Darkness Shadows Light

CHAPTER TEN - HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO FLUSH BEFORE YOU GO AWAY?

The next day, Snape stopped Harry after Potions. After making sure no one was left he spoke,

\'Harry, I need to speak with you. Will you come to my rooms tonight around eight o\'clock?\'

Harry looked alarmed.

\'Is there something wrong...?\' he started to ask.

\'No, nothing\'s wrong,\' Snape said hastily. \'Just...please come...\'

Harry was startled, he had never heard that pleading note in his lover\'s voice before. Slowly he nodded his agreement. Snape looked relieved. Without saying anything more, he swept out of the room leaving a slightly lderldered Harry behind.

Harry spent the rest of the day wondering what was suddenly so urgent. True, he had felt guilty about not even attempting to see Severus over the past few weeks, but then *he* had said nothing...until now.

For the first time Harry realised he had been avoiding the other man, that his health had not been the real reason he had stayed away. The truth was he didn\'t quite know what he wanted from Severus. Did he *really* love him? Or was it just the excitement and newness of having someone who cared for him?

Harry laughed cynically. He couldn\'t help thinking this was a fine time to be having doubts about his choice of lover, after all he was three months pregnant with his child. Harry couldn\'t help the warm, tingly feeling he still got every time he thought of the baby. He refused to believe that it could be anything but good, not something that was part of him. He adamantly refused to listen to that part of his conscience that was whispering that the child he was carrying was only half him; the other half was pure Slytherin...

********

Just after eight, Harry made his way down to the dungeons half excited, half scared. He was slightly worried at Ron\'s reaction when he had told him where he was going and had had to promise him he\'d be back before curfew.

Harry stepped through the portrait entrance.

\'You\'re late,\' Snape snapped. He was standing in the middle of the floor and looked like he had been pacing up and down.

Harry looked at his watch,

\'Only by a few minutes!\' he said indignantly. Anyone would think he was late for class.

Snape\'s face softened, \'I\'m sorry, I just thought that you might...might not be coming.\'

\'I said I would,\' Harry replied, rather stunned that Snape had apologised, let alone admitted to the fact that he was worried he wouldn\'t turn up. \'Now what did you want to see me about?\'

Snape swept over to him and pulled him into a rough embrace. \'This,\' he whispered into his ear before trailing kisses down Harry\'s neck. \'And this.\' He cupped Harry\'s arse and pulled him against him so he could feel the arousal pressed against his stomach.

Harry groaned as all the previous doubts flew out of the window. This is where he belonged. This was the man he wanted to spend test est of his life with. If only he knew that was what his lover wanted as well. Little did he know that the exact same thoughts were going through Snape\'s head.

Harry pulled away slightly, gasping. \'I thought you had something you needed to speak about with me?\'

\'Afterwards,\' was the murmured answer, before being pulled into a passionate kiss.


Later they lay in bed together, Snape propped up on one elbow watching his lover sleep. So far there were only the faintest of signs that Harry was pregnant; the slight tinge of colour to the skin and a thickening around the waist that was only noticeable because he was so thin everywhere else. He had still not got up the courage to tell Harry how he really felt, not even sure that he should in case he was wrong and Harry didn\'t feel the same way. For now he would just enjoy being close to him after such a long absence.

Eventually Harry stirred, bleary green eyes looking around, trying to remember where he was. When it came to him, he sat up suddenly.

\'What\'s the time?\' he asked urgently.

\'Nearly ten,\' Snape replied lazily. \'Plenty of time before you need to go back. I take it you brought your invisibility cloak?\'

\'No! I promised Ron I\'d be back before curfew.\' Said Harry distractedly, getting off the bed and starting to pull his clothes on. Snape stiffened, but Harry was so busy dressing that he didn\'t see his lover\'s reaction and so was tly uly unprepared for what followed.

\'Since when has *Weasley* been telling you what to do?\' he sneered.

Harry looked up and saw the anger on his face.

\'He was worried about me,\' he protested.

\'Worried? Worried you\'d you your greasy, old potions professor? Has Weasley decided he wants to be a daddy? Am I invading on Weasley property now?\'

Harry stood, stunned, at the poisonous venom spewing from his lover\'s lips. Suddenly he lost the faint hold he had on his own temper.

\'At least Ron\'s there for me. You\'ve ignored me for weeks!\'

\'You ignored me!\' Snape spat back. \'You stopped coming here. I had to practically beg you to come here tonight.\'

\'I didn\'t want to,\' Harry yelled. \'After the way you treated me last time I was here I needed time to work out if you were what I wanted.\'

Snape\'s eyes narrowed.

\'And we both know the answer to that one,\' he said, reverting to the dangerously low tone that all students had learnt to fear. \'So what was tonight about? A goodbye shag? Or was it just a pity fuck?\'

\'It was just sex,\' Harry replied in an equally low tone, the green eyes glittering with malice. Wanting - no needing - to hurt the man in front of him. \'The only thing we seem to have in common.\' Not true! His conscience cried out, but it was too late, the words hung in the air between them.

\'Just get out, Potter. And don\'t *ever* think of coming back.\' Snape said coldly.

Harry finished dressing in silence, his anger and hurt stopping him from telling Snape the truth. Without looking back he strode out of the room, only allowing himself to collapse once he was safely on his own bed, the curtains drawn around him.

*******

The next morning he and Ron were the last ones into the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry had spent most of the night crying in Ron\'s arms after Ron had seen him run to the dormitory and followed him. As a consequence they had both overslept and had dark rings under their eyes. Also Harry had forgotten to take his morning sickness potion and had suffered the ignominy of throwing up all over the floor. Luckily, barring Ron, his room mates had already left for breakfast. Harry just knew this was not going to be a good day.

His fears were founded when they entered the Great Hall. Harry instantly knew something was wrong. The noise at meals was normally quite loud, but it had been deafening, then when they had walked in it had almost completely stopped with nearly everyone turning to look at them. As they walked to their seats next to Hermione the whispering started up and they received lots of curious stares. Harry shot a glance at the Slytherin table and saw Malfoy looking very pleased with himself, this was definitely not good. Glancing back at his own table he was shocked to see that Ginny was crying.

Hermione greeted them with anxious eyes and just two words, \'Rita Skeeter\'. It was at that point Harry saw the headline of the Daily Prophet:

\'Harry Potter: Gay and Pregnant With Lover\'s Child!\'

Harry suddenly felt very ill indeed...