I'm back!! I've had a great break and managed to do lots of writing. Missed you all a lot. The story is moving on in my head and on 'paper' now. I've got about four chapters ready to go, although I probably will post them every other day, and after that I reckon about three more or so. So the end is in sight. (Thank god for that, you're probably thinking!!)

I'm also aware of needing to respond to reviews. Apologies for not having yet done so. Will try to ASAP, but heartfelt thanks, as ever. I feel there may be a fair bit to comment on here too ...

I am so excited about seeing the movie of HBP. I have to confess (although I cannot forget my complete devotion to a certain LM/JI), I have been utterly beguiled and enraptured by the images of our beloved Professor on the posters and advertising material. There is one image (have only really seen it on the MSN news sight so far- excuse my vagueness - hope you know what I mean) with him holding his wand out and he just looks completely ... guh ... inspiring, shall we say. Clearly, the magnificent Mr Rickman has been on the receiving end of some serious digital airbrushing, but who gives a s**t when you end up with an image like that?! I ain't complaining! You will find this reflected in much of what is to come in my writing ...

A little note on the text: In the UK, a prep school is a private elementary school. The Cotswolds are a very pleasant, peaceful part of the country characterised by typical 'English' villages. It is regarded as quite a wealthy, gentile area.

So ... our lovers deserve some time away from Hogwarts ... but how will they get on? Lots to chat about ... lots to do ...


It was not until reasonably late in the evening that they roused themselves from the bed to go out for supper. Luckily, the night life of Edinburgh provided many opportunities for dining at a later hour, and they found a quiet and intimate restaurant off Prince's Street which was still serving post-theatre meals.

It was something of a relief to Hermione to find that their time together far from Hogwarts was as relaxed and easy as it had been earlier in the day. Equally, it was further confirmed to Hermione that Severus had banished the insecurities which had beset him. His decision to take her away with him seemed to have cleared his mind, and she admired him for his strength and resolve. His mindset had switched remarkably quickly, but she knew him to be nothing if not forthright. If he had decided on something, there was no need to harbour lingering doubts. They seemed to have made a huge stride forward.

As they ate, they both chatted freely and easily about all manner of things; the use of magic, how McGonagall was fairing as Headmistress (very well, Hermione was surprised to hear Severus conclude) and how Hermione would settle into life at the Ministry. During a momentary lull, Hermione spoke about something which had surprised her.

"What you said earlier ..."

"Yes?"

"About resigning from your position."

Silence as he awaited her resumption.

"You don't have to, you know. There are ways around it. You could perhaps resign as Head of House, then at least you would be released in the evenings and the weekends. That way, you could travel to London every night if you wanted."

He remained silent for a while, head down, cutting his meat. Then at length his words came to her across the table.

"You were adamant I should leave before."

"I know. It was foolish of me. I suppose I ... wanted to test you in a way."

His head darted up and she detected a flash of anger in his eyes. She quickly tried to make amends.

"I don't mean in a teasing way. I just ... needed to know how you felt about things ... about us."

The light in his eyes changed to a glow and he lowered his gaze again.

"You were right, though," he continued carefully. "I have become too settled there. It has helped me forget, ignore things that should be confronted."

"But surely you have confronted all those things?"

"Most. Perhaps not all."

Silence fell between them again.

"And besides," he said at length, "as I have said before, I only like my job when you are there. I associate the place entirely with you now. I cannot imagine it without you. There shall be no point to me remaining with you gone."

She stopped eating and put her cutlery down. He did not look up, but she could not remove her gaze from him.

"Severus."

Eventually, he raised his head to meet her eyes and she was rewarded with a slight smile before he lowered it again.

It took a while before either spoke again, although the silence between them was anything but awkward, simply peaceful and contented.

"Do you live at Hogwarts during the holidays?"

"No."

It did not seem he would be more forthcoming. She pressed him.

"So, where do you live?"

"In my childhood home."

Again, he offered no further information.

"Do you not wish to tell me about it?"

He paused and sighed deeply.

"It is a small, dismal terraced house in a vile industrial town in the north of England. It contains nothing of any merit or value whatsoever."

"Apart from you."

He could only sneer.

"So why do you still live there?"

He looked up at her suddenly, as if realising something for the first time. "I don't know." She was bewildered and raised her eyebrows inquisitively. "But I know why I used to live there."

"Go on." She thought she knew the answer already.

He said it straight out with no attempt to shield her from the truth. "Because that is where she was from. Living there reminded me of her, of some of the happiest times we spent together."

Hermione lowered her head, trying not to let his bluntness affect her. What he said next ensured it did not. "I now realise I can move away quite freely and happily. It no longer has any hold over me."

She looked surprised.

"Because of you, of course. You do realise that don't you?" He sounded as if he was chiding her for not realising something obvious in class.

She could only smile across at him, staggered by what seemed to her a sudden shift in allegiance. His own determination fired her own and gave her further confidence in their relationship. She felt completely secure in her emotions for him.

They returned to their food.

"And you, Miss Granger," he smirked as he called her by her title, "you have never told me about your childhood home."

She smiled. "It's terribly dull and predictable, I'm afraid. I grew up with nice middle-class parents in a nice middle-class Cotswolds town and went to a nice middle-class prep school. All very comfortable and cosy."

"When did you realise you had magical abilities?"

"Well, little things really. I ignored them at first. I remember struggling to dress my dolls one day when I was very little and then suddenly, after I had thrown one on the floor in a temper, they were all suddenly immaculately attired! And one day at school, I had been so frustrated by my teacher's inability to write up what I thought was a simple calculation on the board, I was sitting there glaring at her back, and she turned away, about to admit defeat, and when she looked again, the board was full of the correct solution. I'll never forget her look of astonishment. Of course, I had no idea it was me who had done it."

"Tormenting your teachers even then?"

She smirked. "But of course. Did I ... torment you?"

"Yes."

"Was I that bad?"

He exhaled deeply. "I suppose it was your clear affection for Potter that riled me the most. I resented the fact that the most brilliant and talented witch I had come across for as long as I could remember was so attached to him. It reminded me ..."

His voice trailed off, but she knew he was referring to another Potter's influence; to James' hold on Lily.

"But you took it out on me rather a lot."

"I suppose I did."

"You were very cruel at times."

He did not flinch. "See it as building up your resilience."

She looked at him for a while. It was clear he was not going to apologise for his behaviour towards her over the years. She decided not to push for it.

"I will see it as you trying to come to terms with feeling threatened by my intelligence and talent," she said with a smirk.

She did not see him glare at her briefly, then change his expression slowly into a slight admiring smile.

They ate quietly and contentedly for a while longer.

"This feels right, doesn't it?"

"Yes," he said clearly after a pause. "That is why I am content with my decision. Our trip this morning confirmed it to me."

"Not initially."

"No. Strangely enough, it was only when we returned to Hogwarts that I realised how clear it was. Despite the reassurance of the surroundings, and the knowledge that you were to arrive for a lesson, I realised that ..."

"Go on."

"It was no longer enough. However confusing, different rather, our time away from school had been, it felt, as you have just said, right. Although I admit that I ... resisted seeing it at first. You must remember, I did not have a nice middle-class upbringing. I was not taught to tolerate, adapt, develop. I have had to work all those things out for myself; some I have grasped better than others."

"You are far more self-aware than I admit to giving you credit for previously."

"And you are just as patronising as I always gave you credit for previously." He smirked across at her; she responded with a mock affronted glare.

"I know I can be an annoying pain in the arse. You're probably one of the few people who could tolerate me."

He humphed slightly. "Mr Filmore seems to be more than happy to 'tolerate' you."

"Oh, don't talk about that. But that's a point actually, if it makes you feel any better. A few hours in my company and I'll have probably bored him rigid."

"Hmm ... it's the rigid part I'm worried about."

She giggled at his humour, glad he could joke about something she knew he was deeply troubled by.

"Severus, not only do I love sitting here, fully clothed, chatting to you, but that particular aspect of our relationship is remarkable. I never believed I'd find someone to be able to make me feel the way you do. I didn't know such pleasure was possible."

"Neither did I."

"Well, that's a further sign of our compatibility. God, it's almost ..."

"Fate?"

She looked up at him, surprised he was happy to admit it so readily. "Yes."

They stared at each other. Her cheeks had quickly flushed, and the colour had spread to her lips which were full and swollen, he could not take his eyes from them. His chest rose and fell rapidly under the crisp white shirt, contrasting with the deep black of his jacket. "We need to go back to the hotel." He spoke with urgent insistence.

"Yes."

The waiter immediately appeared at their side. Snape had not even looked across at him. "We require the bill, thank you."

The man did not hesitate in returning with the bill immediately. When he thought about it later, he could not explain why he had served the black haired man and the young woman so swiftly.

Severus paid for it all and they were soon walking rapidly back towards the hotel. It was a cold night and Hermione huddled against him to keep warm. His arm came around her and pulled her in tight. She lay her head on his shoulder and smiled into his coat. At one point they could go no further, but stopped and drew the other in tightly for a long, deep kiss. It did not seem to bother the Friday night revellers of Edinburgh. When they had reached the steps of the hotel, they paused briefly for another embrace. On breaking away, she looked up into his eyes and said once again, "You really were horrible to me, you know. You reduced me to tears on several occasions."

Again, no apology was forthcoming, and she thought she could detect instead the merest hint of a smirk. For now, she smirked back and pulled him up the steps into the hotel.

Once inside the lift they could barely keep their hands off each other, and if it had not been for another person getting in on the second floor, they may well have ended up naked before they reached their level.

They somehow managed to unlock the door to the room and Hermione moved him back into it. He was tearing at her clothes almost desperately, but a thought had been forming in Hermione's mind for some time. It would require tremendous willpower on her part, at least initially, but she was determined to see it through. She pushed him back, removing his jacket and undoing the buttons of his shirt in the process, until he came to rest against a pillar of the four-poster bed.

She kissed him deeply and he reached up to hold her head, angling it to assault her mouth with increasing desperation. Her hands came up and pulled his down and she slowly lowered herself so that she was kneeling before him. After a slight smirk of anticipation, his head fell back and his eyes closed in expectation. Hermione undid his trousers and let them fall. He kicked off his shoes and socks and stepped out of them swiftly, so that he was standing before her in nothing but his shirt tails.

He rose out towards her, needy, rock hard. Her mouth was so close, her tongue flitting out as if to capture that first drop which had already appeared on his swollen tip. But the anticipated touch did not come. Instead she took his hands and pulled them behind him, and then yet further behind the pillar of the bed. Before he had even realised what was happening, he found himself immobile, bound by some unknown material to the post.

He struggled as it finally dawned on him what had happened, and started to mutter a wandless spell to release himself. But before he could complete it, he felt the tip of her wand under his chin.

"Uh uh uh. I wouldn't recommend that if I were you. Do not underestimate my magic, Professor Snape. You know me too well for that. Besides, this won't be nearly as much fun if you don't cooperate." She smiled languidly up at him, and tapped the tip of her wand reproachfully on his chest, before drawing it down the length of his torso. He could not deny that his cock was even more engorged than before, and stopped struggling, burning with curiosity to see what she would do next.

She merely stepped back and crossed her arms, watching him with teasing amusement.

"What is this about?" he hissed, frustration coursing through his limbs. How he longed for her touch; his flesh was burning for her.

"Penance." She spoke plainly and clearly.

"What?" His eyes burned into hers. She looked away.

"I told you; you have been beastly to me over the years. It is time for you to make amends."

The ache in his groin was so intense he feared he would injure himself. "Don't tease me, witch," he groaned out through gritted teeth.

"Oh ... that is exactly what I am going to do."

She continued to stand staring at him for some time, watching as his breathing became increasingly ragged. It became harder and harder for him to maintain the silence he normally exhibited at times of arousal, and the occasional tormented moan could not stop itself rising from his throat. Hermione could not deny the effect this had on her. She knew her own knickers were soaking.

She glanced down at his member, more swollen and throbbing than ever. The head was purple with need and dripped mercilessly onto the floor. She took a step towards him and caught a drop of the clear liquid as it fell. She examined it with a frown and brought it up for him to see. "Tut tut. What are you always telling me about creating a mess and not letting things go to waste? Seems you are in need of a little reminder of your own rules and regulations ... sir." She smirked at him, running one finger along the line of his jaw and pushing his head up with it. He returned her stare with a glare, but did not speak. His breath came in short deep gasps and he struggled momentarily against his bonds.

"Oh no, you don't." She instantly stepped away from him, denying him the promise of her touch. A deeper groan emerged from him.

Hermione moved further back. His eyes followed her everywhere. She stood before him and slowly started to remove her clothing. First her shirt, each button undone with deliberate indolence. Her breasts were revealed, pale milky mounds encased in the red silk of her bra. She saw the flash in his eyes, but ignored it.

Moving to a chair, she pulled it out to just a few feet in front of him and sat on it, slowly unzipping each boot in turn and pulling them off. At last she stood and removed her jeans, slipping them down her long legs until she was able to kick them, redundant, away from her. She stood before him in her bra and knickers, hands on hips, appraising him and the situation. There was now a decent sized puddle on the floor beneath the tip of his cock and she smirked at him on seeing it.

"Do you know how it feels to be humiliated in front of your classmates for no reason other than spite?"

He inhaled sharply through his nose. "You know I do." The words were spoken with anger.

She maintained her calm. "Ah, but you could argue that there is a great difference between adolescent schoolboys stupidly unable to control their emotions, taking it out on someone they did not understand, and a grown man in a supposed position of authority and respect taking it out on innocent hard-working pupils."

"Innocent?!" He spat it towards her.

"Oh yes. For a while at least."

"You lost your innocence a long time ago, Miss Granger."

A wistful look came into her eyes and she stared beyond him momentarily. "Yes. I suppose I did." Then her head darted back to his. "But never my work ethic. You cannot deny me that."

"I did not say that I did."

She approached him again and knelt, gazing quizzically at the rigid shaft of flesh before her as if it was a specimen to be studied. He arched his groin towards her open mouth, but again she pulled back, drawing a cry of desperation from him. Slowly she stood, always maintaining a few tantalising inches of distance between them.

"What did it feel like, Professor Snape?" He did not reply but his eyes hardened and burned into hers. "The spite, the malice, the disparagement, the caustic put-downs? When you saw people reduced to tears before you. Did you enjoy it?"

He took a long time before replying, but eventually spoke. "I knew no other way. I had never been treated any better myself."

"That's not entirely true though, is it?" She was referring to Lily. "I ask you again; did you enjoy it?"

He refused to answer for a while, then turning his head, gave his response reluctantly but clearly. "It provided me with a sense of justice. And I could not risk any pupil or teacher becoming too attached to me; that would have made it hard to maintain the web of deceit I had to weave in order for me to succeed in my ... work." She knew he was not referring to his teaching.

"Oh, I don't buy that excuse, I'm afraid. What an effort. What a charade. Why not simply use your powers for good from the word go?"

"You know full well it was not as simple as that. Stop this effrontery now!"

She stepped into him and brought her mouth tantalisingly close to his ear. She whispered low, "I like to hear what goes on inside your head." With that her tongue flicked out and briefly flitted into his ear, sensual and warm. He almost sobbed.

She stepped back again and reached behind her, undoing the bra clasp before slipping the straps down from her shoulders and letting the garment fall to the floor. A deep breath was drawn into him at the sight. Her nipples quickly rose hard and dark pink as the air hit them, and she brought a hand up to cup a breast lightly, before stroking over the pliant flesh, taking the nipple between thumb and forefinger and squeezing lightly. The throb in his groin was so severe he was sure he would come just from watching her. It was the most agonised torment he could recall with no actual bodily pain being inflicted.

Her eyes closed and her head fell back. She continued to pull at her nipple. Her own lust was so heightened that it did not register as pain at all, merely causing the fire in her belly to flame ever more. Her other hand reached down and quested inside her knickers. She found herself sodden with desire, and pushed one finger along the dripping folds encircling her swollen clit as she went. She heard a hiss from the man opposite her. She touched the lightest of touches on the hard nub of flesh and a jolt of pleasure shot through her. She gasped in and her eyes opened instinctively, meeting his. He looked as if he would burst out of his bonds any moment, but she knew she had him where she wanted, knew she had him where he wanted to be.

She pulled down the knickers and stepped out of them, revealing herself fully naked before him.

"And now, Severus Snape, I stand before you; this body, this woman, whom you derided and tormented all those years." She moved into him. "These lips; which uttered so much, only for the words then to be criticised and denigrated." He could feel her sweet breath on his face. Her lips were red and swollen; he thought he would die without their touch. "You want them now, don't you?" He did not reply. He was not sure if he still had the power to form words, his mind was a complete fog of lust. "Say it." It was her turn to hiss.

"I want them. I want you." It was a whispered breath – all he could manage.

She smirked and moved to his ear again. "Not – yet." She emphasised the words with deliberate precision.

Hermione once again stepped away from him. His face crumpled at the deprivation of her body, but he quickly recovered his composure on the surface, although beneath he knew he could not last.

She sat in the chair she had placed opposite him, placing one leg over the arm, revealing herself fully and tauntingly to him. Fixing him with her eyes, she let her hand quest once more between her thighs. She could not prevent her own groan rising loudly as she felt her swollen wet flesh once more. He too let a sound of desire escape him. Her other hand again found her nipple and started tugging at it relentlessly, coaxing sensation and pleasure through her body. One finger sought deep inside and drew out her wetness. He caught a glimpse of the glistening moisture and his mouth fell open involuntarily as more pre-cum fell in audible splatters onto the floor.

She drew the finger up and rubbed around her clit, causing her to jerk up to meet it. She knew she could not keep herself waiting for much longer. Why should she? Her fingers worked faster now, tantalising her clit then dipping back into her sodden passage, only to draw more liquid out of it to further coat and stimulate her sex. She rubbed harder over and around the bud of tight flesh at the top. He could see it engorged and red, desperate for its own release. The hand at her nipple was still pinching and tugging, the tight redness of her clit mirrored in it. She had tried to maintain his gaze, but as her insides somersaulted with near completion she could not; her eyes closed and her head fell back and with a final hard rub over her engorged flesh she came in vast groaning spasms. Pleasure coursed through her, magnified by the knowledge of his eyes boring into her, soaking up her rapture.

Her limbs twitched for some time afterwards and she kept her eyes shut tight to concentrate on the feelings that still sparked within her. Only when she felt every last ounce of pleasure leave her body, did she at last open her eyes and look across at him.

He had the most extraordinary expression on his face; a mixture of desire, wonder, pain and admiration. After her breathing had settled she stood and walked across to him, holding his gaze firmly, her eyes fixed surprisingly cold.

They stayed like that for some time, then at last she heard it. His mouth opened and he spoke, softly, tenderly and completely honestly.

"For all the pain and humiliation I caused you over the years ... I am sorry."

The expression on her face changed instantly to warm acceptance and forgiveness and she smiled tenderly at him. Then at last, Hermione Granger reached in and kissed him. It was a remarkably chaste kiss, but to him, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever bestowed.

They remained like that for some time, their lips touching, blending, never too hard or insistent, but eventually, she became aware of the constant dripping against her thighs and she pulled back, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You are forgiven," she breathed to him, then immediately knelt.

She only had time to open her mouth, and drag her lips once, maybe twice over the purple engorged head of his cock, before he exploded into her, all his need and frustration finally able to be relieved. She struggled to capture all his seed in her mouth. She had not realised it was possible for so much to emerge from a man as she felt burst upon burst shoot into her. Each was accompanied by the most soul-wrenching groan from him, as if all his failings and faults were finally being atoned for.

When she was sure he had given her all he could, she stood and swallowed his seed deep within her. This brought another moan from him.

Then looking at him with tenderness she reached behind him and untied the bindings. He exhaled as his arms were finally released and he felt the blood flowing back into them swiftly. He had not realised the discomfort until now. Some of his essence had escaped onto her face and he gazed at it in awe; never had he known such an erotically satisfying sight. He brought his finger up and captured the stray drops on them. She saw what had happened and eagerly caught his finger in her mouth, sucking off all she could from it.

With that she removed the shirt he had been wearing the whole time and, taking his hand, led him into the bed.

They lay for a while, simply looking at each other, then he spoke, not angrily, merely inquiring.

"What was all that about?"

"I needed to hear you say it. You had been reluctant earlier."

"You were very forthright; in your actions and your words."

"Yes. Did it surprise you?"

"What?"

"What I did to you?"

"Initially."

"But you did not mind?"

"It was strange to relinquish control. Unfamiliar."

"I asked if you minded."

He paused momentarily. "I did not."

"And my words?"

"What about them?"

"Did you mind them?"

Another pause. "Do you really think those things?"

"Yes." She waited a little. "Does it matter?"

"No."

"You seemed angry at times."

"Am I not allowed to be?"

"I suppose you are." She thought for a moment. "So I haven't gone down in your estimation?"

"Quite the opposite."

She stared at him with sheer delight and love and leaned over to kiss him, more passionately this time. He swept her onto her back, and moved over her. She could feel him hard and insistent already between her thighs. She quickly parted them. "Please. Please come inside me." She did not need to ask as he had already positioned himself, and pushed firmly but tenderly into her before her voice had died away.

He moved smoothly but powerfully within her, not taking his eyes from hers, and it was not long before they both came for the second time in a few minutes.

It was only then that the events of the day overtook them both, and they fell into a deep sleep, still holding each other tight.


More very soon. I can unequivocally promise! x Leave some thoughts if you can. x