CHAPTER 10

In spite of the havoc in his marriage and the emotional turmoil – or precisely because of them – Harry slept like a log, tucked away peacefully. He woke up early in the morning with the realisation that it could not go on like this and that running away was not a good solution – least of all for a Gryffindor. But of what importance were House values in a situation where Voldemort was spreading such terror? And he refused to return to the dungeons where he was not wanted. With a sigh, he got out of bed, showered and changed. He glanced at his trunk and grinned. If the trunk would speak, it would probably give him a sound tongue-lashing for rushing up and down between the dungeons and Gryffindor Tower. Dobby brought him breakfast. Harry noticed that the things on the breakfast tray were rattling due to the elf's trembling hands.

"Dobby? What happened?"

"Harry Potter, Master Snape is very angry. Dobby found him flinging bottles and a cauldron against the wall when Dobby came to clear the breakfast things!" he squeaked.

"Poor wall. He didn't hurt or threaten you, did he, Dobby?"

Dobby shook his head.

"No, but he gives Dobby such a look…" Dobby shivered.

"I'm sorry about that, Dobby. It's actually my fault…"

While he ate, Harry mused about the future. He could not stay forever in Gryffindor Tower – the students would soon come to Hogwarts. He would have to ask Dumbledore for separate rooms and hope he did not sound spoilt or something. If being forced together promoted hostility instead of reducing it, then it seemed the best solution. A divorce would end his blood protection – and thus sever an efficient avenue of defense against Voldemort. He pulled out the Marauder's Map after brushing his teeth and scanned it. The dot labelled "Severus Snape" was pacing up and down in the dungeons. As he watched, it stopped pacing and headed for the exit. To Harry's consternation, the dot moved up several flights of stairs, disappearing from time to time as it took a shortcut through a tapestry.

"Crap," he whispered: the dot had reached the seventh floor; its destination was only too clear.

"He's going to kill me." His fingers left moist traces on the piece of parchment.

"Scared of Severus Snape after battling dragons and Voldemort? Boy, Harry," he said to himself, trying to make himself grin. It didn't work at all. The dot was moving towards Gryffindor Tower. Harry cleared the Map and stuffed it into his trunk. He quickly slid his wedding ring over his finger in case Severus misinterpreted its absence as another plea for divorce. He was wondering whether he should sit or stand when the door fairly burst open, revealing an irate Severus Snape. His face was bleached with fury and his body rigid. A muscle was jumping in his jaw. Harry involuntarily took a step backwards. He had never seen Severus so angry before, not even after Sirius's escape on Buckbeak or after the mortifying Pensieve incident.

"So," Severus hissed. He took a step towards Harry.

"Harry Potter was not treated like royalty, therefore he decided to flee. And they call you brave…"

Harry did not dare to speak, gazing back steadily at Severus instead.

Severus strode over to him and stared into his face.

"I am protecting your ungrateful ass," he spat.

"THEN TALK TO ME IF YOU TAKE YOUR DUTY AS MY PROTECTOR SO SERIOUSLY!" Harry shouted.

"Don't. Raise. Your. Voice," Severus breathed, grabbing Harry's arm and flinging him onto a sofa. Harry landed on his back. Severus stooped over him.

"Get up."

"You will not give me orders!" Harry answered.

"GET UP!" Severus roared.

"NO!"

"I am not a patient or a nice man, Potter," Severus said, his black eyes flashing, "nor am I fond of tantrums thrown by spoilt coddled heroes."

"I WAS NEVER SPOILT! YOU SAW INTO MY MIND DURING THE OCCLUMENCY LESSONS!" Harry yelled. He took a deep breath.

"If you stop seeing what you want to see, then I'll return to the dungeons with you."

"I see a pampered brat-"

"Stop it. STOP IT, SEVERUS! JUST STOP IT!" Harry shouted, leaping from the sofa and running at Severus, who seized his shoulders and thrust him away; Harry, however, kept straining at him.

"Do you know what I see in you? I see a man who is drowning in his self-erected walls-"

"Shut up, Potter," Severus snarled.

"-because he is shutting everyone out, including his own husband!" Harry finished, tears of anger and frustration sparkling in his green eyes, spectacles askew.

"You are talking nonsense-"

"Look at me. At me – Harry! I am not James Potter. You hated him and you still despise his memory. But please understand me, Severus, he was my father, he's different to me than to you, and I accept that he was flawed like we all are. Severus, can't we start anew? We can't Obliviate all the years behind us. But we can put them aside. And…I owe you an apology for breaking into the Pensieve behind your back. I'd find it hard to trust me if I were you. But please give me another chance. And a reason why I should reurn to the dungeons with you, if you are so keen on avoiding me in our…your…whatever…rooms."

Severus released Harry's shoulders and slowly sat down on the sofa. Harry occupied the space next to him. Severus gazed around the common room.

"You are extremely persistent, Harry Potter," he said finally.

"How do you mean?"

The black eyes looked into his.

"You knew that I would come here again and return to our quarters together, didn't you?" Severus stated rather than asked.

"Well…I wasn't sure. But I had to find a way to make you talk to me."

"You should have been Sorted into my House, Potter. I believe you nearly were."

"Yes. I nearly was. So…How do we go on?"

"I suggest that we leave this infernal place."

"You still haven't given me a reason why I should go back with you," Harry pointed out tenaciously, "and I don't want to hear that it's only because of the protective blood bond."

Severus's eyes narrowed.

"Which reasons do you want to hear?" he asked shortly.

"That you're willing to interact a bit with me. Not treat me as if I were a stranger or parasite. I'm not asking you to, er, like me. It's just…if we're fighting together against Voldemort, then we should work together on some kind of level."

Severus uttered an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. If you are so keen on interaction, then we'll find something which is tolerable for both of us. Will you kindly accompany me back to our rooms?"

Harry nodded and got up. Severus followed his movement, and they left Gryffindor Tower together.

"Black," Severus said suddenly.

Harry shot him a questioning look.

"My favourite colour. Yours is probably red."

"I love red, but I also love green. I can't really make up my mind between the two."

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"You see, you've still got to know me," Harry remarked.

Severus snorted. They continued their way back to the dungeons in silence. Nessa opened a glinting eye.

"Ah, he didn't carry you back this time," she greeted Harry. Severus's mouth thinned – he was evidently most displeased at being excluded from the conversation by his own portrait and by his husband.

"No. This time, I managed to talk a bit with him."

"Monkswood and wolfsbane," Severus said loudly.

He swept into the hall before Harry, moving in the direction of the Potions laboratory. The door closed crisply behind him.

Harry shook his head.

"Interaction my ass. You've already shut me out again. You've already reverted to our previous isolation..."

The door suddenly opened, revealing Severus holding a small bottle in his hand.

"For your hair problem," he said with a decidedly smug smirk. Harry's cheeks immediately grew warm.

"There's a colour-changing effect those impossible twins added to those pastilles. I took one back with me to analyse with the aim of creating a specialised potion for the one and only wizarding hero," Severus added in a bored tone.

Harry stared at him. For one thing, he understood why the hair on his nether regions had been going all the colours of the rainbow ever since he had ingested the pastille; but what astonished him far more was that Severus had taken the time and trouble to brew a restorer only for him.

"I…Thank you very much, Severus. I really appreciate that."

Severus toyed with the bottle, eyes gleaming with strange humour.

"What colour has your unmentionable area turned, Potter? I do not want to offend your sensibilities by using the appropriate vocabulary."

"Er, it's gone orange."

Severus's smirk widened and he gave Harry the bottle.

"Drink it now," he ordered, "the slight itching sensation you will feel is perfectly normal."

Harry held it up for a moment to admire the deep dark-blue depths before drinking the liquid. It was pleasantly sweet.

"Thank you," he repeated, giving the bottle back to Severus.

"You are married to a Potions Master," Severus remarked rather haughtily.

"And to whom are you married?" Harry wanted to know.

"To a recalcitrant brat," Severus replied. "I am sure you will want to retire to your room and admire the effects of that restorer."

"Oh…Yes, I, uh, guess so," Harry said, flustered.

The gleam of strange, rather malicious humour had still not left his husband's dark eyes.

A few minutes later, Severus Snape's smirk became positively nasty when he heard a furious bellow issue from Harry's room.

"SEVERUS SNAPE! WHY AM I BARE AS A BABY'S BOTTOM DOWN THERE?!"

"It was the only way to solve your problem," Severus called back, closing his bedroom door with a snap and warding it with a locking charm.

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