The next day everybody knew there was something not quite right going on. Harry didn't show up to any of his classes, Ron and Hermione got scared looks on their faces whenever the boy-who-lived was mentioned and, not so surprising but somehow keyed in to the whole mess, Snape was grouchier.

The latter was lurking the hallways and staying out of people's way. Whenever someone went anywhere near him, points were deducted from their house faster than you could say unfair.

As the Ravenclaw he had just yelled at ran away, Severus sighed. He wasn't really angry with the students, more with himself. It was all his fault that Harry was acting the way he did. The talk he had had that morning with Dumbledore about the sudden change in the boys' diet was adding to the anger.

I doubt that Harry went back to sleep, he thought to himself. He knew he hadn't been able to. All he could think of right now was crawling into his bed and sleeping for a week. Unfortunately, he still had one more class to teach for that day. It just so happened to be the Gryffindor/Slytherin fifth year students. Sighing, he made his way to the dungeon classroom.

The first thing he noticed as all the students turned toward him were the scared looks from Granger and Weasley. Shaking his head, he put all his anger into teaching the lesson. As was to be expected everybody did exactly what he told them to do, even Longbottom managed to get the sleep potion they were working on right.

After an excruciating lesson and the class was getting ready to leave, he surprised himself by holding back Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley. As they finished packing up their ingredients and walked towards him, he was suddenly fumbling for words.

"Professor, you wanted to speak to us?" Hermione asked. She looked closely at Snape when all he did was nod.

"Are you alright?" Severus asked somewhat awkwardly. Being nice to students still wasn't on his to do list. Ron's eyebrows disappeared into his red hair. Hermione got an understanding look in hers.

"We're not dead if that's what you mean." Ron blurted out before Hermione could stop him. Both students were surprised even further when Snape winced.

"What Ron means to say is we are both just a little bit shaken up from what happened last night. I mean it isn't everyday that you find out that your best friend is a vampire and will kill you faster than you can say.. I'm not helping am I?" she muttered the end words.

Looking up at their Professor, they saw a faraway look on Snape's face. When he shook his head and glanced down at the two students, he sighed once again. "You two are extremely lucky. You Miss Granger for holding Harry off for as long as you could and Ron for coming to get me and tackling him knowing that you could have been killed. It was a very brave and Gryffindor thing to do. I would speak to him about it, but the boy seems to hate me now." A sad look swam into his eyes after saying the last.

Hermione immediately saw this. "I'm sure he didn't mean it Professor. Harry has been going through some immensely rough times. Not just now, but his entire life. He just needs somebody to care for him. You will be good for him and I think he would be good for you too."

With that said, Ron smiled and nodded. He had noticed that when Snape and Harry were getting along, the usually cruel and strict Potion's Master wasn't that bad.

Severus slowly nodded his head. He knew he should go talk to Harry, but didn't think it was the right time. He would wait for the boy to calm down a little first. Suddenly it dawned on him that while away from classes Harry would miss a lot of work.

"Do you two think it possible to collect Harry's schoolwork? I doubt he would be too pleased if he ended up failing his O.W.L's." With that said, Ron smirked and Hermione blushed.

"Actually, I was going to ask you if you could pass on all his notes. I have already collected them for him." With that, Hermione reached into her bulging schoolbag and pulled out a pile of notes and parchments with diagrams. "I thought Harry might want something to do."

Severus stared at the girl. He wished he had had friends like her when he was attending school, but he hadn't. Taking the pile of parchment, he nodded his consent. He would pass them on to Harry as soon as he was out of this damnable room.

Seeing that both students were still standing in front of him, nervously moving from one foot to another, he dismissed them. Now that he was alone in the classroom, he didn't feel the courage to go to his son. If he had, he would have been a Gryffindor.

Walking back to his own room, he set the pile down on his desk and stared at it. Sitting down, he was about to pick it up and read through the notes to see if it was really that important when he heard his door creak open a little. Looking up, he was surprised to see nothing there. Standing and making his way to the door he heard the distinct sound of a person running down the hall and the thud of a door soon followed.

Obviously, some Slytherin wanted to see how close they could get to peeking inside his private chambers before being spotted. It was a favourite game of theirs and one that people needed to be cunning to pull off.

Thinking nothing of it, he dismissed the student and closed his door, putting a locking charm on it so no one could enter. Unbeknown to him, that student had been Draco Malfoy. Someone who had heard every word exchanged between himself, Granger and Weasley. Someone who would spread the word faster than fireweed will grow.

By the time Dinner rolled by, everybody was talking about the crazy rumor that Harry Potter was a vampire.