The Last Sanguimagus

Severus checked his notes carefully. The key to brewing a more concentrated version of the potion for Sarah was to pay attention. He yawned. He still felt sluggish after last night. Too much firewhisky and conjecture about Narcissa and Lucius and a new, mysterious Death Eater meeting had given him truly awful nightmares. He turned his attention back to his notes. He had to be precise. The slightest mistake would destroy the finicky solution.

There was a knock at his door, and he scowled. Who could be bothering him now? He relaxed when Dumbledore stepped through.

"Good morning, Severus," said the Headmaster cheerily.

"Good morning," he said. He rubbed his eyes.

"You look in need of rest." He came closer. "Ah...Flamel's notes were helpful, I see."

"Yes, very," said Severus. "Unfortunately, the potions that I've brewed have been only stable for an hour."

"A shame," said Dumbledore with real regret. "But I am certain that with repeated applications, some damage may be undone."

"Yes, I think so."

"You will be interested to know that I have completed my report for the Minister of Magic." The Headmaster looked at him, smiling.

"And Sarah?" asked Severus.

"Sarah...yes, I have completed her report as well." He eyed Severus thoughtfully.

"Will they continue to let her teach here?"

Dumbledore smiled enigmatically. "Yes...they do not have much of a choice, after all. Without a violation, or a witness to some wrongdoing, they can do nothing to remove her." There was a faint chime, and he pulled his pocket watch out of a pocket of his robe. He consulted it for a moment, then put it away again. "Minerva asked me to mention next weekend's Hogsmeade visit to you," he said. "She was hoping that you would be available to chaperone the students. Most of the teachers will apparently be absent on that day."

Severus thought of the Death Eater meeting with near-relief. "No, I will be engaged in other...matters."

Both of them knew exactly what he meant. "Ah, I see. I will let her know. Good day to you, Severus."

"Good day," replied Severus quietly. He concentrated on the potion in front of him.

***

Sarah was waiting for him exactly as she had been the week before. Except she was fast asleep. The doors were certainly keyed to him...they had swung open silently to admit him with no help from her.

He positioned the cauldron on the nightstand. "Sarah?" he asked. There was no response. Her face was relaxed in slumber, the usual blankness replaced with a soft expression that surprised him. "Sarah," he repeated. The potion was the perfect color, and he knew he couldn't afford to waste time; he had to wake her. He put his hand on her left arm, well below the seeping wound that graced it.

She opened her eyes and reacted by drawing her arm to herself tightly. "What--" she said groggily. She fixed him with a shocked look. "You..."

"I am here as requested," he said stiffly.

"I was asleep," she said suddenly, looking around.

"Your grasp on the obvious is inspiring."

She blinked a few times. She still held her arm protectively, despite the new stress it was causing to the wound. "Enough. Get on with it."

"You should relax," he said, trying to sound nonchalant as he mentally prepared the incantation. She reluctantly lay down again, and he noticed that she kept most of her left arm covered.

The potion waited, its periwinkle colour ridiculously cheery for the purpose that it was fulfiling. He started with the wound near the back of her neck, and noticed that it looked a little less inflamed. It was heartening. He gathered some of the liquid and applied it with care. Four more applications, and he noticed that the main portion was getting close to the halfway point. She was gasping weakly.

He watched and waited, giving the solution time to draw the old potion out. His mind wandered for a moment. Why had she covered her arm? And her left arm, at that. He thought of his own left forearm, and the hideous tattoo that decorated it. For a moment he froze. She could not possibly be hiding the Dark Mark. No. He refused to even entertain the thought. After all, she had nothing that the Dark Lord would ever desire. But still...he recalled the meeting with Fudge, and how she had been linked to the Dark Arts...

A wave of shame assaulted him. Certainly it was his own evil-doing that had caused others to think of her that way. The potion was malevolent, one of the worst Dark potions, and it would certainly set off any Dark Detector nearby. There could be other explanations for her reticence. Perhaps she had some unsightly magical scarring there. Perhaps it was the result of a spell gone wrong. He had no right to pry, nor question her so. After all, how could anyone, faced with what she had faced that night, voluntarily join the Dark Lord? Ridiculous.

The potion in the cauldron was beginning to change, and he snapped back to reality. Carefully he teased the solution out of the wounds, examining it closely. All five of the applications had definitely drawn out some of the original potion. They were lighter, and their viscosity was altered. It was anyone's guess whether it would make a difference or not. Hastily he jotted down notes, bottled and labeled the samples and checked the cauldron again. The antidote had separated. So much for the priceless ingredients he had sacrificed. He frowned. He would have to remember to make next week's brew smaller.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Severus looked at her, alarmed. She was shivering, and her eyes were closed. "Were you expecting visitors?"

"Only you," she said, her voice barely audible.

The knocking increased. "Shall I answer it?"

She said nothing. He got up and went out into the office, opening the door that led out into the corner, and coming face to face with a highly shocked Minerva in the process.

"Severus?" she said, astonished.

"What astute powers of observation you have," he sneered.

"I am here to speak to Sarah," she answered, her back ramrod-straight.

"That certainly explains your presence at her door," he answered.

She strode past him into Sarah's office. "Where is she?" she demanded.

"In her room," he answered. Minerva strode to the door and knocked on it loudly. There was no reply.

"What is she doing?" wondered Minerva aloud. Then her eyes narrowed and she looked at Severus. "I don't know what is going on here, but I would like to speak with her. Now."

There was still some portion of him that responded to her like a guilty student whenever she was displeased. He nearly grimaced. "Wait here." He went into Sarah's private rooms and closed the door behind him. "Sarah..." Her eyes were locked shut and she was gripping the blankets so hard that her knuckles were white. "Minerva is here to see you...she doesn't seem inclined to leave." There was no answer. "Sarah."

Her eyes shot open, pale and full of pain. "Out."

He felt oddly affronted. "What?"

"Out. I...will join you..." She coughed weakly. She must want to dress first, but at first he didn't understand why she wanted him to leave. He had seen her nude before, and there had been his glimpse earlier in the week...but still. He needed to give her some privacy. He reluctantly stepped back into her office.

"Well?" said Minerva impatiently.

"She will be out in a few moments," he replied. He sat down on the arm of the chair, trying to distract his mind with the minutiae of halving the potion. He had no reason to stay, other than he needed to speak with her about applying the potion next weekend, and his presence would irritate Minerva further.

Several minutes passed by, and he smiled secretly to himself as he watched the Transfigurations professor becoming more and more annoyed, until the door opened, and Sarah stood there, her blank face back in place, wearing a wrinkled, loose-fitting robe. "What is it you require?"

Minerva looked at her for a moment, and Severus watched the wheels turning. "Sarah, next weekend is a Hogsmeade event. I am certain that you recall from your own time here what it means to the students. However, it has come to my attention recently that some of the teachers will be away on that day. Due to...security considerations we always take three instructors as chaperones, and at this point only two are available. Now, I realise that you are new to our staff, and that you haven't really been asked to contribute yet..." Sarah did not react, her face like an expressionless mask. "Er, we were...that is I was expecting that you would attend as the third chaperone."

"I am unable to," said Sarah simply.

Minerva stared at her. "Unable...to?"

"Yes. Will that be all?"

Minerva seemed at a loss for words for a moment. "You are very lucky to be here, Miss Tanner," she said. "Very lucky. And now you are being given a chance to give back, to show your appreciation to Albus--"

"I am lucky to be here," said Sarah dispassionately. "But I am telling you that I cannot contribute in this manner. And the Headmaster already knows how appreciative I am."

"It's only one afternoon," said Minerva doggedly.

Severus said in a low voice, "I'm certain that there is someone else who would be willing to go as chaperone. Certainly Sarah cannot be the only choice."

Minerva shot them both a glare. "For your information, Severus, I have asked nearly everyone. I do not wish to cancel the outing simply because a part-time instructor is involved in...extracurricular activities on Saturdays!"

"You have no idea what is going on here," he said.

"I think I have a fairly good notion," she said, looking at him disapprovingly.

"Severus is researching a potion," interrupted Sarah. "I am helping. If you have any other concerns, feel free to engage the Headmaster. Good day to you both." She closed the door behind her.

Minerva gave him one last angry look before she left.

He took a calming breath and tried to force calm back into his system. Looking around, he realised that he had left his cauldron and his notes in her room. He went to the door and raised his hand to knock, but thought better of it. She needed to rest, and he really had no need to rehash the potion tonight. He stalked off, irrationally hoping that he would find a student that he could take points from.

***