Taking Matters
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
2,148
Reviews:
3
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
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Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
2,148
Reviews:
3
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Three
The following days passed quickly. Kunhild presented no further problems, and the Gryffindor student involved was caught a number of times bad mouthing Severus. Hermione took a great deal of pleasure in docking points from him when the boy muttered some rather nasty remarks about her "disloyalty to her own house to favour a greasy snake."
That boy was now serving 3 weeks detention with Filch.
The wedding was beautiful, and Hermione beamed at the newly wed couple as they rushed out of the halls and onto Harry's Racing broom.
"Little cramped there Harry?" one man cat-called.
"This way I can keep the little woman close," Harry joked back before Ginny tossed her flowers and they took off.
Hermione and Ron stayed behind at the reception to make sure all the well-wishers got home safely.
"Ron," Hermione began to stack glasses. "You go home. Draco will be wondering about you."
"Nah," the redhead shrugged. "He was so sloshed that Bill took him home for me earlier. He's probably sleeping it off. Oh, but he will be hell to live with in the morning." Hermione cringed in sympathy; Draco hung over was never pretty.
"You go on," he continued. "Snape never drinks, and I know he will be up waiting for you."
She opened her mouth to chastise Ron for his reference to her husband, but thought better of it. "You know Ron, I think I will." She gave her old friend a casual hug and dashed off to see her sober husband.
Severus was slouched in his chair in front of the low fire when Hermione walked into the room. She hung up her robe and slowly walked to his side, taking her time to really look at him.
He would never be called handsome by any means. With his large nose it was difficult not to compare him to Jimmy Durante, a Muggle actor, though his dark eyes were not as merry as the comedian's.
Severus' eyes were dark, and fierce, though Hermione knew they could dance. The few times she had seen him laugh Hermione hypothesized that if Severus had been of a different persuasion, he would have been able to out twinkle Albus Dumbledore.
His hair though, Hermione sighed to herself, was always greasy. No matter how hard she tried, what shampoos she created for him, or how many times a day she tried to get him to bathe, his hair remained lank, greasy, and hung in complete disarray.
It was some trick of genetics that he was not covered in spots. Most with such oily hair might have suffered from terrible acne, but Severus' skin was completely unblemished. He had scars from curses and the remains of the dark mark but not a single pimple.
"Are you going to sit down or just stare at me open mouthed like a Glenarm fishwife?" Severus said, not looking up from his book.
Hermione smiled at him and rolled her eyes. "Glenarm? What do you have against the Irish?"
"Nothing, except perhaps the beer, constant bickering and high illiteracy rate." He turned a page. "And Glenarm isn't in Ireland. It is in Northern Ireland. If you spoke to the locals and called them Irish you wouldn't be well received."
"I will keep that in mind. So why did you leave the reception so quickly?"
"Well I had the choice of sitting in that over-crowded reception hall listening to the saccharine stories of Potter and his bride and how happy they will be, or I could have come home and wallowed in the dank rooms under the lake. The lake is more comfortable."
"Well you did make the effort to come for my sake, thank you." Hermione finally sat down and started to work at her hair.
"Don't."
"Don't?"
"Don't touch your hair. It suits you up."
"A complement? FROM YOU!" Hermione gasped in mock surprise.
"Well the war paint is over-elaborated and the dress, though faltering, is the wrong colour if you must."
"Ahh," she sighed dramatically. "I was worried the sky was going to fall in on me."
"Very funny, wife."
"Oh?"
"The sky won't fall on you; the ground will sooner swallow you up."
"My mistake."
"Indeed." Severus firmly closed his book and looked at Hermione. "You are back much sooner than I expected."
"Ron almost shoved me out the door. He seemed to want the excuse to stay late."
"How noble."
"Not really, Draco went home very drunk."
He nodded not needing any more explanation. "Are you disappointed? Did I interrupt your plans?"
"If you consider babbling in my ear while I am trying to read normal behaviour, it was no real interruption."
"And I was worried you had a mistress stashed about here." Hermione looked over her shoulder as if she was inspecting their rooms. "But I see she left hours ago. Dear, you are too thorough. If you want me to catch the poor girl you have to leave one or two traces for me to find."
"Who said I wanted you to catch her?"
"So you can see my infamous temper and have the grounds to shove me out of your life. That way I won't interfere with your reading."
"Ahh, you discovered my plan. How clever." Severus stood up and put his book away on the shelf. "As much as I enjoy our banter, we should talk."
Hermione nodded, they hadn't really spoken since Wednesday. Severus sat back down in his chair and steepled his fingers. His greasy black hair fell forward and covered his face, the way it did when he wanted to escape notice.
"Changes need to be made on both our parts. I have been thinking about this almost constantly since you brought the issue up." He paused for a moment and turned his head to her.
Hermione knew he was feeling vulnerable, she understood he needed re-assurance, so instead of speaking and potentially belittling him she nodded for him to continue.
Sighing he spoke again. "As I said, there are things that both of us need to work on. You tha that before we "¦ became intimate my experiences were limited." Again Hermione nodded. "But all of my research leads to one thing, communication."
"Research?" Hermione was curious.
"Yes, just before we were married, I asked a few people I trusted for advice."
Hermione was shocked to the core. Severus Snape never let himself appear vulnerable to anyone, not even her, and she had nursed him through the wounds he sustained in that final battle.
"I DO talk to people, Hermione."
"I know, but we were sleeping together before we got married." She wrinkled her forehead. "I don't understand."
Severus sighed, "We were about to not only join our lives together, but expose ourselves wholly to each other. I was unsure and cautious. I have never lived like that, in a family group."
"Albus..."
"Yes; Albus offered me advice."
"What did he suggest?"
"I have already told you, Communication."
"You're holding back."
Yes."
"What else?" Hermione prodded, and Severus Snape, former Death Eater and terror of Hogwarts school of Wizardry and Witchcraft relented to his wife. He knew what she could be like when she was denied something. Tenacious was too tame a word for Hermione Snape's single mindedness.
"pffgrmph"
"Pardon?"
"pock rocks"
"Albus told you to try what?"
"Pop Rocks you infernal woman. His sweet tooth is more than just a passing fancy." He made a sour face.
"Oh yuck," Hermione shuddered. "Too much information there." She paused and that need-to-know expression returned. "How?"
"Don't ask, I am not telling."
"I'll ask Minerva later then."
"Thank you very much for a mental image that will leave me sleepless for weeks," Severus growled. "It is not something I am willing to do, so when you do find out don't even ask."
*****
"Communication then." Hermione said after a time. Tea had been delivered by the house elves and Mr and Mrs Snape sat in a companionable silence until Hermione had spoken again. Severus nodded and put down his empty teacup. He picked up a biscuit and took a large bite.
"Yes, there has to be open and frank communication between the two of us, apparently."
"Your mouth is full Severus." Hermione warned.
Severus glared at his wife but swallowed his mouthful before continuing. "What ever happens, we need to be honest with each other." He took a final bite to finish off the biscuit.
"That makes sense. If I like something you do I should tell you, and likewise." Hermione nodded, "I can understand where sometimes it could be difficult to understand, given what I have read. Yes, that would explain the trust building exercises, though I thought they were more for gaining intimacy. "She picked up one of her books and started thumbing through it. "Yes, a massage would do nicely to start off with." She flipped a few pages over, "Sharing a bath, reading to each other." Her eyes started to shine as she read the words, absorbing the knowledge and techniques. Then she started to blush furiously and closed the book.
Severus, who had been watching her intently, holding his cup of tea when she closed the book, looked in her eyes and had a questioning look on his face. "Something make you uncomfortable?"
Hermione's blush darkened to a deeper shade of red and nodded. She quickly turned her concentration to her empty tea cup.
"Let me see. " Severus reached for the book and before Hermione could pull it away he had it. He flipped through the pages until he was reading the same passage.
"Yes there is mention of massage, reading," Hermione started to fidget in her chair as he read. "Telling each other your fantasies and acting them out?" A sardonic smile curved Severus's mouth and he looked up from the book.
"Was this what, troubled you, this little assignment?"
In that moment Hermione was reminded of students who had shown Severus a moment of weakness. How he pounced on them and forced them to confront their weakness. It reminded her of being chastised in class, or watching Harry being accosted.
"Well my dear, I think this will be our first TRUST Building project."
"No!" Hermione jumped out of her seat. "I think I would prefer reading to each other."
"That is a suggestion for new couples," Severus closed the book, "We have been together for some time. We can skip the unnecessary steps I think."
Hermione sat down defeated. "But, I'm not sure I,"
"Not sure you are ready to tell me, your husband, all of your deepest darkest fantasies?" His voice took on that velvet quality that made him deadly and impossible to resist. "Very well we shall start slowly. It is a trust building exercise after all."
It seemed that Severus was starting to take matters into his own hands.
That boy was now serving 3 weeks detention with Filch.
The wedding was beautiful, and Hermione beamed at the newly wed couple as they rushed out of the halls and onto Harry's Racing broom.
"Little cramped there Harry?" one man cat-called.
"This way I can keep the little woman close," Harry joked back before Ginny tossed her flowers and they took off.
Hermione and Ron stayed behind at the reception to make sure all the well-wishers got home safely.
"Ron," Hermione began to stack glasses. "You go home. Draco will be wondering about you."
"Nah," the redhead shrugged. "He was so sloshed that Bill took him home for me earlier. He's probably sleeping it off. Oh, but he will be hell to live with in the morning." Hermione cringed in sympathy; Draco hung over was never pretty.
"You go on," he continued. "Snape never drinks, and I know he will be up waiting for you."
She opened her mouth to chastise Ron for his reference to her husband, but thought better of it. "You know Ron, I think I will." She gave her old friend a casual hug and dashed off to see her sober husband.
Severus was slouched in his chair in front of the low fire when Hermione walked into the room. She hung up her robe and slowly walked to his side, taking her time to really look at him.
He would never be called handsome by any means. With his large nose it was difficult not to compare him to Jimmy Durante, a Muggle actor, though his dark eyes were not as merry as the comedian's.
Severus' eyes were dark, and fierce, though Hermione knew they could dance. The few times she had seen him laugh Hermione hypothesized that if Severus had been of a different persuasion, he would have been able to out twinkle Albus Dumbledore.
His hair though, Hermione sighed to herself, was always greasy. No matter how hard she tried, what shampoos she created for him, or how many times a day she tried to get him to bathe, his hair remained lank, greasy, and hung in complete disarray.
It was some trick of genetics that he was not covered in spots. Most with such oily hair might have suffered from terrible acne, but Severus' skin was completely unblemished. He had scars from curses and the remains of the dark mark but not a single pimple.
"Are you going to sit down or just stare at me open mouthed like a Glenarm fishwife?" Severus said, not looking up from his book.
Hermione smiled at him and rolled her eyes. "Glenarm? What do you have against the Irish?"
"Nothing, except perhaps the beer, constant bickering and high illiteracy rate." He turned a page. "And Glenarm isn't in Ireland. It is in Northern Ireland. If you spoke to the locals and called them Irish you wouldn't be well received."
"I will keep that in mind. So why did you leave the reception so quickly?"
"Well I had the choice of sitting in that over-crowded reception hall listening to the saccharine stories of Potter and his bride and how happy they will be, or I could have come home and wallowed in the dank rooms under the lake. The lake is more comfortable."
"Well you did make the effort to come for my sake, thank you." Hermione finally sat down and started to work at her hair.
"Don't."
"Don't?"
"Don't touch your hair. It suits you up."
"A complement? FROM YOU!" Hermione gasped in mock surprise.
"Well the war paint is over-elaborated and the dress, though faltering, is the wrong colour if you must."
"Ahh," she sighed dramatically. "I was worried the sky was going to fall in on me."
"Very funny, wife."
"Oh?"
"The sky won't fall on you; the ground will sooner swallow you up."
"My mistake."
"Indeed." Severus firmly closed his book and looked at Hermione. "You are back much sooner than I expected."
"Ron almost shoved me out the door. He seemed to want the excuse to stay late."
"How noble."
"Not really, Draco went home very drunk."
He nodded not needing any more explanation. "Are you disappointed? Did I interrupt your plans?"
"If you consider babbling in my ear while I am trying to read normal behaviour, it was no real interruption."
"And I was worried you had a mistress stashed about here." Hermione looked over her shoulder as if she was inspecting their rooms. "But I see she left hours ago. Dear, you are too thorough. If you want me to catch the poor girl you have to leave one or two traces for me to find."
"Who said I wanted you to catch her?"
"So you can see my infamous temper and have the grounds to shove me out of your life. That way I won't interfere with your reading."
"Ahh, you discovered my plan. How clever." Severus stood up and put his book away on the shelf. "As much as I enjoy our banter, we should talk."
Hermione nodded, they hadn't really spoken since Wednesday. Severus sat back down in his chair and steepled his fingers. His greasy black hair fell forward and covered his face, the way it did when he wanted to escape notice.
"Changes need to be made on both our parts. I have been thinking about this almost constantly since you brought the issue up." He paused for a moment and turned his head to her.
Hermione knew he was feeling vulnerable, she understood he needed re-assurance, so instead of speaking and potentially belittling him she nodded for him to continue.
Sighing he spoke again. "As I said, there are things that both of us need to work on. You tha that before we "¦ became intimate my experiences were limited." Again Hermione nodded. "But all of my research leads to one thing, communication."
"Research?" Hermione was curious.
"Yes, just before we were married, I asked a few people I trusted for advice."
Hermione was shocked to the core. Severus Snape never let himself appear vulnerable to anyone, not even her, and she had nursed him through the wounds he sustained in that final battle.
"I DO talk to people, Hermione."
"I know, but we were sleeping together before we got married." She wrinkled her forehead. "I don't understand."
Severus sighed, "We were about to not only join our lives together, but expose ourselves wholly to each other. I was unsure and cautious. I have never lived like that, in a family group."
"Albus..."
"Yes; Albus offered me advice."
"What did he suggest?"
"I have already told you, Communication."
"You're holding back."
Yes."
"What else?" Hermione prodded, and Severus Snape, former Death Eater and terror of Hogwarts school of Wizardry and Witchcraft relented to his wife. He knew what she could be like when she was denied something. Tenacious was too tame a word for Hermione Snape's single mindedness.
"pffgrmph"
"Pardon?"
"pock rocks"
"Albus told you to try what?"
"Pop Rocks you infernal woman. His sweet tooth is more than just a passing fancy." He made a sour face.
"Oh yuck," Hermione shuddered. "Too much information there." She paused and that need-to-know expression returned. "How?"
"Don't ask, I am not telling."
"I'll ask Minerva later then."
"Thank you very much for a mental image that will leave me sleepless for weeks," Severus growled. "It is not something I am willing to do, so when you do find out don't even ask."
*****
"Communication then." Hermione said after a time. Tea had been delivered by the house elves and Mr and Mrs Snape sat in a companionable silence until Hermione had spoken again. Severus nodded and put down his empty teacup. He picked up a biscuit and took a large bite.
"Yes, there has to be open and frank communication between the two of us, apparently."
"Your mouth is full Severus." Hermione warned.
Severus glared at his wife but swallowed his mouthful before continuing. "What ever happens, we need to be honest with each other." He took a final bite to finish off the biscuit.
"That makes sense. If I like something you do I should tell you, and likewise." Hermione nodded, "I can understand where sometimes it could be difficult to understand, given what I have read. Yes, that would explain the trust building exercises, though I thought they were more for gaining intimacy. "She picked up one of her books and started thumbing through it. "Yes, a massage would do nicely to start off with." She flipped a few pages over, "Sharing a bath, reading to each other." Her eyes started to shine as she read the words, absorbing the knowledge and techniques. Then she started to blush furiously and closed the book.
Severus, who had been watching her intently, holding his cup of tea when she closed the book, looked in her eyes and had a questioning look on his face. "Something make you uncomfortable?"
Hermione's blush darkened to a deeper shade of red and nodded. She quickly turned her concentration to her empty tea cup.
"Let me see. " Severus reached for the book and before Hermione could pull it away he had it. He flipped through the pages until he was reading the same passage.
"Yes there is mention of massage, reading," Hermione started to fidget in her chair as he read. "Telling each other your fantasies and acting them out?" A sardonic smile curved Severus's mouth and he looked up from the book.
"Was this what, troubled you, this little assignment?"
In that moment Hermione was reminded of students who had shown Severus a moment of weakness. How he pounced on them and forced them to confront their weakness. It reminded her of being chastised in class, or watching Harry being accosted.
"Well my dear, I think this will be our first TRUST Building project."
"No!" Hermione jumped out of her seat. "I think I would prefer reading to each other."
"That is a suggestion for new couples," Severus closed the book, "We have been together for some time. We can skip the unnecessary steps I think."
Hermione sat down defeated. "But, I'm not sure I,"
"Not sure you are ready to tell me, your husband, all of your deepest darkest fantasies?" His voice took on that velvet quality that made him deadly and impossible to resist. "Very well we shall start slowly. It is a trust building exercise after all."
It seemed that Severus was starting to take matters into his own hands.