Severus enters the empty classroom. One of the benefits of being just a simple science teacher for fifth graders. No homeroom. Honestly, it takes time to set up the lab and prepare the lecture…at least that’s what he told his boss. Blah blah blah, think of the children, blah blah blah, think of the safety measures, et cetera. It was a lengthy meeting and one he fought on for years since becoming a teacher. Hence why his class was one of the later subjects starting at 9 AM, respectfully.
Severus doesn’t hate children, no matter what others say, he is just not a morning person. No one should be subjected to his first waking moment. Coffee is not a helpful stimulant. He needs time to wake up fully and having a classroom of screeching children excitedly bouncing in their seat first thing in the morning is not a good mixture. Besides safety does need to be maintained in the lab at all times. If he was not fully awake it could lead to a disaster.
He hears the bell ring and checks the clock. Five minutes to nine, the new batch of students should be arriving shortly. A quick review of the syllabus and then they can start focusing on plant life. He has a bag of seeds ready for next week’s experiment.
The door opens and a sea of children walk in chattering away before finding seats next to their friends. Poor dears are going to find out tomorrow they will have assigned seating once he figures out who gets along with who. No need for foolishness in the classroom if he can avoid it.
He waits until each student is seated before clearing his throat. “Good morning,” he says and they repeat it back to him. “Today will be an introduction to the expectations of this class. We will review the syllabus and go over lab safety before getting into the life cycle of common plants. Now then let’s see if everyone is here.”
Snape performs roll call looking up after each name to memorize the student. “Harry Potter,” he freezes hearing a squeak of “here”. Uncontrollable hair, rounded glasses, and that half-formed smile. It has to be his son. He fumbles on the next name and quickly conducts himself back into proper teacher mode. There are many Potters in the community, surely he wouldn’t send his offspring here.
Snape’s hands shake, reaching for the thick textbook on the podium. It drops on the floor, nerves ruining his composure. He feels all sixty eyes land on him as he bends down to pick up the book.
“Turn to page 35.”
His eyes catch the young offspring. There’s no mistaking it. That boy is from the Potter.
Severus places his materials into his side bag. Today was not terrible but it was barely tolerable. He was ill-prepared for the arrival of his new students due to the fact Potter’s son was in his class. He had nothing against the boy, yet. If he was the same as his father, a bully who used his looks to get away with any and everything, Harry would have learned it well from his father.
He did not conduct himself properly. He felt he was stricter than normal, maybe a tad angry. He did not yell, he never yelled but his tone did change after realizing Mr. Avery was playing paper football in the middle of his class. Normally a stern scolding would do but he assigned both boys an essay to turn in tomorrow on the life cycle of plants. This is silly, not silly, stupid. He’s a grown man! Why on earth is he getting worked up over a boy? He lets out a shaky breath and tries to relax his hands at his sides with no success.
“Professor Snape,” he hears from the door. “I had a question… but you don’t look good.”
Severus forces his anxiety to the back of his head for all the good that will do before looking down at his student, Ronald. “I’m just a little nervous is all.”
“Whoa, Professors get nervous?” he asks, looking up at Snape.
“Sometimes, almost everyone does. But I assume that is not your question?”
Ronald snorts, “My mom said never to assume cause it makes an ass of you and me… er, I mean,” he says flushed as Snape raises a brow to continue. “Uh, how do you know when not to snitch?”
Snape narrows his eyes at Knox, “It’s not like it’s really bad…not yet.”
“Ronald, it is best to be honest.”
“Yeah,” he says, scratching his head. “That’s why I was asking you?”
Snape sighs, “Ronald. Is someone in trouble?”
“Sort of?”
“Is someone hurt?”
“Hmm not yet, but…” he frowns. “I think she might get hurt…but I don’t want to snitch.”
“Ronald, explain.” Snape asks firmly.
Ronald frowns, “It’s Grell. They were teasing her because of her hair again and the new guy told them to buzz off, and then they started yelling, and…”
“Where are they?”
“By the bathroom,” Ronald gets out before Snape moves past him.
Ronald gasps before following after him, “Whoa he really does look like a bat when he’s running.”
Snape arrives on the scene just in time to see two students fighting on the floor.
“Take it back,” the redhead yells slamming the other student on the floor. “Hadwin, take it back you scum!”
Hadwin punches the redhead on the nose, “No way, freak!”
Snape rushes over and pulls the redhead off the boy. “Grell, stop fighting!”
She cries and tries to kick at Hadwin as Snape pulls her back. “Grell, stop this at once!” Snape snaps as Grell stops moving in his arms.
“Grell attacked me for no reason at all,” says Hadwin. “You should punish Grell,” he says, sticking his tongue out at her. Grell grinds her teeth shaking before she begins to cry onto Snape.
“N-no she didn’t,” answers That familiar squeak of a voice answers. Snape flinches as he sees the familiar face. “Hadwin started it. He tried to cut her hair…and said she was ugly and some other mean things too.”
Snape looks between all three children before hearing squeaking shoes stop on the floor.
“Oh wow, what did I miss?” asks Ronald.
Hadwin receives a warning to not fight again. Honestly, the boy deserved a worse punishment but Snape can not go against whatever the principal says. It was strange seeing a Potter defend someone being bullied and not the other way around. Maybe he needs to reevaluate the idea that Harry Potter would be like his father. That is easier said than done when he looks like an exact copy of James.
Severus sighs unlocking the doors to his home, his relief away from school. He picks up the mail from the floor and sorts through it quickly between the bills and regular letters. One is a letter from his friend Lucius or more precisely Lucius' wife Narcissa. He reads over the content quickly. The typical updates are present including their son Malfoy starting school again soon, Lucius is throwing a party please attend, and other pleasantries such as when will Severus start dating.
Severus tosses the letter on the coffee table to deal with later. He had explained to both of them why a relationship would not work. Multiple times he had explained it and yet they still tried to encourage him to date.
“Oh, it’s not dating, it's finding friends. You do like to find friends, right?” Narcissa asked, sipping a glass of wine.
“Not ones to have sex with, no.” Snape snipped.
He was crude that evening, but he was tired of the constant questions about when he would start dating, get a partner, or have children.
It was annoying.
Their hearts are in the right place… sometimes. He knew they didn’t want him to be lonely but as he had already said numerous times, he was asexual. Recently he had found a better word to describe his identity, which is aro-ace. It means no romance nor sex are appealing for him, but deep-felt friendships would be fine, thank you.
It had taken years, many years of confusion, uncertainty wondering why he did not feel the same as others. There wasn’t a word for him to cling to when he was growing up. He was the ugly hooked nosed boy living in poverty, why should he waste time on dating or sex? He knew his looks did nothing for him. He had it thrown in his face frequently. Still, even the plain or less sightly looking witch or wizard had that drive. He never got that urge others experienced. It didn’t make sense or feel right when he explored why he didn’t care about romantic relationships. However, it did not stop the Malfoys from trying.
Severus stretches walking towards the bathroom. “Well, a nice shower should do me well… unless my thoughts betray me.”
After his shower, he lays on his bed rubbing his head. His thoughts had betrayed him. They made him overthink the Harry Potter situation. One, the boy had been raised by that man and had not shown a single bullying bone in his body during today's event. Two, Harry seemed docile, no, cautious, worried about the next step. Which brought up the third reason. Harry defended Grell. All students know of the supposed hierarchy of middle school. The weak are at the bottom and yet he chose to help. It’s something his father never would have done.
Severus sighs, “I was expecting the little bugger to be exactly like his father. I’m thankfully disappointed.”
A few weeks have gone by, and the initial Harry Potter situation has worn off to a degree. Harry is a good student, not particularly smart but he does try. Doesn’t cause a fuss, doesn’t raise any issues. He’s the total opposite of James, in most things.
They do share similarities besides their looks. He’s unsure what it could be but Harry does have a way of lighting up the room. His easy-going attitude and care for others is shocking. James could be caring when it was his friends and not a mortal enemy. Snape remembers James having the same ease when dealing with people at school.
Severus reviews the student's papers while they work in a group. In about twenty minutes they will do a presentation of the water cycle, each focusing on one detail. Most of his students get acceptable grades, however; every class has a few that struggle. It’s better to help them now than leave it for midterms. Currently, Severus is confused over Harry’s work. Severus has seen him answer questions in class correctly and yet on the tests he’s scoring lower than expected. Severus hums to himself, planning to address the students after class once the presentations are completed.
“Mr. Snape. The timer went off.”
“Thank you, Oliver. Now then let’s choose which team to go to first.”
Harry is fidgeting, standing in front of Snape looking everywhere but at the teacher as he rocks on his feet. “I don’t know.”
“Mr. Potter, you know this material. You’re able to answer it during class but that’s not showing here. Were you under stress-?”
“No,” Harry interrupts, face flushed. “I mean no sir. I’m not good with tests.”
Snape raises a brow as Harry frowns, “I’m still passing, right?”
Severus sighs, “You’re passing, but I know you can do better,” he says carefully watching Harry scrunch his nose. “Can you explain what area has confused you?”
Harry shrugs, “I don’t know… It’s just hard when I’m taking it.”
“Well, I see you erased a lot of your answers and then chose new ones.”
“They looked like the right one.” he mumbles. “Are you going to tell my dad?” he asks suddenly.
“I might if they do not improve,” he says, watching Harry crumble under his gaze. “However, I think we can make test-taking easier for you.”
Harry bites the inside of his cheek, “But there’s no way to make it easier. I’m just too stupid!”
“Mr. Potter.” Harry straightened to attention instantly. “I have yet to have a stupid child enter my classroom. As such do not ever call yourself stupid again. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Professor,” he frowns.
Severus clears his throat, “Well then, let’s begin by going over these questions and see if we can find a pattern.”
Harry winces, “What if there is no pattern? What if I’m just…”
Severus clears his throat again, looking down at Harry. Harry rubs his nose. “Well can you… Can you please not tell my dad?”
“I see no reason to, at this point. Why are you worried about telling your father?”
Harry sighs, “Cause he was good at everything and if I’m not then I’m weak and that’s not good. He made it seem so easy. He never had any problems in school,” Harry rambles.
He never had problems in school because he was the cause of the problems. Everything came easy to him because he was popular and a smooth talker.
“...But I don’t want him to be mad,” Harry ends up looking at Snape.
“I don’t think he would be mad,” Severus answers. “Concerned, but not mad. Though I would not be a good judge of his character since I have not met him.” In years, he adds silently to himself.
Harry nods his head, “I guess so. But I think you’d get along with him. Dad is smart and kind and you are too.”
Severus has to bite back the retort as he only nods his head. Oh, if Harry only knew, but what point would there be in telling him his father was a complete bully for all his schooling years? There’s no need to mention it.
“Thank you. However, let’s get back to helping you,” he hums as Harry nods his head.
A few weeks pass and the dreaded Teacher Conference arrives. Severus loathes these events not just because he has to be involved with the parents that arrive but because of his coworkers as well. Severus gets along with most of his coworkers. That’s not to say he hasn’t gotten vocal with any of the staff, but for the most part, he behaves like a civilized adult.
Unfortunately, some of his coworkers are younger and as such seek to drink after the Conference to relieve stress. Severus wouldn’t mind, but each time he is forced into twenty questions: How is he not married? Markel drunkenly points out any gender on the bar asking if they are his type. Drunk coworkers trying to hook him up when he has no interest in it at all. If it was just getting drinks he would be fine but there’s always the pressure of his coworkers urging him to move on with his life. How can he stand being single for so long? He has tried to explain he’s not interested but they just assume he’s shy with romance. It’s tedious.
The main school doors open as parents along with their children enter the school. He prepares himself standing behind his desk as the classroom fills with a few parents. He hears the clomping of heels and barely manages to conceal his disgust.
Elizabeth Dursley is an annoyance that has yet to act like a decent human being. He takes a deep breath and plasters on his working face as he greets them. Their son Philip had failed the year before and Severus had not moved an inch to fib the boy's grade, as such Philip was forced to stay behind a year.
Elizabeth greets him first with a displeased hum. “I do hope you’ll come to your senses and pass our son this year.”
“Philip has shown improvement since last year, however that remains to be seen. If you wish I could go over his grades…”
“Hmph, not a chance. Our darling Philip has promised to succeed this year, haven’t you darling?” she coos as Philip crinkles his nose at his mom’s affection.
“Mooom.”
“Oh, they're so sensitive at this age,” she raises a brow at Snape. “Though I doubt you’d have to worry about any.”
“Would you like to hear about Philip’s grades or move to the next classroom?” he asks, ignoring her comment.
“I’m doing good, mom.” Philip interrupts. “I’ve been getting straight C’s and I managed a B once too.” he smiles.
“Straight C’s! Philip that’s barely passing,” she scolds as Philip’s face falls. “How could you let him fail so much? You're doing this on purpose!”
“Mrs. Dursley, Philip has shown a remarkable improvement and has been able to keep his grades steady compared to last year…”
“I will not listen to another word. Mark my words, your boss will be hearing from me.” she says storming out along with Philip.
Snapes raises a brow as she leaves not the least bit concerned.
“Dad, it’s here.” Harry says, pulling his father along to the classroom.
Snape’s blood turns to ice hearing the infamous voice call out “Hold on, Harry.”
For a moment he’s back at their school, second-hand clothes, nervously twitching as James smiles at him before beginning the insults. Sweat rolls down the middle of his back as Harry presents his dad in front of Severus. Their eyes lock and Severus pulls back his lip trying to quell, the mixed emotions boiling underneath his skin.
James smiles looking straight into Severus' eyes, “Wow, you work here Snivellus?”
Harry looks confused between his dad and Mr. Snape. Did his dad forget his teacher’s name?
“Dad, that’s Mr. Snape,” Harry interrupts as James smirks, seeing the tension build in Snape's shoulders.
“I know,” he laughs, “We knew each other in school.”
“Whoa, really?” Harry asks, looking up at Snape.
“Yes, but that’s in the past. I’m sure you’d want to know how Harry is doing,” Snape asks, trying to redirect James. He can feel the shake in his hands and keeps them both clasped to steady them.
James chuckles rolling, “You were always so serious.” He pats Snape on the back, “You should let loose a bit.”
Snape stiffens at the touch, throat going dry as he can barely move just from one simple action. He takes a deep breath and forces his stubborn body to move forward.
“Be that as it may, your son has shown remarkable improvement,” he manages without butchering the words.
“Improvement?”
Snape nods his head, “Yes. Harry is very smart, he just had a hard time taking tests, but he has gotten better with managing them.”
Harry nods his head, “Mr. Snape says reading it to myself helps slow down my thinking, so I can choose a good answer.”
“So you're saying he’s not moving the same speed as the other kids?” James asks defensively.
Severus has dealt with an angry parent or two before. Has handled many “not my child” parents before, yet this is different. This is a man who in the past bullied him relentlessly. Not that Severus never gave his fair share in their fights but it all could have been avoided if James had just been disciplined once.
“Every child learns differently. Harry just has to take his time with some concepts,” he says slowly.
“So you’re saying my child doesn’t learn it right?” James runs a hand through his hair.
“I’m saying Harry has a different style of learning from others. Perhaps he needs more one-on-one time at home. You could help with his studies.”
“Why would I do that? It’s your job to teach my kid how all this works, not mine. If anything, this is all your fault.”
Severus pinches his lips, “Harry needs help from home. I can only teach so much in the classroom. Other students…”
“Other students don’t matter,” James snips. “I guess you wouldn’t get that though. Doubt you have kids or even someone to go home to.”
Harry frowns, “Why are you being so mean?”
“Harry.”
“Mr. Snape has been helping me a lot and you’re being mean!” he tears up.
“Harry, it’s his job to teach you…”
“But he helps me. He stayed after school to help me figure out patterns on how to take tests and relax and he’s helped a lot more than you!”
James kneels as Harry wipes his eyes looking away from his dad.
“Harry, look at me.” Harry pouts stubbornly looking away. “Look at me.”
Harry turns and looks at his dad, rubbing his nose.
“I’m sorry.” James pats Harry on the head. “I’m not mad at you. Do you know that?”
Harry nods his head, “But you can’t be mean…it’s not nice.”
“You’re right, being mean isn’t good. But why didn’t you ask me for help?” he asks.
Harry twists his shirt, looking at the floor. “Because… Because I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t smart.”
“What?”
“You always talked about how school was easy for you and you had no problems and could do anything and that you were perfect and…I didn’t want to disappoint you. Because if I asked for help, then that’s not good cause you never asked for help, so why should I have to?”
James runs a hand through his hair sighing, “Harry, did I really say that?”
Harry nods his head, “Yeah…everything was easy for you so it had to be easy for me or you’d be mad. And you're busy a lot so I didn’t want to bother you over it either.”
“Huh..,” James is unable to bring any other words to mind.
Severus clears his throat. “I think telling your dad about how you feel was a good start, don’t you?”
Harry nods his head, “Yeah, ‘cause he knows now?”
“Right, and what he knows he can fix and work on.”
“I don’t know my own kid,” James says, surprised.
Severus knows what he should do yet why should he have to bend for this? Why should he help this man at all?
“Harry, would you mind if I spoke to your father alone for a minute?” he looks at James.
“Is he in trouble?” he asks, worried. “I didn’t mean to get him in trouble.”
James stands and pats Harry on the head. “Naw, I’m not in trouble. Besides, I can handle your teacher.”
Once Harry nods his head in approval, Severus leads James outside the classroom and walks towards a private area outside the school. It’s secluded enough to give them privacy but not completely private in the case Severus needs a way out. He’s not entirely stupid letting James near him alone.
James crosses his arms, “Alright, mind telling me why you wanted to speak to me out here Snivellus?”
Snape raises a brow, “Firstly, you’ll address me as Snape or Severus. This is not your school grounds to do as you please. You can’t hide behind Professor Dumbledore or your father…”
“Oh cripes, are you going to go on about that?” James groans. “It happened, let it go.”
“Let it go,” Snape says slowly. “You really think it’s that easy to, ‘let it go’,” he quotes, shaking his head. “Unbelievable. You bullied me…”
“School boy fun,” James ignores.
“You tortured me, James.” he snaps. “There’s no other word or way to reason around it. It was torture.”
“It was just some harmless fun. We were young,” he shrugs.
“Harmless fun? You made fun of everything about me. My clothes, my appearance, anything you could see was a target. You insulted me at every turn you could gather.”
“You weren’t that innocent either!”
“I was defending myself!”
He clenches his hands at his side. “You and your friends hurt me for no other reason than it was something fun to do. But that’s not why I brought you out here. The only reason I did was for Harry, so would you kindly shut it for two damn minutes?”
“Fine…fine!”
“You're not a bad father,” Severus starts.
“Uh, when did I ever say I was? It's not like you have experience being a dad, do you?”
“You are upset about Harry feeling like a disappointment.” he ignores the comment. “It does not make you a bad father that you are upset about it.”
“So is that it? You’re not a bad dad, even though my kid thought I hated him over schoolwork?!”
“He doesn’t hate you,” Severus comments, crossing his arms. “There are some similarities in my bullying and Harry’s.”
“He’s being bullied?”
“Not exactly,” he frowns, “He takes pride in having you as a father. For what reason, I don’t know but he looks up to you. He’s trying to follow in your footsteps. He’s told me about how often you talk about how school was a breeze, and mentioned it should be easy.”
“Well yeah, ‘cause it was,” he says uncertainly, seeing Snape give him the eye. “Okay, maybe not all the way easy but it’s nothing to whine about, not like working.”
“It is different from work but this is Harry’s first time experiencing it. It’s going to be difficult for him. If you keep saying it’s easy you’re telling him he’s imagining how difficult it can be for him. You’re saying his concerns don’t matter.”
“Oh.”
“I just want the best for Harry,” said Snape, biting his tongue. “And I’m sure you do as well.”
“Yeah, I do. I didn’t know I was pressuring him so much,” he sighs. “They don’t teach you anything about being a parent.”
Severus snorts, “There are self help books on parenting and such… Though I assume they mean those for perfect children, ones that don’t exist.”
James laughs, “Yeah, I guess… Some of them were helpful like diaper changing or how warm milk should be and all. Hey Severus,” he pauses. “Do you think I messed up?”
“Yes,” Severus answers bluntly as Jame’s face falls. “Though I think most people make mistakes. Just depends on how you intend to fix those mistakes.”
“I guess so.”
“Not that it’s any of my business but you should have this conversation with your partner as well.”
“Eh, don’t have one,” he says as Severus raises a brow. “You have to have level five access to get that story.”
“Well, I think Harry might be wondering how you fared so we should return,” he gestures towards the door.
“What, are you some evil teacher I have to worry about?”
Severus smirks, “I remember you calling me an insane bat before…”
“I’m sorry…I know it’s too late and all, but for Harry, I’m sorry, so can we not talk about it?” James sighs, “I don’t need him to hate me more after today.”
Severus tsks, “Idiot. He doesn’t hate you. You’ve made a mistake and are fixing it, correct?” James nods his head. “Then fix it.”
James is not even at the classroom door when he feels Harry run up to him, “Dad! You were gone a long time, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he says, rubbing Harry’s head. “Your teacher had a lot of things to say about your schoolwork.”
“Oh… Not bad?” he asks worriedly.
“Not bad. Dad needs to be a little more active with your studies,” he smiles.
“Oh…well I knew that,” Harry grins as James gasps.
Severus swears he opened a can of worms a month ago at that Student-Teacher conference. He was only trying to inform James of his son’s concerns, and now James isn’t leaving him alone.
It’s not like before, when he was teased and bullied, that type of never leaving him alone. More along the line of… he’s seeking friendship? That can’t be correct though, James seeking Severus out? Impossible, it simply must be related to Harry. Harry is a sweet boy and after their heartfelt talk, both men agreed Harry deserved the best, he didn’t expect this. Well, he wasn’t expecting James to seek him out for advice on children. He taught children, but he didn’t raise any children. Those are two different degrees of caring for them.
“Hey, Severus, it’s ghetti night, you wanna come over?” James asked when picking up Harry.
“Excuse me, what?”
“Ghetti You know, Spaghetti night.”
“Dad makes the best Spaghetti! You gotta come, Mr. Snape.” Harry begs with his puppy eyes.
Severus swears Harry used that trick on purpose. How could he say no to him? Still, it was odd James was taking such initiative. Severus was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Severus sighs, heading outside his house when who should appear. “Why,” he grumbles under his breath as the eleven-year-old demon rushes over towards him.
“Hi, Mr. Snape. Do you live here?”
“I just came out from the house so I would assume so,” he sighs as Harry beams.
“Yeah, you’re right. Hey, my dad and I are going on a walk to the park. You wanna come?”
“Harry, he might have somewhere he needs to be,” James says, finally catching up with Harry. “I’m winded just from that short run.”
“Uh, okay.” Harry pouts and Severus swears he is doing it on purpose, the brat.
Severus was planning on completing some errands, but a walk does sound like a better idea to clear his mind rather than grocery shopping.
“I seem to have some time for a short walk, if you wouldn’t mind the company,” he asks James.
James shrugs, “Harry’s fine with it, so I’m fine with it.”
Severus nods his head, “Very well, let’s go for a walk.”
“Yes,” Harry yells, bouncing up in the air. “Dad’s been wanting to see you again a lot too. He’s so weird.”
“Hey, zip it,” James laughs with a slight flush on his cheeks.
“What? But it’s true! That’s why I kept asking you to join u,s cause dad’s not brave enough,” Harry grins.
Severus snorts as James covers his face.
“Harry, that’s not true…look, go wait by that fence a minute,” he sighs.
“Why?”
“Cause I need to talk to Severus for a minute… Without you listening.” he answers as Harry pouts.
“Grown-ups are so weird,” he says, skipping towards the fence.
“Kids, huh,” James laughs, rubbing the back of his head.
“They have no filter yet. You get used to it.”
“Right, right,” James fidgets.
“Harry seems to think you need to tell me something.” Snape probes.
“Well, I find it a little difficult to come up with… the words.”
“Hmm, you always had difficulty with words.” Severus teases.
“Oh ha ha,” James rolls his eyes. “Look, I'm nervous. I don’t want what we have going on to change. You’re good for Harry and I can see that. Still a bit prickly, but you’re a real softy under that shell.”
“Thank you?”
James licks his lips, “This is all new for me. Never happened before… Well, maybe in college once or twice, but not like this.”
“Use your words.”
“I like you.” He blurts as Severus' face freezes. “As in, you know, romance and all. Kind of popped out of the blue one day, had me thinking about it the last week or so, and I think that’s what it is… Uh Severus hey.”
“You like me?” he asks.
“Well, yeah, that’s what my heart is saying. The brain is going off the tracks.” he shrugs.
“It won’t work.”
“Why? Because we’re guys?”
“No because I’m…” he takes a deep breath. “Do you remember me ever dating during school?”
“No, you kept to yourself.”
“I never actively sought out romance. Never wanted it and still don’t.”
“...”
“James, I’m asexual.”
“...” James blinks, “Uh, is that the opposite of bisexual?”
“... I don’t have an answer for that question. James, it means no sex. I don’t find sex attractive, I don’t even find romance attractive. It wouldn’t work.” Severus ends watching as the gears turn in James’ head.
James scratches his head, “...Huh.”
Severus winces. This isn’t how he expected this to come about. He never imagined he would come out to James Potter. He holds his hands in front of him trying to keep the twitching to a minimum. This is about the point when others would either try to prove he could love and enjoy it or just write him off as a weirdo. He is expecting one of the two reactions.
“So, is hand holding out then?”
“Beg your pardon?” he asks, dumbfounded by James' question.
“Hand-holding, is that out then?” he repeats as Severus raises a brow.
“Not necessarily… James, I must warn you, trying to change my preferences does not work. Others have tried and failed. This is who I am.”
James looks at Severus and snorts, “Changing you? Why’d I want to change a grumpy softy like you? Naw, it’s just like people who prefer soft sex over rough. You just don’t like it at all, nor the romance stuff so friendship stuff should be good, right?”
“I… Yes, but James, do you understand what this means?”
“Hmm, not fully, but I’m sure I’ll be able to make a lot of mistakes to figure it out. Someone once said: most people make mistakes, it just depends on how you intend to fix those mistakes. Kind of a smart guy, don’t you think?” James offers his hand to Severus.
“Yes very.” Severus smiles, accepting the offered hand.