Languages of Love

At midnight on Wednesday, Harry was in the Astronomy Tower, staring at the stars. Of course, he wasn't taking Astronomy, but he had the Marauder's map and his father's cloak to provide him more than adequate shelter if anyone unexpected came up. He had talked Hermione into sending Snape an anonymous owl, her handwriting masked with a spell, informing him that someone was waiting for him in the Astronomy Tower. So far, it appeared to be working. Harry knew that there would be about a five minute period where he would need to stall Severus from the time he got up the tower to the beginning of the main event, which he hoped would be enough to reinstall him in the older Slytherin's favour. It was supposed to be spectacular, an event that only happened once every hundred years or so; Harry was certain that the older male had never seen it. Hermione had come up with him beforehand and ensured that the magnification spells were working. It was going to be a perfect comet sighting. The comet in question was Merlin's comet, so called because Merlin was apparently the first to chart its passing, tracking its course by the Earth with the use of a spell. Harry thought such a magnificent sight would do the trick, bringing Severus back to him; if it didn't work, there was always next time. However, if he didn't win Severus around by Christmas, he thought he was doomed to live his life alone, knowing as he did that Severus was the only one he wanted. After all, he was mentally challenging and saw through the image of 'The Boy Who Lived'. Harry wasn't a hero, as everyone said; he was just Harry Potter. In Harry's mind, he was just a boy, who got incredibly lucky and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Harry glanced down at the Marauder's map, then moved back into a shadowed corner, throwing his father's invisibility cloak over his head and clearing the map. No sooner had he stilled, then Severus Snape swept into the room. As soon as the door banged shut and Snape's back was turned toward him, Harry let the invisibility cloak slide off him to pool noiselessly at his feet. A wordless locking charm caused a click to permeate the silence, at which Severus whirled around and stared at him. The longer he stared at Harry, the more vehemence and contempt crept into his features.
"Up after hours, Potter?" Severus asked, spitting Harry's last name with more distaste than he had all term. "Saint Potter thinks he is exempt from rules and their imminent punishments," he sneered, advancing across the room to approach Harry.
Harry stepped forward to meet Severus half-way, unphased by the older man's outburst, his emerald eyes glinting with determination as he stared into Severus' own onyx orbs.
"I should have known that it was you who summoned me here. Well, Potter, you have the attention you have so desperately sought." Snape crossed his arms and stared down at Harry.
"Tonight's Merlin's comet. I wanted to watch it with you, Severus," Harry stated, his voice simultaneously soft and firm.
He was only a few inches from Severus, who frowned at the sharp correction of 'Professor Snape' to 'you, Severus', but did not otherwise make any motion and certainly did not back away.
"Saint Potter wants to watch a rock burn up in the sky with 'the great bat' of Hogwarts? How touching." Snape sneered again, his lip curling in distaste. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for sheer stupidity and another fifty for being out after hours. Now go back to your dormitory before I take even more points."
Harry glared at Snape, his irritation mounting. This irritation was not born from the man himself, but from the extremity of the reactions the surly Potions Master was taking towards Harry's efforts to re-close the distance between them.
However, Harry said no more, instead turning and gathering up his invisibility cloak and map, tucking them both discretely into the pocket of his robes, and looking back at Severus, who was standing and watching him with a smug and superior smirk on his face. Harry turned away and unlocked the door, before heading down the stairs and out of the tower. Although Severus was certain that, as the door was shutting, he heard a very faint phrase murmured: "S'agapo Severus Snape."
After Harry closed the door, Severus turned around and scowled at the sky. He watched with only mild interest as the charms, which were obviously taken from the Omnioculars Harry, Ron and Hermione had bought in their fourth year, started zooming in on a brightly shining mass of star, which was moving slowly across the sky. As Severus watched, the comet became more defined, its fiery tail glowing with many of the rainbow's colours, a result of the mineral content within the ice. Vivid reds and golds mixed with greens and white-grey, whilst purples, blues and orange-yellows seemed to hover around the edges. The appearance of the comet made Severus scowl even more. There was no way that Harry could have performed these complex spells on his own; the rest of Potter's 'Golden Gaggle', as Severus had dubbed them, must have been in on it as well. Severus turned on his heel, his face bearing a sneer which faded into a scowl, and stalked out of the Astronomy Tower, intent on continuing his nightly rounds.