Never Piss Off a House-Elf

Hermione and Severus had very nearly passed out when they finished making love. That was how Severus thought about it when he woke first and saw his fiancée asleep next to him, her neck curved and her head resting on his shoulder. Before, when he saw fit to see to his more carnal needs with more than a video and a lube potion, Severus had sought out women who were as practical in the area as he was.


His few friends had reminded him that they were hookers, prostitutes, and saying they were practical was just glitzy paper on a cheap gift. Halain refused to go with him on those jaunts, and he couldn't very well take Raina with him. Nevertheless, Severus had gone out a few times in his adulthood, but he never referred to the act as 'making love'. In fact, he often found those who did refer to it as such were euphemistic idiots who deluded themselves.


Seeing Hermione's resting form so close to his own was enough to break that barrier completely. Severus groaned at the thought. He'd known that she would change him, but this was not what he'd planned on. And on top of that, she'd kept him from the work that he needed to do that day. For a moment, Severus thought about carefully removing himself from under Hermione and dressing so he could do some of the things he'd planned, but dropped that thought when he realized that he'd need Hermione's help to locate all the various articles of clothing they'd thrown over the room.


The point was moot when Hermione stretched and opened her eyes, smiling at Severus, who wore a bemused expression.


"If someone had told me six years ago that you would ever smile at me as much in those six years as you have smiled at me today, I would have hexed them and turned them in to St. Mungo's for an evaluation," Severus said, kissing the tip of Hermione's nose. She shivered a bit, but Severus held her firm against him. "And as nice as this interlude has been, we now have to start all those brews over again. Which means I have to put off my other projects as well until we finish what Poppy ordered for the term."


"Um, Severus," Hermione said, getting up and allowing him to get up as well. There was something that she'd not really brought up with Severus, and she hoped to high heaven that he would just go along with the whole thing. "I do still have to go back to the Burrow for Bill and Fleur's wedding. I understand if you don't want to go, but would you be upset if I went with a friend?"


Severus's eyes narrowed as he reached around Hermione to grab his coat, which had luckily landed in a clean cauldron. His pants were wedged under a table leg, but much of Hermione's clothing was unsalvageable. He laughed when he found her top. It was in strips. He was focusing on the clothing because he was fuming.


Why assume I wouldn't want to escort her to the wedding? They invited me as well; I might as well take them up on it, Severus thought. The idea of his fiancée going to the wedding with any other man, even just a 'friend' infuriated him, but he had to be careful. Jealousy, while cute in the female of the species, could be downright ugly in the males. He wasn't about to scare her off just yet.


"Who do you think you'd like to go with?" Severus asked carefully, checking his tone. He assumed some of the jealousy he was feeling was do to their situation, but he knew himself well enough to be honest: he was downright jealous in his own right. ""One of the twins, or perhaps Mr. Longbottom? Why not give him a date, you spent most of your formative years at Hogwart's saving him from himself, why not save him from the horrors of getting his own date?"


"Give me your shirt, Severus, you destroyed mine. Good thing you made me go shopping, or I'd be completely out of tops, with the way you're going through them," Hermione said, grabbing the shirt out of Severus's hands before he could protest. She had to process what she heard in his voice before she responded. "And you shouldn't say such things about Neville. He's a good young man, and he would have performed better in class if you'd tried not to scare him quite so much. Admit it, Severus; you enjoyed scaring him until he soiled himself."


"He actually soiled himself a few times?" Severus asked, a hint of glee in his voice.


Hermione chucked a shoe at him, one of his own, actually, and grimaced. "You know, you're supposed to feel bad about that, not delight in it. And yes, he did soil himself at least twice. If you ever, ever, bring that up to Neville, I will hurt you."


"As I told you before, you are not going to change me to that extent, and you seem to think more of me than I am. Mr. Longbottom was dangerous, and I kept hoping that he would drop the class or find some other way out of it; scaring him was my way of showing him to shape up or ship out, as the muggles would say," Severus finished, tossing his robes to Hermione. "Here, you'll want to be a bit more covered to make your way to your rooms."


"So, in reality, you were scaring Neville to make him a better brewer? Why, Severus, I never would have taken you for the nurturing type," Hermione giggled, getting to her knees so she could face Severus better.


Severus groaned. "Don't go spreading that around, Hermione. You can have your little dreams about that, but keep them to yourself, please."


Hermione gathered Severus's robes around herself and moved to stand, but stopped herself. She scooted a bit closer to Severus, and her face became very serious.


"Severus, I wasn't planning on going with Neville to the wedding, but I was going to go with a friend, if you didn't want to go. Our topic got changed, but I need to know you're okay with that."


Severus pinched the bridge of his nose briefly, closing his eyes as he spoke. "What do you think you're wearing to the wedding?"


"Um, I'd had a dress picked out, but as things have changed, I'm going to need a new one," Hermione said, turning her face from Severus's.


"Why?" Severus asked before thinking. "Oh."


Hermione nodded. "I'm no longer a member of the bridal party. I sent my bridesmaid gown back to Molly, and no-one's owled me to say otherwise, so while my invitation still stands. . . "


"Perhaps you should go shopping today, your accounts are settled and you are signed onto mine," Severus said, standing. After a moment, he held his hand out to help Hermione up, and she took it, smiling at him a bit weakly. She sighed, and leaned into him. Severus closed his eyes, inhaling her scent, and he let his arms come around her. "That's not what you're after, is it?"


Hermione shook her head quickly, wrapping her arms around his waist. She squeezed him, and he smiled.


"Hermione, tell me what you want; what do you want most right now?"


Hermione bit her lip. "I want you to go to the wedding with me, Severus. We're engaged, now, and I don’t really want to go out with someone else. Besides, you'll be my husband soon, and they must get used to this. But that isn't it, either, Severus. I want to go to the wedding with you because I want to go with you. Am I making any sense?"


"No, but as a woman, you don't have to make sense all the time," Severus laughed. Hermione was beginning to get used to that laugh, and expect it to a certain degree. It was a laugh she assumed was associated with how she amused him. "It will only create trouble for you with your friends, Hermione. But I will go with you, if that is what you so desire."


Hermione smiled; she saw his shields trying to crash into place as he stepped back into his more formal speech.


"You know what else I desire?" Hermione asked, a wicked glint in her eyes.


"Aren't you sore by now? If you aren't, I shall endeavor to work harder at that."


"Ugh, men. No. I desire to work on these projects with you. I'm not shopping today. I want to brew."


"Fine. Get started on the Scalding Remedy. I have some more delicate potions to work on. Poppy's list is somewhere; it got moved when we became otherwise entangled."


Hermione smirked. She dropped a curtsey to her fiancé and left so she could get dressed again, this time in more protective clothing for her brewing.