HP: Those Years Sleeping with the Half-Blood Prince

Severus looked up abruptly, his lips moved as if he wanted to retort, "There's nothing to apologize for," but all the words stuck in his throat.

Ian raised his hand with difficulty, his fingers trembling slightly, but he stubbornly touched Severus's cheek.

"It's my fault... I didn't listen to you, I wasn't careful enough... It's my fault..."

He couldn't finish speaking because a violent cough interrupted him, aggravating his weakened body and not-yet-fully-healed wounds. Cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, and his face scrunched up.

Severus immediately bent down, carefully supporting his shoulder with one hand, and skillfully picked up the warm water prepared beside him with the other, scooped up a little with a spoon, and brought it to his lips.

Ian took two sips from his hand, suppressing his cough and calming his breathing, but his gaze remained fixed on Severus's face.

As Severus put down his cup and tried to retreat to a safe distance, Ian's hand slid down to the back of his neck and gently pulled him towards himself.

Severus stiffened, afraid of pressing down on him, he only used his arms to support himself on the edge of the bed, but his upper body obediently lowered.

Their foreheads touched, their breaths mingling softly.

Ian could clearly see the bloodshot in Severus's eyes and the slightest tremor in his eyelashes.

Ian’s fingertips lightly traced Severus’s brow bone, slid down his taut cheek, and finally stopped on his cold, slightly trembling lips.

“Listen,” Ian’s voice was low, weak, but firm, “you did nothing wrong, Severus. If you were lying there and you needed those materials, I would have done the same thing, or even worse. It’s not your fault, it’s theirs.”

Severus's Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to say something, but Ian gently pressed his thumb against his lips.

"No buts." Ian looked him straight in the eye. "You saved my life, in the only way you could, and that's enough. The rest... we'll face it together."

"Ian, you don't understand..." Severus's voice was suppressed and almost broken, "I gave him...those things, I went in, that place...those eyes..."

"I understand." Ian interrupted him, sliding his hand to the back of his neck and pressing down to bring their foreheads closer together, their noses touching, their breaths mingling completely.

"I understand what the price was, but you can hear that it's not the end. You went in to get me out. Now we're all here, alive. As long as we're together, it's not a dead end."

He paused, his breathing slightly unsteady, but he emphasized each word: "From now on, wherever you go, who you face, whatever you do... I'll be with you. Whether it's openly and honestly, secretly or secretly, even if it means going to hell. We're bound together, so don't even think about carrying all that burdens alone. If you can't carry it, I won't allow it."

Severus stared at him, at the undisguised, almost domineering acceptance and protection in Ian's eyes.

There was no fear, no contempt, only heartache and a certainty that "if the sky were to fall, it would hit me first."

His eyelashes trembled even more violently, and he closed his eyes, as if he could not bear such a direct and scorching gaze.

Then, he felt a warm and moist touch on the side of his neck.

These are Ian's tears.

It was very light, very hot, and slid down silently, leaving a mark on the skin before quickly disappearing.

Severus shuddered violently, as if burned by that tear.

He opened his eyes in a panic, trying to raise his hand to wipe them, but Ian pressed them down even harder.

"Don't move." Ian's voice was completely hoarse, but he still insisted, "Let me... just for a little while."

He buried his face deeper into Severus's neck, tears streaming silently down his face, not from the physical pain, but from the suffocating pain in his heart, for the bitter pill Severus had swallowed alone, for the unfathomable weariness and struggle in those dark eyes.

Severus stiffly let him lean on him, his arms carefully encircling Ian's much thinner shoulders and back, his fingertips feeling the protruding spine beneath the thin hospital gown.

He lowered his head and lightly touched Ian's sweaty temple with his lips, like a mark of confirmation.

"There won't be a next time," Severus said hoarsely, whether speaking to Ian or vowing to himself, "I won't let anyone... hurt you again."

"You too," Ian said in a muffled voice in the crook of his neck, his tears slowly stopping but his breath still damp. "We'll be together, waiting for me to get better, waiting... we'll find a way, there will always be a way, Seifer, we still have time, and we still have each other."

"Hmm," Severus responded softly and closed his eyes.

At this moment, Ian's steady heartbeat could be heard through the thin fabric of his clothes. The smell of disinfectant in the ward mixed with the faint scent of Ian himself, finally giving his nerves, which had been taut to the point of almost breaking, a place where he could temporarily find respite.

The future still hangs like the Sword of Damocles over our heads.

But Ian woke up.

Ian said, "We'll get through this together."

That's enough; enough for him to take another step firmly on the edge of the abyss.

Ian's breathing gradually became long and even; the prolonged period of lucidity and emotional turmoil had exhausted the little strength he had just mustered.

He leaned on Severus's shoulder, as if he were about to fall asleep again, but his fingers, gripping the hem of Severus's clothes, did not loosen.

Severus adjusted his position to make him more comfortable, and gently patted his back with his palm, as if to soothe him or to confirm his presence.

The sunlight outside the window moved slowly, creeping up the white sheets from the floor.

"Sleep," Severus whispered almost inaudibly in his ear. "I'm here."

Ian gave a muffled "hmm," and the pressure on his fingers finally loosened as he drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Severus didn't move, remaining in that somewhat awkward position, looking down at Yining's peaceful sleeping face.

He reached out his fingertips and gently touched Ian's damp eyelashes. Then, very slowly, he lowered his head and placed a kiss, tinged with the saltiness of tears and boundless tenderness, on Ian's smooth forehead.

Anyway, together.