Hermione raced to the castle, screaming for the Headmaster at the top of her lungs all the way.

Before she was halfway down, Dumbledore Apparated right in front of her, or so it seemed. Even her mind was in this moment distracted enough not to think of Hogwarts: a History and wonder how the Headmaster managed this feat.

"Headmaster…Remus…Arthur took Sevvy…"

Dumbledore visibly relaxed. "If Arthur took Sevvy…" then he froze. "But Arthur is not in Hogsmeade!"

"Imposter," Hermione panted, "Harry's after them. Sent me back to get help."

"Quickly," Dumbledore said, pale and shaking, but determined, while he conjured a broom, "Get on and hold on tight. Where did they go?"

-At the cliff-

Harry felt himself go numb with dread as Lucius dragged Sevvy with him over the edge.

"NOOOOOO!" his mind screamed.

He threw himself on the ridge and looked down. It was very deep, and they were still falling.

"ACCIO SEVVY!" he thought, never noticing he didn't say the words.

"ACCIO SEVVY ACCIO SEVVY ACCIO…."

The body of Lucius Malfoy splattered on the rocks, leaving what remained of him laying there like an odd sack of potatoes.

"SEVVY!"

Severus stopped falling two feet from the ground. Hovering for a second, he began to ascend again, faster and faster.

To Harry it seemed like hours. He focused so completely that the whole world ceased to exist, nothing inhabited the earth anymore besides him and the helpless little boy whose life was now, literally, in Harry's hands.

Finally, finally Sevvy reached the ridge, floated a bit above it, and landed in Harry's arms.

Harry grabbed him and pulled him to his chest, holding him as tight as he could in utter terror.

Sevvy gave a choked sob.

"Shhhh, Sevvy, you're safe now, I have you. I have you," Harry soothed, rocking and calming both himself and the boy.

Sevvy went limp, the shock too much for him. Harry felt his heart pounding in his throat, but a quick check assured him the boy was breathing and his heart was beating.

He never moved from the ridge, nor did he try to retrieve his wand. He simply held his brother and cried.

When Dumbledore and Hermione arrived, they paled, seeing the still child in the arms of a crying Harry.

"Sevvy, no, not my Sevvy, not my child," Dumbledore moaned, kneeling next to them.

That woke Harry up.

"He…he is alive," he managed, "he…he…" he simply pointed to the abyss. Dumbledore took one peek over the edge and turned away.

Then he pulled both boys to him and held them.

"Come, Harry. Come, we need to get you two back to the castle."

Suddenly Harry looked up. "I'm going to kill Remus," he said coldly.

He refused to let go of Sevvy until they were in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Then he allowed the nurse to examine the boy, and to heal his own leg that was still bleeding profusely. Hermione had taken care of both wands.

"What happened, Harry?" Dumbledore finally asked, holding Sevvy in his lap after the nurse had assured them the boy had just fainted from shock and would wake up soon. He reached out and pulled the shaking teen to his side.

"D…Draco..distracted me, or tried to. He wanted to pick a fight. I didn't respond and was about to take Sevvy and walk away, when Remus came from out of nowhere, grabbed Sevvy and pushed him in Arthur…Lucius's hands. Lucius was polyjuiced to look like Arthur. When he did that I realized that it couldn't be Arthur because the Weasleys were in London. So I told Mi to get help, and went after them. We…we fought, and Lucius lost his balance on the cliff. But when he fell, he grabbed Sevvy's robes."

The blood drained from Dumbledore's face.

"Sevvy…Sevvy fell off the cliff?"

"Yes," Harry whispered, "I…he was so close to the ground before I finally managed to Summon him back…" then he broke down, and sobbed into Dumbledore's shoulder.

The old man held both boys close, keenly aware of how easily he could have lost them.

Hermione entered the ward, with the Weasleys on her heels. Followed by a very shaken, very subdued Remus Lupin.

Harry growled when he saw the man.

"YOU! You filthy, lying, backstabbing…" he snatched his wand from Hermione's hand and leveled it at the werewolf.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," his voice was as low and dangerous as that of the Potions Master had been when extremely angry, and nearly all occupants of the room shivered involuntarily.

"I…I thought…it was Arthur…" Remus stammered.

"You thought it was Arthur. Did you cooperate with Draco Malfoy, Remus?"

The man lowered his head and made no reply.

"DID YOU?" Harry spat out at him.

"Y-Yes," the DADA professor admitted, "I was…so jealous…I wanted the boy…to go…"

"Well, you nearly got your wish," Harry had driven him into a corner now, and pressed his wand under the man's chin, "he nearly died. DIED, Remus! You nearly killed a six year old boy!"

Drawing back his wand, Harry positioned himself for casting.

"No, Harry," Arthur Weasley suddenly pushed forward, as Dumbledore seemed to have eyes only for the child on the bed, "No. Not like this."

Harry stared at him. "I won't kill him, just hurt him an awful lot. He nearly killed him, Arthur…"

"I know, Harry. I know. But this is not the way, you know that. You told him that yourself at the Shrieking Shack once, remember?"

Harry nodded. "I hate you, Remus. I never want to see you again."

The werewolf visibly crumbled.

"I'll take him," Arthur said, dragging Remus from the corner by his collar, "You are sacked, of course," Dumbledore finally looked up and nodded.

"You will come with me. If we give you to the Ministry they will kill you, and that would destroy any hopes of a normal life for werewolves. So you will be under my supervision, working in either the Burrow or Grimmauld Place when you're not on missions for the Order. I'll see to it he doesn't bother you, Harry."

"And Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"Lucius is dead," Harry answered, shaking, "Draco…I don't know where Draco is."

"He'll be expelled," Dumbledore said, "and I will make sure there is a warrant for his arrest out by the end of the day. If he enters the castle, Hogwarts himself will contain him. She…I can sense her sometimes…she does not take kindly to people who hurt Sevvy."

-Grimmauld Place, later that day-

"Clean. No magic." Remus Lupin picked up the Muggle cleaning agent and sighed. After undergoing Molly Weasleys anger as well as Harry's, he was completely exhausted. No rest was allowed, though; he had the whole house to clean in the next few days. Muggle style.

-Hogwarts-

The rest of the group had left. Harry and Dumbledore stayed with Sevvy, who began to slowly wake. His arms flailed about and he sobbed in his sleep.

"Harry, Harry, help me!" he screamed, and bolted upright.

"Shhh, son, Harry is here. You are safely at home," Dumbledore soothed, rocking the boy.

"Daddy!" Severus flung his arms around his father and held tight.

Harry sat besides them and stroked the black hair, relieved to hear the boy's voice again.

"Harry," Sevvy sighed, and let himself be taken in his brothers arms.

He didn't say another word, just clung tightly to them.

The nurse, alerted by the child's voice, entered and examined him again.

"Physically he is fine," she said, "the best thing now is to take him home to your tower, Albus, familiar territory. Use the floo; I doubt he is up to large crowds."

She pulled the headmaster aside.

"They both need help, Albus. Be very patient with Severus. I don't know how much he saw or remembers about…well. At least now we do know that the curse does not reverse itself under severe stress. But you need to get them help. Neither of us is experienced enough to help that child."

Back in the tower, they put Sevvy down for a real nap. He wouldn't close his eyes unless either Harry or Dumbledore held him, and they happily obliged.

"Can I…" Harry started awkwardly, "I want to stay with Sevvy…and I don't…don't feel up to feasts now anyway…please, sir, can I stay here? Just for tonight?"

"Of course, Harry," Dumbledore immediately reassured him, "you can. And in the morning, you and I are going to find you two someone to talk to. No debates, Harry."

Harry hesitated. "I already talk to someone, sir."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

"Brother Salvatore, Albus. The Fat Friar. The Hufflepuff Ghost. I met him, I mean, got to know him when we were here in the summer. He helped me out with some things from...from my childhood. So I'd prefer to talk to him about this. He's good with kids. Let him have a chat with Sevvy. If Sev gets along with him, it'd be better. Explaining to a new therapist how Sevvy is 6, but born in 1960 would be much riskier, right?"

Dumbledore turned for a moment to soothe Sevvy through a nightmare that threatened to take hold before nodding.

"I agree."

Then he conjured another bed.

"You need a nap as well, Harry. It was a very trying day."

Harry gratefully kicked off his shoes and laid down.

"Albus?" he yawned, "Do you think I was too hard on Remus?"

Dumbledore smiled. "You showed more restraint than I felt myself capable of. At any rate, we'll sort out our feelings about him as well, I guess. We're…not able to think calm and clear when it comes to him right now."

"Guess not," Harry sighed, "Suppose I should be glad for not killing him…"

He shuddered, and tried to get rid of the image of Malfoy's broken body, and flashes of Sevvy laying there as well.

Dumbledore stroked his forehead and murmered a sleeping charm, and Harry knew no more.