Chapter 10

"I'm not taking you to him." He said firmly.

"You don't have a choice, Severus. He'll kill you if you don't.

"And he may kill you if I do. This isn't your war..." His voice quieted for a moment. "I want you to go home."

Andraste was certainly not going to show how much those words stung, even though she knew they came only from concern. "He made this my war when I watched him murder those people. Besides, I signed the deed to my house over to someone else before I moved here. If you'll recall," she said, her face set in determination, "I didn't expect to go back."

Severus sat down on the couch, his head in his hands. He had been around long enough to know how stubborn women were, and he knew full well that she was right. All he could do know was pray he could protect her. After a long silence, he looked up at her. "How do you want to do this?"

"I've been thinking about that, how would you feel about having Mr. Malfoy give you a hand?" They discussed her plan, and then Severus set off to tell Dumbledore, and speak to Draco while Andraste went to his private lab and began brewing a new potion.

Severus returned close to an hour later, to find Andi still working over a cauldron. "Did you get the potions from your stock yet?" she asked without looking up.

"Yes. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Can you get me a healing draught please?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because I'm going to need it." He watched in horror as Andraste raised a knife to her wrist, and put a deep gash in it, holding her hand above the cauldron and letting the blood drain into the potion below. Only a few seconds had passed before Andraste pressed a cloth to the wound to stop the bleeding, but she had visibly paled. Severus strode to the close, yanking out a blood clotting potion and a healing potion; knocking several others to the floor at the same time.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? Are you trying to kill yourself, or do you just have no respect for your own life?" He thrust the now open vials into her good hand, taking the cut one from her and examining the wound. The blood flow had slowed, but the towel she had pressed to her wrist was quickly soaking in red. She downed the potions as he pushed her into a near by chair, and stood there looking absolutely furious.

"What time is it, by that clock over there?" she asked.

"Time for us to brew you that intelligence potion."

"Really, Severus." He strode to the clock sitting beside the cauldron. "6:40."

"Excellent," she said, the color beginning to return to her face. She went over to the potion she had been making, stirred it twice, and then proceeded to fill ten separate bottles with the scarlet liquid. When she was done, she waved her hand and the cauldron, along with the remainder of its contents, disappeared. "Here," she said, thrusting one of the bottles at him. "Take this just before we go."

"What is it for?"

"If anything goes wrong – it wil give you the same shield that I have, but it only works for two hours."

"And beyond that?"

"Beyond that I hope we're safely back at Hogwarts." They sat quietly for a moment before Andraste spoke again. "Are you ready to eat?" Severus simply nodded in response.

Professor Snape entered the Great Hall and took his seat at the staff table. Minutes later, Andraste entered, wearing the grey dress she had bought in Paris and a tailored black cloak similar to the green one she wore to breakfast that first morning. He gave her a curt nod as she sat down in the only available chair at the head table, the one next to him. She kept her face void of any reaction as he spoke loud enough for only her to hear. "You look beautiful."

The first part of dinner passed uneventfully, then they watched stoically as Draco Malfoy came in leading his goon squad. Draco passed unnecessarily close to the Gryffindor table, leaving down and saying something in Harry's ear. Harry jumped out of his seat, quickly followed by Ron and Hermione. "Take it back, Malfoy!" Harry shouted, having drawn his wand and now holding it at Draco's chest.

"Oh, does poor little potter not like hearing the truth about his mommy and daddy?" The entire school had their eyes on Harry and Draco when they both shouted "Expilarimus!" at the other, so no one noticed as Severus emptied a small vial into Andi's drink before rushing to break up the fight. Severus and Dumbledore reached Draco, who had been thrown half way across the Great Hall; at the same time McGonagall, Lupin, and Andraste reached Harry.

"Professor McGonagall, if you don't mind I would like for Harry to sever his detention with me," Andraste said quickly.

"Very well then."

"Monday night at seven o'clock, Harry. In the potions class room," she said before turning heal and heading back to her seat. Only the trio heard the "great aim" she whispered under her breath as she walked away. "How did Draco fair?" she asked quietly as she sat down.

"Five points and a trip to visit Madam Pompfrey. That Dragons Tear definitely made Harry more powerful." Andraste nodded as she took a long drink of her pumpkin juice. Minutes passed before McGonagall focused her attention to Andi. "Do you feel quite alright? You're rather pale."

"Actually, I am rather dizzy."

"I think it would be best if you visit the infirmary Andraste," Severus told her.

"That's not necessary. I'll just go back to my room and lay down." Professor Andraste said as she pushed her chair back from the table, stood up, and promptly passed out. Severus levitated the limp girl behind him as he made the short walk to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey was telling Draco that he was fine and could go. When Draco saw his head of house walk in, he flashed an evil grin, and headed back towards the Great Hall. The curtains around the bed that Andraste had been in two days before were quickly drawn, so when Professor Snape retook his place at the dinner table, no one suspected that Andi was actually sound asleep in his bed.