Prohibition | Severus Snape

Old Friends

"What?" Sofia whispered in disbelief. She noticed as Severus ran a hand through his hair, pacing around the room.

"As soon as I arrived back, the Ministry contacted me. They believe he escaped merely an hour ago. They already have Aurors looking for him, however, I believe that Severus needs to go right now to see if he can find him. I believe he might be of more use than the Aurors, as he knew him best."

"Am I expected to join the Aurors?" Severus grunted with disgust in his voice.

"No. You will go alone. No matter how unstable William Greene is, he knows there will be Aurors searching for him. I don't want to risk Greene becoming completely erratic if he finds out you're looking for him as well." Albus continued calmly. Sofia was in shock, blindly listening to everything Albus was saying. The room became dead silent as Sofia continued to stare at Albus, whilst Severus hurridly paced around the room. Sofia was frozen in her spot as she began to tap her teeth with her nail, eyes darting from one corner of the room to another. After giving them a minute to process this, Albus didn't hesitate to continue speaking. "Right now, I need Severus to go out and look for Greene, whilst I have to visit Azkaban immediately to see if there is anything of use to us." Sofia heard Severus hum in response as she watched him quickly put on a coat and grab his wand. "I am aware that this is a lot to ask Severus. If you don't find him within the next 24 hours, you will have to return, as Greene will most likely flee the country by then or do something worse. And I need you here by then."

"What about the threat? Who will be protecting the school?" Sofia chimed in. Still a thoroughly shaken by the current turn of events.

"The Ministry has already sent security to Hogwarts for protection... if anything were to happen." Albus calmed her. Sofia nodded at him staring into space. She was becoming impatient to hear what exactly Albus had in store for her. She noticed that Albus was beginning to gather himself to leave. Her brows furrowed as she took a quick step towards him.

"What about me?"

"You?"

"Yes. What am I meant to do whilst-"

"Sofie, you're staying here."

"Staying here!?" Sofia laughed. "But-" She stammered to form a sentence.

"Until further notice, you will be on night duty with Minerva. Unfortunately, I cannot trust anyone else to do this as no other professors at Hogwarts are aware of this, let alone understand its vast importance. Monday you have to teach your's and Severus' classes back to back. You must not forget that you are still a professor above all. "

"Night Duty? Teaching? That's what I'll be doing whilst Severus is searching for my deranged father and you're visiting Azkaban?" Sofia's voice begun to rise as she mocked Albus' decision. "There will be guards at Hogwarts, you said so yourself. This is insane." She began to feel useless.

"This is for the best Sofie." Albus spoke sternly before quickly leaving Severus' quarters. As Sofia turned to Severus, she couldn't get a word in as he swiftly walked by her exiting his own quarters and shutting the door behind him. Sofia stood in the middle of the room in total silence, scoffing at herself.

"This is a joke." She muttered angrily, before grabbing her shoes and stepping out of Severus quarters, making her way to her own. Sofia made sure to stop by the potions room and grab some Sleeping Drought for herself as she knew that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep tonight, tomorrow or for however long this was going to go on for. As soon as she came to her room, she changed and chugged some of the Sleeping Drought which forced her to pass out almost immediately.

In the morning Sofia proceeded to try to ignore the constant feeling of anxiety inside her. She pretended everything was normal as she made her way to breakfast. She quickly cornered Minerva to quietly discuss everything that was happening. Both of the women were immensely stressed beyond reason. As it was Sunday, Sofia planned to spend her day by taking the younger students down to Hogsmeade as she had nothing left to grade or work on, and she knew that if she found herself alone in her room she would most likely drive herself mad. The day went by painfully slow. In Hogsmeade, the students often had to call her name more the once to get her attention as her mind kept drifting away to Severus and what on earth he must have been doing. She tried to force the worry out of herself by conversating with the students, unfortunately, today seemed to be the calmest day of the whole term. Not a single student got themselves into any fight, argument or even a tiff that Sofia had to deal with, which made the time pass by even slower. After she had somewhat successfully managed to push herself through lunch and dinner, she found herself sitting in Minerva's office. Neither of them said a word as they quietly sipped their tea. Painfully waiting for night duty to come.