Serpents and Thorns: The Building Storm
By Jedi Blu, Lady at Large
Beta: Thanks go to Foggy Librarian—who is over-worked and very under-paid.
Notes: Been reading this marvelous PotO Phic (as they call them, weird how each genre has its own slang terms) in which the author updates once or twice a day. I wish I was that inspired! She's also got over eight hundred reviews! Look for her under the name Mandy the O if you're interested.
.s.L.y.T.h.E.r.I.n.
CHAPTER SEVEN: Playing with Fire
.s.L.y.T.h.E.r.I.n.
Severus listened to Rose rummage around among the bottles in her bathroom and he stood—wishing to leave before she could coerce the kindness of caring for his wounds upon him. But...he found himself not really wanting to leave. Holding her in his arms had been, for those few minutes, relaxing and soothing in a way nothing had been for over a decade.
The witch returned from the bathroom with a determined look—she knew what she was up against. "Take off your shirt, Severus, and sit on the ottoman." She gestured to the footstool in front of her favorite chair.
"This isn't—"
"Necessary. I know," she interrupted, fixing him with her own determined glare. "Don't make me jinx you into submissiveness, Severus—you know I will if I have to."
She was right; he knew very well she would do so. He grunted, a sound of half-disgust and half-agreement. Severus unbuttoned his black jacket, then the black shirt underneath. He cast them both off despondently over the back of her chair. There was a chain around his neck, but he had that off and shoved into the pockets of his slacks before she could see more than a glimpse of silver.
Rose gasped, taking in what she could see with a sudden pang of sympathy. She suddenly wished she hadn't been avoiding him, and had noticed the bruises and scrapes on his body before.
Severus was pale-skinned, which made the dark bruising and scratches all over him stand out all the more. "Oh, Severus," she whispered, wincing as she came closer. She knew better than to ask what had happened.
Moodily, he sat on the ottoman, not looking at her expression. "Get on with it," he growled, clenching his jaw.
The woman swallowed the momentary irritation his coldness caused, then set her shoulders. She opened the jar of salve and knelt behind him. "It's going to sting the scratches," she whispered then caught herself and said more firmly, "It's something I developed with Andrew Mankiller's help. As you know, the saliva of a vampire has healing properties."
His entire body jolted when she put the first of the salve on a red welt which ran from shoulder to shoulder. "Cold," he muttered by way of excuse, though his breath hissed from between his teeth because of pain.
Rose blew, gently, along the inflamed skin and the burn she knew she was causing. The effect was immediate—he relaxed, though the muscles in his shoulders and back remained tense. It was a slow process—she would put a layer of the salve on, speaking of the healing properties of the medicine, then blow gently over the area to help stem away the pain.
From his back she went to his arms, then to his chest where the scratches were denser and longer—he had been attacked much more heavily there but by what she dared not ask. This took even more time, and she spoke less as she tried to keep the salve from hurting him further.
Severus, for his part, had enjoyed listening to the sound of her voice despite the pain—the feel of her breath against his skin was almost unbearable, however, as were the almost caressing touches of her gentle hands. He could feel his muscles knotting from tension and other parts of his body reacted to her proximity as well. Did she have to be so infuriatingly gentle?
Sixteen years was a long time to go without.
Meanwhile, Rose had noticed some of the scratches went below the waistband of his pants. She closed the salve jar and held it out to him, concern etched onto her face as she looked up. "Take this with you, Severus, you're going to need more." More of her hair had escaped from her bun, allowing soft auburn curls to frame her delicate featured face. Her cheeks were flushed, giving her the color she was often times without, and her eyes reflected the warmth of the dancing flames in the hearth.
Reigning in his sudden impulse to take her into his arms—an impulse which momentarily alarmed him—Severus cleared his throat before speaking softly. "Thank you." But he did not hasten to depart. Instead he slowly moved to put his shirt on, though he left it loose and unbuttoned. "Now sit on the stool."
She looked as if she might protest, but she finally gave in with a little sigh. Once she was seated, Severus positioned himself on the chair behind her. "You have a headache," he noted by way of explanation.
"How did you know?"
His hands came to her shoulders—his long fingers began to gently massage her shoulders. "You wrinkle your nose when you head hurts," he answered quietly. "You wince a little."
"Oh." Beneath his hands her stress began to fade away, her headache abated.
He undid her hair, taking out the three magicked pins which had held all else in place. The auburn hair tumbled over her shoulders and down her back, lit to a coppery color when the firelight caught certain strands. He held his breath and then let it out quietly as he summoned her hairbrush. "Acciobrush."
Rose loved the feel of his hands, and the gentle strokes of the brush soothed her. All the tension and the pain in her body slowly, slowly seeped away under his gentle ministrations. No doubt he was paying such attention to her well-being to repay her own concern for his. Severus wasn't one who liked debts, of any kind. Her eyelids became heavy, she leaned her cheek against his knee and sighed happily, content for the moment.
After a time she began to drift into the realm of the unconscious mind—dreams crept upon her and were on the verge of drawing her into their depths when Rose felt her body lifted into the air. She came back to herself drowsily, hardly aware of what went on around her.
Severus's arms held her, carrying her carefully to her bed on the other side of the room. She felt her head lowered onto the pillow, her bed was soft beneath her. The blankets were pulled up and the body of her husband began to draw away.
"No," she murmured, reaching out and catching hold of his sleeve. "Stay with me...please, Severus."
He hesitated—his mind rebelling against the urge to slip into her bed, to the warmth of being so close to her. Other parts of him tempting him further, arguing it could not hurt…just for one night….
"Severus," she whispered again, her physical hold on him loosening even though her unknown, emotional hold was taking a firm grip.
The wizard sighed and stepped out of his shoes. He slid beneath her blankets and did not need to wait a moment before she moved closer, snuggling up to his warmth. He put his arms around her, drawing her closer, inhaling the scent of rainstorms from her skin and hair. She laid her cheek against his chest, bare beneath his unbuttoned shirt, and she sighed as her conscious mind departed amidst comfort and warmth.
The curve of her body against his, soft and sensuous, made his senses reel; the soft sounds of her breath, the curve of her breasts against his side, and her scent surrounding him filled Severus with an intense longing, a heavy need—but he contented himself with holding her this night...with having her warmth. He also had the knowledge that she was still his, and for the time being it was enough.
.s.L.y.T.h.E.r.I.n.
Severus awoke with a start in a dark room he did not recognize, sitting bolt upright with his blood pounding loudly in his ears. He caught his breath, stilling his body to try and make sense of his surroundings. He was covered in a cold sweat—
"Severus?" a soft, sleepy voice murmured beneath him from a pillow. "Something wrong?"
He remembered who she was in a rush of mental scrambling, but not how she had come to be there; his body did not relax. Her hand was on his arm, the physical contact allowed his frantic mind to slow and his erratic heartbeat to calm. "Rose?" he whispered, his voice hoarse after hours of sleep. Or did he still sleep? Why was she here?
"I think you had a nightmare." He felt her sit up beside him, her hand against his cheek and then her fingers gently running through his hair. "You cried out in your sleep and sat up." Her other hand went to rest on his bare chest. "You're sweating, too."
Shuddering once, he fell back onto her pillows, pulling her against him as a drowning man might pull his rescuer into the depths of deadly waters. "I don't remember a nightmare," he whispered, holding her close. "I remember terror." He also remembered where he was completely now—her room, her bed.
Rose began to murmur soothing, nonsense words against his neck as her hand stroked his hair gently. "You're safe, Severus," she said. "You're with me. You're safe."
Oddly enough these words were a comfort to him. He relaxed at last, the tension left him. "It's warm in here," he muttered quietly, sounding distracted. "I sleep in the dungeons where it's cooler."
"You're hot-natured," she said, a smile in her tone. "But you're fully dressed, Severus." She chuckled. "As am I. It is uncomfortable."
Rose moved away from him, sitting up, undoing the buttons of her blouse and tossing it away, then her floor-length black skirt was more awkwardly removed. His shirt and socks ended up on the floor of her bedroom as well and then he collapsed once more onto her pillows with a sigh of relief. The witch, as she curled up again at his side, was in naught but a camisole and slip.
"Good thing tomorrow's Saturday," Severus muttered. He wondered if he would ever get to sleep again with her beside him...so close...so easily within reach.
Rose didn't comment, she merely snuggled closer and sighed. "Do you always have nightmares?"
"Not always," he answered softly. Slow, sweet torture was perhaps the worst kind. The feel of her skin, the brush of her breast as she breathed in and out…close to him and yet he could not yet touch her as a husband had every right to touch a wife. There was a block there, one of his own devising, which would not allow it.
"Oh." She yawned. "Severus, may I tell you something personal?"
There was a brief pause.
"Go ahead," he allowed at last.
Rose reached up and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "You're a very attractive man; you've stayed in excellent shape." One of her hands fell to gently trace a circle on his chest, her smooth fingertips carefully stroking his skin...straying a little too close to his sides.
There was a low rumble in his chest as he suppressed a laugh—she abruptly stopped, though she rested her fingers nearer his ribs...a light threat. "Thank you." He kissed the top of her forehead and sighed. "I'm very much awake now." His confession sounded distracted, he was even then trying to refocus his thoughts away from her warm, soft body, while trying to avoid twitching away from her tormenting fingers.
"Complaining?" she nearly purred as one of her fingers came up to gently trace his jaw. "Tomorrow is Saturday...we needn't be up early."
He shifted slightly, turning onto his side to look through the darkness at her. "That sounded like a proposition." His body rebelled at what his mind was thinking—it would be so easy to give into her at that moment.
"Did it?" Rose asked, her voice low and quiet. "Would you like it to be?"
Severus shuddered as her words and tone seeped into him, stirring his blood. His fingers lightly stroked her bare shoulder down to her wrist. "I want nothing more," he murmured, "at this moment than I want you. But," he interrupted himself as his body cried out its need, "I won't do anything about that until we're both honestly ready for a commitment. I don't want this to be meaningless, Rose." He sighed, his warm breath tickling her cheeks and forehead. "I shouldn't even be here."
"Don't leave me," she murmured, moving closer, a quiet desperation in her voice. It was as if she was afraid of being over-heard. "Severus, I've been so lonely since I left. I'm tired of being alone. Just—just stay with me tonight. Please?"
He pressed his lips briefly to her forehead, murmuring his words against her skin. "You're a temptation, Rose."
"So are you," she countered, touching his cheek with her fingertips. "Severus I want to tell you something important. There's never been anyone—" her voice had a hitch to it, she had to swallow back a nameless emotion before continuing. "You're still the only man I ever—"
"Really?" He chuckled, then pulled her to him in a close embrace. He stilled his physical needs with that knowledge…there had been no one else for Rose…just him. "No one else Dark enough for you?" She didn't hear the catch in his own voice, the hesitation.
She groaned. "Fine. Laugh at me." Rose began to pull away, but he held her fast.
"Rose, Rose. I'm not laughing at you," he soothed, his voice deeper, silkier. "But I wish I knew what I did to receive such devotion. I'm not as deserving of it as you are. We must go slowly."
"I know. Don't leave me tonight, Severus."
"Not so long as I have the power to stay," he returned. "Now rest, witch."
"Yes, Severus."
.s.L.y.T.h.E.r.I.n.
Severus awoke to the sound of the shower running. He smiled to himself, listening to the water and the faint sounds of Rose humming. A familiar, sweet memory crept into his mind.
Rose was in the shower, humming to herself, after their first night together. He came into the bathroom quietly, having just awoken to find himself alone in bed. He had found his bride easily, the sound of rushing water and the steam floating through the bathroom door was evidence enough of where she was and what she was about.
Without preamble he slipped into the shower, earning a small yelp of surprise from the young woman within.
"What're you doing?" she asked, her beautiful green eyes wide with shock. She stepped back, further into the water as if she wished it to cover her, crossing her arms defensivly over her chest. "Severus!"
He merely stepped closer, under the cascade of water with her, wrapping his arms around her slick, bare skin. "Yes, Rose?" Her dark auburn hair clung to her, smelling of soap and sticking to her shoulders and breasts in ringlets.
"I'm naked," she breathed, her cheeks a delicious shade of red.
"And wet," he added, leaning his head down, sliding his arms around her....
Severus snapped himself out of his thoughts when he heard the water shut off. Sorely in need of his own shower now—a cold shower—he gathered his discarded clothes and was out the floo in moments.
Once in his own dark, cool chambers Severus was able to get his mind back into focus. He was in the icy shower quickly, and out again in little time. He dressed in his usual ensemble—but only after taking care to put Rose's healing salve over the sounds on his chest—those on his arms were mostly gone and from the feel of things his back was nearly whole again as well. "Vampire saliva," he murmured to himself speculatively. "Most interesting."
He found his discarded pants from the night before and withdrew from a pocket the silver chain he always wore around his neck—her wedding ring, the beautiful black diamond set in a Mithril dragon's jaws. He put the ring briefly to his lips—a gesture and ritual which had become a habit—then let it lay beneath his clothing against the bare skin of his chest.
By the time Severus made it to the Great Hall, Rose was all ready seated and paging through the Daily Prophet, scowling all the way through it. She looked up from the article she was reading to shoot him a warm smile before turning her attention back to her orange juice and paper.
Severus took his customary seat beside her, pressing his lips together to keep from smiling back at her—it wouldn't help his image any to do so. To be seen returning any display of friendship with the woman who was still an unknown player in the game of war could be courting disaster. She folded her paper with a sigh and said something about tabloids and the idiocy of the press to Charlie Weasley who laughed and made a witty remark in return.
As if it was perfectly normal, she then reached forward to rest her hand against Severu's arm—only to gain his attention, not to keep it there. Still, it was dangerous. He jerked the appendage out of her grasp and fixed her with a cool, calculated stare. She did not seem surprised by his actions; instead she offered him a wan smile.
She knew how to play the game.
"Good morning, Professor Snape," she said lightly.
He merely sneered.
SNEAK PREVIEW: Coming soon, to a computer very near you! Another Malfoy Dinner Party has Rose and Severus stuck in a social situation they would much rather get out of, but when a Death Eater invites you over to his place it's not a good idea to say 'no.' Of course, things don't improve any when a certain Gryffindor lands himself into a load of trouble with Harry's Outburst. But it's time for a serious talk with her nephew, and It's a Jolly Holiday with Rose when the two finally get some time together.
To My Reviewers:
Mione1: Greetings, exalted reviewer! Many thanks for dropping your encouragement! It's so nice to be appreciated!
Mistressofhorses: Oh, but I WANT criticism! I need a pin-prick now and then so that I can improve myself. Do me a favor—look for something wrong before next reviewing and tell me what a horrible writer I am. :-D I never get any good flames, and I've got all these marshmallows to toast….
Evil Duckie of the BlackLagoon: Rose and Severus are becoming VERY close again. Poor Snape, though…stuck playing a gentleman.
Allison: Thankee for the review, dear.
Lydia: Loved your email—Semester just started up again. Will respond soon. I'm still very stuck on that one problem I mentioned to you. Durn it.
Kiss-of-Cuteness: The dreaded L-word will arise again, and soon. As will other dreaded creatures…like the Malfoys and Umbridge.
Black Sheep Alone: Y'know, I have a major problem with certain fics. Mainly the ones where Severus throws all caution to the wind and jumps in any OC's bed within only a few chapters. PLEASE, there is more to romance than the bedroom. I'm trying to get that across. How am I doing?
Rae Roberts: Thanks. ;-)
Heather: Did Smeagol take over your body? Or perhaps a house-elf. "We loves it." Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself with this fic and I hope this chapter makes you very frustrated—or at least increasingly curious.
Loraliant Angelisa Snape: This chapter was a bit more from Severus's POV. I wanted us to take a peek at his side of the torture I'm putting these two through.
Maya)-sleepy: Ugh, wasn't it horrible when FF.N was down the other day? I was going to update then, but by the time it was finally back up I was too distracted with other things. I hope you get to read this one without unnecessary delays.
LadyLuck321: Haven't ever heard from you before. :-) Hope to hear from you again.
Jack it up Judy: Thank you! I went and checked out your story again. I'm horrendously curious about it—whatever will happen next?
See y'all next chapter!
-JB-
