sweet as lemonz: as yes, what would we do without wise Dumbledore. And I think I'm fighting a losing battle trying to keep Snape completely in character, but we'll see.

LiL.CaT.AnImE: thank you

Chapter 16: The Gift of Forgiveness

Severus avoided me for the next couple of weeks, sitting as far away from me as possible during meals and making sure he was not around when I went to collect potions ingredients for Harry's lessons. I didn't know what to do about it; hell I didn't even know how I felt about it. When it came to Severus nothing was straightforward or simple.

One night in early March I was prowling the corridors late at night – or early in the morning depending on how you wanted to view it – due to the fact that I was completely unable to sleep, when I saw someone stumbling up the path to the castle.

Pulling out my wand I exited the castle and headed towards the crumpled form on the path. It was Severus. He was trying to get to the doors but couldn't quite manage it. I reached down and touched his shoulder only to have him jolt away.

"It's okay, it's just me," I said hoping my voice didn't betray the worry I felt. Crouching down beside him I slipped my arm under him and placed my hand on his chest to try to lift him to his feet only to have it come in contact with something very wet. Withdrawing my hand I saw that it and the sleeve of my robe were covered in blood.

"Oh my god," I whispered.

"Lucius…" he started but I shushed him.

"I'll get you to Madam Pomfrey…"

"No…my rooms."

Deciding that I couldn't afford to waste the time arguing I gently helped him to his feet and practically carried him down to his rooms. Lying him down on the bed I went to remove his shirt to see what had been done to him only to have him push my hands away.

"Sev please, I'm going to need to take a look at what he did in order to heal you."

Something flickered in his eyes and I belatedly realised that I'd used my nickname for him, which I hadn't used in years. I pushed the thought aside as I carefully cut his shirt off him, being as careful as possible so I didn't do him any more damage.

His chest looked like it had been ripped open by a blunt knife as it revealed various layers of flesh, muscle and some bone. I tasted bile in the back of my mouth as I looked at the damage, but forced it down as I concentrated on the task at hand. It took all my knowledge of healing charms to fix him up, then I took some bandages and wrapped them around him to ward off infection. Giving him a blood replenishing potion and another one for pain relief I set to work on his other injuries.

Multiple bruises covered his arms where he'd obviously warded off blows. His left forearm was fractured and I set it while trying to avoid looking at the dark mark, which stood out against his pale skin. There were plenty of scars covering his arms and back, some I remembered but quite a number that I didn't.

I put some salve on the bruises on his arms and the one on his face to help the swelling go down before cleaning the blood off his chin where it had dried from his split lip. Cleaning up the blood as best as possible I proceeded to wrap him in a blanket before handing him a vial of dreamless sleep potion.

"Thank you," he said softly before drinking it.

I bent over and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Sleep well."

Walking away I paused in the doorway and looked at him lying there seeming vulnerable. For the first time in more years then I could count I found myself wanting to go to him to protect him from everyone who wanted to hurt him.

Swallowing I whispered, "I forgive you," before waving my hand to turn out the lights.