A/N I turned this into a longer story some years ago, but don't seem to have uploaded it here! I'll get all the chapters out to you in the next few days. The plot doesn't change massively but it gets expanded upon - I'd be interested to know what you think!

Chapter 2

Minerva was on patrol in the Entrance Hall when Severus returned but he ducked out of sight and used one of the secret passageways he knew of to get back to the dungeons unhindered. He'd got away with just a few ribs bruised and a couple of teeth broken tonight. A couple of spells and a swig of a potion and he would feel as good as new. He stretched out on his bed, sighed luxuriously at being pain free and quickly fell asleep.

Unknown to Severus, Minerva had caught a glimpse of the dour man before he got away. He had looked, not exactly in pain, but more stiff - as if moving was uncomfortable. However before she could call out to him or look any further he had disappeared. She worried about him all night and scrutinised him the next morning, but he greeted her as snarkily as usual and he was as graceful as ever. Nothing to go on there.

Minerva pondered the problem all through the day. It had only been a fleeting glance after all, perhaps she had seen it wrong, or maybe she was simply reading too much into this. Perhaps Voldemort had just had them doing a fitness test or something. Laughter burst out of her at this thought, surprising her fourth year class so much that several items either caught fire or went flying through the air. There would be rumours flying through the castle very shortly about what it was that had made her lose her composure so. They would be entertaining to listen to! After calming the students and dismissing them, she returned to her previous thought. Something had been wrong. Her gut was telling her that and her gut had not steered her wrong yet. There was no point confronting him about it now though, she had to catch him in the act.

It was another week before Minerva caught sight of the Potions Master again returning from his nightly travels. His robes were ripped, his face was the colour of marble and he was almost dragging his left leg, certainly putting very little weight on it at all. A gasp of horror gave away her position however and by the time Minerva had stood up, Severus had vanished once more.

By breakfast the following morning, Minerva was convinced her colleague was up to something. The was only the barest hint of a limp there and the colour in his face was genuine. Of course, they all knew that Poppy would see straight through a glamour, but it appeared that Severus had found another way, whatever it was. Next time, Minerva promised herself, next time she would confront him.

One of the privileges granted to the Deputy Head was a limited control of the castle wards. She couldn't change them in any way, but she could obtain the location of any of the castle's inhabitants with a simple spell. She could also set a monitor on one person and the wards would alert her whenever that person entered or left the school grounds. That one wasn't used much because it could only be used for one person at once and it was quite a drain on the caster to tie the wards in such a way to themselves. It also felt a bit like invading somebody else's private life, especially a staff member. However, Minerva reasoned with herself, it wouldn't be for long and as soon as Severus got the help he needed without her intervention she would stop it.

It was an agonising time, waiting for the wards to trigger, but each day that they did not was an extra day Severus was not having to face death at the hands of a madman. Eventually one evening Severus rushed out during dinner and sure enough, the wards informed her of his departure barely two minutes later.

Time seemed to flow through treacle from then on. Minerva tried to busy herself to take her mind off it but realised she was reading the same sentence over and over and not ever taking it in. At last she gave up and headed to the Entrance Hall to wait. She wasn't going to miss him this time.

She had nearly fallen asleep by the time he returned. The wards had alerted her to his entrance to the grounds, but he'd taken such a long time to get to the castle that she'd almost drifted off again. Only a stumble on his part gave him away. Minerva awoke and spun round in one movement, glaring at him but he simply grabbed her robe sleeve and disappeared down a side passage.

"Severus" she hissed. "What are you doing? You're injured!"

"Nothing I cannot handle" he replied smoothly.

Seeing the amount of blood dripping to the floor, the tremble in his limbs and the way he cradled his stomach with his right arm, Minerva didn't agree. His grip on her robes was strong though and there was nothing she could do.

Severus collapsed onto a chair as soon as he reached his quarters, desperately wishing he could get into his secret potions supply and sort himself out. Withdrawing his wand, he closed the wound on his leg to stem the blood flow and summoned a pain reliever.

"Severus!" Minerva hissed again.

"It is just a pain reliever Minerva, I am sure even you possess a few of these in your quarters. No need to see Poppy unless you have to, right?"

"Yes, but you have to!"

Any reply Severus was about to make died on his lips when his sharp ears caught a whimper. It wasn't him and he was sure it wasn't the Scottish witch stood next to him. He stood and waited, body tense, for a minute or so until he heard it again. It sounded more like a sob this time.

"Severus I don't think you-"

"There is an upset or injured child nearby. I think that takes priority right now."

Severus hurried through the door into his classroom and stopped dead. Strewn around the room was the remnants of furniture. Some were merely cleaved into two or three parts, but given the amount of sawdust on the floor some must have exploded entirely. The huge stone sink in the corner had been blown into pieces and there were cauldrons all over the floor, some clean and some still containing the dregs of whatever sludge of failed potion they had contained.

What chilled Severus the most however was the body lying within the wreckage. It was still breathing, he noticed with relief, but the emerald green eyes gazed up at him with fear and pain. Only then did he realise he had given Potter detention that evening.

The moment passed as Minerva barged her way through. A patronus shot from her wand as Severus finally tore his gaze away from the boy on the floor.

"He needs medical attention. As do you" she stated simply.

"Well kindly go and meet her outside then. The fumes in here are enough to make my head spin even more, I would not wish that on our dearest medi-witch. Besides who is the Potions Master in this establishment? I will fix the problem and meet you outside in a few moments, no doubt you wish to tell Poppy of all you have learnt tonight?"

Minerva sighed. "I will return in one minute Severus. You'd best be here or Poppy will hunt you down."

As soon as the door shut, Severus ran over to the boy and bent down.

"Potter!" he hissed. "Can you hear me?"

"Mmm" came the croaky response.

"Are you trapped? Can you move?"

"I-I think I can move" the boy whispered.

Severus banished all the cauldrons into a corner and hoisted the boy to his feet.

"Come quickly, we don't have much time."

He half dragged the boy across the classroom, into his office and over to a blank space of wall.

"Stay there" he hissed and disappeared through the wall. It was only a second later when he returned.

"Come on, quickly now."

The moment they were both in the hidden room behind the wall, Severus relaxed.

"Phew" he said and then collapsed onto the floor.