Rap rap rap

The door to the Burrow opened after the third rapid knock. Molly Weasley smiled kindly at the very out-of-breath Potions Master.

"Why, Severus, I didn't know you were coming for a visit. It's not my boys again, is it?" She turned and shouted into the house. "Ron! Harry! Come down this instant!" She turned back to him, her sweet smile back in place. "What have they done now? Left some prank in your office or classroom as a parting gift? Don't you worry, we'll have this sorted."

She stepped aside and gestured him in. He stepped inside the domicile, his heart thundering in his chest. He hadn't expected this, though he supposed he should have. The entire long trek across Hogwarts grounds he had pictured it in his head. Potter would be out in the front garden, or he would be the one to answer the door. But this was not the whirlwind final confrontation in a book, it was real life, and if he wanted something to happen he couldn't merely wish it so. He'd come this far, he may as well swallow his pride and do what he'd come for.

Severus stepped into the living room with his host. He was offered a seat, or tea, and took neither as he stared nervously up at the ceiling. Of course, he was no good at expressing emotions he was unfamiliar with, so it was no surprise when Molly took him to be displeased about something. She went to the foot of the stairs.

"Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter, you come down this instant!" She shouted shrilly up the landing.

There was the thunderous sound of footsteps several floors above.

"Coming, Mum!"

"Coming, Mrs. Weasley!"

Severus wanted to explain that he needed Potter for a private matter, that the two graduated students were not in trouble, and that he had no business with the youngest Weasley male, but he found he could say none of this. His tongue seemed trapped to the roof of his mouth, his heart still thundering, but now in his throat. So he only stood there as the sound of footsteps drew nearer, his hands clasped behind his back to hide his sweating palms. Why the hell was it so hot in here?"

Finally, the familiar duo appeared, with Ginevra and Granger behind them. Potter and Weasley stalled on the last stair as they looked upon the unfamiliar sight of their Potions Master, Granger and the other Weasley seeming just as surprised and confused on the step behind them. Potter stepped off the stair and approached him with a single arched eyebrow. He paused a few steps away.

"What're you-"

"We didn't do anything, Mum, I swear," Ronald announced to the room.

Severus was immediately suspicious of the boy's quick response to his presence and he leveled a glare at the red-head. Perhaps he should check his classroom upon his return to the school. If the boy was so quick to deny involvement, which may well be a programmed response, he may also be denying it for a reason. He looked back at his quarry in time to see Potter roll his eyes in exasperation.

Molly spoke up. "Harry, Ron, if either of you have done anything to Professor Snape, I shall-"

"No," Severus interrupted, making his voice work at last. He found he couldn't look away from the questioning green gaze. "I-Mister Potter, I wondered if I could speak with you…in private."

Potter glared at him suspiciously, but nodded and turned away. "Mrs. Weasley, do you mind if we use the back garden?"

The motherly witch looked between them curiously. "Of course, Harry, dear. Be sure to watch for gnomes."

"Yes, ma'am," The young wizard said innocently. He glanced back at Severus and began to lead the way from the living room into the kitchen.

As soon as the back door shut, the trio left on the stairs made a mad dash to the kitchen window. Ginny and Ron looked at Hermione, who was staring out the window knowingly.

"Well, go on," Ron prodded. "Don't keep us in the dark, 'Mione."

The intelligent witch smirked at her friends. "I'm not sure, but…I think we just met the Half-Blood Prince."

The two youngest Weasley's exchanged a look of disbelief before staring out the window as well.

Severus cleared his throat, and opened his mouth to speak as they walked through the garden towards the paddock that squared off the Weasley orchard. Once again, he found no words would come out. Potter spoke instead, without looking at him.

"I found a tutor…several, in fact," He said calmly. "You were right, there were any number willing to teach me. Kingsley said he'd tutor me on History of Magic and Herbology, of all things, on the weekends, and Tonks has agreed to teach me Transfiguration, which she says is one of her best subjects. Remus is going to teach me Charms and Defense. It'll be another year, at least, until I can take my NEWTs, but at least it's a start."

"What about Potions? From what I heard, you did quite well in that class last year," Severus remarked. He mentally kicked himself as Potter cringed.

"I-I had help," He muttered. After a moment, he looked up with a false smile. "Someone had written all over the text I borrowed. Most of it turned out to be very useful."

"Most?" Severus queried teasingly.

Potter shrugged. "Well, there was the occasional rant about the incompetence of the author, and some spells better left to the imagination, but...other than that, it was like having my own private tutor."

"I'm sure it helped that you didn't have me hanging over your shoulder, waiting for you to make a mistake," Severus said carefully.

"Heh," Potter chuckled nervously. "It certainly didn't hurt."

They fell back into silence as they walked through the gate into the orchard. Severus, suddenly faced with the very situation he'd come here for, found he had no idea what to say. How did you broach such a subject? How could he put into words the reason behind his rejection?

"What do you want, Snape?" Potter asked. It wasn't demanding, he wasn't asking why Severus had come. Instead, he was asking what Severus had come here for.

There weren't words to describe what he wanted. He wasn't sentimental, and 'I love you' seemed to fall short of what he wanted to say, anyway. Potter had been right. Love was easy, love could be given and taken back almost at will. This was something wholly more complicated. It was stronger, undying, and could only be expressed with a gesture. Only by putting himself in the line of fire could he say what couldn't be said.

Severus gripped the smaller hand and stopped walking. Potter stopped as well as stared up at him. A shaking hand cupped a tan cheek as they leaned towards one another. A second shaking hand, smaller, covered Severus' own. Potter stopped a hairs breadth away.

"My friend's will be watching out the window," He murmured uncertainly, his breath hitching.

Severus ran his trembling thumb over a prominent cheekbone. He couldn't help a debonair smirk, despite his nervousness. "We have enough secrets, Harry. No more."

The distance between them closed in the space of an eternal heartbeat. The world around them stilled as their breath mingled and their lips met. Magic sparked in yearning between them. In the next moment, the wind blew and the summer birds sang sweetly. Time passed, the hands of the clock ticked by. The trees shuddered and the flowers bloomed, gnomes giggled and frogs croaked. But nothing touched the two wizards locked together in a field on a hill surrounded by a forest, as their secret hearts embraced.

When they pulled hesitantly apart, Severus thought no words could convey how he felt, but Potter spoke in a soft voice that carried on the whispering wind.

"You're right, Severus. It is a kind of love."

The Potions Master smiled. "Didn't you know, Harry? True love conquers all."