"I, er, don't want it to end," Harry seemed to force the words out.
It being the holiday, Severus translated.
Years of spying allowed him to hide his relief. The warmth he felt for Harry Potter that was more than affection suffused him as he gently pointed out, "All holidays must end, Harry."
"Must they?" Harry questioned, apparently at a loss for words after that. Harry's eyes seemed to be begging him to understand something he couldn't vocalize, but Severus honestly didn't have a clue as to what Harry was leading up to.
"What is it you're trying to say?" Severus encouraged in as non-threatening a tone as he could manage. Harry clearly wasn't planning on ending it; that was all that mattered.
"I want to live with you," Harry blurted out. His expression made it quite obvious that he expected disaster to follow his candour. This issue being something Severus had never even considered as a possibility, he could only stare as Harry stumbled on with, "I was going to ask you to move up into the tower with me, but I know that as head of Slytherin, you have to be available to the students twenty-four hours a day. And, I also realize that Hermione and Ron's breezing into the bedroom in the morning would drive you insane, so . . . I thought, if you were agreeable, then I might move some of my stuff down here later today? We could try it out . . . see how it works. You don't have to give me an answer right now," Harry rushed to assure. "Think about it, if you need to."
"You want to move into the dungeon . . . to live with me?" Severus repeated, as if to get his facts straight. He still couldn't quite believe what he'd thought he'd just heard.
"Yes," Harry answered, holding his gaze, for all that Harry clearly anticipated a refusal.
Severus carefully set down his tea mug before he spilt it in his shock. Harry wanted to live with him?
"I know it's a really big move," Harry said in that quick, nervous tone. "And that you probably haven't given the idea any thought at all -"
"The concept isn't something I ever even imagined possible," Severus quietly confessed when Harry faltered again. Every doubt he'd ever had was screaming for him to retract those words or add something scathing to them, but . . . Harry had left himself terribly exposed with that request. Although it had thrown Severus completely, he was unwilling to play the coward's part when Harry was so generously offering something he hadn't even dreamed was within his reach. He just couldn't believe that Harry was serious; even though he knew that Harry would never joke about something like this.
Severus drew a deep shaky breath and asked, "You seriously want to . . . live with me?"
Harry nodded. That cleft chin always made him appear strong, but Severus could clearly see how worried he was as he replied, "Yes. I know you're not comfortable with me saying it, but . . . I love you and I don't want to live apart from you unless I absolutely have to. I realize that we're all but living together now, I just . . . wanted to make it official."
The panic that flared through Severus was completely instinctive, but somehow he managed to beat it down enough to croak out, "Make it official?"
"Well, as official as we can. I realize that there's no legal means to -" Harry paled and stopped talking. His expression made it plain that he feared he'd said too much.
Great Merlin! Make it official . . . legal means. . . . Harry was making this sound like a marriage proposal!
Stunned, Severus recognized that that was how Harry was looking at it. He knew how romantic his lover was. Harry would have to be the most hopeless of romantics to see the things in him that he did. Harry wasn't suggesting that they shack up to make fucking more convenient. As his lover had said, they already spent most of their off duty time in each other's company. Even if they'd tried, they probably couldn't shag any more than they were doing now. What Harry was asking for here was something different; something that Severus had never believed could be his.
Wishing he had some frame of reference, Severus drew in another of those shaky breaths and searched his brain for the right words to say. The situation was completely beyond his ken, but the dawning defeat in Harry's expression made it imperative that he respond, and respond correctly. Open declarations were still beyond him. He had neither tact nor grace. He knew he barely managed civil, and that with work. He was constitutionally unsuited for this type of love scene, but . . . he did love, even if he was too afraid to admit it out loud.
Stumbling over the words with something like blind terror, Severus finally rasped out, "You're right. Perhaps it would be . . . a good idea for you to move some of your things down here this afternoon."
Severus knew how inadequate his response had been when compared to the gift Harry had just bestowed upon him, but Harry didn't seem to mind. His face lit up bright as the morning star.
"R-really?" Harry stammered.
Were the situation not so serious, their awkwardness might have been humorous, but Severus couldn't even attempt a smile as he answered, "It's long past time. Don't you think?"
There. He hadn't said it, but Harry was good at inference.
Harry sagged back against his chair, a grin seeming to claim his entire face as he nodded his agreement.
Their gazes met and held. Harry's grin dropped away. In that moment of utter openness, Severus could see every one of his fears reflected in Harry's eyes.
"It is a big move," Harry acknowledged at last.
Sensing that something of the commonplace was needed to offset this daring decision, Severus attempted to reply as matter-of-factly as he could, "But one we're more than ready for. So, what are your plans for the day, aside from lugging your quidditch cups and owl down here?"
Harry's eyes warmed with appreciation. "Well, I'm going to sit with Ron for a few hours. Then I thought that after dinner, you and I might check out another one of the estates on Ron's list of Burke's holdings. Will that work for you?"
Severus nodded. In the two days since Ron had returned from his hospital stay, Harry and he had investigated four of the three score Burke holdings. The man had more land to his name than a Malfoy.
"Great. What are you going to do while I'm getting on Ron's nerves?" Harry asked.
"I have to restock some potion ingredients. I thought I'd stop in at Slug & Jiggers later this morning," Severus replied.
"Bring me something from Mr. Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour?" Harry begged, batting his eyelashes outrageously.
"You want me to go into an Ice Cream Parlour?" Severus didn't even attempt to disguise his horror.
"Well, how else are you going to get me some of his ice cream, and, no, you may not summon it," Harry ruled out before Severus could even voice the suggestion.
Feeling ridiculously happy, Severus held Harry's laughing gaze and complained, "This is some kind of Gryffindor 'prove you love me' test, isn't it?"
Harry couldn't quite hide his surprise.
Severus couldn't blame him. He couldn't believe that he'd actually voiced those words himself, even while joking.
To Severus' great relief, Harry didn't make a big deal of his slip, answering instead with a semi-serious, "Maybe."
Severus contemplated Harry's reply for a moment, weighed his dignity against the possibility of being seen in such an embarrassing establishment, decided that he'd rather eat Hagrid's latest pet than set foot in the place, and finally asked, "Were I to find myself in that establishment, and, mind, I say were, what flavour do you fancy?"
The expression on Harry's face made Severus realize that he might just as well give the man those three bloody words that he'd been avoiding like the plague.
Affecting a nonchalant attitude that was totally belied by the ludicrously inappropriate level of excitement in his eyes, Harry answered, "Chocolate, with lots of chocolate sauce, and cherries, tons of cherries."
"Anything else?" Severus inquired, attempting to keep his lips from twitching. Harry sounded all of four at the moment.
"No nuts," Harry said.
"No nuts?" Severus echoed, bemused by this entire exchange.
"No, unless you're gonna eat them," Harry said.
"I'll keep that in mind." Feeling as though he were about to drown in those sea green eyes, Severus looked away. Fixing on practicalities, he said, "I'll transfigure a new dresser in the bedroom for your things. Everything else should fit in the available space. Move whatever you need to."
It felt rather surreal to be discussing the details of Harry actually moving into the dungeon.
Harry gave him a soft look and a quiet, "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. We both might be regretting this by daybreak," Severus warned.
But Harry simply smiled at him, his attractive face shining with the impossible Gryffindor confidence that had won its way through every one of Severus' guards. "No chance."
Extremely unnerved, Severus quickly said, "Yes, well, I'm going to prepare for my trip now."
"Want some company?" Harry winked at him as Severus stood to flee to the loo.
"You can't be serious. It's been less than an hour since we -"
"Come on," Harry persuaded, shifting his slouch in his chair a little so that his open robe revealed a bit more than just his snowy white abdomen. "You know you want to."
"You have an appointment with Ron and I have to -" Severus persevered.
"I'll just tell him that I lost track of time while we were doing it in the shower," Harry said.
"You'll do no such thing," Severus said, having no difficulty imagining Harry doing just that. "I am taking a shower, alone, and you are going to summon your house elf to remove that mess."
"You know, you can be quite the dictator at times," Harry said with a laugh.
"Thank you," Severus said.
"That wasn't a compliment," Harry protested.
"It is in this end of the castle," Severus reminded, unable to hide his smile this time.
Harry made a face and then said, "Well, we'll just have to have incredibly hot missed-you sex when you get back."
"Missed-you sex?" Severus repeated, bewildered. "I'm only going to Diagon Alley. I'll be gone no more than an hour."
Harry's reply was strangely serious, "Hell, I'm so gone that I'll be wanting to have hot missed-you sex by the time you get out of the shower."
Reading the truth of it in those laughing eyes, Severus said, "You are utterly and completely deranged. You do know that?"
Harry simply laughed harder. "Good thing I found such a conscientious keeper, then, isn't it?"
Shaking his head, Severus made his escape to the bathroom.
Harry's reminder of, "Don't forget my prove-you-love-me ice cream!" was ringing behind him as he finally closed the door.
*~*~*
Two hours later, following some undeniably satisfying and hot missed-you-while-you-were-in-the-shower sex, Severus found himself standing in Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour watching as the old man put together a disgustingly huge chocolate sundae. His potions ingredients purchases were shrunken and stored safely in his pocket.
"It's not for me," Severus disavowed all interest in the ice cream for the third time, wanting it clear that he was not here on his own devices. Fortunately, the shop was empty, so there was no one here to witness this ignominy.
Fortescue, who now appeared nearly two hundred, looked over at him and mildly enquired, "Who's it for, then? Your little one?"
"As if," Severus huffed. "Although his maturity is probably comparable to that of a four-year-old, it's actually for a full grown man. Harry Potter, to be precise," Severus said, thinking that Harry could bear the embarrassment.
Fortescue froze. "This is for Harry? Why didn't you say?"
"I just did," Severus snapped, barely keeping back the 'you doddering old fool' that his tone implied.
"So you did," the old man good naturedly agreed.
Severus gaped in horror as the normal sized container into which Fortescue was shovelling ice cream tripled in size. The thing now looked more like a large cauldron filled with ice cream than a dessert.
"He'll be wanting cherries, I take it?" Fortescue asked.
Severus gave an appalled nod and stood speechless as the man dumped what had to be a pound of the candied fruit onto the growing mountain.
"No nuts, right?" Fortescue checked.
Severus was tempted, but as this was a prove-you-love-the-mental-Gryffindor statement of intent, he shook his head 'no'. "No nuts. Believe me, the man is deranged enough."
The old man could barely lift his creation when he turned to bring it to Severus at the counter.
"What about you, lad? What can I get you?" Fortescue asked.
"The bill will do," Severus answered. He opened his change purse, thinking that the thing would now cost every galleon he had on him.
"Oh, no. There's no charge for Harry Potter."
"Don't be absurd, man. How do you know it's really for Potter?" Severus demanded.
"A nice lad like yourself wouldn't lie to an old man," Fortescue answered with a bright grin.
"Clearly, you were a Gryffindor," Severus tried not to sneer. He really did. But such utter stupidity was unpardonable in his world.
"Funny you should mention that," Fortescue laughed, pushing the mountainous monstrosity towards him.
"Really, I must insist that you allow me to pay for -" Severus tried again.
"No. Harry's a friend. Just give him my regards," Fortescue said.
Severus gave a nod and a frustrated sigh. Who was he to protest if the man wanted to bankrupt himself?
"I suppose even with an impervious spell on it, this thing wouldn't be safe to shrink and carry?" Severus asked, eyeing the ice cream cauldron suspiciously.
