I Will Always Find You

Disclaimer: None of the characters or settings belong to me.

REVIEWERS: Thanks guys!!

Slytheringryffindor21: Thanks, here you go.

angel: I\'m glad you like this so much. I am working on my other story. Dont worry, I won\'t abandon it.

Sarah-Ayn: I know I did. Sorry. I was having a hard time with it. and then when I finally did get it finished my computer decided that it wasn\'t going to let me use my e-mail so I couldn\'t get it beta read and then a storm knocked out our phone lines for about a week. I know, excuses excuses!! LOL

Jonathan: Thanks. I\'ll have to go and fix that. No our pancakes are made with batter and fried on a griddle, covered in butter and syrup and served for breakfast. The square ones with indents are waffles in America too. I\'m glad I\'ve been able to avoid humiliating myself by not knowing enough about the English. LOL Anyway, glad you like the story!

draco\'sladylove: Oh stop!! LOL You\'ll give me a big head!! LOL seriously tho, if you want to read lemons even better than mine, go and read some of my favorites!! Some of them had me fainting in my chair!! Anyway I\'m glad you like it and I\'m very flattered.

Faerierose: I know what you mean. Especially after Half Blood Prince. But that\'s what fanfic is for! At least that\'s my motto! LOL Yes it is a pain to write smut, so I\'m deeply flattered that you like it!

firewall: Thank you very much. I\'m so glad that everyone is still pleased with this story!!

Kara: I\'m gonna finish it, Promise. LOL It might take me awhile; but I\'m gonna finish it.

sevfank: Thank you!!

Lady Granger-Snape: Here you go!

foofie: It\'s all thanks to you guys for reviewing. If I hadn\'t got such a wonderful response to it I probably would have stopped. So thank you.

kari: Thank you. I\'m glad you are enjoying it so much. No, HBP isn\'t going to fit in with my story, so I\'m just going to keep on like I had planned.

Soibahn: LOL I love you too for reviewing. I have wonderful people to help me out with this story. If I hadn\'t shown it to a friend of mine who liked it, it wouldn\'t be on here. And my beta is wonderful. Sunflower never hesitates to tell me if she thinks something needs changed. So it\'s not all me. LOL

Nadia: I\'m very flattered! I\'m glad you like Sera. I hardly ever make a charachter I made up a main charachter. I actually invented her around her name. LOL I actually didn\'t think she was very Slytherin-like; but then I read HBP, and Slughorn isn\'t very Slytherin either. LOL I\'m pretty picky too, so I\'m glad that you like this. I\'ll try and e-mail you; but I am horrible at remembering to.

kitsune: Glad you think so. LOL Yeah, I thought it would be funny to see a bit of Dumbledore rub off on Severus. Actually I debated on how Hermione was going to be in this story, and I thought about it for awhile and I decided that she needed to be very strong. I\'m not a fan of stories where she\'s weak. I\'m not knocking it or anything;(far be it from me to pass judgement! LOL) but to me, Hermione is just very Gryffindor. LOL

La Staphanie: Why thank you! LOL It\'s my dream to become a published author, so your wish may be granted. LOL I\'m glad you like my stories.

Ch. 22 Unfinished Buisness


When Severus arrived back at his quarters, exhausted and still in pain, it took him a few moments to register that Hermione was sleeping on the couch in his sitting room.

She had an old afghan of his pulled across her lap, and there was a book hanging precariously in her right hand.

Her left hand was curled under her cheek supporting her head. Her hair had fallen into her face obscuring half of it.

Severus smiled and made his way to the couch. His nerves were still stinging from the Cruiciatus Curse; but he managed to get there and sit down.

He took off his mask and his heavy black death eaters robes and tossed them in the direction of his rooms.

He still had to report to Albus; but the man could wait until he was feeling a bit steadier on his feet.

He relaxed for a few moments, watching her sleep. Her cheeks were a bit flushed and her hair was wilder than usual. It was catching the minimal light coming from the glowing coals left in his fireplace. She sighed and snuggled further into his sofa turning slightly.

The book fell from her hand and thumped loudly on the floor, startling her into consciousness. She half bent to pick it up before she saw him and nearly fell from the couch.

\"Severus!\" She exclaimed, trying to right herself.

He reached out and helped her settle herself back on the couch before she slid over and wrapped her arms around him. He returned the gesture and held her for long moments, glad that he still had the chance to do so.

\"I was worried about you,\" she mumbled into his neck.

\"I was worried about me too,\" he admitted.

\"Was it bad?\" She asked.

\"Not as bad as I feared,\" he assured her.

He gently detatched her from his neck. \"I have to go and report to Albus. You should go to bed.\"

\"Can I sleep here?\" She asked timidly.

He smiled down at her. \"I wouldn\'t mind. Go on now and get some rest. I\'ll be down when I\'m done.\"

He stood and helped her to her feet and gave her a quick pat on her bottom to get her going.

She dissapeared into his bedroom and he wondered if he was doing the right thing. If either of them perished in the war, the other would be miserable. But he also knew that he would be miserable without her in the first place.

He felt like a cad; but he was determined to find some happiness no matter how long it lasted.

With a last look toward his bedroom, he flooed into Dumbledore\'s office.

~'

Hermione took off her school clothes and put on a nightgown she\'d left in Severus\' rooms. It was clean and folded neatly on one of his mahogany chairs.

She silently thanked the house elves for their discretion, and slipped into Severus\' bed.

The sheets were cool against her skin, and she snuggled into a ball, waiting for them to heat up a little bit. She was still tired; but she knew she wouldn\'t be able to sleep until Severus got back.

She desperately clung to the hope that they would all survive the coming war. Many wizards and witches had already given thier lives for the cause. She just hoped that none more would.

Her thoughts strayed back to Severus, if anyone deserved to walk away from it, it was him. He\'d gone through more than most realized. But then he was so unpleasant to most people that they probably didn\'t give it a second thought.

She wondered if his manner would change after the war. If they defeated Voldemort he would no longer have the need to favor his Slytherins so much. She thought that deep down he didn\'t really like any of them that much.

She was still lost in thought when he came in.

\"Why aren\'t you sleeping?\" He asked softly as he sat down on the edge of the bed and began undressing.

\"I couldn\'t. I\'m worried.\"

He sighed, stopped wrestling one of his boots off and turned to her. \"So am I.\"

They sat and looked at each other for a moment, before Hermione dissolved into tears.

\"What is it?\"

\"I don\'t want to lose you. I don\'t want to lose anybody,\" she sniffled.

He abandoned getting undressed and crawled up to her. Putting his arms around her, he rocked her while she cried.

When she had calmed down a little, he raised her chin and said, \"If it helps, I promise to do my best not to die.\"

She laughed through her tears and smacked his chest lightly. \"Get undressed. We have some unfinished buisness to be getting on with.\"

\"That we do,\" he replied, a mischievious glint in his dark eyes.

Hermione went to the loo for a moment to freshen up and when she came back Severus was in bed waiting for her.

He wordlessly held out a small vial of potion and she walked over and drank it. She knew it was a contraceptive, and admired his forethought.

When she\'d drank it, she tossed the vial over her shoulder and crawled up the bed to him.

\"You\'ll have to be gentle,\" Severus warned her. He was still in a small amount of pain from cruciatus.

\"No problem,\" Hermione whispered back. She fully intended on showing him just how much he meant to her.

She nipped at his lips before capturing them with her own. He responded in kind and she moaned when his tongue swiped through her mouth.

Breaking the kiss, she worked her way down to his neck, nipping and licking his collar bone. His breath hitched when she reached his nipples, she ran her teeth gently over one while scraping a nail over the other.

Severus couldn\'t believe how Hermione was setting his skin on fire. No one had ever made him feel so completely aroused with so little contact.

She was slowly working her way down his stomach, kissing his abdomen in abandon. Every so often her stomach would brush against his rapidly hardening member. The last remnants of pain from the curse were fading quickly.

Hermione was enjoying seducing him for once. She kissed his soft skin with reverence, slowly making her way toward the apex of his legs. She could feel his growing excitement and it only spurred her on.

When she reached her target she slowly drew it into her mouth watching Severus\' face intently. His eyes were half closed and his jaw was clenched. She noted with satisafction that his hands were knotted into the sheets.

Severus was watching Hermione devour him with pleasure. He couldn\'t believe how good her mouth felt wrapped around him. He had wanted her to do this for him for a while; but had been to embarassed to ask her.

His thoughts flew out the window when she slid her tongue over the head. His back arched up off the bed and he tugged at the sheets while hissing out his pleasure through his teeth.

\"Good gods Hermione!\" He gasped.

She smiled as she let him slip from her mouth and grinning wickedly she began licking him like a lollypop.

He made her stop after a few moments of this, and dragged her to him to kiss her breathless.

\"I\'m guessing I did all right.\" she panted after he finally broke the kiss.

\"Love, you are amazing.\"

She giggled and then squealed when he flipped them over and settled himself over top of her.

Severus lost himself tasting her. He sucked and licked at her nipples, revelling in the little sighs and wimpers rolling from her beautiful lips. He strove to show her just how much he felt for her.

He worked his way down to her tidy thatch of curls and stroked his way in with his tongue, parting her folds easily.

She moaned loudly and writhed beneath him. He smiled and tongued her deeply,following this with a flick to her clit. She was sopping and quite ready for him; but he wanted to return her favor.


After a few moments she moaned, \"Oh Severus please, I can\'t stand it anymore. I need you!\"


He grinned and slowly gave her one last lick before sliding up her body, coming to rest between her legs.

Her eyes were bright and sparkling with want and he could have looked into them for hours; but Hermione insistantly ground her pelvis into his, making him hiss.

Propping himself on his left arm, he used his right to position himself at her opening. He slid the head of his member around her sopping opening, coating it in her juices before slowly sliding it inside.

She gasped and clutched at him, her fingernails digging into the flesh of his biceps. She wiggled a little, trying to get him to slide in deeper; but he retreated slightly to counter her.

\"Severus, are you trying to kill me?\" She gasped.

\"No, my love.\" He slammed into her with his words and she screamed out her pleasure.

Once again he slowed the pace, gently retreating and teasing her unmercifully.

\"You are trying to kill me.\" She panted, wiggling her hips impatiently.

He chuckled and repeated his actions, making her scream again.

After that he could no longer hold back and to Hermiones\' delight set up a fast hard pace. Her back arched up off of the bed, her breasts jutting out into his face.

He gladly took a nipple into his mouth and laved it with his tongue, while reaching down to give her clit a flick.

This was more than Hermiones\' overloaded senses could take and she let out a shriek as she came, arched even further off of the bed.

Severus gave in to his own pleasure and thrust a few more times before coming with a strangled yell.

He controlled himself enough to fall to the side instead of directly on top of her. She was coming down from her orgasm and began stroking his hair.

As soon as he could, he gently withdrew himself and fumbled around for his wand to perform a cleansing spell.

With this done, he curled Hermione around him and said, \"Sleep now, we\'re going to need our rest.\"

\"Goodnight,\" she whispered into his chest.

Severus knew no more until morning.


AN: Whew!! Hope you guys liked that! LOL