Chapter 15

Cambiano che Stagioni

(Changing Seasons)

The next few months went by quickly for Hermione. She and Severus continued to spend all their time together when they weren't teaching, and sometimes it wasn't undivided attention to one another, it was just being in the presence of one another. Severus would brew potions and grade papers and read, and Hermione would read and grade papers and write. They were falling into a comfortable routine with one another, and Hermione had never felt so content being around another person. Something about being with Severus calmed her, even when she was overcome with unexpected fear and anxiety; remnants of her the war and everything she had experienced, she could count on his steady hand to hold her and his unwavering gaze to soothe her.

February, March and April flew by, and now that it was May and nearing the end of her first term as a Hogwarts professor, Hermione looked back fondly on three special occasions during those months.

In February, Hermione joined Severus on the edge of the Forbidden Forest to collect some herbs and other potion ingredients that Neville and Professor Sprout were unable to provide for them. While on their search, they came across Hagrid's heard of Thestrals. Both Hermione and Severus could see them, and Hermione was pleasantly surprised to learn that Severus had interacted with them before.

"In fact, my most recent interaction with them was the last year of your schooling," he explained to her, watching the creatures from a few yards away.

"Really?" Hermione had asked.

"Indeed. And Miss Lovegood was with them."

"Ah, that makes sense," Hermione said as she smiled. "Luna loves Thestrals. She named a few of them and let Ginny and Neville and I name three of them."

Severus turned to her, clearly intrigued. "Can you recognize which one you christened?"

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "No, only Luna seemed to be able to tell them apart."

"Well, what did you name yours?"

She looked into his eyes and replied, "Ombre."

And he smiled. And his eyes shown brightly in the midday light. And suddenly Hermione found herself telling him that his eyes gleamed like hematite.

"Hematite? Truly?" He asked as he gently kissed her. It seemed he had forgotten he had been looking for potion ingredients.

She nodded and fell into his kisses eagerly.

"And why hematite?" he asked, curiously. "Why not obsidian, or onyx, or black pearl?"

"Because," she said, immediately ready for his query. "Your eyes have a shine to them, sometimes, that don't remind me of any other stone except hematite. Sometimes they seem bright and give off an almost metallic shine."

"And, may I ask, did this idea of hematite also have anything to do with the stone's particular magical healing properties?"

Hermione pulled her head back, surprised that he knew of the magical healing properties of stones when she herself did not. It wasn't a subject studied at Hogwarts. "No, I must admit I don't know what the magical healing properties are of any stone. It's not an area of magic I have studied," she confessed.

He smiled. "That is quite alright, my dear. I do have a few years on you." He winked at her as she looked at him with indignation. He kissed her again. "Hematite is commonly used to enhance the mind and strengthen the focus of the holder. It can also be used for canceling out negative energies and enhancing positive energies, possibly helping to calm the holder in times of stress and worry."

Hermione gave him a wide smile. "That is absolutely perfect."

The second special occasion still brought shivers of pleasure to Hermione's skin as she recalled it.

It had been in March, and she and Severus had just gotten back to his private potion lab from dinner in the dining hall. Severus turned to her and smirked, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

"I have an idea," he said, in the husky tone he sometimes used that caused Hermione's heart to start racing.

"Oh really?" Hermione asked, smirking up at him. "What kind of idea?"

"Follow me, my love," he said, holding out his arm for her to take.

Hermione followed her lover out into the dungeon corridor and into the empty potions' classroom. Once inside, he closed the door and she heard as he locked it and cast protective wards. She looked at him, quizzically.

"We don't want anyone interrupting us, now do we?" He asked her with a sly grin.

"Severus, what exactly—"

But she was cut off when he swooped down and lifted her off her feet and into his arms. Next thing she knew, he had set her on top of one of the desks with her legs spread open on either side of his waist. She felt a rush of warmth travel up her spine and arms and a tingling sensation from the sudden excitement she felt at being so close to him like this. Her mind couldn't help but travel back to the many fantasies she had let herself indulge in about them being together in the potion's classroom, or in his private potions lab.

"Why so speechless, my love?" His whispered words tickled her neck as he pressed his lips to her skin.

"Oh, it's as if you've taken a dive into my mind and plucked out one of my first fantasies of you and me." Hermione managed to whisper back, though her mind was quickly going fuzzy.

Severus pulled his mouth away and leaned back to grin at her. He put his hands on either side of her waist and said, "Is that so? What was this fantasy? Do tell."

Trying her best to think straight, Hermione replied, "Well, it was one of the more innocent ones... you spread me out on one of these desks… pulled down my panties…" she took a breath, and even though she was feeling entirely self-conscious and embarrassed, forced herself to say, "…and proceeded to pleasure me with your fingers… until I came."

She could see the darkness in his eyes begin to burn with heat and desire. His voice husky, he whispered, "I could do that, and more, if you so desire."

But Hermione, too, was curious about his own fantasies. "What is it you desire?" she whispered back. "Have your fantasies ever taken you to these desks?"

"If you mean the fantasies of me bending you over them and having my way with you then yes, yes I have fantasized about these desks before."

She felt her cheeks burning, and her throat tightened momentarily, unsure if it could actually whisper the words it was daring to whisper. She gulped, dislodging her fear, and uttered, "Why don't we act out one of those fantasies now, then?"

His smile widened. It was on rare occasions that he allowed his mouth to respond with such delight. "Mine, or yours?" he asked, whispering back to her in a seductive tone. Where he had learned to speak in such a way, she did not know. Did he practice? He must practice.

She gulped again. "Why… why not both?"

His eyes flashed dangerously. But dangerously in the way that made her skin crawl with eager anticipation. "You, my Hermione, are such a minx." And he descended upon her mouth with fervor.

As their tongued tangled together in ways that were now familiar, but no less enjoyable, Hermione felt Severus lift her up slightly and then push her onto one of the desks. No encouragement needed, she spread her legs and wrapped them around his middle, squeezing as she did so. He growled into her mouth as they continued to kiss, and she felt one of his hands hike up the dress she was wearing.

Before she knew it, he was sliding down her underwear and massaging the soft spot between her legs. She pulled her head back and gasped in pleasure, and he smirked at her, eyes gleaming with excitement and lust.

It was better than her fantasies.

It was real.

He was fucking her with his fingers, and it felt so, so, so incredible. She came within minutes, her back arching off the desk and her legs quaking and her face going numb and red. She felt like she was floating on clouds; on a rainbow. He pulled his fingers out slowly, gently, gracefully, and massaged the inside of her thighs with tenderness.

She was breathing hard, her eyes still closed, when she smiled and began to laugh.

"What, my love, is so funny?" Severus asked in a low tone.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, his hair falling on either side of his face, his cheeks slightly flushed. He was beautiful. "I'm just so happy," was all she could say in reply.

"Well, that's wonderful," he said and bent over to kiss her. "But we're not done yet." And then in one, swift movement, he was lifting her up off the desk, twisting her around so that her ass was firmly pressed up against his groin, and then he gently pressed her back down so she was leaning over the desk. She went willingly, almost instinctively, as if she had been waiting for this moment her entire life.

Severus hiked up her skirt again, her underwear was wrapped around her ankles, and she heard the sound of him unbuttoning his trousers. Her skin shivered with the anticipation of feeling him between her legs; feeling him inside her.

She felt him press up against her, felt him lean down and whisper in her ear, "Are you ready, my love?"

As a reply, Hermione arched her back and pressed her ass up against him, letting out a soft moan as she did so. She knew it would drive him crazy, and it did. He slid inside of her in one, fluid motion and she cried out in ecstasy. Even after months of exploring each other's bodies, each time they made love it felt like a new dream come to be reality, a new kind of connection between their bodies, hearts, and souls.

Their love making in the classroom was quick—most likely because it was a fantasy of theirs that was being fulfilled. While it was quick, it was no less enjoyable. In fact, Hermione felt tingles from her head to her toes and felt as if her heart were exploding with joy. She knew, in that moment, that she wanted the sex and romance and love between them to never, ever end.

She only hoped that Severus felt that way, too.

And in April, he admitted to just as much.

"Hermione…" he said as they lay together in his bed. "I've been wanting to broach an idea to you…"

She raised her eyebrows and turned to him with a smirk. "Last time you said that you had me exploding in ecstasy on top of a classroom desk," she reminded him, cheekily.

He chuckled. "This is true. And while I'd love to do that to you again, this is a different sort of idea."

"Oh? And what idea is this?" He seemed nervous, which caught her off guard. "Severus?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Forgive me, I'm not sure where to begin. I just…" His words, usually so calculated and elegant, seemed to be faltering. Hermione grew very nervous now.

"We've been together, now, for some months… and, well… Minerva and Molly and, I'm sure, Poppy have all discovered that we're a couple. I wondered if, maybe, you wanted to make our relationship more… public?"

Hermione stared at him, dazed. "Severus… does this mean… you're no longer afraid I'm going to leave you, and that we won't work out together?"

His smile widened. "Yes, Hermione. I feel… well, I feel that I want us to continue, like this, for always. And… I am a private man, but I have known for a while what it would mean to you if we made our relationship openly known. And I respect what's important to you. So… what do you think?"

Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, passionately, and smiling as she did. "Oh, Severus! Thank you! I… I love you."

Severus smiled back at her. "And I love you, Hermione. I truly do."

"So… how do you plan on sharing the news with everyone?" Hermione asked, curiously.

She was surprised to see him sneering, evilly. "Oh, I definitely have a plan for that."

The next day, in her 6th and 7th year classes, Hermione announced to a befuddled and embarrassed mass of students that she was going to be teaching the class about Sexual Education for Witches and Wizards. In her sixth-year class, when she made the announcement, most of the students gaped, snickered, or turned pink in the face. When she announced that Professor Snape was going to teach the class with her, most of the faces turned pale. With her Kneazle Patronus, she sent for the professor, and he opened the classroom door and entered in all his dark glory, a barely noticeable smirk at the corner of his mouth. By this time, the students were deathly silent.

Severus stood at the front of the room and took out a sealed envelope, which he then tore open and said, "This, ladies, is what happens to the vagina after you give birth."

Hermione could've sworn that two of her students, Miss Johnson and Miss Elder, were just about to faint.

"Now, Severus," she said, and laid a hand gently on his cuff, "We do want to intimidate, but we don't want to terrify. Let us explain what exactly happens."

Later, when they were showing the class how to brew a contraceptive potion, when Severus uncharacteristically, but purposefully, spilled one of the ingredients on his crotch.

"Well, that was a little premature, Severus," Hermione said, completely serious, while a majority of the students gasped in horror. "We didn't need that ingredient until the last step." It took all of her power not to laugh hysterically.

In her seventh year class, things were slightly different, because the students had already learned the basics in their 6th year. They reviewed the contraceptive potion, to which Severus conducted the "accidental" spill again, and they reviewed lubrication charms as well as healthy and non-healthy sexual behavior. One of the more outspoken, confident students, Mr. Crowder, asked Hermione boldly, "Professor Granger, which position is your favorite?"

Not missing a beat, Severus replied, "I believe the common term is 'cowgirl'." There was a clear smirk on his lips now, and Mr. Crowder's own smirk vanished. It was amazing to Hermione to see how many of the students looked utterly astonished.

And so, that was how the entire faculty and student body arrived at the understanding that Professor Granger and Professor Snape were officially an item. Word, at Hogwarts, has always traveled quickly.

That was also why Hermione and Severus were summoned to Minerva's office and underwent a good berating about they could have found a much more appropriate way to make it known they were a couple. But her anger quickly subsided when Severus admitted it to have been his idea, and that he had thought all along that he should, by now, be helping in teaching the students about sexual education, which surprised both Hermione and Minerva, but he seemed entirely sincere. And so, they were dismissed, but with a stern warning.

A/N: I am so, so, so sorry that it has taken me this long to update. Since my last update, I have started a new job, am almost done with my master's degree program and... sigh... my dad passed away last month. As for most, 2020 was a very difficult year, and the start of this year has not been any better. I will do my best to have this story finished soon, but please know that so much craziness is going on in my life right now.