Oh, God, no, not Harry! Please, I'll anything!

Stand aside, you silly girl.

And then, there was screaming.

Harry woke up with a start, in cold sweat. His heart was racing with fear. He took several deep breaths and wiped the sweat off his brow. It's just a dream, he thought to himself.

It's just a dream.

But the images were so real.

Ron slept beside him, soundly and from the expression on his face, Harry knew that he wasn't the only one having nightmares.

However, they were probably not as bad as Harry's.

One might think that Harry's life was filled with happiness now that Voldemort was dead. It was Harry who had killed the Dark Lord with the Avada Kedavra curse. Voldemort's death had satisfied him; he'd finally avenged his parents' deaths.

But even revenge could not take away the nightmares.

He took another deep breath and laid back on the bed, deciding to brew some more Dreamless Sleeping Potion tomorrow, if necessity arose.

Truthfully, he was lost, confounded. Only last month, he'd found out that Salazar Slytherin was his ancestor – which explained why he was a Parselmouth and why Tom Riddle had tried to kill him in the first place. It disturbed him to know that he was related to Slytherin himself – or Voldemort, for that matter.

But how had the heir of Slytherin ended up in Gryffindor?

Even Dumbledore hadn't been able to give a satisfactory reply to that.

I've been under a lot of pressure lately, thought Harry and he made a mental note to visit Remus and Sirius on Saturday morning.

He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

* * *

Hermione wanted to go to the library after breakfast since she wanted to complete her Potions essay, but her friends wouldn't let her.

"Come on," said Ron, "it's Saturday morning."

"You have plenty of time to finish your homework," Harry piped in. "Besides, I feel bored and suffocated, just staying here, doing nothing at all."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you do," she said crossly. "After all, nobody's tried to kill you for the past few weeks. The stress must be overwhelming."

In the end, however, she was persuaded. They knew, with the help of the Marauder's Map, where the teachers' living quarters were. On their way there, they met Ginny.

"Oh, hello," smiled Harry and again, there was that secret look between him and his girlfriend. Hermione couldn't help feeling being envious. "And where are you off to?"

"I'm supposed to meet my friends near the lake," Ginny replied. "I'll talk to you at lunch." They shared a brief kiss which reminded Hermione of Viktor. Damn.

Sirius was outside the apartment he shared with Lupin when he saw the three Gryffindors hurrying towards him. His handsome face lit up with a smile. He'd shortened his black hair and he looked much better now that he was living a normal life again.

"Ah, what are you three doing here?" He inquired.

"We just wanted to pay you a little visit," said Harry. "Did we catch you at a bad time?"

"Not at all," Harry's godfather smiled. "I was just about to get some coffee for Remus and me. Would you like some?"

Just then, several feet away from them, a door opened creakily. They looked behind to find Snape emerging from his living quarters. He froze when he saw them. Then he scowled and walked away.

Sirius looked amused.

"He's been like that ever since you and Professor Lupin came back, hasn't he?" said Ron with a little smile.

"Basically, yes," replied Sirius. "Look, why don't you go inside?" He opened the door for them. "I'm sure Remus could use some company."

* * *

Hermione! What was she doing here?

Oh, that's easy! Snape thought to himself as he walked away. She and her friends Potter and Weasely had come to visit Black and Lupin.

He knew of their friendship with the two Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. It wasn't his place to disapprove, but he couldn't help feeling a bit…jealous.

Oh, stop dreaming, Severus! He thought angrily. Hermione would never look at him that way. Might as well wish for immortality.

He turned to the left and came face to face with the Headmaster.

"Ah, Severus," smiled Dumbledore. "I was just on my way to see you. I assume that you are going to the Magical Fine Arts class?"

"Yes," replied Snape, fighting a sudden urge to run back and try to catch some more glimpses of Hermione.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that we are trying to fit in that class within the weekdays instead of weekends. I hope the current timetable is not inconvenient for you."

"Of course not, Headmaster" the younger man replied.

"I see that many students have signed up for the course," Dumbledore continued.

"All Slytherins, I'm afraid."

Dumbledore laughed. "Just give the others some more time, Severus, I'm sure they'll want to join soon. Aren't you excited?"

"Hardly," said Snape dryly. The older man laughed again. "Well, good luck." He was gone.

Snape started towards the dungeons, where the class would take place, thinking of Dumbledore's words.

He wished with all his heart that Hermione would join, though chances were slim. She was probably busy with all her subjects. He knew how she'd used a time-turner during her third year to attend all her classes but thankfully, she didn't need one anymore.

Snape, for the first time in his life, wished that he's at least tried to be fair to all of his students. Perhaps then, Hermione wouldn't dislike him so much.

Truly, it was his own fault.