Chasing Moonbeams. Ch13.

[pekeleke]

Title: Chasing Moonbeams.
Author: pekeleke
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Harry Potter
Rating: NC-17, eventually.
Length: 82K+
Warnings: Extremely Slow burn. Pre-slash to slash. Enemies to friends to lovers. Pinning!Harry. Oblivious!Severus. Implied Bottom!Severus. EWE.
Disclaimer: Don't own these characters. I make no profit from writing fanfiction.
Summary: “Really?” Harry beams, green eyes wide and full of wonder. “You’re going to let me snog you to my heart’s content?”

“Of course not.” Severus replies contrarily, curling elegant digits around the brat’s neck and tugging him down low enough for a quick and dirty kiss before the Savior has a chance to protest. “I’m going to let you snog me to my heart’s content, Potter.”

Chapter 13.

 

Severus doesn’t have a chance to explore Blaise’s astonishing conclusions for the next few days. Bearing in mind how utterly confident the club owner had been of his assertions, Severus had gone as far as to brace himself for a literal barrage of cheerful ‘Top O’ the mornings’ from the moment he used his new wand to return his recently enlarged hedge to its former length. Potter has been in no rush to hound him so far, though, and Severus can’t decide whether he feels disappointed by this state of affairs, or relieved.

He has just begun the arduous task of unspooling the intricate web of protection wards laid over the simple wooden case he had the goblins forward from his personal Gringott’s vault when Potter hollers his name from the lane like an uncouth hooligan. Severus sets his still unfamiliar wand on the leather blotter on his desk and sits back in his chair, scowling in displeasure at the half-opened window.

“SNAPE. HEY, SNAPE. SNAAAAAPPPPPEEEE!”

“Oh, for the love of—“ Severus grumbles, shooting out of his seat and heading downstairs as fast as his legs will carry him. He refuses to engage in something as undignified as a window to road conversation with the bloody Savior of the Wizarding World. “Shush, Potter! There is no need to screech under my window like a dying banshee for the amusement of the entire neighborhood.” He growls, embarrassed, as soon as he opens his front door.

Potter grins at him sunnily and edges closer. “Don’t be so dramatic. Your house is too far away from the rest. Nobody can overhear anything that goes on down here.”

“Well, I can hear what’s going on, and I don’t appreciate anyone yodeling my name for no good reason. Why on Earth didn’t you try the door?”

“Because you never answer it? Last time I tried that, I had to send in my Patronus. I’ve decided to explore other ways of getting your attention.”

“Please don’t. I will respond to your knocking from now on, I promise. If I don’t, you’re to assume I’m not at home. Are we in agreement?”

“You won’t use this new deal to, I don’t know, fake that you aren’t here?” Potter checks, in so Slytherin an approach to negotiating boundaries that Severus is stunned.

“I shall not mislead you into thinking I’m away, Auror Potter.”

“Good. That’s good. I’ll knock next time then. I’m sorry for -er making a scene and such.”

“You’re forgiven just this once.”

“Great!”

Severus hums under his breath and stares expectantly at Potter, ready to hear the reason behind this not so horrible -yet- visit. Potter beams at him sunnily for another second or two and then becomes increasingly fidgety. A wary silence creeps between them, and Severus cannot think of a single thing to say that could possibly bridge it. This is Potter’s play, after all. The ball is in the Auror’s court, so to speak. There must be an explanation as to why the boy was hollering his name with such abandon not five minutes ago.

“I-er haven’t seen you lately,” Potter says finally, turning completely pink from neck to ears. “I wanted to check up on you.”

“I’m in perfect health. Thank you, Auror Potter.” Severus replies formally, at a loss for what else to do. The boy seems to be here in an official capacity, and Severus thoroughly expects him to turn around and leave now that the Auror has confirmed his safety. Inexplicably, Potter flinches upon hearing Severus’s reply and, even more puzzlingly, lingers.

“Did you had a good time at Malfoy’s place the other day?”

“Yes, of course. Narcissa Malfoy is a very gracious host.”

“Great. I-er Nathaniel mentioned your new wand. He likes it.” Potter laughs a tad hysterically then, and Severus shifts warily from left to right, ill at ease with this painfully awkward attempt at small chat. “Nate likes everything of yours really. You’re his hero. You know that, right?”

“Fondness isn’t hero-worship, Potter. I’m hardly champion material.”

“Right. Of course you’d think that way. I’ve never met anyone more self-deprecating.” Potter grumbles unhappily, and Severus can’t help the frown that replaces his attempt at a polite and interested expression. He seems to have lost the thread of their strange conversation, and can’t figure out where it's supposed to lead.

“Potter, what on Earth ar—?

“How about drinks?” Potter interrupts him in a panic, then lurches forward and pushes his booted right foot hard against the doorjamb, as if he’s afraid Severus plans to close the door in his face.

“Drinks?” Severus repeats, startled, and tries his best not to glare down at Potter’s boot.

“Yeah. Pints. O-or coffee. Wait. You don’t like coffee, do you? I bet you don’t. Never mind. I could do tea.”

“Tea,” Severus says slowly, feeling no more enlightened than a second ago about why, exactly, they’re suddenly discussing beverages. “You wish me to invite you in fo—

“No!” Potter has the actual gall to interrupt him once more and then sags despondently about the shoulders when Severus glares at him. “Sorry. I-er I’m not trying to invite myself in for tea, Snape. You can keep being all mysterious about what the inside of your cottage looks like if you want. I just… Godric Freaking Gryffindor! Why is this so bloody hard?”

“Because you make it so?” Severus snaps. He is honestly at the end of his rope and struggling to remember a single good reason why he should put himself through this torture. Potter is obviously a moron. There’s no way they can ever be friends. Wouldn’t it be better for Severus to cut his losses now, when the savior hasn’t yet developed any ill will towards him, rather than risk moving forward only to alienate the idiot further and make everything worse?

Potter, contrary creature that he is, laughs at Severus’s show of displeasure and instantly relaxes. “I suppose that’s true. Sorry, but you make me nervous, Snape. It’s just weird talking to you without hearing at least one growl in there somewhere. It throws me off my game, you know?”

“I. Do. Not. Growl.” Severus points out, offended.

“I know.” Potter agrees with a small, unhappy shrug. ”You don’t growl unless you’re talking to me. Or to someone you think is an idiot. Which doesn’t bode well for me at all, does it?”

“I wouldn’t growl at you if you attempted to make sense, Potter. I find conversing with you hopelessly confusing.” Severus confesses in the hope that a little bit of honesty will gain him either some sort of explanation regarding what the hell is going on, or Potter’s inclination to be patient.

Potter laughs once more, and this time, his mirth sounds genuine. There’s the barest hint of pink back in his cheeks and a shy little smile playing on his lips. “I was trying to invite you out for drinks. Not the other way around.”

“Out? As in outside Sunlit Lane?” Severus can’t help the question. The offer has shocked him out of what he now realizes was a somewhat unrealistic vision of how a friendship between himself and Potter would progress. Severus had imagined a distantly cordial relationship born of increasingly warmer greetings delivered through his kitchen window, and the occasional exchange in person whenever they coincided while Severus was out in the lane. Potter, on the other hand, seems to want something a lot more involved.

“Yes? Er- I mean there’s this lovely bakery down in Peripheral Alley that makes the best cranberry scones I’ve ever tasted, and—well. Nathaniel mentioned how much you like cranberry cookies when I took him to Hogwarts, so I think you’d like those too. I’d love to take you there. Or we could go to Rosmerta’s if you prefer, we could share a couple of pints or something. There’s also this really posh club that opened a while ago at the edge of—

“I’m aware of the existence of Mr. Zabini’s club,” Severus interjects, trying to bring the Auror's nervous babbling to a stop. Potter stares at him, wide-eyed, snaps his mouth closed so abruptly that Severus hears his jawbone click, and begins to fidget with a loose thread on the sleeve of his uniform. “I may not be welcome inside that lovely bakery of yours, Potter.” Severus feels honor-bound to explain. “Perhaps we should limit our interactions to the shelter provided by this neighborhood, and our respective properties, if you feel like drinking tea in my company.”

“Perhaps you need to remember that I happen to be welcome every-fucking-where, Snape. Nobody will dare to throw you out of their business if you walk in as my guest.” Potter growls so rudely that Severus would have been impressed if he wasn’t way too busy blinking at the brat in shock.

“Perhaps I find that sort of arrangement humiliating,” Severus says evenly, and Potter looks into his eyes so hard, and for so long, that Severus starts pondering the wisdom of averting his gaze. There’s no way the Gryffindor managed to learn Legilimency in the last handful of years, is there?

“I sincerely doubt you’d mind putting up with a bit of humiliation if that action opens the door for the rest of your snakes to follow where you tread. They wouldn’t be welcome in my lovely bakery either, but they’d love to be. Wouldn’t they?”

“I suppose they would. The thought of helping my former students thus has crossed my mind,” Severus admits stiffly.

“Don’t lie to me, professor.” Potter berates him without much heat. “I bet that’s the only reason you agreed to let me befriend you in the first place.”

“It is,” Severus confesses quietly. He sees no point in denying it. He’s blown his chance anyway.

Potter smiles at him fondly. “Then let’s not do this in the shadows. Come out with me. Let me open the doors of Wizarding businesses for you. Let me help you bring your snakes back into the light.”

“Why would you help me do that?”

“Because it’s fair. Because it’s what you want to do, what Dumbledore would have wanted. And because if the bravest man I’ve ever met is the Slytherin who trained all the rest, they can’t possibly be as arseholey as they look?”

That last irreverent question manages to startle Severus into laughter. He wouldn’t have chosen to put all his cards upon the table in such a fashion, but can certainly admire Potter’s straightforward approach. He is also profoundly relieved that his underhanded reasons for agreeing to befriend the Savior of the Wizarding World have been exposed. Despite having played the role of double-spy for twenty long years, Severus doesn’t like lying. He prefers to keep his relationships thus, sincere in both intention and emotion. There is less heartbreak involved in getting closer to others this way. A lot less to fear, and a lot less to hope for too. This way, there is only reality, and Severus finds reality soothing. “Fine. I accept your invitation to tea, Auror Potter.”

“Really?”

“Yes, of course,” Severus says even though he doesn’t understand why he suddenly finds himself reassuring Potter. This is what the idiot wants, isn’t it? Then why the hell does he look so surprised?

“Great! That’s um—yeah. When do you want to go?”

“I’m not sure. When will it be most convenient for you?”

“Anytime. I’m not busy at all. I-er- How about today, after I finish my rounds?”

“Isn’t that a tad rushed? I’d prefer to have some time to adjust to the idea of visiting a public place in your company.”

“Oh! Of course. Slytherins like to drag their feet a bit. I’d forgotten about that. I’m sorry.”

“Slytherins do not like to—

“How about tomorrow then?” Potter interrupts him hastily, going as far as to smile charmingly in his direction and flutter his eyelashes in a ridiculously apparent attempt to avoid starting another argument.

“Fine!” Severus growls, refusing to be charmed out of the funk caused by Potter’s causal disparaging remark about his house’s tendency to think things through. Being cautious isn’t a crime, and Severus resents the Gryffindor's implication that it is.

“Good. OK if I pick you up ‘round five-thirty? That’d give me enough time to go home and change out of my uniform before collecting you.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m not afraid of being seen in the company of an Auror, Potter.”

“Well. I don’t want anyone to mistake the reasons why we’re there together. This isn’t an official outing. It’s a personal one. This is a part of my day, a part of my life, that has nothing to do with my job.”

“I see.” Severus says faintly, and Potter has the gall to grin smugly, looking for all intent and purposes as if he is privy to the fact that Severus ‘sees’ very little indeed.

“Awesome. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Potter beams at him once more before bouncing down the stoop, out of his front garden, and all the way out into the lane. Severus stands there, watching him leave, while the stunned mantra of ‘what the fuck did just happen?’ begins to make the rounds inside his head. Severus is befuddled. And not at all certain that he’s made the right call. At least they’re moving in the right direction, and Potter knows about the selfish reasons behind Severus’s decision to indulge his wish for friendship. Severus has nothing to fear. Nothing to regret. He isn’t hiding a single thing from the savior and, therefore, has nothing to lose. Everything should be as easy as pie from here on end.

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Comments

[teryarel]

“Tea,” Severus says slowly, feeling no more enlightened than a second ago about why, exactly, they’re suddenly discussing beverages.
Ha ha ha, poor Severus. One day, he'll get whiplash from Harry dropping things on him. :D
He seems to be constantly baffled.

I love their slowly growing 'relationship', and it's good that Harry knows about Severus's motives for accepting friendship.

(I'd like to say more, but reading and writing on my phone isdriving me nuts. Tomorrow I'll be able to set up my laptop again and write properly.)

[pekeleke]

LOL. Yes, Severus finds Harry’s rapidly changing topics of conversation extremely hard to follow. The poor dear will have to find a way to deal with that confusion since Harry is here to stay, isn’t he? :)

I’m glad that you’re happy with Harry finding out about Severus’s underhanded reasons to agree to their friendship so early on. I didn’t want that to be hanging around their necks like a noose and be forced to stage a big fight between them halfway through the story to resolve the issue. Convincing Severus to drop his guard around Harry is going to be hard enough without all that additional drama. :)

Thanks, as always, for taking the time to both read and review another chapter of this story, especially since you’re traveling and seem to be very busy. Have a good trip, my dear friend. :)