Some nights I find myself simply sitting here and watching him sleep. He finds it rather maudlin of me, but it isn't as if I do it on purpose. Something wakes me up and I find myself drawn to the sight of him laying there, all the worry lines created by the difficulties of his life faded in sleep. It is quite amazing how young he can looks when he's asleep. So like the boy I remember.
The first time I saw him was when Minerva called his name and he stepped up to be sorted. He was so small that all you really noticed was that mop of black hair and eyes that were wide open, trying to take in everything at once. It was all so new to him. You could tell that nothing that had come before had prepared him for a place like Hogwarts.
I must admit I handled him all wrong. I'd sensed such strength in him, such power, that I was worried what would happen if I showed too much interest in him. I didn't want to be seen as favoring him and I therefore found myself going too far in the other direction. Instead of favoring him, I favored the children in my own house. I took their side against him in their little war. That he has been able to put that behind us is a constant source of wonder to me, but then, so is he.
He has been through so much in his young life. Voldemort has taken so much from him. The life he should have had is gone and he's left with the nightmares of a life spent trying to bring down the dark lord and his followers. I've protected him as much as I could over the years, but it was never enough. To my mind, Voldemort deserves everything he gets and more just for what he did to my Severus, let alone the countless other lives he destroyed.
"Are you going to sit there watching me all night or are you going to go back to sleep," he says, not bothering to open his eyes.
"I enjoy watching you sleep."
"No you don't," he counters, pushing himself up onto his arms and glaring at me. "You sit there and start thinking about how young I am which leads you to how old you are and how I should be with someone my own age. If I'd wanted someone my own age, I would be with someone my age. I want someone who knows me and can understand what I've been through. I want you, you old goat. Now stop being a fool so we can go back to sleep, Albus. Morning will be here too soon for both of us. I have to try and drum some knowledge into those scatterbrained fools you call students and you have to deal with that joke of a Minister of Magic."
That said, Severus pulls me back down next to him, pushes my beard out of the way puts his head on my chest instead of his pillow. I lightly run my hand up and down his back, coaxing him back towards sleep.
"Love you, Albus."
"And I, you, Severus."
Fin
The first time I saw him was when Minerva called his name and he stepped up to be sorted. He was so small that all you really noticed was that mop of black hair and eyes that were wide open, trying to take in everything at once. It was all so new to him. You could tell that nothing that had come before had prepared him for a place like Hogwarts.
I must admit I handled him all wrong. I'd sensed such strength in him, such power, that I was worried what would happen if I showed too much interest in him. I didn't want to be seen as favoring him and I therefore found myself going too far in the other direction. Instead of favoring him, I favored the children in my own house. I took their side against him in their little war. That he has been able to put that behind us is a constant source of wonder to me, but then, so is he.
He has been through so much in his young life. Voldemort has taken so much from him. The life he should have had is gone and he's left with the nightmares of a life spent trying to bring down the dark lord and his followers. I've protected him as much as I could over the years, but it was never enough. To my mind, Voldemort deserves everything he gets and more just for what he did to my Severus, let alone the countless other lives he destroyed.
"Are you going to sit there watching me all night or are you going to go back to sleep," he says, not bothering to open his eyes.
"I enjoy watching you sleep."
"No you don't," he counters, pushing himself up onto his arms and glaring at me. "You sit there and start thinking about how young I am which leads you to how old you are and how I should be with someone my own age. If I'd wanted someone my own age, I would be with someone my age. I want someone who knows me and can understand what I've been through. I want you, you old goat. Now stop being a fool so we can go back to sleep, Albus. Morning will be here too soon for both of us. I have to try and drum some knowledge into those scatterbrained fools you call students and you have to deal with that joke of a Minister of Magic."
That said, Severus pulls me back down next to him, pushes my beard out of the way puts his head on my chest instead of his pillow. I lightly run my hand up and down his back, coaxing him back towards sleep.
"Love you, Albus."
"And I, you, Severus."
Fin