Questions of the Heart

Disclaimer: This story is based on the Harry Potter book series by the brilliant J. K. Rowling. It was written strictly for fun; no profit has been made in the writing or sharing of this story.

As always, I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to my two wonderful betas, JENGEORGE and NervousAboutAngels, for their diligent proof reading and suggestions. They really helped to improve my story.

Chapter 15

"Questions of the Heart Resolved,

Past Mysteries Finally Solved"

The morning of February third, Sienna was sitting alone at the end of the Gryffindor table as usual, when a rather large Great Horned Owl arrived with an even larger package. Severus always marveled at the owl's capacity to carry heavy loads. From his view at the staff table, it looked like a book. Severus was not surprised. It was, after all, her birthday. She offered the owl some pumpkin juice and some fruit from her plate. Even though owls are carnivorous, it ate and drank heartily as she opened the book and perused its pages. Severus imagined all sorts of possibilities for its contents. He wondered if she would tell him about it later. Probably not.

She found a letter between its pages. While she was reading it, a Screech Owl showed up, carrying a much smaller package. She took the second package, offered the Screech Owl the juice and whatever it wanted from her plate, and it went on its merry way. She opened the small package to reveal a cylinder about the size of a perfume bottle. Severus noticed that her interest in the book waned, as instead, she read the card or letter or whatever it was, over and over again. As breakfast was winding down and Dumbledore got up to leave, Sienna jumped up and ran to join him. They spoke briefly, then went their separate ways down the hall.

Classes progressed as usual and Sienna went through another class in silence. He had hoped that she would talk to him afterwards, but it didn't happen. He felt disappointed and a bit resentful as he watched her leave the room with the rest of the students. Perhaps Dumbledore was right. Perhaps he should tell her the truth.

Later that night Severus sat in his office grading essays. The drivel he had to sift through was always daunting, but tonight the minutes turned to hours as he couldn't seem to find the bottom of the pile. Presently, there came a knock on his door. "Come in." He looked up in anticipation, but was sadly disappointed once again. "Oh, it's you. What can I do for you, Draco?"

"I have a message from the old geezer." He seemed out of breath, as if he had run the whole way.

"You will not refer to the Headmaster that way in my presence!" Severus snapped.

"Sorry, sir, I forgot you actually respect the man. He wants to see you in his office right away."

"Very well," Severus replied wearily. "Good night, Draco."

Severus got up and walked out, using a locking charm on the door behind him. He headed straight for the Headmaster's office, uttered "licorice jelly beans" to the gargoyle, and dragged himself up the spiral staircase. The door swung open just as he reached up to knock.

"Good evening, Severus. So good of you to join us." Dumbledore beamed at him. Sienna was already sitting in one of two chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk. The other awaited his arrival.

Severus settled himself into the hard empty chair and shifted uncomfortably.

"Since it is late, I'll get right to the point," continued Dumbledore. "Severus, I think it is time that Sienna knew the truth."

"The truth, sir?"

"About you and what you do for me."

Severus' mind was reeling. Why on earth would he have to reveal his spy status to Sienna? "May I ask why, Headmaster?"

"Yes, Severus; you see, I feel that she needs to know everything relevant before she decides whether or not to share her father's memory with you."

Severus glared suspiciously back and forth between the two of them. For one of the few times in his life, he was confused and unsure of himself. "Her father's memory?"

"Her mother sent her a letter written by her father many years ago. He intended her to read it on her 20th birthday. She also sent a memory of his for her to view in the Pensieve."

"I see..." Severus contemplated the situation. "And this memory has sensitive material in it?"

"Very sensitive and very important."

Severus took a deep breath and readied himself for her reaction. "Very well." He was silent for a moment as he picked through the information in his head and decided what and how to tell her. If he omitted anything relevant, he was sure Dumbledore would mention it.

"I am a former Death Eater," he began slowly, choosing his words with great care. "I joined at a low period in my life when I was young and foolish. I later saw the error of my ways and turned on the Dark Lord in the months leading up to his first downfall, becoming a double agent for Professor Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. When the Dark Lord rose again two years ago, I returned to him on the Headmaster's orders, claiming to still be a loyal servant. Since then I have been feeding him misinformation and some semi-useful tidbits so that he doesn't realize that I have betrayed him. It's the only way I can stay alive until his permanent defeat has been achieved. I risk being discovered every time I must return to him.

"He is a skilled Legilimens, therefore, I must be very careful to tuck away memories that may tip him off to my true loyalties. If I am discovered it would mean certain death. So I hope you understand, Miss Kaolin, why, in spite of everything we have been through, I have never revealed that particular side of my life to you." Severus sighed. The cat was finally out of the bag. In a way, it was a relief.

In the shocked silence that followed, he decided to elaborate further. "Over the course of last summer, I was subjected to one of the Dark Lord's Legilimency sessions. Since you and I spent quite a bit of time together last year, you kept popping up in my memories. Nothing special, just doing your job as my assistant, handing in your potions, et cetera. But he took an interest in you. He is toying with the idea of persuading you to be my assistant after you graduate."

At this thought, Sienna gasped. Her head began to move slowly back and forth. "I would rather die than help him."

"By mistreating you this year, I was hoping to generate enough bad blood between us that he would be forced to abandon the idea."

Sienna's eyes grew wider and wider as he told his tale. Sorrow filled her face. "Professor Snape, I had no idea. I knew you were hiding something from me, but I didn't know what or why. This explains a lot. No wonder..." Her voice trailed off. She looked down at her shoes, apparently deep in thought.

The long silence that followed was broken by Dumbledore. "Now, Sienna, it's your turn." He looked as if he had arranged a blind date, and the two people didn't realize it until it was too late to back out.

Sienna looked up in surprise. "Me?"

"Not the memory, not yet. No, just the other, why you came to us so late."

"But I already know about the ashram and her mother home schooling her," defended Severus.

"One important detail was left out," said Dumbledore, now resembling the Cheshire cat.

She glared at him with irritation and a touch of resentment in her eyes. "Is this really necessary?"

"Yes," insisted Dumbledore.

"Oh, all right... I'm an empath!"

Severus gasped. His mind raced through two and a half years of memories. No wonder she could read his moods. No wonder she always knew just the right thing to say and do, no matter what was happening. No wonder she didn't like being around all the other students. Feeling others' feelings would be maddening in a room full of teenagers with raging hormones. How on earth did she manage during regular class time? He felt betrayed. He wondered what she was reading from him now. Did she know how he really felt about her? This new information complicated his perception of their relationship considerably.

"The first empathic witch on record for over 150 years!" Dumbledore announced proudly.

"That's why my parents felt the need to send me to the ashram," Sienna informed them. "Before the training I received there, I would actually live other people's emotions, not just read them. It was horrible. I would be in the grocery store with my mum, and some poor soul in a depressed mood would walk by us, and I would just start crying. It really disturbed my parents until they figured out why it was happening. Good thing my mum is a healer. The ashram taught me how to meditate, concentrate, and control what I was exposing myself to. It can still be a bit unsettling to be immersed in a large group of people, but I am much better off than I used to be. I could never have gone to school here if it hadn't been for my training at the ashram."

"No wonder you meditate so much and go back there for summer break," concluded Severus.

"Now, my dear," Dumbledore continued, "you can see why Severus' situation makes the notion of showing him the memory very risky."

"Yes, sir, but I know he is a skilled Occlumens. I'm sure if he really doesn't want Voldemort to see it," Severus winced at the name," he can hide it effectively." She looked hopefully at Severus. "Can't you, Professor?"

"There are many memories I keep hidden on a regular basis, but I also discourage situations which would create new memories that need to be hidden. It takes a great deal of control, especially when dealing with the Dark Lord. His methods can be very... persuasive."

Severus felt a chill go up his spine with the memory of the last time Voldemort had used the Cruciatus Curse on him and the ordeal that took place afterwards. "If this is something I shouldn't see, Headmaster..."

"It's completely up to Sienna."

"I want him to see it." She looked at Severus with a trusting smile. "I know you will never tell anyone what it contains, not if your life depended on it."

"The Dark Lord has ways of extracting information. I may have no choice."

"I'll take that chance. I need you to know. I need to be able to talk with you about it. Please." She looked at Dumbledore anxiously.

"It's your call, Sienna."

"Thank you, sir."

Severus and Sienna stood and approached the Pensieve. "You two go ahead. I've seen it. And Severus, pay close attention to the man in the background who takes off his shoe."

Severus gave Dumbledore a puzzled look, then turned to Sienna. "Ladies first."

Severus stood beside Sienna and peered through the silvery liquid as it sucked him in. He landed feet first, next to her, in the middle of Hogsmeade, right in front of the Three Broomsticks. It was a bright, sunny spring day, and a light breeze tickled Severus' cheek. Sienna gently took him by the hand and led him across the street.

"Over here. My dad will be coming out of this shop; she pointed to Honeydukes. "He must have been buying Mum some candy."

As they stood there, an attractive middle-aged man with dark hair exited Honeydukes. He looked around the street, apparently trying to decide where to go next when Sibyll Trelawney walked up to him.

"Carter?"

"Sibyll, is that you?"

"Look at you! You look fabulous!"

"And you haven't aged a day since Hogwarts!"

Sibyll grinned from ear to ear. "How's Hazel?"

"Oh, she's fine. She had to work today, crazy hours at the hospital. People don't get sick just during regular business hours, you know."

She laughed. "So what brings you to Hogsmeade?"

"I wanted to surprise Hazel with some of her favorite chocolates, and I figured if I bought it here, she'd be less likely to find out."

"I hear you've been trying to have a baby."

"Yeah, for several years now. No luck yet, but we're having a lot of fun trying."

Sibyll swatted his chest with the back of her hand. "You cad!" She winked at him and they both started laughing.

Then suddenly her eyes rolled up into her head, her body stiffened, and she began to speak in a freakish voice with what sounded like several sets of vocal cords at once.

"You will receive a gift in the coming months."

As Sybill began to speak, a short balding man with beady eyes was walking by. His steps slowed as he realized that a prophecy was being given.

"The gift is already in your midst, though you may not know it yet."

The man turned to the bench in front of Honeydukes and began to fiddle with one of his shoes.

"The gift will leave your hands after five years. Its new keepers will help it develop and become more powerful."

The man dumped out one of his shoes, as if it had a rock in it, and then began to tie it back on.

"Whoever is holding the gift when it reaches its full potential will become invincible."

Just then, another man, taller and quite handsome with long, dark, straight hair, came running up to the first man. "Wormtail!" he shouted. "There you are. We've been looking for you. James and Remus are already in Zonko's. We've got to come up with something really good to play on that git, Snivellus. Come on!"

Severus had been distracted by the scene of Wormtail and Sirius Black, so much so that he almost missed the last line of the prophecy. He suspected that Wormtail had missed it completely.

"The gift will be delivered to you in the second month of the coming year, when the full moon rises."

Sibyll took a deep breath and seemed unsteady on her feet. Carter Kaolin grabbed her arm to keep her from falling to the ground.

"Are you OK?"

"I don't know what got into me," she admitted. "Suddenly I feel dizzy."

Carter led her to the same bench where Wormtail had just been sitting. They began chatting again and the scene faded.

Suddenly Severus felt a pull upwards and landed with a thud next to Sienna in Dumbledore's office once again.

"I saw Wormtail and Sirius Black in the memory," Severus informed Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

"A gift?" asked Severus, turning to Sienna, "Did your parents actually receive a gift?"

"There's more," Dumbledore informed him.

"Daddy wrote me a letter on my fifth birthday, a few days before he died." Sienna handed Severus the letter. So this must have been what she was reading at breakfast over and over again.

February third, 1982

My Dearest Sienna,

If you are reading this, it means that you are turning 20 and will soon be graduating from Hogwarts, if your mother followed the schedule we discussed for your schooling. It also means that I died long ago. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to see you grow up, but I know by now you are an amazing young woman.

As I write this, the war is winding down. Lord Voldemort has been defeated and his followers are scattered. But I don't believe we have seen the last of him. The enemy can take on many forms. Use your abilities to sense if someone is lying or trying to deceive you. Choose your friends carefully. Perhaps that boy whose parents were killed would be a good one to seek out if you haven't met him already. His name is Harry Potter. If Voldemort has returned, Harry will be instrumental in permanently defeating him. I know you can help him. I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that you will play an important part in the outcome.

Accompanying this letter is a phial that contains a memory of mine. It is a prophecy made to me many years ago. I believe that there is a Pensieve at Hogwarts that you may be able to use. Ask the current Headmaster for permission. View it alone first. Then use your instincts to decide who else, if anyone, needs to know its contents. If you do decide to share the information, be very selective. The fewer who know about this, the better.

Your mother was pregnant with you when I saw Sibyll Trelawney that day, but we didn't know it at the time. Exactly nine months after the prophecy was made, you were born. Your mother had been in labor for six hours at St. Mungo's, but you were finally delivered healthy and strong in the early evening. I remember looking out the window with a sigh of relief and seeing the full moon peaking up over the rooftops. That was the happiest day of our lives. After years of trying, we finally had a child. What a wonderful gift you have been to us!

May you have a healthy and happy life, my precious daughter. You will make some man very happy one day. I hope he deserves you. Use your unique skills wisely, and your life will turn out well.

I will always love you,

Daddy

Severus read it and looked up, first at Sienna, then at Dumbledore, his eyes wide with amazement.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" he asked slowly, carefully.

"Her mother is very wise. If the letter had fallen into the wrong hands, no one would have known the true nature of the gift or the prophecy. If the memory had fallen into the wrong hands and been viewed without the letter, the viewer still may not have been able to realize the truth. Both items are necessary to understand the true identity of the gift."

"Thus the reason for the two separate owls this morning," deduced Severus.

Dumbledore turned to Sienna. "Didn't you tell me that you witnessed your father's murder, but no one would believe you?"

"Yes. Everyone said he just dropped dead. There was no sign of forced entry or a struggle, and the coroner's report said that he was in perfect health. No obvious mortal wounds or poison. No reason for him to have died."

"Sounds like the autopsy on Tom Riddle's father and grandparents," added Dumbledore. "They couldn't charge anyone with murder because they were all in perfect health when they died."

"I remember my mum sitting at the dining room table reading the autopsy report over and over. She kept shaking her head and saying that there was nothing wrong with him. Why did he die? He was in perfect health."

"Would you like some help in solving the mystery of his death?"

"Oh, yes, very much so."

"I suggest that we view your memory of that night in the Pensieve, if you don't mind sharing it with us. You don't have to watch if you don't want to. Just think about it, put your wand to your temple, and pull it out. Then drop it in the Pensieve."

"I'll watch it with you. I really want to know who did it. I could answer any questions you might have. If I can help you figure out who killed him, it would be worth the pain of seeing it all over again."

"OK. Go ahead." Dumbledore motioned for her to approach the Pensieve. He and Severus watched as she took her wand and pulled the silvery strand out of her temple. It floated down into the misty liquid surface and disappeared. "Very well, Severus, are you ready?"

Severus nodded. This time Dumbledore went first, then Sienna, then Severus. They found themselves standing in the Kaolins' living room, the usual family photos on the wall, a piano on one side of the room, a Muggle TV on the other side. It was a modest house in a middle class Muggle neighborhood. But, as far as Severus could tell, it looked welcoming and comfortable.

Someone was approaching the front door from the outside. The door opened, and in walked a tall, attractive middle-aged man with short, dark brown hair, a slightly older version of Carter Kaolin. Holding his hand was a small girl with dark, curly hair and pale, grey eyes, around the age of five.

Carter spoke. "Don't worry, Sienna, Grandma will be fine. Mum just wanted to stay at the hospital tonight to keep her company. It's best that we didn't stay. Grandma needs her rest."

The little girl approached the stairs to go get ready for bed when her father suddenly grabbed her, looking up at the ceiling, his eyes wide with fear. Severus could hear footsteps from above. Someone was upstairs. "SHHH!" He held his finger up to his lips, and then he picked her up and carried her to the front hall closet where he stuffed her behind some boxes so she could not be seen. He knelt down and whispered to what looked like a big box, "Be very still and don't make a sound, no matter what happens." There was an urgency in his voice that Severus knew from experience meant life or death. The man stood up and quietly closed the closet door. Severus noticed it had slats in it, so the little girl would be able to see what was going on. Her father turned around and drew his wand, just as someone was coming down the stairs.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted the intruder, and Carter's wand went flying across the room. "Well, well... Kaolin, is it?"

"Recognize him?" asked Dumbledore.

"It's the man who overheard the prophecy, on the bench with his shoe," answered Sienna, looking first at Severus, then at Dumbledore. "What was his name... Wormtail?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"I've been occupying myself while you were gone by looking at all of the wonderful trinkets you and your wife have collected over the years. But I'm especially interested in anything you may have received as a gift, around the time your daughter was born."

Carter acted surprised. "Oh, why is that, sir?"

"Let's just say I heard a rumor that it may help me out in the days to come. Besides, I know you won't be needing it anymore."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do... Think about it. A gift. You've had it for about five years now. It could be a Muggle artifact, or one from a magical relative. I know you and your wife have plenty of both kinds on both sides of your family. Two half-breeds begetting another half-breed. Poor child. Not worth bringing into the world," Wormtail snickered.

Carter Kaolin glared at the man. "Take what you want and GET OUT!"

"Come, come now, Mr. Kaolin," sneered Wormtail, "Where are your manners?" He strolled over to the china cabinet in the dining room, opened the cabinet doors, and began to lovingly caress the objects inside as if he could physically feel their magical potential.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Mr. Kaolin. It's up to you."

"Then I guess it's the hard way," Carter stated, "because I know of nothing in this house that you would have any interest in."

Wormtail walked towards Carter with a look of mock regret across his face. Then his eyes became slits, he lifted his wand over his head and hissed, "Crucio!" Carter immediately fell to the floor, writhing in pain, moaning and shrieking. Severus grimaced, knowing full well what Carter was going through. Sienna looked away, burying her face in Severus' sleeve as Dumbledore laid a kindly hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to see this?" he asked.

She took a deep breath and looked into Dumbledore's face. What a kind face, thought Severus, full of wisdom and compassion.

"Yes." She seemed to harden herself. "I need to see it. I need to know."

"You can either give it to me and I'll leave you unharmed, or I'll kill you and take anything even remotely magical from the house. Either way, I'll have what I want. At least if you cooperate, your family will still have you."

Carter stood up and shrugged, looking helpless and defeated. "Then I guess you'll have to kill me."

"Pity. OK, have it your way ... Avada Kedavra!" The green light flashed across the room, and Carter was thrown against a small end table. His body, the table and the small family photo sitting on top of it all came crashing down like a rock slide.

Severus glanced at the closet where the little girl was hidden, but there was no noise, no movement. Good girl, thought Severus. No use in her getting killed, too.

Wormtail moved through the house picking up objects and assessing their magical potential. After thoroughly investigating the downstairs, he had a few treasures which he piled together in the middle of the dining room table. He didn't look in the closet. Severus deduced that he must have searched there earlier. There were already several things there, probably collected from upstairs before their arrival. Wormtail gathered them all up in the table cloth and Disapparated. There was still no sound or movement from the closet.

The older Sienna finally spoke. "When he was hit by the curse, I could feel my father's horror as my own. I stayed in that closet, hiding among the boxes, until next morning when Mum came home from the hospital. I was so horrified that I didn't even come to her when she called for me. She finally heard me whimpering and the sound led her to me."

Severus and Dumbledore looked at each other in disbelieving silence. Then they both turned to Sienna with immense looks of sympathy. Severus' face also reflected a touch of admiration.

"I've been waiting 15 years for someone to believe me when I said that my father didn't just drop dead. So, you both know him?"

"Yes," Severus said reassuringly. "His name is Peter Pettigrew, AKA Wormtail. Good thing he was after an object and never realized that he really should have been looking for you."

"But since Wormtail didn't hear the last line of the prophecy that told when you would be delivered..." interjected Dumbledore.

"He came to the house looking for a thing, not a person," added Severus finally. "He faked his own death the night the Dark Lord was first defeated. If you had described him to anyone, they would have probably thought you had imagined it, because by this time, everyone thought he was long dead. He's an Animagus. He must have transformed after he got into the house somehow."

"Rats don't need but a small hole to crawl through," added Dumbledore. "He probably never even told Voldemort about the prophecy, hoping he could find the gift and become the invincible one."

"Yes, that would be like Wormtail," commented Severus.

"I'm so sorry, Sienna. That had to be really hard for you," Dumbledore apologized.

"I'll be OK. Besides, I know now, finally. That means more than words can say." They all popped back out of the Pensieve and found themselves once more in Dumbledore's office.

"So the Avada Kedavra Curse, the killing curse, that's what Wormtail used to kill my father?"

"So it seems," stated Dumbledore flatly.

"But if a person is in perfect health when he dies, what kills him?" Severus asked. He was just as curious as Sienna at this point.

"To my knowledge, no one actually knows," Dumbledore admitted.

"Perhaps it simply scares the spirit right out of the body," Sienna offered. They both stared at her dumbfounded.

"That's what my father felt just as the spell hit him, incredibly intense fear."

"Sounds as plausible as any other explanation I've ever heard," said Dumbledore.

Severus simply shrugged.

"Well, it's getting late. I don't know about you two, but I need my beauty rest," he chuckled. "You can let yourselves out. Oh, and Severus," he added with a twinkle in his eyes, "you have so many memories to bury from tonight, one or two more won't make much difference, don't you agree?" He winked and tilted his head slightly in Sienna's direction, then disappeared through his private door.

Severus and Sienna stood looking at each other in awkward silence. Finally Sienna spoke.

"You know if you want more bad memories about me to feed to Vold – sorry--The Dark Lord, I'll be glad to pick fights with you in front of the class. You can even put me in detention, but please, Professor McGonagall instead of Slughorn."

Severus chuckled. "But, they have to look genuine. You have to really hate me."

She looked at him with sad eyes. "I could never hate you, I--"

"Don't say it," Severus interrupted. He knitted his brow with worry. "You only make things harder that way."

"I was only going to say," Sienna glared at him, a little annoyed, "that I can act like I hate you."

Severus eyed her suspiciously. He doubted if that was really what she was going to say. Then he remembered her memory in the Pensieve, and he softened. "I had no idea you experienced such horrors, and at such a young age. That sort of thing would scar most people for life."

"I don't look upon death the way most people do." Sienna admitted. "I'm not afraid of it. It's not the end; it's just the next phase of life."

Severus thought about his future and the immensely unpleasant task that awaited him and decided to change the subject. "So, you think you can convince everyone that you hate me?"

She smiled. "Just treat me the way you treat Harry Potter and it'll be easy."

Severus smiled back at her. "It could get ugly."

"It already has." She faked a glare.

"There's something else you should be prepared for," Severus added with great seriousness. "If, somehow, the Dark Lord realizes your importance, you will be in grave danger. If he captures you, he may use me to get you to cooperate."

"What do you mean?"

"He may torture me, even kill me to coerce your support. He knows most decent people care less for their own lives than they do for the lives of their loved ones."

"I will never cooperate with him. I would rather die. I'll sacrifice myself if I have to."

"I understand, and I hope it never comes to that, but if he tries to use me, you must act as if you don't care whether I live or die. You must watch me suffer with totally convincing indifference." Severus looked deep into her eyes. He hoped that her ability to read emotions could help her understand the gravity of his words, the sincerity of his statement.

She nodded slowly. She seemed to understand. He held out his arms and she wrapped hers around his waist. He pulled her closer with one hand and stroked her long, soft curls with the other.

"I've missed our time together," Sienna whispered softly.

Severus wasn't sure if he should reply to this, but of course he had missed her more than he ever would have imagined. Once again, he steered the conversation in another direction. "You know, perhaps if you learn Legilimency we could communicate nonverbally."

"That's a great idea. I'll ask Professor Dumbledore to teach me, so you won't have more memories to bury."

"Right."

They pulled away just enough to gaze into each other's eyes. Hers were definitely blue tonight. "Friends again?" he asked hopefully.

"I never stopped."

****

Class time with Sienna became very interesting after her birthday. Severus began to look forward to her prickly responses when he would insult her in front of the class. He didn't use her as a guinea pig anymore, however. She promised him that to make it look genuine, she would try as hard as she could to defeat him, and he didn't want any more scenes like the one back in November.

For practice, Severus would make people pair up and try to disarm each other. They would each take turns having and not having a wand. Sienna almost never needed a wand anymore. Even as the spells became more advanced, she seemed to master them quickly and easily. The other students began to dread being paired up with her, so Severus couldn't ridicule her performance. But her essays and written homework were another matter. Although her papers were well researched and written, the rest of the class had no way of knowing their contents, so Severus was free to criticize and pick them apart.

It only took Sienna a couple of weeks with Dumbledore to master Legilimency. She would look Severus in the eye as he handed her essay back to her. He would pull up the memory of writing her real "O" or "E" in the grade book, then hand back her paper with a "D" or a "T" on the top. So she knew the truth, but she would always react badly. Sometimes he would take points from Gryffindor, but sometimes she would end up in detention.

One class towards the end of February got particularly ugly. As Severus handed Sienna's essay back with a "T" scrawled across the top, he made an observation.

"Isn't your career goal to become a Healer, Miss Kaolin?"

"What do you care, sir?" she remarked snidely.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I don't like your tone. Five points from Gryffindor."

The other Gryffindors groaned; the Slytherins snickered.

Sienna scowled, but remained silent. She knew from experience that he wasn't finished.

"I only ask because I believe you must pass both the written and practical parts of this class to achieve that goal, and at the rate you're going, you'll be repeating it next year!" Severus obviously stifled a chortle.

Sienna's eyes turned to slits, and she stood to face him. "Will you be teaching it next year?"

"Most likely," Severus drawled. He could hardly wait for her response.

"Then I may as well not even bother."

"What do you mean by that?" His lip curled.

"That if you knew what the hell you were doing, I wouldn't need to take it over!" She glared at him in pure defiance. Several of her classmates gasped. They all looked horrified.

Severus walked right up to her, trying to intimidate her, but she didn't back down. They were nose to nose as their eyes bore into each other. Both of their faces were covered with contempt. Severus was having trouble holding onto his, however. He wanted to laugh out loud and had to concentrate to think of a really good retort.

"I could have you expelled for speaking to me that way." His voice was barely above a whisper. "But, fortunately for you, I doubt the Headmaster would ever agree to it. So, 50 points from Gryffindor, and detention every Thursday afternoon for the rest of term. I'll have to talk with the other teachers to see who has the most dirty work, but I imagine Professors Hagrid, Sprout and Slughorn will find ways of keeping you busy." He turned on his heel, his cloak swirling around his legs. "Oh, and by the way," he glanced back over his shoulder as he headed up to his desk, "you happen to be the only person in class who is now teetering between Dreadful and Troll in the written part of your grade. So either I do know what the hell I'm doing, or everyone in the class is simply..." he glanced around at their fearful faces, "...smarter than you." He smiled at Sienna, daring her to say something. He could almost see steam coming out of her ears, but she sat back down and remained silent. The show was over.

At the end of the classes in which they had staged a fight, Sienna and Severus had taken to sharing a pleasant memory, just to be sure there were no hard feelings. It was usually just a quick outwardly resentful glance and the memory of a hug or them holding hands, or going to Honeydukes on Valentine's Day the year before. Today they went through the same ritual. Severus said Legilimens in his mind as they glared at each other from across the room, and the hug he gave her on her birthday came up. Then it was her turn to think Legilimens. Severus usually sent back the same memory she had just sent to him, but today, to Severus' surprise, the memory of her vision came up, and to his embarrassment, it was the part where they were kissing!

He looked away quickly, turning beet red in the process. How did that happen? Was she that good at cutting through his defenses? He had only just thought about it last night as he was falling asleep, but she should not have been able to access it if he didn't want her to. Perhaps, Severus concluded, on some subconscious level, he did want her to see that again. He knew that with what would almost surely transpire in the weeks ahead, it was the only hope he had to hold on to.

"What are you smiling at?" Severus overheard Lorenzo Lotus ask someone. He didn't dare look up to investigate.

"Oh, nothing," he heard Sienna's voice say.

Thank God, he thought. The notion still brings a smile to her face.