“You’re quitting?!” Lockhart questioned. “You can’t just- We had a deal!”

“A deal that was only meant for three volumes, everything else was purely by choice.” Snape gets at least 5% royalties of each book, and since the whole Gilderoy series is full of best sellers he could comfortably sit back for several years. Perhaps he could take the time to get back into his studies.

While the dark haired man thought about what he would do when returning to the world of unemployment, the blonde man was still fuming. Lockhart grabbed Severus’ hands, “C’mon, is this just because of the kid? Look I could- I could always give the money back!”

Snape slapped the man’s hands away, still looking unconvinced.

“It’s a disease, an incurable disease! I don’t know why I do these things!”

“How sad, hopefully you’ll heal…far away from me.” With that Severus made his way out, picking up all the miscellaneous things that Lockhart had swiped over the years. An old yet quite cute ink bottle gifted to him by Lily, an umbrella that he had lent the blonde for a day but never received back…Severus sighed, noticing the holes of the item that were certainly not the before.

Lockhart came up to him one last time, the man seemed visibly distressed…it was kinda freaking Severus out. The two men do not have a close relationship or anything, so why did Gilderoy seem so desperate to keep their partnership afloat?

“Snape, you are literally my last hope. I’ve been blacklisted by basically every competent writer out there.”

“I wonder why.”

“Please! If you leave my series will end! My fame, my money, my fans, they will all leave!!!”

Severus raised a brow. “Lockhart, you do understand that you could always just sit down and write for yourself, right?”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried that before?!” Gilderoy nearly yelled. “Nobody bought the books I wrote. I can’t get all downtrodden and poetic-like, most of the time I have no idea what the heck you’ve written yet the audience eats it up like candy!” Gilderoy put his hands on Severus’ shoulder, intruding on his personal space for about the millionth time. Not literally, but it felt like that many. “One last chance, that’s all I ask. After this one just- One more final book! That way it’ll seem like the series ended normally…Ending so suddenly without prior notice to the press might tarnish my legacy.”

The dark haired man sneered, shoving the other away. “I said no ! I don’t care if this leaves a negative impact on your legacy or whatever rubbish, if you touch me one more time I will legitimately strangle you!”

Gilderoy put his hands up in a peaceful way and took a step back, this was the first time he’s seen Snape emote so roughly and in such a raw manner. His physical threats are mostly more subtle too. “Geez, you really do care about the kid that much.”

Severus huffed. “Maybe I do, is that so wrong?” With his head held high he left the abode and headed home. While passing by the town Severus glanced at the sky, due to Lockhart holding him up for so long he ended up staying out for almost two hours and the sun was close to setting…He hastened his steps.

Severus arrived home just as the last bit of orange tinted light had faded from the windows. He saw Harry lie on the couch trying to stack a pyramid of cards on his chest. The boy managed to get pretty far, only one tier but considering he managed to hold it together on a constantly moving and small surface it was pretty impressive. It seemed like Harry hadn’t noticed him yet so Severus stalked closer quietly.

He whispered the boy’s last name, but still no reaction. A bit louder this time. Nope. “Potter?” He spoke with a regular frequency and the boy instantly sat up with a scream loud enough that it scared the older man. The small stack of cards had sadly been destroyed and now lay on the floor.

“Sev~! What the heck! I was so close…”

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Harry made some space and urged the older man to sit. The moment Severus had done so he was taken into a tight hug. The little boy may have gotten used to being left on his own, no longer feeling as much separation anxiety as before, but it’s clear he doesn’t enjoy it much. Whenever Severus would get home he’d be bombarded by hugs and random ramblings about what the boy had done and thought of during the absence.

A full week had passed, meaning only seven days left of this.

Getting to see the boy everyday and cook breakfast, staying together for hours simply chatting or going out to explore the forest. He would no longer get to hear Harry’s questions about the noises from critters at night and he would no longer be able to bicker with the boy about how he doesn’t brush his teeth long enough in the morning. They would…be distant again.

Which was a good thing! Of course. 

Due to their close proximity Severus had allowed himself to be loose and spoil the boy. He is not Harry’s friend…He needs to put a firm foot down on himself someday.

“Hm? What’s wrong? You look kinda sad…” Harry commented.

“It’s…I’m just still mad about Lockhart, is all.” Snape explained with a short smile. “His heavy cologne is likely still stuck on me…honestly, I don’t get why the man gets so grubby with his hands. Whether objects or people he always has to grab at something…”

“G- Grubby?” Harry repeated with a long blink. He sniffed at Severus and let out a sort of grunting noise. Before the older man could stop him, Harry had already begun rubbing himself against him and wouldn’t move away.

“Gah- Harry! What’re you doing!?” 

The fast rub against Severus’ neck had started to feel like a burn due to Harry’s thick locks. Finally the boy pulled away and took another sniff, seeming satisfied this time. “Hehe, now you smell like lemons…”

“Lemons?...Ah, like your shampoo.” Seems like the tyke wanted to help get Lockhart’s stench away. “Owch, you need to warn me before doing stuff like that…”

Harry stuck his tongue out for a short bit before burying his head into Snape’s neck again. Simply laying there, his ruffled hair heating Snape’s neck once more. Instead of a burn there was a pleasant warmth, akin to wearing a scarf. Severus’ hands pat circles into Harry’s back, that seemed to please the boy a great bit as he let out a soft purring sound. Snape knows he should stop, he knows this is much too close…but being close to Harry just felt like the default.

Distance was just too difficult, he knows their friendship shouldn’t last forever but imagining no longer getting to hug, hold and pet the boy like this…it's like a living nightmare scenario. It’ll happen eventually though, no matter what Harry is gonna grow older and he’s gonna grow out of all this.

…Hm?

Wait…Actually… That makes more sense.

Harry is going to grow out of this someday. He’s not gonna wanna hug, by the time he hits puberty he’ll probably find that kind of stuff embarrassing. He’s gonna be interested in girls and wanting to stick out among the crowd. Harry will someday put a stop to this closeness himself…So maybe it doesn't necessarily have to be Severus who breaks off their close relationship. They could still stay friends for just a bit longer until Harry ends things himself. 

Wait- No, there’s still the issue about Harry not getting along with kids his age. Actually, about that…”Har- Potter, I’d like to ask something. I’ve been hearing rather…unpleasant news.”

“Unpleasant news? About what?”

“About you…and your troubles at school.”

Harry seemed confused, blinking blankly several times. “My grades aren’t that bad. I mean, I’m not at the absolute highest place or anything, but I think the top 50 is a good spot to be in.”

“I’m talking about the fact that you’ve been excluded by nearly everyone at school.”

“Oh. That.” Harry climbed down from the man. “Uh…Why do you wanna talk about it?”

Severus bit at his lip, noticing how stiff the boy had gone. “It’s come to my knowledge that you seem to have no companionship with others. Aside from your family there weren’t any other kids…”

“Neville was there!”

“He was there due to Longbottom being an old acquaintance with your father…No one from your class had come, had they?” Severus meant to say that with more tact, but hearing it out loud it seemed more condescending. “Point is- I want to ask if maybe…is there a reason why-”

“Why does everyone at school seem to hate me? No clue.” Harry shrugged. “I guess I just…Ok, I kind of do know why.” He scratched at the lenses of his spectacles, his face seemed to droop with each word that had come out of his mouth. “At first it was me being kinda weird, then everyone realized just how weird I was and…eventually, anyone who tried being nice to me anyhow would give up after realizing that the rumors about me being a jerk are true.”

“A jerk?” Severus repeated with disbelief. “You can be kind of a brat at times, but you don’t appear like a jerk to me.”

Harry shrugged. “I dunno, it could just be because you’re a grown up. Grown ups sometimes like me more…Then again, you didn’t show up on my birthday either, so maybe you don’t like me that much anymore~!” He said that sentence with a sing-song infliction, saying it more as a joke. However, there was a voice in Harry’s head that seemed to die with shame after saying it out loud.

Severus sat there silent, almost stunned for a full minute. “...Of course I like you.”

Harry knew that. After this week he’s realized Severus was trying to push him away but failing. He knows the man loves him a great deal but tries not to show it. He knew it…but hearing it made something inside Harry’s stomach tighten. 

“...I like you too.”