Love is Blind

Chapter 18

The afternoon went by in a haze for Hermione. She and Severus had attended
lunch and afterwards found themselves back in the Potions lab, reading and
talking. Severus had proposed the idea of giving her wandless magic and
spellcasting lessons in the afternoons after his last class. He knew that
Hermione wouldn’t want anyone else to know that one of the most powerful
witches in the world was unable to cast a simple summoning charm. She agreed to
this and after his last class of the day they were to meet in his chambers.

Hermione was quickly adjusting to walking through the castle with the aid of
her cane. Ten years of walking the corridors helped a bit seeing as she knew
every route to almost every classroom in the castle. Winky accompanied her and
helped guide her around if she inadvertently stepped into an alcove or if the
stairways decided to move at an inopportune time.

Hermione arrived in Severus’ chambers a bit earlier than expected. He was
still in class with the seventh year Slytherins. She let herself in, since he
had thought ahead and set the wards to recognize her and let her enter. Winky
helped guide her through to Severus’ sitting room, which smelled of dust,
leather and parchment. Hermione couldn’t tell if the leather scent was from the
books she knew that lined the walls or of the leather furniture that sat by the
fireplace.

It had been a while since she had been in Severus’ chambers. Most of their
work and discussions took place in the lab or in the classroom. His chambers
were his sanctuary and Hermione felt like she was intruding whenever she had to
enter them. The last time she was here, it was to retrieve a book that Severus
needed for the Wolfsbane. You can learn a lot about a person by the way they
decorate. Where Hermione imagined his chambers to be dark and forbidding, they
were uncharacteristically warm and cozy, yet not quite inviting. Looking back
at her first impression of his décor, she didn’t think it fit with him; but
now, knowing his other side, it reflected him perfectly.

Hermione felt her way to the shelf on the wall. She picked a book at random
and started running her fingers over the pages. She was somewhat shocked to
have picked Shakespeare. Albus had given her Shakespeare to test the Stone. Now
she was sitting in Severus Snape’s sitting room reading another of the Master’s
works. This one was her favorite, seeing as she was named after the queen in
the story. Her mother used to read ‘A Winter’s Tale’ to her as a young
teenager. Hermione’s heart ached at the thought of her mother. It was going on
seven years since her parents were killed, but time doesn’t heal all wounds.

Severus entered his rooms to see Hermione sitting on his couch with her head
in her hands and her body shaking. He dismissed Winky and sat gingerly beside
the upset woman.

\"Hermione? What’s wrong?\" She lifted up the book. \" ‘A
Winter’s Tale?’ Is that where your parents got your name?\" She nodded
mutely. \"Love, you have a beautiful name. Hermione was a strong woman and
so are you, I believe that the name suits you perfectly. Why are you
crying?\"

She shook her head lightly and smiled at his misunderstanding. "No,
it’s not that. My mum used to read this to me. It just brought back some
memories that have long been buried."

\"Tell me about her,\" he said softly. He knew that her parents had
been killed by Voldemort’s cronies back in her sixth year. He had heard of the
plans at a Death Eater’s meeting and rushed back as soon as he could to warn
Albus, but it was too late – the Grangers had been killed and he couldn’t have
stopped it.

Hermione raised her head to face him. A look of disbelief crossed her face.
"Really?"

Severus took her hand in his and whispered, \"Yes. I want to learn more
about you and that includes your family. I’m sorry about them. I don’t think I
ever apologized for not acting fast enough.\"

\"Severus Snape! Stop that! Voldemort killed them to get to me in order
to get to Harry. If you had stopped him from killing two Muggles with a
Gryffindor for a daughter, you would have been killed on the spot, right beside
them. I don’t blame you for anything. I think they were dead long before that
meeting that night, too. But that’s just me.\"

Severus harrumphed, squeezing her hand again, prodding her to tell him about
her parents. \"Well, my parents were dentists. My dad was quite a bit older
than my mum. I think twelve years older, in fact. I was an only child and the
spitting image of my mum. I wanted to be just like her. She was loving,
generous, smart and beautiful. Then I got my Hogwarts letter and everything
changed. I don’t mean that in a bad way. My parents were more than supportive
of my abilities. They were just as intrigued by magic as Minister Weasley is of
anything Muggle.\" Severus snorted causing Hermione to smile. \"I loved
them with all my heart, I never had to want for anything. I wasn’t spoiled, per
se, but I was loved and I was supported. Many people I know never got any of
that. Sometimes the richest people are the ones with the least money. We had
both, but we didn’t flaunt it like the Malfoys or the Parkinsons.\" Severus
had wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. He knew that if she
could cry, she would. He stayed silent as she continued.

\"My mum was my best friend. She was always there for me. When I dated
Viktor Krum, she was there to pick up the pieces of my broken heart. When I got
12 O.W.L.s she was ecstatic. When Voldemort returned, she was scared. We never
expected it to hit that close to us. I miss them.\" She snuggled into his
chest more and he let the tears in his eyes fall for her.

\"I wish she could have met you,\" she said after a while.
\"It’s funny. I would always come home for the holiday complaining about my
evil git of a Potions Master, and here I am crying on his shoulder. My mum
would laugh so hard at me.\"

\"Do you think they would approve?\" he asked nervously. Severus was
old-fashioned. He always tried to impress the parents of his prospective
girlfriends. Lily’s parents had taken him in like a son, much to his surprise.
Her sister, on the other hand, who would have given any Slytherin competition
if she hadn’t been a squib, despised him. The feeling was mutual.

\"Approve of us? I would like to think so. They were always concerned
about my happiness, I guess as long I am happy, they would have been fine with
it.\"

\"Are you happy?\"

\"Very,\" she answered honestly.

They sat curled up on the couch for a long while before Severus prodded her
and reminded her of the real reason they were there. It was time to start
working on blind spellcasting. Hermione was reluctant to leave the warmth of
his embrace, but he assured her that once the lesson was over they could go
back to the couch for some more of what ever she wanted. He didn’t even try to
hide the undertones flowing through that proposition.

Severus and Hermione worked well past dinner on trying to get her to focus
on the magic flowing through her and off of her. She was learning rather
quickly that you don’t have to see what you want to do, but rather envision it
and it would work. Soon it was dark outside and Severus was walking Hermione to
her rooms.

He kissed her lightly before reluctantly turning to go back to his own
rooms. Before he could get completely out of her portrait hole, she had pulled
him back in and pinned him against the wall.

\"Please, Severus, stay here with me. I don’t know if I can sleep alone.
I really don’t want to,\" she said as her face drooped in embarrassment of
the confession.

He sighed heavily, but it was a contented sigh. He had been hoping that she
would ask him to stay. He didn’t want to take it for granted, or take
advantage. He was very relieved that he didn’t have to sleep with empty arms.
His hand cupped her chin and he raised her face to his.

When his lips met hers, she knew that if he had his way, she would never be
sleeping alone again. And she really liked that idea. Silently they went into
her bedroom and slept in each others arms. They were content to only hold each
other and sleep, although, the morning would probably be a different story.