Yuletide Potions XXIV
“I’d like that very much,” she said. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this.” A deep blush coloured her face, ears, and neck, as if she couldn’t believe that she was admitting those words out loud.
“Oh, I think that I do,” he said with a smirk.
She managed to blush even deeper, if that was possible.
Hermione pulled her wand from her sleeve and with a quick Lumos, the bedroom was bathed in candlelight, causing her hair to glow like a coppery halo. Suddenly nervous, she chewed on her bottom lip.
“Come here, then,” she whispered. “Please.”
~~~
Ten minutes later found them in the bed, with shoes, stockings, and Hermione’s jumper scattered on the floor. Somehow, Severus had ended up on his back, shirt mostly off, with Hermione straddling him. She raised her brown eyes from his bare torso, cocked her brow appreciatively and placed a soft kiss at each corner of his mouth and then breathed a soft, sighing kiss on each eyelid.
Severus found himself groaning with appreciation as she leaned over him. In the back of his mind, he heard a voice - which oddly enough sounded like Minerva, truth be told - whispering “finally…”
~~~
It was everything a first time could and should be.
Magical.
Shy.
Passionate.
Bloody awkward. They bumped noses. Hermione started giggling at one point when her hair became wrapped up in the buttons on his shirt. Severus belatedly realized that he had somehow managed to put on the boxers Minerva had given him last Christmas that said “Ask me about my crystal balls”.
Completely perfect for all parties involved.
Some time later, as they lay together, she raised up on her side and smiled. A brilliant, open smile unlike any he had seen before.
Everything was going to be fine.
~~~
Some time even later, after that fair exchange of … favours had taken place, and they had settled on the fact that no matter how warm it was in the bedroom, Hermione was likely to have cold feet and Severus really wanted, well, actually needed to sleep on the right side of the bed - “just a habit you know”- they both fell asleep.
But not before they had settled the fact that Ronald Weasley was a moron. Hermione Granger was by no means frigid. Other than her feet. And there was really nothing to be done about that anyway.
~~~
“Merry Christmas, Severus.”
“Merry Christmas, Hermione.”
“You’re not sorry we did this, are you, Severus?” She was turned away from him, reaching into the table near the bed and rummaging for something.
“Sorry?” Not sorry. Never sorry.
“Yes, sorry. Regretful.” There she was, turned back to him, biting her lip and looking down. She wasn’t going to have a lower lip left.
“Are you talking about the first time?” He loved to see her blush.
“Or the second time?” he said. “Or maybe you’re referring to our time showering?”
She batted him with a small box. “Very nice,” she huffed.
~~~
“Here,” she said, pushing the box towards him. “I didn’t have time to shop for you. Merry Christmas.”
“What is this?” he asked.
“Let me explain before you open it, please,” she said, hand resting on his forearm. “If you’re determined to do this - to come out and declare that you are alive - in front of all of wizarding Britain, you’re going to have to face a lot of people.”
He nodded cautiously.
“And regardless of what your publishers have urged, you aren’t going public for them.”
“No, I’m not,” he answered slowly. “It’s for me. For you. For us.”
~~~
“Well, open the box,” she pointed towards the dusty cloth box he held.
Opening it, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and then his unfathomable eyes whipped up to meet hers. “Your Order of Merlin? I can’t --”
“You certainly can,” she said as she removed the medal, and placed it in his hand. She closed his fingers around it, and wrapped her hand around his. “Mainly, I want you to have something that makes you think of me when people start being bastards. Because some will be. Secondly --”
He started to speak, but she silenced him with a kiss.
~~~
When they pulled apart, he looked at her in wonder. “What else?”
Dazed, it took her a moment to recall their conversation. “What else? Oh, yes. Secondly, you deserve it.” She reached up to touch his neck, where the jagged scars remained.
“So do you, though,” he said, fingers lightly brushing over her clavicle at the shiny white remnants of her own encounter with evil.
“Well, really it’s all nonsense, you know. Neither of us requires a silly piece of metal to remind us of what we did in war.” She touched his chest. “We know it here.”
~~~
Breaking the moment, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’ll take it, or I’ll do very, very bad things to you.” She nuzzled his ear with her breath.
He took one more look at the piece of bronze. The cold piece of metal that represented all that he had done with his life for twenty-odd years. All the honor, respect, and achievement that he had dreamt about.
Then he set it aside.
And smiled. As brightly as Severus Snape was capable of smiling, anyway. “Is that supposed to be my incentive to take the damn thing, or not to?”
~~~
Afterwards, back in her room, Minerva shook her head in disbelief. Todays Boxing Day meal had been unlike any in memory.
Apologies were given on both sides - hers for the matchmaking, though she secretly thought that it would have taken the couple another five years if she hadn’t forced Severus into that Santa suit and Hermione onto Santa’s lap - and on Hermione’s part for all Minerva’s work whilst they were in Australia.
And Severus - well, Severus glared at the very idea that he should apologize to anyone.
And then he had kissed Minerva on the cheek and whispered, “Thank you.”
~The End~