Chapter 85: Where One Dwells At Night

{A/N: Here's Another Update... kind of rushed this one as it's before my shift...}

My Thanks To My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.

Bedroom Snape's Quarters, Slytherin Dungeons ,Hogwarts Castle, Wizarding World...

Silence filled the private quarters of Severus S. Snape following his adherence to his vastly concerned wife's instruction to sleep off the fire whiskey he had consumed in her absence. Despite his indulgence, it had not been enough to quell the rampant thoughts that plagued his weary mind even in slumber about what the Headmaster asked of him following their meeting. It had not helped matters to know that Draco had been in turmoil since the dark lord's arrival at Malfoy Manor and that Lucius was on his apparent short list. Narcissa had been at the mercy of not only the dark lord, but the many prisoners that had escaped Azkaban as well. A matter that greatly concerned The Potions Master despite his attempts to make it appear otherwise. The uncertainty took a toll on the already stressed man before Dumbledore decided to add to the weight of the world being on his shoulders. Hermione had barely gotten any sleep herself, mostly concerned with looking after he drunken husband as he twitched and tossed in his sleep. She noted the sweat pouring off him in waves and the grip he had on the bed sheets below his hands. She didn't understand what was going on with him as of late, he never shared much with her in terms of his assignments but she knew something was bothering him more than his usual haunting memories from his rather painful past. Stirring when she felt his body quake beside her, Hermione stroked his sallow pale cheek and spoke softly in his ear in a bid to calm him.

"Severus...Severus something is bothering you I know it." she said still examining him. "Please open your eyes and let us discuss it."

Snape remained unresponsive for a time much to embroiled in his apparent night terror to hear her pleas. So much had been at stake even more so than the individual lives of the people he considered to be family. The war was fast approaching and not a single one of the students had been prepared for it. The scars from the first war had not even healed and already they were all on a collision course for another round via the despot. The casualties the first time around were heavy and remained detrimental despite the years that passed in the wake of it. Now, Snape was expected to ensure that not only Harry Potter and his troublesome friends, but an entire school full of students and staff could be protected from the onset of war.

He began to recognize the voice of his wife for a time his endless twitching and tossing in his slumber coming to a merciful end as he seemed to be awakening.

Hermione could never be too sure of what to expect when it came to his night terrors or how his mind would react to the world around them. The echoes of the past seemed ever more powerful when not faced with the light of day.

Snape groaned for a moment before swiftly sitting up and quickly flicking his wand at the door on the other side of the room. Hermione gasped noticing that he'd been poised for an attack, his body tense and his eyes wild as he gripped his wand almost to the point of making and indentation with it into his palm and fingers. The high alert he'd been in alarmed Hermione even more as she attempted to both make sense of what he'd been hiding and calm him down before he got truly dangerous.

"Severus." said Hermione softly.

Snape grunted blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to the darkness that surrounded him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked his tone harsh and suspicious.

"I spent the night, remember..." replied Hermione unsure how to approach this situation. "You've been drinking again."

He's Mr. Hyde again. She told herself as she began to navigate the direction of this development in their conversation.

Snape seemed to take a few moments before whirling around and pinning Hermione onto the mattress amid the tussled black sheets that lined his bed. His eyes were wild for a time before he seemed to come back to his senses.

"H-Hermione." he said before realizing that he'd very nearly attacked her.

Noting how visibly upset he'd been, Hermione reached for him in a bid to assure him that she'd been alright.

"It's alright." she assured him. "I'm alright, Severus."

"I almost...I could have hurt you tonight." he said as the full realization hit him. "Why...why are you here?"

"You needed me." replied Hermione simply.

Snape sighed. While he had no doubt that this had been true, he wasn't in the state of mind to trust himself let alone trust himself around her.

"Hermione..." he began only for her to get up just enough to press her lips into his catching him off guard.

The kiss lead to another series of kisses as Snape attempted to pull back long enough to get a word in. While he'd been unnerved by his previous actions upon awakening, there was no denying how much he needed his wife in that very moment and found himself ensuring she knew it.

She was a beautiful witch after all and quite enticing to say the least.

It didn't take long for The Potions Master to fall under the sway of her little used charms.

Hermione knew what was next finding her back once more pressed against the mattress surrounded by black sheets. Her arms had been wrapped around his neck and his body pressed between her thighs before she'd even taken a breath. A small smile crept across her face as he continued to kiss at the flesh of her neck, his raven locks brushing against her exposed skin with each movement before she felt the familiar sensation of intrusion that caused her to gasp outright.

"S-Severus..." she said in a breathless whisper clinging to him as only she could.

A low grunt escaped him as he towered above her, his arms on either side of her body and his palms digging rather forcefully into the black sheet that lined the bed causing it to further wrinkle beneath them.

The combined heat from their intertwined bodies had been more than enough to stave off the ever present chill of the dungeons better than the fireplace they left lit in the front room. Snape's weariness seemed to melt away as he was given renewed vigor if only in this one instance to satisfy the needs of his dutiful wife for as long as she'd ask him to. The inevitability of what lay before them seemed far off in the distance even if it had been fast approaching. Hermione in her bliss had been contented to just lie with her husband following his drunken binge, but he had other ideas if only to stave off her line of questioning for the time being.

Snape had not wished to think about the impending doom in which his relationship with his wife had been heading towards. Dumbledore's request had not been far from his mind and the possible ramifications he'd have to endure when the situation came to a head, he wanted at the very least to have a chance to be the husband he should have been at the start of their marriage if only to ensure fond memories for her in the future.

Hermione seemed to be quite lost in passion as she felt his frequent thrusts and desperate whispers despite his drunkenness. Even in the fogged haze of passion she sensed there was something off about his love-making that only made the whispers more out of place. She had not said a word but the felt like he was slipping away from her somehow and the change wasn't in the least gradual.

"S-Severus..." she said again her voice almost haunting as it entered his ears.

Snape's mind drifted back to his discussion once again. Draco had been mentioned. His only Godson and the child of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa had been chosen by the dark lord to be the one to execute the Headmaster. A trap if ever there was one. Should the boy fail, Dumbledore would surely kill him and if he had not there was potential to be hunted for the rest of his life as a result of the murder.

Flashes of the moment he held baby Draco in his arms for the first time attempted to disrupt the drunken Potions Master's mind as he came to the only conclusion a man in his position could possibly make. No matter how much he loved Hermione and feared losing her, there was far too much at stake to refuse the Headmaster's request. So much so that even Hermione and Potter would be in jeopardy if he were to walk away now and that was something he could not live with. Lily's death had seen to that. He refused to be responsible for another witch he loved being killed, especially by the despot.

Snape felt the onset of his impending release and Hermione gripped him tighter than she had before hand.

He wished things could have been different. That he could have indeed made her happy when the war came to an end, but as he knew when this first began...it wouldn't last as it had never been meant to.

All he could do was make her happy until the time came.

Hermione's voice rang out in the darkened bedroom as she reached her end pulling him right along for the ride as she always had. Sweat blasted and panting rather heavily, she continued to cling to him as his thrusts came to an end and he crashed onto the bed beside her equally spent.

There was a few moments of silence before exhaustion got the better of them both, but the fact remained that she knew all too well that he was keeping something from her. Snape did his best to push down the remaining memories and simply enjoy the time they had together...however much had been left.