Harry felt hands on him and he smiled happily burrowing down into his dream again. In his dream, he was in a room, a warm room, and it was filled with an amazing amount of food. All of his favourites were filling that room and he wanted to eat every little bit of it. Draco was there and he kept pulling more food from his pockets and placing them all along the walls. Suddenly, Severus was there and he was also pulling food from his pockets and he held a blanket out to Harry. It was a soft blanket and Harry wanted it very much.
Hands touched him again and Harry immediately pulled away. His eyes opened wide and he pulled Snape's robe around him tight, covering his bared belly.
"Hmmm. I shall have to attempt that again with human hands. You may go, Ably."
Harry's eyes focused and watched Ably bow to Snape and pop away. The professor was busy writing at his desk again. He lifted his head and looked over at Harry's confused expression.
"An experiment," he explained. "Unfortunately, the elf was all I had at the moment." He moved closer to the bed and looked down at Harry. "Sleep well, then?"
Harry's brow furrowed. "What experiment? You didn't say anything about doing experiments on me."
"I actually wasn't planning on it. But I am very interested in the fluid that is transferred. When I touch you, the fetus immediately moves toward the hand. In turn, the fluid begins to secrete and is absorbed rather quickly into your skin. Even in sleep, you did not begrudge my touching you and were tranquil. However the moment the elf touched you, you had an immediate reaction, pulling away and waking." Snape related this in the most excited way that Harry had ever seen him. Of course, a stranger would think that Snape was merely reciting the weather forecast, but Harry could see the gleam in his eye and the slight quirk of his lips.
"Well, next time, just let me know what you're going to do, yeah? You pulled me out of a great dream." Harry pushed himself into a sitting position and swung his legs off the bed. "I can't believe I took a nap. I haven't taken a nap in years."
"Sleep is essential. Eating and sleeping should comprise your main activities at this stage."
Harry pulled a face. "I'll never be able to get on a broom again. I am not going to turn into Dudley."
"I haven't the faintest clue what a "Dudley" is, but you should know that your previous habit of not sleeping and scant food is what put you in the embarrassing display of yesterday." Snape smirked knowingly at Harry's reddened face. "Unless you wish a repeat of that, I suggest you do what you are supposed to do."
Harry slid to his feet from the high bed and began re-buttoning his shirt. "I wasn't hungry or tired before," he defended.
"And now?"
"I'm still not-." Harry stopped and thought about it. "Actually, I am a bit peckish. Guess I'll go down and see what I can scrounge up." Finished with his shirt, he tossed off a smile at Snape and left the room.
Harry was in the middle of a sandwich when Hermione and Ron showed up.
"Hi, guys," Harry mumbled shamefacedly from where he sat at the dining room table. Ron and Hermione came carefully into the room.
"How are you feeling today, Harry?" Hermione asked from the far end of the table. Harry grimaced and put his sandwich down.
"I'm feeling much better. I promise, I won't go mad again." He sighed. "And I'm really sorry for the nasty things I said. None of it was true. I was just trying to... to..."
"Get us away from you," Hermione finished. She smiled. "It's alright, Harry."
"Yeah, mate. No worries." Ron moved into the room and sat down next to Harry. "You having lunch, then?"
