Before he could say anything, the doors of the Hospital Wing opened and a weary looking Dumbledore came out.

"He will live."

Severus Snape stood up. Minerva McGonagall simply closed her eyes and leant her head against the stone wall, releasing a deep sigh, as if she had been holding her breath for a very long time.

Dumbledore turned to the Deputy Headmistress and quietly asked:

"Minerva, our young Harry is out of immediate danger, but he cannot be left alone. Would you mind staying with him for a while, while Poppy is otherwise occupied?"

She nodded and immediately made her way to the Hospital Wing. She was sure that Dumbledore had been telling the truth, but she also knew a dismissal when she heard one. As usual Dumbledore had managed to hide his purpose without a direct lie. Not that she was eager to listen to this particular conversation. Not at all.

Snape wondered if Dumbledore would prefer to move their discussion to his office, but the Headmaster did not seem inclined to. He looked old and tired and Snape felt a pang of regret.

Dumbledore was certainly far from perfect: he could be terribly annoying, was more devious than any Slytherin, more sentimental than any Gryffindor and his usual cheerfulness (not to say his inane passion for muggle candy) combined with those infuriating twinkling eyes was more than enough to drive him mad most of the time. Still, Severus respected him immensely and as time passed by the Headmaster had become more of a father figure to him than his real father had ever been. If pressed hardly enough - nothing sort of an Unforgivable, that is - Severus Snape would maybe privately concede that he might tentatively harbour something akin to affection for the old wizard.

The older man took the seat McGonagall had vacated and looked at him straight in the eye. Snape expected the usual circumlocution, but Dumbledore surprised him by hitting the nail square on the head.

"So, Severus, was it worth it?" There was no anger behind the words, just the weariness of someone who had tried to avoid this outcome for years and ultimately failed, as well as the disappointment a father would feel towards his gone astray son.

"You know it wasn't." This time there was no hiding, not even in the tone of his voice. He owed it to Dumbledore, at least. But how could he explain to someone like the old wizard what he had been feeling? His revenge sounded nothing but petty and childish now. Could he admit that his resentment for the Potters (the brat and his dead father) had been so deeply ingrained in him that he totally misunderstood the boy's letter of apology and that the ensuing rage had brought him to plan his revenge as soon as he had noticed that something was off with the boy? The potion he had had the class brewing should only have revealed what Potter was supposedly hiding under a badly applied glamour charm, the usual love bites and other hormone driven marks that the students tended to sport during their last years of schools. It was just a prank, no worse than any other prank pulled by the Marauders or the Weasley twins. ‘But you are a teacher now..." Minerva had been right.

The problem was not the way he had chosen to exact his revenge, the problem was that he had thought to exact it at all.

They were both silent for a couple of minutes. Snape waited for the verdict to fall.

"You know, Severus, it is most strange that sometimes the outcome of our actions turns out to be the opposite of what we wanted to achieve."

"Albus, I did not..." he tried to interject. He would explain. But the elder wizard stopped him with just the barest wave of his hand.

"Yes, I know. You did not mean to do harm. Or at least not physically. You promised to protect the child many years ago and I know you keep your word. But you did want to harm his pride, which I am sure he did not deserve either. And I am disappointed."

"I..." but Dumbledore once more cut him off.

"You don't need to tell me Severus. I know very well what you held of the boy and I can only hope that this whole debacle made you change you mind about him, at last." There was no hint of satisfaction in the tone of his voice. The price had been too high.

Snape nodded. It seemed that Dumbledore had more to say and it was apparent that he would not be allowed to speak before he was done.

"At least something good came out of this whole ordeal." He sighed and turned to watch the tense younger wizard still sitting at his side.

"Something good?" Snape spat the words angrily. How could anything good come out of it? Was Albus going nuts? But he restrained himself.

"Well, yes Severus, something good. Or would you rather we had never found out about Harry's plight?" Dumbledore quietly asked.

"Of course. And maybe we could have found out years ago, if anybody had ever taken a couple of minutes to actually check on the boy instead of relying on a squib babysitter!" The words escaped his lips even before his brain registered with whom he was speaking or what he was saying. He had not meant to lash out. Albus was not infallible and he could not know that those muggles were abusing the boy. But Albus had been the one to insist that none approach the Dursleys in the past years - not that he would ever do it, mind you! - and the thought of the abused child that Potter had been... was... wouldn't leave his mind.

"I apologize, Albus. That was out of line." Snape quickly added. Albus was not the only culprit in the whole mess, after all. They had been Potter's teachers for years and had not noticed a thing. And he had seen the boy's memories first-hand, during those hopeless Occlumency lessons. He had dismissed the disturbing images he had seen as mere episodes in an otherwise happy childhood, but there had been too many of them and he should have known better. Dumping the fault on Albus shoulders alone would be unfair as well as highly hypocritical on his part. But Dumbledore seemed to excuse his outburst.

"No, Severus, you are right, as was Minerva in that fateful night. I should have checked on the child, but I wanted to believe I had given him the best possible childhood. Even after Mrs Figg told me that Harry did not look happy and looked too small for his age, I believed that he would still be better off with his own family than with an adoptive one. Then there were the blood wards. I could not overlook that..." he trailed off, obviously overwhelmed by guilt.

"He cannot return there, the blood wards won't be of any use if his own relatives kill him. If his aunt hates him enough, they might even fail before his seventeenth birthday as it is." The Potions Master stated. When had he become so protective of Potter?

"No, he won't get back there. Ever." The Headmaster agreed "But we need to find a suitable place for him."

"The Weasleys?" Severus suggested.

"They certainly love Harry and would gladly adopt him, but I am not sure it would be the best solution and..." the Headmaster trailed off.

"And?" Snape pressed.

"And I am not sure that it would be what young Harry actually needs."

"Pardon?" Snape sounded sceptical.

"Harry has spent a lot of time at the Burrow, but although it is now painfully obvious that he has been abused for years he never trusted the Weasleys enough to tell them that anything was wrong. I am sure he loves them dearly and they certainly love him back, but he did not confide in them. Not even his best friends knew of this. And none of them noticed anything amiss."

Severus nodded. Granger and Weasley had been acting sort of protective towards the Potter boy all week long, but he was sure they had been at least as much surprised as he had been after finding out the child's injuries. "He needs someone just for himself, especially after this."

Dumbledore acknowledged his assumption with a sigh.

"Lupin?" he suggested.

"It would be temporary at best... as a werewolf he would never be able to get custody of Harry."

Snape was aware of what the Headmaster was not saying: if they did not find a proper guardian for Potter soon, he would became a ward of the Ministry.

And then there was the matter they had not discussed yet, but which Severus knew to be foremost in their minds: Potter's incredible display of power.

They would have to find out what Potter actually did to protect himself. It looked like a glamour at first sight, but after seeing the condition the boy was in after it was forcefully removed by the potion... no, there was no way Potter would have been able to function all week long if that inexplicable shield did not have any intrinsic healing power. Then there was the issue of his depleted magic. The potion was designed to render the drinker magicless, but just for a short span of time. Once the effect was over, the magic was also restored in full. But Potter's had been almost totally depleted. Had it been the fight against the potion or was the glamour's pull on his powers so strong that there was almost nothing left? They had to find out as soon as possible, but not before they took care of the practical matters: they had to find a guardian for Potter as soon as possible or they would lose him anyway.

"Are you sure there are no other relatives?" he inquired, pensively.

Dumbledore shook his head. "At the time we could not find much. The Evans family line is a blur. We were just lucky that we knew Lily had a sister and our researches did not go further. There was no time."

"I knew Lily as a child," Snape admitted "we were... neighbours... but I never saw any relatives visiting the family."

Dumbledore stood.

"I have my job cut for me, then."

The Headmaster's eyes were riveted on Snape and he knew instantly what his job would be. He was in charge of The-Boy-Who-Lived. No more words were necessary.

The Potions Master entered the Hospital Wing swiftly, his robes billowing behind him, his stride purposeful, now that he had a aim to pursue again and his face grimly set in a scowl.

He certainly did not like what was expected of him, but he was no stranger to duty and would fulfil his obligations in the best possible way, even though it meant interacting with Potter and possibly even resuming their Occlumency lessons.

Pomfrey and the Headmaster had hidden the boy well. The door of the room Potter was in was charmed to look like a closet. And it actually was one. Unless you knew exactly what you wanted to find and concentrated enough whilst opening the door. Only then would the wards grant you access.

The sight that greeted him left him speechless tough: Minerva never-less-than-prim-and-proper McGonagall was perched on the side of Potter's bed, smudges of tears on her face, tenderly carding the teen's ever unruly dark hair, while gently caressing his cheek with the other hand.

She did not raise her head or otherwise acknowledge his presence, but quietly stated:

"He had nightmares." As if it explained all.

Severus thanked Merlin that her voice was steady, at least. Her disturbing emotional distress seemed over. But she surprised him once more.

"Did you know that I used to baby-sit him?"

Snape was too astounded to reply. He had not known her well at the time Harry was born and their relationship had been... strained... at best. She had not become Minerva yet, she had still been more of the professor that he had loathed during his school years than the formal but understanding colleague she was now.

"They were virtually alone, you know? James's parents were dead by then, as were Lily's. She never wanted to leave the baby with her sister... that's how I knew that it was wrong leaving Harry with the muggles..." she trailed off "anyway, it was not easy for Lily when James was not at home, and Remus and Sirius...", she did not mention Pettigrew, he noticed "well, Remus and Sirius were about as reliable as Harry himself, although I take it that they did not wet their nappies."

Snape had to snort at the image of Lupin and Black taking care of an infant. She laughed a little as well.

"I had no family of my own and I always cared for Lily, so I tried to help her with the baby. I guess I was a sort of honorary grandmother. I visited her as often as I could and sometimes Lily came here to Hogwarts herself. He was such a lovely baby, Severus, and there's so much I could and should have done for him."

"You did what you thought would be best for him." It felt strange, trying to console a distressed Deputy Headmistress. He had always hated emotional displays.

"Maybe." She conceded. "Anyway, I did spend a lot of time with the little devil, especially in the weeks before James and Lily went into hiding. Hiding was their last resort and things were strained for a long time before that. The tension was almost palpable and Lily was so young: sometimes she was so worried about the future, about everything really."

She sighed. "Harry was a sensitive child and felt the emotional upheaval of his parents; he threw temper-tantrums or he would not sleep... all those things little children do when they are upset. I tried to help as much as I could, I could hide my emotions better than Lily, and Harry would calm down faster. I just needed to hold him and stroke his hair."

Snape was once more wordless. He distractedly thought that it was becoming the trend of the day.

He moved towards the bed to have a better look at Potter. McGonagall stood up and finally looked at Severus.

"Poppy gave him a strong sleeping draught, but could not use Dreamless Sleep, she said it would interfere with the other potions."

"I had guessed as much."

"Yes, she said you would. There was an emergency in Hogsmeade and she had to go. She said that Harry is not in any danger, unless he tries summoning his magic."

"Did she say how long will it take for his magic to be fully restored?" he enquired.

"A couple of days. He is not to try anything, Severus, especially that shield of his that Poppy mentioned." She shook her head. "I can't believe that he has been hiding this for so long." She made an ample gesture with her hand towards Harry's sleeping form.

"Me neither, actually. Is there anything else I should know?" - before you go get a stiff drink - he barely restrained himself.

"Poppy will explain it later, you know how bad I always was with potions, but she said she has taken steps to prevent him from being able to concentrate enough to perform any magic. She thinks he may heal faster in this way."

"I think I know what she used, but it has some undesirable after effects. Did she mention..."

McGonagall cut him off. "Yes, she did. She said Harry will be highly emotional until the potions wears off."

"Which is highly undesirable. A sane Potter is bothersome enough, an emotional one is bound to be maddening." He scowled.

McGonagall's glare turned icy enough to rival with his own. "Severus!" It was a clear warning.

"I beg your pardon, Minerva." He grunted out.

She just nodded at him haughtily. It seemed that the Gryffindor Head of House was herself again. "That's not all Severus." She went on. "I do believe that Poppy welcomes this kind of aftereffect. She believes it might help Harry express his feelings."

"Wonderful." he mocked.

"I am afraid I have to agree with you," she admitted "Harry has been plagued by nightmares the whole time and I cannot understand how this could be good for him. He already has enough nightmares as it is." She mused. "When I arrived Harry was trashing in the bed and Poppy could not quiet him at all." She was almost ranting.

But Severus Snape found that little casual piece of information very useful: Pomfrey had not been able to give Potter's mind any respite from his nightmares, still McGonagall's touch had been enough to calm him immediately. Did he remember her somehow? He knew that he still remembered the night his parents had been murdered. What else was hidden in the mind of the Boy-Who-Lived? Everything could be important. They had much to achieve and too little time.

McGonagall went towards the exit without his prompt. She was either too perceptive or Albus had forewarned Pomfrey that Severus would be in charge and she had passed the information to Minerva as well. Either way he was glad that she was going without putting up a fight.

She turned one last time towards the Potions Professor. "Please take care of him."

Severus took a chair and moved it near the bed.

He sat down, smoothed the wrinkles out of his robe and threw a surreptitious glance at the boy.

Everything seemed ok. Until he saw the boy's face. He was awake.