Thanks as always for all the wonderful reviews. You have no idea how many random smiles you've caused while I'm supposed to be working!
TW: Talk of severe torture. Take care of yourself *hug*
She was reading again. She had been reading continuously since they had set a Tempus charm over the cauldrons at 11 and would no doubt continue until he served lunch in 30 minutes. She was obviously uncomfortable with his behaviour last night, a fact with which Severus empathized.
Severus was furiously embarrassed - torture had no effect when it came to inducing him to spill his darkest secrets, but apparently a pretty face, his wife's pretty face, asking him if the blood on his robes was his was akin to a dose of Veritaserum combined with a Babbling Brew. He grimaced - he was lucky the Dark Lord favored such a brute-force approach to obtaining information or else the war would have been lost years ago.
She had barely looked at him before he pulled out the first cauldron this morning, a bowl of soggy cereal at her elbow. Every five minutes or so she would pull the spoon to her mouth in a show of eating something, nibbling at the end whilst her eyes remained fixed on the book before her. Her other hand continuously moved to take notes in her neat script, circle or underline various words and sometimes even full sentences, and at one point, furiously sketch a complex looking diagram only to scratch it all out moments later with an irritated scowl upon her lips.
Severus was grateful for the civility between them as they brewed. She was clearly dedicated to the Order's cause, doing her duty with aplomb and some humour as they quietly chopped, crushed, plucked, squeezed, and stirred in tandem until all of the day's potions on the brewing schedule were simmering. Unfortunately, just as Severus had cast the Tempus charm over the cauldrons, she had retreated once more into the pages of the book.
Her fingers were stained blue from her incessant note taking and there was already a quill tucked into her curls. With one last glance towards his wife, Severus padded to the kitchen to begin preparing lunch.
He set a frying pan on the hob, carefully crafting the flame to the perfect level much as he would for any of his cauldrons, peeled six slices of bacon from the block, and once the pan was the perfect temperature, placed them into the pan. It appeared that the fridge had been stocked overnight by what Severus presumed to be a house elf belonging to the resort. Hermione's stomach growled loudly as the smell permeated the room, but she didn't look up.
Severus had planned to cook something more complex, a show of how his potions skills translated to the culinary arts. He so rarely had the chance to cook. At Hogwarts, it would have been considered an insult to the elves, and at Grimmauld Molly practically lived in the kitchen. When she wasn't holding dominion, the most cantankerous elf would be lying in wait for anyone stupid enough to attempt to use the worksurfaces.
In the end he was too tired. She would have to make do with a simple hot breakfast.
"Mrs. Snape." Severus tried, cracking an egg on the side of the pan.
"Mmmm?"
"Would you mind helping me prepare the lunch? Perhaps by setting the table?" He suggested.
"Yes, of course. On it." Despite her words, her body did not uncurl itself from the small seat below the window and even while she spoke to him her quill scratched frantically across the parchment. It was clear where her attention truly lay.
The bacon began to curl before she spoke again. "Just one more second."
By the time she actually emerged from the book with eyes rimmed in pink and her hair wild and barely held back from her face, there was a plate of eggs and bacon waiting for her and several triangles of toast waiting for her in the middle of the table.
She smiled across the table at Severus."Thank you. And sorry, I know I'm terrible. Sometimes I just get caught up in researching and lose track of time. It's like the world fades away, almost." A blush stained her cheeks, and Severus welcomed its return. "I know that sounds stupid."
Ducking her head, Hermione applied her attention to her food as Severus chuckled. "Not at all. I imagine you will find us to be similar in that regard as I periodically become hyper-focused on my brewing."
The thought soured in his mouth. The joy of losing track of time, of immersing oneself so fully in one's task was unallowable until after the war ended. Every minute counted.. Of course, this meant she would only see him like that if the war was over, and if the war was over it was highly likely they would no longer be living in the same house, or, at the worst, one of them would be dead.
He gazed at her as she ate, her eyes flicking back to the textbook she'd nearly finished, and felt his heart sink. It would be the kind thing to do, to let her be free.
A squawk called Hermione's attention to the window where a large snowy white owl was perched along the sill. Heaving a sign she opened it The dark smudges beneath her eyes were highlighted by the light of sun as Hermione passed the owl a bit of bacon in exchange for the three letters clutched within its talons.
Two of the letters were encased in envelopes made of thick parchment and emblazoned with the Hogwarts seal, the unmistakable script of the Headmaster across the front addressing one each to Hermione and Severus. The third was a small folded note which Hermione immediately unfolded and started to read.
Severus turned his attention to his own missive, which she slid to him across the table without tearing her eyes from the page. He ripped open the envelope and a small newspaper cutting fluttered down into his lap. He quickly snatched it up and examined it.
The photograph was of a tearful woman embracing a slender man, who also seemed to be crying.
Ministry on Warpath - Fraudulent Marriages Dissolved
Severus scanned the rest of the article, his stomach turning to lead. The subjects of the article, presumably the man and woman in the photograph, had been best friends before the marriage law had been introduced. The man was homosexual and the pair had decided to marry each other to get out of being forced to marry anyone else, and… of course, they hadn't consumated the marriage. The Ministry had dissolved the union after their inability to consummate in two weeks had triggered an investigation, and chosen alternative partners for them.
Severus closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
The notecard from Albus merely read. "You know what must be done. If your marriage is negated, Lily's son will be in even more danger."
He folded the notecard neatly in the middle and tore it in half before tossing it in the fire. The cutting he kept in case he needed to persuade the chit of the necessities of following through with the order; no doubt she had received a similar missive in the envelope she still had yet to open.
"It's from my friend," she said as she pushed the letter across the table towards Severus. "I met her yesterday. She and her husband helped me when I twisted my ankle."
"You twisted your ankle?" Severus exclaimed in surprise, concern evident in his voice. "Why didn't you tell me? What happened?"
She blinked, surprised by his reaction. "You were gone. I went to the store to buy potions ingredients, caught my foot and fell. That's all. Nothing dramatic happened."
"Let me see it."
"I mean… sure, of course you can, but Esma is a mediwitch."
"She told you she was a mediwitch, that doesn't mean she necessarily is one." Severus retorted in a matter-of-fact tone, swinging around the table to kneel before her. "Which one?"
Hermione huffed but obediently held her left ankle up to him. Carefully, he pulled down the small sock to reveal a bright orange bruise. He hissed as he palmed his wand and quickly sketched two or three diagnostic spells through the air. He was struck by the realization that she had been in pain yesterday and he hadn't been here.
The regret which trickled down his spine was irrational. He had laid the groundwork for rescuing young Malfoy from much worse and Hermione herself had urged him out of the door. He couldn't have known she would get it into head to go on a walk, injure herself, be left at the mercy of strangers...
If they had left a curse on her, if they had even left a tracking spell woven over her ankle, Severus wasn't sure what he would do. He could feel the anger snapping at his heels, waiting to be unleashed.
The third detection spell came back unremarkable; it appeared the supposed mediwitch really did only heal Hermione's injured ankle, though it was possible that any other spells she had cast, malicious or otherwise, had faded away by morning. Severus let his fingertips touch the bruise. Hermione hissed. "You're cold." She chided, although she didn't move her foot away.
"Perhaps it will be good for the bruise." He remarked, dismissing her accusation. "I can't believe you were foolish enough to go out while I was gone. That couple could have been the Dark Lord's best friends, or worse! Self-interested people bungle about all day ruining lives."
"I wanted to make sure we had ingredients in the house in case you came back hurt."
The sincerity in those hazel depths seemed to leap out at him.
He let go of her ankle, handed her the sock, and stood up. "I am quite capable of taking care of myself." He chastised abruptly, brushing the dirt from his cloak. It hadn't really been what he had intended to say, but it was the truth. She couldn't go about putting herself into danger on the off chance he would need her assistance.
She sniffed, Severus couldn't tell whether from annoyance or sadness, and pulled up her ankle sock, eyes glued to the table. She was toying with the letter from Albus, turning it over in her hands. Severus winced. Not the best time.
He sat down in the chair next to hers, gently extracting the letter from between her nervous fingers.
"Thank you for worrying about me," he muttered. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just… I want you to put yourself first, alright? I am always in danger, constantly, and I can't have you risking yourself to save me."
"It was hardly like I stood down Vold- the Dark Lord," she snarled, her eyes flashing with anger. "I went on a walk in our holiday village to the store. I wasn't endangering myself."
With pursed lips, Severus attempted to explain. "Now that you are my wife, I suspect more people than ever before will want to kill you. The Dark Lord excluded, perhaps, but you have been on his list for most of your Hogwarts career, starting at the end of your Second Year. Other Death Eaters want to kill you to prove themselves more powerful than I am while some of the other Order members would attack you or kidnap you to keep you safely away from me. I just… I want you to be safe."
She was staring at him, her rose-pink lips parted as though she were shocked by his admissions.
"No man is an island, Severus Snape." She implored softly. "I hope that you will grow to trust me, at least, given that you trust nobody else."
He smiled weakly and ran his hand through his hair. She didn't understand. Each and every time he had reached out for help, he had been bitten, pushed to the side and ignored. Even before the Marauders, even before Hogwarts, there had always been another bully where a loving network of family and friends ought to have stood.
If he placed his trust in her and she turned from him, died, or betrayed him accidentally… that wasn't a risk he was willing to take. This war was his primary focus and it was imperative it remain that way. Maybe if they won, and he survived, then they could talk about trust.
Hermione reached across the table following an awkward silence and plucked the note back up from where Severus had cast it aside. "Anyway," she continued. "They have invited us for dinner tonight. I would like to accept."
Severus thought about it. He wouldn't mind meeting them in order to ascertain that they were exactly who they claimed they were. For his own peace of mind and for the safety of his wife, Severus needed to confirm they had truly done her no harm and that they hadn't heard his outburst last night. "We can go."
The way she twisted in her chair to beam up at him made him glad he had agreed to the invitation, though he kept the real reason he was going along with it secret.
She tore a piece of paper from the back of her notebook and jotted a quick note in reply. Severus watched with amusement as she went to the window, clearly with the intention of calling for the owl - the owl which had scarpered immediately after dropping off the letters.
She turned back to him, biting her lower lip between two sets of pearly white teeth.
"I guess I will send this later." She mused. "Perhaps the receptionist will know which cottage they are staying in."
She picked up Dumbledore's letter once again and fidgeted with the corners of it.
"What did yours say?" She asked finally, working a finger underneath the edge of envelope but not yet breaking the seal. "Is he demanding we return to London or anything similar?"
"I think it would be best if you read it yourself." Severus moved his chair to sit more closely by her side, angled so that he could read over her shoulder.
She swallowed and tore the envelope open. Her letter was written in the same flowery script but was significantly longer and more wishy-washy, although it did contain the same message: an encouragement into bed and a little guilt-inducing niggle that they were doing it for the Order.
"I can't believe him!" Hermione jumped up from her chair and only quick evasive action on Severus' part saved his chin from colliding with the forceful witch. "How dare he! How very well dare he!" She paced across the length of the kitchen and Severus was impressed at the amount of ground she was able to cover so quickly in her anger. He did wish she would calm a little; the sparks from her hair seemed to threaten his holiday deposit.
"Hermione." He implored nervously, clearing his throat. "Perhaps we should discuss this at the table."
"How can he think this is a way to thank people?" She muttered. Clearly she hadn't even heard him. "He just writes to us to order us into bed with one another like I'm a toy with no free will. I've given my entire life over to saving Harry's and he still… he still meddles with me. All the time!"
Severus shifted in his seat uncomfortably as her gaze snapped to him. "What did your letter say?"
"Much the same." Severus held his hands up to her, much as he would to an aggressive animal, in an attempt to ease her fury. "He wants us to consummate the marriage. He is afraid that if we don't it will harm Harry in some way, probably because they will need to hide you as well."
She threw her hands up in the air, crashing into one of the pans and pots that hung from the ceiling, the discordant sound echoing around the room. "Of course he brings Harry up in a letter where he wants us to get down and dirty. What better aphrodisiac," she sneered.
Suddenly the anger seemed to drain from Hermione and as her hands wrapped around her stomach, she deflated. Clearly, she had just realised exactly who she would be having sex with tonight.
He didn't blame the woman.
"I just… I knew he was one-dimensional. I knew he had pinned the hopes of the entire world on Harry, and he's so bloody small-minded that he forgets we're people after a while. I knew that, I did." When she turned around Severus could see tears clinging to her chin. "I thought he would at least pretend to care about us. We're adults, we're both smart… we can figure out what we need to do without him breathing down our necks all the time. And now, during my first time, I'm going to be thinking about stupid Albus Dumbledore."
He stood up and walked to stand next to her. As he opened his arms to her, Severus could feel the fear radiating from her. She rushed into them, curling against his body like she belonged there, nestling her head into the crook of his neck. He enfolded her, feeling how she seemed to vibrate skittishly like a foal.
"I could obliviate the letter from your mind." He offered gently. "I am fairly nifty with the spell, quite possibly the best in Europe."
She made a sound torn between an amused grunt and a sob and took two tiny steps closer so that her feet stood between his own. Her hair was a cloud that danced dangerously close to his face but it gave off a sweet smell of cocoa and honey that made him forget his half-eaten lunch and filled him with a hunger for much different things. As did the warmth of her body so close to his own.
Thankfully, before he was forced to push the wench away from him to hide his discomfort, a bell sounded in the other room. "Oh!" Hermione chirped. He felt the loss of her physically, like an ache, as she stepped away from him. "The potions are finished."
She swiped at her face in an effort to remove the evidence of tear tracks whilst Severus straightened his robe and marched across the room to the lab door.
"Esmeralda - that's the mediwitch who healed my ankle yesterday - said that this place used to be the sick bay for a muggle school." Hermione tailed off as she followed him through the doorway and down the stairs, picking up the thread once they were both inside the low room. "Buf it that was the case, why would this room be here?"
"The door has been charmed to be muggle-repellant and a Notice-Me-Not placed on the handle while the lab has no windows, but a modest number of brewing spots and seems to have been dug out of the ground as if by magic, though not by force. Which leads us to the conclusion...?"
Hermione blinked. "That the school hired a witch or wizard at some point as a school nurse?"
Severus inclined his head in acknowledgement, carefully stirring the potion which had been left to simmer five times in a clockwise motion while making note of the resulting reactions. He could feel there was something not quite optimised in the potion, the answer to a puzzle lying just out of reach. It had been frustrating him for weeks.
"Exactly." He affirmed. "Disappointed with their inability to heal the students by muggle methodologies, they turned back to magic."
"But why would they work at a muggle school?" She asked softly. "It seems an odd choice for someone born to it, to hide away from magic."
Severus took a moment to check on the other potions before replying. He stirred the first again three times anticlockwise, and once clockwise, as he spoke. "During the First War, while I was busy ingratiating myself into the Dark Lord's inner circle, the world grew more and more violent, especially for muggleborns and half-bloods. It was a dangerous time. In the year after I told the Dark Lord the prophecy, he grew increasingly... destructive. As his patience grew thin, the old way, political intrigues and the like, wouldn't suffice. He could no longer wait for power, he had to seize it. The solution was to sack, murder, and torture in a bit to discredit the Ministry, to show that only force was the solution."
Carefully bottling the mixture, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Hermione had begun delicately crushing the dried mint they would use to bind the Burn Salve together.
"Many witches and wizards fled the magical world and found solace amongst the muggles. Even some of the old families, the Purebloods who can trace their lineage back to Merlin, learnt enough to blend in. It was one of the reasons Muggle Studies grew so popular for a while. If you could hide alongside the muggles, then perhaps the Dark Lord and his motley crew wouldn't find you."
He turned the cauldron to its side to allow for easier cleaning, his eyes sad and unfocused as his hands moved on autpilot. "And the year after his defeat, not all the Death Eaters were found. The Minister informed the public that it was safe to come back, but the first family that did, the Addletons… they were tortured until there was nothing left of them."
Severus forced himself back to the present, to the scrubbing of the cauldron and away from the multitude of people weighing down upon his soul. He had done so much damage.
Hermione brought the powdered mint to the uncorked flasks and placed a pinch of it into each bottle. He followed her as she worked, scrutinizing each bottle by smell and sight, pouring a little onto his fingers to test the consistency. The process of checking the other's work was one they had used all summer and it ensured that each potion was perfect.
It felt nice to work as a team.
"Are there still people hiding in the muggle world?"
"I have no idea, but given the state of current events, it is likely there will be more witches and wizards leaving our world for their own safety in the very near future."
Hermione nodded, aimlessly twirling a curl around a finger before she turned on her heel and marching up the stairs.
Severus, confused and tired, followed her.
As soon as they were back in the confines of the kitchen, Hermione pulled out a seat for herself and stared at him across the table, then sucked in a deep breath.
"How will they know if we fail to consummate the marriage?" She asked, her eyes hard.
"There are ministry employees whose job it is to verify marriage bonds." He replied, dropping into the chair opposite her. She was a smart witch, she could easily have worked that out on her own, which meant she was desperate to find a way out of their impending coupling.
Unfortunately, he doubted there was one.
"And of course, there is always good ol' Veritaserum. I can probably resist the effects of it, but we don't have time to train you to do the same."
Hermione shrugged, balancing her forehead on her fist. "I'm sorry." She offered across the table, although Severus had no idea for what she was apologising.
She barked out a laugh and lunged up and out of her chair, swinging around the table. Violently tugging out the chair that was next to his own, she slammed into it, sitting sideways so that she could study him.
He blinked down at her, confused, as she stared at him.
Then, very slowly, she leaned across and pressed the sweetest, most gentle kiss against his cheek that Severus had ever experienced, even in his dreams. She pulled away slowly from his sallow skin and he could feel the ghost of her lips against his cheek as though he were reliving the moment over and over again.
"Hermione." He whispered. As Severus turned to face her, his nose almost brushed hers, she was so close to him still.
And then Severus Snape lost control. Like a man possessed he leant forward and brushed her lips with his own. They were just as soft as they had been in the hallway the day before when he had pushed her away. It had taken all of his willpower to give up that pleasure then; now, now he had no self-control left.
She was his wife, he could kiss her, couldn't he?
He pulled away, trying to see if she was still comfortable with this, but her lips followed him.
The world seemed to fall into place.
Severus placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away. He was breathing hard, as was she, her breasts rising and falling against the fabric of a small yellow top, the same one she'd worn the day he'd proposed. Her eyes stared into his deeply when he gained her face again and he licked his lips.
Then he stood, pulling her with him, turning to face her and… yes, those lips were perfection as he claimed them once more.
This kiss was not as unsure as their first three had been. Severus knew he was welcome, so he allowed his lips to move gently against hers, pressing small kisses to her as she murmured against him.
One of her hands brushed through his hair, scraping lightly against his scalp, and Severus purred like a cat as she did so. As a man possessed, he took hold of her hips and lifted her up, onto the kitchen table, so that those delightful lips would be at a more optimal level for him to explore.
He ran his thumbs along her jaw even as he buried the rest of his fingers in her hair, pulling her back just enough to rest his forehead against hers.
"Hermione," he said hoarsely. "If we don't stop, I'm not sure I…"
She laughed, a beautiful sound that echoed around the small room and made his heart stop beating for a few seconds.
"Severus Snape." She reached up to brush his lips again. "Take me to bed."
His hands tightened involuntarily as he clutched her against his chest, her head automatically resting against the curve of his neck as though it we made specifically for such a purpose.
The only potion now brewing in the laboratory was one that still needed to simmer for several hours. For once, Severus Snape was free to enjoy life.
Of course, it required him to pretend that this, too, was not a fabrication put on by the Order for the safety of the wizarding world.
His enthusiasm lessened at the thought that Hermione was probably acting, that none of this was real, but it faded to a background buzz as she pressed her body closer to his, nestling into his warmth.
He gingerly helped her off of the table so that she could stand once again on the floor and followed her nervously up the stairs to the bedroom. The bed was still made - when they had finally made it upstairs in the early hours of the morning, neither had had the energy to do more than fall straight onto it.
He turned to her, letting her take the lead.
She was darting glances between his form and the bed, her lower lip caught nervously between her teeth. He watched as she took a shuddering breath and steeled her shoulders.
He had managed to convince himself that she wouldn't go through with it before her hands settled on his shoulders and clumsily pushed the robe backwards so that it slithered down his back to pool on the floor.
Silently, she reached up to undo the top button of his shirt and Severus stole a kiss before she could. Once she saw what lay underneath, she might lose her nerve.
Then he danced his fingers along the line of buttons, until his shirt fell open. Hermione gasped and flicked her tongue across her lips, which were curved in a slight smile. "I never would have imagined that we'd be here. At the beginning of summer, when we started working together, I wouldn't have…"
He winced as she trailed off. Of course she wouldn't have imagined touching the greasy Potions master. He was hardly a sight students would swoon over - thank Merlin - and he had little in his character to draw someone as bright and loyal to him otherwise.
As her fingertips hovered over his shirt, he captured them and brought them to his lips, pressing his lips against each of her fingertips. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He whispered, squeezing her fingers gently. "It's alright if you need a little time to prepare."
Hermione smiled up at him shyly and nodded, her lip still caught between her teeth. "I am sure." She slid her hands beneath his shirt and pulling it open.
"Oh." She exclaimed as his body was revealed to her. "What happened?"
Her fingers traced the gentle curve of his waist, bypassing all the ugly, ropey scars that marked him.
He couldn't help it, his tone grew sharp in defence. "A war." Her eyes flickered up at him and then back down to the mess of skin and scars scattered across his chest and abdomen. "I can hide them, if you want. A little glamour."
Had he had more time to prepare for this he would already have cast it and she would not have been faced with this.
Her searching fingertips moved inwards, chasing each other across the ridges in his skin, causing his breath to flutter.
"Hermione." He moaned, not knowing whether it was a plea or despair.
"What caused this one?" She asked, tapping against the claw marks in his shoulder.
Severus smiled as he shrugged the shirt off, letting it fall on top of his robe. It was one of his more heroic scars. "Greyback and I were flying when we came across a small car stopped by the side of the road. There was a woman and child. He wanted them to run so that he could "enjoy the thrill of the chase", as he put it. I fought him and won, but he managed to slice through my robe and into my skin. Thankfully, the woman and child were gone by the time the fight was over."
Her fingers traced the wound again before moving down to his stomach, whispering over his largest, ugliest scar. Severus shook his hair out to cover his face as she tapped against it with the pad of one finger.
"That one is not a good story, Hermione." He warned.
"If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to… but I do want to know." Her words rang full of sincerity and Severus hesitated for only a few moments. Of course his little know-it-all wanted to know.
"A few months after I brought the prophecy to him, I begged the Dark Lord to spare Lily. He was not amused by my plea to save a muggleborn. He said he had always wanted to know if a wizard could survive disemboweling, and that I was apparently volunteering." Severus turned white. "Bellatrix was slipping even then. She's never been perfectly sane, but…" He sliced down through the air, dismissing that train of thought. "She wanted to do it without magic… so they took me apart."
Her eyes were wide pools of shock. "And you survived?"
"They put me back together once the joke grew old, maybe twenty minutes later." He shrugged, refusing to dwell on how hopeless he had felt at the time or how much apathy he had felt regarding whether or not he lived or died. "I had little choice in the matter. I was still useful."
She drew her fingers back and pressed them to her lips, still scanning Severus' chest with her eyes. "How many of these are his work?"
Severus swallowed. "This one was an accident." He indicated towards a blotchy patch of rough skin near his heart. "A cauldron exploded. And of course, I have one on my leg that was all Hagrid and his feral, three-headed dog."
Hermione's eyes didn't change and Severus cursed himself silently. He should learn to watch his tongue around this quiet witch, always brimming with questions.
"Severus," her voice wavered. "I won't let him hurt you again."
He felt the air around them prickle against his skin and he pressed his thumb to her lips, stemming the words he knew would follow. "Do not finish that thought, Mrs. Snape, or else we are both damned. I will not have you bind yourself in a vow to keep me safe, not when my role requires me to throw myself into danger with some regularity. You know as well as I do that you cannot protect me when he calls."
As she peered up at him and nodded, he slowly removed his hand, revelling in the silky feel of her lips against his skin. Sighing, he scooped up his shirt and shoved an arm into it, though a touch on his arm pulled him up short.
"What are you doing?" She asked. "I thought we were… you know." She toed the bed with her foot and he sighed again. The shirt hung uselessly from his arm.
"I imagine you need some time to come to terms with all of… this." He gestured to himself with a wave of his hand.
Hermione shook her head, setting her riotous curls to bouncing. "You are a brave man." She stated. "It doesn't change anything, I knew that already. But…" Her voice trailed off. "If you think scars are unattractive, then I have to tell you that I am not without them."
Severus' tongue was suddenly thick in his mouth. "Show me." He whispered hoarsely.
She shifted back, pulling her little yellow top over her head in one solid, flowing motion. The Notice-Me-Not which had been woven into the neckline of the shirt shimmered as it released, revealing a thick scar. It ripped from the bottom of her throat down to her stomach in one solid line, interrupted only by the fabric of her bra.
Just as she had done to his, he pressed his fingers against her scar. "Potter was right, you did almost die."
She laughed, a sad, brittle sound. "I know that." Her voice lowered. "If you want me to cover it, teach me the glamour. I don't mind. A lot of my tops have a...charm to hide it. It didn't cost much and it meant I could..."
"No." He interrupted. Her eyes locked on his.
Her vulnerability made him brave. "Hermione, didn't you hear me before?" Severus ensured her attention as he gazed into her stunning hazel eyes for just a moment before continuing."Of all of the people and all of the things I have ever set my eyes upon, you are the most beautiful by far. I'll not be having magic hide any part of you from me."
She gasped as he captured her lips in a kiss, though it quickly melted into a quiet moan as he pulled back and reverently pressed his lips to the collar of her throat, at the point where her scar began.
"Hermione." He whispered against her skin. "I didn't prepare. We should stop." He kissed her in between each word, unable to stop himself. "I can brew a contraceptive this afternoon."
"No." She breathed as she wound her hands through his hair. "I have an implant. Muggle birth control."
He smiled, his relief a palpable thing as it washed through his muscles as he realized this wasn't just a necessity ordered by Albus to protect his precious Potter. His witch had been prepared even before the letter was delivered this morning. Somewhere in his neck, a knot released and he breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Severus feathered a kiss against Hermione's collarbone and fell to the task of worshipping his wife.