Severus stood in shocked confusion before his body finally caught up with his mind and he forced himself to move. Something was hurting his boy. And he had a pretty good idea what, or who, it was. He began running.

By the time he finally reached Harry’s side, the boy was just lying on the ground, quietly, but for a few whimpers, and was still clutching his forehead. It was as if he was trying to keep the dwindling pain at bay. His green eyes were open, but bright with pain instead of happiness. He seemed to be staring into something only he could see. Severus had never seen him look so frail before. Not even the guide, Jeb’s, abuse had done what he was seeing now.

“Harry?” asked Severus, questioningly. He gently laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder, causing him to jump away from the touch and then he screamed. Severus nearly lost it. “What did you see?” he asked, but was seething at Voldemort. ‘What did that bastard make you see?’ he wondered.

Harry only lay there for a moment before finally making eye contact with Severus. He noticed for the first time just how haunted the boy’s eyes were.

“Harry?” he asked again, replacing the hand on the youth’s shoulder. The boy allowed it this time.

“He knows.” rasped Harry.

Severus was confused, but a sinking feeling was beginning to eat at his stomach. “What does he know, Harry?”

The teenager continued to stare at the grass, blown gently by the wind, and finally began to gingerly pull himself into a sitting position. But his tortured body couldn’t quite manage the strain, and he ended up leaning against Severus instead.

“We were being followed.” Continued Harry. The older man assumed he was speaking of the time on Cross Island. “He had sent four of them. Three to follow, one more to be like a go between for the three and Voldemort. Some how, the three ended up dead. Fourth man had stayed to look for them, and found them in one of those sink holes.” he stopped then, looking at the older man to see if he did in fact remember the sink holes. Harry himself had fallen victim to one and Severus had saved him. Snape nodded to show that he could go on. “Well, he knew Professor. Fourth man saw us destroy the Orb. You were supposed to take it to him, weren’t you?” asked Harry.

Severus ran a hand through his hair, unconsciously mimicking the same gesture he’d seen Harry do countless times. “Yes, I was. Dumbledore sent me to destroy it, and Voldemort sent me to recover it for him.” he said. “I assume my treachery wasn’t taken lightly?” he asked, and gently ran a finger over the inflamed scar on the boy’s forehead.

“No. That’s the understatement of the century. He had been alone, in fact, and it was just his anger alone sending the pain into my scar. He’s usually cursing someone, while angry, before I feel it. He hadn’t been cursing anyone, either.” Harry stopped momentarily, and patted Snape’s arm, as if reassuring him before he spoke. “He was thinking about ways…to well…get rid of you…painfully.” he said.

Snape raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” he asked, seeming more amused than anything. Harry gawked at him in astonishment. If he were in the same position as the older man was in now, he’d be terrified. Or close to it.

“Yes, that’s so.” replied Harry. “And I’d venture a guess that you will no longer be safe spying for Dumbledore. You wouldn’t go back, would you?” he asked, hoping his Professor wouldn’t be crazy enough to try and keep getting information, knowing he had been discovered.

Snape was surprised to see a hint of worry in the emerald eyes closely watching him, waiting for a reaction. He had already decided when he’d taken over guardianship of the boy that he would no longer attend the Death Eater meetings. He wouldn’t disappoint and frighten his charge by going. Harry had become his number one concern now, he had to come first.

“No, Harry, I won’t be returning to spy. I had decided I wouldn’t do it when I got guardianship of you, and this just makes things a bit easier. Now I don’t have to come up with some elaborate scheme to get out of doing it. You’ve provided the reason all on your own.” he said, smiling. Harry still wasn’t quite used to seeing a smile on Snape’s face. It was something that took some getting used to.

“Good. I had been wondering on that for a while now. It’s a bit of a relief, knowing you’re not going to disappear on me one day.” Harry said, not meeting the man’s eyes.

Severus’ heart skipped a beat. He may not be returning to any meetings, but he knew for a fact there would be a price on his head from this day forth. Harry’s fear could quite possibly come to pass. But not if he had anything to say about it, or do for that matter. He knew he would have to be more careful, for Harry’s sake. And for his own.

He gently tightened the arm still resting around Harry’s shoulders. “I don’t plan on disappearing anytime soon, kid. Don’t worry about it.” he said, and meant it.

Harry finally found himself truly relaxing for the first time in a long time. He felt safe. Which was just plain odd, considering who he was with. The one person he thought he would despise for the rest of his life. Now Snape was quite possibly the person he trusted the most. So far. He just hoped the man stayed true to what he said he would do. His thoughts were disrupted, however, when Severus spoke the dreaded words.

“Let’s get you to the Hospital Wing.” Snape announced, and stood up, dragging Harry with him. He knew exactly how the boy felt about the Infirmary. Hell, he didn’t like it too much himself. But, alas, it wasn’t he who would be going to the Infirmary. It was Harry. Poor child.

Madame Pomfrey stood scowling at the site before her. Severus Snape, infamous for hating Harry Potter, was helping said boy into a hospital bed and pulling the white sheets up to the boy’s chin. Poppy didn’t quite know how to deal with this. Her first thought was that the man had been cursed, put under the Imperius. Of course, that didn’t add up. Who would put the Imperius curse on Snape, just to have him practically carry Potter into the Infirmary? It didn’t make sense to her, and the most obvious way of determining what was going on would be to ask. ‘Ah, life can be so difficult sometimes.’ she thought idly.

Taking the excess folds of her skirts into one hand, she briskly walked over towards the two waiting patiently, and not so patiently, at the other end.

“What are you gawking at?” snapped Severus, upon noticing the woman’s suspicious looks.

‘Oh yes, there’s the Severus I know and don’t quite love.’ she smirked inwardly. “It’s not as if I see this everyday, Professor. Excuse me if I find it a little hard to believe. Might I ask what is going on here?” she asked, wondering if it wasn’t Snape himself who had put Potter in this delicate state to begin with. Of course, she’d never say that out loud. Potter would have a fit.

“You may ask, it doesn’t mean I will answer.” Remarked Severus, keeping cool eyes fixed on the woman.

“Oh, get out of your huff, Severus Snape.” came a respectfully demanding voice from behind him. “She’s only being cautious and a bit curious. Must you be so ornery all the time?”

Severus found himself raising his brow for probably the ninetieth time that day. “Excuse me, Deliverance. I didn’t realize I was constantly such a pain in your ass.” He said and promptly turned back to Harry, who was trying to hold in a fit of laughter. “Don’t you even start.” demanded Severus, addressing the boy lying on the crisp sheets.

Harry merely gave him a thumbs up, as he was too busy still trying to keep his laughter to himself. Snape sighed. He was surrounded by imbeciles.

Unfortunately, all the laughter Harry was trying to hold in began to aggravate his already sore body. He stopped abruptly as the pain became very noticeable. He was surprised he’d forgotten it at all. Exposure to the Cruciatus Curse was a royal pain. Literally. At least, he assumed that’s why he was in so much pain. He was suddenly confused. He supposed Voldemort could send the pain into him, through their link, but everything was just so confusing now. He’d think on it later, when he wasn’t desperately wishing for some Morphine. He’d never had any, but it sounded nice at the moment.

Severus noticed the boy’s silent anguish at once. “Poppy, the boy had some kind of fit down by the lake.” He said, not knowing how much the woman knew of Harry’s visions. He knew he’d have some explaining to do with Del. She’d be quite upset.

“Was it another one, Harry?” she asked, suddenly, in full medi-witch mode.

Harry nodded in acquiescence. “I figured as much.” She said, turned, and bustled over to a nearby mahogany cabinet. Upon opening it, he saw shelf upon shelf of different colored potions. He’d never really noticed what was inside before. He had seen her return with the potions, undoubtedly, but had never seen where she got them. He really needed to pay more attention to detail. Within moments she had returned to his side, grass green potion in hand.

“There you go dear, drink it up. It will make you feel better.” she instructed.

Harry paused. He’d never seen this color of potion before, at least not a pain potion. “What’s this?” he asked.

Severus smirked, proud of the boy for questioning the new potion, he was smarter than he gave him credit for. “Don’t worry, Harry, it’s a new potion I’ve invented to help destroy the pain and alleviate the possible side affects of the curse.” he said, waving him on.

Harry took his Professor at his word and downed the potion in two gulps. He discovered it didn’t taste nearly as disgusting as the old one used to. “Way to improve upon the taste.” he muttered, suddenly tired.

“It’s got a calming draught added in, Harry, if you’re feeling sleepy.” he added, seeing the boy’s drowsy and confused eyes.

“Oh…” he murmured before falling completely asleep.

“Has he not been sleeping, Severus?” asked Del, concern in her voice. “That shouldn’t have effected him that quickly, otherwise.” asked Del, worriedly.

“I’m not entirely sure. He’s been staying in Gryffindor tower, you know. He hadn’t mentioned any difficulties in his sleep pattern.” he said, concerned. “I’ll speak with him about it later, if it will make you feel any better.” He continued, seeing the worry clearly in his cousin’s eyes. He was also feeling a mite guilty about how he had treated her earlier. He should not have taken his bad day out on her. Just the same, he wanted to know himself. He hoped the boy wasn’t having these visions every night, and not telling anyone.

“Please, Severus, it would make me feel much better if you were to talk to him.” she said, lightly touching his shoulder. “He’s growing very fond of you, Sev. Please try and keep it that way.” she said, feeling she needed to caution him on his moods.

Snape sighed in exasperation. “You worry too much, woman.”

Deliverance almost laughed, knowing he was much more concerned than she was.

Ron and Hermione sat anxiously in the Gryffindor common room, wondering where their friend had run off to. “He should have been here by now.” worried Ron. “Do you think he’s still upset about this morning?” he asked.

Hermione shrugged, sinking down further into the couch. She stared blindly into the firelight, wondering if her friend could be with Snape. She and Ron still weren’t convinced Snape had nothing to do with the condemning bruises on their friend’s back. She was indescribably worried about him. “I don’t know. He could be. But he’s not that mad, if you understand me. He’s too forgiving to just stay mad at us for long.” she said.

“I know, that’s what worries me about him sometimes.” replied Ron, moving from the armchair to the couch, sitting down to face Hermione. “He’s too damn nice. He lets people walk all over him without ever noticing. Don’t get me wrong, he’s probably one of the bravest people I’ve ever met.” He added upon seeing Hermione’s disbelieving look. “But you’ve got to agree when I say he’s got to learn to say no. He’ll do almost anything anyone asks of him. And plus, he’s too secretive. I mean, if my brothers and I hadn’t gone to rescue him in our second year, Harry would still be locked in his room. I didn’t even realize how awful the Dursley’s were. I know they’re no guardians of the year. They’re bastards.” said Ron, adamantly. “What’s to say Snape is doing the same thing, only worse, and he’s just keeping it from us, like he kept it secret about the Dursley’s?” he asked.

Hermione looked at her friend sadly. “We don’t. It’s up to Harry to tell us the truth. But, I can’t help but think that he’s telling us the truth when he speaks of Snape. Maybe we just need to trust him.” she said, wisely.

Ron only looked at her uncertainly. “For a while, until I feel I can trust Snape. I trust Harry plenty. I just don’t trust Snape with Harry.”

Hermione nodded. She could understand that. “Why don’t we try and find him then?” she asked, sick of just sitting there waiting.

“Sounds good to me.” he replied.

The two of them quickly descended the seven flights of stairs and into the entrance hall. “Where should we look first?” she asked, pondering just where Harry could have gone off to.

“Let’s go see if Hagrid’s seen him.” stated Ron, and lead the way out the doors. They could see from across the lawn, two dogs standing outside of Hagrid’s hut.

“That’s Fang,” remarked Hermione, “But who is that other dog?”

Ron shrugged. “I don’t know, never seen it before. It kind of looks like a stray.”

Hermione could only agree. Together, they marched over to the hut, avoiding the new dog, as it was a Rottweiler, and looked mean. “Should we be worried about that thing?” she asked.

Ron gave her a frightened look. “I don’t know, should we? I’m not entirely used to dogs.” he muttered. “We just have owls and the such.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend. “Just be cautious, and don’t be so obvious that you’re scared of him. I swear, dogs can sense your fear.” she stated emphatically.

Ron tried to evasively move away from the entire area, but Hermione grabbed onto his shirtsleeve and pulled him closer. “Don’t even think about it. It was your idea to ask Hagrid in the first place. You get your butt moving, young man.” she demanded, and pushed him forward.

********

The Rottweiler growled at the intruders, but stopped when he smelled the boy’s scent. He then trotted straight up to the red-haired boy and began to nuzzle his hand. He could sense this boy’s fear, but it soon left when the boy realized he meant no harm.

Zane also knew they were searching for his boy. He decided to help them in their search, as he knew where the boy was. He once again frightened the red-haired boy by latching onto his shirtsleeve and pulling him back towards the castle. The girl standing beside him didn’t seem to be quite as scared, but she was alarmed. Taking this into account, he released the boy’s sleeve and barked gently. He was trying to get them into the castle, why couldn’t they figure that out? Some humans were entirely too dense.

The girl finally seemed to understand what was going on and talked the boy into re-entering the castle. After that, it was pretty simple getting them upstairs and into the Infirmary, where he knew the boy and the man were.

Ron and Hermione continued to follow the dog, walking through the winding corridors. It soon became apparent just exactly where they were going.

“The Infirmary.” worried Hermione. “What could Harry be doing there?”

Ron’s face mirrored Hermione’s in concern. His face soon contorted when the first possible answer to that question popped into his mind. Snape.

Hermione immediately took notice and frowned. “Would you calm down and give the man a chance. I mean, if anything happens to Harry, I’ll be the first one jumping all over Snape. I’ll give that man a piece of my mind. But for the time being, and especially for Harry’s sake, would you just try and at least act like you like him, even if you don’t.” she pleaded.

Ron scowled. “I’ll try.” he finally conceded. The two friends soon reached the entrance doors to the Infirmary. The dog had pushed them open a crack, and they were able to see inside a bit. Hermione grew confused as she took in Ron’s face, who had the best view in. Opening the doors further, she understood the wide-eyed look Ron was wearing, as she wore it herself.

They could plainly see Harry laying in one of the Hospital beds, turned slightly on his side. He looked incredibly tired, which worried them both. But what amazed them the most was Professor Snape. As they watched, they saw the fond look shine in Snape’s eyes, which was weird in itself. Harry had apparently kicked off his covers at some point, as Snape was pulling them back over Harry’s body, and tucking it in just under their friend’s chin. They continued to watch in silent amazement as their hated Potions Professor rubbed Harry’s back when he grew restless. It immediately calmed him down.

“How weird is this?” asked Ron, finally realizing that Snape wasn’t the ass he’d always assumed he was. “He’s being nice.”

Hermione grinned. “Look.” She said, refocusing Ron’s attention on the scene at hand. Snape was gently running his hand through Harry’s disheveled locks. It was something Ron remembered his father doing for him when he was upset.

When Snape turned in their direction, they both quickly stepped back, neither wanting to get caught witnessing such a private and personal moment. Especially not when it involved Severus Snape.

“We should get out of here before we get caught.” Cautioned Hermione, taking further steps away from the doors. “Come on.”

They quickly ran back the way they had originally came and straight into their Common Room.

“Well, that was enlightening.” gasped Hermione. “I never knew that man could be so kind.” She was literally awed.

“You and me both.” Agreed Ron. “I think I understand what Harry meant now. He really has changed, especially if he can be like that. Of course, Harry wasn’t even awake to notice. I wonder what he’s like when he is awake.” mused Ron.

Hermione shrugged in return. “I wonder why Harry was in the Infirmary in the first place.”

“Well, my original opinion obviously wasn’t the case.” He said. “I just hope it didn’t have anything to do with his scar.” They both knew how much it had started to hurt him. They knew Harry’s visions could practically knock him out in their intensity.

“I hope not too, Ron.” She answered, “I really hope not.”

Harry woke the next morning feeling more tired than he’d felt in a while. “Stupid visions.” he muttered to himself, knowing full well they were the cause of his exhaustion.

He tiredly pushed himself up in bed and reached for his glasses, which had somehow gotten on the bedside table. The room came into clearer focus as he slipped his glasses onto his face. The raven-haired boy was somewhat surprised to see Severus lounging in an uncomfortable chair that had been pulled up to his bed. The man was asleep and did not look at all relaxed. He carefully leaned over in his bed, wanting to wake the man up and tell him it was okay if he went to the dungeons to sleep, but regretted the movement instead.

He nearly slid right out of bed, due to the force of the headache moving in on him. This was a new development to the whole vision thing. Grasping his forehead, he grabbed onto the comforter for support and something to clench onto, really. The pain was almost unbearable. Tears of pain sprung to his eyes, and he had to lie back in order not to pass out.

“Shit.” he silently cried. It was at that moment he felt hands grab his shoulders and move him more fully onto the pillows.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” asked Severus, alarm in his voice.

But all Harry could do was roll into the hands supporting him, needing the comfort more than anything. He couldn’t talk, it hurt too much to even try and open his mouth to speak. Tears silently slid down the boy’s face, but Harry could care less. At this moment all he wanted to do was pass out.

The teenager heard Severus’ anxious voice call down to Pomfrey’s office, but was in too much pain to really focus on it. The next moment a potion was being forced down his throat and hands were gently rubbing his temples. The pain slowly receded, and he found he could finally focus on what was going on around him.

“That’s never happened before.” he rasped out. And he never wanted it to happen again.

Harry’s watery eyes searched out those of Severus’ and latched onto them. At that moment Severus moved closer and gently pulled Harry into his arms. “It’s okay now, it’s over.” Harry heard, and buried his face in his guardian’s chest. All he wanted at that moment was the feeling he was receiving right then. And that was love.