The lights in the lab were low, as always, and the two of them barely fit comfortably. Gio sighed loudly as he stared at the potion and then returned his attention to his drawing pad. He'd long debated whether or not to draw Severus' nose accurately and in proportion. It would look better if he doctored it, made it smaller, but it would always feel fake if he did.
"I've been ugly my whole life," Severus said as he looked up from his book and marked the page. From his seat on the other side of the bench he could see the pad well enough to know his features were on it. "You won't offend me."
"I don't think you're ugly," Gio said as he softly smiled. "The lines in your face are…firm, harsh. Like the rest of you. I want it to look realistic, but not emphasized or intentional." He shrugged and began sketching the nose bridge. It was thin and only served to make the eyes look shallower in their sockets. The shape of the nose itself was more of a challenge –the bump half way down from an obvious break obscured the angle of the bottom part going into the hook. Upon closer examination of the finished product, he realized it still looked too perfect.
"Leave it," Severus said. He stood and peered into the cauldron. "Three drops of blood," he ordered.
Gio hummed as he dropped in exactly 3 and stirred. "Oh kay. What did I just brew?"
The potion turned momentarily green before fading to gray and Severus sighed in relief. "Some American developed it to test magical people for HIV."
"You…" Gio gulped and met his gaze, "you're positive, aren't you? That's why you let me stay here and offered to help me with university."
"I needed time for the potion, yes," Severus muttered. "However, I'm rather fond of you and let you stay for that reason." He shrugged and drummed his fingers. "I have known for about a year. In that time I have had no sexual partners that were unaware and have been sure to use adequate protection."
Gio's eyes fluttered shut and he clenched his fists. "Except you don't remember fucking me and I didn't bother with a condom." He gulped and held back his tears as he walked to Severus. "A year, huh?" He wrapped his arms around Severus' shoulders and tugged at him until the man followed.
They walked silently to the sofa and sat side by side. Gio poured two tumblers from the bottle of whiskey they'd taken to leaving on the table over the past week. He couldn't believe how quickly they'd settled into living in the same space. It had to be the personality traits they had in common –the desire to be left alone, to achieve perfection and work until they passed out. He wrapped his arm around the back of the sofa and turned his body. "I'm a hustler, so I know people with HIV."
"I'm sure," Severus replied. He drank a few glasses in quick succession while he tried to decide what to say. Nobody knew –he hadn't even admitted it to himself quite yet. You should know I'm positive before we do this was something he said before fucking. The phrase HIV had never crossed his lips.
"A man?"
"No," Severus said, the surprise evident in his voice. "It was a woman actually. The potion's easy to brew, so I test often. After every encounter, when time allows. I'm not even sure what her name was –tall, brown hair, perfectly small bristols. We had a few drinks and she invited me home. The condom must have broke."
Gio stretched out his fingers until he could just reach Severus' hair. "Has your family at least been supportive?"
Severus chuckled and pulled Gio's legs across his lap. "I don't have any. And no, I haven't mentioned it to anyone. Have you ever had an STD?"
"Don't deflect," Gio said as he placed his glass on the table. "Tell me about it. I know it's manageable, right? There are drugs." He wrapped his fingers in Severus' hair and realized there would be no answer to his question. After a moment, he trailed his fingers down the other man's chin. "You might not want partnership, but this doesn't mean you can't have it."
"True," Severus said as he leaned into Gio's touch. "I'm not sure I want to discuss it." He paused on his breath for a moment before continuing. "I cut my hand toward the end of term in a class, evacuated the whole room and sterilized it twice." He hissed and pulled away. "It was entirely unnecessary, but I won't be accused of endangering anyone."
He stared at Gio's legs as he traced patterns on them. He'd expected the boy to leave or at the very least throw something at him, but there they were. It was strange to have someone readily and happily listening…and trying to comfort him. "Are you going to register for classes?"
"You know I'm not sick, now," he winced and then tried to smile. "So I'll understand if your offer no longer stands."
"I like you," Severus whispered. He cleared his throat. "I would like to see you succeed. And I'm rather fond of not cooking my own meals."
"Then yes," Gio said. He grinned and bit into his lip as he tugged at Severus' hair. "I'll be taking mostly pre requisites, but still. I've never taken technical drawing, just learned on my own." He rested his head on his arm and hummed. "So why potions?"
Severus frowned as he looked over at Gio and then smiled for just a moment. "Brewing relaxes me. I enjoy creating, experimenting, playing." He rested his head against Gio's arm and turned so that they were in similar positions. "I've a mastery in defense as well. Creating spells is similar."
"We could…."
"No." Severus didn't move his head as he stared at Gio. There were so many reasons why the answer had to be no.
"Just…." Severus placed his finger over the boy's lips to prevent him from speaking further and shook his head. Gio's eyes fluttered shut in irritation when Severus removed his finger. "I am old enough to legally make this decision, you know." He checked his watch quickly. "Legally old enough as of half an hour ago. And quite frankly, I'm emotionally mature enough to understand the ramifications and possible consequences. If the answer is no because you don't want to, then that's your right. You have every right to say no. And I have every right to say yes."
Severus slowly moved until their foreheads rested against each other and then cupped the side of Gio's face. "My answer is no."
-:-:-:-
Severus was sat in an Order meeting when the wards at his home fluctuated. He stood in the middle of Dumbledore's speech on Charles Potter and barely noticed the man calling his name. "There is something disrupting the wards around my home," Severus hissed.
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes in consideration. "You seem unduly concerned…."
"My private home, Albus," Severus spat, "not Spinner's End."
Sirius Black cackled. "And for what purpose would you possibly have a home?" he asked with a cold smile. Severus bared his teeth but refused to rise to the bait –he needed to leave.
"I see," Dumbledore said. "Go and keep me apprised."
Running would have been undignified, so he stormed out, sure to let his robes billow in the back. He could hear that the conversation had returned to the Potter issue and growled. Of course the bloody boy was more important than his home, than the innocent boy living in his home. He spelled himself into khakis and a sweater once on the hearth and apparated home.
There was nothing obviously wrong with the house as he approached it. He entered and focused on his core –when he couldn't pinpoint the problem, he decided to go room to room. When he entered the sitting room, he barely glanced at Gio. The boy was stretched out on the sofa in his shorts and a t-shirt sketching. "Do you always spend the afternoons when I'm not here lounging around indecent?" he asked.
Gio set his pad aside and stood. "Not always. Are you hungry?"
"No," Severus hissed as he turned. "Has anybody been by?"
"Ahm, yeah, actually," Gio said as he organized the books on the coffee table. "A woman, just before you came. She asked for a Severus Snape and I told her I hadn't heard the name and to fuck off. She was tall, for a woman, and skinny, black hair. Looked a bit deranged, really."
A list of names flashed through Severus' mind –it could be any number of Death Eater women. "What did you tell her when she asked who you were?"
A coy smile adorned Gio's lips as he walked forward. He slipped his thumbs into the belt loops on Severus' trousers and pulled his hips forward. "I told her I'm a consort to an older man with a voracious appetite. He's in pharmaceuticals and kindly paying for my education. It's rather good I'm familiar with coercive magic –she would have gotten what she was looking for otherwise."
"I'm impressed," Severus whispered. He reached his hand up and cupped the boy's cheek. "You could have just told her the truth."
"You'd be in a lot of trouble, then," Gio said as he swayed his hips from side to side. "People with Dark Marks do tend to get killed with frequency after all." He went still and leaned into Severus' touch.
Severus gave him what he wanted and let his thumb rub over the boy's cheek. It was just another piece to the puzzle –he felt his heart flutter. The suspense and mystery were both mentally and physically exciting. "You dirty little Death Eater spawn. A housemate familiar with my line of work, how lucky." The boy smiled and Severus wondered if it was the right time to ask –if the boy's parents had used coercive magic, certainly they'd used darker spells as well.
"I found you Harry Potter," Gio whispered as he leaned even further into Severus' touch. "I went to the College of Art and registered like you said. There's a row of shops right near it –I popped in a few to apply. He's working in a small, family owned bakery and café."
A smirk crept over Severus' lips as they stood unmoving. How perfect! Black would go mad when he showed up with Potter in tow. It didn't make sense though. Potter was used to the climate of Surrey, what was he doing in Leeds? He'd assumed the boy was in London. "Marvelous. Grab your registration materials and the financial forms –we'll have a spot of lunch."
Severus drove them to the café with a menacing grin. Gio had been rather useful after all…more useful than he'd imagined. He parked the car directly in front of their destination and turned to the boy. "Don't!" Gio warned. He met Severus' eyes. "Do not introduce me as your son. If you don't want him to think much of you, or recognize you, treat this as a proper date. Intimacy makes people uncomfortable." He unbuckled and stepped out of the car before Severus had mind to reply.
The boy had a point, a very good point. If he wanted to know why Potter had run, he'd have to move unnoticed. He huffed and tied his hair back at the base of his neck before exiting the car and walking to where Gio was stood having a smoke. "I don't want any touchy-feely nonsense," he said as he gently rested his arm around Gio's shoulders. After realizing it wasn't the best position, he took the boy's hand instead and led him inside.
They seated themselves at a table in the corner, from which Severus was confident he could see the entire room. He let Gio rub the back of his hand while he pretended to consider the school forms. Though brewing was an art in its own right, he'd never had any skill in traditional artistic mediums. He did put some effort into hearing what Gio was saying –the College of Arts was the perfect institution…. Finally, their waiter arrived.
Black hair and bright green eyes –it was in fact Harry Potter. "What can I get you?" he asked.
Severus replied that he would have a coffee and accepted their menus. Gio requested the same and asked after the day's specials. Potter replied something about soups and a chicken dish that Severus paid little mind to. Why was the boy in Leeds? He was uninjured, seemed in perfectly good health. They heard the cries of an infant just as Potter left. "Any ideas?" he asked as he handed Gio a menu.
Gio looked at it and shook his head. "I don't think he's in trouble, if that's what you're asking. What should I order?"
"What should you order?" Severus repeated with a smirk.
"Well yeah, this is a date so I want you to like the taste when we make out later…and you're paying…."
"And you like being dominated," Severus continued. He leaned forward on the table and let himself leer for a moment. "I like a good submissive. However, we'll have to get to know each other a bit better before I can just casually order for you." It wasn't something he'd considered with the boy. Properly bonding to a sub took time, time he doubted he had. Gio nodded sadly as he perused the menu. Severus selected his dish, tried to guess what the boy would order, and picked up the forms from the art college.
The campus looked nice –he'd never visited –and the classes were appropriately small. The program was specific to the drawing major. Despite his lacking knowledge, he could see the benefit of each class in the outline.
Potter returned to take their order. "What would you…" he stopped and turned his head toward the kitchen as they heard an infant crying. "Alice?" no reply came "Oliver?" He turned back to them, apologized, and ran off. Just a minute later, he was back with an infant strapped to his chest. "I'm sorry, the owners… well, they're her great-grandparents and I'm not sure where they went. Are you ready for me to take your orders?"
Severus narrowed his eyes in consideration as he watched Potter bounce the baby –was the child his? "I'll take the chicken crepes and he'll have strawberry and cream ones," he said without giving it much thought. Potter wrote it down, took the menus, said he'd be right back with their drinks, and hurried over to the couple who had just come in. "I had not intended to order for you," Severus said as he slid the program back across the table. "It just took me by surprise."
Gio took Severus' hand and spoke softly. "It's exactly what I would have picked, thanks. Do you think it's his baby?"
"I imagine so," Severus responded. "When is tuition due?"
"Next week," Gio whispered and blushed.
"I have the money readily available," Severus replied as he searched the room for Potter. "The timing is not an issue."
Potter brought their coffees with the infant still strapped to his chest and Severus wondered how to engage him. He shouldn't have worried. "She's beautiful!" Gio gushed after thanking Potter for the coffee.
"Thanks," Potter grinned. "Not planned, of course, but all mine." He turned the infant toward them. "She's even got my eyes."
He walked away and Severus growled. The child did indeed have Potter's eyes and was sure to complicate things. "Shit," he whispered. Hogwarts had strict policies –the child would not be allowed. Given Potter's obvious attachment to the child, Severus very much doubted he'd return to school at all. He let Gio talk aimlessly while they waited for their food and tried to give the Potter problem serious consideration. Though he wouldn't trust Black with a child, it might be amenable to Potter.
"Sweet for you," Potter said as he put down Gio's plate, and then, "savory for you." He placed his hands on his hips, his chest free without the child, and bit on his bottom lip. "Can I get you anything else?" They shook their heads no and began eating.
