Disclaimer: All the usuals! I don't own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I just like to play with 'em! *nods*

Chapter 123

Harry stretched then opened his eyes. He saw Snape still asleep. He got up, went to the loo, and when he returned saw Madam Pomphrey come in the room bearing another cup of skelegrow.

After he drank it, she scanned him. "I can remove the wrap in the morning. Get some more sleep. It's just now midnight."

"I'm wide awake. How's Snape?"

"He's sleeping now. He slipped out of the healing coma about an hour ago. If you want, I can give you something to put you back to sleep."

"No. I'll call Dobby and have him bring me a book to read." His stomach then growled. "And a sandwich."

"All right. If you need anything, let me know."

He nodded and called for Dobby.

"You weren't asleep were you?"

"No, Harry Potter, sir."

"I have a book on elemental magic that I think is on my desk. Can you bring it to me, please? And also some kind of sandwich? I'm a little hungry."

"Certainly, sir."

Five minutes later, Harry became engrossed in the book as he ate one of the three sandwiches that Dobby had provided for him.

At some point during the night, he became sleepy. He quietly scooted his chair closer to Snape's bed and fell asleep.

Harry jerked suddenly, the feel of something in his hair. His first realization was that he was stiff.

"Harry," came a hoarse voice.

He jumped slightly and actually looked around. It was then he saw that Snape had his eyes open.

"You're awake!"

"Why are you sitting on the floor?" Snape asked in a raspy voice.

Harry glanced down. He was in the floor. He must have slid off the chair during the night. He shook his head, stood up, and poured Snape some water then handed the cup to him.

"I'll get Madam Pomphrey."

"Beds are alarmed," he croaked again.

"Right, forgot about that. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Why were you on the floor?"

"Err ... I didn't want to leave you."

Snape tried to sit up, so Harry helped him. As he did, he caught sight of the sky. It was nearing dawn.

"Morning, you two. How are you feeling, Severus?"

"Fine."

Harry snickered. "He told me that too."

"Step outside for a couple minutes, Potter."

He nodded and headed to the loo, mostly to splash some water on his face.

A few minutes later, he was allowed back in the room. He frowned. Snape was asleep again.

"How is he?"

"He'll be fine. He still needs to rest."

"Did you have to spell him to sleep again?"

The medi-witch laughed. "No. I think he's just dozing."

Harry nodded as he sat down in the chair and picked his book up to read.

About twenty minutes had passed when an elf popped in and handed Harry clean clothes.

"Thanks Ammy."

"You is being welcome, sir. Dobby is being busy in the kitchen and is asking Ammy to get clothes for you and Professor Snape."

"Please thank Dobby for me as well."

The elf nodded and popped out. He set the clothes to the side for now. He would change after the wrap was removed from his arm.

"Harry?"

He glanced up.

"Madam Pomphrey said you got hurt yesterday."

"I'm okay."

"What happened? How did you get hurt?"

"We can talk about that later. You need to rest."

"I am resting," Snape said with a glare as he slowly pushed himself up in the bed.

Harry sighed. "I felt you get hurt yesterday."

"You felt me get hurt?" he asked with a raised brow.

Harry handed Snape a fresh cup of water. "It's just ... I don't know. I just knew you were hurt. Dumbledore was with me and after we realized you weren't in our rooms, I told him where you were."

"So ... he took you with him?"

Harry bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn't let Dumbledore take the blame. "I made him take me."

"How did you make him take you?"

"I think he knew that if he didn't take me, I'd go on my own."

Snape growled. "Harry, you are not to put yourself in danger for me!"

"Ground me all you want! I'm not sorry! Had I not went, Bellatrix would have killed you and I'd be left alone. Again!"

He saw Snape close his eyes but give a slight nod.

"I needed to make sure you were okay. I've never felt fear like that before." He roughly rubbed his eyes, refusing to cry. "Anyway," he continued, "I stunned Bellatrix. The Ministry has her."

"How?"

"Er … well, I might have been a little upset that she had just cast two Killing Curses at you, so I … uh, put every bit of power I could behind a stunning spell." He then narrowed his eyes in thought. "I wonder if she's awake yet."

He saw Snape's lips twitch. "How bad was the break in your arm?"

"Just a minor one, more of a fracture really. What happened to you? Why did you go to Hogsmeade by yourself?"

"You do not need to hear that."

Harry huffed. "I'm not some little kid. I can handle the truth."

Snape shifted in the bed. "I'll think about it," he said finally. "Where is the Headmaster?"

He shrugged. "I've been in here ever since the Auror's finished talking to me."

Madam Pomphrey then breezed into the room with food. "You'll be in here until at least noon on Monday, and just so you're not tempted, Albus spelled the doorway so that you cannot get out without me," she informed Snape with a smirk.

After she put the tray of food down, she looked at Harry and said, "Potter, Ms. Bones is in the main part of the infirmary asking for you."

He glanced at Snape. "I'll be right back."

At the infirmary door stood Susan.

"Susan? What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked at him funny. "You were in a battle, in which you find Bellatrix Lestrange and capture her and you ask me what's wrong?"

Harry looked at her with a perplexed expression. "How do you know that?"

She held up a copy of that morning's Daily Prophet.

"Oh. Right. Well, I'm fine."

Susan frowned at Harry. "What happened? How did you end up in Hogsmeade?"

"I take it you drew the short straw to find out?"

"I have no idea what that means but I managed to convince everyone to let me come up here first, even though I was tempted to hex Ron to bring him around to my way of thinking."

Harry snickered slightly before letting out a small sigh. "I was talking to the Headmaster yesterday when I realized Snape was hurt," he said as they sat down on a nearby hospital bed. He quickly put up a silencing spell because the Ravenclaw in one of the beds was obviously eavesdropping.

"So you went to Hogsmeade by yourself?"

"No. I was with Dumbledore. We found Snape hurt and then Dumbledore and I fought the Death Eater's. We brought Snape back and I've been here ever since."

Susan frowned. "You can't tell me any more than that?"

He shrugged. "I don't wanna talk about it actually."

"Okay. Can you come downstairs?"

"I wanna stay up here. With Snape."

Susan gave him a small smile. "That's fine. I'll let Ron and Hermione know."

"Thanks, Susan. For understanding." He watched her leave before heading back to the private room.

Albus entered the private hospital room and raised his eyebrow at the sight before his eyes.

Severus was awake, reading a book. Harry, however, was asleep in a bedside chair, his body facing toward Severus'.

"He won't leave me longer than a few minutes. I don't understand it," the potions master said once he realized he had company. Albus detected a hint of confusion in the man's voice.

"That's because he thought he lost you, Severus. I figured he would have tried to create distance between the two of you. Instead, he managed to surprise me again by trying to get closer to you. He may not say it. He may not even realize it yet, but he does love you."

Severus looked at Harry. "I know," the man said softly.

That surprised Albus even more. "You know?"

"Yes." He then shook his head. "Where is your pensieve? I want to see what happened."

Albus chuckled. "Later. I know you want to yell for taking Harry with me yesterday. Go ahead and get it over with. Remus already has."

"Lupin yelled at you?" he asked in a surprised voice.

"He did and I can't really blame him. I knowingly took Harry into a potentially dangerous situation with just the two of us."

"Why?"

"I figured that he'd go anyway if I didn't take him with me. Plus, there was the added benefit that he knew exactly where you were. The main reason was that I knew he'd be all right. But I do need to have a serious discussion with him."

"Why?" Severus asked suspiciously.

"He listened to me, just as he was supposed to. What I wasn't counting on was him throwing himself in front of a Killing Curse to protect you."

"He did what?"

Albus nodded.

"He neglected to tell me that," Severus snarled.

"That doesn't surprise me. Now, why were you in Hogsmeade? What happened?"

Severus set the book he was reading to the side. He then grabbed his wand and cast a spell that would keep Harry from hearing him should the boy wake up.

"Why the spell?" questioned Albus.

Severus merely raised an eyebrow at the Headmaster. "I have no desire for him to hear what happened to me. I'll give him an edited version later."

Albus snorted. "Good luck with that."

He rolled his eyes. "I took advantage of the fact that you and Potter would be clustered together and I headed to Hogsmeade."

"Why?"

"Because I had errands to run. Owl order isn't always perfect."

"You shouldn't have went alone."

"Are you going to keep scolding me like a recalcitrant child? Or am I allowed to continue my story?"

Albus indicated for him to continue.

"I went to a couple shops. It was as I was leaving the apothecary, I saw McNair leaning casually against the wall of Honeydukes. I immediately stunned him. Before I could do anything else, I found myself surrounded."

He reached for a glass of water as he glanced toward Harry to reassure himself that the boy was still asleep.

"Bellatrix appeared and began torturing me and from what I could tell, she didn't know who I was, or I'm sure she would have killed me right away." He paused thoughtfully. "I remember reaching for my Order pendant, but I don't think I ever made contact with it."

"You didn't," Albus said with a frown.

"After about the seventh slicing curse hit me, I began to lose consciousness. The last thing I remembered was being annoyed that they had ambushed me so easily."

"What spells do you remember? And before you answer, I've seen the report Madam Pomphrey put in your file."

He scowled. He had given Albus access to his files years ago. "I remember a spell crushing both of my legs. I also remember someone kicking me repeatedly. Between that and being cut open, I passed out. I don't know what they were really after."

He watched as Albus ran his hand over his beard. "Bellatrix remarked that they just expected me, not Harry."

"So they captured me in hopes of luring you out?"

"I don't think they were after you specifically. You were just the first one they came across."

"Yeah, well, I'm utterly disgusted with myself. I was on my guard and I was still caught."

"There's no need for that."

"What are they going to do with Bellatrix?"

"Don't worry about her. Now, I have a couple things to do. I'll return after dinner and if you are up to it, I'll view your memory of the attack and then you can view mine and Harry's memory of our fight. Get some more rest."

He watched the Headmaster leave before grabbing his wand and canceling the privacy spell. He then drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

Harry stretched from his position in the chair then glanced over at Snape. He found the man's dark gaze staring into his.

"You should be resting," he commented as he stood up.

"I've been resting."

"I'll be back," he said as he headed for the door. Once in the main part of the infirmary, he walked to Madam Pomphrey's office and knocked.

"I take it you are ready for that wrap to be removed?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Take a seat. I'll examine you in a minute to make sure the skelegrow worked."

As he waited on the medi-witch to return, he let his eyes fall on the stack of books perched precariously on the edge of the desk.

"What book caught your attention?"

He startled slightly. He hadn't heard anyone else enter the room.

"None of them, really. I barely have enough time to read my books, let alone any others."

The Headmaster laughed. "Since Madam Pomphrey is currently occupied, I am curious about the parseltongue spell you cast. I am getting ready to let Severus view the memories and I want to know what it did because we both know that he'll ask."

"I want to view his," he immediately said.

"No, Harry. I do not want you watching something like that."

He growled slightly. Everyone insisted on treating him like a little kid … yet Dumbledore did take him to Hogsmeade. He was fairly certain Dumbledore would never take a child into a potentially dangerous situation.

He blew out an annoyed sigh but nodded.

"The spell," the Headmaster said again.

"It was one of the spells I glanced at briefly as I was first looking around the … library. I probably should have read more on it, but my brain stopped working when I saw Snape lying on the ground."

"What did it do?"

"Er …" Harry felt himself flush. "It was supposed to make her skin boil."

"Harry!" scolded Dumbledore.

"I know and I never would have cast that spell in any other circumstances but seeing her standing over Snape – especially after what she done to Sirius – I threw the first thing I thought of."

"No more parseltongue spells unless I know what they are and approve of them."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright Mr. Potter – oh Albus! I didn't know you were here," exclaimed Madam Pomphrey as she entered her office.

"Just came to see Severus."

"Very well. Sit still Harry while I scan you."

"Okay."

Harry watched the Headmaster leave as he sat still in the chair.

Ten minutes later, he was free of the wrap. "I'll be back in about half an hour."

She nodded.

Harry walked down to Snape's quarter's. Since Snape couldn't leave until tomorrow, he would gather his school robes and books for the next day and sleep in the infirmary.

Severus was tossed out of the final memory they were viewing. When Albus had shown him his view of the event, he also thought the Killing Curses had hit his son.

"Well, at least he's learning something from all the lessons he's received so far," he commented blandly.

When Bellatrix had cast the first spell, in Harry's rush to take it, the boy had pushed himself away slightly then barely tumbled out of the way his-self. The second one, he had managed to side-step.

He could indeed see how both Albus and Bellatrix had assumed she had hit Harry.

"That reminds me. I'll need to tell Kingsley his lesson took hold. It's possible he might be able to teach Harry even more evasion tactics."

Severus nodded then narrowed his eyes as Harry entered the room.

"What are you doing?"

The boy looked at him as if he was an idiot. "Studying."

"Why do you have clothes?"

"Because I'm staying here until the morning," he had replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You need to sleep in a real bed. Stay in the dorm tonight if you don't want to sleep in the dungeons alone."

"I'm not leaving," he replied as he began searching through his book bag for something.

He glanced at Albus and saw amusement in the older man's eyes.

"I'll leave you two alone," Albus said cheerfully as he picked up his pensieve. "Have a good night."

Severus couldn't help but roll his eyes.

A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to post this. I've been writing quite a bit, but unfortunately, until I can beat my printer into working again, I'm stuck editing on the computer screen, which for me is excruciating. I also hit a bit of a roadblock for one of my future chapters, but as I was working on another side project of mine, I realized the solution and am now currently beating myself up for ignoring the obvious, so once I post this chapter, I'm going back to writing.

I do, however, have most of the next chapter typed. As for the next chapter, Harry gives Snape a near heart-attack and Severus learns exactly how patient of a man he's become since he realized he had a son. *cackles evilally* However, the next chapter isn't very long as far as I can tell. I may add one more part to it. It just depends on how well my writing goes over the next couple of days.

As always, I wanna thank everyone for the reviews! I appreciate each and every one and I also wanna welcome the new reviewers and lurkers. There are plenty of sweets and Bertie Botts Beans lying around. However, it is to my eternal regret to inform you that all the torches and pitchforks have mysteriously disappeared. *shifty_eyed*

P.S. YAY for breaching the 1000 review marker! Woohoo! Oh, and those that checked out The Phantom of the Operas 25th anniversary with Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, did you like it? *squee's like a lil girl and tries to look dignified ... but fails* :p