A/N-Again, I am very sorry for being a slow writer-I'm doing my best! My only excuse is that I've been away. Thank you all for staying with me!

Severus,

I have scheduled a demonstration of my non-magic spell for Saturday, at midday. It will be held in the Atrium of the Ministry, and I would dearly like to have you there, especially seeing as you helped to make this possible. If you are free, I would really appreciate your support.

Yours,

Hermione

Severus once again read through the letter he had received a couple of days after he had visited her, preparing to leave for the event in question. He was genuinely touched that she wanted him there, considering she had her friends for support. Certainly, he knew that friendship wasn't even close to what was starting to blossom between them, but it was still a pleasant surprise to be wanted in this way. Over the time that he had gotten to know her, he felt that he could easily lose the remnants of his heart to this witch.

Of course, that hinged on her wanting him in return. Although, from the fire in her gaze when he left her flat two days ago, it seemed there was little trouble with that. She almost looked like she wanted to devour him-an extremely arousing look for the witch, he found.

Shaking his head to clear the distracting thoughts of Hermione's ardour, he floo'd to the Ministry in time for Hermione's presentation.

Hermione was pacing in a small room behind the demonstration stage, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. Quite the crowd had gathered to watch 'the brightest witch of her age' perform, and even though she knew the event back to front she was still a riot of nerves.

She was quickly scanning her notes once more when a loud twang startled the papers from her hands, strangely reminiscent of a muggle Tannoy. It announced that she had one minute to prepare before she was taken in front of the crowds to demonstrate her spell. Hermione took the minute to calm herself, using old Occulmency techniques left over from the war to help focus her mind. Remarkably, she did manage to settle, and was almost calm when a rather red faced man in an ill-fitting suit came through the door to fetch her.

"If you could come this way, Miss Granger," the man gestured to the stairs leading to the stage. "Wait just a moment, if you please." The unknown man proceeded up the stairs ahead of her, announcing her and introducing the idea behind the spell to the gathered crowd. Far too soon, he came back down and told her to proceed with her demonstration.

The old, Gryffindor courage refused to fail her now. Squaring her shoulders and raising her chin, she pasted a determined smile on her face and went to face her audience.

A polite smattering of applause met her as she took her place on the stage, which quickly quietened as she began her explanation. On the right hand side of the stage sat three unbiased members of the Spell Standards Syndicate, who would be able to judge how effective the spell was and the ease of use. If it passed, she could begin to use it, and earn residuals from its publication.

Calling on the officials, she asked them to test several battery-operated pieces of equipment and mix a simple base in a clear flask. As expected, none of the objects worked. However, she explained, if the ward was cast on the area all of the equipment would begin working perfectly.

As Hermione raised her wand she faltered, a sudden fear of failure eating away at her confidence in performing the spell. Looking down at the expectant crowd, she remembered that Severus was among them. Lips quirking in amusement, she thought of how he would react if he knew what was running through her head at that moment. Something like 'foolish chit' came to mind.

Finally prepared, she cast the ward to be contained on the small stage area. After all, imagine the panic if everyone present was suddenly unable to use magical objects. There'd be a riot.

Biting her lip to stop herself from smiling, Hermione turned to find the officials inspecting the objects, stunned. The bright glare of a battery-operated torch pained her eyes, as the warbling of her ancient radio met her ears. Apparently, all of the muggle objects were now working perfectly. Even though they had been told that this was the intent, almost everyone present looked mystified. Instead of bearing witness to the Golden Girl's downfall, they had instead been privy to one of her greatest triumphs.

The last test was taking place at that moment. It was just a basic neutralisation reaction, but as a purely muggle science it was still an important part of the process. Again, this went off without a hitch, utterly delighting the petite witch on the stage.

From his discreet vantage point, Severus had a perfect view of the changing emotions on his witch's face. A flicker of doubt had initially caused him some concern, but thankfully Hermione had gotten over it. Everything had worked perfectly, exactly as he had expected.

Right now, the witch looked elated. Under the lights of the stage her features took on an almost ethereal beauty, only enhanced by the look of raw joy on her face as the SSS officials congratulated her on her remarkable achievement. Obviously, this spell was going to be become widespread immediately, what with the public support and the press reports that were sure to follow. Severus couldn't remember ever feeling this proud of someone, and never would have thought that it would be this witch.

What made her success even more incredible was that it was immediately accepted by the whole of the audience. While the Dark Lord had been defeated, pro-pureblood sentiments were still prevalent in overall wizarding society, which often led to the efforts of muggleborns being overlooked or downplayed. Clearly, this was no longer the case, at least when it came to Hermione.

Finally, the crowd had mostly dispersed, leaving just a few stragglers a fair distance from the imposing man. The corners of his lips tilted upwards as he watched her gracefully exit the stage, forming a small but proud smile. Merlin knew she deserved the recognition for her work, particularly given how she was treated by the stuffed shirts at the Ministry.

He was startled out of his thoughts as he was hit by a small, soft parcel of woman pressed into his front, her halo of brown curls tickling his chin as she wrapped her arms around him. Gently detangling himself from her limbs, he looked into the amber eyes of the little witch.

"A hello is normally required before you begin your assault on my person," he huffed, his eyes alight with mirth. "Although, it's understandable given your excitement."

Hermione shook her head, too worked up to fully comprehend his words. Before she had a chance to think about it, she reached up and gently pulled his head down to hers, pressing her lips to his. The rich scent of him utterly enveloped her as he rested his hands on her hips, pulling her flush against him as his mouth moved tenderly against hers. Her senses felt as if they had gone up in flames, the feeling of him sliding his tongue against her lips making her melt against him as she allowed him access.

Severus thoroughly explored her mouth, taking his time to absorb as much of the witch before him as possible. Everything about her kiss entranced him, tempting the very edge of his self-control until he could barely resist the urge to throw her against the nearest wall and ravish her. He could hear her sharp intake of breath as he nibbled on her bottom lip in an imitation of how she had unwittingly teased him, and it only spurred him on. Realising that he was rocking his arousal into her stomach, he reluctantly broke the kiss. It wouldn't do to act like this in public, after all.

Her eyes were molten as she looked at him, her cheeks flushing a deep pink. Again, she bit that plump bottom lip, and it begged him to taste it once more.

"I'm so sorry Severus; I don't know what came over me." Hermione stammered, digging her nails into her palms. She genuinely believed that she had pushed him too far, judging by how dark his eyes had become.

"I assure you, it was not unwanted. Had you not taken initiative, I certainly would have kissed you." He tilted her chin up, forcing her to see the truth in his eyes. "Honestly, the only hardship is having to stop."

She blinked up at the wizard, surprised. Although, it would explain the underlying hunger she had felt through his response; it gave her hope that they could continue soon.

"And, witch, you should know that I care for you. Deeply. There is no way that kissing me is going to stop that, if anything it has given me a glimpse of the passionate, wanton woman you could become with the right… encouragement. One day, I wish to explore things further with you, with your consent." He purred, the honey in his tone combined with the decadent web of his words working to ensnare her, to persuade her to belong to him.

The feminist inside her was screaming that she would belong to no man, but unfortunately it was far too tempting an idea. She had already fallen for his mind and what she'd seen of his heart; why not add his body to the equation? It could hardly do any harm.

Searching his expression, Hermione saw something that surprised her more than anything else about this man.

Vulnerability.

Obviously, he was serious about this. He didn't just want her body, or he wouldn't care if she rebuffed him or not. Clearly, Severus had been perfectly honest when he had told her that he wanted to court her properly. Smiling at him, she laid his fears to rest.

"Severus, I would be delighted to explore both you, and this relationship, further." Hermione smirked, causing his trousers to tighten. Gods, but he wanted her. Now was too soon, he decided, but he knew he had to have her soon. By the looks of it, she wanted him badly in return.

"Wonderful. Seeing as your demonstration is finished, would you care to have lunch with me? I would like to discuss your proposal in more depth, as it were."

Hermione huffed at the thinly-veiled innuendo, and took the arm he offered. He led her swiftly from the Ministry, taking her to a small café in Diagon Alley for a rather… illuminating conversation. Gods, how was she going to explain all this to Ginny?

A/N-How was that? Tell me in the reviews! I'm very, very, very sorry for the wait. Again. You're all saints, waiting weeks for this! Next time, come and shout at me a bit-can't hurt to gently bully me into writing, after all.