Man! But this chapter took forever! Sorry!!

Anyway, thank you so much! Almost 200 reviews...WOW! I'm blown away...and I'm still not done! Glad you all like this!! I especially love the more technical reviews, thank you!!

Now, as for this chapter...It's a bit angsty...wonder if I should change the rating to PG-13 for it... Might, just in case. Also there's a hint at romance for Ron and Hermione. But it's only a hint and there will be no more than this coming in this story or its sequel when I write it. As I said before, this is not a romance. I'm sticking strictly to the book with this, trying for the character reactions and the hinting of the books.

This said, ENJOY!!



Hermione hurried up the path to Hogwarts trying desperately to at least keep Ron and the twins in sight. Unfortunately, their longer legs far outstripped hers for speed and she found their bodies growing smaller and more indistinct as the gap between them steadily widened.

She stopped and fell to her knees, panting, as she finally lost sight of the boys as they entered the castle. She sat for a few moments, hoping for Harry to be fine when she finally saw him. Hoping that they had been wrong when they said he was deathly ill, that he had been cured since they had received the owl telling them of his rescue.

Finally she scrambled back onto her feet and made another dash for the door, she reached it this time, only stopping once she'd reached the open doors. There she panted a moment before continuing her hurried flight straight to the hospital, where she saw finally saw him.

At first she only saw Ron and the Weasley twins standing over a bed. She walked slowly in from the doorway, her heart beating quickly while a sickening feeling spread through her stomach.

"Ron," she asked hesitantly, knowing that had to be Harry in the bed. On a desperate whim she also called, "Harry?"

Ron turned to look at her, his face dark and long. The Weasley twins began walking to the other side of the bed to make more room for Hermione.

Hermione continued her course into the room, unknowingly passing a silent Sirius and Lupin, then stopped as Ron moved out of her line vision so she could see Harry. She saw only the still figure on the bed, pale and flushed, looking for all the world as though he were dead.

With a sob, Hermione buried her face into her hands.

"Hermione," Ron said quietly, but loud enough to break into her thoughts.

Hermione shook her head, grief having stolen her voice. She barely looked up as she dropped her hands and ran full-force into Ron.

"Oof," Ron cried as she hit him. His arms came up to embrace her in instinct, but after the initial surprise had gone, they remained there.

Hermione continued to cry for her fallen friend as Ron buried his head in her hair, ignoring his brothers' half-hearted catcalls. Not even his mother's surprised exclamation stirred the two, they stood firm in their shared grief as they silently vowed not to leave Harry's side ever again.





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Snape had gathered all his ingredients together and placed them in the antidote, now he had only two tasks left. He sighed as he let the potion sit for a few more minutes over the fire and walked over to the brown school owl he had brought down with him earlier.

He picked up a letter he had written earlier and quickly attached it to the bird's leg. He didn't want to read it again. He knew it sounded too much like a suicide note and he had no wish to remind himself of the fact that he might very well not survive to see the dawn.

Snape looked back at the cauldron and felt a surge of panic rise in his heart and mind.

'What are you doing,' his survival instincts screamed at him. 'Do you really want to die for one scrawny, stupid boy? And the son of James Potter no less!'

Snape shook his head and thought of what life would be like without Harry. A lot more peaceful, to be sure. No more insolent Boy Wonder's around to break rules and give him heart attacks every year.

But then again, there'd be no more hope in the wizarding world. Harry was the wizarding world's hope because of his miraculous survival of Voldemort's attack, not because he had done anything to earn his status. He was simply a convenient vessel for a terrorized world to focus on, a light, so to speak, to lead them back out of darkness. And without that light, they would all be lost. Severus Snape included.

Snape looked down at his ancient books and remembered all of Harry's miraculous escapes from death. The memory of every single one would someday finally turn Snape's hair white, but he knew he wished for there to be more misadventures to turn Snape as white as Dumbledore. Harry was not only his hope, he was the one person Snape did not want to see finally outsmarted by death.

"Take that to Dumbledore and be quick about it," Snape snarled in a moment of courage.

He sadly watched the owl fly out the window be fore nervously reading the clock and writing down the time and when it would be safe for Harry to drink the potion.

Snape picked up a long thin knife, its wavy blade shining bright in the firelight, and with slow deliberate steps walked over to the bubbling cauldron. He quickly dampened the fire so that the potion would simmer and raised his arm over the cauldron.

The dark mark seemed to glow maliciously on the pale white skin of his soft arm, causing Snape's courage to falter once again. Who would protect Harry without him there? But he shook himself and raised the knife, his hand shaking though his arm remained still as stone.

With one quick slash, the vein was open and dark red blood flowed out and down into the potion which changed to a bright silver. Snape watched the blood flow impassive, his emotions too strong for him to continue feeling consciously.

"For you, Harry," he said in a voice that sounded almost like a ghost's whisper. "Live for us both."

Snape felt himself begin to slip to the floor and caught himself on the rim of the cauldron. He ignored the burning flesh against the cauldron and contrated on giving Harry as much blood as he could. Soon he found himself slipping again and this time he did not fight it. He didn't even fight it when the darkness came to embrace him in its warm, tender arms.



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Dumbledore walked wearily back to the hospital. He wished to talk to Molly and Arthur Weasley about Harry and discuss the riddle Lupin had found with everyone.

It had never crossed his mind that Snape might not be there, as he knew Madame Pomfrey to be a virtual lioness when it came to her patients and thought she would have already "persuaded" him to come back for a bit of a rest.

He was surprised, then, when he made it to the hospital wing to find Snape missing. However, he wasn't too surprised, as Snape had never been a very sentamental sort of man and therefore would not wish to remain in a room where Ron and Hermione were currently cuddled together in a chair as they stood vigil over Harry.

His blue eyes twinkled as he wondered how long it would take after they left the school for him to have a new Weasley child with bushy hair and fanatical study habits.

A brown owl flew in the room, causing Hermione to lift her head in order to glare at it as though she thought it a demon come to steal her best friend from her. Dumbledore chuckled at this as he allowed the bird to settle on his arm.

Dumbledore untied the letter from the bird's leg and allowed it to fly back to the owlery, briefly pausing to wonder who in the school would bother with an owl to speak with him. His face paled over his white beard as his eyes widened in horror.

"Severus..." he breathed disbelievingly.

"Albus," Poppy asked, looking at him, worried. The others in the room grew even more silent than before as they too realized what the look on his face foretold.

"Poppy, meet me in Severus's office," he told her quickly. "And hurry!"

Dumbledore whirled around and was gone from the room so fast that he left the other occupants blinking at his speed.

"Foolish," he said, desperately hoping he could make it in time. "Why didn't you wait for me, Severus?"

When he finally made it to the dungeons, Dumbledore was out of breath, but he still pushed on relentlessly until he was facing the door to Snape's office. Dumbledore pushed the door open with a loud creak and stood in horror at the sight that met his eyes.

Severus Snape lay sprawled in a spreading pool of his own blood on the floor by a softly simmering cauldron of what was obviously Harry's antidote. His paler than normal skin shimmered in the dancing light as the blood leaked out attempted to hide him within it along with any shames he might have had in life.

Dumbledore rushed to Snape's side, his heart in his throat, horror at the sight choking him. He viciously ripped a piece of fabric from Snape's robe and tightly wrapped the wound.

"Dum...Dumble..." Snape breathed as best he could. Dumbledore's head snapped up to gaze into Snape's deep black eyes as Snape continued trying to speak.

"Al...bus..save..Harry...tell...him...live..." Snape said as fast as he could to ensure his message got out.

Dumbledore nodded quickly and Snape, satisfied, gave a small smile and laid back, his eyes closing and a satisfied sigh escaping his lips.

Fearful, Dumbledore felt Snape's neck for a pulse, his fingers' slippery with bloody. He breathed a sigh of relief. Snape was alive. Dumbledore had only to see to it that it remained that way - and that even if Snape did not, his sacrifice would not be in vain.



Next Chapter: The Hope