Disclaimer: I get no monetary value from these guys. Just borrowing them.

A/N: Reviews make me work faster. Also school is starting this week so I'll be updating even slower than usual. This chapter is pretty short, but then again, aren't they all, aren't they all.

Chapter 3

People often said that Severus was a vampire. Usually it was his younger students but every now and then he hears the older students suggest it in jest and in one memorable encounter a Ministry official assumed he was one. But Severus liked to think that he was very different from a vampire. For one, he could consume garlic quite easily and for another, though his sallow complexion suggested otherwise, he enjoyed spending time in the sun. But the biggest discrepancy between vampires and Severus was the fact that vampires could not sleep and Severus liked his sleep very much.

That was why, when the alarm Severus set up to tell him when magic was being used in the dorm rooms, he was irritated. And then, when he got out of his warm, comfortable bed, and walked to the sixth years' dorm room, and found that it was Harry bloody Potter who had woken him up, he was very irritated indeed.

He stalked forward, fully prepared to have the twit cleaning his dungeons for detention until he graduated and then pulled up shortly when he saw that Potter was trembling in his bed. As he watched the teenager lurched awake, rolling off of his bed and landing heavily on his knees, shaking as he emptied his stomach on the floor.

For a second Severus could not tell what spell had been cast and then realized, as Potter retched again, that the scene he was creating was completely devoid of sound. He cast a canceling spell and moved forward, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. He whipped around, his wand ready in his hand and Severus raised his hands.

"Professor?" Potter stared blearily at him, and blast it, why did he have to have Lily's eyes?

"Yes Potter, are you done?" Severus asked, though not unkindly. He was shaken by the way Potter's body was shivering violently even in the warm dorm and how his face looked so unguarded as he stared at his snarly professor.

"I think so, yes," Potter said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Then go to the lavatory and clean yourself. I'll take care of this mess," Severus sent Potter on his way; watching the teen totter unsteadily to the wash room and then scourgified the mess he had left behind.

"I didn't know it was that bad," A small voice said to his right. Severus turned and met his godson's eyes through the darkness of the room.

"I don't think anybody did," Severus said as the boy in question came back and settled uncertainly on his bed, watching Severus with an infuriating undecipherable look. "Is the concept of going back to sleep foreign to you, Potter?"

"Thank you, Professor," Potter said, instead of getting back under the covers.

"Does this happen often?" Severus asked, avoiding the gratitude that made him uncomfortable. What happened to the obstinate Potter that he knew how to deal with?

"Most nights, yeah," Potter said.

"Have you tried Dreamless Sleep Potion?" Severus asked. Potter's nose wrinkled and Severus pretended that it didn't remind him painfully of the boy's mother.

"It isn't really dreams that are bugging me, sir." He said. Severus was surprised with his honesty and went back to something normal, that he knew how to do. Comforting was impossible. Disciplining he could do.

"I seem to recall telling you that no spells were to be done in the dorm rooms, Mr. Potter," Severus said. "What part of no spells do you not understand?"

"The 'no' part?" Potter said cheekily, much more like the usual boy Severus had to deal with. "It was an accident sir."

"Students in their sixth year at Hogwarts should have better control than casting accidental magic." Severus admonished.

"I'm just used to make sure I don't bother anybody," Potter said, and the unguarded expression was disappearing, and he was crawling into his bed, and arrogant Potter was once again in his place. "Would you rather I wake everybody up?"

"I would rather you sleep throughout the night without needing assistance like a newborn," Severus barked and then instantly felt ashamed of himself. It was an entirely inappropriate low blow to make the boy feel bad about something that was completely out of his control. That was the issue, when he was with Potter. It was like the filter between his mouth and his brain was gone and he was a teenager again, using whatever he could to get back at his enemies.

"Well, I didn't ask for your help," Potter said. "I was doing just fine without you. I've been managing on my own for sixteen years, I didn't ask for anyone to come and stick their nose in my business."

Severus was so, so tempted to take points away but then he remembered that Potter was one of his own snakes now, and that would just be counterproductive.

"Go to sleep Potter and do not make me come in here again," He said instead, and then swept away, unaware just how much the boy he left behind was hurting.