The first thing Severus noticed when he woke up was that he wasn't in his own bed, shortly after that thought he was bombarded with pain. Groaning, he rolled onto his side his eyes closed tightly trying to ignore the pain.

He wasn't too aware when Poppy came over to him with a Potion in her hands. He opened his eyes to stare at her, a look of embarrassment making its way through the obvious pain in his eyes. Somehow, he always ended up in the Hospital Wing.

"You're awake I see. We were all wondering if we had to start looking for a replacement Potions Professor." Poppy said, a hint of laughter hiding in her eyes. This was one of their routines. This time though, there was worry showing in the Mediwitches voice.

Extremely groggy, Severus just grunted and winced. Gods he hurt. Eying the Potion, he immediately recognized it as a pain reliever. Snatching it quickly, he drank it down knowing it would take about five minutes to kick in. Lying back down, he realized he was exhausted, even though he must have slept for a long time.

Try as he might though, he couldn't seem to fall asleep again. Something kept on bugging him, though whatever it was it was buried at the back of his mind. He knew he had been summoned by Voldemort, but couldn't remember what had exactly happened at the meet. Obviously, he had been put under the Cruciatus Curse. The after effects were dim however. Whatever else had happened had put him through an extreme amount of pain.

As the Potion kicked in and his body relaxed, he sighed in relief. Looking back to Poppy, he asked about the other thing on his mind. "Where is Harry?" He asked, looking around. For safety reasons, the students hadn't been told about his relationship with the boy, but all the teachers had been informed, including Poppy.

"Off with his friends. Causing some kind of trouble no doubt. I have had a rough time keeping him out of here. He has grown quite attached to you. But, you needed rest. You were in nasty shape when you were brought in here. Far worse than normal."

Severus grunted again. "I can feel that. Or at least I could. You make one good pain reliever." Poppy beamed at him. That coming from him was high praise.

"You should get some rest." She replied, fussing over him more than usual.

He shook his head slowly. "Not until I see Dumbledore and Harry."

Poppy frowned. She started to tap her foot on the floor in a sign of her anger. "Once you have some rest, I'll let them in, not before."

Severus grinned, showing fang. "Let them in first. Then I'll stay in this bed for the rest of the week if you so wish."

"You'll get out of here when I say you can, Mister! Now be a good boy, close your eyes and get some rest." Poppy walked away from the pouting vampire. Again they had moved onto routine. Severus should have known that she wouldn't let him do anything until she said it was ok to.

Sighing, he did as she bid and closed his eyes. He didn't have to wait long for sleep to claim him and when Poppy came back to check on him five minutes later, he was in a deep sleep.

The last coherent thought he had was that he hoped to not dream. Though the fates were obviously not that nice to him. He was stuck and he couldn't get out of the hellish place he found himself in. Some part of him knew that it was a nightmare, but he was pulled into it as if it was real.

Peter Pettigrew was there. But Peter was dead, he thought to himself. Killed by the traitorous Black. The things Peter were doing though terrified him. The chamber he was in suddenly lit up as Voldemort glided in. Severus immediately froze, too scared to even move. It was then that everything came back to him. Peter was alive and the traitor. The torture both he and the Dark Lord had put him under. Then the news that he had been found out. Voldemort knew him to be a spy. All he felt then was panic.

He woke with a start and could feel a cold sweat on his body. His breathing was hard and ragged and he could swear his heart was trying to rip its way out of his ribcage. A touch to his arm made him react out of instinct. He growled low and deep before lashing out with his teeth. He could hear several voices shouting his name, but was too far away to hear them properly. He was in the throes of a panic attack.

He knew that they were all working together, but to what he didn't know, neither did he want to. He felt someone grab his arms and pull them behind his back, while someone else held his head as still as possible. Again, they started to shout his name. It dawned on him that he recognized the voices, and who they belonged to slowly filtered its way into his brain and he began to calm down a little.

He was in the Hospital at Hogwarts, he remembered and the stern voice he heard was Poppy's. There were two others calling out to him. One was the calm voice of Albus and the other was the scared shouts of Harry. It was the latter that finally snapped him back to reality. He stopped moving and very slowly he felt the grips of the three on his arms and head fall away.

The minute he was loose, he dropped his head back to the pillow and turned around, trying to bury himself. He couldn't believe he had tried to attack the Headmaster of the school. He was sure he was going to lose his job over this.

Again, he felt a touch on his shoulder, though this time he just tensed under the touch. "Severus?" Came the worried voice of Albus. "What happened?"

Severus moved his head to look at Dumbledore. "He knows." Was all he said, but it was enough. Immediately Albus lost the always-present twinkle in his eyes. Poppy was asking what he meant and Harry, his Harry had a look that told him the boy had already known.

Burying his head again, he apologized into the pillow, not wanting to look anyone in the eye right now. He felt someone lying down next to him and was surprised when Harry snuggled in close to give him comfort.

Looking back up after a while, he was surprised to see Poppy standing holding out another Potion. This one he knew very well, even more than a pain reliever. It was a Dreamless Sleep Potion.

Taking it gratefully, he then held his son closer to him, taking as much comfort as possible out of the boy and fell into the dreamless sleep the potion promised.