Archive of Our Own

“I hadn’t had any part in what they were doing,” Severus insisted, slamming his hands down on the rickety old table in the Ministry interrogation room. “I didn’t know what they needed the potion for and I hadn’t even sent anything to them before.”

“So you were sending a large quantity of a restricted potion out to an unknown person without asking  any questions?” Kingsley Shacklebolt asked. 

Severus was grateful they were sitting in the Ministry and not Azkaban, but it still put him on edge, which always made Severus extra snarky. He was glad that these two weren’t doing the usual macho alpha thing, probably because they didn’t realise he was an omega, but they were still coming off as threatening and that was not how to get Severus to comply.

“Of course I asked if it was all for personal use,” Severus huffed, folding his arms across his chest. “I wouldn’t have sent it to them if I had thought that there was a risk of that. I’m not a complete moron.”

“No, but you are a bit of one,” Robards scoffed. “You knew they were distributing it but you didn’t bother to check how they were distributing, did you?”

“This is your problem, Snape,” Kingsley sighed. “You are an intelligent man but you expect us to believe that you didn’t do your due diligence? You are part of the Potioneer’s Guild, have been for years. You know the rules, so we have to question why you didn’t follow them.”

“Because I was desperate! They were extorting me. I had had to sign a contract with them to get ingredients but, with my potions orders drying up, I wasn’t able to pay my obligations,” Severus barked, feeling his desperation steadily seep in. He could not go to Azkaban. He wouldn’t have his suppressants there and he had no idea how much worse his heats would be surrounded by dementors and deranged alphas.

That was part of why he had gotten into this problem in the first place. As an omega, Severus would go through heats four times a year normally. Severus had had to experience them in his last year at Hogwarts and they were absolute hell in his mind. He hated losing control of himself like that; becoming so needy that he would do almost anything for relief. There were rooms one could safely go through heat in at school, but Severus knew that wouldn’t be the case in the real world and he had spent his last year coming up with a potion to stop them. He had, much to his relief, especially as his suppressants stopped his heat entirely, even reducing his scent. He couldn’t imagine going through that again. 

He had set up his own potions business after the war. He was grateful that his lout of a father had at least had the foresight to buy the house at Spinner’s End, if nothing else. It kept his costs of living low, making it easier to make ends meet.  Of course, in his childhood it had been mostly thanks to the money his mother made selling watered down potions to muggles, so at least he didn’t have too many overheads to worry about. Having that was his security against ending up on the streets and why he considered it home, despite having so many bad memories there. 

Things had never been easy for him, not during his school time and even less so after. Severus’ name came up, when Pettigrew had been captured, and he was on the verge of getting hauled off to Azkaban when Dumbledore stepped in. He claimed that Severus had been working as a spy for him all along and that worked until Potter stepped in and pointed out that an attack wouldn’t have happened at all if Severus hadn’t told Voldemort about the Prophecy in the first place. How he learned that, Severus was never sure and he wondered if Dumbledore might have said something by accident. 

Dumbledore claimed that people make mistakes and deserved a second chance, hinting at James’ own checkered past, but, in the eyes of the Wizarding World, the damage was done. Severus had been the reason their heroes were attacked so obviously he was the villain. Dumbledore had initially wanted to offer Severus a teaching position but, thanks to James’ interference, there was too much negativity around him for that to happen. Severus couldn’t be too disappointed, it wasn’t like teaching was something that he particularly wanted to do anyway. It also wasn’t ideal as an unattached omega, regardless of what Dumbledore said. 

He was hardly anyone’s first choice for a partner but there was still a risk he’d have some snot nosed brat coming after him. Admittedly, Severus also wasn’t in a particular rush to be inundated by all those newly turned alphas every year. Severus seemed to have a more heightened sense of smell than other omegas and he had yet to come across an alpha he could actually tolerate, not that other omegas were much better. It was part of why he didn’t even bother looking for a mate and happily stuck to a life of solitude and suppressants. 

The suppressants weren’t outright banned in the wizarding world, although Severus suspected that was because they weren’t exactly available. He had created his own  from a contraceptive that was available to alphas who wanted the option of choosing how big a family they had, although those were still discouraged. His potions business was a perfect cover to make them, allowing him to buy in all sorts of ingredients without people questioning him. It was part of the reason he enjoyed the job until Sleekeazy decided to expand and make things more difficult for anyone who made potions. 

“That’s what you get for getting into business with dodgy dealers,” Robards scoffed, causing Severus to scowl at him.

“You say that as if I have had much choice. Sleekeazy have run me out of business and completely decimated my supply lines,” Severus huffed, only for Shacklebolt to look at him sternly. 

James Potter had had no job back in the day, having inherited money thanks to his father creating Sleekeazy before James was born. He eventually realised, however, that even such a large fortune would eventually diminish, especially if you spend big and don’t have any money coming in. So around the time his famed son began at Hogwarts, he took up a position at the company, helping to promote the product, as well as earning a salary. 

A few years after he started working there, Sleekeazy had added some other beauty products to their hair cream. Most potion companies in the wizarding world specialised so people were quite intrigued by this expansion, as well as the ease that came with being able to buy multiple products together. That alone wouldn’t have been an issue but then Sleekeazy decided to offer cheap, good quality healing potions and Severus found he was struggling to compete. 

He wasn’t the only one either. The new Sleekeazy products meant that apothecaries like Slug & Jiggers became somewhat redundant, with the Sleekeazy products being cheaper and more readily available than what they typically produced in their shop. People had even stopped brewing their own potions at home. The Sleekeazy ones were decent quality and worked out about the same price as buying the ingredients themselves. The old apothecaries went out of business, getting replaced by Sleekeazy shops, and Severus suddenly found himself at a loss for where to get ingredients. 

He could source some himself, and had no issues with traipsing around the country to get ingredients he needed. Unfortunately there were just some things that simply weren’t readily available in the UK. Runespoor skin, for example, was an essential part of his suppressant and, while it had been rare before, it had been available. After the apothecaries shut, Severus was forced to look elsewhere and the only people he could find had been less than reputable. He was desperate though, and stupidly thought that he could earn enough from his orders to cover things, and had ended up signing a contract obligating him to buy a certain amount of ingredients from them in a year. 

In hindsight it had been a mistake as even the more complicated potion orders dried up. With Sleekeazy taking on the basic potion production, they also took a lot of pressure off St Mungos, meaning that their potioneers could concentrate on the more complicated brews themselves meaning Severus was at a loss for customers. He had no way of getting the orders to fulfil his contractual obligations and Severus had no idea what he was going to do. 

So it was only natural that he took the out he was offered, discarding his own concerns about the questionable legality of it all. His supplier asked him to brew a large amount of high level pain reliever as a way of getting him out of the contract. The potion itself wasn’t illegal per se, but there were restrictions on how much a person could sell in England because of its addictive nature, as well as the fact that it could easily knock people out. Technically, he was not breaking any laws by what he did. He wasn’t selling it to one person and he checked that it wasn’t for personal use. But it was kind of a grey zone. They were potion ingredient suppliers so, in his head, it made sense that they would supply potions as well. 

It took a lot of time to create that much of a complicated brew and Severus had to turn down a few other orders to be able to fulfil it. He had hoped that it would be worth it, to clear his debt with his supplier and hopefully put him in a better position moving forward. He still had a lot of ingredients under stasis after all, so would hopefully be able to keep himself going for a while. He could look for another way to earn money once he didn’t have to worry what his suppliers would do to him for not fulfilling his obligations. 

But he forgot one important thing: he was Severus Snape, and his life wasn’t meant to go that smoothly. The suppliers were apparently even sketchier than Severus had realised. They used the pain relief potion to drug muggles that they kidnapped to harvest ingredients and keep them compliant, since muggles were easier to control and source than creatures like House Elves. The British Aurors had been working with the French when they realised that Severus had been one of their customers. They had tracked Severus’ shipment to find the suppliers but Severus found himself arrested as well.

Which brought him here, sitting in this dusty interrogation room in the ministry, vis-a-vis two scowling Aurors.

“I’d be careful what you say about that company if I were you,” Robards growled, leaning forward menacingly. “Some of us still remember how your actions led to the death of Lily Potter, not to mention Sleekeazy now provide potions for certain DMLE workers.”

Severus shrank back, thoroughly cowed. The knowledge that he was essentially working against Sleekeazy and the Ministry was bad enough but the reminder of how he had killed his old friend was a heavy blow and he found himself resigned to whatever fate was in store for him. 

“That’s it,” Robards sneered, slamming his hands on the table. “You aren’t worthy of speaking James Potter’s name.”

Kingsley shot Robards a warning look but didn’t say anything and that, more than anything, told Severus that he would likely end up in Azkaban. He wanted to rail against his fate but he knew he would likely only make things worse. He had never been a personable person and only one person had ever tried to fight for him before. 

Thanks to Dumbledore’s interference, and Severus hated to think how much he owed that man now, he managed to stay out of Azkaban again. He was lumbered with a huge fine though, 10,000 Galleons, and Severus was at a loss of how to pay it back. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Theoretically, Severus could pay the whole thing off if he sold his house. That would have been stupid though. It would leave Severus homeless, with currently no income so no way of affording another home. He had no desire to escape Azkaban only to end up on the streets. The Wizengamot had given him a year to find the money, or end up in prison, and Severus was determined to pay off his debt by almost any means necessary. 

Clearly, brewing wasn’t an option these days so, despite his reticence, Severus bit the metaphorical bullet and began applying for jobs. Severus wasn’t a people person anyway, but being an a-typical omega didn’t help things and Severus had never wanted to be in a large work environment. Unfortunately, the job market in the wizarding world was woefully lacking. 

The Ministry wouldn’t look at him, now that he had two criminal convictions, saying they wouldn’t even trust him to clean the toilets. St Mungos had been marginally better: they had trusted him to clean the toilets but the salary had only been 7590 Galleons per year. Even if he had swallowed his pride to take it, it wouldn’t have been enough anyway. Dumbledore had tried to get him a teaching job at Hogwarts, saying that Slughorn was desperate to retire. Unfortunately, both the Ministry and the board of governors blocked him, saying that there was no way that they would trust Snape around vulnerable children. That left one option, given Severus’ skill set, and the thought alone left him sick to his stomach. 

“So,” Black drawled, leaning back in his plush leather chair and giving Severus a smug smirk. He was sitting behind a large, highly lacquered desk, across from Severus, looking as arrogant as ever, and Severus wanted nothing more than to hex his handsome face. It didn’t help that the man was posturing, knowing what Severus’ secondary gender was, and it was causing him to scent up a storm. 

Black, unsurprisingly, had presented as an alpha back in school and all of the other omegas had swooned over him, claiming he smelled of wood smoke, saying it added to his wonderful bad boy image. Severus agreed his scent added to his image, but to him the man just smelled like an ash tray. It was enough to make him want to gag, making him even less willing to put up with the man’s insufferable attitude, but he grit his teeth regardless. 

“I just came to apply for a job,” Severus ground out. “It’s not like you don’t know that I am perfectly capable.”

“Oh, I remember,” Sirius grinned. “I had to shave my hair off when you got that junk in it before. Still haven’t been able to figure out what it was.”

“I will tell you what it was if you give me a job. With a little tweaking it could be a perfectly usable hair care product.”

Sirius scrunched his nose up, as if contemplating an unpleasant thought. “Yeah, sorry, but we already have plenty of those.”

He clearly wasn’t sorry in the slightest but Severus was desperate. So desperate he did something he never would have normally considered, especially after everything that had happened between him and James Potter over the years. 

It would be easy to say that the bullying Severus had experienced at the hands of Potter and his cronies was the reason why Severus joined the Death Eaters after school. It would be a lie though. Severus had always been ambitious and the Death Eaters hadn’t seemed to care about his secondary gender so Severus had happily joined them. Lily had always warned that Severus’ ambition would be his downfall, it was a shame that neither of them realised it would ruin them both. 

Handing over part of the prophecy was the worst thing that Severus had ever done in her mind. He hadn’t been forced to hand over the information, he had merely been desperate to rise up the ranks, to prove himself to the world, prove that a lowly omega could be strong. He had not thought twice that he was likely putting a mark on somebody’s head. When Voldemort had decided that the prophecy was talking about the Potters, Severus had been distraught and had begged him to spare Lily, if no one else. Voldemort had agreed, as thanks for Severus giving him the information in the first place. He probably thought he was being funny, sparing the Muggleborn witch for his half blood spy, but at least that hubris helped lead to his downfall. 

After hearing the prophecy, Severus had been tasked with spying on Dumbledore  which set him up perfectly to go to the old man and beg him to help the Potters as well. He said he would, but he was very sketchy on the details of what he would do to achieve that and Severus had his doubts. He managed to bribe one of the Hogwarts House elves to keep tabs on Voldemort and to alert the Potters as soon as he moved. It seemed like the perfect plan in Severus’ mind. 

Wizards constantly overlooked House Elves; plus their magic could get past even the Hogwarts wards, so Severus was sure that they could get to where the Potters were. It apparently worked, at least for two of them. The wrong two. One would think that Potter would be grateful to Severus for what he had done; that he was the means to their survival, but of course he wasn’t. Instead he was doing what he could to push Severus lower at every turn, and Severus truly hated him for it. Unfortunately he was out of options. 

“Please, Black. I need a way to pay off this fine and this company has run me out of business.” At the moment his only options were homelessness or prostitution and working for Potter and Black ranked above that, albeit barely. 

“So you’re desperate,” Black mused, stroking his chin and contemplating Severus shrewdly. “In that case I may have a job for you.”

Severus scowled and swallowed down the bile that rose up at the thought of having to clean Black’s toilet. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in a position to be too picky. 

“How much does it pay?” 

“Not asking what the job entails?”

“You know full well that I am not in a position to be fussy, not if it pays enough.” He might have worried that Black would make him his sex slave but the man was thankfully not that desperate. 

“12,000 Galleons,” Black stated, with another smirk, as if he knew that that was an amount Severus wasn’t in a position to turn down. 

Severus let out a low growl of annoyance, only for Black to let out his own growl, baring his teeth, and Severus felt himself cower a bit. He hated himself for that reaction, hated his secondary gender and how it made him act. He bit his tongue and gave into his nature just this once though, relaxing his posture and lowering his head in submission. With any luck he would only have to put up with this job for a year. If he couldn’t, there was always selling his house, although Severus didn’t want to contemplate that prospect until he had to. 

Black smirked again. “Much better, Snape, although don’t worry, you won’t have to bow and scrape in your new role. I have to admit that I do like that demeanour on you. It almost makes you desirable. Almost.”

Severus felt his skin crawl and suppressed a shudder at Black’s sentiment. 

“Show up here on Monday morning at 9 o’clock sharp,” Black stated, indicating an end to the meeting. “You will need to provide HR with your bank details for payment and they will provide you with your ID tags so that you can move around the building, before showing you to your new post.”

Black waved his hand in dismissal. Severus jumped up from his chair, racing out the door. It probably looked like he had his metaphorical tail between his legs but Severus didn’t care. He just needed to get out of the room before the urge to punch Black’s smug face became too strong and he ruined this for himself. In one short year he would be free of this debt and, with any luck, he wouldn’t even have to scrimp and save too much. Severus just hoped he would make it that far. 

Harry let out a heavy sigh. The desk outside his office had been set up ready for a new secretary and he was not looking forward to it. He had just gotten rid of the previous simpering idiot and he was not eager to have to deal with another one. He had had high hopes for Miss Chang but she had ended up as disappointing as the rest. 

He had remembered her from Hogwarts, Ravenclaw, where she had been one year above him. Harry had hoped she wouldn’t be completely useless, he had even been prepared to deal with her overly floral scent that seemed to leak out of her incessantly the second they were reintroduced. Unfortunately she had relied on a quick quotes quill for taking notes in meetings, causing all manner of issues when stuff had ended up wrong. Harry hadn’t had to question why she thought the quill was a good idea. She had wanted to try to flirt with Harry while at these meetings, draping herself all over him whenever she could instead of actually doing her job. 

Harry wasn’t an idiot, he knew exactly why his dad kept sending these omegas to work under him: he was desperate for Harry to find a mate. Harry didn’t understand why. Sure, his mum and dad had gotten together at school but that didn’t mean that Harry had to be similarly young. He was only out of school for a little over a year. Still, James was a big part of why they were now Voldemort free which made him a hard person to argue with. 

When Voldemort had attacked the family, James had been able to duck when the other wizard attacked him but the table that blew up knocked him out. Lily, unfortunately, died when she threw herself in front of Harry, her sacrifice protecting her son and husband. The protection on Harry destroyed Voldemort’s body and the protection on James was able to destroy what was left of the monster's soul when the remains of his soul tried to possess Harry's father. They were both labelled heroes after that and his dad had apparently decided that meant that Harry needed a perfect omega for a partner. 

It hadn’t been an issue while he was at school because everyone assumed he would end up with Ginny. He hadn’t completely hated her lavender scent and the pair of them had always gotten on well. The problem was that there wasn’t any real chemistry between them. Harry hadn’t minded that, he knew Ginny wanted a Quidditch career over a family. Unfortunately she had started getting a lot of heat in the press regarding that and Harry defending her had only made things worse. 

They had broken up, with Harry purposely taking the blame for it. Ginny was now getting to enjoy her career and Harry was having to suffer his dad’s poor matchmaking attempts. But their friendship was worth it. He had actually begged Sirius to not hire another simpering omega who was more interested in trying to ensnare Harry than actually doing their job. It would be annoying enough as it was, but he had been working hard, even when he had been at school, trying to make his family’s company better. 

Hell, he hadn’t even realised that his family had a company until he started Hogwarts and his dad started working there. His dad had been happy keeping things ticking along as they were  but Harry, after talking with his friend Hermione, had wanted to build on his grandfather’s legacy. He had spent time with the Weasley twins, learning how they created their products. He had been able to come up with some simple beauty products that they even helped him test, although he hadn’t ever managed anything fancy. 

Harry’s products went down well with his peers and that had ended up being great advertising for when they had been launched to the public. He had then looked at how to mass produce them and, what he learned through that, he had then used to start introducing techniques for more basic healing potions. The board of directors had been thrilled with his results and they had made him the vice-president of the company, although, at this point, Harry probably had more sway than his dad. 

It was all still quite new, however, and Harry still liked to have regular meetings with all of the various departments, to make sure everything was ticking over OK, as well as looking in with the research department, to see if they had come up with anything new. There were also board meetings, investments, not to mention all of the international groups. It’s why he needed to keep track of things and why having a secretary that couldn’t even keep his calendar straight was more of a hindrance than anything. It didn’t help that they all had cloyingly sweet or floral scents. Harry liked sweet foods but some of these omegas were enough to put him off his favourite treats and he had found himself avoiding not only the people, but also his former favourite foods, as well as gardens. 

It was why Harry was currently dreading whatever walking disaster his dad had decided would be a match for him. Then a man walked in, all harsh lines and scowls, and Harry had a feeling that Sirius may have actually come through for him, despite his fears. Of course, there was still a chance that the man would try to jump him and Harry took a breath before going out to meet him. A smile broke out over his face, however, when no sickly smell assaulted his nose and he sighed in relief. His Godfather had apparently gotten him a beta. 

“Hi, I’m Harry Potter. You must be my new secretary.”

“Apparently,” the man sneered, shaking the hand Harry held out briefly before quickly pulling away and rubbing his hand on his trousers. He tried to be subtle, but Harry saw it. He should have been offended but, instead, Harry was relieved. Someone who couldn’t stand his touch was not going to be vying for his affection and Harry hoped that maybe he could simply concentrate on his work for once. 

“What’s your name, unless you want me to just call you secretary?”

Harry beamed at the man who just scowled back. 

“Severus Snape.”

Harry’s smile grew. “Severus. Well, welcome to the company. I’ll leave you to get acquainted with your workstation. My calendar is there and you should have a map from HR to let you know where all the departments are. I will mostly need you to deal with managing my calendar, any memos that come by for me, and make sure that I don’t get bothered by anyone that doesn’t have an appointment.”

“I believe that is within my skill set.”

“Excellent. In that case, I look forward to working with you.”

Harry went back into his office feeling a lot lighter despite having to go over budgeting reports. It wasn’t his favourite thing, but Harry certainly preferred it to choosing the next ad campaign; dramatic flair was definitely more his dad and Sirius’ field. Still, he made a mental note to get his Godfather a bottle of fire whisky as thanks for the secretary and settled down to try to go through the figures and make sure none of the departments were overspending.

He was buried in reports, the columns of numbers blurring before his eyes, and he cursed that Hogwarts didn’t offer any maths classes. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, pulling Harry out if his number induced stupor.

“Enter.”

“Sorry for disturbing you, Mr Potter,” Severus said, walking through the door, “but I thought it prudent to remind you that you have a meeting with the Minister of Magic in half an hour and you might want to head out unless you want to be late.”

Was it that late already? Harry looked at the clock. “Fuck!”

He jumped up from the desk, knocking the accounts parchments onto the floor. 

“May I suggest setting your wand to alert you in the future. Also, you might want to sort out that rat’s nest you call hair before you leave,” Severus intoned. 

“Unfortunately it is a family trait, actually the reason why my grandfather invented Sleekeazy,” Harry chuckled, before catching himself in a mirror. 

“It’s even worse than usual,” his reflection pointed out. Harry had to agree. He had been raking his hands through his hair in frustration as he tried to follow the rows and rows of numbers to no avail. He frowned as he desperately tried to smooth it down with his hands, only to be passed a comb. 

“May I suggest keeping a supply of your famous product on hand to help make you look presentable on these occasions?”

Harry ducked his head sheepishly. “I gotta confess, I actually really hate the stuff. Feels like I’ve got a shell on my head instead of hair.”

“In that case, wouldn’t it behove you to improve the product to make it less distasteful for you.”

“I tried,” Harry admitted, “but nothing less rigid was actually effective on my hair.”

Severus hummed, but Harry thought he saw a flicker of something in his eyes that made Harry think he was mildly impressed. Unfortunately Harry didn’t have the chance to think on that further as he had to run or he risked really being late, especially with the crush that always happened in the Ministry after lunch. His hair was a lost cause but at least it looked a little better than it had, plus he was somewhat known for his bed hair anyway. He was just darting out of the door when he felt a wave of magic wash over his back. The magic was cool and Harry felt it tingle across his skin, even as he whipped around to stare at Severus with a look of horror. 

“Someone in your position should pay more attention to who is raising their wand around you,” Severus said, a little coldly, and Harry couldn’t help feeling that he had lost any respect that he had gained before. “Thankfully this time all I did was remove the creases from your robes but who knows what I might do next time.” A cold smile spread across Severus’ face and Harry shuddered at seeing it but he didn’t have time to dwell on it as he darted to the Ministry. 

The meeting was as boring as ever, with Fudge trying to weasel a better deal for the healing potions the Aurors and Hit Wizards now carried. Harry was happy that they had ready access to medical help, especially as it eased the burden on St Mungos as well. His only issue was that Fudge seemed to think that he was a soft touch, choosing to negotiate with Harry because he thought Harry would be naive and easier to manipulate. Unfortunately for Fudge, he really wasn’t and made sure the man paid extra instead. A part of him felt a bit bad about taking money from the tax payer but he made a mental note to donate some more to some charities to compensate. 

Harry came back to the office to find Severus still sitting at his desk. 

“Did you go out for lunch?” 

“I ate at my desk. I didn’t want to miss any memos while you were out.”

Harry frowned, pulled up short. “Oh, you didn’t have to do that. The memos can wait.  Take a break now if you want.”

“I am fine. I was just using the time to read as things had seemed quiet.”

He was taking notes as well, but Harry didn’t feel like prying. The man could be writing a journal or something. Still, he took a deep breath while he stood there, enjoying the mild, fresh scent. As always, he had had to deal with a bunch of omegas clamouring at him for attention as he left the Ministry. Their scents had been overwhelming, like walking through a perfume shop after someone had shattered all the vials, making it one big scent cloud. Severus' scent, on the other hand, was a literal breath of fresh air and Harry was happy to stand there until Severus gave him a baleful look. 

“Don’t you have work to do?”

Harry gave him a sheepish look and walked away. Sure, he should probably curb Severus’ attitude but Harry quite liked his snarkiness and he had a feeling that Severus would be very good at keeping unwanted visitors away. He went into his office, feeling good about what was turning out to be a good day. 

That day ended up being even better when Harry looked on his desk and saw that the accounts had been done. Harry was amazed as he looked them over. 

He could only assume that the scrawl belonged to Severus, the man had been the only other person around after all and it made sense that the man had picked them up. The fact that he had actually gone through them was astounding to Harry, although the way he had circled certain figures made Harry chuckle. It reminded him too much of his essays from school. 

“Severus?”

“Yes,” the other man said, walking into Harry’s office. His face fell when he saw Harry looking at the accounts though. “Is something the matter?”

“Actually, no,” Harry replied, flashing him a reassuring smile. “This all seems in order. I just didn’t realise that accounts were in your skill set.”

“I used to run my own mail order potions business,” Severus explained. “I had to keep track of accounts for that so it comes quite natural to me.”

“Well thank you. Honestly, numbers are not my strong suit.”

“Clearly,” Severus scoffed. “If they were you would see that Damocles Belby is robbing you blind. He really has no need to be paying that much for various ingredients. He is clearly pocketing the difference and fleecing you.”

Harry winced. “Possibly. Unfortunately Belby is a special case. He’s trying to find improvements for something.”

“Of course he is,” Severus sneered. “Your father will want the best for his pet werewolf.”

Harry blinked in surprise. “You know about that?”

“I had the misfortune of attending Hogwarts with your father and his friends.”

That surprised Harry as well. He had thought that Severus was actually older than his dad, he certainly looked older. Harry suddenly found himself intrigued by Severus, but he felt the need to explain things. 

“I’m hoping to help my friend Hermione change the werewolf laws to make space for them in the wizarding world. We need a version of Wolfsbane that can be mass produced and will be affordable for them for that to happen and Belby is working on that.”

“That is clearly up for debate,” Severus scoffed, “given what he is ordering. If I were you, I would give him a deadline for when to show some progress and, if he doesn’t meet that deadline, find another potioneer to do what you need them to do.”

Harry liked Severus’ idea except there was one problem: Harry didn’t know that there was another potioneer who could, or would. Damocles Belby had earned a lot of acclaim after inventing the original version of Wolfsbane and few people wanted to step on his toes. It was one of the reasons why none of them wanted to potion so Harry didn’t exactly have many opinions. 

“Still,” he said, “I’m grateful for your work with this. It’s been a big help.”

Severus harrumphed. “If that is all.” With that he left, and Harry tried to concentrate on writing a report of the accounts for his meeting with the board of directors the next morning. He kept getting distracted thinking about his new secretary though. Severus was, on the surface, very abrasive, but Harry had a feeling he could actually be very sweet. He had an urge to try to bring out that sweet side, even though he found he quite liked Severus’ snark. 

The meeting had been first thing in the morning and Harry was glad for that, as he always found them a bit boring. It was mostly because they had been set up to keep his dad abreast of everything that was going on so it either had things that Harry already knew, or were talking about areas that Harry didn’t particularly care about like how they thought they could get more in store purchases. 

When he got back to his office, he saw an irate Hermione in a stand off with Severus while Ron looked on, slightly bemused. 

“We are Harry’s friends, we do not need an appointment to see him!”

“Regardless, Mr Potter is not in.”

“Why does that matter?” Hermione yelled, as Ron smirked, and Harry felt the need to step in. 

“Thank you Severus but Ron and Hermione are my friends and I am happy for them to be in my office, even when I’m not there.”

“I shall make a note of that for the future,” Severus said with a nod. 

“By the way, this is a thank you for helping me with the accounts yesterday. I would have probably been up all night with them if you hadn’t stepped in.”

Harry pulled out a box of macarons that he had picked up from a muggle bakery that morning. He hadn’t known what Severus liked so he had picked up a bunch of flavours on the off chance that some of them would be right. Severus stared at the box with a look of puzzlement and wonder. 

“Thank you,” he muttered quietly, as Harry ushered his friends into his office. 

“I can’t believe that!” Hermione huffed. “None of your secretaries have ever stopped us from coming in here before, and then you rewarded him for his behaviour.”

“Well, to be fair, all of the previous secretaries knew we were friends from school, Severus doesn’t,” Harry explained. “Plus, weren’t you the one who told me to be nice to my secretaries? Bosses come and go but secretaries are there to stay.”

“And yet you never listened to me before.”

“Well it’s not like they did actually stay,” Ron chuckled. 

“That is because none of them could actually do the job,” Harry pointed out. “Severus seems like he can, in fact he seems more than competent, and I wanted to thank him for helping me out. If it helps, I sincerely doubt he will block you again.”

“He’d better not!” Hermione groused. “I have enough of people trying to boss me around at the Ministry, I don’t need it here as well.”

Ron grinned. “And now we know why you say to be nice to secretaries.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll send you your own ‘good job’ macarons if you want,” Harry smirked, earning him a swat on the arm for his efforts. 

“That wasn’t the issue!” Hermione huffed, although Harry realised it probably was, at least on some level. It was never nice to feel your efforts weren’t appreciated so he made a mental note to get two more boxes to help his friends. 

Things got a bit busier after that. Sleekeazy had been planning on partnering with the Holyhead Harpies to promote a new muscle relief salve. Witches and wizards tended to have a slimmer build and a young potioneer by the name of Penny Haywood had determined that that was because of healing potions. Muscles grew when muscle fibres, that had been broken, fused together to form new fibres, or so Penny had explained. Healing potions, however, healed muscles to how they had been before the break, preventing any real muscle growth. Penny had been working on a salve that would actually boost this growth process and the Harpies were very interested in it. 

The problem was that there had been delays in the development of the salve which meant that they were struggling to get it finished before the start of the new season which would cause an issue for their advertising campaign as they had been hoping to say that the Harpies had been using it. That meant a lot of them pulling overtime to get the product ready for the Harpies to use it after their training. That meant Harry had to attend a lot of meetings to make sure that everything was on track, acting as a go-between between the development and advertising departments. 

Severus attended all those meetings with Harry to take notes and he seemed very intrigued, especially when they were in the development department. Harry had no idea what he was writing, however; it just looked like a bunch of squiggles to him. 

“It’s short hand,” Severus explained, when Harry asked him about it. “I learned about it from some of my mother’s old clients who had attended secretarial school. I found it a fascinating practice, especially when it came to taking notes. Don’t worry, I’ll write them up properly for you.”

He said it with a sigh, as if he was being hard done by, and Harry assumed that he was since he was essentially writing them out twice. He was inordinately grateful for that effort, however. Not only were there not the errors that Harry associated with a quick quotes quill, but Severus had also added extra notes, based on his knowledge of potions. It was very handy, and Harry wondered why he hadn’t thought to hire a secretary with potions knowledge before now. 

The notes weren’t the only way Severus proved himself invaluable.

“Learn to straighten your own robes.”

“How do you lose all of these combs I keep conjuring for you.”

“Will you ever stop being a dunderhead and learn to set alarms so you don’t miss meetings!”

His tone was harsh and his words would probably be considered as inappropriate for a secretary to use towards their boss by many but Harry was more than happy to hear them. His dad had always been more of a friend than a parent so it was actually quite nice to have someone snapping at him and telling him where he was actually failing to meet expectations, even though Severus continued to pick up the slack every time. 

Harry had actually struggled to come up with things to buy the man after the first week, with all that he had done. Then, one day, Harry had come back from a meeting and noticed that Severus was only eating a plain cheese sandwich for lunch. That gave him an idea and he purposely had Severus order him a lunch when he knew he was going to be having lunch with his dad, giving the ordered lunch to Severus instead. He did it a couple of times, having Severus order and then eating out. Then he stopped, and Severus seemed annoyed, and Harry had to step in. 

“Did you not bring in anything for lunch?” Harry asked. 

“Clearly” Severus hissed, scowling at Harry. 

“Well, you should go down to the canteen then and put it on my tab. You’ve been putting in enough overtime, you could do with a bonus.”

Severus seemed mollified, although not exactly happy with the idea and Harry noted that he added a lunch order onto Harry’s. Harry didn’t mind in the slightest, and wished he had a way to encourage the man to spend even more. It didn’t help that they both seemed to be pulling a lot of overtime trying to get everything ready for the new product launch and the days seemed to blur into one another so Harry wasn’t even sure what day it was. He was just looking over a report on the latest trial of the muscle salve when Severus suddenly dumped a wrapped package on Harry’s desk. 

“What is that?” Harry asked, blinking as he looked up from his reports. 

“A birthday gift for Miss Weasley,” Severus replied. “I overheard while getting coffee this morning that it is her birthday tomorrow. I assumed that you haven’t gotten her anything. I wasn’t sure what she would like but I know that muggles have some interesting leisurewear that I think she might appreciate, especially as it will show off the new physique she is developing far better than wizarding robes.”

Harry stared at the package for a few moments as he tried to work out he tried to come to terms with what had just happened. His wonderful, incredible secretary had somehow realised that he had made an awful faux pas. He had then gone out of his way to rectify it, even though it wasn’t his job, and he had done so in a way that would actually benefit the company.

“Marry me.”

Now it was Severus’ turn to blink. “I beg your pardon?”

“I said marry me,” Harry repeated, suddenly realising that he would quite happily marry this man. Sure, there was no sexual chemistry between them but Harry had never been that fussed about sex. Severus, however, was reliable, competent and Harry loved how well Severus took care of him. Severus, however, did not look impressed. 

“Not likely. I sincerely doubt you can offer me anything I want.”

He walked out and Harry felt that that was a bit of a blow. He could tell that Severus wasn’t affluent; his robes always put Harry more in mind of the Weasleys than his Godfather, although the black covered the wear out more than colours did. That, along with the man’s lunches, made Harry think he didn’t have any money but apparently Harry’s wealth wasn’t enough to tempt him. Admittedly that made Harry more impressed with the man and Harry determined that he would do everything he could to keep the man around. 

Harry did worry that his impromptu proposal had caused irreconcilable harm when he came in the next day and Severus seemed more short than ever.

“What is that?” Severus snapped, when Harry put another box down on his desk. 

“It’s birthday cake. Ginny loved the gift by the way, but she knew there was no way that I bought it for her so I had to admit that you got it. She told me to tell her thank you and she wanted you to have some cake.”

“I do not need your ex-girlfriend’s pity,” Severus sneered, pushing it away. 

“OK,” Harry said, frowning as he took it back. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Severus ground out. 

“OK, but you have put in a lot of overtime recently so if you need to take the afternoon off, let me know. We managed to finish the trial so it’s just the ad campaign which you don’t need to be too involved in. It’s also Friday and if anyone deserves an extended weekend it’s you.”

Harry went into his office and, while he trusted Severus to know his body, he couldn’t help wondering that something was wrong. That seemed to be confirmed when Severus came in a few hours later, clutching his stomach and looking very flushed. 

“I, I think I will need to take you up on that offer to go home early,” Severus panted as he grimaced. The man was sweating profusely and Harry couldn’t help wondering if he had sprayed some sort of deodorant to cover the smell as Harry was inundated by something that smelled a bit like freshly chopped herbs as soon as the man entered his room. Harry couldn’t help worrying about the man who was nearly doubling over, his body shaking like a leaf. 

“Of course, no problem. Are you sure you don’t want me to call a Healer? You don’t look well.” 

Severus gasped and jumped away from Harry but it was too late. He let out a keening cry and then there was a gush as fluid seemed to drip down his legs. 

Harry gaped. “You’re in heat!”

“Yes!” Severus hissed. “That’s why-” He didn’t get to finish his sentence as there was another wave of fluid, causing Severus to cry out as he doubled over. 

“Come on, we need to get you out of those robes.” His practical side kicked in, even as a part of him screamed in surprise. With Severus’ lack of scent, as well as his attitude, Harry had assumed he was a beta. That was a discussion for another time, however. For now, he needed to ensure Severus was comfortable and safe through his heat, if the man allowed it.

“Don’t touch me!” Severus snarled, flinching away from Harry. His eyes were wide as saucers and his breath was ragged as his nostrils flared. 

“Easy Severus, I’m not going to hurt you but your robes are sodden and they can’t be comfortable.”

“You will not touch me!” Severus hissed. 

“No, I won’t, I promise,” Harry assured him. “I just want to get you comfortable. You are in no state to go anywhere at the moment. Do you want me to lock the door so no one else can come in?”

Severus hesitated a moment but then nodded. 

Harry smiled. “OK, that’s good. I’m going to lock the door and send a memo to my dad that I’m not going to be able to make the meeting and not to allow anyone in here. Do you need me to get you anything? What do you normally do when going through heat?”

“I don’t,” Severus gasped, through gritted teeth as he continued to clutch his abdomen and rocked. “I hate this. I hate losing control. That’s why I developed a suppressant to stop it.”

“What happened then?” Harry asked, coming to kneel down near the man but keeping his distance. “Did it not work?”

“The suppressant works fine!” Severus hissed, his head whipping round to glare at Harry, even as his arms remained tightly wrapped around his body. It was clear that the man was scared as well as in pain and Harry took a deep breath to push down his alpha side at the omega’s show of defiance. It helped that he found Severus’ scent immensely calming. 

“How come you are suddenly going through heat then?”

“I am going through heat because of you and your blasted company!” Severus spat, with such emphasis that his spit literally flew in Harry’s face. Harry’s fingers twitched but he kept his hands firmly planted on his thighs. 

“How have I caused you to go through heat?” 

“Because you made getting ingredients impossible. I need runespoor skin for the potion but I can’t get it in England and your bloody company caused the apothecaries to go out of business. I ended up having to go to some dodgy dealers to try to get some which is why I ended up getting this job to pay my fucking fine!”

“I’m sorry,” Harry said, although he had to admit that he wasn’t really. He was sorry that Severus was suffering but he couldn’t regret that it had brought Severus to him. Although he did feel like he should try to make amends somehow. He tried to wrack his brains for what he had done when Ginny went through her heat. 

Unfortunately the first thing he had thought of was him having sex with her. Harry hadn’t particularly enjoyed it at the time, especially with how her scent had become overpowering, making him feel a little sick. He hadn’t been able to go near anything lavender for about a week after without feeling nauseated. Severus was different though; Harry found his scent completely refreshing and his body apparently thought the idea of having sex with him wasn’t a bad one. That was surprising and something that Harry would have to think about later. Severus had very clearly told Harry not to touch him so that was exactly what Harry would do unless expressly told otherwise. 

He did need to get Severus out of his clothes, however. The back of his robes had more than soaked through and the man was currently kneeling in a puddle. 

“Dobby!”

“What’s can Dobby be doing for Master Harry?” the House Elf asked, appearing in the office. Dobby had been given to the family as a way of the Malfoys paying reparations for what Lucius had done and Dobby had always been very grateful to the family for that. 

“I need you to help Severus in any way you can. He is going through heat. I need you to help him out of his clothes.”

“Of course Master,” Dobby said, but he had barely raised his hand before Severus snarled at him. 

“Don’t even think of stripping me, Elf, or I will slice your ears off and use them in a potion.”

“Severus!” Harry yelled, feeling his hackles rise, and it took all of his willpower not to tackle the man to the ground. “Dobby is only trying to help. If you stay in those wet things you could get seriously ill and none of us want that.”

“I know,” Severus said with a half whine. “The elf is irritating me though.”

At first Harry thought Severus meant Dobby’s personality and he was just about to admonish the man again when he noticed Severus clawing at his robes. Apparently he meant that Dobby’s magic was literally irritating him and Harry felt himself relax a bit. 

“Dobby, apparently Severus’ magic is extra sensitive to your magic. Can you quickly conjure a bed with a waterproof sheet on and then bring some sheets and towels from home. I’ll need you to make sure that no one disturbs us, and if you can send in some food, bread and cheese and fruits, that will be great. And some water and ice as well please.”

“Of course, Master Harry,” Dobby beamed, accomplishing everything with a click of his fingers. 

“This is humiliating,” Severus groaned. 

“What is?”

“Having to have waterproof sheets.”

“Well it will be pointless getting those clothes off you if you then soak the mattress through. Speaking of.” Harry cast a spell to strip Severus of his clothes, causing them to appear in a heap in the corner: it was a spell the Weasley twins had taught him which had come in handy when some of his experiments went wrong. Severus gasped and shuddered a bit as Harry’s magic washed over him. 

“Sorry if that was painful for you.”

“It…wasn’t,” Severus said cautiously. 

Harry nodded. “That’s good.” Ginny had always hated it whenever he cast around her during heat so he was glad at least his magic wasn’t upsetting Severus. “Do you think you can walk to the bed or would you like me to levitate you?”

Severus paused, clearly weighing up the pros and cons of the situation. “Levitate me.”

“A please wouldn’t go amiss,” Harry said, brandishing his wand and chuckling as Severus scowled at him. It definitely lost some of its heat as the man tried to cover his modesty and Harry made sure to turn his head as he handed Severus a sheet to cover himself. 

“Here’s a towel to put underneath you. If you lift your sheet up above it then I can make sure to cast a drying spell whenever it gets too much. I don’t want you to get uncomfortable.”

“And what will you be doing in the meantime?” Severus asked, watching Harry shrewdly. Harry just smiled and pulled his chair up next to the bed. 

“I’m just going to sit here and make sure you’re as comfortable as possible while you ride this out.” Severus gave him a baleful look as if he didn’t believe a word Harry said. Harry just smiled down at him however, keeping his hands on his lap until the next wave of hormones had Severus crying out. 

“What’s wrong?”

“It aches, down there,” Severus whimpered, squirming and rubbing himself against the towel. 

“Do you want me to get you one of the aids?” Harry remembered using one when he hadn’t been able to fulfil Ginny as much as she needed.

Severus shook his head violently. “No! I refuse! I will not give into that.”

“OK. Do you think a pain relief potion will help?”

“Please!” Severus begged, and Harry gave him a warm smile. 

“No problem. I’ll get Dobby to bring you one. And a sleeping draught for later.”

“Draught of the living dead,” Severus said, but Harry shook his head. 

“As much as I would love you to simply sleep through this entirely, I don’t want to risk you getting dehydrated, or exhausted from a lack of food. Speaking of, you should probably have a drink. Can you sit up on your own or would you like me to help you?”

Severus wriggled a bit and managed to half sit up before collapsing to the bed with a grunt. 

“A little help,” he sighed, with such a level of resignation that Harry didn’t have the heart to correct his manners. 

“I hope my scent doesn’t bother you,” Harry said as he carefully eased an arm under Severus’ shoulders. 

“It’s fine,” Severus sighed, and Harry could have sworn the man leaned into him. It must have been due to exhaustion, Harry rationalised. Severus had made it very clear that he wasn’t interested in Harry in the slightest and, as much as Harry might be starting to wish that wasn’t the case, Harry would respect his wishes. 

It was a little strange. He had always been under the impression that he would never end up with an omega, they all wound him up too much. Severus was different though. He didn’t just sit around waiting for some big, strong alpha to come along and sort out all of his problems, he got on and sorted them himself. Sure, he didn’t always get things right but at least he tried, and Harry had to respect him for that. It helped that Harry was coming to really like the man’s fresh scent, that reminded him more of a freshly mown lawn now that he thought about it. He didn’t dare lean in to scent him though. His body was already responding to the other man’s proximity and Harry was loath to risk Severus’ trust, which he had just managed to earn. 

It was difficult, though. There was something incredibly intimate about helping Severus eat and drink, of seeing the man so vulnerable, that pulled at Harry’s heart strings. It made him want to take all the man’s pain away; the problem was that Harry didn’t know where to start. His relationship with Ginny had just sort of happened. He had no idea how to get closer to a man as prickly as Severus. 

After he had had a drink and a few bites to eat, Harry handed Severus the mild pain potion and cast a drying spell on the towel he was lying on. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked as Severus eased himself back down to the bed with a wince. 

“Like my insides are being mangled. I swear it was never this bad before.”

“It might be worse if it has been a while since your last heat,” Harry suggested. “Just let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”

Severus frowned, and Harry thought a blush developed on his cheeks, but it was a bit difficult to tell with the colour caused by his heat. 

“Could you…touch me. Not in that way. Having your hand around my shoulders eased the ache.”

“Above the shoulders touching is definitely something I can do,” Harry assured him, with a warm smile. He stretched his hand out to cup the man’s cheek. “How is that?”

Severus let out a small, contented sigh and hummed. Harry’s smile grew and he gently stroked his thumb over the other man’s cheek. It was smooth and pale as porcelain; Harry wondered if the man ever sat in the sun. That said, the pale skin seemed to suit Severus, working as a stark contrast to his dark hair and eyes. His complexion had always seemed a little sallow before, but the flush of heat gave him a healthier glow, making him look younger, less severe. 

He seemed relaxed for the first time that afternoon, possibly the most since Harry had seen him, lying with his eyes closed, his head turned towards Harry’s hand as if he were breathing in his scent. Harry thought that unlikely: Ginny had always said he smelled bitter, like liquorice, and had strongly disliked it, especially during her heat, saying it didn’t suit him. At least Severus didn’t seem to mind it as his breathing evened out and he gently fell asleep. Harry continued to watch the other man for a bit, enjoying the peace that had settled over the usually severe countenance. It was like Harry’s presence had eased some of what had been troubling the man and that thought caused a warmth to bloom in Harry’s chest. 

Harry sat there for some time, watching the sun make its way across the sky. After the chaos of the last month, it was a nice break to be able to enjoy some tranquility, especially knowing that there would be no one disturbing him save Severus. Unfortunately, as comfortable as Harry was, eventually nature called and Harry was forced to move, albeit reluctantly. He conjured a good old chamber pot, not wanting to leave Severus, but apparently that was already too much and Harry turned around to see Severus watching him. He should probably be embarrassed but, given what Severus had been forced to show him, he was happy to be able to share the embarrassment a bit. 

“Did I disturb you?”

Snape sighed. “I need the bloody loo as well,” he groused, and Harry emptied the contents of the pot to go and help Severus sit up as the man was clearly too weak to do it himself. He seemed resigned to his fate as Harry supported him and levitated the pot in place but there was a distinct frown on his forehead. 

“You really hate going through heat, don’t you?”

“I hate not being in control of my own body. Admittedly it was worse at school, I really ended up losing myself back then and I can’t remember much other than being a quivering mass of need. The idea that anyone could come along and take me, and I’d welcome it, scared the hell out of me. That’s why I came up with the suppressants in the first place. I’m glad the lack of teenage hormones has helped me keep my sanity at least.”

Harry nodded in agreement but there was a voice at the back of his mind that wondered if his presence might actually be what was helping Severus keep calm.

“Do you want to eat a bit more before you lie down again?”

“I don’t really feel hungry,” Severus admitted. 

“You should eat something though.”

Severus gave Harry a baleful look. “I’m hardly about to waste away.”

Harry looked the man over and, in his mind, Severus was almost too slim, apart from a slight paunch at his stomach which was common in older men. It was something that he found his eyes being drawn to. He had always gone for more athletic builds in the past, never having seen the appeal of big breasts or hips. Hard muscle wasn’t particularly fun to press against, however, and he couldn’t help imagining how nice it would be to rest his head against Severus’ stomach. 

“I would still feel better if you ate something,” Harry pushed, feeling the man could gain a few pounds. “Your body’s burning a lot of energy at the moment. Have some fruit and some water and I’ll give you the sleeping draught after, how’s that?”

Severus grumbled but complied and Harry soon found himself settling back into his chair, his hand once again cupping Severus’ cheek as the potion kicked in and he fell asleep. He kept his hand there even when Severus began to snore gently, even asking Dobby to make him a sandwich so that he could eat it one handed. He tried to read some reports as well but the soft, melodic sounds coming from Severus soon lulled Harry into his own sleep however. 

It didn’t last all night, but that was hardly surprising since he had been sleeping in his chair. He woke up sometime near midnight. The moon was high in the sky, its pale light landing on Severus, making his skin glow. He seemed almost ethereal lying there, so peaceful and still. He had somehow curled up towards Harry in his sleep and Harry’s heart ached with want. The man was such a wonderful mix, with sharp edges and a fragile core. Harry wished he could wrap him up and protect him against all of the evils of the world but he knew that wasn’t to be his fate. Severus had rejected him, and that hurt, but Harry truly hoped that he would find someone he deemed worthy of him one day. 

Still, that didn’t mean that Harry couldn’t dream. He knew he should conjure his own bed but, with the way Severus was lying, there was currently a space behind him. It was wrong, he was taking liberties, but he also couldn’t pass up this chance. He would be good, keeping his clothes on and staying above the sheet. He just wanted to pretend, if only for one night, that this amazing man was actually his. He just hoped that Severus wouldn’t hate him too much in the morning. 

The day dawned, although Harry didn’t wake up until the sun was quite high in the sky. He had been warm, surrounded by the wonderful, fresh smell of Severus and it took him a moment to realise why. Apparently Severus had decided to curl up against Harry during the night: his face was wedged in the crook of Harry’s neck; one of his legs was hooked over Harry’s hips and his cock was pressing up against Harry’s own throbbing erection. To say he was ridiculously uncomfortable would be an understatement, not because he didn’t want to be in this position, more that he wanted to be in this position too much and he feared losing control. He was barely holding onto it as it was. 

The problem was that, when Harry tried to pull away, Severus gripped onto him tightly, whimpering. It was a strange sound to hear coming from Severus and Harry wasn’t sure if the man was even alert or if he had finally lost control of his omega instincts. All he knew was that pulling away would clearly distress him so Harry was stuck. He took a deep breath, allowing Severus’ scent to wash over him, rubbing Severus’ back in an effort to soothe himself as much as the other man.

He wasn’t sure how much it helped though. Severus relaxed a bit initially, but the whimpers soon turned to moans under Harry’s ministrations, breathing deeply as he buried his nose further into Harry’s neck. At least Harry was pretty sure, from his actions, that Severus enjoyed his scent which caused a little flare of hope to burst into life. Unfortunately the joy that came with that was quickly watered down as Severus continued to rut against him, mouthing Harry’s neck as he did. Harry bit his lip and it took all of his effort not to roll them over and grind onto Severus as hard as he could. 

Eventually Severus reached his peak, his cry muffled against Harry’s skin as his body spasmed and gush after gush of slick poured out of him. Harry was sorely tempted to have a taste, wondering if it would be more like herbs or salad. He refrained though, barely, not wanting to risk Severus’ wrath. Eventually the man would regain his senses and Harry wanted to try to endear himself to the man, not prove his fears right. 

It was easier said than done, however. Apparently Severus was not yet done and, no sooner had Harry dried the towel he was lying on than Severus began rutting against him again. Harry let out a loud groan, biting his lip so hard that he was sure he drew blood. It was hell having to just lie there as Severus used his body, too scared to do anything more. He didn’t actually want this to stop after all. If this was the one and only way Harry got to be with Severus he would take as much as he could. 

It only got harder for Harry, or rather Harry got impossibly harder. Despite his best efforts to hold back, not wanting to risk spooking Severus, it was fruitless and, somewhere through Severus’ second onslaught, Harry came hard, his knot setting, bigger than Harry had ever experienced before, and he groaned with a mixture of relief and despair. Thankfully Severus was far from put off, groaning along with Harry as his movements became almost frantic. He sucked down on Harry’s neck, hard enough to leave a mark, and Harry felt his cock give another valiant spurt. 

A part of him wished that omegas could form the bond but, unfortunately, it was all on the alpha. He would be more than happy to, of course, if he didn’t think it would risk Severus’ ire. Thankfully, Severus seemed more than happy with Severus’ current state, pressing himself against the ridge of Severus’ knot, stimulating his cock even as slick continued to come until he came from his cock and his hole at the same time. His body shook like a leaf as he did, pressing impossibly close against Harry. 

Harry was exhausted himself and ran a gentle hand over Severus’ back but nothing more. There was a mess all around them but Harry was too tired to care until he felt Severus shiver. 

“Dobby! Can you get us a blanket please?”

A thick duvet appeared to cover Severus’ rapidly cooling body. The other man had let out a whine as Dobby had cleaned them up. Harry had shushed him though, and pulled him closer, and Severus had calmed. 

It was dark by the time Harry woke up again, unsure which was demanding greater attention, his bladder or his stomach. What won out, however, was Severus who had apparently curled himself up on the other edge of the bed. Harry mourned the loss of the other man’s warmth but he was more concerned about Severus himself. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Better,” Severus rasped. “The worst is over. You can probably go now.”

“I will after I’ve seen you eat and drink something. It’s been nearly two days and you’ve barely had anything to eat. I don’t want to risk you passing out if I go.”

“I am not some pathetic weakling that needs you to coddle them!”

“Perish the thought,” Harry chuckled, leaving off that that was half the problem. “I am still your boss, and you are at work which is why I would hate for something to happen to you while you were here on your own.” It wasn’t a complete lie but Harry hoped that it would be enough to persuade Severus. 

Apparently it was as Severus huffed out a “fine” under his breath. 

“What would you like to eat? Dobby can cook most things.”

“Caviar, foie gras and Lobster Thermidor.”

“Sure.”

“What!” Severus exclaimed, whipping around to gape at Harry who just smiled at Severus and shrugged. 

“If that is what you want.”

“Of course that’s not what I want, you imbecile! I was being pedantic.”

“OK. Do you want me to order something then?”

“Fine,” Severus said with a scowl and Harry couldn’t help but think that this was probably some sort of test. A part of him wanted to order something fancy to show off but he knew that wasn’t Severus’ style. Instead he requested some mac n’ cheese, a fruit smoothie and some treacle tart for after. 

“Treacle tart?”

Harry shrugged. “It’s actually a favourite of mine but I haven’t been able to enjoy it since reaching my maturity. After spending all this time with you, however, I think I might have a taste for it again.”

“What do you mean by that!” Severus demanded, becoming impossibly pale in the moonlight. 

“Just that I find your scent very refreshing. There are so many omegas with cloyingly sweet scents that it puts me off desserts and things a lot of the time, even though I used to love them. Being with you has been like a breath of fresh air so thank you.” 

A faint blush coloured Severus’ cheeks, clearly visible now that his heat was passing. 

“I must admit it isn’t too bad to be around you either. Most alphas are repugnant to me, but I can tolerate you.”

Harry laughed. “High praise. I’m a little surprised though. Ginny always said I smelled like liquorice and she hated it. Said it didn’t suit me in the slightest.”

Severus scoffed. “Liquorice has a soft, sweet, mild but powerful scent. I would say it suits you perfectly.”

Harry was momentarily stunned and wanted to press Severus on what he meant. Severus didn’t seem interested in elaborating, however, sitting up so his back was to Harry and summoning his robes. His magic was still a little wonky though, and they smacked him straight in the face. He refused Harry’s help, however, and Harry didn’t want to push things and ruin what had turned into a very enjoyable weekend. His fingers trailed to his neck, where Severus had sucked a mark, reminding Harry that the man did have a sweet side, even if it was usually hidden under layers of snark. 

Severus was a little wobbly as he made his way over to Harry’s desk where Dobby had set up the food. He made it without help, however, and Harry wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not. They ate in silence although, on Harry’s part at least, it wasn’t uncomfortable. He had never been one for small talk, which was why he always left any schmoozing to his dad and Sirius. Severus didn’t seem in the mood to talk either, although he did wolf his pasta down so Harry thought he at least scored a point on that one.

“See,” Severus said, sitting back and sipping on his smoothie. The pasta was gone but the tart had been pushed aside and Harry hoped that was just because he was full, not that he’d made a mistake. 

“OK, I can see that, but I still don’t want you to have to do any magic for a bit so I’m gonna leave Dobby here to help.” Severus frowned a bit and Harry wondered if Dobby’s magic was still irritating him a bit. He didn’t decline the offer though and Harry was glad he didn’t have to fight the man on it. “I’ll leave the bed here so you are free to stay tomorrow as well.

“I may need to take Monday off as well.”

“Of course,” Harry agreed, “although I hope to see you on Tuesday.” 

His alpha side was already railing against the thought of leaving this omega on his own when he wasn’t fully recovered but, logically, that was his preference and Harry wasn’t about to override that. Severus nodded, however, and Harry sighed as he took his leave. It took everything in him to not pull the man in for a hug before he left. It wasn’t something that was available to him, though and he walked away without looking back. 

Monday was the first day Harry had not looked forward to going to work. Severus wouldn’t be there and Harry knew he would miss his presence, as well as his skill at working as a buffer for Harry. It was crazy how big a part the man already had in Harry’s life and the thought that he might lose the man filled Harry with dread. When his dad suggested they take an extended lunch to celebrate the fact that the muscle salve campaign was now getting underway. 

“I had the marketing people working on things while you were still getting the testing sorted so it is essentially ready to go,” James explained when Harry questioned why the man was ordering gigglewater. “All we need to do is put the information on things. We plan on doing a launch of it on Saturday in the shop and the ad in the Prophet will run on Monday.”

Harry smiled. “That’s good. I have an easy week then.”

“You probably need it from the state of you,” Sirius chuckled. “Did you find a new omega to bump uglies with?”

James paled. “You didn’t bond with Snape did you?”

“No, I didn’t,” Harry replied, fighting not to scowl too much. 

“What has Snivellus got to do with anything?” Sirius questioned. 

“Firstly, don’t call him that,” Harry said, a slight growl coming into his voice. “Secondly, his heat came on suddenly on Friday and I helped him through it over the weekend.”

Sirius pulled a face. “Poor you. I bet you needed 20 showers to get his stick off you.”

“Dobby cleaned things up for us,” Harry admitted, before James began to question why he didn’t shower. He had actually been hoping some of Severus’ scent would remain but Dobby had done too good a job.”

“I’m just annoyed that he tried to entrap you like that,” James groused. “I have half a mind to fire him.”

Sirius grinned. “Then his arse would definitely end up in Azkaban.”

“Don’t fire him dad, he’s the first competent secretary I've had. Anyway, what do you mean he will end up in Azkaban?” Harry queried, rounding on Sirius. 

Sirius just shrugged. “Thought you knew. He got involved in some illegal potions ingredient dealing and was arrested. Dumbledore managed to help get his sentence reduced to a fine, and Merlin knows why he keeps helping sniv- er, Snape. If Snape can’t pay the 10,000 galleon fine within the year, though, he’ll end up in prison anyway. It’s why he’s on the higher secretary salary despite being a newbie, because I knew offering him that much would force his hand. Honestly, I hoped you would be giving him a bit more shit than you are, given what he has done.”

Harry frowned. “What do you mean, what he has done?”

“Snape was the reason your mother died,” James explained. “He gave Voldemort some information that put us at risk, remember.”

“But weren’t we already at risk? I forget but I thought we’d been in hiding for some time before that attack?”

“We had,” James admitted, “and there was still some time after his warning to Dumbledore that it actually happened as well. It was still ultimately him passing in information to Voldemort that put us up the list, however, and caused your mother’s death.”

“Yeah, even his house elf warning hadn’t been able to stop that,” Sirius added. 

“I don’t see why that means he needs to go to Azkaban now though,” Harry reasoned. He was probably a little biased because of his growing feelings though. He hadn’t realised that Severus had been the one to send the house elf and, from all reports, save his dad. Harry didn’t want to think what his life would have been like if he had lost both parents. There had been a suggestion that Lily’s death had allowed him and his father to defeat Voldemort so Harry couldn’t hate him. If anything, Harry felt a little guilty that it was his company that had caused Severus to get into trouble and Harry wanted to do something to help. 

After his lunch, Harry went down to the Ministry and paid off what was remaining of Severus’ fine. He got a few curious looks but they seemed to accept it was just one of his helping people things, especially when he asked for the payment to be anonymous. When he got back to the office, he instantly started working out an owl order ingredients department. It wasn’t too much work, especially as they had large quantities of most ingredients anyway, and he hoped it would allow for people to start brewing their own things again. 

He had already been supplying a few people like Mrs Weasley who had grumbled about the difficulty in sourcing ingredients these days and, in hindsight, he should have realised it was an issue sooner. Admittedly, if he had, there was a chance Harry would never have met Severus and that wasn’t something he could regret, even if he was sorry the man had suffered. At least he was sorting it now and he was sure the board readily would accept what was an easy source of income. Now his only worry was if Severus would actually stay or not. 

Tuesday came and, feeling restless, Harry found himself heading into work early, needing something to do that wasn’t mindlessly pacing. Instead he immersed himself in writing his proposal and had already gotten it copied and sent out by the time that Severus arrived. 

“Good morning, Severus. Would you like to come into my office? There is something that I want to talk to you about.”

Severus hesitated, looking a little worried so Harry gave him a reassuring smile and the man eventually gave a slow nod. He still seemed on edge, however, as he followed Harry in and took a seat opposite him. 

“So, I thought about what you said, about the difficulties you had in sourcing ingredients and I think I have found a solution. Sleekeazy is going to offer an owl order ingredients service to allow people to get whatever they need. We buy in such bulk it means we can offer things for cheap and still turn a profit. Of course, I’ve only just proposed it so it isn’t confirmed yet but I can’t see why they wouldn’t.”

Severus frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Well, I know that you were brewing before you started working here but stopped because sourcing ingredients was too difficult. I just wanted to let you know that wouldn’t be an issue anymore.”

“Is this your roundabout way of telling me I’m fired?” Severus asked, his whole demeanour becoming shut down.

“No! Merlin, no!” Harry exclaimed. “I have zero intention of getting rid of you. I don’t want you to feel like you are forced to stay here if you don’t want to. I would definitely prefer it if you didn’t though.”

Severus looked at Harry curiously. “Will there be an employee discount on ingredients?”

“I can probably make it so staff get ingredients at cost. It might actually help stop stock going walkies.”

Severus gave a single nod. “Good to know. I will think about it. Is that all?”

“Yes,” Harry replied, hesitantly. 

“Then I shall return to my job.” With that he left Harry’s office and Harry bit back a grin. Apparently the man hadn’t been scared off after the weekend and he wondered if, perhaps, he could start to try to woo the man, not that he had any idea where to start. 

After much deliberation, Harry decided to ask Severus out to lunch. It was quite a normal thing for bosses to do, right? Especially as they arguably had the last campaign to celebrate finishing, and Severus had been extremely helpful in that. He stepped out of his office, ready to ask where Severus would prefer to eat, only to see his dad walking in with some random woman. 

“Did you need something, dad?” Harry queried, looking at the pair inquisitively. The woman had short, light brown hair, bright blue eyes and a face that Harry would describe as pixieish. He could imagine a lot of people thinking she was pretty, especially with her slim, petite build, but she was certainly not Harry’s preference. 

“Well I thought you might be wanting a new secretary and I thought I would bring Kitty here down to meet you,” James said with a grin but Harry frowned. 

“What makes you think I need a new secretary?”

“Because you paid off Snape’s fine of course,” James stated, and Harry could have smacked him. He saw Severus’ head whip around out of the corner of his eye and Harry knew he would have some explaining to do at some point but he needed to make something clear to his dad first. 

“I paid Severus’ fine off but that was because I don’t think that he should have been fined in the first place. Running apothecaries out of business wasn’t something I wanted which is why I’m trying to fix that. Part of fixing that means having Severus free of that burden but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want him as my secretary, especially after all of the idiots you hired for me before.”

“I get that, Harry, and I do listen to you. That’s why I hired Kitty here. She attended Beauxbaton so isn’t that interested in your boy-who-lived status. She has a rhubarb scent because I know that you don’t like any floral scents and she is very capable. In fact, she is a perfectly trained omega. Look.” 

Harry watched his dad puff his chest up as the smell of petrichor effused the air. Severus’ nose scrunched as if he smelled something awful but Harry didn’t have time to question it as James growled. 

“Sit!”

Kitty instantly sat on the ground and looked up at James as if patiently waiting for the next command, and James gave her a pleased look. Harry, however, was more impressed with Severus who had been sitting but had jumped up in opposition to James’ command. He knew his dad was a strong alpha and frequently had other alphas bend to his will. That’s why Harry found Severus’ defiance all that more impressive and he flashed Severus a quick smile. 

“No offence to Kitty, dad,” Harry sighed, “but I have no interest in having a secretary who doesn’t do anything without me having to directly tell her to. If that’s what you think makes a good secretary, that’s great, you hire her. Personally, I am more than happy with Severus and hope he stays with me for some time.”

James frowned. “ I really think that you are making a mistake, Harry, but I can’t override your decision. You’re an adult, you have to be able to make your own mistakes.”

With that he left, thankfully taking Kitty with him. Harry turned to Severus after he left and the man was giving him a dark look. 

“You and I need to talk. Now.”

Harry gulped and walked back into his office, knowing that Severus was following close behind. He didn’t go behind his desk, however, not wanting to seem like he was hiding. Instead he leaned against the front of it but he couldn’t stop crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

“So, what do you need to talk about?”

“What do you want from me?” Severus demanded and Harry blinked, feeling confused. 

“Nothing? Why do you think I want something?”

“I don’t know, maybe because you just spent nearly 10,000 Galleons on me for seemingly no reason,” Severus spat. “It’s convenient that it happened just after this weekend as well. I had assumed you would have been disgusted after having to spend my heat with me but maybe I was wrong. Maybe you were annoyed that I denied you and are hoping that I would be so grateful that I would bend over and beg you to take me for my next one.”

“Of course not!” Harry exclaimed, uncrossing his arms and taking an involuntary step forward. “Firstly, I wasn’t disgusted by your heat, only that you had to go through it when you clearly didn’t want to. But as to the fine, I only learned about it yesterday from Sirius. I was horrified when I heard, not only that you had ended up in that situation because of me wanting to expand this business but also that you had been forced to work here because you had no other options. I wanted you to have those options back.”

“For the love of Merlin, Potter, make up your mind!” Severus roared. “Do you want me to bugger off or stay?”

“Stay. Of course I want you to stay. You are the best secretary I have ever had and I would do anything to keep you here, but I want it to be your choice.”

“Careful, Potter, you are sounding desperate,” Severus scoffed. “I also might be inclined to ask for something that you aren’t comfortable doing.”

“I genuinely don’t know if there is anything that you could ask of me that I wouldn’t be willing to do, short of breaking the law.”

Severus shot Harry a challenging look and smirked. “Get down on your knees and suck my cock.”

Severus continued to have a cocky look as Harry took a step towards him, right up until Harry dropped to his knees. It faltered a bit as Harry looked up at him but he didn’t stop him as Harry undid his fly. Harry didn’t hesitate as he pushed the man’s trousers down. 

“Are you sure you want this?” Harry asked, his hands on Severus’ hips, his thumbs rubbing small circles over his boxers. 

“I will not give you an out,” Severus stated, although he looked more curious than cocky now, and Harry smirked. 

“Who says I want an out?” 

He hooked his thumbs into the top of Severus’ boxers, pulling them down quickly, barely containing his excitement. He couldn’t believe Severus was basically giving him an ideal opportunity like this. Harry actually licked his lips as Severus cock popped free of its confines and he got a whiff of his scent. It wasn’t anywhere near as strong as it had been during his heat but it was present. Harry let out a moan, leaning in to nuzzle Severus’ rapidly filling cock. 

Severus let out a small gasp and Harry grinned before licking a stripe up Severus’ cock before wrapping his lips around the head. He had never sucked a cock before, never even thought about it, but he couldn’t say he minded it.

“Who knew you were so eager to be on your knees,” Severus murmured, looking down at Harry with a touch of awe and something else. “I have to admit that I am surprised. I have a big cock for an omega and your pretty little mouth looks so good stretched around it like that.”

Harry hummed as he bobbed his head up and down it, sliding down as much as he could. He couldn’t get all the way down but he swallowed, trying to stop his gag reflex, moaning again when he got a taste of Severus’ fresh flavour. Apparently his scent carried over to his precum as well and Harry sucked harder, his hands moving to grope Severus’ arse. Severus apparently wasn’t best pleased with that plan, swatting Harry’s hands away. 

“Oh no you don’t. I don’t trust you just yet and I am the one in control here. Hands behind your back.”

Harry complied, continuing to suck on Severus as the man cast a spell to bind his hands. It was a little tight but Harry found himself liking the loss of control, especially when Severus threaded his fingers into Harry’s hair.

“That’s it,” Severus purred, starting to thrust. “Relax your throat, let me use you, show me how desperate you are for my cock.”

Harry whimpered but relaxed his throat as he started breathing through his nose. If Severus wanted to use him like this, Harry was more than happy to comply, in fact he quite enjoyed it. Severus seemed to be enjoying it as well, his second hand coming up to Harry’s head as well, as his thrusts became faster. Harry had to swallow a lot as he continued to suckle. He thought he was doing a terrible job but Severus was moaning so he assumed it must be OK. He was also enjoying the vast amounts of delicious precum that kept pooling on his tongue. He was just swallowing another load down when Severus’ hip stuttered and he came hard, causing Harry to start coughing. 

Harry doubled over, still coughing, his hands being released just in time to stop him face-planting the floor. He wanted to thank Severus but he was still spluttering too much to actually say anything. 

“Oh God!” Severus groaned and Harry saw him frantically pull up his trousers as he fled Harry’s office. Harry wanted to go after him but that was quite impossible at that moment. Not only was he struggling to breath but he was also sporting a massive hard-on. 

Severus pointedly didn’t interact with Harry for the rest of the day and Harry worried a bit that he had scared the other man off. He was relieved when Severus turned up for work again the next day but the man jumped when Harry called him in. 

“You’re going to fire me, aren’t you?”

“Why do you think that?” Harry asked with a frown and Severus gave him a baleful look. 

“I assaulted you and ended up almost killing you by causing you to choke because I got carried away.”

“To be fair, I also got carried away,” Harry pointed out but then looked at Severus curiously. “Are you really worried about losing your job?”

Severus let out a long sigh. “I have a regular income doing something that isn’t overly taxing and gives me time and money to brew what I want to brew, as opposed to endless cauldrons of cure for boils. I also don’t necessarily have to be overly sociable. I am not a people person but most of my job is answering memos.”

“And dealing with me,” Harry added, “and now I’m wondering if you think of that as a bonus or a chore.”

“You are certainly not as terrible as I had feared,” Severus muttered. 

“That does sound like praise,” Harry chuckled, walking towards Severus. “That wasn’t what I was getting at though. Did you enjoy being with me, because I really enjoyed being with you.”

“Are you a masochist?” Severus scoffed. 

“Perhaps,” Harry smirked, stepping into Severus’ space, very glad that Severus didn’t pull back. In fact, the other man gave Harry a hard, inquisitive look. 

“So, would you be happy if I stripped you down, bent you over the desk and spanked you?”

“I don’t know,” Harry shrugged, “but I would be interested in finding out.”

Severus shook his head. “You are impossible.”

“Why? Because I am not acting how an alpha is supposed to act.”

“Yes.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.”

“Do I confuse you?” Harry asked, and Severus looked at him sharply. 

“It is not confusion I feel.” 

His pupils were wide, his nostrils were flaring and Harry could have sworn he was breathing deeply. Harry licked his lips. 

“I really want to kiss you.”

Severus looked a little surprised. “You want to continue this thing between us.”

Harry nodded. “I would.”

“You are impossible.”

“Is that a no?” Harry felt his hope fade for a moment, right up until Severus leaned down to kiss him. It was just a gentle press of lips but Harry felt his heart soar. 

“I’ll think about it,” Severus said, before walking back to his desk. He didn’t look back but Harry had more hope of something happening between them than before. 

The next day Severus still hadn’t said anything specifically. Harry assumed that the lack of a negative meant that he still had a chance and decided to try to push his position. 

“Where do you want to go for lunch?” Harry asked, walking out of his office. 

Severus looked at him with a frown. “Are you asking me out for lunch?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

That confused Harry. “Because I want to spend time with you.”

“We aren’t dating,” Severus stated, and Harry was brought up short.

“You don’t want to date me?”

Severus blinked. “I thought you were just wanting sex.”

“Of course not!” Harry exclaimed. He almost reiterated his proposal but he thought that might scare Severus off. “Does that change things?”

“Potentially,” Severus said, hesitantly. “Do not think that you can buy my affections though.”

Harry grinned. “I wouldn’t dream of it. I still want to treat you though, same as I do with all the people I care about.”

Severus paused. “I suppose you can buy me lunch then. Ordered in though.”

Harry bit back a sigh. He could understand that to a degree; getting seen out in public would likely bring him a lot of attention. A part of him worried that his fame might end up being a deal breaker but then Severus looked up at him, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. 

“That sushi place you ordered from was quite good.”

Harry grinned and quickly darted off to order one of everything on the menu, just to make sure there was something there that Severus would like. It was way too much food of course, but that was what preservation charms were for. Harry ended up calling Severus into his office when it arrived, so they could share the food, and Harry made a mental note of everything the man enjoyed, and everything he put aside. They talked about some of the new products that were in the pipeline in the Research and Development and Harry was fascinated to hear his unfiltered opinions on things. He also ended up giving his opinion on several staff members as well and Harry found himself laughing at Severus’ scathing critiques. 

Harry wanted to experience that again but Severus refused to let Harry order any more food since they already had so much leftover. Severus took a supply back to his desk and Harry was left very disappointed. That was why, the next day Harry ordered some cake, hoping the idea of dessert would tempt Severus to join him. Harry even wondered if Severus would allow Harry to feed him some. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen. 

“I thought I told you you couldn’t buy my affections,” Severus scowled upon seeing all of the cake Harry had bought. 

“I’m not trying to buy your affection!” Harry insisted. “I just wanted to treat you.”

“So this is all for me?”

“Of course.”

“Good good,” Severus smirked, taking a seat in Harry’s chair. He undid his trousers, pulling out his cock. He spread his legs and pointed to the space between them. “On your knees. You can keep my cock warm while I enjoy my cake.”

Harry wasn’t about to complain, even when Severus bound his hands behind his back. Maybe he was weird, but he actually enjoyed this, enjoyed looking after Severus in whatever way the man decided he wanted. If that was eating cake and having his cock sucked, Harry was more than happy to comply. It certainly helped when Severus made those delicious, overly exaggerated moaning noises. He didn’t know if those were because of him or the cake, either way it spurred him on though and Harry found himself sucking enthusiastically. 

Suddenly the hands that were in his hair tightened and Harry found his head yanked back. He was just about to moan at the loss, having started to enjoy the feeling of Severus’ cock on his tongue. He didn’t have much time to mourn, however, as Severus grabbed said cock and began furiously stroking it until he came with a grunt, shooting his load all over Harry’s face. Harry’s senses were completely assaulted by the man’s scent and he almost came himself then, especially when he darted his tongue out to have a taste. 

“Fuck! You are a sight.”

Harry grinned up at Severus. “Don’t care. We both enjoyed ourselves.”

“Perhaps this can be your weekly treat, if you behave,” Severus suggested, and that sounded just fine to Harry. Or, at least, it did at first. 

That’s not to say that he didn’t enjoy the idea of that arrangement, he just didn’t like the fact that that was all their relationship seemed to be. Severus would all but ignore Harry during the week. He would attend meetings with Harry but otherwise sit at his desk, even over lunch. Harry would be good, keeping on top of all of his meetings and even making sure he was presentable when he left so he didn’t even have the pleasure of Severus fussing over him. The only interaction they had was on Friday lunchtime when Harry would order lunch for the both of them and Severus would sit in Harry’s chair to eat it while Harry sucked him off. 

Harry felt that he had become quite proficient at giving head, and he still enjoyed their time together, but he couldn’t help feeling a little dissatisfied with the whole arrangement. After a few weeks of the same routine, he felt the need to push the boundaries a bit and not be quite so ‘good’. It started with him not bothering to straighten himself up when he left his office which resulted in Severus grumbling at him. Harry couldn’t bring himself to mind that, though, not when he felt the warmth of the other man’s magic wash over him.

Then he started purposely running late for meetings which possibly wasn’t a good look, but it forced Severus to actually leave his desk to get Harry, berating Harry for his unprofessional behaviour, which only caused Harry to smile. The man may be cross but at least he was showing Harry some attention which, in Harry’s mind, was better than before. When Friday rolled around, however, and Harry ordered food for them both as usual, Severus was not at all impressed. 

“What makes you think you deserve a treat?” he asked, and Harry blinked. 

“What treat?”

“The treat of getting to suck me off.”

“I didn’t think that was a treat for me,” Harry replied, frowning in confusion. 

“I guess I can add being ungrateful, as well as acting like a child to your list of offences,” Severus sneered. “I suppose I had best punish you as I would a child. Drop your trousers and bend over the side of the desk, legs apart with your hands behind your back. I am going to spank you and you are going to be grateful for every blow.”

Harry complied, feeling a little conflicted about the whole thing. On the one hand, he was more naked than he usually was with Severus. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure how he felt about the spanking but he was willing to give it a try. The worry over the ‘punishment’ lessened somewhat when Severus gently stroked a hand over his arse. Harry let out a moan, pushing his arse back for more contact, only for Severus to deal the first blow. 

Smack! 

Harry gasped at the sensation as he felt a prickling heat erupt over his skin. 

“You’re supposed to thank me,” Severus chided, bringing his hand down again on the other side. 

“Thank you.” Harry could hear that he was a little breathless already, his whole body flushing with embarrassment and arousal. That only grew as Severus continued to pepper down blows and eventually let out a moan. 

Snape paused. “Are you enjoying this?”

“Yes,” Harry whimpered. His cock was aching beneath him, pressed between his body and the hard desk. 

“That is no good,” Severus stated. “You aren’t supposed to enjoy your punishment. Do I need to humiliate you further?”

Harry was curious about what he could mean but didn’t have much time to think about it before Severus pressed against him, apparently having dropped his own trousers, his cock pressing between Harry’s cheeks. Harry was shocked, and a small part of him railed against the feeling but the majority was overjoyed at the skin-to-skin contact with Severus. That feeling only increased when Severus began rutting against him, revelling in the thought that he and Severus had found a new way to find pleasure together. Harry’s only annoyance now was that he was stuck and couldn’t reciprocate. He also couldn’t really get any relief for his own raging erection, although he tried. 

“Really, Potter? Are you seriously getting off on this?” Severus spluttered in disbelief, and Harry found himself suddenly pulled upright. It caused him to moan as he was pressed more tightly against the man behind him and he didn’t even notice when Severus conjured a mirror. 

“Look at yourself, Potter!” he demanded. “Look at how pathetic you are! Getting off on being dominated by an omega. Are you even an alpha anymore?”

Severus’ words rattled him but his hand on Harry’s cock was more than distracting enough to overthrow any discontent. It had been a long time since he had felt another person’s hand on his cock and Severus’ grip was so sure. Harry didn’t know if it was because Snape was more used to handling cock, or it had just been too long since he had felt another hand on him. His body enjoyed it too much, thrusting up into Severus’ fist while his arse rubbed against Severus’ cock. 

“That’s it, Harry,” Severus grunted, humping against him as well, his movements slipping into a natural rhythm with Harry and Harry couldn’t help feeling that that made them more compatible. They seemed to fit together so well together, and Harry leaned back into Severus, his head falling back against Severus’ shoulder. Severus buried his head in the crook of Harry’s neck and Harry thought he heard the man moan. It was muffled though, not really discernible over Harry’s own grunts. 

He could feel Severus’ lips and tongue against his skin, however, and that was enough to send him over the edge, shooting his load all over Severus’ hand. Severus wasn’t far behind, coming all over Harry’s back, and Harry almost came again from getting assaulted by the scent he was coming to love so much. He was almost upset when Severus cleaned him up, removing all traces of his scent. He tried not to pout as he pulled up his trousers although he did get a slight ego boost when, out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught Severus licking his finger. 

“So,” Severus said, putting on an air of innocence, “is this going to be our new routine every week? If I’m being honest, it feels like it will get boring quite quickly. I didn’t sign up for brat training.”

“I get that,” Harry agreed, “but I only acted that way to deal with you ignoring me.”

“Ignoring you?” Severus queried. “How was I ignoring you?”

“You barely looked at me all week,” Harry explained, walking over to Severus and placing his hands on the other man’s arms. It was their first non-sexual contact since Severus’ heat and Harry revelled in it as he held Severus’ gaze. 

“Maybe I wasn’t clear before,” Harry continued, “but, as much as I enjoy having sex with you, I want something more. I like you, Severus, as a person, and I want to spend time with you. If I have to choose between spending time with you and having sex then I will choose spending time with you every time.”

Severus frowned. “Be careful, Potter, it almost sounds like you want to date me.”

“That’s exactly what I am saying,” Harry said, with a laugh. “Did you forget that I asked you to marry me?”

“I thought you were joking,” Severus scoffed, his frown getting deeper. 

Harry smiled. “Half joking. I’d have been quite happy if you had said yes.”

Severus shook his head. “I am pretty sure you are certifiable.”

“Possibly,” Harry agreed, with a laugh. “That still doesn’t change that I actually want to date you. Is that something you would be interested in?”

Severus paused, looking at Harry intently, almost searching his eyes as if looking for something. 

“I will think about it,” he replied after a few moments and Harry found himself breathing a sigh of relief. It wasn’t an assurance but it was more than he had before and he was happy to cling to that small bit of hope. 

Harry was a ball of nervous energy over the weekend, no idea what sort of Severus would be greeting him on Monday. A friendly one, as it turned out. Severus greeted him with a smile and seemed happy when Harry provided him with a cup of coffee. Harry had been awake early that morning and had stopped by a muggle coffee shop before work. He had gotten a coffee for Severus, having noticed that the man seemed to always have a cup on his desk, and he hoped he hadn’t overstepped. He flashed a smile at the scrawled ‘this is not a bribe’ on the side of the cup and Harry mentally gave himself a high-five. 

Severus joined him for lunch as well, bringing his lunch into Harry’s office, and Harry couldn’t keep the grin from his face. They talked about work, products and gossip, and Harry found himself hanging on every word. He had never been that interested in what was going on with his employees. Severus’ snarky commentary had him laughing so much, though, and he found himself hanging on his every word. Severus seemed to quite like Harry’s attention as well, and appeared as disappointed as Harry was when Harry’s alarm went off to let them know he had another meeting to go to. 

The rest of the week slipped into the same routine until Friday rolled. They had lunch as usual and Harry wondered if Severus was taking him up on his suggestion of cutting off the sexual side of things. That was until Harry’s next alarm went off and Severus’ face fell a bit.

“I didn’t realise it was so late.”

“That’s fine,” Harry said with a smile. “I’ve enjoyed our time together.” He walked around to Severus as he spoke, pausing in front of him for a second before slowly leaning in. He placed a hand gently under Severus’ chin, guiding his face up. There was no pressure though, giving Severus plenty of time and opportunity to move if he wanted to. The look in his eyes seemed hesitant, almost concerned, but also curious and his eyes fluttered closed as Harry finally made contact. 

It was soft, and beautiful, and Harry let out a sigh of contentment as a feeling of completeness washed over him. He had a strong urge to press forward, to deepen the kiss, but he didn’t want to risk freaking Severus out. Instead, he moved in for one more tender press before pulling back. Severus’ eyes remained closed, his body almost frozen in position before he finally caught up with what had happened, blinking his eyes as he came out of the moment. There was a slight frown as he did, and he gave Harry a steady look. 

“I should get back to work.” With that he packed up his lunch and left, not giving Harry a backwards glance. 

Harry let out a sigh. Maybe he had asked for too much, or, at least, more than Severus was currently comfortable giving. It hurt in a way. Surely he had proven that he could be trustworthy by now, or was it more that Severus wasn’t actually interested and didn’t know how to say it? He told himself it wasn’t logical; Severus never had a problem telling Harry things to his face before. Still, it sat like a lead weight in Harry’s stomach for the rest of the afternoon, not helped by the fact that Severus sat steadfastly at his desk the whole time. When the end of the day came, Harry was at breaking point, and he was actually glad when Severus walked into his office and closed the door. 

“Severus, I am so sorry for earlier!”

“Sorry for what?” Severus queried, eyeing Harry shrewdly. 

“For kissing you like that. Not for the kiss itself, I definitely enjoyed that, but I can’t help feeling like I crossed some sort of invisible boundary.”

“You did,” Severus informed him, “but I can’t help thinking that that was a good thing.”

Harry’s face, which had initially fallen, burst into a smile of delight at that last sentence. The smile transformed into a look of surprise when Severus quickly transfigured one of the chairs in the office to a chaise lounge, and Harry found himself unceremoniously knocked back on it. 

“What’s this for? Not that I’m complaining mind you.”

“This,” Severus drawled, “is because I have been wound up all afternoon because of your little kiss and I want to use you to work out some of my sexual tension before I leave.”

“Use away,” Harry smirked. He had no idea what Severus had in mind but he was sure it would be better than his own hand regardless. 

Severus knocked Harry’s legs apart. “Arms above your head.”

Harry wasn’t overly surprised by that command, nor when Severus bound his hands together. He was a little surprised, however, when Severus climbed on top of him, grinding his cock against Harry’s while they were both still fully clothed. 

“Is this what you like, Harry,” Severus purred, nuzzling into the crook of Harry’s neck. “Do you like being dominated by an omega?”

“I like being dominated by you,” Harry clarified, putting his feet on the floor to try to thrust up against the other man, but the position didn’t allow for much leverage. 

“That’s good to know at least,” Severus said, and Harry could feel the man’s smug smirk against his skin. “I’m glad that you wouldn’t just lie back and submit to anyone; I might lose all respect for you if you did.”

“Only you get to use me like this,” Harry stated, scaring himself a little with how much the words rang true. 

Severus seemed a little surprised by them as well, lifting his head to look into Harry’s eyes. “Is that so? Well, that is interesting. I wonder, just how far would you be willing to let me go?”

Harry gulped at the hard, calculating look in Severus’ eye as he hooked an arm under Harry’s thigh and pressed it back, essentially exposing Harry, if he wasn’t still fully clothed. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask Severus to stop, or at least slow down. Then he leaned back in, grinding his full length against Harry, and Harry couldn’t keep back his groan. 

“You’re enjoying this aren’t you? Who would have thought that the big, bad alpha would roll over so easily. It’s almost pathetic really, but I will admit that it is also fun to push you like this; watch you break down your own boundaries as you chase the pleasure I can give you. And I can give you a lot of pleasure, Harry, a lot indeed. Are you willing to come with me for the ride? Experience all of these forbidden delights. I can show you what it’s like to be an omega if you like? Apparently Arnold Stainwright has been working on a substance that is supposed to mimic an omega’s slick. I could always acquire some for you if you want and we could try it out. 

“Would you like that, Harry? Would you enjoy me spreading you open on my fingers, filling your hole full of wet slick before shoving my omega cock in? Would you like that, or would you prefer less prep? You do have a masochistic side after all. I could squirt some inside you and then just push in. My cock could be the first thing to ever enter you.”

All this was said against Harry’s neck, Severus’ lips and tongue brushing the sensitive skin with every word. It was scrambling Harry’s brain. Thankfully the ‘alpha’ part of him that railed against this stuff kept him grounded, even as Severus ground down against him. Apparently it took offence to the idea of Severus making him an omega. Personally, Harry hated the outdated view that being an omega meant bottoming, which was probably one of the reasons he enjoyed being with Severus so much. He knew there were many people who thought that though, in fact he had heard someone in marketing use that very phrase the other day, probably in reference to this product. 

He had to admit that he was curious though. He had never considered the possibility of someone penetrating him before but, now that Severus had suggested it, Harry had to admit that he found it appealing. “Yes!” he moaned, trying feebly to push up against Severus with only one foot on the floor. 

“I knew it,” Severus groaned, pressing himself harder into Harry, even as he pressed Harry’s leg further back. “I knew you would want it, Harry. You know it would feel good as well. Having my cock sliding in and out of your tight little hole. I bet you will even cum from it.”

Severus was undulating his hips now, his hard length now rubbing against Harry’s arse a bit, thanks to his leg being pushed back so much. It was almost as if Severus was simulating how it would be, and Harry let out a whimper, arching up, begging for more. His actions seemed to spur Severus on and his actions became more frantic. 

“Yes! That’s it! Take it!” he hissed against Harry’s neck, and Harry did take it, every thrust. 

After what felt like an eternity but, at the same time, all too quick, Harry felt Severus shudder, his body tensing as he bit down hard on Harry’s neck. That was the last straw for Harry as his own orgasm crashed through him: He gasped, as he felt a warm wetness spread at his crotch. 

They both lay there for a few moments, panting, and Harry really wished his arms weren’t bound, especially when Severus seemed to take a big sniff of his skin. 

“Thank you for that,” Harry said, a wide smile on his face even as he tried to catch his breath.

“No need to thank me,” Severus groused, although he didn’t move off Harry. He did unbind Harry’s wrists though. 

Harry brought his arms up loosely around Severus’ back; wanting to hold the man but not wanting to freak him out. Apparently he’d earned that much of a right though as Severus relaxed with a sigh. 

“I don’t know if your office is the best place to do this in the future,” Severus said. Harry was a little confused, but had to agree that there were certainly more comfortable options. 

“We could theoretically go to one of our houses,” Harry suggested, “or we can book a hotel.”

“Hotel might be the best option,” Severus murmured. “If I book it in your name, as your secretary then I can say that I’m going to make sure that things are set up for you and just never leave. That way we won’t have to go in together.”

Harry hummed in what he hoped would be construed as agreement. If he had his way, he and Severus would enter the hotel side by side, as official partners. Severus apparently wasn’t ready for that, however, so Harry would just have to keep waiting. 

“I’ve booked a hotel,” Severus informed him on Tuesday and Harry didn’t even try to hide his grin. Severus had seemed a little unsure on Monday, until Harry had brought him another coffee, something that was becoming a habit that he was more than happy to continue. Severus had smiled and, while conversation over lunch had been a little stilted, with no mention of what had transpired on Friday, or anything related to any products at work, but Harry had just been happy he hadn’t scared Severus off. 

“I’ll leave the details on your desk on Friday,” Severus continued, “and I took the liberty of confirming the venue for Mr Weasley’s stag-do next week.”

“Fuck! Thank you. I had completely forgotten about that.”

“I had assumed as much, although I was quite surprised when the owl landed on my desk saying they needed the reservation confirmed ASAP or else you would lose it. By the way, is it really a good idea to have it on a Wednesday night?”

“Well, Ron works weekends at his brother’s shop so it’s easier for him to get time off in the week and we can’t really have a stag-do without the stag. It was either Wednesday or Sunday, and Sunday just seemed too sad.”

“So, will I need to have a bunch of hangover cures ready on Thursday?” Severus asked, and Harry gave an embarrassed chuckle. 

“Hopefully not, especially as I don’t plan on getting drunk, but it might be a good idea just in case.”

Severus just hummed, giving Harry a baleful look and Harry realised he had another reason to be on his best behaviour. It was a bit of a sobering thought. He was in a relationship; not officially, but essentially one, and Harry had to remember that unless he wanted to risk losing someone who was quickly becoming very important to him. He hoped it could end up being another bit of reassurance for Severus, that Harry actually was someone he could be with officially, on top of their little trip on Friday. 

Harry was really looking forward to that, and he found himself wanting to be around Severus more, as if to assure himself that it was actually going to happen, that they were going to be taking their relationship to the next level. On top of their daily lunches, Harry found himself heading out of his office, just to check on Severus periodically. Severus gave him a baleful look at first but didn’t stop him so Harry took that to be getting the metaphorical green light. 

A couple of times he even leaned right over Severus, under the guise of seeing what the other man was writing. In reality he was just trying to get a whiff of Severus’ scent, something that he was finding himself becoming addicted to. It was always hard to smell on Severus in the day, thanks to his suppressants. If Harry got really close he could get a hint of it, though, and it always took all of his willpower to walk away when he did. He knew that Severus wouldn’t appreciate getting jumped on at work, but the privacy of the hotel room was an entirely different story. 

“You are utterly maddening!” Severus growled, moments before he smashed his mouth against Harry’s, drawing him in for a bruising kiss. Harry had barely stepped into the hotel room before Severus had jumped on him, slamming Harry into the back of it. Not that Harry was complaining. He was more than happy to accept Severus’ body pressed against him, his tongue snaking into Harry’s mouth. 

Harry chuckled when Severus moved on to attack his neck. “If this is what I get for being maddening, I can certainly live with it.”

“We will see,” Severus murmured. “For now, strip. I have to prep you then I want to play with your body as the slick works its way into you.”

Harry shuddered at that thought, and quickly pushed Severus away to comply before climbing onto the bed.

“On your hands and knees,” Severus commanded, and Harry flipped himself over, pressing his naked arse into the air, only to yelp when Severus gave it a hard smack. 

“What was that for?” Harry asked, craning his head around to scowl at Severus. 

“Stay still and take your punishment,” Severus snapped. “You purposely pushed your limits this week, flirting and scenting me in public, where anyone could see. You took liberties, Harry, and this is the consequence.”

“Oh, well in that case, fair enough,” Harry smirked, before turning his head back around and thrusting his arse out again. “Completely worth it by the way.”

Harry got another sharp smack for his cheek, causing Harry to gasp, but he still couldn’t regret it. There were 8 more blows after, the sting remaining on Harry’s skin even when Severus rubbed the skin soothingly. 

“I really do think red is your colour,” Severus murmured before pulling Harry’s cheeks apart. “The flesh is even the same shade as your pretty virgin hole.” 

He blew over it, causing Harry to shudder, and he almost missed the tingle of a cleaning spell.

“By the way, the initial slick is unscented with multiple fragrance options, to add to the omega idea. What would you like to smell of? Preferably not something too pungent.”

“Cut grass,” Harry responded, almost instantly. 

Severus paused. “There’s nothing even close to that. It’s all floral or sweet: Traditional omega scents.”

“Nothing then. If I can’t smell like you then I’m not interested.”

Severus paused again, and there was a moment when Harry wondered if he had gone too far again. Then he felt something hard press against his hole, a small nozzle nestling inside his pucker before he felt a warm substance flood his insides. It was strange, but not unpleasant, and he actually began to enjoy the sensation of being filled. 

“Stay there with your arse up to let it settle inside you,” Severus said. 

Harry let out a slight moan, that only got louder as Severus lifted Harry’s head up and rubbed his cock against it. 

“Suck my cock. Get it nice and wet before I slide it inside you.”

Harry opened his mouth willingly and sucked down on the length that weighed against his tongue. The thought that this cock would soon be sliding into him and Harry found himself getting surprisingly turned on by that idea. 

Severus groaned as Harry sucked, thrusting a bit, but soon pulled out and Harry braced himself as Severus moved behind him. 

“It will be better if you relax, Harry,” Severus warned as he spread Harry’s cheeks wide. A waft of a mild version of Severus’ scent filled the room and Harry wondered a bit what had caused it. He did take a large lung-full though, and he felt his body relax a bit, although only until he felt a blunt pressure at his entrance.

“Relax, Harry,” Severus chided, “and push back against me. Remember you can stop if it gets too much.”

“No,” Harry insisted, pressing his hips back and grunting as he felt Severus breach his tight ring. He let out a moan at that and may have dropped forward if not for Severus’ hands, tightly holding his hips. 

Severus began to slowly rock into him, steadily stretching Harry open for the first time, and all Harry could do was whimper. Was this really what omegas felt when they were penetrated? If so, Harry didn’t know why so many alphas shunned it so much. There was a pressure, sure, but the stimulation in such a sensitive place was truly mind-blowing and, for Harry, that just added to everything. 

His cock was rock hard and he was more than happy to keep pushing back against Severus, something that seemed to spur Severus on. 

“Merlin, you are tight!” Severus groaned, taking deep breaths, apparently as affected by this as Harry was. It was good to know as Harry fought down a wince. The tightness might be good for Severus but Harry’s body was fighting the intrusion and he had to physically fight to keep himself relaxed to accept Severus’ length. Thankfully Severus seemed to realise this, moving slowly at first, allowing Harry time to adjust to the intrusion. 

Eventually Severus was fully seated, pausing a moment, and Harry was glad for the chance to revel in how close they were, both physically and, in his mind, emotionally as well. His body seemed to appreciate the pause as well, the tension in his back abating as his body finally accepted Severus’ cock inside his hole. This seemed to be the cue Severus was waiting for and he slowly began to move. 

It wasn’t much at first, more rocking, as if he were trying to make sure that Harry was actually happy with this situation. Never having much patience, Harry decided to try to spur Severus on, pushing his hips back, begging for more. Severus let out a low growl grasping onto Harry’s hips and slamming into Harry hard. Harry groaned, and that seemed to be the only encouragement Severus needed. He moved more, building up until he was pounding into Harry and Harry loved it. He moaned loudly “yes, yes, yes,” until Severus grunted, slamming his hips into Harry’s backside hard, the scent of cut grass washing over him. 

Severus pulled away and Harry whimpered at the loss, flashing his best puppy-dog eyes at Severus when he flipped Harry onto his back. 

“Was that really not enough for you?” Severus questioned, pushing Harry’s knees back, looking intently at Harry’s hole.

“It was good,” Harry assured him. “I would definitely like to do it again.”

“But apparently you need a bit more than my cock to cum,” Severus stated and Harry lost his ability to reply when Severus swallowed down the head of his cock. Harry wound his fingers into his hair: usually Severus bound his hands during this and he didn’t want to risk ruining things. It was difficult, Severus had a very talented mouth, but things were made even worse when he pushed his fingers inside Harry’s hole. 

The flesh was still a little tender and Harry gasped slightly at first, gasping louder when those long digits hit something amazing inside him. It was as if fireworks had gone off behind his eyes, only they kept going off because Severus kept hitting it again and again. He was pretty sure he was pulling his hair out, desperately trying not to dictate the pace. He wasn’t sure if it helped or not that Severus was so damn good, somehow knowing just the right amount of pressure to use to blow Harry’s mind, and his load. 

Harry fell back against the bed, panting loudly, revelling in what was the best orgasm of his life. 

“You look a state,” Severus smirked, looking Harry up and down, although his eyes kept straying to Harry’s knot, standing hard and proud from his body. 

“That’s not going to go down anytime soon,” Harry said, with a chuckle, although Severus just hummed. He lifted and hand and cautiously touched it, causing Harry to let out a low moan. 

“It is hard, isn’t it,” Severus murmured. “It almost seems a shame to waste it.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked with a frown, and Severus tutted. 

“Just put your hands above your head and lie there while I use you for my pleasure.”

Harry gulped, but complied, feeling his arms getting bound. He felt that all too familiar thrill course through, which only increased when Severus straddled his hips. Harry was a little worried at first; as an alpha, he was bigger than Severus and the omega hadn’t had any prep from what Harry could tell. He knew omegas were basically designed to take alphas but Severus was on his suppressants and Harry wasn’t sure how they would have affected things.

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Severus to stop but Severus gave him a baleful look, causing Harry to shut his mouth with a click. He continued to watch, worrying a little as Severus winced at the stretch but soon too overcome by the sensation of the man slowly sliding down his length. It was glorious! Better than he had ever experienced before, and Harry groaned loudly, wanting nothing more than to sink full into that wonderfully tight heat. Severus was wet as well, Harry getting another whiff of his gorgeous scent which only added to his pleasure. He had never really enjoyed ‘topping’ before but he would be more than happy to do this again. 

When Severus had finally bottomed out, Harry looked up at the man and his breath caught. Severus was there, straddling his hips, the omega’s own cock getting hard once again. 

“Enjoying yourself?” Harry asked with a moan as Severus began to rock himself on Harry’s knot. 

Severus hummed. “I suppose I can see the appeal.”

Harry smirked. “Don’t lie, I can feel how wet you are, smell you as well, despite your suppressants.”

A light blush came over Severus’ cheeks although he held Harry’s gaze defiantly. “Don’t be fooled. I will not cum again tonight.”

“I don’t mind. I love your smell. I’m interested to find out how your slick tastes as well. Would you let me eat you out?”

“Perhaps in the morning,” Severus said, the flush on his cheeks deepening. “For now be quiet and let me enjoy your knot in peace.”

Harry did as he was told, more than happy to lie back and watch Severus work. The man was undulating his hips with a lithe, unconscious grace and Harry found himself quite mesmerised: He could have happily watched him all day. Even when Severus eventually tired, his muscles apparently not used to moving that way, he remained sitting on top of Harry until Harry knot completely softened and fell out of him. 

Harry could have sworn there was a disappointed frown on Severus’ face when it did, although it was gone so quickly it may have been a figment of his imagination. Severus, instead, schooled his features into a neutral expression as he cleaned Harry up, with a warm, damp flannel instead of the spell, and applied some healing salve. He went to clean himself up as well, but Harry stopped him. 

“Please, allow me.”

There was a pause, a moment of indecision, before Severus relented, releasing Harry’s bonds and lying back. Harry smiled and took his time carefully cleaning Severus’ groins and hole, nuzzling the man’s neck and kissing along his jaw as he did. 

“Thank you for today,” Harry murmured. “It was a truly wonderful experience and I hope to get to do it again sometime.”

“You might get to do it in the morning, unless there is some reason you need to rush off.” Severus said this while looking over Harry’s shoulder and Harry got the distinct impression that that was exactly what he expected Harry to do. Harry knew that he should have been disappointed at Severus’ continued lack of trust, but he just couldn’t feel mad at being given such a wonderful opportunity. 

“Don’t worry,” Harry said, a big smile splitting his face. “I didn’t plan on going anywhere, I even paid for the late check-out before coming up.”

Severus looked at Harry with a touch of surprise but didn’t say anything, even when Harry snuggled up against him. Harry assumed that meant that he had passed some sort of unknown test, or at least that he had managed to chip away at Severus’ wall enough. Either way, it was clear that he had been allowed closer and Harry was happy to be one step closer to the proper relationship he was oh so desperate for. 

To say that Harry was happy to wake up with Severus snuggled against his chest would be a massive understatement and he lay there for some time, barely daring to breathe for fear of ruining the moment. Of course Severus stirred eventually, bodily functions requiring it, but he didn’t seem upset about the position he woke up in. In fact, as soon as both he and Harry had attended to their needs, he proceeded to pull Harry back to bed and fulfil his promise of sitting on Harry’s face. 

Harry had already been hard when he had woken up, thanks to Severus’ closeness. That increased rapidly the moment Severus’ slick spread across his tongue and he vaguely wondered if he would be able to come simply from eating out Severus’ hole. He might have tried if Severus hadn’t taken his cock in hand and begun stroking Harry in time with the movements of Harry’s tongue. It ended up being delicious torture as Harry didn’t know whether to race ahead to both their completions or to draw things out and tease things as long as he could. 

Of course, with Harry, impatience won out in the end and he soon found himself grabbing onto Severus’ hips, pulling the man down onto his tongue as much as humanly possible as Severus pumped him hard until Harry’s cum was coating his hands. If Harry was disappointed when Severus moved off him, he was soon dissuaded of that when Severus climbed straight on Harry’s knot. Harry was then treated to the sight of Severus riding him while licking Harry’s cum off his finger. It was incredible, and Harry thought he might cum again. 

Severus hadn’t bound Harry’s hands this time but Harry didn’t want to push things too much. He kept his hands on Severus’ knees, allowing his thumbs to stroke them; the only movement he allowed him. Severus seemed to appreciate Harry’s restraint, his movements and moans becoming more lewd. Harry wasn’t sure if Severus was testing him, or if it was simply that he felt safe that Harry wouldn’t do any more. Still, when Harry did finally soften again, he couldn’t stop himself from surging up and pulling Severus in for a deep kiss. 

For a moment Harry worried that Severus was going to pull back, especially when he seemed to initially freeze. It was only for a second though, then he leaned in,   opening his mouth slightly, allowing Harry to take control of the kiss, and Harry was more than happy to oblige. It wasn’t often that he was allowed to have Severus this close so Harry was more than happy to wrap his arms around the other man, pulling him in close as he deepened their kiss. Severus’ own fresh taste mingled with the aniseed of Harry’s cum. 

Harry didn’t know if they were supposed to taste good together, but in his mind they blended perfectly. He couldn’t get enough of it, and neither could Severus, it seemed, since he was pulling Harry just as close, apparently just as eager for more. Harry moaned, so happy to have his omega squirming in his lap as their mouth moulded and their tongues twinned together. A part of Harry wanted more of Severus’ wonderful slick and he had to almost clamp them around Severus’ upper body, to stop them wandering any lower to get more. This was still on Severus’ terms after all and Harry was determined to prove to this wonderful omega that he was a good option. 

“So, should I book this room again for next week?” Harry asked, after they had pulled apart. Severus remained cuddled up against Harry’s chest and Harry revelled in the feel of it. Sex with Severus was wonderful but what Harry was enjoying the most was this closeness of this moment, simply having Severus in his arms. 

“Perhaps,” Severus murmured, his face buried in the crook of Harry’s neck, his arms remaining wrapped around Harry. 

Harry smiled. Severus was such a contrary creature, Harry had realised. She would say no in the blink of an eye but getting a straight yes from him was like getting blood from a stone. Perhaps was as good as a yes in Severus’ world and Harry hoped this could be the beginning of something truly wonderful. Admittedly he would rather have Severus every day but he would take what he could get, especially if it helped lead to more. 

Harry looked around the club, The Flower Garden, and let out a sigh. An omega club wouldn’t be the way he wanted to spend his evening but it was Ron’s stag do so it was kind of expected. He found the sweet, floral smell almost overpowering however, and he was glad that he had thought to douse his suit with mint oil before he left. It wasn’t quite as Severus’ cut grass scent but it would have to do. It wasn’t like he could ask Severus to cover him in his slick before he left, as much as Harry might have wanted to. At least he had a good excuse for keeping away from the ‘action’ however. 

As best man, it was his duty to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves, especially Ron, but also that that enjoyment didn’t go too far. Omega clubs had a strict ‘no touching’ policy and Harry would hate for Ron’s night to be ruined because someone decided to get too handsy. Thankfully most of their group were betas, like Ron, so at least there wasn’t too much risk of someone going into rut. That didn’t mean that the betas couldn’t get drunk and take things too far, which was why Harry was standing off to the side, keeping an eye on things. 

At least that was his excuse and Harry was sticking to it. He had already given a hundred quid to one of the dancers and asked her to let the others know not to bother him. He wasn’t interested in anyone except for Severus and he'd rather not spend all night politely turning people down. If he were honest, he had hoped that they would be able to wrap things up early but midnight had already been and gone, some time ago, and the party showed no signs of breaking up any time soon. Harry couldn’t blame them really; the dancers were very good, even if they did pale compared to Severus, in his opinion. 

Their movements were designed to be as exciting and provocative as possible. Severus’ movements did that almost accidentally; the languid sway of his hips simply showing the pleasure that he found, as opposed to trying to create it. Perhaps it was just him, but Harry found the idea of Severus working only for his own pleasure immensely sexy. He would happily spend a whole night watching Severus doing his own version of some of these dances. It reminded Harry that there was a chance that Severus could have ended up in one of these clubs if Sirius hadn’t offered him a job. Harry could easily imagine the man paying off his debts in no time if he had. 

It made Harry think about what their relationship might have been like if that had happened, and Harry had met Severus here instead of at Sleekeazy. Would their relationship have been better, or would Harry have ended up as just another in a long line of very attentive punters, paying out of the ear for just a small amount of time with the aloof omega. Harry would likely have spent a fortune on the man, and he still would, he just hoped that he could eventually get to something deeper, something more, now. 

The music suddenly stopped, pulling Harry out of his reverie, and he breathed a sigh of relief that the night was over. He had a meeting with his dad first thing, in about 5 hours to be exact, but he was sure his dad wouldn’t mind if he was a bit tired, or a bit drunk. He had tried to stick to soft drinks where he could but Seamus had insisted on several rounds of shots at one point and Harry hadn’t been able to say no. At least there were plenty of hangover cures at work if he needed one. Harry contemplated owling some to his friends as began trying to herd all his friends to the door. He was just in the process of pulling Seamus along, as the man desperately professed his love to a pretty, dark skinned omega when Harry found himself knocked to the ground. 

Harry looked over and saw two large alphas squaring off. Their eyes were dark red and their postures hunched, ready to pounce on each other as they circled each other. Harry soon noticed that their movements were deliberate and, at the centre of their circle was a pretty, petite omega who was trying to calm the situation down, hampered by the fact that she was also trying to hold up her tattered costume and maintain at least some of her dignity. The friends of the two alphas weren’t helping things either, having formed a ring around the trio to keep the bouncers away. 

“Excuse me, Miss?” Harry said, turning to the omega Seamus was professing his undying love to. He was apparently trying to compliment her different body parts and just compared her toes to cute, little caterpillars when Harry walked over. 

“Harmony,” the omega replied, flashing Harry a bright smile, apparently glad for the break from Seamus’ increasingly preposterous claims.

“Harmony,” Harry repeated, returning the woman’s smile. “I was hoping to try to help get your friend out.” He pointed to the poor girl who let out a squeal as the rutting alphas made a lunge for each other. “I was wondering if there was a safe place where the omegas could hide if there was any trouble.”

“Over there,” Harmony said, pointing to a door on the other side of the alphas and Harry bit back a groan. The alphas’ friends seemed to have been aware of that fact and had purposely set themselves up against it and were blocking any omegas from entering. At least that explained why the bouncers were more interested in taking out the friends than helping the poor girl who had been attacked. 

“This almost feels like it has been planned,” Harry mused. 

“It might have been,” Harmony admitted. “Chastity has had issues with these guys before, but never this bad. They were already on a warning though and the boss had already threatened to ban them.”

“So they have nothing to lose,” Harry groaned, running a hand down his face as he tried to come up with a plan. “Right. Seamus, I'm gonna need you to make sure Ron gets home OK or we will both have to deal with Hermione and Mrs Weasley.”

Seamus turned slightly pale. “Gotcha.”

“Great. Now I just need to try to get her out of here before they realise what I’m up to. I should have an easier time than the bouncers and Sirius’ place isn’t too far to apparate to.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Harmony asked, looking at Harry with concern. Harry just shrugged while Seamus laughed. 

“Don’t mind Harry, he has a saving people thing. Always has.”

“I do not have a ‘saving people thing’,” Harry groused, scowling at Seamus. The Irishman just flashed him a smirk. 

“Sure Harry, whatever you say. Now go be the big hero and show these eejits how an alpha is supposed to act. You’ll probably win the fair maid’s hand in the process.”

Harry gave a non-committal hum before turning to try to weave his way through the crowd. He actually hoped he didn’t impress the girl too much: He wasn’t interested in anyone who wasn’t Severus after all. After all the poor girl had gone through right now, it would suck to have to deal her another blow. 

Now was not the time to think about that, though. He needed to get to the heart of the scrum and try to get Chastity away without anyone following, preferably, although Harry was pretty sure he could handle one hanger-on.

Just then the crowd jumped as a roar went out, along with dual snarls and a feminine scream. Harry made the most of the moment of distraction, ducking down and darting through the bodies. He ignored the two alphas currently trying to rip each other apart and made a beeline for the omega, diving and grabbing her around the waist. He heard a faint gasp by his ear just before the world turned upside-down and he wound up halfway across London in the sitting room in 12 Grimmauld Place. 

“What do you want?” Chastity demanded, scrabbling across the floor and looking at Harry with pure fear even as she tried valiantly to keep her torn costume around her in some way. 

“It’s alright, I promise,” Harry assured her, raising his hands and meeting her eye so she could see that he was in full control. “I just wanted to get you somewhere safe, and also give the bouncers a slightly easier time since they can fire spells at those idiots more easily if they aren’t worrying about hitting you as well. Now, I need to send a patronus message to your friend, Harmony, to let her know you’re alright. I would also like to fix your costume so you have one less thing to worry about. Which would you rather I did first?”

“Message Harmony.” The reply was quick, her look calculating. She was a curvy and busty blonde and many people probably considered her a bimbo but Harry had a feeling she was much smarter than she made herself out to be. Harry accepted her choice, though, and conjured up his patronus, memories of Severus coming easily to the forefront of his mind. Chastity let out a quiet “Oh!” as the silver stag formed, although Harry couldn’t help feeling something was different. He could be wrong but he could have sworn the deer was a little smaller than the last time he summoned it. He also thought the horns looked a little smaller. He didn’t really have time to ponder it, though, and he quickly sent it off to let everyone know Chastity was safe. He then cast a repairo in Chastity’s direction and the woman looked surprised when her costume fixed itself around her. 

“Alright,” Harry said, slapping his thighs as he stood up. “You are welcome to stay a bit if you want, let yourself calm down. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“What’s your game?” Chastity asked, eyeing Harry cautiously, the fear in her eyes quickly getting overtaken by curiosity. “Why did you bring me to your house?”

“Actually, this is my Godfather’s house,” Harry corrected, letting out an awkward chuckle. “I came here because I know the wards are more accommodating, set up to allow people to bring in guests. The wards on my place only let in family and people who have been specifically keyed in. This place is also still in central London, near the Belgravia area, so you should be able to get home easily. By the way, do you want to borrow a robe? You can change or just cover up, whichever you prefer.”

“Is that a ploy to force me to stay in touch when I return the robe?”

Harry laughed. “Merlin, no! Sirius hates wearing robes anyway so he’ll probably be grateful if one goes missing.”

“Oh!” Chastity blinked a few times. “You really aren’t planning on doing anything.” She looked at Harry with a bright smile. “In that case I could murder a cuppa and I wouldn’t say no to the robe. These costumes are fun to perform in but draw way too much attention when walking home.”

“So, I’m trying to figure you out,” Chastity mused as they sat in Sirius’ sitting room, sharing tea and toast that Kreacher had begrudgingly prepared for them. Harry had brought down a plain robe from Sirius’ wardrobe and had left the room while Chastity changed, wanting to give her some privacy. The tea and toast had been there when Chastity had told him she was done. Harry had opted to join her for a drink; it was now nearing five in the morning and it seemed a bit pointless to try to get any sleep now. 

“I don’t know what there is to figure out,” Harry said with a shrug. 

Chastity smiled at him as if she didn’t believe him. “Are you seriously trying to tell me that you helped me for zero reward? You don’t even want a free dance or anything? You just helped me out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Well, yeah. Isn’t that what people do? I saw you were in trouble and thought I could help so I helped you.”

Chastity laughed. “No, most people aren’t like that.”

Harry frowned. “Everyone I know is like that.”

“Then you are one of the lucky ones, and apparently I’m lucky to have run into you tonight. Things definitely could have gotten rough in there if you hadn’t stepped in so thank you.”

“You’re welcome. By the way, does it normally get like that in the club?”

Chastity shook her head. “Honestly, I have never seen something like that happen at that club. Some of the less reputable ones, sure, but not at The Flower Garden. The owners are really good at keeping the more troublesome clients out.”

“Isn’t that always a risk, though?” Harry queried. 

“I suppose,” Chastity mused, “although it's not really more of a risk than many jobs out there and it gives me my independence.”

“There are some jobs out there. I work at Sleekeazy and we have omegas that work there without issue.”

“In, like, secretary positions, right?” Chastity questioned. “I’ve known omegas who end up working those. So many of them wind up going through heat while working somehow, only to wind up bound to some ugly, old alpha with no say over their lives. Personally, I preferred my independence, which I have at the club. They actually don’t want us working when we are in heat, since it’s more risk for them, and they also risk losing a good earner.”

“So, something that suppresses your heat would be something you would be interested in?”

“Fuck yeah, though I doubt any alphas would be creating one soon. The contraceptives help a bit. They don’t really stop the heat, just lessen them a bit, helping keep your head clear, keep you in control.”

“That’s good,” Harry pondered, wondering what it would take to get Severus’ suppressants on the market. Chastity’s talk of independence made him think of Severus’ attitude. There were definitely similarities between their attitudes and Harry was curious about something. “Chastity, I know you said that you weren’t interested in getting bound to some alpha; does that mean you don’t ever want to settle down?”

“I would say never,” Chastity said, thoughtfully. “I think everyone dreams of finding that right person, whether they are alphas, betas or omegas. As an omega though, it’s all the more important to find the right one. You might be surprised at how many hoops someone is willing to jump through when they really want to.”

“So it takes time for you to really trust someone?”

Chastity nodded. “Yeah, why? Are you thinking that you might be willing to jump through my hoops?”

“Oh, um, no,” Harry said, scratching his head awkwardly. “There’s actually someone that I already have my eye on. I had been trying to show him that I was a good prospect, that I would treat him well. I was starting to worry though, that nothing I ever did would be enough. It’s good to know it’s worth hanging on longer though.”

“Do you think he’s worth jumping through all those hoops?” Chastity questioned, and Harry’s face split into a wide smile. 

“Oh yes, he definitely is. Not sure I could imagine being with anyone else at this point.”

“Then he is definitely a very lucky man. I hope he realises that eventually and, if he doesn’t, there are definitely people who would be able to see what a great catch you are.” She sent Harry a flirty smile that had Harry feeling more than a little awkward. Nothing more happened, thankfully, and, after they finished their tea, Harry offered to walk her home. It was technically morning, but it was still dark and Harry worried about Chastity walking the streets, especially without her wand. 

Chastity clung to Harry’s arm as they walked through the streets and Harry did his best to make it obvious that he wasn’t breathing through his mouth when he did. She smelled of lilies, a scent Harry recognised from the garden at home, his dad having filled the flower beds with them in memory of Harry’s mother. It was a smell that Harry had found comforting until his Uncle Remus had let slip that his mother hated them because they were associated with funerals. From that point on Harry had hated them as well and he always avoided the garden when they were in bloom. When they got to Chastity’s building, the young woman asked Harry if he wanted to come up for some coffee. 

“No thanks,” Harry said, plastering a smile on his face that he didn’t really feel. “I have to be at work in a bit anyway so I’m just going to head straight there.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, he had a few hours before he had to be in. Harry knew that if he went home, though, there was a good chance he would fall asleep; he was already suppressing yawns. With any luck he would be able to leave early and get some sleep in the afternoon. It would be a shame to miss time with Severus but at least they would have Friday, and Harry wanted to be very refreshed for that. He picked up a couple of coffees, putting a stasis spell on the one he left on Severus’ desk before walking into his office and making a start on his memos, hoping to make a start on them before his meeting. 

Harry kept his door open and saw the moment Severus came in, flashing Harry a smile when he saw the coffee waiting for him. It gave Harry a warm feeling in his chest and he thought about asking if Severus wanted to go out for dinner. The question was on the tip of his tongue as he stepped out of his office, ready to go to his meeting, when he walked up to Severus’ face transformed into a scowl. 

“You look a state.”

Harry shrugged. “It’s just a meeting with my dad, Sirius and Remus to talk about how things in the company are going. Dad uses them as an excuse for not going over all the memos that come his way and I use it as a way of getting them onside before board meetings. It makes my life easier but they aren’t going to care about how I look.”

“That’s besides the point,” Severus hissed. “Did you even go home last night?”

“Um, something came up,” Harry said, by way of explanation, scratching his head as he thought about how best to explain things.

“So you say,” Severus sniffed, then sniffed again, his frown deepening. 

“We could always talk about it over lunch,” Harry suggested and Severus hummed thoughtfully. Harry smiled, taking that as a yes, as he was wont to do with Severus, and went off to meet with his dad. 

“So, did you get up to anything fun last night?” Sirius asked as Harry walked into his dad’s office. “You certainly look like you did.”

Harry chuckled. “Not sure if I would call it fun. I helped one of the dancers escape when a couple of alphas went into rut.”

“You got to play an omegas night in shining armour?” James asked, looking both inquisitive and impressed. “Are you sure you didn’t have fun?”

“He smells like he did,” Remus smirked, coming up behind Harry and sniffing his jacket. 

“Do I?” Harry queried, sniffing his sleeve. “I think I became a bit nose blind with all the omegas that were around last night.” It was possible he was also purposely trying to block out his sense of smell. 

“You definitely do,” James agreed, coming up to smell Harry himself. “Lilies as well. Nice.”

“That would be Chastity,” Harry explained. “She was the one I helped.”

“Very nice,” James smirked. “Maybe you don’t need Kitty after all.”

“I don’t need Kitty,” Harry assured him. “Although talking with Chastity did put me in mind of a new product we could try: heat suppressants for omegas.”

“Heat suppressants?” James queried. “Why would anyone want to stop an omega’s heat? Being with an omega in heat is awesome.”

“Well yeah,”Harry agreed, although he wasn’t sure if that was always the case. He hadn’t enjoyed Ginny’s heats all that much but he would definitely like to experience one with Severus again. “The suppressants wouldn’t stop the heats, just control when they happen. It would give omegas a little more control over things.”

“That could be handy,” James mused. “Nothing worse than planning to spend heat with someone only for it to hit early when you’re in the middle of a meeting and you miss the best bits.”

“We would need someone to make them though,” Sirius pointed out. 

“I may know someone with a recipe,” Harry said cautiously, but Sirius still gave him an inquisitive look, which Harry pointedly ignored, grateful for a yawn to cover it. 

“Well, in that case, we can always set up a focus group to work out which is the best way to market it: taking control of your heat or a stronger contraceptive that has usable side effects,” Remus suggested, and Harry nodded, even as he yawned again. 

James looked at his son with concern. “How much sleep did you actually get last night, Harry?”

“Um, none,” Harry admitted, scratching his head sheepishly as he tried not to yawn again. 

James just rolled his eyes. “Well, that was dumb. Do you have any more meetings this morning?”

Harry shook his head. “No, just this. I came in early to catch up on paperwork as well so I was planning on having an early lunch then going home for the day.”

“Not sure you’re even going to make it to lunch at this rate,” Sirius said with a grin. 

“I have to agree,” Remus nodded. “No offence, but we don’t really need your input for the marketing, and I can coordinate with research to look at setting up test groups, if you think this person will be willing to sell the recipe.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure they will,” Sirius said, giving Harry a hard look, making Harry squirm a bit. 

“You know who Harry is talking about?” James queried. 

“Not for certain,” Sirius admitted, “but I would bet money on it.”

“Well then, you can talk to them about selling while I talk to research and James can work out the marketing strategy,” Remus suggested. 

“I would rather talk to him about selling,” Harry said, even as he felt his eyelids droop and his body sway. 

James shook his head. “No, you are in no state to go anywhere. Just lie down here and have a nap. I don’t want to risk you having a fall walking around this building and getting hurt.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to argue but there was a look of concern in his dad’s eyes that made Harry cave. “I suppose your sofa is comfortable, and an hour nap won’t hurt.”

“Precisely,” James said, patting Harry on the shoulder and transfiguring a blanket for him as Harry lay down on the squishy, brown leather cushions. He wanted to tell his dad that he wasn’t a baby anymore, that he didn’t need tucking in, but he was already drifting off. 

He woke with a start when Sirius shook his shoulder. 

“I knew there was more to the story that you suggested,” his Godfather said with a grin. 

Harry was confused. “What do you mean?”

“That omega you helped,” Sirius replied. “She’s sent you a bouquet of all things. I thought that was only something alphas did.”

Harry chuckled. “Chastity isn’t a regular omega. She is very headstrong and values her independence.”

“She sounds fun.”

“She is,” Harry agreed. “I should introduce her to you one day.”

“I’m sure you will,” Sirius said, giving Harry a knowing look, confusing Harry in the process. “In the meantime, I put the flowers in your office. I may have spread the news around the office as well, maybe encourage some more omegas to be as proactive.”

Harry nodded in agreement, although he wasn’t sure whether it was actually a good idea or not. Still, he bid his Godfather farewell and headed for his office. He was feeling refreshed and he didn’t realise why that might be until he got to Severus’ desk and saw the clock saying that it was 12:45. 

“Damn, didn’t realise it was so late. Are you ready to go grab something to eat, Severus?”

Severus scowled and held up a sandwich. “I have already started. I assumed that you had a better offer, or just went home.”

“I did plan on going home after lunch anyway,” Harry admitted, suddenly feeling like that might not be a good idea. 

“You should, you still look like shit.”

That felt like a bit of a gut punch, but Harry reminded himself that Severus had always been blunt and a couple of hours sleeping on his dad’s sofa probably hadn’t done much good. 

“I guess you’re right,” Harry accepted with a sigh. “Still, I was looking forward to having lunch with you.”

“I imagine that you will be able to find someone else to join you.”

“I suppose,” Harry said with a sigh. He could probably ask Sirius, or Remus, or his dad. That wasn’t something that appealed to him though, and he flashed Severus his best kicked puppy look. He wasn’t above begging, but Severus jumped in before he could say anything more. 

“By the way, your Godfather came by earlier as well, mentioning something about my suppressants.”

“Oh yeah. I was talking with Chastity, one of the dancers from last night.”

“The one who you saved? She sent you flowers.”

“Sirius told me,” Harry said, wincing slightly as he scratched his head awkwardly. “But yeah, I helped her escape some alphas that ended up going into rut. She was talking about how she didn’t like regular work because omegas going into heat sometimes got taken advantage of and it made me think that there might actually be a market for your potion. Did he offer you a good deal?”

“He offered me a deal,” Severus replied. “I would, however, like to take tomorrow off work to consider my options fully.”

“Well yes, of course,” Harry said, not sure how he could deny the request but also not really liking the thought of not seeing Severus for so long. “I will still see you tomorrow evening at the hotel though, right?”

Severus hummed again, before turning back to his lunch, and Harry clung to the idea that Severus hadn’t said ‘no’ so that must be a yes, right? 

Severus was late. Well, technically that wasn’t true as they hadn’t agreed on a time. That said, it was now gone eight and there was no sign of Severus which was causing Harry to worry. It didn’t help that Harry hadn’t seen the man all day and he was now getting antsy. The upside was that Severus had theoretically been at his home all day and, on that assumption, Harry made the decision to go to him, to see what was going on. He was definitely glad that he had looked it up before when he had contemplated sending the man gifts. 

Severus gave Harry a baleful look, having opened the door to Harry’s knocking. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Wondering where you are,” Harry replied. “I thought you were coming to the hotel tonight.”

“I assumed you would have other company,” Severus admitted. 

Harry frowned. “Why would you think that?”

“You save an omega, come into work with her scent all over you, and then she sent you flowers to remind you of that scent.”

Harry grimaced. “I really wish she hadn’t. I hate floral scents in general but I think lilies are my least favourite. They make me think of death.”

“They do?” That seemed to bring Severus up short. “Does that mean that you have gotten rid of them?”

“I thought about it,” Harry admitted, letting out a long suffering sigh. “I felt guilty when I tried though, since she seemed to mean well in sending them. I just ended up sitting at your desk all day, but I took off the stasis spell and I hope that they will have started wilting by Monday.”

“Too damn soft,” Severus muttered, before giving Harry a hard look. “Will you throw them out if I tell you they are going to set off my hay-fever?”

“Merlin, yes! Thank you Severus, that is the perfect excuse. Seriously, I don’t know what I would do without you in my life.”

A faint blush coloured Severus’ cheeks. “Probably crash and burn.”

“Probably,” Harry agreed, a wide grin splitting his face. “So, any chance I can persuade you to come to the hotel with me, maybe get some room service. I don’t know about you but I am getting kind of hungry.”

“I have actually almost finished cooking something,” Severus admitted, a little sheepishly. 

Harry bit his lip and looked at Severus hopefully. “Any chance I can join you?”

Severus paused for a moment, but then caught Harry's eye and stepped aside, holding the door open. Harry quickly stepped in, before Severus could change his mind. 

The room that Harry stepped into was very small, maybe seven feet across at a push. The size wasn’t helped by the fact that the walls were completely lined with books, all old and looking worn, but otherwise well looked after. That wasn’t what drew Harry’s attention though, that was caught by the smell coming from the little kitchen out back. 

“I was just cooking a basic spag bol, although I should be able to expand it to feed both of us.”

“It smells amazing,” Harry said, not even trying to hide the bit of drool that leaked out of his mouth. He had been hungry before, but smelling Severus’ cooking made him ravenous. He was so distracted he barely noticed the faint blush on Severus’ face as he turned to start plating up. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, just take a seat,” Severus said, portioning one lot of pasta onto a plate, while another went into a bowl. Harry felt suddenly bad for imposing on Severus; the man’s movements unusually awkward, making Harry feel like Severus was very conscious of his presence. He didn’t want to make things worse, though, so he sat down on the rickety stool near the table, leaving the chair for Severus. That might not have been the right option, however, as Severus scowled at him when he brought the food over. 

“I am not some charity case,” he spat. “In fact I should be receiving a large dividend soon.”

“I know,” Harry said, flashing Severus what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “I hope you get a great price for your recipe. When Sirius tries to negotiate, be sure to point out how much the company is saving, not having to go through research and development, or even testing, since you already use it.”

“I already planned to, I’m not an imbecile.”

“I know,” Harry said again, giving Severus another smile before digging into his food. He let out a loud moan as the rich flavour of the sauce burst across his tongue. “Now I really wish you’d agreed to marry me, this is amazing.”

Severus paused, fork halfway to his mouth. “You said that as a joke.”

“It was more a spur of the moment thing as opposed to a joke,” Harry admitted. “I didn’t intend to say it out loud, but I meant it.”

Severus scoffed. “You barely knew me back then.”

“True,” Harry agreed, “but I knew there was something special about you and I knew my life would be better with you in it. Getting to know you since has only made me more sure of that.”

“Did you even know that I was an omega back then?” Severus queried. 

“No, I thought you were a beta,” Harry replied truthfully. “Learning you are actually an omega has only increased my respect for you, especially after listening to Chastity last night.”

Severus tensed. “Indeed? And what did that woman say that keeps her on your mind?” The words were practically spat and Harry could see the tension in Severus’ shoulders. This was obviously a sore subject but Harry didn’t think running away from it would be the right answer. 

“I was talking to her about the risks in her job, part of why the subject of your suppressants came up actually. I pointed out that dancing in those clubs posed a risk but Chastity said that working in an office could be just as risky for omegas, especially when they went into heat, as it left them vulnerable, and open to getting bound to an alpha they wouldn’t normally accept. It made me realise why you were so scared when your heat suddenly kicked in and I’m more glad than ever that I was able to keep you safe. It also made me realise how much of a benefit your suppressants could be to others which is why I wanted to market them.”

“So first you save this girl, and now you want to save all omegas as well?” Severus questioned, a slight sneer in his voice. “Is that why you want to marry me as well, to save me from this life.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I do not want to ‘save all omegas’, but if I come across a product that can make their lives easier, you better believe that I am going to do everything I can to make it available. As for marrying you, of course I want to take you away from this. If I had my way, I would have you set up in my home, giving you everything your heart desires; you would never want for anything again. That isn’t what you want though, you are too fiercely independent to be a kept man, a quality I love by the way. So I let you set the boundaries, but keep an eye out for ways I can spoil you in a way that won’t make you feel uncomfortable.”

“I will probably be able to spoil myself soon,” Severus pointed out, and Harry smiled at him warmly. 

“Good. I hope you do.”

“And you don’t think your attention will wane when I am no longer a charity case?”

Harry laughed as he rolled his eyes again. “Of course not, you fool. I love you; being financially independent isn’t going to change that.”

“What if I demand a brewing position as part of my deal for the suppressant?” Severus asked and Harry grimaced. 

“I guess I can understand why you would want to. It’s better pay, gives you more respect and you get paid for doing what you love. I can’t say that I wouldn’t miss you though. I love you being so close, and I couldn’t imagine someone doing as good a job of keeping me in line as you do.”

Severus made a distressed sound at the back of his throat and a small burst of hope bloomed in Harry’s chest. He stretched a hand across the small, pine table and clasped Severus’ free one. 

“I would never stop you from doing what you want, Severus, nor will I even try to make demands on you. All I will say is that I want you in my life, as much as you are willing to be in it, for as long as humanly possible.”

Severus met Harry’s eyes, jet black boring into emerald green, as if searching for the truth. Harry held his gaze, trying to let all of his feelings show. If he wasn’t mistaken, he felt the brush of Severus’ mind against his own and he hoped Severus saw what he needed. Harry thought he might have when he noticed Severus’ eyes shimmer with some unknown emotion. 

“I don’t know if I am in the mood for anything…physical,” Severus said, cautiously, and Harry thought he could understand. He was feeling a little emotionally raw and he had come to terms with his feelings for Severus some time ago so he could only imagine what Severus was going through himself. 

Harry flashed Severus a smile and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “That’s fine. I’d still like to stay though, if you’ll let me. I had hoped to spend the night with you and I’d like to do that, even if we just cuddle.”

Severus hummed, but he didn’t let go of Harry’s hand, and Harry felt a wide smile split his face. Holding hands made eating a little awkward, but Harry was more than happy to put up with it for the chance of maintaining that little bit of closeness. When they were done, Harry insisted on washing the dishes. 

“You cooked, and I intruded, so it’s only fair that I pay my way somehow,” Harry insisted. 

“It’s a shame I didn’t think to buy a bottle of wine,” Severus mused. “I could quite enjoy a nice glass of red while I watch you work.”

“Maybe next time,” Harry suggested. He looked over his shoulder, hoping to gauge Severus’ reaction, only to notice Severus’ eyes trained on his arse. Harry gave it a little wiggle, mentally congratulating himself for putting on the jeans Hermione said made his bum look good. Severus rolled his eyes, but Harry saw a small smile pull at the corners of his mouth. 

“There isn’t really anything to do here,” Severus admitted, when Harry had finally finished washing up. 

“You have plenty of books,” Harry suggested, only for Severus to give him a disbelieving look. 

“You want to spend the evening reading?”

“Or you can read to me. I love the sound of your voice.” Harry leaned down to give Severus a peck on the cheek as he said that and he was happy to see Severus’ cheeks turn red. 

“I can accept that,” Severus huffed, turning his head away, even though Harry had already seen. “Who knows, I might even be able to teach you some culture.”

They set themselves up on the small, threadbare sofa. Severus sat stiffly upright at one edge after picking a book from one of the many shelves. The book opened easily and Harry had a feeling it had been read many times. 

“The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” Harry read, ignoring convention and lying length-ways across the sofa, resting his head in Severus’ lap. He briefly worried that Severus would complain but, instead, he seemed to relax a bit and Harry let out a small sigh of relief. Harry found his eyes closing as he listened to the rich baritone of Severus’ voice curling around the words as he described the exploits of the famous detective. Harry knew of Sherlock Holmes, but had never actually read the stories and found the idea of them fascinating. Still, his lack of sleep and Severus’ dulcet tones soon had Harry drifting off, despite his best efforts to stay awake and enjoy the peace of the moment. He woke up to see Severus looking down at him, the book set aside. One of Severus’ hands was linked with one of Harry’s and resting on Harry’s chest, the other was gently carding through Harry’s hair. 

“I did enjoy the story,” Harry insisted, hoping he hadn’t accidentally insulted his host. “It was just the lack of sleep catching up with me. I would love to listen to you read again.”

“I fear that I would have to start from the beginning. You seemed to have drifted off quite early.”

“I find lying with you very comfortable,” Harry admitted, and the hand in his hair stilled. 

“It is late,” Severus said, slowly and deliberately. “If you are planning on going home you should probably leave soon.”

Harry felt his lips quirk slightly in a smile. “So long as it’s OK with you, I think I’d rather spend the night here.”

“It will just be for sleep,” Severus warned, and Harry’s smile grew. 

“Sounds perfect.”

Harry was a little surprised when they got to Severus’ bedroom and Severus handed him a nightshirt to wear. The garment was old and worn but surprisingly comfortable and, to top it off, it smelled of Severus. It took a lot of effort for Harry not to bury his face in the fabric and he only stopped because he knew he would be getting more soon. Severus changed as well, his movements not as fluid as usual, making Harry think he was a little self conscious. It had been some time since they had been naked together so Harry could understand and he tried not to stare too much. It was difficult, however, as the memories of sharing Severus’ heat were still strong in his mind and he was looking forward to getting to hold the omega again.

Or at least he hoped, anyway; there was a chance that Severus would want to keep his distance. Thankfully the bed wasn’t very big, the springs in the mattress were worn as well, meaning there was a good chance they would fall together naturally. Harry needn’t have worried, though, as Severus curled into Harry’s side as soon as he climbed into the bed. His arm wrapped around Harry’s chest as his head nuzzled into the crook of Harry’s neck. 

Severus’ long nose brushed against the sensitive skin there and Harry wondered if this was some other test, designed to push his limits. He refused to give in, however, not when he had come so far with Severus. His lust spiked, but Harry squashed it down, wrapping his arms around Severus instead, pulling the man in tight and enjoying the simple joy of having Severus so close. 

Harry woke up feeling refreshed, albeit a bit uncomfortable. He had enjoyed having Severus close all night, and being surrounded by Severus’ scent, but it had left him very hard. Apparently he wasn’t the only one to notice either. 

“Do you want me to help you with that?” Severus asked, moving his leg to brush against Harry’s very obvious hard on. 

Harry let out a loud groan. “Only if you really want to. If I’m honest, I’m perfectly comfortable just lying here.”

Severus shifted, moving his leg away, much to Harry’s relief, and leaning back a bit. Harry could feel his dark eyes boring into the side of Harry’s face, scrutinising Harry’s reactions. Harry didn’t mind though, relaxing back into the bed. 

“Are you sure you’re comfortable?” Severus queried, and a small smile graced Harry’s face. “That seems like it’s awkward.”

“Maybe comfortable isn’t the best word, but I am definitely happy to just lie here cuddled up with you. Being with you is what is important to me, the sex is just a bonus.”

“So what, you’re just going to lie there until it goes down?” Severus asked, moving his hand down to brush over the tent in Harry’s borrowed night shirt. 

“It will if you keep doing that,” Harry replied, with a chuckle, “but it’s going to leave a bit of a mess.”

“That would make me somewhat uncomfortable,” Severus muttered, moving his hand and cuddling back against Harry’s side. Harry could feel Severus’ own erection pressing against his hip. It was a relief in a way, to know that Severus was just as affected by his presence as Harry was by him. 

“You’re a very strange alpha, Harry,” Severus murmured. 

Harry smiled widely. “I can live with that, so long as you don’t mind ‘strange’.”

Severus hummed. “You said you loved me yesterday.”

“I did,” Harry agreed, “and I meant it.”

“You love too easily.”

“I don’t think so,” Harry argued. “I have friends that I love, sure, but only a small group of them: I have always been wary of people liking me for the wrong reasons. I don’t love before I trust someone.”

“And you trust me?”

“With my life, Severus,” Harry said, turning his head slightly to press a kiss onto Severus’ forehead.

“I’m pretty sure that you’re cracked.”

“Possibly. That doesn’t change the fact that I love you though.”

Severus hummed again, but he didn’t move, and Harry hoped that he was finally getting through to him. That said, Harry couldn’t help a little niggling feeling from Severus’ lack of reaction. It made him wonder if there was something more, something stopping Severus from accepting Harry in his life. It was annoying, but this moment was too nice to question things too much so Harry pushed it away to concentrate on the man in his arms. 

They lay together for some time, dozing in the soft light of the morning, and generally enjoying the peace of the moment. Harry wasn’t sure how long he remained there, but eventually the needs of their bodies required them to move. Severus didn’t have much by way of breakfast, just toast, but Harry wasn’t about to complain; happy to simply spend more time with the man who was becoming ever more important to him. Harry wasn’t in a particular rush to leave and, to his increasing delight, Severus didn’t seem inclined to kick him out either. 

“There’s a park near here that I used to play in with your mum when we were younger.”

Harry did a double take. “Wait, you knew my mum.”

Severus blinked. “I thought you knew that?”

“Well, I suppose I knew that you went to school with Dad, Sirius and Remus so I guess you must have known Mum as well, but I didn’t know you knew her beyond that.”

“She grew up a few streets from here,” Severus explained. “I can show you if you would like.”

Harry liked that idea very much and, after breakfast, the pair went for a walk. Severus started with the house Harry’s mum grew up in, as well as some of the places they used to hang out, including the park where they used to play. Harry loved hearing all of Severus’ stories. His dad never liked talking about his mum, finding it too painful, so Harry’s knowledge of her was very limited. It was why he hung on Severus’ every word as they strolled around the park, happy to learn something new about his mum. 

A small voice in the back of Harry’s mind questioned if friendship was all that existed between Severus and his mum. It wasn’t a fun thought, however, so Harry pushed it to the back of his mind. Sure, it could explain why Severus was insistent on keeping him at arm’s length, and why he hadn’t said anything when Harry professed his love. He thought about questioning things, even going so far as to take Severus’ hand. They were by a children’s play area and Severus was just talking about how he had watched Lily jump off the swing, slowing her fall to a degree it looked like she was flying. There was such a warm look in his eyes and Harry found his question dying on his lips. 

Sure, he could ask Severus the question, confirming his worst suspicions, likely ending their relationship for good, or he could leave things as they were and live in somewhat blissful ignorance. It wasn’t ideal, but, looking at Severus now, the thought of only having half of Severus, maybe less, but that was better than none. He was also still here, when his mum wasn’t, so maybe he could convince Severus to give him more. People could grow to love each other over time, right?

“Is something wrong?” Severus asked, looking at Harry with concern. 

Harry shook his head. “Nothing really. I was just wondering if you would let me treat you to coffee and cake.”

Severus looked at Harry, seemingly unconvinced. Still, he didn’t ask questions. “Coffee sounds good.”

The pair made their way to the coffee shop that had been set up in the park and Harry made a point of ordering some sandwiches as well as cake. He expected Severus to baulk at this action, even though it was lunchtime now, but he accepted without complaint. A part of Harry wondered if that was because he knew he had his own money coming or if it was because he was more comfortable with their relationship. Harry hoped it was the latter, but he wasn’t about to complain. 

They spent the afternoon talking about their time at Hogwarts, recounting lessons, as well as some of the adventures they had gotten up to in their time there. Harry had mostly been quidditch matches and sneaking down to the kitchen; he was grateful that he hadn’t had to deal with Voldemort in his time. He had talked about the rivalry that had existed between Gryffindor and Slytherin, or, more specifically, Harry and Draco Malfoy, and Severus had laughed. 

“It is interesting to see that the Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry was still going strong,” Severus chuckled.

“Was it an issue in your day?”

“Just a bit,” Severus muttered, a dark look coming over his face. “I was talking to your mum about wanting to be in Slytherin on the train to school, on our first day, and your dad overheard. He took an instant dislike to me because of it and we never got on from that point.”

“I can imagine that put a lot of strain on your friendship with mum as well,” Harry said, with a frown, and Severus nodded solemnly. 

“If I’m honest, we were doomed from the start, although I held on as long as I could. It was never going to work though, especially not with the rising threat of Voldemort as well, and eventually I did something unforgivable, that pushed her away for good.”

“So you weren’t even friends in the end?” Harry queried, not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 

“Not on her side,” Severus admitted, “but she always held a special place in my mind which was why I did what I could to help when I realised she was being targeted.”

“The House Elf?” Harry exclaimed. “That was thanks to you?”

Severus nodded. “It wasn’t enough though.” He looked so broken in that moment, but all Harry could do was laugh. 

“You might say that it wasn’t enough, but you saved my life, and my dad’s and probably allowed Voldemort to be killed as well. I don’t understand the specifics of it, but I asked Dumbledore at one point and he said it was my mum’s sacrifice, and her love for us, that allowed my dad and I to take him out. I know dad wishes that mum had survived as well that night but I can’t help wondering how much worse things would have been if she had, especially if that meant Voldemort would have survived as well.”

Severus looked at Harry, his dark eyes seeming to stare straight into Harry’s mind. Harry tried to remain relaxed, reaching across the table to take Severus’ hand. 

Severus sighed. “You are a better person than me, Harry.”

A soft smile spread across Harry’s face. “Perhaps, but I love you just the way you are, Severus.”

A slight frown marred Severus’ forehead but he gave Harry’s hand a squeeze so Harry assumed that he must have said the right thing. 

“I feel like I need to cook for you now,” Harry said, as they left the coffee shop, walking hand in hand. 

“Can you even cook?”

“Um,” Harry said, starting to panic a bit. “I can make beans on toast.” He had just said it as a way of prolonging his time with Severus and he hoped he hadn’t accidentally shot himself in the foot. Thankfully Severus just rolled his eyes. 

“Then it will probably be a good idea if I cook again.”

Harry grinned. “Then I guess I’ll be doing the washing up.”

They stopped by a Tesco on the way home where Harry insisted on paying for dinner, including a bottle of wine. They went back to Severus’ where Harry sat in the kitchen, sometimes talking, but mostly just happily watching Severus as he whipped up a shepherd’s pie. Conversation over dinner had moved onto their likes and dreams and Severus had mentioned wanting to do a wine tour of Italy, sparked by the gorgeous Syrah that Harry had bought that went down far too well. Harry made a mental note of it and wondered just how far into their relationship they would have to get before he could take Severus on one. Nothing to stop him making some enquiries, though. 

After dinner, they settled back on the sofa, this time with Severus wordless inviting Harry to lay his head on Severus’ own lap. Harry didn’t bother to hide his smile, nor did he complain when Severus restarted A Study in Scarlet, especially as he had slept through so much of it before. He was surprised at the love story at the heart of it, the murderer driven to avenge the woman he loved, and Harry was actually happy that the guy had a peaceful death at the end. Looking up at Severus, Harry realised he might just do the same, should anyone try to take Severus away from him: he would certainly pursue them across the world to get him back. 

“I love you,” Harry said, lifting his hand up to stroke Severus’ cheek.

“You said that already.” 

It still wasn’t the words, or even a hint at them, but Severus brought his hand up to cover Harry’s as a soft smile bloomed on his face. It meant that he at least accepted what Harry said, and that went someway to easing some of Harry’s anxiety. 

“I’ll happily repeat it every day.” Harry meant it too. If that was what it took to worm his way into Severus’ heart, Harry would say it every day. 

Severus put the book down in what seemed like a silent signal that he was ready for bed, and Harry followed him, automatically, changing back into the night shirt from the night before that was still folded and tucked under the pillow on Severus’ bed. Severus curled up on Harry’s chest again, as soon as they were both in bed, only this time he began to nuzzle and kiss Harry’s neck. Harry thought about telling Severus he didn’t need to do that, that Harry was more than happy to just cuddle again, but then Severus sucked particularly hard and all thought of protest died on Harry’s lips. 

Severus shuffled to lie fully on top of Harry, Harry spreading his legs to cradle Severus’ body. Their lips met and tongues danced, Severus kissing Harry with a kind of desperation Harry had never felt before. It was as if Severus needed Harry more than air, and Harry was more than happy to supply him, pulling Severus closer, threading his hands in Severus’ hair, almost trying to merge them into one being. 

Then Harry felt Severus’ cock slide against his own, their night shirts having become rucked up as they kissed. Harry moaned, the sound turning to a groan as the scent of Severus’ slick filled the room. Severus’ hand moved to grasp both of their cocks, coating them to ease the way, and Harry almost lost it there and then. He gripped Severus tight to him, digging his heels into the mattress, thrusting up against Severus’ body as hard as he could, chasing the orgasm that his body craved. Severus seemed more than content with things, pressing back down against Harry’s hard body as they continued to kiss. It was so simple, yet so perfect, and it wasn’t long before Harry hit his peak, his body tensing and spasming as he came, coating both their bodies. 

Severus was perhaps only a few seconds behind him, his cum mixing with Harry’s between them. It had been quick, although Harry hadn’t been overly surprised, nor was he left feeling unsatisfied. He was perfectly ready to clean up and cuddle the rest of the night when Severus shifted and climbed on top of Harry’s still hard knot. 

“It would be a shame to waste it,” Severus said with a smirk, a moan escaping from his lips as he slid down Harry’s length. His movements were languid as he rocked on Harry’s knot, and Harry let out a sigh, content to watch Severus find his pleasure. The smile on Severus’ face as he held Harry’s gaze satisfied something deep inside him, in a way that words couldn’t. There was an affectionate look in Severus’ eyes, visible by the light of the moon; possibly a trick of Harry’s mind, but it gave him a sense of security about their relationship that he hadn’t had earlier in the day.

“Is it bad that I want to do this every day?” Harry asked, his hands stroking Severus’ thighs. 

Severus scoffed lightly as he drew his fingers through the cum that was cooling on Harry’s chest. “I don’t think my body is up to every day.”

“Every other day then,” Harry suggested with a chuckle, opening his mouth as Severus brought their combined cum to his lips. He wasn’t the biggest fan of liquorice but Harry thought he could definitely get used to it, especially when it was combined with Severus’ fresh flavour; it would certainly mean that there was less to clean up afterwards. 

When Harry finally softened and Severus lay down, once more curled against Harry’s chest, Harry closed his eyes, instantly drifting off to sleep. The dream came easily, of bliss filled evenings, peaceful mornings, and happy afternoons spent in the sun. He didn’t know how long it would take for Severus to accept him in his life fully, or if he ever would, but Harry didn’t mind, so long as he could have this in his life. 

“Harry, can we have a talk,” Remus asked, coming into Harry’s office on Wednesday afternoon. 

“Sure,” Harry said, only to look at the man curiously as he shut the door and cast a silencing charm. “Is something the matter?”

“I don’t know,” Remus replied, cautiously. “Or, at least, I don’t know if there will be. How much has Snape spoken to you about the deal for his suppressant recipe?”

“Not at all,” Harry stated honestly. He had been a little upset about that fact at first but then Severus pointed out that he may have a conflict of interest, being Severus’ partner as well as an executive at the company. Harry agreed, although he was mostly just stuck on the fact that Severus had actually referred to Harry as his partner out loud. It had actually led to an impromptu make out session in Harry’s office which had only been interrupted when Harry’s alarm went off, alerting him to the fact that he had a meeting. 

Harry looked at Remus who seemed both worried, and a little awkward. 

“Well, we have come to a deal, quite amicably in fact,” Remus said, and Harry felt confused. 

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Normally I would say yes,” Remus agreed, “but, knowing the history between Snape, your father and Sirius, well, it’s caused us to question things a bit. You see, Snape was always ambitious, so we honestly expected him to try to take us for everything he could. We kept the reports from coming to your office, so as not to give him more leverage, but the consumer surveys we did showed that there was a bigger market for the suppressants than we had anticipated and we were ready to give him a lot for the recipe.”

“That’s good. So, what was the agreed on price?” A small part of Harry worried that Severus had asked for a brewing position but the man hadn’t said anything about leaving so he held onto hope. 

“Just money,” Remus replied, and Harry tried not to breathe a sigh of relief. 

“Is that for full rights, or just a temporary licence?” Harry asked. 

“Just a licence, and only for a year, which is why we are a little worried.”

“Because we only have the licence for a year?”

Remus nodded. “Precisely. Obviously, we fully expect Snape to renegotiate for more once the year is up, but we are worried that he might want something more. He does seem to have been getting very close to you recently; do you think he might try to trap you into a bond.”

Harry scoffed. “Not likely.” Admittedly that was mostly because Harry would be entering into a bond willingly, if Severus ever decided to take that step, but Remus didn’t need to know that. 

“Still, your dad has been talking about moving Snape to work with someone else just in case.”

“No!” Harry exclaimed, and then caught himself. “If Severus has only given us a one year licence then we don’t want to risk alienating him. He could use our marketing to get people talking about the product and then set up himself and undercut us.”

“True.” Remus sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t help worrying.”

“Stop thinking the worst is going to happen. Severus is happy here at the moment so it’s best not to rock the boat. I’m sure everything will work out in the end anyway.” That was what Harry had been telling himself anyway so he hoped Remus found it reassuring. 

“I guess. I’ll tell your dad not to move Snape yet, although if he thinks there is anything going on then he’ll have Snape replaced with Kitty before you can blink.”

Harry shuddered at the thought of that doormat working for him and he made a note not to be too affectionate with Severus, at least for a while anyway. He had been greeting Severus with a kiss and a coffee every day that week but he would stop if it ensured that he got to see Severus every day. He certainly didn’t want Kitty to have any say in his schedule. 

Harry made sure Remus had completely gone before calling Severus into his office. 

“I think we’re going to have to be careful for a bit,” Harry informed him. “Dad, Sirius and Remus have this ridiculous idea that you are going to try to force me to bond with you.”

Severus baulked. “What did you say?”

“I told them they were being ridiculous of course.”

“Because I wouldn’t be able to force you to bond with me.”

“More because you wouldn’t have to force me to bond with you,” Harry said with a laugh. “They don’t need to know that though.But I want to be careful. Apparently Dad is contemplating replacing you with Kitty again and I don’t want that to happen. I was just thinking that maybe the hotel might not be the best idea this week, just in case Dad decides to come snooping.”

“I was already planning on inviting you to come to my house again anyway.”

Harry flashed a relieved smile. “Only if you’re sure.”

Severus gave Harry a baleful look. “I wouldn’t have said anything if I wasn’t.”

“Fair enough,” Harry said, chuckling as he pulled Severus in for a hug. He nuzzled the man’s neck, revelling in the scent that he could have sworn was stronger than it had been before. “I’m going to miss these little moments.”

“It’s not even three days,” Severus retorted, but his arms tightened around Harry slightly. Harry really hoped that his Dad would get over himself soon. 

Friday evening came and Harry could barely contain his excitement as he made his way to Severus’ door. He had probably been a bit paranoid, Apparating around the country to try to make sure his dad couldn’t easily track him. He didn’t want to risk his dad showing up randomly, however, not when he was looking forward to spending the whole weekend here. He had even brought a weekend bag with him, to make sure he wasn’t caught out like the week before. He had felt a little grotty putting the same clothes on, having never been good at cleaning charms, but leaving hadn’t been an option. 

Severus answered the door almost instantly, letting Harry straight in. As soon as Harry crossed the threshold, however, he was inundated with Severus’ scent. 

Harry frowned. “Is something the matter, Severus?” This wasn’t Severus’ normal level of scent and Harry couldn’t help worrying, especially as Severus seemed quite flushed. Harry made a step towards him in an effort to check his temperature, but Severus took a step back. 

“I’m fine,” Severus assured him, “but before you get comfortable, I need you to know, I’m about to go into heat.”

Harry was confused. “What about your suppressants?” 

“I stopped taking them. I have never spent a heat with an alpha, not a proper one anyway. The one before was surprisingly pleasant though, so I thought it would be nice to try again, only this time with us both agreeing.”

“So, what, I actually get to touch you this time?”

“I’m pretty sure you touched me a fair amount last time,” Severus pointed out. 

“You know what I mean.” Harry paused. “Wait, you do realise that, if we do this, there is a chance I could go into rut and bond with you.”

Severus turned his head as his already flushed cheeks got darker. “I was actually hoping you would.”

Harry gaped in shock. “Are you sure? Don’t get me wrong, I would love to bond with you, but only if it’s really sure. I would hate for this to happen and you then come to regret it.”

“Why in Merlin’s name would I regret it?” Severus scoffed. “I never thought I would find an alpha who found me attractive, let alone one who actually accepted me as I am. I would be a fool to risk waiting and let you see sense.”

Harry chuckled. “So you are trying to trap me into a bond.”

“You said it wouldn’t be a trap if you’re willing.”

“And I stand by that. So, since we have a bit of time, is there anything we need to sort out before your heat sets in?”

Severus shook his head. “No. I have waterproof sheets on the bed upstairs as well as plenty of water and light snacks to eat, under a stasis spell. I even brought a dildo, in case you get tired.”

“Oh no,” Harry growled, pulling Severus into his chest and nuzzling his neck. “If we’re going to do this I want to do this right. Speaking of, I would like to bond with you while you still have full control of your mind, so I know this is what you truly want."

Severus let out his own growl as he pushed Harry away slightly to look in his eyes. “Listen here. I had to come off my suppressants on Monday to make sure that I timed my heat for now so I had plenty of time to think about this and potentially change my mind. I want this, so stop questioning my decision.”

“Okay,” Harry said, a smile blooming across his face. “Still, I would like to do it now, so you can bite me at the same time. I want us to go into this as equals, and that way we can share your first proper heat as a bonded pair.”

Severus looked at Harry, his eyes gaining a soft, misty quality. “Thank you.” 

The words were said with a reverence that pulled at Harry’s memory from the week before. He closed his eyes and tried to push the wave of doubt down, but he knew he couldn’t. He loved Severus too much, and he wanted this to be perfect, so he couldn’t risk letting any doubt fester. 

Harry opened his eyes again to look straight at Severus. “I need to know, before we take this step: did you ever love my mum? It’s alright if you did, I just need to know where I stand. I don’t want there to be anything between us.”

Severus opened his mouth, as if to deny, but then closed it again. “I did,” he said at last. “Once, a long time ago, before we got our secondary sexes, I used to imagine that we would get married and have kids. Things changed with the war, though, although a part of me probably held onto hope, that is until our secondary genders confirmed things. I sometimes wonder if my more dominant tenancies were an attempt to be what she needed. That doesn’t change how things ended up, though, nor does it change the fact that I think I can be happier with you than I ever could with her. You, Harry, fulfil needs in me that I never even knew I had.”

Harry felt his eyes grow moist. “Thank you Severus; for your words and for your honesty.”

“I want things to work between us as much as you do,” Severus insisted, and Harry felt the truth of those words all the way to his soul. He flashed Severus another smile then, without further ado, he bent his head to suck a kiss into Severus’ neck before biting down hard. 

Severus cried out, with a mix of pain and pleasure, his head lifting for a second before coming down on Harry’s neck to place his own bite there. There was a spike of pain as teeth pierced skin, followed by a pleasure so profound that Harry felt as if he had travelled to some other dimension. He groaned, and felt Severus do the same as something settled within the very heart of him: a sort of golden completeness that made him feel a level of joy he hadn’t ever felt before. 

He pulled slowly out, careful to not do more damage to either Severus nor himself, and licked the wound to encourage it to close. The left side of his neck was sore and wet from the blood and saliva but the right side of his neck throbbed as well. Harry looked at Severus: his mouth was stained with blood, Harry’s blood, and it brought a smile to Harry’s face. It helped that he could feel Severus’ feelings. The man may not have said the words, but the love he felt for Harry was clear in his heart and it helped Harry feel very reassured. 

“We should probably clean up before we get on with things.”

Severus paused. “We don’t have much time.”

Harry, who could feel an echo of the throb in Severus’ body, nodded, and led the way upstairs. In Severus’ room, however, he paused. It seemed that Severus had used some of his money to buy a new bed, which was fun in itself, and the black waterproof sheet that was covering it had been strewn with rose petals; fake, so as not to interfere with their senses. Harry turned to face Severus with a look of amazement. 

“You really did go all out for this.”

“Like you, I wanted it to be special.” He walked into the room and began undoing the buttons on his robes. Harry followed suit, also undressing, but hadn’t gotten much further than taking his t-shirt off when he was distracted. Severus had slipped his robes off his shoulders to reveal a sexy chemise underneath. It was dark red, with straps that came over the shoulders and split to encircle and highlight Severus’ pecs. Beneath that was a sheer skirt, floating around him, except at the back where it had already started to stick to Severus’ slick. Harry was stunned. 

“Fuck, Sev! You’re gorgeous!” Harry gushed, gathering the other man into his arms and kissing him deeply. Severus moaned, opening his mouth to allow Harry to deepen the kiss. It was a little passive, which threw Harry a bit; this was not how his Severus acted. Still, it allowed his alpha side to come out to play a bit. He brought his hands to the back of Severus’ thighs, stroking through the slick that had dropped there before lifting Severus up and throwing him onto the centre of the bed. Severus bounced, a slight smirk on his face, and Harry could feel an echo of how impressed he was. 

Harry continued to undress, feeling Severus’ eyes on him as he did. He got down to his boxers and stopped. 

“These on or off?” Harry asked, looking up at Severus, only to let out a groan. Severus was lying on the bed, legs spread wide so his chemise had slipped back. One of his hands was fingering his hole and the other was stroking his cock as he watched Harry intently. 

“Take them off. I want to be able to see you in all your glory.”

“I swear you will be the death of me, Severus,” Harry said, a slight whimper coming into his voice as he took off his boxers. 

“Not any time soon, I hope. I plan on getting a lot of use out of you yet.”

“And I plan on letting you use me,” Harry responded, as he crawled across the bed to where Severus lay. He pushed the man’s legs back, placing them over his shoulders as he drove down to rub his face in Severus’ delicious slick. Harry hadn’t had the chance to taste it last time, the lack of suppressants making the flavour so much more intense than before. He moaned loudly as his tongue pressed forward, as deep into Severus’ hole as he could get, licking and sucking up as much of the slick as he could. Severus cried out, and Harry felt the echo of the throb in his body; he didn’t stop until he had brought Severus his first orgasm of the weekend with his tongue. 

Harry pulled back, his face sticky thanks to the slick, and he licked his lips as he looked over Severus’ body. The man was flushed, almost matching the colour of the chemise, and panting hard. There was a pool of cum on his stomach and Harry loved the thought that he had been stroking himself off in time with Harry’s ministrations. Smiling, Harry slid over Severus, dipping his head to lick up a load of the salty, fresh cum before drawing Severus into a deep kiss. Severus moaned loudly as his taste burst between them, arching back but, again, letting Harry have full control. That niggled at Harry and he held Severus close, only to flip them over so Severus was on top. Severus pulled back to look at Harry questioningly. 

“I’m a lazy alpha,” Harry explained with a grin, running his hands languidly over Severus’ thighs. “I enjoy getting to lie back and watch you move in that gorgeous way you do.”

Severus leaned back over Harry, enough so that their noses just brushed. “You really are a strange alpha.”

“No,” Harry said, a slight growl coming into his voice, “I am your strange alpha.”

“Indeed you are.”

Severus pressed forward, capturing Harry’s lips in a kiss, demanding entrance as he took control, plundering Harry’s mouth. Harry moaned, bringing his hands up to pull Severus closer: this was the man he loved. Apparently, though, Severus was going to make the most of his control, peeling Harry’s hands from around him and pressing them into the mattress. He pulled a length of rope out and Harry’s eyes widened in surprise. 

“You really did prepare for this, didn’t you?”

“I may have had a fun shopping spree,” Severus admitted, threading the rope through the new headboard and wrapping it around Harry’s wrists. It wasn’t tied, Harry had to hold onto the ends, which appeased the more dominant side of him. 

“I bought some nipple clamps as well,” Severus continued. “I had planned to wear them with this but I didn’t enjoy them. I think they will look lovely on you, though.” 

His fingers slid along Harry’s arms, down to his chest, rolling Harry’s nipples between them before giving a hard pinch. Harry cried out, his body arching off the bed, even as his cock gave a strong twitch. 

Severus smirked. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

“I am entirely at your mercy, love. Use me for your pleasure.”

Severus’ eyes flashed with desire as his nostrils flared. “Don’t worry, Harry, I intend to.”

He climbed off the bed, returning before Harry could even whine at the loss, bringing the nipple clamps and attaching them to Harry’s chest. Harry moaned at the sensation, the slight pain going straight to his cock, causing precum to drip. Severus dipped his head to lick the trail up before climbing back over Harry and sliding straight onto his length. 

Harry cried out with a mix of surprise and pleasure. Severus felt as glorious as ever, although it hit a little differently this time. 

“Careful, Severus. I haven’t cum yet,” Harry warned, biting his lip as he fought the urge to thrust up, wanting Severus to find his own pleasure. 

“Ever thought that that was the point,” Severus panted, smirking down at Harry. “I want you to cum inside me over and over this weekend, filling me up until my stomach swells.”

Harry groaned. He knew that, given Severus’ age, there was a good chance that he wouldn’t get pregnant, and Harry was fine with that. It didn’t mean that he couldn’t imagine Severus’ belly swelling with his child. He would also love to rub his hands over Severus’ stomach but Severus had wanted his hands bound so that would have to wait until later. If Severus wanted him bound for this first part then Harry was happy to comply, especially as he was sure he would get more of a chance down the road. For now he would happily watch as Severus rode him, his head thrown back in ecstasy. 

It was a truly beautiful sight, and Harry was very much looking forward to the rest of Severus’ heat. For now he was happy to watch the man’s rippling stomach muscles, barely visible through the chemise; the feel of Severus’ internal muscles gripping him so tightly; the fresh scent of Severus’ slowly filling the room. It all filled Harry with a sense of pure joy, and emotion that was echoed through their bond, seeming to multiply as it bounced between them until they both came, crying out in ecstasy. Of course Severus continued to ride Harry’s knot afterwards, his body shaking as wave after wave of orgasm rocked through him. 

Harry could feel contentment, even as he watched Severus' eyes become glassy. It was a sign that Severus was letting go of control, giving himself over to a baser side of himself, trusting that Harry would keep him safe and fully satisfied; a duty Harry planned on upholding to his utmost ability. He had no doubt he would either. He could already feel the alpha side of him growing, his vision blurring at the edges as Severus became the sole focus of his being. 

“I am going to make you feel so good, love,” Harry vowed, unwinding his wrists. Severus whimpered, not in fear but anticipation: Harry could feel the echo of it in his core. 

He held Severus tightly against him, making sure the man wouldn’t become dislodged as he flipped their positions, pressing Severus into the mattress as he ground his knot deeper inside his mate. Severus moaned, his internal muscles quivering around Harry, squirting more slick, making Harry hard again. He held onto Harry’s arms tightly; Severus’ eyes were unfocused, but his whole being was zeroed in on Harry. It was thrilling and heady and Harry could feel his inner alpha preening at the knowledge that he was pleasing his mate so much, knowing that this was just the beginning. 

Harry lost track of how many times he took Severus that night. Missionary, doggy style, side by side, even with Severus practically upside-down. It was as if he were trying to find out which position pleased Severus the most, except that Severus seemed to love them all equally. The sun was starting to come up by the time Harry’s rut abated. They were both drenched in sweat, slick, cum and saliva from where they had been mapping each other’s bodies with their mouths. Harry was sure that he was now intimately acquainted with every centimetre of Severus’ skin, but he still planned on checking things on a regular basis to make sure nothing had changed. 

They were marked as well, not just the bonding marks, but all manner of other bites and hickies as well. It was as if Harry’s alpha had wanted to ensure that the whole world knew that Severus was his, and Severus’ omega seemed to have felt the same. Harry’s nipples were sore as well, from having kept the clamps on all night, and he let out a hiss as he removed them, allowing the blood to flow freely again. 

“Should pierce them,” Severus slurred, looking at Harry through tired but thoroughly sated eyes. 

“Perhaps,” Harry said, as he brought Severus a sip of water. Both their voices were scratchy from how much they had been crying out. As ever, though, Harry made sure to attend to Severus’ needs first, needing to know that his mate was alright before he could relax. 

“You can get rings, and I can add charms with my initials so everyone knows who owns you.”

Harry smiled and pressed a soft kiss into Severus’ temple. “That sounds good. You know that I will never object to you putting your mark on me.”

“Even if I tattoo it on your forehead?” Severus quipped. 

“Even if you tattoo it on my cock.”

Severus shook his head as Harry offered him a strawberry to eat. “No. I was planning on getting your cock pierced as well; amplify my pleasure further.”

“Whatever you wish, love,” Harry cooed, leaning in to give Severus a deep kiss. Strawberry, grass and aniseed was a unique flavour combination but Harry was pretty sure he would choose it any day. 

After Harry had washed them both down, they drifted to sleep, wrapped tightly around each other as if even air couldn’t come between them. Severus’ second wave hit before they woke up, triggering another rut in Harry, so that neither of them were aware of anything until they came to some time on Saturday evening, both sore and aching and, quite frankly, a bit disgusting. 

Harry sighed. “I don’t think a sponge bath is going to cut it this time.”

Severus hummed from his position, curled up on Harry’s chest. “Unfortunately I don’t have the strength to stand up in the shower.”

“Don’t you have a bath?”

“Unfortunately not. The downside of living on a street surrounded by muggles is that it is very difficult to expand without people noticing. I barely managed enough space for an indoor shower room as it was.”

“We can always go to my house,” Harry suggested, running a hand lovingly up and down Severus’ spine. 

“You mean your father’s house,” Severus groused. 

“Technically it is the Potter house so it is both of ours, plus Dad has been out quite a bit recently so there is a good chance he won’t even be there.”

“Is your magic up to Apparating both of us there, including getting through the wards.”

“You are my bonded mate so the wards won’t be an issue for you. As for my magic.” Harry summoned Severus’ robes, the chemise having been torn to shreds during their last bout of sex. Severus shivered as the robe came sailing through the air and Harry lifted his head to nip the top of Severus’ ear. “I love how my magic affects you when you’re in heat.”

“Careful,” Severus warned, slipping the garment on. “You might trigger another round.”

“Then we had better get to my house quickly and maybe I will take you on the entryway floor.”

“You bloody well won’t!” Severus huffed. “My back won’t be able to take it.”

“Then you’ll just have to ride me again,” Harry argued, lifting Severus’ head to peck his lips, smiling at the fact that Severus didn’t say anything against that idea. 

Harry made sure they both had plenty to eat and drink before Apparating to his family home, not wanting either of them to pass out from exhaustion when they arrived. It was still a bit of a bumpy landing though, and Harry was just helping Severus to stand when he heard something coming from the living room. 

“That’s it kitten, take my cock. You like it nice and hard don’t you. You want me to fill you up with my milk.”

“Dad?” Harry exclaimed, opening the door, only to stand there frozen, horrified, as he watched his dad pounding the young secretary, Kitty. 

“Harry? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing!”

“Look, it’s not what you think?” 

“Is there some innocent explanation for why your cock is in this young girl and you are telling her you’re going to fill her with your ‘milk’?”

“Well, no,” James admitted, “but it’s just sex. I still love your mother but a man has needs.”

Harry looked at his dad with derision. “You know, I think that actually makes this worse. You’re both adults though so I can’t really say anything. The upside is, you can’t say anything about my mate either.”

“Your mate?” James exclaimed, suddenly pulling out of Kitty; the girl didn’t even make a sound of complaint. 

“Yes, my mate,” Harry said, walking away from the room to Severus, James following hot on his heels. 

“Fuck! I didn’t want to see that,” Severus groaned, looking away from James, whose still hard cock was bobbing in the air. 

James stopped suddenly on seeing who Harry had his arms around. “Snivellus? Dammit Harry, I knew this man would trick you into mating with him.”

Harry smirked. “If anything, I would argue I tricked him, or at least wore him down. It’s too late now anyway: we’re already bonded. Feel free to stay out of our lives; I’ll decide later how much you can see your grandkids.”

“Grandkids?” James exclaimed, turning slightly green, at the same time Severus said, “You want children?”

“It’s not a deal breaker,” Harry assured him, kissing his cheek, “but I can’t deny the fact that I would love to have a family with you.”

“I guess I should start working on a good fertility potion,” Severus mused, and Harry laughed, pulling the man in for a tight hug. 

“No rush, love. I have no problem trying the natural way for a bit, first.”

Harry leaned in, giving Severus a deep kiss, causing Severus to moan and James to gag. 

“Do you have to?”

“Turn about is fair play,” Harry sassed. “Now, if you don’t want to see more of that, I advise you give my suite a wide berth for the rest of the weekend. My mate and I have a baby to try to make.”

Severus gulped and Harry saw his eyes turning glassy, even as the scent of his slick began to increase. James made some comment about the stench but Harry didn’t notice as he practically pulled Severus up the stairs. His mate’s omega side apparently liked the idea of having Harry’s baby and Harry was suddenly desperate to fulfil that wish. He had no idea if it would work out, or what the future had in store for the pair of them, but he looked forward to finding out, with Severus safely at his side.