September passed into October with things settling into a normal routine. Snape ducked out to the Quidditch field once in a while to watch the Gryffindors train and finally stopped when he discovered he was actually getting depressed. They were indeed good, as was Potter. He indeed flew with the same natural skill that his father had. The revelation did nothing to decrease Snape's dislike of Mr. Harry Potter.

Quirrell was beginning to worry Snape, though. Increasingly Snape would round a corner and find Quirrell badgering himself aloud. At first Snape decided to dismiss it as an eccentricity, wizards being an eccentric lot to begin with, but of late Snape was having suspicions and questions.

Why was his arm sore where the Dark Mark tattoo was a faded shadow? Why did Quirrell seem inordinately interested in striking up conversation with all of the professors that had set up the traps and talk of nothing but the 'big secret'? And more importantly, where did Quirrell go late at night when by rights he should sound asleep in bed like Snape wanted to be?

Snape's questions undoubtedly had answers and they were not answers he particularly cared for. The Dark Mark probably hurt because Lord Voldemort was regaining his strength. Not a good thing at all and it made Snape increasingly nervous. Quirrell might be a spy or servant for the Dark Lord, which made Snape even more suspicious of the loony professor than he already was. As for the late night trips in to the Forbidden Forest, Snape hadn't a clue and was pretty sure he didn't really want to know. However, Snape decided he'd better keep an eye on the lunatic before something went horribly wrong. He didn't feel confident enough in his suspicions to go to Dumbledore without concrete proof to back those suspicions up.

A full week before Halloween, Snape found himself trailing after Quirrell each night but always lost him on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Quirrell always seemed to get passed Snape without the other knowing. Snape always glimpsed him sneaking back in during the early morning hours. The sleepless nights were beginning to show on Snape and on Quirrell.

Snape grew surlier and Quirrell grew more nervous. On several occasions, Snape tried to corner Quirrell but the other professor always scurried away, as if he knew what Snape was going to ask.

The night before Halloween all of Snape's suspicions seemed to be confirmed. Dumbledore had caught Snape before leaving his classroom. "Ah, Severus, just the man I wanted to see!"

Snape smiled thinly, his eyes watching Quirrell scurry down the hall, eluding him again. "Yes, Headmaster?"

"Can you do Hagrid and I a favor, Severus? Fluffy needs to be fed." Dumbledore looked at Snape expectantly, his eyes shining behind those half-moon frames.

Snape gaped at him a moment. "Feed Fluffy?" he said with no small hint of disbelief. "That monster?"

"Now, now, Severus, I know he's really not fluffy, but you know Hagrid. I've got our groundskeeper looking into something else tonight and Fluffy hasn't been fed all day." Dumbledore beamed encouragingly at him. "I know you can do it for me, Severus. Just shove the bowl in and slam the door. Say some nice words to calm him a moment."

"And not take my arm off, you mean!" snapped Snape. Dumbledore's eyebrows rose at Snape's testiness. Snape was immediately contrite. "My apologies. I haven't been sleeping well."

"Not sleeping much, you mean," corrected Dumbledore gently. "I appreciate your watchful eye, Severus. Let me know if you find anything concrete. I'm having my suspicions too. Crouch insisted that Quirrell would be perfect for the job."

"Bartemus Crouch," growled Snape, "what would he know about fighting the Dark Arts? He's a showman, a lame P.T. Barnum of the wizarding world.

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "I would almost agree with you there, Severus, but in his defense, I must note that he did let you go without even a hint of a scandal about you."

Snape closed his eyes. "What does the three-headed mongrel eat?" Dumbledore handed him a can of dog food. Snape stared at it in disbelief. "You have got to be joking! Regular dog food?"

 Dumbledore's amusement turned up his lips into a wide smile. "What did you expect? Live meat, half a cow?"

"Yes," answered Snape honestly. "Never a can of Alpo, not the way Hagrid spoils his pets."

Dumbledore coughed to cover his laughter. It was well known that Rubeus Hagrid had a love of all dangerous animals. He found them...adorable. Snape thought the Hogwart's groundskeeper was off his nut. "Just be careful, Severus. See you in the morning."

Snape stared down at the can of dog food and snorted in disgust. "Why do I always get the crappy assignments?" he asked the dungeon out loud. Predictably, no one answered.

Later in the evening, after dinner, Snape made his way to the third floor's sealed off corridor. Unlocking the door with a muttered, "Alohomora," Snape poked his head in. He quickly pulled it back, not because Fluffy had almost taken it off but because Fluffy wasn't alone.

Stuck in a corner was Professor Quirrell, too distracted by keeping track of the three heads on the dog to notice the door having been opened. Heart hammering, Snape stared stupidly at the bowl of dog food in his hand. He shut the door and hurried across the corridor. A small hidden room that Filch occasionally used as a hiding place against students (Snape had discovered it his fifth year at Hogwart's) made the perfect refuge. He kept an eye pressed to the peephole until Quirrell came out, panting and gasping for breath, darting his ferrety gaze up and down the corridor.

"I'm sorry," he was groveling to thin air. "I thought the dog would be easy to get past. Obviously I was wrong." There was a moment of silence followed by a loud clanging sound as Quirrell stumbled against a nearby piece of armor. "No, no, please, Master, I can do this, I can, I swear."

Snape's heart dropped along with his stomach like a lead weight. Master. Snape closed his eyes tightly and shuddered. Quirrell was somehow in contact with Lord Voldemort, he just knew it.

Quirrell darted off down the corridor and disappeared around the corner and out of sight. After a long moment of regaining his equilibrium, Snape crawled out, not surprised that his legs were wobbly and his hands shook like an earthquake.

"Alohomora," he whispered and the door unlocked with a soft click. He opened the door to find Fluffy lying on top of the trap door with an obvious Petrificus Totalus charm on him. All three heads were still growling and the growling grew more intense as Snape approached to look at him. For one long moment, Snape's own arrogance seized him.

'All I'd have to do is shove the damned dog off the trap door and go. I can get through any of those charms that those other twits put down there as traps.' Then common sense rushed him and he felt his excitement fade away at the thought of immortality. Dumbledore wouldn't have used something easy to defeat, especially if he thought someone in league with Voldemort was after the stone. Only with an ounce of luck and whole lot of brains would Snape get past whatever Dumbledore had set up.

Shaken from his momentary delusion of grandeur, Snape set the bowl of food down by the water dish in the corner. He walked back to the door, opened it, stepped through and right before shutting it, he pointed his wand at the bound dog and said, "Enerviate." He shut the door and locked it as the dog hit the door at full speed with a sickening thud.

"Dumb monstrosity," Snape muttered. "Hope it gave you a headache."