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Auction Prompt: Day 26, Auction 3: In Vino Veritas (Drunken Confessions)
Word Count: 632
The Good Kind Of Hangover
The room was hazy, and Harry was a little bit sure that either his glasses had been cursed to make him see double, or he was possibly a tiny bit drunk.
But only a tiny bit.
"I love you, you know," he offered up to his drinking companion.
There was silence, and then a rather inelegant snort, and Harry turned his head to look at Severus, who was staring at him over a tumbler of whisky with a disbelieving look on his face.
"No you don't."
Harry frowned. "I do, you know. I mean. You were never supposed to find out, and I'm sure I'm going to be mortified when I'm not a tiny bit drunk like I am now, but… I do love you. I have done for ages now."
"Potter—"
"You call me Harry now, Severus."
Severus rolled his eyes. "Harry… you're a bit more than 'a tiny bit' drunk, and… well, you're correct that you'll be mortified in the morning, that's a certainty."
"Do you love me too?" Harry asked softly. "It's fine if you don't. Maybe it's better if I know, and then I can try and move on to someone who can love me. Or I won't, but I can try. Maybe."
Severus shook his head, and sighed. "What I feel about this doesn't matter. You're young, you're… well, let's face it, you're probably the most eligible bachelor in Wizarding England. You could have anyone you wanted."
"Except the one person I do actually want," Harry pointed out. "It's fine, Sev, don't try and save my feelings. Am a big boy now."
He drained his glass and tried to offer up a smile that he thought probably didn't work, but he was sure Severus would understand. He stood up on unsteady legs and was about to leave Severus' quarters for his own when Severus called him back.
He was standing quite solidly, which seemed unfair to Harry, since he was quite sure the man had drunk a lot more than he had. He was also holding out a potion.
"What is it?" Harry asked, taking the vial. He opened it and grimaced at the scent of it.
"Sobering potion," Severus said quietly.
Harry frowned, but drank the potion, and he waited, trying not to vomit, for it to take effect.
When it did, he groaned, pressing a hand to his head. Sobering potions really should help avoid the hangover, but they really didn't.
As he thought over the evening, and realised exactly what he'd confessed, he groaned again.
"How much do you hate me?" he asked, not bothering to open his eyes.
"Look at me," Severus murmured.
When Harry did so, Severus cupped his cheek. "Did you mean it?"
"Did I—of course I meant it," Harry replied, leaning into the touch despite himself. "I also meant it when I said you were never supposed to know. We worked so hard to be friends, Severus, I didn't want to ruin that."
Severus moved his hand, and then made a show of drinking his own sobering potion. Harry knew it'd had the desired effect when Severus grimaced, wincing at the light in the room.
He still made the effort to meet Harry's eyes when he said, "I love you too."
Harry grinned at him, and then stopped because it hurt his face. "As wonderful as this is, I'm going to have to go and sleep this hangover off," he admitted. "But we're definitely revisiting this. Definitely. Like, as soon as the hangover is gone."
Severus chuckled weakly. "Come lie with me," he suggested, nodding at his bedroom. "Just to sleep. We can talk in the morning."
Harry offered his hand, and when Severus took it and led him towards the bedroom, Harry decided the hangover was definitely worth it.
