The trees caked in snow made for a very eerie, dreadfully maudlin atmosphere. The air was crisp and you could see the very breath leave your body with every exhalation. The twigs and branches on the forest floor caused a louder snap than usual in their frozen state, and every caution had to be used, lest the entire forest wake with a single step.

The brilliant blue and silver vapors that surrounded the ethereal doe made the wintry trees glisten and glimmer, casting shadows upon the ground and around the other trees nearby. Not a sound was heard as the doe nosed the snowy ground and trekked its way towards a small tent. A boy who looked as though he’d been living in these woods for some time was sitting just outside of the tent. His head snapped up as he caught the doe’s glow from the corner of his eye.

Severus held his breath as he hid behind a thick tree trunk, disillusioned. Only the slightest movements of his wrist were required to direct the shimmering doe to her destination. He had cloaked his scent and the sound of his footsteps, knowing that exposure could tear the entire plan apart. Severus had not wanted to place the sword so precariously, and so he charmed it to slip through the ice of a small creek.

The former Potions Master and current Headmaster of Hogwarts watched as the Boy Who Lived cautiously, but curiously followed the doe right to the frozen creek. He felt a sense of foreboding that the boy would so willingly follow a Patronus he had never seen before, but as it was to his advantage, he hoped the boy used more caution in the future. The fool.

As the doe slipped beneath the ice, Severus watched as the boy figured out what lay beneath and stripped down to his pants. It had to be in the negative, temperature wise, and the boy was standing near starkers, obviously getting ready to dive into the frozen creek to obtain the sword. Severus had hoped he would have the sense to cast a warming charm on himself and the water, but instead the foolish Gryffindor cast a cutting hex to break the ice, and then he dove right in.

Severus had half a mind to jump in after the boy and berate him for his stupidity, but he knew the sword was only retrievable by a true Gryffindor, so he waited. It seemed like hours before he saw any movement at the opening in the ice, but as the bubbles spewed up and water sloshed out, Severus knew something was not right. There was a dull pounding, as the though the boy was trying to break through the remaining ice. Why was the boy not coming back through the hole he had created? Had he retrieved the sword? How long would the boy have before he drowned, or worse, froze to death in those waters?

Just as Severus was preparing himself to dive in to the icy water after the boy, he heard the sound of running footsteps and quickly concealed himself behind a tree once more.

“Harry? Harry! Bloody hell! Ok, alright, I’m coming.”

The Weasley boy, the one who had abandoned the boy weeks in advance, suddenly appeared to save the day. Severus both cursed and thanked the powers that be for foolish Gryffindors as he watched the redhead dive into the water after his friend. Only moments later, though it seemed like days, the Weasley boy emerged from the icy water, dragging the sword and a nearly unconscious Harry Potter with him.

Severus felt as though he could breathe again as he watched both boys put their clothing back on. He cast a very subtle warming charm to take away the worst of the icy bite in the air, but that was all he could do. He mustn’t be detected. He couldn’t let Potter or Weasley see him. No one must know.

 “You vowed to protect the boy, Severus.”

“No one can know.”

“My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best of you?”

The old man had been right. Severus had been wrong, and his vow to protect Harry was all that kept him going after the first war, after Lily…

“He doesn’t need protection. The Dark Lord is gone!”

“He will return!”

But he didn’t do it for the boy. He didn’t do it for Dumbledore, even. There was only one person Severus would be loyal to forever.

“Don’t tell me you’ve grown to care for the boy?”

“The boy? Expecto Patronum!”

“Lily…after all this time?”

“Always…”