Pimm's Punch

Disclaimer: Except for an OC, the characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling.

The next morning, Katherine Snape dressed as carefully as she had done a year before on the occasion when she and her husband first spoke face to face. The weather promised to be fair, so she dressed up more this time. She wore soft beige robes over a floral frock. She fastened her hair back in a style that was feminine and carried a floppy hat trimmed with fresh gardenias. On her feet she wore soft leather flats. Her husband, dressed in sporty robes over loose trousers and a sport shirt, looked her over for a long minute.

"You look good enough to eat," he finally said.

"You look rather marvelous, yourself," she observed. "Is the punch already there?"

"Fern and Wilbur took the bottled mixtures and fruit over at first light. Even now, I wager Lucius is into his second or third cup."

"So early? You must be joking."

"What do you wager?" His lips curled into a ruthless smile.

"I couldn't say. What is it worth?"

"How about if you're right, we'll get that coffee table you want for the drawing room, and if I'm right..." He put a hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

Katherine's eyes grew wide, and her mouth went into the shape of an O. "We'll use the stronger broom, right, and cushioning charms?"

"I have something better than a broom. You will be well cushioned." His hand slid down her back and paused over her behind.

"Have you ever done such a thing before?" she asked curiously.

He put his other hand under her chin and kissed her, carefully so as not to smudge her makeup. "I've been waiting for the right witch."

"Is it safe?" She looked a bit worried.

"Probably not entirely so," he admitted, "but I won't let you fall."

She stepped back and considered.

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure?"

She thought for a moment and decided she was intrigued... and it was possible that she would win the bet. Finally, she put her hand out. "Done," she said. He took her hand and shook before sliding it within the crook of his arm. He then held out a cigarette lighter that would serve as their Portkey that day.

Narcissa greeted them this year. "Severus and Katherine, how wonderful to see you." She came up to them and air kissed their cheeks. "Severus, do see if you can do something about Lucius. I can't keep him away from the punch today, and there's a great lot of it, but it's not bottomless. Katherine, why don't I introduce you around?"

Severus felt a pang at the panicked look his wife gave him, but dared not disobey his hostess. He went in search of his host, who was indeed enjoying the Pimm's punch that year. He was holding the cup out to be refilled, but Snape deftly took it and handed it to a passing house-elf.

"Severus! Marriage agrees with you. The punch is better than ever."

"Indeed?"

"I've had three cups already. It's much better today than last year. What's different?"

"I can't think of anything that's different, Lucius, unless it's my staff."

"You had assistants this year?"

"Yes, I was asked, by a special request of the Minister himself, to take on a particular threesome. I had them prepare the ingredients yesterday."

Malfoy turned gray. "You mean..."

"Yes, indeed."

"Potter, Weasley, and Granger?" At Snape's amused nod, Lucius turned to a spot behind a tent and threw up into a bush.

Severus cast a cleaning charm and handed his host a Stringmint before putting an arm around him and guiding him toward the tents, where the teams were changing.

"You might have warned me, Snape." Lucius summoned an elf. After taking off his soiled robe, he gave it to the elf and asked for a substitute.

Trying to change the subject, the guest asked, "How did you stay out of Azkaban?"

The host grunted. "I didn't, entirely. I was kept there for several weeks, and was looking at several years when the boy-who-lived-to-think-he-needs-to-save-everyone begged the Wizengamot to have pity on my family because Narcissa saved the boy's backside. They let me off with time served. Now I'm obligated to the whelp and his Gryffindor sense of fair play. And you tricked me into drinking something his hands have touched. Really, Severus, it's not right."

Severus crossed his arms and smiled sardonically at his host. "Just how many cups did you have?"

"Two, three... Actually, I think it was four."

"Delightful!"

Malfoy was distracted by the return of the elf. "What, that I'll never be able to drink the stuff again?"

"No, that I win a bet with my wife."

"Just what did you win?" The new robe was fastened, and the wizards made their way back outside.

"Ah, that would be telling."

"Go on then, enjoy the spoils of my discomfort. Your wife appears to be alone in the stands."

Severus made his way up and sat in his designated seat, next to a dispirited Katherine. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine." She had managed to crush her hat.

"You don't seem to be enjoying yourself."

"It's fine, really."

"Something isn't right."

"I remembered why I never come to these things unless I'm working. It's no big deal, but despite the fact that Narcissa is a perfect hostess, I'm not exactly accepted in this society. Between being a half-blood and the hired help to many of these families, let alone the fact that I removed an eligible bachelor from the ranks... I'll never be one of them. I've practiced my speech, I've learned how to walk and dress, what to talk about, what to leave unsaid, I know that I look and sound the part; but somehow I'll always be Katie Asher from a dockside neighborhood."

"I see. Well, you're married to Severus Snape, born and raised in a dingy mill town."

"I don't think that matters to them. You're so frightfully eligible."

"After betraying the Dark Lord? I suspect that most of these women would hide their daughters from me, now, between that and my pedigree."

She glanced at him with a small smile. "I love everything about Severus Snape," she said quietly.

He picked up her hand and kissed it. "I love everything about Katherine Snape. Shall we leave?"

"Shouldn't we stay to watch the game, and to bid on the auction?"

"Do you have a son I don't know about who's playing today, or a daughter looking for a husband?"

She laughed. "Of course not."

"Then I can think of a much more fulfilling game for us to engage in. We also need to prepare for you to pay your debt of honor."

"Lucius had that much of the punch by the time we arrived?"

"Four cups."

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

He looked at her and pictured her as she would be later that night. "Oh, yes."

"Take it off." It was delivered sternly, without much facial expression.

"But, Severus..."

"Take it off."

"I'll freeze to death."

He looked at the piece of lace in question and then into her rebellious eyes. One of his eyebrows raised as a mocking grin spread across his face. Her look conceded the foolishness of her position yet still persisted. "I can guarantee it won't make a difference," he said.

"But, Severus..."

"I won't have my favorite lingerie landing in some unknown back yard. Take it off now."

"I..." She looked into his eyes and sighed. "Do you suppose you could help me with the hooks?"

That unfolded his arms and softened his pose a bit. He summoned her with the smallest movement of one of his fingers, and she walked over to him. She lowered her robe so that it hung from her elbows and turned, allowing him access to the hooks running up her back. He worked his way down quickly and then let the garment drop where it fell. He ran his hands around her waist and slid his hands up her torso. He caressed her flesh with his fingertips as he leaned forward to kiss her ear.

"You think to seduce me and somehow avoid paying our bet, but it won't work," he said. He ran his hands the rest of the way up to her shoulders and then settled her robe back on properly. He leaned his body into hers. She turned in his arms and he looked into her eyes. "Don't be frightened, darling. I'm dressed just as you are. I've placed several protective charms and planned it to be as safe as possible. If there's the slightest problem, we'll stop." She flashed him a smile of trust that almost caused him to cancel his plans after all.

He Apparated them to the same field from which they started flying the last time. This time, he placed what appeared to be a square of coarse wool on the ground and tapped it. It grew into a Persian carpet, four feet wide and six feet long. The carpet rose and hovered at a good height to clamber on. Severus handed Katherine onto the carpet and helped her sit before seating himself behind her, his legs straddling hers.

"You Slytherins don't follow any rules, do you?" Katherine asked.

"The Ministry has cause to turn its glance the other way at times."

"My uncle isn't the only only one with a flexible conscience." He could hear the amusement in her voice. His answer was to reach a groping hand between the fastenings of her robe.

He took off, and they flew for a while until it seemed the only thing that existed was the moon and them. He cast a charm that would keep the carpet flying straight and at the same altitude until he took control of it again. His hands came up around his wife in a way that signaled to her that it was time.

Ever so gently, he helped her to shift her position so that she was lying on her back. The carpet cradled her, while the bursts of passing air were invigorating. Then he gently settled himself over her. Their robes were quickly unfastened and then they were moving... through the air and with each other, feeling the air rush past as their passion left them breathless. Katherine could feel the breeze rushing through her hair and the top of her head that extended beyond the edge of the carpet. As her husband's attentions brought her greater and greater passion, she understood why he wanted to do this.

The only time the carpet even wobbled was when she reached around her husband to pull him closer as she dissolved into the moonlight, eliciting a strong response from him. He took his time, savoring every movement and moment, but eventually he couldn't stop himself from shouting his pleasure as his body found release. For a moment they simply looked at each other and then kissed and clung together. When they were done, he held her close to his heart as he flew the carpet back to their starting place.

As soon as they were back on land, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. These kisses were emotional but somehow took them back from the passion they had just shared to a more normal state. The moon set before he released her from his embrace. "Thank you," was all he said before Apparating them into their bedroom.

They had just turned out the light when she chuckled into the darkness. "You're never boring, Severus; I'll give you that."

"Is there a problem?"

"I just hope I can keep up."

"I couldn't even imagine a woman who could be to me what you are, Katherine. So far you have met me on every level."

"Even several hundred feet in the air?"

This time he chucked. "Especially then."

A/N: Thank you to Trickie Woo for her careful beta reading.