Author: FireAngel8723
Pairing: HP/SS
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: See this page.
Author's Notes: This was my first HP/SS. Please be nice. ^_^
The music pounded loudly through the club as Severus Snape entered. He moved toward the bar, hoping to find a liquor strong enough to help him forget his sorrows.
�What can I get for you?� the bartender yelled at him over the music.
�Whatever is strongest,� Severus hollered back. The bartender smirked and poured him a glass of strange-looking purple liquid.
Severus took the drink and turned to watch the crowd writhing on the dance floor. He had hoped that going out would make him forget, at least for one night, the eyes that seemed to be constantly haunting him. Even now, as he surveyed the other patrons of the club, he was imagining seeing flashes of brilliant emerald green eyes and dark hair. He mentally berated himself, yet again, for letting Harry slip through his defenses. Oh yes, the Potions Master had started calling him Harry, at least in his head - never out loud - halfway through Harry�s seventh year at Hogwarts. While swooping around his classroom one day, Severus had had an epiphany�he didn�t hate Harry because he was James�s son. It was because he always managed to get under his skin, to affect him in ways no one else could. Severus had waged a war against himself in his head in the week following that discovery, but his state of denial didn�t last very long, as he had started having very erotic dreams starring the green-eyed Gryffindor.
Severus started being a little nicer to Harry and this action had seemed to be easing the tension between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Then Voldemort had managed to get his slimy hands on Harry. Severus growled audibly at the memory of Albus Dumbledore telling the Order that Harry had been kidnapped�but somehow, luck was with Harry yet again. He, on instinct, sent a blast of magic flying toward Voldemort. Because of all his practice, his aim was spot on and it had hit and had worked much like the killing curse.
Harry had come back to Hogwarts shaken and extremely introverted. Not even the other two parts of the �Golden Trio,� as Severus liked to call them, could pull him out of himself. Harry had disappeared into the muggle world immediately following his graduation from Hogwarts and no one in the wizarding world had seen him since. It was four months today that Harry was out of school and Severus found this tidbit of information quite hard to bear.
Severus downed the rest of his drink and ordered another before scanning the club again. His eyes were drawn to a dark corner in the back. A man was sitting there, staring intently into his drink, stirring it listlessly. From what Severus could see, he had dark, messy hair and his heart gave a twinge as he remembered Harry�s unruly mop. As if the man could sense someone staring, he looked up abruptly and his eyes collided with Severus�s. Severus found himself staring, shocked, into brilliant emerald eyes�Harry Potter�s eyes.
Harry often came to this bar. It was rather like a guilty pleasure, as no one knew he came here. Actually, no one really knew anything about him�and he liked it that way. He came to this bar - Skin, it was called - at least once a week and tried to drown the ache in his heart with liquor.
Not many really understood why Harry had left the wizarding world�after all, doesn�t everyone want fame and glory? Well, the opposite was true in this case�all Harry wanted was to be left alone and he could never have gotten that, especially after the end of his seventh year at Hogwarts. After all, it�s not every day you beat the most feared Dark Wizard of all time. Harry thought it quite funny, really. When Voldemort had come for him, he�d been expecting it. The crazy man had predictably tried to kill him at the end of each school year and Harry had no reason to believe his seventh year would be any different�so when he was kidnapped, he just went with the flow and when he got his chance, he went on instinct and fired his magic at Voldemort.
He�d finished school, just barely. All he�d wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. It seemed like everywhere he went, people were congratulating him and gushing over him and he just didn�t want any of it. Truthfully, the one thing Harry wanted he would probably never get, and he knew it. He didn�t know when he realized he was in love with Severus Snape�it was just sort of a gradual thing. Snape had started being nicer to him and they�d formed a tentative friendship. That was before Harry had successfully rid the world of Voldemort. After graduation, Harry left the wizarding world and bought a small flat in London partly because he couldn�t bear to see Severus all the time knowing Severus would never love him.
Suddenly, while swirling his drink around absently, Harry felt someone staring intensely at him. He looked up sharply and his eyes locked onto the one person he dreamt about every night�Severus Snape.
Severus walked quickly across the bar and sat down across from Harry. For a minute, the two just stared at each other before Harry sighed and returned his attention to his drink.
�Harry, why did you leave?� Severus asked.
Harry sighed again and met his eyes. �Let�s go to my flat. I have a lot of explaining to do,� he replied as he stood.
Harry and Severus headed out of the club and Harry led the way to his flat. He quickly unlocked the doors and the men stepped inside. They sat in the living room.
�Can I get you anything?� Harry asked.
Harry was desperately trying to avoid having to answer Severus�s questions. Unfortunately, things didn�t work out his way. Severus grabbed his wrist and pulled him down to sit on the couch next to him.
�Why, Harry?� came the quiet question.
�I was in a spotlight�all eyes on me. I didn�t like it, didn�t want it. I hated it, really. I knew that if I lived here, in the muggle world, I wouldn't have that kind of attention and that appealed to me. So I left and didn�t tell anyone where I was going�that would have defeated the purpose of escaping because everyone would have found me eventually,� Harry said. Severus could detect a note of bitterness in his voice.
�You should have run a little further than London. Do you know Dumbledore has people everywhere in this city looking for you?� Severus asked softly. He hadn�t let go of Harry�s wrist and Harry was painfully aware of that fact.
�No, I didn�t know. Is that what you�re doing here then? I should have known he�d never leave me in peace,� Harry grumbled.
�Actually, no, that�s not why I�m here. I was trying, yet again, to drink away my problems.�
�Funny, we seem to have had the same idea. It didn�t quite work out though, did it? After all, you�re here.� Harry seemed oddly resigned, and Severus wanted to know why.
�Harry, what�s wrong with you?� he asked softly. He grabbed Harry�s chin and made him look into his eyes. He could see the unshed tears shining in the emerald orbs.
�You, Severus. You. I love you, do you know that?� Harry said. He wrenched away from Severus and took off down the hallway. A resounding slam was heard as he shut his bedroom door.
Severus just sat for a moment in shock. Did Harry Potter just admit to loving him? Harry was in love with the �greasy git Potions Master?� �Oh, dear Merlin,� Severus whispered to himself. The star of his dreams every night had just told him he loved him and he was still sitting in the living room. He bolted down the hallway and stopped in front of the bedroom door.
�HARRY! Open the door�we need to talk,� Severus yelled through the door.
As Harry threw himself onto his bed after he slammed the door, he mentally berated himself for his little outburst. He had just told Severus Snape he loved him. He was really such an idiot. Of course, he loved him, but it was the last thing Harry had wanted to admit to Severus himself. �Such an idiot,� Harry moaned into his pillows.
Severus was now at his door, yelling for him to open it. He wasn�t going to let him in, no way. It was bad enough he had humiliated himself by blurting out his feelings for Severus�no way was he going to let that humiliation be multiplied.
�Harry, you have to know something. Please let me in,� Severus pleaded. Harry groaned and relented, waving his wand to unlock the door. He felt the mattress depress as Severus sat down next to him. �Harry, did you mean what you said?� Severus asked softly.
�Yes,� Harry whispered so quietly Severus had to strain to hear it. His heart started beating faster and a smile stretched across his face.
�Harry, look at me.� Harry hesitantly turned over onto his back and looked up into Severus�s smiling face. �I love you too.�
Thoughts started rushing through Harry�s head. Severus Snape, the object of Harry�s fantasies since the beginning of seventh year, had just told him he loved him. He wasn�t alone in having these feelings. Harry felt the tears threatening and this time, didn�t stop them. Severus gently wiped them away with his thumb and smiled.
�Love, don�t cry,� he whispered.
He leant down and kissed Harry softly. Harry wrapped his arms around Severus�s neck and pulled him down to lie next to him.
�Oh Sev�I love you so much,� he whispered.
Severus chuckled softly and raised an eyebrow. �Sev?� he questioned.
He pulled Harry closer and kissed him again. Harry snuggled into him and sighed in bliss. Harry was happy�at last.
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