Green Eyes Sublime

Chapter Twenty-three

Outside, Looking In

x

The moment Hogwarts' holiday peace was broken, Harry knew.

The sudden burst of chatter and laughing was of course his first clue, but Harry didn't mind so much. He had returned to Hogwarts for Christmas Day and to ring in the New Year, but the place had felt almost empty for the holidays. Quite a lot of students had stayed back and if it were not for the constant stream of hero worship that they all put him through, Harry quite possibly would have gone mad from the distraction of not having Ron, Hermione or Severus to converse with.

Luckily, Will had been there and if they had become friends the year before, this holiday was spent constantly in each other's company.

In fact, they had been in the midst of playing a game of Exploding Snaps in the Great Hall when they head the front doors to the castle open and students could be heard rushing in, bringing the noise level up dramatically.

"Brace yourself Harry," Will whispered in a conspiring voice. "It seems that the new term has officially begun."

"Do you mind if we stopped playing then?" Harry asked, laughing. "I want to see if Hermione and Ron are back yet."

Will laughed also, because to him, Harry's laugh was infectious.

"Of course!" he proclaimed, already jumping up from where he sat around the Gryffindor table. "I want to see if the Ravenclaws are back also. Besides, the house elves will need the Hall for the feast soon."

Together they made their way past chattering groups and reacquainting friends of Hufflepuffs, into the cold January air. The change from the castle's heat to the taste of Winter, was a welcomed change. The shining sun they were met by, did nothing to increase the temperature but with their winter robes, House scarves and mittens, the thought of casting Heating spells crossed their minds only ever so often as their boots crunched over the snow covered ground.

Harry couldn't help smiling at the general air of happiness that surrounded them as they walked. It was as if the arriving students had not seen each other for months instead of only three weeks. The squeals and shouts were almost deafening.

"Oy Harry! Harry! Over here!"

Harry laughed as Ron's voice joined the onslaught of shouts. Both he and Will turned to where the call had originated, just in time to see Ron's carriage pulling in followed by a long stream of other carriages.

Ron was leaning, almost halfway out of his carriage window, waving up a storm in his excitement. As soon as the carriage came to a stop just in front of where Harry stood, Ron jumped out with a huge grin on his face while the carriage drove away.

"Hello Harry. Hello Will," he said in a deceptively calm voice, although he was still smiling. "You can look happy now. I have arrived."

Both Will and Harry laughed at the absurdity that was Ron's statement.

"Ron, are the Ravenclaws here as yet?" Will asked, when their amusement died down.

"Nope," Ron said shaking his head. "They should be along soon with Padma and Malfoy. That's the order this year. Hannah leads the Hufflepuffs followed by me and the Gryffindors. Then comes Padma and the Ravenclaws, Malfoy and the Slytherins and Hermione to bring up the rear."

This was in fact true, because by then the Ravenclaw carriages had already begun streaming in.

There was a fair bit of hollering for Will to come over afterwards. So, with a smile at Ron and a short wave of goodbye to Harry, Will left their company to join the members of his own House where they had congregated.

As soon as he left Ron gave Harry a sly look of open amusement. "He's really setting himself for a downfall, isn't he?"

"Ron we're just friends," Harry replied with a large amount of guilt in his voice. "I know that you know there won't be anything between him and me."

Ron laughed. "Yes I know and you know, but does he know that Harry? He doesn't look at you as if he understands. He still looks at you...very interested."

Harry and Ron had not actually talked about who it was that Harry did like. Harry knew that Ron knew and Ron realized that Harry knew that he knew. Honestly, that just made their lives so much easier. Harry didn't have to admit anything incriminating to Ron and Ron realized that Harry should not be stating it out loud anyway. They had settled the issue in a very guy-like manner and it had worked out well.

"I can't tell him to stop liking me and expect him to do just that," Harry declared, not quite defensively. "It's not quite that easy."

"Right..." Ron said still smiling. "So since we're on the issue, how did your day away go? Not too much detail though. I want to eat comfortably tonight."

Harry glared mockingly at him. "It went well."

"Great! Enough said."

"Indeed."

Right about then, Hermione's carriage pulled into the school. Although she didn't shout, she was waving just as frantically and seemed to be fighting the urge to hang out the window too. As soon as the carriage stopped in front of them, Hermione jumped out just as eagerly and practically flew into Ron's arms.

They spent a good ten minutes kissing and whispering to each other, while Harry wished the earth would open up and save him from standing beside them.

"Hello Harry," Hermione said grinning.

It seemed that she and her boyfriend had stopped long enough for her to notice her best friend looking for all the world as if he wanted to disappear.

He forgave her long enough to be pulled into a tight hug and give her a kiss on her cheek.

"So how did it go? You didn't even owl!" she exclaimed.

Harry sighed, but still wasn't able to hide the hint of a blush as he replied, "It went great."

Hermione looked as if she wanted to clap and bounce around for the two of them. Instead she merely grinned some more and fought herself to abide by protocol as Head Girl. Ron and Harry had to laugh at that. The look in her eyes was so full of joy and excitement that she reminded them of a little Witch let loose in Zonko's.

Simultaneously, they gave her a kiss on the cheek from each of her sides, making her into a Hermione sandwich.

She laughed and soon her two best friends joined her.

Lacing her fingers with Harry's and wrapping her other arm around Ron, the three made their way inside Hogwart's. The Welcome Back feast would start in another three hours and everyone wanted to unpack what little they had taken with them home. Hermione wanted to know exactly what happened, because unlike Ron, she was eager to know as much details about Harry's day away as Harry would divulge.

All in all, the New Year had begun rather well.

x-x-x

"Welcome back to Hogwarts everyone!" Dumbledore greeted the hall of students with a huge smile and a raised glass. "It is good to see that you have all decided against extending your holidays longer than the allotted time. I must say that I am very pleased by this. It would have been rather tedious trying to teach the empty classes anything this time of year. You see they are a rather stubborn lot and long since set in their ways."

Everyone laughed good naturedly at the odd line of commenting, though most of the student's attention was focused on the entrance to the room.

The Slytherins looked the least nervous. That is, if one wasn't watching them too carefully, they would almost appear nonchalant. Every once in a while though someone would glance towards the door and from the expression on their face the other Slytherins would know the results. It was funny really. No matter how much the Slytherins proclaimed that Professor Snape was a traitor and deserved to die, most of them seemed to have sunk into an irritated and even angrier mood since he left.

Professor Snape was their Head of House and really, he was the only Head of House that they could tolerate.

The students of the other Houses weren't so partial to showing emotions. So a good bit of the time was spent between glancing apprehensively at the open doors to gazing at the extravagant spread of food that laid before them.

Most of them didn't want Professor Snape to return, but either way they realized that there was something to be learned. If he did not return then that would confirm that he was indeed dead and as a result was a Death Eater and deserved his fate. If he returned then it was only because Dumbledore was a raging lunatic who hired a Death Eater to teach them. Of course, many of them already knew this as a fact in their heads, but it was always good to get confirmation of one's suspicions.

"Harry? Harry, eat!" Hermione ordered from two seats away, causing Harry to turn away yet again from watching the entrance to the Hall.

"I am eating," he grumbled, but he actually was not.

Harry turned away from the door only to look over at the Head Table. It was a good thing that he knew that Severus was to return today otherwise who knew what his anxiety level would have been by now. Again his eyes were drawn to the empty seat between Remus and Dumbledore.

Dumbledore laughed yet again.

Every time Harry looked at the table, Dumbledore seemed to burst into laughter. Harry had a great suspicion that Dumbledore was in fact laughing at him and at one point the Headmaster even seemed to very subtly raise his glass in a toast to him. Of course, Harry couldn't confirm this suspicion because sometimes Remus and Hagrid would begin to laugh also and he knew that they wouldn't be quite so open to the reason why Harry was waiting for Severus to come.

Still, Severus' empty chair was beginning to burn a hole through Harry's eyes.

Harry had just about reach the end of his patience span when quite suddenly an odd flicker of light appeared directly before Dumbledore. Then out of nowhere an owl post began to draw itself in midair. First came the golden lines in a cylindrical shape, followed by the curl of a red line to show the ribbon that was wrapped around it. After that, the structure became three dimensional, still floating.

Everyone was utterly impressed and very curious by the time Dumbledore snatched it out of the air and began to open it.

Clearing his throat and still with a blinding smile upon his face, Dumbledore rose to read it.

"It seems that the moment you have all been waiting for has arrived," He declared with a look that Harry was sure was trained upon him. "Please welcome from his time away, Professor Snape. The Potions professor for those of you whose mind it has slipped and First Years who have yet to make his...uh...acquaintance."

Severus stepped into the suddenly very silent Hall with a look on his face that told of just how much he wished to strangle Dumbledore for such a dramatic show to his return. With the scowl on his face reaching levels of lethal, Severus took his seat beside a beaming Dumbledore and Remus, who looked for all the world as if he wanted to laugh.

The fact that the students in the room were not clapping, and wearing the most disappointed looks upon their faces, seemed to have slipped the old Wizard who returned to eating as if he was privy to a private joke that no one else could get.

There was an actual collective sigh in the room before everyone else returned to eating. Then, little by little the buzz of conversation rose and laughter began to sound in the room once more. The Potions' professor's return had been accepted and moved past.

Afterall, it was only Professor Snape, and as horrid as he was, it was not as if it was You-Know-Who or an army of Death Eaters.

From his seat across from Harry, Neville sighed again and took a long drink of his orange juice. Then he too delved back into conversation with Ron and Seamus. Soon Harry joined them as well, with just the smallest hint of a smile on his face.

Ron took to ignoring it and Hermione laughed.

If he had not been eating before, Harry appetite returned in full force then. Not once did he look over at the Head Table again. From all perspective, he too seemed to have accepted that the most hated professor of Hogwarts had returned, but for Harry it was a little different.

Severus was back and now Harry suddenly couldn't wait to get to the dungeons.

x-x-x

Will turned yet another corner in the Slytherin dungeons, then gritted his teeth in exasperation and anger. He had been walking the dungeons for hours and still the corridors seem to go on and on. That this was definitely not the route the Slytherins took to get to their dorms, was the first thing he realized. With the maddening, mind boggling confusion of a maze that the place was, he had no doubts that even a saint would have lost patience by now. Will was no saint and neither were the Slytherins.

"Lost, Ravenclaw?"

The slow drawl, which held the slightest bit of insult, could only have been produced from one person. Still, it was the sound of salvation to Will, because at least he now knew that he was not the only Wizard who found himself in the dungeons in the middle of the night. Not that Malfoy could be considered a salvation by any other means. Never the less his presence was rather appreciated by Will.

"Hello Malfoy," Will said almost calmly, if not for the way his eyes narrowed as he faced the Slytherin.

Lounging casually against one of the walls near where Will stood, Draco had the distinct pleasure of hearing Will wander in a near perfect circle. He would have liked nothing better than to watch the dungeon play 'mouse and maze' a little more with the Ravenclaw, but Draco had other things on his mind.

"What are you doing down here, Ravenclaw? Lost your shadow, did you?" Draco inquired with a dangerous look in his grey eyes. "Or is it that you lost your prey?"

Will glared openly, although he began to close the small distance between himself and Draco.

"I'm looking for Harry. I followed him down here after the Feast but somehow I seemed to have lost him down one of these stupid corridors. That's not a crime is?"

"It is when you're down here uninvited!" Draco snarled. "Followed Potter did you say? So he's down here...still. Thanks for the tip."

Will suddenly realized that he should not have said as much to the Slytherin leader, but he couldn't very well take his words back.

"Look, I'm not here to cause any trouble. I just got lost and I'm half certain that Harry did too," he declared quietly. "If you know where he is, just tell me and you can have your stupid dungeon to yourself."

Draco smirked almost threateningly. "Is that so? Well just so you know...Ravenclaw, Potter happens to be Head Boy and that means that he can go anywhere in Hogwarts that he wants to without a shadow behind him. I'm not sure he'd appreciate the extra attention from you."

"Oh please! Am I to believe that you're defending him, Malfoy?"

Draco's eyes narrowed. "Of course not. I'm only saying this so you know that while the Slytherins tolerate Potter's insufferable presence about the place, no one has to tolerate someone like...you."

"Ah. Bigots."

"Hardly," Draco drawled in a deceptively low voice. "Only that Potter is a very big boy. He doesn't need you to keep an eye on him. Slytherins have more important things to spend their days tending to than wonder who you deem worthy to sleep with in your spare time. When powerful Wizards come out to play, little ravens should stay the hell away. You don't want to tangle with the Slytherins, Ravenclaw. You'd never be able to hold your own."

"Then why don't you let me and Harry decide if we deem each other worthy? Either you tell me where Harry is or get the hell out of my way," Will said looking determined enough to hex Draco out of his path anyway.

Draco laughed, not an entirely unpleasant sound Will realized, but grating anyway.

"Well, well. Here I am being so nice to you and all I get is irritation. What? No thanks, Ravenclaw? I was being so agreeable. I even rescued you from another two hours of wandering the dungeons."

"Rescued me?"

"Yes." Draco's eyes still danced in hidden amusement. "The least you could do is look grateful for the help."

Will gave Draco a look of disgust. "I would, if grateful means you make me want to hurl."

Draco smiled slowly. Really smiled. His silver eyes sparkled, pearly white teeth peeked tantalizingly behind rose colored lips and his skin shone like smooth porcelain.

It did dangerous things to Will's heart rate.

"Really...William?" Draco asked, still smiling pleasantly. "You don't look like you want to hurl."

The smile hardened into a smirk and gray eyes glared. "William, William...do I make you think nasty thoughts? Forgotten Potter already, have you?"

Will gasped, turning a deep shade of crimson. Never before had he been embarrassed in such a way. He was no Harry Potter, but Draco must know how utterly appealing he was to Will. In fact, he had to know to pull a stunt like that.

"You little -"

"What?" Draco interrupted. "Did I hit a nerve?"

Will began to involuntarily back away from the steel in Draco's taunting gaze. Draco wasn't going to allow that though. Stretching out his hand he grabbed unto the collar of Will's cloak and pulled him close, until all that separated them was Draco's hand and a breath of air.

"Didn't anyone warn you that if you play with fire, you'll no doubt get burned?" Draco asked very softly, his lips inches away from Will's ear. "Take my perfect advise, Ravenclaw, and leave Potter alone. Can't you tell that he's too good and too bloody untouchable for you to sets your sights on? What is with you wanting men you can't have? Do you have a thing for straight blokes or something? First Potter, then me. Do you have a crush on Weasley too?

Will backed out of Draco's grasp with anger flaring in his eyes. "I don't have to stay here and listen to this Malfoy. I came down here to find Harry and I'm not leaving until I do."

"Then go ahead." Draco smiled his challenge. "Walk the Dungeons. Get yourself lost again. Nothing would amuse me more than if you see something that you would rather not. I wonder though, why are you so sure Potter is still down here?"

For a moment, Will looked confused. He had followed Harry down to the dungeons but as soon as he had entered, Harry had disappeared. After that, the dungeons may as well have become a maze for all the progress he made. He hadn't even been able to locate the Potions classroom when he and just about everyone else had been able to close their eyes and find the place by their fourth year.

Besides, Malfoy looked very serious about his warning of getting lost again.

"What do you know Malfoy?" Will asked suspiciously. "Where would Harry have gone?"

Draco laughed. "I don't give a rat's ass where Potter could have gone. He came down here because his status as whore to the Wizarding world allows him biased privileges. See, he is the Head Boy of Hogwarts and I am a Deputy so his task was to inform me of an emergency prefects' meeting that will be held in two days. Since you're not even worthy of wiping spit off Dumbledore's shoes, you have no business knowing this, but again I'm being agreeable. As far as I know, he left and then you showed up like something Potter forgot he was dragging along behind him."

Not once did Will flinch from Draco's little speech. His mind was too busy working overtime on what Draco had said and whether or not it was true. Draco had reached the end of his patience span and wasn't going to afford Will the time to make up his anything.

It was time the Ravenclaw be on his way.

"I'm going to give you five minutes to leave the dungeons, Ravenclaw. You've overstayed your welcome or whatever you may think of it to be," Draco drawled in a tone that meant dangerous business. "If you're not out of my sight after that then I will get rid of you one way or another. I don't like ravens sticking their beaks in where it doesn't belong. Got that...William?"

Will glared, but it was all that he could do. Draco had power now that he was a Deputy and Will had no right challenging that power. He could only hope that Malfoy had spoken the truth and that Harry had indeed left the dungeon earlier.

Harry was too good to be in the vicinity of the filthy little Slytherins.

Without another word, Will turned and walk away in the direction that he came from. Draco watched his retreating form for a long time before he allowed the half smile to form on his face. He too, turned to walk away but in the opposite direction.

Passing the only door in the hallway not more than fifty feet away, Draco paused to stare at the funny looking doorknob that was in entirely the wrong place it was expected to be.

All the Slytherins knew that the door to Professor Snape's rooms was very well warded. Anyone who dared to touch the door, without a valid reason, was in for a dramatic bit of hexing, instantly. Mostly, it was the First Years that discovered this new law every year. The older Slytherins did not see fit to warn the younger ones of the impending danger. Most opted for the younger ones to make their own mistakes, because how else would they learn? The door was off limits and very dangerous. By now, everyone knew that.

Except, Draco had seen Harry Potter enter the rooms beyond the door with such ease that it would almost seem as if he owned the quarters.

Draco smiled cunningly again as he passed the door and made his way over to the Entrance Painting to the Slytherin Common Room. One thought kept encircling his head as he disappeared inside the green and silver room.

"Oh Potter, you do so owe me this time..."

x-x-x

Severus entered his quarters at exactly midnight.

He had spent the two hours prior to the Welcome Feast sitting through a completely unnecessary meeting in the Staff room. He had long since planned his lessons and saw no reason why an entire meeting was to be dedicated to discussing the students' -and his- return.

In his opinion, a very strong Sleeping Draught would take care of the little brats as effectively as a hex to shut them up. If he had forgotten what type of headache could be caused by being in a room with the lot of them, he had certainly remembered tonight.

Hogwarts held far too many unnecessary functions.

Severus entered his quarters and banged the door shut very loudly, not caring about the souls of the dead that he may have awoken with the sound. He was in a very bad mood and Albus' little trick at dinner did nothing but add to his irritation. He would be quite surprised if anyone managed to stay awake with all the excitement of the day.

This was why when he turned to walk into his room, he was in for a little surprise.

Harry sat on the carpet with his back resting against the couch, facing the door. His feet were tucked up, and balanced in his lap was a large sketchpad. As always his hand moved in fluid motions across the surface as he drew with his Muggle pencil. He looked so engrossed in the sketch that it almost seemed as if he would have not noticed if the entire school was coming down around him.

Beside him, on the floor, was another drawing. This one was completed and obviously had not been charmed to move.

"Hello," Harry said softly, pausing to smile.

"How did you get in?" Severus asked suspiciously. "The door only opens when I permit it."

Harry shrugged. His attention had already returned to what he was drawing.

"Don't know," he said in a semi-dazed voice. "It just opened. I didn't even have to knock. I thought at first that you were in, but realized that you weren't. So I waited."

Severus tried not to groan aloud at Harry's words. If the door had opened on its own then it meant that it had accepted Harry's constant presence and as such had now elevated Harry's status from 'visitor' to somewhere in the vicinity of Severus' role as owner of the room.

It was now just another thing at Hogwarts that was biased to Harry.

With a soft sigh, Severus reached for the completed drawing that was lying on the carpet. Immediately his attention was captured by what he held in his hand. It was exquisite. In fact, Severus' fingers tingled to trace the lines, if only to see just how real it would feel to touch something so raw and emotional, even in its simplicity.

"Why did you draw this?" Severus asked softly.

"Huh?" Harry asked as he looked up from his work again with an endearing look of confusion in his eyes. "Oh. That. I don't know why. I've wanted to do it for a while. I guess I needed to. Some sort of catharsis I guess. I figured the Muggle version was better and easier to understand."

Severus tore his eyes away yet again from the drawing, to look at Harry. And suddenly all the anger and irritation of the day seemed to drain out of him as he stared into Harry's uncertain green eyes.

It was irrational and perhaps a little scary for the Potions' master, who had never quite felt such a strong connection to someone before. That this Wizard, of only seventeen, could make him feel so much unlike himself and get reactions out of him that had not been possible since he was a child, was very unnerving...and irrational...and right.

Severus looked on the drawing he held in his hand again. It was of an outstretched hand that was marred by scars. In the palm of the hand, were Muggle instruments of self- injury. There was a piece of broken glass, balanced on which was a safety pin, a double edged razor and a knife. There may not have been a wand there but Severus knew that it was symbolic of Harry's triumph over his own days of self punishment.

Without a word, Severus handed Harry the drawing back.

He waited until Harry had placed it on the carpet once again before reaching out to him. As soon as Harry's hand was within his grasp, Severus pulled Harry to his feet as Harry's drawing equipments were scattered upon the carpet.

Then just as silently, he wrapped Harry tightly in his arms, breathing in the scent of Harry's hair and Harry.

Harry closed his eyes, feeling as if his heart was about to burst from all the emotions that coursed through him. Severus had never before initiated a hug. When he felt the ghostly touch of Severus' kiss on the side of his head, he smiled and wrapped his arms just as tightly around Severus.

Just as feathery, Severus' lips trailed lightly over Harry's cheek, his temple and finally along the lightning scars on Harry's forehead.

"You reek of goodness. Did you know?" Severus murmured softly. "It clings to you, even with all the pain and touch of darkness. Like purity and perfection."

Severus's hand rose to tuck strands of longer black hair behind Harry's ear as green eyes stared almost vulnerable at him.

"Why Harry? Why do you say you love me? I don't deserve to be loved by one so pure."

Harry smiled. This time it was his fingers that were threaded through strand of ebony. It was such an overwhelming sight that Harry almost got lost in gazing at the streams of black that flowed through his finger. He tore his eyes away to meet another stream, this time of onyx and fire.

"Because you are yourself and make no apologies about that. Because you've been to hell and back. You've experienced the power held within the dark and yet you fight so hard to stay in the light. Because you accept me without the pedestal. Because you are who you are and won't let me see you in any other way."

Harry suddenly began to blush as if he realized that what he was saying might not be good enough. Not for someone who was so much more mature than he was, no matter how hard he tried. "Because...Because you're you. I don't know. Because I just do...I just love you."

Severus nodded his understanding, even though Harry was still blushing.

Then very slowly he brought their lips together in a kiss that was so gentle and right that Harry felt his breath fluttering somewhere in the region of his stomach. Harry wanted it to last forever. For the two of them, perhaps it did.

It was a kiss of exploration.

Purity.

Perfection.

"Harry..." Severus breathed against his lips so hauntingly that Harry literally felt his insides ache. "Harry, you're too pure to be here. Don't you know I can taint you with my touch? You should run. Run miles away from me."

"No!" Harry protested brokenly, shaking his head for emphasis. "I want..."

He paused self consciously as he tried to sort out what exactly he wanted from Severus in that moment.

And Severus laughed into the pause.

It was a clear baritone chuckle that cause Harry to gasp in surprise. He had never heard Severus truly laugh before. It was the perfect sound and seemed to bring with it a gathering storm of amusement and light into Severus' dark eyes.

"My brave Gryffindor, do you even know what you want?" Severus asked with the first real smile that Harry had ever seen from him. "If you can't even say it, you have no business desiring it."

Harry face took on a look of determination. "You. I want...you..."

"Well you already have me for now," Severus said softly and Harry ducked his head shyly.

"Severus, you know what I mean!"

Severus chuckled almost teasingly again, but his hands deftly removed Harry's cloak and shirt. Then his lips descended again on Harry's flesh, burning patters of heat on Harry's skin. His hands drove Harry mad as they roved freely over Harry's body.

In his defense, Harry decided that it was only fair that he get Severus in the same state of undress as he was.

That was easier thought than done, because soon Harry was left growling in frustration from all the buttons on Severus' black robe. Severus took pity on him and quickly unfastened the clothes himself. Then Harry was happy as his lips reacquainted themselves with Severus' and the feel of Severus' warmth beneath his fingertips.

He was so happily distracted that he barely noticed when Severus had them shuffling through the door, into his bedroom.

When Harry turned to survey the place he smiled.

If it were not for the silver colored walls and canopy drapes above the bed, everything in the room would have been a dramatic shade of black. The bed, with its silk sheets, was black. As were the rest of the furniture in the room. Even the mantle was made of black marble.

"I want you to touch me," Harry said softly, turning to Severus. "I want you in me. Beside me. I don't care. I just don't want to leave here tonight."

In response, Severus pulled Harry into his arms again, working to remove all pieces of clothing that separated the two of them from each other.

And soon they were lying amidst silk sheets together, exploring every inch of each other.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Severus asked softly, one hand holding a vial of potion as he gazed down at Harry. "After this there is no point of return. Do you really want your first time to be with your greasy Potions professor?"

Harry laughed, feeling as if he was floating in the light of Severus' eyes.

"Yes, but you're not only that," Harry whispered. "You're Severus and I love you with all your faults."

Severus turned Harry over to lie on his stomach, murmuring words of encouragement and calm as he prepared them both. Then slowly Harry felt Severus slip into him with one thrust. It was perfect, and Harry realized that there was no need to float anymore.

Not when he was flying in the midst of a building storm.

X-x-X