Insufferable Attraction

SeverusxHermione

Rated NC-17

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Insufferable Attraction

Chapter 6

Ron yawned as he walked through the Ministry, leaving for his lunch break from Auror training. Like Harry, he too had decided to become an Auror and help bring down all Dark wizards still roaming around in society. However, Harry had at some point in the middle of the training, decided that he no longer wanted to fight against Dark wizards and witches. His explanation had been he had been doing so since he was eleven and just wanted to have a normal life; he had only gone into training because it seemed like the most logical thing to do since having fought against Dark wizards and witches for so long. Though Kingsley had been sad to see Harry go, he understood his reasons. Ron however thought his best friend was wimping out, something Harry insisted wasn't true. In truth, Harry was just tired of fighting, but Ron didn't see it that way and decided to continue training.

Exiting the Ministry, Ron walked down the street before heading into Diagon Alley. He made his way through Diagon Alley to head to the Leaky Cauldron, weaving through the many people that he noticed were all reading the Daily Prophet. He frowned before continuing on his way, ready to eat either steak and kidney pie or game pie; he could already taste the dishes in his mouth. Just as he made it to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron, a newspaper was suddenly thrust into his face.

Blinking in surprise he looked at the paperboy and said, "Oi! What the hell?"

"Extra, extra! Read all about it! Severus Snape and Hermione Granger married in Ministry wedding under the Bloodline Restoration Act! Extra, extra!" the paperboy called out.

Ron stared at the boy in disbelief, wondering if he had heard him right. Snatching the newspaper from him looked at it, reading the headline with wide blue eyes. And the picture even showed Hermione in a wedding attire with Snape even looking dapper, though his usual face was still present. Hermione on the other hand, seemed to be looking very uncomfortable in the picture. There was no way this news was actually true, no way! And who did Hermione think she was going off to get married, and to the Dungeon Bat no less?

"No, no way this is true," Ron mumbled to himself.

"I'd say it is," the paperboy told him. "Minister Shacklebolt performed the bonding ceremony himself."

Upon hearing that, Ron quickly turned and ran towards an Apparation Point, intent on finding Harry and demanding to know if he knew about this. And if he didn't, then he'd just confront Hermione. There was no way that she'd participate in such a stupid law and willingly marry Snape. And as far as he was concerned, no man could possibly think Hermione was desirable enough to marry, not even Snape.

Brown eyes slowly opened, blurrily taking in their surroundings as she came into the world of wakefulness. Hermione groaned softly as she slowly sat up, realizing that she was lying in a bed with dark sheets. Looking around she noted that the room she was in was almost rather bare save for a wardrobe, a desk and chair, a bedside table, and small bookshelf, as well as the bed she was resting upon. She frowned wondering where she was and how she got there when the memories quickly came back to her.

She had been wed to Severus and was now Mrs. Severus Snape. Looking down at herself, she took note that she was still in her wedding attire. Glancing at her left ring finger, she could see the imprint of a ring. This here was proof that it really did happen and that she was bonded to her former Potions professor for the rest of her life as his wife. Oh Merlin, it was too much to process; no wonder she had fainted before.

The door creaked open, the sudden sound causing Hermione to jump in surprise. Stepping into the room was Severus, the man having changed out of his dress robes and into what looked like a comfortable pair of black jeans and dark grey jumper. His hair, though no longer pulled back from his face, was tucked behind his ear on one side. His black eyes starred at her for a moment before he walked over to her, standing by the bed as he looked down at her. After another moment of silence he finally asked, "Feeling better, I presume?"

Hermione blinked before answering, "Y-Yes, I am."

"Good. Your sudden fainting spell caused a right bit of panic in Shacklebolt's office. I had to tell those morons you were just overwhelmed with the promise to take you somewhere safe so they would stop fussing."

"Yes, thank you. But I must ask, where are we?"

"Spinner's End."

Hermione's eyes widened at the realization that Severus had taken her to his home. Or was it their home now? It wasn't like she was really welcome, only so because she was now his wife. Looking down at herself once again she asked, "Is it possible I might have a change of clothes? I don't want to be in this garb any longer than necessary."

Severus nodded before waving his hand, a bag coming out of the wardrobe at his summon. Noticing that it was her little bag with her Undetectable Extension Charm, she grabbed hold of it out of the air and asked, "How did you get this?"

"Potter insisted I meet with him at Grimmauld Place to get to your home via Floo to gather clothes for you and bring them to you. He figured you would want to change without having to go back to your flat where you will most likely be ambushed."

"Ambushed? You mean…"

"Yes, the Daily Prophet has announced the news of our forced nuptials."

The brunette closed her eyes at hearing that, wondering exactly what the world was thinking of their arrangement. And knowing Wizarding Britain knew about the fact they were married made her thoughts soon wander to the fact that they had to consummate their marriage. In three days, she and Severus were to have intercourse or else they would possibly die, as required by the vows that they took. She had never thought of having sex before, especially not with her former teacher turned husband. And yet, she would have to in order to complete the vows of their bonding. It had been rumored she had slept with Viktor Krum in Fourth Year during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but that hadn't been true at all. And she had never even broached the subject during her relationship with Ron, the red-haired git too caught up in his fame and glory and flaunting his infidelity for all to see. So in short, she was still very much a virgin, and she would be losing that virginity in a mere days to the man that was now her sudden husband.

I wonder what kind of lover Severus will be, Hermione couldn't stop herself from wondering, a light blush appearing on her cheeks. He just seemed like the type of man that could not stand being in any sort of relationship with anyone, that she doubted he thought much of sex and love and being a family man. And yet he had been in love with Lily Potter, possibly having even imagined a life with her before things went to shite with them. Even so, the circumstances of their vows still made her wonder if Severus would be a gentle, passionate lover if he knew how to be one at all.

Severus, who had been awaiting an answer from the young woman that was now his wife, raised an eyebrow at the girl's train of thought. Being a natural Legilimens and Occlumens, he sometimes couldn't help peering into others' minds or simply doing so on purpose in wonder of what they were thinking. And with Hermione's silence, he had done the latter and was surprised about her train of thought. She was really wondering what kind of lover he was in bed. He honestly hadn't thought about it, considering sex wasn't really something he pertained as a need and thus did not partake in intercourse with witches just to do so. He had never had the need to revel himself in sexual pleasure like most wizards his age growing up, and even when he had he never basked in it. He could honestly count on one hand how many times he had partaken in the act of sex, but he had to admit he wasn't particularly excited to add Hermione to that list, especially upon finding out that she was still untouched. He didn't want to be the one to take her virtue, especially knowing he didn't deserve it. And yet he had to in stipulations to their vows.

Deciding he needed to escape, Severus cleared his throat and said, "I will leave you to change. Should you want something to eat, there is food and tea downstairs."

Nodding Hermione replied, "Thank you."

Severus nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. The moment the door was closed and she could hear his footsteps fading away, Hermione sighed and opened her bag, reaching inside and moving her arms around until she felt the fabric of jeans. She pulled those out, as well as a pink blouse before getting off the bed and changing out of her wedding dress. She carefully laid the wedding garb on the bed before changing, taking her hair down and banishing the makeup on her face. She put on her socks and shoes before looking at herself in the small mirror in the room. She looked like herself again, looked like Hermione again.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione left the bedroom and headed down the hallway to the stairs. Slowly descending the stairs to join her new husband, Hermione couldn't help but wonder how her friends that hadn't attended the small wedding ceremony were fairing upon finding out about her marriage.

Harry was sitting at the kitchen table with Daphne in Grimmauld Place, the two of them talking and discussing Hermione and Severus' marriage and how theirs would go in a week. Daphne made the promise she wouldn't faint like Hermione had afterwards—said in a joking manner, of course—while also being serious in that she was hoping they could make their arrangement work out. Harry too was hoping they were going to work out, while also expressing he was worried about Hermione and Snape being a married couple. However, they both chuckled at the thought of those two driving each other crazy with needing to be right all of the time.

Hearing the front door open suddenly caught them both off guard, even more so when a loud voice practically yelled, "Harry! Harry, where are you? Have you seen this rubbish about Hermione and Snape?"

"I see Weasley has seen the Daily Prophet," Daphne said before taking a sip of her tea. "I wonder what idiocy will skip his brain and escape his mouth about it."

Harry ignored the blonde's comment about his friend before standing to go and meet Ron in the hallway. He didn't need his hot-headed friend seeing Daphne in Grimmauld Place and blowing a complete gasket like he seemed to already be about Hermione's marriage. Of course, he knew Ron's temper would just get worse when he told him what was going on, but he hoped to try and diffuse it as much as he could for his and Hermione's sake; especially Hermione's. For some odd reason, Ron still seemed to think he was the only man allowed to have a romantic interest in Hermione's life, and yet hadn't been able to stay faithful enough to her and led Hermione to dropping him like a bad habit. In truth, Ron had no say over Hermione's relationship/marriage to Snape, but he knew the youngest Weasley male felt he did and thus he had to listen to it. Gosh, it smarted trying to be the neutral friend in their friendship trio.

Closing the door to the kitchen behind him, Harry greeted Ron saying, "Hello Ron."

"Harry, have you seen this?" Ron asked shoving his copy of the Daily Prophet in Harry's face.

Leaning back a bit Harry answered, "Yes, I've seen it Ron. I was actually in attendance of the ceremony."

"YOU WERE WHAT?!"

The screeching of Walburga Black's portrait soon followed Ron's loud bellow, hissing at cursing at them as she did for being disturbed and causing a ruckus. Harry sighed and led Ron into one of the parlor rooms, closing the door behind him so they wouldn't be disturbed. Turning to face the fuming redhead, Harry said, "Listen Ron, Hermione and I are in this new law predicament known as the Bloodline Restoration Act. In short, the Act is supposed to choose brides for dying Pureblood bloodlines and continue their legacy on or something of that nature, making sure to not only marry but produce heirs as well."

"But you're not a Pureblood, Harry! You're just a Halfblood!"

"Maybe, but the Ministry wants the Potter bloodline to continue, and thus I have to get married in accordance to the law. My wedding is in a week."

"That's bullshit! And what good is Hermione to this damn law? She's a Muggleborn, and Snape is a Halfblood himself, the no-good git!"

"Yes, that is true. But Snape comes from the Prince family through his mother's side and their blood is…well, royal, even more so than the Malfoys. And the ones in charge of this Act understand that Snape and Hermione's offspring will be "less than pure", but so long as the Prince family blood flows through their childrens' veins, they don't care."

Ron gave Harry an incredulous look at how he was talking. "You sound like you're actually okay with this. You don't actually support this, do you?"

"It's not like I have much of a choice, Ron. And yes, I'm going to support Hermione's marriage to Snape. Someone has to give them some support."

"Harry, they'll never work out! He'll just make Hermione's life a living hell, and we all know Hermione is going to drive any man crazy with the way she is."

Scowling at his friend Harry asked, "You hear that tone in your voice and how you said that? Do you really think that it is alright to talk about your friend like that?"

"I'm just stating the facts, Harry. And if Hermione wanted to marry so bad to help continue bloodlines, I was available to ask."

"Like your family needs any more reproducing at the moment," Harry mumbled too low for Ron to hear. And it was obvious to him that Ron wasn't really understanding the nature of the Bloodline Restoration Act, and all because he didn't like the fact that Hermione had married Snape. But Harry really knew it was because Ron couldn't believe that Hermione was no longer available to him as a backup plan when his next relationship tanked. And even if she had been, she wouldn't go back to Ron, no matter how much he gloated that she would.

It was really sad to Harry how Ron acted like he didn't want nor care for Hermione whenever she was single or with him or whatever. But the moment another man showed interest in her in the slightest way that could be romantic, he found it pertinent to become jealous and try to assert possessiveness over her. He knew some women found possessive men attractive, but Hermione wasn't like most women. Thus, Ron found it difficult to have the brunette as a romantic companion. Yes, it was rather sad.

Knowing there was no getting through to Ron any more than he had already tried, Harry told Ron that they would talk more about it when he eventually calmed down. While he walked him to the front door, Ron told him that he would not calm down and was going straight to Kingsley to get him to overturn this law and "free Hermione from Snape's Death Eater clutches". Harry didn't deign that with a response, finding it pointless to reiterate that Snape had been pardoned of his crimes and status as a Death Eater, as well as the fact that Kingsley himself had signed off on the Bloodline Restoration Act. He did however invite him to be a witness to his upcoming nuptials as the second person to be wedded under the new Act, something Ron sneered at before leaving.

Returning to the kitchen were Daphne still remained seated, he sighed and said, "I'm sorry for that. Sometimes it is just best to deal with Ron right then than to let him stew and get even more angry."

Daphne's eyes, a blue-green color, stared at Harry before casually saying, "With the way he treated you and Hermione in school, I'm surprised you are still friends with him at all."

"He's not really as bad as he comes off as."

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean he can't be worse either. And speaking out of legitimate concern towards Hermione, if I were you, I'd speak to Weasley about this supposed claim he seems to think he has over her. I promise you if it continues and you and Hermione continue to do nothing but overlook it, it will end in disaster. And believe me when I say that if it comes down to a duel between him and Snape, Snape won't hesitate to kill him."

Harry blinked in surprise. "You really think Snape would kill Ron for Hermione if he had to?"

Daphne smiled softly and nodded. "She's his wife, Harry. Most men will kill for their wives should harm come their way."

Harry wasn't entirely sure about that, but he made a mental note to do as Daphne suggested. Ron did seem to believe he had some claim on Hermione, and he needed to try and resolve the issue before things got out of hand in the future.