A/N You know, I've been thinking about the question if Voldemort would possess Severus like he did Quirrell should he be killed before Severus. I think not, because a Horcrux is created when the soul SPLITS, at the moment the person kills someone. Under normal circumstances, this bit of soul would simply leave. The Horcrux apparently anchors the remaining soul to this world, because Voldemort didn't use a piece of soul in one of his Horcruxes when he was defeated the first time, he simply lived on as a disembodied…thingy. All his Horcruxes survived, or there would have been only five left by the time Harry encountered the first one, the diary. Unless, of course, in book 7 we find out that one of the Horcruxes has no bit of soul left in it. In a way, Horcruxes are not a new thing in fantasy, as I have encountered the use of a Focus before. A Horcrux seems to operate in much the same way.

Have mercy on me. After taking care of my friends, I caught their virus. I'm writing this wrapped up in thick sweaters and praying that my dinner will stay down.

Severus, though still scowling, sat down next to me with Hermione's long replenished medikit. He took out a small container of burn paste and started treating me with it.

I grabbed his wrist.

"I need to tell you... you need to come to Hogwarts with me…vital…"

I couldn't manage to say more and became extremely frustrated.

"Calm yourself, Neville, it won't do any good. I take it you found something?"

I nodded. Then I saw something that nearly made my blood freeze. (Which, incidentally, wouldn't have been so bad. The burns really hurt now and icy blood might've relieved it.)

Harry was holding a piece of paper I knew all too well.

Dumbledore's letter to Severus.

It must have fallen out of his pocket during the fight. I saw the emotions pass on Harry's face, from utter unbelief to horror and then to calm determination.

He walked over to us, his wand still in his hand. I batted Severus' hands away and forced him behind me, ignoring the pain that surged through my body. I raised my own wand.

"No, Harry, you can't. I won't let you, you don't know how dangerous it is."

Severus stiffened when he saw the letter in Harry's hand and I felt him search his pockets to confirm it really was his. Then he pushed me away.

"I'm sure you've wanted to do this for years, Mr. Potter. Now you even have an excellent excuse for it. You'll be a hero, I don't doubt. Go ahead."

I was going to kill him. I. Was. Bloody. Going. To. Kill. Him. Well, not literally obviously, but still…

"Severus!" I yelled sharply, and put myself between him and Harry again.

"You can't do it, Harry, please, listen to me first, there's things you don't know…"

I ran out of breath trying to explain.

"Mr. Longbottom, be quiet, I…"

"SHUT UP!" Harry suddenly roared.

Harry looked at us, panting. He lowered his wand and handed the letter to Severus.

"You should be more careful where you keep that," he chided gently. The tone of his voice surprised me.

"Of course I don't want to kill you. And Neville seems to have issues with that too. Apart from that, the dragon will be waking up soon. I'd say we all go back to Hogwarts, we can discuss our options there."

Severus opened his mouth to protest and I knew what he was going to say. So did Harry.

"Don't bother saying our only option is to kill you, because clearly the headmaster had other hopes. And even if he didn't, I would try to find one. Now shut up and bring Neville to Hogwarts."

Severus was so totally taken aback that he obeyed. I looked at him wearily as he helped me up.

"As soon as I am well again, I'm gonna give you a good kick in the butt," I promised him before passing out.

The next day, we found ourselves sitting in the headmistress' office. Ron and Hermione were sitting at the desk, stunned by what they had heard. I had just related the tale of my trip to Ravenclaw's library and what I had found out there. Severus, who had been shooting daggers at me ever since our return, had turned ashen when he realized the danger he had been in the previous night. To be honest, the rest of the party looked rather pale, too.

Finally, Hermione spoke. "Are there more books on this in that library, Neville?"

I nodded. "Yes, I didn't get through all the books before I read about the Inferi and had to collect Severus before he did something stupid…" I shot him a glare, which he promptly returned.

"It's not fair, Minerva," he scowled, "I can't deduct points anymore, or hand out detentions."

The headmistress, who had been discreetly wiping away a tear, smiled a bit at this comment. "They're adults now, Severus. Adults who care about you. Just accept that and be your own charming self."

Harry looked thoughtful. "I think we better all tackle that library to see if we can find any way to destroy the Horcrux without killing Severus. Neville, can you take us there?"

I nodded. "Yes, just go to the library, we'll be along in a minute."

I turned to Severus. "I promised you something earlier."

He raised his chin defiantly. "I know, I'm sorry, it was stupid of me but I saw Harry and…"

I cut his rant short. "That's not what I meant. The Grey Lady said you were so busy searching for ways to destroy Voldemort, that you never bothered to look for ways to save yourself in the process, and that's why you never found Ravenclaw's library. If you had you would have known the risks of getting yourself killed."

I got up from the couch. Minerva watched me with some anxiety, afraid I would get hexed. "You never learn, do you?" I hissed at him. "You just can't get it into that thick skull of yours that there are people here that care about you and want you to live. I'm NOT your student anymore, Severus! I'm one of those adults that care about you now. The sooner you realize that, the better."

Minerva smiled. "He is right, Severus. I'd recommend that you stay here now. We need to keep you close at all times."

Severus shrugged. "Voldemort won't kill me, even if he does find out I'm a spy. He wouldn't just kill his last Horcrux."

I let out a longsuffering sigh. "No, but he could lock you away in some impossible to find place and then it won't matter if we know how to destroy the Horcrux, because we wouldn't be able to find you. We'd reach a draw, and that's not what we're aiming for."

Another shrug, but I could tell he saw the truth of that statement.

"I'll just go inspect the potions lab then. It could well be that the solution might involve potions." He swept out of the room before we could say anything else.

Minerva sat down. "Honestly…for someone so intelligent he can be incredibly dimwitted at times."

I stood up to follow the others to the library. "Yes. Right now, our greatest problem is not Voldemort and the Horcrux or the Order that still wants to kill Severus. Our greatest problem right now is getting Severus interested in living."