Chapter 80 is here!!!
In Harry's modest flat, Ron eyed the odd piece of equipment hesitantly. Harry, in his red sweatpants and black tee, was doing his best to explain the muggle weight bench.
"It didn't look like this when we levitated it out of Mr. Granger’s storage room," his head cocked, watching Harry load up a long bar with heavy round weights with numbers on them.
"That's because it was buried under a fold-away bed and two boxes of Mi's old baby clothes," Harry raised his brows suggestively. "Maybe we should have taken the baby clothes too?" he teased and then chuckled when his friend's eyes widened comically.
"Bite your tongue!" gasped Ron. "Mum would kill me," he looked green just thinking about the possibility.
"That she would," agreed Harry. "Little bushy redheads running around," he teased, "and you think my hair's unmanageable."
Ron huffed, attempting to help with the barbell, but couldn’t figure how to add the clamp that prevented the weights from falling off.
"Lot you know. He could have straight, brown hair with red highlights, and look dashing, like his old man," Ron puffed out his chest, not caring that his best friend was laughing as he strutted around like a proud peacock parent of a child yet to be conceived.
"You don't sound like you'd be too upset if there were a little surprise on the way," Harry tried to imagine him with an armful of blankets with a little pink face peeking out. Ron shrugged.
"We um, had a bit of a scare last month," he admitted. "Got a bit carried away and forgot to use the spell," he shook his head, blowing out a relieved breath. "Mind, I'm glad it was a false alarm, as I don't want to mess with our plans and Hermione's schooling, but it did get me thinking about what it would be like."
"Thinking you want to wait, I hope," Harry said, but had seen the thoughtful gaze on Ron's face.
"You know it," agreed Ron wholeheartedly. "A few more party years," he then mumbled that it should have been marked as a notable moment in history that a Weasley didn't procreate when not using protection. Forgetting his luck for a moment, Ron watched as Harry demonstrated how to do bench presses.
"This builds your arms, shoulders and chest muscles," Harry explained and directed Ron to stand by his head and keep his hands loosely around the bar, set to be prepared in case he needed help.
~'~'~
Hermione stepped through the Floo and could just catch sight of her dad's old workout bench from behind the small wall divider where the clock hung. She was impressed to see the equipment was now rust-free and once again shiny black as it had been new. From around the corner, she spied familiar long, hairy legs. Ron's feet were coming up off the floor as he struggled to lift the heavy weights; it was his last of three sets in that muscle group.
Coming around the corner, she remained quiet and watched them. Harry gave her a quick nod, but kept his attention on Ron as he was balancing the bar, encouraging his friend to finish the set.
"Come on, push," Harry grunted, noticing he was holding half the weight. "Push harder you lazy bastard. That's it! Little more," the muscles in Harry's biceps trembled as the heavy bar neared the top. Ron made a keening sound and growled as he hoisted the weights with one final push until his arms were straight and the bar was once again safely on the rack. Sweat dripped down Ron's face while his shirt clung to his ribs.
"Wuss," teased Harry despite the fact that Ron had bench pressed an impressive amount of weight. "Do you make those sounds when you have sex?" he laughed; Hermione joined in with a giggle. Ron was startled from the sound as he hadn't heard her come in. He sat up so fast he hit his head on the bar, nearly knocking himself out.
"Ouch, Bloody Fuck!" he exclaimed as the egg sized bump on his head grew rapidly. "You're the arse telling me to push harder! Is that what you sound like during sex?" shouted Ron, holding his hand over his forehead, checking for blood. "Fuckin'ell," he groaned, seeing a slight dab of blood on his hand. Before Ron could finish his tirade, Hermione retrieved some ice, wrapping it in a cloth she found on the coffee table.
Harry bit his lip; he didn't want to laugh at Ron who was obviously embarrassed and would rant until he calmed. "Sorry, mate," Harry said sincerely. "I forget how much you get worked up when you hear Mi's beautiful voice," Harry said with a wink at Hermione. "Wuss," he added and started to laugh again.
Ron lunged at his best mate, dislodging Hermione who had been straddling the bench, holding the ice on his head. He continued to shout obscenities at Harry as he tried to tackle him to the floor. In the past Ron could overpower him with strength on the rare occasion Harry couldn't outmaneuver Ron with his impressive agility. Hermione could see the changes in both her favorite wizards making them a closer match. After years of knowing each other as well as they did, both Ron and Harry had come to anticipate the other's moves only to find there had been changes in the their techniques from the very different training they'd each had.
"Your muscles making you slow?" asked Ron when he rolled over Harry, pulling him into a headlock. Harry wriggled, twisted himself around for leverage before throwing his friend off.
"I don't need to outrun you; I can kick your… oomph," Harry grunted as his taunting was cut off due to another sudden lunge from Ron, again spurring on a round of struggling for the upper hand.
Hermione watched on with amusement, making a mental note that yes, that is what Ron sounds like during sex. Her musings were interrupted by Severus Apparating into the kitchen. She gave no indication that she'd noticed him, but spoke as soon as he rounded the corner to investigate the goings-on.
"Don't you just love to watch men rolling around like that?" She tried to sound matter-of-fact, but couldn’t pull it off and giggled. His answering growl only made her laugh harder. It also caught the attention of said men, both sweating and trying to catch their breath.
"Hey, Sev," Harry greeted him happily from under Ron. "Sorry, but Ron just couldn't resist my impressive body any longer," he added. Ron got up quickly, making sure to elbow Harry in the gut as he leveraged to stand. Harry winced as the air was knocked out of him, but still got his foot around Ron's ankle, making him stumble.
"Nice try, you pouf," laughed Ron as he managed to stay upright. "Thank you," he said to Hermione, giving her a bright smile as she handed him the ice again. He sat down on the bench again, finally showing his exhaustion.
"Where did you get that?" asked Harry, eyeing the white cloth pressed against Ron's head. Ron looked up, his eyes nearly crossing as he tried to get a look at the fabric. He spotted an embroidered 'S' and pulled it away quickly; his face twisted in disgust.
"Ugh!" he groaned. "You gave me a rag with Snape snot on it?"
"Ron!" admonished Hermione.
"Sorry, Severus snot," corrected Ron who knew perfectly well she wasn't referring to his use of the wizard's surname. He collected his wand, rid the cloth of ice and then handed the handkerchief to a smirking Severus.
"I assure you, it was clean," Severus said flatly. Ron had the feeling the older wizard knew enough not to take him seriously.
"I hate that thing," murmured Harry softly. "I'll shower first, alright?" he asked Ron, getting a nod and then pressed a quick kiss to Severus' cheek before heading to the bathroom. Hermione watched Severus, not surprised to see him looking impassive as usual.
"It's more common for the muggle-raised to have a hard time accepting cleaning spells for such things," she said, thinking about her own mother's reactions to various magic. Severus knew it wasn’t the case in this circumstance. He pondered letting the conversation end, but there were so few opportunities for him to offer personal information without a high price. He could afford this one allowance.
"I believe Harry has more issues with how it's used than how it's cleaned," Severus began. Ron cringed, thinking about what other uses it could have. Visions of Snape giving head and not swallowing came to mind. He nearly gagged at the visual in his mind and was thankfully distracted from such thoughts when Severus waved his wand over the handkerchief, transfiguring it into a Death Eater's mask. Hermione let out a small gasp, covering her mouth, while Ron felt the fool, bringing his mind back out of the gutter.
Surprised, Severus allowed Hermione to take the mask from his hand. She held it in front of his face for only a few seconds before hastily handing it back. "And I used to think you looked scary behind a cauldron," she gave a shudder and was relieved to see Severus snap his wrist, causing the mask to return to its previous form.
~'~'~
Having decided that given the circumstances, it was better to Floo home for a shower, Ron made a mental note that it had nothing at all to do with not wanting to be naked, with Snape just on the other side of the door. He was completely over that whole mock rape scene, thankyouverymuch.
"Sure, leave me flat," teased Hermione when Ron claimed that Harry would probably take a while in the shower and he'd be right back. "You just want to get out of peeling potatoes," she added.
"You know a spell for that," defended Ron, taking the bait easily. "Funny ha-ha," he said having cottoned on that she was only teasing, and then left quickly before Harry could finish up in the bath.
Hermione didn't allow him the last word even when Ron wasn't there to actually hear it.
"Yeah, like I'm going to make that mistake twice," she groaned, thinking back to the time she'd peeled and sliced an apple, using a spell without paying much attention, only to find a peeled and sliced worm spread across her snack. She winced at the memory.
"I must say, Hermione, I'm curious to know when you stopped thinking of me as scary looking," asked Severus as he chopped through a slew of vegetables with remarkable speed and precision. When she looked up, he was looking quite menacing, holding up an enormous French knife. Her eyes went wide and she burst out laughing.
"I'll never tell," she sounded cool and calm, but a pink tinge to her cheeks betrayed her. To her relief, Harry stepped out of the bath with a fog in his wake as the steam from the small room spilled out. He wore a comfortable pair of jeans and a towel around his neck to keep the water from dripping, though it didn't appear to be working well enough.
"Sev, stop trying to creep her out," Harry leaned past his lover, ignoring the large knife and taking a slice of cucumber off the chopping board.
"It's your own fault, showing her scenes of me smiling. How am I supposed to maintain a terrifying air, now?" Severus held his irritated expression despite the giggle from the other two. He would not give in and smile, though he found it harder to do as time passed
Harry leaned over to whisper in his friend's ear. "Should I tell him it was the tight T-shirt you saw him in when you were talking to Ron in the Floo back in September?"
"Don't you dare!" growled Hermione brandishing a paring knife.
"See Sev, that's what scary looks like," Harry pointed at the knife his friend was holding tightly a mere few inches from his chin. Severus put his knife down and glared at Hermione.
"Don't you ever let me catch you holding a knife on him like that again," growled Severus. He had covered her hand with his before she could even blink an eye.
"How dare you think I would ever hurt…"
"Oh, hush," he said calmly and rearranged her fingers in a new position. "This is how you hold a knife. Now if someone tries to overpower you, you still have a chance to do serious damage here, here, or especially here," he explained showing the best ways to incapacitate an assailant.
"Ginny was in the shower…" Ron's voice trailed off as he entered the kitchen to find Severus and his fiance holding hands and pointing a knife at his best mate.
"If this is about the 'what's for dinner' question, then I vote for whatever Mi and Snape want," Ron placed his hand under the others, lifting the knife high enough for him to walk under their arms. "I'll be in the shower while you work it out."
"Some Auror you are," complained Harry. Severus simply smirked and went back to chopping vegetables.
"I'm off duty," Ron said with a grin, and to his credit, he only flinched a little when the paring knife stuck with a thwack in the door frame by his face. Hermione hadn't known Harry had been trained to throw a knife and stood there with her mouth hanging open in shock.
~'~'~
‘I should never have doubted Harry's judgment.’ Severus thought to himself as he watched Ron filling his plate again. Dinner was going well; Harry had outdone himself with a delicious meal. He'd commented earlier that they were only four for dinner, not the entire Weasley family, but Harry had assured him he'd not made too much, give or take a few leftovers.
"This is amazing," praised Ron just before eating a big forkful.
"I quite agree," Severus held up a glass to the chef and refilled Hermione's wine glass when she'd mimicked his actions and blushed to see she'd finished already. He didn't particularly care for the choice of wine, but had bought the sweeter selection to appease her young palate.
"I had help," said Harry modestly, but was quickly rebuked by Severus who stated he could only take credit for the salad.
"This is very good," praised Hermione, before taking a big sip of red wine. "Maybe I shouldn't have more," she giggled.
"Careful there, Mi, you don't want to drink too much." Harry said with a smirk in Ron's direction, ignoring the crude hand gesture from the redhead. "Ya never know who you'll wake up with," he added with a wink. "By the way, Neville says we look real cute together," Harry leaned his head against Ron's shoulder only to be pushed away.
"Wanker," was all Ron said before helping himself to another butterbeer.
"You did look cute, actually," said Severus shocking them. Harry hadn't realized Sev had popped in the other night when he and his friends had gotten tanked. Ron and Neville had been debating over who would take the sofa and who would sleep on the cot they'd transfigured when Harry had left them to their own devices, stripped and climbed into his bed.
Forgetting about sleep, Ron decided to introduce Neville to the joys of late night telly and the scantily clad woman that could be seen during the wee hours. It had been some time later when Ron had heard a shout. They didn’t know if Harry was having a bad dream, vision, or even a panic attack, but in any case, Ron had come to his best mate’s rescue. He'd pulled Harry into a comforting embrace and took on his role as commentator for the legendary quidditch match, and then promptly passed out.
Severus had come in to find Harry fast asleep, curled up into a ball with Ron spooned behind him.
"The papers are still speculating over the possibility of a scandalous relationship between the three of you. You're lucky Longbottom is so loyal." Severus helped himself to more salad and refrained from laughing when Hermione dribbled her wine when she coughed.
"Apparently I only heard a vague description of their wild night," she said, looking for more details, surprised when it was Ron who began to speak first.
"It was only a matter of time before Harry realized what a sexy creature he'd shared a dorm with." Ron brushed off an imaginary piece of lint from his shirt, looking smug and trying not to catch Harry's eye, knowing he'd laugh if he did. Try as he might, Ron started to laugh. Just remembering the look on Neville's face was enough to lose it.
"Are you sure it was you he was calling for?" asked Severus. "The last visit Harry made to Longbottom had a rather interesting effect on his libido, if I remember correctly," he winked at Harry.
"He told us about that!" laughed Hermione, and Severus made a mental note not to refill her glass. "Can you imagine Neville's assistant having sex right in the greenhouse? That's not like walking in on someone; they were practically on top of you, Harry. Bet you didn't expect that to ever happen," she didn't notice Ron choke on his potato, or the smirk Severus wore as he recalled Harry telling him the story from when he’d woken up at night long ago, of listening to his two best friends fooling around in the next bed because Ron feared breaking the silencing charm that encased both their beds, should Harry have a vision and need help with potions. Harry made an odd sound, covering it up as a yawn. Hermione did pick right up on that and assumed Harry to be tired from his exhausting previous day.
"How did the Warding go yesterday?" asked Hermione. "I'll bet they had excellent food there," she said thinking about the chef who would most assuredly make a feast fit for a king for the Warding of his daughter’s new home. She knew Harry wouldn't have stayed for dinner, just as he hadn't for the Warding of the Granger home, but imagined it would have been an impressive spread. Harry's wide eyes stopped her from saying anything further and she feared she made a huge mistake asking about it.
"What Warding?" Severus carefully placed his fork down, indicating he'd finished eating though his plate was still nearly half full.
"It's an interesting story, really. I'll tell you all about it after dinner," Harry said in an attempt to continue the meal and put off the inevitable. He did in fact manage to keep the discussion of the Warding until later, but what had been a nice meal with easygoing conversation had quickly switched over to careful topics and Hermione continuously apologizing for letting the cat out of the bag.
When dinner did finally come to an end, Hermione jumped to her feet to help clear the table while Severus brewed coffee. Ron watched, but hadn't expected to see Severus put three sugars into the Gryffindor mug, just the way he liked it.
"Don't look so surprised. What kind of spy would I be if I couldn't remember something so trivial? It’s a good practice that’s beneficial when you least expect it."
~'~'~
With everyone settled into the sitting room with a mug of coffee, Harry gave each one a slice of the cake that Hermione brought. He'd been thinking of ways to hedge around the conversion.
"I know you're curious, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise," Harry saw the look on Severus' face and knew he was getting nowhere.
"You know how I feel about surprises," Severus was sitting on a comfy chair across from the sofa where the others were sitting.
"Yes, painfully aware."
Hermione and Ron exchanged a brief look.
"The whole thing went off without a hitch, didn't it, Harry," said Ron, doing his best to smooth things over.
"I made a barter of sorts for your Valentine's Day gift. I'm well aware that you would rather I inform you before I’m involved in something as important as a Warding, but I had everything well in hand and didn't feel I needed to bother you with the details, just as you didn't go into great detail about all the efforts you put forth when preparing my potions pouch," Harry really tried to sound mature and not raise his voice, going on the defense. "I don't see any reason to hash this all out now and put a damper on a fun night with friends."
Severus took a sip of his coffee and sat back, making himself comfortable. His long legs were stretched out before him, crossed at the ankle.
"Since the cat is out of the bag as it were, I see no reason for you not to tell us about your day. I know Hermione is most interested to hear how it went," he knew the words would only make the girl feel worse, but he was furious to know Harry had put himself at such a huge risk.
"Fine," Harry said, unhappily reconciled that they would not be discussing the latest quidditch match between Puddlemere United and the Wimbourne Wasps. "In exchange for an afternoon of cooking with the chef at your favorite restaurant, I participated in a simple Warding on a small, two-bedroom house for his daughter and her new husband. It was safe, I was very careful, the Warding went well, and the family was really nice," he said matter-of-factly, and turned to Hermione. "You'd find her very interesting, Mi. She got a welcoming letter from Durmstrang, but couldn’t leave the family business to attend school. She has loads of books for basic household and everyday life spells."
"Seems like a waste," said Hermione. "There's so much more she could learn about the culture and history," she couldn't imagine life without all the books she'd gotten to read while at Hogwarts.
"Nah, she's probably really happy that she can do loads of things easier now. Probably better off not knowing about some stuff," he added, thinking about the darker side of their world. Severus hadn't heard Ron's comment. He'd been stunned to hear that he would be spending an afternoon with one of his favorite chefs, but was still too preoccupied with the barter end of that deal.
"A proud chef would never allow a stranger into his kitchen without a catch. How did you even know his daughter was going to have a Warding?" he asked, getting a sigh from Harry, who noticed Severus' end of the conversation sounded more like an interrogation.
"I didn't. It was her idea. He was perfectly satisfied with the idea of beaning me with a cook pot and throwing me into the street," he said with a laugh and then went on to explain how it all happened.
"Let me get this straight," Severus said, sitting up. "You go alone to a restaurant in an unfamiliar country. After purchasing a gift certificate, you thought it would be a good idea to speak to the chef, who would rather cook you for dinner before he'd let out a family secret recipe. You nearly get booted out but, miraculously, he decides to cook you a meal, keeping you there, giving him plenty of time to make a call while you're eating. At which time the only witch in the building takes one look at you and decides you should go with her to a back alley to meet her older brother."
Harry rolled his eyes, but let Severus continue. He could see this wasn’t looking good. Hermione fidgeted nervously in her seat so much Ron pulled her onto his lap.
"Let's see if I missed anything," he went on. "I'm not sure I can even believe you managed to lose hold of your wand while in the back alley. Shortly after that, the daughter, Aurelia was it?" he asked, getting a shrug from Harry who thought it might have been the other muggle sister's name, but it didn't matter enough to mention and let him go on. "They have a nice little chat about how powerful you are and managed to cast a spell on you before you could even put a stop to it."
"I was using the shields to protect me from harmful magic; she couldn't have hurt me," Harry defended.
"No, but that doesn't mean she couldn’t have used a spell to identify you. Then you go to an unknown home and deplete your magic? Why even bother with the battle training if you're going to risk your life like this?" he was practically shouting.
"Well, of course it sounds bad the way you put it. Did it occur to you that I was on my guard the whole time at the restaurant, and took precautions before the Warding to protect myself? Just because you didn't know about it, doesn't mean I was unprotected," Harry put his mug down too firmly and cracked it.
"Maybe we should go," suggested Hermione.
Harry apologized to her for the after-dinner inquisition, but then was struck by another thought.
"Did you alert me when you went to Bali to get me this bracelet? I heard there had been attacks there; you could have been hurt." He knew that sounded ridiculous, but needed to make his point.
"Don't be absurd, I'm an adult!"
There was silence in the air; for a moment everything was still. The silence was broken only for an instant when Ron whispered 'the Burrow' and ushered his bride-to-be into the Floo and quickly followed her out.
"I wasn't aware that you were in the habit of fucking children," growled Harry, who stood up and began pacing the small room.
"Love may not recognize the years between us, but experience certainly does." Severus also stood but remained in place, arms crossed over his chest. "I can't believe you would do something so foolish."
"You are not the only one who can protect me!!" shouted Harry. "You just automatically assume the worst. I'm just an inexperienced kid who doesn't think before he acts, is that right?" The forks began to rattle against the dessert plates and Harry took a deep breath to calm down. The last thing he needed was for the landlord to have yet another reason to evict him. When he deemed himself somewhat relaxed, Harry sat back down before continuing.
"I hired an Auror who is a direct contact for the Order. He checked out the whole family, four muggle generations back to make sure there weren’t any supporters of the Dark Lord. The guest list was available last week, and each of them was checked, though none of them were allowed to arrive until after I had left the premises, with the exception of the actual participants in the Warding. Since it's considered bad form to wear concealment charms to a Warding, I had Albus place the same Glamoure we used for the potion convention. That way they could see me take off the charms, and still look like the same guy they met in the restaurant," Harry didn’t like wearing the scars again, but it wasn't for very long, and when all was said and done, he'd done a good thing for a nice family. "I wouldn't have bothered at all, but the girl had recognized that I wore Glamoure when we first met."
"Why didn't you say any of this before?" asked Severus, feeling the heel.
"I shouldn't have to," he replied softly.
"Harry," Severus began, but Harry cut him off.
"I know I'm young, and I know that I sometimes do stupid things, but I've learned more with the training I’ve done than I ever thought possible. Kieran and I have run through drills and scenarios that I hope I'll never need. Every other Tuesday I have dinner with Albus and work on learning and controlling magic of a nature that only he can teach me." Harry listed his qualifications, then caught himself before he rambled on further. He should not need to recite his abilities to Severus, to defend his decisions. With a flick of his wand, but no incantation in mind, purely will, he closed the Floo to ensure privacy.
"Happy Valentine's Day," Harry couldn't resist the dig.
"I'm such an idiot," Severus said into his chest; his hands seemed to have a viselike grip on his temples. Harry had proven himself in the past, but it was hard not to think back to his school days when Harry did things like take on trolls and basilisks with no idea how he would escape alive. A little voice in Severus' head reminded him that even when Harry rushed into things, he usually managed to take care or himself. "I should not have assumed the worst. I'm sorry I ruined the evening with your friends."
"My friends?" asked Harry, though he was only asking to see how Severus would react, knowing the new friendships were tentative at best.
"Hermione has made a good effort to be friendly, as she's looked at our relationship from all angles and wants to see you happy.”
"And Ron?" asked Harry, amused though he wasn't going to show it. "Ron's too pigheaded to be nice to you only because you and I are dating. He likes you, now that you've gotten to know each other better."
"Ron likes me for my ability to brew a great cup of coffee, and for the occasional hangover cure he pilfers from you," said Severus lightly.
"You're probably right," Harry said with a smirk. "Go ahead, make me laugh, but you're still a jerk," he said, letting Severus know he was still somewhat miffed.
"Will you forgive me?" Severus asked sincerely.
Harry knew he would, but that didn't change the fact that he was really put out about Severus' comment insinuating that he didn't always think of Harry in terms of an adult. He knew it was the teacher in Snape that made it a difficult transition, but that didn't make it any less annoying. The question was how easy was he going to make it? It said a lot about their relationship that Harry didn't lapse back into his past insecurities and avoid the fight in fear of risking the relationship, as he once did, even if it was unconsciously. He knew he needed to stand up for himself, and he had. But he also knew he needed to be reasonable.
Forgive him? Severus had made an abject apology - making no excuses to cover his poor behaviour - something Harry never thought he’d see from the man. He realized how hard that must have been; he thought of how he’d want to be treated under similar circumstances - it was sure to happen at some point. He would forgive him, but he needed a bit of time to be able to let go of his emotions.
"Eventually," he knew the smirk would keep Severus from worrying much, but couldn’t help giving that reassurance as he saw the man's hands clenched so tightly in apprehension. He got up to return the cake plates to the kitchen, pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee before asking, "Do you want a fresh cup, or a reheating charm?" to let Severus know he was still welcome to stay.
"I'm all set," Severus answered barely loud enough for Harry to hear. He wondered how many times he could screw up before Harry tossed him out on his ear. That thought reminded him of the Valentine's gift Harry’d mentioned. He had many questions he wanted to ask about his afternoon of cooking with a favorite chef, but now wasn't the time. His conscience reminded him that dinner also hadn’t been the time to pick a fight with Harry over something that had already taken place, only to ruin an otherwise nice evening with Ron and Hermione. Earlier, while preparing the salad, he’d wondered how long it would be before he had Harry all to himself. He'd gotten that faster than expected, but at too high a cost.
When Harry returned with a mug of coffee and a heart-shaped box of chocolates, but then turned on the telly, Severus knew his night had continued to take an unwanted turn. Apparently their original plan for chocolates in bed wasn't going to happen. The channels flipped to a romantic comedy which lasted for about five minutes before they agreed it was rubbish and moved on to an old James Bond film. Harry held the red box in his lap, occasionally feeling around for another piece of chocolate. Three commercial breaks later, Harry held the box in offering, though Severus declined.
"D’you like this Bond, or t’one we saw in tha’ other movie?" asked Harry with his words slightly slurred from the melting confection in his mouth.
"This one is a better actor, but not the best looking, of the few I've seen." Severus changed his mind, reaching into the box for a treat. It wasn't the best chocolate, but then they'd bought it for its quick melting qualities and not the taste.
"True. Personally I prefer a man who's tall, dark, and…"
"Don't say it," warned Severus.
"Well hung."
With no intention to hear Sev's reply, Harry covered his lover’s mouth with his own, causing Severus to rethink his opinion of the chocolate. With just the right blend of Harry and forgiveness, the taste was exquisite. Severus entangled his tongue with Harry's until there was barely a trace of chocolate left. Harry, too, must have had similar thoughts, as he took that moment to pop a new piece into his mouth and then turned around to wrap his leg over Sev's lap, straddling him nicely.
Returning to where he left off, Harry sucked Severus' tongue into his mouth, enjoying the sounds he could draw from the other man. Catching his breath, he deserted their kiss in favor of licking and nibbling his way down to the starched white shirt that stood in the way of his exploration. Harry teased the protected area, sliding his tongue under the stiff collar while his fingers nimbly opened the buttons with no magic, but impressive speed.
The sensations of Harry's sinful tongue and the hard, denim-clad cock that ground against him caused his sex to swell. Before Severus could register the feeling of tightness from the constricting trousers, the clothing was gone. They both gasped at the sudden sensation of skin on skin from the waist down, neither losing their rhythm, grinding hips for better friction. Harry writhed on his lap, lost in the sensations of what Severus was doing with his tongue on his neck. Sev sucked, nibbled and sometimes pulled an earlobe into his mouth, driving Harry to distraction. Needing more than the pleasurable rubbing against each other, Harry held them together in his hand. A larger hand joined Harry's to wrap around their cocks, pulling and squeezing until the younger wizard lost it and his hips thrust forward with a will of their own.
After his orgasm Harry thought he'd die from the oversensitivity as Severus was still stroking them for several more stokes until he too came, adding his own seed to their hands and abdomens. In a boneless heap, Harry fell forward, letting his head drop heavily onto the other's shoulder. Though his head lay still, his pink tongue slid out to lave at the skin in reach. Wiping his hands on his discarded shirt, Harry wrapped his arms around Sev's neck, and let out a contented sigh. Severus, also feeling rather sated, rested his arms around his lover's waist, holding him in place.
Harry and Severus remained peacefully wrapped in each others arms, hearing only their beating hearts and the music that accompanied the closing credits of the movie they hadn't finished watching. Harry must have dozed off because when the telly volume seemed to rise substantially with the obnoxious commercial, his head shot up in alarm. Severus squeezed him tighter, settling him back down. Instead of laying his head back on Sev’s shoulder, Harry softly kissed Severus' cheek, chin and eventually his lips. He hummed happily into the closed-mouth kiss, lips lingering there and working until he pulled slowly away, drawing Sev's lower lip out.
Severus slid his hands up Harry's back, and then ran them through his hair, pulling his lover in for another kiss. Harry whimpered as their tongues entwined in a slow, hypnotic dance. When Harry opened his eyes again it was to Severus' smile, watching him in amusement. He liked knowing he could put Harry into such a state. With half-lidded eyes, Harry returned the smile and asked if Severus couldn't stay the night. He'd known his lover needed to get back, but it was worth asking. Sadly, Severus shook his head ‘no’. He had Slytherin Head of House duties to tend to.
"How 'bout I turn into something small and go back with you?" Harry jokingly asked. "You could take me along while you stalk through the corridors like a vampire. Just think of all the trysts you could break up on a romantic night like this."
"And listen you spout off about the injustice of it all when I take dozens of points from Gryffindor?" teased Severus.
"You may very well find more Hufflepuffs. You never know, since their dorm is near the kitchens, in the dungeons," suggested Harry.
"I make it a point to spend sufficient time near the Gryffindor tower," he replied with a smirk, “I’ve found them to be the ones most often out of bounds past curfew.” Harry's response was muffled as his face was buried in the crook of Severus' neck, but the spy managed to hear 'git'.
“Hmm," Harry made a curious sound while suckling Sev's earlobe. "Do you find many boys together?"
"Not too often, though surprisingly, the majority of the girls I've found together are in Ravenclaw." Severus tilted his head to allow access. He’d found that he enjoyed this position immensely, at least until his legs eventually went numb.
"I wonder why?" he'd have to ask Hermione if she knew many, if any, since she’d tended to spend most her free time with himself and Ron back when they were at school.
"Perhaps it's because they’re smart and learn sooner that they can do without smelly teenage boys." Severus hissed as Harry sucked on his neck, marking him. Harry licked the mark, admiring his work, and wondered if Severus would leave it, since it would be well hidden by his collar.
"I rather enjoyed them," he hummed again against the muscles leading to a strong shoulder.
"You still are one, in case you haven't noticed," Severus' hands trailed down his back, squeezing his bum. "Smelly teenager," he said into Harry's messy hair.
"Sticky, too," Harry added before summoning a hot cloth to clean them up.
~'~'~
2nd half of Chapter 80