Chapter Text
Severus looked up at the soft knock on the door.
“Enter,” He said flatly, placing his book down on the small round table beside his favourite reading chair. He stood and smoothed both hands down the front of his black robes. Sitting for some time had made them more rumpled-looking than he would have liked, especially now that it seemed he would be having company.
Harry wouldn’t have knocked.
“Professor?”
One pale hand with long flawless fingers wrapped around the edge of the door, pushing it forward into the room. Its owner followed.
Snape had already identified the voice and was making his way across the room.
“Come in, Draco.”
“Thank you, sir,” Draco said heartily, stepping through the frame and accepting the hand being offered him.
“You look well. Your year away seems to have agreed with you.”
Severus took a moment to take in the changes of the young man in front of him. He was slightly taller than when he had last been seen at Hogwarts and his light hair much longer, fanning out on the dark fabric that covered his shoulders. He looked so much like his father except for the light freckles that dusted his forehead and the bridge of his nose. Severus supposed that avoiding the sun in India would be a challenging task, even for a Malfoy.
“Thank you, Professor.” Draco looked down for a moment, colour staining the skin around his collar.
“Let’s dispense with the formalities now that you’re no longer a Hogwarts student. Please, call me Severus.” He reached for Draco’s elbow and steered him toward the two soft chairs by the fire.
“Agreed,” Draco laughed softly. “But I hope to be studying with you again soon, that is, if your offer still stands.”
“I would like nothing better.” He pointed to the chair Harry normally occupied. “Please have a seat. Tea?”
Draco sat and nodded politely.
Something leaning against Draco's chair caught Severus' attention. He hid his surprise as Draco's fingers played with the silver head of the cane that once belonged to Lucius. Severus turned toward the small table beside his own chair.
“I haven’t taken on an apprentice in five years, not since the disaster that was Tavis McClaren.” Snape shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to gently shake away the horrid memory. “I’m delighted you consider Potions a worthy discipline, and I know your talent will be an asset to future research.”
“Again, thank you, Sir.”
Snape turned back from removing his book from the table and raised an eyebrow.
Draco quickly corrected himself. “Severus. Thank you.”
“Better,” Snape said with a faint smirk while Draco smiled warmly.
Draco took a deep breath, as if trying to inhale all the air in the dungeons. “It’s good to be home.” He lifted his head and his smile changed slightly.
“Indeed. And how was India?”
“Too populated, too chaotic and too damn hot for my tastes.” He finished with a slight frown, and then looked up, as if he suddenly remembered who he was talking to. “Sorry, I…”
Snape chuckled. “No need for apologies. I asked, and you answered honestly.”
“Well, if you really want honesty…” Draco tipped his head as Severus leaned forward. “It was the filthiest place I have ever been. The moment I arrived, I was instantly making arrangements for another international port key home as soon as they had one available.”
“What made you stay?” Snape asked, sinking back into his favourite chair.
“The magic, and later, the people.”
Snape nodded silently. "When you've settled in, I would like to hear more about your travels. You were always an excellent storyteller."
Draco closed his eyes briefly and tilted his head down, in a show of respect. "Thank you." When he looked up again, Severus noticed pale pink spreading toward the light hair line. "Well, we'll certainly have plenty of time together in the coming months. I think I have enough tales of India to last all five years of my apprenticeship."
"Salazar help us both," Snape teased, shaking his head before looking again at Draco. "I can make arrangements with Dumbledore for your new living quarters after we’re finished here, if you like.”
“Already have done,” Draco said with a smirk, seemingly becoming more comfortable in the conversation.
Severus paused before sipping again at his tea, keeping his eyes on the young man. “Have you?”
Draco nodded. “Dumbledore offered me a position at the school. He said it would keep me occupied during the days as well as providing me with ample study time and unlimited resources.”
“Librarian.” Snape nodded. "Albus told me at breakfast that he had found someone."
Draco nodded again, grinning. “I also figured the income would be useful for supplies and for whatever I cared to do in my leisure time. I’ve decided to start saving my family’s fortunes for the future. I’ve been given the librarian’s quarters, as well as the small living space across from your rooms for when we’re working.”
Severus nodded, impressed. “Excellent.”
Draco set down his empty tea cup. “Do you mind if I…” He pointed vaguely in the direction of the water closet.
“Be my guest.”
Draco excused himself politely and headed for the open door on his right.
~*~
‘He’ll be ours soon,’ Draco whispered to his reflection, running his hands under the cool water. As he reached for the towel, he heard a familiar voice from his past mixing with Severus’.
Draco cracked the door open a fraction and listened from the shelter of the door frame. He quite liked Severus’ new living quarters with its tall octagonal shape, perfectly placed hearth and warm, inviting chairs. There were also spectacular wrap-around book shelves above, separated only by a shallow balcony that conveniently cast a perfect shadow over Draco’s hiding spot.
“Insolent brat!” Snape hissed, keeping his voice fairly low. “Why have you kept me waiting all day?”
Draco turned his head and peered through the crack. ‘My, my,’ he thought to himself. ‘Potter has certainly come into his own.’ He took a moment to study the former waif who had brought down the Dark Lord.
Potter was still half a head shorter than Snape, but from the back at least, seemed to have improved his posture and gained a bit of muscle. His hair was longer than Draco remembered, but it looked more as if he had skipped a haircut instead of wanting it that length by choice. It was still a dark mess, curling at the base of his neck and covering the tips of his ears. Draco still couldn’t see his face, but was rather enjoying this view of his former enemy. ‘Or are we still enemies?’ he mused.
“Answer me, Potter!” Snape demanded.
Draco tingled with delight as Severus stalked forward, stopping directly in front of the Gryffindor prat. Draco nearly choked when he heard two words calmly roll of Potter’s tongue.
“Make me.”
Silence fell over the room as Draco listened intently, holding his breath, waiting for the glorious explosion he knew would come. Potter was going to be reduced to putty, and Draco had a front row seat.
Both of Snape’s hands came up at once, pressing into the sides of Potter’s face. Long stained fingers wrapped around the edge of the jaw and pulled forward until their lips collided.
Their lips.
This wasn’t a new kiss either, Draco noted. It was a competition, an on-going battle for dominance. There was unmistakeable passion. Draco had played that game before. He recognised the moves. He pulled back from the door, panting and furious. How was he supposed to fall into Snape’s bed if Potter was already soiling it?
‘Goody-goody saviour of the world, POTTER! When the hell did this happen?’ Draco inwardly fumed. He pressed his eye back to the crack between the door and the frame. He could see both of them clearly now. He noticed that Potter was no longer wearing glasses, and his cheeks were flushed. Draco might have called it a beautiful scene if he hadn’t been so enraged.
“That was the best welcome yet,” Harry purred, pressing his cheek against Snape’s chest. Snape ran his fingers through the mop of hair.
“Mmm…I’m in a good mood.”
Harry looked up with a playful smile. “Lucky me.”
“Brat. I have company.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Not you.” Snape gave a short chuckle. “He’s in the bathroom.”
“Should I be jealous?” Harry asked, his nose wrinkling slightly.
Draco took in a deep breath, slid his mask into place, and glided into the main room as Potter was studying the face of his lover.
“I thought you liked competition, Potter.”
Draco heard Snape laughing softly as he continued to watch Harry for a reaction. Harry’s gaze flew from Draco to Severus with lighting speed, face blank and pale.
“Relax, Potter, I’m here on business.”
Snape gave Harry a reassuring pat on the back and kissed the top of his forehead. Harry accepted, but pulled back rather quickly, as if having Draco watch them together unnerved him. He stuck out his hand stiffly toward Draco.
“Welcome back, Malfoy,” Harry managed, sounding somewhere in-between shocked and sceptical. Draco took his hand and smirked.
Severus cleared his throat. “I forgot to mention earlier, but Harry and I have been together since last July. I sent you an invitation to the binding ceremony, but we never received a response.”
“I’m...I'm sorry I missed it. I refused all post after leaving Hogwarts. Pansy’s daily letters begging me to come home were getting annoying.”
“I imagine.” Snape’s dark eyes sparkled for a moment.
Harry’s expression softened slightly and Draco noticed that the warm glow still lingered on his cheeks. He continued watching as Severus gently squeezed Harry's shoulder while speaking softly to him.
“Draco has returned to Hogwarts to continue his studies and to fill the position of Librarian.”
“Really?” Harry asked as Draco nodded. “Well, at least you know about books. The last substitute librarian nearly burned the place down trying to organize the restricted section.”
“Yes, Dumbledore has been unable to find a suitable replacement since Madame Pince relocated to Egypt last fall.” Snape added
Harry looked back at Draco. “What are you studying?”
“I’m apprenticing to become a Potions Master,” Draco said with an air of importance, silently praising himself for the look of shock on Potter’s face.
“And about time,” Snape added as Harry closed his jaw. “He’s taking the rooms across the hall.” He added matter-of-factly.
“Well, then I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of you.” He gave a weak smile. ”Sorry for my reaction before…I’ve been fighting with mood swings lately.” He shared a significant look with Severus, then turned back to face Draco. “My hormones have been on a jealousy kick all day.”
“Harry’s carrying our first child,” Snape offered, sounding proud and protective. "Five months today."
It was Draco’s turn to sputter as the blood drained from his face and his eyes darted to Harry’s slightly rounded stomach. ‘Pregnant!’ His brain screamed. “Umm…then I suppose congratulations are in order.”
Snape nodded in acceptance. Harry blushed deeper.
“Thank you.” Harry whispered.
Draco’s heart ripped in two as he ordered his face to smile back at them.
~*~
He maintained his cool exterior until he reached his rooms at the back of the library and had safely thrown into place every locking and silencing spell he knew. He flung his cloak violently onto a chair by the door and stomped over to his wardrobe mirror. He glared at his pitiful reflection, noticing that he was becoming blotchier by the minute. Finally, he exploded.
"FUCKING…” He kicked over the bedside table. “…PREGNANT!"
The mirror mentioned something about 'foul language not being permitted' two seconds before Draco taught it how to fly. Several of the small shards rebounded and came after him, leaving a few shallow cuts across the backs of his hands and one, just a bit deeper, under his bottom lip. He continued to storm around the room, taking his anger out on everything within reach of his bloodied hands before giving up and falling face down on the bed, screaming his fury into the ruined sheets.
It took a few minutes to calm himself before he had desire enough to sit up, heal his cuts, and survey the ruin of his room. He flicked his wand a few times causing everything to return to its proper place, fully restored. He finished with a silencing charm on the newly-righted mirror.
He fell with a heavy sigh back onto his bed and sneered to himself when he considered what his father would have thought of his recent outburst. "It doesn’t matter. You're not here to punish me anyway, are you?" he whispered to the stone above him. "Or maybe this is my punishment." Draco rolled to his side and bent one knee to half-lay across the covers. "Somehow you've arranged for Potter to stand in the way of everything I want - as payment for my disloyalty to you," he hissed the last word bitterly under his breath. "Father."
The energy he had spent on destroying and righting his room had left him, and he was beginning to feel the cool fall air pushing through the tiny gaps in the wall. Shivering, he picked up his wand, cast a warming spell on the summer clothes he was wearing, and lit a fire.
"I'm not giving up so easily this time. Severus deserves to be with me."
Draco sat up and started working on his shirt buttons, scowling down at them. "Why didn't anyone stop them?” he asked no one, shaking both hands in the air, as if pleading his case to the bed curtains. He rolled his eyes and raised his voice to sound like his mother’s. “Oh, a binding ceremony, you don’t say? What a lovely idea!” He continued his rant as he removed his shirt and hung it over the footboard of the bed. "Why was everyone suddenly just so happy and supportive of the sick little couple? They’ve all gone mad." He undid the top button of his trousers, and removed them as well. "Seven years of hating each other and instantly they're fucking soul mates?" Opening the wardrobe, he selected a long cream-coloured cotton garment that he quickly pulled over his head. He had hidden in his room long past dinner time, and he reasoned that he might as well meditate before bed, or else brood for a little longer. He exhaled loudly again and made his choice.
"Listen to me. I sound like a child." Shaking his head, he settled onto the warm rug by the hearth, crossing his bare legs underneath him. He rested the backs of his hands lightly against his knees and slowed his breathing. His mind was buzzing with so much negative energy that he found his task impossible. "Think of a solution," he whispered to the crackling flames in front of him, but they gave him no answer.
Suddenly he leapt to his feet and quickly crossed the room to where he had thrown his cloak. Just as he hoped, his father's cane was missing. He had left it propped against the chair he had been sitting in during his visit with Snape. "Seems a few of the gods still smile on me, Father. How unfortunate for you," Draco taunted through a victorious smile as he sat back down in front of the fire once again.
In India, he had grown accustomed to the intense heat and need for lighter clothing. Returning to Hogwarts felt like entering a cave. Everything was much more damp and dark then he remembered. But inching forward towards the flames, he almost found the warmth and peace he had be craving since he left Madurai as he sent his mind back to recall some of the lessons taught to him by the ancient Holy Wizards on the sacred ground of their temples. He started a sequence of low, haunting cries, in the closest form of Tamil that his English tongue would allow, pleading the old magic in the castle to connect with him.
It responded instantly when he pressed his palms into the gritty stone on either side of the round mat. He threw his head back, feeling his pulse quicken as energy slithered up his arms making a home for itself in the microscopic space between his skin and the pale hair covering his shaking body. He fought to control his breathing and the new power he was slowly getting used to. He pressed his palms together in front of his chest, lowering his head so that his nose almost touched his fingertips.
His song died to a soft, drawn-out hum as he steadied his tremors and visualized walking back through the library, along the halls, down the stairs and through the thick wall into Severus' living quarters. He stopped when the cane was in sight and he willed his mind to embrace the object.
"Obtineo!"
For a moment everything went black, then flashes of light and blurry shapes appeared through a green filter in front of his eyes. He patted the stone and bit of carpet under him, feeling the floor of his own room. But instead of seeing the flames of the fire, he was looking at Severus and Potter through the emerald eyes of the silver serpent head of his father's cane.
He could also hear Snape's quill as he marked assignments, and smell the candy that Harry was sucking on, but he didn't know how that was possible. The few other times he had forced his spirit into objects; it had been silent, cold, and strange. This felt strange as well, but a good strange, a justifiable strange. This time he had more power to play with, and a good reason to play.
Now he would watch as long as he could maintain focus, hoping a simple solution to his 'Potter problem' would present itself.
Potter moved from where he had been looking out at the moon to stand behind Severus, a flat wooden brush in his hand. Draco watched as Harry slid the brush effortlessly through Severus' shoulder-length black hair down to the ends and then back again to the top.
'Dark hair to match dark eyes,' Draco thought to himself as he worshiped from his new hiding place.
Harry started humming a tune as he brushed, but Severus shushed him gently.
"Quiet for just a moment longer. I promise this is the last of them." He pointed to the final paper on the desk, looking over his shoulder at Harry who gave a silent, respectful nod and continued his brushing once Snape had turned around again.
Draco could tell Harry was savouring this moment, eyes closed, skilfully working over familiar terrain. It almost looked like part of their daily ritual. Yes, he imagined they played out this little scene every night. 'Damn newlyweds,' Draco's stinging heart echoed his bitterness.
Draco brought himself out of his depressing musings and focused on the slowly moving image before him. Severus continued scratching out biting comments on student parchment while silence stretched between himself and his lover - husband, easy and comfortable. The well-worn quill fell to the tabletop after Harry set the brush down on the desk, just within Severus' view. Draco swallowed as Severus tilted his face up, leaning back into his chair.
Harry's fingers replaced sable.
The deep moan from Severus instantly transformed every inch of Draco's skin into gooseflesh, and he whimpered without meaning to.
Harry wound his fingers in and out of the dark strands, moving in small circles as he explored every inch. Draco bit his bottom lip and watched as Harry's breathing slowed to match the rise and fall of Severus' chest.
Without warning, Severus’ left arm flew around to grasp Harry’s right elbow, spinning him around then pulling him quickly, but gently, into his lap. Harry moved his hands back into the dark hair as Severus moaned again, moving forward to suck on the close skin of Harry’s neck. Draco fought back a nasty hiss as his enemy flushed and pushed most of his body willingly against the object of Draco’s desire.
"That's mine, Potter!" Draco's words bounced around his bedroom, three floors above where his mind was watching this cruel play.
Harry moved his hands to Severus’ shoulders and pushed down while he moved his legs to either side of the chair and rolled his lower body wantonly against his panting lover, eyes shining with an unspoken challenge.
Severus looked liked he had found the back door to heaven as Harry, his fingers digging into Severus’ shoulders, quickly increased the friction between them. Draco felt ill until he noticed Snape’s look of ecstasy transform into wide-eyed sudden shock.
He pushed out against Harry’s hips. “Gently, love.”
Harry, out of breath and smirking, placed his glasses on the desk then pushed past Severus’ grip and continued rocking their clothed bodies together. “I’m fine. I don’t want to stop.”
Snape pushed again, this time anger flared in his eyes, and confusion and hurt swam in Harry’s.
“Stop! You’ll injure the child!” Severus snapped. Draco saw a flash of pain in Harry’s expression as he pushed up on his legs and stood, glaring at his husband.
“Sit on the desk, Harry.” Severus’ voice was cold and sharp.
Harry matched his tone. “No.”
“What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
“I’m not playing games with you. Get on the desk. I want to perform some tests.”
“Are you deaf? I said NO!” Harry pushed his words through clenched teeth. Severus’ hand flew, but stopped a mere centimetre from contact with Harry’s face before Draco had even noticed the movement.
‘Now this is more like it,’ Draco silently rejoiced, loving that everything wasn’t all roses and monogrammed towels for the lovers.
Harry hadn’t even flinched at the sudden attack. “This is going to stop now, Severus!” He stomped his foot down in warning. Harry gestured down the length of his body. “Neither one of us is made of glass…” Severus shifted and opened his mouth to protest, but Harry raised a palm and continued, his tone softening with each second that passed. “I know you love us both, but your protectiveness is - too much for me.”
Snape had collapsed back into his chair as Harry reached a shaking hand out to cup his face. “I know how much you want this child. I won’t mess this up for us, I promise.” At Harry’s touch, Snape closed his eyes and pressed his skin into the waiting palm. “I’m young and healthy, and the healer said this kind of…” Harry blushed when Snape raised his eyes. “…activity is fine until the last few months. I asked.” Draco swore himself a sonnet as Harry blushed deeper. Severus stood to embrace him.
“Forgive me. I’ve never been a father before...” He pushed Harry back slightly so they could look at each other. “…or a husband.” Harry smiled softly and raised his mouth to Severus’, communicating the silent forgiveness.
Draco choked on the air that was suddenly in a hurry to escape his lungs as his mind abruptly pulled out of the cane, back through the wall, wound around the castle stairs, and slammed back into Draco’s convulsing body.
“Oh yes,” he hissed. “Still enemies.”
~*~