BABY, IT'S YOU
Chapter 5: The Living End.
Hermione brushed past her baby, suspended in mid-air. She wanted to unspell him this instant, and have him in her arms. Ten days was a long time to be parted. Yet, for all that he smelled of milk and piddle, and his clothes were bunched either end of his round belly, he was totally oblivious to her in this moment. She did not look at Snape's other children, frozen in mid-conversation. None of them would come to any harm.
She pulled Snape towards his large bed. He let her lead him, his arm slack in her grasp.
"Hermione," he began. "Are you sure?"
She licked her lips. "I'm sure."
He sat on the bed, and pulled her to him. She put her arms around him and stood between his legs, his head cradled on her breasts.
"Your heart is beating fast," he muttered.
"It was all that Apparating from Cairns," she said, trying to make light of it.
His hands ran lightly over her back, fingertips only, discovering for himself that under her clothing, she was as fleshly as she had never been in his dreams. Hermione stretched up a little so that her shirt came free of her skirt, allowing his hands access. He slid one hand under her shirt and up her back, along the spine. The small hairs on the back of her neck rose to attention, and he brushed a single finger over them. She goose pimpled. Yet he made no further move. His hands remained on her back, caressing her, his breath warm through her clothing. She wore no bra and her nipples were outlined.
Hermione swallowed. It was now or never. She was too much uncharted territory for him to go blundering in, the way he had over a year ago. She grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it quickly over her head.
"Is this what you want, Severus?" she whispered.
He gave no verbal response, but moved fast to open his mouth and take one nipple inside. His hands moved restlessly over her now, coming round to cup her breast and feed it further into his mouth. Hermione pushed his head to her with both hands, feeling like she could be consumed just as she stood, inch by inch by this man's hungry mouth.
Hermione threw back her head to enjoy the sensation. Her eye caught the silent Santo. He was frozen in mid-stride, his head turned toward them. She knew he could not see them, had no sense of passing time, or his surrounds, but still…. He seemed to be looking straight at her, with those dark eyes and raised eyebrows. Come to think of it, Caliope and Evelyn were both looking in her direction, weren't they? Their eyes seemed to follow her every thought. And as for the picture on the wall….. the whole family were gaping and gossiping.
"Severus?" she said.
He moaned against her breast, taking her voice to be one of passion. He pushed her onto the bed and made to cover her body with his.
"Can we… can you do something about-"
He jerked away from his ministrations. Who was in the room? Dumbledore? Death Eaters? Hermione's fucking know-it-all cat? He followed her gaze. The Snape in the family portrait rolled his eyes. Portrait-Santo made gagging noises.
A flip of his wand and the portrait turned around to face the wall. Another flip and Severus' frozen children were floated into the bathroom. The door shut behind them. Severus turned back to the young woman lying across his left arm.
"Now, where were we?" he said, and flashed a brief smile. It transformed his face into something resembling a reasonable human being.
Hermione reached for him. "Do you remember anything about…. That other night?"
Severus shook his head as he diligently worked on the fastenings to her skirt. "No visual memories, but-" He pulled her skirt from her body and slid a long-boned hand into her panties. She jolted against him, wanting to take it slow, but her hips having other ideas. He withdrew his hand and lowered his face to the demure lace trim of her knickers. He inhaled. "Sight isn't always the strongest sense memory," he whispered.
They proceeded then without words. Gasps and inarticulate murmurs gave go and no-go signals until they were naked and Severus lay half on top of Hermione, her leg pulled up slightly through his. He rubbed himself slowly against her hip, allowing the hair on his chest to do the work of his hands on her breasts. She pushed herself against him, rippling and undulating through her body. She was ready. He rose slightly and poised himself between her legs. She opened to meet him halfway, his shaft sliding effortlessly into her slickness. She wriggled beneath him, getting used to the sensation of him within her, and wanting him deeper still. Her heels settled behind his knees and her arms around his back. A shadow flickered over her face. He paused.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I thought….this seems right," she said. "Not familiar exactly, but right somehow."
He nodded, and began the ancient rhythm that made them both gasp.
Afterwards, they lay entwined, her leg thrown over his, her head on his chest, looking at him thoughtfully. He cocked an eyebrow in her direction.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just something Rayleen said."
"Do we have to have my ex-wife in the room with us right now? What did she say about me? If it was about me cheating on her with Lily Evans, then-"
"You cheated on her with…with Harry's mother?"
"Must we have Potter in here as well? Why not make my day and talk about Ron Weasley?"
"You brought up Lily Evans. You cheated on Rayleen with Harry's mother?"
Snape grimaced. "She wasn't Potter's mother then, obviously. It was a one-time thing only. Potter and his crew had gone on a late-night flight for some stupid reason. Rayleen was…well, things weren't good between us. It was the Leaving Feast."
Hermione made to draw away from him. He held her tight.
"If you are going to condemn me for actions nigh on twenty years ago, then might I suggest something with more substance."
"But you…she…. Harry has dark hair."
"And was born eighteen months after we graduated. Unless Lily had the longest gestation in human or wizarding history, it's out of the question. Now, will you cease being such an idiot." He shook her body slightly. "Repeat after me: this is afterglow, we are meant to enjoy it."
"This is afterglow, we are meant to enjoy it," Hermione repeated in a deliberately flat tone.
Snape glanced down at her. "Now, what was it Rayleen said?"
"She said you were good in the cot."
"And?"
"Nothing else. That's all."
"I meant, and? Am I good in the cot, as those charming Australians would put it?"
"Too little data," Hermione said. "The experiment has to be repeatable." She wriggled against him.
He tightened his arms around her, and his caresses became more than idle. The picture on the wall fell down with a crash, tilting over until it lay face up on the floor. When recovered from their shock, the portrait family all looked at Snape and Hermione, entangled on the bed.
"Jesus Christ, no!" Portrait-Santo moaned. "Don't you ever give up, Dad?"
His sister and half-sister put their hands over his mouth, but not before he said: "Did you at least remember the condoms this time?"
Snape-on-the-bed paled, as did Portrait-Snape. The latter moaned and pointed to all his children.
"What is wrong with you? Have you no sense at all? Aren't there enough of these brats now?"
Real-Snape glanced down at Hermione. She was white.
"I've stopped breast feeding," she stuttered. "I didn't think I'd be doing anything like this, so I didn't…. I didn't…"
All Snapes rolled their eyes ceiling-wards. It certainly seemed like he would need that DADA job. It paid much better, and he would need every knut to raise his children. He resolved that tomorrow he would put the condoms in full view on his bedside table. And get Dumbledore to put a vasectomy spell on him. And perhaps starting putting bromide in his tea. He felt Hermione, young and supple and still pressed against him. Well, perhaps not the bromide. No sense going too far with things.
Something crashed in the bathroom, and Snape knew his spell had worn off his children. The door flew open and his family herded out, Evelyn with David in her arms.
"I've gone blind!" Santo screeched, in reference to the wholesale nudity happening before him. Snape lowered his head to his one free hand and shut his eyes. Two children by Rayleen, one by Macgonagall, one, possibly two by Hermione. If Rosmerta or Trelawney so much as said "I have something to tell you" he would move to the South Pole instantly.
There was a knock at the outer door of his chambers, and Sybil Trelawney's voice called out. "Professor Snape, are you in there?"
Hermione sat up in the bed, naked and magnificent. She grabbed her wand off the bedside table. Zap, and all the children were frozen again. Zonk, and the portrait family had blindfolds. Zam, and Sybil Trelawney was being chased down the corridor by monkeys. Hermione then pulled Severus down to her.
"Not yet, he's not in there. But he will be," she said, and kissed him.
***** *****
The End.
Positively and utterly the living end.
Thankyou to all who gave suggestions and comments and reviews.
