Snarry-a-Thon11: FIC: Rhyme or Reason Title: Rhyme or Reason Author:mrscake Rating: R Word count: 2,657 Warning(s): (highlight for spoilers) *Molly and Ginny bashing, Ron’s a moron, (not a welsh carrot, the other one.)* Prompt: Prompt 7: Harry discovers an old, abandoned well at the Burrow and thinks nothing of drinking from it until something unexpected happens.
Rhyme or Reason
Harry wandered aimlessly around the Weasleys' gardens. Well, not exactly aimlessly; he was avoiding Ginny.
Ginny had been harassing Harry since the leaving/victory party two weeks ago. Harry had never been more thankful that he hadn’t given out his new address yet.
At the back of the barn there was a small orchard where the children had often played Quidditch away from the prying eyes of any Muggles. Just hidden by one of the overhanging trees, Harry spotted a well. Grinning, he headed towards it. If he had a drink here, he wouldn’t have to go back to the house just yet.
Using the old pulley and bucket that were already there, Harry pulled up some of the fresh water and took a long drink only to clutch his chest and fall to the ground unconscious.
The next thing Harry knew he was waking up on the lounge in the Weasleys' front room.
“Take it easy, Harry, don’t move too fast.”
Harry opened his eyes to see Ginny looking down at him smiling.
“You know, when we’re married you can’t keep going off like that. I have to know where you are all the time,” she told him conversationally.
“Oh Ginny my friend,
Oh Ginny be free,
Go find love,
Cos you’ll never have me,” Harry said shocking all the present company, including himself.
“Harry James Potter, that is no way to talk to your fiancée,” Molly raged, her hands on her hips.
Harry opened his mouth to try to explain, but his lips and tongue took over the decision making.
“Molly, my mother,
Won’t you back off please,
I’ll never be marrying
Into this family tree.”‘Well’, Harry thought reverently, ‘that did the trick’.
Molly led an angry Ginny into the kitchen, and was clearly heard to be saying, “Don’t you worry, Ginny darling, you’ll have him if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Harry, don’t you think that was a bit harsh? After all, you are expected to marry her. The Minister of Magic himself announced it,” Hermione told him reasonably.
“Yeah mate, what’s wrong with my sister?” Ron chimed in crossly.
“There are many things wrong with that Hermione,
Not least of all I won’t allow it,
I’d rather the company of a man to a woman,
There’s nothing to be done, I simply refute it.”
Ron looked puzzled. “What’s he on about?”
“It is quite simple, Ron my old friend,
I prefer a man to a woman, any day of the week
They are soft and hard in all the right places,
I’ve tried both out and I wouldn’t trade places.”
Ron stormed off followed by a blushing Hermione.
Harry turned to look at the twins, the only ones left in the room.
“Don’t worry Harry...”
“...We’re sticking around.”
“What can we do to help?”
Harry sighed in relief. He knew he could count on the twins.
“My brothers, alike in so many ways,
Only one person can help on this trying of days,
Find me the master of all things that bubble,
Before I can get into any more trouble,” Harry pleaded.
The twins nodded and rushed to the floo intent on finding their prey. It should have worried Harry more that they needed to go to the joke shop first.
Knowing there was nothing to do but wait, Harry stayed where he was hoping he wasn’t disturbed. Half an hour later, the fire flared and the twins and the Potions master stepped out.
“Here comes Severus Snape,
The master of Potions,
To save me again,
From my own lack of focus,” Harry gave Snape a slight wave of his hand, not looking up.
Snape smirked. “My, my, Mr Potter, what have you gotten yourself into this time?” the snarky man asked, folding his arms.
“I drank from the well,
But something went wrong,
My life’s going to hell,
As I’m sure you can tell.”
“Take me to the well,” Snape demanded. “You two don’t need to accompany us,” he told the twins as they made to follow.
Walking through the kitchen they encountered Molly, Ron, and Hermione comforting a sobbing Ginny.
“What’s wrong with her?” Snape asked despite himself.
“Our Gin’s been waiting for years to marry him, and then he breaks her heart,” Molly spat, looking venomously at Harry.
“I wasn’t aware that they were dating in any way,” Snape commented.
It was obviously the wrong thing to say. “That’s not the point; she’s been waiting for him,” Ron told him angrily; he couldn’t even look at Harry.
“Ah, then I was mistaken in my belief that I caught her in a sexual tryst with eight different males over thirty times in the past year?”
Ginny looked up, her eyes flashing in anger. “I had to do something while I waited. He will be mine one day.”
Harry had heard enough, looking at the woman he had, until recently, considered a second mother.
“I speak not a lie,
Though I speak in verse,
I could never love her,
Cos she’s not a bloke.”
Harry shrugged.
“I’m sorry, I’m not what you wanted,
But this is me, like it or lump it,
I’m going to leave now
Before I lose my rag and thump him.”
He walked out, already mourning the loss of his surrogate family. Harry couldn’t talk on the way back to the well; he couldn’t find the words. They were too much, he supposed, to be translated into rhyme and verse.
Snape took several samples from the well and from the soil around it. Looking back at the waiting Harry he asked, “What will you do now?”
“I should go home,
And fill my belly,
Then crawl into bed,
And watch the telly.”
“I think it would be prudent if I accompanied you to ensure you get into no further trouble. Do you wish to go back and collect your things?” Snape asked.
Harry shook his head; the last thing he wanted was to go back to that place.
“I don’t think I can,
There’s no place for me
This can’t be fixed,
With a hot cup of tea.”
Severus nodded. “Very well, you can always floo the twins. I’m sure they will gather anything you wish to have.”
Harry shook his head and drew his wand.
“In days of old,
All spells must rhyme
So in old tradition,
Bring all my stuff to this position.”
A jet of white light left Harry’s wand and a few seconds later, all of Harry’s possessions inside the Burrow came flying towards them. Raising his own wand Snape shrank them and placed them into Harry’s pocket.
“You realise there is no way that should have worked.” Harry shrugged and opened his mouth. Snape placed his finger over Harry’s mouth. “Try not to speak if you can help it. The rhyming is giving me a headache.”
Harry grinned, and nodded. Taking Snape’s arm Harry Apparated them to Harry’s home.
Harry had bought a cottage after graduation. It was rundown and in need of a great deal of work, which was the main reason Harry hadn’t told anyone where it was. The last thing he wanted was the others jumping in and taking over. He enjoyed doing things for himself. In the months he’d been here, he had one room totally finished - the kitchen. It was decorated like an old farm kitchen with a large range on one wall and plenty of work space. In the centre of the room was a large rustic wooden table. The slate floor gleamed. Harry had been sleeping in here; he’d put a sofa in front of the range which pulled out into a bed.
This was the room Harry took them to.
“You have a nice home.” Snape told him looking around the kitchen in approval.
Harry laughed.
“What you see may be quite nice,
But kitchens have always been my vice,
This room is done but no other,
The rest of the house could use a mother.”
Snape took a moment to think about that. “So the house is a fixer upper and this is the only completed room.” Harry nodded gratefully. “Where do you sleep then?”
Harry gestured at the sofa.
Snape huffed. “I do not think being alone is the safest thing for you at the moment, not until we know exactly what was in the well.”
“You’re welcome to stay
I have plenty of room
Sit by the fire and warm your toes
I’ll get us something to stave off the cold.”
“Thank you, that will be acceptable.” Snape made himself comfortable on the sofa. “I can transfigure something into a second bed, but this is your home. I do not want to make you uncomfortable,” Snape said looking around for something to transfigure.
“You’re welcome to try,
But don’t make a blunder,
Something in the air
Puts magic to sunder.”
“You mean you can’t use magic here at all?” Snape asked in awe. There was a lot of work that had gone into this room alone. And to think that Harry...Potter...Harry, had done it all without magic was mind boggling.
Harry was shaking his head and gesturing for Snape to get up, which he did. Harry fumbled around the back of the sofa cushions and found a tab which he pulled to reveal a double bed.
The tea kettle began to whistle to show it was ready and Harry hurried off to pour it. When he returned, Snape was sitting up against the headboard wearing a plain white t-shirt.
Snape accepted the tea and pretended not to watch Harry strip down to his boxers. Harry got into bed, shyly.
“I need to run a scan so I can see what effect it’s having on you.” Snape didn’t wait for an answer knowing it was going to take longer than a simple yes. Snape felt his wand vibrate slightly as it hovered over Harry’s heart. “Well that’s interesting. There is a potion in your system, but it seems to have settled over your heart and your head. But I don’t know what that will mean or exactly what they do.”
“Well that’s very helpful
I must say,
Do you have any other,
Intelligent things to say.”
Snape growled as if insulted and pinned Harry under him. “You should be very careful what you say, you Gryffindor brat, I have you in a very compromising position. It would take little effort on my part to take full advantage of the situation.”
Harry, never one to do the expected, ground up against the hardening body above him.
“My life is in shambles
My future is shot,
But all I can think
Is you’re fucking hot.”
Severus gasped as he felt Harry’s cock protruding proudly from the scant boxers he was still wearing. “I think it might save time if you don’t speak. Do you want this? Do you want me?” Snape asked softly, as if he were scared to break the spell.
Harry nodded eagerly. Snape still hesitated.
“Move, do something
Because if you do not
Then watch out
Cos it’s my turn to top.”
Snape groaned, Harry grinned wolfishly and grasped Snape’s hips and pulled him down against his groin.
“I think you like that idea
For your pleasure
Spread your cheeks
Let’s ride to heaven.”
Snape felt himself stretched and lubricated in preparation.
“Fuck, that shouldn’t have worked.”
Harry kept his mouth shut and pulled Snape firmly onto his waiting cock. They set up a fast pace and neither man took long to reach the pinnacle and cry out their completion. They fell into a deep, sated sleep.
Snape woke to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking. He sat up and couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Harry cooking wearing nothing but an apron. Harry turned and smiled back.
“Good Morrow to you
On this cold winters' day
Any idea how long
I’ll be stuck this way?”
Snape re-ran the scan he had performed last night. “The potion seems to be diminishing. I think it will work its way out of your system on its own. I would like to get a sample of the water from that well. It could be interesting to study, it may have unknown properties.”
“It’s nice to know
Some things never change
No matter what happens
You're always just the same.”
Snape crossed the room and planted a kiss on Harry’s accepting lips. “After breakfast we’ll go get a sample, and I can test it, and if you haven’t recovered by tonight, I will find an antidote.”
An hour later they arrived on the grounds of the Burrow. Mr Weasley was waiting for them. “Hello, Harry, son,” he greeted them warmly. “The twins told me about yesterday. I have had words with my wife and youngest children. I believe they have seen the light. How are you feeling?”
“Things have been strange
That I’ll admit
But now I have something
I’ll never let slip.”
Harry looked at Snape coyly.
“Well congratulations, boys,” Mr Weasley beamed.
“That’s sick!” a voice spat from behind them. Ron was standing there glaring at them.
“Ron you’re the brother I always wanted
From the age of eleven, I thought we’d bonded
But if one little thing changes all that
Then you really are a fucking twat.”
Ron looked shocked at Harry’s choice of words.
“Why is it, Ron, that if I don’t do exactly what you want you stop being my friend?” Harry asked.
“Welcome back to the world of normal speech, Mr Potter.”
Harry sniggered, “This from you, have you heard the way you speak recently?”
“Sod off,” Snape told him good-naturedly.
Mr Weasley grinned at them, and Ron still looked like someone had smacked him with a wet fish.
“I’ve been a right twat haven’t I?” Ron shook his head. “Give me a week to sort myself out, I know what I’m like. Dinner next week, just the... three of us?” he asked.
“Yeah all right, mate, I’ll come collect you and take you back to mine,” Harry offered him a small smile.
Ron nodded and turned back to the house.
While they had been talking Snape had gathered his sample and Mr Weasley had made the well safe.
“Are you ready to go? Your house needs a lot of work before you have company,” Snape reminded him.
“Yeah it does, I was thinking of putting a potions workshop in the basement.”
“You have a basement?” Snape asked as they waved goodbye and headed to the edge of the wards.
“Not yet, but I can make one.”
“With an entrance in the kitchen?” Snape asked.
“It could be arranged.” Harry took Snape’s hand.
“I’ll help.”
The pair Apparate away.
It took a lot longer than a week to get the house back to its original glory. Ron, true to his word, came for dinner. Things were tense between the three of them, more between Ron and Severus. But things finally changed one Thursday, when Ron arrived unannounced and, getting no answer from knocking the door he looked through one of the windows. He could see Severus and Harry painting. Snape was paying attention to what he was doing but Harry was watching Severus.
Harry held up his brush so it was quite close to Severus’s cheek and called his name.
Ron had to stuff his fist into his mouth to stop himself from laughing at the look on Severus’ face with a big blotch of white paint across his cheek.
Ron’s laughter died down when Severus pushed Harry back against the wall and kissed him passionately. When he pulled away, Severus started laughing at the paint stains all over his back.
Ron recognised that look. It was the look he’d seen his parents share, and Bill and Fleur, and more recently Remus and Charlie. It was the look of deep and absolute love.