Chapter 35
"A kiss, a snuggle and a mighty scare"

Draco looked doubtful.

'Yes?' he asked, but Severus knew that it wasn't his ability to handle the situation that was questioned by his godson and the boy's next question proved him right.

'Are we okay?' he asked Severus uncertainly. Then, quickly, he looked over at Harry. 'Are we okay?' he repeated.

'Mhm,' Harry confirmed distractedly, but he wasn't even looking at Draco anymore and only stared at Severus instead.

'Yes, Draco, we are okay. More than okay,' Severus urgently promised the younger Slytherin one more time. 'We'll talk later, but I must ask you to leave now. I only have a few minutes before I need to go back and I need that time to speak to Harry alone.'

'Of course!' Draco exclaimed, suddenly grinning brightly. 'You need to have The Talk!' He punctuated his two last words knowingly and a second later he disappeared through the door that led to the living room – obedient godson that he was.

Severus turned to Harry who had yet to say a word.

'Harry!' he said and grabbed the teenager, who was still staring at him silently, by the shoulders. 'What happened here earlier? Who was it that was forcing himself on to you? Who dared to kiss you?! And where is he now? Did he hurt you? Harry, answer me! Who was it?!'

If he didn't know better, he would think that Harry had been Petrified because he still didn't seem able to speak, move or breathe. The poor boy was clearly under shock, or so Severus thought. He suspected that Harry was completely mortified and maybe even fearing his anger over those two unauthorized kisses, and it didn't quite occur to him that Harry was simply overwhelmed by his sudden and unexpected appearance.

And his sudden very possessive behaviour.

'Harry!' He shook his young mate lightly. The Talk didn't quite go as planned. 'Listen, I'm not angry with you. I'm just very, very worried!'

This last sentence, finally, seemed to snap Harry out of his trance to a point where he was at least able to blink a couple of times.

'Were you hurt, Harry? I don't have much time, so I really need to know now!' repeated Severus urgently, desperate to finally know what had been going on while he was wasting his time with the Dark Lord. Harry shook his head at last.

'Uh-uh,' he said blankly.

'And who was it?' Severus again wanted to know. 'Who touched you? HARRY?!'

Another pause.

Blink.

Blink.

'A stripper,' Harry said.

For a moment Severus simply stared at him.

'A … WHAT?!' he roared then. This could only be a joke! It HAD to be a joke. Harry had been forced to give up his first kiss to a …

'A stripper?' he echoed, his eyes bulging. 'You mean a … ?!'

He didn't dare to say it.

'A male stripper,' Harry nodded weakly. 'Apparently Fred and George thought it would be funny if-'

But he didn't finish his sentence, because Severus had already let go of him, turned on his heels and now rushed – his robes billowing dangerously – towards the living room.

'Merlin be damned! Those godforsaken …,' he snarled and tore open the door.

B A M !!!

The handle was ripped from his hand as the door flew shut again. The air was suddenly charged with angry magic, but Severus immediately realized that only a relatively small percentage of it was his own. And so he turned around in disbelief. The expression on Harry's face now was a stark contrast to the blank look he had worn until only a moment ago. His fists were clenched, as always when he was agitated, and his green eyes were sparkling angrily. Again, Severus could only stare at the teenager.

'AND THAT IS ALL?' Harry yelled suddenly. 'You say you don't have much time and this is what you're wasting it on? Two other men have kissed me tonight and you have nothing better to do than to run off and give detention? I have waited sixteen years for this?!'

His last sentence was a barely understandable roar of frustration and Severus forgot all about his own anger, which immediately caused Harry to calm down significantly himself.

The air around them stopped cackling.

Severus took a deep, preparing breath and walked back to the Gryffindor who was still frowning at him. Gently, the Potions master cupped Harry's face with both of his hands.

'I'm sorry. You're absolutely right, that was thoughtless of me. But I have a confession to make.'

Harry looked up at him questioningly; nervous. The sulking frown had disappeared.

'I have waited over twenty years for this moment and now I have forgotten everything I was ever going to say to you,' Severus confided.

''Happy Birthday, Harry' sounds like a start,' Harry squeaked, his green eyes wide behind his round spectacles.

Severus laughed.

'That is very true,' he nodded. 'Happy sixteenth Birthday, Harry,' he wished quietly and then, ever so gently, he pressed a kiss onto Harry's forehead.

Again, the air around them began to charge with magic. Only this time it wasn't the result of overflowing aggression. It wasn't wrath or jealousy. It was their love.

That and the embarrassment of a very flushed teenage wizard of course.

Wide-eyed, Harry stared at the taller man before swallowing visibly. 'Thank you,' he said and blushed some more before adding 'and I'm sorry!'

'For?' Severus asked softly. His hands were still cradling Harry's glowing face.

He would never let go of the boy go again. Ever.

'A- about the door and all that,' said Harry compunctiously. 'I'm sorry for yelling at you, Professor. I don't know why I got so angry all of a sudden. I didn't mean to.'

Severus grinned.

'I suppose it's fair to say that your anger wasn't entirely your own, don't you agree? I was pretty angry myself after all and …,' he paused meaningfully and his warm smile broadened, '… we do share a soulmate bond, don't we, Potter?'

The effect of these few words was immediate.

Harry's eyes filled with tears and he grabbed Severus's arm as if in need for support. 'Merlin!' he exclaimed weakly and for a while that was all he said. Then, he looked at Severus again.

'Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to hear these words from you?'

Not as long as I've been waiting to say them,' Severus replied truthfully. When he was sure Harry didn't need his steadying hand any longer, he reluctantly let go of the boy.

'I will have to go back now, forgive me. However, I promise that this conversation is not yet over. All right, Potter?'

He looked at Harry somewhat encouragingly and the teenager nodded, still looking slightly dazed, a little bashful and very, very happy. He followed Severus to the door.

'So come back very soon then, will you?' he said as Severus opened it.

'I will,' Severus promised. 'Bye, Harry!'

But he had only walked a couple of steps out of the Weasley's home when Harry called out after him.

'Wait!'

'What is it?' Severus asked.

'What about that kiss?' Harry asked nervously. 'Those two kisses, I mean.'

Severus stifled a miserable sigh and smiled bravely instead.

'It's fine,' he said. 'If I ever find that stripper, I am going to make him drink a First Year's attempt of the Essence of Insanity, but I'm not mad at Draco if that's what you're afraid of. And I am definitely not mad at you, Harry. I promise.'

Harry stepped out of the house too, closing the door behind him quietly. 'Yes, but … aren't you going to do something about it?' he asked as he walked towards Severus. Although it was dark, Severus could see a new flush of pink appearing on Harry's cheeks. His own heartbeat suddenly doubled.

'Do something?' he echoed. 'What do you mean?'

Harry stopped in front of him. 'Well, don't you want to kiss me yourself?' he asked – still nervous but with the obvious determination of a Gryffindor.

'I want to,' Severus replied honestly. He could not lie. Not right now and not about something as important as their first kiss. 'But I can't, Harry. Not just yet.'

'Not yet? But when?'

'When you're seventeen, Harry,' Severus replied with a smile. 'Good bye now.'

Forcing his heartbeat down to a normal rate, the spy turned to leave. Too bad he didn't have time for a cold shower before he returned to the Dark Lord.

'WAIT!' Harry exclaimed once more.

Somewhat impatiently but smiling still, Severus stopped yet again.

'Harry,' he said warmly, 'I really have to go now.'

'I know,' Harry said quickly. 'But we're not only teacher and student anymore, right? We are soulmates now, too. Right, Professor?'

'Yes, Harry. We have always been soulmates.'

Harry nodded. 'Yes … so … that's why I think it's a little unfair that only you get a say in this matter.'

'I'm sorry, but I'm afraid there's no room for disc-' Severus began, but Harry interrupted him. 'No, I really don't think I can wait another year, Professor!'

Hurriedly, he closed the distance between them, stood up on his tiptoes and boldly wrapped his arms around the Potions master's neck. Severus could have stopped him. But he didn't want to.

To hell with political correctness. Just this once.

So instead of stopping the impatient teenager, he closed his eyes in expectation of a very eager, very passionate kiss … and was all the more surprised when he felt how Harry suddenly loosened his arms again and slid back to the ground. Startled, Severus opened his eyes. Harry wasn't looking at him, however, but instead inspected the grass beneath his sneakers.

'I'm sorry. That's not how you should do it, I know.You can't just go and press your lips on the other person's mouth, you always have to give them a chance to pull back and say no,' he told Severus very seriously. 'I'm not a stripper after all!'

'Unfortunately,' he deadpanned after a moment and looked up to smile at Severus, but his grin turned out rather lopsidedly and he didn't quite dare to meet the other man's eyes either. And so Harry quickly looked back down on his shoes.

Overcome with love for the adorably embarrassed teen in front of him – the embarrassed teen that would one day soon become his dashing, confident, young husband, Severus knew – the older mate had all but one choice. Severus Snape reached out and placed a hand under Harry Potter's chin, gently forcing it upwards until their eyes met.

'It may not have been completely legal, since you're not of age just yet and I most certainly am, but technically speaking there was absolutely nothing wrong with how you were going to kiss me just now, Mister Potter.'

'No?'

'No. And do you know why?'

Solemnly, Harry shook his head.

'Because we're soulmates, you impertinent, little dunderhead.'

Harry's face broke into a delighted grin.

'Yes, but … aren't you going to do something about it?' he mischievously repeated his earlier question.

The Potions master smirked in defeat.

'I think I might, brat!' he said, lowering his head. 'I think I might.'

And then Severus Snape finally kissed his soulmate.

Lucius Malfoy hated the cold.

He knew that for many wizards that knew him this would seem like quite the joke – after all Lucius Malfoy was the epitome of coldness, wasn't he? But it was true nonetheless. Despite what his marble light skin, his fine, silver-blonde hair or even his demeanor conveyed, he despised coldness. As a child, as a teenager and even as a young man Lucius had loved the cold or rather, he had loved everything he associated with it: winter, snow, icicles, frozen lakes, snow carriages, Christmas, hot punch – you name it. That was until he began to associate coldness with him. Him, the reason they were all circled around a bloody fire in the middle of summer.

A fire at the end of July, Salazar be damned!

The Dark Lord himself, of course, didn't seem to notice that his entourage were blowing their numb fingers as unobtrusively as possible and rattling their teeth equally so whenever he was around. Then again, he did notice, of course – he just didn't care. And as big as Voldemort's ego was, he didn't even realize that he himself was the reason everyone around him was constantly freezing. Having long forgotten something as trivial as the four seasons and with his new body merely being a mortal but otherwise lifeless shell that was hosting his damned soul, Tom Riddle himself was impervious to the cold. And since he was long beyond caring about anybody's wellbeing, he never wondered twice about his Death Eater's constant need for a warming fire – sold to the Dark Lord as nothing but the perfect instrument for ritual, communication and gathering, of course.

It was this lack of understanding that had caused the Dark Lord to oversee something crucial a good one year ago, when he had managed to capture Harry Potter with the help of a bewitched Triwizard Champion Cup. True, Tom Marvolo Riddle was now finally able to touch the boy, but that didn't mean he had the upper hand now. But luckily only Lucius and Severus had noticed this small but important fact: Harry Potter hadn't felt the coldness emanating from the Dark Lord. Voldemort's touch had caused him pain, yes, but he had been impervious to the cold. Unlike them, Harry Potter's lips had not turned blue. Unlike them, he had not begun to shiver. Unlike them, his breath had not become visible. Harry Potter's soul, unlike theirs, had not been penetrated by evil as of yet. He was still the Dark Lord's only true nemesis. He would still be Voldemort's downfall.

As so often before, it was this very thought that unleashed a whole new train of thoughts in Lucius:

When would it happen?
How would it happen?
Where would it happen?
Would he be Harry's legal father by then?
Would he be present?
Would he have to protect his new son in this last battle against the Dark Lord?
Would he be able to protect Harry?
And how would Harry react to being told about the adoption?
Would he laugh at the idea?
Would he cry?
Would they get along?
Could he love this boy like his own son?
And just when was the right time to tell Harry anyway?

Inwardly, Lucius sighed as he began to visualize the scenario in his head:

Lucius: 'And thus my wife and I have decided to adopt you.'
Harry: (turns very white) 'Wait, are you saying that you'll be my father now?'
Lucius: 'I suppose. Do you have a problem with that, Harry?'
Harry: (turns on his heels and flees …never to be seen again.)

No, not good.

Lucius: 'Harry Potter, you will be a Malfoy from now on.'
Harry: (turns green) A Malfoy? What, do you want to adopt me or something?'
Lucius: 'Yes. I don't really have a choice on this matter, I'm afraid.'
Harry: 'Well, luckily I have a choice.'
Lucius: 'And that is?'
Harry: 'To say thanks but no thanks, of course!' (shakes his head, laughs and walks away)

Let's try again, shall we?!

Lucius: 'Harry Potter, I'm your father now.
Harry: (gapes) 'My father?'
Lucius: 'That's right.'
Harry: 'MUAHAHAHAHAHA! Draco, you never told me that your father was funny!'

Imp. Another try.

Lucius: 'Harry Potter, would you like to be a member of this family?'
Harry: (shy) 'Yes, please.'
Lucius: 'Very well, then. Just sign the papers here and here, boy.'
Harry: (scribbles down a signature and beams at Lucius) 'Can I call you 'dad' now?'
Lucius: …

Almost. Again.

Lucius: 'Harry Potter, would you like to be a member of this family?'
Harry: (shy) Yes, sir. I'd like that very much, if you please.
Lucius: 'Very well. Sign these papers.'
Harry: (signs papers very neatly) Thank you, sir.
Lucius: Welcome to the family, Harry. (they formally shake hands.)
Harry: Thank you very much, sir.

There! I might even get used to the idea after all.

It was a welcomed distraction, when the Dark Lord finally granted a twenty minute break in order for them to do … well, whatever normal human beings (yes, even his most loyal followers!) had to do sometimes, as much as it must pain their not-quite-human leader to admit it. Either way, Lucius was glad for the opportunity to uncramp his legs and relieve his bladder at last.

Unfortunately, the latter was a more than disgraceful act when attending one of Voldemort's little gatherings. Too paranoid to let them out of his sight (as if anyone whose name didn't happen to be Harry Potter would ever attempt to curse him from behind!) and too little human to feel or even remember such basic needs himself, the Dark Lord didn't allow them to magick up an adequate facility in his range, which meant they had to act like any plebeian Muggle.

Cursing silently, Lucius stepped away from the gooseberry bush a few minutes later. And as he glumly straightened his robes, his thoughts once more returned to the raven-haired teenager on whose skinny little shoulders all their hopes were resting upon. Lucius caught himself growing more and more impatient with every passing day; every Death Eater assembly, every order, every punishment, every time the Dark Mark burnt into his skin.

When would the Dark Lord's reign finally come to an end?

So maybe it wasn't fair to leave it all to a child. And who knew?! Maybe they had it all wrong and Harry James Potter was nothing but an innocent, average, overestimated and hence very unfortunate teenage wizard, but damn it! It was about high time he fulfilled that prophecy just the same.

He wanted his life back.

And maybe, just maybe, the adoption papers waiting to be signed by the wizarding world's Golden Child would be the first step towards fulfillment of the very prophecy that spoke of Tom Riddle's defeat. Maybe destiny was putting Severus Snape's little soulmate in his care for a reason!

It was Lucius's firm belief that one could not fight against the Dark Art sufficiently without using it himself. In fact, Lucius Malfoy didn't believe there was such a thing as "Dark Art" in the first place. The magic that was pulsing through their blood was a gift and not a curse. And a gift as rare and wondrous as theirs could never be dark or forbidden by itself; it was the wizard using his craft that could make it so.

Unfortunately, the majority of the wizarding world didn't share his sentiments and so schools had come to teach their children to fight against the Dark Art with hardly more than a disarming spell and maybe, if they felt really daring, a projection spell, too. Or then, they were quite possibly supposed to simply throw a few heavy books around in the hope that they might knock out their opponents, if Dolores Umbridge's way of teaching "Defense Against The Dark Arts" was any indication. Well, and the latter was not an option for a wizard who was supposed to save the world.

It was certainly no option for a Malfoy.

Yes, he knew about the little army of students that Harry had assembled around him and that was all fine and well and really quite remarkable, but by Gods, those miniature fighters were children still!

The boy who lived had undeniable potential and Lucius already knew he would grow up to be a formidable wizard (not only because he had witnessed the boy's raw power before, but also because he already knew Harry Potter would soon begin to travel time, something which was completely unheard of unless you counted the use of a Time-Turner and even that device had its limits), but he needed proper training. He needed a deeper understanding of the so-called "Dark Art" to prevail over Lord Voldemort and Hogwarts wasn't the place to give him that. Yet. If Harry was to face the Dark Lord in their final battle, a simple Expelliarmus wouldn't do.

But even Severus believed that the core of Harry's power – his infallible shield - was love. Namely, the love that had made Lily Evans give her life in order to protect her only son. However, Lucius did not share this belief. While it might well be true that love had been and forever would be Harry's main motivation to fight Voldemort successfully, he didn't believe that Lily had given her son everlasting protection or any other special powers when she chose to die for him. He had seen too many mothers throwing themselves over their children in order to protect their lives from the Dark Lord, even if that noble action might be the last thing they would do (and more often than not that's exactly what it had been) and as far as Lucius was aware, none of the few children lucky enough to survive it all had turned out to be any more special than other children.

No, Harry's power came from no one but Harry himself, Lucius was sure of that. The boy was a raw diamond, but even the brightest of minds needed a teacher. A mentor. A guardian.

And maybe – just maybe – he was supposed to fill this role in Harry Potter's life.

The sight of his approaching friend interrupted Lucius Malfoy's train of thought. Once again glad for the disruption (By Merlin, one could think he was becoming as obsessed with the Golden Boy as his wife and son!), Lucius watched as Severus Snape came closer. On first glance, the snarky, old Potions master looked as bitter and gloomy as ever. There was no indication that he had just come back from meeting the love his life.

Well, almost no indication.

There was a certain glow about the other man, Lucius guessed was the best way to put it. Taking into account their surroundings and company, which generally turned even the most emotionally crippled among them into haggard bundle of nerves, it was almost unsettling to see this usually tense and guarded spy this … at ease with himself and the world around him. However, only a fool would ever mistake this relaxed and confident air with carelessness and Lucius wasn't going to be one of them. He knew that Severus Snape was still very much aware of everything that was going on around him. The only difference being, that for once he didn't seem to mind it. Unlike the majority of men around him who were oozing submission (and if only to save their own skin), Lucius realized that Severus carried himself like a man whose entire central point of life – whose entire reason for being – had just shifted.

He wasn't living his life for Voldemort anymore.
He wasn't living it for the loony geezer and his Phoenix entourage either.
He wasn't even living it for kith and kin.
Severus Snape was alive for only one person in this world.

Harry Potter.

'And we're back to that little twerp again,' Lucius thought somewhat exasperated.

Harry. Harry. Harry.

Salazar be damned! He would have to seek therapy if that green-eyed imp kept dominating his thoughts like this …

Suddenly someone roughly bumped into his shoulder from behind. Lucius drove around, his wand ready, only to find himself staring into the crunched up face of Harry Potter, who was rubbing his right temple.

'Ouch!' the boy mumbled and Lucius noticed not only that his ridiculously round glasses were absent from the boy's rather handsome, suddenly matured face ('Being sixteen becomes him!') but also that the boy was looking at him with no trace of fear or anxiety or any other emotion that one could expect on the Golden Boys face while suddenly standing in front of Lucius Malfoy, right in the middle of a Death Eater meeting.

'Why did you Apparate us?' Harry Potter wanted to know now and Lucius's mouth almost dropped open as realization hit him.

HOLY SPIRIT OF MERLIN!

But before his mind could process another conscious thought, his body reacted and he pulled the boy behind the gooseberry bush and out of anyone's sight and pressed him as far into it as the branches would allow.

Shocked, he stared at the teenage boy whose eyes were now growing as wide as his own. This wasn't the Harry Potter; the one who had turned sixteen today! This was his future version instead; the one Severus and Draco had told him about. This was time-traveling Harry, wasn't it?! It had to be.

'Dad?' Harry Potter asked. 'What's wrong? Where are we?'

He looked around and then back at Lucius, clearly expecting an answer, but Lucius wasn't able to give one yet. His head had to stop spinning first.

Dad.

Harry Potter had just called him dad.

Even Draco usually addressed him with the more formal "father", but this particular Harry Potter didn't seem to see any need to be formal with him – anymore.

He calls me his dad.

For weeks he had been driving himself insane with his own uneasiness when imagining Harry's possible question of how to address him once he was an official member of the family and his own indignation at the idea of being called "father" by James Potter's offspring.

And here Harry Potter was, calling him dad.

Dad.

And for some reason this felt perfectly right to Lucius.

Suddenly, a strong hand closed around his shoulder and pulled him away from Harry Potter.

Son.

Severus Snape was looking at both of them with a shocked expression that Lucius was sure equaled his own and suddenly he realized how the scene must look to his friend; him pressing Severus's mate into the bush; his fists clenched around the boy's shirt collar … Lucius dropped his hands and hastened to explain.

'I wasn't hurting him, Severus, I was hiding him!'

'I know,' Severus said, dropping his own hand from his friend's shoulder before turning to look at the teenager (young man, Lucius finally corrected himself). Quietly but urgently he explained the situation to his young soulmate: 'Harry, you have traveled back into time. But you could've not chosen a worse moment for we are at a Death Eater's meeting here!'

'We are?' Harry replied in a tone of voice he might as well have used to say 'Awesome!'

Curiously, he tried to peek from behind the bush, but Severus and Lucius simultaneously reached out and pushed him back.

'What are you doing?' Severus hissed. 'You need to go back to where you came from! Right now, Harry!'

Harry grinned. 'And maybe I would, if I knew how to.'

He looked at Lucius. 'I bet I've given you quite a scare again back there, you hate it when I do this. Sorry, da- Lucius.' Harry smiled apologetically and Lucius's head felt like it was spinning again. The perfectly trusting and confident way with which Harry spoke to him was enough to make any Malfoy dizzy.

Next to him Severus suddenly cursed. 'Goyle! He's coming here. Lucius, we have to get Harry out of here.'

'I can stay!' Harry protested. 'I can make myself invisible!'

'Don't be absurd! You don't have your cloak!' Severus hissed.

'It's an Invisibility Cloak, Severus, it's invisible!' Harry quipped, but they could all see that his soulmate wasn't in the mood for jokes.

'Don't worry about me, Sev!' Harry said gently. Then he closed his eyes and appeared to be concentrating on something and suddenly … he vanished.

Lucius sighed in relief.

'He's still here,' explained Severus quietly, his voice strained with worry.

'Who is?' a voice behind them asked and both men turned around to see Gregory Goyle's father, looking at them curiously.

'Who do you think?' Severus snapped viciously, causing Goyle Sr. to keep a respectful distance. 'Only the very reason why we're all assembled here night after night.'

'Oh, you were talking about Potter!' Goyle's face lightened up in happy understanding. 'Yes, that boy's a right pain in the arse, isn't he?'

'You could say that,' Lucius muttered and only just held back a highly undignified squeak when an invisible elbow nudged into his side.

That little …!

'The boy who just didn't know when to die,' Goyle cited, chuckling at his own joke. 'But don't worry. Our Master will kill the little pest eventually, you know he will.'

'Of course he will,' Severus nodded curtly. 'Goyle, I think that Parkinson over there is looking for you,' he lied then, pretending to look over the plump man's shoulder and both he and Lucius sighed in relief when Goyle quickly excused himself and scurried off.

Both men turned to face the gooseberry bush again where they expected the invisible Harry Potter, when a loud "OUCH!" made them look behind them once more.

Goyle was just getting up from all fours, rubbing one of his shins as he did so. Once he was standing upright again, he turned around his own axis, seemingly in search for an object on the ground that had apparently caused him to trip and fall. None of the three men could see any such object, however, and Lucius thought he knew just who and what had made the Death Eater stumble.

Apparently Severus did too.

'HARRY!' he hissed angrily, stepping behind the bush. A few moments later Harry Potter materialized in front of them again.

'Sorry, I just couldn't resist!' he chuckled, but he immediately fell silent when he saw his mate's face.

'Sev!' he began placatingly, but then the Potions master grabbed him by the arm and began to shake it angrily. Severus's face had lost all color.

'What do you think you're doing?' he snarled. 'Are you trying to get yourself killed?'

'Sev,' Harry tried to reason. 'I'm from the future. I already know that nothing will happen to me today. You and Lucius would have warned me about this trip otherwise.'

'Your trust in me is very honorable,' Lucius retorted, 'but I'd rather you left back to your own time now. And before you get one of us killed, if you please!'

'But I don't know how,' Harry insisted. Miserably, he looked at Lucius. 'I'll just try to Apparate back home, then. But I don't know if I can.'

'You can make yourself invisible, I'm sure a simple Apparition will be no problem for you,' Lucius snapped and Harry nodded quickly.

'Alright, alright, I'll try!'

'Oh no, you won't!' Severus chimed in, taking a hold of Harry's arm once more. 'Have both of you lost your mind? Harry, I think we and our future counterparts would very much prefer if you arrived back in your own time in one piece and without various limbs stuck in various times and places. You will never – and I mean NEVER! – attempt an Apparition again while you're not in your own time! Am I making myself clear?'

Harry frowned.

'Yes, sir!' he snapped irritably.

Suddenly, a horn blew from somewhere behind them.

'Break's over,' Lucius explained upon seeing Harry Potter's startled expression.

'You go back, Lucius,' Severus said. 'I'll try to bring Harry somewhere safe.'

'You don't have to!' Harry protested. 'I'll just make myself invisible again until I disappear for good. I will not bother you any longer now, don't worry, Severus!'

Harry glared at the Potions master, but his bottom lip was quivering suspiciously. Severus's expression softened.

'Harry,' he addressed his young mate more gently this time. He put both his hands on the young man's shoulders and then pulled him into a hug. 'Stop sulking already, love! Don't you understand what a mighty scare you have given us? Can't you see that I'm worried sick about you?'

'Of course I see that,' Harry admitted, his voice muffled by the fabric of the older men's black robes he had buried his face in. 'I just hate when you two are angry with me, is all.'

Another horn sounded. There wouldn't be a third time.

'I hate to interrupt you two lovebirds, but we really need to go back now, Severus! You know that the Dark Lord doesn't take waiting all that well.'

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. So unreal, so unthinkable, so irresistible, so wonderful … he just had to ask.

'Potter … can't you just … I mean … wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to fulfill that darned prophecy?'

Still leaning against Severus, Harry turned his head to look at him. And kill the Dark Lord now?' he asked with a smile. Lucius could only nod.

'Not yet, Lucius,' Harry said softly. 'Sorry.'

Then he pulled himself from his soulmate's embrace. 'But you two really need to go back now before I will get you into trouble!'

'Harry, I won't allow you to stay here, not even invisible!' Severus insisted and Harry quickly shook his head. 'I won't, I promise. I have another idea.'

He reached out a hand towards Lucius.

'Will you give me your ring?' he asked and for a moment Lucius could only stare dumbfoundedly. Then, he raised his own left hand and looked at the silver snake that curled around his middle finger there.

How did Harry know about this ring?

'You've given it to me before, you know?' Harry said as if he had read his thoughts. A mischievous smile was playing around the boy's lips.

Those words were enough to throw Lucius's head back into a spin, but luckily he possessed enough sense of mind to take off the ring beforehand.

'Portus,' he said hoarsely, tapping the ring with his wand.

Then, he held out the ring for Harry to take. Harry pressed a quick kiss on Severus's cheek. 'I'll see you,' he said and then, taking the ring from Lucius: 'Thanks daddy!'

One last wink, a chuckle … and Harry was gone.

'Where did you send him? Where did he go?' Severus asked as they quickly walked back towards the fire around which most Death Eaters were already seated again, obediently facing their Master.

'He's safe now, Severus.' Lucius replied calmly. 'I've sent him home.'

Harry didn't remember walking back into the Burrow. He only realized that he had, when somebody ordered:

'Merlin, Potter, will you please wipe that stupid grin off your face?'

Draco sat on the staircase and rolled his eyes heavily. Harry laughed. He sat down next to his friend, but didn't say anything until the other boy nudged him.

'So, Four-eyes, I take it you've snogged our Potions master?'

Harry didn't have time to reply, because Draco's question was immediately followed by a swat over the head.

'I told you to wipe off that grin, Potter!'

'Jealous, Malfoy?' Harry quipped.

'Me?!' Draco drew himself up to full height. 'Why should I be jealous? The Golden Virgin's first kiss,' - he paused briefly to dodge Harry's fist - 'is mine forever, but still his soulmate did not (I repeat, did not) rip me apart. I have no reason to be jealous, I rule.'

Now it was Harry who rolled his eyes.

'Have you always known that he was my soulmate?' he asked. 'That night when I stayed at your place and you asked me about Professor Snape, did you already know about us?'

Draco shook his head.

'No, I didn't. I was pretty certain about the whole soulmate bond thing, but I didn't know anything for sure. But when I asked Sev about it the next day, he admitted that it was true.'

'And you never said anything?' Harry whined. 'That's not fair!'

'Complain to your mate, will you? I wasn't allowed to tell you! He wanted you to figure it all out on your own,' answered Draco with a lazy wave of his hand.

'Took you long enough,' he added as an afterthought.

Harry smiled distractedly, his thoughts clearly somewhere else again. Draco sighed.

'Is this what it will be like from now on?' he lamented. 'Will you have this disgustingly dreamy look on your face for the rest of your life? Will you paint pink, little hearts in all your notebooks saying "H + S forever"? And during Potions, will you gaze at Severus with starry eyes and sigh wistfully every two minutes? Will you-'

'Shut up!' Harry laughed. 'I'm not that bad!'

'Not yet,' Draco replied prognosticatively. 'But I'm sure you will be soon enough. People in love are so annoying!'

'I'm beginning to think you are jealous,' Harry joked, patting his friend's shoulder sympathetically. 'Sad that I'm not in love with you, Malfoy?'

'Devastated,' the Slytherin retorted dryly. Then, grinning impishly, he asked: 'Who's the better kisser then, me or our old Potions master?'

Harry blushed so spectacularly that Draco gleefully decided to press the matter.

'I mean, it's obvious you're not exactly heartbroken over not getting that famous first kiss from your own soulmate!' he teased.

'Draco, be quiet!' Harry moaned, blushing even more. 'I … you …I mean …,' he stuttered and Draco snickered.

'Yes? You were saying, Potter?'

'You're a really good kisser,' Harry mumbled, looking absolutely mortified at his own confession. 'I don't mind having kissed you before him. In a way I'm glad I did, because then I kind of knew what to expect when I kissed Prof- Severus.'

The words came tumbling out in a rush until Harry finally stumbled over the word 'Professor' and he corrected himself with some obvious effort; the name of his own soulmate still somewhat of an alien weight on his tongue. But soon he smiled and his eyes glazed over once more as he remembered the kiss he had just shared with Severus. Only this time he continued to speak before Draco could do him any bodily harm.

'Still, his kiss was completely different,' he said, suddenly sounding as awestruck as he looked. 'I'm not necessarily saying it was better than your kiss,' he added quickly. 'But it was just … different. Like … I was nervous to do something wrong, yes, but at the same time it felt like we have kissed each other a million times before. And …,' he paused, trying to form his experience into words, 'Before, I had so many questions about the whole soulmate thing. I've always hoped that my mate was Severus, but when Sirius told me that my mate hated me, I was terrified. I was terrified that Snape could still hate me and that he didn't want me! But at the same time I knew that he didn't hate me and feared this could only mean that he wasn't my mate. And that thought terrified me even more. You know?' he asked, uncertainly.

Draco nodded.

'I had so many questions! But when he kissed me tonight … I didn't have to ask anything at all, because I suddenly knew the answers. I could feel them in his kiss! Does that make sense?'

Again, Draco nodded.

'Well, as much sense as this whole soulmate talk can make to anyone who hasn't a soulmate himself, I suppose,' he said, ending his sentence with a mock sob before pushing out his bottom lip into a spectacular pout.

'And they say I'm the Drama Queen!' Harry grinned. Then, he threw his arms around the Slytherin's neck and pressed his face tightly against the other. 'Poor little dragon! But you don't need a soulmate, you're a Malfoy! The whole world loves you, doesn't it?! Besides, just because Severus and I are soulmates, doesn't mean we don't love you just as much as we love each other!' he promised, still clinging to his friend with all his might.

'Get off me, Potter!' Draco laughed as he tried to push Harry away. 'You're so gay!' He shook his head with mock disgust, but unfortunately his trademark sneer was completely ruined by the fact that he looked much too pleased.

Of course, Harry noticed this too and so he wasn't in a hurry to let go of his friend just yet. He merely loosened his grip but continued to hug the Slytherin all the same as he put his head on Draco's shoulder. Draco let him be, shaking his head with a smile.

'Dracooo?' Harry sweetly interrupted the silence some time later.

'What do you want?'

'When will I get my ultra-special-super-cool-better-than-anything-and-very-secret present?' Harry tweeted.

'Tsk! You found your soulmate today, Potter, and you're still not satisfied?! How do you know that this wasn't my present?'

'Well, I know you!' Harry reasoned.

Draco grinned. 'Well,' he said importantly. 'I'm awfully sorry, you clingy little something, but I won't be able to give you my present here. You will get it when you come back home.'

'Back home,' Harry echoed happily, his voice full of wonder. 'Snape Manor ismy home now, yes?'

Draco couldn't reply right away, grinning as broadly as he was.

Even though Harry's assumption was nothing but the truth, he hadn't been referring to Snape Manor. But of course Harry couldn't know that there was yet another family waiting to be his.

'Yes, Potter, I suppose being my godfather's soulmate implies that his home is your home, too.'

'Awesome!' Harry beamed, snuggling closer still.

Draco began to laugh.

'What's up with you, Potter? You never struck me as the cuddly type before!'

Not looking remotely embarrassed, Harry merely shrugged. 'I've never been cuddly before because I never had anyone to cuddle me,' he confirmed matter-of-factly. 'But now I do and now I want to snuggle.'

Surprised and amused, Draco wrapped his arms around the smaller boy with a heavy sigh. 'Honestly, Potter! If I had known that your sixteenth birthday would turn into a cheese-fest, I wouldn't have come,' he complained, smiling.

Harry grinned. 'Yes, you would have.'

'Hmpfh,' Draco agreed. 'But I will have to talk to Severus and tell him that I'm not his soulmate's guinea pig whenever he's not around.'

He quickly pressed a kiss on Harry's head.

'And now can we please go back inside before the Mudblood finds us and thinks I'm gay, too?' he smirked. He got up and pulled Harry with him.

'Up, Potter! We have some Weasleys to hex.'

To be continued …