All the way

Hermione watched as Severus lowered his hand. Her red hand print stood out against his pale skin. Forgetting why she had slapped him, she was racked with guilt.

Shakily, she walked over to him and turned his face to get a closer look at the damage. Severus seemed stunned, staring off into space.

Gingerly, Hermione reached up and touched the hot print. He flinched a bit, startled.

\"I\'m sorry,\" She tried again weakly, \"Sit down.\"

She pushed him onto the sofa and grabbed her wand from her bag. With a few spells, she conjured cold damp flannel and sat down next to Severus. She pressed the flannel to his cheek as he looked at her with an unreadable expression in his dark eyes.

Finally, it hit Hermione that had she not hit him, he would have hit her. She sucked in a breath but held the flannel steady. She looked into his eyes, but looked away quickly.

\"I shouldn\'t have done that.\" She told him.

\"And why not?\" He whispered back.

\"Because violence never solves anything,\" She answered, “Which makes me wonder what I’ve done that you couldn\'t just talk to me about.\"

She looked up into his eyes and this time he looked away, \"I\'ve never been good at doing stuff like that.\" He said in a low voice.

\"Telling some one your problems is not something that you can be good or bad at,\" Hermione said kindly, \"Look; let me give you an example. These are my problems: I will never get another job outside of Hogwarts, I will have lots of people trying to assassinate me -although that is quite exciting really-, there is obviously something up with you that you won\'t tell me and I really need a new pair of shoes. Now, just tell me what you feel and I will help you the best I can.\"
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Severus took a deep breath. He could do this. All he had to do was open his mouth and let the thoughts slip out. He owed her that much after taking his loss of temper so well.

\"I am so grateful to you, Hermione, for helping me the way you do. I didn\'t mean... to scare you, but as a child I was taught that a man should never show any emotion that could make him weak, such as regret or despair or sadness. I was... gifted,\" He sneered, \"with my fathers temper and have never found a need to learn REAL control over it. Until now of course. I just... don\'t know how to control it.\"

Her face was impassive, but kind and not at all judging. She took the flannel away from his face and let it fall to the floor. Then she looked back at him.

\"Have you ever told any one any of that?\" She asked.

\"No.\" He frowned. What was she getting at?

\"Why?\" She asked again.

\"Because 1) I had no one to tell and 2) even if I did, they would,\" He chose his words carefully, \"take it the wrong way, and I would end up punching them.\"

\"Well there you go!\" Hermione gave a big knowing smile, \"You get so angry because you have no one to tell and all your frustrations gets so pent up that when it gets triggered you explode!\"

Severus looked at her in awe. How could the answer have been so simple? Hermione really didn\'t miss a thing.

\"So,\" She smiled, \"all you have to do, is tell me when some thing irritates you to get it off your chest. Or you can tell some one else, I mean you might not want to tell me.\"

\"The question is, are you willing to listen?\" Severus asked her, only the slightest bit of his pride and adoration of her filling his voice.

\"You should know by know that I will do anything for you.\" She told him earnestly, \"Anything at all.\"

Slowly, so as not to scare her, Severus cupped one of her cheeks and rubbed his thumb against her soft skin. She smiled and covered his hand with hers.

Entranced by the softness in her warm, brown eyes, Severus moved closer and closer. He expected her to jump up at any moment, frightened as hell, but she didn\'t. She only stared.

He moved an inch more and touched his mouth to hers. She moved back a little, but Severus held the back of her head to stop her from going to far.

Right now he needed some sign that she meant what she said. That she would do anything for him. He moved his lips against hers and soon she was moving back. He took comfort in the warm, welcoming feeling they gave him.

Severus dipped his tongue into her wetness and was rewarded when it met with her. He pushed and she pushed back. Severus leaned over her, pushing her back on the arm of the sofa and his hands traveled down to pull her waist to him.
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\"What...\" Hermione gasped out between kisses, \"upset you... this evening...?\"

Severus was claiming her mouth thoroughly. He covered her small body with his as his hands ravaged her curves. He moaned and groaned in abandon, his grip on her possessive, powerful and greedy. Not that Hermione minded that much.
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\"Nothing...\" He panted as he looked down at her with burning eyes, \"nothing at all, my dear...\"

He knew now, that Lupin could never have taken her away from him. She was his now. Forever. He didn\'t think he could live without her.

He didn\'t know when he had become so needy; it was not like him at all, but all he what he did know was that she was going to be his and his alone.