Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Run to Me	By : Cardinal Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 3066 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
2 months later

------------------

"Well, Potter, this is by far the best memory I've come across yet," Severus murmured as he lay beside Harry, his mind plundering into Harry's via occlumency and finding a vivid memory of them making love.

"Hey, stay out of my head unless we're in Occlumency class," Harry said with a playful frown, although he had to admit that it was a really very good memory.

Severus merely smirked and stroked Harry's arm. "Constant vigilance, my pet," he said, echoing the words of Mad-Eye Moody.

"Yeah, the last guy that said those words turned out to be a half-crazed nutter who tried to kill me, " Harry pointed out dryly.

"Overdramatic Gryffindor," Severus muttered with affection, before rolling out of the bed. "Don't be late to class. When you are, your professors blame me." Snape gave a glare that would have knocked a cave troll off of his feet.

Harry merely laughed, no longer intimidated by such a look. "Do you tell them that we're taking care of pressing issues?"

Snape snorted. "I just tell them that you didn't follow the rules before we bonded, so why should anything be different now?" The Slytherin was being exceptionally snarky this morning, but of course, Harry wouldn't have him any other way.

"Gee, thanks," Harry said, giving Snape a look that said he clearly wasn't amused.

"You're welcome. Don't be late." He warned once more before exiting their bedroom. Harry lay in bed and listened as the shower turned on. He stretched languidly, not wanting to move from the soft, warm blankets and pillows.

Things had been better between Harry and Severus ever since the man took Harry's bed away and forced the Gryffindor to share his bed. Even though neither of the two had yet spoken of love, they both couldn't wait for their busy days to be over so they could return to their bed.

Harry had come to find that he actually preferred Severus’ company over many of his friends, simply because Severus knew a side of him that most people didn't, and because of the bonding ritual, they shared something that no one else would ever be able to understand.

~-~

"Humping Snape again this morning, Potter?" came the leering voice of Draco Malfoy as Harry entered the Great Hall for breakfast.

"At least I wasn't humping a dog, Malfoy. By the way, how is Pansy?" Harry drawled with a sneer that would have made Severus proud.

Draco's face turned white with rage as Harry smirked and walked away. Looking up at the Head Table, Harry saw that Snape had been watching his encounter with Draco. Shooting his lover a crooked grin, Harry only received a quirk of the eyebrow from the Potions Master before Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table.

" - it's only because they're shagging each other," was the comment that Ron made to Seamus and Dean as Harry sat down beside him.

The three boys fell silent as Harry arrived and he immediately got the feeling that they were talking about him and Snape.

"Who is sleeping with whom?" Harry asked, a small part of him hoping that they were talking about someone else.

Seamus, Dean, and Ron sputtered, trying to make up some wild story about Neville and Luna, but Harry could see the guilt written across their faces.

"You were talking about me weren't you?" Harry accused.

Ron was the one who spoke up, his ears turning red. "Everyone is talking about how Snape favors you in class now. You used to barely pass regular potions, and now you're doing as well as Hermione in Advanced Potions.... People are saying he's giving you good marks because you're sleeping with him." Ron's eyes never left his plate of bacon and eggs. He was too afraid to look up and see his friend’s face.

"And what do you think?" Harry asked, his voice dangerously soft as anger began rising inside of his chest, making his brilliant green eyes stand out even more.

"Well," Ron began hesitantly, "you used to hate Potions."

Harry stood, fists clenched at his sides. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from you. I’ve worked really hard in Advanced Potions, on my own merit. I am good for something besides being Voldemort's punching bag, you know, but I wouldn't expect any of you to understand."

Severus, who had been exchanging some thoughts about one of Professor Sprout's new potion brewing plants, glanced down towards Harry for a second and then did a double take as he saw Harry stand, anger written clearly across his face. Severus watched his mate walk out of the Great Hall and his eyes narrowed as he looked back to the three boys left sitting at the Gryffindor table.

~-~

As Harry set up his cauldron in Advanced Potions, he was still angry over Ron's comments from that morning. Hermione had been avoiding his eyes so he had a feeling that she knew about his confrontation with Ron.

Sitting at a table by himself, Harry was grateful when Snape entered the room. The tall, dark, and handsome figure of his bondmate soothed Harry greatly, but he was still frustrated.

"Your instructions are on the board. Be sure to pay attention to the different ways the herbal ingredients have to be cut in this potion. No ingredient is treated the same as the other," Snape warned as he tapped the board and it came alive with his neat handwriting.

Harry brought out his crystal vials, which were filled with ingredients, and began the preparation stage of the potion.

The longer Harry worked, the more he replayed Ron's words. When Harry nicked his finger with the knife he'd been using, he looked down to see that he'd mutilated all of the ingredients that were supposed to be precisely cut. Great, just great. Now I have to start all over.

Tossing the ruined ingredients aside, Harry began painstakingly recutting. What he didn’t count on, was the cut on his finger leaving a little smear of blood on some of the roots he was cutting. Everything mattered when making a potion, even the tiniest variance would cause problems.

Harry tossed the ingredients into his bubbling cauldron and then sat back to wait.

When Snape came walking through the desks to check on each student's potion, he stopped at Harry's and stared. He and Harry had been having tutoring sessions in Potions because, let's face it, Harry had to work ten times harder at Potions than any other subject he was currently taking.

But with Snape's tutoring, he had been doing really well and Snape had been pleased with the Gryffindor's progress. When he looked down into the cauldron, however, and saw a bright green, gooey concoction instead of a nice, smooth silver one, he was immediately disappointed.

"Why does your potion look like this?" Severus asked softly so that the other students would not overhear. He remembered the exchange they’d had at the beginning of the school term when he’d openly criticized the way Harry had cut his ingredients. Thus, he hoped to try a more quiet approach to his constructive feedback this time.

The soft words angered Harry because he knew that before they’d bonded Snape would have yelled to the whole class about how stupid Harry Potter was because he couldn't make a simple potion. He is going easier on me!

Harry merely shrugged in an insolent way, refusing to meet Snape's eyes.

"Answer me!" Snape hissed quietly, brows furrowed in confusion. What was wrong with Harry?

Harry looked up at Snape and it surprised Severus to see the anger that was written on his young lover's face because it wasn't something that he normally saw, even when they bickered. "I don't suppose the color of my potion really matters, does it? You'll give me a passing grade anyway."

Snape's brows shot up. "What is that supposed to mean?" The volume of his voice was beginning to rise.

"You figure it out," Harry snapped before clearing the mess in his cauldron with his wand, throwing his things into it, and then walking towards the door.

"Potter!" Snape bellowed. "Don't you dare walk out of my classroom until you are dismissed!" Harry froze and for a moment the Potions Master thought he would turn around and come back to his seat.

A pin drop could be heard in the deadly silent laboratory. The other students all stared at the scene between the student and the professor. Malfoy was smirking.

Harry turned around and locked eyes with Snape. He could feel the strength of the bonding tugging at his insides and urging him to go back to Severus, apologize, and sit down.

"What are you going to do about it?" Harry said, his teeth gritted against the pull of the bond. Turning quickly, Harry walked away and left Snape staring after him.

~-~

Severus couldn't believe how much it hurt to have Potter walk away from him. He had thought after the incident with the man at the pub a couple of months back, that they were over things like this, but apparently, he'd been wrong. He is only seventeen, he tried to remind himself, but it was still frustrating.

When Harry didn't show up for Occlumency lessons, Snape's frustration turned to worry, and then his worry turned to anger over how childish Harry was acting. Storming from his classroom, Snape's long-legged strides took him quickly to his quarters where he entered, fully intent on blasting Harry with his temper when he found him. However, when he walked into their bedroom, he found Harry asleep on the bed, hugging his pillow to his chest, his cheeks still wet from tears.

Severus sat down on the edge of the bed and studied the tear streaks on Harry's cheeks and he sighed as he felt his anger completely dissipate.

"You're going to be the death of me," Snape muttered, reaching out a hand and stroking the younger man's hair out of his face.

Leaving the bedroom, Severus shut the door so that Harry could sleep peacefully, and then retreated to a chair by the fire where his hand was quickly occupied with a glass of scotch.

Thinking back to that morning, Severus recalled what he'd seen between Harry and his friends at the Gryffindor table. They must have had a falling out. Severus decided, and he sincerely hoped that was the reason why Harry had been so angry with him.

Why should I care if he's angry with me? There was a point in time when I wanted him to hate me. Severus raised his glass to his lips, knowing very well that he wanted no such thing, at least not anymore.

When the door opened Severus didn't glance up, but from the corner of his eye, he could see Harry standing and watching him, hesitant to approach.

Severus had already forgiven Harry for what happened, but he wasn't going to make it any easier on the Gryffindor, so he merely took a sip of his drink and returned his attention to the fire. Harry would have to make the first move.

Standing in the doorway, Harry felt guilt twist in his stomach as he watched Severus drink his scotch. Harry stood for a long time, studying his mate, an ache throbbing inside his chest because he knew that he had hurt the man. He’d seen the hurt on Severus' face when he'd left the dungeon.

Harry gathered his courage and entered the room. He sat down on the couch, his hands clasped in his lap as Snape finally looked at him. For a moment Harry's tongue felt stuck to the roof of his mouth.

"Can the bonding be reversed?" Harry asked, having to force the words out.

Severus' heart froze and dropped to the pit of his stomach. Surely Harry hadn't just asked if they could end their bonding?

"No. Only death can free us from the ritual. Do you want to end it?" Severus thought he would curl up and die if Harry said that he did.

Harry shook his head, his eyes studying the pattern of the rug on the floor. "No, I don’t want to but ... I don't deserve you." Not after the way I've treated you, Harry finished in his mind.

Severus felt his breath return to him, and he left his chair and joined Harry on the couch. "And how did you come to that conclusion?" he wanted to know.

"I hurt you today, on purpose, and good mates don't do that to each other," Harry said, cradling his head in his hands.

"We’re not perfect, and even though we're bonded, it doesn't mean that we won't occasionally do something to hurt the other," Severus said softly. "But what happened today cannot happen again. You cannot undermine my authority that way in class. You also can’t keep running away from me when things get tough or we’ll continue to end back up at this place.”

Harry buried his face against Severus, throwing his arms around the man’s neck. “You’re right,” he murmured softly. "I promise, no more running away."

Severus wrapped his arms around his mate's body, one hand drifting up to stroke Harry's hair. "Now, tell me what happened to make you so angry today."

The Gryffindor didn’t want to rehash Ron’s words, but Severus deserved to know. "I sat down at the table with Ron, Seamus, and Dean… they were talking about how someone was just getting good grades because they were sleeping with someone else. They clammed up when I asked them about it and finally, Ron came clean and said that it was going around that the only reason I was passing Advanced Potions was because we're sleeping together."

"That's what upset you?" Severus asked, thinking that it was sort of a trivial thing.

Harry pulled back to look at Severus’ eyes. "Yes, that's it! Everyone thinks that I'm just good for one thing, beating Voldemort. I'm getting tired of everyone assuming that the only subject I'm good at is Defense Against the Dark Arts." Harry sighed, feeling defeated. "Maybe it is all I'm good for. It's not like I'll live after this next battle with Voldemort anyway."

Severus put a finger to Harry's lips. "Don't say that."

"But it's true. Voldemort has years more experience and knows far more hexes and curses than I do and even if I trained every day up until we meet, I know that it won't be enough to match his knowledge or power. If I do defeat him, it will be luck and if so, I don't think that luck will extend to saving my life this time." Harry said, speaking what he'd been thinking for quite some time.

"It doesn't matter if Voldemort knows more curses than you or has had more experience. You've got something that he hasn't, Harry… This," Snape took one of Harry's hands and placed it to the Gryffindor's chest, "a heart. Haven't you ever wondered what makes you two so different? You've got the same powers that he has, even the ability to speak Parsletongue, but the thing that separates you from him is your heart, and your desire to save others. This is what will win the battle for you," Severus said, shocking Harry, because he'd never heard him speak that way before.

Harry studied Severus' onyx eyes for a moment. "I am so lucky Dumbledore suggested you for the mating ritual." He'd felt it for a while, but with the recent events it had become even more evident.

"I know," Severus said with his infamous smirk before kissing the words from Harry's lips.

–

Ron stood atop the staircase that led down into the dungeons the next morning, waiting for Harry to emerge so that could try and explain what had been said at the Great Hall. It wasn't long before Ron received his wish and his fellow Gryffindor's head appeared as he walked up the steps with several Slytherins.

"Harry," Ron spoke to stop the other boy from walking past him, and for a moment he feared that Harry would continue walking.

Harry really couldn't believe the nerve of Ron, to be waiting for him as he came up to breakfast "What is it?" he asked rather snappishly.

Ron stepped back as if he'd been bitten but he continued, "I just wanted to tell you that I didn't mean what I said yesterday, it came out before I thought and..." He trailed off as it was evident that Harry didn’t believe a word of his explanation.

Harry speared Ron with a glare that would make Severus proud. "Hermione put you up to this?" he jutted out his chin with the question.

When Ron's ears turned an alarming shade of pink, Harry sneered, "That's what I thought." Turning his back on his former best friend, Harry continued towards the Great Hall, his footsteps making sharp 'clicks' on the marble floor. Gossip about the rift in the Gryffindors had spread pretty quickly among the study body, and lots of hushed whispers broke out around the Great Hall as Harry and Ron entered and then went their separate ways.

Fortunately for Harry, he was rather used to being stared at and being discussed behind hands, so he simply found an empty seat at the Gryffindor table and began eating, despite noticing that several Gryffindors around him got up and left when he sat down.

From the Staff's Table, Severus noticed this little interaction and his eyes immediately narrowed on the tall form of Ronald Weasley as he sat down at the end of the table with Hermione Granger and their usual group of sniveling brats.

It pissed Severus off to see Harry sitting alone, an outcast from the rest of the student body. Did he find all of those teenagers, especially the Gryffindors, insanely annoying? Yes. Did he want Harry cut off from his friends? No.

When the sound of wings filled the Great Hall, Harry looked up and was a bit shocked to see his snowy white owl amongst the other tawny ones. Hedwig dropped down beside Harry, and he was grateful for her presence, she was his only faithful friend... besides Severus. And Hermione, he added, she hadn’t done anything to him but try and make peace between him and Ron.

Taking the piece of parchment tied to Hedwig's leg, Harry stroked her head before she nipped up some of his bacon and then fluttered out.

Unrolling the note, Harry immediately recognized the neat writing of his bondmate.

"Dumbledore sent word that he won't be able to make your lesson today. Come to the dungeons instead. Yours, Severus"

There was something about the words ‘Yours, Severus’ that made his heart squeeze. Looking up at the Staff Table, Harry was a tad disappointed to see that Snape had already left.

~-~

Severus sat by the fire in the dungeon common room that he shared with Harry, his fingers still holding the elegant invitation that had been sent. The Potions Master dreaded what he would have to reveal to Harry once his young mate arrived, but he would not lie. There were many things about himself that Severus wasn’t proud of, but one thing that he maintained was his honesty.

As Harry walked in, Severus set the invitation aside for a moment.

"Where's Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked as he sat down his school bag and slouched down onto the couch in front of the fire.

"I'm not sure, he only left word that he would not be here today," Snape murmured, more subdued than usual. "I brought you down here so that you could see this." He held out a black envelope.

Harry took it, his brow furrowed in confusion as he opened it and read: "Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy cordially invite Severus Snape and bondmate Harry Potter to attend the annual Golden Apple Ball. Please RSVP ASAP." The Dark Mark glittered below the word.

Harry looked up. "Why are they inviting me to a Death Eater's ball?"

Snape's face was as emotionless as ever, but his black eyes glittered brightly. “One of the tricky parts about the mating ritual with you is that there was no real way to keep it out of the public eye. Students were bound to talk about us. We haven’t even tried to hide that we’re living together here at Hogwarts.

“So, right after we completed the ritual, I told Lord Voldemort about it. I explained that the opportunity had been presented to me. I convinced him that I could use this as a way to control you.”

"You did?" Harry raised an eyebrow a funny feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

"I assured him I would lure you to the Dark Side, or if that failed, I would use the bond to get close to you and bring you to him." Severus rushed ahead. "Of course, I have no intention of doing any of those things, but I had to sell the story." He licked his lips. “That’s the life of a spy, I’m afraid.”

Harry did not feel reassured. He glanced back down at the invitation. "Do I have to go?"

"I'm afraid so. The Dark Lord would be most displeased with me if you didn’t. You see, there are some others in the Death Eaters who are bonded. I had never considered it a viable option for myself, which is why I never brought it up to Albus.

“The bonds among the Death Eaters are… drastically different from the bond you and I have. Their bonds are more on a Master-Pet basis." He handed Harry a couple of photos.

Looking at the pictures, Harry felt repulsed as the "Master" in the relationship held a tight, cruel leash upon the lower, submissive partner. "They're treated like slaves?" Harry gathered.

Snape’s lips pursed. "Something like that."

"You want me to .. to do this?" He said, holding up the picture.

"Yes, but only when we're around them." Although Snape found something inwardly satisfying about the mental image of Harry before him wearing both leash and collar.

Harry sighed. He could very well refuse, that was obvious, but did he dare? No, because if he did the wrath of the Dark Lord would fall upon Severus. He would do it for his mate.

"You'll have to show me what to do .. how to act..." he told Snape, not at all pleased with this situation.

The other wizard nodded. "We'll use our Occlumency class time to .. eh.. practice." And then after flicking his wand a couple of times towards his open palm, Severus presented Harry with a leash and collar.

The Gryffindor studied the two items closely. His fingers slide over the black leather collar embedded with silver snake-like swirls, all leading to the middle where his name was printed in large, bold letters. It made Harry sick.

Seeing the revulsion on Potter's face, Severus went over to the couch and sat beside his mate, one hand taking the leash and collar while the other stroked Harry's back soothingly. "Don't let these things bother you, they do not change what is between us."

Harry nodded, trying not to let the other man see how much this Master-Pet thing worried him. What if Snape forgot what he was doing? What if he became enticed by the feeling of power over him?

Snape broke Harry’s thoughts by asking softly, "Shall I put them on? We can begin the lessons tonight."

"Yes." The word was spoken with trepidation, but there was a faint flicker of admiration inside of Severus at his mate's willingness to do this for his safety.

Snape's fingers were gentle as he placed the collar around Harry's neck and tightened the buckle, cinching the leather into place. "Is it too tight?" he asked.

Harry felt as though he was suffocating but putting a hand up to his throat, Harry knew that the fear of the collar came from his mind and not the actual collar. "No, it's fine."

"When we go to the ball I'll transfigure a new outfit up for you, slaves- er.. bondmates, dress a little differently and since you're my bondmate, they'll expect nothing less than the best on you. They'll expect you to be completely submissive to my every command, and theirs too…" panic once again lit in Harry's eyes, "don't worry, though, it is not uncommon for bondmates to be possessive. And since I am possessive. I won’t let them touch you."

This entire thing was really testing the little bridge of trust that Severus and Harry had built between themselves. One slip and the entire bridge would crumble and their ruse would be ruined.

"Now, the first thing that you should remember is that pets always walk behind their master, hence the reason for the leash. Some Masters use the leash as a form of punishment, for whipping and that sort of thing." Leaning forward Snape sensuously kissed the tip of Harry's ear, "Yours will not be used for that. In fact, I think I could show you ways to enjoy it..." Anything to ease that look of fear out of the Gryffindor’s eyes.

Harry shivered at the words, Severus had never failed him in bed so far and Harry was fairly certain that Severus could, in fact, use the leash and collar to his advantage in the bedroom. Severus was quite the expert lover. But still, the thought of how humiliating it would be for all of those Death Eaters to watch him led around on a leash was almost more than he could bear.

"Severus."

"Yes?" He drew back a bit.

"How did you - I mean, someone must have shown you ....ehem, " Harry cleared his throat. "I think what I'm trying to say is, who else have you been with besides me?"

Snape didn't like the question. His past would only cause problems and unnecessary jealousy. "I don’t like the question, Potter."

Harry shrugged. "I didn't say that you would like it, but I think I deserve to know... as your mate." He could feel the bonding stir between them and he knew that he'd said the magic words.

A few more minutes of silence and finally Severus sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you, ehem," and surprisingly enough it looked as if the Potions Master's cheeks might actually be a bit flushed, "well, first, there was this witch at Hogsmeade when I was about your age, it was that experience that told me I preferred the company of men and not women. Then there was Professor Viktor, " Harry wrinkled his nose and Snape rolled his eyes, "and there was Lucius, at the Dark Lord's bidding," which Harry took to mean that Voldemort had been audience to the sex, "and then a few weeks before I found you at the Leaky Cauldron... Draco Malfoy."

Harry’s nose wrinkled. "That's just gross, and .. and .. Why him?"

Snape shrugged indifferently, as if not seeing why he had to explain this to Harry, "Draco is not unattractive," he said in a logical, almost scientific tone.

So he found Draco attractive, did he? It struck Harry that Severus had slept with Draco out of his own free will because he found the blonde attractive. The only reason he'd agreed to sleep with Harry was for the power of the bonding and the protection it would buy him from the Dark Lord.

At Harry's silent, troubled face, Snape quirked an eyebrow. "I don't know if I like what's going on behind those eyes, Potter. Care to share your thoughts?"

Harry was silent, his eyes on the rug, and for a moment Severus didn't know if he would answer.

"I’m finding myself jealous of Malfoy, for the first time ever.”

"You are?" Severus questioned.

"Yes, you wanted Draco not because he was a powerful wizard, not because he could offer protection, but because you found him attractive, worthy of your time. I, on the other hand, was chosen because of the added power that I could bring you through the bond... I guess it just stings a little." Harry hated this jealous feeling, surely this was a side effect of the mating bond?

Snape settled his fingers beneath Harry's chin and tilted the boy's face up. "Potter, how many times must we go through this? I want you and no one else, you are my bondmate."

"But that's the only reason why you want me. If you had been able to bond to Draco and secure the powerful bond with him that you and I will have, it would be he who was sitting here with you now and not me." Harry could not let it go.

"I said that I found him attractive, but there’s no more to it than that. Draco is cold on the inside, everything his father wants him to be. Even if I had it to do all over again, I would still choose you, because not only are you beautiful on the outside, but you also have that blasted Gryffindor heart of gold, and despite everything, it's quite an... endearing quality." These heart-to-heart talks were really taking a lot out of Severus, he wasn't used to sharing so much, but Harry had to understand.

Harry tried one last time. "You're sure?"

Severus growled, hooking a finger in Harry's collar, he pulled the younger man close. "Quite." He kissed Harry fervently, one of those heart fluttering, toe-curling kisses that often left Harry feeling quite breathless and wanting more. "Now, shall we get started with your lesson?"

Harry licked his lips, still tasting Snape on them. "Yes."

~-~

"Whoa, I've got to FEED you?" Harry questioned, he was standing behind Severus' chair at a table that the Potions Master had conjured up.

"Not necessarily. You do what I ask, and if I were to ask you to feed me, say, a grape, or something, you would be required to do so. Mainly, you and I will play it by ear, and imitate most of what the other Master-Pet couples are doing," Snape said, and then smirked a little as he transfigured a grape onto the table. "Potter, the grape."

Harry glared as he stepped around the chair and picked up the grape. "You're lucky I don't shove it up your nose," he said before offering the grape up to Snape's lips. The Potions Master had another idea, however, as he accepted the grape into his mouth, chewed, swallowed but then continued with his lips, kissing up Harry's forefinger and then sucking it into his mouth.

"Hm, if you keep that up, Master, I think that the Malfoys will receive quite a show on their dining room table." The swirl of Severus' tongue around his finger made Harry's member twitch to life.

Snape grinned and released Harry's fingers from his mouth. "Ah, but we're not at the Malfoys yet, are we?" He curled an arm around Harry's waist and brought him down into his lap, Harry's long legs hanging over the armrest of the chair.

"And shouldn't we be concentrating on the lesson at hand?" Harry questioned, mimicking the same tone and words that Snape had used on him before.

The Potions Master growled softly as he attacked Harry's neck with kisses and nibbles. "I am."
- 9
- 10
- 11
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Run to Me