A/N: SPOV

Severus sipped from his meager shot of fire-whiskey, finding the burn a bit soothing on its way down. He knew how the Gryffindor would have tried to let her live a better life without him, and that could be what's making her emotional state affect her magical abilities.

"I can't change." Her voice was the barest whisper, as if she was unwilling to admit to it.

Severus raised an eyebrow at that, his silent way of challenging her story. She's going to avoid the issue with Lupin, it seems.

"I…I haven't been able to since yesterday. I've tried and tried. Nothing! Nothing except this!" Her hand flailed, perhaps in a gesture towards her now-brown hair. It was unremarkable, and looked like it could be her natural color. Attempting to calm herself, she took another sip of her drink.

"You said you could help me control it. Does that mean you can bring it back? I need it back."

Severus looked over her imperiously. "It can be possible, but your abilities can be tied to your emotional state. There are reports of witches and wizards losing their magic after a traumatic experience." I also happen to know that I got Minerva to transform into her cat form every time she sneezed for a week. He mused darkly, remembering what it was like to see a cat's face look so cross.

He summoned a vial of Calming Draught and handed it to her. "Take this Calming Draught, and go ahead and close your eyes." As she did, his lips twitched, threatening to smile. "Good girl." He whispered softly, as he took a deep breath and paced around her. He was going to let the pitch and resonance of his voice do most of the work here to help her.

"I want you to relax, and to picture yourself within your mind's eye. Don't worry about the details of yourself just yet, focus on the room surrounding you within your mind.

"Let it be blank; allow yourself to be in this room that is quiet and peaceful. Breathe in slowly through your nose, barely hold it, and let it out through your mouth. Repeat this pattern until you feel very calm." As he stood behind her, he put away his wand and placed his hands on top of her shoulders. Surprisingly, she didn't flinch or pull out of his grasp. He began to massage her shoulders, finding that her trapezius muscle was taut and inflexible. She was storing a lot of her stress there, it seemed.

"Now, allow yourself to remember this place of solitude, where you can be completely relaxed. You are in complete control here, and this is your first level of defense against Legilimency. There is nothing here; your mind is clear, and nothing is bothering you while you are in this comfortable area."

As his fingers and thumbs worked to loosen her muscle, his body had reacted to the closeness that he had with her. Pushing the thought aside, he focused at the task at hand. He'd deal with that later, if necessary..

"Now, in this room that you're in, allow yourself to imagine your stressors in your life. Visualize them however you must, but we will be doing an exercise in how to put them away. Perhaps it's a dossier and all you have to do if file it into a lockable cabinet. Maybe you see it as a Dark Artifact that gets locked up in a Ministry Vault. I've enjoyed visualizing them as a stack of papers that I can simply toss into a burning waste bin.

"The point of this exercise is to realize that you must manage your emotions and the events which trigger them. The only obstacle that you are facing is yourself, and you are not one to bow to any enemy. So don't lose now, not against your own fears and insecurities. You can conquer this, Nymphadora. Do you understand me?"

As he asked, her face was relaxed as if near sleep. She may not have been sleeping well, either. As his hands worked on her shoulders, he was trying to ask himself why he was doing this for her. Why was he working so hard to make a friendship that was doomed to fail within months?