Chapter 27

Tara woke up the next morning, which was Saturday, and didn't remember where she was at first. She smelled herbal tea that Severus was fond of and knew she was in his room. She inhaled deeply, stretched, and sat up.

"You're awake, finally." Severus said, pouring himself some tea. She could tell by the light coming through the window that it was much later in the morning than what was usual for her to get up. "What time is it?" she asked. "Almost 9."

He came over to her and sat down on the edge of the bed, a smile playing on his lips. He caressed her face and she shivered - in a good way, this time. "Oh Sev, I don't know if I can take anymore..." she began. It was as if a cloud had gone in front of the sun. "What?" Severus began, "I thought we -- thought you wanted to stay--"

"Not that! Yes, I do want to stay. I was referring to--well, I am really sore this morning! That was quite a night," she told him. He immediately relaxed again and kissed her fingertips, one by one, and she wished she weren't so sore.

"You mean to tell me that I wore you out?"

"Yes, that's what I'm telling you...oh don't do that. You're making me want to anyway!" she said, pulling her hand gently away. "Did I miss breakfast?" she asked. He shook his head. "No, we missed breakfast. It's allright, I've made something here. That cookbook you gave me has come in quite handy."

He got up and took a large quiche out of his small oven. Tara was impressed. It was very tasty, and he even provided Diet Pepsi for her. They cleaned up, and they went to her room to check on Heidi and Henry. "I need a shower," she told Severus. "So do I..." he said, and took her hand and led her into the bathroom.

"Both of us?" she gasped.

"I think this shower is big enough, don't you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Um, yes, but...I'm just kind of shy--"

"I don't think you have a shy bone in your body."

She blushed and he smiled at her. "I love it when you blush like that. You have an innocence about you that I find impossible to resist. One minute you're smoking and swearing like a sailor, and the next, you blush over something so...natural."

This caused her to blush even more, and she turned away and began to undress. Slowly. This was all new to her. She heard the rustling as he undressed, and then heard him turn on the water. She was still standing, her back to him, dropping her underwear. stepped out of them, rolled them into a ball and tossed them into the laundry hamper. She cleared her throat nervously, and slowly turned around, but she was rooted to the spot. Neither had a stitch of clothing on, and Tara's eyes were wide with embarassment. Severus strode over, took her hand gently and led her to the shower with him. She stared into his eyes as he very gently wet her hair down for her.

"May I wash your hair?" he asked. She felt her face grow hot again and she nodded, and he turned her around so he could shampoo her hair, and he massaged her head so nicely, she felt like a cat getting a nice head rub. He rinsed the suds out, and then she turned around to him again. "Your turn," she said shyly, and switched places with him. She reached up and wet down his hair, and then reached for the shampoo. He closed his eyes as she massaged the lather in. She was careful to keep the soap out of his eyes; she had never washed anyone's hair before besides her own. Once rinsed, Severus reached for the fresh scented iquid soap which she insisted on using (she always thought bar soap was gross), poured some into his hands, and very gently and cautiously began soaping her hands, her arms, then worked his way up to her shoulders, his hands sliding languidly over her body. Tara closed her eyes, shuddering. This was the most sensual thing any man had ever done to her, his sensitive hands lingering over certain areas. She rinsed and he gazed into her eyes, handing her the bottle of liquid soap, and she flushed crimson. "I dare you," he purred to her, a dangerous edge on his voice, causing an electric sensation to surge from her head to her toes. That was too much to resist. Slowly, she poured liquid soap into her hand, and put the bottle back on the ledge. She was so shy about it. She hesitated, then started with his shoulders, massaging gently, then explored more--but couldn't linger much--she felt like she was 16 years old and so terribly timid. She loosened up a bit, but it was all a strange, new, experience for her. It was an incredible shower, needless to say, and the water started cooling off. "I think we used up all of the hot water!" she exclaimed. Tara's legs felt like rubber as they rinsed and stepped out. He toweled her off tenderly, quite as if she were a child, then wrapped her thick terrycloth robe around her and kissed her, then dried himself off. Tara sat down at the vanity and sighed heavily. The mirror was steamed up, and she wiped it with a cloth, then stared at her glowing reflection in the mirror, brushing her wet hair. "How come we never did that before?" he asked her, after toweling his hair roughly. His black hair was wild, sticking out in a thousand directions at once and he had one foot up on the edge of the shower enclosure, and he was toweling one long leg.

"Cos I'm too shy," Tara replied and again sighed heavily. "I thought I was going to um..." she began, and looked up at him sheepishly. "You could have, you know. It wouldn't have offended me," he told her, mischief in his eyes. She shivered again. "Holy shit. What a shower..." she said, and stood up. She followed him into the bedroom admiring his nicely sculpted rear end. "Nice ass..." she whispered. "Thank you. I grew it myself..." he said, borrowing one of her retorts she often used when complimented.

They dressed and headed outside for a walk. Tara lit a cigarette and exhaled a blue cloud which chased off the scent of the flowers which were blooming. "I know, I know, I have to quit this again..." she said, feeling his disapproving stare. "But I'm kind of nervous about things. It's going to be tough this time," she told him, seriously.

"I know. You just quit when you're ready. I'm not going to constantly nag you about it. I just wish the potion had done its thing..."

"Well it did, initially. So you had it partially there."

He frowned, wondering what he could have done differently. "It just lasted for most of the first one I smoked. By the end of it, it wasn't that bad."

"It wasn't enough to deter you--"

She shook her head. "I'll quit. I just don't want to right now. I'm a little high strung because of your...situation. Do you think we ought to leave for the US right when the term ends? Maybe it'll be safer."

"Yes, I think so. I was also thinking...how do you feel if we move the date up a few months?"

"Our wedding?" she asked, turning to face him. He nodded. "Under the circumstances, I think it might be a good idea to do it sooner. But there are two of us in this relationship."

She took a puff from her cigarette and turned to the side to exhale. He was right; what if something happened and they weren't able to get married. The thought terrified her. She looked into his eyes and nodded. "When?" she asked.

"We'll have to figure that out."

They went to see Dumbledore who agreed with them, and planned to have the wedding the Saturday after the term ended, which was just 3 weeks away. After that, they would go to the USA for the summer.

"What are we going to do there again?" Severus asked Tara, one night. They were sitting together in a swinging bench outside near the lake, rocking gently.

"Well, I have a boat. We can take the boat out and do that, go camping, stuff like that. Get some color in your face again."

"As long as I don't burn like last time."

"I'll make sure you don't. We'll have to get you some more mugglewear..." she said. "Tough to go boating dressed like this."

"Allright then."

The wedding was put together in a hurry, but Tara's mom, Joan, was able to attend. Magic made things possible in their time of short notice that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. It was a wonderful ceremony and there was a huge reception in the Great Hall afterwards. The wine was flowing freely that night, and there was much dancing and celebrating. Everyone wanted to dance with Tara--she had never danced so much in her life! She was thankful that she had decorated some atheletic shoes so she would be comfortable. She had glued lace and trimmings which matched her dress on them with a glue gun, explaining to Severus that the Power of the Glue Gun was equivalent to duct tape in some circles.

After the reception, Severus and Tara were whisked away to a secret location that only Dumbledore, Minerva, and Madame Hooch knew about. It hadn't been easy to keep a secret.

That night as Tara drifted off to sleep in Severus's arms, she hoped that their location was secret from You Know Who. That was what mattered most...