A Sliver of Kindness

    It was a quiet and cloudy December afternoon, and the skies in the Great Hall shown brightly, with sparkling snowflakes illuminating the ceiling. The house tables were absolutely silent, all except Slytherin, from which a gentle buzz escaped. The Gryffindors were completely beside themselves, the following night had been that of terror and horror, in which many children had found themselves being escorted by prefects to Dumbledore. At any other time, a visit into the office of the great Albus Dumbledore would have been that of an honor, but most unfortunately, not in times like these. With the newest rise of Voldemort and a strong surge of Death Eaters following suit, many deaths had taken place in the past months...and the previous night had been their biggest feast of death yet.

    Rightfully so, the entire school had been in a bit of a shock. Even several Slytherins had come to express their condolences, squashing the widely accepted belief that all Slytherins were innately evil. Lately, even those from Gryffindor and Slytherin had laid differences aside, and even Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter could get through a Potions class without killing the other. Even the professors had begun to act most kindly to every student, even those who had previous problems before...and through one of the darkest times Hogwarts had ever seen, the consonance among the students, houses, and professors was astonishing. The school itself seemed bigger, larger, than the war of good and evil battling outside.

It remained a snowy and cold day outside, as Hermione and the rest of the Gryffindors made their way down to the dungeons. Potions had been more pleasant since the attacks, but Professor Snape could never be misjudged, even in the best of times. As they began to brew their newest potion, Neville Longbottom, who never failed to cause havoc and destruction, suddenly began to whisper to Hermione.

Without looking up, Snape knew that Neville was in some kind of distress, and that the whispering was nothing more than a plead for help from one of Hogwart's brightest students.

    "That will be enough," snapped Snape, turning away from his desk. "You are free to go."

As cauldrons clanked and the shuffling of papers died down, only one student remained, cleaning up the mess for two.

    "Sorry, Professor," Hermione mumbled, hastily putting her things away, "Neville had an accident and left to the hospital wing. It wasn't his fault, he was just a bit confused..." She let her voice carry as she stuffed her books into her bag. Afraid to look up, she glanced towards the front of the classroom to see Snape's desk empty. With another quick glance, he was behind her, helping her clean up.

    "You know..." he said in almost a whisper, "sometimes it is not the feats we accomplish for ourselves that determine our greatness..." he stopped shortly, his piercing eyes flashing over her," ...but the feats we are willing to undertake in order to help our friends." He seemed almost surprised with himself in saying this, but revealed no further disillusionment. With a small smile and a nod, he made his way back to his private chambers, and Hermione was left alone to salvage what was left of Severus Snape's first willing display of kindness.