AN:

I was supposed to take time to get ahead of y'all in writing and posting, but I have no self-control, so here we go, Chapter Seventy-Nine and the beginning of the house. Also, the estimated chapter count has gone from 160 to 200.


Chapter Seventy-Nine: Love Me Tender by Norah Jones

Stepping through the gate and the wards, Hermione's sense of smell was hit with a burst of fragrance from the ever blooming flowers, herbs, and shrubbery that lined the stone and gravel path that led up to their hidden home in the mountainside. The iron of the gates quietly groaned behind her as the metal curled back in on itself, reforming the pattern and script into its previously solid state, the protections shimmering back into full force. On either side of the path, the extensive variety of plant life was organized into controlled chaos, each species growing freely within the confines of low growing shrubbery that acted as a natural fence line.

"Severus, this is beautiful," Hermione said in awe, her eyes sweeping over the meticulously plotted garden. "How much space is there?"

"Just shy of fifteen acres," he answered, his face bright with pride from her amazement.

"That's huge!"

"It's manageable. Over Christmas, Enzo mentioned that the property that is adjacent to ours will be on the market come spring and I've been toying with the idea of making them an offer now before word hits the rest of the listing agents in another month. Fifteen years ago, this stretch of the mountain was relatively unknown to outsiders, however in recent years some of the more stunning highlights have come to be known and the value of land has increased exponentially," he explained, before covering her eyes once more.

Hermione vibrated with excitement at seeing the main surprise, her hands coming up to encircle his wrists, while she laughed at his theatrics. They took several more steps up the path before coming to a stop, Severus shuffling her to the side a bit and manipulating her body into just the right spot for his big reveal.

"Is this spot to your liking, Severus?" She teased, as he pulled her back half a step and over two closer to where she had just been.

"Hush angel and indulge me. I bought this place fifteen years ago and have been working on it ever since. You would have questioned my sanity if you saw what it looked like when I told the agent this was the one I wanted," Severus chuckled, placing a kiss on her head. "Are you ready?"

"Yes!" She squealed, trying to tug his hands off her eyes, bouncing on the tips of her toes.

"This is better than I could have hoped for, you're like a child on Christmas morning right now."

"Hurry up," she said impatiently, making him laugh, his chest rumbling against her back from the deepness of it.

With another feather light brush of his lips, Severus became serious as he said, "Anything you don't like can easily be changed and if you absolutely hate it, I promise to go buy Spinner's End back for you tomorrow."

Hermione halted her enthusiasm at his words and briefly tightened her hold on his wrists, squeezing affection into him through her touch. "I'm sorry for my reaction to finding out you sold Spinner's End. Rationally I knew we would be outgrowing it rather quickly once Nova arrived, it's just a little disorienting to see how much has changed in what was such a short amount of time for me. Wherever you are though, is where home is for me, where we raise our daughter is home for me, home is not a slab of concrete on the ground with a pile of bricks and mortar atop it," she said ardently.

Keeping her eyes closed beneath his palms, Hermione carefully turned in his hold, positioning her back to the home he had lovingly picked out and renovated for them to share upon her return. Placing her hands flat on his chest, she tilted her head back to look up at him, opening her eyes to allow herself to see his dark depths of his.

"Thank you, for doing everything you could to keep me safe and protected these last years and for everything you've done to give us a chance and a hope at having that future we wanted."

Reaching up on her toes, Hermione pressed her lips briefly against his, lowering herself back down and closing her eyes once more before he could reciprocate, as she turned back around.

"Now, let me see Prince Estate," she demanded, her eager anticipation flooding back in.

"That's a rather lofty title, don't you think?"

"Well, historically an estate has a main house and functioning outer building, fertile soil for profitable growing, natural boundaries such as woods or mountainous terrain, and sits on a sizable plot of land. Prince Estate from what I have seen is comprised of fifteen acres and you have designs in mind for potential expansion, we are literally on the side of a mountain, you have an abundance of blooming plants for potion brewing which in turn provides you with a profitable business, there is obviously a house for us to live in, and you did say that with a child you would want to have a lab separate from the home to minimize safety risks. Four of the five qualifications are checked off and if I was a betting witch I would say that the fifth one is also checked off," Hermione explained, her voice mocking her haughty know-it-all attitude from school, making her husband resume his open laughter.

"Besides Severus, you chose our surname and our daughter's name. It's only fair I get to name our home," she tacked on, laughing when he made a disgruntled sound at her twisting of the facts.

"You don't get to change things to suit your arguments. We both agreed that I would take up my ancestral name for the many benefits it would provide us given our secret, torrid, and illicit love affair," he quipped. "As for your headstrong daughter, she named herself. I found your notes on baby names after you left, I know you were secretly trying them out on her as well, mine was just the one she liked."

"Not even born yet and already she's a daddy's girl," Hermione mockingly lamented.

"She'll love her mam just as much," he soothed, making her snort at the absurdity of it.

"Severus she has favored you from the start and it is clear as a summer sky that you are already wrapped around her tiny fingers. Don't worry though, I'm only a little jealous of you," she admitted. "Now let me see the house already!"

"So impatient," he teased, nipping at her earlobe.

She felt his lips press against the flesh of her cheek, a moment before he lifted his hands from her eyes. Hermione blinked twice allowing her eyes to adjust to the early evening light, her lips parting on a quiet inhale as she stepped from Severus's hold and approached the house.

She came to stand on the fourth of seven steps that brought them onto the earth made dais the house rested upon. Wrapping around the packed ground, was a short rock wall that held a number of large weather worn urns, that repeated along the front and sides of their home, stretching to the back. Heatless orange flames danced up from each one, illuminating the house in a warm glow, that enhanced the lights shining out from the open windows.

The house was a large two-story home, the layout forming an H in shape. Hand cut stone bricks made up the facade, their color faded and bleached from the high sun summers, prevalent throughout southern France. Each window was framed with simple Board and Batten shutters, painted in a muted dusty blue with scrolling iron handles. The Mediterranean shingles that made up the roof of the home, sloped towards them and away from them into the back of the property. With the exceptions of the four chimneys dotting each of the long sides of the layout, the roof remained simple in design, uninterrupted by aesthetics that would normally give a house more depth and visual appeal.

Hermione turned back around, to look at Severus disbelieving that the home before her was theirs. His nervousness about her reception to the house was visibly painted, in the way his tall frame was slightly hunched and his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his black denims. His slightly awkward and unsure stance reminded her so much of the newly twenty year old version of her husband she had left behind only yesterday.

"Do you like it?" He hesitantly asked.

A large smile stretched across her face as she ran down the steps and flung herself into his unsuspecting arms. Her weight collided with his, knocking them back several steps as Severus tried to maintain his balance and hold her up before they landed in the gravel.

"I love it," she said, grasping his face between her hands and peppering kisses over every inch of exposed skin. "It's better than I could have ever imagined, it's absolutely perfect, Severus. Show me and tell me everything about it."

Stepping back to give him space from her exuberant response, Hermione shrieked in laughter as his arm shot out to wrap around her lower back and drag her back to him. His soft lips pressed against hers in a series of chaste, loving kisses, before he wrapped her into a hug, easily running his palm along her spine. He wrapped her in his arms more tightly for a moment before releasing her and taking her hand to ascend the steps and enter their home together.

"I had planned to take a trip here for our first anniversary and find something for us then. However, as I'm sure you can imagine, with the prophecy looming overhead and only a few weeks between our anniversary and the birth of Potter, the Dark Lord kept us all rather busy looking for them and their secret keeper."

They stopped in front of a pair of tall, arched doors, that were painted in the same shade of blue as the shutters. Welded into the heavy wood, was the same scrolling filigree pattern from the iron gate at the front of the property, the handles larger mates to the ones adorning each of the shutters. Reaching her hand out, Hermione traced her fingers over the ironwork, marveling at how intricately Severus had connected each detail.

Pushing the handle down, she stopped short of opening the door looking back at Severus.

"Before we go in and I get overwhelmed with everything you've done and forget, I have to ask… If James and Lily were in hiding before Harry was born, why did the Dark Lord wait so long to come for them? Pettigrew was their secret keeper and he had him in his pocket. It doesn't make sense. I mean Lily would have been completely defenseless while in labor, why wait so long to attack?"

Severus's eyes widened slightly at her question, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth as he appraised her.

"I don't if I should be impressed or fearful that you came up with the exact plan the Dark Lord initially developed in a fraction of the time."

"Know thy enemy and all that rot," Hermione said, waving him off with pursed lips.

Severus let out a short laugh, before he asked, "I'm assuming that your brilliant brain connected the dots almost instantly, seventeen years ago when you were ambushed, that Wormtail was the one who sold you out to Bellatrix?"

Hermione nodded her head in confirmation at his words, silently telling him to continue on and explain what had happened.

"That first meeting after your attack, we altered everyone's memories of you in the Order and of myself as having been a spy. Even if he hadn't already gone into hiding, their little rat friend would have needed to be spared such a treatment given his siding with the Dark Lord. He couldn't very well have gone from selling you out one day to not even knowing of your existence the next, it would have raised too many questions.

"Word got to him rather quickly though on Halloween about what I did to those involved and in the truest and most cowardice sense of self-preservation, he went to ground hoping I would be satisfied collecting my pound of flesh from them and Black. The year finished out and you left, and shortly thereafter Black became convinced that Lupin was the traitor in their midst, and to maintain a show of not knowing what was to come, he was excommunicated from the main meetings, making Evans our go-between after that. Between that and there not being a trail of Death Eater bodies gracing the front page of the Daily Prophet, he came out of hiding long enough to re-establish himself and agree with Black's plan to become their secret keeper while he drew the search away from Godric's Hollow.

"I imagine he stayed hidden after that, sitting on the information waiting to see how the war would play out before fully committing one way or the other. Then from the Order, all the McKinnons were wiped out and nearly all of the Bones family as well, not to mention the mounting death toll of innocents, that was becoming a near twice-daily reporting. On the other side, those aligned with Him weren't losing anywhere near those numbers. We had Reggie in '79, which you know about, and Evan early in '81. At the time of his death, he was unmarried with no heirs, so his death effectively took out the Rosier name since most purebloods do not continue having children after a male heir is born, hence their dying breed since they aren't even having enough children to replace them upon their death. Now the closest relations to that line are Cissy and her sisters, their mother having been Evan's aunt, but with Draco as the only male heir among them, the line is as good as dead unless he marries a pureblood witch and has at least three sons to take up the Malfoy, Black, and Rosier mantels. Even without believing in all this supremacist shite, Draco has a lot on his shoulders as an heir and a member of the Twenty-Eight, to be sure the lines, history, and practices of our world are upheld, but I've digressed.

"Anyways, looking at those statistics objectively, it would be a logical conclusion that the Dark Lord was going to succeed and therefore Pettigrew's decision was made and the life of an infant was inconsequential when it came to saving his own skin. Even if you had never gone back through time, I would have demanded an audience with Dumbledore the day their rat came back into the fold. I stood beside the Dark Lord as Wormtail lived up to his rat-like namesake and sold out his best friend and his infant son for safety in our ranks and received the Mark as a reward. The things I've done and seen done, I can compartmentalize a majority of them and by doing that, it allows me to go about my life mostly unaffected, but that was too much...

"I may hate the man and I may not trust him, and I may have joined the Dark Lord willingly, eagerly even, but I never would have wanted to be counted amongst the ranks of followers who sat back and watched or assisted as the Dark Lord hunted down and murdered an innocent child all in the name of power."

At the end of his explanation, Hermione released the door handle and took a deep breath, regretting her need to always ask questions and her desire to understand, as the heavy weight of melancholy settled deep within her.

"We should have tried… I should have tried to save them…" She whispered.

"At what cost?" Severus asked sharply, taking hold of her shoulders and turning her to face him. "Look at the trade that was made so that you could keep Black, of all people, alive. Yes, we could have saved them and maybe they would have lived long and happy lives. The narrative could have also reversed and it could have been the Longbottoms in their position and the Potters in theirs. They also could have survived that Halloween night only to have died later, that time possibly taking their son with them. You cannot agonize over this Hermione, trust me I am intimately aware of what happens when time gets screwed up."

Her brow furrowed in confusion as she looked into his deep, hard set eyes, that willed her to accept his words. "What do you mean, Severus?"

"There are seventeen years between us that we need to catch up on. Not everything can be answered and explained in a single day. We will get to it all, I promise. For now though, please just put this all away and let us just enjoy tonight and then we can begin to slowly unpack the last decade and a half," he pleaded.

"That's fair," she agreed, beginning to transfer everything from the last few minutes onto a page within a book in her mind, placing it on one of the shelves in the corner, where she stored things she wanted to review at later dates. She had accepted that she may never master occlumency but her ability to compartmentalize had been greatly improved during her rigorous training sessions with Severus.

"Okay, I'm ready to see the rest," she announced, with a small smile, turning around to take hold of the door handle and twisted it down.

With Severus behind her and his hand low on her back, Hermione gave a slight push on the heavy door. It easily began to swing back on its hinges to reveal the entryway to them. The second door joined the first on its own accord, both opening with a wide arc, before coming to rest flush against the walls, exposing the first room in the house.

Its depth was narrow, but its length was long as it worked to connect the two halves of the house. In the center of the space, a detailed glass chandelier hung above them, the impossible height of the ceilings causing the light to bounce along the walls in a kaleidoscope pattern as it illuminated the room. Beneath it was a large, high rise table, with an even larger arrangement of red and pink striped orchids taking up most of the space. At the base of their cracked mercury vase, was a small, organized stack of newly delivered post, that Severus lazily flicked his wand at, making it disappear saying, "Library," by way of explanation.

On either side of the table, were two doors, cut into the wall in such a way that they blended from sight on first look. Coming around the other side of the table, she saw a circular, silver mirror, taking up much of the wall space between the doors, and beneath it a long feminine curved bench. On a hunch, Hermione pressed against one of the hidden doors, the action making it click open enough for her to pull it the rest of the way. Inside were evenly spaced coats, cloaks, and jackets belonging to Severus as well as shelving for shoes.

"Is the other for me?" She teasingly asked.

"Nonsense, we share that one. The other is for guests, or rather the rest of the family," he said. "Now where do you want to go first? Obviously, that's upstairs," he said gesturing to a wide, curving staircase on the far right. "The right half of the first floor has a formal living room, the library, and a joint office. The left half has the kitchen, informal living and dining rooms, as well as the formal dining room, and Tippy's room. Both sides also have access to the backyard."

"Where is Tippy?" Hermione asked, excitedly.

No sooner had the word left her mouth did a loud pop echo in the entry space announcing the presence of the mentioned elf.

"Mistress Hermany!" She exclaimed, throwing her thin arms around Hermione's swollen belly. "And little Miss! Tippy has been missing you both for so long," she wailed, her tears quickly soaking Hermione's dress.

Putting her hand out for Severus's help, she lowered herself to kneel on level with the little elf, wrapping her arms around her slight body in a tight hug.

"Tippy try Mistress, she really try, but Master was very difficult in the first years, making Tippy fail you and what you asked Tippy to do," she lamented, her sobs rising in volume.

"What are you talking about? You took great care of him for me. Look at him, Severus is the picture of health," Hermione insisted.

She released her hold on the elf, to fix her drooping bow and recenter it, giving her large bat-like ears an affectionate tug when she finished.

Tippy pushed back from her, her tennis ball sized eyes pinning her in a deep stare as she said, "Now, Master Sevy is okay, but before-"

"Tippy, Hermione does not need to know everything right now," Severus said firmly, cutting off the elf's words.

"Yes actually, I think I do," Hermione said sharply. "Please tell me, Tippy, what happened after I left?"

"Tippy, don't," Severus commanded.

Taking a hard swallow to prepare herself for giving an official order, Hermione said, "Tippy as your Mistress I command you to tell me."

"Tippy cannot," the elf said, her ear piercing cries starting once more.

Hermione gripped the entry table in an attempt to hoist herself up as she turned on Severus and demanded, "What does she mean, 'Tippy cannot?'"

"Let me help you up," he said, grasping her hands and pulling her back to standing. "As for why she can't follow your commands, we have to reaffirm the familial bond between the two of you. It snapped into place the first time when we got married and I proclaimed you as my partner and equal in all aspects of my life. However, in your fourth year, if you recall, you started a little movement by the name of SPEW and created a rather hellish environment for the elves of Hogwarts. Tippy always came with me to Hogwarts and worked alongside the rest of the elves, her predominant job having been to care for you in secret. As her Mistress, your attempts at freeing the elves actually worked with her, severing her bond to you and me, since it's tied to a magical signature, and not the awareness of actually being an elf's Master or Mistress."

"No…" Hermione said slowly in disbelief. "But I didn't… I wasn't…Good Godric!"

She quickly turned around to face the crying elf once again and began lavishing her in apologies. "I am so sorry Tippy. I didn't know any better back then. I didn't understand what I was doing to the elves and how your biology and magic works. I would never, ever free you against your will."

Hermione's heart broke as she watched the elf wipe her runny nose, on the bluish silver pillowcase she wore, her bow once again collapsing with her ears as though it too was an extension of her emotions.

"Severus, please fix this," she begged as she opened her arms up and beckoned the elf back into a hug. "Shh… Tippy… It's okay, Severus will fix it. I cannot apologize enough for what I did." Giving another little tug on her ears she offered, "Does Tippy want to smash my fingers in the door for being bad?"

"Tippy would never," she responded emphatically.

Severus came to stand beside them, raising his wand above their heads as he moved it in a slow circle. A shower of magical sparks fell around them, those that landed on their person, seeping in through clothes and skin, to meld with their cores.

In a deep, soothing voice, Severus began, "The binding between Mistress and elf is a lasting one, that may only be severed upon the gifting of clothes by the Mistress or the relinquishing of familial ties by the elf. By partaking in the Binding of Service, you as Tippy's Mistress will reap the benefits of elf magic for you, your house, and your line, as well as receive her devotion and loyalty to your family. In return for such a gift, the obligations and responsibilities of her care and wellbeing will fall upon you and your line, a payment that will be continuously made till her dying day. In full awareness of the expectations as a Mistress, do you, Hermione Jean Prince, nee Granger, accept the Binding of Service?"

A golden light, formed between her and Tippy as Severus spoke the oath. It swelled with each word, slowly expanding until it formed itself into an oval and wrapped around them both. As she answered, "I do," the golden light exploded into another rainfall of magic, that sank into their respective cores, the tie between them wrapping itself through her binding cord with Severus.

"Hermione, give an official command so we can verify it took," Severus requested.

Scrunching her lips to the side, Hermione thought for a moment before asking, "Tippy are there any macarons in the house?"

"Yes, Tippy use Master Sevy's recipe and make dozens today," she answered excitedly.

"Well, that solves that dilemma, Tippy I command you to bring me a selection of macrons to eat while Severus continues showing me the house."

With a quick pop, the elf disappeared, and Hermione began twirling her wedding rings around her finger in an anxious tick.

"I can't believe I severed her bond to us. Was she okay? You were able to fix it right away, right?" Hermione asked.

"It took a few hours to find her and several more to coax her out of hiding because she was too ashamed to look at me after having failed at keeping, 'past and future Mistress Hermany happy,' but after I got her out and convinced her that I wasn't displeased and nor were you, that you just didn't know what you were doing, Minerva was able to rebind us," Severus answered solemnly.

"I really didn't know any better when I started all of that. I still think there is a need for more laws to be put in place to prevent abuse, but I understand now that the relationship is supposed to be a symbiotic one. At the time, I had only seen the worst of how they were treated and didn't even stop to think that those relationships might not be the norm.

"Are you sure she's okay? She's not like Winky?" Hermione asked, her guilt at having caused Tippy so much distress, gnawing at her and twisting her stomach into knots.

"I promise you, no lasting damage was done. That's the beautiful thing about elves. Like children, they are alarmingly forgiving and incapable of holding grudges. It's not in their nature to do so.

"Now if you'd really like to make it up to her, she's been here cleaning and preparing for a week and has been hoping you'll let her see to your every need and want, so…" He said trailing off and giving her an expectant look.

With a rueful smile, she said, "So be completely helpless for the next forty-eight hours, got it."

Severus took her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss, making the choice about what part of the house to see first for her as he led her down the left corridor. Large prints of magical photos chronologically lined the walls in silver metal frames, each one playing a short loop of the captured memory.

The corridor widened to expose a series of cased openings with the kitchen and morning room on the far end and the dining room on the left. Severus guided Hermione to the right where she stood within one of the openings once again left speechless. Their old home had been decorated in dark shades of blue, purple, and green, and each room almost completely closed off by small openings and doors. The newly minted Prince Estate was the opposite of Spinner's End in almost every way, with its near open floor plan and airy renditions of the original color scheme.

The openings between rooms were large and showcased another replica of the iron scrollwork echoed at the tops of the casing providing subtle detail and interest to each room. The walls were a crisp, light enhancing white, and the wood floors stained in a warm chestnut color. Like Spinner's End, everything in the room had been selected for its quiet elegance and air of luxury but remained inviting and comforting.

The living room had two large sectionals that sat opposite each other, each with a side stretching out into a chase. The linen cushions were littered with light sea green and silver pillows of various sizes, designs, and patterns. Between the two sectionals on one side sat two armchairs in the same fabric as the couches but with a splash of color that was a match to the toss pillows. In the center was a large, tufted ottoman with metal Baroque style feet, that was colored with the same ocean foam white as the couches. Round driftwood side tables alternated with the pieces of furniture, each holding a shattered mercury based lamp. The truly show stopping feature of the room though, was the view the seating layout had been planned around.

Four paned windows stretched the length of the room and reached nearly from floor to ceiling. They were each adorned in patterned curtains following the same color scheme of the furniture. Just beyond the glass was a large covered patio, with vines of roses growing up and over in an arch with additional upholstered armchairs in a dusty lavender and a gas lamp hanging above, providing light to the space.

"Can we?" She asked, gesturing to the outdoor space and the open backyard that lay just beyond them.

Severus flicked two fingers in the direction of the windows, making them turn on their hinges to open, becoming perpendicular to the wall that framed them.

Hermione hesitantly stepped outside, taking in the sweeping view before her. The small patio off of the living room had several steps to descend before revealing a fully furnished outdoor space, with a massive stone fire pit burning in the center of the seating. The outdoor living room ended with an additional series of steps that brought her to a long rectangular pool, the blue-green water easily rippling across the surface from the charmed breeze. Beyond the pool, she could see the outer building that was a miniature version of their home and most probably where Severus had chosen to house his new lab. Past that, was a view that explained the rising property values of the area and why he had picked this exact place to be their home.

Centered perfectly within the trees was an unobstructed view of the mountain village of Gordes, lit up for the night in warm yellow lights, and at the edge of the property line, there was a stone bench that had been positioned for gazing upon the sight.

"Oh my God…" she breathed, taking in the view. Spinning around she looked at her husband and asked, "Is that real? Or is it some sort of glamour or illusion like the windows in Spinner's End?"

"It's real and exactly the reason why I think I may put an offer in on the other property. We may not need the space, but I would rather occupy as much of this view as possible before vacation developers come in and seize it," he answered, turning her back to look at the same view they had on their wedding day, wrapping his front around her back.

"Do it. We can figure something out for the additional space later but I completely agree with you. This is too perfect to risk it getting spoiled. How in the world did you find this place?"

"Enzo was the agent that was assigned to my search, the scheduler saying he specialized in difficult to pair properties. I honestly didn't think what we had wanted would be too hard to place, but I had seen eleven different properties that I refused to even tour before this one, so maybe we are hard to please clients.

"This galleon pit felt like home the moment I saw it though. Before he had even shown me this part of the house, I knew this would be the one. I could clearly see us playing with Nova in the yard as I looked at it and when he took me inside, despite all the work that was required, I could clearly envision us living here, it felt like home."

"Was it really that awful?" She asked, trying to imagine how anyone could let this place fall into shambles.

"Whatever you think, double it, then multiply that by ten, and maybe what you can think of will be as bad as this house was. I'll show you this weekend if you'd like, though I wasn't exaggerating, you will question my sanity when you see it," he said with a soft chuckle. "Fuck, I even questioned my sanity when it came time to begin work on it."

A moment later a plate appeared before Hermione piled with the asked for and forgotten macarons. Biting into a vanilla one, she gave a soft moan at the sugary taste of the treat, further relaxing into Severus's arms, as she enjoyed the peaceful moment that was a break from reality.

"Merlin, the best thing I ever did was get the pastry elf, Roux, to teach me how to make these on our honeymoon. That noise you make is absolutely sinful," he purred in her ear, his tongue coming out to flick her lobe, before leaving a wet path down her neck. "I think I should show you our bedroom next."

Severus gently grinded himself against her bottom, making a desperate whimper sound from within her as she nodded eagerly.

"Yes, I think that is a brilliant idea," she agreed, pushing back into him and grabbing the floating plate of biscuits.

A dark chuckle sounded in her ear, quickly followed by the crack of apparition as they went from the yard to the balcony that was above the rose covered patio.

"I see you took a page from our hotel," Hermione observed, placing the plate down on a small table as she took in the daybed that took up one side.

"We did enjoy it," he quipped, beginning to prowl towards her.

"That we did," she remembered, turning around to open the French doors into their room, making him pursue her further to get her physical attention.

Stepping in, Hermione was greeted by an upholstered monstrosity of a bed. The silver frame of the bed reached up to curve into four posters that angled and sloped to the center of the bed. They formed a smaller rectangle that had sheer, gauzy panels of fabric cascading down each side, coming to pool in an elegant heap on the herringbone floor. The duvet was a heavy, plush, true white that was folded down to the edge of the bed to expose a matching coverlet and stitched sheets. The headboard was lined with powder blue euro pillows and staggered, overstuffed white pillows with a patterned stitched trim that matched the sheets. A bolster pillow in a matching blue and silver completed the makeup of the bed.

Each side had a wide, three drawer nightstand with more silver detailing connecting each drawer to create a seamless look. Mounted above the tops of the nightstands were matching mirrors, with a faux antiquing done to the glass. Resting on each one was a lamp with a powder blue shade and a circle of votive candles around the base, that faintly flickered in the room, currently providing them with the dim lighting.

During her appraisal of their bedroom, her predatory husband had come back upon her and had begun running his hands along her sides, while marking a path with soft kisses. Reaching behind her, she gently raked her nails over the nape of his neck, encouraging him further.

"Severus, everything you have done is perfect. There isn't a single thing I would change."

"You've only seen a part of it, you could change your mind," he replied, caressing her with open mouthed kisses every few words.

She made a sound of disagreement at his words, raising her hands above her, as he peeled the transfigured dress from her body. He unhooked her bra and allowed the straps to slide down her shoulders, before removing it from her to join the sweater on the floor.

The feeling of his lips pressing between her shoulder blades made gooseflesh erupt over her body, a shiver racing down her spine to follow his mouth as he knelt behind her to pull the zipper of her boots down at an agonizingly slow pace.

As she stepped out of her shoes, Severus's hands came to rest on her hips, giving a light squeeze as he pressed his mouth to the base of her spine in a final kiss, melting her further.

"Bed," he purred in instruction, nipping at the top of one cheek.

She hastily complied, walking over to the bed, positioning herself into a comfortable spot as she allowed herself to let go, follow, and feel. Once she was in place, he brought his hand up to rest between her breasts and with a gentle pressure pushed on the bone to prompt her to lay back for him.

She lowered herself into a comfortable position, maintaining intimate eye contact with him as she went. Once she was settled back, he hooked his hands behind her knees and yanked her to the edge of the bed, making her squeal at the sudden and unexpected movement.

Her startled noise was quickly replaced with a loud, high pitched keening as he knelt before her and buried his face between her thighs. That first lick to her opening and apex, made her hands fist into the sheets as her body arched off the bed in a needy response, the delicious sensations overriding her entire being, as she focused in on her husband and his wicked tongue.


AN:

The Facebook group has a couple of my own photos posted, that provided the initial inspiration for Gordes and Prince Estate and I have a Pinterest board for the home and property as well with even more photos.

facebook dot com / groups / 401487450880977

pinterest dot com / SlytherinLovesAGryffindor / star-crossed-through-time / becasue-hes-a-romantic /