Having a sleeping Hermione Granger in his lap wasn't as uncomfortable as he had originally thought.
Not that he'd ever thought about it.
But really, she was so tiny compared to him, he felt the overwhelming need to look after her, wrap his arms around her and keep her safe from anyone. Even herself. Even HIMself.
He looked down into her puffy, red nosed face. Just as he had when he found her passed out in her rooms. She let out little hiccups every once in a while and frowned.. He looked at the clock and saw it was 3 in the afternoon. They'd been sitting there for 4 hours, the first hour filled with her crying, stopping to try to hit him every once in a while, trying to stand up and falling back onto him.. Then she relaxed and slept for the last 3 hours.
His back panged with another shot of pain. His arse hurt from the concrete. It was time to stand up.
He shook her a little to try to wake her up. Hermione made a whimpering noise and wrapped her arms around his neck tighter.
Sighing, he put one arm under her knees and the other at her lower back and accio'd his wand, walking towards the bed.
He laid her down softly onto the bed and rubbed his sore back.
It was only then he realised he could have accio'ed his wand and made a cushioning charm. He rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.
He turned to walk towards the big chair in the corner, when Hermione let out a short, sharp scream and sat up looking around wildly.
He walked quickly to the bed and sat next to her, feeling the heat emitting from her body and he swore her heartbeat was so loud he could hear it. She looked up into his eyes and frowned. Pulling him towards her, she laid down and snuggled into his chest, throwing a leg over him and burying her face at the base of his neck.
He lay still and stiff for a few minutes, obviously uncomfortable. She sighed contentedly and reached for his hand, placing it behind her. He relaxed then and pulled her towards him, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
A few hours later, after Hermione had slept more and Severus had memorised the wall behind her completely, she awoke, stretching and pushing her body harder into his.
He growled at her and she smiled. She knew she had a decent amount of sex appeal. Where she missed out on being sexy in school, once she was out, had her education, had a job, she'd decided to make herself beautiful. Or, bring out as much inner beauty as she could find.
She told herself it was for confidence, but in a way it was to attract a husband. She'd lost so many people, all she wanted was that person to protect her from everything. She never wanted that pain again, and she figured finding a man to look after her was the way to go.
But Hermione was so headstrong, so bossy, so angry, so moody.. keeping a man with her for more than a few weeks was an impossible task.
Even Severus had heard the screaming fights from down the hallway and watched as yet another man stormed past him, muttering about how insufferable she is.
She was so lonely. She -was- so lonely. Right -now- she felt pretty damn content.
"Thank you for saving me, Severus." She whispered, almost too quietly for him to hear.
"I'm glad I did." He replied.
Then they both fell asleep.
