For Love's Sake

A big hug and a kiss for Madbrilliant for being an awesome beta!

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Chapter 10 – For Love's Sake

On the Christmas morning, the day of the ball, Suffolk Manor was teeming with excitement and banter. Everyone had risen early with their Christmas gifts at small piles at the ends of their beds before they would head down to the Dining hall for a late breakfast at half past eight. Severus Snape woke to find one half of the bed empty and his wife nowhere in sight. The presents had not been touched at the foot of the bed, and her dressing gown was missing from the ornate peg on the wall next to the bathroom door.

He got out of the bed and pulled his own thick black bathrobe on and slid slippers on his feet. He figured that there were only a few places Hermione frequented in the house and decided to check them first. He Flooed from their private sitting room to the Library and then to the parlor, but he still did not see her. The last place he went to was his private study, but she was not there either.

Just when he felt himself begin to panic a little, he Flooed to the kitchen to get a cup of tea to soothe his frazzled nerves. When he stepped out of the fire, he almost tripped when he saw Hermione seated at one of the long benches, sipping from a mug quietly.

"Hermione..." he said with a heavy breath.

She looked up at him with weary surprise and patted next to her on the chair, offering him a seat. He went to her immediately and rested a hand on her thigh on the outside of her long, thick, white bathrobe. "I've been looking for you," he said gruffly.

She bit her bottom lip and opened her mouth to apologize to him, but he stopped that immediately and lowered his lips to hers in a slow, lingering kiss before pulling back. Hermione had been avoiding him since the conversation she had with Stephen and had fled as soon as she has seen him. He was unsure yet as to what had driven her away, but guessed that she perhaps misunderstood his regard for Stephen as annoyance at her.

"I am terribly sorry about yesterday, Severus," she apologized while he was too distracted to stop her.

'I am sorry, too, my love. I was not mad at you last night, but at Stephen for being so careless," he replied in kind, hugging her close. "I should have guessed that he would bring up that lot again."

"It doesn't change my opinion of you, Severus," she hastened to reassure him, caressing his cheek gently. "I love you."

"And I love you," he murmured. "Happy Christmas."

They left the kitchens shortly afterwards and returned to the large pile of Christmas presents at the foot of their bed. Severus tossed her the nearest gift, which she caught before throwing him a rueful look and poking out her tongue at him.

"Very funny, Snape," she said with a grin before starting to peel the tape off the present.

Severus sat right behind her and kissed her cheek, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder so that he could watch her unwrap the gifts. She smiled and continued until all of the gifts were sitting in one pile near their bathroom door and the wrapping paper littered the floor in huge piles.

"Severus, love, we have to clear up this mess and get ready for breakfast," Hermione said, after a while of just sitting there, wrapped in her husband's embrace.

"Let's go back to bed first," he mumbled lazily, nuzzling her neck with his nose before nipping at it gently with his teeth. "I'm sure everyone can find their way to breakfast themselves."

She relaxed in his arms and relented to the glorious torment for a while, until his hands worked their way inside of her bathrobe and began doing things to her that guaranteed they would have trouble arriving to breakfast on time. She removed his hands, pranced into the bathroom, and closed the door, blocking him out and taking a cold shower.

Half an hour later, Hermione and Severus found themselves in the Dinning room with the rest of their guests. Hermione sat and ate with her mother and Anne while Severus acquiesced to eat with his brother and her father with Albus for her sake. All in all, it was a rather pleasant affair.

"How did you sleep, Mum?" Hermione asked as she nibbled on some toast.

"Very well, the beds here are magnificent!" Jane replied with a smile. "Your father and I are very impressed. We had no idea you had a house like this!"

Hermione laughed. "To tell you the truth, I had no idea that Severus even had this Manor either."

"Oh, it's been in the Prince family for hundreds of years," Anne added helpfully. "Severus' mother inherited it as the oldest of an all-girl family of Princes and passed it to her eldest son."

Hermione smiled and looked across the room to make sure that Severus was playing nice with all of the other men. He seemed fairly neutral, so she went across the room to find some of the order members and ended up being hauled into a conversation by Julia Sinistra, the Astronomy Professor at Hogwarts.

"Julia, how are you?" she asked politely, sitting next to her on one of the lounges and grasping both of her hands in her own.

"Excellent. This is a wonderful house. I had no idea that Severus had such beautifully kept homes as this," Julia replied with a smile.

Sinistra was the very same age as Severus, but was in Ravenclaw in that year with Rolanda Hootch. She was not the most attractive woman, but had lovely clear blue eyes, long blonde hair that was slightly streaked with white, and a long straight nose. She was pretty enough, but had never married after her affianced husband died in the first uprising of Voldemort. And she had, of course, made the mistake of dating Sirius Black like many women in that age group. Hermione was often quite surprised that Severus had never considered dating the woman, as she was quite intelligent and charming.

Then again, the only woman that could truly tolerate his moods and snarky sarcasm was Hermione.

"Are you enjoying the school year so far?" Hermione asked with a small smile.

"Hmmm, the students are quite tiresome, but of course, they would be. And with Filius due to retire soon and my new duties as Head of Ravenclaw, all I have time for any more are the students," she said with a half-laugh. "No more night outings for me."

Hermione agreed and caught sight of Stephen walking in their direction with a smile gracing his features. She extended her hand to welcome him and draw him over for introductions.

"Julia, I would like to introduce you to Stephen Prince, Severus' younger brother," she said to the older woman. "And Stephen, this is mine and Severus' colleague, Julia Sinistra."

"A pleasure," he said suavely, taking Julia's hand and kissing it.

Julia was obviously not accustomed to such formal gestures and blushed slightly as the slightly younger man joined her on the seat. "Nice to meet you," she squeaked.

Hermione almost laughed openly at this and decided to let them have a chat without her. "Well, I have to go and check up on some arrangements in the kitchens, so if you'll both excuse me, I'll take my leave and you can get to know each other better," Hermione said, slipping away quickly.

Stephen smiled at the blushing Sinistra and decided that it was cruel to leave the poor woman waiting and began the conversation. "You're a colleague of Severus?" he asked.

"Yes, I teach Astronomy at Hogwarts," she answered. "I don't believe Severus has ever mentioned a brother."

"I live in America, and we don't talk often, so it isn't a surprise. Besides, I never got the chance to attend Hogwarts for my schooling," he replied with a half-smile. "I went to Durmstrang in Bulgaria because my father went there when he was doing his studies."

"What was it like there?"

"Tough. The Headmaster was quite strict even then, and he didn't take kindly to misbehaved boys. I knew Igor Karkarof there, though he was a few years above me and rather a bad influence," he said with a smirk. 'I take it you went to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I was in your brother's year, but we didn't get along very well. He was friends with Rolanda Hootch, though, and she was in Ravenclaw with me," she answered. "We get along better now since I began teaching at Hogwarts. I only started teaching seven years after he was there though, and he can be a little testy."

"I know all about that. I grew up with him," Stephen replied.

"Was he always like that?"

"He was, but has improved significantly since he has known Hermione," he said with a grin. He was beginning to like this woman. She was nice, after all.