Thirty Years of Winter

1998

Penelope Pristlethorn's rabbit-like teeth chatter as  Severus towers over her. "Repeat after me, Miss Pristlethorn: I will not  leave the grounds of Hogwarts without permission."

The girl complies in a shaky voice, her terrified eyes fixed on his face.

"Do not forget," says Severus, reaching down and shaking  her once by the shoulder for good measure. "You do not want to be caught  attempting to escape again. Understood?"

She nods vigorously, and Severus sends her off to her dorm room.

When he is alone again, Severus walks around the desk,  sinks into the chair and puts his face in his hands. Dumbledore's chair.  It's been half a year, and Severus still can't think of it as his own.  Maybe it will always be Albus' chair.

"Well, I must say, you didn't have to be quite that uncivil," intones Heliotrope Wilkins from her place on the wall.

"I thought the shake was a nice touch, myself," Armando Dippet chimes in.

"You would." This is from Phineas Nigellus Black.

"He is protecting her," explains Dumbledore patiently. "Better to scare her than to have her fall victim to the Carrows."

"I don't need you to defend me," Severus growls. The guilt  still eats at him every time he hears Dumbledore's voice coming from the  portrait frame.

"You don't need to be defended," says Phineas Nigellus, arms crossed over his chest. "You're doing the right thing."

A murmur of agreement amongst the portraits.

"Perhaps," says Dumbledore, when the sound has died down,  "you should go check on the students, Severus. Ensure that they--and the  staff--are behaving."

Severus nods. He should have thought of that, except he'd  been indulging in a fit of weakness instead. He hasn't felt the same  since that night by the lake, when he'd finally revealed his Patronus to  Potter.

"Oh, Severus?"

Severus half turns, looks at Dumbledore's blurred and altered countenance. "What is it?"

An ironic smile plays on Dumbledore's lips. "What is the date, again?"

For a moment Severus stands there, blinking. Then, without a word in answer, he turns away.