Soul Mates

“Settle down,” said Snape to his seventh year class, unnecessarily because his class always quieted as soon as he entered the room.

“Can anyone tell me what potion these ingredients make?” asked the professor as the list of items began appearing on the board.

Amaranth (Globe)

Amaryllis

Aster

Balsam

Broom

Primrose

Lily of the Valley

Lime Blossom

Lavender

Jonquil

Iris

Hermione raised her hand. Surprise.

“Anyone? Anyone at all?”

No one answered.

 “Idiots. Granger!” he barked.

“It’s a bonding potion but if ‘compare mihi revelare’* is incanted during the last seven stirs, it can be used to reveal the drinker’s soul mate.”

Snape inclined his head slightly. He was not going to praise a Gryffindor.

“As Miss Granger said, the potion, if brewed correctly, and I am confident that most of you will not brew it correctly, will reveal your soul mate. If you are the more dominant partner, you will see a purple glow around your person, while your partner will appear in a blue tinge. The reverse can be said for the submissive partner. There should not be any questions on those instructions Miss Granger. They were quite simple.”

“But Sir, did Professor Dumbledore agree to this? It seems a bit inappropriate.”

“I assure you, Miss Granger, that I would not be teaching you this had Professor Dumbledore not instructed me to do so. And it is in no means inappropriate. This class is merely for preparing the potion to reveal your soul mate, I am in no way or form telling you to shag him or her.”

“Right,” said Hermione, blushing.

“The instructions are on page 504. You have 45 minutes. Begin.”

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“And time is up. Mr. Potter, yours is looking a bit….. under the weather,” said Snape, smirking. Harry looked down at his cauldron. His potion looked like green sludge. Then, he looked at Ron’s, which was smoking, and finally at Hermione’s, which was a clear, lilac tinged potion. What was wrong with him?

“Since Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy are the only ones who succeeded in brewing a perfect potion, I will distribute theirs to the rest of the class.”

Snape summoned 20 glasses to his desk and the students lined up to receive their potions. Everyone returned to their seats and waited for further instructions.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Drink!”

Harry and Ron looked at each other (“Cheers!”) and drank, followed by the rest of the class. Harry looked at his hand. It was glowing purple. It seemed he was a dominant. He looked up to see if his partner was in the class. He didn’t see anyone blue. Disappointed, he began to gather his books. He looked around the classroom at the couples. Ron was gazing at Hermione lovingly. Predictable. Dean and Seamus were holding hands. Not unexpected. Crabbe and Goyle- Now that was one he didn’t expect to see. Pansy and Neville. What? She hates Gryffindors. Malfoy and….. Blaise!? Blaise is gay?

Harry was still looking around when he saw a blue tinge in the corner of his eye. He was afraid to look. Please don’t let it be Millicent. Or any girls for that matter. Well, here goes nothing. And he turned around.

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Snape hated these days. It just reminded him of his own high school year when he drank the potion and found no soul mate. Potter had been especially smug then. “No one wants Snivellus!” And after all this time, he had to deal with a carbon copy in the next room. Can’t hide in the storage room forever. It was hard to see the happy couples and know that he didn’t have a better half. He had taken the potion every year after graduating, hoping to see his partner in a younger soul, but after ten years of teaching, he gave up. It was okay to be with a student only a few years younger but it would be beyond inappropriate to start a relationship with a student more than ten years his junior.

Severus walked into the classroom. It seemed Millicent did not have a partner. Potter looked at him. His stomach dropped.

No. He is not my dominant. He is 17.

Potter walked towards him and pressed him lips against Severus’s before he had a chance to protest.

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“Sev’rus,” said Harry.

Severus melted into the kiss. He opened his mouth for his dominant. Damn his nature.

When Potter finally stopped for breath, Severus was light headed from pleasure. Every eye in the room was on the teacher-student pair. Someone even had the audacity to whistle. He heard a slam and saw a blond head rushing out. Lucius would know about this in approximately 5…4…3…2…1… “Severus!”

“Class dismissed. Potter, remain….” Harry looked at him. “Please,” he conceded.

The class was shocked. They had never heard their smug professor say “please”. Perhaps, this pairing would be good after all.

“Anyone not out of this classroom in the next three seconds will have detention for a month with Mr. Filch.”

The class cleared out as Lucius came through the fireplace. He looked at Severus and just walked towards the potion master’s private rooms. The two mates followed.

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“So this is your mate, Severus,” drawled Lucius. “After all these years of searching. You should be thankful Harry here has already destroyed the Dark Lord or you would be in for a couple rounds of cruciatus over this information.”

Severus just nodded. It was interesting to see the normally snarky professor standing there meekly.

“Why don’t you get us some drinks, Severus?”

Snape nodded and went into the kitchen.

“Listen closely, Potter, because I have about three minutes until Severus comes back with our drinks. That man in there is not the same man you have seen in your classroom for the last seven years. The professor is a façade. The man underneath is fragile, and a true submissive. He needs a strong hand to guide him and you will provide that or I will continue to care for him until you learn.”

Severus came back from the kitchen. He handed a glass to Lucius and then to Harry. He then looked from Potter to Lucius to the floor by Lucius’s feet and back up to Lucius again.

“Pet, why don’t you go sit by your Dom? Not me today,” said Lucius, smiling softly.

Severus moved nearer to Harry, but before Harry could shift to make room for him on the couch, he sat down at Harry’s feet, trembling. Lucius smiled widely at him and looked at Harry meaningfully. Harry put a hand on Severus’s head and stroked his fingers through his sub’s hair once. Severus looked up and Harry smiled slightly at him. Severus relaxed slightly, smiling back shyly.

“All right,” said Lucius brightly. “This relationship, as any good one is, will be based upon trust and honesty. Severus, you will start. Tell Harry what you need in a relationship.”

Severus looked at Harry. Harry nodded his consent.

That was so weird. Was he asking me to speak? Hot, thought Harry.

Severus began. “I am a submissive, as you already know, and I need…. rules.”

“Rules?” asked Harry, innocently.

“Yes, like when am I allowed to speak and when should I kneel? Can I see you all the time? Do you want me to serve you? What about my bank account? What do you expect of me every day?" Severus's voice got lower with every question until he whispered, "What do you expect of me in bed?"

Harry was shocked. He wanted permission to speak, to sit. His bank account? He wasn't going to steal Severus's money.

"Feel free to sit as you choose unless I give you specific instructions. The same goes for speaking and other daily activities. I will move in with you if you'd like but I will not take control of your money. We will get into specifics as they come up. I know you must be cautious because I myself am cautious. We have not had the most amicable relationship in the past but we are obviously compatible, so let's make the best of it," finished Harry.

"Okay," agreed Severus timidly.

"If you need stricter or more lenient rules, please feel free to voice your opinion at any time."

"Yes, Sir," said Severus.

Harry choked on his butterbeer.

"Sir, are you all right?" Severus asked, alarmed.

"Quite." Always the Gryffindor, he threw subtlety to the wind. "Let's talk names, shall we? How would you like me to address you and the reverse?"

Severus's eyes widened in understanding. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "You may address me however you choose. As my dominant, I would be more comfortable addressing you as "Sir", "Master", "Dominant"- anything along those lines but I understand the difficulty of addressing you as such in school, so I would like to address you as Harry in public if you allow it."

"That's fine, Sev'rus."

Lucius stood up to leave.

"Pet, I've got to go home now."

Severus looked at Lucius pleadingly.

"Mister Potter," said Lucius, dragging out the name, with a tilt of his head. "Might I have a moment with Severus?"

Harry nodded and asked for the toilet. Following Severus's finger, he went down the hall.

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"Severus, listen closely. That man in there is your soul mate. He is literally your perfect match. Come here."

Severus shuffled forward until his head was leaning on Lucius's thigh. This was good. This was comfortable. He was used to this.

"Look at me, Pet. Promise me now that if you need anything, you will ask Harry. He is your dominant. You can ask him anything, understand?"

Severus nodded and Lucius looked at him, waiting.

"Yes, Sir," said Severus.

"Good. And anything that you cannot ask him; though this should not happen, you will come to me for."

Severus smiled, crying slightly.

“Come now, wipe your tears. And remember: If you need more strict commands, tell him. Loathe as I am to admit it, he will take care of you.”

Lucius kissed his forehead gently, grabbed the floo powder, and left in a dramatic flare of smoke and fire.

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Severus turned around to see Harry standing awkwardly down the hall, trying not to listen. As soon as he saw his submissive looking at him, he began to walk back towards the living room.

“You need better rules, don’t you?”

Severus looked down. He did not want to criticize his dominant.

“Yes, Master.”

Severus heard Harry’s sharp gasp.

“Well I said we would play this by ear, so here goes nothing. You were very good tonight, telling me what you need, so I’m going to reward you. Any allergies I should know about before we start?”

“No, Sir.”

“Good. This is not actually a scene so you do not need a safeword, but if you feel uncomfortable with anything that happens, you will say so. Am I understood?”

Severus nodded.

“Answer when I speak to you, Pet.”

“Yes, Harry- Sir.”

“Very good. Now what are your first two rules?”

“Say when I am uncomfortable and answer vocally when you speak to me.”

“Good.” And Harry kissed him.

“Now go take a quick shower and go straight to the bedroom.”

Severus went off to do as Harry commanded and Harry wandered into the kitchen to call Dobby.

“Dobby,” he spoke out clearly.

Dobby appeared with a loud crack.

“Yes, Harry Potter Sir?”

“Please bring me a box of strawberries, blueberries, some chocolate, whipped cream, cantaloupe, and pineapple.”

Dobby cracked out and reappeared not 30 seconds later with everything Harry has asked for.

“Thank you, Dobby.”

“You is being very welcome, Mister Harry Potter Sir. You is having a good night wis P’fessor Snape Sir.”

“Thank you. Good night to you too Dobby. Say “Hello!” to Winky for me, will you?”

“Oh, Winky is being very pleased when she hears Harry Potter Sir say hi,” said the elf, lighting up, and he cracked out.

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Five minutes later, Harry went into the bedroom to find a pajama’d Severus Snape sitting up tensely on his bed. Well, that wouldn’t do.”

Harry pulled his own shirt off his head and let Snape look for a moment before commanding him, “Take your shirt off.”

*compare mihi revelar= reveal my mate

You can see this article for meanings of the ingredients.