Chapter 24: In Which Sparks Fly
As with any time he travelled by floo, the first few seconds in the new location were spent dizzy and bleary eyed. But as the room stopped spinning, his eyes landed on Hermione and popped. A small whistle escaped as he sucked in a breath.
She was wearing something he would have called a halter top, but he had never seen one with chains instead of straps. And it was in his colours! His eyes lingered on her midriff, enjoying her flat tummy and delicious navel, when he noticed the trousers were soft, supple leather. God, this woman might have well been reading his mind when it came to his ideas of sexy! Ideas of skipping going out, taking her into his arms, and snogging the daylights out of her danced in his mind.
"You look nice." Her voice reminded him that he hadn't spoken yet. Stop ogling her like some horny teenager. Compliment her.
"You look wonderful."
Her smile was warm, and very clearly said she knew how he had been looking at her and appreciated the unspoken compliment. She walked over to him, and kissed him gently, only her lips touching him, pulling back when he placed his hands on her back.
"You're teasing me aren't you?" His voice was low and sexy.
"You're liking it aren't you?" She flashed her right eyebrow at him. He smiled back at her.
"Yes, I am."
"Good, because I intend to do quite a bit of it tonight."
"Is that a promise?"
"Oh yes." Her teeth nibbled her lower lip.
"Well then, I shall prepare to be teased. So, on a more practical note, do you eat sushi?"
"I never have before, but I'm willing to try."
"You mean the House Elves aren't serving it regularly at Hogwarts yet?"
"Amazingly enough, they have yet to put it on the menu. We have started to get some really lovely curries, though. Let me grab a jacket."
When she turned toward the closet he caught sight of her back. "Stop, don't move." He walked over to her, and knelt on the floor to get a better look. He had always loved Celtic knots and this one was a corker. Two bands, one green, the other gold, whorled around each other in an unending triangle.
She could feel him exhaling against the small of her back, Goose bumps rose in response. He stayed there, kneeling on the floor, staring at her back for what felt like a very long time, but was probably only a minute.
Finally he said, "That's gorgeous work. Who did it?"
"Ginny. This one isn't permanent. But she has done some that are. Ask Harry to show you his someday; it's amazing."
"Ginny does Celtic knots?"
"She does all sorts of drawing. A few years ago she learned how to transfer a sketch onto skin, since then she's done all sorts of decorative work. Many of the Weasleys now have wedding bands, and wedding tattoos."
He stood up, looking thoughtful, and offered her his hand. "Well, shall we go?"
She nodded, and looked a little surprised as he pulled her flush to his chest while he cast the apparate spell. Having her so close and warm and soft against him made the dizzy squeezing of the spell almost pleasant. She stayed close a few seconds longer than were strictly necessary after the spell ended, and he enjoyed the sensation immensely. She looked up at him, lips in perfect kissing position, and as he began to lower his head towards hers, she pulled away, and smiled at him.
"Dinner then?"
He smiled back, realizing this was part of the teasing. "Certainly." Severus put his hand against her low back, and led her out of the alley to a tidy storefront.
The restaurant was tiny. A small bar that could seat maybe ten, maybe twelve people, with two Asian men standing behind it. Snape greeted the men, and pulled out a chair for Hermione. Once settled, Snape said something she didn't catch to the man closest to him.
"What was that?"
"I told him to pick the menu."
"You speak Japanese?"
He laughed. "I know how to tell him to pick the menu and to say thank you. I've been busy over the last seven years, but learning Japanese wasn't on the list."
A woman placed a small earthenware jug with two tiny cups between them. Hermione looked at the milky white liquid while he poured it. "Sake?"
"Yes, it's stronger than it tastes, so keep that in mind, and go slow." Glasses of water were also placed on the bar next to them.
She sipped the drink. It was oddly supple in her mouth, with a flavour she couldn't really place. Like a melon, but not sweet. While sipping the drink, she watched the chef. He did something with fish and rice, and shortly a small plate with six beautifully cut bits of fish resting on perfect rice pillows was placed in front of them.
"So what is this?"
"The very dark red fish is tuna, the lighter red is salmon, and the white is some sort of sea bass I think." He picked up his chop sticks, selected a piece of tuna, and dipped it into the small bowl of brown liquid. She selected a piece of the bass, and followed his lead by dipping it into the sauce.
Her first impression was salty, with a slow fiery glow in the background. Then the soft almost sweetness of the rice, and the richness of the fish, all in one little mouthful. She followed it up with the tuna, and was pleasantly surprised. In her experience tuna always tasted like something that should be fed to Crookshanks. But this had not even the slightest hint of cat food about it. A few moments passed while they ate in silence, enjoying the fish, and then the plate was empty, and Hermione was wishing there had been more.
Snape noticed the longing on her face. "That was just the first course; there'll be more in a few moments."
"So, when did you start to eat sushi? It just seems so exotic."
"I was in London, six years ago, and extremely pissed, just totally out of it. I wandered into a little bar like this one. I was looking for another drink. The chef took one look at me and took pity on me; I guess. Anyway, instead of an alcoholic drink, I ended up with a steaming cup of green tea, and a small platter of raw fish. Now, you'd probably think raw fish and pissed would not be a winning combination, but somehow this worked. I ate the fish, started to feel somewhat sober, drank the tea, and became even clearer. Then more fish started to show up, and by that point I was sober enough to enjoy what I was eating. I've been hooked ever since. A week later I was back at the sushi bar, and I got to know the chef, he's a native of Japan, and of wizarding stock. They have their own magic traditions, and part of his magic involved a knife and fish.
"I never did find out why he took pity on me, but somehow he decided that I was in need of help and provided it. It was one of the first genuine acts of kindness I had received since getting out of Azkaban. He moved back to Japan two years ago. And I began my hunt for a sushi replacement. Last week I found this place, and finally someone who had the skills to live up to Akisu. So I brought you here. "
By the time he finished his story, the next plate of fish was sitting between them. This one consisted of small bits of tuna, seared on the outside and raw on the inside. Hermione tucked in, enjoying the hot-cold duality immensely.
"I know this isn't a delicate question, but why were you staggering about drunk? It seems somewhat out of character."
Severus smiled ruefully. "It wasn't as out of character as I would have liked it to have been. I had a rough time after the trial. I was free, and officially a 'Hero'. But I wasn't trusted. I didn't have a job, or much money, and it wasn't like anyone was banging down my door with offers for work. Technically I was 'writing,' but as I'm sure you know, 'writing' can leave you with vastly too much time to think." She nodded, there was 'writing' and there was writing, and the one left you with much more time, usually of a not-so-productive nature, than the other.
"I spent about a year floundering about, wishing I had stayed dead, trying to find something to do with the time I had on my hands, and then one day I noticed that the houses around mine were starting to sell. My old neighborhood was gentrifying. I sold Spinner's End as a genuine, historically-accurate example of an 1880's mill town house to some historical architecture wonk who was thrilled at how 'authentic' it was. Suddenly I had enough money to start potions work on my own. I bought my current house, fixed it up. I don't know how he found out that I was in business, but George Weasley came to me about setting up his Antidote kit, and because his business is still officially a joke shop, he also had me brew up a squeaking draught."
"You did those? He never said anything. For months no one wanted to drink anything around him for fear of speaking in a squeaky voice for the next two hours."
"It was my understanding that eating anything around him was a bad idea."
"Well, that would be accurate, but less so these last few years. He's now got a tester panel and marketing researchers. Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes are now available by owl around the world, and he's got shops in seven countries. You're right about being 'officially' a joke shop. I think most of his biggest customers are buying his protective gear. Those little antidote kits you made for him are one of his best sellers."
Snape smiled. He made two galleons off of the sale of each of those kits, and he was very aware of how well they sold.
"So, you were floundering about in the wilds of the immediate post-war years…"
"Ahhh… Once I got my lab set up, I remembered how much I enjoyed my work. I spent more time on research and found some purpose again. By that time I was really writing and had the book done shortly thereafter. Things have been on an upward spiral ever since. Then in the ultimate cosmic irony, last year Lucius Malfoy died, and the Wizengamot upheld his will. So I'm officially the trustee of the Malfoy fortune, much to Draco's immense displeasure. He needs someone to watch him with the money as much as Hagrid needs another six inches of height.
"What about you, what did you do after the war?"
Hermione noticed that the tuna was gone, and a plate with something that looked like baby octopus sitting on it was in front of them now. Snape eagerly snared a piece, and ate it with relish.
"I went through my own valley of the shadow. As soon as the funerals were done, I went to Australia to get my parents, and was surprised to find they didn't want to go back to Surrey. I stayed with them for a month, mostly sulking, and then one night I decided I had to find wandless magic. There had to be a way to use it; baby wizards do all the time. I spent the next year looking for some hints of it, and I found some, but not enough to learn how to do it myself. Then I got a break, and found out about a group in Cleveland. You read my book, so you know about my time with them. The Watcher's were willing to trade learning basic wanded magic for wandless magic.
"America was a good place for me. The Watchers are a sort of vigilante group; they go after dangerous or evil magical creatures. 'Demons,' in their terms. I got to learn wandless magic, and how good it can feel to beat the shit out of something using your bare hands. I'll never be a fighter on the level of those girls, but it is an amazingly cathartic experience to take control of a situation, and just let yourself beat the anger out. I spent a year there and came home still sorrowful but much less angry. I was still mourning the future I didn't get to have. I still do some days, but I was ready to start trying my new future.
"I wrote the book while boning up for my N.E.W.T.s. Got them out of the way, and then spent an extra year with Professor Vector on Arithmancy. At the end of that, she decided to retire, and I took her place. I get back to the Watcher's once a year, usually in the summer, to improve my skills, distribute wands, and teach the girls some basic skills. Before this law came up, I had three of my wandless students who were going to join the Watcher's Council full time. I still have to see if they are going to go."
"Will you be going this year?"
"I hope to. Would you like to come with me?"
"Very much so." The small plate of baby octopus was gone, and some sort of small rolls of rice and fish wrapped in a black papery looking substance had replaced them. Hermione was starting to feel full, and decided to let Snape have most of that plate. She knew dancing and a very full stomach was not a good combination. He noticed she was eating less.
"Don't like this one?"
"It's lovely, but if I eat much more I won't want to dance."
"Good point. We don't want to be sluggish."
"When I hear the music I want to be able to move to it." Snape took a moment to appreciate the mental image of Hermione dancing.
"And I certainly wouldn't want to lag behind you." They finished up the plate, and he asked for the check.
They walked out, and she took his hand. After a few steps he cast the spell, and they were in a different part of the city. The building next to them looked dodgy: run down, covered in graffiti, but there was a line outside, and the music was loud enough she could hear it through the walls. When they got inside the music was pounding so loudly that Hermione's body was vibrating, and any words spoken at less than a scream inaudible. She could see something like a bar, and a few tables squeezed into the sides and corners of the room. The rest of the room was dance floor. Light pulsed with the music as bodies grooved to the beat.
"This is perfect!" she yelled in Snape's ear.
He nodded back at her, took her arm, and led her to the dance floor. They began to find a rhythm together. The first few minutes were a bit awkward, but then the DJ hit on a song they both liked and knew.
She pulled closer to Snape and shouted to him. "I love this song!"
The first notes to 'You Shook Me All Night Long' began. Snape yelled back, "A favourite of mine for quite a while, too."
Hermione gave him her best wicked smile as she moved into the beat. He grinned back at her, and placed his fingers on the small of her back. As the song continued they moved closer and closer to each other. Her hips touched his as the lyric "she told me to come…" played. He ran his fingers lightly up her body, while she slid her hips against his.
The DJ moved from AC/DC to Shakira, and she pulled back to shimmy a bit in front of him. He watched her move, her breasts jiggling under her top, and licked his lips. He cradled her face with his hands, and pulled her toward him for a kiss. She leaned into the kiss, both of their bodies still moving to the beat of the music.
'What I Like About You' began and the kiss broke. She moved away from him and threw her head back, joyfully laughing. She twisted around, so he could watch her back while she moved in her best sexy dance. He was content to watch her move for a few moments, but as the Romantics faded and Shaggy replaced them, he pulled her back to him, settling his hands on her hips. Then lifting one hand to draw her hair out of the way; he placed a kiss on her neck. She arched back into him, turned around, placed her hands on his chest, and kissed him back.
They continued to dance for the better part of two hours. Kisses and caresses interspersed with the fast rhythmic motions of the dance. Finally Hermione begged off for a moment. They walked over to the side of the dance floor, and found an unoccupied chair. Snape offered her the chair, but she shook her head.
"I have a better idea," she yelled into his ear. She had him sit down, and settled herself in his lap. They sat quietly, while she caught her breath.
He wrapped his arms around her, looking deeply into her eyes. She had the feeling they were having a conversation, though neither of them spoke. He stroked her hair, and moved his lips to her ear. "Would you like to come home with me?"
She pulled her ear from his lips, and bent to kiss him, deeply and with a promise of good things to come. Then moving her lips to his ear, she bit his earlobe, and said, "I've been waiting for you to say that all night."
He smiled at her, and they walked out of the club, his arm around her waist.
A/N: A Proper Romance is a teen rated piece. There are, however some M rated bits, that have been sequestered off in A Proper Romance: The M Chapters. If you'd like to know what happens between leaving the dance and breakfast, head over there. If you prefer fade to black style romance, head to the next chapter.