UNTOUCHED

A story by Anette S


Disclaimer: Jo is the boss here; I, a faithful subject, am here only to entertain you.

Author's note: And we continue... I hope you approve! A world of thanks to my Beta dancesabove. Enjoy!


Chapter 28

Reflections of her

Severus carried his love tenderly up the stairs that led to their bedroom. Hermione was so tired; the food and good company had relaxed her to such a point that she'd barely had the energy to open her eyes and say goodbye to their wonderful hosts and friends.

With a nod, a wave and a promise to see all of them again soon, they had exited the Burrow. No sooner had he moved to apparate them than she sagged in his arms, trusting him to take her home, to take care of her when they got there.

She mumbled incoherently into his neck as he placed her on the bed. He smiled indulgently, caressing her brow. "Sleep, my love," he said softly as he walked over to the dresser and pulled out a nightgown for her and some pyjama bottoms for himself.

Rushing through his evening routine, he quickly returned to her still, peaceful form and changed her into the nightgown with a swish of his wand. Of course, he much preferred to undress her the standard way, but he hadn't the heart to disturb her sleep for his own selfish purposes.

He would undress her in the morning, he concluded with a secret smile.

Hermione curled around him as he lay beside her, almost instinctively. So natural was his touch to her, so natural his presence, that even in her sleep her body moved to be closer to him.

A long way they'd travelled, Severus observed as he wrapped his arm around her in a protective embrace. Leaning his chin on top of her head, he exhaled softly and remembered his words to Molly.

She was his miracle.


Mornings went by, days passed and winter made room for spring again.

Their lives continued in the same marvellous routine: their mornings tranquil, their days relaxed, their evenings daring. Each day their connection grew, each night they surrendered more and more of each other's bruised soul to the only one worthy of such trust.

Very gradually, Hermione began to read the Prophet again in the mornings, commenting occasionally on this or that nonsense. When the newspaper ran a story on their relationship, she huffed before she reached the second paragraph, throwing the paper on the far end of the table in indignation.

Severus visited the editor that afternoon, and that was the end of that.

Now it was yet another morning, and Hermione had just fed the owl its obligatory treat while reaching for the daily post. Just like that morning of a few months ago, she made two cups of tea—the lazy kind—and served them while carrying the mail under her arm.

He took the paper and the tea, and she returned to their bacon and eggs.

Then the silence was broken by the sound of the doorbell, and they exchanged a look of puzzlement, followed by a mutual glance at the calendar.

"Oh my God, it's Thursday!" she exclaimed, looking down at her bare feet and legs. Between the two of them they had on one pair of male pyjamas: she the top, he the bottom.

And it was Minerva's Thursday.

The doorbell sounded again. Hermione had blushed to the roots of her hair, but Severus was ready to surrender, a smile growing on his face with each passing moment.

"Isn't a way we could pretend we're not home, is there?" she asked, resigned already to her fate of merciless teasing.

He rose from his chair and came to her. As he pulled her face to his and kissed her slowly, she held one arm away from their bodies, letting the cooking spatula in her hand languidly drip oil onto the countertop. "Relax, love. It's not as if she's never seen me like this before."

He walked to the door, his gait unhurried, his brow relaxed.

"But she hasn't seen me like this before!" he heard her exclaim behind him.

"Good morning, Minerva," Hermione heard from the door. The greeting was followed by a long pause, and then a throaty laugh broke through the air.

After some shuffling, the professorial duo entered the kitchen, where Hermione had managed to plate the bacon and eggs and had even started mixing the pancake dough.

Minerva chuckled at the sight of her, with her bare feet and oversized pyjama top and loose hair. "I guess no crumpets for me this morning, aye?" she quipped, and Hermione realized the ridiculousness of the situation, falling into a chuckle herself.

"I am sorry, Minerva, but we just..."

"...forgot about me, I can see that," the older witch finished the sentence.

Severus took over the pancake batter from Hermione. "I don't mind the look of you, but if you'd rather don something more substantial, allow me to take care of the food," he suggested, dropping a sweet peck at the corner of her lips.

"If you'll excuse me," Hermione said as she rushed past Minerva, followed out of the kitchen by a barely concealed chuckle from both remaining parties.

"Dear Merlin! That girl hasn't blushed so since the Yule Ball," Minerva observed, simultaneously cocking her head towards Severus. "And you think it's perfectly acceptable to prance around like that in front of your senior colleague?"

He tossed her a look as he flipped the pancakes—a look that said his "prancing" was of no concern to him.

Minerva smiled, shaking her head. "I have to say, it's a breath of fresh air to see this picture of domestic bliss. You should marry the girl."

Severus gave the tiniest shake of his head. "And who says I don't plan to?"

It was so casual that it could have been mistaken for a joke, but there was just enough nervousness in his tone to let Minerva took it for what it was. An announcement.

He hadn't known that an elderly woman could reach such a high note so suddenly—yet the squeal of delight from Minerva's throat could rival any teenage Hufflepuffian girl.

"My ears are bleeding," he commented dryly as he placed the pancakes onto a warmed plate.

"Oh, no you don't, Severus Snape! I want details, and I want them now, before she comes back downstairs, agreed?"

Calmly and elegantly putting the plate on the table and adding another place setting for Minerva, he turned to the tea kettle and popped a bag of Earl Grey into a cup.

"I'm sorry, but you're condemned to the bagged sort this morning," he said without sincere apology.

"Nonsense, what do you think I drink when the elves have a morning off?"

He smiled and sat next to her. He seemed almost shaky, but for such a brief moment that even this canny witch couldn't be sure that she hadn't just imagined it.

"We've... discussed the possibility..." he said, carefully watching the door behind Minerva's back, "and I believe the time is right to act on that discussion."

"So you haven't asked her yet?"

"No."

"But you plan to, soon?"

Severus nodded.

Her eyes filled. "Oh, my boy... I am so happy for you. For the both of you."

Bowing his head, he took her hands in his. "I know. And I planned to tell you, officially, soon. You stole my moment, with your nosy prying," he teased.

"There is no better moment for telling me than now; you in half your clothes, making what I'm sure will be the best American pancakes I ever tasted. Life is not meant to be lived in perfect conditions. It is all the more perfect that way."

He brought Minerva's hands to his lips and kissed each wrinkly palm. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, have you a ring?"

"Not yet."

She was silent for a moment, pondering. "You can have a ring… my ring, if you want it."

"Minerva, I—your engagement ring?" He was well aware what a treasure she was offering to him.

"You are the closest thing to a son I have," she said, her voice heavy with feeling. "Now, come to Hogwarts one of those days, and we'll discuss the details. If that pounding is any sign, I believe your soon-to-be wife is running down the stairs. We'd best discontinue this conversation until a more opportune moment arises."

He nodded, a rare smile lighting up his face. Wife. It did have a wonderful ring to it.

Hermione ran into the kitchen with a huff and an apology on her lips. The elderly witch simply waved her off, motioning for her to join in on the wonderful food Severus had served in the meantime.

It would have been unthinkable, merely a couple of months before, for Hermione to accept this little unplanned moment with the ease she managed to now. It served to prove just how much she'd managed to return to what one might call a normal life, with all its quirks and perks.

With a wry smile, Minerva noticed more than once how the eyes of the curly-haired witch seemed to wander over the unapologetically exposed chest of her partner. The man who once had worn his buttons tight and his collar high.

Aye, things have indeed changed in the Granger-Snape household.

"So, am I to await a visit in my little corner of the earth from the two of you any time soon?" Minerva asked. It was not an unusual question, and usually the answer was a polite 'Someday' or 'Maybe'. It didn't stop her from trying.

Hermione looked at Severus and wondered, perhaps for the first time, whether he'd like for them to go to Hogwarts. Together, it would indeed be easier to handle the onslaught of memories they both had tried to avoid for so long.

He met her inquiring gaze and his eyebrows rose to the roots of his hair.

"Really?" he asked, shaken off guard by the willingness he saw in her eyes.

She shrugged her shoulders, a soft smile playing on her lips. Past the point of filtering any discussion in front of this particular guest, she spoke softly. "We might."

He took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles softly. His eyes found hers in silent gratitude… and something akin to boyish excitement.

"Oh, the elves are going to dance a jig when they find out!" Minerva clapped her hands joyfully, and Severus noticed with rising alarm how the comfort in Hermione's eyes evaporated. The phrase 'Too much too soon' existed for a reason.

"Minerva, perhaps we could arrange a more private visit, for this first time," he said, trying to calm Hermione with the sheer force of his gaze and the warmth of his palms still holding hers.

Hermione relaxed a bit, but her voice was still tight as she addressed the older witch. "I can't face it all at once. But I am willing to try it one small bit at a time." Her eyes never left Severus' as she continued. "We'll discuss it, and floo you with the details. But it is time for it to happen. I miss it, in a way..." she sighed softly, her eyes getting lost in the distance.

Minerva nodded silently in answer to Severus' request. It would be arranged. Hermione Granger was coming back to Hogwarts.

They moved on to safer topics, and conversation flowed pleasantly. They hardly realized time passing by, having moved to the living room when Severus decided to change into a more 'respectable' outfit.

"I'm surprised he lasted that long," Hermione commented as she set Minerva's teacup on the coffee table and moved to sit beside her on the comfortable couch. The wizard had just left them to go upstairs.

Minerva rewarded her with a soft smile. "I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see him so open. The sight of Severus Snape without a shirt was something I witnessed only when he was too hurt to fend for himself and too proud to go to Poppy." She shuddered, trying to expel unpleasant memories. "I am glad to see him so comfortable with you that even my presence hadn't chased him away to go dress sooner."

Hermione's smile was a wonderful mix of love and pride. "You are family, Minerva, and both of us are well aware that you probably know more about the private side of our lives than anyone else besides us." The young witch let out a sigh. "You probably know more about that side of him from the past than I've been made aware of so far, but"—again she paused, her eyes steeling with determination and latent power—"I do know him, and I can feel all the things he still is not sharing with me. It pains me that it's something so huge that we have to chip at it bit by bit, but I have no doubt we shall. We are a curious couple… but I cannot imagine my life being any way other than like this, with him."

"I am sure he would say the same," Minerva added softly.

"We are in love, and we are working hard to move away from the ghosts of the past—his and mine," Hermione spoke quietly. "It will take time, and courage from us both, even for the small things, like him staying without a shirt earlier this morning. I see the struggle on his face. He is still worried, after all this time, that it would trigger me. And there is that something else—something he still is not sharing, but I know it's there; I can feel it when I look into his eyes."

Minerva nodded. "He has come a long way since he found you to love, my dear," she said wisely. "As much as he had me in his confidence for years before you, I can't say that I know the reasons for what you are sensing. There are things that he has never shared with a soul, and to have him do it with you, open himself up like that to you, represents huge progress. But I am sure you understand that."

Hermione smiled. "You know, it's not just the love. It's different from love; more layered. I knew I came into this relationship with..." She paused to gather her breath, "...traumas and issues hard to live with. We've worked through the fact that it was his choice to live with them, one he made out of love for me. And I have learned to accept that choice for the act of love that it is, rather than the pity I once believed it to be."

Minerva took her hand. "It warms my heart to hear you speak of it so."

Hermione shrugged. "Well, he was persistent enough, that at last it sank into my brain. We Gryffindors are known for the thickness of our skulls, after all," she joked.

"Oh, I do believe that particular trait goes beyond House characteristics," Minerva retorted, earning a healthy laugh.

It was to that glorious sound that Severus joined them. With his growing hair tied back, and his deep green V-necked shirt over comfortable black cotton pants, he was still a sight for Minerva's sore motherly eyes. Her boy was healing, thanks to this wonderful creature beside her, and she could not think of a more worthy woman to wear her own engagement ring. She would go to her vault this afternoon. She suspected Severus would be in need of it very soon indeed.