"Harry Fucking Potter?"

Harry smirked from the other side of the door.

He stood stiffly, his feet shoulder width apart, one hand behind his back and the other sitting on the wand holster at his hip. The stance he was required to take when the Minister was in the building. He wore standard issue Auror uniform. A white shirt with a padded black vest over it, which was equipped with enough shields to repel a fly, and tear resistant black pants made of dragon leather.

"Severus." The minister's voice was in warning.

"I will not be taking orders from Potter!"

"You're not taking his orders Severus! You'll be work beside him."

"That's almost as bad."

"Severus, you agreed to the job when we spoke last week."

"Before you told me the whole story!"

The minister was getting impatient, "That is enough! He will brief you on everything we know." The door opened and Harry saw the minister hold the door open for Snape walk through. He did so with a huff. Snape was the only person Harry knew that could get away with glaring at the Minister. Minister Shacklebolt followed behind him, as well as his body guards.

Shacklebolt smiled at Harry and slapped him on the shoulder, "I leave the matter in your well qualified hands. Let me know if you need anything."

Harry nodded politely, "Thank you, Minister."

"Be nice, Severus!" The Minister said over his shoulder as he left the room.

Once it was just the two of them in Harry's office, he went over to his desk where the thick folder was waiting. He wanted to sit in his comfortable chair, but he didn't think Snape would kindly sit across from him like he was the boss. So he chose to lean his hip on the side of his desk, his other leg balancing on the ground. He opened the folder for Snape to see. He didn't even bother to call him over.

"This is the subject." He said as he threw the first sheet of paper on the desk. It was a profile sheet. "We don't know his name or his gender or his age."

Snape scoffed as he walked to see the papers, "Do you know anything Potter?"

Harry ignored him, "He has been going to different apothecaries in the London area and swapping out normal, everyday potions for much more dangerous ones. These potions have been causing innocent people to turn into monsters. They go feral."

"Feral how?" Snape asked, his interest in the case already growing.

Harry threw a stack of papers down on top of the other paper, this one with red sticky notes sticking out from all over. "Eyewitness accounts." Snape picked up the papers and leafed through them, "We interviewed everyone close to the ferals at the time of ingestion. They all report the victim's eyes turning red and skin turning yellow. They lose the ability to speak. They even beginning walking on all four extremities. Most of all, the ferals are bloodthirsty. Each one has ended up killing just shortly after transitioning."

"Why don't you close down those apothecaries?" Snape asked as he sat the papers down.

Harry shook his head and sat down another stack of papers, "It's not the same one every time. It started out here," He pointed to the top right photo, "But as soon as we found out it originated there, it changed to this one," The top left photo. "And so on. The potion is never the same either. We have information on all of the apothecaries so far. Where they are located, what kind of potions they carry, who their manufacturers are."

Snape sat down in one of the chairs, his hands coming together and his pointer fingers tapped his lips, "Has any leftover of the potion been recovered? Do we have a sample?"

Harry shook his head again, "There have been two instances where leftovers were found in the homes of the victims, but both times when we went to collect them, they vanished." He found another paper in the folder and handed it to Snape, "More eyewitness accounts, this time of the appearance of the potion. Most of them from people who were present when the victims took the potion, the last two from myself and Ron when we attempted collection."

Snape sneered again, looking up from the paper he held, "Weasley?"

Harry glared at the man, daring him to say something about his best friend, "My partner and one of the other people on this case."

"Bloody hell," Snape murmured. Harry didn't know if he was referring to the case or to the knowledge that he would be working with Harry and Ron.

"We can deal with the ferals. That's not the problem. The problem is that we don't know who is doing it and what the potion is. That's where you come in." Harry looked the man in the eye for the first time.

Snape smirked. Of course the part where Harry admits they need his help is that part Snape enjoys. Harry rolled his eyes at the man. He stood and turned to the papers on his desk. He shuffled them together neatly and placed them into a casefile. He handed the folder to Snape, "This is your copy. We have a meeting with the team tomorrow at 9."

"Fine. I guess I no longer have the option of being there." He stood up and went to leave.

"There's one more thing." Harry said reluctantly.

"Of course there is." Snape muttered.

"The Minister doesn't seem to think this is a priority, and really doesn't care about it at all, but we have not been able to save any of the victims," Harry told him with a frown. It was Harry's own personal project. "We need to find an antidote."

"You mean you want me to find an antidote."

Harry hated that he was right, "It's not like I can make it myself, Snape."

"Finding an antidote requires finding the potion, Potter."

"I'm aware."

Snape snorted, "That's a first," and without even a wave, he turned and walked out of the room.

"Was he terrible?" Ron was sitting in the conference room with Harry the next morning. They were there early to prepare for the day. They had been working on the case together for a couple months and the amount of information they had kept growing. But they were no closer to answers.

Harry currently was preparing coffee on the table by the wall. The team would need it. "He's Snape." He answered while he set out the cups.

Ron groaned, "This is going to the be worst."

Harry nodded in agreement. He grabbed his cup of coffee and stood by his chair. His vest lay over it and he was standing in just the white shirt. Ron was organizing the papers on the table, which he would be giving to the team to put in their casefiles. "We kind of need him," Harry admitted before taking a sip of the bitter liquid.

Ron wrinkled his nose, "That doesn't make me feel better. It'll probably go to his head."

Harry snorted.

The door opened and Plinkly came saundering in, he was pulling his shirt over his head and his boots were untied. Harry rose an eyebrow at him. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't want to be late so I tried to multitask." Plinkly was a pale, tall man with muscles for miles. He was the epitome of an auror.

Ron chuckled, "It looks more like you were rolling around in bed with some girl."

Plinkly winked as he took his seat and worked on tying his boots. The door opened again and two more members of the team entered. Jones and Marks were chatting casually, not really paying attention to the others in the room. They were both average height girls, both with blonde hair that was shoulder length but kept in braids. Although they were not related, they had an uncanny resemblance. Sometimes it was hard to tell them apart.

All the previous team members were there, they were just waiting for the newest addition. Harry watched the door nervously while fingering his holster. He glanced up at the clock on the wall and as soon as the clock chimed 9, the door opened.

Harry put his cup on the table and stood up straighter. Snape looked around the room with disinterest and chose the chair furthest from Harry.

"Thank you for all being here," Harry addressed the group. "Coffee is fresh." He added, knowing their love of the stuff.

"Fuck yes, coffee!" Plinkly exclaimed and made his way over to the pot.

"As you may have noticed, we have a new addition to the team. This is Severus Snape. He is a potions master and professor at Hogwarts. The Minister has hired him to help us with the case." He nodded towards the brooding man in the corner, although it wasn't needed. They were all staring at him.

Snape just sneered at all of them. He definitely wasn't welcoming. Harry left them to introduce themselves to the newcomer as he went around and dropped off the papers Ron had prepared.

"Didn't you help in the war?" Marks asked Snape in awe. She was good at hero worshipping. Harry knew that first hand.

Snape looked at her like she was dirt and didn't answer.

Harry cleared his throat, "I'll let Ron tell you about his findings." He nodded to his friend and then sat down, watching with interest.

Ron smiled at Harry and stood up, "Morning all. I have some additions to the files for you. It is as much information I could get about the newest place hit. Unfortunately this week, we have learned very little." Snape snorted from his corner. Ron faltered just slightly, but he didn't take the bait, "The latest store has not been cooperative. The owner seems to think we are mistaken. He refuses to let us in the store to search for clues. I would appreciate a volunteer to try to talk to him again. At this point he is refusing my owls."

Jones raised her hand, "I'll do it. Maybe it'll take a bit of womanly wiles to convince him." She said suggestively. Harry rolled his eyes.

Ron just laughed, "Yea. Good luck with that. I don't think women are his thing."

"Move over girls, it's my time to shine," Blinkly said with confidence, flexing his muscles against his white shirt.

"You're a bunch of imbeciles," The potions master interjected. "You all are supposed to be the professionals?"

"You have a better suggestion, Snape?" Ron snarled at him.

"Considering I'm a potions master, I think the owner of an apothecary would rather talk to me than a buffoon with abs."

"No! You haven't been properly trained to interrogate people. That's against policy," Ron objected, his hands on the table.

Snape looked like his head was about to explode, "Not properly trained? I was a fucking spy for the Dark Lord, you idiot child!"

"I'm not a child! I'm a fully trained auror and these policies are in place to protect people. You can't go in there like you're a spy." Ron tried to explain as calmly as possible, which Harry gave him credit for.

"I'm not an auror. I don't have to play by your silly rules." Snape said with a sneer as he stood up to leave.

"Snape, wait!" Harry made his way towards the retreating figure, "Stay here!" He said as he jogged to catch the man.

"Snape!"

"Forget it, Potter." The man said, not bothering to turn around. Harry caught up and grabbed his arm, turning him to face him.

Snape snarled and pulled his arm away, "Don't touch me, Potter."

"Don't be such a prick, Snape! You know as well as everyone else how much we need your expertise."

"That sounds like your problem, not mine."

"It is your problem! It's everyone's problem. This could get much bigger than London." Harry tried to explain, though it was like talking to a brick wall.

"And why would I care about that? I did my duty to London and the world in the last war."

"Then why did you even agree to come?" Harry asked with a sigh.

Snape looked at him with such hate that Harry almost recoiled. He watched as the other man turned back to leave again.

"Don't make me beg." Harry called after him.

Snape stopped and twirled around, "Your team is full of idiotic, brainless dolts and you expect me to work with them to solve this?"

"Yes. Because despite what you say, you feel obligated to. This place is your home too." Harry said simply. "This team is the best you will find. They may not do things you like or agree with, but they get things done."

Snape sighed in resignation, "This is about as hopeless as your chances of passing potions when you were in school."

Harry smirked at him, "And if you recall, I passed with flying colors. It's not as hopeless as it seems."

Snape shook his head, and Harry knew he had won. "You have a death wish." He pushed passed Harry to return to the conference room.

Harry smiled as he followed, "Since the day I was born."

Harry sat in his office two weeks later, his brain trying to come up with some sort of surveillance plan. Some kind of something. He had his fingers on his temple, trying to massage the headache away. He had been staring at blueprints for hours and still didn't know the best place to start.

Maybe Snape had been right and it was hopeless. They had been working their asses off and nothing was coming of it. He was contemplating setting the paper on fire when a stallion Patronus raced into the room. "There's been another attack." The Minister's voice echoed throughout the room.

Harry jumped up from his desk. He immediately activated the bracelet on his arm with his wand. It was a small black metal that glowed when activated, letting everyone on his team know that they were needed ASAP. Harry quickly realized that he had not given Snape one and ran to the floo. He threw in the powder and called Snape's address.

Lucky for him, Snape was sitting in his living room reading when the call came. "Snape!" Harry said simply. He saw the other man jump at the sudden voice and look at him, "I need you here." Harry moved out of the way for the man to come through.

The fire glowed green and the tall figure entered Harry's office, "What in heaven's name do you want now?" Snape asked in confusion.

"There's been an attack. The Minister just sent word. I have called them team to meet us at the Minister's office. They are probably there already." Harry caught him up to speed. Snape's face got serious, not that his face was ever not serious, and he went to walk toward the door.

Once again Harry grabbed the man's arm, "I can apparate us there." Harry said simply.

Severus' eyebrows rose in surprise, "You can apparate directly to the Minister's office?"

Harry smirked, "I have special clearance." He held out his hand to the man.

"Of course you do," the man sneered as he took his hand. Harry put his other hand on the man's chest and concentrated on the Minister. With a squeeze, they popped from Harry's office to a much more crowded one.

When the spinning stopped, Harry noticed that it wasn't just his team there already, but some other aurors that must have been called to the scene.

He realized he was still holding on to Snape and let go quickly. He moved without looking at the man and stepped closer to the minister, "What happened?"

"Two more ferals have been. They turned about an hour ago and attacked their neighbors in an apartment complex." Shacklebolt was solemn and Harry braced himself, "No survivors."

"Fuck." Harry said angrily. "The ferals?"

"In custody in the usual place. The guards have been notified to allow you access."

Harry nodded, "Can you add Snape to that as well?" He asked quietly but was sure the other man heard him.

The minister nodded.

"Do we know what apothecary was hit this time?" Ron asked from his spot behind Harry.

"The Apothecary." The Minister said quietly. There was a collective gasp. Harry glanced at Snape, who was frowning.

"Were either of the ferals students?" Plinkly asked from the back of the room. The Apothecary was where Hogwarts students got their potions supplies as it was centrally located in Diagon Alley. It was July, which meant that it was possible some students were shopping for their school supplies early.

The Minister shook his head and Harry let out a sigh of relief.

"I will go with Snape," Harry decided. He tried to think of where to go, but didn't know which would be better. He turned to the man and asked, "The Apothecary or the site they were found?"

Snape was not stupid enough to argue with the partner assignment, "The Apothecary."

Harry nodded and turned to the rest, "Marks and Wealsey, go to the site. Collect everything you can. Jones and Plinkly, interview whoever you can find that was there. And if there is no one, go to the neighbor's place and look for clues there." They all nodded at their assignments. Harry looked at the clock on the wall. "It's 11 o'clock right now, we will meet at the conference room in 3 hours with updates. If you are in the middle of something, come when you can." The team nodded at him.

"Weasley, if you find any remaining potion left, do not touch it and call for me." Snape addressed him seriously.

Ron nodded curtly.

"Shit that reminds me." Harry said suddenly. He grabbed his wand and accio'd a bracelet like the one the whole team wore. He thrust it at Snape, "There isn't a spell. Just touch your wand to it while thinking of the team. It will glow for all of us and we will know if you need us. If you want just one of us, think just that name. It also allows you to apparate exactly to one of our locations. Wear it at all times. Ron will activate yours if he finds the potion." Snape looked at the metal and looked surprised.

"Who came up with these?" He asked to no one in particular.

Harry smirked and looked at Ron who was visibly proud, "I did." Ron said.

Harry didn't let Snape have time to say anything. He looked at Ron and they lightly bumped their fists together, "See you in 3." Ron nodded and grabbed Marks and quickly apparated away.

"Good luck." The Minister called out to the room as they began to leave.

Harry gestured for Snape to follow him. They left the room and entered the hall. Harry turned to him, "Take off your robe."

"I will not!" Snape cried out.

Harry rolled his eyes, "You can't expect to go through a crime scene with a robe that touches the ground."

"I'll make do, Potter."

"You'll ruin all the evidence. What? Are you afraid of showing some skin in front a former student?" Harry asked with a smirk.

Snape was never one to back down from a challenge. He quickly undid the buttons and let the robe fall. Underneath it, he wore only boxers.

Harry was impressed at the man's composure. That wasn't the only thing he was impressed with. He stared at the black undergarment, unable to look anywhere else. He eyes briefly glanced up at the man's exposed chest, but his eyes eventually went right back to his boxers.

"Enjoying the view, Potter?" Snape's voice broke Harry of his musing. The dark-haired man was smirking at the him.

He was. But he wasn't going to let Snape know that. "Why the fuck are you naked?"

"If you recall, Potter, you interrupted what was supposed to be a quiet night at home."

Harry shook his head, "For God's sake. Come here."

Snape reluctantly went to him and Harry grabbed his exposed arm and apparated straight to his room. He let go and walked to his wardrobe. He had multiple uniforms neatly folded on a shelf for quick retrieval. He grabbed the perfectly folded uniform and tossed them to the man that was currently sizing up his bedroom.

"We don't have all day." Harry reminded him, interrupting Snape's snooping.

"These are not going to fit me." Snape said as he attempted to put on the small clothes. Harry rolled his eyes and got out his wand. He made them grow two sizes. Snape shrugged the white shirt on, which fit him perfect. Then he jumped into the leather pants. Harry could have gone up another size on those, but the way Snape looked in them, Harry thought they were perfect. As Snape put on the vest, Harry took in the whole package.

Maybe Snape should be an auror.

"How do you move in these pants?" Snape asked as he attempted to stretch them out.

"They're fine. Are you ready?" Harry asked. Snape nodded. "Ok, meet you at The Apothecary."

They apparated together. Harry landed in front of a big commotion. There was media all around the storefront, which was being blocked by aurors. There was a chain of unmoving men, all looking at the media as if they weren't even there. He felt Snape stand next to him and they walked to the entrance of the shop, ignoring the yelling of their names from reporters. The aurors stepped out of the way and let them inside.

At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Snape immediately began to look at the shelves, but they didn't know which potion had been swapped. Snape conjured a box and began to take every bottle he could find to at least know what more. Harry moved to the counter and began to take fingerprints from the surfaces. He moved to the storage room and made sure there were no traps for them in there. He took his time and thoroughly searched the boxes that were sitting on the floor.

They had been there for about an hour when Snape finally finished the front of the store. He walked into the storeroom where Harry was going through another box.

"Do you know of any potions already in existence that can cause such a reaction?" Harry asked Snape.

Snape shook his head, "Nothing. This has to have been created by whoever is doing this."

"Do you know of anyone in your potions circle that is capable of making a potion like this?"

Snape snorted, "Potions circle? It's not a club." He began to inspect the boxes of ingredients that sat in the back, "I will get you a list of anyone I know, but off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone this talented and insane."

Harry nodded. Snape bent over to look at the box on the floor and Harry couldn't help but look at perfect ass accentuated by Harry's charmed pants. Normally hidden behind robes, Harry had never realized how perfect round the man's ass was. And when Snape turned around, Harry was again distracted by the front. Leather pants a size too small really did nothing to hide the shape of a man's cock. Snape might be insufferable, but with a gag or two, he would probably be a great lay.

Snape cleared his throat. Harry jumped and moved his eyes away from the man's pants. Snape was smirking and lifting an eyebrow. Harry just blushed and moved past the man into the main room. "I haven't seen anything worth noting here, have you?"

"Are you sure, Potter? This is the second time I've caught you ogling me."

"Can we focus, Snape?" Harry asked, not turning around to look at him.

Harry heard him snort from behind him. "I agree, there is nothing here that is useful."

Harry nodded. "Should we go to Ron?"

Snape shrugged indifferently. Harry rolled his eyes and apparated away.

Ron seemed to be in a heated argument with the landlord of the apartment building they were at. It was the middle of the night and they were yelling like it was nothing. Harry hoped they didn't attract a crowd. The one in front of the apothecary had been bad enough.

"You can't deny us entrance!" Ron yelled as if he had said the same phrase a hundred times already.

"You got a key?" The larger, rounder man asked, his hands on his hips.

"I don't need a key. It's official Ministry business. This is a crime scene!" Ron argued back.

"No key, no entrance."

Ron was clenching his fists, his face getting as red as his hair. "What will it take for you to allow us in?" He asked through gritted teeth.

The landlord thought for a moment, "How much you got?"

Ron looked at him incredulously, "I'm not giving you money! Do I need to get the Minister involved?"

Snape had enough of the arguing. He walked towards the man now, looking like he was ready to curse the man. Harry put his head in hands, feeling another headache coming. He was going to have to explain a lot to the Minister.

Snape didn't bother arguing with the man as Ron had done. Instead he pulled his arm back and punched the man so hard that he fell to the ground, passed out.

Ron choked out a laugh and Marks had her hand over her mouth. Snape just massaged his hand and gestured for the team to enter the building. They did as they were told, all leaning over to look at the unconscious man as they passed.

"Did you just punch him?" Harry asked in disbelief.

Snape shrugged.

"Did you seriously just punch an innocent man while working for the Minister?"

"It worked, didn't it?"

"You know when Ron was talking about policy and procedures? This is why we have them." Harry told the man who was standing there looking impatient.

"Harry Potter talking about following the rules." Snape commented with a snort. "Stop whining and come on."

Harry watched gobsmacked as Snape walked through the building's door, practically stepping over the man he just knocked out. Harry was definitely going to have to fill out paperwork on this.

When Harry finally made it up to the room, he saw a scene similar to the ones had been to before. The place looked like it had been ransacked. Furniture was overturned and glass was on the floor. The team members that were there began their search. They had all been trained on evidence collection, so Harry left them to it. Instead he went look for the place of impact. He wanted to know exactly where the transition happened. He followed the path of distruction straight to the bathroom. It looked like a bomb had exploded in the small room. Tiles were missing and the floor had a big dent in it, as if someone had dropped something heavy on it. The toilet was broken and spraying water everywhere.

The ferals were strong, Harry knew this from the many accounts they had taken from witnesses. There had been talk of a feral completely taking out a wall. So the destruction made sense. Harry looked around the rubble for signs of a potion bottle, but it seemed like the bathroom was just the place the transition had occurred.

Harry exited the bathroom into the bedroom that was attached. Snape and Marks had already made their way into the room as well. Harry watched them as Snape thorough searched the closet and Marks searched the dresser by the door. Harry dropped to his knees and looked under the bed, but saw nothing but lint. He looked under the nightstand, also nothing. The drawers were full of papers and a small notebook, but no potion. Harry sat back on his knees and sighed.

"Shit!" Came from the other side of the room. Marks was looking at the top of a dressor, which was messy and full of random things. There was a glass of water and multiple bottles of empty potion bottles. While it would have been nice if those were the ones they were looking for, the look on Marks face told Harry that it wasn't the case.

"What did you just do?" Snape snapped at the girl angrily.

"I didn't know what it was!" She exclaimed. Harry stood up and moved quickly to where they were.

"Hey! What happened?" He asked, stepping between the two of them.

"It was right there. And she touched it!" Snape yelled.

Marks looked sheepish. She looked at Harry pleadingly, "I didn't know Harry. I was just searching through everything and when I picked up the bottle, it vanished."

Harry couldn't blame her, he had done the same thing the first time they come across it.

"I told you not to touch the potion! If it looked like it could be a potion, why would you touch it?" Snape continued to yell.

"Stop it! Marks, go to the Ministry and give them your statement. Ask for a penseive so that we can add your memories to mine and Ron's." Marks nodded and left quickly, afraid to stay in the same room as Snape any longer.

"I knew your team was useless Potter!" Snape began as soon as she was gone.

"It's not her fault, Snape. It disappears! How was she supposed to know?" He tried to keep calm, but they had been at this for at least two hours and Harry was ready to throw something. Harry closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm going to the conference room early." He told the still seething man.

He didn't even wait for a response before he disapparated. The room was empty as he had expected. There was still over an hour before they were supposed to meet. He went to the machine and started the coffee. He would need some caffeine if they were going to stay up this late.

Harry stood watching the coffee when he heard someone entre the room. It was no surprise that it was Snape.

"What are you going to do about this, Potter?" He asked from the doorway.

Harry didn't turn, "About what?"

"About your teammate tampering with the case!" He exclaimed in exasperation.

Harry turned to glare at the man, "She wasn't tampering, Snape. She was doing her job."

"Well obviously she needs to be fired."

Harry groaned. If Snape was going to sit here in this room the whole time, Harry was going to go mad. So he decided to leave. He walked out of the room and into the hallway that lead back to his office.

Of course he couldn't do that alone. He heard Snape's steps behind him. "Where do you think you are going, Potter?"

Harry ignored him and made his way to his office. He could take a nap on his couch. Or drink enough firewiskey to forget. Either way, he needed to get away.

"Did you train them Potter? Do I have you to blame for their complete incompetence?" Snape was still following Harry.

Harry had reached his office. "It would be just like you to pick people on your team because they all have sad backstories. Not skill." Snape walked into his office as well and even shut the door behind him.

Harry stopped in the middle of his office and turned to face Snape. He wasn't even hearing what the man was saying. Instead he stalked towards him and shoved him against the closed door. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Potter?"

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Harry said dangerously before covering the offensive man's mouth with his.

The kiss was not a nice one. It was full of anger and need. Surprisingly Harry wasn't the only one doing the kissing. Snape's hands moved to the back of Harry's head and he pulled him closer. Harry felt like his was being devoured. Harry moved his leg in between Snape's and ground up against the man's very hard cock.

Snape broke away with a gasp. Harry didn't let him go for long. He was angry and intensely turned on. "Take your clothes off," Harry ordered before moving down to Snape's throat.

"Who are you to tell me to do anything?" Snape gasped out.

"You're not really in the position to complain," Harry pointed out, but before he could do anymore, he felt himself pushed to the ground. His head hit the floor hard enough to see stars. "The fuck?"

Snape covered Harry's body with his and Harry no longer cared about the stars. Snape kissed him again, but his hands were moving up Harry's arm, pulling his hands about his head. Snape pinned them down and did a quick wandless spell to keep them there. Harry would have to ask him about that one.

Snape sat back, his hips holding down Harry's. Harry could see the pure lust in the other man's eyes. It made him even harder than he was before. He tried to buck his hips to get some friction but Snape held him down. Snape moved his hands to Harry's vest and quickly took it off. Once he was free of that, Snape moved his to the collar of his white shirt and with one quick move, completely ripped it.

"You better replace that," Harry told him with a thick voice. Snape just smirked and leaned back over Harry, this time he began to trace lines over Harry's chest with his tongue. "Shit." Harry groaned.

Snape captured Harry's left nipple and leisurely licked until it was erect. Harry was squirming more and more underneath him.

"Can we just skip this foreplay shit and go straight to the fucking?" Harry pleaded, staring at the man above him.

Snape did not expect that from him, "Well well well, the savior of the wizarding word has a very dirty mouth."

"Snape, I swear to god. If you do not take your clothes off right now, I'm going to murder you."

Snape smirked and stood up. Harry instantly regretted his words, as the loss of contact was maddening. Snape unzipped his vest and threw it somewhere in the room. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head. The view of Snape shirtless in leather pants was magnificent, but Harry wished he would hurry the fuck up.

Snape's hands quickly undid the button on his pants and with a swift move, Harry was once again looking at Snape in just his boxers. They did nothing to hide Snape's erection. Harry's mouth watered at the sight.

Lucky for Harry, his magic was much stronger than Snape's. With a quick spell, Harry's hands were free. He instantly sat up and went over to Snape. He didn't even bother looking up at the man, his eyes were looking straight at his cock. Harry pulled down the man's undergarments and spent just a second admiring the man before he licked the cock from base to tip.

Snape gasped and his dick twitched the contact. Harry took pleasure in that response and went to take the man in his mouth. But Snape just growled and picked Harry up off the floor. He moved quickly and unceremoniously plopped him onto his desk. "Seriously?" Harry whined, trying to reach for the man again. Snape batted his hands away and went for Harry's pants.

"Later." He muttered and he grabbed the front of Harry's pants.

"You can't rip these, Snape."

Snape looked at him with mischief in his eyes, "Try me." And they gave way like butter. Harry should probably bring that up with the manufacturer. "Turn around," He growled again. Harry didn't have to be told twice.

He leaned over his desk, completely naked. A position he had only dreamt about before. Not with Snape, but in general.

Snape moved to lean over him. He mouth was right next to Harry's ear and his cock was brushing against Harry's ass. "Do I need to waste time preparing you?" He asked before licking the shell of Harry's ear.

"If you do, I'll hex you."

Snape smirked and gave the ear a quick nip before grabbing his cock and lining it up with Harry's opening. He spit into his hand quietly and spread it on his cock, not wanting to be too rough. Once sufficiently slicked, he began to penetrate Harry.

"Fuck yes." Harry moaned and rocked back against the feeling of Snape entering him. Snape tried to go slow, but Harry was not making that possible. Snape pretty much said fuck it and thrust quickly, completely burying himself in the warmth of Harry.

Harry reached for the sides of the desk, needing something to hold on to as Snape began to slam into him. Each stroke hit Harry's prostate, sending shocks directly to his own cock. "Yes! Snape!"

Snape put a hand on Harry's back, pushing him closer to the desk and creating a different feeling from the position. His other hand was on Harry's hip. He was breathing faster, getting closer and closer to climax. His thrusts were erratic and almost unbearable for Harry, but he loved every second of it. Harry felt when the other man was cumming, he didn't need to accompanied yell. The thrusts were slower but harder, as if trying to pump as far into him as he could.

When Snape was done, he pulled out slowly but did not let Harry move. He once again leaned over him, but this time reached around his waist and grabbed the man's impossibly hard cock. He moved his hand up and down leisurely. His mouth went back to the same ear, "God, Potter, you're so fucking hot. I should have done that years ago."

Harry moaned, both from the sensation and the words. "Don't stop." He moaned again.

"Don't stop what?" Snape whispered. "Stroking you? Or talking?"

"Both," Harry gasped.

"You're so needy. So wanton. You couldn't get enough of me. You loved it when I slammed into you." Snape increased the pace.

"Snape! Merlin!"

Snape chuckled, "You're so close." He moved his mouth to drop sloppy kisses on the man's neck. "Cum for me, Harry." He whispered.

At least Harry was obedient at something. Just two strokes later and Harry came all over the side of his desk. Snape continue to stroke until he was sure the man was done and then he stood up.

Harry turned around and stared at the breathless man in front of him. He looked deliciously disheveled. "Fuck." He said quietly. He looked around at the clothes he was wearing before, which were mostly in shreds.

"Im going to need more clothes," he muttered to himself.

Snape rolled his eyes, which didn't have the same effect when he was completely naked. "Or you could just repair these."

Harry pulled out his wand and did just that. They didn't look completely the same, but it would work until he could change again. He put his pants on and zipped them up while watching the other man. They dressed in silence, but it wasn't an awkward one. It was full of satisfaction. Once he was completely dressed again, he turned and cast a cleaning spell on his desk. He stared at it, imagining the two of them just minutes ago in that spot.

There was a knock at his door. Harry quickly turned around and met Snape's wide eyes. "Harry? Mate? You in there?" Ron of course. Harry looked at the clock on his wall and saw that it was after 3.

"Yea, I was just grabbing some stuff. I'll be right out." Harry yelled back. He looked around, tried to see if there anything that would give it away. He looked down at his clothes, they were clean and wrinkle free. Satisfied with his appearance, he made his way to the door.

"Potter, wait!" Snape harshly whispered. He went up to him, "Your hair. It looks like someone just fucked you up against a desk."

The words sent a shock to his groin. He reached up and felt his hair. Yea it was a bit messier than usual. He looked at Snape and reached to feel his hair as well, "Yours isn't much better."

Snape's eyes grew darker and he stepped forward and captured Harry's mouth again. Harry moaned into it. But he had to pull away, "If you start this again, I will not be able to stop."

Snape stepped away and smirked at him. Harry quickly set about to fix his hair, although really Harry's hair always looked like someone had at least given him a good snog. When he was done, he noticed Snape's hair was back to its normal straight. When he got the all clear from Snape, he headed towards the door.

Ron was leaning against the wall outside sleeping. When he heard the door open, he woke up with a start and straightened up, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, it's been a long night, man."

Indeed it had been.

The rest of the team was sitting quietly in the conference room. Harry stepped into the room and it was like setting off a bomb. Everyone began speaking at once.

He went to his sit and held up a hand, "Stop. One at a time!"

"We found something." Plinkly blurted out first.

Harry leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, propping up his chin with his hands. He looked at the others expectantly, "Tell me."

"The second one to turn feral today was with his brother when it happened. Luckily he was unharmed and was very willing to let us see his memories. They are in that jar." Plinkly pointed towards the middle of the table. Harry nodded. "Before the victim turned, he had told his brother that the potion tasted differently. He said it tasted sweeter, like licorice. And after he took it, he complained of a headache and vision changes for at least ten minutes before the changes happened." He glanced at Snape who was looking deep in thought, "I figured that may be helpful to you."

Snape nodded distantly. Harry looked back to his team and signaled for the next person to speak. It was Ron, "When we went to the second site, we were able to find this." He handed it to Harry, it was a piece of glass, "There was a jar shattered on the ground. This piece has a bit of The Apothecary label on it, but it's slightly different that the normal one." Ron handed him a picture of what the labels normally looked like. Harry studied the two and they were almost exact, except for a symbol in the corner.

Harry took the glass sample and slid it across the table to Snape who picked it up instantly, "Look familiar at all?"

Snape shook his head, "I've never seen it. But it means our culprit is an idiot. He is arrogant. Has to put his mark on things, even if it means getting caught."

Harry nodded again, "That's great, Ron. Anyone else?"

Jones was next, "Actually Harry, I think I might know which apothecary will be hit next." She took out a large map and had marked with her wand where the other apothecaries were, including the newest one. They had that map for a couple weeks. But with the addition of the new place, it was obvious it was a circle. "I think the next one will be the big one, right here in the middle."

"Is there an apothecary there?" Harry asked with amazement.

"Of course there's an apothecary there. It's the biggest one in London!" Snape's sneered.

"How would I know? That's why you're here." Harry shot back. "I guess we know where we'll be going later."

He sighed and moved his chair back, "Good job today, everyone. I don't think there will be much more to do tonight. Go home, get some sleep. I'll see you again before lunch."

The others all bid Harry goodnight and left. Ron gave him a slap on the shoulders before he headed out. Snape didn't move. Harry looked up at him, feeling exhausted, "I'm going to see the ferals." He said simply, the invitation being implied. He stood up and walked towards the door, not really bothering to see if the other man would follow.

A few quiet steps alerted Harry that he did.

On the floor below the conference room, there was an empty room with a couple of cells inside for criminals that needed to be transported to another area. It was where they had been putting the ferals to keep them contained.

The sound of growling and snarls hit them first. It sounded like they were housing werewolves. Harry opened the door and even though he had seen many of them before, he still jumped.

They were both at the front of their cells on all fours, trying to squeeze their faces through the bars to get to Harry and Snape. Their skin was a shade of yellow that Harry had never seen before this case. It made Harry ill to look at for too long.

Snape wolf whistled behind him, "That's…terrifying."

Harry just stayed silent. He stood with his shoulders tense. He felt like he was failing these ferals. They were human beings. And they were dying. "They have 24 hours." He said quietly. "Exactly 24 hours before they just die."

He felt his fists tighten. His nails digging into his palms. He was so angry. Angry at himself, because he had been on this case for weeks and they had gotten no further. Harry couldn't stop it. He didn't know if he was going to be able to solve this one.

"Potter." The stern voice beside him interrupted his pity party. "As much as it pains me to say this, but you have done everything you can to help them."

Harry was shocked by Snape's words. He turned with wide eyes to look at him. Snape looked genuine, not like he was pulling Harry's leg. But his look changed to one of mischief, "And it's not just the sex talking."

Harry snorted and shook his head. Who knew Snape had such a sense of humor?

Harry finally made it back to his bedroom. It was 4 o'clock in the morning and he would have normally been waking up for the day just an hour later. Instead he was going to get ready for bed. His feet felt heavy and his head was still pounding. He looked longingly at his bed, but knew he needed to shower first. He stripped out of his clothes and went to his bathroom. He found the shower faucet and turned the water on as hot as he could handle. When the room was so full of steam that Harry felt suffocated, he stepped into the shower. The droplets burned and left a trail of pain as they rolled off him, but his muscles were reacting just as he wanted them to.

He stood under the spray of the water and lay his head against the cold wall. The scalding water hit his back and he sighed in relief.

In his mind he made a list of things he needed to do when he woke up again. He couldn't shut his brain down. There was too much to do. He almost considered taking a sleep potion before he lay down because he knew sleep would not come easy. Unfortunately he couldn't do that if he planned on waking up again in a few hours.

He didn't know how long he had stood there but his body felt numb from where it was being hit with water. He turned off the water and grabbed a towel from the rack by the shower. Once he was dried off, he went to his wardrobe and grabbed a pair of clean underwear and slipped them on. He didn't bother with pajamas.

Finally he was able to do what he really wanted, lay in his bed. He moved the covers and sank into the soft mattress. It felt like heaven to his roughened body. He had been mostly standing all day, and his legs were feeling it. The shower hadn't helped as much as he wished. He grabbed the cover and pulled it up to his chin. At least if he couldn't sleep, he would still get some rest.

Suddenly there was a loud pop from the side of the bed. Harry sat up quickly, about to go for his wand when he noticed the raven black hair and crooked nose that signified Snape's arrival. Harry turned on his side to watch him.

"This is proving much more useful than I imagined it to be." Snape muttered as he stared at the metal around his wrist.

"You should tell Ron that." Harry responded and propped his head up with his hand.

Snape smirked at him, "I don't think that would go over very well." Harry finally noticed that the man was wearing only pajama bottoms. His chest was bare and pale, begging for someone to mark it. Harry wasn't quite as tired anymore.

Snape walked toward the bed but Harry stopped him, "If you're going to get in my bed, you're going to need to lose some clothes."

Snape watched him with smoldering eyes as his fingers pulled on the waist of his pants. He wasn't wearing anything under the pajamas, which made the process much quicker. Harry wasn't complaining.

Snape crawled up on the bed without a word and pushed Harry's shoulder slightly so he lay back completely. Harry looked up at him with unconcealed lust. He hasn't been so turned on in years. Snape leaned down and licked Harry's lip slightly so that he would open up. When he did, Snape's lips met his. He thrust his tongue into his mouth and Harry welcomed it.

The kiss wasn't as hurried and harsh as it had been earlier. They weren't expected to be anywhere and they weren't up against a wall. It was an exploration. Harry moved his hands along Snape's back, noting some scars and rough spots from what he assumed were from years in Voldemort's service. He moved his hands down to the other's hips and a little more roughly pushed them down so that Snape's body was flush with his.

Snape moaned into his mouth at the contact. Snape pulled away and without word moved to Harry's neck. He covered every inch of it in kisses and light bites. When he found the area that made Harry buck, he stayed there and sucked like he were drawing blood. He gave it sloppy kisses and a couple licks, all the while listening to Harry groan and wiggle beneath him. After a few minutes he continued his way down, doing the same to his chest. Harry's nipples were delightfully sensitive and Snape took advantage of that. He licked and sucked and blew air on them to make them stand before tweaking them with his fingers. Harry wasn't making coherent noises at this point, just guttural moaning and whispered words that Snape didn't quite care to hear.

He moved the rest of the way down Harry's body. He took a quick stop at Harry's navel and gave one long lick. "Fuck!" Harry said for the first time, bucking his hips. Snape moved a hand to his hips to hold him down and smirked up at the man. He did it again to tease the other and then moved down. He traced the man's hips with his fingertips and he dipped them underneath the underwear that Harry had stupidly put on after his shower. But they weren't on for long. Now completely nude, Snape didn't take anytime before taking Harry into his mouth.

Harry was in heaven. He hadn't known that Snape could ever be considered heaven in his eyes, but when the man did moves like that with his tongue, Harry could no longer deny it. He thrust his cock into Snape's mouth, who gladly took it. He licked the entire length again, paying close attention to the tip where drops of precum were forming, and then encased it in his mouth again. Harry took some of what he used to think was greasy hair in his hands and tried to get more. More of him into Snape's mouth, more of that feeling. Just more. Snape let him choose the pace and Harry was amazed that he didn't gag once. He briefly wondered how often the man did this. When the thought was met with jealously, Harry quickly distracted himself.

"I'm going to cum." Harry said quietly, his voice thick with arousal.

Snape didn't seem to mind and continued his movements, but Harry wasn't ready just yet. He pulled a little too harshly on the hair in his hands and Snape gave a hiss of pain as he raised his head. "Not yet. Just…" he waved his hands towards their bodies, trying to convey his needs in a more elegant way but all he got out was, "Fuck me."

Snape gently freed himself from Harry's hands and crawled up to meet him. "We need to work on your patience."

"I don't care what the fuck we work on as long as you stop talking." Harry growled out.

Snape leaned down and bit the man's bottom lip. Harry yelped at the pain and glared. "Get your lube." Snape commanded.

"Lube? You didn't care about lube two hours ago!"

"This time we are taking it slow."

"The hell we are!" Harry exclaimed, trying to sit up to protest more. Snape pushed him back down. Harry huffed and wandlessly called the lube to his hand. It came hurling at him from the bathroom cabinet where it had sat hidden away for far too long.

"Quit whining." Snape told him as he calmly grabbed the lube from his hands.

Snape got a glob of lube on his fingers and moved achingly slow towards Harry's ass. He circled the puckered opening, causing Harry to buck wildly. Snape held Harry's hip down with his other hand while he pushed in a finger. He took his time penetrating him. Slowly he moved out and back in the tight opening. After a few minutes he added a second finger.

Harry groaned at the addition and opened his eyes to watch. Snape was already looking at him, his eyes dark and unreadable. It was an intense feeling, having Snape's fingers thrusting inside him while Snape watched him intently. Everything about Snape was intense.

By the third finger, Harry felt like a puddle on the floor.

Finally, Snape withdrew his fingers, causing Harry to groan at the emptiness. Snape reached forward to grab some more lube, "Let me." Harry said breathlessly. Snape obeyed with a smirk. Harry grabbed the lube and worked it onto Snape's length. He was very thorough, jerking the skin up and down to get the lube on. And also some extra jerks because it made Snape moan like crazy. As much as Harry like the sound, he needed the man inside him. He lead the cock to his entrance. Snape seemed to have it from there. He entered the man painstakingly slow. Harry didn't know how he had the willpower.

Snape leaned forward, putting the palms of his hands on the bed on either side of Harry. His face was inches from Harry, who couldn't look away. Harry's hands moved to Snape's back, trying to get some sort of traction.

Harry tried to raise his hips to meet Snape's thrust. "Stop." Snape whispered above him.

"Please." Harry begged in the same voice.

But Snape didn't answer. Once he was completely sheathed in the man, he stopped moving. He leaned down and captured Harry's lips in a kiss. At least Harry got something, even it wasn't the movement he wanted. He devoured the man's mouth, trying to convey his need for more. He dug his nails into Snape's back, causing Snape to release Harry's mouth with a hiss. Harry could tell it worked when Snape pulled back and thrust into Harry much harder. Apparently Snape enjoyed the pain with his pleasure.

Snape moved in a constant pace now. Not fast enough for Harry's liking and definitely not hard enough. Harry could appreciate a slow fuck but right now he wanted to be pounded into. "Harder!" He begged.

But the rhythm didn't change. Harry moved his hand to Snape's lower back and raked his nails from bottom to top, feeling the man's back arch as he did. "Fuck." Snape growled as he shoved his cock into Harry.

Harry grabbed the man behind his neck, his nails digging in and he pulled Snape down for another searing kiss. Snape couldn't help himself anymore and he began to thrust at a much more satisfactory rate. Snape fucked Harry's mouth with his tongue in the same manner. The room was silent except for the frantic sounds of the best sex of Harry's life. Not that he would admit that to his former professor.

The thrusting was more erratic, Snape was getting closer to his climax. He pulled away from Harry's mouth, which felt bruised and swollen, and reached between them to grab onto Harry's cock.

"Oh god," Harry groaned, his own back arching off the bed. It took just a couple hand movements before Harry was cumming all over Snape's abdomen. Harry didn't know if it was the sight of Harry's climax or the sudden tightening, but Snape followed right behind Harry. He grunted with each thrust, spurting into Harry.

"Don't move yet." Snape told him, breathing hard while leaning on one hand. His other was still holding Harry's softening cock.

Harry was sure he wouldn't be moving anytime soon. He lay with his eyes closed, trying to count his heartbeat to calm down but it was too fast. He felt Snape plant a few kisses on his exposed neck before he laid his forehead against his jaw. Harry could hear him trying to catch him breath. The move was surprisingly intimate.

Once the position became uncomfortable, Snape extracted himself from the younger man beneath him. He moved off him and plopped himself on the bed. Harry turned his head to glance at his bedmate. Snape looked content. Harry understood the feeling.

He cast a quick cleaning charm on them both and reached for his cover. "Don't hog the covers." He told Snape, not bothering to ask if he was staying. He turned on his side away from Snape and closed his eyes, exhaustion taking over. Just before he drifted off, he felt the bed move and arms surround him. Snape pressed his body against Harry's and lay his head on the pillow near Harry's.

"Tell anyone I cuddled with you and I'll hex you."

Harry chuckled. "Your secret is safe with me."

Harry didn't sleep well and it was barely ten when he decided he had tried long enough. Snape was sleeping soundly next to him, so he got out of bed as quietly as possible. He figured Snape could find his way out just fine. He dressed in the other room and made his way to the office. The whole floor was quiet, almost everyone he worked with was busy and hopefully his team was getting some rest.

The conference room was wonderfully empty. He set the coffee to run and moved to roll out the map on the table. He stared at the five marked apothecaries. When Marks had shown him the supposed circle, Harry had had this nagging feeling that it was more than that. He went to his casefile and found the locations of those who had turned feral. Maybe that would help. He marked it on the map with his wand. The results were instantly noticeable. It wasn't a circle that they were creating, it was a pentagram. The apothecaries were the main points of the pentagram and the people affected made up the lines.

Harry wrote furiously on his paper. What if the motivation behind these attacks were something bigger than they thought? What if this person was trying to raise an army?

He shuffled through his notes and found the paper on ferals. There had been twenty cases so far, all of which killed another person and then died 24 hours later. If they were trying to create an army of these people, it didn't seem to be working. They all died. But what if they just needed the pentagram to be completed to have the ferals stay alive longer? An army of humans turned into bloodthirsty monsters.

Harry was over his head. He needed an expert.

He activated his bracelet and hoped that some of them were awake by now. Then he conjured a patronus, "Find Bathsheda Babbling at Hogwarts, tell her I need her here on urgent business." His stag majestically nodded its head and ran through the office.

Thankfully it was Ron that came first. His hair was sticking up all over and his white shirt was on backwards. "What's up?" He asked as he walked into the door.

Harry pointed to the map on the table. Ron strode over and examined it. Harry watched his eyes get wide, "What the hell?"

"Yea. I'll explain more when they all get here."

"If they come," Ron remarked.

"Yea. It's been a crazy 24 hours." Harry answered him with a sigh.

"You're telling me! I think Hermione is going to divorce me if I don't start sleeping in the bed at night again." Ron said with a laugh. It turned into a sigh and leaned against the table, looking at Harry, "You think we're ever going to finish this?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't even know anymore. I feel like the closer we think we get, the further away we really are." Ron nodded at him.

The door opened again and the girls came through. They looked just as polished as they had the night before. He didn't know if they hadn't gone to sleep or if they took the time to get ready before coming. Either way, next to them Harry and Ron looked like trolls.

"What's up, Potter?" Marks asked as she quickly sat in her usual seat. Jones followed close behind.

"Wait till the rest get here."

As quickly as he got the words out, Snape came barging into the room, letting the door bang into the wall. He looked pissed. "He got up on the wrong side of the bed." Ron muttered to him with an eye roll. Harry didn't correct him. Really Snape got up on the wrong side of his bed. He carefully watched the surly man. His hair was ruffled and he had bags under his eyes, but he looked like he was ready to bite someone's head off. Harry was pretty positive that someone was him. Snape angrily sat down, not even bothering to ask what everyone else already had. Instead he drummed his fingers on the table.

Harry cleared his throat, "We'll wait a couple more minutes for Plink before we begin. Coffee is over there." The girls stood and went to the said machine, pouring themselves a cup. Ron joined them, making like chit chat with them while he waited. Harry stood with his hands on the back of the chair in front of him at the head of the table. He looked down at the floor and sighed. He was so ready for a break.

It took five more minutes for Plinkly to arrive. He looked rough. Harry felt bad that he had to do with to his team. Maybe he should have just figured it out himself.

"Thank you for coming so soon again, I'm sorry. I wish we could get some sleep and come back well rested but I think I have discovered something." He moved towards the map on the table and explained his theory. Everyone, minus Snape, murmured their agreement. It definitely could be an army. Something much more than just turning people to kill.

"I have asked a more reliable person to come take a look and tell us as much about this symbol as possible." He told them, stepping back from the map to let them get closer.

"God, what a terrifying thought." Plinkly said, staring at the map. The girls nodded with their mouths open.

"It's worse than when the Dark Lord was here. Using a potion to turn unsuspecting people into a horde of their own." Snape said for the first time, a frown on his face as he imagined. Harry agreed with him. It was worse than they expected.

"I don't know what the next steps are going to be just yet. We need to research as much as possible. We need to see if the apothecary assumed to be the next target really is a target." Harry was rambling. He had so many thoughts in his head, it felt like it was going to explode.

He moved towards the door, "I'm going to step out for a minute while we wait for her to show."

Most of them didn't even notice. Marks was talking and pointing to the map, speculating on a way to surveillance the shop. Snape mumbled something harshly but Harry didn't stay to find out. He walked into the hallway, feeling the cool air hit him. He walked to an empty desk and sat down, laying his head on the cool wood. It was nice and quiet again.

He felt the presence of a return patronus and turned to see a small bird. "Be there in ten." A high pitched voice came from the message. At least they weren't going to be waiting long. He briefly thought about sending a message to the Minister, but he didn't have answers, just theories. Shacklebolt was probably tired of his theories.

He thought back to the last day and was shocked that the first thing that came to mind was Snape. He had only been on the team for a few weeks but he was rocking the boat. Mostly Harry's boat. He didn't know how he went from hating the man to begging for him to have sex. And it was good sex. And fun, which Harry didn't think Snape was capable of. It had only been a day and he didn't know if it would continue beyond the work relationship they had at the moment, but Harry was going to take advantage of the stress relief.

"Fucking Snape!" A voice came from behind him.

Harry tensed up. How did Ron know? Was Snape in the room blabbing about his conquests? Harry wasn't ready to explain it to Ron at the moment. "What?" He asked, his mouth dry.

"Snape! He's in there yelling at Plinkly about being a glorified bodyguard and how useless he is. I had to get away before I punched the man." Ron stood in front of him, shaking his head. Harry relaxed, it wasn't what he thought.

"Um. Yea." He answered half-heartedly.

"He needs to get laid or something." Ron said. He leaned against the desk, looking thoughtful. "I bet he's super kinky."

Well he wasn't wrong. "Hmm."

"And he probably controls the whole thing like a tyrant." Another check. "God can you imagine?" Yep. "What woman would be desperate enough?" Well he was wrong on both those accounts.

"Why are we discussing Snape's sex life?" Harry finally asked, feeling a bit to self-conscious about it. He didn't want to give away that he knew pretty well what it was like to have sex with the man.

"You're right. We have enough nightmares." Ron shuddered. He looked over at his best friend, "You all right, man?"

"Yea. Just couldn't sleep. I've been up too long." He answered honestly. Ron just nodded in understanding. He stood up slowly with a sigh, "She'll be here any minute. We can go back in."

Ron grumbled, "Ugh. With Snape."

Harry ignored him. He heard the yelling coming from the room before they even opened the door.

"You can't talk to her like that!" Plinkly was yelling.

"I'll do whatever the hell I please." Snape fired back.

"Shut up!" Harry yelled as he walked in the door. Tired and mentally on the verge of a mental breakdown, Harry had enough. "We are a team. You're working together. Quit whining!" Apparently repeating words that were during sex that morning was enough to stop Snape.

It was the perfect timing for Professor Babbling to walk in. Harry turned to her and forced a smile. "Professor! Thank you so much for coming."

"Mr. Potter! I was surprised by your message. It seemed urgent." Harry nodded and walked her towards the map, explaining almost everything that was going on in as little time as possible.

She looked over the map for a few minutes, examining it from every angle. "Well this is peculiar." She said as she turned the map again. "It is a pentagram, but it's not as easy as that."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked with confusion.

"A pentagram is just a five pointed star. It takes a little more to that to make it mean something. If you look at it like this," She said as she turned the map, "it is a religious symbol. Christianity is a mostly Muggle religion, but there are some here that follow it. It represents the five wounds of their version of a god called Jesus. It is a good symbol, considering the context. But turn it this way," She moved it so that the point of the star was down, "it becomes much more evil. It attracts sinister forces because it overturns the proper order of things and demonstrates the triumph of matter over spirit."

Harry tried to wrap his head around it all. "Well how do we know which was it is supposed to be?" Ron asked, turning the map all around to get some sort of answer.

Snape grabbed it and turned it so that the map was right side up, "Like you're supposed to read a map, you idiot," He traced the lines, "The first apothecary hit is in the south and all the others to follow were above."

Professor Babbling nodded, "It looks like it. And if that's the case, then it could very well be an evil wizard or witch who wants to rule with an army of more than mere men."

"If that's the case, then what does it mean now that it's complete?" Jones asked quietly.

"The person responsible can draw power from this. Whatever they were trying to accomplish is now easier." The professor said grimly.

"We have to consider that the ferals may not die after 24 hours now. He could have enough power combined with his potions to sustain them for much longer. And this apothecary," Harry pointed to the middle of the pentagram, "could be the starting point. Snape said so himself, it's the biggest apothecary in London. Tons of customers go in every day and all he needs now is to distribute the potion."

"This is all conjecture. How do we know it's true?" Ron asked.

"We don't have time to find out. We got called in for the latest attack around 11 last night, best case scenario they took the potion around 9. That's 8 hours from now. We can't sit around and wait to see if they survive longer than that. We need to stop the potion." Harry said, looking around at his team.

They all nodded gravely. Harry turned to Professor Babbling, "Thank you for your help."

"My pleasure. Please send word if I can help you." She shook Harry's hand. Before she left, she went to Snape. "Severus. It's lovely to see you doing more than just teaching." Snape sneered at her. But she didn't seem fazed. "See you at the start of term."

"Snape and I will go to the apothecary, inspect the potions and if possible, get a list of all the customers that have been in since last night. Then I'm going to need you all to visit each one, find out if they took anything and if they are feeling anything. Be safe, if they have turned or are going to, they will seek to kill. I'll send you names by patronus. Until then, I need you to research. Look to see if there are cults or people who have shown similar likings to these pentagrams. Look up old cases, especially unsolved. We need to find out who is doing this."

The team nodded and dispersed quickly. Snape looked to Harry, "You didn't wake me up." He complained.

Harry gathered his papers, "You were sleeping."

"What does that have to do with anything? The Minister hired me to help, not to sleep."

Harry sighed, "Snape, I don't have time to do this. Let's go." Snape grumbled behind him but followed him anyways.

"I can't close down my shop! I have hundreds of customers!"

Harry's plan wasn't going well. Mr. Mormont was the owner of Mormonts, the apothecary named at the middle of the map. He was old and tiny and Harry felt like he didn't care about what was going on outside of his shop. He didn't even know who Harry was, which was appreciated and frustrating.

"Mr. Mormont, you could be saving the lives of thousands of people. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" He was begging now.

"I will lose out of business!" He exclaimed back, not flinching at Harry's words.

"You can appeal to the Minister when the case is complete and get reimbursed for everything." Harry told him. He didn't know if it was true but he would talk to the Minister. Hell, if he had to pay for it himself, he would.

"And wait months for them to reject me? I think not, Mr. Potty."

"Potter." Harry mumbled. Snape snickered behind him. Thank God Ron wasn't there to hear that.

Snape stepped forward and glared at the man in front of them, "Mr. Mormont, my name is Severus Snape. I am a Potions Master at Hogwarts. I have bought from you for many years. But more importantly, I know many esteemed people that buy from you and would be most interested in hearing about your refusal to work with the Ministry to save lives."

The owner considered this. Harry felt stupid. He should have used Snape's status in the potions world ten minutes ago.

"I can give you 24 hours." The owner contended. Harry sighed. It was better than nothing.

"Agreed then. And there's one more thing, we need a list of all your customers from the past 24 hours." Harry should have added that part before he agreed, because now he was yelling at them again. "Please! It's important!" Harry yelled over the small man.

"I have the trust of my customers! If I give you this list, they will think I betrayed them. Some of them will not take well to being questioned by the ministry." He argued.

"We won't tell them where the list originated from. And we won't persecute anyone unless it's in relation to this case." Harry explained desperately.

Mr. Mormont sighed in defeat and went to his cash register. He handed them a stack of receipts with names scrawled on top. "Thank you!" He exclaimed. He turned to Snape, "I'm going to send these names out to the team. Can you start searching the store?"

Snape nodded wordlessly and turned to do as Harry asked. "Wait! Do you have that piece of the label that was recovered?"

Snape reached into his robes and pulled out the bag with the broken glass in it, "Way ahead of you Potter!"

Harry was thankful for the man. He went into another room and began sending messages to the team with names from the receipts. Once he got the first round out, he began to help in his search. He cast some basic spells to see if there was anything amiss in the room but nothing came back. He sent more names as he got answers back from the team. He searched the boxes in the room but it was mostly herbs and cauldrons. There were no potions kept back here. When he finally sent the last name he had, he joined Snape in the other room.

"Anything?" He asked the taller man who was one his knees looking at the back of a low shelf.

"Nothing." Came the response.

Harry sighed. He went to look for the owner, "Mr. Mormont, do you keep your potions anywhere else but in the main store room?"

The owner shook his head, "No that's it."

"Have you recently sold out of any potions?" Harry asked suddenly.

Mr. Mormont looked thoughtful. "Yes! I got a shipment of hair restoring potions yesterday and they have been flying off the shelf. I figured there was just a lot of people that needed it."

Harry grabbed the receipts and looked for those that had bought the hair restoring potion. He was able to create a large stack of those that bought one specific potion and pocketed the rest. "Do you know where you got the shipment from?"

"The same place I always do." Mr. Mormont handed him a packing slip and Harry quickly conjured a patronus.

"Change of plans." He began.

When the patronus was gone, he quickly found Snape. He handed the packing slip to him, "Do you know this company?"

Snape looked over it thoroughly, "It's a crappy mass production company for potions. Most apothecaries use it for their quick sellers."

"So do you think it's the whole company that is behind this?" Harry asked.

"I doubt it. The company is very profitable. They wouldn't risk their plan failing and losing all that money. If it is coming from this company then it is probably one single person. What did you tell the team?" Snape asked.

Harry showed him the stack of potion buyers, "Instead of interrogating everyone, I gave them the name of the people who bought this specific potion. I told them to be careful because there was a chance people had already taken it. But hopefully we can find someone that hasn't taken it yet. They have been told to tell you if they find anything." Harry assured them. But he didn't look reassured. He looked like he wanted to yell.

"They are going to fuck it up!" He did yell.

"Give them some credit! They know what to look for now!" Harry said back.

"That didn't help whatshername."

"That wasn't her fault and you know it." Harry told him sternly, and Snape was going to tell him exactly what he knew when a cat patronus came running in.

"We have a problem." Jones' voice echoed through the store.

Harry's stomach dropped. This wasn't good.

Harry and Snape arrived at the Ministry almost immediately. The Minister was there along with about ten other aurors. Ron and some of the team stood nearby and he was scowling with his arms crossed. When the Minister saw Harry, he stomped over to him. "Mr. Potter! What is the meaning of this?"

Harry was confused, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Harry, we came to tell you but the Minister found us first." Jones started to explain.

"Tell me what?" Harry asked, angry and worried.

Ron stepped forward, "We found more ferals."

The color ran from Harry's face, "How many?"

The Minister was the one to answer, "Ten, Mr. Potter. We now have double the amount than yesterday! And you are no closer to an answer." Harry opened his mouth to dispute that but the Minister held up a hand, "No excuses Mr. Potter. Come with me. Snape too."

When the Minister turned away, Harry quickly gestured for Ron. He handed over the packing slip, "We need to look into this. Go there. Ask about someone who would have made hair restoration potions this week. Where is Plinkly and Marks?"

"They said they had a good lead and would meet up later. I will look for them. I'm sure they are fine. You better hurry."

Harry saw the Minister was much further away. Harry nodded to him, "Thanks Ron. I'll get ahold of you when we're done."

Ron quickly left and Harry caught up with the Minister in no time. He was not looking forward to this meeting.

Harry stood in the Minister's office, staring straight ahead but not really seeing anything. He was seething in anger. How dare Shacklebolt threaten to kick him off the case.

He felt a presence behind him. He didn't realize that Snape had stayed in the room. "Has anyone ever told you how fucking sexy you look standing like that?" He whispered in his ear before he took the lobe in his mouth and sucked. Harry didn't even realize he was still in his formal pose.

"What? Of course not!" He said astonished. Snape moved down to Harry's neck and gave a kiss.

"Mmm. They should." He wrapped his arms around Harry's body and groped at Harry's hardening cock. "You're so tense."

"Did you not hear anything the Minister just said? He's going kick us off the case! And we have so much to do. I have to find Ron and see what he found!"

Snape continued his movements, "You're Harry Potter, you're not getting kicked anywhere. And Ron can fend for himself for a few minutes."

Harry seriously doubted that. But he was also having a hard time thinking with Snape's hands where they were.

Snape rectified that. "Stay here." He said as he moved away. Harry heard the door lock and a silencing charm be said.

"Really? In the Minister's office?"

Snape came around to the front of him and began to unzip his pants. Harry went to touch the other man but he was stopped, "No." Snape told him and looked him in the eyes, "Do not move. Stay exactly in that pose. If you move, I leave."

"Snape!" Harry exclaimed as he watched Snape fall to his knees in front of him.

Snape coxed Harry's cock out of the opening in his pants and went to work.

It was much more difficult to not reach out to touch Snape than Harry expected. He wanted to grab the man's hair, slam his cock into him, do something. The feeling of Snape's tongue was driving him crazy. He couldn't even move his hips because Snape's hands were holding him tight. "Fuck Snape! Please!"

"Perseverance, Potter."

Harry scoffed in his head. Perseverance. How could Snape even think about multi-syllable words right now?

"I hate you." He growled out.

Snape looked up, his face centimeters from Harry's red and aching cock, "Try and say that again in five minutes." He kept eye contact with Harry as he completely engulfed Harry's cock. All Harry wanted to do was touch him, but he stayed achingly still.

Harry didn't know that sex with Snape could be so hot. Harry had never been so aroused with another man before. He also had never been with someone that would ever consider sucking him off in the middle of the Minister's office.

Harry groaned as he grew closer to climax. "Snape." He called out pleadingly.

Snape understood, but didn't let up on his rule. He grabbed Harry's hips and pulled him further into his mouth.

It didn't take long for Harry to cum. So much for five minutes. Snape swallowed the release quickly, not letting a drop escape. Once finished, he lazily licked his cock clean before standing up gracefully. As Harry caught his breath and wished for more coherent thoughts, Snape stepped up and redid the zipper on Harry's pants.

Harry stood still, eyes closed, for what seemed like hours. "You can move now, Potter." Harry could hear that damn smirk in his voice.

"Yea I don't think I can." He admitted. He cranked his eyes open and peaked at the other man. He saw the smug look but more importantly he saw the man's obviously arousal. That made him move for the first time. He stiffly reached forward to return the favor. But Snape swatted his hand away.

"No time."

Harry scoffed, "You've sucked me off twice now and I've barely gotten to touch you!"

"All in due time." Snape said as he walked towards the door.

Harry reached out grabbed his arm, which caused Snape to turn towards him, "That was…uh…incredibly hot."

Snape smirked and continued to leave, "I know." He said nonchalantly over his shoulder.

"Prat."

The first thing Harry did when they finally left the Minister's office was look for Plinkly and Marks and make sure they were okay. He went into the conference room and sighed in relief when they were standing in there talking quietly to each other. "Harry!" They yelled when they saw him.

"Seriously guys? You scared the crap out of me!" Harry told them, giving them both a quick hug.

"Sorry man, but we were successful." Plinkly said with a smile. "Where's Snape?"

Harry turned around and was surprised he wasn't there. He didn't realize that after the Minister's office that he was going somewhere else. "I have no idea. I just saw him."

Plinkly shrugged, "No matter. We found someone that hadn't taken the potion yet!"

Harry's mouth gaped open, "What?"

Marks smiled, "And we were able to collect it without vanishing." She produced a large glass box with a potion bottle inside. "We tried to find you but Ron told us you were with the Minister."

"How did you get it?" Harry asked as he watched Marks put the box on the table. He went to examine it closer. It was a clear liquid and the label looked just like those at Mormont's but with the tiny symbol in the corner that matched the one from The Apothecary.

"We had the man who bought it put it inside. We kind of figured that the potion was specifically triggered by us, since they could touch it and obviously whoever stocked shelves could touch it. Somehow the person doing this knows who is on the team that is investigating them." Plinkly told him with a smug smile.

"Marcus, Hannah. You guys are my favorite people right now!" He told them with a small laugh. Finally. Something good.

Marks laughed, "You haven't called me by my first name in months!"

Harry laughed too, "Habit." He jumped back and looked towards the door, "I have to find Snape. Stay here."

He ran out and activated the bracelet. He didn't expect to be apparated into a shower.

"Potter! What the fuck are you doing?" Harry looked up saw the outline of a very naked Snape through the fog and droplets on his glasses. He wandlessly cleared them and was able to see exactly what was happening. Snape was in a large shower, his right hand was holding on to a very erect cock.

Harry looked up into Snape's eyes, who was looking at him like he had three heads. "Um."

"Get out!" Snape yelled. But Harry just stood there, completely clothed and soaking wet.

Instead Harry stepped closer, "I offered to help you with that and you left!"

"Potter. Get out of my shower!"

"No!" He stepped forward again and knocked Snape's hand away. He grabbed man's penis and began to stroke it quickly. Snape groaned at the movement. "Why didn't you let me do this earlier?" Harry asked breathlessly, looking down at the cock in his hands.

Snape grunted, bucking into Harry's hand. "You were busy." He said shortly.

Harry looked up and watched as the water droplets fell onto Snape's body. "You didn't care about that when you were sucking me off." He leaned forward and licked the water off Snape's chest.

"Potter, do we have to keep talking right now?" Snape grunted out as he moved his hips with Harry's hand.

Harry moved his tongue to Snape's wet nipple and licked it too, while increasing the speed at which he jerked off his former professor. "Yes." He said as he raised his head again. "Did you not want me to touch you?" He asked. Which was a weird thought considering the sounds and movements Snape was making as he touched him right now.

Snape laughed mirthlessly, trying to catch his breath. "All I want is for you to touch me, Potter. That's the problem!"

"What? Why is that a problem?" Harry asked. But Snape wasn't going to answer anytime soon. He was cumming into Harry's hand. He must have been close to climax when Harry interrupted. Harry continued his movement, milking him of his cum as he kissed the man. It was considerably more wet than usual, which briefly made him think of Cho. But this was definitely not the same.

When Harry broke the kiss and moved his hand away from the now soft penis, he looked at the man underneath him. "Why is that a problem?" He asked again.

Snape glared up at him, "We're in the middle of an important case, Potter. In case you hadn't noticed. And all I can think about is when I can touch you again. I can't even keep my hands off you after we were almost fired. It's reckless!"

Harry gave him a laugh and kissed him again. "Speaking of that, I'm supposed to be finding you to tell you that the team found the potion. Completely intact."

Snape pushed him away from him roughly, "Seriously Potter? And you're over here kissing me!" He went to leave the shower but Harry stopped him.

"You're not the only one who can't help it." He admitted. Snape looked at him, looking like he was just as lost as Harry. "Go on. I'll meet you in the conference room."

He apparated into his bedroom and quickly changed clothes. He had changed his clothes more often in one day than he had all week. Once he felt like he looked exactly the same as five minutes ago, he apparated to the conference room.

Plinkly and Snape were bending over the sample, talking frantically. Marks came up to him and pointed to his hair. He reached up and realized it was completely wet. Just as Snape's was. He quickly dried with his wand and looked over at Marks who was just smirking. "It's not what it looks like." He whispered to her.

"It looks like you're happy, Harry." She whispered back before making her way back to the other two.

Harry took a deep breath and followed her.

"I'll need to find a way to test it." Snape was saying, mostly to himself.

"Could you use gloves?" Harry asked.

Snape looked up at him briefly, "I don't know. And I can't chance trying." He looked back at the potion. "I need to take it to my lab."

Harry nodded, "That's fine. Keep me updated. I'll do the same for you."

Snape grabbed the glass box and with a look at Harry, disapparated. Harry let out a shaky breath. "Now we just need to hear from Ron."

"His name is Anthony Walk." Ron was telling the team, minus Snape, about forty minutes later. "He has worked for the company for about ten years. This morning, he showed up for work as a delivery driver for the company. He grabbed the boxes, including the one with the potions we have been looking for, and then left. He never showed up later like he was supposed to."

"Just a delivery boy?" Plinkly asked.

Ron shook his head, "Apparently the company is smaller one. Everyone has multiple roles. Today, he was supposed be delivery boy because another man called in sick. Walk had access to all the potions and the lab."

Harry nodded, "Thanks Ron. So we need to find more about this person. Specifically we need an address." There was a general mumbled for the group as they discussed how to do that.

Suddenly Harry had an idea, "Jones, do your parents still work the Public Information division here?" She nodded quickly. "See if they can help. Anything will do."

She stood and left the room as quickly as she could. Harry turned to those remaining. "What did they with the ferals you found today?" He had forgotten about the conversation they had before meeting with the Minister.

"They were trying to round them up and put them in a cell at Azkaban, last I heard. Who knows if they got them all? There could be some that hadn't transitioned yet." Ron told him.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Unfortunately, we don't know who has taken the potion. But there were at least 50 that bought them from the apothecary."

Plinkly whistled, "That's a lot of ferals."

The others nodded. Harry turned to the team, "Look, if we find him, we call for backup. No heroics. No martyrdom. We try to hold him off until more help arrives." He told them firmly. They all nodded back in confirmation. "With that many ferals, we could be looking at a war."

Harry paced back and forth as he waited for Jones to return. The others stood still, not talking. Finally the door opened and Jones came running in with a piece of paper in her hands. "Got it!" She exclaimed.

Harry looked at the address and nodded. He handed it to everyone so they could memorize it. Then he got out a quill and penned a quick note to Snape on the back of the paper.

Snape,

His name is Anthony Walk. This is the address. The team is leaving now to go investigate. Don't apparate to us until I know it's safe.

H.

He summoned his patronus and handed it the paper. Once the stag was gone, Harry turned to the team. "Let's go."

Anthony Walk lived in a small apartment outside of London. The building was just as creepy looking on the outside as they could have imagined. There weren't any cantankerous landlords outside this one.

Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as scared as he did. But they were both Gryffindors. They could do this. They walked forward with the rest and entered the building. His apartment was on the first floor in the back of the building. There was no sound in the entire building, which Harry found strange considering it was the afternoon. The room marked 189 stood at the end of the hall. It looked like a normal door, nothing untoward about it.

Harry did a quick unlocking spell on the door but it didn't budge. He should have known a man as sick as this would want to hide what was behind the door. Luckily Harry had been trained well. It didn't take long for Harry to break down the wards on the door and they entered in silence.

It was a mess. Like someone had lived there for years and never left. Which could mostly be true. Harry could tell the moment they entered that no one was inside. They split up to search for something that would tell them where he could be. Harry found the kitchen easily, which seemed to have been transformed into a makeshift laboratory.

Cauldrons were bubbling on the stove and jars of ingredients lay everywhere. Harry grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down everything he saw. But he didn't need to, because near the chopping station was a book full of scribbles. It looked like a madman's inner ramblings. There were a bunch of different potions listed, ingredients were written down and scratched out like he had tested them and they didn't work.

Harry flipped through the pages and tried to decipher it. He saw the words demon and hell more times than he could count. Maybe this Anthony Walk guy thought he was creating demons. The ferals definitely seemed like they could be. Harry didn't know much about demons and hell, but if he were to imagine what demons would look like, it would similar to what all those people were transitioning into.

Harry pocketed the book to give to Snape and then went to search again. Ron was in the bedroom, quickly and efficiently searching through everything. Harry left him to it and went into another room.

Harry felt like he had walked into a cave. There were drawings all over the wall, in what could be paint or blood but Harry didn't care to find out. There were papers everywhere. Some on the wall, some on the floor. The biggest and most important thing in the room was a large map similar to the one in their conference room. Walk had marked every apothecary in London, but Harry saw that none of them lined up how he wanted them to except for the five that they had been watching. The pentagram was drawn in red on the map.

There were pictures of people all over with addresses written on them. Harry realized it was the addresses he had -found of the ferals they had discovered. These were what they looked like before turning. Harry looked at every one of their faces. He looked at every one that he had failed to save. These people were sought out merely for their location on the pentagram this man had made. They were all chosen by chance.

"Wow." He heard Ron say from behind him. Ron walked up next to Harry and stared at the map with him. He felt the other three members of their team join them. They all stared together.

Ron pointed to an area on the map that was scribbled over in black, as if marked out. "Hey! This is where we found those ferals today."

"Why is it marked out?" Jones asked.

"Maybe it's not. Maybe it's something more demonic then that. Like this could be the hole to hell?" Plinkly theorized. He obviously didn't believe what he was saying, as he trailed off towards the end of his question mark.

"This is where he's going to meet with his army." Harry said simply. He had no proof, but it was the only thing to go off of. This man had made an army, for a reason Harry still didn't understand, and they were going to try something.

"So we have to go there?" Ron asked, staring at the area on the map.

Harry nodded, "Yep."

"We're going to get killed."

Harry sighed. "Probably."

Ron turned to face the group, "What's the plan?"

"I need Snape." He said after a couple minutes of silence. They all nodded their head in unison.

Harry left the team to gathering supplies and he head to the floo in his rooms. He hoped that Snape had the chance to come up with something in the last few hours. Anything really that could help prepare them.

He entered Snape's quarters with ease. It was a sign of all that had occurred in the past 24 hours that Harry could enter his former professor's living room and not be terrified of what was there. Instead, he called out for the man. "Snape?" He asked a little louder than conversational tone but not loud enough to interrupt anything that he could be doing.

He walked towards the man's office, which he knew was adjacent to his rooms. It was empty as well. So he went to potion's classroom. He stood in the doorway quietly. Snape was hunched over his cauldron, carefully ladling a clear potion into tiny glass balls. There were over a dozen on the table in front of him and what looked like more in a box near him.

Harry watched the ease at which the man worked. It was like he was in his own world. Potions were this man's life. And he was damn good at it.

"Snape?" He whispered after he noticed a lag in Snape's work.

Snape looked up from his cauldron but did not stop what he was doing. "Are you doing anything volatile at the moment?" He whispered again.

Snape shook his head curtly and Harry stepped into the room. "We found something. A lot of somethings actually." He quickly caught the man up to speed.

Snape took the book that Harry had found in Walk's apartment and flipped through it, "Where was this a few weeks ago?"

Harry snorted, "Tell me about it." He looked around at Snape's work, "Have you found anything useful?"

Snape didn't look up from the book, "I'll tell the whole team together." He sat the book down with a sigh. "Sounds like we're going into another battle."

Harry nodded, "The team is getting supplies ready as we speak."

Snape looked up at him. Harry's breath caught is throat. Snape looked down at his worktable and Harry saw his knuckles go white as he gripped the table's edge. "What the hell have you done to me?"

"Me?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Yes, Potter. You. You started all this." He growled out, not looking up.

"You could have said no. Every time. You could have pushed me away when I kissed you in my office. You came to my room. You went down on me in the Minister's office. And we both know you're strong enough to have pushed me out of the shower. You could have said no." Harry told him firmly, not letting the man put all the blame on him.

Snape looked up at him with a glare so intense, Harry stepped back, "No. I couldn't actually. That's the fucking problem, Potter. In not even 24 hours I have had three climaxes, which is more than I normally have in a week, and already I'm hard again just at the sight of you." Harry felt flush at such a confession. "I don't seem to have control over any of this."

"And you think I do?" Harry laughed mirthlessly. "Snape, I'm just as confused about this as you are."

The room was silent. Harry desperately wanted to get answers, for the sake of both of their sanities. But they didn't have the time. "Snape. We have to go." He told him gently.

Snape let go of the table and walked over the man. Harry looked up at him, feeling helpless. Snape grabbed his face in his hands, "You better not die today, Potter. I don't know what this is, but I'm not done with you yet." And he kissed him with enough passion to make Harry's knees go weak. He had to seriously concentrate on standing when Snape let go and walked back to his work table. He quickly packed up the rest of the box and walked through the door Harry had come through.

Harry took a deep breath and ran to catch up.

"I've been looking it over and I don't know what the potion is yet. That will take some more time and more research of the book Potter gave me today. But I may know the main ingredients." Snape was telling them in the conference room as they all were getting ready.

They all had their vests on, but there were a couple more pieces of equipment that they normally saved for real trouble.

Harry handed him a pair of leather gloves that were impenetrable and resistant to fire. Snape took them and put them on while he continued to talk, "It's an anise plant. Not normally fatal and many people would use it in medicines, but in combination with other things, such as wormwood, it is more of a poison. I got the idea from Weasley's testimony about the licorice taste." He nodded lightly at Ron who didn't take the time to gloat.

Harry nodded at him to go on, "I can't cure anything with that information, but I was able to come up with a deterrent." He opened the box and removed a glass ball the size of a snitch. "These will incapacitate the creatures for a time. It won't kill them. It'll just buy you time." He also removed leather belts from his box, "This is to carry them on you." He handed them out to the team.

Harry turned the belt and glass balls over in his hands. They were amazing.

"Wow. You made all these in two hours?" Ron asked as he took his.

"That's what happens when put effort into things, Weasley," Snape answered with a sneer.

But the team didn't even notice the insult. They were all in awe. Harry quickly put his belt on and snapped the balls into place. "I don't know what we will find out there. It may not even be anything, but if it is, be prepared. An army of ferals is going to be tough. And as close as Snape is to finding a cure, we can't think about keeping them alive. If they are going to kill you, kill them first. The Minister is aware of our findings and is sending backup. If we can find Walk, the goal is to keep him alive." They all nodded in understanding. Harry nodded at them that it was time to leave.

They apparated a few blocks from where the black mark was on the map. It was a normal neighborhood, completely empty. Harry had a bad feeling about that. Someone should be out. It was a nice warm day. People should be walking their dogs. Kids should be out in the streets playing. But there was no one. Harry walked cautiously towards their destination and heard the snarls before he saw anything. They turned a corner and Harry stopped in his tracks.

It had previously been a park. But now, it was overrun with feral humans. There were at least fifty of them and on all fours side by side in a giant circle, like a pack of dogs. He couldn't see what was in the middle of the circle, but Harry had a feeling they were about to meet Anthony Walk. If they could make it past the ferals.

"Fuck." Ron whispered when he saw the army.

"He must have turned the whole neighborhood," Snape whispered as well.

"He's got to be in the middle," Plinkly stated.

Harry motioned for them to follow him as he hid behind a building. "We've got to fight our way through. We have to stop Walk from whatever it is he's doing."

They all nodded mutely. Harry took a deep breath and gestured to them to split up. Snape and he shared a loaded look one last time. He wanted to reach out to him, but he refrained. As he watched Snape quickly go his own way, Harry silently wished him good luck.

Harry peaked around the corner and saw four ferals patrolling between two buildings. He snuck around the corner and hid behind the stoop of a building. With a quick look, he cast a hex at one of the ferals and sent it flying into the air before it hit the side of a building with a loud yelp. The other ferals noticed the attack and went on the offensive. They cruised towards Harry with growls and snaps of their mouths, like wolves taunting their prey. Harry cast another hex, this one catching the turned-human on fire. The other ferals moved faster towards Harry, who was looking around for a better vantage point. An abandoned car was parked several feet away and Harry ran for it, falling to the ground as he rolled underneath the car.

He heard the other three ferals coming for him and he grabbed his belt. One of the glass balls came lose and Harry waited for the perfect moment. They came for him. The growling louder in his ear was the same level as them. Once he felt their breath on his arm, he threw the ball. It caused a soft clink as it broke, and a thick white smoke rose from the liquid on the ground. Harry watched from his limited point of view as the two ferals fell to the ground, unmoving. He rolled to his stomach and crawled to look out before leaving safety.

There were no more ferals in his immediate vicinity. He saw some more roaming nearby, so he made his way carefully towards them. He could hear someone near him hexing a feral, but couldn't quite make out who it was.

He worked his way through the ones around him. He dodged left and right, shooting hexes at every turn. It was much harder than he thought it would be. There were more than he thought there could have been and for the first time as an auror, he felt completely defeated.

He was in a corner, surrounded by four ferals that were getting dangerously close to him. He held his wand in his hands and debated using a hex to explode the four, but he didn't want to attract any more than he had. And the chances of him getting off four different hexes in time to get to safety was looking impossible. But his decision was made for him when he saw thick smoke rising up in front of him.

"Are you an idiot, Potter?" The voice of Snape hit him before he realized what had happened. Snape walked out of the smoke and he was breathing just as heavy as Harry. "Why didn't you use your potions?" He asked in anger.

Harry looked down at the collapsed bodies of the ferals, "Um. I ran out."

Snape's eyes went wide, "You used them all? Already?" He asked incredulously.

"There are a lot of these things!" He exclaimed in defense, he looked to Snape's belt and saw that only the one he had just used was gone. "How do you still have so many left?"

Snape rolled his eyes, "I've been in a war, Potter. Apparently I just imagined you there as well."

Harry leaned his head back against the wall, not bothering to respond to him. "Have we made a dent at all?"

Snape joined him at the wall and they both stared at the impossible scene in front of them. "You want the truth or do you want me to sugar coat it for your sensitivities?"

Harry groaned. "We need a new approach."

"Thank you, Potter, for that realization." Snape said sarcastically.

Harry ignored him. "I think we need to do a more straight on approach. Together we can push through the ferals and make it through to Walk." He looked at the other man to see what he thought of the plan. Snape just shrugged, as if he didn't care one way or another. Harry glared at him and touched his wand to his band to call the others to him.

It didn't take long for them to appear. When he explained to him his plan, they all looked just as worried as he was. But the divide and conquer approach wasn't working and they didn't have time to come up with something more solid. They all reluctantly nodded their approval of the plan and Harry nodded for them to follow him.

Harry hoped that their presence would part the sea of ferals and they could just walk right through. But that didn't happen. Instead, they swarmed like bees. The sound of growling and yelled hexes were all that could be heard along the street. Harry tried to act quickly, casting whatever spells that came to mind, even if they didn't make sense. There were so many of them, that he didn't even have time to think that they were humans. He tried to keep shields up around them, but the amount of ferals attacking them meant they didn't last long.

Harry ducked as a feral launched at him and he dodged another that was reaching out for him. He shot off a stinging hex, which did nothing to slow them down. He set another on fire and hoped it would catch some others on fire as well. But their plan was working. None of them had been terrible hurt and the ferals were dropping. And they had made it much closer to the middle than before.

Suddenly, they broke through and it was like a crop circle. For several yards, it seemed as if there was no one. Except there was someone. Sitting in the middle of a large red symbol Harry had never seen before sat a small, young looking man. He was bowing his head and murmuring something that couldn't be heard over the growls of the ferals. Once they moved past the line of ferals, it was as if a barrier went up. The ferals stopped coming after them and went back to patrolling. Harry looked at his friends in confusion, "What the hell?"

They all echoed him. Harry took a tentative step forward and when nothing bad happened, he continued to walk towards the man in the middle. He didn't even seem to notice the commotion going on around him.

Harry cleared his throat, "Anthony Walk?" He yelled out. But the man didn't move. He stepped closer, the others following close behind. "Walk!" He yelled again.

The man looked up, his murmuring stopped. The first thing Harry noticed was the man's red eyes that looked as if they were glowing. Walk smiled a humorless, crazy sort of smile, "Ah, the aurors have arrived!"

"Walk! What the hell?" Plinkly was the first to say something to him beyond Harry's yelling. Leave it to him to get right to the point.

Walk just laughed and motioned for them to come closer, "Come come. Step closer for the show."

Harry didn't like the sound of that and they stayed where they were. "Are you the person that has been turning these innocent people?" He asked, wanting to know for sure.

Walk smiled, "Oh pish posh, Harry. Don't sound so judgmental. It's all for the greater good."

"But why? What are you hoping to accomplish?" Harry asked with genuine curiosity.

"Bigger things are to come, my friend. The wizard world was so afraid of Voldemort, but they have no idea that scarier things are about to exist." The man went back to his murmuring. Now that they were closer, it sounded to Harry like a long, complicated spell.

Harry motioned for his team to get closer and they huddled together.

"He's fucking crazy!" Ron exclaimed.

"What did he mean by scarier things?" Jones asked with a look of worry.

Harry shook his head because he didn't have an answer to that. "We have to do something."

"Maybe just hex him. It's not like he is even paying attention." Plinkly suggested in a loud whisper.

Snape rolled his eyes, "That won't work. In case you haven't noticed, he has a pretty strong shield up around him."

Harry blinked. He hadn't noticed at all. He turned his head back to the murmuring man and saw a hint of sparkle around him. "Well shit."

"Harry, you can break down that shield easily." Ron said with vehemence. Harry gave him a small smile for the pure confidence the man had in his skills.

"I might be able to. But not without him noticing."

"So we distract him." Marks suggested.

Harry had a bad feeling about all of this but he had no other suggestions. He nodded and they broke away. Snape stayed close to Harry, but the others went to confront the crazy man. Harry didn't even try to listen to what they said, instead he concentrated on the shield.

It was only moments before Walk turned, "What do you think you are doing, Potter?"

Harry faltered but didn't let up. Snape had his wand out, ready to hex the man if he tried anything. Walk just laughed and with a word Harry didn't hear, the ferals were unleashed.

Harry went to turn but Snape put his hand on his shoulder, "Don't stop. We'll protect you." Harry nodded tersely.

The ferals rushed toward them with a vengeance. Snape threw a potion and it caused a few of them to drop, but more kept coming. Ron used an exploding hex and that got rid of a few, but there were still more. Harry felt a tightness in his chest as he felt close to panicking. The shield was bending, but it wasn't close to breaking yet. Walk didn't even seem concerned. He was back to his muttering.

Harry felt something brush against his back and he was about to turn and hex whatever feral it was, until he realized who it was. "Potter." Snape had his back to him, still fighting off the ferals, "Stop thinking about what we are doing. We can't do anything to stop Walk with that shield up. You can break it. I know you can." His voice was firm, if not a little winded as he was doing his best to stop all the ferals that came near.

Harry closed his eyes and focused his magic into the shield. He had more magic in him than most realized and he was good at using it, but not when he felt the world falling down around him. But he had to do it. He pushed forward and felt the shield shift.

"What are you doing? No!" Walk was standing, facing Harry. "Get him!" He yelled at his ferals, but they couldn't make it past the barrage of hexes and potions the Potion's Master was doing.

Walk scrambled to grab his wand off the ground just as the shield fell. Harry felt drained, but he didn't let it stop him from doing what was needed. "Stupefy," Harry yelled hoarsely. Walk ducked behind the nearest feral. Harry ran after him, shouting spell after spell. "Petrificus Totalus!" He tried again. But the other man was quick to dodge it.

Harry ran towards where he thought the other man would go and caught him before he could turn the other way. His wand forgotten, he punched the man in the face in hopes it would stop him from getting away. Walk landed on the ground, his hands coming up to cover his face. Harry quickly cast a binding spell. "Stop the ferals!" He commanded the other man.

Walk just laughed. Harry put his foot on the man's chest and pressed down. "Stop them!" He saw the other man's eyes get wide. Suddenly, the ferals dropped to the ground. Harry turned and saw his team mostly standing. A couple of them were bent over, their hands on their knees as they tried to catch their breaths. Ron was holding his arm in a funny position and Marks was bleeding from the head, but they were ok. He searched quickly for Snape, who was standing at the same place Harry had left him, his wand pointing at a feral at his feet. He met Harry's eyes and saw the relief in them.

"Snape! Go erase that mark!" Harry yelled at him, not sure if it really would make a difference but he didn't want to take a chance.

"No!" Walk yelled.

Snape followed the orders without word and the mark was cleared efficiently. There was a commotion behind Harry and he turned quickly, his wand raised. But it was the other aurors that the Minister had said he would send.

"Seriously!" Plinkly yelled. "You're a little fucking late!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh. In fact all he could do at that moment was laugh. He wasn't sure he could even stop if he wanted to.

Harry found himself once again in the Minister's office. The aurors that had finally shown up were left to do the clean up. And Harry and his team were in charge of delivering the man they had worked so hard to find. They dumped him into a cell and were immediately called to meet the Minister.

"Harry, words can't express how grateful I am for all you did today. You saved a great many people from who knows what. We will be interviewing Mr. Walk to find out exactly what his plans were and to see if there is more of that potion still out there. But your job here is done." The Minister was standing, beaming with pride at the ragged team before him.

"The ferals. Were there any that survived?" Harry had to ask. He didn't know if what Walk had done had killed them all or just knocked them out. He didn't stick around long enough after his capture to find out.

"Almost all of them did. There were about 100 of them that we found alive. We have transferred them to Akzaban for now."

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He didn't think he could live with himself if he had personally killed that many people. He looked at his team. They were all exhausted and looked like they could pass out at any moment. "Minister, sir, is it ok if we debrief later? I don't think we can stand for much longer."

The Minister practically pushed them out of his office. Once outside, Harry said goodbye to most of his team. Ron gave him a small smile and a quick fist bump with his good hand. Jones and Marks locked arms and walked off, murmuring to each other. Plinkly slapped his shoulder and gave Snape a handshake before he too left.

Harry stood silently looking at the only member of his team left. Snape looked back at him, but they said nothing.

"You should get some sleep," Snape said finally.

"You're not going to?" Harry asked, confused. He could see that the other man was just as exhausted as him.

Snape shook his head, "I have an antidote to make."

Harry was shocked. "Now?" Snape didn't respond. He just continued to stare at Harry. "I'll come with you."

Snape sighed, but didn't argue. He just nodded and turned to leave.

The trip to the potion's classroom was a silent one. Harry didn't know what to say to the other man now that their teamwork was no longer needed. How was he going to admit to the man that he wanted to continue what had started between them? He could foresee a door slamming in his face at that confession.

Snape immediately went to the book they had found in Walk's apartment. He began to read what he could, which left Harry to stare. Harry looked around and when he didn't find anything comfortable to sit on, he transfigured a stool into a comfy armchair. He sank down into it and watched the other man flip through the pages. Harry felt his eyes get heavy and as much as he tried to will himself awake, his exhaustion took over.

When he woke up next, Snape was watching him. Harry sat up quickly and felt a blanket slide to the floor that he didn't remember having before. He looked up at Snape, "Did you find anything?" He asked, his voice husky from sleep.

Snape nodded to his cauldron that was smoking and bubbling. "It has to sit for a while." He said simply.

"You figured it out already?" Harry asked, standing and going to look in the cauldron. It was a thin white liquid.

Snape snorted, "You've been sleeping for a few hours."

Harry snapped his head around to look at Snape, "What? And you've been working this whole time? You need to sleep!"

Snape didn't bother responding, he just reached forward and held Harry's face in his hands. Harry looked up at him, searching his eyes for something. He didn't know what. But Snape's eyes were as unreadable as usual. He waited for the usual kiss, but it didn't come. Instead, Snape held him. Harry moved to hold onto Snape's shoulders and they stood there for what seemed like an hour, but was really just ten minutes.

Snape moved away from Harry and went back to his potion all without a word. Harry sighed. He watched as Snape turned the flame off and gave the potion one last stir. He sat his stirring rod down and stared at the potion in front of him, his shoulders sagged. It was done. Harry cast a stasis spell on the potion and grabbed the front of Snape's shirt. "Come on." He said quietly and led Snape through the doors of the classroom and through the office into his quarters. Harry bypassed the living room and kitchen and went into the room his figured was Snape's.

Snape immediately went to the bed. He didn't bother getting undressed and just barely remembered to take his shoes off. Harry watched as he got under the covers and scooted over to the far end of the bed, leaving plenty of room for Harry to join him. Harry took his gloves and vest off, as well as his boots and pants. He slid under the covers next to Snape and turned to look at him.

"If I wasn't so exhausted, I would take the rest of your clothes off you," Snape murmured tiredly.

Harry smiled and scooted closer to him, "And I would let you. But for now, get some sleep." Harry pressed himself against Snape, who wrapped his arms around Harry before closing his eyes. Harry leaned closer and gave the man a gentle kiss before he too fell asleep.

Harry woke up the next morning pressed against Snape's back. He felt content and warm, and his chest hurt with feelings he wasn't ready to face. He delicately removed himself from Snape's bed and scrambled back into his own room. He looked at the clock near his bed and saw that it was almost 7. He had slept for almost 12 hours. His body was stiff from sleeping in the same position for hours, so Harry did a couple quick stretches. He stripped out of his clothes and got new ones on, planning on going to the office to find out what the Minister had found out.

He walked through the quiet halls of the Ministry, trying not to think about the bed he had woken up in. He was sure that Snape would be angry with him again for leaving. But he couldn't keep doing this without knowing where it was going. If it was going to be a one night, well one day, stand, then they needed to end it.

Harry shook himself out of his thoughts when he reached the Minister's door. He knocked firmly on the door and waited, but no answer came. He decided he would wait at the Ministry instead of going home, so he made his way to the floor below. The cages looked as if they had been knocked around too much, and Harry could see the bruises forming on the ferals' bodies. They snarled at him when he entered the room, but didn't try to snap at him through the bars. Instead they sat on the floor and stared at him. Harry took his own seat on the stone floor and stared back.

It was there that Snape found him. He entered the room and glanced at the ferals when they growled at him, but he wasn't there for them. Not yet. Instead, he slid down to the ground next to Harry.

"Thank you for all your help with this case," Harry said, breaking the silence. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"I know." Snape answered. Harry snorted and looked at him for the first time since he came in.

Snape looked back at him as well. "How does it feel to be done with the case?" He asked quietly.

Harry smiled sadly but looked at the two ferals in front of them, "It's not quite over yet." He admitted.

Snape nodded, "I gave my potion to the mediwizard, they will administer it soon."

"Will it work?" Harry asked.

"Based on my calculations, it should restore them to normal within 24 hours." Snape answered.

Harry gave him the biggest smile he had seen on him in the past month they had been working together. It was so bright, Snape had to look away. Harry stood up and reached out his hand to help Snape stand as well. Snape hesitated for a few seconds, but decided to accept the help. Harry gave him another smile and then led the way out of the room. Harry had meant to try the Minister's office again, but as they passed the conference room, Snape dragged him inside and locked the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Harry asked confused. He watched as Snape stalked towards him, a determined look in his eye. Harry backed up until his legs hit the conference table.

Snape pressed his body against Harry and put his hands on the table on either side of Harry, "You left this morning." He stated firmly, his face just inches from Harry's.

"I did." Harry agreed. Snape just continued to stare at him and Harry sighed, "We had our fun, Snape. We can go our separate ways now."

Snape's eyes darkened, "I told you before that I wasn't done with you yet." He said simply.

"And I'm giving you an out. The sex was fantastic. But that's all it has to be."

Snape leaned closer and captured Harry's mouth with his. The kiss was passionate and hot. Harry was instantly hard. Snape noticed and reached his hand between them to grab at Harry. Harry threw his head back with a gasp, breaking their kiss. Snape took advantage of the position and kissed the man's throat. Harry let out a combination between a laugh and a sob.

Snape stilled, "Potter?"

Harry stood up straighter, causing Snape to back up and drop his hand. "I cant do this anymore."

Snape glanced at Harry's obvious erection, "I think you are more than capable."

Harry shook his head, "I want more than just sex from you, Snape. Don't you get it!" He exclaimed. He watched as Snape's eyes got wide, "And if that's all it is for you, then that's fine. We did it. We can walk away."

Harry waited for a second to see if the man would say anything, but when he didn't, he nodded and moved himself away from Snape and out the door.

For the third time that day, Harry tried to go talk to the Minister. But once again, he was thwarted. "Harry!" It was Ron this time.

"Hey Ron! Did you get some sleep?" He asked with a smile.

Ron nodded, "I barely made it into the house before passing out. Hermione had to practically levitate me to bed." They shared a laugh. "Oh hey, I ran into an auror that helped with clean up last night. He said hey have Walk in an interrogation room. Have you been to see him?"

Well that was news to him. He figured they would have sent him to Azkaban by now. "No. I haven't seen him."

Silently they made their way to the interrogation room. Harry tried not to think about the man he had left in the conference room and how his heart felt heavy. Harry stopped outside the door and just stared. Ron gave him a little shove and he opened the door.

Walk was sitting, chained to a table. When Harry walked in, he looked up and gave him a wide, crazy smile.

"Harry Potter! Bet you're proud of yourself right about now, aren't you?" The red eyes were as wild as they were in the field. Harry stood opposite of him, watching him. Trying to understand him.

"Why did you do all this?" He asked firmly.

Walk laughed, "There are things out there much more powerful than you, Potter."

A terrifying thought. "And you want that here? Now?"

The red eyes narrowed and darkened, suddenly serious, "I've killed for that. I want the world turned upside down. I want the world to be cleansed of all that is wrong with it and a new Earth to be established."

Harry blinked. What the hell was this man on about. "Cleanse? As in destroy everyone?"

Walk laughed again, "Now you get it, don't you? Yes, we shall bring down humanity and build up something better."

Harry shook his head, "So what, you thought you would control whatever it was you were trying to raise? You thought you would have all the power?"

"No one controls it, Potter. I was merely a conduit."

Harry felt more confused than ever, "So what was the point of the ferals? Why were they created?"

Walk smiled, "Ferals? That's cute." He gave Harry a look that chilled him, "Every power comes at a price, little Harry. Those ferals all killed someone. Over a hundred dead bodies, their blood served as food."

"So what? They were just used to do your killing for you? Couldn't you have done it yourself?" Harry was shaking. This…man, had done all this for nothing.

Walk shrugged his shoulders, "Sure I could have. But this way, I was freed up to do other things. Plus the power I gained from the pentagram was…helpful. Besides, Harry, it was fun to watch you and your team scramble to find me."

Harry's knuckles were white from holding so tightly on the chair, "I still don't get it. Why would you do all of this? You risked so many people's lives including your own!"

"Some things are worth sacrificing your life for."

"Well of course!" Harry stammered out, it was sentiment he agreed with but under the right situation. "But not for the sake of world destruction!"

Walk gave him a wild smile, "Don't worry, Potter. It'll all make sense one day. I'm not the only person who wants this world to change."

Harry didn't know what to say to that. Did that mean it would happen again? More people would do this. Harry's head was spinning, but before he could find out more, there was a knock on the door. More aurors had shown to take Walk away.

Harry walked out of the room more lost than he was when he went in. Ron was waiting for him outside, "Did you found out anything?" He asked with a smile.

Harry narrowed his eyes, "Maybe a little too much."

Ron laughed and walked with Harry out of the interrogation area, "So is this over? Finally?"

Harry didn't really know how to answer that. After the conversation he just had with Walk, he really didn't feel like it. Instead he just gave Ron a smile, "I bet Hermione will be happy to have her husband back."

"Yea she is. And you'll be able to have a life again. Maybe we can find you someone." Ron said with a gentle shove of his shoulder.

Harry just smiled in response. They walked in silence until they reached their normal floor. The first thing Harry saw was Snape. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and his head against his chest. Harry's heart hammered.

"What's he still doing here? You'd think he would have gone back to Hogwarts the moment he could." Ron was whispering to him, but Snape heard him. He glanced up and caught Harry's eyes.

Harry turned to Ron, "I have to talk to him real quick. I'll see you later?"

Ron gave him a worried look but smiled, "Yea man." He slapped Harry's shoulder and left with a look at Snape. Harry watched him leave and then looked at Snape. He knocked his head to the side for Snape to follow him and they went to his office.

Harry ushered Snape in and then shut the door, but kept his hand on the doorknob and he turned to look at the other man.

There was silence. It was suffocating to Harry. He was about to open his mouth to say something when Snape started talking.

"I'm not a nice person, Potter." Snape said quietly with a serious look on his face. "I am not a romantic person. I don't have a soft side. You'll probably get tired of me before the week is done." Harry's heart was hammering in his chest. He felt a lot of hope in those words. "But if you want to try," Snape continued, "I will not turn you away."

Harry was holding his breath, waiting for the punch line. Snape was seriously considering a real relationship with him? Harry took a step forward, "If I wanted soft and romantic, I would date a girl." He answered slowly. Snape nodded his head slowly, accepting the admission for what it meant.

They watched each other closely, each one daring the other to move. It was Snape that moved first. He closed the distance between them and pressed Harry against the door, mimicking the exact position that had started the trouble in the first place.

Snape stared down at Harry with dark eyes, "Take your clothes off."

And Harry did exactly that.

The end