It was precious few days after Harry and I had returned from the camping trip that I was called to go down to the local police station. I was told they had some 'questions' for me. When we arrived, an officer told me that Harry should not go with me when I was being questioned, and made to usher him away from me. Harry glared at the officer, taking hold of my hand with a grip like a vice and I looked up to the man,
"You won't get him to leave me. He doesn't trust anyone else."
"He can't go with you while you're being questioned-"
"His Czech isn't very good; he won't know what's being said anyway."
The man gave a sigh and relented, allowing Harry to follow me into the room where I was to be questioned. I walked in to find an amiable looking man sitting behind a desk.
"Mr. Snape, come in, please. Have a seat." He looked at Harry curiously,
"Didn't the officer outside tell you that you should come in alone?"
"Yes, sir, but he conceded it would be alright because the boy's Czech is so poor."
The man nodded,
"Alright, then. Well, the reason you're here Mr. Snape is because we're curious as to what transpired between you and your Russian bride," he looked at a file," it would appear you were married for 3 months when she mysteriously ran off to Germany, is that right?"
"Yes, sir, that's correct."
The man sighed,
"Let me get straight to the point: It seems as though you married this woman just so that she could get to western Germany. The file I have here says that the two of you never even lived together."
"Well, that's not entirely true. We did live together for about 3 weeks, but she kept opening the windows: She was used to Russian winters and frankly threatened to freeze me out of house and home."
The man smiled,
"Ah, I see. Well, be that as it may, Mr. Snape, it also says here that the woman didn't even speak a serviceable amount of Czech. What, pray tell, possessed you to marry a woman you couldn't even speak to?"
My answers to such questions were long rehearsed, and I spat out my response quickly,
"Love knows no boundaries, sir. It's true that Petuniya didn't speak much Czech, but we understood each other well enough to know that we were in love."
The man looked uncomfortable,
"Yes, well-"
At that moment, another officer barged into the room,
"Enough of this!" He leaned into my face,
"The woman paid you to marry her so that she could go to western Germany! It's as simple as that!"
I put on a practiced expression of hurt,
"No, sir, that's not it at all. I had no idea that Petuniya had a lover in western Germany. I suppose I should have known a young Russian woman would not truly want anything to do with me, but foolishly enough I believed."
The man seemed prepared to snap at me again, but the other officer put a hand on his shoulder,
"As anyone would, Mr. Snape. You can go."
I nodded and gestured to Harry who had been sitting quietly watching the 'interrogation' unfold. As we were walking back home, Harry looked up at me, saying,
"'What, pray tell, possessed you to marry a woman you couldn't even speak to?"
I smiled,
"A few more interrogations and your Czech will be perfect."
He smiled back at me, taking up my hand even though we had long since crossed the street.
That night, Harry started coughing. His cough slowly progressed into a powerful, lung-heaving hack. His face was flushed and he seemed to be sweating slightly. Having no idea what to do for him, I called Albus.
"Let him lie down and put a cold compress on his forehead. I'll be over as soon as I can."
Some twenty minutes later, Albus was hovering over the boy with me,
"I believe he's caught a rather severe flu, Severus. He's going to need constant care for the next few days. Do you think you can handle it?"
I looked at him curiously,
"Of course I can handle it. But he will be alright…?"
Albus nodded,
"In a few days he should be feeling fine. Do you want me to stay to look after him?"
Again I looked at him, confused,
"No, I can do it myself just fine, thank you."
Albus gave me one of his strange looks then, eyes twinkling,
"Well, I'll leave him to your care, then. Make sure he gets the medicine I brought; it should relieve some of his symptoms."
Albus left, and I was again alone with my ill charge. For better or for worse, however, he had grown to be more than just a charge. The realization that I felt something deep and profound for Harry was slowly creeping up on me. I sighed, moving to step away from the bed, when Harry reached out for my hand.
"Severus…"
I sank down to sit on the edge of the bed as he spoke,
"Don't go. Stay here, with me."
I snorted a wry laugh,
"You'll get me sick, too."
"If … I get you sick…. I promise… I'll take care of you," he replied sleepily.
Something ached inside me as he spoke these words, and when I was certain he had fallen asleep, I hesitantly leaned down and pressed my lips to his forehead. I moved around the bed to lie down beside my sick boy. My last coherent thought before I drifted off to sleep was that I'd come to consider Harry not just 'the boy' but rather 'my boy'.
