the marriage stone (Discontinued)

Chapter 15 - Manners

While Harry had been at Quidditch practice, Severus had chosen some appropriate clothing for the boy and had left it on the bed along with a note informing him of the time they had to be leaving. Now as he entered the bedroom he noticed that the clothing was gone, and his note was lying on the bedspread. A quick glance at it showed that Harry had scribbled a response to him at the bottom - saying that he had something to do and would get dressed in Gryffindor Tower, but promised to be on time.

Just as well, Severus thought. It would save them from getting in each other's way.

He collected his own clothing from his wardrobe then retreated to the bathroom to shower. He found to his consternation that his mind was increasingly focused on Harry, and after realizing that he'd just spent the last ten minutes trying to picture what he would look like in the formal attire he'd chosen for him, he shook his head in disgust, thoroughly annoyed with himself.

Wrapping a towel around his waist as he left the shower, he dried his freshly washed hair with a quick spell before turning toward the mirror. He paused to look critically at himself, wondering what his siblings were going to think when they saw him standing beside Harry Potter. Most likely that he'd performed some sort of Dark Magic to coerce the boy into marrying him.

He was never going to win any beauty contests; that was for certain. He glared at his nose - it had never been an attractive nose, and breaking it when he was younger had not improved it any. He was strong and fit enough he supposed, but didn't guess he had much else to commend him in the looks department. And even his body was marred by the ever-present Dark Mark upon his arm - made even more noticeable by the strands of silver wrapped around it in warding.

Then there were the scars. He'd been in enough sword duels to have his fair share of them - could have healed the injuries before they had scarred of course, but that wasn't the Slytherin way. The scars were a mark of honor in the Sword Circles. And from a young age he'd been taught to do things the proper Slytherin way. At least that was one old habit he'd abandoned - he healed any new wounds he received quickly now, not giving it a chance to scar.

Harry had noticed the scars. That had surprised him. It meant that at some point since they'd been married, the boy had actually looked at him while at least partially undressed. So far Harry had been careful not to offer him the same opportunity, and he'd given the boy as much privacy as possible. Regardless, he was familiar enough with at least parts of Harry's body; in the last few years he'd helped Madam Pomfrey patch him back together a number of times.

He couldn't help wonder what the boy had thought of him though. He hadn't been able to tell from his single betraying statement when Lupin and Black had been telling him about Blood Sports. He supposed there was no point in laboring under the illusion that the boy might find him even remotely attractive. Golden Gryffindor boys didn't find slimy Slytherins attractive. It was a simple, well-known fact.

Of course, he'd never really done anything to try and improve his looks either. It had never been important to him.

He frowned at himself in the mirror, then picked up his wand to perform a quick shaving spell. Normally he preferred to use a straight razor, but the spell gave a cleaner look. A simple spell cleaned his teeth as well, and then on a whim he added another spell to whiten them. Marginally better he thought, and then dismissed it as hopeless, because after all who could ever really get past the nose to care about the other features.

With a sigh, he set down his wand and reached instead for his hair gel. He paused before opening the bottle, staring down at it thoughtfully. This was another habit taught to him by his Slytherin peers. All the fashionably dressed Death Eaters wore their hair slicked back in neat unmoving waves. Ironically it made the Death Eater masks easier to wear. It was a common practice among his generation of Slytherin, and as Draco Malfoy set the fashions for his age group, it was common enough amongst the students as well.