An Even Greater Challenge

Chapter 6 – Thawing

For half a heartbeat, both Severus and the child were too stunned to move. Then, blinking a thin trickle of blood out of his eye, Severus jumped to his feet, his anger temporarily making him see red.

'WINTERCHILD! HOW DARE YOU?' Sophie had jumped to her feet too and now she cowered away from him, backing herself into the corner between the desk and the wall. Severus could see that she'd definitely come off worse than him when the glass exploded and there were tiny cuts all over her face and arms. Breathing hard through his nose, he occluded his mind, pushing his anger down to the deep recesses of his mind. 'Winterchild,' he began again, in a quieter voice, 'let me heal those cuts and then we need to talk.' Severus took a step forward, unsheathing his wand without thinking. He stopped as the child dropped into a crouch, shielding her head. He was immediately thrown back into a memory of their detention together the previous year, the first time he had properly realised that there was something strange going on with this child.

'I'm sorry sir! I'm sorry…' She was trembling so much that her whole voice shook. She was clearly terrified.

'Winterchild, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you.' Severus could see that she wasn't listening to him – her breathing was fast and shallow and her face was the colour of wet parchment. 'Merlin's sake,' he muttered to himself, quickly summoning a calming draft. He stepped forward, dropping into a crouch beside her. 'Drink this, Sophie.'

'No!' She gasped, shaking her head violently and raising her arms to protect her face. Her breathing had now reached the point of hyperventilating and Severus realised that he had perhaps another minute before she blacked out.

'Sophie!' He grasped her shoulder and shook her gently. 'This is a calming draft. I do not wish to use my wand and spell the contents into your stomach but I will have to if you refuse to drink it.' The child's trembling had stilled somewhat and she appeared to be taking in what he was telling her. 'I am not going to hurt you, Sophie. I want you to drink this potion. It will make you feel better.' When the child dropped her hands so that she could take the potion bottle from him, Severus was chagrined to see that there were tears rolling down her face. To his knowledge, this was the first time that she'd cried in the week since she'd been left her aunt and uncle's custody and there was a part of him that was relieved to see the tears as he'd been concerned by their absence. Without protesting again, the child took the potion bottle and downed its contents. Immediately her breathing became slightly less erratic and some colour returned to her cheeks. The tears rolling down her cheeks continued.

'That's better, how do you feel Sophie?' He received a shrug and another sob in response to his question. Severus used his wand to summon a bottle of dittany and a soft cloth. 'I'm going to heal those cuts now, stay still.' She seemed to freeze under his touch until he had backed away again, cloth and bottle in hand. 'Now, Sophie, we need to talk and I don't think the place to do it is crouched on the floor of my office, do you? Come and sit by the desk.' The only reply he received was a muffled sniff.

Gently, Severus led her over to his desk and sat her down on a chair. Then, taking the chair opposite her, he waited until her sobs had lessened into hiccups before he spoke.

'How are you feeling, child?' Peeking out from behind her ratty hair, Sophie gave a tiny shrug. Severus sighed internally and leaned forward. Predictably, the child flinched back. 'I'm not going to hurt you Sophie,' he reiterated, as patiently as he could. 'However, we do need to talk.'

'About… what?' Sophie hiccupped. Her usual contentious tone was conspicuously absent and she was still sitting as far from him as she could possibly get without physically leaving her chair.

'About what just happened,' Severus clarified.

'I'm sorry about the window, sir!' It came no surprise that she had immediately apologised - the child seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time apologising for things.

'Sophie, accidental magic is exactly that, an accident. I am not angry about that.'

'But you are angry with me?' The tremor was evident in her voice.

'Yes child,' Severus said simply, 'I have given you fair warning I think, that I do not tolerate foul language. I have also asked that you show me respect. For the past week, you have repeatedly ignored these requests. You have pushed every boundary that I have set, whether it is a request for you to arrive on time to meals or simply to respond civilly when I speak to you. I would like to know what is going on?'

'Are you going to punish me?' The child asked abruptly, pushing her chair back a few inches.

'Yes Sophie, I am going to punish you, but…'

'If you're going to punish me, can we get it over with before we talk, please Professor?' The pleading tone in her voice took Severus slightly by surprise.

'Very well, Sophie.' Thinking on his feet, Severus flicked his wand once and a sheaf of parchment appeared out of thin air on the desk between them. 'Once we are done with this conversation, you will write I will not use foul language one hundred times. Then I will show proper respect for other people one hundred times. Do I make myself clear?' At some point during this little speech, the child had flicked her ratty hair out of her eyes and she was now looking suspiciously at him from across the table.

'Is that it? You aren't going to… to do anything to me, I mean…'

'What would you expect me to do to you, Sophie?' Severus asked mildly.

'The last time I exploded a lamp in my aunt and uncle's house, they put me in the cellar for a week without any light or any food or…' She suddenly clapped her hand over her mouth, seemingly horrified at what she'd let slip.

Severus quickly occluded his mind against the wave of fury that threatened to overwhelm him.

'It's okay,' he told her gently. Then, 'have I not already told you already that I will never punish you like that, Sophie. In my house you will be made to write lines or do chores. I may choose to send you to bed early or I may take something you like away from you for a period of time. However, I will never, never punish you by physically hurting you or withholding food or drink or by locking you up in the dark for days on end. You have my word.' Breathing slightly harder than normal, Severus leaned back in his chair, looked up at the intricate plaster-work on the ceiling and counted silently to ten. Then, he looked back at his ward, who was staring at him in confusion and disbelief. She clearly didn't believe him at all. Severus felt a wave of annoyance and struggled to keep it off his face. Without meaning to, he suddenly laid it all out in the open.

'Look, Sophie, I know that it's going to take some time for you to trust me and that's okay. Hopefully at some point in the future you will start to believe me when I tell you that I will not hurt you.' She nodded slowly and he recognised that was all the admission he was going to get at this point and changed the subject. 'Now, I would like to know why your attitude has been so awful for the past few days and why you have been pushing boundaries, seemingly just for the sake of it.'

Predictably, the child shrugged and dropped her eyes to the tabletop.

'None of that, Sophie, I have not pushed you to talk about anything since you arrived here nearly a week ago but I am drawing the line here. You are going to talk to me about this at the very least.'

Silence.

'Well?'

There was another awkward silence before the child finally opened her mouth.

'It's just that on my first day here you said that you would punish me if I misbehaved.'

'Yes, that is true,' Severus acknowledged, 'and I will.'

'But… but then you didn't!' Sophie suddenly burst out. 'You didn't do anything any time I was rude or I turned up late for things or…' She trailed off but then started up again with renewed vigour. 'It made me really nervous when you didn't do what you said you were going to do. Sometimes my uncle wouldn't punish me right away either but it was always worse when he'd held on to it for a few days.' She didn't seem to even realise what she'd let slip and Severus was careful to keep his expression blank. 'I… I didn't know when you were going to punish me and the longer it went on, the more nervous I got.' Understanding suddenly flashed through Severus's brain.

'So you continued to push the boundaries to see how I would react?' The child nodded miserably.

'It, it felt like there was something just building and building inside me until…' She gestured despondently to the window.

'I'm sorry Sophie.' Severus said quietly. Sophie stared at him, seemingly in shock. 'Whilst I am not excusing your behaviour, I realise that I am also at fault here as I did not abide by what I had told you in our earlier conversation. I thought that I was doing what was best for you by giving you time to settle in but I realise now that I was wrong. Once again, I can only apologise Sophie.' The child's eyes were bugging out slightly by the time Severus had finished speaking but when he smiled at her, he was rather surprised to receive a small one in return.

'It's okay, sir.'

'Sophie, have I not asked you to call me Severus?' He reminded her. This time he received a proper smile in return. 'Now, you have several hundred lines to write for me,' Severus smirked as her smile faded, 'would you prefer to write them here or up in your room?' He'd given her a choice but he'd fully expected her to leave his presence immediately, the way that she had every other time he had tried to spend time with her over the past week. He was therefore both surprised and pleased by her answer.

'Can I write them here with you please?'

'Of course, child. Let me just clear up the glass and mend the window and you can work at the table.' Severus got to his feet and crossed over to the table. In just a few flicks of his wand, he had sent the shattered glass back into the pane and cleared the residual glass dust from the table and chairs. 'Bring the parchment,' he told her as she got to her feet too.

Settling himself back down behind his desk, he pulled Secrets of the Ancient Craft towards himself and started to read it. The child hesitated a moment, then picked up the sheaf of parchment and the quill he'd balanced on top of it. A few more seconds passed before he realised that she hadn't crossed over to the table.

'What is it, Sophie?' He asked, looking up from his book.

'I… I just wanted to say thank you, Professor. I mean thank you Severus,' she mumbled.

'That's okay. I think we both have some learning to do, Sophie, and it will take us both some time. I need to learn how to be a guardian and you need to learn to trust the fact that you are now living with someone who will treat you fairly and kindly. Is that okay?' The child nodded and then, without another word, she crossed over to the desk, sat down and started to write.

It was close to ninety minutes later when the scratching of her quill finally came to an end. She had borne her punishment without a single sound of complaint and Severus had to admit that he was slightly surprised and a little impressed – most children would at least have made some complaint when their hand started to ache after the hundredth line or so. He looked up and saw that she was staring down at the parchment.

'Are you done Sophie?' She jumped perceptively but then looked up at him and nodded. 'Bring them here.' She did as she was asked and handed him several sheets of parchment. He was surprised by just how neat and tidily she had written every single line – there was no deterioration in handwriting throughout the whole piece. 'Very good,' he told her, handing them back to her. 'I suggest that you keep them as a reminder for the next time you need one.' He noticed then that she was standing as far from him as she could and her expression was wary once more. Another slight spasm of annoyance thrilled through him and he had to remind himself for what felt like the millionth time to be patient. 'Very well then Sophie, your punishment is over and we will say no more about it. Now, I believe that Mim has had lunch ready for us for some time now so we…'

'Is that really it? It's really over?' The child interrupted.

'Yes, Sophie, your punishment is over. Until the next time of course if there is a next time.' Severus tried to interject some humour into his tone but it fell flat. 'Now let us get some lunch and then I suggest a walk as the sun has finally come out and I'm sure that it won't grace us with its presence for very long.'

He got to his feet and swept out of the office and into the dining room across the hall – he was starving as he'd taken breakfast at half past six that morning and had only had a piece of dragon shortbread in the meantime and lunch had now been delayed by an hour whilst the child completed her lines. He was therefore pleased to see the huge bowls of thick and steaming vegetable soup, the homemade bread and the cheese board, fruit and cake that Mim had left for them on the dining table.

'Help yourself, Sophie.' He was relieved and pleased when the child sat down in her usual place and started nibbling at a slice of bread and butter without protest.

****SW****

Sophie had to admit that she felt more at ease now that the air had been cleared although she still didn't quite trust the man sitting opposite her across the table. He was reading a letter and spooning up his soup in a way that suggested that he wasn't even thinking about her but she just couldn't be one hundred percent sure that he had really meant it when he'd said that was the end of her punishment. Lines – had that really been it? Sophie gently flexed her right hand and then winced, wishing she hadn't because it still felt sore and cramped after the last ninety minutes of writing. She suddenly remembered something else and felt her cheeks reddening slightly with shame.

'I'm sorry I cried, sir!' The words came out before she could stop them. Snape started backwards in surprise, dropping his spoon back into his soup.

'Merlin's beard child, what on earth do you mean?' He seemed confused and a little bit taken aback and Sophie felt her cheeks growing even hotter and wished that she'd kept her mouth shut and left him to his letter. She dropped her eyes to her untouched soup.

'I'm sorry I cried, sir, I mean Severus. I won't do it again, I promise and I…' She heard the sound of a chair being pushed back and then footsteps as Snape walked round the table until he was standing beside her. Then he pulled out the chair next to hers and sat down, turning her chair so that she was facing him and not the table.

'Look at me please, Sophie.' It was hard to do what he'd asked but Sophie finally managed to raise her eyes until she was looking into his obsidian ones. For once, instead of the usual blankness, she could see kindness and a hint of concern staring back at her. 'Child, why on earth would you feel the need to apologise for crying?'

'But…' Sophie was completely perplexed by his response. Hadn't Aunt Josephine told her repeatedly that crying was totally unacceptable? Sophie remembered breaking down in tears over her mother's death on two occasions after her first arrival at her aunt and uncle's house all those years ago. The first had earned her a slap and the second a beating that had left her unable to sit down for a week. There had been no third occasion although on the very few occasions their punishments had brought her to tears, she had been swiftly reminded that crying was not tolerated.

'Sophie?' Snape probed in a voice that was now so gentle that Sophie felt even more confused.

'I cried,' she mumbled. As usual, the confusion was making her angry and she took in a deep breath to control herself. 'Crying isn't allowed. It's wrong and weak and…' A look of intense fury passed swiftly over the Potions Master's face and she trailed off, suddenly afraid although the expression was gone again almost immediately to be replaced by the usual calm, blank mask.

'Who told you that, Sophie?' Snape's voice was calm but there was a hint of forced control that had her shrinking back in her seat.

'My Aunt Josephine,' Sophie mumbled. Snape breathed out harshly through his nose.

'That is once again the most misguided nonsense I have ever heard!' Sophie flinched at the anger in his voice and he immediately pushed his chair back a few inches and leaned away from her. When he spoke again, his tone was more moderated. 'Relax child, I am not angry with you. I am angry that you have been led to believe something so utterly insane by your previous caregivers.' He brought his right hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose for several seconds. Then he lowered his hand and continued speaking. 'Listen carefully to me child; crying is a perfectly natural and perfectly healthy human response when our emotions become overwhelming. Everyone cries at one time or another and it can actually be a helpful release when things become too much for us to bear. You never have to apologise for crying to me or anyone else for that matter.' He stared at her for a few seconds, seemingly waiting for a response, but Sophie was too busy processing what he had said and in the end he got to his feet once more and walked back around the table until he got to his own seat. Sophie turned her chair until she was facing the table once more and then picked up a spoon. She honestly didn't feel very hungry – all of the emotion that morning had left her feeling empty and exhausted but she also knew that Snape wouldn't let her get away with missing another meal after the two bites of toast she'd had for breakfast.

For the first time in a week, the wind had died down enough for them to walk the cliff path and once lunch had been cleared, they left Snape's garden behind them and walked out along the breezy cliff top, the grey sea churning a long way below them. They walked in silence as was usual for them but this time the silence was an easy, pleasant one and Sophie felt more comfortable in the Professor's presence than she ever had before. On their return to the house, Snape told her that he had some potions to brew for St Mungo's and suggested as the sun was still shining she should take one of her books and read it in the garden. Sophie scowled at this suggestion but did as he suggested and actually became so engrossed in The Hobbit that she completely missed the passing of time and didn't realise that it was dinner time until she heard Snape's low baritone voice from behind her.

'Sophie, dinner was served ten minutes ago; did you not hear me calling you?' Sophie jerked upright, gasping as the abrupt movement sent a wave of agony through her back. Eyes watering from the pain, she glared up at Snape.

'I'm sorry sir!'

'That's okay child and I'm also sorry for startling you and causing you to jump. Are you okay?' Sophie tried to summon a sneer to her face but she was suddenly and abruptly exhausted and completely overwhelmed by the pain radiating up and down her back. She gulped.

'It hurts,' she whispered.

'Okay child, I know it does. Come in now and you can have a pain relief potion before your food.' Snape directed her into the downstairs bathroom to wash her hands and then steered her into the dining room and sat her down at the table. Even though the pain in her back was enough to make her feel slightly nauseous, Sophie stared distastefully at the familiar potion bottle in front of her place.

'I'm okay now sir,' she said as calmly and as levelly as she could. 'I don't need it.' She heard him sigh at that and didn't dare look up at him. She could imagine the disbelieving and exasperated expression that he would be levelling at her.

'Don't lie to me,' he sounded more exhausted than anything else.

'I'm not! I don't need it!' Even as she spoke, her back gave a particularly painful twinge and her last protest ended in a squeak.

'Why do you continue to resist when you know that it will make you feel better in a few seconds?'

'Because…' Sophie squinted up at him, wondering if she could tell him the truth. After all, he had already heard some of it already today and perhaps if he understood her reasoning, he might stop forcing her to drink his potions.

'Because what, child?'

'Because I don't want to take it in case… in case it makes me sick or it makes it hurt more or…' Sophie didn't feel as if she'd been particularly eloquent in her explanation and this feeling was compounded when Snape looked down at her in confusion.

'But why would I give you something that would make you sicker? Have I ever given you a potion that makes you feel worse than you already do?'

'No but…' Sophie began, suddenly feeling confused herself.

'But what, child?'

'But… but sometimes my aunt and uncle would give me things that were supposed to make me feel better only they would make me feel worse.' He was still looking at her strangely so she continued without taking the proper care and without planning what she was going to say next. 'Aunt Josephine used to give me pain potions and sometimes they would make me feel better but other times they would make my tummy go all funny and then she wouldn't let me use the toilet and when I had an accident everyone would laugh at me and she would punish me.' Sophie realised with horror that she'd done it again and said too much. Feelings of humiliation and anger were rising up inside her. She'd had enough of Snape for one day – if he though that she was going to drink his stupid pain potion then he was stupid. 'I just don't want to drink it, okay? And you can't make me! So why don't you just leave me alone?'

'Watch your tone please, Sophie.' His response was predictable but without the usual malice but she shrank back in her chair even so. There were a few seconds of silence before he spoke again. 'I understand what you've told me and I'm very sorry that you had to experience that. Nobody should be treated in that way.'

'It's okay, sir- Severus.'

'It's not okay, child. Listen to me and believe me when I tell you that nobody and I mean nobody deserves to be treated in that way.' Sophie bit her lip – she'd always been told that the beatings and punishments they gave her were mild compared to others and that she deserved them. She wasn't quite sure that she believed Snape now, when he told her otherwise. 'I will repeat what I have already asked you. Have I ever, ever given you a potion that has made you feel worse than you already did?' Snape went on, his black eyes boring into her own.

'No but…'

'But nothing, Sophie, you need to remember what I said to you earlier. It's going to take some time but you need to learn to trust that you are now living with someone who will always treat you fairly and kindly. I will always always want what is best for you and I will always be concerned about your general wellbeing. I have always been concerned about this before I even became your guardian.'

Sophie fought to keep a sneer off her face as she remembered some of their altercations during her first year at Hogwarts during which Snape had made his dislike of her painfully clear. Even so, thinking back, the Potions Master might have been impatient and condescending with her and had given her detention on one occasion, but he'd also enquired about her wellbeing and checked how she was settling into school. He'd told her to go to the hospital wing on one occasion and bodily escorted her there on another when she'd refused to go. Perhaps, in his own way he had been genuinely concerned about her although she'd failed to see it at the time. Sophie took a deep breath. Her back twinged again and she made up her mind. Without protesting again, she leaned forward and picked up the potion bottle, downing the contents in one long pull. The relief was instantaneous.

****SS****

After dinner Severus asked Sophie if she would like to join him in the living room for a game of wizard's chess. He saw the child hesitate a moment and anticipated her turning him down in favour of going up to her bedroom. However, once again, he was pleasantly surprised when she awkwardly accepted his offer and followed him into the living room. As a treat, he summoned Mim and asked him to bring in a plate of cookies and hot coco.

'Now, don't think you'll be getting sugary treats after dinner every evening,' Severus said lightly, trying to interject some humour into his tone. For the first time, Sophie actually responded to the jest with a small smile of her own. Severus, congratulating himself on the win, set up the chess board on the coffee table in front of the fireplace. Then, using his wand, he directed two of the armchairs to either side of the table. He took the seat facing the window and gestured for the child to take the one opposite.

'I don't really know how to play, sir-Severus,' she admitted, sliding into the seat. Severus noticed that she was shivering slightly. The temperature in the house was unseasonably cold for July and Mim, probably not realising that they would be sitting in the living room hadn't lit the fire, (for the past week, the child had gone straight to her bedroom after dinner and Severus to his office). Severus drew his wand and flicked it at the grate and the flames immediately sprang into life as if the fire had been blazing there for a long time. Sophie jumped horribly and pushed her chair back reflexively.

'I'm sorry for startling you, child...' Severus began, trailing off when he realised that she was staring at the dancing flames with a look of abject terror on her face. 'Sophie?' Swiftly he got to his feet once more and walked round the table until he was standing beside her. 'Sophie, you're okay, child. You're safe.' He placed a hand gently on her shoulder and she started upwards, looking round fearfully until her searching eyes landed on him. Her terrified expression then merged into one of annoyance and she scowled at him.

'What?'

'Is everything okay, Sophie? You seemed miles away for a moment there.' Severus said, moving back to his own chair. The child shrugged and dropped her eyes to the chessboard.

'I don't know how to play,' she repeated. Severus hesitated for one second, wondering if he should press the point. Then, deciding not to at this moment in time, he smirked at her.

'Then it's a good job I happen to be a very good teacher, isn't it?'

They played chess together for almost an hour with Severus patiently teaching Sophie the rules of the game. She was a good student in this at the very least, Severus thought, and she picked it up quickly and intelligently. With a bit of practice, he was sure that she would be up for giving him a challenging game in the near future. Severus called a halt on the game eventually because he could see that the child was flagging – she was drooping in her seat and, despite trying to hide it, she was clearly exhausted.

'Up you go, Sophie and get ready for bed,' Severus told her, using his wand to direct the chess pieces back into their box. 'That was a really enjoyable game, thank you.' He gave her a gentle smile.

'Thank you, Severus,' Sophie answered, smiling tentatively back at him. She got slowly to her feet, her entire body drooping in a way that told Severus that she was beyond shattered. It was the first time that she'd used his first name without stumbling over it or hesitating and Severus was definitely counting that fact as another small win.

'I'll be up in about ten minutes to dress your back,' he told her, getting to his feet too. Predictably the smile slid off Sophie's face at his words and her shoulders immediately hunched up around her ears. Without saying another word, she slouched out of the room. Severus sighed quietly to himself, annoyed that he'd been forced to dampen the mood on what had been an extremely successful afternoon and also feeling slightly frustrated by the whole situation and then equally frustrated at himself for his own frustration. After all, he himself had been the one to point out less than a week ago that forward progress with this child was bound to be slow and Minerva had reiterated the same thing only that morning. Progress had been next to non-existent for the past week and today they had come on leaps and bounds in a very short space of time indeed. He couldn't expect it to be smooth flying from here on out and they were bound to come across many more hurdles even if they'd made some tentative steps in the right direction today.

Severus gave the child a few minutes to use the bathroom and get into her nightclothes before following her upstairs, detouring via his Potions laboratory for a bottle of dreamless seep potion enroute. When he reached the upstairs corridor, he found her bedroom door open and, hearing noises of water running in the bathroom across the hall, he entered the room without knocking and set the bottle down on her bedside cabinet. Then, he used his wand to dim the lights slightly, straightened the curtain overlap so that the morning light wouldn't seep in through the chink and wake her too early and checked that the fire was smouldering safely and that no chunks of coal or wood were in imminent danger of falling.

Predictably, when Sophie entered the room two minutes later, she was dragging her heals and looking as though she'd rather be anywhere else.

'Come and lie down on your front, Sophie – you know the drill by now.' She scowled and hesitated, but finally did as he'd asked without argument.

The healing progress of her lacerated back was undeniably so painfully slow that Severus was honestly struggling to see any observable changes on a day-to-day basis. He winced now as he unwrapped the dressings, gently wiped the area with an antibacterial wash and applied the topical antiseptic salve and the fresh dressing, and hoped that he wasn't hurting her too badly. It was clear to him that if this rate of healing continued (or lack of healing), the child was going to be on pain relief for some weeks, possibly months, still. Severus flicked his wand and Sophie's pajamas reappeared out of thin air with a faint pop.

'All done, Sophie, well done. I'm sorry if that was painful for you.' He received no response to his words but she rolled over careful, suppressing a wince as the new dressings tugged in a strange way at the skin of her back. 'Are they feeling any better at all?' Severus asked but once again, in spite of the forward progress they'd made that day, he only received a scowl and a shrug in response to his question.

'Very well,' he said tiredly, 'get into bed now. Do you want to read for a time or do you think that you're ready for sleep?'

'I'm tired,' the tone of her words was so hostile that Severus imagined her adding a duh or a stupid on the end.

'Very well,' he said again and reached for the potion bottle. 'I would like you to take this tonight. It's a strong dreamless sleep potion.'

'I…' The child began but stopped as Severus held up his hand to quiet her.

'You need a good night's rest, Sophie. I honestly believe that your exhaustion is hampering your healing – your body is literally too exhausted to contend with the wounds on your back.' The child opened her mouth to protest again, but then shut it again as he continued speaking, giving her no chance to speak. 'I promise that this will help. I will also say again that I will never, never give you something that will make you ill. I need you to start trusting me, Sophie.' The child looked at him for a few seconds, seemingly weighing his words.

'There's nothing bad about this potion at all?' Severus had already decided to be honest with her if she asked this question as he had decided that full transparency was needed with this child at the moment.

'Nothing in the way that you're thinking, Sophie, but of course there can be nasty side effects if the potion is taken in the wrong way or misused, like with all medicines.' He saw her flinch and hurried to explain himself. 'Like most dreamless sleep potions, this one can cause dependency if taken too frequently. Also, like most, if taken too often it can stop working properly. However, for tonight I can promise you that nothing bad will happen if you take it.'

'And this will make my bad dreams go away?' Her voice was tiny. Severus nodded, feeling a slight tugging on his heart strings at her vulnerability.

'Yes, I can promise you that you won't dream at all, Sophie and, not that you need it as you seem very tired, it will also help you fall asleep quickly and remain asleep throughout the night.' There was a long pause as she digested what he had said.

'Okay then.'

The feelings of respite and relief that surged through him at her surrender were so intense that Severus was temporarily blindsided. Struggling to keep his emotions from showing on his face, he offered her the potion.

'Well done, child,' he said softly, spontaneously reaching out and squeezing her shoulder with his free hand. Then, seeing the effort that this was costing her, her said no more and waited while she seemed to steel herself together. It was nearly a minute later when she finally reached forward and took it from him. Her hand trembled slightly as she raided it to her lips and swallowed.

'Well done, Sophie,' Severus repeated, squeezing her shoulder again before taking the empty bottle off her. 'I'll be downstairs if you need me in the next three hours or so or in my bedroom after that. Goodnight now.' He extinguished the lamps with a flick of his wand and made his way towards the door, putting a stray slipper out of the tripping zone as he went in case the child got up during the night. He had reached the door and was pulling it shut behind him when she finally replied, her voice husky with tiredness.

'Goodnight Severus, can we play chess again, please?' Severus smiled widely to himself, knowing that she would be unable to see his expression, backlit as it was by the light from the corridor outside.

'Of course we can, Sophie. Goodnight now, I'm sure you will have a good sleep tonight.' He gently pulled the door towards him, leaving a small inch-wide crack behind him. He paused, listening hard, and heard a gentle sigh from inside the room, followed by soft rhythmical breathing – she was already asleep.

It had been a strange and exhausting day but in spite of his early rising and his own tiredness, Severus did not make the most of a night of uninterrupted sleep. For a start, he was up until well past midnight reading in his office, and secondly, when he finally did make his way up to bed, he found that even without the constant interruptions from the guest room across the hall, he was restless and kept waking up, convinced that he'd overslept or missed the child's cries. As a result, he slept through his usual alarm charm (not that he had anything in particular to wake up for that day), and woke up over an hour late for breakfast. Feeling better rested but slightly hurried by the late hour, Severus rushed through his normal morning ablutions and then went out to wake Sophie for breakfast, deciding that over thirteen hours of uninterrupted sleep was enough for the time being. He gently pushed open her bedroom door.

'Wake up Sophie, it's time to get up.' There was no response from the child – she didn't even stir. All Severus could see of her in the light coming in from the landing was a small lump under the bedclothes. She was so tiny, she was almost invisible in the huge four poster bed. Still talking in a low voice so as to wake her up gently, he crossed over to the window and cracked open the heavy curtains. As a stream of thin, watery daylight fell across her face, Sophie mumbled something and turned over, throwing up an arm instinctively to shield her eyes.

'It's time for breakfast, child,' Severus said, still keeping his voice low so as not to startle her. He glanced out of the window to where the sun was trying its best to shine but was having to contend with huge banks of heavy purple rainclouds. 'Another beautiful day it seems,' he said sarcastically, looking back towards the bed. The child was slowly coming to – blinking her sleepy eyes, her hair tousled and messy on the pillow. 'You seem to have had a much better night, Sophie, how do you feel this morning?'

Sophie finally seemed to focus on him and she pushed herself cautiously up the bed and into a sitting-up position. She opened her mouth but instead of speaking, she suddenly gasped, her whole face contorting.

'Sophie?' He took a step towards the bed. 'Is everything okay?' She wasn't even looking at him now – she seemed to have frozen, her eyes locked on her knees, still covered with the blankets. 'Are you in pain, child? Do you need me to fetch you a pain relief?' Severus asked, taking another step forward. He was more concerned by her behaviour now than he'd been even the previous day.

'I'm sorry!' The words were breathy and panicky, her voice barely above a whisper. She still seemed to be completely unable to meet his eyes.

'What…?' Severus took another step forward and then stopped, realising with a flash of both understanding and a sympathy what the problem was because, once again, the faint tang of ammonia hung heavy in the air around the bed. He wrinkled his nose involuntarily but hastily smoothed out his expression before the child could look up and see.

'It's okay, child, it is of no consequence,' he told her, as gently as possible, 'up you get now and get cleaned up. Mim will change the sheets.'

She did as she was told immediately – hanging her head and still refusing to look at him, she slid off the bed and stood, barefoot and trembling beside the bed in her soaked pajamas.

'I'm sorry, sir.'

'As I have already said, it is of no consequence. It is not your fault, child.' Severus instinctively crossed the remaining distance between them, reached out and gently squeezed the child's shaking shoulder. He was gratified when she didn't immediately flinch away from him.

'I didn't even have any bad dreams. I don't know why it happened. It usually only happens when I have bad dreams…' Sophie's voice trembled slightly and then died out completely.

'Look at me please, Sophie.' It took her two attempts before she did as he had asked. 'You have nothing to be ashamed of, child and nothing to apologise for. What you have been through…' He trailed off, breathing hard through his nose before he continued. 'Well, nobody should have to endure that. Your body and mind have both been through unimaginable trauma and it will take some time for both to heal. I can assure you that this is a perfectly natural response and it will stop in time.'

'You aren't angry?'

'I'm not in the least bit angry, child,' Severus told her, squeezing her shoulder again. 'Go and have a quick shower now and I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast in twenty minutes. Is there anything in particular that you fancy this morning?' It was the first time that he had asked her to choose what she ate at his house and he fully expected her to shrug and scowl at him in response. Instead, she surprised him when she looked up at him and actually answered his question.

'Can I please have some porridge?' Her voice was tentative and she sounded as if she was expecting him to rebuff her at any moment.

'Of course you can. I'll see you downstairs.'

They left the room together; Sophie for the bathroom and Severus for the dining room and the large cup of strong black coffee that had been calling to him for some time now.

Thank you for my reviews and messages. I always find them inspiring so I decided to update a little early. I will try and update again around Christmas and definitely by the start of January. Please let me know what you think so far.