Author Note: Erm..yes, last week's update...I...er...forgot. I was in the middle of a really good book and it completely slipped my mind. I was able to update one of my other stories as the parts were already online here waiting to be added but by the time I remembered about uploading and formatting this one...well you get the general idea. I didn't think anyone would actually notice. But sorry anyway.

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Part 7

"Lost something?" Severus asked without looking up from the Daily Prophet. Not that he didn't know of course that Wormtail was still half-heartedly searching for the floo powder so that he could leave on his first mission for the Dark Lord.

Severus would have told him where it was but for the fact that searching gave the little rat some exercise that might help him to lose a bit of the weight he had gained whilst loafing about at the Weasley house.

He wondered how long it would take him to figure out that the floo powder was safely hidden away in Severus's bathroom cabinet.

"I picked up a large supply of floo powder," Wormtail muttered as he flung things out of one of the living room cupboards at random. "You can't have used it all, you've not been anywhere."

Severus scowled at the snide tone Wormtail used and the insinuation behind his words that he had no friends to visit. The fact was that he didn't like the company of most of his contemporaries and much preferred the quiet solitude of his home. Something he was struggling to remember as the noise Wormtail was making increased tenfold.

"Make sure you clear that up before you go," Severus ordered as he casually pulled out his wand and silently cast a spell to topple over a couple of precariously balanced potions bottles. Yes it was childish, and yes it meant that Wormtail would be in the house even longer before he left, but some things he was just incapable of resisting.

"Where have you put it?" Wormtail demanded as he glared at the mess on the threadbare carpet.

"I seem to recall that general housekeeping is your duty," Severus sneered back. "Which means that if you were doing your job properly you would know precisely where it is, since you put it away."

"I put it away in the cupboard next to the fireplace," screeched Wormtail, pointing accusingly at the cupboard he had ransacked first before tearing apart the rest of the room.

"My first student should be arriving soon," Severus announced with a tight smile. "I suggest you tidy up here and then be on your way. The Dark Lord doesn't like to be kept waiting; you know that."

"Student?" Wormtail asked, his eyebrows raised at this bit of news.

Severus smiled genuinely this time; he'd managed to keep Wormtail out of the loop with regard to his home tutoring service, waiting for the opportune moment to spring it on him. It looked like that moment had finally arrived.

"Since you've been so helpful around here I've found myself with a little more free time and have volunteered to offer my expertise…"

Wormtail snickered.

"…my expertise," Severus repeated, "to the more promising students who wish to further their education in the summer months."

"Just Slytherin students right?" Wormtail asked.

"No, as a matter of fact the student I am tutoring this morning is from Gryffindor, you've met her in fact."

Wormtail paled slightly and Severus's grin widened maliciously.

"Not the Granger girl?" Wormtail whispered.

"That's the one," Severus replied with a nod.

"You'd never let a Gryffindor into your house," Wormtail insisted, disbelief evident on his face.

"Funny, I thought I already had," Severus replied with a pointed glare. "Miss Granger will be here within the hour. If by some miracle you complete your mission today, I would suggest you don't return until mid-afternoon at the earliest."

"What mission is this anyway?" Wormtail wailed, and actually going so far as to stamp his foot in frustration. "No one tells me anything and the scroll that owl brought this morning was most unhelpful."

"I'm not privy to all the Dark Lord's instructions. I know no more than was in the note."

Severus looked back to the front page of the Daily Prophet, the page that bore the news of werewolves attacking on the outskirts of York. It looked like Voldemort's new Werewolf Tamer would have an interesting first day on the job. Not that Wormtail knew that yet, but he would find out soon, when it was far too late to wriggle out of things of course.

"Okay, have it your way," Severus said with another evil grin. "I'm sure the Dark Lord will understand that you're too busy or too scared to handle your first solo mission. And no doubt Miss Granger will be delighted to catch up with you and your news. You can tell her the tale of how you single-handedly resurrected the Dark Lord who has sworn to kill one of her best friends."

Wormtail scowled, knowing he had been backed neatly into a corner.

Severus left the room and went downstairs into the laboratory in his cellar, leaving Wormtail to clear up the mess and leave.

When he was sure that the coast was clear Severus returned to the living room to wait for Hermione Granger to appear. He knew without a doubt that she would arrive promptly at 10am as he had suggested. With a bit of luck he could have her out of the house by 11am and then enjoy the long overdue hours of peace and quiet.

He looked around the room and spotted the new dark patch on the carpet that the potions he had spilled a short while ago had made. He scowled and glared at the stain as he pulled out his wand to get rid of it. Not that he should care what any of the students thought of his home, he'd never been particularly house proud and time had taken its toll on the furnishings and the building itself. But some small part of him did mind, and it was that part of him that had him rapidly casting spells to not only clean up the stain on the carpet but to fix the crack in the window and repair the small hole in the curtains.

He was just contemplating whether to magically clean the windows when the doorbell rang. A glance at the clock on the wall revealed it was precisely 10am.