Snape fell asleep holding Harry, and for once got a full 9 hours. He didn't
wake up until he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder.
"Professor Snape? Severus? Will you wake up?"
He opened a bleary eye and saw Draco laughing. Had Harry not been in his arms he might have hexed the impudent Slytherin but he really couldn't be bothered.
"Mm. . .what time is it?" he asked, trying to stifle a yawn.
"9.00. That's the only reason I was brave enough to try and wake you."
Snape nodded and laid his head back on the sofa before leaping to his feet, sending Harry tumbling gracelessly to the floor.
"My lesson!"
"Calm down, professor. The headmaster said he'd fill in your first one for you, while you 'got yourself together'."
"Merlin!" groaned Snape, ignoring Harry's annoyed growl from the floor. "The man barely knows which way up a cauldron goes! How the hell is he meant to teach my class?"
Still grumbling, he made his way to the bathroom, and Draco hauled Harry to his feet.
"You are getting on better then?"
Harry smiled and nodded.
"You slept through the night for once!"
"Yes, I did. I was very comfortable, too, until he threw me on the floor!"
Draco snorted and held out a hand.
"You can't just stay there on the sofa. For a start, I'd be so jealous that I might have to hex you."
Harry stuck out his tongue lazily and dragged himself to his feet with a groan just as Snape came out of the bathroom.
"Come on Harry, you have to go to lessons." He said briskly, before adjusting his robes and sweeping into the other room. Harry shook his head and followed.
"I really don't want to. . ."
Snape snorted.
"Oh well, I don't want to teach a snivelling class of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws."
"You aren't. Professor Dumbledore is."
"Not if I have any say in it!"
Harry sighed in defeat and went back to the bathroom. He removed the concealing charms on his face which his the marks where he had hit his head against the wall and looked at himself. He was quite pale, and his face was sweaty. He wondered why, and briefly contemplated asking Snape, but decided that he would be too busy preparing for his class.
After a few minutes examining his face, Harry turned away in disgust. He looked dreadful. He had lied to Draco; he had woken after half and hour's sleep and stayed awake, pressed close to his father's chest for the rest of the night. The contact had been much-needed but he really wasn't getting enough sleep. He was scared.
Scared, because every time he closed his eyes he saw new things that Voldemort had done. The Dark Lord was getting more creative in his methods of killing people, and the nightmares frequently made Harry sick.
His eyes were puffy and bloodshot, with deep purple circles carved into the porcelain skin. His cheekbones stuck out sharply, and he hated himself for lying to his father as well, because he just never felt hungry. A sharp tap on the door knocked him out of his thoughts.
"Harry, hurry up!"
"I'm coming!"
He felt the familiar tingle of the charm weaving into his skin, and vacated the bathroom with a grin at Draco.
"Don't go without me, Harry. Severus told me to get something to eat from the kitchens before our first lesson. Apparently Dumbledore made our excuses."
Harry nodded, and sank gratefully into a chair to wait. His eyelids started to close but he jerked them open again as Draco came through.
"C'mon, we have to go the different way. . .wouldn't be good for the students to see you coming out of his chambers. . .might think the wrong thing . . ."
He winked, and Harry blanched.
"That's my father you're talking about, Draco!"
Draco merely smirked, and went into the hall.
"Where's the food?" he asked, looking puzzled. Harry snorted, and gestured towards the painting. He tickled the pear and the door sprang open. Draco's exclamation was drowned out by Harry's gasp as Dobby fastened himself securely to the Gryffindor's waist.
"Hey Dobby, I really need to get some food quickly. Do you think you can do that? Just for me and Draco."
Dobby nodded, grinning happily, and ran off. Draco, who had his back turned, whispered to Harry, "Is that my old house elf? How the hell did you get Lucius to free him?"
Harry smirked, and pretended to zip his mouth, just at the same time as Dobby returned with a tray of sandwiches and drinks.
"Here you is, Master harry, and Master. . .Aii!"
There was a loud crack, and Draco squealed as he found himself suspended upside down on the ceiling.
"Dobby! Put him down!" yelled Harry, trying not to laugh.
"No, master Malfoy is bad. Master Malfoy tries to hurt Harry Potter!"
As if to emphasise his point, Dobby flipped Draco over.
"Stop it! Now! Draco is my friend. Never hurt him again!"
Harry held his wand, his eyes furious, and with a startled squeak Dobby let the boy gently down with a suspicious look at Harry. Draco pretended to dust himself off, hiding his crimson face. Harry could distinctly hear him muttering about stupid elves. The rest of the house-elves were watching in open amazement, and Harry grasped Draco's elbow.
"I think we'll eat outside, Draco. Thanks for the food, Dobby - I'll come and visit you soon!"
Draco leapt out of the portrait hole and leaned against the wall.
"Merlin those elves are scary!"
Harry couldn't help himself laughing. In the end, he and Draco took a few sandwiches each and headed off to their respective classes. Harry ate his on the way to Care of Magical Creatures; for once the Gryffindors weren't with Slytherin. He was glad to finally feel hungry. He hadn't eaten for so long. . .when Snape had complained about his weight, he had even had the concealing charms on. He was much thinner without them.
Hagrid was showing them how to tend to Cornish Pixies ("Yeh've got ter be careful with 'em. . .nasty little buggers, they can be") when Harry's stomach started to roil. He took several deep breaths, and the nausea abated for a few minutes, but quickly returned. When he finally realised he was actually going to throw up he managed to sneak behind the sheds. No sense in worrying Hagrid, as the man was already inclined to be overprotective. Rubbing his clammy forehead he returned to the class, thankful that nobody had noticed him. Ron and Hermione were still ignoring him, but his head was pounding too hard for him to feel bothered.
Funny, nobody else seemed to notice how hot it was. . .he wiped a drop of sweat off his brow, and immediately began to shiver with biting cold. He stood quietly for the rest of the lesson, trying to ignore the pain in his head and the odd tingling in his skin, and left quickly once Hagrid had finished.
They had flying practice next, but Harry was terrible. In the mock game of Quidditch, he let in ten goals as a Keeper and failed to catch the Snitch once. Madam Hooch kept him behind after the lesson.
"This is not good enough, Mr Potter. I don't care if you have a lot of extra work, I will not have my classes disrupted by you deciding that you can't be bothered to work properly!"
Harry flushed, though it was hidden behind the concealing charm, and nodded.
"I'm sorry, ma'am."
She left with a snort, and Harry was left to change all alone. As he stood up to get his shirt the room spun around sharply and his knees buckled, sending him crumpling to the floor. He lay still for a few seconds and then slowly got up, managing to get dressed without too much trouble.
He forced himself to eat some lunch, brushing off Draco's comments that he was quiet. However his apathetic front was ruined when he had to bolt to the toilets to throw up again violently. When Draco came to see if he was ok, he said that he couldn't stand so much butter on a potato. If Draco thought that was odd, he didn't say anything for which Harry was very grateful.
He didn't know why he felt so bad, and he didn't know why he wouldn't tell anyone. Actually, he did. He didn't want to be seen as weak.
After lunch they had transfiguration together, and again Harry completely messed everything up. His fingers were shaking too badly to even hold the wand, and dizzy spells hehe were occurring nearly every five minutes. He knew he really should at least lie down. . .but there were only a few more minutes to go.
"Harry! Hello? You there?"
Draco's voice jolted him out of his thoughts.
"I said, what are you doing after this lesson?"
"Oh, I was going to work in the Common Room."
"No, come and work in the library with me."
Harry really just wanted to sleep but he knew that would arouse Draco's suspicion so he agreed. After the lesson had ended and Harry had been snapped at by McGonagall, they went straight to the library to revise for the Charms test. Harry let Draco practice a biting hex on him, and then tried to cast a stinging curse. The world tilted and his hand moved at the wrong moment, and the curse hit Draco the wrong way, causing little bubble- like blisters to spring up on his face. Draco didn't mind, but Harry was horrified. Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping Draco in overnight, so Harry went to bed. He was soon too hot under the bedclothes, and threw them off just as a school owl swooped in.
Harry plucked the letter from it's proffered leg. It was short and to the point.
Mr Potter,
You are expected in the Potions Room at 7.30pm.
Professor S. Snape.
Harry groaned, and he could have sworn that the owl looked at him disapprovingly. Reluctantly he got out of bed, ensured the concealing charm was intact, and went downstairs. He had to stop by the toilets to throw up again, and he nearly fell down the stairs as a particularly nasty pain shot through his head, but he was just in time. He knocked on the door, and Snape opened it, waving him in. He followed his father to the private chambers and sat down, wondering what was coming.
"I heard about what happened with Draco"
"It was an accident!"
"You are not dense enough to have an accident like that."
"I'm sorry. I just messed up the charm. I didn't do it on purpose!"
Snape looked at him calculatingly.
"No, I don't suppose you did. It's not your style. But it's not ordinary for you to do a spell wrong; if nothing else, you are accurate."
Harry barely noticed the back-handed compliment; a new wave of dizziness was threatening to make him fall out of the chair, and he felt sick.
"Harry, are you listening to me?"
Nodding made his vision swim even behind his glasses, but seemed to placate Snape who carried on.
"I would like to know what happened, because if it wasn't intentional then something is wrong, and I. . .I am concerned."
Harry tried to keep his eyes focused, but he was unsure which Snape to focus on. There were currently about four of them, all identical.
"Harry, you aren't listening to me are you?"
"Yes. . .yes, I am. . ."
His voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere else, as did Snape's.
"Harry? Are you alright?"
Snape leaned forward, looking at his son. He looked fine, though his hair was unusually messy, but he was shivering in the light of the fire and swaying slightly in his chair.
"Harry, are you alright?" he repeated, and watched as Harry tried to focus on him. Obeying his instincts, which had kept him alive this far, he rose to his feet and caught Harry's shoulders just as the boy slumped forward unconscious.
"Professor Snape? Severus? Will you wake up?"
He opened a bleary eye and saw Draco laughing. Had Harry not been in his arms he might have hexed the impudent Slytherin but he really couldn't be bothered.
"Mm. . .what time is it?" he asked, trying to stifle a yawn.
"9.00. That's the only reason I was brave enough to try and wake you."
Snape nodded and laid his head back on the sofa before leaping to his feet, sending Harry tumbling gracelessly to the floor.
"My lesson!"
"Calm down, professor. The headmaster said he'd fill in your first one for you, while you 'got yourself together'."
"Merlin!" groaned Snape, ignoring Harry's annoyed growl from the floor. "The man barely knows which way up a cauldron goes! How the hell is he meant to teach my class?"
Still grumbling, he made his way to the bathroom, and Draco hauled Harry to his feet.
"You are getting on better then?"
Harry smiled and nodded.
"You slept through the night for once!"
"Yes, I did. I was very comfortable, too, until he threw me on the floor!"
Draco snorted and held out a hand.
"You can't just stay there on the sofa. For a start, I'd be so jealous that I might have to hex you."
Harry stuck out his tongue lazily and dragged himself to his feet with a groan just as Snape came out of the bathroom.
"Come on Harry, you have to go to lessons." He said briskly, before adjusting his robes and sweeping into the other room. Harry shook his head and followed.
"I really don't want to. . ."
Snape snorted.
"Oh well, I don't want to teach a snivelling class of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws."
"You aren't. Professor Dumbledore is."
"Not if I have any say in it!"
Harry sighed in defeat and went back to the bathroom. He removed the concealing charms on his face which his the marks where he had hit his head against the wall and looked at himself. He was quite pale, and his face was sweaty. He wondered why, and briefly contemplated asking Snape, but decided that he would be too busy preparing for his class.
After a few minutes examining his face, Harry turned away in disgust. He looked dreadful. He had lied to Draco; he had woken after half and hour's sleep and stayed awake, pressed close to his father's chest for the rest of the night. The contact had been much-needed but he really wasn't getting enough sleep. He was scared.
Scared, because every time he closed his eyes he saw new things that Voldemort had done. The Dark Lord was getting more creative in his methods of killing people, and the nightmares frequently made Harry sick.
His eyes were puffy and bloodshot, with deep purple circles carved into the porcelain skin. His cheekbones stuck out sharply, and he hated himself for lying to his father as well, because he just never felt hungry. A sharp tap on the door knocked him out of his thoughts.
"Harry, hurry up!"
"I'm coming!"
He felt the familiar tingle of the charm weaving into his skin, and vacated the bathroom with a grin at Draco.
"Don't go without me, Harry. Severus told me to get something to eat from the kitchens before our first lesson. Apparently Dumbledore made our excuses."
Harry nodded, and sank gratefully into a chair to wait. His eyelids started to close but he jerked them open again as Draco came through.
"C'mon, we have to go the different way. . .wouldn't be good for the students to see you coming out of his chambers. . .might think the wrong thing . . ."
He winked, and Harry blanched.
"That's my father you're talking about, Draco!"
Draco merely smirked, and went into the hall.
"Where's the food?" he asked, looking puzzled. Harry snorted, and gestured towards the painting. He tickled the pear and the door sprang open. Draco's exclamation was drowned out by Harry's gasp as Dobby fastened himself securely to the Gryffindor's waist.
"Hey Dobby, I really need to get some food quickly. Do you think you can do that? Just for me and Draco."
Dobby nodded, grinning happily, and ran off. Draco, who had his back turned, whispered to Harry, "Is that my old house elf? How the hell did you get Lucius to free him?"
Harry smirked, and pretended to zip his mouth, just at the same time as Dobby returned with a tray of sandwiches and drinks.
"Here you is, Master harry, and Master. . .Aii!"
There was a loud crack, and Draco squealed as he found himself suspended upside down on the ceiling.
"Dobby! Put him down!" yelled Harry, trying not to laugh.
"No, master Malfoy is bad. Master Malfoy tries to hurt Harry Potter!"
As if to emphasise his point, Dobby flipped Draco over.
"Stop it! Now! Draco is my friend. Never hurt him again!"
Harry held his wand, his eyes furious, and with a startled squeak Dobby let the boy gently down with a suspicious look at Harry. Draco pretended to dust himself off, hiding his crimson face. Harry could distinctly hear him muttering about stupid elves. The rest of the house-elves were watching in open amazement, and Harry grasped Draco's elbow.
"I think we'll eat outside, Draco. Thanks for the food, Dobby - I'll come and visit you soon!"
Draco leapt out of the portrait hole and leaned against the wall.
"Merlin those elves are scary!"
Harry couldn't help himself laughing. In the end, he and Draco took a few sandwiches each and headed off to their respective classes. Harry ate his on the way to Care of Magical Creatures; for once the Gryffindors weren't with Slytherin. He was glad to finally feel hungry. He hadn't eaten for so long. . .when Snape had complained about his weight, he had even had the concealing charms on. He was much thinner without them.
Hagrid was showing them how to tend to Cornish Pixies ("Yeh've got ter be careful with 'em. . .nasty little buggers, they can be") when Harry's stomach started to roil. He took several deep breaths, and the nausea abated for a few minutes, but quickly returned. When he finally realised he was actually going to throw up he managed to sneak behind the sheds. No sense in worrying Hagrid, as the man was already inclined to be overprotective. Rubbing his clammy forehead he returned to the class, thankful that nobody had noticed him. Ron and Hermione were still ignoring him, but his head was pounding too hard for him to feel bothered.
Funny, nobody else seemed to notice how hot it was. . .he wiped a drop of sweat off his brow, and immediately began to shiver with biting cold. He stood quietly for the rest of the lesson, trying to ignore the pain in his head and the odd tingling in his skin, and left quickly once Hagrid had finished.
They had flying practice next, but Harry was terrible. In the mock game of Quidditch, he let in ten goals as a Keeper and failed to catch the Snitch once. Madam Hooch kept him behind after the lesson.
"This is not good enough, Mr Potter. I don't care if you have a lot of extra work, I will not have my classes disrupted by you deciding that you can't be bothered to work properly!"
Harry flushed, though it was hidden behind the concealing charm, and nodded.
"I'm sorry, ma'am."
She left with a snort, and Harry was left to change all alone. As he stood up to get his shirt the room spun around sharply and his knees buckled, sending him crumpling to the floor. He lay still for a few seconds and then slowly got up, managing to get dressed without too much trouble.
He forced himself to eat some lunch, brushing off Draco's comments that he was quiet. However his apathetic front was ruined when he had to bolt to the toilets to throw up again violently. When Draco came to see if he was ok, he said that he couldn't stand so much butter on a potato. If Draco thought that was odd, he didn't say anything for which Harry was very grateful.
He didn't know why he felt so bad, and he didn't know why he wouldn't tell anyone. Actually, he did. He didn't want to be seen as weak.
After lunch they had transfiguration together, and again Harry completely messed everything up. His fingers were shaking too badly to even hold the wand, and dizzy spells hehe were occurring nearly every five minutes. He knew he really should at least lie down. . .but there were only a few more minutes to go.
"Harry! Hello? You there?"
Draco's voice jolted him out of his thoughts.
"I said, what are you doing after this lesson?"
"Oh, I was going to work in the Common Room."
"No, come and work in the library with me."
Harry really just wanted to sleep but he knew that would arouse Draco's suspicion so he agreed. After the lesson had ended and Harry had been snapped at by McGonagall, they went straight to the library to revise for the Charms test. Harry let Draco practice a biting hex on him, and then tried to cast a stinging curse. The world tilted and his hand moved at the wrong moment, and the curse hit Draco the wrong way, causing little bubble- like blisters to spring up on his face. Draco didn't mind, but Harry was horrified. Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping Draco in overnight, so Harry went to bed. He was soon too hot under the bedclothes, and threw them off just as a school owl swooped in.
Harry plucked the letter from it's proffered leg. It was short and to the point.
Mr Potter,
You are expected in the Potions Room at 7.30pm.
Professor S. Snape.
Harry groaned, and he could have sworn that the owl looked at him disapprovingly. Reluctantly he got out of bed, ensured the concealing charm was intact, and went downstairs. He had to stop by the toilets to throw up again, and he nearly fell down the stairs as a particularly nasty pain shot through his head, but he was just in time. He knocked on the door, and Snape opened it, waving him in. He followed his father to the private chambers and sat down, wondering what was coming.
"I heard about what happened with Draco"
"It was an accident!"
"You are not dense enough to have an accident like that."
"I'm sorry. I just messed up the charm. I didn't do it on purpose!"
Snape looked at him calculatingly.
"No, I don't suppose you did. It's not your style. But it's not ordinary for you to do a spell wrong; if nothing else, you are accurate."
Harry barely noticed the back-handed compliment; a new wave of dizziness was threatening to make him fall out of the chair, and he felt sick.
"Harry, are you listening to me?"
Nodding made his vision swim even behind his glasses, but seemed to placate Snape who carried on.
"I would like to know what happened, because if it wasn't intentional then something is wrong, and I. . .I am concerned."
Harry tried to keep his eyes focused, but he was unsure which Snape to focus on. There were currently about four of them, all identical.
"Harry, you aren't listening to me are you?"
"Yes. . .yes, I am. . ."
His voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere else, as did Snape's.
"Harry? Are you alright?"
Snape leaned forward, looking at his son. He looked fine, though his hair was unusually messy, but he was shivering in the light of the fire and swaying slightly in his chair.
"Harry, are you alright?" he repeated, and watched as Harry tried to focus on him. Obeying his instincts, which had kept him alive this far, he rose to his feet and caught Harry's shoulders just as the boy slumped forward unconscious.