Devils and Angels
folder
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Snape
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
19
Views:
30,155
Reviews:
97
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Snape
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
19
Views:
30,155
Reviews:
97
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Tinkers and Tailors
*Note: The reference to ‘Let’s get the hell out of Dodge’ came from ‘G.I. Jane’ made in 1997. – Lt. Jordan O’Neil, “All right! All parties in! Let’s get the hell out of Dodge!”
********************************************************************
Tinkers and Tailors
They arrived on the sagging stoop to the house that stood in the dilapidated neighbourhood in Spinner’s End, and Snape quickly removed the wards that guarded the entrance. Once inside, he replaced those wards with even more powerful ones, then guided Harry over to sit in the small and dreary front room. With a flick of his wand, the single candle that hung from the ceiling barely sputtered to life as it cast a dull light. Harry cast his eyes about the place and saw hundreds of leather bound books lining the walls; the well-worn and shabby mismatched furniture, and a lone rickety table sitting in the middle of the room. On its top, a single book sat as if hastily placed there as if the reader had been interupted. The carpets were faded and threadbare, and revealed patches of deeply scarred wooden flooring. Thick, dusty drapes covered the windows, and a dead plant stood forlornly in the corner. With a slight look of confusion, Harry turned his questioning eyes upward to Snape.
“Well,” Snape remarked with a sour expression as he himself looked around with distaste clearly written on his features, “Such as it is - it’s what I call home.”
“I thought…”
“What? That I lived in something grand – like Snape Manor?”
“Well… yeah,” Harry admitted.
Snape smirked as he removed his outer robes and tossed them onto the wobbly table then sat in the chair opposite of Harry. “I could, but long ago I chose not to. For all the good it would do me, Snape Manor could fall to the ground, and I wouldn’t care in the least if it did.”
“Was it really bad there?”
Snape leaned his head onto his fist and looked calmly at Harry before responding. “Was it bad at the Dursley’s?”
Harry nodded.
“Then you have your answer.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. The incidents at Snape Manor, and with the Dursley’s are no fault of yours. They were just something – we both were forced to endure.”
They both sat for a while listening to the creaks and groans of the house, and to each other’s breathing. It was an awkward moment for the both of them since their hideous pasts had been alluded to. Snape suddenly broke the silence with a question.
“Tea?”
“No thanks.”
“Is there anything else you want?”
“I just want to lie down, my head hurts,” Harry said as he rubbed his forehead.
“Of course. Follow me,” Snape led the way up the dimly lit stairs, and into the first room on the right.
He opened the door and with a wave of his hand, ushered Harry inside as he flicked his wand to light the room. Harry stopped, and took in his surroundings. The room itself was pretty much like what little he had already seen of the rest of the house. It was poorly lit, had peeling paint, mismatched furniture, yet the bed looked in well enough shape. Harry began to grin in spite of his headache, and a muffled curse came from behind him.
“Shite,” Snape muttered once more, and quickly eased around Harry, then began snatching up discarded clothing from the floor and chairs then he quickly kicked several pairs of worn shoes under the bed.
Harry continued to grin even broader when he bent and picked up a pair of discarded white cotton Y-fronts, “Nice, but not very sexy. I must get the name of your tailor and fire him.” Severus turned a light shade of pink as he stepped over and hastily snatched them from Harry’s hand.
“Well, I guess you’ve found out my terrible secret – I’m an incurable slob.” Severus sneered, and stuffed the clothing into a hamper then went over and pulled up the bedding into a semblance of order.
“I see you’re not much on housekeeping,” Harry sat down on the bed and removed his jacket.
“From what I’ve seen of your own untidy habits, then we’re hopelessly doomed.” Smirking, Snape reached down and brushed his fingers through Potter’s untidy hair. “I’ll bring you something for your headache.”
The dark wizard soon returned with a vial in his hand, which Harry downed in one gulp and then grimaced, “Gee, can’t you ever do something about the way your potions taste, and smell?”
“What would you have me do? Make everything taste like bubblegum, and smell like roses?”
“Be worth a shot,” Harry quipped.
“Impertinent as always. Lie down, and get some rest. If you need me, I’ll be in my workroom. Just follow the - vile odour,” he said gruffly, as he reached down and tilted the young man's head up, then lightly touched his lips to Harry’s and let them linger briefly. Sighing, he reluctantly straightened and left the room.
Descending the stairs into the dismal lower levels beneath the house, Snape pulled from the cupboard several items he was working on, but he couldn’t quite concentrate on the task at hand. Re-shelving the items, he returned to the main floor and grabbed the book from the table, then sat in his favourite chair. The text was one he read many times in the past, and he usually did that to relax with its familiarity. The book slowly slipped from his fingers and landed in his lap with a soft plop as he gave in to a sudden fatigue. He had almost drifted into a light doze when a piercing scream nearly sent him tumbling from his chair. Heart pounding, wildly thinking that somehow someone had managed to break through the wards and protective charms placed about the house, he raced up the stairs taking the steps two and three at a time with wand at the ready. He burst into the bedroom to find Harry deep in the throes of some nameless and horrific nightmare.
Grasping the flailing man by the shoulders, he shook him awake, all the while calling in a firm clear voice, “Harry! Harry!”
With a sudden inhalation of breath, Harry’s eyes popped open and stared somewhat glazed at the face before him. Recognition set in, and with a cry of despair he collapsed against Snape's chest as sobs wracked his body.
“My God, Harry,” Snape was mortified at the sight in his arms.
“Ahhh! I can’t breathe!” Harry gasped piteously.
Snape held Harry away and grasped his face, then forced the terrified man to turn his eyes to him, “Harry! Harry! Look – at me. Calm down. Breathe… breathe with me – breathe with me. That’s it. Slow – deep breaths Harry.”
“Nuuuh!”
“Shhh. Calm down. Your safe.”
“Nuuuh! Oh… I think I’m gonna be sick…” Harry flung himself from the bed and staggered quickly to the tiny water closet, and slammed the door behind him.
Snape sat on the side of the bed and listened to the gagging and retching sounds coming from behind the closed door, and felt powerless to banish the cause of the man’s suffering. The older wizard looked up when Harry emerged pale-faced and wobbly legged, and he headed straight for Severus’s arms. He sat and leaned heavily against the older man. Snape placed one of them beneath Harry’s knees, and the other about his shoulders, and heaved him back onto the bed, then lay beside him and held him tightly until the trembling finally ceased.
“Gods, I don’t mean to act like a baby – but it scared the hell out of me,” Harry’s voice still quivered a bit, and he shifted his head onto Severus’ chest. “I dreamed I was in a fog, and I had lost you. I looked and looked, but I couldn’t find you… and it scared me.”
Severus couldn’t identify the mix of emotions that flooded through him at that moment, even if he had been ordered to do so and was facing the wrong end of the killing curse if he failed. All he knew was that someone wanted, and needed him in a way no one had ever done before, and that someone had tinkered with his heart without him even being aware of it. He felt an odd choking sensation in his throat, and his eyes started to burn. Merlin help me, he thought to himself, and he swallowed hard several times in an effort to will the sensation away. Severus Snape did not get emotional – well only with the anger aspect of the emotional spectrum, at least that’s what he kept telling himself as he held Harry closely.
Harry sensed a subtle change in Severus’ body. He had become slightly tense, very still, and extremely quiet. “Are you all right?”
Snape couldn’t speak at that moment, and Harry started to raise his head in concern only to have a gentle hand press it back down. Finally, taking a deep breath, he spoke with a voice slightly blurred by the sudden onslaught of tender feeling as warm liquid seeped from his eyes to trail down the side of his face, and into his hair. “I’m perfectly fine Harry – I believe we’re both going to be all right.”
“You think so?”
“No Harry – I know so.”
********************************************************************
They arrived on the sagging stoop to the house that stood in the dilapidated neighbourhood in Spinner’s End, and Snape quickly removed the wards that guarded the entrance. Once inside, he replaced those wards with even more powerful ones, then guided Harry over to sit in the small and dreary front room. With a flick of his wand, the single candle that hung from the ceiling barely sputtered to life as it cast a dull light. Harry cast his eyes about the place and saw hundreds of leather bound books lining the walls; the well-worn and shabby mismatched furniture, and a lone rickety table sitting in the middle of the room. On its top, a single book sat as if hastily placed there as if the reader had been interupted. The carpets were faded and threadbare, and revealed patches of deeply scarred wooden flooring. Thick, dusty drapes covered the windows, and a dead plant stood forlornly in the corner. With a slight look of confusion, Harry turned his questioning eyes upward to Snape.
“Well,” Snape remarked with a sour expression as he himself looked around with distaste clearly written on his features, “Such as it is - it’s what I call home.”
“I thought…”
“What? That I lived in something grand – like Snape Manor?”
“Well… yeah,” Harry admitted.
Snape smirked as he removed his outer robes and tossed them onto the wobbly table then sat in the chair opposite of Harry. “I could, but long ago I chose not to. For all the good it would do me, Snape Manor could fall to the ground, and I wouldn’t care in the least if it did.”
“Was it really bad there?”
Snape leaned his head onto his fist and looked calmly at Harry before responding. “Was it bad at the Dursley’s?”
Harry nodded.
“Then you have your answer.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. The incidents at Snape Manor, and with the Dursley’s are no fault of yours. They were just something – we both were forced to endure.”
They both sat for a while listening to the creaks and groans of the house, and to each other’s breathing. It was an awkward moment for the both of them since their hideous pasts had been alluded to. Snape suddenly broke the silence with a question.
“Tea?”
“No thanks.”
“Is there anything else you want?”
“I just want to lie down, my head hurts,” Harry said as he rubbed his forehead.
“Of course. Follow me,” Snape led the way up the dimly lit stairs, and into the first room on the right.
He opened the door and with a wave of his hand, ushered Harry inside as he flicked his wand to light the room. Harry stopped, and took in his surroundings. The room itself was pretty much like what little he had already seen of the rest of the house. It was poorly lit, had peeling paint, mismatched furniture, yet the bed looked in well enough shape. Harry began to grin in spite of his headache, and a muffled curse came from behind him.
“Shite,” Snape muttered once more, and quickly eased around Harry, then began snatching up discarded clothing from the floor and chairs then he quickly kicked several pairs of worn shoes under the bed.
Harry continued to grin even broader when he bent and picked up a pair of discarded white cotton Y-fronts, “Nice, but not very sexy. I must get the name of your tailor and fire him.” Severus turned a light shade of pink as he stepped over and hastily snatched them from Harry’s hand.
“Well, I guess you’ve found out my terrible secret – I’m an incurable slob.” Severus sneered, and stuffed the clothing into a hamper then went over and pulled up the bedding into a semblance of order.
“I see you’re not much on housekeeping,” Harry sat down on the bed and removed his jacket.
“From what I’ve seen of your own untidy habits, then we’re hopelessly doomed.” Smirking, Snape reached down and brushed his fingers through Potter’s untidy hair. “I’ll bring you something for your headache.”
The dark wizard soon returned with a vial in his hand, which Harry downed in one gulp and then grimaced, “Gee, can’t you ever do something about the way your potions taste, and smell?”
“What would you have me do? Make everything taste like bubblegum, and smell like roses?”
“Be worth a shot,” Harry quipped.
“Impertinent as always. Lie down, and get some rest. If you need me, I’ll be in my workroom. Just follow the - vile odour,” he said gruffly, as he reached down and tilted the young man's head up, then lightly touched his lips to Harry’s and let them linger briefly. Sighing, he reluctantly straightened and left the room.
Descending the stairs into the dismal lower levels beneath the house, Snape pulled from the cupboard several items he was working on, but he couldn’t quite concentrate on the task at hand. Re-shelving the items, he returned to the main floor and grabbed the book from the table, then sat in his favourite chair. The text was one he read many times in the past, and he usually did that to relax with its familiarity. The book slowly slipped from his fingers and landed in his lap with a soft plop as he gave in to a sudden fatigue. He had almost drifted into a light doze when a piercing scream nearly sent him tumbling from his chair. Heart pounding, wildly thinking that somehow someone had managed to break through the wards and protective charms placed about the house, he raced up the stairs taking the steps two and three at a time with wand at the ready. He burst into the bedroom to find Harry deep in the throes of some nameless and horrific nightmare.
Grasping the flailing man by the shoulders, he shook him awake, all the while calling in a firm clear voice, “Harry! Harry!”
With a sudden inhalation of breath, Harry’s eyes popped open and stared somewhat glazed at the face before him. Recognition set in, and with a cry of despair he collapsed against Snape's chest as sobs wracked his body.
“My God, Harry,” Snape was mortified at the sight in his arms.
“Ahhh! I can’t breathe!” Harry gasped piteously.
Snape held Harry away and grasped his face, then forced the terrified man to turn his eyes to him, “Harry! Harry! Look – at me. Calm down. Breathe… breathe with me – breathe with me. That’s it. Slow – deep breaths Harry.”
“Nuuuh!”
“Shhh. Calm down. Your safe.”
“Nuuuh! Oh… I think I’m gonna be sick…” Harry flung himself from the bed and staggered quickly to the tiny water closet, and slammed the door behind him.
Snape sat on the side of the bed and listened to the gagging and retching sounds coming from behind the closed door, and felt powerless to banish the cause of the man’s suffering. The older wizard looked up when Harry emerged pale-faced and wobbly legged, and he headed straight for Severus’s arms. He sat and leaned heavily against the older man. Snape placed one of them beneath Harry’s knees, and the other about his shoulders, and heaved him back onto the bed, then lay beside him and held him tightly until the trembling finally ceased.
“Gods, I don’t mean to act like a baby – but it scared the hell out of me,” Harry’s voice still quivered a bit, and he shifted his head onto Severus’ chest. “I dreamed I was in a fog, and I had lost you. I looked and looked, but I couldn’t find you… and it scared me.”
Severus couldn’t identify the mix of emotions that flooded through him at that moment, even if he had been ordered to do so and was facing the wrong end of the killing curse if he failed. All he knew was that someone wanted, and needed him in a way no one had ever done before, and that someone had tinkered with his heart without him even being aware of it. He felt an odd choking sensation in his throat, and his eyes started to burn. Merlin help me, he thought to himself, and he swallowed hard several times in an effort to will the sensation away. Severus Snape did not get emotional – well only with the anger aspect of the emotional spectrum, at least that’s what he kept telling himself as he held Harry closely.
Harry sensed a subtle change in Severus’ body. He had become slightly tense, very still, and extremely quiet. “Are you all right?”
Snape couldn’t speak at that moment, and Harry started to raise his head in concern only to have a gentle hand press it back down. Finally, taking a deep breath, he spoke with a voice slightly blurred by the sudden onslaught of tender feeling as warm liquid seeped from his eyes to trail down the side of his face, and into his hair. “I’m perfectly fine Harry – I believe we’re both going to be all right.”
“You think so?”
“No Harry – I know so.”