Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.
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"Class, Headmaster Dumbledore has asked me to teach you about something that is not supposed to be taught until your sixth year." Lupin stood in front of his class, Slytherins and Ravenclaws, looking at the students as he spoke. "He thinks that it would be wise for you all to know about the Unforgivable Curses. Three curses in particular are known as Unforgivable because using them on another human being can result in a life term in Azkaban. These three curses were used extensively by Voldemort's followers during his rise to power in the 1970s. Can anyone tell me about any of the curses?" A Ravenclaw raised his hand.
"The Imperius Curse," he said. "It causes the victim to be completely under the command of the caster, who can make them do anything they wish."
"Five points to Ravenclaw," Lupin said. "Anyone else?"
"The Killing Curse," said another Ravenclaw. "It causes instant death in a flash of green light. Harry Potter is the only person to ever survive it." Half the Slytherins rolled their eyes and yawned at this.
"Five more points to Ravenclaw. And the last of the three?" Draco slowly raised his hand, silently willing his voice to be steady as he spoke.
"The Cruciatus Curse," he said, quietly. "It causes the victim to suffer an...intolerable amount of pain¼ Some victims of prolonged use of the curse have been driven insane."
"Five points to Slytherin. Now, obviously I cannot demonstrate these curses for you on humans. However; I have three spiders in a jar on my desk. I will show you the effects of each curse on these spiders, so that you know exactly what happens."
Lupin took out one spider and placed it on his desk. He proceeded to demonstrate the Imperius Curse by pointing his wand and saying 'Imperio.' The spider began to scurry around the desk, crawling on top of things and jumping off.
"The Imperius Curse can be fought, but it takes a lot of strength of character. I will teach you how to fight it, but it has to come from within yourselves."
Lupin then made the second spider a little larger and demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse. The whole time the spider wriggled in pain, Draco stared at his desk, forcing himself to think of things other than the memories of when that curse had been used on him. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate on Harry, trying to read his mind again. He was probably asleep, but one could never tell.
-Draco? Draco, help me!
Draco inhaled sharply, hearing his brother's voice in his head. The boy sounded scared and in pain. Draco suddenly jumped up from his seat and ran up to Lupin.
"Professor, something's wrong with Harry," Draco whispered, so that nobody else would hear. "I can read his mind, and I just heard him yelling for me to help him. He sounded really scared, and like he was in pain." Lupin took note of the panicked look in Draco's eyes.
"Where is he?" he asked.
"He's downstairs. Dad told me to take him down earlier, so he could get some sleep. But I gave him the Dreamless Sleep potion that Dad said to give him; he shouldn't be awake already!"
"Calm down, Draco," Lupin said, softly. As the other students were watching the scene curiously, Lupin took Draco out into the hall. "Talk to him. Ask him if he's still downstairs."
Draco took a breath and closed his eyes.
-Harry, are you still downstairs?
It took a moment, but then Draco heard a tiny voice say, Yes. Help me, Draco, please!
"He's still down there. I have to go help him, I have to see what's wrong."
"I'm coming with you." Lupin went across the hall to Professor Flitwick's class and asked the Charms teacher to keep an eye on the Defense class. Then Lupin and Draco began to run down to the Snape chambers.
-I'm on my way, Harry. Can you tell me what's wrong?
-It hurts all over, Draco, I'm scared. Hurry!
-Can you breathe all right?
-Yeah, but it hurts.
-Did you have a nightmare?
When Harry didn't reply, Draco started to run faster. Lupin put all his energy in his steps, just to keep up.
"I was talking to him, trying to find out what's wrong. I asked him if he had a nightmare, and he didn't answer." Draco explained why he'd picked up the pace.
As soon as they reached the chambers, Draco spoke the password, and the two ran through the doorway.
"Harry," Draco called, running for the bedroom. "Harry!"
The younger boy was still in the bedroom, yet no longer in bed. He lay curled up on the floor, tangled in his blankets. One arm was wrapped around himself, and his other hand was clutching his forehead. His entire body was shaking slightly. Lily stood next to Harry's head, mewing and nuzzling his cheek. Draco and Lupin rushed to kneel down by the boy.
"Harry? Harry, are you awake?" Draco asked, touching his brother's hair and face. He received no response.
"He's breathing," Lupin told Draco. "That's a good sign¼ Draco, I'm going to take Harry up to the hospital wing. Go up to your father's classroom and tell him what's going on, all right? Then come up to the infirmary."
Draco nodded and began to run again. He stopped at the doorway to the Potions room, holding onto the door frame as he tried to catch his breath.
"Professor, Draco's at the door," George Weasley said. Severus turned and saw his distressed son in the doorway, and he immediately went over to him.
"Dad, something happened to Harry," Draco said. He quickly explained the situation, ending with, "Professor Lupin told me to come tell you while he took Harry up to the hospital wing. I'm worried, Dad, he sounded so scared and he looked like he was in a lot of pain!"
"Draco, calm down," Severus said, gently, as he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "First off, are you all right? You look like you're about to faint."
"I'm fine," Draco insisted, pushing Severus's hands away. "I just want to know what's wrong with Harry." Severus nodded and then turned to his class.
"I trust that you won't have a problem with my leaving for a while," he said. "I'm going to ask Professor Sinistra to keep an eye on you, so behave yourselves, or else." With that, he and Draco headed for the hospital wing, after stopping by Sinistra's classroom.
"Remus?" Severus said as he and Draco entered the infirmary. Lupin was standing by Harry's bed, watching as Madam Pomfrey carefully poured a red liquid into Harry's mouth.
"He just woke up," Lupin told Severus and Draco, who sighed with relief. "Poppy's giving him something for the pain right now."
"Has he said anything?" Severus wondered. Lupin shook his head.
Suddenly, they all heard Harry's quiet, raspy voice say, "Draco..."
Draco made his way to the bed and sat next to Harry, who reached for his older brother's hand. Draco placed his hand in Harry's and felt a weak squeeze.
"You heard me..." Harry whispered. Draco nodded.
"What happened?" he asked, quietly.
"I think it was a nightmare... Everything was all mixed in... Lucius, you... Pansy, Ron... Everything... The Dursleys, Voldemort... Voldemort attacked me... The Dursleys attacked me... Lucius attacked you and I could feel everything... It hurt so bad..."
"Did your scar hurt?" Draco wondered. Harry nodded.
"Everything hurts," he murmured as Draco smoothed Harry's hair back.
"It will stop hurting soon," the older boy promised. "Dad's here. Do you want to see him?" Harry nodded, and soon Severus replaced Draco on the bed.
"How are you feeling, son?" Severus asked, softly.
"I don't know, Dad..." Harry admitted. "Feeling too much... It's all put together..." He smiled, weakly. "Should I assume...you won't let me...practice Quidditch tonight?"
"Your assumption would probably be right," Severus replied, smiling back. "But considering it's only one o'clock... We'll see how you're feeling later, all right?" Harry agreed. "If you can't practice, then maybe I'll take you out there just to watch. But like I said, it depends on how you're feeling." Severus then looked at Lupin.
"Thank you, Remus. You should probably get back to your class. You need to get back, too, Draco. I'll stay here with Harry for a while."
"Dad, can I stay here for a while?" Draco asked, quietly. "I already know more than I wanted to know about what Professor Lupin's teaching today." Severus glanced at Lupin.
"Albus asked me to teach them about the Unforgivables," Lupin said, softly. "I agree with Draco, he probably shouldn't come back to class. I was demonstrating the curses on some spiders, and he looked like he was going to be sick."
"He still does," Severus agreed, eyeing Draco's pale face and shaky hands. He also heard the boy's shallow breathing.
"Stop staring at me," Draco mumbled, folding his arms over his chest.
"Poppy, do you think you can see about Draco as well?" Severus asked after telling his oldest son to lay on the next bed.
"Of course, Severus," Pomfrey agreed as Lupin left.
The medi-witch waved her wand over Draco and examined him for a few minutes. Then she checked his temperature.
"He has a touch of the flu," she told Severus after a little while. "I'll give him some Fever Reduction Potion and a Sleeping Potion, and he should stay here for the night, at least." She helped Draco to drink the potions, and he lay down and pulled his blankets tighter around himself.
"Sleep good, Draco," Harry said, softly. "Feel better." The older boy barely heard him; he was already halfway asleep. "Dad, you're still going to stay, aren't you?"
"Of course I am," Severus assured him. He rested a comforting hand on Harry's cheek. "I'll stay as long as you want me to."
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to come back here for a long time," Harry sighed, smiling weakly. Severus smiled back.
"You always have had a knack for getting stuck in here. I suppose we couldn't expect you to break yourself of that habit just yet."
"Just make sure to keep me away from him," the boy said, pointing at his brother. "I'll have to stay in here even longer if he gets me sick." He laughed a little, shaking his head. "How many classes have I missed so far this year? It's got to be a record."
"Don't worry about that. You got all of your work made up, so I'm sure everything will be fine."
A while later, the door burst open, and the Weasleys, minus Ron, and Hermione came in. They stopped short when they saw both Harry and Draco on their beds, and Severus sitting in a chair between them, talking to Harry. Severus and Harry looked up when they came in.
"Harry, are you all right?" Ginny asked, concerned. "Fred and George said Draco came into their class and--"
"I'm fine," Harry cut her off, smiling tiredly. "I'll still be able to make Quidditch practice tonight..."
"He might be able to make it," Severus corrected. He looked at Harry's friends. "It depends on how he's feeling by then." Fred and George nodded.
"Don't worry about it if you can't come, mate," Fred said to Harry. "It's not like you need much practice."
"Eh, I could always use practice," Harry replied, his cheeks turning pink.
"Is it all right if I ask what happened?" Hermione wondered.
"I had a nightmare," Harry sighed. "Draco's telepathic, and he heard me calling for help..." He didn't say anymore; he only closed his eyes and breathed lightly. It took everyone a few moments to realize that he'd fallen asleep. His friends turned to leave, except for Hermione, who hung back.
"Professor Snape, can I talk to you?" she asked, softly. Severus nodded. He leaned over to kiss Harry's forehead, then Draco's, and he left the room with Hermione.
"Is something wrong, Miss Granger?" Severus asked, seeing a sad look in Hermione's eyes.
"Sir, did Harry tell you what's been going on with Ron and him?"
"He said they had a fight over some things that Ron said about me, but that's all I know."
"Ron's really angry that Harry didn't tell him about the adoption," Hermione said, quietly. "But Harry knew how Ron would react if he'd told him, and that's how Ron reacted when he found out... I haven't talked to Harry much since last night, but every time I've seen him, he looks so upset. He and Ron were best friends, and I hate it that they're fighting. It makes me feel like I'm caught in the middle.
"I agree with Harry, though; Ron's being completely childish. He only sees what you're like in the classroom. He's never seen you really interacting with Harry and Draco. I have, and I see all the love that the three of you have for each other; especially the love you have for the two of them. I can tell that you care for them more than just about anything else in the world, and they needed that.
"I just can't think of any way to make Ron understand it. He and Harry have been best friends since the day they met, and now it's about to be over, unless someone does something about it. I feel like I need to do something about it. Do you have any ideas?" Severus thought for a moment.
"All I can suggest," he said, "is to tell Ron exactly what you just told me. Aside from that, I don't know." Hermione nodded her understanding. "Miss Granger, Harry's lucky to have a friend like you. Ron is, too, but Harry... With everything that's happened this year, he needs all the love and care he can get, and you're giving him some of that." Severus smiled, sadly. "You remind me of an old friend of mine when I was a student here. She never once thought of herself, she was always helping me out when I needed her..."
Hermione was silent for a moment, not wanting to disturb Severus's reverie. Then, suddenly, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. He turned to stare at her.
"Thank you for everything you've done for Harry, sir," Hermione said, quietly, with tears in her eyes. "He means a lot to me. Draco, too." With that, she ran down the hall.