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Chapter 6 - Another Visitor

Each letter was dated so he took a moment to open them one by one and set them into order. Kathryn had written almost every day of the last month; the MSA had gathered them up and sent them all in one batch, something that irritated Severus no end. Firstly, he was annoyed by the month of thinking she had forgotten him that a few timely letters could have prevented. Secondly, he was concerned that his letters to her had received the same treatment. Had Kathryn spent a month wondering whether he still cared for her?

The first letters were romantic, passionate and warming. She spoke to him in the letters in a way she had never done in person. He knew his own letters had been much the same. There was a freedom in writing, in putting words down on paper and rearranging them, studying them, playing with them, that wasn't there in speech.

Later missives were chattier and he could feel her thinking about how much to tell him in every line. Whatever she was doing was dangerous and time-consuming, he could tell that from the handwriting alone. Her exhaustion was in the scrawled words and the residue of a legibility charm; her danger was in the careful choice of words, where a hastily scribbled sentence would suddenly become perfectly penned for a few words and then degenerate once again.

He picked out words and phrases and put together an idea of her state of being. He found his heart leaping at familiar turns of phrase, at the amused, dry tones that were so uniquely hers. He was only halfway through the pile when he heard Minuet rattling about in the kitchen. He looked up and realized that Draco was sitting on the couch near him, watching him with a wry half smile.

"So how is the lovely Professor?" Draco asked with a mischievous look.

"Quite well." Severus raised a quelling eyebrow.

"You look rather fondly affectionate when reading her letters." Draco teased.

"Then I will be certain not to read them in front of the Dark Lord." Severus reminded the younger man. Draco's face stilled and he nodded abruptly. "How is Miss Leblanc?" He asked and watched as Draco's face lit up.

"Lilly is great. She graduated top of her class, of course." Draco added proudly.

"She is not as much of a dunderhead as some." Severus granted and Draco rolled his eyes.

"You know it's far too late with us." Draco admonished.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Severus rose from his chair and tucked the letters into his desk cubbyholes.

"Min, Tina and I have seen through you. Hell, even Granger has seen through you. You aren't an evil old bat and we all know it." Draco crossed his arms and glared at Severus with an expression reminiscent of Molly Weasley at her most disapproving. The comparison made Severus want to laugh.

"You are a presumptuous brat, Mr. Malfoy." Severus replied with a tiny smile. The brat threw his hands up and stomped from the room.

"You're not fooling us, you know!" Draco tossed back over his shoulder and Severus did laugh then. Alone in the empty room, he gave free reign to his joy. Kathryn loved him and she hadn't forgotten him.

When he came downstairs the next morning he found that they had another visitor to breakfast. Minerva McGonagall, in white blouse and tartan skirt, hair braided and coiled around her head, sat at the table sipping tea and being stared at by a circle of wary children. Minuet and Draco were looking at her as though they were expecting detention at any moment. Tina was staring at her as though she expected to be eaten.

"Morning, Minnie." Severus ground out and went for his coffee with single-minded tenacity.

"Morning, Severus." She replied with a small nod.

"Terrifying the children are you?" He sat down and sipped his coffee, feeling his brain functions start and jerk back into motion.

"Not a bit, they seem naturally timid." She sipped her tea and her lips twitched. Draco looked at her suspiciously.

"You two are friends?" He asked dubiously, his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed.

"The very best friends." Severus muttered and Minerva chortled.

"Ach, lad, how tha' must hae cost ya!" Her head rocked back with her laughter and she nearly spilled her tea. The children gaped at her display of mirth.

"Speak English woman." He snarled, but the children knew him too well to be fooled and now they had seen the truth behind another myth: the vaunted rivalry between himself and Minerva.

"Now you lot must keep the secret when you go back to Hogwarts. How are we to keep you children in line if we can't play at being enemies?" Minerva's chuckle and the way her eyes crinkled with good humor finished off the last vestiges of discomfort the children felt in her presence.

"You really had us fooled, Ma'am." Draco was watching her with something like resentment building up.

"Mr. Malfoy, neither Severus nor myself are the easiest people to get close to, but as Heads of House our charges have to be able and willing to trust us." Minerva pointed out to them.

"Minerva drives my Slytherins to me and I drive her Gryffindors to her." Severus admitted with a shrug. The kids looked back and forth between them with amused respect.

"That's so sneaky!" Minuet burst out in an admiring tone and Minerva laughed again and held out a now-empty teacup to Minuet to be refilled.

"Thank you, Miss Ravagienne." Minerva bowed her head to acknowledge the compliment and Minuet poured her tea with a dimpled smile. "I may be a Gryffindor and not up to the standards of sneaky expected of a Slytherin, but I like to think myself capable of occasionally surprising people."

"Count us surprised, Professor, very surprised." Draco chuckled and looked up at Minerva with new respect. Another battle waged and won, thought Severus with a certain satisfaction. Draco would never make the mistake of thinking that all Gryffindors were bad liars again.


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