Thank you to the beta of this chapter, Faykan

Chapter Seven - The Waking Dream

Harry woke up with a start, remembering the dream he had been having.

He had been back in his cage, but not the cage he known for so long. This cage had been different. It was warm and welcoming here, so unlike the one he had known for so long. A woman with long red hair and sparkling green eyes was speaking to him, although he didn't know what she was saying. All he knew was that he wanted to be held by her; taken out of his cage.

Suddenly there was a loud noise and bright green light, the woman with red hair fell to the ground. Harry felt his head fill with pain as a scary man leaned over his cage. He remembered crying for the women to get up and save him but she didn't move.

Time passed. Harry was still in his cage, but now he was cold and wet and didn't know why. The door slowly opened and the dark man, the mysterious man he was living with came into the room. The man fell to his knees as he picked the woman up and held her in his arms. Time continued to pass as Harry watched the mysterious man slowly get up and leave, not even giving Harry a glance as the man closed the door behind him like Harry wasn't even there.

Harry looked around the room with tears forming in his eyes. He saw the mysterious man over at the table with all the colorful bottles, and that's when the tears spilled over. Why hadn't the man taken him away from that cage before; he just left him there cold, scared, and alone.

Severus turned around to see that Harry was awake and silently crying.

"Hey…" Severus spoke gently as he set the potions down and walked over to Harry. "What's got you so upset this morning?" Severus inquired as he pulled the blankets down and set Harry up on the pillows a bit since he slid down during the night.

Harry's cries became verbal as he was pulled up onto the pillows, not because of the mysterious man, but because all of the long forgotten memories that all came back to Harry like a flood.

"Alright, let's get you your potions, then we'll see what we can do," Severus said, not sure what had gotten Harry so upset this morning. Was he still upset over the bath from last night? Severus quickly got Harry's potions ready and gently put them through the IV. "Poppy came over last night when you were sleeping, and said we can start you on some food," Severus said with a small smile as he lifted Harry up and placed him in his new wheelchair.

Harry let out a small whimper as he was placed down in this new chair, lifting his hands and rubbing at his eyes.

"You cold?" Severus asked, not knowing how to make Harry feel better, how can you make someone feel better when you don't even know what got them upset in the first place.

Severus placed an oversized sweatshirt over Harry and pulled his arms through before pulling the tubing out and through the neck of the shirt.

Harry just let out a moan as he pushed Severus away twisting himself in his chair, trying to lift his leg over the soft foam that sat between his legs.

"I see that we are in a bad mood this morning," Severus said, "let's see if some food can help change your mood," He did up the straps even though he doubted Harry could get out of the chair even if he wanted to. "You want a blanket?" Severus questioned as he pulled one of the blankets off the bed and placed it over Harry's leg.

Harry just let out a small whimper, more tears falling down his cheeks as Severus pushed Harry over to the kitchen table. "How about you try one of these toys that Minerva got for you while I work on breakfast?" Severus asked, hooking up Harry's table to the chair.

Harry let out a moan as he pushed the table back at Severus.

"No." Severus said calmly, pushing the table back and locking it into place before opening up a container. "This is….Play Dough," Severus said, turning the container around to read it. He figured that Minerva must have gotten it in the muggle world.

Severus placed some of the brightly colored Play Dough in front of Harry before placing the boy's hands on the Play Dough and giving Harry's hands a small squeeze.

Harry let out a small moan, but squeezed the Play Dough himself as he watched the dough ooze out between his fingers.

"Is that fun?" Severus asked as he started to get Harry's breakfast ready, keeping one eye on Harry the whole time.

Severus couldn't help but be a bit disgusted at the short list of things that Harry was currently allowed to eat. Watered-down, lukewarm oatmeal with just the tinest bit of brown sugar for taste; however, he was pretty sure Harry would think this was the best thing he could ever eat. Somehow, that thought made the situation all the more depressing for the Potions Master.

"Alright, ready to eat?" Severus inquired, cleaning up the Play Dough that Harry managed to spread all over the table, sticking it into the corners which Severus couldn't get out.

"Alright, I'll worry about that later," Severus stated with a small sigh as he set the bowl of oatmeal down before sitting himself in front of Harry.

Harry gave a small frown as the Play Dough was taken away but that was quickly forgotten as his eyes landed on the food.

"Looks good?" Severus questioned, scooping up some of the oatmeal on a spoon and holding it out for Harry to take. Harry, unfortunately, only gave him a look as if thinking that Severus was going to poison him and turned his head to the side.

"Why am I not surprised you aren't going to make this easy" Severus responded sarcastically. "Harry… Harry" Severus called to get eh boy's attention, bringing the spoon to his own mouth and swallowed the oatmeal once Harry looked at him. Severus did his best to keep the grimace off his face as he felt the watery mush run down his throat. He must have done a good enough job because the next spoonful Harry gladly took.

Harry was surprised at how good the food tasted. All he remembered ever got was moldy bread and dirty water, but this was warm and sweet and it made his taste buds cry out for more.

For the next half hour Severus spoon fed Harry his meal with Harry gladly accepting it.