A/N: Have I mentioned that I don't own any of this?

Welcome to chapter three! It's a bit on the short side, but I've been pushed for time and I wanted to post something this week so it will have to do!

Once again I've got to thank all my reviewers so far. You're great!

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She was so close to him now that he could feel the rising and falling of her chest as she breathed, seemingly in time with his own heartbeat which was thudding in his ears. He could not decide whether to move away or not, and frozen with indecision remained where he was. Rain was falling all about them now but he was barely aware of it; the idea flickered in the back of his mind and was gone. There was a long silence during which he watched her guardedly, and then he noticed for the first time the small silver scar that nestled in her hairline. He remembered how she had received it and was compelled to reach out and touch it, running a long finger lightly across her skin and feeling nothing but its softness. She was looking at him with a question in her eyes which emboldened him to run the same finger down the side of her face and along her jaw. Her eyes closed briefly at this and when they opened again he let his hand drop. Tension crackled in the air between them and Severus suddenly did not trust himself.

"You bear your scars bravely, Hermione." He told her in a near-whisper. "But you owe me nothing."

"You're wrong." She shook her head emphatically and her hair, dampened into glossy ringlets, fell about her shoulders. Severus stared at it, distracted. It had been a long time since he had felt this way about anyone or anything and it was disconcerting. He tried to distance himself from what he was feeling and he tried to reinstate some of the old barriers he used to keep people out. The problem was, he had shown the young woman in front of him too much of himself to take it back now, and she knew it. He knew enough of her determination to understand that she would be depending on this in their current battle of wills. The thought almost made him smile. His mouth was turning up at the corners before he could bring it under control, and he was angry with himself for no apparent reason other than his sudden and unexpected weakness for her.

"You don't understand." She was angry again, he realised. He had hurt her pride by refusing to accept that she owed him anything.

"I do understand." He spoke in a low voice, the words tumbling over each other as he forced them all out. He wanted her to know the truth, to see what it was that he had struggled with that night. "I've seen enough death to know how you must have been feeling. I did not wish for you to die, Hermione, but at the time I knew that I alone could not save you. I wanted to be there for you if you were to die. I will continue to be there for you because you did not if that is what you wish." She trembled against him as his words hit home. "I meant everything I said that night. You are a brave young woman. There is so much that you should see and do before it really is your time. You were meant to live, Hermione. You were meant to go on."

Her eyes were filling up with tears again but this time she seemed determined not to cry and she brushed them impatiently away. He could see that the pain was still there, but it was tempered by understanding. Her eyes retained a haunted look, but that was fading and would soon be replaced with the acceptance of her survival.

"If it hadn't been for you I would be dead right now," she said quietly, reiterating her point, brown eyes seeking out his. "I wouldn't have survived at all. I feel as though I should repay you in some way."

Severus frowned at her. He had no wish to make any claims over her life. What she was saying might well be true but he wanted her to believe otherwise for her own good.

"And what exactly have you got to repay me with?" He asked her incredulously. "Is it possible that you have something that I might want?"

His statement was deliberately provocative. The implication was clear, and there was no way she could pretend not to understand him. She flushed prettily, and dropped her eyes from his, studying the front of his robes intently. Severus stared at the top of her head, impatient for her answer.

"Well?" He placed his hands on her shoulders and did not remove them. She lifted her head.

Her eyes were dark and wide, but not shocked as he thought they might have been. She opened her mouth to speak and Severus found his gaze inexplicably drawn there, tilting his head a little closer to hers in order to hear what it was she might say. She took a deep breath. He did the same. She looked from his eyes to his mouth once, twice. He swallowed. She closed her eyes.

He kissed her.

He closed the tiny gap that separated them and pressed his lips gently against hers, intending the briefest of contacts. He only wanted to feel the softness and warmth of her mouth for a few seconds before pulling away but something happened that changed all that.

She kissed him back.

He felt her arms go around him as she leaned into him and felt her mouth soften beneath his, allowing him to kiss her properly. He could not resist what she was offering as it was being offered so sweetly and so he kissed her thoroughly, exploring her mouth with gentle sweeps of his tongue, intoxicated by the way she tasted and felt. Far from resisting him, Hermione matched his sudden and unexpected passion with some of her own and when he finally pulled away to stare at her incredulously they were both breathless.

"Well?" She panted at him. Her eyes were dark with meaning. Severus watched as she caught her lower lip between her teeth and worried it. His decision had been made the second he kissed her. He knew what he wanted. He was finding it difficult to believe that she might want it too, but the look in her eye suggested that she did. He brought his face very close to hers and wondered if this game that they were playing might be something more. He did not want her gratitude but he was beginning to realise that perhaps that was not what she was offering after all. His heart gave an odd little jolt as he acknowledged the appeal of the idea and he felt a sudden tenderness towards her that he did not know he was capable of feeling. He sighed and then blinked, suddenly aware of the rain that had been steadily soaking them both. She was looking at him questioningly, waiting for his answer to her question. He took her hand and looked down at it as it rested in his.

"My quarters?" He asked her quietly. She nodded jerkily.

"Now?" She murmured.

"Now."