Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Hours had passed, yet Snape still slept. Severus had wanted to search out Hermione with him, but his younger self would not rouse himself from the bed. Severus had waited impatiently. He had read a book and brewed two potions while waiting. Would his double ever awaken?

Severus looked to the bedroom door for the fiftieth time. No movement. He frowned deeply. If you wanted something done, you just had to do it yourself. He puzzled out how that phrase worked in this situation. How could he not trust himself to do something? This trip back in time was messing with his mind. No wonder time travelers were warned not to interact with themselves. He could feel the duality of the situation messing with him. Shaking his head, he donned his cape and swept from the room.

Severus had taken a quick walk by the lake and felt infinitely better. He was thankful that he would return to his own time soon. He was eager to find out what had changed in his future. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

He lifted his head and bound up the stairs to Hermione's room. He was surprised to bump into her coming from the library. She smiled at him.

"Hi there!" she said. "I was just going to look for you. You've been rather hidden today."

Severus arched an eyebrow at her. "Whatever do you mean?"

"I usually find you in the library marking essays on a day like today."

Severus recalled his penchant for escaping his room on the weekends. "Ah, well, I needed to clear my head, so I went for a walk."

Hermione nodded. She stood there looking expectantly at Severus.

"Would you like to go flying later today?" Severus asked.

Hermione grimaced. "Severus, you know I don't like to fly."

Oh, right! Severus thought quickly. "We don't have to use a broom."

Hermione laughed loudly. "What do you suggest we use then?"

He took a step closer to her. "I can fly without a broom, you know..."

"You can fly like that with someone else?"

"You would have to hold on to me very tightly," Severus told her seductively.

She put her arms around his waist. "Like this?"

"Tighter."

Her arms grasped him tightly. "How's this?"

"Better."

She smiled and pulled her arms away from him.

Tease! he thought.

"What time do you want to meet?" she asked coyly.

"Meet me on top of the Astronomy tower at eight. It's easier to travel when it's dark. We won't be stared at."

Hermione smiled. "All right, I'll see you then."

With a curt nod, Severus turned and went the way he'd come. Hermione continued to walk to her room. She hadn't gone very far when she turned the corner and almost slammed into Severus. She stopped quickly and turned back to look behind her. Severus was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, Hermione, I was looking for you," Snape said.

"But... we just."

"What are you doing tonight?"

Hermione's mouth dropped open. She looked behind her again and then back to Severus with a puzzled look. "You told me to meet you on top of the Astronomy tower at eight tonight!"

Severus gave her a quizzical look. "When did I say that?"

Hermione pointed behind her. "Just two minutes ago, before you went that way."

Severus looked past her to where she pointed. Realization came to him, and he cleared his throat nervously.

"Ah," he said. "That's right. Sorry, I've been really tired today. I spent most of the day asleep."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him. "I thought you said you just went for a walk."

"Oh... yes... I did... after I woke up. I spent most of the day before that sleeping."

Hermione slowly raised her head and lowered it. "Oh, I see," she said slowly.

"I'll see you tonight, then?" Severus asked.

She nodded slowly again. Severus' tipped his head at her and hurried past her. Hermione watched him disappear from sight again. She shook her head and continued to her room.

"Good heavens! Why didn't you tell me you were going to be wandering around?" Snape griped at Severus.

"I thought you were asleep! How was I to know that we would both seek out Hermione at almost the exact same time?"

"Tell me what you arranged. She said we were to meet tonight at eight."

"I'm taking her flying... without a broom."

Snape arched an eyebrow at him. "You mean I'm taking her flying."

Severus waved his hand flippantly at Snape. "Right. You should have quite a lot of fun. She already knows to hold you tightly."

Snape guffawed. "I bet you enjoyed that."

"I did. You'll get to enjoy it for much longer."

"Thanks. I'm looking forward to it," Snape told him.

"Anything for you," Severus said with a roll of his eyes.

Snape awaited Hermione's arrival on the roof. His back was against the stone battlement that circled around it. His arms were crossed in front of him. He kept a careful eye on the doorway as his stomach did flip-flops. His insides were a mess. This was his first official date with Hermione without his future self standing watch. Don't say something stupid. Don't say something stupid, he chanted to himself. Be complimentary, don't be nervous, and don't get frustrated. The list went on and on. By the time Hermione poked her head through the door, Severus was a ball of tension waiting to explode.

"Hi!" Hermione said as she grinned at him.

"Hi," Severus said. Even that one word took all the effort he had to say.

"How far are we flying tonight?" Hermione asked.

"As far as you'd like to go," Severus said. A bit of his anxiety was slowly... very slowly, ebbing away.

"Severus, I'm still a bit scared. I know you'll keep me safe, but there's just something about flying that makes me really nervous."

Severus sighed in relief. She was nervous too. Not for the same reasons, but it made her human again. He had been building her up to be some perfect goddess of which he was unworthy. It was nice to see that she wasn't perfect, and she certainly had feelings and emotions that could possibly take hold of her and make her say something silly, just as he knew he would probably do at some point this evening.

He gave her a quick smile and pulled her to him. "Don't worry, Hermione. All you need to do is hold on to me, and you will be fine. I have done this enough to know what I'm doing. I won't do any crazy stunts. We'll just float above the ground for a while."

"You make it sound so simple," she said breathily.

"It is. Just trust me."

"Okay," she said as she looked up into his ebony eyes. Her eyes were big, and she seemed scared, despite her agreement.

Snape pulled her closer into him. "I will keep you safe, Hermione."

Hermione relaxed. "I know. I trust you," she said over his shoulder.

He pushed her away and looked at her quizzically. "If you don't want to do this, we don't have to."

Hermione reached up and kissed him. "Thank you, Severus, for giving me that option. I want to do it, and I trust you. Let's just go."

He smiled at her. He stood upon the battlement wall and reached down to her. Grasping her hand, he lifted her up. They stood together, looking at one another.

"All you have to do is put your arms around my waist," he instructed.

Hermione closed the gap between them. She put her arms around his waist. "Like this?"

"Tighter."

Her arms grasped him tightly. "How's this?"

"Better."

She laughed as their conversation earlier repeated itself. Snape gave her a curious look.

"That's just what you said earlier. Don't you remember?"

"Oh," Snape said.

Hermione pulled herself even closer and rested her head on Severus' chest while she placed her feet lightly upon his. He took in a deep breath at her touch.

"Is this okay?" she asked.

His hand came up, and he caressed her hair. "Perfect," he managed to mutter. His heart was beating so loudly. He knew that she didn't have to have her head resting on his chest to hear it.

"Are you ready?" he asked her.

"Yes," she answered and tensed herself, tightening her grip even more.

"Relax, I've got you. On the count of three, I'm going to walk off the edge. One... two... three."

Severus stepped off the wall. Hermione shrieked as he dropped down a bit. He dipped a bit lower than usual with Hermione's added weight, but soon they were gliding along at the same height of the tower. Hermione kept her face hidden in Severus' chest. One of his arms wrapped around her protectively as he used the other as a ballast, steadying them and moving them in the desired direction.

"You can look around, you know," he told her after several minutes.

Hermione picked up her head and looked down. She gasped loudly. They were at least two-hundred feet in the air.

"Oh, gosh, Severus, we're so high, we're so high!"

"Relax. I've got you, and there's no chance of falling."

She gripped him like a cat about to fall from a tree. He could almost feel her nails digging into him.

"Do you want to stop?" he asked.

"Give me a minute to adjust."

He kissed her neck. "You are doing very well."

Hermione pulled her head back and glared at him. "Liar."

He smirked at her as he turned to the left. The sudden change of direction made Hermione shout out as she once again pasted herself to his body.

I can definitely get used to this. Maybe we should fly more often.

"Come now, relax. You're in no danger."

Hermione was gasping for breath. She looked at Severus again. Immediately she quieted. Severus was surprised when she looked back down, and a smile came across her face.

"I'll admit this is better than a broom."

"Much," Severus agreed. They flew on in silence for a few minutes. "Can I try something?" Severus asked finally.

"What?"

"Now that you're finally relaxed, would you place both feet on my right foot. I want to turn you, so you're facing forward."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Why would I want to turn forward?"

Severus chuckled. "I want you to see where you're going, witch. Are you a magical being or not?"

Hermione scowled and nodded.

"Then you should calm down and enjoy yourself. Witches were meant to fly, you know."

"Not this witch!"

"Please?"

Hermione's mouth dropped open.

Severus supposed this was the first time she'd ever heard him say please. He shrugged at her.

"All right," she answered finally.

"Okay, we might lose a little altitude, but we're high enough not to have it be dangerous."

In an instant, Severus had shifted Hermione to his side. He gripped her waist as she balanced on his foot. She had actually let go with one of her arms, but her other laced itself around Severus' waist in a vise-like grip. Severus laughed. Lifting her arm finally, she maneuvered herself around, grasping Severus' arm for dear life, and replaced her foot back on his other one.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Hermione looked around her. "No," she sighed. "It wasn't."

They flew along like that for a while. Snape reveled in her closeness. Having her so near was like a dream come true. His arm rested around her waist, and his face was even with hers. He caught her smile out of the corner of his eye. She was clearly enjoying herself.

They flew over the lake, which was quite dark, and even flew over the Forbidden Forest. Severus turned them in circles around Hogsmeade a few times so they could look at the small village with its pretty lights. Hermione pointed to a small figure hurrying along the street. It was Hagrid. She marveled that he could appear so small, even from that height. Severus chuckled in her ear.

"Severus, this is beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed.

Severus smiled as he nuzzled her neck. "Having you with me makes this even more beautiful." He smiled to himself. It hadn't been so hard for him to come up with something romantic to say to her. Maybe their courtship wouldn't be as hard as he was anticipating.

He lowered their altitude slowly, and soon they had floated to the ground once again. The castle glimmered nearby.

Severus eased Hermione off his feet and turned her around. He smiled at her lovingly. "Thank you for coming with me," he told her.

She smiled up at him. His heart felt as if it would burst.

"Now," she said as she stroked a finger along his jawbone. "Do you want to tell me why you've been using a Time-Turner?"