Title: Houses of the Holy

Author: Eriador117

Rating: NC17

Pairing: Snape/Harry

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Potterverse, I just play in it from time to time

Feedback: annette.gisby@which.net

Beta: Many thanks to Rakina for putting up with all my stories :)

Archive: Part of the From Dusk till Dawn Severus Snape/Harry Potter Fuh-Q-Fest

at http://www.kardasi.com/HPSS/storyindex.htm

Challenge: Wave XII: Part one, the what if challenge – what if it was Ginny who was bitten by Greyback and not Bill? What if Harry's scar wasn't a Horcrux? Part 2 – from wave 1: 137 – Harry finds a contract where he was betrothed to Snape as an infant. (ProfSnapeFan)

Warnings: Character death (not Snape or Harry), HBP spoilers. Angst

Houses of the Holy

From the houses of the holy

We can watch the white doves go

From the door comes Satan's daughter

And it only goes to show

Ah, you know

There's an angel on my shoulder

In my hand a sword of gold

Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin

Houses of the Holy

"I said 'no', Ginny!" Harry exclaimed for what must have been the hundredth time that day. He was probably exaggerating, but that was really what it felt like. He hadn't had a moment's peace since he'd arrived at The Burrow. It had been a mistake to come here after he finally left Privet Drive for good. He'd only gone back there because it had been one of Dumbledore's last requests. Ginny wouldn't leave him alone, she seemed to think that the fact that Harry was at The Burrow meant that he wanted to get back with her.

After Dumbledore's funeral she'd seemed so calm, so accepting of the termination of their relationship – if you could call a few kisses a relationship. Now she seemed a little bit unhinged to be honest. It had all been a mistake, right from that very first kiss after the Quidditch match. It had been a sudden, spur of the moment thing due to the excitement of winning the match. Harry shouldn't have allowed Ginny to think it had ever been anything more, particularly anything long-term.

"I don't care about the danger, Harry!" she insisted.

"Well I do!" retorted Harry hotly. "How many more people have to die because of me? I won't add you or your family to that list, Ginny. I won't." It was a half-truth at best; Harry was well aware that Voldemort might come after the Weasleys regardless of Harry's relationship with Ginny. Wormtail would have had a couple of years' worth of Harry's visits to offer up to Voldemort. The Dark Lord would already know how close Harry was to the Weasleys and Harry felt the guilt well up again. He should never have come to The Burrow; he should never have put them in danger.

"It's because I'm part werewolf now, isn't it?"

"Ginny, that's got nothing to do with it and you know it! How can you even ask me that?"

"I still love you, Harry."

"I'm sorry, Ginny. The answer is still no," said Harry, turning and walking away from her. They'd been standing by the barn, within sight of the house and Harry just knew their conversation had probably been overheard; Ginny wasn't exactly trying to be quiet. Harry made his way to the orchard, hoping this time she wouldn't follow him.

Harry had loved the orchard, ever since his very first visit to The Burrow. Trees that could grow food on them had seemed like a miracle to Harry, after so many years of being denied simple sustenance. Fred had given him too many unripened apples that first time and Harry had spent quite a bit of time making himself acquainted with the Weasleys' bathroom.

He wasn't going to the orchard for food this time, but for some peace and quiet. In there among the trees it was like another world. The trees grew close together, their boughs arching overhead in a canopy of green leaves. Harry could just lie there and stare up at that natural ceiling for hours. It was his haven when the hectic life of The Burrow got too much sometimes.

He lay down and pillowed his head beneath his arms and gazed at the leaves above him. A soft breeze ruffled the leaves so that every so often dappled sunlight filtered through and made him squint against the glare. He was trying not to think, but that was almost impossible. His head was filled to the brim with thoughts. Dumbledore's death. Horcruxes. The cave where he had forced Dumbledore to drink and drink from that goblet, even when he suspected it was poison.

Harry didn't want to think of that awful night on the tower, he dreamed of it enough, but the thoughts just would not leave his head. Trying not to dwell on it only brought the memories closer to the forefront of his mind. Harry's helplessness as he watched the headmaster try to dissuade Draco Malfoy from committing murder; the noise the Death Eaters made as they ascended the stairs. And there in the midst of them, the traitor: the betrayer, the viper in the nest all along. Severus Snape. The Half-Blood Prince. How could Harry have ever trusted him? Trusted that book?

At first Harry had thought that Snape was there to fight for them, to defend the headmaster even if it meant his cover as a spy was blown. It didn't take him long to come to the horrified realisation that Snape wasn't there to save Dumbledore or to fight the Death Eaters. He was a Death Eater and had been all along. The knowledge still sat like a stone beneath Harry's breastbone. Harry had wanted Dumbledore to have been right, that Severus Snape was indeed a man to be trusted.

Dumbledore's death had hurt Harry more than he could ever have imagined. His faith was ripped from him that night; torn out of him by a flash of green light and the old man's tumble from the tower.

Albus Dumbledore, at least to the younger Harry, had seemed immortal: immovable and constant, like Hogwarts itself. To know that he was only a man after all, a frail man as much subject to mortality as the rest of them had been difficult for Harry to accept. He didn't want to believe what he had actually seen; that Severus Snape had murdered Albus Dumbledore in cold blood.

Dumbledore's death had hurt; but Snape's betrayal had hurt more. Betrayal would never hurt if you had never loved; Harry was so glad that he had told no one of his crush on the Half-Blood Prince.

"Harry! Harry! Are you in here?" called Ginny and Harry's haven became a prison once again. If it hadn't been for Fleur and Bill's wedding in the morning, Harry would gladly have left The Burrow and Ginny behind. He pushed himself off and dusted his clothes free of leaves and grass just as Ginny appeared between the trees.

Harry could see that the top three buttons of her blouse were undone and he got a glimpse of the lace on the top of her bra. Ginny prowled towards him and pushed Harry up against the trunk of an apple tree, pinning him in place.

"I know you want me, Harry," she whispered in what Harry guessed was supposed to be a seductive voice, but Harry just felt ill at her blatant display. She leaned over him and tried to kiss him but Harry turned his face aside. The flowery scent surrounding her was doing nothing for his nausea and he wondered if he threw up over her if she would finally let him be. How could he have thought that smell was attractive? "You can fuck me, Harry," Ginny whispered in his ear. "That's what you want, isn't it? That's what they all want. Don't worry, I've done it before."

Far from being aroused, Harry was horrified. Ginny was barely sixteen, did she really allow boys to fuck her?

"Ginny, no. I'm not doing this because we haven't slept together. It's not a ploy to get you to go to bed with me. We're finished, Ginny. It's over." Harry pushed her away from him; Ginny stumbled and fell to the ground, tears forming in her eyes as she glared at him. Ginny grabbed a handful of leaves and dirt; spreading them in her hair and over her clothes. She ripped the buttons from her blouse and then started screaming.

"NO! HARRY! NO!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"Ginny! What the hell are you doing?" demanded Harry as he knelt down to try and help her up.

Her hands curled into claws as she slashed her nails across his cheek and spat on him for good measure. "No one turns me down, Harry! No one!" she hissed before screaming again.

Harry could feel his cheek stinging where she'd scratched it and the wet trickle of blood down his face. He could hardly believe what she was doing.

Ginny smirked at him and then said a spell Harry had never heard before; his belt unbuckled itself and the zip of his trousers loosened, making his trousers fall down around his knees. Harry was tugging them back up when Fred, George and Ron came pelting into the clearing, wands drawn.

Ron took one glance at Ginny screaming and Harry with his trousers round his ankles. Harry knew it looked bad.

"You fucking bastard!" roared Ron as he launched himself on Harry, wand forgotten. Hobbled by his trousers, Harry couldn't move to avoid the blow he saw coming. His own wand was back at the house, he hadn't thought he'd need it in the orchard. Ron's right hook caught him square on the jaw; Harry moaned in pain as he fell to his knees. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth; he turned and spat some out. "What did you do to my sister?" demanded Ron, as he aimed his fist at Harry's head again.

"Ron, leave him alone!" screamed Fred. "Harry didn't do anything!"

Ron rounded on his brothers. "Oh, and I suppose you're going to tell me Ginny did that to herself?"

"Yes, she did," said Fred calmly.

"I didn't! I didn't! It was Harry! He tried to… he tried to…"

"Tried to what, Ginny?" asked George, folding his arms over his chest. Fred healed Harry's nose and stopped the bleeding.

"I can't say it! A lady shouldn't have to say it!"

"That should be okay for you, then, since you're no lady!" spat George. "Get back to the house before I tell Mum what you've done to Harry."

"What I've done?"

"Yes, Ginny, what you've done. Do you think we wouldn't notice that our stocks of Amortentia potions have gone missing for the past two weeks? I saw you this morning; you put something in Harry's cereal when he wasn't looking!"

"She drugged me?" demanded Harry, struggling to his feet and pulling his trousers up. "With a love potion?"

"Then why doesn't he want me?" wailed Ginny.

"A love potion? You dosed Harry with a love potion after what happened with me and Romilda Vane?" asked Ron, glowering at his sister. "How could you?"

"That's where I got the idea from," admitted Ginny in a small voice. She looked less like a seductress now and more like a little girl who'd been caught stealing her mother's make-up.

"Go back to the house, Ginny and if I ever catch you near a love potion again, I'll go straight to Mum and Dad," George threatened.

"Why do you sell them if people aren't supposed to use them?" she demanded.

"They are for adult use, Ginny and your actions just prove that you are far from being an adult. Get back to the house. Now," said Fred and Ginny ran off.

"Harry. Oh, Merlin I'm sorry," said Ron as he held out his hand.

Harry refused to take it. "You don't know me very well, Ron, if you think I would ever do something like that to anyone, never mind a friend's sister."

Harry stalked off, leaving the Weasley property altogether and wandering through the fields surrounding it.

***

It was fully dark by the time Harry returned to The Burrow, his path illuminated by a quarter-moon and a sprinkling of stars. Golden light spilled from the windows onto the path; it looked so cosy, so homely and Harry felt the loneliness even more acutely as he stood on the path and stared at the house. He'd never belonged anywhere. The Dursleys had never wanted him, taking him in under duress and making his life as miserable as possible while he stayed there. They never let him forget that he was a freak, an undesirable and that no one would ever love him.

"Harry? Is that you?" came Arthur Weasley's voice from the doorway. He stepped out into the darkness and squeezed Harry's shoulder. "Harry, about Ginny. I can't apologise enough. To think that she would do such a thing. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Mr. Weasley, but I can't stay. I hope you understand."

"Harry, you're always welcome here, whenever you like. I don't like that what Ginny has done has chased you away. Remus is staying after the wedding to have a talk to her about her condition; even though she won't be a full werewolf she will suffer some of the same symptoms. Though to be truthful, Harry, I don't think that Ginny being bitten is the cause of all this. Ginny has never quite been herself after that business with Tom Riddle's diary. Last week Molly found Ginny's Pygmy Puff out in the barn – dead and mutilated. Ginny denied doing it, but I'm not so sure. I'd like her to get assessed at St. Mungo's but Molly won't hear of it, she thinks that Ginny is still the same little girl. She isn't and I don't think she has been for a while. She's not well in her mind and I don't know what we can do to help her."

"I'm sorry, I really am," said Harry. "Things just seem to be getting worse, don't they?"

"War is like that, Harry. None of us can hide our heads in the sand any longer."

"No, I suppose not," said Harry, feeling the weight of his destiny almost crushing him. "I can't stay here, I'm sorry. Please give my apologies to Bill and Fleur and wish them all the best for their marriage."

"Oh, Harry, please stay until the wedding at least. Bill will be so disappointed if you're not there. I'll make sure that Ginny doesn't bother you. Please, it would mean so much to Bill and Molly too."

Harry really didn't want to, he wanted to get as far away from Ginny Weasley as possible but he had always put others before himself, not wanting to let anybody down.

"Okay, but just for the wedding, then I have to go."

***

Harry stood with Fred, George, Ron and Hermione to watch the wedding ceremony unfolding in the orchard. All the trees had been draped with ribbons and flickering lights. Molly hadn't stopped crying the whole day and Harry didn't know whether it was because she was sad that Bill was marrying Fleur or because she was happy about it. Charlie was Bill's best man and Harry thought the two eldest Weasley brothers looked very dashing in their silk robes of dark blue, although he tried not to dwell on that too much.

He realised now what going out with Ginny had meant for him: it was one last-ditch attempt at proving to himself that he was normal, that he could settle down with a witch and hopefully raise a family one day. Only when he was with Ginny nothing was being raised. Their kissing hadn't turned him on at all, he'd thought that if he was with a different girl other than Cho things would be better, but they weren't. If anything they were worse as Ginny had wanted to go further than Harry had wanted to, or was even able to.

Glancing at all the well-dressed men – not to mention the dreams Harry had been having since his fifth year of school of broad chests and hard bodies pressed against his – Harry knew the problem wasn't Cho's fault or even Ginny's. It was girls in general, Harry just wasn't interested in them that way and he wished he'd faced up to it sooner so that he needn't have disappointed Ginny with his attempts at proving that he was just the same as Ron.

Fleur's gown was made from some shimmery, iridescent fabric that changed hue every time she moved and although Harry felt himself looking at the bride as most of the men were doing, he did not have the same heated look as Ron and the others. She was pretty in the way a painting was pretty, but that's all Harry felt. The two bridesmaids, Ginny and Gabrielle, were wearing matching sleeveless gowns in the shame shade of the groom's robes. Gabrielle kept giving him nervous glances and smiling shyly at him and Harry tried his best to ignore them. It seemed his little sister vibes were still going strong.

Ginny looked every inch the picture of girlish innocence with her hair in a bun at the base of her neck and a silver locket at her throat, but that's all it was – a picture. Ginny hadn't been innocent since the first time she started writing in Tom Riddle's diary. Harry's heart grew heavy at the thought of the girl she should have been, for her lost childhood. Riddle had corrupted her; a lot of it wasn't Ginny's fault but the truth was Harry no longer trusted her and he couldn't wait to get away. They should have realised something was wrong with Ginny when she started going through boyfriends at such a rate. The shy girl Harry had first met before the Chamber of Secrets didn't seem the type to do that. Ginny had changed since that time and Harry didn't think it was for the better.

Harry turned his thoughts back to the present and the wedding now drawing to a close; he hadn't even heard the vows. The celebrant blessed the joined couple and then it was into the marquee for the feast. At last the meal was finished, the cake was cut and the dancing began. Fleur demanded Harry dance with him as a bride's request. He couldn't really refuse but once the dance was over, Harry slipped out before Ginny could demand the same.

The twins, Ron and Hermione followed him out to say goodbye.

"Harry, don't let Ginny chase you away," said George.

"It's not just that," replied Harry. "I have things to sort out at Gringotts now I'm of age. They've been sending me letters all week."

"So that's who all the owls were from," mused Fred.

"Where will you stay?" asked Hermione, ever practical.

"I've got a room booked at the Leaky Cauldron until I have things sorted out at Godric's Hollow. I have an appointment with the architect next week. They reckon it should be finished in a couple of weeks. I don't know how long I'll be at Gringotts. They want to go over my inheritance and something called Contracts of Obligations . I have no idea what they are, do you?"

"Nope," said Fred.

"But I bet Bill would know," added George.

"I'm not going in to drag him away from Fleur!"

"That's okay, Ron. I'll find out at Gringotts tomorrow."

The twins laughed and clasped Harry in a bear hug. "Don't be a stranger, Harry."

"I've got to go," said Harry. "Take care."

"You too, Harry, you too."

***

Harry's room at the Leaky Cauldron was small but clean and comfortable. There was a large iron bedstead with a soft mattress and feather pillows. It was right at the top of the inn in what used to be the attic so Harry didn't have to endure noise from upstairs occupants. There were some creatures in the eaves though if the rustlings and scrabblings were anything to go by. He convinced himself they were birds rather than rats. He knew he would not get much sleep if he thought the place was infested with rats. Harry's mind went to one rat in particular and not for the first time Harry wished he hadn't been so merciful the night they'd caught Pettigrew.

If it hadn't been for Pettigrew taking the blood from Harry's arm Voldemort would never have risen again and Dumbledore would not have died. Harry's eyes stung but he refused to cry. Tears helped nothing and even if he cried a river, it would not bring Dumbledore back and it would not help Harry defeat Voldemort once and for all. Snape's words hurled at him on that awful night came back to him. No Unforgivable curses from you, Potter! ...Blocked again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed…! *

Harry punched the pillows as though they'd done him some injury before he finally settled down to sleep.

***

The bank manager of Gringotts was a large, round goblin by the name of Taylok. He looked as if he'd enjoyed too many chocolates and the flushed face hinted that he may have enjoyed too many sherries as well. He led Harry into his office, a large, plush room with gilded and velvet-covered furniture. It reminded Harry of pictures he'd seen of Muggle theatres, although he'd never actually been in one himself.

"Mr. Potter, so glad you could finally fit us in," Taylok said sarcastically. "Did you not get our owls? You should have been here on your seventeenth birthday, on the dot. Never mind, you're here now. I have some paperwork for you to sign and then you can have the keys to all your vaults. Any money and valuables we will of course be happy to continue to store for you until you wish to make a withdrawal, but I'm sure you'd like to take any Contracts of Obligations with you. We can send the pensieve to your room at the Leaky Cauldron or you can keep it in one of your vaults, whatever you wish."

"Pensieve?"

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore was most insistent that his pensieve went to you in the event of his death. We've had his will for many years now. He wanted you to have the pensieve and a number of bottled memories as well."

Harry remembered Dumbledore's lessons last term and he nodded, not feeling confident enough to speak, the sharp pang of grief still surprising him when it happened unexpectedly like that. Taylok handed him a sheaf of parchments, Harry signed them all, only barely skimming over what they contained; basically they were to confirm that he was of age and able to take control of his own financial and contractual obligations.

Once the forms were signed by both of them, Taylok handed Harry three golden keys. One key was to the vault he'd been using all these years, another one was for his inheritance from his parents and the third was to Sirius' vault, along with a parchment giving the balance and contents of each.

"You only have one Contract of Obligation," said Taylok, giving him a cream envelope with Harry's name in black ink on the front. The goblin stared at him expectantly, apparently curious as to what was in the Contract, but Harry wasn't about to let his business be known to anyone, never mind a goblin he didn't know.

"Can you arrange some charitable donations for me?" Harry asked as he slipped the envelope inside his robe pocket. He would open it later when he was alone.

Taylok looked disappointed but he soon got to work on arranging Harry's trusts. He set up anonymous arrangements for children's charities, especially for those who helped children who'd been orphaned during the war, and a fund to help with the rebuilding of Hogwarts.

Harry was seventeen; he couldn't hide behind the fact that he was just a child any longer. The Wizarding world was at war with Voldemort and the Death Eaters and Harry had a duty to stop it. He owed it to his parents, to Sirius, to Albus and all those who'd died before and since. Voldemort would pay.

"Thank you," said Harry as he left the bank and walked out into the sunshine of Diagon Alley. There were few children about this year; there was no word on whether Hogwarts would be opening its doors as usual in September. Remembering the state of the castle after that fateful night, Harry doubted that the school would be ready in time, even with magic.

Harry made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron and had a light lunch of soup and bread before making his way back to his room, his mind never straying far from the envelope Taylok had given him. Hedwig was asleep on her perch; Harry filled her water bowl and petted her before removing his outer robes and taking out the envelope. He kicked off his shoes and sat down on the bed, the envelope clutched in his hand. His hand was shaking; he wasn't sure he wanted to know what Contract of Obligation he had.

Dumbledore's pensieve and a pile of bottled memories were sitting on the desk in the room, but Harry wasn't feeling up to looking into it right now. The grief was still too fresh, too raw and he didn't know how he would cope with seeing Albus alive in those memories. His face darkened as he thought of the traitor and he groaned, too, when he felt his groin stirring. It seemed his body didn't care that Snape was a murdering bastard and Harry remembered his last year of school when he'd woken up to sticky sheets after dreams of the ex-DADA master.

Sighing, Harry opened the envelope and read, getting more and more furious as he did so. After all he'd suffered, all he'd endured they wanted to ask more of him. No, he wouldn't do it! He wouldn't!

Betrothal Contract between Harold James Potter and Severus Tobias Snape agreed this day 2 nd of August 1981 between James Andrew Potter and Lily Evans Potter on behalf of the infant Harold James Potter, and Severus Tobias Snape on behalf of himself.

Witnessed by Albus Dumbledore and Poppy Pomfrey.

If a full bonding does not take place within twenty one days of H J Potter's seventeenth birthday, all moneys, property and rights of inheritance are forfeit and will go to S T Snape instead.

This is a full and binding contract as agreed between the parties and accepted by these witnesses.

Harry threw the contract down in disgust. Not only had Snape murdered Dumbledore, now he was going to take everything away from Harry! His inheritance from his parents… Godric's Hollow - his home. Why had his parents agreed to such a thing in the first place? They hated Snape, didn't they?

The crack of Apparition startled him and he dived for his wand, but he was too slow. Snape had stupefied him and cast a binding spell on him before Harry could even think the words to a spell.

***

Harry couldn't speak due to the spell, but he could glare and he glared as hard as he could, hoping the man could feel the hatred emanating from him.

Snape prowled the room, stopping to pet Hedwig. Even his owl betrayed him; she allowed the caress and even seemed to lean into the touch. Bite him, bite him! thought Harry but he didn't have a psychic connection to his owl and she ignored Harry's pained thoughts.

"I take it from that less than stellar welcome that you have yet to look into the headmaster's pensieve. I know he has taught you how to recognise true memories from false. I shall keep hold of your wand, Potter, and you are to look at the enclosed memories. Then we shall talk."

Snape released the binding spells so Harry could stand; pins and needles darted throughout his body as the blood flowed back into his limbs and extremities.

"You murdering bastard!" screamed Harry as he launched himself at Snape and pummelled his chest. "I'll never marry you!"

"Then you will lose everything and the Dark Lord will win. Now look into the bloody pensieve before I hex you!"

Harry was not feeling comfortable at being so vulnerable at having to look into the pensieve with Snape hovering there but he was getting more and more curious. Snape could quite easily have killed him when he first arrived, but he'd only disabled Harry's movements.

Harry stepped closer to the pensieve and looked inside the swirling, silvery liquid. There was a jolt as he was pulled into the memory and he found himself staring around at Dumbledore's office.

Fawkes was a mere bundle of grey fluff; it looked like he'd just finished a burning day. Dumbledore was lying on a couch that Harry had never seen in the study before, a pained expression on his face, his hand a blackened stump. On a coffee table in front of him was the cracked ring Harry had seen before - one of the Horcruxes.

"The ring was enchanted with Dark Magic, Severus. I feel the poison spreading through me more every day. I don't have much time. There is so much I need to teach Harry before I go."

"Don't talk like that, Albus!" snapped another voice and Harry saw the other man in the room. Snape was pacing like a caged animal and when he turned to face the headmaster; Harry saw the look on his face. "You'll be fine! I'll find a cure, you're not dying, Albus! You're not dying!"

The look on Snape's face was one Harry had never seen on the man before. He looked terrified; terrified that he was going to lose the headmaster. "You can't die, Albus! You have to stay with me, please!" Severus knelt down and pressed the back of Dumbledore's healthy hand to his cheek. Tears were dripping from the dark eyes and Harry could almost feel the grief radiating from the thin frame.

"I'm sorry, my boy, but I fear that my next adventure won't be long in coming. I'm dying anyway, Severus. Let's make it count. We can save Draco and prove your loyalty to Voldemort once and for all and it will be a way for you to keep the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa. When they attack the castle, you have to kill me in front of all of them."

"No! You cannot ask this of me, Albus!"

"I can ask this of you, Severus. You have an Unbreakable Vow with me as well. You swore to do whatever I asked of you when you came to me that night seeking sanctuary. This is what I ask of you, Severus. Put me out of my misery, please. You will do this if you don't want to break our Vow."

"I'd rather die than kill you!" Severus hugged the frail form of the headmaster to his chest. "I can't do it! I can't kill you! I love you!"

"Tom Riddle has never understood death, Severus, despite his Death Eaters. It frightens him, but I have no fear of it. With all our ghosts and our portraits, how can it frighten you so, Severus? Death is not the end; it's just another door to another adventure. My body is tired, it's time for it to rest free from pain. I am asking you to free my spirit, Severus. Please do this for me. If you love me, do this for me."

Harry knew the memory was true, nothing had been tampered with and he felt tears dripping down his cheeks as the memory faded and the room came back into focus around him. Harry remembered Dumbledore's instructions to him before they went on the quest for the fake Horcrux. "Do as I ask, even if I ask you to run or go back." What would Harry have done if Dumbledore had asked Harry to kill him? Harry froze. Dumbledore had done so, after he'd drunk that poisoned goblet, he had begged Harry to end his pain, but Harry couldn't do it. He wasn't brave enough to do it, to lose his mentor.

"Who else knows about this?" asked Harry.

"Poppy, she's the only other one who knows. The rest of the Order had to believe I was a traitor; there is a spy in their midst and I'm trying to flush him out as well as pretending to be well in with the Dark Lord."

"How did you get past my wards?" demanded Harry. He knew he was good at casting wards and no one should have been able to get into his room.

"Our betrothal contract allows me to go wherever you are."

"Why? Why did they agree to this? My father hated you!" protested Harry.

"He did," admitted Snape. "But he also owed me a Life Debt. I chose the payment of that debt."

"So you basically blackmailed them into handing me over. Is that it?"

"Something like that," said Snape with a smirk. "In fact it's worked out even better than I could have anticipated. Who knew you would turn into such a handsome young man?"

"Don't you fucking touch me!" Harry's dreams of hard chests were turning into something horrific in the light of day. To think that he had to either marry this man or lose everything had the gorge rising in his throat. "I don't want to marry you!"

"Then you will forfeit everything. Tell me, Potter, how do you intend to finance your search for the Horcruxes if you have no money? You will need a paying job and you will have little time to search. You will fall exhausted into bed every night, if you can even afford a bed. You'll probably end up in some dodgy bedsit in Knockturn Alley while I live in luxury in what should have been your house."

"You bastard! Why are you doing this?"

"I want your name and the respect that goes with it. I do not desire your body, Potter, I never have. It will be a marriage of convenience as the Muggles call it. You are quite free to look for your pleasure elsewhere, as am I, but we will share living quarters and to outsiders it has to seem that we are very much in love. Your girlfriend will just have to settle for being your mistress; you can never marry anyone else."

Even if Harry hadn't broken things off with Ginny, he knew that she would never consent to be Harry's 'bit on the side' and he would never have asked it of her. She deserved better and now that Harry was out of the picture, maybe she could find some happiness with someone else.

Harry's birthday had been over a fortnight ago; there were only a few days left before the magic of the contract would come into force. Either he agreed to marry Snape and they had the bonding ceremony as soon as possible, or all his property and money went to Snape. It galled him that the man was right; if Harry needed to get a job and find somewhere to live, he would have little time for hunting down Horcruxes and finally defeating Voldemort once and for all.

"So you're saying that if we do this, you won't try and have sex with me?" Harry could feel the blush on his cheeks.

"Of course not, Potter! I know your taste runs to women. We will live together and share a name, but not our beds."

"And the money? What happens to that?"

"Once we marry, your inheritances will stay with you. I will have no claim on them."

"What? You're not marrying me for the money?"

"No, if we marry that money will always be yours. I told you, I want the respect your name will bestow upon me. I have been spying for the Light for almost twenty years and I am still treated by respectable wizards like something the cat dragged in. I want the respect I am owed and you can help gain it. We will marry, I will take your name and you will have the financial means necessary to finance your search."

"Won't Voldemort find it strange that one of his Death Eaters has taken my name?"

"Don't be a fool, Potter! It's not as if we're going to put an announcement in the Daily Prophet ! The marriage will remain secret until the Dark Lord is defeated. I can't very well spy on him if he thinks my loyalties are in question."

"But you just said we'd be sharing living quarters!"

"Yes, but only after the Dark Lord is defeated. The marriage cannot become common knowledge until after that, but it must still take place within the next few days or your inheritance comes to me."

Harry hated that the man sounded so bloody reasonable about everything and that he was right. Harry needed the money and he wanted to keep the new house at Godric's Hollow. Now that Harry was paying for things himself, he knew how expensive some things were in the Wizarding World and he just did not have the luxury of time. Voldemort was getting bolder, every morning the paper was filled with renewed attacks on Muggles, Squibs and those Wizarding families considered to have Muggleborn and Half-Blood sympathies.

Harry knew that magical contracts were just that, magical. There was no way out of this, he couldn't hire a lawyer and get it revoked; things didn't work like that here. He would have to marry Snape or lose his inheritance; it was as simple and as awful as that. There was no middle ground. The fact that he now knew Snape wasn't Dumbledore's murderer didn't help with the decision one bit.

"Fine!" snapped Harry.

"Fine?" echoed Snape.

"Fine, I'll marry you!"

Snape pretended to swoon, the back of his hand pressed against his forehead. "Be still my heart. You've made me so happy."

"Shut up!" snarled Harry. He didn't want to hear the mockery in Snape's voice any longer. He was getting married to a man who hated him, denying himself what he'd always wanted – someone to love him. Harry knew that even if what they had was a marriage of convenience, Harry would not be able to look elsewhere for his pleasure as Snape called it. If Snape was hoping for respect, then Harry going out having affairs left, right and centre wouldn't help bestow it, would it? And unless he used a glamour or something, there was no way the news wouldn't leak out through Rita Skeeter's poisonous quill. "Let's just get this travesty over with."

"Very well," said Snape. "Have you passed your Apparation test yet?"

"You know bloody well I haven't, since my six failed attempts have made the Daily Prophet for the past week!" Harry felt manipulated and trapped but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Well then, I'll just have to assist you, won't I? Although I can hardly say I'm surprised. You never were one to take instruction seriously."

"Can we just get this over with?" sighed Harry.

"Who would have thought you would be so keen to enter into marriage with me?"

Harry didn't like the man's gleeful tone one bit. "I just want it over with so that we can both go our separate ways until Voldemort is dust."

"We may not be living together, Potter, but we will see each other often. You still need training and information that only I can provide. This was the reason for my spying after all. The headmaster was very clear on this; you and I are to work together in order to defeat the Dark Lord."

"You're not poking round in my mind again!" protested Harry hotly.

"Nevertheless you will have to master Occlumency this time, or would you rather suffer attacks from him ?"

"This is a nightmare," moaned Harry, the headache that had been building up behind his eyes was now a dull throb.

"I assure you it is no picnic for me either. Shall we then?" asked Snape, extending his elbow.

Seeing no way out of his predicament, Harry could do nothing else but grab hold of the man's arm and Snape Disapparated the pair of them away from the Leaky Cauldron.

***

If Harry had ever given his wedding day much thought, he probably would have expected to see lots of Weasleys in attendance and that his vows would be pledged either at The Burrow or at Hogwarts. He would never have imagined that it would take place standing on the top of the windiest hill he'd ever been on with nothing to see for miles around except for moorland and short, scrubby bushes. It seemed their wedding was taking place in the middle of nowhere and along with the celebrant, there was only one other witness in attendance: Poppy Pomfrey.

The wind was howling around them, whipping hair and cloaks and making it difficult to hear anything. Poppy had conjured a bouquet of flowers and thrust them into Harry's hands, smiling at him with tears in her eyes. She obviously seemed to think it was a love match and Harry didn't have the heart to contradict her.

The celebrant waved his wand so that all four of them were enclosed in a wind-free bubble and could actually hear each other.

"Do you both come here of your own free will to be bound in magical matrimony?"

"We do," they both echoed with only a slight delay. Harry wondered if Snape was having second thoughts. Harry wasn't having second thoughts. They'd been surpassed long ago by fourth and fifth thoughts but there was nothing to be done so he stamped them down and tried to look anywhere but at his soon-to-be husband.

"Severus, take Harry's left hand in yours," said the celebrant. Harry offered his hand, swallowing the lump that had decided to take up residence in his throat. "Do you Severus Tobias Snape, take Harold James Potter to be your lawful wedded companion, to forsake all others and be faithful only to him? Do you promise to care for him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health until death parts you?"

"I do," said Severus. Harry wondered how the man could just stand there and lie like that. Severus Snape would never be faithful and as for caring for Harry – that would never happen in a million years.

When the celebrant asked him the same things, Harry knew he would be keeping at least one vow. No matter who he was married to, he knew he could never be unfaithful. "I do," repeated Harry.

"The rings, please."

Poppy handed the celebrant two plain, gold bands. Snape removed one of the rings and placed it on Harry's ring finger. "Wear this ring as a sign of our pledges today."

Harry took the other ring and placed it on Snape's finger, noticing that both their hands were trembling as he slid the ring into place. Snape was avoiding his eyes, just as Harry was avoiding his.

"Congratulations, you are bound. You may kiss each other."

Much to Harry's horrified surprise, Snape leaned down to kiss him, but Harry turned his face away so that the kiss landed on his cheek and not his mouth.

"Thank you for everything, Poppy," said Snape as he gripped Harry's arm and got them ready to Disapparate again. Poppy hugged both of them, tears dripping down her cheeks as she smiled at them.

"Be happy. Both of you deserve it."

Once they arrived back in Harry's room at the Leaky Cauldron, Snape let go of him and stood glaring at him. Harry felt he was back in Potions class.

"Well?" demanded Snape.

"Well what?" snapped Harry.

"How far have you got with the Horcruxes already?"

"Can you at least sit down?"

"Oh, it does have manners. What a surprise."

Snape sat down on the only chair in the room, leaving Harry nowhere to sit but on the bed. Thoughts of a bed and Snape in the same room were not comfortable ones and Harry tried to concentrate on what the man had actually been asking. "Well, we know that the locket was replaced with a fake by someone called R.A.B., but I have no idea who that is. The headmaster thought that Riddle would have used something belonging to Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw along with something of Gryffindor's."

"Right, with the diary and the ring, along with the locket that would make six Horcruxes. The seventh being in his current body. How do you know the locket was fake? Do you have still have it?"

Harry nodded and went to his trunk where he kept all of his meagre possessions. God, how on earth was he going to fill a house? He'd be rattling round Godric's Hollow like a pea in a whistle. He handed the locket to Snape, their hands touching briefly as he passed it between them. Harry tried to tell himself he was shivering because the room was cold, not at any feelings brought about by this man.

Snape stood up and set the locket on the desk before removing a potion bottle from his robe pocket. He uncorked the vial and poured three drops onto the locket. Nothing happened.

"It's not a Horcrux," he said grudgingly. "If it had been, the potion would have removed the portion of soul the object contained and we would have seen that as blue smoke. There is no soul contained within this locket. If I'd been able to develop the potion sooner, I could have saved the headmaster from trying to destroy that ring himself."

"So this potion would destroy Voldemort's soul? Or parts of it?"

"Do not speak his name in my presence!" hissed Snape.

"The headmaster did," said Harry softly.

"The headmaster is dead!"

"And you killed him!" retorted Harry.

"Do you think I don't know that, Potter? Do you think I don't relive that moment over and over again in every dream, in every waking moment? That I try and convince myself there was no other way? Don't talk to me of things you don't understand and never will! You have no idea how difficult it was for me to do what I did so don't you stand there with your righteous indignation and condemn me! You know nothing! Nothing!"

Snape's hands had clenched into fists and Harry wished he'd never spoken. He'd never heard the man so passionately angry and rightly so. Harry had no idea what it would have been like if he'd been the one forced to kill his mentor.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You just make me so angry sometimes."

"You have the same affect on me. Can we agree to a truce at least until this is over? I do not fancy spending my days arguing with the person who is supposed to be my ally."

"Okay," agreed Harry. "Sir, that potion. Can you use it to check my scar?"

"You think your scar might be a Horcrux?"

"It's a possibility, isn't it?"

"It might be. Lie down on the bed and remove your glasses."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise.

"I have to let the potion drip onto you."

"Um, okay," said Harry. He removed his glasses and set them on the bedside table before removing his shoes and then finally lying down. His heart was beating frantically against his ribs at the thought that soon Severus Snape would be hovering over him. Harry tugged his robes loosely around his groin, hoping the material would be enough to hide his burgeoning erection. He was not getting hard because of Snape. He wasn't. Oh, but he was and he had to bite his lip to stop himself from moaning out loud. He'd never felt remotely like this when Ginny was around.

They'd kissed a few times and Ginny had let him touch her breasts and even tried to push Harry's hands underneath her skirts, but Harry had panicked and fled. They'd never quite been the same after that day and Harry realised he should have ended things much sooner.

"Relax, it won't hurt you," said Snape in the softest voice Harry had ever heard him use.

"Not even if I have his soul inside me?"

"No, this formulation will remove a foreign soul from an object, not one that is rightfully there. Your own soul is perfectly safe. If your scar is a Horcrux then the potion will extract the foreign soul, but all you will feel might be a tugging sensation. There shouldn't be any pain at all."

Harry wasn't so sure he believed Snape, but what choice did he have? He wanted to know for good or ill whether he was in fact carrying a piece of Voldemort's soul around inside him. "Okay. Do it," said Harry, fisting his hands in the bedspread.

Snape loomed over him, a blurry, black shape was all Harry could see without his glasses and he was getting a headache trying to focus. Harry took a deep breath as Snape let three drops of the potion fall onto his skin. Nothing happened. All Harry could feel was a slightly wet sensation as the potion fell but even that was evaporating now. Harry couldn't quite shake the vague feeling of disappointment; he'd been so sure that their connection was due to the fact that Harry housed a piece of the Dark Lord's soul.

"Your scar isn't a Horcrux," said Snape, stating the obvious.

"Right." Harry didn't know what else to say. His tummy started grumbling and he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten anything.

"Get some food and some rest," advised Snape. "It's been a trying day. I will endeavour to discover the identity of R.A.B. before we next meet."

"Oh, when will that be?" asked Harry, refusing to believe that he was asking because he was looking forward to seeing the man again.

"Whenever I can escape my other duties ," Snape spat bitterly. "A month, maybe longer."

"Um. Okay." Harry wondered if he should ask the man to dinner; Snape looked even thinner than Harry remembered, as if he'd hadn't been eating well for a while. Harry knew how that went but he didn't quite know how to ask and so he said nothing.

"I'll bid you goodnight then," said Snape and for Snape, that was almost civil.

"Goodnight, sir," said Harry as Snape Apparated away.

If Harry had ever given his wedding night any thought, he never would have imagined that he would be spending it alone.

***

Seven Months Later

"Quick! Get him on the bed!" commanded Madam Pomfrey. Harry's magic had been severely depleted in his duel with the Dark Lord and it was Ron who managed the short burst needed to levitate Severus onto the bed. Harry fell into the one beside it and groaned. After months of planning, it had all gone wrong. Voldemort was still a threat, still as strong as ever, even though they were sure they'd destroyed all the Horcruxes.

The war had waged on, every day brought some new atrocity from the Death Eaters. Murder, torture, capture of Muggles for breeding so that they would have new stock to practice on. Harry didn't know how he coped half the time. It seemed that evil was gaining ground further and further each day; without Dumbledore to lead them the Order of the Phoenix had fallen into petty arguments over who should replace him and there were factions within factions.

Harry struck out in his own, the Order weren't much help as he sought the Horcruxes; Hermione, Ron, Fred and George followed him as he set up headquarters in the new house at Godric's Hollow. He'd Obliviated all the builders and architects once they'd finished, not wanting anyone to know where he lived. Yes, he was being paranoid, but Snape had already warned him there was a spy in the Order and Harry wasn't taking any chances with anyone he didn't trust well enough already. Very few people were keyed to his wards and he still remembered the surprised shock on Ron and Hermione's faces one day when Snape had tumbled from the Floo.

The twins hadn't seemed at all surprised when Harry and Snape revealed the truth of Dumbledore's death and that Snape was deep undercover and on their side after all. They were all sworn to secrecy of course and Harry trusted them all never to speak of it to anyone. The fewer people who knew the better, for the element of surprise was crucial if Voldemort was ever to be defeated.

They spent the past months searching out and destroying Horcruxes, R.A.B. turned out to have been Sirius' brother, Regulus, and the locket had been at Grimmauld Place all along. Kreacher had refused to give it up and Harry had been forced to kill the elf to get it, but he'd never told Hermione that. They'd found Hufflepuff's goblet in the Room of Requirement and Harry wondered if Riddle himself had hidden it there. Ravenclaw's dagger had been more difficult to find, but find it they did, behind a bookcase in the Ravenclaw common room. Harry thought that the item belonging to Gryffindor must have been his sword, but a few drops of Snape's potion proved that it hadn't been a Horcrux after all – it was the Sorting Hat. Now that Voldemort's soul had been extracted from it, Harry worried that the hat would lose the essence of the Founders as well, but it was only Voldemort's soul that had been removed and destroyed.

That left only the Horcrux in Voldemort's body, or so they thought. Snape had brought Harry to Voldemort as arranged but Harry's Avada Kedavra hadn't worked against the Dark Lord. The Death Eaters knew they had been betrayed, Snape had joined in with Harry against Voldemort but they were outnumbered and only just managed to get out of there with their lives.

Harry turned his head and saw Madam Pomfrey tending to Snape's wounds, his own head throbbing with sympathetic pain. The Death Eaters hadn't just used Cruciatus on Severus, they had taken great delight in delivering kicks and punches to the traitor in their midst while baying like animals. Harry shuddered just remembering it. Harry had transformed the button on his jeans into a Portkey when they hadn't been looking at him and managed to get both of them back to Hogwarts.

When Madam Pomfrey had finished with Severus and had cast a healing sleep charm over him, she turned her attention to Harry.

"Will he live?" Harry asked the matron, feeling a strange sensation in his chest at the thought of his ex-teacher no longer being around. It felt as though someone was squeezing his ribs with giant hands, but he thought it just might be the lingering affects of the curses Voldemort had cast at him.

"He will, Harry. Your husband is a fighter."

Much to his horror, Harry felt tears trickle down his cheeks. "Husband? He hates me!"

"Harry, don't be ridiculous, of course he doesn't hate you! He bonded with you, didn't he?"

"Only to get my name! It was all arranged; my parents betrothed me to him when I was only a baby. He doesn't love me; he just wanted the respect my name would give him."

Poppy Pomfrey pulled the privacy curtain around the bed and cast a silencing spell for good measure. "Oh, Harry, do you mean he never told you?"

"Never told me what?"

"Severus couldn't care less about his name; it's you he cares about… has always cared about. It's very rare, but sometimes wizards are able to find their soul mates. Severus knew you were his soul mate as soon as you were born, that's why your parents betrothed the two of you. They knew you would end up getting together anyway, but this way they would be able to make it official so that no one else could marry you once you came of age. There are Dark rituals that require virgin sacrifices, Harry, and Voldemort would have had no qualms about using you in them. But if you were already married and bonded, then they wouldn't work."

Harry stared through the curtain, almost imagining he could see the occupant of the other bed. "Why didn't he tell me any of this? He kept putting me down all the time! It certainly seemed like he hated me all that time!"

"Oh, Harry pet, of course he had to pretend to hate you while he was still spying. Things are different now, he'll be able to be honest with you." Madam Pomfrey fussed about him, dosing him with potions, calming draughts, painkillers and sleeping aids. "Try and get some rest now, dear."

As soon as the matron had gone back to her office, Harry climbed out of his own bed and lay down next to his husband.

"Don't you dare die on me, you git!" ordered Harry as the felt the effects of the sleeping draught starting to kick in. "You have a lot of explaining to do, Severus Snape!"

***

Three days later, Madam Pomfrey gave both of them a clean bill of health and Harry took Severus back with him to Godric's Hollow. Now that Severus was no longer spying, there was no point in them living separately any more. Voldemort knew about their marriage and thanks to Rita Skeeter, so did the rest of the Wizarding world. Minerva had stopped the Howlers from getting to them, but Harry knew they'd been sent.

Harry didn't try and justify his actions to anyone; Ron was shocked speechless when he found out, more at the fact that Harry was gay, rather than he was married to Severus Snape. Remus and the older Weasleys were supportive; but Ginny had a tantrum and stormed through the school, accusing Harry of leading her on when all the time he really wanted to fuck men. Molly Weasley had apologised profusely on Ginny's behalf, but Harry found he really couldn't have cared less what Ginny thought or how she behaved.

"Why did you lie to me? Why not tell me we were soul mates and all the rest of it?"

Severus cupped his hands around the coffee mug and inhaled the scent, but neither of them made any move to drink the liquid in their cups. "Pride. I knew you hated me, that you in fact preferred women, but the fact remained that I needed to marry you to save you from something even worse at the hands of the Dark Lord. I did not want to hear your rejection of my love, so I never spoke of it."

"I don't," said Harry softly.

"What? Hate me? Or prefer women?"

"Both. I did hate you, I can't deny that, but it was a childish hate. I'm not a child any more, Severus, and each day I see more and more what you have endured, what you have sacrificed for this war and I am in awe of it. I'm not sure I could ever be as brave as you. I'm not saying I love you, because I'm not sure, but I know that I no longer hate you."

"Thank you. And - and the women part?"

"All my life, I've just wanted to be normal. I never asked to be a wizard, I never asked to be sent to them ," said Harry bitterly. "I knew what I wanted, or what I thought I wanted. To settle down, get married and have a family. I have gone out with two girls in my seventeen years, and both times it was a disaster. With Cho, I just thought I was a bit young to go further than kissing and stuff and she never pressured me, but we just fell apart anyway. I think she was still in love with Cedric and couldn't deal with the guilt of liking me so soon afterwards. Then there was Ginny."

"Ah, Miss Weasley," said Severus, taking a sip of coffee. "I thought that would have worked out, you seem to have a special relationship with the Weasleys."

"Yes, they sort of adopted me; not officially, but I always felt like one of the family."

"Maybe that was the problem, you thought of her as a sister?"

"Maybe, but I'm not sure that was it. Ginny changed after that day in the Chamber of Secrets."

"Tell me again exactly what happened that day when you destroyed Tom Riddle's diary."

"I stabbed it with a Basilisk fang. It bled ink and then Tom Riddle's essence disappeared."

"And what about Miss Weasley?"

"She was lying on the ground, cold and still. I don't think she was breathing. When Riddle was finally destroyed, she woke up."

Snape arched an eyebrow at him.

"No. No!" Harry refused to believe it, but the evidence was staring both of them in the face. "Not Ginny, no. It can't be."

"Can't it? You know she was possessed by him during that year. He could quite easily have transferred part of his soul to her when you destroyed the diary. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain. You said yourself Ginny had changed ever since that day. What if the reason she changed was because of the dark soul within her?"

"And your potion will be able to remove the Horcrux? It won't kill her, will it?"

"No, it will only remove the foreign soul, not her own."

"We have to tell her family," said Harry. "I'm not doing this unless they know what we suspect."

"Very well. You should get some sleep. It's late."

"How can you even ask me that? I don't think I'll ever sleep again." Harry shuddered, remembering the visions and nightmares that hadn't abated even though Snape had been training him in Occlumency every day.

"I have some Dreamless Sleep."

"It doesn't work anymore," sighed Harry. "But I'll try it."

***

"You're such a pretty boy, Harry, aren't you? Who shall I let use you first? Lucius? McNair? It's a pity you were married. I could take your power if you were a virgin, but this way my loyal subjects can take their time. How long before you break, Harry? How long?"

Harry woke up, sweat plastering his hair to his forehead. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" he exclaimed.

"Potter! What is it?" demanded Severus as he thrust open Harry's bedroom door without knocking. He'd never done that before. "Are you hurt?"

"It was just a dream. I'm fine, but we made a mistake."

"What do you mean?"

"Madam Pomfrey told me that by you marrying me, it would prevent the Dark Lord from using me in his rituals. But that isn't quite it, is it? It's not just marriage and bonding, we needed to consummate it."

"We would only have needed to consummate the marriage if you were a - Merlin, you are, aren't you? You're a virgin? But I thought you and Miss Weasley..."

"So did everyone else. Ginny never told them otherwise, but the truth is we never got that far. Oh, she tried her best to seduce me, but it didn't work. It didn't work," said Harry, glancing down at his sheet-covered groin.

"But you are capable...?"

"Yes, just not with women."

"Potter, this is bad, very bad. If the Dark Lord does discover you're a virgin, we may as well give up now. It's how he gains his power. He rapes virgins and steals it from them. After that, he will be more powerful than you; you will still have magic but it will never be as strong as if your first time had been an act of love, not violence. We're going to have to consummate our bonding, Potter."

Harry sat up, pulling his knees up towards his chest and hugging them. "If you're trying to seduce me, could you at least call me Harry?"

"This isn't about seduction," said Severus quietly.

"I know, it's about protecting me from the Dark Lord. God, why is my life so bloody complicated?"

"You're the Chosen One; it can't be anything else, can it?"

Harry pushed the sheet down to the foot of the bed, revealing him to be dressed only in a pair of blue boxer shorts that had faded somewhat due to many washes and he felt very self-conscious sitting there. Why wasn't he wearing something sexy and silky? He felt very much like a child at the moment and wasn't at all sure he was ready for this. "I suppose you'd better get into bed," said Harry softly.

Severus tugged off his nightshirt and Harry couldn't help staring as the man's nakedness was revealed in the moonlit room. Harry swallowed; Severus wasn't fully aroused yet, but he was getting there and Harry had to agree that the size of noses seemed to be entirely relevant. He had never seen anyone so large as his husband before, but maybe that was because he showered with boys his own age at school and had never seen a grown man naked until now.

Harry's own cock started to swell in his shorts when the bed dipped as Severus climbed in. Severus reached out a hand to caress Harry's shoulder and he almost jerked out of bed in his shock. He had always thought of Severus as cool and aloof, but the hand on his skin was warm and softer than he expected. "Sorry. I'm just a bit nervous. This isn't really how I imagined my first time."

Severus lay down and propped his head up on his elbow. "How did you imagine it?"

"Well, for a long time, I imagined it would be with a girl."

"You never imagined boys at all?"

"Um, yeah, but not like this. Not for this. Mostly just touching each other, you know, wanking," Harry could feel his whole face heat and was glad of the darkness.

"And did you act out any of these fantasies with your classmates?" queried Severus.

"No. I didn't want them to think that I was weird so they were strictly that, fantasies. I just imagined things when I - you know."

Severus smiled. "I do know," Severus reached over and caressed Harry's burgeoning erection. Harry hissed in pleasure and flopped down on the bed.

"Oh God! No one's ever..."

Severus gaped at him. "No one else has ever touched you intimately like this? Not even Miss Weasley?"

Harry's erection began to flag. "No, and can we please leave her out of it?"

"Sorry," said Severus and cupped Harry's cock with the base of his palm, his fingers lightly trailing over it. Harry felt himself firming up slowly but surely; he'd never done this to himself before, caress himself until he became hard and he had to admit he liked the sensation. Or maybe he liked the fact that it was someone else touching him. His husband. He didn't think he'd ever get used to that.

"Husband," Harry murmured.

"Yes, I am," agreed Severus. "Have you ever kissed a boy?"

"No, just Cho and Ginny."

Severus' eyebrow arched in surprise that in his seventeen years Harry had only ever kissed two girls. "Would you like me to kiss you?"

"I - I don't know. Yes, if you want." Harry closed his eyes as Severus angled his body towards him; he lifted his head to meet Severus' lips. Soft lips pressed down against his own and kissed him firmly. A tongue darted out to lick his upper lip and Harry's mouth opened almost of its own accord. Severus' tongue pushed inside and tangled with his, and as soon as it had a jolt of desire shot straight to Harry's groin and he arched up against the man above him.

Ginny's kisses had never made him feel like this, with the girls he felt a mere shadow of a flame, with Severus it was the fire itself and Harry wanted nothing better than to lie here and be consumed to ashes. Harry felt Severus' hand as a burning brand on the bare flesh of his cock; Severus must have said a silent spell to remove his boxers. Now both of them were naked and Harry didn't think it could get much better than this, but it did.

Severus moved so that he was lying on top of Harry, all that firm, male flesh pressed against his. Harry couldn't seem to stop moaning, they were kissing and biting at each other, hands wandering everywhere as they gave into the passion that seemed to be consuming both of them. Harry's cock throbbed against the abdomen of the man above him and he had to pull his mouth away from those breath-stealing kisses.

"Stop! I can't - Oh God - I'm gonna come!" wailed Harry, the sensations just too new and exciting for him.

Severus slowed his thrusts but he didn't stop pressing himself against Harry and the urgency receded somewhat. Leaning down, Severus kissed Harry softly again and again and despite knowing that Harry needed to lose his virginity, he realised he would be quite happy with just this, just wallowing in the kisses and the rubbing of bodies against one another.

Severus' legs were hairier than Harry's own and it tickled a little as they rubbed against him. He smiled up at his husband. "I like this," he admitted.

"That's the idea," said Severus. Harry lost count how many times he was kissed before Severus scooted down the bed, placing a tender kiss on every part of Harry's anatomy that he could reach on the way. When Severus' tongue licked at the fluid gathered at the tip of his cock, Harry arched almost entirely off the bed and shrieked with pleasure.

"Oh God! Oh God!" he moaned, fisting his hands in the bedclothes and thrashing his head from side to side. Severus teased his entrance with saliva slicked fingers, prodding and twisting and making Harry ache with want. "Please! Inside me! Inside me!"

He was gasping for breath, sweat dripped into his eyes and he was babbling incoherently as Severus did his best to murder Harry with bliss. " There! Oh God! I'm going to die! It's too much! More! Harder! Please! Please! "

Severus let Harry's cock go and leaned over him to fumble about in the bedside table. Harry briefly wondered how Severus knew where he kept the lubricant, but then realised it was probably a good guess. Severus oiled Harry's entrance before spreading a generous amount on his cock. Harry threw his arms behind him and held on to the slats of his headboard.

Severus placed a pillow under his hips before pushing Harry's legs up, so that Harry's knees were almost level with his chest. "Relax; it'll hurt more if you tense up."

Severus knelt on the bed and held Harry's legs before sliding forward and pushing. Harry felt his muscles trying to stretch and trying to repel the invader at the same time and he winced in pain. "Don't fight it, Harry. Let me in. Bear down around me. That's it, that's it," Severus soothed as slowly, inch by inch, Severus was inside him.

There was pain, but it was manageable and when Severus started stroking Harry's cock in time with his thrusting, Harry forgot all about pain and could only feel pleasure. He'd never staved off his orgasm this long before; furtive fumblings in the boys' dormitory or showers were fast of necessity and when Harry had pleasured himself even when he left school, that's what he'd continued to do.

Severus paused and gazed deep into Harry's eyes. "I, Severus Tobias Snape do take you, Harry James Potter to be my lawful wedded companion, to forsake all others and be faithful only to you. I promise to care for you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health until death parts us. This is my solemn vow."

Harry gasped as he felt a surge in his magic. "I, Harry James Potter do take you Severus Tobias Snape to be my lawful wedded companion, to forsake all others and be faithful only to you. I promise to care for you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health until death parts us. This is my solemn vow."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Harry's world exploded into a pinpoint of pleasure so intense it felt like pain. He was coming between their bellies, great ropes of pearly fluid covering their skin. Above him, Severus shuddered and Harry felt the warmth of his husband's release bathe his insides. Harry shuddered with aftershocks, his whole body quivering as he came down from the most intense climax he'd ever had.

Severus wiped away a tear from Harry's cheek that Harry hadn't realised was falling, before bending down to kiss him breathless once more.

"What was that? We weren't even moving and we came!" Harry exclaimed.

"That was our souls joining, as they were destined to do. There is more to sex magic than the Dark Arts, Harry."

"That was sex magic? What we just did?"

Severus lay down beside him and cast a cleaning charm before pulling Harry close. "It was. It was because it was your first time and my first time with my soul mate. We are soul-bonded now, Harry. No one can ever separate us. It's more binding than any wedding vow."

Harry yawned and snuggled closer to his husband and soul mate. "I wish you'd told me sooner."

"You know the reasons why I could not."

Harry glanced at the Dark Mark on his husband's arm. "Yeah, I know."

"Get some sleep, Harry. You need it."

"Stay with me? Please?"

"From now on I won't be anywhere but with you, husband."

***

Arthur Weasley was a lot easier to persuade than Molly. In the end the twins had told her what Ginny had done to Harry on that day in the orchard: the love potion, the attempt to falsely accuse Harry of trying to rape her.

Molly had held her hands over her mouth. "There is something wrong with her, isn't there, Arthur?" Molly broke down in tears and had to be led from Ginny's bedroom.

Bill, Charlie, the twins, Arthur, Harry and Severus were all in the room where Ginny was bound both magically and physically to the bed with sturdy ropes. She was hissing and spitting like a wildcat and it almost broke Harry's heart to see her bound like this. He had to keep reminding himself that it wasn't the real Ginny who was acting like this, it was part of Voldemort's soul which knew it was about to be banished and was fighting to stay in its vessel.

"He doesn't love you!" Ginny hissed at Harry. "You're just his whore! Just a convenient body to fuck! Did you fall for all his pretty lies?"

If Harry hadn't been so confident about their soul bond, he knew that Ginny's words would have needled him. As it was, it just made him more determined that this needed to be done.

"With your permission, Arthur," said Severus holding out the vial.

"Do it, Severus. Do it," said Arthur.

"Stay away from me! You freak! Murdering bastard! Traitor!" screamed Ginny. "Traitor!"

Severus dripped the liquid onto Ginny's skin. For a few seconds nothing happened, and then they all saw the blue wisps of smoke emerge from Ginny's nose and mouth. They swirled, then coalesced into a facsimile of Voldemort, darting around the room, as though trying to seek another vessel, but once removed from its container, a Horcrux was weak and it dispersed amid the Dark Lord's screams of agony.

"Dad! Something's wrong!" called Bill from the edge of the bed. Everyone looked round to see Ginny's body crumble to dust.

"You said it wouldn't kill her!" accused Harry.

"It didn't," said Arthur sadly. "Severus' potion removed the foreign soul from Ginny's body but it was the only soul there. The Dark Lord killed Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets that day. This was never Ginny."

Harry stared at the bundle of ashes on the bed. He'd thought he'd saved her, but instead she'd become a conduit for darkness. Her body used as a house for part of the Dark Lord's soul.

"I'm sorry," said Harry and as he heard Molly's wails carrying up the stairs, he knew it would never be enough.

THE END

*Taken directly from the 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'.