It was late the next morning when Freddie woke up naked and alone in Snape's quarters. She stretched and rolled over to his side of the bed. His pillow was cold and she had no idea how long he'd been gone. She checked her watch and saw that it was nearly 9 o'clock already. She knew he'd always been an early riser, but usually he at least tried to wake her up.

She got up slowly and got dressed, feeling a little sore from their activities after they had returned to the castle last night. Usually after a night like last night Snape would have been waiting for her with a pot of Blend 19, a tea that had pain-relieving properties, but he was nowhere to be seen. The door to his office was shut and she wondered if he were waiting for her in there. She pressed her ear to the door first, trying to see if she could hear anyone in there with him. When she didn't she opened the hidden panel to find Snape wasn't at his desk – but Ziggy was. The red-furred kneazle was laying on a stark of parchments on top of Snape's desk and he greeted her with a purr and a meow.

"Good morning, Zigzag," she said, walking over to scratch his head. "You missed all the excitement on the grounds last night. Do you know where Severus is?"

Ziggy only purred in response and blinked at her with his bright green eyes. The door to the Brewing Lab was shut but she checked it anyway. Unsurprisingly Snape was not there. They'd bottled the Calming Draught last night, maybe he'd taken it to Madam Pomfrey?

She decided to wait for him, sitting down at his desk with a loud yawn. Her stomach growled and for a moment she wished she were still a student so she could go upstairs to the breakfast feast laid out in the Great Hall. But not being a student certainly has its advantages, she thought with a smile, remembering how they had spent the evening before falling asleep in each others arms.

"Noelle," she called aloud and the wrinkly house-elf appeared with a crack.

"Good morning, Mistress Gray," the elf said cheerfully. "You is waiting for Master Snape?"

"Yeah. Do you think you could bring me a pot of tea while I wait? Blend 19?"

"Of course," Noelle said, her large ears flapping as she nodded her head eagerly. "Would you likes breakfast, too? We is just starting to clean up from this morning."

"That'd be lovely, Noelle. Thank you."

It only took a few minutes for the house elf to return with Snape's glowing teapot and a tray with enough food to feed half a dozen people at least. When Noelle disappeared again Freddie began to chow down on the eggs, sausage, bacon and toast. The soreness ebbed away from her body as she drank her tea and she found herself even hungrier than she expected. Ziggy was lured off the stack of parchments by the scent of sausage and after taking a few for herself Freddie let him eat off the sausage plate. She was sipping her second cup of tea when the office door opened and she choked slightly.

"Ah, you're awake," Snape said as he entered the room, shutting the door behind himself. "I thought you'd still be in bed after last night's...activities."

"I got hungry," she admitted, smiling as he crossed the room to sit down across from her. "Noelle brought me breakfast – and tea. Where were you?"

"Upstairs. Having my own breakfast in the Great Hall."

"Did you try to wake me?" she asked, wondering if she just didn't remember.

"No. You looked peaceful and I figured you could use the rest – especially as you are intent on dueling with Miss Leroux at some point today. I thought that I would feel you wake up, but your Occlumency really has improved."

"Don't sound so disappointed."

"No, it is a good thing," he assured her. "I'm very proud of you."

Freddie flushed with pride and drained her teacup. Snape was eyeing Ziggy who was still eating from the plate of sausages on his desk. Ziggy grabbed the last sausage and jumped down to the floor.

"His food bowl is in my office," Freddie explained.

Wordlessly Snape drew his wand, waved it, and a bowl of water appeared on the floor beside the desk. Ziggy dropped the sausage and trotted over to the bowl, lowering his head to drink.

"Thanks," Freddie said gratefully, touched by his consideration for her furry companion.

"I let him in this morning. He was waiting outside the door for you," he told her.

"I'm surprised he didn't come out onto the grounds with us last night," she said, looking down at Ziggy. "What were you up to, hmm?"

"Perhaps he has a girlfriend?" Snape suggested with a small smirk.

"Aw. I don't think so though. I've only ever seen him hang out with Mrs Norris, he hasn't shown much interest in other animals."

"Perhaps Mrs Norris is his girlfriend?"

"Yuck!" Freddie said with a laugh. "She's like a grandma cat!"

"Stranger things have happened. When are you supposed to meet Miss Leroux?"

"I told her I'd come find her sometime this morning. Was she at breakfast?"

"I saw her leave the hall with Madame Maxime when I arrived."

"Oh no! You didn't tell on her, did you? You promised!"

"I told no one," he said, looking mildly annoyed. "Not even Dumbledore. He wasn't even at breakfast."

"Oh. Well I hope she's not in trouble," Freddie said, biting her lip anxiously. "I should probably go and find her – how long ago did you see her?"

"About an hour."

"Alright," she said and cleared away the breakfast mess with her wand. "Do you want to come with me to look for her?"

"No, I have work to do. ...Are you coming back this evening?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant about it.

"I have to go in to the hospital to start work on the Wolfsbane and it might take a while, but I can come after. If you want me to."

"I would."

"Alright then, I'll do that," she said with a grin. "Hey, if you see Dumbledore can you have him connect the floo in my office to yours? That way I don't have to Apparate back and forth. You know I'll have to tend the Wolfsbane every four hours during the night."

"I know. I'll see to it that he does."

"Thanks, Severus. I'll see you later. Ziggy, you coming? We're gonna go find Ada."

The kneazle perked up at the mention of the red-headed girl. He quickly scarfed down the rest of his sausage and followed Freddie to the door.

"Goodbye, Winifred. Good luck in your duel."