The magic of the moment disappeared as quickly as it had emerged, and honestly, I had a feeling that we would not be able to get back to the conversation too soon, because it definitely was not an easy topic. On one hand I was glad it was over, because I had never been good at talking about feelings, but on the other... well, I was in some way disappointed. Maybe even a kind of desire, as though I wanted to know the end of our story now.

Despite all that I felt that for some reason that visit was important; after all, the town was almost completely desolated. Who could come round if not someone who knew Snape and wanted to talk to him? Therefore, it had to be some wizard – however, I could not help but think that the wizard could be either good, or bad.

Severus apparently thought of the same, because he glanced towards the door, moving away from me, and reached to the pocket for his wand.

"Keep your wand ready," he whispered, and I did not argue. I only nodded, then pulled out my wand, standing right behind Snape, who slowly headed towards the door. "Who's there?" he snapped.

"It's me, Minerva McGonagall," the woman introduced herself, her voice familiar and sharp. This time, though, she sounded as though differently. Her voice was full of emotion. I remembered her having used it just once, and it had been when Snape had come back to Hogwarts. "I have an important news for you."

The door swung open, but Snape looked at me quickly.

"Don't hide your wand, idiot, it might be a trap," he hissed, and I immediately regretted my sudden motion. Without a word I returned to my previous position, aiming at the door; the Headmistress had just passed the threshold.

"You may test me as much as you want, Severus," she told Snape, "but it is me. We have discovered something that I believe... both of you should know."

I raised my brows a little, when my eyes met McGonagall's. She glanced at me above the rims of her glasses, as though trying to read something from my face. What it could be, I did not know, but her eyes were so piercing that I could have sworn that she could see right through me, as though I was made of glass; it was not a pleasant feeling.

"Sit down, Minerva. Maybe you'd like some tea? Or something stronger?" offered Severus, sounding just like a typical gentleman should. Then I had been right; at home, he behaved differently than at school.

McGonagall waved her hand and took off her outer cape, hanging it on the backrest of the couch. After a moment, though, she decided to sit down.

"Just a drop of wine, if you have some, Severus, but just a little bit," she answered, then leant back heavily.

Snape looked at me, then gestured towards the armchair in which I had previously been sitting. I blushed softly, even though I was not quite sure why, then sat down opposite the Headmistress, while Snape turned towards the door that led to the cellar, where he kept his wine.

"How do you feel?" asked McGonagall out of sudden, taking me completely by surprise. We had not had a chance to talk in a long while. "You've had a difficult year... fortunately it is ending soon. Of course, I'll understand if you decide to resign..."

"Quit the job?" I interrupted her, even though I had not planned it at all. "I really don't want to do that. I love that job, and I don't want to leave it."

"I thought that there was... well... that you liked some more ambitious tasks," answered McGonagall, leaning a bit towards me.

The sentence seemed to be strangely familiar to me. Only after a while did I remember that Snape had once called me ambitious. I could not help but blush; my cheeks burnt, and the fact that McGonagall could see me in this state did not help.

"Professor Snape gives me some additional classes. I am still learning and developing, Professor, maybe one day I will be able to be more useful to the school," I replied, putting my hands on my lap. "I would lie if I said that being the History of Magic teacher is the peak of my dreams, but I know that my students need me... and I don't want to leave them. I love this job, Professor, and I know I can do it. The year might have been difficult, but it does not mean I want to resign."

A soft smile appeared on her face.

"Of course, of course," she answered, then sighed. "Recently, it is not that easy to get new teachers. Young people do not fancy this work. The older ones believe that teaching is... below their dignity. And yet, we need good teachers."

A quiet squeak of the door announced Snape's return. I could not help myself and turned my head to look in his direction. I had to admit that he was one of the best teachers Hogwarts had ever known, even though he was quite strict and sometimes even unfair. He had his flaws, that was true, but no-one had ever taught me as much as he had.

In silence he put three glasses on the table, then filled all of them with Elf-made wine. Having put a glass to either of us, he took the third one and sat down in the other armchair.

"So, Minerva," he started in his calm tone, and the Headmistress immediately remembered why she had come there.

"We've managed to get to some... sources," she said, a shadow rushing across her face. I began to wonder what kind of sources she was talking about... and if she obtained the information completely legally. "I got to know why someone tried to attack Miss Shirley."

My heart began beating faster. Involuntarily I clenched my fingers on the glass. Snape's face also seemed to have tensed a bit, but he did not allow himself to show anymore emotions. I understood that I should not reveal more than necessary.

"Then it was really her they wanted to attack, and it was no accident?" he asked, his voice betraying completely nothing.

"Both yes and no," said McGonagall, sitting straight. She did not look at me at that moment; her eyes were focused on Severus, on his face... what did she see in it? "Yes, it was Miss Shirley they wanted to attack... moreover, from what we deduced, they planned to abduct her, but only because she possesses some... information."

"I possess no information," I got indignant, feeling some kind of fright that someone might consider me a traitor.

"Silence, Shirley," thundered Snape, and I dared not open my mouth again, because I was afraid he would silence me with a spell. The man one again turned his eyes to McGonagall. He seemed to be completely relaxed. "What kind of information?"

"About you, Severus," answered the Headmistress, and I almost choked on my wine. "Someone is trying to get to you."

To my surprise, Snape did not look like he was scared. Not even astonished. Upon his face appeared something similar to a smile dripping of dark satisfaction. He pushed his long hair away from his face and closed his eyes.

"So it is..." he whispered. "I wondered when it would happen. If they know already that I'm alive... I just wonder if they will try to kill me, or just get the secrets of the Dark Lord out of me."

I jumped to my feet, which seemed to shock McGonagall. Snape sighed, then waved his hand quite casually, and I immediatelly fell back into the armchair. This time, though, I could not move, just like when I had decided to leave my bed right after the accident.

"Don't move, Shirley, or I swear I'll petrify you," he warned me. "No... nothing of this surprises me. Actually, I'm rather surprised that they haven't got me yet, if they are such superb wizards."

"Don't play tricks, Severus." McGonagall frowned. "You know they're dangerous. You've just needed to pretend you're dead to stay alive..."

"I am not afraid, Minerva. I know those people, and I haven't yet stooped so low to let that rubble scare me."

I felt in some way proud when Snape uttered those words. I did not say anything, though, wondering what I could do to protect him. Because no matter if he did pay attention to the threat he was facing or not, right now, he was in danger. In an even greater danger than I had ever faced.

"Be careful," said the Headmistress.

"You speak like you didn't know what I've been doing for so many years," answered Snape. "Had I not been careful, I wouldn't be with you anymore."

"I am perfectly aware of that," replied McGonagall, grimacing a bit, which caused her glasses to slip down her nose. Fixing them, she added, "There are too few of us now, though, to allow another war to happen."

"I am not going to let it go that far. I'll get rid of this rubbish once and for all. It'll be best if you don't get in my way."

I had an impression that his words surprised McGonagall almost as much as they surprised me. Still in complete silence, I glanced at the woman, but she had apparently forgotten about my presence. She was not used to people speaking to her like that, even if that person was no-one else but Snape. A thought rushed right through my head: Snape had once been a Headmaster, too... and it had been the worst year of my education at Hogwarts.

"Listen, Snape." McGonagall's voice changed and now became much harsher. Her lips, too, having created a thin, horizontal line, she pointed at Snape's chest. "You can't keep acting on your own. You have no idea how many of them there are... there might be hundreds of them, and if all of them try to get to you..."

"Then they will. Me, and only me," snapped Snape, frowning.

"No!" I protested.

"Shut up, Shirley..."

"I will not shut up. I am not going to let you sacrifice yourself! You're needed at school! You haven't got back after all those years to just let yourself get killed!" I shouted, feeling in my heart something that felt like anger mixed together with fear.

I was terrified. Yes, I was, yet not for myself, but him. And although it was not a totally selfless fear... because I was afraid that I would lose him, too. And I could not lose him now, now that I had finally understood everything.

"Calm down, Shirley," said Snape, his voice not as cold as before. Truth be told, I heard a strange tone in it; one I had never heard in anyone else's voice, certainly not in Severus's. "I'd rather have myself be killed, than let them hurt you, understood? And if you get involved..."

I blushed as soon as I realised that all of the conversation could be overheard and observed by McGonagall. I was convinced that from those several sentences she had realised more than I had been able to understand for the last few months. I was slightly worried that Snape would get angry, yet he seemed to be completely unaffected by the fact that there was a witness of the whole conversation. As though it was no difference to him...

...unless McGonagall had already known. And it was not impossible. Not after what had happened at school.

"I don't want anyone to kill you," I said quietly, suddenly looking down. I knew that the Headmistress kept observing us, but Snape had to know the truth. Besides, was there anything to be ashamed of in the fact I cared for him?

"Do you really think I will just let myself get killed?" asked Snape, and I would bet he raised his" brows. Only after a while did I muster enough courage to glance at him again. Upon his face was a strange grimace. "Sit."

I could not argue with him. I sighed deeply, then sat down in the armchair once again, wishing I could disappear.

"Do you have any information about who actually is trying to hunt me down?" asked Severus, his voice returning to its usual calmness and matter-of-factness, when he addressed McGonagall. She, on the other hand, seemed to be agitated.

"Unfortunately not," she replied, shaking her head. "Lucius..."

"Ah, Lucius..." repeated Snape, his voice clearly dripping of venom. "Surprisingly easily has he managed to switch teams."

McGonagall frowned and pursed her lips. She leant in and I was sure she wanted to cast some spell on Severus, but she only put her glass back on the wobbly table before she straightened up again.

"Voldemort wanted to hurt his family," she said emphatically. "Perhaps you don't know that, but it was him who led me to you."

"I should've expected that," muttered Snape, sipping some wine from his glass. After a while he put it aside, then stood up. Having laced his fingers behind his back, he yet again began to pace across the room, looking around, as though it could relax him. I could partially understand him – I was always soothed when I saw books, and there was a multitude of them. "What about Draco?"

"He's trying not to get involved," replied the Headmistress. "However, I would personally like him to have a hand in it. He's very talented."

Snape did not answer. At first, I had not known who they were talking about, but the longer I had been listening, the more convinced I was that they had been speaking about Draco Malfoy and his father.

"I know this boy better than you, Minerva. I know that he won't do anything one's trying to force him to do. Let him be. Maybe he'll come to his senses." Snape turned his head to look at McGonagall but still did not sit down. It was obvious he was lost in his thoughts. "I heard he'd got married. Maybe that's the reason why."

"Yes, he has, to Miss Greengrass." McGonagall nodded affirmatively. "But he's got plenty of time..."

Snape interrupted her with a wave of his hand.

"As I said, don't force him to do anything. In time, he'll see that if he doesn't do anything, he won't help his family. Currently, he's just as wanted as I am, I assume. He, Lucius, Narcissa... everyone. We have all been Death Eaters, and they do not approve of treason."

Unwittingly, he rubbed his left arm, and I frowned. I dared not speak up anymore, but there was no need to continue the conversation.

"Well, Severus, for now, I have nothing else to tell you. I should get back to school," said McGonagall, getting up. "I'm glad we know at least this much... and you two should be careful."

I shivered when our eyes met – I had never liked when McGonagall's piercing eyes found mine, because then I felt as though all of my feelings were on top of me.

"Happy Easter," she added, then nodded and left.

Snape stood still, staring at the door. His face expressed nothing.