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Pride, or What Goeth Before a Fall

(M)

Part the Seventh

The venue was breathtaking.

Rolling hills, patches of daffodils all in bloom, and old growth forests surrounded the grounds of the Georgian manor home where Draco and Harry were tying the knot. They couldn't have picked a lovelier spring day for their nuptials, Hermione thought. The wedding itself was going to be outdoors, and the reception would be inside the historic home.

Passing the guests who were milling around under the tent outside, Hermione walked into the small room where Harry was revising his vows.

She smiled at the sight.

In one corner was Teddy, bouncing up and down in his seat, his blue hair completely at odds with the formal robes Andromeda had dressed him in.

Ron sat in a formal chair, his feet up on an antique side table. He held Harry's notecards in one hand, checking Harry as he tried to recite the vows from memory.

As for Harry, he was pacing nervously, forgetting every other word of his pre-written vows.

'Just take the cards, mate,' Ron said, handing the stack over to his friend. 'You'll feel better if you've got them on you.'

Hermione went to the tall mirror in the corner to adjust her best woman's dress. Like everything else Draco selected for her to wear, this one was rather lower cut than she was used to. She tested a few spells out on her cleavage to determine which one would most securely keep the strapless number in place.

'Am I crazy?' Harry asked. 'I'm marrying Draco Malfoy.'

'I lived with you for seven years,' Ron said. He poured another glass of the champagne that Draco had left in the room for the three of them to share. 'You leave your socks everywhere and you're worse than I am about washing your Quidditch gear. The real question is whether or not he's crazy for marrying you.'

In the reflection, Hermione could see that Harry had a panicked look on his face.

'Just kidding,' Ron muttered. 'Listen, Harry, even I can see that you two belong together.'

Hermione walked over and kissed Harry on the cheek. 'He adores you, and he'll fight for you for the rest of his life. He also knows that I'll castrate him if he ever hurts you.'

Ron burst out laughing. 'I'm glad your arsenal of spells only included angry birds when we were in sixth year.'

Hermione grinned diabolically. 'Who said I was going to do it magically?'

Harry grimaced. 'Please don't. I'm rather partial to his—'

'Let's go,' Ron said rather loudly, interrupting Harry before he could say another word, 'and get you married.'

The ceremony went off without a hitch.

Harry hadn't needed the notecards after all. Apparently, he'd been inspired to improvise whilst gazing into Draco's eyes. Draco had kept it together up until that point, and although Hermione knew he'd never admit it, he started tearing up as Harry promised to love him through the ages.

Kingsley presided, lending his gravitas to the occasion.

The music was provided by a string quartet selected by Narcissa. Really, almost all the details had been worked out by the Malfoy matriarch in advance, with a heavy restraint imposed by Andromeda on her sister's tendency towards extravagance.

As for Hermione, she was just glad she could make it through emotionally intact. It was her first time seeing Severus since their disastrous night over a month earlier, and they were unfortunately paired together in the ceremony as the best man and best woman of the two grooms.

He was unavoidable, and he looked so sharp in his dress robes. His hair was bound, revealing his face. His eyes, which could be so expressive, were impassive throughout the proceedings.

When they exited behind Harry and Draco, they walked down the aisle side by side and arm in arm.

It was a heady feeling for Hermione.

They greeted the happy newlyweds briefly before the wedding coordinator pointed them towards the manor and asked them to find their seats before the reception began.

The walk over was uncomfortably silent.

Hermione entered the building with Severus at her side, quickly spotting the ballroom to their left filled with tables for dining. Knowing that they would soon have an audience of wedding attendees, she grasped Severus's hand and led him towards the room she, Ron, and Harry had been in earlier. It was empty now, filled with the detritus of preparations: a half-empty box of pins, some shoe black, and the last few slices of the coffee cake Molly had sent over with Ron that morning.

Hermione closed the door behind Severus, taking out her wand to reinforce their privacy with a few charms. When she was satisfied that they weren't going to be bothered, she turned back to him. 'I miss you.'

He shifted his weight, his gaze fixed on the floor.

She took a step closer to him, raising her arm and pressing a hand to his heart. Pleased that he didn't flinch or try to retreat, she felt his pulse growing faster beneath her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she spoke again. 'I miss having you drop by my place after work. I miss talking to you. I miss the way my kitchen smells after you've cooked in it.'

His eyes were closed, but she could make out his eyelids fluttering.

Her voice was firmer now. 'I've wanted you for so long, Severus. Long before it made any sense for me to, considering that I thought you... that you were...'

Gay. The unspoken word hung in the air between them.

She cleared her throat. 'I can't shake the feeling that something was going on between us before I knew the truth about you.'

He opened his eyes, looking at her warily, doubting her words.

'Why didn't you ever kiss me?' she asked. 'That would have cleared things up.'

'I am an old-fashioned man, Hermione,' he said, his voice quiet. 'Traditional.'

'I'm a fairly traditional woman, myself. That doesn't mean that I would been opposed to a sign of your interest.'

Severus spoke again. 'I wasn't sure you wanted me to.'

'It would have surprised the knickers off me, that's for sure.'

He smirked. 'Now that would have been a sight to see.'

'You're incorrigible,' she said, playfully thumping his chest in response.

Slowly—oh, so slowly—he enfolded her in his arms. Her hands still resting on his torso, she kneaded his chest like a cat, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt. Her gaze rested upon his neck and the scars that she found there, now barely visible against the unblemished skin of his pale throat.

To Hermione, it felt like they were moving towards something inevitable. There was no stopping it, nor any turning back.

When she lifted her eyes to his, she was startled by the depth of emotion written there. He smiled his crooked smile at her, and her breath caught in her chest. Was the blood coursing through her veins audible? It certainly seemed so as all other sensations faded away.

She vaguely knew that the other people attending the wedding were probably arriving at the reception now, and that they very well might be on the other side of the doors, but she just didn't care. She barely noticed anything other than the feeling of alertness in her body and her awareness of him.

His lips touched hers briefly once, twice. Then he pulled back and looked at her, somewhat guarded as his eyes searched hers, looking for something. It was nice enough, but Hermione wanted—

'More, please,' she said, surprised by the shakiness in her own voice.

He cocked his eyebrow, assessing her for a moment. When she opened her mouth to ask if anything was wrong, he leaned down and kissed her with renewed determination. His hands stroked her hips, and he took a few steps forward, continually kissing her as he pressed her back against the unyielding wood of the door.

He took control of the kiss, leading her with a kind of savage hunger as he explored her mouth with his insightful tongue.

Hermione had taken for granted how overwhelming a man like Severus could be. His presence was a physical force—something Hermione had long attributed to his power as a wizard. To be the object of the man's attentions? She had never experienced anything like it. His body was warm and firm, his breath smelled of mint and anise, and she was fairly certain she was only upright because he was holding her so.

She pressed herself against him, sliding her hands up to the base of neck as she tried to get closer to him still.

Suddenly, he moved his lips to her neck, gently biting the soft skin where her neck met her shoulder. Hermione tried not to be embarrassed by the variety of strange sounds she only distantly knew were coming from her own mouth.

With an odd jolt, she realised that Severus had picked her up off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist and relaxed her body as he carried her across the room.

Finally he sat down on the Georgian settee beside the fireplace, Hermione still wrapped around him like an anaconda around its next meal.

He pulled back and looked at her, his eyes fixed on her lips. 'What are we doing, Hermione?'

Taking his face in her hands, she placed a gentle kiss to his temple. 'We're getting something right for a change,' she said.

She pressed another kiss to his cheek, listening to the quietest of groans escaping him. 'We're taking what we want.'

A chaste kiss to his lips. 'I want you, Severus Snape.'

Another to the underside of his jaw as she felt his breath, hot on her neck. 'And I think you want me.'

A rumbling from his chest turned into laughter that shook his whole body. He smiled at her with such warmth and openness that it stole Hermione's breath away.

She blushed down to her toes.

He captured her mouth in another primal kiss before breaking away. With mock severity, he asked, 'How do I know you're not interested in me for my money? We both know that I'm filthy rich thanks to my astute business acumen.'

She laid down on her back, pulling his body down over hers. 'How do I know you're not interested in me for my body? I do possess a pair of glorious tits.'

He laughed again, sweeping his hands over her hips.

Hermione reveled in the sound, feeling powerful at her ability to affect him so.

'I haven't even been granted entry to those yet,' he said, raising his eyebrows in a nonverbal attempt to ask her permission.

She enjoyed the weight of him, resting in the cradle of her hips. Lifting her head, she gave the tip of his nose a quick peck. 'You can consider that my tacit consent.'

He did just that.

Roughly an hour later, a ghostly white stag entered the room, circling its disheveled occupants on the rug in front of the fireplace.

Severus spotted it first. While he logically knew that the spectre couldn't see anything, he still picked his discarded robes up off the ground and wrapped them around Hermione's upper body, shielding her breasts from its view.

'Potter,' he muttered under his breath.

Oh, bugger, Hermione thought. How long had she been in here with Severus? She had lost all track of time. Surely, the reception had already begun.

When the creature spoke, it was not with Harry's voice, but Draco's sardonic tones. 'I do not need to know what my best man and Harry's best woman have found to occupy the last hour of their time, but they should both be aware that their speeches will be commencing in less than ten minutes. Woe betide you if you do not appear in the ballroom in less than five. Fully clothed!'

With the help of a few spells, they were both set to rights in three.

After an evening of toasts and speeches and dancing, Hermione and Severus found themselves alone on the ballroom floor. She had long since ditched her heels, and swayed in time with her ear pressed against his sternum.

The caterer flipped the lights a few times, signaling for them to clear out.

'That's our cue, Granger,' he said. 'What next?'

Hermione smiled up at him. 'You know, the best man and maid of honour are supposed to shag all night long, driven by loneliness and inebriation.'

'Are we?' he asked.

'Well, that's the cliché,' she replied, wincing at the word. She shook her head. 'I'm sorry. I don't do well with clichés.' Hermione looked into his eyes, searching for a sign that he wouldn't shut her out again. 'Let me rephrase that. It's tradition.'

Severus took the bouquet from her hands and threaded her hand through the crook of his arm. 'I am nothing if not traditional.'

The End

This was written for the phenomenally talented cabepfir as a part of the 2015 SSHG Gift Fest. Her prompt? EWE. After learning that Dumbledore was gay, Hermione decides to become an advocate for LGBT rights. Her first campaign is about making the wizarding world accept the relationship between Harry and Draco, which they'd rather kept secret. Following one of Snape's comments about her crusade, she gets the impression that Snape is a closeted homosexual as well and begins to push him to come out. She organises dates for him and all kind of absurdities. Even when she's eventually convinced that Snape is not homosexual, she continues her mission to find a partner for him. How will Granger's campaign end? This prompt can be filled with as many gender/queer stereotypes as one can get and be really, really cracky.

Do yourself a favor and check out cabepfir's art! Also, she wrote a great story with Hermione as a Trekkie and Severus as a fan of Star Wars called "The Salute." You don't have to be a sci-fi fan in order to see how great the tale is! I've got it listed as a favorite.

Any final reactions, readers? I'd love hear what you thought about this tale!

Thank you all for joining me! You've been a delightful bunch to share this story with.