I own nothing here but the plot, and even that has had some influence from other sources. Enjoy though, please, that's all I ask. Any and all mistakes are my own.

-Chisicet

An incessant tapping could be heard, the sound was what awoke them. They both were slow to open their eyes, neither wanting to leave the safety and peace of their dreams. Hermione rolled over to face the source of the sound and found a majestic owl tapping away at the window for their attention. She glanced over her shoulder and nearly snorted in laughter at the look on Severus' face. He looked like a perturbed child who was not winning an argument. She fought off the chuckles as she stood and stretched. She moved to the window and opened it wide enough that the owl could get in.

It swooped in and took its time preening and shaking its wings. Hermione closed the window and then crossed her arms over her chest, as she did so realized her arms did not meet cloth but skin and she looked down, her arms going wide to get a better look at herself. She let out a small sound as she realized she was naked before spinning around and looking for her clothes. A chortle caught her attention and she looked up from her bent over position to see Severus laughing at her. His smile, let alone his laugh, caught her off guard and she stood out of her bent status and gaped at him.

"Never seen me laugh, have you?" His voice had taken on a quality that flooded her system with a warmth. There was something in the way he looked at her that had her blushing.

"Never, sir." She was breathless, she could hear it in her own voice and was sure he could as well. He stood from the bed, forgoing the clothes and strut to the desk where the owl was still cleaning itself.

"Hand over the missives you carry, and be on your way." The man and the owl turned steely glares on each other, and it was Hermione's turn to actually laugh.

"Having a staring contest with a bird, are you sir?"

Severus ignored her and made to reach for the missives tied to the owl's legs. The owl let him untie one before it fluttered its wings and refused to let Severus near it again. Hermione moved to his side, a hand coming to rest on the man's arm as she leaned into his side and stared at the ornery owl.

"Now what's this?" She asked the smaller creature and moved forward, one hand out stretched. It calmed considerably and hopped closer to her, sticking the leg that still had a letter tied to it out. She untied it and then reached out and ran a hand over the owl's head, petting it softly. "Thank you. Would you like some treats before you go?" Her voice was soft, endearing. The owl shook itself, then hopped over to the window. Severus moved away from Hermione's side and opened the window for the creature to leave, both glaring at each other once again.

"I bloody hate birds." He said once the window was closed.

"They seem to have a rather untoward disposition for you too." She smirked at him before turning and leaning against the desk, her bare hip the only thing touching the smooth wood. The coolness of it sent a shiver through her that she ignored in favor of opening the letter and reading the short missive.

"I don't much care for snakes either, to be honest."

"Yes, well, neither do I. But, look where life has led me there." She stated dryly and looked up at the ceiling. "My patronus… It's no longer an otter."

"Correct. It is instead a perfect mix of Gryffindor brave and fierce, and Slytherin snake. I was unsure how to take your new patronus, to be fair." He looked away from her and down to the letter in his hands, the silent missive foreboding and he wasn't sure he wanted to even read it in the first place.

"How do you think I feel? I have a reptile as my patronus…" Her brows furrowed and it grew silent in the room for a moment. The ethereal flash of blue caught her eye and she tilted her head down to see what had happened.

"Mine was a doe. A beautiful doe that was one of the few things I had to connect me to my first love. Now…" They watched then as a panther roamed around him, sitting close to him before stretching out and staring at her. She looked down at it, her eyes wide as she took in the majestic creature. "I have no more connection to her, not when I am so intimately bound to you." She could feel his hesitance in admitting that to her.

"I think I like yours better. This… Oh Severus, this beautiful creature suits you better than anything I could think of."

He narrowed his eyes at her insistence, her eagerness to show him the change was not bad. He waved his hand and her wand flew into it before he handed it to her. He motioned her to cast as well but she didn't, instead she turned to stare at the beautiful creature laying at the dour man's feet.

"Cast." He growled, impatience getting the better of him.

She raised her wand and did so, the wisp that emitted stuttered out, no creature bursting forth into life. Her brow furled, tears pricking at her eyes but she swallowed and closed her eyes. She focused then, focused on a new set of memories to pick from and they stood silent for some minutes then. She snapped her eyes open with determination, but when she raised her hand to cast she paused. It only took her another second to mentally berate herself before casting again.

This time what burst forth surprised her, as much as him. The feline that burst forth was only a smidge smaller in frame and height than Severus' panther. Her eyes over flowed with tears and she sunk to her knees then as she watched the two patronus' interacting. Severus moved closer and knelt down next to her, obviously unsure of what to do with a crying girl in his arms.

"It looks like we both have black panthers now, our soul binding changed us both and we didn't even realize it. I'm sorry, I did not know that would happen."

She shook her head, and clung to his side until she calmed enough to look up at him. The closeness between them calling to something within her, something that she wished he was feeling as well; their nakedness long forgotten flared to front row thoughts as she gulped. She started to raise herself up to get closer but he stood quickly and moved back to the window. He ignored her vocalized 'hey!' as he picked his letter up. He set to reading it and she sighed, sparing their patronus' one last glance. Standing up slowly she picked her missive up and opened it.

"Well fucking shite." The eloquent words from near the window drew her eyes from her own parchment and for once she couldn't agree more.

"Does yours state the same thing then?"

"I would gather so, maybe in different words. 'Dear Severus, I just wanted to send my compliments, I awoke hours ago to a colleague informing me of your sudden nuptials to Ms. Granger, or should I say Mrs. Snape? We shall meet this evening, at the Lestrange's old Manor. It is not far from the Malfoy Manor, but I take you know that already. See you at half past eight.' He signed it S.S.. Somehow it unnerves me that we have the same initials." He glared at the paper, wishing that he could set it on fire. He set it down on the desk and stalked to the bed where he sat on the edge, the pouting look back on his face.

"Should I read mine?" She snorted out at his behavior. Harry and Ron would never believe her if she told them how he was acting. This thought had her pausing and she set her letter down on the desk delicately. She couldn't look at him as she fled the room, racing up a flight of stairs and down the hallway to her old bedroom. She shut the door behind her and dove for her old bed. She curled under the covers that smelled musty and unused.

She heard the door open slowly, but so caught up in her grief she couldn't focus on anything but the sobs that were beginning to break through that she ignored it. It wasn't until the bed dipped down next to her that she moved, she shifted away at first. He laid down though, sliding under the covers and opening his arms to her. She surged into his arms and clung to him, the feeling of security and warmth in his embrace helping her accept the pain of losing her two best friends. He held on, ignoring his discomfort with the situation, he knew she needed this. He had his cry when his best friend had died.

When she calmed enough that she was just a mass of hiccups and drying tear tracks in his arms did he move. He pulled her up and out of the bed, down the hall and back down the stairs to his room. She was stunned into silence as he began to pick up and throw her clothes at her, grabbing at his and dawning them until he was fully dressed and her arms were full of clothes.

"Get dressed. We have somewhere to be." He winked at her and moved out of the room. She heard him moving down the stairs toward the kitchen. She blinked after him, before scrambling into action as his order registered in her mind. She paused at the door though before biting her lip and rushing over to the desk where her letter still lay open. She grabbed it, folded it, and shoved it in her pocket as she ran began her descent into the rest of the house. When she entered the kitchen she saw him there pacing around the table.

"Severus?" He continued his pacing and the only inclination that he had heard her was the slight twitch of an ear. She moved out of the room and down the hall to the front door, knowing somehow that is where he would want her to be. It was moments later that he joined her at the front door.

"We will be making a few stops in the next hour, Hermione. I need you to stay by my side and stay quiet. No matter who says what, I need us to be a united front, to do that I need your silent support. Do you understand?" His demeanor had switched to that of his professor persona and she snapped to attention under his scrutiny.

"Yes Professor."

He eyed her for a moment before speaking in a quiet, dangerous tone. "I know you are to meet with him at noon, with it being nine in the morning now we only have a few hours to get everything done." His eyes softened here as he looked down at her. He hesitatingly brought a hand up to cup one of her cheeks. "I will fix this wrong in your heart if it kills me. Let me fix you."

"Only if I get to fix you in return." She gave him a sly grin. He shook his head, but the small tilt of his lips told her he wasn't opposed. "Sev?" She whispered as she stepped closer to him. He instinctively brought his hands to her curves as she stepped into him and he raised a brow at her in question. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pulled on them until he moved his face closer to hers.

As she stepped up to close the distance, allowing her Gryffindor courage to reign within her, her world exploded. The feel of his lips on hers, the way they melded together, the way they both gasped at the contact told Hermione that this was the true end to their ritual. They completed the ritual by being connected in all ways physical and soul linked, now she could feel him, and he could feel her.

The sensations of feeling another person's emotions flood you as hers did, threw Severus. This was new and uncharted territory; not unlike most things he's had to deal with when it came to the witch in his arms. He could feel her amazement and her desire, her anguish and her sorrow, and he wanted to do all he could to make it so all she felt were contentment and bliss. Instead of deepening the kiss as he knew they both wanted he pulled back and stepped closer to the door, letting his arms drop from her.

"We should go."

She was silent as she nodded and followed him out of the door and into the unclouded, brilliant day. He stopped them just on the front step of the place and offered her his arm. She took it and grasped on tightly, never had she liked side-along apparation. Now that she thought about it, she wondered if that might have been a reason for her overtly intense pain last night. She opened her mouth to ask but he turned suddenly and they left the step behind them.