Severus, unlike Hermione, found himself pacing his bedroom later that night at Spinner's End, unable to relax enough to lay down, much less sleep. He knew he was wearing himself to exhaustion, but couldn't stop thinking about everything. No one knew what had happened during that last brightly lit moment of the battle yet. No one knew why some had survived with wounds that should have killed them, nor why some had died without a mark on their bodies.

After he Apparated away, he had instantly decided that he could not stay at home when he knew there had to be injured people somewhere who needed his help. He did pride himself on having made one of the better hoards of potions in England during the war. Working for both sides meant he had to supply both of them- double what anyone else was trying to do.

He had located another tent, several hundred yards away from the one where he had been kept, this one full of those too badly injured to care for themselves. He had been there, working, all afternoon and into the night, until gradually the number tapered off as people were either healed or taken to St. Mungo's. At nearly eleven, one of the harsh faced mediwitches had told him quite firmly to go home; otherwise she was putting him in a full body bind and taking him home with her. He left quickly following that.

That left him here. Pacing. Worrying. He couldn't help it. He needed to know what had happened- why it had happened. He had been able to see bodies still being carried off the field from where he had been- some of them without a single scratch. Avada Kedavra, of course, would have done so. But all of them? No one had been using the curse that much. Not even the majority of Death Eater's had dared, just in case the Order ended up winning. It wouldn't do to be able to buy your way out of Azkaban only to be hindered by a claim you had used an Unforgivable in battle.

So what had happened? What could have had that effect? Severus' racing mind could not fathom it, and he knew that any conclusion he came up with would be faulty with his mind in such a state. Perhaps he should have taken one of those Calming Draughts. He still could, he had enough for several doses left, shrunk down in the pocket of the cloak he had lay over the chair by his bed. He hated the feeling, but… he had to sleep. Not even he was so stubborn as to allow his body to push itself past it's limits simply because he didn't like the feeling he got after taking the potion.

One sip was all he needed. Not even a full dose and he could feel the exhaustion seeping into his bones. He undressed, and lay down in bed, setting the bottle on his nightstand, intending to pick it up again to take the full dose in a moment.

The nest morning he woke up feeling as if he had the hangover of the century. He looked at the mostly full bottle and shook his head. Full dose, indeed. He'd barely had any before sleep had overtaken him. He headed to the bathroom to immerse himself in a hot shower. Hopefully this feeling would be gone before breakfast. He glanced at the clock. Make that before lunch.

As it turned out, the feeling did not vanish by the time Severus next entered his small kitchen, though he did not do so in order to eat. Minerva McGonagall was awaiting him worriedly, her head floating in a cloud of green flames that was the floo.

"Oh good, you're here."

"That I am. What do you need?" His terse reply was mostly because he still felt hung over, though it was also partially because he had a feeling that she was calling to ask him to do something unpleasant.

She sighed, obviously unsure of how to answer.

After a moment he added, "I'm assuming that you did want something?"

Minerva cleared her throat. "Yes." Still she hesitated, gathering her thoughts at last to say, "I realize that the battle is still very fresh on the minds of all who were involved, and indeed, all who were not. But there is already a motion within the Ministry to discover exactly what it was that occurred during those last few moments before the destruction of… of him." She wasn't sure what to call Voldemort anymore. "I've been asked to gather as group of the finest minds to come through Hogwarts in my memory in order to figure out what happened."

Severus waited for a moment. She did not go on.

"So, you wanted… what, again?" he knew perfectly well what she wanted, but he wasn't going to be roped into this. At least, not this easily. He did have to admit that he would very much like to work on finding the answer to the questions the battle had birthed.

Minerva sighed again. She had been nervous about asking her colleague about this to begin with because she had known that he would need persuading, and he would not make this easy on her.

"You are one of the finest minds to be at Hogwarts in my memory, Severus- as a student and a teacher." She flattered him shamelessly. "I would be honored to have you working on this project. Not only are you a fine Potions Master, you are one of the most accomplished Defense scholars I know, and your expertise would be greatly appreciated."

Severus grunted.

"I need your help." Minerva pled, trying a different route of persuasion. "I need your perspective on this matter. Your unique position…" She stopped at a piercing glare from the dark man in front of her. This line of talk was not going to be efficient.

Exasperated at last, she burst out, "Don't you want to know? It's the biggest mystery of the century, and no one will ever know what happened or why if people like you don't at least attempt to find out!"

The passion in her voice shocked him. She really wanted him to do this. When she stopped for breath, meeting his eyes steadily, almost staring him down, he couldn't help but give in to his own desire to know. Quietly, he uttered a single syllable, causing her to break into a grin.

"Fine."

Her face was filled with relief. "Thank you, Severus." She turned all business as she explained that the group's first meeting would be held two days hence. "Oh, and Severus… Harry Potter is alive. I thought you should know, I know many people assumed he was dead… He was nearly there, but his magic seems to be holding him in a coma like state for the moment."

Severus nodded. He wasn't sure how to reply. As grateful as he knew he should be, he still had never liked the boy.

Another few moments of the usual useless pleasantries and Minerva was gone, the flames of the floo dying out soon after. Severus settled to making himself a very light lunch, unsure of how much food his stomach could handle. He cursed his body for reacting so badly to a potion that most children took easily.

Two days. He sat down to eat feeling unsatisfied. Two days of doing nothing to discover what was going on. Then surely the Ministry would turn the whole thing into a bundle of bureaucratic mess. Suddenly he wished he hadn't agreed to anything.

Okay, so this chapter took longer to update and is not as long- but I swear, I have a good reason! Actually, this has been written for a fe days, but I was going to make it longer, but then I decided that this was a good enough stopping point. On the plus side, while letting this sit and debating about the length, I've written about half of chapter three. So... I should have that updated after about another week. I'm getting ready to move off for my first year of college, and I just rediscovered a rather long, drawn out and immature Draco/Hermione fic I wrote a while ago and would like to revamp... so... I'm trying not to push this all the way to the back burner, but there are other things vying for my attention. Review and encourage me to pay attention to this fic!