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

Part V : Together
Chapter Fifty One : Promising Prospects

21 August 2003

Harry and Severus were coming back from the Great Hall after dinner. Harry was lost in thought and mumbling to himself; Severus was trying to ignore him, knowing he was somehow going to get drawn into this internal debate no matter what he did.

Back in their rooms, Harry threw himself in a chair and exclaimed, "There are just too many positions to choose from!"

Severus chuckled. "What? Well, I admit there are a lot to choose from, but I'm rather partial to the Quid-Pro-Quid myself. At first I thought it was a bit distracting until you so ably showed me the benefits of reciprocity."

Harry stared at him, completely at a loss for the moment it took for him to figure it out. Severus smiled at the thoughts flitting across Harry's face as he reconciled the subtle joke with his previous thoughts. Finally getting it, he chuckled. "No, you ass. I meant the jobs. There are too many jobs to choose from!" he exclaimed, shaking his head. Then the other thoughts filtered through. "Quid Pro Quid? I thought that was the Quid-For-Pro." He flushed. "Oh! I remember--you are sooo bad, Severus." he said trying to hide his flushed face from view.

Ignoring (but not quite) the dawning blush he'd caused, Severus asked, "Why do you need to choose just one?" At Harry's stumped expression, he pointed out, "Why tie yourself down with one establishment and limit yourself to only those patients they choose to give you? If you were on your own, you would have the freedom to select the patients you help and how you help them."

"Don't I need to make a name for myself before I set up a practice?" Harry asked, the idea having never occurred to him before.

Severus pressed on, shaking his head at Harry's lack of confidence. "You have already established a respectable reputation with your graduate work; it is fairly unique. Given the secrecy you worked under before, one assumes you do not want your abilities generally noised about. True?"

"Well, yes. Quiesta thought it would cause more harm than cure, as it were, if it were known what I could do. Besides, we quickly discovered I was the only one who could do some of the things I did; she was loathe to diminish the uniqueness of her claim by letting others in on it." His mouth quirked to the side as he continued, "I admit, I thought she was more concerned about my failure than my success and how it would affect her reputation."

"I'm glad to see you had few illusions about her motives. Carlotta is brilliant in moving careers along, but she does tend to protect her station more than her charges. Actually, I was thinking more about privacy. You will not be able to keep it quiet in an institution with staff for very long." He waited for the implications to sink in. "I really have no preference myself, although to be honest, the thought of others probing our relationship as a result leaves me cold."

Harry tilted his head to the side, considering Severus' words. "I see your point. I'd hoped to avoid publicity. It was unbearable when we defeated Voldemort. The reporters, the people, the utter lack of privacy. I'm not sure I could go through that again or make you endure it either."

Severus thought on the publicity Harry's cases had received while a student. He'd told him he'd had to finally require a binding magical contract of silence with the respective families (except the Weasleys and Longbottoms) before he could attempt anything just to make sure no one knew he'd been involved.

He watched him closely, knowing Harry had not had the time to think of any of this. "I am curious though. Where's the rush? Why do you need to respond so quickly? While these offers you have may appear urgent, it seems to me they're really not, at least not from your perspective. You are most fortunate; you do not have the driving need to earn money, whereas they are pushing you because every day you delay is lost revenues for them. If the need is truly there for your services, the other Healers will circumvent the system and approach you directly but only for as long as you are not affiliated with any one entity. It's the same in Potions and why I teach here. It allows me to be independent and yet pick up the odd commission as it takes my fancy."

Harry bristled. "That's cold, Sev. Surely they are motivated by means other than money."

Severus raised his brow in mock surprise. "Surely your four year stint with the various facilities cured you of that notion." He snorted. "How much encouragement were you given to take on the Weasley cases? All or none?" At Harry's dawning anger he held up a hand. "I'm not using them as an example out of disrespect, they just happen to be one of the few whose name and circumstance I know. You have kept the others well-wrapped up, which is how it should be."

Harry remembered the controversy but had tried to ignore it at the time and said as much. "You're probably right, Sev, but for differing reasons." He ticked them off on his fingers. "Quiesta didn't want me to do it because she was afraid I'd fail but at the same time encouraged me because I might succeed. St. Mungo's practically threw them at me because the Weasleys couldn't pay the maintenance fees, and the Ministry was always right behind them; they wanted them gone. The huge fees they paid me were small overall compared to what the cost would have been had I not. Moreover, I refused to give the Ministry my promise I wouldn't hold them responsible if I failed until they gave both Weasleys a huge injury bonus." He chuckled wickedly. "They were not amused but they paid. The Ministry was practically pushing me into the room so they would not have to continue the disability payments. What a mess."

"And you? Were these your motives as well?" Severus asked gently.

Harry laughed ruefully. "I guess I'm just naïve. My only motive was seeing them well if it was in my power to do so. And I guess I was a bit arrogant, too, thinking I was above their petty concerns. You're right, it's certainly not about the money. I do have quite a bit of my own, although these offers are quite tempting in that regard as well. I suspect I would have charged nothing at all for some of them, at least, had I not been paid by the Ministry."

Severus knew this, it was one of the things he loved about Harry, this stubborn altruistic streak he had. He wondered briefly if he felt that way because he knew his own cynicism made such gestures very hard for him. He cleared his throat, "However, you are planning on charging for your services, yes?"

"That would depend on the patient, I suppose. I had no compunction about soaking the Ministry, though; they paid and paid well," Harry mused out loud, laughing. "However, I would hate to deny any one patient just because they've not the Galleons."

Severus snorted. "A noble sentiment--impractical but noble. I have found that most people worth saving need to pay, even if it's only in trade."

Harry raised his brows and huffed, "Oh, and you charge everyone? Like Remus, for example."

"Ah, well, that's different."

"How so?"

Severus grinned. "Everyone will expect you to be charitable. I, on the other hand, being the established, heartless bastard I am, still enjoy the prerogative of inexpectation. And Remus is a fellow teacher; I don't charge the staff."

It was Harry's turn to look sceptical. "That's not what I heard. Minerva was grousing the other day you'd raised the prices on the skin potions she prefers."

A small smile twisted Severus' lips. "Minerva and her beauty lotions." He chuckled. "I never have understood why she wants them. A mud mask and a large paper bag would be far more effective to make her passable, and certainly cheaper."

Harry sniggered, "You are sooo evil, Sev."

Smug, Severus replied, "Yes, I know. Good of you to finally notice."

5 September 2003

Harry came home late. He'd been at the hospital with a new referral and was on his way back to Hogwarts when an emergency had arrived after all the other healers had left. A Muggle woman, cleaning the attic of an old house she'd just purchased, found a dark object which released a curse, almost killing her. Unconscious when they brought her in, the Medi-wizard-in-charge at St. Mungo's had asked Harry to help, which, under his oath as a healer, he was obliged to do, although he would have done so in any event.

Hours later, he tiredly Apparated to Hogwarts and walked the distance up to the castle in the dark. He felt grungy, his robes under the cloak borrowed, as the old ones had been singed beyond repair when he'd finally located the curse and counteracted the damage it had caused. The woman would be fine, albeit a bit confused as she'd been transferred to a Muggle hospital with a section of her memories missing. He'd been relieved to hear that Arthur Weasley would be sweeping her house personally.

He trudged down the corridors, meeting no one, and descended gratefully into the dungeons each step closer to home giving him a little more energy until at the door, he felt almost normal. He was debating a bath or a meal first when he walked through the door. Closing it, he was surprised to note that he couldn't see Severus at the desk in his study. A quick check around their quarters revealed he was not there at all. Now he had three choices--bath, food, or Severus. It really wasn't all that hard a decision to make; he went to Severus' lab.

The wards intact, Harry soon found out Severus wasn't there either. Most unusual. Concerned, he decided to try Dumbledore's locator spell, the one given to Severus on his birthday. Pulling his wand, he intoned, "Reperio Aperio, Severus." Immediately an image filled his head--stairs, flights of stairs, going up to the sky. No sign of Severus, but perhaps the spell just showed the location and not the actual person. He concentrated, finding he could zoom in and out like a camera, and when he spied the moon phase designs on the railings, knew they went to the Astronomy Tower.

Wondering what had upset his lover enough to go on walk-about, he hurried out of their quarters and quickly strode to the Astronomy Tower to catch up to Severus. He huffed his way up the interminable flights, shaking his head at how he should be heeding his own advice to his patients about keeping fit. At the top, the door was ajar and a faint breeze made its way through the small crack. He pulled it open and stepped out over the threshold onto the upper deck.

A quarter moon shone brightly enough for him to observe Severus on the far side. The night clear, it would be perfect to view the stars, but Severus stood still at the crenelations seemingly staring out over the lake. As Harry drew closer he could see that Severus' robes billowed and snapped around him with the strong breeze out here in the open, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes closed. Harry made no effort to hide his footsteps on the stone flags and a few feet away, Severus turned his head to glance at him briefly before returning his empty gaze back to where it had been.

A million questions floated through Harry's mind, but if nothing else, he'd learned to just be quiet when he couldn't isolate one important enough to take precedence over all the others to begin. Clearing his thoughts, he joined Severus at the wall, placing his hand on his shoulder and waited.

There was a quality to Severus' continuing silence, a perplexity to it telling Harry that Severus was thinking hard on something. He debated whether his presence represented help or hindrance; he could feel Severus' conflicting emotions--the foremost being a strong anger, deep sadness, a firm resolve, worry, and an odd tenderness Harry had come to recognise as his hidden compassion. Some of all of it was directed at him personally and he wondered what he'd done to upset Severus. The rest of it lead to something else. No wonder he was also reading an underlying confusion. He decided to stay.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted when Severus finally asked quietly, not looking at him, "Harry, in your time as a student here at Hogwarts, did you ever think I was going to hit you?"

Taken aback by the question, Harry answered quickly, "No." But then a memory stirred. "Well, once. When I looked in your Pensieve in Fifth Year. You were murderous then, but other than that? No. You limited yourself to verbal assaults."

A long pause followed. "Were they truly assaults?" he finally asked, still quiet.

What odd questions. He thought on it. Were they? And could he offer him an honest answer given his obvious bias and affections? "Looking back on it as an adult, they were, for the most part, rather strong--admonishments--against our thoughtlessness as students. You had your moments of pettiness, like when you broke those ingredients to purposely ruin my potion, but by and large we deserved the chastisements. But as a child? You were most intimidating, quite frightening, really, at times. It was not a class I looked forward to attending and I admit I often went out of my way to avoid you and your biting sarcasm."

Severus nodded. Harry tightened his hold on Severus' shoulder and eventually coaxed him by touch to face him. "Severus, has something happened? What's wrong?"

Severus shivered in the wind now whipping across the Astronomy Tower, the clouds moving swiftly across the sky, obscuring the remnant of the moon. "Not now, Harry. Let's go inside where it's warmer."

Harry had no more closed the door to the deck when Severus engulfed Harry in his arms in the darkness, burying his face in his neck, breathing in deeply Harry's scent. Not knowing what to think, Harry still knew the embrace was for some kind of comfort and held him tight. Several long moments later, Severus loosed him, kissed his forehead, and started down the stairs. It happened so quickly Harry had no time to see his face and he scrambled to follow. Robes billowing around him, Severus travelled the hallways in his normal swooping fashion and soon they were approaching the door to their quarters, not a word spoken between them.

About halfway through the trip, Harry was able to isolate one of the feelings pouring off of his lover--boundless relief--and Harry realised Severus had been worried about him and his lateness. When he thought about the nature of the locator spell, he suspected that, while he practiced his art, his defence magic would block anyone from viewing him. Combined with their talks in Hana about the dangers and risks of Harry's work, he now knew that Severus had thought the worst--that Harry was not coming home--the isolation and withdrawal to the Astronomy Tower his preparation against the grief, his questions about past regrets. The fierceness of his embrace suddenly made sense. And he knew Severus would never say anything about it to him; it was not in his nature to do so.

Harry stopped him at the door with a hand on his arm and moved to face him. "Severus?" When he had his attention, Harry continued, "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." He stepped closer, placing his hand on the lined cheek. "I promise, whatever it takes, I'll make certain I get word to you if I'm delayed even a minute beyond my normal time. All right?"

Severus' stiff, "That will be acceptable," belied the starkness in his eyes.

Harry leaned in and placed a simple kiss on Severus' lips. He spoke the password and they entered the apartment, taking their cloaks off and hanging them by the door. While Severus lit a fire in the sitting room, Harry went to the sideboard and, after ordering a light supper, poured them each a rather large brandy, warming the snifters with his hands. Juggling both glasses and the bottle, he went into the sitting room.

Already ensconced in his chair, Severus stared blankly into the fire. Harry settled the bottle on the table, handed one snifter to Severus, and keeping his own, he settled into the other chair. A few seconds later, Dobby appeared with a pop and a small lap tray. He removed the cover from the plate, handed Harry the napkin, and left as quickly as he'd come.

Severus swirled the brandy in the snifter and, taking a big swallow, continued staring ahead. Harry had seen him like this before; this was Severus at his brooding best and Harry instinctively knew that whatever problem was plaguing Severus, it had little to do with him. He was relieved and tucked into the thick but simple sandwich Dobby had brought him. He knew it was waiting game from now on and as long as he had food, he was content to wait.

"You want some?" Harry asked to break the silence.

Severus started and shook his head. "No, thank you, I had dinner earlier." He took another sip of the brandy. Watching Harry wolf down another bite, he chuckled. "Obviously you did not, or else you've reverted to the table manners of a three year old."

Swallowing, Harry grinned at him before taking a gulp of the brandy. He winced. "Not exactly the thing to wash down a sandwich," he said. "Sorry I was so late--had a bit of an emergency down at Mungo's right before I was getting ready to leave and I was the only qualified healer around." He took another bite of the sandwich.

While Harry chewed, Severus dissembled, "I wondered what had happened. You'd indicated this referral was fairly simple. How did it go?"

Harry nodded, clearing his mouth. "It went well--the emergency was in addition to my case. The man will need some time to recover, but hopefully he's learned to stay away from books he ought not to have. Oh, which reminds me." He reached in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a small parcel. Muttering a spell, it unshrunk into a fairly small volume which crackled with hidden energy. Severus sat up in the chair and held out his hand. When he took the book, Harry said, "Part of my fee was the confiscation of what caused the problem in the first place. Nasty piece of work it is, too. I sealed it, thinking you would probably want to open it in the library where it's safer. Didn't know if you had this or not, but I had a look at it before I closed it to study the spell he used."

"Did you note the publication year?" Severus asked with interest.

"Yeah--1829. Not very old, but might be of some interest."

"Indeed it is. We already have a copy of 'Brown's Guide', but this is an older edition and the book feels thicker than the one on the shelves. Perhaps it is different; I will look at it tomorrow. In the meantime, I will return shortly; I need to put this in the library." He rose from the chair, book in hand, and made his way to his study.

Harry followed him with this eyes and took the opportunity to take another bite. Chewing happily, he was glad he'd been able to bring Severus something unique. Within minutes Severus returned, taking his seat once more, still brooding, but a little more animated.

"Well, I got one out of three," Harry said cryptically swallowing the last bite off of his plate. Severus raised a brow and Harry continued, "Food, a bath, and you. Those were my fondest wishes when I came home and not necessarily in that order. I've had the food and now--what say you we stupefy two Kneazles with one spell and take a bath together."

"I'm all for conservation," Severus murmured, a small smile gracing his face. Harry set the tray aside on the table and drained his glass. They left their chairs and made their way to the bathroom, shedding clothes as they went. When he passed Harry on his way into the pool, Severus wrinkled his considerable nose, saying, "I can see where a bath was high on your list of priorities."

"Flatterer," Harry hissed as he, too, stepped into the hot pool, watching Severus' delectable rear disappear as he entered the deep part. Harry followed, the water searing the weariness from his muscles. Almost floating in the water while Severus sat pensively on the ledge farthest away from the water source, Harry said, "All right, Severus. Come clean. What else is bothering you?"

Severus settled deeper in the water until his mouth was just above the surface. "Dumbledore called a meeting of the Order this afternoon. Seems he has some things he wishes us to do for him." He sat up straighter, sitting higher.

Putting his feet on the floor of the pool, Harry twisted to face him. "And?"

Severus' eyes were closed, his head thrown back against the edge. "And I find myself singularly reluctant to do his bidding." Harry had never seen a more tempting sight.

Shrugging, Harry paddled over until he was half laying on him. He anchored himself with his hands on Severus' shoulders and nipped his way up the column of Severus' throat, muttering, "Then quit." He could feel him swallow under his tongue.

Severus lifted his head from the side of the pool. "A bit difficult that," he murmured. He stuck out a long arm and plucked a bottle off the side by the mat. "Turn around," he ordered briskly. Harry did so, anticipation curling in his stomach. He could feel Severus behind him pouring from the bottle into his hands, which he rubbed together before sinking them into Harry's hair. The scent of sage and balsa merged with the sensual drag of those long elegant fingers massaging the soap into his scalp, working their way slowly around his head, digging deep into the skin. Eyes closed to slits, like a contented cat, Harry purred, "Ah, Sev--that feels soo good." Amused, Severus continued his washing, working his way to Harry's face and then lower, stopping after he'd scrubbed Harry's chest and arms and back.

Severus chuckled at Harry's moan of frustration when he stopped. Pulling his hands away, he said, "Rinse." When Harry came back out of the water, Severus slid his arms around his waist and pulled Harry to him. He sniffed Harry's hair and neck, saying, "Better. Much better, in fact. You reeked like you'd marinated in wet brimstone. What happened?"

Nuzzling his neck while Severus' hands floated across the skin of his back, Harry muttered, "Curse. Exussum. Caught a Muggle woman. Burned my robes healing her. Brand new, too."

The hands on his back stilled. Severus pulled his head away, his concerned eyes searching Harry for some hidden damage he might have missed. "Hmmm. Fire curse. Nasty--that explains the new robes and the lop-sided hair. I thought perhaps you were trying a new style."

"No, but the robes were a total loss when it backfired and I hadn't even noticed my hair." He felt along his fringe and smiled ruefully when he realised it was much longer on one side than the other.

"There's some counterspells you might want to consider learning before trying to work with it again. I'll show you tomorrow in the library. You'll have to improvise a bit, but I suspect it might be preferable to replacing an entire wardrobe."

Harry laughed, not only at himself, but at what Severus wouldn't say. "It might at that, thanks. And you're redirecting, Severus. What's this about the Order and why can't you just walk away?"

"Harry, one does not simply 'quit' the Order." Severus sucked in his breath. "Stop that. I'll never be able to finish if you keep doing that."

"Oh, you'll finish all right, but maybe not your sentence." Harry chortled, dropping his hands even lower.

Severus gasped. "Ahh--who's redirecting now. Ooh, that's very nice."

Harry hung his head, his wicked eyes not the least bit contrite. "You're right, please do continue so we can move on to more--pleasant--topics of conversation." He pulled his hands out of the water and picked up the bottle off of the edge of the pool. "Might as well get this out of the way while you're talking."

While Harry returned the favour and washed Severus' hair, spending as much time on it as Severus had, Severus closed his eyes, groaning on occasion, and continued, "Remember the oaths we took? The ones that said we'd be members as long as 'needed'?"

Harry worked a lather up on Severus' chest. "Of course I do, but I also know we made them for the fight against Voldemort. It wasn't supposed to be a forever thing, was it?" He reached behind and ran the soap over Severus' back, his chest lightly rubbing against Severus'. "Give me your arm."

Severus lifted it out of the water laying it on Harry's shoulder. Harry started soaping it up in long slow strokes. Severus sighed. "No, I suppose not. So I just resign, eh?" When Harry nudged him, he gave him the other arm after dipping in the pool to rinse off the rest of the lather before it dried.

Harry paid close attention to the cleanliness of Severus' hands. "We retire. Both of us." Severus opened his eyes, questioning. "I have no stomach for it anymore, Severus. There's so much about it I don't like--it seems so opposite of what we've built for ourselves. He looked up from Severus' hands. "Especially the secrecy. We've had nothing but problems with that and if we continue with the Order, there will be times when we will be expected to keep things from each other. While I can accept that there are past events we will both keep locked within us, I am not sure the exclusion of current and future happenings is agreeable. To either of us."

Severus said slowly, "No, the keeping of secrets from one's spouse is never a wise thing in a marriage."

He held Severus' eyes with his own and could read his dawning resolve. "Besides, it's not like they really need our services anymore. I'm free of the prophecy and you're free of your--revenge. Sorry, probably a bad choice of words." He searched Severus' face. Relieved at the understanding he saw, he continued, "There are others better able to serve Albus' needs."

"True. As I said, I am not enamoured of the idea of continuing the charade anymore. If you're certain, I'll arrange a meeting with Albus tomorrow to discuss it with him."

"I'm certain and I'm free tomorrow. Sounds like it'll be a grand day to start exacting some of that 'retribution' we threatened the old man with when we came back from Hana." Harry lightly tripped his hands up Severus' chest with clear intent, feeling his chuckles vibrate through his skin. He captured Severus' mouth in a deep kiss, their tongues lazily sliding against each other. Breathless, Harry lifted his head away enough to gasp, "Now, about the rest of our bath--"

TBC