pekeleke

Title: In The Snowbound Garden.

Fandom: Harry potter (Snarry)

Characters: Harry Potter, Severus Snape.

Author: pekeleke.

Rating: G.

Word count: 940.

Disclaimer: Don't own these characters. No money is being made out of this work.

A/N: Unbetaed. Written for the adventdrabbles 2012 Prompt 22: Snowman.

This is the twenty-second part in my Seeking Home series.

Summary: In the snowbound garden there's a snowman and laughter, there's friendship and new hope, there's a snow-fight to win and a couple of ex-gryffindors ready to protect the men they love...

In The Snowbound Garden.

Harry sat on the orphanage's rickety bench, watching his three slytherins coach the children into building a snowman. So far there had been more exited squealing than actual work involved and Severus was starting to scowl at the more rowdy kids. Despite the fact that they all seemed to be having a good time, Harry couldn't ignore the guilt that threatened to choke him every time he looked at Narcissa Malfoy. He'd been forced to threaten her with using Draco's pending life-debt to force her son into teaching him the Fyendfire hex, if she continued to hide inside her rooms... Now they were all here, helping keep the orphanage kids entertained, and he could see that, although she still looked pale and fragile, a small light of pleasure was brightening her eyes.

Bringing her here had been Ron's idea. His friend was convinced that she needed to be around others who had lost as much as she had and managed to survive. Ron thought she needed to see that it was possible to smile again after a beloved member of your family was ripped away. She needed to realize that life went on, maybe not as happily as it had done before, but still filled with the possibility of finding small joys and simple pleasures.

He was in the process of re-joining the small group when a familiar form turned around the corner.
“Charlie! I didn't realize you were already home. I thought your portkey was booked for next week”

“There was a cancellation, so I flew in late last night. You look well, Harry. Congratulations, by the way, I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that you finally got your man... Happiness suits you, mate”

“Thanks!... I'm shocked to see you here. Never thought you were into kids.”

A small shadow crept into those usually jolly brown eyes.
“A year ago I wouldn't have come anywhere near this place. But a year ago I was a total idiot. I only cared about having fun. I wasn't interested on settling down at all.”

Harry frowned, concerned about the clear pain that coloured every word.
“You're in love, aren't you?”

Charlie's smile didn't reach his eyes.
“Yeah. I... I'm coming back home, mate.”

“You're running away from the guy?”

“No. I'm coming back for him. He's here, Harry. Right here, in fact. He's the only man who ever turned me down.”

“What do you mean he's here? Where...?” Emerald eyes widened as they followed the direction of Charlie's gaze.

“Draco? You're here to mess Draco up?”

“Harry...”

“I'm going to kill Ron!”

“Harry, listen to me...”

Fierce green eyes pinned him to the spot with enraged determination:
“No. You listen to me! Stay away from Malfoy. Do you hear me? He is not strong enough to cope with the kind of games you play, Charlie. Go find your sex somewhere else!”

The dragon-tamer's hand grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaving.
“I mean him no harm, I swear! I met him last Christmas at a pub. He's so beautiful... I was immediately dazzled. He was out on the dance floor and I made a pass at him. He looked right through me, Harry, told me he was there for the music, not the fauna, and I laughed so hard... I thought he was drunk. But he wasn't. He was stone-cold sober and he simply found me wanting.”

“Charlie...”

“I couldn't get the bloody git out of my head. I tried, but it was no use. I started picking up blond guys, only blond guys... I convinced myself that I could have a million men like him.” He whispered, looking with heartbreaking longing towards the man who stood beside Severus.

“But none of them were him... were they?” Harry's soft-toned question brought those pained brown eyes back to his face.

“No. They weren't. I saw him again over the summer and made a second pass at the same man for the first time in my life. He turned me down again, told me he was in love with Snape. I'll never forget the expression in his face when I started laughing... He grabbed the front of my shirt and told me that love isn't a joke. That it's the most important thing in a man's life and that he pitied whoever cared for me that deeply, because it was obvious to him that my worth was skin-deep...”

“Ouch!” Harry whispered sympathetically.

“He was right, though. I left that bar a different man altogether and spent every single day since then pinning away for the bloody git. I kissed The Prophet when I read about you and Snape... I tendered my resignation on the spot, and now I'm here...”

Feminine laughter reached their ears and they turned around to see that a snow fight had broken out. Narcissa Malfoy was cowering behind Draco, who was shaking his platinum-blond head, spraying soft snow all over the place, while Severus swirled his wand in a graceful arch that sent a formation of perfectly formed snowballs towards the a small group of kids who'd taken refuge behind a tree.

“Looks like the snowman can't compete with the allure of a snow-fight. I better join the fray, my poor slytherins are no match for twenty kids”

“Let me join you. I'm very good at snow-fights...”

Fierce emerald eyes clashed with deep brown:
“You mess with Draco and you mess with me, Charlie. Severus is worried sick about him. Don't you dare coming anywhere near him unless you're dammed sure you're going to stay.”

“I'll stay if he'll have me, I swear. I'm done with being... skin-deep.

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