Severus knew when he saw Harry after the tri wizard tournament that he was a shadow of who he'd once been. Cedric's death had hurt Harry, as well as Ronald's foolish comment about putting his name in the goblet of fire.

As Severus thought on this, he sat at the desk in his potions classroom grading a stack of essays. he thought weren't even worth his time. It was as if they had been written by toddlers, he thought, as he marked another P on another poorly written essay. Severus heard a knock on the door he called "enter" in his usual snide tone. as he looked up, he saw the bane of his existence step past the thresh hold and into the room. "what do you want?"he snapped.

as Harry stood there, he wondered what had went through his head to even contemplate coming to this man, who hated his guts for emotional reassurance, but somehow he knew he wouldn't be shunned. " what did I do wrong?" asked Harry "what do you mean?" asked Severus as he stood, and banished the desks in the classroom to make room for the recently conjured couch. He

than sat down and motioned Harry to sit down next to him. " I mean why does headmaster hate me that's your job" Severus smirked at the last comment " why do you think he hates you?" asked Severus "because all he cared about was the dark lord. as soon as he pulled me from the maze, he drug me up to his office BY THE ARM!" Severus could tell harry was indignant because of headmaster's way of handling him, "and started grilling me for information about the dark lord and peter Pettigrew

he didn't even care about Cedric's body I had to put wards around Cedric's body so no one could mess with him"

as he sat there listening to the young Gryiffendor's tale, he felt a mounting rage towards the headmaster for ignoring the boys emotional state after such a tragedy. as Harry got to the part of how peter Pettigrew was to summon the dark lord, tears started streaming down his face. "why is it me" he sobbed as his hands came up to clutch at his hair, he felt his professor's hands come to rest upon his.

" he was wrong to leave you like this Harry" said Severus. Harry's head snapped up in shock at the use of his first name spoken from the potions professors lips. Severus saw the shock on his face and smiled. as Harry sat there, he felt better talking to Severus about how he felt. as Severus thought about all he'd heard from Harry, he felt protective toward the young student.

suddenly, Harry felt the urge to snuggle up to the potion master. he didn't let his mind linger on that thought for long. and threw caution to the wind, as Severus looked at the boy out of the corner of his eye, he saw him move. quicker than lighting he swung his legs up on the couch and caught the boy as he did he felt Harry wrap his arms around his neck "you can let go you know" and that he did, he sobbed at he wretched life he'd been given. as Severus heard the gut wrenching sobs that were torn from the boy, he wrapped one arm around him and soothingly ran his fingers through his hair with the other.

Harry felt content in the man's arms. as he thought about the recent betrayal by his best mate , he knew Ron could never be trusted and started shaking at the mere thought of letting Ron close. Severus looked down at Harry when he felt him start shaking. "whats wrong" he asked " because of Ron's foolish declaration I could never trust him again "sobbed Harry "ssh Harry " said Severus as he pulled Harry against his chest. " thank you for caring '' said harry as his shaking subsided "your welcome" said Severus and as he lay there, snuggled up against the most hated professor's chest, he knew he could count on him in times of emotional distress.

as Harry lay there, Severus knew he could no longer treat the boy as if he were scum on the bottom of his jet black boots. he too felt content holding the boy. he soon came to realize that he cared for him. he also noticed Harry had fallen asleep against him " goodnight harry" he said in a barely audible tone as not to awaken him, and prepared to wait out the long night. somewhere in harry's mind, he knew he was accepted and loved by the man holding him.