A hearty thank you to everyone who reads and reviews! You make this all worthwhile. . . . The other night, though, I got a weird review on this story, (from an anonymous reviewer, natch) who said they liked the story, but not my "updating habits," so they weren't going to read Better Be Slytherin anymore . . . and here I thought I was doing well, updating as frequently as I do. shrug There's no pleasing some people, I guess. To that end, however, I also have a poll up on my profile page, asking if my faithful readers would rather I concentrated on one story to its completion, or do as I have been and keep posting to all my stories at once, as I get to them. Right now, the count is about tied.
I'll have another poll up next week, if more people want me to post to just one story, asking which story they want me to finish first. Stay tuned!
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Previously on Better Be Slytherin:
His hand was still on Harry's cheek, and Harry closed his eyes, just for an instant, and leaned, just a little, into a touch that for once, did not cause him pain or guilt or shame. Just for a moment he let himself dream that he could always have someone who would protect him, who would always care for him. He sighed, nodded, and opened his eyes. "I . . . I will. Yes, sir."
And then, an incredible thing happened. He saw Professor Snape smile.
Severus was in his chair by the fireplace, not wanting to fall asleep in case the Potter boy needed him during the night. He knew the Baron would wake him, if the boy did need him, but he did not want to waste those precious minutes it would take for him to become coherent again, never mind get dressed. So he stayed awake, reading -- or pretending to read, for his own peace of mind -- with a cuppa at his elbow on the small table beside his favorite chair, and he thought.
He wasn't sure anymore, what his intentions were with regard to the boy. To Harry. Surely he could no longer hold himself apart, as if he didn't care. Or worse, that he only cared (or didn't) because of Lily, (or James.) Ah, Lily. If things had been different the last few years of school, if he had never said those hurtful things to her, nor been involved with Lestrange, Rosier, and those other animals. . . .
No. He would not maunder in "might have beens." Doing so was extraordinarily unfair to Harry, as well as to himself. Things were how they were. He could not change the past, only the future. And the future must be changed. If it were not, if Harry's life were to continue in the direction it had been going up till now, if he were forced to return to the family that hated him and were given no support over what that bastard Avery had done to him . . . if Harry were to defeat Voldemort, a monster already in the process of returning, given the vision Harry'd had about the unicorns . . . if he were expected to destroy the Dark Lord without mental, physical and magical support and preparation, then not only was Harry doomed -- to a life of sadness and misery and violence -- but so, too, was the Wizarding World in its entirety.
Neither of these outcomes were ones Severus could live with.
And, he knew, neither could Harry.
Thus, Severus had to do something to shake up the status quo. If that meant putting his life and his job on the line, so be it. Severus already had one unbreakable vow in place concerning Harry Potter. To himself, in this moment, he made another: He would do anything in his power to not only protect Harry, as his current vow held him, but to make sure he was prepared, as well as was possible, to meet his destiny.
As the second vow took effect on his magic, Severus felt a moment's peace. This was right. It was good. He had, in the last few years, nearly forgotten what such selflessness meant, what it felt like.
Less than a quarter hour later, a shimmer of silver appeared near the door of his quarters. Severus was on his feet before the Baron was completely finished sliding through the wall.
"It has begun," the ghost intoned.
Severus practically ran to the Slytherin dorms.
Thus was the pattern set for the next fortnight, at least: Severus would be woken -- or, more often, notified -- by the Baron, at some point near midnight, that Harry was having nightmares or could not sleep; more often the former than the latter. Severus would go to the boy, making sure as he entered the dorm to set Silencing charms, as well as a net of Stay-Sleeping charms over the rest of the boys, so none of them would wake and be curious about Harry's difficulty at night. Once in the dorms, he would sit with Harry for as long as it took for the boy to go back to sleep, or, if that was going to be impossible for him to do on his own, he would give the boy a Sleeping potion. Rarely, he gave him one for Dreamless Sleep.
Yes, despite the frequency of his nightmares, rarely. Aside from the regular side effects of that potion -- including the possibility of addiction -- it was not made for children, so Severus was hesitant about giving it to him at all. Sometimes, however, he knew the boy would get no rest otherwise, and Harry needed that more than anything else, except, possibly, proper nutrition.
During these nighttime visits, Harry rarely shared anything with Severus about his nightmares, but with some prompting he usually admitted to having them, at least. Severus did not chastise him for his silence. He recognized Harry's need to not appear weak, especially in front of him, an adult; after all, Harry's experience had taught him, over and over, that adults were not to be trusted. But Severus meant to prove himself trustworthy, if it took all of Harry's seven years at Hogwarts to accomplish.
In order to make sure that were even possible, Severus had to stay at Hogwarts, and not fear for his own life at the same time. Which meant that, for one thing, before he had dropped Gaius Avery off at the Headmaster's office the evening he was expelled, he had Obliviated the hateful child of the memory of Severus' protectiveness of Harry. He could not have Avery running tales to his father, one of the Dark Lord's inner circle, of how Severus had saved the Boy Who Lived from some abuse, or else the Dark Lord would find out when he returned, and Severus would not be able to protect Harry in the future.
Even now, he was finding protecting Harry harder to do. Harry seemed to attract trouble like flames did moths. For instance, almost two weeks after Avery was expelled, the Brat Who Got into More Trouble than Any Nine Kneazles Put Together admitted to him that he knew what the three-headed hellhound was protecting.
Or rather, the boy copped to knowing that whatever-it-was, was something the Dark Lord wanted, even if Harry did not know what it was specifically called.
Trying to deny this year's secret in Hogwarts, Severus sat back in his chair and showed a blank face, but his mind was racing. "What in the world are you talking about, Potter?"
The boy's face became shuttered as he adopted the same blank stare, and Severus winced internally. This was no way to get Harry to open up to him. Besides, he had promised to call the boy "Harry" when they were not in classes, figuring it was one step along the long road to proving to the boy that not all adults were harsh and abusive. That some could treat him with a modicum of respect and caring.
Severus drew a deep breath and pressed fingers to his temple, trying to think. As they had been doing since the incident in the lavatory, they were sitting together in his office, once classes were over for the day, having tea and biscuits. To ensure Harry would meet with him, and to gain the boy's trust so he would open up more, about his nightmares and the sexual abuse, and eventually about -- he hoped -- the Dursleys, Severus had relaxed the rules for showing Harry pictures of his mother. Now, so long as Harry met with him for an hour between classes and dinner, whether he answered any questions or not, he could see any pictures he liked. Of course, Severus did ask him questions, starting with fairly innocuous ones, such about how his day had gone or if he was enjoying -- or having trouble in -- any of his classes, and getting progressively more personal and serious from there.