Chapter 10: Advice

The following day, Harry went to dine with the professors at breakfast. An owl deposited a letter at his place and took off before he could give her a treat.

Harry,

I'm sorry to hear you will not be taking the internship. I took the liberty of speaking with my superiors about training you wherever is convenient for you. They agreed. Since you've learned all the bookwork, we will be sparing most of the time. I'll need you to prepare an area that is suitable to what we will be doing.

Moody

PS. Where the hell are you?

Harry laughed, earning him a quizzical stare from Snape and McGonagall. "Moody wants to continue my training from here. Do you think that would be alright?" He asked Dumbledore.

"I think that would be lovely, Harry," he replied with a twinkle in his eyes.

"We need somewhere to spar."

"I believe the Room of Requirement is available," he said with a wink.

"Brilliant. Thank you, Headmaster." Dumbledore nodded and turned to Minerva to discuss something. Harry turned to Snape and flashed him a small smile. It was retuned and he visibly relaxed. Harry finished his breakfast quickly and left the hall, hoping to catch Alex before her first class.

He found her on a bench just outside of the dining hall. "Hi Alex," he said softly to not frighten her.

"Harry," she replied with a small smile. She looked around.

"He's not here," he said, knowing she was searching for the potions master.

"Oh, good," Alex said, pulling him into a hug, he returned it. "Would you like to go out tomorrow night? We could sneak to Hogsmeade or something…."

"I don't think sneaking about is the most brilliant idea. But I know a place we can go. Meet me here tomorrow night at seven, okay?"

"Alright," she kissed him quickly and hurried off to class. Harry retreated to Snape's chambers. He needed to write a letter to Moody and really wanted to be alone for a while. When he got there, he grabbed a quill and ink and made for his favourite chair. As Harry sat in a leather chair, he heard the crunch of paper in his pocket. He pulled out a slip of parchment and unfolded it.

Harry,

I'm sorry I rushed things. I didn't mean to frighten you. Really, I just wanted you to know that I was willing to give you my whole self. I'm not that great at the whole dating thing. I've only had two boyfriends and one was really… Well he wasn't nice. I thought you were leaving and I figured you might have… found someone else while you were away. I figured if you did find another, at least I would have that one memory with you. Can you understand that?

Snape told me to not speak with you—the arrogant twat. But I don't think I can do that… You've been nothing but nice to me.

I really like you, Harry, and if you want to take it slow, I'm more than willing to try. I've never had a slow relationship though. Please be patient with me and I will be with you.

-Alex

He read it a few times before setting it on the arm of the chair beside him. How did she manage to slip this into my pocket? He cursed himself for not being observant. It was imperative that he be in order to complete his Auror training. He shook his head and set the note down, not knowing what to think of it. Instead he took out a quill and wrote Moody:

I'm staying at Hogwarts. Dumbledore said you're welcome to come and we've already found a place to train. Thank you for doing this for me. It means a lot

-Harry Potter

The next note he should write was harder. He had just gotten her name scrawled on the parchment when Snape walked in. "Afternoon, Sev," he said lightly.

"Harry," he replied tiredly.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm exhausted. What are you working on?"

"A letter to Alex—" he stopped speaking when he noticed the death glare.

"Well, go on," Severus urged. He just wanted Harry to get whatever was bothering him off his chest so he could relax.

"Sev, I don't want to make you angry, you've already had a bad day."

"It's alright. Tell me. Perhaps I could be of service," he said sitting on the couch across from him. In response, Harry sat by Sev and showed him the letter. He read it and sighed. "As much as I despise the thought of giving you dating tips when your significant other is my student, I do have a suggestion."

"Which is?"

"Take her out to a nice dinner. Set up precise boundaries so no one gets hurt." When Harry looked confused, Severus explained, "Tell her what's going too far and she can tell you what's not enough." Potter sill looked like he had no clue what's going on. "You're a bloody idiot, you know that, don't you Potter?"

"Yeah. And I'm horrible at dating."

"You're not the worst," he said with a half-smile.

"Thanks, I guess. And back to what you were saying… do you mean if like, I'm only comfortable with a kiss and she wants sex, we should compromise with, like, say—"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Severus cut him off, not wanting to listen to any more. Harry laughed and Sev shot him a look.

"What?"

"I don't care to hear about your romantic endeavours!" He exclaimed, trying to not smile.

"Fair enough. Where should I take her? We can't exactly sneak out."

"It seemed as though you already had a plan," Sev said smoothly.

"You heard me!"

"And saw the kiss," he said, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"You followed me!" Harry said with mock anger.

"You simply need to keep your affection hidden when in the middle of the castle," he replied using his normal lecturing drawl.

Harry groaned. "Now you sound like your old self."

"Yes, about me being an 'arrogant twat'…" Snape said smirking.

"Oh yeah, I sorta forgot about that bit," Harry said laughing.

"It lets me know I'm still doing my job!" He laughed, putting his arm around Harry. He leaned back into the embrace of his potions master, enjoying his scent and the comfort his presence provided. "Getting all comfy are you?" Harry nodded, leaning deeper into his chest. "I have lessons to plan!" Severus complained in jest.

"They can wait," Harry replied softly, burrowing into the black robes.

"They can wait," Severus agreed as he shifted position to more comfortably hold Harry on his chest.