Headmistress Umbridge

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Severus and Neasa slept separately that night, but he visited her before breakfast and offered something that was nearly a peace treaty.

"The Dark Lord is happiest when his enemies are disunited," he said. "Obviously, anything that makes the Dark Lord happy is not in our interests. I came to say that… you did what you had to do – in not telling anyone who you are – and… well, you had no choice. I accept that."

"Are we okay?" Neasa asked hopefully – desperate for reassurance.

Severus didn't quite give that; he let her hug him, and hesitantly rested his hands on her back, giving her a tiny, tiny squeeze before letting her go. It was something, Neasa reasoned.

"Do I call you Neasa or Róisín?" Severus asked as they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Neasa – so you'll never get them confused," she said.

All of Neasa's files and documents were locked in the Headmasters' office with no way of getting in, so Neasa set up a new desk for herself in Umbridge's office and continued her work as if Dumbledore was still here. She kept her lips tightly sealed, not wanting to give Umbridge a single reason to dismiss her – that would make her job of guarding Harry significantly more difficult.

Near lunchtime she was given her first errand: fetch a vial of Veritaserum from Severus and then find Harry and bring him to Umbridge's office.

She went first to Severus, and he filled a vial with water, labelled it 'Veritaserum' and gave it back to her.

"As an Auror…" the word lingered between them as if Severus was reluctant to acknowledge it, "you'll know this potion is colourless and odourless – so the Headmistress will be none the wiser."

Neasa found Harry on his way into the Great Hall for lunch with Hermione and Ron; she called his name and said, "The Headmistress would like to see you."

Harry parted reluctantly from the other two and followed Neasa to Umbridge's office; when they were on the corridor, Neasa discreetly showed him the Veritaserum and said, "It's fake."

"I – sorry?" he asked.

"The Veritaserum she'll use on you is fake, Potter. It's just water."

Harry frowned at her for a moment – clearly, he hadn't forgotten she was with Severus – and then nodded slowly and said, "Thanks for the warning."

While Umbridge questioned Harry, Neasa was told to wait outside; acting as unsuspiciously as possible, she kept her ear very close to the crack in the door, catching little snippets of conversation.

"Where is Albus Dumbledore?" … "I don't know where he is." … "In that case, you will kindly tell me the whereabouts of Sirius Black." – Neasa inhaled sharply – "No idea. Haven't got a clue." … "…all channels of communication in and out of this school are being monitored..." "…every fire in Hogwarts – except my own, of course…" "…all owl post entering and leaving the castle. And Mr Filch…" "…If I find a shred of evidence–"

BOOM!

The floor beneath Neasa's heels shook – she stumbled and reached instinctively for her wand. A moment later Umbridge flew out of the office and tore down the corridor to find the source of the noise.

Harry followed – he called a quick "Thanks!" over his shoulder and disappeared after Umbridge.

Downstairs, it looked like Guy Fawkes Night had come early. Enchanted fireworks of every description – Catherine wheels, bats, dragons, sparklers, and rockets – in every colour – red, gold, silver, hot pink and brilliant green – had been set off in the Entrance Hall.

Filch and Umbridge were standing halfway down a staircase, and they ducked as a Catherine wheel came spinning dangerously fast towards them. Umbridge tried stunning one of the rockets and it exploded, destroying a nearby painting.

Neasa took her lead and began wordlessly stunning the fireworks, causing more mayhem, but she didn't stay to help clean them up, deciding that Filch and Umbridge had a cap on the situation. (Filch was swatting the fireworks with a broomstick, which promptly set on fire.)

Chuckling to herself, she set off back for the office and her paperwork.

For the rest of the day the school was buzzing with talk of Dumbledore's disappearance – and colourful rumours of the circumstances. To add to that stray fireworks were turning up everywhere; Umbridge kept getting called away to deal with them, and often Neasa accompanied her. (Harry tipped her off to try Vanishing them – they multiplied by ten when one did that.)

Neasa's first day working with Umbridge, all in all, went far better than she'd expected, and after dinner in the Great Hall she said to Severus, "It's been a long day – I'm getting an early night."

"I have marking to do," he replied, "I'll be in my office."

"You never mark in your office," Neasa said, standing up to leave. When Severus didn't reply she asked, "You alright?"

"I'm fine," he said simply.

"We need to talk about what happened – leave the marking till tomorrow."

"The essays are due tomorrow – I can't."

"Fine," sighed Neasa. "I'll see you when you're done, then."

But she didn't, because she fell asleep before Severus returned to his room.

The next evening, determined to try and speak to Severus, Neasa resolutely stayed awake, but he didn't arrive. Seven o'clock passed, then eight, then nine – and at nine-thirty Neasa had had enough and went to his office in the dungeons.

The door was locked; she knocked and called, "Severus?"

He hadn't gone to a meeting of the Death Eaters – he would've told her. There was no reason for him to go to Hogsmeade, or Grimmauld Place, and just when Neasa was going to call again the door unlocked.

She slowly opened it, and found Severus sitting at his desk, his arms folded, his jaw clenched. On the desk lay Dumbledore's Pensive bowl, where he stored and viewed old memories.

"Did you ever meet James Potter?"

The question, asked in a toneless, cold voice from Severus took Neasa by surprise.

"I did. He was one of the mentors on the Auror training programme I did in London. I wasn't close to him, though."

Severus scoffed loudly and shook his head. In the light from the Pensive bowl Neasa saw his eyes were red and puffy, his cheeks blotchy.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," he said.

"I'm sorry?"

"I knew James Potter as an arrogant pureblood who thought the world owed him something just for being a Potter. His son is no different."

"You're not making sense," Neasa said.

Severus glanced at her, and then looked away. She caught sight again of the tearstains on his face and she stepped over to the desk, putting her hand comfortingly on his arm.

"Have you been–"

"I don't want to talk about it, Neasa," Severus said, roughly shaking off her hand. He looked up at her and asked, "Or is that Róisín?"

His tone was so bitter it caught Neasa off guard. She'd never seen his eyes so cold and accusing either – he'd never looked at her this way before.

She changed the subject:

"Dumbledore told me Harry needed to learn Occlumency… are the lessons going badly?"

"Potter's lessons are finished," said Severus.

"He's mastered Occlumency already?"

"That boy," Severus spat, "will never master Occlumency. His lessons are finished because I say they are."

"But Dumbledore–"

"Albus – isn't – here."

Severus's mind could not be changed, and Neasa didn't try.