Chapter 16: A Lonely Heart Vs A Logical Mind

{A/N: Here's Another Update...Happy Birthday to Alan Rickman and To My Nephew}

My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.

The Sitting room, The Sinclair Residence, Unknown World...

Amber eyes filled with worry and concerned so profound they puzzled the one whom they had been trained on, as Severus Snape did his best to keep his increasingly pessimistic thoughts about his apparent wife's care for him from spoiling one of the few moments of civility that had been taking place between them since he opened his eyes to find he'd been placed in this new world without magic and his rather checkered but tragic past to haunt him.

"Are you sure you're alright?" asked Hermione not taking her eyes off the man she believed to have been her husband for one moment.

"I'm fine...just a bit out of sorts." replied Snape not at all put off by her concern for him.

It was a refreshing change from the usual scowls and harsh glares he had gotten over the years wither he was badly injured or not in the presence of others. His murdering of Albus Dumbledore for "the greater good" wasn't in the least a means of winning any popularity contests even among the ranks of the death eaters.

Yet, Hermione Granger seemed to look past all of that and wish the best for him even when others would gladly relish the fact that he'd been miserable by all accounts.

The soft warm fingers from the hand of the surprisingly beautiful young woman before him had been welcome as she trailed them along his sallow pale face and chest. The absolute worry behind her eyes almost palpable as she examined him. He had known only one other whom had concern for him in such a manner and she had been strong enough in her resolve to see him well again that he gave in to her during his moment of weakness.

Without warning, Hermione Granger's soft pink lips were pressed against his harsh pale ones in a rather crushing gesture that conveyed her greatest desire in terms of closeness with her husband once more. Snape closed his eyes, finding his Slytherin nature seemed almost to demand that he adhere to her vulnerability in the wake of his own.

The mutual passion in their exchange had been the first thing she noted as she finally pulled back from him wondering if her husband had truly remembered her or if it was just a momentary glimpse of the man she knew and loved for most of her life returning to the surface following the tragic accident that had nearly taken him away from her.

Snape's dark gaze met her own for a few moments before interruption in the form of a ringing phone had captured their collective attention.

"I'd better go see who's calling." said Hermione feeling a bit nervous around her husband for the first time since their initial meeting so many years prior.

"Yeah." agreed Snape unable to take his eyes off the young woman who's beauty despite the basic aspect of it captured his attention and if he were honest awakened a form of desire within him.

Once she had left him, the former Potions Master sighed silently berating himself for having been so weak as to fall prey to the rather impressive woman's charms. He reminded himself once more that he had not been her husband and this wasn't at all his life so forming attachments with people, especially Hermione Granger whom had been his former student wasn't in the least a logical move.

Despite his keen mind's logical stance on his current situation, his heart for whatever reason had been hard pressed to disagree. Something within, something long buried by a sense of duty and self loathing had begun to make itself known. So much so that his logical mind began to offer an excuse in a bid to justify his seemingly creeping need for the woman whom had become his wife in this strange place.

"What can it hurt if this is all merely a dream?"

"Aren't dreams meant to be enjoyed?, if only due to their fleeting properties in terms of happiness."

Snape had begun to take into consideration that perhaps he had been going about this whole ordeal in the wrong way and concluded that if he were to live another man's life...why not enjoy it while it lasted.

The former Potions Professor got up off the sofa and made his way into the kitchen where his wife had been on the phone with a friend of hers. He knew not the name of the voice on the end but his desire for the woman before him blocked out all unwanted fact.

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The Kitchen, The Sinclair Residence, Unknown World...

Hermione Granger-Sinclair had been the very picture of desire as she stood leaning against a nearby wall with the telephone up to her ear chatting away with whomever had bothered to call about little to nothing as they exchanged pleasantries and stories alike. She seemed to be preoccupied from what Snape could tell as he continued to make his way inside the kitchen.

He guessed rather accurately that her preoccupation had something to do with what occurred between the two of them in the sitting room not but a few moments prior as she chatted away. Seeking a means of adding to her preoccupation, Snape approached her as she turned her back to him fully intent to end whatever conversation she was having in favor of continuing where they left off.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, Snape made his presence to the seemingly relaxed Hermione known as he began to kiss her neck and press her body tighter into his own. She closed her eyes enjoying the closeness they shared while trying her hardest to keep up with the conversation on the telephone.

"Ginny...I'll have to call you back." she said finding herself more preoccupied with his distraction than the conversation.

She hung up the phone and found herself pulled into Snape's arms completely as their exchange of passion filled kisses continued to increase in frequency.

"Sidney." she said in a nearly breathless whisper.

"Hermione." he replied no longer willing to hold back on his impulses.

It had been quite some time since he had enjoyed the company of a woman, and even longer since he had desired one whom had desired him beyond a means of sexual intrigue. Unable to take much more of his apparent teasing, Hermione turned to face him wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as they continued their heated exchange.

Snape lifted his wife onto the kitchen counter parting her slender thighs as he moved to kiss her neck. She ran her finger's through his hair as she gripped him not at all put off by his sign of aging via the gray color. She wanted him. Despite his flaws and their bickering and it only made him want to adhere to her desire for him all the more.

Before the two of them could get carried away with their mutual passion, the phone rang again. This time Hermione made a point to try and ignore it as Snape continued to kiss her winded. Sadly she had been unable to manage this attempt for very long as worrying wither of not the call had been of importance had gotten to her and she acted quickly to answer it.

Snape was a bit put off by her stopping him to answer a phone but noting her concern, he backed away form her as she slipped down from the counter top and retrieved the phone before it ceased ringing.

"Hello?" she asked inquisitively.

Finding the moment, or whatever madness had driven him to conclude that giving in to his vulnerable nature had passed...Severus Snape quietly adjusted his attire and made his way out of the kitchen no longer sure he had the right to Sidney Sinclair's wife despite having switched places in some sort of ill-advised Prince and Pauper spell gone wrong.

No matter how long he had been stranded in this strange place, this life had not been his own.