Chapter four

After Minerva, Hermione and Ron left, Severus handed Harry a thin satin bathrobe. He stood, stepped out of the bath then put the robe on.

'Are you still hot?'

'A little, not too bad at the moment, thanks,' Harry gave a small smile as he stared at Snape and Malfoy then followed them out into the other room.

'You've lost weight, so I'll go buy something for us to eat, Draco stay and keep him calm.'

'I'm not going anywhere Severus.'

Harry watched Snape leave before turning to face Malfoy, 'You call him by his name, why?'

'Something we've kept private for the last couple of years.'

'Oh, so you and Snape are together?'

'In a way, yes, I didn't know you were gay though, you went out with the Weasley girl.'

Harry shrugged, 'After I broke up with her, this was after Dumbledore's funeral, I had a lot of time to think and realised why she never got me excited. I know I have to tell her, but I'm trying to keep my private life out of the papers.'

'We won't say anything, Severus and I are used to keeping our relationship a secret. I have to do the same, my father arranged a marriage for me when I was born, I could never tell him I was gay.'

'Does that really happen, arranged marriages?'

'Yes, most pureblood families always arrange a marriage between their children.'

'I never realised you or Snape were gay,' Harry screwed up his face, 'How can that be, he loved my mother?'

'What are you talking about Potter?'

'Snape and my mother were friends as kids, but he loved her, she didn't, she only thought of him as a friend. So I don't get how he's gay.'

'I loved your mother as a friend, similar to how you feel about Miss Granger I would presume,' Severus said as he stepped into the kitchen then started to dish up some food, 'Sit.'

'Is he always this bossy away from school?' Harry whispered making Draco laugh.

'No, it's just his way, come on Potter, you need to put some weight on that arse of yours if you expect to attract any blokes.'

Harry rolled his eyes but followed, 'I haven't even thought about that, I've had enough on my mind to think about…well, you know.' he blushed.

'Oh Potter is embarrassed, this is something I have never seen before.'

'Smart arse Malfoy just because you're shagging Snape doesn't mean we're all doing it.'

'Alright, enough both of you,' Severus said then placed three glasses on the table, 'I would appreciate if you to keep that information to yourself Potter.'

'I will, it's nobody's business but yours and the ferret's,' Harry smirked then started eating.

'At least you're not upset, but call me ferret again scar head and I might just hex you. You don't have a wand on your right now, I do.'

'Fine…Malfoy.'

'You two are worse that young boys and you are both adults, but you sure don't act like it.'

'We're just having some fun Severus, lighten up, by the way,' Draco leaned over and kissed Severus, 'It's been a while since I felt your lips.'

Severus' lips turned up in a reluctant smile, 'Yes, it has.'

'I don't think I've ever seen you smile before, except in that memory.'

'I had to act my part Potter, if I smiled the dark lord would surely know something was amiss.'

'Is that why you could never tell me how you've been helping?'

'Yes, if you acted any differently towards me, then I'm sure all the Slytherin's would have written to their parents to let them know. So even though we did spend some time alone, I could not let you think any differently towards me.'

'I get that, they would have been suspicious if we acted like we are now. So you helped because you were friends with my mother?'

'Yes, I made a promise to Lily to keep you safe.'

'So you saw her, after that fight you had?'

'Yes, she reluctantly forgave me but I was already a death eater by then. I saw her sneak out of the house a few weeks before that night, I'd been keeping an eye on it ever since the dark lord thought the child in the prophecy meant you. I approached your mother and we spoke, she was scared and asked me to do everything I could to protect you.'

Harry stared down at his food, 'What was my mother like?'

Severus and Draco heard the emotion in Potter's voice, 'She was beautiful, talented, caring, but had one hell of a temper. She was the only one that could control your father and godfather, Lupin gave up.'

'I found out from Slughorn that she liked potions, was that because you were her best friend?'

'Partially, but your mother had a natural ability when it came to potions. If she was alive today she would give me a run for my money.'

'You know I'm nothing like my father right, apart from looks?'

Severus sighed, 'Yes, I know that, you are more like you're mother than you realise. But thinking of you as James Potters son made it easier for me to keep my true feelings buried. I'm sure you are aware how easily he could break into our minds.'

'Yeah, he could,' Harry fanned himself before taking a long thirst quenching drink.

'Are you okay Potter?' Draco asked watching Harry carefully.

'Still hot but not as bad, I just don't like to think about him.'

'Then keep your thoughts on other things. Right now it's the hardest part for you as it all just happened. You need to focus on anything that makes you happy, calm, relaxed,' Severus said.

'If for any reason I can't, what could happen?' Harry slowly lifted his head and stared into Snape's eyes.

'Usually it will start with items breaking, then the windows will rattle until they explode. If you still can't calm down then everything will shatter, but if anyone is near you they could get severely hurt. The worst it could get is the people near you could explode to literally nothing then you would until there was nothing left of you either. That is the most extreme cases which doesn't happen often.'

'You mean if I got that upset I could hurt both of you? Blimey, why are you anywhere near me then, I always get upset and angry.'

'You had reason to before Potter, that reason is gone now. Once you realise that your feelings and thoughts are your own you will not get as angry anymore. When Albus first explained everything to me it all made sense, why you lost your temper so often, because he did. You might have seen what he was doing but you also felt it and as someone that was close to him I knew you would have felt his anger a lot.'

'All the time, I would just lash out, yell, hit just to try to stop those feelings from taking over. His anger was terrifying and exhausting, I used to collapse after,' Harry blew out a huge breath, 'I can't, I'm getting hot again.'

Severus, Draco and Harry hurried back to the bathroom where Harry sank straight down in the water with the two men watching the water boil before it slowly eased and steam rose. They knew this would keep happening until Harry could learn to control his power but also he had to put his past to rest, that was going to be the hardest part of all.