43. Setting a Date
As Evangeline closed the door behind them, she saw Severus take a good long look around his quarters. She smiled to herself and ventured, "Happy to be back?"
Her lover turned to gaze down at her with a solemn look on his face. "I didn't truly believe I'd ever be here with you again. Certainly not in days, instead of months or years. Getting out of Azkaban has never been as easy as getting in. Other people besides Fudge would be extremely happy to see me stay there for the rest of my life. I'm still in awe that you managed to free me, Evangeline. I owe you my life."
Blinking back tears at the thought of how close she came to losing him, she smiled softly at him. "Well, I guess that makes us even then. For if you hadn't sent that message about the Devil's Foot drug, I'd most likely have died a few weeks ago."
Shivering slightly at the thought, he put out a hand and gently caressed her cheek. "Perhaps. Still, I'm in your debt."
Then he sighed and his expression darkened. "I'm less happy about being indebted to Lupin and Black, though."
Feeling badly that she'd had to involve them, but knowing that she'd had no choice, she put her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "Well, you'll just have to learn to live with it, because I needed their help to pull it off, and neither of them hesitated to give it."
Snape nodded gloomily, not disputing the truth of her words, but unhappy about it all the same. "So be it, then."
"I know it's hard on you to be indebted to anyone, Severus. I was hoping you wouldn't take this so seriously. The tensions among the three of you have seemed to ease over the last few months. I hoped you'd all made peace with each other. Isn't that the way you see it?" she inquired hopefully.
Restlessly he paced over to the fireplace and placed a hand on the mantle before answering with a touch of annoyance in his voice. "I suppose that I have felt that I've come to an understanding of sorts with Lupin, but I'll never feel at ease with Sirius Black. And frankly, the idea of being indebted to him is abhorrent to me."
With a sad sigh, Evangeline walked across the room to his side and leaned comfortingly against him. "I'm sorry, Severus. I should have considered that. I just felt I needed their help. I wasn't sure I could do it alone, and I was so desperate to get you back. The very thought of never seeing you again was devastating to me."
Overwhelmingly glad to be back here with her again, he slid his arm around her and held her close against him. The very last thing he wanted to do at the moment was argue or continue to discuss unpleasant things. Laying his face against the softness of her hair, he murmured,"I understand, Evangeline, and I don't want to seem ungrateful."
They stood there quietly for a moment simply enjoying being together again. Then she pulled back slightly so she could see his face as she smiled up at him. "Let's talk about something more cheerful, okay? Albus asked us to set a date. I think we should consider that."
Quite willing to move on to a more congenial subject, he nodded. "Okay. Do you have any particular date in mind?"
"I thought it might be easier to wait until school is out for the year. That's only another five weeks. I'll still only be about two months along in the pregnancy. So how about the last Saturday in June? That's three days after the students leave, but close enough to the end of the year so that any staff who wish to attend the wedding won't be inconvenienced too much."
"Are you sure that you want to wait that long?" Her words caused a small pang of disappointment to flit through him. Snape was a bit surprised to discover how reluctant he actually was to wait more than a month to marry her.
"There's no pressure on us now, Severus. That's really not that long to wait. You've been away so much lately, I figured that you might want to concentrate on school until the end of term."
Ah, yes, responsibilities before pleasure, how typical of life, certainly typical of his life, at least. Reluctantly he nodded. "That's true. All of my classes are woefully behind. The students won't be pleased to have to be making up for so much lost time as it is. Very well. I guess the last Saturday in June, it is."
"Anyway…" She ran her fingers up his arm and gently stroked the back of his neck. "That'll give us lots of time to "practice" for the wedding night."
He raised a mocking eyebrow and smirked at her. "I wasn't aware that "practice" was needed."
She shrugged and glanced teasingly up at him. "I didn't say it was needed…just that we'd have lots of time to practice…that is, if you want to…"
Quickly he bent down and swept her up into his arms. "On the other hand…it has been far too long. Perhaps some "practice" is warranted after all." With that tantalizing comment he carried her off into the bedroom.
The tall wizard laid his fiancée gently on the bed and sat down next to her. She smiled happily up at him. "Well, you've got the "carry the bride over the threshold" part down pretty well."
Snape smiled at her knowingly. "Let's see how well I do with the "undressing the bride" part." He bent to kiss her tenderly as his hands quickly found the fasteners of her gown. The clasps came easily undone in his nimble fingers, and he slowly slid the garment down off her body. Next he removed her shoes one at a time, setting them carefully aside. Then he removed first one stocking and then the other, rolling them slowly down her legs with careful fingers and placing soft kisses and caresses on her inner thighs as he did so.
Desire began to build steadily for Evangeline. She'd hungered for this moment for so long, so fearful it might never come, and that he might've been lost to her forever. Overcome with her longing for him, she shivered and started to reach for him. But he pushed her gently back into the pillows and kissed her lips softly. "No, my Angel, I'm not finished yet," he murmured in his low velvet voice.
Tingling all over with anticipation, she lay back and let him continue to undress her. His gentle hands slipped the straps of her shift off her shoulders and slowly drew them down her arms. As he did so, he trailed soft biting kisses down her neck and over her shoulders. Once they were exposed for his attentions, he moved on down to kiss and caress her breasts as well, sucking gently on the rosy nipples and abrading the tender flesh lightly with his teeth. He slipped the fabric slowly down over her stomach and hips as well, trailing kisses in its wake.
His supple fingers trailed gently up her body once more as he reached up to remove her silk and lace panties and slid them smoothly down her legs. Then as she lay completely naked before him, he began at her feet and moved slowly up her inner calves and thighs with soft kisses while he lightly ran the tips of his fingers up the outside of her legs. She moaned with delight and her increasing need for him. It was getting harder and harder to lay quietly under his inflaming touch, wanting nothing more than to pull him down on top of her and kiss him deeply.
Enticingly he paused between her legs to lightly kiss and flick his tongue momentarily into a most sensitive spot, smiling to himself when she jumped and gasped at his touch. Then he continued to trail kisses up over her stomach and breasts, pausing to gently hold and suckle the delicate mounds of flesh, until he once more claimed her mouth with more insistent passion.
Smugly pleased with himself, he straightened up on his arms and smiled confidently down at her, straddling her body and draping her within a tent of black silk. "Well, how did I do?"
Evangeline sighed deeply and grinned mischievously up at him. "Not bad, Severus. Not bad at all. I do think a bit more practice is needed, though."
Snape raised a mocking eyebrow. "Oh, really. Well, shall we see how well you do?"
Eager to do her part, she smiled up at him, slipping her arms around his neck to bury her hands deeply in his dark silky hair. "Well, I have far more fasteners to contend with. Let's hope we're not so rudely interrupted this time."
He smiled and leaned over to kiss the tip of her nose. "Thank you for reminding me."
Sliding quickly off the bed, he slipped his wand out of his sleeve. Then he closed the bedroom door, waved his wand, and proclaimed, "Silento Totalus." The walls began to shimmer with a silvery sheen.
Snape smiled in satisfaction and dropped his wand onto the bedside table. Then he slipped off his shoes and returned to the bed, scooping Evangeline up into his arms as he lay down.
She smiled questioningly into his eyes. "What did you do?"
"Soundproofed the room. They can pound on the door for hours; we'll never hear them! Another useful thing to practice for the wedding night."
Completely happy for the first time in recent memory, she sighed contentedly and writhed seductively in his arms. "Your robe feels so nice against my bare skin. While you were…gone…I used to wear it next to my skin sometimes and imagine you were holding me in your arms like this. Reality is so much better, though."
Indeed Snape found himself savoring the reality of holding her in his arms once more. He smiled tenderly down at her and ran his fingers through her soft inviting hair. "Picturing you like this, in my arms, was a lifeline for me while I was…gone, Evangeline. You're right, though. Reality is so much better." Unable to restrain himself any longer, he bent and kissed her passionately crushing her pliant body against his own.
When they parted for breath, Evangeline raised eager hands to the collar of his robes. "My turn to undress you," she murmured, eyes shining with anticipation. She began the somewhat lengthy chore of unfastening Severus' clothes. After a few moments and the successful removal of only one layer of clothing, she glanced up at him and said dryly, "Severus, may I suggest that whatever you choose to wear to our wedding should have fewer layers and fewer buttons than your regular garments. It will make the wedding night a much less frustrating time."
He chuckled as he helped her to unfasten his robes. "I'll keep that in mind, Evangeline."
With both of them dedicating themselves to the task, Severus was soon as naked as Evangeline, but as he took her into his strong arms once more, a cry of dismay escaped her lips as she ran her hands gently over his bare chest and shoulders. Her fingers took careful note of all the bruises and half healed cuts that now adorned the usually smooth, lightly furred, flesh.
She raised horrified eyes to his and whispered hoarsely, "Severus, my god…what did they do to you?"
A sad smile crept across his features as he caressed her hair and attempted to reassure her. "Evangeline, please, don't distress yourself. Nothing done to me will result in permanent injury. Fudge was keeping me in custody for public trial after all. He knew better than to damage his scapegoat too badly before convicting me of any crime. This is just the result of the usual rough treatment that one receives in prison. The marks will fade quickly. They always do."
Her eyes filled with tears. "Always do? This wasn't your first time in Azkaban, was it Severus?"
He hugged her tightly against him. "I fervently hope it was my last, Evangeline. I'd really rather not discuss it now, if you don't mind. The primary feature of an incarceration at Azkaban is the horrible despair induced by the dementors in their prisoners. I spent the last four days truly believing that I'd never see you again. Right now, I need to reassure myself that that isn't the case. I don't want to spend anymore time talking about the recent past. I want to enjoy the reality of having you in my arms again. I want to touch you, caress you, kiss you, and feel myself once more within your body's warm embrace. In short, I want to make love to you, Evangeline. Now, with no further delay."
She swallowed back her anguish at his wounds and smiled up at him. "I want that, too, Severus. It's all I dreamed of while you were gone."
He bent and murmured against her soft lips, "Then it's time to turn those dreams into reality."
With a soft sigh, she melted her body against his and explored the wonder of his mouth on hers with delicate then more insistent passion. She ran her hands over his strong back and shoulders as he kissed his way down her neck to her breasts. While he gave them all the attention either of them could long for, she slid her hand under his body to grasp his hardening sex as she smoothly stroked its firm length. With passionate desire, they gave themselves up to a joyful quest of rediscovery of each other that filled the long night with blissful satisfaction.
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