"I know I keep saying this, but I am not surprised you are a fabulous cook."
Severus waved off the compliment "Years of living by oneself has its benefits I suppose. I can try all sorts of different recipes and the only one to test it on is me."
Hermione helped herself to another slice of chicken as Severus topped off her wine "Well, I'm disappointed to tell you I'm a rather atrocious cook. However, I can bake like there is no tomorrow."
"I have a rather large love of sweets, so I am okay with that." Severus finished off his own glass of wine and settled back in the old table chair.
"Is that what all that junk food on your table was the other day?" Hermione laughed "I suspected as much. I'm always finding candy wrappers in your apron pockets. Too many sweets are bad for your teeth you know."
"So says the daughter of dentists," Severus smirked "this is nice. I can't actually remember the last time I had a decent meal with another human being at the table. Especially one offers to make me dessert."
Hermione giggled, "Severus Snape, did you just give me a compliment? I can't tell if it's wine but I think you may be flirting."
For perhaps the first time in his life Severus's brain stopped turning. An indecision had reared its ugly head and he was suddenly fogged. Flirting? Him? Was this possible? Should he lie and make an inappropriate comment about her hair? Go back into his closed world of private tea parties and properly worn shoes?
'She'll ruin you,' his mind warned, 'She will take your heart and bake it into a little cake and eat it with raspberries and whipped cream on top.'
Hermione's eyebrows were furrowed in concern and she was standing beside him, when had she gotten there? "Prof-Severus? Are you alright? You look like you're going to be sick."
'Cake!' his mind screamed.
"No," he murmured, "I'm not alright." Severus looked up and was surprised to see she was so close, her face mere inches from his "What if I told you I had intentions of wooing you?" his voice was only a quiet whisper but the words echoed in his hears like an avalanche.
Hermione's face was a sudden mix of emotions, her eyebrows nearly reaching her hairline, mouth opening and closing as words tried to escape but never came. Severus found this torturing and endearing that after all the years they had known each other he had finally rendered her speechless. After several long moments she shook her head and became very serious as she knelt on the ground beside him. He couldn't help but notice her voice cracked when she finally spoke, "Is this a test Severus?"
"Probably the most important of my life." He swore, resting his forehead against his fist.
"Severus," her voice was soft "Please look at me." Her hand was on his shoulder now, tender and warm…
He did, and now her hand was in his long black hair, stroking and intertwining the inky strands between her fingers. She started speaking again hesitantly, "You know, when I was a girl and you were my teacher,"
Severus groaned and made a move to extricate her hand from his hair, "I don't like where this is going already."
"Let me finish," her voice was firmer now, and she gave his hair a gentle tug, "When I was a girl and you were my teacher, I just wanted your approval. More than anything. As I grew older I noticed how everyone around me began to change, and I Hermione Granger seemed stuck in the same know-it-all body. With the war happening and people dying I loved the idea that no matter how much other people seemed to change, you stayed the same with me. You were and still are stoic, cantankerous, and always a little sad. I wanted to know what made you that way, that if I somehow got the chance to know you, we could be the same together. I never doubted you, even in the darkest of hours. I love that I can work for you, and that you place that same trust in me after all these years. Even after I lit you on fire, stole from you and well… you know the rest. It pleases me far more than it should, and it does scare me yes. But only because I know how fragile it is, that this…thing we've built over the last several months has come almost from nowhere and I want to hold onto these feelings for as long as I can. "
Snorting, Severus shook his head, "That hardly answers the question."
Hermione sighed, "I'm sorry. I'm nervous. My heart is pounding like a hummingbirds." Here she paused and took Severus's left hand in her own, and brought it to her breast.
"Wait-" he started, but stopped as it came to rest on her shirt, her flesh burning like fire beneath it, heart drumming against his wet palm. Severus tried not to embarrass himself when he foggily realized she wasn't wearing a bra beneath the soft fabric.
"Do you feel it?" she whispered, pressing his hand harder against the vibration fluttering in her chest.
His voice was barely audible, but he managed to say "Yes."
"This is what you do to me," she murmured, chocolate colored eyes gazing into his "You make my heart beat like a silly little school girls, and all I want is for yours to do the same."
He made a small moan and brought her free hand to his chest so she could feel the heart thrumming there, a strong healthy beat "It's a war drum."
Her smile was electric, a flush creeping its way across her cheekbones and she tightened her fingers around his with a squeeze.
Severus removed his hand from hers and brushed it across her cheek and wound it into her hair, leaning forward until he could smell the vanilla of her perfume filling his mind with wonderful sweetness-
The loud whistle of the tea kettle interrupted the moment as quickly as it came. On instinct he shot out of his chair and rushed to the stove, moving the bright red kettle from one burner to another. Hermione noticed how badly he was trembling and tried to sound nonchalant though her voice shook, "Would you like some torte Severus?"
His sigh was loud and frustrated and a familiar icy edge had crept back into his voice "Yes, I think torte is an excellent idea."