Professor Snape sat by Draco’s bedside for awhile watching him sleep to ensure that he wasn’t having any more nightmares. The boy slept peacefully with Loki curled around him, so he summoned Remus to stay with him.

He went to his office telling no one of his plans. He sat down by his desk and wrote a letter to Dumbledore, to Harry and to Draco. He sealed them in an envelope addressed to each one in the event of his death. He then cast a charm on them that they could only be opened if he died.

He went to stand in front of the large gargoyle on his desk taking out one tooth in its mouth. He brought out a tiny package and waved his wand over it bringing it back to its original size. He pulled it out of its container and felt the familiar tug of a port key.

He arrived in the town of Willowwren. He made his way over to the small but lavish guesthouse of a wealthy shopkeeper, a man who was loyal to the Dark Lord.

With a wave of his wand, he caused the door to crash off its hinges and fall heavily to the ground. Lucius leapt to his feet pulling out his wand but he was too late as Snape with a flick of his own wand caused Lucius’ to fly to him.

The blond man’s icy steel eyes narrowed as he looked into the dark angry eyes of his old friend.

Before Lucius could say a word, Snape snarled "gaugario". With a gasp Lucius Malfoy fell to the ground groaning in pain as deep gashes appeared in his finally tailored clothes. He gasped, "Stop, Severus, please stop."

Snape stood there silently watching, waiting, for Lucius to reach a point just shy of unconsciousness. Then he lifted the spell.

Lucius trembled in agony. His eyes watered from the pain as he attempted to get to his feet. He failed and collapsed to the floor again. "Why?" he whispered.

"To remind you, since you have forgotten, how much it hurts to be beaten mercilessly." Snape towered over him, his face a dark mask.

Lucius shuddered, his head falling on his arm as he took deep breaths.

Snape continued in a soft dangerous tone, his eyes glinting without mercy.

"How many countless times did you and I help each other to recover from the lessons our fathers taught us? How many potions did we brew on the side for our own personal use during holidays? How could you inflict that kind of pain repeatedly on your son?"

Lucius winced, his voice strained as he answered. "I am his father, if he needs to be taught a lesson it is my job to do so. I don’t want you coddling him!" Lucius’ eyes narrowed furiously at Snape.

"I have never coddled anyone in my entire life. Unless you consider my attempts to save Draco’s life as coddling!"

Lucius spat out, "Draco’s life was never in danger. I heard voices when I left him, I’m sure he was immediately healed!"

Snape glared and Lucius shivered. "As a result of your beating, one broken rib pierced his lung and another pressed against the other lung. You broke his ribs, his jaw and his wrist in addition to all the welts on his back. He is barely clinging to life. His life is currently a series of nightmares caused by the high fever that is consuming him."

Lucius paled a fraction. He attempted once again to get up. This time he succeeded in getting to the sofa leaving a trail of blood that flowed from his wounds. "I’m sure with your help he will make a full recovery."

"Don’t be so sure, nothing I have used has helped. Are you proud of yourself, do you feel all powerful having nearly beaten your child to death? I’m sure Darius Malfoy always felt the same way after beating you." Snape smirked maliciously.

A flash of fear split across Lucius’ face. Snape realized he hadn’t intentionally meant to almost kill Draco. "You will have no more contact with Draco, you will not write him any more letters, you will not see him unsupervised. He is under Hogwart’s protection now but more importantly under my protection. If you ever hurt him again I will kill you!"

Lucius snarled, "he is my son!" Before Snape had a chance to react Lucius reached under the sofa cushion and pulled out another wand shouting ‘Crucio’ as he pointed it.

Snape fell to the floor, his body in agony. It didn’t last long as Lucius weakly ended the spell. The wand trembled in his hands. "Get out Severus!"

Snape still had his wand in his hand and pointed it at Lucius.

Bellatrix Lestrange entered the house. She saw Lucius lying bleeding on the sofa with his wand out. Immediately she hurled a curse at the man in front of him. "Lightnatrus"

A bolt of silver fire shot from her wand directly into Snape’s back and through his heart. He crumpled to the floor.

"You idiot! He’s a fellow Death Eater!" Lucius snarled at her.

"But he attacked you, you’re bleeding," she responded shrilly.

"We were having a disagreement." He dragged himself off the sofa and fell to his knees in front of Snape. He listened for a heartbeat.

"You killed him. He has no pulse. Get into the kitchen and look in the jar over the sink. There is purple vial there, bring it here!" Lucius ordered.

"Damn you, Severus! You’re the only one at Hogwarts who will bother to try and save my heir, you cannot be dead!"

When Bellatrix returned, Lucius grabbed the ‘stopper in death’ potion from her and immediately poured all of it down Snape’s throat. He reclaimed his wand and pulled the port key container out of Snape’s hand. He dropped it on Snape and with his wand opened it. Snape immediately disappeared.

"Pomfrey, the old bat can try and save him," he muttered. "Lestrange get over here and heal my injuries!"

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

Draco whimpered. He felt so hot yet he couldn’t stop shivering. He felt someone stroking his hair back as he opened his eyes.

"There there, Mr. Malfoy, Professor Lupin and I are trying to bring down your fever, it has escalated again," Professor McGonagall explained.

He felt sick and ached all over. He realized he was lying on an icy cold blanket and another covered him. "I want Professor Snape," he demanded hoarsely.

"Professor Snape needed to do some work, he asked Professor Lupin to stay with you but Professor Lupin had to meet with the headmaster. I’ve been worried about you so I wanted to see if I could help you."

Draco closed his eyes feeling wretched.

He felt McGonagall take his hand patting it lightly. "Try to sleep child, you’ll feel better soon."

There was so much sympathy in her voice. Draco turned away biting his lip.

"We were required to contact your mother to let her know what had happened to you. She sends her best for a quick recovery."

Draco snorted as he opened his eyes again. "She didn’t care enough to come did she?" he remarked sarcastically.

McGonagall squeezed his hand tightly. "It doesn’t matter, we are all here for you."

He squeezed his eyes shut again. For some reason Weasley’s mother popped into his head. He was always jealous of how warm and caring she was to her children. With a slight shaky inhale of breath, he closed his eyes tightly again.

To his immense surprise he felt a soft hand stroke his cheek. He opened his eyes looking into McGonagall’s sympathetic worried eyes. "Sleep child. Why don’t you pretend it’s a wonderful warm day, you are playing Quidditch and you spot the snitch. . . ." McGonagall went on to describe how he chased it and ultimately caught it. He turned towards her and drifted off to sleep dreaming about the golden snitch.

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

Harry was still very angry at Snape. He went out into the cold and went down to the lake.

"Sirius? Snape was friends with my mother, can you believe that?" he whispered out into the cold air. He closed his eyes tightly and laughed hoarsely. "No of course you can’t because you’re not even here for me to talk to anymore. It’s been six months since you..." He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence; the horrible ache welled up in him again.

He missed talking to him so much. His throat closed.

"Why did you have to die, why did the one person I could talk to about anything have to die?" The terrible pain in his heart welled briefly before he shook his head trying not to think about Sirius’s death.

His thoughts wandered to Snape. Did he really try to help him today? Had he really not meant to blame him for what happened at Hogsmead? He remembered the sorrow he felt when he saw Snape’s memory. He wondered if Snape felt his sadness and pain and anger when he performed legilimens on him? He kept thinking about Snape and how upset he had been when he looked in his pensieve. Yet today he offered an up close and personal memory willingly. Was it truly because he wanted for him to trust him?

He got up and headed to Snape’s rooms. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." Came Professor McGonagall’s voice.

He entered and walked into the bedroom. Professor McGonagall was sitting beside Draco.

"How is he?"

She smiled softly at him. "He’s fighting a fever but he is doing better. You really shouldn’t be here, Professor Snape didn’t want visitors for him yet. I’ve had to threaten Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle and Miss Parkinson with detentions if they didn’t stop hanging around."

"Maybe it would help him to know his friends care."

"No, not until he’s stronger. I have to agree with Professor Snape on this."

Harry nodded. "Do you know where Snape is?"

"Professor Snape needed some time to do some work in his office. I’ll tell him you are looking for him when he comes back here."

Harry nodded listlessly.

"Are you feeling all right, you look a little pale?" she asked concerned.

He smiled softly. "Thanks, I’m ok.." He left and headed for Snape’s office.

Harry was determined to see Snape. He didn't care if Snape was angry at the interruption. He knocked on the door. There was no answer. He knocked again. With a sigh of frustration he walked away. 'Hang on, I'll leave him a note,' He thought to himself. He went back knocked again then entered the dark office. He headed to the desk and stopped in shock. Professor Snape lay on the floor in front of his desk.

"Professor Snape?" Harry yelled as he dropped down to his knees beside him. Snape looked gray, he had that same terrible pallor as Draco had when they first found him.

He put his hand to his neck, his heart leaped in shock. There was no pulse. Shaking, Harry panicked for a second, then ran to the fireplace.

He poked his head in. "Professor Dumbledore, Lupin, McGonagall HELP! Come to Snape 's office immediately, I think he's dead!"

With his heart beating painfully, Harry ran back to Snape. He had barely knelt down to him when Dumbledore and Lupin appeared out of the fireplace.

"Harry, what happened?"

"I don't know, I came to find Professor Snape and I found him like this. He has no pulse, he's he's." Harry couldn't finish. Lupin put his hands on Harry's shoulders.

Breathing fast, Harry watched in awe as Dumbledore formed a red black orb between his hands then turned his hands down and pushed the orb into Snape's heart. He sat back trembling.

"Are you ok, Albus?" Lupin asked.

Dumbledore looked exhausted. "It's not me you need to worry about. Professor Snape is no longer with us yet he has not passed beyond the veil. Someone cast a lightnarius spell on him and it has stopped his heart. The lightnarius spell is akin to a bolt of lightening. This would have killed him within minutes but it appears that someone gave him the stopper in death potions which has resulted in Professor Snape spirit hovering between life and death."

Harry swallowed heavily. "Will he live?"

Lupin squeezed his shoulders reassuringly.

"I do not know Harry. It is out of our hands." Dumbledore sat there numb with his hand on Snape's forehead gently stroking the black hair.

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

Professor McGonagall sped out of Snape's room towards his office when she ran into Hermione.

"Please Professor, I know he can't have visitors but can you tell me how he is?"

"Ms. Granger, I have to be somewhere, please stay with Mr. Malfoy until I return, if he wakes up try to get some broth into him if his stomach can handle it."

Hermione was stunned. Something was obviously wrong. She headed into the office wondering why Professor McGonagall was in such a hurry.

Malfoy was asleep with a large furry cat curled up by his legs. He was still very pale but there was faint flush in his cheeks. His hand was flung out and Hermione took it into her hand. She had gotten updates about his condition from Professor McGonagall. She knew he had improved and they were sure he would live but they needed to bring down his fever and that he wouldn't be completely healed until sometime early in the New Year.

She sat back looking at him. He was a strange boy. There were times she hated him so much because he could be so cruel and malicious. Yet in the last few weeks she had caught glimpses of another side of him, a more vulnerable troubled side that hinted at things that weren't quite what they seemed. He looked almost angelic lying there. His face was turned towards her.

He coughed slightly and opened his eyes. He looked startled at first, then the famous Malfoy sneer came into place. "What are you doing here?" he asked hoarsely. He pulled his hand out of her grasp.

"I came to see how you were and Professor McGonagall asked me to stay till she came back."

He glared at her resentfully. "I don't need a babysitter."

"Well obviously you do or Professor McGonagall wouldn't have asked," Hermione stated matter of factly. "She also told me if you woke to get you to drink some broth. Do you think you could keep it down?"

"I don't want any," he quietly said. He wasn't sure if it would stay down and he didn't want to be sick in front of her.

She sensed he was worried. "How about just two sips, it would help you to recover quicker and gain your strength back," she suggested softly.

He shrugged and nodded nonchalantly.

She filled up a quarter cup from the kettle McGonagall had beside the bed. Draco lifted himself but the pain in his chest made his eyes blur.

"Draco, are you all right?" came Hermione's soft inquiry.

He inhaled sharply, the pain still radiating. She grabbed a pillow from somewhere and put it behind his back. His white knuckled hands firmly grasped the mattress.

Hermione put his hand on top of the one closest to her. This time Draco didn't pull away. His breathing was ragged for a moment or two, and then he started to relax against the pillows.

She pulled her hand away and handed him the broth. He looked at it warily then with a shaky hand tried to grasp it. Hermione kept her hand on it as he brought it up to his mouth. He finally let go of it as his hand trembled so much he made the cup shake. He let Hermione lift it to his lips. He took a swallow. "There you are, now just one more. Good."

The warm liquid felt good going down his throat. For a moment anyway, then an incredible nausea swept over him. He winced and doubled over. Hermione grabbed a vial off the nightstand and forced his head back pouring ¼ of it into his mouth. "It's ok, this will settle your stomach."

Taking a shaky breath, his stomach started to calm down. He wearily closed his eyes.

"Draco, you need to lie down again." Too tired to argue, he carefully sank down. Hermione removed the excess pillows. She pulled the blanket of frost over him.

"No!" he whispered.

"It's to bring your fever down, Professor Snape conjured them up." She felt his forehead; it was too warm yet at the same time Draco shivered.

Hermione decided that the one he was lying on was likely helpful in controlling his temperature. She took the top one off and pulled the warm soft comforter over Draco.

"Better?"

He nodded keeping his eyes closed. She gave his arm a soft squeeze realizing how sick he really still was and that despite all the magic he would need a lot of help over the next while. When his breathing evened out, she realized he had fallen asleep.

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

Professor Snape lay in the hospital ward. Harry sat beside him wondering why he felt so worried about the man lying in front of him. He hated Snape and Snape hated him, at least that's what he kept telling himself. He knew that deep down he no longer hated Snape, he actually liked him at times. He remembered when Snape had comforted him down by the lake. He had almost believed that Snape actually cared that day. That feeling disappeared of course when he put all the blame of the events of Hogsmeade on him, yet he had apologized and even let him see his memory of his mum. Somehow during the course of occlumency lessons he had grown to depend on Snape's presence.

"Potter, you need to get some rest. The headmaster and I are here to keep an eye on him," Professor McGonagall said as she sat beside him.

"I'm almost afraid to leave, that he'll be gone before morning," Harry voiced his concerns softly.

"If he is meant to go, you being here or not won't be a factor. Professor Dumbledore looks upon Professor Snape almost as a son, they've had a very tenuous relationship at times but both of them care very much. Dumbledore will do everything he can to help him live."

Harry nodded staring at the terrible black mark on Snape's chest. It was where the spell had hit. He had the same terrible mark on his back.

"Was it one of the Death Eaters?" he asked quietly.

"It likely was," McGonagall answered.

"Who is staying with Malfoy? Is he being brought up here?"

"No, he must not be told about Professor Snape's condition, it would be a set back in his recovery. Professor Lupin is staying with him right now. Ms. Granger stayed with him for a short while till Lupin took over. Now I really must insist that you to go to bed. You have classes tomorrow."

He got up reluctantly. "Good night."

She smiled at him sadly.

Harry however did not go straight to the Gryffindor tower. He went back down to Snape's office instead. The events of the last two days had haunted him and he wanted a quiet place to think. He went into the darkened room an illuminated a candle on Snape's desk. He sat down and replayed all the conversations they had had. His eyes narrowed when his gaze fell on an envelope marked Harry. He picked it up.