Disclaimer: I own nothing. The song is written by Garth Brooks, Bobby Wood, and John Peppard; performed by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood; and produced by Allen Reynolds. The characters belong to JK Rowling.

Beta love goes to Ella. Any changes I might have made after she got it back to me are all my fault. Thank you Ella! :)

This story is written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments) - Prompts used are at the bottom of the story.

Warning!
This story is about adultery. It also contains smut, which gets pretty explicit towards the end. Please don't read if you have a problem with either of these.

In another's eyes
I'm someone who
Loves her enough
To walk away from you
I'd never cheat
And I would never lie
In another's eyes, yeah

[ Ron ]

I watch her from the corner of my eye. She's not my wife, but Merlin I wish she was. Her body is soft and curvy, her hips just rounded enough that every time I see her walk by I want to grab hold of them and shove my head up the back of her skirt to worship her beautiful pussy.

Fred and George hired her to manage the shop so they could spend more time in their lab; I'm not what they called "mature" enough to handle the responsibility.

I'm responsible enough to be married to a woman I don't love in the right way for marriage. I'm responsible enough to admit - to myself at least - that it was a mistake to rush into marriage, and that I'd be happier elsewhere. Most of all, I'm responsible enough to stay with Hermione, even though she's a frigid bitch who doesn't seem to get any enjoyment from my touch or kiss.

Now if I could only forget about Padma Patil and her sweet, all-too-fuckable body. Hermione trusts me. Her faith in me seems to be unwavering. Merlin, I wish I could say that I was worthy of her trust still.

In another's eyes
I can do no wrong
And he believes in me
And his faith is strong
I'd never fall
Or even compromise
In another's eyes

[ Hermione ]

He thinks I'm reading. I have a book on my lap, and my head tilted down, so my hair falls in a curtain and covers my face. He can't see that my eyes close, and I'm thinking of him; not Ron, my husband but Severus, my lover. Every so often I feel myself start to moan as I remember his hands gliding over my body, his lips trailing down my stomach and then his tongue - oh, Gods, his tongue should be considered a weapon of mass destruction the way it can make the world around me explode in pleasure after what seems like only a few flicks.

I open my eyes quickly and glance up to see Ron across the room, watching me. Shit, did he hear me moan? I smile and blush before turning my head back down to my book; I'm so lucky he doesn't realize that I haven't turned a page in twenty minutes. I close my eyes again and remember looking into Severus' black eyes, losing myself in the memory of our time together yesterday.

We meet every day for lunch; we leave the ministry and go to our room in this muggle hotel for a couple of hours. It's all I can have of him, though I know he wants more; we both do. I married the wrong man, though at the time I thought I was in love. In retrospect, I realize I didn't even know what love was back then.

Ron trusts me to be faithful to our wedding vows; he believes that I'm frigid enough not to need the touch and kiss of a male to be happy. He wouldn't understand what I feel or how I could put our stable, reliable marriage at risk to be with Severus. Ron believes I'm still in love with him, and I willingly feed into that lie; I am weak, I don't want to face the consequences of my actions. So I pretend that all is well, and everyone around me believes the mask I wear is my reality.

In another's eyes
I'm afraid that I can't see
This picture perfect portrait
That they paint of me
They don't realize
And I pray they never do
'Cause every time I look
I'm seein' you
In another's eyes

[ Ron ]

She's doing that thing again, that thing where she looks at me, and I get the feeling that she knows. She looks up from her book, and her eyes turn to me, then she smiles and blushes before giving her full attention back to whatever it is she's reading today. I've loved her... I don't even remember how long I've known that I love her; it seems like forever. But I'm not in love with her; I'm honestly not sure if I ever was, anymore. I thought I was, I truly did. Merlin knows we've been through everything life could throw at us, and we've stood together through it all. Well, most of it anyway. We fought in school, often. Then there was the time I left her and Harry during the Horcrux hunt. But then during the final battle, we kissed, and it just seemed so right.

We married soon after that first kiss, against my parent's wishes; they said we were too young - they were right. But young adults do foolish things. Now she is my wife, and though we haven't slept together in the martial sense for years, we remain together and let the world think we're happily married. I don't know how I could explain to her that I went and fell in love with someone else. How do you tell your wife that you want to have children with another woman? I can't do that to her; I can't bear to think of the pain and betrayal she'd feel if I told her the truth. She's a cold husk of a woman, but she's my wife, and she loves me.

Whoa in another's eyes
Starin' back at me
I see a sinkin' soul
Tryin' desperately
To turn the tide
Before it dies
In another's eyes, yeah

Every day, as the store closes for lunch, I pull Padma into the stock room; during these times it's sad, but I find I don't care what Hermione - or the rest of the world - thinks. As I watch Padma's soft hands pull my cock from my pants and her lush lips form a small smile when she looks up at me before she closes them over my prick, I swear that it doesn't matter what anyone thinks; this is heaven. Oh, hell yes, this is what my life is missing; this is my perfect, dirty little secret.

We both wish things could be different, that we could be together. That's not an option, though. I can pretend that my marriage is perfect for the rest of the world, so long as I have this wonderful, beautiful, sexy-as-hell woman for even just an hour of every day for the rest of my life. Let the world believe that Hermione and I are happy; Padma knows the truth of things.

And what they don't see
Lord is killing me
It's a blessing and a curse
That love is blind

[ Hermione ]

It started innocently; we bumped into each other at the ministry canteen a few days a week. We started talking about our jobs, and our research. After a few months, we started planning to meet each other every couple of days, going into muggle London to eat and have our conversations. Then we would meet every day. We started talking about our lives outside of work, and one day he was comforting me for something, and I looked up into his eyes and saw something I had never seen before. As I gazed into his eyes, I blurted out that I'm frigid, and he pulled me tighter against his chest as he kissed me. I had never felt such passion before - it was like I suddenly understood what desire was. We ended up at this hotel that afternoon, and we haven't missed a day since.

I've become a good actress these last years, hiding my heart from both Ron and the outside world, pretending that my marriage is perfect. Ron knows I'm not at the ministry for my lunch; he believes that I'm working on a research project that requires me to be offsite. Ron trusts me. He's wrong to do so, but I'll never tell him.

'Cause in another's eyes
I'm afraid that I can't see
This picture perfect portrait
That they paint of me
And they don't realize
And I pray to God they never do
'Cause every time I look
I'm seein' you
In another's eyes

He's waiting in the hallway outside our room. I'm not sure how he can afford to keep renting this same room for us, but it's become so familiar that I'd be lost if it changed. He smirks as he sees me rushing toward him, my hands reaching for his. "I missed walking here with you today," I tell him as I reach his side. He chuckles softly upon hearing that and hustles me toward the door, reaching around me to turn the handle.

The door opens, and the scent of roses bombards me. Every surface in the room's covered with them: vases with dozens of roses artfully arranged on the bedside tables, a thick carpet of petals covering the floor, a few multicolored petals spread over the bed, and a single long-stemmed crimson red rose on the pillow. Severus has hated roses for most of his life, he told me when we first started the physical side of our relationship how he had only ever given them once, years ago to the woman he loved - his Lily; she had thrown them in his face and told him to leave her alone - she couldn't forgive him a word spoken in anger while he was facing humiliation in front of what seemed like the whole school. Then a year ago, he gave me a single red rose for Valentine's Day; that was the day he told me that what he feels for Lily will never change, but it doesn't hurt when he looks at pictures of her now because he has me.

I gasp as the door closes behind us and I feel him reaching under my skirt and pulling my knickers down as he nudges me toward the bed. "Happy Valentine's Day," he whispers before turning me and pushing me onto the bed. He quickly unbuttons my shirt, pulling it from my skirt and lowering his head to my chest. I wiggle on the bed to get my skirt raised around my waist, spreading my legs wantonly as I guide his hand to my pussy. I am dripping in anticipation of his touch.

I moan in pleasure as he sucks my nipples one after the other through my plain, ivory-colored, cotton bra while his fingers are thrusting into me and hitting that spot inside, his thumb giving my clit just enough pressure and movement. "Oh yes, oh fuck… fuck me!" I gasp out, reaching down blindly for his pants. He stops sucking on my nipple and moves his head up to start licking that spot behind my ear that drives me crazy while his fingers are teasing me relentlessly.

"Cum for me, Hermione," he growls, grabbing my hands from his waistline with his unoccupied hand and moving them above me to hold my arms over my head. "Now, witch, cum all over my fingers. Show me how much you love my fingers in your pussy." His words throw me over the edge - I feel myself clenching around his fingers as I find release.

His fingers slow, and he releases my hands to trail his hand down my arm to my waist. "Good girl," he pulls his fingers out of me and flips me over, lifting my hips gently, so I'm on my hands and knees on the bed. I hear him unbuckle his belt and begin to unfasten his pants; I flatten my arms to my side, so my chest is on the bed, tilting my back, so my arse is in the air. He sees this and chuckles as he slides into me. "So eager… fuck!" I purposefully tighten my kegel muscles around him as he begins to pace himself.

He leans over my back, moving my hair to one side so he can nip at my neck. "You love my cock, don't you?" His hands have moved from my hips going under my body pulling my chest up slightly so one can pull the cup of my bra down to release my breast into his waiting hand, the other he moves downward to rub fast little circles over my clit, knowing this will make me cum again.

"Yes, oh fuck…" I choke out amongst my panting; my body is so sensitive from the recent orgasm that I feel as if my it's going to explode again. As my muscles start to flutter around him, he groans and pulls his body up, kneeling behind me. He moves both hands to my hips again, thrusting hard and fast. As I tip over the edge, I hear him grunt behind me, his hips thrusting a final time hard enough to push me further into the bed as he floods me with his seed.

We lay together, panting from exertion. Severus is cuddling me, his chest against my back, his arms around my stomach before he backs away and pulls out of me, kissing the back of my shoulder. I can feel our combined fluids leaking out of my body and mourn the loss of him. He turns me over, and we kiss for a few minutes before he rolls onto his back and pulls me closer to lay against him. I love just laying next to him after our passion has started to cool, our heart rate slows, and we can just be together and talk about our day almost as much as I love fucking him; I love him, plain and simple.

All good things in life must come to an end though, and as the sun moves so that the window in our room is cast in shadows, we both sigh, knowing that we must return to our normal, lonely lives. He scoots back from me and flicks his hand to wandlessly clean us both up before handing me back my knickers.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he says again, his hand gently turning my cheek to kiss me a few more times softly. I moan sadly and get out of the bed to redress, covertly watching as he does the same.

"I hate this part of the day; I hate saying goodbye, even if it is just for a matter of hours." I don't realize I'm crying until he hands me a handkerchief and then hugs me.

"I know, love. I hate this part of the day just as much as you do." He walks us back to the bed and sits, pulling me into his lap and kissing me on the temple. He holds me until my body relaxes, whispering soothing words into my hair. I give him one more kiss before I groan and stand up, walking toward the mirror in the bathroom. It's time to put my mask back on and pretend that I'm happy with my life for another day.

In another's eyes…

Word Count: 2500 by Google Docs

Prompts used:

Assignment:
Flying Lessons: Brooms
Task #4 - Firebolt: Write about something rare (rarepairs accepted). (I chose Ron/Padma)

Writing Club - February:
Lo's Lowdown - Character Based Prompts: #2 Amy Santiago - (character) Hermione
Bex's Basement: #7 Write about adultery
Adults Only (write smut): #5 (object) Roses
Assorted Appreciation - Brokeback Mountain: #5 Write about a forbidden relationship. (I chose Adultery)

Winter Seasonal Challenges:
Seasonal Winter Prompts: (word) Frigid
Seasonal Color Prompts: (color) Ivory

The Insane Prompt Challenge:
#303 (pairing) Snape/Hermione

Yearly event - Herbology Hangout (Starter Story)

[Bi-monthly] Dragon Breeding Club