A/N: Second one-shot of the week in my attempt as an apology for missing two weeks in a row. Not what I usually write, but it's what popped into my head this morning.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except a shiny new Macbook Pro . . . to be used for school. Oh well. It's still shiny!
SSHGSSHG
Severus lay in his bed in the dungeons, thinking about a great deal of things. One of the less serious being the girl lying next to him. Hermione Granger. He believed himself to be one of the most intelligent wizards in Britain, not to make himself sound pompous. Despite his intelligence, he knew that the one thing in this world that he will most certainly never understand was Hermione. And, to be honest, it didn't bother him that much. However, it didn't keep him from trying.
"What's it like?'
Hermione turned her head to look at him. Severus rose himself up on his elbow to better look at her.
"What's what like?" She seemed genuinely confused.
"Loving me." Her head gave a slight nod in understanding.
"Oh. Well. Um . . . It's tricky for me to really put into words." The great Hermione Granger at a loss for words. He had to hear this.
"Try." He knew she wouldn't say no. He knew simply because he was the one asking.
"It's amazing. And wonderful, and confusing, and horrible, and brilliant, and . . . It's like being the inside the core of the Earth. It's like being a tree in the middle of a hurricane. It's like being the only dry grain of sand alone a shoreline." The look in her eyes, he couldn't tell how it made him feel. Not happy, not sad. Content, he supposed. Severus settled back down into his bed. The room was silent for awhile before he spoke again. He knew she hadn't fallen asleep.
"Does it ever bother you that I-"
"No." She had cut him off. He would have minded if it wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. That was one thing he was extremely adamant about her understanding. He didn't love her, and he never would. He turned on his side, now facing away from her.
The moon was high in the sky by the time they feel asleep, neither wanting to say what they knew to be the truth.
Yes, it did bother her. Every second of her life. But she dealt with it.
Simply because it was him.