alisanne

Title: Mounting a Defence
Author:

alisanne
Rating: PG
Pairing: Severus Snape/Harry Potter.
Word Count: 730 (365 x 2)
Warnings: Mild angst.
A/N: Written for

hogwarts365/

hogwarts365's prompt # 235: Discredit, Reverence.
Beta(s):

sevfan and emynn.
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

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Mounting a Defence

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“…Death Eater scum.”

Severus stiffened, glaring at the man striding past him to take a seat across the room. The words, hissed softly enough that only he would hear, dampened his good mood.

Harry, seated across from him, frowned. “Are you okay?”

Damn his perceptive nature! “I’m fine,” Severus gritted out.

“You don’t look fine.” Eyes narrowed, Harry scanned the restaurant. “What happened? Did someone do something?”

Huffing, Severus clasped Harry’s hand, recapturing his attention. “Leave it. It’s nothing.”

“We can go elsewhere,” offered Harry, his fingers tightening on Severus’.

“That won’t be necessary.” Severus bared his teeth in an approximation of a smile. “Nothing will change, no matter where we go.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “Someone’s said something, haven’t they?” He morphed into the shrewd Auror, showing a side he didn’t often display when they were out socially.

A piece of folded parchment floated towards Severus. As Severus frowned, it unfolded, settling on the table. On it was a crude drawing of someone clearly intended to be Severus, being hung from a noose. Under it was scrawled the words, ‘die, scum’.

Harry’s face changed, his lips thinning. “I’ll be right back,” he said, disentangling his fingers from Severus’ and standing up. “If the server returns, I’d like the chocolate cake for my pudding.”

“Harry—”

“Severus.” Harry stared into Severus’ eyes, and Severus read the determination there. “I won’t allow you to be discredited or threatened. You sacrificed too much for me, for us, for me to let that happen.”

Severus exhaled. “Do what you must.”

Harry smiled. It wasn’t a nice one. “I’ll be right back.”

Watching from the corner of his eye, Severus saw Harry approach the hissing man’s table, and, surreptitiously, he cast a Listening Spell.

“…believe you sent something to my companion?”

“What of it?”

“It wasn’t appropriate.”

“Appropriate? D’you know who he is?” Hissing man sounded belligerent, but his companion, another man, stared up at Harry, his eyes flicking to his forehead. He blanched in recognition.

“Oi,” he said to hissing man. “Don’t you know who this is?”

“I don’t care if he’s the bleedin’ Minister, he’s with that scum—”

“He’s Harry Potter!”

Hissing man went silent.

Harry smiled tightly. “You should listen to your friend,” he said, his tone pleasant, but with underlying steel. “Severus Snape is the reason we all live freely today and not under the yoke of a crazed Dark wizard.”

“Whatever,” said hissing man. “He’s obviously sucking your dick, so of course you’d say that, but he does nothing for the rest of us and should be in Azkaban—”

“Does nothing for the rest of us?” Harry repeated, tone dangerously soft. “Let me explain some things to you. One, since the war, that man’s created more potions for the benefit of war victims than anyone else. Two, he spied on Voldemort for years, passing on information at great risk to himself, and if not for that information, we would have lost the war. Three, even if all that were not true, you do not have the right to threaten someone who fought for our freedom as you probably did not.” Smirking, Harry leaned in. “And finally, yes, he does suck my dick. Expertly, I might add. And I suck his as often as possible. And if you have a problem with that, I don’t care.”

The man’s friend coughed. “We’re sorry we bothered you, Auror Potter.” He glared at hissing man. “And Donald here won’t say another word or he won’t be getting his dick sucked tonight.”

Harry inclined his head. “I’m glad to see we understand each other.”

Cancelling his Listening Spell, Severus ducked his head and fought hard not to smile, and by the time Harry got back to their table, he was once again sober faced.

“You listened, I presume?”

Severus affected a guileless expression.

Harry snorted. “I’m an Auror, remember? I can tell when someone’s listening in.”

Severus sighed. “I miss the days when you were an innocent student and didn’t know anything about spy craft.”

Harry laughed. “No you don’t.” He leaned in. “If I were still an innocent student, I wouldn’t be sucking your cock tonight.”

“Fair point.” Severus smirked. “Although, given how you defended me, I’ll be sucking your cock since you deserve to be…rewarded.”

Grinning, Harry immediately hailed the server. “Please cancel my pudding order. I’ll be having mine at home.”

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