Chapter 6

When they entered the small study, Poppy studied the surroundings with an interested glint in her eyes. The small room was decorated sparsely, but still comfy. One large desk was placed in a corner, so that whoever that occupied it would see every person that entered the room. In an old fireplace a fire was burning merrily and threw its light on the crimson draperies which hanged on the stonewalls. Close to the desk were a small cupboard and bookcases covered one wall.

With a wave of his wand Tom conjured three armchairs and placed them in front of the desk in a semicircle. Then he gestured to the nurse to have a seat, while he himself sank down on the armchair behind the desk.

"Well, Tom I must say that I hadn't thought that you would decorate one of your rooms in the Gryffindor colours. I had expected green and silver." Poppy said with laughter in her voice.

Tom felt how his cheeks heated up and let his gaze fall down on the floor. 'Damn' He should have remembered to change the colours before taking her. Now she knew that the heir of Slytherin liked Gryffindor colours… 'How embarrassing'

"Um well yes… you see I thought that perhaps Harry would feel more at home if I had decorated them like this when we speak"

Inwardly he congratulated himself on such a brilliant answer and hoped that she hadn't noticed his panic in the beginning of the sentence.

Her answer was interrupted by a hesitant knock on the door. Moving his eyes away from the nurse he looked at the closed door and then called for them to enter, already knowing who it was on the other side. When the door opened Severus and Lucius cautiously stepped inside, keeping an eye on Pomfrey, not having forgotten her fury at them. When she smirked at them with an evil look in her eyes they paled and stopped. Tom closed his eyes and hid a smile behind his hand then he coughed loudly to get their attention.

"Well, don't just stand there. Have a seat." He said and smirked when they both silently fought about the chair farthest away from the nurse.

Then Lucius sighed and took the seat closest to her apparently having lost the battle of wills. Tom smiled again and then leant back against the armchair's back.

"Well then, I believe you two wonder why you are here. Let's just say that there is one story to be told and a lot of answers to be gained. Especially from you Severus." Tom said and pierced the black-haired man with a sharp gaze.

***

Severus swore loudly on the inside. This time he really had done it. Why ever had he used that to protect himself from a spell he easily could have dodged? Now they must know that he wasn't what he tried to appear to be; human, a normal person with a nasty temper. 'But no I had to screw up and break my cover. Will they turn away from me when they learn what I am?' he didn't now and that scared him. Now when he finally was able to see some hope on the horizon, everything he held dear might get taken away from him.

Keeping his eyes locked on the floor he didn't hear it when Tom called his name. Suddenly he felt a light touch on his shoulder and reacted on instinct. Lashing out with the same dark, pulsing magic before he realized it, Tom was sent into the wall with a loud thud and the sound of cracking bones. When he saw how Tom slid down the wall unconscious he paled and rose slowly.

"Merlin, what have I done? I hurt him, I hurt him, I hurt him…" repeating himself again and again Severus began to shake and then he fell to his knees.

***

Pomfrey stared at the unconscious body of the Dark Lord and then she sprung into action. Rising from the armchair she ran around the desk and knelt at his side. Moving her wand over him she cast several diagnostic spells to locate the damage. 'He has three broken ribs and a small fracture on his right wrist. Maybe a concussion too' She was surprised when she found out that he was relatively unharmed. Casting several bone-mending hexes she then turned towards Lucius.

"Take him to the hospital wing and place him in a bed. I've healed the injuries and all he has to do is to wake up." She said.

When Lucius nodded and came to her side he then threw a glance at the rambling potions master.

"What about him?" Lucius asked and couldn't hide the anger in his voice.

"I'll deal with him, take Tom to the infirmary now"

She could see that the fair-haired man hesitated, not wanting to leave her alone with Severus, but when she glared at him he swallowed quickly and then hurried from the room with Tom in his arms.

When he had left Poppy turned towards the potionsmaster. Cautiously moving closer to him she spoke his name.

"Severus?"

When he didn't show any signs of having heard her she sighed and reflected on what she should do next. 'I don't want to touch him, he might throw me into a wall as well. Oh well… I guess there is no other way' she thought and then whispered "Aguamenti" and a jet of water drenched the murmuring man. Then she had to throw herself to the floor to evade the dark wave of magic which swept against her. For a moment she thought she had evaded it, but then a veil of black heat surrounded her and crept closer. She could feel the warmth washing towards her skin and how it began to get more difficult to breathe. Gasping for air she struggled to move away from the black but then she felt how something burnt her leg and cried out in pain. Drawing her leg close she looked backwards and saw that she was surrounded by black. A vicious burning heat. There was no way out, she couldn't escape. Closing her eyes she began to pray.

Then as suddenly as they had appeared, the black blames vanished.

"Foolish woman! Of all stupid things to do…! Now breathe damn it!" a voice snarled at her and then something shook her carefully.

With a groan Poppy opened her eyes only to meet the angry gaze of Severus. He looked really mad at her, but deep in his eyes she could see fear, but also relief.

"Severus… what happened? What were those black flames?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"You ask what happened? I'll tell you foolish woman! You gambled with your life! That is what you did! If your scream hadn't snapped me out of it you could have died!" he snarled at her.

Then he rose and stared down at her with a sneer on his face.

"Gather yourself and go to the infirmary. I'll go and get the potions you might need. You should have left me alone and helped Tom." Severus said and then swept out of the room.

But the usual strength in his gait lacked and his robes hanged down behind him.

***

When Severus had entered the safety of the potions labs and closed the door behind him, he closed his eyes and growled low in his throat. Then he slammed his fist into the wall. 'Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!' Slamming his fist against the stone again and again he didn't notice when blood began to stain the stone or when pain shot through his abused hand. 'Damn it! I hurt Tom and almost killed Poppy… What have I become?' Opening his eyes he let his gaze linger on the floor. Standing there silent for several moments he at last began to feel the pain which burned in his hand. Looking down at it with surprise he then sighed and waved his unharmed hand. At once his injuries healed and the blood on his hand, wall and floor disappeared.

"Damn it. I have to calm down. I have to focus. I put us in this mess, so I'll have to help solving it." Severus said to himself.

Then he slowly walked over to the shelves with different potions bottles and began to pick the ones he needed. The good thing was that he had spelled all of the bottles to protect their contents from his darkness. In other words the potions wouldn't be damaged or altered by him being near them. When he had the ones he needed he quickly left for the hospital wing.

On the way there he began to look over his occlumency blocks and repair the damages on them. It was important for him to master his feelings since his magic seemed to react to changes in them. Hence the need of strong occlumency blocks to help him to keep his mind calm and clear. What he discovered during his search didn't amuse him. 'Damn, almost all of my blocks are severely damaged. I'll need to find time and a safe location to meditate and enter my mind space. I'll need to repair them as fast as possible.' Severus thought and rounded a corner. In front of him the door to the hospital wing laid and it was opened.

When he entered the first thing he saw was Lucius and even if the fair-haired man had his back against him, Severus could see that he was furious. 'And he has every right to be…' With a sigh he shook his head and then cleared his throat loudly to get the other man's attention.

"You! How dare you show yourself here after what you did?" Lucius snarled when he saw who it was.

When Severus didn't answer, Lucius continued his rant.

"I thought that you were on our side! Are you on the old fool's side after all?"

"No! Never! I didn't mean to…" Severus began meeting his friends gaze.

Then they were interrupted by Tom's voice whispering:

"Be quiet both of you. Merlin, Lucius, your yelling could wake up the dead"

"Tom!"

At once Lucius was at the bed's side and sank down beside it.

"How are you feeling my friend?" he asked with concern evident in his voice.

Tom smiled and then slowly sat up.

"I've been better. I feel like I've been run over by a herd of Hippogriffs."

Then he slowly let his gaze wander over to the potions master. When Severus noticed that Tom looked at him he sank down on his knees and bent his head.

"My lord, I'm so sorry. I've failed you. I'll take any punishment you give." Severus whispered with a hoarse voice.

Tom sighed and looked at the kneeling figure. He knew that Severus hadn't meant to attack him and that part of what had happened was his fault.

"Severus, rise. I know that you didn't mean to harm me. This was an accident, one which I bear some responsibility for. I knew that you were some kind of magical creature and still I acted with folly. Now look at me" Tom said.

When Severus hesitantly raised his head and then met his friend's gaze, Tom smiled gently.

"This wasn't your fault. I forgive you, so stop blaming yourself."

Whatever the potions master was going to say was interrupted by a frenzied hissing from the other bed in the room. At once Tom turned towards his familiar and then listened. Then he turned again and smiled grimly.

"It seems that our guest finally is waking up. Albeit it is sooner than we expected."