Chapter 6.
If Harry had to guess what time it was, he'd guess around midnight. He had woken after a long rest with his former enemy. The moment he woke up he felt the woken professor toss and turn. The two looked at each other with the minimal light offered by the candle in the distance. They were still in each other's arms and fully awake in the middle of the night with no sign of Poppy.
"Good Morning-ish sir." Harry spoke bashfully.
"I suppose good morning to you too Pott-Harry."
Harry smiled at the correction. It has taken just over 7 years, but this man finally sees him for who he is, Harry. Just Harry.
Snape now clear of mind and potion out of his system was not sure what he should do next. As much as he has accepted the company of Lily's boy, he was still no parent. He was a patient man yes, but he was not the affectionate type by far. Whenever a child needed nurturing, he would offer them advice and then send them off to a professor who could give the students what they really needed. A hug.
"Sir, is something wrong? Your fingers feel so stuck"
Snape looked down and almost gasped in shock. The boy was holding his hand and examining his fingers. Does this boy not know boundaries? Surely, he did not do this with any other professor. Maybe with Lupin when he was around but he found it hard to believe this. Why was he, Professor Snape so special suddenly?
"Harry, you need to know that the potion is no longer in my system."
Harry smiled at the good news. His fingers, still on his.
"That's fantastic sir!"
Snape, still feeling awkward continued.
"Harry, I'm not the affectionate type, to anyone. Student or friend."
The idiot boy continued smiling, not getting the hint. Before continuing his quest of having the boy let go of him, Harry interrupted.
"It's okay sir, I won't do this in front of anyone. I know you don't want people to think of you differently."
This is not what he meant at all! Why is Lily's boy doing this to him?
"Harry, I need some time to myself."
Harry, still giving him that goofy smile shuffled back and slowly loosened his hand around Snape's.
"It's okay sir, I suppose I did stay longer than expected. I originally just came to see that you were really here, alive, and well apologise and stuff."
Harry now detached from his professor, sat on the edge of the bed and begun putting his shoes on. Professor Snape had the bed all to himself again as well as the pillow and blanket. Harry's shoes now on turned to his professor before leaving.
"Well, I guess good night sir."
"Good evening to you too…Harry"
Harry hesitated at the curtain before turning back to Snape.
"Can I come back tomorrow? To see you?"
Snape found this interesting. The boy wants to spend more time with him for some reason. He knows he isn't the first person to give him affection but reviewing his memories in previous occlumency lessons he couldn't recall anything like this. The closest being friendly hugs from the red head and know it all and that horrible cringe worthy kiss he exchanged with the Cho girl. Not even the dog father or the werewolf had this sort of intimacy with the boy. Was what was happening between them okay?
"You may return in the afternoon. I have an appointment with the Headmistress in the morning."
Snape replied making a mental note that he needed to talk to Minerva as soon as the sun rises about this whole situation with the boy.
This seemed to have calmed the boy's nerves. He smile, said his farewell again and left Snape in peace.
Harry felt so restless. Today has been an emotional roller coaster. One minute he's on his way to feed Sassy which he now needs to do first thing in the morning and the next minute he's in the company of Severus Snape, A man whom he thought was dead!
There's not many times in life where one gets the chance to speak to the dead and make amends but that is what happened today. Harry didn't know how to feel. He is a lot more relaxed knowing that he and Snape are now on good terms with each other, but he would have never guessed that he and Snape would sleep together in the same bed holding on to each other. But Snape was now all he had.
His parents are gone, the Marauders are gone and so many more. The Dursleys had always hated him and now Snape was the closest to family he had. He couldn't help himself. Someone basically came back from the dead after sacrificing so much for him and now Harry didn't know what to do. The world wants to worship Harry Potter, but Harry Potter wanted to worship the ones who gave their lives to him. It was still strange how imagining Snape naked made him harder than he had felt in a long time but that didn't surprise him too much as he had discovered recently, he prefers the company of men over woman.
No one was around as usual. The castle and its occupants are sleeping. Harry smiled at the realization that no one was around. His heart began to beat hard from nervousness and excitement.
During therapy, Harry realized that he hated who Harry Potter was and wanted to distance himself as much from Harry Potter as he could and while Madam Pomfrey advised him that he is who he is and needs to accept that, Harry found another way to deal with being Harry Potter.
Harry was already walking to his room gleefully, forcing himself not to run.
It started with maybe Harry needed a new hair style. He experimented with a few spells and found that the "Capillum Puella" charm gave him desirable results. Though it's temporary, he will keep using the charm for what felt like "just for fun" and "curiosity" but then it continued. With the temporary long hair, he played with his hair, learned to braid it and learned how to use a hair tie.
Originally, he tried going for a 'tough guy' look when he tied his hair back but what he got in the mirror was very feminine and that's when Harry saw that he looked more like a girl than a man. It confused him that a 17-year-old man looked so girly but what confused him more was how right it felt. Feeling adventurous he began putting his hair in styles he had seen Hermione wear over the years and so far, the pig tails were his favourite.
Climbing up the stairs to his dorm, he felt his groin growing. Feeling the first twitch and nudge in his pants. Harry's breaths were becoming more like the pants of a running dog.
He hurried through the Fat Lady's portrait and was now running to his room. He slammed the door shut and just as he begun to reach for his hair ties, a package sat on his bed. Harry knew exactly what it was and without hesitation ripped the box open. Inside, was tissue paper covering something, wrapped with a silky ribbon. It was here.
Sweating and trembling, his movement slowed to a crawl. He pincer-gripped the end of the rose-coloured ribbon and pulled, the moment he pulled, it felt like a stubborn flower had finally bloomed.
His dress was here.
Harry's very first dress. There was no doubt that the moment he saw himself in the mirror for the first time with long, cute hair that Harry was supposed to be a girl. Everything made sense in that moment. He hated Harry Potter because Harry Potter was a strong, brave man. A knight in shining armour, hero and savour.
Harry on the inside was a shy, soft person who wanted to have a knight in shining armour of his own rather than being one.
Harry locked the door with all the charms he knew and undressed himself. His legs and arms were hair-free these days as he frequently charmed all body hair away. Standing now naked at his bed, he took the dress and held it in front of him. Harry's first dress was beautiful pine green in colour. In the catalogue there were so many types of dresses to choose from but after narrowing it down, he chose the peasant design. As he held it, something fell off the dress and onto the ground. Curiously, Harry put the dress gently on the bed to investigate the mysterious small parcel. He held it up and saw a small note reading "Complimentary Gift to First Buyer". Smiling at the extra gift given to him by the tailors, he opened the small package and almost fainted at what the gift had been.
Underwear. It was sexy underwear that matched the dress. Harry felt lightheaded as all the blood in his body abandoned the core and made its way to his now hard erection.
This beautiful, cute, lacy underwear was just for him. Harry couldn't wait anymore. Harry held the dress in his hands and gently stepped into it. He pulled the dress up and let out a quivering moan when the fabric brushed along his erection, up his belly and passed his nipples. The Peasant dress design was perfect. The sleeves were puffy at the shoulders which hid his muscles only showing his lean and pale forearms. The upper body was tight around the belly but loosened at the waist. This dress had a low neckline which on a typical girl would show off some of her chest but poor Harry being as flat as paper had nothing but smooth pale skin.
The dress came to his knees which he felt was a modest length. He didn't want anything higher because he wanted to hide his muscular thighs but if the dress was too long, he wouldn't feel free either.
Harry, after brushing the dress down, put his complementary underwear on and in that moment, a new wave of happiness showered him. He felt right, free. Harry felt perfect and most importantly beautiful for the first time in his life. Harry Potter was now dead and just Harry was here. He giggled and almost danced in his new attire. This was bliss. When he twirled, the dress followed. He was a ballerina, a doll, a princess. He was finally perfect.
And this is Harry's biggest secret that if another soul knew, would destroy his life as this sort of behavior was not accepted in either the world of Magic or the Muggle world but at that moment, Harry could care less.