I forgot to say this in the first chapter, so: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, not me (unfortunately ='[), no copyright infringement intended.
AN: So, I'm updating! :D Well, if you wish you can choose not to read any further, if you prefer the story as a one-shot (as you might well do after reading this... can you tell how un-confident I am in my own writing?). But I hope you'll like it. =]

(I had to remove this chapter a couple of times for editing reasons, so notifications might have gone weird =S sorry)

Harry felt as if something very heavy had been dropped on top of his head, possibly Hagrid. Yes, that would be less surreal than what was happening right now. "We wish to formally arrange our engagement." That one sentence had paralysed him, turned him into little more than a gaping statue. As he felt himself being dragged into the Minister's office by a cold hand gripping his arm, vaguely hearing oily sentiments of apology and 'Come right this way's from said Minister, the same thoughts flew around and collided in Harry's head again and again: 'All I have to do is tell him, just speak up and tell him, tell him the truth.' But that would mean serious trouble for both him and Severus. There was no easy way out of this.

In the Minister's office, Harry Potter was trying to move his lips as little as possible. He whispered to Severus out of the very corner of his mouth: "What... wh- what... why-"

"As eloquent as ever, Potter."

Harry glared at him. "Shut up."

Looking back on it, Harry nearly had a nervous breakdown as he realised what his stupid mouth had done, and then realised that Snape hadn't reprimanded him. Well, this was a rather exceptional circumstance.

Back in the office, Harry gave up trying to say "Why are we doing this, I don't want to marry you" and began marshalling his thoughts to think of a convenient loophole. Unfortunately, he could really have used Hermione at this point; he was sure her knowledge of wizarding law far surpassed his and maybe even Severus'.

"Well, well, let's begin shall we?" the Minister asked nervously, having returned from his outer office to fetch some papers, fixing his idea of a fatherly smile onto his face. "There's no need to be all formal about this, if you'll pardon the pun, we're all friends here."

"Indeed," Severus purred, draping a possessive arm around Harry's unresisting shoulders. Although the action was meant to look warm and caring, only Harry could feel the icyness of the Potions Master's skin where it rested against his neck. The words, 'He's going to murder me...'came to mind.

Fudge continued, oblivious of Harry's discomfort. "Now, I just need to make sure that both parties are, ahh, aware of how serious the commitment of a wizarding marriage bond is. We wouldn't want anyone rushing into this unaware of all the details, would we..." he trailed off with a questioning look at Harry. It was obvious that he wasn't convinced that Harry was serious about this: the thought that Severus had somehow coerced Harry into this had crossed his mind. This was a direct challenge, aimed at Severus. Snape knew this, drew himself up and leaned into Harry, nuzzling into his soft, spiky hair. 'I could get used to this...'

"We know what we're doing..." Severus responded smoothly. On cue, Harry smiled coyly and gently took the older man's hand. He saw the shock flit briefly across Severus' face and whispered very close, almost lovingly into his ear, so that only he could hear: "You're not the only one that can act."

After an hour of idle talk and promises to meet again soon to 'tidy up the details', Harry staggered into the corridor with Snape close on his heels. He was visibly trembling - the shock of what this meant had begun to hit home, and he only wanted to get back to Hogwarts and let Professor Dumbledore take care of everything. For all his performance, Harry didn't want to go through with it. But when he turned to go back the way they had come, he found Snape blocking his path, expression dark and arms folded. Harry couldn't bring himself to look him in the eye, he wondered if Snape would hit him.

"Sit down, Potter."

Harry, forgetting his humiliation, looked up in surprise. The man was serious.

"We're not going anywhere until you sit down, so make it today, if you would."

Harry noted the forced courtesy in his voice as he slowly sank to the floor. Was this how they had to address eachother now, with pretend civility and politeness? This was no better than how the Dursleys treated him. If Snape couldn't bring himself to sound like he gave a damn even now, what would he be like when they were alone? Harry clenched his fists, heart pumping faster. He had proved he could live without false friendliness, hadn't he? He had suffered eleven years knowing his only living family couldn't care less whether he lived or died! He wasn't about to suffer the same fate gladly for the rest of his life! He subconsciously drew up his knees and hugged them.

"Harry?" The tentative, respectful tone caught him off-guard and Harry inadvertently let out a sob he wasn't aware he had been holding in, and was immediately furious with himself for showing weakness in front of the other man.

Unexpectedly, he heard a quiet sigh. He looked up to see Snape leaning against the opposite wall looking as if he had all the cares of the world on his shoulders. Snape turned and caught his gaze, and to Harry's surprise it wasn't at all hostile. The older man slid down the wall into a sitting position, and relaxed. Harry saw the years drop off his face, and felt guilty for only being concerned with himself.

"I'm sorry."

It was Snape's turn to be quizzical. He looked at Harry sharply.

"What on earth for?"

Harry dipped his head a little. "For letting this become all about me. I'm sorry. For what you had to do. I should have thought of a way out of this, it's my fault this happened." He added bitterly, "It's always my fault. I'm never good enough, smart enough, quick enough to prevent the bad things from happening, even though it's my responsibility."

"Harry..." Was he going to contradict him? For once, was someone going to say that he didn't have to do everything alone, that the world wouldn't end if he let someone else take over for once? "How did your aunt and uncle raise you?"

The non-sequitur caught Harry off-guard. "You mean Professor Dumbledore didn't tell you?" Harry began cautiously. "Well, I wouldn't call it 'raising' - that would imply that they cared how I turned out. Honestly, you're worried about this now? What's the matter, scared your fiance hasn't been brought up with a proper sense of morals, pride and such like?" Harry only meant it as a gentle tease, to try and lighten the situation and draw attention away from the fact that he hadn't answered properly, but Severus' face was stormy. Suddenly he leapt to his feet, and began pacing (scaring the life out of Harry).

Cue an awkward silence. Then, as if he could hold it in no longer, Snape burst out:

"I don't understand you!"

'Well,' Harry thought sarcastically, 'that was clear from the moment you laid eyes on me.'However, all he said out loud was "Which bit?" accompanied with a rare wry smile.

"The 'bit' where you endeavour to put a brave face on every hardship thrown at you - and succeed! Even the thought of being married off to your most loathed, hook-nosed slimy Slytherin tutor cannot turn your stomach. What will it take? The bit where the wizarding world is determined to turn you into their Atlas, scapegoat, whatever you wish to call it, and offload their pathetic insecurities and inablities to defend themselves onto you - and you let them!" Severus turned and looked Harry directly in the eye. "Why haven't you rejected this path yet, struck out at the world?" Harry heard the silent, unspoken suffix: "It's what I would have done!"

Harry shrugged. "Hardship is all I've ever known."

"My dear boys, how went the plan? What part went wrong?" Harry looked at Snape, aghast. Could Dumbledore tell, just from his expression?

"H- How do you know that something went wrong, sir?"

"Oh, it always does! That's one of my favourite parts of a good plan - the debrief. Now I find out which of my ideas took flight and which were fatally flawed. It's the most interesting part!"

"Yeah, come on Harry, we wanna piece of the action! Did you have to curse anyone?"

"Ron! That's so insensitive! What if Harry really HAD had to hurt someone, how would he feel now? Honestly..."

"Well, err..."

Truth be told, Harry was more apprehensive about his friend's reactions to his news than he would be about facing an ARMY of Ministry wizards.

Without his wand.

Harry glanced at Severus - it would be too weird to call him Snape now, now that they were... Anyway, Severus didn't look his usual acerbic, impassable self; the signs were hard to detect, but Harry could see them: a tiny tremor of the hands, clearing his throat a little before he spoke...There was something different. Now, as Severus returned the glance with a look of 'here goes' in his eyes, Harry felt that they were united in a front against the inevitable backlash of their upcoming revelation. Side by side they stood, rigid as gargoyles, once again in Dumbledore's office. Except it seemed that this time the whole Order had turned up, eager for news of the mission. And there was one person in particular who, Harry was sure, was not going to take the news well... The thought initially filled Harry witha spiteful glee. Maybe having his throat almost ripped out by a livid dog would make Snape less... A bit more... Actually, Harry couldn't see that it would be of any advantage to himself; it would probably just make Snape more hostile towards him.

"Err... could we have a moment alone? Please?" The members of the Order looked at eachother curiously but Dumbledore agreed with a twinkle in his eye.

The room emptied, the members filed out into the ante-chamber and the door closed. Harry exploded.

"What the hell are we going to tell them? 'Oh, Harry, Severus, how did the mission go?' 'We got engaged.' Yes, I can see that going down well. Now we're stuck with eachother!"

Snape merely smirked. "Until death do us part, indeed."

"Might be sooner than you think," Harry muttered bitterly.

"Do you have any better suggestions? What can we do but learn to accept it and carry on with our lives? You never know, Potter, we may be able to use it to some advantage."

"Oh, that's all you Slytherins think about, isn't it, how to twist things to your advantage. And please don't call me 'Potter'. It seems... inappropriate, considering we areengaged."

"Well, if you wish to be allowed to address me by my first name you will have to make more of an effort to be civil."

"Excuse me, allowed? I have every right to!"

Harry cocked his head to the side curiously, and added, "If I may say so, you're taking this a lot better than I would have expected. A day ago I would have said that you despised me."

Snape paused, his dark eyes blank and expression unreadable.

"Let's just say... recent events have caused me to take a different perspective."

"Alright..." Harry blushed. "Umm... but, what are we going to say to everyone?"

"Worries about what your little friends will think?" replied Snape, with a hint of his old sneer.

"Yes, actually," Harry shot back. "Aren't you? I doubt your Slytherins will be too happy."

"You underestimate the Slytherin ability to presume that everyone sees the world as we do."

Harry shook his head, indicating his non-apprehension.

"They will assume that I intend to marry you for your public status and popularity, and that you will marry me for my wealth and family's standing."

Harry choked.

"Fantastic, just great!"

"I propose that we make an agreement-"

"What is Ron going to say...?"

"There would be no sense in causing more difficulties for ourselves than-"

"Fred and George are going to tear me apart, I'll never be able to set foot in the common room again..."

"HARRY! You are not listening to me!"

"I'm sorry."

"Your apology is accepted. Now, tell me what I was just saying."

"This is just like being in class-"

"PARDON?"

"An agreement! No sense in, err, difficulties..."

"That will suffice. As I was saying, I think it would be wise to agree to work together. As a... team. Everyone else will be fighting us, we've no need to fight eachother."

"Ok, I think I can manage that - but that still doesn't solve the problem of how I'm going to tell Sirius about this. He's going to go spare," Harry realised with a quiet groan.

"You care? How sweet."

"Oh, be quiet. Don't treat me like a child." Harry's eyes glinted. "You have to treat me as an equal now. That shouldn't be too hard, Professor Dumbledore always did."

Snape's expression soured with irritation.

"Why is it that you always refer to Professor Dumbledore as 'Professor' but never do so for me? Yes, I've heard you and your friends talking about me when you foolishly thought I couldn't hear you," he added in response to
Harry's evident surprise.

Harry laughed.

"Jealous?"

"Don't be absurd."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Not even a little?"

"NO!"

"Well, if you really want to know..."

"Yes?"

"Because you were always a complete bastard to me."

A deep, throaty laugh burst from Severus' lips as though he was still trying to repress it even as he failed dismally.

"I suppose you will tell me that I should have expected an answer like that."

Harry gave him a smug look. "I would have thought that you'd have had enough experiences with the famous Gryffindor wit to predict it."

Severus rolled his eyes, pretending to be exasperated. "Well, Harry, maybe living together will teach us both some new virtues."

"You bet-" Harry went pale. "Wait... living together? What?"

Severus stared at him. "You didn't realise? That's one of the conditions of the engagement - we have to share chambers, to prove that we intend to go through with it."

Harry tried to imagine Severus in his dorm... the two images just wouldn't merge.

Snape guessed what he was thinking and gave him a look that clearly meant 'You cretin'.

"YOU will be living with ME."