A Change of Heart

Chapter Thirty Seven

Harry quailed before the look of demented fury on Snape's face. He knew he probably shouldn't have looked into the pensieve, but somehow, he had not been able to prevent himself.

"You think you can poke your nose anywhere, don't you?" Snape asked through tightly clenched teeth. His hand was still gripped tightly around Harry's upper arm. Harry was surprised he'd not already hexed Harry into oblivion. He certainly looked angry enough.

"What the hell!" Exclaimed Sirius as he came in from the inner rooms. "What's going on here? Harry? Are you all right?"

Snape released Harry, almost flinging him away and Sirius caught him, stopping him from falling. Harry clung to Sirius like a lifeline. But somehow, Sirius' proximity did nothing to soothe him. After all, what he'd just seen in Snape's pensieve was not a very attractive side of Sirius. And that was quite an understatement.

"I'm okay, Sirius," he muttered. "It's my fault, really." He took a deep breath and looked at Snape. "I'm really sorry, Professor. I did not mean-"

"I'm not interested in what you meant, Potter!" Snape's voice was throbbing with fury, his fists so tightly clenched his knuckles stood out white. "You just had to poke your nose in, didn't you?"

"That's out of line, Snape!" Growled Sirius.

"You're the one out of line here, Black!" Snarled Snape. "Potter is my student and you're in my office!"

"Harry's my godson!" Sirius was fast losing his temper. "And I don't like the tone you take with him!"

"This is my office!" Hissed Snape. "If you have an issue with my tone, I suggest you shove it down your ass!"

Harry gasped. He'd never heard Snape swear before.

"Let's settle this here, Snivellus!" Said Sirius, pulling out his wand, thrusting Harry aside.

"With pleasure, Black!" Snape's wand was out too.

"No!" Harry shouted as he jumped between them. There was a familiar sense of Deja vu here, except he knew no Arthur Weasley was going to come through the door to save the day.

"Stay out of this, Potter," said Snape as with a flick of his wand, the lock of the door clicked shut.

"Get out of the way, Harry," said Sirius, equally white-faced and tight-lipped.

Harry did not move. "Please... professor! Sirius!"

Neither men relaxed their posture.

Then pain seared across Harry's scar and Harry collapsed on to the ground, clutching his head. He was hardly aware of Sirius shouting his name. His scar was exploding in pain. It felt as if someone was cleaving his head through his scar.

"What's happening?" Sirius was feeling panicked.

Snape was bent down over Harry, his hand prising Harry's hands apart from his scar. He frowned as Harry let out a scream of agony. He turned to Sirius. "I need to get him to the hospital wing. You get McGonagall. And for Merlin's sake, stay inside here! I'll bring you news of his condition."

"He's my Godson! He needs me!" Said Sirius, mutinous.

"He needs to know you're safe!" Snapped Snape. "Don't forget Umbridge is here in the school! Use your head for once!"

Sirius drew a deep breath and muttered, "Shouldn't we get Dumbledore?"

Snape had already conjured a stretcher and had levitated Harry onto it.

"Dumbledore is not here, in case you've forgotten. And we cannot just call him. We need to get Umbridge distracted in order to inform him. And that is not an easy thing. But we need to inform Potter's Head of House first."

Snape was conjuring some straps to keep Harry securely bound even as he was speaking. He then put a silencing charm on the boy just to make sure his screaming won't attract any unnecessary attention.

"Now, if you could just stay hidden inside, I could open the door and take him to the hospital wing."

Sirius was not happy, but he complied. He went to the inner room and contacted McGonagall, telling her Harry collapsed during his remedial potions lessons and that Snape had taken him to the hospital wing. Then he locked the door and stayed inside, his head between his hands.