Chapter 15

As much as it vexes me to admit it, and I will never say it aloud to the conniving coot, Albus's reckless plan to get the Order to begin trusting me seems to be working. Ever since that night a few months ago over Christmas break, the Order has been more welcoming and open with me. I am being included in more strategic discussions, and a few members have even sought out me out to teach them healing spells in the event one of them gets injured when I am at the school. The Weasley family, in particular, has been quite adamant about learning all they can, much to Severus's chagrin. The eldest son, Bill, seems to have a knack for approaching me at precisely the wrong time; namely when Severus and I finally have a moment alone at the end of a meeting.

Molly has actually been exceedingly helpful in training the Order members in the healing arts. Having seven children, six of which are boys, picking up an array of healing methods throughout the years was essential for the witch. Merlin bless her, I don't know how she does it. A few hours with kids just in my classroom and I am wiped out, I can't even imagine trying to care for them 24/7! Her assistance has been acutely advantageous since the school term started up again, since I can't always be at headquarters at the drop of a sickle, given my class and treatment schedules. She has already begun prodding me to teach her more advanced spells when Hogwarts goes on Easter Break later this month.

I know Severus will grumble about me devoting some of our precious student-free time to this, but deep down he knows it is important for the greater good. He will put on a good show of being disgruntled, but I know as soon as we do have the opportunity to be safely ensconced behind closed doors in one another's arms he will let it go and focus on more, uh, pleasurable pursuits. With my Occlumency still holding strong, and Severus continually building my abilities through training, we have been far more free with our feelings and demonstrations of affection, even if it is still only in utter privacy due to eh precarious situation of Severus working as a double agent. It has been unspeakably difficult to see the horror and despair in his eyes each time that monster calls him, and worse having to patch him up after he has suffered the brunt of the madman's inscrutable wrath, but if I am able to provide a small measure of comfort to him, then it is worth it. It seems our physical acts also help him to heal, mentally and emotionally, in addition to bringing us both physical bliss. Speaking of which, if I stop woolgathering and finish grading these quizzes I can catch Severus in the hour he has free between his last class and dinner. With renewed focus and gusto, I turn my attention to the stack of papers, unable to wipe the hopeful smile off my face.

Within a half hour I have finished the marking, and I am thrilled to find Severus's class should just be getting out now. I flick my wand to file the papers back int their proper folder, grab my cloak (the dungeons are always so cold, despite the fireplaces and warming charms), and sweep out into the hall. "Professor Snape," I call as I see him closing the door to his classroom, ready to depart. The last few students out of the room turn sharply to stare at us, but one disparaging look from Severus has them scampering away like frightened little mice.

"Healer Bradford, what is it?" he asks impatiently, not dropping his usual façade of stern annoyance in case any other students are still near.

"I hate to bother you during your free period," I answer mildly, "but I am in need of some bruise paste for my third year class tomorrow morning. I could have sworn I had another jar but this evening I searched high and low and have not been able to locate it," I simper with dramatic frustration.

"Very well," he sighs begrudgingly, "but you will not make a habit of this. My time and ingredients are not meant to be frivolously wasted simply because you can't keep account of your belongings!" he scowls, causing a passing first year Ravenclaw to meep in terror and practically sprint past us. I will confess, I nearly lose my composure at this and it takes all of my willpower not to chuckle out loud and ruin our little performance. "Foolish woman," Severus snips, obviously having noticed my struggle and deciding to push me to my limits, because he is sadistic like that. "I believe I have a jar in the supply closet in my classroom. Come in, and hurry up, for Merlin's sake. I haven't got all day to waste!"

"Of course, Professor, thank you!" I manage to eek out as I swiftly enter the room. As soon as Severus slams the door shut behind us I break out into soft guffaws. "You're an arse," I wheeze as he raises his brow and gives me a self-satisfied challenging look.

"And you, my dear, are too easy to break," he retorts as he locks the door and stalks towards me like a jungle cat ready to pounce on its prey.

"Hmm, I'll show you who is easy to break," I throw back, leaping upon him before he can react and pushing him roughly up against the wall. I kiss him forcefully, tasting that acid tongue of his, and grabbing onto his long strands so he can't escape. He moans lowly and I can feel him press his pelvis even more strongly against me, his growing erection rubbing deliciously against my hip.

"My room or yours?" he pants when we break apart for a moment to breathe.

"Neither," I reply breathlessly. "I need you right now, right here."

"Here?" he questions with wide eyes scanning around his classroom.

"Yes," I hiss as I fondle him through his robes. "That way, every class you teach in here, you will be reminded of what we did. The way I kissed you breathless, stripped you of every stitch of clothing and caressed every inch of your skin-first with my hands, then with my mouth. You'll remember how I sucked your cock until you were begging for release, and how I let you take me, hard, right here on your very desk," I explain seductively as I maneuver him over to his desk and clear it with a flick of my wand.

He growls and throws me down onto the hard wood of the desk, practically tearing off my cloak and robe. Before we get much further, though, there is an incredibly annoying and insistent knocking on the classroom door. "Severus, are you in there?" Madame Pomfrey calls out, an edge to her voice signifying that she has not sought Severus out for a social call.

Severus looks at me, seemingly asking if he should respond. Part of me wants him to just ignore it so she will go away, but I know that she would not have come to find Severus and practically banged down his door if this was not serious. With a deep sigh, I gesture for him to respond. He scowls deeply but stands up and fixes his robes quickly. He stalks to the door like a raging storm, and strongly pulls it open just a crack.

"What is it, Poppy? I am in the midst of a very volatile potion," he states gruffly, is annoyance clear in his tone and stance.

"I'm sorry Severus, but I'm afraid it is urgent. A student has been poisoned," she laments.

'Poisoned? Are they-"

"He is alive, thank Merlin. Mr. Potter did some very quick thinking and gave him a bezoar," she explains and I can tell just from the muscles of Severus's back that he takes issue with the phrases "Mr. Potter" and "quick thinking" being in the same sentence. "He is stable, for now, but we need to know what the poison was in order to take the proper next steps in treatment."

"Very well," Severus sighs, shooting me a furtive glance and finding I have already dressed, though my robe is rather badly torn at the right shoulder. "I take it you have the item containing the poison?" he asks as he steps into the hall and slowly, deliberately closes the door, giving me a significant look.

I hear their voices fade down the hall and take a moment to repair my robes before cracking the door open. I look around quickly to make sure the hallway is empty, then scurry out and cast a warding charm on the door behind me. I am anxious to know what is going on, but heading straight to the infirmary would be suspicious, seeing as Madame Pomfrey did not call me to assist her. Therefore, I head back to my office, deciding to work on the latest tweaks to Albus's treatment program. I need something to take my mind off of my raging hormones, after all, and nothing captures my attention quite like a challenging medical mystery.

In the months since Albus started responding to this course of treatment, the progression of his curse has slowed significantly, but it still has not stopped. Before, Severus had brilliantly bought the Headmaster about a year of time with his potions regimen and counter-curse spells. With this treatment, assuming a relatively stable linear progression, his prognosis has been extended to about three years. Progress, to be sure, but still not a cure, and anyone who has ever worked with me knows I will not settle until I solve any problem with which I am presented.

With this objective in mind, I reach my office only to find someone pacing anxiously outside of it. As I get closer, I see it is one of my most promising students, Ginny Weasley. "Ginny?" I ask, wondering what she is doing at my office when she should be at dinner.

"Oh, Professor, thank Merlin! I've been looking everywhere for you!" she exclaims with palpable relief as she rushes towards me.

"What's wrong?" I inquire, since her frantic state proves she is not just here with a question on the latest assignment.

"It's my brother. You have to help him!" she cries desperately.

"Is he hurt? Where is he?" I cut right to the chase, now in full Healer mode.

"He was poisoned!" she exclaims. "He's in the infirmary right now and Madame Pomfrey said he's stable, but I heard her say there could be serious lasting damage if they don't figure out which poison it was. She doesn't know, and I know it isn't exactly a curse, but since you have so much experience with treating dark stuff, I thought you might be able to help. Can you? Oh, please tell me you can!"

Ah, so Ron is the unfortunate student who was poisoned. It makes sense that Harry was the one to save him; I rarely ever see those two apart from one another. "Ginny, take a deep breath. In…and…out…in…and…out. Good, keep doing that. You'll be no help to Ron if you hyperventilate and pass out. I'll do everything I can to help your brother, ok? Let's head up to the infirmary and take a look at him, hm?" I am a bit calmer now, coming down from my Healer Mode, knowing that Ron is already in two sets of very capable hands.

The redhead nods, no longer on the edge of a breakdown, and I open my office door to bring us to the floo. Within seconds we emerge in the infirmary and Ginny takes off like a shot to Ron's side. She skids to a halt when she notices Severus standing intimidatingly over the hospital bed, running his wand up and down the boy's long length. The racket causes him to briefly glance our way and his patented scowl deepens.

"Miss Weasley, if you are looking to practice your sprinting skills, I suggest you do so on the quidditch pitch, not in the infirmary," Severus clips in annoyance, turning back to his casting almost immediately. "Healer Bradford, based on the circumstances of your entry I assume Miss Weasley scurried off to garner your assistance with her brother, but I assure you I have the matter in hand."

"I'm certain you do, Professor Snape. I'm sure Ginny was unaware that you had been called in when she sought me out. Since I am here, though…" I lead while suppressing my smirk, "perhaps I could be of some assistance?"

"I sincerely doubt you will be able to uncover something I cannot, but if you stay out of my way and remain quiet," he emphasizes as he flashes a glare at Ginny, " I suppose you may remain."

"How magnanimous of you, Severus," Madame Pomfrey states dryly as she emerges from her office with a clipboard. "Last time I checked, though, this was my infirmary, and therefore it is up to my discretion who comes and goes. El, of course we welcome your help."

Annoyance flashes over Severus' countenance but he knows she is correct, so he merely grunts and turns away. Madame Pomfrey smirks at me behind his back and I smile fondly at the exchange. "So, what are we dealing with, Poppy?" I ask innocently. She catches me up, with Severus interjecting his findings thus far. When Severus reveals that the conduit for the poison in question was a bottle of mead meant for Dumbledore we share a significant look.

"Malfoy" flits across my consciousness, clearly not originating from my own brain, despite the fact that it was precisely what I was thinking.

"Merlin, that kid is a menace!" I mentally send back. "He's going to kill someone with his sloppy methods if we don't put a stop to this soon."

"Agreed. I will try to speak with him again, though I doubt it will do much good given the reception I received over the holidays"

I nod discretely, not having much more faith than Severus. There has to be a way to reach him, though, and to convince him he doesn't need to do this. I'll regroup with Severus once we treat Mr. Weasley. It was months between Draco's attempts on Albus's life, so, Merlin willing, things will slow down for a while on the injuries and drama after this, giving us time to come up with a plan.

"All this time, I assumed the Dark Lord would be the death of me, but it turns out I was wrong; a spoilt, melodramatic teenager will be!" Severus fumes after he storms into his quarters, where I have been waiting for him for the past 20 minutes.

"I take it your second attempt at a talk with young Mr. Malfoy was not a rousing success?" I deadpan.

He narrows his gorgeous deep eyes at me in aggravation before beginning to pace. "Bloody arrogant teenagers, think they know everything!" he growls. "He has made it abundantly clear that he will not accept any guidance from me in regards to his task, so we need to find another way to mitigate his attempts before there are any permanent casualties."

"Do you think he will at least be more careful, considering what happened to Katie and Ron?" I ask with cautious hope.

"Considering the second victim was one of his most hated rivals in the school he did not show any concern for Mr. Weasley's welfare. As for Ms. Bell, who can say? The boy is putting on a tough front, but I know he is scared witless. He is panicking, which is causing these errors, but he refuses to acknowledge his weakness. Unsurprising, considering his parents and the fact that he is a Slytherin. I fear this latest foible will only exacerbate that panic and cause him to be even more reckless in his pursuit," he postulates as he finally stops pacing and falls heavily onto the couch. "If it wasn't for this bloody Unbreakable Vow I would just Incarcerous him and keep him locked away until the end of the school year. Perhaps I will do that anyway, even if it means I must then…Still, at least it would guarantee no more students are maimed by his shoddy attempts."

"I'm afraid the other professors and some of the students might notice if Mr. Malfoy suddenly went missing for the last 4 or so months of the term," I point out wryly, trying to distract Severus from going down the dark path of what will happen if Draco fails in his task, or what will happen if he actually succeeds. He gives me a miniscule curvature of his lips, rather than any sort of actual smile, but being that this is Severus, I will take it as a victory.

Unfortunately, though, now I am mentally traversing that dark path. We have made great strides in treating Albus's curse, but we still don't have a cure. Even if we did, part of me wonders if it would matter. Albus seems so convinced that Severus killing him is the only way to spare Draco's soul and ensure Severus's position in the Dark Lord's inner circle that I wonder if he would still insist my love commit the heinous act even if he was cured. The possibility is too horrific to even contemplate. If Severus has to kill Albus when he is already dying it will be torturous for him, but if he has to do it when the Headmaster's demise is not otherwise imminent…well that I honestly don't think Severus would be able to survive. If only Draco would put away his foolish pride and accept Sev's help! If the boy would listen to reason, maybe we could get him onto our side. I have seen the fear in him that Severus speaks of, and I know that boy is no cold hearted killer. Pompous, arrogant, and mean…yes, but not a killer. He can't possibly be happy being a Death Eater, no matter how strongly he believes all that Pureblood supremacy hippogriff shit his parents have been feeding him all his life. He may not be in my class but if there is one thing I know for sure about that boy, its that he does not like to get his hands dirty. Certainly, going around torturing and killing people is not the life he aspires to.

"Do you think Draco actually wants to be a Death Eater?" I can't help but ask Severus. After all, he knows the boy far better than I do.

"I think that he believed he did, but in truth he had no idea what it entailed…like far too many young people who join his cause. All that Draco knew of the Death Eaters was what his father chose to portray to him, which was far from the truth. To Draco, being a Death Eater was like join in a noble quest to save the very essence of Magic form being polluted and degraded by those who are 'less worthy' to possess it than those of so-called pure blood. I am certain Lucius never shared tales of the countless times he was tortured for failing a task, or even just saying a wrong word when the Dark Lord was in a poor mood. Likewise, I doubt he ever shared with the boy the true actions he has committed. Draco may think teasing and bullying muggles and muggleborns is entertaining and fun, but if Lucius had ever deigned to tell him of the time he severed each finger off the hands of a girl no more than six years old in order to get her muggleborn father to confess the whereabouts of a powerful magical artifact that the Dark Lord desired, which it turned out he truly did not know, I doubt he would find it so amusing. In fact, if the boy knew half the things his father has done…that I've done, I believe he would sick up and run the other way. Alas, since he was sheltered from this harsh reality, he jumped into a pool far too deep for him, and now he is stuck learning the truth the hard way. Now that he knows what being a Death Eater truly is, no, I don't believe he wants to be one."

"Could we maybe talk him round to our side, then? If he truly doesn't want to be one of the Dark Lord's minions anymore, perhaps we can work with him to find a way to circumvent his task and the Vow you made. Maybe, we can give Albus a Draught of Living Death, concealed in a capsule he can keep under his tongue when the time comes, and we can tell Draco to pretend to give him untraceable poison! That way, it will look like Draco succeeded, the Dark lord will believe the task fulfilled, and you can both be done with it. Dumbledore can hide out for the remainder of the war, and no one will be any the wiser!" I suggest with a growing sense of hope and triumph.

Severus seems to ponder it for a while, but I can see that he has some qualms when he reluctantly looks back into my eyes. "It's a brilliant plan, El…"

"But?" I ask, dreading his response.

"But Draco would never go for it. He genuinely despises Dumbledore, to start, partly due to his father and partly due to the blatant favoritism that the man has shown for Gryffindor, and Potter in particular. More importantly, he is operating from a basis of fear, and the reality is that his parents' lives are in the hands of the Dark Lord. As long as that remains the case, nothing we say or do will convince him to abandon the path that he believes will save them. Malfoys have many faults, but they are always loyal to family, and that is Draco's only care, right now. If we can't guarantee Lucius and Narcissa's safety, the boy will never cease trying to fulfill his task.

I try to put myself in the boy's shoes, imagining what I would do if a murderous madman had my mum and dad hostage. I sigh, realizing the answer to that question is 'just about anything'. If that is true for me, who is a professional Healer with a vow to help everyone and do no harm, I can't even fathom the lengths that someone like Draco would be willing to go to. Severus wraps an arm around me, shuffling closer to me and letting me rest my head on his shoulder. He doesn't offer any empty platitudes about us finding a way, or it all working out; he has seen far too much in his life to utilize such patronizations, but even without any words, being held by him helps a bit. We have an uphill battle coming our way, but at least we are in it together.

No matter how difficult, I won't give up. Malfoy won't change sides while his family is in danger, I get that, but maybe if we can find a way to safely get his parents out of that monster's clutches then he might be willing to go along with my plan. Too bad combat and defense aren't exactly my areas of specialty. No, they aren't my strong suit, but I know someone who is an expert in those fields!