When Severus returned from holding detention that evening, Holly chewed her lip nervously and gathered her courage to approach him after they had eaten supper in their quarters. Sometimes they ate in the Great Hall, with the rest of the staff, or with Narcissa and Draco, but mostly Severus preferred the peace and quiet of his own quarters, where he could eat leisurely and sparingly and without having his meal disturbed by angst-ridden hormonal teenagers. He spent the meal discussing subjects with his children and asking questions about their day.

Once the elves had taken their supper dishes and left a plate of sugared donuts, plus a pot of tea and cocoa for the children, Holly told Severus how well the kitten was doing. "I think she's almost all healed now, Severus." She indicated the kitten, who was sitting alertly in her cat bed, washing her face.

Severus eyed the small cat and nodded, pleased. "I believe you're right. You all ought to be very proud of yourselves, you did a very good job nursing her back to health."

Holly felt herself flush with pleasure. For the first time in her life, an adult male had said he was proud of her. A warm glow spread through her and she managed to look her guardian in the eye and ask, "Severus, since she doesn't belong to anyone, I was wondering if . . .I could keep her? I promise I'll take care of her and everything. Harry and Draco agreed that I should have her, since I was the one who noticed she was in trouble. I . . .I've called her Magik."

Severus gazed into the girl's sapphire eyes, so bright with hope and full of longing, and even though he didn't really need another pet in his quarters, although Silver wasn't truly a pet, he found he could not refuse her. The child hardly ever asked for anything, she was content with whatever he provided. In fact, this was the first time he could recall her actually asking for something for herself. But that's a good thing, it shows that she's starting to trust me, that she feels comfortable enough to start asserting herself, knowing I won't reject her the way Lucius did, he reminded himself. This was what he and Susan had hoped would occur eventually.

So he met her pleading eyes and said, "You've given her a name already?"

She nodded. "Yes. She needed one." She explained why she had chosen that particular name.

"A good choice. From what I have seen, Holly, you know how to care for this kitten properly, and if you can assure me you will continue to do so, then you may keep her."

"Oh, I will! I promise!" She was beaming. "Thank you, Severus. Thank you so much!"

Then, before he could blink, she was hugging him, curling up on his knee and throwing her small arms about his neck.

He remained still for a moment, then he patted her back and hugged her in return. "You're welcome, little one. And now, I think you ought to eat dessert and then take a bath and go to bed. Your kitten . . . Magik . . .may sleep with you if you would like."

She grinned and thanked him again and kissed his cheek, much to his amazement. He hadn't been hugged and kissed by a girl since Lily back in school. I think I had better get used to hugs and kisses, since that's how it seems little girls like to show their happiness, he thought, concealing his embarrassment with a soft cough. "You're welcome, Holly."

He glanced up to see Harry watching that little moment, his green eyes twinkling. "See, Holl. Didn't I tell you he'd let you keep her?"

"Oh? So you were in on this too, Harry?" Severus demanded, pretending to scowl.

But Harry knew he wasn't angry, and just laughed. "'Course, Dad. Holly needs a pet too, and I'm her big brother, so I can tell her how to outsmart you."

"Think you're pretty clever, don't you?"

"I am." His son said modestly.

"Smartass," Severus growled. "Eat dessert, Mr. Clever One, before I decide you ought to go to bed without it."

He didn't need to be told twice and neither did Holly, though for some reason she decided to eat hers sitting on the Potion Master's lap. Severus found he didn't mind, Harry used to sit with him that way until he was seven and decided he was too big for laps any more. Severus supposed that it was a little different with a girl, they apparently didn't mind being held, especially when one's father had just allowed them to keep a stray kitten.

* * * * *

Healer Keegan, who still came every Tuesday and Wednesday for sessions with Holly, agreed that allowing Holly to keep Magik was a wonderful idea. "She needs something that's her own, Sev. A kitten is a great idea, especially one that she rescued. It'll give her self-confidence a boost and show her that she can make good decisions and with a familiar, she'll always have unconditional love. Have they bonded yet, do you know?"

Severus tapped the side of his finger along his chin thoughtfully. "I believe so, Sue. Although all three children took turns caring for the kitten, Holly was with her the most, and I would say that if she didn't bond with the cat then, she has now."

"Good. And if she saved the cat's life, that'll mean a good strong bond, and the stronger the better, since she's a Squib." Susan said, very pleased with how Holly was progressing and adjusting to her new family, including her surprising new half-brother. She had met Draco twice, and had suggested to his mother that perhaps he might benefit from some sessions also.

Narcissa had been startled. "But Draco has never been abused like Holly, Healer Keegan."

"There are many kinds of abuse, Mrs. Malfoy," Susan had pointed out softly. "You don't have to pummel a child with your fists or a belt to abuse him. Your husband's influence casts a long shadow, and I'm just suggesting that it might be a good way to erase some of damage he did to Draco."

"What sort of damage?"

"Well, your husband forced his views of the way a wizard from a pureblooded family ought to act and behave down your son's throat. He terrified Draco, threatening him with all sorts of curses, I'll bet. You do know he is afraid of his father?"

"Yes, but . . .how do you know what Lucius did to him? Did he tell you?"

Susan shook her head. "No. But he didn't need to. This isn't the first time I've dealt with this kind of thing. We have our own version of Death Eaters back where I come from, and I've worked with children of them before, those whose mother or father managed to get them away from their partner before something happened that scarred them for life. Plus, I'm an empath, and I can read auras and sense that Draco's is damaged by his tampering with dark magic."

"That was all his father's idea."

"I figured as much." Susan said grimly. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you'd consider my suggestion. I could have sessions with Draco as well as Holly and you could pay me the same as Professor Snape does."

"Thank you, Healer. I will think about it," Narcissa said.

Healer Keegan nodded, then retreated to Severus's quarters for her session with Holly. For one instant, her mouth tightened in a grim line, and she wished she had Lucius before her, so she could hex him good for all the awful things he had done to his children, robbing them of their childhoods without a shred of remorse.

Meanwhile, Narcissa's solicitor had contacted her, and agreed to forward the divorce papers to Lucius. She had resolved to wait and see what his response was to them before going public with the news. She had also filed a request for sole custody of her son, though as yet the Ministry had not officially approved it.

Severus was now tutoring all three children, and happy to note that they all seemed to get along well now. Of course, there were the occasional spats, mostly between Harry and Draco, but for the most part, a friendship had developed between them, and that relieved the Potions Master to no end.

Harmony within his small family freed him to do some detective work of his own-as Dumbledore had asked him to weeks ago-and he resolved to begin gathering evidence against Throckmorton swiftly. Unlike when he had worked as a secret agent before, he did not need to rely only on himself to get the information he needed to prove that the bigoted professor was trying to warp the students' minds, encouraging them to persecute Squibs, Muggleborns, and Muggles with impunity. Now he was free to cultivate other resources, namely the students.

He chose two students from each House to be his unwitting eyes and ears in Throckmorton's class. Fred and George Weasley from Gryffindor-they had a penchant for pranks but were two of his best Advanced Potions students, and they regarded his odd request to 'monitor' the new professor as another fun prank. "I need you two to listen closely to what Professor Throckmorton tells you about certain Defensive spells and their targets in class, especially if he happens to mention anything about Dark curses and Squibs. If you happen to hear something odd or off, write down exactly what he says and the date and time and owl me it immediately. Oh, and don't forget to sign it."

"Sure, Professor. No problem." The twins had chorused, they did not particularly the Defense professor, regarding him as a humorless cold bugger. Though Severus did not permit them to play pranks in his class, and had in fact given them detention for doing so in the past, he also allowed them the use of the potions lab to try several experiments, and made certain they were not killed in the process and the concoctions they developed really were harmless. They also discovered that the strict professor had a wickedly keen sense of humor, and had offered tips for their best joke products.

He chose a seventh and a fifth year Slytherin from his own House, Steven Edgewood and Marcus Flint, and gave them the same instructions he had the twins. Both of them did not question him, they trusted him implicitly, and they too disliked Throckmorton for making disparaging remarks about Snape one class period.

From Ravenclaw he chose sprightly Amber McMillian, a sharp little witch who was very observant, she was a third year, and also Kendra Carruthers, that House's top potions student, a sixth year. "Above all, be discreet. Professor Throckmorton is not to know he is being observed," he cautioned them.

"Is this like an assignment from the Board of Governors, sir?" asked Amber.

"Yeah, are they looking for reasons to sack him?" queried Kendra.

"Perhaps, ladies," Snape said vaguely. "But do exercise caution."

"We will, sir. You can count on us." Amber reassured him, then added, softly, "You know, Cross wasn't lying when he told you that Throckmorton told us to go find someone to practice Defense on. He was a wicked git, but that much was true."

Severus nodded, his eyes gleaming. "I had figured that much out myself, Miss MacMillian. Keep it to yourself for the time being, however. Now be off, before you are late for your next class."

His last pair, from Hufflepuff, included third year Cedric Diggory, whose father was a known Ministry official and first year David Solomon, who had stood up for Filch and blew the whistle on Cross, allowing Dumbledore to collar the true perpetrator. He told them the same thing he had the others, and he knew both of them understood the seriousness of their assignment, though they did not question him like the Ravenclaws did. But David did tell Snape that Throckmorton had singled him out more than once, calling him a half-Muggle, and humiliating him by making him the 'practice dummy' for his low level Defense spells.

Severus's mouth tightened. "You are a half-blood, correct, Solomon?"

"Yes, sir. My dad's a wizard but my mother's a Muggle. It's never mattered before, but Professor Throckmorton . . .he thinks it's a disgrace and he . . .likes to . . . make an example of me."

"Indeed. I need you to write down as many incidences as you can recall, Solomon. As well as anything else he does that seems . . .strange."

"He's right, sir. Throckmorton's, well, he's a bit crazed." Cedric said. "Went on for one whole period about the days when wizards cleansed their families of "undesirable members", about two centuries ago. It was really creepy, sir, and I don't know what it had to do with us learning Defense."

"It doesn't have anything to do with his class, Mr. Diggory. Except in his own twisted mind. Write that down as well, and the date, if you can recall it. Report back to me in two weeks with anything you have noticed. Tell no one else, however, what you are doing."

The two Hufflepuffs nodded and went on their way.

His network of student spies in place, he then moved to watching the professor himself after class was over whenever he could, using Concealment Charms and other magics to stalk Throckmorton unseen, taking note of where the professor went after supper was over, which was usually back to his quarters, or occasionally for a walk about the grounds.

Thus far, nothing Throckmorton did after class was anything suspicious, but that meant nothing. Severus knew the other wizard was aware Dumbledore did not trust him, and would keep a low profile for a time. But he also knew that Throckmorton was a proud individual, and he regarded his fellow professors as a lesser breed, which meant that eventually he would slip, and then Severus would have him. Until then, he would simply have to be patient.

Patience was a spy's greatest asset, and Severus could be very patient when he chose. The only thing that bothered him was that he could not enter Throckmorton's quarters without setting off the wards the other had set up against uninvited guests entering his domain. He was certain that things went on there that were illegal, otherwise why such strong wards? Severus himself did not ward his quarters so fanatically, and he was a former spy.

He pondered that dilemma for a few days before coming up with a solution. Oddly enough, it was one of the twins' joke products that inspired him. One of them had come up with something they called Seeker Eyes, which were balls charmed to look like eyes that followed a person's every move for about three hours, floating in the air above the target and yelling one of five insulting phrases at them. They gleefully informed Snape that they drove Percy crazy, especially when he was trying to study.

He had asked the twins if he could borrow a pair of eyes, and they had agreed, but then he had performed several alterations on them. He had removed the charm that caused the eyes to shout insults, for that would be of no use to him, replacing it instead with a charm that recorded whatever the eyes saw or heard, similar to a Muggle video camera, and he also gave the eyes a longer lasting levitation charm as well as a Chameleon Charm, making them able to blend into their surroundings. It was a lesser concealment charm, but one that did not activate wards put in place to detect invisibility and concealment magics, and Severus had often used it to spy on the Death Eaters back when he was Dumbledore's agent.

Severus called his finished product Spy Eyes, and lurked in the corridor outside Throckmorton's suite for an hour before the Defense professor returned and unlocked the door to his quarters. Throckmorton entered his quarters, swinging the door wide for a minute.

But a minute was plenty of time for the Spy Eyes to slip in behind him, and once they were inside, starting to monitor everything the teacher did while inside his quarters.

Severus smirked to himself. The Eyes were charmed to monitor for several days and then return to the master spy's office by a limited Retrieving Charm. Once they were returned to him, he could then extract whatever information they had gathered and then send them back again, if necessary.

Now all he had to do was wait, like a falcon circling his prey, and see what information his network brought.

* * * * * *

By the time two weeks had gone by, Severus's spy network had reported several unusual incidents in Throckmorton's class. Amber McMillian wrote that in her second period class, Throckmorton had decided to divide up the class into two segments-purebloods and those with Muggle ancestry.

. . .then he said we were going to play a little game, and he said that the purebloods, of which I am one, were going to be allowed to boss around the Muggleborns and half-bloods. He said they had to do whatever we said, and if they refused or talked back to us, he'd give them detention. One of the girls in my year, Shannon Kelly, said she wasn't going to do anything like that, that it wasn't school policy, and Throckmorton got right in her face and shouted, "In my class, my word is law, young lady, and you shall do whatever I say without question, or else suffer for it."

Shannon, she's a Gryff, sir, said then she'd leave and Throckmorton said she was to report to him for detention, then he took thirty points and said he'd fail her if she spoke to him in that tone again, and then Shan left. We were all kind of shocked, we never had a professor scream at any of us like that before, or tell us to do things like that before.

The rest of the lesson, he made us purebloods order around our classmates, telling them to kneel to us and scrub our shoes and the floor and it was awful, sir. But we were kind of scared to cross him, he kept walking around and looking at us with this scary look on his face-worse than yours, sir, because none of us were misbehaving. And whenever one of us told a Muggleborn to do something, he got this weird expression in his eyes-like satisfaction. I think . . .I think he was enjoying us telling them what to do.

And our homework that night was to read up on the origins of the Pureblood Superiority Act, which was passed in the 1300's and wasn't repealed until 1806.

Hope this helps, sir.

Amber McMillian

Severus felt ill when he read that, for Throckmorton's little game was nothing more than an exercise in prejudice.

David Solomon also reported that he had given the wrong date for the founding of the Auror Department in Britain, and Throckmorton had made him stand in front of the room wearing a sign saying I Am A Poor Scholar and Also A Snitch and letting some of his classmates mock him and taunt him for the entire period.

But when Ashby Allen, who's a pureblood Ravenclaw, got an answer wrong, all Throckmorton said was "Next time read the book" and that's it. I know sometimes some of the professors have students they favor, but this isn't like that. He picks on me and all the other kids who are Muggleborn or half-bloods in my class. He calls us "halflings" or "two bits", I'm not sure what those names refer to but, I know enough to know they aren't nice.

The Potions Master gritted his teeth upon reading those derogatory terms, which were old names for half-bloods and Muggleborns, referring to the fact that a half-blood was demeaned by having Muggle blood in their veins, and was thus "half" a wizard, while a "two-bit" was a Muggleborn, who because of their ordinary ancestry was worth about "two bits" or fifty cents in American parlance. The insults had gone out of fashion over a century ago, being replaced by the more familiar "Mudblood", but Severus knew of them, having studied the more obscure branches of magical history.

Cedric's report was even more chilling.

Dear Professor Snape,

You told me to keep an eye out for anything unusual in Throckmorton's class. Well, last week he had us studying up on Dark curses, all the curses they used to use back during medieval times and the sixteen hundreds, and most of them weren't used by dark wizards, sir, they were used to punish those of Muggle blood who "strayed from their place".

Sir, they were awful, nothing short of torture, and he made us read a whole unit of them and then write a paper on the best ways to curse a Muggleborn, only he said an enemy, but I could read between the lines, and I know he really meant Muggleborn. What kind of professor tells a student to write about something like that, sir?

He didn't even teach us any counters to those spells, and I did some research of my own and found at least five countercurses and learned that several of those spells are now outlawed and anyone caught using them will be sent to Azkaban.

One other thing, Throckmorotn runs his class like it was a kingdom, and he's the king. We have to bow to him when we enter and leave and if we forget he takes points and gives us detention.

Sincerely,

Cedric Diggory

Subverting the students by teaching them the old rituals are we, Throckmorton? Under the cover of teaching them history, no doubt. Severus sneered, then tucked Diggory's parchment away with the others. When he had gotten two statements from each of them and the report from the Spy Eyes, he would bring the information to Dumbledore and let the Headmaster see just what kind of person he had hired to teach this year.

The owl he received from the twins was yet another black mark.

. . .He had us practicing hexes and Disarming Charms upon a set of cloth targets, professor, only they weren't just faceless figures, they were dressed like people. There was a woman, a child, a man, most of them wearing Muggle clothing . . .we know what that looks like since our Dad brings home Muggle stuff all the time.

And every time somebody wrecked a target with a spell, Throckmorton cheered and said that was the way to teach those miserable parasites a lesson. He gave one of the Slytherins ten points for blowing one up totally.

His two Slytherins also reported that Throckmorton continually favored purebloods, calling them "my lords and ladies" and allowing them special privileges, like extra time on tests and breaks and things like that.

He says, sir, that's how it was done back when he taught at Durmstrang, that they knew how to appreciate a student's background there, and he went on and on about how we ought to be proud of our ancestry and not . . .not dilute it . . .pollute it. . .something like that by marrying beneath us. Flint wrote, adding that he thought Throckmorton was supposed to be teaching Defense, not giving a lecture on dating or whatever. I get enough of that from my family, sir, I sure as hell don't need it from him too. Sorry, sir, don't mean to badmouth to you, but I wanted to learn how to defend myself, not get lectured for an hour and half about suitable bloodlines.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a sigh. He had only to wait for the Spy Eyes to report back and that should provide the clincher to Throckmorton's unsuitability as a teacher. Then there was also the way he treated Severus, with barely disguised animosity, though the feeling was mutual. Lately he had taken to making tasteless jokes about half-bloods while at dinner, even though none of the staff found them very funny.

Severus kept his temper, though there were times over the past weeks that he wished he were fifteen again and could hex the damn man right through the castle wall.

Throckmorton had even approached Narcissa one day and told her she ought to go back to her husband. "A woman's place is with her husband, lady. You never should have left, you or your son."

Narcissa had promptly told him to mind his own business. "What is between me and my husband is none of your concern, sir. Now I'll thank you to keep your nose out of my business. Good day, professor!" And with that, Narcissa had sailed off, pretending she was her grandmother Irma, who could stop a battalion with a glare.

"He made me so furious I wanted to draw my wand, Severus. Either that or slap him into next week."

"I know the feeling, believe me," Severus commiserated that night, in a private supper with their children in his quarters. "I think the Headmaster hired him out of desperation, because a first year would make a better teacher."

"I agree. I hope he doesn't last another year, Severus. I'd rather not have him teach Draco anything."

"Oh, I doubt if he will, Cissa," said Severus mysteriously, and the witch cast him a sharp look.

My Spy Eyes ought to be back tonight, and then we shall see what Throckie has been up to behind closed doors. He fought to keep from smirking like a mischievous five-year-old. But he was quite eager to see what the Spy Eyes had recorded, and he hoped they contained some evidence of forbidden spellcraft, something that would point to his involvement with the Dark Arts, which given his background and rampant prejudice, Severus did not doubt he was steeped in. But he needed hard evidence, not mere speculation. A spy dealt in facts, not rumors.

"What makes you so sure, Severus?"

He shrugged. "Let us say I have an instinct about these things, Narcissa," was all he said.

He took a quick glance at the clock upon the mantle and noted it was drawing close to the childrens' bedtime. He turned to see what they were doing, and found Draco sprawled half-asleep on the sofa, Holly writing in her journal, and Harry thumbing through a magazine.

"Holly, Harry, time for bed," he beckoned to them and they said goodbye and goodnight to Narcissa and a sleepy Draco, who then departed for their own apartments.

Holly went into her room to get ready for bed, finding Magik curled up asleep on her pillow. She smiled and went to stroke the kitten before getting into her nightgown and sleep socks, which she always wore to bed, since it could be chilly down in this part of the castle. She put her blue journal on her nightstand, just in case she needed to get to it in a hurry.

Then she went to go and brush her teeth, only to discover that her brother had gotten there first. "Rats!" she muttered, tapping on the door. "Harry, you almost done?"

She heard the sound of water running, a muffled exclamation, then the unmistakable sounds of retching and gagging.

"Harry? Are you okay?"

"No . . .go away, Holl . . ." came her brother's soft groan.

Holly whirled and ran down to her father's room. "Severus, come quick, I think Harry's sick."

Severus appeared immediately in the doorway, looking both alarmed and annoyed. "What is it, Holly? I'm working . . ." he trailed off when he saw how pale she was, then asked her to repeat what she had said, he hadn't caught it.

"Harry's sick. I think he's throwing up."

"Stay here," Severus ordered, heading down to the bathroom. He knocked once, calling, "Harry, what's wrong?"

"Dad? My stomach . . ."

Severus unlocked the door and entered the bathroom to find his son pale and sweating, clutching his stomach. "How long ago did this start, son?"

"My stomach started feeling gross after dinner, but I just started puking a few minutes ago."

Severus felt his forehead, noting there was a slight fever. He quickly performed a diagnostic. "Hmm. Some sort of stomach flu, I believe. Well, it's bed for you. And a Stomach Soother."

Harry groaned. "I don't think I can swallow anything, Dad."

"You won't have to, I'll spell them into you." Severus said, then he helped Harry to bed, summoning the required potion and also a Fever Reducer and spelling them directly into Harry's stomach, a procedure which was only taught to would-be Healers and Potions Masters who showed an aptitude for such advanced magic.

"How's that, better?"

Harry nodded.

"Try and get some rest. I'll leave a light on and my door open in case you need me," Severus said quietly, stroking his son's hair away from his forehead. "Don't hesitate to call me, Harry. I don't care what time it is."

"Okay." Harry shut his eyes.

Severus remained there until he was sure his son was asleep, then he rose and went to cast a disinfecting charm over the bathroom and himself, knowing such things would spread like wildfire unless he took precautions and the last thing he needed was to get sick. Or have Holly sick as well.

He went to check on her and found her sitting on her bed, holding her kitten, who was purring sleepily. "Time for bed, Holly."

"Severus, is Harry going to be all right?"

"Yes, he has a stomach flu, but he should be better in two days or so. That type of illness usually doesn't last any longer than that. But I want you to stay away from him for the next day or so, little one. You'll catch it, else."

She made a face. "Aww, poor Harry. I hate being sick."

"I don't know of many children who like it," Severus remarked, then tucked her in and bid her goodnight.

Then he returned to his room, where he was examining the Spy Eyes, extracting the information they had gathered and putting it into a Pensieve so he could view it easily.

Unfortunately, he barely had a chance to view the eyes first recording, that of Throckmorton at his desk, scribbling frantically on a piece of parchment, when he was pulled out of the Pensieve by Harry calling him.

That set the tone for the rest of the night, as Severus was kept busy tending his very sick son, who was stricken with nausea and diarrhea as well as a nasty fever, which Severus discovered did not respond well to a standard Fever Reducer, requiring him to brew a stronger one. He also gave his son several other drafts to reduce the cramping and nausea and diarrhea, as well as making him drink several sips of water mixed with a potion called NutriLite, designed to restore essential minerals and antibodies lost through dehydration.

Harry could just about keep that down, and Severus remained with him through the rest of the night, snatching cat naps, his information-gathering put hold until Harry was well again.

When dawn broke and his son was still not well, Severus Flooed Albus and told him he would need to find a substitute for his classes, Harry was sick and he wished to remain home with him. Albus said that was fine, and hoped Harry was well soon and to contact Poppy if his condition worsened.

Severus managed to eat breakfast with Holly before returning to Harry's bedside and trying to coax him into eating a bowl of broth and some crackers.

At first, Harry refused. "What's the use of eating, if I'm only gonna sick up, Dad?"

"Because it is better to have something to vomit up than nothing, Harry," Severus pointed out, and something about the way he said that made Harry think he was speaking from experience.

"How would you know? You're hardly ever sick," he said petulantly, accepting the spoonful of broth Severus held out to him.

"I've been sick a few times, and trust me when I say it makes a difference. Swallow another spoonful." Severus coaxed, suppressing a wince. If you only knew how sick I was after the Cruciatus Curse, son . . .or after one of those meetings when Riddle brought out innocent women and children to "play with" and test new pain curses on . . .thank Merlin that I don't ever have to endure another meeting again now that my days as a spy are finished forever . . .

He decided to send Holly over to stay with Narcissa for the day, rather than risk exposing her to the virus any more than she had already been. Narcissa assured him she would be happy to let Holly spend some time with her and Draco, and so Holly took her school books (Severus had written out assignments for her to complete) and Magik and went down to the Malfoy suite.

Severus spent the rest of the day nursing his son and brewing extra healing potions, for he had no idea where Harry had picked this up, and he had a feeling that Poppy was going to have need of his potions, since such viruses tended to travel through the student body like wildfire.

Sure enough, Madam Pomfrey Flooed him that afternoon, just as Harry was beginning to feel a little better, to ask him for the same Fever Reducer and Stomach Soothers plus Anti-Diarrhea Drafts he had been giving his child. "I have six students here with this stomach flu, Severus, and I could really use some of your potions right about now, if you feel up to brewing them. How is Harry?"

"He's recovering. And I made extra, Poppy, I'll bring them over. Do you need me to help you administer them? Does your assistant know how spell a draft into a patient's stomach?"

"Not yet, that's a skill she has yet to master, Severus. I would greatly appreciate your help."

"On my way." He summoned a house elf to watch Harry while he went over to the infirmary to help Poppy.

Most of the students were in the beginning stages of the virus, and the potions helped them immensely. Severus was finished rather quickly, and returned to find Harry sleeping peacefully, and the house elf, Twylla, reported that he had eaten some soup Severus left and drank some water before going to sleep.

"Very good. That's what I had hoped. Thank you, Twylla, you may go."

"You are most welcome, Master Snape." The elf bowed and then vanished.

At last Severus returned to the Pensieve and managed to look over the various images. He noted that Throckmorton spent an inordinate amount of time writing letters and sending them off with various owls, as he did not own one.

He also kept practicing certain wand movements and chanting a spell that Severus was unfamiliar with, but was pretty certain was a conjuring spell of some kind, meant to call up something. Knowing Throckmorton, whatever it was was surely unpleasant.

There were also several books upon Throckmorton's shelf that Severus knew were texts of Dark magic, books that had been banned in Britain for years, yet Throckmorton had them upon his shelf right next to supposed Defense texts. The sheer arrogance of the man astounded Severus. No wonder he warded his room, if this was what he displayed in it for all to see.

There was also a list that the professor kept checking, Severus saw it had several names upon it, including his own and his children's, as well as several other students, all of them having some Muggle ancestry. Snape's eyes narrowed. What sort of list is that? A list of those he wishes to get rid of? A hit list, as the Muggles would say?

There was a list of purebloods too, and on this one, Throckmorton had written next to some names-has potential, will be an asset, has a quick temper but strong in magic, or has tendencies to sympathize with Mudbloods and other trash.

It was then that Severus understood what Throckmorton was doing. He was not just teaching a class, he was recruiting likely candidates for the Death Eaters. The letters Throckmorton wrote were not ones that made any real sense, and Severus knew they were coded, and he would not be able to decode them without having one.

Still, what he had so far was enough to get Throckmorton unceremoniously sacked. The student affidavits were strong testimony and Throckmorton could not say they all lied , nor that one House was causing all the trouble, since all the Houses were involved.

Severus allowed himself a quiet smile of victory. The falcon had sighted his prey and was now moving in for the kill, and the rabbit remained unaware. He placed the Pensieve and the letters next to each other and Flooed Dumbledore.

* * * * * *

Little did the Potions Master know, that Throckmorton had just sent out an urgent letter to the one he worked for that same night.

It was a single sheet of white parchment with the following sentence upon it:

They have come here, in case you were wondering.

He then sent it off with a fast barn owl.