Harry had gone straight to bed once he got back to the common room and slept through breakfast the following morning; not that he minded for there were no more nightmares. No one had woken him because they had a free period that morning, much to Harry's relief.

He got up and dressed, feeling a bit worn down from the recent change in his sleeping patterns but once Harry met up with his friends and shared some snacks, he was feeling much better and proceeded to tell them what had happened the previous night.

"If I'd fallen asleep, Snape would've killed me!" Ron commented, chuckling slightly. "I can't believe you did that!"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, it was just a stupid dream" Harry shook his head. "I wonder what the staff meeting was about?"

"Who knows, probably something my brothers did again" Ron shrugged.

"And he wiped the ink off?" Hermione commented again on what the boys considered more irrelevant aspects.

"Yeah, so?" Harry asked but knew she meant that he would previously have never done that.

"He may be being a bit nicer, Hermione, but it's still not like we're father and son" He sighed.

"Give it time, mate" Ron said.

"Ron's right, Harry" Hermione said with a nod. "At least you're both making progress. And he does things differently, sometimes it may seem like he's just trying to get rid of you but I think he actually saw how tired you were and considered your wellbeing" She said and both boys looked at her oddly.

"Maybe" Harry replied. "I just can't believe I fell asleep, it's so embarassing! And I have another session with him tomorrow, I bet I'll have to catch up on what I couldn't do last night" He groaned.

--

They had Transfiguration after lunch in which was mostly theory, but afterwards Professor McGonagall requested for Harry to remain behind.

"Potter, did you have yet another detention with Professor Snape last evening?" She asked him.

"No" Harry shook his head, confused but then remembered the surprised look she'd given him that night as she'd come to ask Snape to attend the meeting and had seen him working there.

"Oh, no...I have study sessions with Snape" He explained briefly.

"Professor Snape" She corrected and looked rather astonished. "Every night?"

"No, just some nights. He's helping me improve my grades" Harry told her, not sure if he should tell her the full truth or not. It wasn't as though she would spread rumours or tell everyone, although he wasn't sure if he wanted the entire staff to know either.

"Really? And might I ask what brought this on?" She questioned. "For I am certainly seeing the results in your work, Potter."

"Thanks and nothing much really, I just needed some help so I went to Snape" He shrugged.

"Professor Snape, and I thought you two...didn't get along?" She raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"We didn't, but in a weird way...he was the best man for the job" Harry said and started feeling rather uncomfortable about the conversation and not being able to tell her the full truth.

"May I go now?"

"Yes, thank you" McGonagall nodded and watched Harry leave her classroom, wondering what the world was coming to if Harry Potter and Severus Snape were on good terms and the latter was actually helping the boy pass his grades (and not just for Potions, either)...and the most interesting thing was that their "teamwork" was actually giving good results.

McGonagall was curious so she asked around with some of Harry's other teachers and found that his grades were indeed improving in all of them, as she'd suspected.

Flitwick was most impressed and even Binns has some good comments to give on the boy's work. The only one who had the least awareness of any changes was Lockhart, but McGonagall didn't blame anyone who failed in those pathetic lessons that he "taught".

Harry awoke rather early on Sunday and soon found that he was the only one up and for good reason as the sun hadn't even started to rise over the mountains in the distance yet. He considered this an after-effect of his scrambled sleeping hours and dressed before going to the bathroom.

Harry made his way into the common room and spotted only three other Gryffindors there. Two sxith year girls were pouring over schoolwork and a fourth year boy was writing what appeared to be a letter over by the fire. Harry ignored them as none looked up when he passed and left the common room altogether.

He wandered down the stairs and saw that the Great Hall was empty, no doubt still rather early for breakfast, so he made his way to the astronomy tower and just looked over at the misty grounds of Hogwards and the surrounding mountains, thinking deeply about the recent events in his life that have already seemed to make so much difference in how he thought, acted and even felt about other aspects.

Whenever he'd heard people talking about Lily and James Potter, Harry was proud to be their son. They were brave, caring and everyone seemed to love them...they clearly loved him for they'd sacrificed their lives for him. But that didn't change the fact that they weren't around.

Harry was thankful for being alive, and he loved them even if he couldn't even remember them...but he needed someone. Had they named him a godparent? Were there any other living relatives out there besides the magic-hating Dursleys? He didn't know, but since they hadn't shown up to claim him, Harry had a feeling that there was no one else.

And then there was Snape. His new father, a man he'd spent the entire part of last year hating but now found that he looked up to him in a way and was thirsty for the knowledge that the man was sure to have gained from experiences and his own years of schooling.

When he'd made the decision to get himself a new father, Harry had accepted that Snape would be resourceful, helpful and stern when it came to his education and that he could make him feel safe as well as being able to confide in him.

He'd told himself that those things were more important than the other stuff...the love, the caring and the ability to just show affection during moments that were emotional or if Harry was going through something really hard. He'd told himself that compared to the other stuff, he didn't need his father to love him like a son...for he'd grown up without that for so long; why would he need it now? Especially since he was almost a teenager.

But as Harry stood up in the tower and looked over at the now-golden-tipped mountains, he was feeling skeptical and a part of him wished he could have the softer things of a father/son relationship as well. And now that was going to haunt him. Because deep down he knew...Snape could never provide him with that. Harry didn't even know if the man was capable of such feelings and selflessness, of being able to provide a child with warmth and comfort with gestures instead of words.

No, Harry had a feeling he would never get those things from his newfound father. He had previously accepted that, but now it was more complicated. The more he got from Snape, the more he wanted.

He felt selfish and horrible about it, yet it was the truth...Harry wanted the whole father/son relationship...not just fractions of it.

--

And while Harry was many floors above, pondering on those thoughts...down in the dungeons the very man the boy felt was incapable of such providing thoughts was actually awake as well.

Snape had just finished brewing a few potions for the hospital wing as he'd woken early and decided to be productive. Potion-making also provided him with a distraction for he had to concentrate on the brewing and not his own troublesome thoughts.

But now he was done and sat alone in his study with a pile of finished assignments sitting in front of him that he'd just marked.

He rose from the chair and began pacing the room slowly, his hands behind his back as he did so and his face was facing the floor. He ignored his hair as it brushed in front of his range of sight, since he was so used to it.

He pondered on how he had treated the boy since agreeing to the insanity of becoming his father and felt that he wasn't really playing the part as he'd expected.

Firstly he'd assumed he would do terribly and wouldn't be able to stand the boy for long, but Harry had done what he was told and appeared to be showing some self control. Which annoyed Snape because it forced him to look at the boy for more than being the spawn of James Potter...even if it was only for a few moments but now it seemed he couldn't stop comparing the differences between Harry and James, adding into the equation the things he'd gotten from Lily instead.

And secondly, he wasn't even sure how to act around the boy.

Snape sighed and sat in an armchair that was in his private quarters and focused purely on what could be improved.

He was helping the boy with his schoolwork, even if he felt not much was changing but at least the boy was trying harder in those areas. Isn't that what he'd wanted? To get better grades and have someone help him do that? Well he had done that and still was. But what else had the boy wanted? Someone to be safe with and trust? Snape felt that wasn't going to happen, not because of him but because the boy hated him all last year (and perhaps it was his fault for treating him that way), so he scratched that out of his concerns.

The boy made it clear that he wanted a father, not a tutor. What else does a father do?

Snape sighed and knew that there was only one way to go about this. For now that he'd agreed to it, he wanted to follow through with it and...also for Lily's sake.

He had a small feeling of warmth when he thought of having a son now, because Lily was the mother. He caught himself the previous night for trying to imagine Harry as his and Lily's son...how he wished things had been. So now his hatred for James Potter had faded because he'd come to pretend that he'd never even existed. The only solution to how Snape would be able to really know what to do and react the way he should towards the boy was ...he had to truly consider the boy as his son.

The thing that scared Snape the most was the fact that it wasn't hard to do. He had proven that when he has his little visulisation the previous night.

After he'd lost his friendship with Lily, Snape had never considered what it would be like to have his own family...to have a son or daughter to raise, teach and care for. But now he was starting to imagine and it infuriated him.

He was a Death Eater, a secret spy and he had a temper along with arrogance, but now he felt as though he was going soft. He was thinking of giving things he'd never really recieved: concern, unconditional trust and...love.

He had a long way to go before he could just do that naturally with Harry, but now Snape was determined to give it his all. He wanted to be a father now, no matter how much he hated those thoughts and how he tried to be in denial...it was painfully clear: this was his chance to have something he never even knew he'd wanted so badly. He was a heartbroken, sour man...Harry might be able to change that.

And Harry had no parents, he needed him. Snape had, for the first time, truly come to acknowledge that the boy had no one to guild him, care for him and teach him in a way that only a parent could. A part of him knew the Dursley's weren't giving him that, he had no idea how though...perhaps it was the malnourished look he had when he came to school last year and now this year?

"Manipulative old coot" Snape growled, for this is what Dumbledore had forseen and tried to bring about: the love buried and locked deep inside Snape that Harry could bring out. And at the same time provide Harry with something he longed for: a family.

In fact, they both longed for it.

Breakfast had started and students began to pile inside the Great Hall. Harry was amongst his friends and preparing for the day alongside hundreds of others.

Snape was already seated at the staff table when he came in but neither glanced at the other even once during their meal.

Afterwards they each left and went about their usual Sunday activities until they were to meet once again properly without the ability to ignore the other when 7pm came around.

"Enter" Snape said as Harry knocked on the door that night.

"Hey sir" Harry said as he pushed open the door and took his usual seat at the table, placing books and equipment in front of him, waiting for the man to tell him which task to begin first.

"You are well rested today, I presume?" Snape asked while lighting candles with his hand and kept his back turned away from the boy.

"Yes sir...I'm sorry about last night" Harry said quickly. "It was just a stupid dream but it kept me up and...I'm sorry."

"Tell me about it" Snape sighed and turned to face him, crossing his arms over his chest as he did so.

"Sir?" Harry looked confused and Snape had to prevent himself from rolling his eyes.

"The dream" Snape expanded. "I assume it was actually a nightmare, if it kept you awake all night."

"It's nothing" Harry shrugged and lowered his gaze to hide his surprise but Snape had caught it.

"You wanted to confide in me and yet when the oppurtunity presents itself, you decline?" Snape frowned and Harry looked up at him again.

Harry sighed and didn't know what to say or how to take the situation so reached for his books.

"Can we begin? I have a lot to catch up on from last night" He added.

"No" Snape replied. "I asked you a question and you are yet to answer."

"It was just a stupid dream!" Harry said again, more annoyed now. "Why do you care? You're only doing this because you have to."

"I do not have to do anything" Snape said, remaining calm.

"I asked you to be my father and you turned me down" Harry said. "Then Dumbledore got involved and he probably told you to do it. So yes, you're doing this because of your job and not because you actually care!" Harry said angrily.

"Can we just forget it and sart with my homework?"

Snape growled and stepped closer but didn't like how Harry flinched away from him.

"For you information, Mr Potter: I declined your request and then brought up the matter with the Headmaster. He thought I should at least try and yet I declined his manipulating as well. I agreed to this...arrangement, after I spent a considerable amount of time considering it. And I do not want to ever hear you accuse me of being a father simply because I was "told you" , as you so childishly put it" Snape said, his voice a low growl but also sterner than usual.

"You...want to do this?" Harry asked, his mouth hanging open for a second and his previous anger ebbed away as he stared up at the man. "Why?"

"Do not change the subject as it is none of your concern right now" Snape said, stepping back and crossed his arms yet again.

"Tell me about the nightmare that resulted in our session being cut short and produce less-productive results."

Harry stared at the man and tried to think of a way out of this but knew there was none, so he lowered his head and tone in defeat.

"It was about my mother, okay? I dreamt her dying and me being left alone" He admitted, flushing slightly in embarrassment, so sure that Snape was going to mock him for it.

"I see" Snape nodded while forcing his expression and tone to remain blank.

"Now that I know; you may begin on your Transifiguration theory, I believe your notes are much too scrawled to make any sense of and they should be rewritten before you begin your report."

Harry glanced up for a second but busied himself with his work quickly, barely muttering a: "Yes sir."

Snape moved over to his usual desk and watched the boy work, thinking about the nightmare that had kept him up. It wasn't just that he'd dreamed of his mother, beloved Lily, but also that he'd been left alone.. The boy hadn't been very specific (if he was refering to when he was a baby or if he meant now) but Snape thought it was best to leave the topic be for now. It did seem to just be a one-time nightmare for now, although Snape wondered what brought it on. If the boy was worried about being left alone...did Snape bring that on? He wasn't exactly giving the boy fatherly attention, only what was required involving his schoolwork.

Harry sighed as he finished copying his notes as neatly as he could and that small sound brought Snape from his thoughts and he glanced away from the boy before Harry noticed that he'd been watching him.

Harry continued to work as usual but one essay and two reports later, he noticed that Snape was now standing behind him and looking over his shoulder at his work. It made it harder for Harry to concentrate but he didn't want to encourage any comments from the man so he remained quiet and finished his tasks, trying to ignore the small pang in his stomach when Snape hadn't said anything about his nightmare.

He was relieved that the man hadn't said anything mean about it, but he also said nothing comforting. Perhaps he was wrong to be so hopeful?

"Finished" Harry breathed in relief after writing the last paragraph of his homework and leaned back in his chair, which caught Snape's attention and he looked over from his desk.

Snape glanced at the time and saw it was barely past 8pm; Harry had done good tonight indeed.

"Thanks again, sir" Harry said as he gathered his things as usual but kept his head bowed slightly, something Snape noticed.

"And I'll read that chapter you recommended" He nodded, turning to leave the room as fast as if could, trying to hide his disapointment.

"Harry" Snape said as the boy reached for the doorhandle but froze at the use of his first name, which sounded so strange when uttered by Snape.

"Sir?" Harry turned back around, the surprise clear on his face but Snape noticed the boy also seemed rather happy to be called by his first name..even if he'd said it by accident.

"I believe Quidditch trials are starting up once again?" Snape asked and Harry nodded. "Practices begin next weekend, correct?"

"Yeah, Wood said we need to get started as soon as possible to beat...er, slytherin" Harry bowed his head again, his talking had been encouraged by the use of his first name and he'd ended up saying something he hadn't intended to.

Snape almost smirked at those words though for the boy clearly hadn't meant to say them, but it also reminded him of when Lily kept insisting that Gryffindor was going to beat Slytherin at Quidditch, since James" head was so huge because of his ego that he could never miss the snitch. Plus most of the bludgers that Sirius hit were aimed at the Slytherin seeker...and he was a good beater.

"These sessions will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday from tonight onwards" Snape told him.

"Because of Quidditch?" Harry tried to guess.

"Is there a problem?" Snape asked. "I assume that you will not be able to concentrate on your studies if you're too exhausted from practice and your head will be cluttered with only that."

"So...this is for my wellbeing?" Harry couldn't help but ask, sensing that Hermione was once again right and that perhaps he did care about him after all.

"And my sanity" Snape added but gave a nod in confirmation to his thoughts.

"Thanks sir, those days are fine" Harry grinned and Snape almost smiled as well since the boy's eyes lit up as his mother's did when she was thrilled by something although Snape also felt something for the fact that the look was aimed at him because of his actions or words. A once-common occurance with Lily but never before with Harry; until now.

If James Potter had ever looked at Snape like that, he'd probably hex himself.

"If you have another nightmare..." Snape added as Harry once again braced himself to leave. "It was your desire to confide in me, yes?"

"Yes sir" Harry nodded, glancing at his feet now at the mention of the nightmare.

"Than if you wish, you may inform me of any other nightmares you have that keep you awake. I will not mind as much and it may help you to...confide in someone, about them" Snape said, cursing himself mentally for how stupid he sounded but he had to let the boy know and the more kinder things were less-practiced with him.

"I'll try, thanks sir" Harry smiled again and with that he was gone, rushing to the Gryffindor common room to boast to his friends about the fact that his newfound father did actually care for him. He'd taken his love for Quidditch into consideration, not forcing him to work around it and he wanted to know about his nightmares as they clearly bothered him.

Maybe the sour dungeon bat had a heart afterall?