A/N: Okay, so it was going to be a multi-chaptered drawn out fiction. What happened was a muse that decided that this would be a one-shot simply because it refused to make this any longer than it is. Hopefully nothing important has been left out. I am still awkward with conversation, which is why most of my fics lack a lot of dialogue. This one does not lack dialogue, which is a tad scary for me and still a bit of a stretch from the norm, so enjoy.

Summary: Harry has a few new skills he decides to employ in a last-ditch effort to snag the man he loves, Severus Snape.

Warnings: Male/Male relationship. Mentions or hints of sexual situations, and fluff. I think their may be the barest minimum of cuss words to be found in this fic. Maybe said once or twice. Mostly just a fluffy piece of... whatever it decides to call itself...

Disclaimers: I Do Not Own anything that you recognize as belonging to JKR. The plot line belongs to my backwards muses that I can't seem to control. The music box and the history of it is mine. I claim that cuz I made it up on the fly... in like under a minute. Seriously. The songs belong to their respective writers and the artists allowed by those writers to sing them. Now, enjoy the story... please..

Second Chance

"What do you do when love comes along; And offers your heart a chance to move on; With no guarantees, no safety net; Trust what you feel, you take that first step..."

Severus Snape, newly made owner of his very own magical music box, frowns as the smooth alto trails off and closes the ebony enameled box to look at it more closely. There was nothing that suggested the identity of the giver on the engraved top or sides. All that the pictures and intricate scroll work indicated to him was that this was sent by someone he knew. Someone that might actually be close to him. They knew enough to have personally engraved a forest scene on the lid of the music box that had a doe walking in a clearing filled with lilies. What intrigued him was the leopard lounged on a low slung branch of a tree near the doe. The person serenading him through this round about method knew of his love for big cats, or it was a clue as to their identity through their animagus form. Severus was sure he didn't know anyone with a leopard animagus. Harry Potter purred from time to time, but that meant nothing as Minerva had been prone to do the same. The man could be a kneazle for all Severus knew.

Unable to help himself, he opens the box once more and the office fills with the warm and wonderful voice the very same moment that Professor of Charms and Hogwart's chosen Head of Ravenclaw House (Yes, the castle herself chose him, otherwise how would a Gryffindor become the Ravenclaw Head of House?) Harry Potter walks through the door and closes it firmly behind him. As the last note of the partial song fades, Harry hmms softly and sits gracefully in his usual chair in the Headmaster's office. He was here at least three days out of the week to chat with Severus about various things. It wasn't odd to Severus because he had, after all, chosen the younger wizard as his Deputy Head. He was the only one that Severus trusted on his staff to see to the needs of both the school itself and the children it housed. He'd never be biased, as he'd proven in his five years of teaching, so He'd be good at looking at a situation and deciding a course of action according to how the students involved had behaved. He took no sides, and even his very few favorites learned quickly that favoritism never got you off the hook or gave you free passes to do something harmful to another student just because you didn't like them. He'd even cussed Hermione when she'd gone toe to toe with him for deducting points from one of her favorite students. She'd felt it a great misuse of the points system to promote his own House rather than an actual earned deduction and he'd ripped her a new one quicker than anyone could blink. She was still apologizing and getting completely ignored each time by Harry, who'd she'd insulted greatly by even thinking he'd be biased.

Severus figured out, when Harry'd gone snake in the grass on Hermione, that he was falling in love with the-man-who-refused-to-die. This snippet of a song reminded him quite clearly of his feelings for this man, and of how simple it would be to tell him how he truly felt. He also felt it, that doubt that Harry'd never love him. Oh, he knew that Harry cared. When the healers at St. Mungo's had given up and told Harry that, had Severus been a few years younger he'd be able to fully heal from the damage done to him by Nagini's venom before they'd poured the anti-venom into him; Harry had walked out of the building and didn't return for a full two days. Upon his return, he'd handed Severus a phial with a brilliantly clear shamrock green potion in it and told him to knock it back. Severus, having learned by then to trust Harry no matter what, had done just that. The potion was a version of a de-aging potion that held a number of healing qualities that quite literally reversed the damage done to him as well as his age. He was, at this moment, a very healthy twenty-six to Harry's twenty-two. He'd been pissed at Harry at first, before the young man had explained that if the healers thought he'd have been fine were he younger, then Harry'd just had to make Severus younger so he'd no longer be forced to see the walls of St. Mungo's from the inside while wondering if he'd ever be able to walk without pain again. Hating hospitals and infirmaries as they both did, you couldn't really stay angry at the one who helped break you out of one.

"So Severus, who's your new admirer? He currently reminds me of a puppy hopping up and down in a box of free pups as if saying, 'Pick me! Pick me! I would love to go home with you!' It's amusing and kind of sad that some one feels that they have to woo you into loving them through song, yet give you no chance to take that first step when they don't give you a clue as to who they are."

Severus, pulled out of his thoughts, closes the lid to the box and gives it to Harry who takes it carefully. "The clue is the box, and the song itself I believe. This person, the one singing, is someone who knows me well. They know of my past love as the decoration on the lid indicates. The leopard... I suppose could either mean that they know of my love of big wild cats, or that is their animagus form. I haven't decided which just yet."

Harry raises a brow at him. "Why couldn't it mean both of those things. Maybe this person is saying that it's a good thing you love wild cats because you'd be stuck with one if you were to be with him. Having the doe standing amid lilies could be a hint that they know that your first love will always be a part of you, and that he's willing to share you with her." His smile is a tad on the sheepish side. "I still go on digs with Bill during the summer holiday. It helps to have experience unraveling a story from the past based on what you see sometimes. I suppose it makes me a photography detective of some kind. This box actually reminds me of something we found on a dig in lower Egypt two summers ago. It was given to a princess from her intended, who was chosen by her parents, as a way to let her know that he'd fallen in love with her during the visits their parents had forced upon them. The song was beautiful and obviously heartfelt... even if the prince had been a rather terrible singer. At least this guy who's fallen so hard for you has a good singing voice."

Severus, intrigued, takes the box being returned to him, not having noticed, of course, Harry's slight of hand magic before he'd returned it to him. "Were they usually made like this one, with parts of a song?

Harry smiles. "It's normal with these boxes. You'll only get as much of the song as the maker of the box deems necessary at the time. It already has the full song recorded within it Severus, all the box maker needs to do is unlock the first block for more of the song to filter through. No one else can do it but him. Another clue, too, is the material used to make the box. Ebony, when intended for boxes such as that one, is notorious for only choosing someone of noble bloodlines, or royal bloodlines. So you're looking for a guy who is a Lord or a Prince by blood. You could also try and figure out who is a great friend to a wand maker, as they get wood for wands in big blocks, just about the size needed for the box. They split them up into multiple blocks and make wands from the split pieces. The guy would've had to go to a wand maker as it's the easiest way to get the ebony wood without traveling a very long way for it and negotiating removing it from its home with the officials who protect the trees it comes from."

Severus studies Harry intently for a moment before carefully asking, "Do you do such business with wand makers often Harry?"

Harry's expression is pensive for a moment, as if he's trying to remember. "Last week I did business with Glenn McArthy for willow wood blocks, Hickory wood blocks and Yew wood blocks. I haven't needed ebony blocks for a rather long time. In fact, the last time I bartered for Ebony wood blocks was three months ago. I like to save wood blocks sometimes for projects that I work on. I've been studying wand making and making objects imbued with majicks. How to do it, what each object imbued a certain way means... things like that. You learn a lot when you forget that you knew everything in your youth."

Severus, not believing that Harry can be eliminated from his suspect list, nods minutely. "Then I am glad that I have an expert on the subject to consult on this matter. How, exactly, is one of these made?"

Harry smiles. "By magic, naturally." Letting out a soft chuckle at the look shot him, Harry elaborates, "The recording is made on a tube that resembles an old muggle phonograph cylinder. It is made and charmed to play whenever the box is opened. There's a spell used to then hollow out the block of wood used to make the box and cut the top off of it. You then place the cylinder inside of the box along with the mechanism imbued with the spells that help play the song on the cylinder and regulate it in pieces as to how many pieces play at a time, whether you wish it to reveal itself slowly based on the number of times the box is opened, or you wish to be the one to personally decide when to release a new piece of the song, or if you want it to play all in one go. Once you're finished, there's a handy little spell that helps fuse the edges of whatever material you use to seal the cylinder and mechanism with the top inside edge of the opening in the bottom half of the box. In your box, I've noticed that your admirer used white willow wood. There's more decoration carved into it as well. To top it off, there's a charm embedded on the top rim that hasn't been activated. I think he decided that it might be far too cheesy for there to be an ornament at the top like some little girl's spinning ballerina. I can activate it if you wish Severus, then deactivate it if you don't like it."

Severus' brow furrows and he hands the box back to Harry. "Activate it. You've made me curious about what it could be."

Harry waves a hand gracefully over the song box and smiles when he hears a faint click. "There. Now you can see what it is when you open it."

Box returned to him, Severus opens it and watches in complete and utter fascination as a miniature potions master pops up, making a potion diligently. Looking at the miniature figure closely, Severus notices that it is actually him; the face, the way it moves, the mannerisms, and the intense concentration present when he brews. It strikes him again how well this mystery man of his knows him... it also dawns on him that the song is longer now.

"Just close your eyes, And reach for the moment before it slips by, Here is your second chance, take it and fly... The weight of the world, the need to survive, Has made you believe that you've got no right, And out of the blue, You meet someone who offers a place warm as the sun..."

Letting the words sink in, the man looks up at his visitor and glimpses the warmth in the emerald eyes he'd always secretly loved before it flickers behind a friendly shutter that Severus is sure is meant to hide his deeper feelings. His tone is soft when he manages to speak again. "It's perfect, and I can't help but think that this mystery man knows me very well. That is a surprise in and of itself as no one else honestly knows me so well. I've often thought it impossible for anyone to so much as have a thought of wanting to get to know me as this guy does. I thought it a prank until I opened the box."

Harry simply grins, "I'm glad that someone was able to make you realize that not everyone is after your name or the questionable joy some have, in the past, of pranking the Great Potions Master Severus Snape. You've deserved happiness for a very long time Sev'rus, you've just got to see the worth in yourself is all." An almost sad smile makes its way along Harry's curved lips. "So my advice would be to take a chance, take a risk in love and follow your heart where ever it may lead you in this situation. No risk, no reward Severus. Life taught me that long ago and I've never forgotten it."

With a soft sigh, Harry stands and starts for the door, but turns back to gaze intently into the dark eyes of his ex-teacher and current employer. "I do hope you figure out your mystery man soon Sev'rus, for it may not be only you who needs someone to come home to at the end of the day. Loneliness is known by many, yet shared by very few and turned into happiness and laughter. Second Chances, dear sir, are hard to come by, so take it and fly as the song just said. I have some marking to do, so I bid you a good evening sir."

The younger wizard is out of the door before Severus can stop him, leaving the potions Master to decoding the words spoken by the younger man in the past thirty or more minutes. Looking down at the box, Severus closes the lid and reopens it the exact same number of times it had been opened when the next line had shown itself, but nothing else revealed itself. Thinking back on what Harry'd explained to him about these special song boxes, Severus smirks wickedly and murmurs to himself, "So the maker of the box can reveal the next line of the song within by a simple touch can they? I think I understand now why you would wish for me to give love the chance to warm my heart Harry, but the trick now is to allow you to show all of the cards in your hand before I show you mine..."

The sorting hat, Floppy Brim, lets out a rusty chuckle. "You will be waiting to see that nice trick happen Headmaster. Harry Potter is the only Slytherin that I have ever placed into another house. When the true heir of Slytherin pleads with you to not put him into the same house as his newly made enemy, you tend to listen. I listened only because he knew it to be best for his own survival should he be a Gryffindor Boy-Who-Lived rather than a Slytherin Dark-Lord-on-The-Rise. He may have made the box for you, but that was his last resort to show you how he feels for you. He's given you chances before to make your move, and he's been rather obvious about it, if you ask an old brim. This isn't your second chance with him, Severus Snape, that was when his respect and fondness of you grew into love. This is your last chance before he forces himself to let go of the idea of the two of you together and looks towards one of the many suitors clamoring for his attentions. It is not something the heir to my owner wishes to do, but will should he have no actual chance at winning the man he loves so very much."

Severus frowns at the hat. "Why has he said nothing to me Floppy? I'd have told him, in return, that I care for him as well."

Floppy laughs a little harshly. "No you wouldn't have. At the time, when the boy first realized his love for you, you were so content to hate him for the man you remembered James Potter to be than to see him for the man Harry truly is. Only recently have you been able to see past an image of the father to see that his son is very different from him. Harry is reckless with all but emotions. He is his mother's son, temper included, but even the part of his personality that comes from Lily is tempered with a share of life experiences that she'd never had. I'm sure though, that if she'd gone through what he has in his lifetime, that she'd have never survived it the way that he has. In that perseverance and raw determination does he show the traits of his father. His mother gave him the ability to love and understand things on an instinctual level. He does as she did, trusts his instincts and follows them without hesitation... except when it came to his love for you. His father also gave him the cunning and ambition to prove himself, as well as the ability to glance at something and to see it for what it is, or a person for who they are. And the understanding that can be hidden easily by a mask of ignorance. James knew Sirius would try something foolish that would endanger both you and Remus. That's why he was so close to the opening, and that's why he was able to get between you and the werewolf Mooney before you were killed for not being a member of Mooney's pack. Take this for the opportunity it is. He can't help but come to you and spend his usual time with you, so learn about him during those times. When you find another verse of the song set free, you will have an added chance at finding out just why that voice is so familiar to you. Maybe then you'll remember the night that gave him the courage to gift you with that song box there."

Severus, confused now, looks at the hat incredulously. "What night could that have been? When was it? I don't recall having ever spent a night with him Floppy Brim."

Floppy grins in his own floppy way. "As the only witness other than the still hidden Fawkes, I can say that it was a night of fun that would make a pervert blush. It was Christmas this past year, and Harry's home brewed whiskey was involved. It was his gift to you and you insisted that the two of you share a drink in celebration of the rotten holiday. He agreed and after the third drink, you lost all inhibitions and pounced. I believe that Harry rather enjoyed the night, the sore arse, and even the good night's rest he had in your arms. He left in the morning before you awoke only because he didn't wish to be hurt in the morning after confrontation he knew you well enough to know was coming. The two of you have always been a perfect fit, even when you're at one another's throats. You should take a little time, lock yourself in your rooms, and listen to that song over and over again until you remember exactly why it is that that voice seems to remind you of a voice you've heard before, singing a different song."

Severus, now stuck with trying to process this new well of information, decides to take the hat's advice for once and stands from his desk, musical song box in hand, and walks into the door attached to his chambers. This was going to be a long day and night, if he had what the hat had hinted at to remember.

Drinking changes you in many ways on a rather temporary basis that most end up thankful that it lasts no longer than it does...

Harry was worried about Severus. He didn't recall seeing the older man at lunch, and Severus usually did his best to make it to every meal in the Great Hall unless he was stuck in a meeting, or sick, or stuck with a potion he could not yet leave in stasis. Even then, the only one that constituted his having completely missed lunch, was his being sick. It was this worry that made Harry retrace his steps to the Headmaster's office. It was the reason he found himself riding the stairs that wound around the tower and lead up the the man's current domain. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, and the door to the office, Harry knocks first, then opens the door and walks inside. Floppy Brim is the one who greets him almost cheerfully.

"Ah Harry, back for our usual alone time are we? Will you sing to me again, pet, or is the headmaster the only one who has the privilege of hearing your angel's voice these days? I must warn you that Fawkes and I will be most upset with you should you decide to not grace us with your wonderful gift of song. Severus has locked himself in his rooms in an attempt to find out just who sent him his box, so we should not be interrupted."

Harry, exasperated, runs a hand through his hair, mussing it up more than usual, and lets out a weary sigh. "That's the reason he missed lunch in the Great Hall?" A snort of laughter escapes, "Well I suppose that I'm extremely grateful that he's not sick or injured, but a lunch break would not have been amiss. As for your song... I've decided to remind you of your lifetime scarring as it is Fawkes' request. That alright with you Floppy?"

Floppy Brim, the wise old hat that he is, knows that Severus can hear the things spoken of in his office right at this moment, because he has a spy spell set into place this day as he was hiding in his chambers rather than in his office and wished to know when someone had need of him while he was indisposed. "I still say you only sing for Severus nowadays if that's the song you will sing, but I shall not be picky. A song is a song, so get comfy and sing for us songbird."

Harry chuckles softly before sitting in his usual seat and smiling at Fawkes when the pheonix appears perched on his right shoulder. His voice, when he sings is everything that the voice recorded for the song box is, and only more beautiful when heard from the singer himself. "Have you ever loved somebody so much it makes you cry? Have you ever needed something so bad you can't sleep at night? Have you ever tried to find the words but they don't come out right? Have you ever, have you ever?" His lips curve into a sad yet tender smile as the emotion is clearly heard in his voice, and Severus Snape closes the lid on his song box just to hear that voice again, recognizing it even more now that he can put a name to the person singing. Harry. His Harry. And the song itself was very familiar... if only he could remember where he'd heard it before...

"Have you ever been in love, been in love so bad You'd do anything to make them understand? Have you ever had someone steal your heart away? You'd give anything to make them feel the same. Have you ever searched for words to get you in their heart? But you don't know what to say and you don't know where to start. Have you ever loved somebody so much it makes you cry? Have you ever needed something so bad you can't sleep at night? Have you ever tried to find the words but they don't come out right? Have you ever, have you ever?"

Images of a relaxed Harry, a smile on his lips, and brilliantly glowing emerald gems of eyes dancing with laughter as they toasted the passing of a holiday that would never leave them in peace begin to flood Severus' mind. Harry with a spatula held before his mouth as he'd sung... the very song he sang for the sorting hat and the pheonix now. His hips as he'd danced to the song and let those hips of his swing from side to side in a rythm he'd held in his mind. Severus sitting at the table in his very own kitchen, watching the younger man cook the muggle way with an ease most wizards and witches would kill to have when cooking with magic while the words poured out of him in the most wonderful voice that Severus had ever heard come out of a male before.

"...Have you ever found the one you've dreamed of all your life? You'd do just about anything to look into their eyes. Have you finally found the one you've given your heart to? Only to find that one won't give their heart to you. Have you ever closed your eyes and dreamed that they were there? And all you can do is wait for the day when they will care. Have you ever loved somebody so much it makes you cry? Have you ever needed something so bad you can't sleep at night? Have you ever tried to find the words but they don't come out right? Have you ever, have you ever? What do I gotta do to get you in my arms, baby? What do I gotta say to get to your heart? To make you understand how I need you next to me. Gotta get you in my world 'cuz baby I can't sleep..."

Severus could remember now, the way 'just Harry' had been able to so effortlessly make Severus want to claim him as his own without even trying, without even flirting... the song had been more than enough to make Severus realise that he wished to be more than a simple friend to Harry Potter. He wanted the younger wizard as his lover, as his life partner. Thinking back to the times that Harry'd come to visit with him, to the things he'd learned about the younger man over the years and how much his feelings had been growing and changing for the man over the span of time that they'd been employer and employee. He'd thought that Harry would only learn to hate him again if he'd revealed that he'd been falling in love with his Charms Professor for nearly two years now. It was good though that he was being proved wrong. If it gave him the man he'd fallen so hard for, then Severus would be able to stand being proven wrong just this once.

"Have you ever loved somebody so much it makes you cry? Have you ever needed something so bad you can't sleep at night? Have you ever tried to find the words but they don't come out right? Have you ever loved somebody so much it makes you cry? Have you ever needed something so bad you can't sleep at night? Have you ever tried to find the words but they don't come out right? Have you ever, have you ever? Have you ever?"

Floppy Brim smiles as much as a gaping rip in the brim of an old hat can, and Fawkes trills his joy to Harry even as he nuzzles into the young man's cheek affectionately. Harry smiles and reaches up to smoothly run his hand over Fawkes' feathers in a way that he knows his friend likes. "Alright, are the two of you happy now? Would you also like me to tell the man that the only way to release the pieces of the song in his music box is for the maker himself to be withinrange to do so? I feel like hell for adding that bit about it being possible for the thing to be set on a time release system, but I know that Severus enjoys to learn and would have kept asking until he felt he had all of the information on the box that was available in my mind. But, with the man being as bloody brilliant as he is, he may have already figured that one little fib out."

Severus snorts softlly in his private chambers, knowing that Harry can't hear him. Floppy lets out an odd sounding rustling sort of chuckle. "He figured that one out the moment you left Harry, it will only be a matter of time until he remembers the night you two scarred poor Fawkes and myself with your displays of human emotion. There was so much love in the room, even before the two of you swapped spit, that poor Fawkes was drunk from it. He could not flash fly us out of here because the pure amount of emotion the both of you were feeling that night messed with his own senses."

Harry lets out a soft sigh. "I know that he's the one who pounced that night, but I'm not sure exactly why he did it, or even if it meant anything significant on his part other than lust. I was dancing about rather suggestively. I'm not sure what it was I was hoping to accomplish that night to be honest. Hell, I was quite sure he may not even remember a thing the next morn even before he pounced but..."

Floppy finishes his thought for him, "Like Salazar did before you lad, you thought that if you could have just one night of love in his arms then maybe it would help you to be able to move on in case he never wanted anything more to do with you. Sal did that very thing with Godric. Where he was right to think that Gryffindor would want nothing beyond the pleasures Salazar's flesh could give to him,"

Severus, having opened the door he'd been behind silently, finishes Floppy's words for him. "You; however, are lucky in having been wrong to think that very same thing. I happen to want more from you than what pleasures can be found in your arms. That night, I was able to finally admit to myself that I'd fallen in love with you. I remember now, thinking how wonderful it felt to have you in my arms, to feel you giving all of yourself to me. Every kiss, every touch, made me feel joy that you weren't rejecting me and that you wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with you. Had you stayed the morning after Harry, I would have known that it hadn't all been a dream. I pushed it away and locked it deep within my mind because you weren't there as proof that it hadn't been more than a fantastic dream."

Harry, shocked, yet elated, blinks as something catches his curious attention. "So you normally sleep in the nude?"

Severus laughs and moves gracefully over to the chair Harry had sat himself in. Leaning down, his hands resting on the arms to help him keep balanced, he tilts his head and presses his lips to Harry's chastely. "Trust you to completely ignore the fact that I love you in favor of my habit of sleeping in the buff. Let us try this again, shall we? I love you Harry."

Harry, smiling against Severus' lips, replies simply, "As I love you Severus."

Floppy and Fawkes are witness to the joy shared as their love is fully declared once more without alcohol involved and the Headmaster pulls the Deputy headmaster into his private chambers, closing the door behind them.

Sometimes the best secrets are the ones revealed to those those secrets don't surprise...

It was, to no one's shock, that the Headmaster and his Deputy arrived to break their fast the next morn hand-in-hand. They spoke softly to one another and smiled as only those deeply in love could do, albiet a bit more reserved as they were themselves. Students, especially those who had been waiting for their well placed galleons, were smiling secretly to one another. Staff, all of them having known of the way the two men had been eyeing one another for years simply smiled, delighted that the men were finally together. None questioned what had brought about this happy incident, they were only happy to see their friends so happy.

Severus and Harry sat in their usual places and ate while talking companionably with the staff sitting next to them, not really caring that they'd been the center of attention the entire time they'd walked the short distance from the doors of the Great Hall to the staff table. All that mattered to them was the fact that no one seemed to bear their new relationship ill will. They knew then, that no matter what those outside of Hogwart's thought of them, all that mattered were the people here who took joy in the love they'd finally confessed to. All that mattered was the love they shared and the fact that a healthy love for historical objects that made one wish to recreate them wasn't such a bad thing either...

Tah-dah! Happy ending... feel loved...

A/N: My muses often like to jerk you guys around and make you shed some tears or feel something you might not expect to feel... This time they gave you a happy yet open-ended ending.. feel loved darn it. ^_^ Anyway, here's to hoping you honestly enjoyed the story and the weirdly fast-paced way it unfolded. ^_^