Differences {Snarry}

Old Habits Die Hard

The house was silent for a few beats, bar the sound of Severus pulling out his chair. It was evident both inhabitants of the house were in deep thoughts trying to work out the puzzle that was the other.

Snape had not realised he had been holding his breath before it shuddered out of him at the sounds of cooking returned to his kitchen. His thoughts were a mess, nothing made sense yet everything was crystal clear.

Harry Potter-Black was his mate.

It was impossible yet explained so much. His undeniable attraction to the boy, the possessiveness that gleamed at the sight of him in Severus's clothing, his lack of hesitation to run blindly into the muggles house to protect him, the strange bond the two always shared despite the apparent hatred and...the allure he had to Lily's blood. He should have guessed it from the beginning, there was no other explanation to why Lily's blood was so attractive to him despite her being his sister in anything but blood. She was going to bear his mate.

As with everything in his life, he had to assume his delayed reaction was due to Albus. Harry had bled many times in Severus's presence yet never had he had the reaction to it as he had just moments ago. That reaction solidified that the postponed realisation had nothing to do with his potions. Evidently he should have reacted to Potter's blood years ago. But then why would the late headmaster not want the pair to bond? The Dark Lord cared not for creatures unless they proved useful to his plans to win the war and never discovered that Severus had became one himself. Even if he had known Severus was a vampire, the man doubted he would care enough to look into the magic involved to notice the increase in power Severus would receive if he bonded with his mate. So, if anything, the pair bonding would have aided Harry during the war as he would also gain the boost to his magic and would have been able to draw more from Severus though their bond and vise vera. Albus interfering didn't make sense, the only thing it did was made the pair not reach their full potential before facing a mad man. Unless...Severus knew for certain Albus had pushed Harry into fight The Dark Lord like a lamb to slaughter and he knew Harry was aware of that too. However, Severus could never find a solid answer to how the headmaster felt about him. Albus seemed to have faith in his abilities yet took anything worthwhile from his life as if he believed Severus to be dead at any second and should not form attachments. Well at least today's discoveries cleared that up for him, the man had not expected, or rather not wanted, Severus to come out of this war alive. At least he know knew he and Harry had always had that in common.

Much like this morning, his train of thought was interrupted by nervous shuffling making its way into the room. His eyes drifted up to find Potter carrying in what he assumed to be dinner while very pointedly not moving his eyes from the table where he was going to set the trays down.

"I made steak and new potatoes." Harry said before shuffling around the table to sit were he had previously sat that morning. "I always noticed in the Great Hall that you always had meat heavy dishes and, since you didn't have much in, I called Kreacher and he leant me the ingredients so don't worry, I didn't use much of what you had in, just some rosemary and butter for the potatoes and some other herbs for the steaks." He still believed Severus was mad at him for cooking? Well he presumes he did not give him much of an explanation as to why he acted in that way.

"I didn't know how you liked your steak so I just assumed." Harry had begone mindlessly serving the food to the both of them whilst rambling. In any other situation, Severus may have called the display impressive as he had yet to spill nor drop anything. "I just made it rare, I was just shy of making it blue due to you 'Dungeon Bat' persona," he let out a chuckle as he said that, it obviously bringing up some memories of Hogwarts.

Having also not knowing what to say to the other man, the 'Dungeon Bat' (he also chuckled in his mind as he quite enjoyed the accidental accuracy it held) cut a slice of steak and began eating.