CHAPTER 38

A/N: Hope you all had a great Christmas! I did, and I'm still digesting the turkey! A marriage and bonding ceremony are two different processes in this story. Severus is not asking to marry Harry again. Harry is protected by Severus's blood via a magical contract, but Severus refused to accept Harry as his protector, so they performed a one-way bond. However, due to the Ministry's restrictions, only married couples are allowed to have a bonding ceremony and contract. Now, Severus is asking Harry to be his (Severus's) protector (the bond would thus become two-way).

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Severus looked anxiously into Harry's eyes, waiting for an answer.

"You mean…are you asking me for my blood protection?" Harry asked slowly.

"I want to be protected by you as you are protected by me," Severus stated.

"Yes, I will undergo a second bonding ceremony with you," Harry whispered, leaning his forehead against Severus's. It was like Severus had proposed to him; and in a way that was what he had done, even though marrying and bonding were two different things but interconnected – especially since the bonding ceremony could only be performed if the participants were married.

"Thank-" Severus started, but Harry interrupted him sternly:

"Don't say it."

Severus smiled; Harry could sound uncannily like the Potions Master himself when he imitated Severus's strict stance.

"When shall we bond?" Harry asked eagerly. Severus summoned a wizarding agenda from his room. It thudded onto the bed between them. Harry grinned. Severus was always meticulous.

"Let's see. In June…" The agenda obligingly moved its own pages until it had reached June.

Severus was silent for a few moments.

"The bond will have to be consummated," he murmured. Harry understood immediately; Severus was thinking of that wretched night again…

"Do I get to top you?" he asked jokingly, trying to prevent Severus from hesitating or brooding – or even changing his mind. It worked; Severus raised an eyebrow.

"You will definitely assume a superior position in bed and have the honour of deflowering me," he said loftily.

"I will 'assume a superior position in bed'? Honestly, Sev! That sounds too funny!" Harry laughed.

"It was meant to tickle your humour," Severus observed with a wry smile. Harry studied the agenda which was flapping its pages impatiently at them.

"Mid-June?" Harry suggested.

"The fifteenth?"

"Yes."

"The fifteenth it is," Severus replied.

Before June started, however, Harry and Severus overcame the major obstacle in their relationship: putting the memory of their consummation behind them. Their physical explorations naturally included little accidents which were bound to happen to any couple.

Thus, Harry knocked over the lamp on his side of the bed with an uncontrolled arm while Severus kissed his delightfully sensitive stomach. It fell down and broke with a loud crash. Another time, Severus's long hair slapped Harry in the eye, and yet another time, they accidentally set the bedclothes on fire because Severus had forgotten to extract his wand from the tangle of sheets; Harry rolled upon it, and a stream of sizzling sparks ignited the sheets, causing the wizards to leap out of bed stark naked, Harry snatching up his own wand and bellowing "Aguamenti!"

"See, our love set the sheets on fire," Harry chortled as he admired the soaking bedclothes.

Severus rolled his eyes and did not deign to answer; but he was glad that these little mishaps encouraged rather than discouraged their intimacy.

An equally memorable incident took place when they were writhing around in the sheets and forgot that they were approaching the edge of the bed. There was a warning shout from Severus, a sliding sound, a thud and a moan.

Green eyes blinked down into black ones.

"Sev?"

"I think we'll need to activate a Compass Charm."

"Are you okay?"

"I cannot ascertain any damage."

Harry grinned. Severus's lofty vocabulary in such a situation struck him as most amusing.

However, Severus was especially hesitant to even hint that he wanted to sleep with Harry. His Boggart had changed to a bloodstained lifeless-eyed Harry tangled naked in the sheets – a horrible sight which made Severus sick to his stomach. He did not tell Harry about this in case he upset the youth. He knew that Harry was tired of the issue and seemed to have dealt with it faster than Severus had. Harry, however, had become adept at sensing when something was bothering his husband. He noticed that Severus shied away from taking their relationship to the next level. He would gaze into Severus's eyes and see the longing written there, the question which dreaded receiving a negative answer, which nearly seemed to expect a turning-away with disgust and repulsion…and he knew what he had to do. If Severus pushed his students, then Severus himself needed a push; and one night, when Harry was in Severus's bed, exchanging passionate kisses and caresses with his husband, he asked:

"Sev, will you make love to me? If you are ready?"

Severus caught his breath. He had had sex with Harry, but that had been under very different and appalling circumstances. He scanned Harry's face, resisting the temptation to use Legilimency in order confirm what he had just heard. He still found it hard to believe that there was someone who loved him.

"Harry, are you absolutely certain that you want this?" he asked finally.

"Yes. Absolutely. And you?"

"Yes."

"Can we face each other? I want to look into your eyes," Harry said.

"Yes, of course we can face each other." Not like last time when we had no eye contact at all, both wizards thought. Severus had discussed "male-male mechanics" and protection with Harry; he was certain that Harry knew all that he had to know in this context. While they prepared for the most intimate contact they had ever indulged in, Severus explained to Harry what he was going to do, managing to soothe and arouse Harry with kisses and caresses at the same time. He guided Harry into a comfortable position on the bed, with the youth's legs resting upon his shoulders; he wanted to start all over again, as if he had never claimed Harry's body before.

Later, Harry's body and soul were opening up to Severus like a flower unfurling its petals, embracing a thirsty drinker of its nectar. Severus sipped at Harry's well of honey, intoxicated by his unique flavour. They were two dewdrops meeting to become one, nestling up to each other and fusing; and the sunrays shone upon them, turning them iridescent and making them evaporate into another realm of the world, and when it was over, they lay together in a damp hug. They did not speak; the gaze they shared said more than enough. Severus was not the type who said, "I love you" all the time, but Harry had learnt that Severus showed his love in other, more subtle ways. His usually impassive and frequently even sullen face would soften at the sight of his husband; and when Harry smiled, Severus would smile as well.

Severus became a muse for Harry; the youth was sketching and drawing more than ever, and Professor Mukherjee was very pleased, remarking that he had true talent and was developing it further. Harry told her that his husband was one of the sources of his inspiration, and she smiled at the straightforward sweetness of his statement. He asked her whether she would be able to attend his bonding ceremony with Severus, since she had contributed to his drawings; for it had been art which had slowly overcome the barriers between him and Severus. She could unfortunately not attend the event, but she gave Harry an excellent magical self-replenishing watercolour set, and Severus received a fine bottle of his favourite elf-made wine. Albus Dumbledore supplied the couple with bonding robes which had been specially measured and tailored for them; last time, they had had to borrow a set. The only one who was displeased, or did not make the effort to hide any sentiments of displeasure, was Professor Trelawney, who had been predicting that the marriage would end disastrously, involving Harry's death in a boiling cauldron. The rest of the staff had thought that she basically had a point but that it didn't require any Divination skills to come to such a conclusion. When Severus and Harry proved them completely wrong, Trelawney insisted that the marriage would go wrong anyway – their love would only last temporarily. Her colleagues, who had seen the close connection between Severus and Harry, did not bother to listen to her; Harry and Severus themselves knew better. If there was one thing Severus and McGonagall had in common besides being strict, then it was their intense dislike where Trelawney and her subject were concerned. Firenze, the other Divination teacher, simply said that it was all written in the stars and planets, and that he was not surprised. On being asked about the couple's future, the centaur diplomatically observed that the paths of future in the nocturnal skies were currently illegible.

On the day of the ceremony, Harry smoothed his pearly light-grey robes with a smile. Dobby moved around him excitedly, checking the sleeves. Harry recalled their last bonding. The two weeks which followed. And that humiliating night…

Never again. I once told myself that I would never do this again with Severus. And I won't. Because this time, it will be completely different, he thought. Who would have even imagined that he and Severus would fall in love with each other?

Remus Lupin, Dumbledore, Hermione and Ron would attend the bonding ceremony. Dumbledore had been overjoyed on receiving his invitation.

"Sometimes, my dear bird, I cannot help being a teeny bit proud of my plans," he said to Fawkes. Fawkes uttered a chuckling trill and rubbed his head against Dumbledore's hand. Dumbledore rubbed his hands.

"You had a Burning Day last time…you will be able to enjoy the ceremony today," Dumbledore added, looking around the office; all the furniture had been moved out of the way, and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled when the door opened to admit the first guests: Ron and Hermione, dressed in formal robes.

As was traditional, Severus and Harry had to go separately to the site of the bonding ceremony – Dumbledore's office, like last time. Harry arrived first and Severus a few minutes later. All the guests were already there. Greene, who had presided over the marriage and bonding ceremony last year, was preparing the office for the rituals while Madam Pomfrey bustled about with the bonding needles, checking their sharpness and state of hygiene.

"Congratulations, Severus. I am very happy for you and Harry," Remus Lupin said, and his smile was genuinely warm and affectionate. He had dignity, but he was also very good-natured and reluctant to keep grudges. He held out his hand. Severus took it.

"Thank you, Remus," he said somewhat stiffly. It was the first time he had ever pronounced Remus's name. Harry, in the meantime, was hugging Hermione.

"Oh, Harry, it's simply marvellous!" she nearly squealed.

"Yes, it is," Ron agreed, although he looked a little sceptical. People were talking genially; Fawkes was watching everyone and everything with his intelligent beady eyes; and Dumbledore was discreetly sucking a lemon drop. Then it was time for the ceremony to begin. Severus and Harry removed their shoes and socks, standing barefoot in the room, hands clasped. Harry gave Severus's hand a little squeeze. He recalled how Severus had dug his nails viciously into his palm when they had walked in a circle. Severus's hand was warm and firm in his grip, their fingers intertwined, and the Potions Master returned the squeeze.

Severus listened intently to the bonding words – words which he had dismissed as idealistic sentimental rubbish for foolish people who had been weak enough to succumb to the stupid thing called love. With what hatred and cynicism he had entered this very room a little less than a year ago…

Ron went somewhat green as the needle was inserted into the lovers' wrists; Hermione noticed and gave him a pull-yourself-together-Ronald-Weasley glare. Harry and Severus seemed oblivious to the fact that people were watching them; they were completely absorbed by each other. When the couple walked around the room in a circle after the bloodletting ritual, Hermione felt her nose and eyes prickle. Even Ron, who had overcome his queasiness triggered by the needles and blood, was looking deeply impressed. Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin were beaming. Midway, when Harry and Severus turned their heads and looked each other with glowing smiles, someone sighed with deep emotion. The laws of acoustics located the source of the sigh in Dumbledore's proximity; but most beautiful of all was the moment when Fawkes began to sing; the phoenix opened his beak as soon as Harry and Severus started to walk in a circle. The melody was one of pure of happiness and made everyone present shiver with awe. Severus released Harry's hand and slipped his arm around the youth's waist, drawing him even closer to him. Harry did the same, and that was how they accomplished the rest of the bonding ceremony.

When the ceremony was over, they exchanged a fond embrace and kiss. Dumbledore surreptitiously wiped a tear from the corner of his eye – and he was not the only one. Drinks and snacks were passed around; it was a quiet little celebration. Once everyone was ready to leave, Severus scooped Harry up in his arms and carried him out of Dumbledore's office with cheers and applause in the background.

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