Hermione groggily opened her eyes slowly, the sunlight flooding into the room made her wince and shut her eyes tight together once more. She felt a warm, heavyweight draped over her bare ribcage and under her arm and she knew it was Severus and just that one fleeting realization that he was there, embracing her in such a way made her feel incredibly at ease.
She attempted to open her eyes again, the light assaulting her retinas once more and she assumed at a guess it was around ten in the morning and then the memories of the prior night came flooding back to her. He had not only confessed his love for her and asked her to marry him, but she recalled him telling Minerva in no roundabout term to shove her job up her ass. She did applaud him for the sheer balls he had shown.
She paled considerably when she also remembered she had walked or rather was carried out of there by him and the horrified looks on her friend's faces. That one she was happy about, but perhaps the scariest part of the whole thing was would she be ostracized for his actions? Would she be banished from Hogwarts and be unable to return to finish her last year?
She sat up bolt right and looked around the room, she literally had no idea where she was other than she was on an older bed in the middle of a room with tattered and worn wallpaper and threadbare carpet. All drapes were pushed aside to allow the sunlight to pour in through the grimy, cobweb-covered window and she hazards a guess that this was Severus' house and she wrinkled her nose up a little. He wasn't wrong when he said it needed to be fixed up which she hoped they could probably do sooner rather than later or perhaps she could sway him to move into her house.
The light hit the ring he had slid onto her finger last night, she had almost forgotten about. Fingering the rock gently with her index finger she smiled and admired the ring proudly. Her, Hermione, engaged before twenty-one and to her Potions Master none the less. Her life plan had never included any of that and here she was… how times had changed she thought to herself. Never is a million years did she think she would have not only found solace in Severus Snape, but she would also be fucking him-and enjoying it.
She frowned a little and pursed her lips when her mind flashbacked to the way her supposedly two best friends reacted when Severus had asked for her hand. Her heart clenched a little in her chest and the sheer sadness and disappointment she felt towards them and their clear dislike for her now. And the fucking hide of Harry thinking he would swoop in after ignoring her for so long and treated her like a piece of shit and just assuming she would want him and cling to him in sheer desperation to feel love. How very wrong was he?
A tapping at the window roused her from her mood souring thoughts and she groaned in anger and dread when she saw the owl at the window, she knew who owned it and she knew the letter would be nothing short of telling her how disappointed he was in her and that she should reconsider her options.
The beautiful snowy owl tapped on the window with little patience and she threw her bare legs over the edge of the bed and quickly made her way to the window totally naked and she was unsure how Severus had slept through not only her throwing his arm off of her but the tapping at the window.
She looked out over the quiet street. It was nothing to write home about she thought to herself, but it was his home and she would respect that. There were no pretty houses with their perfectly manicured lawns and their pretty flowering gardens here like she had at home. Lawns were bare; the gardens were overgrown and strangled with weeds and the houses were old and derelict.
The owl hopped from leg to leg in a bid to capture more of her attention. Harry had managed to track down one of Hedwig's now grown owlets- a surprise to everyone- and purchase the female snowy owl to replace his beloved, murdered pet. Not that it was replacing her, Harry would say, but she did fill the void that Hedwig had left behind.
She pulled the window open and the owl hopped in, shaking her leg rapidly expecting Hermione to take the parchment sooner rather than later and gently she reached out and untied the string and the owl flew away without even a second glance backward. How rude, she thought to herself. The arrogant owl was just like its arrogant owner, she thought to herself.
Just as she went to close the grimy window another owl appeared, just your run of the mill, average unassuming barn owl he was the type of owl that didn't look out of place gracing the skies or perched on a roof. But she knew this unassuming and unremarkable owl was a Hogwarts owl, one she had used on a few occasions to send various letters and he had proven time and time again his reliability.
He hopped in through the window and butted his head into Hermione's hand, she scratched his sleek, feathery head and he clacked his beak in appreciation before offering his leg to her. She took the parchment off his leg, gave him another scratch on the head and watched as he flew out of the window and floated along on an updraft. That was a nice owl, not like another certain own she had just had a run in with moments before.
"What are you doing?" Severus asked groggily, his voice straining with sleep and Hermione jumped slightly not realizing he was awake.
"Owls," She mumbled holding up the rolls of parchments, he visibly recoiled at the sight and rolled his eyes. He expected as much, but not this soon. She sauntered back over to the bed and sat down lightly on the bed, the old, saggy mattress moving and groaning even under her small frame.
He couldn't help but watch as the amazing specimen of a woman walked with grace across the room. He licked his lips hungrily and pressed her naked from under his heated gaze. How the fuck did he get so lucky?
She handed the parchment from the barn owl to Severus and kept the one Harry had sent her. They unrolled them in unison both scanning their respective parchments with feigned enthusiasm. They both just wanted to hide away from the world for a while and forget about their lives for a while. No responsibilities, no facing reality.
When Severus had executed his master plan the night before he didn't think about the consequences of his actions or taking them into account in the grand scheme of things. Well, fuck.
Hermione tossed her parchment on the bed with frustration and ran a hand over her face.
Severus screwed his up into a ball and threw it vigor; it hit the wall, bounced halfway across the room and came to sit in the middle of the room.
He eyed the ball of parchment as if it had just insulted him and murdered his family. He blindly searched for his wand; grabbing the smooth handle he incinerated the paper right there in the middle of the room. The paper left a small, black smoldering spot on the carpet but he didn't give a fuck, the house was already a derelict hole so why not add to it?
"That was a bit dramatic, don't you think?"
"I'm quite into dramatics of late, whythe theatrics last night were short of awe-inspiring."
"I'm not sure if I would use the word awe-inspiring in the context of what you executed." She played absentmindedly with a loose thread on the white sheet on the bed.
There was a silence that hung thick in the air for a moment as she continued to play with the thread like she wanted to ask him something but she didn't know if she should. Eventually, she settled for asking him what his letter had contained.
"Your letter…," She began but trailed off quickly.
"She asked me to come back and at least finish the year off and to bring you back."
"I see," She whispered. She didn't know if she did want to go back now the entire student body knew of her relationship with him. She knew she would be treated differently.
"She changed her tune," her voice distant still as she played with the thread, more than any sane person probably should have played with it.
"Your preoccupation is worrying."
"I'm fine."
"You are not."
A deep, heavy sigh forced its way from her body. "Harry basically said he wants nothing to do with me while I am having something to do with you. I am dead to him apparently." Sadness pushed into her tone and he knew despite the boy ignoring her and the way he had treated her that she still had a soft spot for him, and why shouldn't she? She had been his best friend and love at one stage. He had been a giant part of her life for a vast majority of it.
He hated to see her like this. Sad and despondent and he hated the fact that another person had caused this. The fierce snake within his heart had awoken and it was out for blood. No one upset his Hermione. Not Harry, not Ron, not a random stranger walking past her in the street.
He would make Harry right his wrongs, even if he had to hunt the cunt down and hang him upside down by the shackles decorating Filch's office.
Gently he reached out a hand and feather-light ran his calloused fingers against her soft, thin, creamy thigh. She smiled sadly at him through thick curly hair and he thought for a moment he saw tears pricking the corners of her eyes and his heart did a backflip. He hated to see her sad, he hated it more than anything in the world.
He snorted softly, the big bad ex-Death Eater who killed women and children without a backward glance was affected by the person he loved, the one person he until not all that long ago he couldn't stand. The one person he himself would have killed without even giving it a passing thought. Now, he would kill for the girl if he had to.
Oh, how the tides had turned.
A/N: Sorry for a long time between updates. This is just a little filler chapter, I plan or writing been two or three more chapters before this story ends. I am so glad you all loved the last chapter.
-Aliasmel1