Out And About.
Title: Out And About.
Author: pekeleke
Rating: T
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Harry Potter.
Challenge: Prompt 23 (Picked from an online seasonal prompt list): Christmas Break at Hogwarts
Word Count: 753
Content: Chapter 23 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: “Boys! What a surprise. I didn’t realize you were out and about together. Are you heading somewhere fun?”
Out And About.
Molly is walking out of the grocers, expertly dodging the larger crowds that have started forming since they've officially entered the Christmas break at Hogwarts, when she hears someone call her name. Molly stops instantly in the middle of the street and turns around, pleased grin splitting her face as she catches sight not only of Harry, whose voice she’d recognized instantly, but of Severus, who is walking beside him. Molly waits patiently for them to join her and then hugs them to her bosom with equal fervor.
“Boys! What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t realize you were out and about together. Are you heading somewhere fun?”
“Just accompanying my boyfriend on a spot of late Christmas shopping," Harry says, looking besottedly at Severus, "He’s been too busy to get it done so far.”
Molly blinks, struck dumb by Harry’s casual allusion to their relationship. And in the middle of Diagon Alley, no less! “Y-your boyfriend?” Molly stutters, flustered in the best possible way. She looks at Severus for confirmation, and when he offers her none, she asks him directly, “Is it official? Last I heard, you wanted to take things slowly, Severus.”
Severus colors to the tips of his ears and studies her face intently, “Slowly doesn’t mean secretly, Molly. I assume you think me foolish. Latching onto a beautiful man half my age and rushing him to acknowledge he’s taken.”
Molly tries to cuff him on the back of the head for being utterly ridiculous, but he’s too tall for her, and she ends up swatting him on the shoulder instead, “Don’t be absurd. I’d have only thought you foolish if you’d let Harry walk away. And you have every right to demand the acknowledgment he denied all his flings. You’re no one-night stand, Severus. Don’t let anybody treat you like one, dear.”
“No one would dare,” Harry growls to both Severus’s and Molly’s amusement.
“Even if they do, most negative gossip will die down as soon as people see you together. You suit each other perfectly.”
Harry laughs. He’s too ecstatic to worry about the clouds on the horizon. His smile is so wide that Molly fears it will split his face if he holds it much longer. Harry throws his left arm out exuberantly, all the better to hug Severus’s thin frame close to his side, “See? I told you things will be alright in the end. We make a lovely couple. Molly says so.”
Severus rolls his eyes. He’s clearly aware of the family of four currently gawking rudely at them from the doorway to Twilfitt&Tatting’s but makes no move to free himself from Harry’s hold. Molly’s heart swells with pride at his courage. It must be nerve-wracking for him to go out into the streets and purposely advertise his closeness to the living idol of the Wizarding World; to wait patiently for the moment the press becomes aware of the unique role he plays in Harry Potter's life, and wonder how bad the fallout will be. Severus isn’t like Harry. Or her. Severus Snape is a pessimist at heart. The life he's led so far has only shown him the bitter heartbreak that results from trusting others. From falling in love. From taking chances with his battered heart. Molly can see, clear as day, that he's beyond terrified.
“You do make a handsome couple,” She says softly, reaching out toward Severus and squeezing his arm reassuringly, “I’d dare say you’ll be giving the Quidditch lovebirds, Oliver Wood and Victor Krum, a run for their money as soon as your news hits the stands.”
“Not long now,” Harry says, and the side-eye he directs towards Twilfitt&Tatting’s tells her clearly that he’s as aware as Severus of the strangers’ avid curiosity about their conversation.
Molly’s brown gaze focuses worriedly on Severus, “Are you ready for what’s coming your way?”
Severus swallows loudly. There’s evident trepidation written all over his face, “I don’t know. I hope I am. Y-you’ll be there to help me through it, should the attention become too much, won’t you, Molly?”
Molly’s heart goes out to him, “Of course I will, my dear. All of us will close ranks around you. You have nothing to fear, Severus. Whoever dares to judge you for giving my Harry a chance to love you can go jump in the Black Lake. Naked. In January. And have a suitably romantic encounter with the giant squid’s tentacles.”
Severus bursts out laughing, and Harry gives her a grateful look over his shoulder. Molly is glad she could help ease the potioneer’s nerves. She really is. And she means it when she says she’ll support them when the story about their relationship finally breaks. The entire family will. Severus is a Weasley now. Fair and square.