Surprisingly, She Didn\'t

Status: Work in Progress

Rating: NC-17 for later chapters

Warnings: Adult situations, some language, sexual situations"¦list may change as story progresses.

Summary: Finding her there had been a surprise, but nothing compared to what happened when she woke.

Disclaimer: All characters/situations/places/events that you recognize belong to JK Rowling and the rest of the legal owners of everything Harry Potter. I make no money off of the writing of this fic, and intend no copyright infringement. I'm only having a little fun. And I would definitely take those two Slytherins home for tea"¦

Author\'s Note: This chapter is entirely unbeta-ed. Any and all mistakes are mine!

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Hermione was livid, absolutely and completely on fire in her anger. She strode out the door and down the hallway, chin out and eyes unfocused, and ran full contact into something hard, and warm, and smelling of spices and man.

\'Severus,\' she thought, as she felt large hands wrap themselves around her upper arms, one making full contact with the bared skin of the shoulder that seemed to perpetually repel the fabric of Severus\' nightshirt. She shivered at the rough, warm feeling of his palms on her soft flesh, his fingers lightly brushing the sensitive skin of her ribcage. She took a deep breath in through her nose, tilted her head back, and opened her eyes.

Black eyes, deep and warm with concern, looked out at her from a face that was harsh with its seriousness.

\"What was that about, Hermione. Has Draco done something to you?\" His voice was smooth and soft, tickling her ears. He\'d obviously heard at least a portion of it. \"Tell me,\" he insisted, his voice so soft she almost didn\'t catch it.

\"It\'s fine, Severus,\" her voice trembled slightly as she tried to bring her mind back to the matter at hand, and ignore the overwhelming feelings that were coming from the small circles Severus was rubbing with his thumbs on the delicate skin under her arms. \"We\'ve just had a disagreement.\"

\"Has he said something to you? Would you like me to talk to him? Sometimes Draco can overstep those bounds that are typically deemed suitable by polite society.\" He tipped his head to the side, one eyebrow raised in question, his grip tightening slightly on her arms and his thumbs almost, but not quite, halting their teasing movements.

\"No, please, Severus. I believe we have come to an understanding. I don\'t need your assistance, but thank you.\" She suddenly realized that his hands had lingered longer than was really necessary for either helping her regain balance or for comforting her, and she became self-conscious of the fact that she had been enjoying this contact. Quickly, she took a step back, his hands falling gracefully to his sides.

\"Miss...Hermione, please.\" Snape gathered his wits quickly. She had not moved from his touch right away. Indeed, she hadn\'t seemed to even be merely accepting it. Instead, she had only suddenly had a look of nervousness right before she\'d slipped from his grasp. His next move needed to be brilliant. \"I know I have given you very little reason to trust me, up till now. But please, there must be something I can do?\" He kept his voice low and soft, and let her see that he was fingering the cloth at the wrist on his left arm. Hopefully, she would interpret it as an unconscious motion spawned by his gratefulness for her gentleness and understanding earlier.

He watched as her eyes flitted down to his hands, and back to his face. Her posture softened, her eyes warmed, and she nodded slightly.

\"Actually,\" she said softly, \"I would like to take a walk through the woods surrounding this cottage, attempt to get my bearings. I would be pleased if you would guide me.\" She smiled at him then.

\'Brilliant,\' he mentally congratulated himself.

\"Of course, Hermione, it would be my pleasure. If you would care to get cleaned up and dressed, I have a few things I need to speak to Draco about. Then we can be on our way.\" He smiled at her then, and desperately hoped he was looking charming. Smiles were not one of his fortes, especially if they were devoid of sarcasm or bitter humor.

She nodded, and returned his smile.

\"Half an hour, then,\" he said, and on impulse, reached out to stroke her cheek. He watched her eyes flicker closed for a few moments, her head lean into the contact, and then she seemed to become aware of her actions and smiled shyly at him before brushing past him, pulling her small bag of clothing off the table in the living room, and scurrying into the bathroom.

He turned to the living room himself, to make out a list for Draco, when Hermione poked her head out the door. He was startled for a moment, her shoulders were bare and she seemed to be wrapped in a towel.

\"Umm...oh, Severus? Could you...I mean, would it be possible...\" her voice trailed off and she bit at her lip, her eyes searching the grains of the wood in the flooring for the words she needed.

\"Hermione?\" Snape prompted, and she looked back up at him quickly.

\"A toothbrush -- I need a toothbrush.\" She shrugged her shoulders and glanced away from him.

He was surprised, though he hadn\'t thought to request Draco get one for her, he would have eventually. It was her adamance that took him off guard.

\"Of course,\" he replied silkily. \"I was just going to make a list of items for Draco to retrieve for you. I can certainly add that to the list.\"

\"Thanks.\" She smiled at him gently in response, then shut the door as she disappeared behind it again.

Severus shook his head as he moved toward the sitting room. A toothbrush, indeed.

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A toothbrush. She just had to catch a glimpse of him one more time, and she used a toothbrush as her reason to do so. Though she did need one, she felt her heavy insistence to request one had more to do with the person she was requesting it from than the actual need to brush her teeth right away.

That feeling that had come over her in the hallway as his fingers lingered on her arms had been intense, overpowering, and unfamiliar. She\'d gotten a sense, so far, about what was familiar, what she had known or felt or smelt or tasted before she\'d been born yesterday evening. And the feelings that had coursed through her body as Severus had gently caressed her had definitely not been familiar. The tingles had been electric on the skin where his fingers made contact, and had been reflected in her lower belly and her breasts, a warmth spreading quickly between her legs. Her body had wanted nothing more than for her to close her eyes and lean toward him, and she had fought that desire tooth and nail.

This would never do, she told herself as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was supposed to be wary, cautious in her interactions with him. She couldn\'t be falling for him, she couldn\'t be distracted by these feelings of attraction. So what was with this rush of the unfamiliar? She was in her twenties. Surely she\'d had relations with men before. Surely she had been intimate in some form.

Enough. She needed to get a handle on this. She quickly and roughly rubbed at her face with a moist washcloth, then brushed her hair and tied it back once again with her bit of string. Following this, she sorted through the clothing that the prat had provided her and decided upon the same outfit she had worn briefly the night before while talking with Severus.

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When Hermione found Severus in the living room twenty minutes later, he was standing at the window, his back to her. She took a moment to look at him. The day was colored with spring sunshine, and his black hair was shiny in the light. His hair was actually so black, it had a slight sheen of deepest blue only barely visible when the light hit it. His body was a silhouette in the window, his lean form again catching her interest. She looked a moment longer, then cleared her throat to gain his attention.

Severus started, then turned. He had been deep in thought. After Miss Granger had gone into the washroom to clean up, he had compiled a list of things needed and then gone to find Draco. The boy was perturbed that he would have to leave the house before getting his requisite preening time the bathroom, but Severus thought it best to get him out of the house before Hermione finished her ablutions.

\"Here,\" he said softly, holding up a worn sport coat, \"the day is chilly, though the sun is shining, and I thought you might have need of this until Draco returns with a jacket for you.\" He spread it out, ready to assist her in putting it on.

She came to him and turned her back, slipping her arms into the sleeves as she did so. She lifted her hands to pull her hair from under the jacket, but Severus beat her to it. He slid his hands up her shoulders to her neck, laying his fingers gently on the delicate skin under her ears, and then wrapped his thumbs under and turned his hands to grasp her hair and tug it gently out of the fabric, finally smoothing it back from her forehead and down to the middle of her back. As he did so, he inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the hand-made herbal soap he had left in the medicine cabinet, the tang of the peppermint mouthwash, and something warm and sweet, something intrinsic to Hermione. His body urged him to lean forward and down, to bury his nose in her neck and take another whiff, but he fought that urge and won his control back.

Hermione, meanwhile, had closed her eyes at his attentions, first her face and then lower warming with his touch. Her skin now tingled everywhere his fingers had made contact, and she mentally shook herself, clearing her throat several times in an attempt to bring herself back to what was happening outside her body, rather than giving into the delight of what was occurring inside.

She took a step forward and then turned to face him.

\"Thank you,\" she said, smiling a little at him.

\"It\'s my pleasure,\" he purred, then continued, \"I have sent Draco to pick up a number of things you may need, plus some supplies I didn\'t think of yesterday. He is already gone, and shouldn\'t return for several hours.\"

He watched as her body relaxed even more, and her face expressed obvious relief at not having to deal with him again this morning.

\"I thought, if you were interested, I would show you the garden, the herbs, vegetables, and flowers I have cultivated, and then take you down some of the wooded paths beyond to where I harvest those things that grow wild here. Is that something you would like?\"

\"That sounds wonderful! Would it also be possible to see the beach, to see where you found me? It may spark some memory if I saw it before I became unconscious.\"

Severus was wary of taking her down there, wary of letting her regain her purpose before he had gained her trust, but he couldn\'t allow her to see his hesitation.

\"Of course,\" he replied smoothly, \"If we have enough time, I would be happy to take you down there.\"

She smiled at him again and he led her to the door and out into the mid-morning sunshine.