Part 2

Part Thirty Six

Nightmare

The living room of Prince Manor was rather cozy, Remus Lupin noted almost immediately as he stepped out of the floo into the earth toned living room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the backyard of the manor. Sunlight from the evening sun streamed through the windows as Remus stepped away from the floo to avoid getting knocked down when Sirius came through. The animagus came after him before gazing around, observing the living room with narrowed gray eyes.

"Cozy," he said with a sniff. "Never thought Snape's living room would be like this."

Remus shook his head slightly at his friend's words. It was obvious that Sirius still didn't like Severus and the feeling was mutual although they were getting along. Remus also knew that the only reason they weren't hexing each other whenever they saw each other was because of Harry. Harry had caused the hatred and distrust between Sirius Black and Severus Snape to dissolve into nothing more than mutual dislike and for that Remus was glad.

A pop sounded and a small female house elf appeared before them. "Hello, Master Severus and Master Harry will be down in a minute. Make youself comfortable. Can Cai get yous anything to drink?" the house elf asked.

"No thank you," Remus said politely although Sirius asked for a cup of tea. Cai disappeared with a pop before reappearing with Sirius's tea and the two of them sat down as they waited for the rest of the Order members to show up.

Severus showed up first, walking down from the second floor of the manor. He was dressed in black, as usual, but he seemed more relaxed within his home than he was at school. "Glad you two could actually show up on time," he said snidely.

"We're early, Snape," Sirius retorted sneeringly.

"Amazing."

"Where's Harry?" Remus asked to forestall the blooming argument between the two rivals.

"Doing his summer homework," Severus replied.

"You have him doing homework during vacation?" Sirius exclaimed.

"Better to get it finished now, Black, so that he'll have the rest of the summer free," Severus sneered.

"I still think it's wrong."

"Yes but he is not your son. Besides, he doesn't seem to mind."

The floo flared to life at that moment and Tonks stepped through the green flames with Shacklebolt, Moody, the Weasley, Minerva, Pomona, Filius and Poppy just behind her. After them came Albus and the rest of the members of the Order of the Phoenix.

"You've got a lovely home, Severus," Tonks commented gazing around.

"It's rather cozy," Pomona added.

"Is there anyplace we can have this meeting without being overheard by Harry?" Albus asked.

"My library might be best. It's actually the largest room in the manor," Severus replied.

"That'll work."

Remus stood up before following Severus as he led the way up the steps to the second floor of the manor and Sirius followed him still sipping at the tea Cai had given him. Tonks and Molly brought up the rear of the group while Moody was eyeing the place with the distrust that always seemed apparent in his real and glass eyes.

The members of the Order entered the library and Remus had to admit that Severus was right; the library was certainly large, as much as twice the size the living room on the first floor. It was filled with bookshelves nearly overflowing with books, a desk, some chairs and a table lying in the center of the room. Many of the books on the shelves looked old and worn out while others had new hard covers.

"You sure have a lot of books, Professor," Bill Weasley commented.

"Most of them I inherited from my mother's side of the family," Severus said flatly. "Are we going to get this meeting underway or not?"

"Of course Severus," Albus said before he conjured up enough chairs for everyone to sit around the table and the order members sat down. Minerva sat beside Albus while Severus sat as far from Sirius as he could possibly get without leaving the table. No one seemed to have noticed this aside from Sirius who was more than happy to comply with the seating arrangement.

"As we all know," Albus began, "Voldemort has returned. It would appear he stole a book of dark rituals from the Ministry and used one particular ritual that required Harry's forced participation to return to the living. There is no telling as to how he is going to proceed now. I honestly was not expecting him to come back this soon."

"You were expecting this?" Bill echoed sounding shocked.

"Yes. Many Order members were expecting it actually, I know Severus was," Albus said with a glance at Severus who was silent and motionless. "Now we need to figure out how we are going to proceed."

"How can we? I mean, from what my mum told me about the last war, the only reason we won it was because of Harry's mum's sacrifice," Severus flinched at that, "and the information that Snape, er Professor Snape, provided us."

"And now that Snape's been declared a traitor by Voldemort, we don't have that kind of information," said Sirius.

Albus merely shrugged. "We will have to make do without that information," he said but there was a twinkle in his eyes that caused Remus to frown as he gazed at the headmaster. What are you keeping from us, Albus? He thought.

"So far it would seem Voldemort hasn't done anything since the attack on Surrey," Albus went on. "But we're going to have to be very careful. Voldemort has made it no secret that he wants Severus and Harry dead so he'll be going after them."

"He also wants to rule Britain, I am absolutely positive of that," Severus added calmly.

"Yes but with Harry still alive and people still opposing him, it'll make it harder for him," Albus said. He turned his twinkling blue gaze to Severus before adding, "Out of all of us here, you know Voldemort best. Is there anything he would do that we can be prepared for?"

"Voldemort hates muggles and muggleborns, that much is sure," Severus replied. "He often used to drag all of his followers into attacks on Muggle London, most of which were thwarted because I was able to get word to the Order in time. It is possible that he will start with this attacks until he is back to full strength."

"You don't think he is at full strength yet?"

"When I saw him in the Forbidden Forest after he was reborn, I could see that he wasn't as strong as he used to be. It's possible that he will need time or something else to regain his strength."

"What about potions?"

Severus curled his lip in a satisfied sneer. "I was the only competent Potions Master within his ranks. Now that I'm officially a traitor, I do not think he'll be able to find anyone competent enough to brew him a potion that'll help him regain his strength faster."

"Then he is basically at his weakest right now."

"I would say so yes."

"That's good news." Albus turned his gaze to the rest of the Order members. "Prince Manor is pretty well protected," he went on, "but I'm sure that Harry would much rather like to be able to leave the manor every now and then."

Severus's eyes narrowed at this.

"That is why we'll need to find a way to protect him so that he'll be able to visit his friends and leave the manor every now and then."

"I can protect him," Sirius said firmly.

"No one is doubting you could, cousin," Tonks said.

"I think what Albus means," Moody began speaking for the first time since the meeting began, "that we'll need to make sure someone is with him at all times."

"Or at least watching him so that they'll be close enough to help him if he needs it," Minerva added.

"Isn't it a bit too dangerous to let Harry go anywhere?" Pomona asked quietly.

Severus raised his eyebrows a tad sardonically. "And what would you do, Pomona, if you were in Harry's position and you had to spend your entire summer break at home not being able to leave."

"Severus has a point," Filius squeaked.

"How many Order members should be with him and watching him then?" asked Molly.

"I think two would be enough," Albus said. "One to help Harry when he needs it and the other to contact the rest of the Order before also helping him."

"For now, we don't have to worry about that," Severus said. "Although when it nears the beginning of the school year then we'll have to proceed more carefully."

"Yeah, especially if the bloody Malfoy gets wind of this," Sirius sneered. "I'm still amazed that you agreed to let a Death Eater be your son's godfather."

Severus curled his lip into a sneer while the rest of the Order glanced at the Potions Master in shock. "Way to go, Black. Why don't you just announce it to the entire world while you're at it?"

"You let Lucius Malfoy be your son's godfather," Molly exclaimed eyes wide with shock.

"He can't be trusted. He's a Death Eater, he is one of Voldemort's biggest supporters…" Arthur began.

"So I cannot be trusted because I was a Death Eater, I still bear the dark mark and I was once one of his biggest supporters?" Severus retorted. "I trust Lucius. He has done nothing to prove to me that I can no longer trust him."

"Just wait. All Death Eaters will stab you in the back eventually," Sirius sneered angrily. "Like you did to Lily."

"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed knowing full well that this was a low blow…even for Sirius.

Sure enough, Severus's eyes were flaring with obsidian rage. "Don't you dare bring Lily into this," he hissed angrily. "I did what I had to do to get into the Inner Circle so I can give more valuable information to the Order. I didn't know he would act on it. I didn't know he would go after Lily. If I had known then I would never have given it to him. I would never have done anything to harm Lily or her son." Severus broke off but Remus could see the pain glistening in his eyes as if he was remembering that day, more than ten years earlier, when he delivered the prophecy that cost Lily and James their lives.

"What about James?" Sirius sneered. "I bet you were ecstatic when you found out he was dead."

"I never liked him but that didn't mean I wanted him dead," Severus flared back angrily. "You don't know horrible I felt when I went to Godric's Hollow…when I saw them…it's something I'll never forget and it's a pain and regret that I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life. All because of the bloody prophecy!" He hissed out the last words with such venom in his voice that Remus couldn't help but cringe slightly.

"Sirius, your words were not called for," Albus said flatly before Sirius, who had opened his mouth, could reply. "None of us knew that the prophecy Severus gave to Voldemort was referring to Lily and James at the time. It could also have meant the Longbottoms."

"Voldemort did consider that," Severus said slowly regaining his temper and his face returned to their normal impassiveness. In spite of not being a spy anymore, Remus noticed that old habits died hard for the emotions that were glowing on his face had disappeared as fast as they had appeared. "That was why he sent Bellatrix, Rodolphus and the others to torture the Longbottoms."

"And you shouldn't have brought up Lily, Sirius," Remus added quietly. "Severus loved her and you know it. You had no right to open up old wounds."

Surprisingly enough, Sirius actually looked a tad ashamed. "I'm sorry, Snape," he said finally causing everyone to glance at him in surprise. Sirius Black was actually apologizing to Severus Snape? You really are maturing, my friend, Remus thought.

Severus glared at Sirius before saying flatly and reluctantly, "Very well, apology accepted."

"And this all started just 'cause Professor Snape let Lucius Malfoy be Harry's godfather," Bill said with a slight shake of his head.

"No one really likes that bit of news," Molly admitted.

"They don't," Remus agreed quietly.

"It's my decision," Severus said flatly. "And it's Harry's and he agreed that he wanted Lucius as his godfather."

"Well when Lucius stabs you in the back, don't come crying to me," Sirius sneered.

"I wouldn't go crying to you if my life depended on it," Severus retorted.

"Enough," Albus snapped quietly but with enough fire that Severus and Sirius immediately went silent although they didn't stop glowering at each other. Remus knew that it would be a while, if at all, before they actually stopped glowering at each other whenever they were in each other's presence except when Harry was with them.

"Let us continue this meeting," Albus said after casting a charm to check the time. "It's getting rather late. Next time, I'll make sure to schedule the meeting a bit earlier in the day."

The rest of the Order members agreed and the tension eased slightly as the meeting went on.

Harry found himself growing bored with reading his Transfigurations book to work on the essay that McGonagall had assigned for the summer homework. He rubbed his eyes before glancing at the clock that Snape had bought for him the summer before and he noticed that it was already nine thirty at night. The sun was down and stars glittered in the night sky above while rays of moonlight streamed between the curtains covering the window. The window was open so a gentle summer breeze pushed at the curtains and cooled down the room slightly.

Hedwig was sitting on her perch watching Harry with golden eyes and Harry smiled before stretching out a hand and gently stroking the snowy owl's soft feathers. "Are you getting tired too, girl?" he asked.

Hedwig chirped once in response before she tucked her face beneath her wing and, within moments, she was fast asleep. Harry smiled faintly at her before he put his Transfigurations textbook away and lied down on his bed with his head rested on his pillow. He wanted to say goodnight to his father but he knew his father was still in the meeting with his godfather and the headmaster so he decided he would just try to sleep.

Only he forgot the meditation techniques that his father had taught him and he closed his eyes before falling asleep immediately.

Although it wasn't a dreamless sleep.

Harry was back as if he had never left.

The cupboard was a dark and lonely place and Harry felt himself wondering why in the world he was dreaming of this when it's been more than a year and a half since he left this place. However, he was there and he could feel the hunger pains he used to have to suffer.

The scene changed again and this time Harry found himself reliving the abuse he suffered at the hands of his relatives; the constant bullying by his cousin, the punches and belts to his back that he received from his uncle, the slaps and the near miss with the frying pan from his aunt.

The scene changed again and Harry found himself crying rapidly as a red haired woman gazed at him with love in her eyes. "Be brave, Harry," she whispered.

And then there was the green Killing Curse that slammed into his mum as she let out a scream and then she was gone.

And then the scene changed and Harry found himself once again standing in the forest, watching the rebirth of Voldemort.

Only this time it wasn't as it had happened in reality.

This time, Harry was bound helpless to a tree while his friends were being used as examples. Voldemort snarled at him. "This is all your fault, Snape," he hissed. "Crucio!"

Hermione, Ron and Draco's screams of pain were like knives twisting in Harry's gut and it only grew worse when Voldemort turned the wand on another three. Remus, Sirius and Harry's father.

"This is all your fault," he hissed again before he barked out, "Avada Kedavra!" And the Killing Curse slammed into Remus, Sirius and Snape, killing them.

"No!" Harry screamed struggling to rid himself of the nightmare that plagued his mind.

"This is all your fault," Voldemort continued to hiss and his words repeated themselves in Harry's mind. "You are the reason they will die! You are at fault!"

"No!" Harry screamed again and this time he managed to push the dream away and it shattered into a million fragments.

Severus was on his feet and halfway to the door when he heard a shrill scream emerge from his son's bedroom and he wasn't surprised to find Black also rushing toward the door with his wand in his hand. Severus barely acknowledged Black's presence as the two of them rushed to Harry's room and Severus slipped into it with Black just behind him.

Harry was tossing and turning in his bed, tears streaming from his closed eyes and his body was tense with fear. Severus proceeded carefully while Black tucked his wand away and followed Severus's lead. The Potions Master stretched out a hand as he reached Harry's bedside. "Harry?" he whispered quietly.

Harry whimpered as he continued to toss and turn and even Hedwig was chirping in concern most likely having been woken up by Harry's screaming.

"Harry, wake up," Severus called again gently touching his son's cheek and watching as Harry leaned into the touch but did not wake up.

"What's the matter with him?" Black asked worried.

"He's stuck in his nightmare," Severus replied shaking Harry's shoulders again. The door opened again and Albus poked his head into the room.

"Is everything all right?" he asked quietly.

"Harry won't wake up," Severus replied before he gazed at his son and gently shook his son again. "Harry, wake up!"

Harry gasped before his eyes opened and they fixed on Severus. "Dad," he cried before he threw his arms around Severus and started to cry rapidly. Severus put his arm around his son before gently rubbing circles into his back to soothe him although he was unsure of what was causing the sudden crying fit.

After several long minutes of nonstop crying, Harry finally managed to get his breath under control before he lifted red, puffy eyes to gaze to Severus. "I'm sorry," he whispered trembling and hiccupping.

"You don't have to be," Severus murmured in reply before he glanced up. "Cai!"

Cai popped into the room. "Master Severus call Cai?" she asked bowing slightly.

"Yes. Will you please fetch a calming draught from my stores?"

"Right away, Master Severus." Cai popped away before she reappeared with the potion vial that she handed to Severus. Severus uncorked it before handing it to the still trembling and hiccupping Harry and, when it was obvious Harry was trembling too much to hold the vial, gently helped Harry to drink it.

Handing the vial back to Cai and thanking her, Severus watched as the calming draught took effect and Harry visibly relaxed before gazing at Severus with tears still glistening in his emerald eyes.

"What happened?" Black asked conjuring up a chair and sitting down next to the bed.

"A…A nightmare," Harry stammered out.

"What was it about?" Severus asked.

Harry swallowed tears falling from his eyes and Severus stretched out a hand to gently wipe them away. "I…I s…saw the c…cupboard again and I…and I was re…reliving what happened with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia and then I saw my mum. She…She was telling me to be brave and then…and then the Killing Curse k…killed her. A…After that, I saw V…Voldemort t…torturing H…Hermione, Ron and Draco and he was blaming me. And then he…then he killed you and Sirius and Remus." Harry started crying again and Severus held his son as the boy cried his eyes out.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's all right Harry."

"It…It's just. It really scared me 'cause it felt…it felt so real and I…and I was afraid that I…that I'd lose you."

Severus smiled faintly. "I'm not going anywhere, son," he said quietly. "And your godfather, well, he's too much of a stubborn mangy mutt to go anywhere."

"I can hear you, Snape," Black said flatly stretching out a hand to take Harry's to reassure the boy that he was there.

"Yes, that is why I said it."

Harry sniffed before gazing at Severus. "I'm just…afraid. You two and Remus will be all right, won't you?"

"We'll be fine, Harry," Severus said soothingly. "We can take care of ourselves."

Harry nodded slowly before he leaned against Severus whose was self-consciously carding his hand through his son's dark hair. "Why don't you lie down now, Harry?" he suggested softly.

Harry nodded before lying down and Severus placed a soothing hand on Harry's cheek before removing it as Black also let go of Harry's hand. "Now listen to my voice, Harry. Breath slowly, in…out," he murmured quietly and Harry slowly began breathing in and out steadily.

"Relax," Severus whispered. "Nothing is going to happen. Don't think about anything. Just relax. Picture something in your mind, someplace or something that gives you peace."

Harry did as he was told and the Potions Professor watched as his son slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Good night, my son," Severus murmured to his son's sleeping body.

Sirius watched the interaction between Snape and Harry before he glanced at Snape as the Potions Professor sighed and sat up. "This is the first time he's had a nightmare this bad in several months," he said quietly to avoid waking up Harry. "I'd better speak to Albus about this."

"Do you think that this may have something to do with Voldemort?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"I think so. It's obvious that the majority of the nightmare had to deal with Voldemort." Snape got up before leaving Harry's room and Sirius walked after him before the two of them entered the library. Snape immediately explained everything that had happened to Albus who had retreated to the library.

"You don't think Voldemort might be…using legilimancy on Harry, do you?" Albus asked quietly.

"I think it is possible," Snape replied.

"If that is so then are you going to teach him Occlumency?"

"I've started but I may have to go more in depth sooner than I had planned but yes I will."

Albus nodded. "Will it help him?"

"Yes I believe it will."

"Then it might be for the best."

"Will it be hard for Harry to learn this?" asked Sirius.

"It depends entirely on him but I won't be too hard with him."

"You'd better not," Sirius declared firmly.

"He is my son, Black," Severus said flatly. "I would not harm him in anyway."

"I suggest that we end the meeting for now. It's late and I have my children to check on," said Molly before Sirius could reply and Albus nodded in agreement.

"I'll let you know when we'll meet again, Severus," he said standing up and Snape nodded once in reply before following the Order members as they walked out of the library and back into the living room. Sirius was the last one to leave for he had wanted to check on his godson and now he was heading back to 12 Grimmauld's Place.

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: and that was the first chapter of part 2

Darth: that's cool

Blaze: yup

Anakin: what's going to happen in the next chapter?

Severus: what in the world are you doing here?

Anakin: I'm hiding from Palpypie. What are you doing here?

Severus: hiding from Voldy again

Lucius: (ducks into computer room, closes door and locks it with quick spell) Voldy's looking for us again

Severus: ugh (ducks into apartment-closet)

Lucius: (follows Severus and shuts door behind him)

Voldy: have you seen Severus or Lucius?

Anakin: nope

Blaze: haven't seen them

Voldy: oh (walks away)

Blaze: (chuckles) by the way, in the next chapter, Lucius's status will become more dangerous as Voldemort decides on a place for his headquarters, Draco, Ron and Hermione will visit Harry and a brief trip to the sea so please review and I'll post part thirty-seven as soon as I possibly can but I doubt it'll be anytime soo