AN: So at the request of bellaandeddie1, I have decided to see where this story goes as a multi-chapter fic instead of a one-shot. Thank you to those of you who reviewed and helped me categorize and rate this properly.
Severus Snape sighed softly. He was in his office doing some marking after a late supper in the Great Hall. He had been so busy planning lessons earlier that he had missed the communal supper normally attended by everyone. Well. Truth be told, he had purposely avoided the communal supper. Why? Potter would be there.
It had been 3 days since the 'encounter' out by Hagrid's hut, and Severus Snape was upset. He was upset for a few reasons, all surrounding the common topic of young Harry Potter. Severus Snape was upset because he had apparently been rejected. It had been 3 days since the 'encounter' by Hagrid's hut. And there had been no word from the boy. There he had gone, comforting the boy, letting himself be used by a lusting, heartbroken teenage boy. And at the end of it all? He had revealed his feelings. Thrown them at the boy's feet to do with as he pleased.
"Pathetic," snapped Severus to the air of his office. Severus Snape was upset because he had these feelings to begin with. The professor was a man who prided himself on his distance. The cold, calculating, unfeeling mask with which he viewed the world, and through which the world looked back at him. He had never felt the need, or even the urge, to be with another human being intimately. He had never even desired friendship on the whole. Yes sometimes he got a bit lonely, but those moments were few and fleeting. He had known he was gay for as long as he could remember, but that had been more the result of introspection than attraction to another person. Yet here he was, sitting at his desk, upset over the rejection of a teenager. Moreover, a teenager whom he had rather hated up until a few weeks prior.
Severus Snape was upset because he realised that he had lied to the Potter boy. Despite not being a teenage boy he couldn't wait. He would hold this rejection against Harry. And he would not have been pleased had an illicit relationship begun between them; he would have been overjoyed. Ecstatic. Over the moon. There really was no word for what he was feeling. Or rather, what he would have felt.
Finally, Severus Snape was upset because his students were stupid. This was a normal upset and allowed him to focus his thoughts on something other than the stupid boy whom he was mooning over like a love-struck puppy.
"Idiot. Idiot. Idiot," he said as he marked each large red F on 3 subsequent papers. Could noone in this blasted school write a decent paper? Honestly. He was finally back into the marking rhythm, having pushed thoughts of Harry to the back of his mind, when a timid knock sounded on his door.
"Enter," he barked coldly. The door swung open to reveal a terrified but rather pleased looking Harry Potter. Snape swallowed heavily, a lump forming in his throat. "Yes Potter? What is it? I haven't got all night to entertain your silence in my office."
"Uhm. Ahem. Right. Ughh...I just wanted to say thank you for the other night, Professor. Jake saw you walk me back to the castle and he thought I'd gotten in a ton of trouble because I was upset at him. Between you and me, sir, I think he may have even been jealous of anyone other than him taking up my time! Anyway, he apologised and asked for another chance! And it's all thanks to you sir. So...thank you. Really. And I'm sorry for kissing you. I, uh, don't know where that came from. But thanks for pretending you were alright with it. You could have expelled me for that, but instead you made me feel wanted. I know it was an act, but..." Harry trailed off awkwardly. Snape felt like he had swallowed a shard of glass. Pain shot through him at Harry's words. He was back in a relationship. He didn't want Snape and never had. He was sorry for the kiss. The kiss that had trapped Severus in a spiral of feeling previously held in check. But Snape had never been one to show his weakness or his hurt.
"You are most welcome Mr. Potter. Do send my warmest regards to . I am certain that he will continue to be a most beneficial influence on your potions skills. Now if you are finished your drivelling, I have things to attend to," Snape finished in his usual icy tone. Harry looked at the Potions Professor with what seemed to Snape to be confusion, before turning around and exiting the office. Why should Potter be confused? He had himself stated that he knew the 'falsity' of Snape's words and actions. With an angry roll of his eyes and an ache of longing in his chest, Severus Snape continued to mark wretched papers in the silent half-darkness of his dungeon office.