Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Harry Potter.
Note: Thanks for the reviews. I am glad people like the story. There will be two more chapters with this one before I am going to jump three years ahead. I need ideas for both chapters. One with Severus' birthday and the other one three years after the probation period. This will continue where the last chapter left off. Let's begin.
Severus spent more time watching Ginny Weasley out of the corner of his eyes than focusing on his meal. She seated herself in between Ron and Mrs Weasley, her body tensed and shielded away from them all. She sat in the chair like a broken bird, her shoulders hunched up and her eyes fixed upon her plate.
Much to his surprise he felt pity stir his heart, like it had done with Harry on several occasions but his brat had the good sense to go back to eating, even when it was a response that Severus could see was automatic.
Harry was chewing without thinking, eyes locking on his plate without seeing what he ate. He probably didn't taste it either and Severus fought the urge to startle him.
In the few times that they had taken the meal in their own rooms, he had enjoyed startling Harry when he was loudly chatting to him about his day. It had backfired on him when Harry had insisted on feeding him and Severus knew horror had shown in his face but Harry had grinned at him, instead of being crestfallen like Severus would have expected and told him that they had to go through it because it was something a couple did.
In truth Severus hadn't really minded it. It had been fun though when, instead of Harry wiping his mouth with a napkin, he had used his mouth to wipe all the crumbs away. It had resulted in a healthy exercise for them both. As Harry was chased around the dungeon rooms by Severus, the younger wizard shed his clothes before they both found their way into the bathroom.
He shook his head when he noticed that Harry was watching him and kneading his thigh underneath the table. The younger male smiled at him, that secret happy smile that Severus had been gifted with since the first time he had known Harry Potter.
He inclined his head and he knew that Harry would know the gesture for what it was. In the past few months he had watched Harry blossom, though the occasional nightmare still found its way into their bedroom and sleep, but Severus had his fair share as well.
He was glad that they were at Hogwarts and not some other place, for at the castle they could not see the families that had been torn apart by the war: the people who had died fighting for their lives and who all had looked up at Harry for protection and guidance, even when Harry had barely gotten his own life in order.
He could see it in the Weasleys. They were all struggling to deal with the loss of a family member and everybody did it in their own way. Ron had Hermione who was trying to get her parents to remember her again if he remembered the stories correctly. Molly and Arthur Weasley had each other. Bill had his own wife and Charlie had gone back to Romania to work with his beloved dragons. Percy and George, however, were another story. Severus hadn't seen and he could only imagine the kind of state those brothers were in. Percy had been there when Fred had died, had been the one to stand right next to him. What kind of blow it was to the brightest son, Severus didn't know.
Ginny hadn't been coping. She had been angry and upset, unable to come to terms with the many changes in her life, and Severus couldn't really blame her, only offer her guidance even when she didn't want it.
No, instead he focused upon Harry and his own healing, making sure that everything was right between them. If truth be told, they had come a long way since the Last Battle as he watched Harry blossom more and more each day in his care and with his love. For perhaps the first time in his life, Severus felt proud of something.
He loved Harry more then life itself and while it still frightened him, he knew that he was happy even when he didn't always show it. It was fine though, because Harry loved him for who he was, and that was enough for him.
He placed his hand over the brat's where it still lingered on his thigh and he slowly, lovingly, using a gentle touch to trace his fingertips over the knuckles. Harry used his thumb to caress Severus' thigh. The touch was light beneath the cover of the table and very private, and Severus was glad that Harry saw it as such.
"Have you eaten enough, Severus?" Mrs Weasley asked, shaking him from his thoughts. Severus removed his hand from where it had been resting over Harry's, whose hand was slowly creeping upwards, inch by inch.
"Yes, thank you, Molly. Perhaps later today, but for the moment I have eaten enough," He told her politely, shifting in his seat to ignore the warmth of Harry's hand, which was inching to the left.
"You will have to come round for dinner more often. Soon we will have some flesh on those bones and if you are really lucky you might have to buy new robes within the next few years. You must pick them in a colour other than black of course, even though you have assured me that you own some." She winked at him and Severus could feel his face colouring. He struggled to find words as people around him choked on their drinks and hastily covered up snickers.
Severus fumbled for breath and words, not in the least bit now that Harry's wandering hand had found its destination. Harry was looking at him with mild interest and barely veiled curiosity as he smiled sweetly and innocently, a look which didn't fool Severus in the slightest as his brat's wayward hand slowly circled his groin.
Severus could feel himself hardening through his robe, oh if only they had been alone, he would show Harry what a Slytherin would do if provoked. He had not really shown Harry all his expertise in the bedroom and had the huge advantage, well maybe not huge but certainly large enough, of the cunning Slytherins had over brave Gryffindors.
But the fact was that they weren't alone and that the whole room full of people assumed that he had been silenced at last by Molly Weasley, mother of seven children he had taught, or at least he really hoped that they were assuming that. It was for the best that they didn't guess the real reason; the one lying underneath the table.
The sound of chairs being pushing away made him glance up. "We are going into the sitting room." Arthur helpfully supplied as he led his family in there, giving Severus and Harry a moment alone.
He turned his best teacher and death eater glare upon Harry, the one that sent first years away screaming in terror and that had made other, older students faint. "Remove your hand now!" He hissed at his husband, keeping his voice low so nobody would hear them.
"What hand?" Harry asked innocently, flexing his hand.
Severus suppressed a groan and then seized Harry's hand, holding it up and saying, "That hand! Keep it up and you will pay for this tonight!" He glared again and Harry grinned at him. "Besides, I thought Gryffindors didn't cheat," he purred, pushing Harry's chair away from the table and positioning both his hands in such a way that Harry could only escape if he climbed over the back of the chair.
The green eyes went wide and Severus enjoyed the sight. Harry then opened his mouth to say, "We don't."
The tone of voice was one of defence and Severus recognized it from his earlier attempts at trying to get Harry to blow up. In truth, it never really worked. Harry had never allowed him the satisfaction of losing his temper and power. Oh, they had fought and argued many times in the past, the loathing and hatred between them evident to everybody who knew them, but Harry had never lost it like he had to Voldemort.
In truth Severus had been amazed at the child's perseverance, that even when he treated Harry unfairly he didn't call upon Severus or reported him to the headmaster. Severus was now coming to recognize that what he had done to Harry had allowed him to maintain his cover as a spy for Voldemort. He pretended he didn't care for Harry Potter, and it was all set.
But when Harry had made the effort to get to know him a little better it had proved futile. He had tried his best to protect himself and Harry. He had tried keeping the younger male away from him, pushing him away, telling him he loathed him and his father, but the moment Harry had proved to be just as stubborn and headstrong as Lily had been, though more so than his mother, probably due to his upbringing, Severus had quickly made the step and crossed the final line, making them lovers.
Some people despised him and criticized him for taking Harry as his lover, thinking that he had done it to make the younger male help him after the war to escape his punishment. That had been a grotesque lie.
Severus had only lied to Voldemort and occasionally to Albus Dumbledore, but never to Harry Potter. Never when he told his brat that his father had been arrogant and that Harry had broken the rules, no he had ever needed to lie to Harry Potter.
"You do. You said no cheating or touching each other in inappropriate places. I consider my groin to be very private, thank you very much. No matter how much I may enjoy it." He stood up, leaving Harry to sit in his chair as he heard the brat breathe in deeply.
He walked into the room, ignoring the grin Hermione sent his way. When Harry appeared a moment later, he crossed the room to stand next to Severus, who had managed to get a chair near the fireplace, directly across from the huge Christmas tree and a bigger pile of gifts that was nearly as big. Their own gifts were somewhere in there.
Everybody was settling down but Harry glanced Severus' way on occasion, finally settling for tapping his knee repeatedly, which Severus ignored. He accepted a glass of brandy from Arthur, before the head of the Weasley family went back to giving other people drinks as well.
The tapping on his knee intensified. Severus took a sip as Harry said, "If you aren't going to move your legs apart and allow me to sit in between them, I will sit on your lap and snog you right here and cuddle all the time, is that understood?"
Severus could feel his drink going down the wrong way as he coughed harshly, his eyes watering as he lifted his hand to his lips to wipe them clean, "You wouldn't…."
"Oh, dare me," Harry merely answered, studying his nails before sending a quick grin his way. With a barely audible growl and some cursing underneath his breath, Severus spread his legs and Harry happily settled down, resting his head against Severus' thigh. He really needed to stop rubbing off on his brat.
He couldn't really help himself, as he leaned down to whisper in Harry's ear, "This is how I like you best, your head in between my legs." Harry's head whipped around. Severus barely lifted his head quickly enough; a moment away from Harry banged his forehead into Severus' chin. Harry was blushing bright red and it was quite appealing really.
Severus smirked, he had a certain reputation to keep after all and he wasn't going to lose this contest, no matter what Harry may think.
Harry sighed deeply as he leaned back contently against Severus' leg. He should have known that trying to get his Slytherin husband involved in a friendly competion was a foolish idea. He should have known better then to try and outwit a Slytherin, especially their Head of House who was the head snake if you looked at it.
Severus embodied everything that Slytherins were: cunning, strong, resourceful and highly ambitious. It was one of the reasons Severus was such a brilliant Potions Master. If he hadn't been teaching at the school, he might have made a lot of money with his potion making. It was certainly something Severus loved doing and entrusted to no one else. He wouldn't even allow Harry within three feet of his lab.
He shouldn't really have asked his husband, who had twenty years of experience, to hold a contest with him to see who could hold out longer. Severus would win, he always did. But perhaps it wasn't really so bad, Harry mused; he quite liked the fact that Severus was the dominant one in their relationship.
He had discretely borrowed a book from the library about male/male relationships and the roles within such a relationship. They were equals that was true but Severus tended to be the more dominant one, yet he allowed Harry to do as he wanted, smiling indulgingly at him, though when he had caught Harry reading the book, the look on the pale face and the twitching of the lips before Severus had roared with laughter had caused Harry to blush.
But the fact that Severus held him all throughout that evening, telling him all the reasons why he was the more dominant one. Age and experience was the most of it, but also why he liked it that Harry showed a dominant streak now and then and then had shown to him just how well he liked it. Well, Harry returned the book to the library the next day without being able to look Madam Pince in the eye.
"Harry?" He looked up at Ginny who met his eyes before she said, "Uhm, do you want something to drink?" She then looked away, unable to meet his eyes for long. Harry frowned, until he felt Severus' cool fingers against his neck. Severus already had a drink, which was why Ginny had only asked him.
"Yeah, that would be great. Do you need any help?" He asked, smiling at her and preparing to help her.
"No, strangely enough only Ron, Hermione, you and I want drinks so I think I can carry four glasses." She smiled a hint of the old smile at him and Harry felt relief flow through him. It would make things much easier if she wasn't so opposed to the idea of their marriage. Severus was relaxed, sitting in the same position he had been sitting in when the leg that had begun to creep closer suddenly trapped Harry by folding in front of his chest.
He yelped, startled as he then looked back at the other wizard sitting behind him. Severus merely raised an eyebrow. "Here, Severus, catch!" The Potions Master was distracted as Bill threw a small package at him.
Severus looked down before he opened the package, causing Harry to snort when a red Weasley sweater with a lion embroided on it fell out. "What is this?"
"Well, Severus, since you are part of the family now, that is a one of a kind Weasley sweater. Here you go, Harry, well go and on and open it. You will like it, Severus; the lion is in gold, the colours of Harry's house." Mrs Weasley smiled at Severus and Harry had in the mean time pried open his own gift.
It was another sweater but this one was black, with a silver outlined snake filled in with green colours. Harry was gasping for breath as he held it up and he could hear Severus laughing softly behind him.
"Either Molly did this on purpose, which I wouldn't put beyond her, or she messed up and gave us each the wrong present." Severus plucked the sweater out of Harry's hands as the other Weasley's unpacked their own sweaters.
The older wizard held it up and stared at it with a critical eye before handing it back to Harry with the words, "Wear that to the next staff meeting. Minerva will have a fit. It is very funny to see, especially if Filius tries to get her to calm down. If that fraud Divination teacher is there, then she will say that she saw this coming. The only thing she never sees coming is the hangover she is going to have in the morning if she keeps consuming all that sherry."
Severus barely spoke ill of a colleagues even when he pretended that he despised them, he preferred to toy with them instead. But he couldn't stand Sybill Trelawney and neither could Harry. She had predicted that he was having more Slytherin sides soon and Harry had seen the rolling of black eyes before he had managed to look away.
She had never been his favourite teacher, especially when she had been predicting his death ever year. It would be worth while to wear the sweater simply to see her reaction. Severus handed him the sweater whilst cries went up around them as everybody thanked Mrs Weasley, who beamed in joy.
Harry placed both his arms on Severus' knees and rested his head back against Severus' thigh, enjoying the closeness of his lover. Other gifts were exchanged and Harry smiled, even more at ease when he saw Ginny relax more and more as the old Ginny began to resurface.
Many presents later, Harry was happily going through the books that Hermione and Ron had given him. The toffees from Hagrid were sitting near the fireplace, in the hope that perhaps heat could make them more edible. Severus was slowly going through the book of potions that Hermione had given him.
Harry had been surprised that she had given his husband a book, but then he realize that he counted them as family and obviously she did the same. Severus had surprised him as well by given Ron a letter of recommendation for his auror training and promising to write one for Hermione as well, if she didn't like the book he had gotten her.
Of course his friend had been over the moon by it and the handy house-hold potions for Mrs Weasley had been happily received as well. He had, together with Harry, managed to get a hold of some basic muggle appliances that Arthur might like.
Harry glanced up from the Quidditch book he had been reading to find that Severus was slipping past him to go to the restroom. The hand on his head had been there for only a moment but it had been enough. He was soon absorbed back in his book, pushing his glasses up out of habit when they slipped down his nose.
Gentle fingers on the top of his head made him shuffle to the side as he continued to read. A soft sigh reached his ears and he glanced up to see Severus crouching in front of him, smiling calmly at him and extended a wrapped small box.
Puzzled, Harry put the book away and took the box, his curiosity taking the better of him as he asked. "I thought we wouldn't exchange gifts this year?" He was rewarded with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk.
"Just open the bloody thing, will you? My knees are getting stiff with sitting here for so long waiting until you fly into my arms because you adore your gift," Severus drawled, rising to his feet and going over to join Arthur who handed him another glass.
Harry fumbled with the wrapping for a moment until he managed to get it open and took off the lid. Inside the package was a small vial with a colourless substance. There was no writing on it to indicate what it was and Harry held up the vial. He was stupid enough to drink just anything Severus offered him without knowing what it was.
He glanced up at Severus to see the older wizard eyeing him coolly. One dark eyebrow was raised and Severus seemed to be waiting for him to drink the potion. Harry took another look at the colourless liquid in the vial and then uncorked the thing, drowning it in one go.
He was wondering what was going to happen when, suddenly, his eyes began to burn as if he had managed to get soap in them. He squeezed them tightly shut and pressed his fingers to his eyelids.
"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione's soft voice made him open her eyes but strangely enough he couldn't get her into focus. She appeared blurred to his eyes, no matter how much he blinked.
Scowling at his glasses, he took them off to clean them, gasping as his vision suddenly flared perfectly into focus when he removed them. He opened his eyes wide, seeing for the first time what it was like to see with perfect vision. He turned to look at Severus, seeing the pleasure etched in the harsh lines of the face of his husband.
The dark eyes sparkled with pride at having accomplished the unthinkable. Harry pocked his glasses, looking back up at Severus as he asked, his voice shaken, "Is this permanent?"
The soft murmur around them told him that the others had noticed the change too. "Yes, Harry, it is permanent. You will never need those glasses again." Gasps could be heard around the room with those words and then Harry was on his feet as he hurried towards Severus, unable to express his gratitude to his husband as he simply buried his face in Severus' robe, his eyes burning for quite a different reason.
"But that is nearly impossible….such a potion is very hard to create….there are only a handful Potion Masters in the world who can create such a potion….sir, you will be really wasting your talents if you have been hanging around Hogwarts for so long though you are such a good Potions Master…" Ginny's voice sounded filled with awe and even Harry drew back to look at her.
"I am qualified to make such a potion, Miss Weasley. I can assure you," Severus answered softly, amusement colouring his voice.
She flushed uncomfortable but then nodded at him, her ears going red as she answered. "Yeah, I know that…I mean I should have known that…. I was researching Potions Masters and Mistress and your name was the one on top….I am sorry I behaved the way I did, Professor…" Ginny then blurted out in the silence that settled over the room.
"That is alright, Miss Weasley. Truly, I can hardly fault you for it," Severus softly supplied, nodding at her.
Ginny flushed again but Harry smiled. He knew that Severus wouldn't display his authority at the Weasleys' house and he reached inside his pocket, drawing out a rolled up parchment which he handed Severus.
"Here, this is for you," he softly said as Arthur walked to his daughter to give her a hug. Severus glanced down before unrolling the parchment, reading it with rapt attention.
"Harry, what does this mean?" He then asked, looking down at Harry as he reread the scroll. The sign of the Ministry of Magic could be seen on top of the page and on the lower half, the signatures of both the Headmistress as the Minister of Magic.
Harry took a deep breath, wondering if Severus would hex him or welcome him. It had taken some arranging to get it right and all of his Slytherin qualities to keep it a secret from Severus, but the letter had finally arrived yesterday, just in time. "It is a seal of approval for us to go away from Hogwarts for a whole weekend. We have to let the Ministry and Professor McGonagall know where we are going but we can go anywhere in Wizarding Britain. We will leave on Friday night and we will come back on Monday morning before classes start. I hope that you like it…"
"A weekend away? Just you and me?" Severus' voice was trembling slightly and a hand was placed on Harry's shoulder as he merely nodded.
The face of his husband was unreadable and Harry found himself wondering if his gift had been right. Then Severus closed his eyes and then he looked back at Harry, dark eyes glittering with some emotions Harry couldn't place as Severus answered his voice still unsteady.
"That would be most welcome. In all my years as a teacher at Hogwarts I have rarely ever enjoyed a vacation, a weekend away from Hogwarts in the middle of term or even in the summer holiday. Events have made it impossible for me to go anywhere…it would be very welcome indeed to go away for a weekend and simply relax." The strong voice tripped over the emotions and Harry smiled at Severus who was still regarding him.
"Thank you, Harry, for your gift. It was well considered." Arms were wrapped around him and Harry melted into Severus embrace, smiling as he realized that Severus had been moved by his gift. All thoughts about the contest fled from his mind as Severus kissed him, gently, chastely for the benefit of those around them.
"No, Severus, thank you for giving me this gift as well. It means a lot." He found himself choking and buried his face in his husband's shoulder again. And while they managed to keep their hands of each other for the rest of the day, that night they made their pleasure known. Throughout the night, they touched one another and Harry knew that neither of them had lost the contest, though he knew better then to challenge his Slytherin husband again. But he knew that he made Severus very happy and that thought was simply enough for him as he knew his life was complete for the first time ever.
So I hope you liked it. The next chapter they will celebrate Severus' birthday so post some ideas for that and of course for the three years ahead. Review of course.
