Thank you!  I'm glad to see you again!  How's your fic coming along?  It was fun to write Harry being a bit of a caretaker here, and if you liked it, you'll be happy to know that I've got a couple of other scenes planned where Harry will be the one taking care of and comforting Severus...one later in "Potions Professor" and one for the Deathly Hallows AU.  Christmas is coming soon.  Everytime I say something will be in the next chapter, I end up not writing it in that chapter after all, so I'll just say it's coming soon.  The more interesting question might be what does Severus get Harry for Christmas, though.

About Sev's nightmare, well, it's really not meant to be a big mystery, though Severus won't share it with Harry for a while.  But remember the day before, he had told the Trio about DEs killing Hermione's neighbors, including a young couple with a baby boy, and the kids were talking about how horrible and cruel the DEs were...it just might have brought back some memories Severus would rather forget.

Yeah, I'm so happy Harry and Severus have reached this point in their relationship.  I love softie Sev.  Glad you liked it!

Yeah, a definite warm fuzzy alert here.  I'm so glad you liked it.  And I think Harry can be a great caretaker, too.  I think, short as this chapter is, it's one of my favorites, just because I can see how far Harry and Severus have come.  That they're able to joke around with one another is a small miracle, if you consider all the years of animosity that lay between them at the end of fifth year, so I just loved writing them kidding one another.  Still, as you pointed out, Harry does have some lingering insecurities, because he was truly unwanted by the Dursleys and because they drilled it into him that he was a burden that no one could possibly want, that's a very sensitive issue with him.  Even now, after all this time, he still couldn't be absolutely sure that Sev was joking about that, but it does show progress that he was able to let Severus know he was insecure and didn't just bottle it up and brood about it.

There's still one more big hurdle in the road before Harry and Severus can truly accept themselves as parent and child, and that will be coming up pretty soon after Christmas, I think.

Thanks so much, OE! 

Thanks, Kim!  I'm so happy you liked it!  This chapter was a lot of fun to write because I do enjoy the mushy scenes.  I really wanted to show Severus working hard to train Harry, but at the same time, being very determined not to hurt him.  Most of the fics I've read, if Harry is learning any new magical techniques, will show them being at least a bit painful, and Harry getting bruised or sore, or sometimes enduring real pain, in learning them.  And I understand the thinking, the 'no pain, no gain' thoughts, but to me, it also seems equally likely that Severus, once he's close to Harry and knows how much he's suffered in the past, would do his best to find a pain-free way of instructing him, or at least ways to minimize it.

The clothing conversation was fun to write, too.  I wonder if Harry really will get Sev some outlandish clothes as a gift...could be interesting.  I hope your headache got better and you had a great day, too!