Chapter 26

Harry sat up before he was really awake, turning his head in confusion, looking around at the unfamiliar bedroom. God, had he been kidnapped? No, kidnappers were unlikely to put him in this comfy bed and… He looked down at the sleeping man beside him. No, kidnappers probably wouldn't leave him with a sleeping Snape.

"Right", Harry mumbled when it all came back to him. And then a huge grin spread across his face.

"What are you smiling about?" Snape asked, looking up at Harry and blinking sleepily.

"Nothing", Harry said and kept on grinning, leaning down for a kiss.

Snape smiled against his lips. "What time is it?"

"Don't know", Harry looked out through the window, out to the pale blue sky and the orange sun in the distant. "But maybe we should… get going?"

Snape nodded and then closed his eyes. "In a while."

"Look, what does this mean?" Harry asked, after a deep breath, and really wished he didn't have to.

Snape opened his eyes and squinted at him.

"I mean, should I move my stuff back into your quarters?" Harry let his head fall back against the pillows. "Or should we…?"

Snape shut him up by pressing his lips against Harry, his hands finding their way into Harry's hair.

"I'll do whatever you want me to", Snape said and Harry shook his head.

"But what do you want?"

"I want you", he said, without hesitation.

Harry smiled. "Good. I want you too. And I'm sorry for being so… Indecisive before. But…"

He looked down at his hand on Snape's chest, where the silver ring was still on his finger. "I know this isn't an excuse, but I was insecure and I wasn't sure-"

"It doesn't matter", Snape said, placing his hand on top of Harry's, lacing their fingers together. "I wasn't… I'm sorry too. I'm very sorry."

Harry brought his eyes up to Snape's face. "This is it. We can't go back now, you know. You're stuck with me for life."

Snape smiled. "How terrible."

"Yeah, I know. We're doomed", Harry laughed.

They awkwardly put their clothes on and Harry prepared for the 'walk of shame' they were about to face. He knew they wouldn't be able to sneak downstairs unnoticed, there were too many people there. And who cared really, they were going to find out sometime.

But when they made their way down, Harry still felt pretty awkward.

"Harry?" Ginny asked at the same time when Malfoy said, "Severus?"

And then the people at the table, only the people closest to the bride and groom, (the Weasleys and their various dates, Hannah, Neville, Hermione etc) turned their heads in curiosity and surprise.

Harry felt them staring and inched closer to Snape almost unconsciously and he put a hand on the small of Harry's back. The silence stretched out for eternity, it felt like, until Louise (that he'd helped seat) said a quiet but clear, "Well, good choice."

Harry laughed slowly and then pushed Snape down by the table, taking a seat next to him.

"There are coffee over there and we sent out the twins to buy breakfast", Hermione said and Harry nodded.

"I'll have some of that coffee, please", Harry said and someone passed along two cups of coffee, one for Harry and one for Snape.

Harry had really hoped there wouldn't have been so many people here and then when he looked at his watch he realized it wasn't as early as he'd thought it was. People maybe had work to go to, or they just had stuff to do. Harry sure did, if he and Snape were moving in together (again) he'd want to do it as fast as possible.

They sat together quietly, only a few people making efforts at smalltalk, Harry and Snape being the main source of the uncomfortable atmosphere. Really a 'breakfast of shame'.

"So... When are you going off to your honeymoon then?" Harry asked in a voice that tried and failed to be casual and unbothered.

"Oh, not until tonight", Amanda said and since Harry didn't want to admit that he'd forgotten where they were going the conversation stopped there.

"Look, does this mean you're back together or...?" Malfoy asked, and Harry was surprised because Malfoy wasn't really the one to question things, he usually seemed content to be blissfully ignorant.

"Yeah", Harry said, and he felt like he was some sort of spokesperson for their relationship talking at a conference. Oh god, he thought when he remembered that the papers were bound to find out too. They'd had a field day trying out different scenarios that would have caused a breakup (especially the tabloid 'The Hammer' had been gossiping about everything from pregnancies and adultery) and now they would be delighted at this new turn of events. Shit.

"So you're getting married?"

Were they? "Um, yeah", Harry said and glanced over at Snape for a second. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look angry either.

"Well, that's swell", Amanda said and beamed at them before adding something (in swedish probably) that made her friend snigger.

"Yeah, Harry that's great", Sirius said, not sounding very excited, but not sounding like he was lying either.

Hermione and Ron both smiled first at Snape and then at Harry and then the uncomfortable silence grew again.

"Hey!" Fred shouted and came rushing through the door, his arms full of bags of sandwiches and anything else they might want. His eyes moved over the silent crowd and then settled on Harry and Snape. "Damn it", he murmured and shouted back at his brother, "I owe you five sickles, George!"

Harry laughed. "You bet money that we wouldn't get together?"

"Oh no", George said, as he pushed past to the table, "we just bet about how long it would take. I guessed under six months and Fred guessed a good eight months", he said with a grin.

"Yeah, it was obvious it would happen sometime, but you have to add in the stubbornness", Fred said and took a bite of some pastry. "Now dig in, people."

/

A/N: Just a quick chapter, thought we needed to clear some stuff up. Thank you for all the nice reviews and I'm sorry if I haven't had time to answer yours, I try to answer all, but sometimes I just don't have the time! I will though! And please review this chapter too and tell me what you think! It's nearly finished now!