Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.
~~~
Saturday, February 12, 1994-Valentine's Day Ball
"Harry!" Draco called through the bathroom door. "Come on, hurry up! We've got five minutes until it's time to meet the girls!"
"I'm coming!" Harry snapped.
He opened the door, and Draco's mouth dropped open. Harry was dressed in his dark green dress robes, which showed off his emerald eyes. The charms had pretty much completely worn off, and Harry was now almost a carbon-copy of Severus, only younger. Harry's skin was more pale, though not sickly-pale, and his cheekbones were more defined. His jet black hair reached his shoulders, but instead of being wavy like his father's, Harry had used a straightening charm on it. He also no longer needed his glasses. He looked quite sexy, in Draco's opinion.
"Oh, how I wish you weren't my brother... Dad! Dad, come here!" When Severus came, Draco hugged him tightly. "Daddy, please, can you disown one of us, just for tonight?" Severus chuckled when he saw the blush creeping to Harry's cheeks.
"You look good, boys. And no, Draco, I'm sorry. Now go up and get your dates; I'm going to the Great Hall."
Draco and Harry quickly went up to Gryffindor Tower. Harry spoke the password, and the portrait swung open. The boys went inside and found Ginny and Hermione in the common room, waiting for them. Harry and Draco went over to their dates and, in unison, bowed, took the girls' hands, and kissed them.
"Hello, ladies," Draco said, smiling charmingly. "You're both looking beautiful, as always." The boys offered their arms to the girls, and the four of them went downstairs.
The Great Hall was cleared of all its tables, except for a few small ones lining the walls. There was a stage in the front, and a man was playing both wizard and Muggle music, though it was mostly wizard music. Lights shone back and forth from the ceiling, and red and pink decorations were everywhere. Couples (and singles) were already on the floor, dancing. Draco led Hermione out to dance, while Harry and Ginny hung back.
"Somehow I get the feeling that Draco's going to make us dance tonight," Harry commented. "He's crazy, that one." Ginny giggled.
"Do you dance?" she wondered.
"Sometimes," Harry responded. "I'm not very good; I don't like to do it much."
"I don't, either," Ginny agreed. "But I thought it would be fun to come, anyway. We get to watch other people make fools of themselves."
"Like Fred and George?" Harry offered, pointing at the twins, who were slow dancing together.
"Yes, like Fred and George. I think they're more mental than Draco is." Ginny and Harry went to a table and sat down. "You look good, Harry. You really do look like Professor Snape. But you also have more of your mum in you than you had when the charms were on."
"Do I, really? I knew I was looking a lot like Dad, but I couldn't really see much of Mum in me except for my eyes." Ginny reached up to touch his hair.
"There's a red tint to your hair," she told him. "Your mum had red hair, right?" Harry nodded. "This look suits you."
"Well, I'm glad you approve," Harry said, smiling.
An hour later, Ginny and Harry were getting headaches from the loud music. They went out to the hallway outside the entrance to the Great Hall, and they sat on the stairs.
"That's much better. A lot quieter." Ginny looked up at Harry, who had a pained expression on his face. "Are you all right, Harry? You're getting kind of pale, if that's possible for you."
Harry closed his eyes as beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and his arms and legs began to shake a little. Ginny rested a hand on his shoulder, and he suddenly fell to the floor.
"Oh, Merlin, Harry, are you all right?" Ginny asked, worriedly, as she knelt next to Harry, who felt like his chest was tightening. "Harry, I'm going to go find your dad, okay?" She got up, but Harry grabbed her hand.
"No, stay," he whispered, weakly. "Don't leave...me alone..." He closed his eyes, squeezing Ginny's hand.
-Draco...
~~~
A Muggle ballad started playing, and Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist. She put hers around his neck, and they began to sway to the music, speaking quietly to one another.
"You look stunning, Hermione," Draco said, softly. The girl blushed. Draco pulled her closer, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
"You don't look so bad, yourself," she whispered. She suddenly felt Draco tense up. "Draco? What is it?"
"Something's wrong," he said, quietly, as he pulled away. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate. "He's in pain, I can feel it..."
-Draco, help. Get Dad, I'm by the stairs...outside the Great Hall...
"Draco, say something," Hermione pleaded. "You're scaring me." Draco grabbed her hand and began to push through the crowd, searching frantically for Severus.
"Damn it, where the bloody hell is he?" Draco almost shouted. He suddenly stopped running and turned to look at Hermione, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Hermione, listen to me. I need you to find my dad as quickly as you can. Tell him that I said something's wrong, and bring him to the stairs outside." He pointed towards the doors. "I'll be right through there. Find him as fast as you can. All right?"
Hermione nodded and began searching, while Draco ran out to the hallway. He rushed towards Ginny and Harry and knelt down, gently taking Harry's face in his hands.
"Harry, stay awake and tell me what happened," Draco said, softly, as he smoothed back his brother's sweat-soaked hair. "Merlin, you're burning up. Ginny, take off his robes." Ginny did so, and Harry was left in only his shirt and pants.
"Where's...Dad?" Harry asked, weakly, as he stared up at his brother.
"Don't worry, Hermione's looking for him," Draco said, soothingly. "She'll bring him out as soon as she finds him. Harry, did you have a flashback?" Harry slowly shook his head back and forth.
"Something's going to happen..." he whispered. "Something bad..." He inhaled and suddenly started to gasp for breath, just as Severus and Hermione ran through the doors. They were followed by Remus, Dumbledore, and McGonagall, as well as the Weasley twins.
"Dad, he's burning up," Draco said as Severus took Ginny's place beside Harry. "He didn't have a flashback, but he said that something bad is going to happen."
Severus helped Harry to sit up a little, and then poured a vial of Panic Potion into the boy's mouth. Then he just held Harry in his arms as the potion began to take effect. Harry's breathing eased, and his shivering stopped. Severus looked at the twins, then nodded pointedly towards Hermione and Ginny, who were nearly in shock. Fred and George nodded and took the girls back into the Great Hall.
"Harry, did you see something?" Severus asked, softly. Harry nodded, taking deep, shaky breaths as he nestled his face in his father's neck. "What did you see?"
"Lots of things," Harry said, quietly. "Lake...Draco... Draco was hurt... Someone at the gates... He was hurt, too... Me and Draco...You...Voldemort..."
"Was this the first time you saw something like this?" Harry slowly shook his head. "Have you been having nightmares?" Harry nodded, ashamed.
"I put up...silencing spells..." he whispered. "You told me not to... But I did anyway... I'm sorry, Daddy..." Severus sighed and hugged him tightly.
"I know you are," he said, softly. "But no more of that, all right?" Harry nodded. "Have you been writing down what you see in your nightmares?"
"Some of them," Harry replied. "It's downstairs." Severus stood up, lifting Harry up with him. "Draco?"
"Yeah, Harry?"
"Go," Harry started, pointing towards the Great Hall. He took a deep, painful breath. "Go tell Ginny I'm sorry..."
Draco nodded and ran back into the other room, while Severus carried Harry down to the dungeons. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Remus followed. Once down there, Severus asked Harry where his recorded nightmares were, and then put the boy to bed in the master bedroom.
"I'll be right in the other room, Harry, if you need me," Severus said before leaving the bedroom. He went into the living room, where the others were waiting, and he looked through the parchments. "A whole month of nightmares, and I didn't even know about them." Severus sighed and began to read, as Draco returned to the chambers.
Within an hour, the five had read about all of Harry's nightmares. Some of them were the usual flashbacks. Others were about people being attacked. One nightmare showed a man dressed in torn, thin robes, collapsed in front of Hogwarts' gates; in the dream, that image changed from the man to a large black dog. Another showed Draco and Harry, beaten and starved in a cage. Yet another showed Draco being attacked, beaten up, and raped, then thrown into the Hogwarts lake.
"Dear Merlin, how can the poor boy stand it?" McGonagall whispered, tears welling up in her eyes as she read about a particularly graphic nightmare.
"Dad!!" Everyone was startled when they heard Harry's voice from the bedroom. Severus rushed to him and stopped in the doorway when he saw the boy was awake.
"What's wrong, son?"
"Where's Lily?" Harry asked in a small voice. As if on cue, the black cat ran in and jumped onto the bed, curling up next to Harry on the mattress.
"Do you need anything?" Severus asked. Harry shook his head, closing his eyes again, and Severus went back out to the other room.
"We'll need to take extra precautions and safety measures," Dumbledore said, his normally sparkling eyes now dull and tired. "Draco and Harry are not to go anywhere alone, even on Hogwarts grounds. I'll see about putting up extra wards around the castle. Severus, if the boys go to Hogsmeade, they must stay with either yourself or another teacher."
"Albus, I think I know what one of these nightmares means," Remus said, suddenly, in a shaky voice. He looked up and glanced around at everyone. "The man collapsed in front of the gates, and then the dog. That's Sirius. He, James, and Peter became unregistered Animagi, to help me through my transformations every month. Sirius's Animagus form was a large black dog."
"But that's...impossible," Draco said, quietly. "It's been over three years since he disappeared, hasn't it?" Remus nodded.
"Draco, go on to bed, unless you want to go back to the Ball," Severus requested. Draco nodded and headed back upstairs, to the Great Hall. Once there, he found Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George.
"Is Harry all right?" Hermione asked, concerned. "What happened?" Draco sat in a chair, resting his elbows on his knees and running his hands through his hair.
"He's okay. He had some...visions... It was kind of like when he has flashbacks." Draco told them about the nightmares, and the precautions that Dumbledore was talking about for the boys' safety. "Harry's asleep now. Dad told me to either go to bed, or come back up here, and after finding out what was in those nightmares, I can't sleep..."
Hermione knelt down next to Draco's chair, gently rubbing his back and leaning her head on his shoulder. Draco held Hermione's hand and picked his head up. Fred and George were watching him, and Ginny was staring at the floor.
"Ginny's been really worried," Hermione whispered to Draco. "Ask her to dance and talk to her." Draco nodded and stood up. He took Ginny's hand.
"Come on, love," he said, softly.
He led Ginny out to the dance floor for a slow song. He showed her what to do with her arms, then wrapped his own around her waist, pulling her close and letting her lay her head on his chest.
"Don't worry, Ginny," Draco said, soothingly. He reached his hand up and gently stroked her hair. "Harry's going to be just fine."
"I was so scared, Draco," Ginny whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "He started shaking and fell over, and I couldn't do anything about it…"
"You did what you could, and that's what matters." Draco rested his cheek on top of Ginny's head, and the two were silent for a moment, until Draco spoke again. "Would you like to have lunch downstairs with us tomorrow? You can see for yourself that Harry's all right." Ginny nodded her head. "All right, then. I'll have to check with my dad, of course, but I'm sure it will be fine. When the dance is over, you can come down with me and we'll ask, and I'll take you up to your tower. Sound good?"
"Thanks, Draco," Ginny said, hugging him as the song ended. Draco kissed her forehead.
"You're welcome, love."
~~~
Later that night, Draco led Ginny to the dungeons and found Severus sitting in the living room, reading over Harry's nightmares again. He looked up when he heard them come in.
"Dad, is it all right if Ginny comes down here for lunch with us tomorrow?" He gave his father a 'look' that, thankfully, Ginny didn't see.
"Well, I was planning on taking you and Harry to London for the day," Severus replied. "But Miss Weasley is welcome to join us."
"Want to?" Draco asked Ginny.
"If it isn't any trouble," she replied, quietly.
"We'll be leaving around eleven tomorrow morning," Severus told her.
"Meet us in the Great Hall at ten forty-five," Draco told Ginny, who nodded. "Thanks, Dad. I'm going to take Ginny upstairs."
"Goodnight, Miss Weasley," Severus said as they left.
"Goodnight, Professor," Ginny called back.
After returning Ginny to her tower, Draco went back downstairs. Severus was no longer in the main room, so Draco peered into the master bedroom. Severus was sitting on the bed with Harry, cradling the boy in his arms and whispering to him. The older man looked at Draco with tired eyes.
"Go on to bed, Draco," Severus said, softly. Draco shook his head and crossed the room to the bed.
"No, you go to bed, Dad. I'll stay with Harry." Severus sighed when he saw that Draco wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.
"Fine." He kissed Harry's forehead. "Goodnight, Harry. Draco's going to stay here with you." He climbed off the bed, then gave Draco a hug before he left the room. Draco sat on the bed with Harry and held him tightly until they both fell asleep.