The room was completely silent except for the sobs of the Potion Master. For several seconds, nobody moved, too shocked about what had happened.

Although the medi-witch had been well aware both of the severity of Harry's condition and her colleague's determination to do everything he could to save the child, she hadn't really believed that Severus would be capable of casting the killing curse at the boy. She had seen the affection the man held for Harry, no, more than affection, love. And she could only imagine what it took to kill someone you loved.

Or at least to use a potentially fatal weapon on a loved one. Because Harry might still be alive.

This thought roused the medi-witch from her stupor and she hastened to the two men in the middle of the room.

The sound of hurrying footsteps brought Severus out of his paralysis and in the blink of an eye, he was next to Harry. Without paying attention to the medi-witch, he cancelled the stunning-spell Harry was still under before searching for a pulse.

He felt something in him break when he didn't find it. Harry just continued to lie motionless on the floor, staring at the stony ceiling with unfocused, empty eyes.

"No, no, no," the man whispered and he felt a wave of despair drowning him.

The Potion Master didn't notice how the medi-witch knelt down next to Harry. She mimicked Severus movements, but judging from her crestfallen face, she couldn't find a pulse either. Quickly, she pointed her wand at the child and was just about to cast a complex diagnostic spell that would hopefully tell her whether Harry was truly dead or if their was a chance to bring him back when Severus reached for her wand, slapping it away.

"No! Go back, now!" the man's voice sounded urgent.

"But-" the medi-witch wanted to yell at her colleague, telling him that they were wasting precious time, when she became aware of a shiver running up and down the child's body. What was going on?

#

Severus couldn't feel his body any more.

Harry!

He seemed to float somewhere near the ceiling, watching Harry's still form and his own body that looked as if someone had just dropped it next to the child.

Harry was dead.

He couldn't think, couldn't breath, he wasn't even sure if he was still alive, still a human. Surely no human-being could survive such an amount of pain?

Later, Severus would never be able to tell whether this state of half-existence he had been in after finding no sign that Harry was still alive had been something akin to shock or if he really had been about to die, too. Could you die just from despair?

Suddenly, however, he was back in his body. Harry's body trembled! At first, it was hardly noticeable, but with every second, the shivering became more pronounced.

Just then, Poppy pointed her wand at the child, presumably in order to cast some kind of diagnostic charm. Just in time, Severus managed to prevent Harry from being hit with a spell. Hadn't he told the witch that she wasn't to cast any spell on Harry if the Potion Master hadn't given explicit permission to do so?!

Severus was hesitant to touch the child. Who knew what Harry was going through? And he wouldn't do the child a favour if he touched his body only to be knocked out cold by whatever force had taken possession of the boy's body. Who knew whether he needed to employ magic Poppy - the only other magical person present - wasn't capable or willing to perform in order to ensure Harry's survival. Because the boy couldn't be dead yet, or could he? His body was moving, so this must mean-

He didn't get time to finish this thought because just then, the trembling in Harry's head became worse and worse while his body calmed down. The Potion Master barely kept himself from panicking. If this didn't stop soon the child would surely break his neck!

Dimly, he heard how Poppy and Dr Green shouted something, but Severus paid them no attention. He needed to focus on Harry!

Making a split-second decision, the Potion Master reached forward. If he didn't stop this shaking now, it would be too late, and he didn't dare to use his wand.

Just when his hands touched Harry's head and pressed it to the ground, stopping the violent and jerky movements by sheer force, Harry's scar split open and a black, oily substance mixed with copious amounts of blood flooded out of his head.

Reacting on instinct, the Potion Master raised his wand and put up a protective barrier around Harry so that neither he nor the other two people present could be harmed by what had to be the remains of the Horcrux.

More and more of the black mucus spilled out of the opening in Harry's forehead. And while the barrier he had just erected made it impossible for the substance to escape its confines (and, by the way, prevented anyone except the caster from invading the bubble in which Harry and the Horcrux where trapped in - quite fortunate, as the medi-witch seemed to be about to run to the child's side in order to do whatever she could to 'help'), it didn't stop the foul, putrid smell radiating from the substance from filling every corner of the room.

Severus didn't know what to do.

The fact that the Horcrux - or rather, what had been the Horcrux - left Harry's body surely was a good sign, so he was reluctant to interfere with it. But they (or rather Harry) didn't have an unlimited amount of time, or at least they hadn't if the killing curse hadn't had the results it normally - on people who hadn't taken the Elixir of Life - had. Because if the boy's heart had truly just stopped beating, it was quite likely that he could be revived.

However, they needed to do this quickly in order to make sure that he didn't sustain serious brain damage.

It was then that the Potion Master noticed that the black slime made no move to dissolve or at least flee. Sure, if his modified shield was strong enough, it wouldn't be able to flee, but it seemed odd that it didn't even try. And what was more, it wasn't spreading over the floor but was gathering around Harry's head.

Before he had consciously thought about it, Severus had cast a stunning spell at Poppy and Dr Green, who, at one point, had left their corner and were almost standing as near to the barrier as Severus himself.

Then, he tore down the shield.

He had expected the mass to attack him, but nothing happened. It seemed to be glued to Harry's head, or more precisely, to his face.

And by now, the child's skin had taken on an unhealthy shade of purple.

Praying that he wouldn't accidentally hit Harry, Severus raised his wand and aimed at the edge of the slowly waving mass: "Expulso!" he yelled.

But the only thing that exploded was the ground next to Harry's head.

Suddenly, there was a noise that sounded like a second, much bigger explosion and something whooshed past Severus head. The force was enough to blow the Potion Master off his feet. The distinct 'crack' in his left hand and the accompanying pain told the man that he had likely broken one or two bones.

But it hardly mattered now. Because even during his fall, Severus had recognized the source of the noise. The red-golden-white feathered thing that had suddenly appeared in the room and soared directly to where Harry's face was still buried under the black mucus could only be one creature.

For a heart-stopping moment, the Potion Master was sure that Albus had finally found a way to invade his quarters, had used his pet-phoenix as a means of transport. Quickly, however, he became aware of two things:

Firstly, there was quite obviously no headmaster - or any person - attached to the phoenix' tail-feathers. And secondly, when had the feathers on the side of Fawke's neck became white?

From his position on the ground, Severus didn't exactly have a good view on what was going on but before he had managed to crawl nearer to where Harry's head was now hidden not only under the black mass but also under a phoenix, an ear-piercing, high-pitched scream came from the remains of the Horcrux.

Out of the corner of his eyes, the Potion Master saw the white patch vanishing from Fawke's neck, but he didn't pay it much attention.

The beak of the bird was wide open and it seemed to suck the black, slimy mass away from Harry's face. More and more of it vanished inside the phoenix and bit by bit, Harry's face came back into view, the skin ashen and his lips purple.

Only a few seconds later, Fawkes had swallowed what had once been a part of Voldemort's soul in its entirety and the screaming stopped.

Then, the Phoenix erupted in flames.

Severus felt a new surge of adrenalin rushing through his bloodstream but fortunately, Fawkes had taken off from Harry's chest just in time and the child was in no danger of being burnt, too.

With the phoenix safely burning in a corner of the room, the Potion Master decided that it was about time he took a closer look at Harry, trying very hard not to get his hopes up. If the boy had been killed by his Avada Kedavra, Fawkes intervention would have been completely useless. Sure, the bird might have thwarted the Dark Lord's return, but compared to Harry's life, this didn't seem to be very important.

However, just when he had reached the child's body and stretched out his hand to feel for a pulse, a white, feathered creature landed on Harry's chest, screeching indignantly.

It seemed as if the Professor had found out what the white patch on Fawkes' neck had been.

"I need to make sure your master is all right, you annoying owl!" Severus yelled at the agitated Hedwig. But the owl wouldn't allow the Potion Master to touch her owner.

He sighed in frustration. He needed to check on the boy! Reaching forward with both of his hands, the man tried to grab the owl.

However, Hedwig was faster. Severus didn't even see the owl's beak pecking his hand, but suddenly, there was another sharp pain in his already injured hand and blood started to drip onto the floor.

"Stupid bird!" Severus hissed, pressing his hand to the folds of his robes. But the words lacked any of the desperation he had felt just two minutes ago because even Hedwig's threatening glare couldn't prevent him from noticing that Harry's colour of skin looked healthier than it ever had during the last few days.

"Harry!" Severus breathed. The child - the child truly was alive?

It couldn't be. He had given up hope when he hadn't been able to find a pulse. But now his skin looked almost as rosy as that of a normal, healthy human and if Severus wasn't very much mistaken, his chest was slowly rising and falling. Hedwig, still resting on her master's upper body, didn't seem to mind the fact that her body swayed in time to Harry's breathing.

Deciding that it was safe to do so, he cast a basic diagnostic-charm at Harry.

The result was incredible. As far as the spell could tell, Harry's general condition was poor but stable. Under normal circumstances, a poor condition would have alarmed the Potion Master, but the current circumstances could hardly be called normal. The boy had had no heartbeat just minutes earlier!

Severus cast a fond look at the child and couldn't help but to smile slightly at the suspicious look Hedwig was giving him.

In the corner of the room, the fire had died down and amongst a small heap of ash, a naked, newborn phoenix was chirping feebly.

As Hedwig didn't seem to be prepared to let him anywhere near the child (and because Harry's condition was in fact much better than it had been for most of the time he had been under the influence of the Draught of Living Death), Severus made his way to Fawkes where he collapsed on the floor. The last 10 minutes had probably been the most draining ones in his whole life.

The baby-phoenix and the Potion Master looked at each other and although he was unsure how much the bird could understand, Severus inclined his head in a silent gesture of gratitude.

Fawkes peeped in response.

It was only after about 15 minutes during which he had observed Harry carefully, not wanting to miss any changes in his conditions (or in Hedwig's demeanour) that Severus remembered that there were two other people in the room, people who he had stunned before the phoenix and the owl had appeared out of nowhere.

As quickly as his injured hand and his general tiredness allowed it, he stood up and crossed the room to where Poppy and Dr Green were lying on the ground.

"Enervate!" he murmured and an instant later, the medi-witch was on her feet.

"Severus Snape!" Poppy hissed at the man who had had the audacity to stun her only because she had wanted to help a dying boy.

However, before she could start giving the man a piece of her mind a groan came from somewhere behind her colleague, closely followed by an exited hooting.

As soon as Severus heard Harry stirring, he whirled around, all thoughts about defending his earlier use of a stunning-spell forgotten.

"Harry - Hedwig, no! I need to have a look at your master, I won't hurt him, I promise!" he felt rather ridiculous, reasoning with an owl, but apparently, it worked - although it was possible that it hadn't been the Potion Master's choice of words but the firm tone of his voice that convinced Hedwig to allow the man access to her master.

The owl gave him a reproachful glare (well, as far as an owl could look reproachfully) but didn't try to attack him when he approached Harry. Just when he had knelt down next to the child's head, Harry whimpered and started to move.

"Harry... child, it's me, Professor Snape. Can you hear me?"

Harry's whimpers became louder.

"Harry, I will take your hand now, and if you can understand me, than you will press it, all right?" Severus cast a quick glance at Hedwig. He would not let the boy's pet getting the better of him. He gave the owl his most threatening scowl and reached out for Harry's hand. To his enormous relief, Hedwig stayed where she was and didn't peck his still uninjured hand.

As soon as his own hand had touched Harry's, the boy gave it a distinct squeeze.

Severus almost cried with relief. Harry was alive, he was awake; Harry had control over his body and he could understand him - which meant that the seconds or minutes he had been without a heartbeat hadn't left him with serious brain damage.

#

The first thing Harry became aware of was that his head hurt terribly and that there was a warm weight on his chest. After spending some time wondering what it could be, he was startled when suddenly the thing moved. He tried to open his eyes but he was too exhausted.

Apparently, though, the thing had noticed that Harry had woken up because it moved even more and it wasn't long before Harry felt something soft pressing against his cheeks, something that almost made him sneeze. Then, something more solid nudged against the side of his face.

Ablaze with curiosity, he willed his eyelids apart and groaned in frustration when, despite his best efforts, nothing happened.

What was the matter with him?

Suddenly, Harry became aware of loud voices. However, he couldn't make out any words.

Only a second later, he could sense the presence of someone next to him and he couldn't prevent a small whimper escaping his mouth.

Who was there? What was he going to to with him? And how should he defend himself if he couldn't even summon the energy to open his bloody eyes?

But then the person spoke and although Harry still found it difficult to focus on the meaning of the words, he would recognize this voice everywhere: Professor Snape!

He didn't know whether the man knew that Harry had a difficult time understanding him or not, but when he told Harry to press his hand if he did understand him, he spoke much slower and clearer, making it easier for Harry to follow.

When he felt the Professor's hand in his own, Harry wasted no time and squeezed it as hard as he could.

The next second, Harry felt himself being lifted up from the ground into the Professor's arms. He snuggled against the man's chest, feeling perfectly content. He knew that he should probably worry about how difficult it was to move, why he felt so tired and exhausted or why he there was a dull, throbbing pain somewhere deep inside his head, but it was hard to do so when feeling completely safe. His Professor was holding him in his arms and Harry just knew that the man would keep him safe from the Horcrux and anything else.

However, when Harry thought about the Horcrux, he noticed that something was missing. The constant whispering in his head was gone. Over the years, he had become so used to the voice that told him how worthless he was and that threatened him with the most horribly forms of torture and death that Harry felt a strange sense of loss now that it was gone. He didn't miss it, not exactly, but he felt somehow... incomplete without it.

Just than, Harry felt something wet on the top of his head. He raised his head and to his enormous relief one of his eyes had decided to start to cooperate again. Harry looked directly into his Professor's eyes.

The man was staring at him as if he couldn't believe that Harry was awake, and he was crying.

Harry was shocked. He couldn't remember having ever seen the man crying - although Harry had to admit that the last weeks (or had it been month? He couldn't tell...) were a bit of a blur.

He opened his mouth to ask the Professor what was wrong only to discover that his tongue wouldn't obey him either.

Professor Snape, however, seemed to guess what Harry had wanted to say. "It's all right, Harry, I'm just so glad that you are all right. I thought I had lost you, I didn't think you'd survive. And when your heart-" Severus interrupted himself. He didn't think it would do him (or Harry) any good if he relived those horrible moments when Harry's heart had stopped beating. No, Harry's body clearly was very weak and he would do nothing to aggravate his condition in any way. He would just tell him later.

For now, he needed to reassure the boy. "I know you wonder why you feel so weak and why you can't move - it's because we had to take rather drastic means to destroy the Horcrux. I promise I will tell you everything you want to now once you are a bit more stable, when you can move and speak again without overtaxing yourself. I can assure you, though, that the Horcrux is gone. Really gone. We have destroyed it and it is dead now, it will never come back. It's over, Harry."

When Harry heard the Professor saying these words, all he could do was staring at the man incredulously.

The ghost of a smirk crossed Severus face when he saw Harry's dumbstruck expression. "It's true, Harry, I wouldn't make jokes about something like this. But you need to rest now, this whole ordeal was more than stressful for your body and your mind. Just let me know when you think that you can move or speak again."

Harry looked at the Professor as if he had lost his mind, but as he was unable to ask any questions, he supposed that there wasn't much he could do to make the man tell him more and that he would need to wait until Professor Snape deemed him well enough to learn more about what had happened.

With that thought, he leaned back against the man's chest and within a minute exhaustion had caught up with him and he was deeply asleep.

When the Potion Master was sure that Harry was asleep, he motioned the medi-witch and Dr Green to come over. He had to stifle a grin when Poppy marched over to him, a grim expression on her face that told him that the witch hadn't forgotten the stunning-spell, and promptly stumbled and almost fell to the ground when she stepped on that part of the floor that he had spelled soft.

"Severus Snape!" Poppy growled when she had regained he balance, "you still owe us an explanation!"

"You were about to do Merlin knows what to the boy, despite my very clear orders not to interfere! Who knows what would have happened to Harry - or you, for that matter - if you had cast any spells at him or even only touched him! I have told you, both of you, that I will do anything to keep Harry safe - not only from the headmaster but also from fools who think they know better than anyone else only because they have a medical degree!" Severus hissed at the two of them, careful not to disturb the child's sleep.

When he saw that Poppy was about to protest, he gave her a warning look. "You may hex me with whatever spell you like but only after I have taken care of Harry and made sure that he is completely well again."

Finally, Dr Green spoke up. Severus had expected the man to be even more furious about being stunned than Poppy, but either the man had grasped the seriousness of the situation far better than the medi-witch or he simply had decided to postpone any retaliation until Harry was no longer attached to the Potion Master's front.

"Perhaps we should start with taking care of the cut on Harry's forehead? It looks rather deep and after seeing all that black muck coming out of it I think it should be treated as soon as possible."

Poppy immediately pointed her wand at Harry's head. It seemed to be some sort of reflex of her, Severus thought wryly while scowling at the witch in the most threatening manner.

"May I ?" the medi-witch asked exasperatedly.

"A diagnostic spell only," Severus finally conceded, "but only a mild one and only on the wound on the forehead!" his dangerously low voice told the medi-witch without a doubt that she would be very sorry if she didn't obey the man's orders.

Sighing, Poppy decided that it was no use arguing with the Potion Master while he was clearly still in shock and would probably attack everyone whom he perceived to be a threat to Harry.

"The cut is quite deep," she told the men worriedly after having examined the results of the spell, "normally, I would demand the child staying in the infirmary for - I know that this isn't an option, Severus!" she snapped angrily when her colleague tried to interrupt her, "but he will have to stay in bed and take an antibiotic potions three times a day. A cranial bone infection would be life-threatening and I don't suppose you want the child being admitted to St Mungo's again."

"But otherwise he is all right?" Dr Green asked, frowning slightly, "I mean, all that black mud coming out of his head surely must have contaminated the wound?"

"Fawkes has taken care of this," Severus said, "and I seriously doubt that he has missed part of the Horcrux."

In the corner of the room, Fawkes gave an indignant trill as if to say that of course he hadn't missed anything.

"There are no signs of any dark magic clinging to the cut? Or anything unusual at all?" Severus had to know for sure what he was dealing with.

"No," Poppy shook her head, "from what I can tell it's a normal wound that everyone could have sustained, even muggles. There is no sign that it was magically induced at all. Of course, a more thorough examination would be prudent some time soon so that we can be certain that we haven't overlooked anything, but the spell would have detected any magic - dark or otherwise."

Silence settled over the three adults while each of them was lost in his (or her) own thoughts. Severus tried to focus on what needed to be done next, however he was distracted by Harry's quiet snores. He simply couldn't get his mind around the fact that the Horcrux was gone and Harry was still alive.

It was about two hours later that Harry woke up again.

Dr Green and Madame Pomfrey had taken their leave after Harry had been bundled up on the couch. Severus had denied the medi-witch's request to cast a more in-depths diagnostic-spell, claiming that it was still too early and that she should return once Harry had woken up again.

Neither of the two medical professionals had been comfortable with the thought of leaving Harry - who was, despite everything, still in a rather precarious condition. However, both of them had other duties, too, and it wasn't as if the Potion Master had allowed them to help with anything except fetching blankets anyway.

In an armchair as close to the child's head as possible the Potion Master was sitting, trying (and failing) to read a potion journal. Every two seconds, his eyes flickered to the child, making sure that Harry was still breathing - which was, admittedly, rather easy, since the rising and falling of the still suspicious-looking owl that had reclaimed her position on Harry's chest as soon as the three humans had laid her master down onto the sofa was a very clear indicator.

Severus knew that he was irrational - Harry was in a far better state than he had ever been during the last two weeks - but he couldn't help it. When the child finally stirred, he watched him carefully, not wanting to miss any sign of discomfort.

Harry opened his eye - the one that hadn't been stabbed by a knife and permanently damaged weeks ago - and was glad to discover that it was much easier to move than the last time he had woken up. However, before he could really appreciate this or even register that he was no longer in the dark and somewhat scary chamber, an incredibly intense pain shot through his head.

He couldn't prevent a hight, keen sound of anguish escaping his mouth. What was this? Why did something inside his head feel as if it was on fire?

Harry drew in a shuddering breath. Perhaps, if he focused on his breathing, it would get better? It wouldn't be the first time that this trick would work, he was rather experienced when it came to dealing with pain.

"Calm down, Harry," Severus admonished the boy worriedly. It was clear that the child was in pain but it wouldn't do any good if he started to hyperventilate now.

Harry heard the Professor speaking somewhere out of his line of sight and he tried to concentrate on the man's voice. He didn't dare to move, though, out of fear that this would increase the pain. His whole body was tense, almost rigid by now. 'Just breathing', Harry told himself again and again, 'just breath and it will get better!'

"Harry, listen to me!" Severus had gotten up from the armchair and was now crouching next to the sofa so that Harry could see him, one hand holding Harry's shaking one. "I know that you are in pain, Harry, but you need to stop breathing so fast or you will faint. I want you to focus on my voice now, Harry, and then we will breathe together. In... holding the breath... and out. You breath in... and out. In... and out"

Harry gave no sign of having understood what the Potion Master was saying. His eye were slowly drifting shut and Severus shook Harry's shoulders firmly but gently, hoping that this would help him to stay focused, to do what Severus was telling him.

He continued his mantra for what seemed to be forever (later, he would discover that it hadn't even been five minutes, though) and finally Harry's breathing started to even out.

"Harry?" Severus asked, stopping his chanting. "Harry, if you can hear me, can you please give me a sign? Open your eyes or squeeze my hand?"

Slowly and carefully, Harry opened his right eye and was met with the worried gaze of his Professor. "Hur- hurts." He rasped.

"Where exactly does it hurt, Harry?" Severus was rather alarmed at how tense Harry's body was.

"Hea- head. Inside. Like... like something ripped off."

"I think what you feel are the after-effects of the Horcrux being expelled from your head, Harry. I will give you a pain relieving potion now, it should lessen the pain. I can only give you a mild one, though, your body is rather weak and I'm not sure whether it would tolerate a more potent one."

He took one of the vials he had asked Poppy to retrieve from his lab earlier from the nearby table, uncorked it and turned to Harry again. "Can you sit up?"

"No, not moving!" Harry's voice sounded terrified.

"Ssh, it's all right, I won't move you if you don't want to. You have to be careful when swallowing the potion, though."

" 'kay," Harry replied and opened his mouth, clutching his blanket. He hoped the potion would help, her really couldn't endure that much pain for much longer.

He felt the first few drops of the cool liquid in his mouth. It tasted really horrible, but he didn't pull a face, too afraid that even the tiniest movement would make the pain worse.

When he had swallowed the first millilitres of potion, Professor Snape gave him another sip of it. After what must have been several minutes, the vial was empty and already Harry could feel the pain lessening.

"Is it getting better?" Severus asked after a while.

"Yes," Harry whispered, not yet believing that the pain wouldn't return.

The two man sat (or, in Harry's case, lied) silently next to each other. It was Hedwig - who had left her guard post when her master's rapid breathing had made her almost lose balance - who interrupted the quietness.

"Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed happily when his pet landed on a cushion next to him and eyed him worriedly. He carefully raised one hand and patted the bird, relieved when the movement didn't aggravate the pain. The potion had worked, it was much more bearable now, but a dull, throbbing ache deep inside his head had remained.

Hedwig hooted happily and gently nibbled Harry's ear. The owl seemed to be very pleased that her master was almost back to normal. Or at least much better than he had been when Fawkes had side-along flown her into her master's guardian's quarters.

"What happened, Sir? The Horcrux - what happened to it? Is it truly gone?"

Severus was startled out of his thoughts when Harry addressed him.

The arrival of Hedwig and her affectionate greetings of her master had brought back the question about how it was possible that Fawkes had breached the wards of the dungeons at exactly the right moment. Had it simply been an extremely lucky coincidence or had Hedwig - or even the phoenix himself - somehow sensed that Harry had been dying?

But this just wasn't possible!

Sure, Hedwig wasn't a normal owl but a post owl and it was in the nature of these birds to form a close bond to the wizard or witch they recognized as their owner. But there was no way that she could have felt that her master was in mortal danger, not while being outside these quarters, outside the wards.

And Fawkes? Yes, there had been occasions where a Phoenix had come to aid a human, but only when said human was, in some way, connected to the mythical bird. And he was quite sure that Harry had never even met the bird, nor was he particularly loyal (or even had any connection at all) to Dumbledore, Fawkes' current - well, certainly not owner (as phoenixes didn't have owners), but wizard he was faithful to.

The Potion Master sighed. Since he couldn't exactly ask the two feathered beasts it was quite possible that he would never learn the truth.

Just then, Harry's question interrupted his train of thoughts. "Yes, Harry. It's gone, really and forever."

Predictably, the boy looked at him disbelievingly.

Severus took both of Harry's hands and looked him directly into the eyes. "The Horcrux is really and truly gone, Harry. Me, Madame Pomfrey and Dr Green saw it leaving your head and being destroyed. It doesn't exist any more, it will never be able to come back and it will never again harm you in any way."