Author's Note:

Thanks to everyone who's reading this. Thank you for all of the views, favorites, follows, and reviews. I apologize for how long this has taken for me to get out to all of you, but I've been studying and taking exams for the entire month. It's such a pivotal chapter that I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get it right, and this is currently the longest chapter of this story so I hope that can somewhat make it up to you all for waiting. No, this story is not over yet. It's only coming to the close of a part of the larger story. That being said, let's see if Snape has finished that potion, shall we?

Chapter 6

Severus extinguished the flames under his cauldron and grabbed a box of vials from a closet in his potions lab. He carefully ladled the potion into the vials and put stoppers into each of them, breathing a sigh of relief once he finished.

Albus and Charlie had returned about five minutes ago, and they had patiently waited in his commons room. Severus picked up the box of vials and left his lab. Albus was sitting in an armchair, and Charlie was sitting on the edge of the sofa nearest to him. They both seemed to be deep in thought, but they looked up grimly when Severus entered the room. "Let's take these up to Poppy and give the first one to Mr. Potter. We can talk about what happened to him afterwards." Both of the men stood up and walked to the fireplace. "Did you find a suitable room for Mr. Weasley, Albus?"

"Yes, it's behind the portrait of Gregory McGowen. I figured it was close enough to the Infirmary for him to be called at a moment's notice if he's needed."

"Profes-, I mean Severus, do you know exactly what's going to happen to Harry once you give him the potion?"

"Not exactly, Charlie. I do have a few ideas, though. Mr. Potter could become unconscious again while his body tries to adapt to the blood, or he could become stunned as a Dragon would be if it were affected by the spell, or he could be just fine and his body would begin to reverse the effects. Regardless, Mr. Potter should survive the effects of the potion no matter what happens."

"You don't have any guarantees, though?"

"No, Albus, but this should save him. Unless you have a better plan, we'll have to stick to this one."

Dumbledore sighed. "Alright then. I trust you know what you're doing better than other people. Tell me, how did you come across this potion? I've never heard of it."

"Ah, have I told you how I came to be so high up in the ranks of the Dark Lord?"

"No, you haven't mentioned it."

"He needed someone who was proficiently skilled in the art of creating potions. He wanted to try some experimentation on some of his Death Eaters to see if they would gain any special powers that would help him further his cause."

"Did it work? Does he have weapons we could never imagine?"

"The weaker among the ranks died. We were going to try those who were more powerful, but Mr. Potter caused his demise before then. Most fled afterwards."

"Of course, now that he's returned, will he try that again?"

"I'm not sure. I have been here since he returned. I have yet to meet with him since it was not safe to do so when he called."

"I expect you to meet with him once we've given the first vial to Mr. Potter. We can't have Voldemort upset with you, can we?"

Charlie looked at the both of the men, his former mentors. "Is there something I should know?"

Albus laughed, his eyes twinkling. "Ah, yes, you'll have to tell your parents that we are reforming the Order of the Phoenix. You're welcome to join if you like. Severus here is a spy, and as such, he listens in on Voldemort's meetings and is occasionally required to perform tasks as a Death Eater, but he reports back everything he knows to the Order so we can save innocent lives." Taking Albus' lead, each of the three men grabbed a pinch of floo powder and made their ways to the Infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey stood up from her desk. "Is it done? Can we give it to him?"

"Yes, Poppy. How is Mr. Potter holding up?"

"He's sleeping right now since I gave him a Dreamless Sleep potion. What are we going to do once I wake him up?"

Severus set the box down on Madam Pomfrey's desk. "We'll give him one of these vials and see what happens. I'm not entirely sure what will happen."

"We're going to give my patient a potion when we don't know what the effects will be? No, absolutely not, Professor Snape, I simply won't allow it."

"Poppy, you know how powerful Harry is. Charlie here got Severus blood from a Hungarian Horntail. He doesn't know how the two will interact with one other. Besides, the boy is going to die if we don't try something. As Headmaster, I demand that you let them give Harry this potion. We don't exactly have any other choices."

"Alright, Albus, I'll wake him up, but I refuse to be held responsible if anything goes wrong."

"I understand. Thank you, Poppy."

Madam Pomfrey left her office and entered the Infirmary. Albus, Charlie, and Severus followed with one of the potion vials. McGonagall entered the Infirmary, looking around. "Albus! I heard Harry was in the Infirmary. What's wrong with him?"

"His body is attacking itself. Severus made a potion that should help Harry, and we're about to give it to him once Poppy wakes him up."

"Can I speak to you privately for a moment, Albus?"

"Yes, I suppose." Dumbledore and McGonagall entered Madam Pomfrey's office and locked the door, casting silencing charms at the same time. "What is so important that we have to discuss it now?"

"I'm only concerned about one of my Gryffindors. Are you sure you want to leave his fate in the hands of Severus? He doesn't like the boy, and for all we know he could be poisoning him to get rid of him."

"Minerva, I know that you don't believe that he's been good in the past, and you probably think that he belongs in Azkaban with some of the other former followers of Voldemort, but I know that he has been on our side. I trust him, and Harry's situation is already fatal. Severus can't cause any more harm to the boy than that."

"What do you mean? Exactly what happened to put Harry in this position, Albus? I want the entire story."

"I'll let you know the entire story after we find out if Severus' potion will work. We'll need to reform the Order, by the way. As far as Harry's current situation is concerned, he was hit by Stupesquamis Incursio. Obviously he isn't a Dragon, so his body is having trouble coping with the spell. Severus explained to me what the potion will do, and I think that it will work. I have the utmost confidence in his skills as a Potions Master."

"And what exactly will this potion do?"

"I'd prefer it if we could keep this from Harry for a while. Do you understand?" McGonagall nodded. "We're combining his blood with the blood of Dragons, a Hungarian Horntail actually. It should fight off the effects of the spell so that Harry can live. I don't want Harry to know just yet because he has so many other problems to deal with. It shouldn't affect him. I plan to tell him after the war is over for good."

"Are you still on about that? Harry defeated Voldemort thirteen years ago. I don't understand what makes you think he'll return."

"I'll explain later, Minerva. You won't tell the boy just yet, will you?"

"No, Albus, not if you don't want me to tell him."

"Thank you."

Albus and Minerva left Madam Pomfrey's office and entered the Infirmary once more. Harry was awake, Poppy running scans over him. There was a slight grimace on the boy's face as Severus and Charlie watched beside the bed. Madam Pomfrey stopped conducting scans for a moment, but her wand remained in her hand. "Alright, Mr. Potter, you need to take the potion that Professor Snape is holding. We all know you can't talk, so there's no point in arguing."

Severus took the stopper out of the potion and poured it in Harry's mouth. Harry swallowed and instantly closed his eyes, falling back onto the bed. Poppy began performing scans once more, everyone holding their breath for the verdict. "Albus, would you return to my office and get the rest of those vials? Harry's magic is so strong that it will take a lot more of that potion to make a connection with his bloodstream that will be able to take the full effect of the Stupesquamis Incursio spell. He's unconscious right now because the amount of power within him is a bit too much, but the two are beginning to mix and make it a bit easier for him. He should wake up in a minute or two."

Albus nodded and retrieved the box of potion vials from Madam Pomfrey's office. Severus took his wand out and began to perform scans of his own on Harry. "That's a bit peculiar, isn't it? The spell is attacking all of Mr. Potter's blood instead of just the Dragon's blood. I believe we'll have to Stupefy him and lift both of the curses at the same time to pull him out of it."

Madam Pomfrey nodded her agreement. "You're right, of course. Albus, set them on the bedside table. We'll give him some more of the potion once he comes to again."

This process lasted for the next two hours as Harry came to, drank another vial of the potion, and fell unconscious once more. After those two hours, half of the potion vials were empty, and Harry was alert laying in bed, his eyes wide open and staring unblinkingly at the people around him. Albus had cast Stupefy on Harry, and Albus and Charlie were standing before Harry with their wands out, ready to relieve Harry of the curse.

"Ennervate" and "Ennervium Stupemagna Creatura" were said in unison, light from Albus' and Charlie's wands enwrapping Harry as he was slowly able to move, the two lights twisting around one another and mixing.

Harry blinked and gave a sigh of relief as the lights disappeared, and he was able to move again. "Will I be okay?"

McGonagall smiled. "Yes, Harry, you'll be fine."

"However, you will have to take a vial of that potion four times a day until all of it is gone. Do you understand?" Harry turned to Madam Pomfrey and nodded. "Albus, would it be possible to have Harry stay with the Weasleys until he's done taking these potions? Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley were quite concerned about Mr. Potter's health earlier when I kicked them out of here."

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "I'll see if that is possible. Otherwise he will stay here until he can return to his relatives. Minerva, please get Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley to keep Harry company. We must have a staff meeting in my office. There is much for us to discuss."