Voldemort's Assassin - Chapter 37
The Clock is Ticking - But So Are Two Hearts
Hermione paced madly in her receiving room.
"Bearable!" she growled.
How could he say such a thing to me? I have half a mind to leave, find a new room, and beg for my job at the Ministry back. After all, I am just 'bearable'. He would die for poor little Julia just to avoid my repugnant kisses!
Hermione screeched at the room with a terrible desire to break something. Instead she just folded in upon herself until she was seated, Lotus position, on the floor. She stared down at the area rug that she began to glumly brush with her finger. It was a round Karastan of subtle golds and yellows that complemented the other area rugs of various shapes, in jewel tones of purple, blue, green, and red; not Gryffindor red, she would be quick to point out.
Hermione pouted, squeezed her eyes shut, and found herself tingling all over as Severus kissed her completely, and forever. Or so she wished. She let out a huff of frustrated air, and wondered, not for the first time since she had stormed up to her rooms, whatever is wrong with me?
"Bearable!" she snorted, and was interrupted by a hesitant knock on her door. Hermione stared on the off-chance that Pratty might pop in, or Severus might barge in, again.
Nothing happened but there was another tentative knock.
"Hermione? Might you grant me entrance, please?" begged Severus. Well, to Hermione he almost sounded as if he were begging.
The witch hauled herself off the floor, went to the doors, and cracked one open. She left the wards as is.
Severus stood at the very centre of the door, his eyes straight ahead, and hands clasped behind his back.
"What do you want?" Hermione asked belligerently.
Severus sighed, and repressed his frustration. "May I come in, Hermione. I should like to apologise, and to... explain myself."
Severus watched in dismay as the door slowly closed. His heart beat rapidly as it hit him that he may have irrevocably insulted the young woman, and if Julia were killed, it would be his fault.
A breath later the door opened, and Hermione gestured him in. Hermione then closed it, and walked past Severus and to one of the chairs. Oddly, Severus noted that she was barefoot, and he had the irrational thought that her feet were beautifully perfect.
"Well? Stop staring Severus and tell me that I'm more than just... 'bearable'."
Severus winced as she threw that vile word at him. He sighed, and closed his eyes. "You are much more than... bearable... Hermione."
"Ah." She glared at him. "Then I must be... uhm... satisfactory? acceptable? Oh! Am I... sufferable, now?"
"You are annoying, and a smart aleck, you witch," he snapped.
"So are you, you... git!" Hermione leapt from the chair to retort in a very loud voice at him.
Severus, with a heavy sigh, collapsed in a chair, pinched the bridge of his nose, and replied, "I deserved that. Hermione, please. This is terribly... awkward for me... I truly am at a loss of what to say."
Hermione flung herself on her loveseat. "Why don't you just spit it out?" He glared. He was not the type to blurt anything out. "Fine. Then tell me this, because I know the answer, did you enjoy our kiss?"
"Did you?" Severus retorted, and mentally kicked himself for the confrontational query.
After several minutes Hermione stood up, and made her way towards the door that led to her 'inner sanctum'. "You know what? I'm not playing Slytherin-Gryffindor games with you, Severus." She opened the inner door. "Let yourself out." She disappeared behind the door and it closed with an accusatory thud.
Severus steepled his fingertips over his abdomen and tapped them rhythmically together. He then closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose with decided brutality.
"Idiot," he muttered softly towards the floor. He then stood, unsheathed his wand, and began to attack the inner wards with purpose.
Hermione retreated to her library. It was nowhere near as impressive as the Malfoy Library, or the musty, old library at Hogwarts, but it was gaining. She selected a book, chose a window seat, and curled up in it. She was quickly lost in the comfort of the words, and so she was unaware of the dark man of purpose striding into her library.
Magic ripped the book from her hands, and settled it gently on the cushion beside her. Before she could yell in protest, she was lifted by her upper arms, then enclosed in an embrace so tight she was sure she'd be unable to breath. Seconds later, breathing became a moot point as she was kissed within an inch of her life.
For a brief moment Hermione fought but then she submitted. She knew these arms, this chest, the heart beating beneath her own. She relaxed, and returned Severus' kiss with delighted enthusiasm. She felt her skin tingle all the way down to her toes, and warmth pooled in that forbidden spot that only met her fingers late at night.
Against Hermione's belly the proof she already knew of put in a trembling appearance that pulsated in time to their beating hearts. He could not get enough of her, and she could not get enough of him.
Her hands drifted through his hair, down his back, and with a giggle that was lost in the breath of their kiss, her hands drifted ever so firmly down, and over his buttocks. He lightly bit her lip, leaned back ever so briefly to look into her eyes, and then with his hands mirroring hers he yanked her tighter against him. Hermione gasped as the heat below ratcheted up to a flame.
"Severus?"
"I. am. an. idiot. As both you and Lucius observed."
Hermione tilted her head to nip at his throat, and then to kiss it. "True, but I suspect you have shed that annoying trait, and are declaring something to me?"
"That I am but first allow me to apologise for having insulted you," he lightly kissed the tip of her nose, and she smiled that oh-so beautiful smile he adored at him. "It was beneath me, and it was not the truth."
Hermione kissed him nearly breathless before she leaned back, and asked, "What is the truth, Severus?"
His right hand lifted from her bum, and he stroked her cheek, then leaned forward to kiss her slowly, and deeply. "I have grown... accustomed to your face, to your delightful aroma, to your intelligence, kindness... to you, Hermione." He kissed her again. "I simply could not believe that you would feel the same. That you, so young, so beautiful, would want this old, decrepit wreck."
"No. Don't, Severus. You are neither old, nor decrepit. You are a very striking gentleman, your voice takes me away to Nirvana, and you're mind is utter brilliance. I didn't want to admit it to myself because I thought you'd never want to saddle yourself with a silly, insufferable girl like me."
With a sigh of contentment Severus drew her tight into his embrace, and lay her cheek against his chest. The palm of his hand stroked her curls, and he dropped small kisses upon the crown of her head. He was truly falling in love with her. He thought that perhaps she might be falling in love with him as well.
Against his chest, Hermione recited the counter-spell to absolute perfection. Severus smiled. "It is time to rescue Julia."