Part Fourteen - October Sun

During first half of the day, Harry let his students write essays on ’how to prevent lifethreatening damages from continuent use of wolvesbane’. He priced himself lucky that he had classes in fourth and fifth grade that day. They were actually able to do some work, even while he couldn’t pay attention to it. His mind was elsewhere.
An hour into the three-hour-assignment for the class, he had to get some air. He left a bright Slytherin in charge, threatening him with detention in the greenhouses with Neville if he didn’t behave, and was answered with a scared-looking kid nodding and glancing back. (It worked every time….how on earth did Neville get to become the scary one?)

Harry hit the castle-grounds. He walked down the hills to Hagrids old hut. It was empty, after Hagrid left to live in Romania where he could live his life long dream with dragons nearby - legally. It had had to be that way. After Albus’ death, there was nothing much keeping Hagrid at Hogwarts, and his life seemed so much better now. He sounded so happy in his letters. And Charlie had confirmed, that no one had ever cared for the dragons as Hagrid did.
The new caretaker had how ever refused to live there. He was right in saying though, that the furniture in there, matched no one but Hagrid himself.
The hut seemed lonely some how, as Harry walked past it, and aimed for the lake. He had to sit for a while. Had to be quiet, and gather his thoughts before he went back to class. In his head, he pictured himself alone. In a muggle apartement, living on his own. Working some muggle job. Having to wake up to the sound of heavy traffic every morning for the rest of his life. Being miserable as ever before. Longing for the lost love and just feeling generally down. It was not a bright sight.
As he sat staring out into nothing, he drifted off. He let himself fall backwards in the grass, and didn’t realize he'd dozed off until something covered the sunlight that had warmed his face. He opened his eyes, and shrugged from the cold. The sun was the only warmth. Mid October sureley wasn’t summer anymore, and he had probably fallen asleep for a moment.
The shadow was Severus.
He looked like he needed some answeres.

Harry asked him to join him in the grass, then asked the time, and discovered he had been out for almost twenty minutes. He decided he had to tell him anyway, and he knew his class would be ok. After all. Neville was pretty scary.
Severus could hardly stop laughing when Harry told him of his threat. How COULD Neville be scary? When They had been students, there had been only two real threats; Professor Snape, and Filch. Snape was still scary to the students, but Harry had promised himself never to use his lover as a threat again. The scarrings it had brought upon himself had been hard to heal, and he knew wery well what damage that man could do to an already scared twelve-year-old. Although...he also knew the real man…and he wasn’t the tiniest bit scare. Only loveable.

It felt good to see Severus laugh. He relaxed, and remembered what had made him change his mind about his professor in the first place. Harry had been dropped in Dumbledores office one night, after wandering the castle in search for a book in the library. No wonder his students looked more to him as a friend, than they did a professor. He was no good hiding his own flawes, or not telling stories from his own years. Ron suffered from it too, as he was often part of Harrys stories. Hermione however, had demanded not to be mentioned. Even though he and Ron had discussed it and agreed, that she had been the brains behind most of their after-curfiew-wanderings.
But that night in Dumbledore’s office, Harry had walked in on his Headmaster and Snape playing chess. Snape had just finished of half Dumbledores men, who made a terrible noice trashing eachother on the board. He nearly fell of his chair laughing, when Minerva dropped Harry of. Snape had in a second, straightened up, and left the office, Dumbledore had hummed to himself and smiled. Before he had offered Harry a seat and some Liquorice. There had been no punishment.
Harry wouldn’t have minded anyway. He had seen a whole other side of his Professor, and after that day, nothing had ever been the same again.

But Harry had to tell Severus. Even though he didn’t want to ruin the good feeling they had captured there in the October-sun, he had to tell. They had to be careful of their actions. Maybe they even shouldn’t be seen together like this.
But Harry couldn’t shut Severus out. He couldn’t wait all day. He had to tell him before he went back into his classroom. Or he could just as well stay out there.