By the time Harry had entered the lab and Severus summoned a Blood Replenisher, a Class Five Pain Reliever, and a Breathe Ease Elixir, the shimmerling had turned a dull gray instead of the vibrant blue-black it had been before. Harry was alarmed, he'd never seen a creature fade so fast before. One minute it had been calling out for help, and the next it looked like it was drawing its last breath.

"Dad!"

Severus took one glance at the limp fae creature and sighed. "It's the proximity to iron here. Put it down here, on the cushion. Don't let it touch the surface of my lab table, it's stainless steel, and such is poison to most fae creatures. Iron is a fairy's bane." He made certain the little fairy cat would not slide off the cushion by erecting a small invisible shield about the cushion he had conjured, then he said to Harry, "I need a small dropper, it's in the second drawer on the left, top shelf against the right hand wall. Also some soft cloths and a basin of water."

Harry ran to do as he'd been told, knowing time was of the essence. The little cat's life hung by a thread.

Meanwhile, Severus cast a spell that would stabilize the tiny animal's heartbeat and respiration, for the shimmerling's heartbeat was fluctuating wildly and it was barely breathing. Then he cast a quick diagnostic, alarmed at the state the fae creature was in. In addition to major blood loss and trauma to the shimmerling's wings and shoulder and side, it appeared as if it had been torn open by a set of extremely strong jaws or claws, it had a cracked rib, a broken pelvis, and was in shock.

"Whatever you ran into, little one, nearly finished you. How you managed to get here after whatever it was attacked you is beyond me, since you couldn't have flown on those shredded membranes." Severus gently lifted one poor torn violet and turquoise colored membrane with a fingertip, it was thin as tissue paper, and the once-vibrant iridescent coloring was dull, and smeared with dried blood.

"Here, Dad." Harry said, at his elbow with the items Snape had requested. "Can you fix it, or should I . . .uh . . ." he hesitated, afraid to say anything associated with the word death aloud, he might jinx the poor thing.

"I will do my best, Harry. But I may need your help. Some of the damage I can heal with magic, but some . . .the fae don't always respond well to human wizards' potions, their physiology is different from ours, and I can't give the shimmerling certain kinds of drafts, or else I might kill it. So some of this I'm going to have heal the old-fashioned Muggle way."

"What do you need me to do, Dad?" asked his son, eager to help save a life.

"Mostly, hand me things and such, you can't cast spells you don't know, though if you observe me closely, you may learn some techniques on healing."

"Are you gonna use the same spell you did on your arm the first time you arrived at Aunt Petunia's?"

"I would, but that spell is too much for the shimmerling to tolerate, so I'll have to use another, lesser one." Severus picked up a soft cloth, pointed his wand at the basin and intoned a water purifier poured a few drops of peroxide into it. Then he dipped the end of the cloth into the liquid and began to clean the lacerations along the shimmerling's shoulder, side, and stomach. They were deep and bled sluggishly when he swabbed them out. But the catlike creature barely stirred, even though Harry imagined Severus's ministrations must hurt quite a bit.

After the wounds were cleaned, the Potions Master picked up a very small medicine dropper and inserted it into the vial of Blood Replenisher. "Harry, I need you to hold its head up, and open the mouth a little, so I can give it this potion."

Harry gently cupped the shimmerling's head inbetween his finger and thumb, tilting it up and opening its jaws with a slight pressure so Snape could administer the potion.

Severus gave the shimmerling three drops, then banished the excess from the dropper. "Steady, Harry, I'm going to give it a Pain Reliever next, and then recast a diagnostic before I cast a Bone Mending Charm."

The Potions Master drew another potion into the dropper and gave it to the shimmerling. The creature seemed to relax a little, Harry thought, gently laying the head down on the cushion. He watched as Severus cast another diagnostic, then intoned a quick Bone Mending Charm, which would heal the cracked rib and shattered pelvis. Harry thought the shimmerling was lucky, since it didn't have to drink the revolting Skele-Gro, the way he'd had to during second year, after that dolt Lockhart had removed all the bones in his arm.

Severus studied the gravely injured shimmerling for a bit after that, pondering what he ought to do next. Should he suture the wings next or seal the wounds on the creature's body? He opted for the wounds on the body, and cast a light charm used by most non-Healers to mend superficial cuts and scrapes. The wounds slowly closed, and then Severus told Harry to fetch him some soft silk strips he kept in the drawer with the cloths.

Harry muttered a summoning charm and then handed the strips of silk to his father, who wound them about the comatose shimmerling as a bandage. "Hmm. The little thing is in shock still, as well as dehydrated from losing so much blood."

"How do you know that, Dad?"

"My diagnostic spell and commonsense tells me so," Snape answered softly. "Let me give it another potion to help it breathe and then I'm going to cast a Shock Restorative. After that, the real work begins."

"What d'you mean?" his son asked, puzzled.

"I mean, I'm going to have suture those wings back together by hand, mostly. That's where you come in, Harry. Your hands are smaller than mine, I'm going to need you to hold the membrane flat as I sew."

Harry looked slightly ill. "Dad, I've never done anything like this before. What if I mess up?"

"You won't. I have confidence in you," Severus said firmly. He thanked his lucky stars he had experience in sewing up flesh before, namely his own. "Take a deep breath, find your center, then do as I tell you," he instructed, sounding a great deal calmer than he felt. He administered the Breath Ease Elixir and as soon as he had done so, the shimmerling seemed to rally and some of the color return to its fur. But it remained unconscious, which was a good thing for all concerned.

"Pay attention, Harry. This spell is one you should learn, it could save your life or the life of a friend if you ever are in a situation where one or the other is gravely wounded." Snape said, then chanted the words to the Shock Restorative slowly and precisely.

Harry mouthed the spell to himself, trying to remember Snape's exact pronunciation and intonation, for such was vital to casting a spell correctly. When he had thought he had it down, he said, "I think I've got it, Dad," only to be hushed irritably by his father as Snape attempted to listen to the shimmerling's breathing and heartbeat.

Once Severus was satisfied the shimmerling was stable, he turned to Harry and said, "All right son, I need your hands. I want you to pick the shimmerling up so I can stretch out those membranes and hopefully manage to suture them back together."

"Okay," Harry said uncertainly, lifting the tiny creature cautiously.

Severus's long fingered hands deftly stretched out the wing membranes, which were in four sections, like a the wings of a butterfly, and just as delicate-looking. Once he had unfolded the crumpled membranes, painstakingly handling them as if they were glass, he ordered Harry to place the shimmerling flat on the cushion again.

Harry obeyed. "What now?"

"Now I need my suture kit and the smallest most delicate piece of thread I can find, as well as the tiniest needle." Severus said, and summoned the required kit to him with a brief wave of his wand.

"Dad, have you done this before?"

Severus nodded. "Yes. Once or twice on myself, and on Lily when we were fourteen and she fell off her broom and cut open her leg on a sharp rock."

"You sewed up Mum when she was hurt?" Harry repeated in amazement. "Where did you learn?"

"My mother. She was skilled with healing as well as potions."

"How come you just didn't use magic?"

"Because it was summer and we weren't allowed," his father replied shortly. "Enough reminiscing. I'll tell you the whole story later on. Right now I need to concentrate." Severus cast a disinfecting charm over his suture kit, then selected the tiniest needle he had and the thinnest delicate thread. He took several deep breaths, centering himself the way he did for meditation. He picked up the curved needle and threaded it.

"All right, Harry. I need you to hold the wing membranes down while I start sewing," he ordered. He spoke another word and the cushion flattened down over the lab table like a cloth, giving Harry room to hold the membrane flat and still while Severus sewed.

Harry pressed the tips of his fingers against the delicate membrane and applied a small amount of pressure. The wings were badly torn, jagged tears that suggested something with teeth had grabbed hold of the shimmerling and bit down. He hoped Severus could sew well.

"Good. Steady now," the Potions Master ordered, his voice low and soothing. He began to sew, his hands making deft tiny stitches.

Harry could barely see them, they were so tiny, and he concentrated on holding the wing steady and not moving, though he badly wanted to fidget. He wondered how in hell Severus could sew so well, the stitches were precise and even, the curved needle flashing in and out swiftly.

There was a look of intense and utter concentration on the professor's face then, and Harry remained stock still and quiet, sensing now was not the time to plague Snape with questions.

Bit by bit, the Potions Master put back the tattered wings as best as he could, hoping that it wasn't in vain and the shimmerling would last the night. That was the crisis stage, he thought as he sewed. If it made it through the night, he was almost certain it would survive.

Harry remained steady as a rock, though his shoulders ached and his fingers longed to twitch restlessly as time crept by and the only sound in the lab was their breathing and the soft shush of the needle as it mended the ragged edges of the wing membranes.

After an hour, though it seemed like much longer, Severus had finished and straightened up. He examined his handiwork critically, the beautiful, graceful wings were marred with dozens of stitches but at least they were whole. "There! That should hold until they knit together on their own."

Harry carefully removed his fingers, looking over the shimmerling's newly mended wings as well. "You did a great job, Dad. I can hardly see your stitches. D'you think it'll live?"

Severus hesitated before speaking. "I hope so. But the fae are unpredictable. It all depends on this one's will to live. We'll know for sure in the morning." He transfigured the cloth back into a cushion and cradled it against him. "We need to move it away from here, there's too much iron here for it to recover properly."

"How about we put it in the den, maybe next to the fire?" suggested Harry.

"Good thinking. I'll keep the fire banked, so it will be kept warm and the stones on the hearth won't be harmful to it, not with it sleeping on the cushion." He carefully carried the shimmerling from the lab.

Harry watched as Severus set the cushion down and lit the fire with a quiet, "Incendio!" Then, once the little creature was settled, Severus came to sit down on the couch, rubbing a hand across his eyes, which were achy after staring so intently on a pair of gossamer wings.

"Dad, when . . .when I first found it . . .I heard a voice in my head," began Harry hesitantly. "I think it spoke to me, and asked me to help it." As soon as he said it, he felt like an idiot. Whoever heard of an animal talking? Even the magical creatures he'd studied at school didn't do that. He flushed hotly, waiting for the Potion Master's sarcastic comment.

But Severus just raised an eyebrow and said, "You heard it in your head, you say? Shimmerlings are telepathic, or so it's said, but they choose to speak to very few outside of the Faerie Realm."

"Oh. Well, it was dying, so I guess it figured it had better get help fast." Harry said, heaving a silent sigh of relief. So it had been real, and not a figment of his imagination. He suddenly felt a whole lot better. At least now he knew he wasn't going insane.

Severus leaned back on the couch, content to rest for a bit before returning to his lab and cleaning up.

Harry waited a moment before asking tentatively, "Uh, Dad? Will you tell me about that time you fixed up Mum? Please?" He craved stories of Lily, the bright pretty witch he could hardly recall, and this one sounded particularly interesting.

Severus sighed. "Very well. It happened in the summertime before our fifth year. We were in her backyard and Lily was practicing some Quidditch moves that James had shown her. Only she wasn't the flyer James was and she fell off her broom. Luckily, she managed to grab a tree branch and that slowed her fall down somewhat, enough so that when she landed she only gashed open her knee rather than splattered everywhere."

"It was a rather deep cut, deep enough to require stitches, as I knew perfectly well. So I asked Lily if she wanted to go to the hospital or let me fix it and she chose me. I cleaned it out and gave her a strong pain reliever and another potion that acted like an anesthetic. She was very brave, she didn't faint or have hysterics or anything like that. She just looked at me and said, "I trust you, Sev. Do what you have to." And I did."

"Were you nervous?"

Snape chuckled softly. "Harry, I was terrified. I had never sewn up anyone before, only practiced with my mother supervising on her medical dolls. And she was my best friend. But there was no one else, we were alone at her house for the day, since her parents and Petunia had gone to a movie. It took six stitches to close the gash, and I gritted my teeth through every one of them, but I managed to finish the job without disgracing myself. And Lily rewarded me with a great big hug and a kiss, so it was worth it. She said I'd make a magnificent Healer. Too bad I didn't heed her advice and become one instead of a spy," Severus said with a hint of wistfulness in his tone. Then it vanished, and Harry wondered whether he'd ever heard it at all.

Harry glanced at the clock upon the mantle. It only read twelve-thirty, and Harry recalled he still had most of the day left to go flying. Funny, it had seemed much later. "Dad? I'm going to go fly some more, all right?"

"Fine, Harry. Just come back in at two for lunch. Draco should be up by then."

"Yes, sir." He rose from the couch. "I promise not to go around rescuing any more injured animals."

"Off with you, Harry." Severus shooed him away with a lazy wave.

Harry put his sack of merlinnas on the kitchen table. Then he opened the screen door and let himself back out into the sunshine. His Firebolt was right where he'd left it, and before you could blink, Harry was soaring up in the air.

He flew like a wind demon for nearly the whole day, only coming in for lunch, where Draco joined them. "Hello. Anything interesting happen while I was sleeping?"

Harry and Severus exchanged glances. "Tell him, Harry." Severus urged. "After all, you were the one who found it."

"Huh? Found what?"

"The shimmerling," Harry answered.

"What's that? A fae magical creature?"

"Yes. It's highly intelligent and can speak mind-to-mind." Severus interjected.

"Wicked! Where is it? Can I see it?"

"It's sleeping on a cushion in front of the fire," Harry told him. "It's very weak and we're not sure if it'll live, it was half-dead when I found it in the garden. But Dad healed it with potions and spells, so maybe it won't die."

"I hope not. This is the first fae creature I've seen since coming here," said Draco, rising and going into the den to see the slumbering shimmerling.

The blond wizard knelt down on the hearth to examine the tiny winged cat, marveling at how perfectly formed it was and exclaiming on the nice job his godfather had done on the shimmerling's wings and all. "I could have never done that," he confessed to Harry upon noticing his foster brother had followed him. "Just the thought of doing it makes me feel like puking."

"I'll remember to never get cut open when I'm around you," Harry teased, smirking. "I don't want to bleed to death."

"Good idea, Snape." Draco laughed softly. He said a silent prayer that the shimmerling recovered. Then he flopped back on the couch. "Think I'll take a nap."

"A NAP?" harry repeated in disbelief. "Merlin, Draco, you like slept the WHOLE day and now you want to go back to sleep?"

"Yeah. You can never have too much sleep. Least not in my book," his foster brother said with a cheeky grin. Then he closed his eyes and was asleep in ten minutes.

"Unbelievable," Harry muttered. Then he went and settled down in the recliner with a glass of merlinna juice and a book on fairy creatures he'd taken from the library. He hadn't used the library as much as he could have, but he had to admit that it was much easier to find things in it than the library at Hogwarts and he liked it better because it had no Madam Pince hovering and eyeing the students evilly.

He started to read about shimmerlings, but before he had gotten much past two paragraphs his eyes closed and he fell asleep as well.

Severus came in to check on the shimmerling, found his two sons sleeping and smiled and left them that way.

After dinner that night, the three played a rousing game of Dragons Wild, only this time Harry won two hands and Draco one. Then Severus told them to go to sleep and they gave token protests, since they weren't all that tired, but the Potions Master would have none of it, and the two went to bed.

In the middle of the night, Harry woke up and slipped into the den to see if the shimmerling were still alive.

It was, sleeping soundly and peacefully.

Harry smiled, and for some reason picked up the cushion the little animal was on and went to sit on the couch with it. Before long the flickering fire and the warmth put Harry back to sleep.

Severus awoke the next morning and went into the den, only to discover his son asleep on the couch and the shimmerling dozing on his chest, looking to be well on the road to recovery. Severus smiled. Looks like I haven't lost my touch yet. Then he continued on into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.