It had been three months. Three months of researching, observing, brewing, fine-tuning, and hoping the outcome would match the hypothesis. And now, just two days shy of the full moon, Hermione had arrived back at Andromeda's house with an answer and, with luck, a treatment for sweet Teddy Lupin.
Hermione had spent almost every free moment outside of the hospital at Thistlebook House with Severus. They had theorized that Teddy did not actually possess any true lycanthropy genes. Rather, it was Tonks' metamorphamagus genes that triggered a sympathetic response to the full moon. Teddy's own DNA was attempting to manifest werewolf tendencies. A subconscious connection to his father created the moody, overheated, chocolate devouring actions of the toddler. Hermione and Severus had spent countless hours devising a placebo version of Wolfsbane potion to give Teddy to help ease his symptoms until he became old enough to manage them, or suppress them entirely, as his metamorphic control increased. Tonight, Hermione delivered the first dose to the relieved Andromeda. Hermione had done a thorough check up on Teddy, and masked her anxiousness as she made for the floo.
"Are you sure you won't stay for dinner?" Andromeda asked for the third time.
"Oh, thank you, Andy," Hermione responded as she reached for the powder on the mantle. "But I am really looking forward to going home this evening."
Andromeda nodded. Her face broke into a broad grin when she heard Hermione call "Thistlebook House" from the fireplace. She wondered if the young witch had realized what she had said as the green flames receded.
—xx—
Hermione stepped from the fireplace and made for the entrance hall. She hung her light jacket on a hook, slipped out of her flats, and turned for the kitchen. She could hear the soft sounds of Winky making dinner beyond the entrance. As she crossed the threshold she noted Severus at the small dining table, observing surreptitiously as he idly spun the stem of a wine glass between his fingers. Hermione moved to sit in the chair next to him, stealing the glass from his fingers and raising the full bodied red liquid to her mouth. She felt his eyes on her the entire time; it left her feeling warm before the alcohol had passed her lips. As she set the glass back into his waiting hand, she allowed her fingers to graze briefly atop his, and was rewarded with the swift dilation of his pupils. She could not resist the wide smile she felt bloom on her face, especially as she saw the small curl at the right corner of his mouth. The only indication he still gave at smiling back.
It had been three months. Three months of researching, observing, brewing, fine-tuning, and working side by side to solve Teddy's problem. Three months with Severus. Hermione still didn't know how they had gotten here, but she cherished the easiness they had begun to have: small physical affection, silent conversations, and emotional connection not unlike that which she valued so highly with Harry. So alike, and yet, so very different. Whereas her relationship with Harry had settled into comfortable platonic love, Hermione could feel a slow roiling of intimacy with Severus she had never dreamed of-much less experienced. Even during her brief relationship with Ron, she had never felt this level of closeness and...desire she had noted feeling in the presence of Severus Snape.
As the two sat in the warm kitchen, Hermione drew her bare feet to rest on the edge of Severus' chair between his barely parted legs. He lifted the wine to his own lips for a draw before passing the glass back to her, his gentle caress of her hand more intentional than her own. No words were exchanged between them, and Hermione reflected on the last three months.
After her initial reveal of Teddy's symptoms, Severus and Hermione immediately set to work scouring his library for tomes on lycanthropy. They completed reading more than half of the minimal offerings by dinner that evening, having worked together throughout the house during the day. The pair drifted between the sitting room and the office upstairs. As the sun sunk below the trees of the back garden and Winky began pulling ingredients together in the kitchen, Hermione was the first to realize the waning hours. She had made to leave, hoping Severus would allow her to return after her shift the next day to continue their research armed with new texts she hoped to pull from St. Mungo's vast medical library. He surprised her when he asked her to stay for dinner. She accepted with a blush at her cheeks and Severus offered the first twitch at the right corner of his mouth.
When she returned the next day, Severus had finished reading the previously selected works from the day before. Hermione extracted several new leather bound texts and added the question of Tonks' lineage to possible contributing factors. Severus responded with veiled enthusiasm the new possibilities this opened up for hypotheses, and a second invitation to stay for dinner.
And so it had gone. Hermione would attend to her duties at the hospital before arriving to Thistlebook House for dinner and evenings of academic pursuit. She returned to her flat to sleep and shower, only subconsciously aware that bits and pieces of her life were beginning to take residence in Thistlebook. The routine was comfortable and unproblematic. Until the end of the second month.
After a particularly challenging shift, Hermione arrived too mentally and physically fatigued to spar with Severus' latest notion that Tonks' DNA had morphed Teddy's to allow lycanthropic genes from Remus to be passed to the boy. It had been four days of an argument, with Hermione insisting that there simply was no precedence for lycanthropy to be passed from parent to child. The night before, the two had parted on bad terms when Severus' temper at being challenged resulted in claiming Teddy's afflictions were the karmic result of Remus' actions toward him when they attended Hogwarts. Hermione has left incised and closed her floo when she arrived to her flat. She didn't want Severus to follow. It had taken a tremendous amount of fortitude to reopen it after work and arrive in his sitting room.
He was sat in his chair as though he had spent hours staring into the fireplace, willing it to flame green at the announcement of her arrival. Hermione stepped into the room tired, evidenced by the dark circles under eyes and the messy updo she had haphazardly thrown her curls into. She eyed Severus warily, imploring him not to rankle her. Her stare was met with Severus' unguarded mind, and waves of emotion swept over her as he spoke two words she never expected him to say.
"Forgive me."
She couldn't help herself after that. The sincerity in his rich tone pulled her the short distance to him as he rose from the chair. Hermione weaved her arms under his, tucking herself securely under his chin, her head finding shelter against his solid chest. She clung to him feeling the fight leave her and exhaustion settle into her bones. A tear of relief threatened to fall when she felt Severus' arms rise to encircle her back. She felt his hesitancy, but was reassured as his strong hands curled possessively around the cusp of her shoulders. His plea reached farther than apology for words spoken in anger. It was a request for absolution of the actions taken against her in her youth, for the failure of a misguided man to aide in her hour of need, and a request for her understanding in all future missteps as they navigated their newly minted dynamic. They didn't research that night.
The dined together in their familiar, companionable silence and retired to the upstairs office for their conversation and a shared bottle of wine. Sitting together on the large brown leather chaise, Hermione spun the stem of her wine glass between two fingers and spoke. "Severus, do you feel it too?"
She watched him set his own glass on the end table and lean back into the apex of his end of the couch. Hermione kept her gaze lightly guarded. She wanted words between them instead of the protection their occlumency provided, and waited patiently for him to speak. He tucked a stray hair behind his ear, drew a centering breath and leveled his dark eyes on her. "I feel it too."
Hermione released a breath she didn't register she had been holding. Discarding her half drunk glass to the other end table, she shifted to close the space between them, but left a gap so as to keep from touching him. She refocused her thoughts to communicate with words. "These last few months...I-" She struggled, unsure of how to communicate what she felt. "I am deeply appreciative for your assistance and guidance with Teddy. And the graciousness with which you have welcomed me into your home...it has grounded me in a way I have not felt for a long time."
At her pause, Severus spoke in a gentle tone. "I have enjoyed the challenges of our scholarly pursuit, and having you in my home."
Hermione made to open her mouth again, but stilled as he reached a hand to brush an errant curl from her face. "And I find myself longing for your company when you leave each night."
His hand left her face and Hermione grabbed it to hold between her own. "I miss you too when I'm not here. It has become increasingly difficult to leave each evening, and I anticipate returning all through my shifts," she traced small circles along the back of his hand. She observed the small curl of his mouth and continued. "I don't know what this would look like with you, but I would like to try."
Severus turned his hand upward to cradle hers, bringing it to his mouth. His lips were soft as he pressed a tender kiss to her hand. "I would like that as well."
When she left that night, Hermione internally stopped denying her attraction to him. She knew that she wanted Severus, but escalating their relationship would have to wait until they solved Teddy's problem. She returned to her empty flat, her empty bed, and missed Severus.
—xx—
At the sound of her name, Hermione broke from her memories and locked eyes with the man next to her. She watched his brow furrow slightly in concern. "The formula is sound. Young Mr. Lupin should notice no ill effect while it suppresses his sympathetic lycanthropy symptoms, and he will be able to cease the usage of it as he matures."
Winky placed two plates of food in front of them on the table as Hermione responded. "I am confident in our work for Teddy. I was actually thinking about you."
The smallest pink flashed across his cheeks, and Hermione ducked her eyes choosing to observe the expertly prepared shepherd's pie Winky had set in front of her. Severus gave the smallest noise to clear his throat and regain her attention. "To what end?"
Hermione felt herself pull inward around her courage, reaching to draw upon her barely contained desire. Teddy was on his way to healing, and Hermione had pushed aside her intentions long enough. "I was wondering how one goes about being in love with a dead man?"
There. She had said what had been weighing heavily on her mind for weeks. Somewhere between discovering him alive, beginning a tentative friendship, and working together...Hermione had fallen in love with the once surly, acerbic, and complicated potions master. She locked her brown eyes on his darker ones, waiting for a response.
The right corner curled again. "I imagine it is much the same as loving a live one," his mouth curved into a genuine smile. "Only warmer."
A/N: Leave a comment for encouragement. -Archer
