Chapter 10:

"Sev," Hermione knocked on his door lightly, she waited a moment and whispered "Sev" again when he didn't answer.

"Mmm." Was all Severus managed to get out as he opened the door, "what is it, my love?" He gestured for her to come in and walked over to his sofa.

It'd only been a few hours since they got back from her first meeting with Voldemort, and there was no way she was sleeping, not after that dream. Severus wasn't entirely awake, so she brushed off 'my love' as delirium, which it wasn't… though he hoped she wouldn't think anything of it since he wasn't really ready to talk about feelings quite yet. They both liked what they had right then, there wasn't a need to complicate things.

"You were right, I'm afraid. I know I can handle it, I just… I can't handle being alone with my thoughts… I had a dream, about having to kill Dumbledore." She looked at him, pausing for a minute, for some reason looking into his eyes gave her courage. "But, the thing was that it was more of a vision than a dream. I saw myself killing Dumbledore, and… I just can't believe I was actually able to do it." She felt tears creeping out of her eyes, which made her angry. If there was anything in this world she hated more than Voldemort, it was people seeing her cry.

"Shh… it's going to be okay, I promise. I'll be right by your side, the whole time." He spoke softly, gently wiping a tear that was falling down her cheek.

"No you won't." She said bluntly.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't see you, you weren't there. I saw Bellatrix and Harry, and them, but I didn't see you. You weren't there." He tears increased, she hid her face in Sev's chest hoping for comfort.

"Well, I'll be by your side as much as I possibly can. Though it won't be as much as either of us want, I promise I will do my best to be with you."

"Thank you, Sev, I don't think I'd be able to get through this without you."

"You're more than welcome, did you want to sleep in my room tonight?" He turned her so that she was facing him, at that moment he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms all night.

"I'd like that, yeah. We'll just have to be careful in the morning so that no one can see us." She smiled, kissing him gently. "I just have a question," she said abruptly.

"What is it?" He rolled his eyes in a playful manner, being sure to not forget that she was once the obnoxious brat that he loathed not so long ago.

"Why did Voldemort call us a happy couple?" She paused, "and… do you think we're moving too fast? I just, I don't know… maybe I'm over thinking things."

"Of course you're over thinking things, it's just what you do… and you said a question, not two." He smiled, and then became a bit more serious, "as for Voldemort, it doesn't matter what he says. He sometimes just knows things without anyone knowing exactly how he acquires the information. Secondly, I don't think we're moving too fast, do you?"

"It's hard to tell, if it were with anyone else I would feel like it was too fast. With you, though, it just feels natural… I don't know, I just don't want whatever it is we do have going on to go away."

"That, my dear, is not going to happen."

They retired to the bedroom where Hermione fell asleep in Severus's arms, thoughts running through Sev's mind prevented him from getting much more sleep. He knew things were about to get really hard, he knew he would have to see the woman he loved suffer. He knew that he would have to do all of these things without her knowing how he truly felt about her, because if she knew things would be that much harder. Feelings would just get in the way at this point, and they both knew that. This was the most that they could be at this very moment, nothing more than a casual shag every once in a while, as well as 'cuddle-buddies'.

A/N: This is more of a filler than anything, something to pull the readers back in after my hiatus (which I apologize for). There's more to come, that's a promise, things are going to get dramatic and a bit suspenseful. Please R&R, your input is much appreciated. Thank you all for your patience. Let me know what you think! J