Notes: Part of the "Fighting Darkness" AU. This ficlet has been written for Maya :)

It was in those short hours before dawn that Severus drew the irritating Gryffindor closer. Burying his nose into the ever unruly hair, he breathed in the scent that had come to mean something like peace to him.

On Harry's right, now pressed against his back, lay Draco Malfoy. The right arm of the young Slytherin was draped over Potter's hip - a possessive and so very protective gesture - and Draco would deny it should anyone ever mention it.

It was the night before the final battle. All information had been gathered, and Severus had to admit, albeit grudgingly, that they owed most of the facts to Lucius. Still, Hogwarts' Potions Master would have preferred more months of uncertainty to this. He wasn't ready to lose what he had only recently found - love. Such a small word, but what a powerful emotion.

Once again he prayed to a God he knew didn't exist. Draco would come out of the battle alive, he was sure of it. It ran in his line to survive. "Just look at Harry's god-mutt," a voice at the back of his head commented. But what of Potter, no, Harry? Curse his Gryffindor bravery, and the recklessness he'd inherited (not from his father, but Lily). What if his Guardian Angel, which happened to be Severus himself, failed this time?

Oh, he would gladly give his life for the whelp, more so now than ever before... But what difference would the death of a Death Eater make? When the future of the wizarding world - and the rest of the planet - was at stake, many would perish, and Severus didn't give in to the illusion that he could make a difference. That was Harry's fate - and his curse.

It had taken the Potions Master years to finally see and accept the truth. Gryffindor's Golden Boy had never asked for fame and glory - on the contrary. Now, Severus wanted to strangle his Lord with his bare hands every time the nightmares gripped Harry. Thanks to Voldemort, he had become the blasted Boy-Who-Lived (and he had to go on living!), had to live with his loving relatives, and was still in awe when shown some kindness or affection.

It was in those last hours before the final battle that Severus finally spoke the words that would either doom him, or grant him the happiness he almost believed he deserved. "I love you..."

He felt more than heard the soft answer. "I love you, too, Sev." Harry was shaking in his embrace, and Severus needed a moment or two to realise that the Gryffindor was crying. Draco's hand began to stroke his back soothingly while Severus gathered him impossibly close. Tomorrow they would fight, and, in that moment he knew that they would see the end of the day; together. Somehow...