23

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE:

Harry woke on Friday morning feeling the activities of the previous day, but as he snuggled closer to Severus he knew he wouldn't have it any other way. It was a very long time since he had last slept with anyone, and waking up entangled with another person was a feeling he had long thought he would never have again.

Then Severus stirred, burrowing deeper into the blankets with a groan, and Harry stifled a laugh. He had learned in the other timeline that Severus Snape was NOT a morning person. "Good morning," he said softly, pressing a kiss to the soft skin behind Severus's ear. A muffled groan was all he got in response, and Harry grinned.

"Well, if you refuse to wake up…" Harry pushed the other man until he was on top, smirking down at the man who had slung one arm over his eyes and was most obstinately ignoring the call of day. Smoothing his hands down Severus's sides Harry began trailing feather-light kisses along the side of his neck, slowly moving down Severus's body. When he gave one nipple a flick with his tongue he immediately noticed Severus's unfavorable reaction and moved on, making a mental note that Severus didn't like his nipples touched. By the time he reached his destination Severus was definitely interested, and by now the arm over the man's eyes had dipped to instead muffle the sounds he was making, which Harry found strangely endearing.

Then he lowered his head and ran his pointed tongue up Severus's member from base to tip, smiling at the muffled moan that got from Severus. He proceeded to tease Severus with nibbling kisses, light licks and by softly blowing on the man's cock, letting the man writhe in a silent plea for more contact but waiting until Severus gave in and moaned out, "Harry…" Only then did he set to his task in earnest, loving each sound that fell from Severus's lips. He had heard once that you could disable your gag reflex by squeezing your left thumb, so he fisted his hand and attempted to deepthroat Severus; it worked better than he had expected, but he knew that to do it properly he would need to practice and Severus was too close to finishing to get that practice in now. Wrapping his hand around Severus's cock he started pumping, keeping his mouth on the head and squeezing lightly – and had a man come in his mouth for the first time.

Only once Severus was completely spent did Harry raise his head, licking his lips and meeting Severus's dilated eyes, smirking contentedly at the mind-blown expression on the man's face. It seemed that his first blow job hadn't been too terrible.

Pulling himself up he kissed Severus deeply, somewhat surprised at the way Severus opened his mouth to taste himself on Harry but extremely turned on by it; Severus however froze when he felt Harry's hard length against his bare skin, and Harry pulled away to look at him in confusion, about to ask what was the matter when he realized what Severus was afraid of. His face softened and he moved his hand to softly stroke Severus's cheek, feeling him relax slightly at the touch.

"I would never do anything you don't want," he said softly, and caught the way relief and guilt flickered across Severus's face before the man hid his face in the crook of Harry's neck. Harry simply gathered him in his arms, resting his cheek against the dark hair as he held him close. "Who was it?" he asked softly, not sure whether Severus would tell him or not.

"Rabastan Lestrange," Severus eventually whispered into Harry's neck, and Harry's arms involuntarily tightened around the older man.

"I'll kill him for you," he said mildly, not letting any of his feelings bleed into his voice as he contemplated how he would get his hands on the rapist. Well, he had decided that the Lestranges would be the first to go…

Apparently Harry hadn't said the wrong thing, for Severus relaxed fully, his arms coming up to loosely embrace the younger man. "I'm sorry," he said so quietly that Harry almost didn't catch it.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Severus," Harry said softly, smoothing his hand along the soft skin of Severus's back. "Nothing at all." And the other man seemed to recognize that Harry was entirely serious, for he simply tightened his hold, clinging to the younger man like a lifeline while his bed partner plotted the most fitting way to murder a Death Eater.

OoOoO

While Severus was in class Harry went to pay Dumbledore a visit in the Hospital Wing, finding the man sitting in a hospital bed dictating a letter to a quill as he was unable to write with his cursed hand.

"How are you feeling, Albus?" Harry asked softly as he slid into a chair by the man's bedside, feigning concern. "I'm sorry for not stopping by earlier – I was dealing with the other Horcruxes. I hope to defeat Snake Face while you're still around to see it," he smiled shakily.

"You have dealt with all the Horcruxes already?" Dumbledore asked, seeming unable to believe it.

Harry nodded. "All but Nagini; I knew where all the others were, so destroying them only took a day or so," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I regret that the only one whose location I didn't know also was the most dangerous…"

"Where were the other ones?" Harry noticed that Dumbledore seemed somewhat annoyed; he was probably cursing Harry for letting him walk straight into danger.

"There was one in the Room of Requirement," Harry began obediently, "one in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts, another in the Black townhouse, and one in my scar."

Dumbledore seemed to deflate when Harry mentioned the last Horcrux, and Harry was hard pressed not to murder the bastard where he sat, realizing that Dumbledore HAD known about the Horcrux in him. Somehow he managed to answer civilly when Dumbledore asked how he destroyed the soul piece in his scar.

"The goblins performed a ritual on me," Harry shrugged. "For a fee of course."

"Of course," Dumbledore answered, the edge to his voice convincing Harry that the bastard had wanted him dead. Oh, he was looking forward to pumping the old man full of Veritaserum and finding out what reasons were behind Dumbledore's insane master plan…

"Are you quite alright, my boy?"

Harry looked at the man, realizing that at least some of his feelings must have been visible. "Just a headache," he smiled slightly. "I'll see if Severus can give me something for it later." Dumbledore didn't point out that they were in the Hospital Wing, interestingly, but instead just nodded.

"I was thinking that we should have an Order meeting tonight," Harry said, coming to the true reason for his visit. "We need to plan how to continue, and the members deserve to know that you are… injured," he said tactfully.

"You are quite right," Dumbledore sighed heavily. "I will call a meeting for 9 pm – that should ensure that everyone can make it. Perhaps you could help me through the Floo when the time comes?" he asked, and Harry agreed, of course.

"I will come by again later, then," Harry stood and reached out to lightly squeeze the Headmaster's shoulder. With that he left, glad to leave behind the bastard who had wanted him dead.