Severus Snape didn’t like summer.

It was hot, and his black robes felt heavy and stiff. Potions were unsteady if not watched carefully, and the students... well, the students were on holidays. The dunderheads were enjoying their summer getting on their parents' nerves, for which he was grateful.

Leaving his Slytherin rooms for Snape Manor, he was finally able to focus on his potions, in the cool of his own personal dungeon. The idea would have been more attractive if not for the excessive quietude.

Of course, students made him lose his temper a hundred times a day, especially those idiot Hufflepuffs and the arrogant Gryffindors... but to their credit, they kept him on this toes.

With a look at the Dark Mark on his arm, Snape found himself daydreaming once again of what his life would have been like... if he had made a different choice... if he had listened...

No matter. The choices had been made long ago, and all that remained now were the consequences. The Dark Lord could summon him at any moment, and his potions had to be ready.

They always were...

He glanced upward through the small dungeon window and could see the sky lightening. The sun was about to rise. Leaving his lab for a while, Snape climbed the stairs that led to the garden.

The Order members would surely laugh at the idea that Severus Snape, spy, Death Eater, irascible Potions professor, liked to leave his dungeon to watch the sunrise.

Whatever they would think, it wouldn’t change in the least what he felt. For a few minutes, Snape could harbour the illusion that all hope wasn’t lost, and that the world could still be unspoiled for a moment.

Just until the day started, when he would return to the darkness of the lab.

The sun was late to appear today, and a fog had settled over the countryside. A fog that strangely cooled the summer and made Snape shiver...

His attention was suddenly caught by the bush before him: there was definitely something moving around in there... Snape drew his wand at once and furtively stepped closer.

He moved the branches apart and stood still for a second: two green eyes were staring at him, both fearful and hopeful... a vision quickly swept through his mind: a smile, a laugh…of other green eyes... He shook his head and re-gathered his thoughts.

From under the bushes, a little black cat was intensely staring at him, immobile.. There was something shiny around his neck; obviously the cat belonged to some neighbourhood farm and was out making the rounds of his territory.

Amused, the Potions Master caught the cat by the scruff of the neck and pulled him closer. It was not a kitten anymore, but it was not fully adult either. It was as small as it was light, and Snape could feel its fright as it trembled.

The sun finally pierced through the fog, and Snape could see the cat more closely.

His amusement vanished at once. The cat was not only small and fearful; he was also skinny and covered with blood. It was a wonder that he hadn't fought his captor.

Snape had no sympathy to waste on students. He was not paid to play babby-sitter or even to be nice; he was a Death Eater, a spy, and his sordid past did not predispose him to pity or compassion.

But the professor still didn’t approve of mistreatment, either of children, animals, or any creature incapable of defending itself, even a first year Hufflepuff student.

Afraid of hurting the cat, the Potions Master loosened his grip, releasing him on the ground. The cat seemed relieved, but did not try to flee as Snape expected, but only raised a strange, lost look at him.

Snape hesitated for a moment.

“Well, I suppose that if I can heal a half-dying wizard, I can try to fix a cat that looks like he lost a battle to a hippogriff ?”

The cat did not move.

Snape cautiously lift the feline and took him off towards the dungeon. The cat appeared to be bleeding from several wounds, but his black furr made it difficult to assess. Grabing a jug of water and a clean cloth, he undertook to gently wash the cat.

“I’m afraid that your kind does not like of this kind of treatment, but it's for your own good. Stay still,” he ordered the animal, attempting a reassuring voice. The heart of the cat was furiously beating, but he still did not move.

Snape found himself thinking that the cat was actually smarter and more cooperative than most of his students; he felt a sudden surge of sympathy for the young cat.

A surge which came to an abrupt halt when he finally cleared the head of the cat of the blood covering his fur.

Contrary to what he had thought, the cat was not totally black.

On his forehead was a white, lightning-shaped mark.

Snape clenched his teeth, the picture of a certain Gryffindor student flashing through his mind.

“Merlin ! Am I doomed to save every single Potter in the world, even the feline version of the precious savior ?”

The cat blinked and cowered at his threatening tone. Snape waved his hand, as to dismiss the thought.

"Very well. If I am destined to be chased after by all the stupid and arrogant creatures with green eyes and a lightning bolt on the forehead…”

He grabbed the cat and lifted him to eye-level..

“Then, you will be the Cat Who Lived.”

The cat blinked in answer.

Daylight came slowly, the haze not seeming to want to fade away. Snape was anxiously waiting for the familiar burn on his forearm, indicating that his master was summoning him. Something was wrong, he could feel it, and that made him particularly nervous. It has been more than a week since he'd last had any contact with the Death Eaters, and the Order was getting worried.

Did Voldemort have any suspicion as to where his loyalties lay ? Was he planning a new attack on Muggles, or on the Golden Boy?

Snape sighed in frustration. He had no way to know... what was the use of risking his life spying if no one ever told him anything?

On the table, the cat cautiously moved a leg to change his position. The animal was obviously suffering from his wounds. Who could have reduced the cat to such a sorry state ? His owners?

Snape studied the strange silver collar around his neck. It looked like a rather precious object, so surely his owners must care about him... Butt short of a name tag, and given the uncertainty surrounding the origins of the wounds, he could not return their animal..

He considered the question: he had already healed wounded animals in the past, but they had always been magical creatures... well, weren't all cats supposed to have some magic in them?

He opened a cupboard and took out a small blue vial and a clay jar that he then opened.

To make a cat drink a potion and stay still as he applied the salve would not be an easy matter... better to immobilize him beforehand. He looked at the cat and hesitated. The cat seemed to understand that he wanted to help him and had not tried to fight him thus far...

“Cat. If you know what is good for you, you will not move. The salve I am going to put on your wounds will cool them and help them heal.”

The cat listened to him with an attentive and surprised look on his face. Snape mentally cursed; here he was , talking to a cat as if he could understand... with a bit more time{,} he'd have a pink rubbon around the cat’s neck!

Grumbling, he put a hand on the cat's back, trying to be reassuring.

"Good. Be still. There… "

The salve barely made its way though the thick fur of the cat. Despite his collar, the cat looked more like an alley cat than a purebred champion making the circuit of feline beauty contests. Snape held out his hand to grab the collar and then slid it though his fingers, looking for the opening.

The cat, who had been still until then, suddenly started and thrashed furiously; the Potions Master let go of the collar to hold the cat in place, surprised by his reaction.

The animal stopped moving but still did not relax.

“Very well, I get it, I will not remove your collar,” the Potions Master said in a conciliatory voice. Curious reaction that the cat had just had... Well who knew what went on in a cat’s mind ? He probably thought he was being strangled.

His mind wandering, Snape applied the salve on the last visible wounds. Really, whoever had taken it out on this cat had the soul of a real sadist... his skin was shredded on almost all of its body; not even its face and head had been spared. He also seemed to have difficulty bearing weight on one of his legs and was limping pitifully.

Snape shook his head. If he was to be part of a raid against Muggles tonight, at least he would have helped to relieve a cat’s suffering. Maybe that was the path to redemption...

He didn't have anything against animals. They were silent most of the time and did not ask stupid questions. Dogs, obviously, were loudest and a bit of a nuisance, but cats had a proud and independent manner that found a kinship with his own demeanor..

This one, however, was neither proud nor mysterious right now. Exhausted, the cat was lying on the table, legs folded up under his frail body.

Far too skinny, Snape thought… Taking out his wand, conjured a small plate and poured the potion he wanted the cat to drink in it. He probably should have dissolved it in milk, but its effectiveness would have been lessened.

He gently put the plate in front of the cat. Cautiously, the cat stretched out a curious nose, before pulling away with a disgusted look on his face.

‘Foiled,’ Snape thought

“Come on, cat. That will help you.”

The cajoling tone only earned him a tired look from the cat. Snape sighed; he didn’t want to have to force the potion down the cat’s throat. An idea suddenly came to him; he opened a cupboard and took out a box full of little vials of all colors.

"Strawberry… honey… rose… No, that won’t do… grapefruit…… wood… Sardine! "

With a satisfied smile, the Potions Master put two drops of it into the cat’s plate.

These artificial flavour samples had not been a waste of time, after all; everything ever came in handy, one day or another !

Intrigued by the smell, the cat stepped toward the plate again and… started to lap at it avidly.

Snape chuckled ; this cat was truly a valuable distraction, in spite of his annoying resemblance to a feline Potter. Whether it was a human or animal issue, he liked to find solutions, and most of all potion-based solutions !

Fortified by the potion, the cat started to limp about on the table, smelling the vials and tools there with curiousity.

Snape quicky caught him.

"Easy there, Potter, you will not destroy more of my posessions today ! "

The Potions Master broke off and snorted, thinking of what he had just said. This awful green-eyed cat was a perfect caricature of the hero of the wizarding world... quite funny, when one thought about it. He would have been all the rage at the pet shop on Diagon Alley!

Maybe he belonged to a wizarding family, yet, Snape thought. That would not be surprising, really...

Tha cat was watching him with an innocent and astounded look. The slightly lost look of someone wondering where he was, who he was, and what he might be doing here...

Snape shook his head.

“Very well. I suppose that I can’t put you back out in the wild like that, can I, Cat Who Lived ? Accio jumper.”

With a determined gesture, he laid an old jumper on the edge of the fireplace and firmly settled the cat on it.

“Accio fish.”

Some fish leftovers he had used to prepare a potion joined the plate from which the cat had drunk and Snape put it near the jumper.

The young cat rushed on the tin and devoured its content with the full enthousiasm of a starved cat.

Snape amusedly watched him. A starved, beaten cat... he prefered to think that his owners were searching for him right now, and had nothing to do with the animal’s misfortunes. One Potter martyr was enough !

Satisfied, sated, the pain finally gone, the young cat collapsed heavily onto the jumper.

“I presume that is what is called feline grace?”stated the Potions Master, raising an eyebrow.

The cat blinked in reply, before falling into a deep sleep, a young cat asleep with a full belly…

The cat didn’t awake for the rest of the day.

Leaving his potions for a moment, Snape stopped to look at the young sleeping cat and was overtaken by a sudden urge to yawn. This cat was contagious... how long had it been since he'd slept like that soundly, without a worry on his mind?

Some years, he thought, far too many years.

He reflexively grabbed his Mark. Nothing. Nothing yet. What was happening? The fog had still not faded away, chilling the air.

He had a sudden urge to contact Malfoy; maybe he would know something… He abandoned the idea, it was too dangerous. He could not risk arousing his suspicions. After the Ministery fiasco, everything had become frustratingly complicated..

A sound pulled him from his thoughts: something was tapping on the small windowpane. . He raised he head: an owl was knocking with the full force of her beak, an envelope tied to her leg.

Snape was to her in a second and instantly recognized the writing on the parchment.

" Severus,

"Meeting of the Order of the Phoenix tonight.

Your attendance is required,

"Albus Dumbledore”

Snape groaned; this meeting was not planned, it could only mean two things: either the Dark Lord had attacked again, or the Golden Boy had got himself into trouble, the two situations not necessarily being mutually exclusive.

Worried and annoyed, he threw the parchment into the fire. He didn’t like the look of this mist... He would have to go back to the Death Eaters this evening, whether he was summoned or not. He had to know.

He looked at the sky again : the day was nearly over.. Before leaving the dungeon, he made sure the cat was still asleep; he probably should have left him in a safer place; Merlin only knew what mischief he could get into while he was not watching him... but the cat did not seem to be ready to awake, and Snape decided to be indulgent..

After all, the cat had diverted him with his presence and had not moved the whole day. Let him sleep, tomorrow he would set him free so that he could go back to his home.

He threw a handful of Floo powder in the fireplace and stepped through the green flames. The next moment, he was at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, and he instantly knew by the faces around him that he had been right.

The trouble was starting again..