[one-shot] Quiet. HPSS. PG13

[faynia]

Title: Quiet
Author: faynia and stormypup
Pairing: Snape/Harry
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2077
Genre: Romance, Drama
Summary: It really shouldn't have surprised him when Harry arrived in front of the bars of his cell.
A/N: Sequel to Old Scars

Beta'd by lesyeuxverts00.

Snape stared out the window, wondering if this was the last chance he'd have to stare at open sky. The healers mended his leg, and he'd be taken in to the Ministry's custody tomorrow. He didn't know whether to be glad to be getting on with it, or irritated that he was going at all.

Potter hadn't been by to bother him today either, for that matter. As if summoned by his thoughts, Harry entered the room carrying the chess set.

"Oh, you're back again. Joy."

"Of course I'm back. What else do I have to do on a Thursday afternoon?"

"You're sadly lacking if this is the best you can do with your time."

"It's quiet here."

"So you keep saying, and yet you continue to ruin it by talking. Set up the chess set."

Harry did just that.

"Playing black today? Interesting."

"It's only fair, plus the white pieces keep giving me dirty looks as if its my fault you're an evil genius."

"Hmm."

The two played in silence. The only sound was the movement of chess pieces on the board.

"You're making the same mistakes, Potter."

"So?"

"Idiot." Snape took his rook.

"Does it bother you?"

"That you're an idiot or that you keep making the same mistakes over and over despite being told they are mistakes?"

"Both will do, but I meant the latter."

"Yes."

Harry grinned.

Severus rolled his eyes and took one of Harry's knights.

"You know what would be an interesting change?"

"If you won?"

"If you let me win."

"Don't be absurd."

"Just a thought."

"Check mate. I'm afraid you're hopeless."

Harry leaned back on his palms with a chuckle.

"I go to Azkaban tomorrow. You'll have to find your quiet somewhere else."

"You won't be in there long."

Snape snorted. "You're being an idiot again."

"You won't. I won't allow it."

"You can't stop it."

"You want to bet on that?"

"If I had any earthly possessions with which to bet, it would be a sure thing."

"You just wait, Snape. You'll be out of there by New Years or my name isn't Harry James Potter."

"That's nothing to brag about."

"But it's going to happen."

Snape sighed. "I won't live on false hope. Another game?"

Harry's cocksure grin didn't fade. "Sure, why not."

"Glutton."

"You asked."

"Perhaps I enjoy watching you lose."

"We all get our kicks somehow."

"Potter, you took my knight. You can be taught." There was a small smile lurking just beneath the surface.

"Did you ever doubt it?"

"Hourly."

"What, that I'm unteachable or that you might teach me something?"

"That I might teach you something." Snape took Harry's queen.

"Why do you doubt that?"

"Because every time I try to teach you something, you ignore it and do something foolish."

"I only ignore it if I think it sounds particularly stupid."

"Check. Are you calling my instruction stupid?"

"I think I might be."

"Good, then you shall be rid of ever hearing me pontificate again."

"Just because I think sometimes your teaching skills could be improved doesn't mean I never want to hear you talk again. I'm not a masochist, you know."

"Check mate. Idiot."

Harry chuckled. "I don't know why I play this game with you."

"Contrary to your previous statement, you are indeed a masochist."

"I never said I enjoy losing."

Snape shrugged. "I think I'm done playing."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"It doesn't matter. Even I tell you to leave, you don't."

Harry turned his head to the side. "You know you never mean it when you say it."

Severus didn't bother to reply.

"When are the Aurors arriving tomorrow?"

"First light, I expect. They've been anxious to get their hands on me."

"They would be."

They sat in a comfortable silence. The fact that it was comfortable surprised them both, though neither would admit it.

"Are you scared?"

"No Dementors. No reason to be."

"Just wondering. I would be."

"You have more to lose than I."

"I don't think it would matter much."

"I'm going to sleep now. See yourself out." Severus rolled over, his back to Harry.

"Snape?"

"What?"

Harry fingered the bedspread.

"Spit it out boy."

"I'm sorry."

"Goodbye, Mister Potter."

"Goodbye."

Snape stared at the wall for an hour before drifting off to sleep.

It really shouldn't have surprised him when Harry arrived in front of the bars of his cell.

"You've got to be kidding."

"You missed me and my radiant presence. Don't try to deny it."

"Don't tell me. It's quiet here?"

"I wouldn't know. I've only been here ten minutes."

"Why are you here?"

"Do you wish me to leave?"

"Would you if I asked?"

"Perhaps."

"Leave."

"All right."

Severus sighed. "Potter. What do you want?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I'm just here to visit and nothing else?"

"Frankly, yes."

"Well, I am."

"You'll have to excuse me if I have nothing to talk about."

"Did I say we had to talk?"

"Did you at least bring a chess set?"

Harry pulled it out of his jacket and unshrunk it. "Of course I did. Now, where'd that guard go?"

"They aren't going to allow you in to my cell, Potter."

"Actually, I already talked to them, and they agreed to let me in."

"Why am I surprised? Harry bloody Potter gets what he wants."

"I had to use my fame somehow."

"You need a life, Potter."

"I have one, and now I'm trying to get yours back."

"What makes you think I want mine back?"

"Because no one wants to sit in a cell for their whole life."

"Once again, you're making assumptions and acting on impulse."

"It's what got me through the war, isn't it?"

"What if I don't want to leave my cell?"

"Tough."

"So want I want is irrelevant?"

"No."

"Then perhaps you should ask what I want before you go on a crusade to save me."

"What do you want then?"

"Nothing that you would understand."

"Try me."

Severus studied Harry for a long moment. "Ask me again another time."

"I will. Now where the hell is that bloody guard?"

"There isn't much to guard. They tend to wander off."

"As you wish."

Harry grinned and nodded his head before wandering off in search of the aforementioned guard.

Snape watched him go, frowning in consternation.

Though he loathed to admit it, they fell into a routine. Harry would show up Tuesdays and Thursdays in the late afternoon and Snape began to expect his arrival.

"Do your friends know you come here?" Snape asked one Thursday afternoon.

"Hermione does, yes."

"And?"

"And what?"

"I can't believe she let the information go without comment."

"She doesn't care what I do so long as I'm happy doing it."

"She didn't warn you against it?"

"No, actually she's been helping me figure out a way to get you out of here faster."

"I thought she was the intelligent one of the group. Pity."

"You know, you still never told me what you wanted."

"Ask me again another time."

"Why won't you just tell me?"

"Because it's not the right time."

"Will it ever be the right time?"

"Yes."

"I talked to the new Minister yesterday."

"Another imbecile."

Harry grinned. "I'm sure Arthur appreciates that."

"I'm done talking now. Set up the chess set."

Two months later, Harry arrived outside his cell with a huge smile on his face and a piece of paper in his hand. "Read."

Scowling, Snape snatched the paper from his hand. "Is this real?"

"No, it’s fake, a figment of your deranged imagination. Of course its real, you great bat."

"Your doing, I take it?"

"And Hermione and Remus'. But yes. You had your chance to tell me what you wanted."

"And I'll get my home and meager funds returned to me? Not that they amount to much."

"Yes. You get everything back and an official pardon from the Minister himself. There are rumors circulating that your name came up to be considered for an Order of Merlin - if not First Class, then Second."

"They can shove their bloody accolades."

"That's what I told Arthur. He just smiled and nodded. Sorry."

"When do I leave?"

"Not for another week. The Ministry's crap at processing requests, even from the Minister himself."

Snape nodded and handed the paper back to Harry. "Thank you."

Harry flushed, but was beaming. "You're welcome."

Snape scowled.

Harry arrived with the other Ministry diplomats as they released Snape from Azkaban. He stayed in the back, almost out of sight. He smiled at the small tick at the corner of Snape's mouth and eye and knew that if the officials didn't shut their gobs soon Snape would tell them exactly what he felt about the Ministry as a collective whole.

Harry was not the least bit surprised when Snape Disapparated the moment they returned his wand. As the crowd gasped and whispered to one another, Harry merely laughed.

It took a full two weeks, one day, and five and a half hours before Harry got up the courage to go knock on Snape's door. He didn't know what had kept him from going sooner, but know that he was here he couldn't turn back.

Severus opened the door, wand in hand and pointed at Harry's head.

"My, are we jumpy today."

"With good reason. What do you want?"

"I wanted to see how you are doing."

Severus was looking over Harry's shoulder. "Get inside."

Harry entered Snape's decrepit home and peered around the musty darkness. He paused and waited for Snape to make the next move.

Snape slammed the door and faced Harry. "As you can see, I am fine."

"You live in a pit."

"I prefer the term hovel."

"Still."

"If you came merely to insult my living arrangements you may leave."

"No. Just wasn't expecting it to be so..."

"If you're angling for an invitation to be thrown out on your ear, you're on the right track."

"All right, all right, I'm sorry."

"The Ministry is having my house watched. By tomorrow, it could be all over the Prophet that you visited."

"Screw them."

"Was there anything else?"

"Yes."

"Well?"

"You still never answered me."

"You'll have to be more specific."

"What do you want?"

"I don't think that you would like my answer."

"How will you know if you don't ask?"

"It's not a question, merely a statement of fact."

"Fine, tell me."

"What I want, Mister Potter," Snape said, moving closer to Harry with each word, "is you. In my bed, beneath me, a sheen of sweat on your skin. I want to hear you moan, and watch your face when you come. That, Mister Potter, is what I want. Now get out."

Harry trembled and, after an indecisive moment, fled.

It took another two weeks for Harry to get up the nerve to return to Snape's house. He knocked on the door and was greeted the same way he was before, with a wand pointed at his forehead.

"You," Harry said, and kicked the door shut with his foot.

"What?"

"I said. I want you."

"Have you been drinking?"

"No. I hate the taste of alcohol. It's far too bitter."

"You've gone mad then?"

"I'm sure some might say that, but no."

"You don't know what you're saying. Go home while you still can."

"I'm fairly certain I know what the words I want you mean."

Snape took three steps forward and pinned Harry to the door with his body.

Harry smiled. "You aren't still trying to threaten me are you?"

"If you want it, you must take it."

"Ah, an invitation then?"

"You're quite glib for a man who has no idea what he is getting in to."

"You keep saying that. You aren't scared are you?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"You're the one who keeps trying to push me away."

"How is pushing you against a door pushing you away?"

"Well, not physically anyways." Harry reached up and swept a strand of black hair of Snape's face.

"What are you doing? "

"Touching."

"Why?"

"Because I want to."

"If you want it, Potter, you will have to take it."

"What, your hair? I have my own, thanks."

Snape growled.

Harry grinned. "I think I might kiss you."

"Then you had best be on with it cheeky brat."

Harry kissed his jaw, and pulled back with an impish grin.

Snape devoured Harry's mouth. "That will do."