The First Summer and Summer Series

There began a time of extreme frustration for Hermione. All she wanted to do was to take notes and to learn but her attention was constantly being drawn into the silent battle between Ron and Severus. Ron was digger number 12 and scarcely did a morning pass that the cataloguing table (Severus) didn’t manage to send at least one complaint down to “Digger 12”. To be fair, Digger 12 was doing his best to make sure that the cataloguing table was supplied with carelessly broken artifacts, occasional sweet wrappers and plenty of dust. Uncle William, already annoyed with Ron’s lax ways, loudly complained about his incompetence.

“Look at this caldron!” Uncle William fumed. “2000 years in the ground and cracked by the careless pick axe swing of that ginger haired monkey! You say he was once your student Snape?”

Severus grinned evilly, “If you wanted to call him a ‘student’. Barely squeaked through my potions class.”

Hermione, busily sifting through the smaller items, caught his eye. The evil grin disappeared and he had the grace to look embarrassed. But two minutes later there would be another call.

“Digger 12!” Severus boomed, “Kindly stop sending me your Fizzing Whizbee wrappers with the artifact trays.”

Ron would mutter darkly and Hermione would see him add an extra coating of dust and spit onto a newly excavated amphora and place it in the “ready to be cataloged” tray.

The other difficulty was when she tried to talk or joke with her friends. She and Harry would just get a really interesting conversation going and she’d feel a pair of eyes burning into her. Severus really hated her talking to the Gryffindors. He would never try to stop it, but somehow, his disapproval always seemed to put an end to it. While her friends went off in the afternoons to swim and enjoy the beach, Severus and Hermione had fallen into the habit of wandering into the bar with Uncle William and meeting the visiting professors that came to see the excavations.

Hermione actually enjoyed talking with the professors. Some she already knew from her own university and some were visitors from other countries. All were brilliant and she was able to learn just from listening. Best of all, they accepted her into their circle as an equal because of her relationship with Severus. It was a wonderful networking tool. And she did get a happy thrill when he presented her to them as ‘my partner, Hermione’. But she couldn’t help being just a little envious as she watched Neville, Harry and Ron take beer and sandwiches down to the shore, laughing and joking as they went.

Severus wasn’t blind. He watched Hermione look wistfully after her friends each afternoon. But something inside wouldn’t let him suggest she go and join them. And he knew she wasn’t going to ask, just as he wouldn’t have himself in the same situation. The guilt gnawed.

Finally one evening he broached the subject. “Are you finding it boring? Being tied to an old man?”
“You’re not old,” she sighed.
“But you’d rather be with people your own age. At least for a little while.” he concluded.
“I wish you wouldn’t start,” Hermione complained.
“I’m not ‘starting’. I was just thinking,” he took a deep breath and made the sacrifice, “Did you want to go be with Potter and Weasel-boy tomorrow afternoon instead of the usual in the bar?”
“You trust me?”
Severus snorted. “I trust you. It’s them I don’t trust.”
Hermione flung herself on wit with a kiss, “I love you!”
“I hope so,” he muttered.

So the next afternoon, Severus watched with a frown as Hermione left the excavation and headed for the beach, laughing and joking with Harry Ron and Neville.
Uncle William looked on with interest.
“Sure it’s wise to let your little filly out to pasture?”
“I don’t want to break her spirit,” he replied moodily.

“So what’s the deal, Hermione?” Harry had asked. “Not hanging out with ‘the boyfriend’ today?”
“He said I should go have fun with my friends, so here I am!” Hermione replied. “I like meeting the professors and talking anthropology, but I’ve missed being with you fellows.”
“So why don’t you come be with us more often?” Ron complained.
“Because there’s more to my life than just Gryffindor now.”
Neville interrupted, “But what is the deal with you and Snape, Hermione? Are you two ever going to get married or anything?”
“Probably. We’re already living together. I have half my stuff in the Hogwarts dungeons right now.”
Ron choked on his beer and Harry slapped him on the back.
“Sorry Ron, but you may as well know. My relationship with Severus is permanent.” Hermione apologized.
“I just don’t get it!” Ron choked, wiping beer off of his nose.
“I do,” Harry admitted, ignoring Ron’s glare. “I see it when you’re together. You do make a good couple” he conceded.
“Thanks,” Hermione said. “Who’s for a swim?”

Hermione was rshedshed and happy when she walked into the suite that evening. Severus was sitting in the dark, moping.
“Have a nice time?” he asked with a sarcastic edge.
She ignored the ominous undertones, “Yes! Thank you for doing without me for the afternoon.”
He grunted. She sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around him.
“It was a good thing for me to talk to them anyway,” Hermione admitted. “I let Ron know that we’re living together now and there‘s no hope for him.”
“How kind,” Severus snarled sarcastically.
“And Harry says he can see we’re a good couple.”
“Nice to have Mr. Potter’s approval.”
Hermione continued, “And Neville wanted to know if we were planning on getting married.”
“Hah!”
Her patience ran out, “Excuse me but are you saying ‘Hah!’ to indicate the thought of marrying me is ludicrous or are you just trying to piss me off?”
There was a long pause as Severus tried to regroup his emotions, “The latter.” he admitted. “Forgive me, it’s my bad attitude again. I can‘t stand the thought of you talking about me behind my back. And I‘m jealous.”
Hermione was amazed, “Jealous of what?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, “Just jealous. Afraid you’ll want one of them more than you’ll want me.”
“Severus!” Hermione sighed, as she attached her mouth to his.
He let her kiss him, needing the reassurance, needing to feel her love for him. She let her mouth work slowly, gently over his lips. Her hands played under the hair at the nape of his neck, shivers of pleasure ran down his spine. He brought his own hands up and ran them gently over her back, stoking. She turned in his lap and pulled one leg up and over, straddling him. His hands slid deliciously down and cupped her bottom, pulling her tightly to him. She could feel stirrings under the fabric which separated them.
“Bed?” she whispered.
Severus nodded, and stood, carrying her to the edge of the large bed they shared in the other room. She began playing with the buttons at his throat, undoing them one by one. She herself had little toove,ove, still being in the bikini and cover-up. He pushed the cover-up off her shoulders and pulled the strings on the bikini top. It fell. Hermione had slid down to her knees. He pulled off his outer robe and enjoyed the feel of her undoing his trouser buttons. She began using her teeth to pull them open.
He chuckled, “Don’t swallow one.”
The chuckling stopped abruptly and turned into a sharp intake of breath. She had gained her mark and took him fully into her mouth.
His hands slid into her hair, holding her, guiding her, then suddenly yanking backwards.
“Not yet,” he hissed.
She stood, her bikini bottoms were gone and she backed onto the bed. Severus quickly kicked off his trousers and advanced. He climbed onto her but not all the way. Instead, he let his mouth fall to kissing her navel, licking gently and moving his tongue in small circles ever downwards. He slid his fingers through the soft hair of her mound, gently parting her. Then his mouth took possession of her folds, kissing and licking her ardently.
He lifted his head, “I’ve never done this to any woman but you.” he confessed.
Then his lips fell to her again. He bit softly at her clitoris and flicked his tongue at the tiny button trapped in his teeth. When she was gasping he moved further down and thrust his tongue repeatedly into her depths.
“Take me now,” she urged.
Severus sat up, kneeling between her tense thighs. He pushed a pillow under her hips then pulled her legs up until her ankles were around his neck then, leaning forward, aimed carefully and slid inwards. They both groaned with satisfaction. Hermione looked up at Severus who was smiling down at her.
“And I’ve never had a woman’s ankles around my neck either,” he commented, turning his head to kiss her toes.
“What is this?” she asked, “Truth or dare?”
Severus began moving inside of her, “I just decided that it’s only fair,” he stopped to moan as she tightened her body around his shaft, “Only fair to tell you what I haven’t done, seeing as how I can’t always tell you what I have. ahhh!” This last elicited when she squeezed again.
He began to lean further and further forward and Hermione’s ankles slid down his shoulders and fell until her feet were on the bed, pressing, lifting up to meet his thrusts.
“Don’t stop now, please!” she whispered.
“I won’t!” Severus agreed. In fact, he moved harder and faster. His member whipping in and out of her hot wetness with lightening speed.
“This is it!” he hissed, “Oh god Hermione! I love you!” He moaned loudly, shuddering and thrusting, over and over, exciting her to her own climax.
Hermione’s body throbbed with his and she cried out his name with joy. She lost herself in the delicious warmth filling her, making her whole. Finally, Severus collapsed on top of her breathing heavily in her ear. She tightened her legs around his hips, and cradled him, unwilling to let him leave her body too soon.
“My Severus,” she whispered, “I love you too.”

The day had not started well for Ron Weasley. It was bad enough that just yesterday Harry and Neville had urged him to give up his futile quest for Hermione Granger. On top of that, Snape and Hermione had appeared late to dinner. Her cheeks had been flushed and there was a sparkle about them that left no doubt in his mind what had caused their tardiness. There was something about the way the two of them leaned towards each other across the table, talking and eating and laughing, just with each other. They looked only at each other, as though the rest of the room were empty. It made him sick.
And now this morning. He watched them approaching the excavations, holding hands and smiling secret lover-like smiles. He watched Snape push a stray piece of hair from Hermione’s face with a possessive gesture. Ron smashed his spade into the ground with a vengeance.
“Watch it there, young buck!” Uncle William warned. “What have I told you about being careful?”
Digger 12 descended into the deepest portion of the excavations. It was the only place not overlooked by Snape’s table. Smiling, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial of old fashioned muggle itching powder obtained from his brothers’ company: Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. Childish? Yes. But it would be amusing to see old Snape scratching away as he went about cataloguing his artifacts.
Things immediately got better as Hermione began descending the ladder to join him. Ron put the vial back in his pocket.
“I heard they were getting some great artifacts from this section yesterday,” she commented.
Ron shrugged, “I don’t care, as long as it’s away from Snape. How can you stand him, Hermione?”
“Why don’t you give him a chance?” she asked.
“No thanks!”
Ron started scraping away at the dirt. A floor mosaic began to appear under his shovel. Hermione liked mosaics.
“Hey ‘Mione! Come look!” Ron said.
Hermione left her shovel and joined him.
“What is it Ron?” she asked.
“A mosaic,” he replied.
She began to brush away the dirt with a soft brush. “It’s brilliant! Look there‘s writing too!” she breathed. Hermione tried to perform a translator spell so she could read the words.
“Won’t work,” she commented. “I’ll call Severus. His wand is more powerful.”
“I’ll bet,” Ron muttered.
Another moment and Snape was swishing down the ladder. He looked at the ancient inscriptions with interest and, like Hermione, tried to translate them. He had limited success.
“You’d better inform Neville’s Uncle,” Severus advised. “This appears to be a seal to a chamber. We’d better close this area until they’re able to decipher exactly what’s here.”
Hermione nodded and raced up the ladder to get Uncle William.
Ron looked skeptical. “What’s the big deal?”
Severus glared, “The big deal, Mr. Weasley, is that we don’t know what these inscriptions say or what sort of any area we might be digging in. And we don‘t want to risk your Conan the Barbarian excavation tactics around anything that might be valuable.”
Ron snorted, “It’s just a stupid mosaic! And I’m getting really sick of the way you push me around Snape! The only reason you don’t want me down here is that it’s the only area of the dig you can’t look into and you‘re afraid of what Hermione and me might get up to behind your back.”
“I trust Hermione. She has better taste than to dally with you so why don’t you give up your little crusade to make me jealous? It’s laughable at best. Hermione is mine!”
“You know what’s really laughable?” Ron’s face was red with anger, “You! There’s nothing more pathetic than an ugly old man chasing after a pretty young girl half his age. I’ll bet she had to do a blindfold charm to stand looking at you long enough to lose her virginity!”
“I notice she still HAD her virginity when she came to be with me.” Severus hissed evilly into his face. “What the matter Weasley? Couldn’t get it to work? I saw you chase after her for years, taking her to dance after dance, trying to lure her into the rose garden. And there she was last summer still unsullied and untouched and waiting for ME to be the one to finally take her.”
“You filthy bastard!” Ron snarled “You won’t touch her again!“ He reached for his wand.
Severus saw Ron go for his wand just in time to pull out his own. His block caused Ron’s curse to ricochet down and hit the mosaic floor. For a moment nothing happened, then there was a rumble. The bottom of the pit give away under them. The last thing he was aware of was the pit collapsing in above them as they fell.

Severus wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious. It was dark and he couldn’t see anything. The air was dusty and stale. He reached for his wand but it was no longer there. He had a terrible pain in his left leg and the lower part of him seemed to be trapped.
He could hear Weasley scrabbling about in the dark. “Have you got your wand, Weasley? We need some light.”
“My wand! It’s snapped!” Ron moaned.
“Oh gods! Can you never keep a wand in one piece?” Severus grumbled. “Are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so,” came Ron’s tentative reply.
“Well come give me a hand. I appear to be stuck.”
Ron found his way over to where Severus was.
“My legs,” Severus complained. “Help me get this stuff off my legs. And look around for my wand while you’re at it.”
“Look around for your own wand, Snape!”
“This isn’t one of your childish games, Weasley! I’m injured and we are both trapped in this pit without wands. Unless they dig us out, or we manage to dig ourselves out, I rather suspect we’ll suffocate soon.”
Ron took in his statement then started to holler, “Help! Hey! We’re trapped!”
“They know where we are!” Severus shouted back, “Don’t be stupid and don’t use up all our air!”
“What are we going to do?” Ron wailed.
“Help me get this stuff off my legs so I can die in comfort,” Severus answered grimly. “It’s excruciating.”
“Good,” Ron replied. “I hope it hurts worse than when Fluffy bit you.”
“Don’t worry, it does.” Severus replied through clenched teeth as Ron began moving rubble. “Any sign of my wand?”
“Not yet.” Ron answered.
He worked in silence until Severus was freed.
“Any better?” Ron asked dismally.
“No, but thank you anyway.”
Hours passed as the two waited in the hot stuffy darkness.
“It’s ironic,” Severus finally said.
“What?” Ron asked.
“Dying like this. I told Hermione I was going to bury you in the dirt tip. I missed my mark by about 25 metres. ”
“You’re kidding? I told Harry I was going to bury you in the dirt tip!”
“So we ended up burying each other. Do you suppose they’ll ever compare notes?” Severus shifted his broken limb and grimaced painfully. “Hermione will be upset. Glad I’ve already added her to my will.”
“She’s in mine too,” Ron admitted.
Severus was surprised. “Aren’t you rather young for a will?”
Ron shrugged, “My brother Percy had all of us make wills in our family. Not that we Weasleys have much to leave, but he wanted to make sure everyone gets their fair share. He likes things orderly.”
“I remember,” Severus said, “I always liked Percy.”
“That figures,” Ron commented.
There was another long pause.
“As long as we’re going to die,” Ron commented, “Tell me what it’s like to have Hermione Granger in love with you.”
Severus was slow to answer. “Heaven and hell. Heaven most of the time. And then the fear she might stop loving you is hell.”
“She does love you though. And she‘ll never love me.” Ron admitted glumly. “What’s she like in bed?”
Severus snorted, “I’m not telling you that!”
“At least you got to have her. Remember that day when I walked in on you?”
“Vividly.”
“I saw the look on her face. What’s it like knowing you can make her feel like that?” Ron paused a moment, knowing Severus wouldn‘t or couldn‘t answer. He settled for a less controversial question. “How did you get together with her in the first place?”
“You ought to know. You were there. Remember when I was sick just before you left school? cam came to visit me in the infirmary.” Severus remembered. “That’s when I realized for the first time that she had grown up. I never touched her then though. Not until after you had left school. I do have some morals.”
“Malfoy told me yere ere kissing in the rose garden the last night.” Ron said.
“She kissed me. Then I left to go on vacation. We ended up at the same resort.” Severus shifted his painful limb again. The air was getting close and he knew they shouldn’t be ing ing their air talking but one more thing needed to be said.
“I want you to know Ron, I never sought her out. It was her choice. I was probably more surprised than you that I was the one she had chosen.”
Ron sighed. “Thanks for telling me anyway. But it was more fun thinking of you as a villain.” Ron scratched his chest. Then moaned. “Oh hell!”
“What’s wrong?” Severus asked.
“The itching powder I bought to put in your catalogue tray just broke open in my pocket.”
“Serves you right, you little bastard,” Severus concluded.
Hermione watched anxiously as Harry and Neville dug carefully into the pit. There had been no sign of life and she cried out in anguish when Harry had dug up Severus’s wand. He handed it to her solemnly and she held it close to her chest, tears coursing down her face and shivering in shock although the day was warm
It wasn’t until late that evening when the boys finally broke through and were able to make communication.
“It’s all right! They’re still alive!” Neville shouted to the gathered crowd.
Ron came up first. Hermione went to hug him but he stopped her, “Don’t. I’m covered in itching powder.”
“What? How?”
“Don’t ask,” Ron said. He was escorted away by the owner of the hotel to clean up and rest.
It took longer for Severus to be lifted from the pit. A doctor had to be summoned to the site and the broken bones were healed before Hermione was allowed near him.
“My sweet darling,” Hermione lamented, “Are you alright?”
“I’ll live,” Severus grinned, kissing her amid the cheers of the onlookers.
She handed him his wand and Severus sighed with relief. “I was afraid I’d lost it. This wand has been with me a long time.” He cleaned off the dust and put it back into his waist.
Neville slapped Severus on the back and Harry asked, “Can I buy you a drink, Professor?”
Severus smiled, “Thank you Potter. I accept.”

Later that evening, he was soaking in the tub. Herm was was with him, of course. She rinsed the dust from his hair and massaged his back.
“I thought I’d lost you,” she said.
“Mmmm. Nasty feeling, isn’t it?” he asked, thinking of the night she was attacked by the Strigae.
He leaned back into her soapy hands, enjoying the soothing sensations.
“Severus,” Hermione began tentatively.
“Yes?”
“I want to go home.”
“Home?” The bottom dropped out of his stomach. She wanted to go back to her parents? Was this finally the catalyst to bring her to her senses? Or was the Weasley fight the last straw? “You’re angry with me?”
“No. I just think it’s time we got back to Hogwarts. Besides, you promised to teach me to cook. Remember?”
“Oh!” the relief flooded him, “That home!”
“Whose home did you think I meant?” she asked.
“Just ours, my goddess,” he replied, kissing her, “just ours.”


(End of \"Second Summer\"-Third Summer begins posting tomorrow. Thanks for all the feedback!)