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kirsty21: hope you like the new chapter!
Harry's PoV:
"You're being ridiculous, Harry," Hermione told him on Friday afternoon. "Severus loves you. You've been best friends for three years. He's known Emma for a day."
"Maybe so," Harry said as he bounced baby Natalia on his hip. "And I know Severus loves me, but sometimes I wish he could love me in a different way. In the way that I love him. But at the same time, I don't want him to think that his love isn't enough. Because it is very special to me, whether it is platonic or romantic."
"I know how you feel, Harry," Hermione said sympathetically. "I felt that way about Ron for years before we finally got together. I had doubts, I was terrified. But at the end of the day, you have to take a risk."
Harry sighed. "I just don't know what the right choice is," he said. "Keep it a secret, or tell Severus and risk our friendship?"
"I highly doubt your friendship would be ruined," Hermione said. "As much as he tries to hide it, Severus is a good person, and he cares about you. If you told him how you feel I'm sure he would accept your feelings, and worst case scenario, you would still be friends."
"Besides, mate, do you really feel comfortable to spend time with him while knowing that you're keeping this huge secret from him?" Ron added.
"It is hard," Harry admitted. "But it would be even harder to lose him. I love him, Ron, and Severus isn't comfortable with so much emotion. I don't want to make him uncomfortable. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and Severus is used to hiding his feelings."
"Then maybe you should ease into it, you know?" Ron said. "Don't tell him everything all at once if you don't want to overwhelm him. Give him signs, you know, gestures or words that he'll think over later and wonder their meaning."
"You mean...flirt with him?" Harry asked.
Ron shrugged. "Might as well try it," he said. "Then maybe he won't be so shocked when you finally tell him the truth. He'll have already put it together."
"Not a bad idea," Harry said, to his surprise. Anything that could help Severus discover Harry's feelings terrified him, but it was better to have Severus piece it together and confront him or ask him and get a confirmation from Harry than for Harry to outright confess to him without much context. "Thanks, mate."
"Yeah, no problem," Ron said around a bite of food. "Let us know how it goes."
Harry smiled. "I will," he promised.
Severus's PoV:
Severus looked at himself in the mirror one last time on Friday night before he was expecting Harry. He smoothed the wrinkles in his white button-down shirt and ran a comb through his hair.
There was a knock on his door, and Severus went to answer it. "Good evening, Harry," the Potions Master said.
"It is, indeed." Harry winked and Severus stared at him confused. Shrugging, Severus put on his jacket and closed the door behind him. While they walked up the hill to Hogsmeade, Severus noticed that Harry was walking closer to him than he normally did. "I do enjoy our evenings, Severus," said Harry, and smiled at him.
Severus managed to smile back despite his heart pounding. "I do as well," he said. This evening stood apart from all their other evenings spent together. This felt like a date. "Would you like to go to The Three Broomsticks?"
"Sure." Severus was glad to get out of the cold, and he went over to the bar owner to reserve the comfortable couch by the fireplace. "Hello Madame Rosmerta," Harry said after Severus asked for the reservation. "Can we have two butterbeers, please?"
When Severus used to come here, before he became friends with Harry, he would always get an alcoholic drink. But when he began to come here with Harry, his best friend had made him try Butterbeer. Severus ended up loving it and had never gotten anything different since.
Madame Rosmerta smiled. "Of course, Harry. How are you, Severus? Enjoying life as an author?"
"It's definitely harder than I imagined it would be," Severus said. "And there is a lot of pressure on me to get my work done by the deadlines I have been given. But I enjoy putting together the potions and lab experiments that I've invented and revised, and I look forward to see what other wizards will do with my experiments."
"He's doing great," said Harry, smiling as he took a sip of his Butterbeer. Severus felt his cheeks warm and hoped no one would notice in the dim lighting of the bar.
"Without Harry's help, I would never have come this far," Severus insisted. After they had been friends for a while, and more tutoring in Potions, Severus had begun to allow Harry to help him in his lab. Harry would take notes for him while Severus would add ingredients to his potions, and Harry had even been allowed to brew one of the potions Severus had invented, by himself. More recently, Harry had been becoming interested in Potions, and in the past few months Severus had let Harry work in his lab without the Potions Master there to supervise him. He trusted Harry and he knew that Harry knew how important Severus's lab was to him and that he wouldn't mess anything up. And if he did, Harry always cleaned up after himself. There was one incident where Harry had bought Severus a new rack of vials because he had accidentally knocked it over. But he had been honest about it, and Severus appreciated that. He knew he could always count on Harry's honesty.
"Harry! Severus!" A familiar voice startled Severus out of his reverie and the Potions Master looked over to see Emma standing at the bar. "Nice seeing you." To Madame Rosmerta she said, "Can I get a Firewhiskey?"
Harry bit his lip and looked at Severus with clear judgment in his green eyes. "Don't worry, we'll still have our evening," Severus said, touching Harry's arm. He could feel Harry glaring at him as Severus talked with Emma about his book. When the Potions Master turned his attention back to Harry, he was gone.
Severus looked around the bar. No Harry. "Excuse me Emma, I must find Harry." He left the bar and searched around the streets, wrapping his jacket tighter around him.
It was a while before Severus found Harry sitting on a bench under a tree, alone. Harry didn't acknowledge him as Severus sat down beside him. "I'm sorry," Severus said. Still no response. Severus gathered his courage and put an arm around Harry.
Harry looked up at him in surprise. "You came after me," he said.
"Of course I did, you dunderhead," Severus replied. That earned him a small smile. "Do you want to go back to The Three Broomsticks?"
"No," said Harry, and to Severus's surprise, he rested his head against the Potions Master's shoulder. "I just want to be here with you."
Severus held him close, surprised at how comfortable he felt with Harry. He rubbed gentle circles on the younger man's back and felt Harry move closer to him. His heart racing, he reached over with his other hand to lace his fingers through Harry's.
The younger man lifted his head and met his gaze, and Severus's stomach flipped. He imagined leaning in and kissing those full lips, and he swallowed. "You're not uncomfortable, being this close to me?" Harry asked him.
Severus smiled. "Not at all," he said, and when people walked by and stared at them, the Potions Master ignored them.
Emma's PoV:
Severus was so easy to fool.
By tricking him into believing that he should make Harry jealous, it would be too easy to manipulate Severus's perceptions of what was really happening.
She'd been interested in Severus ever since hearing his name come up more often in the publishing industry, and she knew if Severus would give her a chance, he would fall for her. But Severus was too close to Harry, and she needed to fix that.
She had a lot of work to do.
AN: Haha cliffhanger! Thanks to all who read the first chapter, I seriously wouldn't be motivated to write without you guys. Please review for more updates soon :)