Harry slumped down in his desk chair in surrender, he had spent the last few hours in vain, reading and re-reading the same pages of Wizarding History over and over. Hard as he tried, he just couldn’t himself to concentrate on the history of Avalon, the Great Council or the Civil War of 950 AD. Instead, his mind kept wandering back to his two fathers, to his Dad and Severus Snape. This morning at breakfast, he and Arabella had talked about their impending return to Hogwarts. While he had looked forward to returning, he hadn’t thought much about the implications until then. Now, he couldn’t think of anything else and what it would mean to his life, the changes it would bring that he was powerless to stop.

Gathering the items off his desk, he carefully placed them back into their place in his school trunk. As he walked down the stairs to rejoin Arabella, he heard the sound of the muggle news coming from the living room,

“No one is certain as to what caused the explosion that rocked the London Suburb and destroyed several house on the block. Local speculation centers around the daughter of Drs. Granger, who apparently attended a special school for the highly gifted.”

At the sound of the familiar name, Harry quickly cleared the rest of the steps and ran into the room, his full attention to the television. The screen flashed to a pre-taped element and an older woman could be seen standing on street strewn with debris,

“She was such a lovely girl, very smart. She went to some kind of special school for the gifted. She used to have all sorts of odd lab equipment stored in the garage when she was home on holidays. Maybe one of her experiments went wrong.”

“No!” Harry mumbled softly, his throat too tight to speak any louder. He could feel his body start to shake with panic. “She wouldn’t have been practicing magic over the hols!”

He felt Arabella move closer to him and place her hand to between his shoulder blades, rubbing the area softly and silently offering her support as the newscaster continued,

“Again, nothing about the cause of this disaster is known for certain. Five houses have been destroyed; luckily only one family was home at the time. The flames are still burning at this hour, but so far there are no known survivors from the home of Drs. Granger and their daughter, which appears to be the epicenter of the incident.”

“Harry, do you have your wand and the portkey I gave you?” she asked as a faint tinkling that sounded like a wind chime filled the room. He could see she was worried and trying not to show it as the sound Harry guessed to be an alarm grew louder.

“Yes,” He replied, tapping his chest where the locket / portkey hung around his neck. He forced himself to shove down his growing apprehension. Arabella took his hand and smiled reassuringly at him. Quickly, she led him up the stairs to his room and shut the door behind them, quickly gathering items from his drawers and closet, placing them in his one of his trunks.

“What’s that alarm for?” He asked as he placed the last of his prized possessions in to his trunks and shut the lids and locked them.

“Someone or something magical is approaching; someone other than Sirius or Remus,” she said, trying to keep her voice sounding calm. She placed her hands on either side of his face so that he could look nowhere else but at her. “Listen to me, Harry, and no arguments. I need to go back down stairs to see who is coming. It may be any number of people, like one of the Weasley’s, coming to tell us what’s happened at the Grangers’, but if its not, I want you to use that portkey and get to safety.”

“No! I won’t leave you alone.” He said adamantly. Every part of him was screaming at him not to leave without her. He felt his fear intensify at the thought of using the portkey; his determination to not leave her behind growing.

“I know you hate them and you don’t want to leave me behind, but it’s the only way. Once you activate the key, it will sound an alarm and send help. I just need to know you’re safe, Harry. Please.”

Harry nodded and she pulled him into a quick hug. “Love you,” she said softly before releasing him. He watched her open the bedroom door raced back to the steps, her wand drawn. She glanced back when she reached the top of the stairs, and Harry saw something flash across her face. It felt like she was trying to memorize him and Harry felt something akin to terror at the thought.

“Bella?”

The voice sounded like Professor Snape’s. What shocked him was the sound of urgency and fear that even he recognized in timber of the man’s voice. Harry hoped fervently it was Snape as Arabella turned back to him. No matter what he promised her, he didn’t think he’d be able to leave without at least trying to help her. “Stay here,” she mouthed him before pulling her wand and walking down the stairs.

“Sev? Is that you?” She called out as she reached the bottom of the steps. Quietly, Harry followed, perching at the top of the stairs to hear what was happening. He felt his anxiety begin to grow in the milliseconds Bella’s question went unanswered. He slumped down unto top step when he finally heard her mumbled words.

“Oh, Sev, what did that bastard do?” she whispered.

“I’m fine,” Harry heard him reply. His professor’s voice was edgy, but not as caustic as it usually was when Harry heard him speak. “Did I scare you?”

“A little. We saw a news report about the Granger’s and then the alarms went off. We didn’t know it was you,” she replied before calling up the stairs,

“It’s safe, Harry. It’s Severus. You can come down.”

Harry stood, took a deep breath and placed his wand back in the waistband of his pants. He rose from his seated position slowly and tried to force the muscles in his arms and shoulders to relax. He had been dreading this moment since this morning, but he always thought he had at least a few days to figure out what to do. He descended the stairs quickly as he heard Arabella ask Snape what had happened.

“Voldemort sent Death Eaters after Ms. Granger and her family. There is no time to explain, they need you back at the castle. Sirius is waiting for you. I’ll follow you with Harry.”

Chills ran down Harry’s spine at the tension still prevalent in his professor’s voice; the tone had neither the usually sneering quality nor the shades of venomous anger that was often directed towards him. As he came to the foot of the steps, he raised his eyes to look directly at Snape. He could see the man was trying to project his usual calm, aloof demeanor, but there was something different about his eyes and expression that Harry couldn’t quite place. He felt her take his hand, glad for the reassuring wave of love that seeped into him from the connection and squeezed her hand in thanks.

“Hello,” Harry said, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

“Hello, Harry,” Snape replied with a slight hesitation before he looked directly at Arabella. “You need to go now.”

Bella looked over at Harry and he could see she didn’t want to leave him; something was scaring her and it was enough to unnerve him a bit. At the same time, he had heard the urgency in Snape’s voice and if he was judging the man’s expression correctly, Arabella was need elsewhere more than he needed her here now. Harry smiled at her, nodded his head and gave her hand a final squeeze before release his grip and taking a half step toward his professor.

“We’ll follow as soon as we can, Bella,” Severus said as took a step closer to her and placed a pendant around her neck, carefully pulling her hair from underneath the chain. “Use this; Dumbledore said it should work through the wards around you house and the general area. Sirius will be waiting for you.”

Arabella nodded and turned back toward him. He could see the worry in her eyes and felt his resolve and courage begin to falter. He wanted to go with her; Sirius was there and he far preferred Sirius to staying back with Professor Snape. With a sad smile, she stepped closer to him and whispered softly,

“It will be alright. Do as Severus says and I will see you soon. Promise.”

Biting back his desire to go with her, he nodded his assent and tried to force at least a half smile. The professor stepped a bit closer to him and Arabella’s eyes misted over and she smiled at them just before she disappeared. For a long moment, Harry just stared at the spot where Arabella had been; he did it more so he wouldn’t have to face the man standing beside him than out of any shock or worry.

“We need to get yours and Arabella’s things together and leave quickly.”

The sound of Professor Snape’s voice accompanied by the gentle touch on his arm forced Harry to look at the man who was his biological father. For the first time, Harry noticed just how uncomfortable or uncertain the man seemed; there was an unusual, but oddly familiar look in his eyes, an almost desperate weariness. It suddenly occurred to him that he had seen a similar expression on the professor’s face on his last day at Hogwarts just before he boarded a coach to Hogsmeade.

“You knew,” Harry blurted out before he even processed what he was thinking.

Snape just looked at him with an apprehensive expression, like he wasn’t exactly sure what he was talking about, but wasn’t prepared to deal with what he suspected Harry was alluding to.

“At Hogwarts when I was getting into the carriage. You were staring at me with the oddest look,” Harry explained. He knew he could have been clearer but that would mean actually saying the words he had managed to avoid for the past several days.

“Yes,” Snape replied. His voice was a firm, much like it always was; only now the biting and caustic elements were missing, replaced by something almost hopeful. “We need to hurry. Do you know what Bella wants for now?”

Harry was shocked to hear the softness in the professor’s tone. In the past, even when the man was being nice to Harry, the professor’s voice always maintained a harshness or derogatory element. This time he had sounded normal, well normal for others, if a bit impatient.

“Uh, my stuff is packed. Bella has a trunk in her room, but I think she wanted some of the things she just washed.” Harry said, pointing back toward the kitchen area. Taking a step off the landing Harry skirted around Snape and walked into the small area that housed the laundry.

Pointing to a basket of neatly folded clothes on top of the dryer, Harry said, “That’s all Bella’s. It’s all her laundry from last week, so you know, it should have everything she needs, you know, clothes and under clothes wise.” Harry’s was mortified by his rambling and inability to not stutter and blush when referring to something perfectly normal. It was even worse when Snape’s usually annoyed smirk became an amused smirk. Turning quickly, Harry went back into the kitchen and started gathering the photos off the refrigerator door, pausing momentarily to look at each one.

He heard Snape come up behind him and turned to face him while asking, “What will happen to the rest of this stuff?”

Snape seemed to studying him intently and Harry found it rather unnerving. Shifting uncomfortably, he waited to see if the Professor would reply or continue staring at him.

“As soon as we are back at Hogwarts, I will send one of my house elves to retrieve everything. It will be stored at my… at our ancestral home until Bella can go through it.”

Harry nodded in response to Snape’s answer. Taking one last look around the kitchen and seeing nothing he thought Arabella needed, turned to the professor to indicate he was going to get his stuff from his room.

Wanting to get out of there as soon as possible, he ran up the stairs and straight to his room. Quickly, he checked his closet and drawers, making sure everything was tucked into either his school trunk or the one Bella had given him. Scanning the room one last time, Harry suddenly felt a pang of regret to be leaving. With a sigh, he dragged each of his trunks out into the hall one at a time.

A few minutes later, Snape exited Bella’s room, a shrunken chest in his hands. He quickly shrunk Harry’s trunks and set the one from Bella’s room beside them. Harry watched curiously as Snape pulled out what looked like a sheet from his robe, draped it over the trunks, tapped it twice with his wand and stepped back. The trunks vanished.

“Are you ready?” Snape asked as he pulled out a portkey much like the one he had given Arabella.

He nodded hesitantly as he stared at the pendant in Snape’s hands. Hoping his growing disquiet wasn’t noticed, he forced himself to look up and meet the professor’s eyes only to find Snape staring at the portkey. He must have felt Harry’s eyes on him because he looked up almost immediately and regarded him for a brief second.

Something in his eyes softened and amazingly, Harry felt reassured. “It’s safe, Harry,” the professor said. “I saw Dumbledore make it himself. Regardless, I would never allow any harm to come to you as long as I am capable of preventing it.” Snape stepped closer to him and placed a tentative arm around his shoulders, drawing him close to his side. Instinctively, Harry tensed and had to force himself to relax as the Professor held the pendant in the palm of his hand between them. For the first time, Harry got a good look at it; the pearl scent metal formed an intricate phoenix. Gesturing with the hand containing the pendant, he said softly, “Give me your hand, Harry.”

Looking up at the man beside him, Harry placed his hand in professors, covering the phoenix. He felt Snape’s hand tighten around his and heard his whispered words, although he couldn’t quite make out the words themselves. All too soon he felt that unsettling tug behind his navel before the world blurred and went black.

When he felt himself once again on solid ground, Harry breathed a sigh of relief, even though his surroundings remained pitch black. He felt Snape release his hand and remove the arm from around his shoulders. Seconds later he heard a faint “lumos” and suddenly a room or rather a tunnel emerged from the darkness. “This way,” he said as he started to move briskly down the corridor. After a moment’s hesitation, Harry moved quickly to keep up, doing his best to match the professor’s long stride.

Eventually, the light in the tunnel seemed to grow brighter and finally a large decoratively carved archway appeared with a large room visible just beyond. Harry could hear voices growing louder the closer to the room they came. Then suddenly a familiar figure stepped into the opening.

“Sirius!” Harry shouted as he quickened his pace and threw his arms around his godfather and greeting him with a tight hug.

Sirius returned his hug, clapping him on the back several times. “You okay?” he asked.

Harry stepped back and shrugged. “Is Remus here?” he asked. Watching Snape walk by him out of the corner of his eyes. He almost felt guilty at the air of sadness that seemed to emanate from the man.

“Yes,” Sirius replied. “He’s in with Arabella.” He gestured with his head in the direction Professor Snape had just walked and Harry turned to see a set of large double wooden doors with a Phoenix carved in the center panel. The doors suddenly opened and Harry watched Remus emerge looking worse than when they’d first met on the train to Hogwarts. Sirius squeezed his shoulder once before moving past him and approaching Remus. The two spoke softly for a moment then Sirius glanced back over his shoulder once in Harry’s direction.

The look on his godfather’s face sent chills down his back. It was obvious something beyond what he already knew was wrong. Forcing himself not to dream up the worst he walked over to them.

“What happened?” he asked, doing his best to keep his voice steady. “Where’s Hermione?”

Remus started then gestured toward the sitting area in front of the nearest fireplace. “Why don’t we sit down and Sirius and I will tell you what we know.”

Harry walked over and sat down on one of the chairs. He tried to keep his breathing even. He rested his hands on the arms of the wing chair to keep them from shaking and at the same time, resisted the urge to hold so tight to them that his hands turned white from the strain. He watched Sirius and Remus take seats on either side of him. Both men looked tired. It was as if the weariness went beyond the body and into their souls.

“Harry, Bella told us you saw the news and know something happened at the Grangers’,” Sirius started. “We were warned, but the attack happened much earlier than we expected and not all the precautions were in place.”

Harry just stared at the two of them, too scared to even try and figure out what they were trying to tell him.

“Hermione’s alive,” Remus said softly as he reached out to gently grasp his hand. At the reassuring squeeze, Harry turned to look at the man who had always been so kind and supportive towards him. He tried to smile at Remus as the tightness of his muscles began to relax at his words. “I’m sorry Harry but Hermione’s mother was killed before she even got home from Diagon Alley this afternoon.”

Harry’s breath hitched as he remembered Ron’s note and silently wondered if the timing had been a coincidence.

“Death Eaters were waiting for her when she arrived home. I don’t know much about what happened. Her father mostly likely had already been tortured,” Remus paused and looked at him with concern. “I know Hermione had a portkey for emergencies, but she waited to use it until she could take her father with her. The Death Eaters started the fire. They had orders to kill her and her family and make it look like a Muggle accident.”

“By the time we got here, Snape was already on his way to Arabella’s for help. Dumbledore and Madame Pomphrey were working on Dr. Granger. Arabella went straight into the room and has been doing all she can to help ever since. That’s all we know.”

“Can I see Hermione?” he asked in a weak voice as he fought back against guilt-induced tears. Yet another friend was suffering because of him.

“I’m afraid not, Harry. She’s unconscious at the moment; Arabella placed her in a healing trance.”

Harry just nodded to convey his understanding as he slouched back into his chair. He felt himself slipping into the overwhelming guilt that seemed to linger on the edge of his mind. He wished he could close his eyes and wake up to find this was only one of his nightmares but as awful as things were in his nightmares, he was always alone. He was peripherally aware of Sirius and Remus hovering near him and talking quietly although he wasn’t conscious of what was being said until he felt a gentle hand on his hair.

“Harry?”

Harry turned and looked up at Professor Dumbledore. The old wizard smiled at him kindly. “You should get some sleep Harry. It’s late. There is nothing more you can do tonight.”

“If it’s okay sir, I would prefer waiting.”

“Harry,” Sirius started, “You need to rest.”

His godfather sounded concerned and as much as Harry hated to worry him, he couldn’t bring himself to concede. He didn’t want to sleep; he knew that he wouldn’t get any rest, just nightmares.

“Alright. Come with me, Harry.”

The sound of Professor Snape’s voice coming from behind his chair startled him and he jumped from the chair and spun around to face him. Glancing quickly back, he saw Sirius and Remus guarded expressions and the soft, encouraging smile that graced the Headmaster’s face. Hesitantly, Harry followed after Snape who opened the large double doors with the engraved phoenix.

As he stepped across the threshold his eyes were immediately drawn to the shimmering light that seemed to surround Arabella, Madame Pomphrey and a man he guessed to be Dr. Granger. Arabella seemed to be standing above him in a trance, occasionally giving directions to Madame Pomphrey, who bustled around the small area. Harry watched as the Professor gestured for him to stay where he was before placing his hands up to the barrier. Slowly the shimmer engulfed Snape and he walked up to stand behind Arabella. With his wand, he touched the top of her head. Harry watched Snape whisper and a blue light engulfed Arabella momentarily. Her slight smile was the only indication she was aware of his presences. Snape leaned down and placed a kiss on the back of Arabella’s head before turning back to Harry.

It was the oddest experience for Harry, the sight of his bitter, venomous teacher being so tender to anyone. Even with all Bella had told him about the Severus Snape she knew, Harry hadn’t truly been able to imagine it. Now, the image of this Snape was imbedded in his mind. Almost as if the Professor knew his train of thought, he turned and the look Harry saw in his eyes scared him more than anything he could think of at the moment. He saw love, unconditional love and it was directed straight at him. Unable to bear it, he turned away and found an equal distressing sight.

Hermione lay on a bed nearby. A blue blanket covered her to the shoulders with her arms crossed neatly over her chest. She looked as peaceful as he had ever seen her, which was unsettling. It was almost as if she was too peaceful. Harry took a few hesitant steps toward her needing to reassure himself she was okay. Reaching down, he took her hand and felt a flood of relief at the warmth of her skin. But even the knowledge that she was alive couldn’t forestall the toll of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion overcoming him. He felt two arms wrap around him just as his knees began to buckle under him. Awkwardly but gently the arms turned him and held him against a chest. Gentle words accompanied the arms in an attempt to calm and comfort him. He felt himself gently being turned and urged backwards until he felt the edge of the bed behind him. His weight pulled him down to the mattress and a warm hand press a vial into his hand.

“Drink this, it will help you sleep.”

The voice was warm and oddly familiar, but Harry’s mind was too hazy to even attempt to identify the owner. All he could feel was the fear rising in him at the mention of sleep. He couldn’t sleep now. It was too much.

“It’s Dreamless Sleep, Harry. You need to rest,” the voice said and Harry turned toward the sound.

His tried to focus through the haze of the unshed tears he refused to let fall, it took him a few moments to realize it was his Potion’s Master kneeling beside him. His face wore that expression again, the one that was soft and full of love. Gentle pressure was applied to his elbow, forcing him to raise the vial and the idea of succumbing to the nothingness of dreamless sleep seemed more and more like a godsend. Raising the vial to his lips, Harry downed the potion quickly and ceased struggling against the heaviness of his limbs. He felt the Potion’s Master’s gentle touch on his shoulders pushing him down onto the bed. He was barely aware of his shoes being removed and a blanket being draped over him.

A hand brushed through his hair and hushed voices drifting to him made Harry feel safe. With a sigh, he relaxed his last hold on consciousness and drifted into the warm cocoon of sleep.