Hermione flashed him a warning look from her position prone in the mud. All he did was raise an eyebrow in an infuriating manner; she let out a snort and pushed herself up into a sitting position once more. She closed the distance between them and rubbed her shoulder against his in a much friendlier manner than she had used previously. "What is it?" he asked. She frowned at the note of uncertainty in his voice and tilted her head a little.

"Nothing," she replied, "Am I not allowed to steal warmth from you?"

"Surely you don't want to get so close to your greasy old teacher." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I don't see anyone else around here!" she snipped back. The moment the words left her mouth she regretted them. The sting showed for the briefest moment in his black eyes before the veil was dropped once more. "Sorry, that sounded better in my head than it did in reality."

He snorted a response but didn't pull away from her either. Hermione fell silent, contemplating what he'd just said, or rather, not said. He'd appeared genuinely hurt at her comment and that made her pause. Why would he feel that? It wasn't as though there was anything going on here other than gathering some flowers for a potion and having a bit of fun. Not that she was finding it all that fun, she had to admit that. Still, she was out the house and away from work. His company wasn't half as bad as she expected it to be and actually, it was kind of nice to be flirted with. Merlin! He'd been flirting with her. Snape! Who knew! She turned to look at him again and gave him a lop-sided sort of half smile that was full of her realisation.

"Now what?" he groused. "And if you say 'nothing' again, Merlin help me, you'll be back in that mud!"

That made her laugh and she shook her head rapidly. "No… I just… well…" Her words evaporated from her and her tongue felt thick in her mouth all of a sudden.

"What is this? The eloquent Hermione Granger lost for words all of a sudden." It was his turn to smirk at her.

"You're flirting with me!" she blurted out before she could stop herself.

"I am not."

"Yes you are!"

"Not." He folded his arms over his chest once more and she flashed him another one of her warning glances, not that it was making any bit of difference at all. He looked more amused than scared and the infuriating expression. Slowly, she laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Her tone softened and she leaned her head towards his, her eyes flicking from his to his mouth.

"Yes, you are but it's alright," she whispered. The tremble in her voice was far more pronounced than she wanted it to be but there wasn't much she could do to prevent it. "It's rather nice to be flirted with after all." He blinked a couple of times before opening his mouth.

"I wasn-"

She flushed a little before leaning up and placing a tentative, gentle kiss on his cheek, silencing his words more effectively than any spell could. His warm hand moved to caress her jaw and she pulled away a fraction so she could gauge his reaction. His skin was soft beneath her lips and the tingle it sent to the extremities of her body was simply delicious. Hermione also realised that she really wanted to do that again, except on the mouth this time. His fingers danced along her jaw up to her cheek and were thrust into her hair before she had a chance to stop him. Tugging her a little, she found herself urged forward and her wish became reality.

His lips were softer than she had dared imagine and her senses faced an overwhelming burst of information. The scent that had permeated the air swamped her. Citrus and sandalwood and something that must be him and him alone, a deep musk that sent a warm wave through her, making her want more. The little noises he made as they kissed were a delight to hear. The small, wet suckling sounds of their lips meeting caused a deep heat to spread through her and pool in her belly. The best part was the soft sensation of his lips on hers. It was everything she'd thought it would be and yet it was so much more as well. The moment lengthened and she leaned a hand on his shoulder to steady herself.

When the kiss finally broke, she flushed deeply and pulled away. His cheeks were coloured a slight shade of red, or maybe it was the light from the fire, she couldn't tell. A silence descended between them for a long moment and she just looked at the man she'd just been kissing. Her lips were flushed and tingled from the pressure and she licked them able to taste him again.

"You didn't mind that?" he asked after a long moment. She flicked her eyes to his and found he was looking at her with a most strange expression on his face.

"Why would I mind?"

He gave a sort of shrug before crashing his mouth into her once more. This time, the kiss was more intense, less hesitant and more insistent. His lips parted and his tongue pressed along the seam of her mouth. It took her all of about a second to yield to his desires and she was lost once more. Tentatively, she touched her tongue to his. It fired more heat through her. Curling her tongue around his, she let herself become lost in his actions.

At some point, she'd pushed her hands into his soft black hair and was stroking the nape of his neck as they kissed. Her heart pounded within her chest and her breathing quickened. Such was the effect of his proximity and his deeply passionate kisses. There was no point in which she thought this was strange or wrong. His mouth took from her what it required and she took with equal passion. She never wanted the kiss to end but presently, he withdrew from her mouth and sat back a moment, panting heavily. "Where did this come from?" he asked as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"I don't know…" she let her words trail off and she grinned, "It's fun though." That got more than a little smile and she brushed stray hairs back from her neck.

"More fun than collecting Moonflowers?" he asked.

"What do you think?"

He rolled his eyes and leaned back for a moment. Hermione noticed that her legs had gone mostly numb from crouching for so long and she shifted so that she was actually sat on the ground rather than just hunkered down. He joined her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "So what now?" she asked.

"We still have about an hour before the flowers can be harvested," Severus replied looking up at the moon.

"And how do you propose we spend that time?" she asked.

"I could think of a few things we could do…" his voice trailed off as his gaze flicked from her eyes to her mouth once more. She nodded and this time, she was the one to initiate the kiss, more than happy to spend the remaining spare time snogging with the most unlikely person she could imagine.