A/N: Not much to say on this one. The first time I posted this chapter was on Priestesses of H.I.S.S. and it's probably one of my favourites.

Chapter 11

The late morning sunshine flooded through slightly grimy windows as Hermione paced; the floorboards underfoot in her rented room were grubby and creaked with each step as she looked up at the door with every pass, waiting for Severus to arrive and the inevitable 'telling off' that was due to her. She had no doubt that Draco would deliver the message; at least, she hoped he would. He had changed a lot since the war and become much less git-like; he would however, always be 'the ferret' and try to get the better of her. It was just more good natured now.

As for how she was feeling about the confrontation with Minerva, not to mention how she thought Severus was feeling about it… well, she had been treated like a child for far too long. She had allowed her true age and maturity to be hidden for fear of being told off as if she was still a child. The truth was she was a woman now and would take the consequence she was owed like an adult.

She had been excited at the prospect of taking over from Minerva and the idea of being Head of Gryffindor but Severus was so much more important. She was finally living out the fantasies that had plagued her for years as she had watched him from the back of the Potions classroom; blatantly ignoring the slurs on his character and hygiene from her friends and imagining him keeping her after class and making up an excuse to 'punish' her by bending her over his desk.

In a way Hermione felt the need to thank Minerva for letting Severus read her manuscript; it had led to the most amazing morning of her life. But at the memory of that morning being interrupted and surreptitiously ended by the old bag, she simultaneously wanted to strangle her former Headmistress. Whilst angry beyond words at the betrayal and lack of trust that Minerva had exhibited in one of her own, Hermione still respected the older witch, especially after what they had all been through during the war; every life still being lived was a blessing.

Her mind flipped, as she paced, angry thoughts tearing through her mind… 'Who does she think she is?' as her self-righteousness reined and she mentally ranted at the captive and singular audience of herself. 'I am at perfect liberty to kiss, blow or indeed shag the brains out of whomever I damn-well choose and it was at her stupid cajoling and practical insistence that I pursue him in the first place that had me throwing caution to the fucking wind. Well, I have him now and if she thinks for one second I'd pick a job over him then she was more addled by those stunners than she is fucking admitting. He almost fucking died in his duty for the Order and to save us all and if I wasn't in love with him before, I would have been at that moment. It is two Merlin-forsaken weeks until I graduate and my IQ, decorum and educational prowess are beyond reproach.'

She let out a long, exasperated sigh and slumped onto the end of the bed; her mind flipping to her more logical, less emotional opinions "Bitch." she whispered softly, but the slur lacked venom as she tried to hold onto her anger before falling backwards and covering her eyes with a loosely flung left arm and starting to cry. 'How do I fix this… mess?'

Severus had left the school immediately after getting Hermione's location from Draco. He had no idea what state he'd find her in but knowing her ability to work herself up into a cyclone of unnecessary considerations, he hastened to the gates of the castle and apparated directly outside the Leaky Cauldron.

He barely noticed the wide eyes and dropped jaws of those around him as he hurried toward the elderly barman to ascertain Hermione's room number. Just knowing he was closer to her, closer to continuing their coming together had his heart beating faster. When old Tom looked him over however, Severus realised what the gaping had been about. In his rushed exit from the castle, he had not taken the time to look his usual impenetrable self. In fact, he appeared completely dishevelled and if someone didn't know better, they would assume by the way his hair was sticking out oddly in places rather than being arrow straight; by the way there was still a slight pink plumpness to his lips and an obvious crumpled appearance to his half open robes, that Severus Snape had been well and truly shagged.

Realising his error, he coughed slightly and wandlessly attended his robes and appearance before addressing Tom with his request.

"I require the location of Miss Granger. I understand she is currently staying here."

His tone brokered no argument and Tom shrunk a little from the penetrating gaze but kept his smile in place as he answered.

"Right you are, Professor. Hope she's not in trouble. Lovely girl, Miss Granger is. Lovely girl."

Severus narrowed his eyes. Growing impatient.

"Right, right, okay. Room 4, she's in. Only been up there for about half an hour. Had one of my fry ups with young Malfoy. Never thought I'd see the day them two would be friendly. Warmed my heart, it did."

The thought of Draco and Hermione getting friendly was in some ways a worse thought to Severus than them being at each other's necks. He knew it was highly unlikely that there could be anything romantic between his godson and Hermione, given their past but then his own past with the girl was hardly stellar and she'd chosen to give him a second (or millionth) chance to redeem himself. Thankfully, he had turned away from the bar and headed for stairs long before Tom could have seen the grimace of distaste on his face.

He wasn't sure what to expect as he reached the top of the staircase but it wasn't the sound of Hermione's voice shouting loudly "Who does she think she is?"…only it wasn't echoing down the dank corridor as one would expect from a shout. No, this was echoing around his mind. He knew the girl could occlude; she had picked it up quicker than anyone in the Order when he'd given a rudimentary lesson during a meeting before she started her sixth year. It was a surprise therefore that her thoughts could be so clearly heard, resounding in his mind as he drew closer to second door down the corridor on the left. Especially as he had not cast a 'legilimency' spell in some time – perhaps his natural gift for the discipline had become more powerful.

His dragon-hide boots carried him closer to the mentally expounding voice unbidden and as he listened, his eyes widened incrementally with each sentence her mind bellowed.

"I am at perfect liberty to kiss, blow or indeed shag the brains out of whomever I damn-well choose…"

'Well, I never. Quite the dirty mouth for a virgin but oh what it can do. You have a point that you can do those things to whomever you want. For now. Once you're mine, you will do them only for me and I will snap anyone who tries to take you away from me.'

"…and it was at her stupid cajoling and practical insistence that I pursue him in the first place that had me throwing caution to the fucking wind."

'She got you too, I see. Typical!'

"Well, I have him now…"

"That's my girl."

"…and if she thinks for one second I'd pick a job over him then she was more addled by those stunners than she is fucking admitting."

Severus's heart warmed in his chest and he closed his eyes, allowing the shiver that her affection and devotion to him inspired to ripple over him.

"He almost fucking died in his duty for the Order and to save us all and if I wasn't in love with him before, I would have been at that moment."

'Dear Merlin, she really does love me.' He thought, still almost disbelieving.

"It is two Merlin-forsaken weeks until I graduate and my IQ, decorum and educational prowess are beyond reproach."

'Beyond reproach until today. Until you let me ruin it for you.'

He heard movement in the room before Hermione's tone change to a very soft and physically whispered…"Bitch."

"Well, I suppose if I can turn Hermione Granger against Minerva McGonagall, nothing in life will ever seem out of reach again." Including Hermione.

With that thought in his mind, he knocked her door harshly, twice.

Hermione jumped at the pounding sound from her door, wondering if the volume was indicative of how mad Severus really was. She flicked her wand at the door from her position sprawled on the bed and watched with one eye as he strode with his own delicious brand of self-assured purposefulness toward her; the door clicking back into place behind him.

"Hi," she mumbled, somewhat meekly for her usual Gryffindor-esque expounding but mentally she was replaying his entrance. 'Well he can't be too mad; he didn't slam the door. '

"I heard that," he replied, having not turned off his surface scanning legilimency skills. "And to answer your undisclosed thoughts, I am not mad at you."

He watched her body visibly relax. Was he really still so scary to her, he wondered.

"I'm sorry I went all 'girl, interrupted' when Minerva caught us. I just never thought I'd have to defend my interest in you so soon. Especially not to Minerva when she was the one who encouraged me in the first place… I guess I just blew my lid when she implied I was not setting a good example to the other students."

Severus moved closer to her and knelt between her splayed knees as they draped over the end of the bed. His hands resting gently on her thighs.

"Hermione, she will get over it. Honestly, I was rather amused to watch you fire such words at her in all of your glory. You are quite something when you get into your stride about an issue…" he said in that gorgeously sexy, voice of his. Hermione picked up on his tone as his hands moved slowly up her legs to rest on her hips.

She squealed with excitement as he pulled her forward and nuzzled at the untucked t-shirt she had thrown on until he could place gentle kisses over her abdomen and along the waistband of her jeans.

"S-so, I'm not… oh, Severus, that tickles…" she was starting to pant, her eyes rolling back at the sensations he was conjuring with his lips. "I'm not… in… trouble then?"

He looked up at her; his smirk undeniably Slytherin as he took in how quickly she was unravelling under his touch; it was a heady thing for him to feel so utterly worshipped and trusted by her that she allowed him free reign on her body without so much as a raised eyebrow.

"Of course you're not in trouble. I rather think she needed the dressing down. She gets herself into feeling rather too high and mighty at times and you are just the right person to bring her down a peg or two. I was getting a little bored of doing in myself."

Hermione's breath was shallowing as he now had one hand on her hip and the other rubbing the seam of her jeans against her aching clit.

"If you're… oh man… if you're going to keep doing that…" she panted some more, trying to focus her mind a little, "…can you please stop talking about the Headmistress?"

"Anything you say, my bossy little defender." He replied, applying more pressure against the seam of her jeans, simultaneously pulling on her hip to bring her more firmly against his ministrations.

"Good. I've waited so long; too long… please… please… fuck me!" She pleaded amidst gasps and whimpers; every brush of his fingers against rough denim, against over-sensitised, intimate flesh sent flurry of sensation flooding through every nerve ending she possessed. It felt like they were all connected and he was pushing right against the point at which they all met.

With her consent secured – not that it was in doubt – Severus rose to his full height and gently leaned forward over his breathless know-it-all Gryffindor; he showed more care than she thought him capable of. It seemed her words ignited a passion he believed to be long dead and his erection strained to fulfil her pleas as he rested his weight on his arms around her head and bent his head to kiss her.

In his opinion they hadn't spent nearly enough time just kissing and though he was sure of continuing in their quest to fully succumb to both her desire and his own, Severus wanted to savour every moment with her. She deserved her first time to be special, especially as she had waited so long and even more especially because she had chosen him. He wanted to worship her body and learn every ticklish spot, every inch of skin which would make her quake, exactly how much pressure would raise her into the cosmos to explode amongst the stars.

He knew part of this desire was to make up for his treatment of her in the past but he also knew she deserved every pleasure, delight and moment of bliss he could deliver her and as she seemed to derive such things from bringing the same to him, he knew he was powerless to resist anything she asked for. And it seemed, right now, she was asking for his complete surrender to her pleas.

"Please… I can't wait anymore…" Hermione gasped on an in breath as his long, hard length pressed against her waiting wetness through too many layers of fabric.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked tentatively, knowing that sexual joining in the wizarding world came with more strings attached than she may be aware of. "There are things about…"

Hermione let out an almost exasperated sigh, looked at him with all the courage her Gyffindor boldness and passion was famed for and played her last card to get him to finally, finally… give in.

"Snape… shut up." Her words were like a smack in the face and he looked wounded, despite her mischievous grin, so she worked to rectify her words, quickly; not wanting the situation to go South. "I love you… I want you more than anything in this world but right now you're driving me crazy. I am not some dewy eyed child whom you are robbing of her innocence. I know you're hesitating because of my virginity and our past but please trust me when I say, I am beyond ready for this. I have dreamed of giving you this last trace of my, for the want of a better word, virtue for years… YEARS Severus. I have trusted you to arm me with knowledge of Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts, I have trusted you to be a spy for the Order, I trusted you even when your actions were not of your own decisions when everyone else thought you a traitor. I trust you with taking my virginity in a way that will bring me pleasure, I love you with everything I am and ever will be but more importantly right now…" she waved a hand over both of them to dispel their clothes, "I want you. So stop fretting and second guessing, kiss me like there's no tomorrow, grab my arse and fuck me like your life depended on it because if you don't, I am very likely to kill you."

Severus wasn't quite sure what to say to her beautiful tirade. It was almost like she was vowing herself to him; at least, that's how it felt. Her words touched his heart and made him ache for her. As she spoke, he'd felt a stirring in the aether around them; magic had taken notice of her words with as much rapt attention as he had and now he had a choice. If magic was taking an interest in their almost love-making and her feelings, then it was gearing up to shower them in something that would affect them for a very long time, perhaps for the remainder of their lives.

He stroked her cheek gently, trying to placate her and used his own words to try and soothe her sudden fear that she'd said too much. He had to reassure her; he really did not want to fuck this up.

"Hermione, my beautiful little know-it-all witch," he began, and a hot spark of magic sizzled up his spine, "I have no doubt of your feelings for me, nor my feelings for you. You are a blessing and a saviour to my twisted old soul and I want you in this moment more that you can imagine."

He ground himself against her as if to prove this and felt both his magic and hers trying to bring them into alignment and complete their union. It was an unusual feeling, like being guided by the Universe itself to join.

"Severus… please… make me yours…"

"Patience, my love. Something more is happening here. Can you feel it?" He asked, trying to ignore the throb of his cock at it brushed against her slick entrance.

"Yes, it feels wonderful. Magic and I are in agreement… we voted on it and decided it's time for my selfless, sacrificing, dark hero to have his happy ever after so please stop fighting it. Let go of the past, it can't hurt us now, tell me you love me and make me yours."

Severus was assuming that she could sense what magic was gearing up to, that it was trying to bind them. He had tears in his eyes as he finally listened to both the magic and Hermione and allowed the words to flow freely that would make their coupling seal the bond.

Hermione was practically out of her mind with want; she could feel Severus, hard and heavy nudging at her 'down there' in the place where she was dripping for him. All she needed was one little nudge, the last little bit of pushing and she would be all his… everything she'd dreamed of and wanted since she was fifteen. This was it, she could feel it. He was so close. She knew her words were pleading, desperate but she felt urged on by the magic that had surrounded them and danced over her skin.

As she placed her hands around his shoulders, bracing herself for the inevitable moment of discomfort when he finally broke through her last vestige of maidenhood, he spoke the words she had longed to hear…

"Hermione, you are the most beautiful and perfect woman I have ever met; you are fierce and fearless, wildly intelligent and soul-stoppingly sexy. I have never felt more blessed that you have chosen me and that magic itself is encouraging our union. I am hopelessly in love with you, my darling know-it-all and from this moment, I stop fighting it. With this kiss, I am yours."

His lips crashed against hers and hers responded with equal vigour in a moment of pure love and acceptance whilst lower down their bodies di what came naturally and slid themselves together like inserting the final piece of the puzzle.

Hermione felt no pain and Severus entered her, not a twinge or a pinch or a burn as he slid home into her more than ready channel to complete their bond. The magic around them convulsed and expanded, it fed on their pleasure and with each of his thrusts, with every whimper and shiver and shudder and gasp in their act of love, magic bound them tighter to one another. It was epic; it was breath taking and they were lost to it, that feeling that had them all at once both catapulted into the stars and connected so deeply to earth that they could never be parted.

A/N: Well, didn't I get all metaphorical and philosophical on when magic takes an interest in a couple of lovers. The cliffs are back you may have noticed but I think the lovey-doveyness of this one softens the need to know what this bond will mean - hopefully. I did take a break from the cliffies over on my own account with For the Love of Snape and all my Dramiones… I haven't really started them on 'Are You Okay?' I don't think but with that extra chapter to play with I thought this was a lovely place to stop for a rest… give you all a little breather like the kind and considerate author I am.

Reviews and follows are very welcome and appreciated. Your thoughts spark more ideas to life and let my plot vipers breathe. Also, if you wonder why I say plot vipers and not bunnies, it's because my vipers eat bunnies for breakfast.

Love and Blessings

Moon Out x