A/N: Hello! Hope everyone had a fabulous week! There is not much to say for this chapter, except that we have another character being introduced that will eventually become a very important character down the line. Poor Mia just can't seem to catch a break! Maybe. ;D... see you all in the reviews!

Chapter 10: Happy New Year

The holiday break was almost over, which meant that these empty halls would once again be filled with the sound of students chatting and walking to their classes. I really took these last few days to explore the castle and to really familiarize myself with the place. I knew the more common places by heart, but I wanted to have the chance to explore each corner before the students arrive.

I arrived at the Astronomy tower, and walked the stairs that took me to the very top. There was a huge opening on the wall that looked out onto the horizon. It was a beautiful view; I could only imagine what it looked like when the students were here in the dead of night. I heard footsteps behind me, and I was surprised to see Professor Quirrell coming up the stairs.

"Hello Professor," I said, respectfully. He gave me a small smile, but seemed uncomfortable.

"M-Ms. Taylor. I… I have a message for you," he said, before turning around and starting to undo his turban. I looked at him confused, trying to figure out why he wanted to show me the back of his head.

"Professor?" I asked. "I'm not sure what you are trying to tell me."

When he was done removing the cloth, I realized the back of his head was occupied by a face. There were no distinct features, just eyes, a half formed nose, and a mouth. It breathed in a large amount of air before looking at me.

"Mia Taylor," the face greeted me. The voice sounded familiar. It was like the voice that was in my head that one night. I tried to look away, but something was making me look at it. The face grinned at me, as if it was plotting something sinister.

"I have heard much about you. Your magic is something that has never happened before. And, it is very, very powerful." The face made Professor Quirrell take one step towards me. "You will make a formidable enemy to anyone – including myself. But, you will also make for a powerful ally. When the time is right, and I have returned, you will walk side by side with me."

"I don't know who the hell you are, but I am not going anywhere with you," I spat out, trying to leave. Professor Quirrell quickly turned around so he was facing me again, and held out his wand. He looked scared, but he was determined to take me out if he needed to.

I thought about Severus at that moment, and wished so hard that he was here to help me. I was essentially cornered, and I had no way of getting out. Although I'm pretty good with my magic, I wouldn't know the first thing to defending myself in a situation like this. Tears started to flood my vision as I grabbed the necklace that he gave me for Christmas. I wasn't sure why I was holding it, but it made me feel safe.

"Please, Professor. Just let me go. I won't tell anyone about what happened up here," I begged, looking at the stairs that will lead me to safety. He stopped for a moment, as if he was listening to someone. He looked at me and nodded.

"The Dark Lord will call upon you when you are needed. Until then, you are to say nothing. Are we clear?" I nodded before running out of the tower.

I didn't stop running until I had gotten back to my room. I was sweating and panting, and trying to process what had just happened. My hands were shaking and I couldn't seem to make them stop. I could feel the familiar tightness enveloping my chest, making it hard to breathe. I took a vial of Calming Draught that I had kept under my pillow for instances like these, and drank it as fast as I could. Almost instantly, I could feel my panic attack coming to an end. I breathed a sigh of relief, resting my head on the pillow. A knock came a few minutes later, interrupting my chance to return to normal.

"Come in!" I yelled, sitting up and rubbing my face. I felt like a mess. Two large hands came to rest on my shoulders, and I looked up to see Severus looking at me with concern.

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking me over. "Minerva said she heard running in the hallway, and noticed it was you."

"I-" I stopped myself, remembering that I wasn't supposed to tell anyone what happened at the Astronomy Tower. "I was at the Astronomy Tower, just looking around, and then I had a panic attack and I ran back here before I wasn't able to. That's all."

He looked at me like he didn't believe me. "Are you sure that's all that happened? Are you in danger of any kind?" Yes, but I can't tell you.

"If you mean with Lucas, then no. He hasn't tried to communicate with me recently. I already took a Calming Draught and I'm getting better. I think I just got claustrophobic." I looked at him, hoping he wouldn't question me further. He sighed before taking a seat next to me on the bed.

"If there is anything you need, or if you ever feel like you're in danger, I urge you to please tell me. I could help you, even if you think I can't," he said, very seriously. I looked at him, surprised. I'm starting to wonder if he knew about what really happened up there. He took my hand and intertwined it with his.

"It's been a long time since I was able to call someone a true friend," he started. "I already lost one, I'm not ready to lose another one."

I looked at him, confused at what he meant by that last part. No matter what happens, he will never lose me a friend. Even if this whole dating thing doesn't work out, I still want to be friends. He can't get rid of me that easily.

"Enough of this talk. Would you like to continue your work with potions? I think it will be a welcoming distraction for you," he asked, running his thumb along the side of my hand. I looked at him and smiled as he led me out of my room.

"Remind me to lend you one of my Chemistry books today. It's been in my head but I always forget when I get an opportunity," I mentioned as we walked down the hallway to his classroom. Once we entered the room, he waved his hand, and the door shut and clicked to lock itself.

"Before we start on today's potions, there is something I need to discuss with you," he said, finally letting my hand go. This didn't sound too good. I started to feel uncomfortable as he motioned for me to sit down.

"I wanted to have another session with you today, in terms of helping you with your Dark Magic. I know that recently – with the exception of what happened at the Astronomy Tower – you have been fairly calm and have been in good spirits. I'm curious to see if my aid is only beneficial when you are in the midst of having an attack, or if we can proceed on a regular basis." He looked at me as I pondered what he said. There shouldn't be any harm in figuring that out. It would be great if I had more control of that part of me, especially with the last half of the school year staring and having to (seriously) prepare for classes.

"I don't see any problem with that," I told him, shrugging. He nodded, pleased that I had agreed to our impromptu session.

"There is also another matter I wish to discuss," he said, resting his hands behind his back. "I know Minerva is purposefully not telling you this, and she asked that I be the one to tell you."

I started to feel more uncomfortable as he spoke.

"It seems there is a sense of danger within the castle walls. As with the procedures, all Hogwarts staff should be prepared – at any time, really – to defend the school and the students should the need arises. Although there is little credit to this assumption, Minerva has asked me to train you on some simple defensive and offensive spells, should this danger prove to be legitimate."

My eyes widened. There is a threat toward the school? Does it have anything to do with the face that's living on Professor Quirrell? I ran my hands over my face, trying to process what has just been said to me.

"Um, okay. It will be hard to defend myself – or the students – if I'm panicking, though," I said, feeling unsure of myself.

"That is why I wanted to meet with you after we were done here. I wanted to see if we can make those sessions more frequent, and tomorrow we will start with your training. All I ask is that you trust me. I will not hurt you or push you to anything you wouldn't want to do. That is the last thing I would ever want to do to you."

It relieved me to know that he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I never thought he would ever put me in a situation like that, but it was nice to hear it from him. I sighed, looking over at the work table. There were already ingredients laid out on the table, a cauldron, and a few tools.

"Now, that we have addressed those issues," Severus drawled, walking to stand next to me. "Before we start brewing our usual, I would like to see if you can identify what potion these ingredients would produce. Only until you answer correctly will I allow you to begin brewing."

I rested my chin on my hand as I looked over the various ingredients, the cauldron, and various tools. There was water already warming in the cauldron, and on the table laid a couple of Ashwinder eggs, a handful of rose thorns, a pinch of peppermint (which smelled really good), and moonstone. I contemplated for a moment before I started to voice my thoughts.

"Is this supposed to be some type of love potion?" I asked, running the moonstone over my fingers. I looked at Severus as he nodded.

"I'm impressed, you seem to really be studying the material I have presented to you," he said, rather proudly. "Obviously, this is a potion that Madame Pompfrey will most definitely not be needing in the infirmary. Once you have completed the potion, we shall leave it in my storeroom."

I nodded as I opened the potions book and began preparing the ingredients for brewing. Severus left me to my own devices, focusing on prepping as much of the ingredients he could that were needed to brew the batch of medical potions. We worked in silence, except for the one time he checked my cauldron and mumbled "good".

Severus had finished before me, but I was not far behind. The peppermint was the last ingredient, I just had to wait for the stirring to complete. Luckily, this potion was a "labor of love" ("Isn't it so fitting for such a potion," Severus sarcastically commented), so no magic was needed, but my arm was getting quite the workout from the stirring.

"I see you are just about finished," he said, coming behind me. I nodded, picking up the pinch of peppermint.

"This is the last one, and it should be done," I said, dropping the peppermint into the cauldron. Suddenly, the liquid in the cauldron turned a light pink, almost blush color, and the steam coming from the cauldron was red and pink, dancing around one another and making a heart shape before dissolving into the air.

The room smelled heavenly.

"Wow. This potion smells potent," I said, relishing in the scents. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but my head was resting against his chest. It didn't really matter, though. My hand came up to hold the pendant that dangled from my neck, my thumb running across the green diamonds.

"What do you smell?" he asked, his voice close to my ears. I turned to look at him, and suddenly started longing for his lips to meet with mine.

Damn this potion to hell.

"I smell lavender…"

Our faces began to move closer to each other. He was so close…

"Rose petals…"

So close…

"And-"

"Yes, Mia?" I could feel his breath on my lips.

"Sandalwood."

It seemed like forever that we were staring at each other. There was so much tension, I could probably cut it with a butter knife. The only other time I was this close to Severus was Christmas, when he had given me the necklace, but that was nearly a week ago.

This whole situation was heady, considering I was confronted by a two-faced (literally) professor just hours before. Now I am here staring into Severus's eyes, wanting more. I was broken out of my train of thought when I heard a clank. I looked over to see that a lid was placed on the cauldron, all the delicious scents ceasing to exist. With a subtle flick of his wrist, he casted the familiar stasis charm to hold the potion in its place. I turned around, dusting myself off before grabbing a couple of vials to pour the potion into. I uncorked both vials as Severus took out his wand and wordlessly levitated the potion into the vials evenly. I recorked the bottles as he walked over to his desk to retrieve his quill, handing it over to me to write "Love Potion" on the labels.

"Leave them here, I will take care of it later today," he said, never taking his eyes off of me. "Shall we begin our batch for today?" I nodded as we walked over to the other side of the bench to work on more familiar potions.

Before we knew it, we had a basket full of vials ready to be delivered to the hospital wing, it was nearing lunch time, so we decided to walk together to deliver the basket then make our way to the Great Hall to eat.

The sun was at its highest, but the warmth wasn't overwhelming. I could feel the heat soaking into my skin. I looked out towards the lake, ripples subtly making their way towards the shore. I walked up to where the grass ended and the sand and rocks started, picking up a decent size pebble before throwing it and watching it skip 3 times before falling to the bottom of the lake.

I felt like I was out here all day, watching the stones skip then sink. It was so peaceful out here. I looked up and could see a few owls flying towards the castle, and a few flying away. These must be the same owls that I see in the Great Hall to drop off mail for students and staff. I gazed back towards the lake, imagining what could be beyond the lake that I couldn't see.

Suddenly I felt someone sit behind me, their legs coming on either side of me. They wrapped their arms around me, nuzzling into my hair.

"I thought I would find you here," said a familiar, silky, baritone voice. He kissed the side of my neck, lolling my head to one side.

"Severus," I sighed, welcoming his warmth and his love. We sat here in silence, looking at the lake and enjoying each other's presence.

"Is this really how you want to spend a day like this?" he asked after a few minutes. I looked at him like he was crazy.

"Days like this calls for staring at nature. Helps me not go crazy in the castle," I said, turning back to look at the lake. He chuckled as he held me closer.

"Well, I was hoping I would be able to steal you away from nature for the remainder of the day. I needed to run a few errands, and thought it would be best if we just made a whole day of it."

I shrugged, teasing him about the whole idea. Of course I would say yes, but it wouldn't hurt to make him work a little bit for the answer. I turned around so now I was fully facing him, my eyes never leaving his beautiful face. I didn't care what anyone said about his hooked nose or greasy hair. They were my hooked nose and my greasy hair, and I loved every inch of this man, inside and out.

"If you were to steal me from this beautiful scenery, where would you take me?" I inquired. His lips curled up into a smile.

"Ah, but that is the beauty of stealing you away. I get to take you wherever I see fit, and I don't have to tell you where we're going." He looked at me victoriously as I pouted in defeat. This wasn't working as well as I planned.

He kissed away my pouty lips, replacing them with smiling ones. "Much better," he said, kissing me once more. His lips on mine was like heaven on a plate.

"A smile on the face of the woman who will be my wife is more acceptable than pouty lips."

Wait.

"What?" I said, registering the words in my head. "Wife?" There was more to that question, but somehow only 'wife' seemed to be able to come out of my mouth. He pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it, showing a beautiful diamond ring.

"Is this real?" I asked. I obviously didn't know how to respond when a diamond ring was presented to me. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to be a blubbering mess by this point, but that - clearly - did not register in my mind.

"Don't be so daft," he laughed. "Of course it is. I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without you by my side. I've always said you were mine. Now, I want you to be mine – forever." He took the ring out of the box as I held out my left hand to him. After putting the ring on, he took out his wand and tapped lightly on the side of the ring, and I felt it re-size itself to fit my finger.

It was beautiful. I can't believe that we got to this point in our relationship. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him.

I was well-rested after having that nap after lunch. I was so full, I told Severus to give me a couple of hours to rest before we began our session for today. I was able to take a quick shower before it was time for us to meet. I threw my still damp hair into a bun before sitting at my piano to strike random keys.

I still remember the first arrangement I was able to play in its entirety. I closed my eyes, thinking about all the peaceful times I've had with this piano. Naturally, my hands rested on the keys and began to play Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. I closed my eyes again as I played, remembering every single little detail about this piece. It felt like this arrangement was a part of me, I always get a rush from playing it. As it ended, I could hear someone applauding behind me. I turned to see Severus standing there. I've never seen him look so peaceful since I've met him.

"That was beautiful. I could listen to you play all day," he said, leaning up against the wall. He seemed to have been entranced by my playing. I smiled, glad that he liked what he got to hear. "Sorry for just walking in, by the way," he added, shyly.

"It's okay. The piano was always my first love," I told him, letting my fingers run along the keys. "When I'm able to really be on my own for hours, I would spend a lot time with her." I sighed as I watched him walk over to me, standing next to the piano.

"Would you like to have today's session here? You seem awfully comfortable and it would be unfortunate to re-locate you elsewhere," he asked, almost jokingly.

I shook my head as I laughed. "You're impossible, but yes, I'd like to spend some time with my piano today if we could." He nodded as he rested his hands behind his back.

"I will conduct this session similar to how it was previously. I will ask you to start playing, and I will attempt to release the Dark Magic that is within you."

"If you don't mind me asking, but what is it that you're actually doing? I remember when we did this the last time, I felt a surge of energy coming from me. What happens when you use your magic on me?" I looked at him curiously as he thought of a response.

"The spell that I'm using is actually two fold. First, it will do a diagnostic on your whole body and every system, and will identify any traces of Dark Magic. Second, any Dark Magic that it senses, the spell will redirect that magic to leave you completely.

From the information I have been able to gather, there is Dark Magic that is in you that is constantly replenishing itself. When your body cannot take the amount of Dark Magic, your body needs to find a way to expel it. This could be through your inability to sleep, or nightmares, or even your anxiety.

The Dark Magic seems to also be triggered by certain events. For example, your incident with Ms. Granger and the troll, when you had knocked the troll unconscious that was due to your Dark Magic. You were under a great state of duress, and your body seemed to have reacted on its own.

There is some good to this discovery. Although it is Dark Magic that you possess, Minerva and I both knew you had magic and we had an opportunity to help you discover what you're capable of. Hence why Minerva has been teaching you how to use your magic. I have also observed that with these new findings that the more you are exposed to more enjoyable parts of magic, or situations and atmospheres that are more desirable, your Dark Magic replenishes at a much slower rate. If we can teach you to harness the Dark Magic inside of you and teach you how to keep it from overflowing within you, that just might be able to buy us some time to find a more permanent solution."

Cancer. That's what he made it sound like. The Dark Magic was like some cancerous tumor that won't go away, and our sessions were my chemotherapy. It was a lot to take in, but at least now I had answers to questions that have been swimming in my head for a while.

"But how did it get there in the first place?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to hear the answer, though.

He shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine. Believe me, once I find out, and if anyone is behind it, they will be well on their way to Azkaban if I don't finish them first," he said, gritting his teeth. My eyes widened at his sudden response. I would never peg him to be the aggressive type. Intimidating, yes, but not one to lay a hand on someone. He closed his eyes and sighed, calming down before he looked at me again.

"When you're ready, go ahead and play," he said calmly. I nodded as I also took a deep breath, already deciding on my music of choice. I rested my hands on the keys, counting to three before starting to play.

I could feel myself losing all of my senses to the keys. My eyes closed again as I swayed to the song. I started to hear Severus, but quickly tuned him out, returning to my thoughts. Lucas's face didn't appear this time behind my eyelids, although the familiar sense of darkness was enveloping me again. There was a figure off in the distance, walking towards me. As the figure slowly came into focus, I could tell that it was Severus. With a flick of his wand, the dark curtain that seemed to drape over me flew away in wisps. Once all the darkness was taken away, he just stood there, looked at me, and smiled. The song ended, and I opened my eyes to look at him.

"Did it work? I didn't feel anything that time," I asked, trying to recall if I felt that surge rock through my body.

"Yes, Mia, it worked. Once the initial diagnostic was ran, I could see a subtle ripple effect emanating from you. If you can maintain the Dark Magic at these levels, then you should be able to go about your daily life without much hassle. We should not have a problem when we begin your training tomorrow."

I was relieved to hear that. I will have to pay more attention to myself so that I can catch any signs of it returning. Severus finally left his spot next to the piano and sat down next to me. I didn't notice it before (or maybe I just wasn't paying that much attention), but I could faintly smell Sandalwood on him. Did he always smell like that? The scent was very prominent in the love potion, but on Severus, it was very subtle.

"Can I ask you a question about the love potion you had me brew today?" He seemed surprised by my question, but nodded.

"How was it I was able to smell those distinctive scents? Obviously, there was no lavender, no rose petals, and no sandalwood in the mixture. The only one remotely close would have been the rose thorns, but I don't think they would have had the power to produce such a fragrance."

"Love potions are something special," he started, shifting in his seat on the bench. "Love potions tend to attract anyone near them, as you experienced, and as did I. That is why I placed the lid on the cauldron. You didn't brew the potion wrong, but it was strong enough to elicit its effect on us without actually ingesting the potion."

I must say, I was pretty proud of myself for being able to brew a potion so strong that its effects were seen on us without having to drink it. I wonder what Severus smelled when we were there. I think I'll save that question for another time, though.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" he asked. I thought for a second, and realized that it was New Year's Eve.

"No. Do you?" I asked.

"We usually have a gathering in the Great Hall for New Year's Eve, and then they head out onto the pitch to watch magical fireworks at the stroke of midnight. There is a part of this castle that will have a great view of the fireworks show, if you'd like to join me." He gave a small smile.

"I'd love to," I said, smiling back. "I just need to change before we go." After getting out of the shower, I had changed into some clean pajama shirt and pants, definitely not appropriate for New Year's Eve.

"There's no rush. I was hoping we could have dinner in my quarters tonight before taking off for the tower." I nodded in agreement. We still had a few hours before midnight.

"How about I change and get ready, and I'll meet you in your room? I'll only be about an hour." Severus agreed and got up to leave.

"I will see you in an hour, love." He gave me a soft kiss on the cheek before leaving.

I looked out the window once I walked through the door into Severus's room, and noticed the sky was clear. It was going to be a beautiful night. He took my hand as he led me out onto his balcony. There was a small table with two chairs and a skinny vase holding three roses. As he pulled out my chair to have me sit, I leaned over to smell the roses. They smelled so fresh, and the red in the petals was so vibrant. It was very romantic.

Our meals were already set on the table: bowtie chicken pesto with garlic bread. My favorite! He waved his hand and the stasis charm he had over the food disappeared and we began to eat. He poured both of us a glass of wine, which paired perfectly with our pasta.

"Any new year's resolutions for you?" I asked, taking a sip of the wine.

Severus looked at me quite confused. "Resolutions? I don't think I follow."

"May be it's something you guys don't follow. Usually for the new year, we make resolutions. They're kind of like our goals to reach and they are usually something that will make us better." I looked at him as he thought about the concept.

"Most people say their resolution is to lose weight and work out, but that only lasts for the first couple of months before they give up," I laughed, thinking about the one year I did this.

"Do you have a new year's resolution, Mia?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

I thought about it for a second, it hasn't really changed, but now that I'm here, maybe I should switch things up. "I have a few. One is to be able to use my magic like it's second nature to me. My second one is to have more control over my anxiety, but that's been an ongoing resolution for me. My last one is to let go of my past. I need to move on if I want to move forward, so I think it's time for me to put it all behind me."

He nodded, looking at his plate that only had a few pieces of pasta and chicken left. I took a large swig of my wine. "Obviously you don't have to be as deep and philosophical like me," I added, hoping he wasn't getting the wrong idea. "You don't even need to do it at all if you don't want to."

"The concept piques my interest, but I feel I would have to sit and think about what mine would be," he said, finishing his plate.

"By all means, if you want to do it then do it. You don't even have to tell me, either. But," I said, waving my finger. "If you really mean them, then you have to hold yourself accountable for reaching them."

We finished our wine and I could see Severus wave his hand and a clock appeared by his side. It was thirty minutes to midnight. He motioned for me to stand and he led me up the stairs and through the door. It brought us to his office, which went out into his classroom, and then we walked out into the hallway. He brought me to a spiral staircase and we went all the way up to the top. There was a small landing and a floor to ceiling opening that overlooked past the castle grounds.

I looked out to see little dots on the ground walking towards the Quidditch pitch. That must be the rest of the staff coming out to see the fireworks.

"I must admit, Filius can put on a good fireworks show. Last year he had dragons fly around the pitch," Severus said, leaning up against the wall by the opening.

"I've never seen a dragon made out of fireworks before. Our fireworks are kind of boring. They were just big balls of pyro that sparkled different colors or made different popping sounds." I think the only time I thought fireworks were cool was when we would take our family trips to Disneyland. They always put on an elaborate fireworks show, complete with music and a flying Tinkerbell! That was my favorite part.

Severus chuckled, standing next to me as we both looked out. It was almost time. "I can assure you, you will enjoy this."

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

Right on cue, I could see the little cases of pyro rise into the air and explode. The first few looked like normal fireworks – the ones I knew about. The rest took on a total life of their own. Three cases exploded at the same time, the embers spraying out to spell "Happy New Year" in the air. Off to the left, another one exploded into the shape of two people dancing with each other. A handful of casings went up into the air, and was spread out through the length of the Quidditch pitch. They exploded and each turned into horses that galloped around, weaving in and out of the towers. One flew past us and I could feel the gust of air.

I went to grab Severus's hand as I leaned up against his side. Our fingers intertwined as we stood there and watched the rest of the show. The view from up here was breathtaking. I wouldn't mind spending New Years here every year.

The show finally ended and we watched as everyone made their way back inside the castle to wind down for the night. Once it was quiet again, we turned to look at each other. He took my other hand so he was holding both of my hands. He brought them up to his shoulders so that I could wrap my arms around his neck. Unfortunately, I was not wearing any kind of shoes with height, so I had to rise up onto my toes. He chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist, holding me close.

"Happy new year, Severus," I said, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. Before my lips could reach their intended target though, Severus turned his head so his lips met mine.

Another fireworks show started, but it was only for an audience of one – me.

Chapter Notes: For the love potion used in this chapter, I had gone off of the Harry Potter wiki for a general love potion. I was initially going to use Amortentia but I changed my mind, and also added the peppermint part because I felt like it was still missing something, and peppermint sounded good at the time.