Disclaimer- the usual.
Chapter 3.
Neither Harry nor Snape slept well that night, for each was intensely preoccupied with the day's events.
The next morning, Snape awoke reluctantly, wincing as his body reminded him that he had been lying on an unfamiliar bed throughout the night. Mentally cursing his aging bones, he sat up, pushing back the quilt to reveal his favourite black silk pyjamas. If there was one good point about this entire fiasco, he mused, it was that he still had access to all of his clothes. (The fact that the pyjamas hadn't looked as if they'd been worn at all in the past year was a concept that the potions master was still desperately striving to put out of his mind.) Eyes gradually recovering from the fog of sleep, Snape looked around the sitting room and caught sight of Harry's bed, which had been pushed as far away from his own as possible. The boy looked oddly contented in sleep, his face missing the moody frown that he always sported in Snape's presence. Scowling at the fates that had deigned that Harry be the only man whom he had even slept in the same room with for a very long time, he jerked himself out of bed and headed into the bathroom.
Harry Potter awoke to the sound of the bathroom door slamming shut and groaned. For a few brief hours sleep had taken away all recollection of the strange reality he now found himself in. Dragging himself upwards, Harry sat leaning against the wall and surveyed Snape's quarters, running his hand through sleep-mussed hair in vain. He had been surprised to find that his teacher actually lived in normal -and rather tasteful- rooms. The sitting room was decorated in a mellow cream colour, which would have complimented the rich reds of the sofas; if they hadn't been transfigured into beds for the night.
The icy chill of the wall was jolting the nerves on his back unpleasantly, and Harry wrapped the covers around himself to regain their warmth. This action earned him a look of reprove from the newly washed Snape, who had exited the bathroom to find his student ensconced in a purple quilt, only his head sticking out.
'Really, Potter.' said the potions master laconically, 'just because you're at the potions level of a child does not mean that you have to act like one.'
Harry glared at Snape, unfazed by the hostile stare he received in return. A click from the room adjacent to the bathroom caught their attention, and both switched their gaze to the future Harry, who had emerged wearing nothing but his boxers.
'Sleep well?' the older Harry asked with a sheepish grin.
'Not bad', Harry lied, staring in fascination at the silvery scar that ran from the his navel to his hip. 'Where did you get that?'
'You'll find out soon enough' sighed the older man, absent-mindedly running his index finger along it. Brightening, he added 'I'll just be 5 minutes and then we'll sort out breakfast.'
The future Harry bounded into the bathroom, leaving the two men to tidy their bed-things. Harry turned to his bed and began folding his quilt, intrigued as to how his future self obtained the scar. On the other side of the room, Snape was staring at his bed, having forgotten his intention to transfigure it back into a settee. The image of Harry's slender finger trailing across the taut flesh of his stomach replayed itself in his mind, and he stood transfixed in horror as he realised that he had found the young man attractive. The potions master could barely contain the anger at himself that had surged upwards within him; how could he possibly be having these ridiculous thoughts? Not only was Potter a student (or had been) but he was…. well…Potter!
Dismissing the entire train of thought as the product of an over-worked mind, Snape resumed his work, not daring to look up when the semi-naked Harry came out of the bathroom and walked past him to the bedroom.
Not long after this, the future Harry returned to the sitting room -fully dressed this time- and proceeded to help the pair with the tidying.
'I've just given Severus a poke, so he'll be out in a minute', the older Harry explained to the younger, beaming at him over the chaise lounge they were both carrying. The clunk of wood on stone as they set down the object prevented either of them from hearing the choking noise that escaped from Snape at Harry's last statement.
With the room returned to order, the ever-faithful Dobby was summoned to provide breakfast.
'It is so good to see you sirs!', exclaimed Dobby happily. 'Dobby was not believing it when Harry Potter told him that you had come, but now Dobby sees that it is true! He promises he will not tell a soul! Dobby is also pleased to see professor Snape again' he added slightly less exuberantly, remembering his icy reception the night before.
'Hello Dobby', replied Harry, smiling at this unchanged face. 'How are you and Winky these days?'
At this last remark, Dobby's characteristically cheerful face fell, and his large round eyes flickered uncertainly towards the older Harry. 'Master did not….'
'Is there any chance of some breakfast, Dobby?' interjected the latter hastily. 'If it's not too much trouble.'
At this, Dobby seem to recover, and his posture regained some of its rigidity. 'It's never to much trouble for Harry Potter, sir!' he said, and promptly vanished, though with a somehow more dejected 'pop!' than usual.
The youngest man there looked into the eyes of his double searchingly, but was shocked at the lack of emotion he saw. Comprehending that his older self had closed his mind, he was on the verge of questioning him when he became distracted by the arrival of the future-Snape. If Harry had seen many strange things in the past day and a half, the sight of his normally bat-like professor in Muggle clothes out-ranked most of them. It was true that it was a Saturday, but the idea that he owned anything other than 10 pairs of basic black robes had never entered Harry's mind, and he was surprised to discover how much the clothes acted to Snape's advantage. The black trousers and long-sleeved green velvet shirt complimented the man's lithe body perfectly, and still somehow enabled him to retain the air of mystery that he seemed to radiate in class.
Disturbed by the fact that he had spent even a moment contemplating this, Harry was glad to be distracted by the arrival of breakfast. The atmosphere in the sitting room was quiet during the meal, each man busy with his food and his thoughts. Snape had finished first -when one was constantly expecting to be called by the Dark Lord, it was hard to savour food- and was watching the progress of an eddy of dust motes above the future Harry's head, marvelling at the way that ordinary particles of rubbish could be metamorphosed into gold by the morning sunlight. The first speck had nestled itself into the dark mass of the boy's head when he heard a voice to his left
'Dumbledore wants to see you two', said the older Severus seriously, looking from one to the other. 'You can go as soon as you're ready, but take Harry's cloak with you, there are too many students about and you can't be seen.'
At this, the younger Harry stole a guilty glance at his professor, thinking of the previous night, but the other man showed no sign of acknowledgement. As the man told the pair the password to Dumbledore's office, the future Harry retrieved the cloak from the bedroom and handed it to his younger self with a wink.
Five minutes later, Harry was fervently wishing that someone had taught him the invisibility spell, as he stood on Snape's toes for the third time.
'Merlin's beard, Potter! Can't you keep your feet to yourself for two seconds?'
'Sorry, professor', whispered Harry, to intent on reaching Dumbledore and ending his ordeal to be bothered to argue. Snape was entirely too close for comfort, the size of the cloak meaning that Harry could feel the man's body heat from where he was standing, and the sound of his slow, steady breathing was entirely too audible. Worse was yet to come, as a large group of chattering Ravenclaws approached, blocking the entire corridor. Before he could react, Snape had pulled him into an shallow alcove, squashing Harry against him to ensure that they were small enough not to be an obstacle to the girls. The boy would have protested, were it not for the fact that his mouth was pressed against Snape's shoulder, preventing him from voicing any complaint. The two men stood there rigidly while the students passed, hoping that the conversation drowned out the sound of their breathing. The fabric of Snape's robes was coarse, yet warm against Harry's face, and he had no choice to inhale through his nose as best he could, sense of smell overpowered by Snape's heady aniseed aroma every time he did so.
As soon as they were sure that no-one remained in the corridor, both men distanced themselves as far from the other as possible, mutually disgusted by the enforced intimacy. Scowling, they covered the rest of the distance to the office without mishap, and arrived at the entrance.
'Liquorice whip' muttered Snape distastefully, keeping one eye on Potter as he did so. The pair ascended the stairs, casting off the cloak as soon as it was safe, and were greeted at the door by a twinkling Dumbledore.
'My boys', he said warmly, 'so good to see you'. Leading them inside, he gestured to the chairs by his desk as he made himself comfortable behind it.
'Sherbet lemon?'
Both men declined his offer, and so the headmaster reluctantly put the lid back on the silver tin.
'I am sure this has been a great shock to you both, but has it done you some good to see how things have turned out?'
'Headmaster, how could that be the case?' snapped Snape, unable to contain himself. 'I hardly consider this a future to look forward to!'
'You refer, I suppose, to the relationship between yourself and Harry', replied Dumbledore, shaking his head sadly. 'When I think of you two a year ago, how burdened you both were, I rejoice at the happiness your future selves have found. The change you have wrought on each other is remarkable.'
'Surely this can be attributed to the defeat of the Dark Lord, rather than to the.. power of love' said Snape, with heavy sarcasm on the last three words.
'I could attempt to explain, but I suspect that I might take all day and you would still not be convinced. However, I am in a comfortable enough position to be able to say that you will understand, given time.' Dumbledore's expression lightened, and he appeared to be about to add something else, but instead glanced at one of the many watches on his wrist.
'Alas, young Percy will be arriving shortly to discuss arrangements for the celebrations we shall soon be holding, and I must therefore be brief. The effects of the time-turner are reversible, and with the right combination of spells and potions we can send you back to the time from which you came. However, Severus informs me that we lack one of the necessary ingredients, which can be obtained from a Blast-ended Skrewt. Fortunately enough, there are still several living wild in the forest, and so it should not be difficult for you two to collect it before the end of the day.'
'Us, professor?' questioned Harry, unhappy at the prospect of spending even more time alone with Snape.
'Yes, all of the staff are currently busy with the preparations', here the headmaster gestured to a substantial pile of paperwork on one end of his desk, 'so I must ask that you do this yourselves. You are more than equal to the task, and as I recall you are not exactly a stranger to the Forbidden Forest, Harry.'
Harry could not help but smile guiltily at Dumbledore, who beamed back at him from behind his beard.
And so it was, that despite an abundance of protests from a fuming Snape, pupil and teacher set out for the forest not long after, maintaining their frosty silence under the cloak. Meanwhile, Dumbledore remained in his office, awaiting Percy and casually sifting through memories in his Pensieve. To his left, on the shelf next to Godric Gryffindor's sword, lay an oval crystal with a small needle inside. The morning light passed through the crystal and glittered oddly on the silver object, making it appear as though it was shivering, almost as if in anticipation….
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Hi! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated this, I suddenly realised I should actually do some work… Anyway, hope you enjoyed chapter 3, sorry if it's a bit abrupt, but things will pick up from here, I promise! As always, reviews would be very, very much appreciated.
