an unlikely match...

\"Are you even listening Harry?\" Ginny asked as she lay in bed with her husband, looking to him intensely as she rolled over to face him. His brilliant green eyes fell upon her, and in them she saw the boy she had fallen in love with so many years ago.

\"Yeah, I\'m listening.\"

\"Good.\" she snuggled against him under the warm blankets in their large four poster bed. It\'s exactness to detail, its roaring fire and rug in front of it had enticed them to no end earlier. Empty wine glasses had been set precariously on the floor as they had made their way shakily to the bed.

Now hours later they were still awake with the final crackling of a fire soon to be dimming. Ginny wrapped a comforting arm around Harry and kissed his cheek gently. \"I want to know what you think of Hermione and Snape.\"
Harry stroked his wife\'s hair gently, shrugging airily. \"They seem to hate each other don\'t they?\"

\"Very much indeed.\" Ginny paused looking contemplative. Harry was entranced by the way the firelight made her red hair shine with golden threads of highlights throughout. The result was almost hypnotizing. \"Tonight at dinner was awful.\"

Harry could only nod.

Dinner had been awful, all on account of the horrible mistake of Hermione and Snape being seated next to each other at dinner. It was a most unfortunate coincidence because both looked ready to scream at the other at any given moment.

Hermione had informed Ginny earlier to be wary of the hook-nosed git, that he was in a foul mood as usual and would look for any reason to take it out on ex. Gryffindors. Ginny and Harry had been seated across from them both looking dreamily to one another as Hermione and Snape grimaced in unison.

\"Seems marriage is a popular \'thing\' this year.\" Snape had said offside, stabbing his salad viciously. Charlotte had stopped by to top of his wine and he hadn\'t even looked in her direction.

Austere had laughed, looking to his brother with wary humor at the comment. Sevehad had been rude all night, and he had reached the final conclusion that all Austere could do was laugh at his brother\'s abstinent lack of tact.

Lady Snape had been sitting near the end of the large table, looking at her guests with a merry twinkle in her eyes. She loved company, loved being the hostess. Sadly, her time doing that had been limited and was now being ruined by Snape\'s sour mood. Ron himself sat in between Austere and Lady Snape, chewing thoughtfully and glancing at Snape and Hermione warily on occasion. Hermione sat in between Austere and Severus and in all honestly it was quite unnerving.

\"Well, I wouldn\'t call it a \'thing\'.\" Harry had said with polite defense as he saw his wife\'s face fall beside him. Ginny was petrified of Snape, and his cruel tendencies were doing nothing to persuade her to think otherwise. \"We were very much in love and decided that marriage was the next step.\"

There was a snort as they all glanced surreptitiously to Severus. He chewed the salad thoughtfully a moment, gulped it loudly and spoke once more with disdain, placing his fork on his plate.

\"So let me get this straight.\" he had locked eyes with Harry and Ginny as he spoke. \"You two meet, hormones are on full blast, fist of all come lust, desire etc...I\'m sure you two know enough about it-\"

Harry and Ginny blushed madly, trying to think of something witty and cutting to say, but it was too late as Snape appeared to be on a tirade.

\"-So you stay together what was it, a year? Aecidecide to walk down the aisle because you claim its the inevitable \'next step\'. You barely know each other, yet you assume your lust is love. You don\'t even give consideration to the fact that you two happen to be thrown together because of horrible coincidences which you probably sum up is \'fate\'. You don\'t even try to see that being with someone long enough will cause certain emotions to be misconstrued with love...No, you two fall into bed call it love and get \'hitched\'. How utterly...romantic.\" the last word was said with sneering sarcasm.

Harry and Ginny looked to him in shock whilst Hermione looked beyond angry. Lady Snape herself looked ready to walk out of the room having gone suddenly pale and helpless looking. She tried to smooth things over.

\"Austere and Hermione each other less than that Severus.\" Lady Snape had offered politely, looking to her son severely. Snape glared at her, and then gave a look of dissatisfaction at the soon-to-be Austere Snape sitting to his right.

\"So they have.\"

\"I\'m not sure you\'d be familiar with the aspect of \'love.\'\" Hermione had interjected, seeing the hurt look on her friend\'s faces and feeling the penetrating gaze of her old Professor. \"But it is quite a common occurrence Professor.\"
\"Love, Miss Granger is nothing more than certain chemical malfunctions in the brain that have been imbedded in us since birth for the mere need for reproduction.\"

\"Why must you be such an utter dolt about all of this?\" Hermione\'s face had gone a deep shade of angry red and Snape out of the corner of his hooded eyes saw this. \"You barely even know Harry and Ginny and you\'re horribly rude to them.\"

\"Hermione, its okay-\" Ginny had started, only to be cut off from an oblivious Hermione. Lady Snape looked to Austere who sighed shrugging and stick a fork into his last piece of steak.

\"You\'re rude to everyone who tries to be kind.\"

\"That\'s not true, I\'m rude to you.\"

Hermione rolled her eyes, shifting so that she was directly looking at the man who happened to take immense satisfaction in ruining her life.

\"Enough from you Severus Snape. I don\'t know why you\'re trying to ruin this wedding but you will not suceed. I care deeply for Austere, Ginny and Harry care deeply for each other, your own Mother cares deeply for you and you\'re so blinded by anger and self-loathing that you can\'t even see that.\" she was breathing heavily as he merely stared at her. \"You know nothing of love Severus Snape, you hate the world and the world in turn hates you. You will be the cause of your own demise.\"

\"Ah yes, what would I know of love?\" Snape had muttered into his wineglass. \"I\'m just a miserable git everyone\'s glad they don\'t have to see anymore, save for this sham of a marriage.\"

He had shot a meaningful glance in Austere\'s direction before throwing down his napkin and pushing back his chair. \"Since I\'m assuming no one will miss my company, I bid you all a reluctant good evening.\"

With that he had strode from the table leaving an uncomfortable silence in his wake.

Now in bed Ginny and Harry reflected on this, sighing and clinging closer to one another. \"Why would he say all of that?\" Ginny wondered aloud, trying to hold back tears and failing.

\"Don\'t cry luv,\" Harry cooed, kissing away the tears that had fallen down her burning cheeks. \"He\'s just a bitter, lonely man.\"

\"I know.\" Ginny choked out, brushing away the tears that continued to fall. \"I suppose I just feel sorry for him. Always alone, always so mean. He\'s never felt love like us Harry...\"

\"It\'s his own fault Gin.\"

\"I know.\" she paused a moment, sniffling and looking to Harry\'s reassuring face. She clung to him in a moment of loving abandon, as if she were afraid he was a dream that would leave her soon. \"I\'m so happy we found one another Harry.\"

Harry nodded, \"It\'ll happen for Snape too. Don\'t worry.\"

Ginny could only give a feeble nod and utter a hollow. \"I hope so.\"

* * *

HE\'S GOING TO KILL ME! Hermione\'s eyes widened as she backed further into the closet, her heart hammering as she tried to breathe quietly.

\"Bloody contemptuous moron.\" Snape muttered as he flicked on the light to his room. He had refrained from using magic at the Snape Manor because of his brother, but now he wanted nothing more than to hex the little bugger.
Hermione saw this from the confines of his closet, peering out at him as he moved to his chair and desk. He scribbled something on a piece of parchment and when the ink had dried he blew on it one final time, and put it in a drawer to his left.

Hermione didn\'t care too much about this, she was petrified that he was going to come over and grab his cloak or something worse from his closet. He\'d find her surely, she couldn\'t find her wand in the darkness. As soon as he had entered she\'d dropped it in panic and slid further into the dark confines of the closet.

She still clutched the book though, she needed to know what was inside of it. There was a mystery here, one that she may have been privy to but now couldn\'t even fathom.

She peered out of the small crack in the closet door and held in a gasp. Snape had doffed his shirt now, waltzing around his room without it on. Hermione felt her breathing becoming shallow and hitched.

My....what a strangely beautiful body.

It was true, Severus did have quite a nice torso, strong defined muscles without being overly bulgy; just toned in all the r pla places. It was strangely beautiful because Hermione had never thought of a man\'s body as beautiful, but here he was. Milky white skin ofset in the moonlight filtering through his large windows. He was beautiful in his own strange way.

Austere himself wasn\'t that pale a man, he was more muscled, more dashing sort of handsome. Hermione often found herself thinking him a bit bulky at time, but then things would get heated and all of that was lost.
And now in the suffocating confines of Snape\'s closet, Hermione Granger in a gradually occurring aroused frenzy wondered what it would be like to shag the senior Snape. He stood with a book in his hand, reading out of it as he paced the room. The man never stopped hovering, not even in his own room. She imaged he\'d be rough, demanding but...explosive. He might be tender if he cared for her at all, but she needn\'t worry about that. She came to the surprising conclusion that Severus Snape may just beasteaster in the sack.

You\'re getting married in less than three weeks Hermione. her mind scolded as her body led her on. You\'re marrying his brother! Stop ogling and look for your wand!

But Hermione wasn\'t listening, her lips were slightly parted as she gazed at the man she once found so intimidating but now could only find erotic. She placed the heavy book beside her and leaned forward, trying to glimpse at anything that may attest to her fantasy. Her knuckles brushed something thin and rough and she realized it was her wand.

Suddenly Severus took a detour from his carefully planned route of walking from the windows to the fireplace and back, he was now headed straight towards Hermione in the closet, mumbling under his breath.

Hermione in a fit of utter blind panic swirled the wand over her head and the word \"evanesco\" passing on her lips, she was gone, leaving Snape to whirl open the closet door and find his large book in the closet.

* * *

Hermione fell onto her bed, feeling her heart hammering madly. What had she just done? Snuck into the poor man\'s quarters, rooted around until she\'d dug even deeper into a mystery she could never understand and then rushed out and left the incriminating evidence behind.

He\'d be sure to find it. She could almost see his face as he whirled open the closet door and saw his book. He\'d wonder how it came to be there, he\'d know he hadn\'t left it there.

What had been in that book? Why were their initials on it? Why was he being so unnaturally cruel to all of them? So many questions...

Hermione could have cried but refused to do so. Tears weren\'t going to save her now. She\'d only have to look confused and offer to Snape that perhaps Charlotte might have moved it. That was a wrong thing to do and she knew it. But it was her only chance at salvation. If Austere ever found out...

\"I can\'t believe I did that.\" she muttered to herself, throwing her clothing into the laundry basket and pulling on a sheer white nightgown. An early wedding present from Ginny.

She looked at herself once over as she twirled in the mirror. Hmmm... a little revealing Gin.
No matter. She had already prepared to go to bed, get a nice long sleep and wake up refreshed and ready to face the reincarnation of Satan himself.

She had just slipped into the warm and soothing confines of her bed when a knock sounded at her door. Hermione slipped up in the bed, throwing the blanket over her head and almost screaming.

Oh God...he\'s here and he\'s going to hex me. Please no. Don\'t....don\'t don\'t don\'t... her eyes squeezed shut as she willed him to go away.

\"Hermione?\"

Wait. Snape didn\'t call her Hermione. He called her \"Miss Granger\" or \"Silly little girl\" or \"know-it-all\"...She gave a tentative toss of her covers off her head and ventured a response.

\"Who is it?\"

\"Me.\"

Oh that really helps.

\"Whose me?\"

\"Hermione! It\'s me, Austere. Open the door quickly.\"

Hermione sighed and picked up her wand from its place on her side table. She swirled it and offered a gentle, \"Adaperio\" and sighed relieved as she recognized Austere faintly in the darkness. Austere slunk towards her bed, squinting. \"Hermione?\"

\"I\'m here.\"

She heard him shut and lock the door before clumsily stumbling over to the bed. Oh splendid...he\'s drunk. Austere wasn\'t a man that could really hold his drink. He was a social drinker and she supposed that tonight with his brother had set him off.

Suddenly his looming presence was behind her, breathing on the back of her neck. She heard him chuck his shoes to the side and crawl in next to her. She felt his hands on her thigh, making his way slowly upward. He smelled very strongly of Merlot.

\"What about your Mother?\" she teased.

\"Forget about her.\"

He kissed her neck gingerly, swirling circles as he groped around for her breasts through the thin fabric. He was an expert at what he did, but she wasn\'t feeling that same magic. Snape suddenly popped into her mind.

\"How did it go with Severus?\"

Hermione couldn\'t resist knowing what had conspired that evening between the two brothers, but Austere didn\'t look very interested in talking. He offered a rushed, \"We can talk about it in the morning.\" before he rolled on top of her and began his ministrations.

Hermione wished she could say that she was more into it, but after seeing Snape without a shirt Austere seemed a little less enticing. Austere was the only man she\'d ever been with and so in turn was very special to her but she couldn\'t hide the knowledge that across the hall was a very h-.

Enough. the voice commanded as Austere slid her nightgown over her shoulders. Enough thinking about Severus. You\'re marrying the man right in front of you. Stop thinking about Snape.

Easier said than done. She saw that Austere had dressed down to his skivvies, and was currently tossing her nightgown over his shoulder. She smiled up at him as he kissed her lips gently, not so needy.

Suddenly he had thrust into her, causing her to gasp and cling to him. Austere wasn\'t really one for foreplay. He began slowly, then pumping into her as she writhed about under him in the bed.

She closed her eyes and for whatever reason all she saw was Severus atop of her, thrusting into her and whispering delightfully dirty things in her ear. She felt Austere nipping at her earlobe and as the fantasy Snape in her dream did the same she moaned and clutched tighter to him. His white chest shone in front of her closed eyes, and she saw Snape smirking delightfully sexily at her.

She arched off the bed as Austere/Severus went deeper, Snape\'s image and Austere\'s services were proving to be quite the turn on. Soon she was more into it than ever, hissing \"Yes\" and moaning as Austere suckled each waiting nipple.

She moved her hips upwards along with his, wanting to go faster and faster. He was moaning and Hermione imaged it was Snape groaning in her fantasy. Her thighs squeezed tightly as she shuddered when Austere/Snape hit that spot that always sent her over the edge.

She didn\'t even see as the real Snape apparated into her room.

He looked as if he had something urgent to say at first but then as he viewed Hermione and Austere writhing about in the bed, his scowl turned into a grimaced with a look of utter forlorn disgust. He heard her moaning and squeezing her eyes shut as she begged him to go faster.

And so in turn she would never know that with the large black book under his arm Severus Snape silently apparated back into his own room.