Chapter 11

Disclaimer: JKR owns it except where I do.

Author's Note: Thanks to GrammarPolice and SlytherinsHeirx for their beta and britpicking skills. Without them, this chapter would be incomprehensible. ^_^

Chapter Eleven

...New Year's Day...

"Are you sure?" Minerva asked for the third time since she and Severus had arrived at Hogsmeade on the Hogwarts Express. The carriage ride from the station had been filled with a silent and scowling Potions master, who ignored her patent concern and stared out at the well-remembered scenery.

Severus paused in the Entrance Hall and glared at the Headmistress. "Woman, ask me that again and I'll take this stick to you." He was long past annoyed; his pain was past bearable, and he just wanted to be comfortable in his own quarters. "I am perfectly capable of climbing up and down staircases. I've been doing it for better than a month at Malfoy Manor."

"Yes, yes," Minerva said, "but the Manor staircases are wide and dry, not narrow and damp. I..."

"If you suggest one more time that I allow a house-elf to assist me to my quarters, I will take my chances with Azkaban." Severus turned to the dungeons stairs and, cane in one hand, the other hand on the banister, he slowly made his way downstairs, scowling at the few students who had stayed over the Christmas holidays and ignoring their whispers.

Minerva grimaced at his retreating back and, glaring at the lingering crowd, said, "What are you doing hanging about? Do you not have something better to do... like studying?" Students scattered every which way as she stormed up the main staircase on the way to her office.

* * *

"That man is impossible." She stormed into the Headmistress' office and slammed the door, shaking all the portraits into wakefulness.

"I take it Severus is back in the castle?" Albus asked calmly, looking down from the safety of his portrait. The other portraits looked on with interest. No more pretending to sleep for them. This was far more interesting.

Minerva pointed her wand at him and said, "If you say one word in his defence right now, Albus Dumbledore, I will transfigure your portrait into an urn and heave you out the nearest window."

Deciding that discretion might be the better part of valour, Albus quietly slid out of his painting to go look for another source of gossip.

Minerva took a pinch of Floo powder and tossed it into the fireplace. "Poppy Pomfrey," she said clearly, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, Minerva," came the reply as Poppy's head popped up in the fire.

"Could you come to my office, please," Minerva requested, "and bring something for a Severus-sized headache."

Poppy smiled. "Not even back one day and the two of you are already arguing. I'll bring something better."

A few minutes later, Poppy gave a perfunctory knock at the door and stuck her head in. "Is it safe?" she asked.

Minerva waved her into the office. "Did you bring me something for this headache?"

"Do you truly have a headache, or is it just the argument didn't go your way?" Poppy grinned, holding up a bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey and a platter of fudge brownies. "The chocolate will help the headache and the firewhiskey will dull any other pains."

Minerva snorted. "I had forgotten how testy Severus can be when he's hurting."

"A long trip on the Hogwarts Express, and the carriage ride from Hogsmeade station, would probably try the patience of a saint who's only been out of bed for seven weeks," Poppy said with a laugh, "and we all know Severus is no saint."

"I think your cure is working already," Minerva said with a smile, taking a bite of brownie. "I suppose I was trying to coddle him too much on the way here, but..."

"But you were concerned. I'm sure Severus understands. He's just so damned stubborn," Poppy said in commiseration.

"It's what kept him alive during the war," Albus said, having returned to his original portrait on the wall. "If he hadn't been, Tom would have killed him a long time ago."

"You're right, Albus," Minerva said, smiling slightly, "but don't let it go to your head."

"Too late." Poppy giggled as he scowled at her for her cheek. "Come on, Minerva, it's time for dinner. We can finish the brownies and firewhiskey for dessert."

"Indeed. Do you think Severus will deign to come to dinner or will he sulk in his rooms?" Minerva's voice trailed away as she and Poppy went down the stairs to the Great Hall.

* * *

Severus managed to get downstairs to his quarters with a minimum of hesitation in his steps. He hated that infernal cane and was determined to rid himself of it at the earliest opportunity. To that end, he decided to intensify the exercises Draco had him doing to build up the strength in his legs. There were potions as well, he knew, that could help without becoming habit forming.

At the door to his quarters, he raised his wand and sketched two runes in the air. A shimmer indicated that the protection spells he'd placed on his quarters were still in place and functioning. With a grimace of pain, he lowered the spells and moved forward to open the door.

The sitting room, a relaxing contrast of book-lined walls and comfortable chairs, was just as he'd left it eight months before. Apparently the house-elves had continued to care for the rooms, keeping the dust to a minimum while not disturbing his papers. Severus grunted. All was as it should be.

He limped over to his favourite chair in front of the fire, leaning heavily on the cane in his hand, and sat down with a sigh. It felt good to sit there with the warmth of the fire in his face. Looking around, he realized that this was probably the only place he could truly call home. Not even his house in Spinner's End, where he had lived as a boy, could he truly call a home.

"Winky?" he called.

A small 'pop' and, "Yes, Professor?" Winky said from behind him. Severus smiled. At least she was still here and willing to serve.

"Could you bring me some dinner?" he asked. "I'm too tired to go up to the Great Hall this evening."

"Of course, sir," Winky said enthusiastically. "Does Winky tell the Headmistress..."

"I don't think that's necessary," Severus said abruptly. "The Headmistress met me at the train in London and rode up with me. She undoubtedly knows how tired I am."

"Winky will bring the Professor Snape his dinner," the house-elf said and, with another 'pop', she was gone. A few moments later, a tray appeared on the low table next to his chair. On it sat a plate of medium rare beef, some roasted potatoes, and steamed broccoli with cheese sauce. A pot of tea sat steaming next to a cup, and he noticed the house-elves had even included a slice of chocolate cake...which he loved as much as Miss Granger did...for his dessert. Pleased with his dinner, and with more of an appetite than he'd had for some time, Severus fell to eating with a passion.

Later, as he finished eating with a sigh, the tray vanished back to the kitchens. He leaned his head against the back of the chair and stretched his legs out to the fire. Feeling so comfortable he didn't want to move, he sipped his tea and contemplated his future life.

Five years of basically forced servitude would actually fly by, he thought. By the time he was released, if he handled it right, he could have several new potions to patent and sell. At least he didn't have to answer to two masters...just Minerva...and she would be easier on him because he wasn't being forced to share her secrets, if she had any.

Of course, there were the offers of apprenticeships for Draco and Miss Granger. In less than five years, they would be leaving university and looking for their next opportunity. Severus smirked. By the time he was almost free, it would be time to begin their servitude. He could only hope they would accept his offers rather than any of the others.

Standing, Severus stretched luxuriantly and yawned. He then hobbled off to the bedroom to prepare for bed. After spending six weeks with well-meaning but too attentive people, he was more than pleased to be on his own again. Once the winter term started, he knew his privacy would be a thing of the past once again.

Aside of being dust free, the bedroom hadn't been touched either. Severus smirked to think of the Aurors trying to dismantle his spells and failing. The protections were of his own creation, and he didn't think even the Ministry Unspeakables would have been able to break them without exerting a great deal of time and trouble.

Once bathed and wearing his nightshirt, Severus crawled beneath his duvet and picked up the book he'd been reading before he had been forced from the castle. He opened to the page where he'd left his bookmark and lost himself in the story of the mad captain and the great white whale. Severus always thought of Dumbledore and Voldemort when he read this particular book, although he shied away from assigning roles to either of them if only because he couldn't decide which was whom.

Two hours later, having finally finished the book, Severus picked up his wand and pointed it at the candelabra. "Nox," he said and extinguished the candles. In the resulting darkness, he lay down and promptly fell asleep without the aid of a sleeping draught.

* * *

The next morning, Winky woke him with a fresh cup of coffee in hand, presenting him with freshly pressed clean robes as he drank. Once fully awake, shaven, and dressed, he slowly made his way up the stairs and into the Great Hall for breakfast.

The sounds of conversation diminished as he approached the High Table and the students, especially the ones who had been to Hogwarts in previous years, watched in awe as he hobbled his way past the tables. Had he possessed a different sense of humour, he might have shouted "Boo!" simply to see what would happen. As it was, he scowled at the onlookers as though he'd never been away.

Severus took his seat between Minerva and Filius and answered their murmured good mornings with a grunt as his breakfast made its appearance. The noise level in the Hall rose in response to his silence and he winced.

"Headache, Severus?" Minerva asked in concern, having seen his flinch.

"No," Severus answered with a snarl. "I had forgotten just how much noise these high ceilings can hold. I suppose I'll just have to get used to it once again."

"It'll be worse when the entire student body gets back." Filius offered him the marmalade. "This is a good time to get 'used to it'."

"I've a bone to pick with you, Filius," Severus said suddenly, turning to the smaller wizard. "Where do you get off offering apprenticeships to Malfoy and Granger when they haven't decided whether they are going to accept my offers."

"But you never take apprentices," Filius sputtered. "I thought..."

"You thought wrong," Severus said, "and as for you, Septima..."

"As Filius said, you never take apprentices," she said with a grin. "I'm just doing my part for the wonderful world of Arithmancy."

"Miss Granger will apprentice with me," Minerva interjected, "if she's a mind to take an apprenticeship and doesn't pursue Potions. I also believe I've called first dibs on her further education after Severus is finished teaching her what he knows. Of course, she might even decide to accept my invitation first."

"A moot point at the moment," Septima said. "I understand Malfoy and Granger have both expressed an interest in tertiary education... Ah, here comes the mail."

Several owls were seen winging their way across the ceiling of the Great Hall. Some of them veered off towards the High Table while most dropped their messages to the students. Minerva was one of those at the table who received a packet, and she thanked the owl with a bit of sausage from her plate before looking at the return address.

"Oh, good, it's from Professor Greyson at Cambridge Wizarding," she said. "This would be the information I told Miss Granger I would try to get. I'll have to write and tell her I received it."

"I trust you also plan to share the information with Malfoy," Severus said dryly. "After all, he also intends to study at Cambridge Wizarding."

"If he expresses an interest in classes on the Muggle side of Cambridge University, then of course I will share the information," Minerva said matter-of-factly. "As of yet, I've heard nothing from him as to his proposed course of study."

"A dark horse indeed," Sybill murmured from her place at the end of the table. "Mr Malfoy will do well in his N.E.W.T.s, so I have seen. Certainly better than Miss Granger will."

"A true prophecy, Sybill?" Rolanda knocked her elbow into Pomona's ribs. "I 'spect Miss Granger will do all right." She cackled with laughter. "In fact, I have her as beating Malfoy by seventy points and exceeding Severus' N.E.W.T.s by twenty-five."

"At least you don't think she's that much more intelligent than I," Severus said with a smirk. "Of course, I didn't parrot the information to be found in my books."

"She didn't parrot anything when she saved your life, Severus," Minerva said firmly. "From what she told me, Hermione and Malfoy had to improvise quite a bit. They only knew they'd succeeded when the potion destroyed Nagini's venom and left your blood cells alone."

"A collaborative effort," he said dismissively. "On her own, I'm sure she'd have never succeeded." He turned so only Minerva saw his wink. She smiled slyly.

"In that case, old boy," Horace Slughorn chuffed, "would you care for a side wager?"

"What are the terms?" Severus asked.

"I'll wager you ten galleons that Mr Malfoy has better scores in Potions by the Easter holiday. And...since you'll be teaching the N.E.W.T. classes...you'll have to be fair in your marking."

"I always gave my students the marks they deserved," Severus said. "If you doubt me, however, I can let Minerva do the grading as an impartial judge."

"Here," said Filius, "I want a piece of that if Minerva is going to judge."

Cries of "same here" and "me, too" came from both ends of the table. Minerva smiled and nodded, her busy mind already calculating the odds.

* * *