Title: "Quod Me Nutruit, Me Destruit - Prologue"
Author: Crystalline Temptress or C.T.
Feedback: Yes, and greatly appreciated.
Archive: Sure, but ask me first.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Severus/Hermione
Summary: This is my first Harry Potter series fic, in which Severus Snape is tested to see where his loyalties lie. A little bit on the adult side, but not too bad.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, the brilliant writer J.K. Rowling does. So don't sue me.
Notes: I just found this quote particularly striking . . . "That which nourishes me, destroys me." And don't worry, the dream sequence actually has a major part in the story, it's not just something I wanted to put there on behalf of pairing them up. :)
A million thanks to my beta readers, Misao and Sicaria. (Sicaria, what do I call you? :) ) Without them, I don't think I'd have the courage to put this fic out. :) Much thanks to my friends as well, who deal with my obsessions so patiently.
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"Oh . . ."
The soft cry warmed him inside out, a ripple of liquid fire in his veins as the sound billowed through his consciousness.
She was all heat and porcelain skin; the smooth flesh beneath his hands yielding to him, the little whimpers elicited as his lips touched the hollow of her collarbone . . . beautiful.
Where is virtue? He wondered fleetingly, the thought fading to the recesses of consciousness as her knee slid tantalizingly against his thigh.
Sinfully intoxicating, deliciously wicked, her lips slid against his jaw, finally capturing his own in a searing kiss. Her hands threaded his silken hair, the strands of her own gliding like satin upon his senses. The coolness of the tendrils was an innocently insubstantial caress that served to further fire his desire, eliciting the murmurs that rumbled in his throat—oh, the bliss. . . .
The completion . . . It was a mantra that repeated itself over and again, velvet tones sensual upon the languorous spell the seduction had cast. Soon, as her body shifted beneath his, the litany changed into something less articulate—I want . . . Oh, Gods . . .
And suddenly, like snapping thread, the dream faded sharply into the night as Severus Snape bolted upright from bed.
The Potions master cursed quietly under his breath as he rubbed his aching temples wearily. The dream's aftereffects had faded almost completely, leaving naught but a faint pressure upon the pit of his stomach.
What in Merlin's name was that? He asked himself distractedly as he glanced at the thick, Tudor-style curtains that hung upon the 17th century windows of Hogwarts castle. The forest green hue of the material was a comfort to his bleary vision. It was familiar; nothing that would startle him, nothing like those visions he had had that past evening.
Severus felt worse than he normally did on winter mornings, aside from that usual self-disgust that never seemed to fade. The sensation of self-loathing was now accompanied by further repulsion. He had not had erotic dreams since . . . well, he did not even recall and did not want to recall the last time he had dreams similar to the one he had that night.
Beside the fact that his having a dream in that sense, another thing that startled him was that he didn't quite remember who was with him. The knowledge revolted him. The woman could have been anyone. . . .But it would have been better to know, rather than to guess. At least then, he would have been able to scoff at the idea.