In the Lurking Darkness

~*~

Severus closed the door behind him with a sigh. He couldn't believe what had just happened, what he had allowed to happen. Not only did he accept Potter's assistance, he had shown the young man great weakness. He had never allowed anyone to see his weaknesses before, especially not a student. He was surprised by the way Potter had treated him, the kindness and compassion he gave so freely.

Sighing, Severus moved into the room slowly. He pulled out his wand and used it to open the buttons of his robe and white shirt underneath. He tossed the wand onto a table and let the robe slide off his narrow shoulders, leaving it where it fell on the floor in front of his bedroom. He dropped the shirt next, peeling it from his cold chest. He opened his trousers and let them down to his knees with his underwear, before sitting on the bed to finish removing them.

As he leaned forward on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes and socks with the trousers, Severus felt a wave of dizziness over take him. He fell to the floor, hitting his head on the thin rug and passed out, dropping into a world of nightmares.

Severus awoke screaming. He was surrounded by darkness and his legs seemed to be tied. The cold air on his chest told him he was bare, and he could only raise his hands a few inches over his face before they were stopped by something cold and solid. He screamed again into the hollow darkness and continued to scream for quite some time, stopping only when his voice gave out. He then cried himself back to sleep.

When he awoke again, he was calmer and better able to think about his surroundings. After a few minutes, his eyes adjust enough to see pale light coming from either side of the box that was above him. He reached his hand out to it and felt warmth. He poked his nose out and looked around. He was in his bedroom, lying under his bed. He gave a shuddering sigh of relief before pulling himself from under the bed.

Glancing at the clock as he made his way to the bathroom, after having dislodged himself from his trousers, Severus gasped. It was already nearly 10am. His heart froze as he thought about having missed a class already. He looked at his calendar on the wall to see which class he had missed and saw with relief that it was Saturday. It was the only day of the week that Albus gave him freely and didn't even push for him to be at any meals in the Great Hall.

His shoulders relaxed again as he turned on the hot water in the shower. He stepped under the rush of warm water and just stood there for several moments, trying to let the heat soak down into his shivering bones. He let his mind go blank as the water cascaded over his body, not allowing himself even a moment to remember the night before or the nightmares that had haunted his sleep.

When he exited the bathroom an hour later, Severus discovered a tray of food sitting on his bed and his scattered clothes had been removed. He gave a silent thanks to Dobby, who had taken it upon himself, to be the one to clean up after Severus' rough nights. It was most likely Dobby who had kept the tiny fire burning in his fireplace as he slept fitfully under the bed.

Severus didn't understand why the little house-elf had decided to watch over him, but he was grateful.

~*~