Second chance a new choice

Unpleasent surprise

In the Evans' living room, Severus sat across from Lily, a game of wizard's chess between them. After almost a full day spent sleeping—with surprisingly few nightmares—he was content to relax for the rest of his vacation.

It won't be that easy. Knowing Umbridge, she's not done with me. She'll try to turn Wolfsbane against werewolves instead of using it to help them. "Pawn to E5." The piece obeyed. And I wouldn't be surprised if Augustus persisted in his apprenticeship offer for at least another six years. He seems like a man ready to pursue his interests.

"Pawn to D7." Lily's piece advanced.

And of all the stupid–He hid a sigh. Lupin'll be here soon. Lily probably invited him so they could talk about his condition. Why was he surprised she figured it out herself? She's too perceptive not to have known. "Queen to C2."

She's dug quite the hole for herself this time. Three moves, and it'll be Checkmate.

No more nervous circling, at least—on constant guard. I much prefer this relaxed company.

"Knight to B4," said Lily. The piece whinnied and charged to the directed space.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Sure that's a good idea? Pretty unconventional."

"Guess we'll see," she said.

"Right. Tower to D4."

Lily's face fell. "Oh, I didn't see that! Hm..."

"You didn't really think I'd fall into your trap and let you take my queen, did you? That's chess rule number one—always think at least three steps ahead."

"Not all of us have super brains," Lily retorted as she studied her options so hard her forehead creased. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were once a strategist and freelance advisor for the Ministry of Magic—or something crazy like that."

"Not exactly."

"Well, what did you do? Seemed like you made it pretty good for yourself."

"I was a teacher."

"Really? You? A teacher? Not to be rude, but I'd never have guessed that."

"I didn't have much of a choice. I was a well-known Death Eater after the war, and only Dumbledore was foolish enough to give me a job. I hoped something would turn up eventually, but nothing ever did, so I kept the teaching position."

"Let me guess, Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

Severus shook his head. "Well, for one year, but mostly, no."

"That's too bad," she said. "Then it must've been Potions."

"You know me too well." He smiled.

"Were you good? Potions with you must've been exciting."

He rolled his eyes. "Not if you asked the students. The brats never listened to a word I said."

"And it never occurred to you that might be because you had no patience with them? Like I said, we can't all have super brains like you, Sev." Lily smiled.

"Well, no, but it should've been easy enough to follow the recipe on the board," Severus grumbled. "I always explained the ingredients thoroughly before they used them. And every formula was as correct as possible."

"You mean it was your version of it?" Lily stifled a chuckle.

"Of course. They were only the easy ones, and it was perfectly allowed to copy them for later use. Strict adherence should have resulted in at least a decent result, and if they listened to what I said, it should've been quite good."