Sarah Allin stared at her Head of House, half of her mind eagerly supporting the (what had been her) idea of vengeance, while the other half recoiled at the thought of actually doing this to a teacher. Snape, however, was adamant, his voice low and even as he explained the brewing process to her.

Sarah helped when she could, mostly slicing or crushing plants, but did it thankfully, with a precision she found she often lacked in Potions. Snape was bent over the cauldron, his dark eyes staring at the blue liquid.

"Toad livers," Snape said curtly, holding out a hand.

Sarah hurriedly put the small bowl of diced frog livers in his hand, and he poured them in smoothly, Stirring several times, clockwise, the colour changed from a dark blue into an emerald green. Snape took out the ladle, and motioned for the glass bottles.

Sarah carefully handed them to him, watching as he skillfully bottled the potion, filling only three with the liquid.

Sarah bit her lip, "What now?"

"It'll mature over the weekend. We'll require all three doses for the potion to reach its required effect, so we will get her on all three meals on Monday."

"So, it'll work?"

Severus's lips twitched, "Yes."

Sarah felt a smile bloom, "Thank you, sir."

"If anyone asks, you were here for remedial work, you understand?"

"Of course sir. You taught me a new methods to slice and dice my ingredients with."

"Now, go to bed. I'm sure you have plans with Ms. Smith for this weekend."

"I do, sir," Sarah replied, "Thank you again. Have a good night."

Sarah left Snape's office, going to the Slytherin Common Room, waving at a few of the older students, before heading up to her room. She flopped onto her bed, a mix of emotions twirling through her body. Gratitude, because Snape had listened and helped. Fear and nerves because of her revenge plot, and anticipation for it as well.

"How was detention? That took longer than you said," Alice spoke from across the room, brushing through her short brown hair with a comb.

"It was horrible. She had me writing lines with that quill, too. Just like Macey," Sarah explained, slipping her shoes off, "Then I went to Snape, and he-"

"You went to Snape!? Aren't all the teachers in on this?" Alice exclaimed.

"No. He was really angry about what happened. He helped me...figure out a way to get payback. I can't tell you any more than that Alice, I swear. Look for it Monday night. After that we can talk about it."

Alice shrugged, "I don't expect you to tell me your plan. That's just asking for disaster; like a Gryffindor finding out and telling someone."

"Thanks for understanding, Alice," Sarah smiled, tugging off her robes, "Anyway, it's getting late. I know Macey said she'd sneak us into Hogsmeade, and I don't want to miss something because we slept too much! We'll sleep in tomorrow."

"Good luck convincing Macey of that," Alice giggled, "She sleeps like no one else."

Sarah gathered up her pajamas, "Can't hurt to try to get her early. Anyway, I'm changing. Have a good night."

Alice smiled, laying back down, and curling up on her side. Sarah got ready for bed, and slipped under the blankets. Her fingers drifted over the scars on her hand, feeling the raised lines. All fear about Umbridge discovering the plot vanished. Snape was helping her, and if he was helping her, he'd keep her safe.

Sarah fell asleep with a small smile on her face.

(LINE BREAK)

Snape stalked down the path to Hogsmeade, exuding an air of piss-me-off-and-you-suffer-a-fate-worse-than-death. Hopefully, this would discourage the little brats from causing too much trouble, as well as stop the residents of Hogsmeade from talking to him too much.

At least, that's what Severus hoped. He really wanted today to be done and over with as soon as possible. He had marking to do, lesson plans to finalize, Dumbledore to yell at. So much to do, and Dumbledore wanted Severus down here to watch the children. Why not send Pomona? She would give out hot chocolate, and encourage snowball fights.

Bloody hell, who was Severus kidding? Anyone would be better down here than him.

Severus entered Hogsmeade proper, stalking the streets and glaring at everyone, student and resident alike. He wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone unless he had to. Even then, he would prefer to keep conversations at a minimum.

Severus focused on his hearing, striding slowly through the mess of the street. Filtering through the noise took a few moments, and as he stood outside the bookshop, he could eavesdrop perfectly while pretending to look at the books on display.

"You're saying you don't have enough money? You promised you'd pitch in to get a Weasley Skiving Snackbox. What are we supposed to do now? We can't all go to her classes, and you've told us what to expect from the detentions!"

"I'm sorry! The potion books were more expensive than I thought! I can chip in the rest of what I have-"

"But then that's not fair! We've got it all figured out, divided equally. You won't get the amount we figured out earlier-"

"I can pay the rest later!"

"That doesn't help us now!"

Severus had to suppress the urge to chuckle at his students' antics. He didn't know how Ms. Reins had gotten Ms. Smith and Ms. Allin into Hogsmeade, and he didn't care. They weren't there to cause harm to anyone but Umbridge, and that was something he could get behind.

Stepping toward the alley, Severus purposefully made a lot of noise as he went to the back of the building, where the conversation was being held. The alley was now suspiciously silent, and Severus could see clearly where they'd disillusioned themselves.

Severus stood at the mouth of the alley, and cleared his throat, "Well, some students must have been nearby recently. I hope they weren't discussing getting out of Umbridge's classes. Oh look, I've dropped ten galleons into the snow. Hopefully those students won't pick it up and use it to defend themselves from that all powerful, amazing professor," Severus felt he was laying it on thick, but he could see the three girls quaking in their boots. He felt he could cut the sarcasm in his voice with a knife if he so desired.

Severus cleared his throat, "Those same students must not be caught today, or any other time they may be out here...illegally. If I ever hear they've been out here after dark, I will have to punish them appropriately. Hopefully these points will not need to be reiterated."

Point made, Severus turned on his heel, leaving the alley, a hint of a genuine smile on his lips.

Macey, Sarah, and Alice waited for a moment before stepping out from the walls. Macey undid the charms on them, hand shaking. Alice picked up the ten galleons, holding them carefully in gloved hands.

"Did that just happen?" Sarah asked, staring off in the direction their Head of House had disappeared.

"I think so," Macey replied, "Well, we're covered for a Snackbox now. What do we do with the rest? We can't just give him to change, that'll be suspicious."

"Easy," A grin spread over Sarah's face, "We get him a present."

"Has anyone ever gotten him a present before?" Alice whispered.

"Probably not," Macey admitted slowly, "Screw it. Let's do it. Let's get Snape a bloody present."

Alice giggled nervously, pocketing the money, "We should hurry, we have to get this done soon, it's almost nightfall!"

The three friends rushed into Zonko's, who they knew to be selling the Snackboxes on the sly. They would get what they needed, then make their way to Hogwarts.

(LINE BREAK)

Severus had been in his office, smiling a little at the horror he'd instilled in his Snakes. He'd done a good job, scaring the pants off of them while still being supportive. Exactly what fledgling Slytherins needed. He had also helped them escape Umbridge's awful presence. Completely worth it, even though Severus hadn't been able to buy the book he'd been ogling in the window.

A pile of marked essays were on his desk, and since Severus had no desire to move, there was little point in trying to seek out Dumbledore. Despite being forced to walk around Hogsmeade for several hours, Severus had had a good day; better than what he'd been expecting.

Several sharp knocks sounded, then Severus could hear heavy footfalls on the stone flooring of the dungeons. Severus opened the door, peering around. No students. Looking down, Severus could see a package on the ground, wrapped in elegant emerald wrapping paper. Severus took the parcel in cautious hands, unsure of what to expect.

On a tag on the outside, Severus read: To Snape, from your grateful students.

It was written in Ms. Allin's handwriting. Severus threw caution into the wind, ripping the paper off the box. Inside were several items. A box, labeled "Skiving Snackbox" was the largest. Spello-taped to the top was Just in case! In Macey's handwriting.

A pair of thick, soft gloves in Slytherin green lay in the corner. They were of fine make, and Severus couldn't help but feel pleased. Between the gloves and the scarf Albus had made, he wouldn't have to worry about being cold for a while.

The final items were all books. Three of them, to be exact. One was older, clearly found in one of the boxes Tomes and Scrolls. The other two were older, and Severus didn't own any of them. In fact, the old book was an ancient text on alchemy, something that Severus had always meant to read up on. The other books were on potions, one on healing potions, and the other on mixing alchemy and potioneering.

Severus stared into the contents of the box, an odd, warm feeling building in his chest. He resolved to have Ms. Reins, Ms. Allin, and Ms. Smith's next assignments earn an extraordinary mark in his class.

Severus repacked the box, and brought it into his quarters with him. He needed to sleep, and he needed to figure out what to say to Albus, because Albus wasn't acting like any of their lives mattered anymore; he was acting like they were nothing but pawns on a chessboard.

Severus had been a pawn on a chessboard for too long, being tugged back and forth between the two players He wasn't going to take it all lying down anymore, especially not when his students were his first priority now.

(LINE BREAK)

Author's Note: Voila! A bit of a break for you guys (and for me). Next chapter will probably be heavy, dealing with the next Order Meeting, a bunch of planning, and Severus demanding to know what in the hell Albus is trying to do.

Don't own Harry Potter, sorry.

Please let me know what you think: one good thing, one bad thing.

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