Disclaimer: I do not own HP.
Harry smiled as his boyfriend crawled across the bed to him, his blonde hair hanging in his face, blue eyes bright as they stared at him. He had been dating Mathew for nearly three years, but had owed the man his life for longer. When he had ran away from Hogwarts five years before, he had ended up alone on the streets, not even able to get his money out of Gringotts, knowing that that would be one of the first places they looked for him.
After two weeks, Harry had been dragged into an alley by three men. There had never been any doubt in his mind what would have happened if Mathew hadn't shown up and scared them away. He was then taken to Mathew's apartment and offered a place to live, as long as he helped with the rent. Harry had agreed readily. He didn't want to go back out onto the streets; didn't want his life to be in any more danger than it had already been in since he was a baby.
The two had become immediate friends, though they were completely different. Harry, though naïve sometimes, was the mature one who kept his feet firmly on the ground. Mathew, though, was all trouble. Not bad trouble, but like the Weasley twins, always crossing lines and learning new ways to prank people. He would rather spend the day daydreaming and making plans on who and how to prank someone than sit down and read, like Harry had taken to doing when he needed to relax and clear his head.
Finally reaching him, Mathew kissed Harry, gently at first, but then more urgently. He ran his tongue along Harry's, who immediately opened to him. The feel of his tongue against Mathew's, though nothing new, was just as overwhelming and exciting as the first time.
When Mathew pulled away, he smiled down at Harry. "You never change, you know that," he whispered hoarsely. "Your always so eager, but still so innocent."
Harry snorted at that. "Innocent? It still amazes me that after all these years, you still don't know me as well as you should."
Mathew leant down and bit Harry lightly on the ear. "Only because you won't tell me about your past. You just shake your head, say you had a rough childhood and that you don't want to talk about it."
"And I still don't. It's painful for me, I never even told my best friends everything that happened to me, everything I went through."
"You should trust me, though. You should know that I would protect you, help you get through it."
"I trust you with my life."
"But not with your memories."
Sighing, Harry sat up. "We've been through this over and over again. Can't you just accept that I don't want to talk about it."
"No. I've told you everything there is to know about me. You should do the same for me."
"You're not going to let up tonight, are you?"
Mathew shook his head.
"Fine," Harry said, pushing Mathew gently off of him and standing up. "I'm going to sleep in my room."
"What! You haven't slept in there for two years!"
"Because you usually don't pester me about this."
He, too, stood up, glaring at Harry. "You're angry at me for wanting to know more about you! It isn't right! You always do stuff like this, Harry! Sometimes I think you're just using me, even after all I've done for you!"
"Using you? How could you think that?" he grabbed Mathew's hips lightly and pulled him as close to him as he could and kissed him lightly. "I love you more than anything, Mathew. You know that. You helped me through those first few years while I was still getting over everything. Because of you, I was able to put my past behind me."
"If it was truly behind you, you would be willing to talk about it, at least to me."
Harry didn't say anything. Truth was, Mathew was right. It was harder than he had thought it would be. He had killed too many people to count in the fights before the final battle against Voldemort. His best friend had died, and he hadn't been able to do anything. For all he knew, Draco could've killed Hermione the second he had left them. He didn't even want to wonder about how many of his other friends had been killed in the battle.
At night, he dreamt of the battles, of the people who died because of him. During those hours, Mathew would be there, holding him close. One dream plagued him more than all the other's, though. A dream that had nothing to do with Voldemort. A dream about his last summer with the Dursley's, of the large dark shadow that had tied his hands to his bedpost after hitting him hard enough to stun him and tie his arms and legs to the bedpost, then ripping his clothes off of him. What his uncle had done to him hurt him more than the crucio curse, because it wasn't only physical pain, but emotional.
"I'm sorry," he whispered finally. "But I just can't talk about it." He rested his head against Mathew's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Mathew's arms immediately went around him. "No, don't be. I knew you couldn't talk about it, and I still wouldn't give up." He kissed him on the top of his head. "I'll try not to bug you about it anymore."
"Thanks."
"Let's get back to bed, you should get some sleep. After all, you've got that big meeting with your boss tomorrow. Hopefully you'll get that promotion."
Harry gave him a small smile as his hand was grabbed and he was being pulled back into bed. Once they we in bed, Harry curled up next to Mathew, he whispered, "I love you."
"I love me, too," Mathew answered with a teasing smile.
"Git."
"But you wouldn't have me any other way."
Severus Snape paced in front of McGonagall's desk, his normally greasy hair washed clean and pulled back out of his face by a black band, his black cloaks flowing behind him, and his dark eyes held a spark of anger.
"What do you mean, you haven't found him yet, Minerva?"
"I mean just that. We've looked everywhere in the muggle and magical worlds, Harry isn't anywhere, though."
"It's been five years!"
"You know him just as well as I do. Once he gets a notion in his head, he won't let go. I still don't get why you're so intent on finding him, you have always hated him simply because of James."
"I was supposed to watch him, make sure he was okay during the battle." He finally slide into a chair in front of her desk. "I should've anticipated that he would run away, but it never crossed my mind."
"None of us knew that he would run away, Severus. Don't blame yourself. He's alive, I know that much. His will to live out lasts even that of his never giving up when he wants something bad enough."
Severus sighed. "I know. Potter always did like to do the unexpected, to always cause the people around him trouble. In that alone, he's just like his father."
McGonagall shook her head. "You need to stop comparing the two. Harry isn't exactly like James. Sure, he got into more trouble then James did; but, unlike James, he almost always did it for his friends. He didn't go out looking for trouble, it followed him wherever he went."
Severus nodded. "You're going to give up looking for him, aren't you?"
"I'll have too. It costs more money then we can afford and besides, if Harry wanted to come back, he would. We put too many of our expectations on him when he was so young. It wouldn't be fair if we did it to him now. He deserves to live his own life. His part in the war ended when Voldemort died. We'll have to do our part by stopping the remaining Death Eaters from continuing in his footsteps."
"I guess I have no choice, then. I'll have to visit Draco and Granger…"
"You might as well call her Hermione, after all, she did marry Draco, so she's no longer a Granger. You're practically related to her."
He shivered, "Just because it's fact, doesn't mean I have to accept it. She'll always be that same know-it…"
"Severus."
"Oh, alright. I'll have to ask Hermione," his nose wrinkled slightly as he said the name, "to help me search for him. After all, she hasn't given up yet and has probably spent half of Draco's inheritance."
"Not that much, believe me."
"Anyway, she seems to get more motivated the longer the search goes on."
"She's enjoying it. As Draco's wife, Hermione doesn't have much to do besides throwing parties and controlling the house elves…"
"How Draco talked her into keeping them, I'd like to know."
"So she looks forward to trying to solve the mystery of where he's hiding," McGonagall finished, pretending he hadn't interrupted.
"Typical know-it-all behavior," Severus mumbled.
"Severus."
He refrained from rolling his eyes, since doing so would put a damper on his reputation. "Yes?"
"Stop insulting Hermione."
He didn't say anything to that, instead he made his excuses. "Well, I better be off. I have papers to grade."
"Right, bye."
"Bye."
It wasn't until he was halfway down the hallway that he heard McGonagall yell out, "Wait! It's summer vacation! We don't have any papers!"
He chuckled slightly, something he rarely ever did, even when he was alone.
He went down to the dungeons to gather a few more of his things to take to Spinners End, then flooed home.
Not to long after that, he apperated to Malfoy Manner. As soon as a house elf let him in, he knew something was going on. Hermione was bouncing in front of Draco, all smiles.
"What happened?" he asked.
"We found him," Draco said. "We're going to see him as soon as she puts on some decent clothes."
Harry's nose wrinkled at the smell of burnt sausages and eggs coming from the kitchen. Why Mathew had to insist on trying to cook, he didn't know. No matter how hard he tried, Harry just couldn't get him to learn not to put the stove on high and leave them to cook on their own. He constantly told Mathew that they wouldn't magically cook on their own, but he never seemed to listen.
Entering the kitchen, he leaned against the wall, smiling slightly as he watched Mathew try to put out the small fire that had once been sausages. Shaking his head, he brought his wand out of a hidden pocket in his jeans and whispered a spell to make the fire die down slow enough as not to cause Mathew to grow suspicious, and put the wand back before saying anything.
"I think you might be even closer to inventing a way to cook without being there."
Mathew jumped and turned around, looking a bit sheepish. "Sorry. You know how short of an attention span I have."
"Yes, well, maybe tomorrow morning you should just wake me up earlier so that I can cook." He moved towards the stove, picked up a burnt sausage and took a bite, making a face at the taste, and putting it in the garbage. "Please, wake me up from now on."
Laughing, Mathew said, "How could I live without you?"
"Not well, obviously." He rinse out the skillets and put them back on the stove before going to the fridge and bringing out more food. He quickly made breakfast as Mathew watched in awe.
"How did you learn to cook like that? No one in my family was ever good at cooking, we usually went out to eat three times a day. When we did cook, it was only Natalie who was allowed near the stove." Natalie was his younger sister.
"I didn't have much choice. My aunt was a perfectionist."
Mathew's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Harry's family. It was the first time he had ever spoken of them. "You didn't live with your parents?" He asked hesitantly.
Harry looked up in surprise, then answered. "They died when I was one. I was taken to live with my mum's sister, her husband, and their son, who was about the same age as me."
"At least there was someone you could play with."
Harry laughed, but there wasn't any amusement in his voice. "If that's what you want to call it, then go ahead."
"You mean he was mean?"
"The meanest. Now, lets talk of something more happy then my childhood." He separated the food on their plates, gave Mathew a quick kiss, and sat the plates at the table, then he poured each of them a glass of coffee, which, thankfully, Mathew was actually good at making.
He sat down, chuckling as he saw Mathew practically leap into his seat and lunge into his food. Harry ate his slowly, trying to postpone going to work for as long as he could. He hadn't told Mathew, but there was a good chance that he would end up with not only no promotion, but without a job by the end of the day.
Rumor was that Grunnings, his uncles company, would buy out Packer's Drills, where Harry was supposed to make manager before the sale was finale. Though it was the last thing Harry had wanted to do, he knew that if he was to live in the muggle world, he would have to find a job doing something he knew how, and listening to Vernon's endless chatter to Petunia on how the company worked was embedded in his mind.
Finally, he put his plate in the sink, leaving them to Mathew to do, pulled on his shoes, and grabbed his briefcase. He kissed Mathew quickly but passionately before leaving.
He drove through town for ten minutes before reaching the building, where he parked in his spot and went in. After dropping his briefcase off in his office, he went to his bosses office. He wasn't the least bit surprised when he saw a big beefy man sitting in front of Mr. Packer's desk, chatting about business. When Mr. Packer's saw him answer, he smiled. "Ah, Mr. Potter, come in, have a sit."
Harry saw Vernon's head swivel towards him at his name from the corner of his eye, but refused to look at him until he had to. "I'd refer to stand, sir. I'm afraid that once I sit down, I might be reluctant to get back up, your chairs are far more comfortable then I'm used to."
Mr. Packer laughed. "Have it your way. Let's cut to the chase then. As we both know, I'm not getting any younger, Mr. Potter. My wife has been begging me for the last five years to retire, but I could never bring myself to, but now I have no choice, since Susan has become sick. I had hoped that the business would go down to my sons, as my father gave it to me. But the problem is, none of them are interested in it. The only logical thing to do is sell it to Grunnings, who's willing to keep on all the staff unless it doesn't see them fit. They have also agreed to let me pick the manager to run it, since I know the employees better than anyone.
"You've caught my eye for the past few years with how well you are doing. You work harder than all the others, you're never late, and you haven't missed a die since being hired. I believe that you would make the perfect manager to take over. That being said, I would like you to meet your knew boss Vernon…"
Harry finally turned to his Uncle, saying, "I'm afraid I cannot accept the promotion. In fact, I'm afraid I'll no longer be able to work here anymore."
"Wh-wh-what?" Mr. Packer's said, taken aback. "You can't…But why? You'll be paid more than ever, it's the perfect opportunity for you."
Harry shook his head, still looking at Vernon, speaking to him. "I won't ever work for someone like you, Vernon. And don't tell me to call you uncle, I no longer count you, Petunia, or Dudley as family anymore. If you want to buy Packer's, you can be sure that you will never have me employed to you. As a kid, I was forced to come to your beck and call, always doing as you said. I won't go through the same thing as an adult."
Vernon's face turned red. "Why you insolent…"
Harry looked back at Mr. Packers, not paying any attention to Vernon. "I'm sorry about this. I'll go pack my stuff up and will be gone soon." He turned and walked to the door, only pausing when Mr. Parkers spoke.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Harry didn't turn around, but opened the door and stepped out. Before he closed it behind him, he said, "I'm sure. It's either quit now and leave with my pride and dignity, or be fired the moment Vernon takes control of the company. Knowing him, he'll make sure to make the announcement to me in front of all the others."
When he reached his office, ten of the men and women he worked with were gathered around his desk, where a cake sat. A balloon was tied to his chair and read Congratulations! He smiled at them as they all rushed forward to shake his hand, but he stopped them.
"I didn't know they gave going away parties here," he remarked, still smiling, though it was forced.
"What?" One man, Andrew, asked.
"I quit. One of you will now have a chance to get the position."
"No!" Andrew's wife, Penny, said. "You can't quit! You know more about this job than any of us."
He shook his head. "Lets just say that the new boss and I don't see eye to eye. He would've fired me anyway."
"You can't know that after just meeting him," Andrew argued.
"Just trust me…and be ready for a lot of yelling whenever Dursley is around. Now, I don't want any of you to get all sad and everything. You'll still get to see me, just not here. You know you're all welcome at my place whenever you want."
He asked one of them to fetch him a box, and got to work packing his things. He knew they were all watching him. When the last thing was put in the box, he straightened and said, "Keep the cake safe for whichever one of you gets the job."
He hugged each of them, said goodbye, grabbed the box, and left.
When he reached home, he carried the box up to his and Mathew's apartment. Opening the door, he called out, "I'm home!"
Mathew immediately came running out of the living room. "Did you get the promotion? Please say you did."
"I was offered it."
"YAY!" Mathew lunged at him, knocking him to the floor in a passionate kiss. Harry pulled away, but didn't push him off, leaving Mathew straddling him. "What's wrong, Harry?"
"I quit."
Mathew's eyes widened. "Why?"
"Grunning's bought Packer's. The new boss and I didn't get along."
Suddenly a woman's voice said, "Grunnings? Isn't that the place your uncle works at?"
Harry looked up quickly, all color draining from his face. Standing in the living room doorway was three people. The woman had curly brown hair and chestnut brown eyes. Her features were soft as she looked at him. The other two were men. One had light blonde hair and silvery-blue eyes, he looked every part of a rich and arrogant man. The other had black hair that was pulled back, but strands had fallen out and fell into his dark eyes, which were lowered on him in hatred and something else…maybe surprise.
He would recognize the three anywhere.
I hope you liked reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it. I'm surprised with how long it turned out. I know it's just as long as the prologue, but still, when I started writing it, I just thought, two or three pages top. Then BAM! It's five pages. It would've been longer, but I decided to save the next part for the next chapter. This WILL be Harry/Snape, so have no worries about the ever adorable Mathew, he won't get in the way...much. Review!
