Contrasting Familial Ties

Disclaimer: I\'m a poor college student, alas, I do not own these beautiful boys or their universe.

A/N: Thanx to Miss_Riddle86 for giving me material to write! The plot belongs to her. :D Thanx to my beta buddies Cyndassa (Lj User Chibi_Slash) and Sarah ;) You guys are the best :D


*CRACK!*
A dark figure dressed in Muggle clothes Apparated in Hogsmeade. Unknown to the passerby, the lone figure was none other than Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and now the Boy-Who-Disappeared. Harry nervously looked around before walking in the direction of the Hogshead pub. He was to meet Severus Snape there to renew his contact information with Albus Dumbledore. He had been meeting Severus at the pub every 3 months since his graduation. It was a precaution, according to the spy, and to make sure that Harry was alive and unharmed, so he could relay the information on to Dumbledore, one of the only people who knew that the Boy Who Lived was alive and well, although he didn\'t know of his whereabouts. Stopping a few paces away from the pub, Harry checked his outfit. He was to play the part of a prostitute seeking a patron, namely he was seeking Severus for his business. The usual patrons of the pub were used to seeing them every once in awhile. They had a routine, Harry would come attired in some rather attractive clothes, sache over to the Potions Master, who would then stand up, hand Harry some money, and they would walk together towards a previously rented room. Harry studied his reflection while straightening his clothes. His blond hair was perfect; his bangs were gelled up and swept to make a side part, the whole appearance made him look younger, so that nobody would be able to recognize him. The brown contacts Harry had gotten from the Muggle optometrist made him virtually unrecognizable to anybody who didn\'t know him personally, but even if one of his friends had walked by him, they wouldn\'t have recognized him without his scar and glasses. Taking a deep breath Harry pushed the door to the pub opened and spotted Severus in the usual spot, namely the dark corner furthest from the door. Swaying his hips, Harry made his way over to the lone man, trying to hide his nervousness, he had done this before, way too many times to count, why was he so nervous?

‘Maybe because you have a little crush on the git,’ a little voice in his head stated bluntly. It was true, during their last meeting Harry had stayed longer than necessary and he and Severus had talked about the goings on over at Hogwarts over a game of wizard chess. Harry had caught himself admiring the little smirk that played over the edges of the man\'s mouth when he was amused, or the way he rubbed his fingers together when he considering his next move. Before he had left, Harry had given into the impulse of hugging the man while thanking him profusely for all the trouble he\'d gone to, to assure Harry\'s safety. Blushing from the memory, Harry felt something being pushed into his hand, and he looked up into the dark obsidian eyes of Severus Snape. The eyes regarding him showed a hint of concern, but the face was blank as usual. Suddenly Severus turned and strode up the stairs to the room that was waiting. Harry walked quickly to catch up and as soon as he was inside the room, Severus threw some silencing spells up.

\"Harry what\'s wrong?\" Severus asked seeing the slight flush to the younger man\'s face and the faraway look in his eyes.

Harry just shook his head in reply and proceeded to sit down on the bed, leaving the desk chair open for Severus. He wasn\'t surprised at the man\'s concern; after three years of secret meetings the two had become friends, and just recently Harry had begun wanting more. He watched Severus slide gracefully in the chair, and felt the obsidian gaze studying him.

\"Well?\" he asked, Harry shifted uncomfortably for a few moments before meeting Severus\' eyes.

\"It\'s nothing,\" he mumbled, looking down once again.

Accepting Harry\'s dismissal on the subject, but shooting him a look that said they would talk about it later, Severus started telling Harry about the events at Hogwarts and the Wizarding World. \"So far nothing untoward has happened with either the Death Eaters or Voldemort,\" here Severus flinched as he said the name, then continued. “But that doesn\'t mean you\'re safe yet. You still have to defeat him, whether you want to or not; we are just biding our time until we can find a way.\"

\"I will defeat him, Severus, I\'m just not ready yet. I want it to be all over. I don\'t want to be hiding all the time; I want my life back,” Harry said determinedly, his eyes locking with Severus\'.

\"I know Harry, I know. I\'m not blaming you. The Order is trying to find a way; they\'ve got me researching potions, and Ms. Granger is searching for ancient spells to hinder his defenses. Until we find something useful, keeping you hidden in the Muggle world is the best way to protect you while we\'re researching.\"

The conversation regarding Harry’s safety continued on for a while longer, then, after some talk about Hogwarts, Harry recited the usual about his Muggle life.

\"You know what\'s the worst part of being a gym teacher? All the teenage drama! Yesterday, there was some stupid fight over one of the girls in my class,\" Harry rolled his eyes, but grinned at the scowl on the Potion Master\'s face. It was here that Harry decided to take a dive and see if Severus had any feelings for him. \"There was also this bloke, he\'s a new professor, he asked me out for drinks after work. We had fun dancing together, too.\"

The reaction was instantaneous, Severus\' eyes widened and he blurted, \"You\'re gay?\"
Harry had to fight the grin trying to force its way onto his face; he thought that Severus would have heard the rumors going around when he was still at school, but apparently not, considering the reaction he had just received gave the appearance that this was news to him.

\"You don\'t have a problem with that do you?\" Harry asked, sincerely caring about the answer he was going to receive.

\"We\'ll that would be a little hypocritical wouldn\'t it?\" Severus responded with a wry twist of the lips and the arching of that famous eyebrow.

After hearing and seeing the reaction, Harry couldn\'t help it anymore and his grin broke loose, almost blinding in its intensity; he had killed two birds with one stone, so to say. He was surprised at the emotion the older man had shown in front of him, and now he knew Severus\' preference. \'It\'s all in a day\'s work\' he thought to himself smugly, but this though was soon dashed from his mind when Severus scowled, stood up, and walked towards him. Harry nervously swallowed, but all Severus did was walk to the other side of the bed and start rumpling the covers, making it look like the bed had been occupied. It was a familiar routine to make their story creditable. Taking the hint that it was time to leave, Harry stood and went into the bathroom and put water in his hair to make it look damp with sweat and to make the gel weak so he could mess it up. Unbuttoning his blue dress shirt, he took it off, crumpled it into a ball and put it back on, purposefully missing a few buttons and redoing a few crooked. Walking out of the bathroom, Harry saw that the room was empty of Severus\' presence save for a note on the desk.

‘Until next time.’

Blinking back tears, Harry folded the note and put it in his pocket. He hadn\'t done anything wrong, had he? What made Severus leave without saying goodbye? Blinking once again, Harry looked around the room to make sure that he had everything and made his way down the stairs to the pub. A few people glanced at him strangely when he walked past, not used to him coming out of the room unescorted. He didn\'t care, all he wanted at the moment was to get back to his flat and lament over the missing goodbye.

Reviews are very helpful! :D :) ;)