When the Snow Melts

Dream a Little Dream

Author's Note: The effects of the Dreamless Sleep Potion in this and subsequent chapters are modeled after the effects of opium use. If you struggle with substance abuse, you might want to flee in terror.

Ron woke with a start – Harry was screaming hysterically in his sleep, arms flailing. This was the fifth night in a row. The other boys had begun casting silencing wards around their beds before they went to sleep, but Ron had opted not to. He wanted to know when his best friend needed him.

He shook the boy violently. "Harry, Harry, wake up. It's just a bad dream."

Harry's eyes met his with a haunted expression – he was shaking like a leaf, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked in concern.

Harry swallowed hard, shaking his head, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks.

He flung himself unexpectedly at Ron, clinging desperately to the larger boy. "Please promise me," he cried. "Promise me you won't get yourself killed. For once, don't be brave. Just take Hermione and run."

Ron pushed the boy away so that he could look him in the eyes. "What are you talking about, Harry? It was just a dream. We're fine – we're both fine."

Harry took a few shuddering breaths, the haunted look slowly fading from his eyes as he returned to reality.

"Of course," he agreed dumbly. "It was just a dream."

Ron nodded, settling his friend back under the covers. Feeling unnerved, he returned to his own bed, occasionally glancing over. Harry's eyes remained wide open hours later when Ron finally dozed off.

<<<<<   >>>>>

Harry poked at the food on his plate, occasionally gumming a few bites. His face was pale, dark circles shadowed his eyes – he didn't look well. With a sigh, he stood to leave, shuffling like a zombie out the big double doors of the Great Hall.

Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances.

"He's hardly sleeping," Ron whispered frantically. "Last night he woke up screaming and made me promise not to get myself killed."

Hermione was alarmed at Harry's worsening condition. It wasn't supposed to be like this – they had talked. So why?

"I think he's losing it, Hermione," Ron squeaked.

"It's fine," she assured him. "We'll figure this out. Something has to be triggering it."

She wracked her brain while they continued with breakfast, trying to pull together everything that Harry had told them about his nightmares. There was one underlying theme – everyone he knew would suffer because of him. It was a ludicrous notion to accept responsibility for the actions of others but that was just how Harry operated – he did feel responsible for everything that happened around him. He refused to see that he was not to blame for those events. She just wanted to hug him and never let go, knowing in her heart that he was like this because of the way the Dursely's had always blamed him every time something bad happened.

From out of the blue, she was struck by a realization – for all Malfoy's faults, Harry had seemed like he was doing better while they were together. As much as it pained her to admit it, she knew she needed to get Malfoy's input on the situation. Ron may not trust the boy, but he had shown genuine concern for their friend.

Her face hardened in resolve. "I'm going to talk to Malfoy about it," she announced.

Ron choked on his pumpkin juice. "You're what?" he exclaimed when he was done coughing.