When Harry opened his eyes again, he was back in the Room of Requirement with Eliza by his side. They quickly brought their suitcaes back to the Slytherin Common Room. After unpacking his robes and gifts, he took out the necklace Godric had given him and slipped it onto his neck. The pendant glowed silver for a second before returning to normal.

For the rest of the day, he sat in the Common Room by the fire, reading several books he had found in the school library. Since it was Tuesday, he backed away his books at seven fourty-five and headed down to the Potions lab.

Reaching it, he walked inside. By now, he was extremely familiar with the place. He knew exactly where everything was placed, what the passwords for the ingrediants cupboards were, and where he could find the different cauldrons and measuring spoons.

Severus was not there yet, so he finished up the potion he had begun last time. Finally, half an hour later, the Potions Master swept in. Settling down, the man pulled out a small golden cauldron and began measuring.

An hour later, the older wizard poured a pale blue mixture from the cauldron and stored it into a bottle, closing the cap. He sighed he set it down on the table.

"Severus?" Harry asked curiously. "What potion is that?"

"This is a new experiment I'm trying. It's supposed to be a Healing Potion which heals without any of the usual side effects, but I'm not sure it'll work. I'll have to test it later." The man closed his eyes wearily.

"Professor, do you mind if I test the potion?" Harry asked.

Severus looked up sternly. "Absolutely not!" he said firmly. "It's much too dangerous, Sebastien. No, I will test it myself. Besides, what will you heal?"

"I'll heal this," Harry said, rolling up his sleeves and showing one of his newest scars from his 'Voldemort-visions'. "I accidentally cut myself in Herbiology," he lied quickly. "Besides, if it has any side effects, it will affect you as much as it will effect me. And if it effects me, you'll be able to find a counter-potion, but if it affects you, no one will be able to do anything," Harry complained. "Please, Severus. I /am/ you're apprentice, can't I just test it for you? I promise I'll tell you if I feel sick or anything."

It was after much complaining, grumbling (on Severus' part), and persuading that the Potions Master finally agreed. "If you feel anything abnormal," he growled. "ANYTHING at all, you will IMMEDIATELY let me know. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." Harry grinned widely.

"Annoying brat!"

"Name calling professor? How very mature of you." Harry smirked as he grabbed the bottle and poured the blue liquid into his mouth.

The effects were immediate. Instead of feeling the relaxing feeling he normally felt when he drank Madam Pomfrey's normal Healing Potions, he felt exactly the opposite: giddy and nervous. Suddenly, his head began to pound. He felt skin begin to crack around his scar. Instead of healing, fresh new cuts burst out from the older wound. The bleeding immediately began, running down his arm. By then, his headache was getting unbearable. He whimpered as his legs collapsed underneath him and he fell unconcious.

Severus gasped inwardly as the cuts burst onto the pale skin. Damn, something was obviously wrong with the experimental potion. He knew he shouldn't have allowed Sebastien to try it, but when his apprentice had pleaded nonstop for fifteen minutes, he had finally given in.

Now, as the student collapsed beside him, he rushed forward and caught the boy. Placing him onto a conjured bed, he could only think of one thing to do: wait until the potion stopped working. If he tried to feed the child a healing potion, it might react with the different ingrediants in the experimental potion, and who knew what would result. So he waited by his student's side, his face lined with worry.

Finally, after exactly ten minutes, the new cuts stopped coming. By then, blood was racing out of the wounds at an alarming speed. Grabbing his wand, he quickly muttered the few healing spells he knew. As he watched, the bleeding slowed, then stopped. He sighed in relief as he quickly pulled off the child's robes, a healing salve in his hand.

He pulled off the shirt and was immediately hit with a wave of guilt and regret when he spotted the various cuts and bruises which marred the pale skin. He spread the ointment on the scars, watching as the swelling skin slowly healed. The scars, however, would stay. He knew there was no way he could get rid of them.

The boy moaned softly. "Sebastien?" he asked softly, turning the child over.

The younger wizard finally opened his eyes. "Sev?" he asked quietly, pain colouring his voice. An almost undetectable smile graced the young man's lips as he whispered, "Shrivelfig. You need more crushed shrivelfig." With that, he fell back asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Many hours later, Harry woke up to find himself in a small room. Where was he? He last thing he remembered was the blinding pain.

He was about to get up when suddenly, Severus entered the room. "You're finally awake," the man said, relief in his eyes. "How do you feel?"

Harry stood up, not understanding all this concern. "I'm fine, Severus," he reassured the man. "It's no big deal."

"NO BIG DEAL!" the Potions Master roared. "NO BIG DEAL, MY FOOT! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH BLOOD YOU'VE LOST?"

Harry shrugged as he placed a hand on the other's shoulder, trying to calm the distraught man. "It's okay," he said softly but firmly. "Relax. I'm fine. It didn't hurt all that much. I've been through worst." The last part was muttered, not intended to be heard, but Severus heard him anyways.

"You've been through worst? What worst? What happened?"

Harry gave a start as he realized the Potions Master had heard him. He inwardly kicked himself. How could he have forgotten the man's keen sense of hearing? "It's nothing," he muttered. "I don't want to talk about it, Sev."

Severus, although not satisfied, nodded. "Alright," he said. "If you're sure you're fine, then you can go for now."

Harry nodded and he left the room, not noticing the concerned looks Severus was shooting him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was the night of Christmas Eve. Harry sneaked down to the kitchens with the gifts he had bought for his friends. In everyone's gifts, he added different the necklaces Godric had given him, except for Severus'. He wanted to give the man the necklace face-to-face. He stuffed a small note in each of the boxes, explaining the uses of the necklaces.

Sneaking into the kitchen, he prompty met Dobby.

"Mr. Sebastien, sir!" The excited elf squealed. "What can Dobby do for you, sir?"

Harry smiled at the enthusiastic elf. "Leave these gifts by my friends' beds when you go clean the dorms tonight, okay?"

"Yes, Mr. Sebastien, sir, Dobby will do it, sir!" Dobby said excitedly.

"Thanks, Dobby." Harry grinned as he pulled out another box and handed it to the House Elf. "And this is for you."

"Thank you, sir, Mr. Sebastien, sir!" The elf said, bouncing around excitedly. His golfball-sized eyes filled with tears of happiness as he spotted the pair of green and red socks. "Socks are Dobby's favourite clothing, sir! Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Harry said, leaving the bubbling House Elf behind. Returning to the Slytherin dorms, he fell asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, Harry woke up early at seven o'clock. He eagerly checked out his presents, discovering that he had recieved books from Hermione and Eliza (On Potions and Defense), a green sweater from Mrs. Weasley (Ron had obviously told her about him), a black cloak with an elegant clasp from Draco (made of velvety silk material), a practise Snitch from Ron (it must have cost the redhead a fortune), and to his delight, a mahogany chessboard from Severus. He pulled on his robes as he grabbed the Potions Master's presents as he headed down to the dungeons. Reaching the office, he pulled open the door and grinned. Severus was sitting by the table, grading papers.

"Merry Christmas, Severus!" Harry cried as he walked into the room. The Potions Master turned around, surprised.

"Hello, Sebastien," the man greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Bringing you your Christmas present," he said enthusiastically. "You didn't think I would forget you, did I? Oh, and thanks for the chess board."

"You're very welcome," the man said.

Harry pushed a large, oak chest into the Potions Master's hands. "Open it."

Severus complied as he slowly opened the top. The lid squeaked slightly as it swung open.

He gasped as he saw every potions ingrediants he had ever needed inside the small chest. Rows and rows of bottle could be found, each labled in Sebastien's neat handwriting. Lifting one bottle, he saw the words, 'Elven hair.' He turned to the boy, stunned. "Is this what I think it is?"

Harry nodded, grinning as he saw the look of amazement on the man's face. He had bought most of the ingrediants from Knockturn Alley, and some of the rarest ingrediants had been take from the box Salazar had given him. After all, he didn't need that much himself.

"How on earth did you get this?" Severus breathed, lifting a bottle labeled 'Basilik venom'. "They don't sell it anywhere."

"I have my ways," Harry said, smiling widely. "Do you like it?"

To his surprise, the normally apathetic Potions Master turned to him and pulled him into a tight embrace. He relaxed into the touch, hugging the man back.

"I love it. You don't know how much this means to me," Severus whispered. No one had ever bought him a present like that before. He meant the world to him, the fact that someone cared about him enough to spend time and money on some of the rarest potions ingrediant in the world. "Thank you, Sebastien."

After man let go, Harry pulled out the box containing the necklace. "Here, this is for you too."

Severus curiously opened the box and his breath caught in his throat. Inside it was a necklace made of black garnet. The precious gem was shaped in the shape of a six-point star, the letters 'S.S.' flashing silver on top. It hung from a simple platinum chain.

"It has a protection charm on it so that if you're in danger, my necklace will glow," Harry said, motioning to his own pendant. "And one more thing. You can communicate with me through the necklace."

"How?"

"Like this." Harry reached down and pressed his hand to the garnet jewel on his own star. "Rising Phoenix," he said, whispering the activation code. a?膘Severus?a?膘 he asked, speaking into the jewel.

Beside him, he heard Severus gasp. a?膘Sebastien?a?膘

Harry smiled, putting the necklace back under his shirt. "Now you know how to use it. You just need an activating password and you're all set." Reaching up, he clasped the pendant. around the man's neck. "Always keep it on, alright?"

Severus nodded as a small grin graced his lips. "Thank you, Sebastien," he whispered. "These are the best gifts I've ever had in my life."

"You're welcome, Sev," Harry said. He suddenly checked his watch. "Oops, I have to go before Draco wakes up. See you, bye." Standing on tip- toe, he gave Severus' cheek a small peck as he ran out of the room, leaving a stunned Potions Master behind him.