Hermione was quick to gather her toiletries and retreat to the restroom for a quick shower. She peeled off her dirty tee shirt and jeans and tossed them in the corner. Stepping under the hot, rushing water, she felt the tension slowly easing out of her. It's been a hell of a morning… how was that even real? Talk about a freaking rollercoaster. Fright. Excitement. Terror. Despair. Horror. Anxiety… Hope. Bliss. Absolute bliss… At that last thought, she let out a heavy sigh of contentment. If that was a dream… I don't know that I ever want to wake up. I never imagined that this could ever actually happen. But he has feelings for me too. I hope he will tell me why, if I ask. I cannot imagine what he could see in me. Oh but the way he looked at me, I've never felt so… seen.
Hermione made quick work of the grime coating her skin and decided that washing her hair would be smart too. Lathering in her lavender and vanilla shampoo, she could just feel all the dust washing away, while the lavender soothed her frayed nerves. She slathered in copious amounts of conditioner and gave her legs a thorough shave. It had been a bit. It wasn't like she had seen anyone… besides Neville and Hannah last weekend for lunch. And they certainly hadn't any reason to see her legs. She couldn't help but relish in the sensuality of running her hands up her smooth calves, imagining that Severus was there with her, touching her. It had been so difficult to halt their exploratory kisses earlier and she could still feel the tension thrumming through her. It was for the best that they had stopped of course, emotions were running high. Which, in her limited experience, may not be the best catalyst for rushing into a relationship with someone.
Just look at what happened with Ron. Extremely highly strung emotions. Near death experiences. He did one nice thing that led to three horrible, uncomfortable weeks trying to date my best friend whom I have no chemistry with. At all.
No. High emotions are not a reason to rush things. It was a noble sentiment, but at that very moment she had a very hard time believing it. Not when she could still feel Severus's hand clutching her, his soft lips pressing against hers, his tongue tangling with hers. Not when she had dreamt about him nearly every night for years. No. This was not just the result of extreme circumstances and high stakes. This was more.
She stood under the shower head, allowing the flowing water to rinse the conditioner from her hair while she snaked a hand between her legs in an attempt to relieve some of the morning's tension. How could she possibly make it through lunch otherwise, when the man that she had been fantasising about was so close. When she knew that he wanted her too.
She sighed deeply just as her fingers began to tease at her coarse, curly hairs, she heard a light rap on the door, causing her to jump. "Yes?" she squeeked, immediately embarrassed and tense as she turned towards the shower curtain.
"Not a boggart this time, just me," replied Severus' familiar smooth voice, now tinged with a teasing undertone, "letting you know that I've figured out what I can make for lunch with the interesting selection of food stuffs that you have. Lunch should be ready in ten to fifteen minutes. Are you almost done?"
"Oh, umm, yes, sorry just finishing up with my hair, I only need a few more minutes." Hermione replied, smiling to herself, as she hastily got back to business.
After a pause, "Do you need… any assistance?" His deep timbre sounded much closer, right outside of the opaque plastic curtain.
A tingle ran up Hermione's body, "What did you have in mind? Were you offering me… a hand? "
" Perhaps . And if I were to offer you a hand?" Severus asked, deliberate and smooth.
Hermione responded in the most flirtatious, self assured tone she could muster, "Well, Severus, I would have to point out how forward that offer is. Besides, I'm afraid I'll need a rain check. A gentleman whose company I quite enjoy is making me lunch and I wouldn't want to disappoint him. Besides, I am rather hungry."
"As you wish, I'm certain that gentleman is quite famished as well." Severus chuckled as he retreated from the room, shutting the door behind him.
Alone once more, Hermione huffed in frustration, giving up on her attempted self gratification as a bad job and refocused on the task at hand.
Once clean, Hermione stepped out of the shower and grabbed her towel from the nearby rack to dry off. Then, retreating to her room, she threw on a decently cute, sable blue, matching bra and panty set … just in case… not that we will. It will help boost my confidence if nothing else… Besides, we should definitely wait… but still, just in case. I need to make sure I leave a good impression, she told herself. Next came a fresh pair of deep blue jeans and a flowy, burgundy blouse. She did her best to towel dry her hair, so it at least wouldn't be dripping, but knew better than to cast a drying charm on it. Having her head look like a static-y pygmy puff was definitely not the entrance that she wanted to make. Not when things were so new and scary and exciting. Instead, she scrunched in some curl serum and left the rest up to fate.
After putting in far more effort than she would normally bother with, Hermione deemed herself 'as good as could be expected' and descended the stairs to see what Severus had managed to throw together.
As she stepped through the entryway of the kitchen, she saw Severus with his back to her, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, chopping away at what looked to be some final touches for a salad. It was nice to be able to stand and just watch him in his casual clothing. While she had showered, he had changed from his Professor's robes into black jeans, which, while not tight, certainly hinted at his firm, taut muscles underneath. His black button down shirt allowed her to see his lean, tapered torso and subtly muscular arms. She could hardly keep her hands to herself as she itched to finally explore the man before her.
Observing from the entryway, Hermione, though not surprised, was certainly impressed by the man in front of her. Seeing the precision and care that he took cutting vegetables - reminiscent of his skills in the classroom - was truly mesmerising to behold.
"Hermione…" he asked smoothly, turning to look over his shoulder at her, "were you going to just stand there and ogle me all day or did you want to give me… a hand ?"
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't… I didn't think you knew I was there… it was nice just watching you work," a blush tinged her cheeks at the admission. "Yes, let me help, what do you need me to do?" She asked, walking to stand beside him.
"I would appreciate it if you could set the table, I'm not familiar with where everything is kept. But first…" Severus leaned over and placed a light kiss on her cheek. With a cheeky grin, he chuckled, "Much better. Now you can set the table."
Hermione smiled and rose up to bestow him with a matching peck on the cheek before she turned to grab table settings and beverages by which time Severus was setting lunch out. He had managed to put together a very tasty grilled chicken salad with a light herbed vinaigrette, which they hardly noticed they were eating as they were preoccupied by the shy glances they were sneaking at each other, and easy conversation that they were making about new brewing methods debated in the most recent Potion's Quarterly.
As they cleaned up together, Hermione tentatively asked the questions that had been nagging at her. "Severus… umm, not to sound ungrateful, but why are you here? I would have thought you'd go straight home now that school is out. What brought you here?"
Severus tensed, "I apologise for intruding, I shouldn't have come unannounced. On the way out, Minerva stopped me to say that you offered for me to stay here and that you were hoping to assist with my research and brewing over the holidays. I thought it would be best to speak with you as soon as possible to discuss an arrangement, so I came straight here. It made more sense than going to Spinner's End first, depending on how our conversation went."
"Oh! Of course, that makes sense. There's no need to apologise, I was just surprised that you were here so soon after term ended, or at all honestly. I didn't expect you to actually consider my request to work with you." Hermione bit her lip, handing the last dish to Severus to dry.
Thin lips quirking in a slight smirk, voice quiet and smooth he replied, "As you have hopefully come to realise, I had my own reasons for wanting to be here. Minerva just happened to give me a perfect excuse to come straight here… and see you." He put away the dried dish and placed the towel on the counter, before reaching out a long fingered hand to take Hermione's delicate one in his grasp.
With a small step forward and a gentle tug, he smoothly pulled the petite young woman against him. Settling a gentle hand on the small of her back and another on her cheek, he continued, "I came here with the intention of telling you that I would appreciate your assistance in brewing. And I likely would have used some Slytherin tactics to try to get your invitation to stay here to make our projects easier. I had no intention of pushing myself or my feelings on you - I still do not - I only intended to savour the time that I could spend with you." His eyes were open, vulnerable, as they stared into hers.
Seeing him looking so unguarded made Hermione's chest tighten with affection. It was hard to not feel honoured to be one of the few people to see Severus Snape, spy, double agent, quintessential Slytherin, looking so unguarded and open. Eyes that were normally hard and shuttered, were now dark, deep, glistening liquid pools that she yearned to fall into.
Hermione gently raised her hand to caress his cheek, feeling his stubble under her exploring fingertips. His eyes closed as he lent into her tender, compassionate warmth. Something he had not felt in a very long time.
Hermione's lips pressed lightly against his for a brief moment. Solemnly she said, "I would love to have you stay here." Her voice turned teasing and she smiled, "I mean honestly, the commute would be very inconvenient, I really insist. I've cleaned out several rooms so far, up to the fourth floor at least, so you can pick whichever you would like. Mine is beside the library, the other unclaimed room on that floor is quite spacious… if you wanted."
"That would be most welcome, care to show me the way? I'll grab my belongings and get settled." Severus' eyes were warm as he followed her out the door.
As he followed her up the stairs, Hermione's nerves got the better of her and questions began pouring out, "Maybe after you get settled we can have tea? I'm still finding it hard to believe that you are interested in me. Or at least hard to understand why? You heard most of what the boggart said and much of it was true or at least based in truth. But I didn't get to hear all of your secret feelings blurted out by a malevolent creature today. I'd rather hear from you, anyway. If you are up for that. Or maybe later if that's better. Or not at all really, if you don't want to."
"Tea after I unpack sounds great. We can certainly talk about this more later on," Severus replied calmly once she stopped rambling.
They had reached the room on the other side of the library, and Hermione opened the door to let him through. "This can be your room, if it looks alright to you," she said with a small smile.
"Thank you, this will be perfect. I figure I will have to gather my potions supplies from Spinner's End tomorrow and we can start working the day after tomorrow if that is amenable to you?"
"That sounds perfect! I can't wait, I know there is still so much that you can teach me," Hermione's smile was radiant, knowing that she would be learning from the most skilled Potioneer in Europe. "I'll give you some time to settle in. If you need me, I will be in the library." She gave his hand a light squeeze, leaving him to unpack, and moved to her favourite room, where she cozied up on her favourite sofa. With a wave of her wand she conjured up a tea service and made herself a cup before settling in with a book.
It didn't take long for the stress and excitement of the day to turn to exhaustion, her eyelids grew heavy and she gave up on the book, instead pulling a throw blanket over herself and resting her head on the armrest. Sleep swiftly overtook the emotionally drained young woman.
Severus looked around the large bedchamber, unpacked his clothes in the wardrobe, mentally noting that he should gather more casual clothing from Spinner's End, as wearing teaching robes here while they brewed could make things… uncomfortable. Once unpacked, he lay back on the ornately carved four poster, king sized bed, thankfully the mattress was quite plush and the duvet was a neutral dark grey and not something ridiculous like a floral pattern or Gryffindor red.
Laying there, staring at the ceiling, he contemplated how unprecedented the day had been. This was certainly not what he anticipated when he left Hogwarts this morning. He expected to spend his summer alone, with maybe a few (much desired) visits to Number Twelve. He assuredly didn't expect to be staying here. Invited to stay here. With the woman that he had been dreaming of for over two years. Nor did he expect to save her and find that she had feelings for him as well. He never would have predicted that they might act upon those desires.
And yet they had.
And he could not remember ever feeling so at peace in his life. If he didn't know himself any better, he might say that he was giddy. But he knew himself quite well and Severus Snape did not and had never felt giddiness. Or at least he would never admit to it. Not even to himself. Giddiness was for Hufflepuffs and dunderheads.
She was just about all he had thought about, ever since he broke out from his coma to find her by his bedside in the hospital wing. Gently dabbing at his forehead with a cool cloth. Her kind hazel eyes anxious and afraid as she worked to try and abate his fever brought on by Nagini's venom.
Every time he had broken through his fitful fever filled sleep, she had been there. Occasionally he woke to see her asleep, bushy head slumped on the edge of his bed, with her warm hand resting over his. Sometimes he awoke to her changing his bandages. But every time his eyes fluttered open, she was there, keeping guard, his angel of redemption, showing him that he was forgiven and worthy… at least to one person. But as far as he was concerned, she may as well have been the only one that mattered.
He never knew what words of hers were real and which were dreams, but her voice was always calm and soothing. Thanking him, encouraging him to fight, to live a life that was his own. Telling him he was needed and cared for. Conveying the outcome of the war and detailing the aftermath that ensued. Often, she would just read to him. Text books, as she prepared for her final school year and N.E.W.T.s. Occasionally, classics, like The Hobbit and Pride and Prejudice . He only picked up clips and phrases of what she said, things like: "You know he always reminded me a bit of you, sir," or "I'm certain you would kick me out if you could, I imagine this sort of flowery language isn't your cup of tea." But the comfort of her melodic voice and light laughter brought him immeasurable peace. Something he had not known in as long as he could recall.
He never let on to his feelings, of course. Seeing a student in such a way was not something he could acknowledge and he did his best to chase away any thoughts that were improper. Besides, she was surely only being kind and expressing her thanks for his actions during the war. She, with so many great things in store for her, could never see him in the way he now secretly wished her to. He could never expect or even dream of his angel, nay, goddess of redemption, his own Soteria*, seeing him as anything more than a charity case. A repentant sinner, perhaps, but little more. Another creature to be granted a reprieve and sent on their merry way.
After taking some time to gather and sort the bevy of thoughts and emotions that the day had brought, Severus stood and took a deep breath. Preparing himself to go seek out Hermione. Preparing himself, just in case, everything that had happened that day had been another dream.
AN: Soteria - Greek goddess of safety and deliverance from harm