Chapter Summary: In which Lex Luthor has an anchor before the events of the series. (Smallville, Harry/Lex)

Harry stopped in the doorway and leaned against the wall, peering into the study in front of him. The only sounds that he could hear was the crackling of the fire in the fire place and the rustling of pages. The little jar of floo powder sat above the fireplace and Harry could sense the wards around it, stopping anyone but himself from using that as an entrance to Lex's mansion. Lex was sitting at his desk, lamp on the desk turned on and a glass of whiskey in front of him. As he watched, Lex continued to stare at one page and didn't turn the page for a good five minutes.

"Hey."

"Must you stare at me like that?" Lex asked, finally looking away from the papers and glancing up at him. Lex was looking at him nonchalantly, like he had totally noticed Harry in the doorway several minutes before he had spoken.

Harry snorted. "I'm not staring at you in any way. Besides, you totally didn't hear me."

"I wasn't startled," Lex retorted, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, for someone who doesn't know you as well as I do, they probably wouldn't have noticed your eyes widening or your breathing picking up. However, I did."

Lex stared at him then minutely shrugged his shoulders. "I'm fine, Harry. You don't have to check in on me constantly."

Harry pushed away from the doorway and stepped in, closing the door behind him. "Lex…"

"Harry."

"I saw your father's car drive off just a few minutes ago," Harry remarked gently, walking over to sit on the chair that faced Lex's desk. "It's several hours past dinnertime. There are… advantages to living in the little cottage on your land, you know."

"He could have been here to say hi," Lex said, voice low.

"Right. And the fact that you're trembling is just your hunger."

"I am not trembling nor am I hungry."

Harry sighed, reaching out a hand to flip Lex's computer closed, leaving his hand on the desk, palm up. "I know how… difficult your father can get, Lex. It's okay. It's just me. There's no one else in the mansion and I already scanned for cameras."

Lex stared at him, his green eyes weary then he took a deep breath, shuddering out an exhale. He slowly reached out his hand, laying it in Harry's. "Sometimes I want to kill him."

"You say the word and I'll do it," Harry offered, half teasing and half… not. He closed his hand around Lex's when the other man's trembling grew worse.

Lex blinked then snorted. "Harry James Potter, offering to kill my dad."

"It was bound to happen sometime," Harry spoke, his lips twitching up into a small grin. "Seriously though. You say the word, I can have him arrested by the American aurors and have you put in protective custody. Warded safehouse and everything."

"Offering to be my bodyguard?"

"Of sorts. Does your body need guarded now?"

Lex stared at him then broke out into quiet laughter. "That has got to be the worst pick up line I have ever heard."

Harry grinned, stepping out of the chair and around the desk, walking right into Lex's personal space. He reached out his hand to tip Lex's chin up, leaned down and touched his lips to Lex's. Lex grinned into the kiss, wrapped his own arms around him and tugged him down, what sounded like a strangled whine coming from his throat.

Lex stood up and Harry pulled him closer, fingers finding their way under Lex's shirt to skin. Lex shivered and Harry smiled, green eyes intent, as he slowly backed Lex into the opposite wall as they both shed clothes.

A week later, Lex almost hit a teenager from Smallville. The sun was beaming down on him, not warm enough to dry him out or to warm him up but still… His unscheduled dip into the river would have tripped one of Harry's charms on him, which Harry most probably had on him and had not told him about. But Lex knew. They had been close for a while now and he had gotten used to the feel of Harry's magic, wild and warm, safe.

When he opened his eyes to see Clark Kent looking at him with concern, his heart skipped a beat. He was about to say something when he coughed, even more water coming out of his body. Clark's blue eyes widened and he hurriedly helped Lex up , rubbed his back. Lex sat up, looking Clark over to see if the teen was injured but seeing nothing. There was absolutely nothing on Clark's body to indicate that Lex had hit him and he could have sworn he had.

The teenager was also pale, as if something had frightened him in the past few minutes. And Lex could put that down to worrying about him but no one worried about him except Harry.

"Lex!"

Harry's voice proceeded the wizard running down the hill to him as Lex continued to stare at Clark, occasionally glancing to the spot where he had driven off of the bridge.

"Lex? You okay? Who are you?"

"Clark. I… uh, rescued him."

Lex's eyes narrowed, watching as Harry drew out a cloak from his pack, his fingers moving slightly. All the water and dirt from his body vanished and Lex sighed in relief, shivers increasing as his still cold body stayed still. Harry took one look at him then draped his cloak over his shoulders, one hand moving to cup Lex's neck reassuringly.

He could hear sirens moving on the road towards them and see Harry discreetly checking them both, the man's magic moving over him and Clark. Lex idly wondered if Harry was sensing anything, any injuries that he wasn't seeing but then the emergency services arrived and Clark's father arrived.

AN: I'm glad you guys are enjoying this series!

I'm going to do a thing here. By the end of June, the halfway point of the year, you guys can pick your top 5 pairings/stories and I will continue those each in a separate story.