pekeleke

Title: Outside the light.

Fandom: Harry potter (Snarry)

Characters: Harry Potter, Severus Snape.

Author: pekeleke.

Rating: G

Word count: 828

Disclaimer: Don't own these characters. No money is being made out of this work.

A/N: Unbetaed. Written for the adventdrabbles 2012 Prompt 2: Scrooge.
This is the second part in my Seeking home series.

Summary: Harry stands outside the light, requesting entry. Severus requires answers to some questions first...
 

Outside the light.

Harry stilled in the corridor, shocked by the sight of Severus' half-opened door. He'd rushed down the stairs, so determined to pound on this door until it opened, that now he felt... foolish. Despite Severus' subtle hint, he hadn't expected the message so carefully hidden within his gingerbread house to translate into actual reality.

He froze, staring at the inviting pool of light that illuminated the corridor outside Severus' rooms. Miffed bravery had brought him this far and now a veritable torrent of desperate anxiety was messing with his resolve. He felt dizzy, anxious, terrified. His blood pounded inside his veins and he started sweating with sheer panic. He hadn't thought this through... What was he going to say? How was he going to say it? Was he actually willing to expose the fragility of his emotions to Severus' wounding scorn?.

“We Slytherins have an intriguing theory about gryffindor bravery, Potter. We think your lauded courage only comes to the fore when you're corralled. There's an old saying I tell my first years, whenever they clash with a lion: “Never push a gryffindor into battle. Outright conflict always ends in confrontation. In order to defeat a lion one must open one's door and invite him in for tea. They don't know how to fight outside the battleground.”

Harry looked towards Severus' doorway, confronting the man who stood there with a fierce green-eyed glare.

“Is that why you brought me here? To fight me like a slytherin?”

Severus smiled sadly. He looked strangely disappointed and Harry shivered with a sudden premonition of disaster.

“I didn't bring you here. You came of your own free will.”

Harry tried to understand those soft-toned words, but they didn't make any sense... He was on the verge of demanding an explanation when a memory of the small gingerbread door that brought him here crossed his frustrated mind. It had been a tiny overture on Severus' part. One so tiny, in fact, that he might have missed it completely if it hadn't been for Minerva: 'I believe Severus is too subtle for his own good most of the time', those had been the words of a woman who'd known Severus for years... What if this was another subtle test? One that he was failing abysmally?. His gut twisted with an awful sort of terror, unable to cope with the idea of actively failing this man.

“Have it your way: I came to see you, Severus. Aren't you going to let me in?”

The slytherin's head sagged against the wood of his partially open door, resting there while that ebony-colored gaze regarded him thoughtfully.

“Why are you here, Potter?”

“You left your door wide open. It was an invitation, wasn't it? You wanted me here, but now you won't let me in... What game are you playing, Severus? What's the point of issuing an invitation that you have no plans to honor?”

Severus' long neck contracted visibly, his Adam's apple bobbed way too fast to match his outward calm.

“Maybe I wanted to see if you'd bring more gingerbread. I'm rather... partial... to the treat”

Harry laughed, caught off guard by that ridiculous claim:

“You wanted to be bribed with sweets?”

“I wanted to be... tempted. But you couldn't give me that, could you? You came here like an enemy, ready for confrontation. You didn't come like a suitor. You weren't seeking... me. You wanted war”

“You sound like the Scrooge, you know? Spouting all this... humbug... about fighting and whatnot”

That elegant frame straightened beside the half-opened door.

“I wasn't talking about fighting. I was speaking about courage, Potter. But you weren't really listening to me... Go home then, Oh, noble gryffindor. There's nothing here for you at this point.”

Harry frowned, utterly puzzled by that statement. He felt shattered and lost. He was a breath away from crumbling like a deck of wet cards and he couldn't understand what the hell was happening here.

“What does that mean, exactly? Why must you hide behind cruel games?”

“I'm not hiding. I'm right here, Harry Potter. You're the one who hasn't yet decided where to stand. Go home and think about what drove you to bake that gingerbread house for me. I have nothing else to tell you. Not yet at least. Maybe not ever”

“Never? That can't be! You know I won't give up, right?”

“This isn't a battle, Harry. I have no need for soldiers in my home. I'm tired of fighting wars and now the only thing I care about is... peace...”

Harry stared straight into those weary black eyes, realizing that Severus wasn't playing with his heart. The man looked beyond exhausted. He was pale and his frame trembled. He looked genuinely devastated.

“I don't understand, Severus... Can't you at least tell me what I've done wrong?”

“You failed to come in through the open door. You stilled outside the lights, succumbing to the need of planning your strategy. You... faltered...
 

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