It had to be Potter. It always was, somehow. Every time there was a disturbance in the halls at night, it was Potter. Moody and Snape had heard it too. Snape was on his side; he knew Potter caused most of the problems that had emerged in the last few years. The damn fourth year was just so hard to catch in the act. That is, of course, except for the time he'd had the nerve to petrify Mrs. Norris practically in front of him.

Argus continued his sweep of the halls for the night. As he rounded the corner by the library, he heard a familiar voice. "Get off of me!" The sound of a body slamming against the wall alerted him, and he took off running towards the direction the sound came from.

As he peaked around a side corridor, he saw the Deputy pointing her wand at the Russian professor that, in his first agreement with the rest of the staff, Argus had a bad feeling about. Over the past few months, he'd shared a few, normally, rare moments with some of the other professors with comments about the visiting schools. For him, it had created even more of a mess to clean for people even more intolerable and ungrateful than the normal students. "I came to talk!" Karkaroff was picking himself off the floor, presumably the body Argus had heard slam moments before. He had to chuckle to himself at the sight of it.

McGonagall's eyes were fierce; Argus had gotten nasty looks from her before, but nothing compared to the hate he saw in that moment. "I believe I made it quite clear that I have no desire to speak to you, Igor. I have nothing to say."

"I don't care what you desire. I'm not going to ask you again."

"If you wanted the information about the Dark Lord so badly, you shouldn't have fled like a coward. Maybe you'd have a seat at the table."

With a single flick, Karkaroff sent her wand flying, and panic immediately washed over Argus. He was helpless if Karkaroff tried anything. "Then I guess we're going to do this the hard way, hm?"

Despite McGonagall's best efforts to get her wand back, the man loomed over her, and Argus watched as Karkaroff pinned her against the wall of the corridor. "You're not getting anything out of me," she muttered, spitting in his face.

Karkaroff's face twitched, but Argus thought he looked more scared than threatening. "I will ask one more time. What has Severus told you? Is he coming back?" As the other man reached for the buttons on McGonagall's blouse, Argus fled, his stomach lurching at what was about to happen.

He didn't care much for magic, and he didn't care much for the school. But it was his home, and despite the animosity between them, he never wanted to see any of the staff hurt. With his parents gone, they were the closest thing he had to family. McGonagall, especially. Of course, she'd never been particularly kind to him, but she'd always been fair, and that was enough. As his heart raced, he ran as fast as he could to the only person he could think of to help, dropping his mop and bucket along the way.

When he reached the Potion Master's office, he banged as hard as he could on the door, breathing heavily from the run. Snape opened the door, looking especially irritated at his presence. "What do you want?"

"McGonagall-," Argus managed to huff out. Without another word, Snape walked out the door, pulling Argus down the hall with him.

"What?"

As Argus led him to the scene, he tried to explain what had happened. "It was only a minute I was there, sir. She was fighting with Karkaroff, she was. When I got there, she had 'im on the floor, but the next thing I know, he has her pinned up on the wall."

Unable to see the other man's face, he could feel the hand that dragged him down the hall begin to shake. Both running, they made it to the corridor in the matter of minutes, Snape letting go of him as soon as he heard the two voices. "I'll hex you myself."

Argus peaked around the corner to see McGonagall had regained her wand, holding it at Karkaroff's neck, her blouse ripped open, much to his disgust. He hoped that was all that happened in the time he was gone. Much to Argus's surprise, the moment Snape entered the scene, he did something that Argus had never seen a wizard do before- he shoved his wand in his pocket and hit Karkaroff with such force, the man fell to the ground and was out cold.

While Karkaroff worked to regain his conscious, Argus watched as Snape grabbed McGonagall, pulling her against him almost immediately. "Min, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied, her voice indicating otherwise.

Trying not to watch the couple, but also not quite ready to leave, Argus picked up his mop and bucket. Both were breathing heavily, and Snape had his nose buried in her hair. "Did he?" he asked so softly that Argus almost couldn't hear.

"No," she replied. Argus felt relief wash over him. "How did you know?"

"Filch, come here," Snape replied.

Revealing himself, he saw her cheeks redden. He knew he had seen her in a way she would never want to be seen. "Mr. Filch, how did you know?"

"I saw him, ma'am. When he went after you, I went and got Professor Snape."

McGonagall rubbed her temples, dislodging some of her hair. "Thank you, Mr. Filch. Not a word, do you hear me?"

He nodded vigorously. "I'm glad you're okay, ma'am."

"Yes, well," she muttered, pulling away from Snape and attempting to button her now ripped blouse. Her brassiere was completely exposed, and Argus tried not to look. Snape must have read his mind, because he muttered a spell Argus couldn't make out and mended it. "I should be finishing my rounds for the evening."

"No," Snape snapped. "Filch, get her to her rooms."

"Do not treat me like an invalid."

"I'll handle this," Snape replied, motioning towards Karkaroff. "Go." Silence fell between them as Snape's voice cracked uncharacteristically.

For the first time, McGonagall didn't put up a fight and marched off in the direction of her rooms. As Argus turned to leave, a hand caught his collar, and he felt himself dragged towards the Potion's Master. "You get her back to her rooms and wait there until I get there. If there is so much as a scratch on her when I'm back, I'll kill you myself," he hissed.

Argus nodded vigorously and followed behind the Deputy. When he caught up with her, McGonagall was climbing the stairs towards Gryffindor tower. "Mr. Filch, I assure you I'm fine on my own."

"Professor Snape asked me-,"

"I don't care what Severus asked you to do!" she snapped, turning around to face him. Her eyes were darting around, and he could see she was unnerved. He imagined even a close call could do that to you. Glancing down, he saw her knuckles were practically white, gripping to the railing. A moment of silence passed between them until she sighed. "Let's go," she said quietly. The rest of the walk was uneventful, and Argus hoped Snape would be back soon so that he could leave her be. When they reached her room, Minerva turned around again. "I apologize for snapping," she said, straightening her blouse as if to try and restore a big of dignity to herself.

Argus nodded. "I'm sorry that happened to you, ma'am."

She waved her hand, but Argus could see it tremble. "I don't want your apologies, is that clear? You did what you needed to do, and for that, I am grateful."

"I'm not so awful," he blurted out.

McGonagall widened her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"I'm saying, I suppose…I care about this school too. And all of you."

Her expression softened. "I know."

"You may go, Mr. Filch," a voice came from behind him. Snape was walking up the stairs and his eyes looked right past Argus to his lover.

"Good night," he said awkwardly.

Snape pushed past him, taking her hand, but she shoved him off, wrapping herself in her robes and walking into her room. "Never thought I'd say it, but thank you," Snape said.

"Take care of her, sir." Snape snorted and shut the door behind him.