AN: A part of Life After Hogwarts,with Severus Snape and Julia Baxter. This is a brief bit of lemon taking place after Premonitus, Praemunitas , and just before some ghosts from the past appear.

Interlude

On December 23rd, the world outside was coming to life in darkness. The sun would not rise until a quarter of eight, and yet people were hurrying towards their destinations with their shoulders around their ears and their coats pulled up to their noses. It was colder than usual and the populace of the city bore it with stoic, if somewhat sullen resignation.

Upstairs, in a darkened house, Julia lay on her left side with one arm curled around the chest of the sleeping man beside her. With her head nestled against his bare chest she peered through the grey light coming through the fan-shaped window set into the wall just above the foot of the bed. Jack Frost was etching artfully around the angles of the panes with his frozen quill. Snow began to fall silently. The images of cold made Julia all the more grateful to be skin to skin with Severus under the quilt and blanket she had taken upstairs when she began sleeping there regularly.

Julia smiled and laid her lips on the taut muscle of his chest, slumbering so warm and fragrant, waiting to be kissed. She heard him snuffle and his leg shifted slightly. Severus turned his face toward her and buried his nose in her hair, unconsciously tightening his arm and flexing his fingers into her hip before falling back into sleep. She'd almost given up hoping for him to reciprocate her affection and then suddenly, on Halloween, he had given her all she hoped for and more.

She turned her eyes away from the window and the growing, pale light of a winter morning. It was chilly in Severus' upstairs rooms, but he insisted on sleeping there. She hadn't slept in her own bed in almost two months. Gingerly poking out one arm to rearrange the nest of blankets, she then resettled herself with her head pillowed a little further down his arm. She never tired of looking at him, particularly when he slept. She smirked. He can be such a pain in the arse. He always assumes the worst of any situation. I can't stare at him, because in his opinion he's not worth looking at. She snorted softly to herself and let her eyes wander.

Looking at his chest, she could see thin, jagged scars in a few places. His breast rose and fell in a slow, even tempo. The chill of the room made his nipples crinkle and stand up for notice. Julia's mouth curved in satisfaction. He had seemed surprised the first time she had used the tip of her tongue to beat his nipples to attention. She smiled at the memory of his shocked look that was rapidly replaced by his almost helpless groan.

Severus was so pale and yet his skin took on a rosy hue when he was sexually excited, either verbally or physically. The direction of her thoughts made Julia squirm a little. Her own body was quite ready for lovemaking. Once again a smile warmed her mouth. Her lips were plump with desire. Her entire body was rising to his call and he wasn't even awake.

As her eyes continued up to his shoulders and the column of his throat, her smile slipped. There were more scars here, especially the one on his throat. It was clear that he had been physically abused for years. So much of your restraint and seeming arrogance comes from whatever caused you to tolerate this abuse.

The scars on his body were the easiest to uncover. The still pink scar on his throat represented all that was unknown about Severus. He had explained the essential truth of his past life, without detail to fill in the shadows. I wish I knew more about you, but it's only fair. You know as little about me as I do about you.

Severus had been a man on the brink when he had first taken up lodging with her. He was quite thin, with great shadows under his eyes and a sense that some ineffable sadness had just recently left him. Since the spring, he had grown healthier in so many ways. His body was recovered from whatever war it had been through. He put on weight and his color improved. Strength and power once again took up residence in his frame. He was the most graceful man she had ever seen. More than once Julia had stood at her front window admiring the sight of him walking home. He was a quiet man that loved books and led tours for a living. When she watched him walk home she saw a man that looked forbidding. No one would step in his way. If he was walking quickly to get away from a pursuing tour member he looked like a hawk, streaking down the lane. Her eyebrow rose a fraction. Everyone knows that hawks prefer to be hooded…I'll definitely have to approach that carefully, but I think he'd love it.

Julia took time to kiss his upper arm, just under where her head lay. She ran her eyes over the tips of his black hair where it lay against his throat. She closed her eyes and inhaled to enjoy the sleep warmed scent of his body. His smell was just right to her. His scent was dark, complex with spice, musk and just a hint of some indefinable bright note. Exactly the way a man should smell. Behind closed eyes, her mind rambled.

Two years ago I thought I might die of humiliation and misery. I never thought I'd be a member of the first wife's club. Tony thought he was trading up when a 24 year old looked his way.

A brittle thought turned into a sober one. Her hand skated delicately along Severus' left side. I would have been happy with his half hearted love and companionship. I wouldn't have known what I have now.

She looked once again at the window and the snow that was falling more heavily now. Well, it's cold enough for hell to freeze over and I can honestly say, 'Thanks Tony.' I hope you find what you're looking for, because I have.

Julia opened her eyes and slid her gaze along Severus' jaw and up to his edible lower lip. Gods, for a man who can cut a person to shreds with his tongue to have such a beautiful mouth…

They had fought only a few times and Julia knew that Severus struggled mightily to control his sarcasm. She had seen clerks, waiters, and errant members of his tour groups quail underneath the measured lash of his tongue. Thinking of his lashing tongue made her squeeze her thighs together for a bit more pressure.

Julia's humid gaze traveled from Severus' expressive mouth to his prodigious nose. He was sensitive about the size of his nose. She loved his hawk-like profile. It fit his nature and in combination with that lash of a tongue, it was a powerful tool in his repertoire of lovemaking. He laughed out loud when he saw what else his nose was good for besides his sense of smell.

Finally Julia raised her eyes to his, expecting to see the familiar sweep of black lashes laying against pale, slightly rosy, sleep warmed skin. Instead she met his half lidded eyes, their black depths alert and not at all sleepy.

"Oh, I thought you were asleep. I hope I didn't wake you." Julia ducked her head a bit and blushed at the spectacle that her body was making of her. The track of his gaze on her breasts was tangible. Her breath came more quickly as the skin of her face and upper body colored.

Severus pulled Julia so that her shamelessly begging breasts were pressed flush against his body. He bent his head and poured the heat of his breath and his quiet voice into her ear. "What a pretty blush, but I am not fooled one bit. You are no innocent, not after the plundering you just gave me when you thought I was asleep and helpless to stop you."

Julia managed a shuddering breath, "Good morning, love." She whispered to him.

Severus reached out with his left hand and pulled the carefully nested blankets down until she was naked to the tops of her round sloping backside. He slid his hand up her back and nestled it into the hair at the nape of her neck. He pulled her head back and she stared into eyes no longer sleepy or half lidded. His eyes were wide and bright and darting all over her, as if he could not decide which part of her beauty to enjoy first. "Yes. It is a good morning. Remarkably, it begins this way nearly every day."

Severus grinned and leaned down to kiss the corner of her lips. Julia opened her mouth for his kiss and he covered her lips with his own, never letting go of her hair. He released her mouth and looked down into her face to enjoy the sight of her coral lips that remained open for plundering. He leaned in and whispered, "We both know what you have on your mind. The question is, shall you go for a ride or shall I?"

Her peal of laughter rang through the early morning sun. Julia rolled onto her back. "It's too cold for a lady to go for a ride. You've warmed my ear and my lips. Now I want you to warm my belly."

Julia lay with her thighs open and Severus lay on his right elbow. With a firm, possessive touch he drug his fingers down her belly. "Well, I think I should warm something else first." He pulled his fingers back with her warmth and scent covering them."What have you been up to before you woke me?"

Julia pulled him with her considerable strength until he was resting between her legs. He looked down and shook his head in a disbelieving fashion. "How can you be so ready?" He brushed her quivering body with the head of his erection.

Long, strong, feminine fingers reached around and grasped his firm buttocks and pulled him unceremoniously inside of her. Julia raised her legs and twined them around his hips.

Her voice rang in the bed chamber, not in laughter this time, but desire. "You," she panted, "Have got to stop asking stupid questions." She arched up to meet his thrust.

Severus Snape lay between his woman's legs, stroking her with his body, holding her head cradled in his large hands, feasting on her lips, casting his eyes down to watch her breasts jostle with the motion of his thrusts. "Twin does in a field of lilies." He whispered to himself.

They traveled a well practiced road of pleasure and soon lay together with their legs entwined. Julia said with mock anger, "How can I be so ready? It's not as if you didn't plan on laying there seducing me while you were sleeping."

Severus raised a sleepy eyebrow over closed eyes. "Yes, that was my plan all along." He wrapped his arms around her, nestled his nose into her hair and began just where he had started. Julia's lips were close enough to his chest to feel his warmth and she had all the time in the world to stare, because he was nearly asleep.

Before Julia followed Severus down into sated sleep she whispered, "Do you think you could keep your eyes closed and let me have my way with you or would you need a blindfold?" She smooched his chest and waited for the other shoe to drop.

Severus lay with his dark eyes wide open, a pink smudge rising on his pale cheek. He licked his lips, "I think I might need a blindfold to prevent me from watching you." There was a pause and his voice hardened a little. "You may not tie my hands." His arms were a little stiffer.

Julia sat up and put her nose against his. "Never, love. Never worry. I intend only to hold you in suspense."

She looked closely at Severus. Brushing his hair back with one hand, she said, "A blush looks good on you." With that she darted in and collected a hard and fast kiss.

Shivering, she collected the fallen blankets and snuggled down again beside him. "It's so damn cold up here. Why do we sleep up here again?"

She heard his voice rumble under her ear. "There's a fireplace in your room. I prefer it up here." He kissed the top of her head and they both descended into slumber.

Julia's last muzzy thought was, What in God's name is wrong with having a fireplace?

Up next, The Ghosts of Christmas Past.