Reluctantly Harry trailed into the lab. He ignored the equipment Severus had set out for him, opting to loiter in the doorway for as long as possible. Although his potion making had vastly improved with over the past week, a result of Snape’s criticism becoming geared towards improvement rather than humiliation, he didn’t want to brew now. He didn’t want to spend any more time in Snape’s presence than he had to.

‘Potter!’ Snape’s sharp voice made him jump slightly. ‘Get over here.’

Not that he was ever given a choice about anything.

‘The instructions.’ Snape brandished a piece of parchment, before laying it down beside the cauldron, and turning to walk away.

‘You’re leaving me to brew alone?’ Harry asked surprised. Snape never left him in the lab alone, preferring to loom over him, snapping orders.

Snape turned raising an eyebrow. ‘The potion you will be brewing would not present a decent first year student with any degree of difficulty but in your case I would be foolishly optimistic to leave you unsupervised. I do rather value my lab you see.’ His voice dripped with sarcasm and for a moment Harry thought he was going to go off onto one of his old tirades about how useless he was.

 Instead Snape lifted a heavy cauldron onto the bench at the other end of the room as he continued ‘...Nevertheless I have my own brewing to complete. I daresay you will manage tolerably well if I just check yours before you add the flypank roots.’

Harry shrugged and started to cut up the ingredients.

For a while they worked silently, preparing their potions. After Harry had Snape’s approval to add the flypank roots, he didn’t have anything else he had to do apart from stir it until it became clear.

‘So what did you want to tell me?’ Harry asked suddenly.

‘Ah yes it’s about tomorrow.’ Severus replied not taking his eyes off his own cauldron. ‘We will be having some visitors. I have a meeting in the afternoon, after which Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey will be staying with us.’

‘A meeting?’ Harry asked uncertainly.

‘Yes Harry, a meeting.’ Severus replied mockingly.

‘I thought you didn’t get told in advance? That you just got ... you know summoned when the time was right?’

‘Tomorrow is slightly out of the ordinary.’ Severus admitted his eyes flicking down to his potion again as he carefully added a vial of powder to it. ‘The Dark Lord has been planning several simultaneous attacks on various households.’

Harry stared back at him, all thoughts of his potion forgotten. Who was going to be attacked? Would the families of children from Hogwarts be hurt? Would the Weasleys be in danger?

‘Stir, Harry.’ Severus reminded him.

Mindlessly Harry stirred his potion. ‘And you’re just going to what... watch the attacks? Help them?’ He would never be able to understand how Snape could play his role as a spy.

‘Yes Harry. I am going to be there “helping them”. That is after all what will be expected of me.’ Snape’s voice still sounded as though he was mocking him, although his dark eyes were glinting more than usual. He stirred his potion carefully three times clockwise before starting the anti-clockwise rotations as he sprinkled in arrow-wheat mead.

‘...but the Order have been informed and will of course be there to defend the various families.’

‘There’s going to be a battle?’

‘Oh there’s going to be several battles.’ Severus calmly replied as he adding four drops of adder venom and lifted his cauldron off the heat. ‘I shall be injured of course, hence the need for Madam Pomfrey.’ He carefully took a portion of his potion and poured it into a vial before examining it closely.

Satisfied, he looked up at Harry.

‘Harry!’

Glancing down Harry realised his potion was bubbling furiously. Far from being clear it had became  a dark, gelatinous goo which was rising steadily to the top of the caldron.

He took it off the heat but it continued to rise. He looked helplessly at Snape, who banished it with a quick flick of his wand.

Stupid boy. It really had been a ridiculously simple potion.

  ‘You’re going to be injured? In the battle... by the Order? Why can’t they just pretend to miss you?’

Snape just stared at him.

‘OK, I get it.’ Harry said miserably. ‘You’ve told them what’s going to happen. If you didn’t get hurt it would be suspicious I guess. How do you manage to do this?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Stay so calm? Knowing what’s going to happen. That your own side are going to have to attack you?’

‘You get used to it.’ Snape replied bluntly. ‘Do you want to try again?’ He indicated the remaining ingredients.

***

The next day, Snape didn’t refer to what was going to happen again until after lunch. It was quite eerie, Harry decided, that he was able to put it all out of his mind and carry on with life as normal, brewing his bloody potions when everything was about to kick off.

They had just finished eating and were still sat at the table when Severus rubbed his arm slightly. ‘It’s time.’  He said expressionlessly.

‘I... yeah... Good luck.’ Harry said lamely.

Severus gave a brief nod and he was gone.

***

When he was gone Harry sat at the table alone for a while. Then there was a crack as Leenie appeared beside him ready to clear away the lunch things. She apologised profusely for disturbing him although he assured her he was pleased to see her.

‘Do you have time to talk for a bit?’ He asked. ‘Or maybe I could help you with the lunch things?’

‘Master Harry...’

‘Harry.’ He interrupted firmly.

‘Harry wishes to talk with Leenie?’ The little house elf’s face was so fiercely proud that Harry felt bad for not making much of an effort with her before now.

 ‘Yeah. Maybe you could tell me about the house... and Snape... and how long you’ve been here?’ He suggested. He really didn’t feel like being on his own right now.

***

Harry spent the afternoon with Leenie and then curled up on the sofa in Snape’s study to wait for him. Gradually the afternoon turned into evening. The evening turned into dusk and the sunlight had almost disappeared completely when Harry saw the floo flicker and jumped to his feet.

Poppy stepped out of the floo, brushing a smudge of soot away from her eyes. Her movements were brisk and purposeful as usual as she immediately transfigured the sofa where Harry had been sat into a bed, but Harry could tell straight away that something was off in her manner.

The next instance the floo flickered again and Dumbledore appeared supporting a staggering Snape.

As Dumbledore levitated him the short distance to the bed Harry was aghast to realise the man was in no state to walk.

He looked terrible. It had been awful to see him after the other day after Voldermort had punished him but this somehow seemed infinitely worse. Snape was deathly pale, even for him, and eyes were glassy and unfocused. There was blood around the collar of his robe and splattered across his face.

As soon as he was lying down Poppy cast a diagnostic spell, winced and motioned to Dumbledore to observe the results.

 The floo flickered again repeatedly at brief intervals with Molly and Arthur Weasley, Lupin, Tonks and finally a distraught looking Moody all stepping through into the study.

‘Oh Harry.’ Molly breathed hugging him crushingly against her.

Lupin headed straight towards Poppy and Dumbledore while Tonks and Arthur stared from the side of the bed at Snape’s prone figure. Moody, hung back agitated, scraping his hands against his thinning, unkempt hair.

‘We need to get Severus to St Mungo’s.’ Dumbledore announced looked looking grim.

‘Is that wise?’ Lupin asked.

 ‘Let’s get the boy there, then.’ Moody still sounded gruff despite his evident distress.

 ‘But the Deatheaters! They’re surely bound to find out who took him there?’ Molly demanded.

‘We have no other choice.’ Dumbledore responded bleakly. ‘My spell bought us some time but we don’t have much longer.’

Moody paled considerably.

‘Albus,’ Poppy was stood a little back from the bed, motioning the headmaster. In a low voice she whispered to him. ‘I don’t think we can get him there.’

The other adults in the room gathered around Dumbledore and Poppy and became drawn into their intense conversation, apart from Moody who stood at the foot of the bed staring down at Snape.

Harry, finding himself forgotten in the chaos slipped closer to Snape and knelt on the floor beside the bed. The man’s breathing had became so faint now that you could barely see his chest rising.

Why didn’t they do something? There must be something they could do? He looked like death. Oh Merlin.

Harry took Snape’s cold hand and held it between his own.

Please be alright. Please don’t die. Please. Please. Please.

Around him he could hear the frantic conversation continuing.

‘We have no choice. We must act.’

‘I’m telling you he won’t make it- Albus! He’s too weak to be moved.’

Harry closed his eyes. You will be alright. You have to be. I will make you be alright. You will not die.

As his frantic, half crazed thoughts continued Harry became aware that he could feel something. The texture in the air surrounding the bed had changed and his grip of Snape’s hand was becoming hot. Trembling, Harry kept his eyes closed concentrating. Perhaps he could help him? He recognised the signs of his accidental magic straining to escape. Not that this was accidental magic though. He wanted to do this, it was just wandless, wordless and unpractised.

It couldn’t have been more than a minute or two that Harry was sat there before he felt himself growing faint and his hands burning. He opened his eyes, looking in horror at his Professor. He was so pale his face had taken on a blueish tinge and he looked as though he was drifting out of consciousness.

‘M-m-madam Pomfrey.’ Harry stuttered.

Snape suddenly reared back, convulsing, knocking Harry back from the bed and drawing everyone’s eyes towards him.

Poppy flew to his side as Severus’ limbs thrashed about under violent contractions. After a few minutes he lay still and blue on the bed.

‘Oh Merlin. I’ve killed him.’ Harry muttered as he lost consciousness on the floor beside the bed.

The next thing Harry became aware of Dumbledore leaning over him.

‘Renervate.’

 Everything suddenly streamed back into Harry’s consciousness.

‘He’s dead isn’t he?’ Harry’s voice shook.

‘Hush, calm yourself Harry.’ Dumbledore voice was gentle as he helped him into a chair.

‘I killed him... I didn’t even know what I was doing...’

Harry’s vision was still so blurred that he heard him before he saw him. He’d never have believed that he could be so pleased to hear those cold, disdainful tones again.

 ‘Stop fussing. Or if you must, at least see to the boy.’

‘Severus.’

‘Poppy, kindly take your hands off me!’  

‘Severus, Harry is awake.’

‘Finally.’ An instance later Snape was by his side and Harry was reflecting on how strange it was that his professor seemed to be healed whereas he felt so incredibly weak all of a sudden.

 He looked up at Snape. ‘What happened?’

‘You saved my life.’ Snape replied and Harry realised that far from holding any hint of gratitude his voice sounded ominous. Then he lost consciousness again.

The second time he came round they were all crowded around his bed apart from Moody who’d disappeared. He blinked anxiously.

‘Snape.’ He reached out and grasped his professor’s sleeve. ‘What have I done? What’s happened to me?’

For a moment Severus’ dark eyes stared down at him, before he abruptly stood up and turned to face the others.

‘I take it you’ve seen what you wanted to see.  He’s conscious. As compos mentis as he’ll ever be.  Now the rest of you can make your belated departures.’ There was a slight pause. ‘Now.’ Severus snarled.

Arthur pulled Molly towards the floo and Tonks and Lupin glanced at each other before following suit. Dumbledore and Poppy remained by the bed, unmoved by Severus’ order.

‘Severus.’

‘Don’t.’ Severus said sharply. ‘Whatever you’re going to say just don’t. I meant every word I said. You keep him away from me or I’ll rip out his remaining eye.’

‘It was an accident.’ Dumbledore said gently.

‘That was no accident and you know it.’ Severus threw himself into the chair beside the bed. ‘He never trusted me. All those years.’ He sneered. ‘He bide his time and waited. Today he finally had the opportunity, that’s all.’

Dumbledore placed his hand on Severus shoulder for a moment.

‘We will discuss this later.’

Severus jerked his hand away angrily as he stood back up.

‘Don’t worry I know better than to expect any support from you in matters like this.’ He spat, turning away but lingering nearby as if reluctant to leave the room.

‘I don’t understand...’ Harry said groggily. ‘What happened? What did I do?’ He noticed that Poppy, who was using charms to create cold compress for his forehead, also turned to hear Dumbledore’s explanation.

‘You used a very ancient spell, Harry. To explain it in the simplest terms you transferred across to Severus some of your power and energy. That is why you are feeling unwell.’

‘I don’t really feel unwell... just really tired.’ Harry said slowly. ‘I’ve never heard of any spell like that before.’

Dumbledore’s eyes flickered towards Severus and for a moment they shared a knowing glance.

‘It’s a fairly obscure spell these days.’

‘Not to mention, restricted and highly dangerous.’  Severus added.

‘You mean I could have hurt you?’

‘No you idiotic brat. It could have hurt you.’ Severus spat back at him. ‘You could have been killed.’