The day progressed quite evenly and dinner was eaten mostly in silence. It felt too normal to Snape and he was rather concerned. While the boys were getting ready for bed, he lingered in the hallway and listened for several minutes...but everything seemed fine. There was no bottled anger or fear, no unsorted issues or even the smallest of resentment. They had moved pass what had happened. He wondered if they had ever been in such a situation before but from how he had seen Harry react; he doubted it. Unless they had been through worst? He shivered at that horrible thought.

"Lights out" Snape said after their chatter died down and he pushed open the door properly.

The boys turned to look at him but relaxed and climbed into their beds, pulling the sheets up to their chins but he noticed two equally smug looks and wondered if they were up to something. A Malfoy and a Potter under his roof...what had he been thinking?

"Night" Harry said to Snape when he switched the light off.

"Good night" Snape said stiffly and left their door ajar as he made his way to bed as well, after showering and actually washing his hair for once. Realistically he washed it often but was sick of it since the potion fumes just made it greasy again by the end of the following day. And it added to his “do not approach” look he cast the students so it mostly worked to his advantage.

As Snape lay down to rest, he thought about the events over the last few days and finally had time to just think rather than worry and attempt to be productive. But he was exhausted, mostly mentally, and fell into a slumber. He rarely dreamed; his subconscious was haunted by nightmares and horrors that afterwards had him reaching for the a vial of dreamless sleep, but for the first time in over a year...Snape had an actual dream, an actual scene portrayed only from imagination.

---

Perhaps created from his daydreaming earlier or their pending trip to Diagon Alley, but Snape found himself standing in a familiar store, Quality Quidditch Supplies. He was disoriented but decided to just watch the scene since it wasn't filled with shadows, screams or empty eyes. He spotted Draco and Harry near the back and moved closer to see what they were doing, having no doubt that they were causing some form of trouble.

"A Seeker" Harry was saying while holding up a golden snitch that flapped slowly. "Or a Chaser?" He pointed at a sparkling new Quaffle.

"Beater!" Draco ran his hand over a bat and smirked at his brother.

Snape now was close enough to see them clearly and couldn't help but smile slightly at their appearance, which was so different to how they looked in real life. Draco's hair was clean and brushed back, held in place by invisible gel. He wore a green sweater and black pants with shiny new, black shoes sticking out from under the hems. Harry was dressed in a red jacket with hints of a blue shirt underneath. He wore blue jeans and only mildly smudged sneakers. His hair was still messy but tamer than usual and his glasses had no cracks, marks on the lens nor any tape holding it in place.

"Dad, look!" Harry turned towards Snape and it took him a moment to realize that he was talking to him. "Can I get a snitch? Please?" He pleaded.

"I want new robes" Draco added with an equally hopeful expression.

"Perhaps later" Snape answered and expected them to behave like spoiled brats and whine but neither seemed too upset and merely looked around some more and admired the new brooms.

"I bet I'll be faster" Draco teased Harry and shoved him lightly.

"No way!" Harry laughed and the boys began chasing each other around the stores; it was a wonder they never knocked anything over or caused a scene. Although Snape now noticed that they were the only ones around.

---

Snape awoke, sure that the dream had the same effects as a nightmare but instead realized he could hear something. While wondering when he was woken by small, non-threatened sounds, Snape got out of bed and transfigured his clothes to look less like pajamas and made his way to the boy's room and flicked his wand to light a bedside lamp. He first noticed that Draco was sitting on the floor just flipping through a book although surely he hadn't been able to see it in the darkness, even with the dim moonlight?

He turned his attention towards Harry, who was on his side with his back towards Draco and was whimpering softly.

"Oh!" Draco jumped up when he noticed Snape. "He's been doing that for a while" He added when Snape glanced at Harry. "I tried to wake him but he just shoved me off."

"Why are you not in bed?" Snape asked while stepping closer to Harry.

"Couldn't sleep" Draco shrugged but climbed into his bed with the frown he received.

Snape brushed Harry's hair and narrowed his eyes when Harry's hands reached towards him, as though seeking out a hold on his robes as he had when they'd sat on the couch before Draco had been found. Snape moved some blankets so that Harry could alternatively grab that, but apparently the boy noticed the difference.

Snape released Harry's hair and turned towards Draco, who was clearly fighting sleep without much success.

"What is on your mind, child?" He sighed.

"Nothing" Draco said but knew Snape had caught his lie. "I just...why doesn't anyone want me?" He bowed his head and sighed.

Snape wished he hadn't said anything and had no clue as to what he could reply with.

"I do not believe that statement to be true" Snape answered dully.

"Oh yeah?" Draco huffed. "My godfather was supposed to take me in, right? Well why didn't he if that's his job?"

Snape flinched at those words, pondering between the truth or misleading half-truth.

"I was unable to" Snape said and Draco's head snapped up in shock and determination to understand what he was hearing. "Your parents were some of my closest friends as was Harry's mother. I was in no position to care for a child" He said, wondering why he went with the truth but he knew he'd have to say it sometime anyhow.

"You're...my godfather?" Draco gasped. "But why...you didn't..."

"I did not believe that such information would be of any use to you at the present time" Snape said. "I also believe it best to not separate yourself and Harry, I assume you do not want that to occur?"

"No" Draco shook his head, yawning again. "But if you knew my parents...were they really bad?"

"Who they were plays no part in who you are" Snape tells him sternly. "You are of their blood and yet still an equally separate being. Do not dwell upon this."

"R-ight" Draco yawned again and lay more comfortably, his eyes struggling to remain open.

"Rest" Snape said and placed a hand on the boy's head when his eyes finally gave up their battle and fell closed.

He turned back to Harry and brushed his hair, pulled the blankets over him again and than left the boys to rest. He felt trapped by their presence; it suffocated him and tortured his mind...but he was adapting all too quickly.

Snape frowned deeply and went to leave the room but something caught in the ray of light from the lamp captured his attention. It was sticking out from under Harry's pillow. Cautiously and while being careful not to disturb the boy, Snape reached for it and glanced at the piece of parchment. He wasn't expecting it to be homework, but he also didn't think he would find something that would actually alarm him. Not in the concerned sense, but in a way that he was stunned by the image drawn upon the paper.

There was a large tree that looked quite alike the one outside, although the grass in the picture was certainly not that green in his backyard. A castle (Hogwarts?) was in the background and a snitch had been drawn in the cloudy sky. But the cause of his surprised was the figures drawn there. He recognized Harry and Draco in the center, based on their hair and Harry's glasses as well as even height. Beside Draco was a brief woman and a young girl although she was taller than the boys, Snape wasn't entirely sure who they were but suspected they were Draco's aunt and cousin. Beside Harry was his mother with vibrant red hair and green eyes; Snape ignored the man beside her although he knew it was James-damned-Potter.

All those details were noticed in less than a second. Snape clutched the picture closer as he eyed the final figure, standing directly behind each boy with a smile on the figure's face while he was dressed in black robes...him. Snape found it impossible that the boy would consider him significant enough to be more important in the picture than his own parents and alongside Draco; his brother and someone he's grown up with for ten years. What did that mean?

Deciding he was reading too much into a childish drawing and replaced it under the pillow before he turned and strode out of the room and longed the warmth of his soft bed.

-----

But no matter how comfortable he was in his bed, Snape was awoken no less than three more times, each time he grew more frustrated with the seemingly insignificant interruptions.

By the fourth time he just rolled over with a growl and was determined to ignore the soft whimpering of whichever child was having a mild nightmare again. His eyes flew open and he lay still for a moment because there something different this time.

Grunting, he left his bed and noticed that his clothes weren't even pajamas anymore since after his last visit he had just collapsed back into bed. Glancing at his clock along the way Snape noticed it was nearly 3pm.

Growling with that new realization, he entered the boy's room and assessed them both in the lamp-light (which had been left on). Draco was huddled on his bed and had his arms wrapped around his legs while sniffling softly against his knees. His face was paler than normal and his form shivering. But Harry wasn't much better, the boy was perhaps the reason for Draco's current state. Harry's face was contorted with pain, his face sweating profoundly and his blankets had been kicked away while he clawed at his mattress.

"Make him stop!" Draco pleaded, raising his head to look at Snape and also revealed a reddening area on his cheek from when he had tried to wake Harry up from his torturous nightmare.

Snape was moving towards Harry before Draco had even finished speaking. He stared down at the boy and pondered on the best way to soothe him. Despite himself, the sight of the boy in such anguish was effecting him more than it had when Draco had been missing. It was a dull ache in his stomach, as though he too was injured by the boy's obvious pain.

Not delaying further, Snape placed a hand on the boy's head but jerked back when he felt a sharp agony in his left arm. Knowing what was tattooed beneath his robes, Snape didn't dare touch the boy again. He had almost forgotten how unbearable the mark was. But why had it reacted to Harry's...oh, the scar.

Biting his tongue softly, Snape reached out again but this time with his his right hand and relaxed when no pain came apart from the throbbing that was still numbing coursing through his left forearm. He brushed the boy's hair, ignoring the sweat there and watched in relief as Harry slowly began to calm. His eyes opened a little, showing he was awake but the nightmare was fresh on his mind so he just stared at the ceiling while his lip trembled.

"Shhh" Snape said when Harry softly started crying. He spotted Draco approaching to his side and the way he was still shaking. Whatever had caused this, Snape vowed to hex it...but how was any of them going to sleep now? Surely it would take an hour at least to sooth both the boys and he wouldn't be able to rest knowing that they were suffering. And Snape was terribly exhausted.

Making a decision and not caring for the consequences, Snape removed his hand from Harry's head and instead clutched his shoulder lightly to pull him into sitting position.

"Come" He told them both, in which they were too shaken to disobey or even consider where they were going. With his left hand on Draco's back and his right on Harry's head, he led them downstairs. Transfiguring the couch to fold out so it was half couch/half bed and than he summoned some spare bedding and pillows.

Neither boy said so much of a word when Snape sat in the middle of the large couch and opened his arms while ignoring the mocking voice inside his head that laughed at his pathetic excuse of dignity and pride. Harry was the first to realize what he was asking and climbed onto the couch, crawled over to Snape's right side (thankfully) and curled up against him, still withholding tears that threatened to overwhelm him. Draco followed suit and although he was more hesitant at first, he too curled against Snape's other side.

Snape flicked his wand and the bedding lay over them while the pillows flew behind his head and beside the boys...since they had apparently decided that Snape's arms were more comfortable pillows.

Not daring to think on what he had just done and the proximity he was allowing, Snape leaned his head back while still positioned upright against the back of the couch. He welcomed the sleep that intoxicated him with subconscious.

Harry, being the only one who hadn't been woken constantly, was the first to awake the next morning. He frowned as he felt as though he was in a weird position and raised his eyebrows at the warmth he was snuggled against. Realizing that the black warmth was breathing, he tilted his head to stare up at the sleeping Snape in shock. Being very careful, he sat up and glanced over to see Draco asleep against Snape's other side with one hand clutching the black robes.

Both looked so peaceful and as though they needed the sleep, so Harry slowly and cautiously left the strange sofa and made his way upstairs. He yawned stiffly and headed to the bathroom before retreating to his room and changed into some lightly torn, faded black pants and a grey shirt that was a few sizes too big for him. Sighing at his lacking choices in clothing, Harry tried to comb his hand with his hands and grabbed his glasses from the bedside table, surprised he hadn't stubbed his toe or ran into anything without them.

And then Harry is left with the dilemma of how to occupy himself until the other two downstairs awake. He descended the stairs and glanced towards the back door, wondering if it had the same charms to keep him out as it did Draco. Turning the knob, he found that he was able to step outside into the morning sunlight.

Harry was not as keen on climbing trees as Draco was so he merely glanced at the large oak before deciding to just sit on the browning grass and enjoy his time outside in the cool breeze and warm sunlight. He didn't think of anything in particular and was mostly daydreaming, but Harry enjoyed it and lay back with his arms spread wide, smiling up at the blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

-----

After an oddly empty subconscious of sleep, Snape stirred and awoke, opening his eyes to notice himself in a different surrounding than he should be. His memories returned and he glanced to either side of him, seeing Draco laying on his back and just staring up at the ceiling in boredom but otherwise contentment. Snape felt concern grip him but turned towards the back door where Harry walked through, rubbing his eyes a little and he smiled over at them, seeing that they were finally awake.

"I do not recall giving you permission to set foot outside" Snape narrowed his eyes at Harry but the boy's smile did not fade. Draco yelped softly when Snape suddenly spoke and sat upright before sliding off the bed to join Harry.

"You both looked tired" Harry shrugged. "I was just watching the clouds" He added and Snape had nothing more to say on the topic. Simply worrying him wasn't enough reason for lecture. Although Snape scowled when he realized that he had been worried, even for a brief moment and he...than did he...care? Surely this was just an after-effect of his rather peaceful yet equally nerving dream? If only he could blame it on that.

Snape glanced at the two boys who were watching him curiously and only slightly cautiously, wondering what he was going to do next and what last night meant. He kept a blank expression but as he glanced at their eyes he could see everything, right through to their souls; their fear of rejection, their hope for the future, their warmth from the comfort, relief to have someone even if it could be temporary, their trust of him in which they were still nervous about giving...and there was something unmissable. Love. They loved him, in the same way he was starting to care for them...but should he encourage it? Should he allow his dream to be true? Surely he could not afford such a risk...and than again, as he looked at the pair of emerald and blue-grey eyes...how could he not?

"Draco, I expect you dressed for breakfast in five minutes" Snape said as he stood and transfigured the couch back to exactly that. "Harry, if you have stepped outside, I expect you to wash your hands thoroughly before eating."

"Yes, sir" Draco nodded and followed Harry upstairs.

Snape stood there, watching them ascend away from him while listening intently to the sounds of their feet against the wood. The oddly peaceful sound of two children inside his relatively never-before-this-comfortable house gave him an odd sense of something he had never felt inside that house before...it was home.