The next two weeks were heaven for Severus. He watched as Hermone basically swam in bliss nonstop. He was so elated that she had stopped thinking about how distasteful she must have been for him. And things were so much easier. Of course it hurt him that she was avoiding him, but he had started that trend first. And it didn't matter as long as she was happy.
Hermione added a few more pretty red lines to her collection. She found each one to be a masterpiece in and of itself, and snape was none the wiser.
They would sit and read in silence and he would pretend not to watch as a small smile crept onto her face.
Her new feelings of enlightenment made reading about a dead Ethan Wate trying to communicate with his Lena all the more enjoyable. Oh the love. She wished she had what they had. All that love even in the absence of physical touch. She would never be able to do that. Even in her elated state of mind, her new habit couldn't satiate her raging teenage hormones, and despite her best efforts, something inside her still craved the touch of the man she was bound to.
She began to imagine herself as Ethan trying so hard to touch Lena despite the surging electricity her skin sent through his body. She imagined kissing her through the pain, even though it would surely stop her heart from beating. And Severus was her Lena. And Lena didn't want Ethan's heart to give out, so she wouldn't touch him.
Her desperation only made her need to add to her collection of red lines. She knew it would help her cravings. Help, but not cure.
"I need a shower." Snape said before heading to the bathroom. Hermione followed and sat in her usual spot in the doorway.
Severus turned on the water and began to undress. Hermione listened intently as each piece of clothing fell slowly to the floor. The buttons on his coat clinked as they hit the tiles and she couldn't help but to imagine watching as he unbuttoned his dress shirt.
He would hold her gaze, with a sly smirk on his face as he undid each of them agonizingly slowly before sliding it off his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. She could picture his amazing bare abdomen, the muscles contracting as he stalked closer to her. His hands would run up her arms and graze over her neck before pushing her against the wall like he had twice before. Her knees would go weak like they had then. Oh she loved the feeling of his hand on her throat. This time though, he wouldn't hover or tell her no. His lips would be on hers as soon as her back hit the wall. She wondered what he would taste like.
"Hermione please." Severus grunted behind her. "Your thoughts…"
Hermione turned around without thinking. He was standing there in the foggy room without a shirt. The moisture clung to his bare chest and trickled down the lean musculature of his pale abdomen. He ran a hand through his long hair, the muscles in his arms contracting as he did so. She had never seen his arms before now and she wondered how she had never thought of arms as something sexual before.
Severus felt her desire grow tenfold as she imagined what his arms would look like as his hands ran over different parts of her body. Her lips parted slightly as her eyes traveled over his body for the first time before meeting his. He could feel it before, but now he could physically see her desires plastered on her face, swimming in her eyes… He broke.
It only took one step before Snape crushed her body to his. In half a second his hand was tangled in her hair and he was only a breath away from her lips. He almost hesitated. He wouldn't have done it if he hesitated, but he didn't. And so his lips finally found hers and she gasped as he kissed her for the first time.
Hermione's hands ran over his chest as he lost himself in her. He could feel her head spinning as he let his hand leave her hair to travel over her exposed neck, gently pressing his fingers into her flesh. She gasped as his lips left hers to hover over the delicate skin under her jaw.
"You taste like cinnamon." She breathed. He chuckled and she almost moaned at the beautiful sound.
"Am I to understand," His breath tickled her skin beneath his lips. "That you don't like it when I hover?" His voice was low and silky as he spoke.
She shivered as his hot breath trailed over her jaw and up to her ear.
"Well Miss Granger, I'm afraid you will have to deal with that as I quite like making you squirm." His teeth caught her lobe and she moaned loudly much to her embarrassment.
He found it hard to keep his composure when she made sounds like that, but he was determined to tease and taunt her until she was putty.
His mouth finally found her neck. His lips parted as he ran his tongue over her sensitive flesh. Her breath hitched and she trembled as her knees went weak under his touch.
Severus kept her upright with his hand placed firmly at her lower back. His other hand ran up her body too slowly for her taste. It was tauntingly slow and she couldn't help but plead with him.
"P-please sir. I need," She gasped. "I need you to touch me."
He couldn't deny her that request. She had called him sir after all. His fingers grazed over her clothed nipple, causing a shiver to run down her spine. He loved the way her body reacted to even his most delicate touch. His hand found its way under the hem of her shirt. He kissed her lips softly before pulling her shirt up over her head.
His eyes moved to take in her bare skin, and his heart nearly stopped at the sight of the girl before him.
On each side of her beautiful abdomen, a thick pink scar drew a line from the bottom of her rib cage, to the top of her pubic bone. Two even pinker ones welted up under the bottom of her bra. Two almost healed right over her navel. Two barely scabbed over on each shoulder. Two still bleeding under her collar bone.
A sob escaped his lips as the tears welled up in his eyes. How did he not notice?
He began to tremble as guilt and grief overtook him. His knees hit the floor hard, but he didn't even wince at the pain. He just pulled her down with him and held her to his chest as he cried.
The steam billowed around them as he struggled to speak.
"Oh Hermione…. I'm so sorry."