Jeb followed the masked men for what seemed like miles until they finally stopped suddenly just beyond a line of trees. He could tell they were quietly discussing something, and waited patiently for them to make up their minds about it. After what felt like hours, which in reality was only five minutes, the three men walked past the line of trees, at which point Jeb could no longer see them. Sighing in annoyance, he crept out from behind the tree he’d been hiding behind and walked to the trees. Sneaking a glance around them, he noticed where they were. It was the bastard and brat’s camp. He’d be able to tell the older man’s luggage anywhere. It had been made out of a weird leather material. He silently watched on as they destroyed the campsite. He had decided long ago that he wouldn’t interfere with them unless they found the Orb.

However, now he was getting tired of following them around everywhere. He stopped his internal thinking when he heard their voices.

“I don’t see the ‘object’ we discussed. Either he hasn’t found it yet, or he’s got it on him.” said the tallest of the three.

“What’s this about him? I see two makeshift beds, here. Someone’s with him. Our Lord will be pleased if we bring back two instead of one.” said a short, fat man.

“Indeed. And with the ‘object’, he’ll be more than pleased. We must find it, immediately. There’s no time to waste, he’s here on this damned mountain, surely we can find some trace of where they’ve gone.” said the tall man again.

“Then quite your babblin’, and let’s get on with it.” said the third man. The other two nodded to their third. Jeb assumed he must have been the leader of this ‘find the Orb’ assignment. Without another word, the three men headed west.

Jeb was tired of following them, when he knew exactly where the Orb was. Kind of. He just didn’t want to risk these men getting in his way. He decided to forget the ‘no interfering’ idea he’d had earlier. These jerks had to go. Going after them for the last time, he went to take care of business.

*******************

While Harry slept not more than three feet away from his Professor, said man was hurriedly shoving everything within reach into his bag. He had spent over twenty minutes finding healing herbs, mixing them into a tea, and then talking with Harry. He knew they were no longer alone on this mountain, and he was trying to pack up as fast as he could. The only thing keeping him from picking up Harry and running was the fact that he couldn’t sense anyone’s presence. He felt they weren’t in any immediate danger. After he finally had everything packed in disarray in his bag, he stood up, slung it over his shoulder, grabbed Harry’s bag and did the same. Then he took the few steps it took over to Harry.

He watched the peacefully sleeping boy for a few moments, before lifting him into his arms. ‘No need in waking him up.’ he thought. He wasn’t too happy about how light Harry was. No child should be this underweight. After quickly scanning their campsite, he was satisfied that they had left nothing behind, and set out. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but far away from here seemed like a good idea. He knew he had to destroy the Orb, which was hidden safely in his pocket. On instinct, he started looking for an open area. He knew once the Orb started to destruct, it wouldn’t be pretty. The power radiating off of it was enough to make him want to construct a powerful shield surrounding it when it blew, and for him and Harry to be far, far away. Dismissing his thoughts, he quickly traveled the mountain, unconsciously heading in the direction they had already came from. Heading back to Deliverance’s, and a village full of unsuspecting people. Of course, he didn’t realize they were being followed by such a colorful group of people. The thought had crossed his mind, but now he was only worried about Jeb. He suddenly wasn’t so sure the old crow wasn’t as ‘tied down’ as he had assumed. Something was going on.

************

Jeb silently followed the three men, trying hard not to become noticeable. It was hard, as the snow was cracking as he stepped on it. It was beyond cold in the middle of the forest, and he shivered from lack of appropriate clothes. He didn’t know what had happened to his things only that they were gone when he reached the last place he had camped with the other two. He still wanted to rip that boy to shreds, but that’d have to wait. First, he had to deal with the stupidly clad trio ahead of him. ‘Really, who wears these things?’ he thought to himself, eyeing the black robes and masks.

Closing in on his prey, he took his wand out of his pocket. He had an idea, and they were in the perfect location to do it in. As the Death Eaters grew closer and closer to an area completely covered in leaves, Jeb made his move.

“Hello there.” he said, stepping out from behind a tree, about fifteen feet in front of the three men.

“Who the hell are you?” asked the tall man.

“Just a local mountain dweller.” he replied, taking a discrete step backwards. “You lookin’ for someone?” he asked, keeping a knowing tone in his voice.

“Maybe.” spoke the trio’s leader. “You seen anyone up here?”

“As a matter of fact, yes I have.” said Jeb.

“You planning on telling us where they are?” asked the tall man again, menacingly.

“Maybe.” answered Jeb, taking another step backwards. “What’s in it for me?”

“Oh, I don’t know, you’re life.” spat the leader, taking a threatening step forward, his two followers doing the same.

“That ain’t no way to speak to your elder, son.” hissed Jeb, purposefully taking two large steps back.

“You scared old man?” asked the short, fat man. Jeb could hear the smirk through his mask and almost cursed him on the spot. But what he had planned was much better.

“I’m quackin’ in my boots, fatty. What you gonna do about it?” he spit out, turned around and ran. About ten feet away he heard their yells. Turning about, he saw they were in quite the predicament.

“Stuck, are we?” he asked, grinning like a loon. “Don’t mess with dwellers, sonny boys, it gets ya killed!” he yelled, and walked idly away. He smiled as he heard their last garbled screams. They had walked straight into the mud pits. Now he just had to find the bastard and the runt, and let revenge take them as well.

**************

Harry awoke to find himself in his Professor’s arms. ‘This is really strange.’ he thought to himself, but was too tired and content to care. But Aeden’s warning came back to him suddenly. He knew the Orb hadn’t been destroyed yet, and he had to tell Snape what the black snake had told him before they left.

“Sir?” he asked, keeping his voice low, so as not to startle his Professor.

“Yes, Harry?” asked Severus, not stopping to put the small form in his arms down.

“Aeden told me we needed to destroy the Orb as soon as possible, and we’ve probably gone over the time limit he had hoped for. He also said we should get into an open area before we destroy it.” he said, beginning to feel self conscience, as Snape still hadn’t put him down. He just wasn’t used to people taking care of him, or holding him for that matter. This was totally new to him.

“I figured as much, Harry. There’s a clearing a few miles from here. Deliverance took me to it once when I was younger. If need be, we can throw it off a cliff and run like hell.” he said, but only in an extreme circumstance.

Harry laughed. He was imagining Snape, running like hell. It was quite an entertaining visual.

“Shut it, Harry.” snapped Snape, but with no real threat in his voice.

“Yes, sir.” replied Harry. “Um…can you put me down now?” he asked, feeling awkward.

Snape paused in his determined stride. He was surprised he hadn’t put the boy down as soon as he had come to. ‘You’re starting to care.’ whispered a voice in his head. He internally waved his annoying internal voice away, and quickly placed Harry on his feet. A little too quickly it seemed, as Harry swayed precariously where he stood. Severus immediately placed a steadying hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Just a little dizzy.” replied Harry, gaining his equilibrium. He still felt like crap, but at least his fever didn’t seem to be as high. Apparently, Snape knew his herbs as well as his potions.

“If you’re sure…” he said, and Harry nodded that he was. Snape smirked in acknowledgment and walked off, leaving Harry to catch up. Which he did in a matter of minutes, trying to ignore his fatigue, which he thought odd, since he’d just woken up.

Matching Severus’ stride, Harry began thinking of what would come after they destroyed the Orb, which could very likely be on that exact day. Would he have to go back to the Dursley’s? Or would he stay at Hogwarts until the start of term? The thought of having to stay at the Dursley’s for one second literally made him want to hurl. A sudden image of the cupboard under the stairs flashed through his mind, and Harry shuddered violently.

Severus didn’t miss the sudden movement, either. “Are you cold?” he asked, not truly believing that was the problem.

“Not really, sir.” he answered without thinking, and then internally cursed himself.

“Then why were you shivering?” asked Snape.

Harry sighed. Since he couldn’t use the ‘I’m cold’ excuse, he decided to go for the truth, sort of.

“I was just thinking, Professor.” he answered, hoping Snape would let it go at that. But hope had apparently died.

“About what?” he asked.

“Just some stuff.” he replied, intentionally skirting around the subject.

“Some stuff.” said Snape, raising an eyebrow. “Would you care to enlighten me on the ‘stuff’ you are referring to?”

“Fine…I was just wondering what would happen once we got rid of the Orb.” he said, and continued walking, leaving Snape behind him.

“Oh.” replied Severus, clearly not thinking that would be the answer he would receive. But then again, it did make sense. He realized the boy must have been thinking of his relatives. He realized Harry had left him behind and quickened his pace. “What do you think will happen once we finish our task?”

Harry hadn’t expected Snape to ask him that. He hadn’t expected an answer at all, for that matter.

“I assumed I would return to my uncle’s.” he answered, slowly, hoping his Professor would disprove his assumption.

“Think again, Mr. Potter.” said Snape, rather icily. “We’ve discussed this before, Harry. Take me at my word, you won’t be returning there.”

Harry sat in silence. He had forgotten their conversation just the previous night. His Professor had promised him he’d talk to Dumbledore.

“I had forgotten we’d even talked about it, sir. I believe you, but where will I be staying? At Hogwarts?” he asked.

“I’m not surprised you’d forgotten, Harry, you were ill last night. And as for where you’ll be staying, most likely it will be Hogwarts. But we shall see.” answered Severus.

“Alright.” stated Harry, coming up with worse case scenarios in his head. An orphanage being one of them. He couldn’t imagine ever staying in one of them.

“It shouldn’t be long now.” said Snape, effectively changing the subject. He had an idea of his own, but he wouldn’t mention it to the boy just yet.

“You mean the clearing you mentioned?” sighed Harry, growing weary from all the walking.

“Yes. It should be just around the next rise.” motioned Snape.

“Good.” muttered Harry, wishing they could just get it over with so he could sit down and rest.

They walked a few more yards before Harry finally noticed the clearing. It was rather large, which he figured would come in handy once they destroyed the darn Orb. He wondered how they were actually going to go about destroying it. The clearing stretched out for miles on either side of him, and straight ahead, he could tell the land dropped off, probably into the river. He assumed this was the cliff Severus had mentioned.

Snape walked them out into the center of the clearing, before placing a hand on Harry’s shoulder to stop him. “We’ll do it here.” he said. He carefully took the Orb out of his inside pocket and placed it on the ground in between them.

“Alright, get your wand out and place a shielding charm over the Orb as soon as I get finished saying the incantation, okay?” he asked. Harry nodded in return and immediately took his wand out of his pocket. “Now, when we’re finished, we need to get as far away from here as possible, even with the shielding charm on, there will be quite a blast.”

“Okay, Professor.” he said, and waited patiently, albeit nervously, while Snape performed the incantation. He noticed his Professor had a sheen of sweat developing on him, and wondered just how strong this incantation was. As soon as he was finished with it, he quickly cast the shielding charm.

“Run.” spoke Severus, as he grabbed Harry’s hand, pulling the boy along with him.

Harry ran as quickly as his legs would allow, but found himself being practically dragged anyways. He knew they had to get away quickly, but really, was this necessary?

Snape realized he was dragging Harry and went to pick him up, but never got the chance. He saw the shielding charm expand and swell around the Orb, and watched in fascination as it grew larger and larger. He snapped out of his daze when he noticed they were both still standing out in the open. They had to get to the cover of the trees. He scooped Harry into his arms, without protest, he saw, and made a mad dive for the trees, right as the power behind him exploded.

Harry screamed putting his hands over his ears, as his Professor threw him to the ground. He was more than shocked when Snape covered his body with his own and placed his arms around Harry’s head.

The explosion rocked them, nearly bringing their bodies up off the ground with its force. Harry could feel immense heat, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. He saw that Snape had his wand in hand and assumed he had cast a shielding charm of his own over them. And then it was over. He looked up and wasn’t surprised to see all the snow around them had melted, and most of the trees looked as if they had at least gotten scorched. He felt Snape get up and then took the hand offered to him. Severus pulled Harry to his feet.

Harry looked over to the clearing, expecting to see a black crater in the ground, but instead all he saw was dead grass. But the Orb was gone, and their task was finished. Harry turned around when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s get out of here, Mr. Potter. I have a feeling my cousin is waiting anxiously to see us. Especially if she just saw the fireworks that happened up here.” he said, and picked up their belongings which had gotten thrown off at some point.

“Okay.” replied Harry, relieved. He couldn’t wait to get back to Del’s and get a nice hot bath. He went over to grab his bag and then bent down to tie the shoelace he had almost tripped over. He was almost done when he saw boots step in front of him. Looking up he stilled. His emerald eyes grew wide and fearful. Harry started to scoot himself backwards when Jeb viciously grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him up.

***************

Severus was going around picking up his clothes. Somehow his bag had gotten opened, and they were strewn everywhere. Picking up the last article of clothing, a black shirt, he threw it into his bag. As he swung his packed bag onto his shoulder, he heard Harry’s startled scream.

“Harry!” he yelled, running in the direction where he had heard the boy’s scream. He stopped in his tracks when he found them. Severus suddenly wanted to rip this man limb to limb as he saw the fear and pain in Harry’s big eyes.

“You should have killed me when ya had the chance.” spat Jeb, digging his fingers into Harry’s small arms. Snape could tell the boy was fighting hard not to make a pained sound, which would have pleased Jeb to no end. But he could tell the old bastard was hurting him by his eyes. When he got his hands on that man again, there would be no tying to a tree, he’d be dead.

“Let him go!” demanded Snape, fire burning in his black eyes.

“No.” hissed Jeb. “You took away me Orb, I needed that. Ya were supposed to get it out and then I was gonna take it off your hands for ya. Ya weren’t supposed to destroy it!” he screamed, digging deeper into Harry’s arms.

Severus thought he heard the boy whimper, and was about to curse the man into oblivion when he spoke again.

“Ya took somethin’ precious from me, now I’ll take somethin’ precious, well maybe not precious, but it means somethin’ to ya. I’ll be takin’ your boy now.” he hissed. Jeb then did something that made Harry scream, but Snape couldn’t tell what. He ran towards them.

“Severus!” screamed Harry. And then they were gone.

Severus looked at the spot they had been standing on in shock, before he realized what had happened. This must have been an apparition spot. That bastard had his Harry.

“No.” he whispered.