The Seaside Retreat

Chapter 14... First Week Back

Breakfast the next morning was a rambunctious affair. The students were comparing schedules and everyone was glad to see students hopping from different house tables to socialize. Hermione walked into the great hall and threw a reassuring smile towards her friends as well as a quick glance under her lashes towards the head table and Severus. She surprised everyone however, by making her way towards the Slytherin table and Draco.

Draco was sitting at the end of the table closest to the professors and looked rather sad sitting all alone. Blaise Zabini and Millicent Bulstrode were near him and though they didn’t look malicious they weren’t making an attempt to socialize with him. Hermione made her way over to Draco and cleared her throat.

“Morning Draco may I sit down?” He looked a bit suspicious at the friendly tone. It was all well and good to show the school a united front and he really was sorry that he had said and done the tings he had, but he didn’t think she would actually want anything to do with him.

“Sure, it’s not like the table is crammed.” Hermione smiled warmly at him and slid neatly onto the bench next to him.

“Draco, I just wanted to say that this year is going to be hard on us for a lot reasons. Between NEWTS, our apprenticeships, and healing after the war we don’t need to make things more difficult on ourselves. The only great thing about the war was that it used up all my anger and hate and I now you and I get a clean slate. We can ignore our history and start again and then I can find out if you’re an ass normally or if it was just a pre war kind of thing.” Draco smiled weakly at her attempt at humor but looked a little confused by her speech.

“Hermione, I think that’s a great idea and I am so happy you feel that way but my dad tried to kill you less then a week ago. My family is responsible for some of the worst things that occurred during the war. The worst part is I still love them, they are horrible and despicable, but they love me and I love them.”

“Draco you shouldn’t be ashamed of loving your parents. Think about it this way, you hated me for six years because of my blood which wasn’t anything I could control and I hated you back for that. You got over your prejudices about my parentage and I will certainly get over mine about yours. Draco your father tried to hurt me, not you. Why don’t you come over and sit with us at the Gryffindor table?”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea Hermione” he said looking over at her three friends.

“Draco I will be with you the whole time and just so you know they are as sick of prejudice and hatred as I am. I think they will give you a chance and if not, well then I will stand behind you the whole time and sit at Slytherin table for the rest of the year.”

Draco was about to reply when the bell for the first class of the day rang. Hermione just smiled and him and said “lunch then” and walked away.

The first half of the day flew by and before she knew it lunch had rolled around. She stood by the entrance to the great hall and waited for Draco. Luckily she had the opportunity earlier in Defense to let Harry and Ron know that she was planning on having Draco sit with them. She was quite proud at their reaction to the news; they were obviously a little suspicious, but more then willing to give him a chance.

Draco walked in the door and Hermione nearly made him jump out of his skin when she grabbed his arm unexpectedly.

“Are you ready hun? You can do this, I’ll be with you” Hermione soothed. They made their way over to the Gryffindor table and Hermione smiled winningly at her friends as they slid down to make room for both of them. She felt Draco relax under her touch and she let his arm go as they sat.

The five of them spent an enjoyable lunch laughing, talking, and getting reacquainted with each other in a whole new light. They were a long way from being best friends with Draco, but today was an enormous step. They group stood and made their way out of the hall together before separating for classes. Ginny, being a year younger, had her own schedule, but the other four made their way to their first potions class of the year.

They walked in the classroom took one long table all together, Harry and Ron partnering and Draco and Hermione working together for once. She usually partnered with Neville, but he wasn’t accepted in to NEWT level potion. Hermione hated to admit it, but secretly she was thrilled. No more wasting her time with hissing instructions.

The door to the dungeons slammed open signaling Severus’ trademark entrance and Hermione had to duck her head to keep her smile from showing. It was hard to act intimidated when she had his cock in her mouth last night. He stalked to the front of the room and wrote instructions on the board while hissing things for them to copy into their notes. He let them catch up with their notes before stepping to the middle of the room and giving his start of the year lecture.

“If each of you look around, you will notice how small my advanced potions class is. I have only taken the best of you in though I am not quite sure how some of you made it” he hissed while looking at Harry and Ron. Hermione couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Severus; after all without her tutoring he would have been blissfully rid of them by now. He could cope with another year though, after all Ron and Harry needed this class to become aurors.

“I do not tolerate mistakes in this class. Unlike in previous years, adding a wrong ingredient or rushing your potion will not cause an insignificant explosion, but may kill all of us. We are working with volatile substances her. Being a dunderhead is not an acceptable excuse any longer. Hogwarts potions curriculum is more advanced then any of the other schools, and by the time you graduate most of you will be able to brew potions that other witches and wizards can only dream about. Now, brew the potion on the board. You have one hour. Begin.”

The class scrambled to do as they were told and though the potion was indeed more difficult then any brewed before, it seemed the students took Snape’s warning to heart and there were not accidents. By the end of class everyone had stoppered a sample of their potion and set it on his desk. After the bell rang and the class was walking out Severus called to Hermione.

“Miss Granger please arrive after dinner this evening to begin your apprenticeship, there is no need to wear your uniform, but wear clothes that will not get in the way of brewing.” Hermione nodded her understanding and looking around to make sure they were alone, threw a saucy wink over her shoulder and swayed her hips enticingly as she walked out of the classroom. Severus caught himself grinning and had to quickly scowl less a student see him smile.

Dinner flew by with Draco once more joining the gang at the Gryffindor table, but not without threats that if this kept up then they were going to have to make an appearance at the Slytherin side of the hall. After all, he couldn’t let people think he was going soft. They shared a good natured laugh at this but promised to sit in the “snake pit” sometime soon.

After dinner Hermione made her way to potions classroom and knocked. They had decided that unless they were in Severus’ quarters or completely sure they were alone they would keep the façade of master and apprentice. They had no wish to test the kindness of Minerva.

“Enter”

“Good evening sir” and looking around his office to ensure they were alone she quickly added “would you like me bent over your desk or straddling you in your chair?” He blanched at her crassness then set a small scowl on his features and replied. “I see that I have missed out on a very interesting side of your sexuality Hermione. If you want me to take you amongst jars of pickled specimens you must be kinkier then I thought.”

“Oh Severus, you know I only care about one pickled specimen!” He looked a bit affronted at this statement and pierced Hermione with a withering glare.

“Did you just refer to my Johnson as a ‘pickled’ specimen?” Hermione giggled in responce.

“Did you just refer to your cock as a ‘Johnson’?” He quirked his eyebrow at her sassiness and decided to move onto the subject of the apprenticeship before things got too out of hand like last night, not that he was complaining. He would never get sick of seeing her mouth stuffed with his cock. He shifted in his chair a bit, not wanting Hermione to get sight of the erection he was now sporting thanks to the memory of last night. She was like a bloodhound; she could sniff out his erection before he even knew he had one.

He willed his voice not to come out weak or hoarse and was happy that it sounded somewhat normal when he began speaking. “I think it would be easier to get to the tasks required for your apprenticeship first thing when we meet so that we don’t get too…sidetracked otherwise. Sundays and Mondays we will be discussing theories, going over notes, and generally researching. Wednesdays and Friday we will be brewing unless we otherwise need Fridays and Sundays for collecting ingredients. As I’m sure you know there are certain ingredients that I prefer to gather on my own and of course you will be accompanying me.” Hermione looked excited at the prospect of leaving school to gather supplies. Her head was immediately filled with images of moonlit walks through caves, around mountains, and into valleys with Severus by her side. She was shaken from her fantasies as Severus began speaking again.

“Now, to the next order of business. Your birthday is the 19th of this month, correct?” She looked surprised that he knew this and blushed prettily at the attention.

“Today is Monday the 1st so that means it falls on a Saturday this year. We will celebrate on Friday when you are scheduled to work with me.” He smiled at her and ran his thumb over her bottom lip lovingly. However as quick as he began the show of affection, it stopped. “I think that that is all for the evening Hermione. I wish terribly that you could stay with me tonight, but I have to share the traditional nightcap with the rest of the staff. Albus started it a long time ago and for years we have been doing it at the end of the first day of the school year. We have decided to keep the tradition alive in his memory.”

“Oh, I understand” Hermione stated, though in truth she was a bit disappointed. Well, I am just going to have to get used to it. After all, she chided herself silently; originally we were not going to keep seeing each other at all. She felt a bit better after her mental pep talk and managed to grace him with a bright smile before kissing him goodnight.

It wasn’t quite curfew she noticed as she left, so she decided to stop by Gryffindor tower to speak to Ginny and the boys before heading back to her rooms to get some reading done. Hermione walked into the common room and found the three sitting in a corner of the room at a table working on their homework. Apparently with Hermione not around Ginny had promoted herself to do the nightly whip cracking for the boys. Hermione smile and walked towards them.

“Hey guys, what’s up?”

“Hey Hermione” they chorused together. Ron was the first to ask how her apprenticeship had gone.

“It was great guys, though we didn’t do anything tonight, just discussed what we would do on what days and what’s expected of me. You know all that rubbish. I just wanted to stop by and say hello. I was thinking that it would be fun if you guys came to see my room on Saturday. I don’t have anything going on that day. I figured we could have dinner in my rooms and hang out for awhile then Ginny if you’d like you could spend the night. What do you think guys?” All of them agreed and thought it would be a lot of fun.

Hermione bade them goodnight and made her way back to her rooms. When the portrait swung open to the common room and she stepped through she was surprised to find that Blaise and Millicent were in the common room. She wasn’t too happy with the way they treated Draco at breakfast that morning so she issued a tight hello and turned away. She was halfway up the stairs before she heard Draco calling for her.

“Hermione will you come down here for a moment, we need to talk” Hermione reluctantly turned around and made her way back down the stairs with a sigh. Draco patted the spot next to him on the couch and she sat giving him all her attention.

“Hermione, Blaise and Millicent have apologized to me for their behavior. The thing you need to understand about them is that even though they are in Slytherin they never supported the Dark Lord. Their parents told them to play along with our antics because they feared for their safety. When the war ended they let everyone know their true allegiances, but they assumed I was the bastard they always thought I was. They weren’t renouncing me because I was the good guy Hermione. They were doing it because they though I was another bad guy.”

Hermione looked surprised at this new information but her eyes softened immediately when she looked at Blaise and Millicent. Blaise stood and shook Hermione’s hand smiling at her and before she could stop herself she had smiled back warmly. When Millicent approached, the guys were surprised to see them throw their arms around each other.

“I am so glad to hear that you guys. I wasn’t trying to be a bitch, but I felt bad for Draco. We have all lost so much this war; I forgot that for a moment. Saturday Harry, Ron, and Ginny are coming for dinner and Ginny is going to spend the night. You should come as well and have dinner with us and Millicent you’re more then welcome to stay the night as well.” Millicent smiled and said she would love to. It was decided they would come around 6 for dinner. Hermione hugged them all goodbye and once again climbed the stairs towards her room.

It was a long first day back, but she felt that a lot was accomplished. She sighed in contentment and made her way into her room. She decided a bath was in order and filled her tub with scented foams that were so dense she couldn’t see the water underneath them. Next she slipped off her clothes (the ones she wore for brewing, which they didn’t do she huffed) and sank into the hot bath water. After relaxing and reading for awhile she saw to her hair and shaved her legs then stepped out of the bath.

When Hermione slipped in between the covers of her bed and was surprised when her body hit something solid. She looked up startled and was surprised to be looking into the face of her very own potions master.

“Hello” he purred “Minerva connected our floos so we could be more discreet. I decided to check it out. Now budge up, if I am staying here all night you’re going to have to share more then a quarter of the bed.”

“You’re staying all night?”

“Of course. I also wanted to let you know just how proud I am of you for bringing the students together. In one day you have managed to do more for inter house unity then I have seen the entire time I have been at Hogwarts as a student or professor. You are truly an amazing woman. Goodnight Hermione my love.”

Hermione sucked in a breath at hearing him refer to her as his love, but grinned broadly, kissed him deeply, and wrapped herself around him to drift into a contended sleep.
The first week back flew by quickly and before she knew it Hermione was preparing to have dinner guests on Saturday. She was happy everyone was trying to get along, but hope their personalities were compatible enough to form true friendships. Well, here goes nothing she thought when the portrait announced that her guests had arrived.