A/N: Hi everyone! After a long hiatus, I am finally back! I hope you'll enjoy this new mentor fic.

In silent night when rest I took,

Upon the burning of our house

Chapter 1: In silent night

Harry was sitting in the Divination classroom. Ron and Hermione were right there, sitting next to him, talking to each other but there didn't appear to be any sound coming from their mouths. Yet, they understood each other. All of Harry's other classmates were talking animatedly among themselves but, once again, Harry couldn't hear them.

He drank his tea and turned over the cup, waiting for the remains to drain. He looked out of the window and was almost certain that he saw a dementor fly by. But the creature was gone as fast as it had appeared and soon, Harry had forgotten all about it.

He grabbed hold of his cup and looked at the remains within. It couldn't have been clearer. It was a big, black dog that seemed to be walking along the white background that was the cup. His head was lowered and his ears stood flat as if it was hunting for something. Harry knew that it was hunting for him. He could hear the dog in the cup growl at him when he realised that it wasn't the cup at all. He looked away to see a black dog approaching him, stalking past students and Professor Trelawney alike. No one but Harry seemed to notice it.

It bared its teeth as drool dripped to the ground. Its eyes were glowing red and Harry could smell the flames in its eyes as it snarled. This dog was a demon from hell. The beast leapt at Harry and closed its jaws around his arm causing him to yelp in pain.

He shot upright when he realized that he was in his bed. It had been a dream. Sweat dripped from his back and Harry noticed that he felt extremely warm. He could not shake the smell of a fire either. The dream had felt so real. Harry shook off his blanket and was about to try and go back to sleep when someone yelled.

"FIRE!"

Harry shot up straight when he heard the shouting. He looked around and could see the evidence of smoke swirling underneath the door. In one smooth motion, he jumped out of bed, only to see that Neville and Ron hadn't even woken up yet. Dean was up and yelling something at Seamus who was trying to bat his concerned friend away.

"Ron!" Harry yelled. He took two large strides to close the distance between his bed and Ron's and started shaking the deeply asleep redhead. "Ron!" he repeated. "Wake the bloody hell up!"

"Five more minutes," Ron mumbled. He turned over and tried to cover his head with his blanket but Harry tore it away from him.

"NOW!" Harry exclaimed. "There's a fire, you great big idiot. Get UP!" Harry had never been in a fire before, nor did he know just how bad it was but he knew that it was important to get everyone out of harm's way as fast as possible. He could only hope that it wasn't the entire castle that was on fire.

Blearily, Ron opened his eyes at the same time that Dean threw open the door to reveal a large amount of smoke waiting for them. The orange glow of brightly burning flames was clear as day. Seamus was trying to put on his pants when Neville stumbled over his own feet to try and find Trevor. Luckily, Ron finally seemed to grasp the severity of the situation. His eyes widened for a split second before he jumped out of bed and headed towards the door.

"Seamus, your shoes are not important right now," Harry commanded. "Get out, now. Neville, there is no time to look for Trevor."

"I can't leave him!" Neville exclaimed in a panic. "He's my familiar!"

"You have to!" Harry said sternly. He grabbed Neville by the arm and hoisted him to his feet. "Come on. We can look for him when the fire's under control, okay?"

Neville nodded and exited the dorm room as well. Harry felt bad for lying - Trevor would most likely not survive this - but right now, Neville's life was more important than the frog's. Seamus had foregone his shoes and had finally followed his dormmates down the stairs as well.

Harry and Ron ran out of their dorm and down the stairs to the common room when they noticed the flames eating away at their tower. Students were scrambling for their possessions left and right. One of the prefects was just staring at a large column of flames as if he couldn't believe the tower was actually on fire. A few younger students went to him for directions but soon abandoned him when they realised he wouldn't respond to them. A second-year was trying to douse the fire with a feeble Aguamenti but was not succeeding.

"Get out!" Harry yelled at him.

"But I –"

"There's nothing you can do. Leave, now! And take that prefect with you! Neville, go and get McGonagall," Harry ordered. "Dean, Seamus, go wake up the boys. Ron and I will wake up the girls. Go!"

No one questioned Harry's orders and shot into action. For now, the flames still allowed for an easy escape but Harry imagined that this would not last for much longer. Some of the other students were already waking up by themselves but many more were sleeping through the chaos.

"Get out of the dorm!" Harry shouted. "Don't go back for anything. Just go!"

"But my wand – " a first-year whined.

"There's no time!" Harry snarled. "You can always get a new wand later. For now, you have to stay alive. Go. GO!"

He then climbed the stairs to the girl's dorm, banging loudly on each door as he and Ron passed them. While the stairs would normally not grant them access, Harry had assumed – correctly, it would appear – that in an event such as this, Hogwarts would allow boys to go up there. "Fire!" he yelled loudly. "Get up! Get up! We all need to get out of here!"

Doors were starting to fly open and students were beginning to flood out of their dorms. Girls and boys fell over each other as they tried to get to the portrait as quickly as they could. The prefects were trying to take over but none of them was prepared for the kind of chaos that rained upon them Flames were now tearing through the beams that held up the common room, causing them to collapse. It wouldn't be too much longer before the ceiling came crashing down on them, Harry realized.

"Get a move on!" Wood yelled from somewhere past the smoke. "We don't have much time."

Harry saw two first-years who stood cowering in a corner and hurried to get to them. "Come on!" he said hurriedly, grabbing each of them by a hand and tugging them with him. He dodged flames, debris and smoke as he guided the two students toward the exit. It somehow reminded him of dodging bludgers and he felt sort of in his element, despite the fire that was licking at his heels.

When they finally reached the portrait, he shoved the students into the arms of one of the older kids and leaned over to catch his breath. Hermione was already outside and seemed to be taking inventory of all the girls in her year, making sure they were all there. A lot of the children were covered in dirt and ashes and some of them were nursing what seemed to be minor burns.

"Where's Marley?" a fourth-year girl then asked in desperation. "My little sister. I don't think she came out yet!"

"Remain calm!" a stern male voice shouted somewhere near the entrance to the corridor. It was good to know that the teachers had caught on and were coming to help the students.

Harry took out his wand, cast an Aguamenti on himself to at least try and not get burned. "I'll look for her," he assured the crying girl before diving right back in.

"Harry!" Ron shouted after him but Harry didn't have the time to argue about this. Soon, it would be too late.

He was surprised when he saw just how tall the flames had grown at that point. The raging inferno was slowly taking on epic proportions that Harry did not consider possible without the use of magic. Black smoke was swirling around the common room heavily, rising to the ceiling as the tapestries and drapes curled while they burned. Harry ducked down to try and not breathe in the black smoke to the best of his abilities. He kept his lower arm in front of his mouth and tried to ignore the stinging sensation in his eyes.

"Marley!" he shouted, coughing after he inhaled too deeply. "Marley!" he tried again.

His reply came in the form of a fearful screech followed by panicked crying. It was coming from one of the dorm rooms. Harry started climbing the frighteningly unstable stairs, taking the steps two at a time as he kept shouting. "Marley, where are you?!"

"Help!" the little girl screeched, followed by coughing. "Help me, please!"

Harry pinpointed the cry coming from the fourth year dorm room. Why this girl was there was beyond Harry but he rushed in through the open door only to find nothing.

"Marley?" he tried again.

A muffled sobbing alerted Harry to her presence. He walked over to the wardrobe and hastily opened it. Inside of it, he found a small girl – probably a first-year – hiding underneath a set of robes. She was crying and her face was blackened with soot. Harry imagined that his own face looked very much like hers. He kneeled, ignoring the sounds of things snapping and crackling behind him and extended his hand.

"You can trust me, Marley," he told her as he smiled at her. "I'm here to help you."

"My – My sister," Marley cried.

"She's safe," Harry assured her. "She's already out of the tower. You and I are the last ones."

Marley took Harry's hand and he pulled her out of the closet. "You're very brave," Harry told Marley. "I just need you to be brave for a little while longer, okay? Stay with me. I know you can do it."

Marley nodded importantly and squeezed Harry's hand. Harry took out his wand and doused Marley with an Aguamenti as well. She hardly reacted to the cold water and Harry suspected that she might be going into shock.

"Let's go!" he said encouragingly and dragged Marley with him. Once more, he weaved past flames and dangerously unstable beams and stone walls. Every now and then, he kept Marley from burning herself on the fire. They very nearly made it out when Harry had to stop. He looked around, pulling Marley close to him as he surveyed the area. There was no more path to safety. The fire was everywhere. They could only go back and that was no option.

Both Harry and Marley were coughing violently and Harry imagined that neither of them would remain conscious for very long. He steeled his nerves and made the only logical decision.

"Marley, you're going to fly over the fire, alright?" he said kindly.

Marley – who was crying heavily at that point – shook her head. "I can't fly!" she screeched. "My first flying lesson went horribly!"

"Just close your eyes," Harry told her. "I can do it for you if you can just trust me."

"But –"

"Do you trust me, Marley?"

Marley looked around, her eyes wide and wild. The flames licking at her heels made her step even closer to Harry until she was practically hiding her face into his back. But then she squeezed Harry's hand really tightly.

"Okay, close your eyes," Harry ordered. She did and Harry glanced around, trying to find out how much more time they had. "Wingardium Leviosa."

With the typical swish and flick, Harry levitated Marley up and over the fire, concentrating as hard as he could to not drop the girl into the flames. He aimed her through the portrait hole he could vaguely make out from his vantage point and knew that he had succeeded when he heard the happy exclamations from Marley's sister. He ended the spell, lowered his wand and glanced around. Now to get himself to safety… somehow. He went back the way he came, hoping that he would be able to find another way out.

He hissed when flames were starting to burn him. He was still trying to stay low but the black smoke was now everywhere. He could practically feel the black substance filling his lungs with smoke. For a moment, he thought that he might be able to escape via the floo but he quickly realised that all of the floo powder had been burned at that point. And besides, the hearth was probably password protected or something.

Something exploded nearby and Harry could hear the frightened voices of his friends call out to him. In a last, desperate attempt to save himself, he cast Aguamenti at this surroundings but the spell was simply too weak to battle the inferno that was now raging all around him.

A deafening crack resounded and Harry looked up just in time to see a large wooden beam break away from its construct and fall down, pinning Harry to the floor in the process. Harry had the wind knocked out of him and inhaled deeply out of instinct to make up for the sudden deficit. This elicited a new coughing fit that made Harry dizzy. His chest was suddenly burning with renewed pain that he was sure wasn't there before and breathing in became even harder to do. A searing pain ran all the way down his back and into his legs and he felt as if he was being crushed underwater.

With the wooden beam came more debris and heavy stone that soon darkened Harry's vision entirely. If not for the remaining heat, it would have seemed as if there was no fire at all, anymore. But Harry knew that wasn't true, if only because of the crushing weight on top of him.

Sounds didn't seem to reach him anymore and his breath came in shallow gasps. He could feel his panicked heart beating wildly in his chest and tried to calm himself down. He had to try and get out of there but he wasn't holding his wand anymore. He tried getting his hands beneath him to push himself up and out of the debris but it didn't give way. Not even a little bit. Dust and gravel fell around him while he strained and panicked gasps escaped him.

"Okay, Harry," he told himself. "Come on."

He had gone through worse before. Much worse. This was nothing. It was just new and all Harry had to do was find a way out of here. He could make it if he just tried. Taking in a few breaths to the best of his abilities, he pushed down on his arms as hard as he could, hoping that something, anything would give way and allow him to escape. But when a large stone shifted, the already heavy beam came crashing down even more, slamming Harry back into the ground with an overpowering force.

No, hecouldn'tdo this. There was no way. The debris was too heavy and he was too hurt to be able to make it out of there alive. The panic started to set in when he realised that he was trapped. His shallow breathing quickened and the pain of it caused tears to spring to his eyes.

"Hello!?" He yelled, hoping that someone could hear him. Ron and Hermione knew he was still in there. But maybe the entire tower had collapsed and no one would be able to save him anymore.

"HELLO!" He tried again, not able to stop himself. "Anyone!? I'm down here," he said between gasps. But his voice was losing its power fast when the hopelessness of the situation set in. "I'm stuck. I'm stuck. I can't move. I can't –" He stopped pleading when his abused lungs demanded more air and his head sank to the ground. In the darkness of the rubble, he could only slightly see the gravel move as he breathed. It crawled between his still fingers that he couldn't bring himself to move and try again. This was really it.

"Potter!" a voice then shouted. Harry chuckled to himself. He must be getting delirious if he was hearing Snape's voice of all things. Nonetheless, he found himself clinging to this ray of hope, however minor it may be.

"I'm here," he said but his voice was already raspy and he could only wonder if Snape could even hear him. He tried to move a nearby rock to gain his attention but even that proved to be too much of a strain.

He blinked blearily as the darkness seemed to be closing in on him even more. Was it because the fire was finally dying out? Or was it because the remains of Hogwarts were slowly swallowing him whole, taking him with her in her demise.

"Potter!" He heard again. It was closer by now. Harry tried to respond again but only managed to cough. That sound alone appeared to be enough, though, since the next thing he knew, he could feel the shifting of the weight that was resting on top of him. He could hear muttering coming from the other side but wasn't able to make out any more words. They were probably spells, Harry figured. When a large stone that had been inches from his nose was moved, he could see that the fire around him was still going strong. But he could also see the billowing robes of his saviour. Well, he would be If they made it out, that is.

The last of the debris that kept Harry prisoner was moved and Harry was relieved that he could feel his legs again. Even if they were awfully painful.

"Can you walk?" Harry was starting to think that Snape might actually care, though he was still not entirely convinced that it was the dungeon bat himself who had come to rescue him from the tower.

"Careful," he whispered painfully, trying to expel the murk in his brain. "Fire." His eyes were unable to stay open anymore and they fell shut.

"Blast you and your dunderheaded observations, Potter!" Snape yelled. Was that panic in his voice? Someone easily lifted Harry and placed him firmly on his feet. Steadying hands were waiting to see if he would fall down again, which he would have if a strong arm didn't stop him.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled.

Snape – at least Harry thought it was Snape since he hadn't seen anyone else – did not respond. A strong arm half carried, half dragged Harry with it while bursts of magic seemed to battle the flames. Harry did his very best not to fall unconscious but had a hard time not to.

The pain in Harry's lungs was starting to become worse than the pain of his burns and crushed limbs and he was starting to suspect that he might die, after all. He almost felt sorry for his saviour if that were to happen.

"Almost there," the voice grunted but Harry couldn't handle it anymore. His consciousness didn't want to stay with him any longer and it slipped away from him like water through his fingers. Pain disappeared as darkness finally welcomed Harry into her waiting arms.

" – Gryffindorish behaviour. Honestly, Poppy. This could all have been avoided."

Harry was slowly regaining consciousness as the rudely loud voice cut through the darkness. For now, he kept his eyes shut, not sure if he would be able to open them anyway. Slowly, he was becoming aware of pain. Pain in his lungs, his legs, his ribs and his arms. He tried to groan but no sound escaped his lips.

"Sit still, Severus," Madame Pomfrey chided. "You have been burned as well and I'm required to treat you."

"I'm perfectly capable of administering my own burn balm," Snape sneered.

Harry opened his eyes to see himself laying in a bed in the medical wing. A few beds over, Snape was sitting in a chair, grumpily allowing Pomfrey to treat his arm. Harry couldn't see how bad his injuries were, seeing how his glasses had been removed from his face but if Snape would allow Pomfrey to tend to them, Harry imagined it to be bad. Neither of the two adults seemed to have noticed him.

He glanced around to see if he was the only one there and found all the beds he could actually see to be empty. He was relieved to realise as much. If he was the only one gravely injured in that catastrophe, he was satisfied.

He just wished he didn't hurt so much. Again, he tried to groan but nothing but a hoarse rattle escaped him. He tried propping himself up on his elbows but was brought right back down by a painful stab in his ribs. That beam seemed to have done more damage than Harry had initially thought.

"Mr Potter!" Pomfrey exclaimed when she noticed him move. "How are you feeling?"

Harry opened his mouth to try and answer but was unable to. Pomfrey handed him a glass of water. "Drink this and try again," she urged. Harry glanced at Snape, imagining that the dark blob was scowling at him and accepted the glass. After he drank it all, he managed to croak out a hoarse 'Thank you'.

"Now, do you have any pain?" Pomfrey asked.

Harry nodded, not wanting to seem too childish but in too much pain to ignore right now. He reached for his glasses and was pleased to immediately find them. As he put them on, he realised that Snape was actually coming closer to him. His hand was bandaged and when he moved, Harry noticed that the man walked with a slight limp.

Pomfrey raised the back of Harry's bed, sitting him somewhat upright. "I imagine you would," Pomfrey replied as she summoned a potion vial. "Some pain reliever draught would be in order, I suppose."

"Try to use the potion stock sparingly, Poppy," Snape drawled. "I might not be able to replenish it any time soon."

"Stop it, Severus," Poppy admonished. "You know as well as I do that I have plenty of potions to last me months and you will be back to normal within a week."

Snape made to cross his arms but recoiled when his hand came into contact with his arm. Harry looked at him somewhat guiltily.

"Thank you, sir," he said softly. "For –" he wanted to finish his sentence but started coughing violently.

"Honestly Potter, you would do well to remain silent," Snape sneered. "I honestly like you better that way."

Pomfrey clicked her tongue disapprovingly but didn't say anything. Harry just glared at the man, his momentary gratitude forgotten.

"You have sustained plenty of burns," Pomfrey told Harry. "I don't know how you managed to avoid getting any third-degree burns, but you did. Two of your ribs are broken, one of which pierced your lung. You're lucky to be alive. Your throat and lungs are injured as well but only minorly so. You will make a full recovery but it will take at least a week."

Harry smiled as he realized that he would likelynotfully recover in the muggle world and that he would be struggling for much longer. He truly loved magic.

"What are you smiling for, you thick-headed brat?" Snape snarled. "Do you even realize that you very nearly died?"

Harry sighed, his eyes travelling to Snape's bandaged hand once more. He supposed that he really should be grateful. But it wasn't very wellhisfault that there was a fire. And there was someone in trouble. What was he supposed to do? Just sit back and watch the show?

He wanted to argue. "Marley –"

"Yes, yes. I'm very much aware of why you decided to foolishly run into the fire again," Snape snarled. "This is exactly why Gryffindors don't have a long life expectancy. You run headfirst into danger without even thinking about it."

Harry wanted to yell at Snape. To tell him that there hadn't been any time. But his throat wouldn't allow it. Instead, he asked, "The tower?"

Pomfrey sighed but Snape schooled his expression into a neutral one.

"It was completely burned down," he said coldly. "Luckily, no one but yourself was injured in the process. There was a lot of material damage, of course, but the school will reimburse the students for most of it."

Harry frowned. Since the year had scarcely begun, he wondered what would happen to the Gryffindors.

"So, what now?" he asked with difficulty, hoping that either Snape or Pomfrey would understand what he meant.

"It would appear that the Gryffindors are now without a home," Snape growled. "I suppose you'll have to sleep outside in tents for the rest of the year." A sardonic smirk accompanied Snape's nasty tone of voice. Harry very nearly growled at him in response.

"Don't listen to him, dear," Pomfrey said, rolling her eyes at the Potions Master. "No decisions have been made yet. You have to understand that this situation is quite unprecedented."

"Quite," Snape growled and Harry picked up on a sense of unease from the otherwise stoic Potions Master. "But that is of no concern to you, Mr Potter. You have caused enough distress for one day."

Harry opened his mouth to reply but Pomfrey raised her hand. "That's enough out of the both of you," she reprimanded. "Mr Potter, if you want to head back to classes anytime soon, I suggest that you try and get some more sleep. As for you, Severus -"

Snape raised his hand to stop Pomfrey's tirade. "I will be taking my leave now," he said. "I appreciate your care, Poppy." And without another word, he swept out of the hospital wing, his robes billowing behind him. Harry scowled at his back but found that he could not actively hate the Potions Master at that moment. He did, after all, save his life.

A/N: So, to get a few things out of the way here. I will be updating once a week on Mondays and will do my best to keep up that schedule. That said, I am now 21 weeks pregnant and get tired easily (which is why I haven't written in a while). So bear with me if I'm late.

Please don't forget to leave me a review to let me know what you think of this first chapter. And if there's anything you'd like to see, there is now still room for implementation if I like your suggestions.

Thanks for reading!