Harry struggled against the spell that Dumbledore had cast. He was still under the invisibility cloak, watching in horror as Severus Snape prepared to cast the killing curse on Dumbledore. Harry struggled harder, biting down on his tongue to keep from crying out in frustration.

He needed to save the Headmaster.

Severus slowly raised his wand, it was pointed directly at Dumbledore's chest. The teenager knew he had mere moments before the green curse would be flung across the empty space. Focusing, he used every last ounce of strength and magic to pull free of the binding spell. Sprinting forward, invisibility cloak flapping around him, he ran to push the Headmaster out of harm's way.

Severus' eyes widened when he saw a disembodied pair of trainers running across the floor of the tower and for a moment he hoped that fate had saved him from his impossible task. The curse had already left his wand. It was too late. Snape's heart fell.

"No-o-o!" Harry Potter shouted as he shoved Dumbledore forward onto the floor. The killing curse glanced off his face, knocking his glasses free and sending them skittering over the edge of the tower to the ground far below.

The boy stood panting, his cloak hanging off one shoulder. "I'm still alive?" he asked in wonder.

Snape watched, jaw dropping as the curse he had meant for the Headmaster left Harry Potter without a scratch. Wait, that wasn't true. There was a thin mark on the boy's chin, a red sliver in the shape of an infinity symbol; two circles endlessly intertwined.

"Yes, my boy." Dumbledore stood, brushing his hands on his robes. "Well, done, but unnecessary, I assure you."

"Unnecessary?!" Harry and Snape shouted simultaneously.

The old man straightened his beard and readjusted his glasses. "Quite."

"He was going to kill you!" Harry shouted.

"I know. That was the plan, my boy," the Headmaster stated with infuriating calmness.

Severus glanced between Harry and Dumbledore. He had known the plan, had fearlessly implemented it, but now things had changed. He had cast a killing curse at a student and Severus shuddered to think what his punishment might be. Dumbledore sent him a long, unreadable look over the half-moon glasses.

"I think we'd better go inside. The winds picking up," the old man said, leading the way towards the stairs.

Harry and Snape exchanged looks that expressed differing versions of 'the old man has finally lost it' with each other before following. His wand now in hand, Harry made sure Severus went first. He did not trust the Death Eater and needed to keep the older man's wand in sight at all times. He wondered why Dumbledore was acting so nonchalant about the whole almost dying thing seconds before, but held his tongue.

Things were complicated enough already.

Once inside the castle, Dumbledore lead the way to his office, the Death Eater and the Boy-Who-Lived in tow.

"Aren't you going to at least disarm him?" Harry asked with a hysterical half-laugh.

"You know nothing, Potter, and that's not likely to change, so keep your thoughts to yourself," Snape shot back.

Dumbledore remained silent until they were inside his office, seated around the large desk. Harry could feel his frustration turning into real, deep anger. For a split-second up on the tower he had thought that he would lose Dumbledore. The old man had been a guardian, a mentor and a friend. The thought of losing him had scared Harry badly.

"Do you even care that you almost died? If anything had happened to you I - I," Harry simply shook his head, unable to continue.

Snape shifted uncomfortably, but his sneer remained firmly fixed in place.

"I am sorry, my boy. Things did not quite go to course," the Headmaster explained, "I knew that I would have to die. It is a part I will play in this war. Severus was kind enough to accept my last request."

"Wait." Harry held up a hand. "You wanted to die?" the boy asked.

"I merely accept the facts as they are," the Headmaster hedged around the question.

"That's... just... stupid."

"Unfortunately worded, but I agree," Snape spoke up.

Harry's green eyes widened and he turned his head slowly so that he could see Snape out of the corner of his vision. Had the homicidal Death Eater just agreed with his most hated student? When would the world start making sense again?

"I would rather there were another way," Dumbledore agreed with a slight inclination of his head.

"Of course there is, don't be daft, old man," Snape said bitterly.

Harry slumped in his seat feeling suddenly small and caught between two warring forces. In that moment, he came to a sudden and painful realization. His chin hurt. Badly.

"Um, Headmaster," Harry spoke up hesitantly, his hand going to his face, feeling around the edges of the wound "I might need to see Madam Pomfrey."

Snape's face grew paler when he looked more closely at the boy's injury. He had caused it with a Killing Curse. Swallowing hard the potions master looked away, guilt clawing at him.

"Yes, of course," Dumbledore motioned with a wave of his hand that Harry was dismissed.

It felt a little anti-climatic and Harry still didn't trust Snape enough to leave him alone with an obviously suicidal Dumbledore.

"Then again, I think I'll wait," the boy said, fingering his wand nervously.

"I assure you I will not slaughter the Headmaster needlessly," Snape intoned dramatically.

"Speaking of which," Dumbledore fixed the potions master with a steely glare, "you almost killed a student, tonight."

Snape's dark eyes shuttered, face expressionless. "Though, it was entirely avoidable, the mistakes were on your part."

"It was your wand that produced the spell and now Harry has yet another scar to contend with."

Harry's hand was still covering his chin. "Does this mean I'm linked to Snape, now? Will I see his thoughts, too?" Harry vomited a little in his mouth.

"I hope not, my boy, but only time will tell," the Headmaster replied.

"What now?" Snape asked in a droll tone.

"Now, we plod onwards, I suppose. Tonight was a bit of a disaster, but tomorrow seems like a good candidate," the bearded man responded.

"Good candidate?" Harry spluttered. "Good day to die, you mean."

The Headmaster shrugged, neither denying nor supporting the young man's words. Snape stood to his feet, arms crossing over his chest defensively. Things had most certainly gone amiss and the potions master wondered just what dark days these event would herald.

The Death Eater, the Boy-Who-Lived and the old man who held their futures in his hands faced one another in deepening silence. Outside, an owl hooted in the night and the stars kept blazing, but inside that room in Hogwarts, nothing felt normal.