A HUGE thank you to everyone who Reviewed my last chapter: katarina131, Whack-the-beetle, catherinahawkins, Avarizia, Banpaia Hime, McKenzie Shea, fanfantasy07, LyraLupin, Azael-Ruthven, FrancineHibiscus, Val, vickety, professorflo, booklover1608, Fragilereality, AMD, SilwerLining, sissi, Silver Orbed Lioness, VividVideoGeek, xxxlenaleexxx, alutek26, houstonclay, spaceygirl67, Birdie, Baskina, SnapeLover2005, Calimocho, AvidReader, sobela, JennyDownes3, patriziapalmas1973, kotokodainetohru, Martionmanswife, Em, Kissel137, Favreau, shocabo, The Butterfly Dreamer, CharmedArtist, Amanthya, cloudshape to ennien, TimeyWimeyBadWolf, Mystic Archer Horse, shelly3983, Lunabeegood, Petite Mule, OzmaofOz, AsofLate, daisycb, Mel, Sassyluv, Amar2, Lyra Lupin, viola1701e, Luna de Papel, Fantomette34, lecc2010, littlesweetangel, bluebeast73, kaida171, incoherentlove, Mikena, marzipan4, sobela, Hannoie, mama123, KarukMomma, iron-on-maiden, Blue night fairy, lornabrownie, LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL, Amarenima Redwood, lena1987, Brightki, SeraphinaAngel, doctorhodes, articcat621, GoodnightMoon100, and several Guests.

I cannot overstate my appreciation for you guys and your kind words and support. I'm so sorry I left you hanging for so long.

3

Here's Chapter 10

…*~*J*~*...

"Come on," said Harry, turning them away from Gryffindor Tower and down another familiar path. The group continued in silence, heads bowed, not daring to speak until they were safely ensconced within the walls of a much more private place.

The Room of Requirement arranged itself into a cozy living room with a fire and squashy armchairs. The air was warm, but not stifling, and the light was dim and comforting. Harry and Ginny plopped down together onto a love seat across from the fire. Ron and Hermione each took a chair. They were the sorts of chairs you can sink into and be comfortable for hours. Perfect for reading. Hermione would have to keep that in mind. Her husband's quarters were hardly accommodating, after all. For now, she contented herself with perching on the edge, too tense to relax so fully.

Ron was the first to speak, mumbling out of the side of his mouth. "Surprised your husband let you out of his sight."

Hermione was taken aback. "I beg your pardon?"

But Ron only shrugged. He was hunched down in his own chair, his arms folded, his legs stretched out in front of him, looking like a rebellious child.

"How's it been, then?" Ginny cut in before Hermione's anger could run away from her. "Living with Snape," she clarified, prompting her friend, patiently. She had pulled her legs up underneath her and was cradling Harry's hand in her lap, their fingers laced together. Her grip looked pretty tight.

Hermione sighed. "Not so bad, actually," she confessed.

They all looked at her like she'd gone completely daft.

"Living with Snape?" said Harry.

"Are you mad?" said Ron.

"But... don't you have to…" said Ginny, running out of words as they all turned their faces to the floor.

"Well," said Hermione, taking a breath. "Actually… not yet."

Her friends perked up at that, their eyes wide, particularly Ron's. "What do you mean 'not yet'?"

Hermione shrugged, not quite meeting their eyes. "I mean… technically we just have to… within a week."

Harry wrinkled his nose. "Great. There goes your Saturday."

But Ron perked up. "But… that means… it's not too late!"

"What?" His sister spat, incredulous.

Ron leapt out of his chair and started pacing. "It's not too late," he repeated, his eyes wide with thought. "You can have it annulled. Like it never happened."

Hermione was shaking her head. "Annulled. Ronald, what on Earth are you on about?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned toward her. "'Mione," he said. His face had gone ghostly white. "I should have offered earlier. I'm so sorry. I never should have let it go this far…"

"Let what go…"

"But we'll have a new start..."

"Ronald…"

"I'll go to Dumbledore. We'll have it annulled and then… and then…" he looked so earnest, so desperate, staring into her eyes, his own wide and red-rimmed. Hermione couldn't let him finish the thought.

"Ron! It's done. We're not going to change it. I had my reasons for going through with this, you know that. Between Tonks and the Order… It just made sense. Alright?"

"But…"

"And anyway," she continued, her brow furrowing, "I'm not sure how it makes a difference whether my marriage was consummated yet or not."

Ron turned red at that.

"So anyway," said Ginny, changing the subject once again, "it seems the whole school knows about it."

Hermione sighed, collapsing back into her chair. "I know."

"What are we supposed to say to people? You know… if they ask?"

"Well, Dumbledore's thought of that, of course. We're going to tell them that I had been planning to do an apprenticeship at Hogwarts after our NEWTS and that this was the only way I could stay at the castle."

"Brilliant," said Harry, nodding thoughtfully. "So you'll finish out your classes then?"

Hermione nodded. "Apparently magical folk don't much care if professors have biases for one student over another. Not that surprising, considering… well, considering my husband's behavior over the years."

The others chuckled a bit, at that, and even if it was a bit forced, the tension seemed to disperse, if only a little.

"I'm just glad I finished my reading early, since I haven't had my textbooks." Hermione froze, her heart nearly stopping. "Oh no. You did bring my luggage back with you, didn't you?" Somehow, the thought hadn't even occurred to her.

"Yeah, no worries," said Ginny. "Your stuff was mostly packed, as it was. Hope you don't mind the rest being kind of… thrown into your suitcase. I'm not much for folding, to be honest."

Harry laughed suddenly, drawing Hermione's eyes to him. "But you really should have seen Ron try to wrestle your cat into his crate."

Ron huffed. "Yeah. The latch on that thing is bloody impossible. The menace kept getting out."

The image would have been endearing-Ron, of all people, trying to coax Crooks into his basket-if it hadn't doused Hermione with sudden, icy fear. "Oh hell!" she hissed beneath her breath.

The others' laughing faces froze.

"What is it, Hermione?" asked Ginny. Her eyes were wide.

"Crooks! How could I… I forgot all about him. I suppose…" Hermione met the other girl's eye. "I suppose he's been delivered to my rooms."

…*~*J*~*...

Severus slammed the door between his bedroom and his lab. "Ha!" he barked, wand raised. He was still for a long moment, listening for sounds of the beast. Had he run into the bathroom? Was he hiding under the bed?

Severus channeled all of his Slytherin stealth, moving noiselessly across the stone floor. Slowly, ever so slowly, he peered around the ancient, wingback chair.

There was a terrible noise, like a shriek or the screeching of something breaking painfully apart. And perhaps something was breaking, as Severus shot off spells in his haste to get a hit on the creature. He missed at least three shots of something that may or may not have been lethal before trapping the thing in the corner of the room. At last! Victory was his.

The door slammed open and Severus' eyes left his prize just long enough for it to escape. And escape it did, leaping right into the arms of its Gryffindor Salvation. Hermione Granger. His wife.

"What the bloody hell…" he began.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I'm so, so sorry. I completely forgot to mention…"

"You forgot to mention…"

"I hope it's alright. He's really very well behaved…"

"He almost DESTROYED MY LAB!"

The girl met his eyes for a long moment, her own shocked and full of fear. "But… he didn't." She smiled like that made all the difference in the world.

"Get him out," Severus said with no remorse.

"But…"

"Out!"

"That's not fair! You scared him! How did you expect him to react?"

"I don't care. I won't risk my valuable potions for the sake of some dander-ridden menace."

A change came across the girl's face. Her fear melted away in the wake of her rage. "Well, these are my rooms too, now! You can't just eject my cat."

"I assure you, Miss Granger," Severus drawled, lowering his voice another octave and taking a step in her direction. "I can."

The insufferable chit had the nerve to stick her chin up another inch in the air and declare "Fine. We can discuss it tomorrow."

Severus was about to object with scathing comments about her presumption and general disregard for his authority when the girl turned on her heel and carried the creature back into his potions lab.

"Don't you…" he began, hurrying after her, but he stopped when she opened the door to the hallway and poured the ball of fluff into the cold air of the dungeon corridor.

"Now you be good, Crooks," she cooed, patting it on the head. The damn thing had the nerve to purr and lean into her touch like he hadn't just been locked in battle mere minutes ago. "Don't get into too much trouble." she was saying. Yeah right.

Then she pushed the door shut and stood to face Severus, folding her arms across her chest. "It's late," she began in her bossiest voice, glaring up at him like he'd done something wrong, "so we won't discuss it now. But tomorrow…"

Severus decided not to give her the upper hand. He spun around and marched back into his bedroom, leaving her standing there, the words still hanging from her lips. How dare she presume to lecture him? And when she marched right past him and into the bathroom, his lips curled in a smirk at her obvious behaviour. The girl really thought she was a match for him.

But she was wrong.

…*~*J*~*...

Hermione woke to the heavy chill of early morning. It was disconcerting, not having any sunlight to judge the time by, but she cast a Tempus Charm. 6:00 in the morning. Her internal clock was faithful as usual.

It was comfortable beneath her professor's heavy, winter blankets. She had even started getting used to the way his body heat mingled with hers beneath the sheets. It was an odd intimacy, and it gave her an odd longing to snuggle closer to him in the gloom.

She shook her head. Snape would have a coronary if she ever attempted anything like that. Instead, she peeled herself out of the soft cocoon and climbed carefully over her husband and out of his bed.

A hot shower was a welcome way to start the day, melting the sleep from her eyes and waking her skin up with a tingling flush. She took her time lathering and washing her hair, savouring the fact that Hogwarts' hot water never ran out.

Once she was clean and awake, she stepped from the shower in a cloud of steam and onto the cold, tile floor. He really needs a rug.

There was something delicious about standing around naked in Snape's bathroom. She stretched and yawned, rubbing the steam from the mirror so she could examine herself. Never thought I'd find myself here.

The tiles had warmed a bit beneath her feet, so Hermione reached for her toothbrush and a tube of her parents' recommended brand. Today was bound to be a stressful day, so she needed a good, solid head start. And she had plenty of time.

…*~*J*~*...

Severus stepped toward her. She was staring up at him with wide, cinnamon eyes; eyes that shone with curiosity and… lust. Her lips were parted; rosy lips so plump and soft he wanted to suck them between his teeth. Between them he could see the pink tip of her tongue, wet and wanting.

She stepped backward, not dropping her gaze, drawing him to her as her nightshirt dissolved to reveal the dark tips of her pointed breasts. He stepped toward her, both edging closer to the bed. And then she collapsed upon it, her breasts bouncing, and he followed her down, covering her body, his bare skin melting to hers with such sweet friction.

She was so soft…

His alarm shrieked out into the early morning gloom, making his heart nearly burst in his chest as he bolted up in bed, gasping in the cold air of the dungeons. Fuck! It was morning. The first day of school.

He hardly had a chance to let the dread set in before Granger burst out of the bathroom, a fluffy white towel wrapped haphazardly around her dripping body.

"What? What?" she gasped, glancing around in alarm. Severus's surprised eyes jumped to the tops of her golden thighs and his mouth went dry. They were plumper and softer than he had imagined, the soft flesh bouncing slightly as she leapt into the room. Beads of water running down them. Her skin flushed pink. He shook his head, snapping his mouth shut and silencing the alarm with a sharp gesture of his hand.

"Are you done in there?" he growled.

Granger gaped at him, water still trickling down her long arms, down her neck, pooling in the hollow of her collarbone. "Was that your alarm?"

Severus threw the covers off and was halfway to the bathroom door before she stopped him.

"Wait! Alright, just let me get my clothes."

And Severus waited patiently, silently, glaring at no one and nothing as he tried his damndest not to notice her delicate shoulder blades and how the towel split over her thigh as she retrieved her garments from the bathroom floor.

He slammed the door, locking himself away from the girl, and finally took an agonizing breath.

And nearly choked on sweetly scented steam.

The whole bathroom smelled like her; like his pillows, like her fluffy hair and her soft skin… No! He couldn't think about her like that.

Damn! He had been having such a wonderful dream. Such a sick dream! She would hate me if she knew.

He nearly tore his clothes as he ripped them off, throwing them to the floor in frustration. He turned on the taps and let the shower get hot before stepping beneath its brutal torrent. His cock still ached, but he couldn't think about that right now. Instead, he let his eyes fall closed and he reached for the soap, lazily lathering himself as he was lulled back into a semi-conscious state.

The water was so hot against his skin. And the soap so slick. And ohhhh it felt so good. And it smelled so good. And he could still remember the dream he'd been having. It was a damn shame he hadn't been able to let it play out.

But the girl was naked in his bedroom at that moment. With her plump, soft thighs, still slick from the soaps he could smell in the air. And finally he didn't have the strength to fight it anymore. He wrapped long fingers around his aching cock and pictured the way those droplets of water would taste on his tongue. After that dream, he was already so close, pumping hard, his fist tight with need.

Her body beneath him. Those pointed breasts. Dark pink tips. And those soft thighs; how he wanted to press the tip of his cock against them, between them. She would be so slick…

"Professor?"

FUUUUUUCK!

Granger knocked on the door. "Professor? We're going to miss breakfast."

Severus's hand fell slack, his arousal deflating with shame so fast it made him dizzy. He slammed a hand against the shower wall.

"I don't want to bother you. I just thought… people will talk."

Severus jerked the tap to cold, running a hand over his face before turning off the water and stepping out into the fragrant steam. He couldn't stop glaring as he pulled on his clothes and threw the door to his bedroom open. Guilt and shame warred with annoyance and frustration as he stalked past his nubile wife. It was not going to be a good day.

…*~*J*~*...

Thanks guys! I know this chapter was short and sweet and a long time coming, but I am hoping to be able to post more frequently now. I scaled back my hours at work so that I'll have more time for myself, and writing is still my #1 priority. I am working on an original work, too, but SSHG is where I go to work out the gratuitous tension I'm not putting in my teen fantasy WIP.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts! Thank you so much for sticking by me for so long.

LOVE

:} llorolalluvia