Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

A special thanks to The Lonely God With a Box for beta'ing my story.

A/N: Here is chapter 22. I hope you like it. :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 22

After Severus and Tami left the Infirmary, Poppy walked back into her office. She sat behind her desk with her head leaning back on the backrest of the chair and thought about everything that had happened in the past few days. How so much had changed and all that she'd learned in those few days. What she didn't know was that the changes were not just to Severus and Minerva. As she sat in her office, she got a slight jolt from her warding that someone has entered the Infirmary. She got up and walked out to see who has come in.

This place has seen more people while the school's closed than if it was opened, Poppy mused opening up her office door.

When she walked out, the first thing she noticed was no one was around. So what caused her wards to go off? She walked throughout the entire Infirmary and saw no one. She shook off that maybe her warding didn't really go off, that it was just nerves from everything that has happened in the past few days. Walking back to her office, that's when she felt it.

Poppy Pomfrey was never good at wizarding duels as Filius or Severus, but she prided herself in holding her own in a battle. With a flick of her wrist, her wand was in her hand. Slowly, she turned around and looked throughout the Infirmary again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it. It was a flash but enough to get her attention. Very quickly, she cast Protego and blocked the curse flying towards her. Once the first curse was passed, an onslaught of curses came at the medi-witch. Poppy tried to block all the curses flying her way, but one got through and she fell back against her door that lead to her office. The medi-witch slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor. Once she was down, the curses stop flying. Breathing heavily, Poppy looked around and saw that she was never alone as she had once thought. Five wizards came into view. A Disillusion charm, she thought. The wizards walked up to her. She looked and recognized them as Death Eaters. She, being a very strong willed person, she wasn't particularly in fear of her life, not until the last Death Eater walked up. Greyback. For the first time, true fear enveloped in the medi-witch. Greyback bent over her, grabbed her collar and stood her up.

She gasped at the forcefulness of the actions since she was still sore from the attack against her earlier. The werewolf pinned her against the door. He was so close to her, she could smell the distinct stench of blood on his breath. She slightly turned her head to try and get some fresher air than to smell the many odors from the werewolf that had her pinned to the wall.

A low growl escaped Greyback's lips. A sinister smile crossed his lips when the medi-witch turned her head. It exposed her neck. As she wanted to get away from him, he saw it as an opportunity to make her one of his pack.

She could feel his breath on her neck. A chill went down her spine. Now she really wanted to move from his grasp, but because of the position they were both in, she couldn't move or even protect her neck from the imminent bite that she just knew was about to happen. Greyback leaned down until he could feel Poppy's skin between his teeth. A whimper escaped her lips when she felt his teeth starting to clamp down on her skin. Her breathing becoming more and more erratic.

“Fenrir, step away.”

Greyback leaned more into Poppy hoping beyond hope that he could just change her. Wouldn't be great to have a medi-witch in his pack?

“Greyback,” the voice was stern and loud now. “You will step back from Madam Pomphrey. She must not be harmed in that way.”

Fenrir lifted his head off the medi-witch's neck and she couldn't help the sigh of escape her lips. She was so close to being changed, from being cursed in the worse way possible.

The werewolf tuned from Poppy and faced the man standing behind him. He walked over to him, leaving Poppy trying to compose herself.

“Just because you're with us,” Greyback growled. “Does not mean that you are running this. This is my operation.”

The man just looked up at the werewolf and just as quickly hit the werewolf in the throat. With a mixture of gasping, gagging and coughing, the werewolf collapsed on the floor. Poppy watched with scared eyes as she witnessed the take down of the werewolf. When she got a clear look at who took down Greyback, her eyes became as large as saucers. She could not believe who she was seeing.

“No,” she gasped. “Not you, A....” SCREAM!

She was cut off by the Conjunctivitus Curse. Within seconds, she was pressing her palms against her eyes blood soaked tears streaming down her face. He walked over to Poppy and leaned down until his mouth was right next to her ear.

“It will probably be hard for a medi-witch to take care of the sick when she can't see,” he taunted her.

“W-what....do......y-you want,” she had her teeth clenched from the pain. Never in her life had she ever felt such pain.

“Where is Severus?” the man's voice was low and almost soothing. This made Poppy shiver more.

“Gone,” was her answer.

“Yes, I can see that.” He pulled her hands away from her eyes with great resistance from her. He looked at her now marred face.

“You brought this on yourself. You knew I needed Severus and you let him go.”

He pinned her hands on the wall above her head and leaned in close to her. Poppy lowered her head and she felt her head on his shoulder. With one last deep breath, she resigned herself to whatever he was going to do to her.

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After several hours of convincing Potter that he was fine and did not need a primate clinging hold to him, Severus finally talked Harry into going in the other room and resting a bit. He was still under his care and Severus did not want him to relapse with his pneumonia. Once Harry left the room, the three wizards sat down at the table. Severus and Sirius sat opposite of each other and Remus sat next to Sirius.

“So you want to tell us what this is about, Snivellus?” Sirius growled out. He knew he should probably start trying to trust Severus, but he could not shake the jealously of Harry wanting to stay attached to the Slytherin git.

“Sirius,” Remus admonished. “Knock it off.”

“Sorry,” Sirius said through clenched teeth. “Sn...Snape.”

Severus noticed the tone of hatred when his name was spat out. And as much as he would love to go toe to toe with the mutt, there were other things that needed to take precedence. Namely the Boy-Who-Started-To-Chisel-His-Way-Into-The-Potion-Master's-Heart.

“Listen, I'm not here to be your friend,” Severus growled out. “But I do need your help.”

“How can we help, Severus?” Remus said.

Sirius crossed his arms against his chest and sat back in his chair and snorted. The glare he got from Remus told him that he needed to behave. Because of the letter that Severus sent earlier, Remus knew a little about what Severus needed, but wanted to get the entire story before bringing Sirius into it.

“I need you to hide Ha-Potter,” Severus said.

“Yeah, I'll hide him from you,” Sirius mumbled out.

“Sirius, would you stop!” Remus was at the end of his tether. “You're acting like a spoilt brat now.”

“Really,” Sirius retorted. “HE shouldn't be here. Not with Harry. Dumbledore can protect him.”

Remus and Severus looked at each other.

“What?!” Sirius saw the exchanged look. “What is it?”

“Well, if you would listen and stop interrupting me, I'll tell you,” Severus leaned in close toward Sirius.

The animagus could tell by the looks he was getting that he was losing patience with both Severus and Remus. He knew he should reign in his temper, if for no better reason, than for Harry. But at this rate, Remus would probably kick him out before he learned anything and he again would be separated from his godson. Looking between Remus and Severus, Sirius calmed himself down and sat back against the chair.

Remus could see the dejected look on his friend's face, but whatever was going on between Harry and Severus it was more important than Sirius' pride.

Feeling the tension lessen in the room, Remus took a deep calming breath to soothe the wolf inside. He then looked back to Severus.

“Okay, Severus, I think we can continue now,” Remus looked back at Sirius, who nodded, then turned his attention back to Severus. “Why does Harry need to be hidden?”

“A few days ago, I was asked to go to Surrey and check up on Potter,” Severus pinched the bridge of his nose at the realization that so much has happened in the past few days. “When I got there, he was being attacked by two Dementors.” Both wizards across from him looked at him with disbelief. Before they could interrupt him, Severus continued. “After banishing the Dementors, I took the boy to Arabella's house. There it was discovered that he had been abused.” Severus pulled a small parchment out of his pocket and looked at it. He couldn't believe he still carried this around with him, but he knew the wolf and the mutt would need proof of what he was saying, so he slid the parchment across the table.

Remus reached out and took the parchment first. Severus had witnessed first hand the unbridled fear that the wolf could bring out. It was the last thing he ever want to see again, but he knew this was the only way to get them to see his point of view. Remus read the parchment and tried to calm the wolf inside him. The other men in the room saw Remus' eyes change from brown to amber. Severus braced himself for what was to come, but Sirius reached for the parchment and read it.

Sirius looked at the parchment and saw what was making his friend so angry. He looked up at Severus and then back at the parchment.

There was a low growl coming from the wolf and Sirius knew they would have to calm Remus down before the wolf completely took hold.

“Remus,” Sirius said trying to calm down his friend. “He's okay. Harry is alright. He's in the other room. He's here.”

Remus looked at Sirius then at Severus. “What has Dumbledore said about this?” He demanded.

“That's why I need your help,” Severus sighed. “Albus wants me to take Harry back to his relatives. I have two hours.”

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Harry was in the other room laying down on the couch that Severus was on not a few hours ago. He wasn't really sleeping, but Severus did ask him to get some rest, so he figured he would just lay here, hoping that his Professor would come back soon.

Things were quiet for a while, then he heard something that raised panic in him. There was a very loud bang and yelling, then there were heavy footsteps approaching. Banging! Heavy footsteps! Yelling! Oh no, Uncle Vernon, was the first thing that came across his mind.

But his professor promised he would not return him. Harry started hyperventilating. Too quickly he rose from the couch and backed into a corner. He slid down to the floor and covered his head with his arms hoping that the blows wouldn't be too bad. But it didn't matter, the angrier Uncle Vernon was the more he would hurt.

When the door burst opened, Harry tensed up more in the corner trying to make himself smaller and smaller. Once Remus and Sirius saw the way Harry was in the corner, their rage and anger quickly dissipated. There in front of them sat a small boy cowering in the corner.

“Harry,” Sirius quietly called out. He didn't want to scare Harry any more. “Harry it's just me. It's Sirius. Severus!”

Severus stayed in the other room so that the wolf and mutt could talk to Harry alone. What he didn't expect was to be called. Severus got up and walked into the lounge where he found Harry cowering against the wall and Sirius trying to coax him out. Severus walked towards Sirius and Harry.

Severus could hear Harry's low mantra of apologies towards his uncle.

“Harry,” Severus knelt down next to the boy. He got close to Harry's ear. “You're not there. You are with me, Sirius, and Remus. You're not at that house.”

Severus continued on talking to Harry in a soothing manner, but he knew the only thing that would calm him down was not here. He didn't want to embarrass Harry, but he needed him to calm down.

“Tami,” Severus called out.

With a small pop, Tami was standing next to Sirius.

“Yes, Master Sev'us,” Tami smiled. But her smile didn't last as she looked at Harry.

“Master Harry Potter,” the small elf's voice full of worry.

“Tami, Harry forgot his therapy. It's on his bed back home. Get it,” Severus ordered.

Tami nodded once and disappeared. Not two seconds later she reappeared holding Harry's 'therapy.' Sirius was shocked to see what the elf was holding, and Remus had a sad smile on his face. Severus took the bear from Tami and pressed it against Harry's head.

Very slowly, Harry reached for the bear and pressed it against his chest, burying his face into the back of the bear's head. Severus began again his soothing mantra of the fact that Harry was not with his relatives but with his godfather.

Harry was so scared once he heard the door open up. He just sat there waiting for the blows to start. After a while, he felt something that was familiar and comforting. Soft plushness. He put the softness in his hands and brought it to his chest. Once he buried his head in the softness, the familiar smell of potions filled his nose and he began to calm down. Then he heard it. The soft tones of his professor talking to him. He leaned into the voice in the hope that the voice would never leave.

Severus felt the boy leaning towards him, so he sat himself on the floor and wrapped his arms around the child who was now basically in the potion master's lap.

Sirius looked at the two of them. He took a deep breath trying to calm down his anger. He looked at Severus and asked, “What do you need from us?”

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Poppy woke up. The first thoughts in her mind was she was surprised to still be alive and how long had she been laying there. When she tried to open her eyes, she realized something was truly wrong. She could not see. Very slowly and carefully, she turned over so that she could get to her knees. The pain she was in was unbearable. Everything hurt. Once she was in the position of all fours, she began to crawl towards her office. The one thing to her advantage, since she had been the medi-witch for Hogwarts for the past 37 years, she knew every inch of the Infirmary. So getting to her office was not that difficult. Once she got in her office, she crawled to her desk and climbed up it. She began to feel around her desk for her quill, her inkwell, and a spare piece of parchment. Once she felt all three items she tried to write and make it legible for whoever would read it.

She knew that she was going to need help and there was only one person that would have the expertise to help her heal.

“Archimedes,” the medi-witch weakly called out.

After a few moments, Poppy felt the small breeze of wings flapping. A small smile graced her bloodied face. She felt for the bird's leg and carefully placed the parchment on it.

“Take....it....to him,” Poppy gasped out before sliding back to the floor and passing out.

She passed out without knowing if the owl got the message or if help would really be on the way.

TBC