Chapter Eleven: Conflagration

Chapter Eleven: Conflagration

"You heard Minister Shacklebolt. There is to be a full enquiry into the whole Marriage Law. You do not have to marry now. It's all been cancelled," Horatio Flume declared.

Hermione gazed at those surrounding her. Minerva McGonagall looked relieved as she straightened her desk. Filius Flitwick was dismantling the decorations. Ginny was smiling; a knowing look in her eyes, and Snape was staring at her in disbelief.

"Like bloody hell it's been cancelled!" All eyes turned to the enraged young witch. "Severus bloody Snape, if you think you are getting out of this that easily, you are mistaken! Get your butt over here... NOW! And you..." She pointed to Flume. "Get your wand out and start the vows!"

"Are you sure, Hermione?" asked Snape, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Have you changed your mind, Severus?" Rich, brown eyes met deepest black. Hermione watched Snape's face as she deliberately met his gaze and offered her mind to him. His eyes widened as he realised her intent and nodded.

He remained silent for several long moments, then slowly the corners of his mouth turned up until Severus Snape, Potions professor and official snarky git, was grinning from ear to ear. Suddenly, he lowered one knee to the floor. Taking Hermione's hand in his, he touched his lips to her skin.

"Miss Granger. Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" he asked, gaze once again locked with hers.

She smiled and pulled him to his feet. Flinging her arms around his neck, her lips met his as she replied, "I do believe I will."

Long moments and a brief discussion with Flume later, Severus and Hermione once more joined hands before their witnesses.

"Do you, Severus Tobias Snape, take this witch, Hermione Jean Granger, to be your wife, willingly and unconditionally?"

"I do."

"Do you, Hermione Jean Granger, take this wizard, Severus Tobias Snape, to be your husband, willingly and unconditionally?"

"I do."

The official waved his wand, and a line of cold fire encircled their wrists.

"Do you, Severus, promise to forever protect Hermione from harm, care for her, and respect her?"

"I do." Snape squeezed Hermione's hands.

"Do you, Hermione, promise to forever protect Severus from harm, care for him, and respect him?"

"I do," she replied, smiling.

Another wave and another binding of fire.

Flume hesitated, but at a nod from the young witch before him, continued to speak.

"Do you, Severus, promise to offer Hermione the fruits of your body, so she may conceive your children?"

"I do," he stated firmly, eyes locked with hers.

"Do you, Hermione, promise to nurture and love the children produced by your union?"

"I do," she whispered as she sank into his gaze, knowing she meant every word.

The final bond settled over their wrists, flared briefly, then disappeared as the modified Unbreakable Vow activated.

"I now pronounce you wizard and witch, bound by your vows and your duty to your fellow wizards. You may now k..." Flume spluttered to a halt as Snape pre-empted his words and swept his bride into a deep, passionate kiss, which lasted somewhat too long for the presence of mind of all those in the room except a smirking Ginny Weasley.

Breaking apart, the newlyweds surfaced with matching heavy-eyed expressions to receive congratulations and well wishes from those present. For once, Severus Snape's expression was devoid of a sneer.

A perplexed redhead pulled Hermione aside and whispered urgently, "But why the full Vow with the promise to bear children and all? You could have used the standard ceremony. What was Flume thinking?"

"He offered us the standard ceremony. We chose to take the Ministry Vow. The only difference was he didn't use the surveillance spell work."

"But why?"

"Because, despite Umbridge and her foul plans, my analysis on wizarding birth rates is still sound. We all need to play our part in restoring the balance of witches and wizards." Hermione turned to join her new husband as her friend simply shook her head in wonder.

Hand in hand, the two made their way to the Great Hall where the assembled students and staff had been restlessly wondering why there had been such a delay. As Severus and Hermione Snape appeared at the top table, a cheer broke out from the crowd. Smiling happily, they both waved and acknowledged the welcome, and then, to the delight and amazement of all, the groom took his bride in his arms and kissed her soundly.

Hermione blushed and pulled away. "Whatever happened to maintaining decorum?" she asked as she tidied her mussed hair.

"The moment just seemed to call for it," he replied with a smirk. "Just don't expect it to be repeated too often."

"I've given up knowing what to expect from you, Severus," his wife muttered as he pulled out her chair.

"Excellent. I would hate to be predictable."

Ginny's arrival interrupted a deep and meaningful discussion about Quidditch plays between the boys. She grinned as she noticed Ron nudge her boyfriend, who blurted out a typical mangled compliment and reddened.

"It's all right, Harry. You can tell me what you think of my dress later... in private," she told him, laughing at Ron's expression. Watching the Snapes, she mused, "They look happy, don't they?"

Harry turned and studied the couple at the head table. A surprised smile curved his lips. "Yes. They do."

The house-elves had surpassed all expectations with a feast to delight even the most demanding palates. As the desserts appeared, Severus felt a determined hand gliding up his thigh.

"What do you think you are doing, wife?" he growled under cover of lifting his glass to his lips.

She grinned wickedly and winked as her hand crept closer to her goal. Using her other hand, she spooned some decadent chocolate mousse into her mouth. Licking her lips slowly, she watched his pupils dilate as she lightly grasped the rising evidence of his response. The next spoonful was offered to his lips as she reached lower and cupped him in her hand. The involuntary parting of his thighs as he swallowed the rich dessert signified his capitulation to her advances.

"You realise, my dear, there are any number of your peers who would love to be in your position at the moment," he breathed in her ear.

"What? Married? Sitting at the head table?" Her brow knotted in confusion.

Severus's expression was innocence personified. "You have the evil Potions professor by the balls in front of the entire school. I suspect there are those out there who would pay for the opportunity to have me at their mercy," he whispered as he shifted slightly in his chair, grinding against her hand.

"They'd better not even think about it. They're my playthings." Her gentle squeeze affirmed her possessiveness as she continued sharing her mousse with him as if nothing untoward was occurring under the tablecloth.

Meanwhile, his free hand had manoeuvred under her skirt and was brushing against the flimsy fabric covering her own arousal. "That may be the case, Mrs Snape, but I believe I should have equal rights." Her answering soft moan confirmed his claim.

Down at the Gryffindor table, an unusually observant Ron noted, "I suspect there is more going on up there than we can see. Do you realise they both have a hand under the table and look like they are about ready to pounce on each other?"

Harry groaned and hid his face in his hands. "Did you have to point that out? I was quite happy not thinking about what they will be doing this evening."

"Well, I noticed and thought the least I could do was share the horror." Ron grinned.

Ginny thumped them both. "Don't be so immature, you boys. I think it's sweet the way they are looking at each other. And hot."

"She really does want to have sex with him?" Harry was still having trouble getting his head around the concept of anyone wanting to shag the Potions professor.

"Contrary to popular belief, we women actually want to have sex with our men." She sent a pointed glance at her boyfriend, who had the grace to blush.

"Harry, are you holding out on my sister?" Ron asked. "Because if you are, I suggest you reconsider. You really don't want to upset her, you know. I've seen her when she can't get something she wants, and the temper tantrums are really scary." He shook his head at his friend's foolishness.

"You want me to have sex with your sister?"

"In the interest of a peaceful life, I want you to shag her senseless, then she'll quit the frustrated sighs and pining looks she has been throwing at you all term. Or have you not noticed?"

"Ron! I have not!" Ginny cried.

"Have so!"

"Have not!"

"Have so!"

No-one noticed the couple stealing away from the top table to begin their wedding night.

"Put me down – someone will see!" Hermione protested as Severus strode down the corridors towards the dungeons carrying her over his shoulder.

"They're all in the Great Hall." The hand caressing her wriggling bottom reinforced his lack of concern.

"Severus! Behave yourself!" She struggled in vain.

"No. I'm your husband now, and I shall do as I please." His teasing stopped as he felt two hands sliding down his back to investigate his own buttocks. "Hermione..."

"What? I'm just checking out my husband's assets. And very nice assets he has too," she replied cheekily as she kneaded the assets under discussion.

Severus suddenly set her down and pulled her into his arms. His lips met hers as the fever that had been building all day reached its peak, burning away any inhibitions or thoughts of propriety. Backing her against the cold, stone wall, his hands wound through her hair as hers replied in kind.

Hermione felt the surge of power emanating from the dark wizard as he reached for her hands and held them above her head. Grinding his rock-hard erection against her, he breathed into her ear, "Feel what you do to me, woman. I am completely at your mercy."

Releasing her, he slumped back against the wall beside her. "Forgive me, Hermione. I..."

Taking his hand, she drew him close. "No, forgive me. It was unfair to tease you so. Let's go and find a more appropriate venue."

His eyes glinted in the dim light of the corridor as he resolutely gathered his self-control and followed his wife down the stairs to their new home.

Upon entering their sitting room, Severus turned to his new bride. "Would you like a drink? Wine? Tea? Before we..."

Hermione smiled at his sudden change of pace. His forcefulness of a few minutes earlier had ceded to his usual reticence. She shook her head.

"Severus, it is time. Come." She led the way into the bedroom, turning to face him as he entered and doused all the candles bar one with a muttered Nox.

Aware of his attempt to avoid her eyes, she relit the room with a flick of her wand.

"No. I want to see you."

"Why?" He bowed his head, hiding behind his now loose hair.

Hermione reached up to push a strand behind his ear and forced him to look at her. "You are my husband now, Severus. I want to see your face. I want to see your body. All of it. I want to see your expression when I give you pleasure."

His eyes were for once completely unguarded. Boundless desire, hope, and something else, something new and tender, lay within. She could have drowned in the emotion she found there, but the heat in her body reminded her of other, more pressing matters. Tearing her gaze away, Hermione set about the task of relieving her husband of his virginity.

Fingers unbuttoned his robes and coat and tossed them aside, then started on his shirt as Severus abandoned thought and gave in to the overwhelming desire his witch had inflamed. When her hands met the skin of his chest, bared without his realising, he heard a groan and discovered it had issued from his own lips. He pulled away, desperate to recover some sense of control, to find his wife openly studying his now partly bare upper body.

"Hmm, not bad. A little thin, but nicely formed and firm." Before he could stop her, she had pulled his shirt from his trousers and unfastened the buttons. As she reached for the waistband of his boxers, he stepped back and promptly tripped over the shoes he had kicked off earlier. Landing inelegantly on the bed, he looked up at her pleadingly as she advanced on him, a wicked grin on her face.

Slowly lifting the hem of her diaphanous dress, Hermione removed it in a seductive strip-tease and let it slip to the ground. Running her hands up her sides and across her breasts evoked a whimper from the man on the bed, who was watching her every move as if mesmerised. She reached behind to unhook her bra, allowing the straps to gradually slip down and expose her flesh to his hungry gaze.

Hermione had never imagined her new husband looking so sexy. Sprawled across the bed, hair tousled, cheeks slightly flushed, eyes dark with arousal, his shirt was unbuttoned and pushed aside, revealing the lean body she had seen briefly before. His loosened trousers sat so low on his hips, the nest of dark hair cradling his arousal was evident. Bare feet seemed more intimate in his half-undressed state than they had when he was clad only in a towel. Her gaze fixed on his face as she removed her remaining garment.

As she slid her knickers down her legs, he looked for the first time upon her naked body. By Merlin, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was the only naked woman he had seen in his bedroom, which probably counted for a lot, but she was undeniably a very attractive, sensual woman. And she was reaching for his boxers again. This time he allowed her to draw them down his body, caught in her heated gaze as she revealed his most intimate anatomy.

His most intimate, extremely hard anatomy.

"Not bad at all," she breathed as she reached forward and ran a finger along his length.

He let out his breath as his body jolted from her touch, wanting more.

"Mmm. Want something, husband?" she crooned, grasping him in her hand as she once again found his lips with her hot, wanton mouth.

"I... want... you..." he growled as she slowly, teasingly stroked him from base to tip.

"All in good time. Have patience." Her lips moved down his body lighting fires at his neck, his nipples, and then his navel as her tongue swirled in the depression. Further down she travelled as she sank to her knees before him, hand still melting his thought processes with sure, rhythmic motion.

As her mouth finally enclosed him, he shook his head. "No... No... It's too much... too much... I can't..." Her skilful lips and tongue were wrenching his hard wrought control from his grasp. Words of protest died as the tip of her finger trailed a line of fire down, down, down, between his buttocks to the sensitive areas beyond.

An unrelenting tightness and fullness heralded his incipient orgasm, and he gasped as his body betrayed him in the presence of such exquisite torture. "Oh, Merlin! It's too much! Hermiiiooonnneee!"

Slumping back onto the bed, he slowly returned to his senses and sat up to find a smug Hermione licking her lips. "What did you do that for? I mean, it was amazing, but now..." He looked down at his deflating arousal, still damp from her attentions.

"Oh, the moment just seemed to call for it. Don't worry, you'll be up to another round quite soon." She grinned as he stared at her, eyes wide.

"Are you trying to wear me out, woman? First, you insist I bring myself to climax twice earlier today, then..." He closed his eyes and laid back on the pillows in defeat. "I'm an old man, you know. You'll be the death of me!"

"Don't be so daft, Severus. I'm sure a few more orgasms won't do you in."

"A few more?"

Hermione smiled patiently and ran her hand down his chest, trailing kisses along his cheek to finally meet his lips. Her tongue teased them apart until he relented and tasted himself on her lips, groaning as her investigating fingers found his re-awakening arousal.

Suddenly, he pulled her hand away from his groin and gripped it firmly in his. "I think it is time, young lady, that I have a turn." Taking her other hand, he extended her arms above her head and with a whispered word had them bound in silken tethers. "Now, let's see who is teasing whom, hmm?"

Hermione squirmed as his mouth explored her lips, her neck, and down to the aching peaks of her breasts. Finally, hot warmth enveloped them, sending fire to her centre and anticipation to her imagination. Parting her thighs as he moved between them, her breath caught as hands, ceaseless in their travels over her heated skin, moved down, closer and closer to her point of need. Then stopped as he sat back and studied her.

"Severus? What are you doing?" She wriggled under his gaze.

"Shh, woman. Keep still. I'm just looking."

"At what, exactly?" She pouted in embarrassment and frustration.

Hair damp with sweat, face flushed, eyes suspiciously bright, Severus Snape looked younger than she had ever seen him. "I'm looking at something incredible, something I have never seen before. Just give me a moment, will you?" he replied, voice roughened. "You are so beautiful, so soft and pink and wet. Wet for me. I can't believe it."

"Please, Severus," she entreated.

"Please, what, my dear?" His hands brushed the soft inner skin of her thighs.

"Please, touch me!"

"Hmm. Here?" He grazed across the skin of her lower abdomen.

She shook her head, mute in her desire.

"Here, then?" Fingertips slowly drawing along the crease between hip and thigh.

"No," she whispered.

"Maybe here," he murmured, gently tugging her curls.

"Severus, if you don't touch me right now, I'm going to hex somewhere sensitive!" she growled.

He smirked. "But then you would regret it, wouldn't you?" He continued to caress her, ever closer, but not close enough.

"Please?"

"I suppose, as you asked nicely."

Hermione came apart as her husband finally caressed her most intimate place.

With his tongue.

"Severusssss!" The suddenness and intensity of her orgasm took them both by surprise.

After licking and suckling until she had ceased shuddering, he grinned as he raised his head. "Pass, did I?"

His wife weakly slapped his arm. "Outstanding, you teasing git. Now, I am worn out. Do you think we could continue this after a little nap?" she suggested.

"I don't think so, madam. I believe you are responsible for this." He drew her hand down and wrapped her fingers around his once again impressive erection.

"If you put it that way, I suppose we do have some unfinished business..."

As he slid into a woman's body for the very first time, Severus Snape finally conceded defeat. His last defence shattered, he gave in with good grace and proceeded to learn as much as he could about pleasing this woman, who had given herself to him so completely and unconditionally.

"I knew it," she murmured much later as they lay together in a tangle of sweaty, tired limbs.

"Knew what?" he asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

"I knew you would be beautiful at the moment of climax. You are, you know," she stated matter-of-factly.

"You must be mad, woman," he replied sleepily. "Now, go to sleep, you have indeed worn me out."

She smiled and kissed him gently. "You're not so bad for a grumpy old professor, you know."

The grumpy old professor just smiled and went to sleep.

Prompt: 1. Something Old. The Marriage Law Challenge. Many thanks to karelia for the beta.