AN:
" thoughts "
' speech '
Harry is of age (18).
the story is GOF compliant.
Voldemort is dead, Harry killed Him.
a lot of the death eaters got away.
Research
Snape woke up from sleep extremely disoriented and groggy. Realising the effect of dreamless sleep, he waited for a minute or so to regain his memory from the day before. Eyes shot open, sitting suddenly upright in bed, that his back creaked in the process, it was the moment he remembered everything.
" surely, I was dreaming, there is no way what happened last night was real. Or Could it?". He was pondering the thought of it being a dream, " you had dreamless sleep last night, it can't be a dream, idiot.".
He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling heavy, " why is this happening to me? Why me of all people?" A sigh was let out.
There is a possibility that it was a onetime thing. Then, with a bit of hope, "it is against my better judgement, but it's just a tiny bit, really.", maybe it had never occurred before.
Hanging to that small measure of hope, he decided to get up from bed and start his day. Looking at the time, he slept for 6 hours, which is the potion induced sleeping time. it was unlike him to sleep in.
" well, I can blame it on yesterday's exertion and none the wiser.". He ended his thought with a smirk.
After finishing his morning rituals and getting dressed, potion master Severus Snape was standing in front of his bedroom door, dreading what would happen. He suddenly got angry at himself with this show of weakness.
" you have faced more death eaters and killing curses than you could remember, and you are afraid of what will happen, I need to pull myself together for Marlins sake. Maybe I need some Dutch courage. No, it's too early in the day for that.".
Sighing heavily, he opened the door and exited the rooms.
As he passed potter's bedroom door, he tried hard not to look at it, but he really couldn't. All the feelings he had the day before came rushing, he couldn't move, couldn't stop staring. the lump in his throat came back as he stood rooted in his place. The images of harry whimpering his name, sobbing quietly begging him to stay, telling him that he loves him.
" why am I reacting like this? what is going on with me?".
He steeled himself, continued walking while trying to discipline his emotions.
As he descended the stairs, he could hear someone talking. Sounded like Lupin was ranting about something. There was no sound of potter, so maybe he is not down there.
He didn't know how will he react if he saw potter and will potter be acting as usual if he saw him? " hopefully... Or not ".
Putting on his trademark scowl and his trademark strides, he graced the rest of the house occupants with his presence. Lupin was slumped in one of the armchairs, while potter was sitting in the same winged-back chair he sat on last night. They both looked up as he entered, potter was looking at him the same way as always, the same as every day, only with a bit of concern.
' morning, sir.' Potter greeted him with an inclination of his head. ' more like good afternoon, Severus. It's almost one. Are you feeling alright?' Lupin greeted him with a worried look in his eyes.
' fine.' That all he could bite out, since that dreaded lump is still present while going into the kitchen to make himself some tea and school his facial expressions.
When he swept back into the room, Lupin was reading the newspaper and potter was engrossed in a book, while sitting on the floor in front of the fire. he realized that the brat got off the chair so he could sit on it. So, he wondered " does he actually know it's my favorite chair?".
He let that thought consume his mind for now as he sat himself. Sipping his tea quietly, he was looking at the brat, wondering if there was anything about him today. Nothing seemed different, or at least nothing appears to be.
" maybe he had that dream before, since he is not reacting to me any differently, or maybe he doesn't remember, and just maybe I am blowing this out of proportion.".
He was consumed in his mind when Lupin interrupted his train of thoughts.
' would you like to eat something? There are some leftover sandwiches from today's breakfast. Or would you like to wait till lunch? It's not going to take long'.
The ex-spy looked up from the rim of his mug, ' I will wait for lunch.' He said simply.
' Are you sure you are alright? It's not like you to sleep this late. I dare say this is the first time since you lived here.' Lupin added.
' I think yesterday's event took its' toll on us all.' His eyes flashed briefly to potter, the brat was staring at him with a questioning look on his face, then his eyes darted back to Lupin to see him nodding slightly and stood up headed to the kitchen.
Realizing he was left alone with potter, he picked up his latest potion journal and began reading. He tried hard to keep his attention only on the text in front of him, but his eyes betrayed him, as his gaze racked over the boy, correction, young man sitting on the floor.
There was nothing of the child he was once were in his current physique. Well-toned muscles in the arms and legs, since his jeans and T-shirt leaving little to the imagination. His torso was hidden from view, but you can tell there are some well-formed muscles under there.
The brat, although Severus was to be accused for pointing out resemblance between potter senior and junior, the only thing that was similar his father was his hair. His jaws were more chiseled than his father's, his eyes behind the rounded spectacles were a perfect replica of his mother's, even his lips and nose, they resemble Lilly's, but a bit more masculine.
Snape suddenly became aware that he was staring at potter for a long time, he lowered his head so his eyes would be trained on the potion text rather than the young man sitting on the hearthrug. He was grateful the brat didn't look up at all when he was staring at him " that would have been awkward, really.".
He scowled at himself, " I need to have better control. pathetic. And why in the name of Merlin's beard was I ogling an eighteen year old like that, a former student no less. Because you saw him muttering your name in a wet dream, begging you to stay, saying that he loved you. Makes sense, Really.".
His inner monologue was cut short, when potter called out for him in a soft voice, ' professor?'.
The professor eyes traveled slowly, until they met with green pools and settled there.
' Yes, potter?'. With the same tone the boy used, potter held his gaze for a while, Snape realized that boy's breath was suddenly quicker, the rise and fall of his chest a bit more frequent than usual.
The boy averted his eyes quickly, and spoke in the same soft tones,' I came across a paragraph, that mentions a potion theory. If it is ok, could you have a look at it then explain it? Sir'.
Slowly raising one eyebrow, Severus spoke in a teasing voice, 'Well potter, you never cease to amaze me. Finally using that brain of yours for something productive.'.
The potion master extended his hand for harry to hand him the book. Harry was stunned speechless, his eyes wide and looking at Severus with a questioning look. The potion master could see the click in the brat's eyes when he understood that he was teasing him. With a sheepish smile being slowly carved into those full lips, harry handed him the book hesitantly.
Severus kept his eyes on those verdant orbs, until he held the book in his hand. He smirked, mainly to himself. He thought " well, that was interesting.".
Potion master Severus Snape, was very famous for his researches, which were always very thorough, and done from scratch without the aid of any old research documents available. At that moment, he decided to put more than two decades of research experience to use.
He was more of a hands-on researcher; never did he rely on information until he proved it himself. now he has the information, which is what he saw last night, and he wants to confirm his findings with practical research of the subject. " are Harry's feelings real? Was what I saw true?".
Snape was reading the paragraph and was mildly surprised, this was advanced stuff. He came across this theory when he was preparing for his mastery, and in all honesty, it was one of the more complicated ones.
So, he read the text, handed the book back while holding potter's gaze, relinquished his grip of the book slowly.
'Well mister potter, this is going to take a while'.
with an amused glint to his eyes, he pitched his voice an octave lower and said in a soft voice, ' if it is agreeable for me to claim some of your time, then I am willing to explain anything you want to know.'.
Severus used those word for their double meaning. He used that tone of voice for a reason. He wanted to document potter's reaction regarding the information he gathered the day before, and he was pleasantly rewarded with a hitch to the boy's breath, a faint blush to his cheeks on top of darkening and dilation of the boy's irises. However, the most rewarding reaction was, the faint shiver and tremor that ran through Harry's body and the hooded look to the boy's eyes, when he pitched his voice low.
Somehow, that specific reaction warmed his heart greatly. " my my, aren't we a beautiful surprise? So, you are attracted to my voice. Well that is an astonishing reaction. Who thought the golden boy would be attracted to the voice of his former professor? That is a satisfying discovery, really.".
Snape stared at harry, waiting for a reply for what he had proposed. When he saw potter's Adam apple bob once, as potter swallowed thickly. And then nodded with a look of determination in his expressive eyes.
Snape leaned forward in his chair, elbows on knees, a smirk planted on his lips, and began explaining to the young man, who was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of him, looking up through his long lashes with killing curiosity and mild shyness in his eyes, the theory of interchangeable bases in regard to different wand-cores.