Wings & Tails

Title: An Unexpected Reply
Author/Artist: alafaye
Prompt: S9
Prompt Submitted by: ladyofsd
Pairing/Characters: Severus/Harry
Creature: Siren
Word Count/Art Medium: 3682
Rating: R
Warnings: (highlight to read) *vaguely dub-con*
Disclaimer: This creation is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offense is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.
Notes: Thanks to my beta, marc_durok! There is an herb mentioned here, achelum, which is named after (according to wiki) the most likely Father of the sirens, Archelous, a river god.
Summary: Harry Potter was not the one Severus expected.

[AO3 LINK]



An Unexpected Reply


Severus frowned when he felt his wards react to a wizard nearby. Close. He finished pruning the elderberry bush and put the cuttings into their prepared vial. Standing, he brushed dirt and leaves off his clothes and carried his basket into the kitchen. It was full of fresh cuttings and samples; much as he might miss having access to more variety now that he was not at Hogwarts, he did prefer to care for his own ingredients. As he washed his hands, his wards trembled as the wizard tried to enter his property.

The wizard didn't leave when he couldn't get in.

Odd. It had been several years since anyone had visited him — either to say thank you for his work or more commonly, to spit vitriol at him for the crimes he had committed. His potions were all delivered by Owl order through a shop in Manchester. He worked under a pseudonym so no one would trace him. He didn't recall any articles lately that would have stirred up memories of the war.

Severus put the basket in his storeroom and went up to open the front door. He glared. "Mr. Potter. I should have known."

Harry Potter half smiled, standing in the street, and held out a box wrapped in brown paper. "I just wanted to drop this off. I found it when I was cleaning out a storeroom. I'm not sure how it ended up with Aurors in their evidence room, but I asked the Minister if I could drop it off."

Severus wished he could burn the damn Order of Merlin. He had done too much for the Dark Lord to earn even a kind word let alone the award. "I didn't want it. That's why it was sent back to the Ministry. I'm sure it ended up in the evidence room because someone suspected it might be cursed by a war criminal."

Potter narrowed his eyes. "There's no report attached to it so I assume it was only misplaced. Several times since it didn't end up where it belonged. With you."

"Take it back, Potter, or you'll find it someplace very unpleasant for you."

Potter raised an eyebrow and set it on top of the Muggle post box that Severus had yet to remove. Potter turned as if to leave, but paused. "Was that you singing just now? I wondered because I thought I'd heard it before."

Severus tried not to show his shock. "Out of here, Potter and don't come back! Leave me in peace!"

Slamming the door, he took a deep breath. Twelve years since the war and now Potter turned up like a bad penny. He had thought he had been done with that part of his life. And then by not following Severus' wishes concerning that damned award, Potter had heard his song. It wasn't possible. And where would he have heard it before, if he had? Hogwarts allowed mateships to occur, but not between student and teacher until after graduation. Severus had left before Potter had completed his final year and therefore... but that would imply that Potter could be a mate.

And that... well, that could never come to pass.

Never.


~~~


Potter,

You will find enclosed the box you so unkindly left.


~~~


A few weeks later, his wards thrummed against a wizard trying to walk in, but left when Severus didn't appear. He assumed it was Potter and hoped that the message was clear.

He'd forgotten, however, that Potter was stubborn. When he was at the local Muggle shop to buy a few things he wasn't able to grow, he found Potter waiting for him in the small lot where Muggles could park their cars. He was holding the award.

"Will you go away if I take the stupid thing?" Severus bit out.

Potter shrugged. "Maybe."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "What do you want then?"

"To make sure you're alright," Potter answered simply.

Severus felt fear coil in his stomach. "Why?"

Potter frowned. "Dunno. Just want to. You are, though, right? No one is bothering you or anything like that?"

"Why do you think I'm here instead of the wizard shop a few roads over?" Severus asked. When Potter straightened, Severus winced. "Enough, Potter." He took the award. "I'm fine. I have everything I need, including peace and quiet. Do me a favour and stay away so that I might continue to enjoy my peace and quiet."

"Could I stop by later in the week?" Potter asked hurriedly. "I could bring over some herbs from the garden in Grimmauld Place. I remember Sirius complaining you were asking for some flowers off the hydrangeas."

Severus was tempted, but he knew allowing more contact would not be good for either of them. "Leave me alone, Potter. Do not darken my doorstep or neighbourhood again. Am I clear?"


~~~


When he found the flowers in his mailbox a few days later, Severus knew he had to do something.


~~~


When Potter visited again, Severus let him in. He'd warned Arthur and Molly both, reasoning that they at least would not overact if the worst happened. He hoped they would be ready if he contacted them in a hurry. St. Mungo's at least would have a potion on hand to clear Potter's mind until the counter agent — achelum, a shrub from an island off Greece that would keep Potter away for the rest of Severus' life — could be imported.

Potter was grinning like a besotted fool when Severus opened the door. "Professor. I'm glad you let me in."

Severus sighed and opened the door further. "It was unavoidable it seemed." He led Potter into the sitting room where he lit a fire to burn the scant branches of achelum he had inherited from his mother. As the fumes began to fill the room, he picked up the book that had been passed down by his family. "Read the chapter I've bookmarked. Now."

"Why?" Potter asked. "Couldn't you just read it to me?"

"Read it or I leave you here on your own," Severus hissed.

Pouting, Potter opened the book. The pout turned into a frown. "I don't... you're a Siren?"

"Quarter Siren," Severus corrected. "Anyone who hears my song could be my mate. Though of course, anyone who isn't my mate is doomed to follow me forever."

Potter bit his lip. "How do you know? If someone really is your mate?"

"A kiss," Severus answered. He crossed his arms behind his back and lifted his chin. "I imagine once that is sorted and you are in St. Mungo's, it'll be an unpleasant memory, but it is the best way to end this."

Potter looked up. "But what if I am your mate?"

It was a possibility Severus hadn't considered fully, but he had considered it — because he had to. "If we are, there is no breaking a bond such as that, Potter."

"We'd be, what, married then?" Potter asked.

Severus nodded. "Simply put, yes. My song is meant to lure in anyone who might fit me best. It's been studied, but no one knows how a Siren's nature determines who is a good fit and who isn't. Some have argued that it's only compatibility for sex, but the bond between a Siren and his or her mate encourages not just friendship, but love. Some have tried to trick Sirens in the past out of desperation, but it's always failed."

Potter looked at the book, but Severus didn't think he was reading it. Potter asked, "But the bond won't mean that we'll love each other? Just encourages it?"

Severus clasped his hands together and let his robe sleeves fall over them. "Yes. There have been several documented cases where a Siren and mate aren't typical romantic partners, but have what's now called platonic life partners."

Potter looked up. "So what if we don't ever love each other — am I free to find a romantic partner somewhere else?"

Inside, Severus winced and felt something recoil at the idea that Potter would love anyone else. Outwardly, he tried not to show it. After all, he didn't want to love Potter. If it were up to Severus, he'd have remained alone for the rest of his life. He took a deep breath. "Perhaps in time. I don't remember if any mate ever had a romantic partner other than a Siren."

Potter closed the book. "Lucky me. Could I just go to St. Mungo's and to get the treatment for someone who isn't a mate?"

Shaking his head, Severus answered, "If you are my mate and refuse to heed my call, you'll waste away."

"Seems unfair," Potter grumbled.

"Magic can be," Severus quietly agreed. He'd had no other suitors in his life; no others who had come knocking on his door, refusing to be denied. And if Potter did choose to waste away instead of completing this bond, then Severus, too, would waste away. Unfair, indeed. To think that his life hinged on this one moment, waiting for Potter to make up his mind... and then to find out that Potter was his mate, that Severus would be — as Potter put it — married to him...

Severus had not survived the war for this.

Potter squared his shoulders. "So let's do it."

Severus blinked. "Are you sure?"

"Well, between wasting away and living forever with the memory of having kissed you?" Potter grinned, a little impishly. "Besides, it's not like you aren't handsome. I'll admit that I've thought of you in bed once or twice."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "It won't be just a kiss, though, if you are my mate. Like most of the ancient rituals, to complete the bond, the Siren and mate have to have sex. Once we kiss, if you are my mate, the bond will require we have sex."

Potter smirked. "I don't think you heard me. I've wanted you for a long time."

Severus looked at the fireplace to check that the achelum was still burning; it was. Sighing, Severus attributed Potter's fantasies to his song and put it out of his mind. It wouldn't matter soon enough.

He stepped closer to Potter and bent his head.


~~~


Potter stretched, grinning. "Well, that was unexpected."

Severus was looking at the ceiling and not at the man he'd just had sex with. He'd known that if he had kissed his mate, sex would inevitably follow, but he hadn't expected it to happen. After all, this was Potter. They had a bitter history and Potter had, for most of that time, been more than ready to hex him. For Severus' part, it was a history filled with hateful reminders. It was a past that didn't lend itself to a happy future.

"We have to make plans," Severus announced, ignoring Potter's statement. Well, Harry's statement. He should call his mate by his first name. It was, at least, polite. "I'd rather not leave here, but we could connect it to Grimmauld Place. I could turn this place into a study and lab and we could live at Grimmauld."

He stood, looking for his shirt. Pot- Harry was sitting up, braced on his forearms. "That's it? All business now?"

Severus sighed, holding his shirt and face hidden by his hair. "What else do you expect? We hardly know each other as anything other than teacher and student. And I did say that there was a chance that we may not be romantic partners."

Harry hummed and stood up. Severus froze when he stopped behind him, but Harry only wrapped his arms around Severus' waist. Severus stared down at the arms encircling him. No one had ever held him like this. It was intimate to the point of painful. Severus wasn't the sort of man to inspire intimacy in others. The few men, wizards and Muggles alike, he had been with had not been the sort to touch for long. Or stay beyond a few days. There had been one whose shy smiles had tempted Severus into hoping for more, but then the war had broken out and hope died with an attack that the young man, a Muggle, had been unfortunate to get caught in.

"I want to know you better," Harry whispered against his shoulder. "If we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, we should be more than just housemates."

"Just because your idea of a husband is someone who loves you, does not mean that idea will come to pass," Severus reiterated, assuming what Harry was actually trying to say.

Harry squeezed Severus' waist. "I'm not asking for love, Sn — Severus. But neither do I want my husband to be a stranger to me. I'd like us to at least be friends."


~~~


Severus' work was put on hold while their lives were upended to sort out the necessary details and home arrangements. As Severus had said, it would be best if they lived at Grimmauld Place. Harry's friends and family knew that he lived there; Spinner's End, on the other hand, was not known to them all. And he'd rather keep it that way to afford himself some privacy. The Floo connection was put in place after only a few days wait once they submitted their application for one and would be usable only by Harry and Severus themselves. They filed what seemed to be endless paperwork concerning their mateship, their new addresses, what it meant for Harry's work (it had caused their first argument as Severus believed that Harry's emergency contact should remain the same; Harry believed otherwise).

There were two parties held in their honour; the first at the Burrow to welcome Severus to the family and the other at a pub Harry and his friends frequented. Both parties had been somber affairs, but the second was the most painful as many of them remembered Severus' time as Headmaster at Hogwarts under Voldemort's rule.

At the end of the month, it was painfully clear to Severus that Fate was crueler than suspected and their relationship would be better if they kept to a polite friendship. Harry kept on, almost dogged in his determination that they become closer. There were little gifts left for Severus of potions ingredients (one of which had been released after an investigation had finally ended and Harry had snatched up a vial of dragon's blood) and invitations to go out, just the two of them or with friends. It didn't seem to bother Harry that Severus had no friends; instead, he seemed to be trying to bring Severus into his group. There were dinners with just the two of them in quiet restaurants, Muggle mostly, and it was clear that Harry thought they were dates.

Severus didn't want to encourage the attention or gifts, but he tried to answer in kind. He didn't want their friendship to be spoiled by anyone who claimed that Severus only took and never gave. It was nice, he could admit, to think of things that Harry might like. Difficult, but sharing space now made that easier. Renewing his subscription to a Quidditch magazine; a new book in a series he was reading.

There hadn't been any more sex. It wasn't required for the mateship and without the urge, Severus avoided it. Not that he didn't want it; he could admit that he did find Harry attractive. Harry would begin to lean in for a kiss or touch Severus in a way that invited intimacy, but a look from Severus stopped that quickly.

He couldn't say why he didn't want it, but there was something there, something holding him back.

Harry was getting frustrated, he could tell. It was in the way he was restless at times, the way he furiously read the book on Sirens that Severus had pushed at him.

Severus watched him out of the corner of his eye, reading his own magazine. They had shared most evenings together like this in the sitting room. Severus had usually ended his days like this when he lived alone and it was wonderful to know that Harry fitted in with that pattern. The more intimate the dinners they shared, the more Severus felt his affection for Harry growing with each evening spent like this.

He should've known it wouldn't last. Tonight, Harry slammed the book down on the coffee table. "Why haven't you finished it yet?"

Severus marked his spot and put aside the magazine. Rather than ask what Harry was referring to, he picked up the book and scanned the page. And then read it more closely.

... once a kiss had been given, both Siren and mate will have accepted the call of Siren's song. Thus, the bond will have been begun.

The song's function is, of course, only to lure a mate and ensure compatibility; a ritual is necessary to complete the bond. If the Siren's mate is a magical being, the Siren is required to accept and perform its mate's ritual – unique to its species. If the mate is human, the Siren is required to perform the ritual described below to complete the bonding. Once completed, both parties will accept the partner chosen for them by Fate and acknowledge their eternal bond.

The page went on to summarize the ritual. "Forgive me, Harry," Severus said into the quiet. "I had forgotten this."

Harry snorted. "You? Forget?" He shook his head. "Is it because you don't want me? You could've said and saved us both the aggravation of all that paperwork! I could be in St. Mungo's right now, wasting away —"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

Silence fell. He looked up and was startled at the look on Harry's face. It was painful, the heartbreak there. "Make it up to me? Do you even know what I've been feeling? To know that I want you even as you're pulling away because you forgot about some ritual?" When Severus only looked confused, Harry took the book from Severus' hands and flipped a few pages. He thrust the book back at Severus. "I'm going to bed."

Severus scrambled to hold onto the book and watched his mate storm off. He resisted the urge to call him back or hex him or even burn the damned book. He found the page Harry had turned to and he cursed his mother's family and whomever it was that had decided mating with a Siren was a good idea.

A note of caution: should the mateship go uncompleted, both mates will live half lives, yearning for each other even if they remain close. They will experience feelings of emptiness and loneliness, and despite treatment, they will often feel unfulfilled in all their endeavours. Other symptoms will include: anger, uncontrolled bursts of magic, depression, suicidal thoughts, jealousy. The Siren will find herself or himself shying away from their mate. The mate will pine and think himself or herself unwanted and unloved.

It is advised that the ritual be completed as soon as possible, once the Siren's call has been acknowledged.

Severus flipped back to the ritual and smiled. Just a small one.

After all, he had everything it required and it would be a full moon tomorrow.


~~~


"What do you mean, we're not going out?" Harry asked. He stared at Severus as though he was a stranger. "I promised Ron and Hermione we would go out tonight, give them both a break from the kids."

"It's a full moon tonight," Severus explained. "And the ritual calls for one."

It took Harry a moment to figure it out, but then a smile spread across his face. He hung up his coat and brushed his hand against Severus' on his way to the sitting room. "Just give me a moment to let them know we have to cancel."

"I'll be in the garden," Severus promised. Harry beamed.

Shaking his head, Severus finished the last things for the ritual, having been unsure if Harry would want to perform it tonight or had rather chosen to let the mateship — and themselves — wither. It was a curious thing for him, though, since Harry had been the only one to hear his song. He had assumed that he would live out his days alone, that Fate had decided he was too burned by his actions to have someone to love and who would love him.

Love?

Well, Severus could admit that there was something like it growing between him and Harry.

"Ready?" Harry asked behind him.

Severus grinned.


~~~


"Mm, do all the parts of your nature end in sex?" Harry arched his back and Severus quickly took advantage by grabbing Harry's hips and pulling him closer.

Harry laughed. Severus kissed him again, because he could. Humming into his mouth, Harry wrapped a leg around Severus' thigh. Severus broke the kiss. "Bed?"

"Bed, yes, please," Harry agreed. He gave Severus a playful shove and led the way upstairs to their bedroom. It was nice this time, none of that painful rush to have sex that the kiss had created. This was a slow burn that seemed to want to let them take their time.

Severus wanted all that time, to learn how to make Harry gasp and groan and swear at him. To learn how to drag it out and make it last all night. If this was what was missing, he hated that he had forgotten about the ritual. Especially since it felt now that he was allowed to take Harry to his bed and have him as a husband should.

He sped up his steps and caught Harry in his arms, breathing deep. "Husband."

Harry sighed. "Come on, bed. I've been waiting weeks and I don't want to be fucked in the hallway."

They stumbled into the bedroom, removing clothes between kisses and touches. Severus lit the fireplace and lifted himself up, staring down.

Harry half smiled at him. "I think I'm falling in love with you. I know you said —"

Severus kissed him. "Forget what I said. Plenty of time for us both to properly fall in love now."

Harry's eyes sparkled.