*A/N: Wow chapter 5... I would have had this up before but, I had a trip
^_^ I should get at least 6 up soon.... oh and I'm working on chapter 7 and
the fact that Snape's change in appearance didn't cause a ruckus up at old
hogwarts is explained there. Oh and I had a still have a quite a few tricks
up my sleeve for chapter 8 so I cant wait to write it... maybe on
Wednesday, hmmm. Thanks for the reviews!*
5 Hermione had no idea what she was doing there, or why. Well actually she was there because Lavender had wanted her to stop moping and therefore dared here to do the stupid act of 'hanging out with professor Snape.' Also she was creating a de-aging potion... while hanging out with professor Snape. But was that really why she was still there? Ack, thinking too much again, she told herself. She looked up she had finished adding some gray powder in grain by grain till the potion was exactly 105 degrees, he should tell her what to do next, Now. Severus looked up at her, slowing his quill's frantic scratchings.
"Leave." Severus instructed her. What, Am it not supposed to double check the temperature? Start to mix two potentially deadly things? Get yelled at for something stupid? Say something stupid? He wanted her to just leave?
"Oh." She said; it sounded as confused as the two-letter word could possibly sound. Severus felt himself thinking it sounded almost disappointed. Wishful thinking, that was all it was. Why he was wishfully thinking that was beyond him. Erk, the sleepiness was taking over his brain. I have no control over what I think, he thought rather ironically.
"It 12:30 you know." He told her. They had worked straight through dinner, Dumbledore had sent down some soup. Severus remembered how they sat on the rug in front of the fire slowly eating. It was very still; Severus had to fight back every urge to slurp his soup to piss her off. He always had to piss someone off. He didn't want to piss her off.
"Ok, I guess I leave then." She said turning around toward the door. He could just yell out to her and say that she could just stay with him. But he mentally scolded himself for even thinking it. Hermione, spending the night with him. A hazardous experiment if he ever herd of one. God knew that it would have been nice though.
"Good night." Severus called out as Hermione opened the door. She glanced back looking at him, still over his notes, was he going to sleep? Could she sleep? She knew her body wanted her to, but her mind felt as thought it was doing 90 in a traffic jam.
"Good night." She said to him. Closing the door behind her. Into the dark cold hall. It was better in there, she concluded, walking up to the common room.
...
Severus had somehow argued himself into sleeping the night before, and he woke to the eternal darkness of the dungeons. He got up dressing in the dark, knowing everything he owned looked right together. After lighting a fire he looked up to see the bunny lying on the chair to his private desk in his room. It looked out of place there. Kind of like Hermione had the day before.
Er, Hermione, he thought to himself. She should be coming soon. He left his room behind, walking into the study. He spent too much time in his study he told himself. His room was so much nicer. The study was more to retain an atmosphere of a evil professor. The huge desk with only one seat, the jars of the oddest looking ingredients sitting around the top edges of the room like a bad border. Then there was the still simmering potion in the silver cauldron. He sat down on the Persian rug in front of the study fire setting a pot of water above it to heat.
He laughed to himself on how many of the students thought that at least one of the five doors in this room lead off to a torture chamber. Professor Flitwick would more likely have a torture chamber, only that it might be for a bit more dirty things then Severus wanted to think about. He did though, and somehow Hermione showed up in his fantasy. He cursed himself and then about jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in. " he yelled out a trying to cover how shaken he was. He knew it was her.
"Good morning, professor." Hermione said, she walked over to the rug seeing a kettle of water starting to steam. She sat, she didn't have breakfast again today. Her stomach had protested. He handed her a cup as she sat down. The morning grogginess still evidently taken him. As she set the tea bag into the cup, he was pouring her some water. He accidentally spilling a bit it landing on her hand. He saw her wince at the heat, closing her eyes to try and not curse. He beat her to it.
"Damn it!" Severus growled. Setting the kettle aside picking up her hand looking for ice, cool water... something. "Sorry, It's just early." He finally gave into his screaming mind and started blowing a gentle cool jet of water onto her hand. Hermione bit her lip noticing how close her hand was to his lips. He was still blowing a gentle steam of cool air on the heat. It probably would have hurt more if she could only focus on it, instead of her professor.
"It's fine." She said; "you can go ahead and pour your own tea." She said it uncertainly. She didn't want him to pull away, but it would be less awkward this way then if he actually realized what he was doing, she told herself.
Severus smiled a little and poured his own water. Yeah! She wasn't going to run to Dumbledore and tell him how abusive professor Snape was! Two points for Severus, he sipped his tea as she did the same. It was nice not being alone, he thought. Normally at this time he would have finished by now and looking at the list of things he already knew he had to do that day.
"We should finish the potion by 6 tonight." Severus told her as he thought of it. We... that was a word he didn't use too often either. Hermione set down her cup finished, and he quickly swallowed the remnants of his own, he got up following her to the potion.
"Well we better keep schedule then." Hermione said "what should I do?"
...
Hermione herd a light knock on the door. Glancing over she already saw Severus walking to it. He opened the door, and Hermione herd his sharp voice asking what whoever was there wanted. Her mind remembered the sharp voice. He hadn't been using that around her much anymore. Anymore? It had only been a day. She felt sorry as she herd the tiny squeal of a house elf, explaining how the 'great master Dumbledore sent sandwiches down so as to professor Snape and Miss Hermione Granger would not starve.'
She herd the sound of a platter being exchanged from one hand to the next and the small voice of the elf continue asking if she was really there. She couldn't help smiling at the fact that the house elves knew her. A sharp yes ensued and she saw the professor walk backing with a great silver plate with a sandwich cut into triangles placed on it.
"I don't know how you can bloody stand them" Severus mumbled. He saw her give a little snort. He gave a half smiled in return placing the sandwiches on the rug, where they had gotten to hang out around. He felt himself wanting to call it their rug. But wouldn't allow himself to think it. She sat down on the other side of the plate.
"Their really nice you know, just a little apprehensive." Hermione told him picking up a tuna triangle. What she wanted to know was at which point in these 2 days had she started feeling comfortable around him. It was just like it just happened and she wanted to know when. And quite possibly how. But maybe if she asked too many questions it would all fall apart. Best not to ask then.
"I guess you just assumed you could leave the potion." Severs said sarcastically to her picking up a triangle of his own.
"Yes. I certainly did so." She said rather boldly in Severus' mind, he tut- ed quietly shaking his head.
"I'm disappointed in you Ms. Granger... talking back, hm." He said a smile spreading across her lips.
"Well, I guess I'm just a bitch then." Hermione bit her tongue after she said. She cursed herself for saying it. She saw his eyes widen a bit. He was going to yell at her now. She knew it.
"Hermione, your not a bitch and I don't want to hear it again." Severus said it sternly He wished away his own thought of her being his bitch, as he saw her look rather ashamed. He was ashamed at himself for thinking it. An uncomfortable silence fell on the room as they nibbled their sandwiches. He cursed himself for saying anything at all.
"Harry and Ron would say I was." Hermione said, breaking the silence. She couldn't take it. She didn't know that was going to come out though. She looked up to see Severus looking at her as if telling her to continue. She might as well, she thought. Thought probably wasn't a good idea to even start.
"Harry and Ron and I were on a vacation with the Weasleys. It was nice, we were strolling through a little hilly road. No one had said anything for a long time. It was one of those odd things where all three of us were silent. Usually the boys would be going on about some stupid quiditch thing. So Ron spoke up and asked what I could be thinking about. I told him it was none of his business. I guess that was when Harry said it... 'Don't be such a bitch Hermione.' "
She spat out the words feeling her anger for Harry rise in her chest. "He probably meant it to be funny or something, "She continued on fighting down her own emotions. "But I had been spending all too much time with them and their opinions really mattered to me. But I just glared at him and -sarcastically- told him how that guy sitting on the porch if a house we were passing looked somewhat like Harry's description of Voldermort. That it was kind of strange"
Hermione bit her lip, she had got too far. She meant to shut up sooner. Could she still stop now? She looked to see Severus' hand stroking her gently. She couldn't stop, and it scared the hell out of her...
"Harry looked up at the man and suddenly whispered for us to shut up. Not like Ron or me had said anything. Bit once I thought about it, I realized I had made a huge mistake. Harry's face had grown so pale so it seemed as though his scar stood out., that's what always happened when he thought of Voldermort. Harry was always the type to get 'intuitions', you know. That something bad was going to happen soon. I played along with it, but I always thought anything to do with divination was a bunch of crap. But Harry believed his intuitions. Sometimes if I wondered if him acting on his intuitions caused everything. I never said anything about it though, I just played along. So when Harry told us that really was Voldermort I told him that I was the tooth fairy. But he just glared at me and said he was serious."
Hermione paused running a hand though her hair. Severus looked down at his own holding onto one of hers. He was just listening to her. But he was afraid of what she might say next. Maybe she was weaving a story for him. But he doubted it. She was telling him her story. And it didn't sound though it was a nice story. He pulled her a bit closer to him. She didn't even seem to acknowledge she was in his arms. She was defiantly out of it. And worse yet he knew wherever this story went, it had already went, and gone. Hermione's voice started softly again so soft he almost had to pull her even closer just to hear...
"So they stared to hatch up a plan. Ron believing Harry's every word. He had wanted so badly to become famous. To become more important then the rest of his enormous family that he listened to Harry knowing he could eventually find fame with him. I was involved because they didn't want to not include me. Not to mention they thought I would be good for some useful random information. And they were planning on getting this guy. Killing him and not letting anyone else know till afterwards so that they could claim all the glory to themselves. No matter if it was really Voldermort and he would kill them quicker then they could get out their wands. So I resorted to telling them they couldn't do it with magic to try and stop them. It was some stupid tale like, you can't use your wands around Voldermort now because he had gotten one of his Death Eaters to come up with a protection spell for him. I followed it by 'god everyone knows that' to seal it into the truth, a Hermione random fact truth, no one would question it. But it didn't stop them. They were going to get rid of him. And there was nothing I could do about it as the next day Ron walked up with a baseball bat he stole from his dad's stuff. You know his dad works for the ministry, and they all sit around investigating some muggle objects coming up with weird explanations for the most normal things. He was sure it was the way muggles killed each other. Harry said it should do and swung it around. Like he was testing out a new wand."
Hermione was detached from herself. She was just letting the story come out her month now. She didn't care. She felt safe for some odd reason, and she was going to say it...
"They killed an innocent man with baseball bat."
Severus held her close at this, he could hear her soft voice wavering, almost cracking. She could have stopped, he thought to himself, she didn't have to tell me. He felt as though he was holding an odd power, a security. Because she was secure with him. And he listened as Hermione continued more graphically this time...
"He was sitting on his porch, It was a porch of a nice old two story home, mature trees gently blowing in the breeze all around. He reading the Daily Profit, when we came. I was in the bushes with them telling them not to. Not to be crazy. Told be to shut the fuck up, and Ron handed him the bat importantly. And Harry ran up with Ron watching his back and hit the man. I could hear his skull crack. Quidich did make Harry strong. And the blood spilled out, it was a fountain almost. Running off the wood of the porch into the grass. I knew then that it was not Voldermort because the man said with his last words something about his family," Hermione paused looking at her hands covered by Severus'. She felt s guilty now. " and not about how he cursed Harry, or that dark would prevail, or something too entirely dumb like that. He screamed out how much he loved his family and was going to be with his wife now, with the angels. And Harry just beat the shit out of his unconscious body till he was dead. "
Hermione's lungs cried out or air as she realized she hadn't breathed in forever. Her breath came in as a short gasp, a sob almost...
"Harry then realized by me and Ron shrieking no, that the man was not Voldermort, to stop, that this was all wrong. And we didn't know what to do next. we just sat in the bushes outside the house. Ron eventually deciding to tell his dad, saying some tale on how we saw a muggles beat a wizard to death as we were walking today. "
Hermione winced. She could never forgive Ron for that. He lied. Why couldn't he just tell the truth? But then again why didn't she tell the truth? But she didn't make up the lie. And it killed her that he would do such a thing. And Harry had done it all... She hated Harry the most.
"I'm so sorry Hermione" Severus whispered into her ear. She realized that he was holding her close and tensed up for a second, then relaxed. He was comforting her. She felt so guilty for having him comfort her. Why was he sorry?
"Why?" She said slowly as Severus questioned himself. Why was he sorry? He was sorry for not being harsher to Potter then he already was. He was sorry forever making her feel bad. He was sorry for wanting to hold her close to him and it coming true only when she was in this much pain.
"For making you relive this." Hermione herd his warm breath whisper across her ear.
"It's okay." Hermione said quietly not knowing quite when they were ever going to get up and work on their potion. She didn't ever want to. Everything wasn't okay, she still hadn't told him the whole story. And it was slowly eating her inside as she lay in his arms not wanting that moment to end.
5 Hermione had no idea what she was doing there, or why. Well actually she was there because Lavender had wanted her to stop moping and therefore dared here to do the stupid act of 'hanging out with professor Snape.' Also she was creating a de-aging potion... while hanging out with professor Snape. But was that really why she was still there? Ack, thinking too much again, she told herself. She looked up she had finished adding some gray powder in grain by grain till the potion was exactly 105 degrees, he should tell her what to do next, Now. Severus looked up at her, slowing his quill's frantic scratchings.
"Leave." Severus instructed her. What, Am it not supposed to double check the temperature? Start to mix two potentially deadly things? Get yelled at for something stupid? Say something stupid? He wanted her to just leave?
"Oh." She said; it sounded as confused as the two-letter word could possibly sound. Severus felt himself thinking it sounded almost disappointed. Wishful thinking, that was all it was. Why he was wishfully thinking that was beyond him. Erk, the sleepiness was taking over his brain. I have no control over what I think, he thought rather ironically.
"It 12:30 you know." He told her. They had worked straight through dinner, Dumbledore had sent down some soup. Severus remembered how they sat on the rug in front of the fire slowly eating. It was very still; Severus had to fight back every urge to slurp his soup to piss her off. He always had to piss someone off. He didn't want to piss her off.
"Ok, I guess I leave then." She said turning around toward the door. He could just yell out to her and say that she could just stay with him. But he mentally scolded himself for even thinking it. Hermione, spending the night with him. A hazardous experiment if he ever herd of one. God knew that it would have been nice though.
"Good night." Severus called out as Hermione opened the door. She glanced back looking at him, still over his notes, was he going to sleep? Could she sleep? She knew her body wanted her to, but her mind felt as thought it was doing 90 in a traffic jam.
"Good night." She said to him. Closing the door behind her. Into the dark cold hall. It was better in there, she concluded, walking up to the common room.
...
Severus had somehow argued himself into sleeping the night before, and he woke to the eternal darkness of the dungeons. He got up dressing in the dark, knowing everything he owned looked right together. After lighting a fire he looked up to see the bunny lying on the chair to his private desk in his room. It looked out of place there. Kind of like Hermione had the day before.
Er, Hermione, he thought to himself. She should be coming soon. He left his room behind, walking into the study. He spent too much time in his study he told himself. His room was so much nicer. The study was more to retain an atmosphere of a evil professor. The huge desk with only one seat, the jars of the oddest looking ingredients sitting around the top edges of the room like a bad border. Then there was the still simmering potion in the silver cauldron. He sat down on the Persian rug in front of the study fire setting a pot of water above it to heat.
He laughed to himself on how many of the students thought that at least one of the five doors in this room lead off to a torture chamber. Professor Flitwick would more likely have a torture chamber, only that it might be for a bit more dirty things then Severus wanted to think about. He did though, and somehow Hermione showed up in his fantasy. He cursed himself and then about jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in. " he yelled out a trying to cover how shaken he was. He knew it was her.
"Good morning, professor." Hermione said, she walked over to the rug seeing a kettle of water starting to steam. She sat, she didn't have breakfast again today. Her stomach had protested. He handed her a cup as she sat down. The morning grogginess still evidently taken him. As she set the tea bag into the cup, he was pouring her some water. He accidentally spilling a bit it landing on her hand. He saw her wince at the heat, closing her eyes to try and not curse. He beat her to it.
"Damn it!" Severus growled. Setting the kettle aside picking up her hand looking for ice, cool water... something. "Sorry, It's just early." He finally gave into his screaming mind and started blowing a gentle cool jet of water onto her hand. Hermione bit her lip noticing how close her hand was to his lips. He was still blowing a gentle steam of cool air on the heat. It probably would have hurt more if she could only focus on it, instead of her professor.
"It's fine." She said; "you can go ahead and pour your own tea." She said it uncertainly. She didn't want him to pull away, but it would be less awkward this way then if he actually realized what he was doing, she told herself.
Severus smiled a little and poured his own water. Yeah! She wasn't going to run to Dumbledore and tell him how abusive professor Snape was! Two points for Severus, he sipped his tea as she did the same. It was nice not being alone, he thought. Normally at this time he would have finished by now and looking at the list of things he already knew he had to do that day.
"We should finish the potion by 6 tonight." Severus told her as he thought of it. We... that was a word he didn't use too often either. Hermione set down her cup finished, and he quickly swallowed the remnants of his own, he got up following her to the potion.
"Well we better keep schedule then." Hermione said "what should I do?"
...
Hermione herd a light knock on the door. Glancing over she already saw Severus walking to it. He opened the door, and Hermione herd his sharp voice asking what whoever was there wanted. Her mind remembered the sharp voice. He hadn't been using that around her much anymore. Anymore? It had only been a day. She felt sorry as she herd the tiny squeal of a house elf, explaining how the 'great master Dumbledore sent sandwiches down so as to professor Snape and Miss Hermione Granger would not starve.'
She herd the sound of a platter being exchanged from one hand to the next and the small voice of the elf continue asking if she was really there. She couldn't help smiling at the fact that the house elves knew her. A sharp yes ensued and she saw the professor walk backing with a great silver plate with a sandwich cut into triangles placed on it.
"I don't know how you can bloody stand them" Severus mumbled. He saw her give a little snort. He gave a half smiled in return placing the sandwiches on the rug, where they had gotten to hang out around. He felt himself wanting to call it their rug. But wouldn't allow himself to think it. She sat down on the other side of the plate.
"Their really nice you know, just a little apprehensive." Hermione told him picking up a tuna triangle. What she wanted to know was at which point in these 2 days had she started feeling comfortable around him. It was just like it just happened and she wanted to know when. And quite possibly how. But maybe if she asked too many questions it would all fall apart. Best not to ask then.
"I guess you just assumed you could leave the potion." Severs said sarcastically to her picking up a triangle of his own.
"Yes. I certainly did so." She said rather boldly in Severus' mind, he tut- ed quietly shaking his head.
"I'm disappointed in you Ms. Granger... talking back, hm." He said a smile spreading across her lips.
"Well, I guess I'm just a bitch then." Hermione bit her tongue after she said. She cursed herself for saying it. She saw his eyes widen a bit. He was going to yell at her now. She knew it.
"Hermione, your not a bitch and I don't want to hear it again." Severus said it sternly He wished away his own thought of her being his bitch, as he saw her look rather ashamed. He was ashamed at himself for thinking it. An uncomfortable silence fell on the room as they nibbled their sandwiches. He cursed himself for saying anything at all.
"Harry and Ron would say I was." Hermione said, breaking the silence. She couldn't take it. She didn't know that was going to come out though. She looked up to see Severus looking at her as if telling her to continue. She might as well, she thought. Thought probably wasn't a good idea to even start.
"Harry and Ron and I were on a vacation with the Weasleys. It was nice, we were strolling through a little hilly road. No one had said anything for a long time. It was one of those odd things where all three of us were silent. Usually the boys would be going on about some stupid quiditch thing. So Ron spoke up and asked what I could be thinking about. I told him it was none of his business. I guess that was when Harry said it... 'Don't be such a bitch Hermione.' "
She spat out the words feeling her anger for Harry rise in her chest. "He probably meant it to be funny or something, "She continued on fighting down her own emotions. "But I had been spending all too much time with them and their opinions really mattered to me. But I just glared at him and -sarcastically- told him how that guy sitting on the porch if a house we were passing looked somewhat like Harry's description of Voldermort. That it was kind of strange"
Hermione bit her lip, she had got too far. She meant to shut up sooner. Could she still stop now? She looked to see Severus' hand stroking her gently. She couldn't stop, and it scared the hell out of her...
"Harry looked up at the man and suddenly whispered for us to shut up. Not like Ron or me had said anything. Bit once I thought about it, I realized I had made a huge mistake. Harry's face had grown so pale so it seemed as though his scar stood out., that's what always happened when he thought of Voldermort. Harry was always the type to get 'intuitions', you know. That something bad was going to happen soon. I played along with it, but I always thought anything to do with divination was a bunch of crap. But Harry believed his intuitions. Sometimes if I wondered if him acting on his intuitions caused everything. I never said anything about it though, I just played along. So when Harry told us that really was Voldermort I told him that I was the tooth fairy. But he just glared at me and said he was serious."
Hermione paused running a hand though her hair. Severus looked down at his own holding onto one of hers. He was just listening to her. But he was afraid of what she might say next. Maybe she was weaving a story for him. But he doubted it. She was telling him her story. And it didn't sound though it was a nice story. He pulled her a bit closer to him. She didn't even seem to acknowledge she was in his arms. She was defiantly out of it. And worse yet he knew wherever this story went, it had already went, and gone. Hermione's voice started softly again so soft he almost had to pull her even closer just to hear...
"So they stared to hatch up a plan. Ron believing Harry's every word. He had wanted so badly to become famous. To become more important then the rest of his enormous family that he listened to Harry knowing he could eventually find fame with him. I was involved because they didn't want to not include me. Not to mention they thought I would be good for some useful random information. And they were planning on getting this guy. Killing him and not letting anyone else know till afterwards so that they could claim all the glory to themselves. No matter if it was really Voldermort and he would kill them quicker then they could get out their wands. So I resorted to telling them they couldn't do it with magic to try and stop them. It was some stupid tale like, you can't use your wands around Voldermort now because he had gotten one of his Death Eaters to come up with a protection spell for him. I followed it by 'god everyone knows that' to seal it into the truth, a Hermione random fact truth, no one would question it. But it didn't stop them. They were going to get rid of him. And there was nothing I could do about it as the next day Ron walked up with a baseball bat he stole from his dad's stuff. You know his dad works for the ministry, and they all sit around investigating some muggle objects coming up with weird explanations for the most normal things. He was sure it was the way muggles killed each other. Harry said it should do and swung it around. Like he was testing out a new wand."
Hermione was detached from herself. She was just letting the story come out her month now. She didn't care. She felt safe for some odd reason, and she was going to say it...
"They killed an innocent man with baseball bat."
Severus held her close at this, he could hear her soft voice wavering, almost cracking. She could have stopped, he thought to himself, she didn't have to tell me. He felt as though he was holding an odd power, a security. Because she was secure with him. And he listened as Hermione continued more graphically this time...
"He was sitting on his porch, It was a porch of a nice old two story home, mature trees gently blowing in the breeze all around. He reading the Daily Profit, when we came. I was in the bushes with them telling them not to. Not to be crazy. Told be to shut the fuck up, and Ron handed him the bat importantly. And Harry ran up with Ron watching his back and hit the man. I could hear his skull crack. Quidich did make Harry strong. And the blood spilled out, it was a fountain almost. Running off the wood of the porch into the grass. I knew then that it was not Voldermort because the man said with his last words something about his family," Hermione paused looking at her hands covered by Severus'. She felt s guilty now. " and not about how he cursed Harry, or that dark would prevail, or something too entirely dumb like that. He screamed out how much he loved his family and was going to be with his wife now, with the angels. And Harry just beat the shit out of his unconscious body till he was dead. "
Hermione's lungs cried out or air as she realized she hadn't breathed in forever. Her breath came in as a short gasp, a sob almost...
"Harry then realized by me and Ron shrieking no, that the man was not Voldermort, to stop, that this was all wrong. And we didn't know what to do next. we just sat in the bushes outside the house. Ron eventually deciding to tell his dad, saying some tale on how we saw a muggles beat a wizard to death as we were walking today. "
Hermione winced. She could never forgive Ron for that. He lied. Why couldn't he just tell the truth? But then again why didn't she tell the truth? But she didn't make up the lie. And it killed her that he would do such a thing. And Harry had done it all... She hated Harry the most.
"I'm so sorry Hermione" Severus whispered into her ear. She realized that he was holding her close and tensed up for a second, then relaxed. He was comforting her. She felt so guilty for having him comfort her. Why was he sorry?
"Why?" She said slowly as Severus questioned himself. Why was he sorry? He was sorry for not being harsher to Potter then he already was. He was sorry forever making her feel bad. He was sorry for wanting to hold her close to him and it coming true only when she was in this much pain.
"For making you relive this." Hermione herd his warm breath whisper across her ear.
"It's okay." Hermione said quietly not knowing quite when they were ever going to get up and work on their potion. She didn't ever want to. Everything wasn't okay, she still hadn't told him the whole story. And it was slowly eating her inside as she lay in his arms not wanting that moment to end.