Oh my gosh guys, I completely abandoned you! I'm so sorry! I'm such a bad author:( I've actually had this chapter written for a while, it just took me some time to get myself to type it all out. Hopefully in the future I'll be quicker with the updates, but thank you to those who are patiently waiting for an update, and those who reviewed:) It's all appreciated. Enjoy this next chapter:)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, it all belongs to the most wonderful J.K. Rowling.

Hogwarts was quiet and the students were all fast asleep in their beds, but somewhere in the castle, there was a young boy who just couldn't find the peacefulness inside his mind. Harry's body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and his chest wracked with sobs. The lightning bolt scar on his forehead burned with a fierceness, making his skull hammer. He couldn't make a sound, not even a cry for help as he was trapped inside his dreams. Voldemort was getting stronger these days and Harry was suffering from the effects of that every night.

He awoke with a start, sitting up in bed and gasping for breath. The visions were getting worse, and he knew that in the Daily Prophet the next morning, would be the exact wording of what he just saw. In a little town somewhere in England, fire was set to a muggle family's home. They smelled the smoke, and tried to escape for their lives. There was a newborn baby bundled up by blankets, unaware of the horrible tragedy going on around him. They made it downstairs, only to find the doors sealed shut before they fell to the floor, the baby still cradled in the mother's arms. The house went alight, and when the firefighters arrived, they only found ashes.

Tears streamed down Harrys cheeks as he cried in loss of the young couple's life and the little boy, who would never get the chance to grow up with his family. His muscles ached and he groaned in pain. Ron tossed in his bed, and Harry decided to take a walk, as to not wake his roommates. He got up quickly and stretched his stiff body parts to loosen them up.

There was bound to be someone besides himself lurking around the castle, so he grabbed his invisibility cloak before running out of the common room and into the halls. He roamed around for a while just thinking, hiding every time he heard the subtle tapping of footsteps descending closer. He was used to the daily walks now and knew exactly what to look out for. He's been doing this every night since first year and now it seemed like a routine to him. Eventually he got tired of walking and sat down on the bottom step of the staircase, rocking himself back and forth. The movement was soothing, and calmed his thoughts. His eyes got heavier and it became harder to think clearly. He fell asleep not even minutes after, and was curled in on himself almost protectively, with his cloak clutched in one hand. And that's exactly how he found him.

Severus was making his nightly rounds throughout the school, looking for brats with a penchant for trouble. Only rarely did he find someone dumb enough to cross his path. He was bored, incredibly so, of not having found a single victim yet. It was only when he walked towards the general direction of the staircase did something catch his eye. A distinct figure huddled in on itself, completely still except for the rhythm of his chest rising and falling. He moved cautiously forward, stepping on the tips of his boots so that no sound would escape. Upon inching closer he discovered a messy mop of black hair, which could belong to none other than the Golden Boy himself. 'Insolent brat' thought Severus irritably, 'he's everywhere I turn.' At this point he was standing right in front of Harry; close enough to see his eyelids fluttering then slowly opening. The boy let out a small yawn and Severus cleared his throat, startling him into standing up. "P-professor, I-I I'm so sorry, please don't be mad I-"

"Save it Potter" he snarled, "come with me. Now!"

Harry sighed. "Yes sir."

Harry was led by Snape down to the dungeons, and into his office. He could most likely memorize where everything was by how many times he's been in here. The grey brick walls were lined with potions, there were various book shelves strewn about the room, in the middle of the stone floor was a large teacher's desk and right in front of it was a much smaller one for students. He flexed his hand in remembered pain of sitting in that desk many times before writing lines.

Snape walked behind the workspace and sat in the chair, leaning back and thrumming his fingers upon the wooden surface.

"Now would be an opportune time to explain yourself Mr. Potter" he drawled out. Harry gulped, and slowly sat down opposite the man.

"Sir, I really am sorry, honestly. I didn't even realize I fell asleep."

"That does not explain why you were out roaming the halls in the first place, when in fact you know that it is against the rules. I have the right mind to tell the headmaster about this." Harry's eyes cast down with guilt.

"It's the dreams again sir" he mumbled.

"The dreams? You mean…"

"Yeah."

"But I thought that those stopped?"

"I lied to get Dumbledore off my back. It was always Harry do this, Harry do that, Harry are you okay, is it your scar? I'm tired of people looking at me like I'm some weak little thing! I just want to be normal!"

Severus sighed, and rubbed his sleep depraved eyes.

"Nothing is normal Harry, sometimes you just have to-"

"Wait a minute."

"What?" Harry blinked his eyes in shock.

"What did you just say?"

"Are you daft or do I just need to speak louder? I said that nothing is normal."

"No after that, you called me Harry."

Snape's brows shot up in disbelief, as if he didn't realize the own words that have come out of his mouth. He quickly masked his features, and the wall came back up.

"Well that is your name isn't it?"

"Yes but-"

"Okay, let's move on shall we? I might have a solution to your sleep problem, but I must talk to the headmaster first."

"Are you going to tell him that I've been lying?" His mouth quirked downwards.

"Yes, if you want to get help. It's getting late, go back to your dormitory and try to get some sleep."

"Okay sir."

"Good, you're dismissed."

Harry got up, walked the long journey to his room, trudging his feet as he went. As he lay in bed and closed his eyes, sleep never came. A single word went on repeat through his head, keeping him awake. "Harry."