Gaelic Blessing

By the time that Severus had walked into the bathroom adjoining Harry’s bedroom Harry himself was highly confused. He had woken up, feeling absolutely hideous, to the unexpected but wonderful feeling of being wrapped in someone’s arms. It had been four years since he had had a lover but neither of his boyfriends at school had ever made him feel this safe or protected. His delight increased tenfold when he realised that it was Severus wrapped around him.

He heard Severus talking to him and managed to ask the date and whether the children were alright. Upon receiving affirmative answers he was more than happy to curl into Severus seeing as how his head was still fuzzy and he was tired but to his disappointment Severus got out of bed, muttering something about having a shower.

He wasn’t happy that Severus had left the bed but in all honesty he couldn’t really complain about the view. Why was Severus half-naked in his bed? He tried to think of reasons but his brain refused to co-operate. Instead he simply wished that he could tell the potions master how he felt, not realising that he had already done so in his delirious state. Not feeling up to much he simply laid back and waited until Severus emerged from the bathroom, now clad in the black trousers and white shirt that he normally wore under his teaching robes.

Severus had taken advantage of his time in the shower to compose himself. He was so relieved that Harry was awake and out of danger although still far from recovery. The younger man would still feel weak and tire easily for several days but at least he would be awake and well enough to celebrate Christmas. Quickly, Severus finished buttoning his shirt and called for Dobby, asking the little elf to bring up porridge and tea for Harry as well as a more substantial breakfast for Severus.

Within ten minutes of Severus exiting the bathroom Dobby had reappeared carrying a laden tray.

“Dobby has brought what Master Severus asked for and Winky has made scrambled eggs for Master Harry.”

As he finished speaking the little elf looked over at his master.

“Master Harry is awake? We is so happy. We has all been so worried ‘specially Master Severus.”

Harry’s head whipped round with wide eyes to stare at Severus in shock.

Severus averted his eyes and coughed in embarrassment. “Yes, well. Thank you Dobby. Have you heard from Molly today?”

“Mistress Weasley has said she will bring children back at 11 today Master Severus.”

“Ok, thank you Dobby.”

With that the elf disappeared leaving the two men by themselves. Severus shook off his embarrassment and carried the tray over to the bed and sat down next to Harry. He quickly cast a warming charm on his food so that it wouldn’t lose its heat then picked up a goblet of pumpkin juice and propped Harry against his chest.

Harry was mortified but knew that he wasn’t strong enough by himself. As Severus held the goblet up to his mouth he also cursed the fact that he was incapable of holding either the cutlery or the crockery.

“We’ll start with the juice and scrambled eggs then if you can keep that down we’ll move onto the porridge.”

Harry smiled weakly. “Thanks Se. I know this can’t have been fun for you. I’m sorry I’m so useless.”

“Harry, you’re not useless, you’ve just been ill. I’d rather be here looking after you thank looking after those snivelling brats at the castle. Now, the children are coming home at 11. If you promise me that you’ll have an hours nap then you can come downstairs and watch the children decorate the Christmas tree.”

Harry craned his neck in concern. “They haven’t decorated the tree yet? It’s always done by now.”

“You were waiting for Holly, Lucia, Alfonso and Alex to get home but then you got ill. The children haven’t wanted to decorate without you so we’ll do it today. Now, I need to get some things done so you can nap for an hour or so. Okay?”

Harry nodded, feeling sleepy already. “’k.”

As Severus stood from the bed and made to leave, Harry reached out and grabbed Severus’ shirt sleeve.

“Sev?”

As Severus turned Harry smiled at him. “Thank you Sev. I really appreciate it. Thank you.”

Severus smiled tightly, still uncomfortable with taking gratitude, and gently removed Harry’s hand from his wrist. “It was no problem Harry,” and walked swiftly out of the room.

As the door swung shut behind the dark haired Slytherin, Harry rolled over and snuggled down into the blankets, already lamenting the feeling of protection Severus’ arms gave him.

Severus leant heavily against it and sighed deeply. He had an overwhelming urge to walk straight back into the room and straight back into Harry’s bed. That morning when he’d woken up, he couldn’t believe how right it had felt to have the solid warmth of Harry in his arms. Reluctantly, he moved away from the door, knowing that Harry was in no fit start for declarations of love. Instead of turning back to Harry’s room like he wanted to, he made himself walk the few metres to his own room where there was a stack of presents waiting to be wrapped. Settling himself on the bed he slowly and methodically started wrapping each of the presents by hand, taking some comfort in the monotony.

He looked up almost an hour and a half later as a quiet pop announced Dobby’s arrival.

“Master Severus, is you remembering that Mistress Weasley is being here soon? Master Harry would like to be downstairs to meet children.”

Severus looked across the room at the clock hanging on the wall and saw that it was indeed just gone half-past ten. He then looked down at the stack of presents and saw that he was wrapping the last one.

“Thank you for reminding me Dobby, I’ll go and get Harry now. If you or Winky could bring some tea when they return it will be much appreciated.”

The little elf nodded before disappearing, leaving Severus to hide the stack of presents before making his way back to Harry’s room. The younger man was fast asleep and didn’t even stir when the door creaked open, something he would have normally done. Severus sighed and walked over to the bed, knowing that Harry would never forgive him if he missed the children’s return.

Leaning over, he gently shook Harry until bleary green eyes were looking up at him. Severus winced slightly. It was at times like these, when Harry was just waking up or still asleep, that Severus was reminded just how big the age gap was.

“Harry, it’s time to wake up. The children will be back in half an hour. You need to get up and dressed and then I’ll help you downstairs.”

Harry started to push himself up but collapsed back onto the bed with a grimace. He looked up at Severus with a wan smile.

“You might have to help me get dressed as well.”

Severus gave a groan that was barely audible at the thought of having to help Harry wash and dress while he was conscious. Unfortunately, having spent seventeen years living with the Dursley’s Harry automatically assumed that the groan he heard was in disgust at having to help Harry. He immediately went with his gut reaction.

“I’m so sorry Severus. You came here for a holiday and you’ve had to look after me.”

Severus rolled his eyes. “We all told Albus it was a bloody mistake to leave you with Muggles. Your aunt hasn’t changed from the horse-faced bitter shrew she was when I knew her as a girl. I wasn’t groaning for the reason that you think I was.”

Severus almost couldn’t believe Harry’s next comment. Couldn’t believe it that the young man had made it through a war and to the age of twenty-two and still be so innocent.

“Then why did you groan?”

Severus expertly avoided the question. “Never mind. If we don’t get you ready now you won’t be ready in time. I’ll go and start running the bath. You just stay here.”

Once the bath was ready Severus helped Harry up and supported him across the room and into the bathroom. The blush was apparent on the pale skin of both men and Severus had to admit that he rushed the process so that certain outcomes didn’t make themselves known. Finally they had Harry looking presentable in well-worn jeans and a jumper and with ten minutes to share.

“Now, you may not like this Harry but it’s probably best if I carry you downstairs. Even with me helping you’ll be exhausted by the time you reach the bottom.”

Harry was actually highly delighted that Severus would have to carry him but schooled his face into an impassive mask. As Severus picked him up he had the same feeling of security that he had had that morning when he had woken up in Severus’ arms. Once they started descending the stairs he had to restrain himself from snuggling into the chest he was being held against. Little did he know that Severus was struggling with a similar set of problems; as soon as he had Harry held against his chest he was struck with the desire to never let him go again.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs and moved into the sitting room Severus deliberately ignored thinking about the swathes of mistletoe hung from the doorframes. Severus walked over to the sofa and laid Harry on it gently before covering him with the light throw that had been laid over the back. Harry had a token protest but Severus silenced him almost immediately.

“Sev? I don’t need a bloody blanket. Will you stop fussing over me?”

“Harry, you do need the bloody blanket. You’ve just woken up having had pneumonia. I will fuss over you if I bloody well want to and if you want to see the children in five minutes you will put up with me fussing.”

Harry simply smiled and settled back onto the sofa, contentedly watching Severus as he stationed himself at the foot of the sofa. The two of them spent the last few remaining minutes in silence before the children returned.

As the clock struck eleven the fireplace flared green and Holly stepped through the flames with Natalie clutching her hand tightly. They were followed by the rest of the children who came through in pairs until Molly brought up the rear with Georgiana and Elizabeth. All of the children made as if to go towards Severus and then noticed Harry lying on the sofa and made as though to rush towards him. They were halted mere feet from the sofa by Severus’ quiet but authoritative command.

“Stop!”

All of them stopped and turned to look wide-eyed at Severus. His face softened slightly as he spoke again.

“I know you’re pleased to see Uncle Harry awake but he only woke up this morning so he’s still not well. If you’re gentle and careful you can go and hug him individually. One at a time,” he clarified for the slightly puzzled younger children.

As much as he hated it Harry did agree with the older man.

“Uncle Severus is right kids but I still want hugs. Who’s first?”

Max and Natalie were the first to move followed by the others, as Georgiana and Elizabeth squirmed down from Molly’s arms. Harry hugged and spoke to each of them in turn and they each stayed close to him and Severus, with Natalie claiming Severus’ lap. In the end it was just Holly who hung back, only coming forward at Harry’s coaxing. It didn’t take much and she flew forward with a sob.

“I’m sorry but we were so worried. We got home and you weren’t awake and then the other night and it was so scary.”

Harry met Severus’ eyes and the Slytherin knew that he would have to give an explanation later on. He looked up as Molly leaned over to speak with him.

“I’ll leave you with the kids and Harry. You deserve the time without any outsiders. I’ll floo-call tonight though to talk to you.”

Severus was surprised. “I thought you would want to talk to Harry?”

Molly gave him an appraising look. “I think both you and I know that Harry shouldn’t be here; he should be in bed but he’s stubborn and always has been. He’ll be asleep at the same time as the children if not before. Mark my words. I’ll talk to you later Severus.”

With that the motherly, red-haired witch disappeared back through the floo although Severus failed to notice, distracted as he was by the sight of Harry surrounded by the children all chattering ten to the dozen. Just at that moment Harry and Severus locked eyes, emerald green visibly exhausted and unable to cope.

“Alright then, if you would like to remove yourself from Uncle Harry’s person we will decorate the tree.”

The younger children were distracted immediately, bouncing up and down in excitement.

“Is Uncle Harry going to help us? He always does.”

Severus cut in smoothly so that Harry didn’t have to answer.

“Uncle Harry’s still not very well so he’s going to lay back and watch us decorate the tree. If he behaves though we might let him put the star on the top. How’s that?”

The children cheered and Severus turned to Harry with one eyebrow raised in silent question.

“The boxes of decorations are in that corner over there.”

Seeing the boxes in question Severus murmured a levitation charm and guided the boxes to in front of the tree. The children needed no encouragement and pounced on the boxes before starting to decorate the tree under Harry’s watchful direction. Although it was vastly different to the exquisitely decorated trees of Hogwarts’ Great Hall there was still something highly appealing about the tree at Heathmore.

It practically dripped ornaments and decorations, all of which were vastly different. There were Muggle ornaments interspersed with Wizarding ones. It was patently obvious that some of the ornaments were shop-bought but others could only have been made by the child inhabitants of Heathmore. With the boxes emptied, the tree shimmered with lights at a flick of Severus’ wand. It was then time for the finishing touch; the star on the top.

As Severus turned round he saw that Harry was struggling to keep his eyes open and his resolve hardened. He leaned over and scooped Harry into his arms, blanket and all.

“You are going to bed as soon as you’ve put the star on the top of the tree?”

“Yes Sev.” Harry murmured, almost nuzzling into Severus’ neck.

With a bit of manoeuvring they were able to fix it so that Harry was able to stretch out and attach the glittering star into position at the top of the tree. Smiling almost as brightly as the children, Harry settled back into Severus’ arms and stared happily at the tree.

“It’s beautiful.” He proclaimed. “Absolutely perfect.”

The rest of the children were so enamoured with the tree that it was only Holly who noticed that, although Severus agreed vocally with Harry’s sentiments, he was not talking about the same thing. Whilst Harry made his comments staring at the tree, Severus had made his comments staring at Harry. The spell was broken as Harry yawned and tried to stifle it.

“That’s it; you’re going back to bed.”

The statement was met with a chorus of groans that Severus quickly silenced.

“If Uncle Harry goes to bed for an hour or so now then he might be able to come down for dinner. I’m sure you’d all prefer that wouldn’t you?”

As the children agreed Severus told them to wait and then swept out of the room and up the stairs once more.

By the time they reached Harry’s room he was yawning almost continuously and Severus realised that once again he was going to have to change his clothes and put him to bed. Moving over to the bed Severus pulled the covers back with a flick of his wand and sat Harry down on the mattress. He then proceeded to strip off Harry’s jumper and jeans as quickly as he could with his eyes averted. He was grateful when Harry lay back and then he reached over to pull the blankets over. As he did so Harry reached up and kissed his cheek.

“Thanks Sev.”

Once outside the room Severus swore. Without his robes his present condition was unacceptable in front of the children; he’d have to retreat to his room until certain irrepressible parts of his anatomy calmed down.