For BarbaraLM, the girl who never disappoints in making me feel great about myself with her never ending support and praise!
CHAPTER 56
Severus felt... Strange. He did not really hurt - which was strange in itself - still, the sensations that his body kept sending to his brain did not match with anything that he considered probable or even possible. His teeth felt different in his mouth, his ears were full of some unidentifiable and queer tones, his legs seemed much longer than they had been in the morning and his nails itched. His nails had NEVER itched before.
Yet it was nothing compared to the sight that his eyes were giving him.
Hermione was leaning against a wildly colored bed that he was lying on and stroking his chest with her hand; her look more curious than afraid, more interested than disgusted. She had lion's ears, rather long whiskers and her whole naked body glowed bright golden. She was purring.
He wanted to purr too. But he was no cat.
Or maybe he was. It did not matter. This was not real. He had been high and hallucinating before. He knew what was going on...
Her hand wandered towards his cock and obviously decided to settle there for a while.
Luckily, unreal did not mean he could not enjoy this, he decided and just let himself be carried away. He can think later. If there will be some later. He did not mind either way.
Her touches were ever so soft and hesitant and it made him relax into it even as his cock did the opposite.
Merlin, she was so beautiful, whiskers and all, as she was giving him those shy and sweet glances...
Then she climbed on top of him and he knew what would come next; he had imagined that often enough to know this would be one of THOSE dreams. He really was one lucky bastard.
Then she let her body swallow him, joining them and making their bodies blend till they were one single being. One perfect, flawless sum of everything that had ever existed and ever would. Moving together, feeling together, living as one. Loving each other.
Exactly as it should be if everything was the way he wanted it to be.
Nothing ever was the way he wanted it to be. Except for now. He knew it wouldn't last and that it was happening in his deluded mind only.
Still, it did not matter. This was worth it, regardless of what would come next. Nothing was as bad as this was good to him...
Then she took his hand and put it on her gorgeous breast, letting him touch her the way she never had and he made sure to enjoy it, happy beyond any imagination as he was feeling her, touching her sweet nipples, stroking her and playing with her tits.
She moaned and purred.
Fuck, she was as absolutely perfect as his real Hermione was.
Were there cats in afterlife? He might actually get one...
Her movements got wilder then and he could see her sharp teeth biting at her lip as her golden forehead creased in the pleasurable agony that he felt only too well himself. They were one body now, one soul.
She tightened, squeezing him and pleading to be given what only he could give her right now and he felt his balls harden to obey, shooting his cum into her to complete their union the way they needed. For them to be united forever...
She roared at that, triumphant and victorious, conquering him and juicing him to the last drop with her sweet, hot and tight pussy.
Fuck, how he loved her...
With him still wedged deep in her, she lay down on his chest, purring and letting him stroke her lean back.
They stayed like that for a blessed eternity. Then she took a brown feather to tickle his stomach, the frisky cat that she was. He let her play, only watching her focused and keen face, enjoying every single second of that. She deserved everything that she ever wanted.
"You should go to sleep now," she purred then and moved in a wrong direction - away from him. That would not do. He had to care for her. She belonged with him.
So he pulled her to him, wrapping himself around her delicate body to shelter and protect her. She needed to stay with him. And she needed to stay warm and safe.
Inhaling her pure scent with full lungs, he closed his eyes. He did not remember himself to be ever so happy...
"Hermione? Hermione?!"
Fuck, someone wants to take her from him!
Severus' body shot up, placing himself immediately in between the voice and the soft precious body that he was meant to protect before he even opened his eyes properly.
"What-?! What are you doing to her?!" that someone managed to stammer before being hit with a blast of his magic.
A loud crack echoed through the room as the person collided with something while falling.
That person was Neville fucking Longbottom. Still aiming his wand at him, his hand shaking even as he was all but buried under all the heavy books that fell on him from the shelves. He had dark bruises covering his neck and face. What happened to him while he was out? Was that the reason he decided to stay in the house instead of leaving to meet Potter? Or did HE do it yesterday? He dimly remembered fighting someone over the poison...
He could feel Hermione shaking and hiding behind him, pulling the simple grey blanket that obviously used to be draped over them up her chin to cover her naked body.
"What the hell happened here?!" the boy asked.
A reasonable question, finally.
WHAT the hell happened?! Or what did NOT happen?!
He was not sure of either.
"That is none of your business, Mr. Longbottom," he told him, looking around himself once more, trying to cover his uncertainty.
The library. Spinner's End.
"Not my business?! Hermione? What did he do to you?!" he asked the girl, making her blush and tremble even more, his wand still pointed at him. Yet with the way his hand was shaking, he could easily hurt her too if he were to cast anything.
There was no way he would let something like that happen. So he summoned the wand to himself with a twitch of his fingers, surprising the boy.
Idiot. He should have expected that one...
"If you really have no idea about the way these activities are done, I would recommend Madame Pomfrey as the best source of objective information in this field. And you should watch your wand better," he advised him, placing the wood next to him on the sofa.
The boy's face got brightly red.
"You should watch your... wand better!" he returned, his voice shaking.
A laugh burst out of Snape's mouth, deep and genuine, shocking the boy even more.
Damn, he had to be drugged with something still, he should be able to control himself better. The boy had a point though - he had no idea of what his wand had been doing yesterday. Except for having sex with Hermione obviously. She was alive...
Good Merlin, she was alive!
Looking at her and disregarding the boy entirely, he could not fight the smile that spread big on his face. She returned back to him. She was his again. She did not want him to die either, obviously; it had to be her who had patched him up...
Fuck, he hoped he hadn't forced himself onto her anyhow yesterday, raping her again... His smile stiffened on his lips.
But she was already blushing and looking away by the time in that sweet innocent way that was so typical for her, not looking troubled by his close presence or nakedness in the slightest. Hopefully he was not that bad to her then...
Smiling tentatively, she bit at her lip.
Damn, how he wanted to kiss her...
But Longbottom had to spoil it all again, getting up from the pile of books laboriously and walking towards them.
"Come on, Hermione, let's get you out of here! You don't have to do anything like that anymore!" he told her as he was nearing to them. She only covered further behind him, making his heart swell in pride and hope. She was hiding behind HIM from her FRIEND! She trusted him more! She wanted him to shelter her from the boy!
"Neville, I can't-" she began saying but didn't seem to know how to finish.
"Mr. Longbottom, I suppose it would be welcome to the lady to let her dress first before talking to her. Turn around if you would be so kind. Or I will turn you around; not granting you would ever be able to turn back. Your choice," he explained his prospects to the boy, staring him down.
He saw the boy fuming, sweat covering his forehead.
Finally, he yielded, turning on his heel to give them the minimum of privacy that they needed to dress.
He saw her reaching for a pair of torn trousers and shirt that was lying on the floor. He summoned the same in his size from the hallway, hoping some of them remained intact even after the wardrobe had exploded.
Well, not perfect, but he was not naked anymore at least, he surmised after observing the various holes and burns in the fabric. Looking at Hermione, he saw they were dressed nearly the same now - in his old, torn clothes. Both smiled sheepishly at each other at that and it made him feel like an eighteen years old again.
Damn, he really loved this girl...
The boy cleared his throat then, making them look away.
Too bad she would probably not forgive him for spelling the boy away; forever, preferably...
"We are fine now, Neville," Hermione told him shyly and the boy hesitantly turned towards them again.
"Hermione, you don't have to do this!" he burst out again, obviously desperate.
"I actually have to, Neville... You don't understand the-"
"I understand it well enough! It's him who got you out of the prison, right? So you would sleep with him in return! And now he made you sleep with him again for getting me out of the cell!" he yelled, leaving Hermione gaping at him.
"It's not-" Hermione started to explain but the boy did not seem to notice it in his tantrum.
"You are a damn perverted bastard to demand something like that from a girl! I can pay my debts myself, just so you know!" Longbottom turned to him, obviously wanting to fight in spite of having no wand.
Gryffindors...
"As much as I appreciate being addressed in this manner by a mere oblivious boy, it rather makes me regret I didn't indeed cut you up for the potion ingredients... It seem to me that your brain can never achieve such a level of usefulness if it remains stuck in your dumb skull..." he sneered, knowing fully well that the boy knew nothing about human brain being of no use in potions whatsoever.
Judging by the loud sound of Longbottom's attempt at swallowing and his green complexion, he indeed didn't.
Severus smiled evilly.
"Don't worry, Neville, there is no such potion that would require human brain to be added to it. He is just being mean," Hermione said then, watching him disapprovingly.
Damn.
"The more the reason to invent one then," Snape huffed, indignant.
She snorted in amusement at that, making the corners of his mouth twitch up too. Merlin, the effect this woman had on him...
Longbottom only stared at them in disbelief, standing even as they were still seated together on the sofa. When he finally seemed to rouse himself, he made a few more steps towards them, outstretching his hand towards Hermione as if to help her to stand up too and making Severus' chest squeeze and tighten at that. He did not want the boy to touch her. He did not want anyone even so near to her...
"Hermione, I am not sure what is happening in here but you don't have to suffer him any longer. Whatever he promised to you, it's not worth it. Just go with me, we will find a way together..." he said, his voice quiet and urgent.
That was the last drop to him. She was HIS!
Something knocked the boy back, making him stagger and nearly fall, his face surprised and confused.
"No! Don't!" Hermione said, startled, placing her hand on his knee and distracting him more than enough by that to forget about wanting to strangle the boy only a few seconds prior.
"Now stop this, the both of you, and sit down. We need to talk before something bad happens," she ordered them decisively, folding her hands over her chest again, breaking their physical contact. Too bad for him...
He knew better than disobey. As did Longbottom, obviously, who had managed to find his feet in the meantime and used them to slowly move himself to the vacant armchair, still a bit shaken.
He did not do that much to him even... Yet. Wimp.
"Now Neville, tell us what you are doing here and then you can ask us what you want to know," she offered, reasonable as ever.
"Fine then. I was framed for the death of one of the professors after you escaped the Common Room. I was tortured by the cronies of this Death Eater of a Headmaster. The last thing I remember from Hogwarts is him standing over me, pulling my nails out like some crazy mass murderer from a bad Muggle horror movie. Then I woke up here with his letter telling me he saved me and that I should heal myself and then go to some fishing hut," he finished, his voice shaking.
Merlin... He probably should have explained better, Snape thought, it did not sound too convincing when put like that...
"How do you know I was innocent?" the boy asked him then, suspicious.
He sighed.
"Because it was me who killed the man," he answered simply. There was no reason to lie.
Longbottom's mouth opened at that, forming a nice, round, stupid "O".
"You killed a professor?!" It was Hermione this time, her eyes shocked and accusing.
"I did. Same as I killed 13 people yesterday personally and caused the death of over a hundred more indirectly," he told her, not hiding anything from her even as it hurt him to see her lean away from him at that in fear. She had a right to know what kind of person he was though...
"Why?! And how can you talk about it like that? Like it was normal?" she asked, her eyes wide.
She really was innocent...
"We are at war, Ms. Granger. People do what is necessary to protect what they care about and to survive," he told her, not mentioning he killed all the people for her and Potter this time. Nor the fact that she herself was the indirect cause for 6 deaths only during her imprisonment in the fortress as he had learned recently that both Nott and Willington had not survived their encounter with his wards around her cell... She did not need to have that on her conscience - it was enough that it weighted on his; Death Eaters or not, they were fathers of families...
There was a minute of stunned surprise.
"So... Yesterday I healed you from the injuries that you got while on some kind of a killing spree?" she asked him hesitantly then.
"Something like that... I never asked for your help though. It would be much easier if you just let me die. Now we - you especially - could be faced with... consequences," he said vaguely for Longbottom's sake, hoping she would get the hint about their recent and obviously unprotected sex.
Judging by her adoption of the bright red color that went up her cheeks again, she DID get the hint.
"I... I reckoned I ... would rather create a new life than let you end yours," she said after a few moments, so quiet he barely heard her.
WHAT?
He could only stare at her, not believing his ears.
Did she really mean to say she cared for him?! Or was it just her being so pure and good to everyone again, for some reason including him even? Sacrificing herself and destroying her life for someone like HIM?!
"What the hell is happening here?" the brat demanded, obviously desperate and confused, spoiling the moment.
Damn, he really SHOULD have left him in the cell!
Was it too late to take him by his ear and return him there now...?
It probably was, he sighed in defeat.
Looking at her, he silently asked her for her permission or denial to offer the explanation to the boy, estimating she probably did not want to say it herself. After a while, she nodded, her eyes set down on her lap where she fiddled with a stray thread from her shirt.
"I am willing to explain the situation to you on the condition that you give me an Unbreakable Vow to never disclose this to anyone without Ms. Granger explicit permission," he said then, eyeing her as her head shot up in surprise.
Yet she did not say anything to contradict him so she probably thought it was for the best too.
The boy squirmed for a while, yet finally his curiosity won over his unwillingness to bear such a burden on himself. It was really no wonder now why the boy was a Gryffindor and not a Hufflepuff... No sense for self-preservation whatsoever.
It took him even longer to pluck up the courage to touch his hand.
Was he contagious? Or a Basilisk? Or what was the matter with the boy?
"Neville Longbottom, will you swear that you will not ever reveal anything of what happened yesterday and what was and will be discussed today to anyone without Ms. Granger's explicit permission?"
"I will," the boy answered shakily, sweating and releasing his hand the second the golden line appeared on their skin to seal the Vow.
"Very well then," he said, looking once more at Hermione for confirmation and waiting till she nodded again.
"During Miss Granger's imprisonment by the Dark Lord, we have been forced into creating and sealing a certain kind of Marital bond, twisted to suit the Dark Lord's purposes. Simply put, it compels us to be intimate with each other on a regular basis. It is also the reason why Miss Granger is currently accommodated here and why there are the Death Eaters guarding the house as she is still considered incarcerated by the Dark Lord. I was only permitted to transfer her to my home on some conditions so she could be safer."
"Safer?! Surrounded by Death Eaters in a ruin that is about to come down at any minute? With YOU as her only company? How is that safer or better to anyone?!"
The impertinent brat... is right. Severus squeezed the bridge of his nose tiredly. And he was not even told of the Mark yet...
"You do not know what you are talking about, Neville. You have not seen the fortress, you do not know what was happening there. It was the only way to keep me away from it. The professor is risking a lot even as it is, granting me the freedom I have now to move around, trusting me and sheltering me the way he is..." the girl said, her eyes hard as she was defending him.
Defending HIM!
No one has ever done that. Not in that way at least. It left him speechless.
What had happened to her during that week? Where was the uncertainty, fear and disgust that she had always shown him?
"Hermione, can I speak to you? Alone?" Longbottom asked, shooting him a look.
"There is no way I would..." he began saying, not intending to leave her in the slightest now. She was just returned to him. He did not even like to share her presence with the boy, let alone leave her all to him... She was HIS!
But she did not let him finish that, interrupting him.
"I think I am rather hungry. Starving actually. Do you think you could fix us some breakfast?" she pleaded, looking at him with those soft brown eyes.
He nodded before he even knew it.
Fuck.
He was defenseless against those eyes... Plus she obviously really needed the food, being even thinner than he remembered; surely by two or three pounds at least. He needed to care better for her...
Exasperated, he stood up, looking back at her again and not wanting to go even an inch further away from her. Not at all.
Still, she asked him to. He had no other choice...
"I won't go anywhere. We will just talk," she told him as if knowing exactly what was on his mind at that moment.
He should have said he was aware of that to save some of his dignity. But he couldn't. Fuck him.
So he just nodded and went to the remnants of his fireplace to go to Hogwarts and ask for some food.
The damned House Elves should better be quick about this lest they will be ordered to clean the boys' lavatories for the rest of their life...
No big cliffhangers this time - I really tried, you see!
The next one will be told by Hermione in a few days :-)
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing (maybe? Please?)
