A/N: Hey guys! Chapter 10! What a landmark. I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed, given me words of encouragment, read, or even just glanced at my fic. I thrive on knowing I can satisfy my fellow Snarry shippers. So please, do enjoy!

"Do they know about Grimmauld Place?" Harry asked, turning slightly to look at Severus, who had seated himself next to the young man.
The key members of the Order were all sitting around the table in the kitchen of the Burrow.
While the group was as big as ever after the war, most of it's members were never called upon- there had been no need.
There had seldom been a reason for a meeting, either, until Greyback had first started acting up.
Presently, there were only six of them: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Kingsley, McGonagall, Severus, and Harry.
"Yes. The Dark Lord chose not to attack there because it was never the most convenient," he explained. "We can't go there; Greyback is far less careful, wards will not give him pause,"
"I've already said, the two of you are to stay here!" Molly exclaimed, put out.
"I can't accept that, Molly," Severus said.
"We appreciate it, really," Harry said quickly, not wanting to hurt her feelings. "I just can't live with putting you two in any more danger, and besides, he knows where the Burrow is, too. He'd be expecting us to crash here,"
Molly scowled slightly and shifted unhappily in her chair, unhappily conceding his point.
"So, we need a safe house the Death Eaters never knew of," Shacklebolt deduced, looking to Severus.
"Unfortunately, there are none. Dumbledore had me reveal all safe houses to You-Know-Who when the Order moved Harry in his seventh year in order to spread out Voldemort's forces."
"What about Hogwarts?" Minerva offered, "There are spare chambers in several of the towers,"
"Too predictable," Arthur said, "They'll check all the places the two of you would think to turn to first. Here, Hogwarts, the safe houses, Spinners End..." he trailed off.
They all fell silent as their options slowly dwindled.
"What if I bought a house?" Harry asked, looking up.
Five pairs of eyes turned to look at him.
"I mean, I have more than enough gold, and we need a house they don't know about, right?"
Snape nodded slowly, thinking it over.
"Well, with a new house, only we would know where it is," Harry reasoned. "I mean, we'd still ward it and everything, of course."
"That's actually not a bad idea," Snape mused.
"Don't sound so surprise, I do possess a brain, you know," Harry glowered at the older man.
"Oh, indeed; I never doubted it. I was under the impression you were just unwilling to use it," he answered silkily.
Harry huffed and stuck his tongue out as Snape finally let his gaze stray to Harry's. He smirked once before they both turned back to the table.
"It could work, with the proper precautions," Snape decided.
"A closed floo, for one," Arthur suggested.
"We could create the wards so they only let certain people in, that way we can apparate directly into the house and never have to take them down," Minerva added.
"Yes. That sounds like our best plan of action. I'm sorry to leave so early, but I trust you can hash out the details without me," Kingsley said. "I have some things to attend to back at the Ministry,"
"I really must be getting back to the school as well," McGonagall stood up with Kingsley. "I'll see you all soon."
The pair left, and the Weasleys soon retired to their room for the night, leaving Snape and Harry alone at the table.
"We will split the cost," Severus said.
"That's not necessary. If not for me, you'd still have a home...and a life," he laughed humorlessly. "I have enough, it's not a problem."
"I will not live in a house I have not gotten for myself. I am not poor, Potter. We were both naïve, we can both replace it," Severus said, tone clearly implying that their was to be no argument.
"If you insist," Harry sighed. "But I do hope you realize that as soon as Greyback is gone, this will complicate things."
"We can worry about that when the time comes," Snape answered, sounding tired.
"I am off to retire to bed," he announced. "You would do well to do the same," he said, leveling Harry with a stare.
"Gosh, Professor, is it curfew already?" Harry mocked.
Snape glared down his nose at him as he stood, but stayed silent.
"How is it you can still make me feel as if I'm about to get a detention?" Harry complained under his breath, as he stood up as well.
"It's a skill," Severus deadpanned as he walked to the stairs.
Harry chuckled to himself as he followed him up to their room.
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"I like this one!" Harry enthused as they stood in the living room of the seventh house that day.
Snape sighed as he unenthusiastically followed him from room to room.
"It looks like the six other ones we've been in, Potter. Just pick one,"
"This is what we'll be living in, Severus!" Harry chided.
"Yes, I realize that. And as long as it has four walls and a room separate from yours, the rest of this dreadful process does not interest me," he drawled.
"Party pooper," Harry muttered. "Fine. We'll take this one."
"Thank Merlin,"
Snape turned to the goblin and dealt with the finances as Harry meandered through the rooms some more.
The high ceilings and skylights lent to a light, open atmosphere, and as he walked along the long hallway he trailed his fingers lightly along the walls, mind reeling with the excitement of decorating a new house.
At the end of the hallway there were four rooms; two bedrooms, which shared a bathroom between them. Harry didn't know why that hadn't been a deal breaker for Severus, but he could only imagine the trouble in store. The fourth room was a den, which would most likely be Harry's.
Severus would most certainly stake claim to the guest room in the front of the house by the kitchen, and convert it into his personal lab.
Harry found his way back to the large living room, and stood at the French doors, which offered a nice view of the expansive side yard and the woods beyond.
He felt a body settle next to his.
"Can we get a fire pit?"
"I suppose," Severus answered, tone neutral.
They stood looking out the window for a while, before Snape suggested they go collect their things and settle in.
They would no doubt need a fair amount of time to hash out boundaries and room distribution.
A mere four hours later, the sun had set on their new, completely furnished home-complete with a fire pit.
Harry sat on his bed, back against the wall and surveyed his new room. He had transfigured his furniture into a warm oak finish and garnished everything in red and gold. His firebolt was hanging lengthwise over his bed, and he even had a case for his chocolate frog cards.
Severus had nearly gagged when he had walked in, and Harry was surprised at the deep blues and greens his room sported. It was actually quite calming.
The bathroom was a neutral mix of tans and browns, as was most of the rest of the house.
Harry climbed into bed that first night, and couldn't help but feel a sense of loss as he stared at his empty room. He had grown quite accustomed to sharing his room with Snape while they were camped out at the Burrow.
As he climbed into bed, he had no one to wish goodnight, no soft breathing to calm him in the dead of night, and no face to wake up to in the morning.
He sighed and rolled over, hugging his blankets around him. He would just have to get used to it.

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The next few weeks passed quietly, with no reports of Greyback or his followers, and Harry and Snape had fallen into a routine.
Snape would get up early and make enough coffee for them each to sit and share the paper over.
They would fight about what sections they got until, finally, Harry got anything Quidditch related, and anything else Snape didn't want.
Than they would do their separate activities and reconvene for a quiet dinner, and retire to the family room to spend their evenings together.
Never admitting it to each other, and rarely even to themselves, they had both come to enjoy their life together, but that wasn't to say it had become easy.
On more than one occasion, Harry had been locked outside with his fire pit, and a very creative hex to deal with.
It was on one of these nights that Harry realized, as he crouched warming his hands over the fire, that he was utterly happy.
He could be himself around Severus, and he found that the more time he spent with him- really spent with him, not just in proximity- the more he trusted him.
He had always trusted Severus with his life, but for someone like Harry, his own life didn't mean much to him, not when there were suppressors and evils in the world. There were bigger, more important things than him.
But now; now he felt like he could trust Severus with more than his life, he could tell him more than he could tell most anyone, sometimes even including Ron and Hermione.
For the first time, he didn't resent the vow they had taken. He was thankful for it. Because it had thrown him into a situation where he had gotten to know Severus, instead of Professor Snape.
And he wasn't sure he wanted Greyback to be caught anymore.