Author's note: Ok all...Sorry this took so long. I know you may have gotten a notice a couple of weeks ago that I updated, but I quickly pulled the chapter after one of my most loyal reviewers (Lady Asphodel - Love you bunches) called me on a few things that I myself had not quite been happy with but overlooked in order to get an update up quicker. Thanks to her I pulled it and re-did the whole thing so it would reflect something I was truly happy with! So here it is! Thanks all for being so patient! Lots more to come I promise!

Chapter 9 - Protective

It seemed to take way too long to clear and opening big enough for Snape to crawl through. When they had finally succeeded, Snape ordered Ron to stay where he was and continue moving away the rocks for when they returned.

As he carefully made his way down the darkened corridors, Snape reached out with all of his senses trying to detect a trace of Harry or the Basilisk. Each twist and turn of the tunnel brought new anticipations and anxiety.

It wasn't until he had reached the wall with the serpent opening that Snape finally heard anything. He carefully positioned himself outside of the chamber and peeked around the corner in an attempt to discern what was going on inside. He was surprised to hear the young sounding voice of someone that he did not voice was shouting something unintelligible, but was strangely similar to the snake speak he had heard from Harry earlier in the year.

He carefully crept his way into the large room and was momentarily stunned by the sight in front of him. The room was more like a huge cavern with several long. thick pillars decorated with snakes that appeared to be spiraling up to an unseen ceiling. At the very front of the cavern stood an enormous statue of Salazar Slytherin. At the base of that statue lay a small robed body that he could only assume was Ginney Weasley. Almost without thinking Snape took several running steps in her direction before noticing the huge snake that was currently proccupied with an unknown target that Snape was unable to see from his current location. Off to the right stood a boy in Hogwart's robes who looked most unfamiliar to him, which was only made more off considering the boy was wearing Slytherin colors. As he looked closer at the boy he saw that he could almost see right through the boy as if he were a ghost or something.

When the strange boy began shouting again, Snape was forced to admit that it was parseltongue that he was speaking. A sinking feeling in his gut led him to suspect that the person the snake was pursuing could be no one else but Harry. He wanted to kick himself for not realizing this sooner.

Jumping out from where he had been crouching behind a stone pillar Snape jumped out and yelled in an attempt to get the basilisk's attentions away from Harry. He was shocked when neither basilisk or the boy even acknowledged his presence. The boy just continued shouting at the beast seemingly directing him towards Harry. Even more shocking to Snape was the fact that Harry was holding a long bejewled sword in his hand and seemed to be preparing to fight the thing. Snape knew that the boy did not stand a chance, but feared distracting his attention away from the monster in front of him. Instead Snape decided to focus on the mysterious boy.

Snape turned and whipped out his wand yelling, "expelliarmus" at the boy. To his amazement the bolt of magic shot right through and hit the wall behind him. Still the boy refused to even acknowledge Snape's presence. Instead he watched as the boy's gaze intensified into a look of horror as he watched the action across the room.

Following his gaze Snape spun around just in time to see the basilisk strike out at where Harry had been standing, leaving no doubt in Snape's mind that the boy could have escaped the attack. He felt the blood drain from his face and heard himself call out as broke out into a run. Amazingly he watched as the giant snake shuddered and fell over to the side, but was horrified as he watched Harry slide down the wall to the floor in an obvious daze holding his arm.

When he reached Harry's side he dropped down to his knees and took his wounded arm in his hands to examine the wound. He knew without even looking that the boy had only minutes left to live.

"Stupid boy!" he hissed as he blinked away the burning in his eyes. "You stupid, stupid boy! What were you thinking?"

Somewhere behind them, Snape heard the ghost boy yelling but he heard none of what was said. Instead he watched as Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix landed on Harry injured arm and began rapidly blinking its eyes until several tears fell onto the wound. Snape watched in fascination as the wound closed up before their eyes.

"Phoenixes tears have healing powers," he whispered in response to Harry's questioning look.

As he forced his mind to clear Snape became aware of the strange boy speaking from behind them. After telling Harry to stay down, he stood, whirled and pulled his wand around to face the boy.

"Who are you?" Snape snarled.

"I am, Tom Riddle, the heir to your Salazar Slytherin," the boy proclaimed. "He would be most disappointed in you and your interference in these matters."

The hair on the back of his neck stood up at the mention of the name, but Snape did his best to ignore it and said instead, "I don't care who you think would be disappointed in me. I want to know how you got here."

Before Riddle could respond, Fawkes swooped through the air and dropped something small and black into Harry's lap. Suddenly Riddle was no longer interested in Snape, but began shouting at Harry to return his book. Snape watched as a look of recognition washed over Harry's face and saw him grab the tooth that had broken off when he had been bitten by the basilisk. He held the tooth up high and then brought it down and into the book. A high-pitched screeching sound filled the chamber and suddenly Riddle was on the ground thrashing about as if in pain until he suddenly disappeared.

A million questions flooded into Snape's head, but he knew that they needed to wait until he could talk to Dumbledore. Instead he turned his focus to Ginny Weasley who had just begun stirring from where she laid upon the ground.

Rushing to her side Snape helped her sit up and asked, "Are you all right?"

Ginny nodded and began to cry. "I'm going to be expelled aren't I?"

"What in Merlin's name would make you think that?" Snape asked in confusion.

"It was me! I was the one who wrote on the walls and killed the roosters and—" Ginny wailed. "Riddle made me do it! I didn't know what I was doing!"

"Cease your blubbering silly girl," he barked. "That is not something to concerned about at this time. We need to get you and Mr. Potter out of here and up to the hospital wing immediately. Anything else will need to be discussed with the headmaster."

Leading the way through the tunnels that led back to the place where he had left Ron and Professor Lockhart, Snape irritably could not help himself from glancing repeatedly sideways at Harry. While he had no doubt that Fawkes had been able to heal the boy, the visibly obvious strain of the evening was taking its toll on him. He supposed he could brew up a draught to help him sleep soundly tonight. Perhaps a dreamless sleep potion. He would speak to Madam Pomfrey when they returned and see what she recommended.

By the time the three of them reached where Ron was still diligently working to clear away the debris, Professor Lockhart had woken up and was stumbling around mumbling to himself. Upon seeing Snape he brightened up and approached him excitedly.

"Hello good sir!" Lockhart exclaimed. "Might you be able to tell me where we are?"

"The memory charm backfired," Ron explained grumpily. "He doesn't remember who he even is!"

"If only we could all be so lucky as to forget who he was," Snape remarked under his breath. "You need to just stay put and be quiet. We will be out of here shortly and then we will get you to St. Mungo's immediately," he said in a mocking tone to Lockhart.

"So how do we get out of here?" Harry asked. "I don't think we can leave the way we came in."

Just as Harry was speaking Fawkes flew over their heads and swooped down in front of them as if trying to get their attentions. Snape knew almost immediately want the bird was offering but he could not help but try to determine another option for the escape. When none came to mind he took ahold of the phoenixes tail and instructed everyone to join hands. Naturally he was stuck holding onto Harry, which was something he was quick to rectify as soon as they landed back in the bathroom above.

The first thing that he had wanted to do immediately upon returning was to take everyone to see Madam Pomfrey and get checked out. However, he knew that they would need to meet with Dumbledore, whom he was certain had returned to the castle by now, before anything else. So he directed all three children to report directly to the hospital wing when they were finished with Dumbledore.

Snape almost considered walking Harry to the Headmaster's office, but thought better of it. Instead he escorted Lockhart to the hospital wing and then retired to his quarters. As he made himself a cup of tea and settled down in his favorite chair he did his best to ignore the tremble of his hands and force the disturbing image of Harry lying on floor seconds away from certain death.

Despite all of his best efforts, sleep eluded Snape for the better part of the night. When he had finally grown weary of wasting his energies he decided to attempt to get answers to the questions keeping him awake.

When he arrived at the headmaster's quarters, he was only slightly surprised to find that he was expected. The old man was sitting at the desk drinking a cup of tea with another cup of steaming hot tea waiting in front of the open seat meant for Snape.

"Quite an interesting evening from what I hear," Dumbledore began conversationally.

"Interesting? Interesting?!" Snape snorted. "That foolish boy nearly got himself killed thanks to his idiotic need to play hero! No once did he stop to think about the consequences of what he had gotten himself into!"

Dumbledore nodded. "Perhaps he was simply doing as he has always had to do thus far in his young life: look out for himself. Keep himself alive. When one is accustomed to being able to count on no one but themselves in situations like these, it is only too natural to continue doing so especially in the face of adversity. Although I was under the impression that Harry had sent word to you prior to descending into the chamber did he not?"

"He did, although he didn't bother waiting for me to actually get there before taking action," Snape countered.

"Ah true. But he has come a long way since his adventures last year," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Something you have said to him must have gotten through to him."

"Hmpf," was all the Snape could say before his attentions were drawn to the destroyed black book sitting on the headmaster's desk. "What do you make of that?"

Picking up the book Dumbledore sighed heavily and said, "I'm afraid that I'm not too sure. There is definitely a significant presence of dark magic here. It does look like we are going to have to be keeping a closer eye on Lucius Malfoy in light of the events of tonight, though."

"Lucius Malfoy? What does he have to do with all of this?" Snape asked in surprise.

"It seem that it had been he whom allowed this diary to end up in young Ginny Wealey's possession," Dumbledore said sadly.

Snape growled and said, "I should have guessed as much. That man is an imbecile. I'm willing to bet that he had no real inclination as to its true powers."

"I'm afraid I may have to disagree with you. When I revealed to him a hint of the specifics of what had come to be because of the book he did not seem at all surprised. Sadly this only makes him more of a subject for concern as opposed to less," Dumbledore said.

"I do have to wonder about the Malfoy's house elf, however. This elf somehow found it necessary to sneak out of the residence and find Mr. Potter to warn him of the dangers brought on by Lucius. How is that even possible? I have never heard of a house elf behaving in such a manner," Snape asked.

"Nor have I," Dumbledore said pensively. "Dobby is a particularly interesting elf and I see him doing many more interesting things in the future especially since he has been freed from the Malfoy's"

"Freed?" Snape asked in surprise. "How has he been freed?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "It seems Harry is a bit more clever than many give him credit for. Lucius was quite irritated."

"I would think so!" Snape exclaimed. "And not his anger will be directed directly towards Potter! This boy truly does have a death wish!"

"You shouldn't be too hard on the boy, Severus," Dumbledore said quietly. "I believe that there is very little he does in which he thinks solely for himself. His heart is pure."

Snape groaned. "Surely you can see how destructive that line of thinking can be?!"

"I'm afraid that instincts like this are a nature of genetics and is not something that can be changed or fixed. However I think in time, with some proper mentoring, he can learn to be a bit more cautious," Dumbledore mused.

"Hmpf," was the only response received.

As the school year came to a close, Snape found himself significantly more anxious than usual for the summer holiday to begin. It had been a rough year and Snape was feeling drained and exhausted. The cancelation of the end of year exams had been of some relief to everyone, but there still had been plenty to be done before he could leave the castle for the year. Thankfully the students were all due to be leaving first thing in the morning which would free up a considerable about of time to complete the tasks needing to be done to close out the year.

It was as Snape was busy going through the list of potions that Madam Pomfrey would need to have replenished when a rather downtrodden Harry knocked upon his open office door.

Attempting to hide his immediate concern Snape sneers at the boy and says, "Surely you have some packing to do in order to get ready to leave in the morning?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said softly. "I just wanted to thank for coming down after me in the chamber. I'm sorry I didn't wait for you."

Snape stared at the boy intently trying to read him. Finally he said, "Although I don't doubt the sincerity of your words I have to say that I do not believe that this is the reason you sought me out tonight. What are you not telling me?"

Harry looked at the floor and was silent for several long minutes before he spoke again. "I just found out that I am being sent back to Dursley's. I thought maybe it was because you were angry with me for what had happened in the chamber."

Snape felt his stomach drop. "You think I am responsible for your having to return? Did someone give you that impression?"

Harry shook his head still looking at the floor.

"I can assure you, boy, that I have had nothing to do with this decision and quite honestly was not even aware of the arrangements. I am certain however, that if Dumbledore has made the decision to have you return to your relative's home that he must have his reasons for doing so," Snape said while silently vowing to share some words with the man about the idiocy of his decision.

"I just don't understand! Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia hate me! Plus I'm sure Dudley and his loser gang of friends have spent all year coming up with new ways to make my life miserable," Harry said mournfully.

Snape clenched his teeth and fought the urge to tell the boy exactly what he would do if he discovered his cousin harassing him again. Instead he simply said, "If any one of them mistreats you in anyway, I would expect you to send me an owl immediately. Then if needed I will pay a visit to the house and deal with situation."

"Really, sir?" Harry asked as he looked up in surprise. "You would do that?"

"If it meant an end to this ceaseless blubbering in my office when you clearly should be otherwise engaged? Yes. I would do that," Snape replied with a roll of his eyes.

Harry stared at the potions teacher for a long moment seemingly unsure of what to say. Finally he whispered, "Thank you, sir. I don't mean to be such a bother."

Snape sighed. "Asking for help when needed is not being a bother. Acting on impulse and getting yourself into trouble or putting yourself and others into dangerous situations is bothersome."

Harry nodded his understanding and then excused himself to get back to getting ready to depart the castle in the morning. Snape found himself unable to continue with his work and began pacing back and forth in front of his desk.

What in the world was Dumbledore thinking in making the decision to send Harry back to those horrible people? Surely he could not have forgotten the boy's state at prior to the start of the fall term. Perhaps it was his irrationally desperate need to believe that everyone was capable of being good and deserved a second chance. Unfortunately, Snape knew better and knew the type of people they were dealing with. Vernon and Petunia Dursley had a sick way of justifying the things they do in order to make it feel right in their own twisted minds. After everything that they have already done to the boy, it seemed absolutely ridiculous to throw him back into that situation.

As he made his way up to the Headmaster's office he began working on his contingency plan on the very likely chance that his meeting would not go as he would hope. If Dumbledore remained dead set on forcing the boy to return to such a damaging environment, then Snape would make an impromptu visit to Surrey first thing in the morning. He wanted to give the Dursleys' a forewarning of what they should expect if their horrendous treatment of Mr. Potter were to continue. Hopefully this would alleviate the need for his summer holiday to be interrupted and hopefully allow him to finally be rid of these ridiculous feelings of protectiveness that have been growing ever more intense since the day he'd found him locked away in that small bedroom on Privet Drive.