Penance is the Play

Penance is the Play
by Maeglin Yedi

Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape
Rating: NC-17
Warnings/Category: first-time, hints of manipulation, coercion and a dysfunctional relationship. Harry turns 16 during the story. Written pre-HBP.
Disclaimer: All the characters from Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: Harry wants revenge. Harry has a plan. But is Harry Slytherin enough to avoid his own trap?

A/N: Written for the Harry Potter Reversathon, recipient: 85, Pubert Shufflebottom, who requested among other things a realistic portrayal of a first-time relationship between Harry and Snape, with manipulation, dubious consent, a dysfunctional relationship, and use of potions, magic and Legilimency in the plot.



*~*~*~*~*


It was remarkably easy for Harry to make the decision.

After having spent two weeks in his bedroom at Privet Drive, grief and solitude his only companions, Harry decided to seek revenge.

He needed a plan, and for a short while he couldn\'t think of anything that would make up for the pain he felt, that would hurt that guilty bastard as much as Sirius\' death had hurt him. Until Aunt Petunia handed him a stack of old newspapers to use for cleaning Hedwig\'s cage.

Harry, bored with looking at four walls all day, sat down on his bed and paged through the newspapers. One headline caught his attention.

\'LIVERPOOL TEACHER CHARGED WITH RAPE FOR CLANDISTINE RELATIONSHIP WITH FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD STUDENT\'

It was the perfect plan. After all, what would hurt Severus Snape the most? Losing his position at Hogwarts and being send to Azkaban.

Harry smiled as he folded the newspaper and placed it at the bottom of Hedwig\'s cage. By the time Lupin and Moody came to collect him six days later, Harry had his plan worked out and was convinced nothing could possibly go wrong.


*~*~*~*~*


\"I daresay that the unfortunate events at the Ministry have made it perfectly clear why it is so important that you learn to defend yourself, Harry, both physically and mentally. Therefore I think it\'s best...\"

It was easy to shut out Dumbledore\'s lecturing voice. Harry sat at the kitchen table and kept his eyes down, not meeting Dumbledore\'s narrowed eyes, Lupin\'s sympathetic gaze or Snape\'s venomous glare. Harry wanted to jump up and yell at Dumbledore that those unfortunate events at the Ministry wouldn\'t have happened if the Order hadn\'t kept him in the dark. If Dumbledore had explained to him why he needed to learn Occlumency. If Snape had stopped him. If Snape had stopped Sirius.

But Harry couldn\'t yell any of those things, even though they burned the back of his throat and clouded his vision. He needed to play along if he wanted his plan to work.

Harry dared a brief glance at Snape, who stood against the wall with his arms crossed and looked like he\'d rather be tortured by Death Eaters than listen to Dumbledore\'s suggestions.

\"I\'m well aware of the animosity between Professor Snape and yourself, Harry, but I hope that you\'ll both be able to get over these differences in favor of your special education,\" Dumbledore said, and gave Harry a long, calculated stare.

Burying his face in his hands, Harry let out a whimper and made sure his shoulders shook. \"I\'m so sorry,\" he said, his voice cracking. \"I\'m so sorry. I know it\'s all my fault. I know Sirius would still be here if I hadn\'t...if I\'d just...\" He made sure Dumbledore couldn\'t see his eyes, because it wouldn\'t do if he saw that Harry didn\'t mean a word of what he was saying.

\"Oh, Harry, it wasn\'t your fault,\" Lupin said, compassion dripping from his voice. Snape gave a loud snort, and Dumbledore cleared his throat.

\"I\'ll do anything. I won\'t complain and I\'ll study hard and learn Occlumency. I promise.\" Harry slid off his glasses and rubbed his eyes as if to rid himself of a stray tear or two.

\"I\'m more than willing to give you a second chance. Severus, I\'m certain that you feel the same way,\" Dumbledore said, and gave Snape a look that said he wouldn\'t take no for an answer.

\"Of course, headmaster,\" Snape said, though his narrowed eyes spoke differently.

\"Very well. You can start on your Occlumencly training tomorrow, Harry. Professor Snape will meet you here in the evening.\" Dumbledore got up and smiled. Snape said nothing and stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

And Harry kept his face blank and felt warm with triumph. Stage one of his plan was a success. He felt such a rush of early victory that he didn\'t even stop to wonder why Snape had agreed to Dumbledore\'s plan without much of a fight.


*~*~*~*~*


Once Dumbledore and Snape had left, Lupin refilled Harry\'s teacup, and gave Harry a warm smile.

\"There are a few things I should tell you,\" Lupin said.

Harry added a lump of sugar to his tea. \"Yes, sir.\"

\"Do call me Remus.\"

\"All right.\" Harry wished Lupin – or Remus would hurry up already. He had the next step of his plan to take care of.

\"Dumbledore has relocated both Kreacher and Buckbeak. He thought they\'d be happier somewhere else after all that has happened.\"

Harry raised his eyebrows. He didn\'t gave a damn about what happened with Kreacher – in fact, if he\'d still been around Harry thought he might have just used him as a punching bag – but he did feel sorry Buckbeak was gone.

\"And Sirius left a will,\" Remus continued, his voice softening.

Lowering his gaze, Harry rapped his foot against his chair.

\"He\'s left this house and his vault to you, Harry.\"

Harry stared at his teacup with determination. \"Oh.\"

\"Harry,\" Remus said, and stayed quiet, as though searching for the right words. \"Perhaps you should try talking about what\'s happened. You\'re not the only one who\'s lost someone dear to him.\"

Harry shoved his chair back and got up. \"I don\'t want to talk about. I\'m going to bed now.\"

\"All right,\" Remus said, and sounded hurt. \"Good night.\"

\"Good night.\" Harry rushed out of the kitchen. At least he did manage not to slam the door shut on his way out.


*~*~*~*~*


Harry sat on his bed and rubbed the faint scar on the back of his hand. It was that scar that had Harry decide on what step to take next. The prospect of doing anything sexual with Snape was horrifying, to say the least, and it would be far easier to rile Snape into assaulting him physically. But truth was, Harry had no idea if physical abuse of any kind was reason enough to get a teacher fired and sent to Azkaban.

Umbridge surely hadn\'t thought so.

Harry had no way of checking the exact Hogwarts rules. Normally, he\'d ask Hermione, but he knew Hermione would get suspicious and ask questions, and Harry could have none of that.

And thus Harry decided it was best to lure Snape into a clandestine relationship. Harry was quite sure that would be reason enough for Dumbledore and the Ministry to take serious action against Snape.

Of course, Harry wasn\'t sure if Snape even liked men that way, let alone a fifteen-year-old boy, but it was worth a shot. If it didn\'t work out, Harry could always try going the physical abuse route. He was sure he could piss Snape off enough for Snape to hex him or even attack him. The Pensieve Incident, as Harry had begun calling it in his mind, was proof enough of that.

However, that was his backup plan. Right now he needed to create a memory to show Snape. A memory he could use that would show Harry exactly how Snape thought about him in a sexual way.

Harry lay down against his sheets and pulled his flaccid cock free from his jeans. He stroked it, slowly, and conjured up the image of black hair and black eyes. It felt odd, wanking to the faint image of Snape, but Harry couldn\'t deny he\'d been curious about men in that way. He\'d just never thought of Snape as being attractive enough to fantasize about.

Black hair, black eyes, tall, lean frame, and thin lips quirked into a sneer. Harry kept stroking, kept his mind focused on vague thoughts of Snape, and finally he felt his cock harden against his palm. It didn\'t feel like arousal, but more like sheer determination. That didn\'t matter. All Harry needed was one memory of him pleasuring himself over thoughts of Snape.

The idea of shoving that memory in Snape\'s face sent a flutter of excitement through Harry, and he stroked harder, faster, feeling his breathing speed up.

\"Snape,\" he whispered. The thought of Snape hearing him say his name while stroking his hard cock excited Harry even more. \"Fuck, Snape, so good.\"

It was hard not to grin or giggle or laugh when he felt so giddy about his plan, but Harry\'s determination won over his childish amusement, and he felt the first tingles of his orgasm build in his sac.

\"God, Snape, please,\" he moaned, and hoped it wasn\'t too much. He had no idea what people said to each other while having sex, but his gut told him it was something like that. \"Snape, please, I need to come.\"

His cock twitched in his hand and Harry knew he was close. He was fifteen, after all. It never took him long to come.

\"Yes, that\'s it.\" His orgasm was right there, hovering just below his cock, and Harry gritted his teeth. It was as if a small part of his mind, or his cock, refused to find pleasure in the likes of Snape, but Harry insisted. He fisted harder, digging his heels into the bed while arching his hips up. The teasing tingles shot up and up, and Harry tightened his fingers around the head of his cock and came, gasping, \"Snape, fuck, Snape.\"

When the rush passed and his body relaxed, Harry released his spent prick and stared up at the ceiling. His lips twitched up in a satisfied smile. Snape would never see this coming.


*~*~*~*~*


Harry was already in the drawing room when a brusque knock on the front door announced Snape\'s arrival the next evening. He listened to Remus\' footsteps, the soft creak of the front door opening, and hushed voices disappearing down the hallway. Great. It seemed that Snape wasn\'t as eager as Harry to get started that evening.

Turning his back to the door, Harry pretended to vandalize the small painting above the fireplace. He was playing the part of the sullen, grieving teenager, after all. It wouldn\'t help his plan along if Snape saw how eager he was to practice Occlumency that evening.

A few moments later, in which Harry had managed to scare the swan in the painting away by poking at it with his wand in a threatening fashion, Snape threw the door open and stalked inside. Harry didn\'t turn to look at him.

\"Lupin found it necessary to inform me that you haven\'t eaten yet this evening.\"

Harry glanced over his shoulder, and was surprised to see Snape holding a plate with a sandwich.

\"While it matters not to me if you prefer to starve yourself this summer, I will not have you pass out during our lessons because you insist on behaving like a spoiled child.\" Snape raised the plate in Harry\'s direction and narrowed his eyes. \"Eat.\"

Harry looked back up at the empty painting. He hadn\'t eaten earlier because he\'d been too excited about his upcoming lesson and he hadn\'t felt hungry in the slightest. Remus had let it slide, but apparently Snape wouldn\'t. Giving a careless shrug, Harry turned and grabbed the plate from Snape. He inspected the sandwich – ham, for as far as he could tell – and took a generous bite.

It tasted strangely bitter, but Harry wanted to get it over with, move onto the part where he could shove his carefully constructed memory in Snape\'s face, so he took another bite. Snape sank down in one of the wide, leather chairs, leaned back, and seemed to find great pleasure in watching Harry eat, his fingers weaving together and touching the backs of his hands over and over again.

Perhaps he was interested in fifteen-year-old boys, Harry thought while swallowing. He took another bite. That would certainly make things a lot --

Pain ripped through his stomach, up to his throat and clutched around his lungs. Harry\'s fingers shook, and the plate fell to the carpet beneath his feet.

\"I think the ham has gone bad,\" Harry said, his voice constricted.

\"I assure you the ham was perfectly fine.\" Snape\'s stare was impassive, but his fingers moved faster, his knuckles turning white.

Harry thought he might be sick, his stomach convulsing, and he wrapped an arm around himself. \"That sandwich was...it was...\"

\"Poisoned.\" Snape smirked.

Somehow the floor fell out from under Harry and he lost his balance. He caught himself in the back of a chair, his knees trembling. \"What?\"

\"I poisoned it,\" Snape said, his voice steady, as though he were telling Harry his next homework assignment.

\"You...what?\" Harry\'s mouth dropped open, but another ripple of pain forced him to close it again and clench his jaws. \"Why?\" he gasped, as a tiny part of his brain supplied that if Snape killed him right there and then, he\'d surely be sent to Azkaban and Harry\'s plan would be an instant success. Harry didn\'t quite agree with that. Dying had never been part of his plan.

\"Because, Mr. Potter, you believe yourself to be invincible. You believe you can take on a squad of lethal Death Eaters all by yourself. You believe you can trust everyone around you. It\'s time you learn what reality you live in.\"

\"So you bloody poison me?\"

\"No. I merely poisoned that sandwich. It was your choice to eat it.\"

Harry wanted to yell at Snape for being an insane bastard, his sullen teenager act long forgotten. But the pain became unbearable now, and Harry fell to his knees. He heaved, once, twice, and then threw up on the carpet.

\"The poison\'s leaked into your system by now. I suggest you take action soon, Potter, or you will die within the next few hours.\"

Glaring up at Snape, his eyes watery, Harry tried to push himself back to his feet, but his legs had gone numb. \"You...antidote...now.\"

Snape huffed. \"This isn\'t about me saving your pathetic hide yet again, Potter. This is about you learning basic survival. You\'ve been poisoned. What should you do? We went over this in our classes last year. I suspect even you must have picked up a thing or two about identifying poisons.\"

Squeezing his eyes shut, Harry tried to remember those classes. \"A spell,\" he whispered. He remembered there was a spell, but he didn\'t remember the incantation. It was in his Potions book, but he couldn\'t move to get it from his bedroom.

Harry raised his wand to the door, but before he could utter an \'Accio\', he remembered something else. \"I can\'t do magic,\" he said through gritted teeth.

\"Hmm?\"

\"I can\'t do magic. It\'s the holidays. The Ministry will --\"

\"Mr. Potter, you disappoint me. Surely those rules don\'t apply to you. Seeing how you\'ve never had a problem with breaking rules before.\"

Harry wanted to kill Snape. Bugger his carefully constructed plan to hell. He was going to kill Snape with his own two hands. When he could move and breathe again, that was.

\"You are dying,\" Snape said, his voice gaining a malicious edge. \"It is time you make a few choices. Is your life worth more than a reprimand from the Ministry? Yes or no?\"

Clawing at the carpet, Harry tried to inhale a deep breath, but his lungs were refusing to work properly. \"Yes,\" he hissed, and raised his wand again. \"Accio Potions book,\" he said with all his might.

A moment later, his book came flying into the room and landed right in front of him. Harry wasted no time and flipped it open, scanning for the chapter on poisons. He found it, and skimmed through the text to find the identifying spell.

There it was. Harry aimed his wand at the half-eaten sandwich and said, \"Toxicum Acclaro.\" A colored smoke was supposed to form around the poisoned object, matching a color code in the book. But nothing happened.

Harry said the spell again, louder this time. Still no colored smoke appeared. He tried again. Nothing.

\"It doesn\'t work,\" he said, looking up at Snape in desperation.

\"If you had paid attention, you\'d have learned that this spell only functions on fabricated poisons.\"

\"What?\" Harry was starting to have trouble seeing, and Snape blurred before his eyes.

\"That spell only works on magical potions. However, there are plenty of singular poisons in this world that can cause a painful and quick death. I suggest you read on, Potter.\"

Harry banged his fist against the carpet in frustration. That wouldn\'t help, he knew, and he turned his attention back to his book. After having skimmed several more pages, he discovered a list of singular poisons. It talked about identifying a poison through smell, taste, structure and symptoms.

Harry\'s symptoms were vomiting, difficulty breathing and blurred eyesight, but that corresponded with half the poisons on that page. He reached for the discarded sandwich and held it up to his nose.

It smelled bitter. It also smelled strangely familiar. Almonds. It smelled like almonds. Harry traced his finger down the page and finally saw what he needed to know.

\"Cyanide. You fucking poisoned me with cyanide.\"

\"That wasn\'t so hard, now was it?\" Snape\'s voice sounded falsely comforting. He reached inside his robes, and tossed a small vial towards Harry. \"I suggest you drink that if you desire to live.\"

Harry pulled the cork out with his teeth, spat it to the side, and downed the clear liquid in one large gulp. The pain in his stomach and lungs eased in slow, retreating waves, and Harry slumped down against the carpet.

\"What have you learned, Potter?\"

\"Never trust you,\" Harry whispered. Now that his mind was clear of panic, he wondered why on earth Snape had thought it a good lesson to bloody poison him.

\"Very good. What else?\"

\"Never eat anything you offer me.\"

Snape chuckled. \"Indeed. Anything else?\"

Harry stared up at the ceiling, his mind staying blank.

\"That you use your common sense instead of rushing headfirst into battle. That you use your knowledge to deal with problems that may occur. That you stop relying on others to save your life.\" Snape rose from his chair. \"Get up. We have an Occlumency lesson to get over with.\"

The pain was gone, but Harry felt drained, his legs heavy and his head spinning. He didn\'t think he could get to his feet anytime soon, much less practice Occlumency that instant. He lolled his head to the side and looked up at Snape, whose dark figure loomed over him like the shadow of a Dementor.

\"You\'re insane,\" Harry whispered. \"I can\'t believe you just poisoned me. You can\'t just -- \"

\"You\'d better believe it, Potter,\" Snape snarled, sounding as if he were about to lose his patience. \"It is time you learn to take responsibility for your own actions. I poisoned a sandwich. It was your choice to eat it. Just as it was your choice to rush to the Ministry without considering how many lives you put at risk by doing so. But even the death of that mangy cur hasn\'t taught you a thing, has it?\"

Harry was on his feet at once, his anger stronger than his exhausted body. \"Don\'t you dare call him that!\" His mind swayed, and Harry had to inhale a deep breath to steady himself.

\"I\'ll call that irresponsible fool whatever I wish, and you aren\'t going to convince me otherwise.\" Snape drew his wand, but that didn\'t stop Harry from lunging at him.

\"Legilimens!\"

The image of Sirius falling through the veil, his face paralyzed in shock, forced itself to the front of Harry\'s conscience, and it banged against the inside of his skull as Harry watched helplessly how Sirius fell and fell and fell --

Harry rasped, lying face-first on the floor. He tasted dust and dirt and grief, and he forced himself to calm down, forced his mind to focus on his plan, his revenge, instead of allowing Snape to insult him and goad him. He didn\'t want to give Snape the pleasure of seeing him angry and hurt. He wanted to hurt Snape, destroy him, when Snape would least expect it.

\"Pathetic, Potter.\"

\"Please,\" he said, blinking at Snape\'s black boots. \"Please, just give me a minute. I\'ve been practicing this summer, I swear.\" And it wasn\'t a lie. Harry had been practicing. So much even, he doubted Snape would know he was deliberately keeping certain memories of his plan from him.

\"You have thirty seconds.\"

Harry dropped his forehead to the floor and inhaled a few shaky breaths. He pushed the memory of Sirius, the raw pain that still threatened to overwhelm him to the back of his mind and concentrated on his plan. The knowledge that he was going to make right what had gone wrong washed over him like a splash of water and cooled his heated body and mind.

\"Time is up,\" Snape said, tapping his wand against his thigh. \"Get up.\"

Groaning, Harry reached for his discarded wand, pushed himself to his feet, and rubbed a hand across his forehead. \"I\'m ready, sir.\"

\"Legilimens!\"

And Harry was ready for the invading force of Snape\'s mind, at least for a few moments. He pushed back at the feeling of grasping fingers in his head, and kept his gaze locked with Snape\'s black eyes. And then his mental barrier crumbled and he felt Snape\'s black stare threaten to take over his thoughts, but Snape choose that moment to draw back. Harry found himself still standing on trembling legs, feeling slightly out of breath.

\"Again,\" Snape said.

For Snape, the lack of an insult was practically a compliment. Harry snorted and raised his wand, giving Snape a nod.

\"Legilimens!\"

Snape hit him harder this time, and Harry quickly scrambled for a memory he could use to block out the rest of his thoughts. He didn\'t want Snape to know he could block him longer than he led on. The image of Umbridge forcing him to write those lines, the words scratching a bloody trail on his flesh, sprang forward, and Harry used all his force to keep it in Snape\'s path until Snape finally broke their connection.

Looking up at Snape, Harry pretended to feel worried about Snape having seen that memory and he hoped that feeling would show on his face. Snape\'s eyes remained impassive, and only the slightest curve of Snape\'s eyebrow told Harry Snape hadn\'t known about Umbridge\'s detention techniques until that moment. Not that Harry thought Snape would feel concerned for him. Knowing Snape, he probably approved of such methods.

\"Again.\"

This was the time to unleash his special memory, Harry knew. He lowered his gaze as if to clear his mind and pulled up the memory, letting it hover just on the edge of his current thoughts. Giving Snape a nod, Harry locked eyes with him.

\"Legilimens!\"

For the briefest of moments, Harry fought Snape\'s intrusion, so Snape wouldn\'t know what came next was a deliberate action instead of an unfortunate memory popping up. Harry inhaled a deep breath, and let Snape in just enough to press the memory of Harry wanking to him in Snape\'s face. He felt Snape\'s shocked retreat, and at that precise moment, Harry pushed. No, he didn\'t just push, he threw everything he had into their connection and found himself surrounded by the images and sounds of Snape\'s memory.

And as Harry\'d hoped would happen, Snape\'s mind pushed certain memories to the front, and Harry latched onto the nearest one.

Snape, a young Snape perhaps in his mid teens, on his knees with his lips wrapped around a cock, sucking with vigor. Harry didn\'t see who that cock belonged to, but that didn\'t matter. He knew enough, and he released his mental hold on that image. A forceful push shoved Harry out of Snape\'s mind, and he found himself on the floor on his hands and knees.

Panting, Harry kept his eyes closed. He didn\'t even have to pretend to be trembling, as it had cost him all his energy to manipulate Snape\'s mind like that. He waited for the outburst that was sure to follow.

But the room remained quiet, save for Harry\'s ragged breaths. Keeping his head lowered, Harry glanced up and saw Snape from the corner of his eye. Snape didn\'t look angry. In fact, there wasn\'t any emotion visible on Snape\'s face and Harry dared to look into those black eyes. They stared down at him without betraying anything Snape was thinking. Harry returned his gaze to the floor, aware he had to seem embarrassed by what happened. And truth was, part of Harry did feel embarrassed that Snape had seen him wanking.

\"That will be all for this evening,\" Snape said. Harry looked up at him again, swallowing thickly. Snape slid his wand inside his robes and gave Harry a curt nod. \"I will return tomorrow evening for another lesson.\"

And with that, Snape turned and walked out of the room, his posture composed and his step firm, as if he hadn\'t just seen one of his students wanking to a fantasy of him. The door fell shut and the room was once again filled with silence.

Harry released a quivering breath.

That hadn\'t gone as he\'d expected, but all things considered, perhaps it was better Snape hadn\'t yelled and screamed at him for being an idiotic, hormone-crazed teenager. Perhaps that meant Snape had liked what he\'d seen in Harry\'s mind. At least Harry had got an answer to his question; Snape certainly had seemed to enjoy sucking someone\'s cock. Which meant Harry could go right ahead with his plan to force Snape into a clandestine relationship with the likes of him.

Harry shuddered.

Allowing himself a few moments to catch his breath, Harry slowly sat up and blinked to clear his mind of the lingering throb of having someone poking around in it. Then he gently pushed himself up, and made his way to his bedroom. It was time to take the next step in his plan.


*~*~*~*~*


If Harry hadn\'t overheard Seamus mentioning it to Dean a few months earlier, he never would have guessed what the small, inconspicuous advertisement at the bottom of page three of the Daily Prophet meant.

Wizarding Wildlife. Owl Diagon Alley 37c for a free catalogue.

That was all it said, and Harry had always thought it was either a wizarding zoo or a service Hagrid probably used to order his rare beasts from. But Harry now knew it was in fact a company that sold adult merchandise of every persuasion. Magazines, toys, books, and much more, if he was to believe Seamus.

And Harry was in need of some literature on the subject of gay sex, seeing that he\'d never had any and he was planning on luring Snape to his bed sometime soon.

Harry tried not to think too much of the idea of Snape in his bed as he wrote down a quick note to order a free catalogue. He signed it \'John Travis\', as he didn\'t think it was anyone\'s business what Harry Potter was interested in, sex-wise.

\"Are you up for a trip?\" he asked Hedwig. She gave a hoot, and Harry tied the note to her leg before opening the window for her. \"Take that to Diagon Alley 37c. They will probably give you something to return to me.\"

Hedwig hooted, rubbed her beak against his thumb, and took off into the night. Just as Harry closed his window, a knock sounded on the door.

\"Come in.\"

The door opened, and Remus gave him a smile. \"Hello, Harry. I was wondering how your lesson with Professor Snape went.\"

\"All right,\" Harry said, seating himself on his bed. He thought about mentioning the poison to Remus, as some part of him hoped Remus would get angry with Snape on his behalf if he learned about Snape\'s latest teaching fiasco, but he thought better of it. He didn\'t want anyone interfering with Snape and him. Harry deserved to get revenge all on his own.

\"I\'ve been practicing over the summer, and I was able to block Professor Snape from my mind a few times.\"

\"I\'m glad to hear that. Good night.\"

\"Good night, Remus,\" Harry said, smiling, and waited until Remus closed the door before falling back against his bed with a sigh. He needed to construct a new memory for his next Occlumency lesson, but since he was too tired to lift as much as a finger, that had to wait until the next day.


*~*~*~*~*


Harry woke to the sound of tapping against his window. Yawning, he got up, opened the window, and Hedwig flew inside, a parcel wrapped in simple brown paper tied to her leg.

The catalogue, Harry realized, and at once he felt much more awake.

\"Thanks,\" he said, offering Hedwig a hand of owl treats before taking the parcel from her. Hedwig settled on top of her cage, and Harry returned to his bed, ripping the paper away and throwing it carelessly to the floor.

The cover looked promising with a magical picture of a scantly dressed man and woman rubbing hands across each other\'s bodies. And as Harry skimmed through the thick catalogue, he thought everything else looked promising, too. He told himself to inspect it closer, much closer, soon, but he didn\'t have the time now as Remus expected him down for breakfast.

Harry skipped to the \'gay section\', and inhaled a deep breath at the pictures on those pages. Yes, the sight of naked men kissing and rubbing definitely aroused him. Perhaps it wouldn\'t be too difficult to have sex with a man. Except that the man in question was Snape, Harry realized, and shook himself.

He needed to place an order. Grabbing quill and parchment from his nightstand, Harry browsed through the \'gay literature\' pages, and ended up ordering twelve issues of a monthly magazine called Polish Your Broom, which promised helpful articles, titillating stories, and explicit photographs. He also decided on two books; Make More Of Sex With Magic and Good Sex For The Gay Wizard.

Hedwig gave him a reproachful stare as Harry folded the parchment, dug into his trunk for the appropriate amount of Galleons, and offered the order and the small money pouch to his owl.

\"Can you take that to Diagon Alley 37c? They\'ll have a package to return. Thanks, girl.\"

After Hedwig took off, Harry hid the catalogue in his trunk, and made his way to the bathroom. As he let the warm water of the shower cascade down on his face and over his body, Harry remembered he still needed to make a new memory for his next Occlumency lesson. That wouldn\'t be too difficult, since his cock was still half-hard from his brief encounter with the catalogue.

Leaning a hand against the tiled wall, Harry wrapped his other hand around his prick and started stroking. He let his thoughts drift to Snape and to the memory he\'d seen the previous night.

Snape on his knees sucking cock.

Harry moaned and fisted harder, and imaged it was his cock Snape was sucking. And much to his own surprise, that thought proved quite arousing, as his cock twitched and pulsed, and Harry bucked his hips to drive his hard flesh inside an imaginary mouth.

\"That\'s it, Snape. Suck me. Suck me hard.\"

It didn\'t sound so strange this time, now that Harry had a realistic image of Snape doing exactly that in his mind. Snape\'s thin lips wrapped around his hard cock, Snape\'s black eyes staring up at him, Snape\'s tongue sliding over the glistening head of his prick.

\"Fuck, Snape,\" Harry groaned, and came so hard his knees buckled. Catching his breath and slowly opening his eyes, Harry straightened himself, and watched how the water washed his release away.

That would do just nicely. Harry grinned. He couldn\'t wait to see how Snape was going to react to seeing that memory.


*~*~*~*~*


Remus had cooked an elaborate breakfast, and since Harry was starving, he cleaned his plate in no time and eagerly accepted a second serving.

\"We have something to discuss,\" Remus said, after Harry pushed his empty plate away.

\"Let me clean this first.\" Harry got up, carried his plate to the sink, and got water running to clean the dishes.

\"You can use magic for that, Harry.\"

\"No, I can\'t,\" Harry said, and froze as he remembered what he\'d done last night. He looked at Remus over his shoulder. \"Were there any owls for me from the Ministry this morning?\"

Remus shook his head. \"Why do you ask? Are you expecting something?\"

\"Er...yeah. I did magic last night. I\'m not allowed to do magic during the holidays.\"

Chuckling, Remus reached for his wand and cast a spell to clean the dishes. \"How can you practice Occlumency when you\'re not allowed to do magic?\"

Harry frowned. Remus had a point, but Harry still wasn\'t certain what he meant.

\"Dumbledore has made sure that any magic you cast in this house won\'t be noticed by the Ministry,\" Remus said with a sly smile. \"You can do all the magic you want this summer.\"

\"That bastard,\" Harry muttered, drying his hands on a towel before returning to the table.

\"What was that?\"

\"Nothing. Just that Snape was a bastard as usual and didn\'t tell me about that.\"

\"Ah. Yes. About Professor Snape,\" Remus said, and Harry thought he looked rather apologetic. He wasn\'t sure he was going to like what Remus was about to say.

\"There has been a change of plans. I was supposed to stay with you during the summer, as we couldn\'t find anyone else who had that much time to spare from their work for the Order. However, it seems that an Order member changed his mind last night, and informed Dumbledore he was willing to supervise you for the next two weeks. This means I can continue with my task on the mainland during that time.\"

Harry stared at Remus, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. \"It\'s Snape, isn\'t it?\"

\"Professor Snape,\" Remus corrected, and offered Harry a smile. \"But yes, Professor Snape offered to chaperon you for a fortnight. He\'ll be arriving tonight, when I\'ll take my leave.\"

\"No!\" Harry knew that spending two weeks with Snape would benefit his plan, but his instinctual response to five years of listening to Snape\'s insults proved stronger than that. \"You can\'t do that to me!\"

\"Calm down. Professor Snape is a respected member of the Order. He\'ll be teaching you Occlumency while he\'s here, plus some basic defense he\'s discussed with Dumbledore.\"

\"I suppose I should be grateful for that git terrorizing me during my bloody holidays, should I?\" Harry pushed his chair back, glaring at Remus.

\"You should be grateful for people taking the time to instruct you on things that may very well save your life at one point,\" Remus said, his voice hardening. \"It\'s time you stop being a child, Harry, and start acting like an adult.\"

Harry couldn\'t believe what he was hearing. Remus was on Snape\'s side, which meant that he wasn\'t on Harry\'s and couldn\'t be trusted. \"Fine!\" he yelled, and stomped out of the kitchen.

It wasn\'t until he reached his room that he was able to calm down enough to look at this development from a different angle. Sure, spending two weeks with Snape resembled something close to Harry\'s worst nightmare, but at the same time it would make executing his plan much easier.

And his plan, his revenge, was all that mattered.

Harry sat on his bed and sighed. Perhaps Remus was right. Harry had to start acting like an adult if he wanted to get revenge on Snape. Harry knew Snape was far from stupid, and if Harry continued to allow his emotions to direct his life, Snape would see right through him and his plan.

Two weeks with Snape. Harry imagined the look of horror on Ron\'s face once he found out, and he chuckled. Two weeks with Snape. Harry frowned. Snape had informed Dumbledore last night he was willing to supervise Harry. Last night, after their Occlumency lesson.

Could that mean Snape had liked what he\'d seen? Could that mean Snape was interested in Harry Potter?

It could, Harry realized, and he hoped Hedwig would return quickly with those books. He had a feeling he\'d be needing them soon.


*~*~*~*~*


Supper was a quiet and strained event, even though Harry forced himself to eat most of what was on his plate. If only to make sure Snape didn\'t have an excuse to poison him again.

Remus seemed pleased enough that Harry wasn\'t yelling and stomping anymore and didn\'t raise the subject. Neither did Harry, as he knew he needed his concentration and energy for his upcoming lesson, and he didn\'t want to waste it on a meaningless discussion.

The slam of the front door announced Snape\'s arrival. Harry dropped his fork and sighed. A moment later, the kitchen door opened to reveal Snape in all his black-robed glory, with a large trunk floating behind him.

\"Shall I show you to your room, Severus?\" Remus asked pleasantly.

Snape scowled. \"Don\'t bother. Just tell me which room you expect me to use.\"

\"Second room on the right.\"

Snape turned on his heels and marched out of the kitchen. The moment the door fell shut behind him, Harry glared at Remus.

\"That\'s across from my room! It\'s bad enough I have to share a roof with him, but can\'t a bloke have a little bit of privacy?\"

Chuckling, Remus shook his head. \"Harry, I\'m quite sure Professor Snape won\'t be interested in the least what you do in the privacy of your own room. Besides, he\'s a teacher and a Head of House. He\'s well aware of what boys your age get up to in their beds at night.\"

A furious blush heated Harry\'s cheeks and he buried his face in his hands. \"If you dare start talking about birds and bees now, I swear I\'ll hex you.\"

Remus laughed, which embarrassed Harry even more. But before he could reach for his wand or swing an insult at Remus, the door banged open again.

\"Potter. Time to practice Occlumency.\"

Glancing up at Snape, Harry willed himself to calm down and remember his plan. He couldn\'t let teenage embarrassment come between him and his rightful revenge. Inhaling a few deep breaths, Harry got up and nodded at Snape. \"Yes, sir.\"

\"Come with me.\"

Ignoring Remus\' smile, Harry followed Snape out of the kitchen, through the hallway and into the drawing room.

\"Wand out,\" Snape said as he reached for his own wand. Harry did as he was told, meanwhile staring at Snape\'s face, hoping to see some sort of clue on how Snape felt about having seen Harry with his hard cock in his hand. But Snape\'s expression was guarded as always, and Harry cracked his neck and emptied his mind.

\"I\'m ready, sir.\"

\"Legilimens!\"

The first two rounds passed much as they had the night before. Harry managed to block Snape\'s intrusion for a few moments, before he was forced to shove a meaningless memory of the Dursleys at Snape to keep him from seeing the rest of his thoughts. The second time, Harry even managed to cast a Stinging Hex at Snape, who easily ducked it before breaking the connection.

\"Did you mean to hex me, Potter?\"

Harry tried not to grin. \"Yes, sir.\"

Snape nodded once. \"Again.\"

Harry dragged the memory of him wanking in the shower that morning up, and kept a loose hold on it as he looked Snape in the eye. \"Ready, sir.\"

\"Legilimens!\"

Once again, Harry blocked Snape for a few seconds, before losing his grip. He focused on his memory, and pushed it towards Snape, who released enough of his control for Harry to invade his mind in return.

Harry expected to find an assortment of random memories, but instead he was forced inside an image Snape thrust at him.

Snape lying on a bed, dressed in his familiar black robes which were opened strategically to allow Snape access to his hard cock. Snape, on a bed, wanking. Snape, his expression tightening in pleasure. Snape, moaning, \"Potter.\"

A surge of pain ripped through Harry as he fell backwards and landed hard on his arse. It took him a moment to come to his senses, to realize he was sitting on the drawing room floor. He had seen a recent memory of Snape. He\'d seen Snape wanking while thinking of him. And much to his horror, that thought sent a tiny flutter of arousal southwards.

Slowly, Harry glanced up.

Snape stared down at him, crossed his arms, and smirked.

Harry gaped, as if he were unable to draw in enough oxygen. Snape had just raised the stakes, hadn\'t he? He\'d seen Harry\'s bluff, and used Harry\'s ridiculous plan to humiliate him. Harry\'s hand went numb, and his wand clattered to the floor.

\"Potter, get up.\"

But why wasn\'t Snape rubbing it in his face? Why wasn\'t Snape insulting him and making fun of him? Harry squeezed his eyes shut and tried to concentrate. His first instinct was to think the worst of Snape, it always had been. But he had to think about his plan. Snape wasn\'t humiliating him, so perhaps Snape had merely met his challenge and upped it.

Perhaps Snape was willing to go along with Harry\'s pathetic attempts at seduction. Perhaps his plan wasn\'t a failure, after all.

\"Potter,\" Snape said again, sounding impatient. But before Harry could say or do anything, a knock sounded on the door. A moment later, Remus stepped inside the room.

\"I thought I\'d let you know I\'m off. Behave yourself, Harry. I\'ll see you again in two weeks. Severus.\" Remus gave Snape a polite nod.

\"Lupin,\" Snape replied, though he didn\'t look or sound quite as polite.

\"Bye,\" Harry managed, just before Remus closed the door again.

It began to dawn on Harry that he was now alone with Snape. That he was at Snape\'s mercy. For two weeks. Fuck.

The plan! Think about the plan!

\"I believe we\'ve practiced enough Occlumency for this evening,\" Snape said. \"It\'s time to move on to your basic defense skills.\"

Unable to resist his curiosity, Harry looked up at Snape.

\"As I\'ve discussed with the Headmaster, you are in dire need of learning to defend yourself. We will spend part of our time together improving your skills.\"

Harry nodded, feeling somewhat intrigued. He reached for his wand and scrambled to his feet. He liked defense, and he knew Snape was an expert at it.

\"Our lessons will go as follows. You will have a one minute head start. Once that minute has passed, I come looking for you. When I find you, I will immobilize you in any way I can. Should you find me first, which I highly doubt, you\'re allowed to use magic against me. Is that clear so far?\"

Harry nodded. It sounded like a bizarre game of magical hide and seek, but Harry had to admit it would be a lot more exciting than his Occlumency lessons. \"What sort of magic are we supposed to use, sir?\"

Snape\'s lips quirked up ever so slightly. \"Oh, I believe we shall ignore the Unforgivables. For now. Anything else goes. You have one minute, Potter, starting now.\"

\"Now?\"

\"Yes. Now. Go.\" Snape pointed his wand at the door in an impatient gesture, and Harry finally caught on and fled the room. Inside the hallway, he tried to think of a plan. He needed to hide from Snape and find a way to ambush Snape before Snape could attack him.

His cloak! He needed his invisibility cloak.

Harry rushed up the stairs and into his bedroom. He pulled his cloak from his trunk and slid under it. Then he tried to decide on the next step. Hiding out in his own room would be too obvious, so Harry ran across the hallway inside an empty bedroom. But as he stood against the wall, wondering if the minute had already passed, Harry realized he was trapped inside a room. Not the best way to try to ambush Snape.

Slowly, and as quietly as he could, Harry peered around the half-opened door inside the dimly-lit hallway. When he saw no one, he tiptoed into the hallway and pressed his back to the wall. Glancing around for any sign of Snape, Harry made his way to the staircase, wand at the ready.

A movement, a faint shadow to his left caught Harry\'s attention, but before he could form his lips and tongue around a hex, the floorboard beneath his feet creaked.

\"Stupefy!\" Snape\'s voice echoed through the hallway, and a red flash hit Harry square in his chest. He fell to the floor as the world vanished from his view.

When he came to, he could move his head but his body was still bound. Snape crouched beside him.

\"What I hope you\'ve learned, Potter, is that being invisible doesn\'t render one invincible.\" Snape slid the tip of his wand under the seam of Harry\'s cloak, and pushed it away from Harry\'s face.

\"And as long as you stampede around like a wild herd of hippogriffs, this cloak is of little use.\" Snape\'s wand traced lower over Harry\'s chin and throat, pushing the cloak aside and revealing more and more of Harry\'s useless body. \"Besides, smelling like an orchard is also a dead giveaway.\"

Snape leaned closer, so close Harry could feel his breath on his temple. Snape\'s nose brushed across Harry\'s hair as he inhaled deeply.

\"Mango,\" Snape said, and made it sound like an accusation. Harry closed his eyes, a shiver running down his chest.

\"Tell me, Mr Potter, what alerted you of my presence?\"

Harry cleared his throat, and realized he had control over his voice. \"Your shadow, sir,\" he said, his voice small and raspy.

\"Ah. So what does that tell you about the Disillusionment Charm?\"

Frowning, Harry thought for a second. \"It will disguise your body, but it doesn\'t make you invisible. Your shadows are still there.\"

Snape nodded, and rose to his full height. \"Finite Incantatem.\"

The invisible bonds around Harry disappeared, and Harry slowly sat up.

\"That\'s all for this evening. You have tomorrow morning to yourself, as I will be busy setting up a decent workroom. However, I expect to see you at noon for lunch. After that, we will continue our lessons.\"

\"Yes, sir,\" Harry said, and watched Snape disappear inside his room. After a minute of sitting on the floor of the deserted hallway, Harry thought he\'d best get to bed, too.

Inside his bedroom, Harry sank down on his bed and wondered what the hell had just happened. He\'d learned something useful from Snape, which was perhaps an even bigger shock than having seen the man\'s erection.

A soft hoot shook Harry out of his mental stupor, and he noticed Hedwig sitting on top of her cage. And there was a large package waiting for him on his desk.

Harry jumped up, gave Hedwig half the bag of owl treats, and carried the package to his bed. Hedwig hooted again, and cast a longing glance at the opened window.

\"You want to go hunting?\" Harry asked, ripping at the box between his legs. Hedwig cocked her head in reply. \"That\'s all right. I won\'t be needing you again tonight.\" With another hoot, Hedwig took off, leaving Harry to explore his purchases in private.

The books seemed interesting and useful, but Harry quickly dropped them to the side in favor of the magazines. They were everything they\'d promised to be. Harry lay down on his side with the February issue beside him, and paged through the articles on safe and easy anal sex, with nifty diagrams and recommended spells. He stopped every so often to admire the many explicit photos of wizards demonstrating the art of gay sex, and soon enough his cock had taken a stubborn interest in the things Harry was seeing.

Well, Harry supposed there was no reason not to take care of that problem before going to sleep. He glanced up to make sure his door was closed. Snape wouldn\'t be so rude as to enter without knocking. He hoped.


*~*~*~*~*


When Harry woke up the next morning, he found himself still dressed, surrounded by four opened issues of Polish Your Broom, with his limp and stained prick exposed. He didn\'t even remember falling asleep. All he remembered was fixing his problem. Three times in a row.

Hedwig had returned, but she refused to look at him. Harry couldn\'t blame her. He was just glad Snape hadn\'t barged in to wake him for breakfast.

Harry put the magazines and books in his trunk, and took a long, relaxing shower. After he got dressed, he went downstairs, and heard vague noises coming from the cellar. Snape was setting up a workroom, Harry remembered. He ignored the cellar door and went down to the kitchen for a cup of tea and some breakfast.

As he cast a simple spell to clean his dishes after he was done eating, Harry thought about the defense lesson from last night. If he were honest, and Harry usually was honest with himself, he had liked it. A lot. He liked the idea of using stealth, and crossing wands with Snape.

The thing that irked him, though, was that Snape had won. Harry\'s competitive side wasn\'t pleased with that at all. If he wanted to win, Harry knew he had to learn a great deal more than the things they\'d practiced during the DA meetings.

Which led him to the one room he hadn\'t been all that interested in before. The Black family library.

Harry took in the spacious room, the shelves on the wall reaching from the floor to the ceiling, and the many, many books on every wizarding subject imaginable. He browsed the titles, and carried a few books on charms, hexes, curses and, Merlin forbid, defensive potions to the large table in the center of the room.

The first book Harry opened -- Creative Curses For The Bold Wizard -- proved a bit too gruesome for his liking. He had no desire to curse Snape\'s eyeballs inside out, or shrivel the man\'s scrotum to the size of peas. He reached for the second book -- The Prankster Guide To Tricky Charms -- but the moment he opened it, he gasped and felt something tear at his heart.

There was familiar writing on the inside of the book cover. \'Sirius Black\', which had been crossed out. Below it, \'Regulus Black\', which had also been crossed out. And below that, \'Reg, you cunt, stay away from my books or I\'ll hex your wanger off. Sirius\'.

Harry stared at those words, and for the first time since he\'d come up with his plan, he wondered what Sirius would think of it. What Sirius would think of him.

Sure, Sirius loved a good prank and despised Snape, but Harry doubted that Sirius would have wanted him to ruin a man\'s life. That doubt gnawed at him, making his chest ache, until Harry gritted his teeth and forced those thoughts from his mind.

Sirius was dead, and it was Snape\'s fault, and since Sirius was Harry\'s godfather, his only remaining family, Harry was obliged to revenge him. Simple as that.

Sitting up straight, Harry flipped to the first chapter of the book and started reading it with interest.

And that was how Harry spent his morning. He read the book, and made notes on a charm that could make your feet as light as a feather and thus would fix Harry\'s problem with creaking floorboards. He did take regular breaks, which he mostly spent in his room with an issue of Polish Your Broom at hand, but all in all, Harry thought it had been a very productive morning.

When the clock in the library chimed noon, Harry was starving, and he went down to the kitchen to meet Snape for lunch.

Snape sat at the table, an opened magazine in his hands, and he ignored Harry, keeping his dark gaze fixed on the pages.

As Harry crossed the kitchen to the sink, he noticed that the magazine looked awfully familiar. Harry stopped dead in his tracks, only a few feet away from Snape, who still didn\'t look up at him.

Snape was holding the June issue of Polish Your Broom, which had a most interesting rimming special.

Something inside Harry exploded in a burst of fury and betrayal. \"You fucking bastard! Who gave you the right to go through my belongings? My private things!\"

Not looking up, Snape licked his index finger with a delicate flick of his tongue, and turned a page.

\"That is my magazine, and you have no bloody right to invade my privacy like that!\"

\"Are you quite done?\" Snape asked, eyes still glued to the page.

\"No!\" Harry stomped his foot and threw his hands up in a wild gesture. \"I can\'t believe you. I can\'t believe how rude you are and think it\'s okay to treat people like that!\"

\"If every wizard were as naive and uncontrolled as you are, Mr Potter, there would be no need for Veritaserum in this world.\" Finally, Snape lowered the magazine and looked up at Harry with amused eyes. \"I found this piece of modern literature in the bathroom on the first floor. I thought Lupin had left it, though I never would have guessed him to take an interest in such explicit and queer material.\"

\"Fuck,\" Harry gasped, remembering he had taken a magazine with him to the bathroom during one of his earlier breaks. His cheeks felt like they were on fire, and even though he wanted to flee to his room, his feet seemed hexed to the floor.

Snape sneered. \"However, your display has just revealed everything I needed to know about the origin of this tripe, without it costing me the energy of one single question. Let us hope you never get captured, Potter. You\'d spill your innermost secrets before anyone even starts interrogating you.\"

\"I...er...I didn\'t mean to call you --\"

\"Oh, stop embarrassing yourself, you foolish child. You meant every word you said, and had I plucked this object from your trunk, you\'d have every right to yell at me. But as it is, you once again let your emotions get the better of you. What have you learned from this?\"

Harry worried his lip. \"That I shouldn\'t jump to conclusions like that.\"

\"Indeed.\" Snape looked back at the magazine, and turned another page. \"This seems to be a favorite resource amongst young men. I\'ve confiscated it a few times at Hogwarts in the past years. Tell me, do you find the information it provides useful?\"

Harry\'s cheeks turned impossibly hotter. \"Well, it has diagrams. And recommended spells.\"

Snorting, Snape turned another page. \"Of course, you purchase this for the recommended spells. How could I have not realized that before?\"

A tap on the kitchen window saved Harry from embarrassing himself even further. A large, gray owl stared at him with amber eyes, and Harry went to open the window. The owl carried a scroll addressed to him. Harry accepted it, and recognized the Ministry crest on the corner.

\"It\'s from the Ministry,\" Harry said, closing the window again after the owl left.

Snape looked up. \"What does it say?\"

\"Maybe they did notice me using magic.\" Harry sank down in a chair opposite Snape, a worried flutter teasing his stomach. He unrolled the parchment, and when he saw the first line, he knew this was far worse than a simple reprimand from the Ministry.

Ordinary Wizarding Level Results for H.J. Potter

\"What is it?\" Snape asked, his brow furrowed.

\"My O.W.L. results,\" Harry whispered.

Leaning back in his chair, Snape chuckled. \"Do share, Mr Potter. I could do with some amusement to brighten my day.\"

Harry glared at Snape, which had no effect on the ridicule that shone in Snape\'s eyes. Harry sighed, and thought he might as well get it over with, since he was sure Snape would find out sooner or later.

\"Astronomy: Acceptable, Care of Magical Creatures: Exceeding Expectations, Charms: Acceptable, Defense Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding,\" Harry couldn\'t help grinning at that point, \"Divination: Acceptable, Herbology: Exceeding Expectations, History of Magic: Poor, Potions: Exceeding Expectations, Transfiguration: Exceeding Expectations.\"
Lowering the parchment, Harry gave Snape an expectant look.

\"Quite a mediocre result,\" Snape said, and went back to the magazine he was still holding.

Harry stared down at his results and remembered the talk he\'d had with McGonagall about becoming an Auror. His results were good enough for that, except for Potions, and Harry knew he needed Potions to become an Auror.

\"Professor?\"

\"Yes?\"

\"About my Potions O.W.L.,\" Harry started, trying to keep his voice polite. \"I was hoping perhaps you\'d allow me in your class this coming year?\"

\"I only accept students with an \'Outstanding\' in my N.E.W.T. class, as I\'m sure your Head of House has told you.\" Snape hadn\'t looked up once, and Harry couldn\'t believe Snape was reading porn -- his porn! -- rather than discussing his bloody future with him.

\"But, sir, I\'m thinking of becoming an Auror, and I need Potions for that.\"

\"Perhaps you should have thought of that when you still had a chance to study for your Potions O.W.L.\"

Harry gritted his teeth and tried very hard not to lose his temper, which flared to life in his chest. \"But isn\'t there any way I can compensate for this result?\"

Snapping his gaze up, Snape stared at Harry with such intense eyes, Harry was sure Snape would either ask Harry to suck his cock every day for the rest of the holidays or allow Snape to cast the Cruciatus on him at least twice a day until the start of term.

\"So this is the part where I\'m supposed to make an exception for you, is it, Potter?\"

\"No, not an exception. But you\'re here and I\'m here, and perhaps you could instruct me on the things I don\'t understand yet.\"

\"If I were to instruct you on all the things you don\'t understand, I\'d need a decade, at least.\"

Harry released a frustrated breath. \"You know what I mean. Sir.\"

Finally, Snape lowered the magazine and leaned back in his chair. \"Perhaps you haven\'t noticed, Potter, but these are my holidays just as they are yours. I for one refuse to spend my holidays tutoring an insolent brat who lacks the discipline and intelligence to keep up with my class during the school year. If it weren\'t for the Order, I wouldn\'t even be in this country. I\'d spend my hard-earned days on a remote beach, baking in the sun.\"

A disturbing image of Snape in swimmers flashed through Harry\'s mind, and he let out a nervous snicker.

\"But you\'re here anyway. And you\'ve set up a workroom. I could help out, and you could give me a few potions to brew, and if by the end of the next two weeks I\'m still not good enough for your tastes, you can tell me so. But please give me a chance. This is my future we\'re talking about, Professor.\" Harry lowered his gaze and pursed his lips. He did not enjoy begging Snape, and he\'d much rather yell at the man what a horrible teacher he was, but he knew that would lead him nowhere. He needed Snape in this, and Snape bloody well knew it.

\"I expect complete obedience, Potter. You are not to argue with me, you are to follow my every instruction, and if you manage that, we will evaluate your progress in a fortnight.\" Snape leaned over the table, giving Harry a cold stare. \"If you dare disobey me only once, I will book the first portkey out of here to any convenient tropical resort, and you can sort out your future without my assistance. Is that clear, Potter?\"

\"Perfectly,\" Harry said, and added, \"Thank you, sir.\"

\"I suggest you prepare yourself a meal. We will continue your defense lessons in fifteen minutes.\"

\"Okay,\" Harry said, and got up. As he passed Snape, he halted and gathered every bit of courage he had. \"Can I have my magazine back, sir?\"

Snape\'s lips curved up. \"I think I shall keep this for the time being. It can get awfully cold and lonely in this house at night, don\'t you agree?\" Snape reached for his cup of tea and took a delicate sip.

Harry narrowed his eyes. \"Well, if it\'s something warm and big you want, Professor, there\'s always Buckbeak.\"

Snape choked on his mouthful of tea, and Harry scurried to the counter, unable to hold back a snort of victorious laughter.

\"Five points from Gryffindor for making insinuations about a teacher!\"

\"It\'s the holidays. I don\'t think you can take points during the holidays, sir,\" Harry said. He took the ham from the cooler, and made a show of sniffing it before putting it on his bread. No almond scent this time, Harry was pleased to note.

Snape snorted. \"Then I\'ll just have to remember all the points I\'ll undoubtedly take from you and remove them all at once during your first day at school. Knowing you, you\'ll give me plenty of reason to do so the moment you set foot in the castle.\"

Harry attempted a glare, but he was too hungry to bicker with Snape. After he poured himself a cup of tea, Harry sat down at the table and dug into his sandwiches. Much to Harry\'s dismay, Snape continued studying the magazine, as if it were a Potions publication rather than a sleazy wank mag.

\"You have one minute,\" Snape said, once Harry had finished his lunch. Harry downed the last of his tea, reached for his wand, and rushed out of the kitchen.

He had a plan this time, and a good one at that, if he said so himself. He threw the kitchen door shut with a bang, and then ran – or as Snape put it, stampeded through the hallway like a wild herd of hippogriffs. Once he reached the stairs, he turned around and sneaked back to the kitchen without making a sound. He positioned himself beside the kitchen door, wand aimed to hex Snape\'s socks off the moment he walked out of the kitchen.

Snape had to leave the kitchen to come find him, Harry reasoned, so this was the perfect ambush.

Harry waited, bottom lip sucked between his teeth in anticipation and narrowed eyes fixed on the kitchen door. He waited and waited until he was sure the minute had long since passed. Why wasn\'t Snape hurrying out of the kitchen to come find hem?

Someone cleared his throat behind Harry, and Harry glanced over his shoulder to see Snape standing behind him, a particularly satisfied smirk plastered on his face.

\"Oh, bugger,\" Harry groaned, right before a beam of red light hit him and he sank to the floor.

As the world swam back into vision, Harry once again found himself bound, but he could maneuver his head and use his voice.

\"How did you --\"

\"Some of us know how to apparate, and some of us know how to do it without making a sound,\" Snape said, crouching beside Harry, tapping his wand against his knee. \"Why would I want to apparate out of the kitchen?\"

Harry sighed. \"Because this door is the only exit and it would be easy for someone to ambush you there.\"

\"How astute, Potter.\"

\"Did you apparate behind me? I didn\'t feel a thing.\"

\"No, I apparated to the library.\"

Harry frowned. \"Did you use a Feather Light Feet Charm, sir? Because I didn\'t hear your footsteps at all.\"

Snape looked surprised for a second, but he masked it with a furrow of his brow. \"Are you familiar with that charm? It\'s seventh year material.\"

\"I did some...er...research in the library this morning and came across it. But I haven\'t had time yet to practice it. Seemed like a useful charm.\"

\"Indeed. What have you learned?\"

\"Single exits are prone to ambushes. Try to get behind your adversary so you can surprise them. And I should really practice that charm.\"

Snape chuckled and rose to his feet. \"Finite Incantatem. I believe we should spend some time in the library this afternoon.\"


*~*~*~*~*


Inside the library, Harry grabbed his notes on the Feather Light Feet Charm, settled in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace, and took out his wand.

\"Solum Pennatus!\" He pointed his wand at his feet with determination. He felt a slight tingle of magic around his toes, but as he jumped to his feet the floor groaned beneath his weight.

\"It needs a swish of your wand. Light as a feather,\" Snape said, his back turned to Harry as he browsed one of the shelves.

Sighing, Harry sat down again. \"Solum Pennatus!\" He swished his wand as lightly as he could, and this time the magic was stronger and wrapped around his feet. Harry jumped up, and the floor didn\'t make a sound.

\"It worked!\" Harry jumped and jumped and jumped, until he caught Snape\'s disapproving gaze.

\"It only lasts for two hours,\" Snape said, and made an impatient gesture. \"Take notes, Potter. You can\'t expect your underdeveloped brain to remember it all.\"

Harry strolled to the table, soundlessly, and added the wand movement and duration to his notes. Then he picked up The Prankster Guide To Tricky Charms and paged to chapter seven, where he\'d left off earlier.

\"This seems like a useful charm,\" Harry said after a while. Snape was still busy perusing the shelves, though he did have a small pile of books in his arms by then. \"The Wand Sticking Charm.\"

\"Hm?\"

\"It\'s like those cords for your glasses, so your glasses won\'t slip off and fall to the floor,\" Harry said, and self-consciously slid his glasses up his nose.

Snape curved an eyebrow as he stared at Harry. \"Cords?\"

\"It\'s a Muggle thing. Never mind. But this charm seems easy enough.\"

\"Try it, if you believe it useful.\"

Harry got to his feet, grabbed his wand, and was then at a loss as where to point it, because he couldn\'t very well aim it at his wand hand.

\"Aim at your thigh. The magic needs to flow into your own body.\" Snape had turned his back to Harry again, and Harry briefly wondered how Snape knew his ignorance when he wasn\'t even looking at him.

Pointing his wand down at his own thigh, Harry inhaled a deep breath, his brow creasing in concentration. \"Adglutino Scipio!\"

A flutter of magic ran up his body, and when Harry uncurled his fingers, his wand stuck to his palm.

\"It worked. I\'m getting good at this.\"

Snape gave a loud snort, but didn\'t comment.

\"It seems very useful in a duel. You can\'t accidentally drop your wand,\" Harry said, shaking his arm as hard as he could. His wand remained where it was. \"Okay, how do I take it off?\"

\"You don\'t.\"

\"What?\"

\"There isn\'t a counter-charm, Potter. Which is why that charm is particularly popular with children who wish to play a prank on each other. Your wand will remain glued to your hand for about an hour.\" Snape sounded quite amused when he told Harry that. \"However, the charm is useful in a duel, as you already concluded, though it won\'t resist a disarming spell from an adversary.\"

\"And you couldn\'t have told me before I cast it?\"

\"It must have slipped my mind,\" Snape said in his smoothest voice.

\"Right.\" Harry sank down in a chair. \"At least I can still read.\"

\"Notes, Potter.\"

Sighing, Harry reached for his quill with his left hand, and managed to add the Wand Sticking Charm to his list of useful charms in reasonably legible words.

\"And since you seem so interested in reading all of a sudden, I suggest you read this.\" Snape threw a heavy book down in front of Harry, who stared at the title with wide eyes.

Death By Wand

Harry swallowed. \"Are those curses, sir?\"

Snape nodded in response as he sat down in a chair opposite Harry.

\"I have no interest in learning curses, Professor.\"

\"I don\'t expect you to cast them. In fact, if I ever catch you casting any of them, expulsion from Hogwarts will be the least of your problems. However, you should know about them, so you finally understand what threats await you, and why it\'s so important you learn to defend yourself, and that seemingly simple defensive charms are not to be taken lightly. Now read it!\"

Lowering his gaze, Harry gave a nod, and opened the book. The descriptions of the curses were horrible, but the drawings depicting their effects were even more gruesome. There was a whole chapter dedicated to curses of the skin. Strip your enemy\'s skin off with a single curse. Burn their skin off. Melt their skin off. Cut their skin off.

When Harry started reading chapter 4, curses of the blood, his wand suddenly clattered to the table. He glanced over the descriptions to boil someone\'s blood, turn it to acid, set it on fire, and turn it to stone, and then he\'d seen enough for his liking. Harry took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes.

\"Sir?\" Slipping his glasses back on, Harry looked at Snape, who was reading an ancient-looking potions tome.

\"Yes, Potter?\"

\"Do you know any of these curses?\"

Snape glanced up at him, his eyes unreadable. \"Some.\"

\"Oh.\"

\"They\'re dark magic. The darkest of magic. Once you\'ve cast them a number of times, your magic will become unbalanced, and you\'ll become even more susceptible to dark magic. It\'s a downward spiral, which is why you should never attempt any of them.\"

\"I\'ve cast the Cruciatus Curse at the Ministry,\" Harry said. Snape narrowed his eyes. \"But it didn\'t really work. Not much happened.\"

\"I should expect not.\"

\"Is it addictive? Dark magic?\"

Snape thought for a moment. \"I suppose you can call it that.\"

\"Right. I\'ll stick to defensive charms, then.\"

\"See that you do.\" Snape glanced down at his book again, but after a moment he looked up again. \"Have you ever cast the Disillusionment Charm, Potter?\"

Harry shook his head.

\"Perhaps you should learn it, since that convenient cloak of yours won\'t always be at hand. Get up.\"

Harry was happy enough to obey Snape. Casting charms sounded a lot more fun than reading that book had been.

\"You can cast it on yourself, but it\'s easier to learn by using it on someone else. Stand still.\" Snape rounded the table and halted in front of Harry. He rapped his wand on top of Harry\'s head. \"Abstrudo Corpus!\"

The same cold, trickling sensation Harry\'d felt the year before when Moody had cast it on him slid down his body. He glanced down and saw that his body had taken on the same colors and structure as his surroundings.

\"Your turn.\" Snape stood still, and Harry slowly raised his wand. He wasn\'t sure how hard to hit Snape on the head, and he didn\'t want to give Snape an excuse to get angry with him, so he settled for a slight tap.

\"Abstrudo Corpus!\"

A shimmer of light danced around Snape for a few seconds before it vanished, and Snape remained looking very much like himself.

\"Again, Potter! And harder this time. I\'m not made of glass.\"

Gritting his teeth, Harry whacked Snape on the head with his wand. \"Abstrudo Corpus!\"

Snape\'s body slowly took on the colors of the table and wall behind them. \"Better,\" Snape said, examining his own arms.

Grinning, Harry stepped back and walked across the room, his shadow trailing behind him. \"Now you see me,\" he said, and pressed himself against the wall and stood perfectly still. \"And now you don\'t.\"

\"No, but I can still smell that atrocious shampoo of yours,\" Snape said from somewhere on Harry\'s right. Harry suspected Snape was standing against one of the bookshelves.

\"Is there something to mask my scent?\" Harry asked, annoyed Snape had brought up his bloody shampoo again.

\"Finite Incantatem,\" Snape said, and Harry\'s body returned to normal. Harry returned the favor, once he\'d located Snape, who seemed to take pleasure in leading Harry around the room for a few moments.

\"Read this,\" Snape said, pointing at the Potions book Harry had selected that morning. \"You\'ll learn there is a potion that masks human scents.\"

\"Can I brew it?\"

\"I highly doubt that. However, if you meant to say \'May I brew it, Professor Snape\', then the answer is yes. You may try it tomorrow. Now, take these books,\" Snape pushed the pile he\'d put together across the table to Harry, \"and get out of my sight. I\'ve had enough of your company to last me the rest of the afternoon.\"

Harry rolled his eyes, and grabbed the books.

\"Dinner will be served at seven. After that, we\'ll continue with your Occlumency lessons.\"

\"You\'re cooking?\" Harry asked, surprised.

Snape narrowed his eyes. \"In case you\'d forgotten, Potter, I am a Potions master. I can brew the most intricate poisons. I\'m quite sure I\'ll manage to put together something as trifling as a stew.\"

Pursing his lips to prevent himself from snickering, Harry nodded. \"Yes, sir. See you at seven.\" He made his way to his bedroom, curious about the books Snape had given him, but not curious enough to resist a few minutes of quality time spent with the November issue of Polish Your Broom.


*~*~*~*~*


Harry was driven out of his bedroom at ten to seven by his rumbling stomach. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Snape stirring a large pot over the stove.

\"Were you able to identify the potion we discussed this afternoon?\"

\"Yes, sir,\" Harry said, seating himself at the table. He had spent the last two hours reading the defensive potions book. \"It looked rather complicated.\"

\"It is complicated.\" Snape ladled some sort of stew onto two plates. \"It\'s not even part of Hogwarts\' curriculum, as it\'s only used for extreme stealth. But in your case, it\'s a useful potion to know.\"

Harry watched Snape carry two steaming plates to the table and seat himself to Harry\'s right. \"Eat up now.\"

Glancing between his plate of stew and Snape, Harry pulled out his wand. \"Toxicum Acclaro!\"

No colored mist appeared around his supper, so Harry filled a spoon and held it up to his nose to sniff it. Snape observed him quietly, but he seemed amused rather than annoyed.

\"It smells like carrots and beef, so I\'m guessing it\'s safe to eat,\" Harry said, and took a bite.

\"So it does,\" Snape said, and added as an afterthought, \"Of course, the poison of the spitting cobra is tasteless and odorless, and when served in the right dosage it will kill a grown man within twenty minutes.\"

Choking on his mouthful, Harry gave Snape a venomous glare.

\"Then again, were I to poison you for a second time, it\'d be rather predictable, don\'t you agree?\" Snape took a small bite, and swallowed it after chewing it with care. \"And the whole point of poisoning you the first time was to teach you to become better aware of your surroundings and your own actions. I daresay that lesson has sunk in, much to my surprise. I hadn\'t expected anything to get through your thick skull after only one attempt.\"

Harry thought for a minute, and concluded that was Snape\'s way of saying his supper was safe to eat. He swallowed, and ate a few more bites.

\"It tastes good. Could do with a bit more pepper, perhaps,\" Harry said with a polite smile. He knew it was good manners to compliment the cook.

\"Actually, it couldn\'t. Eating spicy food influences your sense of smell, and I need my sense of smell to be perfect in my line of work.\"

\"Ah. I hadn\'t considered that.\"

\"I\'m not surprised.\"

Harry snorted, and they continued their meal in silence. After they were done, Harry cast a spell to clean the dishes, and they retired to the drawing room for Harry\'s Occlumency lesson.

As Harry followed Snape inside the room, he realized he hadn\'t made a new memory to show Snape. In fact, he hadn\'t even thought about his plan the whole day. He\'d been too busy learning things. Hermione would be proud of him, Harry thought with a silent snicker.

\"Wand out, Potter.\"

During the first two rounds, Harry managed to block Snape from his mind longer than the day before and he also managed to stay on his feet.

And then it was time for their third round, and Harry knew that during their previous lessons he\'d always shown Snape his inappropriate memories during their third round. Was Snape expecting him to do it again? Had Snape created a new memory to shove at Harry?

\"Ready, Potter?\" Snape\'s gaze was blank, but Harry could see the corners of Snape\'s mouth twitch.

\"Just a second.\" Harry searched through his memories, and came up with the one of him wanking earlier that afternoon, when the potions book had been lying beside him on the bed. Harry thought that\'d be a nice detail for Snape to see.

\"Ready, sir.\"

\"Legilimens!\"

Harry blocked Snape as long as he could, and then pulled up his selected memory. He immediately found a way into Snape\'s mind, where a new memory awaited him. Snape lying on a bed in a familiar room. Grimmauld Place, Harry realized. Snape lying on a bed with his hard cock in one hand and the issue of Polish Your Broom he\'d confiscated in the other.

Snape, touching his thick cock while looking at pictures of one man rimming another man.

With a slight push, Harry was back in the drawing room, and was pleased to note he was still standing up. Snape had wanked inside Grimmauld Place. That afternoon. Had he gone up to his room right after Harry had? Had they been wanking in separate rooms at the same time?

That thought sent a hot thrill down Harry\'s body, and he finally glanced up at Snape.

Watching Harry with a curve of his eyebrow, Snape\'s lips slowly pulled up in a smirk. And Harry couldn\'t help himself; he grinned in return.

\"Interesting articles,\" Snape said, his voice even.

\"Yeah. I\'m glad to see you found the magazine useful,\" Harry said, sounding unsure.

\"Oh yes, quite.\"

It was suddenly very hot in the room, and Harry pulled at his collar. His ears were burning and his cheeks flushed, and he didn\'t know what else to say or do. Snape knew and Snape seemed interested, and Harry had trouble remembering why it was so important Snape was interested, because the fact that he was seemed very exciting all in itself.

\"You have one minute, Potter.\"

\"What?\" Harry looked at Snape for a moment before remembering what that meant. \"Oh. Right. Shit.\" He ran out of the room, and once in the hallway, he cast a quick Feather Light Feet Charm on himself before rushing up the stairs.

He grabbed his invisibility cloak, tucked under it, and positioned himself against the wall in the hallway. He waited, counting seconds in his head.

And then the hallway went completely dark.

Before he could stop himself, Harry inhaled a startled breath. Three seconds later, his cloak was pulled off and a hand closed around his wrist like a vice, forcing him to drop his wand. Then a hard body pressed him against the wall, leaving him unable to move.

\"You\'re far too predictable, Potter,\" a smoky voice whispered against his ear.

Harry swallowed. \"How did you...er...\" He couldn\'t finish his train of thought, because feeling Snape\'s entire body pressed against his own was too distracting. His brain seemed to shut down while his cock took over, giving an interested twitch, much to Harry\'s horror.

\"You went for your cloak. Very predictable. And you relied solely on your sight,\" Snape said, his breath hot against the side of Harry\'s throat. \"Once I took your sight away, you were helpless and easy prey.\"

\"But you couldn\'t see me.\"

\"But I could hear you breathing. And I smelled you.\" Snape\'s nose brushed over Harry\'s hair.

Harry dropped the back of his head against the wall in defeat. He\'d lost again, and that irritated him to no end. \"I hate it that you can smell me, just because I shower every morning. You know, you don\'t exactly smell like roses.\"

Snape chuckled, the sound heavy in the darkness around Harry. \"That\'s exactly your problem, Potter. You don\'t know what I smell like. I memorized your scent a long time ago. Even without your obtrusive shampoo, I can identify you solely by scent.\"

\"So, what is my lesson? I should smell you?\"

The hand around Harry\'s wrist disappeared, and Harry\'s fingers fell against Snape\'s arm.

\"You should memorize my scent. Tell me what I smell like.\"

Slowly, Harry leaned his face forward. The tip of his nose brushed against warm skin, Snape\'s throat, and he felt thick hair touching his forehead. Then his lips met the fabric on Snape\'s shoulder, and Harry rested them there while he inhaled deeply.

\"You smell like a Potions classroom.\"

\"Come, Potter. You can do better than that.\"

His breathing hitching, Harry rubbed his nose over Snape\'s shoulder until it touched his throat again. He inhaled.

\"Smoke,\" Harry whispered, and without even realizing what he was doing, he tightened his fingers around Snape\'s arm.

\"Yes, what else?\"

Harry inhaled, pushing his nose deeper into the curve of Snape\'s neck, his lips now touching the soft skin there. \"Something...fresh...lemon.\"

\"Soap,\" Snape said, and Harry felt lips against his temple.

\"And something...heavy...musky.\"

\"My own scent. Memorize it.\"

Leaning his cheek on Snape\'s shoulder, Harry inhaled and inhaled, until his entire body seemed flushed with Snape\'s scent. He couldn\'t move, didn\'t want to move, and he leaned against Snape, feeling helpless in the darkness and confused about Snape\'s body pressed so close, so close.

\"Do you now understand how important your senses are? There is more, much more, than just your sight.\"

\"Yeah.\"

\"There is sound.\" Snape\'s voice tickled Harry\'s ear. \"There is scent.\" Snape\'s nose touched Harry\'s throat. \"And there is touch.\" The tips of Snape\'s fingers caressed Harry\'s cheek, and Harry jerked, surprised by that sudden sensation.

And then the sensations were gone as Snape stepped back, and Harry felt bereft of warmth and shelter.

\"That will be all for this evening. Tomorrow morning at ten, you\'ll join me in my workroom to assist me, as we agreed this afternoon.\"

The lights came back on, and as he blinked his eyes, Harry saw Snape\'s back disappear inside his bedroom. After taking a few deep breaths, Harry picked up his wand and cloak, and stepped inside his own room. He felt disoriented and he wasn\'t sure what had just happened. The only thing he did know was that he had a raging erection that needed immediate attention.


*~*~*~*~*


When Harry went downstairs for breakfast the next morning, he felt rather nervous. His stomach was in knots and his heart refused to settle down. He\'d played out their intimate encounter in the dark hallway time and again in his bed, as he stroked himself to his climax. And after that, he\'d dreamed about it. He\'d dreamed about Snape\'s scent and Snape\'s touch, and about rubbing himself against Snape\'s body until he came. He woke up with sticky boxers.

And now he had to face the man again. But Harry was brave, or so he told himself, so he entered the kitchen with his head held high and his stomach in his shoes, but the kitchen was empty. Harry fixed himself a sandwich, and forced it down, which settled his stomach just a bit.

Then he approached the cellar, gathering every bit of courage he thought he had. He knocked on the door twice.

\"Enter.\"

Harry did, and walked down the stairs until he found himself in a room filled with two tables, several cauldrons, and Snape.

\"Good morning, sir,\" Harry said, looking everywhere but at Snape.

\"Did you bring your book?\"

\"Yeah.\" Harry held it up. He\'d remembered that much, despite all the distractions.

\"You\'ll find the necessary ingredients to your right. You\'ll need the morning to get the potion brewing. Then it needs a few hours to simmer. I suggest you spend that time searching for a night vision charm I know is in one of your books.\"

\"Yes, sir.\" Harry opened his book on the correct page, and started crushing the dried puffapods. The powder in his mortar drifted up, tickling his nose, and Harry quickly turned away to sneeze.

\"Potter.\"

\"Yeah?\" Harry rubbed his nose, and looked at Snape, who stood behind the other table.

\"Use this incantation: Contego Pulvis. It will shield the powder in your mortar.\"

Harry cast the spell with a quick flick of his wand. \"Thanks.\"

\"It\'s third year material,\" Snape said, sneering. \"You should have known it by now.\"

Feeling like an idiot, Harry went back to the puffapods. From the corner of his eye, he saw Snape\'s head snap up.

\"Are you expecting company, Potter?\"

\"No.\"

\"Because someone just activated our Floo.\"

\"Maybe Dumbledore --\"

\"No.\" Snape reached for his wand, and Harry quickly followed his example. \"Stay behind me.\"

Nerves fluttering through his chest, Harry followed Snape out of the cellar. Once they were in the hallway, they heard noise coming from the kitchen. Harry wanted to look around Snape, but Snape\'s arm held him back. They walked towards the kitchen with careful steps. When they stood in front of the closed door, they heard several voices talking.

\"It sounds like the Weasleys,\" Harry whispered.

Snape glared down at him, as if it were Harry\'s fault they suddenly had a kitchen full of unexpected guests. Harry shrugged in response.

The door opened, and Harry stared into Mr Weasley\'s face. \"There you are. Happy birthday, Harry.\"

Harry blinked in surprise.

\"It\'s your birthday?\" Snape asked between clenched teeth.

\"Er...I\'d forgotten it was today, sir.\"

\"And you deemed it necessary to invite people without informing me?\"

\"Don\'t be so harsh on him, Severus,\" Mr Weasley said, stepping back from the door. \"Harry didn\'t know we were planning to throw him a surprise party. Come in, you two. There\'s cake.\"

Harry saw Ron, Ginny, the twins, Hermione and Mrs Weasley standing around the kitchen. Even Bill was there, giving Harry a wide grin. \"Happy birthday, Harry!\" they all said in unison.

\"A surprise party?\" Snape said, obviously annoyed.

\"I had no idea, sir. Honestly. They\'ve never thrown me a party before. \" Harry glanced from Snape to the rest, and smiled at them. \"Thanks.\"

Mr Weasley waved them in, though Snape seemed far less eager than Harry to brave a room filled with Weasleys. Harry spotted a large birthday cake on the table, with burning candles. Sixteen, he guessed. But he also spotted several trunks stacked near the wall. A sharp intake of breath told Harry Snape had seen those as well.

\"What is the meaning of those?\" Snape gestured at the trunks.

Mrs Weasley looked rather put out. \"Those are our belongings. We\'ll be staying here for the rest of the summer.\"

\"You will do no such thing!\" Snape bellowed. Harry flinched at the explosion of fury in Snape\'s voice.

\"Severus!\" Mrs Weasley looked angry, but she had nothing on the death glare Snape sent in her direction. \"Dumbledore told us you two are staying here by yourself. Harry will need looking after. He needs his friends.\"

\"The last thing the boy needs is coddling! Nor does he need a flock of teenagers to distract him! The boy needs to learn the things that will help him stay alive!\"

\"What right have you to decide on Harry\'s --\"

\"No, what right have you?\" Snape shouted. \"Dumbledore has placed the boy under my supervision and I will decide what is good for him. You will not interfere with my teaching or question my judgment in any way!\"

Mrs Weasley looked like she wanted to hex Snape to pieces, and Snape seemed close to using an Unforgivable or two.

Harry felt torn. He was glad to see his friends, and he was even happier they\'d remembered his birthday, seeing as how he had forgotten it. But he also knew that if his friends and their family came to stay with them, he\'d have far less energy to spend on his lessons with Snape. The decision was easy to make, and strangely enough, his plan didn\'t even weigh in.

\"Please, stop!\" Harry inhaled a deep breath, and looked between Snape and Mrs Weasley. \"Snape is right,\" he said, and ignored Mrs Weasley\'s affronted look. \"Professor Snape is right. He\'s been teaching me Occlumency and defense for the last couple of days, and we\'re making very good progress. We really can\'t use any distractions. I appreciate the surprise party, though.\"

The room filled with strained silence, until Mr Weasley cleared his throat. \"Well, that\'s settled then. We\'ll have your party today, and then we\'ll return home.\"

Harry glanced at Snape, who gave him an almost invisible nod.

\"Okay, thanks,\" Harry said.

\"But,\" Mrs Weasley started, advancing on Harry. \"You\'re all alone in this big, old house.\"

\"I\'m not alone.\"

Mrs Weasley enveloped him in a hug. \"But will you be all right by yourself?\"

\"Yeah. I\'m all right. I\'m learning things. Useful things.\" Harry heard Snape snorting behind him. He released Mrs Weasley and smiled at her. \"Really, I\'ll be fine.\"

\"Potter, a word.\"

Harry followed Snape to the kitchen door.

\"I\'ll allow this party, seeing as it will be impossible to rid us of these people now they\'re here. But I expect you back in my workroom this evening, understood?\"

Harry nodded, but when he noticed Snape was about to leave, he added, \"Sir? Why don\'t you stay for a while?\"

\"I beg your pardon?\"

\"There\'s cake and tea.\" Harry gave Snape a lopsided grin. \"It\'s my party. I\'d appreciate it if you stayed for a bit.\"

Snape grimaced, but then he nodded. \"Very well. If you want my sunny personality to liven up your party, so be it.\"

Snickering, Harry turned to his friends.

\"Harry, come on, time to blow out your candles,\" Ron said, clapping him on the back. \"How have you been?\"

\"All right,\" Harry said, and admired the colorful cake before he leaned down. He blew with all his might, but the flames didn\'t even flicker. He heard the twins laughing behind him, and then Mrs Weasley pulled out her wand and extinguished the flames for him.

\"Happy sixteenth birthday, Harry,\" Hermione said, smiling.

Harry looked around the room, feeling warm and pleased.


*~*~*~*~*


After Mrs Weasley served out cake and tea, the adults settled on one end of the table, and Harry and his friends on the other, so they could talk amongst themselves. They discussed their O.W.L. results, talked about Fred and George\'s progress with their shop, and Harry listened to a few amusing tales of life at the Burrow that summer.

And then the conversation steered towards Snape, a subject Fred, George and Ron seemed to like in particular. Ginny and Hermione mostly kept quiet, and Harry listened to his friends and glanced at Snape. Across the table, Snape sat between Bill and Mr Weasley, and listened to something Bill was telling him with a crease in his brow while he sipped his tea.

\"It must be awful being locked up here with that greasy git,\" George said.

\"Yeah, when Mum heard from Dumbledore, she immediately ordered us to pack. I think she\'s afraid he\'ll kill you or something,\" Ron added.

Harry shrugged, and stared down at the empty cup in his hands. \"It\'s not so bad.\"

\"And now you\'re stuck with him at your bloody birthday party,\" Fred said.

\"Actually, I asked him to stay. We\'ve been working -- \"

\"Mate, you do understand that you\'re in an exceptional position to get revenge for the entire Gryffindor House, right?\" George asked.

Harry glanced up at him, confused.

\"You\'re stuck with Snape. You can sabotage every potion he tries to make,\" Fred whispered. \"In fact, we have a new product we think you\'ll like. It\'ll be perfect to prank Snape with, and -- \"

\"Listen,\" Harry said, his jaws clenched. \"Snape is instructing me in things I need to know. I have no plans to sabotage anything he does.\"

Ron stared at him in shock. \"But Harry, that bastard\'s treated you like crap for five years.\"

\"Yeah, but he\'s been all right this summer.\" Harry shrugged. He hated to disagree with his friends when it came to Snape, but the whole conversation was making him uncomfortable and annoyed. He wished they\'d stop it already.

\"What\'s he been teaching you?\" Hermione asked, obviously trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

\"Useful stuff. Defense charms. Stealth. Occlumency. And he\'s agreed to tutor me in Potions.\"

\"Potions?\" Ron made a face as if the word left a foul taste in his mouth.

\"Harry, who cares about Potions?\" George urged.

\"That\'s just school stuff. Besides, we can teach you all the magical tricks you need to know,\" Fred said, patting Harry on his knee. \"We\'re telling you, this is the perfect opportunity to make Snape\'s life just a bit more miserable -- \"

\"Shut up!\" Harry jumped to his feet, his chair falling backwards. \"What part of there is a Dark Lord out there who wants to kill me don\'t you understand?\"

Harry\'s friends stared up at him in shock, but Harry wasn\'t quite done yet. He was fuming. \"What part of I need to learn these things that will keep me alive don\'t you understand? What part of Snape is giving up his fucking holidays to help me don\'t you understand? How many more people have to die before you understand this isn\'t a stupid game? If I had taken all this just a bit more seriously last June, my godfather would still be alive! And now you\'re expecting me -- \"

Smoke. Lemon. Heavy musk.

Harry glanced over his shoulder, and saw Snape standing behind him.

\"All done, Potter?\"

Licking his lips, Harry swallowed. His mouth had suddenly gone dry. \"Yeah. Think so.\"

\"Good.\" Snape uprighted Harry\'s chair, placed a hand on Harry\'s shoulder, and eased him back into his seat. Then he focused his narrowed gaze on Harry\'s friends. \"I suggest you simpletons very carefully take in what your friend has just said, and then stop making his life more difficult than it already is.\"

Keeping his eyes down, Harry turned his face towards Snape\'s arm, and inhaled quietly. Smoke. Lemon. Heavy musk. For reasons Harry didn\'t understand, Snape\'s scent so close had a calming effect on him, and he inhaled again, his heartbeat returning to normal.

\"Potter, I have a few potions that need attending. I\'ll be in my workroom for the rest of the day.\"

\"Yes, sir.\"

Snape\'s hand slid off his shoulder, and Harry kept this eyes down until he heard the kitchen door opening and closing. Then he looked up at his friends.

\"Blimey,\" Ron said, his cheeks pale.

\"Harry, you want to open your presents?\" Ginny said, offering Harry a bright smile. \"Here, start with mine.\"

Harry accepted the small parcel. \"Thank you.\"


*~*~*~*~*


The Weasleys stayed until late afternoon, and much to Harry\'s relief his friends didn\'t bring up the subject of Snape again. Instead they focused on simple things like Quidditch and upcoming classes, and Harry enjoyed himself. After the Weasleys left, Harry carried his presents to his room. He\'d got a big bag of the twins\' merchandise, plenty of sweets and chocolate, homemade biscuits, and two books; one on Quidditch from Hermione and one on magical creatures from Bill.

Harry was exhausted, and he really wanted to take a nap, but he thought Snape might not appreciate him lazing about in his bed during the day. So he opted for a bath. Snape couldn\'t very well get angry with him for taking care of his personal hygiene, Harry reasoned as he ran the bath.

Soaking in the tub for a long while, Harry let his thoughts drift from his birthday party to Snape and their lessons. And then he noticed something on the soap dish. Snape\'s bar of lemon-scented soap. Harry couldn\'t resist, and he grabbed it, and lathered himself as he inhaled the now familiar scent. He wondered if Snape would notice, and if he did, if he would say something about it. Harry almost hoped he would.

After he dressed, Harry went downstairs to look for Snape. He found him in the cellar, stirring a large, steaming cauldron.

\"I assume your friends have left?\"

\"Yes, sir,\" Harry said, settling behind his worktable. \"I\'ll continue with this potion now.\"

\"Leave it. That potion takes too long to brew. You may continue with it tomorrow.\" Snape wiped his hands on a towel, and handed Harry a scrap of parchment. \"Brew that instead.\"

Harry stared at the ingredients and instructions in Snape\'s angular scrawl. \"What sort of potion is this?\"

\"Stop asking stupid questions and get to work!\"

Glancing up at Snape, Harry wondered what he\'d done wrong now. Perhaps Snape was still annoyed with Harry for having a birthday. Harry shrugged, put a cauldron over the fire, and gathered the proper ingredients from the many vials and bowls on his table.

Determined not to screw up the first potion Snape wanted him to brew, Harry chopped, powdered, measured, stirred, and double-checked everything. Snape kept silent, busy with two cauldrons on his side of the cellar room, and Harry ignored him as he focused on his own potion.

After nearly two hours, Harry had followed every instruction and he peered into his cauldron curiously. The clear potion seemed rather slimy, and Harry wondered if it was supposed to look like that. He cleared his throat. \"I think I\'m done, sir.\"

\"Do you think you\'re done, or are you done?\"

Harry huffed. \"I\'m done.\"

\"Very well. Remove it from the fire and cast a cooling spell on it.\"

Harry did what he was told, and tried not to tense when Snape appeared beside him.

\"Interesting choice of soap this evening, Potter.\" Snape glanced down at Harry, his gaze sharp, and Harry felt his cheeks flush.

\"I thought it smelled nice.\"

\"Hmm.\" Snape leaned closer, his arm touching Harry\'s and his nose and lips brushing across Harry\'s hair. \"It\'s certainly an improvement over that saccharine smell you\'ve carried for the last few days.\"

\"I\'m just trying to be less predictable,\" Harry said. It was the only thing he could think of to say, since he didn\'t really understand why he\'d used Snape\'s soap in the first place.

Snape didn\'t comment any further, and inspected the potion. He looked at it from several angles, lifted the ladle and watched how it oozed back into the cauldron, and finally scooped some out and rubbed it between his thumb and index finger.

\"Congratulations, Potter. You\'ve brewed a near-perfect lubricant.\"

Harry wasn\'t sure what shocked him the most. Snape giving him a compliment on his potion, or the fact that Snape had made him brew a lubricant.

\"Though the structure leaves something to be desired. I suggest cooking the dandelion stems a few minutes longer.\"

\"Yes, sir.\"

\"Notes!\"

Harry scrambled for the nearest quill, and added Snape\'s suggestion to the parchment.

\"Now, a good brewer always tests his potions,\" Snape said, turning towards Harry. \"Can you think of a purpose for this potion?\"

\"Er...\"

\"We haven\'t all evening. Surely you must have learned something from those magazines you\'ve been perusing so intently?\"

His cheeks burning, Harry glanced around the room. He suddenly noticed how small the cellar really was, and how close Snape was standing. \"It\'s...er...used for sex, sometimes. I think.\"

\"Very good. This potion is my own creation. It doesn\'t just lubricate, it also enhances the sensation. It\'s especially pleasurable when used during masturbation. How do you suggest testing it?\" Snape tilted his head, his gaze daring.

Harry wasn\'t sure what Snape had just said, just that whatever words Snape had uttered had gone straight down to his cock. He shuffled on his feet. \"Take some with me to my bedroom?\"

\"Hmm.\" Snape seemed to consider Harry\'s answer, tapping an index finger against his lips. \"But then I won\'t be able to judge the merits of your work. That won\'t do. You\'ll just have to test it here.\"

Harry\'s mouth sank open. \"You want me to...here?\"

\"Come now, Potter. It\'s not as if I haven\'t seen it all before.\" Snape\'s dark eyes glittered, and Harry had trouble breathing.

He stared at Snape. There were several alarm bells ringing in his head. This was Snape after all, who had taken great pleasure in humiliating Harry in the past.

\"Do try to be mature.\" Snape inched closer to Harry. \"With the things we\'ve already shared,\" Snape touched Harry\'s temple with a finger, \"there certainly should be a proper level of understanding between us.\"

Harry licked his lips and remembered his plan. This was the perfect opportunity, he knew. This would get him the revenge he wanted so badly. This would make everything right. And Snape\'s voice so close made his skin tingle and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as a pleasant shiver ran down his body.

\"It\'s only a small step from seeing it in your mind,\" Snape closed his fingers around Harry\'s wrist, and raised Harry\'s right hand, \"to seeing it right here. Are you man enough to take that step, Potter?\" Snape dipped Harry\'s right hand in the clear lubricant.

Feeling the potion on his skin had a most peculiar effect. It hardened his cock even further, and Harry looked into Snape\'s eyes and tried to see ridicule there, but he couldn\'t find it. Snape seemed perfectly serious, and Harry was too aroused to question it.

\"Just relax.\" Snape gave Harry a gentle push until Harry felt the wall behind him. \"And show me what you\'ve been teasing me with for days now.\"

This was possibly the most surreal experience Harry\'d ever had. It was without a doubt the most arousing. Snape wanted to watch Harry touch himself, pleasure himself. Even if that development hadn\'t fit perfectly into his plan, Harry thought he\'d still have agreed with it. The idea of dropping his trousers and stroking his cock in front of Snape was scorching and almost made him come right there and then.

\"All right.\" He didn\'t look up at Snape, who stood only four feet away, and he leaned back against the wall. He lowered his zipper and wanted to pull his erection out with his left hand, but Snape interrupted him.

\"Drop your trousers. You don\'t want to get them dirty.\"

Swallowing, Harry popped the button on his trousers, and wriggled until both his trousers and boxers lay puddled around his ankles.

\"And lift your shirt. I\'ll need to take a good look to judge your skills.\"

Harry obeyed, and looked up at Snape, aware he stood there exposed, half-naked, his cock erect and his sac tense. He curled his fingers, the lubricant slippery against his skin. \"I don\'t usually use this kind of stuff,\" he said, thinking it was important he mentioned that, in case he\'d do something wrong.

\"It\'s not necessary to use to find pleasure with yourself, but I\'m positive you\'ll find the experience inspiring.\"

\"Right.\" Harry wrapped his hand around his hard flesh, and tipped his head back until it balanced against the wall and he could stare at Snape with hooded eyes. He stroked, once, and gasped at the intense feeling it produced. Much more intense than when he normally touched himself. \"Oh yes, I see what you mean.\"

\"Take your time. You\'ll not want to rush this exploration.\" Snape was leaning back against the table, his arms crossed over his chest and his narrowed gaze raking over Harry\'s body.

Harry stroked faster, licking his lips and trying to keep his hips still. Snape was watching him wanking. Snape had already seen him wanking in his memories, but this...this was real.

Faster, his fingers tightening around the base of his cock and his thumb stroking his glans, teasing the slit. Harry\'s breathing was deep and rasping, and he wished he could see Snape do the same thing. Just like they\'d done with their memories.

\"Sir?\"

\"Hmm?\"

\"Perhaps,\" Harry swallowed, and eased his strokes for a moment so he could concentrate on his voice, \"perhaps you should test the potion yourself. I mean, you\'re the expert. I may have done something wrong, but how am I to tell?\"

Snape\'s lips curled up in a feral grin. \"What a remarkably intelligent suggestion, Potter.\"

\"Thanks,\" Harry breathed, finding it hard not to grin smugly in reply.

Snape\'s fingers searched for the buttons on his robe, popping them until the garment fell open around him, revealing a black shirt and trousers. Snape only lowered his trousers far enough to pull out his thick cock and heavy sac, and Harry bit the inside of his cheek to keep from moaning at the sight.

God, this was real. They had their cocks out, they were touching themselves. Hell, if Harry leaned over and reached out his hand he could touch Snape. Close, intimate, yet controlled, much like Snape\'s whole presence had felt the last few days.

Snape scooped up some of the lubricant and wrapped his hand around his cock, precise, as if he were holding a ladle to stir a potion. His strokes were similar, never rash like Harry\'s, but guarded, holding back, as though he were afraid to give in.

Harry mimicked the way Snape held his wrist and the way Snape moved his palm, until stroking himself felt different enough he could imagine Snape was touching him. He wondered what Snape\'s cock felt like, how much heavier it was than his own when weighed against his palm. Snape\'s expression didn\'t betray any pleasure, save for a twitch at his upper lip and a wrinkle between his brow.

But when Harry stared into Snape\'s eyes, he saw that all the arousal had accumulated there. Black eyes, pupils dilated to form blazing pools, fixed on Harry.

Too much. Harry\'s knees bucked and his sac drew up, and his climax hurtled up, intensified by the lube spread out over his flesh.

\"Fuck, oh fuck,\" Harry gasped, and drowned in those burning eyes as his release spilled over his hand and onto the floor.

Snape remained still and quiet, but his hand moved faster and faster, as though it changed from creating a potion to casting curses with the intent to capture and kill. Harry couldn\'t tear his eyes away from Snape\'s cock, the head dark and glistening. One more stroke, two more strokes, and Snape\'s semen spurted, but Harry quickly snapped his gaze up to Snape\'s face.

Snape\'s eyes were slits, still staring at him, and Snape\'s lips had curled up, like an honest smile on anyone else\'s face, but on Snape it looked unique.

Harry released his spent prick, just as Snape did the same. \"That\'s a very nice potion,\" he whispered, worrying his bottom lip.

Chuckling, Snape nodded his head once. \"It seemed...more than adequate.\"

\"High praise,\" Harry said, hoping Snape understood he was teasing.

\"Indeed.\"

Harry stayed silent, unsure of what else to say. He\'d never done anything like this before, and he didn\'t know if he should do something at this point.

\"That will be all for this evening,\" Snape said, and he sounded like he always did, much to Harry\'s confusion. Surely something had just changed between them.

\"Be here tomorrow at ten.\" Snape pulled his trousers up, tucking himself away.

\"Yes, sir.\" Harry followed his example, after casting a quick cleaning spell on himself. When he was once again dressed, Harry scooted past Snape to the cellar door, not daring to look at Snape again.

\"Potter?\"

Harry, his hand on the doorknob, looked over his shoulder at Snape. \"Yes, sir?\"

\"Happy birthday.\" Snape sounded amused, which made Harry feel warm.

\"Thanks.\" Harry left the cellar, his steps light, though his mind swayed with questions he didn\'t have any answers to. He needed time to process what had just happened. And he needed to remember his plan. As Harry lay down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, he feared sleep wouldn\'t come easy that night.