.

The next couple of days passed much the same with Harry and Severus doing their own thing during the day and being intimate during the evenings. Harry had mentioned on the second day that he wanted to head into Diagon Alley much to Severus's annoyance because that meant having to get someone to take him, which would implicate their arrangement but he could see no other way. Harry had fought hard to be allowed to go out alone, claiming that he needed to buy Christmas presents although after he said it he realized that it probably wasn't the best argument to have. However, in the end Severus had caved and had agreed to take Harry to the alley but he wasn't too impressed about it.

"I'm warning you, Harry if you dare think about disappearing it will be the last thing you ever do." Severus snapped as they walked into the Leaky Cauldron.

"Cross my heart." Harry quipped back and smirked.

"Hey." Severus said grabbing Harry's arm.

"I'm being serious. I will wait for you here, so don't think you can sneak past me." Severus continued and Harry nodded his understanding, even if it was with slight amusement.

Once Harry was in the alley he shook his head at Severus's actions; he didn't dwell on this any further however and started going into all of the shops luckily not meeting anyone he knew on his way. There were presents to buy for Hermione and Blaise, then he guessed that he would get Ginny something as well seeing as they were getting on quite well at the moment. There was also Severus but he was totally out of ideas for what to get the man, he seemed to have everything like his books, he wasn't going to get him another one of those because the odds of the man already in possession of a book he were to buy was high. He thought about getting the man some clothes but he had to laugh at how absurd that sounded as he had only ever seen Severus in his teaching robes and the white shirt that lay underneath.

Out of habit he found himself in the Quidditch shop and was perusing the isles when he realized that he really had no need to be looking in here as he wasn't shopping for Ron like he always came in here for. He giggled to himself when he thought of Severus on a broomstick as he eyed up the new Whiplash 2000 but he had to clear those thoughts and focus on the task at hand.

He sighed as he came back out onto the main strip and went into the next shop, which happened to be the local jewelers. He looked through the cabinets but doubted he'd find anything there. What would he like anyway? He sighed again and leaned on the counter with his purchases sitting on the floor at his feet as he looked at the rings and bangles in front of him.

"Hello, Mr. Potter." The shopkeeper said coming to stand in front of him.

"You're looking a little lost, what was it you were looking for?" He asked and Harry smiled wistfully up at him.

"I'm not really sure, that's the problem." Harry replied honestly and the man nodded at him.

"I'm going to guess that it's a Christmas present," Harry nodded, "so who are we buying for?"

Harry thought for a second, it was a good question, who was Severus to Harry? Was he a boyfriend? Friend? He humored himself by thinking teacher but he didn't think the man would find that very funny.

"A very, very close friend." He settled with and the man nodded before walking over to another cabinet and Harry followed him.

"How about these, the bracelets come in a medium sized chains or you have the bangles here as well. It is a male you are looking for?"

"Uh, yes, yes it is. I like the solid bangle, the one with the flat bit across the top." Harry said as he eyed the different pieces.

He was out to get something special, so when he picked it up and looked it over in his hands he felt a little disappointed in the choice; it was a nice bangle but wondered if there was any chance he could personalize it.

"This has a brother." The shopkeeper said and Harry frowned a little when he said it.

The man bent down and then produced another one, exactly the same and held it out for Harry before he leaned on the counter.

"They make a pair if you are interested, because it has special magic associated with it." The man began and Harry nodded looking intrigued.

"Now, what happens is a link forms between the two bangles and it allows them to communicate with each other. There are a couple of things that you can make it do. One is that you can place a charm on them to alert the other wearer if you are in danger and you will know because it heats up, the stronger the heat the more distress the other is in. Another charm, which is a little more complicated, you can spell these to communicate thoughts between each other. See this flat bit?" Harry nodded.

"When you send a thought to the other bangle it will flash across here but only the two wearers will be able read the messages that appear. The bangles will tingle when a message is sent through and will last until you have acknowledged the message so you do not miss a thought."

"Wow, this sounds really cool. So how do I send a message? Do I just think it?"

"You will need to cover the bangle with your other hand and squeeze gently for your thought to be recognized." The shopkeeper replied and Harry nodded it.

"Is there anyway that I can personalize the look of these bangles? Like, they can do awesome things but can I set some gems into the silver or engravings?" Harry said thumbing the two points on the underside of the bangle.

"You can, did you have something in mind?"

"Well, would it be possible to have two green gems set into these two end points on this one," he said pointing to the one he would be giving Severus, "and a serpent etched into the underside of the other?"

"That could be arranged. It will take me a whole day to do these, is that alright?"

"Of course, uh would it be possible to have it sent to me? I doubt I will be able to swing by before Christmas."

"This is fine, Mr. Potter. What would the address be?" The shopkeeper asked and Harry wrote it down on a piece of parchment.

He bid the man goodbye and feeling a lot better about the situation now walked out into the strip confident in his choice. He looked both ways and looking inside his shopping bags he double checked he had everything before setting off towards the Leaky Cauldron. He would have laughed at the expression on the man's face as he walked towards him if he wasn't afraid of the man chucking him out as he scowled heavily and grabbed Harry's wrist dragging him over to the floo. Harry tumbled out and landed in a heap on the floor when they arrived back at the house whilst Severus stepped out coolly brushing himself down. He helped Harry up by extending his arm and then looked at him sternly.

"I sincerely hope you got everything you needed. You took forever." Severus almost whined and Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise to the tone the man used. It wasn't severe but it wasn't amusing, a confusing mix.

"Sorry, the last shop took a little longer than expected." He said shrugging lightly and looking away.

"Karsha," Severus said not breaking eye contact with Harry and a pop was heard from behind him. "Please take these bags to Harry's room."

"Yes, Master Snape." She replied bowing and Harry handed her his bags.

Harry went to apologize for the time he took but found a finger on his lips silencing him before Severus leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss onto his lips.

"It is quite alright, Harry." He purred in Harry's ear before nipping at his neck and pulled away.

"If you need me, I'll be in the lab." He called over his shoulder and Harry watched his retreating form in disbelief.

Once the door was closed, he groaned in frustration as he palmed his jeans to find an erection developing. This really isn't fair, he thought and shook his head. He had presents to wrap and it would get his mind off what was developing in his pants.

The next day, Christmas Eve, Harry was panicking as he hadn't received the owl with his package from the jewelers and he was starting to get anxious that it wouldn't arrive on time. Even in the Wizarding world, shops didn't open on Christmas day and he didn't want to have to wait till boxing day to receive the gift he was going to give Severus. Another thing cropped into his mind as he went to sit at the dinner table that night and it was whether or not Severus would like the gift. He bit his lower lip as he helped himself to potato and frowned, he didn't want the man to think it was something childish or pathetic, Merlin if he thinks that it's too much… oh no what have I done? His appetite vanished with that thought and he looked up to see the man looking at him expectantly.

"Sorry, I'm not very hungry." Harry said and went to leave the table.

"No." Severus asked quickly and Harry stopped still seated and looked up at the man who was giving him a look that screamed you're going to tell me why.

"I feel like… I don't… Please can I just go?" He asked and the man shook his head.

"No, you can eat what you just put on your plate. Then you can." Severus offered and Harry nodded slowly as he pulled his chair back in and picked his fork up.

He had just put the last forkful in his mouth when Karsha popped next to Harry, making him jump and announcing that he had a package. His eyes went wide and he looked to Severus before jumping up and taking the box before darting upstairs. Severus watched him with a mix of intrigue and worry as he watched Harry disappear, he wondered if he had been waiting all day for this and had been the reason for his quietness. He supposed that he would find out soon enough when Harry came back down… if he came back down. Severus sighed and agreed with himself that Harry was one confusing individual.

Sitting on his bed, Harry ripped the brown paper off the box and opened it to find the pure silver bangles perfectly personalized. Hope bubbled within him as he inspected them and he was very pleased with the results, although the next question was, did he put his one on now and give Severus only the one tomorrow or did he give him both and explain what they did? Yeah, I'll do that, he thought and put them into the black box that had silver ribbon around it and stood to place it in his drawers to hide it from the man. He'd already sent the other gifts off that morning so he only had Severus's one to worry about. He grinned as he shut the drawer and finally felt happy and relaxed for the first time that day.

"Harry?" Severus said as he knocked on the door and Harry went over to open it.

"Yeah?" He replied casually and gave the man a smile.

"Is everything all right?" He asked and Harry nodded.

"Yes."

"Hmm, I think that remains to be seen." Severus mused and walked towards Harry.

Harry backed up and felt hands on his hips as Severus guided him over to his bed and gently pushed him back onto it, coming to lie on top of him and covering his entire body. Harry found lips on his own and he responded eagerly to the soft lips as he placed his hands on Severus's hips to grind them together a little however Severus didn't let this get any further and he pulled away and rolled onto his side. Harry mewled at the loss and turned his head to look at the man who had a weird look on his face.

"Why did you stop?" Harry asked quickly, then blushed.

"I just realized it's Christmas Eve." He said almost to himself and Harry frowned before rolling onto his front, still looking at him.

"Yeah." Harry said and watched the man's face.

"I… I suppose you wish to celebrate Christmas?" Severus said and Harry looked at him in disbelief but unfortunately he wasn't surprised at all by the question.

"N-Not if you don't want to." Harry replied cautiously and suddenly felt stupid that he'd spent all that money buying the man a gift.

"Hmm." Was all the man said before he stood and walked out of the room without further conversation.

Harry sighed, just when it was going well the man had to get all weird. He'd been doing things like that ever since they got to Spinner's End and if baffled him as to why. It was almost like the man didn't want to reveal certain things or was hiding something but he really had no idea because even though he'd spent a lot of time with him he still couldn't work him out. Harry looked around his room, he really didn't know what to do with himself now, he usually would be sitting on the man's lap downstairs about this time or they would be doing unspeakable things to each other on his bed. He glanced over at the door, which was sitting a jar and he sighed before stripping his clothes off until he was in his boxers and jumped into bed. He decided just to keep the door open for the night so he could hear when Severus went to bed and when he had a shower in the morning.

Without realizing it, he managed to fall asleep not long after he turned the lights off and he missed the look of concern Severus gave him as he peeked into his room to see what he was doing. Severus had hoped to continue what they had started but he guessed he was out of luck, so he went to his own room where he had a very interesting book waiting for him.

Meanwhile, Harry was having a dream. A very erotic dream. It was set at Hogwarts, well Severus's office to be exact and Harry was standing in front of the man's desk to receive the detention he'd just received. He was looking down at his feet however he was smiling, almost like he knew what was coming. Of course he didn't though and Severus came up behind him and smacked his ass as he rounded on him and stood in front pulling his head up by the chin.

"What am I going to do with you, Harry?" Dream Severus asked and Harry's eyes were shining with mischief as he replied.

"Fuck me." Harry said smirking.

Severus grabbed the backs of Harry's thighs and turning he threw Harry onto the desk making papers and quills fly everywhere but Harry didn't care and started grabbing Severus's robes in an attempt to rip them off so he could feel skin. Harry was pulled towards the edge of the desk as Severus positioned himself between Harry's legs and their groins rubbed together making them both moan. Severus growled in pleasure at the feeling and Harry felt his clothing disappear due to a spell and he looked down at himself feeling very self-conscious and was trying to hid his body but found his hands pulled above his head and Severus leaned over his body and leaned down to kiss him.

Harry woke up as he gasped for air and felt very disorientated. There was a little bit of light coming from the hallway and when his eyes refocused he realized that Severus was sitting on the side of his bed, his hand resting on his abdomen.

"You were having a dream, are you okay?" Severus asked and Harry nodded.

He was glad the man couldn't really see his face at the moment, he was sure that he was bright red as he remembered the compromising position he'd been in whilst he was dreaming.

"Yeah, I am now." Harry said a little out of breath and he felt a hand on his cheek.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Severus offered.

"Uh…" Harry wasn't sure if the man wanted to hear what he had to say but he sighed when he remembered what the man said about being open and honest.

Who knows? You might even have your dream come true? He thought and his already hard cock twitched at the thought and he moaned turning away from the man. Severus's hand went to Harry's shoulder and turned him back around.

"Tell me." He said a little more forcefully.

"It was about us… well yeah, us." Harry said burying his head into his pillow.

"Oh really?" Severus replied with amusement and he moved so he was propped up against the headboard of Harry's bed.

"Do continue." He continued playfully and Harry made a move to sit up as well and found a hand wrap around his shoulders.

"Really?" Harry asked unsurely.

"Of course, how else am I to get a better understanding of what you want?" He whispered seductively in his ear and Harry shivered.

"I… Okay, so I was in your office for detention then I… I asked you… Are you sure about this?"

"Harry." Severus said before leaning down and nipping his earlobe and kissing the side of his head, Harry letting out an unguarded moan as he was already aroused from the dream.

"Ahh, so it was that kind of dream. Now you have to tell me." Severus teased and Harry buried his head in the crook of his neck.

"You threw me on your desk after I told you to… you know." Harry said; he wasn't confident in saying that bit out loud, not yet anyway.

"Play your cards right, Harry and I might just enlighten you." Severus purred in his ear before shifting and letting his hand creep up the inside of Harry's thigh from under the covers.

"You… Y-Huh?" Harry stumbled, not really understanding what was happening but didn't want the man to stop with his hand movements.

"Relax, Harry. Not tonight. However, we can do something else in the mean time." Severus clarified and Harry moaned as he felt Severus move under the covers and then lay on top of him.

Severus's hands roamed Harry's almost naked body and it wasn't until this moment that Harry realised what the man was wearing because it certainly didn't feel like his normal robes. Instead the material was smooth and silky as it slipped easily over his skin. Harry moved his own hands and snaked one around the back of the man's neck to pull him down for a heated kiss as he jutted his hips upwards so they connected with Severus's and they both moaned at the feeling. They both had very little in the way of clothing and the feeling from this and their groins was more intense. Severus thrust forward and then leaned back so he could take Harry's erection in his hand and began pumping it fast. As he did this, Harry took advantage of the man's lack of heavy clothing and thrust his hand into the silk pants to wrap his hands around the large throbbing erection buried within.

Severus let out a growl as he felt Harry's cool hands on his hot member and he rushed down to claim Harry's mouth with his own. As Harry worked his erection, he tried to imagine what it would be like to take Harry over his office desk although he was reminded of the other day when he visualized having sex with him on his desk in his bedroom. Without realizing it, he was panting and grunting through his lack of self control and before long he was groaning out Harry's name as he rode out his orgasm. If he wasn't feeling such a high at this current point in time he would have bee disappointed in his quick release, but it actually worked in his favor as it meant that Harry hadn't finished, so quickly he moved down the boy's body, and because there was hardly any light the feeling Harry received from his mouth around the weeping cock was more intense.

He soon had Harry whimpering and moaning as he brought him towards his climax. Applying pressure to the sensitive spot behind Harry's balls he felt his muscles tense so he moved his head away with Harry all but screaming in pleasure as he reached his climax. He cleaned them both up and then moved so he was sitting back against the headboard again as Harry came to his senses.

"Wow." Harry was able to say after a while and Severus smiled in the darkness.

"Let's hope you have sweet dreams from now." He whispered and went to stand.

"Wait, where are you going?" Harry said slightly panicked.

"To bed." Severus said calmly and Harry frowned, the little bit of light coming through from the hallway allowing Severus to see his facial expression.

"Why won't you sleep with me?" Harry said bluntly and Severus cocked his head but didn't say anything.

"Please stay?" He asked hopeful but Severus only walked up to the bed and leaned down to kiss Harry on the forehead before whispering good night and stroked his cheek.

Harry watched at the man walked from his room, his orgasm forgotten and the sadness of being left along after their late night romp crept into his heart.