Hello everyone! There's a little SS/HG story for you.
As you may have gathered, it's my take on a fabulous Marriage Law but it doesn't include any fighting for the rights or some such things. It describes only one day full of anxiety, awkward confessions, life-altering decisions, acceptance, and an ungodly amount of fluff.
You're welcome ;)
And yes, there's a small sex scene in the last chapter, it's not explicit though. Anyhow, you've been warned.
The story is finished (I originally posted it on AO3) and here I'm posting all chapters at once for you. As always, any feedback is entirely welcome! Share your thoughts please, they are so so important to me.
Severus Snape stood hidden in the shadows of a large tree across the street from a nice white house, scolding himself for being such an idiot. And a true coward. After all, how hard could it be to go in there, say what was required, wait a long awkward moment until the shock wears off and she gains her wits back, listen to yet another unavoidable rejection, and then go and turn himself over to Azkaban to save the Aurors trouble because who in their right mind could possibly want him?
"No one," whispered Snape to himself sadly.
The door opened, and a tall handsome blonde about thirty marched out, looking extremely pleased with himself. The witch who became the center of Severus' dreams in the last several months stood in the doorframe, smiling. Snape's heart sank and he was about to turn around and disapparite, defeated, when he noticed that as the distance between the blond and the house grew, her smile was gradually turning into a grimace of disgust. She sighed, clearly annoyed, and disappeared back inside the house.
Which meant that he still had a chance.
Severus took a deep breath, trying to steel himself and force his legs to move forward but they simply refused to obey. He didn't even know what to say, how to approach the subject. Well, that was technically a lie because he spent the last five months imagining all possible scenarios, none of which led to the desired outcome, though, since — again — who in their right mind would want him?
And she was the smartest witch he ever knew. And the most beautiful. And kind. And strong. And, of course, absolutely insufferable. Judging by the sheer amount of suitors that visited her house in the last couple of days alone, Hermione Granger was very popular, and Severus never stood a chance with beautiful smart popular girls. It was the way of the universe, and even a hundred Orders of Merlin, First Class, or a thrice-damned status of the war hero weren't going to change that. So what was he doing here?
On the other hand, she did watch him. For months. Since the day that blasted law was enacted, to be exact. Maybe earlier. And smiled each time he caught her doing that...impudent wench. If she caught Severus watching her, he would've been mortified, that's for sure. But thankfully, Granger never did, or at least Severus hoped so.
With one last deep breath, he made a step forward but instantly jumped back because at that moment a loud crack of apparition resonated around the neighborhood and that dimwit Weasley appeared right in front of him, clutching the exact same large envelope with the ministry's symbol that Severus had in his pocket.
That envelope contained a single piece of parchment. A form that needed to be filled by both parties, signed by both, sealed with two drops of blood, and then sent back to the new department of the Marriage Law Regulation no later than July 1st, 2003. A week from now. Those forms were sent to every unmarried wizard between the age of seventeen and sixty half a year ago. Those — witches and wizards alike — who didn't manage to marry within six months would be thrown to Azkaban to await until the ministry would find them a match. Severus had no wish of doing so. But sometimes that option seemed the easiest one.
Weasley approached the house with all the confidence in the world and knocked. Half a minute later, Granger opened the door. Her first reaction was to smile, but the moment she noticed the envelope, she sighed in exasperation and, suddenly, to Severus' satisfaction, though, slammed the door right to the redhead's face.
"Hey!" exclaimed Weasley, clearly not happy with his reception. "Hermione! That's not fair! You don't even want to hear me out!"
Granger reappeared in the doorframe. "I know what you're going to say. My answer is still 'no'. Childhood ended years ago, Ron. Stop being so bloody naive and think, for God's sake."
"I am thinking!" screeched the idiot, actually stomping his foot. "I'm thinking about you!"
"Well, maybe you should think about yourself. We're friends, Ron. Nothing more."
"Even if you have to marry a complete stranger or go to Azkaban and then marry a complete stranger?"
"Yes," she stated in response with the air of finality.
Weasley stood frozen for a long moment, breathing hard. "But I love you."
Granger's face shone with sadness. "I'm sorry, Ron. I can't."
Weasley swirled on the spot and ran from the porch, his face as red as hair. "You!" he exclaimed, noticing Severus and stopping abruptly. Snape opened his mouth to reply but didn't get a chance.
"Don't bother with that bitch," said Weasley through gritted teeth and disapparited, not waiting for a reaction. Granger stood on the porch, staring wide-eyed at the spot where a moment prior vanished the redhead and then dragged her gaze to Snape who, upon being discovered, slowly walked forward, not wishing to give the impression that he was snooping around. Which he did, by the way.
"Headmaster?" asked Granger, confused. "Has something happened?"
"One could say that," he replied vaguely, stopping on the porch and looking at Granger but not in the eyes. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do that.
"Oh, well. Come in then."
Granger opened the door wider, motioning for Snape to go inside.
The first floor of the house consisted of the adjoined hall, living room, kitchen, and dining room. The walls were light blue, windows — large, furniture — light wooden. On the right side of the room in front of the big fireplace decorated with stones and flowery ornament, stood a soft-looking brown couch with two matching arm-chairs. Strangely enough, there weren't any bookshelves, but books lay everywhere, on every available surface. There must be a library somewhere on the second floor then, Snape supposed. All in all, the space looked nice.
With an amused smile, Granger left him ogling her home and proceeded to the kitchen to put the kettle on. Done with it, she leaned on the counter, folded her arms on the chest, and cleared her throat, pulling Snape out of his stupor.
"Please, take a seat. Would you like some tea?"
Severus nodded, walked to the small round dining table, and sat down on one of the four chairs on Granger's right, so he wouldn't have to look directly at her. He intertwined his fingers on the table and dropped his eyes on them, still keeping silent, trying to not let his growing panic be evident and decide what in the bloody fucking world he should say. Maybe it would be better to just leave.
Never in his life, he was so nervous… Not even while kneeling before Dumbledore when begging for Lily's life or before the Dark Lord for all those years afterward. Not while lying on the floor in the Shrieking Shack with blood oozing out of his neck or sitting before the Wizengamot on his second trial many weeks later. All that was in the past. A big dark painful blur that he wanted but couldn't forget.
Out of the corner of his eye, Severus watched Granger observing him quietly and then going about making the tea. Strange, that. Old Granger wouldn't be able to wait calmly in silence. She changed so much after the war. The young woman that came to visit him in St. Mungo was not the girl that Snape left behind while fleeing the school after the ordeal in the Astronomy tower.
The steaming cup was placed in front of him, effectively cutting Severus' musings short.
"Black if I remember correctly?" asked Granger, looking at her guest expectantly.
"Um. Yes, thank you."
"Okay," she said, sitting down on Snape's left and sipping her own tea. Also black.
Taking a deep breath and clearing his throat, Severus decided to start from afar.
"How's your holiday so far?" he asked, glancing at Granger. If she was surprised with the sudden uncharacteristic small talk, she didn't show it.
"Um… Dreadful, to be honest."
"How so?" he quirked an eyebrow.
"I'm just tired of all those baboons that pester me day and night. You cannot even imagine what idiots came to me. Like this last guy, tall as a tower, blond hair, blue eyes, white teeth — the whole package, so to speak — but not a single brain cell. How he survived all those years I do not know," she paused. "Sorry, it's probably not what you asked."
Severus stroked his chin and lower lip thoughtfully, conveniently ignoring the last sentence. "Oh, believe me, I can imagine. Most likely I had them in my classroom at one point or another."
"I guess that's true," drawled Granger, smiling warmly.
Severus cleared his throat again. "It's hard to believe that in all six months there wasn't even one decent candidate, though," he said, taking a sip.
"Well, there were a few. Not perfect by any means, but good enough. But they were all strangers, it just didn't feel right. Besides, it was months ago, they're most likely already taken."
"So what are you going to do? Don't tell me I need to look for a new arithmancy professor, Granger."
"Hah," she chuckled, "I hope not. There's still a whole week left, after all."
An uncomfortable silence followed after that. None of them knew what to say.
"So how about you? Any candidates for the lucky lady?" asked Granger playfully after half a minute.
Snape snorted loudly, attempting to cover his embarrassment. "Besides Trelawny, you mean?"
Granger stared at him for a long moment and then laughed so hard, she nearly fell from her chair. It was a nice feeling — making her laugh. It spread such warmth inside him.
"So that is why she's been pouting for the last several months?"
Severus smirked. "She's a lunatic. She's been following me around when I started teaching, shouting some nonsense about how fate meant for us to be together but ceased that foolishness after a couple of years, thank Merlin. But with that abominable law…"
Granger still beamed, shaking her head. "According to her I have the most mundane mind ever," she laughed but quickly sobered. "Maybe she wasn't so wrong about that. No one seems interested in me for me, only in my stupid name and my status."
"I'm interested. In your definitely not mundane mind, I mean. For what it's worth," Severus blurted out, feeling heat creeping up his cheeks.
"Well, maybe I should just marry you then," joked Granger. Snape went rigid and red as a tomato, and her eyes widened.
"I'm sorry but is this… Is this why you came?"
Severus jumped from his seat in indignation, realizing his actions only a moment later, and froze, snapping his mouth shut, exhaling, fighting the urge to flee. The silence stretched painfully. No point in denial. "This is what you came here for, you fool, don't be daft, she won't bite you!" With shaking hands, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope that was burning a hole in him for months, holding it out to her instead of a reply. "I… I… I-I don't know what to say," stammered Snape, looking pointedly on the parchment, then snapped his mouth shut, realizing too late what nonsense he just spewed.
"Tell me why," asked Granger quietly after a full minute, looking at him.
"Herm-iony I…"
Merlin, how Snape hated himself at that moment. Not just the right, any words refused to be found, and he felt on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.
Severus turned around and bolted from the spot like a coward he was but halted on his way when she called, listening with a pounding heart how Granger slowly walked toward him.
"Severus. Tell me why," she whispered, standing behind him, placing a tentative hand between his shoulder blades.
He shuddered at the gentle touch and exhaled loudly. That was it. Either he opened up to her completely, exposing his broken bleeding heart for her to crash or mend, or… No, he didn't even want to think of the alternative.
After a minute of painful inner struggle, Severus turned around and sighed, looking her straight in the eyes for the first time. Damn it all.
"Because I love you."
Hermione stared at him in complete shock for a very long moment. It certainly felt like an eternity. Snape could see the wheels turning behind her eyes, and he tried to hold her gaze but at some point, his resolve to bravely meet his destiny snapped and he closed his eyes, the tremors ripping through his body.
Severus jumped violently when he felt a hand gently cupping his cheek, and snapped the eyes wide open. Hermione looked at him with a mixture of emotions that Snape was afraid of trying to discern, so he didn't. She stepped closer, not pulling her hand away. He didn't dare breathe.
When Hermione pressed her lips on his, a wave of tremendous relief crashed through him, washing away the initial shock. Lightheaded from various emotions, swirling non-stop inside, and not registering his actions, Snape pressed Hermione closer to himself and attacked her mouth with abandon. She replied accordingly after only a moment, her hands snaked their way into his hair, gripped his shoulders and back. He couldn't tell how much time had passed but when Hermione finally broke the kiss, they both were flustered, breathing hard. Her eyes still blazing, and hair rumpled, curls sticking each way, making her look rather cute. Severus smiled at the image. Hermione smiled back. They looked at each other not saying a word.
After another minute or so, Granger sighed deeply, bit her lower lip for a second, and then, seeming determined, said: "I agree."
Snape bulged his eyes. "You… You agree?"
"Yes."
Another moment of deafening silence.
"But…" continued Hermione cautiously. Severus' heart skipped a beat. "But I need us to promise something first."
"Anything," he whispered. Granger smiled again.
"Well then… I promise that I will always be open to you, that I will be truthful, and will come to you with everything that bothers me, so all issues would be resolved as quickly and amicably as possible. And that, in return, if and when you come to me with anything, I will always listen and try to understand your position without judgment," she started, and then whispered: "If you can promise me the same, I'm yours."
Severus looked at her with a heavy heart. Could he promise the same? After a lifetime of hiding behind the unbreakable walls, of pushing people away, it would be a hard feat to accomplish. Everyone who ever got close eventually stabbed him in the back and left him without a backward glance to bleed out slowly alone in the cold darkness. To say that he was terrified, was to say nothing. What if she'll do the same?
But no, that can't be true. He knew her. And, what was more important, she knew him. Hermione Granger knew exactly what kind of person Severus was, knew what he was, what he did. She was one of a small number of people who saw his memories. A sudden rush of desperate hope set his soul ablaze. Maybe this time all will be different. Merlin, let it all be different.
Please.
"You must understand," started Severus hesitantly. "I have spent my whole life as closed to others as possible. It's all so new. And obviously hard," he swallowed. "I can't promise that I will always do as you ask, but I can promise that I will try. I don't deserve you and never will but If you'd give me a chance, I'll do my best."
Hermione left out a breath she was holding and took Severus' hand.
"Then I believe we have some paperwork to do," she replied and guided her to-be-husband back to the kitchen table where the envelope still lay.
Snape watched in a daze how Hermione pulled the form out, summoned the quill and ink, and settled down to fill in the blanks. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. She agreed. She will be his.
After observing emotions playing on her face while Hermione wrote, Severus leaned forward to take a closer look at the form. Name, date of birth, blood status, parents, education, profession, bank information, etc, had little interest since he already knew all that due to the whole employer/employee situation. The list of the property she was willing to bring to the future family did surprise him a bit. Either Hermione had very little or she wasn't keen on sharing it with him. For some reason, Severus did not dare to ask. Not that he himself could give her much. He skimmed the rest of the questions quickly, not really talking a word in, trying to quell the still raging emotions and stop the shaking in his hands.
Hermione looked up, caught his gaze, and smiled her warm big smile. Then she stood up, walked to one of the cabinets, pulled out a bottle of muggle whiskey and two glasses. Placing them on the table, Granger poured a few fingers into each glass and moved one of them closer to Severus.
"To us," she toasted and took a small sip. Snape downed the whole thing in one gulp, though, causing Hermione to laugh and shake her head good-naturedly.
"Another one?" she asked playfully, shoving the bottle toward him. Severus glared, making her chuckle, but served himself another shot, welcoming the warmth that spread inside, calming him down a bit. At least his hands weren't shaking anymore.
Clearly satisfied, Hermione returned to the form. She took the quill, found the place where she stopped and halted a bit. Severus leaned on the table again to look at what Granger found troubling and froze. There were only the question about the name of his future missis and her signature left. With bated breath, he watched Hermione sigh and write 'Mrs. Hermione Jane Snape' on the blank.
She chose to take his damn name.
Only then did everything finally hit home. The enormity of the situation, the trust she placed in him, her full acceptance of everything that was Severus Snape. For a moment, he was glad that she didn't return his love confession, otherwise, he for sure would weep like a baby now. It was too much.
Finished with writing, Hermione lay her quill aside and bore her gaze at Severus, but he didn't notice, still staring at the name.
"Now, we should decide if we want any sort of ceremony for the blood-bonding part… Severus?"
At the sound of his name, Snape jerked his eyes from the parchment to look at his fiance. "Sorry, I missed what you said."
Hermione snorted. "That you did. I asked if you want a ceremony for the blood-bonding part. Maybe you'd like to invite someone."
"Oh… I don't know. I don't really have friends, aside from Minerva, so I guess it's up to you," replied Severus questioningly. He looked her in the eyes and couldn't help but feel the tiny shred of doubt that grew with each heartbeat.
"Are you sure you want this?" he asked quietly. "People aren't going to approve of your choice."
Hermione looked at him intensely and intertwined her fingers with his on the table. "Yes, I'm sure. Severus, you're the only person around me who I find truly interesting, who I enjoy spending time with. And I know I didn't…" she took a deep breath. "I've had a crush on you for years, did you know that?" she flushed a little and smiled, seeing Snape's gobsmacked expression. "I have. You're amazing. You were amazing when I didn't know you back then and you are even more amazing now when I got a chance to see past your armor. I do care for you very deeply. You can ask Minerva for proof, God knows I've annoyed her this term with my constant worries and questions about you. All I ask is that you give me a little time to sort out my feelings. And as for the others… I've learned to not give a shit about others' opinions years ago."
Severus swallowed hard at her confession. Words she just said were echoing in his head, and once again he found himself at a loss of what to say. He must've looked like a brainless nervous wreck to her right about now. Fucking embarrassing! Snape tried to pull himself together and behave like a grown man at the age of forty-three, which he was. Never before he had trouble acting his age. Until today when she waltzed into his life with her kisses and crushes, and kind understanding, that is. Well, it was a lie, since it was Severus who waltzed into Hermione's life, professing undying love, which she obviously took in stride. A brave little woman.
Hermione shook him out of his reverie. "I don't think I want any guests either," she replied to his first question, and Severus had a hard time recalling it. "Please, don't take it the wrong way. I just want to have a peaceful day to ourselves without annoying questions or awkwardness that's bound to happen if people start showing up with their concerns and advices. Not to mention the press… We could sign this," she pointed to the form, "then go to some restaurant to celebrate, or take a walk in the park, catch a movie, do whatever we want. Get to know each other more. What do you think?"
"I think it's too perfect to be true…"
"Sounds good to me, but are you sure you want to give up any wedding fantasies you girls have since the moment you can talk? Especially on my behalf," he joked, shifting uncomfortably.
Hermione laughed. "I never had a single wedding fantasy, Severus, so don't worry about it."
He doubted it but nodded anyway.
"So then, we're just signing this?" she asked, looking at him expectantly.
Severus took a deep breath. Were they?
This was crazy. Downright crazy. And too bloody fast… Less than an hour ago he stood in the shadows across from her house, trying to muster the courage to knock on the door, so sure he would be rejected. This woman was too gorgeous to be his. Too perfect.
Wait… She had a crush on him? Hermione Granger had a crush on him? And for years no less? How many more shocking revelations could he take in one day?
A warm hand squeezed his, and Snape's eyes darted up to hers.
"Severus…" said Hermione, looking at him with concern. "Are you alright? We should slow down a bit, should we? How about we leave the bonding part to some other time? And today we could, you know, just have dinner or something. Would you help me cook?" she smiled.
Snape stared at her for a long moment, wondering if it was possible to fall in love even more deeply than he already was and swallowed.
"I'm alright, Hermione," he smiled. "If you want to complete the bonding tonight, we shall. And then I'll gladly help you with dinner."
Severus reached out tentatively, took Hermione's other hand, and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. She blushed.
"What a beautiful sight to behold…" flashed through Snape's mind.
"We'll do whatever you want," he added and cupped her cheek, gently caressing her parted lips with his thumb.
"I want to do the bonding today," breathed Hermione. "Now."