Disclaimer: If it's here, then chances are that I don't own it. The great and exalted J.K. Rowling owns the books that I'm writing about and getting a good number of my ideas from and I in no way claim any of her empire except for my fanfiction.

Sorry for deleting your reviews, guys. Rewrites, you know? Anyway, props to kidarock who gave me the confidence to publish my stories; props to MaraSevvie17 for reviewing, along with BlazeFourPaws andPadmeSnivvey for the same reason. You guys ROCK! I printed off that review page because it always gave me a healthy ego boost exactly when I needed it.

'Why is he staring at me?' The new Flight Instructor, Rolanda Hooch, shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other as teachers came to offer congratulations and greetings as a new member of staff. Admittedly, the thought of being a teacher frightened her, especially when she thought of her own days as a student and how she had treated the faculty. She remembered the first prank that she had ever pulled- it was her first year in the week before exams, she had snuck into Professor McGonagall's office…and speaking of Professor McGonagall, she was standing right in front of her.

"Professor McGonagall-"

"Please, call me Minerva- you're not my student anymore, we're colleagues!" A pink-cheeked Minerva interrupted while pulling Albus Dumbledore over to them. "Albus, Rolanda has had quite a busy week- would it be unreasonable for her to retire early from the Beginning of the Year Party? She seems to be a bit groggy to me!" Minerva stifled a giggle, but failed miserably as she let out a raucous laugh which quickly turned into a light purr as she fell into the Headmaster's arms. "Why don't we retire a bit early, too?" She added in araunchy growl.

It was true that Rolanda had wanted to head off to bed for some time, so when the blue eyed, bespectacled professor looked into her own, she repeated "Would it be acceptable for me to go to bed?"

"Would you like some help to your quarters? You do look a bit woozy." Albus, still holding Minerva, gestured to Professor Snape to come assist after Rolanda accepted his offer of help. "Have a nice evening, Professor Hooch. I am sorry to not be able to assist you myself, but I must see that Minerva gets to bed as well." Rolanda smiled at the thought of being a teacher, but it quickly turned into a frown as the haze in front of her eyes got stronger.

"The same goes for me." Professor Snape snapped Rolanda's attention back to reality.

"What?" He had been staring at her from across the room for some time, had he also been eavesdropping?

"You may call me by my first name."

"We'd better be on a first name basis, or have you forgotten that I was only a year ahead of you in school?" They were out the door and into the corridor.

"I still have seniority over you." Severus' old acquaintance and new colleague had pinched her eyes shut and clutched her head in pain. Severus held her shoulders and led her to a window.

"Just a headache, that's all."

"Headaches can be very bad signs, you know."

"I just need some rest, that's all."

"Perhaps in the Hospital Wing," Severus added before half draping her over his shoulder and starting down the hall.

"I can get to my rooms without help!" Rolanda pushed away from the Potions professor, but her knees buckled and she fell to the floor.

"Sure. Whatever you say." He lifted her up and led her hand to a banister.

"Don't get sarcastic with me, Severus Snape!" Despite her ever worsening attitude, Severus held her up and partially carried her up the flight of stairs.

"If you won't listen to reason, then I'll get Poppy to make a house call." Rolanda had barely heard what he had said- her vision had clouded again and she could barely move her legs. There was only one thought in her head before she had lost consciousness: 'Why was he staring at me?'

Severus settled Rolanda by the door to her rooms, pulled his wand out of his robes, and whispered "Ennervate."

She straightened and coughed. "What happened?"

"I don't know, Rolanda. You need to get some rest; I don't know the password to your rooms, though." Severus' brow furrowed as he helped Rolanda into her room after she weakly stated the password.

"Sev, my head hurts-" Severus watched in horror as Rolanda threw up and fainted. He knelt over her limp form and felt her forehead. 'God, she has a fever!'

He laid Rolanda on the floor, lit a fire, and Flooed back to the Staff Party. 'Madame Pomfrey!'

Filius turned as Severus tapped him on the shoulder. "Have you seen Poppy anywhere?" Severus shouted over the din.

"What? I can't hear you!" Filius screamed.

"Oh, never mind!" Severus dashed off, weaving through the crowd of teachers and staff. "Where's Madame Pomfrey?" he asked Professor Trelawney.

"Oh, Severus!" Sybil exclaimed. "I knew you would want to see me!" her voice dropped to a husky growl "It was written in the stars that we would meet tonight." Sybil's finger trailed along Severus' chest.

Severus took a step back, coughing from the smell of Ogden's Olde Firewhiskey. "No, I need to find Poppy!"

"Oh, fine then! Run back to your squeeze! See how I care!" The Divination instructor sobbed.

'Wonderful! I wonder when this'll come back to bite me!' "Arithaeus! Wait! Have you seen Madame Pomfrey?"

"Have I seen her?" Professor Vector's voice dropped as Sybil's did. "Oh, now she's a fine woman- I can't keep my eyes off of her! Such a huge-"

"Arithaeus! I'm not sure if I want to continue this conversation, but if you can tell me where Poppy is, I would be quite grateful!"

"Did you try the infirmary? I think I'll try after you, eh?" Arithaeus nudged Severus in the ribs.

"Thanks," He ran out the Staff Room to the Hospital Wing.

"Poppy! Madame Pomfrey! Help!" Severus shouted.

"Severus, calm down! What's wrong?" Poppy appeared from her office.

"Madame Pomfrey, it's Rolanda Hooch. She's sick."

Severus and Poppy went quickly to Rolanda's rooms; the only word spoken the entire time was "silver arrow", the password.

Poppy knelt by the unconscious teacher and performed a Diagnostic Spell, and then turned to Severus. "What are you standing way over there for? I've got a potion in my office that will sort her out quite quickly. I'll be right back."

As Poppy began towards the fire, Severus stopped her. "What am I supposed to do?" He asked.

"She could do with some fresh robes, for one. This vomit smells quite bad, so you might want to clean that up, as well." Poppy replied as if it was the obvious thing to do. With that said she sprinkled some Floo Powder over the flames and disappeared to the Hospital Wing.

'What? Why do I have to change her clothes? I- she- oh, Madame Pomfrey!' Severus gulped. "Evanesco!" Severus chanted, then went over to Rolanda's dresser and tried to find her a nightshirt.

When he did, he flipped Rolanda over, turned his head, and started to unbutton her shirt. After a few buttons, he stopped, mentally berated himself, and performed a Switching Spell. 'What was I thinking? What if she woke up? What if I had seen something?'

By this time, Poppy had returned with the potion and had administered it accordingly. Severus glared at her. She replied with a questioning look.

"You wanted to get the potion instead?" Poppy asked as she removed Rolanda's boots.

"Well, you are a woman, it would have been better if you had changed her clothes."

"Come help me with getting her on the bed, Locomotor spells don't mix very well with this potion." Poppy said, and then added as an afterthought "It's not like you're interested in women, anyway, why should it matter?"

Severus nearly dropped Rolanda. "What?"

Poppy's eyebrows rose. "You're not gay?"

"No!"

"Ah, well; I can see where you're coming from, then. Did you see anything?"

"I almost did because the shock of you leaving me to remove the clothes of an attractive woman very nearly caused me to forget about Switching Spells!" Severus gulped and mentally berated himself again for that statement.

"Well, I apologize for putting you in this situation, but I must be heading back to the Hospital Wing to check my Anti-Hangover Potion. Good night."

"Good night." 'Gay? Fantastic! Rolanda…' Severus stomped out of the room for a lap around the Quidditch Pitch.

The silver lake lit Severus' face as he walked to the Broom Lockers. 'Where did she get that idea? Gay?' He grabbed an old Silver Arrow and kicked the firm ground toward the sky. A group of thestrals temporarily eclipsed the moon and made him shudder involuntarily. It wasn't that he was afraid of them- they just brought up uncomfortable memories for him like they did everyone else. "Do not summon fear, mortal frail, for I am good from tip to tail." He recited the rhyme that his cousin came upmany years ago before they went to school- they hardly saw each other after their eleventh birthdays because she was sent to Beauxbaton Academy of Magic.

He veered from his course around the pitch and started tailing the thestrals on their midnight flight and watched as one snapped a rat from the top of a pine tree and into its mouth. One let out a mournful cry and the others followed as it dove into a pristine lake somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. Severus wanted to follow, but looked back at the castle and counted the windows from the top down until he spotted Rolanda's rooms. 'Rolanda…' He doubled back, put his broom away, and walked back to the castle.

So, yeah... a rewrite. Reviews would be appreciated, considering that I deleted the original story to put this one up... sorry, I didn't know how to prevent that, but hopefully I'll earn those reviews back? Sorry. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the first draft, I most certainly hope that you are reading this and I'm not writing this just to take up space. Review!