Evermore

Chapter Four: I Learned The Truth Too Late

"Bombarda!" Severus screamed then, his wand having come out of his robes immediately, and suddenly Uncle Vernon was ripped out from Harry's insides, causing Harry to scream for a moment as his oaf of an uncle crashed into the wall behind him. He then lowered his eyes to Harry, before gently guiding him to his feet. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Harry shook his head then. "I don't understand," he whispered. "How is it that you're here? I don't..."

"I've been able to watch dreams for years, Harry, but I only recently mastered the art of entering them," he explained patiently, guiding Harry into his arms. "Next time you come to see me, I will give you some Dreamless Sleep Potion."

Harry's arms wrapped automatically around Severus, suddenly feeling safer than he had ever been in his entire life. "I wish it didn't have to be like this..."

"Like what?" Severus asked.

"Being on opposite sides. Me having to kill that madman. Us having to keep secrets from one another," he said softly.

Severus stiffened in his arms, before pulling back from Harry. "So, this is not merely a nightmare for you, then?"

Harry sighed. "No. More like a memory. It didn't stop until this past summer, before I left for the Burrow, just before the Trace got off me..."

Severus lifted his black eyes towards the disheveled lump that was Vernon Dursley, his lips curling in distaste and rage. "So, your uncle is the one who hurt you?"

Harry nodded stiffly. "Yeah."

"Fuck," Severus whispered, not letting Harry go. "Listen, Harry, I don't want you to think that you're obligated to..."

Harry stood on his toes then, pressing his lips briefly to Severus's, before getting back down once again. "I don't think that at all," he said softly. "Ever since you kissed me outside of Slughorn's Christmas party, I can't get it out of my head. I meant what I said, Severus—you do drive me crazy. I'm also crazy about you. It has nothing to do with what my uncle did to me, and everything to do with who I am and what I want. After this war is over, I will come for you, and defend you, for as long as it takes. Because, once this is all over, I'll want you for the rest of my life, and I don't give a shit about what others might think. If you want me—or if you ever wanted me in the first place—and you still want me by the time I kill snake-nose, then I'm all yours, for the rest of our lives."

Severus looked shocked at the young man's words, before gathering him back into his arms. "I shall always want you, Harry. Always."

Harry grinned against his former professor's robes. "Always," he whispered, taking comfort in that one word which held everything.

. . .

Harry awoke drenched in a cold sweat, relieved that he could no longer feel the pain inflicted on him by Uncle Vernon, but disappointed at the ache inside himself, now that Severus's arms were no longer wrapped around him. He shoved off the blankets of the great bed, casting the Tempus Charm, and realized it was close to seven in the morning. He groaned, dragging a hand down his face as he shuffled over to the bathroom, kicking the door shut behind him and turning the shower on, the steam filling the room.

He stiffened as he lowered his pajama pants, mortification entering his bloodstream as he saw his erection threatening to poke through his boxers. "Merlin," he whispered, "I've got it bad." Harry took off the boxers and his erection sprang free, and he rolled his eyes as he stepped inside and under the stream of water. He leaned against the tiled wall, biting his lower lip, his loins aching as he imagined Severus Snape unabashedly pounding him into the surface.