Soft black eyes met her slowly focusing ones. Severus, she acknowledged internally as an unfiltered smile bloomed across her lips. Hermione slid her head across the goose down pillow and stretched her body into the open chasm between herself and her new love. Her hand reached his face, gently holding his angled jaw and she thumbed the stubble beginning to grow in. He closed his hand over her own and dragged it to his mouth to kiss her palm and coax her body closer to his own with a gentle pull.

As Hermione folded her body against his, she felt his voice rumble in his chest. "Good morning. Did you rest well?"

They readjusted with Hermione resting her head below the last line of his scars, cheek resting against a rather firm pectoral muscle and one leg linking in between his. Severus curled a long arm around her shoulders to land fingers atop her curved hip to trace soft shapes in her skin. Their other arms held connect hands against his sternum. Hermione angled her head up enough to answer him. "I slept very well. The bed is as soft as I had hoped." She smiled. "How long have you been awake? What time is it?"

"It's just 7." He replied, the fingers on her hip were continuing their ministrations. Hermione began to recognize that he was drawing runes on her. She noted he avoided her first question, but instead of pressing, she focused on what he traced into her skin. Strength. Peace. Beauty. Courage. Heart. Love. Hermione couldn't help but feel her heart soar and she squeezed herself further into Severus' body. She felt his fingers stop and crawl up her side to wind into her curls. "Hermione..."

As he trailed off, Hermione rose to one elbow to regard him. The early dawn light filtered through open curtains, and for the first time Hermione noted what Severus Snape looked like completely naked. His shoulders were square and strong. The scars from Nagini began in the middle of his neck on the left side, extending down to where it met his shoulder and ending just at the top of his clavicle. They were extensive, but not red, raised or ugly as they had been when Hermione was first reintroduced to him almost 6 months ago. His chest was broad but not barreled like so many of the men Hermione had known. He had tight, hard pectorals from many years of cauldrons, gardens, and duels. A light spread of black hair brushed across them and around his nipples. The expanse of his skin showed small marks and lines from injuries long healed, they were silver shapes in the light. Snape's chest tapered into a complimentarily narrowed waist and smoothed stomach. He had no well defined abdominal muscles, but they rested strongly below his soft skin, and Hermione found that she liked how his body was made for function over flash. And lower, in the patch of dark pubic hair, sat an impressively pleasing penis.

Their coupling the night before had been explosive for her. While she had exuded an air of confidence by stripping and invitingly opening her legs, Hermione had been nervous. She was achingly in love with Severus, and was equally as desperate to show him how much by making their first time together a reflection of that, as well as ensuring that their pleasure had been unmatched by any previous partners. She was not disappointed. Severus proved attentive, passionate, and enthusiastic to her attentions and body. Hermione, despite little to compare it to, knew it was the best sex she would ever have in her life. The traitorous part of her brain that feasted on fantasy, brought forth the hope that it would be the only sex she would have for the rest of her life. She trapped that little part of her brain firmly behind strong shields.

Hermione ceased her visual inspection and internal reflection, and succeeded in keeping the blush from her cheeks as she locked eyes with him again. "Yes, Severus? What is it?"

"I meant what I said last night." She cocked her head at that, for she knew he was not one to ever speak half-truths, but she was uncertain as to the statement he was referring. His mouth curled into a small smile. "I would like for you to stay with me."

Hermione smiled at him, leaning forward to capture his lips with her own. Their mouths slid and angled for tongues to intertwine and breathy moans escape. She shifted and Severus read her intentions clearly. He helped navigate her body so that she sat astride his lap as she had done the night before. Less clothing was the only difference now, and Hermione couldn't resist a tempting rock of her hips against him. She could feel his penis harden, and her core pulsed-wetness beginning to spread toward the opening of her vagina. She rocked again, dragging her fingers through his hair. Severus broke from her mouth, a harsh intake of air passing his kiss swollen lips and he groaned. His hands flew to grip her hips and still her. Hermione almost pouted at his actions to cease her response to her hormones. She wanted him again, but she knew he needed to speak, so she drew back to rest her hands on his chest and kiss his forehead as they both struggled to control their baser urges. She found her voice first. "I will stay, Severus. I will stay always if that is what you wish."

"Yes," he cupped her face. "I didn't think this-you-would ever be something that I could have. I spent the better part of my life convinced I was undeserving of it. But after...well, after it was over, I swore to myself that I would live this new life unafraid and uncontrolled."

"I wasn't expecting you to test those new boundaries," he continued. Hermione held his arms and beamed at him. She thought she had seen him naked in the dawn light, but she knew now that this was Severus Snape naked. His vulnerability was palpable, Hermione knew she had something delicate between her fingers and she would not lose it. She pressed a soft kiss to his lips in encouragement. "I cannot stay hidden any longer. I know, that for you to be with me, you cannot love a dead man. And I vow to try and be this version of myself in your world, but-"

"Severus," Hermione cut him off. "I will expect nothing. If you choose to re-enter the wizarding world, it will be as yourself. Nothing more, nothing less. I know who you are, and I haven fallen in love with every facet of your being."

He opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione plowed on. "It will be done on your terms, in the manner with with you are most comfortable. And it will be done together. I would never ask this of you, but I love you all the more for offering it. I am proud to call you my own, if you will agree."

At this, Hermione could barely brace herself as he surged forward to envelop her lips in a bruising, passionate kiss. He broke only to whisper, "I am yours. Only yours."

Then his lips descended again, hand flying to her hips to grind her body against his own. Hermione joyously complied to his urgent request. She rocked her hips against his hardened dick, and arched her chest, breaking away again from his mouth to draw breath. Severus greedily gave his attention to her breasts and they were thrust in front of his face. Her hands ran down from his hair to his shoulders and his fingers dug tighter into her hips. She gasped out words as he continued to lave at her nipples.

"Severus...feels...so...good."

She grew bold as his actions caused her core to ache. She rose on her legs high enough to allow his erection to stand more vertical, the tip now gently touching her vaginal lips. The evidence of their mutual arousal combining to provide enticing friction as she wiggled invitingly.

"Fuck, Hermione." She heard him growl and raise his eyes to her face. She nodded at him.

"Inside me." She heard herself say. She bent her head so her lips brushed his ear. "I want you inside me, fucking me until I can't breathe. I'm yours, Severus."

At his guttural sound, she impaled herself over his cock and released her own scream of ecstasy. The moment confirmed that she would never want another to take her the way Severus did. With him fully encased in her warm heat, the lovers set a languid, passionate pace. Hermione rising and falling, and Severus using his hands to grind her against him on her down strokes. The combined efforts of being filled and stretched, and the friction of Severus' pubic bone against her clit had Hermione panting and nearing her release.

"Oh...Severus...I'm so close." She could only airily speak. He was proving more than willing to accept the challenge of making her breathless.

In a surprising move of athleticism, Hermione suddenly found herself rolled over, her back against the bed and Severus thrusting above her. The change of angle was almost too much to bear, but Hermione struggled to hold on and find her release as Severus found his. Her breaths became more labored and her eyes shut as he leaned down, kissing her hard-as hard as the thrusts of his cock in her pussy. "Look at me, Hermione. Your pussy feels so good around my cock. I can feel it clenching around me, begging for release and to pull all of my cum inside of you. Is that what you want?"

She gasped at his words. Hot, dirty, deliciously sexy words that made her eyes fly open and stare into his inky depths. She is surprised at the vulgarity with which he spoke, but more surprised at how much it turned her on. He kept speaking as if he knew what it was doing to her. "I want to see you when I come inside you. I want you to see everything that you do to me."

Severus hitched one of her legs over his hip, thrusted harder and he titled his trajectory just so. It made Hermione widen her already owlish eyes further, breath barely being inhaled between her frantic gasps and barely coherent words. "There...Oh, fuck...there. Severus, I want you to come with me. Harder...I need...I love...fuck...your cock...feels-so-good..."

"Yes, Hermione. Look at me, love. I'm going to come. You're going to shatter around me. I love you...please, please...Look at me...fuck!"

Hermione felt as her pussy clenched and his dick grew ever slightly bigger inside her. They released joint cries of pleasure, and Hermione kept her eyes locked on Severus'. At the peak of their orgasm, she felt his presence inside her mind, and all breath left her lungs at what he showed her.

An unsent letter after their reintroduction. His unease at trying to explain his past, and tentative hope in his future. A slowly burning desire to see her again.

She was curled in the armchair near the fireplace. A book in her lap. Research notes, quills, ink pots, and books strewn about her feet. The fire glow illuminated the soft baby hairs around her face. She looked like home to him.

The argument about Remus. When the fire stopped flowing green at her departure, he had tried desperately to follow. The flames wouldn't glow emerald for him. He shattered an apothecary jar from the mantle, swept books from the nearest shelf. Crumpling into his chair, he felt desolate and hollow. Lost. Alone. Repentant for more than just this sin against her. He sat in the chair all night, until the fireplace roared to life once more and she returned.

Her jacket on the peg by the front door. Her quills in the cup next to his on the desk of the library. A wayward sweater discarded in the potions lab. Her books reshelved next to his own. Feeling the curve of a smile at this seemingly innocuous joining of life.

A bloom of fantastical hope and acceptance as the dining chair slid across the floor between his legs. The warmth in her brown eyes reflecting his own as he kissed her at dinner.

Bright, searing desire, and an undercurrent of trepidation at the sight of her grey lace and expanses of skin last night. Heady lust as he entered her for the first time.

Quiet reflection and deep love. Peaceful gazing at her sleeping form mere hours ago.

A brief flash of entwined hands and a sunny afternoon on the cobblestone of Diagon Alley.

Hazy daydreams of her laughter, golden sun behind her as his hand ticks an errant curl behind her ear. The digits drifting down an arm to brush a barely swollen belly.

Love. Black curls and brown eyes.

Severus closes his eyes and Hermione is bereft at the closed connection. She can't breathe. From the earth shatteringly powerful orgasm she has had or the overwhelming influx of memories, emotions, and deeply secretive desires he has shared with her, she is unsure. She can feel Severus shaking above her, and she notices his cheeks are damp. She can feel tears on her own as well. Hermione reaches for him, pulls his body against hers, not caring about the additional weight atop her as she regains her breath. He is still inside her, but softening. She feels their combined release trickle from her body, and she finds she is unbothered by such things when the man she loves is exhaling onto her chest is warm puffs of air and her fingers card through his black tresses.

He slides off and out of her, to lay next to her and drape an arm over her hip. He keeps her close, and Hermione relishes the heat that radiates from his body. His eyes have reopened and he looks younger than his age and life experience would have one believe. She is hesitant to shatter their blissful silence, but she knows that he has given her everything in this moment. Hermione licks her lips and speaks. "Severus, I am rendered almost speechless. I love you."

He doesn't respond, only searches her face as if looking for doubt, disbelief, or any other emotion that could confirm a rejection. Instead she keeps her expression unguarded but curious. "How can I do that? How can I show you how I feel? How I see you? How I see us? Please...I want you to know."

"Just look at me and think about what you want to show me," he answers softly. "I can-I will see it all."

Hermione swallows, closes her eyes to gather her thoughts and then reestablishes their connection. She tries to methodically show him, but she seems to lack the control Severus had, and she tumbled through flashes of their shared time together. She feels more composed when she begins to craft the future.

A Quibbler headline detailing Severus' war history and quiet return to the wizarding world. Her pride at the positive and profound reaction of their peers as they step out of Flourish and Blotts together.

Laughter. Conversation. Glasses clinking in the summer golden hour light of Thistlebook's back garden. Weasley hair, Potter glasses, and Malfoy blonde float through the bustle of a lively reception. She sees his elongated, gifted fingers nimbly toy with ivory lace.

Winky singing in the kitchen as tiny feet race past them to reach the elf. The blurred figure has black curls and brown eyes. She interlaces her fingers with his.

Hermione closes her eyes. She feels a slight ache in her head at the amount of effort projecting thought takes. When she blinks, she refocuses upon Severus' face. He is smiling and she speaks. "I can see it too. And I want it, just as much as you."


A/N: Well, I hope that held a little of everything. Fluff, smut (the most I've EVER written), a little plot development. I hope you all are still hanging with this story. If you are, please, please, please, PLEASE leave me a comment. Ask questions, keep me honest. Love to all. -Archer