in the positive. When they did so, Remus continued, "By this evening I will have the strengthened the wards on the girls tower, the wards shall also be mirrored on the boys tower, and it is obvious that since some of you cannot control the urges of your hormones, I shall also add a ward to ensure Chastity." That drew a few 'awwws' and a 'booo'. "Quiet!" he growled. The students froze as something predatorial skimmed their spines in warning. "Believe me, I would highly advise that none of you decide to 'test' what the consequences will be if you violate the Chastity Ward." The absolute silence heavy with guilt was deafening.

Dumbledore glanced over at his Deputy. It was rather amazing how Remus managed to settle down his lions without yelling. Perhaps the young man had more control over the wolf within than he expected.

"New rules will also be posted this evening. Any infraction to these rules will be dealt with immediately. There will be no negotiation."

"Good grief! Do you think you're Snape?" groused a fifth year boy. "I suppose you're going to try and give us bedtimes like little firsties!"

Remus smiled thinly, and it wasn't a pleasant smile. "Ohhh, why give bedtimes to just the first years, Mr. Poppins? Everyone in Gryffindor will get the same bedtime until this House shapes up." There were more groans until Remus let out a low, menacing growl that quieted the common room. "Everyone get to your dorms and clean them. Including the bathrooms. Now."

The students all fled, with the exception of Fred and George. Remus eyed the twins for a moment who smiled heartily, and then marched up to their dorm.

"A bit harsh, weren't you, my boy?" asked Dumbledore quietly. "Rules? Bedtimes?"

"At first, perhaps, Albus. Once the Lions figure out that I am their Alpha, it will go much easier for them." Remus led the Headmaster out of Gryffindor tower.

"I rather think, Remus..."

Remus interrupted firmly, "As you recall, Albus, I didn't want the job. As I have now accepted it I will run Gryffindor House as I see fit. I will not be running it as Professor McGonagall did." For a moment they walked in uneasy silence toward Remus' office.

"Good day, Headmaster," the Deputy Headmaster vanished into his office effectively dismissing his boss.

Once inside his office he walked over to his bookshelf where the small, wooden rodent cage the Potions Master had given him sat. There was a rat behind the bars. Remus poked at it and the creature angrily snapped at him.

"Well, Peter, you are fortunate that I am such a busy man. I am unable to sort you and Sirius until the end of term." The rat screeched and squealed and chewed ineffectively upon the wooden bars. Remus ignored the rat, and moved to his desk where paper ever awaited him.


Updated 2015