Disclaimer: hehehehehehe... could you imagine what the books would have been like if I had owned Harry Potter instead of J.K.? heheheheheheheheheh... I can... and there's a lot of Snarry in my skull right now... LOL!!

Title: The Ties That Bind

Beta: Shadowfax999... Love her, for she totally revamped this chapter... lol!

Summary/ Warning: Dom/ Sub, HGRW, PPBZ, RLSB, LVBL …and of course HPSS.

Chapter 6: Beginning to Understand

:Parseltongue:
"Conversational thoughts"
Private thoughts, memories

They spent the next morning lazing in bed, safe in the knowledge that Hermione would provide a cover for Harry's absence. He was lying with Severus while the man in question was sprawled across his chest, basking in the afterglow. Harry drew leisurely circles on his mates back, responding to the feeling of contentment radiating off the other man, and pondered about their relationship. Harry had continued letting Severus top, not ready for that quite yet, and contemplated the fact that he didn't really have an urge to be in the dominant position.

Shouldn't I have that urge? I mean, I am the one who can read Severus' mind, so I have to be the Dom- so why am I content to be in the submissive position? It doesn't make sense.

He sighed. This was so confusing. Maybe it will come later? When I know what I'm doing? Who knows…

Severus opened his eyes as Harry stopped his pseudo-massage, and glanced up from his position to see what was wrong with the boy.

Harry's lips were pursed, and he could almost see the steam coming out of the youth's ears as he thought. "What's wrong?" he asked, feeling too good to have to use any of his muscles, but shifted his head his head from where it was resting on Harry's chest. The thud of his heart was soothing to Severus, and he was almost asleep again by the time his answer came.

"You'd always acted like you hated me before, but now the only thing that I feel from you is happiness when you are with me."

He paused before going on. "I just don't know what to think about the sudden change, even though I can see that it is a genuine one." Harry waited for the older man to answer, and resumed his ministrations on Severus in an effort to distract his mind. He didn't peer too deeply into his mate's thoughts, because he wanted to hear him say it from the man himself.

Severus sat up abruptly, the covers cascading off his shoulders as he turned to face Harry. He caught his mate's hand as it fell, and toyed with it as he mused over his answer. He felt Harry keep a respectful distance in his mind as he searched for a way to phrase his response.

"I knew for a long time that you were not the same man as your father. It was hard to not see the differences between you." he stated, leaving the conversation silent, "And I also knew for a good bit longer than you that you would be my partner. I took the potion one year out of curiosity, and saw you glowing in my sight in the Great Hall at dinner that day. I have had a long time to reconcile myself to the fact that one day you would have to take the potion." He fell silent, waiting for Harry's reaction.

"That does explain one facet of my question," Harry allowed, "But why are you happy to be here? Why doesn't it freak you out that you had sex with a student?" Severus glanced away from Harry's piercing gaze as he remembered why it wasn't a hardship to be physically close to the younger man. A gentle hand cupped his cheek and Harry asked "What?"

Harry chose to stay out of his mate's mind, realizing instinctually that he would rather hear it from Severus than over- hear it in his mind. "I had been berating myself- for a rather long time before finding out that you were my Dom- for the unseemly interest I had in you." Harry smiled at the admission and brought Severus down to rest alongside him, cradling the man against his chest as he brought the quilts back up.

He smiled at the worry in the other mans mind as he tried to understand Harry's actions, and as Harry snuggled them deep into the covers, he told Severus "I've been more than half in love with you since fifth year."

They rolled out of bed about an hour later, and Harry groaned as his stiff body protested the movement. Severus snickered at the fuss Harry was making, before finally taking pity on the brunette.

"I believe that a lot of very hot water will take care of the problem, Harry." He said, and smiled at the glare he got in return.

"And how far away is the bathroom again, Severus?" Harry ground out as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed to stand slowly.

"Make a left out the door, and it's two doors down on the right." Severus made as if to walk to the closet, but Harry reached out and gripped his wrist, pulling him close until their bare bodies were pressed against together.

"Nuh- uh," Harry said, "You're gonna come with me, old man." They walked out the door, Severus not really putting up that much of a fight, but complained about the ghastly 'old man' label.

Harry opened the door to the bathroom, grinning at some of Severus' comments- "Albus is old, Flitwick is old, I am not old-" and smiled in appreciation at the décor of the bathroom. He had privately feared that this room would be as… shabby… as the others, but he was glad that it wasn't. It was small, but shabby it wasn't.

A deep black marble claw foot tub with gold accents was pressed against the far wall, with a matching shower head above it. He saw immediately that it was big enough to hold three people, let alone one.

Looking around, he noted that all the furnishings in the room matched the tub, even the toilet, and the towels hanging on the wall were imported from Turkey, a deep black edged in green and gold. He turned to Severus with a smile on his face.

"Please tell me that this is yours and you picked it out." His mate nodded, perplexed at the question. Harry answered his questioning gaze by saying "It would have killed me if Dumbledore's taste was this good." Severus let out a surprised laugh. That was not what he had been expecting.

Harry waited patiently as Severus filled the tub and poured in bubble bath and cast a spell to make it heat up to just shy of boiling and gestured for Harry to get in. He did, and hissed as his foot entered the hot water. Stepping in fully, he grabbed the rim with both hands as he lowered the rest of his body into the sandalwood scented bath and rested his head on the cushioned spot of the edge. He settled down and shifted until everything below his chin was covered by fluffy bubbles.

Severus had gotten two towels and a bathmat while Harry had been adjusting to the water, and now he came and placed the two plush towels on the toilet and the bathmat on the floor before kneeling down and settling onto his heels. He picked up a nearby washcloth, dipped it into the water, and squeezed a creamy body wash on it, massaging the cloth between his hands, and slid his arms into the water.

Harry smiled idly as Severus started soaping up his stomach and stretched as his tense and sore muscles began to loosen. The washcloth felt like heaven on his aching body, and he purred lowly as Severus ran the cloth over his chest, around his ribs, and down to his abdomen. His mate chuckled when he heard the feline sound escape from Harry's throat.
"I thought you could speak to snakes, not cats."

His deep, low laugh made Harry open his eyes and say mock- chidingly "Oh, hush, you." He made as if to say something else but stopped and mewled quietly as Severus ran the washcloth around his cock and balls, clasping them gently.

"Hmmm," Severus mused teasingly, "I still hear you speaking cat. I wonder why?" and he replaced the cloth with his fingers and stroked Harry slowly, relishing the hissing now coming from his mate.

"That's much better," he murmured, and Severus quickened his movements, wasting no time bringing Harry to completion. His other hand wrapped around the younger man's back, holding him up as Harry's hands convulsed on the rim of the tub. He gasped, and Severus felt him stiffen and shudder as the orgasm rocked through him. Harry melted as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through his body, and he felt Severus' arm tighten around him as he relaxed in the water.

He heard Severus' smugness in the back of his mind even as the man continued washing him as if nothing out- of- the- ordinary had happened. "Hell, if you're going to do this all the time, I may never leave the tub." Severus' responsive thoughts had Harry sitting upright in the tub and dragging him down for a kiss. "Come in." Harry said, not really knowing if this could be constituted as a command but not caring as Severus joined him.

Forty minutes later they had emerged from the now cooling water clean- somehow- and wide awake. Harry was getting dressed in the bedroom alone, for Severus had left to see if anyone had come by and dropped anything off. Sunday was his real day off, but he still had to pretend like he didn't have anything better to do than work. So Harry wandered through the suite of rooms, taking everything in, making a mental list of all the things that were scruffy or in bad condition.

He was quietly pissed that his mate had been forced to live in such squalor for, who knew how long. Harry wondered how much Severus earned teaching at Hogwarts, but it must not be enough if his mate couldn't even have sharp knives in his kitchen.

His inspection complete, Harry stood in the middle of the living room and thought about what he'd seen. Everywhere except the bedroom and the bathroom had ratty furniture. Things were missing and most had holes that had been mended to many times for magic to fix. The kitchen equipment was broken, cracked, and dull, and there was a noticeable lack of proper utensils.

The living room was the most presentable of the public rooms, presumably because he must sometimes entertain other teachers in here, but it was still lacking the aura of a properly taken care of room. There were not many other rooms for Harry to explore, the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room, spare room, and linen closet were it.

"Where are you?" he asked, and was told that Severus was in his office. Harry sighed, and went to go talk to his mate. He walked through the living room to stop in front of the door where it was hidden behind a picture of a fascinating snake with lime green and blue scales, and talked to the snake for a moment.

:How's it going, Sscazzs?:

The snake twisted around himself in pleasure that his Master was talking to him. :Oh, Master, I'm fine, such a pleasure to talk to you!:

Harry smiled at the excitable painting before him, and had a sudden idea strike him. :Hey, Sscazzs, can I ask you something?: The snake whirled even faster, and Harry had to wonder that it never seemed to get knotted.

:Anything, Master! What can Sscazzs do for you!?:

Harry smiled. :How often does the wizard named Dumbledore come down here?:

Sscazzs thought for a moment, his spinning having slowed as he thought. :Is this the Dumblesss that Ssevesssruss complains about, Master?:

Harry had to give it to the snake; the flashy colouring did not do justice to his underappreciated intelligence. :Yes. Has he ever come down here?:

The answer was immediate. :Not from this door, Master. You could ask Ssselevesssa if she has seen him enter through her door.:

The snake paused for a moment, then its spinning noticeably slowed to an almost stop. :Sscazzs is sorry that he could not help the Master.: Harry was quick to reassure the dejected snake that he had heard exactly what he needed to know, and waited until the usually happy snake was back to weaving his body into impossible knots before he left.

Harry entered the office and turned around to face Severus where he was sitting at his desk. He purposefully ignored the only other door out of this room- it led to the Potions Classroom and reality- and he walked around the desk to perch on the edge closest to Snape.

"I heard a lot of hissing through the door," Severus said as he looked up from the paperwork and rubbed at his eyes.

Harry shrugged. "Sscazzs wanted to talk." He listened as Severus made the deduction that Sscazzs was the warden for the door he had come through, and an eyebrow rose in his direction.

"Making a habit of talking to all of my snakes, are we?" He wasn't angry; he just found it funny that his snakes and serpents would practically leap from their portraits to obey Harry. Harry shrugged, and changed the topic.

"Why are you working on a Sunday?"

Severus heard the disgruntled tone of the younger man and sighed. "They have always given me work to do on Sundays, even though it is my day off."

Harry muttered "Well, that will have to change," under his breath, and Severus smiled weakly.

"Listen, Harry. I've been thinking-"

"-you never stop-"

"-shut it, smart mouth- and I think we should tell Albus about this happenstance." Harry's first instinct was to tell Severus exactly which part of Merlin's anatomy to shove that idea, but he suspected that was just his possessiveness kicking in.

He felt Severus' worry through their bond, and just listened as all the reasons were presented to him. Finally he said, "I don't want anyone else to know."

He forestalled Severus' argument with a raised hand. "I understand why you want to, I'm just not comfortable with- I don't want- I-" he cut himself off, frustrated, and reached out to Severus' mind with his. "Here, this is why I don't want to tell." and he shoved the memory of his initial reaction to the idea into his mates mind, watching as Severus understood.

I had no idea the possessive tendency was that strong, he thought to himself, forgetting for the moment that Harry could hear him.

"Well, it is. But if you really want to do this, we'd better go now before something happens and I trap you in bed for the rest of the day."

And Severus knew that Harry was not talking about sexual frustration when he said he would trap Severus in bed- it would be his need to re- establish his dominance over his mate.

"Alright then, let me finish this." Harry perched on one of the uncomfortable chairs in front of Severus' desk, and slid into his mate's mind to watch what he was doing.

Ten minutes later, they were ready to go. Severus Flooed to the Headmaster's office, letting him know that he would be arriving for a meeting, and then turned to Harry.

"Let's go," the younger man said, pre-empting the question he knew was at the forefront of his mate's mind and hopped up off of his chair to open the door for Severus, grabbing him for on last kiss as he passed. It was a heated kiss, but Severus understood that Harry was just strengthening his resolve to do this.

It didn't stop him from becoming aroused, however, or slightly pissed as Harry pulled away. But he curbed his need to follow the brunette back into bed, and led the way to the Headmasters office, telling Harry, "Make sure to look dejected, like you've just been caught setting Mrs. Norris' tail on fire."

A laugh rang through his head, and Harry replied, still chuckling, "But I wouldn't be ashamed if I did that."

Severus said "It's the principle of the thing. Now, shush, there are people coming this way." They both shifted their faces into normal expressions, Harry with a dejected 'Crap I'm banned from Quidditch' look on his face and Snape with his best 'I've caught Potter in the act' face.

Hi! I know it's early, but I have the sneaking suspicion that I won't have access to a computer on Monday... so here it is. And I know it's short, but that's because a LOT happens in the next chapter and I didn't feel like rewriting this ending when it was such a delicious cliffie... and now you all hate me, I know...

But it's EARLY!! You can't hate me that much... right?

Oh, well. Here it is anyway. I hope you all like it, and drop me a line telling me what you think, k?

Netrixie