What He Wants

Severus paced the confines of his small sitting room restlessly, his mind whirling with this night's events.

He had kissed her.

He didn't know why the idea floored him so; he had planned to do that and more. He had planned to take her completely but not before thoroughly enjoying her company first. He had planned to bring her back to his rooms, have a pleasant conversation, and then fuck her silly.

Well, that went well, he thought wryly.

She was... innocent, though.

He supposed that was the reason he felt so out of sorts over the whole situation.

The very same woman he had seen curse full grown Death Eaters with a viciousness that boggled the mind, was still a virgin. There was just something inherently wrong about a young woman that had managed to kill before experiencing the ways of love. It also drove home the point that still she was so young.

Gods, what was he thinking, wanting to take her like that.

He still wanted her, as the knowledge of her innocence didn't deter that notion in the least. He would just have to go slower, make sure he did nothing to scare her away.

At least she had been receptive, quite receptive in fact.

The feel of her lips still lingered on his, as did her taste in his mouth, her hand on his...

He threw himself into the old, Victorian settee placed strategically in front of his now cold hearth, and pinched the bridge of his prominent nose.

How to deal with this new set of variables?

Could he handle going slower? Or would it drive him insane to have her within arms reach, willing, only to deny the urge.

He could always teach her the ways of pleasure; teach her to want his body as much as he wanted hers. Incorporate physical pleasure into a more stimulating form of seduction, until she begs him to make love to her, not to humiliate, but to prepare her.

Though not quite what he was hoping for, there would still be a certain amount of satisfaction in having her writhing with desire under his careful tutelage.

And, as luck would have it, she would be in class tomorrow.

Yes, Hermione Granger's education would begin very soon, and seventh year double potions was about to get very interesting indeed.



******


It had been one of the most unnerving days, she had ever spent at Hogwarts, and the most disturbing part of the day hadn't even occurred yet.

Double Potions.

With him.

He had stared quite openly at her during breakfast, no doubt trying to calculate her reaction to the night before. After that, she had spent the rest of the day thinking of little else. To be fair, she doubted she would have been any more coherent to anything other than those events, even if he hadn't distracted her.

Now she was at lunch, and again, he was staring.

She looked up, just to verify that he was the cause of the intense shivers that made her squirm uneasily in her seat. Sure enough, his dark eyes were on her, glittering in a very Dumbledore-like way.

His mouth quirked in a half grin, and the cheeky bastard had the nerve to wink at her saucily.

She bit her bottom lip, looked away, and blushed profusely. In doing so, she completely missed the self-satisfied smirk that replaced the grin.

Oh god.

She was about to spend the next two hours with him in class. If he were bold enough to flirt with her in the Great Hall in front of the entire student body, and staff, how would he treat her in a dark classroom?

How did she want him to treat her?

She pretty much decided that she was willing to give him a chance the night before and had even felt secure in the decision to do so this morning. She couldn't deny the fact that she was nervous though, and the idea that he would want to have sex with her, eventually, was more than a bit intimidating. She wasn't so sure that her lack of experience would be in anyway satisfying for him.

Would he still want her if she couldn't please him?

Sex had never been something she thought about, unlike most of the other girls her age. She had of course, received all the standard lectures on the subject, but she had never pursued outside knowledge or even paid attention when her friends discussed it.

Now, she wished she had.

Would he be patient with her?

Would he be willing to show her the way?

She chanced a glance at him, only to find him still staring at her, with a mildly amused smirk that she had become familiar with in their time together. A smirk that meant he knew he had the upper hand with her, as he usually did in most cases. She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. She wanted to flirt back.

She noticed his gaze drift slightly lower, presumably to her lips. Then she remembered something she had seen Lavender Brown do once, and proceeded to lick said lips in the most enticing way she knew how.

That caught his attention, not that she didn't already have it. He stiffened slightly in response, but the smirk only seemed to embed itself further into his expression.

She watched him push himself away from the table, and stand. Their eyes locked together, and she followed his progress as he passed behind the rest of the staff. She knew beyond a shadow of doubt that he was coming her way and would not resist saying something to her. When she couldn't look at him any more without being obvious, she returned her gaze to her plate.

And even though she knew he was coming, she still stiffened when she felt him approach from behind.

"Brace yourself, Miss Granger," he whispered softly against the shell of her ear, his lips brushing against the spot lightly.

She couldn't help the shiver that made her tremble visibly, and as quickly as he had come, he was gone.

"What did he say to you, 'Mione?" Ron asked an edge in his tone that she didn't care for one bit.

"If he had meant for you to know, I'm sure he would have said it loud enough for you to hear, Ron," she replied with an irritated sigh.

"I don't like it. I don't like the way he looks at you. There something not right about it," Ron hissed angrily, the tips of his ears turning red.

"And I don't much care for the way you’re acting," she said, her own anger rising as well. "It's none of your business what goes on between Professor Snape and me, Ron, and as far as I'm concerned you have long since lost the right to care."

Ron gave her a rather dumbfounded look as she pushed her plate away and stood up abruptly.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class to get to."

And with that, she marched herself out of the Great Hall.

He watched her leave, all the while feeling that he had missed something very important.

"What did she mean by that?" he asked to no one in particular.

"If you don't know, then you truly have lost the right to care," Harry replied from his left.

"Care to explain it to me then?"

"You broke her heart, Ron," Harry replied simply as he took another bite of his lunch, chewed it methodically, and then swallowed. "I'd say she’s pretty much over it by now though," he added reflectively.

"Be serious, Harry. How could I have broken her heart when we've never been together?"

Harry sighed deeply. "That's the point Ron. She waited and waited for you to notice her, but you never did. You were too busy dating every other girl that came your way. It tore her apart, and she just... gave up on you. I suspect the only reason she is still your friend is more out of habit than anything else; so I guess she feels like you don't have the right to complain about who she chooses to spend her time with now."

"But she's choosing to spend it with Snape, of all people. That doesn't bother you?"

Harry shrugged. "It did at first, but after talking to him about it, I realized that he really does care about her, and despite him being who he is, I don't think he would ever hurt her. Besides, I told him I would kill him if he ever did, which I might add, he took exceptionally well."

Ron sat back and digested this new piece of information. He could hardly believe that Hermione would actually throw him aside for Snape, no matter what Harry said. As for breaking her heart, he figured that if he had it once, he could have it again. He would not stand idly by and let that greasy git take her away from him. He would get her back, if for no other reason than to keep her away from the one man he hated more than even Voldemort.

And now that Voldemort was dead, Snape was definitely at the top of his list.

All he needed was a plan.



*****



Meanwhile down in the dungeons, another plan was formulating to insure that one Severus Snape would forever secure the heart of Hermione Granger.



*****



Hermione lingered in the corridor outside of the classroom, hoping that some of the other students would arrive soon so she would not have to face him alone. She felt oddly out of sorts after his little display at lunch and the whispered words that made her stomach clinch tightly every time she thought about their meaning.

She was reasonable certain he wouldn't do anything to hurt her, at least not intentionally, but she didn't trust him for one moment not to try something. Though what that could be, she had no clue.

Severus Snape in seduction mode was an unnerving concept at best. To be the one he actually directed that effort towards was just down right frightening.

The way he kissed her the night before, had been down right heated, and her body had reacted in most unexpected ways. After the encounter at lunch, she found that just his presence in the same room could bring her to a very similar state. Not to mention the way his rich, deep voice had sounded in her ear. Had she been a more experienced woman, she would have realized just how close she had come to having an orgasm from such a simple thing.

She needed reassurances.

She needed to know that he would not force her into a situation that could turn out disastrous, for both of them.

What if he decided her lack of experience wasn't worth the effort?

What if she turned out to be frigid?

Ron once told her that she probably would be, and she had often thought that was the reason he had never been interested in her beyond a brief fumble that he only did because of a dare. Not that she had put much stock in it at the time, but when faced with a man like Severus, she couldn't help but let that insecurity override her better judgment.

What if Severus rejected her in the end as well?


Little did she know that was the furthest thing from the Potions master's mind.


*****