Crossing the Line

Chapter 9: Out of the Closet and off to Awen

He\'d been awake for half an hour now. Over the past eleven days, he\'d figured out he frequently woke up before Severus, usually because of a bad dream. But he\'d come to enjoy the moments of silence to watch his--partner (boyfriend and Severus really didn\'t belong in the same sentence) and even steal a few of those minutes to pleasure the sleeping man.

As he was doing right now, as a matter of fact. They still wore pants to bed, Harry thought it was more on his side, than Severus\'. He was still nervous about letting the other man completely see him.

Glancing up at the fluttering lids, Harry grinned as he took another lap at the thick head of the other man\'s cock. Licking up the salty precome with a quick swipe of his tongue. Severus groaned and sleepily reached down to rest his fingers in Harry\'s long hair. He\'d once confided in Harry that he loved the slight ticklish feeling of his hair sweeping across his belly and thighs. And Harry secretly loved having the other man massage his scalp like this.

Taking the other man into his mouth, he tightly gripped the rest of the length that he couldn\'t fully take into his mouth and started to suck lightly, and, undulating his tongue against the underside of a vein, he gently twisted his hand, creating a delicious friction for the man underneath him.

.

Severus\' head rolled back and he released a deep moan, clinging (but not enough to hurt) to Harry\'s hair as he sucked him. Damn that tongue... the man knew what it did to him. It was the second or third night they\'d slept together that Harry had awakened him in such a manner. Severus had attempted to return the favor once, but Harry looked so skittish, almost frightened that he decided, naturally, to respect his boundaries and take things as slowly as he wanted. He cared about Harry more than he had ever allowed himself to care about anyone else and would never want to hurt him in any way.

At that moment, Harry slowly drew his mouth up to the tip of his length before plunging back down as far as he could, almost creating a vacuum around Severus, thus effectively pulling his orgasm from him and breaking him from his inner monologue. Severus came hard down Harry\'s throat, softly calling out his name.

Harry lingered at Severus\' lap, grinning up at him like that cat who got the canary until Severus came back to himself enough to grasp him by the arms and pull him up for a slow, deep kiss. \"Good morning to you, too,\" he murmured breathlessly when they finally parted.

.

\"G\'morning,\" he whispered back, licking his lips and sighing when Severus\' tongue darted forward to swipe some pearl white liquid from his chin, which he had obviously missed.

Sighing, Harry rested on top of the other man, laying his cheek down along the strong heartbeat. Thinking about the day, he suddenly frowned, \"We have that Order meeting tonight don\'t we? It keeps getting postponed because of some of the members being snowed in.\"

He closed his eyes, totally relaxed against the other man as Severus ran a hand up and down his bare back. He was pleased to know that the man wasn\'t following any of the many scars on his back.

.

\"I\'m afraid so,\" Severus murmured, pressing another kiss to the top of Harry\'s head and feeling the younger man\'s lips curve into a smile. \"But let\'s not focus on that now. It\'s been a wonderful weekend, but I assume we\'ll have to get up for classes eventually so I want to enjoy your company while I can.\" Severus leisurely hooked his legs over Harry\'s and sighed happily.

\"You know,\" he mused with a grin after a few moments of silence, \"with all the protein you\'ve been imbibing lately, it\'s a wonder you have any room for breakfast.\"

.

Harry wiggled to get more comfortable, loving the feel of the long legs hooked around his, making his legs squeeze together deliciously.

Hearing the comment (one that didn\'t really surprise him anymore since he\'d found out that Severus often made sexual jokes like that, although some were enough to make him blush) Harry grinned and looked up at the other man, and, fixing a dreamy smile, he murmured, \"Mmm, protein shakes,\" causing Severus to bark out a laugh.

.

Once Severus\' laughter had ebbed, he grinned back at Harry and, with his fingers sifting through Harry\'s hair, leaned down for another long, slow, deep kiss. \"My Harry,\" he purred softly as they parted. It was a little pet name that\'d come around after Harry made a small joke about Severus\' possessive nature. They had not revealed their new relationship to the general population at Hogwarts yet, not desiring a rumor mill just yet even though it would happen eventually, so naturally Severus set out to make the most of their time together.

.

\"Yours,\" he murmured appreciatively when Severus\' tongue found its way into Harry\'s mouth. When they broke away for air, Harry nuzzled his cold nose into the man\'s neck, while the lean arms wrapped around his slim waist. \"My protein maker in all his glory,\" he commented, while licking the pale flesh in front of him. Severus let out a quiet chuckle.

Sitting up, he looked down in the up-turned face, smiling at the contented look on the other man\'s face. It was nice to see some of those small lines erased when they were together and relaxing. Tilting his head, he let out a small grin. \"I should give you a nickname.\" Pressing a finger to his chin he bit his lip and pretended to think long and hard. \"Hmm. How about Sevvie?\" he laughed as he ducked the swipe at his head. \"No? Hmm. What about Sev R us?\" at that, all he got was a confused look. He shook his head. \"You need to get out more, Sev.\" He grinned when the man growled at him and brought him down, silencing him with a heated kiss.

.

\"Sev is the only one of those names I will permit, and with barely concealed contempt, might I add,\" he murmured, pulling back just enough to speak before delving into Harry\'s mouth again. Unfortunately their make out session was cut short by the shrill ring of an alarm clock (a Muggle device Severus was very familiar with), which Severus promptly glared at, causing it to explode. Harry just laughed and nuzzled his neck some more, murmuring something about the clock self-destructing if Severus broke and repaired it every day like he had been doing.

.

\"Brings a whole new meaning to \'death glare\'.\" Harry chuckled. With a small groan, he finally wiggled out from beneath the heavy body over him. Grabbing his clothes for the day, a crimson turtle neck, black slacks and a dark blue-black robe that ended mid calf, he headed to Severus\' shower, which was located exactly where Harry\'s was in his own chambers.

While rinsing off his body and hair, he jumped slightly when he saw Severus come in to use the washroom. Biting his lip and trying not to shake in his nervousness, Harry waited until the man had washed his hands and left the room before letting out the breath he hadn\'t realized he\'d been holding, and resumed rinsing off the shampoo and soap. He always took a bit longer in the shower than Severus since his hair took a long time to soap up and rinse off everything. Sometimes it could be tiring, but with the way Severus loved to run his hands through it and he did like having long hair, it was worth it in the end. He\'d have to use a spell soon to cut off a few inches, since he definitely didn\'t want his hair growing down to his butt.

Tipping his head back under the showerhead, he ran his hands over his scalp to get his hair out of his eyes, before shutting it off and stepping out. Finishing the rest of his morning ritual in the (by now) familiar bathroom (he even had his own hair brush here now, since he couldn\'t use Severus\' comb to untangle his hair) Harry stepped out of the room and went into the sitting room, where Severus was waiting for him, his hair a bit damp and curling at the ends. He\'d obviously used Harry\'s showers instead. After much practice, Severus had learned how to say the Parseltongue word. Not that he knew what it meant. It actually meant Slytherin sex God, but he definitely wasn\'t going to tell him that.

He grinned up at the other man, tossing his wavy hair back from his face as he spoke. \"Ready for the Christmas decorations Dumbledore and the house-elves probably already have out?\"

.

\"Ugh, don\'t remind me,\" Severus groaned, putting his head in his hands for a moment. Harry, of course, just laughed and seated himself in Severus\' lap. \"I\'m not kidding,\" Severus protested even as his arms wound around Harry\'s waist and his fingers teased the ends of Harry\'s hair. \"He always pulls some stupid stunt, you know that. The year before you came to Hogwarts it was confetti. I was picking it out of my hair for months! Lord only knows how long it would take you.\" Again Harry, ever the patient partner, simply grinned and dipped his head for one last kiss before pulling Severus out of his chair. Severus sighed dramatically, but a brief smile soon followed it.

Harry had basically moved in over a week ago and Severus loved having him there all the time. It hadn\'t been that hard to fit him in, either. Severus\' closet was far too big for him to begin with and considering he didn\'t have that vast a library, his books fit nicely next to Severus\' and so forth. Harry\'s rooms now served as a storage space and an extra shower when Harry took too long. Severus wasn\'t bothered with Harry\'s reluctance to certain intimacies at all, he knew it would come in time and until then, he wanted Harry to know he cared for him just as he was and wouldn\'t change a thing.

Once they were out in the halls they stayed a respectable distance apart so as not to attract undue attention. It wasn\'t like they were going to hide it forever, they were just waiting for the right moment. They\'d taken to sleeping in a little later, enjoying each others\' company and so forth, and so they knew everyone would be down at the Great Hall already, but still, it would be most embarrassing to be caught snogging by a First Year. Even so, Severus did pause to run the back of his hand over Harry\'s and smile at him just before they entered.

Severus had not gone three steps into the Great Hall before hitting some sort of magical wall. \"What the...\" he pressed, pushed, and was very much tempted to hex whatever magic was blocking his way before Dumbledore\'s voice rose over the restrained snickers of the rest of the school. Doing so, Severus found Dumbledore pointing to the ceiling. With something of a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, Severus trailed his gaze up and up and... sure enough... the teacher\'s entryway as well as the main entrance, were strung with bows of enchanted mistletoe. Dammit.

\"You wouldn\'t want to go against tradition, now would you?\" came an enthusiastic call somewhere from the Gryffindor table. Oh, they would die in potions today... then again... Severus looked over to a quietly laughing Harry. Maybe this wasn\'t such a bad development.

.

Smiling, Harry looked over at the other man, raising his brows in a silent, \'Well?\' Severus responded by raising his own. Glancing around, the man finally settled his gaze on Harry\'s and stepped closer, making the young man\'s breath hitch in anticipation. Severus could often be a bit… over dramatic, but he usually reserved that for in their chambers, not out in public like this. Although... Harry glanced at the spark of lust in the man\'s gaze; there was always a first for everything.

.

As Severus approached Harry, the rest of the Great Hall suddenly grew silent. Would he hex Harry? Surely he wouldn\'t kiss him? Of course, they had no idea how wrong they were. With the same flourish Severus had used when they were dancing, Severus pulled Harry flush against him and with a small smirk, spun him about (just so there was no question that he\'d actually kissed the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor) and dipped him near to the floor before covering Harry\'s lips with his own.

The entire room was floored and at least three students fainted at the sight of the heated snog. Severus Snape and Harry Potter were kissing. With tongue! After a good long moment, Severus pulled back and murmured, \"Well, that\'s one way to tell them,\" before brushing his lips lightly over Harry\'s one last time and pulling him upright. They would never hear the end of this, but, in Severus\' opinion, it was well worth it.

.

Blushing at the very public display of affection, and also grinning like a love-sick fool, Harry all but hung onto Severus\' arm as he tried to right himself. It took several seconds for him to finally gain his composure, and that was when the whispers started.

Standing up straight, he detached himself from the man\'s arm and walked with him to the teacher\'s table, crossing between the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables, both of the professors were on opposite sides, so Harry could hear the many whispers of the Slytherins. Some whispering, and he could even hear some congratulating them, which brought a small smile to his otherwise composed face.

Glancing up at Severus, his smile widened the slightest bit at seeing the familiar scowl, directed at the people whispering about them, the Gryffindors especially, of course. The Gryffindors had always been too heavy into the house rivalry. Maybe they would learn a lesson or two about his and Severus\' inter-house relationship.

Seating themselves at their usual places, Harry helped himself to his favourites, while Severus did the same. Both of them automatically passing the other\'s favourite food if it wasn\'t in reach without having being told. They\'d eaten together for at least a year now, so they both knew what the other liked. Even if most of that time had been spent hating each other. Well, more like Severus hating Harry, since Harry was actually attracted to the other man and thought he would be a good companion.

While finally being out in the open like this was nice, he was worried about some of the Slytherins. Would they go back to their families, who in turn would go to Voldemort? Then what would happen? Frowning, Harry looked down into his meal, as though it would answer his questions.

.

It appeared as though all Severus\' classes, even the Slytherins, would lose quite a few points today from the whispers. There were a fair number of congratulatory whispers, too: however so, he was not overly concerned about the whispers in general--they would fade eventually.

Glancing over at Harry, Severus noted he looked very concerned about something; what that was, however, completely escaped him. Slowly, so as not to startle him, Severus reached out and placed his hand over Harry\'s, gaining his attention. \"What\'s on your mind, Harry?\" he asked softly, as emerald eyes met his.

.

Looking into the concerned eyes of his partner, Harry bit his lip and glanced down, trying to collect his thoughts before looking back up. \"What\'s going to happen if Voldemort finds out?\" he asked quietly, looking out over the group of students, not just the Slytherins in particular, since there was some proof that a few students from each house had families that were involved with the Death Eaters, or were ones themselves. \"What if the students go to their parents and they tell Voldemort?\" he continued, a worry line appearing in his forehead as he bit his lip.

.

Severus gave Harry\'s hand a small squeeze before replying, \"He\'s after me to begin with. Remember, I did not come in your fourth year when he summoned all the Death Eaters back, so he already knows I\'m not on his side. If he happens to find out about us, he probably won\'t go after either of us any more than he has been since the war began.\" Severus paused to thread his fingers through Harry\'s comfortingly before adding, \"You will eventually have to face him, that can\'t be helped, but I\'ll be damned if I let him kill you. He\'ll have to go through me first.\"

.

Resting his head on his free hand, Harry fiddled with the strand of white hair on his head. Glancing over at Severus he frowned and looked down, thinking about the other friends and family he had lost to Voldemort. If Severus protected him till the bitter end, then where would Harry be when he died? Harry would be lost... his only means of fighting would be six feet under... cold... dead. He\'d kill Voldemort, of course, as revenge, but after that... well, what was there? No one else but Severus would ever be capable of loving him for who he was. And if there was someone else out there like him... well, Harry didn\'t think he could let anyone else in after Severus.

Sighing, Harry slowly slipped his hand out from Severus\'. \"I\'ll see you at lunch,\" he whispered, running his hand across the back of his neck as he left the Great Hall to get ready for his first class. Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, of course; the second worst combination next to Slytherins and Gryffindors.

.

Severus watched Harry go with much concern. It was obvious that he was still worried about Voldemort, not that anyone ever wasn\'t, but as he was making his way out of the room at the moment, there wasn\'t much Severus could do about it. He\'d just have to talk to him later, make him see that he understood that they were in no more danger than usual and that Severus, maybe for the first time ever, really thought they could beat him this time.

He couldn\'t promise everything would be okay, Divination never worked any more than wishful thinking, but he did want Harry to know he\'d be with him and fight beside him until everything was finally over. It was a risk that he\'d never though he\'d take, getting involved with someone during the war, but many years of battle had taught him to enjoy the good things when they came and Harry had actually given him the patience for a faith he couldn\'t have mastered before. The faith to let the chips fall where they may and hope for the best.

With a weary sigh, Severus left his seat and marched toward the house-point-taking and children-scaring thing that was his job, Harry in the back of his mind all the while.

.

Raking a hand through his hair, Harry limped towards the Great Hall teacher\'s entrance so he wouldn\'t have to cross too much of a distance and could hide the temporary limp until he got enough time to go back to his chambers and make a potion for the injury.

Straightening his back, he squared his jaw as he tried to ignore the pain, while walking through the side door. It felt like ages before he finally reached his seat beside Severus\' empty chair. He was probably talking to a student, since it had taken Harry a little while to come back inside from where he\'d been near the lake for his classes.

Sinking down into the seat gratefully, he let his calf and thigh rest while he sat and silently started eating. Nodding politely to Rose who was on his left, he stayed silent when the man started asking him questions about his classes. Hopefully his silence would drive the man away. It was sad that he was still trying to flirt with Harry when he\'d seen Severus kiss him in front of the whole school.

.

Severus entered the Great Hall with his usual flourish and strode directly to the teachers table, giving Rose a death glare all the way. Rose smartly decided to suddenly change seats. Severus promptly seated himself in his usual place on Harry\'s right and paused in mid-reach for the apple cider. Turning to look at Harry, he tipped his head to one side and asked quietly, \"Is something wrong, Harry? I\'m getting really strange signatures on your magic.\"

.

Harry sighed and smiled softly at the small look of concern. \"It\'s not that big of a deal. I was showing the class a Veela and one of the students ended up making it angry.\" He raised a hand. \"Don\'t ask how, since I have no idea myself.\" He raked said hand through his already mussed hair. \"Anyway, the Veela changed and tried to take a swipe at the kid, and I foolishly got in the way instead of moving the kid with magic. I was able to duck the blow to my head, but she ended up clawing my thigh and calf. I was planning on making a potion after fourth period when I have a bit more time. I think her nails had some kind of mild poison on them. It\'s made my thigh and calf cramp up and I\'m limping as bad as Moody but without the wooden leg,\" he added with a half smile.

.

\"I can give you a potion Harry, you know I always keep well-stocked,\" Severus replied while making a mental note to dock more points from the students that afternoon. Placing a comforting hand over Harry\'s knee, Severus added, \"We can go now if you want to; you can\'t be very comfortable sitting there with a mildly poisoned appendage.\" Severus did allow himself a small, inward smile, Harry would never change. He was always trying to take care of things himself without anyone else\'s help; much like Severus, but thankfully lacking the infamous Slytherin pride.

.

Smiling slightly in gratitude, Harry nodded, and Severus led him out the back door and down into the dungeons. Having him sit on the armchair, he told Harry to take off his pants, causing Harry to blush and bite his lip. \"I can put the potion on myself, really, it\'s not that bad,\" he said, while sucking in his cheeks against his clenched teeth as another cramp shot up his calf and wove its way to Harry\'s thigh.

.

\"Harry,\" Severus said softly, laying one hand over his partner\'s cheek as their eyes met again. \"You can trust me. I don\'t bite.\" He smiled when Harry snorted at the terrible pun. \"Not in a bad way,\" Severus finished, calling the potion to him with wandless magic. Meeting Harry\'s eyes again he covered his hands with his free one and said softly, \"Let me help you.\"

.

Biting his lip nervously, he finally shimmied out of his pants, pulling his robes down fractionally until they covered the bare skin (he never wore underwear) and down to his upper thigh, where the cut began. It was oozing blood and a bit of black liquid, obviously the mild poison. He put his mouth against his shoulder as he tried to muffle the hiss that escaped clenched teeth, when a stab of pain went through his calf and thigh. Damn it, he was really going to have to teach those brats how to appease a Veela, instead of trying to make the bloody thing angry.

.

Severus gently tipped some of the potion onto his hand and began smoothing the ointment like substance over Harry\'s wounded leg and, despite a few small hisses on Harry\'s part, Severus felt the wound closing up nicely. Once the wounds were closed, Severus summoned a wet cloth to him and gently wiped off the black and red liquid that had covered Harry\'s thigh. \"There,\" he murmured putting the cloth aside and placing his hand over Harry\'s again, \"all finished.\" Severus leaned up to briefly kiss Harry before pulling back and asking, \"Better?\"

.

Harry smiled and pulled Severus\' head down again, flicking his tongue across the man\'s lips before entering the moist cavern. They battled gently with their tongues, until Harry leant in and rested his forehead against Severus\'. \"Thanks to you.\" He smiled at the tiny, tiny blush high up on the older man\'s cheeks. Reaching for his pants on the floor, he spelled them clean and slipped them on, this time standing. He blushed when he felt Severus stare at his backside, the robe having crept up to reveal half of the round globes, and the many silver scars crisscrossing over the pale flesh. Pulling his pants up hastily, he buttoned them up and turned to the kneeling Severus, helping him up to his feet.

.

\"Never hesitate to come to me for help, Harry,\" Severus murmured while slipping and arms snuggly around Harry\'s waist and pressing as kiss to his temple before they walked out. There was no on in the halls really, it being lunch and all. And if there was, did it really matter? They\'d all seen him snog Harry in a rather heated fashion. Certainly a little cuddling wouldn\'t give anyone a heart attack.

They reentered the Great Hall side by side, no longer having their arms draped over each other, but instead simple holding hands lightly as they walked, it wasn\'t like anyone would be able to see that clearly anyway with their robes billowing and such. They sat down and went about their comfortable lunch routine, sitting close enough so that their shoulders touched. Later, during a relatively uneventful class period, Severus would wonder, not for the first time, how thing could have turned out so perfectly. Well, almost. They still had Voldemort to take care of. But, for the first time in a long time, Severus had hope. Of course that didn\'t stop his insistent point-taking. He was Severus Snape, after all.

.

The rest of his classes passed smoothly, no upsetting of any dark creatures of any kind. Harry walked down the steps leading to the dungeons, a small smile on his face. It was Monday, the day of the week he hated most, but he enjoyed being around Severus so much that it didn\'t really matter what day it was. His shoulders suddenly sagged as he remembered they had to go to another Order meeting.

Entering their chambers, Harry noticed the silence, and once again concluded that Severus was talking to some students who had probably blown a few things up. Going to their closet, Harry pulled out a cream coloured, high necked robe, which complimented his eyes and hair nicely. Tossing his other robes into the hamper, he pulled on the garment, smoothing out the wrinkles before heading back into the sitting room. They had half an hour before the meeting was to take place. The Order was hoping to have it done by dinner time.

Sitting down in his armchair with his legs curled over one arm, and his back resting on the other while his head was laid against the back of the chair, Harry lightly dozed waiting for the older man.

.

Of course there was no student needing scolding. Instead, Severus was drifting through the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts library. Why? Well, an idea had come to him last week as Harry was moving in. It was something he hadn\'t thought of in forty five years and if there was any truth to it, it would be risky as hell, but... if it worked, there was a chance Harry could get back a little bit of the family he\'d lost in this war. It wasn\'t much of a family really, but Severus wanted him to enjoy as much of life as possible and this, if it even panned out, could make right one of the more hurtful things in his past.

Glancing at his watch, he realized he\'d stayed later than he meant to--again. Damn. Ah, there was nothing here anyway, he\'d have to check his own library while Harry was sleeping. That decision made, Severus quickly took off on the quickest route to his dungeons.

When he got there, he found Harry in a lovely cream robe, dozing lightly in his armchair. No doubt waiting for him. Severus smiled warmly and tip-toed past him to change into a set of fresh, black robes. Once done, he slipped back into his sitting room, knelt by Harry\'s arm chair and leant in to kiss him softly. It was a few moments before he got any response, but once a hand came up to rest on the back of his head, he knew Harry had awakened and smiled inwardly.

.

Groaning lightly, Harry gripped the silky strands tightly as his anchor, while he sleepily accepted the tongue entering his mouth. Massaging it with his own for a few moments, he sucked on it lightly before moving his head down to get some much needed air. He smiled softly when Severus kissed his nose.

Finally catching his breath, he looked up at the other man (although he was a bit more at eye level, he\'d always be taller then Harry) and tilted his head, \"How was your day? Anyone blow up any cauldrons?\" he asked with a grin.

.

Severus smiled warmly at Harry, caressing the side of his face. \"No, they were unusually well behaved. I think they believe the apocalypse is coming after this morning\'s little public display of affection.\" His smiled widened a little when Harry chuckled. \"How was yours? I see no more injuries so I can assume either there were no more attacks, or the students got what they deserved for provoking a Veela?\"

.

They were well behaved? Then why had Severus been late at lunch and just now? That didn\'t make sense. Oh well, Harry shrugged mentally, if it was important, then the older man would tell him eventually.

Leaning into the warm hand running through his hair at the present moment, Harry grinned lightly, \"The rest of the day went off without too much hassle. It was just a Slytherin acting up in first period that made the Veela angry. And my day is now doing better now that school is over. For today at least,\" he added with a sigh. Looking down at the Muggle watch on his wrist, he swore lightly, \"It just got worse.\" Seeing Severus\' raised brow, he continued, \"Remember the Order meeting? Don\'t tell me you already forgot?\" he\'d only just told Severus this morning hadn\'t he? His mind really must be on something. That or he was getting senile. Harry snickered silently at the thought.

.

\"No, I was just distracted,\" Severus replied, helping Harry up out of his armchair with a small smirk. \"You have a habit of doing that to me.\" He leaned down to kiss Harry briefly before they could get too involved as they had done before. \"Come on,\" he murmured softly, linking his hand with Harry\'s and gently tugging him to the door. \"The sooner we get going, the sooner this can be over with.\"

They walked next to each other in a comfortable silence, leaning a bit closer to each other for warmth once they moved outside, and soon were back in the parlour of Grimmauld Place, dusting snow out of their hair. They were herded into the conference room much the same as all the times before it and, after the arrival of a few other people, a rather angry looking Lupin included, the meeting began.

\"My friends,\" Dumbledore started rather grimly, \"up until a few hours ago there was nothing left to report save more towns and villages being wiped out by Voldemort and the further development of the Army Against Voldemort. Unfortunately, that is not the case at present.\" Dumbledore, even at Order meetings, was rarely this serious, so naturally he had everyone\'s undivided attention and a few people holding their breath.

\"I have just recently received word that there has been a break-in at the Ministry with many deaths such as those of the people in the villages that Voldemort has killed. It was not just \'Mudblood\' wizards he was after this time, however. This time he stole the Veil in the Department of Mysteries.\" There was a large gasp throughout the room and many people, Lupin included, stiffened angrily. \"All they found in it\'s place was this...\" Dumbledore trailed off and handed a paper over to Harry. It was a message from Voldemort. Written in blood.

\"You will join your Godfather soon, Harry Potter.\"

.

Looking down at the paper, Harry\'s eyes narrowed. Why had Voldemort taken the Veil? What was he planning to do with it? Tossing the note on to the table, he pushed the small bit of fear aside and looked up at Dumbledore. \"Do you have anything planned? Or are we just going to stand around here and idly twiddle our thumbs, waiting for the next attack?\" his voice was cold and indifferent as he addressed the older man who he had once believed was his hero. Some hero... leaving Harry to the Dursley\'s and not protecting him in Hogwarts when all those attacks came in.

Dumbledore sighed sadly and ran his fingers slowly down his beard. \"We must not attack yet, Harry. We don\'t know what he has planned, and until then we\'ll--\"

\"Bullshit!\" Harry broke in, seething. \"If we stand around and do nothing then more people will die. More villages will be destroyed. Do you really want to wait for him to come to us and kill yet another person in this group?\" he asked rhetorically, sweeping a hand to indicate the other Order members. \"We\'ve already lost Sirius and Moody, how many more do you want killed before we finally take action?\" Harry\'s voice rose slightly at the end in his anger. He had tried staying in control, but he could only sit on his hands for so long before he broke! He didn\'t want anyone else dying! What if Severus was next?

\"Tell me when you finally get your act in gear and come up with a plan,\" he said coldly, before Apparating back to Hogwarts\' boundaries and stalking into the castle. He\'d been so focused on his anger and sadness in there that he hadn\'t even realized that his glasses, along with anything else that was glass in the Order\'s room, had broken during his outburst.

.

Severus applauded Harry inwardly and stuck around to make sure the Order finally got off their arses. They\'d only had a regular wizarding army for years now, but perhaps things should change. \"Why not ask the vampires to help us, Albus? We\'ve asked a number of other magical creatures, but I can\'t see any of them being more help than the vampires; you know what they\'re capable of.\"

Remus, of course, was ready to come back with something or other about the dangers of vampires and other such bullshit when Severus leveled him with a decidedly inhuman glare. \"You know, Remus, I am really sick of you making things difficult, for Harry and the rest of the Order. Just because you lost your mate it does not give you the right to take out your anger on innocent people. You want to be angry? Be angry at Voldemort.

\"You may know all there is to know about werewolves, my friend, but there isn\'t the tenth of research done on werewolves as is done on other magical creatures. The magical world has a lot of other problems besides Voldemort and if we don\'t get up off our sorry arses and start doing something about it, we are all going to die.\" The room was fairly silent after that. \"We need to stop nit-picking at each other and start trusting each other and fighting Voldemort.\" Severus didn\'t raise his voice as much as Harry did, but with his irises almost completely engulfed by his pupils and the intimidating air he\'d perfected after years of teaching, he didn\'t have to.

\"Harry is learning vampire magic to defeat Voldemort and because it\'s accessed directly from the source of his power, it\'s a lot stronger. Doesn\'t it make sense to ask the vampires to join our cause? I have some contacts there, I could ask them.\" Slowly the group let the information sink in and one by one they offered small nods to the looming, still relatively human, professor without much comment. \"And you, Lupin?\" Severus asked when everyone else had given their consent. He would have to talk to the wolf afterwards, his bitterness was beginning to too closely resemble Severus\' and Severus had information that might give him the hope he needed to pull himself out of it. Now just because Severus was letting go of excessive bitterness that had built up over the years, it didn\'t mean he wasn\'t still a snarky bastard. Just that, if lives were on the line, he was not beyond cooperating.

.

Calming down from his outburst, Harry finally noticed a large line obscuring his vision. Taking off the glasses, he looked down at the large cracking, wondering how he could have missed it. The one time he\'d decided to try going with his new glasses instead of the built in contacts, and what did he get? Broken glasses. Must be some hint.

Sighing, he tossed the glasses into the fire and redid the contact spell. When his vision was once again 20/20, Harry sighed and went into the bedroom, pulling off his robe and, casting a cleaning charm on it, he set it back on the hook. Taking a step back, he gave a small grin when he noticed the obvious dividing line between Severus\' robes and his.

Shaking his head at his own stupid way of avoiding something, Harry toed off his socks and climbed into the cool cotton sheets. Pulling the thick emerald green comforter up to his bare shoulders, the young man sighed again and tried to get to sleep. Tried not to think about his outburst, or Sirius... the deaths.. \"Shit,\" Harry whispered when he felt a tear slide down his cheek, escaping his tightly closed lids. He didn\'t want to cry, damn it!

.

When Lupin gave a slow nod, Severus replied quickly, \"Good. Now if you don\'t mind, I\'ll be leaving now.” With a curt nod to Dumbledore, Severus Apparated back to Hogwarts and walked smoothly in, still seething from the stagnant attitude of the Order.

He strode smoothly inside his quarters and hung up his robes before he noticed Harry on the bed, shaking a little. At once all the frustration was gone from his face and replaced instead with concern. \"Harry?” he asked softly, moving around the bed so that he could see his face. Even though Harry made an attempt to bury his head under the covers, he could tell he was crying.

\"Oh, Harry,” Severus said softly, crawling across the bed to him and gathering him in his arms. He stroked his back gently, trying to soothe him. \"Shhh. It\'ll be over soon, Harry. You\'ve made great strides in your training and after you left, the Order agreed to let me go ask the Nosferatu to join our side. They\'ll make a huge difference and this will all be over soon.” He hated seeing Harry like this... so destroyed. He hated what the war had done to him, to them all. If he could, he\'d protect Harry from ever having to feel this way again, but for now... all he could do was hold him and hope his presence was comfort enough.

.

His quiet sobs ended soon enough with the other\'s warm presence and soothing hand. Burying his face into the warm space between Severus\' arm and chest, Harry sighed and tipped his head back slightly to see the down turned face. He gave a weak smile when the older man leant down and kissed his tears away. Meeting the dark gaze, he brought his hands up to come between them, his long fingers clutching at the other\'s bare chest. \"Do you think they\'ll join? If they haven\'t joined by now, then what\'s so different now that\'s going to persuade them to join?\" he asked quietly, bringing his head back down to snuggle closer, seeking the warmth, protection, and much needed comfort.

.

Severus continued gently rubbing Harry\'s back as he answered. \"They\'ll come. They\'re very elusive mostly because Muggles aren\'t to know of anything magical to begin with, and magical people are so paranoid of anything remotely dark they\'d probably as soon as arrest a vampire than trust it just because of the rumors surrounding them. But they are very loyal to their own people.

\"There\'s never been any wars among vampires because they, at least, know the value of sticking together. That\'s how they know so much about their magic and the way their need for blood affects them, they\'re a hell of a lot more organized than the regular wizarding world. I may not be well known on Awen, or in any vampire circle, but I am part vampire, so the High Council will hear me. They want Voldemort destroyed as much as the next wizard. When they see how the Order has been convinced into finally doing something, they\'ll join. It\'s all about timing with them. They know the value of waiting, but unlike the Order, they won\'t sit on their arses and wait for death to come at them, either.\"

Severus paused in his explanation to lean down and press a kiss to Harry\'s dark head, the long strands tickling his nose. \"I\'ll have to go in person, though, over the weekend probably; they\'re too paranoid to do things by Owl.\"

.

Harry sighed, a bit sad at the thought of Severus being gone during their two days off from the rest of the school. Besides during classes, the two men weren\'t often separated. It would be strange to sleep alone again, after having got used to it. Biting his lip to hold back the urge to ask to go with the man, Harry bent his head down slightly, so he was more level with Severus\' dark nipple. Flicking his tongue out, he circled it with the wet muscle, enjoying the hitched breath in the older man. With a small smirk, Harry leaned back so he could look up into Severus\' down-turned face. \"What are we going to do if the Order still refuses to move? Will we be going in anyway?\"

.

\"Yes,\" Severus murmured, threading his fingers through Harry\'s hair. \"Listening to them has only brought near death experiences, so it is safe to say that if they want to sit and wait for death, going against them couldn\'t be any worse.\"

Severus smiled down at Harry before continuing. \"If you don\'t have too much work to do here, I\'d like it if you came with me to Awen. We\'d have to fly there, that\'s the only way to get there, but I\'m sure you wouldn\'t mind. It\'s actually a very nice place. Much like the wizarding world without messed up ministries, rabid reporters, and disloyal friends.

\"They are a little wary of humans as a rule, but humans can\'t get to Awen without a vampire as a guide so they\'ll know you\'re trustworthy and shouldn\'t treat you any differently from the other vampires there. They\'re very respectful people, so no one would harass you with all the fame you seem to have collected here or anything like that. Generally, I think you\'d really enjoy it.\"

.

Harry smiled brightly, \"I\'d love to. If you compliment them, then they must be good people.\" He grinned at Severus\' snort. Frowning slightly as he thought about the man\'s knowledge of the city, Harry asked, \"Have you ever lived there?\"

It would be nice to go to a place that would actually leave him alone about his fame and were loyal. Harry didn\'t know many people like that, besides Severus, so it would be nice to go there. He hoped they wouldn\'t be too wary of him. They were going to fight side by side after all, so they would have to get used to him as a comrade.

.

Severus smiled back at Harry and nodded. \"My family has a little cottage there. We were rich, but none of us were very fond of big houses. I grew up there and always planned to come back, but then the whole Voldemort thing started and I never quite got around to it. I don\'t doubt it\'s been well taken care of since my parents\' death, however. Like I said, vampires look out for their own.\"

It was good to see Harry cheer up so easily, and he knew visiting Awen would be good for him. \"It\'ll be a good place to vacation once this whole thing is over,\" he added softly, still running his fingers through Harry\'s hair.

.

Smiling softly at the thought of a future with both of them in it, Harry leaned back into the fingers, loving the sensation of the long digits massaging his scalp, and then running through his waist length hair. \"I think you have a fetish for long hair,\" he murmured with a small grin and closed his eyes to better enjoy the feeling.

If it hadn\'t been for Severus, Harry would probably have still been curled up on his bed, trying not to cry. But with the other man here, comforting him and holding him tightly, he\'d let go, and felt better afterwards. He wasn\'t positive what their future held, especially with the war they were in, but it was nice to hope that one day they could go live in that little cottage.

.

Severus chuckled softly and leaned down to kiss Harry deeply. Pulling back he murmured, \"I think I have a fetish for you,\" smiling at the small shiver he felt run through Harry at his words.

It was the truth, though. He\'d been clinging to bitterness and hatred for so long, he didn\'t think there was anything else left for him in the world. But the moment he\'d been weak enough to apologize to Harry, thus bringing him into his life, things had changed. Harry made it so easy to forget about everything he\'d gone through and focus on the present moment and the future with something to hope for.

.

Sneaking a hand up to rest against the back of Severus\' skull, Harry pulled him down and sucked at the other man\'s bottom lip, flicking his tongue across the white teeth, dragging it across the sharp canines, savoring the words that the other man had spoken only seconds ago.

He felt Severus smirk against his lips, probably knowing the affect he had on the younger man, and wrapped his arms more securely around his back, bringing him closer with a delicious sigh as their naked chests met, and their groins connected.

Groaning into the other\'s mouth, he accepted the tongue that was trying to get past his lips, and eagerly met it halfway, leaving their tongues out in the warming air for a moment, before he pulled the warm muscle into his mouth, sucking on it gently, enjoying the moan rumbling up from Severus\' chest.

Mmm. He could definitely get use to this...

.

As their tongues slid against each other passionately, Severus gently lowered Harry to the mattress and, sensing no discomfort from the man beneath him, settled over him gently. He pulled back slowly, savoring Harry\'s taste before trailing his lips over Harry\'s cheek and up to nibble gently on his ear. He chuckled when Harry let out a small whimper and tightened his grip on him. \"So sensitive,\" he murmured, before trailing his lips across the curve of Harry\'s neck; not intending to feed, but just wanting to explore and taste Harry. He wouldn\'t push him, but he did want to enjoy his company. He felt his partner gasp and moan softly as his lips closed around the young man\'s nipple, suckling on it and smirked inwardly. Oh yes, he loved being with Harry in every aspect.

.

Arching into the man\'s mouth, Harry sighed in pleasure and tried to anchor himself, grabbing the first thing he could. The flesh beneath his nails was quickly marked by ten red indents, as he clutched Severus\' back, trying to bring himself closer to the wonderful mouth.

Biting his lip to catch some of his moans, Harry curled a leg around one thigh, pulling himself up further to thrust his groin into the other man\'s. \"Severus!\" the name escaped as he ground himself against the other man, trying to seek more friction.

.

\"Harry,\" Severus groaned, gripping the man beneath him harder as they thrust together. He brushed his lips over the nipple once more before moving up to claim Harry\'s mouth again. They continued to thrust against each other slowly, moaning and gasping into each others mouths, hands exploring, gripping, until blinding orgasms ripped through them simultaneously and they collapsed, panting hard, against each other. When Severus returned to himself enough, he mumbled a breathless cleansing charm and gently rolled over, taking Harry with him.

Gently, as had become his habit, Severus started to run his hand down Harry\'s back, gently threading his fingers through the long hair. \"Beautiful...\" he whispered softly, pressing a kiss to Harry\'s forehead as he held him.

.

Smiling softly as he shook his head, once again thinking of the phrase, \'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,\' and how much it was true. Harry raised up and lightly pressed his lips to Severus\' chin, before laying his head back down on the broad chest and wiggling his cloth-covered legs in between the other man\'s so he could feel the slow throb of the man\'s spent cock against his lower stomach.

Sighing, he twirled one finger around a dark brown nipple, smiling slightly at the quiet sigh of muted pleasure. But he was distracted when his sweat began to dry and a cool breeze from the usually cold dungeons seeped into his skin. Shivering, Harry shifted so he was lying beside Severus; his right leg hooked over the other man\'s, his top arm slung over the warm chest, curling slightly at the side, while his head was resting in the crook of Severus\' arm, where the man was still rubbing his back lightly. Whispering a charm, the emerald green comforter slithered up from where it had been resting at their knees, and settled itself at the top of Harry\'s shoulders, upper chest for the taller man next to him.

Snuggling into the warm side and the warmer blanket, Harry smiled sleepily. \"Definitely a good way to end the day after the hell of classes,\" he smiled when Severus snorted.

He was proud of himself for not flinching or tensing (well, not too much) when the older man ran his fingers across the scars on his back. He guessed it helped that the man did it so often; he had become used to it. But he was still letting a lot of himself show in this relationship--not that he regretted any of it. He knew Severus didn\'t think less of him for the scars. And it was nice he wasn\'t asking a bunch of questions about every single scar, like some of his past lovers had. He\'d quickly given up in that department, and had relied on his own hand to relieve the stress. He didn\'t mind a few questions, since everyone was entitled to their curiosity, but asking how he had received every single scar? It was uncalled for and somewhat rude.

.

Severus turned his head to look at Harry and smiled softly. He wasn\'t so much of a bastard that he didn\'t know how lucky he was. People like Harry were rare and more than worth holding onto. It was actually astounding how seamless the shift had been from friendship to something more between them. It just seemed to fit, and that was the real beauty of it.

\"Sleep well, Harry,\" Severus murmured as he pressed one last kiss to his forehead, fully planning to return to his library as soon as the younger man was completely asleep. It was strange how easy it was to want to do things like this for Harry, and how dear to him he had become. Did he love him? He wasn\'t sure. After everything Severus had been through, love wasn\'t an admission that fell easily from his lips. But he did care for him deeply and wanted him to be happy and for those reasons alone, the risks of this little \'extra research\' seemed more than worth it.

He still needed to think about talking to the werewolf about it, as it did concern him, but that would have to wait until after they\'d come back from Awen. Right now he just wanted to watch Harry fall asleep in his arms.