Living Your Memories

Thanks for all the reviews, people! Sorry it took me so long to update it!

Here\'s the next chapter, though, and the sequel soon to come

~*~

They awoke at the same time, if that\'s possible

\"So you made it back, I see,\" Severus warily said to the lump on his chest and in his arms

\"Yes, I\'m here now,\" Harry tried not to snuggle into the embrace, unsure of how they stood in this time

\"Have fun on your little vacation, then?\"

\"You would know,\" Harry pointedly looked up at this

\"But I don\'t know if you had fun. I believe you left before I had the chance to ask all those years ago\"

Harry lifted himself a little so his chin was on his left hand and his right was still on Severus\' chest

\"You weren\'t some filler; just something to pass the time, if that\'s what you\'re asking\"

\"Well that makes me feel better,\" Severus said, a tad sarcastically

\"So that\'s it then?\" Harry asked indignantly as he backed away from his professor completely

\"What?\" Severus was stunned by the movement and he sat up on the hard dungeon floor

\"That\'s it?\" Harry repeated, \"After 20 years you\'ve lost all feeling except hate for me? Are you mad because I left you back there? Is that why you treat me horribly?\"

\"No, Harry, I don\'t hate you for leaving me. I\'ll admit that I did for awhile, but you were right: I understood as I got older...as both of us did. And I treated you horribly because I was afraid that if I didn\'t, that I would act on my feelings before you reciprocated them,\" Severus admitted, looking at his hands

\"You don\'t think I fell in love with you because you gave me that hand job a few nights in, do you?\" Harry asked, unable to fully believe he would

Severus flinched from hearing it said so blatantly, \"It\'s not like there was anything worth while to see before going there\"

\"Are you kidding me? Let me tell you something: I don\'t fall in love in six days. This has been building for awhile...I was just in denial about what it meant before going and meeting you when you were my age\"

\"I hardly think...but...I was so cruel\"

\"Yeah, but I began to see past that, which was probably the weirdest part of it all for me to accept,\" Harry smiled

\"I don\'t know what to say,\" Severus admitted quietly

\"Do you still love me?\" Harry whispered, smile gone

There was some hesitation and a look of sadness fell over the man\'s face, \"Yes. I really do. I\'ll understand if you don\'t, however,\" he said while looking down

\"Why wouldn\'t I? I just returned from you\"

\"I was different back then\"

\"Yes, you were. But I fell in love with the man you are, not the boy you used to be. Not that there\'s anything wrong with how you were\"

\"You know, I tried being nice to James, knowing he would help to bring you into the world, but him and his friends started...talking about you and making up situations to put us in\"

\"But they weren\'t even there while I was,\" Harry said indignantly

\"Trust me, there was plenty of talk about you for awhile, so they had heard plenty about you. But anyway, your father stayed out of it for the most part, but the others were trashing something so sacred to me that I didn\'t care about looking good to James anymore. I knew he\'d still bring you into the world, so it became more important for me to protect what we had\"

\"So that\'s why they treated you horribly!\" Harry realized, then went over and hugged Severus, \"I’m so sorry. It\'s my fault\"

\"No, Harry, it was my decision\"

\"But if I...if I hadn\'t...\" Harry stuttered but was cut off by a pair of lips on his. They were familiar lips, different only in the size; definitely bigger

Severus kissed his way down Harry\'s neck, back up again and went to kiss, tongue and suck the earring he\'d given the boy 20 years ago

\"Jesus, Severus,\" Harry moaned, gripping the others shoulders for support

\"Told you the earring was a good idea. Plus, it makes you look even more enticing,\" Severus kissed him passionately once more and Harry wondered when the man thought of him as enticing, and why he\'d never told him before, distracting him from blaming himself for the torture Severus was put through when he was younger

They were interrupted a few minutes later by a knock on the door, which was opened before receiving an answer

\"I see Harry\'s finally back,\" Dumbledore smiled after a few seconds of shock

Harry scooted away from Severus and they both stood up

\"Somehow he came back, yes,\" Severus said, scowling at the twinkle in his mentor\'s eyes, \"but how still remains a mystery\"

\"I recreated the potion...messing it up as I did last time. It brought me back,\" Harry stated confidently

\"Was this right before you came back?\" Severus asked, though it was really a stupid question

\"Of course\"

\"I was making the same potion right before you came back, except I didn\'t get to add the Ground Dragon Scales because...something came up,\" Snape looked away from the two at the end of the sentence

\"What happened to make you not finish it?\" Harry asked, but Severus resolutely kept his mouth shut

\"One over-done potion and one nearly done...I never would\'ve guessed that,\" Dumbledore smiled, \"However, I shouldn\'t be too surprised, now should I?\"

The two men looked at the Headmaster questioningly, unsure of his meaning

Dumbledore walked to the door, then turning around, said, \"The power of tears is very great,\" and with that, he was gone

\"Tears? How does...?\" Harry started

\"Leave it, Harry,\" Severus warned

\"You know what he means!\" Harry accused, \"Tell me!\"

\"No\"

\"But...\"

\"I said no, Harry. Leave it,\" Severus said as he turned to walk towards the cauldron to clean it up

A look of comprehension dawned on the boys face and he said excitedly, \"You cried! You cried as you were standing over the potion, the tear fell in and brought me back! That explains why it had started bubbling so much suddenly\"

Severus groaned as he buried his face in his hands

\"Oh Severus!\" Harry walked over to the man and enveloped him in a tight embrace

Once he drew back, Harry saw Severus was resolutely looking down

\"Are you ashamed?\" Harry\'s smile was gone again, and a nod of the others head was his answer, \"Ashamed that you did it, or ashamed of why you did it?\"

There was no response

\"Severus,\" Harry begged and the man met his gaze, \"Do you love me still? Do you truly love me?\"

\"Yes,\" was the croaked answer

\"Then don\'t be ashamed to cry over me. I\'m going to do my best to make sure you never have to again, but I\'m only human\"

\"I know\"

\"Then what\'s the problem?\"

\"I cried, that\'s the problem,\" At the confused look on the boys face, he elaborated, \"In all your years of knowing me, have you ever seen me as the crying type?\"

\"Well...no, but...\" he started, but Severus cut him off

\"That\'s right. I don\'t do crying or sentimental\"

\"Don\'t do sentimental my butt! I was with you for 12 days, Severus, and was surrounded by caring and love and sentiment every moment\"

\"I never did that type of stuff before you came along. In fact, I never cried until you came along, either, just so you know\"

\"Well I\'m sorry I\'m breaking your wall,\" Harry said dejectedly, staring at the ground

\"No, that\'s not what I meant,\" Severus said tiredly

He made his way to the younger man and wrapped him in his arms, \"I\'m glad you\'re breaking the wall, it\'s just scary is all\"

\"I can understand being scared of it\"

\"Thank you. And I\'ll try not to let myself fall back into defensive mode when it happens\"

\"Is that what these past five and a half years were?\"

\"Defensive mode?\"

\"Yes\"

Severus considered before answering, \"I never really cared to read into it too much. Part of it was, yes, but it was partially keeping up appearances of hating your father and Gryffindors in general\"

\"I see...\" Harry was confused on what it all meant

\"Harry, look at me,\" he waited until the boy complied before continuing, \"I love you. I\'m sorry for how I\'ve treated you these past years. That boy back there...he\'s buried under me...in me now\"

\"I understand. I don\'t want him; I want you,\" Harry admitted

\"I know that now. I just wanted you to know that I\'m sorry for treating you so poorly\"

\"It\'s ok. You\'re yourself now and we can be happy\"

Harry smiled weakly before they kissed gently, promising things of the future

\"Lay with me?\" Severus whispered in Harry\'s ear

Harry chuckled lightly at hearing the phrase again, \"Of course, Severus\"

As the pair laid down in Severus\' bed, they both crawled under the blankets, covering their heads in the process

\"The future can\'t harm us here,\" Harry said as he snuggled against the others chest

\"We don\'t ever have to worry about that again, Harry,\" Severus said as he kissed the top of the others head before they fell into a peaceful sleep

THE END

~*~

That\'s the end of this part. Exciting, no? Are my \"flashbacks\" evident enough? Cuz I really am rather proud of them (not actual flashbacks, but the general idea of hiding under the covers and asking to lay with him)

I hope you enjoyed the story and the ending...and I\'m sorry if you didn\'t. This was a fun story to work on, and I\'m glad it received positive feedback

Thanks again to those who reviewed this story, and remember to keep an eye out of the sequel. It is a WIP as of right now, but I have a decent amount already written, and ideas for where I wish to take it. I\'m not sure when it\'ll get posted up, but hopefully it\'ll be sooner than later