Chapter 50: The Very Nature Of Bonds
{A/N: Here's Another Update... Apparently My MoJo's working today}
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The Bedroom, Snape's Quarters, Slytherin Dungeons, Hogwarts Castle, Wizarding World...
Silence filled the room as Hermione Granger-Snape's amber eyes took in the sight of the darkened bedroom below the dungeons of Hogwarts castle. The crisp white sheets had been wrapped around her slightly chilled and exposed body as she patiently regained her senses. The last memory she had was of being wrapped in the arms of her Potions Professor husband and despite the room being filled with his familiar scent of herbs and fresh earth, he had been no where to be found. His side of the bed though clearly used had been empty and cold from his long absence. A startling pang of realization hit her when she noted that there had been no trace of him in the bedroom at all. She had hoped that he had not been summoned by the despot, knowing he'd have little to no ablity to resist the onset of more agony after expending a good deal of his energy with her the few hours prior. For the first time since he'd become her husband, Hermione found herself given to fear in place of her usual courageous resolve. Each moment leading up to their shared union had been replaying in her mind and the last thing she wished was for him to draw away from her again. The difficulty in finally getting him to give in to his warring emotions had been at the forefront of her mind as well.
As it so happened, while Hermione contemplated the worst case scenarios of what became of her ill tempered husband, he had strolled in from the loo. Naked as the day he was born and with something of a sheepish expression filed across his sallow pale face. A sigh of relief passed between the teenage witch's lips as she very nearly leapt out of bed in an effort to greet him. Snape had not taken his eyes off her, basking in the apparent after glow of their coupling despite the hours removed.
"Severus..." she said pleased to see him as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him back toward the bed.
Much to her surprise, Snape treated her to a series of heated and affectionate kisses that stemmed from along her neck to her cheek and finally toward her lips.
His behavior had been quite boyish if nothing else and she seemed to welcome it.
"Hermione." he said taking in the sight of her more enamoured via her latent beauty than ever he'd care to admit.
"Where did you go?" she asked holding him close as if her very life depended upon it.
"I had a visit with a first year lad to attend to." replied Snape rather casually as he rolled onto his side of the bed bringing her along as she rested her head against his chest. "In addition to teaching most of the day I have other house duties to see to, lest we raise suspicion."
Hermione sighed in relief given her previous assumptions about where he'd gone.
Snape smirked taking her hand in his own and bringing it up to his lips as he peppered it with long slow kisses.
Hermione seemed more at ease as she settled beside him, her head still resting against his chest. She found it conforting that she could hear his heartbeat, a strong and steady rythum that indicated just how at ease he had become in her presence.
"Put your mind at ease witch, I am here just as you wished me to be." said Snape no doubt reading her thoughts.
"I can't help but worry." she said in her own defense. "Seeing what you go through on a nightly basis and all for what?...to be continuously mocked and spurned by those whom know nothing of your suffering?"
"I don't suppose I give them much choice love." replied Snape in a rather casual tone. "I haven't always been agreeable even as a young lad."
Hermione sighed once more.
It appeared this union was having more of an effect on her than even she realized.
"I meant what I said before witch, you cannot help me." he told her in a rather stern tone. "Better you curb your attachment to me while you still can, for I have no more will to keep my own to you at bay."
"And I've told you before wizard, I love you and there is nothing you can say or do to change my mind." she insisted.
"What a pair of fools we make." remarked Snape. "This union won't end well for either of us."
"Who says I want it to end?" asked Hermione raising her head to meet his gaze. "Perhaps I am contented with the husband I chose and would very much like to keep him as such."
"Foolish girl." hissed Snape despite his lacking venom. "You will come to regret your childish insistance before long."
Hermione said not a word as she straddled her lover's waist and proceded to press her lips into his own. An easy peace enveloped the two of them and they had been given to the quiet appeal of being in the presence of each other.
Snape knew not what to make of his uncharted dependancy, as he'd struggled almost as soon as the marriage had been arranged to surpress his needs in an effort to spare the young witch of having to be accustomed to his brand of attachment. He'd believed he'd been doing her a favor, but the more he attempted to push her away, the more she seemed to hold on tighter and insist that this is what it was always meant to be for them.
A wiley lioness ineed. He thought as he ran his fingers through her notoriously unruly locks. And somehow she seemed to become more beautiful in the dim light of his private quarters than ever she had been as a child and beyond.
"Hermione." he said softly.
As she began to ease herself onto him.
It was apparent that the current Mrs. Severus Snape had gotten her second wind, and she wasn't alone in the trail her ravenous thoughts had taken her along.