AN: Thank you for all the support! It is very deeply appreciated!
Hermione's first day as a wife wasn't what she expected. A year ago, she thought she would spend her first day as a newlywed traveling to her honeymoon destination, perhaps stealing kisses with her husband on the plane. Oh wait, wizards didn't use planes. They apparated. Apparating had its advantages. That Hermione couldn't deny. Heights were terrifying. The idea of staring down at heights while being in a glorified tin can was terrifying. Still, she envisioned riding on an airplane on her honeymoon. It seemed more elegant than simply apparating somewhere. Even if she was terrified on the plane, there was anticipation, an excitement which would match the energy coursing through her body. Unless her fear of flight took over. Then all she'd do is scream that she was about to die and pray for everything to end.
There was no time to think about death! She'd had enough thoughts of death to last her a lifetime. Today she wanted to grasp all life could offer, regardless of the danger. She's survived a war! If she could survive a war she could live through anything! Life hadn't killed her yet. Why fear death now?
A muffled scream pierced her revelry.
She stood up from her chair and looked out the window. Severus stood outside, arms folded on his chest, rolling his eyes. In front of him, a green howler screamed, it's voice crescendoing with every word. At first, Hermione was curious as to what it was saying. Judging from the shrillness, the voice belonged to Molly. Something told her that she didn't want to know what any Weasley said about her, especially their screechy matriarch. Even as a teen, Molly had annoyed her. She really thought a fifteen year old bouncing between two men was a capital offense? What a jerk! Then she acted like she'd always been on Hermione's side. Ha! Hermione knew better. Severus was on her side, not any Weasley. She was well-rid of Molly and her suffocating, smothering ways. Molly would never be her mother, a fact Hermione thanked the universe for every day. No, her mother was perfect as she was. Once she recovered her memory, she would love her again. Hermione was sure of that.
She strolled into the kitchen and poured herself two glasses of the Riesling she'd asked Ginny to get her from her apartment. Whether or not this was the wisest move was uncertain. It was unclear whether or not Severus liked wine. Most of the bottles of alcohol he possessed were whiskeys such as Ogden's Finest, a few high end scotches or various types of bourbons. He may want something stronger than wine. After hearing the muffled shrieks of the howler, she had a feeling she would need something stronger than wine by the time the evening was over.
After taking a gulp of her wine, she strolled outside, wine glasses in hand.
"How much does Molly hate me?" She asked before taking another gulp of her Riesling.
"I couldn't say. This howler was addressed to me," Severus answered as she put her head on his shoulder.
"What did she want from you?"
"She wanted me to crumble under the weight of her numerous ramblings," he answered. "She wanted me to know that I'm a seducer, home-wrecker, amongst other insults which lacked any creativity."
"She had the chutzpa to insult you?" She handed him a glass of wine.
"Behind a howler, yes." He took the wine.
"That was bold."
"I prefer unoriginal," He put his free arm around his wife. "She's hardly the first person to send me a howler. To be honest, hers was amongst the most boring I've received."
Hermione laughed. "I never thought anyone would call Molly boring."
"But the accusation is true."
"How so?"
"Her howler spent too much time lecturing me, too little emphasis was put on creative insults, and it went on for far too long. When you send a howler, you need to get to the point quickly, yell a few well thought jeers, and be done with it."
"So you're grading howlers now?"
"Why would I not? I've been sent enough to know which ones are of good quality and which ones lack creativity. There's no harm in assigning them a grade."
"And what would you mark this one as?"
"I give it a solid dreadful."
She giggled again.
"Enough about howlers. I would love nothing more than to forget the Weasleys ever existed," he took his arm from her.
"Agreed," she looked at the house. The flower beds around it were bare. There was exposed soil, but nothing grew, not even a weed. It was very Severus Snape-like to keep it without plants, but not very welcoming to potential visitors. Then again, wasn't the goal of his life to tell the world to fuck off?
Should that be his main goal? It seemed so sad he'd want to keep the world away. There were so many wonderful people to meet. Of course, many of these wonderful people may still believe Severus to be a pureblood supremacist Death Eater. That wouldn't do! Someone needed to fix the world's perception of him! She was the perfect person to do it! She'd write letters defending him in the papers, or put up signs, or write a book, or anything else which got people to see the wonderful man she did.
"Hermione?"
She jolted form her musings.
"What is on your mind?" Her asked.
She pointed to the empty flowerbed. "You need flowers."
"Why? I won't tend to them, meaning they will only wilt and die."
"I can tend to them."
"How would you find the time? You work as hard as I do."
"I know I work, but I can create a flower garden this weekend, and I'll water them in the evenings. Granted, you're supposed to water flowers in the morning. It helps them grow stronger, at least that's what my neighbors said. I wake up early most days, so I could water them before work. Yes, I think we need roses, lots of roses. Petunias are nice too, except you'd hate petunias. Ooh, bad memory of Petunia Dursley. I shouldn't say that name."
"It's fine, I do not mind petunias."
"You don't?"
"No, I think they smell lovely."
"Great! I love them too! We can also get some pansies. I hate that name because of Pansy Parkinson. She was annoying. I think she hated me. That's okay, I hated her too. Then again, she was a Slytherin, and Slytherins tended to hate me along with every other Gryffindor. Except you, you're one of the good ones, even if I spent most of my adolescence thinking you hated me. You're a good person." She drank a fourth of her remaining wine. "A very good person."
"I am anything but a good person." He took a sip of his wine.
"Of course you're a good person! You're letting me grow flowers. It won't be hard, just you wait and see. I want to get started buying flowers now!"
"It's getting to be too late in the evening to buy and plant flowers."
"That's true," she looked at the darkening sky. Violet clouds crawled along red and pink streaks. The sun was nothing more than a small, yellow ball, already pale in light of the full moon. Soon it would be dark, very dark. If it was night, would Severus make love to her? It was their honeymoon, even if they weren't going anywhere. Making love should be mandatory.
"Why don't we go inside?" Severus began.
"You can do that. I want to examine the flowerbeds." She drew closer to the exposed soil, squinting so her mind's vision could become clearer. Perhaps she wanted Severus, but she wanted to examine the flowerbeds just as much, if not more.
"It's getting dark. I doubt much productive will be accomplished if you cannot see what you're doing," Severus replied.
"I think you could use a few bushes," she noted. "Still, I don't like bushes as much as I like flowers. They need less care, but they aren't always as beautiful as flowers. Then again, anything you tend to has the potential to be beautiful in your eyes. Bushes can change color in the fall, and they last longer. Yes, they could work."
"I suppose that is all true," He twisted his lower lip.
"Do you ever garden?"
"I grow most of my potions ingredients, so in that regard yes."
"You have a potions ingredients garden?"
He nodded. "It's out in the back."
"I guess I haven't looked back there," she noted.
"You haven't had much of a chance to do so not that there's much to see. It's too early for most of them to sprout."
"True."
"Here," he took her hand. "I'm sure you're getting cold in shorts and a t-shirt. There is a chill in the air."
"I am a little cold," she admitted. "I don't tend to get cold anymore, not after the Forest of Dean. Have I told you how much I hate camping? I always have. I only endured it because everyone else wanted me to, and I had to. The truth is I'd rather go to a muggle hotel. I want to visit a fancy one though. We need to go to a fancy hotel room one day and," she gasped. "We aren't on a honeymoon! We're at home!"
"I've noticed," Severus deadpanned.
"That must upset you."
"I'll find a way to carry on," he led her inside.
"You will, because I want a honeymoon. Someday we will find a honeymoon!," she shut the door behind her.
"Where would you want to go if we went on one?" He asked.
"A beach." She took a gulp of her Riesling.
"There are many places with beaches."
She tapped her foot. "I guess California sounds nice, or maybe North Carolina. I hear the Outer Banks are beautiful this time of year! I want to go there some day."
"Then one day we shall."
"We will?"
"I see no reason why not. If we are in this marriage together, we may as well make the best of it."
"True, and we have an eternity to go to the beach and eternity is a long time. That's plenty of time to get sick of each other, and plenty of time to get to know each other better. Is there a way to do both? I would think we would alternate being being annoyed with each other and being affectionate, but I don't know. What do you think?"
"I think one of your greatest accomplishments would be not killing me." He took another sip.
"Oh no, I wouldn't do that." She gulped the rest of her wine. "I don't want to hurt you. I never want to hurt you!"
"Give me time to change that opinion," he muttered before strolling to the kitchen.
"I'll give you an eternity," she cheered before following him. "I'll have an eternity to show I don't want to hurt you. You'll see! I never want to hurt you."
"I will hold you to that," he stood in front of the table and raised an eyebrow. "Did you just pour yourself another glass of wine?"
"Yes."
"How much wine have you had?"
"Only one glass." She swished it around and sniffed it. "God this stuff smells divine. I forgot how much I loved wine."
"Indeed."
"I like a good wine with my dinner, and I have a great dinner planned for us!"
"I thought you didn't cook," he took a sip of his wine.
"You're right, but," she reached across the counter and pulled out a handful of brochures, "I know how to use a delivery service."
He chuckled. "So you do."
"I figured we could eat and," she purred, "continue our life as a married couple."
"You certainly are amorous tonight," he answered in that low voice he knew made her wet.
"We're newlyweds. We may as well enjoy being together."
"I suppose that is one way to make the best of our situation."
"It is," she held up the brochures. "What would you like? I have Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Italian. Personally, I want Thai. I'm in the mood for something spicy and that'll hit the spot."
"I am amenable to Thai."
"Great," she dropped the other brochures. "I figure we can spend the rest of the night eating Thai and planning a honeymoon which we'll take when things settle down."
"When would that be for you?" He opened the menu.
"I'll let you know when it happens."
"Still living life moment to moment?"
"Yes, and it's so invigorating! I feel liberated just taking life as it comes!"
"You've certainly been doing that a lot lately."
"Wouldn't you agree it is a joyful way to live life?"
"It is one way to live life anyway."
"You don't seem enthused," she frowned.
"Let's just say living moment to moment isn't how I tend to live life," he answered. "I would much rather have a plan and some sense of control. Things are more orderly that way."
"That should change. You'll see," she grinned. "You'll enjoy being married to me. I'll teach you how to loosen up, and you'll teach me about potions and other academic pursuits."
"That seems like a fair tradeoff."
"It is," she got on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. "You'll see, this marriage will be beautiful, more beautiful than either of us have imagined."
"It is off to a pleasant enough start anyway," he admitted.
"Good," she took a gulp of wine, allowing the alcohol to stoke her already burning euphoria.
Life with Severus was outstanding indeed.
