A/N: Why hello there. New chapter up quick this time, because I'm hoping to post it all before Monday when I have to turn in my computer to my school. I have a hunch that my teachers wouldn't enjoy reading this… (Hey, I might be wrong.) Anyways, thank you all for the awesome reviews, and the favourites and alerts! All of your comments, even (or especially) the unsigned ones are a great encouragement. :)
Chapter 9
The Dinner Of Doom
Severus
Severus looked over at the sleeping boy next to him and smiled to himself.
Severus had been pleasantly surprised when he'd come to visit again. He suspected he'd looked like quite an idiot when he opened the door, but it was just so unexpected.
He'd been looking for a place to stay, but it wasn't like he used Severus. No, Severus didn't feel used at all. Severus felt liked, and that was rare, he had to admit. When he kissed him goodbye he actually meant that he was looking forward to the next time they'd see each other.
They did meet again. They went out to eat (something other than chinese food from the crappy place around the corner this time), they saw a movie, but mostly they stayed in Severus' flat. They talked and laughed and he was all Severus cared about. He loved his laugh and his smile and the way his skin felt under his lips and the way his hair fell in his eyes when his head had drooped down against his chest in sleep. He found himself wanting to make him laugh, telling stories to see his eyes light up before he let out something that sounded a lot like a giggle.
And then when they didn't meet he worked. That hadn't changed, he still got incredibly absorbed in his work. But lately it had started to be intentional, because he'd realised that the time spent away from Harry Potter really wasn't time spent well.
This time he had appeared as usual, in the afternoon, and they had slept together. That was what usually happened. And after that he had fallen asleep, like he was exhausted, and Severus had let him. He liked it when he stayed the night, he liked to wake up next to him.
"Are you watching me sleep?" Harry asked, opening his eyes sleepily, and Severus stroked his cheek.
"Maybe", he said and the younger man smirked.
"Well, creepy", he said, shutting his eyes again, and Severus laughed. "No, wait, before I forget, mum wanted me to invite you to dinner tomorrow."
Severus could almost feel himself paling. "Did you tell her you were coming here?"
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" he said and sat up, probably realising that he wasn't going to get any sleep. "I told her I was having you make me a potion, not that I was coming here to... Shag you", he ended and gave Severus a suggestive look.
"Do you think she bought that?" Severus asked and he shrugged.
"Think so. It's believable enough, potions wasn't my strongest subject", he said and reached over to his pants that were lying on the floor, the movement making the covers slip off him, and making Severus' mind cloud over for a second.
"Won't she wonder why you're staying the night?" he asked, when Harry had come with a triumphant grip on his cigarettes.
"You're sweet when you worry", he said with a small smile, before lighting a cigarette and tossing the packet aside. "But you know what's sweeter? When you suck my-"
"Don't distract me", he said, because that was exactly what Potter was trying to do.
He sighed and took a quick drag on his cigarette. "There's this girl, Padma. I, um, we fuck sometimes. She's cool. Cold and emotionless but a real good..."
He must have seen the look on Severus' face, because he cut himself off sharply.
"Anyway, I told them I was with her. She'll back that up if they call. But I don't see why they would. So stop worrying, okay?" he said and kissed him again, tasting like smoke.
He didn't know what to think, any less say. So he slept with other people. He'd known that. He'd also known he was possessive, so he didn't know why this reaction was so surprising to him. Maybe because he was only possessive of what was his, and he hadn't known he counted Harry as something that was his.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked and tilted his head. "I'm sorry..."
Severus didn't answer, and Harry kept looking at him and smirking.
"Because I had sex with Padma?" he asked and Severus shook his head. No, that wasn't it.
"Why don't you just stick to... her, to women?" he asked and Harry stopped with the hot sulking.
"What?" he asked and let out another smoke puff. "Why would I do that?"
"You could be, I don't know, normal. And yet you-" He didn't know how to end that sentence. And yet you sleep with me?
"I don't kid myself. I'm Harry Potter. I'm never going to be 'normal' and I wouldn't want to be either", he said and sat up straighter. "I'll sleep with whomever I want. That choice hasn't always been available for people and I'm lucky it is now."
"But it is like that now too", he said and Potter looked angry.
"Maybe. Maybe some people will throw insults at me and call me", he stopped, obviously not wanting to repeat some of the words he'd been called, "and call me stuff, but those people's opinions really aren't important."
He was right. He was. People like that were idiots, but they did exist. And just because they were idiots it didn't mean that you couldn't hear their words.
"Listen, it's in the middle of the night and it's either too early or too late for me to be pissed at you, so why don't we do something else, eh?" he said, and Severus nodded in agreement.
"Very wise of you", he said and let Harry kiss down his chest. He guided his hands to his arousal, that seemed to flare up at even the slightest mention of sex from those lips.
Severus groaned quietly, as his fingers circled the head of his erection, and earned a smile from Harry. "Mm, faster", he moaned and bit his lip.
"Can I top this time?" he asked innocently enough, nipping at the skin on his neck.
"No", he moaned and opened his eyes to a smiling face.
"Oh, come on. Why not?" he said, his hand still doing marvellous things.
"I just don't want to", he said in a not too final tone. Who was he kidding, he would do anything he asked.
"Please?" he asked, licking up his throat to the soft spot behind his ear. His hand stopped though and Severus groaned in annoyance.
"You are very good at persuasion, aren't you?" he said, and he could feel him chuckling against his skin.
"I am", he said and his hand stroked his thigh. "So can I?"
"Do something at least", he said and Harry reached for the lube in his top drawer. He knew where it was, they had used a lot of it already.
His fingers moved from his thigh and he kissed Severus reassuringly. "So I'm your first time?"
He laughed. "I've had sex before, you know that", he said and tried to keep from pushing back against his fingers when one slipped inside him easily.
"Yeah, but not good sex, right?" he asked. "Not with me."
Severus didn't answer that, instead he groaned and closed his eyes as a second finger followed the first.
"Do you promise to tell me if I'm hurting you?" he asked and Severus nodded. "So, am I hurting you?"
"No, not exactly", he said and the fingers in him moved slowly, stretching him.
"How does it feel?" Potter asked and he let out a small snort of amusement.
"Stop fussing and fuck me", he said and Harry laughed, removing his fingers. It felt strange now, like he was missing something. The men he'd had sex with, the ones who had insisted that he took the submissive role, hadn't bothered to prepare him beforehand. They had been rough, but then he had been in a place when he thought that rough was all he deserved. And wanted, really.
Harry pushed into him slowly, biting his lip in an adorable way and Severus felt himself stiffen slightly at the intrusion. Harry let out a groan and then met Severus' eyes, waited until Severus gave a little nod and then pulled out and pushed in again.
"Fuck", he groaned and Severus just bit back a moan.
When he pushed back in, his hand wrapped around Severus' erection and he slowly moved his fingers up and down. In combination with the hard thrusts Severus didn't last long. He came before Potter did, but he followed not soon after with a loud, excited sound.
"Good?" he breathed, a slow grin spreading on his face, and Severus nodded.
"God", he murmured, letting his head fall back against the headboard, and Harry laughed.
"No, but thanks anyway", he said and pulled out slowly. Before he lay back next to him, he pressed a sloppy kiss to his lips and Severus smiled at him.
"I'm exhausted", Harry said and stretched out the bed. "Did I tell you I started work today?"
"No, you didn't", Severus said and slid down under the covers.
"Well, I did. They gave me some extra leave because I blew up my house, but now they've made me come back again. Anyway, it was hell. And now we're weeks behind on everything", he said, ending with a big yawn. "I'd better be on my way. Mum's expecting us home for dinner, remember?"
Severus sighed. "Tell her I can't come."
"No, I won't", Harry said as he got up from the bed, looking back at him with a tiny smile.
"Why? Just say I'm busy", he said and watched as the other man pulled his jeans on.
"No, because you're not busy", he said and his head poked up from his T-shirt. "Why don't you want to come?"
Severus was quiet and waited for Harry to turn to him. "I can't lie to her", he said and Harry's smile faded. "Not to her face."
"We could just tell them. I mean, what could they do?"
Except for kill Severus? Except for kick Harry out of their home and disown him?
"I just don't want to sit there and pretend like nothing", he settled with and Harry leaned over the bed to kiss him.
"I'll tell them you'll come at seven. If you really don't want to go call and say you're sick or something", he paused in the doorway. "Or better, say that you messed up a potion and got acid goo all over you, that would be a hell of an excuse."
And then he was gone out the bed room door, leaving Severus to listen to his heavy steps through the apartment before hearing the door slam shut.
/
Severus took a deep breath before he Apparated. He appeared at the end of the Potter family's street, the shady part that was overhung by trees. He began the walk to their house in a tense silence. He could feel that this was a bad idea, he could feel it in his gut, but when Potter had asked him he couldn't resist. He was just irresistible.
He had reached their front door now, and knocked on the door quickly, before he could lose his resolve and Disapparate away. But maybe that would have been good, if he would have just turned around to leave.
"Sev", Lily said with a big smile, as she opened the door. "You're just in time."
She stepped aside to let him enter and he did, hesitantly. There was still that cold, bad feeling at the pit of his stomach.
"The food's just ready", she said as she walked ahead into the house. "Harry, Alice, dinner's ready!" she shouted up the stairs as they passed it.
"Oh, hello. So you made it?" Harry asked pleasantly from the top of the stairs and Severus almost applauded the ease at which he lied.
He just gave a nod and then Lily was looking between them. "Well, make the guest welcome then, Harry!" she said with a sharp look at Harry, like he was being rude.
"Yeah", Harry mumbled and then there was a loud crash heard from the kitchen and they all snapped their heads in that direction.
"Oh no", Lily mumbled, and was off to the kitchen. "Harry, offer him a drink!"
Harry waited until they heard the door slam shut and then he jumped down the stairs hurriedly.
"This was a bad idea", Harry said and Severus nodded.
"I told you! It feels-"
"-bad, yeah. Like they're gonna find out. I've been feeling bad all afternoon. It's like my stomach is turning inside out", he whispered, throwing a glance at the door.
"We'll just stay away then. No whispering and no glances, nothing", he said and Harry bit his lip as he nodded.
"Yeah. Just..." He kissed him once, quickly and then he said in a louder voice, "Well, Mr Snape, let's get you that drink then?"
The dinner was tense, but only Harry and Severus seemed to notice it. James wasn't there, thank god, so it was just the four of them. Lily's daughter, Alice, seemed shy at first, but then she was asking all sorts of questions. Just like her brother, Severus thought as he tried to keep up with the fast blabber.
"Are you married?" she asked and Severus let out a small cough.
Lily had given up on berating her daughter a while ago, so now she just settled with shooting her a warning look.
"No, I'm not married", Severus said and he could see Harry smile in the corner of his eye.
"Why not?" she asked, frowning.
"Not everyone wants to get married, Alice", Lily said, but Alice kept looking up at him questioningly.
"I just haven't found anyone to marry", he said and took a sip from his drink. That was the truth. But he couldn't say that he had been looking very hard either.
"Do you have a girlfriend then?" she asked and Severus risked a fast glance at Harry.
"Alice! That's Severus' business", Lily said and gave Severus a look that said, 'I'm so sorry, she's not usually like this'.
"But-"
"Alice, stop it. Now, I'm going to go put away the dishes and I don't want you to bother Severus anymore, all right?" she said and Alice pouted.
"Fine", she grumbled out and after a hard look her mum waved her wand and the plates rose from the table and followed after her in to the kitchen.
She looked at the door for a second and then she turned back eagerly. "So do you or not?"
"Alice, what did mum just say?" Harry asked and hit his sister softly in the back of her head.
"Shut up, Harry!" she said and stuck her tongue out at him.
Their banter almost made Severus wish he'd had siblings. But he doubted that his crappy childhood would have been better with a brother or sister, and he honestly would never wish his parents on anyone.
"You don't have to answer her", Harry said and smiled at him as his sister was scrunching her face up to the point where it looked painful. "And that's not going to work, Alice, you can't blow me up or give me a rash or whatever you're trying to do."
"I was trying to colour you purple, thank you very much" she said and then Lily poked her head out the door.
"What are you talking about?" she asked as she tapped her wand against Severus' glass which filled up with water, before she sat down.
"Alice is trying to change my colour again", Harry said and Alice looked down at the table.
"Just a little bit", she mumbled as her mum looked at her scoldingly.
The tension eased up over the evening and Severus found himself staying longer than he should have. He felt silly for thinking something awful was going to happen. He was actually having fun, actually feeling like he fit in. Even though the fact that he was keeping secrets from Lily was nagging at him, but he couldn't very well tell them. All in all it was a nice night, which was unexpected. It was a welcome surprise that James wasn't there, he bet that the dinner wouldn't have been nearly as pleasant with him present.
He was away in business, Lily had said. Severus suspected that he was just staying away because he was visiting and he asked Harry about that when they were washing up. Alice had actually managed to blow something up in the living room, while trying to turn her brother purple and Alice and Lily were both there trying to clean up dirt from a (former) potted plant. He could hear Lily's sharp cries now and again and some apologetic mumbling.
"Where's your father?" he asked and Harry looked up from the dishes. They had shared the work so that Severus cleaned and Harry dried and put away.
"Say dad like a normal person", he said with a small smile.
"Where's your dad, then?"
Harry looked out over the front lawn through the window as he answered. "Mum tried to not say who was coming over, but he had to ask sometime... I think he went over to Remus and Tonks'."
Severus nodded and Harry looked back at him again.
"He really doesn't like you", he continued with a small laugh.
Severus waved his wand and then leaned back to watch a plate rinse itself and then float over to Harry who in turn dried it off with a quick spell and then levitated it into the cupboard.
"You're very skilled", he said, because he couldn't help it.
"What, at doing the dishes?" Harry asked with a small smile, leaning against the counter.
"No. Your magic, it's... beautiful", he said and earned a smirk.
It was. The soft precision of it, how it seemed to take no effort at all. Severus didn't doubt at all that this boy had been able to defeat the Dark Lord. He was an amazing wizard.
"Wow, flattering, mister", he said and took two sultry steps towards him.
"I thought we weren't supposed to-" he started but when Harry put his lips against his cheek softly, it died away. Oh, if only he had finished that sentence.
Harry smiled and then leaned against the counter. "A quick kiss", he said and looked over to the door to the living room, from which they could still hear the busy sounds of cleaning up. "They won't notice."
Severus pulled him in for a kiss quickly, but he was so intoxicating. It didn't end at a quick kiss. Not at all. Severus found himself leaning in closer, loving the feel of their mouths meeting, mixing the two of them together. They stayed clasped together for way too long, and Severus couldn't help put his hands lightly on his hips and letting them feel at the warm skin under the T-shirt.
But then Harry gasped against him and it wasn't a good gasp. Severus pulled away and followed his gaze out the window where Potter, the elder, was standing in the middle of the gravelled pathway, staring at them.
/
A/N: Smirk. You're hanging so far off that cliff right now that you're just closing your eyes and hoping you'll land on something soft, aren't you?
I've never really liked Snape as a bottom, but in this chapter it worked. They've talked about it, and I think in this situation it had to happen, just to show how much Snape trusts him and how much they, yeah, give of each other. Anyways, what did you think?
