Chapter four: The weary Warrior

Nights were made for sleeping...not waking up in blind terror, your wand in your hand, and pointed at your former Potions Professor throat; while a healer, that same professor called on to take care of oneself watched. At least that certainly was not how Harry Potter, saviour to the wizarding world, wanted to come to after a day filled with sleeping off potions. He swore and lowered his wand staring at Severus Snape worried that the older man had been harmed.

"I swear Potter...you will be the death of me, you scream louder than any being known to man or wizard." Snape said, trying to make light of what had really happened. Both he and Drake had rushed into the room after hearing ear piercing screams filled with sheer terror and pain only to find the young wizard thrashing about in bed tangled in the blankets.  When Snape had tried to free him of the blankets he found himself with a wand to his throat and staring into empty emerald eyes. He thanked his potions that Harry came too before he actually did anything other than bruise his throat.

"Professor I-"

"Do not have to sleep with your wand  in this home." Snape said, he was not going to let the boy take on blame that was not his fault. he glanced at Drake who nodded, it seemed the healer agreed with his choice.

"So...rainbows and puppy dogs?" Drake asked walking fully into the room, Harry stared at him confused.

"What?"

"Pretty freaky, dreaming about rainbows and puppy dogs, now that would scare even me to death!" he joked and relaxed when Harry burst into laughter.  The last thing any of them needed was a stressed, sick and ARMED Harry Potter freaking out and shooting off spells, even with Snape's wards on the house he had no doubt Harry could perform any spell before anyone could stop him.

"You...are nuts." Harry said after a few minutes of laughing, relaxing some he put his wand at the nightstand and looked at Snape again. "Professor I am sorry."

"Yes... well, let us avoid a repeat performance shall we? Since you are awake how about some supper?" Snape asked. Harry thought for a moment judging if he could actually eat and found he was starving.

"Yes that sounds good." He replied and jumped when Drake clapped his hands.

"I knew I picked the perfect time to come, now I can watch you attempt to cook a decent meal Severus!" Drake said with glee, Harry snorted as Snape scowled at the healer.

"Who said I would make you anything?"

"Who said you could actually cook a hearty meal that you both need to eat hmm?" Drake shot back and smirked when Snape had a slight color hit his cheeks.

"I am perfectly ca-"

"Do not even attempt to finish that sentence, I know full well what you call a meal, a single sandwich and a glass of water, they feed prisoners in the muggle world better than you feed yourself. How about we cut to the chase, you can sit at the table with Harry here and I will cook the meal." Drake said and pulled Harry to his feet steadying the young wizard when his feet appeared to be unsteady.

"Drake Riley I will  hex you!" Snape snapped.

"You can't; you'd get a wallop from your own wards, then you would be at my tender mercies..." Drake paused and tilted his head to the side. "You know what, hex a way! That way I can just deal with you when you collapse." Snape glared at him as they made their way to the kitchen.

"I ca-"

"Yes I know that, but do not take me for a fool Severus, I know how you get when you become involved in something, you get distracted." Drake said as they sat down. Snape scowled again but then nodded. The time it took for Drake to make supper was passed in silence, Harry still coming free from the potions he had taken and Snape intent to brood.

Drake shook his head at the pair, he would never tell either of them that they were very much alike, not just in how they reacted when being told what to do; but, also in how they handled themselves. He had seen too much of Severus in Harry's kind of condition; down on his luck, suffering from yet another torture session from his ‘master'. The amount of time he spent arguing with his reluctant friend to actually stop what he was doing before it killed him he lost count. And to think he owed a child for ending it. He sighed quietly as he finished cooking and began to get plates out. He wasn't surprised that the potions master was brooding, (he would never admit to pouting, much to proud that one) Drake thought amused as he set the now full plates in front of each man and then at the empty seat where he would sit, when said former death eater looked up to protest at the amount he raised an eyebrow.

"You really want to go there?" He questioned and smirked with Snape sneered at him and shook his head.

"One of these days Drake, I will hex you. You overstep your bounds." Snape growled. Drake shook his head setting out the drinks.

"Sev, thats what friends do. Get used to it, I'll drag you out of your dungeons yet." he countered and was pleased when Harry at least didn't argue, no the young wizard was already eating though his eyes seemed like he was miles away. Wonderful...first a nightmare and now the idiot was probably dwelling on the past, though it was almost impossible to tell if he was upsetting himself.

"With friends like you, who needs enemies." Snape grouched as he too began to eat. Drake just shook his head, years of fighting with his fellow Slytherin had toughened his skin so that he didn't take any of Snape's comments to heart.  The rest of the meal passed in silence before Harry cautiously cleared his throat and then almost regretted it when two sets of eyes sharply turned their complete attention on him.

"Yes?" Severus demanded ignoring the glare that Drake sent his way, he was not about to start coddling Potter just because he was ill, not to mention he was positive that was exactly what the boy did not want, and was the reason why he picked Drake in the first place, he glared back at Drake before the healer sighed and stood gathering the plates the muggle way, he had a good idea what was on the young man's mind: work. And as he was not part of the staff of the soon to be re-opened Hogwarts it did not concern him. His job was to keep an eye on Harry while he was under his care.  He smirked remembering a letter he had received from his best friend in school stating that he had died of shock, but was coming back as a zombie to treat the students of Hogwarts as their healer instead of the former Madame Pomfrey.

"I need to hold a meeting for the Professors of Hogwarts, quite a few of them have never met any of the original staff that is returning and almost no one knows anyone. if we do not have staff meetings before the new term starts the amount of trouble will be enormous and Hogwarts reopening will fail." Harry blurted out, Snape nodded.  

"A good idea." He said and Drake bit his lip waiting for Harry's ‘punch line' to come up.

"...within a week from now." Harry said quickly. Snape froze and very calmly stared his former student down.

"You come here half dead-"

"I was not half dead!" said former student protested.

"Oh but you were working hard on getting there." Drake said from the other end of the kitchen; but, held his hands up in surrender when both Snape and Harry glared at him.

"-And then tell me you are re-opening Hogwarts, that you forget to use simple spells like a warming charms, that you personally hunted down every witch and wizard to hire-"

"Well...I couldn't hunt down our Healer, he was in Egypt at the time, and I was working with a time schedule you know, so I wrote him a letter." Harry again interrupted and leaned back when Snape stood leaning forward, glaring at him even more.

"And now you tell me, when you've worn yourself thin as a sheet-"

"Now come on I did not lose that much weight!" Harry said and Snape let out what sounded like mufflscream or yell.

"DO NOT INTERRUPT ME AGAIN POTTER OR SO HELP ME YOU WILL NOT LIKE WHAT I DO!" He bellowed. Harry took a deep breath.

"I need to interrupt you when you do not have the co-" he began and glared when Snape spelled him silent, folding his arms he fumed at the Potion's master who was now pacing and rubbing his temples.

"I was mad to have agreed to this, to have suggested this!" he was muttering, Drake sighed and stepped over and pulled Snape close so he could speak quietly in his ear.

"My best Mate is the healer he hired, if you think I'm bad, wait till you see how he reacts to Harry." He said and got a chuckle out of the man, who turned and eyed Harry, who at being ignored actually was sipping his water quietly, his face looked a thousand years away, no doubt running through every possible scenario that could harm his precious plan to reopen Hogwarts, so engrossed in his thoughts he did not even notice when Snape lifted the spell.

"It means that much to you doesn't it." He said softly startling the younger man into looking up at him.

"I've told you how much she means to me, why she means so much...without her....we may well fall back into the dark ages, and become the very things Muggles tell horror stories about. Hogwarts is needed, but more than that...what she will offer this time will be what is needed for the upcoming years." Harry said. Healer and Potion's master stared at the younger man.

"What she needs?" Drake asked.

"Upcoming years?" Snape added. Harry shook his head looking slightly amused.

"Let's just say that I have dug up some ancient subjects and brought them back to the light and as for what I know...well that my dear healer and professor is for me to know...and you to find out when the time is right.  Now I think...I am going to go try to get some non induced potion sleep." He stood and walked away leaving two dumbfounded wizards in his wake.

"We were just dismissed, by a half dead, mostly drained, younger wizard." Drake said sitting down in the chair staring up at Snape. "And Severus...when he was just now talking...it felt as if the room was filling with power, he shouldn't be able to do that in his condition."

"That isn't the worst of it..." Snape said staring off in Harry's direction. "He's either seen some sort of blasted prophecy or...heard of one and has hidden it away...unlike the one that changed his life...and if he deemed it unsafe for anyone else's ears then it means...he's gone as mad as Dumbledore was...and even more powerful."

"Mad...Severus....the boy's a bloody genius, idiotic when it comes to his own affairs...but when it comes to planning and organizing an ENTIRE school from repair to hiring teachers...I'd say we are in for a world of change." Drake commented.

"You do know, no amount of pestering will get that idiot to open up." Snape grumbled, and it was Drake's turn to chuckle.

"Give him some credit...he's told us something is coming, which means..."

"We had best get ready for it...and have a blasted staff meeting in MY home..." Snape hissed and glared at Drake who looked amused.

"Oh come on, I think it may be fun!" Drake said brightly.

"I am going to poison you in your sleep." Snape muttered as he stood, "I have potions to brew, go do something useful...make sure the stupid boy is still breathing or something." he snapped. Drake shook his head tilting his head back.

"Well Dumbles you old fool, you were an idiot with how you treated him; but, I bet you never dreamed he would become worthy of being the best headmaster Hogwarts will ever see, now the problem is getting him to agree to that." he shook his head and stood going back to cleaning up the kitchen Harry Potter....would always be full of surprises it seemed...