Good For Everything

Chapter Nine: Past Participle

Severus awoke the following morning, and came to the conclusion that he had returned to his flat at some point during the night. The rainstorm must've taken precedence over anything else, and it must've flooded his mind to the point where he couldn't recollect anything readily. That soon changed, however, when he opened his eyes and realized that there was a smaller body curled into his arms, just like it had been on the first of November. This time, however, nobody was knocking on the door to awaken them, and this particular body was naked.

"Mmm... Severus," came Harry's whisper as Severus inadvertently pulled away from him, and that pair of startlingly beautiful green eyes locked onto his as Harry's eyes fluttered for a moment and came open completely. "Morning," he said softly.

"Good morning, Harry," Severus replied.

Harry bit at his bottom lip, and slowly raised himself upwards so that his and Severus's faces were level. "You..."

"What?"

"You don't regret what we did last night, do you?" he whispered, looking fearful that, above all things, he would be rejected again.

Severus sighed. "I regret that there is a law in place that should make me feel remorseful about what we did last night," he replied, and felt his heartbeat thrumming when Harry raised his eyes to his. "However, I myself do not regret one thing about my night with you. I meant what I said last night, Harry. I love you."

Harry blinked then, tears entering his eyes at Severus's words. "Thank god, because I love you, too," Harry replied, launching himself without ceremony into Severus's waiting arms, and kissed him with as much fervor as he had done last night. He pulled onto Severus, so that the older man was now on top of him, and whispered, "Make love to me."

"Again, Harry? We made love in the alley way, then again up against the inside of my front door, once when we got to the bed, and a fourth time when we woke up in the night. You're sure you're not too sore?"

"I've been waiting for you my entire life, Severus," Harry said, winding his arms around Severus's neck and pulling him closer. "I love you, and I want us to make love again. Who knows how often we'll be able to do it?"

"Touché," Severus replied, leaning down and capturing Harry's lips with his. It did not, however, assuage his guilt completely, and a significant part of him hated himself for giving into his baser desires the evening before. He hated, hated that the notion of Harry's death by that oncoming car had pushed him over the edge to claim Harry completely, and knew full well that the consequences, when they came knocking, would be unlike anything he'd ever experienced before, for he had never found himself in a situation quite like this one.

"You're thinking."

"Hmmm?" Severus asked, permitting his head to rise so that Harry could pepper his jawline with kisses. "Sorry?"

"Get out of that beautiful head of yours for two minutes and look at me," Harry implored him, and Severus found he was in no position to deny him, so he listened, lowering his eyes to that of the beautiful young man in his bed. "I. Am. Fine," Harry told him, pressing his lips to various aspects of his face.

Severus sighed, and made to pull away from him. "I know you may believe that, Harry, but the fact of the matter is..."

"The fact of the matter is," Harry interrupted and, gaining leverage, pinned Severus to the bed and stared down at him, with a hungry expression on his face, "I don't want you to worry about a thing. Nobody has to know about this."

Severus arched an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"Meaning that nobody has to know that control was lost," Harry told him, his voice gentle as he pressed a firm kiss onto Severus's lips. "I know that a lot of people will look at our situation and think that I was manipulative..."