SNARRY-A-THON12: FIC: Between the Pages Title: Between the Pages Author:slu64 Other Pairings/Threesomes: Explicit past Snape/OMC Rating: R Word count: 2,800 Content/Warning(s): (highlight for spoilers) *Appreciation of the male form, oral* Prompt: #89: Harry sneaks a peek at Severus' library. Summary: Harry has to cool his heels in Severus' personal library. A/N: Hugs and squeezes to my beta starstruck1986 who makes me better every time I write.
Between the Pages
Harry swayed uneasily when he Apparated into the filthy alley. It was dark and in the waning of the day, what little daylight that was left was hidden behind the clouds and made the village look even bleaker.
Normally, jumping from place to place had no effect on him, but with his stomach already roiling with nerves, it made Harry a bit queasy. Stepping out of the alley, he took a few deep breaths to steady himself, with the sour smell of the river filling his nostrils.
Spinner’s End was not a very long street; it was lined with rows of grey-stoned houses which all opened directly onto the lane. So far from the few shops in the village, Harry passed no other traffic along the way except for the few who actually lived nearby. It was at the end of the row that Harry stood on the threshold of one of the dingy, terraced houses, one which belonged to Severus Snape.
With another deep breath, Harry hoped the odour would be less noticeable once he was inside. He fidgeted and adjusted his robes again before knocking. He had been very careful not to crush his robes, making sure they were spotless and hung in gentle waves from his straight shoulders. Snape had always found fault with Harry, even since Harry joined the staff.
Maybe even more. Harry frowned.
But given that Snape had agreed to have dinner with him, Harry hoped those tides were beginning to turn in his favour.
He had wanted the evening to be special. Planning out everything with precision, from their stroll along the Thames to the intimate bistro he thought Severus would like, but before he could itemise the evening's agenda again, the door snapped open and Harry found himself the object of a glowering Severus Snape.
"You're early." Severus' dark eyes narrowed as he took in Harry's robes.
Harry couldn't help smiling. "I know. Am I disturbing you? Would you like me to come back later? I can-"
Severus cut off Harry's words with an impatient wave of his hand for Harry to enter. Harry accepted the silent invitation, and let his offer fall away unspoken as he stepped directly into the front room of Severus' home.
The dim room was small, and while some would say worn, Harry preferred cosy. There were two comfortable chairs sharing a small table between them in the middle of the room. Harry imagined this was where Severus must spend most of his time when he was here, as the walls were lined with shelves of books- rows and rows of them. The books that didn't seem to fit on the shelves were neatly stacked in the corners of the room, and Harry knew the Potions Master had probably read each and every one of them.
"Please have a seat. I shouldn't take more than a few minutes to finish and tidy the lab." Severus made to exit the room through another interior door.
"Lab?" Harry queried looking around the small room. "You have a lab? Here?"
Severus stopped and turned. "Not in this part of the house." Severus looked at Harry as if he'd lost his mind. "I acquired the next two attached houses and opened the walls between them. Please make yourself comfortable, Harry." Without any other explanation, Severus turned and left.
"Make myself comfortable,” Harry mused. "As if."
Too restless to sit patiently, Harry stepped to the window and looked out. The doors and windows on the opposite side of the cobbled stone lane looked lifeless, grey and grimy against an even greyer sky. The cheerlessness made Harry shiver and he turned away from the window to explore Snape's library.
Casting a wandering eye upon the bookcases, Harry wondered just how long the books had been sitting on the shelves waiting to be touched - just like their owner. A large copy of The Oxford English Dictionary lay open on a pedestal in the corner of the room, and Harry couldn't help but inspect what Snape might have been referencing from its open pages. Harry's eyes raced down the page.
"Formidable"Without a doubt. "Fornicate"Not yet. "Forthright"Brutally. "Fortification"Barriers, always barriers.
"Fortitude (for' ti tood) n. patient courage under affliction, privation or temptation; moral strength or endurance."
Harry shivered as the memories of the war raced through his mind: the faces of friends and loved ones lost, damages done and sacrifices made. Shaking off the weariness, he stepped away from the pedestal and the past to face the rows of books that belonged to Severus, the man he was trying to get to know beyond the stiff façade.
"There must be something here," Harry muttered, looking for anything that didn't look like a Potions reference book.
Harry ran his finger along the worn leather bindings. Some were pristine from lack of use, while others were frayed and torn from overuse. He pulled out a thin book and opened it gently, as the edges were frayed and the leather cover very loose. The inside was full of colourful pictures of cats and children dressed in wizards’ robes. It was a well loved children’s book.
"I wonder?" Harry flipped to the front of the book.
Severus Snape 1965
Harry smiled sadly for the lost boy he knew existed once. A boy with a childhood much like his own, who had found his solace in books. Harry closed the book and quietly replaced it to its sanctuary on the shelf. Noting the number of books with nothing on the bindings, Harry tugged at one of the larger tomes.
The book was heavy as he balanced it on the edge of the bookcase. The book squeaked in protest after the years of not being used. "Of course," Harry grunted as he turned the pages of the medicinal potions text. He noted that Severus’ habit of writing better instructions in the margins had continued to be a habit beyond his years at Hogwarts.
With a sigh, Harry replaced the book and moved along the wall again. "Tell me something I don’t know." Harry’s fingers traced the books again, stopping at a section of brightly coloured books. Harry smiled and almost laughed pulling the Muggle cookbook from the brightest corner of the shelf. "Let’s see-"
Harry couldn’t help himself. His guffaw filled the room.
Harry was still sniggering when he heard the heavy footsteps. Closing the book with Severus’ notations in the margins calling for more salt here and less garlic there, he slipped the book back into its nest among the other colourful books and turned to Severus as he entered the room.
Harry had not noticed the robes Severus had been wearing earlier when he opened the door to him, but now he couldn’t help it. They were wet with smears of bright green goo in different stages of congealment on the dark wool. The bit of mirth he had found in the cookbook erupted into a huge grin when he noticed a pea-sized green glob clinging to Severus’ hair.
"What are you grinning at Potter?" Severus scowled.
"Your festive robes, of course." Harry tried to pull in his amusement as Severus continued to frown.
Pulling his wand from his sleeve, Harry asked, "Would you like me to clean that up for you?" Harry pointed to the spots drying before his eyes.
"Not necessary Potter. I can do it myself." Severus pulled out his own wand and Scourgified his robe. Harry quickly flicked his wand while Severus was occupied to remove the glob from his hair. As they replaced their respective wands, Severus faced Harry again. "I was just going to let you know, I’m almost ready. I just need to tidy up a bit and change."
Harry nodded. "We have plenty of time."
Severus gave Harry’s formal robes another glance and left the room.
Harry shrugged to himself. He had hoped the evening would be a bit livelier, more along the lines of their evenings with the rest of the Hogwarts’ staff at the Three Broomsticks or the staff room where their conversation had seemed easier and more relaxed recently. While his mind fretted, Harry worried his lip as he moved across the room to yet more books.
Again, these books had no markings on the edge and Harry was forced to pull one out to see the cover and the title.
Foucault’s Virginity: Ancient Erotic Fiction and the History of Sexuality
Harry almost dropped the book, but juggling quickly, he was able to maintain his hold. Opening the book, Harry examined the Greek pornography inside and the long drawn out descriptions beside the pictures. Harry smiled, leave it to Snape to take something interesting and find the most analytical way to examine it.
Harry pushed the book back into place and pulled at another one near the first to see if there was a trend.
The Poetics of Eros in Ancient Greece Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature
"Come on, Snape. I know there’s more to you," Harry muttered, pulling at another book.
Nudes from Nowhere
"Aha!" Harry pulled the book free and wrenched it open. "Fuck." Harry sighed with boredom at the pages full of text. Thumbing the pages, he prepared to close yet another disappointment when a postcard fell out of the back and landed face up on the floor, but when he looked closely, Harry realised it wasn’t a postcard.
It was a photograph.
A nude photograph.
A nude photograph of a younger Severus Snape.
Harry slowly bent over and picked up the yellowed picture. It was a Muggle photograph; it didn’t move, and Harry wondered if Snape had once had a Muggle lover. He was sitting in the middle of a bed with his back to the camera, leaning on one hip and supporting himself with his right arm. His black hair wasn’t as long as it was now, but it hung over his shoulder obscuring part of his face as he glanced back over his shoulder towards the photographer. The look on his face gave Harry no question that it was his lover behind the camera, and whose presence put the sated look on his face. The creamy skin was everything Harry had imagined it would be, and he couldn’t help running his finger over the picture, following the curve of the rounded hip and along the pinched waist to the bony shoulder. The youthful skin was flawless except for a birthmark on Severus’ exposed hip.
Harry’s cock twitched at the thought of seeing the birthmark first-hand.
With an unsteady hand, Harry reluctantly replaced the picture back in place and stowed the book back on the shelf. The picture had not been graphic by any means, but it still stirred something in Harry.
Reaching for another dry text on gay sex of the Middle Ages, Harry found nothing hidden between the pages, which pressed him to reach for another book and yet another.
Nothing.
Harry looked back wistfully at the row of books he had checked. Glancing to the door leading to the other part of the house that Severus had used, Harry heard nothing. Hoping Severus was still dressing with his meticulous care, Harry moved back down the row to find the original book. His fingertips itched to find the photo again as they slid along the smooth, nearly matching bindings.
"This one," he whispered breathlessly as he pulled the text from the shelf.
Opening the book, Harry realised it wasn’t the correct book either, as it had erotic illustrations throughout the text. With a renewed urgency, Harry replaced the book and grabbed another, very similar, one.
"This one," he muttered more emphatically.
The moment the book opened, Harry knew it, too, was not the one he was looking for, but it did hold a surprise. As Harry fanned the pages of the ancient text, several pictures slid from between the pages and fell into his waiting grasp.
His startled gasp was the last sound Harry made as his eyes took in the image he held in his hand. Harry could hardly breathe as he placed the book aside and took in the sight of a naked Severus, sprawled on a tousled bed. It appeared to have been taken about the same time as the first picture Harry had seen, based on the length of Severus' hair, but this photograph was magical- it moved.
Boy, does it move.
A fully clothed man was leaning over the edge of the bed, enthusiastically sucking Severus' cock; from the angle of the picture and Severus' bent leg, the identity of the energetic lover was obscured. Harry watched as Severus' back curved upward off the bed, his fists clenching the duvet as the tension of his body took over. Suddenly, the picture froze with Severus' face in a silent scream; or so it seemed, until Severus' spine relaxed and he slid slowly back to the bed, his body almost being consumed by the bed in his replete state.
Harry's mouth hung open, his palm jammed against his growing erection as he watched Severus' vigorous lover bring him to the brink again and again. The man's creamy skin was almost aglow in the candle light as he succumbed to the ministrations of the unidentified man, and again Harry felt the need to stroke the picture and imagine the flesh and blood man under his touch.
Please.
Harry shuffled the pictures and felt the ache in his bollocks building when he saw the next magical photo. Severus was naked, on his knees, at the feet of his clothed lover, sucking on the man's cock, deeply; his large nose was buried in the brown wool of the man's trousers. Harry watched as Severus bobbed up and down the erection, giving the tip an undue amount of attention with his tongue and lips before engulfing the length of it completely down his throat again. Harry felt the thrumming of his own erection needing release. Each time Severus moved along the shaft, Harry's stamina waned. He could almost feel those thin lips on his own cock, they moved with such practised precision.
Ohh, God! Harry couldn't help the soft moan as he tried to stem the burgeoning erection in his pants.
The uncut erection lengthened further; the purple head was full, and dripping each time Severus swiped his tongue across the sensitive tip. Harry was amazed at the control the unidentified man had over himself. Whenever Harry fantasised Severus doing such a thing, he couldn’t stop his orgasm from coming fast and furious, and now the same problem was arising with no way to seek relief. Harry watched Severus open his mouth wide as the man finally reached his climax, sending thick ribbons of creamy spunk across his tongue. Severus swallowed, then ran his tongue along his upper lip to capture a wayward drop clinging to his face.
The soft smile on Severus’ face was like nothing Harry had ever seen on the man’s face before. Lost in the moment, it was almost a look of innocence: not of sexuality but life- a life before the Dark Lord.
A look Harry wanted to see again, in person.
Harry heard the creak of floor boards and shuffling feet. Quickly he straightened the photographs without finishing his perusal, and stuffed them quickly back into their forgotten hiding place. Harry then shoved the book back onto the shelf, sandwiched tightly between its brethren of Snape-secretkeepers, and turned just in time to see the shadow preceding their owner.
When Severus Snape filled the doorway, dressed in his customary black robes, his eyes seemed to take in the room and Harry all at once. Harry knew it was merely the guilt of finding the pictures that made him feel as if Severus knew something was amiss.
"I apologise for keeping you waiting." Severus stepped towards the door.
Glad of his loose robes, Harry followed Severus. "It’s fine. I was just looking-"
Harry stopped talking when he almost collided with Severus’ back that had stopped abruptly when Severus looked over his shoulder to see Harry better. "Looking?" Severus prompted.
Harry refrained from fidgeting under the dark, obsidian stare. "I, uh…" Harry cleared his throat. "Yes, you have such a lovely library-"
"Lovely?" The tell-tale eyebrow arched, and Harry felt like he was being dissected; as if Severus might question his sincerity.
A smile formed on Harry’s lips. "Yes, Severus. It’s quite extensive, and shows a lot about you... " Harry moved forward, taking Severus by the arm and ushered him to door to leave. "And I found your secret stash."
Harry wasn’t sure if Severus tensed from what he said or from being handled so freely, but either way, he was going to have fun finding out. Harry turned the handle of the door, letting the stale, industrial night air into the room around them.