While writing (and rewriting, and rewriting some more) chapter 5 of New Understanding, I came across yet another half-abandoned story I started writing ages ago. Since I can never seem to manage to write for longer than twenty minutes at a time, I decided to post these drabble-like chapters in the hopes of entertaining the few people who see this site between chapters of New Understanding. The lyrics quoted are from a song found in Xenosaga v.1 for the PS2 (an awesome game, I recommend it). Enjoy.

/italics/ = dream

Maybe Tomorrow

"The moon is gone, and the night is still so dark

I'm a little bit afraid of tomorrow

For this day was so long and hard for me

And I've lost some of the things so far I had trusted

Now I will close my eyes and sleep a while

Bless my dreams with gentle darkness

Until I can find my strength to wait for the light.

Maybe tomorrow."

[[ Part 1 ]]

Twenty-one years after the downfall of Voldemort, Harry Potter experienced a phenomenon he had never before encountered. Insomnia. Or at least, that was what he assumed it was, at first.

"It's not insomnia," Hermione had corrected him matter-of-factly during the last dinner he'd had with her and Ron. "You say that you're falling asleep alright, and you're obviously sleeping through until morning. Have you ever considered that you have a sleeping disorder like sleep apnea, or perhaps somnambulism?"

"He doesn't snore, though." Ginny had replied, sipping slowly from her wine glass. "And he doesn't sleep-walk."

"Maybe you should go to St Mungo's, Harry. For a check-up, just in case."

He had promised to go, first thing the next morning. After dinner, he and Ginny had gone home to Godric's Hollow, and settled in for sleep.

His eyes had been closed for perhaps five minutes when the darkness behind his eyelids gave way to reveal the playground that Harry had grown up near, where his mother and Snape had played as children. The neighborhood seemed to be deserted, and the only sound that he could hear was the beating of his heart. After what felt like hours of sitting on a swing, waiting, Harry woke with a startled gasp.

"Harry?" Ginny asked, her small hands soothing on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes." Harry lied, sitting up. "Just need to use the loo."

Satisfied, Ginny rolled back over, leaving Harry to get up and walk to the water closet. He closed the door and turned on the light, staring at himself in the mirror.

He barely recognized his own face. Dark bags lined his eyes, which were blood-shot with exhaustion. He was incredibly pale, chin darkened with stubble. Desperate for rest, he opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the bottle of Dreamless Sleep Draught. Without a second thought, he unstoppered the bottle and drank down the contents. The taste was bittersweet, like dark chocolate, with an aftertaste that seemed to recall a Quidditch locker room. Wiping his mouth with the back of his shirtsleeve, Harry turned off the light and tip-toed downstairs to the living room.

The sofa was a large, comfortable piece of furniture that Harry had picked out just before marrying Ginny. It had stood watch as each of their three children had been born, and – as he sat down – he plucked one of Albus' miniature dragons from between the cushions. It was hard to believe that his children were all at Hogwarts already.

Sighing softly to himself, wondering where the time had gone, Harry laid down on the couch and closed his eyes.

[[ Part 2 ]]

/"Who are you?"

Harry started at the unexpected question, and opened his eyes to see a young boy, about nine years old, peering down at him from beneath a curtain of limp, dirty black hair.

"I'm Harry." He stated, pushing up on his elbows so that he could take in his surroundings.

He was laying on the ground in the middle of the same park. Just over his shoulder, he could see the swings he had been sitting on in his last dream. In front of him, the young boy sat down on the ground, pulling his knees up to his skinny chest.

"Do you come here a lot, Harry?" the boy asked. "Are you looking for someone?"

Harry shook his head.

"Oh." The boy bit his lip, then looked down at his hands. "Do you know... if there's a holiday going on?"

"A what?" Harry asked, surprised.

"It's just... there's no one here. Lily should be here, but she's not. And I thought... maybe she's celebrating a muggle holiday with her parents and forgot to tell me." the boy replied.

"Lily? Lily Evans?"

The boy nodded. "She promised whenever I wanted to meet her, all I had to do was wait here."

"You're Severus then. Severus Snape." Harry was sure of it, even before the boy nodded. "How long have you been waiting here?"

"I dunno. Feels like days, but Da says I exaggerate too much. It's probably only been a few hours."

Harry felt his heart break for the child-like Snape. "Do you want me to wait here with you?"

Snape lifted his head to glare halfheartedly at the adult wizard before him. "I don't need your pity, Harry. Go pity someone else!"

Before Harry could try to calm the child down, the younger Snape stood up and dashed off towards the edge of the deserted park./

To Be Continued...