It could be a lot of fun or a great big disaster

Chapter 3 - More of the man

The following morning, all the students left for the holidays. There were many tears and promises to always keep in touch from the seventh years as well as great excitement as everyone embarked on life as a fully fledged witch or wizard. Standing in the great hall, amongst his best friends Harry felt a tap on his shoulder, as he turned round, big wet lips suddenly descended on his own and he found himself kissing back fervently before they pulled away. Blaise stood grinning at him 'Well Harry, if you ever get...bored, look me up', Harry grinned in reply, promising to keep that thought in mind. The months with Blaise had been fun, and the sex had been fantastic. They had eventually parted, but more due to the fact that they had their Newts coming up and they knew the relationship wasn't serious. Kissing Blaise again, they parted ways before Harry caught a glimpse of Snape glaring at him from across the hall. 'Fantastic' he thought dryly, he would be meeting Snape soon and it certainly didn't look like he was in a good mood.

Harry said goodbye to Ron and Hermionie, and promised to keep them updated as to how he was while on the mission, before with great trepidation he headed towards the dungeons. He stood outside the door to Snape's quarters simply staring, well this was it then he supposed, he was more than likely to get mutilated by an extremely volatile potions master, and he wasn't sure it was worth the risk. Before he had decided on a course of action the door swung open to reveal Snape glaring down at him. Despite the fact that Harry had had a growth spurt the previous summer and was barely inches shorter than Snape, the man still managed to make it seem as if he was looking down at a very small child.

'Well get in here you imbecile, before someone sees you. I'd rather not have my reputation ruined, thank you very much' he spat with a sneer.

Harry struggled to hide his sigh before he proceeded to enter the dungeons. The door slammed shut behind him causing him to jump, for some reason he suddenly felt trapped in a cage with a large wild animal. Swallowing, he looked around the apartment, which to his surprise was quite comfy.

'Sit' Snape barked, pointing to a sofa near to the fire. Harry complied, before shooting a murderous glance at Snape's back as he turned around to fetch something. Snape handed him a glass of whisky and as Harry looked at him speculatively he merely grunted 'We're going to need it'

They sat in an awkward silence for a while before it became unbearable and Harry practically shouted, 'Why did you agree to this?' He blushed slightly at the way it had come out, but he wasn't sorry he asked, the curiosity had been burning through him since the meeting the previous day.

'Eloquent as ever Mr Potter' Snape retorted, but it was with less enthusiasm, and more resignation than he had expected. 'Unlike some, Mr potter' he stated pointedly 'I do not need bribes or trinkets to agree to this, the safety of people are at stake and that is enough of a reason for me. Furthermore I do not need to go around screaming about the unfairness of the situation when there is nothing else to be done, I accept it as any mature adult would.' Harry blushed remembering his outburst in the headmaster's office and that the reason he was doing this mission was to become an auror, he had barely considered the lives of the muggles. Snape sighed knowingly at Harry's blush and smirked as he looked away ashamed. What Harry didn't know however was that what Snape had proclaimed, was far from the truth. He had screamed bloody murder for over an hour in the headmaster's office until with a squawk of indignation Fawkes had set himself on fire, two months before he was due. The shock had calmed Snape somewhat, but it had still taken the promise of a substantial pay rise and the access to some rare ingredients before he had accepted.

The silence settled again, making Harry really want to squirm in his seat, but he refrained, if he was supposed to be the dominant he bloody well had better started acting like it. He took a deep calming breath and jumped in for the kill, 'Shouldn't we, you know, get to know each other or something, we're supposed to be in a relationship and I know little more than you're a potions master...and a great big git' he added under his breath.