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CHAPTER TWENY-ONE – IT'S MORE THAN JUST THIS

The staff door to the Great Hall slammed open and silence fell in the hall, everyone's eyes were on Snape as he entered, and then on the woman trailing after him. Nobody knew what to think of that. Snape made his speech and by the time he finished his first sentence, Ron figured it out.

"Bloody hell." He hissed, elbowing Harry and kicking Ginny under the table.

"What?" Ginny snapped.

"That's Hermione, that is!"

Harry and Ginny slowly turned their attention back up to the elegant woman with the lady-like posture, deceptively relaxed with a stiff backbone.

"Merlin's bollocks." Ginny gasped.

Harry's expression was shock and then relief. "So she is alive! I was beginning to think your mother's clock was broken."

"Never, mate." Ron said grinning.

"Shut up you idiots and pay attention, look at her."

The boys looked up again to watch Snape banish the owl podium and were shocked to see Hermione look slightly amused. She followed Snape willingly around the table and sat next to him, digging into her dinner. Harry's face turned to rage.

"What has the greasy bat done to her?" He seethed.

Ginny shook her head, at a loss as the three of them watched the pair engage in conversation, leaned slightly in towards each other.

"Maybe she's imperiused?" Ron suggested.

"McGonagall is sitting right next to her; she would stop it if it were that simple." Ginny snapped.

Whispers rose up around the Great Hall as people realized who the mysterious woman was. Harry decided it took longer for things like this to get around because only about half of Hogwarts was actually here. It was a sad sight.

"YOU CLAIMED HER?!"

McGonagall's exclamation rang out just loud enough to reach the trio's ears and they turned back around to watch Hermione try to speak and Snape stop her, leading her away from the table with a hand on her arm.

"Get your grubby hand off her." Ron grumbled under his breath.

Snape released her of his own accord and she followed him out of the hall, flicking her eyes towards them as she walked by, but other than that, she didn't seem to look away from Snape's back.

"What the bloody hell do you suppose that was about?" Ron asked as soon as the doors of the Great Hall slammed shut.

"What does McGonagall mean claimed?" Harry asked.

"I heard about this," Ginny answered in a low voice, "It was a big deal in the first war, Death Eater's claiming muggleborns and sometimes muggles as slaves."

"That greasy git!" Ron hissed.

"It's not good," Ginny continued, "She'll totally and completely bend at Snape's every will, we can't consider her an ally anymore." She concluded gravely.

"There's no way Hermione would let—"

"She wouldn't have a choice, Ron." Ginny snapped.

SHSHSH

Hermione stretched sleepily and wrinkled her nose at the cold in the air. She lifted her head to glance across the room and noticed the fire was out. She wondered if she woke up before the elves or if they didn't want to light fires for Severus. She groaned and curled back up under the luxurious blankets. After a pause, she skootched backwards until she bumped into Severus and then stayed put, enjoying the extra little heat coming off of him and fell back asleep.

Severus woke as soon as Hermione propped herself up on her elbow and held his breath when she settled back down and scooted closer to him. Shortly after he heard the soft, even breathing of her sleeping and he relaxed. Her body heat felt good and he considered starting a fire in the fire place since it was chilly. Then again, that wouldn't leave him with any excuse to get closer to her. He stared at the back of her head a long time before, as gently as he possibly could, he brushed her hair aside so he could shuffle closer to her without her hairs teasing his nose. He moved closer, just enough so that there was space between them, except for where his knees bumped the back of her legs. She smelled heavenly still, honeysuckle roses and he was reminded instantly of that morning.

Her body had felt so good pressed up against his, warm and supple. Her reckless grinding against him. She had clearly wanted him and he wondered what she had been dreaming that had contributed to their situation. He wondered what she was dreaming now. He huffed when he felt his erection strain towards her. Honestly, being around her was going to getting him dead faster than anything else. His body was desperate for her, but he was going to exercise his fabulous self-control. Out of curiosity, he opened the covers just enough to catch a glimpse of what she was wearing. He ground his teeth. The little black shorts of course. The ones he knew that right now were probably exposing the bottoms of her globes. For fuck's sake. He breathed deeply and convinced himself to go back to sleep.

The sun burst into the headmaster's bedroom a few hours later with vengeance. Hermione blinked awake, screwing her face at the bright light. She sighed, burrowing in deeper and covering her face. Something wasn't quite right…. It took Hermione just a fraction too long to realize Severus had snuggled up to her in the night, although his hands were to himself, he was curled tightly against her. Her eyebrows pinched as she realized part of him that was tight against her was quite firm. She giggled. The sound must have pulled Severus from the depths of sleep because she heard him groan and he wiggled closer against her, a hand appearing on her waist. His hips flexed against her, pressing his erection harder against her. She felt him sigh into her hair.

She smiled and shook her head a little, this was insane, laying here spooning with Severus Snape. But she didn't want him to pull away, she was comfortable like this, and the urgency of his erection against her bum reminded her of that morning. It had been delicious, although she had no idea where that bizarre dream of hers had come from. She wanted to feel like that again. Experimentally, she pushed her bum back against Severus and he groaned, his hips flashing forward. She giggled again. She wished she hadn't. As soon as she did, Severus sighed heavily again and she felt him stiffen and start to move away.

"Don't." She said, surprising herself.

She felt him pause in his retreat and she reached a hand back to rest on whatever body part he should reach, she thought maybe his thigh.

He knew she could feel his hard member straining against her, to him it felt almost painful. "Miss Granger—"

"Don't." She repeated. "I'm comfortable." She tried to explain without rolling her arse back against him. It wasn't a lie, but she also wanted to know if he would do the same thing now that they were both fully awake. She wanted him to.

"I should get up Miss Granger."

You are up, she wanted to say. "Why? It's Sunday, you have no headmasterly duties."

He held his breath, searching for any excuse. "The fire is out."

Hermione sighed exasperatedly and leaned across the bed to grab her wand off the side table. It effectively separated their torsos but it pressed her arse harder against him. She smiled to herself when a sound caught in his throat. She returned to her position against his body and waved her wand vaguely in the direction of the fireplace and a fire roared to life. She did the same towards the windows and the black curtains slammed shut, engulfing them in only fire light.

"There." She said.

"What are you playing at?"

"Playing at?"

"Is this about what I told you last night?"

Hermione sighed and twisted so that Severus could see her face. Their noses were almost touching and it made her heart slam in her chest. "It has nothing to do with that."

Severus stared at her a moment, so close to him, her bright amber eyes unwaveringly locked with his black ones. His erection twitched and he silently cursed it, a small smile played around the corners of her lips. Slowly, his nose caught on to the smell of her want again. It wasn't possible… "You want me." He stated.

"Don't sound so shocked." She teased, mostly to hide her fear that, regardless of what his body was telling her, he didn't return the sentiment.

"Pardon me if I don't understand."

"I think it's pretty simple."

"Maybe it's not."

"What does that mean?"

"What's that muggle mind thing? Where the captive falls in love with the captor?"

"Stockholm syndrome?"

"Yes."

"It that what you think is going on?"

"Highly probable."

"There are flaws to your thinking."

"Such as?"

"Most importantly, you aren't my captor, Bellatrix was. Also, I'm not in love with you, I just want you."

He liked that she turned a little pink in the cheeks as she said that, the color was very becoming on her. Severus stared back at her, trying to determine his next move, what exactly he wanted. He wasn't sure. A terrifying thought occurred to him. He cleared his throat.

"Not to be forward, but erm, are you…" It was embarrassing that he couldn't make himself say it.

"A virgin?"

He blinked his yes.

"No, remember the muggle boy I told you about?"

"Ah. Was he your only?"

"Yes, although I'm not sure he counts."

"What, pray tell, does that even mean?"

She turned a darker shade of red and he loved it. So did his cock. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on her answer.

"Well, I never, erm, orgasmed." Severus almost didn't hear the last word, she mumbled it so quietly.

"Was he dreadful or just didn't care?" Severus didn't know why he cared so much. Maybe because he was buying himself time.

"Probably both." Hermione mumbled.

"Selfish prick." Severus muttered.

"Indeed he was. In many ways."

Severus thought about their conversation that felt so long ago, about the muggle boy who she tried to avoid the war with and it turned into her own private war. "Did he ever force you?"

"No. Although I think if I had let it go on, it might have gotten to that level."

"I see." He wanted to say that he was sorry, but the words wouldn't form on his lips. Maybe because he knew their inadequacy. He looked at her across the small space between them, so very close. He had so many questions for her, but even now, this, it seemed too intimate, too much. He had the very strange thought that maybe they were friends, even if his body wanted more. It had been so long since he had a friend outside of the circle of sociopaths he had gotten himself into he couldn't remember what spending time with someone so normal was like. Was it just like this?

"How many people have you—" She didn't finish her sentence. He wondered if it was awkward for her to ask it.

Severus tried to think. He had somehow managed to finagle his way out of participating in most of the revels, being a useful spy had its perks. "Five."

"Did you love any of them?"

The question stung him in ways she couldn't fathom. He pulled away from her to lie on his back, but she turned with him, placing a hand on his chest, her knee overlapping his. No, he hadn't. At one time he had thought he was infatuated with one of Lucius' friend's younger sister, but the flame had fizzled out and he realized in retrospect they had been using each other. He had never gotten to lie with the one he had really loved. The regret burned him.

"No."

"Have you loved?"

"Enough."

He flung the blankets back and leapt to his feet, effectively dislodging Hermione from his person. He strode over to his bathroom and shut the door, leaning over the sink and letting his hair fall forward over his face. He assumed one day it wouldn't cause him great pain to talk about the one person he had loved, but her killer was still alive and still controlled his life, her son was in constant danger. His patronus was still a doe.

Hermione watched, confused, as Severus launched himself from the bed and disappeared. She realized she must have touched a nerve and she wondered why he was so sensitive about the topic. She turned over in the bed so her back was to his bathroom and she could watch the flames in the fireplace dance if she leaned on her pillow just right.