It took at least fifteen minutes and a strong cup of tea to get Evelyn back to her normal self, well close to it at least. In the space of that fifteen minutes, in Harry's opinion, many interesting things had happened. Harry thought that the most interesting thing had been how Snape reacted. It had merely been interesting to see how he handled things. For one thing, Snape led Evelyn inside and made her sit the table, and instructed Harry to make her a cup of tea. This, of course hadn't been too extraordinary, but much to Harry's surprise when he turned around after setting the kettle over the fire, Snape walked through the door with the little girl, Maggie, in his arms. She had her head on his shoulder and was staring with wide eyes at Harry. It was strange to see such a cute little girl in such close proximity to someone who generally had a well patrolled personal bubble and quite often looked like a freakish ghost. All the while that he spent minding the tea, Harry watched Snape. He sat Maggie down on a chair. Kneeling, he then worked on cleaning and healing the scratch on her shoulder. Much to Harry's bewilderment Snape had been thoughtful enough to talk to her a little bit so as to distract her from the sting of the potion on her shoulder as he cleaned it. Harry supposed that Snape had felt he needed to do something about the wound himself, as Evelyn was still in a state of shock. Either way, it was just plain wierd to see Snape act so human, but then again he hadn't been so strict since they had arrived, and Harry couldn't help but wonder if Snape just really, really hated teaching. 

     Only after Snape had led the exhausted little girl into Evelyn's room to have a nap did Evelyn perk up.

      "What am I going to do?" she asked softly as Harry refilled her cup and took the empty chair next to hers.

      "What are we going to do," Snape said, correcting her firmly. Harry looked up in surprise, having previously thought that Snape had used up all his kindness for the next decade or so.

     Evelyn's slightly red eyes flicked across the room to where Snape stood, leaning against the wall by the window. "Y-You'll help?" she whispered, sounding as though she didn't dare believe she wasn't alone.

     Snape inclined his head to confirm his previous statement.

    "Thank you," Evelyn said, soft voice almost getting lost in the muffled silence of the cottage.

     "First, I think," Snape began, taking charge once he realised that Evelyn was at a loss, "we shall need some information on what McTavish has planned for his captives."

     "Yes," said Evelyn hurriedly, "yes, I had better do some digging. I will be back in a few hours. Wish me luck." The last statement was almost a plea, to which nobody responded to in the heavy atmosphere.

      "Be careful," warned Snape as Evelyn pulled on her cloak.

      She nodded, lowering the hood over her head as she did so. "Take care of Maggie, will you?"

      Snape responded with another nod, and with that she took a leap out of the door, black cloak swirling around her as she erupted into the form of a raven, her cloak replaced with a glossy covering of feathers. Through the window Harry and Snape watched her flying away from the property, until she could not be seen.

     "The potion still needs another four or five days at least," Snape said almost to himself as he tore himself from the window, and instead rested his gaze upon the steaming cauldron. "I pray we don't need it ..."

      Harry looked up a Snape, wondering if the fear and foreboding he was feeling inside was showing in his eyes. Snape briefly put his hand on Harry's shoulder before going over the the cauldron to examine the potion more closely, leaving Harry to watch another dimension of his once hated professor fall within his mind. Perhaps there was something about Snape he was missing, for the man he had seen today had far more a capacity for kindness than the one he had thought he knew.

      ***

      Evelyn returned when darkness had fallen like a thick blanket across the cottage. She was pale and weary from the cards that had been dealt out that day. She practically fell into the chair at the table, not even taking her cloak off. Snape set supper before her so that she could eat (Harry had been petrified to eat the soup Snape had made to go with the bread Evelyn had baked, but was shocked to find that his professor actually could cook fairly well). Evelyn quietly sipped the soup, her eyes wide in the dim room. Only once she had finished her soup, did she speak. More colour had returned to her cheeks, but she still looked vaguely ill.

     "Mass execution," she said shakily, trying not to fall apart. "That's what he's doing. All of them, in the square, about midday, the day after next."

     "How?" Snape said, barely concealing a deep look of shock on his face.

    "He's going to poison them." She looked away, trying to hide the tears in her eyes as she scoffed bitterly at the whole thing. Snape looked away so she could inconspicuously wipe her eyes before continuing. "Each and every man, woman and c-child, will be given a cup of poison and told to  drink, lest they wish to have an arrow through them!" she hissed, sounding as though she was restraining from yelling as she shook like a leaf in her chair.

     Snape put a hand on his face, letting it slowly slide back to the table top.  He leaned back in his chair, eyebrows knitted. "What are we to do?" he muttered, sounding almost as though he were questioning if there was anything they really could do. The question remained unanswered for a long time, until Evelyn shook her head, eyes shut tight.

     "I don't know," she whispered. "But we had best decide quickly."

      And so began a long night of planning.

Half past two, and Snape was pacing the kitchen floor, running his hand over the scruffy face. His eyes were wild with thought and his hair was almost as messy as Harry's because it had been run through so many times with his hand. Harry's eyes tracked Snape's pacing, back, forth, back and forth ...

      "If we do fly in with thestrals, we should be fairly difficult to spot, save by McTavish," Snape's voice, rough from use, said. "The muggles won't be a problem; they cannot see them anyways. But how the hell will we get ... let's see,"- he began to rapidly tick off numbers on his fingers-"thirty people at the most... two to a thestral ... that would be about fifteen thestrals.  How the hell are we going to get that many thestrals anywhere near the square without McTavish seeing? Assuming we can even get fifteen?"

     "No no, I would be the only one really close the square, waiting to give you a signal," said Evelyn, "the signal would be for you to fly in with the thestrals so that we could get all of the people out. Before that you would be hidden behind the hills nearby."

     "Right.  Though I must say," Snape said, pausing in pacing and looking mildly embarrassed. "I am absolute rubbish at flying.  Would it not work better if I were to give the signal?"

     "Perhaps," Evelyn muttered thoughtfully. "I can do either, though you must be absolutely sure to call me over at the best possible moment. The main problem would be disguise ... I have my animagus form, but what should we do for you? You aren't exactly easy to disguise. I know I'd recognize that beak of yours anywhere!" She laughed a little, looking at his long nose.

    Snape scowled heavily, but admitted that she did have a point.

    "We could do a disillusionment charm," suggested Evelyn. Harry hadn't a clue what that was, but didn't dare ask because both Snape and Evelyn seemed to have forgotten that he should have been in bed hours ago (he couldn't believe his luck). Sitting on a chair in a dark corner certainly had its advantages.

    "I don't think that would work too well. The square and streets around it are going to be very busy ... someone might bump into me."

    "If only we had Polyjuice potion ..." she said. "It's sort of risky though ... being a fairly new recipe. Hasn't quite been perfected yet."

     "There isn't time anyways," he muttered.

      "I suppose we could just alter your appearance. The problem with that one though is that they can still be recognized if they look hard enough."

      "But they will be looking for you, not me," Snape pointed out, rubbing the stubble on his chin once more.

     "Alright, we'll do that then," Evelyn confirmed before changing the topic. "What are we doing with Harry?"

     "I'm making him stay here," Snape said sharply. "This is not something a little boy should be present for."  Harry was very close to objecting at the word little, but managed to keep silent.

     "We might need a third person though," she said, rather worried. "Of course, then we would need to figure out what to do with Maggie ..."

     "What would we need a third person for?" Snape asked suddenly.

     "Somebody's got to ... no, on second thought I think you're right. It would be better to leave him here with Maggie."

     "My only concern is whether or not it is safe here ... if a little girl can get through the wards ..."

      "I reset them earlier," said Evelyn. "They should be good. She only got through thanks to a very large burst of accidental magic because she was so afraid."

     "Can't McTavish get through if he wants to?" asked Snape.

    "Maybe," admitted Evelyn, "but I don't think he even knows where I live. Besides, he will be busy in the square, and he's always been better at setting wards than making them fall."

    "Good points," Snape muttered. "Are there any other wizards or witches that have gone to his side to help?"

     Harry pinched himself; he was getting a little bit tired. He then looked over to Evelyn, listening to what she had to say.

     "No," said Evelyn. "Well, Jacob disappeared some time ago, but I don't think he joined McTavish. He was going stir crazy from the cave and just left. Still haven't heard from him actually. But I don't think he would help McTavish. It's possible McTavish has found some other magical people sympathetic to ‘the cause', but I doubt it."

      "I suppose I am merely worrying too much," Snape muttered. "I assume everyone rescued will rendezvous back here?"

       "Yes. It's fairly close to town and will at least hold McTavish back for a few hours, until everyone can figure out where they are going." Evelyn caressed the tabletop slightly with her hand. "I don't think I will be able to return after it all," she sighed. "Won't be safe."

     "Harry and I will need to go fairly soon too," said Snape, the line between his eyebrows creasing slightly. Harry paused to wonder when he had gone from Potter, to Harry in Snape's mind. It was odd, because before Snape only ever used his first name if he was hurt or something really bad happened. This was just in passing, as though he didn't even realise it. Harry glanced back at him. Snape had stopped pacing, and begun to frown. "I'm sorry the potion is not yet complete." 

     Harry shook his head a little, clearing the fuzz in his brain.

    "It isn't your fault," she replied. "You did all you could. Thank you, Severus."

    Evelyn looked over to Snape, who caught her gaze. They stared at each other a few moments, and Harry wasn't really sure what they were trying to say. He thought he saw fear, and worry in their eyes, but also something else. A silent thank you, perhaps? Harry wasn't entirely sure, but wasn't given any more time to contemplate it as Snape began talking again, the night growing later still.

     The low sound of Snape's voice reverberated softly throughout the room, and after a few words Harry stopped understanding them, for his mind had become even fuzzier.  He sat on his chair trying desperately to keep up with the conversation, but found that he was just too tired. In a daze he let the words float through his ears, having given up trying to understand them. Snape and Evelyn's voices took on a kind of music as it grew later and Harry grew more tired. More than once he jerked awake, on the verge of falling off his chair. He had been dangerously close the last time. Harry centred himself in his chair once more, determined this time to stay awake.

       Harry knew he hadn't been successful the moment he was awoken by a loud bang, and found himself on the floor beside his chair.

    Snape cursed under his breath, looking mad that he hadn't noticed Harry in the dark corner. "You know much better than this," he scolded as he bent down to where Harry sat dazed on the floor. "You should have gone to bed."

      "Sorry Aun' Petunia," Harry muttered automatically, still in shock from the fall. "Won' do it again ..."

     "My name is not Petunia," said Snape, rolling his eyes, leaving Harry to gulp and wonder briefly if he had really just called Snape that. "If my mother had given me that title I would have jumped off a bridge long ago."

     Harry blinked. He giggled almost deliriously at the thought of Snape being named after a flower. 

     "To bed with you," Snape announced. Upon seeing Harry was a little too out of it he helped him get to his feet and gave him a nudge in the right direction.

     "Okay," Harry said agreeably. Harry then walked rather unstably toward the other side of the room. He almost fell, his eyes blurry from tiredness, but was steadied suddenly. It took a very long second to realise that Snape was prodding him again to direct him there slowly.

      Snape left moment, and went into the other room, returning with a soft bundle in his arms. Swaying slightly where he stood, Harry watched in his stupor as Snape spread a quilt on the floor in the corner near the fire and set a pillow at one end. Snape proceeded to point at the quilt sternly. The grouchiness of his gesture didn't faze Harry at all, for he then yawned enormously and fell rather ungracefully down onto the quilt, and was asleep before he could take his glasses off or fold the blanket over to cover himself. He would awake to find both things done, Snape asleep a few feet from himself.