Leon woke up to the stark white walls of the hospital ward. He could see out the windows that it was sunrise.

"Mr. Pen! You're awake!" a small boy squealed and jumped by the bed.

"Mr. Strickland! Leave Mr. Pen alone. He needs peace and quiet to recover from his fainting spell." Madam Pomfrey scolded the younger child.

"Sorry Madam Pomfrey." replied Derek looking contrite.

"It's okay child. I know you were worried about your guardian." She turns to her patient. "Mr. Pen how are you feeling?"

Leon looked around his head throbbing. He wondered where Snape was. He wasn't surprised though that Snape wasn't there with him; he probably hated him now. Leon could feel tears well up and he angrily wiped the forming tears from his eyes. He was strong; he's had years to come to terms with this and he wasn't going to start crying now.

"I'm feeling fine Pomfrey. When will I be able to leave?" Leon asked begging silently that he'll able to leave soon.

"Well you fainted and you hit your head. You've been asleep for 10 hours. I just need to scan you and make sure there's no lasting damage from the incident." The mediwitch says as she waves her wand over the young man analyzing the writing the appears in the air.

"It's looks like you're fine but you do have some magic exhaustion so I would request that you rest for the remainder of the day." Pomfrey eyes the man who looks enormously relieved at being able to leave so soon.

"Derek would you mind accompanying me back to my rooms before you have to go to classes." Leon asks beckoning the child to him as he stands up from the bed. He body was still a little week from the ordeal causing him to wobble and balance against the side table[Pd1] .

"Oh and Mr. Pen. Severus requested that you see him this evening. He seemed rather pale when he brought you in; I hope he's not coming down with anything." Madam Pomfrey ended the announcement with grumblings about certain potion masters who neglect their health.

Leon decided that he wasn't going to see Severus tonight; if he never confronted the man then he couldn't hear about how his love hated him now.

Leon and Derek made their way to the library and into Leon's rooms. When they entered the living chamber Leon stepped on a letter that sat on the floor in front of the door. Leon picked it up noticing that it was from the Ministry. He opened the letter scanning over the information inside.

"Well it looks like we're going to the ministry after your classes are finished today. Minerva reserved an appointment for us to switch your guardianship over to me." Leon looked up at the Slytherin to see an excited child beaming at him. "However, it does require your mother to be there to sign the papers."

The smile immediately dropped from the child's face, "What if she tries to hurt me?"

Leon was once again angry and incredibly[Pd2] sad. He hated the cruelty and hatred in the world. He'd come to terms long ago that no matter how much he wanted to he couldn't eradicate all the evil in the world but it didn't stop him from helping the people he could.

"Trust me Derek; I am a stronger wizard then you could ever imagine. I will never let some low life abuser get any closer to you than necessary. As of tonight, I'll be your guardian and I'll use all the magic inside of me to make sure you have a safe and happy childhood." Leon said so intensely that he didn't notice a tall potion's master standing behind him.

"Arrogant as always I see."

Leon jerks hard in fright going pale as he hears Snape's voice behind him.

"There's a difference between arrogance and confidence, Snape" Leon snarks back at the potions master.

Both men eye each other down until the Derek speaks up noticing the tense feelings saturating the room.

"I have to leave for class now but I'll be back after divination. Thank you, Mr. Pen."

"Please call me Leon at least in private company." Leon requests.

"Leon." The boy nods at Leon and to Severus as he makes his way back into the library and to his classes.

When the men were alone they looked at each other waiting to see which would talk first. In the end, it was Severus.

"You left me." Severus says simply causing Leon to flinch at the dull tone.

"You were dead. I cradled you in my arms as you bleed out. You were dead and I couldn't save you. I saved the wizarding world but I couldn't save you." Leon looked at the love of his life with tearful eyes full of turmoil and regret. "I wouldn't have left you if I thought I could bring you back. How are you alive? You should be dead!"

Snape looks at Leon with intense eyes and waves his hand cancelling the glamour that he has had enacted since Minerva found him in the shrieking shack.

Severus's face become paler and thinner and his dark eyes were replaced with bright red ones. Severus refuses to meet Leon's eyes fearful of what he'll see, whether it be fear or disgust.

Leon gasped in surprise closing the distance between him and the man.

"Sev." Leon whispers brushing his hand on the thin, sharp cheeks.

Leon brushes his thumb across Severus's lips and the older man opens his mouth allowing Leon to slip his thumb in and caress the canines. Leon winced when the sharp fangs sliced slightly into his thumb.

Severus locked eyes with Leon and closed his lips around Leon's thumb and sucks the blood off.

They stare at each other for long moments the tension rising but unlike the angry tension from before this was more pleasantly passionate.

Severus let the other man's thumb fall from his lips and without anything holding his arm up Leon let it flop down beside his waist.

"I missed you." Severus murmured brushing stray hairs out of Leon's face that had fallen loose from his braid.

Leon relaxes into the strong palm cupping his cheek, "I missed you too, so much."

Severus pulled the smaller man to his chest holding him tight; oh how he missed the feeling.

Finally answering Leon's question from before Severus started speaking, "I can only assume it was soon after you left but a vampire with name Sanguini stumbled upon me trying to find safety from the battle and he saw me dying and he bit me and turned me. It was excruciating pain but what got me through it was the thought that I'd be able to see you again when it was over."

Severus took a steadying breath as his voice began wavering, "When I woke up the next morning in St. Mungo's to hear that you had died it broke me. I tried to kill myself multiple times; I refused to feed, I tried jumping off the astronomy tower. It was only through Minerva and Sanguini talking some sense into me that I learned to cope with the lose of you."

"Sev-" Leon's voice knowing how much anguish he caused his boyfriend broke him.

Seeing the pain in his loves eyes he tightened his hold on the smaller man. Leon burrowed his face in Severus' chest letting the tears flow.

They stood like that for a while until Severus could feel the smaller man dozing in his arms. He picked up Leon and carried him into his bedroom. He laid the half-asleep man on the bed and proceeded to pull off his robes and the pants he had on under them deciding to leave on his undershirt and tucked him under the thick covers.

Before stepping back, he heard Leon mumble "Der'k…ministry."

"It's okay. Sleep. I'll wake you up before you have to go."

Severus brushed a chaste kiss on Leon's forehead and stepped back to sit in one of the chairs watching the man fall into an exhausted slumber. When he was sure that Leon had fallen into a deep sleep he stood up from his chair and made his way out into the library and down to the great hall where breakfast was just finishing.

Severus made his way up to the head table to talk to Neville. The young man had grown into himself nicely over the years and despite their previous relationship in his youth their working relationship was a close one. He could safely call Neville on of his few friends.

"Neville is there any chance you'd be able to watch over my classes today? I have a personal matter to take care of that will consume my time."

Neville eyed the pale man speculatory; He looked particularly tired and pale, more so than usual.

"Of course, I'll have one of my seventh years teach my classes." Neville easily agrees and he lowers his voice to keep wandering ears from hearing. "Have you been feeding properly?"

Severus understands the reasoning for his hushed voice. Even after the war with creatures of all kinds fighting on the light side parents were still wary of having a vampire for a teacher so Severus didn't let it be well known that he was a so-called creature of the night.

"Of course," Severus promises. "Thank you, it's only fifth year classes today they're just doing simple pepper up potions to help Madam Pomfrey refill her stocks."

"Easy stuff. What houses?" Neville asks hoping to have no Gryffindor/Slytherin classes. Even now the combination of those two houses sparked the largest interhouse fights.

Confirming Neville's fears Severus ruefully says, "Gryffindor and Slytherin. But they are fifth years so I'd hope they'd have more sense than to start something."

Neville laughs, "I'll make sure to send any troublemakers your way then."

Severus smiled slightly, "Thank you."

Neville's smiled died down a little bit. "You sure you're good?"

"Yes, I promise I've just been stressed the past few days." Severus replied appreciating the concern from the younger man.

"I know you don't need sleep but you look exhausted." Neville eyed the especially pronounced dark circles under the vampire's eyes.

"I'll be fine. It's just stress." Severus promised. "Well I'll be on my way, thank you again Neville."

"Anytime. I hope you feel better." Neville waved goodbye to the older man.

-/-/-/-/-/-

Severus returned to the library and entered Leon's rooms. He heard sobbing from the man's bedroom and rushed in. The smaller man was curled in a ball letting out sobs in between hyperventilating. The sobs wracked the thin man's body and Severus thought not for the first time since he reconnected with the man that he was far too thin. Severus stride into the room and leaned on the bed beside the man. He caressed the crying man's hair softly.

"Leon, you need to calm down." Severus remains unperturbed.

The small man jerks, glassy eyes opening to look at the potion's master.

"I thought-" Leon sucks in a breath. "-you left."

'Bloody hell.' Severus thought.

"I just had to get someone to cover my classes. I'm here for you; I'm not going to leave you. I need you to take deep breaths or you're going to pass out." Severus wiped the tears off Leon's face and Leon firmly gripped the man's hand to hold him beside him so that he couldn't leave again.

"Okay. In-" Severus exaggeratedly breathed in and prompted Leon to mimic him, "-and out."

Severus repeated the motions for the next few minutes until the pallor receded from Leon's face. Through it all Leon refused to loosen his white-knuckled grip on Severus' hand. Severus managed to maneuver them so that Leon's back is pressed his chest and he wraps his arms tight letting the pressure comfort the distraught man.

"Are you feeling better now?" Severus murmurs now that Leon had quieted down.

"Yes, sorry. Nightmare." Is all Leon says but it's enough for Severus.

Severus remembers many nights before the battle of Hogwarts where they were in the same situation, cradling Harry as he shook from nightmares of Voldemort wining and all his loved ones dying.

"I still love you." Severus murmurs breaking the silence they had fallen into.

Leon tensed in Severus' arm for a moment before whispering back, "I still love you too."

"Good. We'll talk more later but you need to sleep." Severus pulled the comforter over them. "You still have to go to the ministry later and you're still recovering from magical exhaustion.

"I'm sorry for crying so much. I promise I've grown up over the years. I've just been really stressed." Leon says embarrassed for how weepy he's been all day.

"It's okay." Severus replies, "I know how you are when you're very stressed."

'Well I knew how you acted 8 years ago at least.' Severus thought to himself knowing if he said something like that aloud he would upset Leon even more and his love needed rest.

"Thank you for not rejecting me."

Leon yawns and burrows further into Severus' chilly body appreciating the temperature difference between him and the warm blanket

"I could never reject you." Severus whispers into the man's long hair letting his eyes fall shut as he relaxes into the feeling of having his love in his arms again.