The First Summer and Summer Series

Severus was horrified the next morning to find Great Uncle Samuel was still at the Granger house.

“He won’t leave,” complained his fa-in--in-law. “Says he knows that Ron is a wizard and he wants to go with us to see him do magic today.”

“And where did he get the idea that Ron was a wizard?” Hermione asked suspiciously.

“The vicar told me!” Uncle Samuel said smugly. “Didn’t you, Vicar?”

Severus felt his face going a bit pink as his wife and in-laws glared.

“It was a joke, Uncle Samuel,” he tried lamely.

“Weren’t no joke. I saw his magic wand!”

“Oh Severus!” Hermione sighed then started to giggle. Soon they all were laughing.

“Take the old boy along,” he urged. “We can do a memory charm later.”

mionmione had booked a large wizard hall in London for the ceremony. Dumbledore himself had agreed to solemnize the rites. The Grangers looked on with awe at the building. It swarmed with witches and wizards of all ages. Uncle Samuel was almost struck dumb, his head on a swivel.

The Weasleys led the Grangers off to the front of the hall while Severus, Hermione, Ginny and Ron moved to the back to meet with Dumbledore.

The old wizard’s eyes sparkled. “And are we all ready?”

“Ready,” Hermione smiled.

“Ron, you have the handfasting cords?” Dumbledore asked.

“Yeah, they’re right here,” Ron pulled out the heavy ornate black and gold cords that Severus had brought home the month before.

Dumbledore looked at the cords with some surprise, “Tell me Severus, where did you manage to find them?”

“How did you know Severus chose them?” Hermione asked in amazement.

Dumbledore winked before replying, “My dear, this is just exactly the sort of thing I would expect your husband to buy. Although where he found them is beyond me!”

“It wasn’t really that difficult,” Severus admitted uncomfortably. “Shall we get started?”

It was good, Hermione reflected as she walked up the aisle, to see so many good friends and familiar faces. It was slightly disconcerting to see Lucius Malfoy right up fron thn the spot usually reserved for the groom’s family. She hated the thought of him being that closely associated to her husband. She especially hated the look on Malfoy’s face. Oh, he was handsome enough! His perfect hair shone brightly against the dark rich materials of his robes. But his expression was so superior, so arrogant, so condescending! She glanced away from him quickly and instead focused on her groom.

Severus looked so handsome in his dress robes! So strong and dark and sexy! She knew she could trust him with her life. He would always protect her. As she looked into his eyes she could see his love and pride in her. He extended his hand and she took it willingly, enthusiastically. They belonged to each other now. For always.

Hermione found that the wizard ceremony felt more real than the muggle service had. She supposed that was because the wizard world was her world now. As she stood beside Severus repeating their vows of love and fidelity, she could sense a magical power of goodness and strength emanating from all of her loved ones around her. It was comforting and they both drew strength from it.

Dumbledore held out the ritual blade to nick her wrist, but Hermione felt no apprehension. A small red bead appeared under the point of the knife but there was no pain. A similar drop soon shone on Severus’s arm. Dumbledore began to reach forward to draw their hands together but Severus stopped him. Slowly he picked up Hermione’s hand and brought it up to his mouth. His eyes met hers questioningly as he lowered his lips down into a loving kiss, delicately drinking the ruby drop from her skin the way he had once described Lucius Malfoy as doing to his bride.

Hermione froze. This wasn’t part of the original plan although she remembered clearly that he had wanted it to be.

“Ugh! I always knew you were a vampire!” Ron whispered in disgust.

Dumbledore’s mouth twitched, as though he were trying not to laugh at Ron’s discomposure.

Severus waited a moment ermiermione gave him a look that she hoped said, ‘You bastard! I said I didn’t want to do that!’ then she returned the gesture. She kissed the blood from his wrist then surreptitiously licked her lips to be sure none remained. It tasted coppery. Actually, it hadn’t been as gross as she thought it was going to be. In fact, maybe it was rather romantic after all. Severus smiled at her gratefully. She wasn’t sorry to have done it. She smiled back.

Behind her she could hear Lucius murmuring, “Lovely! Very tastefully done!”

Next, Dumbledore joined their hands. Ron and Ginny each took an end of the handfasting cords and assisted the old wizard in fastening them. He murmured a spell and Hermione felt the cords magically tighten on their wrists, binding her securely to Severus.

“You are now officially husband and wife!” Dumbledore declared triumphantly.

Severus, smiling more broadly, more proudly than Hermione had ever seen, gathered her up in his free arm and kissed her with a fiery passion. A cheer went up over the hall. As they walked back down the aisle they were almost blinded by hundreds of good luck charms being cast at them from all sides.

“That’s it! We’re well and truly married!” Hermione declared. “Remind me to talk to you later about that little change of ceremony midstream.”

“I thought it was rather nice,” Severus replied.

“Nicer than I thought,” Hermione admitted. “But you should have warned me.”

They took up their places by the door and greeted each of their friends as they filed past them on their way to the reception.

Minerva McGonagall was one of the first to kiss them both. “I’m so very pleased for you! But I have to admit Hermione, I a lia little surprised. Such an archaic tradition!”

“The blood part? That wasn‘t exactly planned,” Hermione began.
No, No, not about the blood mixing about the, um...”

“Yes! Yes!” Professor Flitwick, had joined them. “I was going to comment on that. Haven’t seen those in years! Didn’t know they made them any more.”

Both McGonagall and Flitwick reached forward and fingered the heavy silk handfasting cords. Confused, Hermione looked up at Severus but he was busy greeting the next guest.

Lucius Malfoy was irritatingly condescending in his attitude. “I must admit Severus, I was surprised to see you had done the thing properly. I was a little afraid that marrying a Muggleborn you might suddenly go modern on us.”

“Hardly,” Severus replied haughtily.

Lucius allowed the head of his cane to brush their handfasting cords. “Beautiful workmanship. I daresay they‘re strong enough.” He looked Hermione straight in the eye, gave her an insolent leer and a chuckle.

It was beginning to occur to Hermione that the handfasting cords had more significance than she knew. And she was starting to have a bad feeling of what that significance might be. Even Mrs. Weasley looked at them with some surprise, but said nothing. He wouldn’t have! Would he? She had told him ‘no’! But then she had told him ‘no’ about drinking the blood too!

“Severus,” Hermione finally asked, with clenched but smiling teeth. “When do we get to take off the handfasting cords?”

“Later,” he commented.

“How much later?” she asked.

But Severus immediately turned to greet another guest. After that he seemed to make a point of busily talking teryoeryone who walked by and not letting her get a word in edgewise. Her apprehension grew. Surely he hadn’t! She wriggled her wrist against the cord. It held tightly. She pulled at it surreptitiously. It seemed to shrink forcefully against her skin. She caught Severus glancing sideways at her. He was wearing a little half smile.

Eventually, however, the hall emptied out as the guests moved to the reception area.

“Is there something you would like to tell me about these handfasting cords?” she asked.

He gave her a mischievous look. “No. Besides, I think you already know.”

“You bast...” Hermione swallowed the epithet as she noticed they were being watched by a few of the guests. She plastered a smile back on her face. “Let’s find somewhere to have a chat,” she murmured.

“Excellent idea,” he agreed, and Hermione was appalled to see him grinnsuggsuggestively.

“That’s not what I meant!”

Severus guided her away from the main hall into a small corridor.

She almost rolled her eyes when he led her into a broom closet. “This is ridiculous! I am so angry at you right now I could scream!”

“You’re beautiful when you’re angry, Mrs. Snape,” Severus whispered as he bent forward to kiss her.

“Stop it!” she ordered. “I said ‘talk’! I told you I wouldn’t do the blood drinking OR the consummation bind!”

“And I told you I refused to argue with you about it.”

“So you just did it. Deviously!”

“There was nothing ‘devious’ about it! If you had done your homework properly in the first place you would have recognized the cords. And you certainly didn’t have to follow suit and drink my blood if you didn’t want to.”

“In front of all those people?” she blazed. “And I’ll tell you something else, I’m not going back in that hall and face those people with these cords still on me! It’s humiliating! Like being a concubine or something!”

“I told you before how we can fix that,” he growled sexily. He pulled her to him sharply and lowered his mouth on hers.

Hermione pushed him away and glared, “I’ve got a better idea!”

She grabbed some scissors off a hook and reached out to cut herself free.

“No!” Severus cried out, his composure suddenly shaken. He placed a hand over hers, clutching the scissors in an iron grip. “Not unless you really mean it. And surely, surely, you’re not that angry with me?”

Then she remembered; cutting the handfasting cords were the wizard way of declaring divorce. That was not what she had intended, but he didn’t realize that. Slowly he let up pressure on her hand and waited to see what she would do.

She looked up at him, and exhaled deeply as she flung the scissors aside. “Severus, you toad!”

He looked relieved but contrite. He picked up the scissors and replaced them on the hook. “I am sorry. I thought you might come to like the idea as much as I do.”

“Like the idea that everyone in that room is going to know whether we’ve had sex yet or not?”

Severus shrugged. “I think everyone knows we’ve had sex at some point already anyway. We have been living together for sometime. Besides, most of those people don‘t know these cords from regular handfasting cords. Not unless they’re from old pure blood families or value ancient traditions. They won‘t know the significance.”

“And what about those people who do?” she asked curtly.

“If they have the background to recognize these for what they are, then more than likely they’ll respect it
H
Hermione gave him a look of disbelief and disgust.

He continued, “You saw McGonagall and Flitwick. They weren’t shocked that we used them. Just surprised to see them at all.”

“I certainly was surprised,” Hermione sniped.

Severus sighed deeply. “Good god, Hermione! You’re my wife and I’m proud of you. I want to show you off, scream to the world that I love you. I want everyone to know that you’re my wonderful prize that I cherish. I want everyone to see that you love me, that you’ve bound yourself to me willingly.” He paused briefly, “And I suppose if I’m honest I must admit that I want every man here to see that you’re my woman and it’s my prerogative to take you. I suppose that bit of chauvinism is going to make you even more angry, but it‘s honest.”

“You are a bit chauvinistic aren’t you?” she asked.

He sniffed. “You’ve only just noticed?”

She reached up and ran her free hand through his hair. “So let me guess, there really is just one way of getting out of these cords?”

He nodded.

She continued, “And of course if we do what we need to do to get out of them, at least a half a dozen or more people will guess what we’ve been up to in the broom closet.”

A devilish sparkle filled his eyes. “More people than that probably think that’s what we’re getting up to anyway. We have been gone for rather a long time.”

“All right, husband,” she smiled. “When you put it like that, go ahead, assert your prerogative.”

Scooting up a wedding dress, dealing with undergarments and robes is no easy task when you only have one free hand. But Severus seemed to cope easily. His mouth was hungrily devouring his wife’s lips while his one free hand managed to free her vital areas for stimulation.

“Mmmm. I wanted to do this last night,” he murmured, savagely nipping an earlobe.

“I can’t believe I’m letting you do this now,” Hermione muttered as Severus began kissing down her throat. His fingers finally achieved their objective between her thighs. His eyes widen in surprise.

“Hermione Snape! All those complaints and you’re positively dripping! You want me after all.”

“I’ve wanted you since last night. I was just too tired and...” But her words were cut off as Severus slipped to his knees and began trying to get his mouth close to where he could taste her. She sucked in her breath and leaned against the wall as he hoisted her leg over his shoulder to get better access. He pushed a finger inside as his mouth worked. The bound hands were rather frustrating and their movements were limited. Her leg gave out and she tipped over.

Severus managed to catch her before she hit the floor. They both laughed.

“Hurry up, my darling,” she encouraged, “The guests are going to wonder.”

He laid her down on the floor of the narrow room, scrunching up to avoid the mops and buckets. She reached down and began freeing his straining arousal from the confines of his clothing. He froze for a moment as her fingers pulled his length from his underpants and caressed him gently.

“My god, Hermione. I love your touch,” he breathed.

“How about letting me feel some more of yours?” she asked.

Smiling, Severus ran the very tips of his fingers up the inside of her thigh, causing her to shiver. As he attained her mound again, owerowered his lips to hers and kissed her; softly at first but then with a growing passion. He let his tongue echo what his fingers were doing lower down. As he tentatively licked her lower lip, his fingers brushed softly on her clitoris. His tongue fluttered gently against hers as he stroked the quickening bud. His tongue dipped deeper into her mouth and his fingers descended further into her body.

Hermione was quivering, hovering on the edge, wondering how she could have been so lucky to marry such a amazing man. Severus was aching with desire to finally take his bride and consummate their union. He moved over her, pushing the wedding dress well out of the way. His hips moved to join with her, lining himself up with a skill learned from three years of pleasuring her. But before he thrust into his wife, he looked into her eyes.
I loI love you.”

“I love you, too.”

It seemed to say all. As soon as Severus allowed himself to push in, the cords loosened and fell away.

“We could stop now if you like,” he teased. “The cords are off.”

“Don’t you dare stop!”

It felt good to wrap both arms around him, to feel his body caressing hers, filling her. She felt cherished, more than cherished. Desired, worshipped. He often called her ‘goddess’ and that was how he made her feel. The soundhis his breathing was hypnotic, sensual. A warm glow started forming in her lower abdomen. Her eyes closed tightly, her flesh tensed.

He plunged lustily, reveling in the knowledge that she belonged to him and nothing was going to change it. For once, something had ended up right for Severus Snape. His goddess belonged to him. Years of loneliness, pain and regret fell away. He felt Hermione’s fingers pulling frantically at his back and lifted his head to watch her face.

“Oh Severus,” she gasped.

Her body began to grip him rhythmically. He gazed at her face, her eyes tightly closed, lips parted. She winced with pleasure, shuddered and a small sound escaped her throat, causing him to suddenly release. He threw back his head triumphantly, savouring the sensations and rasping her name to the air.

A silence of fulfillment left them breathless and sweating. In the distance they could hear music and laughter. Hermione ran her fingers down his back. He stroked her cheek softly.

“We need to go join the wedding,” she reminded him.

“I suppose so,” he agreed. “How long before we can bow out gracefully and leave for the honeymoon?”

A quick wave of the wands restored their clothes to respectability. Hermione picked up their handfasting cords from the floor and they walked down to the reception room. As they walked through the door everyone clapped. For one sickening moment Hermione thought they were applauding the fact they were now ‘unbound’ but it soon was clear it was simply a tribute for the newlyweds.

“Where have you been?” Hermione’s mother asked. We’ve started serving the food but we can’t do the toasts and the champagne without you!”

Hermione saw Lucius Malfoy sidle up to Severus. “Found the broom closet did you?” he murmured quietly. “Pity they don’t supply proper rooms any more. Mind you, I don‘t think your bride would have passed the ‘bed sheet’ test any more thine ine would have.”

Severus gave Hermione an apologetic look.

Mrs. Weasley also was aware that they were no longer bound, but she wasn’t tactless enough to comment broadly on it.

“Here Dear,” Molly Weasley said, taking the handfasting ropes from her hand. “I’ll just put these to one side for safe keeping for you. After all, you never know when you’re going to need them later for legal purposes.” She shot a poisonous glance Severus’s direction. “Old fashioned things!” she muttered, but whether she was referring to the cords or to Severus and Lucius, Hermione didn‘t know.

There were toasts, food, photographs and dancing. Hermione and Severus led the off the first dance. It reminded her of the night before she left Hogwarts, when he had kissed her for the first time. They had never danced since. She wondered why. He was wonderful!

Hermione danced until her feet hurt. She even had a quick run around the dance floor with Argulch lch who trod on her toes several times.

“Who is caring for Mrs. Norris and Crookshanks?” she asked the caretaker, who had donned an old tailcoat and creaking celluloid dickey for the occasion.

“House Elves,” Filch answered. “Had to bribe the little buggars. They’re scared of those poor little cats for some reason.”

Hermione started to laugh, “I’m not surprised! Did you see what they did to Dobby when he was cleaning Severus’s office? They thought he was stealing something I suppose. But there’s no way I’d describe either Crookshanks or Mrs. Norris as ‘poor’ or ‘little’”

Everyone seemed to have a good time. With a horrifying twist of fate, Hermione saw Great Uncle Samuel talking to Lucius Malfoy. “See that ginger haired boy over there?” he asked loudly, pointing at Ron. “He’s a wizard.”

“Is he indeed?” Lucius commented, eyebrows raised.

Uncle Samuel nodded, “He’s going to do magic tricks for us later. You’re another hippie like vie vicar that married our Hermione. Do you wear sandals?”

“Come along Uncle Samuel,” Severus said, noticing Lucius’s shocked expression and rescuing the old man from whatever might be coming. “Let’s go find someone nice for you to talk to. Have you met Dumbledore yet? I have a feeling you‘ll both get along very well.”

At long last the time came for them to leave. Everyone gathered as the pair went with their cases to the apparation point in the hall.

“You neverd usd us where you’re going on your honeymoon,” Ron complained.

“You never asked until now,” Hermione shot back.

“Which reminds me,” she murmured softly to Severus. “Where ARE we going? You said it was a surprise.”

“It is. Close your eyes.”