A/N: The challenge was to write a 100-word drabble in which Snape says 'Thank you'.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, and all their associates are characters belonging to J.K. Rowling. I claim no rights to them, their surroundings, or their situations. Much to my sorrow.
Refuge
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When Severus came to her door, Minerva knew things had gone badly--badly enough he couldn't to go Albus; he'd be too tempted to resign.
She'd told him there was no shame in faltering under such pressure. Anything human would. But such thinking was alien to her younger colleague.
So she did what she could--patched him up, made him eat, offered up her sofa, and sat quietly nearby until he slept.
Had she been thirty years younger, she might have offered more.
As always, he left next morning with an awkward "Thank you." Minerva treasured that; he so rarely said it to anyone else.