It took them both a moment to realize that the music had stopped. The other men around them were separating and choosing new partners.
Harry felt like he'd been awoken from a dream. He looked up at Severus.
Those dark eyes were fixed on him, intense and unblinking. Harry could see himself reflected in their depths. Nearly hypnotized, Harry watched those tiny images of his face draw closer and closer until they blurred, then Severus' mouth was locked on his, and then all awareness of everything but Severus faded away.
Vaguely, he heard the music start again. The tempo had changed. This piece was nearly hard rock, all driving beat of drum and battering guitar riffs, no melody, just gritty sexual tension.
Severus' hips pressed closer.
Harry had the horrible feeling that they were about to make a spectacle of themselves, but then the world was falling away in the familiar sensation of Apparating. When Harry drew back for air, they were home in Severus' sitting room.
At first, he worried that their abrupt return might be a bad thing, but then Severus' mouth devoured his and Harry couldn't spare the energy for worrying.
His hands frantically pushed Severus' robes off his slender shoulders, and then went to work on the buttons of the jacket. Severus was likewise occupied, pulling Harry's black jumper up and off him once his robes had hit the floor.
They'd gotten disrobing down to an art form over the last few months. Naked in minutes, Harry pressed himself up against Severus' smooth, exquisite body.
Hands and mouths roamed freely. The territory might be familiar by now, but the physical reaction to those kisses and touches would never get old.
Severus' groan filled the room as Harry's mouth latched onto his left nipple. Harry could almost feel the pleasure sparking through his lover as he teased his tongue over that tight pink bud.
He wasn't even surprised when the little brown jar of cream nudged his bare shoulder a short time later. Harry fetched the lube out of the air and hurriedly opened the jar.
Severus staggered over to the nearby couch and leaned over its back, spreading his legs wide.
As ever, Harry shook as his eyes took in that lean form. He'd never had a relationship where the feelings grew stronger the more they were together. If Harry didn't know better, he'd almost swear they were under an enchantment. That would explain Severus' completely uncharacteristic indulgence and kindness.
Harry knew the thought of magical compulsion should have troubled him, but if an enchantment existed, it had given him exactly what he'd always hungered for. He wasn't going to mess with that. All he was going to do was enjoy it, for as long and as often as he could.
He held the cool, white cream in his fingers until it warmed. Moving carefully, Harry slipped his hand between Severus' slender cheeks and worked his finger up inside that tight channel. Slowly, the snugness gave way to acceptance.
Harry positioned himself and pushed home. This was where he lived these days. His entire life revolved around these few precious moments when he and Severus were no longer separate entities, when their bodies and souls melted into this perfect unity.
Fully encased in that living heat, Harry leaned down and slipped his arms around Severus' thin chest. Hugging tight, he stood back up, drawing Severus with him.
From the shocked cry Severus gave, it was clear Harry's cock was trying to meld with that organic pleasure button hidden deep inside Severus.
They'd never done it standing straight up before. Harry was going deeper than he'd ever gone as Severus eased back against him. The difference in their heights made the position a little challenging, but Harry had never felt anything so hot.
Severus' back arched, his head settling on Harry's right shoulder. Harry reached down to collect that straining cock and give it the worship it deserved, his other hand stroking appreciatively up and down that silken chest.
He buried his face in Severus' neck, nosing through the soft, long hair until his lips touched warm skin, then he started sucking. His fisted hand and hips moving in unison, Harry gave himself over to Severus.
There was nothing like this. Sometimes Harry tried to describe to himself what it was he experienced when he was inside Severus. It was more than the sensual rush of heated need that claimed his every cell. While it was incontestably true that Severus set him on fire, moving inside Severus this way, feeling that hot body squeezing and burning him with its passion, somehow nourished him even as it consumed him. It was drowning; it was burning; it was need; it was . . . it was love.
Recognition of that emotion was an epiphany in its own right. Love. How long had he hungered for this? After a lifetime of waiting without hope, it was finally his.
That incredible warmth overwhelming him, Harry came with a resounding moan, and a heartbeat later, Severus' warm seed was spilling over his hand.
Both their knees seemed to simultaneously give out. Still deep inside Severus, Harry sank to the carpeted floor, drawing his lover down onto him as he knelt there shaking in the aftermath. They were both gasping for breath like they'd run ten miles.
Harry tightened his arms around Severus and rested his chin over the nearest bony shoulder, breathing in Severus' warm scent.
Before long, Harry's legs were cramping up, protesting both his kneeling position and the weight resting on him.
"This can't be comfortable," Severus murmured a few minutes later, carefully moving off him before Harry could open his mouth to keep him where he was.
Severus sat down on the rug, and after a moment, Harry shifted so that he was lying on his side, his head pillowed on Severus' right knee as he stared up into that long-nosed face.
As if of their own volition, Severus' fingers moved to stroke through his hair. An index finger traced his lightning bolt scar. It was a favourite move of Severus'.
"That was . . . . " Harry began, not knowing what to say, but needing to say something.
"Yes," Severus swiftly agreed.
The moment seeming to draw in around them, they stared into each other's eyes.
Severus cleared his throat and said in a hesitant voice, "We never speak of what we've been doing together these last three months."
'I, er, noticed that," Harry said, pressing Severus' palm to his cheek and then turning his face into the damp palm to kiss the perspiration away.
"Perhaps some things need to be said?" Severus suggested.
Tensing a little, because he could never tell what Severus had in mind when he wore that expression, Harry softly asked, "What sort of things?"
"Well, I couldn't help but notice that you've slept in my bed every night since January. Also, your clothes now seem to reside exclusively in my wardrobe," Severus remarked in that same unreadable tone.
Harry's stomach clenched in a tight knot. This could be a prelude to a goodbye as easily as something pleasant. He'd known he was taking his chances by leaving his clothes here and returning every single night, but he hadn't been able to help himself. Unable to deny Severus' words, he offered a soft, "Yes."
Harry felt the leg supporting his head tense up.
Severus' gaze seemed almost questioning as he searched his face.
Somehow, that nervousness gave him hope. Severus was never hesitant or reluctant when he was angry or irritated. Reaching up, Harry pushed the long hair back behind Severus' ear and asked, "What do you have on your mind?"
"I, er," Severus never stumbled over his words. "I was wondering if perhaps it were time for you to consider moving all your things here? There is more than sufficient room."
Severus appeared scared to death.
Harry couldn't blame him. He hadn't seen this coming at all. Taking a deep breath, Harry tried to stamp down the urge to shout in triumph. He was literally weak with relief as he answered as calmly and nonchalantly as he could while his heart was about to burst with joy, "Yeah, I could do that."
Severus' hand closed almost painfully on his shoulder. He looked like he'd just evaded a killing curse.
"Er, there might be one small problem with that, though," Harry felt obligated to point out.
The hand on his shoulder had to be drawing blood.
"That would be?" Severus asked, his body terribly still.
