Disclaimer: Not her, not paid, not even very good. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR.
My sincerest thanks to my beta, sempra, without whom this story would likely be unreadable.
Her Gifts
Chapter 9
Before dawn, Hermione awoke, being spooned comfortably from behind. Snape's left arm was wrapped around her waist, her right breast palmed by his relaxed hand. She could feel the heat of
his turgid length lying heavily on the inside of her right thigh. She felt his warm breath across her shoulder and his heartbeat against her back. She was blissfully content. Well, she was. Now she was aroused. Her nipples tightened. Her flustered mind raced with conflicting ideas on how to extricate herself from the compromising position in which she now found herself.
Snape must have sensed her arousal in his sleep because he was beginning to stir. His fingers twitched. He groaned softly and thrust his now hardened erection against the back of her left thigh. Not knowing what else to do, she grasped the hand cradling her breast and turned onto her back. She didn't think her professor would take kindly to waking up in the middle of something illicit, especially with someone who he couldn't tolerate until three days ago. But she also wasn't sure she should wake him without knowing if he had his strength back yet.
Then he did something completely unexpected. He slid his torso over her, effectively pinning her to the bed. He nuzzled his nose into her hair, then turned his face to her neck. And kissed it. Then he did it again, raising his head a little and kissing under her jaw. He suckled her earlobe, his warm exhalations tickling the fine hairs in her ear. Hermione's pulse was racing, her mind reeling from the sensations he was eliciting. His mouth moved across her cheek, softly skimming her lips. He pressed the slightest bit firmer on the next kiss. His arousal nudged insistently against her hip.
She returned the kiss, much to Snape's slowly awakening brain's surprise, lifting her hand and running it through his hair, cupping the back his head and pulling him in for more. Her other arm had wound around his back, tracing his spine with delicate fingers. He ran his hand down her side to her hip and back up again, kneading the flesh through her nightshirt. Forcing his right arm under her back, he pulled her tighter into him, drawing a moan from her as he deepened the kiss. She obviously wasn't repulsed by him in the least. He vaguely wondered how it was possible she wasn't hexing him at that moment.
She finally pulled back, breaking the spell they were weaving. Snape tensed, rapidly erecting his defensive barrier. "Pardon me, Miss Granger. I was mistaken." He moved quickly off her, his features affecting cool indifference.
"N-no, sir, you weren't mistaken. I… I'm sorry that I led you on. I admit I'm attracted to you, but this is moving too fast and I'm not ready for it." She noticed his closed expression and tried again. "I'm not… experienced… in that way," she faltered, deeply discomfitted.
Snape relaxed slightly, his heated brain registering the cool feel of her gold anklet against his foot. "There's no cause to be embarrassed about that, Miss Granger. I admire your fortitude. One would think, being in the company of your two friends all the time, you would have been tempted at some point." It was a statement, however the implied query wasn't lost on her.
"With Harry or Ron? That would feel, I don't know… incestuous or something. They're like brothers to me. We don't see each other that way," she explained. He nodded, propping himself up on his elbow.
Grabbing her wand, she Accioed his clothes and set to work mending and cleansing the blood from them. He watched silently, bemused at how this attractive young witch had come to desire him.
Suddenly a lifetime of insecurities came crashing down on him. He had to know. Was she planning on using him, to embarrass or humiliate him at some point? He sat up, pulling the sheet tightly around his waist. "Miss Granger, just what is your purpose in seducing me?" he asked rather sharper than he intended, ignoring the fact that he had been the one doing the seducing.
She looked at him in the pre-dawn light, trying to gauge the emotions of this volatile man. She decided to feel him out a little before answering. "I'm not certain I understand your meaning, sir." She wisely kept to herself that he had started it.
"I mean, Miss Granger, that I am not unaware of my looks and nature. Why in Merlin's name would you even consider getting into bed with someone who could just as likely kill you? You don't seem to be the thrill seeking type."
Going on a hunch, she replied, "Answer a question for me first and I'll tell you." He gave her a scowl. She went on. Pointing at the rip in the fabric of his shirt, she asked, "How did you get hurt?"
"Antonin Dolohov insisted I instate him as a teacher at Hogwarts. I refused." He saw the alarm on her face at the mention of the name and recalled her injuries from the disaster at the Department of Mysteries the previous year. "Yes, Miss Granger, but Dolohov's specialty of attacking young girls doesn't usually involve his wand." She grimaced at the implied meaning from his emphasis on the word wand.
"Then you've answered your own question for me, sir." At his confused look, she continued, "You had to know he would hurt you, yet you didn't back down from your convictions. You are steadfastly loyal. You are gifted beyond measure. You are the most intelligent man I've ever met. You have a commanding presence that cannot be ignored even when you don't say a word." By this time her eyes were shining, and Snape could hardly breathe. He sat in stunned silence, trying to fathom how she found this significant enough to be alluring. "Sir, there are plenty of pretty boys out there, if that was what I wanted, but I have found them to be seriously lacking in all the ways you are not." She had finished repairing and cleaning his clothing and handed the items over to him.
