A/N: This was written for the weekly Dictionary Drabbles challenge on the After Class mailing list.
The theme word for this piece was "meticulous," meaning "marked by extreme or excessive care in the consideration or treatment of details."
Evenings often found him sitting quietly in one corner of the Potions lab, looking on as Severus toiled over his latest project. Harry had never fully appreciated Severus's skill as a potions maker when he was a student, but in the years since the war had ended he had grown to realize there was beauty to be found in observing such a master of his craft at work. Harry had known so little of beauty in his life that now he wanted to be close to it whenever he could.
Not to mention the fact that watching a potion take shape under Severus's hands was almost as good as foreplay.
It was unbearably erotic to see his lover caress the tall, thin bottles of armadillo bile and bubotuber pus as he removed them from the shelf, knowing that soon those long fingers would curl around Harry's cock in the same gentle fashion. Harry ached as he watched the careful way Severus prepared each ingredient before adding it to the mix, grinding dried nettles and chopping daisy roots with the same precision and intensity he would use later when preparing Harry's body to receive him. He yearned at the sight of Severus's face becoming flushed from the heat of the flames licking the underside of the cauldron, knowing that shortly his cheeks would redden and his forehead shine with perspiration as he thrashed his way through his climax.
The first night he had watched Severus work, Harry found the process so arousing he had barely been able to restrain himself until the potion was finished. The moment Severus extinguished the fire beneath the cauldron, Harry launched himself off his chair and pinned his lover against the lab table with a scorching kiss. Whispering hot words of need against Severus's neck, Harry fisted his hands in the other man's robes and pushed him backwards toward the bedroom.
"Hurry," Harry urged later, releasing Severus's cock from his mouth and turning around to offer up his arse. "Hurry, Severus. I can't wait much longer."
"Patience, Potter," Severus growled as he eased himself slowly inside. "In this, as in all things, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right."