Disclaimer:
I'm not J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter isn't mine. Sadly.

Authors' Note:
This chapter is terribly long and, again, terribly heavy on the dialogue, but I hope it will answer some of your questions.
To anyone who worried (and didn't bother to check the forum, heh!), the lapse into present tense in the last chapter was done purposely and for … er … artistic reasons. It was not meant to be a permanent change.


Chapter 29
"New Year's Eve"

Draco woke up the next morning with a feeling of loss; a feeling so profound that he took a moment for a mental inventory of his limbs, internal organs and family members.

All there, none dead.

When he sat up, however, he saw Harry's empty bed. As the memories of last night unfolded, his stomach clenched before it was flooded with regret. Now, in broad daylight and in the solitude of his bedroom, last night's confidence was all but forgotten. Had he gone too far?

Harry had left without a word. He would probably never speak to him again and Severus? A coldness flooded Draco that had nothing to do with the temperature of the winter morning outside his window. What would Severus say?

It didn't matter anymore whether his soulmate theory was right or not. He just wanted his best friend back. And to not be stoned by Severus Snape would be nice too.

If at all possible.

Draco got dressed and floo'd over to Snape Manor. Harry wasn't in his room. He hurried down into the kitchen and found Severus hunching over a cup of coffee. Not bothering with social niceties, Draco burst out: 'Is Harry here?'

'No,' Severus said calmly, 'he's having breakfast with your parents.'

Despite the relief of now knowing that Harry had not fled his home in the wee morning hours (which hopefully meant he didn't hate him too irreversibly much), Draco's heart sank down south. The unemotional voice of his godfather and the fact that he did not want to know why Draco didn't know about Harry's whereabouts himself, could only mean one thing: Severus knew about his little disagreement with Harry already. He probably knew everything already.

Draco was still contemplating whether to simply deny everything or to confess being guilty as charged, when a man entered the kitchen.

'Good morning!' he greeted enthusiastically.

Draco immediately decided that he disliked the man. Whoever was this cheerful before 9 a.m. could not be a decent person, period. But then, he had a much better reason to dislike this person, of course.

'Draco Malfoy, isn't it?' the man smiled at him now. 'I'm William, an old friend of your godfather.'

Draco looked down on the outstretched hand in front of him for one provoking moment longer than would have been necessary. He didn't take it. Instead he treated the future Divination teacher to a first class Malfoy SneerTM. His eyebrows rose in indignation and his upper lip curled with contempt.

This is all your fault. Arse.

'Would you mind?' he drawled. 'I need to speak to Severus. In private.'

Copley's smile faltered slightly. 'Erm … I'll be upstairs,' he told Severus and left.

Draco climbed on one of the high chairs in front of the counter whereas his godfather stood up. 'I hope you're not going to depend on a good Divination mark anytime soon, Junior,' he said calmly and filled Draco a cup of coffee before refilling his own mug.

'Divination?' snorted Draco. 'Why?'

Severus smirked, but did not answer the question. 'There was no need for you to be rude, Draco,' he said instead.

'There wouldn't have been,' Draco retorted, taking a sip from his coffee, 'if you had been rude instead of me already yesterday.'

'Come again?'

'What's he doing here?' Draco asked heatedly. 'He has no business being here, Sev! Why did you even let him in?'

'William Copley is an old friend of mine who gave up his flat and therefore needed a place to stay for two nights before he can start his new job.'

'And where's he going to stay then?' Draco sneered. 'Another ex-boyfriend, maybe?'

Severus's eyebrows rose ever so slightly. 'No. He's going to stay at Hogwarts.'

'WHAT? You're going to let him stay with you at Hogwarts, Sev? But you can't do that, he has to leave!'

'Don't be a fool,' Severus said curtly. 'Of course he's not going to stay with me. He'll have his own quarters. William Copley is the new Divination teacher.'

Draco stared at him, torpidly. He thought about Harry and how sick the Gryffindor had been last night. Did Severus not know? Did he not care? Had he been wrong about the bond after all?

'But what about Harry?' he asked.

'What about him?' Severus returned silkily.

'Severus, I know!' Draco said desperately.

'Know what?'

'About you and Harry!'

Still, Severus's face was perfectly blank. 'What about us?'

Draco roared in frustration and banged his flat hand on the counter.

'STOP IT!' he yelled. 'I've already had my fair share of denial yesterday! I hate it when you do this! I may have fucked up last night and I'm sorry about that, but stop acting like this, because I know! I figured out why you're going to be Harry's savior and I know why you were able to shield his mind from the Dark Lord. You're his soulmate! And don't you say 'No' now, Severus! You know that I know and I know that you know.'

His godfather smiled. Probably at his eloquence.

'Well … we did raise you to have a sharp mind, didn't we?' he asked amiably.

Draco sighed in relief.

He admits it. Thank you, God!

'Are you not surprised that I found out?' he asked.

Severus shook his head. 'After the Christmas incident I knew it was only a matter of time till you caught on. But even I must admit that I'm surprised by how quickly this happened.'

He looked so proud and loving as he said this that Draco's guilt only seemed to quadruple.

'I told Harry,' he said quietly. Shame filled his eyes with tears and he quickly drank some coffee to swallow them back down. 'But you already know that, too, don't you?' he asked when he was sure enough that his voice wouldn't tremble.

Severus took a sip from his coffee, too, and then a deep breath.

'Yes, I do,' he said finally. 'You gave Harry quite the scare.'

'Did you feel that?' Draco asked, amazed.

'Some of it,' his godfather nodded.

'Wow,' Draco said, looking deeply impressed. 'Did you also feel that Harry was sick, then? Because of this Copley person?' He didn't bother to keep the resentment out of his voice.

Severus peered into his coffee cup. He nodded.

'But why didn't you come over?' Draco frowned.

'He wasn't in danger, Draco. A little jealous, maybe, but not in danger.'

'A little jealous?' Draco asked. 'Sev, he puked!'

'What?' Severus asked sharply, looking back up at him.

Draco told him what had happened last evening. 'One second we're dueling, the next he's inspecting the inside of our toilet. What did you do around nine p.m., Sev?' he asked curiously. 'What happened that made Harry throw up so suddenly?

'Something that will never happen again and that's all you need to know!' replied his godfather brusquely.

Draco gaped at him. Shocked.

'You made out with that …,' his expression filled with contempt, '… that Jude Law doppelganger, didn't you?'

'I did not make out!' Severus huffed indignantly. 'He merely kissed me goodnight.'

'AND YOU LET HIM?' Draco looked scandalized. 'It made Harry sick, Uncle Sev! Literally sick to his stomach!'

'It was a single, tiny peck and it would have made me look very irrational – not to mention suspicious - if I had made a fuss about it,' Severus sighed irritably.

'One peck only, you say?' Draco asked. 'Why did Harry feel ill for so long, then?'

Severus frowned. 'He threw up more than once?' he asked apprehensively.

'Potter said no, and I think he was telling the truth,' Draco conceded. 'But still! For a while he practically camped inside the bathroom and he never looked all that good going in nor coming back out.'

Severus closed his eyes.

'He was thinking of you and Copley, wasn't he?' Draco asked carefully.

'Yes,' replied Severus grouchily. 'He was probably picturing us doing … Merlin knows what!'

At that, Draco couldn't help but chuckle.

'But did Harry know that William Copley was kissing you? Did he see it?' he asked.

Severus shook his head. 'I don't think so. My guess is that his subconscious was reacting to someone - William, obviously - being somewhere, where he had no business of being.'

'Wow.'

'If he really did see us,' Severus continued, 'he probably thought that was the result of his jealousy playing tricks on him.'

'And here I was, thinking that having a soulmate was the coolest thing!' Draco shook his head skeptically. 'But this doesn't sound like much fun at all.'

'I didn't realize how much Harry already feels for me,' Severus admitted.

'Why didn't you tell your father about Harry's sickness like you were supposed to?' he then asked, although they both knew that his anger was directed mainly at himself and not at Draco. Letting William Copley enter Snape Manor at this point in time had been careless, there was no way around it. 'Or why didn't you tell me if you already knew what was going on?'

'I didn't want to embarrass Harry in front of father!' Draco defended himself. 'And I wanted to make sure that a soulmate bond was truly the "problem", er, for lack of better word. All I knew about soulmates was theory and so I wasn't sure if that was really what's going on. But when Harry admitted that he was in love with you …'

Never before had Draco seen an equal expression on his godfather's face.

'He did?' was all Severus managed to say.

Draco smiled.

'Yes. After you brought us the cookies. Well, I kind of helped him say it.' He cleared his throat. 'But it was obvious, really. He was so flustered after meeting Copley and two minutes later you come in and offer him a chocolate cookie. Specifically for him. Really, Sev! Even a Blind would have been able to connect the dots, then.'

'How did you find out about soulmate bonds at all?' Severus asked. 'It not exactly something we teach you at school.'

'I once saw someone reading a book about the subject,' replied Draco off-handedly, not meeting Severus's eyes. 'He knows, Sev,' he said suddenly. 'Harry knows! He already knew that he has a soulmate and … I even think he already knows that it's you.'

Severus frowned.

'No, Draco, he doesn't. Not yet. You definitely got him thinking, but he doesn't know yet. He's merely begun to ponder the possibility now.'

'Severus …' Draco hesitated. 'Harry told me straight out that he has a mate. He knows this, because Sirius Black once told him that he has a soulmate who hates his guts.'

All color drained from Severus Snape's face.

'And Harry believes this soulmate is me?' he asked numbly. 'That can't be!'

Congratulations, Albus!

'No, he doesn't,' Draco admitted. 'He insisted it couldn't be you, because you are so kind to him. Apparently Black has told him that his mate doesn't want anything to do with him.'

Severus rubbed his face with both of his hands and for a moment Draco was struck by how old he looked.

'So what makes you think that Harry is lying; that he is aware of our bond already?' his godfather asked tiredly.

'Well,' Draco began hesitantly, 'his reactions to what I told him, for one thing. I mean, I practically spelled it out for him why you and him are bonded. If Potter had been truly oblivious, he would have just laughed at me or been embarrassed. If anything, he would have been surprised, but instead he just seemed so … scared. And angry. But mainly scared.'

Severus's eyes narrowed.

'You're afraid to tell me something, Draco. What is it?'

A glowing ball of embarrassment exploded in Draco's chest and flushed his face bright red.

Damn friggin' Legilimency!

Suddenly he was scared. He had read about the wrath of pissed off soulmates – invasion of territory and all that - and he knew the kind of wrath his godfather was capable of.

'Did you try to provoke him?' Severus asked calmly.

'Actually, I was mainly trying to provoke you,' Draco confessed sheepishly. 'Into action.'

'I see,' Severus sighed, unsurprised. 'What did you do, Draco?'

'Iwasgonnakisshim!' Draco burst out and ducked, waiting for the blow … which didn't come.

'But you didn't,' Severus said instead. 'What happened?'

'Harry stopped me,' Draco muttered, pouring himself another cup of coffee. 'He said something along the lines of not wanting to lose me as a friend and if I felt the same way about him, I had better shut up and go back to bed already.'

Triumph spread across Severus's features.

Draco was relieved to see the smirk on his godfather's face (and about the fact that he didn't seem to plan on Avada Kedavra-ing him anytime soon), but the memory of last night still haunted him.

'The way he looked at me, Sev!' he said, rubbing the faint shadow on his wrist. 'He was so unlike himself. He smiled and spoke perfectly friendly, but he was all cold and emotionless. The perfect showcase Malfoy, in other words.'

Severus smiled. 'Is that so bad?'

Draco nodded gloomily.

'I know that we have to keep up the invincible act as long as the Dark Lord is still alive and I know that Harry is supposed to learn how to suppress his feelings and all, but I don't think I like him like that. I don't want him to become … like us. I prefer him being the irrational, midget Drama Queen that he is.'

'Draco,' Severus said gently. 'The older Harry gets, the more rapidly he becomes aware that he's bonded to somebody out there. It may not even be a conscious decision yet, but he'll do anything to prevent receiving his first kiss from anyone but that particular person. So you have to forgive him for being a little edgy. Harry was only being protective.'

'I wasn't going to hurt him!' Draco protested.

'Well, I'm going out on a limb here,' replied Severus dryly, 'but I think he was protecting you and me, Draco.'

Upon seeing the confusion on the teenager's face, he elaborated. 'Whether Harry knows who his soulmate is or not, he knew that stopping your kiss from happening would save his mate from pain – possibly even more pain than he had just been through.'

Draco, who had never meant to cause anyone any pain, wasn't too happy with this explanation. 'Why even more pain?' he asked somewhat offended. 'What makes my kiss worse than Copley's?'

'Because although Harry was discomfited by William's kiss, he must have sensed that it meant nothing to me, whereas he obviously cares too much about you to …' Severus broke off, searching for the right words.

Draco grinned. 'To be impervious to my charisma, you mean?'

'Yes, brat.'

'You mean, even though Harry and I are not attracted to each other, a kiss would have been painful for you, because we're friends and care for each other?' Draco asked, fascinated.

'Generally yes. However, in our particular case things are a little different. You and I are practically family, Draco. I love you and I dare say I know you well enough to have realized your intention behind the kiss immediately. I would have been annoyed, maybe, but not heartbroken.'

'But Harry couldn't know this and so he stopped me.'

Severus nodded.

'And how exactly was he trying to protect me?'

'Imagine Harry's mate wasn't me, Draco! Imagine it was somebody who wouldn't have hesitated to rip your spine out after catching you kissing his mate - and as his very first kiss, at that!'

Draco, not seeing the humor twinkling in his godfather's eyes, paled and swallowed audibly.

'Harry Potter saved your life, young Slytherin, you should be thankful,' Severus continued solemnly and finally Draco realized that his godfather was exaggerating rather gleefully and he punched the teacher on the shoulder. Lightly.

'Ha, ha!' he complained.

'Seriously, though,' Severus said. 'I'm sure the books have taught you enough to know that messing with someone's soulmate can be dangerous. And this is no joke, Draco. I would never hurt you, of course, and I highly doubt that even some other mate would have dared to do you permanent damage if Harry had forbidden it, but don't ever do something like this again. Promise me.'

Draco nodded.

'No more hitting on other people's soulmates, however noble the cause. Check!' he mumbled, blushing.

'What did you think you were doing, anyway?' Severus asked, shaking his head somewhat amusedly. 'What exactly did you expect to happen?'

Draco finished the rest of his coffee first to save himself some time. 'I was hoping that you would sense the kiss,' he confessed at last.

'I didn't know my godson harbored a death wish.'

Draco writhed uncomfortably on his chair. 'I wasn't thinking all that far, to be honest. Or rather, I simply assumed you wouldn't be too mad at me. After all, I only wanted to help. I was hoping you'd come over to see what was going on and …'

'Drag you away from my mate, declare my undying love to Harry and fly off with him into the sunset?'

'That sounds about right,' Draco admitted. He stopped himself just in time and didn't add 'Plus, I was hoping to see some snogging, too,' but Severus seemed to have read his thoughts.

'Junior, I really expected you to be a little more sensible,' he sighed. 'What exactly do you think I'm going to do with a fifteen year old teenager?'

Oh.

'But I thought you loved him?' Draco asked, taken aback. 'I thought age differences did not matter between soulmates.'

'Of course I love him! And sooner or later the age difference between Harry and me won't matter anymore, correct. But for now, he's a child and I'm a grown-up and that's all there is to our relationship. Not to mention the fact that I'm his teacher! If you had kissed him, I could have done nothing to make it right again, do you understand?'

'So you wouldn't have kissed him yourself to … to ….?'

'To claim him?' Severus helped with the terminology.

Draco nodded.

'Certainly not,' Severus replied very seriously. 'I'm no pedophile, Draco.'

'Pedophile?' Draco huffed. 'Of course you're not! But you're his soulmate! You love each other, how can that be wrong?'

'Be reasonable. He's not of age yet, you're teenagers!'

Draco didn't look too pleased. 'But does that mean that you …? I mean … don't you find him attractive yet?'

'I may be old, Draco, but I my eyes function perfectly well.'

Severus winked at his godson who laughed, mollified.

'So!' said Severus after a while. 'Will this conversation stay between you and me or do I have to obliviate you now?' He was only half-kidding.

'But are you not going to talk to Harry now?' Draco asked, wide-eyed. 'He has to know I was telling the truth yesterday! He has to know that you're his soulmate, you need to tell him!'

Severus shook his head.

'It won't help neither him nor me if I'll just walk up to him and say 'So, Potter! Seems like you and I are meant for each other, huh?''

'And how is not telling him going to help any of you exactly?'

'This is something Harry has to come to terms with entirely on his own. You can't be told you are bonded to someone, you have to realize if for yourself,' Severus said firmly. 'And he will, Draco, Harry will come to me once he's ready. But until then you will keep quiet about this, do we understand each other? You wrote down the numbers for him, but he has to do the math himself.'

Draco didn't like this development one bit.

'BUT!' he started to protest … when suddenly, his jaw dropped.

Severus followed his astonished gaze. There, on the opposite side of the kitchen counter, the air had begun to ripple as though propelled by a small, unfelt gust of wind.

Instantly, the memory was there again! Dread filled Severus's heart until it seemed an impossibility that it would be able to beat for much longer.

'NO!' he thought. 'OH GOD, NO!'

Something flickered, seemed to materialize underneath the whirl of air like the picture of a badly tuned TV.

PLEASE, DEAR GOD, NO!


Ever so carefully, Severus took the Pensieve in both of his hands and lifted it from the shelf. He turned around, placed it on a dusty, discarded desk behind him and sat down in front of it. For minutes all he did was stare into the whitish substance, neither liquid nor gas, that was swirling inside the basin. Although Severus knew that the Pensieve contained one of his own memories, he remembered only vaguely what he had so desperately wanted to forget four years ago.

But he knew it was something important. Something bad. A memory that he needed back now.

A memory about Harry.

When he felt he just couldn't put it off any longer, Severus leaned forward and plunged his face into the Pensieve …

A second later he found himself in his private dungeons at Hogwarts and looking at his own self sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, drowning glass after glass alternately from a bottle of firewhisky courtesy of Albus Dumbledore and a pretty looking carafe of elf-made wine.

It was a pathetic sight.

Severus remembered. This was the night before Harry's very first arrival at Hogwarts, four years ago. He had been so agitated then; so full of self-loathing and, yes, terrified of the little First Year that was about to enter his life in only a few hours time.

Plus, he had been drunk. Blissfully smashed.

Suddenly, a patch of air next to his memory-self seemed to ripple and for a split second a young, dark-haired man could be seen. Harry!

Severus's insides turned ice-cold as the memory came rushing back to him even before it unfolded in front of his eyes. Hs younger self, however, merely shook his head in mild confusion before drowning yet another glass of the high-proof alcohol.

A minute later, the same thing happened again.

The air next to Severus rippled almost unnoticeably before it began to solidify. The inebriated Potions master dropped his glass unceremoniously and stared as Harry Potter, barely out of his teens, appeared once more. He did not look completely solid, however, and Severus was able to see the bookshelves behind him shimmering through. When Harry spotted Severus sitting on the floor, his green eyes immediately spilled over with tears and his face screwed up in despair. He seemed to scream something at Severus, but not a sound could be heard. Then, he disappeared.

Severus watched himself getting up from the floor, drawing his wand (swaying slightly as he did so) and pointing it at the exact spot, where Harry had appeared only seconds before.

Both of them waited.

Only seconds later a rock solid Harry Potter fell out of thin air and before his other self's feet. Shell-shocked, Severus watched as the boy scrambled up immediately, leaped forward and threw his arms around the Potions master's neck. The other Severus tried to shove the boy from him, but Harry was clinging to him with all his might, crying desperately.

'SEVERUS!' he sobbed over and over again. 'Oh God, Sev! SEVERUS!'

At last Severus managed to pry the boy's arms from his neck. Roughly, he flung Harry from him.

Harry staggered backwards and stumbled, but did not fall. Instead he lunged himself right back at Severus.

'NO!' he wailed, hugging the teacher around the waist and holding on to him with surprising strength, burying his face inside Severus's robes. 'DON'T! PLEASE!' he wept. 'Don't let me go back! I need to stay here with you! I'll die if I go back, Sev! I AM GOING TO DIE WITHOUT YOU!'

With an expression of pure horror on his face, Severus attempted to push the boy away from him once more, when Harry suddenly let go on his own.

'Severus!' he sobbed, not bothering to wipe his tearstained face. 'YOU HAVE TO LISTEN! The night of Draco's eighteenth birthday, Sev! Why didn't you trust me? I have kept my promise that night. I've kept my promise! Oh God, please! Remember this! REMEMBER IT, SEVERUS!'

He clutched the fabric of the Potions master's robes and shook him, again with surprising strength. 'ARE YOU LISTENING?' he cried.

'DRACO'S EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY! I'VE KEPT MY PROMISE! I'M BEGGING YOU, PLEASE-'

Suddenly Harry's skin flickered. He looked down on himself and when he saw his body becoming transparent again in rapid speed, he began to weep so desperately that it tore Severus's heart in two, while his younger self only stared in shock.

'I don't want to go back,' Harry whimpered. 'No, please! Without you, I'd rather be dead!'

Helplessly, he looked at Severus.

'I love you!' he said … and then he was gone.

For a long time the young Severus Snape stared into the nothingness Harry Potter had left him with. Then, he came back to his senses.

'Oh no, you don't!' he growled. 'You're not going to love me and you're going to LIVE, Harry Potter! And you're not going to give a house-elf's ass about whether I'm there or not either, do you hear me? I'll make sure of that!'


All of a sudden the commotion - almost unnoticeable to the unsuspecting eye - on the other side of the table stopped ... and there sat Harry Potter.

Severus's ears were filled with the deafening noise of his frantic heartbeat. Usually Harry's future self simply turned up out of thin air. To actually see him materializing like this had, in the past, meant nothing good. Was everything okay?

Next to Severus Draco snapped out of his reverie. A delighted smile spread across the boy's face and he would have greeted the time-traveler enthusiastically, but Severus stopped him by grabbing him by the shoulder.

Surprised at the urgency of that touch, Draco looked at his godfather.

Severus was watching the future Harry intently. He didn't seem to be breathing.

Frowning, Draco looked back at Harry, who wasn't taking any notice of them and right in the process of bringing a fork to his mouth. He stopped mid-movement, however, when his gaze fell upon the empty cutlery in his hand. Severus saw the wedding band on Harry's ring finger. Future Harry's face curled into an expression of confusion and he looked down at the table.

'What the …?' he mouthed silently.

Draco felt Severus relax.

Harry looked up at them. 'Draco, you imbe-,' he started, but stopped when his eyes did a double take on their appearance.

'Oh,' he said.

Then, crossly: 'You guys! I'm not the Amazing Genie, you know? I was eating, thank you very much!'

Severus and Draco gawked at him and Harry's face lit up into an impish grin. Chuckling he got up from his chair.

'Kidding!' he said, winking at them.

He walked over to the sink, washed his now useless fork and put it back with the rest of the silverware. 'What date is this, then?' he asked cheerfully, drying his hands on the kitchen towel.

Severus and Draco still stared at him.

Amused, Harry sighed. He looked first Draco, then Severus, straight into their eyes. A split second later Severus felt him enter his mind and effortlessly extract the information he was looking for.

'HEY!' Draco protested.

'Sorry,' Harry shrugged, grinnin, 'but I haven't got time to hang around all day.'

He walked up to Severus's chair, stood up on his toes and placed a kiss on Severus's temple. 'Hi!' he said softly.

'Hi,' Severus replied.

They smiled at each other.

Then Harry looked back at Draco. Laughing lightly, he walked over to the Slytherin, wrapped his arms around Draco's neck and pulled him into a very, very tight hug before pressing a resounding smack on his cheek.

Draco's pale face flushed pink. 'What on earth was that for, Potter?' he asked, rubbing his cheek in faux indignation.

'That,' Harry grinned, 'was for jump-starting the first day of the rest of my life last night! And for hitting on me, of course.'

'Err, your last night, obviously,' he added hastily and looked at Severus with mock apprehension, before winking at the Potions master.

'Hmpfh!' replied Severus.

'So you don't hate me now?' Draco asked. The relief on his face was plain to see. 'We are still friends? Are we …?' He stopped, looking at Harry helplessly.

Harry's smile full of warmth. 'I haven't lied to you back then, okay?' he said softly.

Discreetly, Severus looked away as Draco's eyes began to fill with tears. Abruptly his godson got up from his chair and began to clean the coffee mugs off the table. Harry watched him fondly before turning around to Severus. He reached out and began to pick some non-existent lint off Severus's robes.

'You've got quite the smart godson, haven't you?' he asked with a smirk.

Severus turned around on his stool, caught Harry's hand in his and pulled the young man into his arms. Harry rested his head against his chest.

'One of us has to have the brains in this family, Potter!' Draco piped up behind them.

Harry giggled, tightening his arms around Severus contentedly. The teacher dropped a kiss on top of his mate's head before deeply breathing in the vanilla cent of his hair.

'Oh, to be able to fast-forward time,' Severus thought, when suddenly Harry pulled back slightly, cocked his head to the side and looked up at the ceiling as if he was listening to something only he could hear. Then, he looked at Severus. And odd expression shadowed his face.

'Ah!' he said flatly. 'He's still here, then.'

'William?' Severus asked. 'Harry, he … I'm so sorry! But I can't risk him getting suspicious of us yet by sending him away one day early.'

'I see,' said Harry simply.

As so often, it was Draco who read between the lines.

'Harry said still here,' he argued importantly. 'That means he expected him to be gone already. Right, Potter? And that means Copley's going to leave today anyway whatever you do, Sev.'

Harry chuckled. 'You're a smart-arse, Malfoy, you know that?'

He looked up at Severus. 'Your godson is a smart-arse,' he informed the older man cheerily before resuming his previous position in Severus's arms.

'I'm right is what I am,' Draco said wisely.

'Always,' Harry agreed, winking at him.

But William Copley was the least of worries on Severus's mind. Now, with Harry being fully aware of his time-travel, was the chance to ask him about the Pensieve memory that had been tormenting him for so long now.

'Harry, I need to talk to you,' he said quietly.

'About what?' Harry asked, smiling at Draco, who had sat back down next to him and Severus and now watched them with unconcealed curiosity; fascinated to finally see with his own eyes what had been not much more than a pretty good guess yesterday.

'About something you told me on one of your previous time-travels,' Severus replied. 'Or future travels, I don't know. Draco, would you leave us, please?'

'WHAT? Why? No!' Draco cried out. 'That's not fair!'

But despite his protests he climbed off his chair. Harry, however, held him back.

'Stay, Draco,' he said. He stepped out of Severus's embrace and looked at the Potions master. The expression on his face was one of determination. 'No, Sev!' he said firmly. 'No questions about the future!'

'POTTER, LISTEN TO ME!' Severus exploded.

'No, Severus,' said Harry gently. Resolutely.

'HARRY, THIS MIGHT BE A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH! You need to-'

Severus stopped mid-sentence when the young man in front of him cupped his face in his hands and looked at him intently.

'Whatever happens happens, love!' said Harry. 'Even I can't cheat Death.' His face clouded. 'Trust me, I know, for I have tried. Many times.'

Irritably, Severus shook Harry's hands off him by jumping off his chair. He grabbed his young mate by the shoulders.

'If I tell you that this is quite possibly about my death, then will you listen?' he snarled.

Harry blanched. Next to him, Draco made a noise as though he had been wounded.

'Severus!' Harry begged. 'You don't understand! It might be exactly your telling me that leads to whatever it is you want to tell me.'

'Merlin, Harry!' Draco whimpered. 'But you're the boy who lived! If anyone can cheat death, it's you. Severus's Death? HARRY!'

All strength seemed to leave the time-traveler. 'What happened?' Harry asked Severus tonelessly and defeated. 'What am I going to tell you on this time-travel?'

'Draco, I want you to leave!' Severus said sharply.

Looking immensely scared and protesting fiercely, Draco stalked towards the door, but Harry stopped him once more.

'WAIT!' he hissed. 'Copley's coming.'

Severus and Draco swore in unison. If William Copley walked into the kitchen now and saw older version of Harry Potter than the one he had met here yesterday, they would have to fabricate quite an interesting explanation.

'I fucking hate doing this,' Harry complained. Then, he ducked behind the counter and out of sight. The door opened and William Copley walked inside.

'Oh,' he said, looking at Draco. 'I'm very sorry; I didn't know you were still here, Draco.'

Draco opened his mouth, a fitting (and rather rude) reply ready on his tongue, when he felt Harry swatting his leg as though he was trying to stop him.

'Aaaah!' came Harry's voice - though it sounded a little deeper than usual, almost as if he was having a cold - from the floor next. 'Here it is! Nasty little bugger!'

Harry straightened up.

Only now did Draco see that it wasn't Harry at all. Whereas Harry had raven black hair that often bore a startling resemblance to a crow's nest, this young man had wavy brown hair with not one curl out of place. Harry had a little snub nose; this man's nose was long and slender. If it hadn't been for the man's eyes, Draco probably would have questioned his own sanity. He didn't wear any glasses and was holding a hand in front of one of his eyes, but Draco could see that the other eye was startlingly green.

'Stupid contact lenses!' Harry laughed now. 'Oh, hello Mister…?'

He smiled apologetically and turned towards the sink, where he first pretended to wash the non-existent contact lens in his hand and then to pop it back into his left eye, his back turned towards them.

'Copley,' William said. 'William Copley. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.'

'Oh, not to worry, not to worry,' Harry said pleasantly. He stretched out his hand and William shook it.

'Hello, William,' Harry smiled. 'I'm Nicholas,' he paused for the briefest of moments. 'Copperfield.'

Draco hid a grin at the double Dickens reference. He looked over at Severus who he could tell surveyed Harry with interest, despite the deadpan expression on his face.

It wasn't so much the fact that his young mate had just proved to be a highly talented Metamorphmagus that surprised Severus. It was the nonchalant cunning with which he had pulled off the "contact-lenses" trick to offer an explanation for his almost unnaturally green eyes, the only possible feature of his that could trigger Copley's suspicion. There had only ever been two people with eyes like this, after all. And one of them was dead. It was also the confidence in which Harry acted around William Copley.

Now, Severus understood what had unsettled Draco so last night.

It was only due to their soulmate bond that he could sense – feel – the aversion for Copley that was blazing underneath "Nicholas Coppperfield's" serene surface. It wasn't hate, exactly, that Harry was feeling for his ex-boyfriend, but the jealousy and dislike were intense. Startling in comparison to the agreeable manner in which he spoke to William Copley.

Severus put a hand on Harry's shoulder. 'I love you. Only you. Now, then, always.' he thought.

Clearly. Loudly.

He felt Harry relax underneath his touch. However, Severus thought it wise to get the boy out of the kitchen and away from William Copley and so he said: 'Nicholas came by to borrow some ingredients. So if you'll excuse us for a moment, we'll be right back.'

He maneuvered Harry out of the kitchen. He could have not chosen a better moment either, because just when Severus had closed the door behind them, Harry vanished – kindly saving the Potions master from having to explain Nicholas Copperfield's ultra-spontaneous Apparition to William Copley.

Meanwhile inside the kitchen, an uncomfortable silence had spread out between Draco and William Copley.

'You're in the fifth year, aren't you?' William asked after a moment. His voice was as cheerful as ever, but the expression on his face showed only too clearly that he was aware of how lame this attempt of making small talk with Lucius Malfoy's son had been.

Naturally, Draco's face showed the same.

'Mister …' he began after a while, when he felt his delay in replying had been long enough to be sufficiently rude. Future Harry hadn't denied it: William Copley was supposed to gone! And if Severus would not throw the Divination teacher out … Draco knew someone who would.

'Copley,' William helped quickly.

'Yeah, whatever,' Draco replied. 'Listen, Copley!'

And there goes my A in Divination.

'My godfather might be uncomfortable of telling you this, not wanting to be rude to an Ex and all, but it's New Year's Eve tonight, which happens to be a very special holiday in this family. A true family holiday if you catch my drift. But hey, I've been told that Hogwarts is supposed to have some great fireworks, too.'


They seemed to have reached a silent agreement: Mentioning last night was off limits.

Harry was extremely grateful for Draco's silence. He had felt so dreadful this morning and terribly afraid that last night's conversation – and the fact that Draco had tried to kiss him and that he had stopped him - had altered their friendship. If he would lose Draco as a friend … Harry (almost unable to even remember life before the day he and his archenemy became friends) didn't even dare to finish the thought.

Thankfully, though, Draco Malfoy was beyond feeling self-conscious or awkward around anybody, Harry thought with a smile as he mustered his blonde Opponent on the other side of the chess board. Draco had simply waltzed into his parent's dining room this morning, smug as ever, and ordered Harry to 'Finish up breakfast already, fatty, and go get your broom. I'm bored.'

And that was that.

Draco was still studying the chess board with a look of utmost concentration, mentally exercising his next possible moves, and Harry's eyes began to wander.

He and Draco were sitting on the floor next to the Christmas tree in the Malfoy's living room. Through the double glass doors Harry could see inside the adjoining dining room, where Draco's parents, Priya and Severus were still sitting in front of their half-finished dinner plates and engaged in a good-humored and animated conversation about … erm, whatever it was that a Death Eater, a Death Eater's wife and a Death Eater Spy talked about.

Lucius now opened a bottle of champagne. As he uncorked the bottle, his eyes fell on Harry and he nodded his head acknowledgingly. Harry smiled back.

'Ever since you got here, my dad's being more civil with you than I've ever seen him with anyone who's not a member of this family.'

Today he felt fond of just about everyone in the world, it seemed. Even Lucius Malfoy. Maybe it was the fact that Draco still was his friend, maybe it was the fact that this morning Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy had insisted he called them Lucius and Narcissa from now on. Maybe it was merely the glass of wine he and Draco had been allowed to drink for dinner.

But, no. If Harry was completely, absolutely, truthfully honest with himself, he knew it was because... well, William Copley wasn't here, for one thing, which was always a plus.

'Did you vomit because you were still upset about Sev and his Ex?'

Also, he had been so anxious to see Professor Snape again today. After what Draco had told him last night, Harry had feared he would now never be able to look at the teacher again without a) blushing into a nice shade of tomato red, b) being unable to speak but one coherent sentence and c) dropping dead with embarrassment, period. Truth be told, he had already prepared for being sulky with Severus, too. He was pissed off about William Copley after all. That man didn't belong here!

But there was something about Severus Snape! Harry wondered if he had truly never noticed it before he and the Slytherin Head of house became … friends.

'You do know that a soulmate bond needs time to develop, right?'

Whether it was the calm manner in which he always spoke, his confidence, the way he looked at him – like he knew Harry; knew him from the heart – or those wonderful little, random touches to which he had become almost used to by now, Harry didn't know.

'And now tell me, when was the last time you saw our dearest Potions master ever being nice to any of his students?'

But it seemed as though he just couldn't feel uncomfortable, sad or angry around Severus Snape anymore even if he tried.

'Do you have a soulmate, Harry Potter?'

'… POTTER! EARTH TO HARRY POTTER!'

Harry was ripped from his thoughts when Draco bleated loudly into his ear. He laughed and pushed the Slytherin away.

'I'm not deaf, you know?' he asked.

'No, only stupid,' Draco agreed generously before pulling Harry to his feet. 'It's almost midnight, Potter. Let's go outside and watch the fireworks!'

They followed the adults outside into the garden where a couple of glowing house-elfs scurried about busily, preparing the pyrotechnics. When they began to count down the last ten seconds of the year, Harry felt the usual apprehension grabbing a hold of him that had accompanied his New Year's Eves for as long as he was able to remember.

In the past this night had been a special mark for the remainder of time he had yet to stay with the Dursleys. Another mark on the countdown to a future when he would finally be old enough to leave number four, Privet Drive.

Tonight it was even more than that.

Tonight, these fireworks marked the beginning of the year he would turn sixteen. According to the books this would be the year in which he was most likely to realize who his soulmate was.

This year he would hopefully see whether Draco's theory was right or not.

Around Harry, cheerful cries of 'HAPPY NEW YEAR!' erupted and his apprehension was washed away by the melodic Pling! of their champagne glasses, numerous hugs, kisses on the cheeks, claps on the shoulders and magnificent fireworks explosions.

Later on he wouldn't exactly remember how it had happened, but suddenly Harry found himself in Severus Snape's arms. 'Happy new year, Potter!' the teacher said, briefly pressing Harry against his chest. They released each other and clinked their glasses.

'Happy new year!' Severus said again.

'I hope so, Professor,' Harry replied. 'I really hope so.'

To be continued