Severus Snape was running on borrowed time. He hurtled through the black forest, the cruel, whipping branches of the leafless trees reaching out for him like fleshless hands. The darkness of the rain soaked night closed around him, a sodden cloak, making his flight all the more reckless and ill planned. The unconscious body in his arms dragged at his limbs, limbs that were already trembling with fatigue. He raged silently at the limited form he was trapped in, the frail human flesh that threatened to make him fail, while at the same time screamed his idiocy until he fancied his skull fairly vibrated with insults.

i Reckless, stupid, bravado worthy of a sodding Gryffindor, ego maniac, ruined everything for Albus, for the Order, fool… /i

But he knew he couldn't have left her there. Gods knew he'd tried, tried to retain the stoic mask expected of a Death Eater as those who supposed themselves to be his brethren had slacked their lusts in the girl he now clutched tightly to his chest. Even though he berated himself for moving to rescue her at all, he berated himself even more harshly for not rescuing her immediately. He had known all too well what had been in store for her. At one time he had been just as lusty and brutal as the rest of the Death Eaters. When he had finally repented he had scaled back his atrocities as much as he could while still appearing to support the Death Eater's actions. He had protected himself by concocting a story about how captive women had begun to bore him, always blubbering the same pleas for release, the same old wishes for a quick death. He claimed that his energies were best spent elsewhere. The Death Eaters had assumed he'd meant they were better spent in the service of the Dark Lord, and Severus hadn't thought it prudent to disabuse them of the notion.

He glanced wildly up at the sky through strangling tendrils of his hair. Soon, they would come. The Death Eaters would not hesitate to send his greatest weakness against him. The hard part about being a double agent was knowing what to reveal and what to keep a secret, from each side. As it was, he had been forced to reveal just enough to make the Death Eaters feel he could be trusted. And now that his cover had been blown into a thousand smoking pieces, they would exploit every weakness he had ever hinted at.

i Be honest with yourself, Severus, he thought as he nearly tripped, they don't need to guess at possible weaknesses. They already have one big enough to kill both you and Hermione. /i

The thought gave him a fierce strength born of desperation and a nearly overwhelming desire to spare this girl more torment. If the Death Eaters came upon them again, he swore he would kill her rather than sentence her to endure their cruelties again.

And then, as he forced his way from the trees into open fields, they came. Shrieking that shattered the night air, a cold that seemed to touch his very soul, black upon black in the night sky.

Dementors.

He had known this was coming. Out of all the secrets the Death Eaters knew about him, this was the most powerful. Severus Snape could not conjure a Patronus.

He had never been able to think of a memory happy enough, strong enough, to call forth his ethereal protector. He felt terror like he had never felt strike him to the heart, and he fell to his knees. Still he held the unconscious girl tightly to his chest. She had to be protected. He was nothing, he was expendable, but she was too bright to lose. She was a star in the firmament, outshining everyone, and he could not bear to see her light extinguished by these creatures.

He felt them circling closer, felt the life force begin to leave his body.

i His mother cowering in terror…the screams of his first victim after his full induction into the twisted brotherhood that was the Death Eaters…his humiliation, always the humiliation… /i

"No!" He shouted at the circling Dementors, coming closer as though they were buzzards and he a fresh carcass. He looked down at the warm body cradled against him, then back up at the creatures that were drawing inexorably nearer. Resolve made his body stiffen, and he drew his wand like a sword.

He had to cast the Patronus Charm; it was their only hope of surviving the night. He felt the pressure to succeed weighing on him, threatening to suffocate him. His breath came in gasps, and he knew that he couldn't. He had nothing in his heart that could fend off evil such as this. Despair sucked at his very being. He imagined he could hear the Dementors laugh with delight as they fed on his negative emotions.

Hermione stirred, pain creasing her face. He could clearly see her pale beauty under the grime and bruises, a beauty that shimmered in the darkness. She opened her eyes then, and even though they were frightened, she focused on him as though he were a lone harbor in a savage and deadly storm. She was begging him, with only a look, to protect her.

He looked up at the sky as his heart soared.

"Expecto Patronum!" He yelled, defiance coursing through him.

For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, nothing happened. Time seemed to hold still; the very air seemed to hold its breath. Just as his spirits were beginning to fall, a giant silver falcon burst from the tip of his wand, screaming its hunting call.

The great bird of prey caught a Dementor on its wing, tossing it to the ground. It whirled in the air and pierced another with its beak, tore another to shreds with its magnificent talons. It lit the sky so brightly Severus had to shade his eyes; he felt permanently dazzled by what he had seen. That amazing beast lived within him?

He heard Hermione gasp, and he looked down to see her gazing at the rampant falcon, awe written all over her face. The Dementors fled before its display; it was so enraged it molted a few silver feathers that melted away into swirling sparkles just before touching the ground. Once the sky was clear, the great bird circled the treetops, then disappeared with one final, triumphant cry.

Severus sat heavily in the dirt, still holding Hermione in a grip he didn't think he could have loosened had he tried. She smiled, and even though one of her eyes was swollen shut and her face was splattered with blood and dirt, the look made his heart skip. She reached a trembling hand towards his face, caressing his jaw line with her cold fingertips.

"I always knew you were a falcon, somewhere inside."