A/N: Thank you for all your lovely reviews, they made my day! I am very happy you agree with my view of Lily ;)
Special thanks to FrancineHibiscus, one of your reviews sparked an idea for this chapter! :)

Chapter 11

Hermione woke from a deep slumber and stretched her aching limbs. She felt wonderful, if sore. As she blinked her eyes against the morning light, her memories of the night before suddenly rushed back all at once. Her breath caught in her throat as her body erupted into sweet tingles. She had finally been with the man she loved. It had been incredible, mind-blowing, and she could not wait for a repeat performance.

Lazily swinging her arm over to his side of the bed, her hand came into contact with cold sheets instead of the warm body she had expected. Her eyes still sensitive to the light, she swept her arm over the place where he was supposed to be, only to come up empty. Her fingertips, though, came into contact with a small scrap of parchment.

Frowning, she held it up to her nose and peered at it. She would have recognized his scrawled handwriting under thousands, and although it was hastily scribbled, she had no problems deciphering it.

"There is something that I have to take care of right now. I will be back."

What in all of the world? The parchment dropped from her limp fingers. How could he have left her after what had happened last night? What was so important that he had to leave her?

Maybe, their shared night had not meant the same to him as it had to her, the nagging voice in the back of her mind spoke up. Maybe, he has scratched his itch and discovered that he still can't forget about Lily. Or maybe, it reasoned, he had gone to give all the juicy details to his new and favorite friend, the Traggob.

Her hands tightened into fists. She would not be sitting here like some idiot, waiting for Prince Charming to return. Throwing on her clothes hastily, she checked herself in the mirror, trying to flatten down her mop of hair that literally spoke volumes about a night spent with passionate endeavors.

Grabbing her purse, she made for the door. As she swung it open forcefully, she came face to face with the one person she wanted to see least right now.

Severus held his breath as, just as his hand was about to touch the handle of his door, it was ripped wide open, revealing a furious Hermione, her eyes shooting daggers at him.

Oh Gods, he thought, here we go. He remembered the Granggob's instructions to the letter, and as reason had left him at the sight of the woman who stole his breath, he decided to just parrot everything the Granggob had told him.

He held up the paper bag he was holding in his left hand, moving it into her line of vision so that she could no longer glare menacingly into his eyes, but instead had to glare at the bag.

He cleared his throat to assure that his voice had the silky timbre the Granggob had insisted he employ on delivering his message. "Croissants?"

He held his breath. As she didn't cut him down immediately, he continued with his script. "There is this tiny French bakery, quite some way off, but the flaky, buttery crusts of their freshly baked croissants is just too delectable. I thought they might do for a nice breakfast in bed?"

There. Biting his lip, he waited for her to speak. The view of her face was still obstructed by croissants, so he could not glean her reaction.

Finally he heard her whisper emotionally: "You went all the way over town just to bring me croissants?"

Oh thank God, Severus thought.

Hermione was so relieved she thought she might cry. There she had thought he had left her for something – someone – else, when in truth he had just wanted to treat her to something special. All her anger had melted away at his explanation, and all she wanted to do now was what he had proposed: to have a delectable breakfast in bed.

Her left hand snapped the bag of croissants out of his grasp, while her right one grasped the fabric of his coat to pull him inside.

As soon as the door was closed, she pushed him against it, molding her body to his. She had missed him so much although he'd only left for a short while. When she looked up at him, her eyes locked with his. She could see a multitude of emotions, but there was something new among them, something she had not seen before. A tenderness.

His hands tightened on her hips, pulling her into him, his lips capturing hers. They were warm and soft, but demanding at the same time. She melted into his embrace and allowed herself to be swept away by a wave of feelings. Her hands moved up on their own accord, grabbing two handfuls of his hair, holding him in place as she passionately explored his mouth. His answering moan of pleasure told her he enjoyed her ardor.

She thought he might pull back after a while, but to her surprise and pleasure, he was just as much into kissing her as she was. His hands roamed over her body as the bag of croissants lay at their feet, forgotten, the delicious pastry slowly turning cold as they devoured each other.

Hermione contemplated how to lure him back to bed when her stomach grumbled loudly in protest, being the only one not having forgotten about the croissants.

She sighed wistfully as Severus pulled back to smirk at her, picking up the bag of croissants. "I think it might be a good idea to feed you before we proceed any further."

With a wistful sigh, she accepted the proffered bag and watched him walk into the kitchen to lay the table.

The smell of the freshly backed croissants reached her nose and she moaned at the scent. Her stomach voiced its opinion loudly. Complying, she reached into the bag and pulled one of them out, sinking her teeth into its soft, delicious depths. She moaned when the first bite of flaky pastry dissolved on her tongue and she gobbled down the rest of it in eager bites.

Carefully refolding the bag as not to let him know she had inhaled one of them already, she smoothed out the last wrinkles in the bag. She studied the picture of a quaint little house on the front, obviously depicting the bakery, the address written in delicate letters below it.

Hermione frowned as she read the address. She knew the name of that street. She had passed it not long ago. When and where had that been?

The plates were already sitting on the table and Severus had turned to the cupboard to pull out his favorite tea. As such, he could not see the bag of croissants sailing elegantly through the air to hit him smack on the back of his head.

"Youuuuu!" Hermione screeched. "You manipulating bastard! You did not go to that part of town for the bakery, did you?! You went to see her – it – that Traggob! I know exactly that this street is just around the corner of her place."

Damn it. That witch was too smart for her own good. "Well, yes, but I am here now!"

As her hair began to frizz, electric sparks running along the wild strands, he knew that answer had been the wrong one. In an instant, her wand was in her hand and he had to duck for cover as a few nasty hexes flew over his head.

"How dare you?!" she shouted, "After last night, how could you leave me like that for that - that thing?" She emphasized the 'thing' by shooting a rather nasty jinx at him.

"Look, whatever you think happened, you are wrong!" Severus shouted out from behind the table.

"Oh yes?" she shouted back, "So you did not stealthily slip out of the bed where you had, only minutes before, passionately made love to me, just to sneak off to some Traggob to spill the beans about what had just occurred, probably analyzing the whole thing, picking everything apart while joking around all the while? Maybe there was even a nice glass of firewhiskey involved to accompany all that gossiping. How far am I off?"

Damn that witch. She truly was brilliant. "If you put it like that, it does sound rather incriminating."

A shriek of fury as well as a plate that shattered under a particularly nasty nonverbal hex were her only response.

"It was not gossiping," he defended himself. "I needed to talk to the Traggob because somehow it has a way of helping me see the truth of the situation."

He was waiting for her next hex, but everything remained silent.

"And what is the truth of the situation?"

Severus took a deep breath. This was it. He had to tell her how he felt about her. Sweat broke out all over his body as anxiety took his breath away. What if he messed this up?

A/N: dun dun duuuuun!

So, to the readers asking for Hermione to get her revenge – are you happy? ;)

*wriggles her eyebrows*