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A/N: Chapter Warning – Sexual situation, bad language and violence

Chapter 23: Interruptions, Flashback and more Illness

Severus was trying hard, very hard, to control himself. He didn't want to hurt her, even if she had practically begged for him.

"Hermione, it shouldn't be quite like this. I'm not going to push you into anything. I have obviously indicated that I am interested in you but I will not pressure you into anything, I refuse. This, just now, was a complete lapse in my own control, I was stupid to do what I did in the open where anyone could have seen me, and I am embarrassed that I lost my control. It has been happening a lot since we had that first kiss, it has been a long time since any female has paid any attention, that way, to me, and my body now reacts to you every time you breathe and I feel awful about it and guilty, but I don't regret it" he confessed to her.

Hermione, who was still hugely turned on, had begun walking towards him, she wanted him to touch her, she wanted to know how it felt to truly be touched and she could think of no other better than Severus to do that.

Severus noticed that she was walking towards him with lust still in her eyes. He began to move backwards, to keep the distance between them but he quickly found himself against a wall and Hermione was still stalking closer to him.

Gods! He was in trouble, he was already having difficulty breathing, he could smell her sweet arousal and it was killing him.

She eventually stopped in front of him and took in his appearance. His soiled trousers had another tent in them, his breathing was deep and unsteady, his face was still flushed and she wanted it, she wanted it all.

She leaned towards him and gave him a teasing kiss on his lips, it was gentle and with very little pressure.

Severus was trying to recite potions ingredients, trying to keep control. But his control was slipping.

His lips began to move against hers, and the pair immediately began a frenzied attack of each other's mouth.

Hermione sighed happily as Severus gave in. He had turned them so Hermione was against the wall; he still gave her some space so that she would not feel constricted. He then lifted her, using the wall as leverage, and placed his knee between her legs to support her.

Hermione gasped, she was wearing thin pyjama bottoms and could clearly feel Severus' knee between her legs and his already hardened length against her hip, and she wanted him to press against her even more than he already was. She was squirming as she tried to find the friction where she needed it most but couldn't get the right angle.

She almost sobbed in sheer need as her body was throbbing all over, aching for a more intimate touch. She wanted his comfort, his presence. He made her feel safe when he had his arms wrapped around her as he held her. She couldn't believe that being this intimate with a man could ever feel this amazing.

She had one hand on his shoulder, and her other hand had worked its way up his shirt and was resting on his abdomen.

Severus' hands had moved, and one hand was on her waist and the other was placed around her ribs just below her breast.

The two were experiencing such an intense, intimate moment that neither of them heard the door to Severus' quarters open or the footsteps that halted upon seeing them.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A bookworm Gryffindor and the head on snakes...what a scandalous affair" said a familiar voice.

The pair sprang apart and righted themselves upon hearing the first words spoken by the anonymous person. Severus placed Hermione in front of himself in order to hide his current state as it was not acceptable for formal company.

The pair stared sheepishly and red faced at a very gleeful Draco Malfoy, who was looking very smugly at the pair.

"So my godfather is quite the kisser then eh Granger?" Draco teased with a smirk.

Hermione knew she wouldn't be able to talk without stuttering but tried anyway.

"D-Draco, why a-are you here?" She managed to get out.

"Well I heard that my dear friend had taken rather ill you see. McGonagall told Potter that you weren't well and that Severus was taking care of you. I guessed you would be here; I came to see if you were alright. But, I can see that you are truly sick, don't worry Hermione, they can help nymphomaniacs these days" Draco teased her.

Hermione looked indignant and went to snap a witty response. He was only being playful after all. But Draco had already moved to taunting his dear godfather.

"Hiding behind females are we godfather? How very ungentlemanly of you! Shame on you professor" he mocked his godfather.

"Draco, I would prefer it if I could converse with you when both Hermione and myself are more decent. Would you mind giving us a moment?" Severus asked his godson.

"Not at all" Draco said as he moved to sit in Severus' lounge chair.

"That's not quite what I meant Draco" Severus said somewhat strained.

Draco wasn't stupid; he knew why Severus was hiding. Severus was the stoic, dark, brooding bat of the dungeons but he was still a man and that made him human enough.

"Sorry godfather, it's all you're going to get" Draco said, smirking once again.

Severus, with a red face, confidently and purposefully strode towards his bedroom, a tent still pitched in his bottoms, as he left the bedroom door slightly ajar so that Hermione could go in and grab her clothes if she so wished.

"He has quite a problem doesn't he? Courtesy of you no doubt, that was an impressive condition in which you left the state of his trousers" Draco laughed.

Hermione squeaked out some sort of response and hurriedly ran towards the bedroom to collect her things.

Once inside, Severus looked at her and began to apologise, once more, for his lapse in control and his brutish behaviour towards her.

Hermione wasn't having any of it and said that there was no use in apologising as it was going to happen a lot more in the near future.

Severus quickly put on his formal clothes whilst Hermione turned her back and then he left the room so she could have all the privacy she wanted. He was still slightly hard but his body was slowly heading back into a composed state.

Severus made his way carefully back to the lounge and, with his wand; he straightened out the couch and removed all the sleeping stuff from it.

He couldn't remember the last time he felt this uncomfortable and embarrassed. He had been caught snogging a student, against a wall, in his personal rooms, by his godson. He grimaced knowing that his godson would squeeze every last drop of humiliation out of him. They were both Slytherin after all and Severus knew that Draco would not pass up the opportunity to embarrass him because it so rarely happened.

He looked at Draco, who was grinning madly at him.

'Oh Gods! Here comes the torment' he mentally prepared himself.

"Quite an impressive stain on your pyjama bottoms, eh Severus?" Draco commented going straight for the jugular.

Severus flushed red at the fact he had been seen in such a state.

'Humiliation complete' he thought as Draco sniggered at his godfather's response.

"Draco, I love you dearly son, but if you keep talking about that, I will have to take some serious action" Severus warned.

Draco just chuckled.

"Looks like you were already doing that when I walked in the room" Draco sniggered.

Severus glared at his non-blood related son, but it only made Draco laugh harder.

Severus couldn't keep up his glare and he relaxed into an easy smile as he watched the boy.

Draco had been going through a rough time recently, the Dark Lord was trying to force Lucius to get Draco to take the dark mark before he came back to school but Severus had persuaded the Dark Lord that it would be safer not to, now that the ministry was poking their noses into Hogwarts business. The Dark Lord had agreed and told Lucius to hold off until Draco was of age. It brought them time to think about what to do next.

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Lucius Malfoy wasn't a bad man, he just wanted his family safe, and if that meant he had to blindly follow the Dark Lords orders, then Lucius Malfoy would do it.

Severus knew Draco didn't really understand the full extent of what was happening around him and thought back to one particular incident that had occurred over the summer.

The Dark Lord had heard about Draco's character and performance at school and decided that he would be a perfect death eater, one day, when the time was right but Draco would need to start being trained and conditioned now in order to achieve that. So, the Dark Lord ordered Lucius to punish Draco as a form of 'character building', in front of an entire revel of supporters that the Dark Lord already had. Draco was to remain uninformed about what was going to happen and Lucius was told that if he did not deliver the punishment then the Dark Lord would kill Draco on the spot. Again, Draco was to remain uninformed about all of this, the Dark Lord reasoned that the more anger the boy had, the better death eater he would make.

Severus remembered how a half-asleep Draco was practically dragged into the meeting room just after midnight, at Malfoy Manor, by the house elf. Draco looked very confused and slightly frightened, even though he had done his best to try and mask it. The Dark Lord had then ordered Lucius to proceed and Lucius stepped forward and raised his wand at his own son, with a slight tremor of his hand, and began to cast the Cruciatus Curse on him.

A betrayed Draco had tried to fight it but the pain had been too much and he eventually began to scream. He was to be held under the curse for ten minutes and then he was to be whipped ten times on both the back and front of his body and then he was to be held under the Cruciatus for a further ten minutes. Then the process was to be repeated.

Severus had watched in vein, wanting to help the boy but knowing that he, Draco and Narcissa would be killed for it if Severus interrupted.

After a horrific hour, Lucius had finished what he had been ordered to do and Severus was ordered to assist the boy back to his room. Severus had picked Draco up and carried the near unconscious boy out of the room.

He had made it to Draco's room and was nearly deafened by the tortured screams of Narcissa Malfoy, who was sat waiting in a chair in her son's room, as she took in the sight of her only child.

Severus placed Draco on the bed and ordered the house elf to get a variety of potions so that he could heal Draco. Narcissa had sat on the bed and was cradling her son's head in her hands as she wept inconsolably over him.

After the potions were administered and Draco had regained consciousness, Severus sat next to Draco and breathed a sigh of relief. He really hadn't been sure if the mental state of his godson would still be intact after that.

Draco had leaned over and hugged Severus and had thanked him for his help. Severus responded with a light, fatherly kiss to his godson's forehead as Draco fell back into a restful sleep.

Severus had then stood up and decided to make his leave; he hesitated when he turned back and saw the angry look on Narcissa's face that was directed at the thought of her husband.

"It wasn't Lucius' fault, he was trying to protect you all" Severus had told her.

"This is what you call protection?" She snapped back at him in anger.

"It was this or watch Draco die" Severus had told her solemnly, ignoring the woman's attitude towards him.

Narcissa had looked at her sleeping son and then back to Severus in shock, the anger now gone from her face. Severus nodded at her in confirmation and he left the room to go and find Lucius.

The meeting had been dismissed after Severus had left with Draco and so Severus knew that he would find Lucius somewhere in the Manor, probably the study, so Severus made his way down to Lucius' study.

He had knocked but had received no reply so he had entered anyway and froze at the sight before him.

The whole study had been trashed, there were important papers crumpled, ripped and slung everywhere, important books had been torn apart and furniture had been upturned. Severus then spotted Lucius and his heart had sunk to the pit of his stomach.

Lucius had been sat, on the floor, opposite the fireplace. He'd had a bottle of fire whiskey in one hand and was staring blankly at the fire, shaking and with tears streaming down his face.

Severus had never seen his friend in such a state and had no idea what to do. So, he just sat next to him on the floor and they shared the whiskey and Severus watched as Lucius cried over what he had been forced to do to his own son.

"Look what I did to my boy, Severus. He's my child, my baby boy, my son and look at what I did to him" Lucius had whispered.

Lucius had never laid a hand on his son, not in punishment, nor in comfort. Lucius had been scared when Narcissa had told him she was with child; Lucius was frightened of becoming his father, Abraxas Malfoy, and vowed never to let that happen. He had been true to that vow, until tonight, and Lucius would never forgive himself for it.

At that point of thought, Lucius had begun to get drowsy so Severus had helped Lucius lay on the sofa that was in the study and had left the distraught man, and father, to fall into a restless sleep.

Severus knew that the Malfoy's would pull together as a family, for the sake of public appearance, the following day.

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Severus snapped out of his memory and found his godson staring at him, with his eyebrow raised in question and Hermione, who had joined them, was looking at him with a concerned expression.

"Are you alright Severus? You spaced out completely and didn't hear us trying to talk to you or anything" Hermione said gently.

It was obvious that Severus was not going to tell the two what he was thinking about, so they didn't say anything else about it and Draco, seizing the opportunity, went back to taunting his godfather and his new friend.

"So my bookworm friends, what's going on between the two of you?" He asked waggling his eyebrows.

Hermione flushed and Severus tried his best to groan in annoyance.

"Draco, Severus and I well we...I mean, I initiated that particular moment but we-" Hermione was struggling to find the right words, luckily Severus jumped to her rescue.

"We have both established that there is something more between us than friendship. I am reluctant to allow anything to happen until Hermione becomes of age, but the little minx likes to test my composure and she does a good job. Earlier, there was a compromising situation and both our guards were down and both our controls snapped and I put up little resistance. I apologise, once again, for my ungentlemanly behaviour Hermione. I should have shown more restraint" Severus said.

"I didn't want you to show restraint, I wanted you to touch and kiss me" Hermione told him again. She loved Severus' chivalrous nature but in intimate moments, it was slightly irritating.

Severus just nodded in acknowledgement of what she had said and vowed to lessen his restraint on himself.

"How are you feeling? I trust the potions worked, you definitely have your energy back" Severus winked at her.

Draco's jaw dropped. His godfather had just winked, like a normal bloke. Damn he was going to remember this moment and use it against his godfather at a later date.

"So, the illness thing wasn't a ploy, you were actually sick?" Draco asked Hermione.

She nodded.

"Yes I was truly ill, the potions have worked but I still feel tired, and still have a sore throat and itchy eyes. But Severus already said that potions can cure vomiting but not a common cold" she told them.

"I bet a tongue down that sore throat has done no favours for you, has it?" Draco joked.

This time it was Severus' jaw that dropped in surprise as he didn't see that comment coming and he watched frozen, as Hermione squeaked and launched a pillow towards Draco's head with successful results.

Draco barely noticed, he was laughing too much.

"Thank you for that Draco. Now, what do you want? Answer before I sling you out by your ear" Severus said sarcastically.

"Oh right! Well I did come to see if Hermione was alright but also, I was wondering if I can use your personal potions lab for an hour or so" Draco asked.

Severus looked at his godson. He had given Draco permission to use his lab whenever he wanted. Severus nodded at Draco.

"Of course, you know the rules and let me see what you are brewing before you go in there" he said to Draco.

Draco pulled out a folded piece of paper with instructions and ingredients on it and nodded in approval.

"That is acceptable, call me if you need assistance" Severus told him as Draco headed in the direction of the lab.

Once Draco was gone, the pair turned to each other.

"We need to be more careful Hermione. If that had not been Draco, we could've been in trouble. Especially with Umbridge around" Severus said seriously.

Hermione nodded in agreement, she couldn't lose this, whatever it was, that she had with Severus. It would destroy them both. She moved and sat next to Severus once more and placed her head on his shoulder.

He looked down at her and smiled. Their eyes met and they both went in for another kiss. It was just a small gesture this time, nothing as carnal as earlier but it was satisfying all the same.

Severus abruptly stopped and withdrew quickly from the kiss.

Hermione looked at him in confusion for a second and then, Severus then let out a massive sneeze.

He froze, Hermione stared at him wide eyed and he turned back to face her, sniffling slightly.

"Witch! I haven't been sick in two decades!" He exclaimed.

Severus Snape was not the most civil person to be around on a good day, he was even worse when he was ill.