Here's chapter 21 for you all. I had a lot of trouble with this chapter mostly because it's missing the usually harry/Sev fluffy that seems to occupy all my others. In fact, it's kind of depressing writing something without regular hugs and kisses and cuddles :( Ah well, as a reviewer kindly gave me the idea - all credit goes to you Snarryfan! And also, I just wanted to address you Ellie, you have given me some excellent ideas that I'm going to be using for the sequel ( Because this and one more chapter will probably be the end!) then I'll start writing the sequel.

Anyways, what's a story without some angst, so here all you go! One chapter (with more coming) of Snarry angst with an angry Harry and a desperate to be in good graces Severus!

Chapter 21:

Ring!

Ring!

Ring!

Harry groaned at the load noise and buried his head into the warm chest beneath him.

Ring!

"Severus," Harry whined tiredly, knowing that it must have been alarm that his mate had set, and therefore, had to be taken down by the caster. "Sev, your alarm."

Still hearing no response from his usually alert mate, Harry frowned and peaked open an eye to stare down as the sleeping Slytherin. "Severus?" Harry lightly shook the shoulder, and when that failed, pressed his lips against the potion master's in hope that the sudden intimate touch would jolt him.

His kiss not eliciting any reaction from his mate, Harry frowned and roughly shook a shoulder for a few seconds. "Severus!" he called in a louder voice, wrinkling his eyebrows when even his shout didn't make his mate so much as twitch. "Bullocks," he cursed under his breath and leaned over the side of the bed to reach his wand so he could cast a quick tempus charm. As Harry had expected, it was nearly eleven O'clock. "Severus, wake up," Harry urged loudly, his eyes slightly widened in his panic - why wasn't his mate waking up?

Severus had promised to check on the book, right? Harry racked his brain, trying to remember all that had been said earlier. They had gone to the kitchen, Severus had gone up to get his wand while Harry made their tea...and what was it that Severus had asked once they were in bed?

The Gryffindor growled to himself as he futilely tried to remember what the man had told him in his tired state. He had been so worn out and comfortable that he'd just mumbled out an answer to the elusive question.

Wait.

Sugar. Harry's eyes widened then clenched shut a second later as a bright blush overtook his expression. He was very familiar with his mate's penchant to drug his food with calming droughts and things of the sort, and Harry vaguely remembered a trip up to Dumbledore's office where the senile old man had hinted, well more like suggested, that his lemon drops were infused with some inducing drug.

That suggestion had clearly been aimed at someone, and it hadn't been him.

Ring!

Harry nearly whimpered in complete frustration. He had drugged his mate. His mate, who was going to help protect the book. Severus had been the only one he had told, and now he was unconscious. He knew, no matter what fallacies others created about him, that he would not be able protect the book himself. Not from a death eater and a decapitating form.

Unless..

Harry took a deep breath then carefully squirmed out from under Severus's wing, taking care not to ruffle the feathers or possibly bend them. Greene didn't say he would make an attempt until midnight and it was barely eleven now. As long as he hurried, he could do it with no problem. After all, he planned to get there before Greene, take the book, and run to Dumbledore's office before anything could possibly happen to him.

Harry looked down at Severus and gave him an apologetic kiss on the lips. "I promise I won't interfere if anyone is already there," he whispered before grabbing his wand and padding out the door. It was already ten minutes past the time Severus was supposed to rise, and he still had to figure out how to prevent Greene from reaching the book without getting himself involved.

Halfway down the hallway Harry paused and debated between bringing his map or not, however, his panic at the time limit make him quickly turn back around and make him way up to the forbidden floor. In fact, it was only halfway there that he realized he had no plan if Greene happened to already be there. He could try to hide, but there was no guarantee he wouldn't be found, and he couldn't just leave the book to them without doing anything.

For a few brief seconds Harry couldn't help but be irritated with his mate. What gave him the right to drug him in the first place? He had given his word not to interfere, but apparently that wasn't good enough for his mate. And now he was running down a hallway towards a professor obsessed with the dark arts at eleven thirty to protect a book that he really had nothing to do with. All because Severus had drugged him of course. He would have never done it if he didn't have to….never mind what has happened in the past…

Harry shook his head. He couldn't really afford to be distracted by thoughts of anger. After all, he'd have all the time in the world to make Severus repentant after he had checked on the book. And, he thought, if greene was already there he could run to Dumbledore's office and tell the headmaster about it. The old man wouldn't ask too many questions, and if he did, he could merely shrug him off using Severus as a vague excuse. With that in mind, Harry picked up his pace and jogged up the final flight of stairs to arrive at the corridor that lead into the forbidden area.

Coming up to the turn Harry couldn't hear a single thing, however, he still didn't relax completely. Greene could already be in the room, or could have heard him coming and quieted. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his frantic heartbeat and loud breathing before taking a step forward, his entire body twisted and tensed in trepidation.

"Unlock the door!"

Harry's heart jumped in his chest and he quickly pressed himself against the wall and clenched his eyes shut. The loud, hissing voice would have been recognizable from yards away. Greene had gotten here first, and it seemed his companion had come along as well.

Having no doubt in his mind that he had to escape - and quickly- Harry slowly began creeping backwards, making sure to keep his back pressed firmly against the wall. Despite his best attempts at keeping quiet, the muffled sound of his footfalls couldn't be missed, and his heat nearly jumped out of his when he heard the voices falter for a second, only to release some of his tenseness as they resumed a few seconds later.

There, only a few steps left…

Harry finally reached the stairs and quickly rushed down them, not worried about making noise now that Greene and his companion had were around the corner and no longer within eyesight. Even with that reassurance, however, Harry still hadn't managed to calm himself down after that close encounter. A mere twenty yard away, Greene was trying to get past the protections to get to a book that Harry had been told held unheard of dark spells.

He had to get to Dumbledore, and quickly too, if he wanted that book to be saved on time. Thoughts of what would happen in Voldemort reached that book ran through his mind and sped his pace up until he was nearly running. Not for one second did he spare a thought of patrolling teachers or even Severus and his vengeful plans. The only thing he could think of was reaching Dumbledore in time and making sure the headmaster understood the truth of his words.

Thud, thud thud!

Harry barely noticed the noise he was making as he ran. He was almost there...almost to the winding stairs leading to the only chance they had. Just a few steps further...just a few seconds more of waiting, then finally, Harry was frantically banging on the huge oak doors standing imposingly in front of him.

He reached forward to bang his fists against the door again, but before they could reach the surface, the door was pulled open and an old, bemused face stared down at him. "Harry? Did you have another nightmare, my boy?"

Harry shook his head negatively. "No, but this is about Voldemort."

The wizened face morphed into an expression of surprise and he quickly motioned Harry inside. "Please, continue," he said gravely, and for once, didn't even offer tea. He obviously noticed Harry's tense shoulders and hurried expression.

"The book, Voldemort's trying to get it right now-"

"How do you know about the book?" Despite the question, Dumbledore didn't too surprised at the information bestowed on him by the usually included Gryffindor.

"I found the corridor a while back, but I overheard Greene talking about the corridor today and Severus informed me what it was hiding. I know there's protections around the book, but Greene had Voldemort with him, and they're there right now trying-"

Dumbledore raised his hand to silence the worried rambling and walked over to a collection of odd trinkets. He fumbled with one in particular for a few seconds before stepping back and viewing the small projection that appeared a second later.

Harry's eyes widened at the clear visual of Greene and the black shape struggling with the door before the black figure irritatedly stepped forwards and raised his hand. Harry didn't have the chance to see what Voldemort did. Dumbledore cut off the projection and turned to face Harry, his face unusually grave and his eyes fierce as he walked to the doors leading out of his office. Harry turned to follow him but before he could get close, the older man shook his head.

"No, I must do this alone."

Harry frowned and immediately tried to protest but he didn't get far before Dumbledore turned to walk out the door. "Go back to Severus, Harry. Surely he'll be waiting for you to return, no doubt worrying."

Harry narrowed his eyes in irritation, not only at the command, but also at the insinuation that Severus was his keeper. His mate apparently thinks its perfectly fine to drug him whenever he wants, and now Dumbledore believes that he's incapable without his dominant. Well won't they be in for a surprise later. Harry wasn't going to forgive Severus that easily. No, he would make his make suffer before he finally gave in, and he would definitely be making it obvious that under no uncertain terms would we be submitting to his mate any time soon.

Without another word said, Dumbledore nodded to Harry and stalked out the door, the Gryffindor following a second later. He took the path to the dungeons after briefly considering sleeping in the Gryffindor room. Eventually, however, his own reluctance to sleep alone won and he unlocked the door to Severus and his rooms and slipped inside. Now that he was once again within the warmth of his own rooms, he felt slightly bad for his plans against Severus. After all, he had technically been the one to drug his mate, even if it hadn't been his intention, and the humiliation of finding that your own submissive had managed to get one up on you surely would be enough to make his mate feel bad.

But not apologetic.

Harry frowned at that thought and his eyes narrowed. No, not apologetic. And the next time something came up, Harry knew that Severus would probably try to drug him again.

He didn't usually mind it. A calming drought didn't hinder him, and for the most part, his mate usually asked permission or offered to take one himself. And really, he never would have raised the issue if it didn't concern his own personal word, and Severus's seeming distrust in it.

He quietly pulled off his shirt and draped it over a chair before undressing the rest of himself and climbing into bed in his vacated spot ad curling up to Severus. He would be angry in the morning, after he got some much needed sleep.

Hp

Severus groaned and shifted slightly in bed, frowning in his half-asleep state when he didn't feel the familiar warmth that was always by his side when he awoke. "Harry?" he murmured softly and opened his eyes, groaning at the slight pounding that resounded in his head at his actions.

A small shift brought his attention to his side and he looked over, only to find himself face to face with his mates beautiful green eyes. Taking a closer look, Severus realized that not only were those pretty eyes looking at him, but they were narrowed and glaring quiet furiously. "Sweetheart?" he murmured cautiously, wondering what in Merlin he could have possibly done this early to irritate his mate.

"Do you know what I did last night?" Harry growled in a voice Severus could only describe as cute, although he wisely kept that opinion to himself.

Despite the distraction of his mate's angry appearance, Severus refocused on the question directed at him. Last night? Now that he really thought on it, he could only recall a few groggy memories of the night before. He distantly remembered the feeling of anger, and more importantly, his defensive feelings for his mate. What had caused such a reaction from his, especially when he couldn't recall someone else being near his Harry?

Harry crossed his arms and glared down at his mate as Severus tried to regather his memories of the night before. If was a few more seconds before Severus finally remembered all that had transpired the night before, and in less than ten seconds, his countenance went from surprise, to irritation, anger, then finally protectiveness.

Harry watched the changing expressions with something akin to fascination. He had truly never seen his mate go through such a wide range of emotions, and watching it while his mate was still groggy from the sleeping aid only added to the irony of the situation.

Finally having remembered the previous days events, as well as connecting it with Harry's leading question, Severus quickly shook of the remnants of his sleep and sat up quickly, pulling Harry until the Gryffindor was practically on his lap. "And what did you do last night?" his eyes darkened at the implication that his submissive was anywhere near danger and a soft growl erupted from his throat, making Harry jolt slightly in his arms and push against them.

"No!" Harry declared, stubbornly refusing to relax into those comforting arms like the sound made him want to do.

Severus faltered at that, did his mate just tell him no? "You have just informed me that you, my submissive, have been placed deliberately in harms way, and yet you are still trying to-"

Severus's slytherin arrogance had finally managed to push Harry over, and after a few brief seconds of glaring and hissing angrily, Harry finally erupted into shouting. "You have no right to be angry or defensive over anything I did," his bright green eyes flashed furiously, warning Severus that now would not be a good time to try and exert his dominance. "In case you didn't put all the pictures together, you were the one who assumed you could simply drug me whenever you feel like it, and I was the one who was lied to, then inadvertently made to protect the book myself!"

The Slytherin faltered at the words coming from his submissive's mouth and immediately drew back slightly. While the words were venomous, Severus could still detect and underlying tone of hurt and distrust, and if that wasn't enough to make him repentant, the resisting and stiff form on his lap was. Finally realizing that the was in the wrong here, and nothing other than complete repentance would calm his mate down and hopefully restore some peace, he immediately began lower himself in front of his mate by something he knew every dominant would eventually face in their relationship - groveling. "Harry, sweetheart, I apologize for crossing the line and lying to you, but please believe me when I tell you that it was not my intention to hurt you or create distrust. I only wished to keep you safe, but now I realize that that is not the way to go about it. I am deeply sorry for the callous mistake I mate, and I assure you that I will treat you with nothing other than respect from here on out," he began, lowing his eyes as the implications of his actions finally hit him. He, the man who so often boasted that he was the best option for Harry, had done something that every dominant, good or bad, knew to never risk with their submissive - breaking their trust.

Harry snorted and twisted his head to look at his mate. "Sure you are," he said scathingly before pushing the arm around his waist away and standing from the bed, not failing to notice the watching eyes and worried expression Severus now sported. Oh no, he would not be making it this easy for his mate. A few simple words wouldn't be able to appease him this time, not after lying to him and proving that Harry obviously couldn't trust him as much as he used to...well not unless he wanted to be drugged, or even worse, made to run up to a forbidden corridor at some horrible hour only to save a book that he really had no business dealing with. He had just hoped that Dumbledore was able to successfully get the book too.

"Would you let me make you breakfast?" Severus tested as he slowly rose after Harry, trying his best to refrain from touching the familiar body in front of him. He knew for a fact that Harry would not react well to hugs or kisses or anything of the sort. Not until he could gain back his loved one's trust at least.

Harry debated in his mind whether or not he should then after a few seconds shook his head. "Wouldn't want to be slipped something, after all," he said sarcastically. Immediately after he said it, Harry felt slightly bad. His irritation may have been extended, but he didn't want Severus to get the impression that he didn't trust him, or even worse, didn't want him anymore. He knew that other dominant's were a sore subject for Severus, and knowing that the man was still tense from the other dominant revealing himself, he did pause for a brief second to hesitantly touch Severus with his right hand and give him an apologetic look.

For Severus, the actions only reinforced his previous thought. He had broken Harry's trust, and he would try his very best to bridge that gap. And if Harry wouldn't accept an dominant touches or actions, then he would have to do it the only other way he knew - courting rituals.

He would regain his little mates trust by any means possible, even if that included trying to woe a resistant, stubborn Gryffindor by means of courting. It had worked that first time, after all, and even after weeks of nearly constant fighting and shouting, Harry had finally given in to the notion of being mates. Once his mate saw how repentant he was for his actions, and how truly devastated he was to learn that he had lost the trust he had worked so hard for.

His plan in mind, Severus followed Harry into the kitchen, fully prepared to begin the courting cycle tomorrow, after apologizing several more times of course.

Anything he could to reestablish their relationship to the place it once was after overstepping his boundaries and hurting his mate.

Anything that could relieve his pain at the thought of his little submissive not trusting him, even if he had felt as if he'd been in the right while he was doing it.

Like I said, not a very good chapter, but some time I'll go back and fix it if I ever become a better writer.

On other note...PLEASE REVIEW. Tell me if you liked the angst, because this is the first time I've ever written anything of the sort. :)