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It was the night of an Order of the Phoenix meeting, and almost everyone had come, even Snivellus. Sirius was just glad that he had company; being trapped in his childhood home was driving him mad. Sometimes it felt like he was back in Azkaban with the dementors. He drew a mug of alcohol to his mouth and glared at Snivellus, who was giving him a look of disdain.
“Possessing nothing to contribute to the order’s meeting is no excuse to act like a drunkard. That conduct does not serve as an exemplary model for your godson." Snape sneered, leaning back in his seat with a satisfactory glint in his eyes.
“Piss off, Snivellus. You don’t even care about Harry. He’s told me that you act like an outright git around him.” Sirius leaned over the table, pulled the other man by his robe, and snarled in his face. “Why don’t you go lick your master’s boots? You aren’t needed here.”
Snape smirked, and it infuriated Sirius. “Oh, but I am useful—more useful than you’ll ever be. You are merely a coward who hides while I face the Dark Lord, risking my life to gain integral information for the order.”
Dumbledore broke up the row, and Sirius ran off to his room and finished the bottle of fire whiskey. Even more so than hating the git, he despised the fact that he was correct. Sirius served no purpose in the war effort. He wasn't even able to act as Harry’s guardian, as he was a fugitive who was in hiding.
Sirius hurled the empty bottle of fire whiskey at the wall, which shattered on impact. His head was aching, and he was in no mood for his disparaging thoughts, so he transformed into Padfoot. He curled up in his bed and closed his eyes.
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Sirius woke to knocking on his bedroom’s door and transformed back to answer. “What’s going on?” He opened the door to find Snape, which surprised him because he was sure his nap had lasted a few hours and that everyone should have left by now.
“The Floo Network is down because of a heavy snowfall. I must inevitably spend the night here.” Snape informed him rather than asking him if he could stay over.
Sirius poked him with the borrowed wand and glared. “What makes you think that I would allow you to stay?” Snape didn’t rise to the bait and simply raised an eyebrow.
"Would you genuinely abandon me in the blizzard? Dumbledore will be dismayed, as it was he who proposed I stay here and assured me that you would not object.” Snape appeared indifferent as to whether he would spend the night in the cold or have shelter, prompting Sirius to growl at him.
“You can stay in my brother’s room. I'm confident that you won't require my assistance to find his room.” When Sirius implied that he was aware of Snape's relationship with Regulus, a look of intense emotion flashed across his face.
Snape walked away from him without batting an eye, and Sirius was mad that he had not taken the bait. A satisfying confrontation with Snape would have calmed his restless spirit. He wanted to claw out the other man’s skin, curse him, draw him close, and lay with him.
There was something very wrong with Sirius. He had no business wanting a man who shared his loathing of him. Snape had crawled under his skin and into every part of him from the moment they first met, and Sirius resented the extent to which the other man ruled over him. It caused him to make terrible decisions; it caused him to send Snape to the Shrieking Shack during their fifth year.
Sirius had walked in on Rosier snogging Snape, and he saw red. Snape was an ugly git, and he shouldn’t have been snogging anyone. No one should have taken an interest in Snape. Sirius had done his damndest to keep it that way. Yet his younger brother had taken an interest in Snape, and Sirius saw that Snape reciprocated those feelings.
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Sirius tossed and turned in bed. He couldn’t sleep, knowing that Snape was just around the corner. He got out of bed, walked to his brother’s room, and stood in front of the door, waiting for something. The door opened to an alert Snape, and he sighed, widening the opening and inviting Sirius into the room.
Sirius didn’t hesitate—like he did when they were fifteen, nineteen, or twenty—to accept his invitation, needing physical comfort that night. He wasn't certain who initiated the contact, but they were devouring each other’s lips, and then they were on the bed, touching each other everywhere.
It was everything and more than he had hoped for. Snape was gentler than Sirius expected, handling him as if he were made of porcelain. Sirius couldn’t hold back from confessing his feelings after every kiss and after every gentle caress. He begged forgiveness while sinking into Snape’s heat, and as they climaxed, their soulmate marks became visible.
Soulmate marks only became visible after soulmates had sex with one another. Sirius now understood why he was obsessed with Snape; this man he had despised was his soulmate all along. He had misinterpreted his strong feelings for Snape as negative rather than positive. He would have done things differently if he had known, but he could not turn back time.
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Snape was gone the morning after the snowstorm, and he didn’t return to 12 Grimmauld Place, not even after Sirius sent countless letters. Sirius was getting restless and considering going to Hogwarts as Padfoot when he heard someone come out of the floo. He hurried to see who it was.
“Snape,” was all he said as he dumbly stared at the man before regaining his composure. “You git. Why didn’t you answer my letters? Why haven’t you come around? I think we should talk about this.” And he pointed at the mark that covered all of his right arm, from wrist to shoulder.
“I’m here now.” He sighed nonchalantly and leaned on his heels. His cavalier attitude infuriated Sirius. "It appears that our being soulmates is interfering with you not risking your whereabouts. I am here to tell you to stop making pointless attempts to contact me. It doesn’t matter that we are soulmates. This war is all that matters.”
Sirius experienced a sharp ache. “It matters. This... what we have matters. You’re my soulmate, for Merlin’s sake. We've never gotten along before, but I always knew there was something between us, and now that I know why that is, I can’t give you up.” Sirius had closed the gap as he delivered his speech, raising Snape's robe sleeve to reveal his soulmate mark.
Snape sucked in a breath and let out a half-sob, half-hysterical laugh as Sirius traced it with a light touch. “You understand nothing, Black. I am a sacrificial pawn in this war. After this war, I will most likely be dead or in Azkaban. It was just my luck to learn the identity of my soulmate right at the end of my life.”
Sirius was astounded by Snape's loss of composure and his words. He held him in his arms and swore, “We will make it through this war together.”
Snape stayed that night and returned any night he did not have detentions. (In one of their weekly letters, Harry mentioned to Sirius that Snape had begun to give out less frequent detentions.) Sirius found peace of mind over the weeks and months that he spent with Snape. Many members of the order commented on his change of attitude and behavior as he became less restless and stopped drinking excessively. If only they knew that Snape was to thank, they wouldn’t believe it.
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On June 18, 1996, Snape revealed his true allegiances when he rescued Harry Potter with the help of his soulmate, Sirius Black.
On June 30, 1997, the Death Eaters broke into Hogwarts and were ambushed by the Order of the Phoenix, who were waiting for them. Draco Malfoy had spoken up about what the Dark Lord had asked of him, and Dumbledore took advantage of that.
Voldemort killed Harry Potter on July 1, 1997, but he survived and defeated him. Dumbledore revealed to Harry, Snape, and Sirius that Harry was one of Voldemort's horcruxes and that they needed to find and destroy the rest of them in order for Voldemort not to return. It did not take them long to find the rest, thanks to the assistance of Kingsley and Bill Weasley.
On August 3, 1997, Sirius was giving a fair trail as Kingsley was the new Minister for Magic.
On September 12, 1997, Sirius became Harry’s legal guardian. Harry was happy to finally be with his godfather
On December 23, 1998, Sirius Black and Severus Snape had a wedding ceremony with friends and family. (Sirius proposed two weeks after Snape moved into their new home, but Snape wanted to wait another year before marrying him.)