A good few days had passed since they had arrived in the woods. The Potions Master had been time keeping by using the positions of the Sun and moon for the most part.

The skies, however, would not tell him how to find food. They would not tell him if there where any Death Eater's, Muggles or Order members nearby, and they would not tell him how to find or handle a frightened animal.

His stomach growled angrily, unsatisfied with his current meagre diet of wild fruits and berries. He growled back at it in displeasure as he shifted closer to the fire he had built up.

It had been two days since his first sighting of the ‘Chimera' before he managed to find him again and even then he had only managed to catch a glimpse of it from a good distance before something startled it and it disappeared into the woods again.

Another day had been fruitless and now he was taking a break in what had become somewhat of a makeshift campsite or base for him. At least there he had a warm fire and a place to sleep in relative safety.

Groaning and stretching the Professor rose from the ground where he had been sat and bent down towards the small flames. Reaching into his robes he withdrew a small glass vial. Uncorking the top of the vial he swept up the flames from the burning wood and placed them into the glass container.

Thank the heavens that he had brought this with him. One never knew when a good fire was needed, so it had become a common practice for veteran Potion makers to carry one of these ‘undying flames' with them at all times. One would simply create a place for the fire to rest and build it up to a required heat from there. When finished with the flame could be placed back into the vial until it was next needed.

Placing the now warm vial back into his robe pocket the Professor wiped the soot off his unburnt hand and strode purposefully into the dense stretch of trees. He had been getting his drinking water from a small brook nearby. The boy had to drink some time and if he could just find out where then he could save time looking for the creature and simply waiting by the water's edge for it to come to him.

------ad------

A week! It had been almost a week and still no word of or from the missing teacher and student had reached the Headmaster's ears. As such he was once again pacing the floor of his office in the old school.

A sharp knock at the great oak door broke him out of his trail of thought and he sat down wearily before voicing his permission of entry.

A gnarled old wizard hobbled into the decorative office and closed the door behind him.

"Anything?" he asked in his gruff voice.

"Nothing . . ." sighed Dumbledore sadly. Honestly he had hoped that his visitor had brought some news with him. "How are the investigations doing Alistair?"

"Bah, we're no closer to finding out how those wretches got into the castle than we are finding Mr Potter. But I'd like to point out that there is a common person involved in all these events."

The Headmaster shot the Ex-Auror a look that clearly stated that he was not prepared to discuss this issue, again. "I have told you time and time again Alistair. Severus is a loyal membe-"

"Loyal," snorted Moody. "He's a coward and a traitor, nothing more."

The Headmaster fixed him with a stare but refused to be dragged into another argument on this topic.

"The Ministry are still chasing shadows?" Moody asked instead.

"Yes, we owe a lot to Author and Kingsley," agreed Dumbledore. "Though Cornelius seems dedicated to building up the dangerous reputation of the poor boy in order to cover up the Dark Lord's movements."

"He knows the beast is Potter?"

"No . . . and we aim to keep it that way."

"What now then?"

The Headmaster remained silent for a moment before answering quietly, but simply, "We keep looking."

----ss----

Fatigue was nagging at his senses as he walked quietly along the water's edge. Lack of food and decent amounts of sleep were wearing him down and trudging through mud and foliage searching for a scared boy-turned-beast was nagging at his nerves.

It was only adrenalin which gave him the energy to move forward when he finally located his objective bent by the water bank.

His slow, careful approach developed into a flat out run, however, when he realised the condition the creature was in.

Rather than crouching down to drink from the brook as the Professor had originally believe it to be doing, the creature looked as though he had collapsed at the water's edge.

Dried blood was matted in its fur -a fact that disturbed the Potions Master as his last inspection of the boy had shown him a rather clean coat- and its body was curled up in a defensive fashion on the hard ground.

Its sides rose and fell heavily at the creature's harsh breathing and every now and then it tightened against some sort of pain.

Slowly the Professor walked around the fallen form to face the beast and to his dismay, his fears where confirmed.

Fresh wounds donned the creature's body and many were still bleeding.

A thorough scan of the surrounding area suggested that the boy had managed to either loose or chase off his attackers, but only barely.

Reluctant to leave the boy alone like this, but understanding the importance of ensuring the safety of their position, the professor took a couple of steps towards the trees.

It wasn't difficult to find the path the boy had travelled down as bloodied paw prints led the way.

He only followed the tracks for a few paces however. A few paces were all he needed to ensure what he needed to know. The two foolish Death Eaters that had opted to attack the creature alone didn't have a chance.

Returning to the injured creature the Professor took the opportunity to examine it more carefully. The wing was broken there was no doubt about that, the paw too but fortunately it did not look as bad as he had feared it would be. A long gash reached around the creature's belly and several more cuts and gashes spread across its legs and feet. The Potions Master let out a sigh of small relief. It looked as though the boy had collapsed more from exhaustion than any fatal wounds. It was best not to take any chances though. All the wounds would need to be treated against infection.

A quiet groan alerted the Professors' senses as his pale hand ran through the surprisingly soft fur of the creature and he turned his head towards its face.

Scared green eyes greeted him along with a frightened whimper but it was obvious that the boy had not the strength to move against him.

Gently he reached out to touch the creature's head. Claws tightened against the ground and teeth pressed together in anticipation of a blow but when one did not come one green eye opened warily at the soft pressure to its brow.

"Calm yourself Potter," spoke the Professor quietly. "I am not here to harm or kill you." ‘Yet' he added to himself for comfort's sake.

The uncontrolled fear in the creature's eyes faded at the sound of the wizard's voice, but wariness remained even as its muscles relaxed and its claws unearthed themselves.

"I have never met anyone with such a talent for getting themselves into trouble like you do Mr Potter."

He decided to keep talking as he continued his examination as it seemed to be helping.

"However, do not think that I will be taking this as a valid excuse for not finishing your summer assignment. You have had plenty of time to finish it before now and you should have been doing it rather than disobeying my orders and leaving the house."

A grunt came from the creature that could have been a weak laugh. That was a reassuring thought. The Professor cast a glance back to the boy's face and, sure enough, though the wariness was still there, it was now more of a sheepish look in the creature's eyes. Something a little more ‘human' than the unadulterated, untamed fear that had been there only moments ago.

‘So the boy inside is not yet lost. Thank Merlin for that.'

With his inspection of the creature's wounds complete the Potions Master stood to go and find what he now needed but a quiet whimper and the returned look of panic in those green eyes halted his departure.

"I need to find something which will clean your wounds of infection," he explained, not sure how much the creature would understand. "I shall not be gone long. Just, just try not to move for once!"

The creature remained silent but the Professor could still feel its gaze on him as he headed back into the woods.

A fair amount of searching and digging finally revealed what it was he was looking for. He pulled up a number of roots and carried them back to the water to be washed.

After cleaning the dirt off of them the Professor bit into one of the thin roots and chewed it, finding the bitter taste he had hoped to.

Still chewing he collected a bunch of fresh leaves to be washed and then spat the mangled roots into them.

Taking another bite to be chewed he got to work with cleaning the open wounds and matted fur on the creature's body with fresh water from the brook.

The creature still tensed in pain every so often and he guessed that it must be from the muscle spasms that he had witnessed a few days ago. This form was heavy and unnatural. It bore a lot of weight and strain on the boy's normally small and thin frame and the Professor began to worry -not for the first time- what kind of damage this may do to the boy in the long run.

"This will sting for a while but it will clean out your wounds".

The creature remained silent but did not make any effort to avoid the Professor's actions as he moved some of the leaves, laced with the chewed up roots towards the first wound.

Sting it did and the creature's eyes screwed up and its claws embedded themselves into the ground once again before angry eyes opened up to send a glare at the black clad wizard.

The Professor ignored the look and instead committed his attention entirely to the task at hand.

----ad----

"Albus, there seems to be some sort of commotion within the Death Eater ranks."

The Headmaster brought his head up sharply and looked hopefully at the werewolf.

"Two of their members have gone missing in a woodland on the outskirts of a small wizarding village in Northern England."

The Headmaster stood up from his seat and walked towards the weathered looking wizard before him. "Are you certain Remus?" he asked.

"Fairly," the werewolf admitted.

It would have to do.

"Alert the others. We have to plan our next move with the greatest of care."

----ss----

It was cold by the water's edge and they had no shelter should it rain. As such the Professor was reluctant to remain there but moving the incredibly large and heavy creature was not an option. It was far too sore and heavy.

The bottled fire had been set up between the two and once the Potions Master had assured the boy that it would do him no harm, he too had welcomed the warmth that the flames offered.

The ground was uncomfortable and the Professor's stomach began to growl again. Now that he had completed the task of cleaning the boy's wounds he had nothing more to preoccupy his thoughts.

Silently he lay down and resigned himself to yet another uncomfortable night. At least now he had found the boy and tomorrow he could begin looking for some kind of civilisation where he could get a hot meal and contact the order before settling into a warm and comfortable bed.

Yes, that was a comforting thought. Tomorrow. Everything would start to get better tomorrow.

-----------------

‘Tomorrow' was not as bright as he had hoped.

"Potter!" the irate Potions Master called again.

The blasted little monster had taken off again! Of course, a meagre part of the problem could be attributed to the fact that Severus had slept longer than he had intended.

Usually the man would be up just after dawn by habit but exhaustion was getting the better of him.

Judging by the position of the sun it was close to noon and by the time he had awoken the Potter beast was gone! Gone! Last night the beast could barely move and now he was off hiding in the woods again!

"Ungrateful little-" the Professor began but stopped mid sentence.

He lent against a sturdy tree trunk while his eyes refocused and he regained his balance. Hunger and fatigue were definitely beginning to wear on him and, as strong he was, even he would become ill if this kept up.

Ignoring the plea for food in his gut the Potions Master forced himself forward. The creature itself must still be tired. It couldn't have gone far . . .

A few more metres were too much. Feeling the ache in his joints strengthen Severus sat down to rest among the tree roots. The boy was more trouble than any one man could handle.

Just as his thoughts returned to cursing the boy-turned-beast a rustling of leaves caught his attention. Sinking below the roots in an attempt to obscure himself from view the Professor turned his head sharply towards the sound.

On instinct he raised his wand in defence, but immediately returned it to his robes when he located what had caused the disturbance.

"Where have you been?" he demanded. The boy may have been forced to assume the form of a wild beast but the Potions Master had no intention of letting the boy forget that he was still a student and that he was still a Professor.

The creature at least had the decency to look sheepish as it limped forwards.

As it neared, the Professor's question was answered immediately, although how the boy had managed to catch . . . whatever that thing was . . . in the state he was in was beyond him!

"Whenever you're ready," growled the Potions Master, his sense of hunger only amplified by the sight of the boy's soon to be meal.

To the man's surprise however, rather than taking himself off somewhere to eat, the timid creature inched its way closer to him. When only a few paces stood between them the creature lifted its head and opened its mouth.

The freshly killed rabbit landed at the Potions Master's feet and he looked up questioningly. The creature only nodded towards the kill before shying away from the wizard's gaze and stiffly laying itself down by a tree a small distance away from him.

He didn't know what to say. The boy had realised that he was hungry and left to hunt something for him? The gesture was generous but he could not completely deter the sense of annoyance he felt at the boy for wandering off alone while he was hurt.

If he had not spent most of his days dissecting and handling some of the slimiest and ‘grossest' -as his students regularly pointed out- things in the wizarding world for his potions, the thought of skinning the drool coated rabbit may have persuaded him to leave it. As it was, his hunger won out rather quickly and it was mere minutes before the meat was impaled on a stick and slowly roasting over a magical fire.

----ad----

"Are we all in place?"

"Yes Albus. The decoy parties are making themselves obvious in other areas as we speak."

"Good, good."

"You know, you will have a highly irritated canine to deal with when we get back."

The Headmaster chuckled at that. "I suppose you are right Remus. It is an immense injustice to Sirius to keep him caged up in that house but he already knows my reasons for doing so."

"I know. He just wants to help, that's all."

"I know. And he shall have his moment."

----ss----

Truly that was the best thing he had ever eaten! He had even managed to find a few patches of wild garlic to add to the meal.

The Potions Master sat back in content, his mood improving at his sudden change of luck. He had eaten most of what had been offered to him and what he had not managed the creature had finished off for him (bones included!)

"Careful with that, if you get one stuck in your throat and choke to death I'll find a way to revive you simply so that I may kill you again," he chide half-heartedly.

The creature merely glanced up at him with an indecipherable look.

Once full and well rested the Potions Master stood up and to his greatest relief the creature moved to follow. He was still lacking in sleep and too tired to chase the boy through the woods again but he was sure that he could manage a gentle walk through the trees toward a town or village.

The only problem was that he did not know what direction this town or village was in. Common sense however dictated that if they followed the brook again they were likely to come across some form of civilisation eventually.

----

A good hour or two must have passed since the odd two began their trek together as, while still light, the sun was getting lower in the sky.

They travelled in silence, but oddly enough that silence was not at all uncomfortable. While the two were far from friends, it could not be denied that their levels of tolerance for one another had significantly increased. There even seemed to be a shallow level of trust developing there but Severus had no intention of dwelling on that thought.

A snap in the trees spared him from any more thought on the subject but as he whipped around, wand at the ready, new, far more uncomfortable thoughts came to his head.

It would seem that they had finally been found and darkened figures were purposefully closing in on them.

Between the brook and the arc of people before them the pair was surrounded. The creature padded nervously towards the older wizard, thrashing its head back and forth in an unsettled manner.

"Calm yourself Potter," demanded the Professor. "Panicking will not get us out of this mess. Just stand still and do as I tell you."

The creature seemed to calm slightly but still padded the ground anxiously.

It looked down at the dark wizard and once again emerald green eyes met obsidian black ones in mutual understanding.

It would seem that, that level of trust Severus had briefly pondered about was about to be put to the test.