An American Professor

Erin had gotten back into the swing of things just in time for the big Halloween feast, which had occurred about a week after Sirius' departure. The food was amazing and Erin found herself smiling and laughing.

She picked up her classes where she'd left off and threw herself into her studies and teaching. No one said anything to her about not wearing her robes and only wearing Muggle clothing. Erin began to put her weight back on, and she was acting more like her old self, except for the hollowness she now had in her eyes.

Most of her time was taken up with teaching, studying, running, and taking classes, but any spare time she had was spent with Snape. He was helping her with a potion late one Wednesday night when he asked her, "Erin, do you still think about it?"

Needing no prompting she knew the event to which he was referring immediately. "It's not something one can forget easily. Finding out you're possibly related to the vilest monster of our time isn't exactly something to be proud of. Not to mention that having to kiss Malfoy in order to escape still gives me nightmares," she added to lighten the mood.

Snape was quiet for a while as if pondering her answer. When he did answer she was so startled that she dropped the knife she'd picked up to chop the wormwood root. "Erin, just remember, whatever we find out, that you can't pick who you're related to, but you can choose to accept them or not. Be careful," he scolded after she dropped the knife, "I'd like to keep all of my toes, thank-you."

"Sorry," she mumbled, squatting to pick up the knife.

He met her on the floor and said with a husky voice, "I was only kidding."

Erin saw the desire in his eyes and stood up quickly. "Severus, I'm, uh, awfully tired, maybe I could finish this tomorrow. I don't have a lot of the ingredients in it."

"If that's what you want." He answered stiffly.

She quickly disposed of the items in her cauldron and packed away her unused ingredients. "Well, see you tomorrow, good night," she called.

"Night," he echoed.

Erin raced to her room frantically, he must have been tired, and it was late, she reasoned, he didn't mean it. She got ready for bed and fell into a troubled sleep.

Rising early the next morning, she showered quickly and then headed down for a quick breakfast. Erin wanted to get to her classroom early. Today she was doing something fun with her classes. She was teaching them how to make banana splits the Muggle way, i.e. sans magic.

Arriving in the Hall, she saw that many people were already there. Hurrying to her seat, she dismissed the observation, but was surprised to find a wooden daisy on her plate. How sweet, someone's given me a flower that I'm not allergic to, but I wonder what the occasion is. Looking around, she saw Hagrid beaming at her. Ah, good old Hagrid. She mouthed, "Thank-you!"

In response he shouted out, "Happy Birthday, Erin!"

"Today's not my.." and then she looked at her watch, it was the 22nd. "Oh!" The room became decorated with streamers and balloons and people began to sing. Erin blushed and slid into her chair trying to disappear under the table.

Suddenly owls began swooping in and dropping packages at the Head Table. They were dropping them all over the head table and pretty soon Erin couldn't see over the pile.

Dumbledore stood upon his chair and addressed the students sternly, "What did I tell you students?"

"Uh, Professor," Flitwick piped up, "these aren't from students. Quite a few appear to be from Gilderoy Lockhart. They seem to be from people outside of Hogwarts."

"But how would the whole Wizarding world know my birthday is today?" Erin asked.

Dumbledore hastened to explain, "Witch Weekly did a piece on you in the column, 'Which Witch is Which.' They profile witches doing amazing things. You were a prime candidate having lived as a Muggle for so long and now teaching here. You received quite a bit of fan mail, but it was while you were, uh, indisposed, and so rather than inundate you, I took care of it."

Snape was suddenly next to her reading from one of Lockhart's cards in a mockingly sappy voice, 'For the most beautiful witch, from the most beautiful wizard, we belong together so we can live a most beautiful life together.' It's good to see that he's recovered the memory of how much he loves himself."

Erin had been trying to read the card over Snape's shoulder, and commented, "You've got to be kidding me. Does it really say all that 'beautiful' crap? How lame!" She must have been speaking louder than she intended because the Hall broke into laughter and she joined them.

Dumbledore excused her from morning classes to open all of her packages. After opening what seemed like a thousand boxes of Bertie Bott's newly patented Favorite Flavored Chocolates, she'd been ready to scream.

Throwing everything that said 'from a secret admirer' into the fire for fear of another portkey (Dumbledore had explained what had happened to her in detail), the pile of packages diminished rapidly. Snape walked in as she sent another gift with a flick of her wand into the fire.

"What are you doing?"

"Sending the anonymous gifts into the fire. The rest I'm having Flitwick check out before I do anything with them."

"Good thing I didn't send my present."

She looked up at him with surprise, "You didn't have to get me anything."

"I know that, but I did anyway."

"Well, thank you."

"I haven't given it to you, yet."

"I know. I'm thanking you for the thought."

"Oh, ok then."

She continued to sort and he asked if she wanted help. "Don't you have a class?"

"No, it's my free period."

"Oh." They continued to open in silence. Erin could not quell the uneasy feeling it the pit of her stomach, and decided to act on it. She smiled and said, "Severus, would you mind continuing? I need to run back to my room for something."

"What for?"

"Women things," she lied.

"Ok," he agreed.

Erin raced up the stairs, but she didn't stop at her room, but practically flew to Dumbledore's office. She guessed at his password, naming all the sweets from Honeydukes she could think of before reaching the correct one. Taking his stairs two at a time, she burst through his door. Dumbledore looked up at her in surprise.

"It isn't Snape, he's an impostor!"

"Now Erin, I'm sure you're just being cautious."

"No!" she yelled, "he says he has a free period, but he doesn't, he doesn't on Thursday."

Dumbledore looked skeptical, but asked, "Where's the 'impostor'?"

"In the Great Hall."

Dumbledore moved very quickly for a man his age and Erin and he sped to the Great Hall where the fake Snape was standing with his wand drawn.

"Suspicious bitch," he spat.

Erin looked at him hard and moved slightly towards him in hopes of distracting him as Dumbledore drew his wand and muttered, "Impedimenta."

The impostor fell backwards, and Dumbledore began to tie him with bindings from his wand. Erin stepped forward to stare at him hard. "It's Wormtail," she announced.

"How can you tell?"

"I can see him if I look hard enough. It must be a weak version of Polyjuice Potion. Can't you see him?"

"No."

Erin shrugged, "Well, trust me, it's him."

"I'll call the Ministry at once," he announced once the impostor was completely immobile.

"I'm going to find the real Snape." Dumbledore nodded, and Erin set out for the dungeon.

She found Snape's shocked class still waiting for him. "You're all dismissed, but please return to your respective common rooms." Erin went to Snape's office, but he wasn't there, so she searched the rest of the dungeon, and still there was no sign of him.

Racing upstairs, she began to search other classrooms. Erin was about to give up when she heard a faint moan from an unused classroom.

She rushed into the classroom, and found him lying behind the front desk, somewhere between consciousnesses. "Severus!" she cried and tried to wake him.

He seemed to focus on her and asked, "Don't leave me, Erin, please?"

"Severus, no one else knows we're here. I have to tell someone."

"No, Erin, don't leave."

Her heart cried out at his begging her to stay. "Ok, fine, I'll stay, just be still." Erin looked around the room trying to figure out how to notify someone. She looked back at Snape. "Severus, where are you hurt?" He didn't answer. He was unconscious. "Dammit!" she swore. She went to the door and called for help.

McGonagoll's classroom was down the hall. The professor sent a student into the hallway to see who was yelling. "Get Professor McGonagoll," Erin called to the girl. The girl re-entered the classroom and McGonagoll emerged a moment later.

"What's the meaning of this, Erin?" she demanded.

"It's Severus, he's hurt." She answered briefly before turning on her heel and heading back into the classroom. Snape hadn't regained consciousness.

McGonagoll conjured a stretcher while Erin narrated the recent happenings. McGonagoll took charge. "Go into my class, give them the assignment written on my desk, and then dismiss them. I'm going to take Severus to the Hospital Wing."

"But he didn't want me to leave him," Erin protested.

"You don't know how to manage a stretcher, yet. Don't argue with me, just go do as I say. If he wakes up, I'll tell him you're on your way." She was already heading out the door. "We have to think of the students, even at times like this."

Erin reluctantly went to McGonagoll's classroom. It was a sixth year Slytherin class. Erin didn't know any of them. They started to give her a hard time as she read their assignment. She snapped, "I really don't give a shit if you do the freaking assignment or not, but it's your grade, not mine." As she finished reading the assignment, she left the room. She had decided to leave them wondering about a dismissal.

What a bunch of jerks! They probably wouldn't even care about their head of house! She fumed all the way to the Hospital Wing, which she reached rather quickly considering she was running. McGonagoll informed her that Snape had not awoken on their trip to the Hospital Wing. Erin hurried to his bed and sat next to him.

Madame Pomfrey was fussing over Snape, but waiting to treat him until Dumbledore arrived. Erin spoke to Snape trying to wake him up. "What are you doing? Let him rest," Pomfrey demanded.

Sighing exasperatedly Erin explained, "He's not asleep, he's unconscious. If you revive him we may be able to find out exactly what happened to him."

Pomfrey opened her mouth to protest, but McGonagoll interrupted, "She's right. If Dumbledore had to deal with a ministry official, then he may be a while." Pomfrey realized she was outnumbered, and began trying to revive Snape. After a few passes of smelling salts, Snape was conscious.

He looked for Erin and she moved to take his hand. "Can you tell us what happened?" McGonagoll asked.

"He hit me on the head with a chair or something." The strain of getting this information out made Snape's eyes flutter.

"Severus, don't give up. Tell me the ingredients in a Shrinking Solution." Erin was desperate to keep him awake. She kept asking him questions while Pomfrey found the proper potions to help Snape, and McGonagoll left the room in search of Dumbledore.

Pomfrey reached Snape's bed and had him drink a bubbling red potion, followed by a steaming blue potion, and lastly a glowing yellow potion. When Snape began drifting off, Erin looked panicked. "I gave him a sleeping potion, dear. He can rest now," she said reassuringly.

McGonagoll didn't return for another hour. She saw Erin resolutely sitting bedside Snape's bed and told her she was excused from class. Erin thanked her and turned back to Snape. McGonagoll excused herself from the room shaking her head in disbelief.

Professor Flitwick came by at dinnertime and tried to convince Erin to come to the Great Hall for dinner, but she politely declined. She refused to leave for more than a few minutes. It was getting rather late and Erin felt her eyelids drooping, when Dumbledore finally arrived.

Erin looked at him excitedly, "Was it Wormtail?"

"Hmm," he answered distractedly.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I turned the impostor over to the Ministry officials, but just as the Potion was wearing off, he managed to escape."

Erin closed her eyes; it was like a bad dream that never ended.

"The surprise of seeing him transform into a man they thought was dead," he continued, "enabled him to escape."

"But they did see him then?" That should clear Sirius, right?"

"Well, no, not exactly, they are claiming that they are unsure of who the man was. They are reluctant to say it was Pettigrew as they are reluctant to clear Sirius. It's politics, my dear."

Erin realized that Dumbledore suddenly looked his age. It frightened her, as she never thought of Dumbledore as old before. So, rather than press him on more details Erin conceded, "Oh, I see." Inside she was feeling hopeless.

"Has he woken?"

"Yes, he told us he was hit on the head with some type of blunt object. Poppy gave him some potions, including a sleeping potion."

"I suppose you're planning on staying?"

"Of course. He asked me to."

"I'll be back to check on him. Don't lose hope Erin. Innocent men…" he began and didn't finish.

Erin had never known Dumbledore to be at a loss for words. "I know, Professor."

"Well, good-night."

"Good night." Erin turned back to Snape and observed his sleeping form. Asleep, he looks human, she thought. Giggling to herself, she thought about how he tried to appear to be a bad ass around his students. He's a good man, she thought, I wish he didn't have to pretend to be so nasty. She laid her head down on the bed on his hand.

A few hours later Snape awoke and saw her blond head lying on his hand. Her face was so angelic. "Who says you aren't loyal," he murmured.

His voice woke her up with a start. "Oh! You're awake, how are you feeling?" Erin searched his face looking for signs of damage.

"I feel a little sore. Mostly from falling after being hit, I think."

"Did you see who hit you?"

"No, he did it from behind."

"Dammit!"

"What?"

"Nevermind. When did it happen?"

"Before breakfast."

"I didn't think it was you when he made a show of mocking Lockhart's letter. He must have taken several doses of the Polyjuice Potion, then."

"When did you figure it out?"

"When he said he had a free period."

"I don't have free periods today."

"I know. Actually, after Dumbledore stunned him, I looked at him real hard and I could see he wasn't you. Why did Voldemort send him?"

"To get you back. I'm supposed to be getting close to you to gain your trust again and then kidnap you."

"Is that why you haven't minded being civil to me in public I wondered about that. So, I guess you aren't moving fast enough."

"Guess not."

Erin's thoughts went back to the previous night. She wondered if it had been Snape in the dungeon. "Do you know what day it is?" she asked.

"Well, when I woke up this morning," he began, "it was Thursday." Erin let her breath out in a rush, she hadn't been aware she was holding it.

"Well, you'd better get back to sleep."

"Are you going to stay?"

"If you want."

"I do."

"Alright, I'll just sleep in a spare bed. I was getting a crick in my neck."

"I'm sorry this happened on your birthday."

Erin looked at him in awe, "Severus, why should you be sorry? I'm the one who's sorry. If you weren't close to me you wouldn't have been targeted."

"Well, I guess that neither of us should be sorry because I never want you to be sorry for who you are."

Erin felt tears welling up in her eyes; she leaned forward and brushed her lips across his forehead. "Thank you," she murmured, "now, go to sleep." She moved away before he could see the tears in her eyes.

"Good night, Erin. Thanks for being here."

"You're welcome, good-night." Erin lay down. This was very upsetting. She had hoped for a while that it hadn't been Snape last night in the dungeon, but now it was apparent that it really was him. The event would be so much easier to deal with if it had been Pettigrew pretending to be Snape. This opened up a whole new can of worms for her. After mulling over these thoughts many times, Erin eventually drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Erin awoke early and she went to Severus' bed. She debated on waking him to tell him good-bye, but thought better of it. Instead she searched for a piece of parchment and a quill. Finding the desired objects, she scrawled a note to Severus and rushed to her rooms to shower.

Erin's day seemed to fly by and before she knew it she was sitting down to dinner. Chatting through dinner with Flitwick, she tried not to notice Snape's empty chair. Towards the end of dinner Harry approached her.

"Professor, will you be coming to the Quidditch game tomorrow?" Erin hadn't seen a game, yet. Before she could answer, Harry continued, "It's the last one until after the snow."

"Who's playing?"

"Gryffindor versus Slytherin."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Erin smiled at him and Harry grinned back.

"I'll have Hermione save you seat," he said as he turned to leave.

"Thanks Harry." Turning back to Flitwick she asked, "I'm going to see how Severus is doing, do you want to come, too?"

"I don't think so, but do give him my regards."

"I will. Good night."

"Good night."

Erin found herself dragging her feet on the way to the Hospital Wing. She wanted to see Snape, but then again, she didn't. Erin couldn't figure out why she felt like this.

Arriving at the Hospital Wing, she saw that Dumbledore was already there. Erin pushed open the door with relief, and the two men stared at her. "Is this a bad time?" she asked seeing their surprised faces.

"No, of course not, dear." Dumbledore said reassuringly.

"I just came to see how you were feeling," she said looking at Snape.

"Much better. Albus is negotiating my release with Poppy. She doesn't want me to leave, but I don't see a reason to stay."

"Well, I'm happy to hear you're doing better. I guess I'll be going." Erin heard his protest as she was already in the hallway and the door closed behind her. She hurried back to her rooms, trying to forget her uneasiness.