Snape silently chopped the ingredient in front of him into thin slices. He ignored the blood that had leaked onto his hands as he did this. That was until a certain teenager groaned loudly next to him. He glanced towards Harry, whom he had thought was still sleeping, and took in the pasty complexion.

"If you're going to vomit, please do not do so in such close proximity to me," he quietly said before throwing the thin slices into his cauldron. He watched Harry slowly back away from him before sitting down a stool. "There's a Stomach Calming Draught behind you on the fourth shelf."

"I doubt it'd help," Harry groaned.

"Are you saying that I've lost my touch brewing?"

"No. It's just that…never mind. Are you almost finished?"

"I'm on the last step." Snape then grabbed a towel and wiped the blood off his hands. "Hand me that thin vial next to you carefully." He watched as Harry did as he asked. The color had started to return to Harry's face.

"What is it?" Harry asked motioning towards the vial.

"Virgin tears," he replied with a soft smirk.

"Funny, Snape, what is it really?"

"Virgin tears, Potter," Snape responded seriously.

"But…what? There's such a thing?"

"It is not an ingredient that is used very often in potions. In fact, this is only my second time of ever using it. While not quite a rare ingredient, most people do not like to have their tears collected or having someone know something as personal as that."

"Oh," Harry said for the lack of anything better to say. "So what does it do exactly?"

"It adds innocence, which seems to be a key ingredient to this potion." He carefully poured the clear liquid into the cauldron. Not too long afterwards, the potion hissed violently and released a thick gray smoke into the air.

"Did it work?"

Snape didn't respond, though. Instead, he calmly lowered a crystal goblet into the caldron to capture the deep cerulean liquid. He swirled it around and smirked before glancing towards Harry.

"I believe so, but then again I've never brewed anything quite like it." Snape then inhaled deeply as a thought suddenly occurred to him. He wasn't normally one to brew unknown potions to drink them and find out what happened. However, he was rather certain by the way that Harry had stayed up the previous night that Harry likely took great care in his research. After all, he wouldn't delude himself into thinking that the boy hadn't come to think of him as…well, as something more than his vile potions master. "If I become violent, do not hesitate for a second, Potter. Defend yourself in whatever way you see fit. Is that understood?"

"Do you think that might happen?"

"It has been years since I've allowed myself to feel anything but anger, Potter. It has become a part of me, so I would not hesitate to venture that it will perhaps exhibit itself with this temporary loss of control. My shields have engrained themselves into me for such a long time that I doubt I would even know true happiness." Snape then glanced at the cooling liquid in his hands.

"For what it's worth, Snape, I don't think you'll be violent. However, you might turn into a raging Hufflepuff," Harry joked with a wide grin.

"If I do, then kill me," Snape responded before his eyes briefly rested on Harry momentarily. "This is by far the third stupidest thing I've ever done in my life. No doubt your foolish Gryffindor side has rubbed off on me." He then inhaled deeply before raising the steaming goblet to his lips. At the last moment, he threw back the goblet and drank the entire deep cerulean liquid that was in it.

Swallowing, Snape tasted the rich cinnamon and dark chocolate swirling around the strong aftertaste of savory as it easily passed down his digestive tract. It wasn't the worst tasting potion he ever brewed. It was actually quite enjoyable to drink. He then released a controlled breath, waiting for the potion to do its magic. However, he didn't have to wait long.

Searing pain that started in his stomach quickly spread throughout his entire body. Soon the pain became excruciating, making him drop to his knees grabbing his head in efforts to relieve the pain. His blood boiled in his veins. At least that was what he felt was happening. Sharp stabbing pains ripped through his chest, centering close to his heart. A roaring sound in his ears followed by the feeling of his head in a contracting vice made him yell loudly. He knew from his experiences with the Cruciatus Curse that his body had to have been arching itself into a bridge stance by now. However, the pain was so intolerable that he couldn't even open his eyes to validate his claim. Suddenly, the pain left. With a thump, he slammed onto the floor of his potions lab and slowly opened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling.

"Get away from him, Mr. Potter," Pomfrey bristled as she quickly rushed to Snape's side.

Snape caught the medi-witch's eyes instantly and nearly groaned when she quickly gasped. He already knew that he looked like hell. He did not need her gasping at the sight of him. However, his eyes narrowed on her when she glanced to her left towards where he guessed Harry was.

"What on earth—explain, Mr. Potter, now," she snapped before glancing back at Snape.

"We, well, I found a potion that would help, well, would help him. I…I," Harry replied shakily.

"Get a control of yourself, Mr. Potter. What was this potion?"

"I…I don't know the exact name…um…I found it last night, and Snape said he'd brew it if I found it. I didn't…I didn't know this would happen."

Snape slowly tried to glance towards Harry to assure him that he was fine, but Pomfrey instantly latched onto his face and prevented his movement. He growled quietly under his breath, not able to open his mouth to spew some rather inventive phrases at the medi-witch. Couldn't she tell that Harry was thinking the worst right then? He then tried to use his Legilimency on Harry, only to find that he was unable to do so. In fact, he then noticed that he couldn't sense either of their minds.

"Severus, calm down," Pomfrey said quietly while resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Everything's going to be all right. I'll fix you up in no time."

"Nothing's wrong with me, Pomfrey," Snape responded softly as soon as he regained control of his voice again. "I feel fine." His eyes narrowed at the uncharacteristic shakiness to his voice.

"I'll be the judge—"

"I refuse medical attention," he said. He then calmly pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Severus Snape, when I first entered your lab, you were screaming in pain. Now, while I understand that you hate my fussing over you, understand this," she said emphasizing her point by poking his chest. "I do not want to have to attend another funeral this year just because you are being a stubborn arse. Now, I am going to examine you, and for once in your life, you are just going to have to deal with it. Is that understood?" she growled with a fierce expression on her face.

"Yes, Madam, it's understood perfectly," he responded quietly before glancing towards Harry. He could see the guilt in the young man's face. Deep down in his gut, he felt an unfamiliar ache, which made him smirk slightly. There was that answer at least.

"I'm sorry, Snape," Harry said chewing on his bottom lip.

"I was the one who drank it, Potter. You didn't hold a wand to my neck to force me to drink it. There is no reason to apologize to me. I am fine, and it appears to be working so far." A deep chuckle escaped Snape's throat at the sight of Harry's green eyes widening. "Though, I will admit that I could have done without the pain it caused." He then glanced towards Madam Pomfrey who was staring at him as if he had grown a second head. "I believe you had asked earlier what this potion was?" She slowly nodded. "The potion was to help me express my feelings better since the only emotion I regularly express is that of anger. However, I am feeling much better than I was before so I do not need you fussing over me, Poppy. I am fine, but if I do feel the need of medical assistance later, then I will gladly submit myself to whatever you wish." He was rather surprised with himself at how—dare he say it—pleasant he sounded. He watched her open her mouth, probably to argue with him more, but a house elf popping into the room cut her off.

"Mr. Dark Wizard, sir?" the tiny creature squeaked crinkling its clothes in its hands nervously.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Master Headmaster Dumbledore wishes Dari to remind Mr. Dark Wizard about a meeting with Master Headmaster Dumbledore this morning."

Snape nodded slowly in acknowledgement before glancing towards Harry again. He then slowly rose to his feet. Almost immediately, he could feel a rather odd feeling coursing throughout his body.

"Thank you, Dari. Inform the headmaster that Harry and I shall be there momentarily." The house elf's blue eyes widened before it popped away. Snape then glanced towards Madam Pomfrey. She obviously was less than thrilled with him leaving. He guessed he could understand, though. "I believe you've been informed that Aurora and I will be coming together later for her prenatal exam?"

"I did not know you would be there also, Severus, but yes she does have an exam with me this afternoon." Her eyes then narrowed. "I must admit that I'm not following you, Severus. What does my examination of Aurora have to do with you other than the obvious of course?"

"I wish to come to an agreement with you, Madam. After you examine her, I'll allow you to fuss over me for however long you wish. Until then, allow me to carry about my day as usual. Harry will be with me throughout the majority of my day until I head to the Hospital Wing with Aurora. If he believes me to be hiding any injuries or acting strangely, I am sure he'll not hesitate to call you again."

"Fine," she grudgingly responded. "But the moment you start to feel anything out of the ordinary, you are coming to my Hospital Wing, Severus." She sighed when he curtly nodded. "I'll see myself out then." She quietly turned around and walked out of his labs.

"It's working?" Harry asked with a strange look on his face.

"I believe I informed you of that prior to Dari interrupting, Harry." Snape felt his lips upturn when he said the young man's name. "It is odd, though. You do not fully comprehend how many emotions a person has until you regain them." He then shook his head. "Enough of this rambling, though," he said with a thin smile. "You and I must head over to the headmaster's office. No doubt, Albus knows of our little plan." He then thoughtfully strode out of his labs towards his sitting room. He didn't glance back to see Harry was following, but he knew the young man was. "Hmm…perhaps I might indulge in one of his lemon drops this morning." He heard Harry snicker softly behind him, which made him glance towards the Gryffindor. "What?" he asked still smiling.

"I think this would fall under the category of acting strangely, Snape," Harry replied grinning.

"Honestly, Harry, I haven't shown my true emotions for nearly twenty years. I'm bound to be acting a bit strange. This is the equivalent of a person who lost a limb suddenly regaining it."

"Still, saying that you'll eat a lemon drop is pretty strange. I mean, I always thought that you hated sweets."

"Not hate, just mild dislike for the sugary treats. I did enjoy butterbeer quite thoroughly during my years here when your mother and I went to Hogsmeade for them."

"You and Mum went to Hogsmeade together?"

"Oh, yes," Snape said with an inward smile as he remembered the numerous times he and Lily walked into the little shops together. He then shook his head suddenly and glanced towards Harry. "But that was another lifetime, though." Glancing towards the young man, he sighed at the look on Harry's face. "However, I would not mind a trip there with you sometime, Harry."

"Really?" asked Harry quietly.

"I don't see why not. It seems a lot will be changing this year for me." Snape then grabbed a handful of Floo powder before throwing it into his fireplace. "Well, are you coming, Harry?" He chuckled softly when the boy's green eyes widened. "I did tell Pomfrey that you were going to be with me for the majority of the day." They walked into the emerald flames together, which enveloped them before depositing them at their destination.

"Severus, I was beginning to think—ah, hello, Harry. I did not expect to see you this morning." Dumbledore's blue eyes then glanced towards Severus with a twinkle. "My boys, this is not some sort of intervention, is it?"

"No, Albus," Snape responded with an amused look.

"I take it by your smile that the potion works, Severus?" When Snape inclined his head, Albus clapped his hands together and grinned widely. "That is most excellent then if I must say so myself." He glanced towards Harry before glancing back to Severus. "I shall make our meeting rather short then so that you may enjoy your day. I received a rather interesting letter the other day from Horace Slughorn."

"Did you? And what did this letter entail?"

"Well, it seems that he was under the impression that I had a vacant post in my potions department. I of course set him straight right away and told him that he was mistaken. However, since it has come to my attention quite recently about your—shall we say—impending fatherhood, it perhaps is a blessing in disguise that he wrote me."

"A blessing, Albus?" replied Snape. "And just how is it a blessing?"

"Well, since you will no doubt be preparing yourself for the birth of your first child, it is only natural for me to assume that you would need time off for these preparations. After all, it is not just the mother who needs to adjust to the changes."

"I see," Snape drawled. "Am I to assume here that you are forcing me to take leave?"

"Oh, no, nothing of the sort, my boy," Albus responded grinning softly. "I just, however, have the extreme fortune of knowing you, Severus. You will no doubt be excited and anxious to witness the birth of your child. I am sure that I do not need to inform you that it will be a great distraction and put an extreme amount of stress on you in the months leading up to it. I am correct to assume that Aurora will be moving in with you, am I not?"

"Unfortunately, I have a lot of ground to make up for before we can even think about that. For now, though, I am only focusing on being there for her and our child."

"You love her, Severus."

"Yes."

"Then tell her. She is a reasonable woman. I am sure that she knows that nothing you said to her is unforgivable. From what I've observed of her this morning, in fact, she is very willing to hear you. You did not hear this from me, but according to Minerva, Aurora was practically glowing this morning at breakfast. I am not a Seer by any means, but I believe you had something to do with that, my boy." Dumbledore then sighed. "However, this brings me to another issue. As I'm sure you know, Severus, we have a vacant Defense post yet again. I had the intention of asking Remus Lupin to rejoin the staff. However, it seems that the Ministry has other intentions for us this year."

"What does the Ministry want this time?"

"With the death of Cedric Diggory at the end of last term, the Ministry believes that they need to do some damage control with Hogwarts. After all, Fudge claimed that Riddle had not returned, which I stated that he had. I believe we all know how naïve that was on Fudge's part. So in efforts to fix his dropping poll numbers, he believes that the Ministry needs to deal with Hogwarts. After all, with Riddle's death, I once again become considered in the lead for most powerful wizard, making me the number one threat to the Ministry."

"That's absurd."

"Yes, but this war has turned Fudge into a paranoid man, though. You saw how he was last year. I shudder to think how the upcoming year would have been if Riddle had not died."

"Then they are forcing you to accept a Ministry official for the Defense post?"

"Yes. In fact, we get the extreme pleasure of hosting the Madam Undersecretary herself next term," Dumbledore said with forced smile. "No doubt with the three of us here together, she will have some things to report to the minister about."

"Why?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time.

"My dear boy, the majority of the Wizarding population believes you defeated Riddle. Severus has always been extremely remarkable in his spell casting, and I, well, the Wizarding population knows me for defeating Gellert Grindelwald. We are the three most powerful wizards, Harry."

"Isn't Professor Sinistra equal in strength with you, though, Snape?"

"She is, but she, however, makes a point not to use her magic to draw unwanted attention to herself unless absolutely necessary. The Ministry would not consider her a threat because of it. She also remains in the background. If you had not seen our duel, would you have thought her to be powerful?"

"No. I guess not," sighed Harry.

"I take it that we are to play nice with her, Albus?"

"That is the plan, yes, but I am unsure if that will actually happen, though." He then sighed. "I have already spoken with Aurora, but she wished me to discuss it with you. I had already informed Remus that he had the Defense post, but with Fudge now, well, I've had to rescind that offer. However, with Aurora being pregnant, I had wondered if it were possible to allow Remus to take over for her when she is unable to teach. She is already agreeable to it, but she wished me to discuss it with you."

"I have no qualms with it. Inform Lupin that he may have it. However, I do have one question, Albus. When it is a full moon, who then will teach Astronomy since Lupin will be unable to do so?"

"I had hoped to ask Filius, but he informed me that he would be unable to do so."

"Why do I have a feeling that you're going to inform me that you're thinking about Black?"

"Perhaps because you know me, Severus, as much as I know you."

"Black is still considered to be a murderer, Albus."

"Yes, sadly, that is true. However, as I'm sure you know, there are always spells to alter one's appearances. In fact, we have already done a simulation, and it works. Unfortunately, a bit too well in Sirius's case," Dumbledore quietly added. "We had a slight mishap concerning Miss Tonks."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Perhaps not, but it seems as if Miss Tonks believed Sirius to be Remus. Again, you did not hear this from me, but it is my understanding that Remus and Miss Tonks are dating."

"Dating?" choked out Snape and Harry simultaneously.

"She's thirteen or fourteen years younger than him," Snape exclaimed.

"And Minerva is forty-four years younger than me, Severus," Dumbledore replied.

"That's different."

"Forgive me, but how so, my boy?"

"It just is, Albus," Snape moodily replied. He then silently growled under his breath. "Next you'll be informing me that Black is dating."

"Unfortunately, my boy, he is." Dumbledore watched Snape's shoulders slump.

"Who, oh, who is that unlucky woman?"

"I am under the impression that it is none other than our very own Arithmancy professor."

"Sirius is dating Vector? What is it about this castle that is making them pair off like bunnies?"

"I assure you that my relationship with Professor McGonagall is not anything new, Harry. Severus and Aurora's relationship is not new either. I believe it's been what…two years now?"

"It's only been a month," Snape responded softly.

"I see."

"Just what do you see?"

"You started your relationship with her not long after you resumed your spying."

"Yes, well, Voldemort did not take to me so kindly. I'm sure you remember, Albus."

"My boy, I meant no disrespect. I was just pointing it out." Dumbledore then glanced towards his grandfather clock and sighed. "I would be delighted if Harry accompanied me to Grimmauld this afternoon. That is unless you have an objection of some kind, Severus."

"What are you scheming, old man?"

"Nothing, Severus, but it is now the afternoon. And I believe you have an appointment with Poppy." Dumbledore then noticed Snape sigh. "As soon as you're finished, Severus, I'm sure you'll be there to pick him back up. However, he does need to see his friends every now and then, though."

"Fine," Snape replied rather sullen. He didn't know how to describe what he felt. He knew Dumbledore was right. He had to go to the appointment. After all, he had been the one to insist upon it with Aurora. It wouldn't look very good if he failed to show up. He also had to admit that a part of him was thrilled to be there with her. However, there was a larger point of him that wasn't so thrilled about leaving Harry. Could it be that he was feeling love for the young man? He then glanced towards Harry. Harry seemed to be as thrilled as he was about leaving. Maybe it was time to sign the papers that he had long ago stuck in his desk. After all, the boy wanted a family. Severus was gaining a family. If he were truthful with himself then he would admit that he already loved the boy as if he was his son. Why not sign the papers and give Harry that family? Perhaps because there was a certain Marauder who would fight him tooth and nails on the signing of the papers. Custody was one thing. Adoption was a whole other thing. Since when did Snape back away from a fight with Black, though?

"Enjoy yourself, Harry, but do nothing that is reckless." Snape then inclined his head towards Harry as if to make sure the young man knew he was returning. He then walked towards the fireplace and stepped in. Throwing down the Floo powder, he left in brilliant emerald flames to the Hospital Wing where Aurora and his child waited for him.