Splinch-smut. Finally!
Jan. 8th, 2006 04:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asimplechordSo. After much procrastination and hesitation I have finally finished my splinch-swap thingy. It was meant to be longer, but now I've decided, if the response is positive (you know, not 'that was utter shite, what were you thinking' type reviews) that there will probably be a sequel, possibly a series building from the initial splinch-swap experience. Umm, what more do I need to tell you?
Title: The Splinching of Severus Snape
Archive: OWL, x-posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
snape_potter and snarry_slash
Pairing: HP/SS, HP/SS/HG
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, JKR and Warner Brothers/Scholastic/whatever huge media conglomerates do. But I surely did enjoy putting them into this situation.
Warning: This contains explicit sex between multiple adult partners of both sexes. If you have issues with that or with homosexuality, don't read this. In fact, are you sure you have come to the right LJ?
Random notes: This is post-war, and takes place at the end of a school year – late June. The Order is just keeping an eye on things. Compliant with books 1-5, book 6 is irrelevant. Although this is written in the third person, there are changes in points of view, and a line of stars usually marks them.
Thanks: Many thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
why_me_why_not and ordinary_magic for editorial comments. Chocolate Snapes, Harrys and Dracos to bar_bar_ella, lisamarie0921, janicechess, and terri911 for helpful discussion and encouragement. Any remaining mistakes are purely my own.
snarkyroxy, there's something in here just for you - you know which bit it is. :)
*****
“Severus, if you don’t leave soon, you’ll be late—”
A flick of his wand silenced the words spoken in the voice of his lover, who had set the alarm as a reminder. He knew that Severus would use his work as an excuse for his tardiness in an effort to avoid tedious Order business.
A glance at the clock showed that it was early. He could continue a moment more with his potion; the experimental Blood Calming mixture, which he was developing to treat their vampire allies, was at a delicate point. It was at this stage that each previous brewing attempt had failed, either because the anticoagulant ingredient he chose was too volatile or because the stabilizer had, well, stopped stabilizing the brew.
Snape’s attention was focused solely on the cauldron at his workbench, his mind occupied with stir-counting and noting observations about the potion. It was, unfortunately, at this intense and inopportune moment that the alarm sounded again.
“Severus! If you don’t leave RIGHT NOW—”
Surprised by the return, louder this time, of the brat’s voice, the Potions master’s hands jerked, interrupting the smooth stirring motion required by the delicate potion. With no more than a second’s warning of the pending disaster, the contents of the cauldron were burped onto the workbench, the wall and, much to his displeasure, the Potions master.
Cursing, Snape ripped off his work robes and spelled them to remove the worst of the noxious mess. A quick Scourgify straightened his lab bench, and he dumped the battered cauldron in the sink to be scrubbed by whatever miscreant Gryffindor next had detention. Any visitor to the dungeons might have heard him vent his temper on the ‘idiot of a foolish Gryffindor who set the cursed alarm’ as he stomped back to his chambers to trade his ruined robes for fresh ones.
Now that the potion was utterly irremediable, he supposed he had no excuse for being late to the Order meeting. If he hurried, he could still arrive before the meeting began, giving him more time with Potter, the alluring little brat.
They’d only recently embarked on an amorous relationship, one they were trying to keep from the merciless eye of the press, and were feeling their way cautiously through the minefield of past hurts and misunderstandings. Snape had decided, after one particularly pleasant interlude, that the results of this emotional circumnavigation were well worth the effort. Potter did not seem to expect his sarcastic, spare humor and impatience with stupidity to change, while he was gradually coming to accept, if not actually admire or appreciate, some of the Gryffindor traits that he had previously despised. In some ways, though, it was perhaps just as well that the boy stayed at Order headquarters when he wasn’t on call at Gunhilda of Gorsemoor’s Centre for Healing and that Severus’s presence was required at Hogwarts most evenings.
Tonight, however, would mark the end of the school term and of Potter’s first year of residency (in magical psychiatry, a relatively new field that combined both Muggle and magical theories of treatment), the last two weeks of which had kept him from home, from friends, and from Snape. They had plans to celebrate. Snape’s plan involved shagging the green-eyed Boy Wonder through the mattress, then allowing him to return the favor.
“Severus, you are LATE!” Potter’s voice, now beyond impatient and approaching irritated, interrupted his musings. The Potions master gathered himself, and after one last inspection of the lab, hurried out of the dungeons and through the Entrance Hall, hastening to the Apparation point at the edge of the school’s wards. Envisioning Order headquarters as his destination, Snape disappeared with a soft pop.
*****
With an ear-splitting crack, unusually loud for one so experienced at Apparating, Snape reappeared in the dark alley behind Order headquarters. For a brief moment, he felt off-balance and nauseated, and the steadying hand he reached out grabbed onto something unexpected: another person.
He opened his eyes to see the bushy head of Hermione Granger, and immediately lifted his hands from their spot at her waist. Granger took a step backwards, as did Snape.
“Excuse me sir, I…” she began, but her words trailed to halt.
When had she gotten so much taller? he wondered, looking at her more closely.
It was only then that he recognized the look of shock and horror on her face as she stared at him. There was no reason for such a reaction to brief physical contact with him, surely? Miffed, he turned to enter the building.
“Well, Miss Granger, are you going to stand out here all day, or will you be joining us?”
“Sir…”
“Yes?”
“Er…”
“What?!”
She pointed helplessly at her own lower body, then at his extremities. Only then did he glance down at his own legs and feet; only then did he realize that the black trousers and sturdy boots she wore were not simply a new fashion trend among witches. No, the current fashion for witches was long colorful skirts and sandals beneath their robes, which he could see on the legs attached to his own torso.
They must have arrived at the Apparation point at the same time. Severus Snape and Hermione Granger had been splinch-swapped.
*****
Harry was trying not to laugh – he knew Severus would exact revenge for it later if he did – but he was failing miserably. When he had finally arrived at Order headquarters, late in spite of the pre-set warnings, Harry had expected a discreet nod and perhaps verbal confirmation that he’d be staying after the meeting. Instead, Severus, followed by an oddly ungraceful Hermione, had stalked toward him with purpose.
“Potter. A word, if you please.” A peremptory wave at the sitting room door accompanied his terse words.
Harry had followed the pair to the study, expecting a tirade about the alarms he had set to remind Severus of the meeting. Instead, he had listened in astonishment to the man’s brief explanation, which had been followed by a request for an off-the-record visit from the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to reverse their splinched condition. Preferably one that could be performed without alerting the Department of Magical Transportation or requiring Ministry-related records.
As a staff member at Gunny’s, as he affectionately called it, Harry was able to directly contact the Healers in charge of reversing spell damage, but they were swamped. Apparently there had been an unfortunate mishap at a private party in a pub near Vertic Alley, resulting in the splinching of no less than fifteen wizards and the exposure to magic of an undisclosed number of Muggles. The Obliviators, the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad, and its associated Healers were expected to be busy with those cases for the next day or so. Since the ‘alleged’ splinch-swapping that Harry had described to the greetingwitch was not life-threatening, she had suggested Harry, for she simply would NOT believe that he wasn’t one of the Apparators who’d experienced a technical difficulty, simply wait in his swapped form until a Healer became available to treat non-emergent cases.
Harry bit back another snort of laughter. No matter how dismayed he was by the situation, the looks of sheer horror on Severus's and Hermione’s faces when he related the news were priceless.
“What do you mean? We’re expected to—”
“Oh, shut up! You heard him. We just need to wait until tomorrow or the next day, when they have personnel available to treat us.” Hermione had lost patience with Severus’s sniping about everything from her Apparating skills to her sense of style while they were waiting for Harry to confer with his colleagues. “I’m going back to the kitchen so the Order meeting can start. I’ll stay here tonight; we can go to St. Mungo’s first thing in the morning,” she added curtly. She turned on her heel and left the two men in the study.
“I know, even if you won’t admit it, that you’re pissed about this ruining our weekend together. But was that really necessary? Hermione’s been really stressed since Ron took the offer to move to Vienna to work at the new branch of Gringotts. I think they might even have broken off their engagement. You could have gone a little easier on her about this.” Harry sighed and rubbed a hand over the remnants of the scar on his forehead. “It’s not her fault you arrived at the same time, or that an idiot groom-to-be got his entire bachelor party splinched in front of a pub full of Muggles.”
His only reply was a snort, followed by the slamming of the study door. With a resigned sigh, Harry rose and headed down to join the others in the kitchen.
*****
Severus was sitting in the library when Harry finally rid himself of his last lingering guests. He had considered returning to Hogwarts for the night, but had rejected that option for two reasons. First, if he left, he would have to return to Headquarters in the morning anyway to meet with Granger for their splinch reversal. More importantly, he knew Harry well enough by now to know that leaving without notice would definitely offend him.
“There you are! I wondered where you’d got to. The twins were asking after you – something about some ingredient they thought you might have a line on. Mr. Weasley wasn’t too happy…”
Harry’s chatter was a flow of words Severus didn’t try to comprehend; he simply let it stream past while he considered the most graceful way to demand a separate bedroom for the night. Eventually he became aware that the brat had fallen silent, and the only sound in the room was the crackle of the fire that was necessary in the cool, dark house even in summer. He looked up to find verdant eyes fixed upon him, one eyebrow raised in an unconscious imitation of his own questioning smirk. Harry lifted his hand, shaking the tumbler in it gently.
“Well, would you like another drink, or shall we head to bed? It’s been a long day, a long week.”
“About that…. Given the… physical limitations imposed by this mishap, perhaps it would be best if—”
“No. If you’re asking to sleep in a guest room, the answer is no way. This is the first night we’ve had together in weeks. We can at least sleep together. Even without your normal… attributes, we can still spend time together. Besides, this might be your chance to see if you can make me come with your voice alone.” Harry grinned at him for a moment.
“As appealing as that may seem to you, Mr. Potter, there is not even the remotest possibility that I will be in the mood for such exploits.”
With that, he turned from his place near the fire and left, heading directly upstairs to prepare for bed. If he hurried, perhaps he could finish in the bathroom before Harry was done with his scotch and retired.
He was not looking forward to this.
*****
OK. Severus is uncomfortable with Hermione’s body – gods, how bizarre is it, to string those words together? Harry shook his head slightly. After eleven years in the wizarding world, its sometimes strange and often wondrous occurrences should no longer surprise him. And, he realized, after being acquainted with Severus for that long, he should know how seriously he regarded his personal dignity.
With that thought in mind, Harry dallied over the last sips of his scotch, hoping to give Severus enough time to finish his – her? - nightly ritual. He was fairly certain that the Potions master would wear the admired but never donned silk pyjamas Harry had purchased and left in the wardrobe for him. When he decided that he had given Severus enough time to retreat, Harry retired to his bedroom, where he found his lover feigning sleep, laying rigidly on one side of the bed, the nightclothes in question worn like armor; the shirt was buttoned to the collar, the drawstring of the pants knotted tight, and he’d worn Harry’s bathrobe to bed as well. With a sigh, Harry turned out the dimmed light, stripped, and crawled into bed. Rather than remaining on his own side of the bed, however, he rolled over and tossed an arm across Snape’s waist and a leg across his hip, pulling him closer. Severus stiffened, but offered no other resistance to the gesture.
“Severus, it doesn’t matter what form your body takes, I’m still attracted to you.”
A loud snore, nothing like the soft sleep-breaths that were the only sound Severus usually made, was the only response.
“Fine. We won’t talk about this tonight. But we will talk about it.”
With that, Harry tightened his grip around Severus’s waist and let himself fall asleep.
*****
“Mmm-mmmm.”
The low purr of desire and the feeling of warmth along his back roused Severus. Harry, he thought with pleasure, pressing back into the insistent body behind his. Mmm, I’ve been waiting days for this, he thought, moving his hips so that the erection he could feel against the small of his back was nestled between his cheeks. A sleep-clumsy hand rubbed over his hipbone and reached for – memory of the evening’s events came rushing back, and Severus jerked away abruptly. He carried the motion into a smooth roll off the bed and moved to occupy one of the chairs by the fireplace.
“Potter! What did you think you were doing?”
Harry eyed him in some irritation. “I’d think that was obvious!”
Sighing, trying to forestall the explosion he could see brewing, he continued, “Look, I’m sorry - it was unconscious at first. But you pressed back like you were enjoying it, and well, you know that I’m all right with the girly bits.” Here Harry smiled wryly. “I wouldn’t mind it. Exploring sex with you in that form, that is.”
“There is no need to remind me of the other pursuits you forego in being with me,” Snape sniped. “I am not comfortable with this form. Beyond the fact that this body is a gender in which I have little interest or knowledge, must I remind you that it is Miss Granger’s person with whom you’d be taking liberties?”
The grimace his words provoked suggested that that thought had not occurred to him. After a moment’s contemplation, though, Harry declared, “It might look like Hermione, but you would be the one experiencing it.”
Flattered, but not quite ready to concede, Severus considered his reply. Before he could verbalize it, a knock sounded at the bedroom door.
“Harry? Are you awake?” Granger’s voice, just barely above a whisper, asked.
“Yes, Hermione. Just a second.” Harry stood and reached for his robe, only to remember that Severus was still wrapped in it. He stalked to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of shorts. Once he had them on, he went to the door, disregarding Severus’s frantic gesticulations to the contrary.
Severus stood, intending to shelter – he refused to call it ‘hide’ – in the lavatory during Granger’s hopefully brief visit. He was not quite quick enough to reach it before the bedroom door opened.
“Harry, I was thinking—Professor Snape!” He could see that she was utterly shocked to find him in Harry’s room, and in a state of undress. The look of sheer disbelief that followed comprehension was insulting enough to prick his ego and change his mind about leaving them to talk in private.
“Yes, Miss Granger? You needed to speak to Harry?”
“Um, well, I did, but…” she trailed off, obviously too discomfited by his presence to continue.
“Severus—”
“Excuse me for a moment. I’ll be right back.” He turned to the bathroom, casting an eavesdropping spell before he gently closed the door and turned on the water spigot. When their conversation re-started, he could hear it clearly above the running water pouring into the sink.
“What’s wrong, Hermione? Besides the obvious?”
“Harry, I know we’ve talked about your sexual preferences before, and I don’t care if you shag women or men, but… are you seeing Snape?”
“If by ‘seeing’ you mean dating and shagging, then yes, I am.”
“I… see.”
“That’s not what you knocked on my door at midnight to discuss. Come on, spill.”
“No, it’s not important. Go back to bed, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Now Harry sounded vaguely hurt and annoyed. “Hermione Jane Granger. Something is bothering you. Don’t you trust me enough to tell me?”
A long moment of silence was followed by a heavy sigh.
“I do trust you. But what I came to talk to you about… I didn’t know about Snape. That changes it a bit, you know, and—”
“Stop babbling, Hermione. You only do that when you’re nervous.” There! The brat echoed his own thoughts about the know-it-all.
“Fine,” she huffed. “I came down here because I wanted to ask you about sex, OK? I was curious about this body. You don’t realize how tempted I was, but I thought it would be an invasion of privacy to explore it too closely. I figured we could at least talk about it, since you’re a guy and you’ve been with both men and women. But then I thought, well, we’ve always been good friends, and we’re neither of us seeing anyone right now, so maybe… but there’s Snape, and….” Hermione’s voice petered off into silence.
Another pause. Possibly the brat was as stunned by Granger’s aborted proposition as Severus himself was. Then amusement at her Gryffindor logic overcame him: Granger balked at exploring his bits herself, but would have invited Harry to do so? Disbelief and amusement, though, soon gave way to other emotions. Foremost among them was an unwelcome rush of concern. Harry was attracted to women as much as he was to men. Was being with Severus a strain on his two-decades-younger libido? Would Harry take her up on her offer? This was accompanied by a surge of possessiveness: Harry Potter was HIS! The whelp had better not even think of such a thing!
“Hermione, you know I love you, and I think you’re quite attractive. I never said anything because until recently you’ve always been for Ron. Under other circumstances I’d take you up on that offer, but I am with Severus now.”
The rush of relief Severus felt was so strong he closed his eyes and released a deep breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Of course. He’s a Gryffindor, he’d never be unfaithful, he thought. Upon the heels of that thought came another. But if he wanted to be with a woman again, this is the perfect time. You’d be the woman. And since it is her body, technically, it’s only fair that Granger be there to see it. He ignored the Slytherin voice that whispered that any act he and Harry performed in front of the know-it-all would cement their mutual possession to them and to her. Before he could change his mind, he opened the bathroom door.
“Thanks for that, Harry. Well. I’ll just go—”
“Miss Granger, are you leaving without getting what you came for? How positively un-Gryffindor; doesn’t fortune favor the bold?”
*****
Harry was quite certain that his mouth was gaping open like a fish; Hermione’s was doing much the same. He couldn’t conceal his shock, no matter how hard he tried. It had been a difficult conversation for him, knowing that Severus was on the other side of the door, most likely eavesdropping on Hermione’s extremely awkward confession. Having that suspicion confirmed by his verbal jab was the final straw.
“Look, Severus, it was a perfectly reasonable thing for her to consider. Like I said, if I didn’t have a partner right now, I’d probably have taken her up on her offer. And at least she admits she’s curious!”
“I never said I wasn’t curious, Harry, simply that I wasn’t comfortable. But since Miss Granger is here to supervise and object to any… ill-usage, I am more willing to investigate the possibilities.”
Harry wasn’t sure he had heard correctly. Severus was agreeing? To sex in that form? With Hermione present? For a second he wondered if Severus had dosed himself with a mind-altering potion while he was in the lavatory. “Umm, so you want to have sex? With me? Or with Hermione?”
“With you. But she may as well stay and enjoy us as well, if it will sate her curiosity.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Severus Snape?” Harry wondered aloud. In the back of his mind, though, a voice urged to him to take Severus at his word.
“I’ll just—”
“Stay right where you are, Miss Granger. Well, Harry?”
Cautiously, Harry moved closer to Severus and reached out a hand to brush along the lapel of his robe. “If you really want to….”
“I do.”
*****
Hermione was quite certain that she had fallen through Alice’s Looking Glass. Perhaps she was dreaming? The last few minutes’ happenings couldn’t possibly be real. First, she had found Snape, Snape of all people, in Harry’s bedroom. And then he’d, well, he’d invited her. To - to join them. Or at least to watch them. Oh, she was so confused. And aroused. She’d never admitted it to anyone, because she had spent so much of her school years and after attached to Ron, but she’d always thought Harry’s mussed hair, brilliant eyes, and wiry frame were quite appealing. And Snape’s voice… it was a weapon in the classroom, but she could imagine what he could with it when he wanted to arouse passion rather than flay. The man had a certain dark dignity to him that had its own appeal, as well.
As she watched, Snape – Severus, if you’re going to do this, you might as well call him by his first name, she thought – backed Harry toward the bed. Absorbed as he was in the larger frame of the professor pressing close, Hermione could see his eyes flick toward her.
“Are you comfortable there, Hermione, or do you want to come closer?”
“I’m—I’m fine here for now. We’ll see what happens as things move on.”
With a distracted nod, Harry returned his attention to Severus, who had leaned forward and pressed his lips against the tendon that joined shoulder to neck. He must have done something Harry liked, because Harry’s hands came up to clutch the man’s shoulders and the rest of his body went limp. With barely a nudge, Severus pushed Harry down to the bed and crawled on after him.
*****
Severus’s lips against Harry’s neck caused an almost Pavlovian response, wrenching his attention from any concerns about what they were about to do to the man himself. His surrender, his obedient movement onto the bed, were an invitation for Severus to continue. When the warm body followed his, pressing him into the mattress, Harry arched up to bring their chests into contact. First item on the agenda: removal of unnecessary layers of fabric. His fingers seemed unable to function, and he was distracted from his task when warm lips attached themselves to his earlobe, sucking softly. Even that small stimulation was enough to send blood rushing to his groin, and he arched his hips again, unconsciously trying to press them against Severus’s. The lack of reciprocal hardness there brought him up short, and he re-engaged himself in the removal of his bathrobe and the pyjama-top from his lover.
“Mmm, c’mere.” His request was accompanied by the slide of silk sleeves down Severus’s arms, and was immediately granted. Severus abandoned Harry’s ear for his lips, brushing them ever so gently with his lips and the tip of his tongue, over and over, until Harry grasped the back of his neck and brought their lips together with more force, biting Severus’s lower lip before licking it soothingly. He loved kissing Severus, could do it for hours. He enjoyed the knowledge that the lips that spewed such deadly insults felt so soft against his, and gave and received so much pleasure. With their mouths still engaged, he rolled, flipping them so that Severus was now stretched out on the bed, wearing only the trousers of the silk pyjamas. Harry sat up, straddling the prone form at the thighs, and leaned back to admire his handiwork: a flush rode the high cheekbones, the thin lips were slightly swollen, and the eyes were slightly dazed. He surveyed the rest of the man on display: slim chest with a sparse sprinkling of hair, flat, tan nipples. The waist above the waistband of the pants was narrower than usual and the hips flared wider than Harry remembered; the thin trail of dark hair that normally led from the navel to groin was absent. Well, I guess we know how much was swapped, Harry thought with a grin.
He heard a rustle, and when he glanced over his shoulder, Harry could see Hermione hesitantly approaching the bed.
“Do you mind?” She gestured to the other side of the bed.
“No, go ahead. He’s gorgeous, don’t you think? Don’t tell me you never thought of this when we were in school.” With a grin, Harry turned back to Severus, who arched an eyebrow imperiously, a silent command to get back to the task at hand. Harry felt the mattress shift slightly when Hermione perched on the edge of the bed, but he focused his attention on the banquet before him. With gentle hands, he brushed up the torso to Severus’s shoulders, then down his arms to his hands. Lifting the left one to his lips, he pressed a kiss to the palm, then shifted slightly to trail the tip of his tongue around the base of each potions-stained finger, drawing a moan from both Severus and Hermione when he sucked the thumb into his mouth. After a moment’s gentle suction, he released the thumb and continued the exploration down the hand and up Severus’s forearm. He paused briefly to press a kiss to the scar that was the only reminder of the Dark Mark, then moved to swipe his tongue across the crease at the elbow. He lightly massaged the flexing biceps as he trailed kisses up the arm to the outside of Severus’s shoulder. Once there, he transferred his attention to the collarbone, nipping and licking it alternately. One particularly sharp nip drew another moan and had long, slim fingers tangling in his hair, drawing him up for more kisses.
But Harry was not to be dissuaded. He allowed a brief detour, but was back to Severus’s neck directly, and he followed the strong tendons there down to his sternum. Nipples that were now tightly puckered were stroked and kissed lightly before Harry lowered his head and turned his attention to the drawstring of the pyjama trousers.
“May I?”
“Please.” Severus’s voice was a throaty whisper, and it prompted a gasping moan from the other side of the bed. When Harry raised himself off Severus and looked over at Hermione, he could see that her eyes were dilated and her lips were parted. A suspicious bulge had appeared in her nightgown, and she had moved closer to them on the bed. When had she removed her robe? he wondered vaguely. His hands trembled as they reached for the drawstring; he felt almost as nervous as he had the first time they had been together. He busied himself with the process of drawing down the trousers, exposing round hips and a thatch of curly brown hair, then slim thighs. He shifted so that the trousers could be removed entirely, and then removed his own boxers, adjusting himself slightly before settling back down near Severus’s legs.
“Tell me how it feels, Severus. And Hermione, tell me if I do something you don’t normally like?”
Heated dark eyes surveyed Harry for a moment, then closed slowly. “I feel… empty. There’s such a heaviness. It’s as if the blood that is rushing through my veins is pooling, making the flesh tighter and looser at the same time…. Wet, so wet and hot…” The smooth voice was almost too low to be heard, but it conveyed his desire to the pair in the bed with him.
Harry took that as permission to continue his ministrations. He stroked from the sides of Severus’s waist down to his knees. On the return journey, he moved his hands to the inside of his thighs, and slowly pressed them open, widening them so that he could kneel in the open vee they created.
He turned to Hermione. “Beautiful,” he breathed, before brushing his fingertips through the curls there. She blushed in response and turned her head to watch Severus’s response. His eyes remained closed, but the pink on his cheeks had darkened, and the hips arched slightly, involuntarily.
Gently, Harry trailed two fingers down the plump reddish lips, brushing the moisture he felt there, rubbing it back and forth. When this earned him a moan, he leaned closer and blew a soft breath of warm air on them. A sharp cry and jerk of Severus’s hips was the immediate response. Hermione’s nod of affirmation gave Harry confidence, and he leaned closer, spreading the labia and opening them to his inspection. When another warm breath drew a deeper moan, Harry gave in to temptation; he leaned forward and circled his tongue around the knot of nerves at the top of the labia as he thrust the two fingers inward. With a muffled shriek, Severus clenched around his fingers, coming unexpectedly and fiercely at the stimulation.
Harry raised his head and waited for Severus to recover. When Severus opened his pleasure-dazed eyes, he deliberately lifted his fingers to his lips and licked them. The heavy eyelids fell closed, and a moan issued from the barely parted lips.
“I just came. I can still feel it. How can I be aroused again so quickly? By so little?” His voice was slightly hoarse, husky.
“Sometimes that’s all it takes, Professor,” Hermione put in, “and I am capable of having more than one orgasm during sex.”
“Are you ready for more?” Harry asked. When he received a nod in response, he moved upward, pressing his engorged (neglected up ‘til now) cock into the welcoming heat. When he was completely embedded, he shifted his weight, maneuvering so that he knelt with Severus’s hips on his lap.
“Lock your legs around me. Yeah, like that.” In that position, he could thrust easily without losing his balance, and Severus could move slightly to control the depth of penetration.
“S-sev. Feels so good.”
“How? How is it different? Better?” Severus had to bite his lip to force the words out, distracted as he was by the feeling of utter fullness.
“Not better, just different. Wet in a different way. Tight, but not the same as being inside you normally is.” With a moan, Harry gave up on conversation and focused on moving his hips in a steady rhythm, shifting so that he could brush fingertips against the flesh stretched around him.
*****
The erection tenting the front of her nightdress was fast becoming a distraction, and Hermione shifted on the bed uncomfortably. How do men function with these things? I’d be constantly distracted with dangly, swelling bits if I always had them, she thought, before returning her attention to the sight before her, possibly the hottest thing she had ever seen. Harry seemed to take such joy in giving Severus pleasure, even with female genitalia. Grimly, she remembered Ron’s reluctance to perform such a basic act for her. Just as well he’s gone now, she thought, then shoved further thought away to focus on the present.
Harry was flexing his hips, driving himself in and out, and she could see that Severus was pushing his hips back, forcing Harry deeper. She had ogled the stiff cock while Harry was devoting his time to his lover; it was thicker than she had expected, and a bit longer too, but not monstrously large. Proportionate to his body, she supposed, given his height. Curious, she looked down at her own lap. Without pausing to reconsider, she grabbed the hem of her nightdress and lifted it, tossing it on the floor as soon as it had cleared her head.
Severus Snape had been circumcised, she saw. His cock was long and slim, and it stood proudly, its engorged red head bumping her abdomen. Hesitantly, she reached down and wrapped her hand around it, stroking lightly. The sensation of cool fingers wrapping around it, squeezing and pulling gently, sent a bolt of pure pleasure up her spine, and her back bowed, her head falling back and lips opening on a moan. Hermione tightened her fingers and repeated the caresses, enjoying the pure physicality of the moment. Her other hand fell to the heavy balls she had been so curious about, and a gentle stroke of them had her breath pooling in her lungs and her eyes clenching shut as she tried to control herself.
When her eyes opened, the first thing she noticed was that Severus and Harry had stopped moving. When her eyes met Severus’s, he extended a hand in invitation.
“Would you like to join us? Try something I normally enjoy?”
Nodding dumbly, Hermione scrambled over the bed.
“In front of Harry. Straddle me.”
Surprised, she obeyed, kneeling so close to Harry she could feel his body heat against her back.
“Closer. Come here.”
Hermione inched her way forward. Surely he couldn’t mean…? Yes, apparently he did. When she moved higher on the bed, Severus had her lean forward to grasp the headboard, putting his face so close that she could feel his breath on her – his – prick. Before the sensation registered in her mind, his mouth opened and he guided the erect cock to his mouth.
*****
It was an utterly unique experience, Severus decided, to suck on one’s own cock. He knew what he normally enjoyed, knew what would drive himself to the edge, what would make him come without thought of his partner. But the feel of his own cock, slimmer, longer, different from Harry’s, was a turn-on in and of itself. He could only hope that Granger – Hermione – had a bit more self-control than he’d had the first time he was on the receiving end.
Wrapping his hand around the base, he flicked his tongue out, letting it flicker across the head and gather the fluid collecting there. If the groan he heard was any indication, the female brain registering the sensations liked them as much as he normally did; he continued, eventually surrounding the head and sucking lightly, matching the rhythm Harry had established with his thrusts. He moved his free hand to pet the heavy testicles, cupping them and molding them, enjoying the way the cock in his mouth jumped in response. He considered sliding a finger backwards to the perineum, but decided that that might be too bold for Hermione’s tastes. Instead, he opened his mouth wider and took in more of the erection – his own erection, he thought wildly – pressing his flattened tongue against the vein on the underside as he fed it into his mouth.
“God, I won’t last long…” Hermione’s voice was barely a whisper.
One of Harry’s hands appeared in his peripheral vision, sliding around her waist, and Hermione shifted, leaning so that her shoulders rested on Harry’s chest. Her back arched, lifting her breasts, with their rosy, tight nipples; Harry’s hand lifted to cup the breast, and his fingers pinched the nipple. The keening sound in the back of her throat preceded a jerk of Hermione’s hips forward, a jerk that pushed the penis in his mouth deeper, to the back of his throat. Severus moved his hand, meaning to engulf a bit more, sure that he had control of his gag reflex.
Harry, though, leaned down and bit Hermione’s shoulder just as he slammed forward. Severus could feel that thick cock brush a spot deep inside; it hurt and it felt good at the same time, and Severus moaned. The teeth at her shoulder and the vibration of the moan pushed Hermione into orgasm. She bucked, forcing the pulsing erection further into Severus’s mouth as her head fell back and she screamed her pleasure. Severus, stimulated past endurance, convulsed, swallowing around the cock in his mouth, tightening his legs around the hips spreading his legs, squeezing the prick in his vagina. Finally Harry lost control, and with one last thrust, let himself go, coming for what felt like forever before he released Hermione. Without his support, she fell limply to Severus’s left side, curled around his shoulder and above his head. Harry leaned forward and collapsed onto Severus in an exhausted, sweaty heap. He opened his mouth to speak, but Severus touched one finger gently to the lips.
“In the morning, Mr. Potter. For now, sleep.”
*****
Pressure from an unusually full bladder woke Severus. For a moment he remained where he lay, disoriented by the feeling of arms flung across his torso from both sides. Memory returned slowly. Opening his eyes, he stared blankly at the riot of brown curls that rested on one shoulder and spread across and down his chest; turning his head carefully, he took in the messy head of his brat, who had burrowed his nose into Severus’s neck in what was fast becoming a familiar gesture.
Extricating himself gently from the embrace of the pair in the bed, trying not to disturb them, Severus stood. Harry rolled to occupy the warm space Severus had just vacated, and Hermione rolled onto her back, flinging one arm above her head. Shaking his head in mild disbelief, he turned and headed to the bathroom to relieve himself. A quick clean-up was required, he realized, and took care of that with a warm flannel as well.
Neither of the bed’s occupants had stirred. Lying back down, Severus pondered the events of the night. Having a female body, knowing what it could do, how it could respond to stimulation, had been an amazing and educational experience. When he thought about the care, the tenderness and the strength Harry had shown, he closed his eyes; just remembering the way it had felt had his heart beating faster, sent blood rushing south and made moisture begin to gather between his legs. Pressing them together didn’t help, he found. Furtively, he turned his head. No, they were still asleep, though Granger had rolled onto her side to face him.
Tentatively, he slid a hand down his belly, pausing for a moment at the top of the mons. His other hand lifted to pet and then pinch his nipples, enjoying the little lightning bolts of pleasure it sent zinging down his belly, adding to the tingling between his legs. Taking a deep breath, he opened his legs a little and trailed the hand down the crease of one thigh to his groin. A soft brush of fingertips across the moist folds there was just a tease, not even close to the amount of pressure that he remembered. He stroked his fingers up to the top, then back down, and then repeated the motion, increasing the pressure with each stroke. A shift of his fingers had them delving just inside, and he moaned in pleasure.
“Circling the clitoris gently makes that feel even better.”
*****
Hermione’s sleep-roughened voice had Severus jerking his hands away from his body as if he had been caught doing something wrong.
“I was merely curious.”
“Keep going. Or do you want me to show you what makes me come?”
After a brief hesitation, he nodded. That was all the invitation that Hermione needed. She’d woken up when a weight on the bed had jostled her, but hadn’t wanted to spoil the feeling of contentment she was experiencing. She had been startled when Severus had begun exploring, but turned on, and the noise of surprised pleasure he had made had prompted her to speak. Last night she had learned how it felt to receive a blowjob; though the thought of oral sex with another woman had never occurred to her before, it held an odd appeal now, especially since she knew how much she enjoyed it when Ron had half-heartedly responded to her plea for reciprocity. Harry had seemed to enjoy doing it.
With that thought in mind, Hermione shifted, crawling to settle on her belly between Severus’s spread legs. She propped herself up on one elbow and stretched a hand forward, grasping his and bringing it back to the moist crevice that he had abandoned.
“Here, like this.” Hermione brushed the swollen lips lightly for a moment with both their fingers, then used her own to open them. That little bit of encouragement was all Severus needed to thrust a finger inside, arching in pleasure at the sensation, magnifying it when the involuntary movement pressed them deeper. He repeated the motion. Hermione allowed it for a few strokes, but then pulled his hand away, pressing both of his hands to the mattress by his hips. She lifted her head and looked him the eye before ordering him to leave them there.
She returned her own fingers to the sensitive folds, now glistening with moisture, and petted them, pressing the legs a bit wider so that she could see and feel the effects this was having on Severus. Running her fingers up to the top of the vulva, Hermione gently touched the clitoris, circling it delicately before sliding back down to the swollen inner lips. She widened them, then deliberately thrust two fingers in. A low moan and jerk of his hips was Severus’s response. Encouraged, she slid in another finger, then withdrew them almost completely before thrusting them back. Leaning closer, she licked a swathe up and down the vulva. Another moan of arousal from above, combined with the taste of herself on her lips, had her arching her hips involuntarily, pressing her swollen cock to the sheet. She firmed her tongue and touched the point to the clitoris, then circled it tenderly, moving her fingers in and out as she did so. She didn’t know how long this went on. Finally, she felt a hand in her hair, tugging her up.
“That feels… you know how good that feels. But I enjoyed it when I climaxed with Harry inside me, touching me. Can—Will you…?” The request was voiced in a hoarse whisper, roughening the dark-chocolate voice to an erotic rasp that had Hermione pressing her hips to the bed again. With a nod, she moved to lie atop Severus. Timidly, nervous that he might change his mind, or that she might embarrass herself with her inexperience or lack of control, she aligned herself. When he nodded again encouragingly, she tentatively pressed inward.
*****
Severus’s eyes fell closed as the cock moving inside him penetrated deeper. He couldn’t verbalize how different, how good this felt. He wouldn’t want to give up anal intercourse, would be quite happy for the return of his penis to its proper place, but this.… He could understand now how Harry could be attracted to women, and could only imagine how it felt to Hermione right now.
She had established an uneven, slightly clumsy rhythm to her thrusts, just barely putting pressure on that so-sensitive spot at the end of the inward motion. Severus whimpered each time it happened, arching himself upward to catch that too-brief stimulus. The rhythm became more frantic, more erratic, and then Hermione lifted her torso, bracing herself on one elbow. She moved one hand between them, pressing her thumb just beneath his clitoris while still moving clumsily. The jolt of the hard cock moving inside him pressed her thumb up, and the direct contact was enough to stimulate Severus to climax; he felt himself clamp tighter around the intruder, felt it swell and pulse, felt the wet heat of Hermione’s climax as it spurted into him.
When Severus opened his eyes, it was to see Harry propped up against the pillows, erect prick in hand. He recognized the look on Harry’s face and the pulse beating at the base of his throat; Harry was close. His fist moved harder, faster, until his hips lifted involuntarily and Harry’s head banged back against headboard as he came, shooting onto his hand and across his belly and chest in a few strong pulses. When it was done, Severus reached over and lifted Harry’s hand. Locking their eyes together, he licked the semen away delicately, then kissed the palm, trying to express all the pleasure, understanding, and gratitude he felt in that one action.
*****
“Thanks for your help, Healer Smythwyck. We appreciate your discretion.” Hermione’s gratitude was genuine. She was quite happy to have her lower body back where it belonged.
“Indeed. My thanks.” Snape’s words were brusque, but no less sincere. They stood and left the Healer’s office; Harry rose when they reappeared in the waiting room.
“Ready? Did everything work out fine?”
Severus paused. Fine? He might have been unhappy with the initial splinch-swapping experience, but the outcome was much more than fine. He and Harry had tried something new, had established a new level of trust by allowing a friend – he could admit that Hermione Granger was his friend, too - into their relationship with no negative effects. For all that three of them had been in their bed together, Harry and Severus were the functional unit; it had taken a third person to make him realize that. And, he thought as he pondered the morning’s activities, he had a new appreciation for Harry’s admiration of the other sex.
Perhaps Hermione wouldn’t object to an experiment with Polyjuice Potion?
Fin.
Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.
Title: The Splinching of Severus Snape
Archive: OWL, x-posted to
snape_potter and snarry_slashPairing: HP/SS, HP/SS/HG
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, JKR and Warner Brothers/Scholastic/whatever huge media conglomerates do. But I surely did enjoy putting them into this situation.
Warning: This contains explicit sex between multiple adult partners of both sexes. If you have issues with that or with homosexuality, don't read this. In fact, are you sure you have come to the right LJ?
Random notes: This is post-war, and takes place at the end of a school year – late June. The Order is just keeping an eye on things. Compliant with books 1-5, book 6 is irrelevant. Although this is written in the third person, there are changes in points of view, and a line of stars usually marks them.
Thanks: Many thanks to
why_me_why_not and ordinary_magic for editorial comments. Chocolate Snapes, Harrys and Dracos to bar_bar_ella, lisamarie0921, janicechess, and terri911 for helpful discussion and encouragement. Any remaining mistakes are purely my own.snarkyroxy, there's something in here just for you - you know which bit it is. :)*****
“Severus, if you don’t leave soon, you’ll be late—”
A flick of his wand silenced the words spoken in the voice of his lover, who had set the alarm as a reminder. He knew that Severus would use his work as an excuse for his tardiness in an effort to avoid tedious Order business.
A glance at the clock showed that it was early. He could continue a moment more with his potion; the experimental Blood Calming mixture, which he was developing to treat their vampire allies, was at a delicate point. It was at this stage that each previous brewing attempt had failed, either because the anticoagulant ingredient he chose was too volatile or because the stabilizer had, well, stopped stabilizing the brew.
Snape’s attention was focused solely on the cauldron at his workbench, his mind occupied with stir-counting and noting observations about the potion. It was, unfortunately, at this intense and inopportune moment that the alarm sounded again.
“Severus! If you don’t leave RIGHT NOW—”
Surprised by the return, louder this time, of the brat’s voice, the Potions master’s hands jerked, interrupting the smooth stirring motion required by the delicate potion. With no more than a second’s warning of the pending disaster, the contents of the cauldron were burped onto the workbench, the wall and, much to his displeasure, the Potions master.
Cursing, Snape ripped off his work robes and spelled them to remove the worst of the noxious mess. A quick Scourgify straightened his lab bench, and he dumped the battered cauldron in the sink to be scrubbed by whatever miscreant Gryffindor next had detention. Any visitor to the dungeons might have heard him vent his temper on the ‘idiot of a foolish Gryffindor who set the cursed alarm’ as he stomped back to his chambers to trade his ruined robes for fresh ones.
Now that the potion was utterly irremediable, he supposed he had no excuse for being late to the Order meeting. If he hurried, he could still arrive before the meeting began, giving him more time with Potter, the alluring little brat.
They’d only recently embarked on an amorous relationship, one they were trying to keep from the merciless eye of the press, and were feeling their way cautiously through the minefield of past hurts and misunderstandings. Snape had decided, after one particularly pleasant interlude, that the results of this emotional circumnavigation were well worth the effort. Potter did not seem to expect his sarcastic, spare humor and impatience with stupidity to change, while he was gradually coming to accept, if not actually admire or appreciate, some of the Gryffindor traits that he had previously despised. In some ways, though, it was perhaps just as well that the boy stayed at Order headquarters when he wasn’t on call at Gunhilda of Gorsemoor’s Centre for Healing and that Severus’s presence was required at Hogwarts most evenings.
Tonight, however, would mark the end of the school term and of Potter’s first year of residency (in magical psychiatry, a relatively new field that combined both Muggle and magical theories of treatment), the last two weeks of which had kept him from home, from friends, and from Snape. They had plans to celebrate. Snape’s plan involved shagging the green-eyed Boy Wonder through the mattress, then allowing him to return the favor.
“Severus, you are LATE!” Potter’s voice, now beyond impatient and approaching irritated, interrupted his musings. The Potions master gathered himself, and after one last inspection of the lab, hurried out of the dungeons and through the Entrance Hall, hastening to the Apparation point at the edge of the school’s wards. Envisioning Order headquarters as his destination, Snape disappeared with a soft pop.
*****
With an ear-splitting crack, unusually loud for one so experienced at Apparating, Snape reappeared in the dark alley behind Order headquarters. For a brief moment, he felt off-balance and nauseated, and the steadying hand he reached out grabbed onto something unexpected: another person.
He opened his eyes to see the bushy head of Hermione Granger, and immediately lifted his hands from their spot at her waist. Granger took a step backwards, as did Snape.
“Excuse me sir, I…” she began, but her words trailed to halt.
When had she gotten so much taller? he wondered, looking at her more closely.
It was only then that he recognized the look of shock and horror on her face as she stared at him. There was no reason for such a reaction to brief physical contact with him, surely? Miffed, he turned to enter the building.
“Well, Miss Granger, are you going to stand out here all day, or will you be joining us?”
“Sir…”
“Yes?”
“Er…”
“What?!”
She pointed helplessly at her own lower body, then at his extremities. Only then did he glance down at his own legs and feet; only then did he realize that the black trousers and sturdy boots she wore were not simply a new fashion trend among witches. No, the current fashion for witches was long colorful skirts and sandals beneath their robes, which he could see on the legs attached to his own torso.
They must have arrived at the Apparation point at the same time. Severus Snape and Hermione Granger had been splinch-swapped.
*****
Harry was trying not to laugh – he knew Severus would exact revenge for it later if he did – but he was failing miserably. When he had finally arrived at Order headquarters, late in spite of the pre-set warnings, Harry had expected a discreet nod and perhaps verbal confirmation that he’d be staying after the meeting. Instead, Severus, followed by an oddly ungraceful Hermione, had stalked toward him with purpose.
“Potter. A word, if you please.” A peremptory wave at the sitting room door accompanied his terse words.
Harry had followed the pair to the study, expecting a tirade about the alarms he had set to remind Severus of the meeting. Instead, he had listened in astonishment to the man’s brief explanation, which had been followed by a request for an off-the-record visit from the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to reverse their splinched condition. Preferably one that could be performed without alerting the Department of Magical Transportation or requiring Ministry-related records.
As a staff member at Gunny’s, as he affectionately called it, Harry was able to directly contact the Healers in charge of reversing spell damage, but they were swamped. Apparently there had been an unfortunate mishap at a private party in a pub near Vertic Alley, resulting in the splinching of no less than fifteen wizards and the exposure to magic of an undisclosed number of Muggles. The Obliviators, the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad, and its associated Healers were expected to be busy with those cases for the next day or so. Since the ‘alleged’ splinch-swapping that Harry had described to the greetingwitch was not life-threatening, she had suggested Harry, for she simply would NOT believe that he wasn’t one of the Apparators who’d experienced a technical difficulty, simply wait in his swapped form until a Healer became available to treat non-emergent cases.
Harry bit back another snort of laughter. No matter how dismayed he was by the situation, the looks of sheer horror on Severus's and Hermione’s faces when he related the news were priceless.
“What do you mean? We’re expected to—”
“Oh, shut up! You heard him. We just need to wait until tomorrow or the next day, when they have personnel available to treat us.” Hermione had lost patience with Severus’s sniping about everything from her Apparating skills to her sense of style while they were waiting for Harry to confer with his colleagues. “I’m going back to the kitchen so the Order meeting can start. I’ll stay here tonight; we can go to St. Mungo’s first thing in the morning,” she added curtly. She turned on her heel and left the two men in the study.
“I know, even if you won’t admit it, that you’re pissed about this ruining our weekend together. But was that really necessary? Hermione’s been really stressed since Ron took the offer to move to Vienna to work at the new branch of Gringotts. I think they might even have broken off their engagement. You could have gone a little easier on her about this.” Harry sighed and rubbed a hand over the remnants of the scar on his forehead. “It’s not her fault you arrived at the same time, or that an idiot groom-to-be got his entire bachelor party splinched in front of a pub full of Muggles.”
His only reply was a snort, followed by the slamming of the study door. With a resigned sigh, Harry rose and headed down to join the others in the kitchen.
*****
Severus was sitting in the library when Harry finally rid himself of his last lingering guests. He had considered returning to Hogwarts for the night, but had rejected that option for two reasons. First, if he left, he would have to return to Headquarters in the morning anyway to meet with Granger for their splinch reversal. More importantly, he knew Harry well enough by now to know that leaving without notice would definitely offend him.
“There you are! I wondered where you’d got to. The twins were asking after you – something about some ingredient they thought you might have a line on. Mr. Weasley wasn’t too happy…”
Harry’s chatter was a flow of words Severus didn’t try to comprehend; he simply let it stream past while he considered the most graceful way to demand a separate bedroom for the night. Eventually he became aware that the brat had fallen silent, and the only sound in the room was the crackle of the fire that was necessary in the cool, dark house even in summer. He looked up to find verdant eyes fixed upon him, one eyebrow raised in an unconscious imitation of his own questioning smirk. Harry lifted his hand, shaking the tumbler in it gently.
“Well, would you like another drink, or shall we head to bed? It’s been a long day, a long week.”
“About that…. Given the… physical limitations imposed by this mishap, perhaps it would be best if—”
“No. If you’re asking to sleep in a guest room, the answer is no way. This is the first night we’ve had together in weeks. We can at least sleep together. Even without your normal… attributes, we can still spend time together. Besides, this might be your chance to see if you can make me come with your voice alone.” Harry grinned at him for a moment.
“As appealing as that may seem to you, Mr. Potter, there is not even the remotest possibility that I will be in the mood for such exploits.”
With that, he turned from his place near the fire and left, heading directly upstairs to prepare for bed. If he hurried, perhaps he could finish in the bathroom before Harry was done with his scotch and retired.
He was not looking forward to this.
*****
OK. Severus is uncomfortable with Hermione’s body – gods, how bizarre is it, to string those words together? Harry shook his head slightly. After eleven years in the wizarding world, its sometimes strange and often wondrous occurrences should no longer surprise him. And, he realized, after being acquainted with Severus for that long, he should know how seriously he regarded his personal dignity.
With that thought in mind, Harry dallied over the last sips of his scotch, hoping to give Severus enough time to finish his – her? - nightly ritual. He was fairly certain that the Potions master would wear the admired but never donned silk pyjamas Harry had purchased and left in the wardrobe for him. When he decided that he had given Severus enough time to retreat, Harry retired to his bedroom, where he found his lover feigning sleep, laying rigidly on one side of the bed, the nightclothes in question worn like armor; the shirt was buttoned to the collar, the drawstring of the pants knotted tight, and he’d worn Harry’s bathrobe to bed as well. With a sigh, Harry turned out the dimmed light, stripped, and crawled into bed. Rather than remaining on his own side of the bed, however, he rolled over and tossed an arm across Snape’s waist and a leg across his hip, pulling him closer. Severus stiffened, but offered no other resistance to the gesture.
“Severus, it doesn’t matter what form your body takes, I’m still attracted to you.”
A loud snore, nothing like the soft sleep-breaths that were the only sound Severus usually made, was the only response.
“Fine. We won’t talk about this tonight. But we will talk about it.”
With that, Harry tightened his grip around Severus’s waist and let himself fall asleep.
*****
“Mmm-mmmm.”
The low purr of desire and the feeling of warmth along his back roused Severus. Harry, he thought with pleasure, pressing back into the insistent body behind his. Mmm, I’ve been waiting days for this, he thought, moving his hips so that the erection he could feel against the small of his back was nestled between his cheeks. A sleep-clumsy hand rubbed over his hipbone and reached for – memory of the evening’s events came rushing back, and Severus jerked away abruptly. He carried the motion into a smooth roll off the bed and moved to occupy one of the chairs by the fireplace.
“Potter! What did you think you were doing?”
Harry eyed him in some irritation. “I’d think that was obvious!”
Sighing, trying to forestall the explosion he could see brewing, he continued, “Look, I’m sorry - it was unconscious at first. But you pressed back like you were enjoying it, and well, you know that I’m all right with the girly bits.” Here Harry smiled wryly. “I wouldn’t mind it. Exploring sex with you in that form, that is.”
“There is no need to remind me of the other pursuits you forego in being with me,” Snape sniped. “I am not comfortable with this form. Beyond the fact that this body is a gender in which I have little interest or knowledge, must I remind you that it is Miss Granger’s person with whom you’d be taking liberties?”
The grimace his words provoked suggested that that thought had not occurred to him. After a moment’s contemplation, though, Harry declared, “It might look like Hermione, but you would be the one experiencing it.”
Flattered, but not quite ready to concede, Severus considered his reply. Before he could verbalize it, a knock sounded at the bedroom door.
“Harry? Are you awake?” Granger’s voice, just barely above a whisper, asked.
“Yes, Hermione. Just a second.” Harry stood and reached for his robe, only to remember that Severus was still wrapped in it. He stalked to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of shorts. Once he had them on, he went to the door, disregarding Severus’s frantic gesticulations to the contrary.
Severus stood, intending to shelter – he refused to call it ‘hide’ – in the lavatory during Granger’s hopefully brief visit. He was not quite quick enough to reach it before the bedroom door opened.
“Harry, I was thinking—Professor Snape!” He could see that she was utterly shocked to find him in Harry’s room, and in a state of undress. The look of sheer disbelief that followed comprehension was insulting enough to prick his ego and change his mind about leaving them to talk in private.
“Yes, Miss Granger? You needed to speak to Harry?”
“Um, well, I did, but…” she trailed off, obviously too discomfited by his presence to continue.
“Severus—”
“Excuse me for a moment. I’ll be right back.” He turned to the bathroom, casting an eavesdropping spell before he gently closed the door and turned on the water spigot. When their conversation re-started, he could hear it clearly above the running water pouring into the sink.
“What’s wrong, Hermione? Besides the obvious?”
“Harry, I know we’ve talked about your sexual preferences before, and I don’t care if you shag women or men, but… are you seeing Snape?”
“If by ‘seeing’ you mean dating and shagging, then yes, I am.”
“I… see.”
“That’s not what you knocked on my door at midnight to discuss. Come on, spill.”
“No, it’s not important. Go back to bed, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Now Harry sounded vaguely hurt and annoyed. “Hermione Jane Granger. Something is bothering you. Don’t you trust me enough to tell me?”
A long moment of silence was followed by a heavy sigh.
“I do trust you. But what I came to talk to you about… I didn’t know about Snape. That changes it a bit, you know, and—”
“Stop babbling, Hermione. You only do that when you’re nervous.” There! The brat echoed his own thoughts about the know-it-all.
“Fine,” she huffed. “I came down here because I wanted to ask you about sex, OK? I was curious about this body. You don’t realize how tempted I was, but I thought it would be an invasion of privacy to explore it too closely. I figured we could at least talk about it, since you’re a guy and you’ve been with both men and women. But then I thought, well, we’ve always been good friends, and we’re neither of us seeing anyone right now, so maybe… but there’s Snape, and….” Hermione’s voice petered off into silence.
Another pause. Possibly the brat was as stunned by Granger’s aborted proposition as Severus himself was. Then amusement at her Gryffindor logic overcame him: Granger balked at exploring his bits herself, but would have invited Harry to do so? Disbelief and amusement, though, soon gave way to other emotions. Foremost among them was an unwelcome rush of concern. Harry was attracted to women as much as he was to men. Was being with Severus a strain on his two-decades-younger libido? Would Harry take her up on her offer? This was accompanied by a surge of possessiveness: Harry Potter was HIS! The whelp had better not even think of such a thing!
“Hermione, you know I love you, and I think you’re quite attractive. I never said anything because until recently you’ve always been for Ron. Under other circumstances I’d take you up on that offer, but I am with Severus now.”
The rush of relief Severus felt was so strong he closed his eyes and released a deep breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Of course. He’s a Gryffindor, he’d never be unfaithful, he thought. Upon the heels of that thought came another. But if he wanted to be with a woman again, this is the perfect time. You’d be the woman. And since it is her body, technically, it’s only fair that Granger be there to see it. He ignored the Slytherin voice that whispered that any act he and Harry performed in front of the know-it-all would cement their mutual possession to them and to her. Before he could change his mind, he opened the bathroom door.
“Thanks for that, Harry. Well. I’ll just go—”
“Miss Granger, are you leaving without getting what you came for? How positively un-Gryffindor; doesn’t fortune favor the bold?”
*****
Harry was quite certain that his mouth was gaping open like a fish; Hermione’s was doing much the same. He couldn’t conceal his shock, no matter how hard he tried. It had been a difficult conversation for him, knowing that Severus was on the other side of the door, most likely eavesdropping on Hermione’s extremely awkward confession. Having that suspicion confirmed by his verbal jab was the final straw.
“Look, Severus, it was a perfectly reasonable thing for her to consider. Like I said, if I didn’t have a partner right now, I’d probably have taken her up on her offer. And at least she admits she’s curious!”
“I never said I wasn’t curious, Harry, simply that I wasn’t comfortable. But since Miss Granger is here to supervise and object to any… ill-usage, I am more willing to investigate the possibilities.”
Harry wasn’t sure he had heard correctly. Severus was agreeing? To sex in that form? With Hermione present? For a second he wondered if Severus had dosed himself with a mind-altering potion while he was in the lavatory. “Umm, so you want to have sex? With me? Or with Hermione?”
“With you. But she may as well stay and enjoy us as well, if it will sate her curiosity.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Severus Snape?” Harry wondered aloud. In the back of his mind, though, a voice urged to him to take Severus at his word.
“I’ll just—”
“Stay right where you are, Miss Granger. Well, Harry?”
Cautiously, Harry moved closer to Severus and reached out a hand to brush along the lapel of his robe. “If you really want to….”
“I do.”
*****
Hermione was quite certain that she had fallen through Alice’s Looking Glass. Perhaps she was dreaming? The last few minutes’ happenings couldn’t possibly be real. First, she had found Snape, Snape of all people, in Harry’s bedroom. And then he’d, well, he’d invited her. To - to join them. Or at least to watch them. Oh, she was so confused. And aroused. She’d never admitted it to anyone, because she had spent so much of her school years and after attached to Ron, but she’d always thought Harry’s mussed hair, brilliant eyes, and wiry frame were quite appealing. And Snape’s voice… it was a weapon in the classroom, but she could imagine what he could with it when he wanted to arouse passion rather than flay. The man had a certain dark dignity to him that had its own appeal, as well.
As she watched, Snape – Severus, if you’re going to do this, you might as well call him by his first name, she thought – backed Harry toward the bed. Absorbed as he was in the larger frame of the professor pressing close, Hermione could see his eyes flick toward her.
“Are you comfortable there, Hermione, or do you want to come closer?”
“I’m—I’m fine here for now. We’ll see what happens as things move on.”
With a distracted nod, Harry returned his attention to Severus, who had leaned forward and pressed his lips against the tendon that joined shoulder to neck. He must have done something Harry liked, because Harry’s hands came up to clutch the man’s shoulders and the rest of his body went limp. With barely a nudge, Severus pushed Harry down to the bed and crawled on after him.
*****
Severus’s lips against Harry’s neck caused an almost Pavlovian response, wrenching his attention from any concerns about what they were about to do to the man himself. His surrender, his obedient movement onto the bed, were an invitation for Severus to continue. When the warm body followed his, pressing him into the mattress, Harry arched up to bring their chests into contact. First item on the agenda: removal of unnecessary layers of fabric. His fingers seemed unable to function, and he was distracted from his task when warm lips attached themselves to his earlobe, sucking softly. Even that small stimulation was enough to send blood rushing to his groin, and he arched his hips again, unconsciously trying to press them against Severus’s. The lack of reciprocal hardness there brought him up short, and he re-engaged himself in the removal of his bathrobe and the pyjama-top from his lover.
“Mmm, c’mere.” His request was accompanied by the slide of silk sleeves down Severus’s arms, and was immediately granted. Severus abandoned Harry’s ear for his lips, brushing them ever so gently with his lips and the tip of his tongue, over and over, until Harry grasped the back of his neck and brought their lips together with more force, biting Severus’s lower lip before licking it soothingly. He loved kissing Severus, could do it for hours. He enjoyed the knowledge that the lips that spewed such deadly insults felt so soft against his, and gave and received so much pleasure. With their mouths still engaged, he rolled, flipping them so that Severus was now stretched out on the bed, wearing only the trousers of the silk pyjamas. Harry sat up, straddling the prone form at the thighs, and leaned back to admire his handiwork: a flush rode the high cheekbones, the thin lips were slightly swollen, and the eyes were slightly dazed. He surveyed the rest of the man on display: slim chest with a sparse sprinkling of hair, flat, tan nipples. The waist above the waistband of the pants was narrower than usual and the hips flared wider than Harry remembered; the thin trail of dark hair that normally led from the navel to groin was absent. Well, I guess we know how much was swapped, Harry thought with a grin.
He heard a rustle, and when he glanced over his shoulder, Harry could see Hermione hesitantly approaching the bed.
“Do you mind?” She gestured to the other side of the bed.
“No, go ahead. He’s gorgeous, don’t you think? Don’t tell me you never thought of this when we were in school.” With a grin, Harry turned back to Severus, who arched an eyebrow imperiously, a silent command to get back to the task at hand. Harry felt the mattress shift slightly when Hermione perched on the edge of the bed, but he focused his attention on the banquet before him. With gentle hands, he brushed up the torso to Severus’s shoulders, then down his arms to his hands. Lifting the left one to his lips, he pressed a kiss to the palm, then shifted slightly to trail the tip of his tongue around the base of each potions-stained finger, drawing a moan from both Severus and Hermione when he sucked the thumb into his mouth. After a moment’s gentle suction, he released the thumb and continued the exploration down the hand and up Severus’s forearm. He paused briefly to press a kiss to the scar that was the only reminder of the Dark Mark, then moved to swipe his tongue across the crease at the elbow. He lightly massaged the flexing biceps as he trailed kisses up the arm to the outside of Severus’s shoulder. Once there, he transferred his attention to the collarbone, nipping and licking it alternately. One particularly sharp nip drew another moan and had long, slim fingers tangling in his hair, drawing him up for more kisses.
But Harry was not to be dissuaded. He allowed a brief detour, but was back to Severus’s neck directly, and he followed the strong tendons there down to his sternum. Nipples that were now tightly puckered were stroked and kissed lightly before Harry lowered his head and turned his attention to the drawstring of the pyjama trousers.
“May I?”
“Please.” Severus’s voice was a throaty whisper, and it prompted a gasping moan from the other side of the bed. When Harry raised himself off Severus and looked over at Hermione, he could see that her eyes were dilated and her lips were parted. A suspicious bulge had appeared in her nightgown, and she had moved closer to them on the bed. When had she removed her robe? he wondered vaguely. His hands trembled as they reached for the drawstring; he felt almost as nervous as he had the first time they had been together. He busied himself with the process of drawing down the trousers, exposing round hips and a thatch of curly brown hair, then slim thighs. He shifted so that the trousers could be removed entirely, and then removed his own boxers, adjusting himself slightly before settling back down near Severus’s legs.
“Tell me how it feels, Severus. And Hermione, tell me if I do something you don’t normally like?”
Heated dark eyes surveyed Harry for a moment, then closed slowly. “I feel… empty. There’s such a heaviness. It’s as if the blood that is rushing through my veins is pooling, making the flesh tighter and looser at the same time…. Wet, so wet and hot…” The smooth voice was almost too low to be heard, but it conveyed his desire to the pair in the bed with him.
Harry took that as permission to continue his ministrations. He stroked from the sides of Severus’s waist down to his knees. On the return journey, he moved his hands to the inside of his thighs, and slowly pressed them open, widening them so that he could kneel in the open vee they created.
He turned to Hermione. “Beautiful,” he breathed, before brushing his fingertips through the curls there. She blushed in response and turned her head to watch Severus’s response. His eyes remained closed, but the pink on his cheeks had darkened, and the hips arched slightly, involuntarily.
Gently, Harry trailed two fingers down the plump reddish lips, brushing the moisture he felt there, rubbing it back and forth. When this earned him a moan, he leaned closer and blew a soft breath of warm air on them. A sharp cry and jerk of Severus’s hips was the immediate response. Hermione’s nod of affirmation gave Harry confidence, and he leaned closer, spreading the labia and opening them to his inspection. When another warm breath drew a deeper moan, Harry gave in to temptation; he leaned forward and circled his tongue around the knot of nerves at the top of the labia as he thrust the two fingers inward. With a muffled shriek, Severus clenched around his fingers, coming unexpectedly and fiercely at the stimulation.
Harry raised his head and waited for Severus to recover. When Severus opened his pleasure-dazed eyes, he deliberately lifted his fingers to his lips and licked them. The heavy eyelids fell closed, and a moan issued from the barely parted lips.
“I just came. I can still feel it. How can I be aroused again so quickly? By so little?” His voice was slightly hoarse, husky.
“Sometimes that’s all it takes, Professor,” Hermione put in, “and I am capable of having more than one orgasm during sex.”
“Are you ready for more?” Harry asked. When he received a nod in response, he moved upward, pressing his engorged (neglected up ‘til now) cock into the welcoming heat. When he was completely embedded, he shifted his weight, maneuvering so that he knelt with Severus’s hips on his lap.
“Lock your legs around me. Yeah, like that.” In that position, he could thrust easily without losing his balance, and Severus could move slightly to control the depth of penetration.
“S-sev. Feels so good.”
“How? How is it different? Better?” Severus had to bite his lip to force the words out, distracted as he was by the feeling of utter fullness.
“Not better, just different. Wet in a different way. Tight, but not the same as being inside you normally is.” With a moan, Harry gave up on conversation and focused on moving his hips in a steady rhythm, shifting so that he could brush fingertips against the flesh stretched around him.
*****
The erection tenting the front of her nightdress was fast becoming a distraction, and Hermione shifted on the bed uncomfortably. How do men function with these things? I’d be constantly distracted with dangly, swelling bits if I always had them, she thought, before returning her attention to the sight before her, possibly the hottest thing she had ever seen. Harry seemed to take such joy in giving Severus pleasure, even with female genitalia. Grimly, she remembered Ron’s reluctance to perform such a basic act for her. Just as well he’s gone now, she thought, then shoved further thought away to focus on the present.
Harry was flexing his hips, driving himself in and out, and she could see that Severus was pushing his hips back, forcing Harry deeper. She had ogled the stiff cock while Harry was devoting his time to his lover; it was thicker than she had expected, and a bit longer too, but not monstrously large. Proportionate to his body, she supposed, given his height. Curious, she looked down at her own lap. Without pausing to reconsider, she grabbed the hem of her nightdress and lifted it, tossing it on the floor as soon as it had cleared her head.
Severus Snape had been circumcised, she saw. His cock was long and slim, and it stood proudly, its engorged red head bumping her abdomen. Hesitantly, she reached down and wrapped her hand around it, stroking lightly. The sensation of cool fingers wrapping around it, squeezing and pulling gently, sent a bolt of pure pleasure up her spine, and her back bowed, her head falling back and lips opening on a moan. Hermione tightened her fingers and repeated the caresses, enjoying the pure physicality of the moment. Her other hand fell to the heavy balls she had been so curious about, and a gentle stroke of them had her breath pooling in her lungs and her eyes clenching shut as she tried to control herself.
When her eyes opened, the first thing she noticed was that Severus and Harry had stopped moving. When her eyes met Severus’s, he extended a hand in invitation.
“Would you like to join us? Try something I normally enjoy?”
Nodding dumbly, Hermione scrambled over the bed.
“In front of Harry. Straddle me.”
Surprised, she obeyed, kneeling so close to Harry she could feel his body heat against her back.
“Closer. Come here.”
Hermione inched her way forward. Surely he couldn’t mean…? Yes, apparently he did. When she moved higher on the bed, Severus had her lean forward to grasp the headboard, putting his face so close that she could feel his breath on her – his – prick. Before the sensation registered in her mind, his mouth opened and he guided the erect cock to his mouth.
*****
It was an utterly unique experience, Severus decided, to suck on one’s own cock. He knew what he normally enjoyed, knew what would drive himself to the edge, what would make him come without thought of his partner. But the feel of his own cock, slimmer, longer, different from Harry’s, was a turn-on in and of itself. He could only hope that Granger – Hermione – had a bit more self-control than he’d had the first time he was on the receiving end.
Wrapping his hand around the base, he flicked his tongue out, letting it flicker across the head and gather the fluid collecting there. If the groan he heard was any indication, the female brain registering the sensations liked them as much as he normally did; he continued, eventually surrounding the head and sucking lightly, matching the rhythm Harry had established with his thrusts. He moved his free hand to pet the heavy testicles, cupping them and molding them, enjoying the way the cock in his mouth jumped in response. He considered sliding a finger backwards to the perineum, but decided that that might be too bold for Hermione’s tastes. Instead, he opened his mouth wider and took in more of the erection – his own erection, he thought wildly – pressing his flattened tongue against the vein on the underside as he fed it into his mouth.
“God, I won’t last long…” Hermione’s voice was barely a whisper.
One of Harry’s hands appeared in his peripheral vision, sliding around her waist, and Hermione shifted, leaning so that her shoulders rested on Harry’s chest. Her back arched, lifting her breasts, with their rosy, tight nipples; Harry’s hand lifted to cup the breast, and his fingers pinched the nipple. The keening sound in the back of her throat preceded a jerk of Hermione’s hips forward, a jerk that pushed the penis in his mouth deeper, to the back of his throat. Severus moved his hand, meaning to engulf a bit more, sure that he had control of his gag reflex.
Harry, though, leaned down and bit Hermione’s shoulder just as he slammed forward. Severus could feel that thick cock brush a spot deep inside; it hurt and it felt good at the same time, and Severus moaned. The teeth at her shoulder and the vibration of the moan pushed Hermione into orgasm. She bucked, forcing the pulsing erection further into Severus’s mouth as her head fell back and she screamed her pleasure. Severus, stimulated past endurance, convulsed, swallowing around the cock in his mouth, tightening his legs around the hips spreading his legs, squeezing the prick in his vagina. Finally Harry lost control, and with one last thrust, let himself go, coming for what felt like forever before he released Hermione. Without his support, she fell limply to Severus’s left side, curled around his shoulder and above his head. Harry leaned forward and collapsed onto Severus in an exhausted, sweaty heap. He opened his mouth to speak, but Severus touched one finger gently to the lips.
“In the morning, Mr. Potter. For now, sleep.”
*****
Pressure from an unusually full bladder woke Severus. For a moment he remained where he lay, disoriented by the feeling of arms flung across his torso from both sides. Memory returned slowly. Opening his eyes, he stared blankly at the riot of brown curls that rested on one shoulder and spread across and down his chest; turning his head carefully, he took in the messy head of his brat, who had burrowed his nose into Severus’s neck in what was fast becoming a familiar gesture.
Extricating himself gently from the embrace of the pair in the bed, trying not to disturb them, Severus stood. Harry rolled to occupy the warm space Severus had just vacated, and Hermione rolled onto her back, flinging one arm above her head. Shaking his head in mild disbelief, he turned and headed to the bathroom to relieve himself. A quick clean-up was required, he realized, and took care of that with a warm flannel as well.
Neither of the bed’s occupants had stirred. Lying back down, Severus pondered the events of the night. Having a female body, knowing what it could do, how it could respond to stimulation, had been an amazing and educational experience. When he thought about the care, the tenderness and the strength Harry had shown, he closed his eyes; just remembering the way it had felt had his heart beating faster, sent blood rushing south and made moisture begin to gather between his legs. Pressing them together didn’t help, he found. Furtively, he turned his head. No, they were still asleep, though Granger had rolled onto her side to face him.
Tentatively, he slid a hand down his belly, pausing for a moment at the top of the mons. His other hand lifted to pet and then pinch his nipples, enjoying the little lightning bolts of pleasure it sent zinging down his belly, adding to the tingling between his legs. Taking a deep breath, he opened his legs a little and trailed the hand down the crease of one thigh to his groin. A soft brush of fingertips across the moist folds there was just a tease, not even close to the amount of pressure that he remembered. He stroked his fingers up to the top, then back down, and then repeated the motion, increasing the pressure with each stroke. A shift of his fingers had them delving just inside, and he moaned in pleasure.
“Circling the clitoris gently makes that feel even better.”
*****
Hermione’s sleep-roughened voice had Severus jerking his hands away from his body as if he had been caught doing something wrong.
“I was merely curious.”
“Keep going. Or do you want me to show you what makes me come?”
After a brief hesitation, he nodded. That was all the invitation that Hermione needed. She’d woken up when a weight on the bed had jostled her, but hadn’t wanted to spoil the feeling of contentment she was experiencing. She had been startled when Severus had begun exploring, but turned on, and the noise of surprised pleasure he had made had prompted her to speak. Last night she had learned how it felt to receive a blowjob; though the thought of oral sex with another woman had never occurred to her before, it held an odd appeal now, especially since she knew how much she enjoyed it when Ron had half-heartedly responded to her plea for reciprocity. Harry had seemed to enjoy doing it.
With that thought in mind, Hermione shifted, crawling to settle on her belly between Severus’s spread legs. She propped herself up on one elbow and stretched a hand forward, grasping his and bringing it back to the moist crevice that he had abandoned.
“Here, like this.” Hermione brushed the swollen lips lightly for a moment with both their fingers, then used her own to open them. That little bit of encouragement was all Severus needed to thrust a finger inside, arching in pleasure at the sensation, magnifying it when the involuntary movement pressed them deeper. He repeated the motion. Hermione allowed it for a few strokes, but then pulled his hand away, pressing both of his hands to the mattress by his hips. She lifted her head and looked him the eye before ordering him to leave them there.
She returned her own fingers to the sensitive folds, now glistening with moisture, and petted them, pressing the legs a bit wider so that she could see and feel the effects this was having on Severus. Running her fingers up to the top of the vulva, Hermione gently touched the clitoris, circling it delicately before sliding back down to the swollen inner lips. She widened them, then deliberately thrust two fingers in. A low moan and jerk of his hips was Severus’s response. Encouraged, she slid in another finger, then withdrew them almost completely before thrusting them back. Leaning closer, she licked a swathe up and down the vulva. Another moan of arousal from above, combined with the taste of herself on her lips, had her arching her hips involuntarily, pressing her swollen cock to the sheet. She firmed her tongue and touched the point to the clitoris, then circled it tenderly, moving her fingers in and out as she did so. She didn’t know how long this went on. Finally, she felt a hand in her hair, tugging her up.
“That feels… you know how good that feels. But I enjoyed it when I climaxed with Harry inside me, touching me. Can—Will you…?” The request was voiced in a hoarse whisper, roughening the dark-chocolate voice to an erotic rasp that had Hermione pressing her hips to the bed again. With a nod, she moved to lie atop Severus. Timidly, nervous that he might change his mind, or that she might embarrass herself with her inexperience or lack of control, she aligned herself. When he nodded again encouragingly, she tentatively pressed inward.
*****
Severus’s eyes fell closed as the cock moving inside him penetrated deeper. He couldn’t verbalize how different, how good this felt. He wouldn’t want to give up anal intercourse, would be quite happy for the return of his penis to its proper place, but this.… He could understand now how Harry could be attracted to women, and could only imagine how it felt to Hermione right now.
She had established an uneven, slightly clumsy rhythm to her thrusts, just barely putting pressure on that so-sensitive spot at the end of the inward motion. Severus whimpered each time it happened, arching himself upward to catch that too-brief stimulus. The rhythm became more frantic, more erratic, and then Hermione lifted her torso, bracing herself on one elbow. She moved one hand between them, pressing her thumb just beneath his clitoris while still moving clumsily. The jolt of the hard cock moving inside him pressed her thumb up, and the direct contact was enough to stimulate Severus to climax; he felt himself clamp tighter around the intruder, felt it swell and pulse, felt the wet heat of Hermione’s climax as it spurted into him.
When Severus opened his eyes, it was to see Harry propped up against the pillows, erect prick in hand. He recognized the look on Harry’s face and the pulse beating at the base of his throat; Harry was close. His fist moved harder, faster, until his hips lifted involuntarily and Harry’s head banged back against headboard as he came, shooting onto his hand and across his belly and chest in a few strong pulses. When it was done, Severus reached over and lifted Harry’s hand. Locking their eyes together, he licked the semen away delicately, then kissed the palm, trying to express all the pleasure, understanding, and gratitude he felt in that one action.
*****
“Thanks for your help, Healer Smythwyck. We appreciate your discretion.” Hermione’s gratitude was genuine. She was quite happy to have her lower body back where it belonged.
“Indeed. My thanks.” Snape’s words were brusque, but no less sincere. They stood and left the Healer’s office; Harry rose when they reappeared in the waiting room.
“Ready? Did everything work out fine?”
Severus paused. Fine? He might have been unhappy with the initial splinch-swapping experience, but the outcome was much more than fine. He and Harry had tried something new, had established a new level of trust by allowing a friend – he could admit that Hermione Granger was his friend, too - into their relationship with no negative effects. For all that three of them had been in their bed together, Harry and Severus were the functional unit; it had taken a third person to make him realize that. And, he thought as he pondered the morning’s activities, he had a new appreciation for Harry’s admiration of the other sex.
Perhaps Hermione wouldn’t object to an experiment with Polyjuice Potion?
Fin.
Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.
