-Thanks for all the positive reviews, everyone. It's the best feeling knowing that someone is being entertained by my random ideas! I thought originally that this fic would be about three chapters, but it seems to have taken on a life of its own.

Disclaimer: I still own nothing and doubt I ever will.

Dinner was a tense affair and Severus was more interested in Hermione's responses to him. After they had pulled apart he had finally realized that she had changed from her trousers into a rather short skirt. He just hoped that it was as much for his benefit as to prove a point to his father. There was something between them, he could see that. It was all her fault that he was suddenly feeling this hope. If the bloody woman had just gone to the Weasley's for Christmas.

The thought of that sent an unfortunate pang to his chest and he had to fight to keep from rolling his eyes. Since when the bloody hell did he get pangs. Another bit of her doing. As he looked over and saw her glaring daggers at his father, he was filled with love for the little witch, though. Her desire to make his parents see something other than a Death Eater made him feel better than anything else she could have or had ever done. If it had been anyone else, he would likely have hexed them.

"What are you two planning on doing for Christmas?" Eileen asked before taking a bite of her lasagna.

"Nothing in particular," Severus said. "We're trying to have a little peace and quiet before the children return."

"Are you not going to your parents, Hermione?"

"My parents were killed during the war," Hermione said, knowing full well that anyone who kept up with the goings on of the war knew that. It had been splashed across the front of the Prophet for a week leading up to the funeral.

Severus did not want to tell Hermione that he had warned her that his parents were not nice people. He was terrified that his parents would scare her away even though she seemed to be holding up. Just as he was about to pour more wine, a tapping at the window informed them that an owl had arrived.

"It's Hedwig," Hermione said, peering into the living room. "Excuse me."

That damn owl brought more news that ruined his day then Dumbledore and Voldemort combined. Every time there was a slight hiccup in Potter's life, he felt the need to make Hermione run straight to him. If he wasn't sure it would have devastated Hermione, Severus would have killed the brat.

"Battle's broken out at the Weasley's apparently," Hermione said, walking back into the room. She looked ready to say something else but then looked at his parents. "I'll tell you about it later."

His inner knight rattled his armor at being Hermione's confidant. Although gossip about Potter was always front page news and he knew his parents weren't to be trusted. He didn't blame Hermione for not wanting to talk about it.

"I thought the two of you were going to decorate that awful tree," his father said.

"We decided to wait until tomorrow," Hermione told him. "That way we can fully enjoy ourselves."

The two glared at each other and Severus reached over to grab her hand. He wondered how the witch had got to the point where she wanted to defend him. The last few hours had done more to show him that he was in love with her than the two years they had been friends.

Another brutal thirty minutes with little talking and Hermione began to talk about how exhausted she was and Severus quickly made to agree with her. The sooner they went to sleep, the sooner morning would be there and the sooner his parents would be leaving. It wasn't until after they had done the dishes, however, that Severus's mind returned to sharing a bed with Hermione. The last thing that she had said was that she wouldn't kick him out of his bed. Where did she see herself being?

"I'll be upstairs," Hermione said. She looked at his parents as if debating. "Goodnight."

When Severus entered his room, Hermione was sitting on the bed looking awkward.

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable, Severus," she said softly. "But I'm going to need to borrow one of your shirts."

"My shirts?" He asked, confusion evident. Hermione was the only one who managed to draw that particular face out of him. "Why would that make me uncomfortable? Actually, why?"

"I need one to sleep in."

"Did you forget your pajamas?"

"No," Hermione said. It took Severus a moment to process that before his face broke out in a blush. "Which is why I said that I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

She'd failed royally at that. Why couldn't she have just let him believe she'd forgotten? Now he was going to always flash to that image when she said she was going to bed. Yes, he was definitely becoming less comfortable. She was going to be the death of him.

"I'll just find you one." The fact that his voice had gone hoarse made him silently curse.

"Do you want me to sleep downstairs?"

"Not if you're comfortable sleeping up here," he replied after a moment. "I could always split the bed in two but if you're fine, I would rather not bother for just one night. Although your Transfiguration skills are more sufficient than mine."

"It's fine, Severus. I cast a silencing charm on the room."

"A what?" He gasped, unsure if he'd heard her correctly. He turned around and saw her wide grin.

"I wanted your parents to think that we were up to something naughty."

"Hermione," he growled. "I appreciate you trying to stick up for me, but I've been dealing with my parents for forty years. Nothing they say bothers me anymore."

"That's a lie, Severus Snape! I know you better than anyone, remember? You may not show you care, but I know that you do. You're parents don't know you and they have clearly never made the effort to do so. And you know what?" She asked and opened her arms for him to go to her. As soon as he was close, she wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's their loss because I think you're wonderful. Snarky and moody and usually a git, but perfect in your own way."

Severus stared at her, trying to form any sort of response. Unfortunately, he was fairly certain he would start crying, the thought of which disgusted him. Although, the idea that he could cry was a new experience. All he managed to do was stare at her for a few moments and then set his forehead onto her shoulder.

Her hand rested on the back of his head. "Are you alright?"

He turned his head, his nose brushing against her neck. "I'm glad you're here."

Giggling, a sound which he detested in every other female except Hermione, rose next to his ear. "I can't believe you survived them without anyone else."

Severus pulled away and gave her a small smile before holding a shirt out to her.

"Do you have anything but white button-up shirts?" She asked, but was out of the room before he could answer. Seconds later he heard the shower start and collapsed on the bed. It was obviously a torture method. When she returned, her hair was soaking wet and she was blushing.

"You don't have an old pair of boxers, do you?"

Severus groaned and let his head fall back on his pillow.

Apparently his father had seen her leaving the bathroom and got a very good look at her legs. Severus didn't see how a pair of boxers would help, but he found some that were not in too bad of condition and watched as she shrunk them to fit her. His only problem was not staring as she climbed into his bed. It suddenly struck him that he had never had a woman in his bed at Spinner's End.

"Hermione, I don't usually sleep with a shirt on."

She smiled at him. "And?"

"Is that going to make you uncomfortable?" The whole situation was so uncomfortable and was not the way he had ever envisioned having Hermione in his bed.

"No, but I figured it would make you uncomfortable if I wasn't wearing one."

A mental groan rang through his head as he ducked out of the room with his pajama bottoms. He knew it was going to be a nightmare and already had a plan to wake before she did because if he didn't the possibility of her catching his morning erection was incredibly high. Added to the fact that, he had no idea if he talked in his sleep and he knew he dreamed about her. Bloody hell did he dream about her and seeing her in his clothes was no help.

Hermione was sitting on the end of the bed when he returned. "I didn't know which side of the bed you slept on."

"I have no idea," Severus replied. "It's been quite awhile since I've been in any situation in which that was an issue. I usually wake up in the middle. Do you have a particular side?"

She shook her head, curls flying around. This was encouraging to him and he randomly chose a side to climb into and Hermione followed suit, rolling the other direction. As soon as she pulled the duvet up to her shoulders, she turned on her side to look at him.

"How are you feeling?"

He turned his head and then turned his body to look at her, as well. "About what?"

"Your parents, Christmas, life? I'm really not tired, I just needed to get away from them, they're so tense."

Severus sighed. Instead of being able to get to sleep and not worry about it, he was going to hold a conversation, in bed, with the woman he was in love with. If he didn't know any better, he would have said that Albus and the Dark Lord had been working together to manage the situation. Hermione's brown eyes were only a foot away and they were trained on his own.

"I haven't decorated a Christmas tree in thirty years," he confessed.

"Thirty years! Severus!"

"It was the Christmas before I started Hogwarts. I was alone and I was just looking for something to make me feel as though I were at home. At that point, I was old enough to understand what was going on between my parents and that my family was not like others. My parents had no money and what we did have, my father spent on alcohol. He came home, destroyed the tree, and I haven't decorated one since."

"What happened?" She asked, eyes wide.

"His job changed a few times, my mother finally had enough and said if he didn't quit drinking she would leave, and yet even with those changes nothing improved. Not really."

There was only concern in her expression and he hated the fact that he couldn't push her away. She had seen him at his most vulnerable, his history and he wasn't sure how closely she had looked at him before he had climbed into bed, but he had never let anyone else see him so undressed. Scars from years of battle covered him and it killed him to admit that he cared what she thought about him.

Hermione reached up a hand and brushed some hair off of his face. "I'm sorry that you didn't have a great family."

His hand came up to hold hers in place. "I still don't, Hermione. They'll never be a real family."

"You have me," she whispered. "I'm going to make you decorate a tree and wake up ridiculously early on Christmas and drink hot chocolate all day and there's nothing you can do about it."

He would never have been able to say what possessed him, but he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I don't know why you put up with me."

"Because you're you!"

Mentally exhausted, he begged her for sleep and she relented. The fact that she was apparently not tired didn't matter, as she was asleep in a matter of minutes. They had moved closer while talking and he pushed himself back to give her space. To give himself space, he was going to lose himself in her. A mental image of getting physically lost in her sprung to mind and he rolled onto his back. Fuck.

Three times during the night he woke up unable to breathe. Her hair had a life of its own and he had no idea what she was dreaming about, but her hands kept crashing down on him. At one point she hit his Adam's Apple and he was certain he was going to die. Nothing seemed to faze her, however. His gasping for life didn't cause her to even move in her sleep. Him flinging her arms away didn't do anything and the spell he cast to tie her hair up in a ribbon might as well not even have been for her. He was certain that an entire battle could have been fought and it wouldn't have bothered her.

He woke up to sun in his eyes and movement in his arms.

"Severus," Hermione muttered. "You've pinned my arms."

"Sorry," he said, blinking a few times. "I must have subconsciously been tired of you hitting me."

"I'm so sorry!" She said and made to move, but his arms caused her to only shift back and without thinking, his hand shot to the back of her thigh to keep her from crashing into his morning friend.

At the feel of the soft skin he bit his lip to keep from groaning. That was one part of her he never thought he'd touch. He had to count to ten and he had no idea what she was thinking.

"If you wanted to feel me up, Severus, all you had to do was ask," she teased as he released her arms and removed his hand from her leg.

"I apologize," he grumbled, still trying to drag himself from sleep. "Did you sleep alright?"

"Better than you it sounds like," she said. "I'm sorry if I'm a horrible sleeper. It's only when I'm sleeping in a strange place or having strange dreams."

"And what kind of strange places have you been sleeping in, Miss Granger?" He asked, trying not to let jealousy shine through.

"During the war, we seemed to sleep wherever we fell," she answered, looking down. He noticed she was looking at the bit of his chest that had been uncovered. "Severus."

The desire to cover himself was halted by her hand pulling the sheet further down. "It was a war, Hermione."

"I didn't even notice last night," she whispered, her finger reached up and traced a particular scar that ran from his collarbone to the middle of his torso. "Dolohov."

His eyes, which had closed at her gentle touch, snapped open and he grabbed her wrist. "How did you know that?"

One of her hands went to the top of the shirt she was wearing and pulled it aside. "He gave me one, too. It was me remembering, I didn't realize that he gave you yours. Kind of ironic."

Anger swelled within him at the thought of Hermione being subject to Dolohov. The man was an animal. He brought the hand he had trapped up to his lips.

"What's happening between us, Severus?"

He simply looked at her, hand still pressed to his lips.

-There are so many fics out there with Hermione and Severus having to spend the night with each other for one reason or another and I wanted one that felt awkward, albeit romantic, and not just the let's fall into bed and we'll be fine and everything will work out perfectly scene. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!