"I think this will really work" Hermione said as she looked over Harry's new schedule once again on Thursday afternoon, several hours before Harry was due for his first studying session with Snape.

"Which ones should I take?" Harry groaned as he and Ron sorted through his unfinished homework and poorly-written notes, ignoring Hermione's comment altogether.

"That Charms essay is nasty" Ron suggested so Harry grabbed that.

"I can't go empty-handed" Harry said anxiously, now stressed and unsettled by the entire event. "What about that Transfiguration assignment?"

"Yeah" Ron nodded with a wince. "I haven't even started that yet."

"Honestly Ron, it's due in three days!" Hermione rolled her eyes as she passed the schedule back to Harry and exmained what he'd chosen so far. "And the potions essay" She suggested.

"I'm doomed" Harry sighed, slumping back onto his bed, shoving more parchment and books aside.

"I hate to agree with you, mate" Ron pat his back.

--

Harry shifted the weight of his books and parchment as he cranned his neck to check the time and after seeing that it was almost 7pm already...he hurried his footsteps.

Snape glanced up from his desk as Harry entered the room and dumped a pile of books and papers on a student desk that had been placed in the office. Ink bottles, quills, parchments and books scattered and some slipped to the floor.

"Sorry" Harry winced and quickly fixed them up.

Snape had paused and stared at the boy for he'd expected a few unfinished or lacking pieces of work...not his entire course of schoolwork.

"You need help with...all of this?" Snape approached the desk.

"I...well not really" Harry admitted. "Most of it I was just hoping you could check for me or something?" Harry shrugged, not entirely sure how this process was supposed to work out and felt a bit stupid for bringing everything.

"Hm" Snape held out a hand and it took a moment for Harry to understand that he wanted those particular pieces of work.

"I'll...just work on my Charms essay" Harry said as he sat down and Snape walked away to exmaine his work.

And so a blanket of silence (apart from scratching quills) fell upon the room for close to half an hour beofre Snape walked over to Harry's desk, just as the boy finished his Charms essay with a satisfied grunt.

"Poor effort, Mr Potter" Snape sighed as he place the pieces on the desk and Harry thought he had scribbled red all over it but then noticed the crossouts and suggestions marked all over the place.

"It needs work" Snape added and snatched up the Charms essay as well as what Harry had done so far on his Transfiguration and Potions work.

Harry sighed deeply and grabbed another ink bottle as he set to rewrite his work and use some of Snape's suggestions for improvement.

It was like a quieter version of a theory lesson, and it took more than an hour. By the time Harry dragged his things back to the Gryffindor common room, most of the people had gone to bed for it was almost 10pm.

"Harry!" Hermione spotted him enter.

"There you are, about time mate" Ron said as Harry dumped his things and joined them in front of the fireplace, collapsing on an armchair.

"Well, how'd it go?" Ron questioned.

"Dreadful" Harry groaned.

"Surely it wasn't that bad?" Hermioned asked.

"You weren't there" Harry said, his eyes closed as he rested his head against the back of the chair. "It was torture...horrible and endless torture! My hand feels numb and my brain is aching" He exagerated dramatically.

"Do you know how many times I had to rewrite pages of work? Five times for the Charms essay and we were just getting started."

"Ouch" Ron winced at the thought.

"Well at least you know you'll get good marks for it" Hermione reasoned.

"He still said it was "barely acceptable" when I finished" Harry told her, slacking his head to look at his two best friends.

 'I'm going to go to bed and die" He said and got up as though he hadn't been joking.

"Should I keep an eye on him?" Ron joked while Hermione rolled her eyes and got up as well, approaching Harry's stuff to read it over.

And for weeks, that was how things were. Although Harry began to see results for his teachers were indeed impressed with his work and his grades were improving.

But Snape never changed, he never attempted to talk or engage in direct help unless it involved a red-inked quill and various pages of books that he shoved under Harry's nose. But in the most sense of honestly...things were going quite okay. Until one Sunday night.

He didn't know what brought it on for things had been calm and uneventful, in fact he'd just won a Quidditch match not long ago...but it was almost 11pm when Harry's peaceful slumber changed...

--It was dark and he was standing alone in the forbidden forest. There was a rush of cold wind and Harry heard sounds of something moving all around him but he couldn't see anything.

Then a hand reached out of nowhere and grabbed him, pulling him into a thick cloud of fog.

When he got through, Harry was crouched on his knees as a clocked figure ahead of him walked towards a...cot? Only he wasn't in the forest anymore but a house, a familiar house.

"No..." Harry gasped as he realized what he was seeing when he saw the dark figure approach a woman with red hair and who was cradling a baby.

"Hush Harry, it's time for sleep" Lily said softly but then turned and her emerald eyes went wide in terror as she saw the cloaked man with his wand raised.

"Stand aside" A dark voice that Harry had heard last year...Lord Voldemort.

Harry couldn't move or scream as a flash of green light blinded him and was followed by the helpless cries of his younger, baby self.

The walls darkened and the floor turned to wet blood as Harry tried to escape it, but it was surrounding him and swallowing him with the only sounds being the cries of the orphaned baby...

--

"Argh!" Harry jerked upright and felt the sweat on his face and the surroundings came back into view. No blood, no crying baby...just his dormitory.

He glanced at the time and saw it was almost 4am but didn't dare to go back to sleep. He had imagined his parent's deaths at times but to see it in his dreams so horribly, it really scared him and the memories from the year before came flooding back as well.

His pillow was soaked and his hair was too, so Harry went to wash his face and changed into his clothes and headed into the common room.

Using the light of the fireplace, Harry sorted through the work he was going to take to his study session with Snape later and wished they'd bonded enough for him to share the details of his dream with him, but what would the man say? Call him weak? State that it was just a silly dream? No, Harry couldn't stand to have him say that...it felt too real and threatening.

"Focus, Potter" Snape frowned as Harry's gaze drifted from his work again. The boy said nothing as he yawned from lack of sleep that morning and tried to finish his paragraph but had no sucess.

Snape pinched his nose as Harry once again chewed lightly on his quill and squirmed in his seat.

He said nothing this time and just stared harder in attempt to figure out what was making the boy lack in effort, patience and focus tonight. His eyes were darkened and his face slightly paler...if that was any indication that something wasn't right.

"Am I incorrect in assuming that you did not have the required amount of sleep last night, Potter?" Snape sneered. "Stayed up late to party with your Gryffindor friends, did you?"

"No sir" Harry said, yawning again. "I just got up too early."

"And for what reason?" Snape inquired. "Exactly how early are you refering to?"

"Erm, 4am I think it was" Harry sighed, giving up on his work for now.

"And I just...had a bad dream" He shrugged it off. "Did you say page 64 or 46?"

"72" Snape replied dully, crossing his arms as he stared down at the boy.

"Oh" Harry frowned and grabbed his potions textbook in search of the page on recognising certain poisons and how to avoid them.

Snape glanced towards the fireplace as the flames came to life while turning green and McGonagall's voice called out to him.

"What is it, Minerva?" He asked dully but knew that it must be important.

"Professor Dumbledore..." McGonagall paused as she saw Harry working away at a desk nearby. "Professor Dumbledore has requested a staff meeting and we need your opinions on certain topics. It won't take a minute, Severus."

"Very well" Snape nodded and she cast Harry one more surprised look before vanishing as quickly as she had appeared.

 'Potter, keep writing and do not leave this desk, understood?" He instructed with every ounce of firmness that he could manage.

"Yes sir; don't leave desk. Got it" Harry said whilst trying not to yawn again.

"Hm" Snape said skeptically but seemed to have made a unspoken decision and soon left through the fireplace.

Any other day, Harry would have been astounded at the trust Snape put in him for leaving him alone in his office but he was just too tired to care and within seconds, his eyes began to droop.

Before long, his head fell onto his freshly-inked parchment and he had fallen asleep with his quill still loosely gripped in his hand.

And that was exactly how Snape found him ten minutes later and to say the least; he wasn't impressed.

"Potter!" Snape reached out to the boy, but snatched his hand back in reflex when Harry jerked away and his eyes went wide, his face paler than it was before.

"Sorry" Harry mumbled but his eyes looked haunted and he seemed rather disoriented.

Snape checked the time and saw it was still rather early and couldn't understand why Harry was so tired, or perhaps it was a result of the dream he'd mentioned earlier?

"I would like a reason for why you have slacked off and fallen asleep during this session, Mr Potter" Snape crossed his arms.

"I told you: I didn't get much sleep" Harry yawned again and scowled at his smudged work that sat on his desk in a black mess.

"And a simple dream was the cause of such tardiness?" Snape raised an eyebrow skeptically, his dark eyes staring reluctantly into his emerald ones.

"Okay, so maybe it was a nightmare and not just a dream" Harry rolled his eyes but lowered his gaze.

Wasn't this what he'd wanted? Someone to talk to and confide in? But he still doubted the reply he was sure to recieve would be the kind he needed, but Snape wasn't going to drop the subject until he got detailing enough answers.

"About...my mum dying, okay?" He mumbled out and averted his gaze as though he was guilty of something embarassing.

Snape lowered his arms and said nothing for a moment, covering his silence by glancing at Harry's work.

"I do not believe that we will acomplish much more tonight. Go, and take the opportunity to rest for I will not have you falling asleep during our next session nor during your classes, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir" Harry nodded and gathered his things as he prepared to leave.

"Mr Potter?" Snape said again and Harry glanced at him, only to see the professor wiping his cheek.

But he kept doing it until Harry finally caught on and wiped his own cheek, seeing ink on his hand.

Snape rolled his eyes as Harry just suceeded in smudging it further. He pulled out his wand and cleaned it magically before allowing the boy to leave.

"Thanks, goodnight" Harry said and left the room hurridly.

Snape said nothing but felt as though the boy was already starting to make him soft.