"Harry….Ron…what is going on with you guys? You look dead."

Harry and Ron were sitting at the breakfast table with blank expressions. Ron was eating everything in sight, as usual, and Harry was not eating anything at all. Trinti was sitting there, looking from pale face to pale face, with a grim smile.

"We were up late last night, Trin. I needed to finish my transfiguration essay and Harry was keeping me company."

This explanation didn't seem to pacify Trinti. Her smile turned into a face of unconcealed anger. Oddly enough, she did not seem to be as angry at Ron as she was at Harry.

"I understand why you were up, Ron. But why was Harry up again?" Ron looked uneasily over at Harry who seemed to be trembling and looking above the Slytherin table.

"Leave him alone, Trinti. He can make decisions for himself. Besides, we are both tired and don't need this right now."

"That's not the point Ron. Harry never sleeps or eats. He-"

"Shut up Trin. Leave me alone, ok? I just want to get classes over with. I don't want to talk about this right now."

Trinti fell silent and looked at Harry, who seemed dazed and exhausted. He didn't even seem to be mad at all. Truth be told, he looked dead. He was pale and had rings around his eyes. This had become a normal look for him though.

Harry got up and trudged to the Great Hall doors and stopped for Ron and Trinti to catch up. Little did he know, a very old and concerned pair of eyes followed him. When they left, these eyes strayed over to another very tired man, who was consumed in the morning paper and cup of coffee.

XXXX

Severus Snape was reading the morning paper and sipping his second cup of coffee. He didn't usually like to drink the disgusting stuff. However, desperate times call for desperate measures.

He blamed the Potter boy for his sleepless nights. Ever since the Welcoming Feast, he had not been able to get a single good nights sleep. He kept having nightmares that didn't seem to make any sense. They all seemed to involve fire, scars, and those beautiful green eyes.

He felt someone staring at him and he looked up to see the calm, blue eyes of the headmaster. He sent a questioning look at the headmaster and the headmaster just gave him a small nod and looked away. Severus had the odd feeling that there was something more to the stare but he was too tired to figure it out. He got up and went to his first class.

Slowly.

XXXX

The day passed quickly. Too quickly for Harry's liking. He was having detention with Snape tonight and he was not looking forward to it. Maybe it was the uneasy feeling he had or maybe something was really happening to him. He felt different all day. He couldn't explain it but he felt like he wasn't himself. He felt like he was someone else. Not to mention, he had the worst headache of his life.

"Merlin Trinti! Stop talking so loud!"

"Harry, I was just whispering to Ron…"

"Well, stop. I can hear it."

"How can you hear it? Ron can barely hear me and he is sitting right beside me."

"Whatever. I need to get out of here. The light is too bright anyway."

"Harry? Are you ok? You seem really pale…Maybe you should go to Madam Pomfrey…"

Harry rubbed his temples and grinded his teeth. "No. I'm ok. I think I just need to lie down before detention. I think that its nerves."

With a look of understanding, Trinti nodded and went back to her homework. Ron looked back and forth between her and Harry. He could tell something was up. However, he did not want to bother his best friend.

XXXX

Harry walked up to Gryffindor tower with slow steps. Every step felt like his head was being ripped in two. He didn't want to go to the hospital wing because…well…he didn't want Madam Pomfrey to see his little "problem".

He got up to his dorm room and smiled at Neville, who was reading his herbology book. Neville was a quiet boy, who was terribly misfortunate. Harry felt sorry for him. He was really nice and didn't deserve all that seemed to happen to him.

He plopped down on his bed and curled up into a tight ball. His headache was getting worse and tears of pain started to leak out of his eyes. He was used to pain but this….this was unbearable. He slowly fell asleep and was startled awake sometime later by Ron who was shaking him and telling him it was almost 8.

He shot awake and felt the familiar headache beating at his brain.

"You alright mate? You are shaking. You sure you can make it to detention?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to sit here for a few."

Ron hesitated. He was about to ask about what had happened earlier but the flushed complexion of his friend made him wary. Something was terribly wrong.

"Ok but it is 7:45. You should probably get going in five minutes. You don't want to give Snape any more excuses to give you trouble."

"Snape doesn't need any excuses to give me trouble."

Ron laughed and closed the door, leaving Harry to get ready.

XXXX

Knock, Knock.

"Come in Potter."

Harry gently opened the door to the potions masters office. His head was pounding in the same rhythm as his heart. This was his fathers office. He looked around at the various ingredients and neat stacks of paper on the desk. His bloodshot eyes traveled to the impassive face of his father.

"Now that you have taken up my time by your worthless wonderings, you will sit down."

"Yes, sir."

Harry sat on the stool by the desk and looked down.

"I want you to clean out the potion vials that I have set out for you. Then, when you are finished, you will dry them and bottle the potion that is brewing on the desk. It is very important that you do not spill it or get it on yourself because it is a very potent potion and it will burn. Knock on my door when you are finished and I will come and inspect your work."

Harry looked into the empty classroom and gulped. He thought that he would be cleaning out cauldrons or something. Not anything dangerous.

"Well, get to it, boy!"

Harry scrambled to the desk and filled the empty sink with scalding hot water and set to work.

Snape snorted and went back to his grading, not wanting to be near the idiot boy.