Two Days

Both Hermione and Severus found the following two days nerve-wracking in the extreme. As the infamous "date" was scheduled for Friday night, Ron, Hermione, and Harry had to attend classes as they normally did, take their meals in the Great Hall, and behave in general as if they were ordinary school days. It was quite a strain on Hermione; all she wanted to do was creep down to Severus' rooms and never come out. Instead she tried vainly to be attentive in her classes and laughed and joked with her friends as they walked through the corridors from one class to the next. If her laughter seemed a bit forced, no one made mention of it.

Down in the dungeons, Snape wasn't fairing much better. Now that the blocking potion had been finalized, he had little to keep his mind off worrying. Indeed he did not even have the dubious companionship of Sirius Black. Albus, unwilling to draw attention by being absent himself, had sent the scruffy Animagus off to give instructions and Portkeys to the Order members who weren't already at Hogwarts. At his wits end, Severus eventually spent all day Thursday in a flurry of potion brewing. Concentrating on healing potions, pastes, and elixirs, Severus was mindful that--if Voldemort had his way come Friday evening...Poppy was likely to have a lot of injuries to look after and no potions master to do her brewing. By the end of the day, Severus had given several small crates of carefully packed phials to Dobby. Dobby, in turn, tucked them away in the infirmary where they would wait until needed.

By the time Hermione flew into Severus' study that evening and threw off Harry's invisibility cloak, Severus was pacing restlessly before the fire. For a moment, they simply stared at each other. Both their faces wore a mixed expression of worry and desire. Some unknown signal started them into action and they met before the fire in a tight embrace. Wrapping her arms around his familiar waist, Hermione squeezed him as tight as she could. Laying her head against his chest, she took comfort in the heartbeat she could feel beneath her cheek. Severus wrapped his long arms securely around the young witch and rested his cheek against the unkempt mane of hair he had come to adore.

Eventually, Hermione leaned back far enough to look thoughtfully into the tall wizard's eyes.

"How many is this then?" she asked softly.

Severus automatically opened his mouth to reply to the question she had so often asked him teasingly. His mouth snapped shut again as he realized he had absolutely no idea of the answer. Befuddled, Severus lips parted again as he confessed, "I'm afraid I seem to have lost count."

One of Hermione's arms relinquished its hold on his waist as she lifted a palm to tenderly cup his cheek. "Good. That's good. I've long hoped to give you so many hugs that even you would lose track. I'm glad it's finally enough."

Fisting his hands in her riot of hair he tilted her head back even farther as he fiercely said, "Should I live to be ten times the age of Albus, it shall never be enough!"

His lips descended on hers with the power of a thunderstorm as his hands tightened their grip in her hair. Magical energy crackled around them; Hermione realized that Severus must be much more emotionally upset than he seemed if the iron control which usually gripped his magic was slipping. This was one time she didn't need her Empath power to know how he felt, for she felt the same. Those who love most, fear most, and they both had so much to lose.

Even Hermione knew that sometimes words were not what was needed. Stroking his back with gentle hands, she softened the kiss until its fiery desperation eased into something far more tender. With her mouth and her hands she calmed the upset wizard until the sparks of unchecked energy faded. Only then did she pull away from his mouth to speak.

"Take me to bed, Severus. Let me show you how very much I love you," she whispered.

"Beloved," was the sole word he whispered back as he swept her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

Though he had been in a hurry when Hermione had first stepped into the study, Severus now kept himself in check. If it was the last thing he did...and he privately suspected that it would be...he wanted to take the time to show his beloved how intensely she was loved. Should he die the next day, Severus wanted Hermione to at least have the memory of his devotion to help sustain her. He did not worry about how he should manage if she died and he did not. The one time he had considered the matter he decided that he would simply follow her, even unto death. Hermione was unmistakably the one shiningly good thing in his sad excuse for a life. If the fates were mad and left him to live while she was taken from him, then he would follow her and do everything in his power to find her beyond the veil.

Severus had never spoken of this to Hermione; he knew very well what her reaction would be. It wasn't worth an argument when it was a moot point to begin with. Knowing what he planned to do when the fight came, Severus also knew it would take a bloody miracle for him to survive it.

Reaching his bed, Severus set Hermione softly on her feet next to it. Trailing kisses from Hermione's mouth to the soft skin of her throat, his hands made short work of the fasteners of her school robe. When he parted the fabric, he was pleasantly shocked to see she wore nothing beneath it. True, he had been hoping to undress her slowly, but the sudden and unexpected sight of the bare flesh so dear to him made his heart literally skip a beat as he gazed at her. Slowly he ran his hands over the soft skin of her shoulders and down her bare arms as he slid the robe off to let it puddle, forgotten, on the floor. After his eyes had swept up and down Hermione's body in frank appreciation, Severus knelt at her feet. Wrapping his arms around her hips, he pressed one cheek against the pale curve of her stomach for a moment. Now, so close to what he perceived as the end of his life, Severus ardently wished they hadn't been so guarded. Though he had sometimes dreamed of leaving her with his child, his sense of honor had balked at the idea of abandoning a woman to raise a child alone. No matter how much he longed that things were different, his life was what it was and he would die with his honor intact. His lips brushed against her skin as he whispered the charm that would keep her safe from pregnancy. Hermione's regretful sigh echoed his own as he reached up to tip her down onto the bed.

Hermione landed with her back flat on the coverlet, her legs hanging over the bed, and her feet still on the floor. Surprised that Severus didn't immediately join her on the bed, Hermione tilted her head up to see Severus still kneeling. The surprise changed to anticipation as he reached for her knees. Firmly pushing Hermione's thighs farther apart, Severus crept forward. His hands trailed slowly up her legs and over the sweet curve of her stomach. When his hands at last came to rest upon her breasts, Severus took his time kneading and stroking them as he watched her nipples crinkle in response. Arching into his hands, Hermione could not hold back the soft sounds of pleasure that began pouring out of her mouth. As if he were only waiting for her response, Severus immediately lowered his head to the nest of curls between her now trembling thighs.

Her breath catching in her throat, Hermione arched up again as Severus nuzzled his nose between her folds and followed it with an energetic tongue. The combination of the insistent tongue driving into her and that glorious nose grinding against her clitoris soon had Hermione's breath coming in ragged pants. The hands on her breasts became more forceful, kneading her flesh almost roughly. With a high-pitched, crooning cry, Hermione's orgasm thundered through her, leaving her trembling and breathless.

Barely aware of her surroundings, Hermione felt Severus' gentle hands as he turned her and lifted her legs onto the bed so that she lay flat. Opening her eyes, Hermione watched him pad around to the other side of the bed and then climb in to join her. Snuggling close to the nude and still panting witch by his side, Severus wrapped his arms tightly around her as he waited for Hermione to recover.

It was then that Hermione realized Severus was still wearing his trousers and shirt. While it seemed strangely naughty to be naked in his arms while he was still clothed, it simply wouldn't do. It wouldn't do at all. Pushing against him with both hands, Hermione rolled Severus onto his back and scrambled up to sit astride his hips.

"This is grossly unfair!" she said with mock outrage.

Raising an eyebrow, Severus replied in a patronizing drawl, "Unfair? I hardly think you have reason to complain, madam, when I've just made you sing like a wanton skylark." The satisfied grin which Severus couldn't quite hide did nothing to calm Hermione down.

"Humph!" snorted Hermione. Rising up slightly, Hermione abruptly bounced down upon the hard length she could feel easily though Severus' trousers. Severus hissed at the impact and glared up at her, but Hermione noted that he couldn't keep himself from raising his hips to grind against her in response. "Now that I have your undivided attention," she said as she grinned wickedly down at him, "The injustice at hand..." Here she paused to insinuate a hand between their hips so that she could grasp him firmly through his trousers...which resulted in another hiss and glare from her lover, even as he thrust up into her hand. "As I was saying, the injustice at hand," another squeeze, "is that while I am delightfully naked, you--you naughty man--are decidedly overdressed!"

"You're a clever witch," he growled. "I'm certain that you can think of some way to level the playing field."

"Indeed," she replied calmly. Then, with the suddenness of a striking snake, Hermione grabbed the placket of his now rumpled white shirt and yanked it open. Buttons rained upon the coverlet as they were abruptly parted from the garment.

Severus' eyes widened in pleased surprise at his vixen's sudden streak of aggression then they snapped abruptly closed again as Hermione lowered her head to lap at first one nipple and then the other. Severus had never though his nipples particularly responsive until Hermione had started playing with them one night with her hot mouth and tongue. Now he growled in pleasure as Hermione continued to toy with them while she ground her hips against his still cloth covered cock. This was a torturous bliss indeed. He almost wished he had taken the time to disrobe before he climbed into bed, but then he would have missed Hermione's playful aggression. Damn and blast! There were so many things he would love to discover with her and no bloody time to do so. His wistful train of thought was disrupted as Hermione leaned back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to sit him up so that she could sweep the maltreated shirt from his body.

Following her lead almost docilely, Severus used the time it took for her to remove his shirt for a brief volley of his own. Nipping and licking at Hermione's throat, as soon as his arms were free of his sleeves he wrapped them around her. Hands settling on her arse, he rocked her hips against him as his mouth found Hermione's. For a moment, Hermione was content to suck on his tongue while she ground against him, but those trousers were seriously trying her patience. Using all of her weight, she pushed Severus roughly back down against the bed. Giving him both a wicked grin as well as a small kiss on the end of his nose, Hermione scooted down his body until her face was at the front of his trousers. Once there, she nipped gently at the hard length no mere cloth could conceal, before bringing her mouth to the buttoned placket of his trousers. These buttons she undid slowly...with her teeth.

Severus raised his head to watch her, bit back a groan as she nipped at his cloth covered cock, and then groaned in abandon as he watched her soft mouth and sharp white teeth slowly unbutton him. It was the most charmingly erotic sight he had ever seen. Indeed, he thought he had never felt so hard nor so aroused in his entire life. He growled again as he obediently lifted his hips so that Hermione could tug off his trousers. The head of his cock was eagerly protruding from the fly of his boxers. When Hermione latched onto it with a hungry mouth, Severus had to literally bite his lip to keep from coming then and there. Luckily for Severus, Hermione's patience was now at an end. There was a brief struggle as Hermione tried to push his cock back through the opening of his pants while yanking them roughly off, but no harm was done and Severus found he had no desire to complain as she quickly straddled him once more and impaled herself forcefully on his shaft.

She nearly knocked the wind out of him, so hard was the impact, yet Severus thought it was worth suffocating to feel her wrapped around him at last. Never quite catching his breath, Severus panted and moaned in pleasure as Hermione rode him hard. Severus kept his eyes open, studying her every expression, her every move as if he wished to engrave it in his memory. Hermione's head was thrown back, her eyes closed, her hair a glorious tangle which haloed her sweet face. As he noted the delightful bounce of her breasts as she bounced above him, Severus remembered he had hands. He eagerly grasped the bobbing globes with both hands and gently twisted her nipples between fingers and thumb. This must have sent Hermione over the edge; her mouth opened with that delightful croon he so loved and she bucked briefly against him before collapsing over his chest.

That was the utter end of Severus' control; the way she cried out in her ecstasy went straight to his already desperate cock. Not waiting for Hermione to recover, he rolled her beneath him and pounded into her. Hips pumping fast and furious, he lost himself in a world of desperate need and growing fire. Severus' triumphant shout echoed through the room before he too collapsed in a lifeless heap. When he at last tried to pull away so as not to crush the smaller witch under him, Hermione's arms wrapped tight around him, trapping him against her.

"Stay," she whispered, "just for a moment."

"Yes," he replied as he buried his face in her neck, "for a moment."

All too soon, worry about the morrow as well as their more pleasant reasons for exhaustion caught up with the lover's and forced them to sleep.

The next morning, after he had kissed Hermione breathless and sent her off to class, Severus spent the entire day with Turpin. Turpin was more silent than usual; he knew the danger his master would face that night and it weighed heavily on his jarvey heart. Yet the two comrades spent a quiet day together, playing games and reading Tolkien. Having set his mind to making certain that they finished The Return of the King before evening came, Severus read to the Jarvey for hours over the course of the day. When the last page was finished and the book closed, Turpin regarded Severus with serious eyes.

"That wanker Frodo thought he'd never be home again, but he was fucking wrong," Turpin said sharply.

"True enough," Severus replied while ruffling the fur on Turpin's head. "Let's hope I'm wrong as well." His words were brave, but his tone revealed how little he believed in that hope.

Hermione arrived at half past seven. They would Portkey directly from Severus' study at eight o'clock. Hermione was to keep Harry's invisibility cloak and wear it during the battle. She would stay to the edge of the action and concentrate on distracting the Death Eaters with her projection. Alastor Moody had promised to keep track of her with his magical eye and come to her aid if she was discovered and in trouble. While Severus worried that he would not be able to see her, he admitted that it was for the best. If he could not see her, he could not be distracted from his own business; the Dark Lord himself. Knowing he had no chance to best such a powerful foe, he nevertheless was determined to stick to his plan of distracting the madman for as long as humanly possible.

They stood by the window seat, arms wrapped around each other's waists as they waited, staring out the charmed window into the fading light. Not a word did they speak; all the things they had most wished to say had been said the night before. At ten minutes of eight, they broke apart briefly while Hermione donned the invisibility cloak and Severus downed his phial of the blocking potion. At precisely eight o'clock, both the visible wizard and the invisible witch felt the internal tug of the Portkey's activation.

Alone in the study, Turpin put his paws over his face and wept.