AN: I was going to wait and post this once I had the whole chapter written but...it's almost long already, and it's my birthday, so I decided I was entitled to the split.

All Fall Down

For an army, their camp is surprisingly quiet. There are fires spread out among the group with clusters of people surrounding them, and every once in a while there's a burst of random noise from them, but on the whole the camp is calm in nervous anticipation, wondering whether their Chosen One's quest will prove worthwhile.

Harry sits inside the medical tent, watching but not really listening as Dumbledore whispers to a nurse for several minutes, huddling over the body of the raven.

Severus had finally reached the camp in the middle of the night, and had been immediately carried into the medical tent by Dumbledore. It is almost dawn now, and Harry bites his lower lip, studying the bird and willing Severus to change back.

"Harry,"Dumbledore begins, and Harry looks up quickly, startled out of his contemplation. "There is no spell to change Severus back. I had hoped that he would have the strength to will it to happen, once the situation had been explained to him, but Madam Pomfrey believes there to be...injuries that, while lessened of severity in this smaller form, are still causing Severus pain and sapping his strength."

Harry blinks, swallows. "What...what does that mean?"

Dumbledore sighs. "It means that Poppy will do everything she can to make Severus comfortable in his current form, but that Severus has to be the one to change."

"But, he can understand us, right?" Harry asks desperately.

"He can," Dumbledore answers.

"I... can I stay here? Keep him company?"

"I don't believe Poppy will mind your presence, but, Harry, do try to get some rest."

Harry flashes the Headmaster a smile that feels too heavy to be real. "Of course," he says.

Dumbledore puts a hand on Harry's shoulder and Harry lets it rest there for just a second, before Dumbledore walks out of the tent.

"Hey, Severus..." Harry says, twisting his hands in his lap the next morning. "Didn't sleep much, cause of you. Again. Er... we don't have much time. I mean, for this. Dumbledore's making plans, and I'm supposed to follow. Like the good little soldier he expected me to be." He laughs bitterly. "I guess that part of his plan failed... was I what made his plan not work? Or...did you fail? I'd like to think it was the latter, actually. That you...got too invested, or something. Rebelled, as much as you could. Started seeing me as something other than my parents' son.

"My childhood...wasn't the best, you know that. I lived for those moments spent here. With you. And," he hurries to add, "Remus and Sirius too, of course."

Harry is silent for several minutes, before he huffs out a laugh and runs a hand through his hair. "God I'm crap at this. I just...need you to wake up, Severus. And I should be getting to Dumbledore now, just... please, okay? Please."

Harry tries to smile at the bird who watched hm with familiar dark eyes, then leaves the tent with his head down and shoulders hunched.

"Harry!" He looks up at the call of his name to see Ron waving at him from a group around the closest fire. With a wave of his own he makes sure the tent flap closes behind him and walks over to join Ron on his bench.

"Hey," Ron greets him. "Lunch?" He passes Harry a sandwich. "It's just bread and cheese," Ron says, shrugging. "Apparently good food isn't packed when you go to war."

Harry accepts the sandwich, eating it silently and staring moodily into the fire. He smiles in greeting when Ron's sister and Fred and George join them around the fire, listening as the twins tease Ron.

"Hey," he says suddenly, interrupting their chatter, "do you know someone named Draco?"

Ron blinks at him silently at the sudden change of subject, but the twins smirk. "Oh yes," Fred drawls. "Draco Malfoy."

"Evil little twerp," says George conversationally.

"Scum," Fred adds helpfully.

Harry is unsurprised at any of this.

"Used to have a bit of a crush on our Ginny," George says, elbowing his sister and mock-whispering at Harry. Ron growls, Fred glares, and Ginny picks at her sandwich. "Stop it," she says softly.

"What was that?" George asks her innocently.

"That was nothing," Fred says dismissively. "Ginny wouldn't be trying to defend the prat, after all."

George nods sagely. "He used to stalk her," he tells Harry.

"He did not!" Ginny protests.

"He did. He never took his eyes off you."

Ginny frowns.

"And you two would always be sneaking off together," Fred says, shaking his head in disapproval.

"We were friends," Ginny says softly. All of her brothers grimace in distaste.

"Like you could ever be friends with a Death-Eater," Ron growls. "Good riddance to him, I say, wherever he decided to piss off to this year."

Harry glances at Ginny, but she only continues to stare sadly at the ground. "I'm going to go find Dumbledore," he says hastily. "Thanks for the lunch!"

He wanders around the camp until he comes across Dumbledore, surrounded by a motley assortment of people. "Ah, Harry," Dumbledore says in greeting when he is spotted. "We are discussing the best plans of attack."

"Great," Harry says weakly, joining the circle.

"I still think it best to stay here, and wait for their men to find us," a dark-skinned man tells Dumbledore. "We have the upper ground if we stay in this area."

There are quiet murmurings of assent from the crowd, covered by the growl of a man with a fake eye. "Our troops will be over-confident if we stay here. They'll feel too secure and stop paying any mind to our weak spots. Constant vigilance!"

Harry retreats from the crowd, avoiding Dumbledore's eyes as he does so. He has nothing to offer this conversation, and so he makes his way back to the medical tent.

Madam Pomfrey is just leaving as Harry arrives, and she shakes her head when he asks her whether there has been any change in Severus' condition. "He hasn't changed back," she tells him, then hesitates and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Give him something to wake up for," she tells him softly, and with a nod makes her way toward one of the fires.

"Right," Harry mutters, and walks toward the raven slowly. "So..." he muses slowly, taking his seat by the bed so he can look the raven in the eye, "I've been wondering...why is a raven like a writing desk?"

The bird regards him but makes no semblance of an answer.

"So you still don't know," Harry says with a sigh and a nod. "Not feeling particularly desk-like then, I suppose."

Severus moves his foot impatiently, and Harry smiles. "I'm supposed to give you a reason to wake up," he whispers, leaning forward on the chair. "But I have nothing. I can't... I can't offer you anything. So how am I supposed to make you want to wake up?"

He settles back on his chair and crosses his arms, looking at the round. "You've given me the world, and I can't even make you want to be human."

He bites his lower lip and glances at the black eyes of the raven before staring determinedly at the ground once more. "When I was little," he begins hesitantly, "I used to want to come here all the time...wanted to come here to see you. I couldn't explain why it was you, in particular, because it started while you were still basically ignoring me, but there was something about you. There is something about you...

"I used to have these...fantasies of here, beginning when I was eleven, I think. It was mostly my memory of that time I landed in Hogwarts, with the things you had told me about it. I used to dream that I had been accepted to the school, that I had been taken away from the Dursleys and given a chance at a childhood. You were there, too, always looking out for me. I..." he clears his throat uncomfortably. "I can remember my first wet dream... it was...was about you. At Hogwarts.

"When I grew up, when I stopped hoping that I would ever come here again, I used to still think about you. About how you talked, walked, thought. All of it. It's ridiculous, doesn't even make sense but you...intrigued me." He glances up again nervously, but finds himself unable to meet Severus' gaze. "Maybe..." he whispers, "maybe, the heart of love is curiosity. Maybe that's basically all there is. But I...I keep finding things out about you, and I just want to find out more." He flushes bright red and mumbles, "I can't stand it when other people accuse you of wrongdoing...I just want to defend you all the time, want to... protect you from the world, I guess, which is so ridiculous and stupid, but...there it is."

He leans forward once more, rubs a weary hand over his face. "I've wanted you for most of my life, and loved you for more of it. The memory of you made me want to live, despite all the stupid crap of life, and it's helped shape who I am, and it's been my dreams for longer than I can remember. That's it. That's what I have to offer. Someone who loves you. So come back and kick my ass for it, OK? I want you to change back, and play the part of Severus for the first time in your life and mock me for my feelings and just...live. Please."

He stands, hands twisting at his sides. "I'm going to rest up a bit, since there's nothing else for me to do. I'll sleep, in here, OK? I...don't want to leave you. But you don't have to worry. If you change back, I'll get out of here as soon as I know you're okay and you won't have to deal with me until—if want to."

He shrugs, and hesitates for but a moment before making his way toward the bed closest to the one on which the raven lies.

Harry is awoken several hours later by moans of pain emanating from the bed beside his, and he opens his eyes only to gape, wide-eyed, as he watches the raven's form shift into that of Severus. He tumbles out of bed a minute later, mind finally catching up with his eyes, and stumbles over to Severus, grabbing his wrist and sagging with relief when he feels the sure, steady pulse.

"Severus?" he asks urgently, and at the sound of his name Severus rolls his bruised and swollen face to blink slowly at Harry through his good eye. "Ha...Harry?" he croaks.

"Yeah," Harry confirms shakily. "I'll...I'll go get Madam Pomfrey for you, OK? She'll make you feel better."

"Harry," Severus repeats, but Harry doesn't let him say anything more, already striding from the tent and calling for the medic.

"Mate," Ron says, an hour later, "if you pace any more I'm going to get the twins to hold you down."

Fred looks up at this and smiles lasciviously at Harry while George winks. Harry stands still immediately.

"He was awake, yeah?" Ron asks, and Harry nods.

"Then he's fine. Stop worrying."

Harry clears his throat. "Right," he says, and unconsciously turns and takes two steps to the side. Fred and George stand up, smirking, and Harry stops abruptly and rolls his eyes, only to whirl around at the sound of someone leaving the medical tent.

"How is he?"

'Mending," Dumbledore replies, smiling slightly. "He's asking for you."

Harry blinks in surprise. "He...he is?" he asks faintly.

"Yes, my boy," Dumbledore says, as Madam Pomfrey joins him at his side. "Make sure he takes the sleeping potion after you talk to him," she tells him, and they both move off to join one of the bigger groups.

Harry faces the tent in which Severus lays with trepidation.

Ron steps forward and claps him on the shoulder. "Just go," he says in exasperation.

Harry nods shortly, and then he squares his shoulders and lifts the flap to step into the tent.