Chapter 8

Previous Chapter: Harry just snapped. "You wanna jump? You really want to? Fine. Let's do it." He started towards the edge.

"Hey, what the fuck?"

"You asked for it."

"Hey, wait a minute!"

He stepped of the ledge, pulling MacCleary with him. "Geronimooooooooooooooo!"

They landed at the bottom, safe in a fireman's net. MacCleary was shrieking like a lunatic.

"You tried to kill me!"

"Isn't that what you wanted to do?" Harry said innocently as another Auror cut them loose from the handcuffs.

Yes, but ..... "

"If you ever think about jumping again, remember that."

Severus stalked over to them, enraged. MacCleary gulped.

"Professor Snape?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he reached out to grab Harry's collar, but Harry stopped it cold.

"Don't touch me."

"What the fuck did you just do?!?"

"I controlled the jump. You wanted him down. He's down."

"C'mere." He pulled Harry's arm and brought him around the corner, away from everyone else. "Okay, Potter, no bullshit. Do you want to kill yourself?"

"Aw, for Merlin's sake ....... "

"Shut up. Just yes or no. Do you want to die? Huh? Yes or no?"

"I got the job done."

"You're not answering the question!"

"What do you want to hear? Do you want to hear that I've got a vile of poison ready for occasion? Everyday I wake up and I look for a reason not to down it. Doing my job, paying them back ..... that's the reason. I can't let them get away with it. They took her from me ......

"Who?" asked Severus quietly.

"Blaise. My wife. I loved her .... And they killed her because of who I am."

"So you do want to die."

"I'm not afraid of it."

"Here. Poison's too slow. Use this. Go ahead." He handed Harry his gun. "Be my guest. Go ahead if you're serious."

Harry smiled and took the gun. He pulled back the hammer and pressed it to his head. "You shouldn't tempt me, Severus."

"Put it in your mouth. Bullet goes in your ear, might not kill you."

Harry pushed the gun into his neck instead. "Under the chin's just as good." He pulled the trigger .....

....... and Severus jamed his thumb in front of the hammer just in time.

"Merlin ......." he gasped. "You really are crazy."

"So now you know," Harry smiled coldly.

"Yeah. Now I know."

A couple streets away, still in London

Severus pressed the phone to his ear, desperate for any assurance that his ex-student wasn't going to off himself. He didn't getting any.

"You're asking me if he's stable and I'm telling you no," Lisa Turpin's voice came through the reciever. "He's the not the same man he was in Hogwarts, Professor."

"Great. So I should worry?"

"Are you kidding? The guy's a time bomb. When he goes, stand back."

"Thank you, Miss Turpin. You've been very helpful." He hung up the phone and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm too old for this."

In the car

The car was filled with silence. Harry quietly stared out the window, while Severus took his anger out on the road: slamming the brakes and squealing around the corners. And Severus just couldn't hold it in anymore. He pulled over to the side of the road and pounded his fist on the stearing wheel.

"It's my birthday, dammit! Fifty years old today! Fifty bloody years old! Ten years on the force! Not a scratch on me. Not a scar. I've got a wife! Kids! House! Fishing boat! But I can kiss all that good-bye, because my new partner has a death wish! My fucking life is over!"

"Severus - "

"Shut up! Why are you talking to me?!? I'm not here anymore! I'm gone! I'm dead! You're going to see to that! You want to die - and you're going to take me with you!"

"I didn't know that."

"Know what?" he hissed.

"That today was your birthday." Pause. "Happy Birthday, Severus. I mean that," Harry said, genuinely sounding sincere. "I just hope we stay alive long enough for me to buy you a present," he added, a playful glint in his eye.

Severus couldn't help himself: he laughed out loud.

"So where are we going?" asked Harry as the car started up again.

"Beverly Hills. Got an address on Susan Bones' meal ticket. But remember, this guy isn't a suspect yet. We're going to question him, not damage him."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I promise I'll be on my best behavior."