Five Kisses, by Fox.
I am not now, nor have I ever been, J.K. Rowling.





In the Dark

William had no idea what would happen if they were caught.

Severus was sure William knew there would be consequences of some sort; whispers and rumours, certainly, and his brother down in the third year might get into the occasional fight, and possibly Albus Dumbledore would have a grave talk with him about the standard of behaviour expected from a Head Boy. He really couldn't have guessed that what happened in Hogwarts could matter outside, that the affairs of a schoolboy could impact the lives of people he'd never heard of. Severus knew William had absolutely no suspicion of the kind of danger he was in -- the kind of danger they were both in -- if the wrong people found out they were lovers.

Severus could not now, in good conscience, stop colluding with Dumbledore. It was unlikely that would spare William anyway. And he could not give him up; his heart would not allow it. If only he could undo his past, could somehow be the man he was now without having done the things he had done before, then he could love William without imperiling him. Perhaps then he could kiss him without feeling compelled to shut his eyes.



Credulity and Conviction

Naturally Snape would never have dreamed of carrying on with a student. He knew there were teachers who did -- perhaps not at Hogwarts, any longer, but at other schools, and certainly at universities -- but the idea of being that way with someone subordinate to himself was distasteful to the point, occasionally, of actually sickening him. Even the few students over the years who'd come down on their respective last days at Hogwarts to offer their timid propositions called him 'Professor'. How could he possibly have romantic thoughts about someone who persisted in 'sir'ing him, too bashful to look him in the eye?

Potter had called him 'sir' for seven years, of course, but never with a shred of sincerity. On his last day, he'd knocked on Snape's door and then barged in and started yelling at him with no preamble, and for that matter no shame and no fear. And then Potter kissed him, apparently also without fear, and in the surprise of not being treated like some sort of prince who'd have to lower himself to accept an admirer's attention, Snape kissed him back. He could scarcely remember the last person to have treated him as a social equal.



Best Man

Harry isn't stupid. Severus is good at hiding his reactions, and funnily Bill is even better; but neither of them is that good. It's a strange thing, being in a corridor with your lover and your ex who also happens to be your best friend's brother and feeling like you're intruding.

Harry's already annoyed that they can't open the hotel room; then Severus calls Bill 'William' and Harry starts to think seriously about breaking the damn door down. Thank god Bill unlocks it on his first try. Harry thanks him and runs like hell into the bathroom, and stays there until he hears Severus close the door from the inside.

He can tell Severus expects him to be angry. And he supposes he's a little hurt not to have known about something that was obviously so important to Severus; but mainly he's just freaked out by the coincidence. He was with a fair few blokes, back at school, but he'd never have guessed any of them had also been with Severus.

No need to be jealous, though. Severus isn't going anywhere, and Harry fucks him hard and fast and kisses him and kisses him and kisses him to make sure.



Root and Branch

Miranda McKinnon knows she's going to die. She doesn't know when (soon), nor how (gruesomely), nor why (bad, bad luck) but she knows she will. She curls one arm around her knees and the other around the small boy at her side.

She didn't see them, when they killed her father, but she heard their voices. One voice cast a curse; and a second voice, her father's, screamed; and a third voice said 'Lucius, what --'; and then they were inside, and her mother screamed, and a moment later her brothers screamed, and Miranda ran to her door just as it burst open, and as the man with the mask drew his breath to kill her she Disapparated. Arthur and Molly took her in, but now she's in Lucius Malfoy's house waiting to die, and one of their boys with her.

She doesn't know how long they've been here (a day and a half). She doesn't know what will happen to Robert (nothing good), but perhaps it won't be as bad as what will happen to her (wrong). She hears the door being unlocked and opened, and holds Robert closer, and kisses the top of his head to comfort him.



The Deep Dust of Years

I've never wanted to be able to tell the secret as much as I want to be able to tell it to Remus. And I know he wants to discover it not because he's curious, but because he knows I want him to know it. Every day I work out another way I can cheat the Fidelius charm a bit; every day he comes a bit closer to finding what I still can't show him.

The day he finds the article about Robbie in the Prophet archives -- the day he gets a good lead from Severus -- Remus asks me to stay, and I do, and he takes me to his rooms again and kisses me. And I kiss him. His mouth is warm and wet, his lips are soft, and he looks at me and touches me and I think maybe he loves me. He sighs when I lick the insides of his wrists. I kiss him and then I kiss his neck and then his scars, the mass of them covering his side and his leg, and I think I love him; and when he holds me in his arms, as I'm falling asleep, I think he already knows.

Comments always welcome!