The legacy of the Diary

Legacy of the diary
By Luciusfan

Chapter 10 –Strawberries & Champagne

Oh Gods! It was Severus – he had done this? Hermione’s stomach lurched and she instantly felt dizzy and disorientated. What was going on? Where wasius?ius? Was he here too?

Severus came over to her and sensing her confusion, took her elbow and guided her to the chaise. She sat down, staring blankly ahead.

“Champagne?” he held out a glass to her. She recovered her senses and felt a pang of pity go to her heart. Had she underestimated Severus? She lifted her head to look at him.

“Champagne?” He still held the glass, fighting against his natural instincts and remaining calm and patient. He wouldn’t win her over tonight with sarcasm and cutting remarks.

“Oh. No I’d better not, last time I…” She thought back to her last encounter in this room and the effect of the scotch, but broke off, blushing as she realised it would be better for Severus not to know the details of her last visit. She changed tack. Looking at Severus squarely she delved for answers.

“So you sent the note, knowing I couldn’t refuse to attend an interview with Lu…er…Malfoy. And you set all of this up?”

Severus smiled awkwardly. “Er…something like that, yes. Strawbe”
”

This time he offered her the silver bowl. Her favourite fruit. A good guess or had he done some research? She took a strawberry by the stalk and bit into it. It was incredibly juicy and she giggled with nervous embarrassment as juice ran down her chin. Severus put a finger up to her chin to stop the juice from dripping onto her dress. He ran the side of his finger up her chin, collecting the juice. Her giggling stopped as he reached her lips. She was staring intently at his face. He paused, finger at her lips, gazing back into her eyes. Gods, she was beautiful.

He pulled his finger away, licking off the strawberry juice and masking his distaste. Then he reached forward and chastely kissed the solemn lips. She didn’t kiss back, but had frozen like an alabaster statue. He pulled away, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, Hermione. I’m sorry for that and sorry for the way I acted the other day. It was unforgivable.” He looked down, his black hair hanging at each side of his face; Hermione’s face softened and she placed a hand on his knee. “Continue, please.”

“Well, it was just Lucius’ presence – it made me nervous about our relationship, I was worried you might get into trouble.” An involuntary twitch of his cheek and his reluctance to tear his gaze away from the floor cast doubt into Hermione’s mind. Her anger rose.

“You’re lying. You don’t care about me.” She withdrew her hand. This time it was Severus whose anger rose and he looked at her. “You’re wrong!” I care about you a great deal. Nothing has changed.” He reached to reclaim her hand. Holding it in both of his.

“A lot has changed, Severus.” She looked at him sadly.

What did she mean by that? His voice and his eyes pleaded. “Can’t we just go bto wto what we had?”

“I don’t know.” Now it was Hermione who looked down. Deep inside she could feel her love for Severus like a child tugging at her sleeve. But she knew how much greater her passion for Lucius had felt. She knew that deep down, when she had arrived in the room tonight, she had wanted Lucius to appear through that doorway and throw her, struggling and objecting, onto the bed. But it was madness to long for Lucius. He had played with her and discarded her. He was like a spoilt child with a cheap toy. He didn’t love her, and nobody would approve of any relationship she could ever have with him. Ok, but what about her plans to find someone her own age? No. She had dated quidditch players, they were so self absorbed. She liked the experience and stability of older men. Given her choices, the sensible thing to do would be to fan the tiny flame that flickered inside her for Severus. Finally she spoke. “Ok, but let’s take things slowly.”

Severus looked at her, relief evident on her face. He handed her the glass of champagne again and this time she took it. They touched glasses together and the musical ‘ting’ of crystal was almost like sealing a bargain. She smiled and they both took a sip from their glasses, feeling the bubbles dance around their mouths.

Severus placed his glass back on the table and turned towards Hermione, who rose, still holding her glass and headed off to explore the room.

“Thank you. It’s beautiful.” She trailed her fingers down the black muslin hangings then over the velvet covered bed, all the time gazing in wonder at the candles.

Severus felt a little guilty. None of this had been him. But it was wrong of Lucius to try to seduce her – wasn’t it? This thought assuaged his guilt a little and he crossed the room to join her.

Hermione unclasped her cloak and threw it across the chair which earlier that evening had held Lucius Malfoy’s robes. Severus meanwhile unfastened the row of buttons on his long waistcoat, which he threw over the witch’s robes. He stood in black chemise and trousers, facing Hermione in her crushed velvet gown. “You look beautiful, you know.” He spoke nervously.
“Thank you.” She mumbled, sitting her champagne down next to a nearby candle.

He moved over to her, placing his hands round her waist. She did not pull away but instead deliberately reached her hands round the back of his neck. Their heads came together as they kissed each other softly and delicately on the lips. Their kisses became gradually more intense as Severus ran his hands across the plush fabric of Hermione’s dress, feeling her breasts heave and push into him. Suddenly her hands came down to his shoulders and she pushed him back, breaking off the kiss.

Severus looked at her. What had he done? Was she having second thoughts about this? She gazed speechlessly at him for a moment – as if deciding on something then she reached down and pulled her dress up and over her head decisively, revealing demure white lace against her creamy flesh.

Severus responded with a slightrk trk then kicked his boots off while simultaneously pulling his chemise over his head. Garments cast to the floor they headed over to the seductive bed, Severus’ arousal at the suddenness of the situation becoming gradually evident.

Hermione climbed up onto the bed, reaching a hand out for Severus. As he climbed up beside her she lay back but quickly rose again as she felt something cold and hard pressing into the small of her back. She reached a hand around behind her to retrieve the offending article.

Curious. A small, spherical, silver topped bottle of beautifully cut crystal. Severus removed his trousers and threw them from the bed as Hermione removed the stopper from the bottle. She lifted the bottle to her nose. The scent was intoxicating. Was it musk? Sandalwood? Patchouli? She couldn’t quite work out the blend but it was certainly sensuous and exciting.

“What is it?” the question was out of Severus’ mouth before he thought about it.

“I assumed it was yours.” Hermione cast him a puzzled glance. “Maybe it was conjured by the room.” She shrugged. “I think it’s massage oil – it smells fantastic.”

Massage oil? Good idea Lucius, an excellent way to begin gently.

Hermione handed Severus the bottle and rolled over onto her front, feeling the black velvet, cool and soft against her skin.