Severus bolted over the head table, never minding the plates that crashed to the floor as a result. He called his wand instantly to his hand as he charged toward Harry, not caring how furious and frightening he appeared. The students were screaming, horrified by what they were witnessing as Flitwick and a number of the other professors moved forward to usher the students out of the hall. All the while, Harry was crying out as his hands were being engulfed by a hideous black fire. But strangely, they weren't burning.

"Potter!"

Harry looked up, choking back a sob as the Potions Master kneeled beside him. Severus spotted Coral curled up by Harry's hip. He hoped she wasn't dead.

"Don't move!" Severus ordered, placing his left hand firmly on Harry's forehead as he immediately began waving his wand around Harry's flaming hands in quick circles. Severus didn't think of the time in the future where he hadn't been able to act in time to save a father from this very curse. Instead, he forced himself to focus on what he had to do in that moment.

Harry tried to keep as still as he could, tears now pouring from his eyes as raging pain continued to pulse within his hands, but he couldn't stop his trembling as he closed his eyes, biting his bottom lip so hard he drew blood.

Severus was quickly joined by Sprout and McGonagall. He hoped they wouldn't try to stop him. He needed to address this now. Waiting would endanger Harry's hands and arms, as well as his life. This was a ruthless curse, targeting the victim's bone marrow. If he didn't lift it in time, Harry's bones would be as frail as an old muggle's with severe osteoporosis, and that was if he was lucky.

"Severus?" McGonagall asked worriedly, coming to a stop behind him.

Snape didn't pause in his casting, his eyes darkening as he began moving his lips, muttering in a language none of the others there recognized. Severus was relieved when Minerva didn't interrupt him again.

Professor Sprout moved forward, about to lift Coral from the floor, but stopped before her fingers touched her scales. She pulled out her wand and waved it over Coral with a frown. She then gently levitated her up and placed her into a soft box McGonagall had quickly conjured.

Harry's eyes opened slightly as Professor Sprout's hand came to rest on his shoulder.

Sweat speckling his brow, Severus focused his magic, blanketing Harry's hands with gentle magic as he finally managed to extinguish the black fire and remove the curse.

Harry released a deep, throaty sigh of relief.

"Don't move your hands or put any strain on them, Potter. They are extremely weak," Severus warned.

"Coral?" Harry asked, his voice cracking.

Severus looked to Pomona, who was holding the box with Coral. Pomona slowly held the box out for Severus to take.

Harry slowly sat up with the help of Sprout, earnestly looking at Professor Snape.

Severus waved his wand over Coral, afraid of what he would find. Getting back the readings, he couldn't help but frown.

"Professor?" Harry asked, his eyes now tearing up from a deeper sort of pain. Was Coral dead?

"I am not sure, Potter. She's alive, but . . . I am not getting any other reading than that. Something is blocking my magic."

Just then, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Lupin came into the hall. Evidently, Remus had immediately dashed off to get Pomfrey who had been in the Headmaster's quarters.

"What's happened?" Pomfrey asked, pulling her wand out.

Severus rose, Harry remaining on the floor with Professor Sprout, his hands limp in his lap, bearing no marks of the fire he had just endured. The damage was within.

"Someone sent a cursed letter to Mr. Potter under the guise of postage from the ICW," Severus answered, to the horror of Pomfrey and Remus. "I have dealt with the curse, but I am afraid I was unable to prevent Potter from being harmed."

"What was the curse?" she asked.

Severus didn't answer at first, knowing this curse was not well known and that Madam Pomfrey and the others had probably never even heard of it. Admitting he had knowledge of the spell would look suspicious; though, his ability to counter it was as well, but he could put that off as him being knowledgeable enough in the Dark Arts to combat it that way.

It was a curse that became known and feared later in the future war. The Bone Eater. Voldemort used it as a torturing spell to extract information the ‘fun' way. The Order never learned where Voldemort had discovered it, but he began using it just months after he had overtaken the Ministry. Severus suspected it had been held within the Forbidden Library, which was within the bowels of the Ministry's basement.

Severus fought back a shiver before focusing on Pomfrey again.

"I don't know," Severus lied.

Pomfrey frowned, before levitating Harry up and carefully touching his arm and getting him to lie back down. "Let's get you to the infirmary." 

Harry closed his eyes in reply.

O o O o O

Severus brushed his sleeve against his forehead as he worked. He had been able to convince Pomfrey that this was the best course of action to take to ensure Harry fully regained the use of his hands. Simply vanishing his hand bones and giving him skele-grow was definitely the worse thing they could do in this situation, as he had discovered in the future. Of course, he couldn't explain that to Pomfrey, who questioned his reasoning in stopping her from casting the bone-removal spell, but his stern gaze had done the trick and she admitted the process would be extremely painful for Harry to have to endure on top of what he had already.

Although she would never know, he was eternally grateful that she had not pressed him further and had, instead, taken him at his word that carrying out her initial plan of treatment would not be wise.

Severus sighed, his thoughts going to the future he had experienced with Harry. . . .

"It was risky, but we got him," Mad-Eye said.

"Oh, thank Merlin," Molly cried, grateful before becoming worried once more. "How is he? How hurt is he?"

Remus stepped forward as Mad-Eye's good eye looked at her with a trace of pity, while his other eye swiveled around and looked toward the room her husband was currently in.

"I'm not a healer, Molly, but . . . it's serious," Remus said.

"Will my husband live?"

"He was cursed with something new, Molly. Severus managed to stop it soon after we got him out of there, but that's the most we've been able to do at the moment," Mad-Eye said gruffly.

Molly was about to ask something else but was suddenly interrupted by screams echoing out of Arthur's room, people shouting urgently at one another from within.

Severus dashed forward, nearly knocking Remus to the floor as he rushed past him. He entered the room, the door slamming closed behind him.

"What happened? !" Severus demanded.

"We attempted to vanish the bones in his hand, so we could begin the vanish-and-skele-grow treatment, as discussed, but then . . . then. . . ." the young healer was at a loss.

"Get out of my way," Severus stated, forcing his way to Arthur's side.

What he found horrified him. The black flames that he had believed he had been able to completely extinguish when Arthur had arrived had flared back to life, and it was clear by the collapsed state of the man's unblemished hand and wrist that the bones there had been completely destroyed. However, that was not what was scaring him.

The curse seemed to have mutated. Only later did they learn that the curse's residue often reawakened and mutated when exposed to magic affecting bones or cartilage. It had taken Severus several months to develop a potion that could bypass the curse's trap and treat the unfortunate victim - as even skele-grow would trigger the curse again.

Before, when he had extinguished the flames on Arthur, he had succeeded in stopping the progression of the curse, but like all curses, when dispelled or lifted, they leave a residue, a fingerprint. It often takes time for spell residue to disappear completely. Spell and curse residue is not like white magic, as white magic is from the lycanthropy curse being utterly destroyed.

"What should we do? !" another healer cried as the black fire began moving up Arthur's arm at an alarming rate, consuming Arthur's bones as it went.

Arthur was beyond expressing pain. He was just lying there with his eyes tightly closed and his mouth partly open in a silent scream.

Severus looked at the man's neck and chest. If the curse reached him there, there would be no hope.

Waving his wand over the flames as he had done before to extinguish them, Severus' eyes widened as his efforts did absolutely nothing.

He was running out of time. In a matter of seconds, Arthur's chest would be overtaken, and the man would suffocate from lack of internal support.

"Forgive me, Arthur, but I have no choice," Severus said.

Severus amputated his arm at the shoulder, inches above where the flames were, before instantly cauterizing the wound.

It was all for naught though.

A second after they thought the crisis was over, the black flame ignited again. There was nothing any of them could do then.

Arthur Weasley succumbed to the curse that very hour.

Severus continued to stir, telling himself Harry would not suffer that fate. He had extinguished the flames and had done his best to remove as much curse residue as he could from Harry, having done it a handful of times for others after the experience with Arthur. It was possible that Madam Pomfrey could have carried out her skele-grow treatment because of his efforts in clearing the residue, but Severus hadn't wanted to risk it, and he was sure, if Pomfrey knew what he did, she wouldn't have wanted to either.

Taking a pinch of salt, and grateful he hadn't been the one to have to tell the Headmaster what had happened, he sprinkled it over the nearly finished potion, confident that once Harry had used it, he would make a full recovery, eventually.

O o O o O

Harry woke to his hands up to his elbows in blue goo.  

He was reclined back a bit, with his arms by his sides resting in two, long, cushioned pans filled to the rim with a smelly blue mixture. He quickly found he could not move his hands or arms at all and felt magic seeping from the cool liquid into his flesh to sink deep into his bones. It was rather soothing, to be honest, albeit strange.

Looking around, he found he was in the infirmary but curtained off from the rest of it. He supposed it was for privacy. He didn't know where Coral was, but before he could really think of what to do next, he heard voices from the other side of the drapes.

"How is he?"

Harry wasn't positive, but it sounded like Professor McGonagall.

"I just checked on him and he was asleep," Madam Pomfrey answered. McGonagall gave a soft sigh as Pomfrey continued. "I can't believe this managed to happen. Something like that getting through the wards shouldn't be possible, should it?"

"No, but you and I both know the wards are not foolproof. It is hard to run a school with impervious wards. Students bring in a lot of things, and keying all of the harmless things in to prevent a few harmful ones. . . . It just isn't practical."

"But surely the wards should have detected-"

"You're right. It should have detected the curse. The Unspeakables are examining the envelope right now. Albus called in a personal favor and sent it to them to examine. Perhaps the answer lies there, and with any luck they will be able to track it back to the monster who did this," McGonagall said viciously before calming her voice down. "It was very fortunate Severus knew what to do. I do not want to imagine what would have happened to Harry if he hadn't. . . ."

"Yes, but there is . . . I don't know." Pomfrey paused, uncertain.

"What, Poppy?"

"It's just strange. Severus I mean. He knew exactly what to do, Minerva. Exactly. He even stepped in and stopped me from treating Harry once we got him settled into bed."

"What do you mean?" McGonagall asked, confused.

"I was planning on vanishing the damaged bones in Harry's hands so he could regrow them properly with Skele-grow. You should have seen the way Severus looked at me when I questioned him when he stopped me. It was frightening, Minerva. I don't care what he says, he knows what this curse was and knew what would happen if it wasn't handled in a certain way."

"Poppy, we both know Severus has a rather dark past. Perhaps he learned about it there?"

"Then why hadn't You-Know-Who used it? Surely he would have used this if he had known about it. I believe we both agree it is a rather frightening spell, and very meticulous in how it attacks the body."

"What are you suggesting, Poppy?"

"Severus knew exactly what to do - as if he knew the spell inside and out. If he really didn't know what the spell was, how was he able to lift it from Harry so quickly and thoroughly? The man even knew how to remove the spell residue from Harry, and he had almost gotten every bit of it too. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he was able to help Harry, but it's . . . suspicious."

"Are you saying he's responsible for the letter coming to Harry?" McGonagall questioned, appalled by the very idea.

"Good Merlin, no! But, what I am saying is . . . what if he had been the creator of the curse? You and I both know Severus is very gifted in spell creation. This would not be the first spell of his that had fallen in the wrong hands. . . ."

There was a long pause.

"Severus is different. He's not the same as he was last year," Poppy said softly, breaking the silence.

"I know what you mean. I never would have imagined him taking James' son under his wing, especially with how he spoke earlier in the summer."

"I don't know what to think about it."

"I've spoken to Albus about his changed personality. He assures me Severus is Severus, and that he should be trusted implicitly. I wish I knew why he was so confident," McGonagall confided.

"As do I, but I trust the Headmaster. He must have his reasons," Pomfrey said.

"Yes, he always does. Well, if you need me, I'll be in my office. I have a few last minute things to take care of to prepare for classes next week; though, with what's happened, I may just wait to do them this weekend."

"Well, if you are, could you go check on the Headmaster? When I left him, he had become slightly feverish."

"He hasn't begun getting dizzy again, has he?"

"I don't believe so, but just the same, I'd like to know from a source other than him that he is truly feeling alright. We don't really understand what is going on with this white magic yet. Perhaps it is as Severus says, but then, perhaps it's not. We can't be too careful. Recent events have shown us that much."

"Agreed."

With that, Harry heard McGonagall leave and Pomfrey enter her office.

What exactly had he just overheard?

He wasn't sure, and decided to think on it later. Right then, he wanted to know where Coral was.

"Dobby?" Harry whispered, hoping Pomfrey wouldn't hear him or Dobby's arrival.

-Pop-

"Master?" Dobby asked, his voice quavering and his eyes wide with worry.

"Please stay quiet, Dobby. I don't want anyone else to know I'm awake yet."

Dobby nodded. "How is master? Dobby heard what happened, but Dobby couldn't do anything to help. Dobby is sorry he hadn't stopped the letter. Dobby should have checked. Dobby is sorry he failed master!" he cried quietly.

"Shh, Dobby, you didn't know. You didn't fail me. Please don't cry."

Harry was beginning to wonder if calling Dobby had been a good idea.

Dobby sniffled, collecting himself. "What can Dobby do to help master?"

"Do you know where Coral is?" Harry held his breath, waiting for Dobby to answer.

:Harry?: a groggy Coral interrupted.

:Coral! Where are you?:

:Beside the bed, on the side table:

Harry turned head as far as he could. Who knew having one's arms pinned would constrict one's motions so much?

Sure enough, there was a box on the table, though he couldn't see into it.

:Are you okay?: he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

:Just tired. I overheard the potions master talking with the headmaster when you were asleep. Evidently it was you who saved me. Your magic pulsed at the last moment, and because I had been filled with your magic, it blocked everything else. Knocked me out in the process though: Coral explained.

Harry gave a short, relieved laugh before looking to Dobby. "Can you get Coral for me?"

"Of course, Master," Dobby said happily, pointing at Coral and causing her to levitate up before lowering her on Harry's chest.

"Thanks, Dobby," Harry said, trying to keep himself from becoming too emotional. It was such a relief to know she was really alright. He had been afraid she had died.

:I'm glad you're alright, Coral: he said.

:And I, you: she answered, before coiling up at the center of his chest, right at his sternum.

Harry smiled and closed his eyes, falling back to sleep as Dobby stood watch.

O o O o O

"You wanted to see me, Headmaster?" Severus asked, entering the office.

It had been less than twenty four hours since Harry had been cursed, and in two days the students would be back from break. Harry was still in the infirmary, his arms still soaking in the blue goo.

Dumbledore nodded, motioning to the chair across his desk. Severus noted he had not been offered a lemon drop. This did not bode well.

"I just finished speaking with the Unspeakables," Albus said, the blue in his eyes like a turbulent ocean.

"Oh?"

"The envelope was made of Manx parchment."

"Manx parchment? I don't know much about it, but I thought no more existed," Severus asked, frowning.

"As did I. Manx parchment was made illegal over three hundred years ago, but because it continued to be made illegally and used for dark purposes, as we have recently experienced ourselves, it was deemed necessary to destroy the source of Manx parchment in the early 1800's.

"Manx cattle were completely wiped out by wizard kind because of the properties of their skin which was used to produce Manx parchment. Their skin was impervious to magic, because it ebbed a sort of ‘anti-magic' field. I'm not too clear on the particulars myself, but remember as a child hearing people talking about the dangers of it. It could pass through any ward, because the ward would fail to recognize it even being there."

Severus' eyes widened.

"I see you understand. Anything placed within the sealed envelope cannot be detected by wards or other magical means. It can be used as a path through all magical defenses."

Severus didn't know what to say. This was very troubling, particularly since Marx parchment had not been used in the future, at least to his knowledge. Though, there were a few unexplained deaths when the war was just beginning. Perhaps Voldemort had used the parchment to quickly remove those he believed would grow to become a problem for him, such as Amos Diggory and a few Wizengamot members. Their deaths had never been solved. But then, Severus had no real reason to assume the Dark Lord had actually obtained and used Marx parchment in the future. It did make him wonder though.

Severus shook himself from his thoughts, but they must have shown on his face as he met Dumbledore's contemplative eyes. He quickly decided to speak before the Headmaster could enquire about what he was thinking about.

"I haven't heard of anything like this being circulated in Knockturn Alley or the other less known routes of the black market. So this was likely stored by someone who has the means to preserve it in secret, unless the person responsible obtained it outside of Europe."

Dumbledore nodded. "I have come to the same conclusion, but it unfortunately doesn't get us much closer to the one responsible."

"Were the Unspeakables able to determine anything else?"

"The Manx parchment used to make the envelope was at least 190 years old. They can't determine the exact age because of the material's magical properties, of course, but they were able to determine that much. As for the ICW seal on it, it was forged. Though for what purpose, I do not know. It is highly unlikely they expected us to believe the forgery and blame the ICW."

"Mockery, then," Severus suggested.

"Possibly," Dumbledore agreed, before shifting the conversation. "Cornelius is very eager to get to the bottom of this, and has taken a . . . curious stance on it. He has taken my advice and has entrusted the full investigation completely to Madam Bones, who has agreed to work with the Unspeakables. It is doubtful they will be able to trace the envelope or the letter back to the perpetrator, or perpetrators, but if there is anything that can be discovered, I'm sure they will find it."

Severus nodded, knowing from the future that Madam Bones knew how to get things done. Even in dire circumstances.

"On a different subject, Madam Bones has told me she has contacted a few healers from St. Mungos who have agreed to oversee the blood transfusion with Remus and I next weekend. She and I both agreed we should continue moving forward with the lycanthropy cure, despite recent events."

"I agree, Headmaster. Has Madam Pomfrey cleared you for it?"

"Grudgingly, but yes. I seem to have fully recovered from the white magic entering my core and system. I don't feel any different than before I had it, but if I really concentrate, I can feel it. It's a rather peculiar feeling."

Severus blinked, wondering what that really meant. Though, Albus was more in tune with his magic than most people. It made sense that he would be aware of it when he focused.

"I checked on Harry last night while he was sleeping. What is the treatment you have him on? I asked Madam Pomfrey, but she said it was your plan of action, not hers," Dumbledore asked after a moment.

Severus kept his expression neutral, convincing himself he had nothing to hide here.

"Has Madam Pomfrey told you the extent of Mr. Potter's injuries?"

"Not in detail. To be honest, I sensed that she did not want to repeat them, even to herself," Dumbledore admitted.

Severus wasn't surprised with that bit of news.

"Potter's hand bones suffered extensive damage, losing over ninety percent of the bone marrow, nearly all of the cartilage, and twenty five percent of compact bone. The curse had unfortunately branched up into his wrists and slightly into his radius and ulna bones, but did not have the opportunity to cause the same amount of damage it had to his hands."

"No doubt we have you to thank for that," his mentor said softly, his eyes holding a tenderness Severus couldn't look away from, no matter how much he wished to.

Severus swallowed. "I just reacted." He didn't want to explain himself, and hoped the short reply would suffice. It seemed to, for the moment.

"And the potion? I am not familiar with it. Did you create it?"

"Yes, Headmaster. Once I determined the state of Potter's injuries, I was able to brew a potion specifically targeted to treat them - to rebuild his bones from the inside out, using the existing bone as a foundation rather than starting from scratch as skele-grow does. I believe this treatment, though more time consuming than skele-grow, is better in the long run."

"I imagine brewing such a potion is rather complicated work, let alone creating it," Dumbledore appraised. "And carrying it out in the few hours you did it in, quite an achievement, if you don't mind me saying so."

"Time was of the essence. The longer Potter went without treatment, the higher the chance he would worsen his injury. As it is, his recovery will take quite some time, and until his bones have completely mended, they will be vulnerable. I created the potion out of necessity, nothing more."

"Nothing more?" Dumbledore's old but strong voice was gentle, though there was an accusing tone laced within, as if he didn't believe him. "Severus, despite what some people may say, I am no fool. You care for the boy, and though it may have begun out of a sense of duty or a debt you felt you owed to Lily, it isn't anymore. You don't need to hide the truth from me."

Severus broke eye contact, his mentor's words hitting deeper than Albus could ever know.

The truth. Severus closed his eyes for a long moment, centering himself.

Before now, he had been certain he had carried himself in a way to make it appear he was only watching over Harry and guiding him to honor the memory of Lily and ensure her son would grow to become all he could be, but now it seemed those excuses, no matter how basically true they were, had been stripped away.

Dumbledore had come to the heart of it.

"Is it so hard to acknowledge, Severus?"

Severus didn't answer, trying to figure out what he should do to move the conversation away from this, before he said something he would regret.

"Severus, I must admit, you have worried me these past few months. At times, you are completely yourself, or at least the self you wish others to believe you are. And then, at other times, you are . . . not."

Severus slowly looked up at that, wishing he had seen this coming so he would have been better prepared.

"I don't know what to tell you, Headmaster," he said truthfully.

Dumbledore sighed, as if pained by his potions master's apparent struggle with feelings.

Severus couldn't believe this was happening. Of course, he should have known something like this would happen eventually. In the future, Albus had felt it necessary to get, well, a bit mushy, at times. There were really no other words to describe it. His mentor, one of the most powerful wizards of the century, if not millennium, was a softy, and sometimes wanted to share the fluffiness, especially when things became dire.

Severus closed his eyes and couldn't help but release an exasperated breath.

What should he do?

"Headmaster, as much as I appreciate your concern for me, there is nothing to talk about," he began, only to realize that was probably the last thing he should have said if he wanted to end the predicament he was currently in.

 "Very well, Severus. If you do not wish to discuss it, I will let the matter drop," he said, apparently deciding to take pity on him. Severus was grateful, but knew not to count himself lucky just yet. "However, I just want you to know that it is alright to allow yourself to care for someone again. I dare say Harry will need someone - what do muggles say? - oh, yes, ‘in his corner', as you clearly are."

Well, that wasn't as painful as he had expected.

O o O o O

Remus entered the infirmary, not knowing what to expect. He had spoken with Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout, of course, but there was a difference between being told about it and seeing it for himself.

"Thanks, Dobby," he heard Harry say from the other side of the curtain.

"Dobby is happy to help kind and great master!" Dobby answered as Remus pulled the curtain open a bit and peeked in.

"I hope this is a good time?" Remus asked, finding his old friend's son sitting in bed with his hands and arms soaking in the blue concoction created by Severus Snape.

Dobby was by Harry's bedside, levitating a book out in front him and Coral was resting on top of his head.

"Oh, not at all, professor," Harry said quickly. Remus was fairly certain the boy was bored.

Remus smiled and took a seat on the empty chair beside Harry's bed. "Been keeping busy, I see," he said, motioning to the still hovering book.

Harry shrugged, though it was constrained by the spells keeping his arms still. "Can't really do anything else," he said, glancing down at his arms.

"How long will you need to stay here?" Remus asked.

"Madam Pomfrey wants me to stay for another two days, but Professor Snape says I may be able to leave by the time the rest of the students arrive; though, I'll still need to have my arms covered in this . . . potion. But I would have to anyway even if I stay as long as Pomfrey wants me to. I'm not sure what Professor Snape has in mind to keep my arms covered in this stuff while I attend classes, but I'll do whatever he says. I don't want to be stuck in bed any longer than I have to."

"You need this potion for that long?" Remus asked, unable to keep surprise from seeping in his voice.

"Yes, sir. Professor Snape said that what that curse removed in seconds will take days, if not weeks, to regain."

"What about skele-grow? That only takes twenty-four hours to regrow the bones of an entire limb."

"I guess it conflicts with the residue left over from the curse. Dobby said Professor Snape was quite clear in stating I shouldn't be given skele-grow."

"I see. Well, Professor Snape is the expert on those kinds of things."

Harry nodded, though his eyes held a question.

"You look confused, Harry. Is there something you want to ask?"

Harry began to shake his head no, but then he hesitated. "Well, it's - it's not really my business."

"There's no harm in asking, Harry. If it's too personal, I could just tell you and leave it at that."

"Okay. Well, I sort of overheard Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey talking yesterday. They said some strange things . . . mostly about Professor Snape."

"Ah. I think I understand your hesitancy now. What did they say about him?"

"How he's different, how strange it is that he was able to overcome the curse as he had, and that sort of thing. I had just been waking up, but I specifically remember one of them pointing out that he has a dark past. I don't know, it was strange, and it made me curious. What sort of dark past did he have?"

"Harry, I'm not sure if I should really say anything, but I see that you have been thinking on this a great deal, so I'll just say what is a matter of public record. In the last war, Professor Snape had been a spy for the light. He gave information to Dumbledore who was then able to help others with it. There was more to it than that, obviously, but the important thing is, though Professor Snape has a rather dark past, he redeemed himself in doing what very few others could."

Harry's eyes were wide. "So, a lot of the dark things he knows came from his experience in pretending to be bad?"

Remus sighed, not wanting to lie, but finding it difficult to tell Harry the whole truth.

"Nobody is perfect, Harry. Everyone has made mistakes, done things they regret, and Professor Snape is not exempt from this. Don't ever forget that. But also know that people can grow beyond their mistakes and become a person who should be respected. Can you promise me to remember that?"

Harry nodded.

Remus had certainly given him a great deal to think on.

O o O o O

Albus closed his eyes when Severus left his office.

He wished he could see what was going on in the mind of his former student, but couldn't; though, even if he could, he had more important issues to focus on. Like how to protect Harry from something that could get through wards and from someone with a frightening grasp on dark magic.

Suddenly, his fireplace flared green, alerting him to a firecall.

"Headmaster?"

"Ah, Anna," he said, getting up and finding the Unspeakable's face in the flames.

"I found it. May I come through?" she asked.

"Of course."

A moment later, she, who was much shorter than him, was standing in his office.

"It took me a bit to find it, but, as I had said before, I was certain it was in the Forbidden Library," she said, before Dumbledore could even offer her a seat.

"Thank you for taking the time to get back with me so quickly," he said, pulling out the chair in front of his desk for her before taking his own seat.

"No problem. Well, I learned it was placed in the library 800 years ago. It's called ‘Exosso' - also known as, ‘The Bone Eater.' It is a very hideous curse. Though, originally, it was a rather helpful one. Cooks would use it to remove the bones from meat without having to cut into the meat. Granted, it was more of a show for onlookers to see the black flames dance over the meat than for practicality. However, a dark lord took hold of the spell and twisted it into what it is now. With what I've recently learned, I am amazed things are as you say. The fact is, Mr. Potter shouldn't already be recovering. You see, the curse has a booby trap, of sorts, that when exposed to certain magicks targeted toward bones, it reawakens, using that cast spell or given magic as a fuel to continue attacking the victim. You say Severus Snape devised a way to begin healing Potter in spite of the curse's residue still being there?"

"Yes, though Madam Pomfrey stated Severus was able to remove much of the residue before Mr. Potter left the Great Hall."

Anna's eyes widened. "Impressive."

"Yes. Severus is quite skilled."

"My colleagues want to understand how he was able to brew the potion he has to rebuild Potter's bones," she stated after a moment.

"Hmm, well, I don't wish to trouble Severus further with inquiries; however, I'm sure I could provide you with a sample of the potion, if that would be acceptable instead?" Dumbledore suggested.

"I understand, and providing a sample is acceptable. Thank you, Headmaster."

Albus nodded, especially grateful that the Unspeakables often cared more about figuring out ‘what', instead of ‘how' or ‘why'. Though, he supposed, in their line of work, it was often best not to pursue those things.

"Well, I must be getting back," Anna said.

"Of course. Thank you for your help, my dear."

"Any time."

O o O o O

"I've placed repelling charms on the slings, but you will still need to be careful," Severus said, helping Harry place his wrapped arms and hands in the two slings that went over his shoulders, around his neck, and crisscrossed on his back so his arms could comfortably and securely rest against his stomach.

"I understand, sir," Harry said, looking down at his covered hands. He knew if he looked in a mirror just then, it would look like he was cradling a baby. Well, anything to get out of the infirmary as a patient.

Madam Pomfrey had taken half an hour to carefully wrap each one of his fingers before wrapping his palms, wrists and forearms in the potion soaked bandages. After that, all of it had been coated in a weird paste to prevent the potion from drying and to give the gauze strength to prevent his fingers and wrists from moving - a cast. She said Professor Snape wanted him to continue absorbing the potion through his skin during all hours of the day. Only in the mornings would there be a pause in that when they removed the old dressings and placed new ones.

Harry was thankful the potion prevented itching, otherwise he would go stir crazy. Even now, he was really missing moving his hands.

"I honestly don't know how long this will take, Potter," Snape said once he was finished. "But I trust your house elf will be there to assist you."

"Dobby will help master!" Dobby said confidently, looking quite dashing for a house elf in his uniform. "Dobby will carry his school things and set up his self-writing quill for notes and-"

"I appreciate your devotion to your master, Dobby," Professor Snape smoothly interrupted before looking back to Harry. "Dobby will be your hands for the time being. The other professors of course know of the situation and will adjust things accordingly. As for how you will eat without using your hands, the Headmaster has told me he has that taken care of. Do you have any questions?"

"No, sir," he answered as Coral coiled around the upper part of his sling above his arms. She looked content and comfortable there. Severus was now very glad he had gone ahead and gotten her for Harry at Diagon Alley. She was clearly a priceless ally and comfort to Harry.

"One other thing. News of the attack on you was in yesterday's edition of the Daily Prophet. I didn't want you to be caught unawares."

"Thanks, professor."

"The students will arrive in the Great Hall in an hour. You may wish to begin heading over there now."

Harry nodded, carefully getting up from the bed and allowing his arms to shift a bit in the specialized slings. Confident they were secure, he gave a nod to Dobby, and they headed to the Great Hall.