Existing is My Nightmare

Title: Existing is My Nightmare
Chapter: 3/?
Rating: M
Pairings: Severus/Harry
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Warnings: This story will contain situations of torture, extreme violence, relationships of the homosexual and heterosexual nature, and character mental instability, as well as graphic depictions of gore, this story is AU and does not take place within the Harry Potter timeline

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Chapter Three: To Meet the Nightmare


A snarl tore past his fangs as he was flung away from Severus. Harry's scream of desperation echoed as Severus Snape almost died within the confines of the boy's mind. His fists clenched and his body shook in restrained fury as he watched Albus and Severus disappeared and returned to their reality, knowing that with Albus getting away the meddling fool would now try and stop the process. He hissed and growled but then took a deep breath, his eyes closed, allowing air to fill his lungs like a glass of cold water down his throat, he calmed down with each deep breath. No. No, soon it would be too late for the bumbling codger to intervene in the plans with the precious little toy.

The clatter the Potions Master had caused while he trudged through the darkness stopped echoing. A silence filled the void as Harry's cries started to lessen and break away with every repeating resonance, growing softer against the walls of darkness.

A slow crawling smile like the leisured pace of a spider spanned across his lips and bit into the corners of his cheeks as blood seeped along his teeth.

"Harry," he called out in a soft coo, his voice reverberating along the growing keening wail that was Harry's eternal cries. "Harry come out here precious," he purred as his steps glided across the darkness, seeking the boy's inner-image.

He heard the soft broken sob that interrupted the long shrill of his little toy's usual wailing and chuckled. Like a wisp of fog he sailed along the darkness towards the noise to a briar-patch. Within the center of it was Harry, naked and curled in on himself screaming out as the vines and thorns were wrapped around him in a far more effective restraint than any chains or magic could achieve. The boy was gorgeous as his bloody fingers picked at the vines along his wrist and palms. His entire essence covered in blood and scars. The cuts and scratches and bruises from where the flesh-rendering-thorns had torn at him to pull him down and shred him to pieces remained prominent along the ghost-pale flesh. The vine around Harry's neck, he noted, had been grabbed and pulled at until it had been removed. Of course the vine had returned its vice-grip around his toy's throat but that Harry had pulled it off at all meant that once again his fighting spirit was slowly burning within him.

He reached down and grabbed Harry's hand, the vines and thorns tearing out of his flesh to scurry back into the safety of the rest of the briar and Harry sobbed as more flesh tore. He hugged him closer to ease him as his grin widened.

"Shh, shh," he soothed as he held the crying boy close, stroking his back in circles as he pushed some blood-clumped strands of hair away from Harry's forehead to reveal the scar they had sliced open.

The boy was shivering, his naked body not gaining any warmth from the fire of crimson ribbons that trailed along his skin. The darkness surrounding them became crisp and chilling as Harry gasped for air. When the toy realized who was holding him he screamed and fervently struggled to get away. Harry's bloody hands pushed against the folds of his darkness. His darkness incased the toy, and Harry fed him, aroused him. He grinned as he moved a hand to grab both of Harry's wrists, crushing them in his grip as he held them together. The scream that issued past those bleeding-cracked lips was music of the heavens to his aching ears.

"What did you think you were doing Harry?" he hissed as he brought their lips close and Harry turned his head away in a weak attempt to escape the scent of blood on his breath. "Did you think I wouldn't know that you shoved me away from Severus? Do you think I'm stupid Harry?"

Red-rimmed green eyes instantly snapped up to look at him as the boy shook his head in earnest, trying to deny such an allegation. Harry knew that such an accusation would put him through harsh punishment like it once had when the nightmares had first begun and he had struggled against the torture.

"N-No! No I-I don't!" the broken whisper pleaded.

"No, I don't suppose you do," he chuckled as he ran his fingers down Harry's neck, tightening his grip on the shattered wrist. Harry whimpered and he chuckled. "But what did you think you were doing pushing me from away from Severus, Harry? I nearly had his soul and yet you pushed him back to the bad world."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Why did you send him back precious? Don't you remember what I told you about the bad world?" he asked as a serpentine tongue ran up Harry's cheek, leaving burnt flesh in the wake of its trail.

Harry sobbed in misery before bowing his head, crying.

"I don't want him here; I don't want him in my mind again. L-Let him stay in the b-bad world."

"Is that so? Poor precious," he soothed lapping at the blood around his scar and watching the burnt flesh slowly become charred to black. "I suppose I can forgive you for that," he chuckled, blue lips spreading in a wider grin.

He heard a sigh of relief and gently yanked on Harry's wrist and tilted his chin up.

"Wha - "

"Shh... I have forgiven you for sending Severus away precious, but you still need to be punished for daring to shove me."

He purred as his arousal strengthened when those green eyes widened in fear and the precious toy shook his head in desperation.

"N-No! No no no! I'm sorry! Please! Please I'm sorry!"

"Not yet precious. A nightmare," he grinned as tears started to fill those eyes. "Yes, a nightmare is in order precious," he hissed as he brought their faces close. "You will be sorry, you will be."

He breathed into Harry's pleading mouth and those crying eyes dilated until the black pupils filled from corner-to-corner and the toy fell limp in his arms.

"Yes our precious one, you most certainly will be."

He laid Harry back into the barbs and thorns and he watched in pleasure as the vines once more sought purchase in Harry's flesh, biting, sipping, draining, and bruising. He crouched down, placing his fingers along Harry's scar so that he could make sure the boy submerged into the depths of the nightmare.

He felt his body sucked into Harry's dream-self, always amused by how many layers he actually had to go through to reach the real essence of the boy's psyche.

He entered the nightmare he had constructed in a breath and for a moment he admired his handiwork. He inhaled the rich scent of rotting flesh as the literal ocean of corpses rose and fell like real waves, going on and on to meet the horizon of the tomb-stone-gray sky. The blood that kept the bodies adrift stained the corpses a deep rusting crimson. He drew in the scent of death in a sick satisfaction as he walked along the surface of the ocean, seeking out the faces of Harry's loved ones.

When he came upon the face of the toy's godfather he chuckled as he heard broken screaming and gazed down through the spaces of the corpses, seeing a struggling, clawing hand trying to break through them and push them aside to get to the surface.

"Oh Harry," he chuckled as his blue-tinged lips pulled further into a smile. "The nightmare has barely begun!" he laughed as he snapped his fingers, watching in malicious glee as the eyes of the corpses snapped open and their fingers flexed before wrapping around Harry and dragging him down into the depths where the corpses of his parents awaited him so they could destroy him.

His green eyes narrowed in rapture at the screams gurgling past the toy's lips as blood clogged his throat.

"Precious little toy... soon you'll be mine."

A moment passed and he waited, a sigh escaping his ice-frosted lips. He pressed them in a firm line. Albus had escaped, and while Harry may not have known of the headmaster's presence, he had, and he needed to know what they were discussing and how much the bumbling fool knew.

He walked out of the nightmare and into the outer-realm of Harry's mind, grinning as he brought himself to the surface of the darkness.

The sounds of the bad world clattered in his ears as it was the first sense to hit him.

"... HELL IS GOING ON!" he scowled as he heard Severus scream, knowing that had the toy not interfered then Snape wouldn't even be able to speak.

The stinging smell of lemon and antiseptic that clung to the walls of any hospital hit his nose next as his precious one's chest rose and fell. Touch came next.

He nearly shot up to claw out Dumbledore's eyes for touching his toy by the hand and hair.

Finally sight came, but he waited until he heard the steps and heat from their filthy bodies move further away into another part of the infirmary. He gathered Harry's magic and put up a Notice-Me-Not spell in silence before sitting up and grinning. He looked out through Harry's eyes, sneering as he watched Severus sitting on a bed with Albus standing only a few feet away.

Severus was - by nature - a patient man; he had to be when one worked with potions and had been a spy for the worthless beast known as Voldermort. Severus had the ability to wait, and wait he would. He watched as Snape waited for McGonagall and the Minister. However, as the Potions Master sat on the bed, a cup of tea in his lap, that didn't mean the man wanted to be patient and wait for an explanation about the event he had just barely survived.

Although he, himself, wondered idly why Albus would call the useless talking head known as the bad world's Minister (and how Fudge had retained his power merely reaffirmed his hatred for the bad world). The wait for McGonagall was probably already fraying Severus' strained nerves.

"Albus," he heard Severus hiss, breathing through his teeth perhaps in an effort to remain calm, "what happened back there? As I was nearly killed I believe you should be telling me everything."

Albus looked at him, and he took pleasure in the dark somber eyes gazing back at the Potions Master.

"Severus," he felt Harry's body take in a breath, how much had he figured out? "How much do you know about the Nightmare King?"


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DUN DUN DUN!

Yes! So, the creature now has a name, I'm sorry for the gory chapter, next one will explain somethings and more than that, you'll get to see Harry and Snape actually TALK, yes I know, amazing chuckles