Megan seemed to scream forever. Harry tried to fight the pain in his head block out her screams. It would only distract and hurt him if he concentrated on trying to save her. He needed to worry about himself, and the rest of the first years.

“Su.” He hissed at the girl who was standing in front of him, trying to get a clear shot at the Dark Lord with her wand.

She looked back at him and knelt down next to him. “Yes Harry?”

“I need to get to the door.” He told her. “We've got to alert the professors. They've got the skills to defeat this guy.” He nodded toward the Dark Lord.

Su looked at him carefully, as if doubting that anyone could defeat the Dark Lord. “Fine, I'll create a diversion.”

Harry gave her a grateful smile and pushed himself to his feet while she pushed to the front of the crowd and stood in front of the screaming Megan and the smiling Dark Lord. She started yelling at him, talking about twins and people separated at birth. Anything to make him pay attention to her and not to the boy sneaking over to the door.

The door burst open just as the Dark Lord turned around to face it. His red eyes were wild with happiness and anger. Megan collapsed on the floor as soon as he took his wand off to point toward the door. But when Dumbledore, Bellatrix, McGonagall and Severus burst in, he summoned Harry to him.

The force of the spell knocked Harry off his feet and dragged him along the ground. Within seconds he felt another spell grab hold of him and start pulling him back to the door. Both spells were pulling him in opposite directions and it only took a few moments for it to hurt. Harry started screaming, it felt as if he was being pulled in two.

Severus gasped in shock when he saw the face on the back of Quirrel's head. Of all the things he'd been preparing himself for, this was not one of them. He saw Harry and cast his own summoning spell to counteract the Dark Lord's. There was no way he was going to let that maniac get his hands on his son!

The two spells continued to fight over Harry. The Dark Lord was more powerful, but he was once again underestimating a parent's love for their child.

“Expelliarmus!” Bellatrix cried, sending Severus's wand flying. “Accio Severus's wand!” She called, grabbing the stick in mid-flight.

Snape turned angrily to his wife. “I trusted you! You swore!” He accused her. “How dare you try to hurt Harry!” He approached her intent on tearing her limbs apart, even without the aide of his wand.

“Petrificus Totalus.” Bellatrix watched as Snape fell in front of her. She did cast a cushioning charm before he hit the floor. “I promise Severus, I'll explain as soon as there's time.” With that she turned toward the battle.

Dumbledore was locked in a battle of staring with Quirrel. Neither was backing down and Quirrel had his wand jammed into Harry's throat. Severus was now on the ground and McGonagall had hurried to the mudblood on the ground.

“My lord.” Bellatrix walked in between Dumbledore and Quirrel. “I am yours to command.” She heard McGonagall's horrified gasp, the woman was obviously waiting for her to drop dead from breaking her Unbreakable vow.

Quirrel caressed her cheek gently and pulled her up. “Yes LeStrange, or is it Snape now? You have served me well.” He let her kiss his robes before crawling away.

Bellatrix made as if to cry away from her master, but she turned on him and cast a spell as quickly as she could. “Stupefy!”

“Getting sloppy?” Quirrel sneered as he knocked her spell away easily. “Come Bellatrix, my sweet. I know you are mine.” He gave her the scariest smiles she'd ever seen.

Something scrapped across her meagre Occlumency shields. The pain of the forceful invasion forced Bellatrix to her knees, her wand dropping uselessly to the floor. “No.” She clenched her fists and pushed all her energy into maintaining her very useless shields. But the Dark Lord's mind cut through them like a hot knife in butter.

When things were begining to look bad for the professors, reinforcements burst through the doors. Flitwick lead the group, wand blazing. Behind him, Sinistra, Burbage, and Vector followed with their hands held high.

“Stupefy!” Even Quirrel with the Dark Lord's help couldn't totally defect a spell coming from the three witches. Dumbledore added his spells with theirs and forced the Dark Lord to withdraw from Bellatrix's mind. She slumped to the ground in a pile, lying forgotten.

“Quickly! Bind him.” Flitwick told them. “He's already starting to wake up.” Their spell hadn't been very effective, but at least it had given them a few more seconds to work on their next attack. Six different kinds of rope bound Quirrel and Minerva ran to floo call the aurors. There were two Dark Magic Practitioners to be arrested and sent to Azkaban.

Dumbledore freed Severus from the spells his wife had cast and helped him to his feet. “Are you all right Severus?” He asked, looking with concern at the younger man. He worried about Severus, there was so much hurt and betrayal in his life and now his wife. . .

“Fine.” Snape called over his shoulder as he hurried to where Harry was struggling to sit up. He'd fallen to the ground when the Dark Lord had collapsed and the spells pulling on him still made him feel pain. But the adults were busy with Megan Jones. She was on the ground, and although her chest rose and fell the Cruciatus curse had done much damage to her young body.

Pomfrey ran in through the door with an army of stretchers floating behind her. Her diagnostic wand was already out and she started running spells over Megan and the other terrified first years.

“Come on Harry.” Severus scooped Harry into his arms and ignored the boy's protests and claims that he was fine. “Harry, if you want anyone to think you're fine don't let them see you screaming in pain minutes earlier.” He told the boy fighting to keep a happy smile off his face. All that mattered was his son's safety.

“No! Dad, I don't need the hospital wing.” Harry squirmed for a few seconds when Severus gently set him down on a stretcher. Then he stopped moving, it just hurt too much. “You're a potion master! You can fix me at home!” He explained.

“I think not.” Snape activated the charm on the stretcher and sent it off toward the hospital wing after promising Harry that he'd be there as soon as possible.

With most of the staff of Hogwarts there they looked over all the first years and sent most of them back to their dormitories with dreamless sleep. Once there was more time they'd call St. Mungo's and find a counsellor to help them recover. Terry Boot and Megan Jones were both sent to the Hospital wing.

“Bellatrix.” Snape used a charm to put her on a stretcher.

“Leave her here.” Dumbledore told him. “The aurors will collect her. No need for you to see her.”

Severus turned on him angrily. “She had a reason! And I'm going to wait until I know what really happened before I condemn her to Azkaban.” He stepped closer to the old wizard. “I spent a few months there myself. And Bellatrix couldn't handle the pain of the dementors. She'd lose the precious little sanity I've helped her regain.” He resisted the urge to spit on Dumbledore's shoes and made sure that Bellatrix was nicely arranged on the floating stretcher before leaving for the hospital wing.

The hospital wing was full. Pomona had arrived and Filius was hovering between Harry and Terry Boot. Bellatrix ended up in a private room at the end of the ward.

“For her protection.” Poppy assured Severus. “Now, I need these. Fast as possible.” She handed him a list of potions and watched him flee to his dungeon lab before turning sadly to her patients. Damn Dark Lords!

Severus handed Poppy the box of potion vials. “Here. You'll have to get the stronger nerve regenerators from St. Mungo's. I haven't got any and they take too long to brew.” He yawned. “How are Bellatrix and Harry?”

“How are you?” Pomfrey eyed him critically. “Were you straining your magic again Severus?” She asked him sharply.

“No. . .” Severus tried not to think about his fight over Harry with Quirrel and the Dark Lord. “And I'm not your concern. How is Harry? And Bellatrix, will she wake up soon?”

A tingle shot through his body as the diagnostic spell ran over him. “Severus. . . Why does it always come to this?” Poppy groaned as she summoned a pain of pyjamas. “If you'd practice magic strengthening exercise and not strain it like this then you'd be fine.”

Snape shrugged. “Harry was in trouble. I was trying to help him.” He scowled at the pyjamas she handed to him. “I'm not staying here.”

“Really Severus.” Dumbledore's hand on his shoulder made Snape jump and he glared at the old man and his too bright robe. “You're going to insist on spending the night here with Bellatrix and Harry anyway. Let Poppy dose you and go to sleep. Then you'll have the energy to stay awake with your family.”

Pomfrey gave Dumbledore a grateful look. “Yes Severus. Change and get into bed. I'll get a few potions.” She headed back towards her office and the supply cupboards.

“Thanks old man.” Severus spat with a glare at Dumbledore, but the Headmaster wasn't fazed.

He smiled and gave a little chuckle. “You're behaving like a mother hen Severus. Just relax and get some sleep.” He gave the younger man a gentle push toward the wash room. “The first step in the process is getting changed.”

Muttering under his breath about interfering Headmasters and overbearing mediwitchs, Snape changed into the blue and white hospital pyjamas and came out to find that the hospital wing had cleared quickly. The silence and darkened room was nice and he had been up late the night before. It was hard to believe that it was still the afternoon. The curtains shut the light out so nicely.

“Here you are.” Pomfrey motioned to the bed next to Harry's. She did have a few potions with her, but they were all ones that Severus had brewed and would have taken if he'd chosen to fight Dumbledore and return to his quarters that night.

With a roll of his eyes and a grimace at the nasty tastes Severus took the magical replenisher and the re-energizing draft. He'd feel great once he woke up. “Thank you Poppy.” He told the mediwitch quietly, she was one of the few people that he'd thank without being forced too.

“This one too Severus.” She forced the next potion into his hand. “Drink it.” She told him when he hesitated.

“I don't need a sleeping draft! Let alone a dreamless sleeping draft!” Snape protested. “I won't be awake when Bellatrix and Harry wake up.” He told her. “And I must talk to Bella. I don't want her carted off to Azkaban.”

For once Pomfrey didn't force the potion into him or simply continue to order hi to drink it. She sat on the bed next to hi and looked seriously into his eyes. “Severus, you've just watched two people who you love very much go through horrible pain. I had to give Bellatrix a dreamless sleeping draft too. And Harry's got one of the normal sleeping potions. You will probably have nightmares again. And I think you'd like to have tonight to relax.” She told him with a sad smile.

“More nightmares? But they were stopping. And there wasn't as many now.” He protested. “I almost never have to use the potions. I thought it was over.”

Pomfery squeezed his arm warmly. “You'll overcome these ones too. I can find you a counsellor too. Harry will have to talk to one. Watching Miss Jones undergo the Cruciatus curse won't help any of them.” She stood up and tapped the potion bottle in his hand. “Take it.”

Severus thought about protesting. But that seemed like too much work and he was tired. Maybe a sleeping potion isn't such a bad idea after all.  He drained the bottle and savoured the pleasant lavender taste that got rid of the after tastes left by the other potions.

With quiet and peace finally restored to her ward, the mediwitch cast charms over the beds to alert her if anyone woke before retreating to her office and preparing to end her own day. After all, once Severus woke up he'd be a handful. And she needed to contact spell damage specialists at St. Mungo's. They could help Jones better then she could.