Author's Notes: I had previously hoped that this would be a much longer chapter; however I'm not going to be able to finish it to where I originally wanted. So it's sort of a half chapter and the next chapter I hope to do on Wednesday so please forgive the wait but I'll be as quick as I can. I figured something was better than nothing!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine of course!

Chapter Twenty-four

Hermione couldn't relax. How could she, when she knew that in a matter of hours... Well, she didn't know exactly what was going to happen, if she were honest with herself. After all, he had agreed to help her but that could mean almost anything. Her imagination was in overdrive. Would he have her strip and instruct her on how to pleasure herself? She could just imagine his deep, drawling voice directing her in every move. She shuddered and shook her head.

He could simply do the same as he had last night. Maybe he'd let her return the favour, touch him...feel every part of him. Perhaps they would even get carried away and go all the way. She was pretty sure that she would be ready to lose her virginity, if it were with him. She was attracted to him, she cared about him and most importantly she trusted him. It wasn't like she was holding onto her virginity until she got married or bonded but she didn't want to give it to just anyone either. Severus Snape wasn't just anyone.

Severus Snape was a brave man, a loyal man. He was a powerful wizard, more intelligent than nearly anyone she had met. He was a little lost, a little broken...just like her and so many others. He was a bit dark, but so was she. Maybe she wasn't dark magically speaking, she couldn't claim to have gone to the depths that he had...but she had seen too much death and pain to ever be the same. She may not have been casting the level of dark curses that he had, but she had cast hexes and jinxs with dark intentions. She had wanted to hurt the people that hurt her, that hurt the people she cared about. Severus Snape had walked on the dark side and still come back to the light, even when it seemed that the Dark Lord was at his most powerful. Knowing that the Dark Lord would kill him painfully if his treachery was ever discovered he had still gone into the fold at every call of his dark mark. He never went back on his word. He was an honourable man, he deserved the chance to bring light back into his soul and Hermione for one didn't agree with him, that it was too late to save it.

The more she thought about it, the more she thought that Severus Snape above all others deserved such a gift. He would be the one to share her first time, if he would accept her that is.

She was able to sit in calm thought for a while after this decision, even evening meal was pleasant. She was starving after having missed lunch and dug in whole heartedly. She talked happily with her colleagues, Severus included. It wasn't until she looked at the clock on the way back to her rooms that she panicked. Suddenly she had just over an hour before meeting Severus.

She quickly showered and washed her hair. Trying to tame it afterwards was a slightly harder task and she soon gave up and put it in a bun out of the way. Severus knew what she looked like and he had said no glamours, so she settled for just a bit of muggle foundation and lip gloss. She wasn't very good at doing any makeup more complex than that anyway.

She now had to decide on clothes. She didn't want to go overboard but knowing what she was going to his rooms for...she wanted to look as attractive as she could. She finally settled on one of her usual pencil skirts, that she wore for working but paired it with a muggle vest top and cardigan instead of her work blouse and jacket. She quickly rummaged for clean underwear finding the sexiest pair she could, a pair Tonks had brought her or her seventeenth birthday. They weren't overly lacy or revealing, a simple pair of royal blue silk briefs and matching bra with a small bit of black lace trim on the edges. They were actually one of her favourite sets of underwear, the silk made her feel sexy without feeling silly. One Christmas Ginny had brought her a red lace thong that she had never worn because it just seemed silly to wear such a thing with no one to wear it for...it also looked a little tacky, in her opinion anyway.

She briefly wondered if Severus would like the red thong on her but thought that it would firstly look like she was trying too hard and secondly it was a very Gryffindor colour. She quickly put her outfit on and looked at herself in the mirror. She was nervous but fairly satisfied; she looked almost like she had just relaxed her work clothes, rather than put lots of effort into looking nice for him.

She felt silly thinking that. It wasn't that she didn't want him to think he was worth her putting in effort of course, but she didn't want him to read too much into it when it already felt like he would bolt at any sign of emotional involvement.

She should probably be offended by that, but she wasn't. It was just what he was like and she knew he did care about her on some level; he wouldn't try to push her away otherwise.

Deeming herself appropriate she made her way down the hall to his rooms and took a deep breath before knocking. Her hand paused before tapping the surface for a moment. She hesitated, then took another deep breath, before forcing herself to actually knock this time. He answered a moment later and stepped back for her to enter.

"And where might I ask is that beaming smile from this morning and even at dinner?" he asked, taking his usual seat and gesturing for her to do the same.

"Hiding." She said letting a smile grace her lips, although not at full force. "Probably in the same place my inner Gryffindor is." She flushed at her own admission and Severus smirked.

"Nervous?" he murmured.

"A little." She admitted with a cringe. "Sounds very childish, I know. Still, that's your fault for actually setting a time and leaving me hours to over analyse."

"Ah, but anticipation is half the fun." He smirked, handing her a glass of firewhisky. She wrinkled her nose a little as she took a large swig of the amber liquid.

"Is that why we're sat here talking?" she asked shyly.

"No, that was to give you time to back out." He replied evenly. He placed his empty glass on the table and stood. "Come." He said, holding out his hand. Hermione took a deep breath and placed her hand in his as she got to her feet also. His hand squeezed hers firmly, before he led her through an archway to his bedroom.

His rooms were bigger than hers, she wondered if it was a perk of being Head of House or the years he'd spent here, or perhaps hers were smaller because she was technically just an apprentice. His living room was big enough to hold the massive bookshelves lining the walls either side of the fireplace, the sofa and two arm chairs, the small coffee table and a desk and chair. His bedroom wasn't actually separated from the living room by a door, just an archway, but it was still a very separate room, large enough for a double bed, wardrobe and bedside table. There was a door in the bedroom leading into what she assumed was the bathroom. Her room was simply the one room containing her queen sized bed, wardrobe, a small dressing table and chair and then a small sofa and side table near the fire and her bookcase by the door.

Her observations of his rooms were cut short when she felt his hand slid to her waist and tug her close enough to nuzzle at her neck. She felt goosebumps spread across her skin as he pressed a kiss against her shoulder.

"For once in your life Hermione, stop thinking." He murmured, trailing his lips up her neck to her ear before turning her head so that their lips met. Hermione relaxed more as he kissed her, kissing she could do. Kissing was easy and took her thoughts from her, replacing them with nothing but want and heat.

His hands found their way under her jumper and top, stroking at her bare skin. She couldn't help but squirm a little, they felt cold against her flushed skin but warmed up very quickly. She groaned into the kiss as his tongue slid over hers, coaxing hers back with it into his mouth. Then it was as if someone flicked a switch. Her hands gripped at him, his fingers tightened his grip on her. They clung as close together as they could possibly get, pressing chest to chest, hips to hips, mouth to mouth.

She felt like they had far too many clothes on and started trying to pry open the buttons of his coat impatiently, without her lips leaving his. A difficult task for her unpractised fingers, fortunately he took pity on her and assisted in removing his coat and then his vest and shirt followed it to the floor. He manoeuvred them towards the bed, tugging her jumper over her head as they went, breaking their kiss. He took in her wide eyes, flushed cheeks and ragged breath for a movement before swooping back down to kiss her again.

Hermione found herself running her hands shyly across his bared skin, feeling every muscle or soft bit of flesh in turn. She hesitantly sat down on the bed when he put a bit of downward pressure on her shoulders. He dropped to his knees so that he was still near eye level with her and lifted her vest top over her head and tossed that aside also, then urged her backwards on the bed. She shuffled backwards a bit and leant back on her elbows, as he crawled onto the bed with her. Her eyes drifted shut at the feel of his skin pressed against hers.

She wondered if she would have any luck encouraging him to take her fully tonight. Would the potions guild be able to say anything, if she were to just brew the original potion on the apprenticeship syllabus? It would seem like a whole lot of hassle had happened for nothing...

"Stop thinking." He murmured against her lips. Her eyes flew to his dark ones. "Believe me Hermione, the whole thing is much better when you do not question it. Don't question anything unless you are genuinely unsure or afraid. If you change your mind or if you become uncomfortable with something, then you must speak up or find a way to let me know but otherwise. Just. Stop. Thinking." As a skilled hand slid across her bra covered breasts, pausing only for a moment to caress her she did indeed stop thinking.

His hand continued its downward path across her stomach. His lips ducked down her neck and throat to the tops of her breasts, trailing kisses and licks between them and down her stomach. He reached the fastenings of her skirt and before she knew it, he was sliding her skirt from her body.

He stopped for a moment, once again taking a moment to take in the young woman sprawled across his bed. It wasn't a common occurrence for him, let alone with someone so young, beautiful. She had been true to their agreement and not worn any glamours, he could see the scar on her arm as well as another running from the inside of her right breast down to her hip. That must have been a pretty severe injury... He also noticed what looked like teeth marks on her legs and arms.

Hermione had noticed him staring and found herself ashamed for the first time so far. She had been able to get caught up in the moment until now and hadn't really thought twice about being bared to him. Seeing him staring at her now, she was painfully aware that she wasn't wearing any glamours and fighting the urge to reach for her wand.

Seeing her hands reach up in a move to cover herself, he held up his hand to stop her. He had stared too long, she was nervous again.

"Do not cover yourself. I want to see you." He told her, leaning back down over her and kissing her again. "Can you not see my marks also?" Hermione nodded slowly, taking a moment to really notice his scars. She tentatively reached up to touch the scar on his neck.

"Such a small mark left from..."

"I have you to thank for that." He murmured, touching the scar on his chest next. "This one also. The others aren't so pretty." Hermione couldn't help but smile. Pretty was not a word that she had ever expected to hear fall from Severus Snape's lips.

"Can I see?" she asked quietly. He didn't reply, instead he lifted himself from her and moved to lie on the bed next to her on his front. Hermione could see the angry marks immediately. Claw like marks that dug into his back. She sat up and reached out to touch them. "Are there more?" He rolled over and she could see a thin line on his upper arm, probably from a slicing hex or enchanted blade.

"There are more, I will show you later." He told her. "Don't worry about the marks Hermione. If a mark on your skin is the worst that that bitch could leave you with, when she is gone from this world...who was the stronger witch Hermione?"

"I didn't kill her." Hermione said softly.

"It doesn't matter." He told her.

"There is more damage." She admitted. "This one." She touched the long line across her front and shuddered. "It caused internal damage...I'll never have children, unless I use a muggle procedure to implant fertilised eggs...even then I'm not sure."

"I'm sorry." He said, kissing her neck. This wasn't going to plan. He had wanted her to open up to him, to feel beautiful even with her scars bared. To feel like she didn't have to hide from anyone... Instead this was becoming something else. It was too emotional.

Hermione seemed to understand that the time for conversation had finished and wrapped her arms tightly around him as his lips met hers again. The sadness that she had felt was quickly replaced by passion as his tongue thrust ruthlessly into her mouth and his hips ground against hers. Yes, the time for conversation had definitely finished.

Author's Notes: Again I'm very sorry for this "filler" like chapter, it's only half of what I wanted to do but it's been taking soooo long! So I'll get the next chapter up in literally one or two days for you I promise!