A/N: SPOV

He stirred a few moments after she had gotten up from the bed. Not used to having someone so close to you made you notice such things, specially when your first instinct is to throw hexes first and ask questions later. His heart dropped as his first instinct was that she would simply leave now that they had recovered.

She had stoked the fire and was preparing to make tea. He smirked as he realized she would be looking for where he kept his tea. She rightfully paused and decided that it was better to simply have an elf bring some.

She was wrapped up in a blanket as Winky appeared with tea and scones. Severus frowned slightly, glad to see her in a better mood since she had been released by Barty Crouch Sr. Sometimes all someone needs is service to keep them happy. He thought as Nymphadora turned to see him.

With one hand, she had balanced the tray perfectly. The other was holding a blanket around her. He noted that this could end as a catastrophe, but saw how steady she was on her feet. Could coitus be what keeps her from being so clumsy?

She let the blanket go, and Severus' eyes flicked over her naked body as she put down the tray and slipped back into the bed with him.

"Morning, Sir."

He was impressed with her alright, and not just from last night's activities. She had thought to get two cups for tea. He sat up, adjusting his pillows to be comfortable.

"May I have a cup and some Earl Grey? The oil of bergamot leaves a pleasant taste with me." he requested, sweeping his hair back with a deft hand.

She handed him over the cup and the bag of tea, excusing herself to get the kettle by the fire. As she rose, his hand stilled her. Such an innocuous touch feels different when in bed with her.

"That won't be necessary." He paused her, pointing his wand deftly into his cup. "Aguamenti sub-fervefacio." His wand had steaming water, just below boiling, slowly pour out of his wand as opposed to the water cannons that the Weasley Twins had perfected during Umbridge's reign of pink-clad terror. He chuckled at the memory, sipping at his cup.

"Your cup, please." She also sat up and handed him over a cup and he repeated the charm. "When you're not making a full potion that requires simmering, shortcuts like this are quite wonderful. I do, however, enjoy the knowledge that you would prepare your tea in a thoroughly muggle way. Before this charm was invented, it was all the rage for purebloods to brag about how well their House-elves could brew the perfect tea over a hearth fire."

He looked at her choice in tea and made of note of it. "I enjoy my tea 'black', no need for milk, sugar, lemon, or whatever has become the latest fashion." He gestured as if waving off an errant thought.

He set his cup down on the other side of the bed, next to a journal that he had been reading.

"If you are to stay the night in the future, I do enjoy being woken up with a nice cup waiting for me." His body jerked as he lunged behind his tea, pulling back what appeared to be a muggle wind-up alarm clock. Flipping a switch in the back, he disarmed the alarm function.

"No need for you to be startled by it. It's quite loud, I suspect that..." his voice trailed off, realizing what he was about to say. "It was a gift when I was still a student here; I believe that a sonorus charm was fixed to the bells." Sev... don't turn your pillow talk into a memorial over Lily.

He smiled in that sad, almost frowning kind of way. "I'm not versed in the art of 'pillow talk', it seems. In fact, I had feared that you were on your way out, without saying a goodbye."

Severus realized that this was the most open he'd been with anyone when it came to his feelings, and he had a natural inclination to shove them back down and to put the mask back on.

"That being said," he seemed to pull himself out of his thoughts, "how are you doing this morning? Any excessive soreness or bruising that I may need to take care of? Any feedback that I should know about last night's assignation?"

He was being methodical, as when he had apprenticed under a different Potions' Master and was waiting for a scathing critique over his potion-brewing abilities. He reached back for his cup and sipped, realizing that he was in his defensive mode, guarded for an onslaught of sarcastic rhetoric.