A/N: Another 9k word monster for you to devour. Hope you like it. Thanks for all the love and reviews. They get me through the hard days.
xx-Kitten
Darkness and Silence
By Kittenshift17
Chapter Twenty-One
Severus Snape apparated directly onto the grounds of Selwyn Hall in the early hours of the morning on Christmas Day, and blinked rapidly, stumbling back a step at the sight of the bright glow emitting from every window of the house. Merlin's little green apples, he would kill someone if the Dark Lord or the Death Eaters had come back to the Hall following Dolohov's ceremony this evening.
He wanted sleep, confound it all! And he would get precious little enough of it as it was, given Miss Granger's presence in his life, and in his bed, henceforth. Snarling out a foul oath and drawing his wand, Severus cast a Homenum Revelio to detect just how many people might await him inside the hall. The rapid pop of two bright red sparks puffing from the end of his wand did nothing to comfort Severus. One, undoubtedly, would be Miss Granger. Yet it seemed that she was not alone. Severus loathed the prickle along his psyche and the tormented mutterings inside his head Dumbledore had stirred up, casting suspicion upon the girl.
Knowing his luck, he'd storm inside to find the girl fucking the youngest Weasley boy. Severus curled his lip, stalking across the snowy ground to the front door and narrowing his eyes when he spied the enormous wolf-prints that lead to the door. Dear Merlin, that wasn't promising. It was clear from the way the prints changed just before the door from wolf to human shape that Greyback must've been inside the Hall, and Severus's gut twisted with what felt suspiciously like fear at the thought that the werewolf must be the cause of the second presence he sensed inside.
Granger might very well be at claw-point and Severus despised the way that thought filled him with dread. Flinging open the front door to the Hall with far more force that was strictly necessary, a feral snarl met his ears as he stalked across the threshold. Severus cast a Shield Charm, but he needn't have bothered, or to have worried about Miss Granger, it seemed.
There, sitting just inside the door of the Hall, was the enormous werewolf. He had a blue knitted blanket draped around his body, and though his eyes were open, and his hackles were raised, he hadn't lifted his head from where it rested upon his paws. The barmy witch had tucked in the volatile, giant werewolf? Severus curled his lip at Gryeback in return, watching the way the lycan lowered his hackles and rolled his eyes at the dramatic entry he'd made.
"Been terrorizing my wife in my absence, have you?" Severus drawled, keeping his wand in his hand, though he noted that in addition to the blanket, the werewolf rested upon a large, soft pillow. The witch had made a bed for the wretched creature? Severus rolled his eyes. Obviously, he was going to have to educate her in further depth about lycanthropes.
He'd thought that having her see this monster gnawing on the human remains of the witch they'd killed might've cured her of notions that all lycans were like Lupin; weak, and scared, and sickly, and usually filled with a destructive self-loathing that bordered on masochism. He'd thought the witch had more sense than to try coddling the wretched bastard responsible for the largest outbreak of lycanthropy within Britain in more than five hundred years. Apparently, he'd been wrong. The little fool had clearly snuck close enough to the undoubtedly dozing wolf, and tucked him in like he was a small child, or a beloved pet.
Greyback held his gaze distrustingly, obviously not one of his biggest fans. Severus wasn't surprised. Greyback wanted out from under the Dark Lord's thumb, and he believed Severus to be one of the Dark Lords closest confidants. Just as Severus needed him to. The idea that the wolf was there didn't bode well for him, or Miss Granger, but Severus suspected he must be there on the Dark Lord's orders. There was no other way the werewolf would tolerate sharing his space with two non lycans, and especially not with someone like Severus.
"If I find any mess as a result of your presence here, Greyback, I will remove every fang in your muzzle, one at a time. Werewolf teeth are, after all, invaluable in potion-making and my stocks are running a little low," Severus said.
Greyback rumbled out a growl at him, but he made no move to rise, or to attempt to intimidate him. He clearly knew better. The last unfriendly claw the wolf had laid on him had been at the Dark Lord's behest, but Severus had ensured the wolf paid for following orders, even if he'd had as little say in the matter as the rest of them.
"And if you so much as lay a lascivious eye on my wife, I will remove every fang, and every claw, along with your eyes and your tongue before skinning you alive and then removing your wretched, black heart. Have I made myself clear?" Severus purred dangerously, knowing the werewolf's sensitive sense of smell would pick up on the Darkness swirling and rioting inside his soul, just humming with the thought of butchering him in such a manner. Greyback snarled a little louder in response, but must be too comfortable beneath Granger's blanket to rise.
Stalking away from the beast, Severus flicked his wand, dousing the lanterns throughout the house as he made a beeline for the bedroom. He could only assume, based on how well-lit the mansion was, that his nubile young wife must still be awake, despite having bid him goodnight and tucked herself in before he'd left to meet with Dumbledore. She had also directly violated the order he'd given her about not leaving the bed while he was gone, and given the mischief she'd obviously been into as a result, Severus was thinking that he might just have to punish her for her disobedience.
When he reached the bedroom, he paused in the doorway, eyeing the petite witch curiously and enjoying just a moment's more reprieve to observe her without being forced to interact with her. She hadn't noticed his presence yet, despite the slamming of doors and the dousing of lights that had taken place on his trip to their bedroom. She was too consumed by the fact that she was carefully and painstakingly grooming her familiar, having seated the cat upon her vanity table while she herself sat on the stool, brush in hand, repeatedly stroking the instrument through the creature's thick fur. She was crying, Severus noticed idly, pausing in the now-dark hallways beyond her view and examining her features in the reflection as she worked.
She didn't seem to be aware that she was crying, and Severus scowled, loathing that despite his disgust for tears, the witch's motivations for shedding them piqued his curiosity. Did she sob with the knowledge that, barring death, she would never be free of him? Was she horrified beyond imagining – finally – to have been bound to such a wretch as Severus? Did she lament the loss of her freedom, and the end of her life as an unmarried young woman despite her youth? Was she just overwrought after such a trying holiday?
Severus loathed that he wanted answers to all of those questions, because he highly doubted he would get any of them. She didn't speak to the cat as she groomed him, and Severus wondered if she was even aware she was still brushing the creature. She seemed entirely lost in thought, her mind far away and concerned with other things while her body continued on auto-pilot until such time that she focused, once more.
Worse still was the fact that, despite the puffy redness of her eyes, and the tear tracks staining her faintly blotched cheeks, the magic binding them so freshly as man and wife made him want her. His cock twitched inside his trousers, no matter the fact that he'd had more sex in the past twenty-four hours than he recalled having since he'd been a teenager, himself. Knowing it was part of the bonding magic that tied them together did nothing to cool his ardor and Severus frowned heavily in the dark, wondering what bothered the witch and how he might distract her by fucking her all over again.
Sweeping into the room with all the silence she had tried, and failed, to emulate earlier, Severus crept up behind her, noting that her eyes didn't even dart to his reflection as he joined her. The cat meowed at him, purring loudly as the witch continued grooming him, though by now, his fur gleamed and shone with care. Severus curled his lip with distaste for the creature, never having had the patience for a familiar of any kind.
Just as he opened his mouth, intent on drawing Granger's attention back to him. The girl's brown eyes focused sharply, settling on his in the mirror. It surprised him that she didn't startle at the sight of him behind her. She didn't speak, either. She simply held his gaze for a long moment, her eyes seeming to search for something she wouldn't voice. Severus remained silent as well, watching the way she slowly set down the cat-brush and stroked the beast twice before patting his side and urging him toward the floor, once more.
She remained seated for a long time, looking positively ghastly with the puffy eyes, the tear tracks, and the positively wretched flannel pyjamas that Severus had already resolved to burn just as soon as he next peeled her out of them.
"Did he lose his temper?" she asked finally, strangely detached, as though whatever was bothering her had withdrawn her into the same kind of Occlumency induced state he usually endured after a particular trying meeting with the Dark Lord.
Severus shook his head from side to side very slowly. "Albus isn't the type to lose his temper and shout," he said. "He's far too insidious for that. He prefers to induce guilt and remorse in his subjects by letting them know how disappointed he is in us for not doing better."
"Does he wish to see me?" she asked.
"I don't believe so," Severus shook his head. "There is little he can currently gain from doing so. He might request a private meeting with you when term resumes to corroborate the story I gave him, but he is not currently intent on lecturing or chastising you for something that cannot be undone."
She nodded slowly, nibbling her lower lip – a habit she was prone to when she planned to lie to him, and when she was lost in thought, or measuring precise ingredients for a potion. Severus narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.
"Did you have to see the Dark Lord again?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
Severus shook his head once more.
"I noticed that in my absence, Greyback made his presence upon the ground known?" Severus asked.
"You knew he was still here?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
Severus didn't answer and she narrowed her eyes.
"He stalked me to the kitchens when I got hungry," Hermione said. "The elves have cast some kind of ward to keep him out of the kitchens, though. Apparently he raids the pantry and they don't like it."
"You were in there terrorizing the elves?" Severus demanded.
She shook her head once more. "I was just hungry. I vomited after the ceremony, and so the feast was mostly regurgitated. Prior to that I was unconscious for three days."
Severus narrowed his eyes as the girl slowly rose to her feet, stepping around the stool where she'd been seated and turning to face him boldly. Unbidden, he found himself reaching out to drag the tip of one finger across her tear-stained cheek, showing her the tear he captured and raising his eyebrows.
She eyed the droplet as though it had betrayed her before scrubbing the hem of her shirt over her face.
"Don't worry about it," she sighed when he continued waiting, silently demanding explanation. "I'm just tired."
Severus knew she was lying.
"Do you imagine that lies for the sake of sparing my feelings will actually benefit this situation, Miss Granger?" Severus asked in a low voice, hating the fact that the flash of her midriff made him hard for her all over again.
"Do you imagine that assuming it has something to do with you every time I cry is normal, or healthy?" she retorted, and Severus wondered if it would always be this way between them.
He might be married to the witch, but beyond her keen mind and her insufferable habit of annoying him during his lessons by answering every question he posed and defying his instructions, he knew very little about her.
"I'm to believe that you are sitting alone, sobbing, for some reason other than your recent marriage to me?" he sneered.
"As a matter of fact, you are," she replied evenly. "There are far more troubling things in my life than you, Severus Snape. To assume you are the worst part of this mess for me is both arrogant, and entirely incorrect. Believe me, there are far worse things going on in my life at this moment than my being married to a man with a wretched temper and a knack for getting me off."
Severus curled his lip at her, annoyed all over again at her boldness.
"I wouldn't expect to get off ever again if you insist on wearing those in my presence, Miss Granger," Severus sneered, trailing his eyes over her horrid pyjamas.
"Did you imagine me the silk negligee wearing type, Snape?" she challenged, raising her eyebrows and affixing a smirk worthy of Lucius Malfoy upon her face.
"Did you imagine me the type to withhold my thoughts on them to spare your feelings?" he retorted.
Granger's puffy eyes almost sparkled and Severus suspected she actually quite enjoyed provoking him and arguing with him. She enjoyed being allowed to back-talk him as she would never dare as just his student.
"I imagine you'll have to get used to peeling me out of them if you ever want to be laid again over the course of this marriage, sir," she said.
Severus would never admit it, but as he reached out and snagged hold of either side of the wretched flannel of her shirt before jerking it open and sending buttons flying everywhere, he begrudgingly thought that he rather liked the sassy little bitch. She certainly sparked his libido, in any case, and when he discovered that she wore nothing beneath that flannel shirt, Severus smirked wickedly at the witch. Granger, for her part, certainly didn't look scared despite the violence that had utterly ruined her shirt, the buttons pinging off and bouncing away to be lost under the dresser.
"It seems I won't need much practice," he informed the witch, deciding to let her lies from earlier slide for the sake of ravishing her one more time before dawn.
He was bone tired, so he doubted he'd be of much use, and Granger looked beyond tired. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was frizzed, yet somehow flat, as though it hadn't the energy to properly coil into the wild ringlets she usually sported. Yet, despite the exhaustion, she stepped closer to him, reaching for the fastening on his cloak without hesitation and beginning to undress him. Severus smoothed his hands over her narrow waist, marveling at the softness of her skin while she shrugged the pyjamas from her shoulders to fall on the floor. She didn't protest when he flicked her pants from her hips, sending her knickers skidding down her legs to puddle around her ankles.
She fought him when he tried to scoop her into his arms, resisting long enough to peel his robes from his torso and reaching for the buckle on his belt.
It jingled as she undid it, the rasp of his fly like a strangely enticing balm to his overwrought mind. Severus could admit, at least to himself, that at that point he simply let his tightly controlled emotions go. She had proven in the face of his earlier lapse in self-control that she wasn't afraid of having him unleash his temper and his considerable power upon her. When she shoved his trousers down his legs, Severus toed off his boots and his socks while she stretched on her toes, tracing her hands over his shoulders and up the back of his neck until she could tangle her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. She leaned into him, pressing her naked form against his and kissing his neck hungrily.
She whined when Severus scooped his hands under the backs of her bare thighs, lifting her until she wrapped her legs around him before carrying her to bed. The breath huffed from her lungs when he reached the edge and let them both fall, landing on top of her and surrendering to the furious emotions coursing through him at the evenings events. He drove himself into her slick heat, lost in the feel of her warm welcome while his mind swarmed with the rage and fury over her capture and the Dark Lord's plans that continued to elude him. He was fucking married, for Merlin's sake, and he had no ide why. Severus couldn't fathom the purpose the Dark Lord had for making him Lord of Selwyn Hall. He couldn't unravel whatever plot it was that the Dark Lord was brewing, and he loathed being in the dark about it all. He loathed even more than he was being manipulated to things he swore he'd never do, and all for a plan he didn't even understand, yet.
Under him, Granger writhed as he hard-fucked her into the mattress and Severus could tell that whatever she been crying about when he arrived was still tormenting her when she dug her nails none too kindly into his back. She raked them into his flesh and she used her heels to spur him on, digging them into his arse and bucking into every thrust like she wanted it harder and faster and completely volatile, as he'd given her in the shower.
Severus didn't bother questioning it, only grateful that she seemed to crave it when he was already so intent of giving it. The bedframe creaked with their vigor, but Severus ignored the sound as he pounded into her, his thoughts swirling with the need to unravel the Dark Lord's plot and needing to figure out if Dumbledore was right and Granger had manipulated him into fucking her to begin with for some ulterior motive. He fucked her with the rage he felt at being forced to hand over his wretched father's name to a witch who, for all her flaws, deserved better than a wretch like him. He fucked her with his self-loathing, and his anger at this end to his solitude. He fucked her with the worry and the concern that they'd be found out and exposed at Hogwarts, likely costing him his job, and with it, his ability to avoid many of the more degrading acts of service expected from many of the Death Eaters when he didn't have a reputation to maintain and didn't have responsibilities he couldn't just drop on a whim whenever it struck his fancy.
He grunted when the little witch threw off his rhythm and rolled him right off her with more power and more rage than he'd ever seen, flipping him to his back upon the mattress before crawling on top of him. She was scowling fiercely, though she emitted a soft groan of agonized pleasure as she sank down on him, once more. Severus watched her, entranced when she began to ride him. She wasn't gentle about it. She gripped the headboard of the bed and she slid up and down his cock, her head tipped back and her back arched as she rolled her hips and ground onto him like that might somehow make her feel better. Severus doubted it would, and he longed to slip into her mind and find out what was driving her to such fury.
He didn't. He was too tired, and too angry in his own right to manage the effort of invading her mind without making eye contact – something he noticed that she was resolutely denying. He'd almost think she was imaging herself to be fucking someone else if not for the way he heard her hissing his name between the little moans of pleasure and grunts of effort she emitted. Bucking up into every downward thrust, Severus dug his fingers into her hips hard enough to leave bruises on the young witch, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to prefer it.
She fucked him like she was desperate for distraction, and Severus found that there was freedom there in that toxic and furious expression of anger and passion and hatred. He certainly enjoyed the view, in any case. When he felt the fizz of heat through his veins, indicating impending orgasm, Severus reached for her clit, slicking his thumb with her juices and swirling the pad of it over the little bundle of nerves. She groaned like she was dying, bouncing faster, grinding down on him harder, rolling her hips like she couldn't get him inside her deep enough.
Severus almost laughed when a little spasm rocked through her just before she clamped down on him tightly, her body pulsing, milking him of everything he had just as soon as he let go. He bucked into her, giving her everything his body could offer while his magic speared into hers and the ordinarily rigid control on his emotions snapped in a glorious explosion of power that rocked through him and into her with such force that he thought he might actually die. She lost consciousness with the power of it, Severus noticed when she slumped down upon his chest and stopping bouncing.
"Granger?" he asked quietly, his throat raw with the strongest urge to scream, and maybe even to cry as he didn't think he'd done since the night Lily had been murdered.
He shook the girl's shoulder lightly, feeling how pliant she was, her weight surrendered to him and her body lax in his hold. She rested against his chest, her breath still coming quickly after their exertions, but her mind blank with unconsciousness. Snorting, amused though he ought not to be, Severus suspected she'd finally depleted her magical core to the point that her body shut down to prevent any further expenditure. He wondered what she'd been doing while he'd been gone that she'd depleted herself to this level, but he was too tired, and she was too unconscious to allow him to seek answers.
Instead, Severus carefully rolled her off him and onto the side of the bed she'd tucked herself into earlier. He summoned his wand and used it to tidy them both up, arranging her petite frame until it was under the covers before settling himself down beside her. It was an almost novel idea to consider sharing his bed with a witch after so long. He very rarely stuck around long enough to actually sleep in another's presence and so the idea of sleeping beside the little witch was both novel, and unnerving at the same time. Fortunately, due to the late hour, the multiple rounds of sex, and the magical expenditure he'd endured for the night, Severus was too tired to dwell on her sleeping presence.
Pausing only long enough to cast a Diagnostic charm over the little witch the ensure she wouldn't be in danger while she slept, he doused the last of the lights in the house and tossed down his wand on the bedside table. Dragging the blankets up to his chin, Severus closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep by counting the breaths his wife took.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Hermione Granger woke to the strangest feeling of warmth and contentment, the feel of someone's body pressed snugly against her own and the scent of bergamot and peppermint surrounding her. Blinking open her eyes, Hermione realized she was spooned around Severus Snape and she almost jerked back in shock, and fear of his reaction.
Indeed, it was only the fear of waking him that kept her from doing so, and Hermione held perfectly still, forcing her body to relax once more. Listening closely, Hermione could both hear and feel that he was still asleep, his breath slow and even, rhythmic with slumber, and she sighed softly in relief. She almost laughed when she realized that, eventually, he was going to wake up and find her spooned around him. She imagined he was going to be very cross about it, too.
Closing her eyes once more, Hermione wondered what time it was, suspecting it must be quite late from the faint glow of light around the black-out curtains covering the window across the room. The sun must be up, and given the amount of glow, and the fact that it was winter, she supposed that meant it must be nearing nine or ten o'clock in the morning. If she was being completely honest, she wouldn't even mind going back to sleep, even knowing that Snape might eventually wake and find her spooning him and be furious about it.
After all, it would certainly be better than facing the day when she would be expected to play nice and not lose her temper the Voldemort or the other Death Eaters, and likely also expected to tolerate the wails of pity and lamentation from Molly Weasley and Harry, and her other friends when she attended Christmas lunch. The more sleep she could get, the easier dealing with them and controlling her temper would surely be. It was already volatile, after the extra injection of Snape's magic against her own last night before she'd passed out, and Hermione knew she would need all the help she could get to keep from telling the Death Eaters to go fuck themselves if they began provoking her about this entire mess.
Burrowing her nose against the middle of his back, Hermione closed her eyes once more, sighing slowly and trying to will herself back to sleep. Snape twitched against her, as though even that small movement was enough to disturb his slumber. Hermione held perfectly still, forcing her limbs to go lax and heavy as though she still slept, and she smiled when, after several minutes Severus emitted the very softest and cutest sounding snore she'd ever heard.
She almost laughed at the idea of so fierce a wizard making such an adorable sound, but she didn't dare, lest she wake him. She never thought she'd see a day where she considered anything about Severus Snape adorable, but here it was.
With her arm slung over him and her knees tucked into the back of his, the wizard slept on and she found herself taking strange comfort in the fact that he was able to sleep in her presence at all. She'd rather thought that he would snarl and snap and be utterly painful as they attempted to navigate this new marriage mess.
Curling into him and snuggling just a little bit closer, Hermione closed her eyes once more and surrendered to the arms of sleep.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Severus Snape's eyes snapped open and he jerked slightly, wrenched from a most peculiar dream. Drawing a ragged breath and trying to get his bearings, he experienced the unsettling sense of discombobulation born of finding himself in a position he most certainly had never been in before. Curled in the middle of a large, decadently soft bed, Severus found himself being spooned by someone petite, vanilla scented, and extremely warm.
What was worse, the someone was clearly female, because he could feel the tell-tale softness of a pert pair of breasts pressing intimately against his back. Raising his eyebrows, and fighting the urge he had to jerk away from this delicious smelling goddess who deigned to show him this never-before-experienced affection, Severus tilted his head to better eye the slender arm draped over his ribs. The gleam of a gold band around her fourth finger made him cringe, and Severus eyed the faint ink stains still marring her delicate and dainty fingers with curiosity. He felt strangely content as he laid there, intimately aware of the slender knees tucked snugly behind his own, and able to count her heartbeats as they pulsed against his back.
As wakefulness rose within him and the vestiges of sleep began to recede, Severus's mind sharpened and the recollection of the previous night's events slammed into him hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs. Unwillingly to wake the sleeping witch, despite the recollection that this ink-stained, vanilla scented, sweetly cuddling goddess was actually the smart-mouthed and frizzy haired wife he had obtained yesterday, Severus eased across the mattress with painstaking lethargy. The last thing he wanted was to awaken the girl and have her find him caught napping, and in her embrace, no less. With more care than he suspected he'd ever shown to another human being since he'd been fifteen years old, Severus slid her arm off him and withdrew from her embrace. Belatedly, as he sat up and swung his legs off the side of the bed, Severus recalled that should she wake at that moment, she would spy the terrible scars littering his back.
He suspected she'd spotted them last night, though she'd concealed any reaction to them quite well. Fighting the urge to groan, having perhaps enjoyed the most restful slumber he could recall in more than a decade, Severus scrubbed his hand over his face in a vague attempt to clear the fog from his mind, and the sleep crust from the corners of his eyes. Trying to control the urge to lie back down and go right back to sleep beside the witch, Severus forced himself to his feet. He glanced back at the little witch in the bed when he noticed he was still naked, having fallen asleep after last night's debauchery.
Granger slept on, though she grizzled as he watched, seeming to sense that he was gone despite her continued slumber. She smoothed a hand over his side of the bed though she didn't open her eyes, searching for him and finding only the rapidly cooling groove where he'd lain. Severus shook his head before glancing down the length of his own body, finding that no matter the evening's activities, he wanted her all over again.
This was becoming a problem, he realized, shaking his head and strolling into the bathroom to wash his face and scrub the foul taste from his mouth. The tea Albus favored might be delicious, but if one forgot to brush their teeth before bed after consuming it, one tended to wake wondering if they'd been accosted by some savage during the night and force fed pure arsenic. Handling his business quickly, Severus twisted until he could see the reflection of his back in the mirror. He hadn't laid eyes on his scars in years, if he was being honest. They were old, now; faded and pale for the most part. A few of the more vicious ones were still red and likely would be until he was a hundred - if he lived that long.
They didn't bother him like they used to, he realized. Not that he wanted people looking at them, but they didn't make him cringe with anger at the idea of having people catch a glimpse of them. Narrowing his eyes and wondering if age, or Miss Granger were responsible, Severus left the bathroom once more. He stopped in his tracks when he glanced over at the bed, finding Miss Granger sprawled on her back in the middle, the blankets kicked off, and every inch of her petite, sexy body exposed to his gaze. His cock twitched in response and Severus almost groaned with how badly he wanted her right then.
Smirking to himself when he realized the witch was unlikely to object, and willing to try his luck, just the same, Severus crossed to the bed, lowering himself down on the end of it and smoothing his hands over her silky thighs. His mouth practically watered for a taste of her and he almost laughed as he pried her legs apart, intent on devouring her. She didn't wake as he trailed his lips in a line of hot kisses up the inside of her left thigh and Severus nipped her lightly, chuckling very softly when she emitted a little mewl of sound.
He breathed in the sweet and musky, vanilla flavored scent of her as he closed in on his prize and Severus licked his lips before leaning in and sampling her sweet nectar. Closing his eyes, he loathed himself just a little for enjoying this. He dipped his tongue inside her slowly, tormenting her flesh, learning her taste and her scent, committing the feel of her body under his tongue to memory. The part of him that was her school teacher reviled at such an act, but the rest of him simply reveled in her taste, licking and licking and licking at her sweet pussy.
She gasped as she woke, one of her hands tunneling into his loose black hair and Severus opened his eyes, meeting her gaze over the rim of her pelvic bone. She looked sleep mussed and adorable, a little frown marring her brow as she blinked at him, trying to get her bearings. He robbed her of coherent thought with a swirl of his tongue before suckling her clit into his mouth and making her arch. She moaned then, low and needy and filled with pleasure. Severus was surprised when she surrendered immediately to the caress, uttering not a single protest and simply mewling with the pleasure he was inflicting.
He took his time about devouring her, having always rather enjoyed performing cunnilingus. Granger certainly seemed only too willing to let him devour her and Severus smirked against her skin before delving his tongue inside her once more.
"Gods, Severus," he heard her whisper breathlessly, her body slowly coiling the longer her lapped at her sweet pussy.
Determined to break her with just his mouth, Severus took her clit between his teeth, twisting it first one way and the other. She whined, her body trembling, just begging for that final shove to pitch her into orgasm. Severus smirked, back off just enough to keep her from exploding, resuming the slow, deep lick that probed her slick channel.
"Oh, gods, you're such a bastard," she cursed him, lifting her head to glare at him when she realized what he was up to as he brought her to the precipice again and again, backing off before she could dissolve into orgasm.
Severus laughed at the insult as she tightened her hand in his hair, arching against him, desperately seeking more friction. Sliding his tongue inside her, once more, Severus swirled it as deep as he could reach, lapping up her juices with a wicked thrill and Granger emitted a soft sob at the penetration and the torment.
When she sobbed a second time as he suckled her clit, bringing her to the edge, once more, Severus knew that if he let her have it now, she would scream loud enough to wake the werewolf she'd tucked in last night. The idea tickled him more than it should, and Severus suckled harder, laughing when she uttered an ear-splitting scream of pleasure. She thrashed as the orgasm washed through her and Severus lapped at the sweet nectar that gushed forth.
Just as he was rising, a slow clap from the doorway caught Severus's ear and he narrowed his eyes, flinging the sheet over Miss Granger as he spun on the intruder. Lucius Malfoy leaned in the doorway looking impressed and amused as he slowly clapped for their performance.
"You're interrupting," Severus grumbled at the blond wizard, annoyed at the intrusion when he'd been about to fuck the witch senseless and alleviate the ache in his groin.
"Oh, and a Happy Christmas to you, too," Lucius sneered, and Severus rolled his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, not at all willing to ask what he wanted, given the fact that Severus himself was naked, and Lucius was sporting an erection under his fine robes.
Before Lucius could answer, Granger spoke, her voice both breathless and husky, yet also annoyed and perhaps just the tiniest bit smug.
"Only, it's just that you're not actually welcome in our love nest, Mr Malfoy," Granger informed him. "And I confess that despite the recent orgasm and plans for having another good go at Severus this morning, those plans have been dashed with all the frigidity of a bucket of ice-water as a result of your presence. And while I know that, in the past, you two have been known to share a witch, please know that henceforth, your presence is not welcome when it comes to my husband's sex life. So, keep your sticky paws off, and get your pompous, drawling arse out of my sight before I hex you for spite."
Severus's lips twitched on the urge to smile at the rudeness of her demand, and Lucius blushed a hilarious shade of pink at her knowledge of his lesser known bedroom proclivities.
"Possessive of you, isn't she, Severus?" Lucius drawled, obviously disliking being spoken to in such a way and wrong-footed to have been ordered out and sneered at by a witch who he'd obviously expected to be too mortified to do more than squeak in horror at being caught.
"I am, as a matter of fact," Granger answered for him. "And I'll thank you to remember it before ever daring to interrupt us mid-fuck again."
With a flick of the wand she'd obviously fished from under the pillows, she slammed the door in Lucius's sneering face and Severus almost choked on a snort when the thud of the door against something solid followed by swearing could be heard.
"Do you think I broke his nose?" Granger asked, raising her eyebrows and looking entirely too hopeful.
"Are you always this feisty in the mornings?" Severus drawled, smirking at her in return.
"Only when arrogant twats dare to invade my bedroom and interrupt what was otherwise proving a most pleasurable morning," the girl replied impishly, grinning at him and relaxing back against the pillows.
"Love nest, Miss Granger?" Severus asked, raising one eyebrow and thoroughly enjoying the way her cheeks flushed crimson.
"I'll have you know that, Christmas or not, this is technically our honeymoon," she said imperiously.
"And you naturally loathe all interruptions," he said.
"Obviously."
"You realize that the rudeness to have invaded our bedroom suggests that he was sent to summon us, suggesting that we've other guests, downstairs?" Severus asked.
Granger sighed.
"You realize that I will not tolerate the rudeness of being burst in on inside my own home, unannounced, without actually reinforcing my displeasure at that fact, yes?" she retorted.
"For Lucius to have come in search of us here, going against years of social conditioning to invade another man's bedroom uninvited, suggests that the Dark Lord is here and growing impatient."
"Perhaps the Dark Lord should've thought to announce his intention to call on us today, rather than simply imposing. Honestly, how any of you can devotedly follow a man with such poor manners is beyond me. I mean, really. To invade at all is one thing. But to do so knowing that it's technically the honeymoon period following our marriage – the marriage he arranged, no less – shows an utterly deplorable lack of decorum."
Severus smirked, raising his eyebrows at the witch.
"Are you planning to tempt fate all day by continuing to insult the Dark Lord and my brethren, Miss Granger? There is only so much interference I can run on your behalf before questions will be asked and the pair of us will be punished."
"Oh, please," the girl actually had the audacity to roll her eyes. "I feel certain that Voldemort has no intention of killing me off just yet. Now, are you going to continue to stand there chastising me, or are you going to finish what you started before your irksome friend interrupted?"
Severus snorted at the girl's sass. Surely, she should be in a better mood after the magical depletion before she'd slept, and especially after the earth-shattering orgasm he'd give her since her waking.
"You mean to imply that your scream was not an indication that you were finished?" he drawled.
"I mean to repay the favor, if you'll just come over here," she said flirtatiously, and Severus knew he ought to tell her 'no'. He knew he ought to insist that they get out of bed and face the Dark Lord and his brethren, no matter the niggling urge he had to tell them all to fuck off when she looked at him like that.
"The Dark Lord himself will impose upon us if we take much longer," he warned, even as his feet carried him closer to the incorrigible little witch.
"Let him," she said, reaching for his cock eagerly with both hands as soon as he was within her grasp. "Serves him right for invading our home without invitation, and undoubtedly for some nefarious gain. As far as I'm concerned, if the man means to display such boorishness, he can await my pleasure and my whim."
"He will torture you for such disrespect, you know?" Severus warned, though it came out husky when the girl leaned over and took his cock into her mouth. Too preoccupied to answer, Granger swirled her tongue around the throbbing head of his cock before sinking down on him. She tipped doe eyes up to meet his gaze as she sucked him off and Severus realized he was in trouble. The little bitch was entirely too good at that sultry, hot look. Her mouth and her hands working in tandem, she took to him with vigor.
"Mmm," Severus hummed, sinking his hands into her wild curls and surrendering to the glorious caress. After so long spent tormenting her, combined with her sass and her skill, Severus found his grip on her tightening as the hot fizz raced up his spine.
"Fuck," he cursed softly, trying to be considerate and pull away. She clung to him tighter, hollowing her cheeks around him and sucking harder until he exploded. His hips jerked as color exploded behind his eyes and heat shot from the end of his cock to spread across her wicked tongue.
She swallowed every drop before pulling back and wiping her mouth, using her grip on him to pull him back down onto the bed with her. Severus huffed in a breath, eyeing her when she wore a Cheshire cat grin as she relaxed once more.
"Tupsy?" she called quietly, startling him.
The elf appeared with a soft pop.
"Good morning, Mistress!" The elf said excitedly. "Good morning, Master."
"Happy Christmas, Tupsy," Granger smiled. "Do you think you could bring the gift I wrapped for Severus and put under the tree last night?"
"Of course, Mistress," the elf vowed and disappeared.
"Gift?" Severus frowned at her, realizing he had nothing to give her. He wondered if he should feel guilty, or if he should sneer at her for daring to assume that this kind of thing might happen and that he might, under any other circumstance, have accepted a gift from her.
"It's Christmas, Snape," she reminded him, as though he were a simpleton and might have managed to forget that small fact. Severus narrowed his eyes on her, not at all appreciating her tone.
"You got me a gift?" he asked coolly, supposing it would be best to break it to her that he had no use for gifts and that he most certainly had not wasted a moment of his time shopping for her in any capacity. "I didn't get you anything."
She smiled indulgently, not looking the slightest bit disappointed, and Severus wondered if he ought to be relieved or insulted that she clearly hadn't been expecting him to buy her anything.
"You brewed me a potion," she reminded him softly, smiling as though she'd anticipated this turn of events when mentioning the notion of the two of them exchanging gifts. "And you woke me up so nicely this morning."
Severus furrowed his brow, baffled by the idea that she could be so easily content as to think a contraceptive potion to better hide their affair and a single act of cunnilingus might suffice as a gift. He was beginning to think the witch had a rather low opinion of his social skills, and wondering if it was some sort of trap. The elf reappeared before he could say anything else, handing Granger a large, brightly wrapped package.
"Thank you, Tupsy. Any chance of some breakfast in bed before facing our uninvited guests?"
"It's after lunch," Severus protested. "Eating now, when we will be expected to eat again later with our guests is foolish. And we should not keep the Dark Lord waiting."
Granger rolled her eyes. "Can I have pancakes, please Tupsy?"
The elf nodded eagerly and raised his eyebrows at Severus.
Sighing Severus waved his hand, deciding it would apparently serve him better to pick his battles with this obstinate creature he'd been saddled with. "I'll have the same," he said, shaking his head and ignoring that fact that he was actually hungry.
She smiled widely as the elf disappeared to fetch them some food, apparently pleased by his acquiescence.
"Happy Christmas, Severus," she said quietly, handing him the large gift despite his obvious reluctance to take it.
"Don't expect anything in return," he said uncomfortably.
She rolled her eyes, waiting for him to stop being a ponce and open it, if the look on her face was any indication. Fighting the urge to reprimand the witch for being so bloody contrary, and uncomfortably aware that every moment spent delaying was one more moment that the Dark Lord would likely punish them over if they continued to defy his wish to have them join him, Severus carefully peeled open the wrapping paper to reveal the treasure within.
It was a blanket.
A knitted one.
It was made from the softest wool he could recall touching in a long time, and woven with shades of black, white and grey, mixed through with browns and other earthy tones that gave it the overall look of the most peculiar fur he'd ever seen. Severus smoothed his hand carefully over the woven creation, noting the way she eyed him with only the faintest hint of trepidation.
"I thought, since you made something for me…" she began, looking worried when he didn't speak or thank her immediately.
"You… knitted this yourself?" he frowned at her.
She bit her lower lip before nodding quickly, her cheeks flushing crimson.
"I'm not very good, I know, but I gave it a good effort, and it'll keep you warm down the in the dungeons at Hogwarts even if every fireplace is doused in the dead of winter. I wasn't sure about the colours, since I didn't want to be cliché and knit you something in the Slytherin green colors, and straight black is certainly your color, but it's just so utterly monotone, what with your robes and your hair and that cold, black stare you tend to fix upon the students. And so, I mixed some others in, and I completely understand if you don't like it, and I won't be terribly offended if you put it away in some cupboard and never use it, but I wanted to have something to give you after that potion you made for me, and I hadn't shopped for you, obviously. Because I'm not naïve enough to imagine that you would ever willingly accept a gift from a student, especially one you've been fucking, and before last night that's really all there was to this entire mess and… I'm going to shut up now, because you're eying me like you can't decide if you want to hex my lips shut, or just kill me."
She looked down at her lap and Severus shook his head slowly from side to side, realizing from her babbling that she'd obviously knitted this last night. No wonder she'd depleted her magic. There was no viable way she'd have been able to weave so large an item without the use of magic in the few scant hours between when he'd given her the contraceptive, and when he'd returned from his meeting to fuck her into unconsciousness.
He also found himself unsure of what he should say. An expression of gratitude seemed obvious, but he'd never actually been all that good at saying thank you, because he'd not had all that much practice. Worse, he doubted a simply muttered "thanks" was going to alleviate the fact that she was practically vibrating as she sat there, wrapped in the sheet, her cheeks still flushed from their exertions, while she picked at her nails and didn't dare look at him, lest he look angry.
Severus frowned, spreading the blanket out as far as he could to better look at the colors and the wool. She hadn't actually incorporated a design or anything so garish as Molly Weasley was prone to doing, and Severus was grateful for that. He doubted he'd have been able to feign enthusiasm to crawl under a blanket with a cauldron design stitched onto it. It was well-made, he noticed. Soft, pliant, and probably exceedingly warm. Severus didn't think he'd ever actually owned a blanket that wasn't something his mother had tucked away in the cupboard since his childhood.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
"You're welcome," she answered just as softly, still not meeting his gaze.
With nothing to offer her in return, Severus glanced around the room, awkwardly seeking something else to say or to do. He frowned, not liking this awkwardness. He almost wished he had something to give her in return.
"I suppose we should face our guests," Granger said quietly, changing the subject.
"We haven't had breakfast," Severus frowned, suddenly less than enthusiastic to face his friends and the Dark Lord, no matter the awkwardness of being there with her.
Right at that moment the elf returned with a breakfast tray for each of them, presenting them the food with a happy smile. Miss Granger accepted hers politely, but ate sparingly. Severus suspected she knew that once she set foot outside the room, she would have to face the full snark of the Death Eater brethren on Christmas day. They were imposing upon her the day after a wedding they undoubtedly believed was very much a torturous fate for the witch, and would be gloating and snarky and rude all day long. He didn't doubt she would prefer to see the Order and her parents, and he wasn't so sure she would be able to do so.
"You need only stay until after lunch, if you like," he told her, frowning.
"You don't think the Dark Lord will object should I leave to see the Order?" she asked.
"I'm certain he expects you to. He will undoubtedly revel in torturing them with the knowledge of your association with the Death Eaters over these holidays. It would benefit you to go to them, even if you don't much want to, because it will show that they are not entirely against you, no matter his intentions."
"As though that won't anger him all the more?" Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.
Severus shrugged his shoulders. "He will be angry, regardless."
"A more delightful house-guest I'm sure I've never suffered," Granger grumbled. "At least they won't be able to fault me on poor hospitality. I have gifts for anyone who arrives."
Severus blinked at her in surprise.
"You really mean to play the social games with them?" he asked.
"I enjoy proving that no matter their disparagements, there is nothing they can fault me on as a witch," she admitted. "I look forward to tormenting them, as they seek to torment me."
"They are vicious, Miss Granger," he warned, frowning. "Your association with me will afford you only so much leeway with these people before they attack you."
"I know," she nodded. "Don't make the mistake of thinking I need your protection, Professor. I've spent my life dealing with obnoxious prats who think they can look down on me or taunt me for things I can't change. You will find me well-equipped to do battle with them."
Severus eyed her, noting how resolute she seemed, obviously only too eager to verbally spar with his friends.
"Try not to sass them to the point of my intervention, Miss Granger," he said, resigning himself to a day spent on tenterhooks, just waiting to see who would snap first.
Granger's grin, when she flashed it, was beyond blood-thirsty and Severus had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that while his colleagues currently thought themselves the cats, and her, the mouse, they would soon find that she wasn't a mouse at all. She was a sly and cunning vixen with all the brains to outwit them and all the bravery to fling her superiority in their faces even as she tore their throats out with her wicked fangs.