Sorry for the wait. For some reason it wouldn't let me upload the new chappy. I really like this one! I hope that you do as well.
Disclaimer: None of the HP characters or anything HP belong to moi, they are Rowlings.
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Harry blinked, "A hallucination? …but it was so real…"
Snape took a breath, "Futurus Verisimilis is a very tricky potion, and sometimes…it can cause extreme hallucinations. You can often find yourself in a situation that doesn't even exist."
Harry ran his left hand, the one not bandaged, through his hair, "Fan-bloody-tastic."
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Harry sighed, trying to ignore the consistent throbbing in his right hand.
Without his consent, Harry's eyes fluttered closed; the wariness of off-and-on sleeping patterns finally beating his strong reserve.
Green….everything was green, reflecting the light coming from a pedestal in the middle of a lake; the lake was in a cave, the rough walls casting shadows.
Harry found himself sitting down in front of the pedestal, a weight in his lap.
He looked down into the bright blue eyes, reflecting green, of a small boy with auburn hair.
The little boy was crying.
Harry didn't know what to do.
He patted the little boy's back, trying to sooth him.
"Sssh. Sshhhh. It's alright."
The boy's cries didn't let up, he sobbed and sniffed and clung to Harry's robes.
Wishing that he could do something more, Harry noticed a cup in his hands.
Maybe some drink will make the boy stop crying.
He lifted the auburn-haired child into his arms and propped him up, "Here, drink this. Ssshh. It's alright." He said soothingly.
The child looked trustingly at Harry and placed his little hands on both sides of the cup, drinking as Harry had instructed.
But after drinking the whole contents, the child seemed to get worse, he kicked and screamed and cried, beating his little fists on Harry's chest.
He was wailing as if in great pain.
Harry looked around, trying to find something to help the child.
There was more drink in the cup now.
Desperate to do something, Harry urged the cup to the boy's lips, he drank.
The child flung the cup into the water, disturbing the inhabitants.
The water started the churn.
Harry was forced to look away from the water when the child pulled Harry's face towards him and said in a voice not befitting a five-year old, "KILL ME!"
Harry's eyes widened, for it was not the face of a child he was looking at, but of a wrinkled, bespectacled, white-bearded face.
Dumbledore.
Harry pushed himself away from Dumbledore, who was still crying and screaming for Harry to kill him.
His breath became erratic and short, his head became like a heavy weight on his shoulders.
Still backing away from Dumbledore, Harry's hand broke through water, ice-cold water.
Losing his balance, Harry fell back into the dark lake.
Faces leered at him, muscle floating where they had been cut, eyes hallow and greatly clouded and staring at him; with clothes and hair whipping all about.
Harry tried to close his eyes, but he could not; he had no control.
The breath was leaving him, and he couldn't swim back to the surface.
The bodies of the Inferi closed in around him, waiting for the life to leave him.
But then a bright light of crimson and gold erupted from in front of Harry.
The Inferi scattered, screeching like mer-folk, Harry tried to clamp his hands on his ears, but remained immobilized; there was not enough strength in him to move.
The water was gone, and Harry was left standing on a pedestal in the air, his hair and clothes being blown about by the mighty phoenix in front of him.
Fire encircled them both, lighting the cave and making it red instead of green.
It was Fawkes.
Tears blurred his vision as Harry tried to reach out to the bird, to stroke his feathers and be comforted, but Fawkes flew away from his touch, back into the air.
Harry woke up gasping, sobbing and drying his tears on the shoulder of the person holding him.
Not caring who it was, Harry hugged them tighter, burying his face in the warmth and comfort of their embrace.
He only vaguely noticed that they smelled of peppermint and something burnt.
It was a homely smell, and made Harry relax, calming down to where his sobbing became sniffing.
Harry started to drift as a soothing hand rubbed his back, comforting him to where he no longer sniffed, the image of his nightmare faded.
As the darkness of sleep started to overtake him, Harry only barely noticed a faint and clear voice lightly singing a haunting tune.
And Odo the hero, they bore him back home
To the place he had known as a lad.
They laid him to rest with his hat inside out,
And his wand snapped in two, which was sad.
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Harry sighed in contentment, light was nagging at his eyelids to open, but he didn't consent.
He was much too comfortable.
Sighing again, Harry buried his face in the soft warmth beside him, wanting to sleep all day.
A deep voice chuckled, "I don't believe he wants to get up this morning."
Another voice joined the chuckling; it was deep as well, but more light and clear, less rumbling than the first.
The soft warmth beside him moved away from Harry, who groaned in protest.
"Come Harry, you must have breakfast sometime. It's already noon."
Harry rubbed at his eyes, yawning loudly.
"Watif I don' wan't get up." Harry slurred, eyes still contentedly closed and body relaxing back into the mattress.
The bed sagged with the weight of another body, which was jumping up and down, making the bed bounce and waking Harry further.
He groaned again and grabbed a pillow to put over his head, but the bouncing body snatched it and whacked him in the face with a mocking laugh.
"You blighter!" Harry yelled, "Give me my pillow back!"
He threw off the covers and quickly snatched his glasses up off the table, putting them securely on his face and then catapulting about the room after Draco.
Draco was pretty fast, but Harry was faster.
They ran around the room, like children in adult bodies.
It made Severus chuckle from the doorway.
The two boys/men catapulted through the doorway to the bathroom, skidding slightly on the marble floor, then gaining friction and stumbling into Draco's room where they proceeded to the dining room.
Severus stayed in the hallway where it was safe.
Draco and Harry dashed back and forth around the chairs in the dining room until Harry dived under the table and tripped Draco to the floor where they began a tug-of war with the pillow.
"Give up you heathen!" Harry yelled dramatically, fighting the grin that was trying to form.
"Never, blaggard!" Draco yelled just as dramatically, the grin plastered on his face.
"Boys, boys!" Severus scolded from the kitchen, "Don't upset my china."
"Yes, mum." They both chorused.
Severus sighed and went back to the kitchen to make breakfast, putting a protective spell on his mothers' china cabinet to put his heart at ease.
"Ow!" Harry yelled, letting go of the pillow and cradling his bandaged, right hand.
Draco let go of the pillow, "You alright there, brother?" He asked worriedly.
Harry nodded, "I'm fine." He rubbed his sore knuckles, "I shouldn't use my hand much though."
Smelling bacon and sausage, both of them grinned and got up; Harry aided by Draco.
Severus handed them each their plate and they trekked back to the dining room.
"So, I hope nothing was broken in your tussle." Severus started, giving Draco a stern look.
Draco shrugged as if to say, 'it wasn't my fault!'
"No, d- um…Severus, it was just my hand." Harry said uncomfortably, not able to call Severus 'dad' yet, "It's not all the way healed yet and it just bothered me."
Turning from his professor's gaze, Harry picked up his fork and stabbed at his eggs, the images of the child-Dumbledore screaming for him to kill him flooding back.
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Yes, this one was pretty short, but I promise you a really long one next time!
Which, unfortunately, won't be until this weekend I think, because I have to write a story for my English class. Isn't that awesome? Makes me happah! XD