The Bond

A/N: Okay first let me say thank you to those who offered their well wishes and prayers for my husband, I appreciate that.

I no longer work, as I have 3 children under the age of 6. The oldest forces me to watch the movies over and over again, and is currently reading book 1. So I have plenty of opportunities to get inspired....and who couldnt be inspired by watching Snape strut up to the dueling platform in COS?

Please forgive the fluff....but I need to establish some sort of a base relationship between the two........




CHAPTER THREE


“Good lord! I never would have dreamed the man was so messy.” Hermione was stomping through their rooms, muttering under her breath. Her day was not going well, at all. The morning had started with Severus catching her as she ogled him while he slept. The McGonagall had walked in and interrupted a rather informative bit of play between the two of them, leaving her unconscious for the better part of ten minutes. Her condition required the attention of Madame Pomfrey, which ended up bringing Dumbledore to their rooms demanding an explanation. It all ended with her turning as red as her beloved Griffyndor colors, while Severus simply stood there, arms crossed harping on the stupidity of walking uninvited into the home of newlyweds.

Things should have gotten better from that point, but that would have been too easy. Through breakfast she had had to contend with the knowing gazes of the other staff members, the worse being Filch, who was a disgusting perverted individual who gave her the willies. She had slipped into Severus’s classroom between classes, needing to be near him for a few moments, where he had kissed her, only to be caught by a dozen seventh year Slytherin’s who had giggled and snickered at them. They had opted to have lunch in his office, where they had begun to sort some of their personal business, like changing her name, and altering business and financial documents.

Dinner had forced them to endure the jealous glances of Trelawney, and ended up with Albus requesting that she be seated at the other end of the faculty table. Now she paced through their rooms, a basket floating before her as she picked up yesterdays robes from where he had tossed them over the sofa, his clothes from the chair in their room, his shoes and socks from the floor beside their bed. She never would have dreamed the man was this untidy, no doubt he had a house-elf who cleaned up after him. She set the basket into the laundry chute, knowing that tomorrow she would find them cleaned, pressed and folded waiting for her to put them away.

With her tidy work done, she slipped into the shower, wondering how much longer Severus was going to be gone. They had discovered that with a good kiss, she could be away from him for longer periods of time without going into what she had begun referring to “Sevvie withdrawl”. He hated it if course, the idea that she would reduce an intimidating name like Severus to some fluffy little pet name hurt his pride. Using a simple drying charm, she left the bathroom, pulling on her favorite pajamas. They were a gift from Ginerva Weasley-Potter. The top was a simple, ribbed tank in a soft golden color, the bottoms were crimson velour with the word WITCH spelled out across the butt in the same gold as the tank.

She reached into her nightstand and withdrew her one, true weakness, a bowl of M & M’s. She headed to the library, carrying her little bowl in front of her. She perused his shelves, amazed at how many ancient texts the man possessed. Things that you couldn’t even find in the restricted section! Her eyes widened with interest when she caught sight of THE WIZARDS GUIDE TO THE KAMA SUTRA. She withdrew the rather large text from the shelf and carried it, along with her candy into the sitting room. She tossed a pillow from the sofa onto the floor and settled herself on her stomach, munching her candy and opening the book.

When Severus returned to his rooms he was, for lack of a better term, weary. He had been in detention with a new Slytherin, who on his second day at Hogwarts had decided it would be fun to slip hiccup potion into the pumpkin juice at lunch. He feared that the next several years would be worse than those before the war, at least when it came to dealing with the young wizards and witches coming through the school. He opened his door to find his bride lying on her stomach before the fire, her elbows pressed into an emerald velvet sofa pillow, stretched out on a black, bearskin rug. He smirked when he noticed her pajamas. Griffyndor colors of course. It was the WITCH embossed across her round little bottom that he found more interesting than he should.

He removed his robes, and tossed them over the back of the sofa, he pointed his wand at the row of buttons on his jacket to undo them, tossing it atop the robes. He quickly rid himself of his shoes and moved to sit on the rug beside her, resting his back against the sofa.
“Oh! I didn’t know you were home.” She said, looking up from the book with a soft smile. He had loosened the top button of his white shirt, and was busy rolling up the sleeves.
“You seemed awfully interested in your book. What are you reading?” He asked. She sat up, scooting to sit close to him and pulled the book into her lap.
“I found it in your library.” She mumbled, slightly embarrassed to have been caught reading the erotic text. He looked down at the cover and smiled.
“Ah, interesting choice….might I ask why you chose this?” He asked, staring at the bowl of colored candies.
“I thought it might be educational, you know….for later.” She watched him tug the bowl closer, his finger stirring the multicolored disks.
“I see…..Hermione, what the hell is this?” He asked, lifting one tiny candy and looking it over.
“Oh, those are M & M’s, candy covered chocolates, I love them.”
“What does the M stand for? Muggle?” She started laughing, it was quite funny, but what made it worthy of her laughing out loud was the way he was looking at the tiny treat, he sniffed it, as though he feared it would do something to him. She took the little green candy from between his fingers and held it to his lips.
“Open.” He looked at her with a slight frown, hesitant to allow his bride to shove the muggle candy into his mouth. “I wont hurt you Severus, it’s only chocolate.” He opened his mouth and let her slip the candy inside. His eyes widened as he was pleasantly surprised. He nodded his head, then grabbed a handful of the candy, popping them into his mouth several pieces at a time.
“So, anything that you found particularly interesting?” He asked, waggling his eyebrows. She burst into a fit of giggling.
“I’m not sure what to think about you Severus.” She said with a shake of her head. “It unnerves me somewhat to see this side of you.” She said.
“I wasn’t always the man you know, Hermione.” He said softly. “I didn’t exactly have a happy childhood, but I survived. My years at Hogwarts as a student were decent, despite the Marauders. Lilly made things……easier, it was the only way I was able to finish. I am just now rediscovering those parts of me that were killed when I accepted the dark mark, when I devoted my life to being a spy.”
“I like it. I’m looking forward to helping you rediscover more of what you lost.” She smiled, kissing his cheek. She watched him toss another handful of candies into his mouth with a frown. “It’s a good thing I charmed that dish to keep it filled with M & M’s or I wouldn’t have any left.” She laughed at the chagrined look on his face.
“Sorry, I have an addiction to chocolate.” He replied somewhat sheepishly.
“Something in common. That’s nice to know.” She scooted closer to him, letting him slip his arm around her shoulder as she opened the book. There was one major drawback to magic texts and photographs. They were animated. So as she thumbed through the pages they were bombarded with images of couples making love in several positions, some looked virtually impossible without being double jointed. Others looked more interesting than she preferred to admit.
“I had heard about the Kama Sutra, Ginny mentioned it once after she and Harry were married.”
“Oh, did you have to go and mention Potter and the Weasley girl? I have enough images in my head to give me nightmares from now until eternity and then you have to go and put that one in there.” He said, laying his head back onto the sofa cushion with a groan.
“Oh hush.” She said, hitting him playfully with the back of her hand. “I guess I just didn’t know there were so many…..ways to accomplish it.”
“Just walk down the corridors after dark and observe the 7th years, you’ll discover all sorts of interesting ways to accomplish….it.” He said with a smirk. How many nights had he wandered these halls jerking the horny little dunderheads from behind tapestries, beneath stairwells, from alcoves and empty classrooms. Thank goodness they were taught a contraceptive spell as soon as they entered puberty.
“Um, Severus….”
“Hmm?” He asked, his eyes starting to droop. Gods he was tired.
“About this morning…”
“What about it Hermione?” He asked wearily.
“Um, why did you….I mean….what…happened?” She stammered a behavior so uncharacteristic of her that it made him smile slightly.
“I apologize for being so forward, my only excuse is that occasionally, I fall victim to my ego, same as any other man.” He rolled his shoulders, stretching his neck from side to side. “I didn’t mean for things to get out of control, but I am, at heart, a scientist. When I make a discovery, it’s difficult to resist the urge to test it.” He pushed to his feet, wincing at the pain in his lower back.
“But you didn’t….I mean, I did, obviously, but you didn’t…you know.” She did look cute though, sitting there all red-faced and staring up at him with those wide eyes.
“Don’t worry about it, I handled it.” He said with a smirk at his double meaning, wondering if she would pick up on the play of words.
“Oh.” She said as she lowered her gaze. “I suppose you have a mistress somewhere.” She said softly. He reached for her, laying his hand against her cheek and urging her to look up.
“Why would you think that?” He asked.
“I know how things work amongst the wealthy purebloods….”
“I am not a pureblood Hermione.” He reminded her.
“I know, but I also know that you were best friends with Lucius, and I know he has kept mistresses for years.”
“I am not Lucius, Hermione. I have no mistress, nor will I take one.” He told her softly.
“But….how will you…I mean….I’m not ready for….that, and you have needs.”
“I’ll handle it.” He said. He turned and walked towards their room.
“Severus?” He stopped and turned slightly to look back. “What did you mean about making a discovery? What did you discover?” She asked. He walked back to where she sat on the floor and leaned down until they were nose to nose.
“I discovered that my intellectual little bride enjoys dirty talk.” He said with a smile before leaving her alone. She sat back with a huff, staring into the fire.
“Bloody arse.” She muttered. She was out of her element, she knew that. He was older, wiser in many ways and with far more experience under his belt. How was she supposed to contend with that, when she was at such a disadvantage? She looked to the book lying on the carpet. Research! She would research everything she possibly could on the subject. When she was ready, Severus Snape wouldn’t know what hit him. She reached for her M & M’s, only to find them missing. “That ass stole my candy!”