Chapter Nine - Ice Cream - Summary: Love is better than ice cream, love is better than chocolate, but can anything be better than chocolate ice cream? Harry and Sev find out.

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Chapter Nine - Ice Cream
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Your love is better than ice cream

Better than anything else that I've tried

And your love is better than ice cream

Everyone here knows how to fight

And it's a long way down

It's a long way down

It's a long way down to the place

Where we started from

Your love is better than chocolate

Better than anything else that I've tried

Oh love is better than chocolate

Everyone here knows how to cry

It's a long way down

It's a long way down

It's a long way down to the place

Where we started from...

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(Sarah McLachlan - Ice Cream - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy CD)

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Severus took a long time to finish his bath and come out of the bathroom. Harry, in his dejection had decided to go to bed and so was pretending to be asleep when his Kin eventually climbed under the covers beside him. Severus turned over onto his side, facing away from Harry and curled up. Harry himself tried several positions and eventually managed to drift into a restless sleep.

When Harry woke only a few hours had passed but somehow he had managed to shuffle up to Severus and was laid spooned against his back with an arm over his Kin's waist and a hand on his stomach. Harry felt quite contented with his position till he remembered the day that had preceded it.

Harry considered removing his arm and turning over onto his other side but Severus' breath was steady and shallow, and besides, he was where he wanted to be. Harry leant forward a little and kissed the part of Severus that was closest to him, a nightshirt covered shoulder.

Severus didn't move, in a way Harry was pleased that he had found sleep, another part of Harry was angry that Severus was sleeping whilst he himself could not get proper rest. Harry wasn't used to cuddling up to linen and he slipped his hand underneath the nightshirt so that it lay on Severus' stomach properly.

Severus flinched a little at the touch and sighed. Harry immediately tensed; it appeared that Severus was awake after all.

"Don't squeeze," Severus warned.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

When Severus didn't answer Harry began to sense through his hand, sending a little warmth as he did so.

"Harry!" Severus said irritably.

"Oh, shut up, I have had enough of you being like this for one day," Harry snapped back. He had only been sensing for a few seconds but that little bit was enough to tell him what had been happening, "Why didn't you just take a potion?"

"Resistant," Severus replied simply.

Harry tried to concentrate and use his psychic healing through his hands, within seconds Harry could feel Severus begin to relax against him, he smiled to himself.

"Bloody ask me next time," Harry snapped at Severus anyway.

Harry tried running his hands through Severus' hair next, hoping that he could soothe his Kin to sleep.

"You shouldn't want to be with me, Hermione is right, they all are."

"Shut up," Harry replied.

"The real Harry would never have looked at me twice," Severus continued.

"The real Harry would be dead by now if he hadn't been saved by you and your swords, AND you've forgotten about the genuine regard requirement involved in the creation of the Kin Bond, I DID hate you, but as soon as I saw you in your sleep it just melted away and I saw you as you really are, I didn't hate you after that. So shut up, you won't feel like this in the morning."

"I know," Severus replied, allowing Harry to continue with what he was doing. "I always loved you though."

"You had a funny way of showing it," Harry teased Severus.

Severus sighed, "I was evil."

Harry didn't agree to that. He was feeling tired but restless and he suddenly had an idea, "I know what will sort you out," He announced to his Kin.

"Hmm?"

Harry responded by leaping out of bed, he began dressing. He was feeling tired but he knew that he wouldn't sleep, he also felt a bit uncomfortable, just a bit achy too. It was impossible to tell whether it was a side effect of using his healing on Severus or if it were his own body doing the same thing for the first time. In any case, he remembered something Hermione had once mentioned regarding the subject and he thought that it was at least worth a try.

"Come on, get some clothes on," Harry insisted.

Severus reluctantly pulled himself out of bed, he hadn't wanted to move since he had become more comfortable but he was intrigued to know what Harry had in mind. As far as Severus knew there had never been anything of any kind that had ever helped.

When Severus had finished dressing he went through to the living room and found Harry rummaging through his rucksack.

"Here it is!" Harry called with glee as soon as he laid his hands on his invisibility cloak.

"Where are we going?" Severus asked, "Do I need a cloak for warmth too?"

Harry beamed a large smile, just happy to have his Kin back with him again, "No, but I'm not telling you where we're going, it is a surprise."

Severus rolled his eyes in mock exasperation but he joined Harry all the same. As soon as they were outside their quarters Harry wrapped the invisibility cloak around them both.

"This is getting to be a bit of a squeeze," Harry commented regarding his now adult size and the inclusion of Severus underneath the cloak, "All three of us used to be able to fit under here, we'll have to crouch down a bit."

"I am fairly well acquainted with your past exploits," Severus commented.

"Oh no you're not," Harry teased Severus, "You have no idea how many times we got past you."

"Rubbish! I could always tell when you lot were up to something, invisibility cloak or not."

"No you could not, and a trick to success is not to argue too much when wearing it, otherwise you give yourself away." Harry added.

Severus grunted, but not in a bad way, and they made their way through the corridors.

They met no one along the way and eventually ended up standing outside the door to the kitchens.

"Can I ask you something Harry?" Severus spoke as Harry was folding the cloak up.

"Hmm?"

"Who were we hiding from exactly?"

"Well Sn…, oh, hmm," Harry replied, "I don't know, just pretend."

"So what are we doing here?"

Harry entered the kitchens first, "Wait and see."

Severus followed Harry to a table and then he sat down as Harry went to find Dobby. Dobby wasn't asleep and Harry whispered instructions to him, as the house elf ran off to get what Harry needed, Harry returned to Severus and sat down at the table too.

"I am presuming that this has something to do with food," Severus said as Harry sat down.

Harry took the hand that lay on the table in his own and squeezed, "Hmm, something special," Harry answered.

Dobby quickly returned with two bowls heaped full.

"Is that what I think it is?" Severus asked as Dobby approached.

"Two huge bowls of chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce, cherry sauce and cherries on top," Harry answered.

"Do you want me to get fat?" Severus grizzled.

"Yes," Harry replied picking up a spoon as soon as Dobby had left them alone, "Do I have to feed you?"

Severus almost smiled, "Tempting, but no, I'll manage," he said picking up his spoon and scooping up a large quantity of ice cream to demonstrate.

Harry savoured his first mouthful, "Can anything be better than this?"

"You are," Severus replied quite seriously before taking another spoonful, "But it's close."

Harry wrinkled his nose at Severus' uncharacteristic sappiness but he was enjoying it a whole lot more than the alternative. He then suddenly noticed something about Severus.

"Oh Sev," Harry began, edging closer to his Kin, "You haven't been getting it all in, there's a dribble."

"Where?" Severus grumbled, frowning as he was not used to being that sloppy or having it pointed out.

Harry smiled and ducked down to Severus, licking a small quantity of melted ice cream from the side of Severus' mouth before he knew what was happening.

Apparently deciding to give in to the moment Severus returned the gesture with a kiss and then took up more ice cream.

"This is disgusting," Severus commented.

"Nice though?" Harry asked.

"Hmm," Severus mumbled before taking Harry into another cold chocolaty kiss.

They were likely to end up with more than a few spilt dribbles but neither of them cared.

"Where's Dobby?" Severus asked eventually.

Harry grinned, "Now you wonder where Dobby is, he's not watching if that's what you mean," He replied.

"Oh?"

"I think I heard him answering a call," Harry added.

"None of the other house elves are awake are they?" Severus asked.

"No, why?"

Severus shrugged his shoulders, "Tango?"

Harry smiled, "It's been a few days and this is a large kitchen."

Severus stood up and held out a hand to Harry, "Shall we?"

Harry joined Severus, Severus took Harry's right hand in his left, and Harry placed his other hand on Severus' right shoulder. They stood almost touching, Harry slightly facing their entwined hands, feeling each other breath at first. Then just a walk, Severus took Harry gently backwards for a few steps, rocking to the side, then forwards. Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on the feel of it, Severus leading, a slight tilt of the shoulders showing Harry that he needed to turn, to place his left foot behind his right. Severus turned his body against Harry's, first one way then the other, Harry responding with backward ochos, Severus gradually step by step, raising the complexity of the moves. Severus took Harry into a sweeping turn, which finished with a step towards Severus, knee bent, arm raised and his back forming a pleasing arc.

"That's one move you won't be doing once you're expecting," Severus commented as he took Harry into an elaborate giro, "And that's another."

Soon Harry ended up in Severus' arms, just being held close, he was so glad that he had dragged Severus down to the kitchens.

Ron pulled himself up on his pillows, he couldn't sleep anymore and he needed a drink. He could tell in the pale moonlight that Hermione had gone off wandering again so he reached over to the bedside cabinet and picked up the small bell, which sat there. It was a summoning bell for calling a house elf and since going to the fire took some effort; Ron had been using it a lot.

Just a couple of rings and Dobby was standing by Ron's bedside ready to hear what he wanted, Dobby usually assisted those who had helped him in his first years at Hogwart's.

"What can I get you sir?" Dobby asked.

"Just a glass of water," Ron replied.

Within seconds Ron had the water in his hand and he knew that Dobby would soon disappear, he had an idea though, and it involved asking the little elf one or two questions.

"Dobby?" Ron called after the house elf.

"Yes sir?"

"Have you been serving food to our two new Headmasters?" Ron asked.

"Oh yes sir, Harry Snape calls for me for everything," Dobby said proudly.

Ron tried not to grimace at the ease with which Dobby used Harry's new surname, "Do you think he is happy?" Ron continued.

"Oh yes sir," Dobby responded with enthusiasm.

"Good, that's good," Ron responded, at least feeling as if Harry wasn't suffering in his new situation.

"Especially when Headmaster Snape kisses him sir," Dobby added just before he disappeared.

"Dobby! What did you just say?" Ron asked, hardly believing what he thought he had just heard Dobby say, but the little house elf didn't hear because he had already gone back to the kitchens.

Close up against Severus' chest Harry could feel that he was much more relaxed and more like the normal self that Harry had come to know. As he stood with Severus' arms wrapped round him, feeling his warmth, Harry reached up underneath Severus' robes and made sure that he was likely to remain in a good mood.

"Come on, we had better get to bed, we still need to sleep a while," Severus suggested eventually.

Harry agreed, although he wanted to carry on dancing, he could also see the advantages of lying down next to Severus in their nice big bed.

Harry wrapped the invisibility cloak around them both and they began to head for the main staircase so that they could descend to the dungeons. Severus didn't protest again about how silly it was, he seemed to want to play along with Harry's game.

"Who are we hiding from again?" Severus asked, teasing Harry as they quietly stepped their way down one of the longer and wider corridors near the library.

"Shh!" Harry responded.

They rounded a corner and nearly ran straight into Hermione, she was only a few yards away. Fortunately she had her back turned to them as Harry came to an abrupt halt and as a result of the sudden stop his foot was on the edge of the invisibility cloak as Severus continued to step forward. The cloak fell away and Severus almost tripped, making Harry make an audible squeak. They were beside a statue and Severus only just managed to dart behind it as Hermione turned round, alerted by the noise they had been making.

"Harry!" Hermione called over as she saw Harry standing by the statue with the cloak in his arms, looking very much as if he had been caught out. "What on earth are you doing?"

Harry decided to play it as if it was the most normal thing in the world, "Nice night for a walk, isn't it?"

"It's three in the morning, what are you doing out of bed?" Hermione asked with suspicion.

Harry tried to calm himself, "What are YOU doing out of bed?" He responded.

"I have been doing some research in the library," Hermione responded, challenging Harry to come up with a better excuse.

"Well I've been down to the kitchens for a midnight snack," Harry countered, as if it were indeed much more impressive.

"What IS that on your face?" Hermione asked as she came closer.

"Hmm?"

"It looks like chocolate,"

"Oh," Harry said grinning to himself and wiping his face with his sleeve, "Gets everywhere doesn't it?"

"Not normally Harry, no," Hermione answered making him feel about twelve years old again.

"Well I rushed, haven't had any for a while," Harry defended.

"It seems strange that I should find the Headmaster wandering around the corridors hiding underneath an invisibility cloak, why didn't you just order something through the fire?"

"Just reliving old school habits before I have to take up my job."

"Hmm," Hermione said looking dangerously thoughtful, "It's HIM isn't it? Making you sneak down to the kitchen for food? When you stopped coming to meals we assumed he would be feeding you, but I suppose he mustn't have been."

"What! No! He has NOT been starving me," Harry insisted fearing that Hermione might be yet again about to go off on one of her rants. The most worrying thing to Harry was that Hermione would think that Severus couldn't hear her and he was still hiding behind the statue, not that she really held back much when she knew that he was there.

"You look a bit thin to me," Hermione persisted.

"I have been on the road for nearly a year, walking at least ten miles a day in all weathers, suffering visions every night, of course I look a bit thin,"

"Hmm," Hermione reluctantly accepted.

"If Severus wanted to do me any harm," Harry said in what he hope would be acknowledged as a warning tone, "He would have done it while we were alone together with nobody to stand in the way,"

"Fine," Hermione snapped, "Excuse me for being worried about you, for being concerned that you turned up here out of the blue, hanging on Snape's every word and acting weird. Think Harry, what would you have thought, if you had stayed and one of us had disappeared? What would you have thought if one of us had suddenly turned up dressed like THAT? Look at it from our point of view."

"Look at it like this, if you don't leave us alone we will leave, you haven't been listening, we are one," Harry snapped back, "You can't separate us, I won't let you."

"Well, that's exactly the sort of thing I'm trying to talk to you about, it just isn't you Harry. You didn't see what he did today, he hasn't changed, he threw things at me and I am pregnant Harry, you have to stop this."

"You don't know what you're dealing with, what Severus is to me," Harry warned then turned to go before things got out of hand.

"Just wait till Professor McGonagall gets back," Hermione repeated to Harry's retreating back.

"I killed several hundred Death Eaters and a Dark Lord, Hermione, I am more powerful than you can comprehend, do not threaten me with aging old school professors," Harry replied as lightly as he could manage, before he turned the corner and passed out of sight.

Harry had been sat on the sofa by the fire in their quarters for half an hour before Severus joined him.

"Where did you get to?" Harry asked, looking up as soon as he heard his Kin enter.

"She sat down and started crying after you left, I had to wait till she had gone."

Harry looked regretful, "I can't talk to her, she's like a wall of granite."

"I know, I was there remember."

Harry smiled, "It would have been so funny if she had seen you, you had as much chocolate ice cream on your face as I did."

Severus flopped down onto the sofa, "Today I looked through just about every potions book I used to use regularly," Severus suddenly announced, "Not a single stain of Dragon's Blood on any of them."

"Albus must have spelled the page clean when he was finished," Harry commented.

"I was going to ask Hermione about it today but the opportunity never arose," Severus added.

"It's really worrying you?"

"I can't help feeling that Albus has done something really worth apologising for," Severus added.

Severus took Harry in his arms and held him close.

"I'm sorry for today," Severus whispered in Harry's ear.

Hermione swooped into the bedroom with such bustle that Ron would have been woken even if he had managed to get to sleep.

"Ron," Hermione called out, "Ron!"

"What?" Ron replied sleepily.

"You'll never guess what I have just seen," Hermione announced.

Ron froze, "Something to do with Harry?" He asked, dreading that she was going to say that he and Snape had been kissing.

"Of course it was something to do with Harry, I saw him in the corridor, hiding underneath that invisibility cloak of his, hiding from Snape. He's supposed to be the Headmaster and he's hiding just like we used to do when we were students."

"Why would Snape let him keep the cloak if he needed to use it to get away from him?" Ron asked.

"Stop being awkward," Hermione snapped, "That's not all, he had chocolate ice cream all over his face."

"I'll owl The Prophet right now," Ron replied sarcastically before turning onto his side, intending to at least look like he was going to sleep.

Hermione glowered at Ron, "I swear, one of these days Ronald Weasley I'll …"

"You'll do what? Curse me and kill all my family?" Ron snapped back.

"There's no need to bring that up, like any of it was my fault, we both know who had a hand in that arrangment," Hermione responded, feeling like she might cry again.

"You weren't there though were you? Not the night the castle was attacked. You should have been there but you weren't."

"Ron I …"

"Just shut up and come to bed."

Ron closed his eyes and Hermione eventually joined him in the bed. Ron tried to sleep but every time he tried to think of something nice, he kept seeing Harry kissing Snape after eating ice cream, watching it smear over each of their faces as they moved together.

"This is all I need!" Ron muttered to himself.

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TBC very soon

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