Tori slowly opened her eyes and stretched out her arms and legs, drinking in the warmth of the memory of last night. Never had she imagined it could be like that! Her limbs felt a little stiff and still quite languid; she didn’t want to get up just yet. Then she remembered what day today was. Her eyes scanned the room, but no one else was there. She seemed to be alone. Quickly she jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. Severus would have probably gone to the kitchens in search for some early breakfast. She put on her robe and went to her own room where she would find more of her clothes and could pick up the potion and the invisibility cloak.

When she entered her room, the first thing she noticed was the absence of both the potion and the cloak. She found a letter pinned to her pillow. Her hands trembled when she reached for it, afraid to see with her eyes what her heart already knew. Her heart was pounding and she nervously fumbled with the paper before she was able to open it. Her worst fears were confirmed, and her world came tumbling down when she read his words.

Dearest Tori,

I couldn’t let you do it. Please forgive me if I make it sound like I don’t have faith in your abilities. You would have succeeded, I’m sure of it. However, this shouldn’t have to be your battle and you should not put yourself in danger over a conflict that began long before you were born. I believe you have a lot to offer to the wizarding world and will make a brilliant scientist. But most of all, you are deeply loved by your friends, family and colleagues and would be greatly missed if something went wrong. I am counting on them to support you in dealing with all this and to encourage you to fulfill your destiny as one of the greatest minds in the wizarding world.

I love you,

Severus

She sank onto her bed, tears running down her cheeks. She could see last night’s events in a whole new perspective now. Just when had he decided to go in her place? Had he had any intention at all to let her go? He must have counted on her to oversleep after their night together. Could she reverse the events by using the time-turner? A glance at her watch told her that it was past nine ‘o clock, so he would have been gone for a few hours. There was nothing she could do about it, for she didn’t know when he had left. Slowly reality began to sink in and her sobs became louder and louder until she was near hysteria. She clenched the letter in her hand and paced her room. There had to be something she could do. She couldn’t let him die like that! Without any further thought, she fled her room and ran to Dumbledore’s office. She stormed in, still crying, not noticing Harry and Lupin’s presence, her attention focused on the Headmaster. When she had come bursting in, the three of them looked surprised in seeing her there. For all they knew, she was at Malfoy Manor. With her throat sore from crying, her words came out sounding a bit hoarse and because she was talking too fast in an attempt to let everything out at once, it took them a while to understand what she was saying.

“He’s…he’s gone! To Malfoy’s…didn’t want me to go. We’ve got to stop him, they’ll kill him!”

She kept repeating, “They’ll kill him!” Dumbledore embraced her, trying to calm her down, but the tears kept running and her sobs prevented her from answering any questions that they might have. They were anxious to know for how long he had been gone and if he had taken the cloak. They had figured out who ‘he’ was. At last, Dumbledore focused on soothing her and decided she could answer their questions later on. When she let him read the letter she calmed down a bit, but when she saw the compassionate look he gave her, she went hysterical once more. She cried out “And I haven’t even told him I love him yet,” before she collapsed in Dumbledore’s arms.

They laid her down on Dumbledore’s sofa. Fawkes immediately flew up and landed on the arm of it, his wings waving fresh air towards her. Harry looked puzzled. He had figured out that Severus had taken the potion to Voldemort, but he had been astonished to see how this news affected Tori. He had no idea she felt this close to the Potions Master. Dumbledore and Lupin didn’t look all too surprised about this, so he felt that he had missed something.

“Would anyone like to give me an explanation…” he began.

Lupin hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided to tell him what he knew. “Well, I’ve known for some time that Severus was developing some feelings for Tori. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve discovered these feelings were mutual. I guess they haven’t been speaking about it openly to each other. Knowing Severus…” but Dumbledore interrupted him.

“Tori has spent the night with Severus.” Seeing their stunned faces, he suppressed a little chuckle before he continued. “I thought it was their way of saying goodbye before she left for Malfoy Manor, but clearly I have underestimated my Potions Master.”

“You mean he has given her a sleeping potion?” Harry was still in shock.

“Ahem, no, I don’t think he did that.” Seeing Dumbledore’s uneasiness, Harry and Lupin got the message and both flushed. Now Dumbledore could no longer withhold a chuckle. He turned serious again when he looked at Tori.

“Poor thing, she probably thinks he’s giving his life for her,” he paused taking a deep sigh, “and most likely she’s right.”

“What can we do?” Harry had recovered enough to be practical.

“Not much for now. We have to give him time to switch the potions and witness Voldemort drink the new one. There’s no way that we can tell he has succeeded. However, if he has not returned before nightfall, we have to assume something went wrong. It’s roughly the same plan we had for Tori, with the added risk of Severus’ dark mark giving his presence away.”

“And what do we do then? If we were to go over there to rescue him, we would not be sure what we were facing. I don’t think Alastor is prepared to sacrifice his Aurors to save one wizard.” Harry seemed troubled by this. “But we cannot leave him there on his own. Tori would be devastated if anything happened to him”

“So what do you suggest Harry?” Lupin thought he already knew what was going on inside the young man’s mind. He would do anything to help his best friend.

“Well, I guess a small team can go first to assess the situation and try to get him out of there, volunteers of course.”

“And you being one of them, I assume?”

Harry looked up at Dumbledore. “Severus Snape has saved my life on numerous occasions, one time being particularly hazardous. I would be unworthy of being a Gryffindor if I were to forsake him now.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Then so it will be. We will wait for news and if he doesn’t show up by nightfall, you have my permission to take a small team to the Manor and look for him. When you are sure about the strength of Voldemort’s powers you can return to collect the other Aurors.”

“I want to go too!” Tori had woken up during their conversation. Her eyes begged Harry to include her in his rescue mission.

“Oh Tori, we’re not even sure yet we will have to do this. For all we know, he might be back very soon.”

“Harry, don’t tell me you expect me to believe that! I might be a little upset about this, but I can assure you there’s nothing wrong with my mind. I can be very useful when you go.”

“All right, consider yourself a member of the team.” He sighed, knowing Snape would not be happy if he knew she would be coming to the Manor after all the trouble he had gone to in preventing her from going. Well, if they did go there, Harry would be more than grateful if Snape was even remotely capable of scolding him for endangering Tori.

Dumbledore decided to move to the Great Hall. He asked all of Hogwarts staff to join them there. A few moments later Alastor Moody and Arthur Weasley arrived as well. They all knew what was going to happen today, but hadn’t expected a meeting this early in the morning. The worry on their faces showed that they all suspected that something had gone wrong. Dumbledore explained the situation, without mentioning the special bond between Severus and Tori. The majority of the people at the meeting were in favor of Harry’s plan, but there were some voices raised that didn’t want to interfere at all. Sirius Black explained his point of view.

“You see, he didn’t want anybody to be in danger in the first place. Why should we risk more lives? I suggest we sit and wait. If nothing happens and Voldemort carries on like old times, we know he failed and if suddenly the attacks were to diminish, then we can send the Aurors to invade the Manor.”

Tori cried out: “Oh Sirius, how can you think like that?! Have you no honor? Naturally, if we wait a few days we can be sure about Voldemort’s condition and we have a bigger chance to get through this without casualties. However, I think that if we are willing to sacrifice the life of one for the benefit of many, we are lowering ourselves to his level. I for one am not willing to do so. I still consider myself to be a true Gryffindor!!!!!!” Her emotional words echoed in the Great Hall, leaving everyone staring in front of them. Harry was the first to raise his head. He looked at both Alastor Moody and Arthur Weasley for their approval. They nodded.

“We will do so as planned.” Alastor said. “We have done enough waiting in this battle.” Tori gave him a grateful look.

All they had to do now was prepare for tonight’s events. A few of the teachers went to check on the students to see if they were staying in their common rooms as told. Halfway through the afternoon, Ron and Bill Weasley arrived. They had come to take part in the large Auror/Ministry attack later that night, but upon hearing about the crisis, decided to join Harry’s team. Tori felt that she should include Ron on the situation between her and Snape, but hesitated to do so, knowing a severe shock was in store for him later on when he would find out about Shannon and Draco.

Tori, Ron and Harry were sitting together at their former Gryffindor table and Tori was just about to inform them on the Shannon/Draco issue, when suddenly Harry grabbed his forehead, his face twisted in pain. He fell on the floor, his body making epileptic convulsions. All they could do was wait until his seizure stopped. When he calmed down, everyone was standing around him. His scar was still swollen when he opened his eyes. He didn’t look at Tori when he told them what he had experienced.

“I saw Voldemort outside the Malfoy’s Manor. Severus was there. He has been discovered. Voldemort was torturing him severely. Cruciatus, many times, then it all went black.” Harry took a deep breath. At the end he had felt Snape’s pain. It had been so intense he had been knocked out. He could only hope Snape had done the same.

There was panic in the Great Hall. McGonagall spread her eyes, her hand covering her open mouth in disbelief. Hagrid was stomping his feet and slammed his fist on the table. The other teachers were talking in confusion. Lupin had moved closer to Tori and laid a hand on her shoulder. Tori herself tried to stay calm; at least he had been alive! Dumbledore shouted “QUIET!!” They all looked at him.

“We know now that Severus has been detected. However, does this mean he has failed to switch the potions? That we do not know, but we have to move fast. He will not be able to endure the Cruciatus Curse for much longer. Harry?” Dumbledore inquired.

“We go now.” Was the only thing Harry said.

“No, you cannot!” Sirius cried out. “You don’t know what you’re up against, for Merlin’s sake Harry!”

A mental clash was going on between godfather and godson when they locked eyes. Both felt strongly about their point of view and Sirius’ fear for Harry’s well-being reflected on his face. Finally Sirius looked down, admitting his defeat. “If you’re so keen on getting yourself killed,” he mumbled.

“No, I will go!” A clear voice rang through the Great Hall. Everyone turned towards the entrance where they saw Shannon and Draco.

“Draco!” Tori’s face lit. “You’re back?!” Then she turned to Dumbledore. “Headmaster, you know what this means, don’t you?”

“Hold on Tori, this can mean a lot of things. Maybe they stopped trying.” Seeing the disappointed look on her face he continued: “It’s also possible Severus has been able to replace the potion and Voldemort drank the weakening potion, but there’s no way we can be sure” and then to Draco: “Draco, when you get to the Manor they will think their spell worked. They don’t know how it affected you at Hogwarts. For all they know, you just had a slight headache.” Draco nodded; he understood what Dumbledore was getting at.

“Wait a minute! Are you going to let Draco go by himself?” Shannon sounded alarmed. Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows, but Sirius was quick to respond. He had been thinking the same, but not for the same reasons as Shannon. “Yes Albus, this kid is a Slytherin. What makes you think he won’t run back to daddy?” Before Dumbledore could defend his newest ally, Harry has answered his godfather.

“Sirius, really, I never thought you’d be so prejudiced. First Severus and now Draco. I, for one, am prepared to believe in him.” Seeing the slightly surprised, but grateful look on Draco’s face he continued. “But I do think two people will have more chance. Therefore I suggest Draco takes me to Voldemort as his prisoner. This will also explain why he has been hiding at Hogwarts for so long, waiting for the right opportunity to catch me. Draco can move around freely at the Manor and I can keep Voldemort busy while Draco looks for Severus.”

Dumbledore smiled at both Harry and Draco.

“Let’s do so for now.”