Taking a pillow from his bed, he sat it on the floor and placed the puppy on it.
"That is your bed for tonight. You will stay on there unless you have to… relieve yourself." He flicked his wand and an old newspaper flew from a nightstand to arrange itself on the floor in the corner of the bedroom, away from the bed. "You will use the paper for that." He flicked his wand once more and a small bowl of water appeared next to the pillow. "In case you need a drink during the night. It is the weekend, so I expect a lie-in. Do not wake me."
Assuming the animal understood his tone, if not his words, Severus left for the bathroom to get ready for bed.
*
Chapter 2
The next morning, Severus awoke at the wonderful hour of… three o'clock. What the hell? Then, he heard a whimper. And a whine. Looking over the side of his bed, he could make out the squirming figure of the puppy, on his pillow. He grabbed his wand, cast a silent Lumos and looked to see what was going on.
It seemed as though the pup was still asleep; trapped in a nightmare. Wonderful…
He reached down and poked the squirming mass of fur in the belly, hoping to wake it up.
His plan worked, but ended up scaring the stupid creature into hiding under the night stand, whimpering and cowering. He groaned, not wanting to get out of his warm bed so early in the morning. Alas, he was not going to get any sleep, knowing the puppy was scared and crying under his bedside table.
Cringing at the cold air hitting him through his pyjamas, Severus hauled himself out of bed and crouched in front of the table, hoping to coax the pup out.
"Come on, you know I won't hurt you. Come here," he tried for gentle, but it didn't seem to be very convincing. He groaned, and crouched down further, trying to see the black puppy in the shadow of his furniture. "Please come out?" He didn't think that would work, but gave it a try. He was right. The frustrating little ball of fur refused to come out. "If you don't come out in the next three seconds, I'm going to Accio you out." He grabbed his wand and showed it to the puppy to prove his threat. That, surprisingly, worked.
Timidly, the tiny creature came out from its hiding place and sat before the annoyed Potions Master, looking at the floor. It appeared to be sulking.
After a moment of staring at it, Severus was about to go back to bed, but a little paw on his knee stopped him. He looked down to see the biggest, brown, watery puppy-eyes he'd ever seen. He huffed and grumbled before picking up the animal and its pillow, before climbing back into bed. Sitting the pillow down, at the head of the bed, away from him, and the puppy on it, Severus finally allowed himself to go back to sleep.
*
There were headstones everywhere. If he opened his eyes he'd be able to see Cedric's body inches away… but he couldn't open his eyes. As hard as he tried, he couldn't open his eyes, couldn't look at Cedric's body.
He could hear footsteps approaching. Could hear the wheezing breath of Peter Pettigrew as he made his way to Harry. He felt the warm, putrid breath on his face, could smell the decay of Wormtail's teeth and gums. He felt like being sick. He tried and tried to defend himself, but he couldn't move. Couldn't see! He could feel the blade slicing his arm open; the warm wetness of his blood flowing down his arm. If only he could open his eyes!
He struggled blindly, trying to get free. He couldn't really move, but he was going to try! He moved his head from side to side, trying to loosen the grip of the statue.
As he faced left, he caught a familiar, comforting scent. The pleasant musk from somewhere he couldn't quite remember. Someone he couldn't remember. He knew they were close, but couldn't see them! If only he could open his eyes!
Suddenly, he could see. He could open his eyes. He looked for the source of the scent. But every time he tried to look at them, the person would move just out of line of his sight. He whined. Wait… whined? He started whimpering and growling in fright, struggling to get free; to get to the soothing smell of that unknown person.
When he couldn't get free, he howled and yipped his misery. He needed to get free!
With a jolt, Harry woke up, falling off his pillow, onto a soft mattress. When he righted himself, he remembered where he was. And why. He didn't care that it was Severus Snape that was next to him. He didn't care that he was supposed to hate this man; fear him. He needed the comfort of another person. He needed that wonderful smell that seemed to only come from his Potions professor.
He stumbled over, still half asleep, still affected by his nightmare, to cuddle up under his professor's chin, next to his chest. He let the steady beating of the other man's heart lull him to sleep.
*
Yawning, Severus awoke for the second time that morning, but felt a warm, furry, moving thing under his chin. He sat up and looked down. Next to where he'd been sleeping, the warm, furry, moving thing was the puppy he'd found the night before. He scowled. Bloody thing… doesn't it understand plain English? He snorted. Of course it doesn't. He poked it awake, frowning at the sheer audacity of it to snuggle with him. Him!
He poked it a few more times, finally getting it to wake up. It immediately rolled onto its back, ears splaying out, tongue lolling. It was obscenely cute.
"What do you think you were doing, dog?" He sighed, not ready to challenge an obvious professional at the puppy-eyes thing. It arched its back, nipping lightly at his finger that had poked it. It wanted a tummy rub. Rolling his eyes, he tickled along its belly, ignoring the urge to coo when it gave a sound of satisfaction, arching into his finger even more.
He shook his head, reprimanding himself for going soft. But, looking back down at the happy thing, he couldn't help the small smile from spreading over his lips, as he brought such a simple pleasure to this adorable creature.
Alas, he knew he'd have to return it to its rightful owner.
After breakfast.