A Motherly Intervention.

Title: Slow&Steady Progress.
Author: pekeleke
Rating: T
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Harry Potter.
Challenge: Prompt 12 (Picked from an online seasonal prompt list): Christmas Cheer.
Word Count: 1430
Content: Chapter 12 of my Christmas Series: A Motherly Intervention.
Warnings: Getting Together. Enemies to friends to lovers. Mild Angst. Romance.
Disclaimer: The characters, setting, and the HP franchise are owned by JKR and not me. I make no profit from writing this piece of fanfiction.
A/N: Unbeated. Posting one chapter a day from December 1st to the 25th.
Summary: “Good day, then, Severus,” Harry says finally, softly. He’s showing the type of restraint that will help him land a man as cautious as Severus, and Molly couldn’t be more proud of him.

Slow&Steady Progress.

There are fairy lights on the window of The Simmering Cauldron. Molly stops mid-step, bang in the middle of Diagon Alley, and stares at them intently. She wonders if their recent interactions inspired Severus to put them up or if he’d decided to do that on the day they’d decorated the family Christmas tree.

Molly longs to enter Severus’s store and check out the rest of his seasonal decor. He’d picked such a tiny little pine when they visited the tree farm. Claimed he could put it on the corner table where he usually keeps dry ingredient samples. Molly had thought his choice too modest, more a way of humoring her insistence that he get one than a genuine desire to add a little Christmas cheer to his shop. Maybe Severus’s apparent lack of interest in the trappings of the season has more to do with the absence of family in his life than with a general dislike of Yule.

Rumors abound about his unhappy childhood. Minerva once told Molly that Severus’s father had been abusive, that his mother had been unable to stand up for herself and her child. Molly tuts under her breath as the realization comes to her, later than it should have, that Severus had been heartbreakingly neglected while he was young. His mother’s parents had disinherited her, so she had no recourse to magical help and might have stayed with her muggle husband out of necessity when the marriage went pear-shaped. It’s entirely possible that Severus, just like Harry, never experienced the yuletide season properly until he reached Hogwarts and hasn’t bothered to recreate it since he left the school. He is a very lonely soul, her Severus.

Molly decides to move on, get on with her planned visit to Gringotts, and power through the rest of her shopping. She might have enough time to drag Severus out for lunch then. He is no longer alone. He’s an honorary Weasley now, and the sooner he realizes that the sooner his life might become closer to the existence he deserves.

Molly is about to cross the street when the door to The Simmering Cauldron suddenly opens, and she catches sight of Harry. She gasps, shocked to see him leaning oh-so-casually against the doorway of Severus’s store, upper-body still turned inwards, towards somebody who stands inside, just out of sight. Molly’s heart flutters with hope. She'd assumed that Harry had been able to enter Severus's store, when they'd nagged him to join them for dinner at Goyle's delightful bistro, because he'd walked in with her. She'd been the one to open the door, after all. But now it looks like Severus must have revoked his ban on Harry. Molly’s nosy nature leads her to go back a few steps, take refuge behind the elaborate topiary that frames the business of Severus’s neighbor. Harry is still talking quietly; his voice is low, tone muffled by the position of his body, but now Molly is close enough to make out his words.

“You’ll receive an official letter from the department in a day or so, thanking you for agreeing to analyze all those empty vials on our behalf. You must take it to the Department of Expert Collaborations And Magical Assistance, on the 12th floor of the ministry building, before the week is out. They’ll stamp it with their seal and make a magical copy that will be processed at some point. Then you’ll receive a small sum in payment for your time and the confirmation that you’ve been entered into the pool of experts all ministry employees are allowed to consult when their knowledge is insufficient to perform their job unaided.”

“I’ve already told you that I require neither payment for my help nor ministry recognition. It was an interesting little mystery, and I was curious enough to help you solve it,” Severus says in the type of firm tone that leads Molly to believe they’ve been arguing about this longer than Severus cares for.

“I realize that, and I’m sincerely grateful for your help, but I still want you to follow procedure. Please, Severus. Your expertise deserves acknowledgment, and so does your aid. We are no longer in the middle of a war. There’s no need for you to assist from the shadows. You can do it where everyone can see you. I refuse to treat you like Dumbledore used to.”

“Albus never-

“Don’t defend him. I mean it. He hid you like a dark secret. He isolated you completely, and that decision put your life at risk from both sides. And don’t even get me started about the way he left things. Dumbledore knew he was dying. He knew what he’d asked you to do for the greater good, and left no record of it. They’d have sent you to Azkaban if I hadn’t intervened.”

“I don’t wish to talk about the war,” Severus says warily, “It has cast a long enough shadow in my life as it is. In everybody’s life, really.”

“Fair enough. Still, there’s one thing I’ve been meaning to say to you: you’re a good egg, Severus. You always were. We wouldn’t have made it through the war without you.” Harry says softly.

“Is that the bumbling Savior’s version of the ministry’s straightforward ‘thank you for your role in the war’?”

“Don’t jest. I mean it. This is an apology. A bad one, I agree, but I’ve never been good at this type of thing. Still, I was a prick to you when I was younger, and I’m sorry.”

“Please, stop. It’s all water under the bridge.”

“Is it? You’ve spent the last decade convinced I still dislike you, and that’s not true, Severus. I regret my behavior back then. I should have listened when Dumbledore defended you. He was no fool, and despite how careless he was with your safety, I suspect he loved you like the son he never had. I think you need to hear someone say that you deserved his affection. You were true to him, just like he trusted you to be. I’ve wanted to say that to you since the Final Battle.”

Severus is clearly speechless. He’s opened his mouth twice already to reply, but nothing is coming out. Molly is pretty sure he is in shock, and she fears he’ll say something unforgivable just to get Harry to leave him alone with his muddled thoughts. Men like Severus don’t deal well with emotional surprises, especially not ones who spring at them out of seemingly nowhere in fairly public settings.

“That’s— decent of you. Thank you,” Severus says simply, and Molly thanks Harry's lucky stars for helping him achieve so much with so short a conversation.

A small silence settles between them, and Molly realizes with dismay that Harry is wracking his mind to extend their encounter while Severus is desperate to cut it short. ‘Let him go now, Harry. You’ve done enough for today,’ she thinks so hard in Harry’s direction that she’s half-convinced he heard her when he steps away, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Alright then. I’ll let you get on with the rest of your day, Severus. Thank you, once again, for your help. And don’t forget to turn your acknowledgment letter into the ministry.”

“Fine. I’ll turn in the paperwork. I promise,” Severus replies politely, looking so very relieved at Harry’s farewell that Molly’s heart goes out to Harry. He’s done well. Their relationship has moved along to the point that Harry can now enter Severus’s store. They can hold relatively civil personal conversations without either of them getting hexed. It’s good enough. It’s rather impressive, actually. Molly sincerely hopes Harry has enough presence of mind to avoid succumbing to greed at this point. This is the time for patience. Severus will come to him if Harry gives him enough space to realize he’s not trapped.

“Good day, then, Severus,” Harry says finally, softly. He’s showing the type of restraint that will help him land a man as cautious as Severus, and Molly couldn’t be more proud of him. She watches Harry step out of the store and Apparate away while Severus stands there and stares into the space he’d just left for a solid minute. Molly smiles, delighted at their progress, and wonders how long it'll be before Severus's puzzled bewilderment in Harry's presence turns to the dawning realization that there is love, true love, standing in front of him. That'd be a sight to behold. Molly sincerely hopes she'll get a chance to see it.