After a few minutes of silence the girl finally asked:

"What?"

Severus stood up and turned to face her.

"Look at me!" He said coolly. "I'm not like an ordinary Muggle."

"Muggle?"

"Non-magical person."

Sarah watched him but she could only see blurry things. When her vision cleared, she saw an unusually-looking young man.

He was wearing a black shirt with a dark green jacket that reached the middle of his tights. Even his cuff was different then what other men wore. His shiny black hair reached his shoulders and it was elegant and healthy; a mop of hair was tacked with a golden hairgrip. With his dark, penetrating gaze and radiating coldness and pride he looked like a figure stepped out of a history book. Sarah looked at him with compassion – the way she would look at a fool.

"I see you don't believe me." A tiny muscle twitched in the corner of Severus' eye.

He pulled out his wand and the girl screamed.

"Don't hurt me!" She pleaded.

"I don't intend to. Nox!" He pointed toward the fireplace and the fire extinguished.

Severus glanced at the girl waiting for a reaction. However, she just stared at the empty fireplace with mouth wide open. She sat up but no words came out of her throat. But fear was more evident on her face.

She looked around hysterically as if she just realized how dangerous things were around her. Every corner and cabinet held horrible torture devices, skulls, bones, needles and daggers, voodoo dolls with missing limbs… dissected animals in jars, ominous crosses, objects with magical symbols, vials full of poisons and blood, crystal balls and cards… She felt like she was dragged around by demons. Her vision blurred then everything went black. She lost her conciseness and fell back on the bed…

She woke up a few hours later. She was not tucked in and she could feel the warmth of the fire. She felt a stabbing pain in her head so she moaned softly. He felt the gentle touch of a man's hand on her leg and a wet towel. She opened her eyes and realized that she was sitting in the chair next to the fireplace and the young man was washing her leg.

Every movement made her dizzy. She felt numbness instead of pain where he stroked her leg. She bit her lips and opened her eyes again then touched her chest. A soft shirt was covering her upper body which made her a little calmer. She moaned again. This caught Severus' attention.

"You're awake at last. It was about time."

"What… what are you doing?" The girl sighed.

"I'm cleaning your wounds again."

"What is… in that bowl?"

"A potion… it will heal you." Severus said without looking up. "The wounds won't be infected and the bruises will disappear sooner."

"So it's really true… you're really a wizard…"

"What convinced you now?"

"I've never seen a man washing the dirty feet of a woman with such devotion…"

Severus' hands stopped in mid air then continued slowly.

"Thank you…" Sarah said panting.

She continued, because the man said nothing:

"What… what kind of wizard are you? The kind that… molests kids… and curses the harvest… and… makes a deal with the devil?"

Severus looked up in horror but he didn't seem to be surprised by the terrible accusations. He shook his head in resignation and muttered under his breath:

"Sprenger and Kramer… again… You…" He turned to the girl sadly. "… Muggles have some weird ideas about wizards and witches…"

"What type of wizard are you?"

"I brew potions, but… I think I'm the evil type." He said with a mysterious smile.

Sarah felt herself pale but nodded.

"Ready." The young wizard threw the cloth into the bowl.

"You… you won't hurt me, will you?"

"No, I won't."

"But you will if I try to leave, right?"

"In this state… you should be happy to be able to get up at all. You slept through the whole day. It will take some time for you to be able to walk again."

He stepped closer and lifted her gently. The movement made the girl dizzy.

"Wait…wait…" She moaned. "My stomach… I'm starving… can I get something to eat?"

"You can."

He took her into the bedroom, laid her on the bed and left to bring some food. He gave the girl some bread and water and watched her eat.

"Just so you know: I'm not a good wizard from a fairy-tale, but I would never hurt children!"

The new circumstanced have created unusual situations in Severus' home. The Dark Lord still hasn't summoned him so he did what he usually did: walked in the forest for ingredients. The changes were caused by the newcomer. Severus couldn't live the way he did before and couldn't sleep in his own bed… And he felt the unpleasant effects of that. The sofa in the living room was perfect for sitting and reading but a very uncomfortable place to sleep. The meals went by with awkward silence first. Severus tried to wake up early and finish breakfast before the girl. But as Sarah began to feel better she tried to start conversations.

"And tell me…" She asked once. "How come humans haven't noticed you?"

"We are humans too." The wizard said a bit offended. "We disguise our skills cleverly."

"You live separately from us?"

"Not all of us. You wouldn't believe how many wizards and witches live among Muggles…"

"And you marry with us?"

Severus grimaced.

"Some people do…"

"But?" The girl asked curiously. She felt that the man didn't tell her everything.

"Not everyone thinks it's appropriate."

"How diplomatic wording!" Sarah snorted. "So those who chose a non-magical person to live with are worth less?"

"Our blood would mix. There are ancient wizard families that want to preserve the purity of their blood…"

"This… is disgusting!" Sarah slammed her glass down on the table. "As if our blood would be dirty!"

Severus didn't say anything just continued eating.

"Tell me, do you agree with that too?"

"What I think is none of your business!" The magician exclaimed. "And it doesn't really matter. The one I serve believes this and I submit to his will!"

Sarah seemed disappointed then she flushed with anger.

"So I'm just a dirty rag, right?"

Severus turned away.

"Wonderful!" She stood up. "Don't be surprised when others treat you like lepers!" Then she went back to the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

The young wizard stared at his plate. He really didn't need this arguing right now. But his appetite was gone. He was wiping his hands when green flames flared in the fireplace. A young man's face with blond hair appeared in the flames.

"Ah, Severus!" He greeted him.

"Lucius… what can I do for you? The Dark Lord is summoning us?"

"N-No, it's not the reason." The blond one said in embarrassment. Severus raised an eyebrow. "I have a request. You're so good with potions… it's about a love potion."

"I thought Narcissa Black is already yours. Why would you need the potion?"

"The engagement is official." Malfoy said quickly. "But I need something to make Narcissa love me…"

"I believed that your manners can win over any woman you want." Severus tried not to smile. "And what kind of elixir you want?"

"Aviala potion."

"That one is powerful." The black haired man grinned.

"It's not all. I want you to… triple the power… Just for safety's sake, of course."

"You must be in a very bad situation, Lucius." Severus looked up. "But I will make the potion for you. But it will take three days."

"Brilliant!" Lucius' face lit up. "But tell me… don't you make narcotic, stimulant perfumes by chance?"

"It's not a drugstore, Malfoy." Severus became serious. Somehow he didn't find it funny.

"Ah, what a pity." Lucius' grin disappeared. "Well, thank you for your time! And Severus!" He said more confidently. "I hope it stays between us!"

"Of course." The other hissed.

Lucius' face disappeared from the flames and Severus sighed.

He stepped to the bookshelf and took off the book called 'Love Potions (What to do if there is no option left?)'. It was an old book with a few dog ears. He looked at every recipe, some of them made him grin and finally found what he was looking for.

He went to his lab and lit a lantern. He opened the cabinet and looked for the ingredients then put them on the table and lit fire under the cauldron. He started it like a routine job but had to triple the dose. As the swirling liquid warmed it changed its color to a bright pink. The potion began to take the typical intoxicating scent. When the bubbles blew he tried to get away from the pink smoke.

He had to turn to the next page and when he looked back a huge bubble just blew and the large dose of intoxicating cloud hit Severus who inhaled a lot in his surprise. He started coughing; his chest tightened so he doubled over and finally fell to the ground and lost his consciousness. He dropped the bottle that was in his hand and it rolled to the other side of the room and stopped at Sarah's legs. The girl left the room when she heard the ruckus. When she saw Severus on the floor she ran toward him immediately. The potion on the table bubbled dangerously. So Sarah extinguished the fire with a cup of water. But a rising cloud of smoke hit her too so she fell next to Severus unconscious…