A/N: I have titled each story with the character pairing they are mimicking. If you don't know or aren't sure which story is which, the IMDB synopsis for the film, provided by several helpful users, was my basis for portions, since I didn't really want to watch the movie a dozen times for the purposes of the story. It's a great movie, but I'm not that dedicated.
Billy Mack and Joe
Love actually is…Unexpected.
Harry begged off as the reporters tried to stall him further. Giving his most recent date a kiss on the cheek, he tossed floo powder into the fireplace behind him and floo'd back to Hogwarts with a final wave to the paparazzi. He landed in the fireplace of the Teacher's Lounge a few seconds later and slumped into the nearest chair. He sighed.
He didn't understand what the Wizarding World wanted from him. It seemed like every week he was dating a new girl, and every date he had to fight off the paparazzi with a stick while his newest girlfriend basked in the limelight. No matter how many girls he went out with (and subsequently dumped when it became clear they were using him to get their own fifteen minutes of fame), the media always asked when he was going to meet the girl of his dreams and settle down. And no matter how many times he told them it would bloody well be easier without them dogging his every step, they still managed to appear every freaking time.
The Defense Master was drawn from his internal reverie by a nudge to his arm. He looked up to see a steaming cup of tea being offered to him by a slim, pale hand. He took it gratefully.
"Another bad date?" Severus asked, sitting in the chair across from him.
Harry groaned and blew softly on his tea. "Same as the last twenty," He muttered. The Potions Master had been his constant source of support, always ready to commiserate after each of Harry's failed dates. "She saw the paparazzi and suddenly I mattered only so much as being the celebrity whose arm she could hang on."
"I'm sorry, Harry," Snape replied solemnly.
"It's fine," The Defense Master demurred sadly. He looked into the black depths of his friend's eyes. "I don't think I'm ever going to meet the right girl, Severus. They all just want to use me to get their damn picture in the paper."
Severus moved to the edge of his seat, and gestured for Harry to come towards him. Harry sighed and set his cup aside, scooting to the edge of his seat so that his and Severus' knees almost touched. The man took Harry's hands.
"Harry, stop it." Severus chided him lightly. "I know you've had a rough run of it, but I have faith that you will meet someone soon who will fall madly in love with you. You're a strong, intelligent, gorgeous young man, and all you have to do is keep the hope alive."
Harry sighed again, but nodded. "All right, Severus. Thanks. I think I'm going to go to bed, I have to grade papers tomorrow."
Snape released his hands and leaned back so Harry could stand. "Good night, Harry. Sleep well."
The Defense Master nodded, his shoulders slumped, as he walked out of the Teacher's Lounge and headed towards the solitude of his apartments.
Love actually is…
Another failed date. This one had actually been insistent enough to kiss him needily in front of the cameras. As Harry stood awkwardly, holding his newest girlfriend around the waist as she spouted off about their wonderful dates over the last few weeks, and how he was always the perfect gentleman, Harry realized that he didn't want to do this anymore. He was tired of trying to find the right girl, of having to turn down the media over and over again, only to have his private life plastered on the front page by whichever girl he was with at the time. With this realization came another, of what he was always happy to return to after every disastrous coupling.
"I need to go," Harry muttered to the girl dangling from his arm.
"But the movie starts in an hour, Harry." The young witch pouted. He'd thought that taking her to the Muggle cinema would keep the reporters away, but they had been waiting in The Leaky Cauldron, where he'd agreed to meet his newest arm candy.
The Wizarding Savior shrugged. "Maybe you can go with one of your new friends," He told her sourly, gesturing to the cameramen and journalists surrounding them. "But I've just realized that there's somewhere else I'd much rather be, and someone whom I'd much rather be with." The girl tried to stop him as he turned to the floo, but he pried her delicate hands off his arm and left in a flash of green flames, ignoring the hurt look on his date's pretty features.
He landed in the Teacher's Lounge, but saw that his dearest friend was not yet waiting there with tea in hand. He didn't blame him, he'd known for a while that Severus always asked what he was doing with each date so he could be waiting when Harry arrived back, and Harry wasn't meant to be back for a couple hours yet. Walking from the room, he made his way down into the dungeons where the Potions Master resided. After checking the man's empty office, he moved further into the dungeons and was soon knocking at the door to Snape's quarters.
After a minute, the door opened to reveal his quarry. "Harry, what are you doing? I thought you were going out with Miss Angelique this evening?"
"Can I come in?" Harry replied shyly. He didn't want to have this conversation in a drafty corridor.
"Of course," Severus said, staring at him curiously, but moving aside to allow him entry. "Is everything all right?"
Harry sighed as he walked into the warm living area of his friend's apartments, scratching at the back of his head. "I'm not sure, to be honest." He followed the Potions Master further into the room. "I was out with Angel, and I suppose we were having a nice enough time, but…I may be making a complete ass of myself here, but while I was out with Angel I realized I'd rather be 'in' with you, as it were."
Snape frowned. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Harry."
The Gryffindor blushed. "I prefer our warm talks over hot tea over any date I've ever had." He admitted softly.
The Potions Master looked stunned for a moment, and Harry had a second to revel in the fact that for once in his life he'd managed to make the man speechless. When Severus had recovered his faculties, the flabbergasted look was replaced with the typical smirk Harry was used to seeing.
"I'm flattered, Harry."
Harry grinned. "I'd have thought you'd be frustrated by now. Over a year you've been supporting me in my endeavor to find true love, and I'm the idiot who couldn't see that it was waiting for me in the most unlikely of places," He joked. "I love you, Severus, and I feel like a fool for not seeing that sooner."
The practiced, easy smirk didn't falter. "I assume this declaration of love is in the most platonic of ways?"
Gryffindor courage gathered around him like a cloak, Harry took a step forward into his friend's personal space, a deep blush warming his cheeks. "Not if you don't want it to be," He replied boldly. He stared resolutely at his twiddling thumbs between them.
The smirk did falter now, though only for a moment. "I appreciate the sentiment, Harry, but I'm too old to play at something casual. You're my friend, and I'm glad you're that, but perhaps that is for the best."
"And what if I don't want just something casual?"
"What are you saying, Harry? Why have you really come down here to be with a jaded old spy rather than enjoying the sweetly innocent smiles of your newest love interest?"
Harry forced himself to look up into the black eyes of his friend. "Well, as it turns out…you're the love of my life, Severus. And no matter how many innocent smiles I see, I prefer your playful smirks and sharp tongue to them all. I love you, Severus," He repeated carefully.
For a long moment black and green stared into one another. When no reply seemed to be forthcoming, the Wizarding Savior realized that, yes, he was an idiot, and Harry took a step back.
"I'm sorry, this was dumb…I shouldn't have said anything. I'll just- Let's not think anything of this, all right? I'm just being silly, right? We're friends, and I'm letting my Gryffindor sentimentality get the best of me is all," He sighed, trying desperately to keep the hurt from his voice. "I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing, and we can pretend like none of this ever happened." He started to turn to leave, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned, only to close his eyes as soft, pliable lips met his own. He blushed when the man pulled away. "I thought-"
"This is a bad idea, Harry. I'm nearly twenty years your elder, you deserve someone your age, who you can go and have fun with," Severus interrupted uncertainly.
Harry smiled softly. "I think we do all right there, Severus. No one makes me laugh like you do…and I know now that that's in part because no one gets my sense of humor like you do. You get me in ways that nobody else can." He turned back fully, stepping back into the man's personal space. "And as I recall from just last week, you throw a snowball better than any girl I've been with. If you don't want this, then we can go back to the way things were and act like I never came down here tonight. I'll go back to trying to find the right girl, and you can go back to pretending I'm just your friend."
"Could you live with that?"
"I'd have to, because it's the only way I could keep you." Harry replied solemnly. "Is that what you want?" The man didn't reply and Harry chanced a look into the burning black eyes. Something in the man seemed to snap then, as he was suddenly kissing Harry passionately, pouring months of frustration into that single, perfect moment.
Snape pulled away again, but only so far as to whisper against Harry's lips. "I love you, foolish Gryffindor that you are."
Harry smiled at that. "I'm glad, because you've ruined me for everyone else." And then they were kissing again, communicating without words all the love that had grown over cold dates and warm cups of tea.
…Unexpected