Harry Potter Fanfic

Harry Potter and Severus Snape had been a couple since Christmas on Potter's sixth year of school.

The teen had been the one to confess after sharing glances with the older potions master and surprisingly Severus had admitted his interest in the young Potter rather than blaming it on his megalomania.

After the death of Voldemort, the two came forward together to the whole of the Wizarding world, announcing their relationship as well as Harry asking people to accept his choice in partner as well as give them time to draw back and relax on their own.

The pair moved into a small cottage in the edges of Hogsmeade, Severus insisting on staying as a potions teacher at Hogwarts, and tried to make things work as a household of two. Severus had been living alone for a long time and therefore had habits and routines different from Harry's, who had a more sense of neatness than his lover and a wanting for helping his boyfriend out even if he was banished from the basement that was the potions lab.

For some time, their cohabitation was lovely according to Harry despite a few clashes over where to put what furniture when moving in as well as the small bickering the first few months, especially about sharing the potions lab rather than build two separate areas for them to work at.

One morning Harry awoke to being alone in the bed, glancing over only to find his lover gone and not looking at him with brooding, loving eyes like usual when the man woke up before him. He reached out to touch the sheet and found it slightly warm, the bed having been left at least half an hour ago. Sitting up, he yawned and stretched, deciding that Severus had probably had an epiphany and had hurried off to the potions lab.

He rose from the bed and dressed in a shirt and pants, liking the muggle clothes better than a dress made for men. He knew that Severus liked seeing his ass hugged nicely by the pants and made sure that they were pulled up to his waist as well as the shirt tucked in to bag slightly above the rim of the pants. He brushed his hair roughly, knowing that Severus had discovered just how much time he had used the first week to try and tame it before the older man had told him that it didn't matter how unruly his hair was, that he was loved no matter how it looked. Grabbing his glasses Harry left their bedroom, noticing that the bed should probably have been made, but decided against it with a sly smirk. He put his glasses on as he rounded the railing of the stairs and walked down as he yawned once more, smelling the coffee hanging in the air and wafting from the kitchen.

Severus stood with his back to him staring out the windows towards their garden with potions ingredients, tended by Harry since he was better at gardens than his lover. He was dressed in the inner parts of his teacher's robes, ready for another day of dunderheads ruining his good mood and his hair, long and wavy, was collected in the back with a muggle hairband bought on one of their dates to muggle London. A cup of tea steamed off in front of him on the counter, untouched but poured anyway.

He had decked the table and made breakfast, a cup of coffee for Harry to enjoy standing by the Daily Prophet lying untouched on the kitchen table. Normally he would have read the paper as soon as possible but this morning it was obviously undisturbed and merely brought to the table from where one of the owls had delivered it to their house.

"Morning, Sev," Harry greeted, pulling out his chair and sitting down. He looked up when no answer came, trying to figure out what was wrong with his lover, and then reached out to take a sip of coffee.

"Good morning, Harry," he said in a monotone, back still turned as he gripped the counter tightly and apparently tried to keep himself in check.

Harry knew his posture, the tense back and the gripping on any edge of a surface he was near. "What's wrong, Sev?" he asked cautiously, maybe it was just some potion buggering him this time.

His lover didn't reply, he merely squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath through his nose.

"Sev?" Harry stood putting the cup down and walked over to the older man, grabbing his arm. "Tell me."

"Get out," he said at last, after a larger amount of time and silence had passed between them. "Leave," he said, turning his head to look at Harry with incredible sadness and hurt evident in his eyes. "Go away."

Harry retrieved his hand and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms protectively as he did whenever it was some emotional turmoil that had them arguing. "What are you saying, Sev?" he said with a slight smile full of the same sadness and hurt, unwillingly tears gathered in his eyes but luckily they didn't spill.

"You'd be better off without me," Severus began looking out the window again but Harry shifted beside him and made him stop. "Harry," he warned.

"No," the young man said, arms uncrossing as he turned fully to Severus. "I know what you're doing," he accused. "I know why you're pushing me away, Sev, and that's not okay."

"Harry."

"No," the teen insisted and slammed his hand on the counter. "I deserve you," he said and kept him trapped with his wet, Avada Kedavra green eyes. "And you deserve me," he added. "Don't do this, Sev. Please don't," he choked out, the emotions getting the better of him.

"It's not that," Severus said just as upset. He turned to him fully, but lowered his head to the ground. "It's not what you think, Harry…" He scraped his nails over the counter and clenched his hands. "I just need… I need time to think," he said, lifting his eyes. "You need to leave, Harry. This was rushed. This…"

"It was not rushed," Harry argued and straightened to at least seem a little taller. "Severus," he said, eyes almost spilling over, "We can work this out. I won't go down into the lab, we'll build a small station outside for me to work at," he blabbered.

"HARRY!" Severus yelled trying to get him to shut up. "It won't work between us, you should've realized that a long time ago, before you even came to me," he barreled on, staring into his eyes with a harsh glare.

Harry glared right back at him, suddenly angry at the man before him, angrier than he had ever felt. "I know," he growled out through gritted teeth. "Why do you think I waited three and a half fucking years before I just threw caution to the wind and confessed?" He stepped back and combed his hand through his hair. "Sev, I realized that no matter what I wanted to fight for this, for us," he said in a calm, sedated voice. "It will work, Sev, trust me." He looked up at him with compassion. "Please, Sev."

Both held their breath as the older contemplated their argument.

"Just go, Harry," Severus whispered hoarsely and left the kitchen, slamming and probably locking the door to the basement as he retreated into his darkness.

Harry looked after him with tears spilling down his cheeks, leaned against the counter as he realized that Severus didn't want to fight for whatever they were. He sniffled and undid one of the shirt's sleeves to wipe his nose and face in it before he too left the kitchen to stumble upstairs.

He retrieved Hedwig's cage and his old trunk from the cupboard with his school things and packed clothes and some owl food for her before he went downstairs and placed it in the entrance area of their hall. He turned to look at the door to the basement and then went into the living room to write a small note to Severus, making sure not to drip tears onto it as he tried to contain himself.

One last time he looked at the basement door, expecting Severus to rush out, stumble on the top stair, and beg him not to leave. He knew that this was the first and last time that he would leave Severus like this, he couldn't take much more pain in his life. Turning to the front door, Harry steeled himself, shrunk the trunk and the cage and stuck it in his pocket. "Hedwig," he said, choking on the lump in his throat.

The white owl with dark spots looked once to Severus' black barn owl Florian before she spread her wings and glided over to perch on Harry's arm. She nibbled on his earlobe and rubbed her head against his in some sort of comfort, turning her head to greet Florian goodbye as they stepped out of the front door.

Harry applied a Glamour to hide his tears still streaming down his cheeks and the red eyes and walked down toward the edge of the town before he Apparated to Godric's Hollow.

Severus waited half an hour longer before he dragged himself up the stairs and slowly opened the door to the basement.

Florian sat perched on the hat stand and glared at him as much as it was possible for an owl to seem hateful and not just curious.

"Don't look at me like that," the potions master said and looked around him, nothing seemed changed until he leaned inside the living room and saw the paper lying on the sofa table. He immediately recognized the writing and hesitated to go in and read it until Florian suddenly hooted, a thing he had never done before, and startled Severus into action. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered and walked in to retrieve the note.

The barn owl landed heavily on his shoulder and seemed to read the note as well, while Severus merely skimmed the page of Harry informing him that he would be getting his stuff when the school year started and that he would wait for Severus to make up his mind, though the young man was unsure if he would try a relationship with the potions master again.

Severus gripped the paper tightly, shaking all over as he let his own tears glide over his pale cheeks.

Suddenly Florian pecked him rather hard on the side of his head, prompting him to look at it, and took off over to its perch by the table with parchment, inkwell and feathers for when he or Harry wanted to write their friends.

"I will not obey an owl," Severus hissed and folded the paper, stalking out of the living room, angry at the owl rather than sad that he had fucked up once more in life. He ventured upstairs and fell onto the bed heavily, rubbing his face against Harry's pillow as he cried more openly.

The barn owl sitting downstairs just sighed very human-like and then flew over to sit by a perch by a window turning out towards the front of the house, waiting for Hedwig and Harry to return.

[END]