I know sorry doesn't even begin to cover it but life has taken a sharp left turn and I am still getting used to things. :( I promise to update more. Poll is on my profile, please go and vote!And I know things have kinda been circlign the same thing but I PROMISE much more plot is yet to come. I just needed to cemet how things were with them before going on. Severus has a lot of issues and obvious lack of self-worth xoxox -TGP
"Keep me."
As the words left his lips Severus felt every breath he took become heavy and his heart felt like it actually stopped beating as he looked at Hermione Jean Granger. Her lips were parted slightly, her magnificently insane hair circled her like a halo and her eyes widened slightly before narrowing.
Rejection he was prepared for. Her to walk away screaming how she would never be tied to a man like him for eternity he was prepared for.
The subsequent punches that landed on his arm and the hand to the back of his head, Severus was not prepared for.
"You ignorant man. You though I would leave you after everything!" Severus looked at her with an expression mixed of amusement and legitimate concern. "I saved your arse from the venom and whatever people would have killed you if I had not found you and you think I am going to leave you?" Her words were punctuated by her finger poking him in noway gently and she seemed quite oblivious that her head was barely level with his shoulders, leaving him staring down at her."Get your arse in the car now Severus Snape. We are going home before you go any more loony than you apparently already have gone."
Severus stared after her for a few moments with a small grin on his face. His little lioness had apparently laid her claim and was being quite angry with her muttering as she stumbled across the open field. The ground was muddy and the low fog of twilight was making it much more difficult to see the uneven plain. As she opened her car door, his brain caught up to her actions and Severus moved quite gracefully and was at his door before she could even flip on the engine.
"Hermione," Severus said softly. "Look at me. Please." Severus was legitimately concerned about whiplash for her as she turned her head. "Please don't kill us on the road dear one," he said softly as he pried her shift-hand off the knob and kissed the knuckles gently. The frown marks left her face and her whiskey eyes softened slightly.
As he gently placed her hand back on the shift as she started the car he suggested that they have fried duck with rice and green curry from the small shop a block down from the house. If he had been a lesser man who hadn't spent decades in the dark dungeons of Hogwarts, he would have missed the small smile pick up the corner of her mouth.
The ride home had been quiet except the muttering from Hermione and Severus found himself dozing around the winding hills that had melted into the darkness, being lulled to sleep by the weaving and smooth darting of the car. The moon was slight and barely coming over the horizon before the fields began to give way to the outskirts of the estate where they resided. He awoke abruptly when she parked the car and almost darted out the door before even giving him a chance to say if he wanted to stay in the car or come in with her. Mostly whenever they had gone it had been the latter, he never did like the way the young man who took the orders looked at her, even before he had kissed her lips for the first time.
Severus rested his head back against the seat for a moment before catching a glance of himself in the side mirror.
He wasn't a handsome man in the slightest and looked older than his years with the hair that had turned gray and the lines caused by stress through the years. But there was something else there. A small spark of life that had been brought back into his life from this young woman. Oh she was so young. Too young to be fooling around with the likes of him. And they had gotten so serious so quickly, he had been on a few dates, mainly to keep Minerva off his back but nothing lasted longer than dinner, often the check was requested before dessert.
Severus looked into the window of the shop, his lioness was waiting for their order while gazing out into the street, closed his eyes and resumed musing. She really did look beautiful tonight, although it was obvious she hadn't slept much since he had been admitted to the hospital. Her jeans looked like they needed a washing but she had obviously changed her shirt, the green one had been switched to a lavender purple and her hair was swirling around her head even with the slightest movement.
Severus opened his eyes and glanced down at himself, the shirt he was wearing almost matched the safetybelt as a dull gray, the slacks he had on were worn and had been sitting in the back of his closet, never expecting much wearing in the Muggle world. Jeans were much more comfortable and were never that terribly expensive to replace if they were ruined.
Severus glanced at his scuffed boots and scarred hands. Potions accidents weren't a rare thing, let alone at a magical school and few were actually serious but he had learned long ago that the thicker the shoes the less likely of a burn on your foot.
He was snapped out of a memory of Longbottom by the click of the door-handle and barely had a chance to raise his hands as Hermione threw their food at him in a plastic sack. The smell of curry reached his nostrils and Severus blushed in the dark as his stomach complained at hunger it was suddenly feeling.
After a moment, they were at the house and parking on the walk outside the stone gate and Severus carried in the food as Hermione grabbed a bag out of the boot of the car that she had brought with her to the hospital. Severus sighed after reaching for the bag and being shrugged off, it obviously wasn't heavy but he was tired of being treated like and invalid and she had been silent for almost the full two hours it had been since they had left the clearing.
"Hermione," Severus said softly, the rasp in his voice still making him wince. The fact that she was obviously still stewing about something didn't help matters. He stood in the doorway for a moment before shutting the heavy door as quietly as he could before following her into the kitchen.
Eileen watched silently as her son put the bag of that god-awful carry-out on the rickety walnut table. They both looked tired, but the warmth in her sons eyes was unmistakable. Severus shrugged out of his thick wool coat and unwrapped the navy scarf from around his neck and placed them properly on the chair, pausing for a moment as his hands rested on the corners.
Hermione was still standing in the almost darkness, the old lamps on the wall took minutes to warm up as they both couldn't stand the bright florescent tubing above the sink. As she was pulling out the old chipped green plates and a few pint glasses from the cupboard, Severus took in the sight. This whirlwind of a woman had essentially taken over his life and as she opened and shut the fridge and grabbed a few pieces of silverware (who could master chopsticks, really?), he realized that he had made a fool out of himself earlier. Severus has basically called Hermione a coward and he had also made things much more serious than either of them had realized. Yes he had laid claim to her, but that was only one sided. Sure she had said she wasn't going to go anywhere, but that could change at some point. Tonight however he had basically asked her to keep him, almost like the pathetic dog begging for a master that had already dubbed her as his own.
"Hermione," Severus said again softly, when she didn't look at him while dumping the curry onto the plates and placing them on the ragged placemats, he grabbed her hand and smiled softly at her as she stared past him in an obvious attempt to look at anything other than him. Hermione's eyelids shut gently over her glazed eyes as Severus pulled her to him, his hands ghosting her spine before resting on her hips. She felt his warm breath tickle her ear as he spoke gently, "forgive me for being such a fool." Severus kissed her ear softly, gently nipping at the lobe. "You are extraordinary. And I am so afraid to lose you."
As Severus felt her shiver, he felt Hermione's chest rise, "you are a fool Severus." She said in a soft tone, stroking his shoulders as she felt him tense. "But you are my fool. Now eat your curry before it gets cold," she said before kissing him on the nose and smiling at him.
"I can think of something much more delectable than curry my dear," Severus smirked, pulling her back to him and over his shoulder and bringing her shrieking about his health and hospitals and healers up the stairs.