O.o Please know I hold midgets, dwarves, goblins and anyone of height less than 4' in equal esteem to average height people or taller people. If I offend you, please forgive me. I really, really, really couldn't resist since they're supposed to be 'under the influence', as it were. And I think Filius would have fun with it.

Chapter 10

He pushed her against the stone wall just outside the Hall doors and bracketed her there with his arms. "Just what do you think you're doing, bringing those buffoons to my birthday party and encouraging them to poison the staff. And what did you do to them? I have half a mind to put that ridiculous rabbit suit back on you and make you wear it all day tomorrow. Speaking of which, how dare you show yourself off in such a..." He couldn't find the words, they were failing him in his distraction. Instead, he gestured with this eyes and a shake of his head.

She offered an unhelpful answer, "Sexy outfit?"

"No! It's too revealing, too...wrong for being out in public!"

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, this argument again."

"What?"

She slid her begloved hands up his chest, up his neck, and into his hair, pulling him down to her level. She murmured into his ear, "If you're so hell-bent on getting me to your bedroom, then why don't you do it? I'm obviously dressed for the occasion."

He glared at her, "You tease. You know why."

She shook her head in all seriousness, "No, sir. A tease has no intention on following through with what...she...starts." Her lips came up to meet his as she talked, stirring his brain into arousal.

He tamped that down with difficulty and backed his head away, "I told you, I wanted to go slowly. I want more from this than a roll in the sheets."

She smiled with a sort of patronizing amusement, "Darling?"

"Mmm?"

She pulled harder on his neck which brought her up to him instead of him down to her and whispered emphatically, "It's. Your. Birthday."

"Not until tomorrow."

She laughed, "But I love you now."

He pulled away with surprise sizzling his veins, looking down at her in confusion and regarded her sultry smile, "Now?"

She leaned back against the wall and her smile melted into something more serious...genuine, "And forever."

His heart stuttered and skipped into a heavy tempo as he stared intently at her and came to the realization...she meant it.

She meant it. She loved him. Warmth cascaded through him and before it could complete it's circuit, he dove in and took her mouth, embracing her tightly to him.

She moaned and returned his kisses with fervor.

The doors broke open to the sight of Vector, Sinistra and Hooch all clinging to each other and giggling. The cloud of women turned to each other and started kissing in some impossible way. Hands were positively everywhere. He pulled Hermione further back into the shadows, but couldn't take his eyes from the horrifying sight. There had to be a bad joke in there somewhere...

She whispered into his ear and made him shudder, "I don't think they're going to notice anything but each other right now."

He nodded.

Then he shuddered for a different reason as he heard something from the other room, "Midget Toss!" Severus grew concerned and almost went back in the Hall to rescue Filius from—apparently—Hagrid, when he heard a ridiculous loud squeal of laughter that could be no one else but Filius. Albus' voice floated out over the cacophony, singing along to "The Indies to the Andes in his Undies", supplanting the secondary pronoun with a personal one and Otto Zilch with Dumbledore. Someone else yelled out for him to put his robes back on...

Filius cackled and ran out the doors with them.

"I don't think I want to know what else is going on in there." Thoughts of Albus and Filius nearly made him lose his flan. He needed to get out of there, quickly, before Albus started streaking the corridors.

He yanked off his outer robes and threw them around Hermione's shoulders. "Come."

"Mmm, gladly."

He looked back at her and saw her suggestive expression as she took her wand and slid it straight down the front of her corset. He felt a zap of awareness flick along his taut nerves before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along behind him.

He did not turn around at the call of "Nakie Time!" but Hermione was having giggling fits.

They had made it several steps down the first staircase when she called out to him breathlessly, "Slow down! I can't keep up in these shoes."

He watched her teeter down the next two steps to be even with him and considered her footwear. Honestly, he'd never really thought of shoes as sexy until now. Green glitter encased her foot and shiny black stiletto heels spiked up at least four inches. She was almost tip-toe and the push of her feet like that made dangerous things happen to her legs.

She huffed a little, looking like she was struggling for breath. He looked up from his drooling over her legs and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Corset."

Hmm. She did look a bit starved for air...

She placed a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Can you hold me up while I take off my shoes?"

His eyes snapped back to hers from perusing her body yet again and it took him a moment to realize what she was asking and how much he did not want that to happen just yet.

"Absolutely not."

Before she had a chance to get defensive or whinging, he pulled her close with an idea forming in his brain. "Hold to me tightly."

She wrapped her arms around him and looked up at him expectantly.

He'd never flown inside the castle before (bursting out a window to flee before being forced to do something that would seriously hurt Minerva did not count) and hadn't used this spell since the fall of the Dark Lord. It took too much dark intent, but he rather thought his lustful mindset met that requirement instead of the anger and fear that used to drive him. He looked down to her and whispered the incantation.

It took more concentration than he wanted to give away from Hermione in order to control his flight through the darkened halls of Hogwarts, especially with her shrieking laughter attacking his ears. Down the steps, down, down, down to the dungeons they flew, coming to a stop before his parlor door.

His adrenaline was pounding through his body and his breath was burning in his chest as he set her back against the nearest wall. "All right?"

She was gasping for air and grinning hugely, "Oh, God, yes, but I think I need to get out of this corset. It's going to make me hyperventilate."

Just the thought of being able to get her out of that thing had him growling before he attacked her with a passionate kiss. She moaned and kissed him back, breathing gulps of air in between liplocks. A moment later, she was limp in his arms.

She'd passed out.

"Damn."

She wasn't going to be too happy about fainting, but he played the gentleman and carried her into his parlor, magicking the door open and shut. There was nothing of appropriate size to lay her on in the parlor, which gave him the excuse he needed to take her into his bedroom. Why transfigure a chair when a bed was so very nearby?

Why, indeed?

As she'd said, it was his birthday.

He carefully set her on the dark gray silken counterpane and backed away to look at this woman—his woman. She looked absolutely gorgeous spread out on his bed. No one would ever know it from his spartan office, mismatched parlor, or his monotonous wardrobe, but Severus Snape was most definitely a closet sensualist.

Nothing but the finest woods, the best feather tick mattress, hand-tied ropes supporting it instead of a box spring...no expense was spared in his quest for the perfect sleep. He had so often denied himself pleasures during his previous 'life' during the war, he rather thought he deserved to have nothing but the best in his current and private life.

And now...he could share this love of finery with a woman that seemed to have a taste for sensualism, herself.

His lips quirked as he realized she still had that rabbit-ear charm in place. Her black fuzzy ears were slightly lop in her incapacity and it was adorable. He reached for his wand, canceled the charm and set it on the ebony nightstand.

His eyes traveled from the bronze curls atop her head, down her lovely and delicious mouth, over her creamy neck and décolletage before finally coming to rest on that Slytherin green corset. He reached forward and laid his hand on the belly of it, the tightest portion that created an impossibly cinched curve. Admittedly, he thought she had perfect curves, but this was something different, something tantalizing.

He slid his hand down her hip, across one of those suspenders that just screamed at him to grasp her hips—too bad they were over those ruffled tap pants and not naked skin—and reached her legs. He inhaled and tilted his head, enjoying the feel of the silk stockings separating his touch from her skin. They were of obvious quality, as was the rest of her outfit and he wondered if that was for him or for herself. Hmm.

His eyes completed their journey to her feet. She'd wanted the shoes and the corset off, but it would be disappointing to do so while she was unconscious. He wanted her awake and aware of exactly what he was doing.

So he contented himself with stroking her curvaceous legs and the stockings that encased them, hoping the soothing motion would bestir her.

His first indication that she was coming-to was when her left leg angled up into his caress. That was soon followed by a soft moan which evolved into his name.

He shuddered from his neck all the way down his spine. His name in her voice was still new and exotic to him. Seeing she was starting to fully awaken, he leaned over her to play across her lips with his own, watching her eyes.

She groaned, her eyes flared open for the smallest moment and he felt her smile break their kiss. She said his name again before succumbing to his mouth once more and he shifted to bring a knee onto the bed, sliding his hand up from her leg, over that delectable corset, and over her breast to her bare shoulder.

Hermione, his Hermione, inhaled sharply as his hot hand met her cool flesh and her engloved hands slipped up his arms all the way to his neck. He exhaled in delight at the feel of satin against his skin and arched into her hands as best he could. He felt lips against his chin, then teeth. She nibbled down his throat to the buttons at his collar.

It was dizzying to feel her nuzzling his neck to open his first buttons with her mouth.

How long would it take her to figure out that she couldn't undo them that way? He felt a few impatient tugs that would surely leave the stain of her lipstick on his shirt before she huffed and dropped her head back to his pillow.

"Is there something I'm not doing right? What am I missing?"

He chuckled and kissed her soundly before responding with the whispered words against her mouth that would release all of his buttons at once.

She looked down his body, groaned her appreciation and slid her satiny hands down his now-bare chest.

He shuddered in response, his abdomen tremoring at her slight touch. How long had it been since he'd let anyone touch him? During the war, it had become habit from mounting paranoia. Since then, he'd had a very difficult time letting go of that restraint...except now, with Hermione. For the past few months, she'd been worming her way into his personal space, making him more comfortable with her presence, day by day. As it was, she just kept moving her hands across his torso, around his sides, up his laterals and over his—he nearly convulsed—his nipples.

He buried his face in her curls and spoke softly into her ear, "You have no idea what your touch does to me, sweet Nimuë."

Her head turned into his as she ran her fingers over his shoulders and started pushing the fabric off him, "You think me bound to steal your power?"

He slightly rubbed his cheek to hers before answering, "You've already stolen my heart."

She paused and used the heels of her palms to push him slightly away. Looking into each other's faces fully, they stared into the emotional depth transcribed there. Moments passed, getting lost in each other, before she gripped his head and pulled him down to her kiss.

A/N: Okay, everybody now: AWWWWWW! On that note, don't worry: this is NOT over! Not by three chapters! ;) And I encourage every single one of you—if you haven't already—to visit the youtube channel for neil cicierega and potter puppet pals. Dumbledore's Nakie Time song WILL get stuck in your head ;) After that, watch Snape's Diary. You'll never look at broccoli the same way again. Of course, I never looked at broccoli the same way after hearing Dana Carvey sing about it, but that's just me :D Choppin' Broc-co-lee... (that will get stuck in your head, too) :p