Disclaimer - I wish they were mine, but they're JKR's.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, everyone. See if this chapter will help with the ideas on the title. To answer Goddessnmb1, hopefully Hermione's indecision will be answered below.
Chapter 2 - Trouble in Paradise
"Don't you think someone should find out if they're still down there?" Minerva said two weeks later at breakfast.
"The house elves report meals are being eaten." Albus said, unconcerned.
"So they haven't killed each other." Remus said.
"No, but they may have eaten each other." Sirius grinned.
"So is anyone going to check?" Minerva asked.
"Do we get to draw straws?" Hooch smirked, "I don't fancy disturbing Severus."
"Don't worry, he'll be too knackered to do much damage." Sirius said.
"Severus..." a soft voice called.
"Hmmn?"
"Wake up."
"What time is it?"
"Fourteen days past the last time we saw anyone human."
"Really?"
"Really. Don't you think it's time we rejoined the land of the living?"
"Do we have to?"
"We can't stay in this bed all summer."
"Why not? We've got plenty to read, food is provided, and you look sensational in just a sheet." He nuzzled her neck and she sighed.
"So do you." She traced her hand over his shoulder and down his chest, skimming the flat nipples and stroking down the arrow of hair to where the sheet pooled in his lap. Severus captured her hand and drew it up to his mouth so he could press a kiss into her palm. He smiled at the thought of the other teachers wondering what was happening down here, and thanked the gods no-one knew the password to his rooms.
"You're corrupting me, Severus. I really should be deciding what career I'm going to pursue." She complained half-heartedly, snuggling further into him. He spoke without thinking.
"Why bother? It's not as if you'll ever need a job."
His arms were suddenly empty and a very angry, very naked Hermione was standing beside the bed.
"I cannot believe you just said that!"
"What?"
"That I wouldn't need a job!"
"I have enough to support us." He started to feel defensive.
"And what do I do while you're teaching? Sit here and twiddle my thumbs until you get home? That's what I worked so hard for this year? To be some little housewife?" her voice got higher and louder.
She whirled away from the bed and grabbed her clothes from the tallboy and started to dress. Severus eyed her apprehensively. Shit, was she pissed off or what?
"Where are you going?"
"Out"
"Where?"
"Away from you."
Can we discuss this like adults?"
"Are you insinuating that I'm acting like a child?" she hissed.
"Well you're not being very mature, Hermione, storming off like this."
"That's obviously how you see me, a mere child."
"You're twisting my words." He refused to panic yet.
"Oh no, Professor. A child could never twist the words of the great Severus Snape. A child would just stamp her foot and leave. And that's exactly what I'm doing. Leaving!" she flung the door open and was gone.
Severus frowned. Should he stay here and let her calm down, or go after her? He scrambled out of bed and hastily threw on a shirt and trousers. He wasn't going to let her go and watch the rest of his life go down the tubes.
As the rest of the staff were leaving the great hall, Hermione stormed past them towards the main entrance.
"Well at least we know one of them is still alive." Remus said.
"And well pissed off from the look of her." Sirius replied. "Wonder what happened?"
"Would you care to ask her?" Minerva asked.
"No way. You're a woman, Minerva, you go and find out."
"Someone had better go and find out if Severus is all right."
The other teachers looked expectantly at Dumbledore, who sighed resignedly. What had the boy done now? He headed off towards the dungeons and met Severus in his classroom.
"Looking for someone, Severus?"
"Have you seen Hermione?"
"Ah yes. She looked a little.."
"Angry?"
"You could say that. What happened?"
Severus sank down in his chair by his desk; his shoulders slumped as he held his head in his hands.
"I messed up, that's what happened. I had no right to say she didn't need a job. Gods, a mind like that would go to waste!"
"Ah, I see."
"Do you?"
"It can be very tempting to lock a treasure away, Severus, for only one to see."
"Will she forgive me?"
"You'll have to find that out yourself. I believe Minerva was going to check down by the lake."
~~~
"Men can be such idiots, don't you think?" Minerva found a muttering, pacing Hermione under the willow tree by the lake.
"Tell me about it. Why did he have to go and ruin it?" Hermione sank down on the ground and spilled the whole story.
"He comes from long line of old-fashioned wizards, Hermione."
"The kind that keep women barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen?"
"I'm sure there's nothing Severus would like more than to keep you barefoot and pregnant; a delightful expression, by the way, my dear. That would sum it up beautifully."
"He hasn't said anything to me." There was a sulky look about Hermione.
"Have you told him how you feel?"
"Not in so many words."
"He's a man, Hermione. You have to club him over the head with the information. He's set in his ways, and will need time to change. Isn't that what attracted you to him in the first place?"
"Oh, Minerva. He's the other side of myself. We can talk for hours on any subject, he knows far more than I ever will, and we just fit. Can you understand that?"
"I'd say you're a perfect match. Have you told him about Cleo?"
"Not yet. I haven't found the perfect moment."
"Tell him when he's least expecting it. And don't forget, snakes are notoriously difficult to dislodge. You might want to remember that." She patted Hermione's shoulder and looked up to see Severus striding towards them. She nodded to him as she went past him on her way to join Albus on the steps.
Hermione and Severus looked at each other under the willow, curtained off from curious eyes.
"I'm sorry, Hermione." He said awkwardly, " I had no right to.."
"It's OK, Severus."
"No, it isn't." he plunged on, "I can't keep you locked in the dungeons forever, however much I'd like to. You have every right to be angry with me."
"I shouldn't have left like that. It was childish of me. We haven't discussed what is happening to us, we just get distracted by the sex." She sighed.
"It's not just sex, Hermione." He stepped forward hesitantly and sat next to her on the grass. She leaned into him, filling her lungs with his unique scent.
"What do you want to do? You could have your pick of universities and courses. Your NEWTS results were excellent."
"I don't know. That's what's so frustrating. I enjoyed all my subjects, and now I don't know what I should specialise in." she sighed.
"I meant what I said, you know. I could do with an assistant."
"I know. But I've always been expected to go onto further education."
"You have the finest minds at your disposal here at Hogwarts. What's to stop you from continuing here with your studies? There would be no time limit, after all. You could take years getting degrees."
"Make a career of being a student, you mean?"
"Why not?"
"And still live here?"
"Preferably with me."
"What about your reputation? Gossip?"
"We'd have to make it official, of course. Can't have the Potions Professor shagging a student, can we?"
"Is that a proposal?"
"And if it is?" he held his breath.
"That has got to be the singularly most unromantic proposal ever, Severus Snape!" she hit his arm.
"You want romance?" he pulled her down to the ground and leaned over her, staring into her eyes. She nodded.
"I've never done this before, Hermione. No one has affected me like you do, and no one ever will. You're young, beautiful, bright and I don't deserve you. You make me feel more alive than I have done in years, and I love you more than you could possibly know. Will you marry me?" he paused. "How was that?"
"That was beautiful, Severus, thank you."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Gods, woman. You could drive a man insane!" he growled.
"Severus, you're impatient, bad tempered, sharp tongued and sarcastic. But you're also the only man I will ever love. Now shut up and kiss me." She tried to pull him down to her but he resisted.
"Well?"
"The answers yes. Happy now?"
"No. You deprived me of a morning in bed with you. I shall have to think up a suitable punishment."
"What, tie me to the bed?"
"That's a fantasy worth remembering."
"You fantasise about me?"
"It's all I've done over the past year, and you've no idea how many I've had."
"You'll have to write them down, I may surprise you."
"Stop that, or I'll take you right here."
"No one can see us."
"Is this one of your fantasies? Doing it outside?"
"It may be..."
"So you admit to having fantasies about me?"
"Of course. I have a whole list."
"Really? Can I see it?"
"You show me yours, and I'll show you mine.."
"Later....."
~~~
"That one's novel."
"Think so?"
"Is that possible?"
"Not without the aid of magic."
"Not done that before."
"I should hope not!"
"Intriguing. Leather, eh?"
"You did say you had some."
"Not that kind. I'll have to go shopping."
"When?"
"You'll have to wait and see. Now mine."
"We've done that one."
"I know, I still have the marks to prove it."
"In dead silence? You'd never manage it."
"Wanna bet?"
"On a broom?"
"You can ride a broom, I take it?"
"Chaser, three years running. Never done that though."
"You'd better not have done!"
"I'd need a Time Turner for that one. Didn't you have one in third year?"
"Yes, McGonegall's got it."
"Get it back off her. So when do we start?"
"Patience, my love. No good arranging it beforehand. That'll spoil the surprise."
"So it could take months?"
"Or years..."
~~~
The fireplace fizzed green and Dumbldore's head appeared. Hermione and Severus were curled up on the sofa together, comparing lists.
"Ah, everything all right now?"
"Yes, thank you, Albus. What can we do for you?" Severus shoved his list down the side of the sofa. How did Albus manage to make him feel like a guilty schoolboy?
"Would you care to join us for dinner this evening?"
"Making sure we're still alive?"
"There's something I'd like to discuss with the both of you afterwards."
"Thank you, Albus. We'll see you at dinner."
As Dumbledore's head disappeared, Severus kissed Hermione gently.
"What sort of ring would you like?"
"Just a wedding ring."
""You must have an engagement ring."
"I'm not one for fancy rocks, Severus. A wedding ring will be fine."
"I'm getting you a ring, and that's final." If he had his way she would be draped in jewels.
"Severus.."
"I'm not arguing over this. I want a ring that says you're mine."
"Why don't I wear a collar and tag that says 'if lost, contact Severus Snape, Hogwarts'?" she teased. He shifted uncomfortably, his trousers getting tight. She looked at him.
"Severus Snape, are you getting turned on?"
"You only have to come within twenty feet of me and I get turned on, my love."
"It was the collar, wasn't it?" God, this man was complex. It was going to take years to figure him out. "What kind of collar?" she asked casually.
Severus sighed. She'd wheedle it out of him eventually.
"Black, with studs. And nothing else." He mumbled.
"That's an easy one to fulfil."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Yes, I can borrow one from Sirius."
"You will not be wearing anything that's been round the neck of that flea-bitten mongrel!"
By now Hermione had crawled on top of him and was rocking against him. He held her hips still and reached up to kiss her neck. "Understand?"
"Perfectly. Do we have time before dinner?"
"Maybe a quickie." He grinned.
TBC
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, everyone. See if this chapter will help with the ideas on the title. To answer Goddessnmb1, hopefully Hermione's indecision will be answered below.
Chapter 2 - Trouble in Paradise
"Don't you think someone should find out if they're still down there?" Minerva said two weeks later at breakfast.
"The house elves report meals are being eaten." Albus said, unconcerned.
"So they haven't killed each other." Remus said.
"No, but they may have eaten each other." Sirius grinned.
"So is anyone going to check?" Minerva asked.
"Do we get to draw straws?" Hooch smirked, "I don't fancy disturbing Severus."
"Don't worry, he'll be too knackered to do much damage." Sirius said.
"Severus..." a soft voice called.
"Hmmn?"
"Wake up."
"What time is it?"
"Fourteen days past the last time we saw anyone human."
"Really?"
"Really. Don't you think it's time we rejoined the land of the living?"
"Do we have to?"
"We can't stay in this bed all summer."
"Why not? We've got plenty to read, food is provided, and you look sensational in just a sheet." He nuzzled her neck and she sighed.
"So do you." She traced her hand over his shoulder and down his chest, skimming the flat nipples and stroking down the arrow of hair to where the sheet pooled in his lap. Severus captured her hand and drew it up to his mouth so he could press a kiss into her palm. He smiled at the thought of the other teachers wondering what was happening down here, and thanked the gods no-one knew the password to his rooms.
"You're corrupting me, Severus. I really should be deciding what career I'm going to pursue." She complained half-heartedly, snuggling further into him. He spoke without thinking.
"Why bother? It's not as if you'll ever need a job."
His arms were suddenly empty and a very angry, very naked Hermione was standing beside the bed.
"I cannot believe you just said that!"
"What?"
"That I wouldn't need a job!"
"I have enough to support us." He started to feel defensive.
"And what do I do while you're teaching? Sit here and twiddle my thumbs until you get home? That's what I worked so hard for this year? To be some little housewife?" her voice got higher and louder.
She whirled away from the bed and grabbed her clothes from the tallboy and started to dress. Severus eyed her apprehensively. Shit, was she pissed off or what?
"Where are you going?"
"Out"
"Where?"
"Away from you."
Can we discuss this like adults?"
"Are you insinuating that I'm acting like a child?" she hissed.
"Well you're not being very mature, Hermione, storming off like this."
"That's obviously how you see me, a mere child."
"You're twisting my words." He refused to panic yet.
"Oh no, Professor. A child could never twist the words of the great Severus Snape. A child would just stamp her foot and leave. And that's exactly what I'm doing. Leaving!" she flung the door open and was gone.
Severus frowned. Should he stay here and let her calm down, or go after her? He scrambled out of bed and hastily threw on a shirt and trousers. He wasn't going to let her go and watch the rest of his life go down the tubes.
As the rest of the staff were leaving the great hall, Hermione stormed past them towards the main entrance.
"Well at least we know one of them is still alive." Remus said.
"And well pissed off from the look of her." Sirius replied. "Wonder what happened?"
"Would you care to ask her?" Minerva asked.
"No way. You're a woman, Minerva, you go and find out."
"Someone had better go and find out if Severus is all right."
The other teachers looked expectantly at Dumbledore, who sighed resignedly. What had the boy done now? He headed off towards the dungeons and met Severus in his classroom.
"Looking for someone, Severus?"
"Have you seen Hermione?"
"Ah yes. She looked a little.."
"Angry?"
"You could say that. What happened?"
Severus sank down in his chair by his desk; his shoulders slumped as he held his head in his hands.
"I messed up, that's what happened. I had no right to say she didn't need a job. Gods, a mind like that would go to waste!"
"Ah, I see."
"Do you?"
"It can be very tempting to lock a treasure away, Severus, for only one to see."
"Will she forgive me?"
"You'll have to find that out yourself. I believe Minerva was going to check down by the lake."
~~~
"Men can be such idiots, don't you think?" Minerva found a muttering, pacing Hermione under the willow tree by the lake.
"Tell me about it. Why did he have to go and ruin it?" Hermione sank down on the ground and spilled the whole story.
"He comes from long line of old-fashioned wizards, Hermione."
"The kind that keep women barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen?"
"I'm sure there's nothing Severus would like more than to keep you barefoot and pregnant; a delightful expression, by the way, my dear. That would sum it up beautifully."
"He hasn't said anything to me." There was a sulky look about Hermione.
"Have you told him how you feel?"
"Not in so many words."
"He's a man, Hermione. You have to club him over the head with the information. He's set in his ways, and will need time to change. Isn't that what attracted you to him in the first place?"
"Oh, Minerva. He's the other side of myself. We can talk for hours on any subject, he knows far more than I ever will, and we just fit. Can you understand that?"
"I'd say you're a perfect match. Have you told him about Cleo?"
"Not yet. I haven't found the perfect moment."
"Tell him when he's least expecting it. And don't forget, snakes are notoriously difficult to dislodge. You might want to remember that." She patted Hermione's shoulder and looked up to see Severus striding towards them. She nodded to him as she went past him on her way to join Albus on the steps.
Hermione and Severus looked at each other under the willow, curtained off from curious eyes.
"I'm sorry, Hermione." He said awkwardly, " I had no right to.."
"It's OK, Severus."
"No, it isn't." he plunged on, "I can't keep you locked in the dungeons forever, however much I'd like to. You have every right to be angry with me."
"I shouldn't have left like that. It was childish of me. We haven't discussed what is happening to us, we just get distracted by the sex." She sighed.
"It's not just sex, Hermione." He stepped forward hesitantly and sat next to her on the grass. She leaned into him, filling her lungs with his unique scent.
"What do you want to do? You could have your pick of universities and courses. Your NEWTS results were excellent."
"I don't know. That's what's so frustrating. I enjoyed all my subjects, and now I don't know what I should specialise in." she sighed.
"I meant what I said, you know. I could do with an assistant."
"I know. But I've always been expected to go onto further education."
"You have the finest minds at your disposal here at Hogwarts. What's to stop you from continuing here with your studies? There would be no time limit, after all. You could take years getting degrees."
"Make a career of being a student, you mean?"
"Why not?"
"And still live here?"
"Preferably with me."
"What about your reputation? Gossip?"
"We'd have to make it official, of course. Can't have the Potions Professor shagging a student, can we?"
"Is that a proposal?"
"And if it is?" he held his breath.
"That has got to be the singularly most unromantic proposal ever, Severus Snape!" she hit his arm.
"You want romance?" he pulled her down to the ground and leaned over her, staring into her eyes. She nodded.
"I've never done this before, Hermione. No one has affected me like you do, and no one ever will. You're young, beautiful, bright and I don't deserve you. You make me feel more alive than I have done in years, and I love you more than you could possibly know. Will you marry me?" he paused. "How was that?"
"That was beautiful, Severus, thank you."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Gods, woman. You could drive a man insane!" he growled.
"Severus, you're impatient, bad tempered, sharp tongued and sarcastic. But you're also the only man I will ever love. Now shut up and kiss me." She tried to pull him down to her but he resisted.
"Well?"
"The answers yes. Happy now?"
"No. You deprived me of a morning in bed with you. I shall have to think up a suitable punishment."
"What, tie me to the bed?"
"That's a fantasy worth remembering."
"You fantasise about me?"
"It's all I've done over the past year, and you've no idea how many I've had."
"You'll have to write them down, I may surprise you."
"Stop that, or I'll take you right here."
"No one can see us."
"Is this one of your fantasies? Doing it outside?"
"It may be..."
"So you admit to having fantasies about me?"
"Of course. I have a whole list."
"Really? Can I see it?"
"You show me yours, and I'll show you mine.."
"Later....."
~~~
"That one's novel."
"Think so?"
"Is that possible?"
"Not without the aid of magic."
"Not done that before."
"I should hope not!"
"Intriguing. Leather, eh?"
"You did say you had some."
"Not that kind. I'll have to go shopping."
"When?"
"You'll have to wait and see. Now mine."
"We've done that one."
"I know, I still have the marks to prove it."
"In dead silence? You'd never manage it."
"Wanna bet?"
"On a broom?"
"You can ride a broom, I take it?"
"Chaser, three years running. Never done that though."
"You'd better not have done!"
"I'd need a Time Turner for that one. Didn't you have one in third year?"
"Yes, McGonegall's got it."
"Get it back off her. So when do we start?"
"Patience, my love. No good arranging it beforehand. That'll spoil the surprise."
"So it could take months?"
"Or years..."
~~~
The fireplace fizzed green and Dumbldore's head appeared. Hermione and Severus were curled up on the sofa together, comparing lists.
"Ah, everything all right now?"
"Yes, thank you, Albus. What can we do for you?" Severus shoved his list down the side of the sofa. How did Albus manage to make him feel like a guilty schoolboy?
"Would you care to join us for dinner this evening?"
"Making sure we're still alive?"
"There's something I'd like to discuss with the both of you afterwards."
"Thank you, Albus. We'll see you at dinner."
As Dumbledore's head disappeared, Severus kissed Hermione gently.
"What sort of ring would you like?"
"Just a wedding ring."
""You must have an engagement ring."
"I'm not one for fancy rocks, Severus. A wedding ring will be fine."
"I'm getting you a ring, and that's final." If he had his way she would be draped in jewels.
"Severus.."
"I'm not arguing over this. I want a ring that says you're mine."
"Why don't I wear a collar and tag that says 'if lost, contact Severus Snape, Hogwarts'?" she teased. He shifted uncomfortably, his trousers getting tight. She looked at him.
"Severus Snape, are you getting turned on?"
"You only have to come within twenty feet of me and I get turned on, my love."
"It was the collar, wasn't it?" God, this man was complex. It was going to take years to figure him out. "What kind of collar?" she asked casually.
Severus sighed. She'd wheedle it out of him eventually.
"Black, with studs. And nothing else." He mumbled.
"That's an easy one to fulfil."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Yes, I can borrow one from Sirius."
"You will not be wearing anything that's been round the neck of that flea-bitten mongrel!"
By now Hermione had crawled on top of him and was rocking against him. He held her hips still and reached up to kiss her neck. "Understand?"
"Perfectly. Do we have time before dinner?"
"Maybe a quickie." He grinned.
TBC