Author's Notes: I was really sorry about the cliffie at the end of the last chapter! I really was! I'm normally not one for such evil cliff hangers but the next part was going to be too long for me to finish in time to update yesterday. So to make it up to you guys here I am updating on a Monday, the very next day because I felt so guilty about it! I have literally been squeezing in slots of ten minutes here and there to get this done for you guys. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed the story so far. I am absolutely stunned that it's gotten so much interest
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hermione couldn't bring herself to move. Part of her wanted to turn around and throw her arms around him, kiss him and beg him for more. The other part of her was terrified and confused. He had pushed her away last time they had kissed. He didn't appear to want anything more with her...but here he was. Suddenly it dawned on her that they were both naked. He wasn't just close to her; he was as close as he could get without being inside her. She felt herself heat up inside and out and her cheeks flamed.
"Shy Hermione?" he asked her.
"Yes." She admitted. He loosened his hold and started to back away from her, knowing he'd won this round. She stopped him from moving back by holding his arms around her waist. "Don't go."
"I was moving back to the other side." He clarified.
"No, stay." She said quietly. She took a deep breath and turned around to face him. "Just because I'm shy that no one else has ever seen me naked doesn't mean I don't want..."
"Hermione no, that wasn't what I was implying." He said, shaking his head. "I wasn't expecting anything from you."
"I know." She said. She reached out and pressed her hands to his torso, sliding them up his chest until they rested on his shoulders. "I just don't want you to keep pushing me away. We don't have to do anything, now probably isn't the most appropriate time for that but...I do want you. You can't see anything important anyway, don't go."
"Are you certain?" he asked quietly, his gaze locking with hers. She met his gaze determined and nodded. Without further delay he pressed his hands into her back, bringing her closer as he bent down and covered her lips with his.
He felt his body responding to the kiss and tried to keep enough distance between their bodies to prevent her from feeling the evidence. He had spent weeks, months fighting an internal debate over this witch. He had been coming here to swim at night to fight off his body's urges for weeks also. Curious that she should forget to ward the door and that it was him to find her, if she hadn't looked so utterly shocked he would have thought that she had done it deliberately...it almost made him wonder if the castle itself had a hand in it.
Seeing her bare skin, even though most of it was covered by the water, had affected him greatly. She was beautiful. She was not the perfect hair and face kind of beautiful, not the kind that draws all the attention but still...she was beautiful in her own way. He had been fighting it so hard, now though he just let the voices in his head fall silent for a moment so that he could kiss her.
Hermione clutched onto him tighter as his lips moved over hers, he coaxed them open until she could taste him. Her kissing experience was rather limited but it surprised her how much it didn't matter, it wasn't awkward at all. Returning his kiss came naturally to her and soon the fact that they were both naked was no longer embarrassing to her.
Her hands trailed back down his chest, hovering over the scars she felt for a moment before he pulled away from her.
"We should stop." He told her quietly.
"Don't go." She said quickly, refusing to let him go completely.
"As you wish." He nodded, "But since now is not the time for such activities..." He drifted off as he tugged her through the water to the side of the tub so that they could both sit for a moment.
"Do you come here a lot?" she asked him quietly.
"Most nights." He nodded.
"Me too...although usually I come a lot later than this." She mused.
"That would make you the late night bathroom hog." He murmured.
"I mainly come here to relax and unwind when I-" she stopped talking before saying something embarrassing and reworded her answer. "can't sleep." It was still mostly the truth. He just didn't need to know that she needed to relax because he wound her insides tighter than a loaded slingshot.
"I imagine our reasons are the same." He nodded. "But since you shall be spending several days away for Christmas, I will get this all to myself."
"And the rest of the staff that stay." Hermione pointed out.
"The rest of the staff very rarely use this bathroom." He smirked wickedly. "Too close to the cold dungeons." Hermione let out a laugh and looked up at him, he wasn't quite as pale as she had always thought he was...or perhaps he had just got more colour to him now that he wasn't under so much stress...or injured. She let her eyes roam his bare shoulders and arms and thought back on the previous times she had seen him less than fully dressed. He was more built than she had expected before she had seen otherwise, not massively built of course but still defined. He may not be the most handsome of men but he was certainly manly, there was this attraction to him that drove her crazy. "Yes Miss Granger? Is there some problem with my shoulder that requires such thorough inspection?"
"Sorry, just thinking." She replied, shaking her head. "Why do you push everyone away? Actually, I can understand not wanting to just let everyone in but...why not at least a select few? Everyone needs at least one true friend Severus. You've already had a pretty miserable start in life and if you spend the rest of it alone you're going to stay miserable."
"Habit." He muttered.
"No, it isn't." She countered. "You may not have been able to trust anyone when you were walking both sides of the fence but now... Being a private person may be habit, liking alone time is habit but not letting anyone in at all and pushing them away when you obviously don't want to...that's not a habit.
"What makes you think I don't want to?" he frowned.
"You do." She shrugged. "Sometimes when we're talking you can lose yourself, you seem to let your guard down and truly enjoy the company; then the next moment your shields are up, the moment has passed and I don't know when I'll see that side of you again." Hermione could see he was uncomfortable with the conversation and began to fear that he would bolt if she continued the serious questioning. She decided to take pity on him and suddenly splashed him before ducking under the water and soaking her hair.
He put his arm up to block the splash and when he looked back at her he found her surfacing from the water. Her hair clung to her back and shoulder in damp waves, drops of water ran down her face as she turned to grin at him. He had to wonder how on earth this young, brilliant and gorgeous witch could want him? How did he deserve such a thing? Surely he was far from worthy of both her friendship and her desire?
"You know if you keep calling me Miss Granger, I'm going to have to start replying with Professor, and in this kind of situation that would be incredibly awkward, don't you think?" she laughed.
"You are my apprentice; this situation could still be considered somewhat inappropriate and awkward." He replied, from where he sat against the side of the tub.
"Funny, it doesn't feel awkward anymore." She mused, attempting to doggy paddle around in the deeper parts of the tub. She couldn't help but remember that it was only just over a year ago that he was her Professor teaching her to swim. In fact it was under a year ago that she had her last lesson with him...although it wasn't potions of course it was their survival skills lessons but still.
"Do you ever stop thinking so hard?" he asked her, she snapped out of her thoughts immediately, realising that he was closer than he was before. He stood a few paces from her now. "You are not too afraid to attempt swimming in here?"
"I can just about touch the bottom, not to mention the water is clear and clean; that is somewhat less scary than the black lake." She replied.
"And yet, you still swim like a drowning Kneazle." He snorted. Ignoring him she made her way over to the shallower end of the tub with the taps to wash her hair. She found herself feeling more uncomfortable by the second as she leant back working bubbles into her hair. She flushed realising that she would need to rise up a little further out of the water to reach all of her hair, especially to rinse it. He would get a clear shot of her breasts, out of the water. She told herself that it was fine; she would just turn her back so that all he got was a glimpse from the side. It wasn't that she didn't want him to ever see her naked, of course she did; it was more that she hadn't imagined it happening like this, she had imagined him undressing her and ravishing her body as he did so. Reality was somewhat less romantic.
Severus realised that Hermione was now making her way up the slight slope further, drawing herself up out of the water more and revealing her back to him. The sight of her hair wet and clinging to her, the water thick with bubbles; sliding down her back to the curve of her behind that was still below the surface, had him almost groaning aloud. He cursed himself, that witch over there wanted him; at the very least she wanted to visit his bed at least once, at best many times. What the bloody hell was he doing floating over here like some moronic, hormonal teenager?!
Hermione gasped as she felt hands at her waist again. This time he hadn't wrapped his arms around her or pulled her flush against him; instead he began to slide his hands reverently over her sides, kneading her flesh gently as he did.
"I'm not going to push you away Hermione, at least not tonight." He murmured, pressing his lips against the skin of her neck. He urged her to step sideways a few paces, until she stood under the clean water that would rinse her hair. He began to help her rinse it, enjoying the chance to run his fingers across her shoulders and back.
Hermione had been almost frozen in shock until now, suddenly desire washed through her stronger than she had ever known and she spun herself around to face him. She no longer thought about or cared about the fact that he would see her bare breasts and snaked her arms up around his neck to drag his lips down to hers.
She was glad she had a tight grip on his neck because feeling his tongue snaking its way around hers, the slight hairs of his chest just brushing against her breasts had her feeling rather wobbly on her legs. She heard a small moan and realised in surprise that it was her; it didn't sound like her, it sounded sexy and erotic. Upon hearing her small sound of approval his arms came tight around her, like bands of steel; he drew her tight against him, his chest to hers, hardness driving against her soft stomach. She groaned louder this time, embracing everything that she could feel in that moment.
She was almost appalled at herself when she realised that her hips were bucking at him slightly, almost demanding that he take her. Fortunately he seemed to be more in control than she was and drew his body back from hers slightly. He trailed his lips across her shoulder and collarbone, making her skin feel like it was breaking out in goosebumps. His hands ran smoothly across her sides again before one found its way up to feel the swell of her breast. He palmed the soft flesh gently, not squeezing or twisting or groping, just softly massaging it between his fingers. His other hand gripped her hip before her backed her further up the slope until her back pressed against the wall, water now only reached her thighs.
He kissed her lips again and she practically sighed in relief, she was wound so tightly; surely she would just snap into hundreds of pieces if he stopped kissing her, if he left her now. She gasped into his mouth as she felt him touch her mound. No one had touched her there before, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous but as his hand carefully stroked all of her lips, it didn't feel anything but wonderful. His fingers grew more focused on the top of her lips towards her clit, he didn't touch it directly yet but the feeling of his fingers rotating over and near it had her inner muscles clenching.
She began to wonder if it could feel this good touching herself. She had thought about doing it several times but been too embarrassed to try it before, after all she had been in a shared dormitory for her Hogwarts years and in either her parents or the Weasley's home just felt disrespectful...not to mention in a tent with her two best friends would have been so embarrassing had they ever known. So it was just something that she had never got around to trying, perhaps she could have when she moved into her own rooms but she had already got into the habit of showering or bathing or reading instead.
His fingers began to caress deeper, spreading her lips to feel more of her heat. He stroked from her entrance to her clit a few times before she felt him pressing them into her. She couldn't help but tense slightly at the intrusion but as she felt them move inside her she realised it wasn't uncomfortable and just felt amazing.
"Severus please..." she whispered, daring herself to reach out to his most intimate place. He revelled in the feel of her hand gasping his length for a moment before releasing her breast to gently pry her hand away.
"Not tonight." He told her, his eyes bore into hers and his fingers resumed their caresses inside her. "You have waited this long Hermione; you owe it to yourself to be very certain."
"What if I am?" she breathed, closing her eyes in pleasure from his actions
"Then you will still be certain tomorrow." He replied. She couldn't help but feel disappointed at his decision but she didn't push him. She feared he would pull away from her but he didn't, he continued to press his fingers into her, thrusting deeper now that she was panting from his ministrations. It felt incredible and she wished that it could never end.
He seemed to move and find a new spot inside her that made her jaw slacken with a loud moan. What was he doing to her? Who knew that it could feel this amazing? Were all men this good or just him? Did that mean he'd done this lots of times before? The more he stroked that spot the less she could think and suddenly it became difficult to stand on her own legs, difficult to breathe even. He seemed to notice and braced her tighter against the wall, pinning her with his body. Then something happened, a wave of pleasure rolled through her, then another and another...they got stronger as if building and just as she realised what was about to happen she cried out as her whole body tensed. Wave after wave of hot, tingly ecstasy flowed through her; her toes curled, her fingers gripped, her eyes screwed shut. She felt the shuddering ease and the waves ebbed away and slowly she came back to herself.
As she dazedly opened her eyes she found dark ones staring back at her. His hand left her and left her throbbing; he reached behind her neck and tugged her to him to kiss her again.
"You are so beautiful." He murmured against her lips. She wanted to deny it, she knew she wasn't anything special...but Severus Snape never gave compliments, so she had to reason that somehow he must find her beautiful. Their kisses slowed to a more lazy pace and then he released her. "You should go to bed."
"But I-" she stopped her own protest mid sentence. He had pretty much told her that she could come to him tomorrow if she chose. "Alright." He helped her rinse off any remaining bubbles before they climbed from the tub. He was behind her and she felt like she should be embarrassed about him seeing her naked bottom but after what had just happened, she wasn't. In fact she wanted to stay naked and have him take her on the floor but didn't say so. Severus summoned clean towels for them and buy the time she had wrapped a towel around her and turned to face him, he had a towel securely wrapped around his waist. She was a little disappointed that she hadn't gotten a proper peek before then.
The two got dry and covered in silence before Severus unwarded the door and held it open for her. Their silence continued, it was beginning to make her feel awkward but as they reached her door he simply reached out and stroked her jaw for a moment.
"Goodnight Hermione." He told her and with that he continued down the hall to his own door, leaving Hermione to close her bedroom door behind her and in the privacy of her room a huge grin slipped onto her face.
Author's Notes: OK, so I hope that makes up for the cliffie yesterday. Although it was incredible to see that one chapter get over 25 reviews...maybe I should tease you more often lol. No I don't usually like doing it because I know I hate it when it happens in a story I'm reading. So there won't be a chapter until at least the weekend now because I put off work to write and need to catch up!