The echoing sound of raised voices woke Severus from his nap. They scared him and he wanted his mother.

He climbed from his bed and ran out his room where he was enveloped in a pale gray mist.

"Mummy!" He called and he stretched out his arms trying to find her.

The voices grew louder and louder. Then a horrible, piercing scream sounded over an ominous thumping noise.

Severus bolted upright from his bed and gasped. He was covered in a cold sweat and breathing hard.

"Lumos!"

He looked around the bedroom and tried to collect his thoughts, then he dragged a hand though his thick black hair and pushed it away from his sweaty face.

After a minute he slid out of his bed then staggered into his bathroom to splash some water on his face.

With droplets of water dripping from his nose and chin, Severus looked up and stared at his pale reflection in the mirror.

"Grrrr," he grumbled in frustration.

"What's wrong, dearie?" asked the mirror.

The sweet voice startled him, "How many times must I tell you?" he yelled. "Never talk to me!"

Severus stormed out of the bathroom, grabbed his black silk robe from the foot of his bed and slipped it on as he strode out to the living room.

He poured himself a snifter of brandy, waved his hand to start a fire then went over to sit before the hearth.

After taking a large sip of the burning liquid Severus laid his forehead in his hand and sighed.

"This is all his fault."

For months now the memory of that night had visited him in nightmares. It seemed as though his experience with Harry while he, Severus, had been unconscious had left an indelible mark upon him.

He was frustrated with himself and with Harry for that matter. Part of him blamed all of this…vulnerability, on that blasted green eyed wizard. Severus was accustomeded to being in control of himself but these resurfacing memories refused to be silenced.

~~~~~SH~~~~~

The raucous in the Gryffindor common had escalated to beyond deafening.

"Did you see the look on their faces?" asked Ginny

"It was bloody fantastic. They couldn't believe it was happening to them!" added Dean.

"I know!" continued Ron. "And when Harry caught the Snitch I thought their entire team would fall off their brooms!"

All of Gryffindor was in the common room celebrating their win in the semi-finals that afternoon.

"Speaking of which — hey Harry, come over here! Have some of this punch," suggested Seamus. "It's got a real kick to it…if you get my drift."

Everyone started laughing. Harry shook his head as he came down the steps and crossed the common room.

"No thanks, I've had enough."

"What do you mean — you've had enough? You haven't had any."

"I know— and I'm going to keep it that way," Harry retorted as he slipped out the porthole.

It was only three o'clock Sunday afternoon. Harry decided there was still plenty of time to study for tomorrow morning's potions exam so he was off to the library to do just that.

"Hey, Harry!"

He turned back to see Neville standing just outside the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Yeah?"

"You want to maybe go into Hogsmeade to celebrate?"

Harry wondered a moment if he'd heard correctly. "Uh…Neville, we can't go to Hogsmeade whenever we want to — you know that."

"Oh, right. I don't what I was thinking."

Harry took a couple of steps back toward where Neville stood. "Maybe you're just excited about the win," he offered.

"That must be it."

As Harry looked more closely at his friend, it seemed as though something about him was a bit off.

"Are you all right?" Harry put a hand on Neville's shoulder whom in turn jumped immediately backward. Harry lifted his hand quickly, as if he'd been scalded.

"I'm sorry Neville, I didn't mean…"

"It's okay." Neville glanced off to the side trying to avoid looking directly into Harry's eyes. "I guess I'll go back to the party." He turned and ducked back into the porthole.

Harry stared dumbfounded at the portrait.

"Well," said the Fat Lady, "that was certainly odd behavior."

"You can say that again."

~~~~~SH~~~~~

Intentionally avoiding his and Anthony's usual spot in the back corner, Harry veered off to the right to join Hermione. Walking past the sixth shelving of books he saw the familiar wild mop of curly hair.

"Hi Mione," he whispered.

"Harry…What are you doing here? How come you aren't celebrating?"

"I'm the one who caught the Snitch, remember? That's celebration enough."

"Guess you have a point."

"Listen," Harry whispered as he had a quick look around the immediate area. "Have you noticed anything weird about Neville?"

"You mean more than the usual?"

"Yeah."

"No. Why?"

Harry told her about what had just occurred.

Hermione sat back and tapped her pencil against the side of her head. "Maybe," she strung out the word as she formulated her thought. "Perhaps he's anxious about the upcoming Easter break."

He cocked his head a little to the side. "Why?"

"Harry, you know how his grandmother intimidates him. And visiting his folks always makes him depressed."

"Yeah … maybe that's it."

"I'll have a chat with him, but listen, we need to study."

"I know. Let me see your notes on steam and component reactions."

"Sure." She handed the parchment to him. "You do know this effect occurs during the brewing process of Draught of Living Death."

"Why do you think I'm asking for it?" his voice inadvertently rose above a whisper and Madame Prince immediately reprimanded them with a 'Shhhhh'.

~~~~~SH~~~~~

"I'm going to get Harry some Pepper Imps. He loves these things," stated Ron.

"Just hurry up," huffed Hermione impatiently.

They'd been in Hogsmeade all morning and it being midterm, Hermione was anxious about their upcoming tests.

"I want to get back and do some more studying."

"I tell you Mione, between you and Harry … you're both going to drive me loony with all of your studying."

It was Saturday, two days before the beginning of the midterm tests. The next weekend the majority of the students would go home for the Easter break.

Neville listened to his two friends bantering back and forth as he strolled out of Honeydukes. He was apprehensive because he'd not yet fulfilled his assignment.

He sucked upon a Licorice Wand as he walked toward Zonkos Joke Shop. Suddenly, the large hand of Mulciber reached out, grabbed him and threw him to the cobblestones between two narrowly set buildings. Waiting for him in the back alley were Dolohov and Bellatrix.

She pointed her wand and Accio'd Neville to where she stood.

"Where is Potter?'

Neville crouched upon the ground with fright. "I keep asking him, but he won't leave Hogwarts."

The hardened, bitter witch stared down at the teen. "We were wrong in choosing this one." She looked up toward the two wizards. "He is too stupid and too weak."

"Maybe so Bella," snapped Mulciber, "but he's all we've got. Go on … give it to him."

She walked over, knelt down next to Neville and drew a deep breath. As much as she would have preferred to hit him with the Cruciatus, she had to instead put on an act and play to the Imperius curse.

"Sit up little boy," she said in a soft voice.

Neville sat up and wiped away the tears that had started running down his cheeks.

"Look at this." She removed a satin covered oval box from one of her robe pockets and held it out for him to see.

"It's…beautiful," he replied in a shakey voice.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Stop talking and pay attention." She pulled back the clasp then raised the lid. Inside the satin box were two petite and beautifully decorated chocolate eggs.

Neville opened his mouth as if to say 'Oh', but he dared not make a sound.

Each egg was covered with roses made from icing, each was a different color.

"You may only eat one of these eggs. Do you see this green one here?"

Neville nodded.

"You may eat only this egg, and you may only eat it when Potter is near to you, but no one else. Then you must get him to eat the other egg. Is that understood?"

Again, Neville nodded. "Then what do I do?"

Bella smiled, "Then…" she placed her wand under his chin, encouraging him to look up, "you bring him to us outside the gates. We will be waiting for the two of you."

"Okay, I think I can do that."

~~~~~SH~~~~~

Severus put out the flame under the cauldron then levitated it over to another work table. After this last potion cooled, he would bottle it and then head back to Hogwarts.

Turning away he cocked his arms and stretched, trying to work some of the kinks from his sore back. He'd worked most of the night brewing potions for the Dark Lord and it was now well into the wee hours of Monday morning. But thankfully there'd be no sixth year potions class to teach and none all week for that matter, as the students had returned to their homes for Easter break.

Leaning against the table Severus stared around the laboratory. It was located in an underground room and even after all these months, he still had no idea as to the location of this manor. The summoning Apparation always deposited him in the foyer he'd seen that first night of Voldemort's return. Then he was escorted immediately down a stairway to the laboratory and had never been allowed access to any window.

He divided this last potion evenly between the awaiting vials and corked each one. His work completed, he went to gather his cloak but stopped when the door slammed abruptly open and in rushed Pettigrew.

"You must come with me."

Severus looked disdainfully at the little wizard. "And why might that be," he replied in a cool voice.

"It's our Master. He is quite ill."

"Another headache?"

Peter nodded his head in a quick, jerking fashion.

While contemplating the possibility that Pettigrew had spent too much time in his Animagus form, Severus stepped quickly to the store cupboard to retrieve the necessary medicinal potions.

~~~~~SH~~~~~

Severus leaned over the still figure of the Dark Lord as he slept.

Judging the crisis as having been rectified, the tired potion master stood up wearily and nodded his head toward the door. "Come with me, I need to discuss the dosages with you."

Peter headed toward the door as Severus went to gather the few vials of unused potions. When he turned, he noticed that the drapes were open and so quickly surveyed the nearby surroundings to see if he could garner any clues as to location of the manor.

~~~~~SH~~~~~

Harry yawned and stretched as he rolled onto his back. The immediate thought that he had overslept seized him and he shot up to a sitting position.

"Morning," Neville's voice called over.

"What time is it?" Harry asked in a panic.

"Just after seven."

"Shit, I'm going to be late for potions."

"Relax Harry, it's Easter break … remember?"

Harry already had one foot on the floor. "Oh yeah." He fell back into bed and pulled the covers back over himself. "I forgot."

"What time did you get in?" Already dressed, Neville was sitting on his bed doing up the laces to his shoes.

"Just after eleven. Channon left me some assignments and I was trying to get in some extra practice."

Deciding to skip his morning jog for once, Harry closed his eyes to savor this rare luxury of having no classes.

Across the room, Neville studied Harry for a moment and decided to try and implement the plan he'd been assigned.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I have this extra credit project for Herbology and I was wondering if… maybe you…well, if…"

"Just say it, Neville."

"Would you want to come with me to collect some Flitterbloom?" he said rather quickly.

Harry opened one eye and stared at Neville's expectant face. He'd heard that Neville's grandmother had gone off on some cruise and left Neville at Hogwarts for the Easter break. Harry felt badly for him so he decided…well, what the heck.

"Okay. Sounds like fun."

"Really Harry? Gee, thanks!"

"Wait a minute, where are they?"

"What?"

"The Flitterblooms…what do you think?"

"Oh. They're just below the greenhouses."

"Okay, cause you know I have to stay within the wards, right?"

"Sure Harry."

Neville preoccupied himself with this and that while Harry got dressed.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's get breakfast first then go pick the Flitter-whatevers. I'm starving."

Neville jumped at the opportunity. "Well here, Harry. Have one of these. My Gran sent them and they look really good."

He held out satin oval box and popped the green egg into his mouth.

Harry stared at the remaining decorated, chocolate egg and it suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't received one of Mrs. Weasley's decorated eggs this year.

Feeling slightly hurt, Harry reached for the egg. "Thanks Neville," he said in a hushed voice.

~~~~~SH~~~~~

Severus strode briskly along the wooden bridge that led to the seldom-used west entrance of the castle. He was hoping to enter unnoticed and avoid drawing attention to the odd hour of his arrival. He walked through the alèe then up the steps to the heavy wooden door and slipped quickly inside. The sight that greeted him — stopped him dead in his tracks.

"What is going on here?"

Neville practically jumped out of his skin and almost let go of Harry. "Um…nothing sir. We were just going outside for a bit."

"What's wrong with Mr. Potter?"

"Nothing sir, he's just a little sleepy."

Snape stepped closer to check on Harry but Neville back up quickly in response. He was holding onto one of Harry's arms, which was slung across the back of Neville's neck. He'd wrapped his other arm around Harry's waist and was barely managing to keep the semi-conscious teen in a vertical position.

Neville's defensive retreat spurred Snape to whip out his wand.

"Harry! What's wrong?"

Harry mumbled a few incoherent sounds.

"I'll ask you one more time Mr. Longbottom. What is wrong with Potter and where are you two going?"

Neville could only think about how he had to get Harry out to the gates and decided to try exiting via the front entrance.

"We'll just go back up to our dorm."

He turned to go up the back staircase.

"Stay where you are Longbottom!" bellowed Snape.

Neville startled and lost his hold on Harry, who in turn slipped from the tenuous grasp and fell to the stone floor.

The imperiused teen grabbed hold of Harry's hand and tried pulling him up.

"Don't — Move!" Snape roared.

Neville let go of Harry's hand and plastered himself against the cold stone wall.

With his wand trained pointedly at Neville, Snape moved to Harry's side. After determining that he was breathing the livid wizard stood and with agonizing slowness stalked toward Neville.

"Look— at— me," Snape commanded in an intense, acidic voice. He was now standing directly in front of the shaking, terrified teen.

"Where were you taking Potter and what is wrong with him?" Snape hissed.

"I have to take Harry outside the wards."

Severus froze. He realized instantly what was taking place. "Who did this to you?"

"Sir, they'll kill her if I don't bring him."

"Kill who?" he pressed.

"My Gran."

"Who's going to kill her?" now Snape shouted.

"I can't…tell you." Neville could barely get his words out because of the curse.

Snape had had enough. He raised his wand quickly, "Finite."

Neville was hit with a wave of dizziness. He immediately slid down the wall and plopped to a seated position upon the stone then buried his face in his hands and began to cry.

Severus was furious. He wanted to throttle Neville, but he needed information and he needed it quickly. Forcing himself to take a deep breath (and not strangle Neville on the spot) Severus reigned in his emotions and used the calmest voice he could manage to ask the young man to relay all the details of what had happened and most importantly, what he'd done to Harry.

In just minutes, Severus had called upon Dobby to bring Dumbledore down to the remote and empty hallway. The old wizard took over the situation with Neville while Severus, with Harry slung over one shoulder, ran quickly down the stairs to his private potions lab.

~~~~~SH~~~~~

He had a pretty good idea what the chocolate egg had been laced with, as only two weeks ago he had received orders to brew batches of Befuddlement Draught, Confusing Concoction and a highly concentrated version of Calming Draught. Any one of these alone was relatively safe, but from the looks of Harry it would appear that they had used all three potions and it was a miracle that he was still alive.

Severus flicked his wand as he rushed into the room causing several cauldrons, vials and brewing ingredients to levitate up toward the ceiling. He carefully laid Harry down upon the now clear worktable and then rushed over to the store cupboard to retrieve the needed antidotes and combined them into one vial.

Then he raised Harry's head and upper torso to administer the antidotes. When he did so, Harry's shirt front opened and Severus startled when he saw the amulet lying against Harry's chest.

That's why he's still alive.

Severus poured combined antidotes into Harry's slightly open mouth.

"Come on," Severus stroked Harry's throat in a downward motion, "Swallow."

After a few seconds, Harry finally swallowed the antidotes and Severus released a sigh of relief.

~~~~~SH~~~~~

Around four o'clock that afternoon, Severus walked slowly to his kitchen to make some tea. He'd fallen asleep out on the couch in his sitting room and had only woken up when Dumbledore arrived to fill him in on the ensuing events of the day.

He lit a fire under the pot then leaned against the counter with his eyes closed, thinking about all that Dumbledore had just told him.

"Sir?"

The soft voice startled Severus.

"Harry. What are you doing up?"

Harry felt like he'd had a terrible case of the flu. "Where am I, Sir?"

"My quarters." Severus looked at the pale teen leaning against the door jamb. "You had better sit down before you fall down."

Harry moved to sit on a nearby chair, but Severus met him and escorted him over to the couch, then spread a warm throw over him.

"How are you feeling?"

Harry looked pale, exhausted and clearly dazed. He shrugged his shoulders, closed his eyes and laid his head back upon the pillows.

"I was just making tea. I'll get you some."

"Sir … why did he do it?"

"So you do remember," Severus answered from the kitchen. "I wondered if you would."

"I remember bits and pieces."

Severus returned with a warm mug of tea and offered it to Harry.

"I ate that egg..." He raised a hand to his aching forehead, "then everything started spinning, but for some reason it didn't seem to matter."

He watched as Severus sat down across from him. "I should have defended myself."

"The egg contained two different Confusing potions and a concentrated Calming Draught. That is why you could not react."

"But why did he do it?"

Severus relayed all that Dumbledore had just told him: that Neville had been placed under an Imperius Curse and that the Death Eaters had threatened to kill Neville's grandmother if he was unsuccessful in getting Harry out beyond the wards.

"Is he okay?"

"Mr. Longbottom?"

Harry nodded.

"Madam Pomfrey and the Headmaster are seeing to his needs."

"And his grandmother?"

Aurors were sent to her residence and rescued her. She was uninjured, but St. Mungos wants to keep her a couple of days for observation. Those who were guarding her managed to escape.

"Neville won't get in any trouble … will he? It wasn't his fault."

Severus was impressed by the fact that even though Neville's actions had almost killed Harry, his main concern right now was Neville's welfare.

"This is really going to upset him," Harry continued. He then laid his head against the back of the couch and shivered a little. Despite the tea and blanket he still felt cold. "Poor Neville."

Severus pointed his wand toward the hearth and increased the size of the fire. "Mr. Longbottom was clearly being controlled by the curse. To answer your question — no, charges will not be leveled against him." Severus took a sip of his tea. "With regards to his personal state … I believe the Headmaster is going to ask your counselor if she will speak with him."

"That's good," Harry said in relief. He sat quietly for a bit and stared at a grouping of botanical prints on the opposite wall.

"Sir, do you like roses?"

Severus startled slightly at the unexpected change of topic. "Why do you ask?"

"You have paintings of roses over there."

It seemed to Severus that Harry had an uncanny knack of catching him off guard, particularly in matters of a personal nature. "Well, as a matter of fact, I do," his voice sounded a bit defensive.

"So do I."

Harry's admission earned two raised eyebrows. "You?"

The teen snapped out of his daze a bit and turned to look at his professor. "Yeah, me. I always did the gardening for my aunt. She has lots of roses."

Severus silently recalled seeing all the roses in the Dursley's garden that night last summer when he was sent to remove the evidence of Arthur's Bat Bogy Hexes.

Harry lolled his head back against the couch. "I have a favorite one," he sighed. "It's called 'Peace'."

Severus fingered the lip of his mug. "I am familiar with that cultivar." Then he paused a moment, debating. These forays into personal communication were still rather new to him and left Severus feeling uncomfortable. In all his life, he'd never divulged the simple fact that he, Severus Snape, feared potion master and spy, had a favorite rose.

"I too have a favorite rose," he said softly.

Harry looked over with his droopy eyes. "So, which one is it?"

Severus looked down, a bit embarrassed. "Souvenier de Madame Lèonie Viennot."

"You're putting me on."

"Not at all."

" Is there really a rose with a name like that?"

Then a miracle happened, Severus Snape actually chuckled. "Yes Harry, there is a rose named Souvenier de Madame Lèonie Viennot. And do you know what?"

"What?"

"Its coloring is very similar to your Peace rose."

"Really?"

Severus nodded and a little spot in his heart warmed at the fact that here he was sharing a quiet conversation about one of the few things in his life he considered — beautiful.

"I'll show you a picture someday."

"I'd like that." Then Harry offered, "Sir…thank you for letting me stay here and not taking me up to the infirmary."

"I am aware of your aversion to the place, and I must say I concur with your sentiment."

Severus sat quietly sipping his tea while Harry dozed. He thought about all the little instances Harry had…well, tugged at his heart. He thought of how Harry could say things that would leave Severus feeling slightly off kilter and gave him pause to think.

He recalled that presence that had come to stay with him after he was injured last October and then today, the flood of relief that had washed through him when Harry swallowed the antidote.

Severus realized what was happening. It was unsettling, and the part of him that dictated personal isolation suggested it would be best to distance himself from the teen. But his slowly awakening heart had a different opinion.

He recalled how it had felt to have Harry's love and protection be a part of him, even though it had been with him for only a brief amount of time.

He has no one to do the same for him, he thought. And the old guilt for his actions that had inadvertently led to the deaths of James and Lily resurfaced and washed over him.

If I could only turn back time.

But he knew he couldn't do that. James and Lily were dead. Their son had saved Severus' life and in that process had unintentionally awakened his heart.

All his life Severus had isolated himself from others, but perhaps it was time to change that, at least make an effort to reach out and help Lily's son.

~~~~~SH~~~~~