Harry opened his eyes and groaned. The sunlight streamed into the room, shining painfully into his eyes. He could tell he was in the Hospital Wing. Why was he here?

The memories of the day before suddenly flooded him, The Death Eaterers, the attack... With a gasp, he tried to sit up, but pain shot through his body, causing him to bite his lips in pain.

"Harry!" A voice cried. "How are you feeling?"

Harry opened his eyes and found himself looking into the concerned eyes of his father. (Note from Author: by 'father', I mean !Severus! Snape.)

"Fine," he said automatically.

!Severus! looked at him worriedly, his dark eyes flashing. "Do you want some food?"

Harry shook his head.

"Drink? Water? "the professor asked as he helped the boy lie back down.

"No, thank you, professor." Harry wasn't in the mood for eating; whenever he closed his eyes, he remembered the way the Death Eaters had crashed into the walls of the stone dungeon.... He shuddered, drawing himself out of his thoughts.

!Severus! winced inwardly at Harry's formal addressing. Noticed Harry's discomfort, he quickly said, "I'll bring Madam Po- I mean, Madam Lyra. She's the nurse right now."

"No--" Harry said, trying once again to sit up. This time, he felt dizzy. The world span before him, white spots dancing before his vision. He was about to collapse when a firm hand grabbed him, steadying him. "Give me a minute," he said as the spots began fading.

"I'm fine," he insisted as his vision returned. To his surprise, !Severus! suddenly pulled him into an embrace.

"Sev?" he asked uncertainly, stunned at this suddenly display of emotions.

"Did you know how worried I was?" The Potions Master whispered. "When you disappeared.... I thought I'd lost you forever."

"I'm sorry."

"Promise me, Harry," !Severus! whispered. "Promise me you'll never leave me. I need you, Harry."

"I--" Harry stopped. "Severus, I want to promise, but... I don't want to make promises I can't keep. With Voldemort and his Death Eaters..." he trailed off, knowing that the other knew what he meant.

Indeed, !Severus! knew what he was talking about. With Voldemort around, there was no telling how long Harry would survive. This didn't help his feel any better. Instead of answering, he just pulled his son tighter into his embrace. "You need to see the nurse," he said again after a while.

Grudgingly, Harry agreed. After Madam Lyra checked out the boy, she said, "If you want to leave the Hospital Wing, you're going to have to stay with you father in his quarters until you've fully recovered. You may have dizzy spells; you've used most of your energy, and there's the after- effects of the Cruciatus Curses. You'll probably feeled easily fatigued for the first week. Now," her eyes twinkled. "You can see your friends if you want."

Harry nodded eagerly. A minute later, Ron, Hermione, and Draco burst through the door, followed shortly by James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily.

"HARRY!" Hermione said, worry adn concern flashing in her chocolate- brown eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, 'Mione," Harry smiled.

For the next half and hour, they talked about school and Quidditch, each carefully ignoreing the incidents of the day before.

"Harry..." Draco finally said. "Um.... can I ask you something?"

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"Alright," Harry said, talking a deep breath, trying to ease the feelings of guilt exploding inside him.

"How did you Apparate? It's beyond N.E.W.T. level, and there are Anti- Appartion Wards everywhere."

"I don't really know," Harry confessed. "I could feel the wards that were preventing me from Apparating, and I just sort of... ignored them."

"Um..." Ron began. "The storm. How did you create it?"

Hary's brows furrowed in confusion. "Storm? What storm?"

"You don't remember?"

Harry shook his head.

"Well," Lily spoke. "There was lightning and thunder, and the rain was pouring down at the exact same time the Death Eaters began flying... So it's pretty obvious you were the one who caused the storm."

"I see," Harry said, slightly dazed at the information. /He/ had caused a /thunderstorm?/

After talking for several more minutes, James asked, "Um... could Sirius and I get a few moments with you, Harry?"

"Sure." Harry eyed them warily.

"Well... We'll leave for now," Hermione said, dragging Ron out of the room. Remus, Peter, Lily, and Draco followed.

"Um... Harry, we want to apologize," James began after a moment of silence. "We shouldn't have accused you."

Harry shook his head. "It's okay. I understand. You don't need to apologize."

"But it was wrong of us!" Sirius insisted.

"It's alright," Harry replied. "I'm used to it by now. You had a right to be suspicious."

"People's accused you before?"

Harry nodded. "In my second year at my old school."

"Which school did you used to go to?" James asked curiously.

"Um..." Harry said the first name he could think of. "Greenwich. It's this small school in Canada."

Harry tried to sit up, but he was hit by another dizzy spell. To keep from falling, he reached out and grabbed James' shoulder. "I'm fine," he gasped out.

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked anziously, supporting him by gripping his arm.

Harry nodded. "It's just the after-effects of the Cruciatus Curse."

James looked guiltily at the floor. "Um.... Harry? Why did you take the curses for me?"

"You would have died," Harry replied. "I dealt with it better because I'm used to it."

Sirius gaped at him. "You've been put under it before? It's an Unforgivable!"

"Like the Death Eaters care," Harry bit out bitterly.

James shivered at his friend's icy tone. The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped lower.

Just then, the Hospital Wing door opened. !Severus! walked in. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, you must leave for lessons now."

The two Mauraders left the room.

"Are you okay?" !Severus! asked. Seeing Harry nod, he said, "Remus wants to talk to you."

A second later, !Remus! walked into the room. "Harry!" He said. "how are you feeling?"

Harry, now utterly annoyed by the repeating of the question, replied, "Fine."

They talked for about ten minutes when Harry started feeling tired.

!Remus!, noticing Harry's discomfort, handed him the Dreamless Sleeping Potion. Downing it's contents, the Gryffindor fell into blissful sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That evening, Harry moved into !Severus'! quarters. As his father helped him enter the room, he heard a low hiss.

~There you are, young master.~

~Astrielle!~ Harry cried. Then, he said guiltily, ~I'm sorry. I forgot about you for the last few days.~

~No problem,~ Astrielle replied. ~You were injured. I went o Hagrid; he gave me food.~

~Good,~ Harry replied. He smiled at the thought of Hagrid feeding his snake.

"Harry?" !Severus! asked uncertainly. "You should get to bed now."

"Okay," Harry nodded meekly, and with the help of his father, changed, and got to bed.

Harry was no longer in !Severus'! rooms. Instead, he was standing in a cold, dark dungeon.

"Avery!" A cold, chilling voice said. "You have failed me once again."

The Death Eater knelt on the ground. "Master," he said, kissing the hem of Voldemort's robes. "I beg for your forgiveness, My Lord."

Voldemort laughed, a high, cruel laugh. "Forgiveness? I do not forgive. Because of your stupidity, half of my Death Eaters are dead. And Lucius and many others have been captured. You shall be punished for your foolishness." The Dark Lord raised his voice. "Wormtail! Bring them in!"

At this, a group of Death Eaters entered the room. Each wore dark masks which covered their faces.

"You may do whatever you like to Avery here," Voldemort said. "Other than kill him. GO!"

Harry watched, horrified, as the Death Eaters pounced onto Avery like cats attacking a mice. He watched, petrified, as a Death Eater yelled, "CRUCIO!"

Harry's scar suddenly seared in pain. He felt as if his head was exploding, as if he was the one under the curse. He wanted to scream, to die, he wanted this pain to end; but he couldn't make a sound or Voldemort would know he was here...

A new wave of pained knocked him down. He shuttered, but he could not bear it any longer. Opening his mouth, he let out an agonizing scream.

"Harry, Harry! Wake up!"

Hands gently shook his shoulders, but Harry's hysteria had a strong hod on him. It was Voldemort, he was going to die... He whimpered, curling up into a ball.

"Harry!"

Voldemort placed a hand on his shoulder...

He suddenly flung his arm back, radiating a blue light. There was a thud as his attacker was thrown back...

Harry finally opened his eyes and was horrified to see his father pick himself up from the floor. "God, Severus..." he choked out, his face burning with shame and terror. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that..." The guilt of the day before came back, drowning him in a wave.

"Harry, Harry, it's okay..." Hands encircled his shoulders and pulled him into a comforting embrace. But no, he didn't deserve this comfort, this kindness and pity. He was evil, a monster: he had killed more a dozen Death Eaters and now, he had hurt the one he cared for most... He wanted to die, but in his heart, he knew he deserved his pain and suffering...

"Please," he whispered. "Let go of me. I don't deserve this."

"Harry," !Severus'! voice was soft and soothing. "It's okay, you're safe, just calm down..."

"No," Harry choked out. "I don't deserve this. I don't deserve any of this... S-Severus, I don't want this to continue, I want it to end.... I want to die..."

"Please, child, no," !Severus!tightened his grip. "Please, Harry, don't say that... you deserve better... Please, live, don't say such a thing..."

"Please, let me go... I don't deserve this," Harry sobbed into !Severus'! robes, hot tears running down his cheek. "I killed those Death Eaters, and then, I've hurt you... I'm worst than Voldemort!"

"No, Harry..." !Severus! rocked the sobbing boy. He flinched when he saw the pain and self-loathing burning in the other's eyes. "It wasn't your fault, child..." He continued rocking the Gryffindor. Finally, the boy relaxed and his breathing evened.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Severus gazed down at the now peaefully sleeping boy. The Gryffindor's cheeks were tearstained, his hair dark as night. This was his son. His flesh and blood. His entire world and being: Harry. He loved the boy, loved the boy more than he loved life itself.

For the first time in his life, he felt truely happy. Yet at the same time, he was afraid. Hell, he was terrified. He knew that Harry was in danger. That as long as Voldemort was alive, Harry would always be at risk. But there was nothing he could do at the moment.

For now, he was happy. He would deal with the rest of his problems as they come. Pulling the sleeping boy closer to him, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.