"Whassamatter 'Arry?" Ron said thickly through a mouthful of eggs and toast the next morning, getsturing to Harry's untouched breakfast.

"Nothing Ron, I er ... think I'm coming down with something," he lied, looking at his oatmeal with a rather green face.

"Perhaps you should go see Pomfrey," Hermione suggested mildly overtop a book.

"Nah, I'm sure it will pass," Harry told her, though he highly doubted that he'd feel much better throughout the day.

Harry glanced over to the Slytherin table briefly, and was not surprised to see that Draco was stirring his breakfast around nervously as well. He glanced up and looked at Harry, shooting him an apologetic look. Harry shrugged and turned back to Ron and Hermione, who were discussing Ron's eating habits once again.

The morning passed by very slowly, each minute Harry getting more nervous and worried about what Severus would do to punish him. But the main cause to his anxiety however, was wondering if Severus wouldn't just go back to treating him how he used to. The prospect of going back to how things were made him feel positively sick to his stomach. He'd really grown to trust and respect Severus, and even enjoy his company. Not to mention, without Severus' help he wondered if he could even escape the coma he was in, and the thought was terrifying. Where would he go if he didn't wake up? Would he be stuck here forever? Not that it was too bad, but his friends were too predictable for his liking, seeing as they were a projection of his memories and not entirely real.

"Mr. Potter pay attention!" barked Professor McGonagall, effectively wrenching Harry out of his thoughts and back to the turtle he was supposed to be transfiguring.

This was not one of his better days.

When the morning had finally passed and lunch rolled around, Harry's stomach had begun to do flip-flops. The more time went by, the more convinced Harry was that Severus would go back to hating his, rather queasy, guts. It was worrying him so much that he had just about thrown up during charms, it was lucky that Seamus had accidentally lit his textbook on fire, which sufficiently distracted Harry from the thoughts that were causing his anxiety. But now as he stood near the entrance of the Great Hall, the smell of the food was about enough to start his stomach churning again. Not to mention he wasn't too keen on joining his friends, who would surely force him to eat. He was thankful he at least had the choice to go into the Great Hall on his own (Ron and Hermione had gone ahead while he helped Seamus get rid of some of the scorch marks on his desk). If he'd been with them, Hermione would surely have dragged him in and forced some lunch into him. But, after much contemplation, Harry decided that he'd go in for a while, perhaps have a glass of juice or something, for being along with his thoughts was not something he wished to experience either. So Harry poked his head around the corner of the door, catching sight of the staff table as he did so. Severus was sitting up there, and he was looking right at Harry. All thoughts of joining his friends left his brain, leaving nothing but a pit of squirming worries in his belly.

"Oh God ..." gulped Harry as his stomach did another large flop, ultimately resulting in him making a mad dash for the bathroom.

Harry doubled over, gripping the sink tightly with shaking hands as he felt stomach acid clawing at his stomach lining. Nausea swept over him as he remembered the look on Severus' face last night, when he called him Potter. What if he hates me forever, what if I die in this coma? he thought, panic rising within him. All of the anxiety was too much for his stomach to take, and he began to retch. But there was precious little in his stomach, almost nothing. He let a small sob escape, glad that the bathroom was empty. Or so he thought.

"There you are ..." came a voice from the door.

Harry retched again, trying not to give in to tears as Severus approached him.

"Leave me alone," whispered Harry, giving another heave.

"Harry," Severus said softly, reaching an arm up to rest his hand on the sick boy's shoulder. He flinched.

"I'm so s-sorry ..." Harry choked, a tear trickling down his cheek.

"I know you are," Severus told him gruffly. "I didn't realise making you wait to receive your punishment would be this hard on you ..."

"Can't you j-just tell me now?" asked Harry weakly, still not looking him in the eye.

"This was your punishment Harry, having to wait and wonder what it was," Severus told him, his hand still resting gently on his shoulder; it seemed to calm him slightly. "I was planning on telling you and Draco when you came to my office. I use this technique sometimes to get students to think about what they've done. I suppose I should have taken into account the stress you've gone through lately ..."

Harry nodded slowly, trying to get his legs to quit shaking.

"D-do you hate me now?" he whispered after a while of battling his queasy stomach, wondering why Severus was being so nice.

"Is that what's bothering you most?" he asked heavily.

Harry nodded once more.

"No, I do not. I am merely disappointed at your lack of thinking," he said rather bluntly. Harry retched again, causing Severus to proceed a bit more carefully. "I felt betrayed. Here I had been working so hard to help you and you went and disobeyed me and put yourself in danger. What would have happened if another teacher caught you, and you ended up in detention the night you were given a chance to wake up from your coma? Or if you had injured yourself flying unsupervised and driven your mind deeper in?"-Severus shuddered slightly- "Do you see now why I was so upset at what you and Draco did?"

"Yeah ... I do," Harry muttered, for the first time looking up at Severus, who looked concerned. "So, you don't hate me again right? You're still going to help me"

"I don't hate you Harry, and I will," Severus replied, "How are you feeling?"

"Bit better ..." Harry said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Tired."

"I don't imagine you got a lot of sleep last night."

"No," Harry said truthfully, takinga deep breath. "I'm sorry I disappointed you so badly, I really screwed up didn't I?"

"Yes, you did, but I've done just as much screwing up, if not more," Severus replied, conjuring a glass and filling it for Harry to rinse his mouth.

"Thanks," Harry told him, not just for the glass of water though. Severus seemed to know this.

"Do you think you'll be well enough by this afternoon?" inquired Severus, "After all, wouldn't want you throwing up all over my spotless classroom now, would we?"

"Yeah, I think so," Harry said, corners of his mouth twitching. "Do I still have to come down to your office after classes then?"

"No, you can go back to Gryffindor tower."

"Okay."

"I must return to the Great Hall, Harry," Severus informed him apologetically. "Minerva still hasn't finished interrogating me on why you look out of sorts. She suspects it's entirely my fault, and they say I like to stick my nose in everyone's business ... For a projection of your subconscious she can be a right pain."

Harry grinned as Snape swept out of the room, robes billowing behind him.

He gave his face a quick wash and left as well, feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted from his chest. Compared to earlier, he felt light as a feather. Harry's stomach grumbled loudly, and he thought for a moment that it might be hunger contributing to such a feathery feeling. Suddenly ravenous, the prospect of joining his friends for lunch seemed far more inviting than before. And so he left to do just that, thinking that his day was going to turn out pretty good after all. Little did he know that something that very afternoon would make him reconsider his last thought, but for the moment, he hadn't a care in the world.