I'm using these characters without permission.

*dulcemaria413-There is a scene in the original story where Draco is meeting someone in the astronomy tower to make a deal to get what he wants.

*Regulus00-Thank you for the encouragement. There isn nothing like veiled threats and declarations of love to keep me going. :o)

*Isis78-13- I'm not usually a nice person but your plea struck my heart. Here's another short chapter to continue your frustration. :o)

Harry took a deep breath and pressed himself flush against the wall to remain unseen. Carefully he looked through the shards of the door to see Malfoy Sr fall to the floor from the book case as Snape fended off Longbottom as Neville swung the fire place poker and cracked him in the ribs. Snape doubled over and growled in pain.

Lucius stood up and looked around desperately for a wand and then stamped his foot in anger as he recalled the Potter brat took them. Snape dodged another swing at his ribs but Neville managed to catch Snape's knee instead. Watching Snape falling to his good knee in pain, Harry sprung into action. He lunged at Lucius and held him by a cruel handful of hair and his wand at his throat. Lucius screamed in pain and frustration. Longbottom, about to take another swing at the potions professor was distracted and Snape lunged at Neville and grabbed his bloody nose that Weasley gave him between his index and middle fingers and squeezed until Neville screamed in agony.

Harry pulled Lucius's hair tighter and whispered dangerously in to his ear, "As you hope to see your son live and breathe again, do not move." Lucius froze as Harry pointed his wand at Longbottom and muttered "Petrificus Totalus"

Longbottom dropped to the floor with blood still leaking out of his nose and the fire place poker fell to the wood floor with a clatter. Snape glared up from his pained position on the floor.

"I thought my instructions for your departure were very specific."

Harry who brought his wand back to the throat of Malfoy Sr and said quietly, "I must have misunderstood. I'm a little slow."

The potions professor snorted in amusement and then groaned in pain.

"Did you manage what we came for?"

"Naturally."

Snape would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't been so focused on not passing out.

Harry gestured for Malfoy Sr to sit in a chair and waved his wand intricately and muttered an incantation as large magical scarves emerged from the chair and held the deatheater securely to the chair. Another scarf appeared and wrapped around the chair's captives mouth.

"Don't move too much Mr. Malfoy. They tighten magically."

"What about my son?" Lucius attempted to ask through the gag around his mouth.

Harry waved his hand in a non committal manner. "All in good time. But first, this…OBLIVIATE!"

Harry took the still unconscious ferret out of his pocket in the opposite chair and changed Draco back to his human form. Securing Draco's unconscious form with more scarves, and also Obliviated Draco's recent memory.

"Potter, I don't know or care what you are doing but hurry. " Snape snapped as a wave of nausea rolled over him. Harry nodded and placed both Lucius's and Longbottom's wands next to the frozen form of Longbottom. He checked both Malfoy's for vacant expressions and was satisfied to see no recognition.

Finally, bending down to give his potions professor an arm up, Snape took a review of the situation and grunted in approval.

"Too bad you weren't in Slytherin, Potter. I think we could have used a mind like yours. And if you actually followed instructions."

"Why Professor, I think that's a backhanded compliment." Harry said surprised.

Snape said nothing, and wrapped his free arm around Potter's shoulder and managed to apparate outside of Hogwart's gates before he lunged away from Potter's support to be sick. The pain was almost blinding as his chest heaved after he had emptied his stomach. Potter drug him to his feet and wrapped Snape's arm around his shoulders and struggled under the much larger man's frame and weight.

"Sheesh Snape. You need to eat less."

"Shut up Potter. Not all of us can be part Oompa Loompa."

Harry laughed out loud in surprise. He decided Snape must be delirious with pain and began the long arduous task of have dragging his potion's professor towards the school. Thankfully, Hagrid was home and carried Snape the rest of the way to the Hospital wing with the Potions Master complaining most of the way before he lost consciousness.

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Hermione awoke around dawn in the hospital wing to find Ron Weasley snoring in a chair next to her bed, in the next bed she could see the messy hair of one Harry Potter stick out from under the comforter. In the bed on the other side of Harry's was the very pale form of Severus Snape. His black hair was splayed over the white sheets in a silken fan. But his skin was so pale she could hardly distinguish his bare chest from the strips of bandages wrapped around his chest and his knee that was suspended in the air. The professor looked to be in a medically induced sleep as his face showed signs of struggle. A snort from Ron startled Hermione out of her thoughts. She tried her feet on the hospital floor and stood up without difficulty. She took Ron's hand and gently led him to her warm bed. He collapsed on to the bed without waking up at all. Hermione tip toed over to the professor and she smoothed a stray hair out of his face. She ran a gentle finger down his face and he turned his sleeping face in her direction. Hermione smiled to herself.

After visiting the loo, she crawled in bed with Harry after nudging him awake with her cold toes.

"Hmmrph, stop! You're cold!" Harry muttered as he obligingly moved over to make room for Hermione. Ron snorted from Hermione's bed and continued to snore. Hermione crawled under Harry's covers and placed a small kiss on his nose.

"Hurmph. Don't be coming over here being all sweet after you put your cold feet on me. Now I have to pee." Harry grouched.

"Thank you, Harry."

Harry didn't say anything for a bit and then said softly, "Don't thank me yet. He's in real bad shape. Neville got a couple swings into him with a poker. Snape was actually joking with me last night he was so out of it."

"I meant Thank you for coming for me."

"Oh, well sure. You don't think I'm going to sit around while those rats abduct my best friend do you? I'd never pass another class."

Hermione smiled and playfully slapped Harry's face. He grabbed her into a bear hug and squeezed her tightly. After releasing her he sighed heavily. "Snape really cares about you. He was furious and beside himself with worry. I really thought he might kill anyone he could get his hands on without thinking twice. If Longbottom hadn't surprised him with that poker he would have killed Lucius."

Hermione shuddered. "It was awful, Harry." As two tears ran down her cheeks Harry kissed them away. "It's okay now. Snape will take wonderful care of you, I know he will."

Hermione looked at him baffled. "What do you mean?"

Harry shrugged, "He told me that you and he were…uh intimate and you were like soul mates or something."

Hermione looked embarrassed, "He told you we had been intimate?" She whispered in outrage.

Harry looked uncomfortable and said, "Maybe you should talk to him about this later."

"If I'm speaking to him at all!" Hermione said and crossed her arms across her chest. Harry raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Not just any man would blow his cover as a spy and go toe to toe with a fire poker to rescue a girl. You better be kissing his injuries and above all at least speaking to him." Hermione didn't say anything but frowned looked thoughtful.

Harry exited the bed and visited the loo and returned to put his cold feet on Hermione who squealed and kicked him away.

The morning sun was beginning to streak through the sky when Harry and Hermione both fell back asleep.

Harry was awakened by someone nudging him with something quite hard. Harry opened his bleary eyes to see the outline of the Potions master in Ron's chair, poking him with a cane.

"Either move over Potter, or find a new bed."

Harry opened his eyes wide and gathered his glasses form the night table.

"Huh?" was Harry's intelligible reply.

"I said, either move over or find another bed."

"But this is my bed!" Harry grouched.

"Yes, but it has my mate in it. So, you can either move over and lay in the bed with us or find a new bed. The first option isn't recommended. I mean, what kind of rumors would that start?" The professor asked silkily.

Harry threw back the covers and stomped over to Hermione's bed and elbowed Ron into submission and climbed into bed with him. The potion's master sucked in a deep breath as he lay carefully down beside Hermione. She opened her eyes at the movement and instantly cuddled up to his chest.

"Thank you, Severus."

Snape placed a gentle kiss to her temple, and buried his nose in her hair.

TBC