Minerva had allowed them to floo to McGonagall Castle so that they could leave Hogwarts with neither the headmaster nor any curious customer at the Hog's Head or any other location that had a public floo being any the wiser. From there, Severus would apparate them directly into the private room that had already been prepared for Harry at the hospital in Surrey.

Much to Severus' annoyance, Dr Green had insisted on postponing Harry's treatment for a few days, as apparently it was all but impossible to carry out something like this unnoticed on a weekday.

The Potion Master had once again cursed himself for having already informed Bones about the adverse effects certain spells could have when cast on muggles. Sure, it would have been much more difficult to get rid of Quirrell so quickly without this little bit of blackmailing, but as a result of his laziness they now had to be extremely careful not to attract her attention.

Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on the way you looked at it - the witch had taken Severus' and Dr Green's claims quite seriously and had launched an investigation that rivalled the one Crouch had conducted after Halloween 1981 - only that this time, it weren't the Aurors that had to do most of the work.

Already, the muggle Prime Minister as well as the Queen had been informed about the fact that quite a large number of their people had been harmed by wizards - much to the Minister of Magic's displeasure, who had begged Bones to hush matters up.

As a result, some people from the muggle's Security Service had joined the investigation and somehow, the 'Prophet' had picked up that something was up and had started to print the most ridiculous stories. Until now, they hadn't even come close to the real issue. However, it was only a matter of time until the whole wizarding world would learn that the very foundation of their political system was under threat - as the Prime Minister had been more than angry when he had learnt of the amount of government-sanctioned spell-casting on muggles and the impact it obviously could have on people's health.

Severus' thoughts turned back to reality when the house elf that had awaited him in front of the fireplace opened a rather large door that lead out of McGonagall Castle onto the grounds.

"Mistress McGonagalls's friend is able to apparate as soon as Master Mistress McGonagall's friend is being leaving the grounds, Master Sir." And with a deep bow, the elf retreated back into the castle.

Severus quickly strode towards the gate. He made sure that he had a good grip on the sleeping boy in his arms and with a soft pop, he was gone.

#

As he had expected, the apparation didn't have any effects on Harry's condition, and after he had cast a quick glance on the surroundings he laid him down onto the bed - which looked much more comfortable than an ordinary bed in a hospital. Then, Severus started to unpack the various items he had brought from Hogwarts and put them on a nearby table in order to unshrink them - after he had cast several powerful wards on the room and a simple locking charm on the door, that was. No muggle would be able to enter this room, except when the Potion Master himself opened the door, of course, and the wards should prevent any wizard from detecting his and Harry's location.

While Severus waited for Dr Green to arrive, he transfigured a chair into a camp bed that he could squeeze into a corner.

Then, he started to cast protection-spells on the electronic devices next to Harry's bed that would make sure that the equipment wouldn't be affected by whatever magic he would do. He had no idea what exactly the different screens and cables and boxes that had several strange buttons on its surface did, but the doctor had already told him that most of them would just monitor Harry's condition while the electric current would flow through his brain. The Potion Master wasn't prepared to take any chances that anything which would make sure that the child was all right would malfunction because of magical interference.

About half an hour after their arrival, there were three sharp knocks on the door and a voice that Severus immediately recognized as Dr Green's called: "It's me, Green."

The Potion Master opened the door and shook hands with the doctor. The man, however, only had eyes for the child lying in the bed.

"He doesn't look good." Dr Green finally stated.

"Of course not," Severus answered, trying not to sound too caustic, "the potion keeps him in a state that is inches away from death. His heart rate and breathing are slowed down to an absolute minimum and he has a body temperature of about 30°C."

"Yes, I know, I just hadn't expected..." the doctor trailed of. "Anyway, I think it's about time that he receives the treatment so that hopefully you can administer the counter-potion and he can recover from this ordeal."

"Just what I have tried to make you understand during the last few days." Severus grumbled.

Dr Green didn't reply to this remark but took a closer look at Harry. Even though he had seen his fair share of seriously ill people, he was shocked at how cold the child's body felt and when he searched for a pulse the doctor had to employ all his will-power not to demand the boy's immediate transfer to an intensive care unit.

"I trust you have been able to acquire the necessary equipment and made sure that everything is ready?" Severus finally asked.

"Yes," Dr Green answered, " Dr Grey will assist me - the charms your colleague has placed on him seem to work rather well, he has been quite accommodating. I had hoped, though, that Mrs Pomfrey will join us, too?"

"She'll arrive in about an hour, we just didn't want to alert the headmaster that anything unusual was going on."

"Excellent! I will just go and fetch the necessary equipment and make sure that Dr Grey remembers our appointment later today-"

"He will remember, don't worry." Severus interrupted the doctor.

Dr Green grimaced. Just because he knew it was necessary - or at least in Harry's best interest - it didn't mean that he liked the fact that his colleague had been places under a mind-altering spell. "Anyway," he said curtly and turned to the door, "I will be back shortly."

#

When Dr Green inserted a needle into Harry's left hand, Severus had to look away. Although he knew that muggle's didn't use blood for any hideous rituals, he still wasn't comfortable with anyone meddling with a wizard's - Harry's - blood.

"It's only a safety measure, so if anything goes wrong - which is very unlikely, you don't need to worry - we can inject the necessary drugs directly into Harry's system." Dr Green, who had noticed Severus discomfort, explained.

Severus didn't reply. It was hardly appropriate to launch into an explanation about blood-rituals just now. Poppy, who had arrived about half an hour ago, gave him a sympathetic glance but immediately turned her attention back to Harry and the two doctors - as by now, Dr Grey had joined them, too.

Minerva's spells worked better than he had expected, the Potion Master had to admit. Dr Grey had hardly spoken since he had entered the room and the slightly glassy look of his eyes would have been disconcerting if Severs hadn't known about the hexes, but Dr Green had assured him that it had only started once the man had entered Harry's room and that he had looked and behaved completely normal during the last couple of days.

"All right," Dr Green addressed the Potion Master, who was standing next to Harry's bed. "Everything is ready now. These two electrodes will conduct the electric current through Harry's brain." he pointed at the two accessories on either side of Harry's head. They were connected to cables that, in turn, were linked to a device the doctor had brought with him when he and Dr Grey had re-entered the room.

"What about these tubes?" Severus asked, nodding towards Harry's chest.

"Those are for monitoring Harry's heart during the treatment. It's called ECG and it's only a precaution, we don't expect any complications. The electrodes on his skull will monitor his brain waves. They will change rather significantly during the treatment, but they are meant to do so."

Severus nodded. "Are you ready then?"

"Yes. If there is nothing else you want to know - you are the child's guardian, after all."

Severus cast a quick glance at the medi-witch, but she just shook her head. "I don't have any further questions. However, I will perform Legilimency on Harry one last time before you start, just to make sure that nothing has changed..." he trailed off.

"Sure. We'll wait outside, just call us when you have finished." And with that, Dr Green motioned the other doctor out of the room.

Severus was tempted to tell him that there really was no need to leave the room as it would only take a few seconds - at least if the Draught of Living Death still worked as it should - but he refrained from doing so. He knew how uncomfortable Dr Green felt about his colleague being under a memory-spell and that he tried to shield him from as much magic as he could, hoping that Dr Grey wouldn't retain any lasting harm.

He pointed his wand at Harry's motionless form. "Legilimens!"

Just like last times, Severus was met with a suffocating blackness. He forced himself not to retreat immediately despite the horrible sensation of being unable to breathe, but even though he employed all his will-power, he couldn't detect any thought or emotion or, well, anything that suggested that there was anything conscious in Harry's mind at all - which was a good thing since he wouldn't have known what to do if he had found out that the Horcrux was no longer affected by the potion.

He pulled out of Harry's mind and while he still tried to regain his balance (both physically and mentally), Poppy had already called the two muggles back inside.

"Everything all right?" Dr Green asked the Potion Master.

"Yes... yes." the man answered, "Everything is as it should be. As far as I am concerned, you can start with the treatment.

"Good. Then, the actual treatment will only last for about four seconds, but the resulting seizure is likely to last for a few minutes. I just ask you not to do anything, ehm, magical, to stop it, even if the sight of a person having a seizure can be rather disconcerting. Harry is supposed to have a seizure. If you note any changes regarding the Horcrux or if Harry's magic reacts in any way, please tell me what you need to do before starting to cast spells."

Severus nodded. He didn't think he would be able to speak without his voice shaking. Rationally, he knew that this treatment wouldn't kill Harry, but the similarity to the killing curse was too striking for him to be comfortable with what would happen in a few seconds.

Dr Green motioned his colleague to join him to Harry's side. They quietly spoke to each other but the Potion Master hardly understood anything. From their looks, though, he guessed that they must discuss some of the constantly changing lines and curves and figures displayed on the screens next to Harry's bed.

Finally, they seemed to agree on something. While Dr Grey focused his gaze on the screens once again, Dr Green pressed a few buttons on one of the boxes and then turned a switch.

Immediately, Harry's whole body started to tremble. It got worse with the second, and Severus barely registered when Dr Green turned the switch back to its original position. He started to move forward, but Poppy's hand grabbed his arm and prevented him from reaching out to Harry, whose body was twitching rather violently by now.

"Everything is all right, don't worry," Dr Green, who had seen Severus movement, said. "The seizure will last for a few more minutes, but otherwise his physical condition is fine."

"How much longer - when will I be able to touch him again?" Severus asked, his voice hoarse.

"You can touch him whenever you want to," the doctor answered, sounding surprised. "The electric current has only flown through his brain, it's not as if we energized his whole body, and anyway, I have already stopped the current flow about a minute ago."

Severus was at Harry's side within a second. He was itching to hug the child but kept himself from giving in to his urge. He didn't know whether it was wise to hug a person who was having a seizure, and of course, the presence of three people who would witness such an emotional gesture wasn't very encouraging either. Therefore, Severus contented himself with lightly touching Harry's shoulder and waited. Hopefully, the seizure would stop soon.

However, even several minutes later Harry's muscles were still rigid and his body continued to tremble - although not as much as it had done at the beginning.

The two doctors started to get restless and their voices sounded more and more urgent the longer the seizure continued.

"Is something wrong?" Severus asked worriedly.

"We don't know. His results are in the normal range, but the seizure should have stopped by now. We might need to give him a drug that will calm his brain down again. Or," he gave his colleague a quick glance and continued in a lower voice, "there aren't any signs that it's his magic that acts up, are there?"

"No," Severus frowned, "I haven't noticed anything unusual. Neither his own magic nor the Horcrux seem to have reacted in any way. Though I can't tell for sure, of course, we will need to wait until later." Severus briefly considered whether the lack of any reactions from the Horcrux was a good or a bad sign. Perhaps, if they were lucky, the creature had been destroyed as soon as the first bout of electricity had penetrated Harry's brain. But it was also possible that the whole procedure wouldn't affect that thing at all. Well, he supposed that he wouldn't find out until this was over.

"What exactly are you planning to dose Harry with?" Severus asked sharply. He wouldn't risk that they would give him a drug that would interact with the Draught of Living Death.

"Just an anticonvulsant that's very similar to one of the psychopharamca he already gets - or has gotten until you had to dose him with that draught." Dr Green answered, and Severus relaxed. He had made sure that the Draught of Living Death didn't interact with the medicine Harry had gotten. Admittedly, he had done so after he had first given the child the potion - he hardly had had any time to do much research when the Horcrux had gotten out of control completely - but fortunately, there were only very few substances that would cause any unwanted effect when being combined with that particular draught, and non of it was in any way related to the drugs Harry had taken.

Severus watched Dr Grey injecting a clear liquid into the needle they had placed in Harry's hand before the treatment had started, and sure enough, Harry's body started to relax only about half a minute later.

"It is safe to cast a few diagnostic spells now?" Poppy asked, and Severus jumped. He had forgotten that the witch was still present.

"If it isn't too urgent, I would recommend that you wait for another five minutes or so to give his body and brain time to settle down again. I don't expect any negative effects from you casting these spells now, I just want to make sure." Dr Green answered while disconnecting Harry from most of the tubes.

The medi-witch waited for a few minutes until Dr Grey had left the room and only Dr Green stayed behind to monitor Harry's condition. Then, she cast a few basic diagnostic spells on Harry, who was once again lying in the bed completely motionless.

"Everything seems to be fine, though I will leave his brain and mind for you to evaluate." she addressed the Potion Master when all of her spells had returned with negative results.

"Nothing too invasive, though, please," Dr Green interrupted, "it's all right if you have a quick look into his mind, but that treatment is rather strenuous on the brain and it takes some time for it to recover."

"Of course," the Potion Master nodded curtly before turning back to Harry. He raised his wand, muttered a quick "Legilimens!" and found himself back in exactly the same black nothingness he had left not even half an hour ago.

He quickly retreated so not to annoy the doctor and reported: "There don't seem to be any changes, neither for the positive nor for the negative. When do you think it will be safe to have a closer look ?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, tomorrow morning should be fine."

Poppy returned to Hogwarts only a short while later. When Dr Green announced that he would retreat for the night, too, he had to reassure the Potion Master that he had a special muggle device that would alert him if Harry's condition took a turn for the worse and that Severus would just need to press a button next to Harry's bed if he thought something wasn't quite right with the boy or if he needed the doctor's assistance. And although he wasn't very tired himself, Severus decided to go to bed as well. There wasn't much he could do and he certainly wouldn't leave Harry's side.

He lay on his camping bed for what seemed to be several hours, watching Harry's chest rising and falling and thinking about the last few weeks and how they had changed the very foundation of his life until he finally fell asleep.

In the morning, Dr Green deemed Harry well enough to leave and although Severus was eager to delve into the child's mind in order to find out whether there were any changes, whether the Horcrux was indeed gone ('please... please let it be gone.'), he decided to wait until the two of them were back in the castle.

Not only would Poppy be there and able to intervene if anything went wrong, but the wards on his quarters would also prevent the ministry - or any nosy individual - from tracking down any magical backlash that might result from the changes in Harry's mind.

He put the sleeping child on the couch, flooed the infirmary and a few seconds later, not only the medi-witch but also Minerva stepped out of the fireplace into his quarters.

The head of Gryffindor had been in the hospital wing and grilled Poppy about Harry's treatment. The medi-witch seemed rather relieved when Severus demanded their presence into the dungeons, obviously Minerva wasn't satisfied with the information Poppy could provide her with.

"Severus Snape!" Minerva said rather firmly as soon as she had seen Harry, lying on the couch, fast asleep. "Why is the boy still asleep? I believe you said that you would be able to give him the counter-potion after that... that treatment!"clearly, she was even less comfortable with conducting an unknown (since as a pureblood, she had never heard anything about electricity at all and the Potion Master's claim that it was similar to the killing curse had done nothing to reassure her) and possibly dangerous substance through Harry's brain than Severus himself had been.

"I also told you that I didn't know whether the treatment would work and that I would make sure that the Horcrux was really gone before waking Harry up!" Severus snapped back.

Minerva sniffed, obviously not knowing how to reply.

"Actually, that is why I have requested your presence," the Potion Master continued, "as I think it is advisable that someone else is present while I enter the boy's mind to search for the Horcrux. If anything happens, you need to be prepared to react immediately, so you should keep your wands at the ready. I don't know whether I will be able to retreat from his mind quickly enough - or at all," he amended, thinking about the first time he had accidentally been drawn into Harry's mind, "but I will try, of course."

"Is this possible? That you won't be able to leave Harry's mind, I mean? And how will we know whether there is something wrong or whether you simply need more time to search for that thing? What are you expect us to do?" Poppy asked worriedly.

"I don't know what will happen and what you need to do." the Potion Master answered somewhat exasperatedly "but that's not an ordinary mind. Normally, it's quite simple to pull out of a mind forcibly, but given the boy's condition, I don't know whether this will cause more harm than good and I won't risk Harry's sanity only because there are some problems. I don't expect any difficulties, I don't think there will happen anything, but it would be rather careless just to dive into Harry's mind head-long like some Gryffindor, without taking any precautions. Now, have you finished asking silly questions? I would like to access the situation some time today." He ignored the scowl that had crossed Minerv's face when he had commented on Gryffindorish foolishness (it wasn't as if he wasn't right, even Minerva had to admit this) and just glared at the two women.

"All right, just do it," Poppy replied wearily, "I'm sure the two of us can deal with any situation that might arise."

Severus didn't wait whether Minerva would disagree but pointed his wand at the sleeping Harry and hissed "Legilimens!"

As he had expected, he was greeted by complete and utter darkness. He forced back the feeling of not being able to breathe and the slight nausea that had overwhelmed him as soon as he had penetrated the non-existent barrier's of the child's mind and moved forward.

For what seemed like hours, he didn't encounter any thought or memory or anything that suggested that this was the mind of a living being at all. There was no light, nowhere, not even a spot that wasn't quite as dark as anything else.

And neither did Severus notice any emotions or feelings. They were much more difficult to discover than memories or thoughts, but he wasn't an expert on mind magic for nothing.

Deeper and deeper he went into the child's mind. He didn't want to miss anything. However, the longer he wandered around in this total darkness without encountering anything, the more confident he became that it had indeed worked.

Incredibly, unbelievably, but the Horcrux seemed to be gone.

This... this was extraordinary! Something muggles had invented was powerful enough to affect magic of the darkest kind!

Just then, Severus felt that it became more and more difficult to move forward.

He wasn't surprised, though. The mind of an eleven year-old child simply couldn't be as vast and winding as the mind of an adult.

Of course, there were exceptions to this rule. Severus smirked when he though back to the minds of certain death eaters he had legilimized - either by the orders of the Dark Lord or because he himself had needed certain information. Compared to their minds, Harry's was enormous.

Well, now that he had reached the boundaries of the boy's mind, he might as well cancel the spell and deliver the news to the two witches who were bound to be worried.

The Potion Master turned around, still unable to really believe that it was over. The Horcrux was gone! Harry was free! And he hadn't even been forced the cast an Unforgivable at the child!

He was just about to return to the place where he had entered Harry's mind in order to spare him any pains he would experience if Severus would just tear another hole into the walls of his mind when all of his hopes were shattered.

At first, he thought that he had accidentally tumbled into another boundary he hadn't noticed before, as he couldn't think of anything else that would explain the sudden oppression he felt. Then, however, a terribly familiar hissing voice made him shiver with dread.

It seemed that the horrible being was on the other side of the walls that formed the border of Harry's mind - just inches away from where Severus was currently standing. And from what the man could feel, it was trying to tear down the walls, growling and howling dangerously.

The Potion Master couldn't understand any words, but this wasn't necessary. The tone of the voice and the violence the creature employed to get back on the inside of Harry's mind where it would be able to influence the boy more directly, take control over his body completely, was more than enough proof: The Horcrux was still there, and it was as powerful as it had been before Severus had allowed Dr Green to conduct electricity through the child's brain.

The Potion Master had never felt more hopeless than he felt now.

He sank to his knees, unable to stay upright, unable to move at all. There was no point in returning to Poppy and Minerva, as he would just destroy any hopes they surely still had. There was no point in exiting the child's mind. He couldn't think of anything he could do any more, other than sitting by Harry's side and waiting for the boy to die.

Flamel still hadn't woken up and there were no changes in his condition whatsoever. Or at least, there hadn't been any the last time Severus had spoken to Perenelle Flamel. He had flooed her an hour or so before he had taken Harry to the hospital, and he was rather certain that the witch would have notified him if anything had happened during the last few hours.

Yes, he could give Harry the Elixir of Life and cast the killing curse at him. But would it do any good? He didn't know whether the Horcrux would succumb to the spell, and even if it did, Harry would be as good as dead. With the Draught of Living Death, the Potion Master at least knew that he could wake Harry up simply by giving him the counter-potion. Not that he would do so, as it would only result in the Horcrux continuing exactly where it had been interrupted.

Severus was quite sure that it was only due to the Draught of Living Death that the vile being hadn't yet managed to achieve its goal and re-entered Harry's mind. However, he didn't know whether the electro-convulsive therapy just had had no effect at all or if he and Dr Green had aroused the Horcrux from its potion-induced paralysis by exposing it to this form of energy.

After what could have been hours, the Potion Master got up and slowly made his way to the access to Harry's mind he had created when casting the spell. He really didn't feel like speaking to anyone, he just wanted to continue to sit in the darkness and weep, but he knew that he had to pull himself together, at least for a little while. Once Minerva and Poppy had left, there was nothing that would stop him from crying for the child he had grown so fond of, had even started to love - and that was going to die.

"Finally!" a female voice exclaimed in a rather reproachful tone, "What took you so long, Severus? We have started to worry!"

Severus just stared at the two witches, unable to tell them what he had discovered.

Poppy looked at the man closely. Then, she sank down on the nearest chair. "It's still there, is it?" she whispered.

The Potion Master nodded. There was a lump in his throat and he didn't think that he would be able to speak without revealing how he really felt.

"So it is - that thing is still there?" Minerva asked, alternatively looking at the medi-witch and the Potion Master, "but - but what do we do now, then?" She asked, sounding desperate.

Severus just shook his head.

The weeks passed, and Severus felt as if he was trapped in a nightmare.

After the third serious explosion in the potion classroom and five injured students (two of them rather severely), Dumbledore ordered the teacher into his office and announced that either Severus would quit caring for Harry ("since obviously your attempts to help him have failed and I can't allow the boy to cause serious harm to even more students than he already has - even if it is only by exhausting his care-giver") or he would have no other choice than to dismiss him.

It wasn't exactly a hard decision. "Fine. I'll speak to a few people and make my house ready for Harry and me to move in. It won't take long, I suppose we will be able to leave within the next two days." Severus turned around, intending to head back to the dungeons where Harry was lying in the Potion Master's bed, barely alive.

"Severus, wait!" The headmaster called when his employee had almost reached the door.

"What?" Severus demanded testily.

"I didn't mean - you cannot tell me that you choose Harry over your teaching duties!" Dumbledore couldn't believe what was happening. He had been sure that Severus would give up on the boy if being properly encouraged.

"It's hardly a choice, headmaster," Severus answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "do you honestly think that teaching and staying at the castle is more important than the child? Now if you would excuse me, I need to pack"

Dumbledore was at a loss for what to say. It wasn't as if he was heartless - he hadn't lied when stating that he wished that there was another way to destroy the Horcrux than to kill Harry. But other than Severus, he had never believed that it was indeed possible.

And seeing his youngest staff-member in such emotional pain because of a single child only cemented Albus' believe that it was unwise to grow attached to an individual human being - it only prevented you from seeing the bigger picture, from doing what was best for mankind - or at least the wizarding community of Britain - in general.

But the headmaster was also very aware of another thing: He couldn't affording loosing Severus, neither as a staff-member nor as a spy. It wouldn't be a problem to find a new potion instructor, no, but it would be all but impossible to find a head of Slytherin. There weren't many wizards that would be willing to become head of the house that had produced Lord Voldemort, and non of the few he knew would be willing to take over the job was trustworthy enough not to abuse such a position in order to achieve their own gains.

Albus inwardly shuddered when he thought about what someone like Lucius Malfoy would turn the children into.

No, there was no way the headmaster could allow Severus to resign - or being driven away from the castle, even if it was because of his own attempts of bribery.

#

When Severus left the headmaster's office a few minutes later, he was still head of Slytherin, though Dumbledore had forbidden him to teach until he had come to terms with the fact that Harry would die. In the meantime, a substitute would take over his classes - something Severus would not complain about.

But Albus attempts to blackmail him into giving up on Harry and allow the old man to kill the child were the least of Severus worries.

Flamel had yet to wake up, and if Perenelle was to believed, his condition has started to deteriorate - which wasn't really surprising, the human body simply wasn't made for being in a deep sleep (or whatever it was) for weeks on end.

Likewise, Harry's body showed the first signs of organ failure. As the Draught of Living Death had slowed down all his body functions it wasn't easy to tell, but despite the drip that provided the child's body with fluids, he had started to show the first signs of dehydration.

Poppy had put Harry on the drip after it had become clear that it could take some time for Flamel to wake up, but even if it allowed Harry to survive for a little bit longer, it wouldn't prevent the inevitable forever.

It really looked as if this was the end.