Severus paced the room as Harry finished reading the book on the sofa. He was losing his patience when Harry finally closed the book and lifted astonished eyes to him.

"We... we can't be together any more," stuttered Harry.

Severus stopped pacing the room and rolled his eyes. "I'm dead, Potter, and all you think of is sex."

"I didn't mean just sex, you know. Anyway, your death was so..."

Severus narrowed his eyes at him. "Don't tell me it was meaningless, or I'll..."

"No, not meaningless!" protested Harry. "It's just that... I can't believe you really died."

"It's canon, now. I'm dead," stated Severus gravely.

"But when did we ever care about canon? We've been shagging for years, remember? This has never been and would never be canon."

"Now it's different. The story is over. I loved your mother. I have always loved her."

Harry sighed. "You're such a romantic hero."

"There's no need to insult me, Potter."

"I'm not insulting you! I admire what you did. You didn't have anything to gain, yet you let yourself be killed so that I could be saved. You're one of the bravest men I've ever known."

Severus frowned suspiciously at Harry for a moment, then snapped, "And because you admire me, you named one of your sons 'Albus Severus'. You have no sense of the ridiculous."

"Why, what's wrong with 'Albus Severus'? I like it."

Severus shook his head, and sat on the sofa beside Harry. "You're hopeless."

"Sev, why don't we..."

"Don't call me that!"

"But it's canon, now!" protested Harry, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Your mother called me that. Not you. I would never let you do that."

They stayed in silence for a while. Severus couldn't help feeling defeated. Harry looked sad, too, and Severus didn't know what to say, what to do.

"Severus, it's just a book," Harry finally said. "We don't have to do things as the book says."

"I don't know, Harry. People will say we are out of character."

Harry wrapped an arm around Severus's waist. "Since when do you care about what people think of you?"

It wasn't true that he didn't care about what people thought of him, but Severus didn't want Harry to know that. So instead of replying, he bent his head, took Harry's lips and indulged in a long-awaited kiss.