Snape and Dumbledore had fallen into only a brief silence before Dumbledore began to hum along with the merry singers down the hall. Snape grit his teeth and turned away from the old wizard.

"Oh!" Dumbledore said suddenly, "I almost forgot." He reached into his robes and brought out a small, wrapped gift. Snape looked at him, uncomfortable, he hated when people gave him gifts. Dumbledore, however, removed the woman's hand from where Snape had placed it and laid it down on top of the blanket, her palm and Dark Mark facing up. He set the small gift in her hand, and smiled at it.

"What in Merlin's name is that?" Snape demanded. The woman hadn't moved on her own free will in 14 years, and Dumbledore was giving her a Christmas gift?

"A trinket I found of her father's," Dumbledore said simply. Snape was instantly quiet and his face went slightly pale.

"Wh-what is it?" he asked, almost nervously.

"A moustache comb," Dumbledore said and chuckled slightly to himself. Snape rolled his eyes.

As soon as he heard, Snape ran as quickly as he could to the Hospital Wing. He had a free period before Charms and heard rumors in the library that a professor had collapsed in the middle of a class. A meaningful threat of a first year Hufflepuff found out which one. Now he was running through the dark hallways, his footsteps and the sound of his bag thumping against his back echoed through the hallway. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't be. Not now, not him!

But as burst into the Hospital Wing, he knew it was. Even before the smell of bandages and medical potions reached him, Snape could hear Germaine's bitter tears.

"Mr. Snape!" Madam Pomfrey began to scold him, but he didn't really hear her. He just walked toward the bed Germaine was crying next to, his legs suddenly feeling like heavy weights. At the sound of Pomfrey's voice, Germaine turned around and saw him walking toward them. Her usually pale face was a bright pink and her eyes were swollen.

"Severus…" she said, almost as a plea for him to make it all go away. As far as he knew it was the first time she had ever said his name, but he didn't care. Her movement had given him view of Professor Bisset laying on the hospital bed. The wizard's skin looked pale and rather bluish, his chest raised and lowered as he struggled to breathe. Horror stricken, Snape turned to Germaine.

"What happened?" he demanded from her. She cringed slightly at the anger in his voice, and gripped her father's hand a little tighter.

"He-he just collapsed, during a class. I got called out of Divination. Pom-Pomfrey thinks it's…" she paused, the word caught in her throat, "serious…"

Snape felt a lump grow in his throat.

"How serious?"

"We'll be moving him to St. Mungo's as soon as we can," Madam Pomfrey said approaching them. Having realized Snape was, well, a friend, Pomfrey's voice had grown calm and gentle.

"I'm going with him," Germaine said, and Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"Me too!" Snape turned around and told her. Pomfrey looked a little surprised.

"Mr. Snape, you're not fam-"

"He's coming," Germaine told her more resolutely then she had ever said anything. The tone of her voice seemed to have surprised everyone in the room, as it suddenly fell very quiet, except for the sound of Bisset's difficult breathing.

"Severus…" the wizard managed to say weakly. With a haphazard shove, Snape pushed Germaine out of the way and took her place at the bedside.

"What Professor?" he asked as kindly as he could, which still came out rather cruel. Bisset raised his hand slightly and rested it on Snape's. The touch made Snape recoil slightly by nature.

"I always hoped," Bisset paused to take a breath, "that you would take care of her."

Snape could hear Germaine gasp slightly behind him. He looked into Bisset's eyes… they weren't smiling, or happy. They were desperate, they were pleading. It wasn't right.

"I-I will, Professor…" Snape promised. Bisset smiled at him, as warmly as he ever had. Germaine began to sob.