Brendan waited patiently for the ‘cavalry’ to arrive; Jaidy had just slipped out through the portal in the private laboratory, happy at her success. He needed to ensure the rest, so he sat in Severus’ favourite chair, a mug of steaming hot coffee on a small side-table beside him with the latest copy of Potionianis Quarterly in his lap. One of the current articles, ‘Quantification of Muggle Physiology; a Study of the Effects of Belladonna nervousa’ was sufficiently fascinating that he was able to look up in startled surprise when Dumbledore stormed into the room, with Sirius snapping at his heels.

Sirius lunged for Severus without warning, overturning the stuffed chair he was in, and Brendan looked calmly at the slavering jaws close to ripping his face off. “I take it that this is not a social call?” he asked, Severus sarcasm coming to the fore, despite his somewhat untenable position. For the first time since he had ‘known’ Dumbledore, he could sense the power of the wizard, his towering rage barely kept in check, and Brendan wondered if he was going to survive this.

“No, I think not,” Dumbledore actually growled.

“What,” Brendan exclaimed as he neatly deflected Sirius from his unprotected throat, “no lemon drop, no sherbet fizz, umm, maybe an acid bomb, perhaps? My, my, Headmaster, what have I done now?” Brendan enquired, looking up at the elderly wizard. His air of self-assurance only infuriating the dog more. “Or am I simply to be mauled for entertainment? ‘Throw that traitor to the dogs’.”

“Severus, can you be serious for once,” said Dumbledore with a heavy sigh of exasperation.

“I’d rather not,” Brendan snapped, looking pointedly at the dog still attempting to reach his throat. “Down boy,” he growled in a voice very much like Sirius as he smacked the dog across the snout.

Sirius for his part flinched back from the strike before snarling even louder, his teeth bared. A venomous look directed at Severus’ throat, if the others hadn’t been there, Sirius would have tried to kill the Potions Master; that was obvious.

Dumbledore meanwhile, stunned by the oblique humour asked, “You have the audacity to tell me you don’t know what this visit is about?” Still, he did haul the enraged animagus off Severus.

With Black no longer trying to eviscerate him, Brendan was able to observe who else had arrived. The cavalry consisted of Dumbledore, Black, Potter and Lupin. All four in varying degrees of outrage. ‘My, my, just what had Jaidy done to stir up this hornet’s nest’, he wondered.

“Ah, the voice of reason, as ever, Headmaster,” Brendan said as he dusted himself off and returned the seat to its normal position. “No, I don’t bloody well know what this is about, so kindly keep that cur off my person and please enlighten me.” The tone suggested that not everyone present could actually be able enlighten him. The implied insult caused Black to lunge at Brendan again. “This is getting extremely tiresome, you flea-bitten mutt. How would you like to be turned into a rug?” Brendan pulled out a bottle from his voluminous sleeve. Sirius quickly back peddled and landed on his rump in his haste to get away.

Brendan put on his best ‘inscrutable Severus’ grin as his attention focussed on more important people. Amusing as Sirius was, Brendan knew he had to tread very carefully around the truth with such an august audience.

“Your house elf, Jaidy,” Lupin managed to choke out into the tense silence.

“Yes, what about her? The last I saw she was at Snape Manor.” Well, it was the truth.

“Are you willing to repeat that under Veritaserum, Severus?” Lupin again trying to remain the peacemaker. A difficult task given Harry was standing beside him bleeding still. The boy had refused to see Madam Pomphrey without answers about this latest attack.

Brendan just looked at him, one eyebrow raised just slightly. “If you are willing to explain to me what this is all about,” he said calmly, an air of complete indifference about him. “Of course I don’t get to ask *him* questions under Veritaserum, do I?” he asked, looking at the dog held firmly by Dumbledore.

“If it was his house-elf that had just attacked Harry, maybe you would.”

“Well in this instance I am not at all keen to comply. After all, I have absolutely no control over what questions you intend to ask, and I’m very certain you won’t like some of the answers.” Brendan turned his attention to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore had the grace to look uncomfortable. ‘Yes old man’, Brendan thought, ‘you have put Severus into uncomfortable positions often enough, let’s see you get me out of this one’. “Are you willing to take my word of honour that the last time I saw Jaidy she was in the Potions Laboratory of Snape Manor?” No lies there.

“And you know nothing about Jaidy breaking Harry’s nose?”

“Absolutely not!” Brendan’s icy demeanour seemed to be getting through to the people present. Jaidy must have been angry; still he hadn’t known she’d broken Harry’s nose.

“And the fact that she broke Harry’s nose has nothing to do with you?”

“Correct,” Brendan’s voice took on a bored quality that intimated that he really couldn’t care if they believed him or not. ‘Severus yes, me, no’.

Dumbledore watched the younger wizard field his questions. He was skilled enough at reading people that he would swear that Severus was telling the truth. But, if that were the case, then what had the house-elf been up to? Any further contemplation of Severus’ answers, and what further questions to ask were forestalled when Harry suddenly collapsed on the floor face first, breaking his nose further with a sickening crunch.

The older wizards turned sharply to look at Harry just as a wave of nausea rode over them.

Brendan, upon seeing the others falter, swiftly followed suit, though he waited for Lupin to make to obvious statement. “What in Merlin’s name was that?”

Brendan didn’t answer, but inwardly he rejoiced, prompting a sharp look from Dumbledore.

Brendan schooled his features to the best innocent look he could muster, facing down the Headmaster. Dumbledore nodded once, but said nothing.

Severus floated, dreaming, on a sea of pain, the currents of agony, doubt, fear and loathing pulling him this way and that. Death, the ever-present siren, sang to him of peace and oblivion, of gentle dreamless sleep. It was a song he had heard many times before, and would undoubtedly hear again, but something always called him home; duty and promises long forgotten by others, but never him. Still, there was a kind of peace to be had floating here alone, no immediate needs except to remain, and so he continued to float.

A sudden, sharper pain intruded on his conscience, the death mark. Clawing and clutching, he only subsided back to the dream when he felt known hands touch upon his shoulder: Brendan. The touch however, was enough to rouse him from his somnolent state, bringing him a little closer to the real world. Severus continued in this half-aware state until he heard *her* voice call. It was soft and low, a voice unknown, but maddeningly familiar; he heard her, and felt the first touches of healing as crystals of light rained down on him.

He turned his head towards the voice and when the powerful magics reached out to draw him home, he was ready to come. The magics, a woven cloth of light of silver, green and gold, blanketed him. Silken threads of magic slipping through the layers of self to his very heart; here they began to knit and rebuild his broken body. As the fabric of self was rewoven, he felt new threads weave themselves into the matrix. Threads of crystal pulled from the healing rain, threads of gold pulled from the blood. These new threads strengthened him, added to him, and remade him, old and new. Washed away that last pain held over from childhood, he realised at last that he was never alone.

The last of the magics faded away as the last thread was tied in the new fabric that was Severus. Still a sharp indrawn breath was the only sign to those who watched that anything had changed, the nose twitched once and then Severus lay still as the dead again.

Jaidy was torn between joy at any sign of life from Severus, and trepidation at his reaction to the magics performed on his behalf. She, as well as the other elves stationed about the circle did not move. The blood magics might have faded, but they still ran, still healing.

To supplement the ritual magics, Jaidy still held the house magics about their Master, and would do so until sure signs of recovery were seen.

Severus meanwhile lay still as the grave. He had not survived the years of torment as a Death Eater and spy without developing, and honing, a healthy sense of paranoia. So instead of opening his eyes and announcing to all present his return to consciousness, he lay still and brought his most formidable weapons to bear; his mind and his nose, cataloguing his environment. As he swam towards full consciousness he noted a remarkable absence of pain, the very absence caused him a moment of disquiet, as it was feeling completely alien to him.

‘Maybe Death finally has me’, he thought, thinking on the strange and powerful pull that had dragged him from his painful solitude. His disquiet faded, though, as his nose was assaulted by a myriad of well-known, and common smells, the scents of home.
Overlaying the scents of home he smelt other things, frightening things. Apple blossoms, feverfew, lavender, tansy, valerian and willow, all herbs and flowers he was very well aware of. The sharp tang of… blood? startled him as he feverishly listed the ingredients, his encyclopaedic mind rattling through the combinations. At the very limits of detection, plum and peach mixed with…ink? What was *she* doing here? The computations were complete, and the answer startled him to wakefulness. With a soul-destroying “No,” Severus jerked awake involuntarily, being thrown to the floor in a tangle of sweaty sheets.

“Master, no,” Jaidy wailed, unable to move until all the magics that were invoked were released. Severus had fallen on the other side of the bed from her, added a despairing note to her cry. She needed to be able to see Severus to determine when to release the spell.

“Miss Granger,” she said turning her head sharply to face the girl.

Hermione froze, not comprehending the sight before her. The Snape shape quivering and flailing around on the floor tore at her, and she quailed when she realised that he was…crying. A keening sound of loss tore from the man’s throat, a sound like that of a cheetah she had once seen on a nature special; crying for a cub, lost to a lion’s jaws. The sight tore at her in a way she could not comprehend, but, without thinking about the consequences, she stumbled towards her Professor. She crossed the wards as if they were never there.

Hermione was surprised at her own reaction. That Professor Snape, bane of all students could be reduced to tears was a frightening thought, that she would care that he had been reduced to tears frightened her more. Still, she could never leave anyone in pain; it was for that reason she told herself that she had amassed her courage and gathered the wreck that was her Professor into her arms. She sat with him cradled on her chest, letting his tears fall as they would.

Hermione had crossed the circle without disturbing it, and that brought a slow creeping smile to Jaidy’s face. There was hope, after all. For her own part, Hermione sat there with Professor Snape hugged to her chest like a little boy lost. Severus was totally unaware of his position, too overcome by the horror of what Jaidy had done.

The shaking man in her lap slowly settled, tears falling less frequently, and his breathing eased as Hermione gently stoked Severus’ hair. She was surprised at how fine those black locks were, but it was the welts of old scars under his hair that brought more tears to her eyes. Hermione crooned softly, rocking back and forth gently like a Mother whose child has fallen; her tears fell silent upon his head. Making eye contact with Jaidy, over the bed, Hermione mouthed, “He’s settling.”

“Letting me knows when quiet he is. Magics should have worked by now.”

Severus, his heart racing as the implications of Jaidy’s actions permeated his brain was surprised to find himself clasped in a gentle embrace. The hand stroking his hair soothed him, chasing some of the panic away. As the fear melted away he was able to relax into the arms that held him, not Brendan’s, but strangely comforting. He could feel the last of the blood magics fading, but they were held in place still; he could also feel the house magics strong in the background.

While realizing that Jaidy would not release any of the magics until she was certain he was whole, Severus was strangely reluctant to indicate his return to consciousness. Still he was curious about the current state of affairs, and he had more than one question he needed to ask Jaidy, thus he began to open his eyes. The sight that met him was not one he would have expected, his head was apparently resting on the gentle rise of someone’s breasts; he stiffened as he realised exactly whose breasts they likely were: Hermione Granger’s.

He could feel the dampness where her tears had fallen, and he could now hear the gentle croon as she rocked him back and forth. It had been so long since anyone had held him thus, gentle and safe; he was loathe to end it. “Miss Granger,” he croaked, as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

His eyes rising to meet hers were lit with a gentle smile. Hermione was having trouble with the concept of smile and Professor Snape in the one universe, let alone one sentence. She just stared back, not knowing what to say.

“I’m sorry Miss Granger... Hermione… more than you can possibly imagine, but it appears you will be my guest for a while,” he said with surprising gentleness before turning his attention to Jaidy.

“Jaidy,” his voice gaining strength, “you can let the magic go now.”

He felt, rather than saw, the effects as Jaidy began to dismantle the magics and the wards, it was while this was happening that he finally noticed both he and Miss Granger were *inside* the circles, not outside. Now that he was inside the circle wasn’t surprising, after all he was the target of the magics invoked, but how in Merlin’s name had Miss Granger ended up on this side? Severus was certain the girl would not have been on this side when the circle was cast.

As the last of the magics fell away Severus stood confidently, holding a hand out to assist Hermione to her feet. For the first time in many, many years, there was no pain, no twinges, nothing. Even the Dark Mark was strangely silent. Before he had even straightened up fully, he was embraced by the elderly house elf.

“Yous better, yous really better?” Jaidy asked.

“Yes Jaidy,” Severus sighed, “but what exactly has been going on?” he asked politely, though he did notice that Miss Granger was looking at him somewhat strangely.

“She be waking early,” Jaidy nodded her head at the bemused girl, “the boys are still held in sleep, had to be rebinding the Kedavra binding, losing you we was.” The elderly elf took a moment to glare at him, fondly, but still it communicated her disquiet. “At Hogwarts Brendan is, playing with the dog, he is. Chased me he did, catching me he tried to do.” A small grin played over her face at that last comment.

“Playing with the dog… Oh, Merlin, please tell me you don’t mean Sirius.”

Jaidy actually looked uncomfortable, a sight Severus had only seen once or twice before.

“Jaidy,” his tone was questioning, “you haven’t left Brendan to face Sirius alone have you?”

“Brendan insisted, he did,” she said proudly. She wasn’t going to back down on this point. “Needed to be in quarters you did, Brendan stayed, playing you, there to questions answering he be.”

“Questions?” A look of disquiet crossed Severus’ features at that; he knew the vital ingredient Jaidy would have needed to work the blood magic. “You were seen?” he asked, dreading the answer.

“Could not be helped,” Jaidy replied, “so Brendan is staying, answering questions.”

A horrid thought hit Severus as Jaidy spoke, “And just how long has Brendan been wearing my form?” he asked, worried that the answer was going to be as bad as he thought.

“Twelve hours, Pepper is waiting opening door at 13 hours.”

“Why isn’t the portal open now?” he asked.

“Because likely he got company, master Severus. We can’t be chancing opening door if Dumbledore there. WE waiting as long as possible, Brendan said do.”

“Bugger, I’d better get to work then,” Severus said briskly. Brendan was likely to be in a bad way after being under Polyjuice. “Miss Granger, I’ll need your help.” Severus grabbed Hermione giving her no choice but to follow. He clung to her desperately as he dragged her down to his private Potions Laboratory.

Hermione barely had time to register the surroundings as he and handed her a set of vials and a recipe to set her creating a ‘simple’ restorative. “Everything you need is here, Ms Granger. For your own safety *please* do not touch anything you don’t have to.” Seeing Hermione’s gobsmacked expression, Severus relented fractionally. “I’ll give you a tour later, young lady, but for now, I need that potion and fast.”

Freed from the need to make the restorative, Severus was able to concentrate of brewing the Polyjuice counter, whilst Brendan was likely to be coming out of the Polyjuiced form ‘naturally’, the counter would ease the final transition. Still Brendan was going to be a very ill young man after this. Hermione thought she heard Professor Snape mutter “Bloody addle-headed muggle,” but all Severus gave her was a sharp look reminiscent of Potions Class when she looked at him.

Thankful that the ‘cavalry’ had finally left, if they’d remained much longer they would have been treated to the most amazing technicolour yawn imaginable; even now Brendan was having trouble focusing on the swirling mass of colour, he could have he’d seen shades from the other side of the rainbow. Unfortunately Brendan was fast losing the ability to hold himself together, whilst he wouldn’t actually fall apart, he would feel like he had soon.

Unable to move away, Brendan watched with fierce concentration the space where the Portal home would appear. Pepper was likely waiting as long as possible to minimize the chance anyone remained with Brendan, but he was cutting the time limit to the line Currently, Brendan was ‘barely’ able to stay on his feet, and the thought of having to cross the room quite frankly scared the living daylights out of him. Still he would make that crossing once the portal opened, though no bets were accepted how far he’d get after that. Of course he also hoped Pepper had a very large bucket on standby. While he had lost all of breakfast already to the slow wearing off of the Polyjuice potion, the effect of portal crossing on his Muggle physiology added to effect of the Polyjuice wearing off was going to be rather uncomfortable.

The portal finally opened after what had seemed like an eternity since Dumbledore and company had left. But, instead of seeing Pepper waiting on the other side of the portal Brendan was surprised to see Severus stride through; Severus garbed informally, black pants and white shirt, Severus alive. The sheer joy this sight brought overwhelmed Brendan, and as he had already used up today’s, tomorrow’s and most likely the next week’s worth of energy, he collapsed gratefully into Severus’ waiting arms.

“Hello, sir. You’re alive,” was all Brendan managed to say before he fainted into safe harbour.

Severus for his part was still questioning that fact as well, but none of those thoughts showed on his face. Instead he had a wry sort of grin, one that would have shocked any member of the Hogwarts staff. Few believed he could smile; that he could grin with such gentle humour was inconceivable. Shaking his head he commented to thin air, “What am I going to do with you, Brendan?” Expecting no reply Severus turned and quickly carried the younger man back across the portal’s threshold.

Glad of the need to concentrate on Brendan, rather than the miracle of his own recovery, Severus strode through the halls of Snape manor bearing Brendan to back to his rooms. Hermione Granger had been safely stored back in his old bedroom with enough books to hopefully keep her occupied. With luck this meant he’d be able to get Brendan back on his feet and able to answer questions before he was bombarded with her inevitable questions.

Jaidy had as usual worked miracles. Brendan’s room was heated; the bed turned down and from the smell of things heated itself with Lavender Packs. On the table sat a set of vials, newly brewed, special potions that Severus had concocted with Miss Granger’s help that would help Brendan deal with the after-effects of the Polyjuice potion. Sliding the young man onto the bed, he pulled the covers up before turning to select one of the vials.

“You’ll feel better after this,” he murmured, placing a couple of drops on Brendan’s tongue. Severus then pulled up a comfortable chair so he could stay and monitor Brendan’s recovery. Brendan finally woke an hour or so later. Severus had actually fallen into a light sleep when he was rudely awakened by Brendan diving off the bed and heading for the room’s ensuite.