Animula

Author Note: The formatting is a bit different. Instead of having the \'~*~*~\' to seperate POVs, we swid itd it to just having \'SsSsSsSs\' when time moves forward.


Chapter 10: Unconscious Denial


It was dark. The kind of dark that envelops you and forces strange after images from your eyes in the attempt to focus on something in the nothingness. But Severus did not have his eyes open; the blackness against the back of his eyelids were his only hints to how dark it truly was around him.

It was dark. And he was not alone. He was spooned up against a warm, slim body; his arm draped over them so that his fingertips rested over their heart. There was no awkwardness about them, as there had been with his previous lovers, just the comfortable calm of being alone together. Together, alone. One thing that had always been missing. The ability to simply be with someone and accept everything about them without question; even the silence. Severus sighed contently and pulling his lover closer, he nuzzled into thi thick, unruly hair that smelt faintly of strawberries. Perfect...

And then there was a tap on his shoulder.

Jerking up from were he\'d been dozing, his head in his arms on his desk, Severus took a few moments to gather his bearings before he realized he\'d dozed off during his lunch period and, of all people, Minerva had to have found him. He glared fiercely at her until she started backing away, rolling her eyes slightly as she exited the room.

\"Honestly Severus,\" she managed before she was out the door, \"I was only waking you. I\'m sure it would do little for your reputation if your students caught you dozing; smiling no less.\"

As soon as she was gone, Severus lowered his head into his hands with a small groan. \'This is all Harry\'s f. If. If he had stopped tapping that pen, I might have finished that chapter before ten and gotten the proper amount of sleep. Still it was rather amusing watching him concentrate over that poem.\'

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Over the lunch period, Harry made sure to re-write his poem out so it at least looked legible. Hs nos now sitting in McGonagall\'s class. The dark haired youth sighed, resting his chin on his hand as he tried not to doze. He *really* thought math was boring. He knew it was *useful* and all, but still... couldn\'t she make it more fun?

Looking up at the scratch of chalk on the black board, Harry\'s eyes widened. Writing? In math class?

\"You will be writing a short story or poem about some aspect of your childhood, then you will be handing it into me.\" Seeing the students\' confused glances, she explained, \"We never did do those \'getting to know you\' surveys at the beginning of the class, so now that everyone is here,\" she broke off to glare at said class-skippers, \"you will each write one and hand it into me when you\'re finished. I will read out everyone\'s\', that is unless it\'s too vulgar, and hand them back to you the next day.\" She didn\'t mention that she was also going to show the exceptionally good stories or poems to Severus since he was always interested in reading a student\'s work when it stood out above the rest.

Harry frowned and tapped his pen against the graffiti filled desk, trying to think up a memory or something about his child hood that was good to put in a poem. He frowned and thought about his old room. Looking down at his blank piece of paper, ebony strands shielding his face from view, he wrote down what came to mind, then looking over all the fragments, he pieced them together and created his poem.

\'Home

Freedom
just on the other side
only a thin layer between me and the air that the rest of you breathe.

The lock slides into place
a heavy bolt
on the outside
while I am trapped in.

Companions
non existent.
In the darkness
my only companions
are the shadows and my stuffed owl.
Not much in the way of company.

The darkness is chased away sometimes
when the light outside shines in through the metal lookout
and I am able to read and write.
Only in the supposed kindness of those outside
am I allowed to have my beloved companion of words.
But they slide the wooden panel over the slots
and I\'m swamped in darkness once again.\'

Setting his pen down, he frowned and looked over the words. His eyes widened when the paper was snatched from his field of vision. Looking up, he was met with the back of professor McGonagall as she grabbed the next person\'s paper. Shit... that poem was too personal. What had he been thinking? And McGonagall was one of the teachers that had tried to help him, but having failed, proceeded to ignore him now. Though the odd time he would catch her staring at him, pity in her eyes.

He sat there for the rest of the class, tense, waiting for her to read out his poem. Finally, the sound of the bell was heard, and his poem had still not been read. He\'d seen the teacher pass over a few, probably because of their vulgar content or something like that, but he wasn\'t sure if it was his or not--at least it wouldn\'t be read in front of the class, and she was only taking it home to read over.

Walking through the halls to his next class, Harry smiled. That had to be the best math class ever, not having to actually do any math and working on something he loved to do. Now it was time for his favorite and final class.

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\"I see you have finally mastered the art of getting here on time.\" Severus smirked as his class trickled morosely in, sat down, and got out their work. \"Good. You might yet learn something from this class.\" Walking to the far end of the room, Severus continued. \"Would you please get out your poems, I will come around and collect them; they will be graded by tomorrow.\"

Normally a small groan would\'ve ran through the class at this point, but Severus glared at them all icind snd silenced anything before it could eveart.art. Walking down the isle Severus collected the poems one by one until he had them all.

\"Now in case you hadn\'t guessed, we\'re going to be reading aloud again today. There\'ll be a final test on this on Friday, so be prepared.\" Stalking up to his desk and placing the stack of poems on it for later reading, Severus moved behind his podium to face the class and finished, \"Now who would like to grace us with the first poem on page 55?\"

This time, Harry was the only one that raised his hand. Obviously, the class wasn\'t very fond of love poems. He personally thought that the ones in this book were fairly well written. Simple, but they got the point across. Severus waited for anyone else who was shy to raise their hand, but seeing none, he picked the dark haired youth.

Crossing his arms on the desk and leaning over the book, Harry returned the small smile that was directed im bim by the professor standing up at the front.

Clearing his throat, he began,

\"\'Love Just Won\'t Do\' by A.S.
There is a phrase or word I\'m sure
there has to be something.
Surely someone else feels just the same as me
not lust, not passion, no, not even love
for love itself cannot even be enough
I need to find, the word that is
the word that tells it all.
But then how *can* there be a word
that describes so many things.
For it can\'t simply be just one.
But surely there must be a word
I\'m not the only one.
No, others surly have felt this way
and if not, I pity them.
But for those that have, surely they too
seek a word that can speak the truth.
God damn the English language,
for its lack of size and span
perhaps another language?
Perhaps its in Japan?
Or maybe French or Afrikaans
I simply do not know.
But surely there is something stronger
than saying I love you.\"

Harry smiled. He\'d always wondered about that. They (though he didn\'t know exactly whoey* ey* were) always said that love was the strongest emotion, next to hate of course. But surely there was another, stronger way to express yourself, other then love? What if you felt more then just love for the person? Maybe they just didn\'t have that, and the words, \'I love you\' covered everything above and beyond that emotion. Just like \'I hate you\' could cover simply, \'I don\'t like you,\' to \'I loathe you\'.

Harry shook his head, he really had to stop brooding. Pushing the book to the topmost corner of the desk, he wrote down what was on the board for taking apart (or otherwise known as analyzing) the poem. Severus\' rich and silky voice reading what was on the board so he didn\'t even have to look up. \'All teachers should have that kind of voice,\' he thought, \'it would definitely make the students pay more attention.\'

Severus lectured on uninterrupted. Normally it would take about a month to train his students to behave properly, but with his extremely bad temper lately it appeared he\'d cut them down to size faster than usual. Severus rolled on about the life and times of this particular poet and how she was relevant to the subject right up until the bell rang. Now that the class behaved themselves, out of pure fear of course, he was able to really get lost in his element; he hardly even registered the bell ringing until the class was halfway out the door.

Stretching lightly, still behind the podium, Severus smiled over at Harry. \"Only one day left until the weekend,\" he observed, shuffling papers into his briefcase and shrugging on his coat. \"Ready to go?\" He grinned at Harry\'s nod and they were soon making there way down the hall and out the door. That was until Minerva decided to tap Severus on the shoulder. Spinning around in mid-step Severus leveled her with an annoyed look of confusion. \"Yes Minerva?\"

She seemed a little agitated and looked pointedly at Harry before she managed, \"I\'d like to talk to you - alone.\"

Severus\' eyebrow arched questioningly to his hairline, but he saw the conviction in the older woman’s face and decided he should hear her out. Turning back to Harry who was looking up at them with confusion, he gently placed a hand on his shoulder. \"Could you wait for me in the car a moment?\"

Harry frowned, but nodded. \"Sure.\" Giving one last glance at professor McGonagall, Harry decided that it was just usual teacher business that would probably bore him anyway and made his way to Severus\' car. Seating himself in the comfortable seat, he buckled himself up and leaned back against the chair with his arms crossed behind his head.

Hopefully it wouldn\'t take too long. Snape hadn\'t given him his keys, so he wasn\'t able to listen to the radio. Although, he could pass his time day dreaming, he\'d done it often enough at the Dursley\'s. It wasn\'t like he was allowed to listen to music, or even catch glimpses of commercials from the TV.

Spending time with Severus had broadened his horizons a bit though, so now he actually found that he liked a mixture of music. Ranging from rock to even country. Severus sometimes listened with him, but more often then not, their musical taste didn\'t exactly agree. Although, surprisingly enough, the older man did like some of the rock bands that Harry listened to.

The raven haired teen sighed. Maybe he could just sing to himself to pass the time? The otherwise silent car was quickly filled with the quiet singing voice (surprisingly not unpleasant) of the bored young man as he sung one of his favorite tunes, Numb by Linkin Park.

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Watching Harry walk away until he was outside the building Severus turned again to Minerva. \"What exactly is this about?\" Minerva was a very calm, veteran teacher who didn\'t lose her cool easily. That was why her fidgeting made him so nervous. \"Minerva, out with it.\"

\"Well,\" she sighed at last, producing a folded up piece of paper from her pocket. \"I had the children write about their home life in my class today and... well...\" She never got to finish that sentence because Severus snatched the paper away from her at that moment. Severus didn\'t need to look at the name; it was Harry\'s handwriting. He read the poem over, his rage steadily rising with every word. Just as he finished Minerva looked like she was going to say something, but Severus didn\'t give her a chance. He turned and stalked down the hall for the door, his eyes all but black. He\'d been meaning to talk to Harry about this eventually, but it looked like it couldn\'t wait any longer.

Stalking around the car to the driver\'s seat, he opened the door roughly and threw his briefcase into the backseat. Seating himself, he slammed the door closed behind him. He faced forward for a few moments, gripping the steering wheel as he tried to calm down. When he felt he was able to talk again without yelling, he turned to Harry, his anger at the Dursley\'s just barely reigned in. With a forceful deep breath he laid his hand gently over Harry\'s. \"Harry, I need to talk to you.\"

Harry abruptly stopped singing when Severus entered the car. The young man frowned, seeing the scowl on his face, he wondered what had happened. They stayed silent for a few minutes, Harry fidgeting slightly at the unusually tense silence.

When Severus finally turned to him, his eyes darker then usual, and placed a large hand over his smaller one. When the most dreaded words in the English language came out of the older man\'s lips, Harry froze.

Oh shit.. what did he do? Was Severus going to kick him out? Was he going to have to go back to the Dursley\'s? What the hell did he do? Surely he wasn\'t being kicked out already... he hadn\'t remembered doing anything bad. Even his table manners had been good.. so what was wrong?

\'Please... please don\'t let Severus send me back.\' Harry thought, squeezing his eyes closed, trying not to cry.

\'Oh do try to get a hold of yourself; you\'re frightening him!\' the voice in Severus\' head chided. Severus closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again. Gently he hooked the index finger of his free hand under Harry\'s chin so that, had his eyes been open, he would\'ve been forced to look at him.

\"Harry...\" he said again in a whisper-soft tone that resulted in Harry finally meeting his gaze. \"I wanted to save this until I felt you were adjusted to everything that\'s happened.\" Another deep breath. \"Harry I know you asked me not to run the Dursley\'s out of town, or anything else that draws attention to your situation, but I can\'t just sit back and do nothing. What they did to you was illegal. It. Was. A. Crime. Harry. Do you even realize that anymore? Every time I see more evidence and hear more of what they\'ve done to you I have to fight the urge to go over there and give them a lot worse than being chased by a dog and bitten in the ass! I can\'t just let them get away with it; I want to see them put in jail where they belong. I want to help you get rid of them forever...\"

Shifting his hand so that it caressed the left side of Harry\'s face, Severus continued. \"I\'ve got the resources, I know I can have them put away; and there isn\'t even the slightest chance that they\'ll ever get you back Harry. Please let me help you.\"

Harry leaned into the comforting touch, a small tear of relief managed to escape his eyes, falling into Severus\' cupped hand. He was definitely relieved, although now he felt like an idiot for doubting his friend and professor. He knew, after going to school for seventeen years and finding out that other kids really didn\'t live like he did, that how the Dursleys had treated him wasn’t exactly legal, but still... it wasn\'t like they were going to do it to Dudley and they wouldn\'t have any more kids. So he didn\'t see the problem.

\"It\'s not like they\'re going to try to get me back and they\'re not going to abuse Dudley, so I don\'t see what\'s so bad about it. It was in the past, they\'re not going to do it again. I don\'t want to bring up that past all over again... if you make this into a big deal legally, then I\'ll probably have to go to the court or something like that, and explain what they did.\"

Severus saw the fear playing over Harry\'s face and gently cupped it with both his hands, wiping away the tear track gently with his thumb. \"But Harry it\'s bad enough that they just did it to you; you deserve justice. I know it\'ll be hard for you, but you won\'t have to do it alone. I\'ll be there with you through it all, and if you think for one second all those teachers who noticed what was going on but couldn\'t help you before aren\'t going to be witnesses to help the case then you\'ve absolutely lost your mind. Harry they all but killed you; if they even come near you again a jail sentence will be the least of their worries; I\'ll make sure of that,\" Severus finished, possessive protectiveness coming into his voice again.

Pausing, Severus shifted so that he was closer to Harry, \"I know how hard it is to rehash those memories, but don\'t you think it\'s worth it to see justice done? Everyone needs to pay for their crimes Harry; and their payment has been a long time coming.\"

Harry sighed and dipped his head down, Severus\' hands still gently cradling his cheeks. He still didn\'t think they had to pay for their crimes.. what was the point? There were worse people out there. What about the rapists, and the people who stole things, Harry never saw them going through trial. Then again, Harry had never watched TV, but Aunt Petunia had always talked about it. And it never seemed like abuse came up in any of those trials.

Lifting his head again, Harry sniffled. He didn\'t want to do it... but if it would make Severus happy, then he would. Looking into the dark gaze, specks of light brown almost melding into the darker shades, Harry summoned a weak smile, the warm feeling in the pit of his stomach made his smile widen slightly at the look of protectiveness that he could plainly see in the older man\'s gaze.

Leaning forward, he wrapped his arms around the man\'s neck, whispering, \"I\'ll do it. For you...\"

Severus couldn’t help but feel his chest twist ing guilt at the large, trusting eyes that Harry was directing at him. He’d seen how fragile Harry could be when the violence of the past caught up with him and as far as his family name and money would go to take the edge of the court environment it would still be brutal for him. Severus almost wished for a moment that he could spare Harry all of that by simply not following through on the law suit…but he couldn’t do that. He’d done that when Lucius had pressed him to take care of his own…family difficulties on court and the regret and grief of that haunted him still to this day. He didn’t want Harry to be haunted like that; he had enough things on his plate already.

With a small sigh and a silent plo ano any power that might be listening that all would be well for Harry in the end, if nothing else Severus arms came tightly around the lithe teen without a moment\'s hesitation. \"Thank you Harry,\" he whispered next to his ear, \"You won\'t regret it, I promise.\"

They stayed like that for a long time; just being together in each others arms in that comfortable silence that only they seemed to understand. At length Severus shifted so that his lips were next to Harry\'s ear again; his arms still encircling his waist. \"Are you ready to go home now?\" he asked softly, \"I\'m sure Jess has some hot chocolate waiting.\"

Harry shivered when the older man\'s lips brushed against his ear. He pulled back and got comfortable in his seat again. \"Sure.\" Harry didn\'t really believe him, but he didn\'t want to drag this out any longer. He\'d had people promise him things before, and it almost never turned out. In Harry\'s belief, he figured that one shouldn\'t say that ones going to do something, if they don\'t plan on carrying through with it.

Feeling a hand on his lower thigh, Harry looked over.

\"I won’t lie to you Harry; this isn’t going to be easy. I’ll do as much as I possibly can to take the edge off and keep the media away, but things might still turn out to be hell.” Severus paused for a moment, suppressing the impulse to gather the youth in his arms; this had to be said. Harry was, in his mind if not legally, an adult with the right to know exactly what he was getting into. “But I promise I’ll be with you through as much of it as possible and I honestly believe that this is the right thing to do. Trust me; those vile excuses for human beings have this coming.”

The dark haired youth gave a small smile. \"I do trust you, I just don\'t trust the Dursleys and I have a bad feeling about this.\" He had grown to trust Severus after the second after school session. No one else had been as persistent as him, and no one had ever held Harry while he cried, they\'d always cast him off to the side, saying his tears were a waste and a weakness and that men shouldn\'t cry (though he\'d only been ten at the time).

The professor gave him one last smile and finally started up the car. The radio quietly played on in the back round, the particular song made Harry\'s eyes widen. He\'d just been singing that song, and now they were playing it on the air. Tapping his foot lightly to the beat, Harry smiled and leaned back against the chair again. Trying to put off the earlier conversation until it came up again and he had to deal with it.

Again it wasn\'t long before they were pulling up the driveway and making their way inside the house. After hanging up his coat, Severus turned to Harry, smiling lightly. \"Why don\'t you drop by the kitchen and see if Jess has some hot chocolate for us? I\'ll be right there; I\'ve got to take care of something in my office.\"

Once Harry had nodded, Severus made his way up the stairs, pausing to greet his very enthusiastic dogs who then charged down the steps to greet Harry. Once Severus was inside, he locked the door and reached for the phone. He heard Lucius pick up on the other end and opened his mouth to speak when he was once again interrupted. \"Let me guess? You\'ve *finally* come to your senses?\"

Severus shook his head and sighed ruefully. \"Again, why do I even bother calling you?\"

\"To assure yourself the illusion that I am not omnipresent,\" Lucius replied in an almost bored drawl. \"So when do you want me to slap those brutes with a summons?\"

\"As soon as possible,\" Severus replied. \"Oh and try to keep this quiet Lucius, I don\'t think Harry\'d be any more fond of the press than I am.\"

\"I\'ll try but I\'m just omnipresent, not god.\"

A particularly satisfied bark told Sevethatthat Padfoot had wormed his way into the kitchen again. \"Thanks for the help. I have to leave now before that marauder destroys my house.\"

Lucius just chuckled and hung up while Severus made his way to the kitchen.

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\"Padfoot!\" Harry yelled, brows furrowed in pain as the hot liquid soaked into his shirt and ran down to further soak his pants.

The large dog had come out of nowhere it seemed (though how a dog that large could have snuck around was beyond him) and had surprised him when he\'d brushed past Harry to run into the kitchen, a loud bark the only warning before Harry almost fell over from the movement.

Unfortunately he wasn\'t able to save the two cups of coco that he\'d been holding in each hand and was now wearing, and it was really starting to sting now... especially when both Severus and he liked to drink their hot chocolate extra hot, almost to the point of burning.

Severus entered the kitchen just as Padfoot slunk guiltily out of it, his head turned to watch the dog go. \"What was that noi-\" Severus froze momentarily upon taking in the scalding liquid that was now all over Harry. \"Padfoot when I get my hands on you,\" he hissed dangerously, walking over to Harry and helping him out of his sweater to examine the skin underneath.

\"It’s not too bad…\" Severus murmured, lightly tracing the red ribbons painted over Harry’s chest because of the cocoa, \"but I don’t recommend keeping your pants on much longer. You take care of that and I’ll go find some aloe; it should be in the fridge.\" With that Severus moved swiftly away to retrieve the aloe.

Harry sighed and trekked up stairs, shoulders slumped. He hadn\'t meant to get Padfoot in trouble... he should have seen the dog and been able to move out of the way in time.

Going into the bedroom, Harry changed into a new pair of briefs and his more comfortable navy blue, baggy, drawstring pants. Grabbing a new sweater, the green one that matched his eyes that Severus had given him, the dark haired youth walked down the stairs and back into the dining room where Snape was waiting, a small green bottle in one hand.

He blushed lightly when Severus moved a chair out for him. Sitting down, he wrapped his hands in the sweater on his lap. The older man knelt down by his side, and cool gel was applied to the affected areas on his chest, making Harry wince slightly. The aloe quickly heated up against his skin and Severus\' hand, so it wasn\'t that much of a shock when the kneeling man put more onto his stomach, lightly rubbing it in small circular motions all the way up his chest. The minor burns were quickly soothed and small goosebumps broke out over his flesh when he shivered. Though it wasn\'t that cold in here..

\"There, that looks like all of it,\" Severus murmured softly, still tracing his fingers lightly over the burns to make sure all the aloe was rubbed in. Looking up at Harry with concern, Severus tipped his head to one side and asked, \"Better?\"

Blushing when a slender finger touched his exposed nipple, Harry nodded. \"It doesn\'t sting anymore.\" Smiling down at the older man, a light blusill ill marring his cheeks he continued, \"Thank you Severus.\"

\"You’re welcome Harry,\" Severus said returning the smile and sitting in a chair opposite the teen. At that particular moment Padfoot decided to show himself and provoked a healthy scowl from Severus. \"I am not talking to you,\" Severus hissed at the sulking dog. Slowly the large black dog made it was over to Harry, ears down and whimpering, as if apologizing.

Harry sighed and patted the dog\'s head resting on his knee. \"It\'s okay Padfoot, sometimes you don\'t know your own strength.\" The long tail wagged, almost like he was glad for being forgiven. Harry smiled and put his emerald green sweater on. Feeling Padfoot nudge against his knee with his muzzle, Harry\'s smile widened as he bent over to rub the soft fur behind the upright ears that had a slight curl to them at the top, making them look almost floppy.

Hearing Severus snort, he looked over, flicking his head when long ebony strands blocked his vision of the scowling man. The dark haired youth sighed, shaking his head. \"It\'s not like he meant to do it, Severus. Even people don\'t always know their own strength sometimes. And it doesn\'t help that I\'m kind of easy to knock over,\" he said scornfully almost to himself. He hated being so weak sometimes, but it was hard to avoid when he was only 5\'2\" and weighed only 100 pounds, if that.

Severus grumbled irritably in Padfoot\'s general direction before forcing out a few words that sounded something like, \"Yeah, okay. Just be careful next time will you, Padfoot?\" Padfoot barked triumphantly and had the audacity to throw Severus a smug look, which Severus met with his trademark icy glare.

\"Alright cut it out you two,\" Jessica chided, coming in with a tray that held two more mugs of hot chocolate. \"I am not cleaning up if you two start a brawl.\"

Severus just sighed, apparently giving up on the staring contest.

\"That\'s better,\" Jessica said, setting down the tray on the table. \"Now these are for you two if you still want them. If not, I\'m sure the dogs will like them once they cool down a bit.\" And with that she was gone.

Severus did take a cautious sip of his mug before turning to face Harry. \"Oh I wanted to tell you before that *accident*,\" Severus paused to emphasize the word accident and glare at Padfoot one last time before continuing in a much gentler tone, \"I called Lucius and he\'s going to work on getting a summons and a court date for us.\" Severus knew Harry wasn’t too keen on talking about this, but it had to be done and the sooner the better he supposed.

Harry moved his chair so it was facing the table, and wrapped his hands around the porcelain mug. A small shudder of revulsion went through his small frame at the mention of the upcoming court date and having to answer a bunch of questions about his personal life. And the answers to them that he didn\'t really to bring up.

Sighing, Harry lifted the mug to his lips and took a long sip. He moaned quietly when the hot liquid burned down his throat, erasing the chills that had been building up inside him. Frowning at a sudden question that had popped into his head, Harry looked over at Severus and asked, \"How exactly will they do it? Will I have to answer a bunch of questions or just tell them everything?\" answering direct questions would definitely be easier. It would still be hard, of course, but at least he wouldn\'t have to retell his whole life to someone.

Hearing a small whimper, Harry looked down at the large black head resting on his lap. Smiling gently, he ran his hand through the dog\'s short, soft fur on top of his head. Either Padfoot was seeking attention (which was highly likely) or he had sensed Harry\'s growing fear and anxiousness.

\"Well, you won’t be the only witness; a few other teachers will be up there as well as myself. When it comes time for you to tell your part, our lawyer will ask you very direct questions. Their lawyer…there’s no telling what he’ll do. He might even start to be cruel, but that won’t go on long. Our lawyer can object to that and put a stop to it right away.\"

Severus paused and placed his hand gently over Harry’s knee again. \"It’ll be hard, I won’t lie to you, but I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make it as easy as it possibly can be. You’ll go last on the witness stand to make an impact and their lawyer will probably be tired out by then.\" Severus paused again before adding, \"I’ll make sure we give him a really hard time.\"

Harry smiled weakly, not doubting Severus\' word on giving the lawyer a hard time, he placed a hand on top of the other man\'s hand. \"I don\'t doubt it.\" He frowned slightly, looking down at their joined hands. \"I just want to get it over with though.\" A long finger hooked underneath his chin made him look back up.

\"It’s be over as fast as possible Harry; I promise,\" Severus said softly, before gathering the lithe frame into his arms. \"It won’t be easy, but you’re strong; stronger than I think even you realize,\" he murmured softly against his ear.

Harry sighed and wrapped his arms around Severus\' back. He didn\'t think he was strong... but... maybe, if Severus believed so... then maybe he really was. Maybe not physically, but emotionally... deep down. Just because he was sensitive, it didn\'t technically mean he was weak.

Smiling, Harry tightened his arms around the older man and moved closer, so he was out of his chair and sitting in the man\'s lap, arms sliding down to go around Severus\' waist. Sighing, he rested his head against one broad shoulder and just closed his eyes, trying not to think about anything but the present moment. Not the lawyers, not the court date, not Lucius, just the warm arms around him that were giving him strength and comfort. Strength to add to his own, and comfort to just wrap around him like a blanket when he needed it the most.