Lily's Charm- Severitus fanfiction

Tea Kelting

1996

"No!" Harry cried as Lucius killed his father again. He felt iron hands against his arms. He snarled, trying to twist out of Voldemort's grasp. "Leave me alone!" he shouted as he wrestled against the grip.

"Harry!" The arms shook him again, though the movement was gentler. "You're having a nightmare, Harry," Voldemort told him, his black eyes warming with concern. Harry blinked in confusion while Voldemort nodded encouragingly. "Wake up, Harry," he soothed and as the command was perfectly logical, Harry opened his eyes. He blinked rapidly as he took in his surroundings. He was sitting up in his bed in his father's blurry quarters; there was no sign of Voldemort.

"Are you all right?" his father asked, still holding firmly to Harry's arms. Harry nodded, giving his arms a little tug; Severus released him.

"It didn't work," Harry complained as he slumped against the headboard. His father shook his head though.

"You've been asleep for nearly five hours. The meditation exercise worked; you simply need more practice to get your through the entire night," he explained. Harry drew in a deep breath.

"Five hours' not too bad, I guess," he conceded. "So, we'll just try again tonight?"

"We will go through the exercise again now." When Harry started to protest, his father said firmly, "You need more sleep." Harry sighed and nodded resignedly. If he wasn't going to argue, there was nothing much to do but agree, no matter how much he did not want to go back to sleep. Five hours had seemed like an eternity already.

Harry thought his father was giving him a strange look, as though he was trying to figure out a complex Potions recipe, but as Harry didn't have his glasses on, he really couldn't be sure. "I'm ready," he said firmly, moving to lie down again, to distract his father from whatever he was thinking about.

Severus nodded briskly. "Turn your thoughts to Halloween," he instructed. Harry squeezed his eyes shut and let the horrible memory of his father being kicked to the dirt fill his mind. He shuddered.

"Now, your focal point," his father commanded gently. Ginny.

Harry let his mind fill with the memory of that first time he'd sat on his bed with Ginny...their first kiss. Harry smiled automatically, reveling in the memory, letting it overtake all his other thoughts, letting it push away the pain, until he could almost feel himself drifting closer to Ginny as she stood as sentinel against Voldemort's torture...

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Severus relaxed as Harry smiled to himself, lost in his own thoughts. He stayed, quietly perched on his son's bed until the smile melted into relaxation and Harry's chest began to rise and fall in the familiar comforting rhythm. Severus adjusted the blankets around his contented son and stood. He left Harry's room, though he left the door open as he crossed back to his own room.

Ignoring the call of sleep, Severus waved a wand to return the bedcovers to their original neat state and dressed for the day, ignoring as well the irony of what he'd just told his son. But sleep sounded even more unappealing than it obviously did to Harry. Severus left his room again, pausing in front of Harry's door to ensure he was still sleeping.

Severus was well aware that Ms. Weasley was his son's focal point and again, he felt a moment's gratitude toward the young lady. She had been able to reach Harry where he had soundly failed. Severus shook his head ruefully as he recalled his earlier inability to even respond to her request to be called by her given name. He'd given her a curt nod and repeated that it was time for her to leave. He hoped she wouldn't bring it up again.