disclaimer: This is a story in the Harry Potter universe, using characters created by JKRowling. I lay no claims to them and am not making money through them.
summary: Harry wakes up in a strange place with only Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy for company. It seems that he has been sent into hiding with them and must learn to live with them, who were once his enemies.
rating: T.
Sharp light bled through Harry's eyelids, making him squint even though his eyes were shut. He never could figure out why Madam Pomfrey liked it so bright: surely dim is better for the ill, especially those with headaches as painful as Harry's.
He rolled carefully onto his side and lifted his now un-trapped right arm to brush away the crusts on his eyelashes. At least, he tried to - for some reason, his hand was still squashed beneath the pillow. With a mumble of determination, Harry made another attempt and managed to slide his arm on top of the pillow, then collapsed back onto his stomach in exhaustion.
"Ah, Mr Potter!"
Harry groaned and buried his face as best he could. Even on the brink of death, as it seemed it were, he would recognize that voice anywhere. Snape.
The distinct sound of rustling robes and clinking phials grew closer, and Harry imagined he could smell some vile potion, though really, he was doing his best to focus on the laundry scent clinging to the pillowcase.
"Well, it seems you're awake finally." Snape continued, perching on the edge of the bed if the sudden dip Harry felt was any indication. "I was worried that they had overdosed you with the draught. Too much antidote can be dangerous, I'm sure you recall. Come now, up with you!"
Arms maneuvered Harry into a sitting position and rested him against a stack of pillows. He was starting to get worried about his limp state and Snape's mild tone wasn't very reassuring. After all, if Snape was here, then they couldn't be at Hogwarts, and it sounded as though he had been poisoned. Something cold and metallic pressed against his lips, which opened against his will.
"Ah-ah, Mr Potter. Unless you wish to remain in this state for the foreseeable future, you should swallow the potion." Snape's arm snaked under Harry's shoulders again and held him up, presumably to take the potion more easily. "Yes, I know it tastes awful, but coffee beans and peppermint and morning glory don't make for the best combination. You'll just have to be satisfied with being fully awake and capable again."
Ah. Harry knew that combination. It was the antidote to the Draught of the Living Death. Ordinarily quite fatal on its own, the morning glory reacted with the nightshade lingering from the draught to negate any effects of the first potion and render the sleeper wide awake. He swallowed the bitter goop as best he could without gagging and sagged against Snape's arm.
Harry could trust Snape, he hoped. The man hadn't taken him to Voldemort to be killed while he was sleeping, or for that matter, killed Harry himself, so the situation mustn't be too awful.
"Very good. You'll begin to feel the effects soon, I'm sure." Snape was still speaking in that soft tone, so very different from the harsh bark he used in the dungeons at Hogwarts. Harry struggled against the cotton still packed around his mind and in his mouth. "Wher' m'I?" He managed after a few moments, unable to open his eyes for the light and sleep-crumbs.
Someone else approached the bed, slippers sliding across a hard floor and then a carpet. Whoever it was paused nearby, blissfully blocking the light from Harry's eyes when he turned in that direction. There was a moment of silence, and he could just feel the new person and Snape talking silently over his head, then a warm, damp flannel brushed against one eyelid, then another, brushing away the vestiges of sleep.
Harry was just able to crack his eyes open when the bed to his left dipped and the person shifted away from the light again. He whimpered softly, then groaned in embarrassment at such a weak noise, but it had the desired affect. Snape's hand - it had to be Snape - moved the flannel back over Harry's eyes and ordered, still in that strange mild tone, "Move back a bit, Draco. Mr Potter has a bit of a headache from the draught still, and the light isn't helping any. There now."
The flannel lifted and Harry tried opening his eyes again. The first thing he noticed, other than Draco Malfoy sitting right in front of him, was that he was in a fairly large bed in a strange, lightly furnished room, and the light attacking him was from the sun streaming through large, naked windows.
He tried speaking again and found that it was much easier, likely on account of the flannel adding moisture to his lips. "Where am I? Professor Snape?" He turned his head to the right, ignoring Malfoy as best he could. "What are you doing here? I-" He broke off with a light cough and waved his hand around descriptively. "What is this place? What did you mean about McGonagall?"
"All very good questions, I'm sure." Snape sounded almost amused. Harry started to wonder if maybe he really were dead. Why else would he be in a bright room, with Snape and Malfoy of all people taking care of him. He tried to look as unworried and curious as possible, and Snape continued. "As I'm sure you've deduced, even with your limited skills, you have been dosed with a sleeping potion. After your last attempt to find the Black Horcrux, Headmistress McGonagall deemed you too unstable to remain at liberty, so to speak. I do believe that you returned to the castle after that attempt with the prospect of several weeks in hospital. You are now in a safehouse with Draco and myself, until such a time as I deem you ready to return to Hogwarts." With a fluid movement, Snape rose from the bed and beckoned Draco to do the same. "You are still under the influence of the draught, Mr Potter. In an hour or so, I will return and we will further discuss this situation, when your faculties are completely your own."
Harry frowned at Snape, but couldn't think of anything to say. He simply nodded and pulled the blankets back over his lap, prepared to doze for a bit. Snape gestured Malfoy through the door, but paused before doing so himself. "I expect you to have given consideration to all that I have said when I return. Draco and I rely on the secrecy of this safehouse for our lives, and now that you are here, you do as well." Then, disturbingly, Snape smiled. "I'll be back in an hour," he reminded Harry, then left and shut the door.
Next: Chapter 1, in which we discover what exactly Snape and Malfoy are doing in a safehouse, how Harry got there, and why he was sent to live with Death Eaters of all people. Plus, Harry learns that over-use of Dreamless Sleep leads to complications with Draught of he Living Death. (No wonder he's so placable in the prologue - or perhaps he's still too muzzy-brained from the potion. Find out next time!)