Severus Sighs

Title: Healing
Author: torina_archelda
Pairing: Severus/Harry
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1.6k
Warnings: none
Summary: For lemondropseven, who told me she liked really sweet first kisses. (I tried!) Happy birthday! *hugs* Hope it was a wonderful one.
A/N: Thanks to whitecotton for a wonderful beta job and the title of this piece.

Severus’ hand shook as he lifted the vial over the bubbling cauldron, and he cursed under his breath as the fourth drop of hellebore extract slipped into the potion. Four hours of work, wasted! Now he’d have to—

A sudden tremor, harsher than the others, made his arm jerk, and Severus’ heart dropped to his stomach as his fingers slipped and the entire vial plummeted into the cauldron. The resulting explosion threw him three feet back and slammed his head into the stone wall of the dungeons.

***

Harry had been standing in front of the door to Severus’ workroom for twenty minutes, trying to gather up the courage to knock. Something so simple really shouldn’t be this hard, he reflected. They spoke almost every day, after all. Severus had even added him to his wards; a privilege that Harry understood had taken other members of the faculty years to earn. But this was far more serious than a discussion about students’ behavior or a request for Dreamless Sleep. Severus had been civil toward him lately, but that didn’t mean he liked him. And it certainly didn’t mean he wanted—

Suddenly Harry heard the all too familiar sound of a cauldron exploding, and he rushed into the room without further thought. There was a cloud of smoke billowing throughout the far end of the room. Shoving his arm over his mouth, Harry quickly vanished it then spun in a circle to take in the damage. His eyes scanned the room for Severus and found him slumped against the opposite wall, his left hand pressed against his head and a look of pain twisting his features. Harry quickly vanished the goopy mess the potion had left behind and levitated the broken pieces of the cauldron to the top of the table Severus had been working at.

His path now free of debris, Harry darted over to Severus, cradling his head with one arm and tugging his hand away with the other. Severus’ palm was slick with blood and Harry swore, gently sifting through the greasy hair to find the source of the bleeding. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found it; the cut wasn’t deep, and it wasn’t bleeding nearly as badly as he had feared. Severus moaned at his first tentative press of fingers against it and Harry quickly pulled his hand back.

“Severus?”

Severus was looking at his bloodied hand now, confusion mixing with the pain in his expression. “Potter?” he croaked. “What happened?”

Harry let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. If Severus could speak, he couldn’t have hurt his head too badly. “I don’t know,” Harry replied, shifting Severus in his arms and pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to dab at the blood. “I heard an explosion and came in to find you on the floor. How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?”

Severus grunted in pain as Harry applied a little too much pressure, and Harry gentled his touch. “My head hurts,” he managed. “The wall…”

“Yes,” Harry acknowledged when it appeared Severus didn’t intend to continue speaking. “I can see that. You’ve got quite the lump on your head in addition to the cut. And I imagine you’ve got a killer headache as well. Have you got something for that here?”

Severus started to nod but immediately thought better of it. “Left desk drawer,” he hissed through the pain, wincing as Harry shifted him in his arms once more.

Harry didn’t want to leave him, though. “Accio pain potion,” he incanted. Although the spell was a bit shaky coming from his left hand, it worked all the same. He uncorked it with his teeth and fed it to Severus slowly, making sure he had swallowed each mouthful completely before pouring in more.

“Better,” Severus said a minute or two later, managing to sit up on his own. Harry moved into a crouch by his side, and Severus allowed him to grasp his hand and pull him to his feet. Severus’ hand spasmed in his grasp, and Harry inhaled sharply, raising his gaze to meet Severus’.

“It’s nothing, Potter,” Severus dismissed, slipping his hand from Harry’s grasp. “I thank you for your assistance.” Something seemed to strike Severus, and he blinked. “What were you here for, anyway?”

Harry stared at him incredulously. “What was I here for? You really think I’m going to answer that and leave you alone? You were thrown into a wall, Severus. There’s a gash on your head and there’s clearly something wrong with your arm. You can either let me help you or go to the infirmary. Your choice.”

Frustration flickered in Severus’ eyes. “You’re more than welcome to heal the cut on my head then, Potter. I can assure you that my impact with the stone has done no damage to my arm.”

Harry wasn’t buying it. “You should be able to heal it yourself, in that case. You would have by now, had you been able to. What aren’t you telling me, Severus?” Harry knew he was pushing, but he couldn’t help it. Despite all reasons to the contrary, he cared for Severus. He couldn’t simply leave him to suffer.

Severus was tense and clearly didn’t want to answer him, but Harry was content to wait him out. His gaze travelled to the raised scar peeking out from under Severus’ robes, and his breath caught as he connected the dots.

“Nagini’s bite?” he asked softly, and Severus flinched. “It affected your nerves, somehow? It causes your arm to seize?” Severus was silent, and the more Harry thought about it, the more his horror grew. What must it be like for Severus, full to the brim with pride, to have his own limbs fail him? And what the hell was he doing still brewing potions? Still teaching potions? Did he have any idea how dangerous—

“I have never endangered my students,” Severus said tersely, interrupting Harry’s train of thought. “I don’t give practical demonstrations on days when the muscle relaxants aren’t enough to stop the cramping. And…” He looked almost hesitant to continue speaking, but Harry’s silence spurred him forward. “It has never been like this before. Not once I’ve taken the potions. A slight shaking, yes. Before I caused this ridiculous explosion, my unsteady hand tipped in an extra drop of hellebore. But I’ve never worked on the more dangerous potions on days like these. Ones my ineptitude could spoil, yes, but never ones that ought to be dangerous. I…” Harry’s heart clenched when Severus’ face twisted with frustration, the self-disgust in that expression making him want to gather him into his arms and tell him it would be all right. “I would not have attempted the brew, had I known.”

“I believe you,” Harry said quietly, and Severus’ eyes went wide. “You’re no fool, Severus Snape,” he replied to the unspoken question. “And I know you wouldn’t knowingly put anyone in danger. Now that you know this can happen, though, you should hire an assistant for your bad days. That way you can still conduct your experiments, but safely.”

Severus’ eyes filled with a mixture of hope and self-recrimination at that. After a moment he snorted. “Reduced to relying on others to mix my elixirs for me, hm? And just when I thought I could sink no lower.”

Harry’s heart broke. Merlin, but he loved this man. And to see him like this—so lost, so broken—tore him apart. Harry took a step forward, knowing he was invading Severus’ personal space. Severus’ expression was tinged with surprise, but beyond that he showed no negative reaction. “Nowhere to go but up, then,” Harry breathed, reaching out a hand to cup Severus’ cheek.

Ever so slowly, giving Severus plenty of time to pull away if he chose, Harry moved to kiss him. The first tentative brushing of their lips made Harry’s heart race, and his other hand moved instinctively to frame Severus’ face. A moment more and Severus was kissing him back, his mouth moving against his hungrily, one hand wrapping around his waist to pull their bodies tightly together and the other curling into a fist in his hair.

Harry moaned, loving the feel of Severus’ hands on him, his body against his, and his possessive grip on his hair and the delicious feel of his hot breath against his face as they kissed. Harry took Severus’ bottom lip into his mouth and sucked lightly, making Severus groan and pull him impossibly closer. God, he tasted divine. It felt so wonderful to be this close to him after wanting him for so long. Harry slid his hands forward in Severus’ hair, wanting nothing more than to crawl into his arms and never let go.

Severus hissed in pain as Harry’s fingers came into contact with the cut on his head, and Harry pulled back quickly. “Sorry, sorry,” he muttered, pulling his wand from his pocket and whispering “episkey” at the wound. He looked up at Severus as he slipped his wand back into his pocket, unsure of his reception now that the moment had broken. But Severus slid his hand back into his hair and tilted his head up for another kiss, and Harry was flying.

When they broke apart a few minutes later, Harry was feeling distinctly lightheaded. He buried his face in the crook of Severus’ neck, breathing his scent in deeply and searching for words.

“Severus,” he said at last, putting everything he was feeling into the name and hoping it would be enough.

“Harry,” Severus breathed in return, and Harry’s heart soared even as Severus’ hand twitched in his hair.

Yes. Things were looking up.