It was many weeks later when Severus Snape found himself experiencing deja vu. This paperwork and the interruptions that came with being Headmaster truly was the stuff of nightmares, he thought to himself. Fortunately, his office was enveloped in silence –a rare commodity these days. Unfortunately, he was allowed only a few brief moments of that precious quiet when the peaceful scratching of quill on paper was broken by the sound of yelling and stomping up the stairs. He wearily watched the solid oak door literally shake with the force of the pounding it was receiving. For a moment, he seriously contemplated using a silencing spell and going back to writing, but he knew if he did that then he would have even more paper work to explain away the death of at least one student and/or a teacher. The possibility of having to explain himself to the Dark Lord did not really appeal either. He scrubbed at his face and put on his impenetrable mask as he steeled himself for the chaotic battle about to enter his office. With a flick of his wrist, the commonly referred to as evil man spelled his door open and watched as the 'fairer' of the Carrows fell in.

"Oops! Watch your step," Severus barely made out over the brother's shouting. There was a time when Severus genuinely did not think Luna Lovegood knew what irony or sarcasm was, but from a certain hard edge in her eyes, that soft-spoken comment was not meant to be helpful.

"We didn't deserve to be in detention anyways!" Neville Longbottom shouted from somewhere in the back of the group still on their way in his office.

"Headmaster, punish them! They won't listen to us!" Alecto Carrow yelled in his face as she loomed over his desk. She never did properly fear him.

"Stop pushing! We're already here for Pete's sake!" Ginny Weasley grumbled loudly as she pulled her arm away from Amycus Carrow.

"Didn't deserve detention!? Ya did too!" he shouted in Mr. Longbottom's ear, held reluctantly in place by his elbow.

"For what?" he turned around and shouted back as he yanked his arm out of the other's grasp.

"Headmaster, he called the Dark Lord… a weak scared-y cat…" Miss Carrow was still leaning over his desk and, even though the last part was whispered like a secret while she shooed her hand at Longbottom, he still had an overwhelming urge to hex her back.

"Oh is that all?" Miss Weasley said laughing. "Pul-lees! He is! And your putting us in detention and torturing us for three hours isn't gonna change that!" The Headmaster resisted the shiver that threatened to creep down his spine. Just what the Hell were they doing to his students?

"You interrupted my class!" Mr. Carrow shrieked.

"Sure did!" Miss Weasley said with more than a little pride. "And I'll be sending Fred and George thank you letters for the supplies!"

"You lot can't keep causing disorder!" Mr. Carrow backhanded the red head as if that would fix the chaos. All it did was add a little blood to her rebellious grin and piss him off.

"My brothers invented disorder!" At that, the youngest Weasley started to pull out her wand causing Severus to act.

"ENOUGH!" he roared, lunging to his feet and forcing the doughy Carrow to stumble back. He looked them each in the eye, almost daring them to continue. When he had stared down the last one, he turned to the twins.

"They were in detention, yes?" he asked almost too softly to hear.

"Yes. They –"

"A simple yes or no is all that is needed, thank you. " He turned to the Longbottom boy next.

"You insulted the Dark Lord?" Neville straightened and held his head high as he proudly answered.

"Yes."

"You see? The blood… traitor…. admits….. it…" Each word from the troll Carrow's mouth grew softer and less forthcoming under the icy Snape stare.

"You two may go," he dismissed the set annoying him most. He then faced the younger three in silence, waiting for the others to leave before he spoke to them.

"But –"

"I said go," was firmly said in that deadly quiet voice Severus had perfected over the years, and, from the half cocky half scared looks on the students standing in front of him, the quick scampering of footsteps, and the slamming of his door, it still worked.

"Sit," he said as he resumed his own seat. Ever the gentleman, Mr. Longbottom let the girls have the two chairs already positioned in front of the desk, choosing instead to stand behind them. The look he was now giving his Headmaster proved he was no longer the clumsy little boy terrified of his Potions Master. Severus was surprised to realize that he was actually proud of that. Instead of expressing it though, he went back to work on the multitude of papers still needing to be filled out.

"So you interrupted detention, …again." His eyes remained on his writing, but he could still see the satisfied smirks that found places on each of their faces. A smirk almost found it's way onto his face, but he was supposed to be terrifying, and to openly take pleasure in what they were doing would only encourage them. Instead, he frowned. When he looked up he was his frown was met with mildly curious look from Lovegood, barely concealed loathing from Longbottom, and a small knowing smile from Weasley. He set his quill papers aside to focus his attention fully on them.

"If you three are not more careful, you are going to get yourselves and others killed," the Headmaster said factually. He stood and went over to his cabinets to rifle through his vials. Longbottom was standing in front of the girls with his wand drawn when Severus turned back around. He finally gave in to the smirk that had been pulling at his lips for most of this meeting.

"You three will be reporting to McGonagall for detention for the rest of the month," he said as he handed to vial to Miss Weasley. She drank it like a shot before either of her friends could protest.

"And do try to keep your comments to a minimum. Or at least out of their hearing. You three getting killed won't help anyone." He then shooed his hand in dismissal and went back to his desk. His three students made to leave when he changed his mind.

"Miss Weasley, a moment."

The three had a heated, if whispered, discussion where at one point Severus distinctly heard Longbottom tell his friend "you can't trust him!"

Eventually the other two left. Miss Weasley came back and sat down in a chair. He took a moment to quickly finish a report.

"What was that you gave me?" she asked in curiosity. "It tasted kind of minty." Severus chuckled quietly.

"It was something to help the healing process." He nodded to a couple of books sitting on the corner of his desk.

"The recipe is in the bottom one. Already dog eared for you." She picked them up and started leafing through them while he seemed to go back to his reports. "That book is mostly first aid. The one with the green cover is for more complicated issues. The blue cover holds spells you'll be wanting to learn. Basic camouflage spells and the like. You'll also be wanting to find someplace more secure to host you Dumbledore's Army meetings. I would recommend the Room of Requirement. If you do it right, you can even have a secret door to my private stores for your potions. It will also be a good hiding place."

He glanced up to see her staring at him. He then went back to his papers. She did not have to see how affected this was making him.

"The brown cover is my personal diary. I'd appreciate it if it did not get passed around, but it's now yours to do with as you wish. I suspect my tenure here is coming to an end." She gave a small gasp causing him to look up and find worry etched in her face. He smiled faintly. It felt like forever since someone had expressed concern for him.

"Is the Dar-"

"It doesn't matter," he said cutting her off before she could answer her own question. "Keep doing what you're doing –preferably with a touch more subtly– and prepare for the coming war. I'll worry about the rest."

Sensing the dismissal, she grabbed to books and started for the door.

"And Miss Weasley?" She turned back to look at him. "I was serious when I said you getting yourself killed won't do any good." She nodded once in understanding, gave him a small smile, and left.