Every season will turn til the world is upside down

rivers overflow then go underground

but in the eye of the storm, in the safety of this house

we lay hand in hand while the world turns wrong.

So keep us and keep us, keep us from the storm.

There's a lesson in the rain that change will always come

let us ride this wave and then greet the sun

and though the ground may shake and we'll think

we've had enough

we must raise our flags for the ones we love.

-Keep Us by Peter Bradley Adams

Joyful, I jumped up and hugged him. We hadn't seen each other for a week, but it felt like an eternity.

He kissed my forehead affectionately before a flap of wings irritated me and I looked at Tiberius, who was sitting contentedly on the bird's perch in the living room.

Severus took advantage of my distraction and dropped onto the couch. He sighed loudly and rubbed the bridge of his nose briefly with his fingers.

"Is everything okay with you, Severus?" I asked depressedly and sat down next to him.

"Yes, I just have a bit of a headache. But that doesn't surprise me with Potter's immense luck. He actually drove a flying Ford Anglia to Hogwarts in the Whomping Willow with Weasley," Severus said again with a sigh.

"But why?" I asked, dropping my jaw. That he actually did all this was not what I expected from the boy who brought down Voldemort and whom I held as a baby, my best friend's son.

"He claimed that the access to the Hogwarts Express was closed, such nonsense. But Dumbledore, of course, believes the boy. As if he couldn't have sent his owl or wait for the Weasleys to come off the platform and find a solution. Therefore, I rather assume that he wanted attention once again. The famous Harry Potter, our celebrity. To my regret, they were not expelled from school. Not even for a few days, but it would have taught Potter no doubt. These boys have flouted the Decree of the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree.," he explained in a sluggish voice, as if he had recited all this before.

"And Dumbledore didn't do anything?" I asked incredulously.

"He wanted to eat a custard tart with me and left the boys to Minerva. There are punitive works and Dumbledore writes their families. Nothing more."

"Where you like desserts so much," I said with a frown and could well understand the extent of Severus' disappointment, although I felt it was exaggerated to expel the boy from school.

"You know that the boy desperately needs an adequate education, Severus. And he needs protection. He only finds all this at Hogwarts," I said softly, looking at the angry eyes in front of me. His lips curled in a tinge of malice, as if he doubted it and Severus sighed deeply again and leaned back, his breathing heavier and I took it as a sign that he had surrendered to fate.

"How else did the school year start? Is there any news?" I asked, in order to steer him to another topic and judging by his groans, he immediately took a bite.

"To make matters worse, Gilderoy Lockhart is the new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts. LOCKHART. This post cannot be deteriorated any further," he said, his eyes still closed.

"Mh, I'm not sure. He seemed very burning for the position when I saw him at his autograph session," I replied a little cheerfully, so that Severus slowly lifted his eyelids to find a sneering grin on my face.

"Why were you at his autograph session?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"I'm really interested in his books," I replied with a laugh, so that Severus could interpret my amusement correctly.

"If he has experienced even half of what he brags about, I'll eat a broom," Severus said sourly, his eyes sparkling menacingly in the candlelight. "Speaking of brooms. That's when I come up with a little revenge on Potter, regardless of letting him scrape old flubber worms off the tables if he messes up again. I´ll give the Slytherin team permission to train on the Quidditch field on the exact day when Gryffindor has registered. Because of the need to train our new seeker."

"There's a new seeker on the Slytherin team?" I asked skeptically, observing the mocking expression on the face of my interlocutor, whose mood immediately improved with his idea.

"Malfoy. Needless to say, Lucius has given the team new brooms," Severus said with a nasty grin, while I drew in the air sharply.

"Do you think it's a good idea to give the job to him just because his father pays for new brooms?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh, that's up to the Quidditch captain to decide. And Draco is not untalented, I have often seen him fly at Malfoy Manor. With a little training and self-confidence, he can become a serious seeker," Severus explained with a grin.

Tiberius suddenly shook his wings excitedly, as if he were blessing Severus' plans. Severus followed my gaze on the animal.

"An interesting owl. I knew it could only be from you. He caught me when I was on my way to the Great Hall for the feast. He was hiding in a corner and making strange noises. At first I thought it was Filch's cat that had caught a mouse, but after a sideways glance I saw him swinging his feathers as if he wanted to call me to him. As I approached, he stretched out his claw with the newspaper to me. And, of course, your lines. I took him to my private rooms and read the extremely insightful article. I immediately ran up to the entrance and watched Weasley and Potter crash right into the Whomping Willow. Luckily I was there before they could sneak into the big hall. Needless to say, they were surprisingly pleased with my absence when they noticed her peeking through a window. After all this disaster today, I thought to myself, before I describe the full extent of Potter's new rule-breaking in a letter, I can share it with you personally. But thank you very much for your message. Your animal friend has been really clever not to be discovered," Severus said, while I stood up and gave my new acquisition an owl biscuit as a thank you for his perseverance.

"Yes, Tiberius somehow suited me from the beginning," I said with a grin.

"Tiberius? A strange name for such an animal," Severus stated, looking intently at the bird.

"Why? I thought the name would be a good fit with Severus," I laughed and sat back down on the couch, where Severus immediately moved close to me.

"So? You're comparing me to a bird?" he asked smugly, his black eyes flashing and he leaning towards me. I leaned back grinning, felt his kiss on my lips before he pulled me powerfully under him and gently pressed his body against mine.

"Your anger seems to be looking for an outlet?" I asked, running my fingers gently over his open lips.

"Why shouldn't we use my anger wisely?"

"Severus...", I exhaled, humming a little, while feeling a new kiss on my lips, wilder, more passionate, more urgent.

We forgot everything around us that night.

And the next few weeks in September and October were carefree again. Severus visited me almost every night and told me about the events at Hogwarts and I from St. Mungo. It almost seemed that we were just a normal couple who loved each other dearly.

But then came Halloween.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware." , I repeated with a faltering breath. The dark eyes of Severus glistened in the candlelight.

"Yes, I wanted Potter to be stripped of benefits until he was willing to tell the truth. Something like excluding him from the Quidditch team would certainly loosen his tongue. Then he would reveal why he was so far away from Gryffindor Tower and the feast of the Great Hall after the anniversary of the death of Headless Nick."

"A little selfish, isn't it, Severus?" I grinned at his open mouth.

"Well, you can certainly combine one with the other, but the headmaster said Potter was innocent until proven guilty." Severus looked angry. "And then the inept Lockhardt had the audacity to make a potion with mandrake to revive Filch's cat. With his miserable talent, he would probably kill the cat outright. How dare he when I'm the Potions Master at Hogwarts?"

"Well, there's no question about that, Severus." Lost in thought, my hand stroked his black hair,

"But I know how to punish Potter. He will scrape annelids from the tables. It takes hours," he bared his teeth like an animal before the attack.

"Don't you think it would be more important to ask what the Chamber of Secrets is exactly?" I asked him because I found it odd that Severus seemed only out to punish Harry.

"You don't seem to have ever read the Hogwarts story, have you?" he asked, slightly amused.

"Yes, but decades ago. I know it was something with Salazar Slytherin and a monster," I replied with raised eyebrows.

"That's right. The last time it was opened was when the Dark Lord was at Hogwarts. The culprit who had to pay for it, was Hagrid, who became the gamekeeper afterwards. But Dumbledore has always suspected the Dark Lord. The chamber can only be opened by an heir of Salazar Slytherin," Severus said, watching my expression until my eyes widened in surprise.

"You mean he's descended from the Salazar Slytherin lineage?" I asked, panting.

"Possibly. He speaks Parseltongue like all descendants, he has repeatedly mentioned to us in our inner circle that he is closer to Slytherin than many of us would believe." Severus replied, squeezing my hand this time.

"And what does Dumbledore say?" I asked, frozen.

"We should wait and see. So far, only one cat has frozen. Nothing dramatic, then," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Dumbledore wants to wait until a student is harmed?" I asked, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Of course not. But apart from closing the school, all we can do is try to find this chamber. I'm in charge of the dungeon rooms, so I'll probably have to sacrifice my nights for the next few weeks, which I find extremely regrettable."

"No, I totally understand that! I'll send Tibi to you, then at least we can write to each other," I said, and as if in agreement, the little owl in the corner beeped happily.

So, Severus reappeared with me in a desolate state of mind after a student was stiffened and there was chaos in his class when a Swelling Solution was to be brewed. With meticulous accuracy, he described how a filibuster of fireworks exploded into Goyle's cauldron and the Swelling Solution rained down in all directions on students who screamed loudly and he made every effort to oversee the heated situation.

"Luckily, I always prepared a counter-potion and was able to administer the decongestant potion quickly. Years of foolish failures have taught me this way," Severus said in a bitter voice during a walk with me by the roaring sea, at the same time he pressed his arm tighter around my waist so that our steps slowed down.

"Now my personal stash is missing Boomslang skin and Bicorn horn."

His jaw clenched to the point of pain as Severus' bottomless eyes stared forward, his blurry shadow somewhat resembling nightmares as he was illuminated by the faint moonlight of the full moon. Then he took a deep breath, as if that would prevent him from breaking.

"The one who stole it was not only willing to incur my wrath with all the possible consequences such as being expelled from school, but and this is probably the worse evil, he was willing to inflict unnecessary pain on his classmates," he concluded, watching with a worried brow as the water of the sea crashed against the surf, small drops were gently driven onto our skin.

"Do you have any idea who it might have been? Maybe also the person who boasts about the opening of the chamber?" I asked quietly, thinking about the given possibilities.

"Potter," Severus replied simply, closing his eyes as if trying to soften his hatred, but the trembling of his nostrils, his clenched jaw gave information about his feelings and thoughts about it. I sighed.

"I don't think Harry would put the health of his classmates at risk to steal ingredients. What else is he supposed to do with these two ingredients?" I asked, leaning my head on his shoulder. We both stood and looked at the sea, listening to the sound of the waves.

"Can't you think of any potions that contain them?" Severus asked after a while.

"Yes. Polyjuice potion, for example. But which student should achieve anything with it? The effect only lasts for about an hour, if it has been brewed correctly at all. I'm more worried about the extent that can arise when ingesting an incorrectly made magic potion. And when I think about how you judge Harry's art of brewing potions, I don't think he'd be capable of such a thing at his age."

"He certainly didn't, but Granger did. She is quite precise. But I wonder how she could have gotten the instructions for it. The necessary book is in the forbidden section. But after all this chaos I had to realize that the book is missing in the library. Madam Pince was beside herself when she couldn't prove to me who had lent me the book Potions of Most Potent Potions in the first place," Severus said, his eyes still fixed on the distant horizon.

"I can imagine that. Well, we know that Harry has a weakness for night walks in the castle. Do you think he wants to single-handedly save the school from Slytherin's heir again?" I asked quietly, thinking of Madam Pince meticulousness when it came to her books.

"You mean, if it's not him?" Severus asked, looking at me with a strange look full of disgust.

"How did you come up with that?" My gaze was fixed in amazement on the man in front of me, whose features I could see only a little as a cloud moved in front of the full moon.

"The boy speaks Parseltongue too," Severus said dryly, my blood freezing in my veins. I jerked my head and felt my hand tremble slightly. Severus also felt it and grabbed her to gently slide her between his hands.

"What?" was all that left my mouth. The thought that Harry could be behind these acts was unimaginable and something that should not be.

"I told you about the Dueling Club with Lockhart that was coming up?"

"Yes, I had no doubt that you would show him what you were capable of," I replied, irritated by the apparent change of subject.

"As expected, it wasn't particularly difficult. He can't even hold his wand. He's definitely a brawler, a scammer, but that's not what I'm about. More importantly, Potter and Malfoy competed against each other. Malfoy has made a snake appear with Serpensortia . When I wanted to make the snake disappear again, Potter suddenly spoke to it. In Parseltongue." Being able to speak Parseltongue was considered a black magic talent and Salazar Slytherin was known to be a Parselmouth.

I drew in my breath sharply, which seemed to suffice for Severus as an answer.

"A strange connection to the Dark Lord, isn't it? However, Dumbledore didn't seem too surprised when I told him," he said, looking at me from the side.

"Um, a connection, you say? And Dumbledore isn't surprised?" I summed up, staring thoughtfully out at the dark sea, whose waves glistened strangely in the moonlight as if they were announcing doom. "I suspect it has something to do with the Dark Lord's curse and Harry's scar. I've already read something about it in a book about curse scars. There was a case where a man told me that it hurt him when the perpetrator stood in front of him. But I can't remember exactly. I read the book during my training at St. Mungo. Let me research on it! Maybe I'll find more," I thought aloud while Severus looked at me thoughtfully, but he finally nodded.

"And now tell me about the duel between Lockhart and you," I said and snuggled close to him, resting my head on his strong shoulder again. He hugged my hip again and we stood close to each other, no breeze made it through us and I laughed as he told me about his opponent as we continued to listen to the surf.

We spent Christmas separately from each other this year. Severus had to stay at Hogwarts because of this uncertain situation, while I took over the dreaded Christmas service at St. Mungo for my wing. A trainee named George Turpin was at my side. He had started his training with us since September after graduating from Hogwarts. And he, too, had quickly learned that being a healer is not an easier profession and the shift work, the many different injuries drew dark circles under the eyes of the young man.

"Good morning, George. Ready to survive the next few days?" I asked with a mocking grin on my lips, which was in no way inferior to Severus's.

"I think so. Sharp warned me that the days were like 4 weeks compressed into three days," he replied in an uncertain voice and shoved his glasses onto his nose.

"Yes, that's how you can look at it. Listen, please never panic in front of the patients. You will see things that may be disturbing. You may wonder why people do this to each other, but-" I couldn't get any further than a loud scream abruptly ended our conversation.

Mrs. Blake came into the hospital wing with a head larger than the diameter of the dining table in the break room of the hospital wing. I sighed loudly.

"Mrs. Blake, you're here amazingly early. How are your daughter and son-in-law?" I asked as I took over the hospital bed and scanned her file.

"This good-for-nothing, this lousy sewer rat, I'll show him..."

"Very good, I think we'll try a Deflating Draught first and then we'll talk about what Christmas in the Bahamas sounds like to you," I replied and nodded to Turpin, who quickly rushed to the potions cabinet to find the right one.

After a few more hexes and curses, I briefly took my lunch break in the break room of St. Mungo. The room was reminiscent of the elongated teacher's room at Hogwarts, but here all the chairs were the same and the walls seemed cold and forbidding, so that nothing about this room resembled the comfort I lacked.

I was alone, because most of the healers had already held theirs. So, I opened the Daily Prophet and found a photograph of Arthur Weasley inside. He had to pay 50 galleons for casting a spell on a Muggle car. In the article, Lucius Malfoy expressed that he should have lost his post in the Ministry of Magic and that this punishment was not enough. But I knew for sure that the Weasleys couldn't pull 50 galleons out of their sleeves like Malfoy. For this family, this punishment was more than enough and I was grateful that Arthur seemed to have enough friends in the ministry who could prevent his dismissal. Without his work, the family would suddenly have become destitute. It was unimaginable what Malfoy was asking for, even though I knew that Weasley had crossed the line here.

Enraged, I crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash can in the corner of the break room. I spooned my reheated bean stew and thought of Severus and the delicious feast that was now in front of him and that could have been in front of me too. But I was snapped out of my thoughts when Turpin stormed through the door.

"Outside, there are two elderly ladies who have turned green, who are choking and have severe shortness of breath. I don't know what to do," he shouted angrily.

"Sounds like poisoning by Dragon's Tooth. Don't worry, we'll get it," I said and quickly followed him to the patients.

But to my surprise, Asklepios Sharp was standing in front of me in our typical lime green robe and was already giving the patients a counter-potion.

"Don't you have Christmas off?" I asked softly after the two ladies were able to breathe evenly again.

"Yes, but I was bored. You know, I don't have a family. And you're sure to have another fabulous Christmas ahead of you if you didn't have that shift. I thought I'd take over from you so you could spend the evening with your loved ones. I'm sure they're already eagerly awaiting your appearance at home," Asclepius Sharp replied, while my hand gently ran over my filigree locket that I had once received from Severus.

"No, no one is waiting for me this year," I said, smiling as Sharp frowned, trying to grasp the truth of my words. "But if you're bored, how about the two of us doing the work here together. Then it's not so stressful."

"Sounds great. Then you take care of the poisoning by plants and I the poisoning by magic potions?"

"Gladly. Everyone according to their own expertise," I stated with a nod and was happy about his support. "But you're taking Turpin with you. He's a little..."

"Overwhelmed? Yes, but weren't we all like that in the beginning?" he asked with a grin.

"Maybe. Somehow it was too long ago for me to remember it exactly."

"Well, for that, I remember quite vividly a rather tense and excited young woman who began her education here and on the fourth floor. A trainee in training in two departments at the same time. That was rare here. Do you remember, at that time Broadmoor was the assigned head for the curse damage and I was the deputy healer for this wing? Although he was very impressed by your ability to deal with the patients at the time, you were so insecure about everything. You are constantly going from one patient to the next to check that you haven't made a mistake. But you talked to people, not just saw their illness. Something that I also appreciate very much now," he said and winked at me briefly before disappearing out of the door into the corridor.

I sighed at the thought of this young woman from days gone by. She was much more insecure, but she was surrounded by many friends.

After the stressful holidays, I was glad when I could sink into the arms of Severus.

However, he told me that Hermione Granger must have really brewed Polyjuice Potion. There was no other way to explain her transformation into a cat, which would now give her a few weeks in the Hogwarts hospital wing.

"So, your guesses about Potter were correct. He and his friends brewed Polyjuice Potion. But what exactly were they going to do with it?" I asked, frowning at the thought that Harry was actually doing some nonsense on his own again to find the heir to Slytherin.

"Obviously. But I haven't figured out the reason yet, I'm almost tempted to apply Legilimency to him if this continues. This boy is really developing into a pain in my ass with his ill-considered actions," Severus said bitterly, his eyes looking at the crackling fireplace. The cold wind whipped noisily against the walls of the cottage, rain lashed against the window panes. It was like a storm sweeping over us, looking ominously at our future that made me shudder and I continued to pull the blanket over me.

"Are you cold?" Severus asked, looking at me gently.

"Yes, but I don't know if it's the cold or the thought of the danger the school is facing," I whispered as Severus slid close to me, very close.

"Don't worry, I know what's going to heat you up," he breathed in his deep, seductive voice.