The next morning, Snape and Tori went to see Dumbledore to tell him about their discovery. Much to her surprise, Snape did not take the credit for all the work. It gave her a warm feeling inside, knowing he saw her more as a partner than as a subordinate.

Dumbledore ordered them to take it slow for a while. They were far ahead on schedule and he thought that they could use a little rest before starting on a counterpart potion.

Tori took the opportunity to go and visit with her parents. After the attack on the Creevey’s, Dumbledore had shielded all muggle-parents from Voldemort. Tori herself was her parents’ secret keeper. They were aware of the troubles the wizarding world was facing and understood their daughter wanted to contribute. They would have expected nothing less of her! The visit was over all too soon and Tori returned to Hogwarts just in time for the meeting Harry had talked about.

Ron and Harry arrived at the same time that Saturday. They had lunch together in the Great Hall, but at the Head Table this time. Tori could not believe it had only been a month since she had last seen her friends. They didn’t talk much during lunch, also because Tori was unsure how much she could tell Ron about her work. The meeting wouldn’t start until late in the afternoon, so they went to the lake to sit in the sun. Very soon Sirius Black and Remus Lupin joined them.

“Well, if it isn’t our little genius!” Sirius greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. “We’ve heard you have to work with Snape.”

“How are you coping with that my dear?” Lupin then inquired.

Tori saw Harry raising an eyebrow, but it was Ron who answered.

“If anyone can handle Snape, it’s our Tori. Besides, Bill says she’s the only one suited for the job.”

Tori blushed slightly at such praise, after all, Bill was rather handsome…and ever since he had started working as an Auror, he had grown quite popular

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I know what you and Snape are working on, exactly,” Ron continued.

Harry was quick to reply: “Its best not too many people know of it, for safety reasons. Just know that it’s potions and it’s important.”

Remus smiled. “All too true Harry, and I am very confident they will succeed. If two of our greatest wizards at potions put their minds together…what could go wrong?”

Sirius grumbled a bit when Lupin praised Snape, but kept silent, not wanting to spoil the reunion.

They spent the afternoon talking about the past, present and future. Only Tori, who always had been quite talkative didn’t seem to participate much in the conversation. They noticed.

“Tori, is something wrong?” Ron’s question turned full attention to her.

“N-no, why do you ask?”

“Well, we’ve been having a few discussions this afternoon, and we still have yet to hear the first words out of your mouth. You used to have an opinion about everything. Have you gone all silent on us?”

“Err…no, of course not, it’s just my mind’s been occupied, that’s all. But I really am enjoying seeing you guys again and it’s fine by me to just sit and hear you talk.”

Now they knew that something was wrong!

“I think you’re spending too much time in that dungeon,” Ron stated jokingly.

They all chuckled, all but Tori.

Ron decided to take it even further:

“Please don’t turn into another Snape, that’s more than this world could handle. You’re even starting to look pale!”

It was meant to be a little teaser, to get her out of her shell, but it clearly had the opposite effect. Tori stood up and walked away, only turning around to sharply say: And what if I was? I’d be so lucky to have his talent and intellect. I thought you knew me better than that. That you knew what knowledge means to me. Why this is a golden opportunity for me. Clearly it’s too much to expect a little support and appreciation from my friends.”

They were left with open mouths.

“Boy, she doesn’t say a thing all afternoon, but when she says something…wow.” Harry was the only one seeing the lighter side of it.

“How can you laugh, when there is obviously something seriously wrong with her!” Ron cried out.

“What’s wrong then? That she likes her job? Come on Ron, you make it sound like Snape is torturing her in that dungeon.”

Judging by the look on his face, Sirius seemed to think so.

Lupin would rather agree with Harry, although deep down he was still a bit worried, but not for Tori’s sake.

By the time they went up to Dumbledore’s office for the meeting, a lot had been said on the Tori issue.

When Tori left her friends, she was furious. She just kept on walking, without any sense of direction or even a clue of where she was going. She really needed to get that last conversation out of her system. How could Ron have said such things! Had she been that silent? She hadn’t noticed. And even so, did she always have to be talkative? Couldn’t they just accept her for who she was? To say that she was turning into Snape! Goodness!!

After a few moments, she calmed down again. Her inborn logic made her think more rationally about the argument. Ok, she had been silent and sometimes she had wanted to say something and hadn’t. But the last few weeks she had grown accustomed to working in silence and keeping her thoughts to herself. It was only natural she began to resemble Snape. After all, their daily routine had been quite similar lately. It didn’t bother her to be compared to him. She felt rather connected with him on an intellectual level. And she was also aware of the parallels in their life. Both good students, considered as know-it-alls and loners. If it hadn’t been for Ron and Harry, she would probably have become a very isolated, lonely student. So there wasn’t a big difference between her and Snape; apart from the fact that she would never turn to the dark side. Or would she? She wasn’t to know really. What if she had never met Ron or Harry, and if some dark wizards were to praise her, for her brain, and had been willing to accept her in their midst, would she have been tempted?

She took a deep breath; she surely had some making up to do. Why had she reacted so fiercely when she didn’t mind being compared to Snape? Ugh, boys, they didn’t understand; to her, this felt like a compliment.

The office was getting crowded. All Hogwarts teachers were present since none of them had bothered to go on holiday this year. Tori was sitting next to Snape, with Dumbledore on the other side. Harry was looking a bit embarrassed towards her, but Ron’s face was still cloudy. Sirius kept on shooting dark glances at Snape before Lupin stopped him by thumping him with his elbow.

Apparently the meeting was held to discuss the strategy for the upcoming school year. Only a few weeks away, security measures had to be defined. Tori hadn’t been listening too attentively when suddenly, she felt Snape giving her a little push with his arm. She sat up straight and heard Dumbledore saying something about their work. He kept very vague about it, but said it was coming along well. McGonagall looked proud and Hagrid gave her a big smile.

Then Ron had a request from the Ministry. Arthur Weasley, who had taken over the position from Fudge last year, couldn’t be here himself and had sent Ron instead to seek help.

“My father and Alastor Moody have recently been noticing that the Imperius curse is being used more frequently by the Death Eaters. Some people can resist it after training, but apparently, a lot of wizards have no defense against it. The Ministry has experimented with lucidity potions; however the results are not promising. Can Hogwarts give us some assistance in this matter?”

Dumbledore just looked at Snape.

“Severus?”

“I guess Tori and myself can find some way to make time to create such a potion. I have done some research on the matter myself a long time ago, but since I didn’t need a potion to resist…” he paused a little to make everyone understand that he surely was not one of the weaklings Ron Weasley had just referred to.

“It shall be done.”

His little speech had several effects on the meeting’s attendees.

First of all, Ron was pleased he could give his father good news, but didn’t like the arrogance Snape had displayed in saying he didn’t need a potion.

Dumbledore just chuckled at the very same words, thinking Snape would always be Snape and that there were still some certainties left in these crazy times.

Tori went from excitement over a new challenge to utter astonishment when she heard Snape using her first name. It had sounded so natural, like he had been calling her that for ages and not for the first time. She glanced at this puzzling man beside her. He truly kept surprising her!