Again, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for an update. There's just so much to do at the moment so I hope that this chapter isn't rushed and you like it.

Remember to review my lovelies :)

Harry penned a note to Hermione straight away once he and Severus finally decided to get up that morning; well mid-morning by the time they surfaced and were grateful for the late breakfasts that Hogwarts allowed the school during the weekends. Some days you just wanted a sleep in, or in Harry's case, more time with Severus.

Harry all but skipped into the Great Hall that morning and he felt determined. He spied Draco sitting there looking all high and mighty at the head table and he smirked evilly. He doubted that the Headmistress would allow such a thing to go ahead but Harry seemed to be dodging most trouble at the moment with his revolutionary punishments for the students and he was prepared to test his luck. Draco happened to look up when Harry neared the table but Harry was going to wait until he'd had some food and seen Severus again.

His time had come and he spied Draco standing to leave the hall, "show time," Harry whispered to himself but of course, Severus heard him and eyed Harry carefully. Harry came to stand in front of Draco effectively blocking his way before he spoke in a voice that the whole Hall would have been able to hear.

"Draco Malfoy. I, Harry Potter, challenge you to a Wizards Duel." He spoke proudly and took pride in the look that spread across Draco's face. He'd had enough of his interference and he wanted to make a show of the man.

"E-Excuse me?" Draco choked out.

"You heard. I'm sick of this, of you. Forgotten our second year already?" Harry replied looking knowingly at Draco but the fear was still etched into his face.

"Of course not." He scoffed and looked affronted.

His mind made up, Draco accepted the challenge, albeit hesitantly and Harry stalked from the Hall, hearing whispers as he went. There were preparations that needed to be made and the sooner he started the better. He was suddenly excited for today.

However, half and hour later and there was a banging on the portrait door, so half dressed in his dueling gear with his torso showing he went to open it. Severus was standing there and he did not look impressed and without an invitation strolled right into Harry's living area.

"And what do you think you're doing?" He asked.

"You heard. I'm challenging Draco to a duel."

"And you don't think that it's setting a bad example for the students. Hell, lets just give them a free pass to whip their wands out and challenge their rivals in the corridors." Severus continued and threw his hands up in the air.

Harry listened to the rant, and yes the man had merit with what he was saying but he wanted to show the students what a real duel looked like so they may be prepared. Even though the right channels for such a duel were not made, he didn't think it was such a big deal. At Durmstrang, they did it all the time and the students learnt a lot from the experiences. He stood, leaning in the doorway to his bedroom watching the man rant and rave and he couldn't help but smile at his antics.

"What?" Severus said exasperated and stopped to look at Harry.

"You. It will be good for the students. I guarantee it."

Severus huffed.

"Right, and you can tell the Headmistress in, three… two…"

There was a knock at the door and Harry's stomach dropped. How in Merlin's name did he know that was going to happen? He thought and he chucked his top on before quickly walking over to the portrait. Minerva strolled right past him and stood next to Severus with her arms crossed firmly across her chest and an unimpressed expression on her face.

"Explain." Was all she said and Harry looked over to Severus before starting his solid reasoning's.

After gaining approval from the Headmistress and some rules laid out, the duel was postponed till during the week where Harry could use this experience for the student's lessons for defense. This reasoning solely put in place to please the board members. The very hesitant Draco had agreed to the terms and it was all set up for after classes as the whole student body plus other staff would have the opportunity to watch the duel. Harry had no doubt in his mind that it wasn't going to be an easy duel, sure he'd been an Auror but Draco had lived his life in the Malfoy Manor, been subjected to join the Deatheaters and had a psychotic Deatheater as an Aunt. He'd definitely seen his fair share of dark magic, as had Harry.

The stage was set up in the Great Hall and Harry walked confidently into the hall to find Draco standing relatively calmly at the other end. Hmph, déjà vu, Harry thought as they stood at the same ends as when they dueled in their second year. Draco was currently wearing his teaching robes that were simple yet versatile and stood impatiently with his arms folded. Severus standing behind him, typical Slytherin's, he huffed and took the stairs to the stage.

Because word had got out that there was going to be a duel, the whole school knew and were surrounding the stage. Harry kept telling himself that this was only for the student's benefit, but he wasn't going to kid himself by not thinking that this was to get back at his school nemesis.

Harry was wearing his dueling robes for this, only because he wanted to make sure that he was completely prepared. His robes were black with emerald stitching and embroidery with 'HP' etched onto the top left hand side of his robe, just above his heart with a lightening bolt underneath it. As he came to stand by the middle of the stage he stood with an air of confidence, I will win, he thought to himself, eyeing Draco carefully.

The crowd had started to cheer for their two teachers, and Harry had to block it out otherwise it was going to break his concentration. He noted the exact moment when the noise in the hall dimmed a little and he turned to see the Headmistress stalking into the hall with her wand in hand. She looked thunderous, but there was a sparkle in her eye and it made Harry shiver as he thought back to the twinkle Dumbledore used to sport. It was eerie.

"Duelists, in the middle." She said passing Harry and standing in front of him.

Draco came to stand in front of Harry and they both stared each other down, obviously Severus had had a word with Draco because he didn't look as scared as he did when Harry had declared the duel.

"Now, I want a nice clean duel. From both of you, you hear? I don't want any injuries in front of the students that are purposeful and you are to use this as a teaching exercise."

She had her wand pointed at Harry when she said this and he tried hard not to roll his eyes but he nodded, as did Draco and she backed off leaving the two men standing there looking at each other. Harry briefly heard the Headmistress addressing the student body about the duel and the laws behind it but he wasn't listening.

"Scared, Potter?" Draco whispered the words he uttered back in second year.

"You wish." Harry scoffed and they both drew their wands.

Bringing them in front of their faces before bowing, they turned dramatically and went to their respective ends of the stage. Severus was now standing with the Headmistress with his arms crossed over his chest and he looked Harry over as he walked confidently to the end of the stage. It was hard to stay mad at Harry, especially when he looked so calm and collected, not to mention handsome all dressed up in his dueling robes that were fitting in all the right places. He knew Harry was going to win this duel, but he wasn't going to hold prejudice against the outcome, it was like Harry had mentioned before, anything could happen but he doubted Harry was going to end up with another cursed leg. This is Draco after all, he added as an after thought.

Harry gathered himself and raised his wand towards Draco, as the man facing him did the same. They had the go ahead from Minerva and Draco sent a nasty hex as soon as she uttered the last syllable to begin. Harry was ready and already had a shield up, which deflected the hex easily. He sent a curse back at Draco and he elegantly sidestepped out of the way. I know what he's up to, Harry thought evilly and let a smirk rise on the side of his mouth. It was clear that Draco was going to play this cool and win with his charm, letting Harry be the one to slip up, but Harry wasn't stupid and with his Auror experience he knew exactly how it was going to end up, with Draco on his ass and red faced.

Their curses connected as they yelled out 'Stupify' at the same time and it created sparks making the front row of students take a cautious step back. Harry fisted his free hand and a rebound shield popped up in front of his as he let his spell go and Draco's curse rebounded off the shield and back towards him, but again he side stepped before sending another spell.

The duel was heading into it's eighteenth minute and they were both physically exhausted, but Harry had stamina and would have gone on for another twenty minutes, but he decided to wrap things up and decided to cast some non-verbals Draco's way. He had felt the man doing the same a few minutes ago but Harry's shields had been too strong and his spells simply dissolved. He fisted his hand again and sent a sticking spell towards Draco's feet, which worked and Draco's eyes went wide for a second as he realized what was going to come next. Because his concentration wasn't completely on Harry, he didn't even feel the non-verbal coming his way and was hit square in the chest with the stunning curse. He fell to the floor and Harry straightened up before disarming Draco and catching his wand effortlessly as it flew into his hands.

Severus was on the stage like lightening to check to see if Draco was alright, he had been appointed to oversee their health during the duel and was only a few minutes away from declaring them both unfit to continue with the duel due to fatigue. He gave the nod to Minerva who declared Harry the winner and the hall erupted into cheers. Harry walked the length of the stage and knelt down to Draco, giving him his wand back and held out a hand to help him up.

"Don't think this changes anything, Potter." He hissed quietly, clearly embarrassed by the turn of events.

"At least we now know who's better."

Draco huffed before muttering 'we'll see', as he turned and left the stage, red faced and going off to have a sulk.

Severus came to stand in front of Harry and gave him a nod before they were joined by the Headmistress.

"Well done, Harry. I see Albus enjoyed the show." She said looking over Harry's head at a portrait on the wall with an excited old wizard simply beaming from his place and it made Harry shake his head.

"I believe the score has been settled. I doubt there will be any trouble between the two of us from now on." Harry said smiling and he heard Severus snort.

"I hope that is true, Harry. Merlin knows the two of you caused much hassle for us when you were students." She replied shaking her head in amusement and turned to leave the hall, ushering students out as she went.

When the hall had emptied, it left Harry and Severus standing side by side in companionable silence. Harry was exhausted, and he was sweaty, very sweaty. All he wanted now was to go seek refuge in his quarters to have a shower and relax his tense muscles. He hadn't had a workout quite like that for a long time and he was feeling tense. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before turning to Severus and speaking.

"Well, now that that is settled, I'm going to have a very long and relaxing shower." He said smiling and looked at Severus with interest.

"Would you like some help?" The man replied with a huge smirk and both Harry's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"What?" Severus asked shrugging.

"Oh, I definitely appreciate the offer, I just wasn't expecting you to say it." Harry chuckled regaining some composure and he started to walk off.

"Well is that a yes then?" Severus asked falling into step with Harry looking down at him.

"Uh…" Harry wasn't sure, it would mean both of them being naked in front of each other. He didn't know if he was quite ready for that bit yet.

He felt a hand drape across his shoulders and a seductive purr in his ear telling him it was okay and not to worry. Harry felt a little better at the words; it meant that Severus still wasn't going to push him although he felt bad they were going so slowly. He only had himself to blame for that. He took another deep breath before speaking.

"I'd like you to join me." He replied, his voice a little shaky but he wanted to gain some traction with what was happening between them.

It was now Severus's turn to be surprised and he nodded before they both trudged up the stairs to Harry's quarters. Harry hesitated a little when they entered his living area and he looked over at Severus who was regarding him carefully and asked if he was okay. After Harry nodded, Severus walked over to him and took his hand, leading him over to the bathroom. Once inside, Harry was pinned to the door and Severus started to gently kiss him, pressing his body weight into Harry to hold him where he was. As they kissed, Severus moved his hands down Harry's sides until he reached the hem of his dueling top and slowly pulled it up until they had to break away from the kiss so he could lift it over Harry's head before leaning down again and kissing the man.

Harry's mind was reeling and he had to try and focus on what was happening as he now stood shirtless in front of Severus who had him still pinned to the door and hands that were now reaching for his pants. He acted upon impulse and he reached his hands up between them so he could start undoing Severus's black robes. He understood why he'd used his wand last time he took the man's shirt off, there were just so many buttons. He managed though to get them all undone and pushed the man's shirt and robes off his shoulders, letting them fall to the floor when Severus straightened his arms. He went to reach for Severus's trousers and the man pulled away from the kiss allowing Harry to actually take a proper look at his chest and his stomach knotted at the sight. He didn't know a toned chest with a splattering of chest hair could be so erotic until this exact moment and he moaned at the sight before undoing the man's pants and letting them drop to the floor.

Severus stepped out of his pants and Harry did the same once they fell to the floor and they stood looking at each other for a split second before Harry reached up to kiss the man again. He pulled away a short while after and stepped around the man to turn the shower on. Once he turned back around to look at Severus he could see a slight tenting in the man's boxers and looking down at himself he could see he was rock hard. Clearly been too long, he thought to himself and Severus walked closer to him until their chests were touching. He reached up and put a hand on Harry's cheek before motioning to the shower, Harry swallowed and nodded as he put his hands on the band of his boxers and kept eye contact with Severus as the man did the same. Not breaking eye contact they stood in front of each other naked and Severus pulled Harry into the shower.

Harry had to close his eyes, the hot water feeling amazing on his skin, and the over sensitive part that was between his legs. He felt two arms wrap around him from behind and he was pulled close into Severus's chest as he let the water run over him. He was so lost in the sensations that he hadn't realized Severus had reached out and grabbed his shampoo until he felt the calming massage that had started on his scalp. He moaned at the feeling and a hand subconsciously wrapped around his erection and was able to stroke it a couple of times before he felt his hand being pulled away and he was shifted so he was standing face to face with Severus.

"I will take that as a compliment towards your head massage?" Severus said smirking and Harry nodded.

"Yes." He breathed his reply and buried his head in the crook of Severus's neck, drinking in his scent and letting himself get lost in the comfort he felt.

It was in this moment that he realized that he'd fallen for Severus, and he'd fallen hard for him. Any doubts or unease he had around the man and his intentions were gone and when he pulled back and stared up into Severus's eyes, he could see that the man understood what he was feeling.

WARNING: Next chapter there will be fluff. How much? I'm not really sure at this stage but you have been warned. If you don't want to see Severus completely and utterly soppy (could be an exaggeration) then stop here.