Disclaimer: See Ch 2
A/N: This story WILL keep just an R rating.I know the basics but not any of the finer points . . . any steamy scenes would probably be stolen without me realizing it. . . and Hermione gets to see Snape's library!
CHAPTER 3
Libraries and Disastiers
They pulled away reluctantly, wanting to soak in each other's presence with all that they had. Hermione looked up into Snape's eyes, her own shining with happiness, and in that moment, he was caught, as effectively as though he had walked into a cage. He walked into this one willingly, though. Suddenly, her eyes darkened, and the shadows returned.
Hermione stepped back and looked away, as if expecting Snape to yell at her.
"I.suppose I'll.go now," she faltered, but Snape caught her up into a passionate embrace.
"No, sweet, you don't have to go. You can, if you want to, but.I don't want to make you feel as though I want you to go. You can go or stay of our own free will."
Snape had to approach this carefully. Student-teacher relations were frowned upon, and if she really did want to leave, of her own will, not just because she was afraid that he would get angry, then he did not want to force her into anything. Hermione did not show any inclination to leave, however. She just stood, clasped firmly in his arms, as though she never wanted to let go.
That night, she stayed in his rooms again, on the couch as she had last time. But unlike last time, she fell asleep cradled in his arms, peaceful at last.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione woke with a start, looking around the room. It was not her room, that was for sure. There were dark black, green, and silver hangings on the walls, and embers from an old fire still giving off slight heat.
Hermione jumped as she felt something move behind her, and she remembered instantly where she was, and whom she was with. She was in Snape's arms, with her back against his chest. She could feel him breathe, and grinned when she realized hat he did not snore.
Hermione also realized that this was the firs time that she had slept without nightmares for almost two years. She had actually managed to get a whole night's sleep, uninterrupted but screams or haunting shadows.
Hermione sighed, still smiling. This just felt so.right, here where she was loved and protected from the shadows in this man's arms. He made her feel safe, and wanted.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Snape woke slowly, arms strangely numb. He realized instantly that he still cradled Hermione in his arms, and did not move for fear of waking her. This was so peaceful, just the two of them together like this. He had felt loved last night, loved, and not just needed. It was the first time he'd felt love in many years. Sure, other people needed him, like Dumbledore, but there was no love there. It was more like a father-son relationship, and an odd one at that.
Hermione stirred, and Snape helped her to sit up.
"Did you have a good night's sleep?" he asked softly, and she nodded.
"Well, fortunately, today is Saturday, so we got to sleep until this hour. The day is ours."
Hermione nodded in agreement, and stretched languidly. She levered herself up off of the couch and rubbed her eyes with one hand while running the fingers of her other hand through her hair in some attempt to tame it. Severus smiled and got up himself, also stretching. He walked over to Hermione.
"I do have a bathroom, you know," he said. She smiled.
"Where?"
"Here, through my bedroom." He led her by the hand into his bedroom. When Hermione saw it, she gasped, stopping dead in her tracks.
"I-I-I've never seen anything like this-"
His room was not sparse and cold, as many believed it to be, but was instead covered in rich earth colors. Dark green covers lay on his bed, and deep brown, black, blue, and green tapestries adorned the walls. On the floor was a huge rug of brown and green, and the canopy on his bed was silver.
"Like it?" Snape asked softly. Hermione nodded, awestruck. "Then hurry up and tidy yourself in the bathroom. You may Summon a brush or anything you need, or Transfigure it if you wish. When you come out, I'll have a surprise for you."
Hermione smiled one of her rare smiles and darted into the bathroom. As she was freshening up, Snape set about taking down the wards to the door that was hidden in his bedroom wall.
When Hermione came out, she saw that there was a beautifully carved mahogany door in the wall that had not been there before. She glanced questioningly at Severus, and he motioned for her to go in. The door creaked slowly open as she put her hand on it.
Snape grinned as he watched her reaction to the room. Her jaw dropped and she stared around in amazement, eyes shining with delight. It was his private library, holding almost as many books as the school's library. The shelves were literally sagging under the weight of them all.
Hermione walked over to a shelf and placed her hand reverently on the spine of an age-worn book.
"Poisons and Potions of the Fourteenth Century," she breathed in wonderment. "Where did you get this? I heard that there were only about fifteen copies made!"
Snape smiled. "It was in my family for generations. My father gave it to me as a Christmas present the year I turned eighteen." He smiled as he saw her move to another shelf, then another, all the time shining with delight.
Hermione was lost in the shelves for a full ten minutes before she remembered where she was. "Oh, I'm sorry," she cried, turning to face him, looking slightly sheepish. "When I get in a library, I just-"
"Perfectly understandable," Snape said, smiling at her. "I myself am prone to that. So, was I correct in my assumption that you like this room?"
"Oh, yes," Hermione breathed. "It's-it's amazing!"
"I do have quite a collection," Snape mused, also looking around. "But I have read most of these already. If you would like," he added, seeing hope shine in her face, "You can come in here anytime you want. I am not in here most of the day, but I come here often in the evenings, around seven or so."
"Oh, I would love that!" she cried, throwing her arms about him and kissing him joyfully. "Thank you so much!"
Snape smiled yet again (this was the most times he had smiled in a day, he thought), and hugged her back. She transformed entirely when she was in here. She was so joyful, and energetic, and enthusiastic; the shadows were momentarily chased form her eyes as a shine of delight filled them. She would have to come here more often.
Snape spent the next hour showing Hermione around his immense library, pointing out where different books were. He had a lot of them too; Shakespeare, poetry, Potions, fantasy, reference, history, nonfiction, even a few of his old schoolbooks. Hermione spent the next hour and a half browsing though the shelves as Snape looked on, amused at her awe.
"Hermione, love," he called regretfully at quarter to noon. "It's nearly time for lunch, and everyone will get suspicious if we don't show up."
Hermione gave a small sigh of regret and emerged form behind a shelf, holding a Shakespeare play.
"Can I borrow this?" she asked, showing it to him. He nodded, and she hugged him again. "Thank you! I've wanted to read this for so long, but the Hogwarts library doesn't have it! Thank you!"
Snape smiled and patted her back. "That's all very well, but lunch starts in ten minutes. We'll have to hurry."
Hermione nodded, and they started down the corridor together after Snape had reset the wards and covering spells to the door of that precious room.
Breakfast was uninteresting as usual for Hermione. She kept shooting glances up at the Head Table to look at Snape. He looked down at her when he could, when none of the other teachers were watching him. They continued at this through breakfast, and escaped as soon as they could. Breakfast was a tiresome event nowadays. She did not eat much; she pretended to eat, to keep Severus happy, but she still had no appetite. She used a spell on her food during meals to send it to someone else's plate when Severus was not looking
She really did not miss food, she realized; not anymore. She had not been hungry at all for about a month or so after the Pensieve, but then Harry had prodded her in to eating. Harry had been the only person that could make her eat, and now that he was gone, there didn't seem to be any point anymore. Hermione knew she was thin, but she didn't care. She ate something every day for his sake, but apart from that, she hardly ever ate. She couldn't taste anything, so what was the point? If it got too bad, she could use a Refueling Spell to get the nutrients she needed. She used one about twice a week, so she really didn't have to eat.
Finally it was over, and they left hurriedly, heading back down to Severus's chambers. He was in his office, grading papers.
"Can I help with anything?" Hermione asked. Severus jumped slightly, and looked up at her, surprised.
"Well, actually, yes. There is a batch of first-year papers that need grading. I think that you can do it well enough, though I don't see why you'd want to."
Hermione smiled and picked up the stack he had pointed to, sitting down in a chair pulled up to the other side of his desk. He wouldn't understand why she wanted to help, Hermione reflected. She just wanted to feel needed, like she was helping in some way, be it in the classroom or in a relationship, or even grading papers. After growing up in a school where all of her teachers just expected her to do things perfectly, since she was Hermione, the genius, who never missed a question, she liked to surprise people. She liked to feel like she was making a difference, not just meeting expectations.
The work was dull and tedious, but it meant less for Severus. That thought kept Hermione's mind clear through the endless wrong and messy papers. She thought amusedly as she marked yet another answer wrong that Severus couldn't be blamed, really, for his strictness in the classroom. If all of these answers were wrong now, imagine how many failing grades there would be if he eased up!
Hermione looked up as she heard Severus gasp. A cry escaped her lips when she saw her teacher doubled up in his hard, straight-backed chair in pain. He was clutching his left arm and all of his muscles were clenched. His teeth ground together so hard that Hermione feared they might break. Hermione grabbed her wand and ran around the desk to him, frantically leafing thorough her mind for something, anything she could do to help her love.
A/N: This story WILL keep just an R rating.I know the basics but not any of the finer points . . . any steamy scenes would probably be stolen without me realizing it. . . and Hermione gets to see Snape's library!
CHAPTER 3
Libraries and Disastiers
They pulled away reluctantly, wanting to soak in each other's presence with all that they had. Hermione looked up into Snape's eyes, her own shining with happiness, and in that moment, he was caught, as effectively as though he had walked into a cage. He walked into this one willingly, though. Suddenly, her eyes darkened, and the shadows returned.
Hermione stepped back and looked away, as if expecting Snape to yell at her.
"I.suppose I'll.go now," she faltered, but Snape caught her up into a passionate embrace.
"No, sweet, you don't have to go. You can, if you want to, but.I don't want to make you feel as though I want you to go. You can go or stay of our own free will."
Snape had to approach this carefully. Student-teacher relations were frowned upon, and if she really did want to leave, of her own will, not just because she was afraid that he would get angry, then he did not want to force her into anything. Hermione did not show any inclination to leave, however. She just stood, clasped firmly in his arms, as though she never wanted to let go.
That night, she stayed in his rooms again, on the couch as she had last time. But unlike last time, she fell asleep cradled in his arms, peaceful at last.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione woke with a start, looking around the room. It was not her room, that was for sure. There were dark black, green, and silver hangings on the walls, and embers from an old fire still giving off slight heat.
Hermione jumped as she felt something move behind her, and she remembered instantly where she was, and whom she was with. She was in Snape's arms, with her back against his chest. She could feel him breathe, and grinned when she realized hat he did not snore.
Hermione also realized that this was the firs time that she had slept without nightmares for almost two years. She had actually managed to get a whole night's sleep, uninterrupted but screams or haunting shadows.
Hermione sighed, still smiling. This just felt so.right, here where she was loved and protected from the shadows in this man's arms. He made her feel safe, and wanted.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Snape woke slowly, arms strangely numb. He realized instantly that he still cradled Hermione in his arms, and did not move for fear of waking her. This was so peaceful, just the two of them together like this. He had felt loved last night, loved, and not just needed. It was the first time he'd felt love in many years. Sure, other people needed him, like Dumbledore, but there was no love there. It was more like a father-son relationship, and an odd one at that.
Hermione stirred, and Snape helped her to sit up.
"Did you have a good night's sleep?" he asked softly, and she nodded.
"Well, fortunately, today is Saturday, so we got to sleep until this hour. The day is ours."
Hermione nodded in agreement, and stretched languidly. She levered herself up off of the couch and rubbed her eyes with one hand while running the fingers of her other hand through her hair in some attempt to tame it. Severus smiled and got up himself, also stretching. He walked over to Hermione.
"I do have a bathroom, you know," he said. She smiled.
"Where?"
"Here, through my bedroom." He led her by the hand into his bedroom. When Hermione saw it, she gasped, stopping dead in her tracks.
"I-I-I've never seen anything like this-"
His room was not sparse and cold, as many believed it to be, but was instead covered in rich earth colors. Dark green covers lay on his bed, and deep brown, black, blue, and green tapestries adorned the walls. On the floor was a huge rug of brown and green, and the canopy on his bed was silver.
"Like it?" Snape asked softly. Hermione nodded, awestruck. "Then hurry up and tidy yourself in the bathroom. You may Summon a brush or anything you need, or Transfigure it if you wish. When you come out, I'll have a surprise for you."
Hermione smiled one of her rare smiles and darted into the bathroom. As she was freshening up, Snape set about taking down the wards to the door that was hidden in his bedroom wall.
When Hermione came out, she saw that there was a beautifully carved mahogany door in the wall that had not been there before. She glanced questioningly at Severus, and he motioned for her to go in. The door creaked slowly open as she put her hand on it.
Snape grinned as he watched her reaction to the room. Her jaw dropped and she stared around in amazement, eyes shining with delight. It was his private library, holding almost as many books as the school's library. The shelves were literally sagging under the weight of them all.
Hermione walked over to a shelf and placed her hand reverently on the spine of an age-worn book.
"Poisons and Potions of the Fourteenth Century," she breathed in wonderment. "Where did you get this? I heard that there were only about fifteen copies made!"
Snape smiled. "It was in my family for generations. My father gave it to me as a Christmas present the year I turned eighteen." He smiled as he saw her move to another shelf, then another, all the time shining with delight.
Hermione was lost in the shelves for a full ten minutes before she remembered where she was. "Oh, I'm sorry," she cried, turning to face him, looking slightly sheepish. "When I get in a library, I just-"
"Perfectly understandable," Snape said, smiling at her. "I myself am prone to that. So, was I correct in my assumption that you like this room?"
"Oh, yes," Hermione breathed. "It's-it's amazing!"
"I do have quite a collection," Snape mused, also looking around. "But I have read most of these already. If you would like," he added, seeing hope shine in her face, "You can come in here anytime you want. I am not in here most of the day, but I come here often in the evenings, around seven or so."
"Oh, I would love that!" she cried, throwing her arms about him and kissing him joyfully. "Thank you so much!"
Snape smiled yet again (this was the most times he had smiled in a day, he thought), and hugged her back. She transformed entirely when she was in here. She was so joyful, and energetic, and enthusiastic; the shadows were momentarily chased form her eyes as a shine of delight filled them. She would have to come here more often.
Snape spent the next hour showing Hermione around his immense library, pointing out where different books were. He had a lot of them too; Shakespeare, poetry, Potions, fantasy, reference, history, nonfiction, even a few of his old schoolbooks. Hermione spent the next hour and a half browsing though the shelves as Snape looked on, amused at her awe.
"Hermione, love," he called regretfully at quarter to noon. "It's nearly time for lunch, and everyone will get suspicious if we don't show up."
Hermione gave a small sigh of regret and emerged form behind a shelf, holding a Shakespeare play.
"Can I borrow this?" she asked, showing it to him. He nodded, and she hugged him again. "Thank you! I've wanted to read this for so long, but the Hogwarts library doesn't have it! Thank you!"
Snape smiled and patted her back. "That's all very well, but lunch starts in ten minutes. We'll have to hurry."
Hermione nodded, and they started down the corridor together after Snape had reset the wards and covering spells to the door of that precious room.
Breakfast was uninteresting as usual for Hermione. She kept shooting glances up at the Head Table to look at Snape. He looked down at her when he could, when none of the other teachers were watching him. They continued at this through breakfast, and escaped as soon as they could. Breakfast was a tiresome event nowadays. She did not eat much; she pretended to eat, to keep Severus happy, but she still had no appetite. She used a spell on her food during meals to send it to someone else's plate when Severus was not looking
She really did not miss food, she realized; not anymore. She had not been hungry at all for about a month or so after the Pensieve, but then Harry had prodded her in to eating. Harry had been the only person that could make her eat, and now that he was gone, there didn't seem to be any point anymore. Hermione knew she was thin, but she didn't care. She ate something every day for his sake, but apart from that, she hardly ever ate. She couldn't taste anything, so what was the point? If it got too bad, she could use a Refueling Spell to get the nutrients she needed. She used one about twice a week, so she really didn't have to eat.
Finally it was over, and they left hurriedly, heading back down to Severus's chambers. He was in his office, grading papers.
"Can I help with anything?" Hermione asked. Severus jumped slightly, and looked up at her, surprised.
"Well, actually, yes. There is a batch of first-year papers that need grading. I think that you can do it well enough, though I don't see why you'd want to."
Hermione smiled and picked up the stack he had pointed to, sitting down in a chair pulled up to the other side of his desk. He wouldn't understand why she wanted to help, Hermione reflected. She just wanted to feel needed, like she was helping in some way, be it in the classroom or in a relationship, or even grading papers. After growing up in a school where all of her teachers just expected her to do things perfectly, since she was Hermione, the genius, who never missed a question, she liked to surprise people. She liked to feel like she was making a difference, not just meeting expectations.
The work was dull and tedious, but it meant less for Severus. That thought kept Hermione's mind clear through the endless wrong and messy papers. She thought amusedly as she marked yet another answer wrong that Severus couldn't be blamed, really, for his strictness in the classroom. If all of these answers were wrong now, imagine how many failing grades there would be if he eased up!
Hermione looked up as she heard Severus gasp. A cry escaped her lips when she saw her teacher doubled up in his hard, straight-backed chair in pain. He was clutching his left arm and all of his muscles were clenched. His teeth ground together so hard that Hermione feared they might break. Hermione grabbed her wand and ran around the desk to him, frantically leafing thorough her mind for something, anything she could do to help her love.