It was when Severus flung himself in front of his two lovers that he realized how much he truly cared about them.
Perhaps he should start at the beginning. Everything had come together some months after the fall of the Voldemort. Things had been going smoothly, at least that had been his original thought. He had locked himself firmly in his dungeons and had refused to come out for the summer before the brats got back. When they did arrive, he exited his rooms only for his classes, even eating meals in his quarters. He was left to his thoughts, and his fears, and his absolute hopelessness.
No one saw this, that is, except two young men. As he slowly deteriorated, they watched and fell deeper into their own despair. Draco Malfoy was a lost soul, confused and with nothing to live for. Harry Potter was adrift among people who cared only for his title, left to his own devices by his friends and haunted by the war.
What Severus didn't know was that what woke the boys at night, panting and swallowing screams, was the fear of losing him and the other student. While Harry dreamt of Severus' face as he bled out from Nagini's bite, and imagined that Voldemort had caught Draco with the Killing Curse as he ran across the battlefield to him, Draco was tormented by images of Harry dead in Hagrid's arms, and Severus' crumbling before him as he protected him from enemy Death Eaters.
None of them realized what this was going to lead to, and none of them would have expected it. It all came crashing down when Harry, wandering the castle in the night to stave off the dreams, came across Draco doing the same. The two were surprised at first, that was, until they saw the other's haunted eyes.
After that the two walked the halls together every night, running from reality together with fleeting kisses and secret caresses. They slowly brought each other out of the darkness, whispered conversations and silent tears turning into soft chuckles and tentative smiles.
They fell in love.
Before either realized it, the sex that served as a distraction became making love just for the sake of it. This went on for months before the young men realized what the dreams led up to, and what this meant for each of them now. Severus Snape must be brought back.
Draco, being the Slytherin he was (a Slytherin always gets what he wants, after all) brought it up first. He was terrified that it would drive Harry away, so when the other male offered a bright smile he was both shocked and delighted. They formed their plan.
It started with royally pissing off the Potions Master. They began fighting violently in his classes once more, though they were indifferent to each other before other Professors. Severus' patience began to fail him, and he finally let them know they both had a week of detention with a roar that made the classes' ears ring.
The next step was to show him that he wasn't alone. They both knew from experience they could get under his skin more so than other students, so they used that to their advantage. They spent detentions cleaning cauldrons and surprising Severus by speaking softly to each other about the war, nightmares, and dreams they felt were vanishing like smoke in the wind.
Of course, Severus caught on to the fact that they had been acting in class, but he was confused as to why. Surely not to get detention on purpose? What reason could they have, to talk to each other around their silent, eavesdropping teacher? Severus found himself understanding how the two felt, even though he balked at the idea of ever speaking about it. This went on for three nights. That was when they began giving little kisses goodnight before leaving for their respective dorms.
At first Severus nearly fell out of his chair. This couldn't be happening. Something inside him broke and at the same time a tiny bubble of hope formed. Trying to shake both off, he returned to his quarters and a glass of brandy. It wouldn't do to dwell on such things.
Draco and Harry became frustrated with the slow going, but knew they could not rush the man. He was very much stuck in his ways, and though they both knew that he loved them in some way, they knew not where those feelings stemmed from – though they hope he could come to accept them into his life in the way they had accepted each other. They weren't aware that his nightmares had shifted from them losing their lives to them rejecting him.
It took five months for them to crack Severus, but crack he did. The last straw was part of their final plan: be honest. They thought he was ready to hear it, and they knew he needed to. Severus found himself hours later with a student under each arm, sleeping soundly for the first time in years. It took him another three months to discover they weren't playing an elaborate prank on him, and one day, when they both embraced him after a particularly trying day, he felt tears escape closed eyes, and whispered his doubts and fears into understanding ears.
That night they dragged him to his bedroom and proved how much they cared for him. They were lost in sensation when they each muttered their first "I love you"s. They had found salvation in each other.
After the school year ended, they found a place together. Ron and Hermione didn't understand, and ignored Harry for weeks, during which Severus and Draco spent a lot of time consoling him. After a month Severus was truly furious with them, and came knocking at their door.
After quite a bit of yelling and fuming on his part, and shocked looks on their faces, he returned home to Harry and Draco sleeping on the couch. He gently laid a blanket over them and settled in a chair beside the couch to read. The two other parts of the Golden Trio came back with their tails between their legs, begging Harry's forgiveness and promising to give Severus and Draco a chance. While Harry accepted the apology quickly, Draco gave Severus a sideways look and a smirk at the man who clearly had something to do with it.
The three of them stayed in this wonderful little bubble for seven more months. Seven months of the purest joy any of them had ever felt. Seven months of the only true love any of them had ever known. But all good things must come to an end.
Loose Death Eaters had been a problem, especially for the three of them. They usually fought them off with ease and turned them in to the Aurors before going on their merry ways. They didn't expect a group to find their well-hidden home, much less get through the layers of wards protecting it. But they did, and now Severus was here, arms spread to protect the only good thing he had ever been ale to hold on to, a curse heading straight for him.
The curse sliced a deep gash from his shoulder to the opposite hip, and he could feel the screams of fury from behind him as magic exploded outwards from his furious mates. The Death Eaters were disintegrated by the power, and Severus found himself being gently laid on the couch, Draco desperately trying to heal him while Harry fire called St. Mungo's. But Draco was no healer, and the paramedics were taking too long. Blood poured from the wound as Severus grasped Draco and Harry's hands.
They wept, asking why he had done this for them. He smiled softly and told them that they saved him, and he wanted to return the favor. He died with a smile on his face, holding on to his lovers for dear life.
Harry and Draco took Severus' death very hard. The locked themselves in their home, often finding themselves wrapped in each other of the floor, weeping. No one knew what to do for them, and everyone watched as the life drained from their hearts. They loved each other, but without their other lover, they fell down deep into a desolate place that none belong in.
They vanished for a month. Everyone thought they had left to get away from the home they shared with the other man, but Ron and Hermione were concerned. The two would have told them. The search began, but it took another week to discover where they were, because no one had thought to check the cemetery where Severus was buried.
Their bodies were found curled around each other before his tombstone. They were buried on either side of the man who saved their lives countless times.
He just couldn't save them this time.