"What is he talking about, sir?" Harry asked seconds later.

"Yes, Severus, what am I talking about?" the voice hissed amusedly.

Harry quickly glanced towards his potions professor. The older wizard looked deathly pale, but said nothing to Harry. Harry then whirled around to glance back at the surrounding darkness. He couldn't see anyone out there, but someone obviously had to be there.

"Dammit, Potter," a distorted voice growled somewhere above him.

"What's going on? I don't understand! Professor, where is he?"

"Hearing voices, Potter?" the first voice sneered in the darkness. "Obviously, he's gone mental."

"Poor Harry… No one loved him," another voice drawled.

"Will that be all or does our Prince Harry need another?"

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Harry screamed as he whirled around.

"It's all right, Harry. You're safe," a soft voice whispered to his left. However, when he peered into the darkness, he couldn't see anyone there.

"Sir, I don't understand what's going on," Harry said to Snape who stood beside him.

"COME HERE, BOY!" a voice that he knew for certain shouldn't be there echoed around the darkness and surrounded them.

"I, Severus Snape, swear on my Wizard's Oath to protect Harry Potter from the Dark Lord and his true followers," another voice mumbled behind Harry.

"This doesn't make sense! Please! Sir, what's going on?"

Snape slowly glanced towards Harry. The young boy instantly felt a chill run down his spine at the look on the older wizard's face. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. He drew in a deep breath and waited.

"I'd think it'd be painfully obvious by now, Potter," Snape coolly responded before his wand easily slipped into his hand. "Avada Kedavra!" he yelled as he pointed his wand towards Harry.

Harry didn't have an inkling of a chance to escape it. The green light quickly enveloped him, but nothing happened strangely. He instantly gulped at the scary smile on Snape's face. It was just too creepy to see.

"Um…sir…?"

"Bravo, Potter, bravo," Snape replied before fading away.

"I don't understand," Harry whimpered as more darkness filtered in. Too many voices whispered in the darkness that he couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. He whirled around trying to find a shred of light at least twice. He found none, though. "Please…" he whimpered as he sat down on drew his knees to his chest. He wouldn't cry. He would not cry. Crying didn't help. He had learned that from the Dursleys. Resting his head atop of his knees, Harry felt the traitorous tears slide down his cheeks. "Please…"

"Quiet yourself, Potter. You are fine," Snape said next to him. "Now, open your eyes before I make you."

Harry slowly reopened his eyes. Almost immediately, his surroundings bombarded him with extreme clarity. He gasped as he realized that he was in an unknown part of the dungeons. He glanced around to figure out his surroundings, but ceased when he noticed that Snape was sitting in a chair next to Harry. It was then Harry noticed that someone had propped him up in an unfamiliar bed.

"What…what happened, sir?"

"You collapsed in my classroom while brewing a potion, Potter," Snape replied. "I brought you here because you were rather ill and not stable enough to be transported to the Hospital Wing. I take it you are feeling better now, though?"

"I…you mean it wasn't real, sir?"

"To what are you referring to, Potter?"

"You and Sinistra," Harry blurted back. He instantly grimaced at the violent reaction on the older wizard's face. Perhaps he should have stated something else rather than starting with that hallucination."

"My supposed relationship with her is none of your business, Potter," Snape growled.

"Oh, um…well, did you get hurt then, sir?"

"What are you talking about?" Snape asked with a confused look on his face.

"You and Professor Sinistra were on the Astronomy Tower talking about some job you finished." Harry instantly noticed Snape's eyes narrow.

"I assure you, Mr. Potter, that I have not left your bedside. Your fever was dangerously high. Madam Pomfrey can corroborate with my story in case you do not believe me."

"Because you protect me," Harry responded. Again, he noticed the look on Snape's face.

"What? Where on Earth did you hear a silly thing like that?"

"You told Professor Sinistra that in your quarters the other day."

"You were in my rooms?" Snape squawked grumpily. "I shall inform the Headmaster directly."

"I was only in the sitting room. We…well…I wanted to prove you were a vampire."

"So you committed a crime by breaking and entering into my quarters?" Snape then sighed heavily. "Even if what you are saying is true, what makes you truly believe I will confirm your theory about that silly phrase?"

"Oh, I guess that was another hallucination," Harry replied quietly. "Since you've probably already assigned me lots of detentions for being bothersome, can you at least answer my question?"

"About my being a vampire…?"

"Yeah," Harry responded. He then watched Snape roll his eyes before walking towards the far wall. His eyes narrowed when he watched Snape grab hold of huge Slytherin tapestry that hung on the wall. Seconds later, sunlight flooded the room as Snape pulled it back to reveal a large window. He made sure that he stood in the sunlight before folding his arms.

"Does that answer your question, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, sir," Harry quietly whispered.

"Excellent," Snape drawled before allowing the tapestry to cover the window again. "You are unfortunately still too weak for me to move you. Therefore, you should sleep, Potter, while you have the chance. We will speak further tomorrow about those dreams of yours."