Disclaimer: I obviously don't own it. It's all for fun.

Mak is of course my beta; who is amazing.

Review please, it helps me get motivated to write…

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Chapter Twelve

Hot Days and Horny Nights

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Severus leaned warily against the back of his door and sighed heavily. It had been an extremely trying day and he was in desperate need of sleep. Coming back to Russia was something he needed; but in order to get any satisfaction from it he actually had to relax. Walking over to his window, he looked into the back yard at his banya. He didn't need another moment to think about it; that was where he needed to be. During his time as a Death Eater he would long to come to Russia just to get in his banya to help relax his muscles. However, the years leading up to the war afforded him no time to escape the madness of his life.

A flick of his wrist and a non-verbal spell took care of activating the warming charms for the wooden sauna. Severus took his time undressing and putting away all of his clothes. Pulling out a white towel from one of his drawers he wrapped it around his waist and exited his room. The first thing he did was check to see where Hermione was. He wasn't about to have her see him in only a towel. Good. She's reading. Again. As soon as he was sure she wasn't looking in his direction he quickly walked to the door leading outside.

As soon as he walked into the wooden structure he was hit with a wave of warmth that instantly soothed him. Untying the towel from his waist he laid it down on the wooden bench to his right, spelled the room to add more steam and heat. Severus stretched, cracking his back, before he lay down on his towel. He let the steam relax his muscles and after only a few moments he was starting to become more at ease.

Living with Hermione was going to be interesting. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours in her company and he was already feeling worn out. Of course, he was still upset about her going through his journals; even if she did have a point about gaining pertinent information about his innocence. That argument was still going to happen and he was ready for it. There was no way he would let that fall to the ground without bringing it up. Yes, he was thankful for all that she had done but he was also expecting her to be courteous enough to maintain his privacy. Was that too much to ask?, he mused to himself as he put his hands behind his head and gazed at the roof of the banya.

The tension behind his eyes had loosened and his bones were starting to feel like jelly; which was exactly what he wanted. He needed to feel completely relaxed and wash the last five years out of his system. Part of him would be happy to live the rest of his days out in Russia, but a gut feeling pulled him back to England. For the life of him he couldn't reason out why he needed to go back to England; but he wouldn't argue with his gut. It had brought him this far in life. I'll think more on it later, he thought lazily as he slowly closed his eyes.

The state of the wizarding world right now was hectic, to say the least. People had called for Death Eaters to be sentenced to death and ninety-five percent of the time they were. Few of his associates had survived and he could deal with that. They were all complete idiots and he knew it first hand. If Severus had never joined the Dark Lord, he certainly never would have "befriended" any of them.

Severus knew he was lucky to make it out of the war alive, but surviving a death sentence was something else completely. The only luck he had in his life was bad luck, but thankfully he was free. Never did he expect to gain his freedom. The wizarding community knew what kind of man he was and what deeds he had done under the Dark Lord and Severus was not anxious to get back into a society that hated him. Being ostracized at Hogwarts as a teenager was one thing, but to feel like that in society, in the country he was raised…well, it wasn't something he wanted to imagine. Severus wasn't a coward but he certainly wasn't anxious to walk along the streets of Diagon Alley.

He had just gotten to Russia to escape the wizarding world and he was going to enjoy it; for a little while at least. Thinking about how long he would stay there; he eventually started thinking that Hermione was going to be there as well. Unless I run her out of the house and she Apparates herself back to England. That thought didn't set well with him and he pushed it out of his mind and silently vowed to figure out why he was feeling the way he was.

The thing that kept him from complete relaxation was all the thoughts running in his mind. They were so random and varied he couldn't clear his mind. Of course he could Occlude his mind, but sometimes he liked to do it without the use of magic. Chalk it up to being part Muggle, he scoffed. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at himself. When he couldn't get the thoughts out of his mind he succumbed to using Occlumency.

Ahhh, he thought happily as he went completely limp. After about twenty minutes of complete nothingness he sat up slowly and started to put his towel around himself. Before he could cover himself completely the door opened and Hermione walked in. "Severus?" she asked, right before she saw him and got a slight view of him. His eyes widened and he quickly covered up. She yelped in shock and backed up, closing the door as fast as she could.

With the door closed he sat staring at the door trying to comprehend what had just happened. She's probably back in the house by now. He chuckled slightly at the thought and stood up securely tying his towel. Walking into the light outside, he was surprised, and speechless, to see Hermione still in the garden. Her back was facing him but he could easily see her fidgeting and looking around aimlessly.

Severus walked up to her, but couldn't think of a thing to say to her. Hermione looked away from him and asked, "Why is it still light out? It's after ten, but it looks like the afternoon." In an after thought she added, "You have a beautiful garden…"

Clearing his throat he knew he could at least answer the question about the daylight. "It's called The White Nights. Due to St. Petersburg being so far north, and the fact that it's the summer, it's light out all the time. Only in the wee hours of the morning does it start to darken up…a little."

They stood there a few minutes in awkward silence when it became clear to Severus that he was standing in the middle of his garden sweating, hair damp, with simply a towel to cover himself. He passed by her, brushing against her arm accidentally and muttered, "I was going to tend the gardens tomorrow."

Once he made it inside he went directly to the shower to hopefully avoid her as she came back inside the house. As he was washing himself, he kept an ear open for the sound of the door closing. Finally hearing it, he sighed in relief. She was back in the house and hopefully back in the living room. Now that he was in an area of the house where he knew she would absolutely avoid he thought about her seeing him. Oh bollocks! She's seen me stark naked. Severus wasn't very happy about that thought. Not one bit. He certainly didn't want his bits exposed to her…No! This has to stop! This is ridiculous! He berated himself for thinking he might have liked the idea of her seeing him naked.

It was preposterous. In his mind there was no reason for someone like Hermione to even give him a second glance. Drying his hair with his towel, he composed himself enough to walk back to his room. Thankfully, he made it back to his room without incident. Once he was dressed he decided he couldn't hole himself up in his room. Besides there was a book he remembered wanting to read and he was going to get it. A Gryffindor wasn't going to keep him from parts of his house.

As he was searching for the book in the library, he heard Hermione ask him sheepishly. "Where exactly am I going to sleep?"

Forgetting the book, he turned to Hermione, who was curled up on the couch in the living room looking back at him. Walking to her, he pointed to the area of bookshelf directly in front of her. "There is a Murphy bed behind the bookshelf. Just press the left window frame and the wards will go up to prevent the books from falling. The bed will then unfold. I would suggest you get up from the couch because the end of the bed will rest on the couch."

Hermione practically jumped up when he told her the bed would set right where she was sitting. Severus motioned for her to touch the left window frame and she walked over to it. As she touched it, the bed folded out just like he said it would.

Severus had noticed she had changed into her nightwear. She was wearing short cotton shorts and a pink tiny vest. Gods! He couldn't help but look her up and down. She certainly wasn't the person he remembered at Hogwarts. Severus couldn't help but stare at her ass in those tight little shorts. Swallowing uncomfortably he thought, what a nice ass. Thank the Gods she isn't still a student. His eyes widened again in shock at his thoughts. Her back was still to him and he quickly schooled his features back to neutrality. This is going to be hell.

"If that is all, I am going to sleep." He didn't wait for her to reply and simply walked away. Before he entered his room, he said over his shoulder, "You might want to conjure up an eye mask."

Back in his room, Severus pulled the black curtains over his window and lay down in his mahogany sleigh bed. The bed was welcoming and comfortable, but he had difficulty getting to sleep. He grabbed his eye mask and put it over his eyes but all he could think about was Hermione's ass. A moment longer and he was aroused. Shit! This is not happening. But, it was and there wasn't much he could do about it. Never had he had so much trouble clearing his mind. Damn it! His thoughts kept going further than he wanted them to go. The things he wanted to do to the young girl in his living room were not virtuous. Forcing himself to Occlude, he eventually succeeded and drifted to sleep.

Unfortunately, Severus didn't get much of an escape in his dreams. She was there, in those damned shorts taunting him. He tossed and turned throughout the night hardly getting any sleep. Severus saw every hour on his bedside table clock. Finally at six-thirty, he couldn't take it anymore. He had to get up and do something. As he got out of bed, all thoughts of Hermione escaped him as he was hit with cold air. He threw on a black sweater and walked out of his room and headed straight for the kitchen.

Spelling the fire on, it roared to life and brought some heat to the small house. Taking a copper kettle down he filled it with water and hung it on a small hook over the fire. He stood in the kitchen and though he didn't want to, he gazed in Hermione's direction. She was sprawled out on the couch, her hair a wild mess around her head. The covers had fallen off of her and she was shivering slightly. His eyes travelled from her face and towards her breasts. They were erect from the cold air and he stared. I'm like a ruddy schoolboy! That was the second time in twelve hours he had stared at the girl. He was a man so really it wasn't that out of place. Again the thoughts and images from his sleep invaded his mind and he hardened immediately. Fuck! This has got to stop. Severus forced his eyes away from Hermione and focused on fixing his tea.

Tea cup in hand he walked to the library, grabbed the book he'd only relocated last night, and settled down to read. It was a lot harder to read a good book when he was hard and horny. Things are definitely going to get interesting.