the marriage stone (Discontinued)

Chapter 12 - Placing Blame

He thought that Black would transform the moment his door was shut. He was mistaken, and he watched in annoyance as the dog began moving quickly through his chambers, nose sniffing everything he moved passed. Severus wanted to protest, wanted to catch the loathsome creature in a body bind and stop this rude invasion. But he had made his decision, and there was no point in denying these actions. They were inevitable, and he had to accept what was to come - if only to get it over with.

Still, some insult would be appropriate. "You piss on anything Black and I'll skin you for a hearth rug," he sneered. The dog growled low in his throat, but did not stop his incessant sniffing. Severus sat down in front of his fireplace, and watched in silence.

Harry's desk was given a close inspection, and the dog had the audacity to wag his tail as he sniffed the cloak the boy had left draped over the back of his chair.

Everything else in the room was inspected, and Severus had to admit that Black's nose must be extraordinary as he managed to pick out everything that the boy had touched. He moved on then to the other rooms, sniffing the door around the potions lab before his hackles raised and he moved on, as if knowing that at least one room in this place was Severus' domain completely. Save for their one impromptu lesson, Harry had avoided his lab.

His office received only a cursory sniff as well; Harry rarely went there either, save to borrow some parchment or quills. The library however was given a thorough going over. Harry often read in there. He'd asked at first, if he could read the books, borrow one from time to time. Severus had given him permission, and had out of curiosity kept track of what the boy found interesting. Spell books, charms, defense against the dark arts - he'd had the gall to ask one night why Severus didn't own any books on Quidditch. Surprisingly, the boy had always left the library in the same condition he found it, never a book out of place, all save that one time when he'd fought with Severus about his clothes. Severus had heard the books flying off the shelves when the angry young man had locked himself in there - unrestrained, wandless magic sending them flying. He'd put them to rights himself, never mentioning it to Harry again.

And then to Severus' utter annoyance, Black moved from the library to the bedroom, pushing open the door with his snout without even a backward glance for permission. He listened in silence, guessing at least part of the conversation that was going to take place in a few moments - assuming Black didn't simply go for his throat instead. The growls coming from the bedroom suggested that violence might indeed be the outcome, and Severus quietly moved his fingers toward his wand, ready to pull it out if it became necessary.

But Black didn't come out immediately, choosing instead to search the room entirely before returning to the main room. When he stepped back through the bedroom door he was once again in his human form, his face as dark as a thundercloud. Anger and menace were radiating off the man as he stood in the doorway glaring at him.

"You force him to sleep in your bed." The words from Black's mouth were hard, cold, and filled with accusation and hatred.

Severus held his temper, only because he knew this had been coming. "I don't force him to do anything, Black," he stated, his voice just as hard, just as cold. "He is my bond-mate, not my prisoner. And if you thought about it even for a moment, you'd realize that not even Voldemort has had success with forcing that boy to do anything he didn't want to do."

Something flickered through Black's eyes. Surprise, Severus thought, though it was quickly masked. "You're suggesting he wants to sleep in your bed?" It was obvious from his tone that Black was implying the exact opposite.

"No, Black," Severus snarled. "I can assure you that he quite detested the idea. As did I."

Black's eyes narrowed at that, obviously disbelieving the later statement. But then Severus had to concede it had been a poor lie - he had wanted to detest it, but Potter was too blasted attractive for it to be true.