This World of Glass by Whitetail
Summary: Third in the series Days We Learn From. In a darkening world where the war looms ahead, things couldn’t be more wrong. A new hand has been dealt out, and now Severus isn’t well, and this he knows. But what is it that is causing the fainting spells, and how long can he keep this a secret from his two adopted sons, Harry and Draco? More importantly, with the Dark Lord still furious over the discovery of Severus as a spy, how long can the little family continue to escape his clutches?
Categories: Misc > All written in Snape's POV, Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Draco, Original Character
Snape Flavour: Snape is Loving
Genres: Family, Hurt/Comfort
Media Type: None
Tags: Alternate Universe
Takes Place: 6th Year
Warnings: Character Death, Romance/Het, Violence
Challenges: None
Series: Days We Learn From
Chapters: 28 Completed: Yes Word count: 82971 Read: 92780 Published: 04 Dec 2011 Updated: 19 Apr 2012
Laura Baldwin, Enigma by Whitetail
Author's Notes:
Hope you guys like this one, because my family thought I was crazy, the way I was laughing while I wrote it ... ;)

     I was quite happy for the distraction when the weekend came and the students were preparing to make the trip to Hogsmeade.  Draco certainly seemed glad I was one of the supervisors of the trip, as he could avoid trouble by sitting with me in the Three Broomsticks if need be. However, I doubted that he would in the Three Broomsticks long, or even come by at all due to the fact that he had been planning to go to Honeydukes with Hermione and I was quite certain that - like any teenaged couple at Hogwarts - they would eventually end up in that steamy little tea shop that I abhorred.

     Harry had said something about him and Ron going to Zonko's, and so I figured that it would probably be a rather quiet trip, and the week after it not so quiet. I did rather hope that Harry would say hello; once he had gotten a few new atrocities in the hopes of making my hair grey, of course. While I was not looking forward to reports of dung bombs in the near future, I could not help but feel extremely cheerful because today I didn't feel as sick as I had the last few days. It was a minimal difference, but enough for me to allow myself to hope that this illness was just passing over. Then again, my improved state could have had a lot to do with the fact that I had something to take my mind off of the illness, and therefore it didn't seem so prevalent.

    "Cold out, isn't it?" Laura's voice floated over to my ears as she walked over to where I was standing in the entrance hall. The frosty air was pouring in through the doors as students filed out, being prodded by Filch's secrecy sensory as they did so.

    "I'd say so," I said, wondering if it was she who would be accompanying me, seeing as Albus had yet to inform me.

    "Well, we had best get started then if we actually want to have a place to sit down at the Three Broomsticks," she said, confirming my suspicions. She flashed a smile at me and then wrapped her scarf more tightly around her neck and began to follow the flood of students outside. I suddenly didn't feel the cold so very much.

     The walk was frigid and bitter, and the wind was very strong. I had to help rescue a small third year from being blown away. She had been walking on a patch of ice and her cloak, which was too big for her, caught in the wind and she started to slide backwards on the slippery ground. Luckily Laura and I were nearby, because otherwise she probably would have slid all the way down the slope. For such a cold and windy day however, everybody, even the young third year, seemed quite glad to be going to Hogsmeade. In such trying times and with the Dark Lord slowly gaining power, trips like these were seldom to none, and so everyone appreciated them greatly, even if the day was so cold. Nonetheless it was still quite a relief to reach the Three Broomsticks. With the comforting warmth washing over us, Laura and I chose a table near a window so we could observe what was going on outside. I wasn't too concerned about disaster, as I had been on a great number of Hogsmeade excursions (I thought Albus had something to do with that as he often mentioned I needed to get out more) and majority of the time nothing exciting happened anyway. According to Laura, Minerva had told her of this too, though she looked out the window as though she expected something important and or catastrophic to take place.

     "I'll go get us drinks then," I said. "Is Butterbeer alright?" To tell the truth I really wanted a glass of firewhisky, but that probably was not a good idea considering I was here in case something went wrong. Butterbeer would have to do.

      "That sounds wonderful," Laura replied cheerfully with another dazzling smile before gazing out the window. It was lucky she wasn't looking, considering I almost ran into a table on my way to the counter. I attributed that to dizziness from my illness. Rosmerta looked like she was trying to hold back a smile, for some odd reason. Women, I thought darkly when I noticed this.

      I set a Butterbeer down before Laura and we both took a big swallow. It never ceased to amaze me how much it could warm a person up.

     "So, is this really all Professors do when they supervise Hogsmeade trips?" she asked rather disbelievingly.

      "Yes," I said, almost laughing. Now that I thought of it, it was a little funny. "The village has a fair amount of protection. As Minerva has likely told you, we're only here in case disaster strikes."

       "A good excuse to go for a drink, I'd say," she replied.

       "Sometimes I do think that is Albus' thinking behind it, you know."

       "It certainly beats a day with Irma. She has a habit of breathing down your neck."

       "Pince?"

       "Yes, I help out in the Library on days Poppy doesn't need me to take over. I reorganize shelves and help students find books," she replied. "Albus suggested I could do that as well so I could stay at the school full time rather than go back and forth between places so much. Irma definitely could use the help though; the library has grown quite a bit over the years."

      "That explains a lot ..." I said quietly.

      "Explains what?" Laura asked me curiously.

      "Well, that explains why all the older boys are suddenly going to the library." I had been wondering why the male population of Hogwarts had been so keen as of late on reading.

      "Yes, the new books we got in are very exciting, and they do appeal to a wider audience than what we previously had," she said, her honey brown eyes dancing with excitement. "We've got a whole new shelf in the magical games and sports section. Of course, half of the books in that row are out right now."

      That was not what I was implying, but whatever.

      "What about potions volumes?" I asked after taking another sip of Butterbeer.

     "We received a few, mostly updated versions. Well, and the latest issue of the Potioneer's Journal came in just the other day." She didn't sound all that pleased about the latter.

      "The books I might like, but the Potioneer's Journal I can't stand," I said honestly, rather intrigued by her apparent disgust of the Journal.

      "Thank goodness someone agrees with me," she said, rolling her eyes. "The articles are often quite idiotic."

     "The writers have no idea what they're talking about," I replied with gusto, delighted someone shared my view. Most people did not take kindly to my bashing of the Journal, and frequently told me to just shut up over its inadequacies. "Did you read that article they had last year, in December I think ... I believe it was called The Exciting Properties of Mandrake Seeds. Some wizard down in Belgium finally figured out how to harvest Mandrake seeds and now they're so excited by the magical properties of them, ignoring the fact that lacewing flies in combination with beetle wings - both much cheaper might I add - do the same thing! I figured that out in my fourth year for the love of Merlin!"

      "Oh, goodness, I stopped reading after they published the article about the ‘ground-breaking' potion that cured sneezing," she said with a wave of her hand and scoffed. "Did they really publish the article on Mandrake seeds?" She looked astounded.

    "Yes, and it was horrendous," I assured her. "So I take it you know a lot about Potions then?"

     "Well, with healing you have to know a fair amount about the subject."

     "Hi!" Harry said as he dragged a hesitant Ron over to where we were sitting. "Mind if we join you?"

    "Oh, hello Harry. No, we don't mind," said Laura, surprised because she had her back to the door. She knew him well already thanks to the numerous injuries Harry had sustained while training his new beaters. It was commonly known by now that Laura preferred to call students by their first names, which I understood seeing as she was primarily healing them. Things had to be stricter in the classroom however, in my opinion. "Who's your friend?" she continued.

    "Ron Weasley, ma'am," Weasley replied, looking a little nervous around me. Harry sat down and motioned for Ron to do the same.

     "Nice to meet you Ron," she said, looking delightfully surprised. "I've heard a fair bit about you, you know. I worked for a while with your brother Bill."

     "What?" Weasley asked, confused.

    Laura looked amused by his expression. "I used to be a Curse-Breaker before I changed over to healing. I only switched over about five years ago."

       I coughed a little into my Butterbeer. I did not expect that one

    "You used to be a Curse-Breaker," Weasley said, asking precisely the question I wanted to, sounding as surprised as I felt. She really didn't look they type for that sort of job. Judge a book by its cover ...

    "I did." She took another sip of her Butterbeer, looking a little amused.  

     "Where were you stationed?" continued Weasley, rather intrigued.

    "I was down in Mexico for a two years and then Egypt for the rest of my career," she replied. "It was a really interesting job, but I missed my family, and Scotland, so I came back and took on something a little different." She paused moment and then added rather reluctantly, "That and I almost died when a tomb collapsed. I'd had a couple close calls before, but that was too close."  

    Weasley winced in sympathy as the door opened and a gust of wind came in.

    "So, I take it you didn't manage to find anything at Zonkos?" I asked Harry, noting that it hadn't been too long since they left and neither had packages. Weasley looked disappointed he couldn't ask more about the tomb collapsing, but Laura looked a little pale upon recalling it so I decided Zonko's was a better topic. She looked relieved at this.

    "It's closed down," Harry said, scandalized. "I can't believe it!"

    "Thank Merlin," I muttered, not sympathetic at all.

     "Well, I knew you would be happy," muttered Harry.

    "There you two are," Hermione said to Harry and Weasley, Draco walking beside her.  Her eyes flicked to Laura, then me. "Um, we were trying to find you two earlier to see if you wanted to come to Honeydukes with us. They've got some new fudge samples you and Ron will love."

     "I don't know, I kind of feel like a Butterbeer," Harry said. Hermione looked at him like she was trying to communicate with him telepathically. Sometimes that girl baffled me.

     "Fudge, mate," Weasley said, sounding wistful. "I love fudge."

    "Oh alright," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "See you later then Dad."

     "Goodbye Miss Baldwin, Professor Snape," Hermione said cheerfully. She had on odd gleam in her eyes, for some reason. I wondered if she was ill, or something.

       Then they were out the door, leaving Laura and I to continue bashing the Potioneer's Journal. Eventually, however, after many impressive insults, we moved on to discuss which subjects we had been best in at school. One of my worst and therefore least favourite classes had been astronomy, whereas Laura absolutely loved it because it worked well with her frequent insomnia. She said that she had thought O.W.L and N.E.W.T exams in that class were actually fun because everyone was tired and she was wide awake. In good humour I asked her if she as mildly insane, enjoying astronomy. In response she told me I couldn't talk because I actually like arithmancy and that was just plain strange, for according to her, despite having to take the class for a number of years she had never grown to like it. Arithmancy was not overly popular, that was for sure, but I for one enjoyed the predictability of the numbers and equations. So much less complicated and confusing than life. Regardless of the little barbs we threw along the way, the conversation was highly enjoyable.

 

     ***

 

    Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco joined Laura and I for the walk back once the other students were on their way. We all arrived in a flurry of snow, which had begun to fall thickly once more. Draco and I had to work together to close the entrance hall doors with the wind so forceful. I broke into a coughing fit again afterwards. I was very worried it would last really long, but I was lucky this one didn't.

    "That sounds dreadful," said Laura, cringing. "Do you want me to do a few spells to make sure it isn't anything serious?"

    "Thank you, but I will be fine," I replied politely, slightly short of breath and well aware I was being stared at by everyone present. "I've had a bit of a cold lately. The chill is not good for it."

     Everyone didn't appear to be thinking any deeper, but Hermione looked a little suspicious. Mind you, Hermione was always suspicious about something or another.

      After that we all went to the Great Hall for dinner. All through the meal Minerva was busy asking Laura and I how it went. I wasn't sure why she was so interested, but answered her queries anyway, and even Albus was interested to hear how it was. I was surprised by the number of questions, in fact.

      "It was cold, but nice anyway," was what Laura had to say upon Minerva asking our opinions for how the day had been. "It was quite fun if that's what you're wondering."

     She looked pointedly at me. Albus listened intently.     

     "Yes Minerva, for the thousandth time I actually enjoyed myself," I said, rolling my eyes. "You'd think we'd been set up for a blind date or something," I said jokingly to Laura, who was looking a little annoyed as well at all the questions. I threw an exasperated look in Minerva's direction before taking a sip of pumpkin juice. Suddenly Albus and Minerva smiled so hard I thought they were going to explode.

         I just about sprayed my pumpkin juice across the table and Laura almost inhaled some of her peas. The startled looks on our faces were quite likely identical.

      "Surprise!" Minerva said with a slight giggle, looking over at Albus in glee.

      Damn them.

    I could see Harry staring at me in wonder from the Gryffindor table, his goblet halfway to his mouth, both Laura and I sinking down in our chairs in embarrassment.  He really had no idea.

The End.
End Notes:
Hope you didn't mind the space between updates. I went skiing over the holidays. But, thanks to that trip, I will have plenty of time for writing and editing, because I managed to dislocate my knee (don't worry it popped back into place right away) and pull a few muscles. While my knee is healing quite well, it will be a little while before I can do anything too ambitious, so look forward to consistent updates (there's the plus side, I'd say)! Cheers! ;)


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