Severus eyed the table of contents of the latest book Petunia had sent him with distaste.

Part I. Sex Education: Theory, Practice and Perspective
1. Sex: instinct or appetite?
2. What does 'sex education' mean?
3. Moral education in the secondary school
4. Sex education in the United Kingdom
5. Sex education in schools
6. Sex education in colleges and departments of education
7. Sex education: press and parental perceptions
8. Counselling with sexually incompatible marriage partners
Part II. Psycho-sexual Development:
9. Children's concepts of sexuality and birth
10. Sexuality and sexual learning in childhood...

A knock came at his office door, and he almost slammed the book shut. Which was ridiculous because it was a perfectly legitimate textbook and causing the sudden noise was probably the most suspicious thing he could have done just then. Whatever. He was definitely dumping all these books on Minerva. He disillusioned Sex Education: Rationale and Reaction, along with the other books Petunia had sent piled next to his desk, snatched up a quill, and assumed his best glare. He wasn't actually in a particularly bad mood, but it was always good cover. "What?" he barked.

The door cracked open, and Gwenog inched her nose inside. "Is now a bad time, Professor?" she asked meekly.

He sighed loudly and threw the quill back down, just for effect. "No. You have to tell me about the second years eventually. Come in."

She opened the door and slipped inside, quietly settling into the chair across from him. Then her eyes lit upon the mug Chiara had given him, and she blinked in surprise. He had forgotten to disillusion that. Bother. He picked it up with cool deliberation and moved it to the far corner of his desk where it wouldn't distract her as much. "Christmas gift," he said shortly.

"Oh. It's... very colorful, sir."

"Regrettably so."

"Right." She kept staring at the mug. He rotated it so the "tears of my students" slogan was facing away from her.

"The second years?"

"Right. The session went well. I predicted almost all the questions they would ask, apart from a few I think were meant as jokes."

"You will have that with twelve- and thirteen-year-olds, unfortunately. How many were in attendance?"

"The turn out was good. All of the Slytherins of course, all of the Ravenclaws, all but two of the Hufflepuffs - the missing boys were in the hospital wing after a Charms mishap, apparently, and about half the Gryffindors. I think the Gryffindors in attendance were all muggleborn, actually. It was pretty obvious from the few questions they asked they had no idea what most of the electives were good for."

"Any surprises?"

"Not really. I think some other prefects were surprised how many second years were interested in Divinations as an 'easy pass' without realizing they won't be able to master half of the techniques without inborn Sight."

Severus grinned. Divinations was the one O.W.L. exam Gwenog had failed, entirely because of the practical. "I gather you labored under the same misconception when you were choosing your third-year electives."

Gwenog blushed. "Well... yeah. Mum never warned me off it." And her father was a halfblood raised muggle.

"No shame in not knowing things as a child. The Headmaster has considered instituting an aptitude test for Divinations, but Professor Trelawney says such measures are unreliable while one's mind and magic are still developing." Personally, Severus suspected Sybil just knew her class numbers would tank and wanted to protect her job, even though he was quite certain Albus would let her stay at Hogwarts regardless just to keep her away from any Death Eaters who might suspect her role in the Dark Lord's fall. That was neither here nor there, though. "Do you have the surveys for me of which electives they were most interested in before and after the session?"

"Right here. And the notes with the prefects' comments." Gwenog extracted a folder from her bag and placed it on his desk.

"Thank you. Was there anything else you needed?"

"Actually..." She looked down and took a deep breath. "There's been three Gryffindors, five Hufflepuffs, a Ravenclaw, and two Slytherins including Dirk Prentiss given detention for dealing and/or using banned muggle drugs since Christmas. Is this a new problem I caused when I asked Jane to get me the Mandies to spike Vivian's booze with back in November?" She said it all in one exhale and kept looking down at the desk rather than up at him.

Well. He hadn't expected a confession this evening. As a rule, spontaneous confessions were very un-Slytherin. He wasn't sure what to do with such forthrightness. "Methaqualone was not the only addition to Ms. Vandamme's firewhiskey," he said softly, stalling for time while he thought of what he actually needed to say.

"No... there was also Dreamless Sleep Potion and Draught of Peace. I combined them all to prolong the effects."

"I know you did. Was the combination your idea, or did you work with someone else?"

She hesitated. "It was my idea."

"But you had someone else calculate the ratios for you," Severus surmised. She nodded, but did not volunteer a name. He sighed. "I thought it might have been you and chose not to pursue it because it appeared your aim was rational, and you had at least gone to some lengths to ensure the safety of your victims. Why confess now?"

"Because Jane wasn't supposed to turn around and start selling Mandies all over Hogwarts! It was supposed to be a one-off thing!"

"So you suspected with the recent spate of detentions involving Ms. Court's associates, your role would eventually come out, and it was best to come clean early in order to salvage what you could of your reputation?"

"I... no! I wanted you to tell me if I got people hurt, because I didn't mean to!"

"Ah. How... noble." She looked like he had slapped her in the face. He held up a hand. "I do not mean that ironically. I asked you to clarify your motives out of legitimate curiosity. I did not blame you for hiding your role in this before. I would not judge you badly if you had decided to reveal your role now primarily out of a sense of self-preservation rather than guilt. I am however pleased that you are taking the situation seriously."

"So you agree, this is my fault."

Severus shrugged. "In part? Sure. To my knowledge, we've never had a problem with methaqualone at Hogwarts before this year, and the introduction of that specific substance to the school is inarguably your doing, regardless of why you did it. Is it your fault that Ms. Court decided to purchase more of the stuff than what you had personally ordered and distribute it? No, that was her decision. Is it your fault that there are students, like Mr. Prentiss, who are tempted to buy and use banned substances? No. There always have been and always will be. The faculty acknowledges that and subtly and not-so-subtly regulates the trade in banned substances to mitigate harm. Am I happy that your little scheme had unintended consequences severe enough to come to my attention? Obviously not..."

She slumped a little. "I'm sorry, sir."

"I can see that." He waited for her to say something, but the silence stretched. He tapped his hand on the desk a moment, thinking. He didn't want this episode to ruin her, and yet, she was still young enough, it probably could if she took it too hard and let it destroy her confidence. He had a feeling she was just as upset at disappointing him as at making an error in the first place. "Ms. Jones, what was your mistake?"

"Breaking the rules," she said dully.

He snorted. "Technically accurate, but not what I had in mind. You went to such extremes because you needed to obtain power over not only your victims but also Augusta. You needed something dramatic and effective enough that they could not ignore it, yet also something they would be unlikely to complain about to me, and something controllable. Doctored firewhiskey you knew only the seventh years would be drinking fit all those requirements. You didn't get caught, despite my suspicions, because you read me right as well. The only unacceptable part of your plan, from your perspective of course, is that the methaqualone has now spilled over to unintended targets. So, why did that happen?"

She looked up at him again. "Because I used Jane. Because with my instructions I helped Jane tap a new market she'd never had before. She'd never heard of Mandies before I asked for them."

"Why did you ask for them specifically, might I inquire?"

"Er, well, my brewer said I needed a fourth sedative ingredient to make the cocktail last a whole week, unless I was willing to substitute Draught of the Living Death, which I thought was too dangerous."

"It definitely would have been," Severus affirmed with a slight shudder. One mistake, and all the student victims would have ended up at St. Mungo's, Gwenog might have been expelled, and he'd probably still be doing the paperwork.

"I've never done Mandies myself, but when I was visiting my muggle grandmother over the summer, I went clubbing with my cousins, and we met up with some of their friends who were pushing that and weed. They said, er, that 'the high was just as good as barbies and sleepers but safer.' I was curious what that meant, 'cause I'd never heard of barbies or sleepers before either, so I talked with them about it for awhile. I didn't want to try anything, but it was...well..."

"A culture you had never encountered before. As you said, you were curious."

"Exactly. It basically came down to Mandies make you feel sleepy and relaxed but are less likely to make you stop breathing than the other stuff. Did you know muggles take pills for fun that can make them stop breathing?"

"Yes."

She blinked, clearly taken aback by his simple answer. He stifled a smirk. Teenagers, even clever and mature ones like Gwenog, always thought concepts novel to them must be new and remarkable to everybody. "Oh. Anyway, that's why I thought of using Mandies, and when my brewer tested them out, they said it would work out."

"Which it did." He wondered who her potions conspirator was. Only a few Slytherin sixth and seventh years had the grades for it, and she'd poisoned two of them. She might have gone to a Ravenclaw, he supposed.

"Yeah. But like I said, Jane had never head of them before. I had to tell her what they were and how to get them. I should have realized she might sell to other people and either not involved her in the first place or taken steps to keep her from spreading it around."

"Correct. Ten points to Slytherin for admitting to a professor when you made a mistake that might have endangered others and recognizing where and how you went wrong."

"Professor Snape, you can't reward me for this!"

"Can't I? Well, then, minus ten points for reckless endangerment of your fellow students."

She laughed without humor. "You're not going to do anything with this, are you?"

"Why should I? I'm not in the habit of punishing student activities that took place over three months ago. You have not confessed to any more recent infractions, and I do not need your testimony against Ms. Court, who you may know already has detention with Professor Sprout every Sunday for the next two months for selling Mandrax to other students."

"Yeah, I know. I was surprised she didn't rat me out, honestly."

"Must be Hufflepuff loyalty," he said glibly. "You may take that as a lesson in how to better use the attributes of those in other Houses. That said, I will be very disappointed in you if you do not learn more from this, Ms. Jones. Actions have consequences, and not necessarily the ones you expect and are prepared for. You must learn to think of not only how your own actions affect yourself and those nearest you, but how they might affect the world. And you must learn how to mitigate risks you don't immediately think of, for instance by building alliances with people you trust enough to ask their opinions as you did with me tonight. Particularly if you maintain your ambitions as we discussed at the beginning of the year."

"I do, sir. And I will do better, sir."

"I expect you will. You want to be a professional quidditch captain, which means you will be a celebrity. Celebrities are, by definition, influential. You must be prepared to manage that influence, or else others will twist it to their own purposes that may not align with yours. Celebrities are also, by definition, watched. Even a hint of misbehavior will see you devoured by the media, because it will be a good story. You must be prepared to own the narrative if and when that happens."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."

"You already said that. There's no need to repeat yourself. I do understand, though. It's very hard to come to terms with making a mistake that hurts other people. Take it from one who knows, the very best thing you can do in these circumstances is not self-flagellate and make the unfortunate situation about you but to learn how to not make such mistakes again. And, where possible, apologize to whoever you hurt and repay the debt."

While she digested that advice, he flipped through a stack of parchment on his desk and extracted a small sheet. "You may take this with you back to the dormitory, by the way. The results from the latest Heir of Slytherin poll. Inform your classmates there will be no more polls until May, after which I will make my final judgment."

He passed it to her and watched her as her eyes greedily read the results despite her wounded ego. She had slipped to third place after the first vote in January, when the various purebloods realized they would actually have to work for the prize and started bribing voters. Now she was back in first place where she wanted to be. She did not smile or otherwise react, merely tucked the parchment into her bag. "Yes, sir. I won't disappoint you."

He nodded and dismissed her. She would be fine. She was too good not to be.

As soon as she was gone, he conjured a bag for all the books he needed to deposit in Minerva's office tonight after he was certain she had gone to bed. He then gulped the rest of his tea and shrank the rainbow mug down to fit in his pocket. He would keep it in his quarters from now on. Gwenog would not gossip about it, but there were plenty of teenaged troglodytes in Hogwarts who would.

Author's note: Glad they got the site working again in time for this update! Sex Education: Rationale and Reaction was a real book published in the 1970s. I really do like writing these Sev-Gwenog scenes. Gwenog definitely knows she's his favorite, and she might even have figured out exactly why she's his favorite, but neither of them will ever say so. Thanks for the reviews, and updates will continue to be Sundays.