Hiding Under the Ninth Earth
Book 03 : Epithalamium

Part III : The Beginning of Forever
Chapter Thirty Two : Ruminant Ruminations

26 October 2003

Together Severus and Harry entered the dining nook, glancing around to see if Dobby was still there. The room was empty, but the table, enlarged for the occasion, was not. Two places had been set across from each other, laden with each of their favourite foods. Tea, dark and strong, with milk and sugar for Harry, was set to the side within easy reach of both.

Severus felt his mouth start to water; he usually spaced out his culinary indulgences a bit at a time, not only to savour them (since he knew just how bad they were for him) but also to keep Harry from badgering him about it like some damn Hufflepuff. While it was nice to know someone cared enough to watch out for his welfare, there was the nagging to endure in the first place, and with his infrequent lapses, Harry's raised brows with his little interspersed "Hmph's" could scold better than any words.

Harry did not disappoint. "Ah, and such a healthy breakfast it is, too," he chuffed, eyeing the mounds of food on the table as he sat down. Pouring them both a cup of tea, he laughed as he peered into the cup before handing it to Severus. "Looks perfect. I can't see the bottom."

Severus took it from him with a quiet thanks and drank some in small sips. Sighing in contentment, he put the cup back on its saucer and, with knife and fork in hand, was eagerly debating where to start on such wonderful decadence when he felt the look coming from his lover.

Sighing with resignation, he raised his head, perplexed when Harry burst out laughing, peering mischievously over the cup held suspended in front of his face. "Oh, if you could see your face right now, Sev." He set his cup down with a rattle. "Don't worry, I'll leave you alone--for now. Who am I to stand between a man and his drool?"

Severus was about to reply that he was not drooling, thank you very much, when it occurred to him that if he just stayed quiet he could have his pudding and eat it too. Allowing himself a rebellious snort, he tucked into his meal before Harry could change his mind.

A thick slice of fried bacon in hand, Harry remarked, "You know, given how little we both have eaten, I'm surprised at our stamina the last few hours. I didn't even know I could get it up that many times."

"Hmmm," Severus said around a salty mouthful of black pudding, his absolute favourite. "I would think it has everything to do with the bond. I can't recall, even with your insatiability, ever making it more than twice. But three times? In a row? And you? What? Four?"

"What can I say, you inspired me." Harry laughed at Severus' "Hmph." He lifted his fork to take a bite of waffle dripping with syrup, when he stopped and looked down towards the floor. Severus leaned over to see what had caught his attention. Cally, usually the most polite of cats, stood on her hind paws, stretched out with her claws sunk into Harry's robe for purchase. Her pink nose wiggled, making her huge whiskers dance as she fixed her round blue eyes adoringly on her master and begged. With a grin, Harry broke off a piece of his fish and slipped it to her. She daintily knocked it from his fingers and dropped back to the floor gobbling it down after smelling it for a short while. Licking her mouth and whiskers, she was back in her previous position, positively begging now, her long tail swishing in anticipation from side to side.

"Cally, you can have one more piece, but if I give you more there won't be any left for me." Harry suited actions to words and when Cally came back for more (clearly ignoring him), Severus snickered, muttering something about 'talking to deaf cats', when Harry had to hold her off.

Severus eyed the remainder of Harry's kippers. "Are you really going to eat those?" he asked his nose wrinkled with aversion. "Cally would be more than happy to finish them off for you."

His cheeky husband answered him by swiping a bite of the smoked salmon in the Hollandaise sauce, slowly putting it into his mouth with a low groan, his face lighting with gastronomic satisfaction.

With a moue of distaste, Severus responded, "Ugh. You don't intend to kiss me with that mouth do you?"

Harry pointed his fork at Severus' black pudding. "As if you can talk." He watched Severus cut another bite off his sausage, chewing with eyes closed as if in the throes of ecstasy. Harry shuddered at the sight, while remarking, "I'm surprised Horatio's not after your black pudding."

Severus swallowed before answering, "It's cooked. He'll only eat it raw."

He chuckled at Harry's scrunched up face and, "Ech! I do not want to know how you found that out."

"Oh, it was fairly innocuous--for someone who can eat fish for breakfast, it shouldn't ruin your appetite too much." He laughed and continued despite Harry's look of scepticism. "A few years back, one of the rat shipments was running late and Horatio had eaten everything in sight. I had gone to Albus to find out if there was a secluded part of the castle I could let Horatio out to hunt for a few days when he suggested I see if he liked raw meat instead. Took a bit of trial and error, and a few fainting house-elves, but it seemed he liked the black sausage the best, but only in small quantities--and without the casing and spices. Bit messy, though."

"Well, however he likes it, I don't, and I'll remind you there's a reason the bathroom is on the way to the bedroom."

"Oh, speaking of bathrooms, I meant to ask you earlier. Where on earth did you find a basilisk?" Severus asked, mopping up the gooey yolk of his eggs with a piece of toast.

His own fork full of egg dripping with sauce hovering near his mouth, Harry asked incredulously, "Severus, what does a bathroom have to do with magical monsters?"

Severus stared at the tip of Harry's tongue licking his lips to get the bits of sauce off the edges. Shaking himself, he replied, "Bathroom--Chamber of Secrets--Basilisk--foolish Gryffindors?"

Harry blinked and then shook his head. "Oh. Right. And you say my logic is confusing," he muttered wiping his mouth on his napkin. "Careful, Severus, your Gryffindor side is showing." He chuckled when Severus pulled his head back, almost spewing his mouthful of hot tea. "Romania," Harry said with a grin. "Near the dragon keepers. Charlie Weasley was there. Do you remember the baby we found last winter?"

"How can I forget? Poor Horatio."

"Yeah, well, Dumbledore sent the thing to the dragon keepers. He seems quite happy there; he's one of three they have. Oh, and I forgot to mention--they have a few Runespoor there as well. Charlie said they would be willing to trade you some of your more expensive or difficult potions for some of the more obscure ingredients you're always looking for," Harry said, chuckling at the spark of interest and the sudden avid gleam in his husband's eye. "Oh, and speaking of Horatio, he played quite a part in all the excitement yesterday."

Cutting another bite of his grilled sausage, Severus looked up, raising a brow. "What excitement?"

Harry thought about it a moment. "It's a bit--complicated--" he started and in between bites of food, he recounted what he knew of the day's happenings right up to the start of the wedding. Severus questioned him on a few points (although he remained tight-lipped and silent when Harry shared his own adventure at Malfoy Manor). He chuckled briefly at the telling of Horatio's 'tail', accepting when Harry said one had to be there to truly appreciate its brevity (although Harry silently noticed the dismayed eyes flicking over him surreptitiously as if making certain he was really all right when he mentioned Maldy's initial mission). He sat forward, stunned, his eyes glazed and staring, when Harry told him of Maldy and Dobby, and muttered something about "that interfering old bastard" when Harry recounted his and Dumbledore's arguments. He paid keen attention when Harry described the happenings in the infirmary and how he saw it, making some speculative noises when Harry told him what he'd seen inside them both.

When Harry finished, both of them replete with the meal and the tale, Severus sat back in his chair, his long legs stretched out, cup of tea in hand, thoughtfully sipping. "I don't remember much after getting caught. Damn stupid thing to do, too." Harry looked to the side. Severus knew that look well. His lover had a question he wasn't sure would be well received, but Severus could feel his urgency. "Well, what is it?" he finally asked into the straining silence.

Harry hesitated, then blurted out, "Why did you go after Pettigrew in the first place?"

Putting the cup back on the table, Severus lined up the remaining flatware in neat order. He held up a spoon as if examining his face in it, saying, "Hmmm. Not an easy question to answer. Several reasons actually--" he put the spoon down and finally met Harry's gaze "--the least of which are that I felt honour-bound to clear Sirius' name, as I promised, and Albus pushed the point of my debt with him." When Harry made a noise of protest, he held up his hand and continued. "I said 'the least of which' and meant it. Remus was more interested in clearing your godfather's name and thereby releasing Sirius' inheritance for you. I primarily went because the thought of Lucius getting his hands on Voldemort's secrets (which that sycophant still holds in that microscopic brain of his) scares several years off my life. While I wasn't happy at all about it and frankly thought it a trap, I also went to keep Remus from doing something foolish like serving the rat up au jus." He sat back in his chair, picked up the tea and took another sip. Reflectively he said, "It's obvious I failed miserably in all respects."

Harry muttered something about having a heart to heart with his former guardian the next time they met, which made Severus chuckle. "Don't do that again without talking to me first, all right?" Harry said with some asperity. "Sirius may have been family, but he is certainly not worth the risk. He is, after all, dead. And Dumbledore be damned. Neither one of us owes him a thing. Just--" Harry faltered. Looking down at his lap, he said quietly, "Just don't do it again, please. I almost lost you yesterday and--" he got up from the table to stand gazing unseeing out the closed window. "I was frantic--"

Severus set his napkin on the table and, rising, went over to the window to sit in the deep cushioned seat. Cocking one knee up near the glass to make room for Harry, the other dangling over the side, he got comfortable and called out softly, "Come here, love."

With no hesitation, Harry climbed up next to him, nestling in the crook of his arm. Severus threw his free leg over his husband's lap, effectively pinning him between his legs, drawing him down until he leaned into him, head on his shoulder. His free hand moved Harry's hair to the side and, lips lingering, he kissed the old faded scar. His fingers gentling Harry's face, he murmured, "As I said last night, you won't be so easily rid of me. I promise, I'll tell you personally before I go anywhere like that again. I did leave a note, as we'd agreed, but it appears it had a little adventure before you got to see it. I suspect things would have been much simpler had you got it first." He could feel Harry smile against his chest. "Be that as it may, I wish I could remember the rest of it." He put his head back against the stone. "I can't help thinking I'm missing something important and, frankly, the memory loss surprises me. I know I've experienced worse, but obviously can't say why I know that."

Sitting up a bit, Harry said, "You had a nightmare last night."

Severus stared at him. "Really?"

Harry wouldn't meet his eyes. "Yes, um, before--before I went to the library. It was about yesterday, though."

Severus could feel there was more to it than that, but decided not to pursue more than the obvious. For now. "I think you must be mistaken."

"No, I saw Avery cutting the eyes."

Severus blinked. "Harry, I assure you, I looked; I have no memories of it, not even blocked ones--there are Legilimency techniques one can use to retrieve suppressed memories."

"I saw it, Severus--" he said heatedly and stopped as he remembered what else he'd done last night--to Avery. "Maybe I was seeing his memories," he muttered.

Severus cocked his head, confused. "Whose memories?"

"Um, Avery's--do we need to talk about this right now?"

Severus held him in silence. Harry felt the tension drain out of him when, after several minutes, Severus finally replied, "I suppose I can wait. Perhaps you just need time to come to grips with all of this."

Harry immediately felt guilty; damn it, he'd agreed not to do this any more. Where the hell was that Gryffindor courage when he needed it? "No. No, we should talk."

"Are you certain? I can feel your unease with whatever it is you're afraid to tell me."

Taking a deep breath, Harry said, "I'm sure." He leaned up against Severus, playing with the tie on his robe. "Um, you remember I said you had a nightmare?"

Severus put his hand over Harry's, twining their fingers. "Yes."

"Well, it was a bit more than that. See, I woke up while you were in the middle of it because I--we were dream sharing. It was awful and for the first time since we've been together, I couldn't wake you or get you back into proper sleep, so I put my hand on the ward Mark on your chest thinking I could reach you that way and--fell in--I guess that's the best way to put it. And I thought at first I was back in your dream, but it was so real--" He stopped, shivering with the memory.

Severus laid his cheek on top of Harry's head and waited. Harry could feel the soothing pulse in their joined fingers. "I saw Avery and Lucius," he whispered. "They were talking about reactivating the curse; Avery planned on killing you--" Harry took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "Avery spoke those horrid words, and you went so still, and I was afraid and angry, oh so angry--and I broke the connection he'd made to you." Severus' hand came off his shoulder to curl around and capture his head, the fingers running through his hair, while his lips rested on his forehead. "I almost killed him, Severus," he whispered, "I had his heart in my hands with the Sanos--he was dying."

Severus went still. Carefully, he asked, "What stopped you?"

"Myself, I guess. There was just something--wrong--about using the Sanos that way--to kill."

Severus nodded, his hand tightening on Harry's hand in his lap. "But there's more?"

Harry shivered again; this was the part he really didn't want to talk about. "I may have stopped myself from killing him, but then I did something equally wrong."

They sat quietly a few minutes, until Severus broke the silence by saying, "Semper te amabo."

The words invoked the bond and Harry could feel it like another pair of arms caressing him, filling him with strength and security. Suddenly he knew he could do it; he could tell Severus, and he would still love him. But still, he felt shame as he explained, "I tortured him. I used the Sanos to cause him pain. For a long, long time." There. He'd said it. Only a bit more to go. "Lucius laughed and thanked me for the entertainment. And then he told me I'd done it for nothing--that I should have killed Avery while I'd had the chance--that you would still die. And I wanted to take it back; I wanted to kill him anyway." Harry's voice broke and he buried his face in Severus' chest.

His arms, his body, the legs now curled over and around him were so warm, so calm, so strong, and Harry leaned into them, letting them draw him closer. Taking the kiss Severus bestowed on his forehead further, he lifted his face for the reassurance he needed so badly. And as always, Severus obliged, his lips as gentle, as tender as the loved feeling of him inside, while his body wrapping around him gave him the warmth and security he craved on the outside.

But there was one thing he still needed to know, something only his husband would tell him with complete honesty. "What does that make me, Severus?" he asked in a small voice.

Without hesitation, Severus replied, "Human, Harry. It makes us both human, for I confess that while one part of me is torn between dismay that you did this and pride that you stopped in time, there is another part of me that is wildly cheering because the bastard richly deserved it." He chuckled grimly. "Given Avery's and my past history, I'm not so certain that, had I your abilities, I would have been quite so charitable."

Harry sat up and stared at him. "Really?"

"I'm not nearly as noble as everyone seems to think I am. In fact, I'm not virtuous at all." Harry chuckled quietly at the way he'd said it with such irony. "What disturbs me more is that I remember none of this and yet you say you saw it."

Harry could feel how upset he was by the loss and to comfort him, ran his hand lightly under the sleeve of Severus' dressing gown, to stroke along the arm holding him. Then a flicker of memory tugged at him. "You said last night that knowing about it could have affected our binding. Do you think--?"

Severus thought about it and then shook his head in disgust, his arms and legs tightening reflexively. "Of course. How stupid of me. I'm supposed to see Albus today to get something from him. He reminded me before we left to come back here last night, but he wouldn't tell me what it was. He probably Obliviated me and is holding my memories."

Harry blinked. "I thought an Obliviate was permanent."

"Not to a Legilimens it isn't. There are methods--it's probably why I can't sense a block--there is none. And why you could see it in my dream, because they're not really gone, just 'lifted', if you will, from my conscious memory. Obviously my subconscious wasn't too happy with the whole thing; that's the one place I can't access through Legilimency."

"So I was right," Harry mused quietly, absentmindedly stroking Severus' arm and leg.

Severus looked at him sharply. "Right about what?"

His hands stilling, Harry said slowly, "Last night--before I went to sleep--I was thinking that when I changed the Schema of the ward and the curse and your Dark Mark, I was working below your conscious mind."

"Why would you think that?"

Harry laughed. "Severus, the only stealth invasion you tolerate is under the bed sheets. Otherwise you get more than a tad testy if anyone, including me, trespasses on your privacy. If you'll recall, I landed on my arse more often than not the few times I was able to break through your defences during our Occlumency lessons; I suspect this has not improved with time."

Severus chuckled, but his eyes were keen as he asked, "So, in order for you to do these changes without a fight, you think I had to accept you on a subconscious level?

"As near as I can reckon, yes." Harry waited to see if Severus resented him for the intrusion.

Severus was quiet for several minutes, deep in thought. "If I understand your healing," he began to Harry's surprise, "you have to invest a large part of yourself, like a catalyst, in order to effect a change to link two people, yes?" When Harry nodded, intrigued, Severus continued. "And as long as you remain a catalyst and do not become absorbed in the changes you make, your investment of self is safe, right?" Again Harry nodded. "But if you become too personally involved, if you lose your sense of self and meld with the link you are making, then you become--different--and can no longer hold the change and thus, only half-finished and undefined, you--and the others--die."

Harry considered it for several moments. "Close enough, I think. I don't really know as I've managed thus far to avoid that complication. I just know the consequences, not necessarily the reasons behind it. Yet."

Severus nodded, still deep in thought. Almost as if to himself, he continued, "I am thinking our bond requires much the same investment of self as your healing, only the change within is effected by the Omega, who like you when you heal, remains neutral throughout the process. Mihi insum. Tibi insum. We are a part of each other, separate, yet more when we're together. I felt it in our vows, a synergistic change within us both, rather like the invisible change in a potion when it turns from mere ingredients into magic. Don't you see, we are not what we were before. There is no way we could be."

Harry felt a surge of hope. "Then you don't mind what I did, what I can do?"

"Mind what? That you unconsciously bound all of our connections into one, much the same way that Albus bound us? That you can see through me now into my deepest places? Or that you can change me?"

When Harry shrugged in that deprecating manner he sometimes had, Severus knew he didn't quite understand yet what he was trying to say, which was fine; he was still trying to figure it out himself. But he also knew Harry was less concerned with the mechanics of it right now than he was seeking reassurances that Severus didn't think less of him for what Harry viewed as an uninvited intrusion into a privacy Severus had always jealously guarded. And he was at a bit of a loss as to how he could explain to Harry that, with the bond, the previous privacy was no longer an issue to him.

Choosing his words with care, he quietly said, "No, my love, how could I think less of you for it? I chose to bind with you, chose to invest myself, chose to accept you within me. That alone has profoundly changed me, us, in ways not yet explored." He ran his fingers through Harry's hair and pulled him close within the circle of his arms. Harry nestled in, relaxing as Severus whispered, "I have never belonged before now and I find it comforting rather than annoying or frightening. Non iam solitarius sum. It all goes back to our vows; I suspect there are layers of meaning to them we have not yet discovered."

Harry nodded and pulled his face down for a serious kiss, one Severus ended fairly soon to his surprise. With raised brows, he silently bade Harry to continue. Eventually, in the quiet he found in Severus' arms, Harry found the nerve to voice his deepest fear. "What if I hurt you?"

With more patience than anyone would have ever credited him, even those who claimed to 'know' him, Severus said gently, "You cannot hurt me."

He could feel Harry sigh against his chest. "Severus, I'm having a hard time believing that in light of what I've done. I can change you. I did change you. Doesn't that bother you at all?"

Shifting a bit to settle Harry closer, Severus replied, "I suppose it would if you could do it without my permission; however, you had my approval every step of the way."

Harry's confusion was almost palpable as he asked, "Huh? How is that possible? You weren't even conscious half the time."

"Hmmm. You're one with the difficult questions this morning, aren't you?" He nuzzled his forehead before continuing. "When you changed the curse, I was well aware when you did it, and you had my overt permission to try. As to the Dark Mark, you've known for years it was a thing I hated and would have removed, had I been able to do so. You knew I had tried and failed. And you knew my deep disappointment later when it didn't fully disappear with Voldemort's demise. When you went after it last night, I chose to let you try."

"How? I thought you were asleep."

"I was, but I do dream, you know. I saw your nightmare and I saw your intent."

"You saw it?" Harry was confused. "Is that why you woke?"

"Partially. Initially it was because of the reflex, if you will, that we have both developed in response to the dreams of the other. However, having said that, we are fully bound now on all levels, both conscious and subconscious. In a way, we have been for a long time; it's how we dream share. Conscious or no, Harry, the bond will not let you do something to me that I do not allow."

"How do you know this?"

"I don't, not concretely. However, remember the pain in your scar? What you were trying to do at the time felt 'wrong'. It's hard to explain, but it hurt, differently than when you changed the curse. There was a feeling that had you continued, it would prove harmful, and while I couldn't speak at the time and didn't quite know how to reach you, I did resist knowing somehow, with absolute trust and certainty, that you would feel it and stop immediately."

Harry was silent for quite some time and Severus could see from the random images and stray feelings filling his mind that Harry was confronting, and accepting, this notion that all of the previous barriers between them were now gone. Severus knew, from his own brief but decisive ruminations on the subject, exactly the incredulity his mate was feeling, although his own speedy surrender to it had shocked him a bit. He tried in his own fashion to let his bondmate know that his trust in him and their new relationship was boundless.

By slow degrees he could feel Harry relax against him as he began to understand what Severus had been trying to tell him. For two lonely souls, who so long had battled their separate demons apart, the concept of such total communion was hard to grasp. They were now one, they were now together, and now, they always would be.

Harry was almost dead weight on him, his breathing even and calm, his mind so quiescent that Severus thought him asleep, until he heard him murmur, "I was trying to destroy it."

It took him a few seconds to realise that Harry was referring to his attempt to change the scars on his chest. Funny, he hadn't even thought to look at what his lover had wrought. He smiled thinking he'd had other things on his mind at the time. Mentally shrugging, he knew there was time enough later to look at them as he lightly replied, "Ah, that explains the difficulty and illustrates my previous comments over the years that you did not pay attention while in school."

With ironic tartness, Harry rejoined, "Oh? How so? I don't recall anyone ever telling me that trying to destroy a Schema would result in my scar hurting."

Severus chuckled. "No, but one of the first lessons taught to first years is that magic can neither be created nor destroyed--it can only be harnessed."

Intrigued, Harry abruptly sat up and asked, "Does this mean that the amount of magic available for use is limited? Has anyone ever measured how much there is?"

Severus sighed patiently. "If one assumes that magic follows the same rules as everything else in the physical world, then yes, it would be finite." Warming to the subject, he continued, "And I don't believe anyone has ever created a unit of measure nor devised a means of quantifying it, just as no one has been able to do more than estimate the number of air molecules surrounding the earth. It's known there is a number, ever fluctuating, but not what it is."

Harry was silent for some moments, thinking hard. Finally he said, "Severus, I honestly don't remember that from any of my classes--ever--and it's important enough I think I would have."

"I can't answer for your other teachers. They may have assumed others had taught it, and I admit, some of this goes far beyond a lower form curriculum, but the first part was in my first day's lessons and has been ever since I started teaching."

Drolly, Harry asked, "Was that before the 'fame and glory' speech or after you stopped me from taking notes with your--?"

Severus winced at the memory Harry sent him. "All right, I get the picture. Perhaps I was slightly mistaken at the time." With the dig Harry gave him in his ribs, he amended, "Ow! Very mistaken." He kissed Harry briefly, murmuring, "Impudent brat."

"That's 'sexy impudent brat', I'll have you know," Harry said, grinning.

"Well, not then it wasn't," Severus retorted.

"Ewww!" Harry exclaimed, making a face. "I certainly hope not. I was far too skinny then."

Severus shot back without thinking, "And you're not now?"

Harry looked down in his lap, suddenly unsure. "Do you really think so?"

Severus sighed. He lifted Harry's face until he could see his eyes. "I think you're perfect; I was just teasing."

Harry's face lit up. "Really?"

"Really. I'm sorry, I was just trying to make you laugh; you always seems to like it, although, personally, I don't much see the appeal."

"Liar," Harry said.

Severus shook his head in mock dismay, his hands still framing his face. "Caught me." Running his thumbs over Harry's lips, he asked, "Whatever am I going to do with you?"

Waggling his brows, Harry replied, "You could just take me to bed."

Belying his previous statement to the contrary, Severus laughed. "Insatiable whelp! I'm afraid right now the only appeal the bed has for me is sleep."

"Who says we have to be in bed to bed? This window seat, for example, has proven itself wide enough before--or we could use the table--although, the sofa has its merits, or the--" He stopped and stared at the huge yawn Severus belatedly covered with his hand. As if their faces were linked as much as their minds, Harry yawned himself, saying, "Stop it. That's addicting, you know. Now you'll--" yawn "--have me doing it, too." Eyes watering, he sagged against Severus. "Damn, now I'm sleepy. Must be all the exercise we got earlier."

Severus laughed lightly. "Or else the bond is letting us know we need something other than what we want. Perhaps a nap would be in order." He craned his neck around the stone wall at his back to see the clock over the mantel. "We've a few hours before we need to go see the old bugger and still give ourselves plenty of time to get ready for the reception."

He unwrapped his leg bent over and around Harry, waiting for him to slide off the window seat so he could follow. Taking Harry's timely advice about the bathroom being on the way to the bedroom, Severus took a shower first (and by long-standing agreement the shower was the place of bathing, the bath the place for playing) while Harry cleaned his mouth (smiling broadly at his husband's dismal off-key humming) and took care of other necessary business. When done, they switched places, Severus shaking his head when he put the seal back on the oral cleaning potion Harry favoured after first drying himself off and using the loo.

Wading his way through the field in their bedroom (which seemed to be growing taller), Severus plucked off the top of a freesia stem before unselfconsciously dropping his dressing gown on the ground and climbing into the huge four-poster. It wasn't until he'd settled in that he realised someone, Dobby more than likely, had changed the sheets and freshened the bed. His clean body stretching luxuriantly against the fresh soft sheets mingling with the lingering sweet warm scents of clover and freesia and Harry all around him stirred his desire again, making him impatient for his husband's return.

Harry joined him shortly, his damp hair starting to fly wildly around his head, and before he knew it, he was on his back, his determined mate looming over him, stealing his breath with lips barely running over his, tongue skimming the sensitive surface of his bottom lip. "I've had some second thoughts about that nap," he breathed, resuming their kiss. Still teasing his mouth, Severus traced the blossoms of freesia down Harry's throat. Inhaling deeply, his lips followed the trail left by the flowers, Harry throwing his head back to give him more access to work his magic.

He whispered, low and husky, "They say the olfactory senses," he sucked on a soft patch of skin under Harry's ear, "are connected directly to the brain," his lips chased down the pulsing cord in Harry's throat, "as are the auditory senses," his tongue laved the vibrations from the noises Harry made with each labored exhalation, "but the sense of touch," he suckled his way down the column of Harry's neck, "takes a bit longer, while taste," he fastened his lips over the spot he now knew drove Harry crazy and sucked hard, "can be--"

"Ssshut up, Ssseverusss," Harry murmured, his body squirming as Severus kept nipping that place. Pulling Severus on top of him, he sealed his mate's mouth with his own, dancing their tongues together. When he finally heard the groan of need he'd been waiting for he pulled away, murmuring, "Mmmm. Whoever said intellect wasn't sexy obviously wasn't married to you."

Severus wriggled his hips into Harry's, gasping at the sensations flooding him. "Hmmm. And this," he pressed his husband deep into the bed, "is your 'intellect' speaking?"

Barely coherent, Harry managed an, "Uh huh."

Catching his breath, he whispered, "Keep talking, Harry. I'm all ears."

TBC