We did not talk to each other all the way back to Hogwarts. I had an impression that Snape tried to pretend to be resentful, but deep in his soul he concealed something else; probably some part of his personality of which he was ashamed. Usually in those moments he looked like he was extremely indignant. And I did not want to break the silence, knowing that if I tried, I would in all probability regret it a lot.

When we came back, it turned out that the exams had been over. The students, exhausted after the whole day of stress, were now sitting in the Great Hall, discussing the tasks they had been given. Some of them looked like they were about to faint even now, even though they had already got through the worst part of the day.

"I swear, my examiner tried to spite me constantly clearing his throat like that!" I heard when I was passing by one of the long tables (I felt terribly guilty as I thought that I had not been in the castle when my students had been taking their exams – well, not on History of Magic, but still, they were my students).

"You're overreacting. I actually think that they cleared his throat whenever I made a mistake... and thanks to that, I could correct myself," answered the first student's friend.

I could not help but smile; I remembered my own O.W.L.s, then my own N.E.W.T.s. I had always thought that the examiner had been trying to spite his examinees, to dispirit them... and yet, at the end of the day it had usually turned out that he had been either trying to help them, or just had not been aware of his own behaviour.

"I'm surprised to see you vanish for a whole day in such circumstances," I heard the Headmistress's cold voice, and my heart stopped beating for a while.

I knew I should have stayed; as the Head of Ravenclaw house, I was responsible for the Ravenclaws... on the other hand, I knew that if we did not stop the Death Eaters, the whole school would pay for that...

"I'm sorry," I mumbled finally, not looking up. I was glad that Snape was nowhere to be seen, because I was sure that if he were, his presence would only make the situation worse. "There... were certain matters..."

"Oh, probably more important than your work."

I was not looking at the Headmistress, but I was sure that her eyes were once again narrowed, like a cat's eeys, and his lips were pursed and created a thin, horizontal line.

"I'm sorry," I repeated only, and the answer I got was a deep sigh.

"You are very lucky that I am the Headmistress, one of very few who would be so lenient," she said, and I smiled to myself; on one hand, McGonagall had never seemed to be a person who could be called lenient. On the other, she was right. If anyone else was the Headmaster, I would most probably be forced to pack my things now.

Only after a long while of silence I dared look up and meet McGonagall's eyes. She was still glaring at me rather harshly, but there was also something else, something looking more like anxiety. I could not be sure if it was just my imagination, or her face indeed betrayed more than her mind would want to.

"We need to talk," she added after a moment, this time quietly. "Where's Severus?"

I shook my head.

"I've got no idea," I answered genuinely. "We split once we'd got into the castle."

"In this case, please, be so kind and find him, and in half an hour I'm expecting you two in my office. There's something you should know."

When a moment later I was crossing the castle corridors, I felt my heart hammering in my chest. It was strange that the Headmistress was so much on our side, even though this way she could upset the Minister. Still, she was also the one who would put the well-being of the students over her own. Maybe that was why she wanted to help us...

I realised that we were indeed lucky that it was McGonagall who was the Headmistress here. If not for her, probably both Severus and I would have already said our goodbyes to Hogwarts a long time ago.

I found Severus in his office. He did not look at me when I had entered; he had apparently learnt to identify me by my footsteps, because I was convinced that he would not be so calm if someone else had walked in.

"The Headmistress asked me to..."

"I'm busy, Shirley, don't you see?" Severus growled from behind a pile of papers. I had no idea what he was reading, but he seemed to be focused on it. At first, I thought that he was doing that just to avoid looking at me, but then, I realised that something had really made him quite anxious.

I did not answer. However, I did not leave, either, knowing that I had to bring him to the Headmistress's office as soon as possible. Therefore, I stood there, waiting and watching Snape carefully while his eyes raced across the parchment, full of tiny letters. His face kept changing so slowly that I was not sure when he had begun frowning so much.

Finally, he stood up, rolled up the parchment and tucked it in his breast pocket.

"Things got quite complicated, Shirley," he said quietly, still not looking in my direction. "Yes, yes, I know. The Headmistress wants to see us," he added quickly, as soon as I took a breath so I could tell him about this.

Therefore, I quickly closed my mouth and let him lead me out of the office. I had to jog to keep up with him; once again, he resembled an enormous bat as he almost glided across the corridors, his cloak fluttering behind him like wings.

I wondered what was in that roll of parchment which was now tucked safely in Snape's breast pocket. Although I had laready got used to seeing him so anxious, the expression I had seen on his face a couple of minutes before bothered me a lot. I had a feeling that even though I had just begun to hope that everything would be fine, fate decided to pull the rug out from under our feet.

Both of us got onto the moving staircase that led up upwards, towards the door of the office. Only then did I notice that my hands were trembling and my body was strangely tense.

We entered as soon as we heard McGonagall's voice. The Headmistress sat at the desk, nervously adjusting her glasses.

"You wanted to see us," said Snape, his voice cold and emotionless.

"I believe I should tell you something," answered McGonagall, getting up. For a moment, she closed her eyes, however as she opened them again, she did not look scared, rather determined, and it reassured me quite a bit.

Hesitantly, I glanced at Snape, who stood almost right by my side. I did not remember standing so close to him, but it did not bother me at all. Definitely not after that quarrel, when the only thing I wanted was to make up with him.

"During the questioning, we found out that the enemy had already got into the school," finally explained the Headmistress, making my heart sink unpleasantly to the bottom of my stomach. "Besides Mister Stillwater, the Death Eaters had already recruited Mister Pucey and Mister Selwyn. Both are already in the hands of the Ministry..."

"Have you gone completely mad, Minerva?" thundered Snape, glaring at the Headmistress. She seemed so agitated that she did not even say a word. "I've just got a note from Draco Malfoy, in which he told me that the Death Eaters in the Azkaban are going to escape tonight!"

McGonagall became white as a sheet, and I realised that I would rather not get to know what was written on that parchment.

"Tonight...?" repeated the Headmistress, clutching her heart.

Snape pulled the roll of parchment and with a flick of his wrist handed it to McGonagall. She took it into her hands, which were trembling slightly, and unrolled it. The more she read, the more pursed her lips were.

"We can't let them get to school, Severus," she whispered finally.

"You expect the impossible from me. I am not able to face the whole army by myself," answered Snape angrily.

"Not by yourself," I interrupted finally, even though, frankly speaking, I did not remember myself forming those words. "I'm going with you."

Only then did Snape turn towards me and looked at me, his brows raised high in astonishment.

"I thought we'd already made certain matters clear," he hissed.

"Miss Shirley's right," said McGonagall, glancing at Severus harshly. "You're going to take her with you. I don't know, though, who else would be able to help... I don't want to create panic among the students. They're already stressed enough...

"MINERVA, DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT THE STUDENTS WILL GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THOSE BLOODY EXAMS WHEN WE'RE AT WAR?!" Snape thundered, punching the desktop with his fist.

McGonagall flinched so much that her spectacles almost completely fell off her nose.

"Calm down, Severus, or you'll have to leave," she said irritably, but what surprised me was the fact that her voice sounded surprisingly calm as for those circumstances. "I don't want to create panic among the students. Their frame of mind is one thing, but there's another reason."

Snape was breathing fast, and one could notice on his face that he was really considering the chance of leaving the office.

"If we let the students give into fear, the Death Eaters will get to know that we're aware of their plan of attacking Hogwarts," explained McGonagall after a moment. "It'll be better if they don't know about it. It'll give us a pinch of advantage."

Snape frowned slightly, but did not oppose, so both I and the Headmistress had to conclude that he had agreed to the plan.

"It still doesn't change the fact I'm not taking Shirley with me," he growled. "I've promised myself that I wouldn't let her get hurt."

"And I promised that I wouldn't let you die!" I snapped. Did he really think that I would let him go by himself?

"In this case," spoke the Headmistress, "I think that I need to agree with Miss Shirley. The school can't afford such a loss, Severus. We've already got past it once too often. Don't make us do it again."

The glare Snape cast at McGonagall made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

"Wonderful," he hissed furiously, then left, slamming the door.

"Keep an eye on him," McGonagall addressed me in a whisper before I dashed out of the office after Snape.

Although I kept calling him as I was rushing across the corridors, Severus did not stop even for a while. He did not even give me a disapproving, scornful glance over his shoulder. He did not say a snappish remark. Nothing.

I thought I would rather like him to shout at me. Hit me. Anything. Knowing that I had pierced him to the quick just with wanting to protect him, I felt both guilty and falsely accused, even though it would be hard to explain.

However, he did not block the door as he had come back to his room. When a few seconds after him I tried to open it, it yielded with surprising ease.

"Are you proud of yourself?" he spat out.

On his face blossomed dark spots, and his eyes glistened dangerously. His chest moved quite rhythmically in the pace of a fast, heavy breath, his lips, slightly livid, trembled a bit. Never had I seen him this irate.

"You wouldn't have thought that I would let you fight with them by yourself, would you!" I answered, walking up to him.

Maybe I had made a mistake, because Snape immediately took me by my shoulders and almost brutally pushed against the wall. Although I tried to jerk myself free, I was not able to run away from him. Finally, I gave up and looked him provocatively in the eye.

"I thought you understood me, but apparently I was wrong, and you are in fact an even greater idiot than I'd've ever assumed," he growled.

"I know perfectly what you're talking about," I flared up. Blood kept roaring in my ears, and a flush appeared on my cheeks. "You said that you didn't want to watch another person you love die. Do you think I want to watch it happen? Do you think I'd let that happen, knowing that there's a chance to protect you?"

"You are so insolent and arrogant that I am genuinely surprised that the Headmistress still keeps you here."

"Don't change the subject," I replied, but my voice sounded quieter than I had planned. However, it was perhaps it that made Snape suddenly look at me with the same mildness that I had seen before. Mildness that he was still trying to hide, though.

After a while, he let go of my shoulders and with a quick motion combed his hair with his fingers as he turned away from me. I noticed that his hands were shaking, too. He was afraid.

"You know nothing of war," he said finally, and the tone of his voice touched the deepest parts of my heart. The sorrow sounding in it was so piercing that I felt ashamed that I had been behaving like that towards him. "I'd rather see you not having to get to know... it's not like... like in school. Now, you're a fully educated witch, but it doesn't make you capable of facing the evil coming towards us."

"And you still think I'll let you face it by yourself? Have you lost your mind, Severus?" I asked.

"I need you more than ever."

When he glanced at me, tears were glistening in his eyes. Only then did I realise that I was crying, too, even though I could not remember letting myself do that.

"No-one has ever said that it must end badly," I whispered, taking his face in my hands. Snape sighed and caressed their backs with his thumbs. "It... it had to happen, sooner or later. And I'd stand by your side no matter what."

He closed his eyes and leant his forehead on mine. Despite the situation, I felt some strange tranquility in my heart. As though his presence and acceptance could overcome everything.

"And if the worst is to come?" he asked quietly.

"Then we'll die together."