Chapter Text
“Your face color doesn’t look good at all, Severus!” said Harry, concerned, as he pushed the other man onto a park bench they had just passed. “Why do you always have to be so damn stubborn? You should’ve just listened to the lady and drunk the damn orange juice!”
Severus groaned in pain. “Could you please just shut up for a moment, Potter? I feel sick!”
Harry looked around nervously. He had no idea where they were, except that they were somewhere in southeast London and that the blood bank was only about three blocks away.
Fidgeting, Harry sat down next to Severus and tried to place a hand on his forehead to feel for a fever, but his colleague immediately slapped his hand away and clicked his tongue in annoyance without even looking at him.
Harry had to admit he felt very guilty.
Severus had insisted earlier this morning that he had to come along for the blood donation, but Harry still felt that the main reason was to look after him.
Which was ridiculous! After all, Harry went to donate blood every four months and had never had any problems. Besides, he was a grown man, for Merlin’s sake…
But he was also the one who, after the blood draw, insisted on also giving a DNA sample during the adjacent collection drive. They had learned about little Jane and her battle with leukemia from posters in the blood donation room. And now, the eight-year-old girl needed a stem cell donor. Harry had time, he was healthy, and he wanted to help, so he joined the long line of volunteers. Severus had simply followed him.
Although the taking of the DNA sample only took a few seconds, the paperwork took time, and they had spent at least 45 minutes, if not longer, in line. Apparently, too long for Severus' circulation!
“Okay, Severus. I see a kiosk over there. I’ll run over and get you something with sugar, okay? And you just stay right here, please!”
Harry waited briefly for an answer, but all he got from his colleague was another low groan.
Under normal circumstances, he would have rolled his eyes at this behavior. But not today. Today he was worried.
Harry hurried through the crowded park with quick steps.
The weather was almost perfect today, 26°C and a clear sky, which had drawn people into nature. The park was very full, and unfortunately, the line at the kiosk was quite long.
Harry turned around occasionally, trying to catch a glimpse of Severus, but that was almost impossible due to the shrubbery and people in between.
He was simply relieved when, after almost 15 minutes, it was finally his turn. He bought three chocolate bars and two bottles of Fanta — he could use a sip himself in this heat — and hurried back.
But Harry’s worry only grew when he could finally see Severus again.
He was no longer alone. Two men and a dog had joined him on the bench. Severus sat in the middle, a neutral expression forced onto his face, while one of the men was talking to him, and the golden Labrador wagged his tail, looking adoringly at Severus.
“Here, Severus!” Harry said, cutting off the stranger mid-sentence. “Please eat one of these chocolate bars first. Once you feel better, I’ll take you home.”
Harry didn’t know where the impulse came from, but instead of calmly handing Severus the food, he felt like he wanted to hide Severus in his arms and run away with him. He just didn’t like how these two guys were sitting so close to Severus.
Even though the dog was really cute with his big brown eyes!
“Thanks, Harry,” Severus said with deliberate politeness, but his piercing gaze clearly told Harry to behave. “May I introduce: This is Matthew, an old friend of Simon.”
Severus pointed to the man who had been enthusiastically talking to him. The man with dark brown hair and storm-gray eyes raised a hand in greeting and waved friendly.
“And this is Matthew’s husband, Paul, with his service dog, Mr. Maple.”
“Um, hi!” Harry said weakly.
The second man, named Paul, had dark blonde hair and the biggest blue eyes Harry had ever seen. The odd thing was that those eyes weren’t looking at Harry at all.
“Hi yourself!” Paul said with a broad grin on his face. “I hope you’re not trying to shake my hand. I’m blind; I can’t see that.”
“I… uh… no, I’m not,” Harry stammered, only now noticing that the Labrador was wearing a typical guide harness for a service dog. “I’m Harry.”
“Harry is a longtime family friend and colleague of mine,” Severus explained calmly, biting into one of the chocolate bars.
“Oh, cool!” Matthew said. “So you’re also a teacher at that Scottish private school where Severus teaches?”
“Yes, I am,” Harry said slowly, before he'd had enough of this charade. “Sorry, but are we just going to ignore the giant elephant in the room? Because if we are, we can end this conversation right here.”
Severus sighed in annoyance. “Potter! Honestly…”
“What? If these men are friends of your ex, I want nothing to do with them!”
Matthew looked back and forth between them a few times, while Paul’s face showed total confusion.
“Sorry? I apologize, but it seems we’ve obviously missed something,” Matthew said, bewildered. “Since when are you and Simon not together anymore, Severus?”
“Can we stop saying that jerk’s name?” Harry demanded.
“Harry! Behave!” Severus scolded. “And I’ve been separated from Simon for about three weeks.”
“Why? You two always seemed so happy together,” Matthew pressed further.
Paul, on the other hand, looked genuinely sad. “I’m really sorry, Severus.”
Now it was Harry’s turn to click his tongue in irritation, crossing his arms angrily over his chest.
“You don’t need to feel sorry, Paul. I think it’s good that it happened now and not in a few months, or worse, after the wedding.”
Severus spoke quietly, explaining briefly to the two men what kind of betrayal he had discovered a few days ago in his own bedroom. He managed to keep all emotion out of his voice, even though Harry knew full well that it still haunted him. After all, just last night Severus had had a nightmare and subsequently broken down crying in Harry’s arms.
Harry, however, was satisfied to see that the two strangers reacted to the explanation with an appropriate mix of shock and outrage.
“Harry has been my refuge in the last few days. He took me into his home without hesitation and has been looking after me,” Severus concluded, giving Harry a look of appreciation. It was a look Harry had never seen from Severus before, and it made his insides turn to warm jelly.
“Okay, I’m still sorry, Severus. But now only because of what was done to you,” Paul corrected himself and reached out to gently squeeze Severus’ arm in sympathy. “You deserve better!”
Severus, who was just taking a sip of his Fanta, only grunted noncommittally.
Matthew, on the other hand, sighed deeply and resignedly. “I wish I could say I was surprised. But unfortunately, I’m not. During university, Simon was more than just a little promiscuous! Honestly, he slept with anything that wasn’t up a tree within two seconds. But of course, I hoped that he had finally grown up when he met you.”
Paul shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “What Matthew is trying to say is that we only gave our friendship with him another chance because he met you, Severus. We never talked about this with anyone, but I think you both should know.”
Harry watched with growing concern as Matthew’s face showed something akin to panic.
The man got up, walked around them, and then sat so close to his husband that it looked like he wanted to pull him into his lap.
Harry took the now-vacant seat beside Severus, maybe sitting a little too close, but he still wasn’t sure if he could fully trust these strangers.
“Are you sure, Bunny?” Matthew asked softly, addressing Paul.
Paul nodded weakly. Even so, Matthew wrapped his arms tightly around his husband before Paul took a deep breath and began to speak.
“Severus already knows part of this story. Matthew and I have been a couple for over fifteen years. We met during my final year of university, and it just clicked immediately,” Paul said, a loving smile on his face.
Matthew also grinned. “I fell in love with his beautiful blue eyes and his infectious laughter right away.”
As if by habit, the two men’s hands found each other and intertwined.
“We were young and adventurous back then. You know, like students are. We basically went out every weekend. Sometimes with my friends, sometimes with Matthew’s, often with both. And, of course, we frequented gay clubs. Simon was there with us often.”
“I don’t think I would have become friends with Simon if we hadn’t had so many classes together and shared a common room in the dorm,” Matthew said dryly. “But that’s how it goes sometimes. When you’re forced into close proximity, it’s easier to form a friendship than to fight all the time.”
“I wasn’t born blind, but by the time we met, I only had about 10% of my vision left. Today, it’s down to just under 2%. Maybe a bit more. On bad days, even less,” Paul continued. “As you can imagine, alcohol didn’t exactly help me get my bearings. Add the noise, the darkness in the club, and all the people and smells… I… I didn’t notice.”
Matthew tightened his grip around his partner. “It wasn’t your fault, Bunny. He took advantage of the situation.”
Paul nodded, but tears welled up in his huge blue eyes. “I’m so ashamed.”
Harry was starting to suspect where this was going and had already clenched his fists in his lap.
When he glanced over at Severus, he saw that his colleague had turned deathly pale, which made Harry loosen one of his hands and place it gently on Severus' forearm. Severus’ muscles twitched under Harry’s touch, but he didn’t pull away.
Matthew lovingly wiped the tears from Paul’s face and pulled him into a tight embrace before taking over the rest of the story. “One night, I came back from getting drinks and found Simon and Paul in a corner, kissing passionately. At first, I was furious and wanted to break up with Paul right then and there. But when I gave him a chance to explain, it quickly became clear that Simon had deliberately taken advantage of Paul’s visual impairment to steal a moment of intimacy.”
“He intentionally disguised his voice so I would think he was Matthew.”
“It was deceitful,” Matthew growled. “And when I confronted Simon about it, all he said was that he didn’t realize I was serious about Paul. That Paul, because of his disability, couldn’t be more than a temporary fling or toy. That he could never be taken seriously as my partner and that I should persuade him to join Simon and me in a threesome because that’s all he was good for.”
“Oh, Merlin…” Harry groaned, closing his eyes.
He hadn’t thought it was possible to dislike Simon any more than he already did, but here they were.
Severus’ cold, clammy hand clamped down on Harry’s wrist. “Why? Why did you stay friends with him after that?”
“We didn’t. Not really,” Matthew said with a sigh. “It’s complicated. After that incident, we distanced ourselves from him. But we live in the same city, and I work in the same field as he does. Even though renewable energy is on the rise, there are still only a few experts in the field. Simon and I are among those experts, so we were inevitably forced to interact professionally. We tried to keep it short and businesslike. That is, until about a year and a half ago when he showed up at a work party with you, Severus.”
Paul, whose eyes were still glistening with tears, managed to grin. “It took less than ten words out of your mouth, Severus, and both Matthew and I knew you were an intelligent, calm, and trustworthy man. Everything about you exudes sincerity. And Simon seemed so different around you. We thought your grounded nature might have rubbed off on him.”
An awkward silence followed, during which all four men likely thought the same thing: “Obviously not.”
Harry, however, was also thinking about what else he could do to make that jerk's life even more miserable. Maybe he should get in touch with Simon’s employer? If Simon’s job really involved such a small community of experts, it would surely be utterly humiliating for him if all his colleagues started talking behind his back about his missteps. Maybe Matthew could help Harry out by providing the necessary email addresses?
“Harry, let it go,” Severus’ voice was calm, and his cold, clammy hand now squeezed Harry’s wrist almost painfully tight, as if trying to stop him from jumping up and running off.
Harry blinked at him innocently. “I’m not doing anything.”
“Your face is an open book to me. I know exactly that you’re plotting revenge again! Let it go. You’ve already caused enough chaos.”
Harry snorted. “That was just for the way he treated you. But it’s obvious the guy needs a complete character check. Do you know if his mother is still alive?”
Paul made a sound that was close to amused disbelief, while Matthew outright started laughing.
Severus, however, sighed as if Harry had just asked something incredibly exasperating. “No idea. He said he had no family left. But who knows if he didn’t just lie about that to avoid the hassle of introducing me?”
“As far as I know, he grew up with his paternal grandmother. The poor woman has probably passed away by now and is likely rolling in her grave over her grandson’s behavior,” Matthew added.
“Hmm… too bad,” Harry grumbled. So he would have to go through the employer after all.
“That sounds like a very entertaining story you’re hiding from us. Come on, tell us more,” Paul immediately requested.
“No offense, but we’ll have to save that for another time,” Harry decided, getting up. “I’d like to take Severus home now. His color still doesn’t look good, and I think he should lie down to recover from the blood donation earlier.”
The two men quickly offered apologetic and understanding comments. But while Harry made Severus finish the rest of his Fanta, he could see how the two men silently communicated with each other through their touches and glances.
Sure enough, as soon as Severus also stood up from the bench, the other two did the same. Matthew rummaged briefly in a jacket pocket and then handed a business card to Severus.
“Do get in touch when you’re feeling better, Severus. We’d love to invite you both over to our place for dinner and hear the rest of this story,” Matthew offered.
Severus, seemingly overwhelmed, stared at the card in his fingers for a few seconds before he nonchalantly tucked it into Harry’s shirt pocket.
Harry shook his head in amusement at his colleague.
“Thank you. We’ll discuss it once Severus is back to himself,” Harry said, intentionally promising nothing as he wanted to leave that decision to Severus.
They then said their goodbyes rather briefly, giving Mr. Maple a scratch behind the ears, and went their separate ways.
As soon as they found a hidden spot, they apparated to Rye. Severus kicked off his shoes and curled up on the couch, falling asleep almost immediately while Criminal Minds played in the background.
Harry had expected that they would never speak about Matthew, Paul, and their awful revelation again. Though he hadn’t thrown away the card right away, he had stuck it to the fridge with various take-out menus, but in his mind, he was already envisioning how he would remove it by the end of summer, before they returned to Hogwarts.
That didn’t mean Paul’s story hadn’t moved him. Quite the opposite, actually. In the following hours, Harry thought more than once about how he would feel if someone did that to him. Of course he could see perfectly well, but with Polyjuice Potion, even he could be deceived, and the mere thought made Harry feel sick.
Still, Severus wasn’t exactly sociable, and Harry assumed he was glad to be rid of the two men.
But things turned out differently.
Just two days later, they were sitting on the terrace having breakfast when Severus brought up the subject in the most unorthodox way.
“It was nice not to be seen as the villain for once. You didn’t have to be so rude,” Severus said, a little grumpily, out of nowhere.
Harry, who had been mentally occupied with the idea of trying to make his own jam because store-bought ones were always too sweet for him, had no idea what Severus was talking about.
“Rude? When was I rude? And to whom?”
Severus’ raised eyebrow spoke volumes. “To Paul and Matthew.”
“I wasn’t rude. I was direct. You weren’t feeling well. You needed to go to bed.”
“I’m not a child, but a grown man. I can decide for myself when something is too much for me. And I can also decide for myself who I want to be friends with!” Severus growled, slowly working himself into an unnecessary tantrum.
Harry, who had not expected any of this on this quiet morning, blinked in confusion. “Who said the opposite? Matthew’s card is hanging on the fridge. If you want to be friends with them, just write to him. I’m not stopping you.”
“But they didn’t invite just me, they invited us! How would it look if I showed up alone?” Severus muttered. “And I don’t have a phone anymore!”
A bit frustrated by Severus’ abrupt tone, Harry rubbed his eyes roughly and used the short pause to figure out what the complicated man was trying to communicate here. He came to only one logical conclusion.
“If I understand you correctly, you want me to text Matthew, accept their invitation, and arrange a meet-up?” Harry asked, frowning.
He didn’t say it, but he was very aware that this would almost count as a double date if they actually met with the other couple in this constellation.
“It’s not as easy for me to make new friends as it is for you, Potter. The whole world may fall at your feet and trip over themselves to please you, but I have to fight for every bit of recognition. So, I have to take advantage of it when I manage to make a good impression.” Severus responded. “Not everyone can have as many sycophants trailing behind them as you do.”
Harry looked at his colleague, annoyed. “Instead of insulting me, you could have just said ‘Yes!’ Seriously, Severus! Who’s being rude now?”
Without waiting for an answer, Harry stood up and left Severus alone at the breakfast table. But as he passed the fridge, he grabbed the business card, went upstairs, and threw himself back onto his bed to begin typing out a text:
Hey Matthew & Paul,
This is Severus’ friend Harry. We’re writing from my phone because Severus hasn’t gotten a new number since the breakup. It was really nice meeting you both the other day, and we’d like to accept your offer for a meet-up. When would be a good time for you? Just remember, we’ll be back at the boarding school we teach at starting August 30th, so after that, we’ll have less time for socializing.
Regards, Severus & Harry
His finger hovered over the send button for a few seconds before he pressed it.
Harry didn’t really need new friends. He was more than happy with the people in his life. But he could also understand Severus. And even though they were both gay men, it was clear to anyone that they weren’t a couple, not with the way Severus treated him. So, he didn’t have to worry about anyone misinterpreting their relationship.
And, honestly, the two of them — or three, counting Mr. Maple — had been really nice.
Harry couldn’t quite understand why he still hesitated, but he forced himself to ignore that nagging feeling at the back of his mind and hit send.