Maternal Instinct

Hermione, Corrin and Mr. Snuggles were sitting on the living room floor. Corrin decided that she liked the black kitten and Hermione did have the heart to tell her that it wasn't a real cat and just a hairpin. The upside to having a kitten/pin was that it didn't need to be fed, so therefore, it didn't have to be cleaned up after because it didn't have use for its bladder and bowel. The fur was a problem though; Corrin seemed intent on stroking it so much that it would be bald soon.

Hermione's mood was lighter, but she felt in some way that she was betraying the baby that she had lost by feeling happy again. Healer Angela had told her to expect some guilt when the initial grief disappeared, but not to worry because things would have to go back to normal one day. After her first miscarriage, Hermione had been devastated, obviously, but she had always thought that she would have another chance. Now that she knew she would never have children, she felt that she had no reason to be happy, although she knew that was only self-pity.

Corrin was cuddling the cat, when she looked up at Hermione, "Where's mummy?"

Hermione wasn't quite sure what to say, but she took a deep breath, "She... She's gone to live some where else, sweetie."

"Why?" She asked, rocking Mr. Snuggles.

"Well, you know mummy and daddy were arguing a lot." Hermione paused while Corrin nodded before she went on, "Daddy asked mummy to leave so that they won't argue any more."

"Will she come and visit me?"

Hermione shrugged, “I’m not sure...Do you want her to?"

Corrin looked like she was about to answer, when Mr. Snuggles decided he had had enough cuddles and made a run for the back door, with Corrin hot on his heels. Hermione laughed, pulling out her wand and cleaning up all the cats hair. She stood up and turned, coming face-to-face Severus. Or rather face to chest, as he was quite a bit taller than her.

She stepped back as he glared at her, "Mr. Snuggles? I will not have a cat in my house called Mr. Snuggles!"

Hermione tried not to laugh, "Too late, he knows what he's called now; he'll get confused if you change his name. And Corrin loves him, anyway."

"It's a hair pin!" He hissed.

"No," Hermione shook her head, "It's a fluffy hair pin - A fluffy hair pin that your daughter just so happens to love. I think you're stuck with him."

Severus sighed and shrugged, "Well, at least he's not as ugly as that ball of fluff that you used to own."

"At least Crookshanks was a real cat and not a hair pin in disguise!" Hermione retorted.

They stood in silence for a moment. The house seemed to be lighter with out Amy. Hermione didn't feel like she was being judged on her appearance any more and Corrin seemed happier now that she was allowed to make more mess. Even Severus seemed... different somehow.

Hermione looked up when she realized that Severus was staring at her, "I... I should probably go and find Corrin... and the cat."

He nodded, "You probably should."

They looked at each other for what seemed like ages to Hermione, before she was able to make her feet work and she went after Corrin.

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Severus watched her go and found himself once again angry that some one with such a natural maternal instinct could not have children of her own. He didn't regret having Corrin, but Amy didn't deserve to have children; she was just too wrapped up in herself.

For the rest of the day Severus looked over his classes that Albus had sent. He nearly passed out when he noticed there were twins in one of his first year classes, but they were just any twins... They were Longbottom twins. In his opinion, Neville Longbottom should not - under any circumstances - be allowed to procreate. Ever.

Apart from that, the classes weren't terrible.

Though, he did feel different about going back this year. For the past few years her had waited all summer until he could finally go back to Hogwarts and get away from Amy. This year, however, Amy was gone and he still hadn't been able to rid himself of the desire to sleep with Hermione Granger again.

Severus knew that he should probably still hate her like he had when she was his student, but the fact that she had lost his child seemed to cancel any animosity out. He found that he admired her greatly for coming back to look after Corrin so quickly, seeing as she would never have a daughter - or son - of her own.

Later, when Corrin was in bed, he found Hermione cleaning up the last of the cats fur outside the girl’s bedroom. For the second time that day, he moved silently until he was right behind her. When she turned around, she almost screamed and jumped back.

"Oh my God!" She gasped, "Please stop doing that! Especially in the dark! If running around after that cat doesn't give me a heart attack me, you certainly will!" Severus smirked and she glared, "It's not funny! You’re not a bat! You're a snake! A... S...S...sneaky snake!"

He inclined his head, "Very original."

She glared, until she couldn't any more, and she had to smile. She ran a hand through her hair, "I should be going..."

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She knew that she was meant to feel happy again one day, but Hermione wondered if she was on the verge of hysteria. She felt giddy; almost drunk on her own emotions, if that was at all possible.

She didn't even step back when Severus came closer, or when he said, "Not yet."

She even moved closer when he kissed her, even ended up in his bedroom, even found soul consuming pleasure taking over her body.

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Severus realized how much Corrin's illness must have distracted him, because he couldn't think of any other reason why he hadn't noticed how increadably beautiful Hermione was underneath him. Having sex with Amy was like having sex with Barbie, but Hermione was real. She tasted, felt, sounded, moved and looked like some sort of Angel, while Amy was like a robot.

There had been one point, however, when he thought she would leave. They were nearly both completly undressed, when she had pulled away from him and grasped her wand. He thought she was going to run, but she cast a contriceptive spell on herself.

"I won't go though that a third time." she had said quietly.

After that, Severus had been careful to make sure she was comfortable. It was easy for him to forget in his lust hazed mind that a horrible thing had happened to her and that he had caused half of that - it takes two people to make a baby, after all. She hadn't blamed him once, though.

Severus had always been to consumed in his own pleasure to really look at any one he had ever slept with, but he had watched Hermione and found that she was absolutely gorgeous. He vaguely wondered if Amy would have been so beautiful if he have ever bothered to looked properly, but he knew that was definitely an impossibility, as her expressions were so plastic that they were almost set in stone.

Afterwards, as he regained his breath, Severus pulled the bed covers up around them. Hermione had rolled over onto her side with her back to him.

Severus reached out and touched her hair, whispering, "Hermione?"

When she didn't answer, he watched her shoulder rise and fall rhythmically, until finally he carefully moved closer. He put a hand on her hip and when she didn't move, he inched it around her waist, as one of his legs slipped between hers. She sighed in her sleep, but otherwise didn't move.

He was glad that she had finally ignored her Gryffindor-ish guilt; all that nobleness and loyalty annoyed him to no end. Although...

Severus had never had a Gryffindor lover, nor such a passionate one before Hermione Granger. Perhaps the two things were related. Well, he didn't intend to be having sex with any other Gryffindors any time soon - he felt that he was making a huge exception in Hermione's case, as anything Gryffindor reminded him of anything Potter, and, as he detested anything Potter, he usually detested anything Gryffindor.

Hermione was both. She was Harry Potter friend and a Gryffindor. But when did a person stop being a Slytherin or a Gryffindor and just become a person? When they left Hogwarts? Did they ever stop being a member of the house that they were sorted into because of their characteristics?

Did it matter at all when Hermione intrigued him so much? Did it matter when he almost forgot about their terrible relationship at Hogwarts, and saw her as a completly new woman? A completly new and utterly intriguing woman?

He rested his lips on her shoulder, frowning in thought. His thought was never finished, and he couldn't remember falling asleep, but when he woke up the sun was shining through the curtains, which weren't completly, closed.

Severus groaned and buried his face in a pillow. Then, in the silence of the room, he heard it. Breathing. Slowly, he turned his head in the direction of the sound. He opened one eye carefully, then the other.

Hermione was lying on her stomach, her face turned away. The sheets were resting low on her hips, and, as her hair was tucked to one side, his eyes could easily have follow the path all the way down her neck to where the sheets covered her skin. And they did.

And, after looking, he couldn't help reaching out, his finger running from the pulse in her throat, down her spine, to the small of her back. He drew lazy, distracted circles on her warm skin, wondering why he has never wanted to touch Amy in such a way. Probably because she was so cold all the time, so plastic, while the woman next to him was so soft.

Severus knew he was a cold-hearted bastard - it was the way he worked and he loved it - so it as a shock when he realized that he actually liked somebody. Of course, he liked Albus and even McGonagall was tolerable at times, but he was used to them. Part of his brain was still waiting anxiously for the moment when he realized that this woman was Hermione Granger. Part of him waited for the anger that he had, for so long, associated with that name.

But it never came. Instead, he felt strangely relaxed and was glad that he had learned to block his mind to outside invasions, as he didn't like the idea of some one seeing his thoughts. They were not indecent thoughts... well, most of them weren't... But they weren't even proper thoughts. They weren't words or pictures in his mind. They were just... feelings?

His fingers crawled out, until his hand was spanned over her back. She sighed and shivered slightly, but then she stilled and Severus pulled the covers up around them. His hand rested on her shoulder, and then it slid down her arm, until his arm stretched across her and he pressed his lips to her neck.

Then, for a moment, she stopped breathing, then she sighed heavily. Her hand came up and rubbed her eyes, and Severus propped himself up on one elbow, watching as she turned over.

Hermione looked up at him. There was a lengthy silence. Severus willed her to say something - anything - and, finally, she looked like she was about speak, when a bang broke through the house and when she did talk, it was more of a gasp, "Corrin!"

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It turned out that the bang had been caused when Mr. Snuggles ran head first into the patio doors. Hermione was sure that the cat had concussion, as three hours late it was still swaying like it was drunk.

It was just past one o'clock and while Hermione was washing up, Corrin was in the garden with her kitten. When she was finished, she dried up using her wand and started to put the plates and glasses away.

Hermione was surprised. She wasn't feeling guilty this morning. If fact, she just wasn't feeling. She wasn't ecstatic about last night, nor was she regretting it. She was just... fine with it. Sort of.

Hermione had grown up - quite a bit before Harry and Ron - and realized that her potions Professor wasn't as terrible as she had once thought. If all he did was throw out a few insults and detentions... well, it wasn't murder, was it. And she had realized that he was just a teacher. After Hogwarts, she had thought she would never have to seen him again, so she had almost forgotten about him, until she found that Viktor’s career was almost non-existent and that she needed to get a job. She had seen Amy's ad in the paper, applied and the rest was history.

Never in a million years had Hermione ever thought she would be looking after Severus Snape's daughter. Then again, she never expected him to have a daughter - he didn't seem the type, to be honest - and she definitely hadn't expected to sleep with him... twice!

But they were both adults, so -

Two arms snaked around her waist and she gasped, "Severus! Don't do that!"

His chin rested on her shoulder, a growl rumbling in his throat, "Don't you dare tell me that you're feeling guilty, Hermione Granger, because if you are, I will..."

"You'll do what?" She asked. After he muttered something that sounded like 'Gryffindor' and ‘points’, Hermione smiled, "I don't. Feel guilty, that is. Just..." She sighed, "I'm not sure."

She felt lips on her neck and shivered, letting out a shaky breath. A hand slid under the front of her t-shirt, before she was twirled around and the hand pressed against her back. Seconds later, it was joined by its twin, and together they held her tightly to the body they were part of.

Hermione felt as if her legs were about to give way, as Severus looked down at her and asked quietly, "Are you always so warm?"

Hermione didn't know how he expected her to answer, but she didn't have to worry for long, because her mouth was soon covered by his.