Harry heard the muffled thud of a trunk closing, then the creak of a door before a pair of thick maroon woolens came flying into Snape's hands. "Thank you, sir," Harry said again, bending over to put them on.
Snape waited until Harry had straightened to say, "As for Dreamless Sleep, I'm afraid I can't provide you any more tonight."
Shuffling back marginally, Harry sighed. "You're out, too?"
"No, but I already gave you a full dose earlier, in case your experience with Darswaithe led to repercussions."
Snape had anticipated he'd have a nightmare? Harry didn't much that idea. Was he really such a weakling? Instead of smoothing the coverlet, Harry started twisting his hands into it, his voice strained when he objected, "I don't remember any potion."
"You were... 'out like a light,' is the Muggle phrase your cousin used."
"How could I take the potion if I was that out of it?"
"Do you doubt my word?"
Harry shrugged and looked away. "Well, you're the one always going on about cunning and misdirection, aren't you?"
"Answer me." Snape's tone brooked no disobedience.
"No," Harry slowly admitted. "I don't doubt your word." A deep sigh lifted and collapsed his chest. "Well, if regular Dreamless Sleep didn't work, can you brew a stronger version for me?"
Snape raised an eyebrow. "You haven't had a much regular potion since Samhain. That particular one was already five times normal strength."
Harry rubbed his temples, glancing up hopefully. "Maybe you could double it again?"
"I don't think that's wise."
Harry hadn't wanted to tell him, but at that, he figured he'd better. "Well, you have to do something, Professor, because now I'm back to unleashing wild magic in my sleep."
Snape leaned forward to pat a hand against Harry's knee. "Tell me about your dream, then."
Harry awkwardly moved out of range. "Not too much to tell. You know dreams, they're full of stuff that doesn't make much sense... Basically though, Darswaithe had gotten me, and Draco wasn't around to help. There was nothing I could do but release my powers, so I did that. I felt the magic flood out of me, and..." His voice fell to a whisper. "Uh, let's just say there aren't any windows to break, down here."
As if realizing the boy needed more room, Snape leaned back and folded his hands into his lap. "Did the wild magic wake Draco up, then? I suspect I would have have heard if you were screaming."
"He cast Silencio on me."
Snape's brows drew together as he rasped, "Draco cursed you?"
"No, Darswaithe. In the dream." Harry shook his head. "I'm not explaining very well. In the dream, I was er... sort of paralyzed, I think, and after the spell, I couldn't even scream. I guess I was sort of acting it out." Harry bit his lip, only then realizing that Draco had seen him in a truly awful state. Wasn't that embarrassing. "He said... Draco, I mean, that I was just laying there pouring out magic. He woke me up before it got too bad, I guess."
"He should have summoned me."
Harry cleared his throat. "Uh, he was sort of concerned that if he left to do that, the walls might... um...collapse."
Snape's head snapped up, his eyes piercing as he demanded, "Explain that."
Harry hid his face in his hands, his voice muffled as he admitted, "I melted them. The walls, I mean. I am so completely sorry, sir. I really, really am." He peeked between his fingers to see how Snape was taking it.
His teacher stared at him for a long moment, then appeared to deliberately relax. "Well. You can't have done too much damage, I don't think. If Draco was in danger, I trust you'd have mentioned it?"
"I think it was just the surface layer of the stones," Harry sighed. Realizing how childish he must look trying to hide behind his hands, he managed to straighten up, only to begin nervously swinging his legs. "Anyway, the walls aren't craggy any longer. More like... obsidian, I guess, only gray instead of black. I'm really, really sorry," he repeated.
"Can you live with it?"
"Sir?"
"Harry," Snape chided. "Did you think I was going to adopt you and not offer you a place to live?"
"Oh, God," Harry thickly groaned, which all by itself showed how unraveled he was becoming. He might throw phrases like that around in the summer, but he tried his best to avoid Muggle oaths while he was at Hogwarts, even if Merlin didn't rise so spontaneously to his tongue as it did to Ron's. "That's incredibly nice of you," he went on, anxious to cause no offense. "Really, it is--"
"It's no such thing. What sort of parent would begrudge you a room?" Snape narrowed his eyes, his gaze patiently seeking out Harry's. "Ah, but I think I know the answer to that. Your expectations are positively abysmal. Nonexistent, in fact."
"Yeah," Harry acknowledged, pain he'd repressed his whole life trying to rise up and choke him. He didn't know what to do with the feeling except make light of it. "Well, at least it won't be hard for you to earn an Exceeds Expectations."
Snape didn't let him dwell on that. "I spoke to the Headmaster a few hours ago," he changed the subject. "Darswaithe has been purged of Imperio but is still in the Aurors' custody. Miss Thistlethorne has been cleared of all suspicion. She'll be back here tomorrow to finish our interviews."
"So soon?" He'd spent days wanting it all to be over, but now he thought he'd rather put everything off, or just cancel it altogether, and that, despite the fact that he did want a father. The only thing he was truly sure of was that Draco was right: he was a complete mess.
"Normally, we'd have to wait for another casewizard to be assigned." Snape explained. "In the circumstances, they've decided that our application can be reviewed by Thistlethorne alone."
"I don't trust her," Harry said, his whole body tense. "Really, after that, I'm not inclined to trust anyone. Constant vigilance, right? So while I'm sure the Aurors know what they're doing--"
"I'm not," Snape darkly asserted. "I speak from experience. Half of them are sadists, and a good portion of the rest are idiots."
Harry nodded, ignoring for the moment the fact that he planned to join the ranks Snape held in such contempt. "So you'll understand I don't want to be alone with her, no matter what Family Services claims their normal procedures are. What if the Aurors missed something, or she gets put under Imperius between now and tomorrow?"
"You don't have to be alone with her," Snape assured him. "I'm sure Albus would be willing to sit in on your interview. Or Minerva."
"You sit in on it," Harry insisted. "I don't want anyone else here hearing my private thoughts on things."
Snape gave him a doubtful look. "Are you certain you want me to?"
Harry thought about that. "I guess it's sort of like your letting me read your answers on those questionnaires, you know? That was good. I feel like I know you a little better, now."
Doubtful became incredulous. "You didn't notice I was more intent on furthering my agenda than on providing open, honest answers?"
"I was reading between the lines. You'll have to do the same when you listen to me, I suppose."
"For me to listen to your private interview is specifically against their stated policies," Snape remarked. "You're supposed to feel unconstrained so that you can speak with absolute freedom about whatever you wish to share."
"Yeah, right, like I'm going to bare my soul to a total stranger," Harry scoffed. "I'd end up reading about myself in the Prophet. But say, there's an idea. If she objects to you staying for my interview, I'll threaten to give Rita Skeeter an exclusive all about how Wizard Family Services tried to assassinate the Boy Who Lived--"