The Witching Hour
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Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
13
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18,537
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53
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Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
13
Views:
18,537
Reviews:
53
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.
I Can Be What You Need
Chapter 8- I Can Be What You Need
Hermione was partially asleep when she thought she heard Severus say something to her, but she could not be sure of what he had said since she was still foggy. She tried to clear her mind, but it was useless, she was too exhausted to answer him. Whatever he had to say to her could wait until the morning, or if it was important enough, he would wake her and tell her. Her last thoughts before she drifted into the land of dreams, was of the love that they had made and shared, and how things just kept getting better.
Severus propped his head on his hand as the other gently encircled Hermione’s waist. Peering down at her, he could not help but to think that she was his angel, his true reward for all of the turmoil that he had suffered in what now seemed to be a past life. Every moment that she had been in his arms was blessed, but at times he felt as if he were stealing minutes from someone else’s life. How could it be that he, a man so dark, would draw a woman of the light in? He had never known true happiness until this beauty stepped into his life, and now that he had her, he was reluctant to ever let her leave, fearing that he would wake up from this one day and discover yet another dirty trick had been played on him.
It wasn’t that he did not love and trust her, because he did; very much so, but this life had not been kind to him. Everything that he had dared to love, was taken from him, but he would be damned if that happened again. Hermione meant the world to him, and even if it took him every moment of his life, he would make sure that she knew how important she was. He would never screw up like Weasley had.
He continued to watch Hermione rest, when he let his mind wander. He thought of the moment he met her all those years ago when she was the know-it-all. He had heard tell of how all of the other professors just loved and adored her, and how she was the perfect student, but the moment that she walked into his class, he knew that she was going to turn his life upside down. Sure the little chit had annoyed the hell out of him, but in truth, she reminded him so much of himself that it was scary. He did his level best to ignore her, but it never worked. She was nothing short of brilliant, and had he been free to do so, he would have loved to help her develop that innate talent for Potions, but alas, that was not to be.
He watched her develop into a woman, though never really thought of having her for himself in later years, he could not ignore the beauty she had transformed into at the beginning of her adulthood. When he discovered the fledgling romance between her and a certain Weasley, he had only hoped that she would move on from the boy, for he could never be what she needed. They only had the chemistry of lifelong friends and nothing more, that was plain to see, as many of his peers had told him so on numerous occasions. Then, when she had gotten engaged to the boy, he knew that it would end badly.
He would never tell Hermione that it was he that sent that letter to her discouraging her from marrying the young man. He remembered all too clearly the disguised writing upon that old sheet of parchment. He told her not to marry Weasley, for he would only break her heart. Later, come to find out, not only was it true, but her friend, Ginevra, had shared his sentiments, as well as several others that he did not care to mention. Of course, if the one name got out, he would have hell to pay. It was bad to even think of the man that had so deeply opposed the dreaded union, but he knew that if he were to say anything, as ironic and hilarious it would be for her to find out, he would never do it. The man in question threatened to hex him in a very memorable way, and to be honest, he was quite fond of the body part that would be the target of the aforementioned hex.
The morning light was starting to filter in through the window in his room, making the angel in his bed look even prettier. She shifted closer to him and accidently prodded his morning erection with her backside. As good as it felt, he would let her sleep. As she was starting to wake, he wondered back to his question the night before... well, it was not so much of a question, but a statement. He wanted her to live with him, but it was obvious that she had not heard him. He would ask her again, and if she assented, he would have to make arrangements with Minerva so that his Hermione could be there. Of course, he knew that she would allow her cub to stay, it was just a matter of saying something. In fact, he knew that he probably should ask Minerva first. As that was a good idea, he crept out of bed to put on his dressing gown and trousers, then silently bounded to the fireplace.
Waking Minerva at 7 am on a weekend may not have been the best idea, but he was willing to deal with her temper, so he rapped on her chamber door. He did not expect her to answer so quickly, for normally it would have taken a few minutes to rouse her. She must have already been awake. Noticing her state of dishabille, he knew why she was awake; she must be entertaining a gentleman caller, though he did not want to think of his mentor in that way. Merlin, he would have to scrub extra hard in the shower to get that image out of his head.
“Minerva, I am sorry to call on you at this hour, but I was wondering if I might have a word with you?”
“Er... Certainly Severus, give me a moment.” She disappeared back into her chambers to don a robe so she would not continue to scandalize the boy; she knew that he would be thankful for her discretion. A couple of minutes later, she emerged with a smile on her face. “Now, what has you in my rooms at this ungodly hour, Severus?”
“Eh, I have a favour to ask of you, as well as news to share.”
“And this could not have waited?”
“No, sorry.”
“Ok my boy, spill it.”
“First, the news is that Hermione does indeed return my feelings, and the next is Iwouldlikehertolivewithmehereinthecastle.”
“That is lovely Severus, now could you take the sock out of your mouth and repeat whatever it was that you said? I am afraid that your favour was lost in translation. I don’t understand gobbledegook so you will have to go a bit slower.”
“Nice snark, Minnie, you wake up more pleasant than I do. What I tried to say was I would like her to live with me in the castle. I thought that I would ask you before I asked her. I know that it is in the rules that married couples may live in the castle together, but it says nothing about partners.”
“I don’t see a problem with her living here with you, so go ahead and ask her. I will suggest that if you ever have any quarrels, that you keep them confined to your quarters dear, and make sure that she is always properly covered, as we do try to support morals in our fine institution. I am not saying that you and she will have a problem with either of these, I just thought that it would do to be reminded. I do hate to cut this short, but I would like to get a little more sleep before I must deal with the children. Good day, Sev.”
He floo’d back to his rooms only to discover that Hermione was already awake and sitting in his favourite armchair. He made his way over to her, propped himself on the arm of the chair, then bent to give her a gentle kiss.
“When I woke, I noticed that you were gone. I missed you. I had hoped to cuddle awhile before we began our day. Where did you get off to so early in the morning? Have an unruly student to handle?”
“We will have plenty of time for that my love, the morning is but a babe, and there are a few hours before either of us has anywhere to be. I apologize for disappearing on you, but you looked so peaceful that I did not want to bother you, so I let you sleep. Fortunately, I did not have to reprimand any of my charges this morn, I was off on a more pleasant errand.” He flashed her a smile that told her he was up to something.
“What are you scheming, Severus?”
“Oh, nothing,” He said in a mockingly innocent voice.
“All right, out with it, what did you do?”
Severus smirked, then began to tickle her. He had hoped to distract her, but all she ended up doing was jumping out of the chair and running to the bedroom, where he promptly followed her. After they made love and were cuddling close, he told her that he had been to see Minerva. Then he repeated the question from the night before: “Live with me, love.”
Hermione just got a little happier, and replied that she would love to. Now that they would live together, things would be harder in some respects, but overall, it would be a good move for the couple. For now they could really decide on their future and where they wanted it to go. One thing was certain, they would know fairly soon whether or not things would work out between them and whether they could live with each other's moods and quirks without ending up hating each other.
Her move to the castle had been an easy transition as she had always thought of it as her home. She and Severus had gotten on brilliantly, just as they suspected they would, and if it was possible, they had fallen further in love. There were times that they would quarrel, but it was never anything serious, and the make-ups were probably even better because they pretty much had an entire castle to christen after each little fight. Of course, they still had his classroom, but that would wait for a special day.
Months had flown by since they had moved in together, and things were going very well between them, but each were starting to want more, though they were not really sure of what more would mean for the other. Severus wanted her to be his, he wanted to see his ring on her finger, to see her grow round with child, to have more of a life and a real family with her, since he never really had one of his own. As much as he wanted these things, he did not know if Hermione ever wanted to get married again because of how badly her first had turned out. What if she never wanted to be married to him? Sure, they could raise a family together without being married, but it was just something he wanted. He knew that the one thing he could give her was his last name, all the rest were at best dreams.
One day, out of the blue, Minerva cornered him and asked him what was going on, why he seemed so conflicted, and he had to tell her. Getting this out in the open would help and he knew it. He told her of all that he dreamed of with Hermione, and what he had wanted for them. He recalled what she had said that day and had been thinking on it heavily.
“I can understand why you are so conflicted, but I really think you should tell her what is going on in your mind. It would be better for the both of you if you did. I think it is wonderful that you want to be married to her, but you have to stop being afraid to ask her. If she says no, then she does, you can build on that and always ask again later. I know that you are worried that Mr. Weasley has ruined her for marriage, but I assure that he has not. It is a testament to that fact, by her being in a relationship and cohabitating with you. It is obvious that she loves you, so you really have nothing to lose, except a bit of your pride, dear.”
Two weeks after that conversation with Minerva, he had purchased a ring, and started plotting a way to ask Hermione to marry him. He was a little nervous, but he somehow knew that it would be okay. Whatever her answer to him would be, they would make things work. He finally chose the day and the time, as well as a way. He would ask her to be his wife on their anniversary.
That night had rushed upon him and soon enough, it was there. Hermione seemed a little off kilter, but she was in the middle of contract negotiations with her vendors again, and that always put her in the worst mood. She had come home from a day filled with meetings and endless arguments with her newest vendor; Sam was a real pain in the arse, and had just about ruined her day. As soon as she floo’d home, she collapsed in Severus’ chair and tried to calm down. She still had two hours until he would be hers for the night, so she took a long, relaxing bath, and let the suds wash the stress away. She donned a pretty green and silver dress, and made dinner for her and Sev.
Severus ended his day and made his excuses to get out of the staff meeting early as he had plans tonight. Of course, Minerva already knew what tonight was so she let him go with the promise of filling him in later on tomorrow. He entered his chambers and saw his beautiful Hermione adding the finishing touches to their dining table. The whole room was dark except for the hundreds of tiny candles that she had lit, and the most sensuous smells filled him; he loved it when she cooked for him. He quickly crossed the room to her and held her close.
“Happy anniversary, my love,” he whispered softly.
“To you as well. I made dinner.” Hermione pulled him in for a passionate kiss that stole his senses.
She led him to the table to sit next to her whilst they ate. There was not really much that they had decided to share over their meal, as they both had stressful days and did not wish to ruin their evening together. Besides, they could talk over what had happened tomorrow, but tonight was about celebrating their love for each other. After dinner, Severus cleared the dishes and they retired to the couch.
“Hermione, will you come for a flight with me?”
“Severus, you know how I detest flying, couldn’t we find something else to do? Something more pleasurable?”
“Love, this will be the only time that I ask you to go flying with me, please indulge me? It is such a clear, crisp night, and I want to share it with you.”
“I will go, but you better not let me fall.” She was of course teasing him with this statement, and so she smiled at him.
He lead her out of the dungeons and outside near the rose garden. His broom was already there and he summoned it. He mounted it, then extended his hand and motioned for her to join him. As soon as she climbed on, they began rising in the air, then took off. He held her tightly and felt her heartbeat, it was a feeling that he would love to experience all the rest of his days. He began to shift slightly, and she noticed it.
“Severus, are you ok?”
“Yes love, I am fine, however, I have a present for you.” He pulled out the little black box that he had stashed in the pocket of his robes and placed it in her hand. “Open it.”
Hermione lifted the lid of the box and saw a ring that took her breath away. The ring was white gold with sapphires and diamonds.
“I can be what you need, Hermione, if you will let me. I love you and I want to spend everyday of my life letting you know how much I cherish you. I want to make you as happy as you have made me. Say you will marry me and make me a happy dungeon bat.”
Through laughing tears, she managed to say, “Yes I will marry you. You are my dungeon bat and I love you. You have made me happier than I ever thought I could be.”
A/N: Sorry for the long wait between chapters, folks, my muse was being tricky again. I want to thank all that have been following this story, and those that have been my loyal reviewers. Our ride is almost over! 2 or 3 chapters to go!
Hermione was partially asleep when she thought she heard Severus say something to her, but she could not be sure of what he had said since she was still foggy. She tried to clear her mind, but it was useless, she was too exhausted to answer him. Whatever he had to say to her could wait until the morning, or if it was important enough, he would wake her and tell her. Her last thoughts before she drifted into the land of dreams, was of the love that they had made and shared, and how things just kept getting better.
Severus propped his head on his hand as the other gently encircled Hermione’s waist. Peering down at her, he could not help but to think that she was his angel, his true reward for all of the turmoil that he had suffered in what now seemed to be a past life. Every moment that she had been in his arms was blessed, but at times he felt as if he were stealing minutes from someone else’s life. How could it be that he, a man so dark, would draw a woman of the light in? He had never known true happiness until this beauty stepped into his life, and now that he had her, he was reluctant to ever let her leave, fearing that he would wake up from this one day and discover yet another dirty trick had been played on him.
It wasn’t that he did not love and trust her, because he did; very much so, but this life had not been kind to him. Everything that he had dared to love, was taken from him, but he would be damned if that happened again. Hermione meant the world to him, and even if it took him every moment of his life, he would make sure that she knew how important she was. He would never screw up like Weasley had.
He continued to watch Hermione rest, when he let his mind wander. He thought of the moment he met her all those years ago when she was the know-it-all. He had heard tell of how all of the other professors just loved and adored her, and how she was the perfect student, but the moment that she walked into his class, he knew that she was going to turn his life upside down. Sure the little chit had annoyed the hell out of him, but in truth, she reminded him so much of himself that it was scary. He did his level best to ignore her, but it never worked. She was nothing short of brilliant, and had he been free to do so, he would have loved to help her develop that innate talent for Potions, but alas, that was not to be.
He watched her develop into a woman, though never really thought of having her for himself in later years, he could not ignore the beauty she had transformed into at the beginning of her adulthood. When he discovered the fledgling romance between her and a certain Weasley, he had only hoped that she would move on from the boy, for he could never be what she needed. They only had the chemistry of lifelong friends and nothing more, that was plain to see, as many of his peers had told him so on numerous occasions. Then, when she had gotten engaged to the boy, he knew that it would end badly.
He would never tell Hermione that it was he that sent that letter to her discouraging her from marrying the young man. He remembered all too clearly the disguised writing upon that old sheet of parchment. He told her not to marry Weasley, for he would only break her heart. Later, come to find out, not only was it true, but her friend, Ginevra, had shared his sentiments, as well as several others that he did not care to mention. Of course, if the one name got out, he would have hell to pay. It was bad to even think of the man that had so deeply opposed the dreaded union, but he knew that if he were to say anything, as ironic and hilarious it would be for her to find out, he would never do it. The man in question threatened to hex him in a very memorable way, and to be honest, he was quite fond of the body part that would be the target of the aforementioned hex.
The morning light was starting to filter in through the window in his room, making the angel in his bed look even prettier. She shifted closer to him and accidently prodded his morning erection with her backside. As good as it felt, he would let her sleep. As she was starting to wake, he wondered back to his question the night before... well, it was not so much of a question, but a statement. He wanted her to live with him, but it was obvious that she had not heard him. He would ask her again, and if she assented, he would have to make arrangements with Minerva so that his Hermione could be there. Of course, he knew that she would allow her cub to stay, it was just a matter of saying something. In fact, he knew that he probably should ask Minerva first. As that was a good idea, he crept out of bed to put on his dressing gown and trousers, then silently bounded to the fireplace.
Waking Minerva at 7 am on a weekend may not have been the best idea, but he was willing to deal with her temper, so he rapped on her chamber door. He did not expect her to answer so quickly, for normally it would have taken a few minutes to rouse her. She must have already been awake. Noticing her state of dishabille, he knew why she was awake; she must be entertaining a gentleman caller, though he did not want to think of his mentor in that way. Merlin, he would have to scrub extra hard in the shower to get that image out of his head.
“Minerva, I am sorry to call on you at this hour, but I was wondering if I might have a word with you?”
“Er... Certainly Severus, give me a moment.” She disappeared back into her chambers to don a robe so she would not continue to scandalize the boy; she knew that he would be thankful for her discretion. A couple of minutes later, she emerged with a smile on her face. “Now, what has you in my rooms at this ungodly hour, Severus?”
“Eh, I have a favour to ask of you, as well as news to share.”
“And this could not have waited?”
“No, sorry.”
“Ok my boy, spill it.”
“First, the news is that Hermione does indeed return my feelings, and the next is Iwouldlikehertolivewithmehereinthecastle.”
“That is lovely Severus, now could you take the sock out of your mouth and repeat whatever it was that you said? I am afraid that your favour was lost in translation. I don’t understand gobbledegook so you will have to go a bit slower.”
“Nice snark, Minnie, you wake up more pleasant than I do. What I tried to say was I would like her to live with me in the castle. I thought that I would ask you before I asked her. I know that it is in the rules that married couples may live in the castle together, but it says nothing about partners.”
“I don’t see a problem with her living here with you, so go ahead and ask her. I will suggest that if you ever have any quarrels, that you keep them confined to your quarters dear, and make sure that she is always properly covered, as we do try to support morals in our fine institution. I am not saying that you and she will have a problem with either of these, I just thought that it would do to be reminded. I do hate to cut this short, but I would like to get a little more sleep before I must deal with the children. Good day, Sev.”
He floo’d back to his rooms only to discover that Hermione was already awake and sitting in his favourite armchair. He made his way over to her, propped himself on the arm of the chair, then bent to give her a gentle kiss.
“When I woke, I noticed that you were gone. I missed you. I had hoped to cuddle awhile before we began our day. Where did you get off to so early in the morning? Have an unruly student to handle?”
“We will have plenty of time for that my love, the morning is but a babe, and there are a few hours before either of us has anywhere to be. I apologize for disappearing on you, but you looked so peaceful that I did not want to bother you, so I let you sleep. Fortunately, I did not have to reprimand any of my charges this morn, I was off on a more pleasant errand.” He flashed her a smile that told her he was up to something.
“What are you scheming, Severus?”
“Oh, nothing,” He said in a mockingly innocent voice.
“All right, out with it, what did you do?”
Severus smirked, then began to tickle her. He had hoped to distract her, but all she ended up doing was jumping out of the chair and running to the bedroom, where he promptly followed her. After they made love and were cuddling close, he told her that he had been to see Minerva. Then he repeated the question from the night before: “Live with me, love.”
Hermione just got a little happier, and replied that she would love to. Now that they would live together, things would be harder in some respects, but overall, it would be a good move for the couple. For now they could really decide on their future and where they wanted it to go. One thing was certain, they would know fairly soon whether or not things would work out between them and whether they could live with each other's moods and quirks without ending up hating each other.
Her move to the castle had been an easy transition as she had always thought of it as her home. She and Severus had gotten on brilliantly, just as they suspected they would, and if it was possible, they had fallen further in love. There were times that they would quarrel, but it was never anything serious, and the make-ups were probably even better because they pretty much had an entire castle to christen after each little fight. Of course, they still had his classroom, but that would wait for a special day.
Months had flown by since they had moved in together, and things were going very well between them, but each were starting to want more, though they were not really sure of what more would mean for the other. Severus wanted her to be his, he wanted to see his ring on her finger, to see her grow round with child, to have more of a life and a real family with her, since he never really had one of his own. As much as he wanted these things, he did not know if Hermione ever wanted to get married again because of how badly her first had turned out. What if she never wanted to be married to him? Sure, they could raise a family together without being married, but it was just something he wanted. He knew that the one thing he could give her was his last name, all the rest were at best dreams.
One day, out of the blue, Minerva cornered him and asked him what was going on, why he seemed so conflicted, and he had to tell her. Getting this out in the open would help and he knew it. He told her of all that he dreamed of with Hermione, and what he had wanted for them. He recalled what she had said that day and had been thinking on it heavily.
“I can understand why you are so conflicted, but I really think you should tell her what is going on in your mind. It would be better for the both of you if you did. I think it is wonderful that you want to be married to her, but you have to stop being afraid to ask her. If she says no, then she does, you can build on that and always ask again later. I know that you are worried that Mr. Weasley has ruined her for marriage, but I assure that he has not. It is a testament to that fact, by her being in a relationship and cohabitating with you. It is obvious that she loves you, so you really have nothing to lose, except a bit of your pride, dear.”
Two weeks after that conversation with Minerva, he had purchased a ring, and started plotting a way to ask Hermione to marry him. He was a little nervous, but he somehow knew that it would be okay. Whatever her answer to him would be, they would make things work. He finally chose the day and the time, as well as a way. He would ask her to be his wife on their anniversary.
That night had rushed upon him and soon enough, it was there. Hermione seemed a little off kilter, but she was in the middle of contract negotiations with her vendors again, and that always put her in the worst mood. She had come home from a day filled with meetings and endless arguments with her newest vendor; Sam was a real pain in the arse, and had just about ruined her day. As soon as she floo’d home, she collapsed in Severus’ chair and tried to calm down. She still had two hours until he would be hers for the night, so she took a long, relaxing bath, and let the suds wash the stress away. She donned a pretty green and silver dress, and made dinner for her and Sev.
Severus ended his day and made his excuses to get out of the staff meeting early as he had plans tonight. Of course, Minerva already knew what tonight was so she let him go with the promise of filling him in later on tomorrow. He entered his chambers and saw his beautiful Hermione adding the finishing touches to their dining table. The whole room was dark except for the hundreds of tiny candles that she had lit, and the most sensuous smells filled him; he loved it when she cooked for him. He quickly crossed the room to her and held her close.
“Happy anniversary, my love,” he whispered softly.
“To you as well. I made dinner.” Hermione pulled him in for a passionate kiss that stole his senses.
She led him to the table to sit next to her whilst they ate. There was not really much that they had decided to share over their meal, as they both had stressful days and did not wish to ruin their evening together. Besides, they could talk over what had happened tomorrow, but tonight was about celebrating their love for each other. After dinner, Severus cleared the dishes and they retired to the couch.
“Hermione, will you come for a flight with me?”
“Severus, you know how I detest flying, couldn’t we find something else to do? Something more pleasurable?”
“Love, this will be the only time that I ask you to go flying with me, please indulge me? It is such a clear, crisp night, and I want to share it with you.”
“I will go, but you better not let me fall.” She was of course teasing him with this statement, and so she smiled at him.
He lead her out of the dungeons and outside near the rose garden. His broom was already there and he summoned it. He mounted it, then extended his hand and motioned for her to join him. As soon as she climbed on, they began rising in the air, then took off. He held her tightly and felt her heartbeat, it was a feeling that he would love to experience all the rest of his days. He began to shift slightly, and she noticed it.
“Severus, are you ok?”
“Yes love, I am fine, however, I have a present for you.” He pulled out the little black box that he had stashed in the pocket of his robes and placed it in her hand. “Open it.”
Hermione lifted the lid of the box and saw a ring that took her breath away. The ring was white gold with sapphires and diamonds.
“I can be what you need, Hermione, if you will let me. I love you and I want to spend everyday of my life letting you know how much I cherish you. I want to make you as happy as you have made me. Say you will marry me and make me a happy dungeon bat.”
Through laughing tears, she managed to say, “Yes I will marry you. You are my dungeon bat and I love you. You have made me happier than I ever thought I could be.”
A/N: Sorry for the long wait between chapters, folks, my muse was being tricky again. I want to thank all that have been following this story, and those that have been my loyal reviewers. Our ride is almost over! 2 or 3 chapters to go!