Halleluiah!!! Chapter 78 is up!
***two hours later***
“A tabby cat,” called out Hermione, amazed by how quickly Harry could morph from one animal to the next.
“A toad,” came Neville’s suggestion.
“A bug,” called out Fred. “Oy, you would be a flaming butterfly,” teased George. “Nice,” he added when Harry quickly transformed from a monarch butterfly into a large creepy black spider, causing Ron to startle. Hermione marveled at the speed Harry managed to change from one to the other. He explained that it was actually easier when he didn’t think about it and just quickly switched to whatever animal they’d asked for.
They quickly learned it was better to think about it a bit first when Harry turned from a fox into a fish and couldn’t breathe while flapping around on the carpet, gasping for air.
“Guess that wasn’t very bright,” he said after taking a huge lungful of air, and gratefully accepted a glass of water from Ron. “Thanks, mate.” Harry fell back on the sofa next to Hermione. “That was fun,” he laughed, still somewhat out of breath.
“I think we’ve used Harry for our own amusement enough for one night. G’night.” Ginny kissed Harry on the cheek, and left to walk Neville to the door. The twins too called it a night and took their departure, leaving Harry alone with Ron and Hermione.
"You're crashing here tonight, right?" asked Ron, pouring himself another butterbeer, indicating he had no intention of going off to bed just yet. "Mum's already made up the bed for you," he added as if that settled it. Harry had laughed when Ron complained indignantly about Hermione still having to sleep in Ginny's room, even though he'd put a ring on her finger.
"Far be it from me to intrude on your cuddle time," grinned Harry, while getting up to leave them in peace.
"Don't you dare," Hermione pulled him back down. "I don't get to hang out with you both all that much anymore. What's Severus doing today?"
"Spending time with family," he answered cryptically since both his friends knew Severus to be the last in the Snape line. "He's going back to the manor I told you about. He said he wanted to pack up all his family heirlooms and paintings before giving a very big Christmas gift."
"He's giving you a manor?" asked Ron, getting an eye roll from Harry.
"No, you berk, I'm building our house… eventually. He's selling the manor to the family who lives there. Apparently, they've offered to buy it in the past, but he'd not wanted to sell it just yet," Harry propped his feet up on the table, and leaned comfortably on Hermione's shoulder.
"Can they afford that?" asked Ron. "I mean, if they've been servants and all for years, how can they afford a big place like that?"
"I don't know," shrugged Harry. "I guess they've had years to save up. Most the kids are grown, with their own kids, so there are a few generations living there. Imagine if all your brothers still lived here rent free, saving up their earnings and pooling it together."
"I'd rather not imagine that if you don't mind," grimaced Ron, thinking about what it was like before any of his brothers moved out. "This place was total chaos, worse than it is now. Once they could get away, Bill and Charlie didn't even stay in the same country, much less under the same roof," recalled Ron.
"Plus, I think Sev pays one of the sons-in-law to manage things," Harry added.
"Can he afford that? I didn't get the impression Snape came from much money," asked Ron, getting a jab to the ribs.
"That's none of our business," chided Hermione, though she was curious to know how Severus could afford to pay staff. "I don't think Severus would appreciate us talking about his personal matters," she added, emphasizing his first name as Ron had not.
"Yeah, I guess you’re right," Harry said with another shrug, wanting to say 'it's just you guys', but realizing she was right; Severus wouldn't appreciate his private life being discussed.
"Not talking about anyone in particular," Harry began with a wink to Ron. "But if someone were to inherit a manor from a distant relative, he or she could sell off a substantial number of heirlooms that held no personal sentimental value. The interest alone could be used to pay for the upkeep, including staff and a servant’s son-in-law to take care of all the financial business regarding the manor."
"That makes sense," said Hermione thoughtfully. "It's a shame you don't have many heirlooms, since your parents’ home was destroyed," she said sadly.
"Surprisingly, there were several nice things in their vault. I wondered why there was more crystal than most other stuff, and asked Remus about it. He told me that my mum was getting a bit clumsy near the end of her pregnancy and figured, with a child on the way, it was wise to place the special things in the vault until I was old enough not to knock things over and get hurt. He also mentioned something about a large black dog that couldn’t control his tail - no table or countertop was safe," laughed Harry, thinking about his godfather crashing through the house like a herd of hippogriffs.
"A dog, how'd we miss that one?" asked Ron, thinking about the many animals they'd had Harry transform into.
"Honestly Ron, Harry is telling us a touching story about his family and you're talking about dogs," Hermione said in a huff.
"He was talking about dogs too," defended Ron. "Blokes don't get sappy about that kind of stuff," he said, but took a quick glance at Harry to be sure.
"How about a black one?" asked Harry as if she hadn't said a word. He was already in dog form when she called them both prats. Harry bared his teeth, showing the large canines.
"Don't even try to be big and bad; you're adorable," Hermione scratched behind his ears, laughing when he growled at her and then licked her chin.
"He's not adorable," declared Ron, defending Harry's masculinity. "You've got to come to work with me one day. There's somebody I'd love for you to scare," Ron's eyes were bright, thinking of all the possibilities. "They'd freak out if they thought they saw a Grim. Can you look scarier?"
"No, he's adorable," interrupted Hermione.
"Um, speaking of freaking out," Harry said, having transformed back to his self. "I want to show you something, but you can't touch this time. I'm not sure, but I think it would be bad since Albus and Sev were so careful… I don't think they know for sure, either," he added more to himself than them. He gave them a short nod when they agreed not to touch. Hermione even sat on her hands, just in case.
"Remember my dad's Animagus form was a stag?" he asked as if it weren't common knowledge between them. "Well, I um… was thinking about him and…" he decided it would be easier to skip the explanation and simply show them. Soon, he could no longer feel the floor beneath his feet as he hovered before them in all his wispy, silvery glory.
Before they could fully understand what they were seeing, Harry changed back to himself. Hermione reached out to see if he was solid once again, but caught herself before touching. "It's OK now," he reassured her.
"Were you…?" she didn't voice her question, thinking it not possible. The hand she'd reached out with now covered her mouth in shock as he nodded in affirmation.
"Whoa!" was all Ron managed. "Can Dumbledore do that?" he asked, wondering at what point Harry would surpass Dumbledore in magical prowess. Harry simply shrugged.
"I don't know. He looked concerned, or maybe it was surprised, when I first showed him. It seemed to unnerve everyone in the room," Harry stared down at his legs, prodding at a spot where he'd spilled something from dinner. He had mixed feelings and didn't know if he should be celebrating this new talent, or be concerned as he had no idea if there could be dangers involved with such a feat.
Hermione agreed that it was unnerving to see her friend in the misty state. She watched Harry's face tighten while deep in thought. Her lips curled into a small smile as she noticed his lips move ever so slightly, causing the stain on his trousers to vanish. It wasn't uncommon for a powerful wizard to do some wandless magic, but Harry seemed to do it unconsciously these days.
"Can you be a bunny?" she asked, and Harry knew a good distraction when offered one. He was happy to go back to celebrating his Animagus forms. "Oh, how sweet!" she cooed, then screamed when he quickly shifted into a large stag beetle.
"Good one, mate," laughed Ron as he watched his girlfriend leap away from the offending insect. "Did you have to smack my mate to the floor like that?" he added to Hermione, seeing Harry back to himself, rubbing his aching side. He waved her off when Hermione tried to help him up, all the while grumbling about idiot boys.
"What would happen if she'd of knocked off one of your legs, or wings?" Ron asked no one in particular and shuddered, thinking about the possibilities. "Maybe you'd just be missing a fingernail or something, you think?" he added, causing Hermione to smack him in the hope he'd shut up. She felt bad enough having hit the 'Harry bug' away from her.
Harry glanced down at his fingers to make sure everything was where it should be. "Stop freaking out our girl here," he winked at Hermione. "I'm sure she didn't mean it," Harry said with an exaggerated groan.
"Stop being a prat," she shooed Harry away from leaning his head on her shoulder. "I want you to try something," she said, not passing up a good research opportunity.
"Sorry love, he's straight…" Ron began with a grin.
"I swear he thinks of nothing but food and sex," Hermione said matter-of-factly. Ron cuddled up close, whispering something about food and sex together. Harry didn't catch the whole thing, but watched Hermione's face glow with embarrassment. She went on as if he'd not said a thing, trying not to think about what Ron had done with chocolate pudding the previous week.
"I wanted you to try …" Before long Harry had tried various animals’ forms and colors. Switching from one color cat to another was interesting; Ron suggested it could be a great way to escape when chased. A near-perfect impression of Professor McGonagall in cat form caused them to roar with laughter.
"You could have so much fun with that," Ron shook his head as ideas popped into his head. The suggestion of Mrs. Norris brought on another round of laughter.
~'~'~'~'~'~
Severus sat down on his bed to remove his boots. It had been a pleasant evening with Adeline and her family for Christmas. It had been many years since he'd spent the holiday in a family setting. He could have done without watching the youngest mashing all his food into one unrecognizable paste, but was at least grateful Adeline had seated him far enough away from the toddler to not be a victim when some of it went flying from a wildly waved spoon.
The news of him agreeing to sell them the manor had been cause for celebration. They'd been quite concerned when land surveyors showed up the previous week. Fearing the loss of their home of many, many years, the family had agreed between themselves and made a large offer for the home in a determined attempt to stay. The offer was more then they could reasonably afford, but they agreed it was worth the temporary hardship until they could catch up financially.
It was to everyone's relief that Severus agreed on the sale with the provision that he be permitted to purchase back the portion of land which held the stable. Severus could have separated the land and only sold off the manor, excluding the training building they used with Kieran. It was pride that kept him from doing so. Severus didn't want it to appear that he'd sold off a portion of his land as some families do during times of hardship. It was a technicality, but it also served another purpose besides saving his pride.
He felt he owed Adeline for much from over the years, and was also greatly appreciative of her taking in Harry and himself when they were in need. In his opinion, the offer they made was too high; it was clearly a desperate attempt not to lose their home. But he wasn't about to insult them. Instead, Severus accepted their offer, and in turn gave a more than generous counter-offer for the small portion of land he wished to keep.
Adeline, her son-in-law, and Severus all left the den with signed papers and smiles on their faces. The rest of the family had been waiting with bated breath for them to emerge, hopefully with good news. Severus handed over the whistle used to call an owl by the Master of the Manor.
Adeline blew the whistle twice, beaming when two large, majestic owls flew in to answer her call. Two signed scrolls, one for the purchase of the manor and one for the sale of the lower portion of land, were sent off for official recording to the Ministry Office of Titles and Deeds.
~'~'~'~'~'~
Hermione poked her head into Ron's room, having noticed the door ajar. On the extra cot was a large ginger cat, slumbering peacefully. "How's my baby," she cooed, hoisting up the large feline into her arms. "Did you like the catnip ball I got you?" Not expecting an answer, she put him back down again in favor of paying attention to her fiance, who was pulling on a jumper. Ron was held up when small hands found their way across his chest. "Did you ask Harry if he was going to my mum’s today?"
"Of course," he answered before pressing his lips to hers. With his long arms wrapped around her, Ron nibbled on her neck, while watching the cat make his exit. He saw no point in mentioning the fact that Crookshanks was at her parents’ house and it was Harry that she'd just been gushing over.
~'~'~'~'~'~
Severus entered the staff room where he knew Harry would be after his visit to the Grangers. Hagrid, wearing a horrid red and brown speckled jumper, was excitedly telling a story to Albus. The Headmaster looked decidedly flustered, but from the way his eyes kept glancing to the back of the room, Severus didn't think it was Hagrid's tale that had Albus in such a state. Sitting on the sofa with Minerva was Harry, in full demonstration mode. Severus could just barely hear their conversation.
"The chocolate’s my favorite part, too," Harry had said, holding up an enormous chocolate eclair. "And yeah, it's too big after a huge meal," he agreed to her protest over the portion sizes supplied by house elves. "You just have to split it here on the edge," he demonstrated, pulling off the lower section of pastry. Severus could see Harry was about to shove the whole thing in his mouth, but thought better of it. "Now, here, try this," he held up the other half for her to try. "See," he said with a bright smile. "The first thing you get is the cream, which is great, mind, but then the chocolate mixes in," he waited a moment before adding, "Heaven, right?" getting a nod from Minerva who was doing her best to eat like a lady, despite fun they were having.
"Good evening, Severus," Minerva greeted him as he neared the sofa. "How was Christmas?" she asked, offering him the plate of eclairs.
"It was fine, thank you," Severus said simply. He declined the plate, but took a seat across from the sofa, with his back to Albus and Hagrid who was still raptly telling a story of some monster or another. Narrowing his eyes toward Harry, he asked. "Are you attempting to corrupt the respectable Deputy Headmistress with your hedonistic tendencies involving pastry?" his evil grin firmly in place.
"You're no fun at all," surprisingly it was Minerva who had spoken. Harry simply smiled.
"Yeah, no fun at all," Harry teased him while Minerva was momentarily distracted by a house elf with a tray of beverages. Severus didn't reply, but turned his head away from the others, took Harry's pastry from his hand, slid it entirely into his mouth before handing it back fully intact. Harry shivered imagining himself in Sev's sinful mouth.
"Merlin," Harry groaned and casually placed his arm across his lap to hide any evidence of the effect Severus had on him.
~~~one hour - forty minutes later~~~
"You kept asking Hagrid questions just to keep him talking," complained Harry while working on the buttons on Severus' vest. "You made sure I was hard as a rock and then stayed longer than you ever had at those parties," He griped while working on a lower line of buttons.
"Have you presumed that I'd be suffering while you took off my clothes without magic? Hmmm?" Severus nuzzled his ear, and let out a small laugh when Harry's fingers slipped off the button he was working on. He also groaned in appreciation when Harry rubbed their cloth covered erections together.
"No," denied Harry as he licked a bit of skin he'd managed to uncover. He smiled around a nipple, having felt Severus harden further. With impressive dexterity and coordination, Harry continued to lick, grind and open buttons simultaneously. "I've waited this long, I can certainly wait longer and enjoy myself," lied Harry. He was so hard he thought the seams on his trousers were going to rip; it hurt, and not in a happy way.
Having finally opened what seemed to be one of the more difficult buttons, Harry bit hard on the already tender nipple in celebration. To his delight, Severus hissed and reflexively jerked his hips forward, grinding them together. With Severus' upper body fully divested of clothing, Harry continued to work on the buttons of his trousers, pausing long enough for his own jumper to be pulled over his head. Thinking better of it, Harry instead decided to grab Severus firmly by the hips, lifting him up onto the bed. Reaching for the button once again he decided, "bugger this," and spelled off both their clothes.
Severus shimmied further up the bed, fully expecting Harry to join him, but instead his young lover circled the bed, to climb on in the opposite direction. He gave an upside down kiss, but only for a moment before continuing his descent, pressing himself fully against smooth alabaster skin. Harry wasted no time in engulfing Severus’ cock, elated to feel the reciprocated sensation on his own straining member.
Harry slid his hands along Sev's legs to squeeze, caress and grope any- and everywhere. He hummed in appreciation, feeling his balls fondled deliciously. They continued to explore with mouth and hands, Harry wanting it to last forever until he thought it just might. 'More' he thought, but only groaned with a mouthful and picked up the pace. To his dismay, the increased tempo was one-sided. He tried to thrust his hips to get his point across, but that only led to strong hands holding him still, while a talented mouth continued at a pace Severus called leisurely, but Harry thought to be agonizing torture when he wanted to burst.
Severus wondered how long it would take, and smiled around Harry's pulsing cock when he saw the jar of lube fly past. Not only hadn't Harry used his wand, but he hadn't even muttered an incantation, much less stopped his exuberant sucking. Knowing it was coming still didn't prevent the gasp from escaping when two fingers thrust inside his puckered hole.
*
Though he started out with two fingers, Harry didn't continue with a swift preparation. Instead he kept the same pace Severus had been using. If his lover would tease, then payback was only fair. When he felt the muscles clench around his fingers, he knew Sev was ready for more, but he didn't relent. After some time of twisting and flexing his fingers to thoroughly stretch his lover's entrance and stroke his lover in just the right spot, Harry groaned loudly when Severus began sucking in earnest. He could feel a large nose nuzzle into of tuft of curly hair as every inch of him was taken in.
Harry then added a third finger and began jerking his hips forward, fucking his lover's mouth. He felt two strong hands grab hold of his arse, pulling him closer as Severus swallowed around his cock, causing Harry to cry out, releasing his seed.
With his erection not having diminished, Harry climbed across the bed to position himself at Sev's entrance. His cock teasingly slid across Sev's tender area and pulled him close for a searing kiss. He slid slowly inside the incredibly tight heat as their tongues battled for dominance.
"More," groaned Severus as he clenched a handful of unruly hair, pulling Harry's head to the side, giving him access to the neck he wished to bite. "Yes!" hissed Severus as his efforts had the desired effect, spurring Harry to thrust into him hard. Adjusting his position, Harry pulled Sev's legs up to his shoulders, giving one of the pale ankles a lick before finding his rhythm again.
One hand slicked up again, Harry squeezed Sev's cock, then slightly tugged on his sac to prevent him from climaxing just yet. It seemed to have been so unbearably long since they’d last had any, much less such an intense time together. Having already come once, Harry wasn't ready for their pleasure to end. Wanting to free one hand, he spelled a cock ring onto his lover. With the height difference, Harry could nearly have Sev's knees bent over his shoulders. "~I love fucking you~," he hissed as he thrust in forcefully, and felt the cock in his hand twitch.
"Please," Severus begged, shocking Harry with the whispered plea. Severus was passing the point of no return when Harry began to stroke him with enthusiasm and released the cock ring.
Even Harry’s Parseltongue was becoming incoherent, not that it mattered. He couldn't remember the last time he'd fucked Sev so forcefully, nor lasted as long. In the last intensity, he exploded, ‘~Come with me~’.
Hearing his lover hiss in Parseltongue with unmistakable fervor and lust sent him spiraling into oblivion. He barely registered the inarticulate cry that came from Harry, as he too climaxed and nearly collapsed atop Severus.
In only as much time as it took for Harry to get into a reasonable position, he was fast asleep. A summoned blanket and two minutes later found Severus sound asleep right along with him.
Tbc
It's been so terribly long since I updated, I figured I'd better end this chapter with some lovin'.
*Just a note: Xikum, my illustrious beta and I try to keep this story as realistic as possible. So…when I wrote the last section with Harry climaxing and then moving right into penetrating Severus, Xikum called me on it. While it's unlikely for a lot of men, I had in fact dated a guy who could do just that. Is it unlikely? Yeah. Is it possible? For sure!
If my ex could do it, so can my Harry *wink*