A/N: Hey. So, glad to know that I didn't fail on the sex scene. :P Anways, glad you all liked the last chapter and now here is Chapter 11. Hope you all enjoy it as well. Don't forget to review! Thanks so much. :]
Warnings: Allusions to child neglect.
Three Weeks Later
"Harry, none of them will want to see me, regardless of the reasons," Severus said.
Three weeks had passed and things had changed. Harry and Severus had officially moved in together into Harry's rooms three days after their night together. Lileen had been beyond happy as she took to sleeping on Severus' chest the past two nights. Severus had rolled his eyes while Harry laughed. Harry had sent owls to the few people he was still friends with to tell them he wanted to meet up with them as he wanted to tell them something. Finn had been fired immediately and replaced by someone else. Jasmine Carter was now the new Defence professor and she seemed to be genuinely nice. Besides she was married and had a two year old daughter so Harry wasn't worried. Harry had also agreed to try and fight for custody of his godson with Severus' help, of course.
"That is not true," Harry said, pulling his Healer robes off.
"Harry, I have not seen any of them since before you left and none of them were fond of me," Severus said, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
Harry turned around from where he was hanging up his robes and looked at Severus who was leaning in the doorway. They were getting ready to meet at Dean Thomas' restaurant with Dean, Luna, Bill, Fred and George, and Kingsley. They had all answered Harry's letters demanding they get together so they could see each other again and so they could know what Harry wanted to tell them.
"That's one reason we're doing this," Harry said. "I think it's time to be re-introduced to each other and put the past and grudges away."
"Kingsley is the only one who is tolerant of me out of your group," Severus told him, watching interestedly as Harry changed shirts.
"Stop staring and pay attention," Harry said, crossing his arms over his now clothed chest.
Severus' eyes slid up to his as he smirked and walked towards the younger man. "I am paying attention. I am able to divide my attention, unlike you."
"Shut up," Harry scowled.
Severus refrained from rolling his eyes and kissed Harry's forehead before sitting on the bed. "What is the big deal about this, Harry?"
"Everything," Harry said, pulling on other pants. "Everything has changed since I left Iceland, since I last saw any of them. I don't just want to meet with them to tell them I can speak again. I want to show them who I'm in love with. I want them to meet you away from what used to be. I want them to know the man who has been the cause of all these changes. Where the hell is my shoe?"
"Right in front of you, love," Severus said and Harry glared at him. "Harry, listen. I understand what you are doing and I am honoured, but you have to remember that I have probably not changed in the eyes of these people."
"Notice that you use the word 'probably'. That's why we're trying," Harry said, sitting on the bed as well to tie his shoes. "I used to think Ron and Hermione were the most important people in my life along with a few others and, at one point, they probably were. Now, though, I know that they would never have stayed those people. These six people are those important people now. Jack and the boys are those important people. You are the single most important person in my life now, above all the others. I want all of these people to at least be civil."
Severus stared at Harry as the man looked away after his speech. He knew it would make Harry beyond happy if he attended this dinner. Like the Healer said, Harry was the single most important person in his life now and he would do anything for the young man.
He sighed silently.
"Let me change my shirt and pull my hair back and we can go," Severus said, getting to his feet.
Harry's head whipped around to look at him. "You mean—"
"Give me five minutes," Severus said and had only thought of turning around when he found himself being kissed hard by Harry.
"Thank you," Harry whispered into his neck as he hugged the Potions master. "I love you so much."
"You're lucky I love you or this night would not be happening," Severus said and Harry laughed, kissing him again. "If you still wish to attend, you must let me get ready."
Harry grinned and kissed him once more before letting the older man go. Severus rolled his eyes though his lips were twitching as he pulled a dark blue dress shirt from the wardrobe and disappeared into the bathroom. Still grinning, Harry pulled his jacket out of the wardrobe and slid it on. He'd always hated wearing robes if he didn't have to; being more comfortable in Muggle clothing as it's what he had grown up in.
"All right, let's go before I change my mind," Severus said, leaving the bathroom. He was wearing his usual black trousers now with the long sleeved blue dress shirt he had changed into. His long hair was being held back at the base of his neck with a strip of black leather.
"Dinner's been cancelled for reasons I can't seem to recall," Harry said, pulling Severus into a deep kiss.
"Forget it, brat. We're going," Severus said, placing a hand on Harry's chest and gently pushed him back.
"Figures," Harry muttered. "When I want to stay, he suddenly wants to go."
"Of course, Mr. Potter, now let's go," Severus said and they left their rooms. Unconsciously taking Severus' hand, they walked through the castle, Harry telling Severus all about Dean's restaurant.
"It's in a village that's really in the middle of nowhere in Scotland. It's a small village that's a mixture of wizards and Muggles and the Muggles know about the wizards. It's kind of strange but it works. Dean's restaurant caters to both the wizarding world and the Muggle world. He has some nights where it's closed to the Muggles or closed to the wizards. It's a pretty well-known place even if the name of it is just Dean's. He said he couldn't think of anything creative that would kind of combine both worlds so he just named it after himself, said it was easier," Harry rambled, not noticing Severus' small smile of amusement. "I think he said that wizards and Muggles have even begun ordering food from the other world so he's been really excited about it."
"Take a breath before you pass out on me," Severus interrupted and chuckled lightly when Harry smacked his chest. "All right, Apparate us and do it carefully, if you mind."
Harry smacked him again before wrapping his arms around Severus' waist. They turned sharply and were forced through the invisible crushing tube. Harry gasped quietly once they stopped travelling. He would always hate Apparating, Portkeys, and Floo.
"All right?"
"Oh, shut up," Harry said as Severus smirked at him. "Whoever came up with all these ways for wizards to travel was seriously stupid and probably drunk."
Severus laughed and Harry rolled his eyes. They both looked ahead and found themselves looking at a conventional looking restaurant. It had a large sign over it that said Dean's in large red block letters. The line that made up the 'D' had been made into a wand that had green, gold, blue, and black sparks flying out of it. As it was getting dark, lanterns had been lit outside, lighting up the covered porch. Windows filled the front of the restaurant, the top half of all of them being stained glass. Stuck to the door with, more than likely, magic was a schedule telling when the restaurant was open.
"Come on," Harry said, tugging on Severus' hand.
"I suppose it's too late to take you up on your earlier offer," Severus said and Harry laughed.
"Yes, it is," Harry nodded. Severus gave an exaggerated sigh and allowed himself to fall into step with Harry. They walked up onto the porch and Harry knocked on the double doors.
"One minute," someone called from inside and Harry knew it was Dean. It wasn't long before one of the doors was pulled open and they were facing Dean Thomas.
"Harry!" Dean exclaimed and pulled Harry into a hug. "It's been so long! I was so happy to get that letter! Come in, come in! Everyone's already here!"
Harry grinned at Severus, taking his hand again as Dean dragged Harry into the restaurant. Directly ahead was a counter that had a cash register, a small box with business cards, a jar for donations, a phone, and a large calendar that had writing all over it. The rest of the space was filled with soft, green booths and dark square cherry wood tables with four seats each filled the rest of the space. On every table and booth were salt, pepper, cream, sugar, butter, and marmalade along with a small menu of the alcoholic drinks and desserts. There were also coloured material napkins wrapped around a fork and knife, held shut with blue and white ribbons. The napkins were solid red and dark blue. Above every table and booth was a floating candle in a glass holder that increased the light being given off by the lit candles. Harry knew the candles were lit during the evenings as they didn't do much during the daytime. On the walls were a mixture of Muggle and wizarding pictures, some moving and some not.
"Harry!" an echo of other voices shouted and Harry and Severus looked to the right to see Luna Lovegood, Bill Weasley, Fred and George Weasley, and Kingsley Shacklebolt standing from the magically enlarged booth they had been sitting in. The three Weasleys rushed forward and dragged Harry into a group hug. Harry eventually extracted himself from the redheads and turned to Luna, kissing her cheek as she kissed his at the same time. Finally he turned to the Minister for Magic who grinned and pulled the younger man to his chest in a crushing hug.
"I have missed you, kid," Kingsley said as they pulled away. "We all have."
"Come on, let's sit," Bill said and Harry nodded. They walked to the furthest end of the right side of the restaurant where a circle booth had been enlarged to fit all of them. As they all slid in, Luna ended up being in the middle with Fred and George while Bill and Dean were on her left side and Kingsley, Severus, and Harry were on the right side.
"Before we start, would anyone like anything?" Dean asked.
Severus looked at Harry who gave a tiny nod. "Water for the two of us, if you please, Mr. Thomas."
"Dean, please, Professor," Dean smiled and left the table after getting everyone else's 'orders'. While they waited for Dean to return, the others quietly talked about insignificant things though Harry and Severus remained silent. "All right, here we are. Waters." Dean gave Harry and Severus their glasses of water. He gave Bill a glass of water with lemon, Kingsley a glass of scotch, Luna a glass of red wine, the twins' two butterbeers, and he sat down with his own malt.
"So, now that we're all refreshed, let's get to why we're here," Fred said and everyone looked at Harry and Severus.
"You said you had some things to tell us," George said and Harry nodded.
Harry took a deep breath and smiled. "I guess the first thing to do is say hello."
Silence reigned as his friends stared at him with eyes wide in shock. When they spoke, they all did at once and Harry laughed.
"…your voice…!"
"…you're talking...!"
"…you can talk…!"
"…when did this happen…?"
"Hey, hold on," Harry said and they all fell quiet. "It hasn't been long that I've been able to actually speak. It took a while to come back and it's because of Severus that I can talk again. Which reminds me that it's time for introductions."
"Harry, we already know each other," Bill said, frowning.
"Just let me do this. I think you'll understand," Harry said. "Severus, this is Dean Thomas, Luna Lovegood, Fred and George Weasley, Bill Weasley, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Everyone, this is Severus Snape, my lover."
Silence fell again until broken by Luna who reached across the table. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Snape," she said.
Severus looked at her and her hand before inclining his head and taking her hand, shaking it. "Call me Severus and it is a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. Lovegood."
"Luna," she smiled. Going around the table, the same thing happened and Harry smiled, taking Severus' hand once again.
"Now that we know about this, you had better take care of him," Bill said and the others nodded while Harry rolled his eyes and blushed slightly.
"Bill, don't. I can take care of myself," Harry said.
"I promise to never hurt him intentionally and if I ever hurt him at all, I will personally bring myself to all of you to do with me as you please," Severus said and Harry shook his head at the grins they received.
"How did this happen?" Dean asked.
"It was actually all Severus. I was trying to stay away from him," Harry said and Severus smirked.
"How well did that work?"
"Not well at all, not that I'm complaining," Harry said and Severus smirked again, squeezing Harry's hand.
"How long have you been together?" Kingsley asked.
"Just over two months, almost three," Harry said.
"Three months?" Kingsley, Bill, and Dean exclaimed.
"And you haven't said anything until now?" George said.
"We're living together too," Harry added and everyone gaped.
"Harry, can I talk to you?" Kingsley said and Harry frowned slightly.
"Okay," Harry said and slid out of the booth with Kingsley. They walked to the other side of the restaurant. "What's wrong?"
"You're living together?" Kingsley said and Harry nodded. "It's a little quick, don't you think?"
Harry sighed. "I know it seems fast because we've only been together for two months. I expressed that same concern when I asked him if he wanted to live together. It's just that we're deeper into this relationship than most people would be at this point. We were already pretty much living together before I asked him to move in. Kingsley, I love him and he loves me. I really think something could come from this."
"I don't want to see you get hurt, kid," Kingsley said and Harry smiled at him.
"I know and I also know that you trust Severus. I'm not going to get hurt, not this time," Harry said and Kingsley gazed at him, clearly trying to find something.
Apparently he found it for he smiled at Harry and threw an arm around the younger man's neck. "I trust you, Harry. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks." Harry hugged the man. They walked back to the table where the others moved out so they could slide back in.
"Congratulations, you two," Luna said. "I can tell that you are both very happy."
Harry smiled at her. "Yeah, we are," he said, linking his arm through Severus'.
"So, do we know all of your secrets now?" Dean said with a grin.
"Well," Harry hesitated. "There is one more thing."
"What now?" Fred said, he and his twin smirking.
"I didn't do anything so shut up," Harry said, hiding a grin. "With Severus' help, I'm going to try and get custody of Teddy."
"That's fantastic, Harry," Bill said. "We've been trying to get you to do that for years."
"I've seen Andromeda with the child," Kingsley said. "I don't think she shows him much affection, not like everyone thinks she does as the grandmother."
"You mean she's neglecting him?" Harry said, feeling his heart stop painfully at the idea of his orphaned godson having a life similar to his and Severus'.
"Seems like it," Kingsley nodded. "I do not think she's abusing him though. I think it's just neglect."
"Sometimes the neglect is worse than the abuse," Harry muttered, laying his head on Severus' shoulder as he paled at the revelations about his godson. "We can't use that, though, in my favour because we don't have proof."
"With any luck it won't be necessary to fight that fight. However, perhaps we should try and find proof just in case," Bill said and Harry nodded.
"If she is neglecting him, she should be charged for it," Dean said.
"She never really liked Remus so she could be channelling that into Teddy even though Teddy is her last connection to her daughter," Harry said, not missing the look that Severus sent him, both thinking about the anger and hatred Severus once felt towards Harry because of who Harry's father was.
"Why didn't she like Remus?" Fred asked.
"Everyone liked Remus," George said, grinning and shrugging at Severus' raised eyebrow. "Well, nearly everyone."
Severus rolled his eyes and Harry laughed. "She was never comfortable with the fact that he was a werewolf. When Remus and Tonks got together and married, Andromeda believed that Remus was holding Tonks back and was ruining Tonks' reputation."
"Is Teddy a werewolf?" Luna asked.
"No, I don't think so. I think he has some symptoms on the full moon but he's never transformed. He's a Metamorphmagus though," Harry said.
"We'll all help you get Teddy," Dean said and Harry smiled at them in thanks as Severus once again squeezed his hand.
"Well, now that we've got the secrets out of the way," Bill said and everyone laughed quietly. "I think it's time to just catch up now. We haven't gotten together in ages."
"I've been busy," Harry defended when his friends looked at him pointedly.
"With a lot apparently, kid," Kingsley said with a smirk and Harry rolled his eyes.
"Before I came back, I was busy at the hospital. Then I left Iceland and I had to settle in. It's not my fault. All of you are busy too," Harry argued and smiled when they all reluctantly agreed.
"What is it that you all do for work?" Severus asked, speaking for the first time in a while.
"We still run the joke shop and have just opened another one in Dufftown. We also have a small apothecary in Diagon Alley attached to the shop. Ever since the owner of the Apothecary in Diagon Alley died in the war, it hasn't quite been the same," Fred said.
"They don't get quite as much business anymore," George added.
"Well, the owner didn't have anyone to give the Apothecary to so it went to someone new," Dean said.
"I am a reporter for the Daily Prophet, though I still help my father with The Quibbler," Luna said.
"Yes, I must thank you for replacing Rita Skeeter," Severus inclined his head.
"I will not change a story to humiliate people. I find that the truth can humiliate people more than a lie because what is being said about them is true," Luna said and Severus smirked.
"Very true."
"Fleur and I work at Gringotts. I'm a curse breaker and she is a human manager," Bill told him.
"And you?" Dean said, looking at Severus. "Are we to assume that you are still Hogwarts' esteemed Potions master and professor?"
"As frightening as ever, I hope," Severus said and everyone chuckled.
"You're still harsh and strict but the students don't hate you and aren't terrified of you anymore. You're a respected teacher now," Harry said.
"What about you, Harry? How's the infirmary now that you're not lying in it unconscious?" Bill said with a smirk.
"Oh, ha ha, very funny," Harry said. "I can't complain about the job. I'm enjoying it."
"And the people?" George asked.
Harry sighed. "They could be better but I think I can manage."
"Are they all being pricks?" Fred raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but I've managed and they've backed off lately since the day I told them off," Harry shrugged.
They continued talking and catching up for another two and a half hours. Severus was soon drawn into a conversation with Bill and Kingsley about the Ministry while Harry talked with the others. Harry was glad that Severus and his friends were getting along so well. He had been afraid that his friends would be angry or mad that he had chosen to be with Severus Snape of all people. Smiling, Harry hugged Severus' arm as he continued his conversation about Jack and the boys with Dean, Luna, and the twins.
Much to Harry's disappointment, the night had to come to an end and it did at eleven-thirty at night.
"So, we have to avoid missing out on seeing each other again," Bill said.
"What can we do though? We all work. We're all busy and usually at different times," Harry said.
"What about a set schedule?" Kingsley said.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"We can meet up here every other Friday evening," Luna said.
"I can close the restaurant so we can have dinner together," Dean said.
"So it's set?" Fred said.
"Every second Friday," George said.
"You can come as well, Severus," Kingsley said and Severus inclined his head at the invitation.
"All right," Harry nodded. "We have dinner here together every second Friday."
Everyone agreed and they began sliding out of the booth and saying goodbye, everyone hugging Harry and shaking Severus' hand. Except Luna who kissed both their cheeks making Severus raise his eyebrow and flush slightly. Harry chuckled at the reaction and proceeded to leave the restaurant with Severus.
"See you in two weeks," he called back to them and they all waved until Harry and Severus Apparated away.
"See? It wasn't that bad," Harry said, once again changing his clothes but this time into pajamas.
"It was…tolerable," Severus said, also changing into his pajamas.
Harry laughed. "I know you enjoyed yourself."
Severus gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine. It was a pleasant evening."
Harry walked over to him and smiled. "Well, I'm glad you had a good time and that you got along with my friends."
"They are much more tolerable than when they were my students," Severus said, pulling on his sleep pants.
"Everyone grew up," Harry said simply. "The final battle and all that happened afterwards changed everyone too."
"I agree," Severus said, pulling back the blankets on the bed and getting in.
"I'm considering asking Elijah to take over tomorrow so I can have the day off," Harry said as he climbed into the bed beside Severus.
"And what would you do with your day?" Severus asked quietly, kissing Harry's shoulder.
"I'm sure I could think of something," Harry said, staring up at Severus who was hovering over him now.
"I think we may be thinking of the same thing," Severus said in a low voice, leaning down and closer to Harry's lips.
"They say great minds think alike," Harry said with a grin.
"If only you fit that description," Severus said.
"Git!" Harry laughed before Severus took possession of his mouth and they lost themselves in each other.
A/N: So those who Harry stayed in touch with while he was gone have finally be introduced. :P Hope you liked the chapter. Please review. Thanks. :]