Fic: Express Yourself (Harry/Severus, 1/1)

[salixbabylon]

(still another old fic)

Title: Express Yourself
Pairing: Severus Snape/Harry Potter
Author: salixbabylon
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2669
Disclaimer: Rowling owns everything.
Summary: Harry wants to know what Severus is thinking.
Author's Notes: Another take on the Severus Snape Fuh-Q Fest - Third Wave (Challenge #20. Snape undergoes a change of character) Thank yous: Always to Cindy Lou. Unending gratitude to betas: Betty and Olivia Lupin.


Express Yourself

"Cor cordis verax," his lover enunciated clearly, wand to Severus' temple. Harry's lips struggled against the devilish grin already flickering in his eyes.

"MMnnh?" Severus mumbled in his sleep, burying his face deeper in the pillows.

The grin won the battle as Harry leaned over and placed a light kiss on his cheek. "Have a nice day," he whispered and left to start his morning routine.

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*

Severus Snape woke up some time later. He yawned and stretched and grinned at the walls of his dungeon. He hummed as he showered. As he strolled down the halls to grab his usual caffeine-only breakfast from the staffroom, he smiled and nodded at the other teachers. They glowered back but otherwise didn't seem to notice anything unusual. He went down to his classroom after bypassing his customary two cups of black coffee in favor of cocoa with marshmallows.

His black robes billowed pleasingly behind him as he strode down the corridors, hallways, and staircases. He had a momentary urge to try and slide down one of the banisters, but he'd never done that before and wasn't sure he was ready to try, first thing in the morning. Perhaps later. After lunch.

He unlocked the Potions classroom, arranged the parchments on his desk, and started setting out ingredients for the day's demonstrations and lessons. Every now and then he caught himself waving his hands about, as his exuberant humming of Beethoven's 2nd symphony turned into conducting an invisible orchestra.

Finally, all preparations for the day were made and he sat at his desk waiting for the first pupils to arrive. This morning his first class was the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw Seventh years.

"Good morning, Olivia; good morning, Lucretia," he called out with a smile, as the students began to walk in. He greeted all of the students by name, and most of them with a "good morning" and a pleasant facial expression.

The students all blinked owlishly at him, barely awake themselves, but startled and confused as they registered that he was calling them by their first names. And that his face was twisted up weirdly. Smiling. Furthermore, he didn't even look pained, smiling at them. Most students assumed they must be dreaming; the handful of awake ones thought that perhaps Professor Snape had imbibed a mood-altering potion. For research, of course, since he would never do such a thing recreationally. That would be too much like fun.

Severus clapped his hands to get their attention, "This morning we will begin making the Mellowing Draught, one of the more advanced relaxation potions, frequently used in hospitals. Although it is a difficult concoction, I'm sure you are all up to the task. Also, many of you have begun to show noticeable signs of stress as your NEWTs approach, and I think a small dose before bed may be beneficial to you..."

He lectured on for a while, talking about how the potion was developed, its interactions with other potions, spells, and foods, and asking questions as usual. The students relaxed somewhat but stayed a bit on edge by his lack of snarkiness.

"Dennis Creevey! Can you please tell me which common morning drink is most likely to cause a nausea-inducing reaction when combined with this potion?"

The boy blinked, unused to hearing that particular voice resound with genuine curiosity as to whether he knew the answer, instead of a sneering assumption that he did not. "Er, perhaps coffee, Sir?"

Severus' face positively erupted into a grin. "That's exactly right! Well done! Fifteen points to Gryffindor! Thank you, Dennis."

The entire class was silent in stunned horror. Whatever had happened to Professor Snape, he was clearly not in his right mind. The smiles and the pleasantness were all quite disturbing enough, but givingpoints? To a Gryffindor? Clearly there were pigs swooping in and out of clouds somewhere, and Hell was having its first-ever snowball fight.

"Please, everyone, get to work on the potion. I'll be up here if you need me for anything," he offered, flopping down in his chair gracelessly. The murmuring of the students was barely audible over his humming as he graded essays, with a nice green ink and lots of smilies and stars for positive comments.

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*

His next class was the Fourth years from Slytherin/Hufflepuff. The most recent Nott boy tripped a classmate on the way in. Severus took off twenty house points and gave him two weeks of detention for "being mean." The whole class froze in shock, and not only at the lack of a wittier indictment. Severus didn't notice their reactions as he examined the Hufflepuff for injuries and asked if the boy wanted to go see Madame Pomfrey. He was assured that the small bruise was really all right and not painful at all, thank you for your concern, Sir. The boy was far more disturbed by Snape's fretting.

His final class before lunch was the Gryffindor/Slytherin First years. They were confused by his cheerful disposition; after only eight months of lessons with the intimidating man, they didn't know how to deal with the change. He tried to put them at ease by letting the students vote on whether to have a test on Friday (a surprising affirmative, since they were terrified to vote against), and then by offering to let them write down the questions they wanted to be tested on, so they would know what to study. The students looked at each other, Gryffindor and Slytherin bonding for once in the face of a hopeless tragedy; clearly their professor had gone completely round the bend.

Word spread through the castle faster than the Poriffimus Plague had last winter, which was spread via eye contact.

"Professor Snape is under a Confundus hex!" squeaked a Fourth year Hufflepuff, as a gossipy knot hurried towards Charms class.

"I heard he ate a Safat shell."

"No way, those aren't even real! I think he's been possessed by a Laetus spirit."

A Ravenclaw prefect interrupted as she walked past, "Well, I heard he got hit with a Cheering Charm and it permanently addled his brain. I think we should fetch Professor Flitwick."

"No way, not Snape. I bet he's just trying to confuse us all by acting strangely. He's out to get us, you mark my words; this is just some new game of his," contradicted a surly looking Fifth year Gryffindor, who had had too many points taken from him over the years to be too compassionate.

The door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom opened and an untidy black head peeked out. "May I help you with something?" asked a smiling face with just the barest hint of a gleam in his eye.

Some of the younger students squeaked to be caught gossiping, as the Prefect answered, "No, Professor Potter. We were just, er, speculating about what's happened to Professor Snape."

The green eyes took on a positively eager glint, which was totally lost on the students, as were the tightly pursed lips, suppressing a smile. "Professor Snape? Has something happened to him?"

There was a silence broken by a lot of scuffling and whispers. Finally the Hufflepuff who had been tripped in class blurted out "He seems happy, Professor Potter. And he's being nice. Really nice. And- And- And it's scary!"

Harry laughed. "Scary, is it? How happy is he? Perhaps I'd best go have a look personally; perhaps it's a Dark curse," he speculated, stepping out into the hall.

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*

Severus was bent over his desk, writing "Excellent demonstration of a thorough grasp of the Shrinking Solution! Five house points!" in purple ink with sparkles in it, on a Third year's parchment. Harry leaned over his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek, noting that the pupil in question had written about four inches less than the assignment demanded.

"Harry!" Severus smiled, grabbing the young man around the waist and pulling him into his lap. "I missed you!"

"Missed me? But I never see you before dinner," Harry protested laughing, a bit shocked. He squirmed as Severus pulled off his glasses and started kissing his throat.

"I still missed you," he mumbled as his hands started to delve into the younger man's robes, holding him close, possessively running his hands over the familiar body.

"Sev, the door's open," Harry cautioned before his mouth was taken in a searching kiss that made him forget why it even mattered. He wriggled closer and felt a moan rise to his throat. One of Severus' hands began stroking his thighs, murmuring praise for the lean muscles. He reached between Harry's legs and gently began to stroke the bulge stirring to life there, as he shifted his own growing erection into Harry's hip.

Harry's head fell to the side as Severus began to suck and nibble on his neck in earnest, seemingly forgetting about his distaste of hickeys ("adolescent property markers"), and reached around the younger man to the other side to lightly pinch a nipple. Arousal pulsing through his body, Harry shivered, arching into his hands, and moaned loudly.

"Severus Snape! Harry Potter! What on earth do you two think you're doing?" Professor McGonagall's voice was cold with fury as the door slammed behind her.

Harry jumped out of Severus' lap like he was on fire, but before he could think of an excuse, Severus smiled and said, "Kissing my lover, if that's all right with you," and pinched Harry's bottom.

"Of course it's not all right! Completely inappropriate! You didn't even shut the door!" she sputtered, eyes bugging out of her head. "What on earth has gotten into you? Harry I could perhaps understand, but you, Severus? This is not like you!"

"I'm happy," Severus calmly answered with a genial smile. His face was relaxed and his eyes warm. It was enough to make Harry feel both tender and a bit uneasy, and to completely befuddle McGonagall.

Harry took her by the arm and escorted her towards the door, grabbing his glasses. He called over his shoulder, "I'll see you after classes, all right?" to Severus, who disconcertingly sung out, "I'll be waiting," and started humming again as he bent over the essays on his desk.

As the door closed behind them, his former Head of House grabbed Harry by the ear and propelled him towards her office. "You may not be a student any longer, but you have obviously done something to poor Severus and I expect an explanation. Now. Start talking."

Harry refused to meet her eye. She sat down.

"You have hexed him. With what? And why?"

"Cor cordis verax and none of your business," Harry replied obstinately, slipping back into defiant-teenager mode.

She gave him a penetrating frown. "You wanted to know how Severus really feels about you. So you hexed him with something that would compel him to act the way he truthfully feels. You blithering idiot."

Harry scowled at her to cover an unexpected pang of guilt. He wasn't sure if it was from the hex on Severus or residual guilt at being caught out by his former Head of House. Probably a combination of the two.

"I realize that he is a very difficult man. I had no idea you two were involved. I cannot imagine the difficulties that trying to relate to Severus emotionally must present. But of all the unethical, immoral, devious, underhanded ways to manipulate someone..." she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I have never particularly liked Severus. But I do respect him. And I thought I respected you, that you had grown up a bit. But here you are, throwing caution to the wind and acting like some foolhardy Gryffindor and sly Slytherin all twisted together. This is unworthy of you!" Her voice rose as her words increased in both pitch and speed. "This is nothow you behave to someone you love." she scolded, her indignation evident.

"I never said I loved him," Harry sulked.

Professor McGonagall sat back in her chair for a few minutes, evaluating him. "No, you did not. You can keep your heart's counsel, if you like. Severus cannot; you've robbed him of that. He obviously loves you. Now get out of here and go fix this before I forget that I'm no longer allowed to give you a detention."

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*

Harry ran back to his classroom, almost late for his next lesson and grateful that it was the last of the day, and that Severus was finished. He would be able to fix things in just a few hours. He was ashamed that he hadn't thought about the ethical issues behind the hex and was frankly still a bit shocked that it had been so effective. He hadn't realized that Severus was so happy with him, so happy in general, underneath all the usual sarcastic repartee.

But McGonagall was right. It was wrong to try and force him to display his feelings, even for a day. After class, Harry slowly made his way back down to the dungeon. Severus wasn't in his classroom or office, but in his sitting room. Clearly waiting. With that same besotted grin on his face.

"You came! I always worry that you might not," the taller man said as he got up for a gentle kiss and took Harry's hand. "Shall we go to dinner?"

Harry looked at their hands, fingers entwined. "Like this? Together? Holding hands?"

Severus' brow crinkled in a familiar way, but his words were still gentle. "Of course. Why shouldn't we? You know that I love you. Don't you love me?" he asked seriously.

Harry's heart did something fluttery in his chest. They'd never said those words before. No one knew about them. Except, Harry reminded himself, Professor McGonagall, now.

He sighed. This hadn't worked out at all like he'd wanted it to, not really. "That's not the point. This has gone a bit too far; I suppose I'm going to have to remove the charm."

He got out his wand and started arranging Severus into a sitting position on the couch. The other man just watched him, passively, still looking a little hurt that he hadn't answered his question.

"You're going to be so angry with me," Harry sighed, shaking his head regretfully. He wished he could think of a way to remove the curse and run away simultaneously.

Severus gave him a fond smile. "I could never be cross with you. I love you."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, OK, try to remember that after I undo this curse."

"I thought it was a charm?"

"Whatever. Clearly it's not working properly. Or you are not working properly. Or it and you are not working properly. Something like that."

He took a deep breath, raised his wand, and spluttered out, "You know, I just did this because I can never tell how you really feel about me. You're always so closed off. I just wanted to know if you felt the way I did... Anyway, here goes."

He did a little wiggle with the tip of his wand, incanting "Retexo!"

Severus' eyes closed and twitched for several long seconds. He was quiet, remembering all of the events of the day so far. He opened his eyes, meeting Harry's uneasy green ones and very calmly said, "I hate you. I am going to kill you."

Harry's hear plummeted for a moment. Then again, Severus said those same words almost every time Harry annoyed him. Maybe everything would be all right after all.

Harry smiled affectionately. "You won't kill me. You love me, you just now said so. I know it's true. And I love you, too."

"No, I hate you," Severus said with calm conviction. Unfortunately his words were belied by the amazed and frankly soppy expression on his face.

Harry grinned and sat down on his lap. "Well, I'll just have to learn to live with that then."

"Bastard," Severus whispered as he came up for air between kisses.

Harry nuzzled his neck and murmured, "I learned from the best."

~the end~

Cor cordis verax (truthful heart); Retexo (unravel, undo)



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Art for me! Created by the very talented amariel

Comments

[vamprino.livejournal.com]

Awww! It's been a while since I read any good HP fics, love it!
If only that spell existed in real life...

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

:) Thank you! Glad you liked it.

I know - magic would make some things so much easier, even if it was a teendy bit unethical!

[insipid-paragon.livejournal.com]

Severus was bent over his desk, writing "Excellent demonstration of a thorough grasp of the Shrinking Solution! Five house points!" in purple ink with sparkles in it, on a Third year's parchment.
Choking. Choking with laughter. It's a fun way to go.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I had so much fun writing this story - it was great thinking of Severus as cheerful. :)

[uinendolothen.livejournal.com]

That was so great!!

You really are quite creative and gifted, honey. :)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

*smooch* :) I'd forgotten I'd written all of these until you started commenting on them...

i think i almost died

[koalakat.livejournal.com]

I think I almost died reading this fic because I was laughing so hard.

I know I scared my cat, that's for sure.

You never cease to amaze me with your knack for writing.

This was extremely enjoyable, and wonderfully silly!!

:D

Re: i think i almost died

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

You have been busy reading through all of this, haven't you? Thanks for all the comments. :)

Glad you enjoyed the humor - I love it when I make other people laugh.