What. The. Hell. Just. Happened? Severus was frozen in place; his mind stopped function for a whole second because of the shock.
Did she just kiss him? His hand raised to the place her lips had touched, it was too quick for him to remember the feeling, but it was definitely not an illusion. Never has she kissed him, not even just a friendly peck on the cheek. And with all the wisdom he has, Severus could not think of a reason for why she did what she did.
You are overthinking again, old fool. She was probably just too excited to content herself. Didn't you witness she kissed the Potter and Wesley prats a million times before? He tried to ignore the heat of jealousy that ran through him with the thought of her kissing the boys, friendly kiss or not.
Let out a long breath, he stood up from the chair. Don't think too much, Snape. Now get your damn arss up and set up the preparation.
He was just finished with everything when Hermione showed up in the living room again. His breath caught in his throat and he had to use every ounce of his Occulmency shields to lock down his wayward thoughts.
She was wearing a bathrobe.
She was only wearing a bathrobe.
His blood rushed to his nether region and left him lightheaded.
Holy Merlin and his hairy balls, it was going to be a long night.
—
Standing before the dressing mirror, Hermione took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. The dark red bathrobe made her skin look soft and smooth. Its neckline was low enough to show that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath, but not too much to be inappropriate.
She was taking a big risk, dressing like this, specifically aim to seduce. Still, she could always claim that it was for practical reasons considering the positions of her scars. Adjusting the bathrobe one last time, Hermione tried her best to look confident, after all, he has seen her worse. And now she was almost sure that he was interested…
Another deep breath, she tried to calm down her wildly beating heart, but it was no use. Her palms were sweating, her tongue tight. For a moment she debated whether or not to abandon her plan, but she was a Gryffindor, and she would not let this perfect chance fly away.
—
The look of hunger and desire flashed across his face before he put on his mask of indifference was enough to give her courage to stay rather than ran back to her bedroom. The fact that she had unsettled him enough for him to pick up his old habit made her feel powerful, in charge.
And Merlin, if the man was not temptation himself.
All her nervous and uncertain was replaced by a fierce need to ravish the man sitting innocently on the armchair by the fire. With only his white shirt, sleeves rolled up showing the pale muscles underneath as well as the gray burn mark in place of the dark mark, he looked undeniably sexy. She moaned inwardly when she realized he had tied back his hairs as well, a habit that always made her want to sneak a hand into his hairs and messed them up, preferably when she was kissing him.
The armchair was at a perfect height for her to kneel before him, to open his buckle and… She wet her suddenly dried lips and stopped her very inappropriate train of thoughts.
Hermione flashed him an innocent smile. "Do you think the sofa was good enough? Or would the bed…"
—
"Sofa will suffice." His voice was hoarser than he liked, Severus cleared his throat. He was having enough trouble controlling his libido like this, and mentioning the bed… The image of her lying in bed the other night flashed before his eyes and Severus forced up another layer of the mental shield. Be professional, old man. You are here to help her not to fantasize about her.
She nodded and moved to sit down on the long sofa. Shifting her position so that she was facing a little sideward along the couch, then pulled an ottoman to her with wandless magic.
"I would like to start with the one on my left arm." She said, indicating him to sit down on the ottoman. Severus could tell that she was nervous and assumed it was because of the worries about the treatment.
"The balm is safe, I've tested it on myself." He sat down on the ottoman, only to find himself not so far apart from her chest. The scar from Dolohov was a vicious snake across her skin, yet all he wanted was to push her back into the sofa and kiss along the scar to her soft breasts, to murmur sweet things to her, to show her how a man in love would look at the scars and only saw them as part of her beauty….
He dragged his gaze back to her face with some difficulty and firmly kept them there.
Something flashed behind her warm brown eyes, and she gave him a beautiful smile. One of her hand raised up to cup his cheek. It took almost all his self-control to not lean into her touch. "I trust you, Severus. I would never doubt the quality of your potion."
How wrong for her to trust him so much, to be so open to him. If only she knew what he was thinking. He scowled, wandlessly Accio the balm. "Put your right hand on my shoulder."
Hermione gave a confused sound but followed his order. "The flashbacks can be very real. Touching something can help you focus on the present." He explained, trying hard to ignore the warm radiant from her palm on his shoulder, focusing instead on the task at hand.
The witch made his work even harder by shifting closer to him, thigh brushed against his. "How painful will it be?" She was biting her lips now, an indication of her nervousness.
"As bad as when you were cursed." Her face paled a shade or two, and he did the most impulsive thing. "It will be alright. I will be here." He said in the softest voice he has ever used, hand lightly squeezed hers, thumb brushed along her knuckles.
She blushed, gaze fell to their combined hands. Too much, he has gone too far. He paused and tried to withdraw his hand, but she covered it with her other hand, fingertips brushing against his wrist. "Thank you, Severus." She placed a chased kiss on his cheek. All his senses aflame by the feeling of her soft lips moving on his skin. Severus swallowed hard.
"Hermione…" He could not take this anymore, he did not understand what game she was playing at, yet he was losing himself already. "Show me your scar. It is time to start the treatment."
—
"….Tell the truth, tell the truth!" Bellatrix was screaming, silver knife sank into her body. Her left arm was on fire, the cursing knife craving her flash, replace them by fear and madness.
"Please, no, please…" She was begging helplessly, it hurt so much, too much. "I wasn't lying, please." The Dark witch's face getting closer, she was enraged, black eyes glimmering with crazy fire.
"Hermione. Hermione!" Someone was calling her name, the voice was low and comforting. "Hermione, look at me. It is not real, just flashbacks." Something warm was covering her cheek and the raving black orbs turned into a pair of concerned obsidian pools.
"Severus…" She breathed his name, fingers digging into the firm muscles of his shoulder. Half of her conscience was still captured at the memories of the Malfoy Manor, but the pain was diminishing. Hermione looked down at her left arm through teary eyes and found it was bleeding because of the torn-apart scars. The Potion Master, once confirmed she was back to her senses, started applying Dittany as well as cleaning the wounds.
"Shhhh, it is alright, it is alright." Severus crooned, lightly stroked away her tears and caressing her cheek, his face a picture of worried and concentration. The unexpected tenderness like a cool silk soothing her aching skin, finally brought back her full attention.
With the return of her conscience, Hermione suddenly realized two things. One, her right hand was still clenching his shoulder, which she released immediately with a muffled apology. Two, their faces were inches apart. She only needed to lean a little closer for their lips to meet. The thought made her heart thrummed, lips dried, the dull pain from her scar completely forgotten.
Severus seemed to become aware of the same things, at least the second one. His hand stopped on its track, unreadable emotions storming behind those dark eyes. Their gazes and breaths mingled in the air, tension growing heavier between them with each passing second.
Hermione was half-mad with expectation and anxiety. When it looked like he did not attempt to make the first move, she decided to follow her Gryffindor instinct.
All right, there we go. Hermione swallowed and wetted her lips, about to close the distance between them…
"Forgive me." He stood up abruptly and rushed into the lavatory. She stared at the empty ottoman for a few seconds, unable to proceed what had just happened.
Did I scare him off? Was it too fast? She was confused and more than a little hurt. Has she read things wrong? Maybe he wasn't interested in her. Merlin, what has she done?
She covered her faces with both hands and groaned.
—
His hands were shaking. It was not a good sign, not a good sign at all. Severus splashed another handful of water to his face, trying to cool down his fervent thoughts which seemed unable to think about anything other than how the witch he has left behind would taste like, feel like. When he again caught himself imagining how she would be like in the throes of passion, he gripped the edge of the sink and shoved his head down the cold stream.
She was going to kiss him. Kiss. Him. Him. Even with the water physically cooling his head, Severus could not stop the heat coming up his cheeks with the thought. He understood why—she was merely seeking comfort after those awful flashbacks.
And he almost let her, wanting to take advantage of her moment of weakness.
His fingers clutch onto the cold sink, unable to stop his wondering mind turning to the unavoidable direction. If she did, if she pressed her lips to his, he knew what he would do. He would start with innocent comforting kisses, gently coaxing her to open up for him. That would not be enough though, no, he would proceed to bewitch her senses until she forgot who was kissing and caressing her, until she was aflame with desire just like him. And then, He groaned lowly, no amount of cold water could calm him now, his imagination ran wild. he would take her to bed and worship every skin, every dip and curve…
He was hard and throbbing now. Severus sighed and pulled his head out of the stream. Cold water ran along his skin, yet it did nothing to abate his fervent desire. He pushed his back against the cool stone wall, knowing if he did not find release now he would not be able to survive the rest of the night.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, one hand moved to his fly. He thought about her smile, the way her eyes darken when she wet her lips. With a shuddering low growl, he took hold of his steel-hard shaft, imagining it was her warm wet wall that clutched him. Images dancing behind his eyes—her skins glittering with sweat, her lips red and plump from kisses, her eyes looked into his with adoration, her voice screamed out his name…
"Hermione." He came with her name on his lips. Bonelessly, he slowly slid down to the floor, a hollow kind of satisfaction and shame consumed him.
What a pathetic dirty old man he was, thinking about her like this. Some friend he turned out to be.
—
When he reappeared in the living room, he was the picture of an aloof and indifferent Potion Master, every bit of untoward thoughts were carefully locked behind the darkest corner of his mind. He stopped short at the doorway, waiting to see her reaction and mentally braced himself for the worse.
Sitting straight on the sofa, she looked at him with an uninterpretable expression and postured for him to sit back down. If she found him stay at the lavatory longer than necessary, she did not mention it.
Severus walked across the room cautiously and sat down at the ottoman again, very carefully keeping a respectable distance between them. He found himself unable to meet her gaze, but when he did, he caught a look of determination on her face. Severus wondered briefly if she decided to toss him out, finally realized the mistake she almost made.
He did not get the chance to voice his question, for she slowly loosened her bathrobe and revealed the full scar in her chest.
Please let me know how do you think about this chapter! This is what I have in store so far. So I am not sure when will the next update be. But as always, your reviews will be my energies :) Hope you enjoy this story as much as I do