Two Unspeakables came. They found us all in the Infirmary where Snape now was resting, Poppy keeping an eye on his wounds in case Lockhart had done permanent damage. No one knew the exact spell the asshole had used. I cowered from them, hiding like a real baby behind Arthur who was still patiently keeping me company.

"Better to wait until his father has recovered, yes, Magnus?" Arthur told one of them, cementing my eternal love for him. "I doubt Professor Snape would like us to do anything to his son without his presence."

"I'm here, Arthur," said Minerva, "I will stand in for Severus—"

"No!" I called from behind Arthur's back, where I was clutching his robe. Yes, I know, extremely childish, but what did you want me to do? They outnumbered and outsized me and sometimes hiding behind someone was the more sensible action. Especially since they hadn't let me keep the knife. Snape was out of action and Arthur was the best option in the room. "I don't want you!"

"Albus—" Minerva started.

"I'm not talking to you either! I told you and you didn't listen! Why did you bring him anyway, he didn't need to know I was a-a—"

"He was outside the room when Severus Floo-called us," Minerva said. She was starting to look quite upset with me, but for once I didn't care.

"Perhaps we can not shout around the sickbed," Poppy said. "Shall we move aside?"

I wasn't going anywhere 'aside' and I told her that in no uncertain terms.

"Not you, Albus," Poppy soothed. "You can stay here. Arthur will keep you company," she said, and turned to Weasley. "Won't you, Arthur?"

That decided they moved off to her office, and only when the door closed did I come out of hiding to look at Severus. The bed was raised high for Poppy's ministrations and I had to tiptoe to see him. Poppy had spent over two hours with him and he now lay propped on his side with a good amount of pillows. It didn't look comfortable and he didn't look well. Paler than I had ever seen him, his breathing was shallow, and the skin of his hand clammy to my touch. She had insisted he would be fine, his wounds were healing well, and there had been no sign of dark magic. His fractured hip might keep him in bed for now but he'd be right as rain by my birthday. As if I cared for my birthday.

"Do you want to sit up with your dad?" Arthur asked.

"There's no space."

"Ah, but that's why we are wizards. Watch." He shook his wand out—I moved well out of the way—and he waved it at the bed. The small spot next to Severus's front expanded, making the single bed a full size, Severus untouched by the process. "Come then, let's get you up there, did you know we feel better when we have someone we love close by? Even if we are not awake, our bodies know."

I knew from research on comatose patients, yes, but said nothing. Whether Snape actually loved the person that inserted into his friend was open to question. I did let Arthur help me up though, even if just for myself, and he was right, something settled in my chest when I sat cross legged next to the Dungeon Bat. I scooted as close as possible without disturbing him and watched him breathe.

Arthur pulled an armchair closer and sat down himself. "He'll wake in a couple of hours, don't you fret. If you want to talk to him I won't listen."

I wouldn't know what to say. And even if I did I was definitely not going to do it where the others could hear.

"Would you like to know about horcruxes? Harry was quite worried before they removed the soul fragment from him, I bet you're wondering yourself."

"I'm not." I wasn't wondering at all, in fact I knew better than him. He must be thinking about what I shouted in front of him and Severus earlier, before all this mess had happened.

"Is that so? That's good to hear, Albus. Still, I am sure Harry would tell you himself if he was here, but it is nothing to worry about, he said it felt like a little pinch and nothing more."

Yes, but unlike me, Harry was his own person. I'm sure it felt like more than a pinch for the invader.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," Arthur said, continuing his one-sided conversation. "When Percy heard I was coming here he sent you this." Arthur dug into his pocket and came forth with a small candy coloured paper bag that I recognised immediately as coming from Sugarplum's sweet shop. He set it next to me. "He was sure you had already finished your own and might like to have these."

I peered in the bag to find three ice mice jittering inside. The cold treats were of my favourites and I automatically picked one out even though I wasn't in the mood, letting it wiggle on my palm.

"Don't eat it now, you'll spoil your lunch," Snape said. His dark eyes were open, staring at me. Heaven help me, but being watched so closely by the man I had thought was going to die unnerved me to such an extent that I did the only thing I could think of. I popped the mouse into my mouth and chomped down. My teeth started chattering immediately, and Snape fell asleep again with a disapproving sigh before I could tell him how glad I was that he was alive.

The Unspeakables sensibly decided to come back the next day when Severus was awake. Minerva tried to apologise to me for Lockhart and I stuck my fingers in my ears, my teeth chattering loud enough to drown her voice. Arthur left soon after, mussing my hair up on the way.

Lockhart was gone. This I heard from Minerva. Seeing her enter Poppy's office in a hurried rush I slipped off the bed to go listen outside the door. He had disappeared, and had apparently enough time to pack his bags and every last one of his portraits. The news meant nothing to me. I couldn't find it in me to be angry at him. I had known what he was from the start, hadn't I? It was as useless as being angry at a pig for rolling in the mud. I found myself more upset at not having been listened to. When Minerva came out she was Dumbledore, and I didn't hide the fact that I had listened in, just stood aside and glared at her.

"I really am sorry, Albus," she said through Dumbledore's beard. "Poppy assures me Severus will be as good as new, as if nothing happened."

"But it did happen, and he had nearly died, Minerva! Even if he didn't die he was in a lot of pain, no, he is still in a lot of pain, and that's not nothing! Kindly don't talk to me again," I said, for the so manyth time hating my childish voice for not bringing my full wrath over as clearly as I felt it. I turned my back on her.

"I'll be in the ministry with Amelia if you need me. Don't worry, we will find him."

"I don't care."

Every professor and their friend found a reason to come see Snape. Lockhart seemingly had time after he had overheard Snape and Minerva's call to spread the word about me being a horcrux, and as the only Snape awake between me and Severus, they concentrated their worried and curious questions on me. In the end I took to hiding away when they came, and Poppy dealt with them after that. Which meant she didn't have her eye on me.

By now I had turned 'slipping away from my babysitters' into an art form. The trick was to get them relaxed enough to stop paying attention. For Poppy this meant I forced myself to eat the lunch that she brought up for me, took a nap right next to Severus at my usual time, and made lots of trips to the bathroom until she got used to me coming and going. On my last trip I slipped Severus's wand into my pocket and did not return.

Outside the Infirmary I legged it to the hidden passage behind an old rusty knight, ending up near the library. From there I slipped behind a threadbare tapestry to the kitchens and yet another passage led me out of the school, close to the shrieking shack, bypassing the whomping willow.

I should ideally have waited until after dinner, for bedtime, before running off. That would have given me a whole night's head start before I was missed by Poppy and Minerva, but I had heard Poppy say she was going to decrease the dose of his sleeping potion. Severus had a sixth sense for my disappearances and I would rather not have to try and get past him even half asleep.

The grounds were empty, and I had to refrain from running across it. People noticed fast movement quicker than they did slow and wizards and witches were no different. I was aiming for the Forbidden Forest. Nearing the dark treeline my feet slowed on their own accord and I found myself trembling in sudden childish fear. There were big spiders there. That ate people. That's not even starting on what else there was according to the students, poisonous plants and things that went bump in the night just looking for a small sized snack. And no one to save you, for Point Me and searching spells did not work in the forest. That was what I was bargaining on. It was easy slipping away from someone but it was damn hard staying lost if that someone had a wand. I didn't have the cloak to hide myself under or I could have stayed in any empty classroom in the castle and no one would have been able to find me.

Outside the treeline I hesitated. I could go back and take what was coming to me. I had a good year, didn't I? It would be the decent thing to do, to give Dumbledore his body back, they all wanted him back anyway. Unsure, I turned around to look at the castle that now glowed invitingly in the afternoon sun. I should return, accept my fate, maybe spend the night writing farewell letters… No. I didn't want to die. With that decided, I took a fortifying breath… And another. One more. Okay, you can do it. Just one step…