Hermione yelped with delight as Severus tumbled into the bed on top of her, and she eagerly tore his cloak from his shoulders.
She fumbled with his buttons, but he made quick work of them with a spell, impatience overcoming them both.
Finally, they were both naked, and Hermione felt every fiber of her being calling out for him, desperate for his touch. Her thoughts were scrambled, but she knew one thing at least.
She wanted him.
Now.
He paused and she almost growled at him out of pure frustration.
His dark eyes met hers, with just a shadow of hesitation in them.
"You're sure?" his voice was barely more than a whisper, despite the fact that they were in her flat far from any prying eyes or ears.
In her addled mind, she decided he was more adorable than ever and lifted herself up to kiss him again.
"Very sure."
"It's just," he broke away from her kisses, keeping his eyes trained on her face rather than letting them stray to her exposed breasts. "You've had wine. You're not drunk, are you? Should we wait?"
"I only had two," Hermione insisted. "And I know what I want, and right now it's you. So get down... Here... You..."
He gave in and obeyed, taking to her body with as much enthusiasm as her own.
When Hermione awoke the next morning the foggy alcohol-induced haze had lessened and she had a mild headache. She let her thoughts catch up with her before she opened her eyes.
The Anniversary party marking two years since the end of the war. Harry's speech. Saying goodbye to Ron. Talking to Professor Snape in the gardens outside. Bringing him back here.
Her eyes flashed open and were drawn to the left where she saw he was propped up on an elbow, watching her.
"Morning," he said casually.
Her shock was replaced by a rush of affection for the man, and a thrill at seeing him so undone in her own bed. Her attraction piqued, and she felt the haze return the longer she looked at him. As though drawn by some magnetic force, she leaned over to him and replied with a kiss. He returned it, smiling against her mouth.
"So, no regrets then?" he asked, drawing away from her again much to her hormones chagrin. "I was a little concerned, to be honest. I didn't want this to be a one-night thing."
"I love you," she found the words tumbling out if her mouth before she could stop them, making his eyes widen dramatically.
"R-really?" He looked so hopeful. "If I may ask... How did this happen?"
Hermione didn't care to answer at that moment and launched herself into him and they proceeded into round two.
It was early in the afternoon the day after the Anniversary Party when they finally removed themselves from the bed and meandered into the kitchen to search for sustenance.
Hermione felt her desire for him so intensely she could barely concentrate on buttering her toast, but after going at it like rabbits twice within the span of twelve hours they were both at their limit.
Still, she looked up at him through her lashes. He was smiling, relaxed. The happiest she had ever seen him. And he was mouth-watering.
"I'm glad you came to me," he was saying. She was unable to take her eyes away from his lips as they moved, although she could feel his warm, dark gaze on her. "I've loved you for... I'm not even sure when it started. When you nursed me after the snake bite, perhaps. Or when we were in Australia, fixing your parents."
Something unidentifiable shifted in her, and she pushed her uneaten breakfast away, moving to his side of the table to straddle him once again, capturing those irresistible lips in another series of desperate kisses.
He returned a few of them, but then turned aside with a laugh, gripping her tightly by the waist.
"Hermione, you'll be the death of me," he shifted under her attentions which were now tickling the unscarred side of his neck.
"I love you," she repeated, desperately, but that feeling in her gut that had shifted somehow felt worse. She tried to drown it out, the words tumbling off her tongue. "I love you, I love you, I love you."
"I'm so glad," he squeezed her tightly. "I never would have imagined my feelings were returned. I know we've become friends, but I thought that was all it would ever be. Things like this just don't normally happen to me."
She dug her nails into his shoulders, gripping him more tightly. "I love you."
"I love you more," he assured her, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Severus looked up to the door in annoyance, but her eyes remained trained in him.
"'Mione?" Ron's voice came through the door slightly muffled. "You home? Are you feeling better?"
Severus' eyes flicked to hers again, although she was already trying to go back to her previous occupation with his neck.
"Are you planning on answering your door?" he asked, pulling away from her kisses. "And what does he mean better?"
"'Mione?" Ron called again. "Who's in there with you? I've cast hominem revelio so I know there's two of you in there."
Hermione ignored him again, Severus' presence so intoxicating she couldn't find an answer if she tried, but Severus had had enough. He stood up abruptly, plopping Hermione down in his seat, and wrenching the door open, and pointing his wand directly at Ron's nose.
"What feedback did I leave you on your final potions exam?" He demanded.
"That I possessed none of the talent of my brothers and after graduation shouldn't attempt a concoction more complicated than pumpkin soup," Ron sounded relieved at his presence in the flat, which was odd in itself. Normally Ron couldn't stand Severus.
"How's she doing?" Ron asked. "Has it worn off yet? Did she bump into you on her way out?"
There was a pregnant pause between them, until Severus finally broke it, his voice low and quiet.
"If you would please recount the events of last night, Mr. Weasley."
Ron was talking animatedly, although Hermione couldn't quite hear what he was saying. She was more focused on watching Severus. His strong, lean shoulders; his pale, long fingers, which were gripping the door frame with increasing intensity.
The conversation ended, and she heard Ron's crack of apparation seconds after Severus closed the door with a soft click.
She stood and began to make her way over to him again, keen to make use once again of their renewed privacy, but his next words froze her to the floor.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, and as he turned around slowly she saw his face, paper-white. "It seems I have made an error in judgment."
Her heart pounded in her chest and she felt a rising, aimless desperation deep in her belly.
"I love you," she said forcefully, and he flinched. His eyes were looking to her left rather than directly at her, and she felt the need to make him - force him to look at her. She closed the distance between them in three steps and gripped his robes in her fists.
"I love you," she repeated, and he swallowed thickly.
"Mr. Weasley believes you are under the influence of a love potion," he said, his words stilted. "And in hindsight, I agree. If you would please disconnect yourself from my person I will brew an accelerant. As you know, there are no known cures for love potions, but this will accelerate the effects and it should wear off within a few minutes or hours rather than days."
"I love you," she insisted. "It doesn't have to be like that. We could move in together. Get married. Maybe have kids one day. I love you. Don't you love me too?"
He closed his eyes tightly, his jaw tensing and flattening his lips into a straight line.
"Always," he rasped. "Please, allow me to give you the accelerant."
"I'll still love you," she vowed.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," Severus said sadly. "I fear... I fear I have ruined things forever. I'm so sorry. I should have known."
He turned out of her slack grip and moved to the spare room at the back end of her apartment where she had her laboratory set up. He had helped her set that room up, shortly after they had returned from Australia.
It hadn't seemed right to assume she could stay with her parents after what she had done to them - recovered or not. And they certainly would not have been comfortable with her magic in the house in such an obvious way.
Although she had bought the apartment herself with her Order of Merlin money, Severus had helped her move in and set it up. He had said it was his thanks for her helping him to clean up Spinner's End into a livable place again after all the vandalism... But now... He had said he had been in love with her even then.
She longed to pull him away from the cauldron, to take him back to bed and keep him there away from thoughts that put that washed out expression on his face.
But deep down she knew it was true. Her thoughts were muddled, but she pieced together the disjointed memories of the night before.
The speeches had been done, and as the party fell into full swing she had left her wine unattended - only for a moment. When she tasted it next, the flavour was altered and her nose was assaulted with the scent of grass clippings, ink and parchment. She had spat it out immediately, but in her shock she knew she had swallowed at least half a mouthful.
She slammed her eyes shut, determined not to look at anyone, and had gripped Ron's arm tightly.
"Ron," she hissed. "Don't drink anything. My drink has been spiked."
"What?" her friend had yelped, slamming his drink down.
"Shh!" She hissed. "Let me think. I need to get out of here. It's amortentia. If I can get to the apparition point I can get home and away from anyone."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No!" Hermione grimaced. "Can you see the headlines if I'm seen leaving with you?"
"Rita bloody Skeeter," Ron growled. "You don't think she did this do you?"
"Who else?" Hermione asked. "I just need to get out of here until it wears off. It might be a few hours or a few days. Do you think you could send Severus after me? He'll know what to do."
"Of course," Ron said. "And... Uh, what do you want me to do?"
"Stay here and stay seen until well after I've gone. Then come check on me tomorrow morning if you can't find Severus. I don't want to risk another scandal right when I'm trying to get my charity legitimized."
"Of course," Ron said. "Here, I'll lead you to the door. Follow the hedge line right down the path and the apparition point is right at the end."
Only she hadn't made it all the way to the end. She'd barrelled right into Severus near the edge of the garden. In the shock of the impact, she had opened her eyes.
She'd meant to tell him what had happened but instead, she was gushing how glad she was to see him. How well he scrubbed up in his nice robes. How much he meant to her. And then she'd kissed him and invited him to the privacy of her home.
Severus finished the potion and cleared his station with a wave of his wand. He was left with a vial which he left uncapped. He brought her over to the couches in her small, cozy lounge and sat her down, placing the vial into her hands with a sad gentleness that seemed to emanate from his entire body.
"Do I have to drink this?" she asked, although she already knew the answer. "It would be so much easier to just stay happy."
"It wouldn't be real," Severus said softly. "Please."
She tried to catch his eyes, but he still wasn't meeting her gaze. She downed the tasteless brew in one gulp and took Severus' hand from where it was folded in his lap to sit and wait.
"How fast do you think this will work?" She asked.
"It's hard to know," he said, his fingers twitching in her grip. "I don't know how much you ingested."
"It was only about half a mouthful."
"You knew?"
"I remembered. As you were brewing."
He nodded, grimacing.
"I found you so... So intoxicating I guess I just... Forgot."
He pulled his hand out from her grip and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'm sorry," he repeated. "You... You trusted me, and I took advantage of you."
"You didn't know-"
"I should have known," he insisted. "Why would you just come to me like that? Why would you... Things like this don't happen to me."
"Severus-"
"I ignored the evidence because I wanted it to be true."
"I'm not mad at you," Hermione said soberly.
"You will be," he glanced at her with dread. "Once your senses return."
Hermione pushed her lips together as her mind cleared and an unholy rage filled her.
"I think they're returning," she said bitterly.
Severus glanced at her fearfully.
"And?"
She met his eyes, and flashes of memories ran through her mind of the things they had done in the past twelve hours. Her face turned as red as a radish.
"I'm incredibly embarrassed," she said. "And furious at Rita. But not you. You couldn't have known."
"Let your feelings settle," Severus winced. "I'm sure it will come."
She shifted closer to him and he once again looked away.
"Sev," she gripped his hand tightly. "We have been through so much together, this is not going to break us. I'm not letting that bloody beetle take you from me."
He gave her the most vulnerable look she'd ever seen from him.
"It'd be different if you had drugged me-"
"I would never-"
"I know!" She said fiercely. "And that's just the point. YOU wouldn't do this to me. YOU wouldn't hurt me. And of everyone I possibly could have run into, Severus, I'm glad it was you. You haven't ruined anything. And I'm glad I know how you feel now. I don't... I don't think I ever would have realized otherwise. You're terribly good at hiding your feelings, you know."
"I never meant you to know," he squeezed her fingers in apology. "I never imagined you would return them and I have no desire for your pity."
"Well," she sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad I know now anyway."
"I should leave," he said finally.
"No-"
"Yes, I should," he insisted. "You should be all better by the end of the day. Don't answer the door until then. And if you would contact me tomorrow to... To know that you're well... I would be eternally grateful."
"Of course," she said. "But I'm honestly feeling a lot better already. The compulsion is gone. You could stay-"
"I really can't," he stood up and gave her a devastated look. "The more sweet things you say to me, Hermione... The more it's going to hurt if you take them all away."
Hermione gave him a pained look, wanting desperately to comfort him but seeing how that would just make it worse.
"I'll come find you. At ten AM tomorrow. Will you be at Hogwarts, or home?"
"I'll stay at home," he nodded. "Ten AM?"
"I promise."
Without another word, he strode out of her house and apparated away.
With a heavy heart, Hermione summoned a book of jinxes off her shelf and began to flick through, imagining what kind of vengeance she would wreck on Rita for this.
Severus sat in his lounge staring at the clock in a mixture of hope and dread as the hands ticked closer to ten. Knowing Hermione as well as he did she would be punctual to the second. That is, if she turned up. She was reliable, but if she chose not to honour a promise she made while under the influence he wouldn't blame her. Maybe she would send an owl.
No, that wasn't her style. She would come, and likely treat him to a heartfelt apology for leading him on despite the fact he was very plainly the one in the wrong, and then try and wrangle him into seeing a Muggle psychiatrist to help him with his penchant for falling in love with unattainable women. The thought was unbearable.
He would almost prefer an owl.
The clock struck ten, and he thought for two horrible seconds she might not come after all, until her familiar knock of three consecutive raps on the door reached his ears. He flicked his wand and the door swung open.
She entered hesitantly, finding him sitting in his reading chair nursing a whisky.
"It's a little early for that, isn't it?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
Yes, she was properly in her right mind now. He detested himself for not making the distinction earlier.
"I started it about ten hours ago, so it's for me it's rather late than early."
"Oh, Severus," she said with feeling and sank down on the arm of his chair.
Here it came, he thought, and drained the glass down. How could she not pity such a pitiful creature?
"I trust you are feeling restored to your right self?"
"Quite," she said and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I need to thank you properly."
"Thank me?" Severus spluttered. "Thank me for what? For taking advantage of you?"
"That's not what that was and you know it," Hermione insisted. "You looked after me. Thank you."
"I... I defiled our friendship. You trusted me."
"I hardly think of sex as defiling, Severus," Hermione leaned back and gave him a serious look. "We could have ended up that way any other number of ways, you know."
Severus' mouth ran dry as he tried to comprehend what she was saying.
"Besides, it was rather believable, wasn't it?" She said thoughtfully.
"What?" He snapped, unable to form any other words from pure shock.
"Well, it's not like it came out of nowhere," she said. "We've been friends for a good few years now. And there has been an underlying attraction for a while too."
"I let it get in the way of my better judgment. I'm sorry, I should have-"
"I'm talking about me, Severus," she turned his head to look at her with a finger on his jaw. "I've been attracted to you for just about as long."
His eyes widened fractionally.
"When you were recovering, and it was just you and me in my parents' house after the war... I really got to know you, you know?" She blushed. "I guess I stopped looking at you as a teacher - as some figurehead and started seeing you as an individual. As a man."
He stared at her mutely. It had been the same for him. He hadn't taught her then for a full year, and the young woman he had come to know was much changed.
"And then when you came to Australia to help me find my parents and reverse the memory charm... I know you said it was repayment for my hospitality, but neither of us really believed that, right?" Hermione said, tugging affectionately at his hair. "That was just your emotionally stunted way of declaring our friendship."
His lips twitched at the jab.
"And then when I was doing my apprenticeship with Filius... Well, we were colleagues. I came to adore you, but I never even considered that we could... Although at that Christmas party with the mistletoe... I kind of wished you hadn't incinerated it now."
"You... do?" He gulped.
"Maybe we would have gotten together then and not wasted these past several months."
He jerked suddenly, and stood up, making Hermione tumble into his chair with a yelp.
"Hermione, I must ask you if it's possible that you have... re-ingested any of the potion."
"Sev," she laughed ruefully. "I know what it feels like now and... I was intoxicated by you before. Now... Well, I find you more infuriating than intoxicating."
He spun around and stared at her, his hands shaking.
"But I still want you, though."
"You do?"
"Well, I'd like to try," Hermione shrugged. "I mean... I can't promise it will work. But I feel like we have a chemistry that's too good to waste."
He felt a smile crack its way across his face, and the tension leave his shoulders. In two short steps he closed the distance between them again, falling to one knee and grasping her hands within his own.
"I was so scared I'd lose you for good," his words were barely more than a whisper.
"Never," she said, capturing him in a kiss.
"Now," she said when she finally released him. "How would you like to help me plan my revenge?"
"You haven't caught me in a particularly vengeful mood," Severus murmured, stroking her hair.
"I was very close to seeing Ron before I saw you, you know."
"Hm. Perhaps I could come up with a curse or two. Or three."
Hermione cracked a grin. She had a feeling this was going to be the start of something quite amazing.
