Disclaimer: Not mine. Though really, do you think it could be? Check out JK's version and see if it coincides with mine AT ALL.

Title: The Ties That Bind

Beta: Nope. Poor ShadowFax999... she's at a wedding or somethin'. I miss her!! And my fics are crap without her... -sob-

Summary/ Warning: Dom/ Sub, HGRW, PPBZ, RLSB, LVBL …and of course HPSS.

Chapter 16: Getting To Know You

:Parseltongue:

"Conversational thoughts"

Private thoughts, shared memories

Hermione, Ron, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and Draco were sitting in the Room of Requirement Thursday morning waiting for the other couples. It was nearly eight o'clock by the time Harry, Blaise, Pansy, Theo, and Susan showed up.

Harry forestalled Hermione's inevitable lecture by sighing expansively and plopping down in one of the huge overstuffed chairs the Room had provided. A contented smile played on his lips, and Hermione raised a brow as she turned to the others who had walked in with him.

They shrugged. Pansy said airily, "He's been like that since we met up with him."

Blaise piped up, "Yeah- it was really odd when he came skipping around the corner and grabbed Theo in a hug."

Hermione turned to stare at Harry, who was in turn staring at nothing as he lost himself in his thoughts. "Riiight." Hermione drawled as she took in the picture the Golden Boy made. He looked totally drugged up.

She smiled politely to the other pairs. "Excuse us for just a second." So saying, she grabbed Harry by his sleeve and hauled him out of the chair and to the opposite side of the room. Making sure they couldn't be over heard, she turned back to Harry, who was looking at her with a stupid grin on his face.

"Alright," she sighed. "I know you're dying to tell someone whatever it is that's gotten you that happy. So spit it out."

Harry grinned hugely, his face protesting the motion even as he tried to make the expression bigger. "He said he loves me!" he crowed, and grabbed Hermione in a huge hug to demonstrate the how ecstatic he was. "Twice!"

He spun Hermione around in a circle, amazing her as she had always thought he was rather weak. But Hermione went with it- it was a major breakthrough in Harry's relationship, after all. Once he had put her down Harry skipped back to where the others had been watching with unsure-but-game smiles on their faces.

"Hermione!" Harry sang as he grabbed Neville and danced around in a circle for a second before letting go and spinning away. "Tell him!"

The other students looked on with amused expressions as the Saviour of the Wizarding World acted like nothing more than a two year old as Hermione whispered into Neville's ear and Harry laughed aloud for the sheer joy of it. But soon enough even Harry had to settle down as Hermione began the meeting.

"Right- so anyone have anything to say about the Exchange? Dean?"

The conversation rolled on from there, Dean repeating his sentiments from the day before and all of them affirming that they would be spending the holidays in the Castle. Hermione had thought to ask Dobby for food, so at least they didn't starve as they discussed their futures.

Soon enough, it was time for classes. Using Harry's Map, they waved goodbye and disappeared in different directions. Hermione gestured for Harry to precede her, but he shook his head.

"I'm not going to class today." When Hermione started in on the responsibility lecture that Harry and Ron both knew by heart, Harry shook his head and interrupted. "No- Dumbledunce wants me to attend the Order meeting at 12 Grimmauld Place. All the Order members are going to be there, including those who teach in this school."

Ron blew a fuse. "Why aren't we going!?" he shouted, and Harry just shrugged. Hermione cut Ron off before he could say anything unfortunate, and turned back to Harry.

"I assume you will tell us everything that happens?" she inquired. Harry nodded- like he would even think of not informing two of the most important people in his life when something was up.

"Of course. But go to class- I get to chill in Buttheads office for an hour or so before we leave."

Hermione and Ron laughed as they left Harry behind in the Room, and he sank back into his chair as the Room reformed to a dark, warm, cozy room that was good for thinking. He sat there for about half an hour before he got up to go schmooze that bastard of a Headmaster.

It isn't so bad in Dumbledore's office, Harry admitted after Fawkes had come to rest on his knee. The gargoyle had let him up without the password after Harry had stood there for about ten minutes listing off candies, each suggestion getting dirtier and dirtier until the gargoyle was laughing so hard he found it hard to talk. Harry smiled a little as he thought of the gargoyle. Too bad the poor thing was stone, and therefore immobile. It would be a fun addition to have in his home, should he be alive long enough to have one. And it understood Parseltongue, which was a plus.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted when Professor McGonagall arrived in the Headmaster's office. She seemed surprised that Harry was alone in the office, but saw that Fawkes was keeping an eye on him and accepted it.

"So, Harry," she began warmly as she took her own seat across from him, "How have you been?"

Harry shrugged. He was uncomfortable with McGonagall, he realized, and that was enough to throw him off. "Well enough, I suppose."

There was an awkward silence as Harry tried to desperately think of something to say and Minerva wondered why her favorite student seemed uncomfortable in her presence. So she tried again.

"Are you excited to see Sirius again?" she asked, and smiled as Harry perked up.

"Yes!" he said, "I'd forgotten he would be there!"

Minerva smiled as a carefree expression came back to his face. They continued talking about Sirius, mainly the pranks he played, and that kept them occupied for some time. Unfortunately, a topic can only be discussed for so long before you exhaust the issue, and the uncomfortable silence fell again as Harry remembered that Sirius and Severus do not get along. What am I going to do? he thought morosely, not seeing Minerva's face as she watched him.

The poor boy, she thought. We expect so much of him, and he is only seventeen.

Luckily, both of their thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of yet another staff member. When Severus Snape glided into the office, Minerva straightened as if she expected a verbal attack at any moment. She was surprised, to say the least, when Severus merely sat down and ignored them.

Harry, however, felt all his tension drain away as his mate walked into the room. "Hello, Sev!" he said brightly, and used a self-control he never knew he had to hide the smile that threatened to break on his face at the answer.

"Hello, imp. I see you've managed to reign in your pathetic need to shout from the rooftops." Harry looked away from Snape as he read the undercurrents of the thought. … he looks good today… I want to wrap my arms around him, but Minerva would probably think I was trying to strangle him… Harry allowed a small smile to grace his face as he pet Fawkes. Underneath all of Severus' thoughts was his base joy at seeing Harry again. It made Harry want to grab his Firbolt and race through the sky.

The silence in the room was getting to be too much for Minerva. She was not having a silent conversation- nor was she able to- so she tried to start a dialogue between the three of them.

"What do you think will be discussed at the Meeting?" she asked, and was relieved to see Harry grasp onto the subject. Snape, however, remain quiet. Minerva wasn't sure if that was a blessing, but if she didn't have to deal with his wicked sharp tongue, she'd take what she was offered.

"I dunno," Harry said, scratching his chin. "Isn't it odd to call one for the middle of the school year?"

Minerva had to agree. "It is odd, there is no doubt of that. I cannot claim to know what goes on inside the Headmasters mind, but I believe that he must have a good reason for calling it now. And a full meeting at that."

Fortunately, Dumbledore decided to show at that moment. "I am so sorry to have kept you waiting. But we will be off now."

So saying, Albus pulled a Portkey from his robe and gestured for everyone to grab hold. It was a ratty old teddy bear, and Severus took one end of the toy with a barely disguised expression of disgust. Minerva and Harry grabbed on, and Dumbledore said, "Portus!" And with the familiar wrenching from behind their navels, they appeared in the foyer of Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Harry barely had time to get his footing back when he was grabbed from behind by his overeager Godfather. "Harry!" the taller man cried out, swinging Harry around like he weighed no more than one stone. "I missed you so much!"

Harry laughed as soon as his heart stopped threatening to jump out of his chest, and hugged Sirius back. "I missed you too!"

Harry wriggled out of Sirius' grasp and launched himself at Remus, giving a shout of laughter when the sandy-haired man picked him up and tried to squeeze the life out of Harry.

While Harry was being hugged and greeted by the rest of the Weasley family, and Mad-Eye, and Shaklebolt, and Tonks, he noticed that Severus was not greeted by anyone. Instead, Severus just disappeared into the kitchen to get himself a cup of tea. Harry hid his anger at the others by being overly happy to see them.

This man risks his life to bring you information and you treat him like a traitor! he railed silently, You don't deserve him!

Harry let himself be swept up by the sea of humanity, and resolved to deal with the issue of ungratefulness later. For right now, he was glad that his Godfather had not been found by the Ministry, and that Remus was here to keep him level-headed. Harry ignored the searching glances his favorite werewolf was giving him and sat down at the table in the only open spot- next to Severus.

Harry grinned at his luck, and when he encountered the curious gazes of the twins- who no doubt wanted to know why he was grinning when he was sitting next to Snape- winked and mouthed 'pranking him later'. They sat back, satisfied with Harry's excuse.

After a round of tea and biscuits had been handed out the meeting began in earnest.

Mad-Eye started them off. "The Death Eaters are being suspiciously quiet." A few members glanced at Snape- but when he didn't acknowledge them, they looked away. "There have been no attacks for the past three weeks, and we don't know why." Moody concluded, and Tonks gestured to speak.

"We think they're preparing for a mass attack for sometime in the near future. As far as we can tell, they are not going to be aiming at Hogwarts, but some local Muggle towns."

Faces became grim as Tonks brought her news to the table. Sirius stuck his head past Remus and said in the general direction of Severus, "Maybe our spies should be reporting news, and not just sitting there like lumps of clay."

Severus raised an eyebrow and looked at Sirius as if to say 'did you just refer to me?'

"Well, seeing as how the Dark Lord has yet to call a meeting, it is rather stupid of some people to assume that I would be able to gather information without such a summons."

Sirius flushed as Snape's words hit their target, and Harry sat silent, looking at his hands as Sirius began to reply angrily. How can I choose between them? he agonized. Sirius is my only family left living, but Severus is my mate. Even- if what they tell me is true, at any rate- my husband. How could I live with them fighting like this for the rest of my life?

Harry could feel Dumbledore's gaze on the back of his bent neck, and smirked to himself. Fool thinks I'm going to give our relationship away. He has another think coming. Harry raised his head as the table broke into a loud argument, and smiled.

Immediately, there was silence. People's mouths were still moving, but no sound was coming out. Harry waited until they had all stopped their talking before leaning forward. He could feel Severus' thankfulness in the back of his mind, and gave the dour man a phantom caress as he spoke.

"As much as I love to see the people I care about most in the world ripping each other's throats out-" Harry glanced around the room, giving everyone who met his gaze a poisonous glare- "I have somehow come to the conclusion that our time would be better spent trying to think of a way to defeat Voldemort."

He smiled as the assembled group winced at the name. "Don't you?" Slowly, they all nodded, and only then did Harry release the Silencing Spell. As the group awkwardly began talking again, Harry raised his eyes to meet those of the Headmasters. He held the eye contact as Dumbledore tried to stare him down, but after a moment, Dumbledore just nodded slightly and rejoined the conversation.

Harry smirked inside as he won that round. He listened to the conversation, but became aware of Severus trying to get his attention through their link. Harry settled into his mind, and sent a feeling of greeting towards Severus as he answered.

"What's up, love?"

"Why did you do that?" Severus asked, and Harry knew that no matter that his question was referring to the Silencing Spell, Severus was really asking about Harry taking his side over Sirius'.

Harry considered. "He is my family," he began, his mind unconsciously cataloging and remembering the details of the meeting to share with Hermione and Ron later, "But you are my life. And no amount of family ties are going to make me give up my life."

Harry shivered as he felt the emotions rushing through Severus' body. Disbelief, thankfulness, and a deep-seated joy at finally belonging to someone in a role other than trusted spy. Harry shifted his weight in his seat as he added, "And, besides, I got tired of Sirius beating down on you like that."

This time it was Severus who sent the phantom touch to caress Harry's cheek.

An hour later and it was clear they were going to get nothing more done without a lunch break. The members left the table with intense and heart-felt sighs of relief, stretching their legs and backs as they tried to remember how to move.

Harry wasted no time in grabbing food for himself. If he knew the twins- and he did- they would be pranking something as soon as they could feel their asses again. Though Harry was now on the opposite side of the room as Severus, he could still carry on a conversation, and did so.

He gladly passed the information along to Severus, who immediately pulled out his wand- scaring everyone in the room into thinking he was going to hex them- and cast every anti-hex and anti-jinx spell he knew on his plate- and a few he didn't as Harry- who had dealt with the twins for a rather longer time than he had- had learned some new ones.

It was fun to eat their food safe in the knowledge that they would not be subjected to the twins pranks, and even more fun to watch as everyone else was. Molly's hair would be bright pink for about an hour, Mad-Eye had two embroidered snakes chasing each other around his shirt- the twins privately informed Harry that this was the prank meant for him, as he could have (and would have) been able to talk to the snakes. They assured Harry that he would never have to fear a truly bad prank coming his way because, as they said-

"You're our benefactor-"

"-and we wouldn't want you-"

"-to get mad at us and pull-"

"-our funding, would we?"

Harry had no choice but to believe them. Though he would never pull their funding. In the end it seemed that only Harry, Severus, Dumbledore, and Minerva escaped the pranking. Everyone else had something hysterically wrong with them. Take, for example, Sirius, who couldn't say the word 'the' without barking. Or Shaklebolt, who now bore a tattoo of a chain wrapped around a lightening bolt on his forehead- in roughly the same spot as Harry's.

Eventually everyone was able to laugh it off but Sirius, who was pissed that Severus hadn't been affected. Dumbledore had to go back to the school for an emergency- apparently Neville had gotten into a fight with Goyle, and the meeting was postponed until his return. Harry took the opportunity to escape- to his room, giving Severus the directions.

Ten minutes later when Severus arrived inside Harry's room, it was with a satisfied smirk on his face. Harry didn't even have to ask what he'd done- Severus immediately sat down next to Harry and began telling him.

"Your dogfather was whining about something. I don't know what- it isn't important and I don't care. Regardless, one of the twins, George I believe, came up with an idea for a prank to pull on Sirius. I overheard them speaking-" Harry laughed. He knew his mate well enough to know that that meant that Severus had been eaves dropping. But Severus ignored him and went on

"I overheard them speaking, and decided they needed a little help in pulling off the stunt. They wanted to make it so that your dogfather grew a cats ears and tail, so when they were ready to cast the spell, I just added some extra power to it."

Severus trailed off, but Harry didn't really need him to continue. Just from his memories, Harry was able to see what had happened. Instead of growing cat parts, Sirius had actually changed into a cat. He started chuckling, and pulled Severus down against him to press a kiss to his lips.

"Ingenious," Harry applauded, "Marvelous spell work." Severus smiled contentedly, for the moment insufferably pleased with himself. Harry stretched out on his bed and propped himself up on his pillows as he pulled his mate down on top of him.

"How long do you think we have until Dumblefuck gets back?" Harry asked, his voice deep with a sensual promise.

Severus shivered against him, but thought about his answer. "It depends," he replied unsteadily as Harry drew his mate towards him with an inexorable pressure, "If Longbottom and Goyle really hurt each other, an hour and a half? Maybe?"

Harry smiled as he settled Severus' weight comfortably on top of his chest. "Good," he breathed as he pulled his wand out and pointed it at the door, guiding Severus' lips to his own at the same time. With the ward set, Harry dropped his wand to the ground as he wove his fingers into his mates hair and savored the spicy taste that was so uniquely Severus.

Severus moaned as Harry plundered his mouth, giving up control without a whimper as he let his mouth be ravished by the small teen under him. He dug both of his hands into Harry's hair and tilted his mouth to allow his mate better access. Harry grabbed his shirt where it hung from his shoulders, pulling the older man closer to him.

Lost as they were in the sensation of each other, neither heard the footsteps pounding up the stairs.

'Ello! And sorry it's late... got caught up in RL... you know how that goes... and my sunburn is urging me to stay in bed all day and forget about everything else so I don't move and hurt myself even more... it's taht bad...

So, please leave me a review, and check out my new ficcy, 'Baisilisk Offerings', and I'll talk to you all later!

Netrixie

P.S.: Sorry for the cliffie!! -cringes-