Snape the Younger

Prophecy

Please Note: In Phoenix Trelawney states she had been at the school almost two years longer than Severus but alas, that didn't suit my plot line, so please forgive me. (See Tarsie, I can be nice. LOL)

The candidates for the title of Potions Master were each secluded in their separate examination rooms ready to answer the multiple pages of questions the Examination and Accreditation Board had prepared. Severus stared at the first page in faint disbelief, marking his answer with casual confidence. He worked steadily through the series of questions, each progressively harder and each building on the last. As he turned the final page, he paused, re-reading the question with a slight frown. Something nagged at his subconscious, trying desperately to attract his attention.

"When you are playing chess, young Severus, you should be a little more aware of the mis-directions and the subtle misleading of your attention from your main objective." The laughing advice came a few seconds after a crushing victory set up by Tom but he had walked wide eyed into the trap because of overconfidence and the discarding of some small details that did not fit with what he perceived as the 'real attack'.

An indrawn breath and a scrabble back through the sheets made Severus slap his own forehead and toss the paper on the floor in disgust. His examiner looked up and frowned. "Is there something wrong, Mr Snape?" he asked in concern.

"No, I am an idiot, is all. May I have another paper?"

"Er, yes, but you have to give me the first."

"But it's spoilt!" Severus protested but the man assured him that was no problem, it would be discarded after the exam but it had to be accounted for.

Shrugging, Severus swapped the spoiled paper for the new one and worked the questions until he came to the junction. If he continued on the most recognisable line of thought he would have ended up exactly where he had the first time, but if he gave the more obscure answer, then.... He sneered at the sheet then followed the new path until he again reached the end of the paper. Less cocky this time, he went back over the twenty sheets of questions, recognised the first parting of the ways and acknowledged it was a tricky little thing before moving on with the questions. After the fourteenth sheet again the uneasiness came upon him and he went back, checking and re-checking, paging through the multitude of potions texts he kept in his memory library until he came to a rather bizarre author whose potions were considered to be too radical for mainstream potions creation.

Lorrima Bungwittle, an American researcher working out of the Amazon, had discovered some rather exotic and really interesting properties in bromeliads which, when treated in a certain way, completely changed the face of common potions into much more effective paths. Snorting in disgust, Snape looked up, caught his examiner's attention and was given yet another clean examination folder. Shaking his head, he was about to start again when the examiner coughed gently.

"You can write 'see pages one to wherever on the previous exam paper' if you like," the man offered dividently and Snape nodded his thanks for the advice, turning to the appropriate divergence of the ways. He was a lot more careful and found a number of new divergences which could have taken him off at a tangent but which seemed to be leading to dead ends so he simply wrote notes to indicate he had seen the new path but chose to follow the line of reasoning he had started. It was all very complex and he had no idea if he had answered correctly by the time he finished the paper to his own satisfaction. He also had no idea of how long he had been in the examination room as time seemed to have stood still while he was concentrating.

Handing his finished paper to the examiner, he frowned, he could have sworn he had had a different supervisor originally, but then he just shrugged. Hunger made itself known and he strode along to the cafeteria, ordering a hearty soup and a small loaf of bread to go with it.

"So how did you find it, Snape?" Woodwhistle asked, plunking down beside him and placing a similar bowl of soup on the table.

"Taxing," Severus replied honestly. "When I found I had missed a whole section of the paper I had to start all over again and re-do the bloody thing, twice even! The logic trap on page seventeen was a kicker too, nearly made me lose my train of thought and doubt I had a good line of reasoning going after all."

"Huh? What logic trap? But, but... I didn't see any logic traps, just some fiendishly difficult brewing." Woodwhistle dropped his spoon and stared at his classmate in horror.

"True, the brewing would have been fiendishly difficult but the divergence into the separate tracks of potions methods was where I was almost caught out," Severus mused then cocked his head at his classmate who looked extremely green around the gills. "What is it? Found a night crawler in your soup?"

"Worse, I think I just failed."

Snape frowned slightly then sneered at the man's angst. "Too late to worry about it now, isn't it? The results come in less than a week and then you will know for sure if you were right or wrong, until then, forget it."

"Easy for you to say, if you fail it's no big deal. If I fail, it's down to an apothecary's assistant I go."

"If I fail, it is down to the grave I go," Severus corrected softly under his breath, too quietly for his colleague to hear but it was a chilling thought. If he did fail, would Tom forgive him, or would Lord Voldemort punish him severely for his failure? Shivering, Severus pushed his soup away, no longer hungry at all.

~~*~~

"Oh, come on, Severus, you know you are good at potions. You have passed your brewer's exams with flying colours and even if you don't make Master, you know you will get Honorarium. All this stupid soul searching is a waste of time. What happened to the confidence you had when you left here three days ago?"

"There were tricks and traps on the paper, I fell into one and found one other, what if there were more, what if I missed something? I often miss traps on the chess board, what if I missed an important step and built a chain of logic on a quagmire? What if..."

"What if the sky falls in?" Lucius demanded sarcastically, then softened his stance and hugged the taller man close. "Severus, Severo, just relax, Love, you are good, very good and even if you do fail, we'll still love you. The Dark Lord will still appreciate your skills as a brewer of his potions, he will still encourage you to try again to get your Mastery and you will get it, Love, honestly you will. Now come along, we have a perfectly good chef at Malfoy and you could use a couple of square meals by the look of you. When did you last eat properly?"

Severus frowned then shrugged. "I can't remember. Do you really think Tom would forgive me if I failed?"

Lucius smiled and held him close. "Of course I do," he said reassuringly, lying though his back teeth.

~~*~~

Malfoy in June was truly beautiful, the gardens in full bloom, the trees shading the paths and the bees humming busily amongst the thousands of flowers and fruit trees. Herbs of all types and kinds were growing lush and green or silver or purple, some ready to harvest, some ready to actually flower, some already gone to seed ready for the next year. Severus wandered through the extensive acreage, taking a pinch here and a taste there, the head gardener hard on his heels. Usually the outdoors revolted Severus but in the potions garden he always felt relaxed and ready to enjoy nature's bounty first hand. Indicating some ripe nightshade berries, he had the gardener set his minions to harvest them and note that an eye should be kept on the plants to pick the berries as soon as they turned colour.

The St. John's Wort was almost ready for the first flush of picking and the Monk's Hood was flowering steadily. He remembered reading somewhere about the newly discovered Wolfsbane Potion, developed here in Britain and wondered if Lupin had ever tried it? It would be an interesting brew to practice on, quite difficult to get right and deadly to get wrong. He was about to order the harvest when an owl swooped at his head and landed on his shoulder impatiently. Severus went rigid for a second but, because of the head gardener's presence; he gave no hint of the nervousness in him as he detached the message and sent the bird on its way again.

The scroll was of heavy vellum rather than mere parchment and crackled slightly as Severus carefully broke the seal of the College of Potions Masters, unrolling it gently and never really looking until he saw the end results. He felt a load lift from his shoulders when he saw he had gained his honorarium and then almost passed out when he read that he had been granted a full and unconditional Mastery at the world class level. Sinking to the ground as his knees gave way; Severus sat there in the dirt and read through the results again and again to make sure he was not seeing things. No one was granted an unconditional Mastery, no one! Yet there it was in dark blue ink on creamy yellow vellum, his name, his score, his grant. The actual documents would be presented to him at the award ceremony to be held the following week at the College proper.

He was recalled to his senses by the head gardener's anxious enquiries as to his health, rising to clap the old man on the shoulder in an excess of high spirits. "Never better," he exclaimed, actually grinning as he apparated up to the main house and to the study to stand in front of Abraxas' portrait and tell the old man all about his triumph. Abraxas, now that he had settled into his portrait, was very happy for his good friend and congratulated him most heartily then told him to go and spread the word. It did not strike Severus as at all ironic that the person he most wanted to share his good news with was the portrait of a man he had smothered to death less than six months previously. Abraxas had been and would always be one of his very best friends.

Racing up the stairs four at a time, the next person to hear the good news was Draco who had just turned one year old and was still experimenting with gravity. His wails of anger at falling on his bum again echoed down the hall but were soon stopped when his Uncle Severus tossed him into the air and spun him in a circle making him laugh and chortle. Although he didn't understand a word his uncle said, the baby laughed and squirmed just happy to be played with. The nursemaid was quick to vanish away as soon as the black clad man entered the suite, still terrified of him and still fully aware of the curse sitting in the middle of her chest.

Even before Lucius and Narcissa returned to the manor and received the news of Severus' triumph, the staff were all informed and a banquet was already in the making before Lucius could even order it. All Severus' favourite dishes were paraded that evening and Lucius was quick to propose a toast, teasing his young friend unmercifully over his doubts of earlier in the week.

"The youngest Potions Master ever," he announced, Narcissa raising her own glass and giggling when Severus actually blushed faintly.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Narcissa asked once Lucius had taken his seat again.

"Our Lord wants me to apply to Hogwarts as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Severus mumbled from behind his glass of firewhiskey.

"What? But, but that's absurd, surely..." Narcissa began then bit her own tongue. "Well, he must have a good reason for sending you into that position, mustn't he?"

"One would hope so," Lucius said sternly, eyeing his wife in surprise. It was not like her to question anything the Dark Lord proposed. "So, how are you going to go about lesson planning and all that sort of stuff?" he asked of Severus who looked faintly horrified.

"I have no idea! I suppose I will have to do a little research, won't I," the young man muttered again. "My biggest worry is, how on earth do you defend against the Dark Arts? Personally, I would have thought teaching the Dark Arts without artifice would be more useful than some stupid attempt to defend, wouldn't you?"

Narcissa giggled. "Wouldn't they all get a shock at Hogwarts if they started turning out fully capable and well informed Dark Wizards instead of the hit and miss efforts of our generation?"

"It would have certainly saved a lot of time if they had taught us right from the start," Lucius mused, then grinned slyly at Severus. "You will make a fantastic teacher. If they won't listen, you can turn them all into potions ingredients without even lifting your wand!"

"Or you can terrify them into submission with one of your patented glares," Narcissa teased then burst out laughing when Severus turned one of his patented glares on her, blowing him a kiss that made him scowl.

"So, when are you going to go and apply for the position then?" Lucius inquired more sensibly when the fits of laughter had passed.

"My Lord already sent my application in, contingent on the results I received for my Mastery. I should imagine the results are going out to 'Mr. Riddle' and Headmaster Dumbledore even as we speak. I expect I will have to go up to Hogwarts some time in the next few weeks."

"Good luck then. That should be a very bumpy ride down memory lane for you," Lucius commiserated knowingly.

~~*~~

"Well, well, well, would you look at that? Severus Snape has topped the examination lists and is now the youngest Potions Master in the world," Minerva murmured, folding the Daily Prophet and passing it across Professor Sprout to Professor Dumbledore. "He has gone even further than I suspected."

"Ah yes, Severus Snape. I always knew he would go far but I do feel we failed him badly at school," Albus murmured, taking the paper and smiling sadly at the photo that accompanied the story. They had chosen to reprint the picture of Severus after the incident in the park at the St. Mungo's charity concert. It was probably one of the very few photographs anyone had of Severus as he had always been a very solitary boy with very few friends.

"He was a conniving little sod with a taste for illegal potions brewing," Minerva protested indignantly.

"Well, that too, but he was also brilliant, could keep a secret and had a very definite streak of compassion in his make-up."

"In a pig's eye!" Pomona Sprout protested almost unwillingly. "He was always raiding my gardens and stealing off with various ingredients he had no business either knowing about or using, let me tell you!"

"Actually, Pomona, some of those ill-gotten gains were used in our school infirmary to very good advantage," Poppy Pomphrey said quietly, blushing when she realised she had the attention of all the staff in the room. "Oh, he used to make brews for the infirmary, improved our Skele-Gro formula out of sight and some of his healing lotions were incredibly efficient at stopping scarring and promoting healing almost a thousand fold. We still use some of his earlier potions and St. Mungo's often sends the catalogue with Severus' name on the new brewing. He is really well respected in medical circles."

"He has all the charm of a rabid badger and all the affability of a Dementor," Filius Flitwick spoke up quietly. "On the other hand, he has a mind that is incredibly astute and the reasoning ability of someone far older than his actual age. Pity he was mixed up with the Malfoy lot, bad eggs in that crowd."

The discussion waxed and waned around the staffroom until consensus was reached. Severus Snape would make a brilliant and dedicated Potions Master, shame about the personality. Albus simply listened to the talk, noting who said what and when it was said until Minerva pinned him with a very stern gaze. "You're very quiet, Albus, never a good sign. What do you think of young Master Snape's achievement?"

"I think... I think I am going to interview him. He has applied for the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Master but I think I will ask you to move to that position, Horace," - Slughorn bowed ironically - "and appoint Severus to the position of Potions Master, much less dangerous for the boy and it will give him a place to retreat to where there are no outside influences."

There were a few squeaks of outrage that Albus would even think of subjecting children to someone like Snape, who was reputed to be a Death Eater and if he wasn't actually a Death Eater he was something pretty close. Twinkling, nodding and smiling, Albus allowed his staff full rein to air their views until one by one they began to see the better side of having someone like Snape on staff. He would bring prestige to the school if he didn't murder them all in their beds that were - he was reputed to be a vampire after all - and did everyone see the photo of him in the Daily Prophet a few years ago? What was that all about then? Finally, the gossiping complaints died down and Albus rose to take his leave of his staff. Only Minerva noticed he had not offered any opinion one way or the other after he left.

~~*~~

Taking the train to Hogsmeade was not an option as far as Severus was concerned. Lucius offered to provide a carriage for him but Severus decided he would be better off apparating up to Hogsmeade on the Friday before and staying at the Three Broomsticks over night. His appointment with Professor Dumbledore was not until lunchtime on Saturday so he had plenty of time to spend as he wished.

Rosmerta was very polite to him when he arrived, showing him up to a rather pleasant room personally. Considering how she had thrown him out of the pub on the few occasions he had ventured inside, it was a complete turn around and rather amusing in a sad sort of a way. Hogsmeade did not hold very many happy memories for Severus; getting pushed into a barrel of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans in Honeyduke's. Being hexed in the middle of the main street by that bastard Black. Running for his life from the monster under the Shrieking Shack, not realising it was Lupin until the Headmaster refused to do anything about the boy or about Black, the murderer.

That evening he dined in solitary splendour before deciding to have a drink in the main bar before going up to bed. He was very surprised to see Hagrid, the groundskeeper sipping from a mug that was almost twice the size of a conventional pint-sized beer mug. Still, Hagrid was almost twice the size of a conventional man so that seemed appropriate. He was even more surprised when Hagrid acknowledged his presence and brought his exceptional pint over to the table Severus had selected in a dark corner.

"Well then, Severus Snape, how are ye these days?" the half giant asked in a rather reasonable tone and volume for him.

"Well, thank you, Hagrid. And yourself?" Severus answered civilly, having had a good relationship with the groundskeeper during his school days.

"Oh, can't complain, can't complain. Are you up to see the night blooming ferns that have come up in the Forbidden Forest then?" the groundskeeper asked hopefully. "They're comin' up a treat, I can tell ye, and you were always int'rested in the wild potions ingredients the forest provided for ye." Enthusiasm seemed to multiply with the words.

Severus half smiled. "I hadn't heard but I would certainly like to have a look at them, Hagrid. Any spider silk at the moment?" he asked slyly.

Hagrid blushed then nodded conspiratorially. "Aye, that I have, if ye'll be wantin' a couple of hanks, and there's some Unicorn tail hair, as well as mane hair, both silver and white as well as yellow and black. I've got some werewolf hair too, wild werewolf. The pack had a bit of a set-to a few months ago and left half of someone's pelt torn out, some even still attached to the skin, mind you. That should be useful to you, young Severus."

"Useful indeed, Rubeus," Severus murmured, impressed in spite of himself. Hagrid had always been able to get rare and sometimes next-to-impossible ingredients out of the Forbidden Forest when others failed. "I can offer you a couple of litres of healing potions with instructions on how to make it species specific. I also have some Skele-Gro that would be very useful for say, hippogriff, centaur and unicorn bones."

Hagrid's eyes lit up in pleasure. "Eh, that would be right handy," he agreed happily.

"May I order you a refill?" Severus offered courteously and signalled the barman for another round.

The night was rather pleasant after that, Severus wandering off to bed feeling happy for the first time in quite a while. Hagrid might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he knew his own areas of expertise inside out and was a joy to listen to on certain aspects of wild creatures and their habits. His store of folklore and herb lore was equally extensive if not trained in more conventional pathways.

Morning did not come early for Severus which was all to the good. He crawled out of bed after nine o'clock and took a leisurely bath before wandering down to seek breakfast. Since his appointment with Dumbledore was not until lunchtime, he selected a book from the number he always travelled with and chose a comfortably warm spot in the shade of the building to settle down with a pint of light lager and while away the morning in mindless pursuits. He was not particularly happy to be disturbed by a slightly whining female voice coming from the window to his left that began to drone on some half hour after taking up his selected position. About to move on, he was arrested to hear a very familiar voice replying, although he did not quite catch the words.

"... a long line of seers and foretellers," the woman said with an affected giggle that grated on Severus' ear. "My ancestress was Cassandra Trelawney, you know, a well known and particularly accurate reader of the stars and cards. I myself prefer crystal balls and tea leaves and I have been trained in the latest modern teaching methods according to the strict guidelines laid down by the Seeresses Guild of Knowing. I did, in point of fact, predict the last big earthquake in Europe to the day," she bragged and Severus smothered a snort.

Predicting the last big earthquake in Europe was like predicting the last fall of rain, a no-brainer. About to tune her out, Severus was suddenly struck by a prickling of the magical fields, as if a large working was in progress in the vicinity. He stiffened alertly, eyes scanning for incoming Aurors or Death Eaters, either of which would be horrendous at this point. The woman continued to chatter then her voice changed suddenly, almost mid-word, to a deeper, fuller tone. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal..."

"Hoi!" The hand that landed on Severus' shoulder made him overbalance from his forward leaning position and sprawled out on the porch face first. Furious, he flung the man away from him by wandless magic alone and scrambled to his feet but the woman had stopped speaking. Instead, she had stuck her head out of the window to see who was there, an odd looking female with huge glasses and rather wispy blonde hair dragged back in a star spangled hair band. The barman was looking equally startled as he too sprawled on his back in the garden where Severus' magic had tossed him.

Glaring from one to the other, Severus pulled his robes straight and snatched up his book before storming off to his room in disgust. Slamming his room door shut, Severus quickly snatched out a quill and wrote down the prophecy so he would not forget it, although he was very sure he would never forget it, ever. He cursed the idiot who had disturbed him, wondering what the other half had been, how much more there was and whether it was clearer than the bit he overheard.

Who had defied their Lord three times and had a child in July? It wasn't Lucius and Narcissa, their child had been born in June, the sixth month and neither of them would even think to argue with the Lord, never mind defy him. And which year did she actually mean? This year, last year, when? He was still grinding his teeth over not hearing the full prophecy when his alarm charm reminded him it was nearly time for his meeting with Dumbledore.

~~*~~

Albus Dumbledore watched Severus enter the room he had reserved for his meetings with all the wariness of a cat in a strange house. The boy had lost any baby softening over his bones and was now a mature man of saturnine aspect and extremely tall, well over six feet, probably nearer six and a half. His heavy black robes swirled around his legs and his upright carriage gave the impression of imperious command as he swept forward and nodded a greeting.

"Ah, Severus, so good to see you again, please sit down and have some tea. I've ordered a light luncheon for us; shall we eat before speaking about the position at Hogwarts?"

"Certainly, Headmaster," Severus agreed, willing to prove he had good manners, even if the delay killed him. He had to get the Prophecy back to his Lord as soon as possible.

They ate, making small talk and revisiting old memories very carefully, Severus had grown into a poised player of Pureblood games and Albus had always been the consummate politician therefore neither gained any extra information over the meal, even though Albus did try to use a touch of Legilimency but Snape's blocking Occlumency was perfect. As the house-elves cleared away the remains of the meal and brought fresh tea for both men, Albus sat back and contemplated his ex-student carefully, weighing what he had to say very carefully before nodding decisively.

"You have done very well in the field of Potions, Severus, very well indeed. Congratulations on becoming the youngest Potions Master in the world, very well done considering how many others you were competing against, the largest group of candidates in the last thirty years, I believe."

"That is so," Severus confirmed without conceit. "I am very good at potions, always have been, but I would prefer to practice my Dark Arts at this time, er, my Defence Against the Dark Arts, rather."

"Oh, I think the first was rather closer to the truth," Dumbledore smiled knowingly. "Severus, you are a skilled Potions Master, very skilled and learned and as a Potions Master, Hogwarts would be proud to have you on the staff. You cannot practice your Dark Arts at Hogwarts. I have already told your Master that I - and Hogwarts - will not stand for it. Yes, yes, I know, you have no master, mark the protests as already said." Albus waved the unborn words away impatiently. "Let me make it plain to you, Severus, a servant of the self titled Dark Lord would not make it onto Hogwarts grounds without tripping every alarm ever put up. You serve your Dark Lord and even having you set foot on Hogwarts soil would be next to impossible...."

"Headmaster, I do not serve the Dark Lord!" Severus stated flatly, staring the Headmaster in the eye unblushingly.

Albus paused in his tirade, brought up short by the obvious sincerity, confirmed by the magic that surrounded him. Severus truly did not serve the Dark Powers. It was amazing! "Can you truly state you do not serve Lord Voldemort in any capacity."

"I have never bowed to Lord Voldemort, I refused his service years ago," Severus replied and again the magic field registered it was the literal truth.

Albus sat back, unsure of where to go next. "Very well, but my stricture still stands; I cannot offer you the job of Defence Against the Dark Arts master but I can offer you Potions. The pay is the standard contract for a head of department but I can offer you the Hogwarts facilities to continue your research into healing potions, also the time to conduct that research, which is probably more important. Hogwarts does have an extensive library and book swapping privileges with most of the learning centres across the world, so we can offer you meat and drink for your thirst for knowledge."

Severus sat back and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It is not what I want but it is a fair offer. May I have a few days to think about it, realign my expectations and contemplate what this change will mean to my future?"

"The best I can give you is one week, I'm afraid. Timetabling waits for no man, not even me," Dumbledore joked as they both rose and shook hands. "Take care, my boy, and be very careful how you split hairs, you sail very close to the wind."

Severus blinked then half smiled at the old man, morphing it into a sneer. "All good sailors do," he replied as he left, almost bumping into someone in the corridor. He vaguely heard the Headmaster greet someone behind him as he turned the corner out of sight then paused to listen.

"So this is young Harry," Dumbledore laughed, taking the baby. "Did you have any trouble getting here, James? I heard the trains were a little...." The door closed.

~~*~~

"I said I wanted you to apply for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, Severus, and you have disappointed me!" Lord Voldemort said ominously, glaring at the dark young man who sat opposite him.

"That's exactly what I applied for, Tom, but Dumbledore refused me. I assumed that any position is better than no position so I didn't turn him down cold when he offered the alternative," Severus replied evenly, ignoring the threat in the Lord's voice. "However, my position or lack of it is very secondary to the other news I have, believe me!"

Tom narrowed his eyes at the tone his lover used. Sometimes Severus overstepped himself, more and more these days, it seemed. "Well? What news is so important that you would not spend time campaigning to fulfil the order I gave you."

"A prophecy..."

"Oh for Merlin's sake..."

"A true prophecy, I can tell the difference, you know," Severus overrode the Lord's sceptical exclamation most rudely. "I only heard half because of a stupid, stupid idiot of a barman but the bit I did hear applied to you, I swear."

Tom stopped his fidgeting and stared at Severus, almost demanding Legilimency and Severus let him in. The scene replayed itself from start to finish, including the interview with Dumbledore, Severus' protestations that he did not serve the Dark Lord and Dumbledore's confirmation of the truth. Drawing away from the boy's mind, Tom glared at Severus bitterly.

"So you do not serve me, do you not?" he asked silkily, his wand hand twitching even as Severus smiled a complete smirk of self-satisfaction.

"Oh, I serve you, Tom, no doubt about that and I would give my life for you if it was asked of me and was necessary to forward your cause. I do not worship the Dark Lord, nor do I take very much account of Lord Voldemort, but Tom Marvolo Riddle has my complete heart and loyalty." Severus leaned in and kissed the lips that slowly softened into a smile.

"You are a strange one, my Severus, so very strange at times. So, tell me this prophecy again so we can find out who this child is and deal with the problem before it becomes a real issue."

The two men retired to the sofa to sit close and comfortable and dissect the words of the Seeress.

11/09/2006