"I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you
I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you
I've been sleepin' so long in a twenty-year dark night
And now I see daylight, I only see daylight"
-Taylor Swift "Daylight"
Narcissa and Severus had a pleasant breakfast together but neither spoke much.
Once Winky cleared the table, Severus proceeded to leave the room. "Narcissa, I will be in my potions laboratory if you need me." He walked out of the room.
A couple of hours had passed since breakfast. In a flurry of excitement, an owl came flying into the sitting room and left a letter. Narcissa recognised the writing. It was Hermione Granger. She smiled to herself, thinking about thrilled she was for Severus. He deserved to find love and one that would reciprocate his feelings. She left the sitting room to give Severus the letter. As she approached his potions laboratory, she softly knocked and heard a faint "come in" from Severus.
Narcissa opened the door. "Severus, a letter arrived for you from Hermione." She gave him a knowing smile. He rolled his eyes at her which made her chuckle. "I will leave you to it." She smirked as she left the laboratory.
Severus opened the letter and he smiled. Hermione wanted him to come Grimmauld Place and have tea with her. He promptly responded with a yes. He left his laboratory to look presentable to Hermione, the witch who was stealing his heart. He never thought he would ever love someone like he did Lily but he was proven wrong when the brightest witch of her age waltzed back into his life. He could not deny that he was falling in love but this time it seemed the object of his affection felt the same way as he.
Once Severus was ready, he went to say goodbye to Narcissa. "I am headed out. I am not sure when I shall return." He smiled at her.
Narcissa smiled back. "Be sure to say hello to your witch for me." She winked and smirked. Again, Severus rolled his eyes at her antics.
As Severus approached the floo, he waved as he disappeared. He landed gracefully in Grimmauld Place. Once he had dusted himself off, he looked around to spot Hermione but he did not see her. He wandered into the kitchen and there she was getting afternoon tea ready. Severus watched her for a few moments before he announced his arrival. To his astonishment and delight as he thought about the two witches who had stole his heart, he realised Hermione was everything Lily was not. He could not help but smile. Severus cleared his throat to get the witch's attention.
Hermione stopped and turned. "Sev! You came. I was not sure since I did not hear from you." She walked up to him and kissed his cheek. She blushed a bit.
Severus smiled. "Of course I came. It would be rude of me not to. I presume Potter and Draco are out. Otherwise, I would not be here." Hermione nodded.
Hermione shyly looked at Severus. "Yes they left and will not be back until late. Sit, the tea is ready." She placed everything on the table. They both sat down.
Severus observed his witch. "Hermione, how are you feeling after what Weasley said? I never got a chance to ask and I apologise for that." He gave a reassuring smile.
Hermione poured tea for them. "Sev, honestly, I do not know. Ron has always had a cruel streak in him. Both Harry and I have been exposed to it unfortunately. It is most certainly not fair to us that he uses us, his best friends, as his own personal punching bags. It is why I snapped and actually punched him which is the second time I have ever hit someone. That first someone happens to be your godson when we were in third year. Both deserved it for being bloody awful." She smirked.
Severus chuckled. "I am very sorry how beastly Ron was acting. You did not deserve it. If it had not been you, I am sure another would have punched him. I am sure of it. As for Draco, he can be quite an arse when he wants to be. I would have love to witness you punching my godson."
Hermione laughed softly. "Sev, are you forgetting that we have magical abilities? If you would like, I could show you my memory in the pensieve."
Severus smiled and nodded. "I truly would be interested in seeing that memory at some point."
Hermione smiled back. "Then it is settled. I shall show you the memory. I just need to speak with Minnie about another visit to Hogwarts. That way we can use Dumbledore's pensieve." She shyly looked at Severus. "Uh, Sev, I just wanted to say despite what Ron said yesterday, I, uhh, wanted to tell you that it does not change how I feel about you. I mean, my feelings towards you." She placed her smaller hand on top of his and squeezed it.
Severus stared into Hermione's eyes. "Uhh, I, Hermione. What do you mean by the way you feel about me?" He looked at her curiously.
Hermione smirked and chuckled. "I think I was clear about my feelings. Well, at least, my actions should have been quite obvious but clearly they were not. I have held your hand, hugged you, bantered with you and kissed your cheek. I would have actually kissed you, I mean really kissed you, but I was not sure about how you would react. I did not want to humiliate myself so I just decided to give you a kiss on the cheek." She was blushing ferociously.
Severus was beyond shocked and it was quite evident. Once he composed himself. "Hermione, are you completely sure about your feelings regarding me? I have thoroughly enjoyed our interactions since my return. And I had been hoping it was not all in my head that you seemed fond of my presence. Honestly, I have never felt this connected to someone since my friendship with Lily but it was broken beyond repair due to many mistakes. With you, I feel like I could share everything and not have the fear of being abandoned or judged. What I am trying to convey is that the feeling is mutual and to be honest if you had kissed me, I would not have been opposed to it. I would have welcomed it. Though, I understand why you hesitated." It was his turn to blush.
Hermione giggled softly. "Yes I am quite sure of my feelings for you, Sev. I know you have a hard time believing that someone could fall for you. I want you to know that you are truly the bravest man I have ever encountered. I assure you that it was not your imagination running wild on you. I am flattered to know that you feel a special connection because truth be told I feel the same. My feelings towards you are unconditional, Sev. And about that potential kiss I guess we shall see what happens in the near future." She winked and smirked mischievously.
Both finished their tea and Hermione put everything on the counter. "Sev, let's go to the sitting room." She held out her hand for him to take and without hesitation he did as she led them out of the kitchen.
After settling onto the love seat, they sat in silence staring at each other.
Severus spoke first. "Honestly, I never thought I would ever have a chance at a love that was not unrequited. For decades, it has only ever been Lily and I am sure you know what happened. I did not get the girl and our friendship was broken forever as I have said. I always regretted what I had done to her and unfortunately I never got the chance to apologise for my appalling behaviour." He looked mournful but continued. "It was not until I was resurrected when you were watching me. That was when I knew that everything would be different. I could feel you looking at me. I mean really looking at me. And when you came to the manor, speaking with you felt so right. I was astonished by how easy it was to converse with you. And at the risk of embarrassing myself, looking into your eyes and being with you felt like coming home. I do not want to rush into anything with you because I want to savour my time with you. I just thought I would tell you that the feeling is mutual, Hermione." He said shyly.
Hermione blushed and scooted closer to Severus. "Sev, I feel the same when I am around you as well. I feel like I am home finally. And I agree that we should take things slow. You deserve a great love story, Sev. I am beyond delighted that I may be that love story. And I am sure that Lily would want you to move on from her and be happy. I know that you were devastated by her loss. And I can not imagine what you went through. Just know I am always here and I am not going anywhere." She smiled at him softly.
Severus was flustered and was not thinking clearly. "May I kiss you, Hermione?" He blurted out. After realising what he asked, he looked away.
Hermione bit her lip nervously. She squeezed his hand and lifted her other to his face. Slowly she reached out and touched his chin. Hermione turned Severus' head so he was facing her. "Sev, please look at me." And he did. "Please do not be embarrassed considering I had been the one who said that I wanted to kiss you in the first place as I was leaving the Manor the other day. Honestly, I have been hoping upon hoping that you would ask. And to answer your question, you most certainly have my permission to kiss me." She blushed as she stared into Severus' eyes.
Severus slowly moved off the love seat and offered his hand to Hermione. She took his hand and he helped her up off the love seat. Once they were standing in front of each other, Severus stepped forward and wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him. Just mere inches apart, he gently placed his hand on her cheek. Hermione slowly moved her face closer to his and he closed the distance between them by kissing her softly. The kiss was chaste but still intense and it only lasted seconds. As they pulled apart, both were breathless and stared into each other's eyes. Neither said a word. Hermione licked her lips and Severus watched her intently. Without any warning, she pulled him into another kiss but this one was full of want and desire. Hermione caressed Severus' bottom lip with her tongue which elicited a moan from him and she deepened the kiss by slipping her tongue into his mouth. As a result of her actions, he tightened his grip on her until there was no longer any space between them. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity. Finally they parted out of necessity to breath. Neither spoke as they stared at each other a bit dazed by what just happened.
Hermione kept opening and closing her mouth as she struggled to form words. She finally gathered herself enough to say something. "I, uhh… Sev, I am not sure what to say. There are no words to truly describe what I am feeling right now. I am so over the moon happy." She smiled brightly at him.
While Severus listened to her, he was trying to form his own words. "I am not quite sure how to respond either. You have left me speechless, Hermione." He smiled back at her.
Hermione looked at him. "You speechless? That is quite unheard of." She teased. "I suppose you will need to leave shortly since it is getting a bit late. I am sure Narcissa impatiently waiting for your return." She smirked.
Severus stepped back a bit and nodded. "You truly are a cheeky one." He teased back. "Unfortunately it appears that you are right. I do have to leave soon. We do not want Narcissa to send out a search party."
Hermione smiled. "I will show you out." She started to walk back to the floo and he followed close behind. As she approached the floo, she stopped and turned around which caused Severus to collide with her. Both laughed nervously.
Severus stepped back a bit. "Thank you for the tea and the company. I had a lovely time with you. I look forward to our next adventure." He stepped towards the floo.
Hermione smiled widely. "It is a date, Sev." She moved closer to him and pulled him into a hug. As she pulled back, he gave her a searing kiss like she had a few moments ago.
Severus pulled back and stepped closer to the floo once again. He was about to leave when she stopped him. He looked at her.
Hermione laughed softly. "Oh I almost forgot to mention that I did owl Molly about how Ron behaved. I am waiting for her response."
Severus chuckled. "I am glad you contacted Molly and I am sure she will set him straight if she has not already. She can be quite frightening when she is angry."
Hermione smiled. "That is quite true. I remember when she sent a howler to Ron after he stole the family's flying car in second year. His reaction was beyond priceless. He looked pretty mortified but also completely terrified. That day I learned to never get on Molly's bad side. She is not a force to be reckoned with." She chuckled softly.
Severus shook his head. "Thank you for letting me know that you owled Molly. Please keep me updated on whether Ron is still among the living or not after she gets her way with him. Anyway, I best be off." He turned back to Hermione and gave a brief kiss before disappearing into the floo.
When Severus gracefully landed back at the Manor, he was greeted by Narcissa who sported a knowing smile.
Narcissa smirked. "Well, it looks to me that your little date with your witch went smashingly well considering that smile plastered on your face right now. Please do share the details." She looked at him curiously.
Severus spurted a bit before responding. "I will have you know it is none of your business, Narcissa." He blushed.
Narcissa literally pouted at him. "Oh you are no fun."
Severus sighed dramatically. "If you must know, Hermione and I divulged our feelings for one another. That is all you need to know." He turned to walk away.
Narcissa chuckled softly. "All I need to know? Oh, so you are holding back on me. And what is this "all I need to know" involve, I wonder. Should I continue to poke fun at you until you tell me?" She teased him mercilessly.
Again Severus sighed loudly and turned back to face Narcissa. "Bloody hell woman! Why must you know everything? You know what, forget it. I will just tell you so you leave me bloody well alone. We kissed a few times. One was quite passionate since I know you will ask about what type of kisses we shared. However, I am not telling you every sordid detail of our encounter." He huffed out the response and turned on his heel and walked away leaving Narcissa before she could say anything else.
Once Severus was alone with his thoughts, he smiled because of what had happened with Hermione. He could not wait to see his young witch again. He laid on his bed and stared up at the ceiling waiting for Winky to tell him that dinner was ready. When he closed his eyes, all he saw was the day's events unfolding in his mind. Severus couldn't think of anything else but Hermione and the feel of her lips on his. He softly moaned to himself thinking of how his body reacted to hers and he couldn't wait for their next encounter.