The Iridescent Conclusion

When Draco arrived in the bedroom, he paused in the doorway and observed his lover for a moment. Harry was pacing, back and forth and back again; his hands balled into tight fists of silent, inexpressible rage and desolation.

‘Harry,’ Draco said, his tone along the telepathic link kept deliberately low so as not to spark anything untoward.

The pacing young man’s eyes flicked once in his direction but Harry continued on his path across the bedroom.

‘Harry, Severus is an idiot. But he still loves you and he only wants what’s best-’

“But he doesn’t want me, he doesn’t want to be with me, with you…us!” Harry shouted, almost tearing his hair out in frustration. He finally drew to a halt and looked at Draco with helpless longing. “Why not?” he all-but pleaded, “Why, Draco? What have I done, what exactly have I done to make him so…repulsed…so…” he shook his head, unable to find the words.

But it didn’t matter; via their extraordinary connection, Draco was well aware of how his partner felt. And, he thought, Severus would also be aware. Well good.

‘He isn’t repulsed by you,’ he shook his head earnestly, ‘and you haven’t done anything wrong.’ He stepped closer now, letting the door close behind him. ‘But Severus has done a lot of things that were wrong, that were repulsive, no doubt. And he’s scared, Harry; he’s terrified that you’ll think he’s a monster -’

“How could I think that?” Harry demanded, cutting Draco off once again. “Doesn’t he know how I feel about him? I’m not stupid, Draco, I can work out what Sev must have done but that doesn’t matter to me!”

‘But it matters to him.’ Draco said sadly.

“Yeah, well, like you said,” Harry muttered brusquely, “Severus is an idiot!”

And with that, he resumed his restless pacing. Draco allowed him to do two trips back and forth and then stepped firmly into his path. At once, Harry made to step around him but Draco was faster.

Seizing hold of Harry’s shirt, he hauled him forward and kissed him very hard upon the mouth.

“Damn it, Draco!” Harry exploded, pushing him away, “That isn’t going to work this time. And don’t ask what will because I don’t know!”

Draco made no response however. Instead, he took hold of Harry’s shirt again and pulled him in for another hard, mind blowing kiss. For a second, it seemed that Harry was determined to resist him but then his arms came around and he kissed Draco back. In three strides, Draco had him pushed back against the wall by the bed and was just going in for a third killer kiss when he caught a flicker of panic from his lover. Opening his eyes, he saw fear in Harry’s eyes, despite the fact that he was trying to conceal it.

‘Ssh!’ he whispered silently, ‘Harry, ssh, it’s just me. Only me and I promise I’d never, ever hurt you. Ssh, my Harry…’

‘Yours,’ Harry murmured back as he finally relaxed a little.

‘That’s right,’ Draco nodded soothingly. He placed a series of small, light kisses on Harry’s bottom lip and flicked his gaze up to meet the other man’s eyes. The fear was going now and Harry was sliding his hands up Draco’s back once more.

He kissed him again; slowly, methodically and with no room for argument. And with the tiniest of sighs, Harry finally capitulated.

This kiss was unhurried, almost leisurely, long and extremely thorough. It left Harry stunned, poleaxed and completely in Draco’s thrall. In a short amount of time, he’d gone from being wired, angry and ready to fight to relaxed, aroused and ready to do anything Draco asked. Draco, for his part, was immensely proud of himself!

‘Stand very still,’ he instructed and lifted Harry’s shirt over his head. Then, glancing once at his lover’s half-glazed eyes, he smirked and bent to suck and worry Harry’s nipples. He pinched and stroked one with the thumb and forefinger of his left hand; the other, he bathed with broad strokes of his hot, wet tongue. And, all the while, he delighted in the soft groans coming from Harry’s throat.

At one point, as he pinched on one nipple and bit on the other, Harry gasped, hissed in pain and desire and arched away from the wall. Draco, however, was having none of that and leaned in heavily to press his lover back into his place.

‘Keep still,’ he reminded Harry with a quick grin. Harry merely shook his head, eyes closed tight, and groaned aloud.

So, finally, taking pity on his lover and the erection that had to be painful as it was currently trying to burst free of Harry’s jeans, Draco stood upright once more and popped open the top button.

“No! Wait, Draco -”

‘Harry?’ Draco looked immediately concerned. With Harry dredging up the memories of last summer, was he rushing him? He remembered the time before Christmas when Harry had pleaded with him to go slowly; terrified of the emotions and memories that might be ignited.

“No,” Harry shook his head again, his voice soft. “It’s okay, just…just let me.” And without another word, his placed his hands on Draco’s hips and kissed him with an undeniable hunger.

He stepped forward then, still holding Draco, and slipped his thumbs under the waistband of his jeans, caressing the smooth, pale hip bones that he loved so much.

“Is this okay?” he asked in a breathy whisper, “Can we just…”

‘Anything,’ Draco smiled and let Harry step him backwards until he could be laid down flat on their bed.

‘I need…’ Harry began, even as he started to kiss his way up Draco’s stomach. ‘I don’t know…I need to do this. I can’t…’

‘I understand,’ Draco murmured and then positively purred when Harry gave his nipples the same treatment that he’d given Harry’s.

With a minimal amount of fuss, Harry removed all of Draco’s clothes. He then finished undoing his own jeans and, with much wriggling, finally kicked them off the end of the bed. And then he pounced.

Really, Draco thought, there was no other word for it. His lover launched himself into a frenzy of kissing, lipping and nibbling, interspersed with occasional long sweeps of that talented tongue. Within ten minutes, Draco felt as if Harry had touched his mouth to every part of his body; from his forehead to his toes.

“Who’s fabulous idea was this?” Harry demanded in a sexy growl as he lifted Draco’s left foot and pressed a sucking kiss to the inside of his ankle.

‘Can’t think!’ Draco panted, delirious with pleasure, ‘Some genius…’

“Hmm…come here, genius!” Harry chuckled and dove up the length of the bed to kiss Draco on the mouth all over again.

‘You know me,’ Draco grinned, ‘I’ll come anywhere you tell me to come.’

Harry was moving down his chest once more. This time, however, he ignored his lover’s achingly erect nipples and made straight for his weeping, twitching cock.

“Really?” he smirked up into Draco’s eyes, “Come down my throat then.” And he took Draco into his mouth in a long, delicious slide.

Draco pressed his head back into the pillows, arching his back and resisting, resisting, resisting the urge to thrust, to push, to seize Harry’s head and fuck that beautiful mouth.

‘Do it,’ Harry told him silently, mouth busy. ‘Do anything you want. I’m yours. Fuck my mouth, come down my throat; I want to taste you, I want to swallow you whole.’

‘Oh fuck!’ Draco howled telepathically and, finally giving in, he buried his fingers in Harry’s hair and pushed up with his hips. Gently at first to make sure that Harry could cope, he then began to push with a steady, building rhythm. This was heaven, this was blissful torture and he never wanted it to end.

His undoing was Harry slipping a slick middle finger inside him. Moving slowly, back and forth, never too far, never too fast, he eased it inside him and then … stroked … very lightly over Draco’s prostate.

‘Dear, sweet Merlin…oh please…’ Draco was all but sobbing, continuing to thrust and push and – ‘Harry, gods, Harry, I’m going to come…’

‘Then come!’ Harry growled within his mind and Draco did. Mouth open, silently screaming, he thrust and howled and pushed and fisted Harry’s hair until he was finally, finally spent.

With a satisfied gleam in his wicked green eyes, Harry swallowed, licked him clean, licked his lips and finally grinned at his lover.

“You okay?” He asked.

‘Hngh ung hmm…’ Draco mumbled along the link and nodded vaguely.

Harry smiled and caressed his lover’s thigh. “I’ll take that as a yes. Roll over for me.”

Again Draco nodded and rolled over obligingly. Placing his hands on Draco’s hips, Harry drew him up a little and spread his knees.

‘Is this okay?’ he asked carefully.

‘Uh huh,’ Draco nodded into the pillow, still high on orgasm.

‘Good. Relax…’ Harry instructed but there was really no need. He slipped in, burying his lubricated cock with no trouble at all and then froze, panting a little to keep from losing it there and then.

In the minute that it took Harry to regain control, so Draco managed to come down to earth a little. He shoved his pillow to one side, letting his head rest on the sheet-covered mattress, and placed his arms above his head to prevent Harry’s thrusting from banging his head into the headboard.

“You…ready?” Harry panted. He was holding on by a thread, his fingers pressing into Draco’s hips.

‘To coin a phrase, do it!’ Draco instructed and as Harry pulled out and pushed home, so he pressed back and they each gasped simultaneously as Harry’s cock brushed over the already-stimulated prostate.

Again, Harry thrust, and again and again. With slow, easing strokes, he gradually built up momentum, all the while allowing the pleasure to peak. Finally, with a sound in the back of his throat, he gave in to it and allowed the pleasure to break over him, losing himself in the sensation.

They were moving faster now, pushing, pulling, thrusting, crying out and gasping for air. There wasn’t enough oxygen, they couldn’t breathe, this couldn’t go on –

But they did. It went on and on, blissfully bright and tantalisingly beautiful. And then Harry’s orgasm broke and he found himself pressed along the length of Draco’s back, hips still pumping, heart pounding at a frenetic rate and his lover…

His beautiful, desirable lover was continuing to undulate beneath him, milking him dry and murmuring silent ‘I-love-you’s’.

And elsewhere…in the room next door…Severus arched his back and gave a hoarse shout, hastily smothering it with his own fist, as he came over his hand and chest.

*~*~*

It seemed, Harry thought as he lay awake and stared unseeing at the ceiling, that if Draco’s plan had been to distract and exhaust him with sex and an earth shattering orgasm, the plan had backfired somewhat. He looked down then at the slumbering form of his lover and carded his fingers through the silk-like blond hair.

Oh, he’d dozed for a while, but the row with Severus had brought a flood of pain and although there was no longer any anger to accompany it, he nonetheless ached from deep within as he finally acknowledged that he and Draco would have to complete the spell alone.

He sighed, frowning, as he contemplated the idea of going on ahead without the older man beside him. It was difficult; ever since Nik had said that they had to complete the spell, he’d been…well, excited. Hell, after the life he’d had – alone for almost all of his childhood, without any family that even liked him – the idea of suddenly belonging heart, body and soul to Draco and Severus was just…too good to be true. So now he was facing a future with Draco and that was wonderful, it truly was, but there was still a painful Severus Snape-shaped gap.

Looking at it rationally, he told himself that he could understand Sev’s concerns about revealing his past. However, a part of him still insisted that it really couldn’t be any worse than what he’s already witnessed. And all the time, running beneath this constant stream of contradicting thoughts was the pain caused by their fight. Perhaps because of the links wrought by the first two parts of the spell, it was just too horrible to be snarling and growling at each other like that.

Perhaps disturbed by these thoughts and memories, Draco then stirred slightly and sighed in his sleep. Curled in his usual position, he was currently resting his head on Harry’s chest; his breath curling warmly over his stomach.

“Okay,” Harry whispered, giving his lover’s hair one last stroke. Moving with infinite care, he then supported Draco’s head as he slipped sideways out of bed. He pulled a pillow down to take the place of his chest and pulled on a shirt before creeping silently out to the kitchen across the corridor.

So, he decided as he poured himself a glass of water, despite the fact that Severus could be snide, vitriolic, unbending and irritating enough for Harry to consider shackles and a silencing spell, he loved him. Loved him equally as much as he loved Draco. And for that reason alone, he wasn’t going to give in and let Severus cut himself off.

The water was very cold; refreshing and numbing in his dry throat. He swallowed and winced at the slight pain that the chill sent across his forehead.

“You know,” Sev’s voice broke into his thoughts, drawing Harry around to stare at him as he stepped into the kitchen, “I’m not sure if it’s more disturbing to argue with you or to listen to you argue with yourself.” Without waiting for Harry to respond, he then took the half-finished drink and swallowed the last of it.

Harry gazed at him for several long moments, watching his Adams apple bob up and down with each swallow. The Potions master was wearing his usual black trousers and shirt, only without his customary robes and he looked unusually creased and ruffled. Just as the last of the water disappeared, so Harry stepped past Severus and moved down the corridor towards the living room, away from where Draco was sleeping.

“And just to clarify,” Severus continued, following him, “I hated it too.”

Harry turned to look at him with one raised, questioning eyebrow.

“The fighting; you’re right – it feels wrong. Unnatural.” He stopped talking then and stared helplessly at Harry.

And this, Harry realised, was the closest he was going to get to an apology on this subject. However, as had happened in the past, he found that he didn’t actually want to hear Severus say that he was sorry. This was enough.

“But I am,” the Potions master whispered, nodding solemnly.

“I know you are.” Harry replied softly, offering a weak smile. He moved towards one of the shielded windows and pulled back the curtain to look down into the dark grounds. “The situation still stands, though. You don’t want to complete the Nameless spell. You don’t want…” his words faded into nothing as he stumbled, unable to say it.

Behind him, Severus shook his head and placed his hands on Harry’s shoulders, steering him away from the window with a murmured, “Humour me.”

“As I said before,” he said then, “it’s not that I don’t want to join with you. I do.” He turned Harry towards him and caressed the younger man’s cheek and chin. “I love you very much. Both of you.”

“But you don’t want us to see what you’ve done.” Harry finished for him, his tone resigned. “Yeah, I get that.”

“You don’t though,” Severus shook his head. “You think you understand because of all that was done to you beneath Malfoy Manor, last year. But that isn’t the sort of thing I’m talking about, Harry. This -” he broke off then and raised his eyes to the ceiling.

“What?” Harry breathed, watching him with real concern in his eyes. What on earth could bring Severus Snape to a halt like this?

“This is much more personal to you,” Severus spoke in a tortured, strangled whisper. “And I’m afraid – mortally, terribly afraid – that when you find out that I -” Again he broke off and swallowed painfully. “I’m afraid that you’ll want nothing to do with me ever again. But I suppose,” he added with a little shrug, “that it would be better that you know now and have the chance to turn away than complete the spell with me and then be tied to a known monster.”

“Sev, you’re not a monster,” Harry shook his head. He stared at the man then, taking in his clenched fists, the angle of his jaw and the quiet resolution in those dark eyes. He stepped forward then and wrapped his arms around Sev’s body, holding him close and pressing his cheek against the man’s shoulder.

“I love you,” he said very calmly and reached up to stroke Sev’s hair. “I’ll say it until I go blue in the face if that’s what it would take to convince you. And nothing you say, nothing you’ve done, with ever change that.”

At these words, Severus drew himself up even taller and spoke in a deceptively calm voice.

“I was there, the night that the Dark Lord went to kill you.”

“What do you mean?” Harry frowned at him in confusion, “When?”

“The night that he was almost destroyed. He had learned of the prophesy – although I knew nothing of it at the time – and he went to Godric’s Hollow to find you with your parents.”

“And you were there too?” Harry stared at him with the widest eyes.

“I had no idea – I didn’t realise that we were looking for you, for your family. The Dark Lord simply talked of killing The One, whoever that was. When I realised it was you; the son of James and Lily Potter…”

“What?” Harry shook his head. He turned slightly, staring into the middle distance. “Severus, I don’t understand. You mean, you were…helping him?”

“I was there, with others, to witness the Dark Lord’s victory over the prophesy.”

“You were there to witness an evil, cold-blooded bastard kill a one-year old baby.” Harry corrected him with chilling tones. “What, was Voldemort afraid that a baby could destroy him? Is that why he took along some back-up?”

“That wasn’t his plan but, from his point of view, it should have been.” Severus replied in a low voice.

“I can’t believe…” Harry shook his head in shocked disgust and then he looked up at Severus and almost smiled. “Well, I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting this.”

He looked away then, trying to sort the information in his head. As the attack had taken place when he was only a one year old baby, he of course had no recollection of it. But there was still the remembered (or was it merely dreamt?) image of a bright green light…

“I don’t ask for your forgiveness,” Severus announced stiffly, his head held high, “and I won’t make excuses for this or the other atrocities I’ve committed.” He swallowed then and his eyes fell briefly to where Harry was now staring at him in surprise. “Know, however, that when I realised…when I saw who’s house the Dark Lord had chosen…” he shook his head and for a second his voice wavered. “It was my intention to end my service anyway. I’d decided, as far back as Regulus’ death, in fact, that I couldn’t go on.” He looked again at Harry and muttered, “I was finished anyway. That last attack just confirmed it for me.”

Harry opened his mouth to speak, to utter some comforting words – anything that might ease things for his beloved Potions master. But Severus had already turned away and was moving purposefully towards the shelf in the corner where a variety of bottles were grouped.

Reaching out with a hesitant, tentative thought, Harry found the most profound, deepest pain imaginable. The brightest edge of the pain was linked to the soul-destroying anxiety that this spelled the end of their friendship/relationship/call-it-what-you-will. But deeper than that was the ache of a long since absent friend.

“You…” Harry began, shaking his head and staring at Sev’s broad back. “You loved… Oh my god!” he exclaimed then, realising the focus of Severus’ thoughts. “You loved my mum?”

Severus gave a shaky, brittle laugh and continued unscrewing the cap from a bottle of Firewhisky. “Not like that!” he said, still facing the corner. Eventually, he turned with two glasses and handed one to Harry before near-falling into an armchair. “My tastes ran in a very particular line,” he added with a direct look at Harry. “Lily Evans was the first to ever stand up and defend me,” he said very softly.

“Yeah, I heard she did that sort of thing,” Harry murmured, recalling Jenna Litworth’s account of how his mother had sought to protect her.

“I might not have fancied her, might not have wanted her, but I did love her.” Severus told him seriously. “She was bright and brilliant and…sharp! Merlin, she had a wit! She could put you in your place from a hundred paces and we tied for position as top of our year for Potions. She could have taught if she…”

“If she hadn’t died,” Harry finished, coming back to the purpose of this conversation with a thud.

“No,” Severus shook his head and gave a strange smile. “No, she fell pregnant with you and decided that she’d be a full-time mother.”

“Oh.” Harry responded, unsure what else to say.

“She’d had a thing for your father for a long time,” Sev continued, half to himself. “I didn’t think much of the idea – well, there was never any love lost between James Potter and I – but Lily was besotted with him.”

“And then…” Harry began, sitting down too.

“And then, a year after you were born, the Dark Lord decided to kill you.”

Harry stared down into his glass of golden liquid and, after a moment, swallowed a mouthful. Firewhisky was aptly named but it served the purpose and the bite in the back of his throat was a welcome distraction.

“She needn’t have died.” He said then, hoarsely, and dragged his gaze up to meet Sev’s. “I heard Voldemort shouting at her, telling her to get out of the way.”

“What?” Severus leaned forward then, lean and agile as a cat about to strike.

“You didn’t know?” Harry tilted his head quizzically.

“My position was with… was on top of the hill.”

“When the Dementors got too close in my third year,” Harry explained, “I heard the last moments of my mum’s life. I heard my dad – yelling for her to grab me and run – and then I heard Voldemort telling her to stand aside.”

For a heartbeat, Severus closed his eyes and then, in the next, he slithered onto his knees and knelt by Harry’s chair; his eyes cast down upon the carpet.

“Sev?” Harry reached out and touched the top of the man’s head. “Severus?”

“You heard all that?” Sev asked in a thick voice. He looked up then and Harry the wave of emotions at the sight of tears standing in the man’s fathomless eyes.

Mutely, Harry nodded and stroked his hand down over Sev’s hair.

“Oh, my Harry…”

“Not your fault,” he asserted firmly. “There was nothing you could do to prevent their deaths. Nothing at all.” Sev was about to cut in but Harry stopped him, “No, listen to me. It’s awful that you were there – horrible! And it was worse for you! I was just a baby – I remember only vague snatches: just what the Dementors dredge up. I lost parents that I’ve never known; you lost your best friend.”

Severus stared at Harry in stunned amazement for several long minutes. Then, slowly, he nodded but his expression was still troubled, still miserable.

“I don’t believe you when you say that it’s not so dreadful for you.” He said earnestly. “You may not remember your parents but that doesn’t mean you don’t miss them.”

“Well, no…” Harry shrugged, flushing slightly. “But with the Nameless spell completed, I’ll have a new family. I’ll have Draco and I’ll have -”

“Harry, surely you don’t still want me?” Severus stared at him incredulously. “After all I’ve done, after what I’ve confessed…”

“Sev,” Harry said very gently, “there’s nothing to forgive but, if that’s what you need, you have it. I forgive you.”

At first, the older man started to shake his head but Harry stopped him and then slid down off his own chair.

“I love you, Professor Snape.” He declared formally.

“I love you too, Mr Potter.” Severus returned and positioned Harry over his bent legs, resting him on his lean thighs.

“Complete the spell with me?” Harry asked, face so close to Sev’s that he could almost count every black eyelash.

“I’m still too old -” Sev began.

“Stop it!” Harry chided, interrupting. His eyes held an amused sparkle, however. “You’re a wizard; we age differently. Look at Dumbledore, for instance.”

Severus nodded slowly, his eyes also glittering. A moment later and he sobered, however. “Are you sure you want me, warts and all?”

“Every last wart.” Harry offered a little smile.

“Then I accept.” Severus bowed his head.

Harry grinned and took hold of Sev’s face, framing it gently with his hands. He kissed him, smoothly, softly; lingeringly tracing the man’s lips with the tip of his tongue.

*~*~*

According to the clock on the wall, it was now twenty-five to one in the morning and although he really should think about going back to bed, Severus was simply too comfortable. He was lying on the sofa, one leg bent at the knee with his foot on the cushion, the other leg was stretched out with his foot on the floor. And Harry was lying between his legs, head resting on the man’s chest.

“So,” Severus began, speaking softly, “are you ready to address your own doubts about completing the spell?”

“Doubts?” Harry asked innocently, not looking up.

He’d wrapped Sev’s right arm around his body like a blanket and was currently holding the Potion master’s other hand; stroking it lightly, tracing the lines across the palm and studying the assortment of old stains that even a week away from potion creating hadn’t managed to fade.

“Yes, doubts.” Severus repeated. “You’ve been trying extremely hard not to acknowledge them but I know they’re there.”

Harry lay in solemn silence for a few more minutes, trying to put his thoughts together. Finally, he folded the older man’s hand between his own and cleared his throat.

“Before,” he said then, speaking slowly, “at Christmas, when we were at your house, you held me in front of the window, with the dawn coming over the horizon,”

“I remember,” Severus nodded with distant eyes.

“You told me that…” Harry faltered and looked down at Sev’s hand.

“I told you that you were in the centre of twilight, that you were at a crossroads.”

Harry nodded, his head rustling the front of Severus’ shirt, “Do you think I’m still at that crossroads or have I chosen a path?”

“I think,” Severus replied slowly, “that you have definitely taken a path.”

Harry paused again, considering. “So, do you think I’ve taken the right path?” He asked after a further minute or two. “I mean, since Christmas, I’ve done some pretty stupid things -”

“You’ve made no more mistakes than I would expect from anyone of your age,” Sev responded, interrupting. “Perhaps because of what others expect from you, you seem to forget that you’re only sixteen. Barely a man.”

“I’ll be seventeen in just a couple of months,” Harry stated, feeling stung.

“And yet you’ve still seen and done more than a man twice your age,” Sev countered. He tightened the embrace with his one free arm then and stroked the point of Harry’s shoulder with his thumb in a silent apology for the unintended affront. “I don’t think you’ve taken the wrong path,” he said then.

“Even though I landed us here?”

“Who knows?” Sev uttered softly, “Perhaps it was necessary for us to come here, for you to meet Nik. Without this short journey, we wouldn’t have learned so much about the Nameless Community, we wouldn’t have learned that the Dark Lord is living between two realities and we may not have ever decided to complete the spell.”

“And that brings us back to the question of doubts.” Harry said with a sigh.

“So you’re admitting to having them?” Sev’s voice was edged with concern.

“No,” Harry shook his head, “well, maybe…” He struggled to face his concerns and found himself floundering, “I just worry that…” he paused again, unable to go on.

Severus sighed, his breath gusting over Harry’s hair. “Harry, regardless of how you feel about me; regardless of whether you’re prepared to ignore my crime against you, the Nameless spell in completion requires serious consideration. It’s a bigger step for you or Draco to take because you’re both so young and have long lives ahead of you in which to share your every waking moment. Even your dreams will be shared.”

“But won’t it be equally hard for you?” Harry had to ask, “I mean, you’ve been alone in your head for so long and, well,” he shrugged, “you’ve always sought your own company. We imposed ourselves on you without much thought of -”

And suddenly Sev realised what had really been worrying Harry. It was like a window opening to admit a fresh breeze and he shook his head in disgust with himself for not seeing it sooner.

Harry’s wretched muggle relatives! If they weren’t already dead, he’d –

“Don’t,” Harry begged him and looked up and around into his face. “They’re gone. Because of me and don’t tell me it’s not.”

“We had this conversation a long time ago,” Sev replied, “back when we were just student and professor. I seem to remember telling you that you weren’t personally responsible for everyone around you. The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters killed your aunt, uncle and cousin; not you. And once again, we’ve wandered away from the point of this conversation.”

Harry smiled a little and pressed the side of his face against Severus’ chest.

“In answer to your concerns that you and Draco are imposing, I want you to know that I would have it no other way.” Severus said then. He paused for a moment and Harry waited patiently while he collected his thoughts.

The first and second phases of the spell allowed Harry the chance to witness some of his partners’ thoughts and now, here, he caught glimpses of people who had once shared Sev’s life. Amongst them, was a man with bright hazel eyes and a quick smile. He filled Harry’s mind with the same sense of affection and desire that Severus once felt. Now, though, there was only pain and Harry felt Sev push the image firmly away.

“Col,” Sev whispered.

“He was a Death Eater too?” Harry guessed, sharing Sev’s memories of the man.

“Mm. He died in an auror attack after…” the Potions master halted mid-sentence and deliberately closed down the link.

“After Voldemort tried to kill me.” Harry finished. “You were standing with him on the hill above Godric’s Hollow.”

“It’s perhaps as well that he died.” Severus remarked in a would-be casual tone, “He definitely wouldn’t have understood my defection.”

“You mentioned someone else, earlier, too,” Harry noted. “You spoke of Regulus – was that Sirius’ brother?”

Severus shifted abruptly then, moving sideways so that he could look down into Harry’s face. “You know of Regulus Black?”

The question was a little sharp and Harry reeled for a moment before answering. “I only know what Sirius told me,” he began. “He said that he was a Death Eater but he’d decided that it wasn’t for him and so Voldemort killed him.”

“Col,” Severus shook his head a little sadly, “Col killed him on Voldemort’s orders.”

There was really nothing Harry could say to that. He lay still, thinking, imagining a man who looked very much like Sirius, being confronted by the bright and handsome Col.

“What was Col like?” he asked then. “I mean, he was a Death Eater but was he like Lucius or like -”

“Merlin, no, he’d hate to be compared with Lucius.” Sev shook his head. He took a deep breath and then did his best to explain. “Col was a Slytherin – absolutely no doubt about that. He was quick, intelligent, fiercely loyal – he’d defend you to the end – but he was ruthless with it. If there was something he wanted, he’d get it at any cost.”

“Isn’t that like Lucius?”

Sev chewed on his lip for a moment and gazed thoughtfully at Harry. “No, not really.” He paused then before going on, “Harry, you’ve only seen Lucius since the Dark Lord corrupted him. The same goes for Draco, too, for that matter. By the time he was three years old, Lucius was already lost to the cause.

“No, Lucius used to be far, far gentler than you or Draco know him to be. He was always clever and would work hard to get the recognition whereas Col would break rules and fingers to get to what he wanted.”

“And you loved him?” Harry stared at the man in shock.

Severus shrugged, “You saw what I was like at school. I was nothing, nobody – but Col saw something in me that he liked and…” he shrugged again.

“Hmm…” Harry responded, not sure what else to say.

“Harry,” Severus tightened his embrace to draw his attention. “Harry, that’s all old, ancient history. Things were different then – as was I – and right now, the only place I want to be is with you and Draco. You fill a void that has been in my life for so long that I had convinced myself that it was as I wanted it.” He said finally, “But in truth I have never felt so alive as when…” he shook his head then and stopped talking.

“I get it,” Harry nodded and allowed himself to smile. “And, going by what Sirius and Nik have told me, when we finish the spell, we’ll be allowed to live together again.”

“Oh, we’ll be allowed to do far more than live together,” Sev declared with a glitter in his dark eyes.

“Hold on,” Harry said and repositioned himself until he was lying face down on top of Severus, “are you saying that Dumbledore…the Ministry…they couldn’t stop us? We wouldn’t be breaking any law?”

Sev shook his head and smiled lazily up at the younger man, “The Headmaster would probably expect us to use a certain amount of discretion but no, he couldn’t stop us. In fact,” he responded, “they would be breaking the law in trying to prevent us from interacting with one another. That was how it was for the Nameless Community in our reality and this is also how it was for the Community here.”

Harry smiled, he liked that idea a lot. To move back into Sev’s rooms – back into Sev’s bed? The three of them…

“Being tied to me will put you and Draco at an increased risk, though, won’t it?” he asked then, his smile fading as quickly as it came. “I mean, you know about the prophesy, right? Well, what if Voldemort manages to kill me before I can get to him? What would that do to you and Draco if you were linked to me?”

“You’re speaking as if we’d be anywhere but right by your side,” Sev responded, “as if we’d let you face him alone. No, my Harry, if you’re to face death at his wand, then we’ll face it with you. But no words of dying,” he whispered softly and drew his hands up to frame Harry’s face before sliding his long, clever fingers back through Harry’s hair.

He then held the back of the boy’s head and guided him down to press a heated yet controlled kiss to his lips. As the kiss went on with lips pressing and sliding, tongues tangling and breaths coming in shorter gasps, so their hands moved, slipping around shoulders and waists and pulling one another even closer together.

Alone in the bedroom, Draco stirred, rolled over and smiled into the darkness before falling asleep once more.