Severus settled in his chair at the table with a sigh. In Harry's effort to quickly obey (which made for a pleasant change) he was probably knocking over half the items in the room. At least if the clatter coming from within was any indication. Of course if he was being truthful, he had probably surprised Potter with his snappish call.

Despite knowing the smaller wizard had rushed out of the room, by the time he reached the kitchen he hung back in the door and nervously fidgeted with the hem of his pyjamas.

Well, he had indulged the boy enough last night. Pointing to a chair he said simply, "Sit. Eat."

Potter padded quietly over to the table and took his seat but did not make a move to eat. Snape eyed the boy critically for a moment, watching as Harry seemed to shrink under his gaze.

"Pull up your chair. You are too far from the table and your breakfast will end up in your lap."

Harry frowned lightly. He wasn't 5; he could certainly feed himself without incident. But Snape had been so . . . kind to him that he didn't want to seem ungrateful. So he stood and began to pull the chair across the floor. His feet had barely touched the floor to do so when his teacher huffed,

"Stop!" Mumbling something about pneumonia he pushed Harry's chair in for him and called out "Accio Luka's slippers!"

"Going barefoot in the dungeons is never a bright idea. Put these on."

They were too big, but they were warm and comfortable. Plus he was quite used to clothes that were ill-fitting.

"Do you know the shrinking charm?"

Harry looked up at him and mutely shook his head. Making a decision without much thought, he handed the boy his wand and stated the proper incantation. "Try it."

Harry just raised an eyebrow at the man.

"Just mouth the words, it will help you at least practice."

After that, there was no hesitation. It was like the wary, shy Harry disappeared when he was doing magic.

They met each others eyes in surprise when the slippers seemed to shrink about a centimetre without any words being spoken. They remained boatish on his feet, but the tiny change was apparent.

"Not bad, Potter," Severus murmured, and then finished the job.

Now, Snape prided himself on being a Death Eater who could face anything (and often had). But when that face looked up at him, overwhelmed and basking in one statement of praise from a man the boy wasn't even supposed to like, he was unmanned.

Severus Snape had to look away.

******

That night when Harry woke up screaming and frightened once again, his roommates went to fetch their head of house. By the time she arrived he was no longer screaming but had become unresponsive. Until she tried to touch him, at which point he skittered away like a sand crab.

After a few moments he did allow her to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder, thinking it may get him what he wanted if he stopped fighting so hard.

Apparently he was wrong. He waited a few moments, half listening to McGonagall's words of comfort, before he began to sign. McGonagall gave a soft sigh.

"Does anyone here know what he's saying?"

"Teacher." Ron piped up.

That didn't seem to help.

"There are many teachers in this school, Mr. Potter. I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific."

He tried then, but he hadn't really learned the alphabet; only the letters R & H for his friends. He figured anything he needed to say that was that detailed he could write down. He tried that now, gesturing for his quill and parchment.

"Nonsense, Mr. Potter. All you need right now is sleep." He didn't care what she thought he needed, what he needed is to be down in the dungeons where it was safe.

He tried again with his sign for teacher and added something resembling an "S". Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ron shifting from foot to foot.

"I think he's asking for Snape, Professor," he finally burst out.

"I am aware of that Mr. Weasley. However I am also aware that it is too late to be waking up any of the professors."

"We woke you up." he heard Ron mumble.

"Yes, and I am your head of house. Last time I checked Mr. Potter has not become a Slytherin." Ron blushed and then looked at Harry and shrugged as if to say "I tried, Mate". But Harry was too tired to thank his friend. Instead he flopped over onto his stomach and buried his face in the pillow. He would not cry.

The next night he decided to take matters into his own hands. He did not sleep for long before waking from another dream. Instead of waking any of his dorm mates, he pulled on some socks and a jumper and slipped out of the room.

He wanted to go down to the dungeons, but he couldn't help remembering what McGonagall had said about waking up his teachers. Snape was crusty enough; he couldn't imagine what the man was like if you woke him up in the middle of the night.

So instead he took to wandering the corridors. This way he wouldn't dream, and he certainly wouldn't bother anyone.

Except for, apparently, Filch and his stupid cat.

Harry was in a part of the castle he had never seen before when he ran into the caretaker's furry companion and panicked. He could not get caught, he just *couldn't*. Filch would turn him into McGonagall, who would probably set guards to make sure he stayed in bed at night.

He could hear Filch's footsteps at the end of the hall, his lantern giving a soft light. He was still far enough away - Harry began to run down the corridor in the opposite direction.

It was clear that he didn't know the castle very well yet, as he came to a dead end. He stood there trying to think of what to do, when he spotted a door to his left. Survival instinct drove him into the room to hide.

He waited several minutes behind the door watching for Filch through the keyhole. The man paused outside the very door, as if he knew Harry was in there. He held his breath just in case Filch could hear it.

He watched as Filch began to walk away, letting out his breath in relief. Turning he closed his eyes and slumped against the door. Now he just had to get out of here and back to his dorm.

Which would appear to be easier said than done, given the giant three-headed dog that was currently waking up and peering at him with one set of eyes.

As all three heads lunged at him Harry screamed himself hoarse and threw himself bodily out the door. The dog (dogs?) tried to get through the door, but Harry was well practiced at getting away and managed to slam the heavy door in its faces just in time.

He ran, panting, all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. He desperately wanted to wake up his friends and tell them what he saw, but he knew there was no way to wake Hermione without waking the rest of her dorm, and she would be irritated if he shared this discovery with Ron before her.

It would have to wait until breakfast.