Severus awoke with the feeling that someone was pulling his skull away from his brain, and was immediately glad he had drawn the bed curtains before retiring for the night. He groaned involuntarily. As he attempted to lift his arm, he found that it wouldn't move. And at that moment, he was suddenly aware that he was naked—and not alone in bed.
There is a woman lying in my arms. He was gripped with panic. How did this happen? Who is in my bed? Questions plagued his mind, and he had no recollection of the evening before. He knew from the shooting pain in his head that there had been copious amounts of alcohol involved. If he could only remember what happened before the drinking began, perhaps he would be able to deduce what had led to the sleeping woman lying next to him.
Even though he had yet to open his eyes, he squeezed them shut in concentration. Yesterday had been Friday, 11 of July. Fridays were staff meeting days. Ah, yes. This Friday had been especially grueling.
Minerva had kept them all day in the cramped Headmistress's Office, breaking only for an hour for lunch. She had also informed them that, while she had offered several people the position, she was still unable to secure a teacher for Potions. Just before lunch, she had privately asked that he take some of the Potions classes, in addition to his full schedule of Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. He knew it was just a polite command, so he had reluctantly agreed to her impossible request. He had left the school as soon as the Headmistress had dismissed them.
I came straight home. He scoffed at his own wordage. As if this place could ever be home.
Severus had sold his childhood home at Spinner's End shortly after the Ministry had acquitted him of his crimes and released his property to him. He had quarters at Hogwarts, but during the summers, he enjoyed his solitude. He had been renting a flat, but it had become unavailable at the beginning of the present summer.
Potter had matured quite a bit in the past few years, and Severus began seeing more of the boy's mother in him. They had grown to form a respectful acquaintance with one another. And so, when he had heard that Potter had bought a cottage near Godric's Hollow as a wedding gift for his bride, Ginevra, Severus approached the boy about renting Grimmauld Place for the summers. The boy had readily agreed.
Severus had come to his summer home and had found someone there. He never had fixed the wards; they were still set to allow members of the Order to come and go. But none of them had taken advantage of this freedom, so he had seen no reason to ask Harry to remove them so that he could place his own.
Miss Granger. He remembered now who had been in the library when he had returned, and who, more likely than not, was now sleeping in his bed. It all came crashing into his memory. She had been distraught because the idiot Weasley boy had cheated on her and then broke up with the girl. She had been drinking his Firewhiskey. And he had joined her in the drinking until they had consumed the entire bottle. And then, he had kissed her. His memory was somewhat hazy after that point, but he did remember her kissing him back. They had retreated to his bedroom, where the kissing had become more and more heated until they both were naked. He only had glimpses of what had transpired after that.
He knew that he should be filled with regret that he had allowed himself to take advantage of an emotionally unstable woman half his age. She was his student! No, his brain forced upon him. She is not your student anymore. She is your colleague. An equal.
His heart suddenly wanted to wake her up with a slow and deliberate kiss, but the logical survivor part of him shut that thought down immediately. She had been drunk and upset about her longtime boyfriend. He had only been a rebound. They would simply forget this ever happened and work together as fellow professors at Hogwarts. Yes, that was the only option.
The burning sensation in his head brought him back to the pressing dilemma to which he had awoken. He gently pulled his arm out from underneath Hermione's body, attempting not to wake her. He failed and heard her groan in pain. He squelched the urge to kiss her again. He had set his resolve. This would be nothing but a bad dream.
"Good morning," he half whispered. His own voice echoed painfully inside his head. She groaned again.
"Is it? I don't think I've ever had such a horrible hang-." She stopped speaking suddenly as the realization that she was in bed with Severus Snape sunk in. "Oh my god! I'm naked! And in bed with you! What happened last night?!" He was slightly relieved that she didn't seem disgusted, just completely confused.
"Judging from the pounding in my head, and from what I can remember and piece together, we drank a considerable amount of Firewhiskey last night. And sometime after said consumption, we apparently ended up in bed, without our clothes." He wasn't about to admit to her that it had been his idea. Not if she didn't remember.
She slowly sat up, clutching the bedcovers to her chest. "Did we, um, you know…?" Her face turned a brilliant shade of red and she averted her eyes away from his.
Severus took a deep breath and said, "I believe so, yes. Not that I remember much after the removing of our clothing." It was such an awkward conversation. Severus had never been in this predicament before, and therefore had no idea how to proceed. Luckily, she continued for him.
"Oh God! I can't believe this. I'm so sorry. I was upset and drinking and-." She stopped suddenly again. A look of pure terror etched across her face as her brown eyes widened. "Please tell me one of us did some sort of birth control charm?"
Severus stopped. His blood turned to ice with fear. Had one of them cast a charm? He squeezed his eyes shut and thought hard. We came upstairs. In the midst of kissing,- gods she was a good kisser- our clothes started coming off. When we finally had all of them off, she laid down on the bed. And then… and then what!? He couldn't remember. He shook his head. Oh, and then I began to cast a contraceptive charm. But I couldn't, because I was so drunk, I couldn't hold my wand steady. Potion! Yes! I retrieved the contraceptive potion from the medicine cabinet! He sighed.
"No!" he exclaimed. Her face went white with horror. "But I gave you a contraceptive potion." Hermione visibly relaxed and let out a sigh of relief and a nervous laugh.
"Oh! Thank Merlin. Okay. Um, well, do you mind if I use the bathroom to wash up?" She winced as the sound of her own voice filled the room with noise. And then, suddenly her hand flew up to her mouth. As quickly as he could, Severus conjured a bucket and thrust it into her lap. He then moved around to her side to scoop up her hair while she up heaved the contents of her stomach. It took every ounce of Severus's self-control to keep himself from joining her.
Once he was sure she had stopped retching, he vanished the bucket and its contents and guided her to the bathroom.
"Towels are in the cabinet, and I believe there is a new toothbrush underneath the sink. Just tap the shower handles with your wand to start the water." He transfigured one of towels into a white, thick robe and hung it on the back of the door. "I'll start breakfast. And leave a Hangover Relief on the bedside table for you."
Hermione nodded in response. He nodded back in acknowledgment and closed the door. As soon as the water started, he Conjured his own bucket.
After cleaning himself up, Severus made his way down to the kitchen. He found the carton of eggs he had purchased last week and found a skillet in one of the cabinets. He rarely cooked for himself at Grimmauld Place since he was rarely there. He took all of his lunches at Hogwarts, sometimes even his dinners. He had never been a breakfast person. But today was different.
By the time Hermione arrived in the kitchen, Severus had eggs and bacon ready and on the table.
"Something smells good." She inhaled deeply and took a seat at the table. Her hair was still slightly damp and hung gracefully around her radiant face, fresh from the shower.
"Are you feeling better than you were earlier, Miss Granger?" Severus inquired in a bored sort of tone. Hemione shot him an odd look.
"We just woke up naked in the same bed together. I think we've moved to a first name basis, Severus," she replied. "And yes, I am feeling much better. Just starving. I didn't eat dinner last night." She reached over to fill her plate.
"Indeed. Would you prefer coffee or tea?"
"Oh, coffee, please. Tea is fine for afternoon, but there is just something about coffee in the morning." She accepted the mug Severus offered and took a long sip.
She drinks her coffee black? Severus thought. Interesting. He filled his own plate and settled across the table from her. Now that the alcohol had completely left his system, questions started nagging his mind.
"Miss-," he started, but stopped short at the raised eyebrow staring at him from across the table. "Hermione, then. You never answered my question last night. Why were you here?"
"What do you mean? I came here because I was upset about Ron." The miserable look started to form on her features again. An unfamiliar pain crept through his chest.
"Yes, but why here? Why did you not go somewhere else, like your own home?" Hermione's eyes began to fill with unbidden tears, and she was noticeably attempting to keep them from falling.
"Ron and I share—shared—a flat," she said sadly. "And I couldn't very well run off to the Burrow, could I? Harry and Ginny are still on their honeymoon. And my parents… Well, you know." He did know. She had modified their memories when the War had become more and more threatening and sent them to Australia. A year after Voldemort's defeat, she had attempted to go after them and restore their memories, but they had moved since their arrival, leaving no forwarding address. She had searched for months to no avail.
"This was the first place I could think of. I knew Harry never changed the wards when he moved out, so they would still recognize me. I didn't know you would be here." Her tone was almost apologetic, and she stared at her eggs.
"I see." He was at a loss for words. He was not sorry that she had found herself in his makeshift home, but was he glad about the whole situation? And even if he were, he shouldn't make her aware of it. With still nothing to say, he went back to his breakfast.
After several moments of silence, Hermione cleared her throat. He looked up expectantly.
"Erm, should we be discussing this? Whatever this is? I haven't exactly found myself in this situation before." Her voice trailed off as she blushed once again. He quickly buried the fondness brought about by the faint coloring in her cheeks and hardened once more his resolve to make last night a distant memory.
"There is not much to discuss. We both consumed entirely too much alcohol and made rash, irresponsible decisions that neither one of us would have in normal circumstances. I feel that we should put the night's events behind us and not allow them to hinder our lives." The slightly hurt look on her face was quickly erased. She had become very talented at hiding her feelings he had noticed, and it pained him that he could not allow himself to express an interest in seeing where the emotions of last night might go if not altered by Firewhiskey.
"That makes sense." Her face was blank as she continued. "You're right. We will be working closely as colleagues this year and we cannot afford to let something like this hinder our jobs."
"Indeed. Now, you have mentioned that you have no home now. Might I ask where you intend to stay until the school term begins?" He had entertained the idea to offer her a room at Grimmauld Place, but thought better of it.
"I'm sure I could stay at Hogwarts. I'll just pop over to speak to Minerva." She grimaced. "But then there is the issue of going back to Ron's flat for my things. That should be fun," she finished, as her face fell forward into her hands.
"I shall escort you, if it will ease your mind. Or perhaps, place unease in his mind." He smirked and she let out a snigger.
"If you don't mind. I don't want to be any trouble. I would really appreciate it, though."
"It is no inconvenience, Hermione. I have no plans for the day, and the look on Weasley's face would be sufficient payment, I assure you. I will take a shower while you go discuss the details with Minerva and be ready to go when you return."
Hermione sighed with a smile on her face. "Thank you so much, Severus." She reached over, gave his hand a small squeeze, and bounded from the room.
The distant memory plan will never work if she continues displays like that, he thought, subconsciously rubbing the hand she had touched. He sighed heavily and started cleaning their plates from the table.
This was going to be a long day.