Consequences
Harry woke with as the morning light filtered in from the window. She didn't want to wake up, she was still short of energy, but she knew that going back to sleep would make no difference. She reached over and put on her glasses, then sat up. Severus was sat marking homework next to the fire, his normal scowl looking at the paper he was marking.
"Good morning Miss Potter." He said without looking up. "The Headmaster has requested that we eat breakfast with him, as he wants to know what happened last night."
"Call me Harry when we're not in lessons would you? Everyone else does."
"Ok. Harry." He tested the word on his tongue. "You have 15 minutes to get ready, then I expect to see you in Dumbledore's office." With that he left the room, allowing Harry the privacy to get dressed.
Harry stood up and was immediately washed over with exhaustion. The party last night had drained her, and the dream had sapped the little reserve of energy she had from her. She let her mind wander as she stepped into the shower.
Last night people had asked her a whirlwind of questions. Most people were astounded to find that the guy they had hung out with for the 5 years was in fact a girl. Most reactions had been positive. Now that Hermione had accepted her things seemed more bearable. The Quidditch team had laughed and said that not only was Harry an amazing seeker, she was the prettiest one too. Neville had smiled, and accidentally dropped the goblet he was drinking from whilst he was talking to her. Cho had avoided her like the plague, the same as Draco and his cronies had. Ginny had given her a huge hug, which had meant the most of all to Harry. Ginny had accepted her as an almost surrogate sister, after realising that the Harry she had been in love with didn't really exist.
Harry stepped out of the showers warmth and wrapped a towel around her. Looking at her watch she realised she only had 5 minutes before she was meant to be in Dumbledore's office. She hurriedly started to dress, her fingers fumbling as she fought with the clip on her bra.
"I haven't got the time or the energy for this!" she exclaimed as the clip finally fastened. She reached for her clothes, but her head started to spin. She grabbed the sink to steady herself but missed, and collapsed in a heap onto the floor.
Sirius and Remus were both worried as they headed to Dumbledore's office. They wondered what could have caused the headmaster to be so worried about Harry, and they rushed to find out the cause.
When they entered the room they found Severus pacing up and down impatiently. They sat down, but Severus continued to pace.
"Severus, sit down. She'll be with us soon." Severus took the seat Albus had motioned to, and continued to look impatient.
After half an hour, Remus and Severus were both worried for Harry. Sirius was starting to get impatient, and was questioning Snape to see if he had deliberately miss-instructed Harry. Dumbledore too was unable to hide his worry. He sent each of the prÿÿectors to search for Harry, and he went to talk to the house elves, to see if they had seen Harry.
Severus had been sent to check Harry's room. He realised that the room was in the same condition it had been in earlier that morning, apart from the open wardrobe door, and the wand that was on the bedside cabinet. He checked the bathroom door, and found it was locked, although the shower was still running.
"Harry?" Snape rapped on the door. Harry groaned from inside. "Harry!" Without thinking of the consequences he took out his wand and unlocked the door. Steam billowed out and as it cleared, Severus saw Harry's half-naked crumpled form on the floor.
Severus blushed as he knelt beside her. With a flick of his wand she was dressed. He looked at her for a moment, taking in her beauty. 'She isn't of age you fool. And here you are, letting her make you feel like a schoolboy with his first crush! It's ridiculous, why would she ever be interested in you! You're letting her get into your heart you fool, don't let this happen, not after last time, you know what pain love can bring.' Severus was surprised by how quickly his fondness of Harry had grown. Maybe it was last night that had caused it; seeing her in a light he had never seen her in before, he realised that she was not the celebrity people, including him thought she acted like. He knew that he was wrong to have judged her that way.
Snape leant forward and picked up Harry in his arms, as he did so the sleeve that had slipped down exposed her arm. He quickly set Harry down on her bed and examined the arm more closely. He had seen her at the lake cutting herself, and he knew she had done it before, but he never realised just how much or how deep. He was amazed at the intricacy of the cuts too; they almost formed a pattern, along with the scars. Severus cast a concealing charm over her arm, knowing that it was her business and not for him to disclose to the others. Picking her up in his arms again he carried her back to Dumbledore's office, where the others would no doubt have returned to.
They looked up as Severus entered and lay Harry on the couch. Dumbledore looked at Severus, his blue eyes questioning.
"She's exhausted, last night must have drained the last of her energy. She was exhausted through lessons last week, and her body found its limit." Snape stated, his impassive face hiding his true emotions.
"Severus, do you have any energy potion in your office?" Dumbledore enquired.
"Yes, I made a fresh batch for Poppy before the beginning of term, and I kept a small quantity of it. If you intend to give it to Harry it will have to be injected, she's too weak to drink it." He arched his brow, knowing that the Headmaster disliked the use of injecting potions. He wondered why his mentor intended to wake the girl, instead of letting her regain the energy she so badly needed Dumbledore merely nodded, his concern for Harry's lack of energy growing. He had not realised that Sirius death could have caused her to lose a lot of her energy, and that she had not had chance to regain that energy in the week that she had been back at school. He had underestimated her ability to cope with all that had happened.
Severus returned with the green potion in a syringe. Sirius had moved to sit with Harry's head resting on his lap, and was stroking her hair. Severus knelt by Harry and looked at Dumbledore again for conformation that he was ok with what was about to happen. Dumbledore nodded, and Severus tapped the syringe to remove the air from it.
Sirius looked away. "Can't handle the sight of a little need Black?" Snape sneered, injecting the potion into Harry's arm.
Her eyes flickered as he pushed the plunger down, and she started to try to pull away. "Keep her still Black!" Severus hissed.
"I'm trying Snivellus!" He turned his attention back to Harry. "Harry calm down. It'll all be over in a minute. It's ok." He stroked her hair, trying to ease her evident distress.
Severus took a step back as he withdrew the needle. The potion took a few minutes to take effect, but soon Harry's green eyes flickered over. She wrinkled her brow, as she tried to form together a sentence. She was still tired, all the potion had done was made her awake.
"Where am I?" She murmured.
"Dumbeldore's office. You gave us quite a scare when you didn't arrive." Harry thought again, trying to determine if it was Sirius or Remus that had spoken. She tried to think as well why she had not managed to reach Dumbledore's office. She suddenly remembered and her voice grew sharp.
"Who brought me in here?"
"I did." That voice was Snape. Harry was sure of that.
"How did I get dressed?"
"What! Where did you find her Snivellus! You better not have been perving on her!" Sirius snarled, leaping to his feet and grabbing Snape by the collar. He forgot that Harry had been resting on his lap, and she groaned as her head hit the couch with a thump. Remus sat where Sirius had been, and moved Harry's head to rest on him. Sirius was ready to hex Snape when Dumbledore intervened.
"If you wish to be enrolled as a teacher on Monday I suggest you stop where you are Sirius, and let Severus explain. I don't tolerate violence between my staff or pupils, especially not two who are supposed to be protecting a vulnerable girl."
Sirius glared, dropped Severus from his grasp and sat down glaring.
"I found Harry collapsed in the bathroom. I can only assume that she collapsed whilst trying to clothe herself. I certainly was not doing what you think Black, and if I hadn't gone in there, she would still be unconscious now. She was in her underwear, and I felt it proper that she should be clothed before I brought her here. She's a lady and deserves to keep her modesty."
Sirius growled. He was both angry and jealous. Angry because it had been his enemy that had found his Goddaughter, and also because of the way that Harry had been found. He was jealous for the same reasons too. 'Sirius, get a grip! She's underage, she's your best mates daughter, and you're her legal guardian. What would people think! You should be worrying about her health right now anyway! Not fantasising about what she is...or isn't wearing!' Sirius scolded himself.
Remus lycanthrope meant that his senses were more alert, and as he looked at Sirius he knew that he was more than just angry. He made a mental note to talk to him about it.
"Child, we need to talk about you dream last night Severus said it obviously distressed you greatly last night and we need to know what the dream was about. He cast a sleeping charm on you to get you to sleep afterwards, as you were too distressed. I Know you won't want to relive the memory, so you are welcome to use my Pensieve, if you wish."
Harry reluctantly got up, choosing the easier option from talking about it. She put her wand to her temple and drew out the silvery, delicate strands of last nights dream. She placed them into the basin and sat back down, allowing Dumbledore to stare at the thoughts as they swirled around inside the Pensieve. He prodded the thoughts with his wand and the dream rose out of it.
Remus, Sirius & Snape watched it intently with Dumbledore, while Harry turned and buried her face into Remus' arm. She did not want to remember. Fawkes flew over and rested on the arm of the chair next to Harry, and started to sing. The song lifted Harry's soul, and gave her the courage she needed. She looked back as the dream ended, and saw Dumbledore's grave face.
"Child, have you dreamt this dream before?"
"No, I've had dreams of my parents before, but none like this."
"Did you occlude your mind before you went to bed last night."
"Um." Harry suddenly realised that to say the truth would land her in trouble; there again, to lie could land her into trouble as well. She decided on the lesser of the greater evils. "No. I haven't occluded my mind since being in the Department Of Mysteries."
"You need to occlude your mind every night Harry. I think it may be wise if you restart your occlumency lessons with Professor Snape again, until he is satisfied with your ability again. Now Voldemort is getting stronger, you need to defend your mind a lot better." Dumbledore did not ask for Snape's permission for him to teach Harry. It was not an optional thing. Snape would have to do it.
"Harry, you need to rest, else you're not going to manage lessons tomorrow. You're to spend the rest of today in your room, resting and relaxing. You will not leave you're room until I say so. All your meals will be brought to your room by one of the house elves, so don't worry about going to the Great Hall tonight." Harry rolled her eyes as Dumbledore said this.
"I'm fine. Honestly. I was just shaken up from the dream, it wasn't important. I don't need to rest, I just need to take my mind off the dream."
"I could always bring you up some dreamless sleep potion, Potter." Snape smirked.
"That's quite alright, thanks. Wouldn't want to waste your precious supply." Harry smirked back. Snape arched his brow, pleased that the girl could be as sarcastic as him.
"Child, it is not just last night that has drained your energy. You are very weak still from the recent and not quite so recent shocks you've had."
Sirius got to his feet. "Come on you naughty pup, I'll walk you to your room."
The two left the office and headed along the corridors back to the Gryfindor common room. Sirius broke the silence.
"Why didn't you tell me last night about your dream, love?"
"I tried. You were asleep and I didn't have the heart to wake you."
Sirius stopped, outside Harry's room. He cupped her chin in his hand and brought her eyes to meet with his.
"Harry, if you ever need to talk to me, or tell me something, no matter what time of day or night, you always always can. I will always be here for you."
"I know." Harry walked over to her bed, exhaustion overcoming her. She wanted to sleep so badly, and lay down on the bed. Within minutes she was sleeping, dreamless yet peaceful sleep.
A/N sorry that this chapters short, ive been really busy, and my chapter was originally too long. Ill try and update a bit quicker next time.