Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Harry thanked Dobby for the message and sighed. It appeared that Mr. Malfoy wished to see Harry in the man's private study. Harry tightened his Occlumency and cleared his mind, just in case. His teacher had always said to be prepared for anything. Harry felt that this counted.
He walked down the hallway and up to the imposing door. He reached up a hand and knocked. The door swung open. "Come in, Mr. Potter." Mr. Malfoy said. Harry stepped into the room and looked around. The room itself was paneled in heavy woods that appeared to have darkened over time. The furniture looked functional and comfortable, unlike the formal sitting room with fluffy, useless pillows. A bright fire crackled in the grate and gave the room a pleasant smell.
Mr. Malfoy stepped out from behind a bookshelf. The sudden appearance of the man gave Harry a different impression of him. Harry could only see Mr. Malfoy in a heavy black robe with the door of Harry's 'room' behind him, instead of 'Mr. Malfoy, Draco's father'. Harry took an involuntary step back before reality asserted itself and he remembered where he was. Harry only hoped that Malfoy hadn't noticed. He looked up to find Malfoy giving him an odd look. Damn it, he did notice. "Please sit down, Mr. Potter." Mr. Malfoy said as he motioned Harry into the room.
Harry moved forward and chose a chair that allowed him to see the door and Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy took a seat across from Harry and relaxed into the chair. "May I offer you something to drink?" Malfoy asked.
I have a feeling it will not contain alcohol. Harry thought as he shook his head. "No, thank you." He answered. Verbal responses were the only acceptable ones in close proximity, according to Snape's etiquette classes.
"I was wondering if we could have a talk." Mr. Malfoy said calmly.
"Yes, sir." Harry answered. It was just easier to agree. Harry had a feeling the talking would be more of a question/answer session than an actual conversation.
"You gave us quite a scare last night.' Malfoy said slowly.
"Did you know you were going to have a nightmare last night?" Malfoy asked.
Yes. "No." Harry answered.
"Do you have nightmares often?" Malfoy continued.
Every night. Sometimes more than once. "No." Harry was already tired of being in this room. He was ready to leave. Now.
"What do your relatives do after you have a nightmare?" Malfoy asked. The question surprised Harry. Why would Malfoy want to know? Why did he care?
Yell at me to shut up. "Nothing." Harry said shortly. He could still hear his uncle shouting at him to be quiet, even though it had been months since he had seen the man. He could practically feel Vernon's breath on his face, the trembling rage he sometimes let out on his nephew.
"Nothing?" Malfoy demanded. The sharp tone made Harry jerk. He had forgotten where he was for a moment. He looked up at Malfoy and shook his head.
"Nothing, sir." Harry answered calmly. Keep being polite and the man will let you leave. Just answer his questions and ignore everything else.
"I see." Malfoy conjured a glass of water and passed it to Harry. Harry reached out and took it. He grasped the glass lightly and hoped Malfoy couldn't see his hands shaking. Harry calmed himself and took a sip of water.
"What do you do after a nightmare?" Malfoy asked softly.
Beg for my misery to end. Wonder at my stupid choices. "Nothing, sir." Harry said again. It was becoming repetitive.
"Ah." Malfoy said thoughtfully. The man appeared to be thinking.
"May I go now, sir?" Harry asked quickly, trying to feign eagerness. "Draco mentioned something about your library."
Malfoy gave Harry an odd look. "You are here to rest, Mr. Potter. Please do not over do it." Mr. Malfoy looked Harry over, as though searching for signs of a plan to do just that.
"No, sir." Harry said. Agreeing with him is fine, so long as it gets me out of here.
"Very well. Have fun with Draco, Mr. Potter." Mr. Malfoy said as he stood. "Do not study too much." Malfoy admonished him.
"Thank you, sir." Harry stood and forced himself to walk from the room. He would not run from Malfoy, not in this lifetime.
Mr. Malfoy poured out a glass of scotch and handed Snape's drink to him. "Thank you for coming, Severus." Mr. Malfoy said as he picked up his own drink and sat down. He rested his own glass on the arm of the chair and sighed.
Snape studied the Malfoy patriarch and wondered what could possibly trouble his old friend so much that he felt the need for whiskey and water…without the water. "It's no trouble, Lucius. I am wondering why you called me here early. What couldn't wait until the ball this evening?" Snape asked as he sipped on his scotch. The Malfoys always had excellent scotch. He would have been shocked to know that Lucius kept it stocked for his friend alone.
"That boy." Mr. Malfoy said in frustration.
"I know many boys, Lucius. I am a teacher. You'll have to be more specific. His name would help, for instance." Snape said dryly.
"The Potter boy." Malfoy snapped as he leaned his head back in his chair.
Snape tensed the slightest bit. "What of him?" He asked quietly. You have an Unbreakable Vow on you, remember that, Lucius.
"Draco said that you spend a lot of time with Potter. Do you know anything about his nightmares?" Malfoy asked.
"I take it you witnessed one?" Snape said more than asked. "Startling, aren't they?" Snape asked as he nursed his drink.
"Startling?" Malfoy asked in surprise. "Disturbing is more apt, Severus. What do you know about them?"
"I know of no cause." Snape admitted. "I confronted the boy about them after his stay in the Hospital Wing. I've never seen such a violent reaction to a dream before." Snape admitted. "Not even my own." He paused for a second before moving on. "He said that his aunt calls them 'night terrors'. That's all I could learn from the boy." Snape hesitated to say anything further about Potter's reactions to the questions. He didn't want to give away any useful information.
"I wonder what their relationship is like." Malfoy said as he emptied his glass and set it aside.
"I don't know. I know very little actual information about Potter himself." Snape said. "Potter is a very private boy. He only cares for his books. He dislikes sweets, anything to do with physical exercise, and the usual childish amusements." That was what bothered Snape the most about the Potter boy. He was not a boy in his activities. He appeared more as a young man. "Finding out anything from him about their relationship is likely to be skewed through his own experiences." Snape said.
Malfoy nodded in agreement. "He is not an ordinary child. He is extremely quiet. I often forget he is in the room." Mr. Malfoy admitted. "He reminds me of another boy I knew." Malfoy said in a calm voice. "A boy who loved the magic of Potions and devoured the Dark Arts." Malfoy gave a pointed look to Snape.
"Yes, I know." Snape said with a sigh. "It is disconcerting. I see James Potter when I think of him, but when I work with him, I notice something…off." Snape paused. "Something is not quite right with him."
"He flinches whenever I approach him. He shakes if I touch him." Mr. Malfoy admitted. "He had the same reaction with Narcissa, though she says it is decreasing the more contact she has with him. She put him back to bed after his nightmare last night."
"He allowed her to touch him?" Snape asked in surprise. Potter had reacted violently to Madame Pomfrey's touch when she tried to put him back to bed.
"'Touch him'?" Malfoy snorted. "The boy fell asleep in her arms." Malfoy said as he refilled their drinks, laughing just the slightest bit.
"Do you think that it's just men?" Severus asked. "Perhaps his uncle…"
Malfoy shook his head. "We do not have enough evidence. We cannot make any accusations yet."
"What we do have, though…"
"It's disturbing, Severus. He's a child. I've done some terrible, wonderful things. I admit that without a qualm. Most of them, I can even say I enjoyed, but to do that to one of our children…it makes me feel homicidal again."
Snape blinked at the speech. "I find it interesting to hear something like that about the 'Boy Who Lived'." Snape commented.
"'Boy' is the key word, Severus. Why would Harry Potter have anything to do with the Dark Lord's fall? His parents, however, I do hold responsible." Malfoy explained.
"You fault the parents?" Snape asked, slightly surprised. Most of the wizarding world seemed content to blame or commend the boy, not the parents. The fact that Lucius Malfoy thought differently from everyone else was slightly alarming.
"There had to be something they did to protect their child." Malfoy answered. "The Dark Lord may have become a little wand happy and tried to violate the ritual or what have you." Lucius shrugged. He didn't know what had happened that night.
"And if the situation had been reversed?" Snape asked. "If it had been Dumbledore after you and your family?" Snape tried to put it into the proper perspective.
"I would have done the same thing to protect the people I love and hold dear." Malfoy admitted. "Anyone who does what they did out of love should be respected…but I still hold them responsible, not the boy."
"Master Malfoy!" Dobby popped into the room. "It's Master Harry Potter again! He is crying and screaming and…" Malfoy didn't give his elf time to finish.
He leapt from his chair and started for the hallway, motioning for Snape to join him. "We sent the boys to rest earlier, so they could be up tonight for the ball." Malfoy explained to Snape. "It must be a nightmare." He opened the door to Harry's room and rushed in to stop at the sight of Harry thrashing on the bed.
"Mr. Potter." Malfoy said as he leaned over the bed. "Wake up, Mr. Potter." He reached down to shake the boy awake. Snape watched in shock as the boy lashed out, knocking the hand from his shoulder and rolling away from Lucius. "Mr. Potter, you were having another nightmare." Malfoy said calmly, waiting for the boy to regain full coherency.
"They're dead." Harry whispered to himself, still able to see the bodies of Fred and George Weasley in front of his eyes. "He killed them." Harry shook and fought to get a hold of himself. Voldemort would say something and Harry would have to respond. He had no choice. "I-I tried." He told himself, trying to prepare for trading insults with the Dark Lord. "I tried."
Snape watched the boy close himself off from his terror, but grimaced when he saw the mental pain translate into a physical manifestation of shaking and tears. He would guess this was an attack of some kind if he didn't know better. Snape dimly registered his friend sending the house elf for Narcissa. Lucius tried to get closer to the boy several times, only to find that Harry would inch away from him. Lucius stopped his attempts at comforting Harry and gestured for Snape to try.
Snape slowly walked over to the boy and knelt down, keeping his hands in view. "Potter." The boy jerked at his name, but turned his empty gaze towards his professor. Snape sent out a gentle mental touch and found the boy's shields were completely down. He probed a little deeper and saw two people on a stone floor with a vague sense of being restrained. He felt a tentative push to his mind and withdrew. There was no need for the boy to know his mind had been invaded. "Potter?"
Harry heard a familiar voice saying his name. He started to come back to himself and saw Professor Snape. It was a subtle reminder that he needed to raise his mental shields. Harry built up the shields gradually and looked at his professor. "Sir." He croaked out as he stepped forward. Snape had been his anchor more than once after a battle. They had a similar understanding that had surprised him at first and then became his sole comfort later. Snape understood what it was like to be…Harry.
Snape froze the boy's stance started to change. The lad was about to do…something. He watched as the boy stepped closer and reached out a hand towards him. Snape waited and felt a skeletal hand touch his shoulder. He felt the tiny bones fist themselves in his robes. He could feel the shaking through his clothing and wondered why the reaction seemed to be calming from the contact, rather than getting worse.
"He killed them." The boy whispered to him.
"No one has died, Potter." Snape said, reaching out to rest a hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy shook his head. "Look at me." Snape said shortly. Harry's eyes shifted to face Snape. "No one has died."
"Sir?" Harry said in surprise. What is Snape doing here? More importantly, what did I say? 'No one has died'? He looked around and prepared to die of mortification. He remembered his dream and how he lost himself, in front of Malfoy and Snape, of all people! He could practically taste their suspicion.
"Do you know us, Potter?" Snape said calmly as Harry pulled his hand away and took a few steps back from his teacher.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. You are an imbecile, Potter! Harry told himself as he wondered how he was going to avoid their notions of what his dreams were about."Yes, Professor." Harry answered, rubbing at his face to help himself wake up. He wondered if he could rub straight through his skull to poke a hole in his brain. He could die that way, right? "I'm sorry to have disturbed you again, Mr. Malfoy. You as well, Professor." Harry said.
"It's nothing, Mr. Potter." Mr. Malfoy said. "I am more worried about you." He admitted as the door flew open to admit his wife.
Narcissa Malfoy brushed past her husband and came to a stop in front of Harry. "Are you alright?" She asked as she gathered Harry to her.
"I'm fine, Mrs. Malfoy." Harry said as he squirmed out of her arms. Okay, she's nice, but there's no need to cuddle me in front of two men. I'm an adult! Harry almost laughed at himself. He often forgot what others saw when they looked at him. "It was just a dream." He said, more to reassure himself than anyone else in the room. Did Snape just snort? "Is it time to get ready?" He asked.
"Yes, Mr. Potter." Narcissa said softly. "Go wash your face and do something with that hair." She said, giving him a little nudge towards his bathroom.
"My hair does what it wants, Mrs. Malfoy." He told her with a sigh. "I'll try anyway." He promised when she raised an eyebrow at him.
Narcissa waited until Harry disappeared behind the bathroom door before turning to speak to her husband and his friend. "Was it bad?" She asked.
"It took him longer to come out of it." Lucius told her. "The reaction has become faster, if that is possible." He gave a slight shrug. "He didn't seem to mind touching Severus at all."
"He let you touch him?" She asked Snape with a smile.
"He touched me first." Snape explained. "Just my robes." He motioned to his shoulder.
"We'll talk later." Narcissa promised. "For now, I've got to get an extremely delicate little boy into dress robes." She turned towards the closet and dismissed the men with a wave of her hand. The two men gave each other identical looks of horror and left Narcissa to her 'nurturing'.
Harry sat in front of the mirror and stared at himself. Narcissa Malfoy was a genius. No, more than that. Pure magic. She had managed to make his hair lie flat! Now, if she could only do something about his scar…
"Are you finished staring at yourself?" Draco asked as he entered Harry's room in his own dress robes.
"That depends on what you want me to do now." Harry answered as he stood to meet Draco. He smoothed the front of his green dress robes. He had tried the black dress robes, but Narcissa had vetoed that idea. She said the black dress robes made him too pale, but the green did not. Harry hadn't questioned it. It had to be a girl thing.
"We're allowed to go down now." Draco said as he checked himself in Harry's mirror. "Our dates are here." Draco said with a grin.
"Dates?" Harry asked with dread. "What dates?" Mr. Malfoy had not said anything about dates for the evening.
"They're just some girls our age that Father and Mother invited so we wouldn't get bored. It's to give us practice for the real thing later on in life." Draco told him with a smile. "You already know them, Harry. Calm down."
"Who is it?" Harry demanded. He refused to spend time with any girl he didn't like.
"Well, Pansy's coming for me, but we got you a nice Ravenclaw girl." Draco said with a smile.
"Don't toy with me, Draco." Harry warned him. "It's not funny." This is almost as bad as Snape tossing me at Ginny after forcing that potion down my throat…'relieve some stress, Potter!'…hah!
"No, I'm serious." Draco said, causing Harry's mind to jump to his godfather. Note to self: Set plan into motion.
"Who?" Harry snapped.
"Mandy Brocklehurst." Draco said. "My father and her uncle work on many of the same boards, so Mandy's been coming here as long as Pansy has." He said. "She's half-blood, but Mother dotes on her, so Father allows it."
"You pure-bloods must get lonely." Harry said in a teasing voice.
"Don't tell my father that I agree with you." Draco said in a whisper. "Childhood playmates were hard to come by."
"I won't tell him." Harry said. "Glad to hear your opinion on it." Harry said with a smile as he followed Draco out of the room. Draco was voicing his own opinions more and more often as time went on, especially when Harry always asked for them. He even admitted that Hermione wasn't 'half-bad', once he managed to forget she was a muggleborn.
"It happens." Draco admitted. "But I'll deny it if you say anything." He warned Harry as the two started down the stairs.
"I wouldn't expect anything less from a Slytherin." Harry admitted. He looked up to see Pansy Parkinson and Mandy Brocklehurst waiting for the two of them in an alcove.
"Just remember that the girls are friends, not girlfriends. You do know how to dance, right?" Draco asked.
"Fine time to learn, isn't it?" Harry asked with a grin.
"Dear Merlin. We're doomed." Draco said as they reached the girls. Harry offered his arm to Mandy with a smile and followed Draco into the ballroom. It was time to dreg up the lessons Hermione had given him one evening in Headquarters. Dancing for the Yule Ball couldn't compare to Hermione's lessons.
"The boys appear to be enjoying themselves." Narcissa told her husband as she returned from another round of mingling with the other wives.
"Yes, they do." Lucius agreed. "You did a wonderful job teaching Potter to dance, Severus." He said in a complimentary tone. Snape raised an eyebrow in surprise and turned to look at the corner the children had staked out as their territory. Would wonders never cease? The boy was actually graceful while dancing. It certainly made up for lack of ability in every day walking.
"I did not teach him to dance, Lucius." Severus admitted. "That lesson was slated right before the holidays began, but I was forced to cancel it to deal with some unruly students." Snape said while watching Harry.
"Where did he learn it, then?" Lucius asked in surprise.
"Only the gods could tell us that." Snape said. "He is a Ravenclaw. Perhaps he found a book on it." Snape suggested. He doubted it. Potter could not have learned the necessary steps from a book. Or the movement and rhythm. That only came from practice.
"Well, you two may stand here and gossip like a pair of old women. I'm going to claim my son for our traditional dance." Narcissa said as she slipped away from the pair. It was a Christmas tradition for her and Draco to share a dance to the same song every year. She had just arranged to have 'their' song played.
"What do you say to making two young girls very happy?" Lucius said as he pointed out the girls to Snape.
"I'll have to take Parkinson. Brocklehurst might faint." Snape sighed as Lucius led the way. He hated dancing with students, but Parkinson would not be a total waste on the dance floor. He only hoped she wouldn't get ideas because of it.
Potter only seemed too happy to allow his date to be taken away from him. He gladly handed off Mandy to Lucius Malfoy and told the man that he was going out onto the veranda for a quick breath of air, making his escape while he was unattached to another human being.
The ball wasn't as bad as Harry thought it was going to be. It helped that most of the adults were dancing and ignoring anyone under the height of an average teenager. In other words, Harry was too short to be given much notice at all, even with his 'Boy Who Lived' status. It was refreshing and kept him from feeling like he was surrounded. Still, he was grateful for the chance to get away from it all and collect his fraying nerve endings. He figured that they had another three or four hours to go until the ball would end. He had no idea how long children stayed. He hoped that he would be sent off to bed soon, so that he could prepare for the next day. Christmas. What would that be like?
He looked up as a man staggered out onto the veranda. He was obviously well into his cups and appeared oblivious to the world, and Harry. Harry gave him a slight nod, to be polite, and turned back to his study of the snow covered ground. He wondered what Draco would think if Harry suggested a snowball fight. Did Malfoys have snowball fights? Harry gasped as he felt someone grab the collar of his dress robes and yank him backwards. He coughed as he landed and scrambled up to his feet.
"You!" The drunken man slurred as he advanced on Harry. "You killed my Lord!" The man lurched forward and the light from one of the inside windows hit his face. Oh, bugger. MacNair advanced on Harry and pinned him against the wall.
Harry struggled to reach his wand and gasped as he felt the man's hand close around his throat. He lashed out with his feet and gave a silent cheer as the Death Eater gasped and released him. Harry scuttled away from the man and cursed to himself when the man caught his foot. MacNair lifted him up by his dress robes alone and dangled him there. Harry saw stars in the next instant and registered pain on one side of his face. The man had hit him. No, worse than hit him. He had smashed his fist on one side of Harry's head. "Tough little mite, aren't you?" The man said in interest as Harry remained silent. "Think you're a little fighter?" He asked as he hit Harry again. Harry remembered one thing about MacNair from his days of being tortured. McNair loved to hear the screams.
Harry gasped as he took another hit and brought his hands up to claw at the hand holding his robes. "Gerroff." Harry gasped through the swelling on his face.
"Ah, the little mite speaks." MacNair backhanded him and Harry could hear ringing. That wasn't a good sign. He jumped as a bright flash of light hit MacNair. The man howled in pain and dropped Harry. Harry crab-walked backwards away from the still howling MacNair and nearly screeched when someone picked him up. He fought for the briefest of moments until he recognized the person holding him. He sighed in relief. Snape would never realize how close he had come to losing a very valuable piece of equipment.
"Are you alright?" Snape asked him as he turned him around in his arms. This picking up thing was becoming very tiresome! Snape's eyes traveled over his face and Harry could practically see the concern in his eyes. "Tsk. That doesn't look good, Mr. Potter." Snape said as he rearranged Harry so that Harry's uninjured side rested against Snape's shoulder. "Let's get you away from him." He told the boy. Good idea. Excellent idea. Why didn't I think of that? Harry wrapped his arms around Snape and held on. He knew Snape would dismember anyone who dared touch Harry now. Snape protection. It was a good thing.
"You found him!" Narcissa said in relief. Harry flinched as her hand touched a sore spot on his back. I was just attacked, people. Let's just remember that fact, shall we? No one noticed his mental suggestion.
"Yes. I'll need your assistance upstairs." Snape said as he dashed to the staircase. Narcissa followed behind him and waited for an explanation. Harry's bedroom door opened without Snape needing to touch it. Harry felt more than saw his sitting room, but he was more than grateful to be back in his bedroom. He felt faint and wondered why. Snape lowered Harry to the bed. "Pajamas for him, please, Narcissa." Snape said as he knelt and started removing Harry's shoes. "Mr. Potter, please stay alert for a few minutes." Snape said sharply when Harry's eyes started to drift shut. Harry nodded and then grimaced as he remembered that his head hurt.
Narcissa returned with a set of pajamas for Harry. This particular set was Harry's favorite, but how did Narcissa know? He hurt too much to be embarrassed when Snape exchanged Harry's dress robes for the pajamas. Both adults had seen it all before, right? How else could Narcissa explain Draco?
"Dobby!" Snape called out. The tiny elf appeared with a swift bow. "Listen to me carefully, Dobby. I need you to go to Hogwarts and bring Poppy Pomfrey here. Request that she bring along her medical bag, understood?" The elf disappeared with a slight pop.
Harry reached up a hand and felt the heat coming off the bruise. "Don't touch." Snape said as he snatched Harry's hand away from the mark. Harry nodded and grimaced again. He kept forgetting that his head hurt. The delayed reactions started and he began to shake and gasp for air. Shock: a sudden or violent disturbance of the mind, emotions, or sensibilities. You're in shock, Potter. Just keep calm. A pop surprised him and he jerked, only to hiss in breath as he felt his back twinge. MacNair had really tossed him about. The stone walls hadn't helped.
"Mr. Potter!" Poppy said in surprise. "Dear Merlin, what happened to you?" She asked as she took out her wand. Harry stared at her. He didn't have an answer. He was still trying to figure out what was going on around him.
"Drunken ex-Death Eater." Snape informed her as he took the bag from the nurse. "Ah, good." Snape removed a little pot of cream from the bag and set it on the bedside table. He started on the buttons to Harry's pajama top.
"I'm fine." Harry said in response to an imagined question. Someone did ask me how I was, right? He looked up at Pomfrey's face. Guess not. The nurse looked ready to string up someone.
"You are not fine!" Pomfrey objected as she started scanning. "No internal damage, thank goodness." She announced as Snape started smearing the salve on Harry's bruises.
"Good." Snape agreed. "Tilt your head." He said. Harry followed his instructions and winced when he felt Snape touch the bruise on his face. He jumped the slightest bit when he felt someone take his hand. He looked down, causing Snape to swear in French (Harry had learned a few choice words from Hermione) before nudging Harry's head up again. Narcissa Malfoy was holding Harry's hand. He wondered at it for a few seconds until Snape touched his face again. He tightened his hold on Narcissa's hand and mentally thanked her for the comfort. It felt better than digging his fingernails into his palms, no matter how used to the pain he was.
Harry sat throughout the whole ordeal and sighed when he felt some of the pain leave his body. A heavy lethargy entered his body and Harry wondered if the salve had anything to do with it. Snape pulled out a vial and uncorked it before handing it to Harry. "Dreamless Sleep." He told the boy. Harry nodded and accepted the vial. It was a full dose. A full dose meant a deep, full night of sleep. Harry didn't hesitate and handed the vial back to Snape once it was empty.
"Thank you, Prof-" Harry's eyes rolled back into his head as he fell asleep.
"That reaction is always amusing." Snape said to no one in particular as he ignored the glares of the two women. He couldn't help it if he enjoyed watching his potions at work. It gave him a sense of accomplishment.
Author's Note: Well, there is it. The next day is Christmas!