For Our Parents Willed So

For Our Parents Willed So

*

To Be Safe

*

It was two days to Christmas. James sat curled on a couch in front of the fireplace of the sitting room. His both fathers were sitting on another couch, chattering quietly.

They'd left Hogwarts for the Christmas break the previous day. Remus and Peter had stayed at Hogwarts, while Severus and James went home, and Sirius had managed to get a permission from his father to stay at the Malfoy Manor over the holidays. Therefore, only Severus and James had been sitting in their compartment in the train.

James'd been concerned about Severus returning to his father. However, as the other boy had pointed out, he couldn't do much about it - his father had demanded him to come home. Anyway, the bespectacled boy had asked him to come to their home as soon as possible, so he'd be safe for at least a part of the Christmas break.

Even though James had invited Severus, he was still surprised as the flames flared high, then again settled down as a black-clad figure stumbled out of the fireplace. All three Potters stared in shock and surprise at Severus, who now stood in front of the fireplace, a trembling hand covering his eyes.

"James," the Slytherin said with a desperate tone, "you have to help me... Merlin, you have to help me..." Then, without another word, he collapsed on the floor, a hand still over his eyes.

Rushing to his fiancé's side, James completely ignored the shocked look on his both fathers' faces. "Severus," he said franticly, "Severus, what did tha bastard do?"

"My eyes," whispered the Slytherin, "my eyes... That fucking bastard... James, I can't see! Not a thing anymore!" And, as he took his hand off his eyes, James noticed with a sinking feeling what exactly was Severus's injury.

There was a small, deep hole in the middle of both black orbs, some clear fluid flowing out of his eyes. And James knew very well that it wasn't tears.

"That man is going to pay for this," he muttered, collecting his fiancé' on his arms. "I swear to Merlin that he will pay!"

"What it is, James?" asked his Dad worriedly. "Who's done, and what?"

"Severus's father," James said just as the Slytherin himself was opening his mouth to reply. "He's popped Severus's eyes with a needle."

"WHAT?" roared his Father, raising from his armchair. "Is he mad or what?"

"Not just any needle," said Severus softly. "It was the fastening needle of my Mum's old jewel." Then, he fell silent again, for he'd fainted.

"James," said his Father, obviously struggling to stay calm, "take your fiancé' to St. Mungo's. Do not let him out of your sight."

"Of course, Father," replied James immediately. "What will you two do?"

With a hatred that James had never heard from either of his parents, his Dad said, "We'll go and see that Philip Snape pays dearly."

"You can't!" exclaimed James franticly. "He might hurt you, too!"

With a dry smile, his Father shook his head. "He's certainly not stupid enough to do that in the presence of other people, so he's all alone," he said. "I don't think he'll argue with two armed wizards, especially when one of them is an Auror."

Swallowing, James nodded. "I hope nothing bad will happen to you, too," he whispered. Then, gathering Severus to his arms, he walked to the fireplace. With a small part of his mind he noted how dangerously thin the other boy was. Tossing a pinch of the Floo powder to the flames, he cried out, "St. Mungo's Hospital!"

And with a whirl of green flames and ash, he was away.

*

"How is he?" asked a quiet voice from the doorway. James's Dad.

"All right," replied James, raising his eyes from the unmoving form that lay on the bed, "other than the fact that even the little he had left of his sight is now gone. What about you two?"

"All right, too," his Father replied with a slight smile. "Your Dad will have a splitting headache for the next couple of days, but Philip Snape is now safely in the hands of the Auror's Guild."

"Good," said the boy, sighing in relief. "I'd hate it if he just got away with this."

Both adult wizards stepped into the hospital room, watching quietly as their son stroked lightly one of his fiancé''s hands.

"Are you really sure this is the same Severus Snape you vowed never to touch just a year ago?" asked his Dad teasingly.

With a dry smirk, James shook his head. "I've come to notice that Snape and Severus are two completely different people. Snape is a person I cannot stand at all, while Severus is quite a nice guy once you get to know him better." With a deep sigh, he added, "I just hope I could have stopped him from going. I knew he wouldn't be safe there, and stll I let him go..."

"You couldn't have helped him," said his Dad, his tone now soft and comforting. "Severus's father had demanded him to go home, and you know it. There was no way you could have prevented it."

"I know that," replied James quietly, "but I still can't help the feeling that I should have done more."

Just then, the hand on the bed stirred. "...James?" they heard a quiet voice.

"I'm here, Severus," the boy replied quickly. He and his fathers watched in fascination as Severus's eyelids opened, revealing a pair of light silver orbs.

"I don't see anything," the Slytherin observed dryly. "So my father succeeded." Not bothering turning towards them, he sat up and asked, "What happened to him?"

"The Aurors have him now, we saw to that," James's Father calmed him. "You don't need to worry, he cannot get near you anymore."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," replied the boy quietly.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," sighed the man. "Do not call me that. We don't even know whom you mean if you say 'Mr. Potter'! No, I'm Luke, and my husband's Cedric. Please, call us that."

"Fine then... Luke," said Severus hesitantly, now swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and getting to his feet. For a moment, he stood on his place, his mouth a bit ajar, and James knew he was scanning the room. Then he walked to Luke and asked, a bit hesitantly, "May I?"

"Go ahead," said the man quietly. He stood still while the boy's fine, long fingers studied his features. Then, after repeating the question, Severus also examined Cedric's face. At last, the boy smiled slightly.

"James looks a lot like you, Cedric," Severus said with a slight nod towards the general direction of the addressed one of his fiancé''s fathers.

"Really?" smirked the man. "Everybody's saying just the opposite, mostly because of James has Luke's hair, eyes, and spectacles."

Shaking his head, Severus replied, "Those things hardly matter to me. His features are mostly from you." Then, he fell silent again.

James hesitantly reached out a hand to touch his fiancé''s arm. "Severus," he said quietly, "the mediwitch who treated you said that none of your sight can be restored." Then, with an even quieter tone, he added, "I'm sorry..."

"No need to be," Severus sighed. "It's not like the difference was very big, compared with what I'm used to."

"You shouldn't be used to that," muttered Luke. "I can assure you, Severus, yourather is going to pay dearly for everything he's done to you."

"That's good," the Slytherin said quietly, "but it still won't give my sight back."

To that, nobody could say anything.

*

"You can live here until we go back to Hogwarts," James said, opening the door to his room. Severus nodded slowly, obviously hesitant to live with his fiancé''s family.

They both stepped into the room. James saw Severus using the Bat Radar charm to get to know his surroundings. He'd previously cleaned up his room. Usually there'd be books, clothes, and other things lying all around the floor, but as Severus couldn't be ware of those, he'd put everything on its place.

As the other boy didn't say anything, James continued,"Father and Dad said they'll get your stuff tomorrow. Tonight, you can use the one of my pyjamas I laid on your bed. The bed on left is for you."

Again, Severus just nodded, a bit unsettled by the new territory. However, as it was already late and they were both tired, they started slowly to change to bed.

"We were thinking about doing some last-minute shopping tomorrow," continued James as he pulled the pyjama pants on, adamant on getting some kind of a response from his fiancé'. "Would you like to come along?"

And again, no reply. James was sure that the silence was accompanied by that damned nod. A bit frustrated, he turned around to snap something at the Slytherin, but was then left just watching.

James's eyes surveyed Severus. The other boy was just slowly buttoning his pyjama shirt, the long, fine fingers taking a button at time and slipping it to its place, every time hiding some more of his pale chest. His blind eyes were not focused at anything, like they never would be, not anymore. The empty gaze made his usually harsh features look almost... delicate. Vulnerable, for the lack of a better word.

James had never listened to his friends whenever they'd told him that Severus was actually good-looking. Even when he'd grown to actually like the Slytherin, he'd never payed any thought to the compliments his friends gave to the other boy about his appearance. He'd been on some level aware of the fact that some considered Severus even handsome, despite his broken nose and almost permanent nasty scowl.

Never before he'd quite realized this himself, however. Now, facing the fragile creature that would once be his, he had no choice but to admit that it was indeed very true.

It wasn't until Severus raised his head with a look of surprise and confusion that James realized he'd slowly walked towards the other boy. Now, he was standing just a foot away from Severus, who of course wasn't looking at him, but looked a bit wary.

Thinking rapidly, James tried to decide what to do. Then he settled on the one course of action that tempted him most.

"Severus?" he asked quietly, licking his lips nervously. The other boy tilted his head to side, indicating that he was listening. Hesitantly raising his hands to cup Severus's face, James asked, "May I?"

After what felt like hours but was really just a couple of seconds, the Slytherin nodded slowly. Not needing more encouraging, James leant forward, pressing his lips lightly against his fiancé''s.

After just a second, Severus started to respond to his kiss. James felt the long-fingered hands tangling into his messy hair, pressing their mouths more firmly together.

Following whatever little instructions he'd heard about kissing from his friends, James snaked his tongue out, sliding it testingly along Severus's lower lip. At first, he feared that Severus would pull away, but after a moment, the other boy parted his lip, allowing his tongue inside.

Severus tasted good. The taste was nothing he'd recognize, except a slight hint of mint among other things, but it was still good. It was good, because it was Severus.

They didn't do anything else that night, just hugged and kissed. This was too new to them both, exciting and scary at the same time. James was especially careful, knowing that no matter how tough mask Severus was keeping up, his father's attack had left him very vulnerable. And James certainly didn't want his fiancé' to be scared of him.

Even if they kept their actions of love in the "safe area," it was obvious to them both that they did love each other. They'd grown to that during the first semester, they just hadn't noticed it until now.

And now that they knew it, they were going to take everything out of it they only could.

*

It was late at night as Luke peered into his son's room. Like he'd expected, both boys were sleeping in James's bed, arms wrapped around each other.

Smiling gently, the man closed the door, leaving the two boys sleeping.