The Potion Mistress & the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 18: Always By Your Side

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people or places that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. The OC (Katherine) is entirely my own.

Severus woke up with a start. He was panting heavily, and sweat covered his forehead. It was those dreams again; they were become more and more frequent now. It was as if the small kiss that they shared in the hidden tunnel had trigger something stronger. Something deeper.

He groaned and ran his hands over his face; images of Katherine's body against his were burned into his mind. Severus looked down to find his legs entangled in his dark emerald green sheets.

Carefully disentangling himself from the linens, Severus grudgingly rose from his bed and proceeded to the bathroom, for yet another cold shower.

..................

The ice cold water raced down his head and back as Severus stood in the shower. His eyes were closed, as he contemplated his job ahead. He had a fairly good idea that it wouldn't be long before the Headmaster would call on him to end his life.

He knew he had to end Albus' life, but a part of him kept yelling at himself not to. But he knew if Draco failed and he didn't finish the task, his life would end as well. Then not only would he have failed Albus, but Lily as well.

And what of Katherine; what would happen to her? He was tired; tired of being Albus' pawn in this chess set of life.

'That's it. I've got to talk to Albus,' Severus told himself as he turned off the water and went to get ready for the day.

.....................

Severus was frustrated, to say the least. By the time dinner came around, he had not seen hide nor hair of Albus or Katherine. Slowly he stalked his way up to the Headmaster's office and luckily found that Albus' was indeed in his study.

"Lemon Drops," Severus muttered to the ugly stone gargoyle, and watched it jump aside to reveal the winding staircase. Once at the top, he knocked and waited for entrance.

"Come in," a voice shouted from the other side. Severus opened the door to see the Headmaster standing and staring out the large window that overlooked the lake. "Ah, Severus. What can I do for you?"

"What can you do for me?" Severus sneered at the question. "You can answer me one thing. Where do you and Potter keep disappearing to this spring?"

"The only thing I can tell you is that I am giving him the information that he will need before my time ends." Albus said, as he turned around to face the younger wizard. Severus thought that the headmaster looked even older tonight, more than he ever had. There seemed to be more lines on his face and his blue eyes looked to have lost their sparkle.

"Information..." Severus spat angrily. "You trust him...that boy...yet you do not trust me with this information."

"Oh, believe me Severus, I do trust you. But as the muggles say, I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket. Especially since that particular basket spends so much time dangling on the arm of Voldemort."

"Which I do for you. On your orders."

"And extremely well, I might add. I realize that you put yourself in constant danger and by giving Voldemort valuable, but false information, I am able to trust you all the more."

"Than why not trust me with more? Why not tell me the real reason behind these outings?

"Very well," Albus said, as he paced back to his desk and gestured Severus to sit down. "Harry must not know until the right moment, but there will be a time, long after my death, that Voldemort will fear for the life of his snake companion."