Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, I do not own these characters, I am merely writing this for my own, and hopefully others, enjoyment.
AN: Would just like to say that English is not my native language, so there will be some grammar faults, I'm sure. I know that this isn't really an excuse, I just hope you can forgive me:)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Snape was impatiently waiting outside, his arms crossed.
"You will find that other belongings which you have failed to bring here, have been transported to your room and are waiting for you, including your owl", he said, keeping his voice flat and bored. At this, Harry forced down a retort. It was Snape who told him not to bring anything, yet he said Harry had "failed to bring his belongings"?
"Hedwig's here?" Harry asked instead, surprised and pleased.
"I refuse to answer such an idiotic question, considering what I just told you." Harry glared angrily at Snape. Did he always have to be such an arse?
"Language, Potter I will not tolerate it, nor your lack of respect", Snape barked. Harry jumped. He had not even said anything out loud, he had just- Harry's eyes widened. Snape had just read his mind. This was actual proof that Snape had read his mind. He quickly started walking towards the dungeons, wanting to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. He swore he could see a small smirk on Snape's lips as he turned away, which creeped him out even more. He tried to notice if there was any presence in his mind, but there was no signs that Snape read Harry's mind again. He hadn't really felt it the first time either, but he had been distracted then, and hadn't been paying attention.
After a few awkward minutes, they finally reached the dungeons. Harry followed Snape further and further in the dungeon, wondering if he would have to sleep in an old office or something. He didn't mind that much, though. After all, he usually slept in a cupboard.
Snape suddenly stopped in front of a door and stormed in. Harry followed. It was certainly not just an old, unused office. The walls were a calm shade of blue and green, nothing like the disturbingly bright Gryffindor commonroom colors. Don't get it wrong, Harry loved Gryffindor. But screaming colors like red and yellow did not belong in a bedroom.
This bedroom, however, was perfect. The size of the room was big. Not obnoxiously, but big. There was a wooden bed, with beautiful small details carved into it, a huge closet of oak, probably quite old, but that only made it even more beautiful. A brown leather sofa was in front of a fireplace that crackled, spreading warmth in the room. Harry was glad, he had wondered if he would get cold, considering his room was in the dungeons. Harry couldn't help but notice that if he had a bedroom, he would chose exactly those colors on the walls, exactly that bed, that size, that fireplace, that everything!
"Hogwarts is amazing", Harry muttered under his breath, earning a slightly confused frown from Snape, as his fingers stroked the carvings on his bed.
Hedwig and his other belongings like books, quills, ink, parchment, and his beloved firebolt, were standing in the corner. Snape whipped out a piece of parchment from nowhere, and thrust it upon Harry.
"This is your timetable. I expect you to follow it. Or else, there will be consequences."
Harry looked down and read it.
Breakfast: 8 pm
First class: 9.00 - 10.30
Second class: 11.15- 12.00
Lunch: 12.15
Third class: 13.30- 14.30
Dinner: 18.00
"All meals will be found in the Great Hall, as usual. However, you are only obligatory to attend dinner, so if you wish to eat the other meals in your room, you can. If you call for Ani, the house elf, she will bring you anything you need. Though, I should warn you; if you abuse this power and use her, or any other houseelfs to run errands for you other than what is strictly necessary, you will not be permitted to order any houseelfs." At this, Snape gave Harry a long hard glare, as if daring him to argue. When Harry didn't, he continued:
"You are to meet Dumbledore in his office after breakfast instead of going to your first lesson, for there he will elaborate about your future lessons and their reasons. Do you have any questions?" he asked, keeping his voice extremely bored. Harry thought for a bit before answering.
"No, sir", he said, smiling. There was quite much spare time. His gaze wandered to his firebolt standing in the corner. Apparently, Snape noticed this, or maybe he just read his mind again.
"Don't worry, Potter. I will personally see to it, should you find that there is too much spare time."
"Is there such a thing?" Harry muttered quietly, but off course Snape, who secretly had bat ears, heard it.
"Yes, especially in your case, seeing that you can't go one minute without getting yourself in trouble", his voice was now iron, and Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes. He narrowed his eyes at Harry.
"For we do not want you to cause any trouble, now do we?" Harry decided not to answer that question. Snape studied Harry with his eyes, before whipping around and striding out of the room, his robes billowing behind him, as usual. When he heard the door slam shut, Harry sighed and laid down on his bed. Snape could really be a drama queen at times. Harry stared up at the ceiling, at the calming colors, too tired to bother laying under the sheet, not to mention taking off his shoes. No, Harry Potter fell asleep, despite everything that was on his mind.
Harry woke up of a voice that was screaming loudly. He looked around, but all he saw was darkness. The second thing he noticed was how sore his throat was. He quickly realized he was the one who was screaming. He quickly clamped his mouth shut,. Feeling claustrophobic, he threw his blanket away, sat up straight and took deep breaths. Another nightmare. He looked up at the clock on the wall, and was startled when he realized he had slept in. 7.30, so only half an hour, but still.
He stood up and took of his shoes and his "pyjama". He didn't really bother to shower, so he just put on some clothes and splashed his face with cold water, before trying, and failing at making his hair not stand out to every which way, but at the same time avoiding looking at himself in the mirror. He could only imagine how bad he looked.
He couldn't remember the last time he slept peacefully. The nightmares were killing him. Not that he was going to mention it to anyone. He had to be more careful, and put up a silencing spell on his room, or else somebody would eventually hear him. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to use magic now that he was back at Hogwarts, but if he was allowed, he knew just which spell to use. He had researched about it about a year ago when his nightmares really started kicking in, and he didn't want to bother his friends in the Gryffindor tower. He had to practice a lot to manage to cast it because it was quite powerful, but he did it in the end, and no one complained about him screaming at night, so he was quite pleased with that one.
He wasn't very hungry, so he decided to skip breakfast and look around a bit. Harry quickly walked through the dungeons, afraid that he might run into one specific potion master there, and the coldness of the dungeon slowly disappeared as he got closer and closer to the stairs. As he reached the top, and opened the door, he was hit by a wave of warmth and light. He squinted, but welcomed the warmth. With a pleased sigh, he walked over the bridge and looked around. The sun was shining, there were no clouds in the sky, the view was beautiful, the birds were singing. He almost had to pinch himself, thinking this was too good to be real. So much bad had happened to him, he had now started to savor the small but beautiful things around him.
Meanwhile in the Great Hall, Dumbledore, Trelawney, McGonnagall, Snape and the new DADA teacher, Barnabas Cuffe, who were the only professors who chose to stay for the holiday, were having breakfast.
"I see Mr. Potter decided not to join us for breakfast this morning", stated Barnabas, looking around.
"He was told it was not obligatory. I am sure he used the opportunity to sleep in", said Dumbledore, smiling cheerfully.
"So he is to stay at Hogwarts until the term starts again?" Barnabas continued, his face emotionless.
"Yes, his relatives are very sick and unable to look after him. They couldn't find anyone else to do it for them, sadly, so they asked me for help", Dumbledore replied, helping himself with some toast.
"But why did they ask you? Surely, there must be someone else? A neighbour, a friend, a colleague even. Or perhaps-"
"Do you mind Mr. Potter staying here for the summer, Barnabas?" asked McGonagall with a raised brow. Barnabas raised his own, but otherwise his face was made of stone. Trelawney watched the conversation eagerly with big eyes.
"No, I don't mind. It's only-"
"-Then I don't see the problem" interrupted McGonagall again, before turning her attention back to her plate of food. Barnabas locked his eyes on McGonagall, who was easily ignoring the man.
"Have you heard about these drylamonas they've found in Norway?" asked Dumbledore Snape.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hope you enjoyed!:)
