HarryPGinnyW4va: They will get along you will see hehe. Hope you keep enjoying it!
Chapter 13: Living like Muggles is so boring II
"Maybe you could use your magical talents to create more rooms for yourself," Hermione said after unpacking most of his belongings. She had lost count of how many potions and ingredients he had, but with everything, her apartment looked and felt even smaller.
Severus gave her a nod of approval before, wordlessly, raising his wand and starting the process. Under his meticulous guidance, furniture duplicated out of thin air and was placed within a chalk circle to conduct the extension charm effectively, without causing any suspicions among the Muggles.
Hermione Granger was infinitely grateful that she didn't have to place everything by hand and just watch as every item found its own place and stacked itself neatly in each room. Even each book, and she suspected, each ingredient and potion, were in alphabetical order.
"Professor McGonagall once said that we couldn't make most of the things appear out of nowhere, but I am always amazed at how much you can keep adding rooms without compromising the structure or alerting anyone in the vicinity."
"Something like that," said Snape, supervising his own work. "Transfiguration rules dictate that you need one object to transform it into the other, but sometimes we can make things appear out of thin air. Usually, relatively small things. I don't know about powerful wizards, but making a bed appear out of nowhere is not something I have seen before." He lowered his wand after watching his old trusty cauldron floating next to his newly constructed bedroom. "But walls are something completely different, of course."
As Hermione observed in awe, the charms woven by Snape transformed her humble abode into a more comfortable living space for both of them while still remaining undetectable to Muggle eyes. Within moments, his new bedroom was next to Hermione's original room. The dark wood furniture and subtle green accents revealed Snape's influence on its design.
The final touch was another door that appeared, leading to a bathroom.
"Your flat is now fit for two, Miss Granger," Snape said, putting his wand away, seemingly content with the design. Hermione wondered why he had decided to place his new bedroom next to hers, but decided not to make any comment about it.
"Would you like something to drink, Professor? Tea, perhaps?" She smiled at the man, now stacking the unused boxes neatly with his wand and vanishing them with a simple spell.
"Sadly, I must decline your offer, Miss Granger. I have potions to brew and little time to sit and chat."
Hermione gulped, wondering if she had to be honest and just return the crumpled recipe she had found to counteract Nagini's magic. He surely didn't need it anymore; he must have learned it by now and wouldn't mind if she borrowed it for a moment to study the possibility of somehow convincing him to let her help him.
"That's fine, I guess. I need to get some groceries now that we're eating for two," Hermione said, smiling nervously. "That reminds me that I should give you a duplicate of the keys too, just in case."
"Keys?" His lips were slightly parted, and she almost smiled again as she managed to surprise him. "I could just Apparate and Disapparate if needed."
"We should ward the apartment against apparitions to avoid any surprises," she replied and Snape arched both eyebrows in surprise. "Perhaps using keys would be safer."
"There isn't any protective charm in this apartment, Granger?" he said gruffly. "Haven't Hogwarts taught you anything about self-defense?"
"Since I'm living among Muggles, I didn't think I really needed it after the war," she said, a bit embarrassed. "I guess I'm a bit famous now, but no one would follow me here as much as they would follow Harry if he decided to live among Muggles."
Raising his wand again, Hermione felt a twinge of magic course through her body as it seemed to invisibly fill her apartment with what she supposed was one defensive charm after another.
"You aren't popular..." he said with clenched teeth. "The amount of fan mail we will receive is just for fun."
"Anyway, here is a copy of the keys, just in case," she decided, going through her pockets and cursing herself at the sound of crumpled paper that, thankfully, Snape didn't seem to notice. She took her keys out and duplicated them with her own wand, handing them to him.
"Thank you, my wife, I am honored."
"Perfect..." She tried not to flush at his obvious sarcasm. "So... I'm going to change and... you know, get us something to eat. Is there anything in particular that you would like, Professor?" She thought of respectfully asking even as he was already walking away from her towards his now private chambers.
She only saw his back turned to her and his shoulders shrugged before he closed the door of his room without saying a word. Hermione sighed, knowing that this was the best response she could get, and then hear him later complain about the food she had decided to bring home. Retreating to her own room and making sure to close the door, she finally took the forbidden recipe out of her pocket and moved closer to the only window in her room to get a look better at the blurry letters on what seemed like an ancient parchment.
"Sacrifice..." She read with difficulty. "Sacrifice of what?"
She jumped as a faint knock on her door interrupted her reading, so she decided to hide the parchment under her pillow.
"Are you ready yet, Miss Granger?" She heard Snape's voice. "There is something I would like to discuss with you before you leave.
"I'm almost done!" She lied, pointing her wand at herself and changing her clothes, then she quickly walked to the door to meet him.
Severus seemed to look everywhere but her room, as if to respect her privacy. She raised both eyebrows at Severus' silence.
"There is a protective charm I must practice on both of us as soulmates, which allows me to trace your steps and feel what you are feeling."
"I suppose that is an ancient incantation," she replied, and Snape nodded laconically.
"Hug me," Hermione blinked several times before Snape looked at her in annoyance. "Did you hear what I just said, Granger? Hug me if you want to get out of this room."
She didn't know what to do. Of course she knew what a hug was, but her body didn't move no matter what kind of thought went through her brain. Should she hug Professor Snape?
How would it feel? Would it hurt? Would it be pleasurable? Why was she even thinking such things?
"I can hear your thoughts from here, Granger," Snape said, visibly annoyed and crossing his arms. "It's not that complicated. I suppose you've hugged Weasley so many times..." She didn't want to hear it, so she practically jumped over him, holding him awkwardly as he still had his arms crossed.
Relaxing his arms, Severus Snape embraced her thin frame, enveloping her in his dark cloak.
"Si vis amari ama*" he murmured in her ear as she felt the magic flowing from his body into hers again.
The intense male scent of his skin filled her nostrils as his arms held her even tighter.
"Don't you dare go that far, Granger. The Dark Lord might be dead, but there is danger around every corner." He warned her, and she couldn't even tell if she had nodded or not, still bewitched by the embrace.
Hermione slowly broke the embrace, having difficulty keeping her eyes up from his intense stare.
"You said that our love vows would bind our souls together. But we never said such vows."
Severus simply rolled his eyes and walked back to his bedroom, seemingly trying to find a piece of paper.
"My vows," he said, extending her a piece of paper. "I said that I had written a love poem for you, Miss Granger."
Si vis amari ama.*
If you want to be loved, love.
Written by Seneca in the sixth of his letters to Lucilius. The phrase has a double interpretation: 'only loving souls can inspire love' and 'you cannot ask for love from those you do not love yourself'.
