Harry Potter woke up to the sound of a soothing baritone voice, mixed with a sweet, tinkling voice. He smiled softly to himself, instantly recognising the deeper voice as his head-of-house. He tried to open his eyes, but they felt heavy and instead, he just made a small grunt.

Suddenly, the voices ceased talking, and he heard footsteps approach.

"Harry? Are you awake my little snake? Please say yes," he could hear the worry in Severus' voice.

It took the young boy three tries, but eventually, he managed to croak out a pitiful whimper. He tried to open his eyes but found they burnt when the light edged its way in. Quickly, as tears gathered, he squeezed his eyes closed again with a pained cry.

*Tsk* Harry heard a woman's voice, "oh, Harry dear, you are finally awake! Are you in any pain? Where does it hurt?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but after a week without use, all that came out was a scratchy cough. Seeing the predicament, the potion master walked conjured a glass, straw and cast aguamenti. Carefully he stepped towards Harry and told him to take a sip.

After Severus guided the boy the process, he stepped back again to make room for the matron.

"Do you think you could try that again now, Harry?" Poppy asked the boy gently.

The raven-haired boy swallowed a few times before trying to speak again. Eventually, he managed a small, almost whispered, "Yes, miss... whoever you are. I can't open my eyes, everything is too bright."

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? I am Poppy Pomfrey, the school healer. Now, you said your eyes hurt because it's too bright," she hummed for a moment before continuing, "it is strange for you to say that because there is very little light in the room at the moment. However, I do have an inkling on what the dilemma may be. Severus dear, would you give me and Harry some space? Perhaps you could go and alert Draco that Harry has awoken."

"Of course Poppy, whatever you think is best," Severus replied before Harry heard his footsteps retreat and the click of a door being closed.

"Now Harry, I believe you may find it easier to open your eyes."

Although he was nervous, he slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't see through the light yet, but he eventually had them fully opened once more. Off to the side, he could see the flicker of candle-light but it was what was straight in front of him that gave him a shock. In the place he had imagined the woman to be by the sound of her voice, all he could see was a gentle swirl of bright, changing colours.

Harry let out a gasped shock when the lights moved towards him and he started to see an elderly looking lady with a kind smile on her face.

"Wh-what's happening? What are all those colours around you?"

"Ah, so it is as I had suspected. Young man, you have been granted a special gift, even if it came from a tragic event. You have been given the sight to see people's nature and intentions. You may be able to see or sense other things as well but for now, we will focus on training you to control this new power."

"Really? That's incredible! But how am I supposed to know what the colours mean? I mean, at the moment I can see at least seven distinct different colours. All calmly intertwined around you."

"I think I have a book in my office that may help you. However, first I will need to tell Severus and Draco of this new development, so they don't overload you. I will head them off before they get here."

Poppy walked out of the room, leaving Harry by himself to digest what he had just learned. She waited in the corridor and not a minute later Severus and an excited Draco arrived. She filled them in and advised them to take turns talking with Harry for the time being.

After Poppy left to retrieve the book she had promised Harry, the potion master and his godson shared a look.

"Dragon, I believe you should go and see our little snake. I was there when he woke up, but he hasn't seen or heard you yet."

"But Godfather! I don't think I am ready yet... Poppy said he said he could see how we felt. What if he sees something in me and he doesn't like me anymore," the platinum-haired boy started to ramble.

"Enough! You are being childish and selfish. Your best friend is in there, he has just woken up from a week-long coma and discovered that his life has been changed for the foreseeable future! He needs you! Get in there!"

Wide-eyed, the young boy looked at his godfather and meekly responded, "yes sir."

As Draco slowly pushed the door open to Harry's makeshift hospital room, he heard his friend lightly humming to himself and gave a small smile.

"Hey Ry, good to see you with your eyes open."

Harry giggled as he heard his friends' words and looked towards the doorway. There he saw a mass of bright, rapidly writhing colours standing there. As Draco moved closer, Harry was able to distinguish the different colours and shades. Most prominent was turquoise, it seemed to envelop the boy. He could see a cobalt blue streak that seemed to dance from the heart of the blonde to around his head, and threading through that was a sky blue streak that appeared to skip. There was an iridescent green surrounding Dracos' mouth that looked as though it was buzzing, and a jade green that seemed to strike around his body like lightning. The core of his heart was a beautiful mix of baby pink and cream that looked like a strawberries-and-cream chupa chup. Finally, through all of these colours, there were splashes of a primrose pink.

Noticing that his friend hadn't responded Draco looked up to see Harry staring at him, open-mouthed. Blushing the boy snarked out, "Have I got something on my face?"

"N-no," Harry croaked before clearing his throat, "no. You look breathtaking. Those colours surrounding you are simply beautiful. I am sorry for staring, I was trying to pinpoint each colour so that I can study it later. Madam Pomfrey said she might have a book that will help me understand the colours."

Draco sat down on the edge of Harry's bed, and took his hand, "Ry, I am so glad that you are okay! I was so worried! I thought you were dead when I saw you lying on the ground in potions class!"

"So am I Dray. It will be weird, with this new ability but I know that with you, your dad and Sev there to support me, everything will be alright," Harry explained with tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.

Before Draco could reply there was light *tap* on the door and the blond-haired boy lept from the bed before it could be opened. He turned back towards Harry before opening the door and gave a small wave and bright smile. Less than a minute later, the door was being opened again, and Harry expected it may be Madam Pomfrey back. However, it wasn't her that walked through the door but a much less colourful aura that entered this time.

Harry sucked in a deep breath and whispered out a quiet, "Sev? Sev is that you?"

A deep baritone replied, "Yes, little snake it is. How did you know? I thought the Aura's were too overpowering for you right now."

Harry let out a giggle and shook his head, "Only you, Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin, would have a predominantly black aura with a few bright swirls of other colours. You are the only person I can imagine having this much black in their aura," he finished as he laughed even harder.

"My aura is mostly black? I wonder what that means... what other colours do you see?" Severus questioned curiously.

"Around your head, there is a deep red - a claret colour which appears to almost sparkle in its movements. I can see a soft swirl of jade green which flows through the claret sparkles and a few flame-like sparks of what appears to be a primrose pink. Around your body, there are hints of a russet brown. There is a cream colour that almost sits on your shoulders like a cape. Within the black, there are streaks of navy blue and a pink blob sitting right where I imagine your heart is."

"That was... very descriptive. How do you know so many colours? How can you tell them apart?"

"When I lived at the Dur-Dursleys, art was my escape. I could create anything and imagine I belonged. It made me feel so free - until they would inevitably find it and destroy it. But I loved it, so I never stopped trying, and I ended up excelling in art class during primary scho-"

*Knock knock*

The door was opened ajar, and both Harry and Severus heard Poppy say, "I am so sorry dear but I need to see my patient. I found the book and have to give Harry his next dose of potions."'

"Okay Poppy, I will be right out," Severus smoothly responded before Harry had a chance. He then walked over to the edge of Harry's bed before he continued much softer, "I wish we had more time for you to tell me about your art, but perhaps in your alone time, you could draw or paint me something instead. Only if you want to though. Now I will let Poppy come in and let you get some more rest. However, you are staying in my quarters right now so if you need anything please call out to Stippy and she will come and get me."

"Thank you, Sev, for everything."

Severus leaned down, ran a hand through Harry's hair, pushed it back and kissed him on the forehead, "we will get through this together, little snake," he said before retreating out the door.

WC: 1699