Severus noticed Harry did not speak when they came back into the house; he did not even speak when Severus asked him if he wanted something to eat. Harry only nodded no in reply and walked quietly to his room.

Severus did not know if it had been a wise choice to take Harry to the meeting, but the other option of death was not one he wished to even give any thought. He sat at the dinner table that night rolling the food around his plate, not really wanting anything to eat, not tasting the food.

"Does sir wish Lucy to fix something else?"

"No, I am just not hungry. I think a shower, and then bed."

Severus pushed himself away from the table and walked into his room. When he passed by Harry's room, he did not hear a peep. He wondered if he should go in and see if Harry needed him, but in the end, he decided to give the child a little time to himself.

Severus turned on the water and let it run over his head and shoulders. Usually a shower relaxed him after a meeting with the Dark Lord, but tonight that would not be the case. Shampooing his hair and rinsing off, he stepped from the shower and dressed in a casual shirt and his sweatpants that he had come to be fond of thanks to Harry. He walked out of his room intending to get a cup of coffee and sit down, but the gnawing urge to check on Harry was too powerful, and he found himself drawn to the room off of the sitting room.

When he opened the door, he saw that the sheets were rumpled as if there had been a fight on the bed, but underneath those sheets, he found Harry, clutching his stuffed dragon, tears dried on his cheeks. Severus' heart broke into a thousand pieces at the sight of his son. He knew he had been the cause of this pain, and that was yet another thing Severus had done to betray his better judgement; the first was joining the Dark Lord at all.

Severus tried adjusting Harry on the bed to make him more comfortable, but a whimper coming from Harry made Severus withdraw his hand as if it had been bitten. Not knowing what else to do, Severus debated on staying in the room in case Harry woke up, but Harry turned his face from Severus, and Severus walked out of the door, closing it softly, and walked to his own room, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He slipped his shoes from his feet and sat down on the edge of the bed. The pitiful wail he had been holding in now escaped from his lips, as tears started to cascade down his face

"It is all my fault," he said, talking to himself. 'How could I take Harry there? How could I subject him to that bastard." Even death would have been better than to take a five year old child into the pit of the most hated wizard, and, should Albus Dumbledore ever find out about it, death would seem a welcome to what he would do to Severus. "I have failed as a father. He will no longer care for me like he once did."

Severus fell asleep, but his dreams were filled with visions of Harry in front of him, turning away every time he reached out to grab him. Severus was in the middle of a very vivid nightmare with Harry being placed under a curse from the Dark Lord when he felt the tiny tug on his sleeve. He could not at first tell if it was his imagination or not, but when he opened his eyes blearily, he saw Harry standing at the side of his bed, dragon in his arms and tears rolling down his face.

"Did you have a bad dream, Harry?"

Harry nodded but did not answer aloud, his eyes still misting up, his shoulders hunched as he tried to stop crying.

Severus got up from the bed and reached out for Harry, but the boy seemed to flinch, so Severus drew back.

"Come, Harry, I will tuck you back in," he said, trying to usher the child back to bed without placing his hands on him, but Harry was rooted to the floor. Severus went back over and sat down on his bed, taking Harry's hands in his own, hoping the child would allow it.

"Harry, for what it is worth, I am sorry. I will never make you go back there again. Won't you please talk to me?"

Harry didn't answer; he only got onto the bed beside Severus and lay down. Closing his eyes, he did not see the tears well up in his father's eyes again. He didn't see the look of hurt at what he had done.

Severus was devastated. He did not know what it was going to take to get Harry back to the carefree child he once had been, but he was determined to do so. He wanted to grab Harry and curl him protectively to him, but Harry's earlier reaction to his touch left him in doubt. Severus was just glad that Harry had come to him when he had the bad dream and now would settle for having him near.

Severus had just about drifted off to sleep when he felt Harry stir beside him. His eyes immediately opened, alert if Harry were to need him, but that was not the case. Severus lay motionless as Harry rolled over and slung his little arm over his chest. The little hand that was not clutching the stuffed animal was now full of Severus' night shirt, fingers intertwined in the fabric, a viselike grip on it.

Severus threw away all the doubts he had earlier and pulled Harry close to him, wrapping his arms around him protectively, and kissing the top of his tousled head. He did not know when Harry would talk again, so he would treasure the moments that he could.