Harry had not felt well since the moment he had crawled out of bed that morning, and it had only been getting worse since. The vague headache that had started behind his eyes at breakfast was now a sharp stabbing pain every few seconds and a sick feeling in his stomach that wanted to return the meagre amount of food he had been able to consume that morning, back from whence it had come.

Even the wonderful memories of the previous evening with Draco could not distract him from his physical discomfort. Harry was reminded of the incident a week and a half ago, and if he had been sitting in anyone's class but Snape's he would have asked to be excused. As it was, he just prayed for the lesson to end.

Harry had already made up his mind that he was not going to make it to his next class, and all he had to do was hang on.

Today's work was a theory lesson not a practical, which was a blessing at least, but Harry had given up taking notes about half way through. Ron was scribbling away so frantically next to him that his friend had not noticed his predicament.

Harry was staring fixedly at the partially filled page of parchment, praying for deliverance when his vision suddenly went negative. It was as if the whole world was leaping up to swallow him; everything was too loud and bright silvers, golds and bronzes. Harry felt awash with emotions that seemed to have come from nowhere. The pain in his head increased to the point where he heard himself whimper.

The next thing he knew there was a dark shape looming over him and it was like an icy barrier standing less than a foot away. It was a strange relief in the turmoil that Harry's world had so suddenly become, but as part of him appreciated Snape's cool presence, the rest of him knew he was in trouble.

"Is there something you wish to share with the rest of the class, Potter?" his most adversarial professor's tone was almost conversational, but there was the familiar underlying sneer.

Harry would have replied if he'd been able to, but he could barely process the fact that someone was talking to him, let alone formulate a response. Snape's words were distorted and far too loud. It was like someone shouting in his ear, but with sounds that had been bounced through a long cave system.

"Mr Potter," Snape said slowly when Harry did not reply, "look at me when I am speaking to you."

His untidy handwriting on the page was moving in his vision and every time he glanced away from the almost blank sheet Harry felt overloaded. It took an extraordinary effort for him to drag his eyes away from the desk and look up. Snape's customary sneer was in place and it jumped out at Harry with metallic tinges. It was like watching a TV where the signal was being passed through a scrambler.

Harry had hoped that he didn't look as bad as he felt, but Snape's expression changed the moment the professor saw his face. It shocked him to actually see concern on the potions master's features.

"Are you unwell, Potter?" Snape asked in a much more, almost gentle tone.

The pain in his head caused Harry to wince and although the professor's words were spoken at a moderate level they tore through his senses like a knife. It was too much and Harry could feel his mind trying to shut it out and failing. He tried to tell Snape what was happening, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a quiet whimper.

Harry felt his connection to the world slipping out of his control and he began to slide sideways. Snape reached out to steady him and as the professor's hand touched his arm Harry couldn't help himself he screamed.

It was like knives being stabbed into his body as the simple touch sent pain shooting through every nerve. Harry felt as if his whole body was rejecting the contact and he couldn't take it anymore. The scream slowly dying in his throat, Harry let the world fade away into blissful darkness.

* * *

When Potter screamed Snape snatched his hand away, watching helplessly as the boy slid off his chair and onto the floor. At first, when he had realised the wretched golden boy had not been paying attention, he had been annoyed, but the moment he had seen the child's face Snape had known something was very wrong. Potter may have been as annoying as his father, but the boy was definitely ill. It was Granger speeding out of her seat and Weasley leaning off his stool that snapped the professor back into action.

"Miss Granger, Mr Weasley, stay where you are," Snape instructed sharply, bringing the girl to a halt and freezing the idiotic Weasley in place.

"But, Professor," the worry was written all over the know-it-all Muggleborn witch, and Snape could tell she was caught between obeying him and going to her friend.

"If you touch him you may injure him," he said shortly, knowing the girl had enough sense to believe him, and Weasley would not go against his girlfriend.

A murmur went round the room and several chairs scrapped on the floor as the pupils attempted to see what was going on. As the children moved closer Snape saw Potter's body twitch in response. He was not sure what was wrong with the boy, but he did know he had to do something about it immediately.

"I want every pupil in the hallway in the next thirty seconds," Snape said shortly, falling back into his normal tone, "and anyone who comes within five feet of Potter on their way out loses fifty house points. Is that understood?"

To their credit the class did exactly as they were told straight away.

"Miss Granger," he said as the girl hovered, "run to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey I will be bringing Potter in. Instruct her to prepare one of the isolation rooms."

The girl nodded and pulled herself together, disappearing quickly. Then Snape pulled out his wand and cast two spells: the first put wards around the shivering boy and the second levitated him off the stone floor. Planning out the quickest route to the hospital wing in his head, Snape moved towards the door.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey had instructed Snape to wait and, although it irked him to be ordered around by the school nurse, he had done what he was asked. It did not shock him in the least when Dumbledore appeared outside Potter's room in the hospital wing. When the blasted boy was ill the headmaster always seemed to be in attendance, however, this time Dumbledore appeared more grave than usual.

Over his six and a quarter years at Hogwarts Harry Potter seemed to have spent more time in the hospital wing than the rest of the student body combined, but this time the headmaster did not appear as calm as usual. Madam Pomfrey had come out of the heavily warded room only a few minutes before. Snape assumed she had spoken to Albus.

"We have a problem," the headmaster said, tone grave. "I have called a meeting for the house heads in one hour."

Snape was very surprised, but he nodded anyway; this was a lot more serious than he had thought.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall did not know what the meeting was to be about, but she had heard the news about Harry Potter. She hoped fervently that the boy would recover quickly and this was not the beginning of an attack or an epidemic. Calling together the house heads in the middle of the day was not something that the headmaster would do lightly.

"Thank you all for coming," Albus greeted. "I am sorry to have to disrupt your lessons, but this matter is rather urgent."

"I assume Potter is in the middle of something disastrous, again," Snape's tone was dismissive, but the fact that he had made a comment at all told Minerva that the potions master was actually worried.

This fact surprised her since the head of Slytherin clearly loathed Harry with a passion that shocked most.

"What is wrong with young Mr Potter?" she put her own question in.

"That, my friends, is the centre of our problem," the headmaster told them, not quite as serene as usual; "according to Madam Pomfrey there is nothing exactly wrong with Harry yet, however, his condition does require our immediate attention or it could progress into a situation which will cause a serious threat to his continuing health."

Now Minerva was very confused, but she waited for Albus to go on, knowing that the explanation would be forthcoming.

"It appears that Harry is more unusual that even we gave him credit for," the headmaster continued. "He is a Hecatemus."

"There is no such thing," Minerva said at almost the same time Professor Snape expressed the same opinion.

"Hecatemae are all female," Minerva allowed the head of Slytherin to finish their objection.

Albus nodded his head slowly.

"And the last known Hecatema died seventy five years ago," the headmaster said. "There is Hecatema blood in the Potter line: Harry's great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother to be precise, but how it came to be active in a male descendant is a mystery. However, it does not change the fact that this has occurred."

"You mean," Minerva said slowly realising what Albus was saying, "Harry has ... and he is trying to ... oh my."

The head of Gryffindor found it difficult to voice the conclusions to which she was coming. Harry had been under her care for over six years and never in a million years had Minerva expected to be having such a conversation about the somewhat reserved young man.

"Yes," the headmaster said, "we may assume Harry is no longer, shall we say, inexperienced, and he is attempting to bond with his chosen mate."

Snape exploded from his chair as if furious about the whole situation. Minerva was not sure if he was angry because the situation was so unprecedented, or that Harry Potter was at the centre of it all. One could never tell when it came to Severus Snape and James Potter's son.

"This is impossible," he said firmly. "Hecatema do not just happen. There should have been signs; the child should have been prepared since birth for this."

There was just a touch of anxiety in the man's voice and Minerva could not understand why. She wondered briefly if he knew something, but dismissed the idea as ridiculous: the only thing the head of Slytherin knew about Harry was how to make him lose house points.

"Severus," Albus said, "I am aware of what should have been apparent and what should have been done, but it is far too late to worry about these things now. Male children are not tested for Hecatemae abilities, an oversight which must be corrected from now on. The task before us is to make sure we do not lose Harry Potter because of this mistake."

Snape began to pace and Minerva did not blame him; this situation was unprecedented and it turned a great deal of known magical law on its head. Hecatemae were rare, only one or two a generation and they were always female. A family with history of these elemental witches in their lineage always tested female children at birth for any indications of these traits and, if they were found, the child was prepared for their role in life from the moment they were capable of understanding.

"We need to find the girl he slept with," Minerva pointed out, refusing to consider the consequences of the situation until a solution had been found.

The headmaster nodded.

"That is why I have called you all here," Albus said catching they eyes one by one. "Are any of you aware of a connection between Mr Potter and anyone in your houses?"

"He was involved with Cho Chang for a while in the fifth year," Minerva provided the information she knew, "and I believe he had a short relationship with a Ravenclaw last year, but those are the only two of which I am aware."

She looked to the head of Ravenclaw and the Charms Professor nodded.

"Briony Michello," the house head provided, "but she was a seventh year and hence is no longer part of the equation."

"What about the Granger girl?" Professor Sprout offered hopefully.

The expression on Snape's face would have made Minerva smile if the situation had not been so serious. Severus did not appear impressed with the head of Hufflepuff's observation skills.

"Granger is involved with Weasley," the head of Slytherin said pointedly; "she and Potter have never been more than friends."

It did not surprise Minerva to find that Snape was aware of the connections between the three pupils; he had used the knowledge often enough to provoke them.

"Then we have no obvious candidates," Albus said as if it was exactly what he had suspected. "We cannot simply ask the school; Harry is far too vulnerable to allow this secret into the open. One correctly aimed spell, even through the wards, could kill him in his current condition. We must find his chosen mate and we must do so discretely. It is most likely that the poor child is completely confused and will start to feel the pull towards Harry very soon."

"Miss Granger and Mr Weasley may have more information," Minerva observed.

"An excellent point," the headmaster replied, and the head of Gryffindor was in no doubt that Albus had planned to bring the two seventh years into the plan anyway. "If Harry is to come out of this intact he will need the support of his friends. They should be told everything."

"And if that fails to solve the situation?" Snape's tone was cool but also calm.

"Madam Pomfrey suggested the ruse of a contagious disease," the headmaster said simply, "and we will move through the school discretely examining Harry's associates until we find the boy's soulmate."