Twilight (1/1)
Rating: PG
Fandom; Harry Potter
Pairing: HP/SS
Disclaimer: These guys don't belong to me.
Beta: Medea and Katherine
Notes: 1) Part of the HP/SS Fuh-Q-Fest Wave V at http://www.kardasi.com/HPSS/storyindex.htm 2) Written pre-HBP.
Challenge: 111. Harry hasn't been at Hogwarts for years. Snape and he run across each other somewhere else. First meeting in a very long time. All kings of sparks fly. (Kira)
"Potter," Snape hissed. The word tasted bitter in his mouth, but that didn't surprise him considering the history the two of them had. Seven years of intense hatred had ended with the defeat of the Dark Lord and one ill-advised month of sex. Two weeks following the defeat of Voldemort, Snape had woken alone in his bed. At first he had believed Potter somewhere else in the castle. Later that afternoon, Albus told him that the boy had left with Shaklebolt to begin his Auror training.
Snape had been furious, but also resigned to his fate of being deserted by his lover. It had happened before, and he had been a fool to believe that Potter would not do the same once he grew tired of fucking his former professor. Potter had hinted that he was looking for something more lasting, though, and against his better judgment, Snape had let himself be drawn in by that.
"Snape," Potter said with a nod. He stepped up to join Snape at the balcony railing.
Snape sighed heavily. It had been too much to hope for that the brat would leave him alone this night. They were here to bury Dumbledore, a man that Snape had considered his only friend and the source of his salvation for more years than he cared to remember, so he was already on an emotional knife's edge.
It was sundown. The air was cool and the stars were beginning to emerge. For all of Dumbledore's fighting against pureblood politics, he had still chosen to be buried in the traditional manner: at night and with only twelve people present. The twelve had been named in Dumbledore's will. Snape had never doubted that Harry Potter would be on that list.
"I can't believe he's gone," Potter said.
Snape didn't answer. The boy's words cut too deep. He had loved Albus like a father, but he had always thought there would be more time to express that. To have him suddenly gone was almost unbearable.
Snape continued to stare straight ahead and hoped that Potter would get the hint. Lupin was here; surely the two of them could find something to amuse them for the next hour or so.
"I always thought there would be time for me to come back," the brat continued. "There was always training and then former Death Eaters to take care of. Suddenly it's been almost four years."
"Potter," Snape snapped. "I am not your confessor." He turned to sneer at the boy, no the man, that stood next to him. And that was a surprise. When Snape had last seen Potter he'd still had the softness of youth about him, but now he was definitely an adult.
"I thought we were friends of a sort. And I..."
"If you need someone to talk to, Lupin is inside."
"It's not the same."
"Fucking for a time does not make us friends," Snape supplied. Perhaps the brat was here to deal with some sort of unfinished feeling regarding their 'relationship'. But, Potter had been the one to leave clandestinely; he had no right to feel unfinished about their month together. "Besides, you made it fairly clear how you felt about that when you snuck out."
"You knew I had to leave for my training."
"Not in the middle of the night," Snape snapped. Why couldn't Potter just ignore him like his other ex-lovers?
"I was afraid."
"Afraid?"
"I *had* to leave. I couldn't bear to hear you say you were glad I was moving on with my life. And if I did show hesitation, I didn't want to hear that I was a child, that I didn't know what I wanted."
"So you left."
"I'm not proud of it," Potter told him.
"Even if I did believe that, it would only prove that you *were* a child."
"It's the truth, Severus," Potter insisted.
Snape flinched at the use of his first name. "I am not an easy man. I have been left before and I am used to it. So, if this is about assuaging your conscience in some way, don't bother."
"Severus..." Harry protested.
"Stop."
"I wanted to be with you," Potter insisted. "You fought by my side when you knew it could mean your own death. You're powerful and controlled, qualities I've always found attractive."
Snape snorted and then turned on his heel. He wasn't going to stand here and let Potter humiliate him. If the brat needed absolution, he wasn't going to get it that night.
"Wait," the man called and grabbed Snape's sleeve.
"Potter," Snape growled as he turned back.
The scathing words he meant to say were cut off as Potter's mouth melded with his. Snape was shocked and held himself rigid against Potter's unexpected attack. Eventually he recovered enough to pull his wand and mutter a curse.
Sparks flew. Potter stumbled and fell into a heap on the stone floor. He looked up at Snape with soft eyes full of confusion.
"How dare you?" Snape demanded.
"I..."
"What? Thought I would be distraught enough to have a quick tumble with you before Dumbledore's funeral? How dare you disgrace the memory of a great man in this way? I slept with you at a time when I thought that my life was surely over. It was a mistake that will not happen again."
"But..." Potter stuttered. "You said you wanted me."
He *had* said that. When Potter had returned to Snape's rooms following his release from Pomfrey's care, he had allowed himself to believe that it meant something, that Potter might actually care for him.
"You should know by now that a man will say almost anything to keep you in his bed, Potter," Snape said coldly. He hoped his words hurt as much as waking up to find himself alone after giving his heart to the whelp.
He turned and strode back into Dumbledore's ancestral home, preparing himself to bury the only person who had ever loved him in return.
*end*
04-06-21