A Time And Place To Grow

Chapter 9: Thoughts about the future

A/n Sorry for the absence. i hope this chapter was worth the wait.

The night wore on in darkness. The candles slowly burned out, each one leaving the room a little dimmer as the wicks were extinguished.

Harry knew he should be sleeping, but he forced his eyes open. The immobilizing charm did not wear off quickly; Harry heard the clock down the hall strike two, and he had only regained control of his arms. He may have dozed off once or twice, but he jerked himself away, determined not to sleep. The potion Snape gave him did not make him sleepy, but helped ease the soreness in his muscles.

The early morning light was glinting through the windows by the time Harry could move his whole body. He sat up and pushed the covers off. He was not going to hang around here forever, worrying whether Snape was alive or lying in pieces at the Death Eater meetings; Harry was going to find him.

The bedroom door swung open, and Harry took a breath of relief when he saw Snape come in the room. The feeling of relief vanished as Harry saw Snape's pale face, whiter than usual and marked with pain. The man could barely walk; he dragged himself over to the large bed with obvious effort.

"What did he do to you?" Harry leaped off the sofa.

"Potter, not so loud, please," Snape painfully began removing his black robe. "I'll be all right in a bit." Snape pulled off the robe, grimacing with pain as he did so, and stood by the bed in black trousers and a white shirt. He looked like he was going to say something cold and perhaps nasty, but then abandoned thethought.

Harry watched anxiously as Snape pulled himself up on the bed and slowly eased back on the pillows. He had never seen Snape after a Death Eater meeting, and no matter how Harry had imagined the horrific suffering at Voldemort's hands, he was not prepared for the reality of the torture.

"Potter," Snape said, not moving, "could you go to the cabinet and bring me back the small green bottle on the top shelf?"

Snape asking him nicely? He must be in pain. Harry hurried over to the cabinet. Fortunately, there was only one green bottle on the top shelf, and he brought it to Snape immediately.

Snape sat up the least bit, took the bottle, and swallowed the entire potion in several gulps. Snape placed the bottle on the bedside table and lay back on the pillows, closing his eyes again.

"All right, Potter, I'm just going to rest here for a while."

"I'll leave," Harry started to turn away.

"No!" eyes still closed, Snape pointed a stern finger in Harry's direction. "You aren't to leave my sight for two more days. Get dressed, and the house elves can bring you breakfast, and then you sit in the corner over there and read quietly."

"Fine," Harry's concern quickly turned in annoyance as he stalked to the bathroom. "I forgot that vampires have to sleep in the day."

"I heard that," Snape warned from the bed.

Snape did not move for the next few hours. After eating breakfast, Harry thought about watching him sleep, just to make sure the man did not die while he lay there. But as Harry did not know how to tell if someone had died other than their chest not moving up and down while they laid there, he opted for reading in the corner and glancing towards Snape every now and then.

The room was warm and still as the morning lagged on. His nightly vigil made Harry very sleepy, and he leaned back in the comfy armchair, flinging both his legs over one armrest and leaning against the other side of the chair. He closed his eyes only for a moment, and the heavy book slipped lower and lower down on his chest.

"Potter!" an insistent voice rang out, and Harry felt something thwack at his knees lightly.

"Go 'way," Harry muttered, keeping his eyes shut.