Thank you again for all the reviews! This is the last chapter.

Part Three

"Did you ever intend to tell me?"

Snape had asked the question before Harry could even close the door behind him. Harry gritted his teeth and shut the door, then kicked off his boots and walked into the kitchen, reaching for the cabinet where he kept his liquor.

Snape's hand closed on his wrist and turned him around. He sure doesn't mind touching me now that he can see his soul-mark on me. The thought darted through Harry's head and gave him some clarity.

Whether or not he'd wanted it to happen, Snape knew about the soul-mark now. That meant he had to handle it.

He stared into the man's eyes and admitted, "No."

"So. These reasons that I wouldn't understand." Snape abruptly removed his hands and leaned back on the counter opposite the one Harry stood by, as if he was calm. Harry could look into his eyes, the darkness of them, and escape that delusion. "I would like them explained to me soon."

"Of course." Harry matched the calm tone as best he could. This was the last time he would stand with Snape like this. "Would you care for some Firewhisky?"

"No. I would care for some conversation."

Harry swallowed, and nodded, turning away from the liquor cabinet. "Then we can go into the drawing room."

Snape kept looking around even when he was seated in the most comfortable chair, the green one in front of the fire, as if he hadn't already seen it the day he came to confront Harry about the Ministry reference. Harry clasped his hands on the arms of the chair and just watched him. He wondered why he hadn't noticed how necessary Snape's company had become to him.

Perhaps better that he only noticed it now, though, right before he lost it. He would have had to spend years anticipating the loss otherwise.

"Now." Snape faced him again. "Why would you not inform me of your mark, especially once you knew how I felt about soul-marks?"

"Because you had literally carried a brand on your skin for years," Harry replied softly, his eyes going to Snape's left arm, "I couldn't imagine you would want to be bound to someone else. Vows and necessity and the Dark Mark…you just had your freedom back completely when I found out about this mark. How could I use it to enslave you?"

Snape gave him an absolutely befuddled stare. Harry stared back. Maybe Snape felt differently now, but that was only because he had months of calm interaction with Harry behind him. Harry was still sure Snape would have felt like that if Harry had gone to him and told him about the soul-mark the instant he'd found it.

"You are mistaken," Snape said at last.

"But bound to me?" Harry shook his head. "I know about the Vow that Dumbledore put you under to protect me. And of course I was part of that prophecy that helped ruin your life, too." He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He would start pleading with Snape to understand if he went on this way. He had to let it be Snape's free choice. "I couldn't imagine the resentment you would feel.

"That only got worse when I found out how rare soul-marks were. How could I bind you like that? How could you accept a soul-mark tying you to the son of a man you hated?"

Snape leaned forwards a little. "It is a long time since I have hated you."

"But when this first showed up, that wasn't true. And when I started realizing that maybe you were my friend, all I could think was that I would end up destroying the life that you finally had if I ever said anything."

"I think it may be simpler than that."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "What might be simpler than that?" He'd told Snape the truth. It wasn't his fault if the man decided to completely ignore him, but it did sting a little.

"I think that perhaps you achieved something that you did not expect, not with the manner of man you believed I was." Snape had focused so entirely on Harry it was as if they were back at the trial for the idiots who had burned down Snape's lab. "You achieved a measure of peace, of freedom, of friendship, and you could not see yourself risking that for an uncertain reward."

"You're calling me a coward, right?"

"In certain respects, I believe you are."

Harry stiffened his shoulders. Don't let on how much this hurts, don't let on. It's better if he walks away because you're a coward than feels trapped later. "Then why would you want to be with someone like me?"

"Because certain respects is not all," Snape said, and his face changed in an odd way. It wasn't a smile, it wasn't a smirk, but it was somewhere in between them, shining more from his eyes than lips. "And in some of those respects, you were indeed wise to wait. Now I cannot imagine being apart from you."

Harry swallowed. Or tried. His throat was so dry he didn't manage. Snape should have let me have that Firewhisky, he decided randomly.

"I had grown increasingly jealous of the woman that I believed possessed your devotion despite being on the opposite side of the war. But despite that, I could not imagine trying to break a soul-mark bond. I came to the restaurant tonight intending to urge you to try and find a way to her."

"You just assumed I would be attracted to the person my mark pointed to? In love with them?"

Snape paused a moment, then said in a gentler voice, "Forgive me. I almost always forget now that you weren't raised in our world and don't realize how sacred a soul-mark bond is held to be. It's not that you would have to be attracted to—whoever your mark referred to." He swallowed, and held out a hand slowly, as though assuming he would scare Harry off. Harry let the hand rest on his knee, still looking at Snape.

"It's that a soul-mark is so great an honor," Snape continued in a low tone, "that the person whose mark you bore would be assumed to be attracted. Honored. Interested in getting to know you and overcoming whatever obstacles lay between you."

"So you were urging me to find this person—"

"Because I thought this nonexistent other person would make you happy by striving to make you happy, yes. Instead," and Snape's fingers moved, caressing Harry's knee and making him close his eyes with a shiver, "I find that you have been thinking of me. Is that why you defended me and gave me your reference and became my friend?"

"No." Harry forced his eyes open. "I would have stood up for you anyway. But the mark did start me thinking in terms of what you'd experienced and made me more open to exploring things."

"That, I think, is what they are meant to do." Snape breathed slowly out. "And your interest in me kindled mine in you."

Harry touched Snape's hand back, running his finger slowly down the side and watching Snape shiver the way he had. "So you're interested in getting to know me even though you thought I was a coward?"

"I think I do know you much better." Snape's voice was sinking, so much so that Harry had to lean closer and closer to hear. "Would you—be interested in continuing that theme?"

Harry swallowed. This time, it was possible. Perhaps hope eased the way. "Yes. Please." And he tried something he hadn't even tried in his thoughts before, not thinking he had a right to do it. "Severus."

Severus stood up and moved around the chair. Harry tilted his head back, and Severus bent down to kiss him. The brush of his lips was gentle at first, but his hand also moved, fingers falling against the soul-mark on Harry's throat at the same time.

Harry gave a startled gasp. The warm sensation that spiraled away from the mark had two parts. One dived to his groin in a wave of pure pleasure. The other rose up to his brain and made him fall into a memory of spending time with Severus as though he was living it again—a meal several weeks ago where they had disagreed on whether Muggleborns should know about magic before their Hogwarts letters arrived. Warmth, and the taste of good food on his tongue, and the way Severus's eyes lingered on him.

He recalled, vaguely, Hermione saying something about what happened when a soulmate touched the soul-mark, but he had never known it would be this intense. He looked up at Severus as he came out of the memory.

The eyes he met now were no less warm than the ones in his memory.

"Come with me, if you will," Severus said, and held out his hand.

It felt like accepting several futures at once as Harry stood up and reached out for it.

Severus cast several Freshening and Dust-Removing Charms when they came into the bedroom. Harry bristled a little. "It's only because I've been busy with Auror training."

Well, that and trying to decide if it was worth spending time around Severus when he knew he would never get what he wanted, what the soul-mark seemed to promise.

"You will have more time for them later, perhaps," Severus said, and tossed his wand on the table beside the bed. When he turned around again, his eyes had gone from warm to scorching, and hungry. Harry shivered and began unbuttoning the shirt he had chosen to venture into Muggle London.

"Yes, I thought so," Severus said, which didn't make much sense, and came over to kiss him.

His mouth was still soft, dark, hot. Harry pushed Severus gently back against the bedroom wall, taking his turn this time. Severus opened his mouth and let him have control. Harry was shivering convulsively by the time he undid the robes. Severus had simply hidden his clothes from the Muggles with an illusion charm.

"Have you done this before?" Severus exhaled against his mouth.

"No." Harry had decided that he could do worse than jump off a cliff of complete honesty. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"It means I will go a little more slowly." Severus's hands tightened for a moment on his arms, and then he helped Harry get his robes off, and Harry shrug his shirt off. Harry gasped as their bare chests pressed against each other. He could feel ropy scars, but the falling and rising skin underneath his, the soft breaths Severus let fall over his lips, and the beating heart meant more to him.

The scars had happened. But Severus was alive, and had come through.

"Lie down on the bed so I can undress you," Severus said. His voice had turned into a harsh pant between one breath and another, it seemed.

"Sir," Harry said, mocking, but Severus didn't react other than one annoyed flicker of an eyelid. He was too busy staring at Harry's erection under his trousers as if he had envisioned it before but never thought it would look so good. That sent a rush of flattery to Harry's head so strong that he barely managed to get on the bed before he started undressing himself.

"I said I would do that." Severus's voice had the ability to descend to an erotic rumble when he let it. Harry gasped before he could stop himself. This was something he had only heard hints of before, in their conversations over lunch and dinner and bubbling cauldrons.

Severus gave him a faint smile and reached down to undo Harry's trousers and then slide off his pants and socks. Harry knew he was flushed all the way to the tip of his cock. He just hoped that Severus liked what he saw, not only the soul-mark around Harry's neck.

"Hmmm," Severus said, and reached down to flick Harry's shaft on the head. Harry hissed between his teeth. Severus flicked him one more time and then reached out to stroke him. He seemed to alternate his gaze between Harry's face and his throat.

And that wasn't fair, that he was already giving Harry a wank better than any Harry had ever had by himself without looking. "Come on, Severus," Harry said, and reached out towards the pants Severus still wore.

They Vanished before he got there. Harry blinked and looked at his hand, which certainly didn't hold a wand, then over at the table beside the bed. No, Severus's wand was still there, too.

"Impatient, aren't you," Severus said. "Vanishing something with wandless magic normally takes more practice than that."

"I've had all the practice I want on my own," Harry said, and planted his heels on the bed and wriggled his arse at Severus. Severus had to let go of him when he moved, and now his eyes were so wide and dark that Harry imagined he must have trouble seeing at all. "Let's go."

"Impatient," Severus repeated, and walked slowly towards the bed, giving Harry glimpse after glimpse of his heavy, hanging cock without bringing it nearer fast enough. Harry reached for it. Severus caught his wrist and kissed the bump of the bone there.

"Let me use the potions slowly at first. Since you have never done this with someone else before."

There was still a hint of question about those words. Harry snorted. "You're the Legilimens who's supposed to be able to detect lies. No, Severus, I really haven't done this before."

"I trust you. I—simply cannot believe you could not find someone willing to indulge you."

"I didn't want indulgence. I wanted something real. You can say that I waited for you, if you want to call it that."

"Yes, I will call it that." Severus's voice was restrained, muffled, but his eyes returned to Harry's face, and Harry gasped aloud at the burn in them. Severus was holding himself back from showing how very, very much he liked that Harry had waited.

"Please, Severus. Don't make me wait too long."

Severus, of course, went back to get the robe that apparently had potions in the pockets. At least when he came back, he was close enough to touch. Harry reached up eagerly for him, shivering the way he had when Severus touched his mark as his hands came to rest on smooth skin. There were scars here, too, but he didn't care. The leanness under them was also rolling and alive.

"Let me go, or we won't manage to fuck at all because I won't have lubed you up properly," Severus murmured from somewhere within his hair.

Harry reluctantly did as he said, watching with half-lidded eyes that seemed to make Severus choke. He didn't recognize the clear potion that Severus spread over his fingers and cock and Harry's hole, but it was warm and slippery and would do the job nicely. And it both scorched him and made him want to laugh to see Severus concentrating on sliding his fingers into him the way he had once concentrated on marking essays.

"Stillness," Severus murmured as his fingers finally slid in, and then he spread them wide. Harry lounged back with his arms behind his head. He'd done this to himself a few times, but it was pretty different to have someone else in there.

And Severus showed a lot more skill at finding his prostate than Harry ever had on his own, too. He jackknifed his legs wide with a cry. "Severus!"

"Yes, yes, I am coming."

"Not until you're in me."

"Insolence," Severus said, but there was no trace of haughtiness or scolding in his voice. His eyes traveled again from Harry's arse to his face, and then the mark on his throat. There was awe hidden behind the way he was stroking himself, getting himself ready. Harry swallowed, reminded again of how Severus had acted when he first found out that Harry had a soul-mark.

Maybe I should have known then how he would react when he found out he was mine. It would have been all right. He would have been honored, just like he said most people who knew about it would have been.

But Harry wouldn't let himself regret. If he had given in then and just revealed the mark to Severus, they wouldn't have got to know each other as well, and he might never have managed to shake the lingering fear that Severus was with him only out of duty or because of what the wizarding world would think of him if they found out he'd rejected his soulmate.

"Too much thinking, Harry," Severus said, voice thick with affection, and Harry returned to reality with a start. Yes, there was awe in his eyes, but also the same listening intelligence that Harry had seen during so many of their conversations, and the fondness that had been there when Severus had said that anyone who refused to be with Harry must know only his hero complex. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Please. I'd like you inside me."

Severus shivered, and began to slide himself slowly within Harry. Harry had to grunt in discomfort several times, and Severus always paused when he did, watching him carefully. Harry would nod, and they would go on until the next moment that Harry's body objected to having a cock in him.

Harry had looked up a few of the legends about soul-marks on his own when Hermione had first told him how rare they were. He couldn't say that he believed the ones about how the mark was supposed to ease sex along now.

But finally, Severus was all the way there, and the expression of joy and pleasure on his face mirrored the one that Harry knew was on his own. Severus reached down and grasped his hands. Smiling, Harry held on tight.

"You are a wonder," Severus breathed as he began to move.

Harry enjoyed it all: the thrusts, the way Severus's eyes kept fluttering shut as if he wanted to hold them open and couldn't, the soft grunts pulled out of both of them, how their breathing became harsher and faster, the tightening clamp of Severus's fingers around his. The pleasure that burned in him and danced up through his belly and chest.

The softer burning of the soul-mark on his throat, like something with a destiny fulfilled.

And Severus opened his eyes suddenly and reached out, freeing his right hand from Harry's, to trace one of the letters of the mark, and Harry came.

It was a burst of white noise in his head, sudden orgasm sweeping over him and pushing him up to fever pitch and not letting him go, not as long as Severus's finger rested there. Harry had the distinct impression that he shrieked. But he couldn't hear himself. The room was full of dozens of streaks of light, and he gasped through it, and he thrust his arse back, trying to share the pleasure, trying to make Severus come with him.

Severus only came when it seemed he absolutely had to, and his hand jolted off Harry's mark. Harry was just as glad; there was only so much wild pleasure he could take. He watched with a smile as Severus shuddered and pumped into him for a few moments, then caught himself on his elbows and hissed between his teeth.

"Worth the wait?" Harry asked.

"Yes," was all Severus said, and Harry's heart picked up a beat as soft and warm as the burn of the mark.

They were curled up in bed later, after an enjoyable shower and an even more fun handjob, when Harry felt Severus's hand come to rest on his throat right below the mark. Harry had been almost asleep, but he turned to look over his shoulder.

Severus was staring at him. Harry saw his throat bob as he swallowed.

"The mere thought that I might never have forced the issue, and you might never have told me," Severus said, and paused for a long while. Harry lay and listened to their hearts beat, a throb off the beat from the mark.

"It is devastating," Severus whispered at last. "Promise me that you will never keep anything like this from me again."

Harry touched his hand. "I won't," he said softly. "I would never have in the first place if I hadn't thought your life would be happier without me, in the freedom you earned."

"If I have earned happiness, I have earned you," Severus said, voice suddenly harsh. "And I will do my best to guard your own happiness. I will love you. I promise that. I will promise that until you believe me."

"I already do," Harry said, letting his eyes fall shut. "And I'll love you in return. But promise me anyway."

Severus whispered the promise softly into his ear, again and again, and it was that, even more than the contented warmth of the mark, that let Harry drift off to sleep.

The End.