An: Sorry for the delay guys! Don't shoot me, life just got in the way! Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. Also I still need some song suggestions so if you're interested in helping me, please let me know. Also I forgot to mention the disclaimer in the last chapter, so I'll just do it now. DISCLAIMER: Any recognizable characters, or places from the HP books are not mine! Only the plot is mine.

Marifw: thank you for the review. And yes, there will be punishment for the Dursley's. I'm not sure what it will be just yet 'cause I'm writing this as I go. However, it will be in the next couple of chapters that they get punished for doing what they did to poor Harry.

Severus woke up the next morning with a comfortable weight on his chest. He could feel soft hair tickling his chin as he breathed. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Harry still fast asleep using his chest as a pillow. Confusion made him bunch up his eyebrows as he tried to think of why the boy was hugging him like a teddy bear.

He looked around the room and realized he wasn't even in his own bedroom. He thought back on the night before to try and figure out why he was in Harry's room. 'Oh right. The nightmare,' he thought to himself.

Flashback

Severus was almost asleep when a scream in the night jolted him awake. He leapt to his feet and ran out of his room, wand in hand, not caring he was only in a pair of pajama pants.

The screams were coming from Harry's room. Severus threw the door open and saw Harry tossing on his bed deep in the throes of a nightmare. Severus rushed to the bed and did the only thing he could. He grabbed Harry in a tight embrace and rocked him back and forth, calming the boy as he did so. Harry had a firm grip on Severus and wouldn't let go, so Severus laid down and pulled the covers over them. He drifted off to sleep to the sound of Harry's even breathing.

End Flashback

Harry shifted in Severus' arms as he slowly woke up. Harry felt warm arms tighten around him and he sighed in happiness. He was finally with his mate and he never wanted to let go. He felt Severus kiss the top of his head. He looked up at the older wizard and smiled. Severus smiled softly back. "How are you feeling?" He asked the boy in his arms.

"Better now that you helped me." Harry said softly.

"Would you like to talk about your dream?" Severus asked as he pulled the both of them into a sitting position.

"Not really, but I need to," harry sighed as he leaned his head against Severus' shoulder. He got lost in his thoughts for a moment so Severus stayed quiet knowing an explanation would cone soon.

Flashback

Severus and Harry were on another mission. This time they were in a hotel and shared a room. Harry had had a nightmare and Severus held him as they slept afterwards. They woke up the next morning with erections and that's when Harry admitted his feeling for the older man. Severus admitted to the same feelings but told him that they'd have to wait until the war was over in order to have a relationship.

End Flashback

Harry took a deep breath before talking. "My dream is the same one of being captured and tortured, but there's a new element there... You ."

"What am I doing in the dream?" Severus asked

"Nothing. You're laying on the floor in front of me, dead." Harry said sadly. "Sir, there's something you need to know about me. I'm a shapeshifter."

Severus gasped softly and shock made his jaw go slack. He looks down at the boy in his arms, surprise written all over his face.

"Also, you're my mate." Harry said, though his voice was muffled because his face was buried in Severus' chest. Severus rolled them over so that he was above Harry. He supported his weight on his arms and looked him in the eye.

"How do you know?" He whispered softly, his eyes swam with emotions to fast for Harry to read what they were.

"I received my inheritance on my 16th birthday and since then I've found out that you are my mate. It's a good thing we already have feelings for each other, otherwise it'd be hard to convince you of the mate thing." Harry smiled at the Headmaster.

"Do your friends know of this?"

"No they don't. They'll find out eventually though. Then Ron will most likely yell at me for not telling them and 'Mione will go and read everything she can about shapeshifters."

"There's not much known about them. Shapeshifters are created by Mother Nature when she feels that she must step into the life of an unborn baby. Mother Nature looks into the future of said child and she gives the gene to the child two months before it is born. There hasn't been a shapeshifter for almost a century."

"I know. Gringotts sent me their information on my kind after my first transformation. I can only shift into animals that I have seen in person and the more I change forms into that animal, the quicker I become. Eventually I can change forms mid-stride which can help me get out of any situations should a Death Eater be chasing me."

"That is much like animagus transformations." Severus commented. He rolled back onto his side and pulled Harry to him. Harry just smiled at him and snuggled into the warm embrace. His stomach rumbled and he blushed.

Severus chuckled. "Time to get up Harry."

Harry sighed. "Where's my trunk?" He asked when he sat up an looked around. Severus summoned his trunk and rucksack. He enlarged them both, then left Harry to get ready for the day.

Once Harry was dressed, he followed his nose to the Headmaster's kitchen and watched Severus as he prepared breakfast. Severus was now in a pair of dark blue muggle jeans and a black t-shirt. Harry wore his school trousers and a loose fitting emerald green shirt. Severus finished with cooking and set out plates, cups, silverware, and napkins for them. He and Harry sat down and ate their food in silence.

After they finished, Severus sent the dishes to the castle's kitchens to be cleaned. Harry sipped his morning tea silently and looked about the kitchen.

"If you have any school assignments, you can complete them in the study." Harry nodded and they both stood up. Severus led Harry through his quarters, stopping by Harry's room do he could gather his school things, to his study.

"You can work here at the desk. I have some potions to work on so if you get hungry, just call a House Elf." Again Harry nodded and set up his assignments that he would be working on. Severus left the study and went down the hall to his potions lab.

That was how many of the days went. Harry and Severus would sleep in the same bed (no sex for Harry was not ready for that), Severus would cook breakfast and afterwards, Harry would work on his homework until lunch and Severus would work in his potions. After lunch, they would go back to the study and either talk for a while or read a book.