The warmth of the sun upon her face woke Hermione up on Sunday morning. Stretching, she made her way to the window that looked over the ocean and saw it was a cloudless day. The weather charms around her house kept the outside temperature pretty steady, but if the temperatures outside of her wards were anything like they had been on Friday, it was the perfect day to go to her beach.
When she first saw the location of the house, she had been happy that it had an ocean view. When she realized Sirius' uncle had made the beach below the cliff part of the unplottable land, she told Harry she would take the house on the spot. It had taken Harry a few weeks to convince her to even look at, and agree to move into one of the properties he'd been left. She didn't feel right taking a house from him, even if he was offering. It wasn't until he told her that he was never going to live in them so they would sit empty that she agreed.
Harry and Ginny, who had married three years earlier, lived in the old Potter Estate, taking the year after the war to renovate and decorate it. It was a large home in Ottery St. Catchpole, not too far from the Burrow. They had done a great job on it, and the Weasley family Sunday dinners had moved to their house as soon as it was done. Hermione knew Molly agreed because she loved the large kitchen, but the rest of the Weasley's loved the Potter Estate because it had a half size Quidditch pitch in the backyard. Most weeks, Hermione, Fleur, and all the young children would sit and watch them play.
Speaking of the Weasleys… Hermione went to the desk in her room and wrote a quick note to Molly letting her know she would not be able to attend dinner this week. Arthur and Harry would already know the truth, but today wasn't the day to spring Severus on the Weasleys. Or was it too soon to spring the Weasleys on Severus? Either way, Hermione was not going. Her plans for the day involved a good book, a soak in the sea, and some much needed rays of sunshine.
Severus was sitting at the table drinking tea when Hermione walked into the kitchen. Seeing her clad in tiny denim shorts and a vest was enough to make him choke on the hot liquid. He could see the straps of a teal swimsuit tied around her neck. Well, if I wasn't checking her out yesterday, I sure as hell am today. Sweet Salazar.
"Good Morning, Severus," Hermione greeted him before turning to pour a cup of tea. He didn't miss the opportunity to see how nice her arse looked in her shorts while she did it, averting his eyes before she turned around. "I am going to go down to the beach today. It is protected by the Fidelius charm so no one can get in, and the water is charmed to be warm in the little inlet. Would you like to join me?"
"I don't have a swimming costume. I think I will stay here," he said.
Before he could react, Hermione pulled out her wand and he was sitting at the table in black swim trunks and a tight, long sleeved shirt. The material seemed to be made out of the same stuff women's swimwear was made from.
At the lift of his brow, she giggled. "Problem solved, Severus. I figured you burn easy, so that is a swim shirt."
"Yes, because a long shirt is more comfortable than a sunblock charm?" Sarcasm dripping from his tongue. He pulled his wand and changed the shirt to a regular black tee shirt. "Let me go get the notes you have made for Wolfsbane and then we can go. I am interested in seeing what you have come up with and can read while we're at the beach."
Walking to the lab he thought over the interaction he had in the kitchen with Hermione. Teasing her came so naturally to him, even though being that carefree with anyone was not something he had ever done before. His childhood had been full of abuse, both towards him, and towards his mother in front of him. Then Hogwarts had been one fight with the marauders after another. He hadn't been out of school for more than two weeks before he joined the Death Eaters. The only 'normal' time in his life had been the ten years between the Dark Lord disappearing and Potter coming to Hogwarts.
Was this how he would have been if he wasn't cursed all those years? Was this 'new' Severus who he really was? Again he had awoken this morning with no pain, and no hate in his heart. No obsessive thoughts of a woman long dead. Grabbing the notes he wanted to read and leaving the lab, he made up his mind. He was going to live his life without worrying about how he used to be, or how he thought he should act. He was just going to be happy and act whatever way made him feel best. If someone didn't like it, they didn't have to be around him.
Severus joined Hermione in front of the house and they made their way to the path that led to the beach. The path was against the side of the cliff the house sat upon, and like Hermione said, the beach was closer than it appeared from the top. Within five minutes they were down on a sandy beach. The sun was shining off the light blue water and the tall cliffs that surrounded the alcove protected them from the wind howling above.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione asked while looking out over the water.
"I feel like we have left the country," Severus replied.
The color of the water caught him off guard. He knew they were still in England, and this was the Atlantic Ocean, but the water was so clear and blue it looked like the pictures he had seen of the Caribbean.
"I felt that way when I first came down here too. But I have been to a few of these small inlets around Cornwall, and they all look similar. It has to do with how shallow and sandy it is between the cliffs." She smiled as she turned to him. "Now the water warming charms Alphard placed on the cove do make this beach different than the other ones. You can swim down here anytime of year. The water is always a perfect twenty-nine degrees."
"Do you come down here often?" he asked.
Severus' eyes lingered on her as she removed her shorts before he snapped his eyes back to the water. Hermione had conjured up some towels and an umbrella when they first arrived and was currently in the process of folding her clothes. The sight of her in a bikini was enough to make his knees weak. How long had it been since he had seen a woman in so little clothing?
"Not as often as I would like, but at least once a month," Hermione replied, pulling her hair into a top knot. "When I first moved in, I would be down here every sunny day after work."
She had noticed Severus watching her as she stripped down to her bikini but couldn't tell if the shocked look on his face was because of the Muggle suit or because of how much her body had matured since she was seventeen. Her 'womanly curves' as her mother called them, had finally come in after leaving Hogwarts. While she never had issues with her body before, she loved it now.
"Do you like it?" She kept her question vague, the opportunity to mess with him was too good to pass up.
Little chit was teasing him. Well, two could play that game. He turned towards her, letting his eyes slowly take in her body. "It's very beautiful. I can't wait to get in."
She felt a brilliant blush bloomed across her cheeks, spreading down towards her chest. Butterflies filled her stomach at his double entendre.
"You are a wicked man, Severus." She giggled, then took off running towards the water.
Staying at the umbrella, he watched as she ran into the water, diving under with no hesitation. Deciding to get in, he removed his shirt, shoes, and wand before casting the sunblock spell on his pale skin, He walked slowly towards the water's edge, allowing the small waves to hit his toes. Hermione hadn't lied when she said the water was a perfect temperature.
Severus had never really learned how to swim. There was never the money or opportunity to learn before he went to Hogwarts, and it wasn't like there was a swim club to join once he got there. Once he became a professor, he had tried to teach himself in the prefects bathroom, but he couldn't do more than thrash about, trying to stay afloat. Standing in the waist deep water, he watched Hermione swim with ease and a flare of jealousy filled him.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to swim?" Hermione asked as she swam next to him and stood up.
That was the first time he noticed how small she was. The water that was currently lapping at his waist was chest deep on her. She must be a thirty centimeters shorter than his one hundred and ninety three.
"Dignified men don't swim," he replied.
"I call bullshit, Severus. Kingsley swims and so does my dad. They are both dignified."
"Lucius Malfoy doesn't swim." He knew that was a lie. The Malfoys had an indoor swimming pool at the manor. Severus had watched Lucius and Draco swim many times.
"Wrong again. Draco has been here swimming and told me his dad taught him in their pool." She hesitated for a moment, hoping Severus wouldn't get angry with her. She didn't know how to handle this less-angsty version of him. "Do you not know how to swim?"
His first instinct was to lie. Or call her an insolent child for her blunt question. Remembering what he decided earlier, he answered truthfully. "I don't know how. I never had a reason to learn before."
"A lot of people don't know how to swim," she told him. "But if you are going to be staying here a while, or visit me often, you might want to learn. I can teach you."
"And you think I will be staying here, or visiting you often?" he asked, raising his brow.
"Of course I do. I am a delight to be around." Smirking, she continued. "And if my charms don't keep you here, my potions lab will."
Severus couldn't hold in his laugh at her words. She wasn't wrong. Between her bright personality, and her state of the art lab, he was hesitant to look for his own place to live.
"Your," he paused, taking time to look at her, "lab certainly holds my attention."
Splashing him she laughed. "If you say so Severus. Now, lesson number one. Floating."
They spent a long time in the water, and true to her word, she had taught him a little bit. He was able to float on his back and tread water while she swam around him. His stomach started to rumble and called to her.
"Hermione, I am going to get out. I'm feeling hungry."
"I'll come with you." Making their way towards the shore, she sighed. "I love being in the water, I could swim or float in it all day."
"You're like an otter, aren't you?" he quipped.
Hermione stopped and stared at him. "How did you know that?"
"Know what?" Severus was confused. "Are you actually an otter but just pretend to be human? Like some kind of otter Selkie?"
"No, I am an otter animagus though. It matches my patronus."
Severus stopped and looked at her, taking a mental list of what he knew about otters and her personality. "That fits you very well."
"The first time I saw my patronus, I wasn't sure about it. But then I looked up more about otters and realized it made a lot of sense. When I did my animagus training, I knew it was the animal inside me from my first meditation."
"When did you train to be an animagus?" he asked.
It was a hard bit of magic, and he always thought that while Hermione was gifted in most magic, she was better at charms than transfiguration.
"My last year at school." Hermione smiled thinking about the hours she had spent in McGonagall's office. "I was ahead on all my studies, so Minvera gave me private lessons."
"How long did it take you to complete the change after you left the leaf in your mouth?" Severus had looked into doing it, but never seemed to have the time.
"Even with the leaf it only took me six weeks from start to finish. Minerva was a great help. I applied a sticking charm to the mandrake leaf so I didn't have to worry about it and Hagrid used his knowledge of the forest to tell me where to find the untouched dew. When the night of the full moon came, it was cloudy in Scotland, but I Apparated to a few different places until I found a clear bit of sky."
"That would make it easier." He was impressed with her thinking. Most people just started the mandrake process over if the full moon appeared on a cloudy night.
"Then all I had to do was wait for a storm. I got lucky and there was one two weeks after I made the potion. Have you ever thought of doing it?"
"I thought about it, but never seemed to have the time. And then I learned that your animagus is the same as your patronus. I didn't fancy turning into a doe."
Hermione couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. Trying to imagine tall, intimidating Professor Snape as a delicate doe was nothing short of hilarious. They had just entered the house and made their way up the stairs. Severus stopped before making his way to the bathroom.
"I am glad you find that so funny," Severus sneered.
"Oh, don't be like that. You are so opposite of a doe." Hermione paused before adding. "I wonder if you will have a new patronus now that the curses Draco found have been removed?"
"I will have to test it when I create happier memories," he said.
Severus wasn't sure why he was so comfortable sharing his thoughts with his former student, but something about her made him feel safe enough to open up to her. "When I think about the memories I used before, they all seem weak. Not that I can't remember them, but they aren't happy enough to create a patronus."
"Well," she smiled at him. "We will just have to make some happy memories and see what happens."
Hermione was just about to crawl into bed that night when her owl, Persephone, tapped at her window. Letting her in, she scratched her head while she removed the note.
"Thank you, gorgeous."
Persephone butted her head against her hand before leaving through the still open window. Hermione had tried keeping her owl inside when she first got her, but Persephone was a headstrong girl and hated being in the house. She would knock over her perch and leave 'presents' on all Hermione's seats. Finally, Hermione gave up and told the owl to live in the tree out back. Their relationship had improved immensely since that day.
Hermione,
Please bring Severus into the office with you tomorrow if he is up to it. I had my secretary cancel my 8:30 appointment and I have opened the Floo connection to your house. Once you are here, I can Apparate us directly to your office. I think this will be the easiest way to get Severus in without being seen.
I will try to hold them off as long as possible, but Arthur and Harry are looking forward to seeing him again. Maybe a dinner is in order?
Sleep well,
Kings
Grabbing her dressing gown, Hermione wrapped it around herself and made her way to Severus' room. Knocking, she waited for him to answer.
"Enter," he called.
Severus was stretched out on his bed, long legs crossed at the ankles. She recognized his potions journal and her notes sitting on his lap.
"I just heard from Kingsley. He wants you to come in with me tomorrow," she said as held the letter out to him.
Severus read it over before handing it back to her. "That will be fine. If you are agreeable, we can have Arthur and Potter over for dinner tomorrow. I am happy to cook."
Hermione knew he didn't actually want to have the two men over, but appreciated that he was willing to go through with it anyway.
"I will talk to them. And don't worry about cooking. Arthur is still obsessed with everything Muggle so I always pick up a pizza or Indian when he is coming over."
"I haven't had pizza in years," he said.
Severus thought back to the last time he had eaten it. It must have been the summer before fifth year when he went shopping with Lily and her parents.
"Pizza it is. I will let you sleep." She reached out and placed a hand on his ankle. "Good night, Severus."
"Good night."
Severus placed the journal and notes on his nightstand and thought about the girl, woman, who had just left his room. He had never been an approachable man, he knew that. But Hermione was so warm with him. When was the last time someone had touched him casually, like a friend? Sure he had dialiences with witches in the past, but they were just flings. Both of them there for sex and nothing more. The only touching was sexual, nothing like Hermione. Yet today, she had touched him like it was second nature. Holding his back straight while teaching him to float, grabbing his arm to keep herself upright when he made her laugh in the water, her hand on his shoulder as she stood from the table to clear the dinner dishes. This witch was like no person he had ever spent time with.
A/N: I posted a couple of pictures on my Tumblr (tridogmom) of the beach and house.
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