Nobody Cared Enough !

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 14 (Pt 1)

29 Sept 1991, Sunday

Harry woke with a scream at four in the morning. As he looked around the dorm and at Draco, sleeping the sleep of innocents, Harry wondered once again if his screams had merely been in his awful nightmare. Draco hadn't awakened the last two nights this horrible nightmare had terrified him awake. He would have stayed put in his bed, but his stomach rebelled at the awful images and sensations of the nightmare. He ran into the bathroom, unaware of the tingly sensation of a spell ending as he left his bed.

A few minutes later Draco groggily lifted his head from where it was buried amongst his two pillows. He could hear retching coming from the bathroom and so he sat up.

"Harry?" Draco looked over at his friend's bed to find it empty. When he heard sobs Draco scooted out of bed and padded into the bathroom. He found Harry curled up in a corner between the shower and the toilet, his arms around his knees, and his head on his arms. Draco knelt down, ignored the flinching, and touched his friend's hands. "You want me to get Professor Snape?" he asked gently.

Harry didn't raise his head, but he nodded miserably. Draco patted his hand. "I'll be right back!"

Draco jumped to his feet and ran out of the dorm to Prefect Billock's room. His frantic knocking was answered rather quickly by the seventh year. Billock saw Draco and had no hesitation. He belted his dressing gown, Summoned his slippers, and sent Draco back to Harry.

Harry gripped his knees tighter as he pressed his head against them. As tight as he shut his eyes he could not stop the images in his head playing over and over again.

Power... but fear... angry fear... and the desire to KILL was so strong, so desirable, that it made his stomach knot up. There was blood, though. Not crimson but beautiful, hauntingly sacred silver... Harry drank the silver blood... euphoria that he could not put into words blossomed in his veins like ten thousand daggers piercing his soul...

Harry felt his stomach rebel. Unfolding himself in record time he was at the toilet soon emptying a stomach that was wretchedly empty.

Draco returned to the bathroom just as his best friend collapsed in messy tears at the base of the commode. Quickly he wet a small towel and since he didn't know any cleaning spells with any proficiency, yet, he began to cool Harry's face with the cloth and used another to clean him up. Harry was flinching, and mumbling apologies to Draco the entire time.

"S'okay, Harry. Professor Snape is coming and he'll make everything all right." Harry just nodded while Draco rose to re-wet the cloth and wring it out.

When Snape arrived ten minutes later, the man was still in his black silk pyjamas, black velvet dressing gown, and black slippers. He saw Draco kneeling in front of Harry giving what comfort he could by cooling the child's flushed face with the wet cloth.

Snape cast a Cushioning Charm and then knelt down. "Harry?"

Draco stepped lithely aside as Harry shot to his feet and nearly threw himself at his teacher. He was mumbling something, but since his face was against Snape's chest the older wizard couldn't understand the child. He rubbed the small boy's back and carded his fingers through Harry's hair. At some point he was sure that Harry mumbled the word, 'daddy'.

"Hush child," he spoke very softly into Harry's ear. "Daddy's here. Shhhh." A rather wide-eyed and surprised look from Draco told the Head of Slytherin House that he'd not spoken softly enough.

It was nearly a half-hour later before Harry was calmed down. He now sat on his bed beside Snape. Draco had been ordered to go and shower so the two could talk.

"Can you tell me about the nightmare, Harry?" asked Snape as he brushed the boy's lengthy fringe off his forehead. The boy was going to need a trim soon.