Hiding Under the Ninth Earth
Book 02 : A Bit Of All Right
by I Got Tired of Waiting

Edited for FF.net--just a little--52 sexy words were sacrificed on the altar of the rating gods.

I apologise if this "feels" choppy, but coitus writus interruptus is never a pretty thing. Remember, if you are of age, the full version is available at my site.

Part V : Together
Chapter Fifty : The Orrery

16 August 2003 Continued

At the top of the stairs and down a short landing, Harry and Severus stopped, dumbfounded, as they stepped into the heavens. They heard Dumbledore chuckle at their awe and discomfort--they were truly suspended in The Orrery. Severus thought at first it was a trick, but when he found he could point his toes and not touch anything in the huge space that extended as far as the eye could see, he realised they were literally floating in it. The bodies of the solar system moved cleanly in their stately celestial dance in a void of purest black, the sun glaring in the middle. Surrounding it, the stars shown bright, some seeming so close Severus thought he could touch them, but a raising of his hand proved they were far out of his reach.

Dumbledore's solemn but merry voice cut through the silence. "Welcome to the heart and center of Hogwarts, The Orrery. You wanted to know how I always know what's going on? Well, here's part of it--a feast of possibilities. Someday, probably sooner than you think, I will show you how it works; it's most unfortunate we've no time for more than the basics tonight. First, though, we need to rearrange things a bit."

Raising his wand, he cast a spell in what Severus recognised as Ch'olti', an ancient Mayan tongue used among astronomers. In it were words of command and he caught "the new moon" as well as their birthplaces and dates. His Ch'olti' (not that he'd ever known all that much of the tongue) was so rusty, he didn't understand much more than that. A series of silver lines followed by gold ones quickly appeared as the planets and sun rearranged themselves in a new pattern of orbits. Severus realised they were seeing birth charts in three dimensions, but also noticed the overall planet alignment was off, at least for his.

"An amalgam," Harry breathed next to him, his eyes travelling over the arrangement, his hand clasping Severus' tightly as if he were afraid of falling. "The planets' alignment is a joining of our birth charts--we're seeing a celestial representation of our bond."

"Very good, Harry. Never thought your lessons with Firenze would come in handy, did you?" Dumbledore asked with his usual devilment. "The gold and silver lines are the paths of your combined birth charts showing significant events in each, as influenced by the planet's alignments. In keeping with the handfasting, your lines are the silver, Severus, and Harry's are the gold. Where they cross are--milestones--if you will, dates and events of import to you both. Now let's see how the moon's phase influences this new alignment."

A flick of his wand caused four bright blue lines to shoot from Earth's moon, which had darkened, to four separate significant intersections of the other lines. Snape didn't know how he did it, but Dumbledore 'walked' over to one of them and tapped it with his wand. A chord of pure sound came forth. He listened closely, a frown on his face that quickly became a small smile.

"A Mercury Ordinatus," Severus said without thinking, recognising the notes, but not the significance.

Harry blinked. "I didn't know you knew music," he remarked.

"I don't," he replied ruefully. "There are 12 sets of magical sequences we use in some of the older, darker potions. I learned them all in my misspent youth. Judging from the planets involved, I would say the other three lines are, perhaps, a Mars, a Saturn, and a Neptune Ordinatus?"

"Close, very close, Severus. There are 24 Ordinata used; twelve are of the planets, the other twelve are for the wizards who defined them," Dumbledore enthused. "The one you thought was a Neptune Ordinatus is actually a Newtonian. If you look closely, the error is perfectly understandable."

Severus considered this and realised it was because the line did not go from the Earth to Neptune but rather ran from Venus. "Ah, I think I understand. If the line goes from Earth it is of the Solar System and if between two other planets, it is one of the other 12."

"That is correct, and before you ask, yes, the other 12 Ordinata are used more than once, which is why they are considered 'Minor'."

Harry had been following the conversation closely and squinting at the display, he said, "I remember Firenze saying something about this. If I recall correctly, we would be looking for a Major juncture, not a Minor, and we would be following them in the order of importance with the Mercury Ordinatus being the strongest, the Newtonian the weakest. Right?" He looked unsure.

"Precisely, which is why I went to it first. Now let's see what the other three tell me." He went to the second line, the Saturn Ordinatus and tapped it with his wand. The planets shifted in their orbits to form a new pattern. When the clear bell-like notes started to fade, he straightened and stared at Harry hard, with a little blush on his cheek. He chuckled as he moved onto the next line. "Well, that certainly will liven things up a bit."

Severus looked over at Harry, who looked as confused as he felt, and for a moment, he was tempted to ask Dumbledore what it meant, but would not give him the satisfaction.

He tapped his wand on the Mars Ordinatus and the planets moved to different locations. Other than the notes of the Ordinatus, the silence of their movements was eerie and Severus felt a shiver run up his spine as they stopped with a small click. Dumbledore studied the new alignment and the line thoughtfully and then 'strolled' over to Saturn and Mercury again and looked at them with a frown mumbling, "Now that IS interesting." He waved his wand and the planets went back to their original position. He tapped the Newtonian Ordinatus and waited for the planets' movements. Studying them closely, he nodded and said, "Much better."

"What this tells me is that there are two dates of equal weight available for your nuptials based on your combined births and the moon's proper position. A new moon, like the one tonight, is always preferable for personal joinings and bondings as it symbolizes new beginnings and carries powerful magic."

He turned to them. "According to the two sets of dates, the second one is more desirable as it has better portents attached to it, although I am a bit surprised a Minor Ordinatus carried the best choice." Waving his hand to indicate the current position of the planets and stars, he continued, "This particular alignment will take place on October 25th of this year, a little over two months from now. The other date when they will come close again, but not perfectly, is in December 2005, a date too far away."

"October 25th? Sounds like a fine date to me," Harry stated, looking at Severus for confirmation.

"I concur, although it doesn't give us much time to prepare," Severus replied.

Harry's head was tilted back in puzzlement. "Not enough time? How long can it take to plan a wedding? It's not all that complicated."

Both men indulgently laughed at his innocence. "I suppose if it were left up to us men, it might be plenty of time, but unfortunately when women get involved, forever would not be time enough," Dumbledore chortled.

"Women? How did women get involved in a man's wedding?" Harry was mystified.

Albus replied with sympathy, "Surely you don't think Poppy and your other female friends, like Hermione and Minerva, are going to just stand aside and keep quiet about something they feel men have no business interfering with in the first place? As far as they're concerned, your job is to shell out the Knuts, not to get too drunk the night before, and show up, eh, Severus?"

Severus held up his hands in mock defence. "Don't get me involved in this. I've made it a point to stay away from women all my life."

Harry grinned. "Lucky me."

His curiosity almost unbearable, Severus had to ask, "Why did you choose the ones you did? Why not the other two and what exactly is going to make our lives 'a bit more interesting'?

Albus gave him a reproving glance over his spectacles. "Now, Severus, you know better than to ask about the future. It's too vague to be of any real use in the present." Severus snorted his scepticism. "As to why I chose those two in particular?" He shrugged. "I can only say it was by experience, and I've been known to be wrong--not often, but enough to keep me humble. Other than that, they just 'felt' like the right ones, and the other two, if I read them correctly, are far away enough in your future they may change at any moment into something, somewhere, somewhen different than they are right now. Besides, what's life without a little surprise?"

"A bloody nuisance, it is," Severus muttered. At Harry's laugh, Severus groused to Albus, "Just once, old man, I would appreciate a straight answer."

Albus looked offended at the suggestion he was being obtuse, but his wicked eyes belied his apparent irritation. "I am never crooked," he huffed, "bent, perhaps, but mostly straight."

There were so many things wrong with that statement, Severus chose to follow Harry's example and just laugh.

While they'd really been in the Orrery for quite some time, when the three of them came laughing through the door, only the promised few minutes had elapsed to the others waiting for them.

Curious, Poppy asked, "What is so amusing?"

Severus and Dumbledore glanced at each other and burst out laughing while Harry looked sheepish. She raised a brow. "Well?"

Snape gave in first. "Oh, nothing really. Harry wanted to know why two months was a tight schedule for something as 'simple' as a wedding."

Poppy's mouth flew open. "Two months? Are you nutters? It'll take that long to assemble the guest list, let alone order the--"

Albus interrupted her. "Nonetheless, two months and eight days is all that's available until October 25th unless we wait for over 2 years. If I know you, you'll manage."

"Oh dear. You're serious aren't you? I must Owl Hermione tonight. We'll have to start tomorrow. I wonder if Minerva would help, she's always--" She stopped and stared at Harry, whose hand was over his mouth trying to hide his mirth, as he sat heavily in the nearest chair. "Are you all right, dear?" she asked sweetly in the voice Albus wisely ran from whenever it was directed at him. However, wisdom was obviously not his strong point this evening when he decided to rescue the poor lad.

"Now Poppy, leave him be. Harry is just seeing the irony of it," he peered significantly at Harry over his glasses, "aren't you?"

Harry stared at Albus nonplussed, but managed to turn his laughter into an almost convincing cough. Nodding, he said, "Ah, yes. It's very ironic. What I thought--what they said--about the time--and you--" She pinned him with the look. "Right--I-I think I'll just shut up now." Looking anywhere but at Poppy, Albus shook his head and Severus, his brows raised, rolled his eyes.

"Champagne, anyone?" Moody asked carrying the tray of glasses filled with the bubbling liquid. They all took a glass, ignoring Poppy's muttered expletive, "Men!"

Harry, his face mock serious, stood from the chair to join the rest of the merry group, although his eyes were suspiciously bright. Severus, standing close to him, put a hand ostensibly on his back when he was really stroking the soft skin at Harry's neck under his hair with the tips of his fingers; it helped ease the fire burning in his blood. He'd been like this ever since they'd entered the Orrery and his willpower was running thin. He could feel Harry suppress the shiver of desire running through him at Severus' touch, his earlier levity quickly forgot. Severus could only assume it was worse for Harry as he had always quickened (and finished) faster and more than Severus ever did. He smiled indulgently at the vigour of youth.

Severus was grateful when Remus noticed their distraction and, raising his glass, proposed a toast for the newly joined couple, expressing his happiness and hopes that they would meet again on the appointed date. The clink of the glasses and the downing of the rich champagne heralded the ending of this evening as did the signing of the Banns. Albus explained to them, in great detail, how he intended to publish the Banns and, after recovering from the deviousness of the plan, they all agreed to keep the handfasting quiet among themselves until October, when the invitations would be issued.

Their subsequent good-byes were not protracted and soon all the guests were gone, leaving Albus and Poppy alone.

'I hold their hearts,' Dumbledore thought irreverently, staring at the pair of gold rings left in his safekeeping, twisting them in the light until they sparkled. 'I think I've held them from the beginning. Soon, I'll get to give them back forever.'

He looked over at his love who was watching him twirl the rings, her eyes the color of an autumn sky, a secret smile on her lips. 'And she holds mine.'

After placing the rings back in their case, he went to stand before her, gently wrapping his arms around her under her outer robes. He held her tight, their own bond very much alive, and was about to kiss her when she pulled back, saying with asperity, "Two months, eh?"

He chuckled and kissed her cheek instead. "And eight days. It really was precious to see the look on Harry's face when Severus and I tried to explain how this all works." He chased his lips down her neck.

She remembered their laughter through the sensations swirling through her. She swatted him on the arm. "Stop that, you old fool, you're distracting me."

"I thought that was the goal," he murmured, nibbling on her ear. "And, I'll remind you, I'm not all that old," he huffed, slipping his hand below her waist and squeezing firmly to prove his point.

Poppy sighed, resigned to his play, yet relishing the sparks his touch always gave her. She knew where this was going, not that she minded at all; she liked Albus when he was frisky but still had to make one last token effort, if only to give him the means to 'convince' her to do what her body was clamouring at her to do anyway. "Be that as it may, do you have any idea how much work it's going to be pull this together in that short amount of time?"

She gasped as he dropped his hands lower and abruptly arched her tight against him. It earned her one of his deliciously wicked grins. "I'll make it worth your while," he said, waggling his brows at her.

"Oh, you--"

She never did get to finish what she was going to say. Nor did she remember to send any Owl to Hermione until well into the next day.

Harry and Severus made their way back to their apartments with demure haste, but once clear of the hallway and the stairs to the dungeons, they broke into a run, Severus in the lead. His shout of the password ten yards away had the door open before they reached it and they burst through it, dead even. Severus slammed the door behind them, breathlessly laughing with the joy bubbling up into him from Harry; he grabbed him and swung him around, pinning him firmly between the shut door and his eager body.

Harry was stunned with the shared force of Severus' desire and was grateful something was holding him up for he was not sure he could stand up on his own as his intended stole his senses with his demanding mouth and questing tongue.

Hands everywhere--Harry met him kiss for kiss--Severus gave sensation for sensation. They frantically divested each other's clothing--buttons flew, sashes sailed, robes dropped--and skin met skin in a frenzy of touching, stroking, licking, nipping, biting--each craving something the other was bestowing.

They never made it to the bed the first time.

The dress robes lay forgotten in their heaps on the floor as they both enthusiastically discovered that, yes indeed, the mutual inner sharing of their feelings in this new joining translated quite smoothly into an ardent sharing of their bodies. It was sweet indeed.

Later that evening, after the initial rushes of fire burning through their veins from the handfasting had been slaked on the floor of the sitting room, they finally made it to their bed.

Harry, having decided Severus was in the 'right' mood, had pushed him back into its soft downy comforts and was making his whole body sing with his mouth and tongue while Severus obliged him with a little jig as his back and chest writhed with pleasure.

Severus roused enough from his body's admiration of Harry's style and finesse to realise Harry was mumbling something at him from far away. Raising his head from where he'd had it thrown back against the pillow in abandon, he sucked in a breath when he saw what the mouth was doing.

Steeling himself for the interruption, he asked him, "Could you--ahhhh--speak up? Oh gods--I--thought you said--ohhhh so nice--you read the--oh, yesss, right there--the blasted thing--"

Harry said blandly, "I did. Read it, that is."

"Then you missed two sections; the one on etiquette where it says to never talk with your mouth full and the other on Fellatio Interruptus: Confounding and Disturbing Your Partner." Severus groaned at the laughter he could feel in Harry's tongue as he tortured him. "Ahhh Haarrry--don't stop--"

Harry removed his mouth again. 'I'm going to have to kill you if you do that again,' Severus thought, his body on fire.

Harry lifted his head to look at his frustration, his whole face laughing. "What I said was, I noticed there was one missing in The Book," he said, the mischief clear in his eyes.

"If I ask you nicely to tell me what it is, will you not stop again?" Severus asked almost pleading.

"I do-n't kno-ow," Harry drawled each syllable slowly, shaking his head.

"Don't make me hurt you," Severus growled.

Harry laughed wickedly. "Oh very well. The one missing is the I-Just-Love-Sucking-Your-Cock-It-Makes-Me-So-Hot-Blow-Job." He winked and went back to it.

Severus, much to his delight, soon found out just how hot Harry was.

TBC