How Severus Spends His Summer Hols

DISCLAIMER: JKR owns everything that is in reference to the Harry Potter world if it is in one of my works of fiction. If it is not found in one of her creations, then it is mine unless otherwise stated. I am not making any profit from the writing of this story.


A/N~Thank you to everyone that is reading and to the wonderful people that have taken the time to review. It just makes my day to read them. There is going to be more of the OCs included...people really seem to have taken a liking to a few of them. Harry is going to come out of his shell more in time, he just has to feel comfy with people first. ok, enough of my nattering and on with the story.



The Doms sat in a loose circle; their partners save for Grant were at their feet, sitting comfortably and enjoying the meal the absent man had made. Harry looked questioningly at Jamie, not sure if he should ask about Grant.


She leaned over to whisper to him. “Damon and Grant got into it, so Grant is laying down for awhile.”


Harry nodded and leaned closer to his man’s legs, sighing contentedly thinking it had been a good long while since they had had a fight. Knock on wood; it would be a longer time until they had another. Personally he thought that they had fought enough for two lifetimes while he’d still been one of Snape’s students. If anyone had told either Severus or himself back then that they’d be getting married and starting a family, that poor person would have most likely found themselves cursed for eternity.


Who knew it would take a couple of bottles of firewhiskey and an empty evening of boredom for them to finally confess to each other that they actually felt something towards each other. Thank Merlin though, Severus had only considered Harry to be a royal pain in his arse while he was a student, the older man couldn’t have dealt with feeling attraction towards a student.


After the meal was cleared away and Damon had returned to the tent he shared with his husband, the couples went their separate ways to kill time before the party on the edge of camp. Severus had his arm around Harry’s shoulders and Harry was pressed in against the older man as they wandered.


“Sev, what is it like where we are moving to?” Harry asked, he was rather curious about the area. Wondering if it was muggle or hidden or just what.


“Echo is like Hogsmeade, Harry. There are charms placed over the area to keep muggles from paying attention to anything they see there. It’s mostly a wizarding community, but like Hogsmeade, there are going to be muggles living with us.” Severus answered. He was thinking of the places he knew had been vacant the past summer he’d been there, turning over possible properties to purchase.


Harry listened, forming a picture in his mind of a small village, neat lanes and streets. Maybe an American version of Honeyduke’s, he smiled as they walked on.


“There is one house in particular that I think would suit us, Harry.” Severus said as he remembered a property he’d looked at several times.


“What’s it like?”


“It’s further up the mountain than Damon and Grant’s home, maybe two or three miles further. It’s on Copperhead Road, and if my memory serves, the name of the place is The Overlook. It is an old farmhouse Harry.” Severus said, he liked the idea of living there, being able to go out in the evening and look down the mountainside from the front wraparound porch.
“How many bedrooms are there?” Harry asked, he could tell Severus was warming to the idea of it.


“Six if I am not mistaken. A large kitchen, several bathrooms, a cellar and a root cellar, several outbuildings as well,” Severus answered searching his mind for the information. He’d looked at the place with the local realtor last summer as a place to possibly retire to. It was quiet and secluded, as well as being large enough to raise a family.


Harry was quiet for a few moments as they walked on in the growing dusk, he stopped and looked down at his feet for a moment before he spoke.


“Severus….Sir…could I, I mean we, could we maybe have a dog?”


Severus looked down at him, “A dog?”


“I’ve always wanted one…but the Dursleys would never allow it, and there at school a dog isn’t practical.” Harry said sadly. He wanted a pet, but he wasn’t sure how one would work into their life. Severus began to walk again without speaking, Harry quickly following. Well, he guessed he had his answer.


Severus stopped again and looked at Harry in all seriousness and spoke.


“No poodles, nothing overly hairy, nothing yappy, and nothing that drools incessantly. Preferably something small, short haired, and intelligent.” He looked down and smirked at the disbelieving expression on Harry’s face. “And if it messes the rugs, it will be in a potion before sundown.”


With a huge grin, Harry flung his arms around the older man, somewhere at the back of his mind wondering when the other Severus was going to come back and the new one be hidden away again. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed feeling the strong arms holding him, the thought that had been lingering was being erased slowly, that other Severus belonged at Hogwarts, not here.


“But Harry, there is one thing that I want as well,” Severus said as he kissed the top of the shorter man’s head.


“Anything Sev, if it’s something I can manage, then anything you want.” Harry breathed.


“Good, I want for you to promise me that you will make time for yourself once we are moved. You aren’t a saviour anymore Harry, you can relax now.” Severus said as he rubbed his love’s back. “There won’t be anyone pushing you to do things that really aren’t your problem anymore.”


He could feel Harry relax as he said that, he knew how hard things had been on the younger man as he’d grown up, too much had been placed on his shoulders at too young of an age. Now it was time for Harry to grow up again the way he should have been allowed to the first time, and Severus was going to make sure that as many opportunities were there for him to explore as possible.


“Thank you,” he whispered, “I want you to enjoy life too Sev, no more kissing arse for either of us.”


They walked on in silence for a bit before Harry spoke again.


“Sev, what are we going to do there? I mean what kind of jobs will we have?”


“I’ve been toying with the idea of opening an apothecary that caters to both muggle and wizard clients, homeopathic remedies seem to be very lucrative.” Severus answered, he’d already been supplying Max and a few other Healers for several years now, he knew the idea would work.


“I’ll find something useful to do,” Harry mused as they came into view of a large campfire and a group of people.


“You already have something to do Harry, you are raising our children.” Severus replied as he reached over and rubbed the other man’s stomach.


“When are we going to tell Dumbledore?” Harry asked softly, it was not a conversation he was looking forward to, but one that needed to be done soon. He felt tension in the other man’s arms and knew he was not looking forward to that event either.


“I will fire call him in the morning, Harry, he needs to know so he can replace us. Have you thought about how you are going to tell the Weasleys?” Severus knew the separation could possibly be hard on Harry and he really wanted to keep as much stress off of him now as he possibly could. He picked up Harry’s hand and wound his fingers with the younger man’s. So many things had happened in such a remarkably short time, he was almost afraid he’d wake up and the dream he’d been living with Harry would be gone and he’d be back in his damp dungeon chambers, desperately hoping to have a few quiet minutes in the day to spend with his love.


He was almost tempted to contact Albus tonight, but he wanted to have a good time with his friends and didn’t want Harry to not enjoy himself with the others. He was also hoping the earlier tension at dinner would be resolved soon; it was like having his parents fighting again, only he liked these people.


He hoped Grant would join them later on. For as long as he’d known the Wolffes, he’d known Damon could say thoughtless things that would devastate his mate without meaning to. From what he had gathered from Evan, something of the like had happened again tonight when Damon had remarked on the Native American charms that Grant had braided into his hair.


One day Damon might learn that pissing off the Lakhota he married really wasn’t the smartest thing he could do. Grant was a very easy man most of the time, but he did have a temper and Damon was famous for finding his last nerve and dancing all over it.


He knew that the couple would spend a good part of tomorrow on the Pine Ridge Reservation visiting Grant’s family, well that was the plan if Damon made things right tonight.


He looked down at Harry thoughtfully, maybe he’d enjoy going as well, and he could see how a different culture combined magic with their particular beliefs. Severus had talked to Grant several times before and he knew the older man was considered to be somewhat of a special person, not all male and not all female…a winkte he thought was the term Grant had used. Someone that embodied the spirits of both male and female within their souls…reminded him of his Harry. He smiled to himself and allowed the younger man to pull him over to where Max and Allie were standing.


He slipped one hand into his pocket, grinned at Harry and ran his thumb thoughtfully over the remote. Yes, he thought he’d take tonight and enjoy himself.