Sorry for the delay in posting. I'll try to work to get the fics out more regularly again, and thank you for all of the wonderful encouragement you all have given me!
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Chapter 10 Fall of what would have been Harry's Sixth Year-
Severus paced the halls irritably, furious with himself for his inability to sit still and thoroughly troubled by how much he missed London.
The summer had been glorious. They had spent their days lounging in bed and their nights dancing in the clubs. It was the first time that Severus could remember having an entire summer without any responsibility. Even the summer before, when he had ostensibly been given the summer off from Harry Hunting (as he liked to call it), he had still had a number of important responsibilities.
This year though, the only thing that he had to do was make the potions for the infirmary. With London's increasingly talented assistance, it had taken him less than half the time the potions usually would have.
They were left with a blissfully free summer with which to do anything they wanted with. While London did tend to disappear for a few hours a day to do some odd jobs around the city, they were relatively undisturbed from their idyllic vacation.
Severus had privately celebrated his young lover's birthday, although he did not acknowledge it even to London. He knew that acknowledging that London turned 16 on July 31st would be tantamount to acknowledging that London was, in fact, the Boy Who Lived. Although he knew damn well that he was, he also knew that London would run far and fast if he even hinted at bringing it up again.
So they had spent the summer talking about everything but that. London had eagerly learned more about the Wizarding World and Severus had been just as enthusiastic about learning about London's world. Their first 'date' with Ana had gone so well that the three of them had continued to meet at least once a week. London had also introduced him to a few of the other kids he lived with, although he had not had the immediate rapport with any of them that he had with Ana.
And here he was, alone at Hogwarts and miserable because London wasn't here.
Oh, he knew full well that London was not ready to enter his world yet, and he knew that even if he did want to enter it that they would not be able to continue as they were—the public outcry would be too great. The boy savior simply could not be in a relationship with a man nearly twenty years his senior, particularly when said boy hero was underage himself.
Even still though, it hurt to see such a clearly magical creature as London was, live a life so completely removed from where he belonged.
He was startled from his thoughts when he tripped over something in the hall, eliciting a loud hiss and nearly landing him on his arse. A soft whisper of noise was all of the warning he had before he heard an all too familiar voice.
"Severus Snape! Will you watch where you are walking?" Minerva spat out, changing back to a human immediately.
"My apologies, Minerva. Perhaps if you didn't insist on skulking around the halls as a bloody cat I would have seen you."
"And if you wouldn't insist on stalking the halls at all hours of the bloody night it wouldn't be an issue!" Her voice softened as she gave up bickering with him. "What are you doing in Gryffindor territory anyhow?"
"Go to hell you bloody bint," he muttered, his heart not in the insult.
"What has you in such a twist?" Minerva asked amiably, ignoring his irritable words and linking her arm through his.
Severus merely grunted and started slowly escorting her through the halls, shortening his stride for her.
"You miss your lover, don't you?"
Severus turned to her quickly, his startled look quickly replaced by a glare.
"Don't you glare at me, boy. I know you too well. You're lonely, and you're upset that you are lonely."
"He was just a one off," Severus muttered, trying to convince himself with his words as much as her.
"These things have a way of drawing themselves out," she said, patting his arm comfortingly. "Let's stop in my rooms for a nip of brandy."
He nodded and led the way to her quarters, long since familiar with their location. Minerva and Poppy had been the two members of the staff to accept him the most readily all those years ago when he had started teaching. The other staff members thought him too young and too dark. Evidently a former career as a Death Eater did not endear him to the world at large. Figures.
Severus found his customary seat quickly while Minerva pottered around, stoking the fire and pouring their customary drinks. "Well? Tell me about him."
"He's…different," he said, taking a long sip while he tried to find words to describe London.
"He's absolutely brilliant and his mind works in ways I cannot begin to fathom. He is almost foolishly reckless at times and he is disgustingly loyal to those he trusts, although they are few whom he has placed such care for. He's…damn it. He's dark enough to suit me and yet he is almost completely pure in some ways." He looked over and saw her curiosity, and cut off the rest of his words. "It's impossible to explain."
Minerva did not push him to expand. She was quite aware of how her friend's mind worked, and she knew she would get no better answer from him without asking better questions. "What does he do for a living?"
"Some odd jobs in muggle London."
"Is this the same young man who had you in fits the summer before this?"
Severus looked at her for a moment, obviously weighing whether or not he should tell her the truth. "Yes," he finally said.
"That must be nice, having such a steady relationship. I'm sure he is a wonderful man."
Severus openly winced.
"Ah. Is he a bit younger than you?"
"You could say that."
"In his twenties?"
Severus winced again.
"My goodness Severus! You certainly are a devil!" she said, laughing as she poured them both another round.
"He looked at least twenty that first night," he argued weakly. "The lights were dim, and his clothes…" he faded away, trying to ignore her quiet chuckling. "He really does look older than he is."
"And how old is he?"
"Old enough," Severus said evasively. Well, while it wasn't entirely true, the boy was old enough to have sex, albeit his age made it slightly against the law.
Minerva laughed in delight. "I think it's wonderful that you've found someone. And he must be quite taken with you, to have stuck around after that first night."
"I can't quite figure it myself. The boy must be daft," he said, completely ignoring his earlier praise of London.
"Nonsense Severus. You are an incredibly handsome young man, you just tend to ignore your own appeal. If you weren't so thoroughly bent I would be trying to take you to my bed."
Severus fought the urge to gag at the idea of having sex with his old friend. "I assure you, that will never happen Minerva."
She just waved her hand, brushing his objection aside. "So tell me more about him. What is his name?"
Severus looked at her for a moment. "London."
"London? After the city?"
"Just so."
"I see. How unusual."
"No more so than Severus or Albus or even Minerva, for that matter," Severus argued, giving a sort of half smile when he remembered London's very argument on their first morning-after.
"No, I am sure you are quite right. Is he a muggle then?"
"No."
"Where did he go to school?"
"He didn't."
"You don't see many home schooled wizards any more. So many parents feel that it is necessary for their children to make connections for their futures while at boarding school. In a community as relatively small as ours, I suppose they have a point."
Severus didn't bother to contradict her assumptions about his education and instead pushed the subject away from London. A few more probing questions and he would have to either offend his best friend or else tell her damn near the whole truth about his lover. "What did you do during the hols?"
"Not much. Sibyll and I went to the beach for a month. We lounged around all month long and didn't do a single constructive thing. It was glorious."
"How did you convince her to leave her tower go to a beach?" Severus said, snorting at the thought of Sibyll Trelawny sitting in a bathing suit under a beach umbrella.
"You know she loves to get out. Honestly, the two of you are terrible, the way you mess with the children's minds. Albus' head too, for that matter."
"They're as easy to lead along as pups," Severus defended his behavior with a smirk. He and Sibyll did have a certain twisted fondness for presenting a specific image to the students. The brilliant and witty Sibyll chose to act like a half-wit with her head stuck permanently in her crystal ball. Severus chose to act as an unfair bastard whose greatest delight was in terrorizing children. Not too far from the truth, for him, since it was his greatest source of amusement.
"You two will be found out one day. Mark my words, Severus," she said, gesturing widely with her glass, unnoticing of the liquid that spilled over the edge. "One day the students will find out that you are as soft as a kitten and that Sibyll has one of the most brilliant minds in the country. Your careers will be ruined."
"We can only pray that day never comes," Severus said morbidly. "Given the intelligence of the students who walk through these halls, I believe we can safely hold out that that day will never come."
"Miss Granger is rather intelligent."
"And a bloody menace. How do you put up with the bint?"
Minerva found herself laughing even though she had intended to scold him for his harsh words. "She is a bit much. I keep hoping she will get better each year, but in truth she gets worse. May the gods help us during her seventh year."
"Merlin," Severus swore under his breath. "I will not be responsible for what I do near that girl any more. She drives me completely over the edge Minerva."
"I know exactly what you mean," she said with a sigh. "I almost wish she would date that Weasley boy who keeps eyeing her. Perhaps he could temper her nature a bit."
"That would be a travesty of the worst kind. As unbearable as the girl is, she is so many leagues above Weasley that it almost makes me nauseous to think of it."
"Come now, Severus. Stupidity is not catching."
"One can never be too safe," Severus returned, pouring them both another round of drinks.
"Albus is getting old," Minerva finally said, pulling out a seemingly random topic once again. Their talks were always rambling and disconnected, and it suited them both to continue as such.
"He has been getting old for fifty years, Minerva."
"Yes, yes, I am well aware. Something has changed in him since last year though. I believe he is giving up."
Severus looked at her warily. He was well aware of why the old man was giving up, and he was equally well aware of the precise location of the man who would bring hope back to the headmaster.
"I wish there was something we could do for him."
"Do you think the boy is dead?" he asked her, getting to the heart of the matter. He didn't think he had it quite in him to beat around aimlessly before forcing an answer from her.
"Hm? It's hard to say. He must be dead, I suppose. A letter did not address itself to him when it did the others in his class. Surely, if he was alive, one would have been created."
Severus nodded but did not speak.
"His name is still in the book though," Minerva admitted.
Severus looked up quickly at this news. "What?"
"The book. The book of those of magical ability who belong at Hogwarts. His name never erased itself."
"So you believe him to be alive, somewhere?" he asked cautiously.
"I really don't know Severus. Maybe it's just a pipe dream. I just can't help but think that someday we will find him, and he will save us all."
"Maybe he doesn't want to save us all. Maybe he is living in obscurity and is happy to be ignored."
"I have a feeling that he will save us even without trying. There is a prophecy, you know. I don't know the exact words, Albus would never tell me. But if we have spent so many years searching for him, and if Albus believes it is so dreadfully important that we find him, then I simply must believe that Harry is the only one who can end the war for us. And I can't help but believe that it will happen whether he wants it to or not."
"You think it so unavoidable? Are we so powerless in the face of destiny?"
"I really don't know Severus. Sibyll and I spoke of it some this summer. She agrees with me. If it is truly meant to be, it will happen no matter what any of us do to help or hinder it. If Harry Potter is meant to destroy You Know Who, then he must be capable of doing it without our training, and he must still be alive."
"And what if the muggles really did kill him? You saw the uncle. You've read the interviews, just as I have."
"Severus, if someone was prophecied to be strong enough to defeat the most powerful dark wizard in history then I must believe that he is also strong enough to survive his uncle."
"And how bloody unfair is it of you—of everyone, damn it!—to place such a burden on a little boy? To say 'Well done, you defeated the Dark Lord as an infant. Now survive a decade or two of abuse and come do it for us again?' What the hell Minerva?"
She sighed heavily. "No, I quite agree. That situation was horrendous and we should all be ashamed that it ever happened. It did happen though, and we cannot change that. I just can't help but believe that Harry Potter is still out there somewhere, and that he will return someday."
"We should be so lucky," Severus said darkly. "If it were me, I would run as far away as possible and never look back."
"Would you?"
"What has the wizarding world ever done for Harry Potter but kill his family and then abandon him to a sadistic fuck for what remained of his childhood?"
"What did the wizarding world ever do for you?" she asked softly.
Severus shifted uncomfortably.
"If I recall, your parents weren't too much better. Perhaps they didn't begin such severe abuse at such a young age, and perhaps they never withheld food or shelter from you, but they certainly didn't coddle you."
"And look at where it has taken me."
"Yes, you might be a bit of a recluse at times, and you may try your best to ignore the world around you but you are still here—you are still a part of this world."
"And you are so certain that Harry Potter, if he is still alive, will feel the same way?"
Minerva sighed. "No Severus, I am not. I do think that he will defeat You Know Who whether he consciously seeks him in battle or not. Prophecies cannot be so easily ignored. If he still lives, then he will meet You Know Who in battle once again."
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A/N: London will be discovered during his class's Seventh Year. Only a few more chapters to go and he'll be at Hogwarts!