So... Not two chapters left apparently. I may add an epilogue of their summer vacation to Egypt, if it interests anyone? Anyway, this is the last actual chapter of this story, but, have no fear, I'm already working on another Harry/Sev to be published weekly for the Long Haul Comp. It's a veela!Severus fic, because, heh, cliche fest is where I am at!

WC without A/N - 1546

Enjoy the last chapter, guys, and I'll see you shortly with more stories :D

Chapter Six

Harry wasn't seen out of his rooms at all after Christmas day, and the staff were getting worried about him. Only Severus' assurances were keeping many of them from storming the young Defence Professors private rooms, demanding answers as to why he had locked himself away. As New Years Eve approached, many were eagerly awaiting the ball, as they knew he was supposed to be supervising. Even those teachers that had the option of relaxing away from the noisy mess that was likely going to occur in the Great Hall planned on turning up, just so they could see for themselves that he was quite all right.

Harry floated into the Great Hall at exactly quarter to seven, smiling happily as he greeted the staff, settling himself in his usual place next to Severus. He was dressed very smartly in his house robes, proudly displaying the Potter and Black crests on his chest.

Severus greeted him warmly with a smile, asking a question with his eyes that no one else could see.

Harry answered with a small nod, turning to watch as the student's trickled in. All through dinner, as the other Professors tried to engage him in conversation, and Severus tried to sneak more food onto his plate without his notice, butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He was so nervous, and also slightly scared that everything he had done over the last week hadn't been enough to make his plan work.

Dumbledore stood when everyone was finished eating, announcing the band cheerily, and wishing them all a very happy new year. At Harry's request, made by owl earlier in the week, the band started with a traditional waltz. As the student's looked on with confusion, Harry took a deep breath.

Resting his hands on the sides of his wheelchair, he pushed himself into a standing position, and slowly walked towards where the Deputy Head and his former Head Of House sat looking on in disbelief, holding out his hand to her.

"Would you care to dance, Minerva?" he asked quietly, hoping she would say yes. His legs trembled beneath him, still not terribly strong, despite the gruelling workouts he had been putting them through with Severus' help since Christmas Day. She accepted his hand, and he led her to the dance floor, the sea of students parting to let them through.

Dumbledore was the first to clap, but almost everyone in the hall soon joined in, as Harry slowly spun Minerva around the dance floor. When the dance was over, Severus was waiting at the edge of the floor with Harry's wheelchair, ready for Harry to collapse into.

"How?" Minerva asked, shock still all over her face. Dumbledore joined them in time to hear the answer.

"I have Severus to thank for giving me the use of my legs back. It's going to take time for them to strengthen, having been unused for so long, but I'm getting there. I'd never have had the chance to dance without him."

Harry leant over and squeezed Severus' hand lightly. Severus looked down at their joined hands in surprise, before he smiled slightly and squeezed back before releasing the hand.

"Very, very well done, dear boy," Dumbledore said to Severus with a grin, his eyes on twinkle-overload. Harry chuckled at the horrified look on Severus' face, and levitated away from them, as they too took more strategic places around the hall.

xxxx

As the dance was winding down, Harry levitated back to Severus.

"Would you care to dance, Professor Snape," he asked, his voice trembling slightly, though he tried to keep his face neutral.

Severus stared at him for a moment, and both of them knew that this was it. It could make or break them, and while it merely seemed like a decision of a dance, it was so much more.

Severus hesitated only momentarily, before he held out his hand to help Harry back up from his chair.

The smile that Harry gifted him with made his heart melt, and Severus pulled the younger man into a tight hold as the band played a slow song.

"Thank you, Harry."

"For what?" Harry asked, confused. After all, it was Severus who had done everything to help Harry, not the other way around.

"For being you? For helping me remember what it feels like to be appreciated? For the Christmas present you gifted me with? Pick one, because they are all true. I... I care a lot for you, Potter. Probably more than I should."

"I care for you too, Severus, but I'm fairly sure you already know that. I can never thank you enough for everything you've done for me. I plan, and I hope you will let me, to spend the rest of forever showing you just how much I care for you."

"Harry, I..."

Horror flooded through Harry as Severus stepped back. Before he could lose it in front of the students, he summoned his chair to him, levitating himself out of the hall as quickly as he could manoeuvre through the students.

Tears fell to his cheeks as he levitated up the many stairs leading to the Astronomy Tower. He knew he shouldn't have run away so quickly, because of course, now the students would be talking, but he couldn't help it. He had offered, foolishly, his heart to a man he thought loved him back, and it had been thrown on the floor and stamped on.

Harry wondered how he could have got things so wrong. Surely he wasn't so besotted with Severus that he had been picking up so many signals when their were clearly none. Footsteps could be heard on the stairs, and Harry really didn't want to be found by two 'in love' students, so he cast a quick warding spell on the door to keep students out. Of course, as Harry's luck would have it, it wasn't a student.

xxxx

"Severus, what on earth made Harry go tearing off like that?" Dumbledore asked, concerned.

"I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life," Severus murmured quietly, causing even more concern for the Headmaster.

"What happened?"

"Harry just told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and I moved away from him in shock. He thought it meant I didn't want him. Truly, Albus, I meant nothing of the sort. He surprised me is all. How can someone as... someone as perfect as him, want to spend any portion of their life with me, let alone all of it?"

"I think you need to find Harry, and tell him what you just told me, dear boy. He will understand. And may I be the first to offer my congratulations. You are a good fit, Severus, you both deserve to be happy. Go on. Go and find him, and tell him you love him."

Severus stared at the Headmaster's back for a moment, before he realised what he had said was true. Severus loved Harry, more than anything, and he needed to tell him. Before it was too late.

As he left the hall, he wondered if Harry would have gone up to his rooms, but he knew before the thought even finished that he wouldn't have. Severus knew where he would find Harry, and he just hoped that Harry would be feeling in a listening mood.

xxxx

Harry's heart sank as Severus opened the door, closing it behind him quietly.

"Severus, if you've come to 'let me down gently,' there's no need. Consider me let down, and move on."

"I've come to apologise. No. Let me finish, and then if you must, tell me to bugger off. I didn't mean to step back Harry, you surprised me. The last thing I ever expected was for you to want to spend any part of your life with me, never mind the rest of it. I'm... I don't deserve you, and you could do so much better than me. However, should you choose to waste any part of your life with me, I would be a fool to say no. I love you, Harry."

Harry levitated to where Severus had slumped against the wall and took his hand.

"I'm unsure of why you think I could ever deserve better than you, when to me, there is no better. I don't consider any time spent with you a waste, even when we are wasting time watching stupid movies or talking in front of the fire. I will spend every day and every night, of the rest of our lives, proving just how much you mean to me, just how special you are, and just how much I love you, Severus."

Severus eyes shined with unshed tears as he gazed at Harry, his words washing over him slowly.

"Severus?"

"Yes, My Harry?"

"Kiss me?"

"Anytime," Severus replied with a small smile, as he leant slightly to brush his own lips against Harry's.

Fireworks exploded around Hogwarts, and the two broke apart, unable to hold their laugher.

Fireworks indeed.

"Happy New Year, Severus."

"Happy New Year, Harry."

The End