All That You Leave Behind

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This chapter is dedicated to Rylan (we’ve corrected the oversight you spotted) and FaeryQueen (for two monster reviews)

Harry arrived home before Ginny that evening, so he greeted Severus, and then set about laying the table for dinner. Since Ginny had begun working for the Daily Prophet as Quidditch correspondent, they'd had a shift in household duties. Molly looked after James while Harry and Ginny went to work, and they traded off cooking duties between themselves and Severus. Harry was surprised the man was a fair cook; after all, when they'd lived at Spinner's End, Harry had done all the cooking.

"What's for dinner, Sev?" Harry teased. This was a sort of routine they'd developed when the man cooked. Severus liked to surprise them, but Harry liked to see if he could tease him into telling before he unveiled it at table.

"You shall see when we sit down to eat," Severus said, mock annoyed.

"Aw, c'mon Sev," Harry wheedled, placing a hand on Severus’ bare arm, eyes intense, "tell me what's for dinner! It smells delicious."

"You shall see when we sit down to eat," the man said sternly, although his face had flushed a little at the touch. Harry laughed and nudge’s Sev’s thigh with his own hip. He told himself he was just playing, but the truth was, he liked the way his skin tingled whenever he brushed against Sev.

"Hmm," Harry said, hip still pressed against his friend, "Do I smell a little turnip in the mix?"

Severus knocked against Harry's hip, pushing it out of the way so that he could go to the oven and check the meal. "Only if you are stupid," Severus said, bending over to peer into the oven.

Harry felt heat flame through him, Merlin Severus looked good! His legs were straight as he bent at the waist, and Harry could just make out the outline of them against the black robe. They looked strong and powerful and ... Harry's mouth started watering.

"Ah, I see you can hardly wait for me!" Severus said, turning with a large dish held safely in the air, held in place by his wand.

Fuck! I'm hard waiting all right! Harry groaned internally, images of Severus pressing him into the table filling his mind.

He shook his head and tried to peek - as he always did - into the container to see what was bubbling there, but, as usual, Severus was holding it too high.

"Awww, come on!" he moaned, a deliberate annoying whinge in his tone, "I set the table and everything!"

"It was your own stupidity that led to that state of affairs." Severus said, then clarified at Harry's baffled look, "You told Kreacher to be ‘curator’ of Grimmauld Place, so don't complain to me when you have to do your own house work!"

Harry pouted, thrusting out his lower lip in a sullen expression.

Severus looked at him, onyx eyes intense, and suddenly the laughter vanished, and the kitchen felt much smaller and warmer. Suddenly the heat from the oven seemed insignificant compared to that coming from Harry.

As Severus lowered the dish onto the table, the tension snapped. Ginny's voice rang through the house, gaining in volume as she hurried towards them.

"Harry! Severus!" She burst into the kitchen, almost dancing, "I can't believe it! You'll never guess!"

Both men turned to face her. Instinctively they stood side by side, bodies pressed together.

"What is it?" Harry asked, smiling, feeling a burst of guilt and loss as he stepped away from Severus to kiss his wife.

She kissed him and turned to Severus, a wide grin on her face. "I've got good news and bad news," she said, "which do you want first?"

"Good," said Harry.

"Bad," said Severus.

She giggled. "The Prophet want me to cover a Quidditch match already! They were going to ask Lema Beenes to cover it, as their celebrity guest, but she can't make it. Something to do with prior commitments, so they've asked me to cover it instead!" She laughed, "The Bats versus the Magpies!" It's the game of the season! And I'm covering it!" This time she did dance.

Harry hugged her. "So, what's the bad news?" he asked.

Her face fell, and she chewed on her lower lip. “Oh, well, the match is on Saturday, so I’ve only got four days to prepare for it. And Bats/Magpies games are always really long, so the Prophet has just about managed to book me a room in the nearest hotel, on the Isle of Skye.” She explained for Severus’ benefit, “The Bats and the Magpies are the top two teams in the League, so their matches are always played at a neutral location. This time it’s at the Pride of Portree’s grounds.”

Harry tried to look happy, although his mind was in a whirl. Ginny was going to be away overnight. He would be alone with Severus. He gulped.

Harry stood outside himself as he congratulated Ginny, as they sat down to eat the meal Severus had prepared, and whilst he listened to her excited burble. All his mind kept focusing on was Four days and A night alone with Severus.

He could give Severus the present Harry wanted to give him. Let Severus sleep with Lily. But, that only gave him four days to find some way of finding something of hers. Polyjuice potion he could … borrow … from work. No one would notice if one of the thousands of vials went missing.

Work. That brought on another pang of guilt. They hadn't been making much headway in finding out who was responsible for what had happened to Ginny and James.

Harry resolved to talk to Severus about the incident again. Maybe something would come back to him, something that Harry could use.

He cursed the fact that even a pensieve wouldn't help if no one knew anything. He just hoped that something Severus had seen or heard or even imagined would make sense, would spark some new line of enquiry.

It was a frustrating three hours later that Harry realised Severus really didn’t know anything else that could help.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” Severus said, rubbing the other’s head, fingers luxuriating in the messy black hair. “I wish I did remember something, but I was too focused on trying to save …”

“I know,” Harry sighed, rubbing his aching forehead and giving a soft “mmm” to the head rub. He leaned into the massage, eyes closing.

“Keep still,” Severus’ voice was soft, a chocolate rumble in his ear. Delicate fingers touched his cheek briefly. “Eye lash,” Severus explained as Harry opened his eyes.

Harry smiled happily. How had he ever thought that Severus’ eyes made you think of dark tunnels? They were warm when you knew what to look for.

“Lily always had eye lashes on her cheeks,” Severus said, a smile on his lips as he remembered. “I was forever picking them off and …” he trailed off, blushing.

Harry wanted to pursue the conversation, but something told him that Severus would not say anything further. Besides, Harry had plenty to think about. He was sure, from Severus’ embarrassment, that that meant he had kept Lily’s lashes. Still had them hidden somewhere.

He kept them Harry thought, his excitement mounting. >He does have something of hers!