A/N: I don't own Harry Potter
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Auction Day 27 Hermione Granger
Word Count: 512
Warning: fade to black.
He wrapped his arms around her shivering frame. His embrace was warm, warm enough to cut through the chill. She blinked her eyes slowly, snow falling from her eyelashes. She didn't remember blacking out. She was certain she'd been able to do this, that she would be in and out before he'd even really realized she was gone. She had, apparently, been wrong.
"What were you doing out here? You nearly died," he demanded.
"Ever-melt snow," she answered. He stared at her, disbelief in his eyes.
"Foolish girl, it doesn't exist. It's a myth, something someone made up to entice innocent people out into blizzards to their deaths," he muttered.
"It's real," Hermione countered, pulling a small heart shaped vial from her cloak. She held it up for him to see. The liquid inside sparkled in the dim light. His eyes widened as her smile widened.
"You found it," he whispered, his voice full of awe. Hermione tucked the small vial back inside her cloak. "How?"
"Most brilliant witch, remember?" she asked, giving him a shaky smile. Her skin was still extremely pale as he started walking, nearly carrying her.
"You left in the middle of the night, didn't leave a note, in the middle of a blizzard! You could have been killed! I'm half surprised you didn't freeze to death before I found you."
"I left a note," Hermione argued, as Severus cast a warming charm over her. He wondered why she hadn't done that already.
"Where?" he asked.
"On your desk, under the globe paperweight that Luna sent us from Brazil."
"There was nothing in my desk save some fur from your mangy kneazle."
"He does not have mange! He must have knocked it off."
"Why didn't you cast a warming charm? You are a witch."
"I lost my wand in the blizzard," she admitted as Severus managed to get into the cottage they were currently residing in. He laid her on the sofa, piling blankets and pillows over her.
"We'll look for it another time, or get you a new one. There is no sense in either of us going back out in that storm. Now, should I continue to lecture you about how insane you are, how dangerous that was, or should I kiss you passionately because you're not dead and you have managed to somehow achieve the impossible?"
"The second option sounds the best," Hermione teased, wrapping her arms around Severus' neck and pulling him down to her. Her lips met his.
"I'm still a little cold, want to warm me up?" she asked, scooting over as Severus wordlessly expanded the sofa to fit them both.
"You're still bloody mad for going out there like that," he muttered, kissing her. She giggled returning the kiss.
"Tell me you wouldn't have done the same, Severus," she purred, curling against him.
"I won't, because then you'll only feel more justified in your actions," he stated, kissing her again and pulling the blankets over them both, neither cold any longer.