Of Days and Ends

Chapter 14—Forgiveness for Christmas



Snuggling deeper into Snape’s warmth, Hermione pushed him off the opposite side of the tiny bed.



“AAH!”



She jumped up and leaned over her bed, surprised to find Snape on the floor in the space between her bed and the wall. As he was getting up, his head hit the window sill and she stifled a laugh. “I’m so sorry!”



He rubbed his head and glared down at her. “This room is extremely small.”



Her eyes ran across his upper body, bared for the night. His robes and black t-shirt draped in stark contrast across her pink and white flower-sticker-covered play chest. At his abdomen where the sectumsempra spell had cut into him, the wounds faded to light red marks scarring his pale flesh. Her eyes followed the trail of fine black hairs to his beltless pants, and she wondered where the belt went. Snape did not seem to be the kind of man who let a function go unused, and her eyes drifted to the foot of the bed, where the belt was wrapped around the knob closest to the door. Her eyes returned to his body and ran up to his face as he appraised her room by the light of day.



“Did you sleep well?” She asked.



“Well enough, given that I was shoved off a bed to wake up.” He was immediately grumpy, but stifled it for her sake.



“It wasn’t intentional, Severus. Happy Christmas.”



“I know.” He bent low to brush his lips over hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck.



She bent her head low to stare at his bare feet on the floor beside her bed and he kissed her forehead as she said, “I’m sorry about yesterday. I pride myself in being ready for anything, and that was… shocking for me to hear that you had to do something that horrific. I know you didn’t want to and, worse, I know it was your only option. I don’t really want you dead…I—I would be heartbroken if you were.” He kissed her hair and she looked up.



“I missed you.” It was a simple statement, but it meant the world coming from him. Tokens of affection were not common nor expected from Snape, and she initiated a gentle kiss. He smiled against her lips and eased her down onto her bed to begin kissing down her throat. When he encountered her shirt collar, his lips began their trail up while his hand stroked its way down to cup her bra-clad breast.



A soft knock was not enough warning for the couple as Mrs. Granger entered with a tray for Severus. He jumped up off of her, she scrambled to sit up, and her mother’s eyes took in the scene in front of her. The woman placed the tray on Hermione’s bedside table and gestured for them both to follow her downstairs. Throwing a shirt on over Severus’s chest, they followed without questioning. When they reached the dining room, Mr. Granger stood to pull out Mrs. Granger’s seat at the same time that Snape reached for Hermione’s seat.



“Happy Christmas, Sweetie. Severus, you didn’t want to eat upstairs?” Her father asked Snape.



“I asked them to come down and talk to us, for a moment.”



Snape sat next to Hermione as her father levelled his eyes on him from across the table. Never before had he ever been concerned about what a muggle would do. After all, his wand could do much more than any weapon they could ever have. As he looked into her father’s steady gaze, however, he had a creepy feeling that he should watch where he treads with this man.



“Okay.” Hermione’s mum began. “First things first, I, personally, would feel more comfortable if you two did not have sex in this house.”



Hermione stiffened next to him, and Snape chanced a glance at Mrs. Granger who looked wearily at her daughter. “Yes, ma’am.”



Mr. Granger surprised him by asking, “I hope I’m not intruding by asking this question, but what are your intentions with my daughter now that you two are stuck in this predicament?”



“I plan to make the best of it until Hermione and I can brew the counter-potion.”



“And what then? What happens when you’ve brewed this potion and you two are no longer married?”



Snape looked very uncomfortable, “I honestly don’t know.”



“I’m not sure that we can think that far ahead, Daddy.”



His eyes never wavered from Severus. “Can you, Severus?”



He suddenly knew exactly where her father was going with this and he pat Hermione’s hand as she began to object to her father putting him on the spot. It was a direct challenge to Severus’ wisdom with the assumption that his age will have made him fully capable of thinking that far ahead. He was a grown man, and he’d be damned if her father would make him feel like some stupid, happy-go-lucky teenager. Choosing his words carefully he said, “I can see options, but all of them will take careful consideration and discussion with Hermione and since I have not done that yet, I don’t feel comfortable bringing them up here for the first time.”



Mr. Granger nodded and sat back in his chair. He could recognize and appreciate that Snape had already thought about the matter, but felt the need to accommodate Hermione. Her mother was relentless even though her father seemed pacified, and asked, “Would you do to her what you did to Dumbledore?”



Hermione held her breath in embarrassment and he chuckled, “Breathe, love.” He didn’t even notice the affectionate term as it left his lips, but it was not missed by anyone else. “Never. For Hermione, I would die first.” He looked across at Hermione’s mother who was beaming at him, back to Hermione’s father whose face remained curious, and finally to Hermione beside him who was going pale. He took her hand under the table and pat her knuckles gently. She smiled and quickly blushed at the attention focused on her.



“What is your last name, Severus?”



“Snape.”



“Hermione Jean Snape.” Her mother explored the name and sighed. “My daughter is a married woman.”



Her mother placed plates of food in front of Hermione and offered some to Snape, but he politely refused everything except coffee and a biscuit that Hermione forced on him. Soon after breakfast was over and Snape set the dishes to magically wash, her parents received a call from the surgery. They were expected to do an emergency root canal on Christmas and left soon after, leaving the couple alone in the house.



As Hermione turned around from locking the door, she was met by the smouldering gaze of her husband. “I have a book for you.”



Hermione smirked, “What? You can’t wait until tomorrow?”



“No,” he stated, taking her into his arms, “This is not a Christmas gift, it is an everyday gift.”



Smiling, Hermione dragged his head down for a long kiss. “Save it for tomorrow. Right now, I want you.”



He backed her up to the dining room table and began to lay her down when her bum encountered a plate and a chain reaction made the whole stack fall off of the table. Hermione looked up at Severus with a shocked expression, but he was not quick enough to hide the smirk that crossed his face. She swat at his shoulder and he used his body to block her and lay her back on the table top. She quickly ran her hands under his shirt and stroked his back. Snape chuckled at her enthusiasm and bent over the low table to lick lightly down her throat. As he encountered her shirt, he realised that she had not had the opportunity to wash up, and whispered suggestively in her ear.



Hermione dashed up the stairs without preamble and he soon heard the water begin. Following the sound of water and imagining her body poised under the flow, he became almost painfully aroused. He made a quick stop by her bedroom and completely undressed before stepping into the steaming bathroom. He could see her silhouette through the uneven and steamy shower stall door and approached her silently. Just as he was reaching for the door, she laughed and said, “Hurry up, Severus. I’m almost done, and I need you to get my back.”



He gave up sneaking up on her and stepped in, taking the orange cloth from her hands. His right hand travelled up and down her back, following the trail of heavily-lathered bubbles. As his hand slipped around to her stomach, he felt her tense and lean back into him as he caressed her taught abdomen. “What’s wrong?”



“Nothing, I just felt a thrill go through me when you touched my stomach.”



Dipping his finger into her belly-button, he said, “So you’re sensitive.”



“I suppose.” He ran his hand in between her legs and she arched her back and turned her head for him to claim her lips, but he refrained and she moaned when his lips found the exposed side of her neck and his thumb began to tease her clit, “I’ve missed you so much. It wasn’t more than a couple of days for me, but I missed you so very much.”



He paused suddenly and turned her around, “What did you just say?”



“I missed you.”



“No, what do you mean; it wasn’t more than a couple of days for you?”



“I was in a coma for seven days.”



“From the veritaserum?” he growled.



“Yes.” She almost cowered from him as he fumed over her.



His sudden taking of her lips confused and thrilled her as he pressed her into the wall under the tap. Their sex was sudden and very fierce as she lifted her leg and he entered her, pinning her to the wall and thrusting into her until he hit her cervix and she cried out painfully. He stopped and kissed her face gently before moving with less force and speed. So slow in fact that she began to roll her hips in double counter-point to his slow thrusts.



Amused by her sexual effort and the interesting feeling of her technique, Severus felt himself building up. He placed his hand in her hair and pulled her head back to nip at her neck. There would definitely be a mark there later. Satisfied by his very animalistic marking of his mate, he pressed his body fully along hers and was surprised to hear her suddenly cry out and feel her tensing around his cock. It was obviously sudden for her as well, because her eyes flew open and her face, open and passionate dragged him over the edge as well and he emptied himself into her.



He slipped from her a few seconds later and they held each other, panting for a moment. Hermione began to slip down the wall, so Severus picked her up and took her to bed. When he laid her down, her arms around his neck dragged him down onto her, “We’re still wet.”



“We’ll dry.” She grabbed her wand and made the bed big enough to fit the remaining space in the room. Her wand continued to roam and dried them both. He took her lips again with such a gentle passion that she looked up at him curiously, “What’s wrong?”



“They could have killed you.”



Surprised and touched by his concern, she playfully laughed, “You were almost free!”



“No, Hermione.” He was being deadly serious, and it scared her a little. “For the first time in my life—” he paused, and rephrased, “I’ve never been so closely affiliated with someone who feels just as upset as I do about the things I have to do to survive, someone who is working down the middle just like me…”



She furrowed her eyebrows in thought and he kissed her brows, so she returned the gesture with a small smile. Somewhere in their conversation, they began to whisper for no particular reason until they fell asleep.



Hermione’s parents returned at noon knowing that their daughter and her husband would likely disregard their request, but never expected the evidence of it to be so obvious. By the look of the dishes lying broken and piled to one side of the table on the floor, they had used the dining room table. Entering the upstairs hallway, it was obvious that they had gone from the bathroom to the bedroom wet because of the water trail on the floor leading to her bedroom. They were going to go to their room and drop off their dental supplies when a soft gasp from Hermione’s room reached their ears.



Mrs. Granger blushed a deep shade of pink and Mr. Granger took her hand, leading her to the kitchen where they left a note and made their way back out to their car.



In all actuality, they had finished their second session half an hour ago, and Snape was merely attempting to recall some stupid little lover’s poem he had learned while still a student over twenty years ago. When she had laughed and playfully called him an old man, he had pounced on her and put a hiccupping hex on her.



It wasn’t until the sun began to set outside that they ventured back downstairs to see where her parents were. Hermione waved her wand around as they went from room to room, cleaning one mess after another. Severus found their note on the refrigerator door and called to Hermione, “They said they’ve gone to visit some friends and will be back later.”



“They know!” Hermione groaned.



“Your father was expecting it.” Severus answered, rounded the corner, and caught her before she slammed into him.



“Were you reading my father’s mind?” she asked darkly.



“Muggles are easy to read.”



“They can’t help it, Severus!”



He didn’t answer and Hermione was about to get upset when the soft click of the front door drew their attention. They both turned to the door as her parents entered. The two couples each put on cheerful faces and Hermione immediately went to hug her parents. Severus stretched his arm out to shake Mr. Granger’s hand when a stinging pain moved through his Dark Mark.



Hermione sighed and turned to Severus, “Come back safe.”



“It won’t be long.”



“I don’t care about long nearly as much as safe.” She repeated from the last time they parted for the burning of his Dark Mark.



“Yes, love.” He said, and this time he noticed the affectionate slip and ignored it, placing a chaste kiss on her lips and disapparating away.



This gave the Grangers the opportunity they needed to talk to their daughter.



Half an hour later, Hermione was in the middle of explaining the potion and the reason for their decision to consummate the marriage when an eerie feeling came over her and she paused mid-sentence. There was a green glow outside and Hermione began to slowly walk towards the window. She had a feeling she already knew what was going on, but she really didn’t want to believe it.



“What’s going on?” asked her mother with some trepidation.



Hermione waved emphatically for her to remain silent, and began to lean to look past the windowsill to the sky. A split second later, Snape apparated into the living room, and found he was staring down the business end of Hermione’s wand as she reacted with extreme speed. “Fill in the blank: You should not hex my balls off, because…” she said threateningly.



“I’ve come back safe, haven’t I?”



“Oh, Severus! I—” she began to lower her wand and step towards him with relief, but he drew his wand against her and she quickly raised it again. His face took on a distinctly sinister look and she couldn’t get over how hateful he looked.



“Don’t be stupid! There’s a Dark Mark over this house!”



Hermione furrowed her brows, “Tell me what to do.”



“Choose one of your parents to die first.”



Hermione couldn’t believe her ears, “T-to die?”



“To die! To die! Choose one to die, Stupid Girl!” Snape shouted. Hermione was slow to react, so Snape turned his wand on her father, “How about Mr. Granger?”



Hermione took a pleading step forward, but was bumped aside as her mother screamed, “NO! ME! KILL ME!” and threw herself to her knees in front of Severus.



Snape considered her in the stifling silence that followed her outburst. “No. As delightfully heartrending as that was, I think I had better choose Mr. Granger!” He emphasized his father-in-law’s name with a cruciatus curse.



“NO! DADDY, NO!” Hermione screamed and abandoned her wand to tackle Severus with everything she had. She succeeded in knocking him off of his feet and pummelling him with a lot more force than he realized she possessed. Flicking his wand, he blasted her into the far wall and summoned her wand to him. Glancing to his left, he could see that Mrs. Granger had managed to get her husband halfway up the stairs.



He grabbed Hermione by her hair and dragged her after her parents. When her mother reached the top of the stairs where there were no windows, Severus blasted the ceiling over the stairs using Hermione’s wand and it crumbled to block them in.



“SEVERUS, PLEASE!” Hermione cried.



He whipped his wand around and all of the doors shut.



“Severus, don’t do this, please! I love my parents! I need my parents!” Her tears fell freely and her chest ached with the pain of what she knew he was capable of.



He locked all of the doors and placed a silencing spell on the enclosure. Then dropping to his knees and letting the wands fall to the floor, he folded Hermione’s crying form into his arms. “I’m so sorry, Hermione! I’m sorry, love! I’m so sorry! I had to!”



Hermione’s breathing hitched and confusion set in. “Wha—?”



“Not now. I have to get you all out of here.”



He passed Hermione her wand, snatched the necklace off, and made it glow blue as he made it a portkey. Hermione looked at his face while he worked and was dumbfounded. He didn’t even look at her as he ordered, “Grab your parents.”



She couldn’t explain why she still trusted him, why she was listening to him, or how she knew that they would be safe as she grabbed her parents, but he turned to the muggles and said, “Pay attention, number 62 Florentine Way, northwest corner of Elizabeth and Keith. Go now.” He pressed the necklace into her palm and a kiss to her lips.



Just as he drew away, the portkey activated and the familiar navel jerk yanked her family away.



~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I’m on my winter break, so rest assured that I will be posting more often. The little voice in my head has promised that it will remain focused and be patient, so I hope to fly through this fic. Currently, the voice fancies itself taking a break, but I’m about to wake it up and get started on the next chapter.



I would like to thank you all for reading and reviewing. I appreciate you all, so much! Thanks to sallypoe, lennonluvr, Johanna 3030, Dresoul, Zigflorian, phistolemon and the new Top Ten:



1) catysmom—[You’re on quite a roll, aren’t you? Thanks loads!]

2) sslover

2) Jen 618

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3) openthedoor

4) CB13—[Just thought you should know that I am quite the professional procrastinator with school. I don’t do deadlines too well… lol]

4) Juno Magic

4) slytherin-princess