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It had become a ritual for him to climb to the Astronomy tower a quarter of an hour before midnight, let the wind whip his robes around him as he stood on the ledge where his life had crumbled to pieces so many years ago, and to allow himself to fall, plummeting through the air, falling, falling, falling, until with a shift and a mighty beat of black wings, he was soaring instead of falling.
The moon was high in the sky, full and shining brilliantly over the dark water of the Black Lake as the large black bird sat high in a tree, enjoying the cool summer night. Severus had always been a night person, staying up far too late for his workload, but unable to fight the pull of the wind as it flowed through his feathers, or the peace he gained from flying in the moonlight.
When a low cry carried on the wind, the rest of his nightly ritual began. He took off from his perch, flying high into the clouds until he could peer down at the landscape and see everything there was to see. At first, there was nothing, until a shadow swooped low before pulling back up. A black kite, sleek and dark, folded in his wings, free falling toward the dark water, only to spread his wings and allow the air currents to take him back up.
As the kite came back up level, Severus swooped forward, brushing their wings together with a quiet call, before he wheeled away, flipping in the air as he too allowed himself to free fall. The pair of birds played over the water, swooping, diving, falling, brushing wings, and occasionally grabbing with clawed feet for well over an hour, until he felt the pleasant burn of well used muscles and exhaustion crept in. Now, after all of that, he might be able to sleep.
With one last croaking call at the other bird, Severus glided back to the tower, changing in midair so he stepped onto the ledge as though he could walk on air. The kite, which, as always, had followed him to the tower, swooped low, almost brushing his hair with its wing before it climbed higher again. For a moment, he could see the bird clearly, its odd, off colored feathers that, if looked at just right, would resemble a lightning bolt above bright green eyes, and he could only hope that he too would soon get some rest.
The journey down from the tower and back to his rooms was a quiet affair. There was no one else out at such an hour, and he made it to the dungeons without meeting another soul. Properly exhausted after flying and playing for so long, Severus slipped into his nightclothes, into bed, into the warmth that waited there for him, and then allowed sleep to claim him.
The next morning, as every morning, Severus Snape left his chambers early, arriving at the Great Hall before most of the students. He sat in his usual chair and took a sip of the coffee that waited in his normal place, made perfectly to his preference, as always. Just like every other morning, a few minutes after Severus finished his first cup of coffee, a tousle haired Harry Potter slid into the seat next to him.
The two men did not speak, but when Severus finished his second cup, Harry handed him the cinnamon muffins without the man saying a word, and Severus knew exactly which jam Harry wanted for his toast. From anyone's point of view who was not paying strict attention, the two still barely tolerated each other, just as they had a decade before when Harry first joined the Hogwarts staff. Only those who knew them well could see the way they all but orbited each other. Constantly acting to give the other what they needed before it could be asked, when one moved, the other was soon to adjust as well, never out of sight when in the same room.
As they finished breakfast, Severus stood, his only goodbye a silent brush of fingers against Harry's shoulder as he left to set up his classroom for the day. All the while, his thoughts drifted to that evening, when he and Harry would once again meet over the Black Lake to fly and play until they had outrun the demons that plagued them for another night, where, after they would both return to their rooms and sleep wrapped up together.
It had started nearly a decade before, when two birds ran into each other at midnight over the lake. They had flown together for a time before going their separate ways, and never mentioned it when they saw each other the next morning at breakfast.
It became a nightly occurrence, and eventually, they began to play as well as fly and speak to one another during the day instead of avoiding each other at all costs. Their relationship developed slowly, learning the truth about each other and how similar they truly were. The first night Harry stayed instead of leaving to retire in his own rooms had marked them both irrevocably, and from then on, neither could sleep without the other.
They did not announce to anyone as their relationship changed; they simply adapted to one another and let those who mattered figure it out on their own. Anyone who could not see what was in front of them did not need to know. To their surprise, those who did discover made no fuss over their relationship, or any of the reasons it might be unacceptable. They were accepted as they were, two lost souls who had found each other in the moonlight.
When midnight drew ever nearer, and all their work was done, a large raven sat in his favourite tree, watching from afar as the black kite played and did his best to become an acrobat before he was joined in flight, and the two birds began their usual games, flying together just as they had done for many years, and just as they would continue to do for many more.