A/N: Thanks once more for the great response to the last chapter, I hope you like this one as well. For my sins (and because I wanted to) I have actually started planning a prequel to this story - about how our favourite couple got together. I think it will differ in style quite a bit from this one but I don't know by how much until I start writing. That's all really...
Oh and big thanks to my beta, you know who you are even if you have asked not to be named.
As Severus walked down the quiet, muggle street, he could not help but notice how normal, and more importantly harmless, it seemed. The trees lining the main road were those that would be found lining the streets in, literally, hundreds of affluent neighbourhoods across the country. The cars that, only occasionally, drove past did little to disturb the peaceful aura of the suburb. However, despite the calm surroundings Severus' insides were doing the best possible job to shatter his usual confidence. Almost as though she had sensed this sudden lack of courage, Hermione slipped her hand inside his own. This show of emotion would have been something condemned by Severus not all that long ago. The hand within his own, well, it seemed to fit perfectly and there was very little doubt in Severus' mind that Hermione needed to draw comfort from the slight contact just as he did. After all these were her parents, they had raised her to be the woman he found next to him and then, a little less than a month ago, they had coldly rejected her. The latter was something that Severus knew had greatly upset Hermione, not without reason, but something that until now they, as a couple, had not had the opportunity to correct. He glanced down to the woman at his side. In return for his concern, she offered him a smile; he accepted gratefully and managed to respond with a slight squeeze to her hand.
Consciousness slowly trickled into Hermione's brain. She did not open her eyes just yet though; too much information at the same time could make her exceptionally grouchy in the morning. Then she felt it. A touch, feather light, running along her stomach. That was not something she was used to, but the part of her brain that was awake managed to handle the information with little trouble. It's Severus. Ah, yes, that made sense and any worried feelings held inside vanished. The man she now called her husband sharing a bed with her, for the first time. Of course, that wasn't counting the other first time; it seemed so long ago now. She smiled at the memory as it came to her, unable to resist the temptation. Hermione also wondered when, not if, they would be in a similar situation once more. She had thought the same the previous night, but Severus, as ever, had remained the perfect gentleman she had come to view him as.
"You're awake aren't you?" mumbled Severus, directly into Hermione's ear. In playful response, Hermione scrunched her eyes tightly shut and shook her head. Hermione felt Severus' smile against her neck; she opened one eye gently and let in the dim morning light. Hermione turned slightly so Severus was in her line of sight.
She said, "What a surprise to see you here."
"I very much doubt that. However, it is a somewhat pleasant experience if you don't mind me saying so." Severus said, playing along with her little game.
"I don't mind at all. Compliments will get you anywhere as far as I am concerned." Hermione said in the most seductive voice she could manage so soon after waking up. It was pathetic but Severus appeared to understand nevertheless.
"Is that so? I think I will have to make a mental note of that for future use. Now however," he paused to brush a stray hair from Hermione's forehead, and then continued, "I have your slightly mischievous behaviour to deal with."
Hermione tilted her head to one side and said, "What behaviour? And what are you going to do about it?"
"You know what behaviour, and this," said Severus. He then planted a gentle kiss on Hermione's lips. She realised this was in fact a very effective way of shutting her up, as well as ensuring a certain degree of compliance. As the kiss deepened, she felt tension leave her body. She wanted more. The realisation hit her hard, but that was for later. Her mind was on the present, and there it was staying, until Severus pulled away from their kiss. She moaned gently in protest. All he did in response was smirk, before standing up and heading for the bathroom.
The moment of truth had arrived, Severus thought, as Hermione rung the bell to her parents' house. He untangled his hand from hers; it wasn't something her parents would likely want to see. Only that left his hand feeling empty, briefly he wondered if she felt the same way. Footsteps became clearly audible behind the door, as it swung open a voice said, "Hermione." The door was then fully open and Severus found himself face to face with an older, and somewhat altered version of his wife. All the woman, presumably Hermione's mother, could say was, "Ah."
Severus noticed the look of resolve on the face of the woman by his side. Hermione said, "Mum, this is Severus." The sentence was so simple, so unassuming, so Hermione that Severus relaxed unconsciously.
"I had a feeling this might happen. You had better come in hadn't you?" said her Mum, not unkindly, but with no enthusiasm. The couple followed Hermione's mother into the house. Severus, who Hermione had warned not to stare at the muggle-ness of everything, took in his surroundings with a hint of wariness. He was pleased to discover nothing incredibly strange threatening his immediate future.
"Mum," said Hermione gently.
Her mother interrupted before she could continue. "Why don't you go make yourself comfortable in the living room? I'll make some tea and then we can sit and talk like sensible people." Her voice shook slightly as she spoke; Severus believed that she could probably do with something a little stronger than tea to drink and she definitely wasn't the only one. "How do you take it? Your tea?"
Severus realised the question was directed at him, but he also had the sense not to suggest 'with liberal amounts of alcohol'; Hermione probably would have been unimpressed if nothing else. He chose the safe answer, "Milk, no sugar. Thank you." The elder Granger left and Hermione directed Severus towards the sitting room. Once inside she motioned for him to sit on the sofa, before taking the seat next to him herself. As Severus looked at her, the worry on her face was apparent, as was as the tension causing her body to sit so rigidly. Deep within him at that moment was a desire to make everything – her mother's rejection, their situation and that stupid law – disappear. Hermione did not deserve her life torn to pieces and to Severus it really was as simple as that. "It will be OK in the end. You know that, right?" he asked her gently.
Hermione just nodded. None of the discomfort left her body, the worry didn't lessen, but she did manage another slight smile. It disappeared, all too soon, as her mother entered the room. She was carrying a tray with three cups on it. Hermione and Severus both nodded their thanks as Mrs Granger seated herself in the chair opposite. "First things first, and I do apologise for not performing the usual pleasantries, I want a full explanation for all this nonsense." Sensing the objection coming from her daughter, before she had said anything, Hermione's mother continued, "That paper didn't explain things fully, not to your father and I, there was too much magic in it. I was also looking for something more than a legal reason." The last part at least satiated some of Hermione's objections. Severus sat and listened as Hermione began to tell their story from what was practically the beginning, post-Hogwarts anyway. He felt the only thing he could do was to sit and listen; the questions would come later; of that, he was sure.
Hermione could hear the running water of the shower from her position within the bed. She vehemently hoped that Severus would be done with the bloody thing soon; surely she was the more urgent matter that needed attending to. Inside she wondered when she had decided thinking of Severus like that was acceptable, after all they had only been married a week and a half. The realisation that most couples reached that stage before they got married was one that still caused a twinge of pain to Hermione. She tried to reason with her inner voice that marrying had been the best thing she could have done, for the first time it seemed to work. Severus wasn't that unbearable was he? The voice, her reasoning, answered a resounding no. The shower stopped. Hermione's heart began beating faster in an unconscious response to the idea of Severus' return. Just as expected Severus entered the bedroom, what was slightly more unexpected was Severus wearing just a towel. Hermione wanted to tell him that his little game had gone far enough, but it didn't look like he was playing this time. He walked over to the bed and took his seat next to her.
"What are you planning on doing today?" asked Severus. Whilst asking he stretched his legs out along the bed so he was lying face to face with his wife. Hermione watched him, unnoticed by Severus himself, move in a way she thought of as graceful and sexy rolled into one.
"I didn't have any specific plans really," replied Hermione. Severus appeared oddly pleased by this judging by the thoughtful smile on his face. Suspicion of the Slytherin firmly embedded in her mind, she asked, "Why? Have you got something planned?"
Severus feigned a look of surprise that Hermione could think him so manipulating. With a tone of mock anger, he replied, "What would make you think that? Seriously, I didn't have anything planned. I was wondering if you wanted to do something together today. I thought it could be a good opportunity for us to do more of that talking you seem to inspire in me."
Hermione was genuinely surprised that Severus was asking her this, but he had done little else of late she supposed. "That sounds nice actually. Did you have anything specific in mind?"
"Not really. I thought we could decide together," said Severus honestly.
"Well right now, I'm pretty much only thinking of one thing." This time the seductive voice worked much better.
A/N 2: I know overall it is a short chapter but that is how it panned out. I imagined this chapter as more of a transitional chapter rather than one with a lot of action. Both of the storylines (or timelines as I can't quite decide what they should be called) will continue in the next chapter, (with a lemon if I can make it flow better than the draft I have already) which should be longer than this one.