The chorus
of voices spoke with asynchronous, mismatched words. Snape sighed and resisted
the urge to smack his hand against his forehead. "No," he said, shaking his
head in frustration. "Listen more closely to the pronunciation and intonation. Petrificus Totalus!" He looked around
and his eyes widened. "Mister Arnot! What part of 'wands at your sides' did you
not understand?"
At Snape's
tone of voice, Rogert Arnot quickly lowered his wand.
"Good. Now...
altogether..."
"Petrificus Totalus!" It wasn't entirely
perfect but it was a definite improvement. He had expected more out of fourth
years, however, when he had decided to put dueling on the lesson plan.
"All right.
Everyone is paired up?" He glanced around, seeing pairs and nods. "Half of you
will practice disarming and the others will practice freezing. Ready? Watch
your pronunciations. Wands up, as I showed you. One... two... three!"
There were
spells shouted, though only about half were actually correct. Snape covered his
face with his hand and resisted the urge to sink down into his seat. A few
select students had actually been able to disarm their opponents but none had
managed to properly freeze their partner. He shouldn't have been too surprised.
"Um,
professor?" a boy called worriedly. Snape turned his attention towards one
young girl who looked frozen, but not from a spell. She was standing with her
wand up and her eyes wide with shock. Standing a few feet in front of the girl
was a boy whose neck had been extended considerably. His head had shrunk, his
legs were thin and elongated, and his torso was round and covered in white and
black feathers. The boy had been turned into a human ostrich.
Snape stared
at him around the fingers of his hand and sunk into his chair. "Class
dismissed," he muttered. "On my desk on Monday I want two feet on the
importance of pronunciation and intonation in charm and spell casting during
dueling. And I expect you all the practice and perform more highly on Monday
when our guest professor will be here." They were all only half listening to
him as they packed up and cleared out of the classroom.
"Mister
Winthrop, would you please see Miss Mullens and Mister Luckson to the hospital
wing?"
Arnold
Luckson blinked and then honked and shook his wings. Feathers went everywhere. Snape rubbed a finger
against his nose. "Preferably before he molts all over my classroom?"
His nose
twitched as the the students and bird passed by him. He pressed his finger
against his nose as inconspicuously as possible. If he could just keep his
allergies from kicking in, he'd be fine. But the very last thing he wanted to
do today or this weekend was to spend it sneezing.
Even though
he was holding back the urge, he still waited until his classroom had emptied
completely before waving his wand to clean up the mess of shed feathers. He
pinched his nose at the bridge as he did so and waited until the tickles had
definitely passed before relaxing.
This hadn't
been his most successful class of the day, but he was exceedingly glad it was
the last.
Though his
permanent teaching position was as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he
still kept his room in the dungeons. He liked the privacy and the atmosphere.
He liked his room and liked his bed. And today he especially liked what he
found in his bed.
The covers
had been pulled up until they met the pillows, but a bit of unkempt black hair
stuck out between the two. Snape smiled and shut the door behind him so that it
locked. He took a step forward, leaving his robes behind on the floor. Feet
helped shoes and shocks off as he walked and he crawled under the covers at the
base of the bed. He stretched out on the far side of the bed, beside the wall,
and he wrapped his arm around the warm body in front of him. "Hullo, Potter,"
he said, practically spitting the last name with affectionate mock distaste.
"Been a bad boy and fell asleep in my bed, didn't you?" His hand slowly slid up
and down Harry's chest. "Fell asleep fully
clothed in my bed. Tisk, tisk. You should know better."
Harry was
asleep. Deeply so. He hadn't flinched at the movement beside him, even as Snape
pressed himself into Harry's back and he hadn't woken at the words. His breathing
was slow and steady, and Snape knew what it would probably take to wake the
man.
He nuzzled
his face into the back of Harry's neck. "Harry..." he murmured. "Wake up..." as
suspected, Harry did not stir. So Snape cleared his throat and, in his angriest
voice, boomed out, "Mister Harry Potter!"
"I finished
the potion!" Harry woke with a start. Luckily for him, Snape was still holding
him so he could not tumble off the bed. It took him a moment to remember where
he was and who he must be with. He reached up and placed his hand over the one
that lay on his chest. He recognized it as Snape's immediately. "Welcome home
from class."
Snape held
him close. "Welcome home from Bolivia.
You've returned early."
Nodding,
"The job was easier than I'd expected. I was able to leave a half a day ahead
of schedule."
There was
silence for a few moments, then, "And how long have you had this cold of
yours?"
Harry
followed that with a deep sigh and some chuckling. "What did you do, read my
mind?" There were certain drawbacks to having a lover skilled in Legilimency
and Occlumency.
"No," Snape
snapped back at him, insulted by the accusation. "It's simply that every time
you go to Bolivia,
you return with a head cold. And I know you so well I can hear it in your voice.
So how bad is it this time?"
Harry
seemed to have ever intention at giving a proper answer. But the timing was
terrible. "HAHShooo!
Huhh-huhh-hahhh-Chooo!" He sniffed and wheezed. Then he sneezed again. "AhhhhChuhh! HahhhhChoo!"
Snape
squeezed Harry's hand. "That bad?" Harry hesitated then nodded. Snape sighed
and pulled back a little. "Fantastic. You're in and out so often and now that
you're here you're sick."
Harry
dropped Snape's hand immediately. He moved forward, out of Snape's grasp and out
of the bed. He stood in the center of the room, shivering. "If that's the way
you feel, I can just go to my room."
As a
periodically visiting professor, Harry had a room of his own in the castle. It
was kept neat and pristine, as it was practically never used. While on the road
as an Auror, he lived out of his trunk, when lucky. But, at Hogwarts, his trunk
and things had their places in Snape's room. He had his own drawer and side of
the wardrobe, a few shelves on the bookcases, and a small desk in one corner. It
was cozy to share living the living space, and it was nice to have company.
However, his own room certainly had things that this one did not.
Like the
lack of company. "hahhShooo! HehhhSchooo!"
Harry glanced around the room and spotted the tissue box on Snape's nightstand.
He walked over and pulled a few tissues out, rubbing them at his nose as he
spoke. "I'd rather go suffer alone in my room if the alternative is you being
bitter because I happened to accidentally catch a sniffle while I was away
fighting evil." Harry did not often promote the fact that he was an Auror. He
knew Snape's passion was not, and had never been, in teaching. Had he been
younger and less weathered from the wars, he might have made a decent go at
being an Auror. Harry knew he fostered some resentment at the fact that Harry
had a job that Snape wanted. Once in a while, Harry used that fact to his
advantage.
Grumbling,
Snape got up and out of bed, pulling a blanket with him to cover his front. He
wrapped the blanket haphazardly around himself as though it were a
badly-constructed toga. "Harry," he said, his tone much softer than usual.
"Come back to bed."
Harry shook
his head, looking unsure. He ran his hand through his hair and ruffled it. "Why
should I?"
Snape sighed.
"I'll make it worth it to you," he said begrudgingly.
"How?"
Harry asked quickly, forcing an immediate answer. He shook with a violent
shiver.
Snape
walked over, his upper arms pinned to his sides to keep the blanket in place
but his hands gripped Harry's. He looked into the younger man's green eyes. In
a menacing tone, "Just get back into bed."
Harry shook
his head again. "No. I want you to... hahh...
explain. Hahhh-Choo! ahhhChoo!" Harry
sneezed into his hand, as Snape was right in front of him. He flipped his hand
over afterwards and rubbed at his nose. "Will you stay with me while I sneeze
and cough?"
"Of
course." He wasn't particularly fond of the idea of listening to Harry sneezing
all night long, but if that was the price to pay for him to stay, so be it.
Harry
narrowed his eyes. "That didn't sound very genuine. How about food? Will you
bring me food in bed when I feel too sick to get up and go downstairs to eat in
front of the whole school?"
His eyes
darted from Harry to the bed and back. "Yes I will." He wasn't about to play
the house elf and wait on Harry hand and foot, but he wasn't opposed to the
idea of sharing a meal or two in bed.
"And when I
don't feel like doing anything but sleeping, will you not complain?"
Harry's nose
twitched as he stared back at Severus Snape. Snape did not answer right away.
This seemed a bit too much to ask for.
Rather
annoyed, Harry took a step back. He cupped both hands to his face as his breath
caught. "hahhh... hahh-SHOO! ahhhChoo!
Sniff! ahhChoo! ahhhShoo!" Harry shuddered with chills and swayed weakly
from the sneezes when he tried to step towards the nightstand where the tissue
box was still displayed.
Snape
reached over and wrapped his arms around Harry. "Back to bed." Harry tensed up.
"All right. I promise not to
complain," Snape said through gritted teeth. "Now get back into bed for me." As
Harry leaned into him, he directed Harry over to the bed and sat him down on
it. It took a moment for the room to stop spinning around Harry, allowing him
to relax a little. Snape took the opportunity to press the back of his hand to
Harry's forehead. "How long have you had this fever?"
Harry shook
his head and shrugged.
"Well no
wonder you are shivering. After you are settled, I shall brew you a potion to
help lower your temperature."
Harry
coughed and shook his head. "I can just stop by the hospital wing," he said,
rubbing at his nose. He reached over and retrieved tissues, just to be
prepared.
"Do you think I'd let you take one of those
bottled remedies?" Snape gave a laugh. He ran a hand up and down Harry's back. Then
he lay down on the bed, against the wall, and patted the bed beside him. "Now
get back into bed with me... and please note that clothing is optional." Carefully,
he slithered beneath the covers such that his body stayed hidden behind and
beneath blankets.
Harry
smiled, even though it looked as though he needed to sneeze again. He hunched
over, cupping the tissues to his face as his chest filled with several deep
breaths in. "hahh-hahCHOO! hahhShooo!'
He blew his nose and stood, clearing his throat. He stripped off his clothes.
Unlike Snape, he was not at all ashamed to show his body, even when sick. Shivering,
he headed back to bed, slipping beneath the blankets.
Snape's
bare body pressed into his on one side as Harry lay on his back. Snape pulled
the covers up to their necks. He reached up with one hand, pushing black bangs away
from a warm forehead. Most stayed where Snape had put them, but a few fell back
into place. Snape watched them, and tried again, with a gentle petting motion.
"Keep this
up and you'll catch this head cold from me," Harry said.
Snape did
not answer right away. He reached over Harry to the nightstand and grabbed the
tissue box. He pulled it onto the bed with them, then he draped his arm over
Harry's warm and now bare chest. Settling in, he was satisfied remaining there,
in bed with Harry, for a long while. "I can think of many worse ways to spend
my weekend."