Chapter Seven
Love Conquers All
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
A.N. Yes well, here I am again. If you were disappointed by the anti- climax of chapter six, don't worry because everything picks right up again. Severus comes out on top in more ways than one, not that this diminishes Hermione's hold on him in anyway. And we get to finally find out what's in the desk drawer. Sorry guy's, but the potion's still a mystery. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hermione adjusted herself in the armchair by the fire and looked at her watch. She groaned and stood up, pressing her hands against the small of her back.
Friday's classes had gone by unbelievably slowly; her anxiety of the approaching potion session weighed down on her mind. Now it was time for her to make her way down to the dungeons, and she wasn't sure how she was going to handle herself. Monday was one thing, but now she'd had four days to think about it and she as not sure if an illicit relationship with one of her professors was really something that she wanted. At that she wanted. At the moment she needed to go do work on the potion and she didn't have time to really worry about what she would do when she got there or she would be late.
Hermione slipped through the portrait and down the stairs into the dungeons. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
All of the candles in the potion room had gone out. Hermione hadn't brought her wand with her for some reason so she found herself at a bit of a disadvantage. She stretched her hands out in front of her, feeling for obstacles between herself and the door to Severus' office.
Severus was sleeping on a green corduroy couch that he had undoubtedly conjured up for the purpose.
He looked so innocent asleep. His long hair was a soft black afterthought against his pale cheek. His hair wasn't as greasy as it normally was, he must have recently taken the time to wash it. Hermione smiled, secretly hoping that she had given him the motivation to improve his personal hygiene. He would have easily looked the part of an angel, with the soft curtain of sleep wiping the sneer off of his face, but for his hooked nose. Hermione was rather fond of his nose though, she though that it added character to his face. He was wearing muggle clothes again, Hermione hoped against hope that this didn't mean another trek through the muddy forest. His black silk shirt was unbuttoned; it lay starkly black against his chest throat.
Hermione was overcome with the urge to go back on her vows and whisper something obscene into his ear before snogging him on the corduroy couch. Hermione tiptoed over to him, intent on doing just that, when she remembered the mystery object that she'd located in the desk drawer on Sunday.
Miraculously, Hermione found that her curiosity outweighed her lust and she seized the opportune moment. She backed up slowly towards the desk, carefully monitoring Severus' breathing pattern. She slid the drawer open as quietly as possible, behind her back so that if Severus awoke she could hide what she was doing. She damned herself for not bringing her wand, not only could she not see but a silencing spell would have been quite useful at the moment. Hermione ran her hand along the bottom of the drawer, seeking out the latch that would open the secret compartment. After a few tense moments of fumbling in the dark she resolved to tiptoeing across the room to get the candlestick.
The rise and fall of Severus' chest faltered for only a fraction of a second, but it was enough to cause Hermione's heart to skip a beat. Once she was satisfied that he was not about to wake up she leant over him.
His eyes were moving back and forth beneath their lids. Hermione wondered what he was dreaming about, and right on cue Severus murmured, 'Mmm apple, my precious apple.'
Hermione smirked and went back to the desk, feeling very satisfied with herself. With the help of the candle, she notices a small engraving of a snake in the shape of a S in the right side of the drawer. Hermione traced the engraving with her finger and heard the compartment at the bottom of the drawer audibly snap open.
She turned around and checked to make sure that Severus was still asleep. He was, murmuring inarticulately in his sleep.
Hermione turned back to the drawer, breathed in slowly, and pulled out what lie within. She brought it nearer to the candle and examined it closely. It was a very old intricately designed wrought iron key. The base of the key was the width of her palm, and the key itself was the length of her forearm. She turned it over, feeling the weight of it, and saw an engraving along the length of the key; she bought it up to the candle, trying to make the words out. The engraving was in Latin, 'Amor Vicint Omnia.' Hermione committed it to memory and made a mental note to look up the translation in the library later.
Hermione slipped the key back into its compartment and snapped it shut, wondering what it was for and why it needed to be hidden. She slid the drawer closed once more and went over to Severus.
She watched him, sleeping soundly. Her eyes roamed down his muscled chest and paused at his navel. She was once more was overcome with the desire to make him her own. She breathed in the sweet aroma of his cologne and shivered.
Carefully, so as not to wake him up, she got onto the couch. She straddled his chest with her thighs and leaned over him, placing her hands on either side of his head against the arm of the corduroy couch. Hermione smirked and ran her tongue down his forehead, kissed his hooked nose; she moved her lip to his and lingered there. His lips to his and lingered there. His lips were soft, and even before his eyes fluttered open he had already begun to kiss her in return.
He squinted up at her, trying to make her out in the dark. His mind was groggy, and for some reason he was having problems rationalizing Hermione's presence. He felt as though he were still dreaming.
'What are you doing?' he asked, his voice thick with sleep.
Hermione grinned down at him. 'Waking Sleeping Beauty from her eternal slumber of course,' Hermione replied craftily.
Severus sat up abruptly, causing Hermione to be pushed back ending up sitting in his lap facing him.
'Don't get cheeky with me Hermione.'
Hermione frowned, 'I wasn't being cheeky.'
Severus raised his eyebrow, 'No?'
'No,' Hermione replied softly. She slipped her hands underneath his shirt and wrapped her arms around him.
Severus smiled and wrapped his arms around her as well. 'Hermione, you are by far the most impossible woman that I have ever met.'
Hermione closed her eyes and gave a contented sigh. 'Then I'm perfect for you Severus, because you have to be the most impossible person in the whole world.'
'I don't doubt that you're right,' he said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
'What are we doing tonight?' Hermione asked, tracing his Adam's apple with her finger in a fascinated sort of way. 'On the potion,' she added dryly, after seeing the mischievous grin on Severus' face.
Severus sighed, 'Not too much, we just have to add in moon lilies, beetle eyes, and more dragon scales tonight.'
Hermione moaned, 'Fine, but you're grinding up the dragon scales again, and I'm going to order us down some tea from the kitchens.'
'Alright,' Severus said, marveling at how easy it was to please her some times.
Hermione got up off his lap and used the floo powder on his desk to ask Dobby to bring them down another tea tray while Severus gathered up their ingredients and quickly ground the dragon scales into powder.
Hermione kept catching herself glancing at Severus' bare chest when she was supposed to be measuring out beetle eyes. 'Severus, would you please button your shirt, I'm finding it hard to concentrate.'
Severus smirked, ready to make it a whole hell of a lot harder to concentrate. He maneuvered around the table and lifted her of her feet in a soft embrace, and kissed her deeply.
Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Hermione and Severus abruptly let go of each other and spun around to face Dobby the house elf.
'Where do you want the tea miss?' Dobby asked, glaring at Severus.
Hermione blushed deeply scarlet, 'Oh, here on the desk I suppose.'
Dobby did as he was bid, glared and Severus one more time, and left.
'Did you see the look he was giving me?' Severus asked as soon as Dobby was gone.
'Daggers,' Hermione said and shrugged. 'But really, sexual relations with one of your underage students, have you no morals.' ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Once they were finished with the potion they had another little make- out session on the couch.
'Severus, can I stay here?' Hermione asked once they had stopped kissing and she lay on his chest.
'What do you mean?' Severus asked, propping his hand behind his head.
'I'm too tired to go back up to Gryffindor Tower,' she said with a yawn.
Severus smiled, 'Oh really.'
'Yes,' she said sleepily.
'You can stay here if you want, but I'm going home.'
'Hunh?' Hermione asked, sitting up.
'I don't spend the night here,' Severus explained, 'I commute in the morning.' He gently slid out from under her and went over to the fireplace, ready to floo himself over to Snape Manor.
Hermione moaned, 'Don't leave me.'
Severus sighed, in a resolved sort of way and lifted her off the couch. He threw the floo powder into the fire, walked into it with her in his arms, and called out, 'Snape manor.
Hermione closed her eyes shut, so no soot would get in them and clutched tight to Severus as they whirled around in the fire and appeared in front of Severus' living room. She tried to open up her eyes again, but she was just too tired. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A.N: Thanks
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
A.N. Yes well, here I am again. If you were disappointed by the anti- climax of chapter six, don't worry because everything picks right up again. Severus comes out on top in more ways than one, not that this diminishes Hermione's hold on him in anyway. And we get to finally find out what's in the desk drawer. Sorry guy's, but the potion's still a mystery. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hermione adjusted herself in the armchair by the fire and looked at her watch. She groaned and stood up, pressing her hands against the small of her back.
Friday's classes had gone by unbelievably slowly; her anxiety of the approaching potion session weighed down on her mind. Now it was time for her to make her way down to the dungeons, and she wasn't sure how she was going to handle herself. Monday was one thing, but now she'd had four days to think about it and she as not sure if an illicit relationship with one of her professors was really something that she wanted. At that she wanted. At the moment she needed to go do work on the potion and she didn't have time to really worry about what she would do when she got there or she would be late.
Hermione slipped through the portrait and down the stairs into the dungeons. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
All of the candles in the potion room had gone out. Hermione hadn't brought her wand with her for some reason so she found herself at a bit of a disadvantage. She stretched her hands out in front of her, feeling for obstacles between herself and the door to Severus' office.
Severus was sleeping on a green corduroy couch that he had undoubtedly conjured up for the purpose.
He looked so innocent asleep. His long hair was a soft black afterthought against his pale cheek. His hair wasn't as greasy as it normally was, he must have recently taken the time to wash it. Hermione smiled, secretly hoping that she had given him the motivation to improve his personal hygiene. He would have easily looked the part of an angel, with the soft curtain of sleep wiping the sneer off of his face, but for his hooked nose. Hermione was rather fond of his nose though, she though that it added character to his face. He was wearing muggle clothes again, Hermione hoped against hope that this didn't mean another trek through the muddy forest. His black silk shirt was unbuttoned; it lay starkly black against his chest throat.
Hermione was overcome with the urge to go back on her vows and whisper something obscene into his ear before snogging him on the corduroy couch. Hermione tiptoed over to him, intent on doing just that, when she remembered the mystery object that she'd located in the desk drawer on Sunday.
Miraculously, Hermione found that her curiosity outweighed her lust and she seized the opportune moment. She backed up slowly towards the desk, carefully monitoring Severus' breathing pattern. She slid the drawer open as quietly as possible, behind her back so that if Severus awoke she could hide what she was doing. She damned herself for not bringing her wand, not only could she not see but a silencing spell would have been quite useful at the moment. Hermione ran her hand along the bottom of the drawer, seeking out the latch that would open the secret compartment. After a few tense moments of fumbling in the dark she resolved to tiptoeing across the room to get the candlestick.
The rise and fall of Severus' chest faltered for only a fraction of a second, but it was enough to cause Hermione's heart to skip a beat. Once she was satisfied that he was not about to wake up she leant over him.
His eyes were moving back and forth beneath their lids. Hermione wondered what he was dreaming about, and right on cue Severus murmured, 'Mmm apple, my precious apple.'
Hermione smirked and went back to the desk, feeling very satisfied with herself. With the help of the candle, she notices a small engraving of a snake in the shape of a S in the right side of the drawer. Hermione traced the engraving with her finger and heard the compartment at the bottom of the drawer audibly snap open.
She turned around and checked to make sure that Severus was still asleep. He was, murmuring inarticulately in his sleep.
Hermione turned back to the drawer, breathed in slowly, and pulled out what lie within. She brought it nearer to the candle and examined it closely. It was a very old intricately designed wrought iron key. The base of the key was the width of her palm, and the key itself was the length of her forearm. She turned it over, feeling the weight of it, and saw an engraving along the length of the key; she bought it up to the candle, trying to make the words out. The engraving was in Latin, 'Amor Vicint Omnia.' Hermione committed it to memory and made a mental note to look up the translation in the library later.
Hermione slipped the key back into its compartment and snapped it shut, wondering what it was for and why it needed to be hidden. She slid the drawer closed once more and went over to Severus.
She watched him, sleeping soundly. Her eyes roamed down his muscled chest and paused at his navel. She was once more was overcome with the desire to make him her own. She breathed in the sweet aroma of his cologne and shivered.
Carefully, so as not to wake him up, she got onto the couch. She straddled his chest with her thighs and leaned over him, placing her hands on either side of his head against the arm of the corduroy couch. Hermione smirked and ran her tongue down his forehead, kissed his hooked nose; she moved her lip to his and lingered there. His lips to his and lingered there. His lips were soft, and even before his eyes fluttered open he had already begun to kiss her in return.
He squinted up at her, trying to make her out in the dark. His mind was groggy, and for some reason he was having problems rationalizing Hermione's presence. He felt as though he were still dreaming.
'What are you doing?' he asked, his voice thick with sleep.
Hermione grinned down at him. 'Waking Sleeping Beauty from her eternal slumber of course,' Hermione replied craftily.
Severus sat up abruptly, causing Hermione to be pushed back ending up sitting in his lap facing him.
'Don't get cheeky with me Hermione.'
Hermione frowned, 'I wasn't being cheeky.'
Severus raised his eyebrow, 'No?'
'No,' Hermione replied softly. She slipped her hands underneath his shirt and wrapped her arms around him.
Severus smiled and wrapped his arms around her as well. 'Hermione, you are by far the most impossible woman that I have ever met.'
Hermione closed her eyes and gave a contented sigh. 'Then I'm perfect for you Severus, because you have to be the most impossible person in the whole world.'
'I don't doubt that you're right,' he said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
'What are we doing tonight?' Hermione asked, tracing his Adam's apple with her finger in a fascinated sort of way. 'On the potion,' she added dryly, after seeing the mischievous grin on Severus' face.
Severus sighed, 'Not too much, we just have to add in moon lilies, beetle eyes, and more dragon scales tonight.'
Hermione moaned, 'Fine, but you're grinding up the dragon scales again, and I'm going to order us down some tea from the kitchens.'
'Alright,' Severus said, marveling at how easy it was to please her some times.
Hermione got up off his lap and used the floo powder on his desk to ask Dobby to bring them down another tea tray while Severus gathered up their ingredients and quickly ground the dragon scales into powder.
Hermione kept catching herself glancing at Severus' bare chest when she was supposed to be measuring out beetle eyes. 'Severus, would you please button your shirt, I'm finding it hard to concentrate.'
Severus smirked, ready to make it a whole hell of a lot harder to concentrate. He maneuvered around the table and lifted her of her feet in a soft embrace, and kissed her deeply.
Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Hermione and Severus abruptly let go of each other and spun around to face Dobby the house elf.
'Where do you want the tea miss?' Dobby asked, glaring at Severus.
Hermione blushed deeply scarlet, 'Oh, here on the desk I suppose.'
Dobby did as he was bid, glared and Severus one more time, and left.
'Did you see the look he was giving me?' Severus asked as soon as Dobby was gone.
'Daggers,' Hermione said and shrugged. 'But really, sexual relations with one of your underage students, have you no morals.' ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Once they were finished with the potion they had another little make- out session on the couch.
'Severus, can I stay here?' Hermione asked once they had stopped kissing and she lay on his chest.
'What do you mean?' Severus asked, propping his hand behind his head.
'I'm too tired to go back up to Gryffindor Tower,' she said with a yawn.
Severus smiled, 'Oh really.'
'Yes,' she said sleepily.
'You can stay here if you want, but I'm going home.'
'Hunh?' Hermione asked, sitting up.
'I don't spend the night here,' Severus explained, 'I commute in the morning.' He gently slid out from under her and went over to the fireplace, ready to floo himself over to Snape Manor.
Hermione moaned, 'Don't leave me.'
Severus sighed, in a resolved sort of way and lifted her off the couch. He threw the floo powder into the fire, walked into it with her in his arms, and called out, 'Snape manor.
Hermione closed her eyes shut, so no soot would get in them and clutched tight to Severus as they whirled around in the fire and appeared in front of Severus' living room. She tried to open up her eyes again, but she was just too tired. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A.N: Thanks