None of them knew how much time passed before Albus was finally able to perform a diagnostic spell, and say quietly, "I believe it would safe to move Harry now, don't you, Severus?"

Severus could only nod shakily. He carefully lifted the boy in his arms and stood while Albus continued, "Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, you may come with us, if you'd like. Filius, thank you for your help, and please tell the rest of the professors that I'm calling an emergency meeting tonight at ten, in the staff room."

"Yes, Albus." Professor Flitwick's kind face was creased with anxiety. "Will Harry be all right?"

"He will live," Albus replied. He went back to where the opal necklace lay on the floor, still partially concealed in the paper bag, and conjured a cloth out of the air. Being very careful not to touch the necklace itself, he wrapped the cloth around it and picked it up.

Severus carried Harry back through the small room he and Dumbledore had come through, back to the fireplace where they could Floo home. Albus was right; Harry would live, but that didn't mean that his recovery would be quick or easy. Severus clenched his teeth helplessly, feeling that they were caught in a recurring nightmare. Harry had just been through this already. Why did it always have to be so hard for him?

But he would live. That was the important thing...the only thing that really mattered. They could get through the rest together.

Severus became aware that Albus and the other two children were behind him, waiting for him to take Harry on through the Floo. He stepped into the fireplace and called, "My rooms," as Albus tossed in a handful of Floo powder.

Severus had that strong sense of déjà vu again as he took Harry back to his room and laid him on the bed. He gently removed Harry's shoes and transfigured his clothes into pajamas. Then he tucked the blue quilt around the boy's shoulders and looked up to see Albus, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley hesitating in the doorway.

"I put him back in my room so I could be close to him while I work in my office," Severus explained, a little defensively.

Albus nodded, "You took excellent care of Harry before, Severus. I know you will again." He and Severus ran through some more diagnostic spells; then Albus looked at Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. "Harry is out of danger. He'll live, as I told Professor Flitwick, but he is greatly weakened and it will likely be a week or more before he regains consciousness."

"A week at the minimum," Severus murmured, carding his fingers through Harry's hair and trying not to think how close he'd come to losing the child.

"We need to know exactly what happened," Albus went on. "Why don't we all go sit down in the living room, and you can tell us how Harry came to touch a cursed object."

He didn't want to leave Harry alone, although Albus was right that the boy was out of danger, and there really wasn't anything else that Severus could do for him at the moment. And they did need to find out what had happened, and how.

Severus rested his hand on Harry's head for another minute. "I'll be right back," he whispered, even though he knew Harry couldn't hear him. Then he followed the others into the living room.

The two children were sitting side by side on the sofa, pale and frightened-looking. Albus was across from them in an armchair, and he'd pulled another chair close for Severus.

He sat and glared fiercely at Weasley and Granger. "How did this happen?!"

"We...we were going downstairs for dinner," Granger began. She told them the story until it came to the part where the little girl had given the parcel to Harry. Then she broke down, weeping quietly into the handkerchief the Weasley boy pulled from his pocket and gave to her. He finished the tale.

"Harry turned the package over, and then he just froze for an instant. Then he started to rise up in the air; Hermione and I grabbed his ankles and tried to pull him back down, but we couldn't. We were calling to him and asking what was wrong, but I don't think Harry even knew we were there. His eyes were closed, and it was almost like he was unconscious or something."

"How long did this last?" Albus interrupted.

Weasley shook his head. "Not long, maybe a minute, probably not even that long. Then all at once, Harry's eyes flew open, but I don't think he saw us or the hallway. I don't know what he saw, but he began screaming. And at the same time, he fell, and then he was convulsing, and screaming all the time. It was horrible. I was trying to hold him still, but I couldn't, and Hermione thought to grab the mirror from Harry's pocket...the one you gave him, sir." He looked at Severus.

"Was Harry holding the necklace while all this was happening?" Dumbledore asked.

Weasley and Granger looked at each other, then slowly shook their heads.

"I think he dropped it right away," Weasley said.

"What in hell were you idiots thinking? To touch something from a stranger! It could have been a Portkey! It could have taken Harry straight to Voldemort! He could be dead right now! He came within a hairsbreadth of dying as it is!" Severus exploded at them. He was shaking with fury. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been so angry. They should have known. Harry had almost died, because of them.

"Severus! What happened to Harry is not their fault." Albus' voice was still quiet, but as sharp as broken glass. "You know all the safety precautions we've taken. The necklace shouldn't have been inside the school to start with. You yourself put up the anti-Portkey spells. We need to figure out how this necklace was smuggled into Hogwarts, and whether it was intended for Harry or me. But Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley are not to blame."

Severus looked over at Hermione Granger, still sobbing softly, and Ron Weasley, who had an arm around her shoulders now, and looked torn between fear, anger, and shame. Severus felt a trickle of guilt as he acknowledged Albus' words, but he could only nod once and turn away. His fear was too raw for him to do any more.

"Harry will be all right, won't he?" Weasley asked, looking between Severus and Albus.

"Yes, I do expect him to make a full recovery, although, as I said earlier, it may take a little time," Albus explained. "You see, there are different types of Dark magic and this necklace causes a different kind of curse than what Harry suffered this summer."

"This summer we were able to treat Harry with salves and potions. This time, Severus and I were able to expel the Dark magic with spells of our own, but not before it attacked and damaged Harry's magical core. I'm afraid he'll be weakened by it, for a time anyway.

Albus managed to give them a gentle smile. "But he'll regain his full strength within a few weeks, so there's no reason for tears, Miss Granger. Indeed, I need the both of you to do me a great favor. Not for me, really, but for Harry. You've done a fine job recounting the experience, but I need to see what happened. Professor Snape and I need to see if we recognize the child who gave Harry the necklace, at the very least. Will you allow me to take you to my office and put your memories into a Pensieve?"

Granger and Weasley nodded. Albus turned back to Severus. "Severus, I'll return shortly. I'm going to leave the necklace here for now, if that's all right with you. We'll decide how to dispose of it later."

Severus nodded. He watched as they all stood and went over to the fireplace. The trickle of guilt he felt swelled as he noted the two children's guilty, haunted faces. Albus was right....it wasn't their fault...and Severus knew it. It was just that he'd been so afraid, and he'd lashed out at the nearest people available.

But he had to stop that. Lashing out was what his own parents had done... what Severus himself had done for years... and how many innocent people had suffered because of it?

Perhaps the children had been a little reckless, but Hogwarts should have been safe from such a dangerous object. It wasn't their fault that someone had managed to smuggle the necklace inside.

And they were good friends to Harry. They had loved him long before Severus did.

Something made him say roughly, "Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, this is not your fault. I...apologise."

They gaped at him before Albus guided them into the fireplace and the three of them Flooed away.

As soon as they were gone, Severus went back to Harry. He sat on the side of the bed and gently stroked his hair back from his forehead. Severus ran a fingertip lightly over the lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead. It was usually hidden by the boy's hair, but now it was visible and Severus felt ashamed when he remembered how many times he had jeered at Harry for his fame.

As if the child had wanted to be famous for an event that had led to his parents' deaths and had left him marked, in ways far beyond the mere physical scar.

Voldemort. It always came back to him, didn't it? He was the reason why Harry had suffered so much. He was the reason why Harry was gravely injured for the second time in three months. Voldemort had taken Lily from Severus. He would not take Harry, too.

Severus leaned close and said softly, "You're going to be all right, Harry. You're not alone anymore. You have people who lo...care for you, very much. We healed you before, and we'll do it again. You're going to be all right."

He wanted to do something for Harry, something to speed his recovery, or to make him more comfortable. But he couldn't think of anything else he could do, so he just sat on the bed beside Harry and held his hand and murmured reassurances.

Eventually, he heard the rush of the Floo again, and Albus' voice, calling him.

"I'm in here," Severus replied wearily.

Albus came back to the bedroom, a Pensieve floating in the air behind him.

"How is Harry?" Albus asked, though Severus knew that Albus knew there wasn't likely to be any change in the boy's condition.

"The same." Severus looked down at Harry's thin face and closed eyes, and suddenly there was a lump in his throat. He hadn't cried since the day he'd discovered that Lily had been killed, and now he'd come close to it twice in the same evening.

Albus further undid him by placing his left hand on Severus' shoulder and saying, "Harry will be fine, Severus. We got to him in time."

"I know," Severus swallowed hard and turned to look pointedly at the Pensieve. It would be best if he distracted himself before he became any more maudlin.

Fortunately, Albus took the hint and indicated the stone basin. "Shall we?"

Severus nodded, and a moment later, they had disappeared into its depths.

***

"Did you recognize the girl?" Albus asked a short while later. They had been through both Weasley's and Granger's memories and were sitting in the bedroom with Harry, discussing the event. Severus was back beside Harry, while Albus had taken the dark blue armchair in the corner.

"Yes. She's one of mine, a first-year named Elizabeth Stone," Severus stared at his hands and struggled to remind himself that it wasn't likely to be the girl's fault. She was barely eleven years old, and was much more apt to be a pawn used by others more worldly and wise.

"What do you know of her?"

Severus sighed. "I don't know the first-years as well as the others, of course. But from what I've observed and heard, she seems like a nice child, well-mannered and industrious. She does well in her classes and gets along with others. She even has friends among the first-years in other Houses."

"She doesn't seem the type of child who would willingly go along with a plan to harm another?"

"I don't think so, though I suppose anything is possible," Severus admitted.

"That's my impression as well," Albus agreed. "I would guess that she had no idea what a dangerous object she was passing along. It's also possible that someone was imitating her by Polyjuice Potion, or she was placed under the Imperious Curse."

"The girl is too young to leave school grounds," Severus pointed out. "If she was Imperioused, then it had to happen here. Assuming we can rule out the professors, how many students are capable of performing the Imperious Curse?"

"I imagine there are a few," Albus mused. "Miss Stone bears some resemblance to the Malfoys, does she not?"

"Her mother and Lucius are cousins," Severus told him. "But I believe the two families are not particularly close. She and Draco have mostly ignored one another since term began."

"Well, in any case, I believe my next task is to interview Miss Stone," Albus glanced at his watch and stood. "I should have just enough time before the staff meeting. Of course, you're excused from that, Severus. You know what's going on, and I know you'll want to be with Harry."

He hesitated and added. "Try not to worry, Severus. Harry will be fine. I'll come down again tomorrow, and you and I can make plans to keep him safe and well."

He patted Severus' shoulder and then he was gone.