Notes: This was just a random bit of fluff that popped into my head while standing in my kitchen cutting up strawberries. It's my first posted slash, though not my first written slash, so I'm hoping it turned out all right, though I fear it might be a bit predictable. Note that this is a bit of fluff so the characters are ooc and the plot cliché. I feel I must also add that this story has not been edited by anyone other than myself and so I apologise for any and all errors.
Disclaimer: Anything here you recognize does not belong to me but to whomever it does, legally, belong to.
The Irony of Life
Severus smiled to himself as he left Gringotts and walked down Diagon Alley towards Vendimus Domos, Sellers of Homes Since 1876. He had a bank check in his pocket for 53000 Galleons in his pocket and a folded up copy of The Daily Prophet tucked under his arm. Today was the day. The day he was finally going to buy the home that he just knew would be perfect for himself and for Harry. The little cottage was expensive, but well worth it. It had been in the Prophet for quite a few months though, and Severus had been brewing and selling potions on the side as often as he could to save up the money to buy it.
He knew Harry had significantly more money than he did, not that that was difficult, and he'd wanted for so long to contribute something more personal and private than his quarters at Hogwarts. A teacher's salary wasn't much and Harry made almost double the amount he did just from working as a Private Defence Master. The job suited Harry well, allowing for his hero personality but maintaining a lower intensity level than an auror. The job itself was fairly simple and usually just involved taking care of lower level dark creatures for witches and wizards who, for whatever reason, could not handle them themselves.
It wasn't as though Harry felt put upon to the majority of expenses. In fact, Severus knew that Harry was more than happy to continue paying for Severus for the rest of their lives. The thought made him uncomfortable. He disliked being in anyone's debt, and someone else paying for him for the rest of his life meant rather a large debt. The problem with this idea, however, was that Harry also disliked being in someone's debt. After Voldemort's defeat, Harry had sought out Severus and apologized for accusing him of murdering the great Albus Dumbledore. A letter from Albus, delayed in delivery until the event of Voldemort's downfall, had arrived at the Ministry only hours after the final battle, and the news of Severus' pardon had been splashed across the front page of all the newspapers.
Severus had accepted Harry's apology, but between the false accusation and, according to Harry, all the times Severus had saved or aided him during his Hogwarts years could not be made up for with a simple apology. The stubborn Gryffindor had instead insisted upon staying at Spinner's End doing odd jobs in his spare time. At first it was simply a weekend or two a month, but eventually Harry had moved in and was doing the housework in his time off from work. Severus had grudgingly admitted to himself that the house had never looked better and, since his numerous re-wardings of the house seemed ineffective, had eventually given up tossing Harry's possessions out into the the street.
Their relationship, due largely to Harry's continued stubbornness, had progressed from there. There had, of course, been a few pitfalls along the way. Though Severus preferred to call it Slytherin self-reliance, his own stubbornness matched that of the Gryffindor's. When he ran out of money to maintain Spinner's End almost three years later he refused any monetary aid from Harry. Instead the two had moved full time into Severus' quarters, after quite possibly the loudest and longest shouting match of the century. They had lived there happily enough but Severus knew how small the quarters were, how large and lonely the castle could be during the summer, and how loud and annoying it could be during the school year.
The house from The Daily Prophet had everything he and Harry had talked about, or rather screamed about during their discussion of possible options during the Spinner's End shouting match. It was large enough to more than comfortably house two people, larger in truth than Spinner's End, but small enough that it lacked the empty feeling Hogwarts had. It was located about two kilometres outside of Hogsmeade, close enough to the Hogwarts to feel that it was still the home he and Harry had had for the last two years. In short it was perfect, and he had waited anxiously for the day when he finally had enough money to buy it. The timing had been perfect, as their anniversary was in four days.
Severus had owled the real estate office that morning with the offer on the house and it had been accepted with the condition that he hold his payment until after the office closed at two in the afternoon. Apparently the owners wanted to allow for any other offers to come in before selling. Severus was sure no other offer would come in since the house had been on the market for a little over six months. Confidently he strode towards the office, now only a few metres away, and stuck his hand into his pocket to take out the bank check.
Panic. The most horrific panic he had ever felt. The check was missing. Quickly he checked his other pocket. Nothing. He leaned against the side of the building and fought against tears that threatened to fall for the first time in so many years. The check itself was in no danger, it was still not endorsed with his blood signature and so could not be cashed, although the paperwork at Gringotts to declare the check missing and not secretly cashed at another location would be mind-numbingly tedious. Suddenly he stood up straight. He could easily fill out the paperwork today and get a new check tomorrow, after it had been cleared by the bank administration. He was sure the real estate office would be understanding, and certainly the house was in no danger of being sold so quickly. Reassured he walked into the office, feeling once more a bit of the joy he had felt only five minutes earlier.
The door shut gently behind him as he entered and the secretary looked up from her own paperwork.
"May I help you? She asked with that bored tone that employees get when their work day is almost over.
"I'm hear about the Lux Fortis Cottage. You see -"
"I'm afraid that cottage has been sold," She interrupted him.
"Yes, I know," Severus snapped. It had been a very long day and was getting no shorter as time went on.
"I'm the one who bought it. Severus Snape. I'm sure Ms. Ruris is expecting me." The secretary paled before stumbling through a door into one of the back rooms. A few moments later an older woman walked out and held out her hand.
"Professor Snape, it's good that you came so promptly."
"I try to be prompt, as always, but I'm afraid I need another day to get the check for the amount agreed upon. I assure you that the money is in the bank at this moment, I just do not yet have the check." The words almost physically hurt as he said them, but he would rather have his pride remain in tact even if his integrity did not.
"I'm afraid," Ms. Ruris said slowly, "that tomorrow will not be possible." She held up her hand as he went to explain further.
"It's not that I don't trust that you have the money Professor, but someone made a higher offer and the owners decided it was the better offer to accept. Lux Fortis has been bought and paid for. I am sorry, but it was too late to owl you the news."
Severus felt numb. After so many months of saving and using all his free time to make potions, even to the point of almost neglecting his partner, and after the panic attack he had almost had outside his dream had ended here. He said a vague farewell to the real estate agent, too in shock to even begin to worry about his rudeness. He slowly made his way back to Gringotts just barely remembering the paperwork he had to complete before the check caused too much trouble.
How had it come to this? How, after so many months in the paper, had it been sold right before he had been about to buy it? He wondered, briefly, if this was what having the carpet pulled out from under you felt like. He still, however, like he was falling and wondered how bad hitting the floor would feel since the falling itself was horrible enough. Still asking the same questions to himself, he spent the rest of his afternoon filling out the required paperwork at Gringotts before flooing back to Hogwarts.
Harry, unfortunately enough, was waiting for him in the small little dining area with dinner laid out on the table. Severus barely noticed as he muttered a vague hello and walked into the bathroom to draw a bath. Harry frowned but cast warming spells on the food and did some paperwork for about thirty minutes before he realised that Severus had been in the bath for about ten minutes longer than usual. Praying that nothing was too wrong, he got up and made his way to the bathroom door. He knocked once, twice, before calling out Severus' name. Silence. He repeated Severus' name and knocked once more. Still nothing. Worried, he tried the door knob and was relieved to find it unlocked.
"Severus? Are you all right?" He walked into the bathroom only to stop suddenly in shock. Severus wasn't even in the tub, now full with water, but was instead sitting on the side hugging himself and crying. Harry had never seen his partner cry, though he had come close during his first year back at Hogwarts. Memories were unpleasant things at times.
Quickly, Harry made his way over to Severus and hugged him. Severus pushed him away, which only increased his worry. He hadn't been pushed away like that in almost two years. Trying again to hug Severus succeeded but resulted in Severus' collapsing into his arms sobbing. In between the sobs Harry could hear Severus try to speak, to explain, but he couldn't understand any of it. He drained the bath and carried Severus into the living area. Severus saw the dinner and sobbed harder, though Harry could not figure out why. They had, after all, had dinner in their rooms numerous times and Harry loved to cook for Severus when he had the time.
As he began to quiet down, Harry tried his hardest to convince Severus to explain what was wrong but all he got was silence. Then Severus got up off the couch and walked over to the table. He sat down, looked at Harry, and raised one eyebrow. In answer to the unspoken question Harry also walked over to the table and the two began dinner in silence. Severus was trying to find the strength to remain calm and composed. He might be in love with Harry but that did not mean he was going to act like the more submissive partner if he could possibly avoid it. He was already in Harry's debt, and now with the cottage lost the last thing he wanted was to break down a second time in front of Harry.
About halfway through the dinner, Harry put down his fork and knife and brought out a folded stack of papers. He had been thinking about this for a few months now and had been going to wait until their anniversary to break the news. He knew Severus wasn't going to be happy about it, but in his current mood Harry thought it might cheer his partner up. At the very least his mood most probably could not get worse.
"Severus," he began watching Severus pause for a second before putting down his own utensils.
"I've been thinking about the two of us living here, and . . . well, I was going to wait until after our anniversary but I think now is a better time for this." He handed Severus the papers.
"Wonderful," Severus thought, feeling like he was going to cry again, "He's going to leave me. The papers are separation papers, they have to be to break our partnership. He's sick of paying for me, as I knew he would be eventually. He made me dinner to soften the blow and now he's going to leave me."
Hastily he forced himself to be calm and controlled. The man sitting across from him had already seen him cry once and Severus refused to ever let that happen again. If Harry wanted to leave, then he could leave and Severus would simply never see him again. It was not, after all, as though he hadn't expected this. Harry was twenty years younger than him and was bound to want to explore the world and not be tied down in Hogwarts with his ex-Potions Master. He summoned a quill and signed the line at the bottom without reading the documents. He didn't want to risk crying again by reading the words.
"I'm sure, Mr. Potter, you can pack up your own things without my help. I never want to see you in my chambers again, as I am now quite sure you do not want to be in them." Severus stood up and walked back into the bathroom, this time casting the most secure locking spell he knew.
Harry sat at the table, food half-eaten and forgotten, utterly in shock. He had expected Severus to react badly but had never expected him to kick him out of their rooms. He crossed through the living area to the bathroom door, and knocked for the third time that night.
"Severus, I don't understand. All I wanted was -"
"All you wanted," Severus' voice cut him off sharply, "was to apparently leave as soon as possible. I suggest you do so without delay as I certainly have no desire to ever see or hear from you again."
"Severus, I'm sorry," Harry replied now worried and puzzled.
"If I had known you were going to react that badly I would have asked you before I bought the cottage - " The door opened suddenly causing Harry to trip a little before catching both his balance and the sight of Severus looking, for once, completely and utterly shocked.
"What cottage?" he bit out, more suspicious now than shocked. Harry sighed.
"There's this cottage near Hogsmeade that I saw in the paper a few weeks ago that I bought today. I know you hate me paying for things so I was thinking that you could eventually pay half the price. Those papers you signed were so we would have joint ownership of the cottage and so you wouldn't feel like you were living in my house.
Severus you should see the cottage, I know you'll love it. It's surrounded by trees, and it has enough room for a potions lab or a study or even both. You've seemed so busy lately making potions that I thought it would relax you to have a place to go to that wasn't Hogwarts to relax and make potions at your own leisure instead of at all hours of the night . . ."
Harry trailed off, more worried now, then ever. Severus looked more suspicious than shocked but still hadn't said anything.
"Severus?"
"This cottage wouldn't happen to be the Lux Fortis Cottage, would it?" More worried than eve, Harry slowly nodded and was completely unprepared for the sudden fit of hysterics Severus collapsed into. He had never before seen Severus laugh so hard and grew concerned about Severus' mental state. Surely it wasn't normal to have two such opposite extreme emotional outbursts in the span of only two hours.
"Severus? Are you all right? What's wrong?" He was almost afraid of the answer and was thus all the more unprepared for Severus to take him into his arms and kiss him softly.
"Nothing is wrong, Mr Potter," he grinned caressing the side of the Harry's face. " Nothing except the irony of life."
He kissed Harry again and somewhere during the stumbling towards the bedroom, Harry thought it was probably best if the ambiguous statement remained unquestioned for the rest of their, now assuredly happy, lives.
The End.