Title: Aubade
Author: Murdock
Rating. PG
Category: Drama/Angst Drabble
Email:
Summary: def: 1) a dawn song expressing the regret of lovers parting at daybreak
2) a lame excuse employed by the author as an excuse to write schmoop whilst retaining some degree of literary verisimilitude
They lay separately in the night's stillness; close enough, yet, to feel the breath moving in and out of each other's bodies. Harry faced the open window; beside him Severus stared sightlessly at the ceiling. Silence hung between them, a dense weight full of expectations and disappointments.
He had done this before, and knew what to watch for: dawn was inevitable when the bricks of the wall became discernable from one another, and all but the bravest of shadows fled to the corners of the room. The sky would lose the stars to the greedy light of day, and he would leave. Part of him wished Severus would never come at all, and thus parting would be unnecessary.
Careful fingers soon found his shoulder, and he rolled over into waiting arms, muffling a small noise of unhappiness in the other man's chest. Severus embraced him fiercely, and then eased away. Harry clung a moment longer before relenting.
He lay quietly as the other man rose and dressed; helplessly observing the details in the room become more visible as the sun crept closer to the horizon. This was his small redress: observing Severus don his elegant attire; taking pleasure in the way his glossy hair snaked into tendrils against the white of his high collar; watching those long hands nimbly button a surprisingly plum-colored waistcoat before it was hidden beneath drab robes.
Without a sound, Severus finished, and smoothed his clothes into place, flicking the hair from his neck with a practiced shake of his head. Here, Harry always wondered why he didn't just tie it back, but never wanted to ruin the remaining peace by asking.
Their eyes met, and for a moment the room resonated with the unspoken words passing between them. Severus' eyes were the limitless, abiding black of the room at midnight, and Harry wished he could stay there, hidden, safe from prying eyes and gossiping busybodies.
Then Severus was gone, apparated in the blink of an eye, back to his life, elsewhere; the life without Harry Potter in it. He pulled the covers over his head, and scooted into the warm imprint of Severus' body on the sheets. In the light-filled emptiness, he wondered when he would see him again.