*sighs* Okay, this was perfect. Severus telling himself he'd settled for Harry was heartbreaing, but was an incredibly well-crafted line- I had to reread it several times when you first showed me that part, it just got to me so much. And now that I've had the chance to read the rest... *sighs again* I love how you paralleled Severus looking off into the distance with both of them- comparing the one man to the other. And I love that Severus finally saw Lucius for what he was, and more importantly the same of Harry- and their conversation at the end was beautiful. Harry's sadness, Severus's struggle for what to say... I think these are my favorite lines: "It's alright. We can have dinner any night." (So sad!!)
I thought...I thought I loved you enough for the both of us. I'd have been happy just being with you, but..."
"Shut up," Severus said automatically, then lessened the harshness with yet another a kiss. "You deserve so much more."
I love both of their lines here- Harry loving him enough for both of them, and I adore Severus telling Harry to shut up- it fits the moment so perfectly, and I love that he verbalizes that Harry deserves more. That's really even more of a romantic thing to say than telling Harry he loves him, I think. It just says so much. *sigh*
Really, really love this. Excellent job. I'm so glad you decided to write this after all : )