Plans Into Actions

Omnipresent thanks to the ever-so-brilliant, Madbrilliant, for beta-ing this chapter!

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Chapter 8 – Plans Into Actions

Since the arrival of the Snapes at Suffolk Manor, the generally empty building seemed more alive with the planning of the proposed Christmas Ball, including the preparation of the guest rooms and the sending of invitations. Hermione had spent much of this time in the Library, catching up on the reading she had been unable to do while teaching at Hogwarts and completing the room plan for the guests during their stay.

She had seen very little of Severus in this time, and even when they retired to bed for the few days before the party, little had been said as he had returned from making preparations in the Wizarding town nearby, totally exhausted. Although she had been positively dying to be with him those nights, she left him to sleep, nestling into his side because that was all she could do.

That night, she watched from the second floor at the top of the staircase as he walked – no, stumbled through the front doors and tossed his black jacket at one of the house elves, muttering a quick thanks. She gasped at the sight and rushed down the stairs to catch him at the bottom as he slumped weakly against the banister.

"Oh, God, Severus what happened?" she asked in a worried tone, brushing his hair back from his face and leaning her forehead against his.

"I was in town before one of the elves alerted me to an errant troll on the grounds. I wanted to get rid of it before the ball, and I'm afraid I'm not as fast as I used to be," he said softly. "It got a few hits in before I managed to knock it out."

Hermione pulled him tight against her and pressed kisses all over his face. "Severus, you are a wonderful stupid man! You could have been killed!" she exclaimed, half-dragging him up the stairs.

They eventually made it to the bedroom, and Hermione had to help him undress carefully before laying him back on their bed and examining the unclothed chest. She peeled his trousers off and healed the bleeding gash on his thigh immediately and then the broken ribs and bruised back.

"Wait here, I'm going to run you a bath," she muttered, pressing a swift kiss to his cheek before retreating.

Severus was still aching, despite the fact that most of the bruising and broken bones were healed. It was mostly because of his joints, but didn't bother to mention that to his wife lest she become more upset than she already was. She emerged from their bathroom mere moments later and told him that his bath was ready and practically had to drag him there anyway because his body just didn't want to cooperate with his will.

She got him there, and he stepped out of his boxers slowly and then lowered himself into the steaming hot water. She sat on the edge of the tub behind him and began rubbing his sore muscles firmly, kneading out all of the tension within and enjoying the soft moan he emitted after ten minutes of the massage.

"That feels really good, love," he said in between soft noises of pleasure.

She leaned forwards and softly kissed the pulse beating in his throat and nuzzled his neck. "Good, because you most certainly deserve it after what you've been through," she answered quietly.

He leaned back into her embrace and kissed her cheek when she came within reaching distance. "Come and join me in the water, Hermione. We have spent far too little time with each other this week, and I've missed you dearly," he pleaded weakly.

She kissed him slowly and pulled away, pulling off her warm flannel pajamas and knickers, stepping into the water in front of him, and sliding down so her back was pressed firmly to his front. He wrapped two long arms around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder, breathing in the herbal scent of the water.

"Everything is ready for the arrival of the guests tomorrow, my love," he commented, drawing lazy circles over the flat plane of her belly. "Are the rooms all ready and assigned?"

She nodded and sighed. "It's all ready and perfect. I inspected each of the rooms myself this afternoon, and I'm sure that you'll approve of my bedding selection."

"I'm sure that anything you chose will suffice," he answered sleepily.

"Let's wash up and go to bed," she murmured, turning to reach for the soap and lathering up his chest.

They washed each other fairly quickly after that, and once Hermione was swathed in her red silk bathrobe and Severus in his black one, they tumbled into bed and fell asleep wrapped loosely around each other.

oO0Oo

Eight hours later, Severus woke to the sounds of the curtains being drawn open loudly, snapping him from the best sleep that he had in a long time. His body was not aching much thanks to the potion Hermione must have put in the water for the bath the night before and her soothing hands.

He stretched languidly and opened his eyes, staring up into the smiling face of his angel. "Morning, love," he said, smiling up at her.

She leaned forwards and kissed him firmly, running her hands over his chest on the inside of his bathrobe. "Good morning to you too, Severus," she replied, pulling back and grabbing his hand. "Get out of bed. The guests will be arriving shortly."

"How soon is shortly?" he asked mischievously.

"Three hours," she replied nonchalantly.

"In that case," he said, grabbing her around the hips and pulling her atop him in the bed, "we're staying in bed for a little longer."

Hermione laughed and allowed him that liberty, mostly because she had been craving it too.

About one hour later, they managed to get out of bed, spent and sated, and stumble into the shower together. They emerged from their room dressed and ready before the guests were set to arrive and sat down to a light breakfast in the parlor. Hermione made a check through the guest list once more, noticed a few names that she did not recognize, and decided to ask Severus about them.

"Severus, who's Anne Plinth," she asked curiously.

He looked up uncomfortably and cleared his throat, teacup still in his hand. "She is my cousin. Well, at least the only one I like," he answered. "She lives in Wales, but I invited her and her husband Theodore."

Hermione smiled and nodded. "Okay, so the other names on the list that I don't know should be various other family members too?"

"Yes."

She ran her finger along the list and felt her eyes widen. "Who is Stephen Prince?" she asked weakly.

He looked up and sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "He is my younger half-brother, the child of my mother's disastrous second marriage," he answered. "I rarely get the chance to talk to him as he lives in America, but we owl each other regularly enough to be friendly."

"You have a brother?" she asked with a furrowed brow. 'Why have you never told me?"

"It didn't seem too important," he answered, not looking up and reaching for his Daily Prophet.

"Did you even invite him to our wedding?" she asked with just a hint of hysteria.

He looked up and saw that she was getting wound-up and attributed it to be a part of her out-of-control pregnancy emotions. "Love, I did invite Stephen, but he had a business trip to attend to that could not be postponed. He sent his well wishes and an apology," he answered with a heavy sigh.

She seemed to cool down at that comment and settled back into the chair, picking up the teacup that she had left when she had begun reading the list. "I'm sorry, Severus. It seems that my hormones are a little messed up at the moment," she apologized.

He stood up from his chair, rested his teacup back on the coffee table, and went to her side, dropping to the floor beside her and clasping her free hand in both of his. Kissing her knuckles gently, he breathed in her sweet vanilla scent and closed his eyes.

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Hermione. I love you, and I love the thought of you carrying OUR child more than anything in the world," he murmured thoughtfully. "Now let's go and get ready for our guests, hmmm?"

She nodded and stood up from her seat, putting the teacup down and following her husband out of the room.

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