My apologies for the lengthy time in between updates. To make a complicated story short, on Valentine's day, I went off a 15-foot-cliff on an ATV and have at least two compression fractures in my spine. So, I technically broke my back. And it sucks.

Tender Hooks
By: Bucket/Replacement for the Stars/filthyfreedom

Chapter Thirty-Nine:
Down

Cause love remembers
The smell of a summer day
Lying in a hammock over fresh cut grass
And the promise of forever
'Love Remembers', Craig Morgan

(O.o)
Year: 1970
Date: October the Twenty-Second

Nessie had been acting odd the past few weeks, Severus had noticed, and while they had never done the thing with his thing and Nessie's hand—Severus only had kind of wanted to, but it had been immediately eradicated by the memory of Nessie accusing him of wanting him like his Uncle had wanted him—Nessie had been acting summarily strange. Whenever Lily was around, Severus had seen, Nessie always distracted him by kissing him or floating up in the air and telling Severus he couldn't go any higher or showing him the butterfly, which was thankfully still fluttering around Nessie's head, or Nessie would run up to Severus and tell him he loved him over and over again. Severus was far from stupid, and he had known almost immediately that Nessie was up to something, but Severus was also relatively patient and had waited for Nessie to explain himself.

However, it had been three weeks and Severus was slowly becoming irritated with how he wasn't allowed to be around Lily. While he would much rather spend time with Nessie over Lily any day, Nessie's obvious manipulating of the situation was beginning to greatly irritate Severus; Nessie was not the one that should be controlling Severus—Severus had to be controlling Nessie for their relationship to work, and Severus knew that. Oh, Severus was well aware that although he could not have Nessie exactly how he wanted him, not quite yet, he would have Nessie kneeling at his feet, head resting on Severus's knees, sooner than he knew he thought possible.

Nessie belonged to Severus, and it was high time the younger boy realized it.

(O.o)
Later

Nessie had noticed about a week back that Severus was watching him, and closely. At first, he hadn't been too worried; he had thought that he was being pretty subtle in his quest to keep Severus away from Lily, as well as keeping his secrets to himself. But another doubt had crept up: if he kept Severus away from Lily, wouldn't that make Severus want to be around Lily more? Nessie felt so confused; some part of him wanted for Severus to just do that mind-thing between them, where he could feel Severus in his mind, looking through his memories, and just find him out, so Nessie wouldn't have to think about it anymore. It wasn't that he was dumb, or anything, it was just that Nessie wasn't very good at plans. He just kind of liked doing things on the fly; it went better with who he was. Severus was the planner, the schemer, the one who could take an idea and warp it into something fascinating, something unreal. Nessie couldn't do that. It wasn't any fault of his doing, Nessie knew; it was just the way their minds were set up and how they had been raised. Well, it wasn't as if Nessie's relatives had really raised him—abused and broke him was more like it—but he had come out of that hell-hole and made the best of it that he could. He had never lied to Severus, and every time he had hurt the other boy, it had been unintentional, which was just about as good as someone could get.

Nessie sat in the air between Severus and Lily as Lily swung ever higher on the swing, and he created flowers between his fingers, dropping them in concentric circles around his Severus and the thick book resting in front of his Severus's crossed legs. He didn't know if Lily could see the flowers, but he knew Severus could, as Sevvie often picked a flower up and examined it, or moved it from where it had floated down to land on the page he was reading. He was bored, really, with his entire plan, but knew it had to keep on going, keep on keepin' on, otherwise he would never have Severus all to himself, and that stupid Lily would steal Severus away from him and Nessie would be lost in a world where he was no longer needed.

Severus was not reading, nor was he watching Lily or even Nessie. Instead, he sat in the deepest reaches of his mind, formulating a plan to have Nessie admit that he was keeping him away from Lily without any major repercussions. So far, he had decided on two plans: one, to skillfully manipulate Nessie into outright admitting that he was keeping Severus away from Lily, or two, to do that odd mind thing in which he could see Nessie's thoughts in memories. He wasn't quite sure of how he could get Nessie into admitting that he was manipulating Severus, other than simply asking, so Severus figured that he would take Nessie home and do the mind thing.

Even as Severus made to stand up, something tickled his heart; at first, he did not recognize it as pre-formulated regret for not just being bold enough to ask, but when he realized it, Severus slowly closed his book and looked up to see Nessie, his beautiful, delicate jaw clenched so tightly half his face was white, and his brilliant eyes glaring fire at Lily, who, Severus saw, was smiling at him.

They had the same eyes, his Nessie and Lily.

Severus's mind hurt; was the reason that he liked Nessie so much because he and Lily had the same eyes? They weren't the same, not exactly—Nessie's eyes were sadder, and seared with mental scars, while Lily's were not-quite-innocent but brighter—but they were the same color and shape and shade. It was eerie; Severus didn't like it. It made his stomach jump into awkward places and his heart drop out through his pelvis, and his lungs get all squeezed up inside his chest.

He didn't like it at all.

(O.o)
Later

Severus sat on his tiny bed, Nessie curled up in a ball at his feet, his small head resting gently on Severus's knee. Severus's long fingers begged to run through Nessie's bright black hair, but he would not let them; he needed to know why Nessie was manipulating him into not being around Lily. So, instead, he poked Nessie awake from his light slumber and looked sternly down into the sleep-muddied green eyes, those same damning eyes that made his heart leap forward and stop all in the same moment, the eyes that haunted his dreams and every waking memory.

"Why don't you like Lily?" Severus asked quickly, before Nessie was completely awake, and his boy's eyes went wide with fright, the thin red lips scrunched together in a painful line.

At first, Severus didn't think Nessie would respond, but after he slowly raised an eyebrow, Nessie swallowed audibly and sat up, leaning forward until his forehead was pressed into Severus's shoulder. Severus comfortably settled his long arms around Nessie's thin waist, and pulled his boy into his lap, crossing his legs Indian-style so that Nessie's small bum was nestled directly up against his groin. He sighed pleasantly and waited for Nessie's response, which was quick in coming, "She's stup'd 'nd she…she…" Nessie leaned back and the look on his face was utterly murderous. "She's try'ng t' t'ke y'u aw'y fr'm me! Y'u're m'ne!"

Severus leaned his head forward and the grey paper butterfly adjusted to flutter around both of their heads as Severus pressed his forehead to Nessie's, their lips brushing against one another's as Severus quietly responded, keeping the amusement and mild anger out of his voice; instead, he kept his voice dull. "Yours, Nessie? I agree; however, as much as I am yours, you are twice mine. But Lily will never take me away from you. Is that why you were keeping me away from her?"

Nessie froze, perfect eyes going wide, and his lower jaw dropped down so his mouth formed a perfect 'O'. Severus's own black eyes gleamed with triumph as he ducked his chin to allow his lips to graze along Nessie's, and their eyes met.

Severus dropped into Nessie's mind, and unfamiliar memories surrounded him, a thousand and one things he had never seen.

Nessie glared furiously at Tobias, and snarled out, "N'b'dy h'rts my Sevvie." He stuck his hands out and through Tobias's wrists, and the man screamed; Severus remembered his own recollection of that moment, him and Lily and his mum all looking worriedly at one another, and Severus's own first thought had been concern for Nessie, and then they had all run outside, but only Severus had been witness to seeing Nessie's hands stuck through Tobias's wrists, and only he had been honored enough to receive a kiss, the perfect reward.

Nessie's mind flooded and Severus could barely keep up: a sworn promise to keep Severus away from Lily, a mild blush of fear that if he kept Severus away from Lily, then wouldn't Severus want to be around Lily more, a secret thought that Severus could never know that Nessie wanted a dog, because even if he did have a dog, if he didn't have Severus, then Nessie knew he literally had no reason to live, and Nessie also knew that if Severus ever left him, or if he left Severus because Severus did something to him, then Nessie knew he would just disappear until he was nothing but a speck of white on the whiteboard of life.

Severus realized that he was everything to Nessie; that if he ever left Nessie, it would literally destroy the boy. And, simultaneously, Severus also realized that if Nessie ever left him, he would also be destroyed; for they were one in two—a single soul separated into two bodies, and it was only together that they were complete. They were everything to one another; if one left, the other would soon follow. Severus knew that if he was ever left alone, without his precious, only Nessie, he wouldn't be able to survive, and he would never be able to breathe on his own again, because it was only Nessie that kept him alive.

There was a shift in perception, and it all changed; instead of memories, it was just flashes of thoughts—Nessie forlorn in the back of his mind, wondering how Severus could ever want Nessie, and the complete and total submission that Nessie so desperately needed to give to him, and Nessie's own ideal image of himself, on his knees in front of Severus, head in Severus's lap, and the same horror that came along with that thought, and the memories of his Uncle's abuse, and how his only desire, his only need, was to have Severus never, ever hurt him like his Uncle had hurt him.

Severus was spat out of Nessie's mind, and he took a deep breath of Nessie's own breath, and as he recollected himself, he separated his own memories and held Nessie's in a precious vase, high above his own pit of memories, and Severus looked up at Nessie's thoughts, captured in the most precious vase in the world, and Severus made sure to keep all he had of Nessie safe, so that he could never lose any part of the most precious thing he had. Severus opened his eyes and met Nessie's bright green gaze, and he allowed his thin lips to curl up into a tiny smile, one of his ones that he reserved for only Nessie.

Nessie looked rather relieved, although Severus didn't quite understand why, and he tilted his chin slightly forward so that his lips were pressed firmly against Severus's, and Nessie smiled.

Did y'all know that nearly 4000 people have read the first chapter and not continued to the second chapter? That's nuts.
Anyway, I realized today that I watch way too much CSI: Miami, especially when I can quote Horatio Caine. This story was supposed to be this really light-hearted, happy story about the slight way Severus Snape's life changed from having a constant friend that could not betray him, and that friend would someday turn into Severus's little lover. I swear. That's exactly what this story was intended to be. Bloody hell. However, I like it better this say, and so should you. Because if you don't…well, you're probably going to stop reading. Well, if you do, remember this: "Man, that guy could get Hitler off of probation." Remember that, and think of how irrelevant it is to the story. Think of that, and remember CSI Wolfe, and his wise words. And Hitler. Remember Hitler. Damnit, Hitler sucked. Didn't he? If you don't think Hitler sucked, then you suck. Like Hitler.
Not reading Tender Hooks makes you suck like Hitler.
That is so going on my profile page.

Ch38 Review Responses:
-Zandris-: Best of the best? Hot damn, dude. I hope this chapter lives up to those last two. It damn well better. Yeah, they were a bit young, but I think that's alright. I even tried to rewrite it in which they didn't 'do the dirty-ish', but it didn't work. Severus is a pervy little bugger, after all. That's damn well, right, go me! Thank you for the review!
BellaPur: He damn well took it! Damn Tobias! Always being such an asshole…bastard. Thank you!
Jisa: Thank you!!
melissa Ivory: I'm planning on something wondrous, and if it doesn't work out that way, I'll be kind of pissed off. But I already know how the story is going to end, so it's all good. Thank you!
Gondegoogoo: *grins* Thank you!
bluefynx: Thank you, and here's that next chapter.
-Replacement