Chapter 6

Severus was sitting behind his desk in his classroom, tidying up before he headed back to his quarters before dinner. It had been over a month since Harry had forcibly reinstated their meetings, which had happened roughly once a week since the surprise visit. He was pleased Harry hadn't brought up the subject of becoming romantically involved again, or done anything else other than make pleasant conversation. Every once in a while, when they would play chess, Severus would catch Harry looking at him with a strange look in his eye, but it was always gone in an instant, so he could never quite figure out what it was. Much as he didn't want to admit it, he began looking forward to their encounters, much like he had back when they'd started last year. But he wasn't thinking about Harry at the present moment, he was thinking about the headache reducing potion he was going to have to take after grading the latest round of essays from the week. It was no wonder most of the professors had no spouses or children – they would suffer sorely from neglect given the amount of grading and other related work the teachers were expected to do. He was resigned to his fate and made to push his chair back to get up when he heard a soft knock at the door.

"Professor?" A familiar, blond-haired face poked through the open doorframe.

"Mr. Malfoy?" Severus was genuinely surprised. "To what do I owe this most unexpected visit?"

"Might I come in?" Draco asked.

Severus nodded and scooted his chair back into his desk. Draco walked up and grabbed a chair on his way, set it down across from Severus and sat. Not a short chat, then, Severus thought, and waved his wand to shut and lock the door.

"How can I help you, Mr. Malfoy?" Severus inquired. While it was not rare to correspond with Draco, it was unusual for him to visit Severus at Hogwarts. This must be important to the man, Severus decided.

"Well, actually, I've come to talk some sense into you," Draco began, looking resigned.

"Pardon?" Severus asked, leaning forward in his chair, propping his elbows on the desktop.

"Well, to try, anyway – I don't know what makes anyone think I'll be successful. Apparently, I'm 'Plan B'."

"Speaking in code doesn't work well for me," Severus narrowed his eyes, beginning to realize what this discussion was going to be about – or not going to be about – Severus decided, thinking of ways to end the conversation immediately.

"Well, I'm the only one left," Draco conceded.

"The only one left?" Severus rethought his decision – perhaps this was not about Potter.

"Yes, well, the only two people who were ever able to have any sort of effect on you were my father and Dumbledore. Seeing as how my father is…disinclined…and Dumbledore dead, neither is really an option. I'm here in their stead."

"To do what, precisely?" Severus was wary again.

"Again, to talk some sense into you. If Dumbledore was here, he'd be raking you over the coals. I'm not going to be nearly as good at it as he always was, but I've got to try."

"Well, whatever it is, spit it out," Severus demanded, "I've things to do."

"Stop being stupid," Draco said bluntly.

"Such tact," Severus said coolly.

"Really, it's driving everyone crazy. Not just Potter."

Of course. Silly me, thinking it was something legitimate. It is always about Potter.

"Mr. Malfoy, I assure you, this conversation will not end well for you. I suggest you leave. Now."

"Look, Severus, I'm not going to beat around the bush. It's high time someone put you in your place. I may not be as skilled at it as my father or Dumbledore, but I sure as hell am going to try. It would be easier if I could just smack you around a bit, but I don't fancy a trip to St. Mungo's, so a verbal lashing will simply have to do. What is the matter with you? Why are you being so obstinate?"

Forgetting he had ordered Draco to leave, Severus riled, "I am most certainly not being obstinate!"

"Of course you are," Draco rolled his eyes. "That's what you do."

"Why on Earth are you here trying to play matchmaker, Mr. Malfoy, I do not have time for such dalliances."

"First of all, I'm here because I am attempting to save you from what I assure you would be a most unpleasant visit from the former Ms. Granger. I told her I thought I could make you see sense, but I allowed that if I am unsuccessful, she is welcome to have a go at you. Second, is that all you think this is to him? A 'dalliance'?"

"I do not merely think so, I am most sure of it."

Draco shook his head. "How in the world could you have come to that conclusion?"

"Because, Mr. Malfoy, as I have tried – on several occasions – to make clear to Mr. Potter, I refuse to be the person he uses to heal emotionally from his tragedy only to be tossed away when he realizes he has recovered enough to seek out more appropriate options."

Draco's eyes went wide before he rolled them and shook his head. "Harry may be hot-tempered, but he's remarkably careful with his heart. Never – not with Cho, or Ginny, or any other relationship he had in school – female or otherwise – never was he the one to end it. He puts everything into his relationships – he does not use people."

Severus was forced to pause before continuing, "Well, at any rate, he ought to – I don't know – 'test the waters', as it were, before trying to engage with someone who is in no way interested in a short-term affair."

Draco snorted, "Right. Because Potter has always been one to toe the waters. No, he always dives in head first. Usually into the shallow end."

This time, Severus was the one to roll his eyes. Draco was at least right about that.

"And how do you know that I am not refusing for other reasons? Perhaps I am not even interested?"

Draco leveled him an incredulous glare, raising his brow. "Please. The way you look at him is positively nauseating. Ever since the war. If I didn't know you the way that I do, I'd go so far as to say it's pathetic. I mean, back then, with Ginny there, he was never going to see you, we all knew that, but I mean, for God's sake, man – even she knew. She practically begged him as her dying wish to get together with you so you could both be happy."

Severus felt annoyed, "Yes, he mentioned something about that."

Draco nodded his head in what was clearly a 'dear Lord I hope you're finally getting this' sort of way. "Yes. She wrote him a letter, in case something ever happened to her, and basically told him to go run into the sunset with you. In not so many words."

Severus sat back, recovered. "Regardless, I am too old and have been through too much to begin some sort of adolescent love affair."

Draco was growing impatient. "Oh stop, Severus. It's getting so tiring – you playing the martyr. Get over yourself already. I swear to you, if you don't do something, you're going to have lots more people to answer to – and they won't be nearly as pleasant. Or tactful."

"Yes, because that is something you obviously have in spades."

"Seriously. You both deserve it. To be happy. Together. Do something about it."

Severus put his head in his hands, elbows still propped on the desk. "Go," he said in a muffled voice. "You've made your point. Please, please tell Mrs. Weasley that a visit from her will not be necessary."

Draco didn't reply as he got up and made his way to the door. Severus picked up his wand from the desk and muttered the counterspell to unlock it. He didn't have to look up.

Back in his quarters, Severus wracked his brains for what he could do. He was completely unconvinced that Potter's intentions were for something serious or long term. He was positive that after a few weeks, months – if things went well – that Potter would realize what a mistake it was to invest romantically with him. And he knew their friendship would never survive it. He didn't honestly know what hurt more to think about – being rejected or losing a friend. He decided he needed some way to test the depth of Potter's commitment. What could he do to see if it were something Potter was serious about? It took him a while, but he finally had a brain burst.

Harry untied the paper from the Owl and unrolled it.

Mr. Potter,

As you may, or may not, be aware, I was treated to a most unexpected and unwelcome visit from the younger Mr. Malfoy yesterday. In the event you were not privy to his trip, he attempted to 'make me see sense' about your interest in a more intimate relationship. I emphatically explained to him that I remain entirely skeptical that this desire of yours – whether you intend for it to be or not – is little more than the need to fill an emotional void, which will pass quickly. If, as you so desperately insist, this is not the case and you truly believe your feelings to be of a more long term nature, I adamantly request that you tell your children about your desire to be with me and secure their approval before moving forward. I refuse to be a source of familial discord. You may Owl me when you have completed this task. Should you choose not to do so, you may rest assured that for quite some time in the future, I shall not be engaging in any games of chess with you.

Professor Snape

Harry smiled. Leave it to Severus to turn a molehill into a mountain. The man could rival Dickens, he smirked.

It was so close to the Christmas holidays that Harry decided to wait until all his children had converged at the house to explain his situation. He was reasonably sure they wouldn't mind that Harry was dating again (although he wouldn't necessarily call it dating, per se), but he truly wasn't sure if they would have a problem with it being Severus. Lily was still his student, after all. Perhaps she would request that they wait until summer, after she had graduated. That, he could do. If they had any further qualms, he decided, then that was too bad. They could get over it.

When he returned home with Lily from King's Cross, James and Albus were already in the living room, sipping wine and talking.

"Dad!" they both exclaimed, and got up to welcome their father and sister home. At dinner that evening, Harry decided to broach the subject of him and Severus.

Best to start small, he thought to himself. "So, I was hoping I could talk with you three about something. Something important. And I'd appreciate it if you could keep an open mind."

All three children looked at him quizzically. "Of course, Dad," James said, as if there were nothing in the world his father could say that would upset him.

"Well, it's been over a year since your mother passed, and, well…I was hoping you wouldn't be too opposed to me seeing someone new."

James, Albus and Lily exchanged looks across the table. The two youngest deferred to James. "Are you…are you asking our permission…to date someone?"

"Well, that's putting it badly," Harry said. "More that I want to make sure you don't get angry – thinking I'm dishonoring your mother's memory."

"Dad," Albus spoke this time, "we all read the letter Mum wrote you. We know better than anyone that she wanted you to be happy."

"We're surprised it's taken you this long, actually," James said. "We were sort of under the impression you'd already started."

Harry raised his brow. "What gave you that impression?"

James responded evasively, "Oh, you know, you've just sort of been in a better mood for the past few months."

"Hm. Well, no, I didn't want to start anything without mentioning it to you three first. I didn't want to take you by surprise." Really, it was insensitive of me not to have thought to do this myself. Points to Severus, he thought to himself.

"Well, that's very thoughtful, Dad," Lily smiled.

"Do you mind telling us who it is? Who you'd like to start seeing?" James asked. "I mean, do we know the person?"

Ah, Harry thought, here comes the hard part. How do you tell your three children, over dinner, that you are not, in fact, solely attracted to women? Awkward was too kind a term.

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Best to start at the beginning, he decided. "Well, erm, there are some things you don't really know about me," Harry started. "When I was younger, I dated a lot. Well, not really a lot, I suppose, but more than just your mother."

"We figured that," James was slightly sarcastic.

Harry cleared his throat. "Well, all the people I dated, before your mother, well, they weren't all…erm…they weren't all exactly girls." Harry waited for the revelation to sink in and for the verbal barrage to start.

"Ok," James responded after what Harry considered to be quite a short silence, given the bombshell he had just dropped. "And?"

Harry's eyes turned into saucers. "And what? Aren't you…aren't you…upset? Shocked? Disgusted?"

James exchanged an exasperated look with his siblings. "Really Dad, we're adults. We've been in the real world – well, Al and I have, but Lily's no babe-in-the-woods – we know how things work. Guys like guys, girls like girls, some people like everyone. Now, if you start telling us you want to spend some quality time with the owls…or maybe the garden gnomes…then we might have to start a serious discussion."

Harry had to suppress a smirk. It was impossible that they could be taking this so well.

But James was not to be deterred. "So, I suppose you're trying to tell us you want to start seeing a bloke. Fine. You still didn't tell us if we know him. And if we don't, when will we get to meet him? I mean, we'll have to decide if he's good enough for you," James winked and Harry blanched.

"That's supposed to be my job for Lily's dates."

"Who says you get to have all the fun?" James teased. "Seriously, who is he? Someone from work?"

Well, Harry decided, in for a Knut, in for a Galleon, and he took a deep breath. "No. It's Professor Snape."

Again, the shrieks of terror and discontent were absent, and James responded after an inordinately short period of time.

"Excellent! Thank God it won't be some awkward, over-dinner-conversation meeting."

"Excuse me?" Harry was dumbfounded. "Have you all lost your minds? I just told you that I am interested in dating a man – and not just any man, but Severus Snape, whom all of you had at school, and are brutally aware that he is not…charming."

"Don't tell him you said that, he won't want to go out with you," Al joked.

"My children are stand-up comedians." Harry was still struck silly.

"Well it's about damn time," James said. "We've been hoping you'd get on with it for ages. The way you looked at each other last Christmas, and then at Mum's celebration, it was pathetic."

"It was not," Lily admonished, "it was sweet."

Albus snorted, "He'd love to hear that."

James wagged his eyebrows.

"I still cannot, for the life of me, understand how you are all three taking this so lightly."

"Dad," Lily said in a tone that reminded him of when Ginny was teaching something to the children when they were small, "we've known for a long time that you and Professor Snape have a…well, a special relationship. Mum sort of explained it to us."

"Along with Uncle Ron," James interjected.

"And Aunt Hermione," Lily continued. "We want you to be happy. Mum knew you two would be happy together. We know he won't replace Mum – we know you don't even want him to. But if he can give you what you need, can make you happy, then who are we to stand in your way? We can only hope that whomever we choose to spend our lives with, you will be so open and supportive."

Harry wasn't entirely sure he hadn't been hit with a Petrificus Totalus spell.

"So, when's he going to come 'round for dinner?" James finally asked, breaking the silence.

Severus,

I have done as you requested. My children seemed to be most insistent that you and I, and I quote, 'get on with it', and let me know it was 'about damn time' – I quote again. I hope to see you at the Weasley's holiday party next week, and perhaps have a conversation about any other excuses you can find to stall.

Yours, Harry

Would the Potter line never cease to be the bane of his existence? Damn the effing brat, Severus swore in his head, putting the note down on his desk and staring out the window. Well, at the charmed square of wall, rather – there were no windows in the dungeons. He had been counting on Harry to either refuse to tell his children, or at least for one of them to have voiced an insurmountable protest to the proposal. Damn it.

He figured he had no reasonable excuse to not attend the Christmas party now, and he didn't like the idea of another unsolicited visit from Mrs. Weasley, so he found the invite and checked the 'yes' box on the RSVP, then summoned an Owl from the school tower and sent it off to Sussex.