'Christmas Eve may have started out badly,' mused Snape, 'but it is not
going to end that way if I have anything to say about it.'
The dreaded potions master was rampaging around his quarters, cleaning up and decorating for Christmas. After Hermione left to go rest in her quarters, he asked Hagrid to bring in a small tree and help him decorate it. They had a surprisingly good time putting Muggle tinsel and ornaments on the tree while sharing brandy and some cookies, mused Snape, as he looked at his little, pretty tree after Hagrid had left. He turned and soon the table was covered with a red tablecloth, gold runner and china and crystal with golden rims. Hermione's centerpiece remained and he smiled at their combined efforts. Satisfied with that project, he began wildly flinging his wand about to hang enchanted icicles from the ceiling, sparkling snow to cover the mantle and drift down onto the hearth and, of course, mistletoe to hang in the doorway of his first-floor bedroom.
'Perfect,' he decided.
He walked to his desk and quickly wrote out a note to Hermione, asking her to put on his 'favorite dress robes' and to meet him in 'their' quarters at dinnertime. He then warded his chambers from any accidental peeking on Hermione's part and headed to the owlry and the kitchens to wrap up his plans.
At 6 p.m. she knocked at the door. Nervously, dressed in his best robes, Snape dimmed the lights with a flick of his wand and answered her rap.
Hermione.
It was the Hermione that he remembered and the Hermione of his frustrated and lonely dreams. She had on the crimson and gold gown he had seen her buying the day she disappeared, the day he fell in love with her, the night they first made love and the afternoon that he had proposed. And with a little luck and if they could keep the vomiting to a minimum, he thought, stifling a chuckle, he would have another memory of her in that dress to add to the list. She was breathtaking. He didn't think he would ever tire of seeing her in that gown.
For her part, Hermione was also devouring the appearance of her partner. Deep green frock coat and pants, so dark they were nearly black. His hair pulled back in a ponytail and his eyes sparkling fire in the candlelight. She didn't think she could ever tire of seeing the look of love and passion in his eyes.
With a smile, he stepped back from the doorway and gestured for her to enter. She walked past him and gasped at the decorations sparkling in the low light.
"Severus! It's beautiful!" she gasped.
He closed the door softly and he stepped behind her and took her robes from her shoulders. He dropped a kiss on her now-exposed shoulder as walked past her to hang her robes in what he was now thinking of as 'their' bedroom. When he returned to the living area, he saw Hermione thanking the House Elf who had brought their dinner to them and wishing him a Happy Christmas. After much bowing and scraping, the elf left and Hermione turned to face Severus, smiling.
"It's perfect, Severus," she said, looking back at the table. "And not to be terribly unromantic, but I'm starved. Can we eat?"
Snape laughed and moved to the table, pulling out her chair for her and dropping a kiss on her head as she sat. Sitting, he poured them each a glass of white grape juice and lifted his glass in a toast to Hermione.
"To our future," he said.
"And to our past," she finished.
After their dinner of roasted lamb and winter vegetables, they moved to the sofa to start in on a large platter of cookies and a pitcher full of eggnog. Snape poured himself a glass first and took a sip to make sure the elves had left out the alcohol before pouring a glass for Hermione.
"Thank you," she said, taking the glass. "I've taken more potions in the past nine days than I care to count, so I'm hoping to avoid alcohol completely over the holidays. Well, I might have a sip of champagne on New Year's Eve."
Hermione grinned at her husband. He leaned back against the couch cushions, thoughtfully munching on a cookie and watching Hermione out of the corner of his eye.
"What?" she asked.
"I just was thinking that maybe we could start the new year with a little celebration. My parents, your parents, our friends - a LOT of explanations - " he chuckled and took Hermione's hand. "Maybe capped off in a private ceremony at midnight where we renew our vows."
"Severus, are you proposing?" asked Hermione, eyes filling with tears.
"Well, we ARE already married," he said smiling at her and wiping a tear from her cheek. "So I don't think I can propose again. But, after all this time, it would mean a lot to me if we renewed our vows. I - I think I need it, Hermione."
She sat, quietly for a moment, looking at him and the pleading look in his eyes. 'How did I ever believe those eyes were cold,' she mused. This was really happening, he had accepted their situation, despite the fact that they both knew he would never have become a Death Eater if she hadn't set the circle in motion by leaving him seventeen years ago. 'I am forgiven,' she realized. 'We are going to be a family.' Suddenly, she grinned at him and kissed him passionately - until he was breathless and the pleading look had left his coal eyes.
"Let's do it!" she said, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing. "I would love to! And when I wrote my parents - well, it was hard to explain everything. I'm not sure even Dumbledore made any sense of the whole situation to them, I want to show them our first wedding photos, my old yearbook and everything. Maybe then they can understand and accept - and I know my mother would appreciate seeing us get married. Again. And if it is what you need, too, I would do it tonight, you know that."
Severus just looked at Hermione for a moment as she lay in his arms. So young, he thought. So young, so good, so untouched by evil. He would make sure that she would never have to experience the evils that he had. He squeezed her back and sighed as she responded by turning her face up for a kiss. He complied with her unspoken request.
They kissed for a few moments, just enjoying each other's presence. Suddenly, Hermione broke the kiss and sat back, looking at Snape seriously.
"You know, there's no need to rush this, this time," she said, softly. "It can wait for a few days or until we renew our vows -- hell, Severus, it can wait for a few years if you want it to. I would wait for you."
Severus looked at her earnest face and brought one hand up to caress her face.
"I don't want to wait, Hermione," he replied. "I need you, tonight. You are the only Christmas gift I want."
Then, cookies and festive eggnog forgotten, they were kissing passionately once again and he was cradling her in his arms and easing her gently to the floor in front of the fireplace. Still wrapped in each other and kissing passionately, they slowly began to explore each other through their robes. 'Just like our first time,' he thought, shuddering as she slid her hand over his lower back and down to his backside. A moment of insecurity hit him as he realized the - ahem - parts weren't quite as firm as they were nearly 20 years ago. But, all thoughts left him as she pulled him to rest on top of her and into an even more fiery kiss.
"My favorite blanket," she said into his mouth. "I could stay underneath you forever. It's safe here, Severus."
He moaned into her mouth as she then shifted to grind her hips into his and he responded by roughly nudging her thighs apart and settling in between them. No spells or charms were voiced tonight, as they both began to undress each other slowly. Hermione was nude beneath him as she continued to struggle with the layers of clothing that made up Snape's formal suit. He smiled and stopped her with a gentle hand as he began trailing kisses from her neck to her stomach. Pausing to give her lower abdomen an extra touch and kiss, he muttered: "Hello, baby girl," softly, before dipping his head lower and grinning up at Hermione wickedly. Even though that smile had communicated exactly what he was up to, Hermione found herself gasping as his tongue began to caress her slowly and gently - gradually increasing in passion and pace until she was bucking and shuddering underneath him and gasping his name.
Smiling, he sat up briefly to finish undressing and then lay down next to Hermione to hold her and take possession of her mouth once again. 'Gods,' he thought, 'I haven't smiled this much in years.'
"Feeling all right," he paused to ask mischievously. His hand trailed down her body to rest where he had just lavished kisses. She gasped again against his lips, her breath hot on his face.
"I'm just wonderful and you know it," she replied, feigning irritation. "I see you haven't lost your touch."
That comment drew a smirk from Snape.
"And you still taste incredible," he replied and enjoyed watching her blush.
They began kissing once again and this time, Hermione began a lazy exploration of her husband's body with mouth and hands. Giving him a wicked grin to match his own, she curled her hand around his erection and took him into her mouth. Snape groaned and fought to control the urge to thrust into her. After a few minutes of the intense sensations, he stopped her with a growl.
"Angel, I can't take much more of that and I desperately want to be inside you," he choked out, "You're forgetting how long it has been for me, and just one night with you did not make up for seventeen years of nights without you."
Hermione looked up at her husband and smiled softly, replying: "Well, I guess I need to start making up for lost time."
Moments later Hermione was covered once again in her favorite "blanket" and they were moving together slowly and gently. Unlike their encounter against the dungeon wall, there was no frantic motion, no frustration to release and no fears to calm. Snape lifted his lips from her neck and looked down at her face tenderly - her eyes were closed and her head thrown back with her hair spilling over her breasts and onto the carpet. He sent a silent prayer to whichever deity had brought her back to him before once again capturing her parted lips in a kiss. Many promises were made and romantic pleas were spoken while the two made love beside the fire and the clock stuck midnight.
"Happy Christmas, Hermione," he whispered into her ear as she began to shudder and once again gasp out his name. He soon followed her into ecstasy and nipped her earlobe gently. "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas, love," she sighed.
Some time later, as the fire began to die out, Severus picked his sleeping, young wife up and carried her to the bedroom. Lying her gently down on the bed, he shrugged on his dressing gown and walked to his storage room. Once there, he rummaged around for a moment in the boxes that had accumulated over the last three days until he found what he was looking for.
Suddenly, his 'pathetic box' wasn't nearly as pathetic has he had thought. And suddenly, he couldn't wait for Hermione to open it on Christmas morning. He picked up the box full of much-loved baby items and carried it quietly into their bedroom. He stumbled slightly as he came in the door and swore, waking up Hermione.
"Severus? What is it? Is something wrong?" she said, sitting up. "Lumos!"
'Damn,' Severus thought, 'so much for the Christmas morning surprise.' He smiled at her and looked down at the battered wooden box.
"What is that?" she asked. "Or do I have to wait until tomorrow morning?"
"No. You may open it now," he said nervously. He closed the distance between the door and the bed and sat down, placing the box in Hermione's lap.
She looked questioningly at his nervousness, but opened the box, smiling at him reassuringly. She gasped as she took in the contents. Stuffed unicorns, bears, rattles and a pair of pink booties were carefully packed away on top. She looked up at Snape with tears in her eyes.
"What is this, love?" she asked.
He took a deep breath and began to pull items from the box and nervously examining them with her.
"I bought them over the last seventeen years," he said. "I knew, somehow, that we had gotten pregnant that night in the lake, Hermione. You didn't have to tell me, I just knew. When you left - when you left, I would sometimes console myself by going into Muggle London and having a nice meal and doing a spot of shopping. Usually I would come home with something to put in this box. I don't know what I thought I would do with them, maybe give them away someday when it stopped hurting. I don't know."
"I called it my 'pathetic box,'" he continued. "The only person that knew about it was Dumbledore, and he only found out when you returned last week. I guess it was my way of grieving for the two of you."
"Severus." Hermione didn't know what to say.
"These are my favorite," he said, taking out the footie pajamas and handing her the pink ones from the stack. "Can we bring her home from the Hospital Wing in these?"
He smiled at her as she took the fuzzy pink sleeper from his hands. It was probably the most beautiful pair of footie pajamas she'd ever seen, she thought. She couldn't speak. Hermione was still stunned by the raw emotion and unbelievable pain that was Snape's "pathetic box." She could do no more than nod and stare at the tiny sleepers, booties and toys.
"Hermione?" he said. "Was I right to show you this? Angel?"
Hermione finally looked him in the eye, and the still-fresh pain there caused her to lose control over her tears. She took the box from her lap and pulled Snape to her chest, his face among the sleepers he had treasured so much over the years and her tears in his hair. She took a deep shuddering breath.
"Severus, I will never again question why you were such a bastard while I was in school," she began. "I cannot comprehend the kind of pain you had to have been in over the years, but I can promise you this: I will never, ever leave you again."
Hours later, Snape was sleeping in her arms. She slowly moved out from under him and picked up the contents of the precious box. Placing the box in a place of honor under their tree, she crawled back into bed with her husband and curled up against his lean frame.
And they slept.
The dreaded potions master was rampaging around his quarters, cleaning up and decorating for Christmas. After Hermione left to go rest in her quarters, he asked Hagrid to bring in a small tree and help him decorate it. They had a surprisingly good time putting Muggle tinsel and ornaments on the tree while sharing brandy and some cookies, mused Snape, as he looked at his little, pretty tree after Hagrid had left. He turned and soon the table was covered with a red tablecloth, gold runner and china and crystal with golden rims. Hermione's centerpiece remained and he smiled at their combined efforts. Satisfied with that project, he began wildly flinging his wand about to hang enchanted icicles from the ceiling, sparkling snow to cover the mantle and drift down onto the hearth and, of course, mistletoe to hang in the doorway of his first-floor bedroom.
'Perfect,' he decided.
He walked to his desk and quickly wrote out a note to Hermione, asking her to put on his 'favorite dress robes' and to meet him in 'their' quarters at dinnertime. He then warded his chambers from any accidental peeking on Hermione's part and headed to the owlry and the kitchens to wrap up his plans.
At 6 p.m. she knocked at the door. Nervously, dressed in his best robes, Snape dimmed the lights with a flick of his wand and answered her rap.
Hermione.
It was the Hermione that he remembered and the Hermione of his frustrated and lonely dreams. She had on the crimson and gold gown he had seen her buying the day she disappeared, the day he fell in love with her, the night they first made love and the afternoon that he had proposed. And with a little luck and if they could keep the vomiting to a minimum, he thought, stifling a chuckle, he would have another memory of her in that dress to add to the list. She was breathtaking. He didn't think he would ever tire of seeing her in that gown.
For her part, Hermione was also devouring the appearance of her partner. Deep green frock coat and pants, so dark they were nearly black. His hair pulled back in a ponytail and his eyes sparkling fire in the candlelight. She didn't think she could ever tire of seeing the look of love and passion in his eyes.
With a smile, he stepped back from the doorway and gestured for her to enter. She walked past him and gasped at the decorations sparkling in the low light.
"Severus! It's beautiful!" she gasped.
He closed the door softly and he stepped behind her and took her robes from her shoulders. He dropped a kiss on her now-exposed shoulder as walked past her to hang her robes in what he was now thinking of as 'their' bedroom. When he returned to the living area, he saw Hermione thanking the House Elf who had brought their dinner to them and wishing him a Happy Christmas. After much bowing and scraping, the elf left and Hermione turned to face Severus, smiling.
"It's perfect, Severus," she said, looking back at the table. "And not to be terribly unromantic, but I'm starved. Can we eat?"
Snape laughed and moved to the table, pulling out her chair for her and dropping a kiss on her head as she sat. Sitting, he poured them each a glass of white grape juice and lifted his glass in a toast to Hermione.
"To our future," he said.
"And to our past," she finished.
After their dinner of roasted lamb and winter vegetables, they moved to the sofa to start in on a large platter of cookies and a pitcher full of eggnog. Snape poured himself a glass first and took a sip to make sure the elves had left out the alcohol before pouring a glass for Hermione.
"Thank you," she said, taking the glass. "I've taken more potions in the past nine days than I care to count, so I'm hoping to avoid alcohol completely over the holidays. Well, I might have a sip of champagne on New Year's Eve."
Hermione grinned at her husband. He leaned back against the couch cushions, thoughtfully munching on a cookie and watching Hermione out of the corner of his eye.
"What?" she asked.
"I just was thinking that maybe we could start the new year with a little celebration. My parents, your parents, our friends - a LOT of explanations - " he chuckled and took Hermione's hand. "Maybe capped off in a private ceremony at midnight where we renew our vows."
"Severus, are you proposing?" asked Hermione, eyes filling with tears.
"Well, we ARE already married," he said smiling at her and wiping a tear from her cheek. "So I don't think I can propose again. But, after all this time, it would mean a lot to me if we renewed our vows. I - I think I need it, Hermione."
She sat, quietly for a moment, looking at him and the pleading look in his eyes. 'How did I ever believe those eyes were cold,' she mused. This was really happening, he had accepted their situation, despite the fact that they both knew he would never have become a Death Eater if she hadn't set the circle in motion by leaving him seventeen years ago. 'I am forgiven,' she realized. 'We are going to be a family.' Suddenly, she grinned at him and kissed him passionately - until he was breathless and the pleading look had left his coal eyes.
"Let's do it!" she said, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing. "I would love to! And when I wrote my parents - well, it was hard to explain everything. I'm not sure even Dumbledore made any sense of the whole situation to them, I want to show them our first wedding photos, my old yearbook and everything. Maybe then they can understand and accept - and I know my mother would appreciate seeing us get married. Again. And if it is what you need, too, I would do it tonight, you know that."
Severus just looked at Hermione for a moment as she lay in his arms. So young, he thought. So young, so good, so untouched by evil. He would make sure that she would never have to experience the evils that he had. He squeezed her back and sighed as she responded by turning her face up for a kiss. He complied with her unspoken request.
They kissed for a few moments, just enjoying each other's presence. Suddenly, Hermione broke the kiss and sat back, looking at Snape seriously.
"You know, there's no need to rush this, this time," she said, softly. "It can wait for a few days or until we renew our vows -- hell, Severus, it can wait for a few years if you want it to. I would wait for you."
Severus looked at her earnest face and brought one hand up to caress her face.
"I don't want to wait, Hermione," he replied. "I need you, tonight. You are the only Christmas gift I want."
Then, cookies and festive eggnog forgotten, they were kissing passionately once again and he was cradling her in his arms and easing her gently to the floor in front of the fireplace. Still wrapped in each other and kissing passionately, they slowly began to explore each other through their robes. 'Just like our first time,' he thought, shuddering as she slid her hand over his lower back and down to his backside. A moment of insecurity hit him as he realized the - ahem - parts weren't quite as firm as they were nearly 20 years ago. But, all thoughts left him as she pulled him to rest on top of her and into an even more fiery kiss.
"My favorite blanket," she said into his mouth. "I could stay underneath you forever. It's safe here, Severus."
He moaned into her mouth as she then shifted to grind her hips into his and he responded by roughly nudging her thighs apart and settling in between them. No spells or charms were voiced tonight, as they both began to undress each other slowly. Hermione was nude beneath him as she continued to struggle with the layers of clothing that made up Snape's formal suit. He smiled and stopped her with a gentle hand as he began trailing kisses from her neck to her stomach. Pausing to give her lower abdomen an extra touch and kiss, he muttered: "Hello, baby girl," softly, before dipping his head lower and grinning up at Hermione wickedly. Even though that smile had communicated exactly what he was up to, Hermione found herself gasping as his tongue began to caress her slowly and gently - gradually increasing in passion and pace until she was bucking and shuddering underneath him and gasping his name.
Smiling, he sat up briefly to finish undressing and then lay down next to Hermione to hold her and take possession of her mouth once again. 'Gods,' he thought, 'I haven't smiled this much in years.'
"Feeling all right," he paused to ask mischievously. His hand trailed down her body to rest where he had just lavished kisses. She gasped again against his lips, her breath hot on his face.
"I'm just wonderful and you know it," she replied, feigning irritation. "I see you haven't lost your touch."
That comment drew a smirk from Snape.
"And you still taste incredible," he replied and enjoyed watching her blush.
They began kissing once again and this time, Hermione began a lazy exploration of her husband's body with mouth and hands. Giving him a wicked grin to match his own, she curled her hand around his erection and took him into her mouth. Snape groaned and fought to control the urge to thrust into her. After a few minutes of the intense sensations, he stopped her with a growl.
"Angel, I can't take much more of that and I desperately want to be inside you," he choked out, "You're forgetting how long it has been for me, and just one night with you did not make up for seventeen years of nights without you."
Hermione looked up at her husband and smiled softly, replying: "Well, I guess I need to start making up for lost time."
Moments later Hermione was covered once again in her favorite "blanket" and they were moving together slowly and gently. Unlike their encounter against the dungeon wall, there was no frantic motion, no frustration to release and no fears to calm. Snape lifted his lips from her neck and looked down at her face tenderly - her eyes were closed and her head thrown back with her hair spilling over her breasts and onto the carpet. He sent a silent prayer to whichever deity had brought her back to him before once again capturing her parted lips in a kiss. Many promises were made and romantic pleas were spoken while the two made love beside the fire and the clock stuck midnight.
"Happy Christmas, Hermione," he whispered into her ear as she began to shudder and once again gasp out his name. He soon followed her into ecstasy and nipped her earlobe gently. "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas, love," she sighed.
Some time later, as the fire began to die out, Severus picked his sleeping, young wife up and carried her to the bedroom. Lying her gently down on the bed, he shrugged on his dressing gown and walked to his storage room. Once there, he rummaged around for a moment in the boxes that had accumulated over the last three days until he found what he was looking for.
Suddenly, his 'pathetic box' wasn't nearly as pathetic has he had thought. And suddenly, he couldn't wait for Hermione to open it on Christmas morning. He picked up the box full of much-loved baby items and carried it quietly into their bedroom. He stumbled slightly as he came in the door and swore, waking up Hermione.
"Severus? What is it? Is something wrong?" she said, sitting up. "Lumos!"
'Damn,' Severus thought, 'so much for the Christmas morning surprise.' He smiled at her and looked down at the battered wooden box.
"What is that?" she asked. "Or do I have to wait until tomorrow morning?"
"No. You may open it now," he said nervously. He closed the distance between the door and the bed and sat down, placing the box in Hermione's lap.
She looked questioningly at his nervousness, but opened the box, smiling at him reassuringly. She gasped as she took in the contents. Stuffed unicorns, bears, rattles and a pair of pink booties were carefully packed away on top. She looked up at Snape with tears in her eyes.
"What is this, love?" she asked.
He took a deep breath and began to pull items from the box and nervously examining them with her.
"I bought them over the last seventeen years," he said. "I knew, somehow, that we had gotten pregnant that night in the lake, Hermione. You didn't have to tell me, I just knew. When you left - when you left, I would sometimes console myself by going into Muggle London and having a nice meal and doing a spot of shopping. Usually I would come home with something to put in this box. I don't know what I thought I would do with them, maybe give them away someday when it stopped hurting. I don't know."
"I called it my 'pathetic box,'" he continued. "The only person that knew about it was Dumbledore, and he only found out when you returned last week. I guess it was my way of grieving for the two of you."
"Severus." Hermione didn't know what to say.
"These are my favorite," he said, taking out the footie pajamas and handing her the pink ones from the stack. "Can we bring her home from the Hospital Wing in these?"
He smiled at her as she took the fuzzy pink sleeper from his hands. It was probably the most beautiful pair of footie pajamas she'd ever seen, she thought. She couldn't speak. Hermione was still stunned by the raw emotion and unbelievable pain that was Snape's "pathetic box." She could do no more than nod and stare at the tiny sleepers, booties and toys.
"Hermione?" he said. "Was I right to show you this? Angel?"
Hermione finally looked him in the eye, and the still-fresh pain there caused her to lose control over her tears. She took the box from her lap and pulled Snape to her chest, his face among the sleepers he had treasured so much over the years and her tears in his hair. She took a deep shuddering breath.
"Severus, I will never again question why you were such a bastard while I was in school," she began. "I cannot comprehend the kind of pain you had to have been in over the years, but I can promise you this: I will never, ever leave you again."
Hours later, Snape was sleeping in her arms. She slowly moved out from under him and picked up the contents of the precious box. Placing the box in a place of honor under their tree, she crawled back into bed with her husband and curled up against his lean frame.
And they slept.