Chapter 16 – Nightmares

(The song used is Father and Son by Cat Stevens)

Harry knew he was dreaming, but that did not make him any less afraid. He was in a dining room, with a long table. People filled every seat; some wore hoods but Harry recognised a few faces.

The long, almost silver hair of Lucius Malfoy seemed to radiate light in the dim room. He was chatting quite animatedly another death eater. To his left, towards the head of the table, sat Bellatrix Lestrange, the woman who helped torture Neville's parents.

But what scared Harry the most was the man sat at the head of the table.

Pale, almost translucent skin gave him an eerie glow, but those blood red eyes pierced Harry. He felt like they were looking into his soul.

Lord Voldemort.

Harry stiffened as the gaze landed on him.

He knew he wasn't there, but he couldn't move.

His hands were bound, a rag stuffed in his mouth.

Tears rolled down his cheeks.

He remembered the way Pettigrew had cut him; he needed his blood for the ritual to bring Voldemort back. His arm throbbed at the memory.

He remembered the sibilant hiss of "Kill the spare", Cedric's lifeless eyes staring at him, the boy's spirit begging Harry to take his body back.

Harry was trembling, fear coursing through him.

He couldn't move.

Couldn't escape.

The Dark Lord's gaze left him, lingering briefly on the empty seat to his right before settling on the manic woman seated to his left.

"Bella…" Voldemort hissed.

"Yes, my Lord…"

"This one is beginning to bore me…" Voldemort waved a dismissive hand in Harry's direction.

Bella jumped out of her seat and began prowling towards Harry.

She withdraws a knife from the belt of her dress and cut the gag away, slicing Harry's cheek in the process, warm blood running down his face.

Harry's mouth moved without thinking.

"Please… my children… please I'll do anything… please…"

"Don't worry… I'm sure Fenrir will take good care of them." Bellatrix chuckled.

Harry hadn't noticed the werewolf before. He sat in a shadowed corner, eyes closed, looking quite bored but at the mention of his name, those amber eyes flicked open. A cruel smile appeared on the werewolf's face.

"NO… please… please…"

The door swung open. Harry's head whipped round as he saw Peter Pettigrew, dragging two small children behind him.

They were twins from the look of it, no older than 5.

Harry's blood boiled at the sight of Pettigrew.

"NO! Please… I'll do anything… Anything!"

The little girl just sobbed quietly but the boy kicked and thrashed.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

"please… please…"

Voldemort held up a pale hand and Pettigrew froze.

"Bellatrix… I've heard enough begging…"

The witch nodded animatedly as she drew her wand.

"CRUCIO!"

Pain flared through Harry's body and he pulled his restraints taut. He tried to hold it in but it was too much.

He screamed.

Ron knew that scream. He'd spent enough nights sleeping next to Harry to know he was having a nightmare.

He sprang away from Severus and marched towards the room.

Hermione and Severus right behind him, closely followed by Remus, Sirius, and his parents.

He threw open the door.

Harry was thrashing on the bed as if he were trying to throw off some unseen attacker. Ron could see his shirt was soaked with sweat and he was mumbling in between those blood curdling screams.

"Please… please…" Harry whispered over and over.

This was a bad one, sometimes Harry moaned in his sleep. Sometimes he called out for his mother or Cedric, but these screams were something else.

They all stood frozen at the threshold, but surprisingly it was Sirius who pushed through the crush.

He strode over to the bed, wrapping his arms around Harry as he climbed up next to him.

Harry thrashed harder, muttering sobbing pleas as Sirius began to hum.

Hermione recognised the tune; it was a muggle song.

Harry's eye sprang open, bucking and kicking, trying to loosen the hold on him when Sirius began to sing.

His voice was low but clear.

"It's not time to make a change

Just relax, take it easy

You're still young, that's your fault

There's so much you have to know

Find a girl, settle down

If you want you can marry

Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy

I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy

To be calm when you've found something going on

But take your time, think a lot

Why, think of everything you've got

For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not."

Molly recognised what Sirius was doing; she'd often sung to her children when they were scared or sick. She still did with the twins and Ginny.

To everyone's surprise Harry calmed and when Sirius' verse drew to an end, Harry began to sing back. His voice was hoarse and breaking from the screaming but the words were clear.

"How can I try to explain, cause when I do, he turns away again

It's always been the same, same old story

From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen

Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away

I know I have to go"

It was a song about the relationship between a father and his son. When Sirius took over again, Harry buried his face in Sirius' chest.

"It's not time to make a change

Just sit down, take it slowly

You're still young, that's your fault

There's so much you have to go through

Find a girl, settle down

If you want you can marry

Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy"

By the time the song came to a close, Harry was quiet and calm. He listened to Sirius' song, letting the words wash over him, driving the terror of his nightmare away, knowing he was safe.

"You okay, Prongslet?"

Harry shook his head.

"What can I do?"

"…..my…"

"Hmmmmm?"

"I want my mummy…" Harry whispered.

Sirius glanced back over his shoulder, where he could see Molly, her head tucked into Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur kissed her gently on her forehead before nudging her forward.

Sirius relinquished his hold on Harry as Molly easily slid in to take his place, he felt a pang of jealousy but quickly stamped it down. He knew Harry only had one or two mother figures and he wasn't going to let his jealous nature get in the way of Harry's happiness.

Molly whispered soothing words in Harry's ear as he lay his head down on her breast.

Molly shot Arthur a knowing look. He nodded as he herded the others from the room.

"Let's get some tea…"

Ron protested rather loudly but was silenced by the look on his father's face.

The door closed and Molly relaxed.

She pressed soft kisses to Harry's sweaty forehead as he burrowed into her. Molly smiled; she'd always thought of Harry as one of her own children but in moments like this, she felt that connection to him. The connection all mothers share with their children.

As he burrowed into her warmth, Harry had unconsciously brought his thumb to his mouth and was sucking on it. Molly knew Harry only did that when he was truly scared. It was adorable to her, watching Harry's green eyes, wet with unshed tears following her every move, his rapid sucking as he tried to slow his heart to mirror hers.

Reaching into the pocket of her cardigan, Molly pulled out an item she had purchased especially for Harry.

The object dangled from her finger, swinging gently.

Harry's eyes widened when he realised what it was.

A pacifier.

His brow creased with confusion but he allowed Molly to remove his thumb from his mouth and replace it with the pacifier.

Harry held it in his mouth for a moment getting used to the strange texture before giving an experimental suck.

"That's it…" Molly soothed.

Encouraged Harry gave a firmer suck followed by another. Quickly, the tension fled from his body and he melted against Molly allowed her to hold him close and whisper sweet nothings in his ear.

"That's it Harry…"

Harry inhaled her homely scent, something he couldn't describe in words, but it smelt like the Burrow, like home.

Molly rocked Harry against her gently as he relaxed.

His eyes blinked sleepily but they didn't close. They would be very lucky if they could get Harry to sleep tonight. More than once she'd found him on the sofa at home, not wanting to sleep after a nightmare. More than once she had taken him to her room and let him crawl in between her and Arthur where he would lay his head on her breast, just listening to the beat of her heart.

That always calmed him and soon he would drift off, protected in their embrace.

Severus cupped a cooling cup of coffee in his hand; it was untouched. He was worried about Harry which showed on his face as Ron looked at him.

Arthur had dragged them away while his mother took over from Sirius, who now sat on the far sofa, chatting with Arthur about the song he had sung. He launched into a speech about Cat Stevens and the songs he wrote, even crooning a verse or two from his favourites which caused both Andromeda and Narcissa to laugh at his antics, while Remus shook his head smiling.

Ron and Severus sat opposite each other, assessing each other but saying nothing. They both worried for Harry and wanted nothing more than to be with him at that moment, but Ron wasn't sure how he felt about the Potions Master.

It was true that earlier, when Severus hugged him, he had felt something in his chest. It was similar to what he felt for Harry but not quite the same and he wasn't sure about what to do.

He saw Bill and Charlie chatting from his position on the sofa and wondered whether he could ask them about it. Bill was openly bi-sexual and Charlie was asexual, he loved his dragons more than anything. He'd explained it to Ron before but he didn't quite understand.

Ron fidgeted under Severus' gaze, trying desperately to sort his own feelings out. Anyone who knew Ron also knew that he wasn't good with words or feelings.

"Do stop fidgeting, Mr. Weasley…" Severus drawled.

"Sorry!" Ron squeaked, ducking his head, heat rising in his cheeks.

Severus sighed, he set his untouched coffee down on the table and moved to sit next to the nervous redhead.

When Ron didn't move or speak, he sighed again.

"It's okay."

Ron shrugged.

"I've been where you are Ronald… Not knowing if you feel one thing or another…"

Ron shrugged again.

"Look… I'm not expecting anything from you… anything at all…"

Ron's head snapped up; eyes wide.

"I'm not going to ask for anything… I'll wait for you to come to me if that is what you choose."

Before Ron could say anything, his mother emerged from the room, tucking something in her pocket.

"He's asking for you…" Molly said, gesturing to the room.

Ron and Severus both stood, before looking at each other, then Molly.

"He wants both of you…"

Severus swiftly walked into the room, while Ron just twisted his hands in his shirt.

His mother kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Go… sweetheart… he needs you both right now…"

Ron gave a small nod before shuffling after Severus.

Entering the room, Ron closed the door behind him. He stayed facing it for a second, trying to steady his rapid heartbeat.

Turning to the bed, he saw Severus' back was to him and Harry's arm was wrapped around his shoulder, his head buried in the Potion Master's chest.

Slowly Ron edged over to the bed, carefully climbing over Severus and Harry's entangled legs. He lay down his front to Harry's back, leaving a bit of space between them.

For a minute they were all silent, just taking comfort in being together and being there for Harry.

Severus lay there watching the redhead, noting the gap he'd left between him and Harry who was trying his best to wrap himself around Severus.

Severus knew Ron was nervous and anxious about him being there. They didn't have the best of the relationships, the nicest they'd been to each other in recent years was when they said nothing at all. At worst, they screamed at each other.

Severus knew Ron was unsure of his place in all this; he was probably wondering whether this was a one off, whether he'd have a place in Harry's heart beside Severus.

Severus didn't know how right he was as Ron was thinking all of those things, but most of all, Ron felt inadequate next to Severus.

Severus was intelligent, quiet and could offer Harry much more than he could. Ron, by comparison, was loud and brash, things that Harry actively avoided in other people.

Ron was shocked from his thoughts when a long arm came to wrap around his hip, drawing him closer to Harry until they were firmly pressed together.

Ron held his breath as those long, tapered fingers ran up and down his spine.

After a minute, he began to relax, sending a small smile in Severus' direction.

Severus gave a small nod and they lay together. He knew he and Ron would have to talk about their past at some point but for now Harry was all that mattered.

For the next half an hour they just cuddled and dozed. It wasn't until the sun was beginning to sink in the sky, signalling that it would be time for dinner soon, that the peace was shattered by a rumbling stomach.

Severus raised an eyebrow at Ron.

"Wasn't me…" he pouted.

"Sorry… it was mine…" Harry confessed, "…I didn't have any lunch…"

Ron snuggled into Harry's hair.

"Mimsy…" Severus grumbled.

"You call Mimsy, Sir."

Severus grunted in response, not wanting to move.

"Tell the elf what you want for dinner, boys."

Ron nodded and eagerly relayed his order to Mimsy, while Harry thought about his.

"Um… I'd like some chicken salad please…" Harry asked.

"I'll have the same."

Severus waved the elf away who disappeared with a pop.

Harry quickly wiggled out of Ron's grip, heading to the bathroom, which appeared attached to the room, leaving Severus and Ron alone.

Not wanting to scare the boy, Severus reached out a finger and gently traced small patterns on the back of Ron's hand.

The boy yawned and sent a small smile at Severus which he returned.

Harry observed them for a moment, happy they were building something between them. Even if it was small and fragile right now, it would grow and become stronger, he was sure of it.

Mimsy popped back into the room to set a tray of food on the bedside table.

He joined Severus and Ron, who were sitting on the edge of the bed, eating happily.

Harry tucked into his own salad, enjoying the crisp textures and light flavours. Not many people knew, but Harry could never eat a lot, despite how much Molly tried to fatten him up. Years of forced starvation had taken their toll on him. He ate slowly as he listened to Ron chat seemingly to himself about new products the twins were working on. By the time he finished, Ron and Severus had already put their plates off to the side to be collected later.

They sat for a moment in content silence before Severus spoke.

"I think we've put this reading off long enough…"

Harry nodded but made no move to leave the room.

Severus stood, stretching out his long limbs.

"Come on…" Severus prompted.

Harry and Ron stood and followed him out.

Everyone was waiting for them. Hermione had the book in her lap once more, eager to finish reading.

Harry smiled at her bookish friend as he settled himself between Ron and Severus.

"Are we ready?" Albus asked.

A few people glared but the Headmaster ignored it.

Harry nodded, burrowing into Severus' side, curling his feet up in Ron's lap.

"Very well… Miss Granger if you please."

Hermione nodded, opening the book once more.

"Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon…"

Severus chuckled quietly, bringing a smile to Harry's face as they settled into reading once more.