Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Written for

The OTP Battle, Round 2.

Easter Egg Hunt - Cauldron.

Famous Literary Characters - Sydney Carton (Write about Severus Snape.

Nobody Compares To You

It was a slow coming thing, and it crept upon him so stealthily that he hadn't noticed anything until it was way passed the time he could have tried to stop it from happening. The realisation had knocked him completely, and he'd not known if he wanted to laugh or cry.

He argued with his subconscious for hours on end, trying endlessly to convince himself that no, he wasn't in love with Harry Potter. It had been a futile attempt. Truly, he wasn't sure if his heart was in it in the first place. Of course, he could have picked someone a little more... approachable, to fall for.

Severus Snape had never done things the easy way though, and it held true that this would be no different.

At first, he thought to ignore the feelings, to continue on as he had done for the past four years that the two had worked together. He thought he'd been doing well, until he caught Harry frowning at him a few times, raising his eyebrow when he caught Severus mid-blush once or twice.

Well, Severus could hardly help the delicious thoughts that sprang to mind when Harry bent over to pick something up in the tight jeans he tended to wear, could he?

When that hadn't worked, he'd embraced the feelings, and tried to accept that while, yes, he could live with them and continue to work alongside Harry, he wouldn't pursue anything more than the friendship that had grown between them over the years.

That could have worked. Severus had been making progress, he had stopped babbling like a buffoon and blushing like a teenage girl with a crush, and things were getting back to normal.

Then Harry ruined it all.

He announced he had a date.

Severus promptly saw green.

xxxx

"So he just walked up and asked you to dinner? Just like that?" Severus asked, trying to repress a sneer. He was stacking the shelves with books, and kept his back to Harry so the younger man wouldn't see the jealousy that Severus was sure was all over his face like a battle written romance novel.

"Yeah, I guess so. Said he'd seen me a few times and thought I was handsome," Harry replied from the counter. Had Severus been looking, he'd have seen the small smirk on Harry's face.

"And you just accepted? He could be a Death Eater!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "If I believe everyone I meet to be a Death Eater, I'll be forever single."

"Try dating someone you already know," Severus said, using the same are-you-purposefully-being-stupid tone that he'd favoured as a Professor.

"Oh, you mean like Ginny? That worked out really well. Or what about Blaise, who I very nearly went to Azkaban for cursing because he was fucking Draco Malfoy behind my back?"

"Alright, you've made your point. I just... be careful."

"Thank you for caring," Harry said quietly, and Severus turned to look at him, catching the small smile on his face.

"Who said I cared?"

"You did."

xxxx

Severus tried his hardest not to think about what could be happening on Harry's date. Was the muggle really just a normal muggle? Was Harry safe? Was Harry having fun, or worse, did Harry actually like the muggle?

The thoughts swirled around his mind despite his best efforts to shoo them away. He tried reading, which just left him rereading the same sentence fourteen times before he gave up. He tried making a potion, which just saw him ducking for cover to avoid the shrapnel of his cauldron when it exploded all over the lab. He even tried doing admin work for their shop, but that just made him think about Harry even more because they usually did the paperwork together.

It was a disaster, and Severus ended up sitting in front of the fire, tense as a coiled spring as he waited for the fire-call he'd made Harry swear too before he left the shop that afternoon.

He was about ready to throw a jacket on and apparate to the restaurant himself when the fire suddenly flared up and Harry stepped through the flames.

xxxx

"You were right," Harry said, seating himself rather heavily on the sofa, tucking his legs up underneath him and resting his head back.

Severus frowned. "What? It really was a Death Eater? Merlin, Harry, are you okay."

Harry snorted a laugh. "Not a Death Eater. Just a disaster. He just wanted in my pants and got sulky when I told him no."

Severus sighed in relief. "Ah, well. At least it wasn't a Death Eater."

Harry laughed again, shoving Severus shoulder gently. "Will you stop with the Death Eater thing? I can feel magical signatures, I knew he wasn't a wizard."

Severus gaped, before closing his eyes. "Right. I knew that. How was the date other than the bad ending?" he asked before summoning two bottles of butterbeer from the kitchen. He only kept it for when Harry was around, but he'd grown quite partial to it over the years.

"Merlin, but the guy was boring as sin. He collects stamps and has a toy train collection. I didn't even know what to say. He was staring at me as though he expected me to be really excited about it."

Severus laughed. "Looks can only get a person so far. Perhaps next time, you should look beyond that before you agree to a date."

"Are you calling me shallow? Actually, don't answer that. What am I supposed to do though, seriously? Have them fill out an application form?"

"Maybe talk to them over coffee before agreeing to a night out would be a start, though I would be interested to see the application form you would hand out."

Harry scrunched his nose slightly. "It's not like I'm really picky. Well, maybe I am. But still, how hard is it to find someone who likes reading, or, I don't know, nights in front of the telly with a shit movie and a bowl of popcorn."

"How hard, indeed. Go pick a movie. I'm sure I can be your stand in until you find yourself a date that doesn't collect stamps."

Harry frowned. "You'll never be a stand in, Severus. Not to me. You pick the movie, I'll make the popcorn."

xxxx

A little over an hour later found the two slumped on the sofa, side by side, an empty popcorn bowl on the table, and tears running unashamedly down Harry's cheeks.

"This film always makes me cry," he complained with a slight sniffle.

"I know."

"Then why do we watch it so often?"

"Because you're pretty when you cry," Severus replied, his eyes widening when he realised what he'd said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

He moved to get up from the sofa but Harry put a hand on his arm to stop him from moving.

"Sev? Do you... ah, I mean, it's alright if you... I, ah," he stuttered, before he shook his head. "Screw it."

Leaning up, Harry pressed his lips against Severus' gently, just enough pressure to prompt Severus to either push him away or kiss him back. Of course Severus chose the latter, and when they parted, Harry was smiling up at him.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

Severus furrowed his brow slightly. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to lose our friendship."

"Then why go out on a date tonight?"

"I've been looking for a stand in, for you. Nobody ever compares though. It's why I always come here afterwards. Nobody could ever stand in for you, because nobody could ever match up to you."

Severus blushed lightly, just a sprinkling of pink staining his cheeks. "Then I suppose I'll have to show you exactly what a date is supposed to be."

Harry smiled. "I look forward to it."