A/N I just realised that my story makes no sense, time wise. Let me explain. Draco and Harry moved in two days before the end of term. 'Today' is the last day of term before Christmas. I might do some Christmas fluff, depending on whether my reviewers want it. Please let me know. Also, taking a leaf out of Diagonalist's book, I'm begging for long reviews. . .love 'em!



Snape sucked in his breath sharply. Something was really wrong, because the boy was boiling hot but still shaking. The only thing it could be was a curse. . .

"Finite incantatem" he intoned, and watched in horror as Harry's body shrank. His face was ghostly white, and there were huge shadows under his eyes. More worrying was the way his cheekbones and ribs stuck out. As gently as he could, Snape carried Harry through to his own bedroom and laid him down on the bed.

A hand on the forehead proved that the boy was indeed burning with a fever. There were bruises on the delicate features, probably from the wall. Horrified at not having found out before, Snape sank down next to Harry and stroked his clammy hair back.

How long had he been ill? Why hadn't he told Snape? Or Draco? Or anyone? Then he realised that he really didn't have time to talk to himself about it. He pulled a sheet over Harry after taking off the boy's shoes, and then cast a temperature regulating spell over him. His son. . .his frail, pale little son, began to toss and turn, groaning unintelligibly.

Snape looked at him, worry clouding the normally expressionless features. It didn't seem to be a curse, or at least not one that Snape knew of. But Harry was obviously seriously ill. Eventually he decided to call Pomfrey, and threw a handful of red powder only used for emergencies into the fireplace, all the while looking at Harry.

"Poppy, I need you to come down here. Mr Potter is unwell."

Poppy didn't waste time with idle chit-chat - there was a pop and she stepped out of the fireplace, dusting off her dress, and bustled over to Harry. She looked at him, worry clouding her eyes, and cast a few charms. Then she turned around and looked at Snape.

"Severus, this is extremely odd. He isn't under any curse or spell, but he is very ill."

Snape rolled his eyes.

"Did it not occur to you that I might have ascertained that for myself before I called you?"

The nurse bristled and glowered at Snape, who returned the scowl coolly. Then she turned back to Harry, and cast a few more charms on him. Snape tried to feign disinterest although his eyes were riveted on the bed.

"What happened?"

"Hmm?"

"What happened, Severus! You would normally throw the student in question out of the portrait hole and leave them to freeze."

Snape scowled, but quickly relented.

"He came in for a detention and passed out straight away. I may be heartless, but I could see that he was ill."

"Well, Severus, I'm sure you won't be happy to hear this, but I'm afraid there really is no chance of moving him. He's far too frail. Look how thin he is!"

Snape gave a non-committal grunt and a curt nod.

"I shall summon the Headmaster, Poppy, if you will excuse me."

Pomfrey bent over Harry, looking sadly at the bony boy who she had seen far too many times. He was seriously underweight; his ribs projected from the skin giving him a deathly look in the shadows of the dungeons.

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"Dumbledore's office!"

"Ah, Severus. What can I do for you?"

"Albus, can you please come downstairs? Harry's ill."

Albus nodded shortly, and appeared in Snape's office with a squeaky popping sound.

"What happened?"

Snape shrugged, and sagged into a chair, suddenly exhausted.

"I called him in about Malfoy, because I thought it was odd. And, I suppose, I wanted to spend some time with him. He came in and sat down, and I was trying to talk to him and he was not really listening. Then. . .I asked him if he was alright. He nodded and smiled to a point about 2 inches from my left ear, then passed out."

Dumbledore frowned.

"Is there something you aren't telling me, Severus?"

"I took the concealing charms off him after he had fainted. God, Albus, he looks dreadful. How could I have let him get this bad?"

Snape buried his hands in his hair and stared at the floor, flinching away as Dumbledore reached out a hand.

"Don't touch me! Have you seen him? He's white as a ghost, he is severely underweight, and he has bruises on his head from trying to knock himself out because he can't sleep!"

Dumbledore's eyes shut in pain.

"Will Poppy be taking him to the Infirmary?"

"No - she says he's too ill to move. Albus, I don't know what to do? How could I have not noticed? He said he didn't want to go to classes and I forced him to!"

"Now, now Severus. You're being too hard on yourself."

Snape glowered in silence and showed Dumbledore through to where Harry lay. Despite himself, the headmaster sucked in his breath sharply.

"I told you" muttered Snape, and immediately stiffened as he felt the tip of a wand poke into his neck. Dumbledore spoke in a low, dangerous voice.

"Harry needs someone to look after him, not someone to berate themselves. It's happened now. You need to take care of your son and stop being so self- obsessed, Severus."

Snape swallowed, partly due to the fact that the wand was cutting off his breath and partly through nervousness of the old man, who's magic had lost none of it's potency over the years. Then, surprising him as only Dumbledore could, the headmaster patted Snape on the shoulder, ruffled Harry's hair and made his way out.

"Oh, and Severus? I'll cancel your classes for today. I want you to stay with Harry."

He was out of the door before Snape could argue.

***************************************

Harry didn't know whether he was awake or still dreaming. Did people get sick in dreams? Because he really felt like throwing up. He tried to make some noise, or move, but all he managed was a weak little whimper. Instantly someone was by his side; he could feel the looming presence. His first instinct was to throw his arms up against the inevitable attack, before he realised that he would not be on a bed if he was in Surrey.

"Sick" he mumbled through cracked and swollen lips. He felt gentle hands tilt him slightly, and his head swam. Vomit rushed up into his mouth and he threw up violently into a bowl of some sort before being gently laid back down again. He dimly noticed that the pillows had a cooling charm placed on them; they felt good against his throbbing head. That was the last thing he remembered as a new kind of darkness closed over his head.

***************************

Snape put a hand on Harry's forehead. He was still burning with fever. Just then his son groaned and tried to move. Snape moved next to him and was disconcerted when he flinched and tried to draw bony arms up to hide his face.

He suddenly realised that the boy was very pale, rapidly turning green. He summoned a basin just at the same time as Harry mumbled something like 'sick' and put it in front of the boy, wincing in sympathy as he threw up. When he was sure that Harry couldn't possibly have any more food to bring up, he cast a quick cooling charm on the pillows and lay Harry back down, watching as his son drifted back into unconsciousness.







A/N Ok, I know I normally write longer chapters, but the next one is really important so I thought I'd end this one at a convenient spot.