Chapter 13

All canon characters belong to JKR

Thanks to June for doing the beta work for me.

Chapter 13

Severus walked to his quarters quickly. He didn't want to spend too much time alone with Hermione, since it had taken all of his self-control not to grab her and haul her off to the bedroom. She had awakened something inside of him that had lain dormant for many years. During his time as a spy, he had kept himself in check. It was not that he had been celibate all those years, but sex with a prostitute was not the same as sex with someone you cared about. And he did care about her, and also realized he could very easily love her. She was young, though; and he wasn't sure if she had ever been in a serious relationship. While he knew she had dated Victor Krum for a short while, he did not know of any other boys she may have been involved with. To her, Potter was just a friend ... actually, more like a brother. As far as Weasley went, Severus hoped she would have had better taste.

So far things were progressing nicely, he thought. As it was, their relationship was developing quickly, which was quite all right with him. They had already become good friends, something he never thought would happen. Obviously, it would be easy for them to turn their friendship into something more. The true test for them would be the start of classes. There would be little time this year for outings much like the one they had on Saturday. Of course, if things worked out the way he hoped, they would not need to go out to have a good time. He could make things quite enjoyable for her indoors.

On Monday morning Severus and Hermione walked to the Great Hall together. With one week left before the onslaught of new students, Severus thought he should get used to eating with the rest of the staff once again. It did not go unnoticed, however, that he entered the Hall with Hermione at his side. And more than one set of eyebrows were raised when he pulled Hermione's chair out for her. Although he seemed to be himself in every other aspect, the rest of the staff noticed Severus paying particular attention to Hermione, and several times noticed the girl smiling at him.

"Are you ready to begin your lessons after breakfast?" asked Severus, as he poured their coffee.

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it." She beamed at him.

"I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of having a word with Osiris last night. I made him promise not to go rummaging in your head unnecessarily, and he assured me he would not."

"Thank you. I was thinking about that last night as well. I mean, it would be a little embarrassing if he were to see everything in there." She blushed as she said the words, realizing once they came out of her mouth how it might have sounded. This earned her a curious look from Severus.

"Really, Miss Granger? Do tell." He slightly bumped her elbow with his, prodding her to spill her secrets.

"There is nothing to tell, Professor." She laughed softly, yet refused to look at him. "That is, nothing you would consider scandalous." She knew she had opened herself for questions after what she had said. She dared not tell him she spent many nights dreaming of him lying next to her. Hermione couldn't tell him how she secretly desired his hands in places no man had seen in years ... and in all honesty, places no man had ever been. She really only ever had one real boyfriend, and that was Victor Krum. They never got further than kissing, though.

After she graduated Hogwarts, she had met a boy at the university and dated him for a few weeks until he moved back to Spain. The night he left she slept with him, only to be greatly disappointed. She vowed that night never to go out with boys her own age. While she had little experience, she found they had less. They had no idea how to touch a woman the way she wanted, nor did they have the confidence to ask a woman what she wanted. No, Hermione wanted a MAN. She looked at Severus as he buttered his toast, and then looked back down at her plate. She had found just the man she wanted, and he was sitting right next to her.

After breakfast they left the Great Hall to begin her Legilimency lessons. They walked back to Severus' office, where he had placed two chairs across from each other. He motioned for Hermione to sit down, and then he sat himself down across from her.

"It is not always necessary to have eye contact with the person, or bird." He added that last word hoping to ease the tension he had felt coming from her. "You will feel something when I am coming in. You must relax; if you are tense, then my intrusion will be a bit uncomfortable for you."

She nodded and closed her eyes. Hermione let herself breathe in and out deeply, then opened her eyes again. She noted how relaxed Severus looked, and wondered what things she would find in his head if she dared to look. When he was certain she was relaxed, he began.

"I'm going to start now. Are you ready?" he asked. It sounded to her as though he were speaking to her in a dream. The air around her seemed to have changed, and she felt her body quickly growing warm. Within seconds, Hermione felt as though something was pushing through her skull. It wasn't a completely unpleasant feeling, just different. "Can you feel me?" he asked. She nodded slightly, not trusting her voice. Not only could she feel him breaking into her head, but she also felt as though the room temperature had just gone up about twenty degrees. "Can you feel me inside of you now?" he asked.

She was breathing faster now. It felt as though his entire soul had wrapped itself around her. She felt him so close to her now; he seemed to be everywhere. Her nipples were tingling, and a heat was building inside of her, traveling slowly down to her heated core. She had never felt anything like this, not even when she had the encounter with the young Spaniard. Severus was doing this, and he hadn't even touched her. She heard a faint voice inside her head now, and realized he was trying to communicate with her.

"Speak to me," he asked.

"What should I say?" she answered. She heard him chuckle across from her.

"Anything you want."

Hermione decided to take this opportunity to show him just exactly how she felt about him. "I think I would rather show you something?" she said, and then noticed him arch his left brow.

"Show me whatever you wish."

She thought back to her last day as a student at Hogwarts. It was as though they were both walking down a corridor, towards an open door where she ushered him inside. She let him see her sitting at her desk, inside her Head Girl's room. She had finished writing inside the last page of her journal. She set down her pen, and closed the journal. She stood and looked around her room as she bent down to pick up her cat. He looked at the sad image she was showing him, and then heard her speak.

"My last day here, Crooks, and I will most probably never see him again. I'm afraid I don't have the courage to tell him how I feel." She lifted Crookshanks and stared into his eyes. "I wonder if he will ever think of me."

Next they walked through another door, and into yet another room. This time she was in her university dorm room. She had been studying and decided to take a break. She opened her desk drawer and took out a picture. Severus noticed she was smiling. He walked closer to her image and looked at the picture in her hand. It was him. He was standing near the Quidditch pitch, watching the Slytherins practice. The wind was blowing his hair and his robes around wildly.

"How did you get that?" he asked in wonder.

"I begged Colin Creevey to send it to me. He said you almost caught him, but he managed to run away before you turned around."

"Why?" He leaned forward now, letting himself drift out of her head. "Why would you want a picture of me?">

Hermione bowed her head, and began playing with the bottom edge of her blouse.

"I knew if I wrote to you, you would probably not answer me," she said. "I wanted so badly to look at you, to see your face. I.... I thought of you every day when I was at the university. I knew you would never want me, but I thought, if I could have a picture of you, then you would be mine, even if it were just your image that belonged to me, and not your heart."

He kneeled down in front of her and lifted her chin with his hand. Her eyes were sparkling with unshed tears.

"You are correct, Hermione; I would not have answered your letters. It would not have been the right time for me, and I am afraid I would not have been open to a relationship with you in any form. You were still a student in my eyes." He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her slightly towards him. "You are no longer my student, and if you wish it, then I am yours, Hermione. If that is what you truly want, then I am yours." He kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to brush against hers. He held her tightly and ran his fingers through her hair. Hermione lifted her head and stared into his eyes. For a moment, he thought he saw fear.

"Severus," she said as she closed her eyes, making him think she was going to change her mind about wanting him. He prepared himself for her rejection. "I've wanted you for so long. But at the risk of having you bolt out the door and never coming back, I have to tell you I want more than just.... than just sex."

To her surprise, he threw his head back and laughed. "I thought you were going to tell me you didn't want me after all."

She laughed shyly, then laid her head on his shoulder. "Never! I would never say that to you," she said softly as he stroked her hair. "I haven't scared you off with what I said, have I?"

"Silly girl, do you see me going anywhere?" he said playfully, as he sat back on his chair, taking her with him to sit on his lap. "Right now, there is no other place I would rather be."

The rest of the week was spent much the same way. They would have breakfast and lunch at the Great Hall. In the afternoon, Severus would give her lessons in Legilimency, and they would snog for a while. Then in the evenings, they took walks around the lake. Dinner was in her rooms.

Hermione proved to be an excellent Legilimens. She picked up the skill easily. Within the first two days, albeit with a bit of difficulty at first, she was able to communicate with Osiris. At the end of the week, she was beginning to have short conversations with Severus as well. She was quite pleased to have picked up such a difficult skill, and couldn't wait to tell Harry and Ron what she had learned.

Before he left her quarters on Sunday evening, Severus wanted to speak with her about the first day of classes.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" he asked as he walked to the door.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. I'm a bit nervous," she said as she followed him.

"It will be very easy to want to be their friend, Hermione, but just remember: they are students, not friends. Do not allow yourself to become personal with them; I guarantee it will be something they take advantage of. Be firm, and do not hesitate to hand out punishment if need be."

"I want them to respect me, not fear me." She had hoped he would not take what she had just said personally.

He stepped towards her and loomed over her, his face cold and eyes glittering. Then he leaned down until she felt his breath in her hair.

"I find that fear is, more often than not, a greater form of motivation than respect when it comes to some of these children," he whispered in her ear. He kissed her cheek, and then moved down to her neck, leaving tiny kisses along the way. The dungeons were cold, yet she always seemed so warm beneath his touch.

She grabbed his wrist, then slid her hand up and entwined her fingers with his. She turned her head and met his lips with her own. They had spent the entire week ending their evenings the same way. After dinner in her rooms, she would walk him to the door, he would reach out and kiss her, and they would kiss at her doorway for several minutes before they said goodnight. This evening would not end the same way. This evening, she would not let him go to his room. She released his lips, and pulled her head away slightly.

"Please, stay with me tonight." She could hardly believe that the deep breathless whisper had come from her own mouth. He pulled her closer, and for the first time she felt just what he had hidden so well, all these years, beneath those teaching robes. His body felt firm and warm, and she also felt the telltale sign that he didn't want to leave either.

"You would find it difficult to get rid of me at this moment." He stepped back inside and shut the door with his foot, then swooped her up into his arms and walked to the bedroom.

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Yes, I am aware that to be a good Legilimens it probably takes years to master and yet Hermione pretty much got the gist of it in one chapter.

I see Hermione as being an incredibly intelligent woman. In my opinion there is no reason not to believe she has during her time after Hogwarts probably has delved into the world of Legilimency because of her thirst for knowledge.