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The Road to Damascus, Part 2A
Will you be the one I’ve wanted?
Will you read my mind?
Will you ask me where I hurt
and heal me with your eyes?
Will I look at you with wonder
and never doubt our love?
Will you be the one?
-Melissa Ferrick (Will you Be the One?)
******************
Harry continued to stroke Severus' wrist gently. The unconscious man was slouched low in the chair, and Harry knew that he had to heal him soon. He whispered a muted "Ennervate", just bringing Severus to the edge of awareness. Harry pulled him gently to his feet, and supported him on the long walk to the bathroom. He left Severus leaning against the vanity, and walked to the sunken tub, turning on the tap and adjusting the temperature. When he returned to the other man, Severus was shaking all over, his eyes focused on the mirror in front of him. He was even paler than usual and looked as though he was about to be ill. Harry strode back to him, moving between Severus’ line of sight and the mirror.
"Severus, I'm going to take off your outer robe." Harry reached out slowly and touched the taller man’s shoulder. Severus winced, but after a moment he nodded for Harry to continue. Harry reached for the row of buttons at Severus’ neck and began to undo them one-by-one, very slowly. He had the distinct impression that if he moved too quickly, Snape might react . . . adversely.
Harry reached the bottom of the row of buttons and gently pulled the robe from Severus’ ragged torso, carefully minding the ravaged arm. He actually had to move around to Severus’ back to peel the robe out from the gashes. Some of the fabric had been driven deep into the wounds and had to be peeled out gently. 'I hate whoever did this to you,' Harry thought as his hands moved over the pale figure. His anger boiled, but he moved as lightly as he could around the shaken man. When he had successfully pulled Severus' robe from his upper body, he saw a shabby black button down undershirt hanging loosely off of him. He stepped closer to Severus and slowly undid the buttons.
As Harry moved the shirt down over Severus’ shoulders, he could feel wetness on his hands. It wasn't until he brought them back around to Severus’ chest that he saw that it was blood. As the wound’s impromptu dam was pulled from them, they began to gush torrents of blood down Severus’ pale back. Severus’ blood covered his hands, staining his flesh. A hundred battles flashed across Harry’s consciousness as he stared at his blood soaked hands.
Severus ran his finger over Harry’s thumb, bringing him back to the present. Harry looked up Severus' torso and saw pale, taughtly stretched skin littered with scars covering his very prominent ribs and shoulders. A talisman of a snake biting its own tail was hanging from his gaunt neck. Harry's fingers grazed the medallion, leaving streaks of vermilion across the silver metal.
"It's a symbol of rebirth . . . life eternal," Severus said quietly, looking down at Harry's hands.
"It's beautiful," Harry replied as his fingers traced over the patterns on the snake's skin. He looked up and met Severus' gaze.
"Albus gave it to me a long time ago. I've worn it every day since." Realizing that his eyes had conveyed much more than he intended, Severus looked away. Harry thought, for a moment, that he looked almost ashamed.
Knowing not to push his luck by asking too many questions, Harry stepped away from Severus to stop the flow of the bath. While he was at the tub, he washed his hands quickly under the tap. He noticed a large pool of blood accumulated at the man’s feet, the wounds on his back were much worse than he’d initially thought. ‘So much for taking care of the arm first.’ He thought, steeling his face as not to panic Severus with the severity of his wounds, which he suspected the dark man already knew. Harry quickly perused the potion stores contained in the man’s bathroom cabinets and selected a bottle, pouring a small amount into the bath.
"Let me heal your open wounds before you get in the tub." Harry selected another vial from the considerable stores. "Drink this first, the ones on your back are going to hurt like hell to heal." Severus, hands only shaking lightly now, took the vial and downed it's contents obediently. Harry was glad Severus did not seem to notice that it was a coaggulation potion, he just downed it unquestioningly. His paler than usual face looked almost ashen and Harry handed him some SkeleGrow.
“This will help with the bone, until I get to it.” Harry made sure Severus finished the whole vial, flinching as he rememberd the tase for the vile potion.
"Why don't you lean over the counter? It will be easier for me to reach," Harry said absently, taking the vial from Severus.
"Mr. Potter, are you trying to seduce me?" Snape raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
"Oh, we're out of shock, I see?" Harry laughed and gently helped Snape lean over the counter.
"Well, one must retain one's sense of humor even in these most destitute of times. If not, one would be no better than a common house pet. This, too, shall pass, Mr. Potter. The scars shall heal as all the others have, and I will go once more into the fray." Snape winced as Harry's fingertips ghosted over his back to assess the work he had ahead of him.
"The scars. . . " Harry was reluctant to speak. "They can be removed, you know?"
"Define irony, Mr. Potter." The faint voice was detached.
"Pardon me?" Harry slowly worked his wand over the deepest wound and Snape sucked a pained breath through clenched teeth.
"Irony, Mr. Potter, is the thing you least expect to happen happening. Now, why is it ironic that you, of all people, should suggest I have my scars removed?" The voice, now steeled by pain, sounded much more like the Severus he knew.
"Very funny," Harry said as he sealed the end of the first wound. Behind was left nothing but perfect, pale skin in the place of the horrid ugly gash that was there just moments ago.
"Not funny, Mr. Potter. Ironic. I see that you are still as slow a learner as ever." Harry continued to heal the deepest, most severe wounds gently, however the grinding of the prone man’s teeth was evidence of his discomfort. Snape did his best to stay still through the pain. Harry stepped a little closer to Snape and lowered his voice considerably.
"You do know, Severus, that it is not terribly wise to insult a man with a wand pointed at your back." Snape let out a snort of laughter, which he quickly contained.
"What?" Harry was almost done healing Severus' final lash wounds, save a large one at the base of his spine.
"I was just thinking that were it not for all the Gryffindor guilt and your particular penchant` for blind heroism, that you would have made a good Slytherin." Harry smirked, but chose to ignore the comment, not wanting to get into house rivalries while he had to concentrate on his mediwizardry.
"Severus, you have one last gash, but you'll have to pull your slacks down for me to get to it."
This time, Snape let out a full laugh. It was the first time Harry had ever head him laugh. The sound was disconcerting for Harry; it was not Snape. It was a warm sound, not at all fitting for the tall, dark, usually brooding man before him. Snape smirked, he raised his damned eyebrows, he snorted occasionally. . . he did not laugh.
"I won’t comment on that one, Potter." The dark man turned and gave Harry an appraising look, quirking one eyebrow skyward before he attempted to unbuckle his belt. He tried, lamely, for a moment but was unable to complete the task one handed.
"Here, let me," Harry said, stepping forward. His hands reached out and opened Snape's belt buckle. Harry began to blush when his shaking hands grazed the flesh of Severus’ tender stomach. He felt Snape hold his breath at the intimate contact and the blush deepened. "We'll have to take care of that arm next." Harry grumbled, continuing to work the button. When he went for the zipper, a hand grasped his tightly and he looked up, startled.
"That, I can do." Snape turned and lowered his pants just enough so Harry could work on the last gash. He worked in silence on the lash mark, almost afraid to talk anymore. His wand shook hard as he healed the last oozing gash.
"Well, that does it for that. Now I need to see your arm." Severus turned around, and Harry saw the arm still cradled against his body.
Harry glanced down and noticed Snape's pants hanging open in a V at the front of his torso, his belt and the waistband held up only by Snape's slim hips. Snape would not look at him and, for a moment, he was glad. The view very nearly overwhelmed him, and he swallowed hard to regain himself before carefully running his hands over Severus' injured arm. Harry detected a break in the forearm and a dislocated shoulder. This was going to be painful without Poppy's expertise.
"No." It came out of the blue.
"Pardon me?" Harry looked quizzically at Snape, who was now piercing him with a set of very determined deep brown eyes.
"I won't go to see Poppy. I told you that, Potter. I know it's going to hurt. Just do it." Snape set his jaw and stared at Harry with his most severe potion’s master glare.
"I hate it when you do that!" When Snape read him he felt incredibly vulnerable and nervous. Having the imposing man rattle about his brain was not on his list of favorite things to do, friend or not. He had known since his fifth year that Snape was a gifted reader and, therefore, upon his subsequent return to Hogwarts as a teacher, he had to make sure that some thoughts were not allowed out to romp as often as he would like.
While it had taken Snape until their second year working together to notice that Harry had changed, Harry had noticed the difference in Snape almost immediately upon his return. The man who was once a source of anger and resentment had turned into something else. However much Harry wanted to indulge himself, he knew that neither he nor Snape could afford any distractions.
Their close relationship after his lovers deaths was a source of comfort to Harry. He knew that, no matter what, Severus would be there snarking and snarling, but he would be there for him regardless. They had not begun as friends, in fact, they began as the anthisis of friends, but over a year of intense help from Severus on teaching matters then the three years working together for the Order, they had become friends. . . as loathe as Severus was to admit it.
After Bill, Harry not taken up with anyone. Dean then Bill right after him was too much to loose. Instead, he had thrown himself into teaching and Order work. He and Severus had even begun to teach an advanced Potions/Dark Arts class together for advanced sixth and seventh years. It had been Severus’ brain child, and a brilliant one at that! Defense against the dark arts through both spells and potions had proven an ingenious combination of the disciplines. Wards and spells could be made up to seven times a strong if the caster was fortified with certain potions or herbs. The combination had proven invaluable to the Light. They spent many late nights together working on plans, papers, and just bitching about students. . . well the bitching was mainly Severus.
This dramatic shift in the dynamics of their relationship meant that the number of opportunities for Snape to read him had increased drastically. With it, also had the necessity to keep certain ideas about the man hidden. That intense control of his thoughts had turned to guilt at the occasional betrayal of his mind. He was certain that Severus knew that he fancied him, but wouldn’t act upon it. Harry couldn’t pinpoint just when the interest in Severus as more than a colleague and partner began, but he was sure that the late nights, exhaustion, and stress had taken their toll on both men. Harry wanted nothing more than to have someone to curl up next to in bed, someone . . . .
Harry gave himself a mental shake. 'Best not to dwell on these things, especially not with him looking you in they eye like that,' he thought and gently felt over the arm one last time.
"I know that you hate it." Severus looked away. "Sometimes I can't help myself." The quiet confession gave Harry pause, but he decided to let it pass without comment. After all, Severus had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol and was in a great deal of pain.
"So, why is it. . . ." Harry moved the bones back into place manually as Snape bit his lower lip hard, and Harry saw a small trickle of blood rise on the abused flesh, trickling down his lip. "That I'm to call you Severus or Snape. . . ." he cast a holding charm over the arm, " . . . but you still call me Mr. Potter?" Harry cast three healing charms: One for the bone, one for the spiral gash, and the last to fight infection. Snape let out a long held breath as he felt the bones mending. His tongue laved across the broken flesh of his lip. The tip shone red as it moved across, then back into his mouth.
"Force of habit, I suppose." Snape ran his other hand carefully over the freshly healed bone. "Nice job, Potter. You could always go study mediwizardry. . . Poppy will be retiring soon, you know."
"Break the habit! My name is Harry. I hate it when you call me 'Potter.' It reminds me of being in your class. Oh. . . and are you trying to get rid of me all together, or are you just trying to open up the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for your own devices?" Harry quirked an eyebrow at the taller man and felt over Snape’s shoulder to figure out how to best relocate it.
Snape smirked and lowered his gaze for a moment. "I shall try to refrain from 'Mr. Potter' or 'Potter,' but please indulge me if I slip occasionally. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks." Snape took a deep breath. "I think that you are a far better Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher than I would ever make. However, should you tire of it I think you would make quite a good mediwizard."
Severus’ honesty struck Harry. He didn't know how to respond, so he continued with the task at hand. He positioned his hands to relocate the shoulder. "Brace yourself." He took a deep breath and snapped it back into place. Severus immediately lunged for the toilet and retched painfully. Harry stood behind him and brushed the hair out of his face. He held it back at the nape of Severus' neck and slowly stroked at the soft skin he found there.
"I'm sorry, Severus," he murmured.
-TBC-
Part 2B
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