In Demand

Now I


NOW I\'VE GOT SOMEONE WHO CARES FOR ME
 


Warm memories flooded through his mind. 
Words that were spoken and implied, agreements that were made, and a
future that held a bit more promise.  Stretching
a bit, he rolled over and opened his eyes, finding himself gazing at a dying
fire.  Sitting up quickly he looked around.  She was gone.
 


Anger surged through him briefly, then desperation and a
bit of self-loathing. He groaned aloud and winced at the sound. “What have
I done to her?”   He
could not hold her to any sort of agreement that was made last night. 
Her obvious frame of mind had clouded her judgment. 
Clearly a good nights sleep had brought her to her senses. 
“The thought of a relationship with me is probably as much a
nightmare as what Black did to her.”  A
vision of her tossing herself out the Gryffindor tower window flashed before his
eyes.
 


He leapt to his feet. 
He searched for his wand and found it lying underneath the pile of his
discarded clothing.  With a flick of
the wrist, the clothes were once again upon him. 
He flew through the door and into his office.  Throwing open the drawer, he pulled out the pensieve. 
He spoke her name “Hermione Granger”


 


“Severus Snape”
 


His eyes flew to the classroom door. 
She stood in the doorway holding a tray. “Thank Merlin.” 
Furious cinnamon eyes flew from his face to the pensieve and back
again.  “What in the hell do you
think you’re doing??”
 


He carefully chose his next words.  He did not want to reveal the desperation that had seized
him; she would view that as weakness.  “I
might ask you the same thing.  Upon
awakening I discovered that you had disappeared.  I was merely trying to locate you.”
 


Stalking over to the desk, she slammed the tray in the
middle of his desk and began her assault.  “Is
this the way it’s to be then, Severus??  Every time I disappear and you can’t find me, you’ll go
gazing in your magic crystal ball like Sybill friggin’ Trelawney. 
Do you plan to spy on me?”  Hermione
had an evil flash in her eyes,  “What’s
next, watching me take my clothing off, soap my body up in the shower. 
Perhaps you would like to observe me applying some body lotion to my bare
legs, or maybe you want to hear me whisper your name while I imagine my hands
are yours.”  She had been slowly
advancing on him and now stood merely inches away from him. 
Her mouth was set with fury and he could feel the angry heat coming off
of her face.
 


Her comparing him to Sybill Trelawney was more than enough
to infuriate him.  “It’s not a
Gods damned crystal ball.”  Then,
the image of her thinking of him while she pleasured herself flew through his
mind.   “And if you are
insinuating that I plan to use it to spy on you like some kind of a lecher, I
can assure you that I have absolutely no desire to do so. 
I do not take my pleasure in mere visions. 
If I’m going to enjoy looking, then I will be sure to do so at a time
that my hands are readily able to follow.”
They were both panting angrily now. 
Since they were staring right into each other’s eyes, they were both
aware of the instant their tenuous fury transformed. 
Hermione threw herself at him, literally. 
He had no choice but to catch her.  She
wrapped her legs around his waist as he turned on his heel and stalked to his
bedroom, never breaking contact with her mouth, stride not faltering once.  She unwrapped her legs from his body and felt her self being
dropped to his bed.
 


He was upon her in a flash. 
A quick mating of bodies followed.  There
was no slow burn, no need for foreplay.  Their bodies completed what their heated words had begun. 
Several minutes later, they lay side-by-side sweating and panting. 
 


Once again, Hermione was the first to find her voice. 
“So why did you feel the need to spy on me?”
 


Severus closed his eyes painfully and wrapped his arms
around her, gathering her close.  “Oh
Hermione, my intention was not to spy on you. 
I was envisioning that you had regrets about the turn things took last
night.  I was afraid you were doing
something drastic.  All I can offer
is my most sincere apology and the promise that I will never use the pensieve to
spy on you.  I will warn you though,
if I have an inkling that you are in some sort of danger, I will not hesitate to
call your name into it.”
 


“Ok, then, that’s settled. 
Let’s go.”  She removed
herself from his arms, jumped out of bed, and started straightening the clothing
that she still wore, more or less.  When
she finished, she held out her hand.
 


Severus just looked at her incredulously. 
“Where are we going?”
 


She rolled her eyes at him. 
“In case you didn’t notice the time, we missed breakfast this
morning.  So a I g I got dressed, I
stopped by the kitchen and had Dobby make up a tray.  That’s what’s on the tray on your desk.  Now straighten yourself out and lets go, I’m famished.”
 


Before she reached the doorway, she heard a low, sensual
voice call out.  “Oh Hermione”
 


She stopped dead in her tracks.  “Yes, Severus?”
 


“Are you sure I can’t watch you shower through the
pensieve just once in a while?” he asked with feigned innocence. 
“Please??”
 


“No, Severus.”  She
resumed her course to his office.  From
the living room he heard her call out, “At least not until I get my own
pensieve altered to do the same.”
 


Chuckling at this he rose and joined her for breakfast.
 

 
HE WROTE MY NAME IN SILVER SANDS
 


The weeks flew by with Hermione and Severus falling into a
comfortable routine. 
 


Severus spent his days in the lab.  He spent the bulk of his summer days making the potions the
staff used regularly throughout the year.  Potion
usage was a regular part of most teachers’ curriculum. 
Care of magical creatures, herbology, and DADA were the classes that put
his talents to the most use.  Hermione
spent her time relaxing with Harry, reading, or assisting Severus in the lab. 
 


Meals were shared in the Great Hall with the rest of the
castle’s summer inhabitants.  True
to his word, Severus made no attempts to hide the fact that the relationship
between Hermione and himself had changed.  They
now appeared for breakfast together, sat side-by-side for all meals, and left
after supper together, bidding all goodnight. 
Nights were spent together in Severus’ chambers. 
Neither made an attempt to label the relationship and at no time was the
word love uttered by either party.
 


 


The summer occupants of the castle had become accustomed to
the changes that had occurred.  While
most were a bit uncomfortable initially, they quickly accepted the relationship
between Severus Snape and the young woman who was, until just recently, a
student.  It soon became obvious
that Hermione’s influence had softened the Potions Master demeanor just a
shade.  Where-as in the past he took
his meals in silence and left immediately after dessert, he now joined in the
conversations that took place during the meal. 
He began to take a break in the afternoon and sought out members of the
staff from time to time just to share a story or cup of tea. 
He even had taken to sharing a game of Wizard’s Chess with Harry
several evenings a week, following the evening meal.
 


Hermione sat on the sofa late one night sipping a cup of
tea.  At the opposite end of the
sofa, Severus was reading the seventh years potions book and making notes for
his first week’s lessons.  Hermione
ached to reach out to him, to whisper the words that were screaming through her
heart.  “I love him.” 
Every morning she swore this would be the day she told him. 
But, by nightfall, she had decided that she did not want to risk not hearing
the sentiment returned.  He had made
it quite clear to her that that sort of thing was not his style. 
“Still, it would be nice to know.”


 


He heard her sigh quietly as she place the empty cup on the
table.  He smiled and set his book
and notes aside.  He reached in his
pocket and pulled out a small, flat box. He held the box out to her. 
“I had something made for you in Hogsmeade today.”
 


She accepted the box and looked quizzically first at him,
then at the box.  With wide eyes,
she opened up the lid.  Shaking
fingers pulled out a long silver chain.  On
the chain was a miniature replica of his Student’s pensieve, filled with
silver sand.  She was speechless.
 


He slid closer to her and took it out of her hands. 
Gently he placed the chain over her head and lifted her hair to allow it
to fall around her neck.  He grinned at her wickedly “You said I couldn’t watch you
shower until you got one of your own.  I
expect that now that requirement has been met. 
I had it filled with sand from my own pensieve. The sand acts as sort of
a safeguard.  If you get any ideas
of sharing it….”
&nb

Her indignant tone interrupted him, “I would never!
Severus, how could you even think something like that?”
 


  He laughed
outright at this.  “My your
feathers sure do ruffle easily.  May
I continue?” She nodded.  “Or in
the event it gets lost, it has been charmed as a sort of portkey. 
If anyone other than you touches it, the sands will instantly be recalled
from whence they came, as will the offending party. 
Sort of a precaution to protect my privacy, you do understand.”
 


She giggled at this and then threw herself into his arms. 
“Oh Severus, it’s beautiful.  Thank
you so much.”  She kissed him
passionately, but pulled away before things could get heated up. 
She looked at him and inquired, “Will you do me a favor?”
 


“Anything, you just need ask.”
 


She smiled innocently and asked him, “Will you please go
take a shower now.”
 


He was more than happy to oblige, knowing that two would
soon occupy the shower.