Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any material or idea falling under that trademark. I have read extensive amounts of fanfiction, and any resemblence to any other works is unintentional. This is a work of fiction from which I make no profit. This story contains material that some may find offensive or disturbing. There are warnings for that reason. Please read the warnings and utilize your right to NOT read if any of these are a problem for you. I cannot be held responsible for those who ignore them. This story has not been beta-read.

Warnings: slash, m/m & m/m/m; threesome, lemon, AU

This story is part of my "Word of the Day" oneshot series. It can be read as belonging to the same AU as Brannigan, but it can also be read as a stand-alone.

Vertiginous

Harry's head was spinning. He gasped in panic, and reached out—

A pair of hands stroked his sides, and he shuddered into them. Another set of hands ran through his hair. Harry gave a sob, and arched into the hands. All four continued to pet him, until at last he felt…calm. His breathing evened out as the vestigial terror of his dream left him.

"Thank you," he whispered to his lovers.

"Nightmare?" Draco murmured.

Harry pulled himself into Severus' body, reaching for Draco's hand to pull him in too. Draco followed easily, so that the three of them lay wound around each other. It was acknowledgement enough.

Severus pressed a kiss to Harry's forehead. "Sleep, now," he said, and Harry let himself relax into slumber once more.

When Harry woke again it was morning. Severus was awake, leaning up against his pillows with a book in hand, but one arm was still wrapped around Harry. He was grateful for this: Severus normally rose earliest and read in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in hand; Harry knew he'd stayed in bed so that Harry would wake without anything to trigger his panic.

Draco was still snoozing, arms wrapped tightly around Harry's torso. Harry blinked the last off the sleep from his eyes, and whispered, "Good morning."

Severus put his book down, and pulled off the reading glasses he'd only just begun to use a year ago. "Good morning, Harry," he replied. He pressed a kiss to Harry's lips and disentangled himself from the sheets. "I must go now, or I shall be late for a meeting with Minerva."

Harry nodded and pulled Severus back for another kiss. "Make an early night?" he whispered, when he released him.

"I shall try." With that, Severus disappeared into the bathroom.

Harry allowed himself to drowse for a few minutes more. When Severus emerged from the bathroom, and swept out the door of their quarters, Harry reluctantly began to disentangle himself from Draco.

Of the three of them, Harry was the least successful at getting out of bed quietly. This was partially because he slept in the middle most of the time, but mostly because even at nearly 21 years of age, he still felt ungainly and had less control over his limbs than he would have preferred. It wasn't even that he'd had a late growth spurt—Harry was still only 5'4" and both Severus and Draco towered over him—he'd just never quite mastered the grace that seemed to come so naturally to Severus and Draco.

Today was no exception. He was almost off the bed when Draco's sleepy voice whined, "Where're y' goin'?"

Harry groaned. "I'm sorry, Draco…meeting with Poppy and then lunch with the Weasleys for me today."

"Leh 'em way," Draco slurred. His posh, precise speech was utterly nonexistent when he wasn't fully awake.

Harry slipped back into bed kissed his lover gently. "Got to go now, Draco, and you…"

He was about to remind Draco of his own obligations for the day, when he found himself pinned beneath his lover, being kissed fiercely.

Draco grinned as he let Harry up. "Fooled you," he said.

"Mmm…you did," Harry replied. He leaned toward Draco. "May I have another?"

Draco smirked and pushed him down again.

This time, when they came up for air, Draco began to fondle Harry's hair. A pleasant shiver passed through him, and he gasped out, "No."

"Why not?"

"Severus said he might be able to make an early night of it, and we'll be late if we…"

"We're still young, Harry," Draco coaxed, letting a hand trail down his neck. "I'm sure by tonight you'll be ready to go again, Pomfrey will understand, and," a breath across his face, a hand stroked his hip, "I want you." Then Draco kissed him again.

Harry surrendered.

In the end, he was only fifteen minutes late, only because he'd rushed, and despite Draco's attempt to grope him in the shower. Fortunately, the meeting (discussing the risks to prepare for based on Harry's curriculum for the coming fall) took less time than Harry had anticipated, and he was able to make luncheon at the Weasleys' on time. He spent the afternoon playing Hide and Seek with Ron and Hermione's twin children, and went home at 5 o' clock completely exhausted.

Draco was home when Harry returned, but the door to the workroom was closed, and even having lived with two Potions Masters for two and a half years, Harry and potions did not mix. He knew better than to set foot in the lab with anything less pressing than a life or death emergency.

Harry took the alone time to have his second shower or the day (glorious, to be able to shower twice) in a leisurely fashion, scrubbing well and thoroughly, half in anticipation of the evening ahead, and half simply because cleanliness had become one of the things that kept him at peace. Being clean meant that he had time to bathe because he didn't have to be at a council of war; it meant that he wasn't rushing in order to minimize the time that he was naked and vulnerable. It meant that Harry was safe.

He emerged from the shower and dressed in robes that Draco had bought for him because they clung to his skin in all the right places. They were Harry's favorites because they were light and comfortable and didn't make him feel dressed up; they were a gift from Draco; and the first time Severus had seen him wearing them, he'd dropped the parcel of ingredients he'd been bringing to the lab, picked Harry up, brought him to the bedroom, stripped him down, and fucked him like a man possessed. Severus refused to let Harry wear the robes in public. So did Draco, for that matter, and Harry couldn't quite understand why—he'd bought them, after all.

Harry curled up in an armchair with his current read; a recommendation from Severus, noting that Severus' cloak had been returned to its peg. He was probably with Draco in the workroom.

With a sigh of content, Harry settled in to wait for his lovers. He was drowsing over the novel when the workroom door opened, and Severus and Draco emerged. Severus pressed a kiss to Harry's lips to wake him.

"You wanted us to make an early night, did you not?" he murmured.

Harry smiled lazily.

"But you haven't eaten yet, and we need showers," Draco said.

Severus looked at him. "Summon a house elf while we clean up, we will eat, and then…entertain ourselves," he commanded, and rose.

Harry did as instructed, and when his lovers exited the bathroom, the elf appeared with a tray of their favorites. Harry rose from his chair to sit down at the table—incidentally, showing off his robes—and watched his lovers' eyes turn dark with a kind of giddy pleasure. He sashayed to the table and sat down relatively quickly (it wouldn't do to tease them too much, after all). They ate together in silence.

When they were finished eating, Harry leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms above his head, and began to rise. "Harry…" Severus purred. "Going somewhere?"

Harry froze, and Draco sprang to his feet, grabbing at Harry's wrist. "Come, Harry, I think it's time to play," he breathed.

Harry gasped, and allowed Draco to pull him into the bedroom, Severus following close behind.

They fell onto the bed eagerly, hands eagerly removing clothing until they lay together naked. Harry was flushed and sweaty already; Draco and Severus traded kisses above him as they stroked his skin to extraordinary sensitivity—never touching him exactly where he wanted most to be touched.

When they turned their attention to him it was almost more than he could bear.

They alternated kisses and more teasing and marking his skin, until Draco went down on him and Severus' fingers found their way to the lube and then his entrance and began to play. Harry tried desperately to touch them, but there always seemed to be a hand in the way, or a distraction just as he was about to reach Draco's hair or Severus' nipples.

It was almost a relief when Draco pulled off him and Severus pulled three fingers out; it also made Harry cry out with loss. Severus and Draco were not the most vocal of lovers—that tended to fall to Harry, although the two of them simply…playing…his body like this was not a common occurrence.

The torturous reprieve was over moments later, when he felt Severus' hands on his hips, as he entered him, letting one hand slip down to caress his side, and Draco's hands in his hair as he presented his cock for Harry to suck. He accepted it all eagerly, and reached his hands to steady Draco's hips. Draco's legs pressed into Harry's torso, Severus' chest against his back. He was warm and wanted and wanting, but the sensation became more and more intense, until Harry could bear no more and came without warning. His lovers followed him moments later, and then there was quiet while they caught their breath together.

Harry was dizzy as he came down from his orgasm, Severus petting his sides, Draco combing through his hair. They calmed him, and then he pressed a kiss to each of their lips and pulled them together, in a strange reenactment of how they'd woken him from his nightmare.

"Evanesco," whispered Draco, and then: "Better, love?"

"Mmmm…" Harry answered. "Love you."

Severus smiled into his shoulder. "We love you too."

Harry's heart skipped a beat with giddiness, and soared as he fell asleep.

Vertiginous: causing dizziness; also, giddy; dizzy.

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