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It was at exactly 4:27 am that Harry was awoken by the sound of both crashing and banging coming from down the stairs. Bolting up from his bed he quickly grasped his wand and began creeping towards the door of his bedroom.

When, he thought, did I begin thinking of this as my room?

Pushing the unwelcome thought to the side, he opened the door and stuck his head out. As he looked farther down the hall he saw Draco standing just outside his door as well, holding his own wand in a tight grip.

The two gave each other a nod and silently walked towards the stairs together, wands raised ready to defend themselves against whoever had entered the home.

"Fuck" a whispered shout.

Both Draco and Harry heard someone whisper the curse downstairs as there was another bang. 'On three' Harry mouths and Draco gives a nod.

'One... Two... Three!' They whispered together and quickly made their way down the stairs wands held at the ready, curses and hex's at the tips of their tongues only to freeze right at the entrance to the dinning area.

"Severus!"
"Uncle Sev!"

Said man was currently gripping the back of a chair in order to stand upright, there were several chairs knocked over and the table looked as if it had been knocked into. He was looking up at the two boys in a mixture of relief and... embarrassment? Harry wasn't sure. "Draco, get the green potion from the kitchen please, it's in the cupboard above the sink." Draco immediately rushed out of the room in order to obey without a word. Harry noticed how the professors voice was slightly shaky and seemed to break at random points. The man was panting, and his arms and legs were wobbly with the effort to stay upright. His face was scrunched in what looked to be pain and concentration, although it was obvious he was trying to hide it.

The man grip slipped and just as he was about to land on the floor Harry rushed forward and caught him. "Let's get you onto the chair professor." He grunted as he practically dragged the man around and in-front of the chair while attempting to carefully sit him down gently. He had just sat down himself when Draco came rushing back in with two viles in hand.

"I'm sorry Sev, there was two green ones and I- I didn't know which one you needed so I just grabbed them both!" He held them both out towards the man. The first vile was slightly larger, but the green liquid was more watery and a lighter green whereas the other was a smaller vile with a dark forest green and seemed to be quite thick, almost like a caramel.

Snape silently reached out and grabbed the lighter coloured potion and uncorked it with his shaking hands before tossing his had back and swallowing its contents in one fluid motion.

He took an audibly deep breath. Slowly, he began shaking less, and his posture became more relaxed as the potion began to do its job. "Sir, are you.. are you going to be okay? Should we get help?" Harry voiced out in concern. Snape's eyes shifted towards Harry and mutely shook his head. "No I think not, I shall be fine."

Draco gave a sigh of relief and practically dropped onto the chair next to the professor in a deadweight. "Thank Merlin. You had me worried for a while there that you weren't going to be coming back." His voice had started out strong, but near the end it let out a crack, it was only then that Harry took notice of the unshed tears that he held in his eyes. It seemed the elder man had noticed as well. Snape reached, a far steadier, hand out and placed it on top of Dracos head. "I'm not leaving." Was all he said but there was strong conviction in his voice as he spoke. A promise of sorts. Draco gave a shaky nod and tilted his head toward his godfathers touch, letting out a quiet sigh as his eyes slipped shut in order to keep the tears in.

"I'm going to get Dumbledore." Abruptly, Harry stood up from the chair and made his way into the living room towards the fire. Once he was sure he was fully out of sight and hearing range of the other two he groaned softly as he leaned against the wall for support. He dug the heals of his hands into his eyes, rubbing harshly. What is wrong with me? He thought irritability. He felt it again, that churning acid in his stomach. He clenches his jaw tight, enough to hurt, he gripped his hair and gave it a harsh yank.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" He whispered frantically to himself. The tears were building in his own eyes now. He fought to hold them in. But it wasn't enough, they began to fall down from his eyes and trailed down his cheeks, leaving his face cool and wet, cheeks splotched red with the effort of keeping silent. Near silent hiccuping sobs broke free from him, he let out a painful sounding cough that tore out of his chest, a result from trying to keep silent for so long. It was only getting worse, this feeling, with every flash of a memory containing Snape and Draco together. Them sitting at the dinning table together, them talking together, Snape helping Draco with his summer homework In the living room, Snape holding a crying Draco in the middle of the night, giving him comfort and a place to be safe within his arms and finally, Snape promising to stick by him, not even ten minutes ago while holding him comfortingly and so gently.

'Merlin,' he though, I'm jealous!'

His whimpering sobs slowly came to a close as he took in this realization. The blood that he could hear rushing in his ears began to quiet and he once more became aware of the voices coming from the other room. 'Get a hold of yourself. This is pathetic' He wiped the remaining tears from his face with the sleeve of his nightshirt and took a deep breath of fresh air. Running a hand through his hair, he walked over towards the fireplace and quickly called for the headmaster who showed up in no time at all. "Harry, is there a problem?" He asked worriedly.

"No sir, Snape has returned and I thought it a good idea to let you know as soon as possible."

"Oh that's wonderful news!" Clapping his hands together his walked over closer to the fire twinkle maddeningly present is his blue eyes. "Do you mind if I come through?" He questioned.

Giving a shake of his head, Harry stepped back to allow enough room for Dumbledore to step through. Sure enough, out came the headmaster stepping from the green flames of the fire. Though the smile slipped from his face and the twinkle left as soon as he spotted Harry. "My boy, are you alright?" He asked, voiced filled with concern as he took in the disheveled appearance and red eyes. "Of course sir." Harry put on a fake smile, though the man had noticed how it wobbled slightly and didn't reach his eyes. "Snape's in through here." With that he turned and walked towards the dining area Albus let out a sad sigh but followed behind the boy.

"Severus! I can't say how relived I am to see that you have returned and are okay."

"Of course headmaster." Snape looked over towards Draco before shifting his gaze towards Harry. "You two should head back up to bed. It is far to early to be up." He said and although it hadn't been phrased as an order it might as well have been. Both boys knowing that, gave a nod and headed back towards the stairs.

*•.*•.*•.

"What were you thinking, going back! You're extremely lucky that he doesn't know about the letter." Albus said sternly, but not unkindly. He was too relived that the head of house had returned in relatively good condition. Dumbledore then took a seat next to Severus, the one Draco had been occupying a moment earlier. Snape all but whispers,

"He knows about the letter."

Silence. Dumbledore stared at the Slytherin in shock. "I'm lucky to have escaped." Snape voiced. "What happened Severus?" he asked quietly. Taking a deep breath, Snape began to explain the evening's meeting.

"I was called to a meeting, as you already know, I had apparated outside of the destination. I walked into the manor where some of the death eaters were mingling with each other as we waited for the official meeting to begin. I was standing off to the side alone as I usually do when I overheard Bellatrix bragging to Lucius how she was the one to tell the dark lord about 'the letter' and not him. Upon overhearing this information, I immediately began to leave knowing I had been discovered as a spy and that this meeting was most certainly called in order to punish me. Unfortunately, someone noticed me making my departure. I am unaware of who it was seeing as they had their mask on. They then casted a disarming spell but I was able to cast a shield charm in protection. This, of course, caught everyone attention and Bellatrix seemed to connect the dots and immediately orders everyone to not allow me to escape before the Dark Lord arrived. This began a duel between me and about ten other death eaters. They predictably held me off for quite a long time. Within that time I got hit with a few well aimed curses and hexes but as you can see I managed to escape just as the dark lord arrived."

By the end of his tale, Snape was rubbing his temples as he leaned over the table. Dumbledore was staring at him in concealed wonder.

"Why, may I ask, did it take you so long to return back to your home once you had escaped?" Dumbledore questioned lightly. Letting out a groan Snape replied,

"I simply apparated as soon as I had made it out of the wards, I unfortunately did not have a destination in mind and ended up on some random gravel road in the middle of Merlin knows where. I was already weakened significantly from the dueling and the apparation that I simply had to rest. So I sat down under the nearest tree and rested up for a while and took all the necessary potions I had on my person at the time. As soon as I had enough energy I apperated back here." He explained and Albus nodded his understanding.

"But you are well now? Should I call for madame Pomfrey?"

"I will be fine, merely tired and sore, nothing new. I will need to take a few more potions before I rest but I should be back to normal within a few days."

"You should head up and get some rest yourself. We will talk more about the situation tomorrow when you are feeling well enough, though we shouldn't wait to long." Severus gave a nod in agreement silently glad that the conversation was coming to a close, it was becoming hard to hide the exhaustion and pain he was still feeling. "Alright then, I should be off and tell the order of this recent development and think of the next best step. Will you be able to reach your sleeping quarters fine or would like me to help?" Albus began to stand up and push the chair in.

"I will manage."

"Alright Severus, If you are certain. Please get a good rest and don't be shy to sleep in. You need it." And with that he gave Severus a final nod before walking into the living room where Snape heard him leave through the floo.

Once he was sure Albus was gone, he let out a deep sigh and practically collapsed onto the table. He sat there for a while letting out ragged breath after ragged breath in an attempt to calm his racing heart, glad he was finally alone. After a while, when his heart had returned to a semi normal speed, he stood up and shakily made his way up the stairs and to his room. Sitting down on his bed, he opened the drawer of the desk beside his bed and pulled out a few potions viles, downing them all as quickly as possible. Laying down, he stripped out of his outer robes and got settled in under the covers before promptly falling into a much needed deep sleep.

*•.*•.*•.

"You called him Severus."

Harry's head snapped around to face Draco with a look of bewilderment. "What are you talking about?" He questioned.

"When he returned you shouted his name instead of just calling him Snape." Draco was watching him, as if trying to figure something out. Harry broke the eye contact before Draco had a chance too.

They heard footsteps approaching and both boys quickly rushed up the stairs before Dumbledore could spot them both listening in on their 'private' conversation.

'Did I call Snape Severus?'