a deadly, poetic infection (sappholococcus) wrote in hp_traditions, @ 2008-05-22 09:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | pg, severus/harry |
Happy Traditions, rakina!
Title:Coming home
Author: darkladyvamp
Gift For:rakina
Pairing(s):Severus Snape/Harry Potter
Summary: Severus comes back from 'the grave'
Rating: pg
Warnings: None
Author's notes: A sequel is already in the works. Thanks to my lovely beta!
Read it here or at Livejournal, and don't forget to leave feedback for all of our lovely participants!
EDIT: the HTML snafu has been fixed. My apologies for not noticing it before posting (or even immediately after I posted).
As Severus stood at the rail of the ferry that was taking him home for the first time in a decade, he inhaled deeply. He had missed his home profoundly, but had needed the distance. He needed to step back, realize he’d made it out of the war alive and decide what he, wanted. It took him ten long years to discover himself again, under all the masks he’d been forced to wear for most of his life. Now he was going home without them, to face the mess that he’d left behind.
At least he’d found out from the papers that Potter had defended him vehemently and because of his testimony Severus had been pardoned and awarded the Order of Merlin (first class) posthumously. He’d debated emerging from the grave to attend the award ceremony, but it had been too soon. He hadn’t been free of his baggage, yet. Although it wouldn’t all be gone, it was packing a little lighter these days.
To be headed home with all his ‘armour’ gone was slightly frightening, but there were demons he needed to face, peace to be made and messes that needed cleaning up.
Severus took another breath as the ferry began to make port. Despite the optimistic thoughts Severus was forcing himself to have, there were nagging doubts that coming back wasn’t the smartest thing to do. He could personally attest to the fact that letting go of long held hatred and grudges was nasty business.
--
Harry walked down Diagon Alley, still enjoying the relative peace that using a glamour afforded him. He had to make public appearances enough to properly appreciate the anonymity the plain looks gave him.
Unfortunately, using a glamour didn’t make him any more graceful than he normally was. So when he crashed into someone while not paying attention, he still ended up sprawled on the ground.
“I see old age hasn’t taught you how to walk properly,” a familiar voice drawled.
Harry froze. A dead familiar voice. His eyes snapped up to the face of the speaker. He knew he looked like an idiot, sprawled out on the ground with his mouth hanging wide open, but the spectre of Severus Snape extended a hand to help him anyway.
Harry knew he looked like a bigger idiot, standing there staring with his mouth hanging wide open, clutching the look-a-like’s hand.
“Are you catching flies, Mr Potter?”
That caused harry to close his mouth with a snap. “Who are you?”
“Your original assessment of my identity is not wrong.”
“But--” The familiar eyebrow raised and Harry could feel a sob start to work its way out of his chest. “You’re dead.”
The mouth twisted into a well recognized smirk. “All evidence to the contrary. Would you join me for lunch, Mr Potter?”
“Don’t!” Harry paused, and continued more quietly. “Don’t call me that, professor. I’m in disguise.”
The dark man winced. “So I see. I, however, have not had the misfortune of being in charge of pounding information into scatterbrained adolescents since I flew the coop, as it were.”
Harry chuckled. “Lunch?”
“Lead the way, Mr --?”
“Evans, Henry Evans.”
Severus snorted. “Mr Evans.”
--
Once they had been seated at a table at the Leaky Cauldron, by a winking Tom, Severus raised an eyebrow in question.
Harry blushed. “Tom knows it’s me. I spend enough time here as my normal self that he keeps it quiet.”
Severus nodded. “What have you been doing since your great service, Mr –Evans.”
“Not doing anything as amazing as coming back from the dead.”
Severus raised an eyebrow. “That’s not what I hear.”
Harry chuckled. “Well not after ten years.”
“Mr—”
“Henry, for now.”
Severus smiled. “Thank you. You may call me Severus. As I was saying, I haven’t been dead.”
“Well where have you been!?”
“Here and there. But I believe I asked you first.”
Harry shrugged. “I tried being an Auror for a while, didn’t care much for it. Now I’m sort of waiting for inspiration while serving as the public face of the Twins' business.”
“That infernal joke shop? And I thought Fred was killed.”
“They’ve branched out. They make some useful things now, as well,” Harry grinned. “Fred didn’t die.”
“That’s how you’ve spent the last ten years?”
Harry shrugged again. “I almost got married.”
“To Ginevra Weasley?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I realized she wasn’t what I wanted.”
“What do you want?”
Harry looked up from his drink. “Who are you? Really? The Severus Snape I knew would never exchange a civil word with me.”
“I’ve spent my time reevaluating. Ten years of it, and I’m no longer the Severus Snape you think you knew. Coming back here with all my masks gone is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done.”
“Why’d you come back?”
Severus waited until the waitress had placed the food on the table and left again. “Because here is home.”
As they ate their food in a comfortable silence, Harry couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to make Severus turn about so radically. Maybe it was the whole almost dying business. Harry had had many fantasies about what would happen if Severus came back, but this was so far from all the scenarios he’d dreamed up that it almost couldn’t be compared.
“I see you’ve learned the art of thinking, Henry,” Severus drawled.
Harry shrugged. “I couldn’t keep putting it off.”
Severus snorted and Harry grinned. “Don’t look so pleased with yourself. It wasn’t a real laugh.”
Harry kept grinning like an idiot and Severus stood. “Where are you going?”
“You’re not the only one with whom I have unfinished business. One would think that having grown up would have taught you that the world doesn’t revolve around you, Mr Potter.”
With that Severus turned and left in a swish of robes and left Harry fuming.
--
Severus knew that of all the meetings he had to conduct to move on from his past, the one with Minerva McGonagall was going to be the most difficult. She had been his closest friend on the staff, despite the show they put on for the students. When he had been made to kill Albus, that spell had also killed the relationship he'd had with the head of Gryffindor.
Since he knew the school wards would still let him, he Apparated straight into the headmaster’s office (to him, the office would always belong to Albus, no matter the occupant).
The headmistress let out a tiny yelp of surprise before freezing. “Severus?”
“Minerva.” He answered, sitting in one of the chairs in front of her desk.
“You’re,” she cleared her throat. “You’re dead!”
“Am I?” he drawled. “Where’s my portrait?”
“You abandoned your post. You don’t get one.”
Severus scoffed. “Nonsense. The castle told me it was time to leave.”
“The castle told you?”
“Of course! You’re headmistress and the castle doesn’t talk to you? That’s how Albus knew everything. That’s how I knew about your infernal Gryffindors and their ‘secret’ room. That’s how I knew Potter was here.”
Minerva gaped at him. “You knew and you didn’t do anything?”
“Why would I? I was on your side, if you recall.”
Minerva looked down. “Yes. And I made things so difficult for you.”
Severus sighed. “You believed what you were supposed to. Albus was counting on everyone believing the worst of me.”
She sighed. “I should have known better. I should have trusted you.”
“It wouldn’t have made it any easier, Minerva. But I didn’t come here to make you feel guilty. I came because I knew you would feel guilty and I don’t want that.”
Minerva let out a small laugh. “Now I know you’re Severus.”
Severus sneered before letting out a snort. “Now that we’ve got that settled,” Severus looked to Minerva for confirmation and received a nod. “I need your assistance with an infuriating ex- Gryffindor of yours.”
--
A few days after meeting with Severus Snape in Diagon Alley, Harry was starting to believe it was some elaborately real fantasy. How could Severus Snape show up, back from the dead, and it not be on the front page of every paper.
He was just getting ready to take his breakfast dishes to the sink when he heard a quiet tapping on the window. He frowned at the bird on the sill. Not only did he now know who it belonged to, he didn’t even know what kind of bird it was.
He walked to the window and as soon ans he opened it, the bird flew in, landed on his shoulder and immediately began preening. Harry chuckled and stoked the soft feathers on its chest. The bird held out a taloned foot for Harry to take the parchment. He immediately recognized the handwriting in which his name was written.
Mr Potter
It has recently come to my attention that you are in need of some guidance concerning the direction your life is going.
I humbly offer myself as your teacher and guardian during this time, imparting all my knowledge to you.
If you have any interest, send affirmative reply with this bird and I will send you greater detail.
Yours respectfully
Severus Snape
Post Script: Please keep this white tailed eagle as a token of my esteem.
Harry reread the note a few times, not quite sure what to make of it. A sharp nip to his ear reminded him of the bird on his shoulder. “Ow!”
The bird made a slight clicking noise and flew off his shoulder to land on the back of one of the dining room chairs.
“Do you have a name?” Harry asked, grabbing a quill and parchment from the counter he was standing by.
The bird made another clicking nose and looked at Harry in a way that seemed to insult his intelligence.
“Leave it to Snape to pick out this bird for me,” Harry muttered, scribbling out a hasty note. “Come here, you.”
The bird just looked at him.
Harry sighed. “I’ll use the time it takes you to deliver the note and get back here to pick out a suitable name.”
The bird gave him a sceptical look, as if doubting Harry was up to the task, before hopping over to him. Harry tied the parchment to its foot and watched it fly away.
Why would Snape get him a bird?
--
Severus sat at the small table in the rented room, going over the paperwork for the shop he would be purchasing later that afternoon if things went according to plan. He looked up when the white tailed eagle he’d sent to Harry flew in.
“Well?” Severus asked. “Did you like your new owner?”
The bird gave him a baleful look.
Severus chuckled as he retrieved the parchment. “Don’t worry. He tends to grow on a person.”
The bird clicked his beak and flew over to the makeshift perch Severus had made for him while he was working on the contract for Harry.
Severus opened the small bit of parchment and chuckled.
Severus—
If this isn’t some sort of prank, I’d love to.
H.
Severus stood up with a stretch, took the finished contract for Harry to the bird. “You know where this goes.”
As he watched the bird fly away he decided he’d have to find a female to match Harry’s male.
--
Harry was sitting in the living room of his house in Godric’s Hollow with Ron and Hermione, catching up. Neither one of them quite believed his story about Severus. That was, neither quite believed his story until the bird he’d been telling them about flew gracefully into the room. Ron choked on the biscuit he was eating and Hermione placed a surprised hand on the small swell of her pregnant belly.
The graceful raptor landed on the arm of the chair Harry was sitting in.
“Hello, Azrael,” Harry murmured, taking the rather thick bundle from his foot. He didn’t miss the silent approval in the bird’s eyes at the name. “There’s a small owlery out back. You can make yourself at home.”
Azrael flew off and Ron cleared his throat. “So, you weren’t lying.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Why would I lie?”
“Wishful thinking?” Hermione asked.
Harry ignored her as he unrolled the bundle. A smaller piece of parchment fluttered to his lap.
Mr Potter—
Inside you will find a contract laid out with everything I am prepared to provide, and what I expect in return.
I’d advise you to have someone else with knowledge of an Erastes/eromenos bond that has a vested interest in your well-being look it over.
S.
Harry handed the note to Hermione and unrolled the second piece of parchment, which was easily 4 feet long with minuscule writing.
At Hermione’s gasp Harry looked up to see her blushing. Ron, on the other hand, was grinning.
“What?”
“Don’t you know what this means?” Hermione asked, pointing to the small letter. “He wants you.”
“Huh?”
Hermione snorted. “It’s a tradition that goes back to ancient Greece. An older male would take on an apprentice—for lack of better words, and teach him everything in their chosen field. He helps the younger man in how to behave socially and how to handle his estate. He even supports the other man during this time.”
Harry raised his eyebrows. “Sounds too good to be true. What does the older man get in return?”
Ron grinned. “The use of your body.”
“What?!”
Hermione smacked Ron’s arm. “You will have a sexual relationship if both parties are open to it. In ancient Greece, it was pretty much mandatory, but not now.”
Ron rolled his eyes. “This is Snape we’re talking about. He wouldn’t offer if he didn’t want something in return.”
“Maybe he’s lonely and wants companionship. Have you ever thought of that?” Hermione demanded.
“Sex.”
“Companionship doesn’t always mean sex, Ronald.”
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing, Hermione!”
“Excuse me!” Harry interrupted.
“Yes, Harry?”
He handed the contract to Hermione. “Can you translate this and figure out what he wants?”
Hermione took the contract from his hands and looked it over briefly. “Give me a couple of days and I’ll have a list for you.”
--
Even without knowing exactly what Snape really wanted, Harry spent the next couple of days in turmoil. He’d decide that he was going to decline, but then think about what a great opportunity he was passing up. Snape had to be very committed, just look at the massive contract he’d drawn up. Was sex with Snape too nasty to override all the things he’d be getting out of it? Would that make Harry a whore?! Harry wasn’t even gay. Or, he didn’t think he was.
By the time Hermione Floo'd in three nights later, Harry wasn’t sure if he wanted to hug her for being there or shake her for not showing up sooner.
“Sorry it took me so long,” she said immediately, making Harry go with hugging her. “He’s” she pointed to her baby bump, “making me tired these days.”
“He’s?” Harry asked. “As in a boy? When’d you find out?”
“Today.” She said, prompting Harry to hug her again.
“I’m going to be an uncle!”
Hermione laughed. “You were always going to be an uncle. That doesn’t change with the sex of the baby.”
Harry grinned. “I know! But knowing the sex makes it more real.”
Hermione rolled her eyes. “Experience it from this side. It’s plenty real.”
“The contract?!” Harry demanded, not being able to stand waiting any longer, especially through one of Hermione’s ‘girls got the short end of the stick’ lectures.
She sighed then handed Harry the contract along with a shorter piece of paper with Hermione’s handwriting all over it. “It’s pretty standard, but he’s being very liberal and open with you.”
Harry looked at the parchment Hermione had written.
Snape will:
Train Harry to be a Potions Master
Allow Harry 50% of the apothecary’s earnings
Help Harry manage his estate and increase his worth
Consult Harry before any decisions are made regarding his estate
Teach Harry the customs of the Wizarding world
Not force Harry into a sexual relationship against his will
Harry Will:
Refrain from taking lovers for the duration (3 years)
Help run the apothecary
Do his best to learn
“This is all it says?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is it so long?”
“The rest is pretty much standard for this type of contract.”
“Why no lovers?”
Hermione rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Harry. You’re going to have to talk to Snape about that one.”
“What do you think I should do?”
“If I were you, I’d jump at the chance. Ron said the same thing.”
Harry sighed. “I guess I’d better talk to Snape.”
--
Severus was sitting in the tiny kitchen in the small flat above that rather large shop he had purchased a few days before, cursing Harry. Thankfully without a wand in his hand. Did the brat think he had nothing better to do but wait for his reply? The fact that he didn’t was completely beside the point.
However anxious Severus was to receive a reply, he was still somewhat startled by the bird he’d given Harry flying in. Once he landed, Severus all but tore the parchment off the small leg, ignoring the bird’s noises of protest.
S.
I think there are some things that we need to discuss face to face. Floo my house as soon as it is convenient for you. The address is Harry’s place.
H.
Severus ground his teeth. Hadn’t the brat learned anything about safety wards? He stalked to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of powder. “Harry’s Place.”
Once Severus stopped, he was surprised to find that he was stuck.
--
Harry grinned when he walked into his living room to hear Severus Snape cursing at him, in multiple languages, it seemed.
“Hello, Severus,” Harry chuckled, tapping on the mantel with his wand. The ever graceful Severus Snape came tumbling out, arse over tea kettle.
“What in the seven hells was that?!”
“My security wards. Anyone not keyed stays there indefinitely.”
“Why didn’t you key me?”
“You had to be in there first.” Harry said, grinning down at the man. “You can come and go as you please, now.”
Harry held out a hand and helped Severus to his feet. He was surprised at the lack of snark, but didn’t question it.
“Tea?”
“Please.”
Once they were settled with their tea, Harry launched into his questions. “Why are you prepared to give me so much, but not take what is yours by right?”
Severus looked at him thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t enjoy you, unless you came willingly. I’ll settle for what I can get.”
“Why no lovers for the entire time?”
Severus sighed. “Because everyone will know your status. It’s almost like being married for the time, and I will not have it seem like you are cuckolding me.”
“And if I decline?”
“You cannot.”
“Why not?”
“You accepted my gift. You cannot decline me once you have accepted my gift.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?! What’s will the contract then?”
“To make our lives easier. I wasn’t trying to trap you. It’s well known that accepting the gift, seals the deal.”
“I didn’t know!”
“Ignorance isn’t an excuse. Harry, I am prepared to give you everything. What is the problem?”
“You didn’t give me a choice!”
“I’m here negotiate, aren’t I? What is it that is not to your liking in the contract?”
“You will have complete control over my accounts and everything!”
“But I will do nothing without your permission.”
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. “If something arises that needs to be discussed, can we?”
“Absolutely.”
Harry took out the contract and a quill. With a long look at Severus, he signed his name the contract disappeared with a pop.