snape and skull

36

In the Wee Small Hours
H

arry helped Severus arrange ingredients in the back cabinet of his classroom, getting it ready for the return of the students. Hermione had done a great job of reorganizing everything so all Harry needed to do was to see which ingredients were running low and Snape could owl order some more or he and Harry could get some from the green house or the forest. Harry was glad to go on these small excursions with his guardian as it got him out of the castle and he picked up several valuable tops and tricks on how to harvest herbs and magical plants from Snape, which would prove invaluable in potion making.
H

owever, after a long day of harvesting and then chopping, grinding, and mincing ingredients to be added to different drafts and solutions that Snape was brewing-mainly Calming Draughts, Dreamless Sleep, and a few others, Harry was exhausted and went to bed early without needing prompting. He felt as if he had just shut his eyes when he found himself back in the Place Between Worlds, watching the revenant draining Severus.
"No! No-o-o!"
He screamed so loud in denial that he woke up gasping for breath. He felt icy cold and without conscious thought scrambled out of his bed and ran into the sitting room searching for Severus. Seeing the room dark and obviously unoccupied, thrown into shadow by the flickering light of a Lumos-spelled lamp, Harry spun, his heart still racing, and scurried over to the closed door that led to Severus' bedroom. He had never actually been in the room, there had not been a reason to be, and he respected Snape's privacy.
But tonight he was filled with foreboding and fear, it ran through him like liquid ice, and he turned the knob and entered.
The room was dark, save for a single light, and Harry could make out the shapes of an armoire, bookshelf, bed, and nightstand as well as another recliner, plus Skull's perch and a half-opened closet door. The raven had his head tucked beneath a wing, sleeping. Harry turned, still making rasping noises in a throat cramped with fear, to see a blanket shrouded Severus asleep in the bed.
The blanket, he noted, was a deep forest green with golden scales on it, like a snake, and it was large enough to sleep two or more people comfortably. Snape slept deeply, curled on his side, his raven hair a black smear against the cream colored pillows.
Harry crept over to the bed, peering down at his mentor, just watching the other's chest rise and fall. See, he's okay, you dunderhead, he scolded himself mentally. Stupid bloody nightmare!
But when he tried to make his feet leave, he found he could not and just remained there, listening to Snape breathe.
Some of the visceral terror faded, but then he began to tremble, chilled from both the dream and the fact that he was barefoot, standing on the stone floor, his toes just brushing the rug surrounding the bed. Cold crept into his limbs and suddenly the bed with its thick duvet looked terribly inviting. A wistful look stole over the boy's features and on impulse he went and crawled on the other side of the bed.
He pulled the comforter over himself, trying to stop shivering. I'll just stay here till I'm warmed up, and then go back to bed, he reasoned. Uncle Sev will knew even know, this bed's so big that two other people could fit in here and not know it.
A toasty warmth spread into his chilled limbs and Harry drowsed, curled up beside his sleeping guardian. Unconsciously, he snuggled up against Snape's back, falling into a deep sleep an instant later.
Ten minutes later, Severus stirred, blinking. He half-woke, went to turn over, and encountered his snoozing ward.
"What the hell?"
He sat up, yawning, and saw Harry. Both eyebrows went up into his raven hair. Merlin's bloody ghost! He leaned over the boy, fearing Harry had become ill during the night and tried to wake him but had no luck, so he ended up falling asleep waiting for the Potions Master to awaken.
But a touch of his hand upon Harry's forehead revealed the boy had no fever.
His brow wrinkled, wondering what had caused the boy to come and sleep with him, then he shook his head. Snape, you idiot, he probably had a night terror and came to find you but you were asleep. The professor could recall doing so himself as a young boy with Eileen, though his worst nightmare lived in the house with him in the form of the addict Tobias Snape. As if on cue, the boy whimpered in sleep.
"Hush, child," murmured the elder wizard, moving to lay a hand upon one small shoulder.
Harry groaned and leaned into Snape's hand, sleepily seeking reassurance.
Sighing, Severus rearranged himself, slipping one arm around the boy and lying down again.
Skull woke briefly and saw his wizard cuddled with his ward in the bed, and made a soft purring sound. "See, didn't I say you made a good security blanket, Sev?"
Snape rolled his eyes. "Go to sleep, Skull. He had a nightmare."
"After the things that have happened, who wouldn't?" the familiar remarked, and then flew to the headboard and perched atop it. "I shall ward your dreams."
"I didn't say I was having nightmares," remarked Snape testily.
"You never do," returned the raven. "But I know better."
Snorting, Severus closed his eyes, too tired to argue with the bird, and soon he had drifted back to sleep, one hand curled protectively about his son, the other closed about his wand beneath his pillow. While above him, Skullduggery remained alert, monitoring the two wizards' dreams. In his sleep, Harry moved until his back was resting in the crook of professor's arm and he sighed as the terror of the nightmare was banished.
When Harry woke up several hours later, he found himself sleeping alone, as Severus had risen earlier and went to take a shower. Finding the room empty, Harry hurried back into his own. He dressed hastily, half-embarrassed at Snape waking to find him there. But he was grateful that the professor had not kicked him out of his room, and realized then that he was no longer filled with fear and anxiety. He walked out into the sitting room and found Skull preening on the back of Snape's recliner.
"Morning, Skull."
"Morning, bran-boy," the raven greeted cheerily. "Sleep well?"
"Umm . . ." Harry coughed. "Sort of."
Skull cocked his head. "Ah. Nightmares?"
Harry nodded. "Umm . . . yeah . . .just a little . . ."
"I see. But Sev makes a good boogeyman chaser, doesn't he?" Skull asked slyly.
Harry felt himself blush. "You know that-I mean-uh . . ."
"Course I do," Skull tweeted. "I'm not blind."
"Does . . . does Uncle Sev?"
Skull nodded. "Yup. Gave him a bit of a shock, but he got over it."
"Was he mad?"
"Mad? No."
"He must think I'm some kind of baby now," Harry groaned.
Skull fluttered onto Harry's shoulder and began preening the boy's hair. "Nonsense! Even the bravest warrior mages have nightmares. Especially after what you faced. There's no shame in it. Just ask Sev."
Harry's eyes widened. "You mean, he . . ."
"As bad as anything you ever dreamed and worse," Skull answered sagely.
"Oh. I never . . ." Harry trailed off, shaking his head at his own foolishness. Of course Severus had nightmares, he had been through a war and found his best friend's body. Harry then summoned Prissy to bring them breakfast.
Over their eggs, crumpets, fruit, and ham, Harry wondered when Snape was going to bring up the incident last night, but the professor did not mention it at all, speaking instead of the various potions he was brewing, and Harry relaxed and discussed the properties and reagents and why they were prepared a certain way for specific solutions, relieved Severus was not going bring up the embarrassing topic of last night.
But that night, Severus left his door ajar, a silent invitation for Harry to come to him if he needed to.
Harry glanced at the partially opened door on his way to his room and smiled to himself, knowing what the unspoken gesture meant, though he slept without dreams that night, the specter of the revenant chased back into the shadows by the Potion Master's presence.
Three days later, despite a somewhat lapsed memory and general exhaustion, Albus re-opened the school. He did not want to delay the students' return anymore than necessary, and risk them forgetting most of what they had learnt; he also didn't like to admit he wasn't back to his old self. Poppy had warned him about overstressing himself, but he cheerfully ignored her warning. He would rest on the summer holiday, and though his lapses of memory were distressing, he made sure one of his house elves was on hand to remind him of important meetings and dates, such as with the Minister and the Board of Governors. That way his condition would go unnoticed.
Or so it seemed.
In reality, Poppy and Severus had a conspiracy going to make sure Albus recovered, and they informed Minerva, Pomona, and Filius the first day back in an impromptu staff meeting what had happened to the Headmaster. Minerva ordered Winken, Albus' house elf, to give her a copy of his schedule, which the elf happily did, since she was his Deputy. Minerva made a few changes to it, shortening the meeting times and scheduling more breaks for her now aged employer, then she sent it off to the Ministry. She then threw out the original and replaced it with the adjusted copy.
Severus stole Dumbledore's dish of lemon drops, while the Headmaster was in a luncheon with Fudge, and sprinkled a Memory Clarifying Potion on them, coating them thoroughly. He knew the taste might be altered, but better that than a befuddled Headmaster. He then sneakily replaced them. To his surprise, Dumbledore remarked at dinner that night that his sweets must have been improved on since the last batch, because they tasted so much better.
Pomona sent Albus a lavender plant to keep in his office, as the scent of it relaxed and soothed and encouraged one to sleep with good dreams. One of the side effects of being drained almost to death was insomnia and nightmares.
Filius gave him a charmed clock which would remind him of certain events ahead of time, so he was never late for meetings and so forth.
Poppy made up several batches of Nutrient Energy drafts and mixed them into a sugar-free soft drink which she gave him at dinner rather than his usual pumpkin juice, in a sly attempt to get him to take better care of his health.
Harry was glad to have his friends back and had already made a decision to downplay his role in the defeat of Voldemort as much as possible, he was tired of being famous, let the adults take most of the credit this time. But he had forgotten to inform Ron of that little detail, with the end result that within a day of returning most of the school knew he had done something to help destroy the revenant and save his professors' lives.
"Why did you have to tell everyone?" he snapped at Ron over breakfast the next day. "You could have just kept your mouth shut, Ron! I don't want to be in the bloody papers again!"
"Hey, mate, how was I supposed to know you didn't want people to know?" Ron replied.
"By using your bloody brain!" Harry growled. He was so upset he didn't even finish breakfast, just stormed out of the hall and down to the dungeons. His first period class was potions that day and he figured no one would be in the classroom yet, giving him some time to calm down. He threw open the door so hard it banged against the wall, bringing Severus from his office.
"Is there a reason you're slamming my classroom door, Mr. Potter?" he demanded icily.
"Ron's an idiot," Harry replied angrily.
Severus arched an eyebrow. "While that may be true, that's no excuse for indulging yourself in a temper tantrum and breaking my door down." He crossed his arms over his chest.
"Would you rather I broke his head?" asked Harry testily.
"I would rather you sit down and think about acting more like the smart boy you are than a spoiled child," said his guardian sharply.
Harry flushed and slumped into his seat. "Sorry. It's just . . . sometimes he makes me so mad I want to smack him upside the head and knock some sense into him."
"His mother already tried that," Severus remarked dryly. "It didn't take too well."
Harry's mouth twitched slightly in a half-smile. "Tell me about it."
Severus came and half-sat on a corner of his desk, eyeing Harry. "What did Ronald do to make you angry?"
"He told everyone how I helped destroy the Voldemort revenant. I didn't want anyone to know about it because I'm tired of being the hero of the wizarding world. But now it's too late because he told Dean and Seamus and now my whole house knows and soon the whole school will know because they'll brag about it."
"Harry, you wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret for too much longer. The other Weasleys knew about it also, as does the Headmaster, and Albus would see no reason not to tell everyone about another victory over the Dark Lord thanks to you."
"But it wasn't just me. You and Lena helped fight it too," Harry objected.
"True, but it was your magic that finished it off," Severus pointed out. "In any case, the cat's out of the bag, so you might as well stop stamping about and glowering, it won't help anything."
"Is that what you tell yourself when you're in a mood?"
"Don't get cheeky with me, brat," Severus warned, giving his son a quick smack to the back of his head.
"Ow!" Harry rubbed the back of his head. "It was just an observation."
"Right," Severus snorted. "Don't try and play innocent with me, Harry James. I have Skull for a familiar, remember?"
Harry sulked a bit, until Severus handed him a pile of second-year homework and told him to sort it into House groups, making it easier to grade. By the time he was done, it was almost time for class and Harry's temper had simmered down a bit, enough so he wouldn't pick a fight with Ron during class.
Mindful of the tension between the two, Snape partnered Harry with Draco that period and Ron with Hermione, so there were no mishaps.
Harry grudgingly admitted Severus was right and forgave his blabbermouth friend. He went to bed that night in Gryffindor Tower, and had a strange dream where he was walking on air and splashing in the gutters on the roof of the Astronomy Tower. It was such an odd dream that he actually remembered it. But when he went to get changed and put on his trainers, he found the bottom cuffs of his pajamas all wet and muddy and no idea how they'd gotten that way.