Bits and pieces. For those waiting for explanations, they arrive next chapter.

"Looks as though the Thin Ices were sending simple messages, after all. Snape could have hurt me in a very direct way," Thalia said as silence fell in the crowded potions room. When Dumbledore had walked up to Draco and grabbed him by the arm, to then drag him down to the front of the class, all conversations had ended, and all the stares had begun. "Snape's was accurate to. We would both hurt him. Me by staying passive as you took his place, and you by…" She feel silent, horror written all over her features. "Where is he?"

"You are out of your mind!" Snape complained.

"Shut up Lucius. I have your son," Thalia replied coldly. There was a silence.

"You can't do anything to him," Snape replied. His voice was now clear and strong. Malfoy had stopped acting.

"You've put yourself between me and Severus. I give myself the right to do anything."

She stopped talking, and for a while simply focused on the body that laid before her. Harry could almost see the ton of ideas she was organizing flipping in her pupils. After a very short while, she spoke again. "Who's body do you want to be in when it happens?" she asked Malfoy. The man refused to answer. She lifted her hand, facing Dumbledore. "Give me the boy."

"Malfoy is right. You can't do anything to him."

"You know I won't. Now toss him over."

Harry could see Draco was not pleased by the idea of being tossed into the angry, and possibly deadly, hands of his teacher. He wouldn't budge. "Fine, stay there then," she said, turning back to her prey. She hit him with her wand, directly on his forehead, and a green fog-like halo wrapped itself around the man. From it's center has glowing a blue light. Seconds later, the blue light faded away, and the fog immediately entered Lucius' body – as it was now Lucius that was lying on the bare ground of Hogwarts' dungeons.

"And now you've just healed me," he said with a grin, sitting up. He let out a loud gasp of pain as Thalia stuck her knife into his forearm. "I'll manage to injure you again," she said with a sarcastic smile. A second gasp followed shortly. "Bella taught me this," she explained to Lucius as Dumbledore was about to speak. "Don't worry, I'll stop," she said in the Headmaster's direction. "And I guarantee you no spell will manage to heal these cuts," she then told Malfoy.

"Now, where is Snape." Once again, she only faced silence. "What in the Devil's name are you waiting for?! I've already discovered your little plan, what are you hanging on to!?" she burst out in frustration.

"You think you understood the whole thing?"

"Yes. You and a few colleges came here on your own hoping to find out what side Snape stood on. And you thought taking Snape's place would be a good way of finding out while treating yourself a little fun on the way."

Another gasp. "Miss Beauregard, you must understand that you're presence in this castle as a teacher entitles you to respect a few basic rules, such as the one that states you are not to, how say, kill anyone," Dumbledore objected.

"The knife slipped."

Malfoy finally abandoned, bleeding heavily but still rather in shape. He pointed out the teacher's desk with his one good arm. Thalia threw herself on it as the injured fell back to the ground. Harry stared at the scene. Thalia didn't intend on hurting Draco, she just wanted to humiliate both, father and son. And Harry knew the cuts she had inflicted Lucius – though they were incredibly deep – were only a small warning compared to what she could have done. It was Lucius' reason that pushed him to admit Snape's emplacement, not the pain. Thalia was right. She had uncovered his plan.

A loud thud echoed through the room as the woman hit the desk Malfoy had pointed earlier. Again and again, she kept hitting it with her bare fists. Miss MacGonagll quickly ran to her side.

"Stop, you'll only drive him mad if he's actually in there," she told Thalia.

"But that's how you open the desk!" she pointed out. "I just can't find the right spot…" As she said so, she hammered her fist on the top drawer of the desk. It opened like, well, magic. As she gazed into the open drawer, Thalia's eyes widened with shock, and filled with tears. She sat on the border of the drawer, swung her two legs in it, and jumped into the cavity, disappearing completely. Apparently, it had been magically modified. Miss MacGonagall peaked into the dark hole. "Oh dear God," she muttered softly. She moved backwards, just in time to avoid Snape's floating body, which was emerging from the drawer. In a far worst shape than Malfoy's, even as he was injured. Blood was dripping from his slightly opened mouth, and from his nose. He was as pale as ever, and his white color contrasted in a horrid way with the bruises that covered his body. He fell gently to the ground as Thalia climbed out of the drawer. She bent over Snape, her wand in hand, asking Miss MacGonagall to fetch her a quantity of potion supplies. The scene was an exact copy of the one Harry had witnessed before, only more dramatic, seeing the severity of Snape's condition. When Miss MacGonagall left her side, Thalia spoke. "Get him out, Albus. Get him out or I'll smash his blond head on the stone ground," she cried, her words drowned by her tears. "I…" Malfoy started before the Headmaster had time to approach him. "Shut up!" Thalia shouted. "Are you aware of what you've just done? You've destroyed ten, no, fifteen years of hidding, lying, disobeying orders, putting our lives in danger, being tortured in order to see each other and keep contact, so we could step over the barriers war had mounted everywhere around us in order to keep our friendship alive. And you've just destroyed that, because of sheer paranoia and a stupid teenage crush!" Thalia's voice broke, and so she paused for a second, but immediately after she was shouting with more ardour. "You would have never found out what side Snape is. He has no sides. And you've destroyed everything, the fragile balance we had managed to keep alive, feeding it with pain and blood. Get out of my sight."

***

"It was an error to let him go," Thalia let out softly.

"No, Albus is right," Snape objected in an even softer voice.

The two teachers were in the Headmaster's office, along with the three other Heads of Houses, and a few members of the Order: Kingsley and Mister Weasley. Dumbledore spoke. "Voldemort will punish him enough for such a treason. He and the three others that infiltrated themselves into the dungeons took the initiative of the attack on their own. I doubt he'll ever be assigned to a task again."

"I could have punished him well enough," Thalia pointed out.

"Yes, but this way, Snape can pretend he subtly pledged in Malfoy's favor," Kingsley explained, "and therefore protect our cover."

The crowd fell silent. Thalia and Snape seemed slightly worried, but still rather at ease. The news did not seem to affect them so badly. As the woman had said earlier, the battle had simply provided them with a common enemy, a spot so dark that beside it they seemed to be the exact same color. It was all that could possibly matter to them. The others were far more worried though. Miss MacGonagall spoke her mind. "Headmaster," she started, uneasy, "I believe that this… situation, might still pose a problem. Hogwarts, but mostly its students, cannot be used as a shield to protect these two from their past."

"You are right, Minerva, as always," Dumbledore replied, "but I believe that such a battle will not take place a second time this year. Voldemort has already brought too much attention to himself to dare make a second move."

"And what will we tell the students' parents?" a teacher asked.

"Mostly the truth. The last little part, though, I'm not sure about. But do not worry, I will not try hiding my actions or mistakes."

"And what do we do about Draco?"

"I'm unsure. I'm open to suggestions, actually," he admitted with a sly smile.

No one dared to speak, nor had any idea in mind. The gathering therefore ended immediately. Mister Weasley asked Dumbledore: "Do you mind if I invite Molly over? That way we could gather up the entire family before leaving."

"No problem Arthur," Dumbledore smiled, guiding the man towards the grand wood door that guarded his office. Kinglsey followed immediately, bowing slightly before Dumbledore before exiting. "I'll call Miss Pomfrey for you, Snape," Miss MacGonagall said, quickly scribbling on a parchment she then threw in the fireplace. Snape nodded, thanking her. "Go in your apartments to rest," he then ordered Thalia.

"I can stay up with you," she reassured him.

"You'll only watch me sleep, my mind knocked out by whatever the nurse forces me to swallow."

"It'll be beautiful enough to keep me awake."

"Why is it that now you start fearing you'll lose me."

"Huh," Thalia laughed bitterly, "you didn't see that horrible picture of your carcass lying in a pool –"

"A pool?"

"Okay, maybe a puddle of blood. It's just…. If I wake you up in the middle of the night shouting at the top of my lungs these next days, don't wonder what I'm dreaming about."

"Still… you saw me half dead before."

"Yeah. But at that time I had the confidence of young age."

"And…?" Snape continued.

"And," Thalia added, smiling, glad to see he could still decipher her words, "at that time being on neither side meant having friends everywhere."

"And now?"

"It means enemies everywhere."

"It hurt that bad?"

Thalia suddenly burst into tears. Miss MacGonagall was quickly by her side, but seemed uneasy. She stared at Snape, pleading with her eyes for any indication of what to do to solace her. He simply nodded, and she walked away. "Shouldn't Miss Pomfrey be ready by now?" he asked. Dumbledore replied with a soft "yes", and Snape nodded back, grateful. He got up, and escorted Thalia out the door, though she walked steady steps as he was limping more than slightly.

"Strange how what Voldemort had planned as a friendly visit ended with two injured men," Dumbledore stated, watching Snape as he marched down the stairs.

"A stroke of bad luck," Miss MacGongall commented.

"No," Dumbledore objected. "We should consider ourselves lucky that Malfoy was stupid enough to take Snape's place."

"How come?"

"At least he has angered Thalia."

"How is that good?"

"I believe the Dark Lord wants her back in his orders."

***

The next day, Harry and his classmates were treated with a free day: activities were organized in a few classes, and the Great Hall was transformed into a recess area, seeing the frozen state of the school grounds. Still, none of the rooms were as crowded as the infirmary, the pettiness of the room emphasizing the lack of any free space. The main attraction was Snape, though the reasons that pushed the students to pay him a visit differed grandly from crowd to crowd. At first it had been the teachers who had assembled around his bed, joining Thalia who had spent the night by the injured's bedside. They had discussed of the battle, mostly, though the event certainly did not deserve such a name. Then had followed the very eager and curious students that wanted to hear the rundown of the night, and then the rather eager and curious students, and then the mildly eager and curious students, and so on until the infirmary was filled with people who were simply there because they had nothing else to do. Harry and his two friends had dropped by as such a group nonchalantly chatted with the two "heroes". "For people who are here for no reason," Ron had pointed out, "they sure talk a lot." Uneasy, the friends had left, to come back around mid-day. It was an error. At that point, the room was filled with a gang of Slytherins – the most Slytherin-esque Slytherins that were. In other words, the ones most bound to display a Dark Mark in a year or so. Oppressed in a thick and surreal atmosphere of awkwardness, they simply talked, trying to figure out on which side their teachers rested after the confrontation, to the great displeasure of the two teachers in question: apparently the idea of clarifying any part of their situation was highly repulsive to them. Hermione, on the other hand, interpreted their silence in another way. "They either can't tell the Slytherins that they're not with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named anymore, by fear of having them hate them, or they're still on his side… or rather," she corrected herself, "they at least still have friends on his side, but don't dare saying so inside the school walls."

"I think it's the second option" Ron had said.

"If it is, they are ridiculous. Malfoy almost killed Snape!"

Their whispers had brought attention upon them, and so feeling rather out of place, the three Gryffondors had left once again. It was now four o' clock, and the students were convinced that each and every student that could possibly be interested by the subject of the battle had already passed by the infirmary. They were wrong.

"So are you two married?" a shrill, high pitched voice asked. The question was followed by a salvo of overexcited giggles. "Oh dear God, you must be kidding," Hermione sighed, annoyed. They walked in. The room was jam-packed with girls. Only girls. "They dishonor the women that fight for respect around this world," Hermione let out in a groan, drawing to herself a bit of attention, and so as a few hateful glances. "No, we aren't married," Thalia replied calmly, silencing the girls.

"Oh, you should get married here!" a voice very similar to the first one let out. It was once again followed by a few cries.

"It would be so nice in the summer! Right after the end of the exams, by the lake," another high-pitched voice said. It was impressive how they all sounded the same.

Harry heard Snape cough, and guessed he had probably just choked. "Ironic how after surviving the assault of a Death Eater, he might end up being killed by a group of mindless teenage girls," Harry thought. The boy nevertheless had to admit that the idea of getting married on the school grounds in front of Hogwarts students was probably so unbearable to Snape that bringing it to life would be simply inhuman. Luckilly, Thalia managed to refuse the proposition the student had suggested without evoking the passionate hate Snape dedicated to the school. "Snape and I have some difficulty with the idea of… official contracts," she began. Harry could guess she was smiling. She pursued. "We don't really like the idea of setting things in stone. Immutability has caused many problems on this earth, whereas having the freedom to have no sides or many sides at once has saved our lives more than once." The girls were puzzled. "So… you're one of those weird… open couples?"

Thalia laughed loudly. "No, not a all. We only apply this philosophy in, well, every other aspect of our life than this one. The idea of applying it to our, erm, lets say love life, is probably a simple reflex, or a habit."

Harry couldn't say if the others understood Thalia's words, but he for one thing was sure he did. He smiled. These two were the only ones he knew that were proud to be two-faced. A small cough came from behind the wall formed by the backs of the girls, and a voice followed. "If you don't mind, ladies, I think Sev might need a bit of sleep…" The all nodded with much vigor and left immediately, whispering to each other.

"Sev, that's so adorable."

"I didn't know Snape could get himself such a girl."

"Do you see how romantic it is, they saved each others lives last night!"

Hermione let out a small "pathetic" just as Snape did so too. There was a small awkward silence. "Were you serious," Harry inquired, "about the sleeping, or did you just want to chase them away?"

"Just wanted to get rid of them," Thalia replied as Snape rolled his eyes.

"Great then."

There was another silence. Thalia held Snape's hand in hers, sitting cross-legged on a small chair by his bed. "So, erm, we mostly came over to thank you two for the protection, and the… not locking ourselves in the tower," Ron let out, seeing his two friends simply wouldn't speak.

"Ah, no problem. It was mostly for… anyways, it's fine."

"And we hope you get well soon, Professor Snape," Hermione added with a smile. He smiled back. Harry has astonished to see he was physically able to do so. "He's being transferred at St-Mungos tomorrow," Thalia explained. "We don't really know what he has. Hopefully they will."

"Speaking of which," a voice said, "we might be able to help." Mr and Mrs Weasley stepped into the room. "We aren't bothering, aren't we? When we saw the group of girls leave we assumed all the students had gone…"

"It's fine Arthur," Thalia reassured him.

"Hey, how come the students know about you two?" Harry asked, his curiosity cutting short to the conversation that was installing itself between the adults.

"Oh, after what the Gryffondors and Slytherins saw last night in the dungeons… we realized it was ridiculous trying to hide the relationship. Plus, I couldn't have let Snape die (Snape coughed) sleep" she corrected, "here alone all night just to keep a secret hidden. So yeah. Now they know," Thalia announced, her features resembling those of an innocent unjustly sentenced to death.

Suddenly, Dumbledore's head popped into the doorway. "Harry," he asked, "might I speak to you for a minute?"

"Oh, Albus, we were just about to leave…" Mrs Weasley pointed out.

"It's alright Molly. He'll arrive at the Headquarters safe and sound, this evening. I simply want to talk to him beforehand."

Mrs Weasley nodded, and Harry left the room, bidding everyone goodbye, and wishing Snape and Thalia a merry Christmas.

"Such wishes were useless, Harry," Dumbledore told him as they left the infirmary, walking down different corridors "as they both will be spending Christmas with us."

"How come?"

"The Headquarters are closer to St-Mungos than Thalia's residence. She will therefore accept the offer Molly is doing at this very instant."

"Oh…" Harry simply let out, finally understanding.

"I see the news does not bother you."

"No… I've managed to get along with Thalia lately. More than I thought I possibly could, actually."

"Great then." The Headmaster stopped in front of his office. "Shall we step in?"

Starting to despair, just a bit... Comments, anyone? I've just finished my 27th chapter, and my 28th chapter, still a white page, is now staring blindly at me - and I don't know if I should fill it up with words. Meh, I guess I will.