Resuming Duties

Many thanks to Madbrilliant for her beta skills, and to all of those who continue to read and review!

................................................

Chapter 11 - Resuming Duties

The school term had started again, and the students' return to Hogwarts had more or less signaled the end of Severus and Hermione's personal time.

On their return, the majority of students spent the first few days trying their luck with breaking a few harmless school rules, but around the middle of the week, the professors managed to tame them again. Hermione had been especially busy rushing around and dealing out punishments in order to maintain control. Severus had been called to the Ministry again, so that kept him from being able to have any decent conversations with any of his colleagues during the week.

However, Friday evening had finally arrived, the school had settled back down, and with it being already eleven at night, the students were supposed to be in their dormitories sleeping. Hermione had taken the earlier patrol shift, so it left her free to go and pay a visit to the man whom she loved and had missed all week. So once she had bathed and dressed in comfortably loose jeans and a dark green sweater that Molly Weasley had made for her, she Flooed to the Headmaster's office.

She walked through and brushed a tiny bit of soot from her shoulder, surveying the room in order to find him. She saw him standing over near the window, wearing only his trousers, white linen shirt, and waistcoat, leaning his head against the glass. He seemed to be lost in concentration and hadn't noticed her. With a small smile, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. His posture immediately stiffened and then relaxed when his hands covered hers.

'Hi there,' she murmured, pressing her cheek against his strong back.

He chuckled softly, turning in her arms to embrace her. 'I've missed you so much all week,' he said in a totally uncharacteristic moment. 'You look a little tired, love.'

She looked up at him and smiled brightly, leaning up to kiss his lips chastely. 'You look at little worn out yourself,' she replied. 'Maybe I should go back to my rooms and let you get some rest.'

He shook his head and pulled her a little closer, giving her a squeeze before letting go and taking her hand, leading her towards the entrance to his chambers. He traced a long finger down a discolored panel of wood on the wall besides a tall painting of a landscape, which swung open to let them inside. He led her into the room, bypassed his sitting room, and opened the door to another room which Hermione had never entered. When he finally stopped, she realised that she was in Severus Snape's bedroom.

At first, she was a little shocked, but after a moment, she calmed her pulse enough to take a good look around. The room held a large four-poster bed that had a sumptuous looking black spread over Egyptian cotton sheets; ornate, matching nightstands on either side, and a large dresser and wardrobe over one side. Another door was on the other side, which she just assumed was the door that led to the bathroom. She looked at Severus beside her and saw that there was nothing but weariness and affection in his eyes that night, for which she was grateful.

'Stay and sleep here tonight,' he asked, tugging her hand towards him a little. 'Just to sleep – I know you're not ready for that.'

Hermione smiled. 'Okay,' she said, kicking off her shoes and walking over to sit on one side of the bed.

Severus followed, shedding his waistcoat and draping it over a chair before kicking his shoes off and sitting on the other side of the bed. He rolled his socks off his feet and swung his legs onto the bed properly. Hermione took her socks off as well, and together they wriggled under the covers, and towards the centre and each other. Severus took her into his arms, and with a murmured charm, he extinguished the lights in the room and snuggled closer to the woman he loved.

Hermione grinned and pulled his shirt out of the waistband of his pants, reaching up to unbutton it. She wasn't trying to strip him, but she just wanted him to be a little more comfortable with her. Sliding a hand over his firm, lightly-haired chest, she felt his skin intimately for the first time since they had admitted their feelings to each other. His sharp intake of breath was the only thing that alerted her to a reaction. He didn't move, simply allowing her to trace patterns on his flesh.

'Your skin is so smooth,' she murmured, leaning forward and pressing her lips to his chest hesitantly.

'Hermione,' he gasped out as her fingers grazed his nipple. 'You should stop. You don't know what you're starting.'

She laughed softly. 'Relax, Sev,' she said softly, undoing the last few buttons, and pushing the shirt off his shoulders. 'Shift your arms a bit. Take the shirt off for me, Severus.'

'I don't know if that's a good idea,' Severus replied, even as he was complying with her request, tossing the shirt over his side of the bed. 'If you start this, I am going to be very hard-pressed to stop it, Hermione.'

'I was a little apprehensive – but I really want to be with you, Severus,' she said simply, stroking his cheek and kissing his chest again. 'I want to be with you in every way possible. I think now is as good a time as any.'

Severus moaned softly as she traced a finger down from his nipple to his navel, which she circled. 'Don't say I didn't warn you,' he said with a gasp.

Before she knew what was happening, Hermione was rolled over onto her back, and a shirtless Severus was looming over her; almost menacingly. With a smirk, he leaned down and pressed his lips firmly to her own, meanwhile pushing her sweater up to pull it over her head once the kiss broke. They tossed it aside, and then he began to wrestle with the button of her jeans, pulling down the zip, and disposing of them as well. She was then left beneath him in her simple cotton undergarments.

He was blown away. She was so beautiful and unassuming, her choice in underwear giving credit to that. She was not a seductress or loose women who threw herself at men. She was something else entirely, and he loved it. He leaned down and captured her lips in another steamy kiss, suckling on her tongue. She needed no encouragement to return the favor, and gladly devoured his mouth with equal fervor.

'You are so bloody beautiful,' he said huskily, pulling back to push the covers off and sitting up so he could take her in.

She was slender and her milky skin was smooth and perfect. Her waist was very small, and she had slender hips, a flat stomach, long slim legs, and her breasts beneath the bra would easily be covered by his large hands. All in all, she was tall and slender for a woman in her age group, but he thought that she was perfection. He traced his finger down from her collarbone to her sternum between her breasts, and then to her navel, which he circled. She giggled a little, trying to slap his hands away, but then he went into attack mode and began tickling her on purpose.

'Stop! Please, Severus! I'm ticklish!' she shrieked in between bouts of laughter.

He chuckled and tickled her a little more, but soon tired of it and slumped over, his lips pressing to her stomach softly. 'That was entirely too much fun,' he murmured against her skin.

She bucked her hips slightly to get him moving, and he shimmied back up the length of her body, planting small kisses along the way. He reached her lips and kissed her chastely there, and she reached behind her back and unfastened the clasp of her bra, shrugging it off, and tossing it over her side of the bed. He was surprised for a moment, but then pulled back a little so that he could admire her lovely breasts. They would have been a little on the smaller side to any other man but him. He found them to be just round enough, with dusky pink nipples in the centre.

'Lovely,' he murmured, pressing a kiss just to the side of the nipple of her left breast. 'Absolutely perfect.'

Hermione giggled. 'They're just breasts, Severus,' she said with a smile. 'The others complained about them not being big enough.'

'They were fools,' he growled, feeling a little possessive and jealous at the mention of other men. 'You are beautiful, and they are perfect.'

'Well, they're feeling a little neglected,' she teased, letting her own hands drift up to cup them, flicking her thumbs over the tips of her nipples. 'Maybe I should just take care of myself tonight.'

'Not a chance,' Severus growled before ravishing her mouth with kisses.

About an hour later, Severus lay on his back with Hermione draped over him, nestling her head in the crook of his neck, both of them a little sweaty. Both of them were thoroughly sated. They had yet to catch their breath from it. Hermione pressed a kiss to his Adam's apple, and then licked it, making him groan in pleasure anew. He stroked her shoulder lightly, closing his eyes, weary from the week and their lovemaking.

'That was just what I needed,' Hermione said, letting out a heavy sigh.

'Yes, I agree,' Severus replied, turning over and facing her, pulling her closer to him with one strong arm. 'You are very, very good. If I weren't afraid of the answer, I would likely ask you from whom you gained your wealth of experience.'

She chuckled. 'I've only ever been with one other man before, love,' she replied. 'And you'll be glad to know it was neither Harry nor Ron. He wasn't even from this school or country even.'

'Not Krum?' he asked curiously.

Hermione shook her head fervently. 'No, definitely not him. We lost contact after my seventh year here, and I never bothered to try and renew anything with him,' she answered. 'Actually, to be honest, he was lousy and most of anything I know, I read in the books I found in a warded cupboard in the library at Grimmauld Place.'

Severus tried to keep a straight face, but lost the battle and broke out in peals of laughter, curling up and holding himself as he did. After a few minutes, he managed to control himself and wiped the tears of mirth from his face. He took a few deep breaths and turned to see Hermione looking at him peculiarly, an amused smirk firmly plastered on her lips.

'What's so funny?' she demanded.

Severus smiled broadly, pulling her into his arms and charming the covers off the floor and back over them. 'Oh, it just figures that you would have to research and read about sex,' he replied, kissing her forehead affectionately.

She smiled back. 'I like to know as much as I can about everything,' she replied, running her hand down his chest and flat stomach, stopping at his arousal. 'How about we practice some more? You always were a very good teacher.'

He groaned as her hand wrapped around him and stroked. 'Oh, Merlin!' he moaned. 'Good idea, love...'

She rolled over on top of him and smiled as she leaned down to kiss him again in the way that they both loved so much. 'I always have good ideas,' she said before they surrendered to their passion once more.