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Through Minerva’s Eyes
he was beautiful.
She'd known him since he was eleven years old; a sullen, small, unkempt, dark and troubled boy. A child who rarely smiled; never laughed and brooded mostly all of the time.
It was his brooding nature, combined with the fact that he was sorted into Slytherin House, that drew the unwanted attention of several of her own students.
He, himself, was a brilliant student; excelling in Potions, Herbology and doing better than passing-well in her own subject of Transfigurations.
She watched him go home on school breaks; returning with bruises and cuts clearly visible against his pale skin; an eye…several times…nearly swollen shut.
At the age of fourteen, he had started taking his school breaks under the tutaledge of former Head-boy; Lucius Malfoy; himself a former Slytherin. Severus would stay the entire break at the Manor.
This was something that concerned Minerva; as Lucius was five years his senior and the Malfoy family were suporters of Lord Voldemort; a maniacal, pureblood eletist.
Severus returned the following term wearing somewhat better clothing and walking with a more upright and dignified posture. His street boy accent had been replaced by the more drawn out and perfectly enunciated diction of the idle rich. It was clear to her then, that he was being groomed in the more upper class customes and though she dreaded his association with the Malfoys; she thrilled when he returned to school the fall of his sixteenth year.
That year, his voice had finally deepened and had become baritone in its register and as soft as velvet. He had grown that year and had nearly reached his six feet and one inch adult height.
At seventeen, the hatred between him and his dreaded enemies; in her own house; had escalated and he had become dissatisfied and more openly hostile with his treatment by the Headmaster; who openly favored students of his own house.
That year, Severus had graduated and had taken the mark; making his oath to Lord Voldemort as his faithful servant.
With a heavy heart; Minerva worried about that association and thought that she had surely seen the last of him.
Time moved on and Harry Potter was born; the prophesy regarding him; set into motion.
Fearing the death of his childhood friend, Lily; the current Mrs. James Potter; Severus had warned the Headmaster of the impending Death Eater attack upon the Potters and in exchange for Dumbledor's protection of them…Severus had made the Unbreakable Vow; to be spy and double agent for the Order of the Phoenix; a dangerous occupation that only he was in the perfect position to achieve.
As part of that agreement, he was also to become the new Potions instructor at Hogwarts; where he could be under the constant surveillance of the Headmaster himself.
To Minerva’s secret joy; she was once again able to observe her former student.
He was twenty years old as he took his posting as Teacher and the youngest Head of Slytherin House. His time as a Death Eater had already taking its toll upon his young body.
He hid his much, too thin, frame under the weight of voluminous robes and dark clothing; both designed to cover him from chin to toe.
Young Harry Potter had a year of happiness with his beloved parents; who had been killed protecting him from Voldemort and his followers. Their deaths had happened despite Dumbledor's promise of their protection to his Slytherin spy; Severus.
The curse Voldemort cast upon the one year old Harry had rebounded upon the evil wizard himself; killing him in that instant.
The Death Eaters were rounded up; put on trial and imprisoned in Azkhaband Prison; where their miserable lives were made more miserable by the presence of the Dementors; who sucked even the tiniest taste of happiness present in the minds of the prisoners.
Severus was taken and interrogated by Auror Moody for three days and three nights before his scheduled trial even took place.
She was there; wringing her handkerchief between her hands; never taking her eyes from him and quietly; mourning his continued weight loss; weight that he could ill afford to lose.
Dumbledore finally arrived and convinced the Wizengamet of the young spy's activities as his double agent.
They reluctantly dropped the charges against him, but demanded that he not leave Hogwarts school or property unless upon his duties as teacher or spy.
In essence; he merely swapped imprisonment at Azkhaban for imprisonment at Hogwarts; the dementors being exchanged for the watchful eye of the Headmaster.
He spent his days and nights attempting to instruct dimwitted students in the fine art of brewing; tending his Slytherin charges as their Head of House; preparing those potions needed by Madam Pumphrey's infirmary; attending meetings of the Order and gatherings of the resurrected Lord Voldemort's faithful Death Eaters; where he put his life on the line with every moment of his contined existence.
He cohosted Hogsmeade weekends and when time permitted…he warmed the bed of a certain witch; once his Transfiguration professor.
They lay; both sated; in Minerva’s large, canopied bed. It had once been curtained when she had slept alone, but since Severus’s nightly visits; the curtains had been removed at his insistence.
Sighing softly, Minerva marveled at her good fortune to have such a responsive and generous young lover; though she, at times often wondered from where he’d managed to draw such energy.
As she arose from her bed; draping her shear, lace gown over her still, trim figure; she turned back to observe how the light, through the stained glass window, played beautifully upon his alabaster skin.
She smiled appreciatively and thought; once again; that he was, indeed, beautiful.