On to the story! And remember: Peace, Love, and be a Marauder! I mean, why wouldn't you be?
2A/N: I seem to keep repeating myself, this is not a slash story. Not between Harry and Snape, not between any of them. At this moment and time I'm shooting for a totally different relationship.
3A/N: *squeals happily* I loved ALL of your reviews! Just thought I'd let you know.
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!!!! And that includes Sherlock Holmes.
Kit: *coughs* This is a Harry Potter story.
Author: Oh yeah, I don't own him and his friends either.
Chapter 7- Nightmares and Comfort
Several hours of extensive cleaning later Harry threw himself on his bed, totally exhausted. The store room was now straightened, cleaned, and organized. He laid the list of ingredients that needed to be restocked on the table beside his bed and went to take a shower. He came back, feeling refreshed and clean. He laid back down on the bed and glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight and Snape still hadn't returned. But he was with Dumbledore, he shouldn't worry about the Potions Master, yet he did. How odd. Harry closed his eyes, convincing himself Snape was safe as long as he was with Dumbledore.
Snape dragged his feet towards the portrait, tired beyond belief. The meeting with Dumbledore's group had gone on longer than any of them had suspected and had worn through his thin stanima more than he'd like to admit. Added to the fact he'd left Potter in the room by himself the majority of the day and he was curious as to what the boy had done to occupy his time. When he whispered the password and entered the darkened apartment, an ear-splitting, pain-filled yelling met his ears. Dashing blindly to the bedrooms, he burst through the door.What he first noted were the shouts were coming from Harry who was thrashing about on the floor. Second: it was frigid in the room. Rushing over, he pulled the squirming boy up into his arms and tried to calm him. Harry, caught in the nightmare, would not be calmed. His shouts quieted but he continued to murmur, "No don't," and "Don't hurt them, please,". Finally he stilled, body as taut as a bowstring but Snape knew he was not awake. The shaking set in and again the Potions Master tried to comfort him but to no avail.
"What have I done?" This little question caught Snape off guard and he nearly lost his grip as Harry woke with a start and tried to launch himself into the air. He pulled the boy back and laid the sweaty head against his shoulder. The boy's body continued to shake uncontrollably.
"Harry. Harry," he repeated softly over and over, hoping to reach the distraught teenager. He did.
"Professor?" the voice quivered, betraying his fear. Snape sighed in relief and gathered the boy closer to him, rocking him slightly.
"Yes, Harry, it's me."
"I'm sorry I woke you." Snape shook his head.
"You didn't, I just got in," he assured gently.
"Oh," was the only reply. The two fell silent. When Harry began to shiver Snape summoned a blanket and wrapped it around the boy. Harry snuggled down into it, seeking the security the warm folds offered. Unconsciously, one of his hands snaked out of the cocoon and fisted itself in Snape's robes, making sure the man did not leave, an anchor to reality.
"Thanks," he mumbled. The corner of the Potions Master mouth turned suspiciously upward.
"You're welcome. Now why don't you tell me about this dream." He felt Harry's body stiffen then relax as he sighed.
"I might as well, you see...."
"Hello, Harry," Lupin greeted jovially, then frowned.
"Harry, is something wrong....?" Lupin was cut short by a cold voice.
"Avada Kedavra." Harry wanted to yell for Lupin to move but could only watch as the green light connected with the man's chest and him fall to the floor, the look of shock frozen permanently on his face. Harry was in shock too as he realized he was the one who had killed Lupin. His body seemed unconcerned as it merely stepped over the corpse and resumed its course. He encountered Ron and Hermione next. Their reaction was much like Lupin's and unfortunately so was their fate. As he shouted the Killing Curse, he watched in astonishment as the light split in two and hit both Gryffindors at once. As he moved over them he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror. What he saw chilled him to the bone. He was dressed from head to foot in black. His hair was now down to his waist. Both his eyes and scar were black. What disturbed him the most, besides the look of utter hatred, on his face was the tatoo on his right cheek. It was an outline of a phoenix and a serpent locked in battle. His body turned away from the mirror and resumed its march to its destination. He'd stop every so often along the way to shoot spells at the walls. He wasn't certain what the spells did but when they hit the stone it began to warp, twist, then crumble. Finally he reached the stone gargoyle, thankfully with out running into any one else, only to be surrounded by every teacher in the school; each had their wands trained on him.
"You will go no further, Harry," Dumbledore stated firmly from the center of the semi-circle. Harry's high, cold laughter sounded strange to his own ears.
"Are you, and the incompetent bunch of misfits you call teachers going to stop me, old man?" His tone was plainly mocking; he crossed his arms over his chest. Behind him he could hear the school literally falling apart. The floor shook as walls fell. The mighty impenetrable, indestructible Hogwarts was being brought to it's knees. Dumbledore's eyes were narrow blue slits of anger and he nodded his head curtly. That was the signal.
"Stupefy!" They yelled in unison. A black, formless shadow loomed in front of Harry, absorbing the stunning spells, before disappearing. Harry laughed again.
"Nice try. Now let me demonstrate to you what a real wizard can do. AVADA KEDAVRA!" He pointed his wand. The green light flashed, splitting in every direction. Snape leapt in front of the blast, grabbing Harry's wand. The light simply wove around him and struck the other teachers. Like a domino effect, one by one they all fell, even Dumbledore. The curse had struck Snape, yet he had not died right away but continued to hold on to the wand. He gave Harry a searching look.
"Why?" Harry felt his face curl into a sneer; he jerked the wand out of the man's hand.
"Say hello to everyone in Hell for me," he hissed. Snape swayed, the obsidian eyes alight with regret, and toppled to the ground, dead. From his hand fell a necklace. The silver phoenix pendent clinked once, twice, three times. Darkness.
Harry halted his account of the dream and buried himself back into the blanket, not wanting to see Snape's reaction.
"Well.....that is enough to make anyone scream. Reminds me of mine." Harry glanced at Snape in confusion.
"Reminds you of your's?" he repeated. Snape nodded, looking down at him.
"My time as a Death Eater left it's mark, believe me. I can not count the number of times I've seen this school destroyed or Albus tortured. It's never pleasant and normally gives me insomnia since I've become immune to even the strongest sleeping potions. You, however, are not, so I'm going to get you one, just as soon as I figure out where I put it," he mumbled the last part to himself.
"Left wall, fourth shelf, third bottle from the end," Harry offered, yawning. Snape's eyebrows drew downward in a frown.
"How would you know?" he demanded. Harry yawned wide again, resting his head against the surprisingly comfortable shoulder.
"I had nothing to do today so I cleaned out your store room." He motioned at the list by the bed. "Those are the ingredients that you need to restock." Snape leaned over and picked up the parchment, scanning it.
"You really cleaned it for me?"
"Mm-hmm," Was the answer. Snape suddenly stood up and laid the boy on the bed, making the hand release of his robes.
"I'll be right back," he assured, answering the boy's unspoken question. He left, returning a few seconds later with a bottle in hand. He sat down on the bed and pulled the frail child back into his lap. The hand snuck back out and again took a firm grasp of the dark material.
"Open up," he commanded gently. Harry complied and the potion slid cooly down his throat. Mmmmmm, mint flavored. Immediately his eyes began to droop.
"Sleep well, Harry." Was the last thing he heard. Snape watched the boy drift off. Even after the boy was asleep, he found himself continuing to rock him and even hum quietly. He didn't know why he did he just...did. On the outside he appeared calm and cool but on the inside he was a hailstorm of emotions. Emotions he could not identify, only...they seemed similar to the ones he felt while he was in the company Albus...sort of. It was just so hard to explain. When he had seen Harry on the floor, screaming, it had awoken terrible memories of the torturing he had done and endured. During the recounting his mind kept returning to his own. It hurt, for some odd reason, to see Harry like this: a scared, helpless little boy. He was supposed to be the Boy-Who-Lived, nothing was supposed to touch him. But as Snape watched the boy sleep, it occurred to him, probably for the first time, that Harry was human, prone to emotions such as joy and happiness, sadness and despair. By the lines that creased Harry's young face, he'd had a plentiful amount of despair in his short life. Insecurity, there was that too. Snape realized that the emotion he felt was longing. Longing to protect the boy, care for him, and make him feel secure. Sort of like a...father. Starting tomorrow, he decided, he'd do just that. Finishing the tune he'd been humming, he laid Harry on the bed, pulled the covers over him and brushed a feather light kiss on his forehead. As he sought out his own bed he pondered just how much in him had changed in the short span of a month (yes people it has been a month). He found himself letting go of his anger and old hatreds only to be replaced by concern and care for the son of an old enemy. Could he pull off being a....father? He wasn't sure, he'd have to ask Albus for advice since he was the only father-figure he'd ever had. Hell he practically considered the man his father. Another question: what had the boy done to him? He was different from before. He wasn't sure how exactly, but he liked it.
A/N: Awwwwwwww. Wasn't that a cool ending? *sniffs* I know it's kinda short but I wanted to cut it off there. The next chapter will hopefully be up soon. And remember *shakes collection tin* Please review!!!!