Nothing In This World (BEING EDITED)

XXXIII.

Chapter XXXIII: Love and Chaos
Warning: Strong language and Birds and Bees talk

29 July 1995
Half hour before the Weasley-Malfoy Family dinner

"If it was up to me and I actually had a say in this situation, you'd never meet the rest of my family," Harry growled, shifting back and forth on his feet in Snape's house at Spinner's End. "I have nothing against them and I'm not worried about how they will react, in fact I think some of them might even enjoy your company, I'm more worried about Ron. We really haven't spoken since he let slip that you are Bill's father."

"Nervous?" Severus asked, rubbing his back.

Harry didn't answer. "What about you?"

"Well, doesn't meeting the parents or family members usually occur earlier on in the relationship?" Asked Snape. "We've been dating a little over ten months, so the time to have met your family would've been a couple of months into our relationship." Said Snape matter-of-factly. "I'm not nervous, but I'm scared that they will say something about this relationship, I guess, but I've heard Ronald say some bad things about me," he smiled nervously. "They can't ban me from seeing you, right?"

Harry sneered. "They can fucking try." He said looking up at the man. "Why are you so nervous?"

Not for the first time since Arthur had invited him to this whole gathering, Severus found himself wondering if he was doing the right thing. He didn't like putting himself in situations where he wouldn't be able to leave or left feeling uncomfortable, but Arthur and Lucius had practically begged him to join them for dinner and despite saying no several times, he had caved in.

Snape pressed a kiss to the boy's temple. "It was nice of them to make the effort to invite me into their home, right?"

"No." Harry shrugged. He wasn't opposed to having Severus over for dinner, his parents had actually been thoughtful for making the effort and thinking of Snape, but his siblings weren't as understanding as his parents. Well Ron wasn't and he knew the twins would make jokes and be the pain reason for Snape to be uncomfortable but it was all lightheaded stuff. And Draco, who Harry hadn't seen around in a few days, wouldn't really care if Snape was dining with them. He actually likes Snape for some reason. "There's gotta be some sort of motive behind this. They've been bugging me for weeks, something about the family getting to know you better. See what you're like outside of Hogwarts."

"So why don't they just ask me? They don't have to make this elaborate plan just to get to know me." Said Snape. He straightened out his vest glancing at himself in the mirror again. He hated family dinners and if tonight was anything like the dinners he'd had as a child, he didn't want to go.

Harry rolled his eyes but stayed quiet. He slipped his hand inside the back of the man's shirt and rubbed the soft skin. He noticed that his lover was shaking slightly and met Snape's eyes. "It'll be fine." He looked up whispering softly in Snape's ear.

The soft intimate gesture didn't go unnoticed by Hermione as she pulled her attention back to her book.

Harry walked over to where Seamus was sitting on the couch. It had taken some convincing, but after several days of asking, more like begging actually, for Hermione and Seamus to come along and join him, Snape had let him invite them over. The guilt of not spending time with his friends had been weighing heavily on his mind lately and since he spent three days with the man after his trauma episode, he knew his friends were feeling left out. He had explained to them why he was gone for three days without giving away any of Snape's personal business and promised to make an effort in their friendship.

But Harry knew that Severus secretly liked it when people were around and could see the way they interacted with each other. He liked being shown off like a child that had just won a first place prize.