Ron had threatened to go to McGonagall. It was only lucky that Ron knew as well as Harry that there was nothing that could be done about Harry's nightmares, whether they were dreams invaded by Voldemort, or uncle Vernon. The last time they'd tried, Occlumency lessons had lasted for exactly one night, as Harry had snuck a look into Snape's Pensieve after he'd gone out to deal with an errant student in the halls that was supposed to be scrubbing floors. They'd not even had a chance to get started before Harry found a glass jar of cockroaches flying at his head as he ran out the door. It might be different now, he groused in his head as he was grouchy and tired from a lack of sleep. There was no need to tell Ron that however.

Harry could understand some of the nightmares he was having about Voldemort and his activities, knew that perhaps he was seeing through Voldemort's eyes as he murdered people, burned down houses and chased people laughing through the dark streets of one unknown city after another. It left Harry feeling sick each day after one of these dreams, but he was pushing through on his own.

What Harry couldn't understand were the renewed nightmares of Uncle Vernon. It had been more than a year now since he'd seen the man since he hadn't gone back for the summer, so he shouldn't have been dreaming about him, but he was. While the dreams of Voldemort left Harry feeling sick for the atrocities he'd seen, the dreams of four Privet Drive, memories really, left Harry shaking and fearful when he awoke. He'd had a few of these dreams staying with Snape and Luna, but they had intensified when he'd gone to stay with the Weasley's and then come back to Hogwarts.

*** 

Harry sighed as he stretched out on his back on the grass by the lake, closing his eyes in the remnants of the warm sun. He had almost fallen asleep when he heard the crunch of grass next to him and looked to find Luna.

"Hello Harry."

"Hey," he said, putting his hands behind his head again.

They sat there silently for a while, just looking out at the lake, and Harry took comfort in the friend that had once not so many weeks ago offered him a family that was not really his to have.

"It's interesting to have Professor Snape teaching Defense, isn't it?" she mused after a short time.

"Yeah," Harry said, "I guess." It was interesting in the manner that the man wasn't taunting him or putting him down, but was also not calling on him in class or choosing him to help with demonstrations. One would be prone to think Draco Malfoy was the one who had spent the summer with Snape if they had sat in on Defense class day after day, because he was always the one chosen and praised.

"Have you been down to talk to him yet?"

"No." Harry sighed. It just wasn't that easy. Snape had put up with him in his home because he'd been obligated to, but here Harry was somebody else's responsibility, although he couldn't deny that the man had come to assess if Harry was well at the Weasleys and had stood up for him with Filch.

"He misses you, you know?"

Harry sat up suddenly and looked at her. "He said that?"

"No, but I just know. I eat dinner with him sometimes in his quarters and spend some time with him on the weekend. It's ever so interesting to have a parent at Hogwarts. He knew all about Aster without me even telling him."

"What'd he say about him?"

"He didn't, but Aster mysteriously found himself in detention with Professor Snape for four nights in a row." Harry looked over at her and they both grinned.

"I don't think he wants to see me," Harry said then after a few moments of silence, looking back out over the lake.

"Oh, I don't know Harry, you never can tell what's on the mind of someone who's suddenly had their brain cleared of knargles." She stood up and brushed off her pants. "Well, I have to go to dinner. See you later Harry." She waved and was gone, skipping all the way up through the trees and to the castle in a careless manner.

Hugging his knees to keep his legs from falling flat, Harry felt the cool breeze coming off the lake sweep through his hair. Luna thought that Snape missed him, but that wasn't saying much, because Luna also thought that knargles nested in people's brains and could only be cleared out with magic dust. Harry smiled then, seeing in his mind an image of Luna sneaking up behind Snape with a bag of knargle-b-gone or whatever it was called and dumping it on his head. And he bet she'd done it too.

*** 

"Deplorable little beast! Get off the furniture or you'll contaminate it!"

"Get to your cupboard boy or I'll have your hide!"

"Mum he's thrown up on the floor again!"

"Mrs. D! Harry punched me and it hurts!"

"This is the last time you'll see daylight for weeks you little beggar! And I don't want to hear any crying about your ribs either!"

A door slammed in Harry's dream and he started awake, an old ache remembered just returning to him in the half haze of sleep. He was breathing hard and listened to see if he'd woken anyone else. He could here three separate snores, but Ron's was missing and he looked over to see Ron in his bed with his pillow over his head.

Trying to take deep, calming breaths, Harry wished he could calm himself down to go back to sleep, but couldn't bring peace to himself. He had had a peace after nightmares once, in Snape's house, when the man had stayed up with him half the night and then promised he would be there to listen if Harry needed. Just thinking about this seemed to be enough to bring some of that calm feeling back over him, and Harry allowed himself to relax just enough to stop shaking, although he never did get back to sleep, as he worked hard to suppress the urge to go downstairs and find the comfort he desired.

"He looks tired."

Harry tried to ignore Hermione's whisper to Ron as he passed by on his way to grab Ginny's hand and then head out the portrait hole for breakfast, but couldn't.

"That's because he is tired," Harry groused as he passed by, not looking back to see the look on her face. He'd heard his two best friends talking about him several times already at the Burrow and in the common room, wondering why he'd run off and what had happened to make him sarcastic and unhappy all the time. And as he did take Ginny's hand and headed for the portrait hole, Harry groused at himself, 'life happened,' and couldn't seem to shake himself of his snarky mood all day.

The dreams got worse after his fight with Ron. Ron it turned out was sick and tired of his best friend snapping at him and his girlfriend all the time, and had decided to tell Harry just that.

As he was being yelled at, Harry tried to muster the anger to shout back, but just stood there feeling numb and not really hearing much of what he was saying until the very end.

"You've got a choice to make mate. Cool off and figure things out, or back off, because we don't want to live like this, and I'm not going to let my sister get into things with you when you're like this all the time."

Harry stared into his friend's eyes and realized that yet another person was promising to abandon him, because he was either supposed to be superhuman or be discarded like a boy who can simply be pushed under the stairs and forgotten about.

"Sounds like you've already made the decision then," Harry said in a monotone, and turned and walked away, feeling more like a zombie than ever. That night the dreams were the worst yet, where Ron and Hermione stood laughing as Vernon pummeled Harry into the ground until he was little better than dust. In the background Luna cried as she looked up at her husband, Aster, and Snape mouthed the words, 'I'm here if you need to talk' but no sound came out. Harry vomited when he woke, only to find that the other boy's curtains were closed, and Ron was gone.

*** 

Severus Snape watched Harry Potter pushing vegetables around his plate at lunch time, doing a wonderful job of rearranging, as Luna might put it, but never once taking a bite. He noted that Weasley and Granger sat down the table by themselves in private conversation, and Ginny was actually at the Ravenclaw table today eating with Luna. He wondered if either set of students had anything to do with the child's mood.

After lunch he took the opportunity in Defense to get a closer look at Harry, whom he had not really spoken to since he'd been taken by Dumbledore. He looked tired, and perhaps even a little depressed as he sat by himself in the very back row, not paying attention in class. While it irritated him to some extent when any student tuned him out, he decided not to say anything to Harry for the time being. There was obviously something on his mind, and he wished Harry would come down to talk to him.

Up to this point Severus had done everything in his power to keep his promise to the boy. He had taken care of him, tried to integrate him into 'family life' with Luna, told him on numerous occasions that he was there to listen if Harry needed to talk, and had even made a special trip to the Weasley's just to reassure him that he was still there. On top of these things Severus had stepped up to bat in the Harry Potter fan club that most staff seemed so intent to join, and had practically announced that he was now protecting the boy. He had not heard anything of Filch stalking him lately as he usually did with other students, determined that they should be in some sort of trouble.

He sighed inwardly and once again told himself to be patient. No one could be helped if they didn't want to be. As the old adage went, you could not lead a thestral to water and force him to drink. No, this was up to Harry. When and if he decided to talk, then Severus would be there in wait. He had no idea that his patience would pay off that very night, or what information he'd be privy to, nor what emotions he'd be in store for.

*** 

Pounding steps. Pounding heart. Thud thud, thud thud, thud thud. Blinding pain as his knees hit the stairs, panic, dread. I have to get to Snape. I have to get to Snape. Thud thud, thud thud.

Harry Potter sped, and tripped down countless flights of stairs, panic gripping his chest, cold sweat still dripping into his eyes from when he'd woken. It was a constant effort to suppress the sobs that so desperately tried to escape, and he was sure his heart would simply explode from the overload of emotion before he could seek out the only adult he knew would be able to help. All Harry could think about was getting back to that place that felt so safe the night Snape had held him up over the loo, and let him grip his arm so tightly.

"Ha! I've got you now!"

Harry went sprawling over Filch's cat and hit his chin hard on the stone floor, but picked himself up and ignored the cursing and ranting that followed. Get to the Dungeons. Just get to Snape!

Two more flights of stairs and another tumble onto his hands and knees, and he had finally made the Dungeons. Now where to find him? Would he be in his office at this time of night? Had Luna said something about his quarters being behind a portrait of a man with a black owl? Harry searched frantically, and uncertain if he was at the right place, began pounding on the only portrait that remotely matched Luna's description, tears running down his face as he breathed hard and could no longer suppress his sobs.

"Please, please!" he cried, sure he'd wake up the whole of Slytherin house if he didn't find Snape soon. He was in a panic and he didn't know how to make the tight feeling of complete and utter dread in his chest go away.

Without warning the painting swung inwards and Harry fell into the arms of a surprised Snape, who held him up as he finally collapsed there in the entrance to his quarters.

Severus gave a quick look in both directions down the hall to verify that nobody was chasing his charge, before pulling him inside and closing the door.

"Harry, what is it?"

Perhaps startled by the use of his first name as he was being guided to the couch, Harry sucked in a deep breath, but before he was able to get anything out in way of an explanation, he broke down again and began to shake.

Severus sat beside him and assessed the newly forming bruise on the boy's chin as well as the state he was in. Deciding that he could do nothing if the teen would not first calm down, he said in a firm but quiet tone, "Listen to the sound of my voice. Listen to the calmness in my voice and my voice alone. I am here and nothing will harm you. You will take a deep breath in, and then let it out slowly." He waited until Harry, who had his eyes closed as he tried to listen, did as he was told, and then continued on. "In, and out. In, out. Continue to calm as you hear the calmness in my voice."

It became a methodic chant that Harry took refuge in, and as Harry's breathing grew steadier, Severus spoke less and let him have time to gain control over himself, noticing that he was still shaking.

When the teen was finally breathing normally again, Severus asked, "What has happened?"

Harry opened his eyes and looked into the black ones that seemed so full of concern. While the panic that had gripped him and refused to let go had finally gone, he still felt unable to talk. He took in a deep, shaky breath and dove into the Potion Master's arms as tears spilled down his face again. He wanted so desperately to just be held and be told again that it would all be alright. In response to his shaky sobs Harry was surprised and relieved to find a strong arm around his back and another hand holding the back of his head. He hadn't been pushed away or cussed at, or thrown off the couch like an animal. He had simply been... accepted.

"I can't do it anymore," Harry said through tears, trying to gain control over his emotions once more and failing. "I just can't."

"Can't do what Harry?"

When there was no forthcoming answer after long moments, Severus realized that Harry had stopped shaking now, and leaned back to see that the boy was asleep. Of all the nerve, he thought, arm still around Harry's back. He runs all the way down here... or falls all the way down by the looks of it, just to wake me up and worry me sick just so he can fall asleep on my couch. In my arms he reminded himself again. Just like his mother, he thought with some hurt in his own heart. Always seeking him out for comfort, even after they had stopped dating and she and James had begun to see each other.

Feeling lightheaded suddenly, Severus was unwilling to get up and risk falling over, let alone disturb his sleeping charge who had finally come to him on his own. What must have happened to bring him down here in such a state though? His answers would have to wait a few more hours until morning. And he was content to wait that long.