Apprenticed to Love 7/?
Title: Apprenticed to Love 7/?
Author: Eriador117
Pairing: Snape/Harry
Rating: Adult
Warnings: not sure yet, but AU and angst for starters, hermaphroditism, mpreg, abuse.
Summary: Six months after the end of the war, Harry Potter turns up at Snape's apothecary to beg for a job. They both get more than they bargained for.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Potterverse, I just like playing in it from time to time.
Beta'd by Rakina, thanks so much!



Earlier Parts

Part Seven

Harry stood in front of the bathroom mirror and smoothed down his new apprentice robes; all of his clothes had arrived a few days after their trip to London. Since their visit to the Weasleys was Harry's first outing in public as Severus' official apprentice, he had to wear his new robes. Harry had never worn anything tailored to his own shape before and the clothes were a lot tighter than he was used to. Dudley's hand-me-downs had always been too big and Harry had made a habit of buying his school uniform slightly larger so that he would get more wear out of it, for he knew his money wasn't infinite.

His apprentice robes had tight sleeves so there was no chance of them catching on a fire beneath a cauldron or getting tangled up as he chopped ingredients. They were fitted to the waist and then flared out over his hips; reminding Harry uncomfortably of a woman's skirt. A crest showing a black cauldron with two crossed white quill feathers above it was embroidered over the left breast: Harry's Master's Mark. When out in public, everyone would know that for the next five years Harry belonged to Severus Snape.

Underneath the robes Harry wore a pair of grey woollen trousers and a white shirt; the wool robes were warm enough that he wouldn't need a jumper beneath them as well. Harry wondered if anyone at the Burrow would notice how different he was just by looking at him. Did the flared cut of the robe reveal that he had child-bearing hips now; that his lower body was not as straight as it used to be, but more curvy? At least he hadn't developed breasts – they would have been rather difficult to hide.

"Harry? Are you ready?" Severus called from outside the bathroom door.

No, Harry wasn't ready to face his friends after all this time and after everything that had happened, but if he didn't go now he knew he would just be pestered even more. It was best to get it over and done with.

"Yes, sir; just coming." Harry patted down his hair; even knowing that it wasn't going to help tame it, it made him feel better that he'd at least tried.

Severus too was in grey robes today; although his had black trim rather than the green of Harry's and there was no Master's Mark on Severus' robes either.

"The grey does suit you; I thought it would. Do they fit all right?"

"They feel a bit tight," Harry admitted. "I've never worn anything this tight before."

"It's just because you're not used to something that actually fits you properly. They don't look too tight to me."

"They're fine. I'm just not used to them yet, as you said. Thank you for getting them for me."

"You're welcome. Are you ready to go? I thought a Side-Along-Apparition would be best since you're not quite recovered yet. You'll have to touch me; is that all right?"

Harry's stomach jolted uncomfortably at the thought. "Yeah. Yeah, that's okay. Just hands?" Harry wasn't sure he could manage anything more intimate at the moment. It wasn't that he didn't trust his new Master – he did, but sometimes even the simplest things reminded him of Malfoy or the Dursleys, and when that happened he tended to panic.

Severus held out Harry's cloak and wrapped him up in it; making sure the clasp was tight. This concern, this care, was something Harry was not used to and his breath hitched a little as Severus straightened and stood back from him. Who knew Severus Snape would be this solicitous to his apprentice?

"Hands will be fine, Harry," Severus said as he held his out.

Harry reached for him and gasped in wonder. Far from being cold or clammy, as Harry had expected the Potions Master's hands to be, Severus' hands were in fact warm and dry. It was Harry's hands which were cold; the cold weather had always played havoc with his system. His feet and hands were always so cold in winter, even more so after what he'd gone through in the Malfoy dungeons.

Severus held tight to his hand as they Apparated out of Hogsmeade and landed on the front lawn of the Burrow. A flurry of snow swirled around them as Harry stared up at the crooked house. His heart was beating so fast it was as if it wanted to fly out from his throat. The green of the lawn was hidden by the thin layer of snow, but even that hadn't been enough to keep the gnomes away. They were darting in and out of discarded flowerpots, Wellington boots and an old upturned cauldron, and to Harry's ears they seemed to be giggling.

"I don't know if I can do this," Harry said, making no move to go any further up the front path. It had been over a year since he'd last been here; over six months since he'd seen Ron and Hermione. Harry didn't know what he was going to say to them. What could he say about what had happened to him? It was bad enough that it had happened without going into details about it. They'd all be asking questions, wanting to know everything, and Harry couldn't tell them any of it.

"Harry, it's all right. They're your friends; they'll understand if you don't want to talk about things."

"You don't know Hermione," Harry mumbled. She wouldn't let up until things were explained to her satisfaction, but Harry couldn't explain them. He didn't want anyone else to know what Malfoy had done to him or about the changes the potion had wrought.

Before he could turn around and leave, the front door was flung open by Molly Weasley who lifted up her skirts and ran down the path to wrap Harry in a hug. He didn't even have a chance to protest.

"Harry! Harry! Thank goodness you're all right! We could hardly believe it when we got your letter. Come in, come in, everyone else is already here."

"Who's here?" Harry asked, feeling his throat constrict. He wasn't up to seeing lots of people.

"Oh, just the family and Hermione," said Molly, pinching Harry's cheeks. "Bill wanted to bring Fleur, she normally has Sunday lunch with us, but I didn't think that was being fair on you. Of course he got in a strop about it; complaining that Ron got to bring his girlfriend and he didn't. It's the full moon; Bill always gets in a bad mood around this time."

Molly let go of Harry and started walking up the garden path. "Ron has a girlfriend?" Harry asked, wondering too why they thought he would be happy seeing Ron's girlfriend and not Bill's. At least he knew a bit about Fleur.

Molly turned to him with a broad smile. "Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. You wouldn't have known, would you? Ron and Hermione are together now."

Ron and Hermione? Harry's memories of those two were of them constantly bickering and sniping at each other. And now they were in love? Maybe all their arguments were hiding how they really felt about each other. Harry glanced over at Severus and blushed, remembering all their altercations of old. Did that mean they had some hidden feelings about each other as well? Well, it wasn't as if they were going to be doing anything like that. Harry was Severus' apprentice and he didn't want to do anything to jeopardise Severus teaching him.

Molly led both of them inside the house and down to the kitchen, where everyone was already seated, except for Ron and Hermione, who were helping to chop up some salad leaves and giving each other soft looks as they did so. After greetings were exchanged all round, Molly led Harry to a seat with Bill on one side of him and Fred on the other. Severus was led over to the gap between George and Ginny; a position he didn't seem to relish if the look on his face was anything to go by.

Molly shooed Ron and Hermione over to the table; before she beckoned for Arthur to take the roast out of the oven. Platters of roast potatoes, parsnips, peas, carrots and Yorkshire puddings were already on the large, scrubbed table. Three gravy boats, one at each end of the table and one in the middle; were giving off a wonderful aroma and Harry felt his mouth watering at the expanse of food. No one would ever starve in this house.

Arthur carved the joint of roast beef on one of the sideboards before Molly handed out the plates to everyone, starting with Harry and leaving her plate to last. Molly removed her apron, sat down next to Arthur and waved at the food on the table. "Help yourselves, everyone. There's more if you need it. Don't be afraid to ask for seconds." She smiled fondly at Harry as she said it and Harry felt his eyes prickling. He swallowed quickly, not wanting to cry in front of everyone.

Bill was being very attentive to Harry today, making sure he had enough vegetables and salad and pouring him glasses of pumpkin juice, even before the level had dropped much. The conversation was a bit strained compared to what Harry had been used to at the Burrow, but that was hardly surprising. As so often, it was the twins who came to the rescue.

"Did you hear Mr. Zonko is retiring, Harry?" Fred asked after he'd swallowed a mouthful of potatoes.

"Oh, no. I hadn't heard that."

"Yep, we're going to be taking over his shop in Hogsmeade later this month," George added.

"What about the one in Diagon Alley?"

"We'll be keeping that one as well, but Verity is going to manage it for us. Premises in Hogsmeade are a godsend, with all those students looking for tricks. We do well in Diagon Alley, but we'll do even better in Hogsmeade."

"I bet you're glad you're not teaching anymore, eh, Severus?" asked Arthur.

"Indeed. It will be someone else's problem what tricks the students bring back. I much prefer teaching one on one anyway."

"Oh, yes, congratulations on your apprenticeship, Harry," said Molly. "Your new robes look very fine, dear."

"Thank you. Master Snape got them for me."

Ron's ears turned pink at hearing Harry call Severus 'Master Snape', but they were in public and that was the protocol.

"Harry, can you come up to my room?" Ron asked. "We can catch up properly."

Harry glanced down at his half-eaten dinner; he was still quite hungry and didn't want to leave any.

"Harry hasn't yet finished his meal, Mr. Weasley. He can join you when he is finished," Severus said.

"You can't boss him around like that!" Ron protested.

"Actually, he can," Harry replied softly. "He is my Master."

TBC