Save me from your nightmares

By RocketFAN

Chapter 3: You are not alone

Harry breathlessly climbed the cold, stone stairs from the dungeon and headed to the Gryffindor common room. When he arrived, shaken and out of breath, Ron and Hermione were sitting at the table studying for their O.W.L.'s.

"Harry, are you all right?" Hermione asked him as she jumped out of her seat and ran up to him.

"F-fine," Harry had never been a very good liar and his confrontation with Professor Snape was written all over his face.

"Harry…," Hermione said while noting the distressed look on his face. "What happened? I thought you had an Occlumency lesson," she added while recalling that he had mentioned it earlier.

"Snape cancelled it… again," Harry said while sitting down on the couch in the middle of the room.

"How come?" Ron asked innocently, oblivious to Harry's look of distress as usual.

"I guess he has his reasons," Harry replied softly, not willing to explain what Snape had told him about his memories backfiring on him.

"Oh…," Hermione said as she sat back down at the table with Ron, knowing for sure that Harry was hiding something.

Severus had gone back to grading his essays after he had summoned up enough energy to get up off the floor and dry his eyes. He was on his last essay when he could no longer fight the fatigue that was threatening to engulf him. He skimmed the essay briefly and gave it a "B" after seeing that it was written by a 2nd year Slytherin. Much to Dumbledore's dislike, he had always favored the students in his house, and did not even bother to check the essay for errors before giving it such a good grade (for him at least).

"Oh, finally," Severus sighed as he got up from the uncomfortable chair, tossed the paper on top of the pile of graded work, and walked up the stairs to his quarters. "Lumos", he said as the dark room illuminated with an eerie blue light. He removed his heavy, black robe, tossed it on the chair and sat on the edge of his bed. Sleep was one of the few things that brought Snape peace, but he now feared and dreaded it as he knew it would bring nothing but painful and vivid nightmares instead. With an apprehensive sigh, he laid back and waited for his exhausted mind and body to succumb to the sleep he so desperately needed.

Several stories above the dungeon, Harry Potter tossed and groaned in his sleep.

"No…," he whimpered helplessly as the sight of his mother being murdered flashed in his mind.

Her screams were like a hot knife in his heart. Even though he was just a baby when she was killed, the memory of her desperately clinging to him in her final moments was as vivid as it could possibly be. "Mum…," Harry's tearful whimpering woke Ron up once again.

"Harry? You alright, mate?" Ron asked gently from his bed that was a few feet away from Harry's. Harry did not respond, yet continued to moan and whimper in his sleep. "Sleep tight," Ron said to Harry, though he knew he wouldn't hear him, as he lay back down and quickly fell back to sleep.

"Lumos…," Harry said softly as he quietly got out of bed and grabbed his jacket. He was tired, yet restless and decided to go for a walk and get some fresh air. Coincidently, Severus Snape had decided to do the same.

Harry walked through the open courtyard that sat in the dead center of Hogwarts. He shuddered as the chill of the moonlit night swept over him. He sat on the cold, stone bench and buried his face in his hands.

"Why must every moment of my life be agony? Even my sleep can't be peaceful… WHY?! Why do so many horrible things keep happening to me?!" Harry screamed and sobbed as all of his pain, fears, and frustrations finally caught up with him. He fell to his knees and collapsed into a ball on the cold, hard floor.

Snape had just sat down on the bench outside the courtyard when he heard Harry's screams and sobs. He immediately recognized the voice and hesitantly decided to follow it. When he walked under the arch that led to the courtyard, he saw Harry crumpled up on the floor, crying hysterically. He slowly approached the boy as he continued to sob so hard that he was gasping for air.

"Potter? Are you all right?" He asked Harry gently while kneeling down next to him and placing a comforting hand on the boys shaking shoulders. Harry looked up through his tear filled eyes and gasped softly as he realized whom it was.

"P-prof-professor S-Snape?!" Harry stammered through harsh sobs as he scrambled into a sitting position, knowing it was too late and Snape had already seen him in the most vulnerable emotional state he had ever been in.

"Harry… what are you doing out here?" Severus asked him while taking his hand off his shoulder and helping him sit up. Much to Harry's relief, and surprise, Snape seemed more concerned about why Harry was outside at 2 o'clock in the morning than angry.

"I-I couldn't sleep…," Harry said tearfully as he wiped his eyes and nose with his sleeve.

"You're going to freeze to death out here," Severus said while taking off his heavy black cloak and wrapping it around a shivering Harry's shoulders. Being that Severus was over a foot taller than Harry, the boy nearly drowned in the thick, heavy material. Nevertheless, he immediately stopped shivering as the warmth of it protected him from the chill of the cold night.

"I-I'm sorry… a-about today," Harry said while pulling the cloak tighter around him.

"Oh, Harry… you have nothing to be sorry about. It's me who should be sorry… and I am," Severus' voice was strangely comforting. Harry discovered two years ago that Severus did in fact, have another side to him that not too many people had seen, or even heard of… a kind and gentle side.

"It's okay…," Harry sniffled as his breathing finally calmed.

"No… it's not. It's just that…," Severus began softly while tenderly wiping away Harry's stray tears with the black, silk handkerchief that he had pulled out of his pocket.

"You've been seeing my memories of my mother being murdered," Harry said as if reading Snape's mind.

"Yeah…," Severus replied while looking Harry straight in the eye. Even in the dim light of the moon, he could see the women he had once loved staring back at him. He had loved Harry's mother Lily while they were in school together. Her most striking feature was her emerald green eyes… the only physical attribute that Harry had inherited from his mother.

"I'm sorry… I wouldn't wish that on anyone," Harry said while his emotions mixed with the serious lack of sleep, once again, overwhelmed him as he broke down into tears.

"I know… its okay, Harry," Severus said softly as he pulled Harry into a tight and loving hug. "At least you're not alone," he added while Harry leaned into his shoulder and took full advantage of the comfort of being held… even if it was by Severus Snape.

A/N: I know that there are dirty, dirty minds out there (I own one myself), but please do not interpret the "tenderness" between Snape and Harry as anything even close to slash! It's more of a "father-son" sort of tender loving care.