The Man
The next morning, Severus rose from his own bed. He put on his robe and wandered to the kitchen. The couch was empty. The blanket had been neatly folded and laid on the arm on the couch. The tea cup had been sent back to the kitchens. As usual, Sarah had cleaned up so well, it seemed as if she had never been there at all. Severus sighed, slightly disappointed. Then he remembered his task for the day and without delay, began his daily routine. He was determined to get this right. If he succeeded with his task, he thought he might have more success in protecting some of his own snakes in future. The risk was high though. He was still a spy and he did not want to place himself on the wrong side of any of Voldemort’s former followers. Nevertheless, he would do what he could to protect the child…
—
Sarah had woken to a start in a strange dark space. She had a moment of panic before she realized where she was. Casting a quick tempus, she could see it was 4 in the morning. Realizing how unseemly it would look for a professor in pajamas to be exiting another professor’s chambers first thing in the morning, she decided to take her leave before the castle started waking up.
She spent the day feeling impatient. Eventually, she was able to force her shields in place so she could cope with the day. It felt like time was moving more slowly than possible. In her first year defense class, she had to catch herself when her mind had wandered just as the twins had decided to cast a bat bogey hex at one of the slytherin students in her class. She couldn’t let that one slide. She chastized herself. If she had only stayed on top of the class, she would have caught them before they had gotten themselves into trouble. Fred and George were in trouble with all the other professors so frequently, she wanted to have her class as a space where they would feel comfortable trying new things while respecting her and her space. She had messed up. Sighing, she assigned them their first detention of the school year in her class. They looked at her in shock. “Now boys, you know we have a mutual understanding. You maintain the peace here, and I help foster your magical growth,” she said to them as they made to leave at the end of class. “I cannot let you get away with hexing another student. It is not fair to them. It does not make this classroom a safe space for them, and I cannot have students feeling unsafe or unprotected here,” she said more passionately. She thought of poor Joseph in that moment. He had only started to not flinch around her. She didn’t want a student like him to feel like he could be unsafe in a classroom. Hogwarts was an escape for boys like him. The twins hung their heads at that, and apologized, resigning to the fact that they would be returning for detention over the weekend.
When classes had finished for the day, she couldn’t eat. She had no space for food when her mind was so full. She made her way to the great hall anyways in order to maintain appearances in front of the headmaster. As she walked in, she glanced up at the head table to see Severus in his usual place. He did not look up. She made her way to her seat and sat down. Under his breath, Severus murmured “It has been done,” which elicited a small smile from Sarah’s lips. Giving a subtle nod, Sarah reached for the tea and began a conversation with professor Flitwick on wandless magic.
Later that week, Joseph was summoned to professor Dumbledor’s office, where he was met by ministry officials. It seems his father had not only been displaying unfavorable behavior towards his son and wife, he had been verbally abusing the employees in his department. He had been removed from his position that week and would be attending trial later in the month. Joseph and his mother were now safe to live without fear.