~ Chapter 4 ~

Severus stared wide-eyed at the foreign bottles of alcohol before him. His mother's flat was filled with strangers that she seemed to know, most of them her travel partners and neighbours.

He glanced around the room and saw Hermione socialising with new faces, but he'd catch her eyes wandering his way now-and-then. He took a slow sip of wine.

Hermione ventured over to the table to fill up her glass, and he could tell by her flushed cheeks that she was inebriated. She walked over to his side and leant against the kitchen counter.

"Fancy seeing you here," she giggled and he smirked down at her red face.

"It's my mother's home," he replied sarcastically.

"Any ladies catch your eye?" A few of the women in the room looked to be his age, but there was no way to tell if they were centuries older than him.

He took in a staggered breath. "Just the one," he muttered.

"Who?" Her voice deepened, and she didn't hide the anger in her eyes.

"Now that would be telling," he walked over to the table to fill up his glass and she followed behind him.

"Tell me!" She exclaimed aggressively.

"I'm not sure I like you drunk," he turned around to smirk at her. "It's too easy to rile you up."

"You said you'd tell me if you met someone."

"Yes, I've seen a woman I like in this room. Having never spoken to her before we've already decided to get married and travel the world together," he went to return to the kitchen counter, but Hermione staggered and tripped over her own feet. Severus caught her and held her against his front.

His body reacted instantly.

Severus tried to push her away so she wouldn't notice, but she gripped onto his arms to stable herself. She didn't seem to notice the hardness stirring beneath his trousers. However, his luck soon ran out.

She stared up at him with wide eyes. "Oh."

He tried to push away from her, but she pressed her core against his hardness. He staggered backwards against the counter, pushing their bodies closer together. She started to move her hips and Severus took in a sharp breath.

Every part of his body screamed to push her away; it was wrong to even enjoy this while she was in such a drunken state, but one look at the lustful expression on her face made him question everything. Does she feel it too? His body ached for her, and not just now, it always ached for her.

She reached up a shaking hand and pushed his lank hair from his face. Ever so slowly, her lips moved towards his. Her breath fanned across his mouth and his heart pounded against his chest. He felt young again — not that this had ever happened to him when he was young.

Her thumb brushed against his cheek bone and he heard her take in a shaky breath. Her lips were about to touch his when she suddenly stumbled backwards. He stared at her in shock, but her hand flew to her mouth and she took off towards the bathroom. His heart dropped at the sound of her being sick.

Am I that repulsive? The logical side of him knew that it had been an unfortunate coincidence, but the degrading side came out to remind him how disgusting he was.

Michael came racing from the crowd and headed towards the bathroom to see if she was OK. Eileen trailed behind him and glanced at Severus with a smitten look on her face.

"I owe Michael two gold coins," she said.

"Excuse me?"

"I bet him that she'd kiss you, but he pointed out that the poor girl had gone a funny green colour," she headed inside the bathroom laughing, and Severus appeared in the doorway.

Hermione giggled over the toilet bowl and Michael stroked her hair while Eileen mothered her. "I think you should get some sleep, love," Michael said.

They'd been invited to stay in his mother's flat for a few days before they carried on towards Sunny Valley. Hermione had been alight with excitement at the prospect of staying with his mother, and it reminded him of her need to please everyone. I don't know why she'd worry about my mother; she clearly adores the girl, and so does her partner.

Well, tomorrow morning will be incredibly awkward.

Of course he was right. When was he ever wrong?

Severus stirred his spoon around the teacup and eyed a hungover Hermione through his strands of hair. She'd been given the necessary potions to ease her headache, but nothing would help get rid of the heavy weight on her shoulders. He kept catching her eyes wandering his way and she would look away with a blush and pet Bruce.

I'm a terrible man; I should've put distance between us when we arrived here. His mind could run away with the what-ifs, but his heart clearly disagreed. He stared at her again from the kitchen table, and she nuzzled her face into the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

Laughter came from his mother's room, and the door soon opened to reveal the loving couple close together, enjoying an unknown entertainment. His mother blushed when she saw him, and his lip curled in disgust. He was OK with her being happy, but he didn't want to witness or hear any of their night time, or early morning, explorations together.

"Hermione, dear, how are you feeling this morning?" Michael placed his hand on her shoulder and she smiled up at him.

"I'm feeling a lot better now."

"Good," he sat down in the armchair. "What would everyone like to do today?"

"I know!" Eileen exclaimed. "Hermione, you mentioned that you have plans to go to Sunny Valley next. There's a travel agency in the middle of town, and I see posters for it all the time. They can tell you everything that goes on there."

"I'd like that," the way she looked at his mum made his heart skip a bit. He'd never known anyone look at her in such a way — I think she loves my mother.

It made sense. The poor girl would never see her mother and father again, and being cared for by Eileen and Michael probably reminded her of being back home. Hermione got to her feet and walked over to Eileen. She poured herself some tea, and when Severus caught her eyes, she looked away sheepishly.

We'll have to talk about it eventually. There's no avoiding having a raging hard-on while someone grinds against you. He shook the thought from his head. Or the almost kiss, he growled in frustration.

"Everything OK, Severus?" Eileen asked.

"Fine." He grumbled and took a sip of his tea.

The morning passed by with an awkward tension in the air. Hermione still hadn't uttered a word to him, and he wondered if she expected him to approach her first. It was a silly drunken mistake; it wasn't like they'd actually kissed one another, and he dreaded to think of the outcome of that. She'd regret doing such a thing.

After they had lunch, Eileen herded them all out into the village to do some shopping together. Hermione stayed by his mother's side without a second glance his way. Fine, if she wishes to be that way, I won't bother talking to her. They arrived at the window of the travel agency, and there was a massive display advertising Sunny Valley. Severus no longer wished to go.

There were moving pictures of people dancing and singing together. He could see women putting flowers in the childrens hair. Food stands were lined with freshly baked bread and pastries; it screamed pureness and innocence, a place where Hermione would find solitude. Him, not so much.

His mother and Michael headed inside laughing, but Hermione stopped on the steps leading up to the door and Bruce circled her ankles. She marched to his side and stared at the window display with him. He could practically hear the gears turning in her mind.

"About last night," she sighed. "I'm really sorry, Severus, I never meant to act so frivolous."

Frivolous? Is that all she cares about? What about the hardness that got between us, and an almost kiss? I'm sure she'd be mortified if she ever kissed her potions professor.

He felt her eyes on his face, so he glanced down at her. "Severus, I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising for something so ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?"

Hurt flooded her face, but he still nodded his head. "All you did was stumble into me, Granger, nothing more, nothing less."

"Oh," she flinched away from him and headed inside. He returned his gaze to the display, only to see his mother shaking her head at him. I shouldn't have said that. He was yet to know what these strange feelings were that she caused inside of him, and the idea of her regretting anything beyond a friendship right now scared him. I value our friendship.

A squawk sounded over his head and Severus looked up in time to see a familiar disgruntled hawk land on a nearby rooftop. His brow furrowed in confusion and he stepped closer to the other building. Its black eyes delved deep into his soul, and dark emotions long forgotten these past few months resurfaced. Tremors rocked his body to the core and the hairs covering his body stood up straight.

The panic bubbled to the surface, and Severus felt the overwhelming urge to run back inside and protect Hermione. So he did. He ran as quick as he legs could carry him, and he charged into the travel agency almost knocking Hermione off her feet. He laced his arm around her waist and held her tightly to his chest.

"Severus!" She squeaked into his clad shoulder. His wave of panic fled quickly, and embarrassment replaced it. She managed to look up at him with worry on her face. "What happened?"

His cheeks turned pink. "Nothing!" He snapped, then disappeared further into the shop. He heard his mother muttered something about 'men'.

After they scoured the marketplace for trinkets, his mother and Michael left them alone to get some dinner together and took Bruce with them. They sat outside a little bakery and Severus focused on stirring his cup of tea and buttering his croissant. He could feel her curious eyes on him and he did his best to ignore her.

I have no idea what happened to me. That hawk is too suspicious to be a coincidence.

"Are we going to talk about it?" She asked suddenly.

"Which thing?" He retorted with a snarl.

She growled back at him and he stared at her in shock. "Why don't you pick? Shall we discuss your reaction to my body against yours? The almost kiss? Or, how about we find out why you ran into the travel agency beating on your chest like an ape, acting like I'm your property?"

"I don't want to discuss-"

"Am I that repulsive?"

Severus' shock furtherened. "No!" He responded instinctively.

Of course she bloody isn't, does the girl not own a mirror?

"Are you ashamed of how you responded?"

"I'm not talking about this."

"Why not? Severus, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, so I'm afraid we need to discuss this so we can carry on like normal."

"You won't be with me forever."

She gasped. "Don't say mean things because you don't know how to tell me how you feel!"

"It's the truth," he took a sip of his tea, and she reached over and snatched it from his hand, then pulled him from his chair by his wrist. He protested as she led him away from the main strip of shops and stalls. They came to a stop in a nearby alleyway and she tossed his arm from her grip.

"Do you want me to leave?" She spoke through gritted teeth.

Something tightened around Severus' heart at the serious look on her face. Man up, an inner voice said, man up, otherwise she'll leave you. His face didn't portray his panicked heart, and this seemed to hurt her more.

"Fine," she turned to leave but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "What?"

"I...don't want you to leave," he chose not to speak the 'me' that belonged at the end of the sentence. He didn't want to sound needy.

"But, it sure seems like you do."

"Hermione, I don't want you to leave," he said. "What happened last night...I don't know how to react-"

She stepped closer to him and tilted her up to look into his eyes. "Do I make you feel uncomfortable?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"In a good or bad way?"

"I have no idea," he replied breathlessly.

"Oh," she took a large step backwards and flashed him a pathetic smile.

A chorus of claps came from nearby as somebody started to sing. They walked out of the alleyway and saw a small celebration taking place by the bakery. A man circled around taking pictures of the girl singing to the crowd, and everyone else started to dance to the melody playing from the charmed harp.

The awkward atmosphere faded when Hermione turned to smile at him, and he knew exactly what she wanted to ask him. "No, I'm not dancing-" there was no point in even trying anymore. She grabbed his hand and led him over to the dancing crowd. She placed her hand on his shoulders and he instinctively grabbed her hand. They danced to the celtic song and Severus found himself happy that a genuine smile rested on her face.

She beamed up at him with her large brown eyes, and he responded with a twitch of his lips. "You should consider dancing as a profession."

"You're hilarious, Miss Granger," he said dryly.

"Thank you for the compliment, Professor Snape."

Her hand slid up his arm and she started to fiddle with the collar of his shirt. It reminded him of the last time they danced together. Somehow she'd managed to enchant him once more. His body reacted to her gentle touch. Once again, he thought it had gone unnoticed, but a blush flooded onto her cheeks and she gazed up at him with sated eyes.

Severus could hear the wind running through his empty mind. What was he supposed to say now? She could clearly feel it, and expected him to do something in response. Her eyes wandered to his lips. She can't possibly want to kiss me? He'd degraded himself enough to know that the opposite sex found him undesirable, especially to someone like her.

"Severus?" he followed the movement of her lips. "Can I kiss you?"

"What?" he blurted out, and she smiled in response. Why's she asking for my permission? To be polite? All I ever think about it how she would react if I kissed her!

Hermione's hand found his cheek and she slowly pushed herself up onto the tips of her toes. Her lips moved closer to his as he held his breath. The only thing he could think about was her immediate disappointment. However, his grip tightened on her waist and she finally closed the distance between them.

Her lips were soft and tentative against his at first, then she suddenly melted into his body. Severus' body loosened as her hand left his cheek and he buried his hand in her hair. A quiet hum came from the back of her throat which made it easy for him to slip his tongue into her mouth.

It was better than he could ever have imagined. She gripped on tight to his clad chest and moved her hips against his hard cock. An immense heat flooded his body, and all he could think about was getting somewhere more private to really show her how she made him feel.

Hermione moved her parted lips away and stared up at him. A smile grew on her face and a smitten look appeared on his own. So many questions rushed through his mind, but none of them mattered when she smiled at him like that. All of his unanswered questions were answered by a simple look.

"Severus — Oh!" she buried her face into his chest and he looked over his shoulder in confusion, only to find his mother, Michael and the damn puppy grinning at them.

A deep chuckle rumbled his chest. "It's not funny," she muttered and glanced up at him with a red face.

"I do believe you were the one who wanted to kiss me, Miss Granger."

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it."

He raised a brow. "I have no idea what you mean."

Hermione rolled her eyes just as Eileen appeared behind them holding the puppy. "It seems you two have been having fun."

"It's been tolerable," Severus said.

She hit his arm gently and started to talk to Hermione about Bruce. The puppy was content being in his mother's arms, and Severus found some joy that the dog liked his mum more than Hermione. Perhaps we can ditch it on her when we leave?

"Drinks for us all!" Michael's heavy American accent ruined Severus' mood as he appeared with a floating tray by his side. Hermione passed him a goblet of wine with a small smile.

There was no doubt in his mind that they'd be having a serious conversation when they got back. He wanted to say that he was fine with it, but in reality, his body trembled nervously at exposing his feelings to her.


AN:/ A lovely bit of progression here! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm happy you're all enjoying it so much! Let me know what you think of this one!