For the second time that night, Severus found himself questioning the sanity of Albus Dumbledore.

“You cannot be serious.”

Albus turned back to gaze out the window. Severus stood next to him. Things were quiet out on the grounds. A light breeze blew by, rustling the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Waiting for the old man to say something, Severus clasped his hands tightly behind his back.

“I shall not risk harming Harry’s body. Once we are positive that Voldemort is in control, we shall transfer that soul fragment into me. The soul will be unable to remove itself from my body,” He inhaled deeply “and you shall kill it.”

Albus avoided his gaze as Severus’ head whipped around to stare blankly at the Headmaster. “Once the fragment is destroyed, your soul can return to its rightful place.”

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled wetly behind his glasses. “I have explained this to you, Severus. The vessel containing the fragment must be destroyed beyond all magical repair.”

“But your soul!”

“You are young and hopeful, Severus. There is no other way. You shall cast the curse twice.”

“Potter—“

“Harry needs to survive this. He is the—“

“Chosen One.” Severus spat. “I know.”

“And yet, you do not care.”

“Of course I do not care, Albus! That boy means nothing to me!” Severus’ voice shook.

“He means everything to the Wizarding World.” Albus paused, turning to look at the man next to him. His gaze was tranquil, his voice somber. “You made a promise to me, Severus.”

“To protect him, not kill you!” Severus’ voice shook. He took a shaky breath, running a hand through his hair. Steadying himself, Severus spoke. “I will not do it. No.”

“Come, Severus…”

“No, Albus! I will not. You cannot ask this of me.”

Dumbledore’s voice was icy and his eyes no longer twinkling. Steel blue met Severus’ stubborn glare. “Then I demand it.”

A pained gasp escaped Severus’ throat and he turned away. He leaned against the windowsill, both palms flat, head hanging. A wizened old hand fell on his shoulder but Severus shoved it away. Albus attempted to reach out to him again, this time with the charred flesh of his other hand. Severus couldn’t help but stare at the mangled appendage.

“You knew. That is why you went tonight; that is why you put on the ring. You knew it was cursed!” Severus felt rage gathering inside him.

“If it helps you to think so—“

Severus spun around, robes whipping around him. “To think that you went on a suicide mission?!” his voice came out sounding dangerous; a low hiss. “I might as well off you now!” Without warning, his wand was suddenly in his hand and Dumbledore stumbled back a few feet.

“Severus…”

“Severus!”

The flames suddenly flared and Poppy’s voice floated, startling them. Severus dropped his arm and swirled around to face the fireplace. “What?” Fury radiated through his body. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to be bothered because of Potter, again. The fates hated him.

“You said to call you, Severus, should the fever get any higher.” Severus could almost see her wringing her hands.

Damn it all to hell. “Has it reached 105 yet?”

Poppy shook her head. “It’s bordering the line. I’ve put him in an ice bath to cool him off.”

“It won’t help him at this point. I’ll be down in a minute.”

The flames returned to their normal coloring as Poppy’s head disappeared. For a moment, Severus had forgotten he wasn’t alone.

“Severus?” the old coot. “What is going on?”

Taking a deep breath to control his anger at the Headmaster, Severus didn’t bother turning around as he explained. “It seems your prince;” he spat the word in disdain “is having a reaction to the binding potion. He developed a fever when you left and it has not abated yet and you well know no potion can help now.”

“There must be something…”

At least you care about someone, Albus. “Only removing the potion.”

“But that would be counterproductive.” Maybe not…

“If his life force is so desperately attached to his power, binding one means binding the other. Would you have the boy die, Albus? A moment ago your wishes were quite the opposite.” Severus knew he was venturing into dangerous territory, baiting the wizard, but he didn’t care. As the rules stand, if someone asks you to kill them, you have every right to piss them off.

“Of course not. If the antidote is the only thing that will help Harry, then that is our only choice.” Albus’ voice was calm when he answered, riling Severus up some more. He needed to hurt something.

Had school been in session, Slytherin would be alone in the running for House Cup at this point. As it was, it was summer and Severus was forced to swallow his growing frustration. His blowup at the Headmaster earlier was just the tip of the iceberg but Severus had no interest in wasting his energy on someone who would no longer be around.

He reached for the canister of floo-powder and turned around. “Tell Poppy I will be up momentarily.” Not waiting to hear if Albus had anything else to say, Severus threw down the powder, stepped into the flames and called out for his quarters.

.

The flames ejected Severus in his rooms. He made his way into his lab and headed over to the supply cabinets. Taking a step forward, he halted as glass crunched under his feet. Looking around, Severus realized what a mess he had left before. While a few of the bottles knocked out of place had been saved the unfortunate breaking, the majority of them had shattered, leaking their contents onto the hard stone floor.

Damn it. Severus cursed himself for not charming all the vials with an Unbreakable charm. Thankfully the ones that had broken were relatively valueless, although they still represented a lot of his time and effort, and Severus was not looking forward to when he’d have time to restock his store.

Drawing his wand, Severus banished the mess and set about organizing the ingredients he would need for an antidote to the Binding potion. It would not take long, a few minutes at most. A releasing agent was all that was needed to break the bind. He lit a fire underneath his cauldron and began to brew. Soon enough he had entered the familiar rhythm and Severus found the bubbling of liquid calming him as it so often did. A feeling of peace stole over him and Severus let out a heavy sigh. If only he could stay in his lab until this whole mess was taken care of. Let someone else take charge.