Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. Only the events in this story are my own.
A/N: Thank you to my reviewers! I was delighted to see that I had reviews so soon after publishing my story. Thank you to Dark-Faerie161, Tekoneme, and asinininefreakshow - I am glad that you enjoyed Chapter 1!
As Harry stumbled along in the darkness, forgetting to light the tip of his wand to show him the way, he felt the pulling in his chest again. As he thought about Snape, the feeling grew stronger, almost painful. He could feel Snape's lips on his, feel their bodies entwined as they reached orgasm together.
Involuntarily, Harry moaned. And without realizing it, he had turned around and was running back to the dungeons.
The Potions Master cast several spells to repair the vial that Harry had dropped and to retrieve the cauldron that had rolled away across the dungeon. He Reduced the table and its contents, and then he put them into a black shoulder-bag.
Suddenly, he felt a straining in his chest so painful that tears came to his eyes. He slumped down against the wall, remembering how he and Harry had launched themselves at one another as soon as their bodies touched. He moaned with sadness and with remembered pleasure. The pulling increased, sweeping Snape to his feet. Within moments, he was running out of the dungeons and up to the Gryffindor dormitory.
In the darkness he heard footsteps; instinctively he knew whose they were, and an overwhelming rush of fierce joy swept over him. "Harry?" he called, slowing down.
"Professor?" came the boy's voice, and the footsteps slowed also. Suddenly Harry collided with his teacher, crying and kissing him with delight. Snape lifted Harry in his arms and carried him into a room across the hall.
The room turned out to be a teachers' lounge, and Snape carried the boy to the longest, softest sofa. With a quick spell to lock the door, they were free to hold one another in the beautiful darkness.
An hour later, Harry lay in Snape's arms, still sweaty but beginning to breathe normally. The Potions Master smelled of herbs and flowers. Harry snuggled closer.
"You know we can't do this every night," Snape murmured into Harry's hair.
"I know," Harry whispered back.
"I'm sorry that this happened," said Professor Snape softly. "I would never have given you the Warming Brew if I'd known that there was something else in it. And I should have not have taken my own potion without checking it first."
"Well, now that it's happened, maybe things will be better," Harry said hopefully. "I mean, you won't be so horrible in Potions class anymore, will you?"
Snape laughed quietly. "No, I suppose not. Not to you, anyway."
"Please be nice to Ron and Hermione, too. Don't take so many points off."
"That's cruel. Taking points from Gryffindors is what makes my life worth living." Snape kissed the top of Harry's head. "That, and spying for the Dark Lord. And now you, I suppose. We are soul mates, after all, joined for life and death."
"I never thought that this could happen with - well, with a man," said Harry. "I've only ever liked girls. But I guess the Soul Potion doesn't discriminate between genders."
"It would certainly seem so. And I never thought of myself as being gay, either. Homosexuality is fairly uncommon in the magical world."
"How do you think people will be with it?" Harry asked. "I admit that it's weird. Even I don't know that I like it."
"I honestly don't know how people will take our being together. They will have to accept it eventually; we'll always be together now, and they won't be able to avoid us completely."
"Where will we live once I graduate?"
"We can buy a house if you want, in Hogsmeade or somewhere else. That would be convenient if you wanted to teach at Hogwarts as well. But if you were set on living somewhere else, then we could move."
Harry smiled in the darkness. "I love the thought of living with you. If you promise that you won't be mean and sarcastic all the time."
"To you? Never." Snape laughed. Harry turned his face upward, and Snape kissed him on the lips.
Snape's hand had just begun to caress Harry's face when Harry heard a noise. Panting, he pulled his lips from Snape's. "What's that?"
Snape listened carefully. "Probably Filch. We should be quiet. When he goes away, you should go back to your dormitory."
Harry groaned. "I can't stand being without you. I felt so awful when I left the dungeon."
"But we shouldn't do anything yet. We can't be seen together; I would be fired, and you might be expelled."
"But we're - we're soul mates! What can anyone do about it?"
Snape sighed. "Harry, you're young. You don't understand. Teachers cannot get involved with students. Technically, I have raped you at least twice this evening."
"When I graduate," Harry said loyally, "it won't matter. We can live together and be happy."
"You have forgotten the Dark Lord," Snape pointed out.
"But why should Voldemort care?"
Snape drew in his breath sharply. "Do not say his name. I am his servant."
"But you're on our side!"
"I know that, but I cannot stand to hear his name spoken. I may be a spy, but I fear him as much as any one of his servants fears him. And if he learns that we are together, he will kill either or both of us."
Harry felt a surge of anger. Perhaps the older man was right; Voldemort would stop at nothing to ensure Harry's suffering or death.
"You should go," Snape said. He sat up, pulling Harry with him. For a moment he held the boy in his arms. "Morning is coming."
"How can I sleep after this? I want to be with you."
Snape sighed. "Come up to my room with me. I want to show you something."
They listened at the door; Filch must have gone. Quickly, they unlocked the door and hurried up to Snape's office.
-
Behind the Potions classroom was Snape's office, full of vials and potion ingredients and complicated recipes scratched on parchment. Snape led Harry into his office and locked the door. He then opened the door at the other end of his office.
Here was Snape's bedroom. It was small and dark, with a black curtain over the one window. A bed, covered with green sheets embroidered in silver, rested in the corner. There was a closet on one side, as well as a desk and a tall wooden bureau. Snape went to the bureau and opened one of the smaller drawers.
Harry sat down upon the bed and watched. Snape took out two delicate silver chains. Each had a small silver locket on it. Snape lit a candle and sat down next to Harry on the bed.
"These lockets have been passed down in my family for generations," Snape said. "All of my relatives have some like them. These, however, are originals, made hundreds of years ago by a famous silversmith named Sinistrus." He opened one of the lockets. Inscribed inside were the words Together Forever, Forever One.
"They're identical," continued Snape, opening the other locket, "made to ease the pain of lovers' separation."
Harry gasped. "Oh, Professor, they're beautiful!"
Snape smiled and kissed Harry. Then he took a pair of scissors from the desk and cut a lock of Harry's black hair. He pressed it carefully into one of the lockets.
"Should I cut some of your hair, too?" Harry inquired. Snape said yes, so Harry cut some of his professor's hair and put it into the second locket.
Snape put the locket containing his own hair around Harry's neck, and Harry put the other locket around Snape. When they had finished, they hid the lockets under their robes and made love in the bed for half an hour.
When the time came for Harry to part, they sat together for a long time. After a final kiss, Harry left Snape's rooms and ascended the stairs toward his own dormitory. The locket did its job; Harry felt no pain at parting, only a pleasant sense that at last, everything in his life was going the way that it was supposed to be.