It All Started With A Kiss Chapter Six – Family

'You must be joking!' Hermione stared at her husband, shaking her head. 'That's just… tell me you're joking,' she almost pleaded, forgetting for a moment that she was still supposedly angry at him. For a moment, a scene from their first evening as a married couple popped back into her mind, reminding her that they had now reached a sort of truce.

vvvvvvvv

Hermione sighed as she watched the water swirl down the drain. With a last gurgling sound, the bathtub was empty.

She had made up her mind and decided to give in, just this once. She didn't want her marriage to start out with a honeymoon of arguments. Walking into the bedroom, she towelled her still-wet hair.

She opened the wardrobe and the fancy red velvet dress caught her eye once more. She had to admit that it really was an extraordinary garment. "Might as well wear one of those," she muttered. She donned the dress and decided to put on a bit of make-up again.

A bit apprehensive, Hermione finally opened the door that led back to the main area of the suite. Severus was not in the sitting room. Perhaps still in the dining room, she thought. I haven't been in the bathroom longer than twenty minutes. Hesitantly, she walked over to the adjourning room.

Severus had taken off his outer robe and had loosened the collar of his black jacket. Hermione could see the white collar of the shirt he was wearing underneath. She had often wondered how he could stand wearing so many layers of clothing, even in warmer weather. But then again, he had chosen the chilly dungeons as his home, and he was rarely seen out of them.

Severus ignored her. She knew that he knew she was there, but he didn't acknowledge her presence in any way. But he calls me 'childish'… She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"I wanted to apologise for overreacting," she started, although she was still a bit miffed that he had bought all these dresses behind her back. But of course she wasn't going to tell him that. "I still have to get used to the idea that we are now married."

Severus looked up at this, and for the first time he registered that she was wearing one of the new dresses. He stood up and walked over to the other side of the table, pulling out the chair for his wife.

"You look… nice," he said finally, and Hermione couldn't shake off the feeling that he had originally intended to say something else. Only she didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

"The dresses are really pretty," Hermione replied, hoping she wasn't blushing.

For the rest of the meal they were silent, both not wanting to jeopardise the newly formed peace with one off-hand comment or a stupid remark.

vvvvvvvv

But now, now Severus wanted her to… she couldn't even think it. It was just... unthinkable.

She wasn't ready. Not now, and not in a million years. Of course she knew they'd have to, eventually, but every single particle in her body was screaming not now!

'I can't!'

'Hermione.' Severus' voice was steady, but Hermione could hear that dangerous impatient streak of his, the almost exasperated tone he only used in the classroom when he was close to making Neville wet himself.

She bit her lip. 'Do I really have to? I mean, isn't it enough if you just…' She trailed off as she caught his gaze. He didn't look happy.

vvvvvvvv

Severus sighed. 'I know this isn't easy, for either of us, and I could think of thousands of things I'd rather do, but it's part of being married, I'm afraid. We can't turn our back on that part of life.'

Hermione's shoulders sagged, and she slowly nodded. 'I know. And it's not that I don't want to per se, but… it's so soon.'

He held out his hand, and her eyes widened.

'Now?!'

He nodded. 'The sooner we do it, the sooner it's over. It's been two days already.' He cringed inwardly as he spoke the words. He really didn't want to do it, but if he showed his fear now, Hermione would never agree and they'd never get it over.

Hermione took a deep breath before she allowed him to grasp her hand. 'Just lie back… and think of Switzerland,' she murmured. 1

Confused, he turned his head towards her. 'Pardon?'

'Oh, nothing. Let's do it.'

He nodded, and before either of them could think of another excuse to back out, he tightened his grip on her hand, pulled her closer and Apparated them to his parents' estate in North England.

vvvvvvvv

'This is it?' She couldn't see much more than a lot of trees and a dark shadow behind them that she supposed to be the house.

'Yes,' Severus replied curtly, reluctantly starting towards the shadow.

'This is where you grew up?'

'Yes.'

Hermione rolled her eyes at his annoyed tone, knowing that he wouldn't see her. Severus was looking straight ahead, and for the first time ever she didn't have to remind him to walk a bit slower so that she didn't have to almost run to catch up with him. He was practically slouching.

'You wanted me to come, so be nice and entertain me,' she said, only half joking. She really hadn't wanted to come. Neither had he, she suspected. Not that he'd tell her – in two days time she'd learned almost nothing about the man she was married to. And she had to pretend to know him, so that was still something of a problem.

Severus sighed again, the second time that hour, and pointed to a nearby tree. 'I fell out of that tree when I was five. I broke my leg and both my arms. My brother said I flew like a cow.'

Hermione couldn't help it – she giggled. 'You climbed trees?'

Severus raised an eyebrow and turned to face her. 'Of course I did. What's so funny?'

Hermione shook her head. 'Nothing, really. It's just surprising. I always pictured you with your head over a cauldron all the time, even as a small child.'

Severus pressed his lips together, and then he actually laughed. 'Well, I only was climbing that tree because it was a new moon and I wanted to get some mistletoe.'

Hermione grinned. 'Did you sneak out of the house to do that, and when your mum discovered you with your injuries, she was furious?'

Severus nodded. 'She hexed me so that the mediwitch needed half the night to heal the bones.'

'Tell me more.'

'Hmm,' said Severus pensively, slowly turning to look at the surroundings. Then he pointed to another tree. 'My sister and I once told my brother that trees were alive, but he didn't believe us. We stole my father's wand and made the tree look vaguely human, look, you can still see it.'

Severus grabbed her arm and pulled her closer so that she could look at the tree from his vantage point. Indeed, the tree had an oddly shaped stem that was shadowed in the right placed to look like two close together standing legs, and there were two low branches, resembling arms.

'We brought him here, and told him this was the king of all trees. Then I activated a recording charm and "the tree" started giving orders.' Severus grinned. 'We made him do the most ridiculous things. It took him years to find out that we were behind it.'

Hermione laughed. 'Sounds like fun.' She sighed. 'I don't have any siblings. My mum was pregnant with a girl when I was four, and we were all very excited about the new baby, but then something went wrong. The baby was stillborn.'

'I… I'm sorry,' Severus said quietly.

Hermione smiled thankfully. 'I know it's probably stupid to mourn someone who didn't even have the chance to start living, but--'

'No, Hermione! Mourning is never stupid. That child was there, it grew and developed, and I'm sure your mother and father loved it wholly. The loss probably still hurts them. It's important to let go, yes, but that doesn't mean to forget. Mourn for the sister you didn't have.'

He sounded so serious, so inviting, that Hermione impulsively and took advantage of the fact that they were standing fairly close. She simply reached out and hugged her husband, burying her face in his coat. 'It's just that I see my mum every year around the time the baby died, and she looks so sad. I don't ever want to be that sad.'

Her heart missed a beat when Severus put his arms around her and hugged her back.

vvvvvvvv

'I don't ever want to be that sad,' Hermione murmured against his chest, and he couldn't help closing his eyes for a moment. And you'll never be, he promised her in his thoughts.

Carefully, he raised his arms and encircled Hermione's small body. He didn't quite trust himself – he might say something stupid, something to make her realise how much he wanted her.

Hermione sniffed, wiping her face with one hand. She didn't make a move to pull away, so Severus stayed where he was, with his arms around her.

'Now I've gone and ruined our visit,' Hermione said, getting back the control over her emotions.

He raised an eyebrow. 'I was under the impression that this visit was damned from the start, with two of us not wanting to go.'

Hermione smiled at that. 'There you might be right.'

They were silent for a moment, and just as Severus wanted to start telling another story about the pond behind the house and the boat of tree leaves that didn't even hold up magically, there was a sound behind them -- the snapping of a twig under heavy feet.

They jumped apart, both of them drawing their wands. Severus was aware that a real attacker would have had no problems killing them those last ten minutes, and he mentally kicked himself for letting his guard down, even on his parents' protected grounds.

'Severus, old boy! Still throwing hexes first and asking questions later, I see. And look who you've brought us today. Friend of yours?'

For a moment, he could only stare. Then Hermione nudged him inconspicuously in the side, and he hastily put away his wand and straightened his coat.

'Nestor,' he nodded.

Hermione nudged him again, this time a bit more obvious.

'Don't you want to introduce us?' his brother finally asked, when he still didn't react. Nestor looked so much like their father, and Severus was too stunned to react, his memory bringing back all the reasons why he'd left home gladly when the time came to go to Hogwarts.

'Of course,' Severus said, resigned. 'Nestor, my oldest brother,' he said to Hermione.

Nestor held out his hand, and Hermione shook it.

He put his hand on her back, and said, 'And this is Hermione. My wife.'

vvvvvvvv

Hermione felt Severus' hand on her back, and although she knew he did it only for his brothers sake, the possessive gesture didn't feel wrong.

Nestor Snape (she'd made a note to ask Severus about the name later, or to look it up in her big encyclopaedia) looked very much like his younger brother, but still very different. His hair was just as black, but it was shimmering gently. It was much longer, reaching up to the middle of Nestor's back when it was pulled into a ponytail as it was now. His eyes were a shade lighter than Severus', not quite as deep, although she was sure he would manage to scowl just as well.

Hermione could see how his eyes widened a little bit at the word "wife", but Nestor had his reaction under control. After the blink of an eye she couldn't detect the faintest bit of surprise any more; all emotions had just left his face. Hermione thought that if all Snapes could put on this blank mask, then she'd be the only one smiling by the time they had tea.

'Welcome to the family,' Nestor said, expressionless.

Severus' arm slipped around her shoulders, and she managed a halfway sincere smile. She didn't want to admit it, but she was a bit afraid of his family's reaction.

'Let's go inside,' Nestor finally said, leading the way.

Severus slowed down once again to whisper in her ear, 'Just relax.'

She could have sworn that his lips brushed her temple in the tiniest of kisses.

vvvvvvvv

The house itself was just like Severus remembered it. He couldn't imagine that it would ever change. It wasn't a fancy manor house like the Malfoys', but it wasn't small, either. In fact, it was several smaller buildings, grouped around one bigger house, all interlinked through corridors and – invisible at first – tunnels.

'Mother is waiting in the blue room. She was upset because you obviously weren't coming, but then the Apparition alarm went off.' Nestor grinned. 'Took you quite long to walk up to the house… I wonder why,' he said, almost leering at them.

Severus only stared at his brother, not deigning that with a response.

They stepped up to the front door, and it opened from the inside. Severus knew that it would most likely be one of the house-elves opening up but, to his surprise, it was his mother herself.

'Nestor, I see you found Severus. And…?' She looked at Hermione, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

'Mother, may I introduce your to Severus' wife, Hermione,' Nestor said, clearly enjoying his role despite Severus' murderous glare.

'Wife?'

'Yes, ma'am,' Hermione said, raising her chin a little.

Severus didn't think the gesture was a conscious one, but he felt a spark of pride nonetheless. She was holding up remarkably well for someone who had just met the imperious Madam Snape.

His mother was tall. Not as tall as he or his brother, but taller than Hermione. She wasn't beautiful, or even attractive -- he thought that probably no one in the Snape family could even be called pretty -- but her presence never went unnoticed.

'Well, then let's go inside, and you can introduce your bride to the rest of the family.' She turned on her heel and went back inside, followed by Nestor.

Hermione playfully hit him in the side, glaring. 'The rest of the family? I thought it was just going to be your parents!'

Severus briefly wondered why he was allowing such behaviour in a student, but he had to admit to himself that he didn't see Hermione as a student any more. How could he? He was married to her, and quite possibly in love with her.

'Today is October 1st. I only remembered when we met Nestor,' he said, almost apologetically. 'The whole family meets annually on October 1st – you can expect all my siblings, plus their spouses and offspring. Maybe the odd aunt or weird cousin will be there, too.' He sighed again. 'We shouldn't have come.'

'Well, we can't stand around outside the whole day. Into the lion's den.' She frowned. 'Or serpent's lair.'

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Hermione's head was spinning. She had met so many people in the last two hours that she was afraid she'd only be able to recall the most important names. Who would've thought that the Snape family was so extensive?

'All right?'

Hermione looked up, a little startled when she realised that someone was talking to her, but relaxed as she recognised Severus. 'There are so many of them,' she said, sighing. 'My head hurts.'

Severus chuckled. 'Well, try living with some of them…'

She gave him a sympathetic smile as he sat down next to her. Severus looked tired, and she could relate to that. She felt as if she could sleep for hours. Most of the Snapes were quite demanding. She remembered the youngest daughter of Severus' sister and her insistence to know all about Muggles.

'But what is a dentist?' the girl had asked again and again.

'I told you, Phyllia, it is a Muggle doctor who specialises in dental care. They heal teeth!' Hermione had huffed and tried to get away from the girl by leaving the room, but the girl had followed.

'Okay, but why does a dentist care for teeth?'

At this point, Hermione had fled to this rather secluded spot in the corner, where she could hide behind the curtains if need be.

'My mother asked us to spend the night,' Severus said after a few minutes of silence. 'She says she'd like the chance to talk to us in private once everyone else is gone by noon tomorrow.'

Hermione nodded, trying to hide a yawn. 'I don't mind as long as the bed is warm and comfy.'

Severus grimaced. 'We have my old room. Come on, I think it's safe for us to retire now.'

He stood up and pulled Hermione with him. She was almost asleep on her feet now, so she didn't even register the various looks they got as they left the family in the main house and left for one of the side buildings.

Severus old room was small and very Spartan. Hermione thought that it looked almost deserted.

'I haven't been here since my teenage days,' Severus said quietly. He had stopped in the doorway and was now staring at his old room. 'I've always returned to Hogwarts after family events.'

'It's strange being back, eh? I always need a few days to get used to my old room at my parents' house,' Hermione said quietly, letting her gaze travel over the room.

Severus didn't reply, just stepped into the room and closed the door.

Hermione turned and looked at the bed. It was small, a single bed, and she swallowed hard.

'I think I can transfigure it into something bigger,' Severus said from behind her. 'You can go to the bathroom first. It's down the hallway, last door on the left.'

Hermione nodded and left for the bathroom. She was a little apprehensive. They hadn't slept in the same bed before -- Severus had slept on the sofa in their hotel room -- and she wasn't sure what to think of that.

Looking at herself in the mirror now, she realised she didn't have her nightclothes with her. Waving her wand, she transfigured her robes into a simple white nightgown with long sleeves.

'Hermione!'

Hermione flinched, and turned around. 'Anita,' she nodded. Anita was Phyllia's mother, and at least as annoying.

'Don't tell me you'll be wearing that!' she exclaimed, pointing to Hermione's newly transfigured nightgown.

'What?' Hermione looked down. The nightgown was perfect. Not too open, and definitely not indecent. 'What's wrong with it?'

Anita rolled her eyes. 'You're practically on your honeymoon and wear something even my grandma wouldn't touch until she hit the magical hundred!'

'I don't know what you mean.' Of course Hermione knew where Anita's problem lay, but she had intended for the nightgown to be unappealing.

'Piffle! Severus probably hadn't had any in years, but even his libido is going to be squashed by that thing!' Anita waved her wand, and seconds later, the white nightgown had several see-through elements woven into the fabric, which had been transformed to silk instead of cotton. The sleeves were flowing and transparent, as was a large part of the back of the gown. Hermione was showing a lot more cleavage than she had wanted.

'Now you look good!'

'But--' Hermione's protest was cut off by Anita's sly grin.

'Don't forget your silencing charms, dear; I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night because someone couldn't control their passion…' She wagged her eyebrows and disappeared into one of the other rooms.

Sighing, Hermione tried to undo Anita's changed, but found that she couldn't. 'What the… Oh, those sneaky Slytherins!' Apparently, Anita had made her changes permanent. She had no other chance than to wear this flimsy (?) gown, or wear nothing at all (not an option, she told herself dryly).

'Is that you, Hermione?' Severus had his back to the door, finishing the transformation of the bed. It was bigger now, about twice the size it had been when she'd left. Unfortunately, the room was so small that there was not much room for anything else now that the bed was enlarged.

Severus turned around. 'Did you find the--' He broke off when he saw her standing in the doorway.

Fidgeting self-consciously, Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest. 'I met your sister Anita outside. She didn't like my nightgown, so she changed it to this.'

vvvvvvvv

He was going to kill Anita. Or thank her. Or both.

'I… You look…' He couldn't find any words. She looked stunning to his eyes. Her hair was as unruly as ever, but it couldn't hide the beauty of her. The flowing material of the nightgown was hugging her figure, and although she was a bit on the thin side, he couldn't imagine a more beautiful wife.

With a start he realised he was staring at her, so he quickly averted his eyes. He had to get out of this room, or he'd just grab her and --

'I'll be in the bathroom.' He practically fled the room.

vvvvvvvv

Hermione was confused. She out her wand on the nightstand and thought about her husband's strange behaviour.

First Severus stared at her with this strange look on his face, then he almost ran out of the room. I'll never understand that man, she thought, shaking her head. She lifted the covers and got into the bed, sliding up until she was lying next to the wall.

She was nervous, although she didn't want to admit it. What did she have to be nervous about anyway? Sharing a bed with her husband?

She laughed at that thought, but it sounded hollow even in her own ears, so she snapped her mouth shut. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

Hermione was still staring at the ceiling when Severus returned a few minutes later. A short glance from underneath her eyelashes confirmed that even his nightclothes were black. As if he'd ever wear something of a different colour!

Severus waved his wand to extinguish all the lights, and Hermione could hear him putting his wand beside hers. Then his side of the bed dipped as he got in.

Hermione didn't move, and neither did Severus. The silence that followed was uncomfortable, and she felt more than childish, lying there, not moving out of fear of touching her husband. Consciously, Hermione relaxed her muscles and turned to her side, making herself comfortable.

'Goodnight,' she said, once she'd found the best position to sleep in. Tucking her hand underneath her cheek, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

'Goodnight,' came Severus' hesitant reply after a few moments of silence, and Hermione couldn't help but think that he had been holding his breath all the time.

Minutes later, exhaustion won over, and Hermione fell into a deep sleep.

End of Chapter Six

1 Avid fanfiction readers might have noticed the slight change to the "lie back and think of England" phrase. Yes, that was a homage to Hayseed's fic with the title "Just lie back and think of Switzerland", which is truly hilarious and should be read by all of you. Shoo!

Also, I thought it would be appropriate to have someone called "Nestor" welcome Severus and Hermione in the Snapes' home, because:

NESTOR m Greek Mythology

"homecoming" (Greek). In Homer's 'Iliad' this was the name of the king of Pylos, famous for his great wisdom and longevity. Info taken from

And finally: I'm am so sorry about the long wait! I spent three weeks in hospital in November, and just couldn't get around to it. (grumblesI even failed NaNoWriMo because of that!) I now have three weeks of catching up to do for university, and I have no idea when chapter seven will be out. However, I will certainly NOT abandon the story.

sera

PS: I tried another symbol for scene breaks, seeing as the old one just disappears here on fanfictionnet. However, that didn't workeither, so not it's vvvvvvvvv.I hope this time, they'll stay where they are supposed to be and don't muck up the story. I'll go back and re-upload the other chapters to make them more readable.