Delicate

Chapter Thirteen: Taking Care





You\'re really lovely

Underneath it all

You want to love me

Underneath it all

I\'m really lucky

Underneath it all

You\'re really lovely







Ginevra Weasley, soon to be Potter, leaned against the counter watching her best girlfriend with curious and concerned eyes. Hermione looked awful, her face was pale, her eyes glassy and on more than one occasion throughout the day Ginny had feared that she was going to pass out. It didn’t matter that she had told her a dozen times that she could get fitted for her dress another day but Hermione insisted that she was fine. Now she sat at the table, barely able to hold her head up as she sipped at a glass of water.



“Hermione, are you going to be alright?” She asked. Hermione looked up with a weak smile and nodded her head slowly.



“I’m fine, just sleepy,” she said.



“You’ve been a bit off lately; you were acting strange the other night at dinner too. Everything alright?” Ginny pressed, taking a seat across from her. Hermione looked over at Molly who was pretending not to listen as she peeled potatoes.



“Everything is fine, Ginny, I promise. If it wasn’t I would tell you,” she said, reaching out to pat her friend’s hand.



“Would you? I worry about you living in that house with Snape. You are completely isolated out there and well…he’s been through a lot, Hermione…what if he was to snap?” Ginny whispered softly.



“Severus would never hurt me, Ginny, he’s perfectly normal, probably for the first time in his life,” she said.



“I still think that it’s a mistake for you to be living with a grown wizard,” Molly interjected as she began filling the pot of peeled potatoes with water and sat it on the stove. “It really is unseemly, Hermione. People think you’re having …relations with him!”



“Relations?” Ginny looked at Hermione and snickered. “Mum, don’t say relations, say what you mean, we’re big girls now.”



“What would you have me call it then, Ginevra?” Molly frowned and used her wand to light the stove beneath the pot.



“I don’t know, intercourse…sex…shagging…boffing…boning…fucking,” Ginny winked at Hermione as she teased her mother.



“Watch your language!” Molly smacked Ginny in the shoulder with the back of her hand. “You sound like your brothers!”



“You don’t grow up in a house with six wizards without learning a few things, Mum.” Ginny watched as her mother rounded the table and nudged Hermione’s chin up, examining her closely.



“You don’t feel at all yourself, do you, Dear?” Molly clucked, laying her hand against Hermione’s forehead. “You are burning up! How long have you felt this poorly?”



“Not long…I’m gonna go use the loo,” Hermione tried to stand but dizziness washed over her and she fell back into her chair with a moan.



“No, you are going upstairs to bed, Missy! Ginny, get your father so he can carry her up…”



“No, please, I want to go home to my own bed,” she protested.



“Hermione, you shouldn’t go home alone,” Ginny said softly, coming around to sit beside her. “Stay here until you feel better.”



“No…call Severus, please,” she said, closing her eyes and laying her head on the table.



“Nonsense! You are very ill, young lady! You need someone to tend to you!” Molly argued.



“Please, just get Severus for me, Ginny.” Ginny nodded and despite her mother’s disapproving huff she went to the fireplace and floo called Severus.



“Yes, Miss Weasley?” He asked sharply, his stern face dancing in the green flames.



“Sir, Hermione isn’t feeling well, mum wants her to stay here but she wants to come home and is too ill to travel…she asked me to call you,” Ginny started when the flames immediately vanished and a soft vibrating sound began. She stepped back and watched in amazement as Snape stepped through the hearth, casually attired in a pair of trousers and loose button down shirt in a soft gray color with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.



“Where is she?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer but stepped around her and approached Hermione’s chair. “What’s wrong?”



“I think I might be sick,” she said weakly, weaving a little in her chair.



“She’s been pale and dizzy most of the day but kept insisting she was fine,” Ginny said, watching the way Severus pushed Hermione’s hair back to look at her. “She’s nearly fainted several times.”



“Why didn’t you come straight home if you were feeling poorly?” He asked, laying the backs of his fingers against her brow.





“I don’t want to be a bad Maid of Honor,” she said, sighing at the comforting coolness of his fingers against her heated skin.



“Oh, Mione, don’t be ridiculous! You’re sick, you can be excused from duties for a bit,” Ginny said, reaching out to rub her shoulder.



“She needs to go upstairs and rest,” Molly said, her hands on her hips as she stared at the people in her kitchen.



“No, she needs to go home.” Severus said softly.



“She needs tending! You can’t do that!” Molly insisted, her face red with irritation.



“Yes, I can,” he said, taking Hermione by the arm and helping her to her feet. She managed one step before the room began to spin and she crumpled. He caught her easily and swung her up into his arms.



“Do you see? The girl can’t even stand! You can NOT take care of her on your own, Severus, I forbid it!” Molly shrieked.



“I can, and I will. You are not her mother, Molly, she is a grown woman,” he said.



“A single woman and you are a single man, it’s just not acceptable,” she insisted stubbornly.



“Hermione, what do you want to do?” Severus asked her. She rested her head on his shoulder and brought her arms up to loop loosely around his neck.





“Take me home, please,” she said.



“There you have it, Molly,” he said firmly. “Now, please excuse us, I will let you know how she is doing.”



He caught the little smirk on Ginevra’s lips but chose to ignore it just as he ignored the outraged sputtering of Molly’s protests as he activated the floo and carried Hermione into it and back to their home.



“You pissed her off,” she muttered against his shoulder.



“Yes, I have a talent for instigation without intention,” he said drolly as he carried her through the house.





“Severus…I think I’m going to be sick,” she moaned. He lengthened his stride, eating up the hardwood to the bathroom at the end of the hall. He got her inside and onto the rug just in time for her to lean over the bowl and vomit. The horrid retching sounds sent Demon, who had come to investigate, running in fear. Severus felt helpless as he gathered her curls up in his hand and held them back from her face. He knelt behind her, holding her hair until she finished and slumped back against the wall, her face red from fever and embarrassment.



She didn’t realize that Severus could have cared less about seeing her vomit; he was just worried about her. He rifled through the cabinet and came back with two small phials of potion.





“Take these, one is for the nausea and fever and the other is to cleanse your mouth,” he said, handing them off to her and going to the tub. He began filling it with warm water, adding a couple of soothing potions to the water before turning back to her. “Let me help you into the bath.”



He put the lid down on the toilet and sat, pulling her up onto his lap. She was weak, tired and just plain sick, too sick to resist or muster up a sense of modesty. She raised her arms when he told her, lifted her feet and moved however he directed until she was completely naked and once more lifted into his arms. He placed her gently into the tub, kneeling beside it and gathering her hair up on top of her head and securing it with the clip she kept on a nearby table.



“You don’t have to take care of me,” she said quietly, her knees drawn up and her cheek resting on top of them as he stroked the wet sponge over her back.



“No, I don’t have to,” he said. “I want to.” He really did. He had never felt the need to tend to someone before, to cater to them, to see to their needs before his own. It was somewhat uncomfortable, he thought as he continued to stroke her heated skin with the lukewarm water.



“Well, I’d rather it be you than Molly. She means well, and I know that she loves me, but she’s a bit overwhelming sometimes.” Hermione sighed, her body beginning to ache slightly.



“Why didn’t you tell me that you were ill?” He asked.



“I didn’t want to trouble you,” she said softly, tiredly. “I didn’t think it was anything serious.”



“I suspect that you have Wizard Flu,” he said, dropping the sponge and gently kneading her shoulders. She moaned and relaxed into his touch.



“In the summertime?”





“Flu is still around, Hermione, it’s just not as prevalent as it is during the winter,” he said. “Did you eat anything today?”



“No, not hungry,” she said, drifting off slowly.



“Don’t go to sleep,” he stood and pulled her to her feet, leaning her against him as he grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around her. She once more found herself cradled in his arms as he carried her out of the bathroom and down the hall, bypassing her room and entering his. After setting her in the center of his large four poster bed he went to the bureau and retrieved one of his cotton undershirts.



“You told me that you didn’t want me wearing nightclothes,” she protested as he took her towel and pulled the shirt over her head.



“Normally I prefer that you don’t, but you are ill,” he shifted her back against the pillows and covered her up. “I’ll be right back.”



He left the room and she curled into his pillows, breathing in the familiar, spicy scent of him. She felt the bed dip a little as Demon hopped up onto the mattress and curled up at her feet. She looked around the room, taking in the dark woods and simple lines of his bedroom furniture. His linens were a soft gray color with a darker gray coverlet and drapes on the windows. Very simple, very sterile, not that she expected frills and flowers. She closed her eyes and began to drift off, but it didn’t last long.



“Sit up,” he said, sitting on the side of the bed with a tray that he settled over her legs.



“I’m not hungry,” she groaned when she saw the soup on the tray. “I can’t, Severus, I just want to go to sleep.”



“You need to eat, Hermione,” he said, dipping the spoon into the bowl and holding it to her lips. “Come, eat a little at least.” She sat up and opened her eyes, staring at him as he fed her. Who would have thought that he would actually spoon feed her? Or that he would have bathed her and held her hair while she puked. He was full of surprises. He continued to feed her until she had put away half of the soup and couldn’t force herself to eat any more. Severus carried the tray back to the kitchen, returning a short time later with a bottle of water that he placed on the nightstand before undressing down to a pair of green plaid boxers and climbing into bed beside her. “Come here.”



He pulled her up against him, cuddling her in his arms as he plumped the pillows behind his head and settled in for the night. She was warm but her fever had gone down considerably, with the potions he had given her she should feel better by morning but he intended to make her take it easy for a day or two at least.



“You decide to sleep with me for the first time and I can’t enjoy it,” she complained sleepily. Severus chuckled softly and rubbed her arm while she tangled her legs around his.



“Go to sleep, Hermione. We’ll talk about us when you are feeling better,” he said.



“Thank you, Severus, for taking care of me,” she said snuggling into him.



“Returning the favor,” he turned his head and kissed her brow. “I’ll take very good care of you if you let me.” Her soft snoring told him the conversation was over so he kissed her again and closed his eyes. He enjoyed taking care of her; he enjoyed being needed for something so simple, something so…domestic. For the first time he was happy. He had friendship, companionship and a lover in one person. What more could a man ask for?















Underneath It All by No Doubt



There\'s times when I want something more

Someone more like me

There\'s times when this dress rehearsal

Seems incomplete

But you see the colors in me like no one else

And behind your dark glasses you\'re

You\'re somethin\' else



CHORUS

You\'re really lovely

Underneath it all

You want to love me

Underneath it all

I\'m really lucky

Underneath it all

You\'re really lovely



You know some real bad tricks

And you need some discipline

But lately you\'ve been tryin\' real hard

And givin\' me your best

And you give me the most gorgeous sleep

That I\'ve ever had

And when it\'s really bad

I guess it\'s not that bad



(Repeat Chorus)



So many moons that we have seen

Stumblin\' back next to me

I\'ve seen right through and underneath

And you make me better

I\'ve seen right through and underneath

And you make me betta

Betta... betta...



Lady Saw:

For real

\'Cause underneath it all,

You are my real Prince Charmin\'

Like the heat from the fire

You were always burnin\'

Anytime you\'re around

My body keeps callin\'

For your touch

Your kisses and your sweet romancin\'

There\'s another side to you

And it\'s a human I adore

Aside from your temper

Everything else secure

Oh no, you\'re good for me baby

Of that, I\'m a sure

\'Cause over and over again

Me want more



Gwen:

You\'ve used up all your coupons

And all you\'ve got left is me

And somehow I\'m full of forgiveness

I guess it\'s meant to be









~ @ ~ @ ~ @ ~ @ ~ @ ~ @ ~ @ ~ @ ~



Hello all! Thank you for the well wishes, I am starting to feel better, the pain is less intense as those little buggers move along, thank goodness =). So…on to your reviews eh?





AUNDREE’A – Yes, True Blood is my current favorite thing LOL…I find it more relatable than Twilight, maybe because they are adults and not children, though I DO like Twilight, I just don’t really see the appeal of Pattinson…he looks kind of girly to me. Of course Erik is my fave =)





SCARLETT QUILL – I’m not sure where I cook up plot lines. I am almost always listening to music, sometimes a line from a song will inspire an entire story. A song actually inspired this one, Delicate by Damien Rice. It will come to play in a later chapter. And No, kidney stones are no fun. This is the third one Ive had, apparently women become prone to them after having kids…Ive had 3 kids, 2 with no drugs…I would rather go through drugless childbirth again and again than this LOL





REBEL ROSE – Thank you! Im getting a lot of squicked reviewers about this, which I don’t understand, hes not being mean to her and it’s what she wants and in my opinion its very tame compared to other stories where he abuses and rapes her. But I guess people are just used to my work being lighter in nature LOL

I appreciate the support.







SERIN BLACKMOON – Taking a don’t ask don’t tell stance are we? LOL Thanks, again Im glad for the support =)





SOPHIEBELLE – Hermione becomes extremely emotional in upcoming chapters, almost crazy with it LOL which of course she wont understand and will hate LOL…that was fun to write, I hope its as fun for you to read. I too would have lost it…Rickman does that to me lol





TWIST – Thank you, that means a lot to me. Im glad to entertain you.





DJH79 – Thank you, so very much =)





MEANKITTY69 – Just wait LOL…he gets very naughty with her soon =)





LYSSA – agreed, he is yummy





TARA - =)





SMURPHY – Glad you keep up with the blog! I do love Remus….hes a bit less emo in this story, stronger….



VORACIOUS READER – I have to agree with your friend on the Kidney Stone issue…this is the 3rd and the first time Ive done it without hospital intervention being pumped full of narcotics for hours. Ive opted to manage on my own and flush it out with Cranberry juice, using Tylenol for pain relief and Loritab only when the pain gets unbearable. Not as quick as the hospital route but less horrid stuff being put into my body.





LADY OF CLUNN – Yeah…George reads them well LOL…he’ll make some comments in an upcoming chapter that reveal a lot.





SHADOWCHSR – Thank you. I did do a lot of research and read a lot of books on the subject before writing this. I like research LOL much like our Heroine, books are my friends. Glad you like it!!!!