Severus\'s Trip

Severus gazed out at the moonlight. It lit up his gardens, showing the various plant life he kept. He grew and harvested potions supplies himself. His gardens and greenhouses were always a peaceful place to him and he could be found there when he was stressed or angry.

He looked over at Hermione. She looked like a goddess sleeping in his bed. Her hair spread out on his pillow, flat on her back, with a look only a sexually satisfied woman would have.

He only vaguely mentioned to her his intention to keep this ongoing. No doubt she thought it was only the sex drive talking. He didn’t want her to think he only wanted sex from her. Granted, it had been the best sex of his life. Hermione had more passion than any woman he had been with and she made him feel like a true man. With the way she eagerly responded to him, he felt wanted, desired and handsome.

He chuckled to himself. Women rarely found him handsome, and even if they did, it wasn’t his looks that made him attractive. The way he ate pussy and fucked usually brought them back. But even then, women refrained from kissing him. Not Hermione. She kissed him as if he were Adonis himself. She initiated kissing and even when he did, she responded like a driven woman.

He had always thought himself less vain them most men, not being one to pay too much attention to his appearance. He prided himself on his treatment of women, letting his actions speak for him. He had to admit though, being found physically attractive by a woman as beautiful as Hermione was a good feeling. And her kisses were just magical. Severus never imagined a kiss could ever make him feel so connected to a woman. But then again, no woman had ever kissed him the way Hermione had.

His felt a something different with her and he wanted to explore it. For the first time since Lily, he wanted to know all about a woman. Only this time there was no other man to take her affections away. There was no best friend to tease and torment him. There was no insecurity to prevent him from admitting his feelings.

Severus knew he had to speak with her candidly about what he wanted. Hermione was a woman who respected words and logic. Men who played games and denied their emotions quickly tried her patience. He knew this fact alone from being her teacher. It was a trait he shared.

He looked back at the moon. It was full and round and seemed to shine just for him.

“What a nice view.” He turned around to her voice. She was resting up on her elbows, the sheet fell to her waist, baring her breasts to his eyes.

He stood there, letting her look at his naked form lit up by the moon. Having a woman look at him like she did was a novelty as well, and he liked it.

“Better then 300.” She said. He furled his brow at her. “A muggle movie I saw once.”

“Are you somparing me to some mediocre muggle actor?” He asked, with a look of feigned insult.

Hermione let out a giggle. “Trust me, he isn’t mediocre and neither are you.” She lay back down again and opened her arms to him. He walked over and slid back into her embrace. He leaned his weight on his elbows and looked down at her. He ran a fingertip along her temple and down her jaw.

Hermione was a classic beauty. She didn’t need cosmetics or glamours to shine. She was a real woman in every way. He kissed her gently, then spooned her as they fell back to sleep. He intended to talk with her in the morning.


Hermione woke to the smell of fresh coffee. She rose and again donned Severus’s shirt. This time he left it on the edge of the bed for her.

She was just buttoning up and walking to the door when he walked in.

“Good, you’re awake.”

“Yes, it was the coffee.” she said smiling. They walked back to the kitchen. The table was already set, so they both tucked in,

“Severus.” She said quietly.

“Yes?” He looked at her.

“I’m going to speak with Ron for a few minutes this afternoon.” Severus grew worried at her statement.

“After what he did?” He said calmly, knowing she must have her reasons for wanting to speak to him.

“Everyone on the planet will be telling him how what he did was awful, but I need to speak for myself. No one can do that. I need to close this.” She spoke with definition. He knew he wouldn’t be able to change her mind.

“When will you go?”

“After tea. He usually does his flight exercises right after breakfast. Interrupting them would do no good. He will be impatient and say anything just to get back in the air again. Besides I want to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with you.” He smiled at her, then grew serious again.

“What if he grows violent again?” He worried for her safety. Now that he knew Weasley was capable of losing control, he didn’t know what else might occur.

“This time, my guard won’t be down, like it was at the party. I will be focused and prepared.”

Severus nodded. He’d seen her fight at the final battle. He knew what she was like when she was ‘focused and prepared’. Weasley would know as well. He’d be a fool not to. She fought beside him and Potter.

Severus fell into a silence as they finished eating. “Severus,” she reached for his hand, “I’ll be fine, and will only be gone for a few moments.”

“I will meet you in the library then. There is something I want to say to you before you go.” She nodded, then went upstairs to dress.

Severus walked into the library. They had risen late and due to breakfast, he told the house elf to forgo tea. While he had on his t shirt and trousers, he hadn’t bothered with shoes. He never bothered with shoes in his own home. He sat on the couch worried.

He wanted Hermione to know his intentions before she went to see Ron. For some reason, he needed to know where he stood when she spoke with him. He began going over phrasing in his head, wanting to word what he had to say perfectly.

A few minutes later she walked into the library interrupting his thoughts. She settled into the couch next to him waiting patiently for him to begin.

“First off, I want to say how worried I am about you being in his company, but if you feel you have to go, I will not stop you. I will ask, however, that if you are in any danger, please apparate back here immediately, to this room. I don’t care if you end up bringing him with you, just get back here. I won’t leave this room until you are back. Please assure me you will do this.”

Hermione couldn’t say no to his request. He pleaded with genuine concern and it touched her. “I promise, I will return if I am in danger.” He relaxed only slightly.

“Hermione I want to know what you feel, when we are intimate?” She looked away for a moment, but seemed to have trouble gathering her thoughts. “Hermione, I want to know if it is just physical for you or do you feel something more?” His clarification seemed to help her.

“I do feel something Severus, although I don’t quite know what it is, I do know that it’s something I enjoy. You make me feel as I have ever felt before, and I like it, very much.” Severus couldn’t have been happier.

“You make me feel something as well. Something I have been looking for and have never found.” She raised her eyebrows. “It’s true. No woman has made me feel, for lack of a better term, wanted. The way you react in my arms is phenomenal. The way we connect physically was a surprising discovery.” She smiled and nodded in agreement. “When we spend time together, I feel drawn to you. You are brilliant, cunning, and everything honorable that a woman should be. I find myself wanting to know you more.” His face became serious. “Hermione I think we’d make a good compliment to each other. That is, if pursuing a relationship is something you are willing to consider.” He spoke gently, then waited earnestly.

She smiled at him. “I agree Severus, we are a good compliment for each other, and a relationship would be very rewarding.” Then she leaned in and gave him a passionate kiss, which he returned with enthusiasm.

After a few moments he released her, feeling better now that he knew she would return to him. Weasley could have a few minutes of her attention, because Severus knew he would get nothing more. He kept his eyes on her as she disapparated from hs library. He sat down and read while he waited, his wand within easy reach. If she came back and Weasley was holding on to her, he would be ready.


Hermione appeared at the apparition point near Ron’s home. She took a cleansing breathe and approached his house, knocking on the door.

She held her ground as the door opened. He was surprised to see her, and quickly looked over her shoulder.

“I’m alone Ron. I think we should talk.” He let out a sigh and let her in. Ron hated being chastised. Even more so when he deserved to be. He knew this ‘talk’ would be tense. Hermione was just as dangerous with words as she was with her wand.

“Would you like some tea?” He asked and gestured to an armchair.

“No thank you. I’ll just say what I have to say, then leave you alone.” She said, without sitting down.

“Alright.” He remained standing as well.

“Let me fist say that I don’t plan on going to the Aurors with what you did, but mark my words Ron Weasley, if you ever lay one hand on me again, I will see you in Azkaban for it.” While she spoke in a calm voice, Ron knew when she was serious.

“I understand.” Meeting her eyes was difficult, but he forced himself to do it. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Hermione, I know it will most likely mean nothing, but I am sorry for what I did.”

“I’m sure you are Ron.” She said sarcastically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means Ron, that you don’t like being ostracized and the simple fact that your actions caused people to side against you has upset you. I’m sure you’re sorry about that.”

“Always the antagonist.” He muttered.

“Antagonist?” Now she was confused. “You cheat on me numerous times, then have the nerve to wonder why I wanted to leave. Then to add fuel to the fire, when you don’t get what you want, you turn violent.”

“What I mean Hermione, is that you never take me at face value. I am sorry for hurting you, plain and simple. If everyone is angry at me, I deserve it, I understand, and I am not disputing it at all. I lost several friends and got the piss beat out of me, but I got what I deserved.” He let out a sigh and dropped his body into a chair.

Hermione merely looked at him. It wasn’t like him to admitted that he deserved something. “Ronald.” He looked up. “I would like to know something.” He nodded for her to continue. “I would like to know why you felt I wasn’t good enough for you. Why were all these women so much better then me?”

“You’ve got it all wrong Hermione, I was never good enough for you.” She looked at him with confusion. “I was never worth your time. At any career related function, you didn’t bring me with you. You’d only say I’d be bored, but that’s not what you meant. You’d rather be seen alone then with me. You never came to any of my games either, because you thought it was beneath your intelligence. Even when we were here and I asked about your day you’d tell me I wouldn’t understand it. You never supported my career, because to you it wasn’t a real one, and you never let me into your life.” She was silent as she listened to him. She had never heard this before. It was not how she had defined their relationship but this was how he felt, and it was pointless to challenge it. “You made me feel like less then a man. That I wasn’t good enough or smart enough to be yours. I know those girls were nothing but groupies, but for a fleeting moment I was everything, I was perfect, and I was all man to them. Even if it was for little while. There were no standards, no expectations. I was fine the way I was. They took a compliment for what it was.”

“I listened to you and took your compliments Ron.” She told him.

“You listened because you felt obligated, and you never took a compliment without thinking I was asking for sex. I wasn’t asking for sex Hermione. I told you that you were pretty because you were. I told you the dress you had on was sexy because it was.”

“Ron, when all you mention is how sexy I look, or how good I look, that means you are only focused on one thing.” She reasoned.

“Hermione, if you had shared your life with me, I would have complimented you on that as well. I couldn’t say your latest project was a good challenge for you, because I never knew about them. I could tell you how much you deserved an award or bonus because I didn’t know about them. When you don’t share anything with me the only thing left for me to compliment you on is your looks. I had nothing else left, I was fighting to find anything to share with you.”

She was silent for a moment, then spoke. “Regardless Ron, it doesn’t give you the right to cheat.”

“Yes I know. You’re right. I shouldn’t have.” He looked away again. “Percy was right.” He said quietly, letting out a sigh.

“What do you mean?” Percy was never one to get involved with relationships. It was too personal for him.

“Percy told me that this would never work. I kept arguing that we were such good friends and that we loved each other. He said we didn’t have what the other needed. In the end we would do nothing but fight. And that‘s exactly what happened.”

“Why didn’t you just call things off when you began to feel this way?” She asked him.

“I had hope that what we used to have when we left Hogwarts could be saved. We became two different people and we just couldn’t fit into each other‘s lives.” The way he spoke was heartbreaking. It seemed as if what they had at Hogwarts had been destroyed and it was a sad thought.

“No, we couldn’t.” She agreed. “I wish you well Ron.” To her surprise, she meant it.

“You too Hermione.” The didn’t need to say anything else. It was all said and done. She turned and with a crack, disapparated from his house right into Severus’s library.

The moment he saw her he knew she had heard something she hadn’t expected to hear. The look on her face was one of intense concentration, as if trying to figure out what had just happened. Severus wanted to ask but didn’t know if it was his place, so he merely stood and held out his arms. They stood in each others embrace for some time.