Chapter Eight

Severus' fear that he would lose control as soon as he entered Hermione had proven false. While he might not have lasted as long as he'd have liked, it was longer than two-minute Mitch, and more than long enough to please them both. He'd worried briefly, though, that he might have been too rough in his frenzy. "Are you alright? I didn't hurt y..."

"I'm fine, Severus. It was perfect, you were perfect." Hermione sighed in contentment as she snuggled close to him. She burrowed herself against him, her back to his front, reached back and pulled his arm securely around her. In a matter of mere seconds she was sound asleep.

He lay there stiffly for a moment, unsure how to react. He'd never been a cuddler – quite the opposite, in fact. More the type to leave a woman's bed, or demand that she leave his, directly after the act. Surprisingly, he had no such inclinations this time. After a couple of minutes he relaxed and pulled her even tighter to him, a palm cupping her breast, his nose nuzzling against her hair and catching the lingering scent of peach from her shampoo. He drifted off to sleep thinking about creating a special scent just for her. He'd use nectarine; it was not quite as sweet, more subtle than peach. He would blend it with a pure dark Madagascar vanilla, and just a hint of spice, cinnamon maybe—no, too common... cloves perhaps? Yes, cloves would be perfect, sharp enough to have a little bite, but warm, sweet, and intense, so much like Hermione.

Severus awoke with a snort, surprised to find his room in full light. He was normally a restless sleeper and rarely made it much past dawn, but a glance at the clock revealed it was nearly half past eight. Unheard of for him. Stretching, he turned to find the spot next to him empty, although Hermione's scent still lingered on the pillow. He leaned over to take a deep whiff. He assumed she'd gone into the bathroom – the door was ajar – but he heard no sound from within. In fact, as he sat up he realized there were no sounds at all. His home was completely silent. Looking around the room he saw no signs of her clothes or any indication that she'd ever been there at all. He placed his hand on the spot where Hermione had slept and it was cold; she'd been gone for some time.

At first he was irritated that she hadn't bothered to wake him for a goodbye, or an explanation. She hadn't even left a note. Just to be sure he wasn't jumping to conclusions—he'd been accused of such in the past—he threw on his robe and stomped down the stairs. A quick glance into each room confirmed that she was gone. The nerve of the woman! The only trace of her was the take-away bag from the pub, left sitting on the table by the door. She must have dropped it there last night after they'd Apparated in. He snatched it up and carried it to the kitchen, intending to toss it in the bin, but just before he dropped it in he relented. He could sense the stasis spell she'd put on it to keep it fresh and he liked sticky toffee pudding as well as the next man, so instead he dropped it on the table before he stormed back upstairs.

Once back in his room, he dropped his robe and went into the bathroom, slamming the door loudly behind him. That felt so satisfying, he opened it up and slammed it a couple more times, just for good measure. He proceeded through his morning routine – a piss, a shave, turning the water on in the shower to warm up while he brushed his teeth. During all this he went from merely irritated to angry, thinking about Hermione and her friend Ali's advice to "take him home and shag his brains out." Well, she'd managed that alright, hadn't she? And there he'd been afterward, drifting off to dreamland while planning to concoct a unique scent especially for her, like some kind of love-sick fool. What an idiot he was. This was obviously nothing more than a one-night stand for her.

Stepping into the shower he turned the water as hot as he could stand and proceeded to wash his hair, and scrub his body. He'd intended to finish his shower with his usual morning wank, but when he tried to conjure up his regular stimulating fantasies, all his mind could picture was her. Not that he didn't get hard – no problem there – but he didn't want to wank off to thoughts of her; in fact he didn't want to think of her at all. His anger burned hotter, into a white rage. Damn the bitch, she'd even ruined this for him. He was going to get dressed, track her down, and give her a piece of his mind!

A plan in place, he stepped from the shower and yanked the towel down so violently he nearly ripped the rack from the wall. After drying himself vigorously he took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He quickly combed his hair and stepped into his room to get dressed. He'd barely had time to don his pants and trousers when he sensed that something was not right.

Summoning his wand he looked around the room but saw nothing unusual. Sniff... "What the hell?" Another sniff... "Bacon..." sniff, sniff... "and coffee." Not wasting another second Severus snagged a t-shirt from his drawer, pulling it on as he ran down the stairs.

He rushed into the kitchen so quickly he didn't see the stool next to the cupboard and sent it toppling over with a loud crash.

Hermione shrieked and jumped, clutching her throat. "Good Godric, Severus, you scared the crap out of me!" She took a deep breath to calm herself, then smiled at him. "Good morning sleepy head." She turned back to the cooker to check the eggs.

Severus stared at her, dressed in nothing but his worn white singlet from last night, and was slow to comprehend what was going on. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a strained voice.

"I thought that was obvious. I'm cooking you breakfast," she replied softly.

"But you weren't here before. I came down and checked."

"You had hardly any food on hand aside from coffee. I had to run out to get some things: eggs, bacon, bread, butter, jam." She turned to look at him and noticed the strange expression on his face. "Oh, please don't tell me you're one of those people that can't stand having someone else messing around in your kitchen, like it's your private lab or something."

He didn't answer her, merely frowned darkly.

"Oh my gods, you are one of those people." She reached over, shut off the burners, and took a step back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"I thought you'd left. Why are you still here?" Severus demanded gruffly, his frown deepening.

"Severus, I explained: I wanted to cook breakfast for you. I don't understand..." Hermione's face paled. "Oh..." Her voice quavered, and her lips seemed to freeze in a horrified 'O' shape. "Oh... I do see... you thought I'd left... because you expected me to be gone before you got up." A sob caught in her throat but she managed to push it back down. "I understand now, this was all just a one-and-done for you, and I'm a complete idiot." She blinked quickly, trying to contain her tears as she muttered under her breath, "Stupid, stupid, stupid girl, will you never learn." Making a concerted effort, she pulled herself together and, with as much dignity as she could muster, stated firmly, "I am leaving now." With that she dashed round him and out of the kitchen.

"Fuck!" Severus, who'd been frozen in place, snapped out of his stupor and smacked a hand to his forehead. Merlin, he was the idiot, not her. "No, Hermione, wait."

He ran through the house, desperate to get to her before she could step outside and Apparate away. If she did, he'd have to fall back on his earlier plan to track her down, but instead of telling her off he'd beg her forgiveness for being a mean surly bastard who always assumed the worst of others. He rounded the corner to the sitting room to see her standing at the front door, her back to him, forehead resting against the door, shoulders slumped in defeat. He approached her slowly, not wanting to upset her more than he already had.

"Hermione?" She had her arms wrapped around herself and she was trembling, he realized she was trying desperately to hold back her tears. Gods, he felt like a complete arse. Hell, he was a complete arse.

Her voice came out low and shaky through clenched teeth. "I'm afraid to try to Apparate across your wards from in here and I certainly can't go out there like this. Please give me my clothes back."

Severus was confused at her request. "Your clothes? I didn't see them anywhere. That's one of the reasons I assumed you'd gone."

"You fucking vanished my clothes, Severus," she snapped angrily. "I have no idea where they went."

He flushed, remembering. "It's a spell I invented. Whenever I vanish clothes that are lying around, they go directly to my laundry hamper." He stepped closer to her, unsure what to say or do to win her back. He wasn't good at things like this. Bugger, damn, hell, fuck, shit...shit, shit. He had to do something or he was going to lose her. "Hermione, sweetheart, please talk to me."

He reached out and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. She flinched but didn't pull away, so he took one more step, carefully wrapped his other arm around her, and slowly pulled her to him, hugging her close. She tensed but didn't tell him to let her go. He dropped his lips close to her ear. "When I woke up, you weren't there. At first I thought you were just in the loo, or downstairs. But I looked everywhere. Your clothes were gone, and there was no sign of you anywhere. I'd forgotten about vanishing them." He felt her relax into him just a bit and figured it was a good sign. "I was upset and hurt that you'd left without a word, without saying goodbye, or leaving a note. I jumped to the conclusion that you were done with me. That you'd had your fun and had just left in the dead of night. I got angry. I swore to track you down and give you a good tongue lashing. When I came downstairs to find you in the kitchen cooking, I was shocked and confused and had no idea what was happening. But I never meant to hurt you, pet, I swear."

She pulled away for a second and he thought he'd lost her, but then she turned and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his chest. He scooped her up to carry her to the sofa where he'd held her last night, settling with her in his lap.

"I just wan...wanted to make you breakfast. I...wanted... to do...do something nice for you, S...Se...Severus." Her voice shook; she was still trying not to cry but tears were sliding down her cheeks.

"Shhh..." He held her close. "Shhh... I know. I stupidly over-reacted. I'm very sorry, Hermione. Please, can we put all this behind us?" He tipped her face up toward his and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

"I'm sorry too, Severus. I really didn't think I'd be gone long enough for you to notice. I should have left a note but honestly, it never even occurred to me."

"How about we agree that we both over-reacted and made some mistakes? I certainly don't want you to leave, and I hope you don't want to leave either, so we'll start over from right now."

"I'd like that," she said, followed by a tremulous sigh. "I like being here in your arms, you make me feel safe. Will you just hold me for a little while?"

"For as long as you want, sweetheart." They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, then Severus frowned. "Hermione, If you couldn't find your clothes, or shoes, how did you go to the store? Did you transfigure my shirt into something more appropriate?" Although the singlet was big on her it still only came to mid-thigh and it was old and worn thin enough to make it practically translucent.

"Oh, I didn't go to the store. I used your Floo to go to Number 12 Grimmauld Place and raided Harry's kitchen. He didn't mind, although he was very curious about who I was going to make breakfast for."

Severus nearly choked. "You Floo'd to Potter's dressed like that."

"Well, I did throw on a jumper you had draped over a chair by the fireplace, it's always so drafty at Grimmauld Place."

"But...why?"

"Well, I'm not at all familiar with your neighborhood, so I didn't know if there was a store nearby. Plus I was a little worried about those wards of yours and if I got out whether or not they would let me back in. I figured as long as I Floo'd out and then straight back I could probably get through okay."

"The Floo is also warded. But you needn't worry, you have full access through all my wards now." Severus felt better knowing that she'd at least been covered somewhat decently, even if Hermione did think of Potter as a brother. "Did you satisfy Potter's curiosity, or leave him wondering?"

She glanced at him nervously. "I did actually—tell him it was you, I mean. I hope that's not a problem."

Severus felt a flash of warmth that she hadn't kept him a secret from her best friend. "Not a problem at all, not for me at least. I'm sure he was horrified at the idea, though. How did he try to talk you out of it?"

"He didn't," Hermione answered with a smirk. "He thought about it for a minute, then said, 'Professor Snape? And you? Hermione, that's brilliant—what a match, why didn't we ever think of that before?'"

"He did not!"

"He did, I swear." She held up her hand. "Witch's honor." Then she leaned in to whisper into his ear. "And he's right. It is brilliant. Severus, I'm so glad you eavesdropped on my argument with Mitch, and dropped back into my life."

"I keep telling you, I was not eavesdropping," he insisted, but an amused expression flitted across his face at the same time.

Hermione shook her head. "Well, whatever you were doing, I'm so very glad you came to my rescue."

"So am I, pet... so am I," he replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Come..." He stood, reaching for her hand. "I have an idea. I'm going to cook breakfast for you instead."

"That sounds lovely, but I only brought enough for one meal for us both, and I'm afraid it's ruined now. I turned everything off, it'll be a greasy mess, beyond saving I'm sure."

"I can run out and get more," he offered.

"I have a better idea. Let's go to my house. I have a fully stocked kitchen. We can cook breakfast together and then..." She let the sentence trail off suggestively.

Severus waggled his eyebrows. "And then... what?"

"Well, it's just that I've been thinking about this and planning it all morning." Hermione stole a glance at him from beneath her lashes, a knowing smile appearing on her lips. "You hardly let me touch you or do anything last night, Severus. And I really wanted to do...lots of things."

"Yes?"

"And you did promise me that I would have my turn later, and that I could touch you and do anything I liked."

"Errm...I might recall having said something to that effect." A slight flush warmed his cheeks and his eyes lit with excitement thinking of what she had planned.

"Well, I've decided that after breakfast, I'm going to make you keep your hands to yourself just the way you did to me, you sadist. And you'll let me do anything I want. Anything. I'm going to have my dessert, and it's going to be you. I do hope you didn't toss out my take-away, because I have serious plans for that toffee sauce."

Severus groaned and swept her up for a searing kiss. "Let's go to your house. Now."

Hermione chuckled at his sudden impatience. "Wait, I need my wand." She Accio'd it from the kitchen (along with her take-away) and pointed it at him, causing him to step back instinctively. "Oh, sorry, love," she said, lowering it. "I just need to key you into my wards before we go."

"Your wards?" Eyes narrowed, he looked at her quizzically.

Hermione shrugged and one corner of her lip quirked up in amusement. "Well, they are somewhat... aggressive, I suppose you might say."

He threw back his head and laughed out loud. Hermione stared at him in wonder – she'd never heard him laugh full out like that and she vowed to make sure it happened more often. He deserved some light and laughter in his life.

"Oh, really? They're probably illegal, too, I'll wager."

Hermione nodded, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "Oh, they're definitely illegal. Please don't tell Harry, he's an Auror now you know."

Severus shook his head. "I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but Potter is finally right about something. We do make a brilliant pair." He threw his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. "Let's go, sweetheart. I know how much you love your dessert, and I certainly wouldn't want to keep you waiting."

She made a murmur of agreement. "And then after dessert... Did I hear you say something about giving me a good tongue-lashing?"

With a deep groan Severus reached for the Floo powder. "Sweet Circe's titties, you evil woman. You're going to be the death of me."

"Oh, I think it's in my best interests to make damn sure you survive, love." Hermione threaded her fingers through his, clasping his hand tightly as they stepped into the Floo. "But I think we might be in for a wild ride along the way."

the end