Love is Blind

A/N – This is where the story earns its high rating.
If you are uncomfortable with self-gratification and sexual situations, please
turn back now. If you are a lust-driven, horny fic reader, like me – read on.
There is only a little bit in this chapter but I promise not to disappoint you
in later chappies. ;)

***

Chapter 8

Monday morning

The next morning Severus awoke in the chair beside
Hermione’s bed. He rolled his head, stretching is neck of the cricks that had developed
after 3 nights of sleeping in a chair. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was
still early and there was enough time for him to go down to the dungeons for a
quick shower before Hermione woke up.

He slipped out of the infirmary silently, with one
last longing look at the woman sleeping in the bed. He had become so accustomed
to spending the day, and night, with Hermione. He had classes today, and
wondered how she would pass the time. ‘She would probably love to have a
moment’s peace away from me,’ he thought as he reached his chambers.

After undressing he let the hot water of the shower
sooth and massage his aching muscles. Each twinge of pain reminded him of why
he was hurting. The pain he felt throughout his body could be blamed on his
stubbornness to leave Hermione’s side since the accident. Her unconscious
opening of emotional doors, closed long ago, caused the aching in his heart.
Severus had only loved once, but he was young and it was fleeting. She found
someone else and he was left alone, and that is how he stayed for the past
twenty years.

He remembered the words Hermione spoke as she fell
asleep the night before. He knew they were probably potion induced, but potions
didn’t change your thoughts, they just made them more prominent. So somewhere
in her psyche she ‘loved’ his voice. He had to admit that his voice had caused
many women to venture a second look at him, but it was that second look that
always failed him. But Hermione knew him, his unimpressive looks and his harsh
personality, but she still let him be near her. He was unsure of why, but he
wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. So, she loved his voice, it
wasn’t like she could ever love him.

He longed for that last statement to be false. His
eyes had been opened to the possibility of love, or at least like. And he was
definitely falling for Hermione Granger. He liked the way he felt when Hermione
was with him. Their conversations were never dull, and she could match wits
with him without blinking an eye. He liked the way she melted into his arms and
the fire that seemed to burn at her touch. She was intoxicating and he was
rapidly becoming addicted. He thought about the dinner they had shared. It had
felt wonderful to help her and see the look of appreciation on her face. He
loved the way her smile played upon her lips, those succulent, full, pouty
lips. He remembered the way they looked as she licked the dessert off her
finger. ‘Oh… if that could have been my finger,’ he mused.

He stood under the water for a while, lost in his
thoughts. As he saw Hermione in his mind’s eye, his hand subconsciously
ventured down and grasped his semi-hard erection. As he thought of her, his
body couldn’t help but react. He tried to recall the feel of her in his arms,
the smell of her hair, the softness of her skin. He imagined it was her hand
stroking him as her other hand toyed with his balls. As his imagination took
control, he pictured the luscious lips from last night wrapped around his
member, sucking, grazing, kissing, nibbling.

He closed his eyes as he felt his release nearing
and envisioned Hermione’s round bottom bent over in front of him. His hand
tightened as he imagined being in her, sheathed in her warmth. He came hard,
his knees weakening. He leaned against the wall for balance and decided that he
was definitely turning into a dirty old man.

After a not-so-long scrub in the shower, he dressed
quickly and headed back to the hospital wing. A smile played upon his face when
he thought about the beautiful woman who had controlled his thoughts for days.
He swiftly walked to the corner bed where she slept, but when he got to it she
wasn’t there.

He panicked briefly before her heard the faint sound
of water running in the washroom adjacent to the infirmary. He sat in his chair
and read while he waited for Hermione. The next time he looked up, five minutes
had passed. He wasn’t sure when she had gone in, so maybe five minutes wasn’t
very long. Those five minutes soon turned into ten, then fifteen. Severus
started to get nervous and went to the door and knocked softly. There was no
response.

“Hermione?” he asked as he knocked again. All he
could hear was the water in the shower. He knocked harder. “HERMIONE?” he
pressed his ear to the door and heard a faint whimper. He cautiously opened the
door and slowly walked in softly calling her name again. Another faint whimper
was the reply. He rounded the corner and opened the shower. There she was,
curled up in a ball in the corner, sobbing. She didn’t acknowledge him, but he
saw her body tense slightly at his entrance.

He knelt down beside her and softly whispered her
name. She raised her head in his direction and leaned into his body. His arms
reflexively wrapped themselves around the naked woman, ignoring the shower that
was soaking his robes. He looked around the cubicle and noticed many shampoo
and soap bottles strewn across the floor a washcloth wadded in the corner and
her wand laying by the drain. He didn’t know what happened, but he was bound
and determined to find out. But right now she needed him and he would not deny
her that.

He rocked her gently in his arms until he felt her
relax and her sobs subside. With a few muttered words, the water stopped and a
towel was wrapped around her. Gingerly, Severus lifted her into his arms and
carried her out of the washroom.