Author's Note: Here's a little update for you all. I was able to squeeze out about 45 minutes of writing this evening. I still struggle sometimes, but seeing the reviews definitely cheers me up. I wish I could crank this out at a faster pace for y'all, but it is what it is. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Enjoy!

~RedPandaPrincess

When the alarm on Freddie's watch woke her up just a couple of hours later she was confused. She didn't know why she felt so tired and at first she didn't know where she was. Then it hit her. This was Snape's quarters at Hogwarts. And she was tired because she'd only been asleep for about two hours. She knew she wasn't going to work that morning but she'd forgotten to turn off her alarm. She turned it off now and rolled over in Snape's arms to go back to sleep. She could see his sleeping face by the light of the lake, but he didn't look restful. His face was contorted in a frown, his eyes moving rapidly behind his eyelids. Every so often his body twitched and she wondered what he was dreaming about. The Dark Lord? Being tortured? Or something even worse from his past?

She put an arm around him and stroked the bare skin of his back gently.

"It's okay," she murmured, hoping to ease his mind without waking him. "You're okay."

After a moment he seemed to relax some and she did too. As soon as the frown was gone from his face Freddie fell back asleep with her arm around him.

A few hours later she woke again when Snape began thrashing around in his sleep. He had let go of her and had his arms out in front of him in a defensive posture, like he was afraid of getting hit. She sat up on the side of the bed, wondering if she should wake him. She decided she'd get him some tea first, then wake him.

She stood in the dim light of his room in her underwear, looking for her clothes from the night before. Her green dress was dirty and wrinkled and she didn't want to put that back on. She found her bag in his outer office and dug through it – she always kept a change of clothes in there. She had her St Mungo's robes or a few Muggle outfits she always kept on hand. She opted for the latter, donning her jeans and a black v-neck t-shirt in the dark before using her wand to light the candles in Snape's office. She glanced back through the open passage into his quarters and saw his form still asleep on the bed.

"Noelle," she called softly and the house-elf appeared with a soft pop.

"Mistress Gray!" she said with a toothy grin and Freddie quickly shushed her, glancing back in the room at Snape.

"Professor Snape is still sleeping," Freddie explained and the elf nodded, her ears flapping as she did. "I know I'm not a student anymore, Noelle, or a teacher, so you certainly don't have to listen to me, but do you think you could make some tea please? He had a rough night and I thought I'd get some tea before I woke him."

"Of course, Mistress Gray. Noelle wills always listen to you. You is Professor Snape's friend and you is always nice to house-elves. What blend tea should Noelle make, Miss?"

"19, I think – no, better make it 23," she decided quickly. Snape had created his own blend of tea for just about everything. #19 had pain-relieving properties and so did #23, but it also had the benefit of having similar ingredients to an Invigoration Draught mixed in so it would give the drinker energy.

"Right away, Miss," Noelle said and disappeared without a sound.

Freddie didn't bother sitting while she waited for the house-elf to return. Instead she looked around Snape's office, careful to be quiet as she did. She looked at the spot where she'd sat crying last night and she scoffed softly. She knew she didn't want to do that again – to sit around crying and worrying, not when she could be doing something to help the Order.

Noelle reappeared with the tea tray and Freddie was touched to see that Snape still used the tea set she had given him as a birthday present five years ago. The kettle and cups both glowed green when a hot liquid was inside.

"Anything else, Mistress Gray?" Noelle asked in a whisper. "Breakfast was over hours ago, but I could fix whatever yous might want."

"Not right now, Noelle, thank you," Freddie said, bending to take the tray from the elf. "I'll call you if we need anything else."

The elf bowed low to her, then disappeared again. Freddie set the tray on Snape's desk, then poured them both a cup of tea. She used to take a lot of sugar in her tea, but after five years with Snape she had outgrown it. She carried both cups carefully back into his room. She set one down on the bedside table before sitting on the edge of the bed. He was still asleep and he'd dropped his arms, but there was still a frown on his face.

"Severus?" she said softly, touching his arm. He awoke with a gasp and sat upright in bed so fast she nearly spilled the tea she was holding.

"Wha-Winifred?" he asked, blinking at her.

"I brought you some tea," she said. "I thought I should wake you, it- you didn't seem to be sleeping well."

"...I wasn't," he muttered, looking around the room before reaching to accept the teacup from her. "Thank you. What time is it?"

Freddie checked her watch as Snape took a sip of tea.

"After 11," she said with a grimace. He nodded slightly and settled back against the headboard with his cup. Freddie took hers from the nightstand and sat beside him.

"I was supposed to be at work at 7," she explained before taking a drink of tea.

"Will Master Hawkins be mad?"

"I dunno. I've never been late or even missed work before. She might be."

"You could go to the Owlery and send her a letter. Or – are you planning to go in later?"

"I don't know. Do you think I should? I mean...what are your plans for the day?"

Snape shrugged slightly and took another sip of tea.

"Albus will have canceled classes for the day, but I have final exams to prepare for."

She nodded slightly, but didn't say anything else. They drank their tea in silence for several minutes. Freddie felt slightly awkward – she wanted to ask him if she should stay, if he wanted her to stay. She hoped he would ask her to.

"You should go to work," he said finally, after he had drained the last of his tea from the cup. "There isn't much you can do here. I'll be expected at lunch in the Great Hall soon and, unfortunately, there isn't a place for you there."

"Of course," she said immediately, hiding her disappointment. She took his cup from him and took both cups back to the tray in his office. "I'll change into my work robes, they're in my bag. Once I find Ziggy I can head straight there. He was waiting with me at the gate last night, with Dumbledore."

"I saw him," Snape confirmed. "He followed us back to the castle, but took off after Mrs Norris before we reached the stairs."

"Yeah she's his friend," Freddie said, smiling slightly as she returned to Snape's room. He was up now and getting dressed. She watched him for a moment then got her robes from her bag. The robes were deep red, the color worn by all the Potioneers at St Mungo's.

"An unlikely friendship," Snape remarked as she shed her jeans and t-shirt before tugging the robes on over her head.

"I've always thought so. I suppose Mrs Norris isn't all bad. I thought she was annoying when I was a student. Always ratting kids out to Filch."

"You shouldn't have been breaking the rules, then the cat would have nothing to 'rat' you out for."

"Like you never broke a rule," she said with a slight smirk. "Besides, I never got caught sneaking out. Daniel's Disillusionment Charm was better than anyone else in our year."

"Hmm," he said with pursed lips, but didn't comment further.

Freddie gathered her clothes and shoved them haphazardly in her bag before following Snape out into his office. He took a seat at his desk and she stood awkwardly for a moment with her bag slung over her shoulder.

"...I guess I should go find Ziggy," she said finally. "I'll have to walk down to the gates to Disapparate."

"Yes," he said with a slight nod, then he looked up at her. "...Thank you for staying."

"Of course," she said with a small smile. "Anytime."

There was a moment of silence where they just looked at each other. His expression was unreadable and she waited to see if he would say anything else, but he just stared at her. She was the first to look away.

"I should go," she said, looking towards the door. "I'll see you around, Severus."

Freddie didn't have to look far for Ziggy. He joined her as she climbed the stairs out of the dungeon to the Entrance Hall, coming out one of the hidden kneazle tunnels. She stopped to greet him, petted his head, then continued on her way with Ziggy trotting after her. They passed a few students in the Entrance Hall and the grounds, but none of them gave Freddie more than a passing glance. There were whispered conversations all around, but not about her. Everyone was talking about Cedric Diggory, the Dark Lord, and above all Harry Potter. From what she heard there were a fair number of people who thought that Potter was lying about the Dark Lord being back.

I wish it weren't true, Freddie thought with a sigh as she walked along the path. She was still concerned about Snape and she wondered when the Dark Lord would call him back. She didn't even know when she would see him again. Maybe he'll come home this weekend. Now that Moody isn't an issue. And there's only a few weeks left until the end of term. Surely he'll come home then. But what will our summer even be like? With him working for the Dark Lord AND for Dumbledore...and me working for Dumbledore as well. I still don't know what I can do to help the Order...

As soon as they reached the Gate Ziggy leapt into her arms. He knew the drill. Freddie glanced back towards the castle and sighed once more before Disapparating.

When they appeared in her office at St Mungo's she put Ziggy down on the couch.

"I've got to go find Master Hawkins," she told the kneazle, putting her purse down on her desk. "I hope I'm not in trouble."

Ziggy gave her a brief, reassuring purr before curling up on the back of the couch. Freddie made sure her wand was tucked in the pocket of her robes before heading out into the Brewing Room. Immediately all the interns turned from their cauldrons to look at her and she found herself bombarded with questions.

"Freddie!"

"You're here! Is it true?"

"Diggory died?"

"They say You-Know-Who did it! What happened?"

"What did you see?"

"Was He at Hogwarts?"

"Back to work everyone!" said the stern voice of Master Hawkins as she came out of her office right next to Freddie's. "Carter your potion is burning."

"Sorry Master Hawkins!" cried the boyish-faced intern, hurrying back to his cauldron which was belching dark smoke.

"Miss Gray, step into my office," Hawkins said to her.

"Yes ma'am," Freddie said obediently and followed her inside. A few interns were craning their necks to see inside and Hawkins quickly shut the door. "I'm sorry I'm late Master Hawkins, I-"

"Don't worry about that," the woman said dismissively. "Are you okay? I was worried about you! We heard what happened last night – well rumors mostly."

"They're probably all true," she sighed. "Was it in the Prophet?"

"No! That's what had me worried. After all the fuss about the Triwizard Tournament in the paper over the last year, there wasn't anything this morning. A paragraph saying Potter won, that's all. Not even Rita Skeeter wrote anything about what happened! Here, see for yourself."

Hawkins picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet off her desk and brandished it at her. Freddie skimmed it quickly. Hawkins was right. Just a few lines saying that Harry Potter had won the Triwizard Tournament. No mention at all of Cedric Diggory or the Dark Lord. It wasn't even on the front page.

"I'm not surprised," Freddie said with a sigh, folding the paper before handing it back to her boss. "Severus said Fudge doesn't believe a word of what Potter said, he's probably keeping it out of the Prophet on purpose."

"So it's true then?" Hawkins said, her face paling. "You-Know-Who? And Diggory?"

"Yes. I wish I could say it wasn't."

"What happened? Here- have a seat, Gray," she said, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk. "Do you want some tea or anything?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you," she said as she sat. Hawkins went around her desk and sat down, looking across the table at her expectantly. "Let's see- where to start?"

"Start with the third task," Hawkins advised. "What was it?"

Freddie told her about the maze that had grown on what was once the Quidditch pitch. She talked about seeing Krum removed from the maze after a shower of red sparks was sent up. She didn't say anything about Snape's Dark Mark, but acted as if the two of them had been in the stands when Potter appeared clutching Diggory's body.

"It was absolute chaos," Freddie said, shaking her head. "We couldn't even get to him, everyone was pouring out of the stands trying to see what happened. Severus and I got separated and I got knocked down and trampled. Finally I went behind the stands to wait for him. It was a while before he caught up with me and he was in the middle of telling me what happened when we saw Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall running towards the castle with their wands drawn. We ran after them, but then Snape made me go to his office and wait." She scowled slightly and wondered what to say next. She knew she couldn't say anything about Snape going to the Dark Lord or the Order of the Phoenix. "...It was late when he finally came down to his office, well after midnight. Turns out the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Moody, well it wasn't actually Moody. It was a former Death Eater called Barty Crouch Jr. He used the Polyjuice Potion to assume the position at Hogwarts and that's how Potter was delivered to the Dark Lord. Crouch made the cup a portkey and made sure that Potter would be the one to grab it. He didn't know that Diggory and Potter would get there at the same time, they both grabbed the Cup and... Severus said Diggory was killed instantly. He was never supposed to be there. Then the Dark Lord and one of his servants made a potion and used Potter's blood to restore Him to full power..."

"So You-Know-Who is as strong as he was before?" Hawkins said quietly. "How did Potter escape?"

"They dueled I guess and Potter escaped. I don't really know how. From everything I've heard about the Dark Lord it seems impossible, but..."

"But it's Harry Potter," she said with a nod. "This isn't the first time he's beat You-Know-Who."

"Yeah... Severus said the Minister didn't believe the Dark Lord is back. He won't believe it. He had the opportunity to question Crouch, but he brought a dementor with him to the castle and- well, you know," Freddie said with a grimace. "So then Crouch couldn't say anything. But Severus said Fudge thought he was a raving lunatic. He wouldn't even listen to Potter in the Hospital Wing. Severus said Fudge is stubborn and that's only going to make things all the more difficult. He said things are going to get bad."

"Man," Hawkins said, running a hand through her blonde hair. "I remember how it was before, when I was growing up. People disappearing left and right. Parents wouldn't even let their kids go to Diagon Alley by themselves and half the shops were boarded up anyway. I was in school then, you know. They didn't allow Hogsmeade visits. Aurors were always coming and going from the castle, meeting with Dumbledore. Alot of Muggleborns went into hiding. I had a friend who was Muggleborn, Anna Hansen. She never came back for our seventh year and I never heard from her again. I don't know if they left the country or maybe she died..."

"That's terrible."

"Do you remember what it was like back then? How old were you?"

"I was only 7," Freddie said, shaking her head. "I don't remember much."

"You're lucky."

What Freddie couldn't tell Hawkins was that she did remember what it was like back then, but her experience was vastly different. She remembered her parents meeting with other Death Eaters in masks, remembered being constantly shuffled from one room to the next, being locked in her bedroom half the time so she'd stay out of the way. And she remembered the night the Dark Lord fell, remembered her mother crying and screaming... and then the Aurors came to arrest her parents. She'd seen everything through a crack in a cabinet where she'd been hiding...she'd seen one of the Aurors killed before the others subdued her parents and dragged them off to Azkaban prison.

"So you stayed with Snape at the castle last night?" Hawkins asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah," Freddie said with a weak smile. "It was early morning when we finished talking about everything and...he asked me to stay. He even said please."

"Whoa," she said. "I can't imagine Snape saying please."

"It doesn't happen often," she said, chuckling softly. "I didn't wake up til around 11 this morning. We had tea and then I came straight in."

"You don't have to be here today, Gray, it's fine. You should go home and get some rest. Sounds like you had a rough night."

"I'm fine," she said, shaking her head. "I don't want to miss work, I'm sure there's plenty to do-"

"I'm serious, Gray. Go home. You haven't taken a day off in weeks. You weren't even supposed to be here yesterday and you came in anyway."

"Well..." Freddie said hesitantly. She was still a bit tired...and hungry. She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon.

"Go home, Gray. That's an order."

"Alright," she said reluctantly, rising from the chair. "You'll send for me if you need me? Or if something really cool comes in?"

"We can survive without you for one day. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you."