Chapter 10

When Harry woke, he grumbled and slowly opened his eyes then realized he wasn't at the club and it didn't smell like his apartment either. Letting his eyes adjust to the dim lit in the room he shifted in the large king sized bed and flipped onto his back so he could prop himself up on his elbows. He looked around the large room and frowned and tried to think of where he could be, he didn't think he'd done anything after the club last night and… Oh my gods, Harry realized and closed his eyes as he breathed in the familiar scent of Severus Snape who currently wasn't in the room. Harry shifted in the bed and swung his legs over the side, sliding on the silk sheets and looked around for anything that resembled clothes. He saw a dresser to the right of the bed so he quietly stood and opened the top draw pulling out a pair of what appeared to be silver silk boxers and slipped them on before heading towards the door and was on the other side of the bed.

Once he opened the door and stuck his head out he looked both ways down the vast corridor and decided to go hunting for the mystery man. He heard a clinking sound coming from behind him so he changed direction and around the corner found a massive staircase that lead downwards towards the front door. Once at the bottom, he was feeling a little self conscious and wrapped his arms around himself and walked off to the right and found a door through which looked like a kitchen on the other side. Harry was miffed at the vast size of house and found that there were a lot of dark woods and black walls with white furnishings, window frames and skirting boards.

He poked his head around the corner and spied the man in question slaving away over the stove dressed only in black boxers and sipping on a cup of what Harry thought to be coffee, straight black, no cream or sugar, he mused to himself. The man never changed. Severus turned around when he heard a noise and stayed still, which made it hard to gauge the man's reaction.

"Hey." Harry said shyly and gave a little half smile at the man as he walked closer.

"Good morning." Severus said formally, but a small smile spread across his face as he said it.

Crisis averted, Harry thought and stopped a couple of feet away from where the man was standing. He looked at the stove and noted a full English breakfast being made and he felt his mouth watering, he hadn't had one of these in a while.

"That smells delicious." Harry said.

"Good to hear it, would you like some coffee?"

"Sure." Harry replied as he made his way over to the dining table and pulled out a chair.

"So… uh, not that I don't mind waking up in your house but where are we?" Harry said unsurely and looked to Severus who was pouring him a mug of coffee, which the man added several teaspoons of sugar to.

"My apologies, Harry." He handed Harry his mug and sat down in the next chair at the square table. "You fell asleep and I didn't know where you lived." He shrugged but Harry waved it off.

"Thanks."

"We're are in Spinners End." He clarified when he realized he hadn't answered Harry's question and the boy got a sudden look of understanding.

Severus stood and pulled two plates out of the oven before loading them up with breakfast and coming to sit back down at the table with Harry. Harry nearly jumped when he saw an elf walking past him and he had to remind himself that he was still a wizard, he just hadn't seen one for a very long time.

They were tucking into breakfast, not saying anything when he sighed and decided that they had some explaining to do, on both parts but mostly just him.

"Guess I have some explaining to do huh." Harry mused as he pushed his scrambled egg around on his plate and looked up to Severus.

"Myself included." Severus added and Harry nodded and they both continued with breakfast.

Once breakfast was cleared, Severus walked Harry out and he decided that they would just talk in the bedroom seeing as neither of them was dressed and it would be more comfortable. Harry sat on the bed and crossed his legs as Severus came to sit next to him resting his back against the head board and staring straight ahead.

"I think it only appropriate that you start, Harry." Severus said and turned his head to the right to look at the boy.

Harry sighed and nodded before jumping into his longwinded story. He told the man about what he was feeling as he stood in the Great Hall after they won the war and how empty he felt. He looked around and all he saw was sadness and death, even his friends had found something in the war, but then there was Harry… just Harry.

"I couldn't take it anymore, I was there alone and I knew that when the first person started clapping that my life was going to get infinitely worse. Can you imagine what people would do to just be with me? I mean… gah. I don't even know how to describe it." He said frustrated and looked up to Severus who was nodding slightly at him.

Harry went on to say what happened as soon as he found himself in the Muggle village and how he grew his fashion label. He expressed his hesitance when he vowed to forget all about the wizarding world, he always knew it was going to be a part of him, so he said that he hid it in the very place he knew people wouldn't look.

"Snatter. I know you're not stupid, Severus."

Severus thought about this for a second then it clicked, Snape and Potter. "Clever." He mused and Harry smiled.

"I had grown rather fond of you, Severus and I think that in some ways it was one of the reasons why I decided to leave in the first place. NO! Not like that, I just never thought that anything would eventuate, I mean you were my professor." Harry had to clarify that last bit as he saw the anger and hurt in the man's eyes.

Severus couldn't disagree with Harry's reasoning, he too had been struggling with the idea that he was becoming attracted to the boy and he had thought it an impossible feat at the time as well. The feelings had been growing steadily over the time that they had spent together leading up to the final battle.

"Then I guess we were both stubborn." He mused and Severus elaborated and told Harry how he had felt the same.

He went on to say that a couple of years after the war and the castle had been fully restored that he didn't have the passion and flare for his work anymore and decided that he too needed a change. It had been a rough time for him with court hearings for all known Death Eaters who were still alive but he had been lucky, and with the support of Minerva he was excused of all crimes committed. He said that because of his work as a spy for the light and his dedication to the school he had proved his worth and therefore no punishment was executed.

"Then I bumped into Miss Amber, and she too proposed a business offer that I couldn't turn down. She too, if you're wondering, is a witch." He saw Harry's reaction to this and realized the boy had obviously suspected something.

"I found it an easy transition, and because I'd had to deal with all you insolent brats at the school I wanted my revenge."

"Poor us." Harry smirked, referring to the submissives in the club.

"You signed up for it, Harry. Don't play that card now." Severus taunted and Harry giggled in response.

"So here we both are then." Harry said once he recovered from his giggling.

"Here we are." Severus replied and they both looked at each other.

"What happens now?" Harry said unsure and looked down at his lap.

"I think it's clear what we both want, Harry."

Severus moved and shifted onto his knees and towered over Harry before wrapping an arm around the boy's back and shifting him so they were lying on the bed with Severus on top.

FIN

(For now, you know I'll return to this...)