Never, ever try that again
..
Harry Potter is a foolish child, he thinks, as the lights in the Hospital Wing slowly dim. It's just after the boy's fifth year, and he has already faced Voldemort four times, not counting his escape as a baby. That's five times too many, Severus Snape thinks to himself. Even if he hates Harry due to the fact that he couldn't let go of the past, Snape knows that no fifteen-year-old boy should have to live with the fear that had become a constant in Harry's life.
He watches Harry with a calculating eye as the small body shifts in sleep, obviously restless. Snape wonders if he's dreaming, and if he will have to deal with a nightmare. His guess is yes; it's just his luck that he had to get assigned to watch the sleeping child right after such a catastrophic event.
Sirius Black is dead. Snape's insides are crowing in delight and exulatation; the mutt is dead, he won't be coming back, ever! But something else stings at him. Harry could have died. And as much as he pretends to despise the boy, he can't bring himself to truly believe it.
Walking over slowly to the child, Snape bends down and listens to his breathing for a moment. The room is deadly silent.
"Never, ever try that again," he whispers softly. He knows Harry will; the boy certainly does have a knack for finding himself in life-or-death situations.
He's quiet for another moment, before he reaches down. With a surprisingly soft touch, he brushes the boy's hair out of his eyes. Despite everything, he knows he would protect Harry with his life.
He can't let those green eyes die again.