CHAPTER 22

Harry's lungs were about to burst.

Jillian was so small and pale as he sprinted to the castle with her in his arms. But after the agonized shrieks, what terrified him the most was her body's complete and utter stillness.

"Stay with me, Jilly!" he cried over the raging wind, forcing his screaming muscles to go faster as Hogwarts finally came into view. The grounds were empty, but as he shouldered his way through the heavy front doors, he saw in dismay that dozens of students had returned early from Hogsmeade and had grouped in the entranceway. "MOVE!" he bellowed, thankful when his classmates immediately jumped out of his way.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

"Who is that Harry's holding?"

But he ignored them all as he practically flew up the grand staircase two and three steps at a time. On a mad dash through the castle, he took every shortcut he knew to get to the hospital wing. His chest heaved painfully as he finally burst through the heavy wooden doors, and his entire body quaked with exhaustion and fear.

"HELP!Anybody! Please, I think she's dying!" Harry almost collapsed in relief as Snape and Madam Pomfrey hurried from the matron's office near the back of the cavernous room. "Dad! Help me – I don't know what's wrong with her!"

"Merlin," Madam Pomfrey gasped. "Is that Jillian?"

Snape paled beside her before the pair exploded into motion.

"Harry, over here!"

Chest heaving and still out of breath, Harry placed the young girl gently on the bed and immediately stepped back. Jilly was still as death, and he couldn't tear his wide-eyed gaze away.

He watched as Snape made a complicated motion with his wand, grimacing as the glowing silhouette of a human appeared beside the bed. Madam Pomfrey bustled around the man, bending low over Jilly's still figure as together they attempted to discern exactly what was wrong.

"Jillian, can you hear me? Talk to me, sweetheart!" Madam Pomfrey said loudly. When Jilly didn't react, the Mediwitch's gaze flicked anxiously to Snape. "No response. Tell me what's happening, Severus!"

Without meeting the Mediwitch's gaze, Snape continued to read the enchanted codes that were rapidly flickering into existence beside the glowing silhouette. "I have a pulse, but it's weak. BP is low and her vitals are thready–"

The doors to the hospital wing burst open again, this time admitting a harried looking Lupin.

"Harry!" Lupin called, hurrying to his side. "What-? Merlin… Jillian."

"Pupils are sluggish," Madam Pomfrey announced.

"Pulse ox is eighty-two. Potter!" Snape called, but his tone softened when his gaze collided with Harry's wide, terrified eyes. "Harry… What happened?"

"I… I don't know…"

All faces turned as Hermione, Ron, Tonks, and Celine next came rushing through the doors. The pink haired Auror was levitating what Harry recognized as the indiscreet little package which the two young girls had fought over. A package that no one could explain. A package which seemed to have appeared at the same moment Jilly's strange behavior began.

Strange behavior…

The suspicion that had been gnawing at the back of Harry's mind suddenly formed into a single, pointed determination, like the tip of a spear that pierced his heart with truth. Without thinking, he turned to his father and blurted, "It was Malfoy."

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At Harry's words, Snape felt himself stumble. An ice-cold fear grasped his every nerve ending, making it near impossible for him to breathe. His wide eyes slid past his son to settle on the small, brown package floating innocently through the air.

The same package that was supposed to be safely in Draco's possession.

The package he was scheduled to collect in less than an hour.

The package that had inexplicably been handed over to Jilly and now threatened her very life.

No… God in Heaven, NO!

"Dad, did you hear me? I said it was—"

"Everyone but Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey, please step out into the hall." Every head in attendance whipped around, shocked that no one had noted Dumbledore approach. The old wizard appeared completely calm and under control. But Snape knew the man well enough to notice the deepening of lines at the edges of his eyes and the clenching of his fingers as he threaded them together before him.

When no one rushed to do the headmaster's bidding, Lupin seemed to shake off his shock at the horrific situation and quickly ushered the students away. "Come now," Snape heard the werewolf say. "Up to my quarters, all of you. I have some especially strong bars of dark chocolate that should help ease the shock." Harry stood unmoving, staring intently at Snape. "Harry," Lupin murmured, placing a gentle hand upon the boy's shoulder. "Come on." And with a bit of soft prodding, Harry turned with the others and left.

Snape had never been more grateful for the werewolf's calming disposition as he was in that moment.

After everyone had left, Madam Pomfrey turned to Dumbledore and demanded shrilly, "What is going on?"

The headmaster's eyes flicked toward Snape before he calmly replied, "Poppy, I'm afraid that Jillian has been cursed."

"Cursed?" The woman insisted, her nostrils flaring. "By what, exactly?"

Snape was already removing the golden potion from inside his chest pocket as Dumbledore explained, "Something very dark. A necklace, to be exact." And he turned to the package still floating in the air beside them where Tonks had left it.

"Don't touch it!" Snape snapped as the Mediwitch reached for the brown wrapping. "And God dammit, Albus – help me!" He hissed, struggling with the cork on the small bottle after the complicated spellwork when Jilly arrived.

"I'm not a first year, Severus," Pomfrey retorted, sounding somewhat offended. "I wasn't going to touch it. But we need to know what—"

"We have the antidote, Poppy," Dumbledore intoned softly.

"You have an antidote already? Professor, what-?"

But at that moment, Jillian broke free of whatever evil had entombed her tiny body, and her limbs began to flail and thrash.

"We must get this into her now!" Snape shouted desperately. The headmaster whipped his wand from inside his sleeve, and the cork in Snape's hands immediately popped free of the bottle.

"Give it here, Severus!" Pomfrey cried.

After a moment's hesitation, Snape was glad he'd listened when his outstretched fingers trembled enough to make him almost drop the potion. Snape attempted without much success to force his emotions behind his shields before placing a hand upon the girl's forehead to gently tilt her chin upwards.

"Dumbledore, be ready," he ordered before turning back to the Mediwitch. "Now," he urged, and she immediately tipped the golden potion into Jillian's mouth. The girl went limp again the moment the potion touched her tongue.

"Mortis naturam vincat non est corpus," the headmaster immediately began chanting, his wand held steady as he pointed it directly at Jilly's heart. Hastily removing their own wands, Snape and Pomfrey closed their eyes and focused their considerable magic on the incantation. "Mortis naturam vincat non est corpus. Mortis naturam vincat non est corpus."

Suddenly, the tips of all three wands began to glow. Their determined invocations grew stronger, chasing the evil back into the darkness. Snape could feel the dark magic slithering away from Jilly, coiling itself back into the cursed necklace from whence it came. And as the glow from their wands began to fade, Jilly's eyelids fluttered open.

"Mama…?"

Snape closed his eyes, his shoulders drooping in tired relief. Gazing down at the girl, he placed a cool, trembling hand against the little girl's forehead. "No, Jilly-Bean. It's me, Severus. Your mother will be here soon." He looked pleadingly at Dumbledore. "Headmaster, will you fetch Lily? She was in the library researching—"

But at that moment, the doors to the hospital wing burst open hard enough to bounce against the stone wall behind them.

"Oh my God! Jillian!" Lily cried, racing to her daughter's bedside. Harry was directly on her heels.

"Mummy…"

Lily fell to her knees beside the girl, caressing her face and hair. "Oh my God, baby… Are you…? Is she ok? What happened?" Her wide eyes were pleading as she raised them to the others. When they landed on Snape, her obvious terror nearly tore his heart in two.

"She was cursed," he murmured. Lily flinched as though she'd been slapped, and he felt his heart rip open that much more.

"Is…" Harry spoke up. "Is she going to…?"

"She's going to be fine," Dumbledore assured, and the tension in Harry's body visibly draining. Lily's chin dropped to her chest, and Snape could see her shoulders shaking with silent, relieved tears. Kneeling on his haunches, he pulled her into his arms and held her tight, allowing her a few moments of release before attempting to move her to a far corner where they could speak in relative privacy. As she realized what was happening, Lily raised her head to gaze back at her daughter. Snape immediately stopped, not wanting to force her away from the girl's bedside if she wasn't ready.

"It's alright, Lily," Madam Pomfrey murmured with an understanding smile as she spelled the Jillian's wet clothes into a small, warmed hospital gown. "We've got her for the moment. You go and speak to Severus."

They watched as Dumbledore conjured a comfortable, overstuffed sofa beside the bed for both he and Harry. As the headmaster lowered himself upon the cushions, he pretended he did not see the teddy bear which had also appeared upon the sofa. After making a show of almost sitting on the thing, he promptly handed to Jilly. The little girl giggled tiredly and croaked out a weak, "Thank you." It was only as they saw her smile up at Harry and Dumbledore that Lily felt comfortable enough to allow herself to be led away.

Snape stopped in a dim corner near the entrance. "What happened, Severus?" She asked. "There was a plan in place to help Draco, that much I know. Does what happened to Jilly have anything to do with that?"

There was no accusation in her voice, even though Snape felt as though there should be. The wretched plan had been his idea, after all…

"Yes," he finally admitted, "it seems she was accidentally injured when the scheme did not go according to plan. But I give you my word, I will find out what happened." Although he was furious at Malfoy's obvious incompetence, he was vague with Lily on purpose for her own protection. Luckily, she knew better than to push for details.

"But I don't understand," she murmured quietly."You always consider every detail, and I can't imagine—"

"It was Malfoy."

Snape and Lily spun on their heels, watching as a determined, steely-eyed Harry approached them. Snape was immediately on guard, knowing how stubborn the boy could be when he got an idea into his mind. Like a dog with a bone, he thought, and although Malfoy may deserve it, Harry's resentment for him has always been a very meaty bone, indeed.

"Harry," he sighed persuasively, silently begging the boy to let it go for his own well-being. "There isn't enough evidence for us to know—"

"It was him," Harry insisted, and Snape felt his desperation increase. Harry cannot know! His shields are better, but like my own, obviously not impervious. If the Dark Lord ever broke through… The thought was enough to make his muscles tense and bunch painfully beneath his skin, knotting him into a further frenzy that he forced himself to hide from his family.

Harry plowed on obstinately. And with every syllable, Snape's anxiety – and his anger – rose to a dangerous tipping point.

"Dad, I'm telling you, Malfoy was acting strange! I know the arrogant prat well enough to know that he looks down his nose at everyone."

"Harry…"

"It's what's bothered me about him since the beginning, when I first met him."

"Harry…"

"But he had no emotion in his eyes at all, no arrogance – no fight, not even when he caught me watching him! And then Jilly had to use the loo, and Malfoy—"

"God damn it, Harry! STOP!"

Harry looked hurt at his father's outburst. But then the old resentment filled his eyes, and he glared at Snape. The look nearly killed him. It was how Harry had scowled at him as a student before things had changed.

Snape's heart gave a painful twang, but he narrowed his eyes to hide the painful emotion. If this is how it must be to keep my son safe, then so be it.

In the hopes that Harry would drop the subject for his own good, Snape drove the nail even deeper with one final blow. "Was your godfather not enough?" He hissed. "Stop allowing your idiot Gryffindor heart to get in the way before you get someone else killed!"

"Severus!" Lily gasped, her voice sounding angry for the first time. "Harry," she said as she turned towards him, but the boy was already running through the doors. "Harry, wait!" She took a step to go after him but seemed to reconsider as she spun towards Snape. "Severus Snape, how could you?! He's your son, and he could very well be right! Draco was showing signs of being—"

"I know."

"You know? Well then go after Harry and tell him—!"

"I cannot do that, Lily," he growled, grinding his teeth hard enough to crack his jaw.

"Why?! What you just said to Harry was unforgiv—"

Finally, the stress of the day exploded past his shields, and he snapped. "Don't you understand?! I said it to keep him safe! Harry cannot know about this plan! If the Dark Lord broke through Harry's shields… It's for his own protection, Lily!"

With her arms crossed across her chest, Lily reminded him very much of his son as she glared at him. "I understand," she ground out. "But he needs you, Severus, and you're only going to make things worse if you push him away. Besides, I saw Draco a few minutes before Harry showed up at the library, and I agree he was acting strange."

"The boy wasn't Imperioused," he immediately dismissed, remembering Malfoy's behavior the night before.

"He might be Imperioused, Severus! He was just… drifting aimlessly, and when I tried to strike up a conversation, he walked away without saying a word."

They stared at each other for a long moment, and Snape finally relented – if only to lesson Lily's anxiety. It is the least I can do after being responsible for her daughter's close brush with death.

"Fine," he sighed. "Where did you see him?"

"Wandering near the restricted section."

"Stay here with Jillian. Send a patronus if her condition changes." And with that, Snape made his way up to the library, unsettled and, now that it was over, enraged at everything that had happened.

Malfoy obviously doesn't have what it takes to be a spy, Snape told himself. This is going to have to be done a different way, or the boy and his family will be dead before the holidays are out. And Malfoy could easily take an innocent bystander down with him!

Stomping through the corridors, he was determined to get to the truth of what had actually happened today, especially since it was Jillian who had almost paid the ultimate price. He was positive that whatever story Malfoy produced, it would be only that: a story, a lie, meant to cover his mistakes and deflect blame. Just like always…

Snape blew through the doors to the library, his cloak billowing behind him as he meticulously searched every row and aisle for the Slytherin boy. The library was deserted this late on a Saturday evening, so Snape went in search of the vulture-like librarian in the hopes that she would remember seeing him.

"Severus," Madam Pince said, welcoming him with a warm smile. "How are—?"

"Pince," he cut her off, not having the time for pleasantries. "I'm looking for Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" She repeated, her thin lips puckering with immediate distaste. "I asked him to leave when it was obvious he had no intention of studying or—"

Snape spun on his heel and hurried out of the library. "Dammit," he growled, scrubbing an achy hand over his face. The boy could be anywhere! And of course, he hadn't reported straight to Snape upon arriving back at school like he was supposed to. Probably terrified of how I will react when I hear his ridiculous excuses. His failure almost caught Jillian her life!

Snatching his wand from his pocket, Snape laid the wood flat on his palm and hissed, "Point me… Draco Malfoy." As the wand began to spin like a compass needle, Snape couldn't help remembering Jilly's pale, limp form as Harry frantically crashed through the hospital doors carrying her. For one horrific moment, Snape had been convinced the girl was dead…

What in the bloody hell had happened?! How had Malfoy failed so miserably?!

The Slytherin had been so flippant the night before as they went over the plan. The boy had been glib and sarcastic instead of respecting this scheme as the life-and-death mission that it was. Snape had nearly attacked him in fury, enraged that he cared so little about his parent's impending ruin at the Dark Lord's hands.

Snape was so wrapped up in his own angry thoughts, he only realized he was passing Gryffindor tower when he heard the Fat Lady's abrasive singing echoing off the stone corridor walls. Slowing, he swallowed back the wave of guilt for how he'd left things with Harry. Eying the portrait guarding the entrance to Gryffindor tower, he wondered if he should enter the common room and demand to see his son. It would be believable enough, Snape thought. I've done it before…

He unknowingly took a few steps closer, stopping just shy of the large painting, as the thought of seeing the boy pulled at him. But when the Fat Lady abruptly ended her song and eyed him suspiciously, he shook himself of the feeling. It was safer not to draw any extra attention to his son, who was already more than likely in enough of the limelight after his mad dash through the castle with Jillian. Knowing how much Harry hated being the center of attention, Snape suspected the boy might already be locked away in his rooms. He sneered at the Fat Lady and spun on his heel, determined to write to him using the box as soon as he was finished with Malfoy.

Glancing down at the wand still spinning upon his palm, he followed the spell's directions all the way down into the dungeons. Expecting the wand to point him into the Slytherin common room, he was surprised when instead it marched him right past the entrance and around a few damp, rarely used passageways.

Where the bloody hell was Malfoy going?

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Draco ambled through the dark corridors in a haze. He felt a strong urge to find someone, but the pain in his head wouldn't allow him to focus on who he was supposed to be looking for. He also had an unsettling feeling that he was meant to be completing some important task. But once again, his mind was too fuzzy and his thoughts too disorganized to remember what.

His vision going in and out of focus, Draco attempted to blink away the fog cloying his brain. But when he raised a hand to rub his forehead, his skull throbbed as though it had been cleaved in two, and he groaned in pain and confusion. A shiver ran through his battered body, and Draco realized just how very cold and dark it was. Every surface was covered in damp stone, and he couldn't help thinking he was in a tomb. It's cold enough to be one, he thought, trembling as his breath misted into a warm cloud with every exhale. Leaning his head against the frigid walls, he closed his eyes and took comfort in how the coldness felt against his agonizing skull – even if the rest of his bones felt as though they were freezing into sticks of ice.

Someone bellowed nearby, and he winced. The sound meant nothing to him in his current state, except that it ricocheted off the walls and echoed through his throbbing head like an explosion.

Suddenly, Draco was roughly spun around and pinned against the wall by a heavy forearm. He clawed at his neck, his eyes going wide as he was unable to draw breath. Whatever monster he'd unintentionally awakened within this tomb was about to strangle him!

But through the sudden ringing in his ears, a voice suddenly became clear. "…happened, damn you!"

The monster was speaking to him. He opened his mouth to beg for his life, but all that came out was a gagging sound. Luckily, the arm loosened its grip, and Draco was able to draw a ragged, burning breath into his lungs. He began to cough, sure that his skull was cracking with each agonized hack and that his brain would fall to the floor at any moment. He clasped his head between his hands, trying desperately to keep his brain in its proper place.

"How did the little girl get hold of that necklace, Malfoy?" The voice growled.

"Wha…?" Little girl? What necklace? "My head," he moaned.

The monster before him paused, and suddenly there was a small bottle placed against his lips. "Drink!" The voice demanded.

In too much pain to refuse, Draco did as he was told. The moment he swallowed, some of the pain in his skull was eased. Although his thoughts still felt sticky and slow, he would have slumped to the ground in relief if it weren't for the arm still at his throat.

"You almost destroyed a little girl, Malfoy! Now tell me what happened with the necklace!" The voice demanded again. With the pain subsiding, it became clear that the monster was losing patience. Draco opened his eyes to stare at the beast, and the face he saw conjured a flicker of recognition. Necklace… Yes, he'd been dwelling on gifting his mother with a necklace. Blue opals…

"I… was going to give it to my mother," he croaked. It was the only fact he could currently remember about any necklace.

"Don't play with me, Malfoy!" The monster sneered before another bottle was pushed harshly against his mouth. "Drink!"

Once more, Draco did as the voice bid him, his pain refusing to let him think clearly. And once again, some of the fog within his sluggish mind cleared. Blinking slowly up at the monster, Snape's face suddenly came into focus.

"Professor," Draco moaned. "Oh, my head… Please, I need to find Ms. Prew—"

But his voice was cut off once more as Snape leaned his forearm against his throat. "Why do you need to see Ms. Prewett?!" He snarled. "So you can apologize for almost killing her daughter?"

Although he could not breathe, Draco's eyes went wide at the accusation, and he frantically shook his head. "I… didn't…!" He choked out.

"What was that?" Snape demanded, thankfully loosening his hold upon Draco's neck.

"I said I didn't!" Draco gasped, eyes still wide with shock and fear. "I… I never even saw her daughter!"

"A crowded pub full of patrons says otherwise, Malfoy."

"What?" Draco yelped, his croaky voice rising in panic. "But I… I didn't! I d-don't think—"

"You don't think what?!" Snape snarled, his rage returning tenfold. "You don't think you messed up? You don't think you could have remembered a few simple instructions? You don't think your mistakes will cause the death—"

"I don't remember, ok?!" Draco cried, wincing at the pain that flared inside his skull. "I… I was walking to the pub, and I fell! I hit my head on something in the snow, and I blacked out! When I came to, I remember making it inside The Three Broomsticks, but I was woozy. Slughorn noticed that something was wrong with me. He could see how dizzy I was. I remember talking to him, but then everything went black…" A strange look came over Snape's features, so Draco feverishly continued, "When I – I don't know, woke up – I was wandering around down here. I-I swear Professor, I didn't do anything to the girl! I still have the necklace, see?" But when he patted the place inside his cloak where the necklace should be, he found the package gone. "W-what? No, n-no! It should still be here! No one knew about it except us and Dumbledore! No one!"

His professor narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but curiously removed his arm and took a step back. Draco continued patting himself down, desperately attempting to find the necklace so he could convince the man of his innocence. Frantic in his search, disheveled in his mind, and still agonized by the pain, Draco was unprepared for what happened next.

"Look at me, Malfoy." And he did, with wide, wild eyes. "Legillimens."

He cried out as Snape entered his memories. His mind felt as though it had been flayed wide open and whipped raw. He watched helplessly as Snape flipped through the events of the day – the blizzard, the fall, his realization that he wanted to live. And then his time at the pub, being approached by Slughorn before… nothing. Before it all went dark.

As Snape removed himself from his excruciating mind, Draco was grateful that his professor was there to catch him as his legs gave way.