A/N: So much for 'I'll post on Friday', right? Sorry… But I hope you'll like this chapter despite its author's whimsical behaviour! As always, reviews are awesome!

Chapter 10

Snape and Harry offered to do the dishes after Mrs Weasley's dinner and she'd reluctantly allowed it.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked, with his hands in the warm, soapy water. Snape dried the plates and cutlery with a spell and then levitated them into the cupboard. A very complicated way of drying dishes in Harry's point of view, but... Snape was the master of complicated.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Snape asked and flicked his wand slightly, sending some forks shooting into a drawer.

Yes, the master of complicated. Why couldn't he just give Harry a chance to say he was sorry? Why did he have to make it so hard?

"I'm sorry for flinching like that before", Harry said and glanced at Snape. How was he supposed to explain everything and keep from hurting Snape's feelings?

Snape quietly levitated some plates into a cupboard.

"Why?" he asked finally.

"Why I'm sorry or why I flinched?" Harry said and earned a glare from Snape. "Sorry. But... I don't know. I was just tired."

"Did I do something? Is that why you're..." Snape asked and a few of the plates lost some altitude.

"No. No, you didn't do anything", Harry said and realized he was out of dishes to wash, out of distractions. But he chickened out. He'd never been good at talking about his feelings and all that crap and it wasn't easier knowing that if he said something the wrong way, Snape would be so extremely pissed at him. Well, he'd be hurt, but with Snape it was the same thing. So he just said something about having a headache and Snape looked at him with those dark eyes. He knew there was something wrong and Harry wondered how long it'd go before he cornered Harry.

...

Harry moved in to Snape's quarters at Hogwarts in July, right after Harry's birthday. He started work a month before the start of school in September and there were a lot of preparations. He didn't have that much stuff to bring; only his trunk that he used to bring to Hogwarts, and that really wasn't that much. He had some stuff at Grimmauld place too, but Amanda was just so annoying. Snape and Harry hadn't told anyone else than Hermione and Ron about getting married either. And Harry still hadn't had the courage to talk to Snape about how incredibly panicked he felt. All these secrets were making him even more jumpy and nervous.

Mrs. Weasley was crying like one of her own children were moving out. Harry'd told her he'd come visit atleast once a week, but she didn't believe him. She brought up Charlie as an example of one who never visited, but then Harry'd said that he lived in Bulgaria and Harry was only moving to Hogwarts. That made her calm down a bit, but she'd still been pretty wound up. All her kids, except for Ron, had moved out, so he didn't blame her for being a little upset. Mr. Weasley was at work, like he usually was, but Ron said that he'd wished he was there to say goodbye.

They hadn't bought a house yet, but they had all year to look for one. Yes, all year. Right. And the house was going to be perfect, it had to be perfect, he caught himself thinking. He rejected house after house, making Snape pretty pissed. It was just stalling. Stalling, stalling, stalling.

They'd also celebrated his nineteenth birthday with a small party. He got a lot of practical presents from the Weasleys and his friends, alot of the gifts had something to do with his work. He'd gotten a locket with a green stone of some sort on it from Snape. Harry liked it and it was almost exactly the same color as his eyes. Harry'd been so close to telling Snape that he was so stressed out by all their plans that night, but he just hadn't dared. So it was a lot going on and on top of everything, Ginny and Draco had come back from their honeymoon. Ginny had been pretty surprised to hear that Amanda was pregnant but she seemed happy for her. She'd said that she and Draco weren't planning on having a baby for atleast a few years.

And Harry was so tired, all the time. He'd fallen asleep at his desk more times than he could count.

The summer was almost over and Harry spent all his time – well, the time he didn't spend in his office, preparing his classes or sleeping – on his broom. When Ron visited he had someone to play quidditch with, but otherwise he just flew around the school. It was the only time he could forget everything and just fly. Feel the chilly air on his face as he dived and swivelled around the rooftops of the castle and the treetops in the Forbidden Forrest. He liked flying over the lake, especially when it was cloudy. It was so beautiful, seeing the grey sky mix with the green water in the lake's reflection.

And then one day when he got home to Snape's quarters – well, their quarters – Snape was waiting for him. He was sitting in his – their – sofa and reading a book, but Harry knew he had been waiting for him.

"Hi. I'm sorry I'm so late, I was just out flying", Harry said and Snape looked up.

Harry was completely soaked with mud; he'd fallen down in a huge puddle of sludge.

Snape smirked. "Come here", he said and reached his hand out to Harry.

"I... I need to take a shower", Harry said and avoided Snape's eyes.

Snape sighed and it almost sounded like a growl. He put the book down and stood up. "What is wrong? You've been... You're never here, you're avoiding me, you're..."

"Can we just-" Harry started and looked down at the floor.

"Why? If you're leaving-" Snape asked angrily.

"No. I wouldn't-", Harry said weakly. Snape grabbed his arm and that made Harry look up at him.

"Then tell me what it is!" Snape hissed.

"It's just too much, okay? With moving in, getting married... And kids! We're going to have kids!"

"Is it just that?" Snape said and laughed sharply, more of a cough than a real laugh.

"'Just that'? I'm fucking terrified! Aren't you?" Harry shouted and Snape walked closer, putting his hands on either sides of Harry's face.

"Of course I am!"

It caught Harry off guard. "What? Really?"

"Yes. But we don't have to do that now, do we? We can wait. We don't have to rush!" Snape said and with his eyebrows raised and a smile on his face.

Harry laughed. He was right. He was absolutely right. Why hadn't he come to Snape earlier? Snape knew what to do, he always did. Harry leaned in to Snape's chest.

"How do you do that? How are you so...?" Harry couldn't find a word for it so he just fell silent. 'How can you make me feel so safe and wanted?' Harry realized later that he wanted to ask, but he couldn't say that. It sounded so cheesy but it was how he felt. Feelings were so cheesy sometimes, love especially.

A/N: It was my birthday last week. That's gotta deserve a review?