Disclaimer: ~*~ Well, I never actually intended to write a sequel
to Colour Blind, but the majority of the people who read it
wanted one, so I kept that in mind. As you all will already know, the
characters in this story belong to Joanne Rowling, as do the settings,
spells, animals, etc. Excluding Vampires, as some of you will recall.
They were never listed in Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find
Them. Which means that I do not belong to her. I would also like
to note that I will be cheerfully AU-ing in this story, as Book 5 is
not out yet as I write this. Apart from that, the same warnings as
last time apply: slash, and the possibility of angst, OOC, and general
morbidness. You have been warned. As mentioned last time, flames
will be used to toast the marshmallows we lure our prey with. And no,
I don't intend to do another story in the disclaimers, that was just
silly. *preens in a dignified manner* ~*~
(A "pop" is heard, and a pretty blonde girl appears out of thin air.)
~*~ *blinketh* Who are you, and what are you doing here? You're not
in the script. ~*~
Girl: I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I've come to end your
miserable existence!
~*~ *blinketh some more* Oh. *Disapparates* ~*~
Buffy: Hey, come back, you coward! *Disapparates*
(~*~ Psst! No Vampire Slayers were harmed or maliciously insulted
during the production of this motion picture! ~*~)
He slept, lying on his stomach. He breathed evenly, his slim, wiry frame moving in the slow rythm. The firelight turned his pale skin to a deep cream. He was beautiful.
Severus watched the sleeping boy, transfixed. The flickering light of the fire in the hearth caused small shadows to ghost over Harry's body. His mop of untidy black hair obscured his fine-boned facial features. Before Severus knew what he was doing, his hand had moved to the small of Harry's back and moved up to rest at the nape of his neck. The boy twitched awake, ever the light sleeper. Short-sighted green eyes opened and gave him a questioning look.
"What's the matter?" he mumbled in a still slightly drowsy voice.
"Time."
"Hn."
Without the slightest hesitation, Harry threw off the covers and got up, picking his way through the clothes which were scattered on the floor. As Severus watched, he pulled out the pants of his pale bluish pyjamas and slipped them on.
"Just how long is this going to go on?"
Harry stopped his search for his pyjama shirt and blinked at him.
"What suddenly brought that up?"
"You do realise that this is against the rules. It's so unthinkable that it's not even written down in the school rules."
Harry shrugged and tied the cord of his pants.
"Yeah, I know. Your point being?"
Severus found himself glowering at the boy as he located his shirt and started to button it up.
"You Gryffindors are all the same," he growled.
Harry's eyes flicked up from his shirt.
"I'd say that being a Gryffindor is obviously not the essential criteria for rule-breaking," he said dryly.
Insolent brat.
Harry plopped back down onto the bed next to Severus.
"We're kind of in this up to our necks, you know," he said quietly.
Severus didn't look at him.
"What am I doing with you?" he whispered.
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"No, don't answer that."
Something which might have been a small smile of sorts ghosted over Harry's features as his hand moved into Severus's hair. Silence followed.
"Why do we keep doing this?"
Harry shrugged.
"I don't know. Animal magnetism, I guess."
Severus couldn't help but glare at him.
"Doesn't this bother you one little bit?"
Harry swiped aside a strand of Severus's hair, looking remarkably indifferent.
"Depends. If you mean I'm worried that Professor Dumbledore will find out, the answer is no. Knowing him, he probably already knows anyway."
Severus shook his head in disgust.
"Sometimes I wonder whether your parents dropped you on your head when you were little."
For a second, Harry said nothing. Then he got up, only briefly stopped to scoop up his glasses from the bedside table, then made for the door.
"Harry--"
Harry stopped at the door and turned to face him.
"You of all people should know to keep your mouth off my parents."
With that, he walked out, leaving Severus baffled and alone.
SMASH!
The Queen knocked the white Bishop's head clear off with her scepter, and threw the mutilated figure off the board.
Thud. Plink.
Harry winced. Ron and Hermione were really battling it out. Hermione's eyes scooted over the board for a second. Ron scowled at the board, and gave Hermione a look which said he suspected her to have gone completely batty.
"Knight to C3," he ordered.
The Knight impaled the Queen on his lance. Hermione maintained a complete pokerface as she picked the smashed pieces off the board.
"Castle to D4."
The castle scooted across four spaces.
"Check."
Ron blinked.
"King to E8."
The king stepped over one space.
A wide grin spread over Hermione's face. Uh oh.
"Bishop to H5. Check mate."
Ron blinked, squeezed his eyes shut, opened them again and stared at the chess board. His King had dropped his sword in defeat.
"I stunk," he declared with a very baffled look on his face.
Something which might have been a snort of laughter came from Harry. Ron cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Does that mean that you'll challenge me next?"
"What, you can't beat Hermione, so you turn to me?"
Hermione was smiling a remarkably sweet smile as she cleared the board and set up a new game. The broken figures had reassembled themselves with several painful groans.
"Yeah," Ron said in a voice which suggested that that was the most obvious thing in the world.
Harry rolled his eyes and got up from his chair.
"No thanks."
Hermione looked up from the chess board.
"Where are you going?"
Harry shrugged, already halfway across the common room.
"Dunno. For a walk. Alone," he added with a look in Ron's direction.
Ron frowned at Harry's retreating back. Hermione repeatedly tipped over and replaced a white pawn, a thoughtful look on her face.
"I wonder where he's really going," she said quietly.
Ron blinked in surprise, then chewed on his lip.
"You sure he's really not just going for a walk?"
Hermione stared into space, now twirling the black Queen between her fingers.
"No, I'm not."
Still, a thoughtful frown remained on her face. She put down the Queen.
"How long has it been since Snape stopped tormenting the three of us?" she asked suddenly.
Ron blinked.
"Huh? What's that got to do with it?"
Hermione shrugged and started to set up the black side of the chess board.
"Maybe nothing."
Ron frowned, but said no more. Hermione was wearing that calculating look she usually only wore when she was onto something, and it was best to wait until she was ready to share whatever theory she had come up with.
"Don't say anything about it, okay?"
Hermione's brown eyes fixed on him, even more serious than usual. Ron was surprised at the apparent importance of it to her, but nodded his agreement.
"'Kay."