suitesambo (suitesamba) wrote in snape_potter, @ 2013-06-09 09:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | challenge: pride, suitesamba |
PRIDE CHALLENGE FIC: As Good as it Gets
Title: As Good as It Gets
Author: suitesamba
Pairing: Harry/Severus; Harry/Ginny
Other Characters: Minerva McGonagall
Rating: R
Word count: 3678
Warning: *None *
Summary: Harry wants Ginny because he doesn’t know what he really wants. Fortunately, when it comes to figuring out what he really wants, Severus is around to give him some pointers.
A/N: Unbeta’d. Written for the “Pride” Challenge at Snape_Potter.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never were. Never will be. No profit is being made from this amateur work.
The first letter was delivered by owl on a Sunday morning in September while Severus was eating breakfast in the Great Hall.
He gave the delivery owl a piece of bacon and placed the letter to the left of his plate. He continued eating, ignoring the letter altogether as he helped himself to a poached egg and a piece of toast.
“Aren’t you going to open Harry’s letter?” asked Minerva.
He turned his head slowly to stare at her.
“Harry’s letter?” he asked. “Are you talking about Potter?”
“Of course I’m talking about Harry Potter,” she said. “I didn’t realize the two of you were corresponding.”
“We aren’t,” he said. He spread jam on his toast, added bacon, then folded the toast in half to make a bacon sandwich.
Minerva narrowed her eyes at him. She pointed at the letter. “But that’s Harry’s….”
“I am aware that it is Potter’s handwriting, Minerva. Like you, I was forced to decipher it for six years.”
“Hmph.” Minerva poured herself more tea and topped off Severus’ while she had the teapot in hand. “Well, if you write back, send Harry my regards. We miss him around here. It was so nice to have him back for a few months.”
And while Severus would never acknowledge it to Minerva, he quite agreed. It had been nice. Nicer than she knew, certainly.
When Severus’ Defense Professor had resigned in March after what they now referred to as “The Incident with the Muggle Hair Dryer,” the Board of Governors had asked the Ministry to lend an Auror to Hogwarts to get the students through to the end of the year. And the Aurors had sent Harry Potter.
In fact, Hogwarts inherited Harry Potter only weeks after he and his long-time girlfriend decided to “take a break” and “see other people” before they “took the plunge.”This decision had made Harry grumpy and irritable, and had ultimately landed him the Hogwarts job, which was widely considered a punishment.
To this day, Severus was a bit unclear how he had ended up shagging Harry over his desk in his private potions laboratory halfway through Harry’s short tenure at Hogwarts. He remembered that there had been shouting – a great deal of it, in fact – and a few well-placed insults. Yes. Harry had insulted his nose. Had insinuated that its great size had prevented him from getting close enough to any woman to kiss her. At that point Severus had suggested that Harry’s girlfriend wouldn’t want to “explore her options” if Harry was any good at all in bed. Various insults relating to penis size followed until Harry had raised his hand as if to slap Severus in the face and Severus had caught his wrist to stop him.
They had remained frozen, panting, for a heartbeat’s space, and then Harry’s arms were around Severus’ neck, and he was pressing Harry against the wall, and Severus was showing him exactly how one managed to kiss despite having a generously-proportioned nose.
Severus was not especially proud of his lapse in professional behavior, of allowing himself to be baited into an argument with the popular but obviously unhappy Potter, of trading barbs and insults worthy of fourth-years. He had not, previous to the altercation, wanted to kiss Potter at all. He had never, ever viewed Potter as a sexual object. He believed Potter to be straight. If he’d had any same-sex experience at all, it would have to have been in the Muggle world. If he had so much as looked sideways at a male, let his eyes wander in the Quidditch changing room or the Aurors’ lockers, the news would be leaked to the Prophet before Potter finished dressing.
But the fact was, he had kissed Potter. And Potter had kissed him. In fact, they had moved from kissing to groping to frotting in a matter of minutes. That first altercation had ended with both of them coming in their pants like teenagers and agreeing to never - ever – speak of what had just happened between them.
But Potter was back in his office six days later, for what started out as a terse discussion of curriculum and ended with what they came to refer to as “The Desk Incident.”
They held to their promise to not speak of the “The Wall Incident” and added this second mistake to the taboo list.
Potter had been deliciously untrained, virginally unaware of the joys of penetration and the prostate. He was oddly agreeable to be the submissive partner, given the fact that he’d been shagging Ginny Weasley for four years. He’d left Severus’ laboratory with a rather vague smile on his face, looking well-shagged and walking oddly.
It surprised neither of them that Severus made a personal visit to Potter’s quarters five days later to review the detention schedule. Review turned into debate over the entire theory of detention, and what it accomplished, and how it could most effectively be administered. Debate degenerated into argument and then Potter was accusing Severus of being a sadist when it came to the students. Severus retorted that he was more of a masochist to put up with the sort of professors the Ministry assigned him. How that argument ended with Severus folded on the sofa, knees pressed up into his chest, topping from the bottom, he didn’t know and preferred not to consider.
They knew it had to end. Even though they deliberately found reasons to be alone in each other’s company, and gave each other significant, assessing looks in public places, they continued the charade of disliking each other intensely and using the sexual encounters as a de-stressing mechanism.
It was abundantly clear to both of them, by the time the term was over and Harry was leaving Hogwarts, that they had run out of educational issues on which they disagreed. They had resorted to arguing about the Ministry, the British Muggle government, and the new, less conservative cut of the student uniform robes.
It was also clear that their sexual relationship was at its natural end. Harry had never given up on going back to Ginny, having a family of his own (a girl and a boy, a cottage in the country, a crup and a kneazle) and resuming his rising career with the Aurors. This thing with Severus had been a surprising and enjoyable way to release tension, and he felt well-equipped now to deal with the mundane aspects of red-tape and politics in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Or so he told Severus, the day he left.
Severus put it behind him. He had never expected Harry to stay. He had grown fond of their meetings, if not of Harry himself, but he was pragmatic. He was also a busy man, with quite a few Headmaster obligations over the summer holiday.
He had a Defense position to fill, for example. Oddly, he hadn’t gotten around to moving on that while Potter was here.
So, three full months after Harry had left Hogwarts and returned to Ginny, here was a letter from Harry. Unexpected. He wondered if it was an invitation to the wedding. That would be particularly ill-advised, but just like Potter.
He waited until he was in his personal quarters before opening the letter.
The letter was brief, to the point, and courteous.
Dear Severus:
I’m having a bit of a problem and hope you’re willing to help me out.
Ginny and I are trying to make a go of it. It took most of the summer to work things out, but we’re seeing each other exclusively now.
The thing is, there’s something wrong. I think it’s all the extra hours I’ve been putting in on security for the National Quidditch finals. I just can’t get excited when I need to, you know. With Ginny’s schedule, we only get to see each other on the weekends, and she’s getting a little impatient with me. She’s ready to haul me off to St. Mungo’s for a check-up, but you know there’s no way that won’t make the Prophet.
Can you help at all? Maybe with a potion?
I understand if you’ve got too much going on with the school year just starting, but if there’s anything you can do – like sending me the formula so I can brew it myself – I’d appreciate it more than you know.
Harry
So, things weren’t all sunshine and flowers with Potter and Ginny Weasley.
Of course, Severus knew what the problem was. But it wouldn’t do to tell Harry. He was going to have to figure this one out himself, though Severus could help hurry things along a bit.
Fortunately, he had just the thing to help Harry with his problem.
Dear Harry:
I’m happy to help you out. The potion included should give you an immediate erection that will last until orgasm is attained. It should not be used long-term, but is perfectly safe for occasional use until your schedule evens out.
Severus