Author Notes: Thank you to aigooism for the beta!

Harry swirled his spoon through the chocolate ice-cream for what seemed to be the hundredth time, and then he glanced outside of the window for what was definitely the thousandth time in the last half an hour. The sun was setting and the sky looked like it was on fire. Streaks of red and orange danced around the horizon. Slowly, he licked the spoon clean. A fleck of ice-cream landed on his blanket. Harry swiped at the drop absentmindedly and then stuck his fingers in his mouth.

"You might be an invalid, but that's no reason to be disgusting," Snape drawled as he walked into the room, reached over and took the bowl from Harry's fingers. He sat down on the stool beside Harry's bed and placed the bowl on the table.

"Hey!" Harry protested. "I was eating that."

"It turned to liquid half an hour ago." Snape regarded the contents of the bowl with distaste. "It's almost warm now."

"I was still eating it," Harry said mutinously. "I like my ice-cream like that."

"I didn't bring you ice-cream just to see you use it as entertainment for a full hour," Snape snapped.

"I did eat some," Harry retorted. "You weren't here. Besides, I was bored." He pursed his lips. "I've been stuck here for over a month and I've missed everything." He'd seen Ron and Hermione a few times a week, but they were both busy with work so they didn't have time to visit as much as Harry would have liked. Experimentally, Harry shifted on the bed. He almost felt back to normal. He hadn't had any shooting pains between his shoulder blades for almost half a day now. Snape wasn't sure exactly what the curse was, but it was certainly nasty. The Aurors were still working around the clock to find his attacker. They currently suspected that it was a rogue Death Eater out to avenge Voldemort's death. Harry had to resist the urge to call them idiots (sometimes he suspected his relationship with Snape had affected his ability to be polite). He could have worked that out himself!

Snape's face was blank. "You almost died."

"Yeah, but I'm better now," Harry said, looking hopefully up at Snape. "Much, much better." He tried to add as much significance into his voice as he could.

The small smirk that played about Snape's lips told him that Snape knew exactly what he was doing. "You're still not that well yet," Snape told him. "The average recovery time for that curse is well over six months."

Harry gave him an impish smile. "I'm not just anybody though." He pushed himself up into a more upright position, ignoring the sharp stab of pain in his lower back, and began to swing his legs out of bed. "Besides, you promised that I could go out to see the Beltane fires if I was feeling better."

Snape's hands clamped down on his legs before Harry could place his feet on the floor. "You're misconstruing my words," he said softly. "I said that you could go to see the Beltane fires if I believed that you were feeling better. Don't think I missed your wince of pain just then. You're not better yet. If you overexert yourself too early, you'll set back your recovery time by another few months."

Harry slumped back on his pillows. Another few months? He didn't think that he could stand being in this room for another few minutes. He had to admit that Snape was being nicer to him than he had expected. Harry had half expected that Snape would have carted him off to St Mungo's, despite their relationship. Instead, Snape had been there every step of the way and his potions had taken away the majority of the pain. Without Snape, Harry suspected that he'd still be in a feverish daze, instead of feeling almost normal.

It still didn't mean he wanted to stay in bed for the foreseeable future though. "It's just that I've never seen a Beltane ritual before," Harry said. He decided to leave out the bit where he hadn't even known they'd existed before his relationship with Snape. He vaguely remembered Hermione mentioning something about ribbons and dancing at one point, but that could have been about the Yule Ball.

Snape gave him a long look. Was it just Harry's imagination or did Snape look like he was relenting. "I'll see what I can do."

Harry crossed his fingers under the covers as he watched Snape leave the room.

When Snape came back, Harry was hopeful until he saw that Snape was carrying his dinner tray. On the tray was the same kind of mushy stuff that he had learned to expect from the last month. Harry vowed that the first thing he was going to do when he got fully better was to get a steak or even just some pumpkin juice. Snape claimed that the mushy green stuff was to help his newly re-grown bones develop and that the mushy yellow stuff was for his sore muscles, but Harry suspected that Snape just couldn't cook very well. It didn't take much imagination or cooking prowess to throw things in pots of water and wait till they got soft.

"I guess I'm not going anywhere," Harry said grumpily.

Silently, Snape set the tray on the table and then sat down on his customary stool. He looked out the open window. Harry could hear the bustle of people outside and the smell of burning wood.

"Is that a bonfire?" Harry asked.

Snape nodded.

Harry pressed his lips together. He was beginning to feel a bit guilty. Here he was, being a bit of a brat, while Snape looked after him and brought him food and everything. The food mightn't have been very nice, but at least it kept him alive. That was definitely something. "Look, sorry," he said contritely as he reached over to take a spoonful of the green mush. Wrinkling his nose, Harry swallowed it. "I've just been cooped up in here for so long."

Snape leaned back and stretched out his long legs. Harry had no idea how he managed to do it without falling over. When Snape spoke, his words were such a low murmur that Harry had to lean forward to catch them. "There is an old wizarding legend. A powerful witch was struck down by an evil wizard. Only an ancient Beltane ritual could cure her, but she was unable to get out of bed to join the others by the Beltane fires. Do you know what happened next?"

Harry shook his head. He was pretty sure Hermione had never mentioned this legend before.

"Her lover took Beltane to her." There was a glimmer of something in Snape's eyes that could have been amusement but also could have been raw magic.

"How?"

Snape took his wand out of his pocket. "Magic."

"Well, I could have told you that," Harry said crossly before he could help himself.

Snape's eyes glittered. "Her lover first brought down the four walls of her cottage with a mere flick of his wrist."

Harry held his breath as Snape waved his wand. He wasn't sure what to expect. Even after so many years, Harry still found himself mesmerised by magic. He wasn't disappointed. Slowly, Snape began to draw fiery letters in the air. The walls seemed to shimmer, almost rippling as though they were made of water, before slowly – one by one – they disappeared. Harry gasped. It was as though he was outside. He could see the dancing flames, leaping up into the brilliance of the starry sky. He could see the people linking hands and chanting before jumping over the fire. Harry squinted. It also looked like people were throwing spiky plants into the fire. Several witches and wizards seemed to be disappearing into the forest.

As Harry glanced around, he suddenly noticed that nobody seemed to be looking in their direction. Nobody could see him sitting up in his bed with Snape next to him drawing weird letters in the air. Experimentally, he sniffed the air. He could only catch the faint smell of smoke.

"The walls are still there. They're just invisible," Harry said, as it dawned on him.

Snape nodded.

"Thank you," Harry said earnestly. This wasn't the same as being outside, but it was the next best thing. If he leaned back on his pillows and looked up, he could almost imagine that he was lying on soft grass.

"That wasn't the end of the legend."

Harry glanced over. His mouth was suddenly dry. "What happened next?"

"As you know, Beltane has always been associated with purification and fertility rites. It was considered bad luck to not honour the spirits by engaging in certain carnal acts." Snape's lips twitched. "The witch's lover in our story was very particular about ensuring that the spirits were honoured."

Harry's eyes widened. "You mean, they had sex to cure her?"

Snape shrugged. "If you wish to put it that way, then yes, they had sex."

Harry licked his lips. He was suddenly feeling rather hot and bothered. Not having sex for a month must have really taken its toll, he thought, when a sudden suspicion passed through his mind. He looked over at Snape who seemed to be holding back a smirk. "What are you doing?"

"You wanted to experience the Beltane ritual," Snape murmured. "Who am I to deny you that?"

Harry gasped as he felt invisible fingers dance across his skin. It felt as though they were making their way slowly down to his cock. "How are you doing this?" he managed to get out. It felt like the fingers were stroking him, while other fingers were teasing him, stretching him.

"It's one of many spells I've found to be ... interesting," Snape said smoothly.

It certainly was interesting. Harry had to give him that much. It felt as though invisible hands were caressing him. Harry's mouth dropped open. That didn't feel like a hand. It felt like a warm, wet mouth was enclosing his cock. Looking up, Harry could see the heat in Snape's eyes. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he panted.

"Quite enjoyable." Snape reached over, flipped the blanket off the bed and ran his fingers lightly over Harry's stomach. "I find that the extra stimulation is quite handy."

It was definitely handy. Harry's heart was pounding as he sunk down into the bed and abandoned himself to the pleasure.

When Harry had recovered his wits, he opened his eyes to see Snape smirking. "I suppose you're pleased with yourself," Harry said grumpily. He was aching in several muscles that hadn't been exercised in the past month, but it was a good ache.

"You didn't look like you were complaining," Snape drawled.

Harry had to admit that he definitely hadn't been complaining. He could still feel Snape's ghostly hands making their way across his body. He could feel himself turning red. Even though he knew nobody outside could have seen them, it still felt like they could. Harry glanced around; the walls had turned back into their normal opaque state. "I thought you said that I wasn't supposed to exert myself for another few months," he pointed out. "That was definitely exertion."

"I was monitoring your heartbeat the entire time."

Oh. Harry pouted. Somehow knowing that took some of the fun out of it. "The food's cold," he said, pointing at the tray. "Don't suppose you could get me something else."

Snape flicked his wand towards the tray. Steam began to rise from the mush. It didn't smell any more appetising reheated than it had when Snape had first brought it into the room.

"Thanks," Harry said dryly. "Just what I needed. The same mush. I was hoping for some bread. Or maybe a whole potato."

"Eat up," Snape said. "You need to keep your strength up."

Harry took up a spoon and poked at the food unenthusiastically. He knew he was going to eat it eventually. He usually got hungry enough after an hour or so.

Snape stood up and walked towards the door. At the door, he turned around. "You'll be better soon," he said. There was a meaningful gleam in his eyes. "Next Beltane, we'll be able to celebrate it properly."

Harry felt his cock twitch. He was definitely looking forward to that.

-fin