A faint beeping interrupted her sleep just a few hours later and Freddie struggled to regain consciousness, her head swimming. Her whole body ached and she groaned as she tried to sit up.

"Wolfsbane," she muttered groggily as Ziggy lifted his head to blink sleepily at her.

"I'll do it," Snape said from her other side, immediately sounding wide awake. "You stay here."

"You don't have to do that," she said, her voice thick with sleep and fatigue. "It's my potion."

"Winifred. Stay," he said firmly. "Sleep."

That was all it took and she was asleep again as soon as she laid her head back down on the pillow.

What seemed like only minutes later, but was in fact four hours, she was awakened again by a different, louder beeping. She felt more alert this time and she rolled over to see Snape sitting up against the headboard, staring into the dark.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he turned off the alarm on his watch.

"Mm. I have to go put more wolfsbane in your potion," he said, moving to get up.

"I'll do it this time," she insisted. "It's my potion."

She was up and out of bed before he could protest. Her body still felt sore, but it was nothing she couldn't block out.

"I'll be right back," she promised and he nodded absently, seeming lost in thought about something. He looked exhausted and she wondered if he had been to sleep at all. She didn't even bother putting her boots back on, padding barefoot to the fireplace in Snape's office where he kept his Floo powder.

She appeared in her own dimly lit office a moment later, the only light coming from the spell she'd cast on the ceiling and the flickering fire beneath the cauldron. She'd set out the wolfsbane that needed to be added to the potion before leaving last night. She saw one of her carefully measured clumps was gone, confirming Snape really had come to tend to her potion. Freddie checked the weight of the herbs on the scale one last time before adding them to the bubbling brew. She mixed it in carefully, counting the number of stirs out loud. The potion became just a shade lighter and she nodded to herself.

Less than a minute later she was walking barefoot back into Snape's quarters where he still sat against the headboard, not seeming to have moved a muscle.

"Are you okay?" she asked him as she slipped her legs under the covers and sat beside him. Ziggy had moved to the foot of the bed and didn't stir at all.

"I should be asking you that," he said with a weak smile.

"I'm perfectly fine," she answered. "Have you been to sleep at all? You look exhausted."

He shook his head silently. His mind was completely closed to her. Freddie rested her head on his shoulder, waiting for him to explain. Several minutes passed before he could bring himself to speak.

"It was atrocious," he said, his voice barely audible. "Horrifying."

"Nothing I couldn't handle," she insisted. "I'm perfectly fine, Severus."

"I'll never forgive myself," he said, shaking his head.

"Well you have to," she said. "Because I already did."

"How? Why?"

"Because I love you," she said, pressing a kiss to his neck. "Idiot."

But he just shook his head again.

"What can I say to make you see that I'm alright?" she sighed and laid her head back on his shoulder. "It was bound to happen eventually. I'm glad it was you. Now I know what to expect if I ever come face to face with the Dark Lord."

"No!" he said, jerking around to face her. "That will never, ever happen. Not on my life."

"You can't promise that, Severus," she said with a sad smile, shaking her head. "Cedric Diggory probably thought it would never happen to him either." He flinched and she reached out to take his hand. "My parents were Death Eaters, Severus. My aunt and uncle... And now I have you. And the Order. I'm mixed up in this whether you want me to be or not and there's no telling what might happen in the future."

"You will never come face to face with the Dark Lord," he swore again.

"God knows I don't want to, Severus, but if it happens...at least I know what to expect."

He looked even paler than before, the bags under his eyes even more pronounced. He almost like he might be sick at the thought of Freddie facing the Dark Lord someday. He rubbed his face with his free hand and sighed.

"I'll never sleep again," he groaned.

"Yes you will," she assured him and gave him a kiss. "Because I'm right here beside you. And I'm not going anywhere."