A/N: *Dashes by, stopping only long enough to stuff this chapter into your pocket*

*winks and waves over shoulder*

*disappears to another fic to share more chapters*

xx-Kitten.

Limerence Laws

By Kittenshift17

CHAPTER TEN

Severus narrowed his eyes on the defiant little witch before reaching to tangle one hand into her loose curls. She didn't fight him when he pulled her down even as he reached up to capture her lips. The teacherly part of his brain was screaming at him that he ought not to be defiling a student in such a manner, but the wicked part of him wanted to taste the lips brave enough to defy him.

He'd been beyond furious since Black had left, confused and utterly baffled in addition to being furious. The little witch's daring had only antagonized him all the more and Severus lingered for just a moment, watching the way her breathing sped up and listening to the tumult he'd made of her thoughts as he hovered, a hairsbreadth from her lips before finally closing the distance between the two of them.

She made a soft sound as he brushed his lips lightly against hers, his actions not at all in line with his threat of snogging her into forgetfulness. She leaned into him carefully, clearly uncertain of how to proceed and nervous enough to be cautious. Severus wondered if he should be relieved, or annoyed. The idea that in a few hours he would have to vow himself to the little witch, in addition to the fucking mutt, was enough to make his blood boil, but when she shifted in his lap, Severus couldn't deny that he was curious about what would follow.

Even if it would have to involve Black, too.

If anyone had told him as early as yesterday that he might soon be snogging one of his students - one of his least favourite students - and sitting with her straddling his lap, he'd have sent them the Hospital Wing, accusing them of ingesting Befuddlement Draught. Yet there he sat, a student on his lap and his hands tangled in her hair while he kissed her. She pressed her lips to his tentatively, as though she wasn't entirely sure he wasn't going to shove her off his lap at a moment's notice. Maybe she feared he had no idea how to kiss a woman.

Maybe she doubted his ability to lure her into remaining on his lap all afternoon, if he so chose. Maybe he should give her a little taste of what something between them could grow to be if they made the best of things, like she wanted. The truth was, Severus most certainly did not want to make the best of things. He'd spent his life making the bloody best of things every time he was dealt a shitty hand, and every single time it'd only led to his increased suffering. The last thing he wanted was to go through with this mess. He'd prefer to give up magic and disappear, if he was honest. He knew enough about the muggle world that he would manage to get by on the other side of the divide just fine, if he had to.

So did Granger, for that matter. Black was the only would who would suffer in that regard, and Severus had to remind himself that while those things might be true, he wouldn't last long in that life when the Dark Lord hunted him down.

Then again, if he had his magic ripped from within him, he would no longer be of any use to the Dark Lord and might very well just be left the hell alone. Severus shifted the witch in his lap when she carefully parted her lips, clearly interested in deepening their chaste kiss to a snog. He obliged her, his own curiosity prickling to know that the girl really was sitting there and snogging him rather than pulling away.

She had absolutely no talent for Occlumency, or if she did, she certainly wasn't employing it because he could hear every thought running through her mind when he was touching her so intimately, even if they did both have their eyes closed. She wasn't thinking of anyone else as she kissed him, and she wasn't thinking anything uncharitable. She didn't even register surprise that he was a decent kisser and Severus would've shaken his head if it wouldn't have caused her to pull away.

Carefully tracing the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips, Severus waited for her to part her lips further. He jolted a little in surprise when she met his tongue with her own, causing a strange little sizzle of magic to rush through him, flipping his stomach and making his rapidly hardening cock twitch. When she reached up and slowly slid her fingers into his hair, heedless of its greasiness, Severus threw caution to the wind and simply let himself snog the little witch. He'd threatened to make her forget how to speak, and he was bloody well going to do so.

She rolled her hips, making him tense, and Severus kissed her harder, letting a little of his darker nature bleed into their activities. She returned his fervour, rolling her hips again and tightening his hands in his hair until she gripped fistfuls of it hard enough to sting. Severus tightened his grip on the witch accordingly, giving himself over to the kiss and reminding himself that in a few hours he would likely have to kiss her again before having to work with the mutt and consummate their bloody marriage. Merlin's fucking arsehole, that was going to be uncomfortable.

Maybe he should fuck her now. Right here. Right this minute, to better prepare her for what was undoubtedly going to be a painful encounter later. He didn't actually fancy the idea of causing the poor little bitch unnecessary pain just because the Ministry had instigated such a barbaric law. If Granger hadn't fucked anyone in months – as she'd said – then she was hardly going to be used to handling having one cock filling her pussy, let alone two.

Before he could enact a plan of seduction to get his chance at fucking her when Black wasn't present, she suddenly tore her lips from his, leaning back in his hold and breathing heavily.

"Problem?" Severus drawled, aware that his voice was husky and reminding himself that she was still young.

Much younger than himself, and Black, that was certain.

"I…" she panted, opening her eyes slowly and looking a little like she was dizzy.

"You're confused," Severus articulated for her when she couldn't seem to hold onto a coherent thought long enough for it to fully form.

"You're using Legilimency on me?" she frowned, latching onto that idea and startling him with the vehemence he could sense in her mind at the idea.

"Yes," Severus nodded.

"But that's an invasion of privacy," she protested, frowning at him.

"It's hardly a voluntary venture, Miss Granger," Severus replied, his eyes flashing at her in annoyance when she put her hands on his chest and leaned back even further in his lap to glare at him. "Contrary to whatever notions you might have about Legilimency, it's not something that can just be turned on and off at will. I hardly intend to hear every passing fancy floating through the heads of those around me, but that doesn't prevent me from doing so."

"You can't shut it off?" she asked.

Severus shrugged. "If there are too many people in a room, it become white-noise. If I focus on one individual, as I am prone to doing on those occasions when I have a willing witch in my lap, turning it off is hardly a priority."

"But…" she frowned at him. "What if you pick up on thoughts that you shouldn't hear? Things you don't like? Don't you need a way to turn if off to keep from hearing things that might upset you."

"You believe the whirrings of your mind might displease me, Miss Granger?" Severus asked, smirking a little.

"I don't imagine you'd like knowing what goes through my head, mid-snog, sir."

"I'll snog you again if you keep calling me sir," he warned her.

"That's an invitation, not a threat, Snape," she rolled her eyes, clearly not bothering to sensor the words when the thought popped into her head now that she knew for certain he could hear what she was thinking.

"The next time you call me 'sir', I will hex you, then," he threatened, and Granger narrowed her eyes on him, thinking that she just dared him to try it before recalling just who he was and what he was capable of.

"I don't want you listening to my every thought, S-Severus," she said, stumbling over his first name just a little. "I know that things race through my head that aren't suitable for sharing. You don't want to hear me accidentally thinking about someone else whilst snogging you, do you?"

"Spent a lot of time thinking of other men whilst with your previous bed-partners, Miss Granger?" Severus challenged, smirking wickedly.

"Sometimes imagination is more potent than physical sensation," she replied primly, and Severus smirked, rather amused by the way her cheeks flushed pink.

"And what types of things are you prone to imagining to get yourself off, hmmm, Granger?" he coaxed, his hand on her lower back beginning to massage the tightness of a knot of tension he found near the base of her spine.

"I… that's hardly your business, Prof… um… Severus," she said, stumbling with his title again and remining him how lascivious he was being without even meaning to, in addition to reminding him how very young she was. She was of age, certainly, but her inexperience with discussing her needs and desires was obvious.

"I'm your fiancé," he reminded her in a low voice, his eyes fixed on her face, forcing her to hold his intense gaze. "Your desires just became very much my business."

"You're not my husband, yet," she argued. "And you're not shagging me, yet. So, I think I'd like to keep them to myself for a little while longer."

"You don't wish to continue this… interaction… in the bedroom?" he asked, raising one eyebrow at her.

She blushed crimson, gasping a little in surprise at the blunt invitation.

"I… Snape, what are you saying?" she whispered, looking uncertain and confused.

"I'm inviting you to bed, witch," he rolled his eyes.

"But… we… I mean, what about… um…"

Severus narrowed his eyes on her when a single thought floated into her head, which related to the notion of it being considered cheating should she engage with him in sex when Black wasn't present.

"It would be a mistake to imagine this will be a seamless and cohesive triad relationship, Granger," Severus informed her coolly, his eyes still narrowed. "There will be times when you will fuck me without Black, and likely when you will fuck Black without me. It would hardly be considered infidelity."

She nibbled her lip.

"Does that mean there might also be times when you and Sirius might shag without me?" she frowned at him, looking like she almost didn't dare to ask, but couldn't bear not knowing.

"I don't swing both ways," Severus informed her.

"I don't think I believe you," she blurted, eyeing him strangely and Severus frowned at her.

"Why not?" he asked, baffled by the assertion more than he was annoyed.

The truth was, he had no fucking idea anymore what took his fancy in between the sheets. It was true that he'd doubled Cissy alongside Lucius, and that he and Lucius had… experimented… during the encounter. It was true, too, that he'd snogged Black that day in the bloody corridor, and no matter what he'd told the mutt, Severus knew there had been many instances since that wretched encounter that he'd caught himself eyeing the Animagus during their final year, and many times that he'd wondered what the bloody hell was wrong with him that he'd snogged the bastard without shoving him off right away, and especially what might be wrong with him that, based on the boner he'd sported, he'd fucking enjoyed it.

"You don't actually seem all that angry about the notion of the way these matches were decided. With the arrangement being one witch to two wizards," she said. "You've said you don't like sharing, and that you're possessive, and your hatred for Sirius is clear and always has been. But you don't seem outraged simply by the notion of having to marry another man, in addition to a woman. You object to Sirius, yes, but would you be objecting just as much if the second wizard in this equation was… I don't know… a friend of yours? Lucius Malfoy, perhaps?"

"Lucius is already married," Severus pointed out.

"He was just an example," she rolled her eyes. "I was going to say Remus, but you don't much like him, either. And I don't know of anyone else you actually do like. The point is, you're not… disgusted… by the notion of one woman with two men. You haven't reacted the way Ron did, anyway, in that you haven't obtusely pointed out that Sirius is, in fact, also male."

"And as a result, you think me to be of fluid sexuality?" he inquired, frowning at her.

"Are you?" she asked, frowning at him. "I'm hardly going to judge you, Snape. To be honest, I find myself hoping that you do swing both ways because it might mean things between you and Sirius might at least be worked out with a good shag."

"I doubt Black is capable of providing a good shag," Severus sneered.

She snorted, scoffing at his suggestion.

"I expect he's had more than enough practice to have mastered the art, Snape," Granger argued. "I've heard tales of how he spent his days at Hogwarts, and I've witnessed him arriving back at Grimmauld Place after a wild night out, smeared with lipstick, stinking of sex and cheap perfume."

"You're aware he's a whore, then?" Severus needled.

She nodded.

"And you don't care?" Severus frowned at her.

"Well, I expect I'll care when we're all married," she frowned at him. "I am not a witch who would take infidelity lightly, or well, and I hardly have the self-esteem for such a blow to my own ego should you or Sirius go looking for it elsewhere. But whatever he's done in the past is his business. He wasn't my problem, then."

"And me?" he asked, still frowning at the witch and wondering how she could dismiss Black's torrid past so easily.

"You have a tart-filled past too, Severus?" she asked.

Severus narrowed his eyes on her. "You think I shouldn't?" he challenged, insulted.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," she scowled at him. "Are you going to be this sensitive the entire time we're married, Snape? I wasn't implying that you aren't as much of a rake as Sirius, or that you couldn't possibly be. I wasn't insulting your appearance, your personality, or your character. I only meant to ask if you had been as sexually promiscuous as Sirius."

Severus scowled, wondering how she'd react if he dumped her off his lap and onto the floor for daring to sass him.

"I've plenty of experience. More than Black in the last fifteen years, in any case."

"He's done plenty to make up for the years lost in Azkaban," Granger replied, rolling her eyes. "The point is, if you've shagged around as much as him, well, then I hope you've the experience to show for it, and that you're already hard at work on a potion to cure whatever STIs and STDs you might've both picked up."

Severus scowled at her, rather loathing that for all her youth and her inexperience in some regards, it was clear that talking down to men was something she'd mastered long ago. Then again, he supposed that being friends with Potter and Weasley had leant her plenty of opportunity to learn.

"It's brewing," he informed her, eyeing her curiously.

He wouldn't have minded inviting her to bed again, and he was sure he'd feel better about life briefly were he to bury all his problems inside her cunt, but he was too stubborn to offer again. If she wanted to shag him, it was her turn to initiate.

"Good," she nodded. "Well… despite your… um… offer… I think it would be better if I went and got my dress. That way the potion might be ready by the time I return. And hopefully the potion you gave me to cease my… ah… flow… will have kicked in by then. And I rather think a bath might be in order, after that."

Severus scowled, recalling that she'd mentioned she was on the rag. So much for the idea of shagging her into submission and preparing her for being doubly penetrated. Not that he personally cared all that much about a bit of blood, but he could tell from the delicate blush staining her cheeks that she wasn't going to let him ravish her yet.

"Do you have money?" he asked seriously, frowning at her.

She blinked at him from where she was perched on his knees.

"A little," she nodded. "I don't imagine anything I pick up will be all that… fancy… but it's better than turning up in jeans, yeah?"

She looked like she'd rather turn up in the jeans and Severus wasn't sure he blamed her. Weddings were tedious affairs and he hardly looked forward to his own. Then again, he would be stuck with this bossy little witch and with the mutt for the rest of his – hopefully, numbered – days, and he supposed it would be better to be able to think back on the moment and smile at the idea of her in a pretty white dress, than it would be to imagine her in scuffed jeans and sneakers.

Granger squeaked when he gripped her hips and lifted her off him with ease, standing her between his knees before jostling her back ever so slightly as he rose to his feet. Severus kind of liked the way she gulped audibly when she found herself pressed against the full length of his powerful frame, her short stature dwarfed by his height. Her breasts pressed against his chest through the fabric of their clothing and Severus wondered if maybe he ought to stop drinking when the idea to seduce her into bed with him despite her predicament and despite the need for other tasks to be completed, struck him forcefully.

"Come," he instructed quietly, sliding around her and stalking in the direction of his bedroom.

"I… where are we going?" she frowned, trailing after him. "I just said that I… Honestly, Snape, I think this would be awkward enough without adding blood and mess to the equation."

Severus smirked over his shoulder at the witch when she stopped in the doorway that lead into the bedroom.

"I'm not seducing you, witch," he said, digging a hand into the bottom drawer of his bedside table and fishing out a small coin purse.

"Oh," she said. "Well, then… what are you…?"

She trailed off when Severus fished a few hundred pound notes from the purse and offered them to her.

"I can't take your money, sir," she frowned at the notes, clearly noting they were muggle currency, not wizarding coins.

"You hardly have enough of your own to buy a decent wedding dress, Miss Granger."

"You can't just…" she began, looking concerned.

"I'd prefer it if you looked decent during the ceremony, witch," he admitted gruffly. "Look good enough to distract me from Black's presence, please."

She seemed so shocked by his request and his manners that she automatically reached out, accepting the money.

"And shop in muggle London," he warned. "Keep to the busy areas. Take Tonks with you, if you can. In any case, do not go alone. Until you are married to me, you will have no protection against the Death Eaters should they happen across you."

"Snape…" she began, frowning up at him and seeming like she didn't entirely understand.

He caught her confused thoughts and he almost smiled, raising one eyebrow at her.

"You asked me to make the best of things, Miss Granger," he reminded her. "So, go and buy a fancy gown and get all dressed up to tie the knot between the two of us and Black, and then prepare to get drunk enough to forget tonight ever happened, come the morning."

She shook her head at him a little, tucking the money he'd given her into her purse.

"You know," she began, tipping her head to one side as she regarded him when he stepped closer and invaded her personal space once more. "I'm beginning to think that there is a lot more to you than I ever realised, Severus Snape."

Severus raised one sceptical eyebrow and leaned slowly toward her, intent on stealing another dizzying kiss from her lips before Black could go sullying her with his touch.

"Don't tell anyone," he muttered just before he snogged her into submission all over again.