Spoilers: Order of the Phoenix
I have changed the rating to R to be on the safe side. I'm not good with those ratings, so do you think I've overrated it or not??
Thank you for all the reviews!
Ezmerelda: I think it would drive anybody crazy and, because I'm awfully mean to them, it's not getting any better for them on the subject! (evil grin)
Eolyn Greenwood: no, Hermione didn't know about Severus being Slytherin's Heir until he said so himself. Which part of the previous chapter makes it unclear? I wouldn't want to confuse anybody...
SlytherinQueen87: as for Voldie's reaction, it will come soon... Only two weeks until Samhain, after all :)
Severus blinked, surprised. The brown eyes looking up at him were full of love and her lips were smiling the most adorable smile he had ever seen. He opened his mouth to protest that he was not Salazar, but the words that came out had little to do with what he intended to say:
"Rowena… Now you are mine, finally."
He wanted to scream. This was all wrong! He was not Salazar and she was definitely not Rowena! He tried to snap out of the haze he was in, but he had to renounce to the idea as she pulled him down for another fierce kiss and for several minutes, he forgot everything that wasn't her. Then he frowned down at her.
"This isn't right. This is not what I intended. I wanted to do things properly, to marry you in front of everybody before making you mine like this, not as if we were ashamed."
She caressed his back, gently, insistently, trying to bring him closer to her, and she smiled at him, a slow and seductive smile he would never have thought to see on Hermione's lips. It was his undoing and Salazar took fully control of him.
"It doesn't matter. I've waited too long for you already. Salazar, don't deny me…"
"Never," he murmured fervently, in between kisses. "Never in this life or another…"
They stood on top of the Astronomy Tower, Rowena leaning in Salazar's embrace, both of them looking at the sunset. He thought of the room he was building in secret under Hogwarts, a room he had secured using the unique talent he possessed, the talent of Parseltongue. Soon the room, their room, the Chamber of Secrets as he named it, would be ready to receive them and he would be able to marry her at last. He didn't want them to live in a place where Godric could barge in anytime he wanted – the Gods knew Godric already did that enough, always trying to catch them in a compromising situation so he could claim that Salazar had been using Dark Magic on Rowena to coerce her. His efforts were still vain and they would remain so until their love was finally announced to the whole world.
She sighed with contentment, her hands covering his, and he snapped back to reality. He pressed his cheek against the soft brown hair and savoured his happiness. She turned around and pulled his head down in a passionate kiss.
"Now, now, love, it will be soon," he chuckled against her mouth.
"I'm tired of waiting for you, Salazar," she protested, resting her head against his heart.
"I know, love, I'm tired too. I want you to be fully mine, believe me. But we will do this in the open. I want them to be witnesses of my love for you and of your love for me, so that there will be no doubt in their minds. I don't want them to think that you went through this because I forced a child upon you or anything this stupid. I want them to see you become Rowena Slytherin and I want them to be jealous of my luck," he added, whispering softly in her ear. "And then, I'll make you forever mine."
She smiled as she raised her face toward his to be kissed.
In the shadows behind them, Godric gritted his teeth.
"Never," he swore, "she will never be yours in this life!"
Severus held Hermione in his arms, keeping her snugly curled against his side. His thoughts were confused. He knew everything of Salazar that could ever be known by someone who wasn't Salazar himself – his father had made sure of it, making him read all the family books about their ancestor – but now it seemed that his knowledge was even deeper. The problem was not that; the problem was that the knowledge included the young woman currently asleep in his arms.
He was himself again, but it didn't stop him from having troubled feelings for Hermione. Sighing, he absent-mindedly caressed her back, sometimes extending his fingers to touch the scar on her side, the scar that reminded him of how they had ended up in this situation. In the back of his mind, he could hear Salazar scream because he was separated from his beloved Rowena.
He heard a low rumble coming from her stomach and chuckled. His caress became a bit more insistent on her back.
"Hermione? Time to eat."
She protested softly, burying her head against his chest, until she realised what she was doing. Her head jerked up and she looked up at him, her eyes expressionless.
"Sorry," she mumbled, rolling on the other side.
He reached for his wand under the pillow and, in a simple flick, they were clothed, she in dark red satin pyjamas and he in dark green ones.
"Breakfast time," he said getting up. "It should be ready in a moment."
She nodded vaguely and didn't answer.
"The bathroom is there," he said, indicating a door.
He disappeared in the next room and summoned a house elf to ask for breakfast for two.
"Is it already Sunday morning?" she asked behind him.
He turned around and was graced with the vision of a sleep-tousled Hermione, her hair all tangled up. She had never looked so… nice. Yes, nice was the word. He couldn't exactly describe how it felt just looking at her, thinking they just had been in bed together.
"Yes," he said wryly. "It seems that Salazar and Rowena rather took advantage of the possession they had of our bodies."
She blushed profusely and sat down gingerly at the table where breakfast had appeared.
"Oh Gods…" she moaned softly, burying her head in her hands.
He looked at her and smirked, unable to resist taunting her.
"Do you understand now what Rowena meant when she said that you had never felt his touch or kiss?"
She glared furiously at him.
"No. Should I?"
Somehow it stung. He wasn't really expecting her to say 'Oh Gods, I can't live without you anymore' but telling him that he hadn't been too bad would have been good to know. After all, if he hadn't been passionate when making love to her, Salazar probably had. Well, scratch the probably. He definitely had. He knew, he had been there.
Just after breakfast, Hermione stood up and hurried to the bathroom, probably to take a shower and scrub him down of her skin. But he had other ideas. He grabbed her by the arm just before she entered the room and pulled her to him.
"Rowena, love, why running away from me? Are you sorry to have found me back?"
Her eyes widened but she shook her head. In the back of his mind, Severus screamed at Salazar; he was able to resist the Imperius Curse from the Dark Lord, but not the possession of his ancestor and that made him mad. He gently kissed the woman in his arms and pulled her toward the bed.
"Something wrong, love?" he asked, concerned, as she didn't seem really eager to follow him.
She smiled shyly and shook her head again.
"Of course not, dearest," she murmured, reaching up to caress his cheek.
There was something strange in her behaviour, but he couldn't point it. She smiled again and reached up to kiss him. Only moments later, the pyjamas were on the floor. Heated caresses and kisses ensued, punctuated by moans and gasps from the both of them, though a part of his mind noticed that she didn't call any name, even when she matched him in passion.
He settled in her arms, smiling contentedly when he felt her wrap them around him, holding him close to her. He rubbed his cheek against the soft skin of her belly before resting his head on her chest. One of her hands moved to his hair, caressing it slowly, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the simple pleasure of having a woman running her fingers in his hair without being repulsed.
Her other hand was brushing against his back in a slow motion, her fingertips outlining one of his numerous scars. Strangely, for once, he didn't feel embarrassed at the thought of her touching his scars. He smiled sleepily, thinking she had one too. Maybe that made them similar, that they had both been scared visibly by evil. Safely ensconced in the cradle of her arms, Severus fell asleep, lulled by her soft breathing under his cheek.
Severus woke up still in Hermione's arms, her strong grip on him not letting him go without waking her. He was surprised by the feeling of warmth and security he had awoken to. He moved slowly until he could kiss her, on his own, without the influence of Salazar. He had just released her lips when she opened her eyes. His face was just above hers and she smiled at him.
"Hello," she murmured.
She reached up, snaked her hand in his hair and brought his head down for a long kiss. He wondered briefly if she was possessed by Rowena or not, but didn't try to pull free. The kiss led to other kisses and things became to get more heated. Severus didn't know anymore who he was and who she was and he didn't care. She was soft and pliant in his arms, kissing him as if there were no tomorrow – and in a sense, there wasn't any tomorrow for them – and he wasn't forcing her. Everything was just perfect.
He slid his hand along her side and she arched her back under him, her eyes darkening. Her hands caressed his back, finding spots he had never known to be sensitive, and he moaned against her lips:
"Hermione…"
She stiffened and her hands stilled. Immediately he rolled away and straightened on his elbow, looking at her.
"Hermione?" he asked carefully, his breathing uneven.
She didn't answer, reached for the dark red pyjamas on the floor and silently dressed. Then she turned to look at him. Her eyes were unreadable.
"So, do you still despise me now? You sure didn't look like it after… well, was it the third time or the fourth? I can't remember. And just right now, you didn't seem disgusted either."
Severus groaned and rolled on his back. He slid his hand under his pillow and took his wand.
"Accio pyjamas," he muttered.
He dressed and sat in his bed, his back against the headboard.
"So, payback time?"
She crossed her arms on her chest.
"Why not? After all, you were quite vocal on your disgust before you brought me here. You had no need of humiliating me in such a way, the situation was already humiliating enough for me. I am being nice, telling you in private, rather than bringing the subject in front of the Headmaster who, if I'm to believe what I heard, would quite agree with me."
"So you like being forced doing something you didn't want to do?" he asked coldly, gritting his teeth.
"I like it no more than you do, but you didn't hear me complain that I find you disgusting, did you? Yet I think I have ground for complains, since after all, you took malicious pleasure in humiliating and lessening me during six years! To think that I even defended you against Harry and Ron!"
"Am I supposed to fall on my knees and beg for your forgiveness? Or maybe to kiss the hem of your robes and thank you for standing up for me?"
"Did I ask for any of this? Did I?"
"I don't know. What are you asking for just right now?"
She took a deep breath and stared at him.
"You don't even realise… You're so used being cruel, with snide comments, and so used having people put up with you that you don't even realise how hurtful you are."
"What did you expect me to do? Coddle you through the classes? Miss Granger, if I had coddled you like you seem to suggest you wanted me to do, you would never have been able to brew half the potions you made!"
"I'm not asking you to coddle us! I'm just asking you to be fair; there's a world between the two notions! You don't need to be holding our hand when we're cutting roots! Just stop the hurting remarks when there is no need to, when there is no Slytherin to report you to Voldemort!"
"Miss Granger, let me tell you that the Death Eaters are not all from Slytherin. At the very least, one of them is from Hufflepuff, two from Ravenclaw and three from Gryffindor, one of them being well-known to you, since the name is Peter Pettigrew."
Her eyes widened but before she could protest, he added softly:
"Am I then to believe that when you said you never hated me – except for the comment about your teeth – you were lying?"
"No. I never hated you until the moment you said, for no reason, that you despise me. Well, maybe there was a reason, but I still don't know which one it is."
Her anger seemed to have faded, leaving only a very hurt woman.
She hugged herself, hard, and looked down.
"I'm sorry for the outburst," she offered, "but I can't tell you I regret the words, because they are true. It was hard for both of us; you didn't have to make it harder."
"No, maybe I didn't need to make it harder," he said slowly. "But in fact, Miss Granger, I guess you might have reacted the same way if the Headmaster treated you more or less like a house elf, whose rights you were so eagerly fighting for and probably still are. Never thought of fighting for my right to freedom, for me to do whatever I choose? Because I can't. Albus can make me do pretty much everything he wants and I can't say a word, because if I refuse, he can send me in Azkaban with one word."
She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her short, standing up and beginning to pace.
"As you probably heard, since you were there, two words from the Dark Lord can kill me. You know those words; they are the words of the Killing Curse. One word from Albus can send me in Azkaban for the rest of my life, probably with a Dementor's Kiss after the five first minutes of my presence in there. That word is simple: 'traitor'. He says that word and my life is over in the most horrible way, even more horrible than the Killing Curse. I would rather submit to the Cruciatus Curse, which is usually my reward from the Dark Lord, than hear that single word from Albus. I have experienced six months of Azkaban, Miss Granger, and let me tell you that I would rather not experience that again."
"I know," she said quietly.
"What do you know?" he asked angrily.
"Well, I'm Gryffindor Know-It-All, am I not? And I knew someone who had spent thirteen years in Azkaban. That's not something I wish to anyone. Except maybe to Malfoy, but that's just me."
"Speaking of Malfoy, I should check with Albus about the fate of Draco, since he attacked you. After all, we all know the culprit, even though Lucius seems fairly confident that nothing will be attempted against his son. If you want to get dressed, your clothes are on the chair in that corner. You may keep the pyjamas if you want a reminder of this weekend," he added with a smirk.
She glared at him and shrugged.
"Thank you. I might actually take you up on the offer. Those pyjamas are very comfortable."
"Yes, I know. I use the same," he replied offhandedly.
He waited for Hermione to be covered with her robes before tossing a pinch of Floo powder in the fireplace.
"Albus? Any news about Draco Malfoy?
The face of the Headmaster appeared in the fireplace. He seemed quite worried.
"Severus, several things happened while you were… occupied this weekend. I have bad news. Narcissa and Draco Malfoy escaped from Hogwarts. They are probably with Lucius now."
Severus cursed loudly.
"They could have escaped all along. Draco only waited until the moment he could use the narwhal tusk and then Narcissa and he could escape. And when I thought I was trying to save them from the Dark Lord!"
"You told me Lucius was confident of Draco's immunity. It's probably the reason."
"I'm worried, Albus. Lucius wasn't quite himself last time. Or rather, he was totally himself, but not the man we freed from Azkaban. He was quite secretive about the information he was giving me. So maybe he didn't tell me everything."
"Which would mean?"
"I don't know. Maybe… they won't even wait for Samhain."
"Oh, they will," said Hermione quietly.
"Indeed? Why are you so sure, Hermione?" asked Albus, curious.
She produced a letter from the pocket of her robes and opened it.
"Well, I think it's clear enough: 'My beloved, we will see each other soon. On Samhain, I shall make you fully mine and finally fulfil our heart's desire. Be ready. Lord Voldemort'. Short and to the point."
"When did you get this, Miss Granger?" Severus asked sharply. "You never told me about it!"
"Well, you never asked me about it!"
A flick of her wand and her clothes were reduced enough for her to put them in her bag. She glared at Severus.
"Now that I'm protected from all things that are evil, you don't need to follow me everywhere. I will see you in class."
She stalked briskly out of the room, not even caring that her robes let see her dark red pyjamas. Albus's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"The nerve of her!" growled Severus. "After all I did for her…"
"Ah yes," murmured Albus dreamily. "After all you put her through, it's a wonder indeed…"
Severus glared and the Headmaster smiled at him, his eyes twinkling gently at the irritation of the young wizard.
"Be ready for Samhain," he instructed before disappearing from the fireplace.
Severus was left alone to sulk and, after a weekend spent in company of Hermione, he realised how lonely his rooms were.