Author's Note: Hello again! It's been a few weeks, but here is chapter 25. I'm hoping to be able to keep updating on a more frequent basis. This chapter is a bit longer than most and perhaps it could have been split in two, but I do hope you enjoy it anyway. Thank you all for the kind feedback and your continued support of this story all these years later. Enjoy!

It had been nearly a week since Severus had heard anything from Minerva and he was beginning to worry. She was back in her classes once again, and back to joining everyone for meals in the Great Hall but she had not once spoken to him. Any time she caught him gazing in her direction she would turn away. Just yesterday he had come across her in the hallway, and when he was preparing to inquire after her health she abruptly turned and walked in another direction. That had stung more than anything else this week.

He had spent the last few days wracking his brain to think about anything that he could have done in the past few weeks that would give her offense, but nothing came to mind. He had had to cancel several meetings with her, and truly he felt terrible about having to do that, but she had always understood in the past. When he had talked to her about meeting in Hogsmeade she had seemed rather excited at the prospect of that, just as he was. What on earth could have changed? Tentatively he pulled her note from Sunday out of his robes and opened it up to read it again, wondering if there was something in what she had written that would give him any further indication of why she did not want to talk to him or see him.

Severus,
Thank you so much for your concern, and for taking the time to brew this potion for me. Words cannot express just how grateful I was to receive this alongside your note. Please accept my sincerest apologies for not sending word earlier that I would not be able to make it to Hogsmeade yesterday. It seems that things got away from me. Thank you also for offering to keep me company, but I do not think that I am quite ready to see anybody just yet. Perhaps we can reschedule for another time?
Regards,
Minerva

Perhaps he was imagining it, but her tone seemed colder than in any of the other communications they had shared. Far less personal than what he was used to from her. He folded it up and replaced it in his robes. Standing up he found himself pacing once again. Part of him wanted to go to her office right now and see if she would speak with him, but at the same time he did not want to provoke her. Nor did he wish to be late to his next class. He had wasted more than enough time pacing in his own quarters, and overthinking things rather than prepping his materials. A glance at his watch told him that he only just had enough time to get to his classroom and get everything together before the students were due to arrive.

Grabbing his attache case he swiftly made his way out the door and down the winding corridors to the potions classroom. While he was procuring some materials from his private stores to use for the day's demonstration he noticed with alarm that some of his more valuable ingredients were missing. Calmly he made sure that everything was set up for class before returning to the storeroom and once again going through everything to make sure that he had not overlooked anything, or misplaced them himself. It was unlikely that this had happened, of course, but given that he had been rather ….distracted this past week, it was not completely out of the realm of possibility.

The items were indeed missing. Taking a deep breath he decided to put it from his mind for now. As much as this bothered him he had a class to teach and he needed to be calm and level headed for that. Later, after class he would double check his written inventory and send an owl to Edgar just to cross check his findings. Stealing was not something that he took lightly, whether it was from himself or others. Before he made any accusations however, he wanted to make sure that there was no risk for error on his part. As a professor something like this could break him in a heartbeat.

He returned to his classroom just before the sixth year students began to make their way in. They had learned rather quickly that when coming into his classroom it was best to be orderly and quiet. Today they were exceptionally so, perhaps sensing his current mood. Really, it was all for the better, they were NEWT students after all, and as such, unfortunately dreadfully behind. The Headmaster had tasked him with bringing up their scores, if they could manage to actually pay attention and listen to what was going on in class, that was all the better.

Once they had all found their way to their seats he made his way to the front of the classroom and began his demonstrations. He worked quickly, but not so quickly that his students would miss out on vital instructions. The last thing he needed today was to deal with a small explosion because someone included too many lacewing flies, or not enough shrivel fig. Soon enough, his demonstrations were over, and he had set the class to begin working on the first task while he supervised.

In his recent experience with them, he had found that breaking down the potion making process into the most basic components seemed to breed a moderate level of success for some of the students. It certainly added more time to each unit he would have to teach, but for now it was enough to get them through potions they had not exactly been prepared for from their previous schooling. Judging by some of the concoctions he was seeing now, however, perhaps this was not even enough. He made a mental note to talk to the headmaster about raising the entry level to this class from 'Acceptable' to 'Outstanding' or at the very least 'Exceeds Expectations.

"Mr. Davis, I would suggest we start over on this mixture." Severus said leaning over one of the Hufflepuff cauldrons. The liquid inside was a shimmering green.

"What is wrong with it professor?" The student asked almost defiantly.

"Considering our aim is to create an antidote for poisons, rather than a poison itself I would think it highly advisable to start over from scratch. This time crush the shrivel fig rather than cut it."

"What difference does that make?" The boy asked. "You are just picking on me because I am not a member of your house."

"Would you care to sample your own concoction then Mr. Davis?" Severus asked gesturing towards the cauldron in front of the boy. "I would estimate that you had perhaps a minute, a minute and thirty seconds if you are lucky, to find an antidote. By all means though, if you stand by your work…."

The boy gulped, and for a moment it seemed that he was willing to take the risk, but then decided against it. "I thought so." Severus said, vanishing the potion from the cauldron. "I suggest that next time, you pay more attention to the demonstration and instructions, and less time staring off in the direction of your lab partner. Ten points from Hufflepuff for your cheek, and an essay on my desk by Monday on the properties of Praefocabalis, and how to distinguish it from its more innocuous counterparts."

"An essay, Professor Snape, you cannot be serious. What even is Praefocabalis?" The boy said. "You know it is Quidditch season."

Severus turned around and looked over at the boy, quite calmly and said. "Whether or not it is Quidditch season is none of my concern. In my classroom it is not for you to question my authority. My concern is in teaching you, and unfortunate as it may be in this case, keeping you from causing yourself harm. Praefocabalis is the poison that you had just created." He turned around and began walking towards the other side of the classroom hands behind his back. "Two scrolls, on my desk by Monday, ten more points from Hufflepuff."

Thankfully the rest of the class was far less eventful than the beginning. Not wanting to meet the same fate as their classmate had the rest of the students increased their focus and worked quite diligently for the rest of the class. There were a few more students whose potions he had had to vanish, and still a few more that required some basic rehabilitation, but for the most part the students were at least somewhat successful in their attempts. By the time class was over he had several students well on their way to making decent antidotes.

Once the students had left he flicked his wand, and phials appeared over each potion with a measure of the students work in them. Another flick and these were labeled with the correct names and then sent over to his desk for grading. He would attend to these on Monday, while it was tempting to grade them now he knew that the true test of the potion's efficacy would be to see if it lasted through the weekend. He was rather suspicious that a few of the potions which appeared accurate now, would be a different story even the next morning. Without the ability to last antidotes were next to worthless.

Instead he took the seventh year essays submitted the previous day and set to work grading those. There was a marked improvement since the beginning of the year, and the students seemed to be realizing that his expectations were higher than those of his predecessor, however there was still much left to be desired. He hoped that should he remain in the profession as long as his predecessor had, that he would not allow himself to become so complacent. Perhaps that was fine if you taught history of magic, or something like that, but a poorly brewed potion, and by extension an inadequate knowledge of potions, could be the difference between life and death.

The essays were finished soon enough, and would be handed back during tomorrow's classes. Now that he had finished those however, there was not much he could do to occupy himself, he would have to send an owl to Edgar and await an answer on the missing ingredients. He checked his stores one more time and quickly penned a letter, before embarking on the walk to the Owlery.

The weather was cool today, and he had a feeling that they might see their first snow that evening. It would be a welcome change, the turning of the seasons from autumn into winter. In many ways he had grown to detest anything reminiscent of Halloween this year. Perhaps the sentiment as a whole was a bit unfair, and maybe with time this would change, but for the time being he hoped to put it all from his mind as soon as he could.

He reached the Owlery soon enough and quickly began the ascent to the top in search of Augustine. It was an unfortunate side effect of his own seclusion that he had been quite neglectful of his own owl as of late. While he knew that the needs of the birds were taken care of here, and they had ample opportunity to fly about, he felt a bit remiss as an owner. Owls were rather affectionate creatures and Augustine had been through a lot with him. Much like himself, the poor owl had also put his life on the line many a time to get communications to the headmaster and others.

When Severus had made it upstairs it did not take him very long to find the beautiful barn owl. He was perched in a small alcove near the entranceway. When he saw Severus he eyed him with some suspicion. Severus could not blame him of course, had he been in the owl's place he would have been suspicious of him as well. Taking a seat on one of the benches near his perch Severus reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of toast.

After a few moments the bird hopped onto his shoulder, expectantly waiting for his treat. "You never could resist a piece of toast, could you?" Severus asked him, breaking off a piece of the bread and feeding it to the owl. Augustine accepted it happily, looking at Severus expectantly for the rest of it. "Then there is also the matter of making sure that you do not bite off more than you can chew. Small bites." He handed the bird another piece of bread.

By this point some of the bird's frigidity had worn off and he was willing to allow Severus to pet him. "I know, I know. I have not been to see you much as of late, save to send a few letters. I promise I will come by to see you more often, and if I do not you have my permission to pester me at the school. As I am sure that you are aware, your presence is far more amenable to me than many I have to see on a daily basis. If you wanted to take some time away from here you would also be quite welcome to stay with me for a bit."

The owl nuzzled his neck at this. Augustine always had been rather the affectionate creature, and Severus could not help but smile a bit at this gesture. He never would have thought that a simple visit with an owl would be enough to lift his spirits a bit. Perhaps it was only natural though, as Severus had raised him since he had found him as an orphaned hatchling. That had been during his seventh year at Hogwarts. It had been quite the tumultuous time in his life.

"I do have a letter for you." Severus said, pulling it from his pocket. The owl looked at him rather dejectedly. "Now, now, do not give me that look. This one is just a short trip into Hogsmeade. You should be back soon enough. I am going to take a bit of a walk around the grounds, and should you wish to return to the castle with me you may feel free to do so." The owl looked at him for a moment longer, almost as if trying to decide whether or not to believe him, before taking the letter in his beak and flying out of the Owlery towards the village.

Severus stood by watching until the owl was out of sight, before climbing down the steps and out into the fresh air once again. A walk, while it had not initially been in the plan, would do him some good. Instead of selecting a particular path he decided to just walk and see where he ended up. The grounds of Hogwarts were as familiar to him as the back of his own hand, he would not get lost. Suffice it to say, this was the safest place for him to examine his own thoughts and perhaps straighten some things out.

Soon, indeed rather sooner than Severus had expected, his owl had returned. The creature perched itself once again on Severus' shoulder and much to his surprise handed him a letter in return. He had to hand it to Edgar, he was very efficient. Upon opening the letter and scanning its contents he found that he had indeed been correct. There were ingredients missing from his stores. The question remained however, of who could have taken them and for what purpose?

Obviously this would be something that he would have to discuss with the Headmaster. While he could in theory capitalize on some of his natural abilities to find this out, he had never subscribed to the belief that the human mind was a book to be leafed through and read. On top of that he did not have a strong desire to know what was going on in the minds of his students, and once that can of worms was open it was difficult to close. Over the years he had trained himself to block out the thoughts of others, and there were even times when he could tune things out completely.

At Hogwarts that could be a bit more difficult though, with so many people in one place. If he let his guard down, even just a little bit, there was always a low murmur. Too much of that and he would have been completely overwhelmed. The more familiar he was with a person, the more likely he was to hear their thoughts whether he wanted to or not. This ability of his had been part of the reason that he had not developed many close relationships throughout the course of his life.

No, all in all the best solution would be for him to alert the headmaster and then keep an eye on things. He would just need to employ the observational skills he had long used in his duties as a spy rather than seeking another level of help. With this in mind he made his way back to the castle, Augustine flying behind him. When they had made it to the entrance Severus extended his arm and the owl perched on it. Several of the students seemed rather surprised, but they did not say anything. He supposed it must have been strange for them to see him interacting with an animal, however he did not care. Let them think what they wished.

Soon enough they had made it back to his rooms. The castle must have known that the owl was coming with him, for now there was a perch near his piano and rather than looking into the lake the window at the far side of the room now looked out onto the grounds. This school and the ingenuity that had gone into making it had never ceased to amaze him. The owl looked around for a few moments, adjusting to its new surroundings, and after a moment flew over to his new perch. Severus had the distinct feeling that his avian companion might not return to the Owlery for quite some time.

Much to his surprise he found himself sitting down at his piano once again rather than his desk. He knew he should have been writing a note to the headmaster, but a few minutes delay would hardly constitute an emergency in this situation. Besides, the piano had always served to calm his temper and emotions. It allowed him to get away from everything that was going on in the world. Whenever he had been bullied in his school days it offered him a chance for an escape. It had served him well as an occlumens, focusing on music was an excellent way to clear one's mind. Now it helped him to take his mind off of other things. Other people.

He put his fingers to the keys and just began to play the first thing that came to mind. As he played he closed his eyes and allowed the music to envelop him. His fingers knew well enough what to do without him having to read the music off the page or look at the keyboard. Movement no. 2 of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto. It seemed rather fitting right now.

When finally he opened his eyes again, he found himself looking over at the flowers still sitting in the vase on his kitchen table. They were just as bright and alive as they had been the day he'd purchased them. It was easy to forget that in their world these sorts of plants often had a much longer lifespan. He could still give them to her. Would that be insulting though? To give her flowers from earlier in the week?

"For heaven's sake man, I am certain that she would still be happy to receive the flowers." Severus was drawn from his music by Professor Edgars' sudden interruption.

"I beg your pardon?" Severus said regaining his composure and turning to face the portrait. "Just what in heaven's name are you talking about?"

"Don't be daft Severus, you are not one to decorate your living space with flowers, especially not flowers of the pink variety. Just give them to Professor McGonagall and have done with it." The portrait said giving him a withering stare. "Don't stand there looking so dumbfounded man. Just because I am a portrait it does not mean that I am blind."

Severus sat at his piano gaping at the portrait. Professor Edgars had never been so direct with him about anything before, and this was perhaps the first time that he had deigned to start a conversation with him inside of his own quarters. Continuing arguments from out in the hall, yes, but never starting something new. "If I may be so bold, what exactly are you referring to? These flowers could be for anyone, even for me. Maybe I did want to add some more color to this space." The argument sounded weak even to his own ears, but he was not going to let a portrait make assumptions like this.

In reply Professor Edgars gave him rather a patronizing look. "You are right, they could be for anyone, but the fact remains that they are not. They are for Professor McGonagall, and it is high time that you pluck up the courage to go and give them to her."

"Even if they were for Professor McGonagall, why should that be of any concern at all to you?" Severus asked turning towards the portrait and crossing his arms over his chest. "From what I recall during your last encounter with her you were far from pleasant."

"What concern should that be to me? What sort of a question is that?" Professor Edgars said, as if Severus had asked the most illogical question in the world. "Given that I am being subjected to all of the, shall we say side effects, of this decision of yours I think it needs to be taken care of."

"Just what exactly do you believe that I have subjected you to? The sight of pink flowers? I apologize for being so inconsiderate. I will make sure to consult you the next time I make a change to the decor in my personal living quarters." Severus said standing up and pacing in irritation. The nerve of that stupid portrait. Telling him how to live. Who did this insufferable man think he was?

"The late nights you have been spending in your office before barging in here in the wee hours of the morning. The constant pacing when you are here. The ever-present look of concern and worry on your face. It is enough to drive anyone mad." Professor Edgars said. "Let us not forget this sudden fascination of yours with Rachmaninoff. All I have been hearing from you lately is that second piano concerto of his and some preludes. I know that you have other repertoire! Goodness, would it kill you to play some Chopin or Debussy? Perhaps something in a major key? Just how do you expect me to find peace and quiet and get some well deserved rest with all of that going on?"

Severus stopped mid-pace. "It would seem that I have much to learn about you Professor. A potions master, an interior decorator, and a music critic? Wearing so many hats must be quite exhausting. Please, if you would be so kind as to enlighten me. Pray tell, what exactly is so offensive about Rachmaninoff? His music seems rather innocuous to me, but clearly I must be missing something." He said at last.

The portrait just rolled his eyes at him. "You know perfectly well what I mean. His music has a profound sense of melancholy to it, a deep sadness. Downright depressing"

Severus was at a loss of words. "Many composers have that sense about them and their music." He said at last.

"Not the way Rachmaninoff does." Professor Edgars replied. "He captured it in a way that most composers could not."

"This is not really about Rachmaninoff is it?" Severus asked with a sigh.

The portrait looked at him for a moment. "You must see it." the professor said at last. "You are a rather astute individual, unless I have completely misjudged you."

Severus nodded, accepting what the portrait had said. "I'll think on it….and I do not pace all of the time." He said at last.

"Only most of the time, and only, it seems, when she is involved. I told you from the very first night that you brought her here that she would only bring you trouble." Professor Edgars said with an exaggerated sigh. Once again back to his normal curmudgeonly self. "You should have listened to me."

"I do not seem to recall this conversation, and again, you are merely assuming that all of this pertains to Minerva."

"It doesn't take a Seer, to know that she is the only one in this castle whom you care about so deeply. If it were any other member of staff you would not be half so worked up about things."

"If you would humor me, just how many others in the castle have you even seen me interact with? What is your basis for comparison?"\

The portrait just looked at him. "That question does not even merit a response. You cannot possibly believe that I spend all of my time here, at your door, guarding this room, do you? I do have some semblance of a social life, unlike some people." The portrait replied. "Before you even think about it, no I do not spy on you, there are far better uses of my time than that. I have happened to see some of your interactions, and I do know one thing. She is the only member of staff you have brought here and whom you have gone to visit."

Severus opened his mouth to retort, then closed it just as quickly. The portrait had a point. Minerva was the closest friend he had in this school, and he did miss her. He looked at the flowers one more time. He would give them to her. "You win." He said at last. "The flowers are indeed for her, I will give them to her."

"Very good." The portrait said, seeming quite pleased with himself. "I shall grant her entry then."

"Grant her entry, you mean that she has been waiting outside all of this time? Is that what this whole thing has been about?" Severus asked, sitting back down at his piano again from the shock.

The portrait never answered, instead he had disappeared to the other side of the frame. Before Severus could say anything else, the portrait swung aside and Minerva was walking in. She wore a most apologetic look on her face, and was carrying a small package in her hands from the bakery in Hogsmeade.

"Minerva." Severus said, standing to greet her. "How lovely it is to see you this evening. I trust that you are well?"

She colored a bit before replying. "Severus, it is so good to see you too. I am so sorry to interrupt, only Professor Edgars had told me that you had just finished your practice session. If need be I can go."

"No, please do not go. Professor Edgars is right, my practice session is over and I am glad for the company. Please, have a seat." He said gesturing to the sofa and the comfortable chairs around it. "Would you like some tea?"

She looked unsure, but after a moment she took the proffered seat. "Tea would be wonderful. Thank you."

While he prepared the tea the two remained silent, neither one of them knew quite how to address the situation it seemed. Finally Severus returned with the tea and took a seat across from Minerva. "I trust that you are feeling better?" He asked at last, looking at her earnestly. She did appear to be rather tired.

"Much better." She replied, not meeting his eyes. "Thank you again for the potion, it is very much appreciated."

"It was no trouble at all, I would be more than happy to brew some more for you should you need it." He said.

"That is too kind of you." She said, finally looking up at him once again. There was a pause, and some more awkward silence before she spoke again. "I apologize for being a bit distant lately. I had meant to come see you earlier this week, it is just, well, I received some rather distressing news from home this week. I needed some time to myself to think things over."

"I am so sorry to hear that." Severus said, truly concerned. "I suppose it is none of my business, but I hope that everything is going to be okay, that your family is well."

"It is nothing like that, and perhaps it may seem a bit silly. Dougal MacGregor is getting married." As she said it there were tears in her eyes. Without even thinking about it he set his tea down and joined her on the sofa, taking a handkerchief out of his robes and dabbing her eyes with it.

"I am so sorry to hear that." he said at last, not entirely sure what to say. "Is Dougal a friend of yours?"

Minerva looked away again. "He was my fiancé." She replied at last. Severus was quite surprised to hear this. He did his best to hide his shock.

"I see. I had not realized that you were engaged." He said. "I take it he broke it off to be with this other woman?"

"No, no, nothing like that at all. I broke it off with him." she replied. "It was not a long engagement. I know it was for the best, I could not have lived as a muggle housewife. Abandoning this world would have killed me. Yet, I cannot help but feel a sense of loss. I know, it is ridiculous."

"Do not say that. It is natural to feel that sort of thing. Especially if you loved someone so much." He hoped that he would be able to comfort her, at least a little bit.

"I know I should not be so upset, our engagement was rather short lived. Only a day actually." Minerva said looking away a bit.

"You did accept his proposal initially, so that does indicate that there was some strength of feeling between the two of you. Irregardless of how long the engagement lasted." Severus said at last.

"I suppose what I am finding to be the most difficult part in this whole situation is that it barely took him any time to find somebody else. All in all it has been four maybe five months!" She said at last, the tears were back now.

Severus was slightly taken aback. "Do not cry Minerva, I hate to see you so upset. He is not worth your tears anyway." He said wrapping an arm around her./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino;""You have never met the man yourself Severus, how could you even say that?" She asked him through her tears.

"I do not need to know him to know that he is not worthy of your attentions. The fact that he became engaged to another so quickly is indication enough for me. It says a great deal about his character. Had he been properly heartbroken and downtrodden by the situation he would have at least had the decency to wait a year or two." Severus said. "He has no right to make you feel bad."

Minerva nodded, resting her head on his chest and allowing him to embrace her fully. "It is rather difficult though." She said at last. "Having loved somebody so much, for a time, and then seeing them wind up with another. Even if it was of your own doing."

"Believe me Minerva, I understand what it is that you are going through, perhaps more than you know." Severus said with a sigh. "While I have never been engaged before, I have loved deeply. That sort of thing sticks with you."

"Thank you Severus, for being here for me through all of this." Minerva said at last, placing her hand on his chest. The two of them remained in their embrace for a little while longer before returning to their tea.

"Would you like something to eat?" Severus asked after a moment. Something sweet was always nice after a long crying jag. "I believe I have some German chocolate cake left over from the weekend. It would be a terrible shame for it to go to waste."

Minerva smiled at him. "You know that your having a sweet tooth would come as quite the surprise to the students." she said. "The cake sounds lovely."

"I hardly see why it should come as any surprise to them. We all eat together in the Great Hall, it cannot escape their notice that much like everyone else I also indulge in the deserts the school serves." Severus said standing up and heading over to the kitchen. When he opened the cupboard he found that, regrettably there was only one slice of cake left. He could do without, Minerva needed it more than he did right now anyway. Putting it on a plate, and grabbing a fork and a napkin he returned to the sitting room and placed the cake on the coffee table in front of her.

"Are you not going to have any cake?" Minerva asked him after a moment.

"There was only one slice left, and as I have eaten most of the others myself I thought it would be best for you to have this one." He replied.

"That is very sweet of you." She said her hands folded in her lap. "You needn't go without something to eat though." With that she handed him the package that she had walked in with. He had completely forgotten about it.

"A lemon tart." He said opening it up, rather surprised that she had known about his preference for the desert.

"I noticed that you seemed to enjoy these." She said in answer to his unspoken question. "I was in Hogsmeade today picking some things up for Albus and when I saw these in the windows at the bakery I could not help but think of you. Consider it my peace offering."

"There was no need for a peace offering, so to speak, but I appreciate the gesture. This looks lovely." Going back to his kitchen he put the tart on a plate and rejoined her a few moments later. "You haven't touched your cake yet."

"As I said before, it would be rude for me to eat without you." Minerva replied primly.

"Well now I have my tart, so you may begin to eat your cake. Ladies first." Severus said giving her a wry smile.

Obediently she took a first forkful of the cake, he watched as her face lit up. Chocolate was indeed good for the soul. "This is quite delicious." she said at last. "May I ask where you got this?"

"Severus rubbed the back of his neck. "I've been experimenting with baking recently. With all of the time I have had to myself since….I have needed to find ways of busying myself."

"It must be quite the change, returning to a normal life once again." Minerva said placing a hand on his arm. "If it is any consolation, I believe that this is quite the impressive cake. You need to be quite careful with this you know, having cakes like this around would be far too much temptation for me."

"Everything in moderation." Severus said in reply. "I am glad you are enjoying it. Would you like a bite of my lemon tart?"

She just wrinkled her nose at him. "Perhaps it is one of my shortcomings, but I have never been able to stomach anything with lemon." Minerva said. "I will stick with chocolate."

"A shortcoming indeed, however if that is one of your greater shortcomings I should think you are in a fairly good position." Severus said. "How have you survived the Headmaster and his bombarding everyone who comes into his office with lemon drops?"

"Let us just say that we have finally reached an understanding." Minerva said with a small smile.

"Why is it that it seems you are the only one who can get away with that sort of thing?" Severus asked her curiously.

"Let us just say that I am rather good a negotiating, and leave it at that." Minerva said mischievously.

"Are we certain you are not just stubborn and headstrong?" Severus asked with a wry smile, leaning towards her.

"Well if you want to put it that way." She replied. "However, that would be a case of the pot calling the kettle black, would it not?"

He raised his eyebrow at her and took a sip of his tea. "That is rather a strong line to take in another's home, is it not?" He asked her after a moment. "After all, I have welcomed you in here and given you tea and cake, then you turn around and insult me? Really Minerva, I am surprised at you. Gryffindors, really."

"Gryffindors? My word, if I recall you were the one who started this in the first place. Only a Slytherin would formulate so harebrained an argument." Minerva said, swatting him playfully.

"Then perhaps a peace offering is in order." Severus said, standing up and walking over to the kitchen. Carefully he brought over the bouquet of carnations and sat down on the couch with her once again. "I hope these will perhaps help to return me to your good graces."

She looked at him surprised. "These are beautiful Severus, I do not know what to say." She said, for once looking genuinely stunned. "Are you sure? I would feel so bad taking your flowers."

"Strictly speaking they are not my flowers. I did buy them, but not for myself. They were for you. I had originally intended to give them to you in Hogsmeade over the weekend, but when you did not make an appearance I brought them home with me instead. I hoped that I might be able to see you sometime this week and give them to you." He said rather sheepishly. "As it stands I hope that you will accept them. They are my way of saying thank you for standing by me throughout this year and for understanding when I have had to cancel things."

"Then it would be my pleasure to accept them." Minerva said with a faint blush. "Thank you so much for these, and for everything really."

"The pleasure has been all mine." Severus said. The two of them talked for a little while longer before Minerva needed to return to her own rooms. However, before they left they made plans to meet up again on Saturday to go down to Hogsmeade together.

"Thank you again Severus." Minerva said. The two of them were standing in front of Professor Edgars' portrait. Leaning forwards she kissed him on the cheek, and without leaving any time for him to respond she made her exit. As he watched her leave he could not help but smile, looking forward to seeing her once again.

"Now, that was not so difficult, was it dear boy?" Professor Edgars said as the portrait closed behind him.

"I find it curious Professor Edgars, that with your dislike for her, and your insistence that she would bring me nothing but trouble, that you would have allowed her to come here today. Do not tell me that you have gone soft." Severus said fixing the portrait with a steady gaze.

"Me going soft? Hardly a possibility." Professor Edgars said at last. "I do not know where you could even get that idea from, but I digress. The point I was trying to make is that you finally gave her the flowers, and she was not upset about the whole thing."

"You are not a very good liar Professor" Severus said, arms crossed over his chest. "You do like her now, do you not?"

"Stuff and nonsense. I simply find her less repulsive than most of the other creatures that inhabit the hallowed halls of this school." Professor Edgars said. "It is quite simple really; now that she has come here, and you have finally given her the flowers my wish has been granted. You will be able to get out of that well of self pity that you have dug for yourself. Now I will be able to get some peace and quiet and a break from Rachmaninoff."

"Perhaps you are misguided in your reasoning as to why I have been playing Rachmaninoff." Severus walking over to his piano and giving the portrait a pointed stare. Softly he began to play the opening chords to the first movement of the concerto.

"I would not play much more of that if I were you." Professor Edgars said rather calmly.

"That sounds rather a lot like a threat Professor Edgars." Severus said without missing a beat. "Pray tell, what exactly are you going to do about it?"

"Physically you are right, perhaps my hands are truly tied. However, I may just pay a visit to Professor McGonagall and tell her that you have cancelled your plans for the weekend. Given your recent history I am certain she would have no difficulty in believing it."

The piano playing abruptly ceased. "You would not." Severus said, staring directly at the portrait.

"If I were you, I would not take a chance." Professor Edgars said with a shrug.

Severus scowled, of all of the things, he had never expected to be blackmailed by a portrait. It was absurd, absolutely ridiculous. After a moment he returned to the keyboard to play, the dulcet tones of Debussy's First Arabesque filling the room.