She had escaped a few months before and had been living the high life ever since then. Life in a Potions laboratory was quite comfortable - as long as you weren't a test subject, that is.

The Potions master had been a most gracious, if unwitting, host. Dried herbs to nibble at, the occassional forgotten cup of tea or stale biscuit and the lovely warmth of bubbling cauldrons to ward off the chill.

She had grown quite accustomed to the man, scampering across his bed at night in hopes that he might not have had the appetite for his nightly digestive biscuit.

Tonight, as she sat cleaning crumbs from her whiskers, the man suddenly made a noise that caused her to freeze in alarm. He was usually such a sound sleeper - had her luck run out?

Her heart thudded a thousand times for each second that passed... but nothing happened. She couldn't know that another man, hundreds of miles away, had caused him to stir. She wouldn't understand that, if he had not drunk his potion tonight, he would have been screaming in agony at the Mark that had momentarily marred his flesh.

Being a mouse was, after all, a simple affair.

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For ! A little trade we had going - she wanted a) Snape, b) Snape asleep, c) Snape nekkid (ooer!), d) the Dark Mark and e) her mousie, Lily. Yeah, she don't want much, does she?

The inspiration for the sequence came from a collaboration we did a while back. The passage that follows the "There. The Dark Mark." explains how the Mark has been growing clearer over the year. The worry must've made Snape make heavy use of Dreamless Sleep potion. I figure there must have been flashes of anger and power that made the Mark jump to full strength, before Voldemort's power (and temper) subsided again.

The utmost gratitude and unconditional love goes out to JimX, who went through this frame by frame, and optimized the animation's colours and size!

Severus Snape is the intelectual property of JK Rowling. Lily the mousie is Obsie's pet - don't steal her or you will make Obsie cry, and if you make Obsie cry, I will personally come beat you up...