Chapter 56: Well Meaning In Changes

{A/N: Here's Another update...}

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{"What day is it...And in what month...This clock never seemed so alive...I can't keep up and I can't back down...I've been losing so much time...Cause there's you and me...And of all people with nothing to do...Nothing to lose...And there's you and me...And of all other people...And I don't know why...I can't keep my eyes off of you...What are the things That I want to say...Just aren't coming out right...I'm tripping on words...You got my head spinning...I don't know where to go from here..."}You And Me, Lifehouse

The Master Bedroom, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World...

Near on nightfall caught the sleeping wizard and witch as they enjoyed the blissful silenced that filled the former home of the late Potions Professor turned Headmaster of Hogwarts Severus Snape. After a few moments of shifting in their collective slumber, Regulus was hit with the sudden urge to adhere to the call of nature opening his obsidian eyes to a vision of perfection in the form of the sleeping witch beside him in the bed that had once belonged to his paternal grandparents. He smirked as he fumbled out of bed, trying his best not to awaken the witch least she feel the need to part ways with him before he was ready.

A quick trip to the loo saw him making his way back across the darkened narrow hall and back into the bedroom as Hermione began to stir. Regulus knew all too well that she wouldn't see much of a reason to stick around, due to her telling him earlier that she wished for their encounters to remain a secret. He had agreed, more or less due to being drunk and wanting nothing more than to get her into bed.

As he watched her in the blissful silence of his now apparent bedroom, he noted how much she appeared to be at peace despite all that had happened in the past few months. He didn't know much about his father's teaching methods or what he thought of Hermione Granger, but he wondered if the older wizard would have been at least a bit intrigued by his choice of a companion.

Climbing back into bed, Regulus got her seemingly divided attention via soft and frequently well placed kisses along the exposed flesh of her neck and breasts. Hermione seemed content to lie there for a little while longer running her fingers through his lengthy raven hair.

"Hey Beautiful." he said with a smile filed across his pale face while he continued to kiss her body.

"What time is it?" asked Hermione taking a moment to stretch upon awakening.

"Nearing nine I think." replied Regulus rolling onto his back on the mattress beside her and looking up at the ceiling.

"Nine!?" she said sounding a bit alarmed. "I didn't intend to stay here that long...I've got to get back to the children."

Regulus smirked noting her apparent panic.

She launched herself out of bed giving the young wizard a nice view of her uncovered body as she moved about collecting articles of her discarded clothing. He thought her scrambling was amusing to say the least as he sat up, leaning to one side as he continued to watch her.

"Have you seen my knickers?" she asked moving about the room with a small pile of clothing in her arms.

"I have I seen your what?" asked Regulus confused despite his amusement at her scrambling.

"My knickers...oh never mind...Accio Knickers." she said summoning them via her wand.

Regulus shook his head as he watched her get dressed risking life and limb all for the sake of rushing back to her children.

He waved his hand and she was completely dressed and avoided a near on nasty tumbled in the process.

"Thank you." she said moving toward the bedroom door.

He climbed out of bed and made his way over toward her, inadvertently backing her against the door.

"How about a proper thank you." he said with a smirk. "I did assist you after all."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Are you sure Ilvermorny doesn't have a Slytherin House?" she asked with an arched brow. "Because I could swear you are a Slytherin."

Taking that as a compliment, he pressed his pale lips into hers rendering her speechless for a moment.

"I...have to go." she said biting her lower lip and meeting his mesmerizing eyes of obsidian.

"Don't be a stranger." he replied kissing her once more.

"I...I really have to go." she said scooting out of his grasp and making her way out of the door.

Regulus smirked once more as she fumbled down the stairs and rushed out the front door as if she figured he'd come after her.

Finding himself alone once more, the younger Snape made his way toward the sitting room. There was an unfinished bottle of firewhiskey downstairs with his name on it and he intended to finish off the night in celebration of his new found relationship or whatever this had turned out to be between him and the recently widowed mother of two.

He thought quietly on Harry Potter's threat if he intended to pursue Hermione in a romantic sense. There was little the so called "hero of the wizarding world" could do to him given that he was well within his right to pursue a relationship with the witch of his own accord.

Ronald Weasley had not exactly been a saint and he did little in terms of seeing to his marriage to Hermione in the first place. His death changed nothing in Regulus' eyes. If the freckle face fool couldn't see just how special Hermione was when he was alive there was no reason to believe his death would make the rift any better.

Unlike Weasley, Regulus had a feeling that life with Hermione Granger at his side would be more than enough to garner enjoyment. He had never really thought about having children despite his numerous entanglements with witches and muggle women alike, but he knew that Hermione and her children were a package deal and he was more than willing to accept them.

If anything, he understood what the two younger Weasley's were going through better than anyone due to his late father Severus Snape's passing and the recent loss of his mother. He knew how important it was to focus on something other than the loss and to have friends even friends that weren't known very well in one's corner if immediate family couldn't be reached.

With a sigh, Regulus made his way down the stairs and grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey he had started on earlier in the day. Looking down into the swirling brown liquid, he had come to a decision that would shape his future with Hermione for the days and nights to come. Moving through the darkened sitting room, the raven haired wizard made his way into the kitchen.

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The Kitchen, Spinner's End, Cokeworth England, Muggle World...

Staring down at the bottle he held so tightly within his pale hands, Regulus Snape uncorked to top and turned the bottle upside down over the kitchen sink watching as the last of his father's preferred drink trailed down the sink.

Thinking about the children and what they must have been going through put a great deal of things into perspective for Regulus as he continued to empty the firewhiskey bottles. He cared a great deal for Hermione and wanted more with her than to be the man she decided to screw in the dead of night. Living like a dirty secret wasn't exactly what he had in mind and it wasn't what he had gone through all of the trouble of being decent for. He could have sex with any witch if that were the case.

The obsidian eyes of Regulus Snape continued to stare down into the sink where the last of his whiskey had gone. He came to terms with his thoughts and what he truly wanted out of life. His father managed to have a family despite the chaos of his lifestyle and the uncertainty of their futures. It stood to reason that perhaps it was time for him to settle down or at the very least see what life would be like if he could.

When he finished emptying the bottle, Regulus set to work cleaning up the mess he'd made in the wake of his attempt to drown his sorrows. He wanted to prove to Hermione that she didn't have to be ashamed of him and their relationship, whatever it turned out to be.