Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, although I wish I did.

Set in first year:

Harry was having a nightmare. It had been about his parents again. He couldn't stop dreaming about them no matter how hard he tried. He forced himself to wake up, and he was so upset he felt like crying. Harry put on the Invisibility Cloak and went into the bathroom. He locked the door, sat down on the floor, and put his head on his knees. He cried for what felt like hours, and when he finally calmed down, it was nearly morning. Harry made sure that no one was awake, and then silently crept into his bed. He pretended to be asleep until it was time to get ready for his classes.

In Transfiguration, McGonagall noticed that Harry was not paying as much attention as he usually did. After class, she called him to her desk.

"Mr. Potter, may I have a word with you?"

Nervous and confused, Harry walked up to her desk, expecting the worst.

"You look exhausted, Harry, are you okay?"

"I'm-I'm fine." Harry didn't want anyone to know he had been crying all night.

"Are you sure?" Harry nodded and McGonagall told him he may leave.

The rest of the day Harry payed as much attention in his classes as possible, so none of the other teachers would think something was wrong.

That night in the common room Harry was so tired that Ron and Hermione noticed too.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked him. "You don't look well."

"I'm just tired," Harry replied. He didn't even want to admit to his friends that he had been crying.

"Are you sure you're fine, Harry?" Ron asked as Harry started to fall asleep.

"I'm fine," Harry said, but he immediately fell asleep.

Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks. Harry was usually more active than that, he almost never went to bed early. They knew something was wrong.

Ron asked,"Should we wake him up and tell him to get to bed?"

"No," Hermione said. "He looked exhausted, just let him sleep."

"Okay," Ron replied.

That night, Harry had another nightmare. They just keep getting worse, Harry thought. Then he realized he was in the common room. I must have fallen asleep, Harry thought. He started to cry again about his dream, not realizing that he was not alone in the common room.

Ron and Hermione had not gone up to bed yet.

"H-Harry? Are you okay?" Ron asked.

Harry immediately stopped crying. He hadn't noticed that his two best friends were still in the common room.

Hermione looked up from her homework and saw Harry crying. "Harry, what's wrong?"

Embarrassed and not wanting to look either of them in the eyes, Harry ran into the bathroom in the boys' dormitory.

"Harry! Wait!" Ron yelled after him. Harry shut the door, forgetting to lock it. He dropped on the floor and began to cry even harder now. It's already bad enough that I'm having nightmares, he thought, but it's even worse now because Ron and Hermione saw me crying.

Ron and Hermione went into the bathroom and saw Harry crying. It was heart breaking, they had never seen him cry before, let alone sobbing loudly.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "What's wrong?!"

Harry looked away from them. He was so embarrassed but also still very upset about his dream. He was speaking before he even thought about what he was saying.

"I've b-been having n-nightmares about m-my p-parents a-and n-no one u-understands what it's l-like t-to h-have no p-parents a-and I just c-can't take it anymore!"

"Harry, it's okay, calm down," Hermione said. "You still have us, we'll always be here for you."

"You can come over to my house anytime you want, Harry," Ron said. "Mum would be ecstatic for you to come over."

Ron and Hermione sat down close to Harry. Harry was still crying; he looked away from them.

"Harry, it's okay, we don't mind if you cry, so you don't need to turn away from us. I promise, Harry," Hermione told him.

She reached over to him and took Harry's glasses off his face. Ron and Hermione pulled Harry into a hug. They sat there hugging Harry for what seemed like a long time. Harry just kept crying, it seemed like he would never stop. Eventually Harry was only crying silently; the tears were silently falling down his face. Hermione pulled away a little so they could look Harry in the face.

"Harry," Hermione said, "you don't need to cry anymore. We're here for you."

Harry stopped crying. Ron handed him his glasses, and he put them on.

"Th-thanks," Harry said, wiping away the last of his tears. "Er-sorry for..."

"Harry, you don't need to be sorry for anything!" Hermione said. She yawned. "I'm tired."

"So am I," Ron said. "Come on, Harry, let's go to bed. Hermione and Ron walked out of the bathroom, but Harry hesitated.

"What's up, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Er-I can't go to bed. I might-er-have a nightmare," Harry said, his face burning.

"Harry, you have to sleep!" Hermione said. "You haven't been staying awake for the past nights, have you?"

"Er-maybe.."

Hermione whispered something to Ron. "I have an idea," Hermione said. "Follow us, Harry."

Harry followed Hermione back into the common room. Ron came back a minute later with a stack of pillows and blankets.

"We're going to sleep in our favorite squashy armchairs by the fire together," Hermione explained.

Embarrassed, Harry said quickly,"It's okay, I'll be fine, you don't have to..."

"We know we don't have to," Ron said. "But we want to help you."

They each took a pillow and a blanket and curled up in the chairs. It was warm and comfortable. Harry was grateful that his friends were doing this for him. Harry slept peacefully that night; he didn't have any nightmares.

McGonagall came in, thinking she had heard people talking. But all she saw was Harry, Ron, and Hermione curled up under blankets by the fire. She smiled. They really are the best of friends, she thought to herself, and walked out of the common room.