Harry Potter was seventeen going on eighteen and despite the shittiness of his life so far, he had managed a few relationships. So he knew, once he saw his Potions Master in a new light, that it was quite possibly the real thing. Though it took him a while to realise this.

It started over Easter. He was unable to sleep one night and being in no particular mood to lie there staring at his bed's canopy, he put on his cloak. He slipped through the portrait hole, prowled the castle for a while and was surprised to find a corridor he had never been down before. Making sure he was well hidden, he had set off to explore.

At the end of the corridor had been an open door, softly flickering light spilling out towards him, rather invitingly he later reflected. Glancing around, but giving into his insatiable curiosity, Harry had stolen into the room. It had turned out to be one Severus Snape's private quarters. Snape himself had been sitting in a comfortable looking winged armchair, reading by the light of the candle.

More than a little surprised, Harry had stopped and stared, unable to turn away. Snape had looked different that night. His hair was clean, smooth and appeared soft. He was wearing a silk, blood red dressing gown with oriental gold decoration, which looked particularly alien on the man who normally sported enveloping black robes. But most importantly, he was wearing small, wire framed spectacles, behind which, his eyes shone a bright navy-blue, twinkling in the candlelight.

Before Harry turned and fled, his only thought was, "He must wear contact lenses..."

From that moment onward, he found himself watching, observing, almost obsessing over his Potions Master. He noticed, for the first time, that Snape's hair actually started the day soft and clean, only appearing greasy after hours of potions making and teaching. He also came to notice that the man appeared to be watching him as well.

It developed, at first, into simple teenage lust. How could it not? The man Harry had seen that night had been handsome, in his own fashion and a healthy teenager couldn't help falling into lust. As his attention continued to settle on Snape, however, the lust grew and changed, developed into something he couldn't quite identify. Eventually, after his final exams had finished and he had only a week left at Hogwarts. A week left before he had to face the rest of his life, Harry snapped.

He kept a close eye on Snape all that day, watching him, gauging his mood. He judged him to be in a rather a good mood, for once, and by the evening, he was fairly vibrating with the knowledge of what he was going to do.

He lay in bed, watching the canopy above him, waiting for the other boys to fall asleep. Before actually getting up, he made sure by looking at each of the beds in his dorm. They appeared to be sound asleep, so he threw his duvet off himself and slipped back under the cloak, stealing out of the common room mere seconds later with his eagerness. Though he was still unsure of what it was he was actually going to do once he got down there.

The door was again open. Taking a calming breath, with no idea of what he was doing, he slipped inside the candlelit room.

"Close the door."

Harry almost died there and then. Severus was standing opposite him, contemplating the star strewn sky out of the only window in the room, his back towards him. Unnerved, Harry simply stood there, making no move toward the door. Severus turned and looked directly at him, navy eyes piercing.

"I said, 'close the door,' Potter."

With a jolt, Harry did so.

"Take off that ridiculous cloak, Merlin knows the thing is useless in here, anyway."

Again with a small jolt of surprise, Harry slid the cloak off his shoulders, letting it drop and pool at his feet. Severus nodded and took a step toward him. He was wearing the oriental dressing gown again; the wire framed glasses perched on his nose as if they belonged there.

"It is a strange thing, magic. For all that we command it, there is a surprising amount that is almost sentient." Severus paused, giving Harry what appeared to be a critical look, "The particular charm I placed on this room and it's adjoining corridor, at Professor Dumbledore's direction, appears to be of the latter sort."

Harry blinked, not understanding. He had come here, expecting a million different things to happen, not the least amount of which ended with them both naked, but this, this hadn't entered his head at all. Getting a softly spoken lecture on charms? From his Potions Master?

"Dumbledore failed to inform me that this charm had a rather annoying side effect. I knew only that it allowed the people I specified to find and enter these rooms. After some reading, it turns out that one other would also be able to locate it. That you should be that person astounds me."

Severus touched the reading table with the tips of his long, pale fingers and gave him an assessing look. "Yes, it astounds me that the son of the one man I loathed above all others, except perhaps for The Dark Lord himself, could love me."

This was definitely not going as Harry had planned. What the hell was going on? He thought he probably did love the man, hadn't he spent most of the past month thinking about nothing else? Hermione had been despairing of him for precisely that reason. For Severus to stand there and say all this to him, about some form of charm... Was it a new form of torture? A game? If so, how the hell did he find out how he felt? If he was telling the truth... He was scared to think of the consequences.

Harry found himself leaning back against the door, not entirely sure his legs could hold him for much longer. They almost buckled completely when Severus smiled at him.

"I should explain, Potter. The charm that Albus directed me to place on these rooms was specific in allowing only Albus and myself access to them. The side effect that he failed to tell me about, allowed one other, and one other only, access." He paused and smirked, "In fact, it did not just allow that person access, it very much attracted them. This someone was one whom I could love, and whom could love me in return. If I had known about this side effect before hand, I would not have used this particular charm, as I never believed anyone could love me. Who would? However..."

Harry blinked, taking all this information in. One question troubled him, "How did you know it was me?"

Again, Severus smiled, "No concealing magic, be it an invisibility cloak or cloaking spell, will work within these walls. I saw you that night. The night the charm first worked and you stole in here unannounced. I was shocked, but curious and watched you as you watched me."

Harry was suddenly rather glad that he had fought all the childish urges that night. He was equally glad that he had kept some of the more adult activities until he had returned to his bed. He blushed. Severus' left eyebrow rose.

Severus moved closer, step by step until they were mere inches from one another, and Harry could clearly see the shallow rise and fall of the older mans chest. Without thinking, he reached out and placed his palm on Severus' chest, gently resting it there, marveling at the strong heart beat centimeters below his fingers. Cool fingertips brushed his jaw-line and he looked up into the navy eyes.

"You said 'could,' not 'would,'" he whispered, "are you playing with me?"

The cool fingers moved up into his hair, preceding the hoarse whisper; "I never play."

A moment later their mouths met.

END