Never Alone by Julz
Summary: Severus Snape is a complicated man, but when it comes to protecting Harry Potter's life, there is nothing more simple than succeeding. When Severus finds himself caring for the boy after an attack, how will their relationship change? Snape-Harry mentor fic.
Categories: Teacher Snape > Trusted Mentor Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Arthur, Bellatrix, Draco, Dudley, Dumbledore, Fred George, Ginny, Hagrid, Hermione, Lucius, McGonagall, Molly, Neville, Original Character, Petunia, Remus, Ron, Shacklebolt, Sinistra, Tonks, Vernon, Voldemort, Wormtail
Snape Flavour: Canon Snape, Snape Comforts, Snape is Kind, Snape is Loving, Out of Character Snape, Overly-protective Snape
Genres: Angst, Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy
Media Type: None
Tags: Adoption, Animagus!Snape, Kidnapped, Pregnancy, Sibling Addition, Snape-meets-Dursleys
Takes Place: 6th summer, 6th Year, 7th summer
Warnings: Alcohol Use, Character Death, Neglect, Out of Character, Profanity, Rape, Romance/Het, Romance/Slash, Self-harm, Suicide Themes, Torture, Violence
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 62 Completed: Yes Word count: 397611 Read: 400065 Published: 24 Jun 2009 Updated: 10 Feb 2016
These Dreams: Part 1 by Julz
Author's Notes:
Once again, the limitations of this archive have made it so that I must chop one chapter into two parts. This time I was only about half a page over the limit. Chapters 35 & 36 are ONE chapter, cut in half. Sorry for the late update!

Minister Fudge Gets Impeached by Wizengamot!

In an emergency meeting last night, the Wizengamot put up a vote for the impeachment of Minister Cornelius Fudge, based on lack of proper action during crises in the Wizarding world. The votes were counted as forty-six yeas, four nays. The newly appointment Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, made a statement last night after the adjourning of the meeting.

“I have never aspired to be the Minister for Magic, but if I can do a better job than Fudge and fix the problems within the Ministry, then I will do it willingly. No longer will people be ignored; I will listen to all concerns and comments with equal consideration.”

Many changes to inner-Ministry workings have been proposed and are already being put in place. Former Minister Fudge refused to comment, again. The Daily Prophet will keep the readers updated as we receive the news.

“That was awfully fast,” Harry said as Hermione finished reading the article aloud at breakfast.

“It wasn’t fast enough, in my opinion. How that man ever came to be in power is beyond me,” Hermione huffed as she refolded the Prophet and placed it beside her plate, glaring at it like it had offended her.

“Hey Harry, what did your dad say about teaching for the Duelling Club?” Ron asked as he mixed his eggs, bacon, and potatoes together it a gooey mess that made Hermione grimace.

“Must you mix everything on your plate like that, Ron? If it were meant to all be together, the house elves would have just made a scramble,” Hermione said, making sure nothing on her plate touched. If Ron was going to extremes, Hermione was definitely on opposite sides of the scale.

Harry just rolled his eyes as his friends continued to bicker about food and the separation of certain dishes. “My dad asked me to teach the Advanced group so that he and Moony can focus on the people who need more help.”

Hermione and Ron stopped fighting instantly to stare at Harry. Hermione recovered first, smiling widely at her dark-haired friend. “Oh Harry, that’s wonderful!”

“He asked you to teach? So, you didn’t suggest it yourself?” Ron asked with an incredulous expression.

Harry shrugged as he took a bite of bacon and washed it down with some pumpkin juice. “I mentioned the D.A. and the idea of me teaching, and he said he had actually been meaning to ask me if I would be willing to teach the Advanced group. It was his idea first, apparently.”

“That’s awfully...well, shocking, coming from Snape. He trusts you that much?” Ron asked, Hermione glaring at him from beside Harry.

“He said he trusts my abilities and has every faith in me. I was quite surprised by it as well but...I agreed to do it.” Harry chuckled as Ron pumped his fist into the air in celebration, causing Hermione to roll her eyes.

“See, now I can’t wait for the next meeting!” Ron said excitedly, nearly knocking over the pitcher of pumpkin juice in his enthusiasm.

“Thanks, Ron,” Harry said exasperatedly, shaking his head in amusement as Hermione stared at the redhead with a complete look of bemusement.

The bell rang for first class, and Harry held back to wait for Draco as Hermione and Ron went ahead to Potions, bickering quietly together the whole way. Harry was surprised to see his father making his way towards him as well.

“Harry, I wanted to talk to you about your nightmare last night,” the Potions Master said in a quiet voice as students passed him by.

Harry scowled darkly. “Remus has a big mouth.”

Severus gave his son a reproving look as he motioned for Harry and Draco to walk with him to his classroom. “He was only worried about you, and besides; I asked him what had happened anyways. Now, you’re absolutely sure it was only a nightmare and not a vision?”

“Yes. My scar always hurts after seeing something through Voldemort’s mind. Plus, this nightmare didn’t really concern Him at all.”

Severus looked sceptical, but nodded his understanding anyways. “I want to know if you continue having nightmares, especially the same nightmare, alright? Taking some Dreamless Sleep might be a good idea if they start plaguing you like they’re wont to do.”

Harry sighed as they made it to the Potions classroom. “Yeah, alright. Thanks, Dad.”

As they set up their cauldrons and set out their ingredients, Draco leaned over to whisper to Harry.

“What was that about nightmares and visions, Harry?”

Harry sighed, not wanting to explain that to his boyfriend. He was terrified that Draco would think he was insane and leave him when he found out the truth. “I just had a nightmare last night. Last year...it’s really complicated, Draco.”

“I’m pretty intelligent, I’m sure I can figure it out,” the blonde said with a raised eyebrow.

“Do you remember what I told you this summer before you started teaching me Occlumency? About the connection between Voldemort and I, and his ability to implant false memories? My dad’s afraid that’s happening again, but it feels different. I learned the hard way to tell the difference between dreams and reality, and I’ve been blocking my mind religiously,” Harry said firmly, absolutely positive that the dream had been nothing but just that; a dream.

“Well, Severus is just worried about you, is all. He’s right though, Harry. If you keep having that dream, you need to tell him right away,” Draco encouraged his boyfriend, turning his attention over to his potions book.

“I know. I will, I promise.”

S~S~S~S

Hot breath, sharp claws, the stench of stale sweat and the tang of blood filled Harry’s nostrils until he felt faint and ill. He turned this way and that to try to figure out where it was all coming from, but he still couldn’t see.

As he looked around, even without his glasses, he could see shadows moving closer. He couldn’t tell what they were, but they were making chittering noises that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He heard a rustling from behind him and scrambled to his feet, reaching for his wand again and clenching his fists in frustration when he didn’t find it. He squinted as hard as he could, but between the darkness, the rain, and his lack of glasses, he couldn’t see anything.

He felt his heart jump into his throat as the leaves of the bush he was staring at suddenly parted, and a pair of gleaming eyes moved forward. Harry quickly backed away, only to trip over a root that was sticking up. He scrambled back in an odd crab-walk on his hands and bum. Blind or not, Harry could not mistake that smell and that rough, gravely laugh. Fenrir Greyback was there, naught ten feet away from him. He threw his arms over his face in a weak attempt to protect himself, unable to keep a whimper from escaping him.

“We meet again, Potter...”

“Harry...Harry! Get up or you’re going to be late for Charms.”

His breath coming in sharp gasps, Harry grabbed blindly for his glasses, shoving them onto his nose when he found them. He looked around and saw his father standing in the doorway giving him a very calculating look.

“You had the dream again.”

Harry knew it wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyways. “Yeah...”

After he was dressed and had his books stuffed haphazardly in his book bag, Harry was waylaid at the door by the Potions Professor once more. He was holding up a bottle of light blue potion, his face as expressionless as ever.

“You will take a dose of Dreamless Sleep tonight. If you have the dream again, it will be painfully obvious that it is not, in fact, a dream at all, and then we will have much bigger problems to deal with. Do you understand?”

Harry sighed and nodded, taking the small vial of potion and slipping it into the pocket of his robes. He didn’t particularly like the dreams, but he could feel that familiar curiosity that had lured him in just like the plain black door. That feeling alone terrified him, and he willing agreed to take the Dreamless Sleep if it would make the bothersome dreams go away.

That night, Harry took a dose of Dreamless Sleep before bed like instructed. The potion was not tampered with, and it could be trusted one hundred percent, as Severus had made it with his own two hands. That night, Harry had the dream again.

“Should we perhaps tell the Headmaster about these dreams, Severus?” Remus asked as he climbed back into bed after making sure Harry was asleep once more in his bed.

The Potions Master looked lost in thought as he leaned against the headboard, stroking his chin as he stared at something off in the distance. “The Headmaster is busy, I’m sure. The last time Harry was having these issues, Dumbledore didn’t do anything about it.”

“He tried. You were supposed to teach him Occlumency, Severus.”

“Yes, thank you, I had actually forgotten about that,” Severus snapped sarcastically as he glared at the Defence Professor. “These dreams must be something different, Remus. He’s Occluding. I tested him three times today; his shields are strong. Dreamless Sleep was not enough to keep it away. It’s something different, something Harry hasn’t encountered before.”

Remus sighed as he snuffed out the candle on his bedside table and turned on his side to face his bond mate. “Why don’t you just sleep on it and we’ll figure this out in the morning, yes?”

“I cannot sleep while my son is being tortured in his sleep by something clearly Dark in nature. I need to see the dream, I need to know what he’s seeing, what makes it different,” The Potions Professor went on, as if he was checking things off of a list in his head.

“Severus, really – ”

Remus watched as the dark haired man stood up and pulled on his dressing gown, closing the door a little too firmly on his way out. He was positive the man would be entering their son’s bedroom to look over the Gryffindor, and his heart ached with the knowledge of it.

S~S~S~S

“Harry, I need to see the dream.”

Harry pulled the cup of tea that he was about to sip from away from his lips, groaning audibly. He had just finished an essay for Charms and was hoping to be able to relax for a bit before heading to bed. Apparently it was not his night for relaxing. “Do you mean viewing it in a pensieve or just Legilimizing me?”

“It will be much easier to view in a pensieve, if you are open to that?” the Potions Master said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Do I have choice?” Harry asked hopefully. He got his answer in the intense glare his father shot at him. “Alright, alright. Fine, you can see it.”

“We’ll wait until tomorrow since it is so late already. I daresay you’ll be having the dream again.”

“Goodnight, Dad,” Harry said with a wide yawn as he stood up from his spot on the sofa and made to go to his room.

Severus sighed heavily and stood up, patting his son gently on the shoulder. “Try to get some sleep. Come to me if you need me, no matter what time it is, alright? Goodnight.”

Harry woke up at around three in the morning after having the dream, this time a little more vividly. It took him much longer to get his breathing under control and to get the sense of fear to leave him, and wasn’t surprised when his father came in, sat on the edge of his bed and handed him a calming draught.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t attend classes tomorrow. It’s clear you’re not getting any sleep, and there’s apparently nothing I can do to remedy that right now. Do you think you can sleep the rest of the night?”

Harry had been unable to go back to sleep the last time he had the dream, and after experiencing such a vivid version of it, he was almost sure he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. “I can try...”

“A night of Wizard’s chess it is,” Severus said with a warm smile as he summoned the chess set and began to set it up on the bed between them. He only got so far before the board was squashed by Harry leaning over it to nearly strangle him in a hug.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome, Harry. Now prepare to be put to shame,” Severus said with a devilish smirk.

S~S~S~S

Harry had indeed spent all day at home, Draco coming in to check on him during every passing period, free period, lunch and dinner. Harry had played enough Wizard’s chess the night before that he never wanted to touch the game again. He was so tired, but he knew if he slept, he’d have the dream again. He waited patiently for his dad to come home and watch the dream in his pensieve, hoping he would have an answer for him.

Severus entered Harry’s room with a medium sized black box tucked underneath his arm. Draco followed along and flopped down on Harry’s bed beside him, snuggling up to his side like a cat. Remus wasn’t far behind, bringing hot chocolate and biscuits with him.

“You should be bed ridden more often, Harry. Remus never lets me eat his chocolate biscuits,” Severus joked, earning a glare from the werewolf and chuckles from the boys.

“Careful now, or I won’t let you eat any biscuits, chocolate or otherwise...” Remus drawled, smirking as Harry and Draco ‘ooh’ed and Severus blushed.

“Quiet, you,” the Potions Professor grumbled as he sat the box down on the bed, carefully lifting the lid to reveal a small glass orb that looked all too much like the crystal balls they used in Divination.

“This is called a Dream Orb. It will be connected to your subconscious while you sleep and record your dreams. It will glow blue when there is a dream recorded, red when there is an absence of dreams. I will give you the courtesy of viewing the dreams first, just as a precaution, but know that the dreams can only be viewed three times before they start to diminish and vanish completely.”

Harry blushed at the implications of viewing his dreams first, but nodded as he took the small orb from his father and examined the glass sphere. It felt surprisingly warm in his hand, and almost seemed like it was pulsing.

“How will it be connected to me?”

Severus pulled out his wand, taking a piece of parchment from inside the box in which the Dream Orb had been contained. There was a little wooden stand for the orb to sit on, which the Potions Master placed on Harry’s bedside table. “There’s a spell that has to be performed. Once it is connected to you, the Dream Orb will belong to you forever, and will only ever record your dreams.”

Draco took the orb gently out of Harry’s hands, rolling it around in his palms as he stared at his upside-down reflection in the shining glass. “Where’d you find this, Sev?”

“I had a conversation with a colleague regarding dreams and the best way to view someone else’s. He explained that viewing somebody else’s dream in a pensieve is not the best way because perceptions can actually change details and warp the original dream. The Dream Orb will record the dream as it is originally seen. That’s why it can only be viewed three times before it will fade, because outside perceptions can change dreams.”

“I really didn’t pay enough attention in Divination,” Harry said with a frown, accepting the sphere back from Draco and placing it carefully on the stand.

“Divination is a shoddy subject at best, but there are a very few who actually possess the gift of Second Sight. It is an inborn skill, not a learned one,” Severus assured his son. He reached into his robes and pulled out a small vial of purple potion, handing it to Harry.

“It is not Dreamless Sleep, but a simple sleeping draught that will help you fall asleep. It is habit forming if used excessively, so do not get used to it, alright? We will find another solution if these dreams do not quit on their own.”

Harry nodded as he popped open the vial and knocked back the violet liquid, burrowing down into his pillows and blankets. He smiled as Draco kissed him gently on the forehead before heading to bed himself. Just as his vision was starting to fade and sleep began to take over, Harry saw his parents share a worried look, but he thought of it no more as the darkness took him.

S~S~S~S

When Harry woke up the next morning, he realized that he had not been woken by the dream the previous night, but the Dream Orb was indeed glowing blue. His father had been right about that sleeping draught. He pulled the parchment that described how to view the dreams encased in the Orb close to him and read it once more, lifting his wand to tap the sphere and muttering the charm that would project the dream onto the wall. He was glad it wasn’t like a pensieve and sucked you inside of it.

It was the dream about the forest again, and there were even more details than before. He felt the fear grip him just as it did in the dream, and he nearly jumped out of his skin as his bedroom door opened. The dream ended just as his father looked upon the projected image.

“Was that it, was that the dream?” Severus asked as he moved to sit beside the Gryffindor. He waited for his son’s nod of confirmation before tapping the sphere with his wand, projecting the dream once more.

Harry gasped just before the dream ended, reaching for the orb again to play the dream once more, but Severus caught his wrist before he could touch it.

“What is it, Harry? What did you see?”

“At the end, when Greyback was talking. He’d only ever said the part about meeting again, but just as it cut out it looked like he said something else. Play it again,” Harry insisted, his stomach in knots as he tried not to envision what he saw on the werewolf’s lips just as the image faded.

“I’m not so sure the image will be as clear the last time we play it. Let me get Remus, he’ll want to see.”

Harry began to protest, but clamped his mouth shut as he father gave him a stern look and left the room to fetch the Defence Professor. He hoped that the dream had not faded too much, and that he’d not imagined what he saw.

When Severus and Remus returned, they played the dream for the third and final time. At the end, just where Harry had gasped before, Severus used some spell to pause it as if it were a Muggle VHS.

“What does he say every time, Harry? Just so we know what’s different,” Severus asked, his wand still trained on the orb as he gazed at his son with a calculating look.

“The first time he didn’t say anything. The second time he said ‘We meet again, Potter’. This time, though, I swear he said something else. Play it,” Harry urged again.

Severus took a deep breath and gave his wand a flick, un-pausing the dream.

“We meet again, Potter. Where’s dear old dad now?”

The dream ended, and the Orb glowed red for a second as the dream faded away completely. There was complete silence in the room until Remus broke it with a snort. “It’s bound to have been in the papers by now that you’ve been adopted, Harry.”

“But what would Greyback want with Dad?” Harry insisted, watching as the last swirling mists of the dream faded off into nothingness, leaving the glass orb clear once more.

Severus shook his head slowly as he sat down on the bed beside his son. “I don’t think it’s me he wants,” he said, giving Remus a significant look. “We need to find a way to keep these dreams at bay, and figure out how they started in the first place.”

“Do you think it’s Voldemort?” Harry asked in a small voice, feeling completely lost. It didn’t feel like a vision, his scar never hurt afterwards, and Occluding didn’t do anything to prevent the dreams from coming. Even Dreamless Sleep was ineffective, proving that it wasn’t actually a dream after all.

“I don’t know, Harry, but I will find out.”

S~S~S~S

A week later and they were no closer to finding the answers to what these ‘dreams’ of Harry’s were, or how and why they started. Severus had done plenty of research, but yet it was fruitless. All things led to the same conclusion; the dream was not technically a dream. If that were the case, then it had to be a vision, but that didn’t make sense either. If Harry was seeing another false memory, that had to mean that Voldemort had somehow broken through his Occlumency shields. But that didn’t seem likely either, as Harry’s scar never twinged one bit.

The sleeping draughts were brewed at a lower concentration so that Harry could take them for longer periods of time without growing dependent. After three days, Severus started to wean him off of them completely, but the dreams continued, and Harry slept even less.

Please, Dad. I have a test in Transfiguration tomorrow and I need to sleep,” Harry begged, rubbing at his bloodshot eyes as if to get his point across.

“I told you, Harry, that the minute you started to depend on these potions for sleep that they would stop. These become very dangerous, almost to the point where you’ll be dependent for life. You do not want that, Son. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to try to sleep the best you can without it. I’m working on a formula for a draught that isn’t habit forming, but it will take time,” Severus explained, checking all of the drawers in Harry’s desk and nightstand to make sure they did not contain any more of the purple sleeping draughts.

“I’m not hiding anything. Why would I ask you for one if I had one already?” Harry snapped, slamming the drawer of his nightstand closed almost on the Potions Master’s hand.

Severus glared at the Gryffindor as he snatched his hand away from the drawer, pointing towards Harry’s bed with a sharp jab.

“Bed, now. I know you’re frustrated and tired, but that does not give you the right to talk to me that way, young man. We’re trying to figure things out, but taking that potion is not an option anymore. Do you understand me?”

“But – ”

Do you understand?

Perfectly!” Harry snapped again, stomping over to his bed and flopping onto it, curling himself up in his blankets and ignoring his father as he snuffed out his candle with a heavy sigh.

“Goodnight, Harry.” Severus didn’t wait long for a response, as he knew he wouldn’t be getting one. He closed the door carefully behind him and returned to the sitting room to finish marking papers before he turned in for the night.

 

The End.
End Notes:
Please go on to the next chapter, it is the SECOND half of this chapter!


This story archived at http://www.potionsandsnitches.org/fanfiction/viewstory.php?sid=1860