There was a superior smirk Treasa would have loved to slap off Severus' face, but she didn't have the time. She stepped back and grasped the curtain beside Lockhart's bed.

"So help me, if you don't cover for me..." she hissed.

Severus took the curtain and shoved it around. The bottom of the heavy fabric hit his leg with a thwack that would have to suffice for her revenge. She edged silently around to the far side of the bed, blessing the healer who had begun prescribing Dreamless Sleep to counteract Lockhart's night terrors. The effects lasted well into the morning, so she need not fear an outburst from the man. She crouched, concentrating on Macnair's hobbling footsteps.

"Snape." Macnair's voice was cold. "I was given to understand that I was the only one assigned to -"

"I was given to understand that a certain amount of watchfulness would be appreciated, given the recent... sloppiness of our people," Severus replied with lazy sarcasm. "No need to feel slighted, you know."

Treasa could almost hear Macnair's face turning red. If she could have kicked Severus' shin without detection, she would have. He wasn't supposed to bait the man, he was supposed to get him out of the way.

"Since you seem to know much more than I, tell me - which of these is Bilbius?" Macnair snapped.

Severus hesitated an inordinately long time. "There was no healer on duty when I arrived, so I've been checking charts. It's no one on that side of the ward."

Gilderoy snorted in his sleep. Treasa clutched the vials in one hand and reached up to pat his arm.

"What about behind this curtain?"

Treasa kept the scream in her chest with some difficulty. Macnair's boots appeared at the bottom of the curtain, only to be replaced by Severus' swirling robes.

"I wouldn't disturb him if I were you, Macnair," he said quickly, the sarcasm noticeably absent from his voice.

"Why in blazes not? I won't be made to look the fool by you, Snape."

The shuffling of feet told her Macnair intended to open the curtain regardless of Severus' objections. Her eyes landed on the pile of patient robes on the bedside table. Gilderoy was so fussy about his clothes that they kept spares on hand. She looked down at the vials in her hand and grimaced as the idea surfaced.

"The man is a lunatic who thinks I'm a long-lost brother or some rubbish. I had to deal with him when I arrived, but I'll not do it again today."

"Or it's Bilbius and you're keeping him from me, Snape."

Severus snorted. "Don't be absurd. As if I'd bother trying to sabotage you."

Careful, Severus, Treasa thought as she snatched at the patient robe, wriggling into it as silently as possible.

"I haven't checked the far end of this side," Severus was saying, his footsteps leading to the far back of the room.

Bless you, Treasa thought, meaning it for the first time she could remember. If he kept this up, she wouldn't have to resort to her plan. She held her breath, waiting.

"Put your wand away, Macnair."

Treasa's heart pounded anew. Severus' voice was calm, but very, very quiet.

"I told you, Snape, I'll have none of your meddling."

"Oh, put it away, man," Severus said with infinite boredom. "Do you really want to try to hurt me here in St. Mungo's? This place has more protections on it than Hogwarts itself."

He was bluffing - ludicrously at that. It was that realization that made her decision. She reached up and plucked a wavy golden hair from Lockhart's temple.

The transformation was stranger than she recalled. Her only experience had been in NEWT level Potions when Slughorn had been persuaded to let them try it out. She stayed as still as possible, even though she knew the men's attention had been attracted by the noise.

"I've warned you, Macnair, the man is more trouble than you'll care to deal with," Severus was saying, feet stubbornly planted by the curtain."And I shan't lift a finger to help."

Treasa took a deep breath and leapt to her feet, pulling back the curtain just as Macnair made to reach past Severus for it.

"Visitors!" She squealed in Lockhart's voice, clapping her hands. She bounded forward, careful to close the curtain behind her. "It's been ever so long since I've had any, and now there are two of you! Splendid, splendid."

Severus was squinting at her as if trying to decide who she really was. Macnair looked horror-stricken.

"Ah," she made to go to Severus, then paused. "Do I know you? You seem familiar to me..." She furrowed her brow, smoothing the short blonde hair in the meantime. "Well, no doubt you know who I am, right? Very unkind to forget such a mentor as I undoubtedly was to you."

She rushed forward, hand outstretched. Severus drew back, something like real fear in his eyes. Treasa resisted the urge to laugh. She was thoroughly enjoying herself. Macnair was slowly backing toward the door. She darted after him, grabbing his arm.

"And you brought a new friend, to. Come, tell me about yourself. Of course, our mutual friend here..." she let her voice trail off as if trying to recall his name, "will have told you about me, but I'm not averse to adding to what you already know."

"Get away from me, you imbecile," Macnair growled, jerking away. "Come along, Snape, I'll come again soon."

"Leaving already?" Treasa let her chin quiver as she'd seen Gilderoy do so many times. "Come now, don't go. I haven't even told you any of my adventures yet!"

She grabbed Severus' sleeve entreatingly. The look he gave her left her in no doubt he was convinced who she really was. He broke free of her grip and strode to the door, Macnair at his heels. Treasa waited to the count of five after the door closed to break into a peal of laughter. That had been absurdly easy.

Several of the patients looked askance at her, but most turned away when they realized it was Lockhart. She turned back to the bed, only to see Lockhart wide awake and staring at her in horror.

"It can't be," he whispered, face crumbling in absolute despair.

Treasa hurried to his side. "Now, now, Gilderoy, calm down. No need to kick up a fuss."

To her surprise, he reached up and grabbed her in a fierce hug. "I have a twin!"

"Now that would have been a show I'd pay to see," George howled.

"And how," Fred chimed in, giving Treasa his butterbeer in admiration. "Did you tell him he's the bad seed?"

Treasa took a swig of the butterbeer to steady herself after her own laughing fit. "No, indeed. I told him it was a vision of himself and must know that his behavior in the ward is disturbing the other patients and inconveniencing the healers. He's been as meek as a lamb since then and it has been a blessed change."

The twins burst into laughter again. The story had made the rounds several times over the last two weeks, but the twins insisted on hearing it directly from her. Tonight wasn't an official Order meeting, but she'd decided it was better to spend the evening in a safehouse rather than alone in her flat. A few others were gathered around the table – Bill and Arthur Weasley, Kingsley and Severus were at the other end of the table, pouring over a map of the Ministry. Molly just left to walk Minerva to the door and then convince Ginny to pack for school, and Sirius had gone to check on Buckbeak. She'd been contemplating leaving herself when the twins settled in the chairs around her and begged for the story.

Lupin cut in on the conversation from his seat two chairs down. "You've put in for a shift change now, haven't you?"

Treasa nodded, laughter dying in her chest. "I start night rotation day after tomorrow."

She said it loud enough that Severus could hear. As much as she hated to admit it, he was responsible for her narrow escape. No doubt he'd been gloating about it since it happened.

He glanced her way before resuming his examination of the map. Treasa suppressed a chuckle. Then again, it had only been a few weeks. He might need months to forgive her the humiliation.

She turned back to the twins, determined to ignore Severus as much as he seemed intent on ignoring her. "Are you packed for school?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "We won't leave for another… oh –"

"14 hours or so," George supplied. "You can't really expect us to have packed."

Treasa laughed. "How silly of me. Alright then, any idea of who your new Defense professor will be?"

"Not an inkling," George said regretfully. "Can't seem to catch Dumbledore to ask him, and McGonagall said we'll find out with the rest of the students."

"Professor Mcgonagall, boys," Lupin chided. "I hope you two realize that living here for the summer doesn't mean you treat your teachers disrespectfully."

The twins looked at each other, nodded to Lupin, and excused themselves. Treasa watched them go, then quirked an eyebrow at Lupin.

"You don't actually expect them to listen to you, do you?"

Lupin gave a surprisingly boyish grin. "Oh, I suppose not."

"Bit like being a prefect again, eh?" Treasa said, tipping the butterbeer for another drink.

"I doubt your Ravenclaws were as bad as my house," Lupin countered, reaching for one of the bottles in the center of the table. "You didn't have to report your best friends for rule breaking."

Treasa shrugged her acknowledgement. "No, but oh, the debates we would have over what constituted an infraction, how much leniency was extended to NEWTS students, if OWLS students with more than five exams were allowed the same – I thought I'd go insane."

"Well, it's obvious you didn't," Sirius' voice came in her ear. He settled into the chair between her and Lupin, casually stretching his arms so they rested on the backs of both chairs.

Treas smirked, but didn't move away. "It's a wonder poor Remus didn't go insane, though. I recall your name being bandied about in the prefect meetings quite a bit."

"The lad tried, what more could be done?" Sirius' eyes landed on Severus, then returned to Treasa twinkling more than they had been. "Tell me again about Lockhart and Macnair. I dearly would have loved to have been there."

Treasa followed his glance and pursed her lips. "You've heard it twice, and I, for one, and sick of the story."

It wasn't really to protect Severus' feelings, she told herself. Sirius took far too much pleasure from the story, considering her own embarrassing role. Besides, they had other things to discuss.

"What are your plans now school is beginning?"

Sirius face darkened. "Dumbledore has forbidden me to leave this house, so I'm to stay, play messenger boy when need be," his voice took on a sanctimonious ring, "Consider my future, think on my past choices, and decide to be a very, very good boy from here on."

"Dumbledore didn't tell you to do all that," Treasa said, mock-sternly. "Even he isn't that optimistic."

"It would shock you to know just how optimistic the man can be," Severus put in from his spot down the table.

"No one asked your opinion, Sev- Professor," Treasa covered quickly. Sirius was intent only on Severus, a murderous glint in his eye. Lupin had raised his eyebrows, but slightly, but gave no other indication anything was wrong.

The group at the other end of the table broke up, and Severus swept by, casting a scorching glance at the three of them. Treasa edged a little closer to Sirius, returning the glare. So much for protecting his feelings.

"I suggested Sirius could take a turn as Defense professor and see how long he lasts," Lupin said, breaking the tense silence with a chuckle.

"I say I could break that one-year curse," Sirius insisted grumpily. "Then maybe Harry could get some steady Defense training."

"Yes, before or after the ministry sends you straight back to Azkaban?" Lupin countered, covering his frustration almost completely.

Sirius flashed him a look that startled Treasa with its fire. "I'm not so much better off here, am I?"

Remus' knuckles tightened on his bottle. Treasa leaned slightly away from Sirius, keeping her focus on the tension between them. It was obviously not a new fight. Sirius settled back in his chair, face set in such intense frustration and misery that she couldn't help but forgive him the petulance. She still agreed with Dumbledore, but seeing the effects of prudence on the man was difficult.

She stood, setting her bottle on the table. "I should go."

Sirius jolted to his feet, nearly stuttering in his haste. "Dinner hasn't even been served. Surely you're staying…"

"It's your last night with the children," she countered evenly. "You'll want to spend time with them. "

"Well, yes, of course, but that doesn't mean you have to eat alone in your flat," Sirius protested, regaining the suave charm he used so well. "If you leave now, we'll all just worry, and you know how Molly gets when she worries."

He was grinning at her. She was a far, far too susceptible to that grin.

"I doubt anything will happen. Between the two of us, we've come up with enough wards to keep You-Know-Who himself out for a good long while," she tried again, proud of the rationality in her tone.

He just smiled, adding a touch of pleading in his eyes. "Give a man a fair chance, Miss Shannon. I can't offer to escort you home, so the least you can do is allow me to provide you with dinner."

A not-so-discreet cough from behind them startled them both. Treasa clenched her jaw even before she turned to see Severus observing them with a curled lip. She knew that disdainful sound.

"It would appear the lady wants to go home. If you're worried about her safety, Black, I could always escort her."

Sirius stepped in front of Treasa. "I wouldn't trust her with you for a moment."

Severus rolled his eyes. "As I recall, I was the one who provided the potion that saved her life not long ago. What have you done lately?"

"Didn't you just leave, Snivelly?" Sirius spat back. "Couldn't bear to stop by without insulting me at least once?"

"I was coming back to check a point or two of our plan with Arthur Weasley," Severus countered in a bored tone. "As for insulting you…" he shrugged. "I was merely stating facts."

A knot was tightening in Treasa's stomach. She was angrier at Severus than ever, and yet, he had protected her. She rubbed her left ring finger with her thumb, considering. She could hardly stay with Severus glowering at them.

She stepped between the two men. "I'm going home."

Severus smirked. "Very well, if you'll just wait a moment, I'll be free to –"

Treasa shook her head, casting an apologetic glance at Sirius. "I'm going alone." She narrowed her eyes at Severus, cutting off his objection. "Don't try to follow me."