Goodnight, Demon Slayer

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Sorry it's been so long! I wanted to get this up (heehee! Get it up!) so it's neither betaed nor spell-checked, so I hope it's actually in English!
This chapter is dedicated to Becky
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Goodnight, Demon Slayer
Chapter Fifteen:
Hermione Helps the Helpless

As happy as she was with the way Harry’s party had ultimately ended up, Hermione wondered earnestly when the awful apprehension she felt every time she thought of seeing Severus would dissipate. It wasn’t as if she was scared of him- hadn’t been since first year. Okay, since the middle of second year if she was being truthful. And it wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him; she did. A lot. She wanted to spend time with him and hold him and call him stupid little pet names and give him gifts for no good reason.

It was the getting to that point that she couldn’t really manage.

God! No books or movies or television programs ever went through this predicament! The way love was supposed to go, in the popular sense, was meet, fall in love, kiss, have lots of sex, and at some point form a normal relationship from the above-mentioned steps. Never was there a mention of the awkward "I wonder if he likes my hair this way" or "Do I LOOK as bad as I feel?" phase. No, culture had jilted Hermione. Love was supposed to be hugs and puppies, not blurting out stupid things for no apparent reason.

And, so, on the fifth-to-last morning before her parents were to arrive home (she was counting), Hermione sat at her kitchen table gazing into her now soggy bowl of cereal and trying to think of witty, cute things to say to Severus when he came downstairs for his breakfast. Yesterday he had surprised her and before she could open her mouth to say what she’d been planning, he’d asked her how she was, planting a small kiss on the top of her head as he slid past her to make his toast. Thrown, Hermione could only manage to choke out the idiotic response of two misfiring synapses. At first, she had meant to say "okay" but in the middle of that word, she decided to go with "alright" and ended up only garbling a moronic "oright."

Trying to cover up the mistake, she’d yawned.

"Alright, love? You seem tired."

"No, it’s… uh… I’m fine." Fine. There’s a nice monosyllabic word for you, Hermione. Stick to those- hard to change up on you.

No, there would be no repeat of the "oright" debacle today, Hermione decided (though in her logical mind she knew Severus hadn’t even noticed the slip-up). She would be ready for him. Today, she would be like a lioness, carefully sussing out her situation and ever-ready to pounce on her prey.

"Morning, Hermione."

DAMN!

"Hi, Severus," she greeted. At least she hadn’t mangled his name. Grabbing his breakfast and flopping into a chair across from Hermione, Severus began to slowly eat.

"So, what are we up to today?" he questioned.

"Well, it’s raining again, so I’m guessing something inside," Hermione responded, a tiny smile on her face. She knew exactly what Severus wanted to do. He’d been watching "Buffy" all summer long, and she knew he was close to the end of the series. He tried to deny that he’d been spending so much time watching television while he could have been reading or doing something constructive, but she could hear his television blaring through her wall when he thought she was asleep.

Silly, silly British man.

She knew he’d want to continue watching today, but he was entirely too much of a man to ask to watch the "bloody ignorant rubbish," and it was kind of fun to see the different ways he came up with to ask her.

"I don’t know," he drawled, skimming the front page of the Daily Prophet. "We could… read or… I have lessons to plan… or we could use the computer…"

"I’m feeling kind of sluggish today," Hermione lied. He was so cute when he was floundering, but she loved him too much to let him stay that way for long. "Maybe we could just watch some movies or, I don’t know… some television."

It was over so quickly she would have missed it had she been a bit less observant, but she caught the tiny smile play over his lips at the mention.

"I guess so. It just seems such a waste to be stuck inside so much this summer."

"Yeah," Hermione drawled. "I know that if you were at Hogwarts you would be jogging around the lake as we speak. Come on, admit it. You hate the outdoors, you dungeon dweller."

"Yes, well.. Good point." He smiled at her then, almost shyly and reached across the table to take her hand. Hermione blushed and smiled back at him. This was more like it. Kind of.

It had been weeks since Harry's party, and the most Severus and Hermione had done was some making out. Some very, very limited under-the-shirt-but-over-the-bra kind of making out. She had no idea what he was waiting for, but he seemed to be taking the whole waiting-for-her thing seriously. She really, really hoped he'd cut it out soon. If he waited for her to make the first move they would be in this little predicament for forsoddingever. She wanted him so badly and wanted to have him touch her so, so much, but she knew she could never tell him.

So she guessed she'd have to settle with hand holding and light petting until he finally got frustrated.

"So you're not feeling too well today, Hermione?" he asked, concern evident on his face. Blushing again, Hermione began to rub Severus' hand.

"Not bad, really. Just kind of off. It's nothing, really. In fact, tell you what? Take the morning to do whatever you need to do, and I will do something special for you for lunch and the afternoon."

"Hermione, I don't want to offend you, but..."

"What? Do you have plans?"

"No, it's just that... well... you've never... uh... cooked for me before and your mum said..."

"Oh, God! She's always doing that!" Hermione cried. "She always tells everyone I'm so awful with domestic things just because I'm not interested in her super-secret recipes and things! Don't worry, Severus. How badly could I mess up lunch? Besides, if you really don't like it we can always order in. Now, go. I'm going to surprise you." Hermione did not budge, and so with one final glance and shrug of his shoulders, Severus left the kitchen.

"Goddammit! Now I've got to plan something!"

And so, the morning flew by with Hermione regretting that she'd so vehemently defended her nonexistent cullinary skills. She knew what she was going to do for entertainment this afternoon. She knew Severus wanted to watch television, so that's what they would do, but lunch? Lunch was a different story.

That is, until she spotted Severus' wand forgotten on the kitchen counter. It wasn't quite disobeying the restriction for underage magic if she wasn't using her own wand, was it? She hoped not and quickly retrieved tand,and, conjuring up a lunch that she never, ever would have been able to make otherwise. She knew sooner or later Severus would know what she'd done, but she didn't really care.

Lunch went well, if unspectacularly, and soon Severus and Hermione were huddled together on the couch, watching "Buffy." Hermione leaned back in Severus' arms, contented and comfort. T. There were so many things about Severus that had surprised Hermione this summer, but she would have to say his interest in Muggle television and his propensity to cuddle were some of the most intriguing. For so many years, she'd thought him such a two-dimensional person, so singularly-focused, and it was still funny to her to see that there were aspects to him other than asshole teacher and tortured double agent for the Order.

It was kind of cute, actually.

Hermione and Severus had been watching the television for a little over an hour when Hermione felt him shift uncomfortably behind her.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," he replied in a tone that suggested that he was anything but. "It's just that... why would she... BE... with that guy? Everyone KNOWS she belongs with Angel!" Hermione had to stifle a giggle. One more thing about Severus- he never felt anything half-way. He enjoyed "Buffy" and by God, he was going to be emotionally involved in it.

"Spike's hot, love," giggle Hermione.

"She belongs with Angel. He's a good man, trying to make up for all the evil he's done. He just wants to make amends and be a better man." Once again, Hermione smiled. She wondered if he even knew he was describing himself.

"Someone has repentance issues," Hermione joked, immediately regretting her words at the instant tensing of Severus' arms around her.

"You know I do," he whispered, barely breathing. Turning to face him, Hermione gently smiled and ran her hands over his chest. He lowered his eyes, not wanting her to see the absolute disgust he felt in himself. So many things to be repentant for, so many things he wished now he'd never done, and all of it boiled down to one stupid, rash decision he'd made as a youth.

What was worse than that decision, though, was the fact that for years he hadn't felt any regret for the acts he'd committed. He'd revelled in death and destrustion, hatred and bigotry. He'd enjoyed killing and raping; he'd truly believed that Mudbloods were beneath him, less than human. He'd killed, maimed, and raped hundreds of mothers, daughters, sisters, brothers, sons, and fathers.

And he hadn't really cared.

Yes, he had repentance issues as Hermione had so eloquently put it, but he felt entirely justified in it. He deserved to feel guilty and hurt and torn up for the rest of his life. He was a bad, bad man, and even if he lived a thousand years he could never make up for everything he'd done. He could never make amends for even one stolen life.

Hermione looked earnestly into his eyes, cupping the side of his face and smiling sweetly.

"I love you, Severus." His eyes lit upon her face then, so full of hurt and torment, and it almost seemed that Hermione's words had hurt him more than assuaged him. But there was a hint of pleading in his eyes, a silent prayer that she really meant it, even though she knew everything he'd been and everything he'd done. "I love you," she repeated, laying tiny light kisses on each of his closed eyes. "I love you. I love you. I love you." She continued whispering to him in an unhurried rhythm, kissing him lightly as she did so, stopping only after she heard him hoarsely whisper her name. Looking straight into his eyes, Hermione did not give him a reassuring smile, she did not tell him everything would be alright. She simply stared at him intently.

"I love you." She kissed him once again, this time forceful and needy. She needed him to know how she felt. She needed him to know how much she wanted him and loved him, no matter what he'd done. Severus groaned as her tongue entered his mouth, and as she rolled to her back and pulled him on top of her, he had no choice but to abandon everything and lose himself in her kiss.

The kiss soon escalated, and again Severus moaned her name, feeling her rub herself against him in a way that could in no way be misinterpreted. Underneath him, Hermione was moving with all the skill sixteen years of pent-up frustration could afford her, and it was driving him crazy. There was no mistaking her intentions as she licked and kissed along the entire length of his neck while her hands busily worked on untucking his shirt. In one swift movement, she had tugged the t-shirt out of the waistband of his jeans and was pulling it over his head. She gasped at the sight of him, grinning slyly. She'd always had a thing for chests and arms. She had no idea why. But Severus' chest was well-defined but not bulky and it was all she could do to wait long enough for him to regain his balance over her before she started kissing him up and down.

Severus, for his part, was rendered speechless, breathless, and in a very short amount of time, pantsless. Hermione giggled at the look of shock on his face as she undid the buttons on his jeans and deftly slid the offending garment down his legs.

"Hermione?" he managed to sputter. "Are you sure, 'cause if you want to stop- oh, God!"

That Hermione did not want to stop was an understatement. While simultaneously pumping her still-clothed hips against him, she had run a tiny hand down his chest and taken hold of him in a most intimate way. At his garbled question, Hermione simply smiled, mock sincerity and innocence playing across her features and in her voice.

"What is it, Severus? Do you want me to stop?" she cooed, taking his hand and leading it to the waist of her jeans.

"I..." To the top button of her jeans.

"Erm..." And the second button.

"It's not that I..." The last button.

"Oh! I mean, I just..." To her wet panties.

"No, don't stop!" And around the moist cloth to her dripping center.

Hermione gasped at his touch, the first beside her own she'd ever felt, and pulled her hand away, letting Severus continue on his own, and though entirely enthralled by the tiny motions Severus was making under her clothes, she was centered enough to know that she needed to get them off.

The clothes. Not her and Severus. Not yet at least.

Hermione hastily tugged the tight jeans down her legs and off, taking her underwear with them. She had every intention of moving further up her body and removing her shirt and bra, but at the sudden sensation of Severus' fingers at her very sensitive entry, she stopped dead in her tracks and bucked up to meet him, moaning. Severus grinned like a wolf and crushed his lips to hers almost violently, and with immense care but unstoppable desire, he slipped a finger inside her. Hermione tried to cry out at the intrusion, but all sound was cut off by his mouth which was still moving against hers. He smiled against her lips, and as she began moving in rhythm with his thrusts, he moved his lips from hers to her neck and her still-clothed chest.

Almost lost in sensation, Hermione flailed for any lifeline to reality, anything to keep her from going over the edge just yet, and once again took hold of his throbbing erection. Now it was Severus' turn to moan as she enthusiastically began working him up and down. Almost violently, he ripped her shirt from her chest and managed somehow to disentangle and remove her bra.

"Severus! Oh, God! Severus!" Soon, though she'd never really remember how, Hermione and Severus were both naked, aroused, and quite eager to move their relationship forward.

And move forward they did.

Until the knock at the door, that is.

Hermione whimpered, not wanting to go, and for a while, Severus' silent actions had her completely convinced that whoever was at the door was unimportant, but the knocking came again. And again. And again more insistently.

Whoever you are, you're rude, Hermione thought, disentagling herself from Severus, who scowled.

"I'll be right back, you cry baby," she chided as she hastily pulled on her jeans and top, no undergarments. Why should she bother? She'd be back out of them soon enough, she figured.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Severus rolled his eyes and beat his fist against the carpet, and Hermione couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. "Five minutes, tops." She smiled at him then, his obvious arousal making her salivate. Maybe she would just let whoever was at the door leave a message...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Dammit!

Hermione rolled her eyes and pursed her lips, walking away from Severus and toward the door.

"I swear to God, someone had better be dead!"

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Thank you so much, guys! I'm sorry it's been so long, but between my ass-suckingly awful real life and my completely all-encompassing crush on Carlos Alazraqui (James Garcia on Reno 911!), it's been hard to write anything good. Hope that this passes for good! If it doesn't, screw you 'cause I ain't writing it again! Thank you all for your reviews, but I have food poisoning right now and have expended all my energy on vomiting and am entirely too tired to do individual reviews. Next time, okay?

YOU ALL ROCK, AND I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!