Chapter 8

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Chapter 8 - Katerini

It was always loveliest to sit on a beach in the summer and do absolutely nothing other than relax, eat, and swim, not to mention various other more pleasurable activities. Hermione lounged on a beach towel in the sun, sipping her sparkling soda and admiring the scenery that the ocean provided. Italy had been amazing, but it was nothing compared to the simplicity and beauty of the small port and beach city.

When they had first arrived, Hermione had been in awe, and before she had got a good chance to see the place better, she had dragged her husband off to their bedroom for a little while to express to him just how much she appreciated this before they explored the small city hand-in-hand.

She was brought back from her musings, however, when a cold something came to rest on her flat stomach. She looked down and saw Severus there, his hair pushed back, completely drenched and soaking through her t-shirt. ‘Well, hello there,’ she said with a small smile. ‘You’re wet.’

‘That is generally the idea when you swim, my dear,’ he replied, smirking and getting up before enveloping her in his arms and making her shirt thoroughly dampened.

‘Arrgh! You’re getting me wet!’ she squealed as he attacked and pinned her beneath him on the sand.

He smiled just before he leaned down and captured her lips in a searing kiss, sucking on her bottom lip, coaxing her to open her mouth to him. She did so willingly, and they snogged for a while until the need for breath became pretty much paramount. He held himself above her with his strong arms, face flushed with arousal, which sent a jolt of warmth to her center.

‘Let’s go for a swim, love,’ he suggested, getting up off her and holding out a hand when he was standing.

She took his hand and he hoisted her up quite easily, closing his arms around her the moment she was steady. ‘All right, but next time just ask instead of drenching my shirt,’ she said huffily. ‘What am I going to wear back?’

‘We can Apparate back, witch; you know that,’ he answered her, tugging her shirt off and removing her shorts.

He allowed himself to admire just how beautiful she looked with her curls spilling down her back and clad in only her swimsuit. It presented quite an appealing picture, and all he wanted to do was rip those swimming bottoms off and thrust in. He picked her up and carried her, squealing and squirming, into the water with him. He dropped her into the water and was faced with a sopping and scowling young wife.

‘You’ll pay for that one, Severus Snape!’ she said with an impish grin before she threw her arms around him unexpectedly and pulled him under the water with her.

When they came back out, Severus caught her around the waist and pulled her close, forcing her to wrap her arms and her legs around him for support. She smiled and kissed him gently, tasting the salt of the water on his lips and the sweet zest of lemon on his tongue. He growled low and kissed her back with just as much passion, cradling the back of her head with one hand, as the other sought to remove the barrier of their swimming suits.

She shifted her hips up just a little to help him with the removal of her bottoms, and they joined together with a hiss and toppled over the edge together not long after, growling just softly enough not to be heard when they found release. When they had replaced their clothes once more, he carried her to the shore, and they collapsed together on the sand, with her underneath and him holding himself just above her with his strong arms so he didn’t crush her.

‘I like this,’ she said with an exhaled sigh, wrapping arms around his neck and smiling up at him.

‘What do you mean?’ he asked, returning the smile.

‘Us, here in paradise alone,’ she replied. ‘I’ve gotten to know you better, and we’ve been wonderful together.’

‘If I didn’t know any better, I would say that you were admitting to having feelings for me, wife,’ he retorted cheekily, earning himself a playful slap on the chest, and he rolled off her and beside her, bringing his arms around to embrace her instead. ‘I have treasured being alone with you, love.’

She laughed softly and reached a hand out to tuck a stray lock of dampened hair behind his ear. ‘I love you, Severus,’ she whispered, stroking along the bridge of his aristocratic nose, not at all too large or hooked in her opinion.

‘And I love you, dearest,’ he responded smoothly.

‘We should head back to the villa. It’s getting dark, and I still have to get something ready for dinner,’ she prompted, hoping that his stomach was giving him the heads-up for a meal.

‘I’ll agree to that on two conditions,’ he bargained.

‘What?’

‘We shower and get cleaned up first, and then you let me help you prepare our meal,’ he replied, sitting up and pulling her up with him. ‘That way we can truly have done everything together.’

‘Did anyone ever tell you that you were a closet romantic?’ she dared to ask with an adoring smile.

‘My dear,’ he began, standing and helping her up also, ‘no one would ever believe such a tale. Not even from the lips of Hermione Snape.’

She smiled at his use of that surname with her given name. She liked the way it sounded. It made her feel accepted and loved by him, and she hugged him immediately. ‘I wouldn’t dream of even attempting to ruin your reputation, Professor.’

He summoned their belongings to him, and they headed back along the beach to their house bare-footed and hand-in-hand. Eventually, they made it through the shower, after washing away the salt and scrubbing the sand from their hair, scalps and fingernails. Hermione laughed when she realized how much trouble her husband went to with his nails, making sure they were always clean and meticulous so that there was nothing there to corrupt his Potions.

‘You’re smiling at me funny,’ he commented as he looked up to find her sitting on the bathroom bench in her bathrobe, watching him intently.

‘You are fascinating to watch,’ she replied simply, slipping from her perch, taking one of his hands in hers, and kissing his palm lightly before scampering out. ‘I’m going to get a head-start on cooking.’

‘Alright,’ he answered as he watched her leave through the reflection in the mirror.

Hermione went to the spacious kitchen, pulled out a tray, and summoned the ingredients from the fridge. She was cooking Mediterranean chicken that night and had marinated her chicken with the required herbs that morning before her sleepy professor had woken. She heard him enter the kitchen and step up behind her, looping his arms around her, taking the knife in his hand, and beginning to slice gracefully, with her trapped between him and the bench.

‘You’re going to make this very difficult for me, aren’t you?’ she asked as she ducked under his arm and went to the other side of the bench to begin chopping the cauliflower and broccoli.

‘Not even the slightest bit,’ he replied with a satisfied smirk.

‘Hmmm… well, you can just find a comfortable spot on the couch tonight, don’t you think?’ she teased, making him raise an amused eyebrow.

‘If you even try…’ he said in a warning tone.

‘Don’t worry about that, my love. You’ll not spend a night on the couch while I’m in the bedroom,’ she reassured.

‘I should not,’ he responded carelessly. ‘You know we have to get back soon, don’t you?’

She nodded, a tad disappointed, as she had enjoyed the holiday away from Hogwarts immensely. ‘I know, and it will be sad to leave, but we can just come back here next summer, can’t we?’ she suggested thoughtfully.

‘Of course we can, love,’ he replied as they continued to work together, in perfect harmony.