Disclaimer – It isn't mine – Other than the plot of course.

Chapter 3 – Two down, two to go.

Snape felt his chest tighten and scowled outwardly even as his arms automatically lifted the skeletally thin young man and stood up.

'Come on, Potter.' He murmured, inwardly berating himself for his tone.

Harry seemed to have dropped back into unconsciousness even as his hand clenched almost painfully around Snape's arm.

The potions master turned around and glared at the four spectators. 'You did well in bringing him here. I will take him straight to Madame Pomfrey.' He said curtly before pushing past them and out of the bus.

He didn't look back as he all but ran up to the castle, the light from the windows casting shadows over the Boy-Who-Lived's deathly pale face. Snape blinked and shook his head, silently cursing Dumbledore to the ninth level of hell as his heart clenched involuntarily at the sight.

He slipped through the massive oak doors but didn't head for the infirmary, instead heading for his rooms as he knew the headmaster would expect him to.

He murmured the password and carried the almost weightless form into the bedroom and settled them gently on the bed; trying to pull away even as Harry continued to hold him tightly. He tried prying his fingers off but Harry's grip was unusually tight.

It's alright, Potter. You're safe here.' He murmured, gently stroking the boy's cheek in an effort to get the young man to relax enough that he let him go.

The hand did relax and Snape quickly withdrew his arm, but moments later Harry let out a pitiful cry and without consultation with his brain, Snape's body took and involuntary step forward and grasped the bony hands that were reaching for him.

A second passed and Harry's eyes snapped open, a glaze of confusion over them. Snape watched as the boy's eyes roamed over his face before looking at the room around him. Harry's expression became one of panic.

'Go.' He gasped. 'Have to go…Dumbledore…bastard…can't stay here…'

Snape yanked one of his hands from within Harry's and placed it on the young man's chest, pushing him back down on the bed from where he had tried to rise. 'You're in no fit state to go anywhere, Potter.' He murmured gently.

'Please.' Harry begged, trying to rise once more. 'Please… Snape…'

Snape shook his head as Harry began trembling alarmingly. 'Potter, I don't think….'

'I can't stay here. Not here. Not with you. I promised myself.' It was the most coherent thing the boy had said but Snape could clearly see the effort it had taken. Harry had actually pulled his hands from Snape's and wrapped them tightly around his painfully thin waist, pulling his knees to his chest and his breathing became labored. 'So cold.' He whispered, his eyes closing as he swallowed convulsively.

'Potter?' Harry made no sign he had heard the older wizard. 'Harry?' Snape tried again, hesitantly.

It was quite obvious that there was no way the young man was going anywhere, and, that if Snape didn't do something soon the Boy-Who-Lived might not last much longer.

He quickly cast several warming charms but they seemed to have no effect on the trembling form. He cast the strongest one he could on a blanket that was lying on the edge of the bed and laid it over the boy but that still didn't seem to help.

Even as he stood there and stared down at the young man he knew what had to be done, much as it turned his stomach. He gently lifted the blanket so he could banish most of the boy's clothes and, after doing so, found himself unable to look away.

How on earth had the brat managed to walk around, let alone do what he had done over the last week? Every single rib could be counted and Harry's backbone protruded so far out it looked as if it would almost break through the skin. The skin itself was almost translucent and Snape knew that if he touched it, it would feel like brittle old parchment.

Swallowing heavily, and once again cursing a certain old wizard, Snape banished all of his own clothing but his underwear and without a thought lay down beside the Boy-Who-Lived before he could change his mind. He laid the blanket back over them and pulled the trembling figure into his arms. Gently he ran his hands over the bony back as he tried to will some life back into the form.

Harry whimpered again and burrowed closer, even though Snape could feel the disgust rolling off the younger wizard.

Slowly, over the next hour Harry's trembling dwindled and finally stopped.

'I'm sorry.' Snape whispered, knowing the young man could hear him.

Harry didn't look up but Snape could feel the thin shoulders shaking, the silent sobbing racking his emaciated frame as Harry tried to come to terms with what the bond was demanding of him.

Of them.

'Not your fault.' He gasped.

Snape looked down and stared at the messy black hair coving the head buried in this chest, bringing a hand up to run his fingers through it. 'It is. I could have said no.'

Harry shook his head. 'No. you couldn't. You haven't said no to him once in your entire life. Bastard wouldn't have let you.'

'Don't make me a victim here, Harry.' Snape whispered, wishing the boy would look up so he could see his face. The boy was so easy to read and it would make this conversation go so much easier. 'I'm an adult. I made a decision that has consequences I have to live with.'

Harry's head shot up then, his green eyes burning angrily. 'You keep telling yourself that, Snape if your faith in the old fool means so much to you.'

The potions master frowned, his expression quizzical.

'Tell me, Snape.' Harry sneered. 'Who exactly brought up your life debt to my father, and how as his son, it should be passed on to me? And who spent the last six years telling you it was you're responsibility to save me again and again? And last but certainly not least, who told you that if you wanted to atone for your sins that you had to do this…that this was the only way you could repay the wizarding world for the atrocities you have committed? Hmm?'

The older wizard's eyes widened. 'How…?' Snape breathed.

Harry closed his eyes and scoffed quietly. 'The ultimate Slytherin…manipulated by a master. Salazar must be rolling over in his grave right now.'

'Potter.' Snape growled and Harry flung his head up again, almost hitting Snape in the chin.

'You put so much faith in him. You all do. You find it impossible to believe he could ever do anything wrong.' Harry spat. 'He's run every minute of my life since before I was born and I don't care what anyone says, I refuse to let him any longer.'

The pain that spread through the both of them when Harry pulled away would have brought them to their knees had they been standing and it took several moments before Harry could move further, pushing the blanket off him and staggering to his feet.

'Even if it kills you?' Snape asked quietly.

Harry didn't answer, instead swallowing heavily even as he threw out a hand and wandlessly summoned his clothes from wherever Snape had banished them to and slowly began pulling them on.

Snape stared at him in stunned silence, unable to move past the blatant display of power. He'd never seen the young man do anything so daring.

'Since when have you been able to do wandless magic, Potter?' He asked curiously.

Harry looked up at him, even as he tugged his shirt on with shaking hands. 'Sod off. It's none of your business.'

'Potter, don't go.' The potions master slid elegantly from the bed, pulling a night robe around him. 'You're still barely able to stand. You don't have to leave yet. You don't have to do this. It won't make any difference.'

'You know nothing, Snape.' Harry snapped, pulling on his boots with a heavy sigh.

'You're in no condition to continue what you have been doing.' Snape said calmly.

Harry spun to face him. 'You don't understand. There are still four left. I have to finish this before I go to Tom.'

Snape stared at the young man again. 'Rabastan….Lucius…Rudolphus….'

'And Bellatrix.' Harry finished for him, looking away and pulling on his cloak.

Snape reached out and cupped the pale cheek. 'You don't have to finish it, Harry. It won't change anything.'

Harry who had been all but leaning into the touch yanked his face out of Snape's hand and moved across the room towards the door. 'You're wrong. It will change everything.'

And before Snape could summon his wand the boy was gone.

'Severus? What is it? Where is Harry?' Dumbledore asked after the potions master knocked on his door almost an hour later. He didn't know what had made him delay so much. If he'd summoned the headmaster the moment Harry had left they might have been able to stop him.

But Snape hadn't.

He let Harry go. The pain in his soul cutting him deeply. He had to spend over half an hour lying in the spot Harry had been, breathing in his scent before he'd been able to move. He had wondered how long the small amount of contact they'd had would sustain the Boy-Who-Lived. That is until he summoned his own clothes and realized Harry had taken his cloak.

'Severus?' Dumbledore tried again and the potions master snapped back, noticing he had been standing in a daze in the headmaster's doorway.

Snape shook his head in an effort to clear the cobwebs. 'He's gone.' He muttered crossing the room and dropping heavily into a chair before running his hand uncharacteristically through his hair.

'Gone? I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say he was gone.' The headmaster's tone was deceptively calm.

Snape swallowed. 'He is.'

Dumbledore thumped a hand down on his desk startling the younger wizard. 'Gone?' He yelled suddenly. 'How could he be gone? You were supposed to watch him.'

'I was.' Snape retorted. 'I can't raise a wand to him. Not properly. You remember what happened last time.'

Dumbledore's cold expression softened as he remembered the destruction in the Gryffindor common room and the cut on Snape's shoulder that had resulted from a spell of Lupin's that Harry had reflected. 'What happened?' He asked softly.

Snape sighed heavily, running his fingers over the small journal of Harry's he kept now permanently in his pocket. He then told the headmaster everything.

Almost.

He didn't tell him about the wandless magic… And he didn't tell him that he knew where Harry would probably be next.

'You didn't seal it?' Dumbeldore asked incredulously after hearing the story. 'He was unconscious and you didn't seal it?'

Snape's expression darkened and he rose to his feet, his black eyes shining in anger. 'I might be many things, Headmaster, but I am not now, nor have I ever been, a rapist.' He hissed before stalking menacingly from the room.

Classes the next day were brutal. Snape was at his menacing best, unable to get past the comments of the elderly wizard from the evening before. Dumbledore had known him for more than thirty years. Knew him probably better than anyone, and yet he had still expected him to have done such a thing.

Every time the potions master thought about it his blood boiled.

And now, right in the middle of the evening meal his Mark seared, causing Snape to drop his fork with a clatter and grit his teeth in agony. Students looked at him in confusion but he just ignored them, carefully placed his cutlery together even as he wanted nothing more than to clap his right hand over his left forearm in an effort to curb the pain.

Instead he controlled himself and rose, giving Dumbledore a significant look which turned into a glare before looking away and moving swiftly from the hall.

Harry felt the phantom burn in his arm and smiled to himself. This would make it so much easier.

Snape apparated to wherever the Mark drew him to and found himself in a small clearing deep in the Forbidden Forest, far away from the edge of Hogwarts wards. He wondered what on earth the maniacal psychopath wanted from him tonight.

Speaking of which…Snape dropped to his knees and crawled forward, lifting the musty hem of the Dark Lord's robe and bringing it to his lips. 'My Lord.' He said deferentially

'Get up, Ssseverusss.' Riddle hissed.

Snape rose quickly, not wanting to earn the snake like wizard's ire. It was obvious he was pissed, and as Snape looked around at the last remaining members of the inner circle he knew Riddle had reason to be.

Of the dozen members of that formidable group, less than half remained.

'Luciuss.' Riddle hissed. 'What do you know?' He added, eluding to the man's connections within the Ministry as Snape quickly moved back to his position.

Lucius swallowed heavily before speaking. 'The MLE has nothing, My Lord.' He said hesitantly. It was not good when you have no information for Voldemort.

'Nothing?' Riddle hissed slowly, drawing the word out.

Malfoy shifted nervously. 'Nothing specific, a vague trace of magical signature and a curse that hasn't been used in over three hundred years.'

'Crucio.' Riddle yelled and Snape and the others grimaced as Lucius dropped to his knees with a scream of pain that rang through the dark night

Riddle held the curse for several minutes before lifting it and looking around at the four remaining Death Eaters. 'Does anyone have any good news?' He snarled.

Snape hesitated for just a moment before speaking 'My Lord, the Potter brat and the muggle loving fool have fallen out.' He said in one breath, quickly raising his mental barriers as the red eyes locked on him.

'Really?' The sibilant hiss was whispered almost gleefully. 'Oh Severus, do tell.'

'They had a huge argument, resulting in a duel in the middle of the Gryffindor common room and now the brat refuses to attend classes at all and Dumbledore has him confined to a special set of rooms while he attempts to reconcile.'

Riddle's eyes widened before the serpentine visage dropped into a malicious smirk. 'Oh really. And what were they fighting about?'

Snape hesitated for barely a second before deciding to keep things as close to the truth as possible. 'The brat's status as a weapon. And the fool's complete inability to keep you out of the brat's head.' Snape added a small smirk of his own for effect.

If anything the Dark Lord's expression became even more disturbing. 'Oh, wonderful.' He whispered. 'I expect you to keep me up to date, Severus. You can go before you are missed. Oh, and I want this sort of information sooner than that next time. Crucio.'

Snape staggered but remained upright even as his jaw clenched and his eyes. It seemed like hours but was a mere thirty seconds before the curse was lifted, only just long enough for Snape to bite the inside of his cheek and taste the coppery tang of blood pool on his tongue. 'Go.' Riddle hissed. Snape bowed and took a step away before stopping.

Harry.

Snape could feel him.

Harry was here.

Suddenly Rabastan grabbed his left arm and screamed so loudly the entire forest around him went completely silent. The five standing nearby stared in horror as the man's arm looked to be covered in ants, the skin immediately turning red and blistering. The screams continued until Rabastan dropped to the ground, his face a grotesque mask of pain.

Moments later Rudolphus Lestrange let out the same chilling scream and Riddle screeched at them all to apparate away immediately. Riddle left first with Lucius only a moment behind. Snape saw the look of abject terror on the blond aristocrat's face before he disappeared.

Bellatrix, with barely a thought for her screaming husband, took off seconds later and the sight of only half of Rudolphus Lestrange as, even in agonizing pain he tried to follow her, only to splinch himself almost had Snape heaving his dinner.

There was no sign of Harry but Snape turned and walked towards where he knew the Boy-Who-Lived to be hiding.

'Two down, two to go.' A soft whispered sounded behind him and Snape immediately spun around his eyes widening as Harry stepped out from behind a tree. He looked just as bad as he had done when he'd walked out of Snape's room a little under twenty four hours ago.

Snape stared into the green eyes. Green eyes that clearly showed the revulsion at what Harry had done. Snape knew he had to tell the young man the truth, before he killed anyone else. Before he could say anything Snape's hand completely disobeyed his head and rose of its own accord to cup Harry's right cheek, his thumb running over the translucent skin as he opened his mouth to speak.

Harry shook his head, lifting his own hand to wrap around Snape's arm. Snape's eyes widened as he felt the boy's hand slip up his sleeve and cover his mark.

'Harry?' He breathed.

Harry's eyes flared and Snape felt a warmth flow under the young man's hand. It lasted only a few moments before Harry dropped his hand, leaving Snape with a disturbing sense of loss.

Then the Boy-Who-Lived leant forward and Snape held his breath, thinking the boy was actually going to kiss him, but Harry stopped mere inches from his mouth.

'He will never touch you again.'

The words were more thought than spoken but Snape heard them anyway, his eyes widening in understanding as Harry stepped back and apparated away without a sound.

It took a minute for the potions master to snap out of his stupor but the moment he did he looked down and yanked his left sleeve upwards.

'Mother of Merlin.' He swore as he stared at a completely unblemished forearm.