This is the first part of a sequel to my story "Don't hide from me" (so you should read that one first, otherwise you won't get what's going on here), but it's more of a prequel than a sequel right now because most of this is a flashback of what happened on New Year's Eve. How Harry and Snape ended up in bed together won't be revealed yet, but like I said, it's only the first part of what I 'm determined to put into a longer story.

There is nothing but a small idea inside my head right now, but I hope with a little help from you and your reviews I will be able to develop a complete story with an actual plot.

So here it goes, enjoy…

Will wonders never cease

Chapter One

Once again Harry woke up not knowing for a brief moment where he was or who's snoring had roused him from his for once pleasant dreams. But this time it didn't take long for him to recognize the pale chest and black hair next to him as belonging to Snape.

No, not Snape.

Earlier it had been simply Severus.

Severus who had kissed him and held him as if there was no tomorrow.

But now… tomorrow had come.

Well, not exactly. It was the same day still, for they'd only slept for a few hours. Harry assumed it was somewhere around early afternoon on New Year's Day.

But it could have been the next day or the day after that for Harry because it sure as hell felt exactly like that. Last night, or rather this morning, was so far away right now…

… waking up next to Snape without knowing how or why, the awkwardness and all that arguing, the sudden revelation regarding the Potions master, more like an epiphany to Harry…

Everything seemed so far away, like a dream or a story he'd once read… not like it had happened at all.

But the snogging… well, that was the one part still branded on Harry's mind. Fresh, with every detail palpable. After all, it had been his first kiss ever!

Thinking about that Harry felt heat rushing to his face and, blushing furiously, he turned his head once again to look at the sleeping form next to him.

Snape looked so peacefully in sleep. Eyes that normally threw around piercing glares were now covered by long dark lashes and the lines that constant frowning and smirking had edged into the man's pale face were smoothed out for once. And… was that a smile tugged at one corner of the mouth that had felt so surprisingly soft in kissing?

Harry's heart hammered against his ribcage at the sight of Snape smiling. He looked relaxed, content even.

'And all because of me?' Harry wondered and thought about the countless times he and his friends in school had talked, after another horrible potions class, about what it would take to make the sour Potions master lighten up a bit.

What would Ron and Hermione think if he told them a night in bed with Harry Potter did wonders for Snape's temper?

"Oh God!" Harry gasped suddenly. Ron and Hermione! They were with him at Grimmauld Place for the Holidays! As in here, right now, probably in a room next door! What if they had heard him and Snape… doing whatever they had been doing? Was it possible they had seen something going on last night? Had there been something to see at last night's celebration? How had he and Snape ended up in the same room, the same bed, after all?

Harry tried very hard to recall their celebrations and with much effort yesterday's events unfolded slowly in his head. He was able to recall the smell of Kreacher's surprisingly good Chocolate cookies and finally a view of the festive sitting room developed in front of Harry's inner eye.

Several small Christmas trees were enchanted to adorn the wooden ceiling and garlands of holly and mistletoe were floating around everyone's head. Sirius had outdone himself in decorating the place for the holidays, being overly happy to have them all there to celebrate with him in his house. The decorations were left-overs from Christmas mostly, but Sirius had also hung up a large banner reading "Happy New Year, everyone! Let's have fun!" .

And fun was truly had, until...

Harry was slouching in front of the cozy fireplace, exhausted from dancing and running around the room in joy. He was clutching a large tumbler of Firewhiskey in his hands that somehow didn't seem to get empty no matter how many sips he was taking from it. Sirius must have spelled all the glasses to be self-refilling, how neat!

'So, no matter what, I can always say it's still my first glass!' Harry thought with a silly and definitely more than slightly sloshed grin on his face. He forced his eyes to concentrate back on Remus next to him who was telling stories of former Christmas celebrations with Harry's parents and Sirius.

The latter was currently dancing wildly around the enormous Christmas tree with a very flustered Hermione, Ron watching them from afar, when there was suddenly a loud 'Bang!' coming from the entrance hall. A moment later the door was thrown open and then Snape stormed into the room, his billowing robe spotted with quickly melting patches of snow. His cheeks were flushed from the cold outside and his eyes held a dangerous glint when he stepped into Sirius' path, bringing the dance to a quick halt.

"What is the meaning of this, Black?" he drawled while waving a crumbled sheet of parchment into Sirius' face.

Harry watched Sirius break into a mischievous grin when he replied:

"Why, Snivellus, I know that you probably haven't been invited to any party, ever, in your miserable life, so… I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you didn't recognize an invite as such. So let me spell it out for you: This," he grabbed the paper from Snape's hands, "is an invitation to our little New Year's Eve party."

"I know what it is, you stupid mongrel," Snape spat angrily. "What I demand to know is why I had to have the displeasure of receiving it! Why on earth would you assume that I would want to be invited to," he gestured mockingly around the room, "this? Even a brainless cur like you should know that I would never partake in a celebration with you and your no-good-friends. And besides, why anyone would want to celebrate the end of another year with you alive is far beyond me! I'd rather bare the 'Cruciatus' from the Dark Lord himself than celebrate with you!"

"Then why are you here?"

Every pair of eyes in the room stared disbelievingly at Hermione, who had thrown the question back at Snape off-handedly. When Snape turned his glaring stare to where she stood next to Sirius Hermione braced herself for the stinging remark that had to come after such a display of disrespect towards a teacher.

But none came. It seemed as if Hermione's comment had taken all the wind out of Snape's sails.

"I…" he broke off and growled a lame "That is none of your business, Miss Granger!" at the irritating know-it-all before turning back to Sirius with every intent to continue his tirade.

But it seemed as if Hermione had already been looking too deeply into her tumbler of Firewhiskey. 'That or she's really having a sudden death-wish,' Harry thought dumbfounded as he watched her making a determined step forward and placing herself right between Sirius and a fuming Snape.

"Excuse me, Professor," Harry heard her say, "but it is kind of my business if you intend to ruin our party. I won't believe that you've come all the way from Hogwarts through the snow simply to ask Sirius why he was so kind as to invite you. It seems to me like a nice enough gesture. So, please sir, either you come out and say what you have to say on that matter or you will step aside and let us dance!" And with a special glint in her eyes she had the nerve to add: "Oh, and perhaps you'd like to have a drink against the cold."

Harry couldn't believe it! How could Hermione of all people stand there throwing cheeky remarks at Snape. Hermione, who'd ever been the voice of reason, telling him every time Snape had thrown something nasty his way to stay calm and respectful because Snape was, after all, still their teacher. And now this!

And offering a drink to him!

Harry waited, like everyone else in the room, with held breath for Snape to react in some way or another.

He knew for sure that baiting the potions master like this would never go unpunished. But Snape looked too dumbfounded himself to even react to such cheek.

So after a few seconds in which you could have heard a needle drop despite the ongoing music from one corner of the room, Hermione shrugged and pulled a shock shelled Sirius away with her towards the dancing space.

Snape watched them go with a fierce glint in his eyes, his cheeks no longer red from the earlier cold but from sheer embarrassment.

'Miss Granger, that insufferable girl, how dare she…'

Suddenly Snape seemed to become aware of the other occupants of the room, all staring at him open-mouthed and dim-witted. Without any further ado he turned on the spot, robes billowing widely around his tall body, and stormed out of the door.

And before Harry could think of anything to say about the hated teacher's strange and yet typical behavior, Remus Lupin had suddenly lifted his lanky body from the couch and strode after Snape in long strides.

Harry could only gape at the closing door.

For what felt like half an hour or, more precisely, two and a half tumblers of Firewhiskey, Harry sat on the couch in front of the fire and thought about earlier. Why had Remus gone after Snape? And why had Snape come in the first place? Had Sirius really sent him an invitation?

His godfather should have known that something like that would only set Snape off to do something nasty, like crashing the party. On second thought, of cause Sirius had known an invite would set Snape off, that was probably why he'd sent one in the first place!

Damn, Harry loved his godfather, he really did, but sometimes he just wished Sirius to be more… mature? Clever?

Because, no matter what prank Sirius pulled, whatever nasty snarling-fest took place between Sirius and Snape, Harry would always have to be the one to bare the consequences. Because Snape would always find a way to take it out on him, wouldn't he? He didn't need excuses, just the fact that he was Sirius' godson or James' son or The-Boy-Who-Lived was enough for Snape to get back at him.

Every time.

And Harry was sick and tired of it.

And now there was the punishment for Hermione's cheek tonight on top of it all. Harry just knew that Snape would somehow find a way to blame him for all of it and he would sure as hell think of something to punish Harry with.

Maybe he was thinking of something to get back at Harry right now, probably on his way back to his dark and chilly dungeons at Hogwarts. Thinking of something nasty…

Harry heard the door open and looked up to see Remus walk back into the room.

"Or… maybe not!" Harry murmured into his glass when he saw that Remus was followed closely by… Snape.

'Maybe I'm drunk and hallucinating?' Harry thought desperate for it to be true. But no, it was definitely Severus Snape who paced slowly over to the small table that held the beverages. Harry watched him grab one of the many empty tumblers, fill it with a golden liquid and emptying it in one go, waiting impatiently for it to refill itself and then repeating the drowning several times over. It looked like Snape was determined to get very drunk very quickly.

"Really good idea," Harry thought and downed his glass as well. "But if I have to stand the sight of the greasy git all night, I need something stronger than Firewhiskey to get me through!"

That was mostly all Harry remembered from last night's events. Well, apart from a few broken pieces of his very strange conversation with Remus shortly after the werewolf had returned with Snape in tow.

Harry remembered walking, or rather swaying, over to where Remus stood near one of the windows. By that time he'd had more than his fair share to drink, otherwise he'd never have said to Remus the first thing on his mind when he'd seen Snape stride back into the room. Besides, without his inebriated state he'd never have had that kind of thought in the first place.

"I've to admit," he'd slurred with a nod towards where Snape stood alone in a corner, "that man knows how to radiate heat even in the coolest company."

Remus had nearly choked on his drink, but after he'd calmed down enough for his throat to work properly again he'd smiled mysteriously and had answered:

"I know what you mean, Harry. You should have seen Severus in our last year in school. I suppose he'd just joined the Death Eaters for he was suddenly so self-esteemed, so confident." A far-away-dream-look had ghosted over Remus' face when he'd added:

"He was sex on legs, I assure you."

Harry had smiled as well, for he could just imagine what Snape had looked like then.

And that had been the beginning of a very strange and very revealing talk about the sex appeal of Severus Snape.

Even thinking about it now, as he sat on the bed next to the object of last night's talk with Remus, Harry felt a hot blush creep to his cheeks.

If Harry had put the fuzzy details of Remus word's together correctly he had to admit now that their views on Snape and sex and men in general were very similar. Harry hadn't known that Remus was gay, the thought had never even crossed his mind. But then again, he hadn't thought about his own sexuality swinging that way ever before either. He didn't know, was he even really gay?

Just because he thought Snape was sexy didn't mean he preferred men in general, did it? Well, okay… waking up naked next to the man he found sexy seemed to underline that train of thought… and the kissing had definitely been… hot, to say the least.

But what about Cho? He did like her, didn't he?

Harry thought about the way his entrails always seemed to squirm around in his stomach whenever he looked at the Ravenclaw girl. But then he threw a glance at the still sleeping potions master beside him and thought about the kisses they'd shared earlier that morning… and Harry had to admit that his guts had their own way of deciding who he liked more, men or women. Right now his insides felt like snakes sliding round and round…

… and that wasn't the aftermath of the alcohol speaking. No, Harry was sure of it. Whatever he'd thought he'd felt for Cho, it hadn't been… that.

And what he felt for Snape, for Severus… Harry didn't know where to start with contemplating his feelings. And besides, it surely wasn't the right time now to think about revelations concerning his sexuality.

Not when he still didn't know how he and Snape had ended up in bed together in the first place. And as much as he tried to force his brain, Harry couldn't even remember talking to Snape at all last night. Let alone anything beyond talking!

The sudden loud grumbling of his stomach pulled Harry away from his thoughts at last. He was starting to get hungry and he didn't know how long he'd been sitting here, next to a sleeping Snape, thinking about last night.

It had to be late afternoon by now, so it really was a wonder no one had come barging into this room and trying to wake him. Or… didn't the others dare to come in? Did they know he was here with Snape? Had the two of them done something so obvious, something for everyone to know?

As much as Harry dreaded the truth, for he knew for sure that Ron's, Hermione's or least of all Sirius' reaction to him kissing Snape would be anything but friendly, well…

…as much as Harry dreaded it, his curiosity finally got the better of him and he just wanted to know how much of last night's events had taken place in public. He just wanted to get it over with.

So with one last glimpse at the peacefully quiet display Snape in bed was presenting, Harry slowly stumbled out of the bed and looked around for his clothes.

The first item Harry lifted from the ground turned out to be a large black robe, definitely not his own. A few steps away Harry found the rest of Snape's clothing, the well-known inner robe with it's thousands of small black buttons crumpled in a small pile.

But where the hell had he left his own things? What had he been wearing at all to the party? Definitely no school robes, that Harry knew for a fact.

He looked around frantically and finally spotted a pair of blue jeans and a green button-down shirt under a chair near the window.

Harry quickly pulled the jeans over his legs, for a moment wondering where his underwear had ended up. Then he pulled the shirt on and stepped bare-foot into his trainers. His socks had apparently vanished, too.

Well, maybe he would get them back later. Right now all Harry wanted was to leave this room unnoticed by any other occupant of the house. Hopefully he would make it to his own room on the second floor without being seen, no matter that he didn't even know which landing this guest room was on.

He was in dire need of a shower and a change of clothes before he could even begin to try finding Ron or Hermione. Their reaction would tell him how much they knew about last night without having to ask, he was sure of that.

So Harry quietly opened the door to the hallway and slipped silently out of the bedroom. Looking around he found himself in the same hallway he'd walked down several times for the last few days. So that meant Ron's and his' room was a bit further down to the left with Hermiones' opposite of it.

Harry braced himself and crept slowly down the hallway towards his room. He listened closely for any signs of his friends, but there was no sound at all.

Relieved Harry entered his bedroom and went for his trunk to retrieve fresh clothes. Then he made his way over to the adorning bathroom and took a quick shower. He tried not to dwell on thoughts of kissing Snape too much.

For that would definitely lead to colored cheeks and twisted entrails and that would furthermore lead to other body parts perking up interested in getting a little action themselves. And that Harry absolutely wouldn't be doing before he knew for sure what had happened with him and Snape.

So Harry didn't linger in the shower longer as necessary but went out of the bathroom only ten minutes later, freshly clothed and anxious to meet any of his friends.

What would they say? How much did they know?

Harry took a shaky breath and went downstairs to the kitchen.

TBC...

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