As the sun set, Severus started to look a little agitated. Hermione looked up from the cracker she was snacking on and furrowed her brow. "What's wrong?"
"I..." He looked away from her. "I booked a hotel room. Just for this weekend. I know you have a lot of preparing to do for your first year teaching."
"You... A honeymoon?"
He winced a little. "I thought..."
She leaned forward, wrapped her arm around his shoulders, and pressed her lips to his cheek. He blushed furiously. "What are you doing?" Severus whispered. His dark eyes looked around. One older couple was whispering about them, but other than that, people were not paying them any mind.
"You wouldn't have to deal with so much gawking if you showed your face in public a bit more," She said.
"That bloody book Rita Skeeter wrote did plenty to encourage the gawking on its own, despite the Ministry collecting the copies. Some still went into circulation... I hardly felt it necessary to show my face. Everyone thought they knew everything," He scowled.
"I didn't realize you could be so romantic," She teased him as she changed the subject.
"This was practical. You sounded disappointed to have left Paris under the circumstances that you did," He said coolly. He looked at his hands, which were wrapped around his wine glass stem. "I have never been here. I thought it might kill two birds with a single stone, as they say. You get to visit Paris again before things get hectic at Hogwarts, and I get to see visit Paris for the first time."
Hermione looked at him. He looked a little nervous and pretty tense. "Practical? Booking an extended weekend in Paris after marrying isn't practical, Severus. It's most certainly romantic," She saw him frown. "What? Why can't you just accept the compliment?" She teased.
"Because I don't know why you're giving it," He growled and leaned away from her slightly.
She had unintentionally touched a nerve. "What did I do?"
"Nothing," He said and took a sip of his wine.
"Please talk to me," She said.
He gritted his teeth and then pinched the bridge of his nose. He signaled for the bartender and paid the tab. Putting his cloak back on, he moved toward the door. She followed him, and he held the door open that led out into the alley.
"We could change our clothes into something Muggle and go to the Eiffel Tower? I hear it's quite the sight after dark," He suggested. His body language showed that he was uncomfortable and feeling anxious.
"If you're not going to talk to me, Severus, that's going to make this marriage rather difficult," She sighed heavily and rubbed at her temples as she walked alongside him through the alley.
"I do talk to you," He said evenly. "More than anyone else."
"Have it your way then," She said. "I'm tired. I'd like to go back to the hotel so we can consummate so I can sleep."
He flinched as if she'd struck him. He stopped walking and turned to look at her. His eyes were dark, filled with offense, and he blinked several times. A muscle near the corner of his mouth twitched, and then he nodded. He extended his elbow to her. She took his arm and he disapparated the pair of them. When they reappeared, they were standing in a fancy wizarding hotel lobby. Severus approached the front desk, fully occluded now, striding forward confidently.
He returned to her with a pair of metal hotel keys. They walked to their room in silence. Hermione's arms were crossed over her chest tightly. His eyes were focused steadily on the floor as he walked. Once inside the room, she realized she hadn't thought about Crookshanks, or packing a bag.
"What about Crooks?" She asked him.
"I charmed his bowls to refill at the usual times," Severus said. He was avoiding her eyes.
"I haven't packed any clothes," She said.
He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a very shrunken suitcase. Touching his wand to it, it enlarged. "I was not entirely sure what to pack, so I grabbed much of your wardrobe."
She crossed her arms. He'd thought this through. He wanted it to be a good surprise, and it was, but she couldn't help but feel frustrated at him. He had clammed up so quickly at the wine bar, and then he tried to dismiss it as if nothing had happened at all. She studied him. He was standing awkwardly, a long pointer finger tapping slowly on his thigh. His body language was turned slightly away from her. He was ashamed, and uncertain.
"Please talk to me," She said. "I only want to understand you better."
"I do talk to you," He sighed.
"What did you mean when you didn't know why I was giving you a compliment?" She asked. She saw a childlike look on his face, pained, unguarded, and then he frowned. He turned and faced away from her completely, moving toward the small balcony. She followed him, realizing now he'd made his insecurity quite plain, and she had not been delicate enough in trying to understand him. She had, instead, thought he was accusing her of faking something. "Everyone who has ever paid you a compliment has used you, or expected something in return..." She said slowly. She felt like a fool.
She looked at the skyline. They could see the Eiffel Tower from the tiny balcony. He leaned forward on the railing and bowed his head for a moment. She moved next to him. She asked, "What are you doubting?"
He closed his eyes and bowed his head further so that his black hair concealed his face. "Everything," He breathed.
She was taken aback. "Everything? What do you mean everything?"
He pushed back off the railing suddenly. "Everything!" He growled his insecurity. "Every ... touch, every glance, every... kiss..." He ran a hand through his hair, and the words sounded as if they were painful to say.
"You..." She looked at him in hurt bewilderment.
"Every moment, I ask if this is something you're forcing yourself to do because of this damned marriage law," He admitted angrily.
"No," She said. "It's not."
"It cannot possibly be real," He snarled.
"Why not?"
He looked at her. Frustration was etched into all of his features. "Anything good in my life has never stayed long and has always come at much too high a cost."
"So I am something good in your life?" She asked, catching his admission and not letting it slide. He fumbled, disliking having been caught, and looked disgusted at the slip. He turned away from her.
She approached him and said, "You're something good in my life too, Severus." His breath hitched audibly in his chest. She touched his arm, but he didn't turn to face her. "You are, and I know everything in you is telling you that it's not real, that it's forced... But it's not, Severus." He stiffened at her words. "At least it isn't for me..."
His eyes snapped to her face. "What?"
"Well, I... like you," She said and felt her face blush. "We've spent nearly every moment of the last six weeks together, and it was... nice."
"You like me?" He asked. His eyes narrowed in disbelief.
"Yes, Severus," She said in exasperation. "Bloody hell. I thought that'd be obvious by now."
He broke eye contact, and looked out toward the skyline. When he looked back at her, there was deep rooted pain in his eyes, years of having been rejected and uncared for, and she stepped closer to him. She reached up, and held his face in her hands. Her thumbs rubbed over his cheek bones. He wrapped his hands around her wrists, staring into her eyes. His gaze was intense, but he wasn't using Legilimency. He didn't need to. She let him see what he needed to see - affection, honesty, attraction. His finger tips slid down her arms so lightly that it made her shiver.
Severus touched his lips to hers with a gentleness he had never demonstrated before. He was trembling slightly against her mouth and she pressed her lips more firmly against his and moaned. He groaned in response, deepening the kiss. His hands moved to her hips. She began to walk backwards toward the bed and he followed her, his mouth on hers. She vanished her clothing and laid back on the bed, staring up at him. His mouth was swollen and red from their kisses, and his jaw dropped open a bit as he stared at her naked body. His black eyes trailed up and down her body. He was clearly enjoying the view, and she noticed his trousers began to look very tight.
"Severus?" She asked and his eyes met hers, breaking him from his intense admiration. "I want you." His mouth dropped open a little further and he gasped.
Vanishing his own clothes, he moved over her, kissing her neck. She moaned and dragged her nails down his back. He arched against her. Severus kissed his way down her neck and down her sternum between Her breasts, her stomach, and then looked up at her, a question in his eyes, an insecurity and an uncertainty. She rolled her hips in answer to his unspoken question.
He kissed her hip bones, and then flicked his tongue between her folds. As he moved his tongue, she arched and ground against his mouth. He moaned against her, the vibration of his deep voice made her shudder. His tongue worked faster, flicking, drawing circles quickly. She was close, and he could taste it, and it drove him absolutely mad. Pressing his tongue a little more fully against her, and she gripped the bed sheets.
"Fuck, Severus, yes..." She whined, and then she came, hard, on his tongue. He moved to the inside of her thigh and kissed her, and then kissed his way back up her body. She was twitching under him, and smiling at him.
"You are a great student, Severus," She murmured as his mouth returned to her neck.
"I have much to learn," He said against her skin.
"Oh, but you have the potential for greatness..." She teased and chuckled.
He pulled back to look her into the eyes. "Really? The books must have helped..."
"What? Books? You've been reading... porn?" She chuckled.
"Hardly," He rolled his eyes and kissed her lips.
"You're seriously questioning your performance after what just happened?"
He smirked. "A fair point," He mumbled as he resumed kissing her neck.
She reached between them and gripped his erection. He grunted. "The potion has expired?" He asked.
"Yes," She said. "But my cycle should start tomorrow, so we should be clear for this month," She kissed his cheek. "Then, back to the old 'pull and pray' as the Muggles say..."
He started laughing, genuinely, deep in his chest. "I've not heard that phrase since I was a teenager..."
She pushed his shoulder over so that he was flat on his back, mounted him and slid down his length, burying him completely inside of her. He gasped and arched into her hard. His hands went to her hips and gripped tightly as she rode him. Then, she leaned forward, her hair cascading around him, and he began to thrust up into her. His strokes were still inexperienced and uneven and desperate, but it still felt incredible for both of them. He arched his head back deeper into the bed and her mouth found the exposed skin on the unscarred side of his throat. She kissed and sucked his skin.
He was grunting and thrusting erratically. She moved in time with his thrusts, pulling him to the edge faster. "Hermione..." He moaned. Her name sounded like a prayer on his tongue. She rested her forehead against his as his orgasm overtook him, and then she sank down on top of him. He writhed under her in pleasure as his eyes stared into hers.
She rolled off of him, grabbed her wand, and cleaned both of them. He was breathing heavily. "Tomorrow, I'll show you Paris..." She said as she moved underneath the comforter and sheets. She moved closer to him. Her head rested on his chest, and he touched his fingers to her hair and stroked lightly. Soon, his breathing deepened, and she quickly fell asleep after him.