Golden Age by black_blade

Chapter 19: Chapter Nineteen

Harry stared at the glass in his hand as the fire crackled. It was late and Severus wasn't back from the Slytherin common room yet. He wasn't concerned and yet his thoughts wouldn't settle. He cared for the boy and what path that he was on. A path that Harry himself had set him on, in fact, as he knocked back his drink then refilled his glass. He knew that he wouldn't be able to let Severus go now. That the Dark Mark would never be branded on his skin and yet he had a darkness to him. He couldn't ignore that fact or the darkness within himself.

Harry held out his hand and with a thought a dark wand appeared in his palm. The elder wand laid there innocently and Harry just stared at it. He didn't use the wand. In fact, he tried hard to forget that it existed and yet it did. The most powerful wand ever created and he was its master. He could feel the dark magic calling in his soul and he closed his hand with the wand trapped in his fist. The wood felt slightly warm in his grasp.

His door suddenly sprung open and Harry looked up as Severus walked in and closed the door behind him. The teen paused when he saw him and his eyes darted to the wand in his hand then to the alcohol. Harry placed the wand on the table and picked up his glass. The burn in his stomach wasn't enough to push the thoughts in his head aside.

"Did you take Black's wand again?" Severus asked as he threw himself into the space next to Harry on the lounge.

"No," Harry answered as he topped up his glass.

Severus reached out and picked the wand up in interest.

"Whose is it then?" Severus asked.

"Mine," Harry answered and Severus started.

"You have two wands? You don't use this one?"

"No, I don't," Harry answered. "That is a very powerful wand, Severus."

"Then why don't you use it?"

"Not everything is about power," Harry sighed and took the wand from Severus. "It just complicates things. Now, how were your snakes tonight?"

"Noisy," Severus answered and leaned back in the lounge.

Harry placed the wand back on the table then curled an arm around Severus's shoulders. The man tensed at his move before wiggling closer as he curled into his side. Harry tried to forget the wand on the table as he listened to the younger man in his arms and yet his eyes kept being drawn back to it.

xXx

Severus woke early and glanced over his shoulder to see Harry sprawled out and snoring softly beside him. He spent more time in Harry's bed then his own but they had yet to pass that barrier into a intimate nature. Severus would have liked that and he wasn't sure what held Harry back since in other situations they had crossed that line. Harry snorted softly and turned over in the bed to lay on his side. That red dragon on Harry's shoulder seemed to stare at Severus as he rolled over. He touched his fingers to the design and felt Harry's soft skin. Tattoos had always fascinated him.

Severus pushed the blanket down to expose the rest of the design. His hands lingered further as he slipped the blanket down. He paused when Harry shifted and laid further onto his stomach which revealed the other tattoo. His fingers traced the lines of the Celtic design before running down Harry's back. The bruises had faded to a brown-yellow on his skin as Severus's hand paused on Harry's lower back. He then pushed the blanket over Harry's slim hips and took in the sight before him. That naked skin appealing to him as he hardened.

Harry looked to be in his mid to late thirties but Severus knew better. He had a lean but hard body of a man with an active lifestyle. With broad shoulders and defined muscles of a man and not what Severus had seen in his fellow Slytherins. He hadn't realised how attractive that was to him and he wondered what Harry saw in him. He was nothing much. Skinny to the point of almost looking like a skeleton. Pale skin and gangly limbs with pitch black hair in stringy slick strands. He knew what he looked like in the mirror and he was surprised that Harry hadn't thrown him out of his room that first time.