Guilty as Sin

CHAPTER 23

Harry sunk low in the marble bath letting the fragrant steam and fluffy white bubbles relax his tired muscles. It had been a rather uneventful week despite the hectic start. Harry’s original reservations about being left alone with Snape had amounted to nothing. The elder wizard had hardy even raised his voice let alone threatened Harry in any way. Harry silently wondered if what Draco had said about coming into ‘season’ was right. Snape seemed completely turned off by him, not even baiting Harry into a challenge when Dumbledore had lumbered him with chastising Peeves for upsetting Myrtle. Admitted though Snape was taking his frustrations out in other ways. Today’s chosen activity had been dueling in the great hall. Snape had explained it away as being exercise but Harry knew it was just a way of the elder wizard letting off steam without physically laying into him. The session had been grueling and while not being physically hurt in anyway every muscle in Harry’s body ached. He’d come to the conclusion too that he was unfit, no doubt as a result of being banned from Quidditch all season. As loathed, as he was to admit it, the only part of the headmasters enforced punishment that had hurt Harry was his ban from Quidditch and flying. Now though with the Ministry having dropped his charges Harry had been given back all of his privileges without question, but out of principal Harry had turned his back on the Gryfindor Quidditch team. Draco had said he was spiting his own face, but it was with a sick pleasure that Harry saw the Gryfindor team loosing the cup to Slytherin’s for the first time in years.

Today though was Christmas Eve and after the day’s dueling Harry was simply looking forward to relaxing in his bath and going to bed to read. Closing his eyes Harry settled his head on the towel rest and let his body float limply in the warm water listening to the haunting sounds of Snape’s music collection filtering in from the living room.

“Potter.” Harry sighed and rolled his eyes as he heard Snape step up into the bathroom, the rustle of his robes against the tiles catching Harry’s attention first.

“Yep.” Harry muttered sinking lower into the water so that his head was just visible beneath the mound of white bubbles clustered around him.

“You’ve got a letter.” Immediately Harry sat up and wiped the water from his eyes as he blinked up at Snape’s blurry figure. Snape handed him his glasses from the bench before letting the boy wipe his hands so that he could hand him the letter.

“It’s open.” Harry frowned up at Snape as he went to break the seal but found it already undone. Snape had sat himself down casually on the edge of the bath his hand flicking irritably at the bubbles surrounding Harry.

“Yes, I generally open letters addressed to me. However it became apparent as I read the first few lines that while it was addressed to me its content was not meant for me to read.” Harry turned the letter over to see just as Snape had done the professors name scrawled on the front. Shrugging his shoulders Harry flicked open the letter and began reading…

*HP,

Merry Christmas. I hope things are okay with you and Severus, I feel bad for leaving you alone at a time like this but it can’t be helped. If he gets over generous there’s some salve left in the right side drawer, and a pain-killing potion in the cabinet above the sink in the bathroom…*

Harry stopped reading abruptly and glanced up at Snape realizing that he’d read the first couple of lines that Draco had written just as he had now. Harry wondered if Snape would take offense at being talked about so casually.

“While I take my pleasure from dominating you Potter, I don’t enjoy seeing either of you suffer any longer than necessary. It is to be expected that you look after one another, I told you to do just that at the start of all this.” Snape flippantly brushed off Harry’s concerned gaze and the boy nodded and went back to his letter.

*…Anyway I’m sure you’re fine. Things are as usual boring as bat shit here. Dad had a dinner party last night and I was forced to sit and listen to them all bickering and trying to out do one another. I think I prefer being on the sore end of Severus’ bad temper than having to sit through my Dad’s lectures on family responsibility and pride. But you don’t want to hear about my crap family. I’ve got news. Or more specifically I raided Dad’s study a couple of nights ago and came up with some information on ‘seasonal mating’…*

Harry swallowed heavily glancing awkwardly up over his letter at where Snape had moved over to sit on the closed lid of the toilet, his arms folded across his chest and staring at him with a curious expression. Dropping his gaze quickly Harry continued to read.

*…It seems I was right about the reason behind us being a turn off. I’m sorry to say though that it is not me that’s doing it to him, it’s you. It says amongst other things in my Dad’s notes that you get a lessoning in appetite but stronger cravings for wizard blood. You lose a little muscle tone too and put on some body fat, especially if you’re a winter seasonal like you’re turning out to be. Snape should start doting on you a little as well, offering you gifts and the like, to butter you up enough to get his end away when the time comes. Apparently when the moon turn’s into the right phase you’ll get all defensive and defiant, more so than before. It’s the only time in our lives we have power over our Superei, so use it to your advantage.
I hope I haven’t scared you though, this could be the turning point. Hopefully though it won’t happen until I get back after Christmas, I really want to see what happens so when it comes around to my turn I might have a heads up. Anyway I better go before Dad catches me, I hope you enjoy Christmas and good luck. I’ll see you in a week.
DM*

Harry breathed out shakily as he finished reading Draco’s letter. For a moment Harry just stared at the jumble of words on the page, replaying what he’d read in his mind trying to get a handle on what Draco had just told him. The silence in the bathroom was stifling as was Snape’s stare that practically pinned him to the wall. Looking up was unavoidable though and at length Harry flicked his eyes up from the letter to stare back at Snape sitting brooding on the toilet seat. Harry didn’t know what to say and merely stared at the elder wizard.

“I know what he told you, I fed Lucius the same information the evening after we met in the pub.” Harry lowered his gaze in embarrassment back to the letter as Snape finally broke the silence. Harry swallowed awkwardly as he re folded the letter and put it carefully on the shelf above the towel rail for safety.

“How do you know…” Harry paused as he shivered and sunk back into the warmth of the water and bubbles still avoiding Snape’s intense gaze. “…I mean if our kind hardly ever come into contact with one another how can you know what’s going to happen?” Harry finished quickly as he grabbed the soap and began washing himself, anything to distract him from having to look directly at Snape.

“I’ve been on this earth 20 years longer than you Potter, and I believe I know a little more about myself than you know about yourself. Like you I am still learning new things though, especially in regards to my interaction with you and Draco.” Snape paused and Harry watched out of the corner of his eye as the wizard rose from the toilet lid and sauntered over to sit on the edge of the bath where Harry was intently scrubbing his knees with the sponge. “I am also more in tune with my inner magical signature and have learnt a lot from listening to it and what it tells me to do. With you and Draco though my information is more observations and predictions than anything else, the outcomes of which have yet to be proven correct or not.” Harry stopped scrubbing his knees as Snape rolled up the sleeve of his robe and leaned over to take the sponge from Harry’s grasp. Harry remained staring at the bubbles as Snape soaped the sponge and began gently washing his back for him.

“How do you know it’s not Draco that’s in season?” Harry whispered cautiously as Snape continued to wash his back and shoulders.

“Mainly your scent. Draco still smells of the regular musk and vanilla, you though smell acutely of what I can only describe as rancid vomit. It was quite pungent two weeks ago actually enough to wilt any Superei’s erection in a half mile radius I suspect.” Self-consciously Harry lifted his arms and inhaled uselessly on his armpits, disgusted by how Snape had described his scent. Snape chuckled darkly at Harry’s self-consciousness and dropped the sponge lower on the boy’s back so that his fingertips were caressing the boy’s backside. “No one else can smell it Harry, just me and those others that dare take a whiff. I don’t think Draco even noticed the change in your scent.” Harry closed his eyes automatically at the soft caress of Snape’s fingertips across his arse, the sponge forgotten for the sensation of flesh upon flesh. “Besides the other reason I know it’s not Draco is because his season begins in June.” Harry’s eyes snapped open and he looked abruptly over his shoulder at Snape who smiled wickedly.

“How…”

“I told you Harry I’m a lot older than you. I have much better control over my instincts and while the charm around my neck has kept my behavior in check over the years, I still smell the scent of others of my kind. Draco matured very quickly, I’ve known since he was 11 that he was like me. I wasn’t however aware that he knew what he was until recently.” Harry was a little shocked to hear that Draco had matured at 11 but dutifully kept his mouth shut as he watched Snape stand up from the edge of the bath and shrug off his robe. Naked Snape stepped up and into the bath sinking low into the water just as Harry had done when he’d first stepped in.

“What about me, why didn’t you smell me?” Harry whispered as he easily allowed Snape to pull him into the v of his legs and up against his chest. It had been such a long time since Harry had been this close to Snape, even in bed the man had slept on the far side put off by Harry’s aroma.

“I’m still not quite sure about that. Perhaps it was just that I wasn’t looking for it in you. I’m glad I found it though, to think I’m the only wizard in the world who has the pleasure of buggering the boy-who-lived.” Snape chuckled darkly as he kissed Harry’s neck sucking gently on the boy’s adam’s apple before nuzzling into the boy’s shoulder. “What do you want to do tomorrow?” Snape whispered against the side of Harry’s neck as he let his hands wander back and forth across Harry’s waist beneath the water.

“I thought you were going to the Malfoy’s for Christmas Day?” Harry pulled away from Snape as he felt the man’s hands wandering down to his backside, a probing finger coming too close for Harry’s liking. Snape growled low in his throat as Harry stepped out of the bath before quickly wrapping the robe around himself. Harry smiled secretly to himself knowing that had he done that normally Snape would have pulled him back and merely taken what he’d wanted instead of just letting him get away with it like he was now.

“I said I’d see what came up and it seems this year I have other things to attend to.” Harry listened to Snape get out of the bath as well the elder wizard following him out of the bathroom and down into the bedroom where Harry had sat himself in front of the fire to dry.

“You mean me.” Harry threw cheekily over his shoulder as he watched Snape return from the living room carrying two glasses of brandy, one which he gave to Harry and the other he reserved for himself.

“Don’t push me Potter, your season may placate my behavior temporarily but I assure you I am still capable of wiping the floor with that attitude of yours should I feel the need to. Your season protects you only to a certain limit.” Harry lowered his gaze to the floor as Snape sat himself down lazily on the chair behind him, stretching the kinks from his back after a long day’s dueling. Harry sighed and lay down on the soft carpet beside the fire slowly sipping his brandy as he stared into the flames.

“Where does it go?” Harry muttered as he tried to picture himself being pregnant.

“Where does what go?” Snape snapped clearly irritated that Harry had turned down his advances for the evening.

“The baby. Women have womb’s and all the necessary bits and pieces.” Harry didn’t dare look up at Snape as he spoke having never really had anyone to talk about these sorts of things with in his old life, let alone in this entirely new reality.

“A sack that sits off your stomach near your kidney’s. All Inferei are born with them, it expands with the growth of the child while your stomach shrinks. That’s why by the time you come to full term you don’t eat and instead get your nutrients from the blood you crave. Which we will have to find you a regular supply of if you do actually take this season.” Harry self-consciously glanced down at his stomach before shaking the image of him being pregnant from his head. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it, for now he had to concentrate on Snape.

“I want to go flying.” Harry whispered quietly in reply to Snape’s earlier request of what they would do Christmas Day.

“What? You want to ride a broom in this weather?” Snape looked distastefully down at Harry over the rim of his brandy glass as Harry rolled over so that his head was resting against Snape’s leg. “You have some serious thrill issues Potter.” Snape muttered in conclusion as Harry stroked his fingers lazily back and forward across the top of Snape’s foot.

“So is that a yes?” Harry smiled cheekily up at Snape who having swallowed the rest of his brandy in one go nodded reluctantly.

“Fine, but the slightest hint of frost bite and you’re on your own.” Snape stood up abruptly from the chair and having put his glass aside flicked his wand at the candles around the room, dimming their light to a warm glow. “Now get your arse into bed, before I whip some sense into you.” With a throaty chuckle Harry quickly downed his brandy and strutted meaningfully over to the bed, where Snape was already sliding naked beneath the sheets and blankets.

“Is that a promise?” Harry replied again his eyes sparkling in defiance as Snape stared at him the lavender hue having returned to the dark iris’s of the man’s eyes.

“Pushing it again Potter, now shut up and put your witty tongue to better use.” Harry hid the wicked smirk that threatened to break out across his face as Snape lifted the sheets revealing his left hand already curled around the impressive erection.

“With pleasure.” Harry muttered as he slid beneath the sheets, almost proud to feel Snape’s strong fingers gripping at his hair and painfully forcing him in the right direction. Yes, Harry had missed being dominated, had missed Snape’s firm hand and if he was brutally honest he’d missed baiting the man into a thunderous rage…

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A/N *grumbles and kicks stupid computer* I tried to post this last night but it didn\'t take obviously, so here again is another chapter.

Thank-you to everyone who reviewed, great to see your all still reading. Hopefully I will get around to posting again tonight but I can\'t promise anything.

T-Chan it is for readers like you that I truely write.... *winks*

Yay for me I hit 1500 reviews today!!!! *Throws streamers and cracks open a keg* Chocolate covered snapes and booze for everyone...

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