"Today class," the deep voice of Severus Snape bellows throughout the potions room, all of the students look up in anticipation, they know that today is not a normal lesson. No, today is special, Severus thought, he looked around the classroom as all the Gryffindor and Slytherin 7th years, plus the 8th years sat in front of him. Most of these students did not have advanced potions, and shouldn't have been in his classroom, but today was going to be different, and he both was and wasn't looking forward to it.

"Today," he starts, looking around at all the students just begging them to interrupt him, none of them did. "you will be brewing the soulmate potion, while this potion isn't too complex to make, it is illegal to brew or consume before ones 17th birthday, hence why you are all in my classroom today."

Since the war had ended and Severus had been saved from Nagini's bite by having consumed small doses of snake venom throughout the last few schoolyears, he had been much more tolerable to all his students, maybe even nice at times. The students enjoyed this, and it made potions accidents a lot less frequent as his students weren't so in fear of him that they didn't focus on what they were doing.

Chatter broke out in the classroom at the mention of the soulmate potion, they were all excited, dying to know who their soulmate was, wanting to feel true, unadulterated love.

Harry was sitting in the back of the classroom, he was listening to his professor closely as he spoke, but also couldn't really find it in himself to care. Ever sense the war ended, Harry has closed himself off to the world around him. He came back for 8th year at the request of Hermione and the nagging of Mrs. Weasley, but he didn't really want to be here. He didn't really want to be anywhere, if he was honest. He still went to class and to meals and did his schoolwork like he was supposed to, but Harry found himself mostly doing it to keep people off of his back.

The war had ended, Harry had killed Voldemort once and for all, but not without sacrifices. Many people died, good and bad, including Harry himself, except usually when you die you don't get to come back. But Harry had managed to find his way back to the world of the living, to finally kill off the man that had been terrorizing the world for decades now. But there was something that Harry didn't tell anyone, not his friends, not his trusted professors, not madame Pomphrey or even a portrait somewhere random in the halls. Harry wished he had never left the white train station that night, he wished so hard that he could return to the train station with Dumbledore and walk next to him into the afterlife. He was in so much pain, all the time.

The brunette had several physical damages from the final battle, but the worst one had cost him his leg. A bone shattering curse had been cast in Harry's direction from a death eater right after he had killed Voldemort and the monster's minions were still trying to avenge him, Harry was too busy fighting a different death eater to notice it coming towards him. It hit his left leg and Harry went down to the ground with a scream. Only seconds later the aurors showed up and corralled all of the remaining death eaters with a single spell. Harry had laid on the ground for what felt like hours before somebody rushed over to him and carried him to the infirmary. To his surprise, when he looked up at the person who was carrying him to the infirmary, he saw none other than Severus Snape, neck already sealed and bandaged. His professor was sprinting back towards the castle, trying to get Harry to the healers as fast as possible.

The two of them made it to the healers quicker than Harry thought would have been possible, he felt Snape gingerly place him in a conjured cot and he looked up at the man again just as healers started to rush over to his side, he locked eyes with him before one of the healers put him into a magical coma so that they could work on his leg without him having to feel the excruciating pain. They did the best that they could, but Harrys leg was too damaged for them to be able to heal it completely back to normal. He woke up 3 days later with 5 different pieces of metal in his leg, and in horrible amounts of pain. When he woke up he turned to see that he was no longer on a cot in the great hall, but in a proper hospital bed, sitting next to him in a chair was Snape, and when the potions master realized that Harry was awake, he quickly got up and checked on his vitals.

Snape had been the one to tell Harry that his leg would never function properly again, that he would always have to walk with a cane or crutches. "I am so, so sorry, Harry," the man had whispered to him as Harry laid back on his pillows and stared up at the ceiling. Harry had to stay in the hospital for a few more days, and during that time Snape came every day to check on him and to relay news to him about his friends and the outside world, it was during this time that Snape became Severus, and Potter had become Harry.

Harry rubbed his leg as he felt a sharp pain run up it, not only had he sustained physical injuries, but his mental health seemed to also have shattered along with his leg in the final battle. After the dark lord was dead, everybody rejoiced momentarily, but the joy didn't last long as so many people grieved for their family and friends who had been killed. Harry had gone to several funerals, but the one that hurt him the most was Percy Weasleys. The boy had just come back to his family and apologized for his abandonment, and 12 hours later he is killed by pushing Fred out of the way of a stray curse. Harry went to his funeral, not only to mourn his friend but to support the Weasleys. It was then that he started to withdraw from all of the Weasleys and Hermione, they had looked at him in disdain, as if he was the reason their son was dead, the reason so many people had died and suffered. And they were right, Harry thought, it was all his fault. If they had never gotten close to him then their families wouldn't have been targeted, and they would have been okay, but instead they had to grieve their losses because Harry had been in their lives.

His mental health only declined from there. He shut himself up in Grimauld place and nearly never left, he never received letters, unless they were howlers or from the ministry trying to get him to come to some after war celebration or trying to give him some war hero medal or something. He had gone to a few death eaters' trials, where he testified for Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape, vouching for their spy status and keeping them out of Azkaban. Both of the Slytherins had looked at him weird when he showed up, but Harry left too soon for them to talk to him afterwards.

It didn't take long for Harry to hit rock bottom. He didn't eat, he didn't sleep, he didn't want to be alive anymore. He would sometimes stare up at the ceiling while he was in lying in bed and try to project himself to be back with Dumbledore in the train station, but he never made it back.

Now it was November, and Harry was in his 8th year. It was a rainy day outside and he could feel his leg aching from the change in the weather. He wished he were dead most days, he was so alone, he had nobody there for him anymore. All of his friends blamed him for the deaths or pain of their loved ones, all of his remaining family had died during the final battle, he didn't even have Hedwig to talk to anymore; and as the days went by the pain in his leg increased, his desire to jump off the astronomy tower also increased. He was brought out of his musings as the classroom became quiet, He sighed softly as Severus finished explaining the potion, Harry was the first to get up and hobble over to the supply closet for his ingredients, he ignored the pitying looks from his classmates as he made his way back to his station. Despite the classroom being full of all the seventh and eighth years, he managed to have a table to himself, nobody wanted to sit with him, either because he wasn't amazing at potions or because they thought he was disgusting, he didn't know.

"When you finish the soulmate potion," Severus spoke again after everybody had started "You will go to the front of the classroom and take a whole vial of the potion. The potion will make you say out loud one important aspect of your soulmates life or personality, and then a warm glow will appear around them anywhere between 1 and 15 minutes later, within an hour of seeing the glow you will have to go up to your soulmate and kiss them, lest you be faced with side effects from the potion. If your soulmate is not yet 17, then you will not see a glow, you will only say the statement about them. if you have more than one soulmate, you will speak 2 statements or 3 or however many soulmates you have, and if you have no soulmate, the potion will have you say "I am whole," and no glow will appear around anybody. I will show you my example once everybody has completed their potions."

Harry looked up at Severus as he spoke, but once he was finished, he quickly went back to his potion. If he was honest, Harry didn't think that he had a soulmate. He had spent the last 17 years of his life with a piece of Voldemort's soul attached to his, he assumed that that would be a bit of a hindrance in the soulmate department. He expected to get to the front of the classroom and say, "I am whole" and then he could clean up and head to his dormitory to cry, knowing he would be alone forever with not even a soulmate who could love him.

It was half an hour later and everybody's potion was complete and perfect, even Neville's potion looked perfect, the Gryffindor looked proud of himself. Harry just ladled his potion into a vial and stopped it up until it was his turn to step to the front of the class.

Once Everybody had completed the assignment, Severus strode to the front of the room with his own vial of potion in his hand. "I took this potion when I was in seventh year as well, and then every year sense I have been a potions professor, and I have heard the same thing every time indicating that my soulmate has stayed the same. If you take the potion more than once, and find that your statement changes, do not be alarmed into thinking you have a different soulmate, think rather that the person your soulmate is now is not the same person they were the last time you took it." Severus swirled the potion in the vial it was contained in like it was a fancy wine "every year I take the potion and it says, 'they are powerful,' I suspect I will say the same today."

Severus waited until all of the students were looking at him before he downed the potion. His eyes glassed over and he looked similar to how somebody looks on veritiserum, like they have no control over what they say. Less than a minute later, the potion took full affect and Severus opened his mouth, the whole class was waiting in bated breath for the 'they are powerful' to come out of their professor, but they never got that wish. Instead, Severus monotonously said "They want to die,".

The whole class gasped loudly, and as Severus finished speaking and the first effect of the potion wore off, his faced turned to one of horror and panic, it was obvious he wasn't expecting that one. Everyone just stared at Severus, including Harry, who felt bad that his professor, imagine knowing your soulmate is out there waiting for you, only to discover that they are in such a horrible place that they wish to die before their time.

Severus swallowed thickly, steadying himself before speaking again. "Well… There is an example that things about your soulmate can change. Malfoy, you're up first," the potions master finished, moving to sit in a plush seat at his desk to watch the students take their potions.

Malfoy walked up to the front of the room and downed the potion easily, "they are strong willed," he stated. As his eyes cleared up, he shook his head and looked around the room, suddenly he grins as his eyes land over to look at his boyfriend, Blaise Zabini. Draco happily walks over and pulls the Italian man down by his tie for a kiss. There are a couple wolf whistles before they break apart and Draco moves to lean into his soulmates side. Severus had a small smile on his face, he waved his hand to indicate the next person go.

Ron stepped up next, "They love books," was his statement, he went back to his seat with a grin, kissing Hermione soundly once he reached her side. Harry smiled sadly at his old friends, even if they didn't want anything to do with him, it was nice to know that they were soulmates and were going to be happy together for their entire lives.

Neville walked up to the podium next "they are a bit looney," was what his potion made him say, he grinned to himself, knowing exactly who his soulmate was, and knowing exactly which Ravenclaw he was going to see after class was over.

Unsurprisingly, it was all the Gryffindors volunteering to go first, as Ginny stepped up right after Neville moved to leave. The whole classroom went silent, and half of the class turned to glance at Harry. Ginny had been trying to get back with Harry on and off throughout the past few months, but Harry always rejected her. Not only because he thought himself unworthy of love, but mostly because he saw her as his little sister. Ginny was excited to take the potion, hoping that when she said something about Harry and the glow appeared around him, that he would have no choice but to be with her again. She excitedly took the potion, but when her eyes went glassy, she stated "he's a Hufflepuff," the whole class went even more silent as they realized that she certainly wasn't talking about Harry Potter. Ginny blushed as bright as her hair and scurried back to her seat.

Everyone in the class kept glancing at Harry every few minutes, wondering if not Ginny, then who was his soulmate? He easily ignored them, and a few more people went before everybody froze as they heard a loud and almost choked gasp from their professor. It had been the allotted 15 minutes, they realized, and now Severus would be able to see the glow around his soulmate. They all turned to him, but he moved too fast for any of them to be able to see who he was looking at that had showed him the glow. His face was now hidden in his hands as he mumbled to himself. People started whispering as they realized that Severus Snape had to have a soulmate who was in the classroom with them, meaning that they were a student. They were even more curious to find out who Severus' soulmate was than Harrys.

Harry wasn't really paying any attention to what was going on around him, his leg hurt, badly. He just wanted to get out of this stupid classroom and go back to his room so he could rub pain salve on his leg and go to sleep. Becoming impatient, he decided to take the plunge and stand up, he grabbed his cane and slowly took the stairs down to the front of the room. Stairs were very difficult on him with his funky leg, so it took even longer which gave the rest of the class more time to stare at and whisper about him.

He finally made it to the front of the classroom, he turned so he was facing the class, but he had his eyes trained high on the back wall. He could feel Severus staring at him, and it made him feel more uneasy than the entire class staring at him. Harry took a deep breath and swallowed the potion in one gulp, he felt his cane fall out of his hand as his eyes went glossy and his body went slack. Some part of him was just waiting for the "I am whole" to come out of his mouth, but it never came. Instead, Harry ended up saying "they have saved my life more than once," in a soft and almost dreamy tone of voice.

His eyes began to clear, and he stumbled to the ground when he came back into control of his body because his cane had fallen. He curses to himself as he ends up on the cold stone floor, he grabs his cane and tries hard to push himself back up into a standing position with his cane as leverage. It takes him a solid minute, and by the end of it everybody is staring at him with so much pity it makes him sick. He tries to walk, he gasps in pain as he takes his first step, but he manages to make his way back up to his seat without falling again. He sits down heavily, and waves his wand to clean up his work station, he was planning on leaving as soon as he had completed the assignment, but he decided his leg wouldn't make it back to the 8th year dorms just yet after the tumble he had. He looks around the classroom, but doesn't see a glow on anybody, he knew it had only been a couple minutes and that the potion could take up to 15, but he didn't feel like staring at everybody in the classroom until it showed up, he laid his head in his arms on his desk, waiting for the end of the class. He would look up then, and then when he didn't see the glow on anybody he could go back to his room and go to sleep.

He vaguely heard as the rest of the class went to the front of the room and take their potions and say their lines, and a few times when there was kissing sounds or the clapping or whatever the others would do anytime someone kissed their soulmate. Harry hadn't meant to, but he fell asleep with his head resting in his arms on the table for the rest of the class, he slept for about 20 minutes before he heard someone gently calling his name, trying to rise him from his sleep.

"hmmm?" he hummed finally in response, finally awake enough to tell from the voice that it was Severus. "Harry, class ended a few minutes ago, it's time to get up," was the soft reply. Strange, Harry thought, even though him and Severus had become somewhat friends, he had never heard the man speak so softly to him, or to anybody, really. Harry slowly raised his head, he blinked a couple times before he finally turned to look at Severus, his breath caught in his throat as his eyes met the potion master's a soft white glow emanating from him.

Severus gave him a small smile, "welcome back, sleeping beauty," the older man teased, Harry found himself blushing before breaking eye contact, "I'm sorry," he says quietly, closing his eyes again. Severus frowns, "whatever for, Harry?" he cups the Gryffindors face with both of his hands, running a thumb across his cheek bone. Harry almost melted at the warmth that flooded through him at the touch. "for being stuck with me," he whispers after a long moment "for having some broken freak as your soulmate." Harry feels Severus still, and wonders if Severus has realized how bad having Harry as a soulmate is. Harry soaks in the feeling of Severus' skin on his before the older man decides to take the touch away.

"Harry," Severus' voice is even more gentle than before and he doesn't remove his hands from Harry's face, "Harry look at me," Harry is about to shake his head no, but something compels him to do as he's told. He opens his eyes and looks up at Severus, emerald staring into obsidian.

Severus moves in slowly, giving Harry time to move away if he wants, but the smaller man doesn't move, Severus places his lips over Harry's. The kiss is slow and soft, and fireworks explode in Harry's chest. He finds himself standing, albeit a little wobbly, and wrapping his arms around Severus' neck and tangling his hands in his hair. Severus' hands leave Harry's face and move to wrest on his hips, tugging him forward so they are closer together.

They break from the kiss only when the need for air becomes too much, they rest their foreheads together, each feeling the others breath on their faces. "I am not stuck with you, Harry," Severus finally whispers. "and you are not broken, nor are you a freak. So, what if you are disabled, that does not make you broken. You are different from your peers, but that does not make you a freak. I do not care if you are different, you have always been unique, Harry. And if some days your legs work less than others, then I guess on those days I'll just have to carry you around the house," Severus says sincerely, he runs his hands up and down his soulmates back.

Harry can't help it as the tears flood his eyes and fall down his face, he buries his face in Severus' shoulder and feels the other man hold him tighter. He finds himself shaking a little as his leg starts to give out from standing on it for so long. Severus senses this, and he gently picks Harry up and sets him down so he's sitting on the top of the table so they are still the same height, but so Harrys leg isn't having to hold him up anymore. This causes Harry to cry harder, never before has anybody cared so much about him, has ever done anything so simple yet so meaningful for him. He's shaken out of his thoughts by a sad voice asking, "do you still wish to die?"

Harry finds himself shaking his head, "an hour ago, the answer would have been yes, and I know that finding my soulmate and being loved isn't going to cure me of my depression. But with you by my side I want to get better, and with you here I know I can get better. It may take a while, but I promise I won't leave you here by yourself. I just need you to be patient with me, because I won't be a very good soulmate right off the bat…" he answers, his voice getting stronger as he spoke.

"I promise I will do everything that I can to help you through this," Severus kisses his cheek gently "and you will always be a good soulmate, because you are mine,"

"Severus?"

"yes Harry?"

"kiss me again?"

"gladly." Severus pulls Harry into a fierce kiss, just as loving as the last, and a promise of forever shared between them.