Who Do You Want?

\"Who Do You Want\"


Chapter Five
\"When The Morning Comes\"


Caution: Soft Snape ahead.


Disclaimer: With this disclaimer, I proclaim that I do not own any of the concepts, ideas or intellectual property related to Harry Potter or anything else created by J.K. Rowling. No money is being made from this endeavor.

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He cracked one eye open and looked across the expanse of his sunlit bed — she was gone.


\'She\'s come to her senses and left me.\'


Figuring she departed sometime in the middle of the night after realizing she had made a mistake, he reached for her pillow and brought it up to his face so he could breathe her scent. He inhaled deeply of the smell of her shampoo — peaches and vanilla.


\'At least for one night I felt,\' he exhaled, \'wanted.\' He inhaled her scent again. \'Loved.\' He breathed out. \'Attractive.\' He inhaled once more. \'Sexual.\' He sighed. \'Alive.\'


Upon hearing a small clatter in another part of the house, he bolted upright in bed. Glancing over at the floor, he saw her pile of clothes still there in a crumpled heap.


\'I wouldn\'t think she would Apparate someplace without some clothes on. Perhaps she\'s still here.\'


He climbed out of bed and put on a black silk dressing gown. With his hand in his pocket, clutching his wand, he made his way through the house to the source of the noise.


As he approached the kitchen, he smelled the most welcoming scent of bacon, eggs, and toast. He could hear the sizzle of grease and a skillet scraping against the cast iron stovetop.


Leaning against the doorframe, he saw Hermione cooking breakfast. Her back was to the door, and he admired the sight of her before him. She was clad only in a large white shirt. His shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, and the tails reached down to the middle of her thighs. She seemed to wear nothing else.


The teakettle started to whistle, and she pulled it off to the side and went over to a cabinet to the right of the stove. Reaching up on her toes, she pulled down two mugs. When the shirt rode up her body as she stretched for said mugs, his suspicions were confirmed that she was indeed not wearing anything else besides his shirt.


He let out a small audible sigh from watching her, and she spun around from the sound.


\"Oh, you\'re up,\" she greeted him as she smiled at him.


\"Obviously,\" he replied. \'Damn, I didn\'t mean to sound too terse.\'


Hermione\'s eyes explicitly traveled from his face to his lightly tented dressing gown, then back up to his face wearing a small smirk. \"Yes, obviously.\"


Clearing his throat, he readjusted his gown and tried to not look too uncomfortable. He had never before had to deal with a \"morning after\" situation. To hide his arousal, he sat down at the kitchen table.


\"Tea?\" she asked, as she turned back to the stove with a smile spreading across her face.


\"Yes, please.\"


Bringing him over a steaming mug of tea, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. He sat looking at her, unsure how to proceed.


\"Did you sleep well?\" he asked.


Looking over her shoulder at him as she stirred the eggs in the pan, she beamed at him. \"I haven’t slept that well since…\" she trailed off.


\"Since?\" he queried, his curiosity peaked.


She giggled a little as she confessed, \"Well, since Lavender Brown told be about that little vibrating trick with a wand.\"


\"And just what little \'trick\' is that?\"


She looked back over her shoulder at him again with a lecherous grin. \"If you\'re a good boy, I just might show you that wand trick today.\"


Suddenly, the implications of her statement hit him full force. He did his best not to blush, but failed miserably. To his benefit, she was busy flipping the bacon and did not see him.


\"I hope you don’t mind I fixed breakfast. I noticed your pantry had a stasis charm on it, and I helped myself.\"


\"Not at all.\"


\"I also noticed your charms were about to expire. Another week and you would have had spoiled food, so I rejuvenated the charm. Should last you another year.\"


\"Thank you.\" He paused, wishing he could be a little more relaxed about having a beautiful half-dressed woman cooking him breakfast; but it seemed like some surreal dream, the type of dream he wished he had instead of nightmares. \"I\'m not used to having guests here,\" he apologized.


\"It\'s all right,\" she countered. \"I\'m not used to waking up naked with a man and cooking him breakfast either.\"


Her attitude lightened the mood slightly, and he exhaled feeling a little more relaxed. She was just as unsure about this as he was; she was just coming up with better banter at the moment.


\"I didn\'t know how you liked your eggs, so I figured scrambled was a safe bet,\" she explained, as she started serving up the eggs on a plate set before him.


\"Scrambled is fine, though I prefer over easy.\" Severus liked to mop up the runny yolk with his toast, as he enjoyed the rich liquid texture in his mouth. He was very oral.


Once the toast and bacon were served, they ate in silence for a while.


\"So what would you like to do today?\" he asked, thinking he should at least make an attempt to be pleasant and converse with her, considering she had yet to decide that sleeping with him wasn\'t the worst mistake of her young life.


\"Two things, really. Read some of those books I pulled last night, and drag you back into bed today. Wait, no, three things — books, a bath, and you in bed.\" She was peering at him over the top of her mug, watching for his response.


He was floored by her answer. He had expected her to make a polite hint that she wanted to exit his domicile and head back to the sanctuary of Grimmauld Place.
Now, he wanted to overturn the breakfast dishes, throw her down on the table, and shag her senseless on the spot. Not only did she seem not to regret last night, but she wanted an encore.


Instead, he crossed his legs to hide his now very erect, very hard cock.


\"I think we can arrange that,\" he said in a low silky voice. \"So which books interested you the most? I didn\'t have a chance to view the titles you pulled last night.\"


\"Well, there were some books on Arithmancy, a few on Potions, a couple on Ancient Runes, an interesting one on Astronomy. And there were a couple of Charms books that caught my eye, but that\'s as far as I got last night. Was there something else you had in mind for the day?\"


He shook his head and said, \"You are my guest. You may choose the itinerary for the day.\"


\"Well, I must confess, I make a great breakfast, but my other culinary skills are lacking. Also, unless you feel like eating pickles, canned peaches, or more eggs, I suggest we go to the market or Apparate somewhere for some take-away later on. You pantry is almost bare.\"


\"I told you I\'m not used to having guests.\"


\"Yes, you did mention it before,\" she jibed him.


\"So, which do you prefer — the market or take-away?\"


\"Considering I would just prefer to hole myself up here for a while with nothing but books and you, I would prefer not getting dressed at all.\" She saw his eyes trail down to her chest. The top four buttons were undone and gave him an ample view of her cleavage. She lazily added, \"But we can wait until later before we decide.\" Leaning forward, she let him get an eyeful of the tops of her breasts hanging freely among the voluminous folds of his shirt on her small body.


His eyes remaining fixed on her breasts, he muttered, \"Yes, I suppose so.\"


Once Hermione finished her breakfast, she got up and walked over to Severus, then sat down on his lap with her arms hooked around his neck.


Looking up at the ceiling, she contemplated out loud, \"Books or you, books (sigh) or you inside of me. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Oh hell, the books can wait, I can’t.\" And she firmly planted her lips on his, and they began kissing like a couple of horny teenagers in the Astronomy Tower on a Friday night.


After they came up for air, Hermione started trailing light kisses all over his face while running her fingers through his hair, as he stroked her bare thighs and arse.


She gently kissed his closed right eye. \"By the way…\" she murmured before kissing the closed left eye, \"love the hair.\"


He hadn\'t bothered to look at himself that morning. He would have to check it out, though he did finally notice it didn\'t quite hang limply in his eyes anymore.


Severus was about to lift her into his arms and cart her off to his bedroom, when there was an annoying tapping sound in the background that broke his concentration of his fingers on her left nipple.


Hermione, hearing the same noise, opened her eyes and peered over Severus\' shoulder as she licked his ear. Giving a sigh of exasperation, she dropped her head onto his shoulder and slumped against him.


He turned to look at the source of the tapping noise and saw a large snowy owl on the ledge of the kitchen window.


Sliding off his lap, Hermione stomped over to the window while angrily grumbling, \"What the hell do you want, Harry?\" She opened the window, and Hedwig hopped down onto the counter, offering up her leg, which held a note.


After Hermione read the note, she crumpled it up and gave a great huff. Talking to no one in particular, through gritted teeth she said, \"I\'m fine, I\'m fine, I\'m fine.\"


Rising from his seat, Severus went over to her and wrapped her in his arms, hoping to soothe her. For the first time in his life, he wanted to comfort someone.


\"What’s wrong?\" he whispered against her hair.


She melted against him. \"Harry found the note I left last night and is under the impression I was kidnapped, or was under the Imperius Curse or something. I guess now that the Dark Lord is dead, he has to find a new pet project — someone else to save now.\"


Hermione knew better than to ever say Voldemort\'s name in front of Severus. What\'s more, she did it out of respect for all the suffering he had dealt with while working as a spy.


\"Do you want to write him back and let him know you\'re fine?\"


She nodded, and he led her off to his study. He pulled out a chair for her and found some parchment, ink, and a quill.


--------------------------


Dear Harry,


Yes, I am perfectly fine. Swimmingly fine. I decided to leave the party and get some peace and well-deserved rest. A friend of mine offered me a chance to come stay with them for a while.


They have a truly magnificent library, and I\'m dying to do some personal research for a while. When I\'m done with my stay, I\'ll owl you again or I\'ll just pop by your place.


Please be assured I left of my own volition, and I\'m having a wonderful time here. I highly recommend you get some rest as well, and stop worrying about me. I know you care, but I\'m very happy where I am right now.


Take care,
Hermione


--------------------------


When she was done, she rolled it up. Severus provided her with some wax to seal it with for the trip back to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Harry\'s new permanent home.


Once Hedwig was on her way, Hermione leaned against Severus. \"I told him I was staying with a friend and doing some research in their library.\"


\"Their?\" he noted questioningly, marking the gender-neutral pronoun.


\"Well, I won\'t lie to Harry. I won\'t say \'her library,\' and to say \'his library\' would only raise Harry\'s curiosity and protective streak and then he definitely would come looking for me.\" She pulled her head away from his chest and looked up into his eyes as she stroked his arm. \"I\'m not ashamed of you being with you, but I think I need some time to see if there is any ‘us.’ Besides, Harry and Ron don\'t need to know, not unless there is something. If there is, they can wait for a while.\"


He smiled down at her. She was trying to be sensitive to his insecurities by letting him know there was nothing to be ashamed of in her eyes.


Kissing her forehead, he inhaled deeply and smelled the lingering scent of peaches and vanilla. \"To the bedroom?\" he asked, feeling a bit forward by his request.


She gave him a leering grin and practically dragged him there in a half-run. If anything, she was enthusiastic.


Standing in front of her, he started unbuttoning her shirt as her hands undid the tie on his dressing gown. As their simple clothing fell away, they finally had a chance to observe each other\'s bodies in the morning light.


The bright sunlight made the definition of his body stand out more clearly; the darkness of his hair on his chest, stomach, and groin contrasted against his pale skin. His legs were long and muscularly lean, and there was the faintest hint of his hipbone just underneath a slight bulge of muscle below his waist. He didn\'t quite have well-defined abdominals, but there was a strong suggestion of them with his flat stomach. Twisting her head to the side, she leaned over a bit and saw the hollows in the cheeks of his arse. There was something about those hollows that turned her on incredibly. Overall, he had a long lean body that inspired wicked thoughts of how to make him writhe underneath her as she rode him.


Severus was also busy admiring her body in the fully lit room. She had the body of youth, a firm form, fresh and perfect skin, and the slightest hint that she had recently finished growing out of her baby fat and would have a body that would get only better looking with time. Her belly had a womanly arch to it. Her waist dipped in below her rib cage, and her hips flared out into the softness of her arse. Her breasts were neither small nor large, but just the right size for his hands. In fact, they seemed to be made for his hands. No matter what her breasts looked like, he would not have complained in the least, and still would have viewed them as perfect. Those nipples, which now looked a lighter pink than in the firelight of last night, were getting hard as he stared at them.


Stepping up to her, he placed his arms around her waist and looked deeply into her eyes.


She could see that indeed his eyes weren\'t black. Rather, they were a very dark brown, like bittersweet dark chocolate, uniform in color with no contrasting flecks in the iris, blending seamlessly into his pupils. This is why his eyes looked bottomless. This is why she found herself drowning in them again.


\"Thank you,\" he said with reverence.


\"For what?\"


\"For cooking me breakfast, for not leaving me this morning, for loving my mind, for seeing past my physical faults, for not thinking last night was the worst mistake of your life, for being my friend.\" Severus didn\'t know how or why he had come to that conclusion, but he had instantly recognized her as his friend. It was all too new for him to comprehend why he thought she was.


The sincerity in his voice broke Hermione\'s heart. Tears welled up in her eyes, and something inside of her wanted to kiss away all the pain he had ever felt.


\"Don\'t pity me,\" he whispered, mistaking her tears as such.


\"You\'re confusing pity with compassion.\" Standing on her toes, she craned her neck up and softly kissed him.


The playful mood was gone, but in its stead was tenderness. Her gentleness was undoing him at the seams of his soul. She was like some great angel who had come down and blessed him with her presence. Severus wanted to kneel before her, and let Hermione\'s divine grace bless him, washing away all his sins. He wanted to weep.


Hermione\'s tears kept flowing as she kissed him. He had given her a brief glimpse into his heart, and it had temporarily blinded her. She had never understood the term \"tears of joy\" until that moment. For the first time in a very long time, she was happy. She wasn\'t lonely any more.


Their kisses remained soft and lingering, and soon they were on the bed, though neither could remember getting onto it. They lay on their sides holding each other as their hands roamed each other\'s bodies, and their kisses explored where their hands had been.


\"Why are you crying?\" Severus asked, as he wiped away several tears with the pad of his thumb. Such concern. It made a few more tears escape Hermione\'s eyes.


\"Because I\'m happy?\" She wasn\'t entirely sure why she still was crying, but she knew she was happy.


\"I make you happy?\" He couldn\'t believe what she was saying. He had never made anyone happy before. Severus disappointed people, angered them, or disgusted them, but he had never made anyone happy. All those years of feeling unworthy, and now he had one redeeming quality. He made her happy.


He started to laugh with relief, but his laughter soon turned into sobs. His heart couldn\'t take much more — made fragile from years of lack of use and now all this, it was too much for his heart to bear, but he wouldn\'t have wished for these overwhelming feelings to ever leave him. The purity of this joy burned him, and he let himself be consumed. The part of him that would never allow such display of emotions was overridden by the part of Severus that was now desperately trying to break free, and to feel something for once besides dark emotions.


Severus pulled her tightly to him as he let his feelings freely ebb and flow through him.


She continued to kiss him lightly on his chest, shoulders, and arms as he clung to her like a life preserver. Knowing he had hidden from himself for so long, keeping things suppressed, she let him weep in her arms.


Soon his tears subsided, and he pulled his face away from her shoulder to look at her. She was smiling at him, her eyes still glistening from her own recently shed tears.


Before he could stop his mouth from saying it, he whispered, \"I\'m in love with you.\"


Hermione\'s face went from smiling to awe.


Mentally kicking himself for allowing himself to blurt out anything so sudden and declarative, Severus wasn\'t even sure if he was in love, but some part of him wanted to say it. He should have waited; he should have waited to be sure. He didn\'t want to toy with this young woman\'s heart.


But when she reached across for him and planted her lips firmly in his, she murmured, \"I think I\'m in love with you, too. It\'s a little sooner than I expected, but I think I am.\"


Her hands reached down his stomach and started stroking his erection. His eyes rolled up into his head from her touch. Between the emotions running rampant in his heart and the blood draining away from his brain, he had never felt such a heady sensation in his life.


Hermione couldn\'t believe it when he said he loved her. It was every wish she had come true, though she had no idea twenty-four hours prior she would be declaring her love to any man, much less her former professor. She had longed for someone to love, and here he was with all the qualities she was looking for — brains, wit, honesty, strength of will. Now she was discovering new qualities of his, like tenderness, passion, and love.


She suddenly ached to have him inside of her, wanting to be one with him again. Her hand found his hip and pushed him onto his back. He willingly let her roll him onto his back, and she straddled him.


Feeling the heat of his hot flesh against her folds, her mind was just clear enough to ask one question before she would proceed.


\"How long does that contraception potion you gave me last night last?\"


\"Until your first day of menstruation,\" he mumbled back against her hungry lips.


\"Good.\"


She lifted her hips up and wrapped her hand around his cock. Slowly, she descended, impaling herself on his turgid flesh while giving out a great long sigh.


His eyes momentarily closed as her warmth wrapped around him. His large, pale elegant hands found their way to her breasts, as she sat up on him and began to ride him. The sight of her above him — rising and falling back down onto his cock, her eyes dilated with lust — made him buck underneath her, which made her gasp in the most arousing and delightful manner. He played with her nipples, massaging her breasts as she kept a steady pace.


There were moments where she moaned out phrases. \"You feel so good inside of me…Oh God, Severus…you\'re so hard…oh, yes, right there…unbelievable…\"


Her eyes were shut tight as if she was experiencing so much pleasure it was painful. He had never seen such beauty in exquisite agony.


Leaning forward, she let her breasts hang above his face, and he took one nipple into his mouth to tongue and suck it. When he nibbled lightly at the little diamonds of flesh in his mouth, she gasped and began to ride him harder and faster.


She began grunting, \"Yes, yes, yes, deeper, yes…\"


He was only more than happy to oblige, and began thrusting up into her from beneath.


Hermione\'s moans morphed into wails, which changed into screams. Sitting back upright on him, she grabbed his hand and guided it to her clitoris. She momentarily opened her eyes to look at him, and they flashed with fire, directing him to stroke her there without a word.


When his thumb made contact with the swollen bit of flesh, she threw her head back and screamed over and over one word, \"Yes!\"


After what seemed like an eternity of endless pleasure, she howled; and he felt her muscles contract and quiver around him. He felt her coming with him inside of her, and it was more astonishing than he ever could imagine. His own balls contracted tightly up against him and he felt himself come, as if the Hogwarts Express was barreling through his body.


Hermione had never realized just how wonderful it could feel to have her walls contract around something so large and hard inside of her, filling her, and she felt her muscles grab at his cock. It was one thing to come through masturbation, and Severus\' fingers inside of her last night when she came was only a mere taste of what it felt like to have him fully stretched inside of her as she came.


As she continued to ride him, his thumb kept stroking her clit; and instead of coming down from her orgasm, it kept coming, becoming more intense, building upon itself. As the fire spread through her body with the first wave of her orgasm, she felt the fire get hotter, and the tightening in her lower abdomen become more twisted. The burning in her body became boiling to the point where a pleasurable numbness swept through her, and she was euphoric. She felt like she had boundless energy to continue riding Severus\' cock until the end of time. Her orgasm continued to feed upon itself so she could no longer vocalize the pleasure she was feeling; Hermione was now silent as she rode him, her face twisted beautifully.


Finally, the wave of rapture ceased, and Hermione unceremoniously collapsed on top of Severus, out of breath. Gasping for air, she felt as if she had run a marathon, and she could feel the beads of sweat run down the sides of her body, tickling her skin.


As Severus\' own orgasm waned, he was able to watch her through her orgasm, and thought she would go on forever. This almost made him hard again, but his own body protested and demanded rest. Feeling her weight on top of him, he stroked her sweat-streaked hair.


When she caught her breath, she looked up at him and saw the most satisfied grin on his face.


\"Thank you,\" she breathed.


\"For what?\" He knew for what, but his ego demanded she say it.


\"For giving me my first multiple orgasm.\"


\"It was entirely my pleasure,\" he replied, and kissed the top of her head.


They lay in that position for a while, as Hermione felt him shrink inside of her. When she gave a small cough, she let him slip out of her. She wanted to feel him inside of her again, but was willing to wait. She was exhausted herself, and had heard about men needing some rest before they could resume.


Pulling herself off of him, she nestled next to him. Catching the sight of the Dark Mark on his arm, she tentatively reached a finger out to stroke it. Looking into his eyes for permission, he nodded, giving her permission to touch it. The Mark was slightly raised, looking more like a scar than a tattoo. After tracing it with her finger, she brought his hand up to her mouth and she kissed it.


\"When is your birthday?\" she asked.


He looked at her slightly puzzled. \"From \'thank you for my first multiple orgasm\' to \'when is your birthday\', I find your line of conversation most unorthodox.\"


\"Well, if I am in love with you, we should know each other better. Can you think of a better topic to start with?\"


He paused for a moment and thought. To his distress, he could not think of one.


\"November fourteenth,\" he answered.


\"I should have known. With that much passion, you would be a Scorpio.\"


\"I was under the impression you didn\'t think much of Divination or Astrology,\" he commented coolly.


\"I don\'t. But it is an interesting coincidence,\" she chuckled.


\"And just when is your birthday?\"


\"September nineteenth.\"


\"Typical perfectionist Virgo,\" he smirked at her.


\"Hey, what\'s wrong with trying to do something right,\" she shot back playfully.


\"Nothing, as long as it\'s done in moderation.\" He cast his eyes to a lone freckle on the end of her chin. \"As a matter of fact, I respect the fact you don’t do things half-heartedly or sloppily. You have a sense of precision I admire and wish more people would strive for.\"


\"Tell me about it. Everyone thinks I\'m crazy because I like to get my facts straight. I just think anything less than a sincere effort is…well, lazy.\"


\"I think I\'m definitely in love with you,\" he said, as he gave her a broad smile. She had a philosophy about work similar to his, in addition to a keen mind.


\"Me, too,\" she said, kissing him lightly in the lips.


\"Since we are attempting to get to know one another better, I\'ll ask the next question. Tell me about your family.\"


She gave a great sigh and rolled onto her back. \"Well, you know I\'m Muggleborn. My parents are dentists—\"


\"Dentists?\" he interrupted her.


\"Yes, doctors who specialize in teeth. They deal with everything from cleaning teeth to doing surgery on the gums, to fixing cavities, replacing lost teeth with false ones — any problem with teeth and gums,\" she explained.


\"Who knows what they would think of my teeth?\" he gave a snort.


She furrowed her brow. \"Well, let me see. You don’t smile much at all, so I can’t really tell.\"


He couldn\'t believe he was doing it, but he was allowing her to look into his mouth.


She made a few \"hmm\" sounds. \"Like I said last night, nothing a tooth whitening charm couldn\'t fix. And if you are concerned about a little bit of crookedness, I\'ll teach you the same teeth straightening charm Madam Pomfrey taught me. Otherwise, your teeth aren\'t so bad.\"


\"So, your parents are dentists. What else can you tell me?\" He wasn\'t quite ready for more questions about him yet.


\"I\'m an only child. I have a few aunts, uncles, and cousins. They think Hogwarts is some boarding school for gifted students, but from what I could tell from their last letter, my parents may have let something slip recently. I love my folks dearly, but they just don’t understand our world. They only barely grasped what was going on with the war. I think in some way they didn’t want to know, so I only told them enough to satisfy their curiosity. One day I may tell them more, but it\'s too soon now.\"


\"Yes, it is a bit soon to talk about some things,\" he said, listening intently while stroking her hip.


\"If you don’t ever want to talk about being a Death Eater, I understand,\" she assured him.


Her statement came out of nowhere, but he then realized his statement may have prompted hers.


\"I can’t talk about it now,” he said solemnly. “Someday I will. I’ll tell you anything you want to know…anything, but I need some time.\" His voice was soft and a bit distant.


\"I understand.\"


They talked for the rest of the morning about what life was like for them both growing up. Starting at the beginning seemed to be the best, both recounting some of their earliest memories. Severus\' was that of flying on a toy broom, his father encouraging him as his mother fretted about him falling off. Hermione\'s was of sitting in front of the Christmas tree, playing with a little plastic toy guitar her parents had bought her in hopes of encouraging musical abilities.


When the sun was high in the sky and the eaves that hung out from the roof stopped the sunlight from spilling into the bedroom, Hermione stretched and made mention of lunch.


\"Well, you never did decide if you preferred going to the market or getting take-away,\" he mentioned.


\"As much as the ease of take-away appeals to me, the idea of getting out of this wonderful little house for lunch and dinner sounds too much. I would much rather spend my day or days,\" she added, \"snuggled under the covers with you and a good book; or out there on the grass lying on a blanket, soaking up the sun with you and a good book.\"


\"You can stay here for as long as you can tolerate me,\" he answered her comment on the undetermined length of her stay. \"Sounds like you have decided you want to go to the market.\"


She nodded. \"Though I doubt Diagon Alley is going to be open. I\'m sure the entire wizarding world was up late last night celebrating, and everyone is probably just crawling out of bed with hangovers. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ministry was shut down for the day in honor of everything.\" She suddenly started laughing madly.


\"And what is amusing this time?\" he asked.


\"I can just imagine Percy Weasley standing at the Ministry doors, banging on them and shouting, \'Open up, let me in, I want to go to work today.\' \"


Severus gave a short bark of a laugh, as he could imagine the primmest Weasley begging to push papers around on a day when everyone wanted to just rest. Even he was annoyed with Percy\'s bureaucratic officiousness at times.


\"So, the market it is,\" he declared.


\"Let me just warn you. Chicken and rice is about the only thing I can cook without burning,\" she warned him.


\"Really, such an excellent Potions student and you can’t cook?\" he said with incredulity.


\"Haven\'t had much of a chance. Mum\'s always cooked, or it\'s been the house-elves at school. I\'m not used to ovens or stoves. They are a bit different from cauldrons,\" she stated.


\"Yes. But not to worry, I\'ll cook for you. You are my guest; and as a bachelor for many years, I\'ve learned to cook a few things.\"


Hermione gave him a bright smile. There was something so damn romantic when a man offered to cook for a woman.


\"But since you mentioned Diagon Alley is probably closed, where shall we go?\"


She thought for a minute, then her eyes brightened. \"There\'s a Sainsbury near my parents’ house. I know a little alley about half a block from the market, and no one will see us Apparate into a recessed niche.\"


Hermione thought her idea was perfect. It was Friday, and surely her parents and her parents’ friends, who were all professional, would be at work. They didn’t know anything about Voldemort, so they had not been up all night celebrating his demise.


After a quick rinse-off — as they promised each other to have a more leisurely bath that night, since that was one of her “three things” for the day — they dressed. Severus finally got a good look at his hair and noted that he had a slight natural wave to his hair he had never known of. In its current state, it needed a bit of a trim around the face, but the length worked very well with his shape face.


Looking at Severus\' attire, Hermione walked around him, shaking her head slightly.


\"And just what is the matter this time?\" he asked a bit icily. He had not yet put on his jacket.


\"I think your trousers look hot on you. I like the tight look. I like the shirt, too, but with the two together, you look like a leftover from the 1980\'s New Romantic music scene. Let me try and Muggle you up a bit so you\'ll blend in better; no need to stand out since we\'re going into my old neighborhood.\"


He liked her compliment of how his trousers looked on him, but could not grasp her music reference. Hesitant to have his clothes changed, he eventually relented, agreeing that he should not stick out if her neighbors recognized her.


As talented in Charms as she was in Transfiguration, with a swish of her wand his shirt changed into a white short-sleeved polo shirt. She scrunched up her face and said, \"Definitely not the country club set.\"


A flick of her wand and his shirt now turned into a simple dark green long-sleeved shirt with a collar, the top two buttons undone. \"Much better. Flattering, simple; you\'ll blend in nicely. But the trousers are still a bit out of place. Here.\"


A double flick of her wand and his black trousers turned into a pair of casual charcoal grey trousers with a relaxed fit. They were very comfortable actually, though he was not used to having on such loose clothing. He did notice she dressed him in darker versions of his own house colors. Since they were only going to be out for a short while, he knew the charm would last just long enough for them to complete their shopping before it wore off.


Hermione finished putting on her shoes and grabbed Severus\' hand. He dropped his wards momentarily, as she would direct their Apparating, and they were gone with a pop.


~_~_~_~_~_~


The first thing Severus noted was the stench that permeated his sensitive nose. Looking about their surroundings, he saw there was a large object nearby that was a receptacle for refuse.


Still holding his hand, Hermione led Severus out from behind the commercial sized dustbin, down the alleyway, and onto the street. They walked hand in hand towards the Sainsbury. He didn’t know why, but he was reluctant to let go of her hand, as he was never at ease in the Muggle world. Her hand gave him reassurance she was still there, and he would not be left abandoned amid the stream of Muggles going in and out of the store.


As they approached the front doors, he stopped suddenly, his hand reaching for his wand hidden in a side pocket of his trousers. The doors had somehow swished open without anyone touching them.


\"The doors open automatically. They’re mechanical, not magic,\" she whispered while rubbing his arm reassuringly.


Once inside, she got a shopping trolley, and they started pushing the shiny metal contraption with wheels up and down the aisles. Severus looked at the shelves of goods for sale with a mixture of wonderment for their variety, and disgust for the lack of quality.


They picked up pasta, rice, bread, milk, cheese, eggs, butter, mayonnaise, mustard, some sliced meats at the deli counter, several fruit juices, a selection of fruits and vegetables, a chicken, a pork roast, and a couple of beef steaks.


Pursuing the wine aisle, Severus caught sight of an older overweight woman in a short sleeveless dress. He winced, and commented sotto voce, \"I think the dress on that woman should be classified as an Unforgivable.\"


Hermione giggled hysterically and playfully slapped him on the arm, then buried her face into his shoulder trying to stop laughing. He liked the fact he made her laugh, as her face brightened, and he enjoyed the sight of her in such a mirthful state.


When she finally lifted her head from her shoulder, she froze as she stared at the slender woman in front of her.


\"Mum?\"


============


A/N: I know, evil cliffe.


I know how some of you have debated the possibility of transfigured clothes. My theory is that the charms are good for short periods of time. In a pinch witches and wizards will do those types of charms on clothes, but don\'t do it out of habit, much like wearing a skirt with a safety pin when a button has popped. You never know when the pin will slip open and you\'ll get skewered or when the charm will fade. A trained witch or wizard may notice charmed clothes, but Muggles would be clueless to the transformation.