December 2005, Part II

Harry was trying to move past the fire. Once he got over all his and his family's things being destroyed and the sheer lack of security he felt, he was mostly okay. Alright, that was a lie. He was furious, but holding on to it for Severus and Teddy.

Then when they were walking through town one day, in broad daylight, someone stabbed Severus.

Harry turned and looked at his lover in horror as he stopped mid sentence and grunted before collapsing to his knees. Harry held on to Teddy and called for an ambulance.

Once they got to the hospital, muggle as the nearest wizarding hospital was in Seattle, and soon as they disclosed that Severus was HIV positive, the doctors got less friendly but remained committed to saving his life.

Teddy and Harry sat in the waiting room, trying to stay put together. Harry had called Andy and she said she'd grab a couple things for Ted from the hotel rooms they were renting temporarily. Once she got to the hospital and could watch Teddy, Harry started plotting. The guys at the ranch had not taken kindly to Severus' HIV status. What if they were the ones behind all of this craziness that had been happening to them?

Harry's face was stone as he thought. His legilimency wasn't as good as Severus' but he didn't need to be great. But no, Severus came first.

After two hours, the nurse came and got him, sneering at the paperwork that listed Harry as next of kin. They had filed the paperwork to make each other their contact so they could stay updated. In a system that treated gay men like trash, they had to lie to get around bureaucracy. The nurse knew they weren't father and son like the paperwork said but what could she do?

Harry hurried to Severus' side as soon as he was moved to a room. He held his hand and placed a soft kiss to his weathered knuckles.

"I'm gonna find who did this, all of this and they'll regret it." He whispered. The older man was fading in and out of consciousness, still weak from blood loss.

"K-Kennedy." He mumbled.

"Whose Kennedy love?"

"Behind this," came a whisper. "Recognized him in town."

Harry got a closed look on his face, Occluding like he never had before to keep a tight grip on his magic. He could feel it swirling inside him. It reminded him of a corral of bulls he'd seen once, visiting Severus on the ranch. They turned and twisted every which way until it was a throbbing mass of cattle, impossible to tell one from another.

Severus grabbed his hand. Harry looked at his dark eyes and felt a pressure in his mind. He took a breath and relaxed his shields letting his lover into his mind,

"You can't go after him, Harry. Not yet. You have to think about Teddy."

"I can't let this stand, Sev. They need to leave you alone."

"I can't stop you but be careful."

With that said, Severus withdrew from Harry's mindscape and lay heavily on the stark white of the hospital linens. Harry pressed a kiss to the back of his hand and whirled out of the hospital to track a man down,