Harry left, and Severus felt tense and apprehensive. He hated to depend on another person like that. The anger he had failed to summon before, when Harry was with him, returned, blended with a helpless despair.

One, two days passed. Severus tried to focus on the work on the Castle and his potions, but anxiety was eating him up inside.

On the afternoon of the third day, he was preparing an Erumpent poison antidote for Longbottom's Apothecary when he heard a crack. Someone was trying to break through his defensive charms. Severus nearly flew through the corridors and upstairs, wand in hand.

"Snape!"

A stupid, treacherous joy invaded him. "Potter, stop it now!" Severus pronounced the charm to let Harry pass the entrance door to the staircase, and waited a few steps down. Harry descended, bringing his broom and a trunk. "Why didn't you warn me you were coming?"

"It would have been too complicated, and I didn't want to waste more time."

"If you had warned me, I would have prepared a room for you."

"We can work it out."

"Come to my chambers. I'm finishing a potion."

Severus saw Harry drop his trunk and broom beside the sofa where he had slept three nights ago, and went straight to his laboratory, contiguous to his office. He lowered the fire and grabbed the ladle to stir the cauldron. When he verified the potion hadn't "over cooked", he lifted his eyes.

Harry was staring at him. "Can I help you?"

"It's almost finished. We have to decide where you will stay."

"Can I stay in that abandoned room you talked about? It seems the easiest solution."

Close, but not as close as I would like, Severus thought. Reproaching himself for his thoughts, he frowned. "Have a seat and rest. We will have to work hard."

~* ~* ~

Harry's future chambers were not so vast as Snape's - after all, as Snape had explained to him, as Head of House and Potions master, Snape was entitled to a large office and a laboratory. Harry would have only a small office and bedroom, both opening onto the corridor and interconnected. The bedroom had a bathroom adjacent. They had decided to clean only the bedroom and the bathroom for now, since Harry didn't have much use for an office.

They spent the rest of the afternoon removing spider webs and killing doxys with a non-toxic doxycide that Snape had invented. There were also some Bundimuns - luckily not so many that they couldn't eliminate them with a mere Scourgify. What made the cleaning task more difficult was that Snape wanted to keep everything he found to use in his potions.

In the evening, Harry, exhausted, took a bath in his new bathroom, while Snape went to his own. The bath was antique and luxurious, in green marble, and the taps were sculpted in the shape of serpents. Harry spent several minutes in the bath, relaxing. Finally, he wrapped himself in the new towel he had bought in Hogsmeade and went to his bedroom.

It was a nice bedroom, with a king-size four-poster bed. Snape had told him that all the teachers' chambers had a similar bed. The idea was that, if the teacher were married, their consort would be allowed to visit them. There was also a big wardrobe, a dresser and an enchanted window that lit his chambers during the day. It was sad not to have a real window, but, on the other hand, he wouldn't need to worry about security issues.

He was still dressing when Snape knocked on his door. "Potter!"

"What is it?"

"I'm going to reheat what I had for lunch. If I had known you were coming, I would have made dinner."

"But it's not necessary!"

"Go to the kitchens."

"Hogwarts' kitchens?"

"No, Potter. Malfoy Manor's kitchens!"

"Ugh, Merlin spare me!" A pause. "Are you saying the kitchens have been preserved too?"

"I've restored a great part of them. But I'm tired of yelling in the corridor. I will be waiting for you there in half an hour. I'm going to charm the doors to recognise you and allow you to wander wherever you wish."

"Will you let me enter your chambers?"

"Provided that you respect my privacy. It would be advisable to knock before entering."

"All right. I'll do that."

~* ~* ~

Severus had prepared a casserole. It was the best he could do impromptu with the chicken left over from lunch. He diced two carrots, two potatoes, two sticks of celery, one leek, two onions, garlic; added one bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, a sprig of parsley, one cup of button mushrooms, bacon, salt and finally the red wine. That was not the right way to prepare it, but he had no time to cook a real casserole.

Harry was clearly starving after all that hard work, and praised the food repeatedly. Severus had served a good red wine to go with it - his last bottle in stock. He would have to go to Hogsmeade that same week to replenish his stock.

They had dinner at a wooden table in the kitchens. It was a disturbingly intimate scene, but his cynical side wouldn't let Severus alone: So that's it? Now you are the Golden Boy's house-elf? "Don't think your life is going to be easy here. There's a lot of work to be done," Severus grumbled.

"I know. I came here to work. I'll do what has to be done."

~* ~* ~

The next morning, after they had had breakfast in Snape's office, Snape showed Harry the plans of the Castle that he had drawn from memory, and explained to him, step by step, all the charms he had been using to reconstruct the Castle. They would have to prepare the mortar in the barrels, first levitating the stones to the barrels with Wingardium Leviosa, then casting a grinding charm, Opprimo, on them, and finally mixing water and sand with Misceo, a mixing charm. After that, the mortar would have to be placed with a Mortarwasi Charm, and fastened with heavy chains with an Incarcerous Charm. Finally, smooth stones were placed on the external surface with a Petrawasi Charm followed by Sticking Charm. All the charms were very complex.

It would be much easier if they could simply conjure the Castle! But, besides being forbidden by the Ministry, the conjuring charm would last only a few hours. A mere Reparo wouldn't work either, because the Castle hadn't been only broken in pieces. The heavy hexes that had been cast against it had modified those pieces. There was no alternative; they would have to reconstruct it stone by stone.

~* ~* ~

In the following days, they established a work routine. Whenever they could, both worked on the reconstruction of the Castle. When Severus needed to work on a potion, Harry would continue working on the Castle, or he would work in the garden, or go shopping in Hogsmeade - a task abhorred by Severus. Both took turns in the kitchen preparing and cooking meals.

Both were introspective and seldom talked; as they usually spent most of their time working, almost all their conversations referred to their daily work: "Tomorrow I'll have to prepare a potion for Longbottom"; "I'll take care of the greenhouse"; "We're going to need new plinth beams to support the northern wall", and so on.

At night, however, after they had dinner, exhausted, it became more and more difficult for Severus to contain his desire to grab Harry and... Severus didn't let himself think beyond that. Harry always arrived with his hair still wet from the bath, a scent of soap and warm skin floating around him... it was a torture.

On one of those nights, at the end of Harry's second week after arriving at Hogwarts, Harry gazed at Severus and said, "We're doing everything together and, er... we're getting along together quite well, aren't we?"

Severus arched an eyebrow. Where was Harry trying to go with that? "It hasn't been the disaster I thought it would be."

"So why don't we call each other by our first names? I like your name: Severus."

A shiver of pleasure ran through Severus's body. That shouldn't be happening. How could the mere sound of a person saying his name aloud arouse him that way? If every time Harry said his name he were to have a similar reaction, it would be better to forbid him! But Severus couldn't think of another good reason not to let him do it. "I can't see why not," he lied.

"And you will call me Harry."

"Yes, my Lord," Severus replied, a bit irked.

But when Harry widened his eyes and burst into laughter, Severus had to smile. It was nice to be able to laugh about it without fear. At least that they had achieved by winning the war. Severus wasn't accustomed to making people laugh that way, with no malice. It had been completely unintentional, but he liked the feeling anyway.

~* ~* ~

One afternoon, they were tranquilly drinking their tea in Severus's office, taking a rest from their labour, when they heard strange noises.

Severus stood up immediately. "Someone's trying to break through our defences."

They hurried up out of the dungeons and stumbled into a short, funny figure casting charms with his wand.

"Filius!" said Severus.

The short wizard turned around and his face broke into a huge smile. "Severus, you naughty, mischievous boy! I knew you were behind this! And Harry Potter!"

"Professor Flitwick!"

"Behind what?" Severus asked, narrowing his eyes at his former colleague.

"Oh, you know... There's something here. I don't know what it is, but this place is full of charms too powerful for me not to notice them."

"And what are you doing here, Filius?"

"Oh. I was dying of boredom and nostalgia. So I decided to take a walk, and ended up here. Things changed a lot after the war..."

Harry realised they would have to put Flitwick in the loop. He looked at Severus and knew that Severus was having the same thoughts. "Professor, we need to talk."

"Come and have a tea with us, Filius," Severus added.

~* ~* ~

Over a few slices of toast with cherry jam, they filled Flitwick in on the basic facts, and he was bouncing with joy. "Splendid! We have to call the girls. With their help, we can finish the work in two months."

"Girls?" Harry asked.

"Oh, you know how it is, we all are retirees now... I've been meeting Pomona and Rolanda quite a bit lately. Now and then, Sybill shows up too. They miss the old times at Hogwarts, and I'm sure they would be thrilled to come and help rebuild the Castle."

"Hmmm... Severus, if we repair the Hufflepuff dormitories, 'the girls' could stay there. As for Professor Flitwick..."

"There is more than enough space for all of them in the Hufflepuff dungeons," said Severus, who didn't want to see anyone besides Harry in the Slytherin dungeons. "I just can't see Trelawney living in a dungeon..."

"Oh, you are right; she wouldn't come," said Flitwick, laughing. "But I dare say she wouldn't be of great help here."

Severus couldn't agree more.

~* ~* ~

Their routine changed significantly with the arrival of the other three wizards. The Fat Friar was haunting the Hufflepuff dormitories again. Sprout took upon herself the care of the greenhouse and the garden; Hooch was always the first to volunteer to go shopping or transport things from here to there and back again. As they now needed to bring stones from other nearby ruins, her help was crucial. Flitwick was the fastest of all of them with charms, and worked enthusiastically and tirelessly.

Harry, Sprout and Severus took turns in the kitchen, where they had meals together.

With this work division, Severus could devote more time to his potions. He missed having Harry to himself with no one else around, but it was all for the Castle's sake! As Flitwick had said, at that pace the Castle would be ready in two months.

Every night, however, before they went to sleep, Harry would go to Severus's office, and they would drink a glass of Firewhisky and talk about their dreams and hopes for when the Castle was finished. Those were the most pleasant and at the same time the most disturbing moments for Severus. Severus often wondered if he should try something. However, the prospect of losing that friendly relationship was too painful, and the fear of rejection paralysed him. The truth was that that situation was completely new to Severus. Harry was making him feel as insecure as a teenager.

~* ~* ~

Two weeks after the arrival of the other wizards, on July 31st, they had a party for Harry. As Flitwick had been responsible for the decorations, they had a lot of cakes, colourful bubbles, fairies and candles floating on the air. Everyone gave Harry a present, except for Severus.

But when Harry passed by his office to say goodnight, Severus had a strange look in his eyes. He seemed to want to say something and not to know how.

Finally, he said, "Come in. I have something to give you."

Harry entered.

"Wait here," Severus ordered him.

Severus left through a door that led to an inner courtyard in the dungeons and returned a minute later carrying... a cage. Inside the cage was a beautiful snowy owl - resembling Hedwig, but smaller. Severus approached and handed the cage to Harry. "I thought it might be of use to you."

Harry's heart raced with joy, not merely because of the present, but because it had been Severus who had given it to him. With the cage in his hands, Harry looked at Severus, wanting to kiss him. However, he just mumbled a "thank you, I wasn't expecting it" before going to his own chambers.

~* ~* ~

Another two weeks later, a month after the arrival of Flitwick, Sprout and Hooch, all the external parts of the Castle were finished, including the turrets and towers. Now they would just have to add the final touches: to install and adjust the doors and windows, and finish the staircases. There was still a lot of work to do, but seeing the Castle from outside, as majestic and impressive as before, was a powerful encouragement for all of them.

Harry wandered through the Castle, reliving moments of his life. The Gryffindor dormitory, the Common Room... The one hundred and forty two moving staircases with their vanishing steps. Almost everything was there again. The portraits and statues were missing, but they would find other portraits and statues eventually. Would they find a portrait of the Fat Lady? The Dumbledore's old office didn't look the same without its portraits and weird objects. Maybe Harry shouldn't think of what they had lost. It was too sad. There would be new things to come. Maybe this time things would be better.

Later, on Severus's sofa, a glass of Firewhisky in his hands, Harry wondered how it would be when they could move to the Castle. Would his night talks with Severus have an end?

Harry had fallen head over heels in love with Severus, even more than a year ago. He couldn't even think of losing those few moments when they were alone together. Even if they never touched each other. Even if Severus remained as elusive and mysterious as always.

~* ~* ~

The sun was almost setting. Tired of hearing Severus complain that he needed a book on medieval potions that one of his students had stolen from him years ago, Harry had gone to Diagon Alley to search for it. Finally he located Herblore on a dark, bottom shelf. He paid for it and was about to leave Flourish & Blotts when he saw Remus Lupin coming into the bookstore.

"Harry!"

"Remus! It's been a long time!"

Remus gave him a quick but warm embrace. After Sirius's death, in Harry's sixth and seventh years, Remus had got closer to Harry. Oddly, with the end of the war, Remus had disappeared. "Let's drink a Butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry!"

~* ~* ~

Remus told him he had fallen severely ill after the war, and the Ministry hadn't accepted him in St Mungo because of his "condition". So Remus had to go to a health care centre specifically for werewolves, where he stayed for several months. When he finally could go out, he didn't have a job or money. He had decided to work in Muggle London doing all kinds of jobs, and now he had got a job in a perfume factory, due to his exceptional sense of smell.

After about five Butterbeers, Harry had told Remus all about the Castle's reconstruction and invited Remus to go with him to Hogwarts. Remus showed enthusiasm but also concern about Snape's likely reaction to his presence. Harry said he would talk to Snape and everything would be fine.

Remus and Harry Apparated to the Muggle inn where Remus was living in London, and Remus packed his few things in a small trunk. Remus took his broom, an old Shooting Star, and they headed off to Hogwarts.

It was past midnight when they arrived at the Castle. Harry figured that, at that hour, everybody would be asleep.

~* ~* ~

Harry had warned them he wouldn't be at Hogwarts for dinner, but he hadn't come back after dinner either. Severus tried to sleep, in vain. He couldn't stop wondering what could possibly have happened. At the same time, he reproached himself for that. It was ludicrous. Harry didn't owe him any explanation. Probably he had found something more interesting to do. Probably Harry had tired of his company.

Giving up sleep, Severus thought of working on some potion. But he was too nervous for that. He was wondering what he could do when he heard a noise coming from the corridors.

It should be Harry.

Severus cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, went out to the corridor and waited, in the dark, in a corner from where he could see the door of Harry's chambers.

He watched in awe and horror when Harry arrived accompanied by Remus Lupin, and when both entered Harry's chambers.

~* ~* ~

In a state of shock, Severus returned to his own quarters.

Damn you, werewolf. Damn you, Potter. And damn myself, for being so easily deceived again.

But they would pay for that.

Severus rushed out and through the corridor and knocked on Harry's door. He waited and waited. Nothing. He knocked again, louder. The door opened just a crack, and Harry's face appeared. "Let me in," Severus snarled.

"Er..."

Severus pushed the door open with all his might, and came across Remus Lupin in pyjamas languidly lying on Harry's bed.

Fury took hold of Severus.

"Get out, now. I don't want a werewolf in my dungeons," Severus hissed between gritted teeth.

Looking startled, Lupin got up.

Harry flung himself at Severus. "Severus, don't do that."

"Don't do what? Are you afraid I might hurt your sweetheart? I wouldn't touch a hair of his head... or body, by the way. I just don't want to see him here, in my dungeons. And you can leave too. Get out."

"Severus..."

"Harry, let's go. Haven't you said our friends are in the other dungeon? Let's go there." Lupin grabbed his trunk. "Pack your things."

Sigrid, the snowy owl Severus had given to Harry, hooted sadly in her cage. Severus thought of taking his present back, but he restrained his impulse: that would provoke further turmoil, and now Severus only wanted the nightmare to end as soon as possible, so that he could take refuge in his chambers.

His arms crossed over his chest, Severus waited for Harry to finish packing. Now and then Harry turned to look at him, and Severus glared daggers at him. He didn't want to hear another word from that treacherous mouth. Those who believed that snakes were treacherous didn't know Harry Potter well enough.

~* ~* ~

Remus was welcomed by everybody in the Hufflepuff dungeons, where there were a lot of spare chambers. Alone with Sigrid in his new bedroom, Harry wondered what he had done wrong.

Would Severus listen to him? Would he ever understand that they had arrived late in the night and Harry had decided that it would be better Remus to sleep in his bedroom, since his bed was large enough for the two of them, instead of waking up Flitwick, Hooch, Sprout, or even Severus?

But why did he owe Severus any explanations? Severus didn't have any right to have done what he did! So, why was Harry feeling guilty? Guilty and crestfallen.

~* ~* ~

Lupin joined the work and, in less than a month, the Castle was ready. They had no books or equipment for the students; they would have to try to obtain sponsorship or donations for such things. Now the time had come for the political contacts and negotiations. For that night, however, they had planned a small party in the Great Hall, to celebrate the end of the work.

Severus, who had spent the month sulking and fuming, wasn't in the mood for celebrations. He wouldn't go to any bloody party.

He had just opened his second bottle of Firewhisky and filled another glass when he heard a knock on his door. "Who is it?"

"Severus, I need to talk to you."

The werewolf. How did he dare to descend to the dungeons? Severus reprimanded himself for not having put defensive charms on the entrance of the staircase. "Go back to your party, werewolf."

"Severus, don't force me to shout from here what I have to tell you."

Over his dead body, thought Severus. Rage boiling inside him, Severus opened the door. "Spit it out."

"Let me in. I won't be long."

Reluctantly, Severus stepped aside, but he didn't invite the other wizard to sit and certainly didn't offer him a glass of Firewhisky. Standing up, Lupin ran a hand through his hair, which was becoming greyer and greyer. "Harry is suffering because of you."

"What are you talking about? What is this nonsense?"

"Severus, if you hurt him, I'm not going to forgive you or myself. But I'll tell you this: only you can be so blind as to not see he's crazy about you. And it's obvious that you're crazy about him too. Otherwise you wouldn't have had that fit when you saw me in his bed. You cut him out of your life for the silliest of reasons. I..."

"Get out. I haven't given you permission to intrude into my personal life. Furthermore, I have nothing to do with Potter and his problems."

"I've said what I came here to say. Don't be stubborn, Severus. There's nothing between Harry and me besides the most innocent of friendships. And Harry is crazy about you. I suspect he has been since his seventh year."

Lupin left, and Severus emptied the glass in one swallow. He poured another one.

~*~*~

The party was in full swing, and Harry should have been happy. They had achieved their aim. This was the culmination of three months of hard work. Time to celebrate.

Harry had already moved to his new chambers in the Gryffindor tower. Nearly Headless Nick had greeted him cheerfully. The next day, they would begin discussing the details of what they would have to do next: the bureaucratic procedures, the political moves. But nothing really seemed to affect Harry, deep inside. He was feeling far away from everything, again. How could just one person do that to him? It wasn't fair.

They had decorated the Great Hall especially for the party. The walls had all been covered in sparkling glitter, with garlands of flowers crossing the starry black ceiling. A dance floor had been set up in the centre of the Hall. The four House ghosts were there together. Peeves, who had been throwing buckets of cold water on everyone, had been driven off by the Bloody Baron. Trelawney (who had joined them, now that her tower was available again) was talking to Binns at the other end of the hall. In the centre of the dance floor, Flitwick danced with Hooch, and Sprout with Remus. Harry sank into an armchair, in a dark corner, drinking his white wine and wanting to disappear.

Suddenly, however, the front doors were opened and a dark figure entered stumbling into the Hall. Harry squinted to identify who it was. The figure stopped at the centre of the dance floor, forcing both couples to stop. Then the dark figure turned to Harry and staggered to him.

Harry almost couldn't believe that it was Severus. Completely drunk. Harry sat up in his armchair, just in time to see Severus reaching for him and collapsing on top of him.

Harry held him so that he wouldn't fall.

"Harry. I want you. Please, be mine."

His heart racing, Harry stood up, lifting Severus with tender arms. "Come with me. I'm going to take you to your chambers."

"I'll go..." Severus drawled "... only if you stay with me."

"I'll stay, Severus. Let's go."

Under the astonished and amused gazes of the other wizards, witches and ghosts, Harry left the Great Hall holding Severus by his waist.