Secret Meeting

Disclaimer: Severus, Harry, Dumbledore, Hermione and Ron ALL belong to JK

"No, I don't think so," said Dumbledore's portrait. "He will know what to do with it. And Severus, be very careful, they may not take kindly to your appearance after George Weasley's mishap –"

Snape turned at the door.

"Don't worry, Dumbledore," he said coolly. "I have a plan…"

And Snape left the room.

000

Just two years ago. Just two short years since he had come to him. That sobbing, irritating brat had come to him, his eyes spilling over with tears. Lily's eyes, agonized and sparkling like emeralds under the film of water. And he had not been able to stop himself from wrapping his arms around the child. The child that was not a child. He was an adult in the way that he had been through so much that he was forced to think like an adult. And yet… he was a child in age and emotional maturity, and in the gangly body that he inhibited, as was proved by the way he accept the embrace and buried himself in it.

The embrace of someone he thought hated him. Was that all it took to soothe him? Severus had wondered. Is that how much he craves comfort? He needs it so much that I can give it to him. Me.

Severus had held him in silence, waiting for the boy to speak. And he had. He had said so much, maybe too much to a person who spent time at the hand of Voldemort. He had spoken of his godfather, that dead, foolish pup, of his fears, of how he did not think that he could survive Voldemort's return, of his nightmares. Of how he could be forced to kill, how he feared it, dreaded it. How Severus was surely the only person in the castle who would understand him.

And Severus had tried, tried his very best to comfort him. And then it evolved into more than comfort. They had to meet in secret – no one could know that they met, that they talked, that they… loved.

000

The waiting, the endless waiting, was over. He apparated into the forest with a crack that he was positive everybody in a two mile radius heard, but nothing stirred. Silently, he cast the spell that would hopefully lead him to his brat, 'Homenum revelio.' But there was nothing. No people in those woods? Could Nigellus have been wrong? Was it all useless? He… damn it, if he could not admit it to himself how could he admit it to the brat… he'd missed Harry. If he could get this close, and then miss him…

But no, his brat was smarter than that, he knew. Instead… he cast the only charm that he could think of that would keep him in hiding. Summoning up the memory of the last time they had been together, he cast 'Expecto Patronum.'

He had to wince when the silver deer gambolled from his wand. Lily had been his protection; she had saved him, brought him over to the Light side. Harry understood that, he was sure. Besides, Severus protected Harry now, not the other way round. "Find Harry," he whispered to the corporeal doe. When had he slipped from Potter to Harry? He wondered. But it seemed so natural now. Harry was his own person, not just the spawn of James Potter, he knew that now. He was a fool to have taken so long to see it.

But the doe was getting away from him. With soft, silent steps, he followed her through the snow. And then… there was his Harry, shivering in the freezing wind, appearing from no where, a pitiful sight in a mountain of jumpers. That would have surprised his Slytherins: Severus Snape could feel pity? Yes and compassion, and love, and… just plain passion. There was a Snape who was cold and unfeeling and cruel, and there was a Severus with emotion who was revealed to a very few. A Severus who he had thought he had lost until Harry had brought it out of him.

Severus shook his head, long hair falling into his face. He had a mission to complete before he could allow himself to lapse into thought. The sword was in his hand, and he banished it into the nearest body of water. In a fertile forest like this there was bound to be pools or streams.

Dumbledore had wanted valour? Well. Harry had been at his most Gryffindor during the second Triwizard task. It would be fitting to recreate the situation: retrieving a treasure from the depths. With a flick of his wands, he directed the doe towards the sword, and Harry followed her, and Severus followed Harry. He could only see the back of him, lit by a small umbrella of wandlight: the broad, muscular shoulders and back, the pert behind, long legs taking careful steps.

The three of them then stopped at a frozen path, and Severus was forced to smile at his own ingenuity as he waved the doe into nothing. Harry took another few steps towards the pool, and then halted, staring down. His back was rigid in tension, even through all those jumpers, and Severus stifled the urge to approach him and kiss away the fear, the apprehension that must have been constant for him since they had last been together, before the summer.

Severus knew because… it had been constant for him too. He was not part of any victories, because anything he wanted to celebrate was a loss for the Death Eaters. So he had become zombie-like again: never showing emotion, never sharing his true opinion, never telling the truth. He had only been able to confess those things to Harry in the past, and only once Harry had coaxed him into opening up, Merlin knew how.

Light flashed through the trees, but Severus had hidden himself, wrapping himself in shadow. It hurt that he had to, but Harry had to get the sword first, but after… maybe. He could hope.

"Accio sword," came the summoning charm, and Severus had to roll his eyes. That is not going to work, brat. Then… a word that threatened to crack his stony resolve: "Help."

I want to help you, Merlin knows. But you have to help yourself now Harry. I know you can you irritatingly good Gryffindor. Just use your brains. Contrary to all I said before you were Harry, when you were Potter, you do have brains. Use them child!

A long moment reigned, of Harry pacing in silence, until resolve straightened his shoulders. Then he started to pull off his clothes, layer by layer. Severus licked his lips, having to take ragged breaths as Harry stood there, pale body in the darkness, in just his underwear. That threatened his resolve more than anything, and he had to turn away, back to a tree, until the splash came.

Then he almost threw himself around the tree, hanging desperately to it as he waited. Surely this had been going on for too long? How long could he stay under? And then… there was Weasley, pulling the coughing and choking Harry out of the water. They spoke, as Harry pulled his clothes on, but Severus did not catch a word of the conversation. Harry had almost drowned! He should have done it differently, thought up something else, he had almost killed Harry. He was not about to lose another love.

"Hey!" Weasley's shout pulled him out of his anger with himself, and a moment later, he was looking at Harry.

His pale, wet, shaken Harry met his eyes, gaping. Hurriedly, Severus covered his lips with his index finger, hushing him and pointing him back to Weasley. If the ginger suspected… Blinking rapidly, Harry nodded once, settled his face into one of curious bemusement, and returned to his friend.

Severus breathed a sigh of relief that Harry was no fool, as he himself clearly was – letting himself be discovered – and waited.

000

Harry waited. He had seen Severus, Severus had brought him the sword. He would come to him, surely. His patience was wearing thin. Could he not hurry up and walk by? Hermione and Ron were both asleep and who knew when they would wake? Growling under his breath to himself, Harry stood and began to pace up and down. Maybe he should step outside the boundaries. If Severus was around he knew that he would be safe.

Taking a deep breath, he moved out into the open, beyond the barrier. "Severus?" he hesitantly called, creeping out into the bushes and trees. "Severus?"

He spun on his foot slowly, surveying the area, and had to smother a gasp as arms crept around his waist. The breath in his ear, the kiss on his temple, the firm body against his… "Severus!" He swung around and leant up to kiss his lover. The kiss was firm and demanding, and oh so familiar. Severus took control, plunging his tongue into Harry's mouth.

With a groan, Harry pulled away and snarled, "How has it taken you so long to find me? I have been waiting for you for six months."

"Don't snarl at me brat," growled Severus. "Because I can always snarl right back. Much louder."

"I know," Harry pressed another quick kiss to the older wizard's lips, unable to resist. They were pressed chest to chest, breathing in each other's unique scents.

Severus frowned. "I do not like this. You are almost the same height as me. How could you grow so tall in my absence?"

"I do not know." Suddenly, Harry gave a soft cry, and buried his face into the black collar at the dark wizard's neck.

Caught off his guard, Severus hesitated but then sighed and wrapped his arms around the younger male. "What is it child?" he asked in the softest voice he could manage. "You can tell me."

The whisper was so quiet he almost missed it, yet maybe it was disbelief. "I missed you."

Severus bit the inside of his cheek – he had long since abandoned the habit of biting his lip as it was so obvious to an outsider – but then managed, "Why have you been spending your time missing me when you should be saving the world?"

"It is not something I have a choice over," muttered the Boy-Who-Lived. "I can not help how I feel. It has been so hard, and I have been so scared, and we have not had enough successes. It is so frustrating."

Severus lowered his head to kiss Harry's hair, "You foolish, sentimental child."

"I am not…" Harry started to protest.

"I know, I know. And I can not make it better for you, however much I wish that I could. Wishing will not bring this war to an end, and it will not keep us alive," Severus sighed into the younger wizard's hair. "How can I make it at all better you?" he asked, trailing one long white finger down Harry's heavily clothed chest, towards his chest.

"I think you know," replied Harry, pulling him deeper into the forest, away from his friends' ears.

"I think I do too," growled Severus, starting to rip off the jumpers one by one, dropping them down the moment they were off as he walked. It created a path for them to return by. Harry fumbled at the infuriatingly small buttons on the dark robes that Severus insisted on wearing. It was done purely to infuriate him, he was sure. They stopped at a suitable distance, both topless, and Severus recaptured the younger male's lips. He only drew back when he put a hand on Harry's bare chest and could feel every rib. Stroking the goose-pimpled flesh – cold or desire? – he asked, "What is this? Have you eaten nothing in the last six months?"

"I am sorry. I was too busy pining over you and failing to save the Wizarding World to eat. Getting to a shop is a little difficult when everyone can recognise you," hissed Harry.

Severus smirked, "Getting a little Slytherin are we?"

"Shut up and kiss me again, and then divest me of my clothes," Harry ordered with a feral smile.

"Getting a little dominant are we?"

"The more you talk the more dominant I am going to get Severus," the younger man reported. As if to prove his point, staring up into Severus' dark eyes at all times, Harry lowered himself to the ground onto his knees. Harry could feel Severus' hardness through his trousers, straining to be let free. Harry did just that, pulling his trousers and underwear down to pool on the floor.

Watching Severus' face all the while, Harry licked the top of the erection, and the lines that marred Severus' face melted away in that instant. Testing for reaction – it had been a long time – Harry flicked his tongue along the length of the shaft, watching for the flickers of bliss on the older wizard's face. It did not take long to rediscover where Severus felt the most pleasure. At last, Harry knew that he had tortured and tormented his love for long enough and took his entire length in the hot cave of his mouth. Severus had been unprepared for that, Harry discovered, as the older man threw his head back and gasped in ecstasy. His hands braided in Harry's hair.

"You will be the undoing of me Harry," Severus warned the kneeling wizard.

Harry was forced to withdraw to reply, and did not miss the flicker of distress. "That was my plan," he grinned.

"But not mine," Severus said hoarsely, joining Harry on the floor. "I may not have had only pleasure for half a year, but neither have you. I do not intend to be selfish."

"You are remarkably coherent for someone in your situation." Harry nodded to the thick veined hardness.

"I could say the same about you." Severus nodded to the bulge at Harry's trousers. "And I have been fantasising over this for quite a while."

"I'll bet." As it looked like Severus was not about to help out, Harry pulled off the remainder of his clothes. Severus searched in his robes and pulled out his wand. With a few muttered words, the surface of the woodland floor turned soft and smooth, Harry was suddenly warm, no longer trying to keep his teeth from chattering closed in the cold, and a barrier was set up to keep away intruders.

Then the wand was thrown down, frantic mouths were upon each other, erections were ground against each other, and a fever ran through both bodies. It took only minutes for Harry to be flipped onto his stomach, and then, after far too long, Severus was inside him. He started gently, in and out and in only a few minimetres further, but Harry was far too impatient. He wanted every impressive inch of Severus in him. He sat up, pushing back, until they were so close… no one had ever been as close to him as that. No one but Severus.

And then… ecstasy. Perfection. Paradise in a small corner of the Forest of Dean.

000

They lay there afterwards, spent, exhausted and satisfied, and that was when Severus noticed the tears on Harry's cheeks.

"What is the matter?" he asked, holding the younger man closer. "Was I that bad?"

"You are going to have to leave soon, as am I. You have to go back to Hogwarts and I have to go back to the tent," Harry whispered. "I am going to miss you."

"I am no one to cry over, brat," Severus said, trying to smirk but failing.

"Yes you are. And I will cry over you if I want," hissed Harry.

"Cry when I am dead, not whilst I am holding you."

"Don't say that, don't you dare say that."

"Harry! Harry!" Frantic cries came from the tent.

"Shit," Harry exclaimed. He forced himself to stand and hurriedly threw his clothes on, following them back to Hermione and Ron. He allowed himself one last glance back to Severus, lying mouth open, naked and pale on the forest floor. Clearly, their passion was over, their meeting interrupted, to become just another memory in a pensive that was never found.

A/N: That was way more difficult than any Remus/Sirius. Review!