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Harry shuffled his feet as he stood in front of the most feared professor at Hogwarts. Severus Snape was looking at him like a botched potion.
“Can you repeat that, Potter?”
“Will you sleep with me, even once?”
“That’s what I thought I heard. What in Merlin’s name are you on about, Mr. Potter?!” Severus Snape’s voice boomed in the dungeons classroom.
~~~
Earlier in the day…
The term was officially done, though a bit later than usual. After the battle at Hogwarts, the castle rebuilt itself with a little help from the professors and students. The seventh and the fifth years were given rigorous tutoring to be able to sit their OWLS and NEWTS without needing to repeat the year. The rest of the students were told to go home to their families and they would be back next term.
It was now the last week of June and everyone was getting ready to leave the castle. Harry and his yearmates had stayed later than the fifth year for a small gathering. They were afterall leaving the castle for good. But Harry had more reason to stay behind even after the rest of the students had apparated, even Ron and Hermione.
~~~
Harry was now face to face with Severus Snape and he could not believe that he was able to say what he came for. But he was unbelievably calm, all things considered. He just took a deep breath and summoned all his Gryffindor courage. “I really like you, Professor.”
Snape narrowed his eyes at him. “Is this some kind of a joke, Potter? Making a nuisance of yourself before you leave?”
“No,” he denied vehemently. “Not even Ron or Hermione knew I’m here.”
Snape approached him and he looked so menacing that Harry stepped back until he bumped the close door. “Look at me, Harry. Open your mind to me.”
He knew what would happen next but instead of fighting the man like he did before, he opened his mind to him and just let himself feel. He let Snape in on his most secret thoughts about the man, his fantasies about the Half-blood Prince.
After what seemed to be forever Snape let him go, his expression unreadable. “Very well,” he started as he walked back to his desk. “But not here at Hogwarts. And not now. Even though term was done for you brats, your professors still have a lot of things to do. Things we need to complete so that your NEWT scores actually meant something to the Ministry.”
“Wait, what?” Harry could not possibly hear what he thought he heard, did he?
“I said very well. But I will contact you once I’m done here.”
“You’re agreeing? You will sleep with me?” Harry did not believe this outcome was in the realm of possibility at all.
“You did not want me to agree?” Snape raised a brow at him.
“I did. I do. I just didn’t think you’ll agree, is all,” Harry admitted. “I was expecting to be thrown out of the room really.”
“If you thought it so hopeless, why did you still come here?”
“I just thought I’d do it anyway, being it’s my last day here and probably would not see you anymore,” he felt his face burned as he just admitted to being hopeless.
“Gyrffindors,” he heard the older man mutter. “Get out of here so I can finish my work, I will owl you.”
“Ok, I’ll wait then.”
Snape was already seated and back to his work even before Harry stepped out of the door.
~~~
Harry had been frantic since he received Snape’s letter. The letter arrived a few days before his birthday. The content was simple and abrupt like Snape had always been.
Dinner on Saturday. I’ll bring wine.
Snape
To Harry though it was everything he did not even dare to hope for. Freaking Severus Snape would be coming to his house to have dinner and they will...wait Harry would not even think about that. If he did he would not survive until Snape arrived.
Harry checked the sitting room again to make sure nothing was out of place and made sure the kitchen and dining area were clean. He already changed the silverware twice and wiped them a couple more times.
He had been waiting for a knock on the door but he still jumped in surprise when it came. He fumbled to wipe his hands clean, took a deep breath that did not do much, before opening the door to a Severus Snape he barely recognized. The man was wearing a light blue long-sleeved cotton shirt and a dark pair of denim jeans, his hair pulled back from his face and he was casually holding a bottle of wine.
Snape smirked at Harry’s stunned expression and leaned over for a peck on the cheek. “Like what you see, Potter?”
Harry blushed even harder and scrambled to open the door to let Snape in and take the bottle from him. “You look good, Professor.”
“Don’t you think you should call me Severus already, given the circumstances?” Severus cast a silent cleaning charm to his boots before steering Harry away from the door with his hand on his lower back.
After a few more clumsy stumbles while serving food the meal lighten with Severus asking what Harry had been up to after Hogwarts.
“I was expecting Grimmauld, so I was surprised when you replied with this address.” They retired to the sitting room with the wine. “I also thought you were entering auror training.”
“I don’t want to stay at Grimmauld on my own, I’ll go crazy there with only Kreacher for company. I had it renovated after the...you know, and it’s open for rental especially for those visiting purebloods. And auror had always been Ron’s dream. I’ve been fighting dark wizards since entering Hogwarts so it was a good idea at the time. With Voldemort at large being an auror seemed like a good start.”
Severus poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Harry, pulling him lightly to sit nearer. “Why uni though? What do you plan to take?”
Harry was distracted by Severus' arm resting at the back of the couch around his shoulder but he tried to pull himself together and looked back at the other man who was waiting for him to answer. He explained his visit to Gringotts and being presented with the Potters’ and the Blacks’ family vaults and holdings. He was relaying how the goblins told him he should focus on running the businesses instead of being employed at the Ministry. All the while he was conscious of Severus’ hand lazily stroking his upper arm.
“The goblins presented me with options for the uni and the business courses I could take.”
“Hmmm, I didn’t take you for a rich family heir.”
“Hey, I’m not the heir. I actually own it now.” Harry liked this easy atmosphere they achieved. It seemed like an impossibility a few weeks back. But there they were, sipping wine after dinner in front of the fireplace.
After the conversation reached a comfortable lull Severus took the glass from his hand and put it down at the table together with his. The man guided Harry to straddle his lap. “Is this what you really want?” Severus buried his face at the side of his neck and gently nipped the sensitive skin there.
“Yes,” Harry heard himself moaned.
~~~
Harry was still in euphoria a few days after Severus left. The man stayed until late Monday morning, he still couldn't believe what happened. He expected that they would do the deed and Severus would be on his way, “Farewell, Potter”. But he even made Harry breakfast the following day and they lounged around the house and did it a few more times on top of the furniture. And Severus’ parting lines of let’s do this again sometime. Harry tried not to even think about it, well he was really trying to not hope too much in case it was just some random, polite way to say goodbye. It was not like he knew how this worked.
He was fretting so much that when Severus’ owl came Saturday to say he would be later than last time and to go and have dinner without him, he just about had a heart attack. He rushed to his bedroom to prepare and before Severus arrived later that night he already showered three times and changed clothes more times than he could remember.
~~~
The same routine continued for the next couple of weeks, Severus spending the weekend at Harry’s place. Most of the time Harry would cook for them but there was one time that Severus arrived on a Friday and insisted that they go out.
The term started and it did not affect their weekend as much as Harry feared, Severus arrived later when he was scheduled to chaperone students to Hogsmeade and he used those days to catch up on his studies. Since he was behind his yearmates, Harry needed tutoring from older students and he was lucky enough to find a couple who needed the extra income.
Harry tried to manage his time so he was not overwhelmed but by the end of October he was exhausted. Severus was able to get Mcgonagall’s approval to leave school early on Friday not wanting to participate in the Halloween Feast.
“You should retire early, I will clean up the dishes. I don’t understand why do this the muggle way when you can just charm them. I will join you after a glass or two,” Severus guided him up to the foot of the stairs. Harry was falling asleep on his feet, he had thought the brat was coping with the heavy workload at the university but maybe he should talk to him about dropping a class or two.
He was finishing his drink when the floo activated and Granger and Weasley stepped out of it, almost tripping over each other when they saw him sitting casually on the sofa. “If you could minimize the noise,” Severus drawled. “Harry’s already sleeping and I would like him to stay that way.”
“Professor,” Granger squeaked out.
“I will tell him you called, I’m sure you could show yourselves out,” he dismissed them and started for the bedroom. Hopefully Harry would not be too upset with him for chasing his friends away. Severus had always thought of Harry’s weekend as his and he did not think kindly of interruption from other people.
~~~
Harry was sitting in front of a confused Hermione and a disgusted Ron as he explained to them why Severus Snape was comfortably sitting in his home last Saturday. It took the man just before he left Monday morning to inform him that his friends had dropped by when he was already sleeping.
“You’re dating Snape. Severus Snape?” Hermione repeated a few times now.
“I don’t think you’ll call it dating really, we just, you know, sleep together,” Harry was so embarrassed to voice it, what came out was barely a whisper.
“I don’t need to know that, like at all, mate,” Ron grumbled. “But Snape, Harry? Why?”
“Well…” and Harry launched on his tale on how he ended up in this situation with Severus.
~~~
Harry found a great study group immediately and now with the holiday break fast approaching they were scrambling to catch up with their requirements to be able to enjoy a relatively free few weeks. This found them in a cafe near the university with two tables pushed together, their books and notes scattered between them.
They were deep in discussion when someone approached their table. “Mr. Potter?” Harry raised his head and found himself looking at a man wearing a pair of expensive shades. It took him a few moments to realize he was looking as Severus, his hair down and wearing black leather jacket over a simple white shirt with the dark jeans he favored.
“Sev…” he managed to peep.
“Excuse me, if I may borrow Mr. Potter for a while,” Severus bowed slightly to his friends.
Harry excused himself and followed the other man as he went to the queue to order. “What are you doing here?”
“I was able to bully Slughorn to take the remaining days of classes. What should I get,” he gestured to the list of choices at the counter. Harry ordered for him instead, choosing a brew resembling Severus' favorite. “I’ll just take the table outside and wait for you.” He gently pushed Harry in the direction of his friends and turned back to the cashier to add to his order.
Harry reluctantly turned back to his table conscious of the others’ eyes curiously turned to him.
“Well?” One of them prompted.
“That’s my boyfriend,” he admitted.
Everyone started talking and asking questions. They wanted to know how they met, how long they’ve been together. The girls were commenting how he looked so mysterious and intimidating.
“Isn’t he a bit older than you though?”
“He was my professor at the boarding school,” Harry flushed even more as the table went quiet. He had told them as much as he could without revealing magic, he admitted to being an orphan and spending most of his formative years in a remote boarding school.
“Wow, I didn’t know you had it in you, Harry,” one of the other guys. “You always seemed so straightlaced.”
“He looked like the no nonsense type,” they observed.
That made Harry laugh, remembering his Hogwarts days with the potions master. “You should see him in a classroom, he was downright scary.”
It took them more than an hour to cover everything and he hurried to Severus’ table immediately, giving his friends a quick wave.
Severus took his hands as he stood up. “I heard there’s a new restaurant at the corner. The server said the food was pretty good.” They walked the block to the restaurant hand in hand.
~~~
Harry joined his friends at the front of the Three Broomsticks as arranged to visit the Weasley twins’ new shop in Hogsmeade. They were waiting for Neville when Ron bumped his arm to get his attention and pointed to someone at his back. He turned to bump into Severus in his teaching robes.
“Mr. Potter, causing commotion anywhere you go.” Severus sneered at them. Neville arrived at that moment and stopped approaching when he realized who was talking to them. “Next time give word ahead of time to ensure we have sufficient crowd control.”
“It was an impromptu gathering really. I didn’t even know we’ll be here until I’ve met up with Hermione and Ron, like I told you.” Harry answered his unspoken question.
The older man snickered before leaning in to kiss him lightly on the lips and pulled him by the waist. “Come up to the castle when you're done?” Severus raised a brow at him.
“I will.”
“Well, good day,” he turned with the usual swish of his robes.
Ron made a gagging sound while Hermione and Ginny were simpering and the rest was just confused.
~~~
It had been almost a year since Severus started going out with Harry and all this time Harry had been holding his breath to when it would all end. Severus kept coming back each week and he even met with Harry when he was with muggle friends. Finally he practically outed them to his magical friends in the middle of Hosgmeade. All the while Harry kept a tight leash on his heart to keep it from hoping for things that were not offered to him. Severus already gave him more than he ever asked for, his time, his attention and in Severus’ way his affection. He should not ask for more and he was able to convince himself that this was enough. And it was until he heard from Molly that Severus accepted her invitation to the Burrow for Harry’s birthday.
They were having their usual drink at Harry’s place when Harry spoke up and Severus almost dropped his glass. “What did you say?”
“Let’s break up.”
Severus sighed and put his glass down to face his lover. “Did I do anything wrong? Because I honestly think we are doing great. Definitely better than I expected.”
“It’s not something you did, you did not do anything wrong, really.”
“Tell me what you really want, Harry, else I will not know what you need.”
“At first I did not expect you’ll agree to sleeping with me but then you did. I tried so much not to dream for more than what you’re giving me but now that you’re becoming part of everything I do, I am so scared. Scared that when you eventually get bored of me I would not survive you leaving me.”
Severus reached for Harry and held him in his arms. He places a light kiss at his temple before resting his chin on his bowed head. “Harry what do you think we’ve been doing? Do you really think I would spend so much time and attention on someone I do not care for deeply? Do I look like someone who does anything casually?”
“No,” he heard Harry’s muffled voice. “But we never really talked about it.”
“I was hoping to do this on your birthday but I guess now is a good time.” He let Harry go to summon a box from his coat’s pocket. He opened it and held it out to Harry, inside was a simple gold band with a small emerald in the middle. “Will you bond with me?”
His young lover looked back at him in disbelief, not even reaching for the ring. “Oh, Severus.”
“I do love you, brat.”
~~~