Summer Vacation

I would like to thank Alliean for her beta of this chapter. She is truly a gem :)

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

Chapter 29 - Summer Holiday

Spain, while hot during the summer, was a very lovely holiday destination and popular amongst Muggles and magical folk alike.

Severus was now pleased with himself for having had bought a property in Spain ten years beforehand when he had been bored one summer. Now, it could finally be put to use, and the house-elves that cared for the house would have a purpose. Hermione, when the idea was first suggested to her, had been enthralled, hugging and kissing him all over before dragging him to their bed for a long lovemaking session. He, of course, had not objected to any of this in the least.

So, two weeks after the students had left, when the only remaining folk who were in the castle were other professors, and of course, Megan. Severus announced that they would be packing up and going on vacation. Megan, who was still over the moon about becoming a part of their slowly growing family, had been totally beside herself about it. So, after about two hours of getting their belongings together for the trip, they all went by Floo to Snape Villa.

This was how Severus, two days later, had ended up lounging on a deck chair beside a huge Grecian-style pool as his wife napped right beside him on the huge chair, tucked against his chest while Megan splashed around in the water. Severus smiled as he watched her, not able to believe how much she had truly grown on him. He cared for the girl quite a lot more than he thought he would be able to care for a child that was not his own, and this pleased him. He would have really disliked being unable to care for her as she rightly deserved.

Hermione, of course, simply adored Megan and would spend quite a lot of time outdoors with her, picking flowers and just generally getting to know her better. While sometimes it made Severus feel like a third wheel, he knew it was for a good cause. He wanted Hermione to be close to Megan. Smirking, he trailed a long, pale finger down her arm, causing goose bumps to prickle her smooth, lightly tanned skin. The sun was causing her freckles to stand out more prominently on her nose and cheekbones. Admittedly, Severus found them quite lovely while Hermione disliked them.

'They are awful and spotty,' she had told him one day when they had first started to make themselves known.

He had laughed and kissed her into breathlessness. 'You always look like a beautiful goddess to me, love,' had been his only reply.

Sighing, he let his arm fall down to rest on the chair, feeling lax from the warmth. It was no wonder his wife slept like she was right now. He felt a little drowsy too. Just as he was contemplating moving the two of them inside, a wave of water washed over him, icy cold and wholly surprising. He sat up abruptly, as did Hermione who was woken from her nap, and they both looked over at Megan, who was trying but failing to disguise her mirth at having caught them by surprise.

'I wonder who that might have been,' said Hermione with a grin as she took off the wrap around her hips and made her way to the water with the young girl, smiling and laughing. 'Oh, you are in for it now!'

Smiling at the two women in his life, he pulled off the dripping wet shirt he had been wearing and walked over to the pool to join them. It had been rather hot after all, and he reasoned that he was only going into the water to cool off – not because he actually wanted to join in their merrymaking. Two hours later, after all three had become thoroughly waterlogged and exhausted from the sun and the exertion, they went back into the large, sprawling house, and Megan went off to her own bathroom while Hermione and Severus showered together in theirs.

'You had fun out there,' Hermione commented with a grin as the water sluiced over them.

Severus attempted to look a little gruff, but it failed completely and ended up as a sort of half smile. 'I did have fun – both watching and joining,' he replied. 'The two of you make it easy for me to relax and enjoy myself. My last visit here was over five years ago, and I stayed indoors mostly.'

'I don't know how you could!' she exclaimed. 'It's so lovely here.'

Severus chuckled at his wife's obvious enthusiasm for the place. 'Well then, I believe that perhaps we should make a habit out of visiting every summer,' he suggested, which earned him a long kiss.

A short while later, the two emerged from their shower and dressed, Hermione in a light, cotton summer dress, and Severus in his usual black trousers and white linen shirt. She had tried to coax him into wearing something cooler, but in the end he hadn't budged one iota. She did, however, manage to convince him to leave the shirt un-tucked and mostly unbuttoned, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A man could only resist so much before caving to the whims of his lovely wife after all.

They walked down the stairs hand in hand, meeting up with Megan on the way down to the dinning room for lunch. 'Is there anything in particular that you would like to do this afternoon?' Severus asked the girl.

'We should have a picnic lunch!' she exclaimed with a wide grin. 'There is lots of shade over by those trees next to the lake, and we can all be outside and eat!'

'That's a wonderful idea,' Hermione praised, taking Megan's hand with her free one and gazing affectionately at her.

Severus nodded his approval of the idea and left the two ladies to go and collect a blanket while he went to the kitchen and asked the elves if they could prepare a picnic basket for their lunch. Pleased at having a request, the elves went to it straight away, and within ten minutes, they had a basket packed full with all sorts of picnic foods and drinks. Thanking them, Severus took the basket and met up with his two ladies by the pool before they all linked up and strode down to the lake and trees.

'Thank you, Severus,' Hermione said as Megan ran off ahead with the blanket. She was so young still, in some ways, while in others, she was older than her years. 'You have been so good to me, and to Megan.'

Severus schooled his face to remain impassive and simply nodded at first. 'I think most people would know by now that I would do anything for you,' he replied. 'However, I will admit that seeing Megan happy also has come to mean something to me.'

'You can admit that you like her, Sev; you know that don't you?' Hermione said, curling her arm around his tighter and moving closer as they walked. 'I think you will be such a good father to all of our children, if this is evidence. You have been so wonderful to a child that was not your own, and you will be just as good, if not better, to your own children.'

Severus nodded, and he knew just what he wanted to say to that. 'When our children come along, I do not want Megan to feel as though she was not equally a part of the family. I want all of them to be treated equally – no favoritism.'

Hermione grinned, kissing him on the cheek. 'You truly are a special man,' she announced before releasing his arm and walking along ahead of him to join Megan sooner.

They had the picnic blanket spread over the ground evenly, assisted by Hermione's magic, of course, and were both sitting by the time Severus reached them. He set the picnic basket in the middle and told them both to dig in. Hermione gladly opened it up and pulled nearly everything out of it, spreading the contents over the blanket before tucking straight into a sandwich. She was pregnant after all, and eating for three was no easy task. She found that she was hungry more often than not and woke in the middle of the night constantly, to find that she was starving and craving strange meals, or craving strange meals like cold spaghetti, pickles and ice cream, or a sandwich of banana, jam and peanut butter.

It was on nights like those that she appreciated Severus the most. He was, after all, the one who would ensure that she got what she desired to eat, and he never complained about being woken up for such trivial things. In fact, she realized soon after the craving period had begun that he rather liked pampering her. It sort of gave him another purpose, and if anyone liked to be needed for something, it was Severus Snape. Smiling to herself, she looked up at her husband and saw that he and Megan were having an eating competition to see who could wolf down a sandwich the fastest. She knew that Severus could easily have won, but he seemed to be chewing a lot more than usual, slowing down purposely to let Megan win.

'You slowed down on purpose,' Megan accused after he finished off his last bite.

'Oh, did I?' he asked silkily, moving so that they were level eye-to-eye. 'However did you come to that conclusion, my dear?'

Hermione laughed at the obvious banter and stuffed another pickle into her mouth. The twins were rather demanding when it came to food. The roundness to her belly, while smaller than some women, made her look just like she always did, but with a watermelon strapped on to her front. And she would only be getting bigger in the last couple of months. She felt like a whale most of the time, but Severus was very persistent in convincing her otherwise – something which often left them nude, panting and sweating, lying amongst the Egyptian cotton linens of their bed.

Hermione was certain she would never tire of Severus as far as that side of their marriage went. He was insatiable, and she was always ready for him. Sitting back, she watched the two most important people in her life at that very moment play. It was the loveliest sight she could have ever imagined. Not in a million years would she have imagined this to be the way her life would turn out before she had fallen in love with him.

'Hermione, Hermione! Do you want to see what Sev'rus showed me?' Megan asked excitedly, her enthusiasm seemingly endless.

She smiled at the girl tenderly, shifting over so she could watch more easily. Severus shifted behind her then and pressed himself into her back, allowing her to lean back against him. She smiled up at him, leaning up just a little to kiss his chin before settling against him and getting ready to watch. Megan, without a wand, then levitated a leaf which turned into a paper chain of cutout girls. Her eyes wide, Hermione clapped and sat up, only to pull Megan to her in a hug. She was such a bright, lovely girl; Hermione just couldn't resist loving her like she was her own.

After they had all finished eating, Hermione fell asleep on Severus' lap, the rest of her sprawled over the blanket. He murmured a charm to put everything back into the basket neatly while Megan went to pick some flowers nearer to the lake. When she returned, she neatly arranged them and left the bunch on the picnic basket - 'For the elves to have,' she had said cheerfully. Soon after, Megan yawned and fell asleep with her head against his chest, still sitting up. He smiled and drew her against him, wondering how he could have been so lucky as to be blessed in so many ways.

When the sky began to glow an orange-pink, indicating that it was well into the evening, Severus woke his two ladies up and they returned to the house. After showering again, and dinner, Hermione and Severus tucked a sleepy Megan into bed and then went upstairs to their own room, collapsing onto the bed in a boneless heap.

'Thank you so much for today,' Hermione murmured sleepily against his chest.

'Any time, my love,' he whispered back into her ear, feeling equally drained. 'Sleep well, my pet.'

She yawned and snuggled against him, pleased that the house had been charmed so that the humidity and heat would not be a problem. 'Love you, Sev.'

Severus smiled, his eyes closed and arms tight around her. 'Love you too.'