CHAPTER 22

Could tonight be the night?

Her eyes fluttered shut, unable to drink in the intensity he harbored. She parted her lips a little, waiting. She sensed him lean forward, his breath on her cheeks. She swallowed her nervousness away.

One.

Two.

Three.

"Good night!" he whispered against her ears.

Her eyes snapped open and she turned to face him.

He caressed her cheek with his thumb, his left hand cupping her right cheek.

"It's going to be a great day tomorrow. You need rest," he said quietly as if giving an explanation.

Of course! The award show! How did she forget?

"I will be in the sitting room. Call me if you need anything."

She nodded and he backed towards the door all the while locking his gaze with her, showing how reluctant he was to go.

Only at the door, did he turn.

"Severus."

His face turned and his eyes found hers.

Don't go.

"Good night!"

He smiled and exited the room.

SITTING ROOM

He ran his fingers through his hair.

Since when had he become such a gentleman?

Bugger!

No wonder he was still a virgin.

He knew he wanted her, then what was stopping him?

Why on Merlin's land was he being a gentleman?

He knew little about women or relationships.

If what he had overhead over the years was right, women liked taking time in relationships which they thought helped it to last for a longer time. Their psychology focused on the emotional part of the relationship. As he snuggled to a more comfortable position in the couch, he knew he wanted Hermione for a lifetime.

So he could wait.

BEDROOM

She tossed and turned in his bed, sleep far away from her.

What was wrong with her?

Severus had been a gentleman and she did appreciate him giving her time and space.

But, then why did she feel disappointed at him not making any advances?

From all the gossips she had heard during her school days, she was positive that men didn't like taking time in relationships. Their psychology focused on the physical part of the relationship. She frowned, did he find her unattractive? No. His kisses spoke otherwise. Was he waiting for her to make the first move? Most probably.

Not sure as what she was doing, she got up and made way to the door and twisted the door knob. Then stopped.

What was she to do? Seduce him? Well, the important question was how? She had no experience and immediately regretted not indulging in gossips of this part from those hormone active friends of hers from her school days.

SITTING ROOM

Severus groaned.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. He heard her. He smelled her. His lips still tasted of her as he licked away the dryness. Small drops of sweat formed on his forehead as he relived each memory of her pressed against him.

Not able to bear it anymore, he got up and stared at the door.

Did he dare?

Without his command, his feet stirred towards the door.

He placed his hand on the doorknob and felt the knob twist. He knew for sure it wasn't him. Then, it stopped. The person on the other side seemed to be having an internal turmoil of her own.

Then, finally the door opened and he let his gaze scrutinize her.

She was clad in his clothes from morning.

That explained her uneasiness in the restaurant.

One could only configure clothes within 50 meters. How did he forget?

His gaze found her deep brown eyes and he saw that she was viewing him intently.

"Water?" started both of them.

Both of them swallowed simultaneously. They both knew it was a mere excuse. The jug, now empty, was in the bedroom, so Severus' request seemed genuine. But, Hermione knew better. He could have always configured water at his own leisure.

BEDROOM

He entered the room and quietly spelled Aguamenti into the jug. Hermione winced. She could have always done that. She was only thankful that her wand wasn't in sight.

She saw him gulp down water, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Unconsciously, she wetted her lips.

She had no idea why she hadn't flung herself at him yet.

MORNING

She woke up in the morning, groggy from head ache. She hadn't slept properly last night. She snorted. The mutual attraction they harbored had been in plain sight last night and yet neither of them had had the courage to do anything about it.

SITTING ROOM

She entered the room and gasped when she saw the time was 11.

She looked around to find the room devoid of Snape.

Where was he?

It was Saturday and she knew he didn't have any class today.

Then, where was he?

She looked around to see if there was a note.

There wasn't.

A plate of food, still warm by charm, sat in the middle of the coffee table in front of the couch.

1 pm

She had searched the few places around the castle where he could be, but to her disappointment, she found that he wasn't anywhere.

Why hadn't he left her a note?

And where on earth was he?

As if on cue, he entered the room.

"Hello," he said acknowledging her and making way to the bedroom.

At first, she was happy that he was unharmed. Then, it slowly dissolved to anger when she saw him not making an attempt to apologize for his unannounced absence or explain where he had been.

"Where were you?" she asked narrowing her eyes, not realizing how much of a possessive wife she sounded like.

He turned to face her and in a mischievous grin said, "You sound so wifey."

"I'm your wife, Severus," she said, almost intimidating.

Before he could reply, she cast a spell on him.

Warmth filled both of them, but nothing happened.

"What was that?" he asked confused.

"Globus Positionus charm. Now I will be able to use the Positionus Revealus spell and locate you anytime."

"And why would you cast that on me?" he asked, his blood pressure rising.

"So that I would know where you are."

"Why? What did you possibly think I was doing? Having a date with one of my girlfriends? Cheating you behind your back?"

"No…" she started, realizing maybe she might have made a mistake. Just maybe.

He murmured something and a bag in his hand illusioned in sight.

He threw it to her, "I just wanted to get you a dress for the evening."

Giving her a piercing look, he strode out of the room to the dungeon.

Clutching the bag, she looked after him. He appeared again. She smiled. But it was short lived when he spoke in contempt, "I don't think I need to tell you where I'm going. You have your means of finding out."

Not giving her a chance to speak, he closed the door with a thud.

"I…I was worried," she said slowly, slumping on the couch, not that he was there to hear it.

6pm

She examined herself in the mirror.

Severus had great taste. The dress was sapphire blue, long sleeved and wide necked. It looked a tad formal, clinging on to her like an hourglass, resting just above her knees.

Her hair was pulled up in a french twist bun.

She sighed. Severus wasn't back yet. She had contemplated on using the spell to find out, but she knew that would just make things worse between them.

She had really hoped he would be back by now to take her to the award ceremony. She felt her eyes sting with unshed tears. She had sensed Harry and Ginny had distanced themselves after her marriage with Severus. They used to be together every evening before that. And Ron was just Ron.

Her parents. She winced. She hadn't been able to locate them after she had erased their memories in Australia. That was a reason for her to cast that spell on her husband. She didn't want that to happen with Severus. She suddenly felt very lonely. She didn't want to go to the ball feeling this miserable.

Her absence would not go unnoticed and she really didn't want Rita Skeeter headlining her in scandalous ways in the next day's newspaper.

Sighing heavily, she took out the earrings that Severus had given her and put them on.

It glimmered the color of her dress and she immediately knew that "blue" meant "sadness".

AWARD SHOW ARENA

The night sky was filled with stars. She looked around. The Ministry had decided to have the function outside. The place was filled with eminent people from the Wizarding World. She recognized the ones from the Ministry. An old man was droning on and on about something and for the first time in her lifetime, Hermione wasn't listening. She kept looking behind her back in hopes to find Severus.

The only consolation was that at 8 magic would bring him to her no matter how much ever he wanted to avoid her. She looked at the watch and saw that it was just 7.

One more hour to go.

She looked up only when her name was called 45 minutes later.

She got up and clumsily made way to the dais with all heads focused on her.

"…Mrs. Hermione Snape. Youngest recipient of Noble Order, for the advancement of magic in…" the speaker flared, drowning to the sound of applause that erupted.

Adorning a smile as genuine as possible, she acknowledged the people in the dais and accepted the medal around her neck by the same old man.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and all heads turned to the sky, just in time to see elegant Wildfire Whiz-bangs. The fireworks fused to form the wordings, "CONGRATULATIONS HERMIONE!"

Such feat clearly spelled out Fred and George. But almost immediately, she knew it wasn't them and she looked to the crowd to lock gaze with the caster. He stood in the middle of the ground smiling at her and visibly proud.

Who would have thought that Snape was capable of such public display of adoration?

Eyes flooded with happy tears, she got off the dais and made a dash towards him, hurling herself at him. He chuckled as he struggled to keep balance from falling, his arms around her. After a few minutes, when she felt thoroughly comforted, she stepped back.

"I…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have cast that charm on you," she said immediately flicking her wand to remove the charm.

"No. You were just in worry. I acted irrationally. Besides the spell is two ways. It would also help me to locate you," he said casting the charm on them again.

"No, we don't need it," she said lifting the charm away.

"It will give us a sense of security," he said casting it again.

By now the crowd had turned their attention them and was watching with interest the streams of light that they sent back and forth.

"Will you stop it?" she said lifting it again, this time quick enough to cast another spell of compliance. But Severus was ready for it and dogged it and sent a spell flying to her side.

She opened her mouth in shock when she felt her hair undone and flowing in cascades.

She had no idea what spell he had cast and she immediately sent a mirror spell, which mirrored the same spell back to him.

She gasped when his hair fell short, no more greasy and long. It reminded her of some actor. Who was it? Alan something?

With her distracted, he cast yet another spell, turning her dress to emerald green. Before understanding that it was just to match her now green earrings, she cast another spell and clasped her hand to her mouth, when his robes disappeared leaving him in his crisp white shirt and black pants.

Only when the whole crowd broke into a combination of gasps and giggles did she realize where they were.

She flushed a bright red and looked up at her husband. He didn't seem to be bothered with where they were. His face adorned a smirk and his wand was raised.

She looked at him wide eyed. He won't dare, would he? Definitely not in front of the crowd! And she wasn't in robes she could afford to lose!

Before he could flick his wand, she felt herself pulled towards him, her one hand binding her to him. But he was crafty and it looked like he was merely holding her. Tangling their unbound hands, he raised them to either side of their face, his nose now touching hers. He let out a contended sigh.

Suddenly the crowd broke out to shouts of, "KISS! KISS! KISS!"

Incidentally, the sexual tension that hung around them was very apparent.

Needing no encouragement, he took her mouth in a long, real kiss. Her tongue met his with eagerness. She tasted of cherries. Merlin, he loved the taste of her lip gloss. Their hold on their hands tightened even though both of them were aware that they had been unbound. When they parted she saw the deep passion in his eyes and instantly sensed that tonight had to be the night. Not giving her time to think further, he dipped in yet again capturing her lips with his. Not one bit bothered of the applause and whistles that erupted in the ground.

(To be continued)