21. Still Green.

21. Still Green.

Ginny Potter stared down at the slightly crumpled sheet of parchment in front of her in disbelief. It had been quite a few months since she had seen Hermione, and she felt a sharp pang of guilt at being such a poor friend. She hadn’t stayed in contact with her, and Harry was just as bad, Ginny mused thoughtfully. But she justified it. They were so wrapped up in each other and their growing family, and Harry was working such long hours in the Auror office, they never had time to see their friends. Weekends were precious family days, and, well, Hermione always had her head full of potions and the shop. What did they have in common, really? It was normal for school friends to drift apart, wasn’t it?

So to receive an invitation to Hermione’s birthday celebration was quite a shock. She glanced at the parchment again and the neat, angular writing. She wondered why Professor Snape was sending out the invitations, and her eyes widened yet again at the venue. Very classy indeed. Ginny smiled slightly. It had been ages since she had been out with Harry, and it would be lovely to see Hermione again. She was sure her Mum would be willing to baby-sit, and she had been waiting for a chance to wear the dress Harry had bought her for Christmas. With a grin, Ginny wrote a polite reply to Severus.

*****

Marcella Leibowitz shook Severus’s hand firmly.

‘Thank you, Marcella. It is precisely what I wanted.’ Severus smiled a little.

‘A pleasure, as always.' She smiled at him.

‘Until next time, then.’ Severus nodded and closed his front door.

Suddenly, Severus was alone in Spinner’s End for the first time in many months. It had taken a lot of persuading to convince Hermione to stay in her own flat for the night, and in the end, he had told her the truth. He frowned as he remembered the look on her face and her surprised response. He sifted through the sheets of parchment on his knee, carefully re-reading each word. He had almost committed them to memory, but he needed to be triply sure. Then he put his hand in his robe pocket and lifted out the dark green velvet box slowly. Flipping the lid, he examined the ring nestled within, and his stomach flipped over a little. It was very beautiful indeed, a dark oval emerald, not huge but very tasteful. It was sitting in a platinum claw and edged with tiny diamonds. He could picture it on Hermione’s finger already, and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves a little. He had to ask her yet.

Severus placed the parchments into a large manila envelope and lifted another small pile of parchments that had been drifting in by owl over the past week. He looked through the replies, and his lip curled in a smirk. Most of them were ex-students. It was worth a few nerves just to see the looks on their faces, because he was sure that Hermione had not divulged their relationship to any of them, even though they had been a couple for seven months. In fact, it had surprised him to realise that Hermione had no contact with any of her so-called friends, and it was this that had prompted him to organise a party for her. There seemed to be no one else who would do it.

Severus looked around the lounge a little. He missed her, and now Marcella had gone there was no reason for them not to share the night together. He smiled and walked out of the house.

*******

Hermione had decided that she hated Severus Snape with a passion. She was holding her wand and twisting it, desperate for something to hex as she paced her living room floor. It wasn’t a large room, and her carpet was bearing the brunt of her pacing, the already threadbare patches being worn to baldness.

In the space of an hour, Hermione had realised that Severus was a liar, a cheat, and a man who used people in the worst possible way. Why else would he tell her he was going home alone because he had an assignation with another woman? How dare he! And, when she had expressed her shock, he had just laughed at her as if her feelings were so unimportant to him. Well, that was it as far as Hermione was concerned. It was over.

‘It’s over,’ Hermione whispered, then collapsed onto her sofa and sobbed into a large, cream fluffy cushion. She was missing him already. Her hair muffled her ears a little, but she still stiffened when she heard her doorbell sound. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and flattened the creases in her blouse as she walked to the door. Through the frosted glass she could see Severus’s distinctive shape, and she paused for a moment.

‘What do you want?’ she called through the door.

‘To see you, of course. Why else would I be here?’ Severus sounded a little irritated.

‘I thought you had a date?’ Hermione hissed at him.

‘I had a meeting, not a date! Why on earth would I have a date when I am with you?’ Severus’s voice sounded incredulous.

Hermione bit her lip. He hadn’t actually said it was a date. He had said he had a woman coming around to the house.

‘Hermione, let me in, or I will blast open your door,’ he murmured in a low and quite determined tone.

Hermione opened the door slowly and peered at him through her bushy hair, her eyes red from crying, streaky tearstains on her face.

‘Can I come in, or shall we argue in full view of your neighbours?’ Severus muttered, glaring down at her.

Hermione opened the door for him, and he swept past her quickly. Closing the door, she followed him into her lounge.

‘You have been crying.’ Severus stared at her, his jaw working overtime. Hermione just nodded as she watched him. He was obviously angry, and she realised her jealousy wasn’t fun this time.

‘You thought I was seeing another woman?’ he asked her quietly.

Hermione’s eyes went wide in panic. She didn’t like the sound of this at all.

‘No, not really. I was a little jealous, a bit worried, I suppose. I didn’t really think you would be seeing someone behind my back,’ she pleaded, wringing her hands in frustration.

‘I was honest with you. I have always been honest with you, witch,’ he whispered softly, hurt in his eyes.

‘I know, Severus. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t bear the thought of you with anyone else,’ Hermione answered him from the heart, her eyes filled with tears as an image of someone else wrapped around him sprang into her mind.

Severus was just staring at her, and Hermione felt her heart was breaking. What had she done? She covered her face with her hands and collapsed onto the sofa, crying softly. It seemed like she had been crying for an hour, but in reality, it was only a few moments before Severus sat beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He rested his chin on the top of her bushy hair and stroked her cheek, wiping her tears away as she clutched the front of his rough robes with her fists.

‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled into his chest and sniffed a little.

‘It’s okay, Hermione. Perhaps I should have explained more fully.’ Severus sighed.

Hermione twisted around to face him and tipped her mouth upwards. Severus kissed her gently and ran his tongue across her mouth. With a moan, Hermione opened her lips and allowed him to plunder her mouth, relief crashing over her as Severus deepened the kiss.

‘Forgive me,' she murmured as he bent to nuzzle her neck.

‘I think I’m forgiving you right now, witch.’ He smiled and bit her neck a little.

Hermione growled. She loved make-up sex.

A/N: Apologies for the delay in posting. My lovely beta Kizzy has had to deal with real life, but she's back now, and so are the last three chapters of this bit of fluff.