A/N: Snape's Point-of-View
Severus pinned Draco against the wall, his eyes gleaming at the flash of fear that went through the boy's face. Maybe he'll understand the fatal mistake he's doing.
"That was a horrible plan! You cannot afford mistakes, Draco, because if you are expelled…"
"I didn't have anything to do with it, all right?" Draco seethed. Severus didn't need Legilimency in order to know that he was lying.
"I hope you are telling the truth, because it was both clumsy and foolish. Already you are suspected of having a hand in it."
"Who suspects me?" said Malfoy angrily. "For the last time, I didn't do it, okay? That Bell girl must've had an enemy no one knows about... don't look at me like that! I know what you're doing, I'm not stupid, but it won't work... I can stop you!"
Blast! He knew what I was doing! "Ah… Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, I see. What thoughts are you trying to conceal from your master, Draco?"
"I'm not trying to conceal anything from him; I just don't want you butting in!" Draco tried to push himself away from Severus, but the Potions' Master had his hand around the boy's neck and pinned him back against the wall with a force that clearly said that the conversation wasn't over yet.
"So that is why you have been avoiding me this term? You have feared my interference? You realize that, had anybody else failed to come to my office when I had told them repeatedly to be there, Draco..."
"So put me in detention! Report me to Dumbledore!" snapped Malfoy.
Snape paused, calculating his next move. "You know perfectly well that I do not wish to do either of those things."
"You'd better stop telling me to come to your office then!"
"Listen to me; I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco..." Don't you dare make me choose between saving my life and yours, boy!
"Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because I don't need your protection! It's my job, he gave it to me and I'm doing it, I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!" Severus let go of Draco, his eyes conveying that the boy was not dismissed.
"What is your plan?" Severus realized that perhaps he'd have to use the blatant, direct approach.
"It's none of your business!"
"If you tell me what you are trying to do, I can assist you..."
"I have all the assistance I need, thanks, I'm not alone!"
"You were certainly alone tonight, which was foolish in the extreme, wandering the corridors without lookouts or backup, these are elementary mistakes..."
"I would've had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you hadn't put them in detention!" Draco's emotions got the better of him and he was getting dangerously loud.
"Keep your voice down!" spat Snape. "If your friends Crabbe and Goyle intend to pass their Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL this time around, they will need to work a little harder than they are doing..."
"What does it matter? Defense Against the Dark Arts... its all just a joke, isn't it, an act? Like any of us need protecting against the Dark Arts..." Draco seemed to have no idea how much protection he would need in the coming war.
"It is an act that is crucial to success, Draco! Where do you think I would have been all these years, if I had not known how to act? Now listen to me! You are being incautious, wandering around at night, getting yourself caught, and if you are placing your reliance in assistants like Crabbe and Goyle..."
"They're not the only ones; I've got other people on my side, better people!"
"Then why not confide in me, and I can..." Severus got cut off by the petulant boy.
"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!" Bellatrix must have poisoned the boy against me.
"You are speaking like a child. I quite understand that your fathers capture and imprisonment has upset you, but..." Draco shoved himself out of Severus' reach and stormed away. Severus let him go, unsure of how to go about saving the innocent people around him, as well as himself.
He was lost in thought, wondering if Katie Bell would survive, and what else Draco might be plotting in order to kill Albus. And how his life would be forever changed once he betrays the Order, under Dumbledore's direction. He also wanted to think about what he would do with Nymphadora should she take his offer, and how long could they make it last.
As he got back to Slughorn's party, the cacophony hadn't ebbed in the slightest. Luna was deep in conversation with Sybill, and Granger was stuck under the mistletoe with McLaggen. She had passed him a sweet, trying a sleight of hand as Severus recognized the wrapper from the Weasley shop. He also realized that the Granger girl was tiring of the daft boy's advances, and was rewarded by getting covered in McLaggen's sick.
"You just bought yourself a month's detention, McLaggen." He vanished the offending vomit, and his eyes swept to Hermione who was palming the antidote portion of the Puking Pastille. Well played, Granger.
Moving past them, his eyes noticed the lack of lavender hair of Nymphadora. Sanguini was also missing. Eldred Worpole caught him, asking for a quote about the infamous Harry Potter.
"Where's Sanguini?" Severus asked, realizing that he left Nymphadora near a tempted vampire. After all that had happened recently, he wasn't sure how Wizard/Vampire relations were going, especially if they knew that Auror Tonks was there when the rogue vampire was destroyed.
"He uh… needed to go outside for some fresh air. He didn't seem happy to see you, though." Worpole stammered, oblivious to the fact that news travels fast among vampires.
Severus panicked, turning to bolt out of the castle and find his Nymphadora. Damn Albus, for giving me such reckless tasks!
As he left the office party, he found himself face to face with her. He had missed seeing her on his way back into the party, and momentarily wondered what else he was missing because of his preoccupied mind.
"Are you alright, Nymphadora?" He asked rhetorically, seeing the look on her face.
She nodded yes, a bit too quickly. Severus pulled her to a darkened alcove and wrapped his arms around her.
"It's okay dear. It was a very traumatic experience; few Aurors today have had to deal with what you had endured. But you survived, and what happened there wasn't your fault."
"How did you know? Why did you have that potion on you? What was the cost? I know how Infernal-class potions work, Severus." The Auror's eyes were pleading for understanding as well as truth.
"Nymph, I didn't know. You didn't make the rendezvous point, and I panicked. I've always kept an assortment of potions upon me in case I need them; they have saved me countless times as a spy. The Brimstone Potion burns off time from your life expectancy… provided you die at an old age of natural causes. The first and only other time I've used it, I lost a few months in order to survive a battle against Aurors authorized to use Unforgivables without retaliation or review. This time, I lost nearly two years."
Tonks' gasped in a near-silent horror, the weight of the actions taken hitting her. Severus cupped her face in her hands and kissed her calmer.
"It was worth it." Severus' voice conveyed an absolute certainty in that. "You're safe. The creature that attacked you is no more. Take comfort in that."
He clasped her hands within his, noting his gift was still in her hands. "I cannot promise how this war will end, or if I'll survive it. But I plan on spending every moment that I can either making you happy as mine or in keeping you safe."