AN: Thank you for all the support! It is very deeply appreciated!

Severus felt like a fourteen year old who was announcing that his parents had approved him for a sleepover. Actually, he hadn't felt this way even at fourteen. He did not need to ask his parents if he could spend the night at anyone's house because they barely noticed him. Besides, as a fourteen year old he had only wanted to spend time with Lily, a girl who already saw him as an impediment to her social life.

Hermione was no girl, but a full grown women with whom he wanted to unify his essence. The thought of pressing his spirit against her body had consumed his daydreams since Dismas left the room. If Sirius could make this evening worth remembering then perhaps Severus would find something redeemable in him, perhaps even likable…

The slight blush when he told her when he relayed Dismas' message did elicit a pink glow from him. Why had no man ever expressed how beautiful she was to her face? He knew people were dunderheads, but he never expected to profit so much from their missteps.

"I'm glad you can stay." She picked at a loose thread on her burgundy afghan. "That will be nice."

Severus turned white. He wanted to share everything he had with her, and she just believed it to be nice?

"What day do you, uh, want to stay the night?" Hermione asked as she sat up straighter, her back on the armrest of the couch.

"Anytime you're free."

"I'm free almost every day." She let out a forced chuckle. "You're the only person who sees me every day, other than Beatrice."

"So you've said."

"Yes." She bit her lower lip as she turned her attention across the room. "I don't think Crookshanks has moved once since you came."

"Is that problematic?"

"No, he's just having a lazy day."

In the chipped leather recliner, the orange half-kneazle stretched. He opened one eye, as if he was judging them for their bashfulness. If Severus didn't love Hermione as much as he did he would give that beast a look would ensure he never looked at him like that again.

"I am glad he is not annoying you, I suppose." His expression was neutral.

"Yes," she drawled.

The silence crushed Severus. Clearly she had reconsidered her plan, and had wisely reached the conclusion that she did not believe Severus Snape was a person worth waking up to. He couldn't blame her.

"Listen," His glow faded as he turned blue. "If you are having second thoughts about waking up to me, I will not be offended. In fact, we can pretend the idea never came up and resume our comfortable relationship."

"No!"

He jerked back as his glow brightened.

"I don't want to reconsider this, I mean, unless you have." She gulped.

"No, I want this more than anything."

"Me too, but," Her blush deepened. "I'm afraid you'll come to regret it."

He floated closer to her. "How could I regret even one moment with you?"

"I don't know. I'm not romantic in a traditional sense. I want to read, research, touch, and just gaze into your eyes."

"That's all I want too." He rested beside her.

"You don't need to lie. If that itinerary sounds like the dullest thing in existence, I won't be offended. I can think of something else."

"Why do you think I would not want to do any of those things?"

"Past experience."

"With me?"

"No, I told Ron I wanted to read and just be with him, and he laughed at me." A tear glistened in the fire light. "Then he called me the most boring witch he'd met. I believe the nickname was homely Hermione."

"You are anything but boring and homely," Severus answered.

"I would like to think that." She dropped the blanket. "But I've never woken up with anyone but him. I didn't date anyone until now. It's been so long I don't know what I'm doing."

"If it makes you feel better, I have little clue as to what I'm doing too. I've never stayed overnight with a woman."

She wiped her face.

"Don't get me wrong, I was no virgin. Still, I'm horrible with woman. Anytime I was with one, I knew it was not to last. I was too concerned with spying, and when I was relaxed, I almost always said and did the wrong things to push her away. When I was with a woman, either I left them before I could get too close to ruin anything, or she left because I was too difficult."

"You are not difficult with me."

"I choose to be friendlier with you. The fact that the Wizarding World doesn't depend on me has improved my mood greatly."

"I suppose it would."

"I never allowed my self to get close to a woman until now. Still, I will make mistakes." He turned blue. "If you cannot accept that, then remaining as we are is a terrible idea."

"As long as you can accept the fact that I make mistakes, then I can accept you making a few."

"I accept you as you are."

"Thank you. I need that assurance because this isn't a fling for me, but an eternal commitment." Her voice cracked. "If it is a fling, please tell me so I know where we stand."

"Hermione, you are anything but a fling." His voice was soft and tender. "My heart broke every time I thought of you with another man. Eternity is meaningless without you. Heaven is little better than Purgatory if you are not there beside me. I mean it when I say you have captured my heart, and I do not ever want it back. Fairly or unfairly, I want to spend the rest of my existence with you in whatever form it may take."

"How could it be unfair to want the same thing I want?"

"I am still deceased, and you are quite alive."

"It won't be that way forever."

"I know."

He pressed his finger onto her hand. Her smile was genuine and serene.

"Do you want to know what I want?" He released her.

"What?" She breathed.

"The night you went out with Dr. Marsh, Dismas took me to the outskirts of heaven. I could see the cosmos from afar. It was very much how Dante described, only somehow more wondrous."

Her eyes twinkled.

"Perhaps the most wondrous thing was the heavenly spirits. I saw souls merging into one. They became one flame, brighter than all the souls who were unfused."

"Were they like what Plato descried in The Symposium?"

"Somewhat, but they were truly unified a way only Aristophanes could have dreamed of."

"Did they become four legged monsters?"

"No, they were all one fire, and they could separate whenever they wanted. They were whole in their own so they did not need to remain fused, yet they craved that togetherness. It was as if they'd found some balance earthly souls could not."

"I can envision that."

"Still, if we could have that someday, even if it's five hundred years from now, that is what I want for us."

"I want it too." She swallowed. "And we could have it now."

"How?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I have a soul, so it could be possible to fuse into me."

Severus' glow pulsated.

"When we touch, I feel something stir within me. It's mystical, spiritual, and it overwhelms me. You already touch my soul so much that my essence is somewhat comprised of loving you."

"Please tell me you don't regret loving me."

"Not at all, but it made me realize how much I want to be one with you."

"It's going to be different than a carnal connection," he warned. "At some point, your body may want more."

"I have ways of dealing with my body," she replied. "But my spirit wants to connect with you, no matter what forms that takes."

"Would you like to unify with me on our night together?"

"Yes." Her face lit up, as if she had her own glow.

"Then our first night together will be our first unity."

"Then we'll do it tomorrow night?"

"No."

She frowned.

"Please do not misunderstand me," he continued. "I want this more than anything. Everything in me wants to fuse with you now."

"But…"

"This is our first soul fusion. It should be special, not something unplanned and careless."

"I had no idea you were such a closeted romantic."

"I am trying to enter this thoughtfully since this is so new not only to us, but to the universe as a whole. In fact, I cannot recall ever hearing of such a thing happening."

"I can't either, although I can look it up."

He brushed his lips against hers. "I'm sure you could."

She moaned as she returned the kiss as best she could.

"This time next week, I will have an amazing evening planned. If we are to be the first spirit and human who unify, then let's make it something even the Trinity will look upon with envy."

"I can wait then. In the meantime, there are things I could do…"

"You do not need to do anything. All you need to do is be present. Let me woo you like a proper gentleman."

"That is fine, except you are anything but a kindly gentleman." She smirked.

"True," he admitted. "Though for you, I can attempt to behave like one."

"Don't deviate too far from who you are. I fell in love with you, not some character from a romance novel."

"I know you love me for who I am." He tapped her hand. "I thank the Trinity for that every day."

She sighed.

"And for the record, I love you just as you are."

"I know you do," she breathed.

They gazed into each other's eyes, both feeling absolute ecstasy in the moment, and absolute uncertainty as to what was to occur.