Eighteen

Hermione had the worst hangover of her life, and as the sun encroached on her suffering with spiky tendrils, she moaned and put the pillow over her head. She knew she shouldn't have touched the chardonnay, but by the time it had been passed around, she'd been too pissed to care what she was drinking. Nausea overcame her, and she tried to run quietly from the room so that she wouldn't wake Severus.

She needn't have worried because he was already awake and suffering a similar fate. The only difference was that he felt able to wander downstairs with his eyes half-open and grab two phials of hangover potion from the kitchen cupboard. When he walked back into the bedroom, Hermione had hidden herself under the covers, and there was a faint but unmistakeable smell of vomit drifting from the bathroom. He rolled his eyes.

He had known the birthday party was a bad idea from the outset, but the crowd they had become part of in the local pub would have none of it, insisting that they had to do something. The witch was turning twenty-five, after all.

'Hermione,' he said quietly, the noise of his own voice vibrating painfully inside his head, 'take this.' He pushed the potion into her hand beneath the covers carefully, then unstoppered his own, swallowing it gratefully before his head touched the pillow again.

'I'm sorry,' Hermione's muffled voice came from the quilt. 'I should have listened to you.'

'Not your fault. They wouldn't take no for an answer.'

Severus sighed as the potion took effect and his headache lifted. He smiled as Hermione's curly-topped head appeared from under the covers, and she turned and snuggled into him as he wrapped his arm around her tightly.

'Mmm. I love you,' she said softly, planting a small kiss on his exposed chest.

Smiling, Severus manoeuvred her body on top of him and let his erection prod her nether lips playfully as he engaged her mouth in some tender, probing kisses.

'Show me,' he whispered, and Hermione giggled as he caressed her nipples with the flats of his palms. She slid herself onto him with a hiss and rode him until neither of them could bear it any longer, moaning their orgasms with intensity as Hermione collapsed into his arms.

'I really love you,' Hermione said, panting a little.

'So it would seem,' Severus said, laughing lightly.

Hermione snuggled up next to him and stared up at his profile. Slivers of sunlight caught the ridge of his nose and the curve of his upper lip, and his eyelids were fluttering slightly as he breathed out slowly. She had never thought him more gorgeous than he was at that moment, and she smiled. They had been a couple for almost five years, and Hermione had never been more content.

***

Hermione walked through the Floo at the Ministry of Magic two days later, full of the joys of spring.

She had been back at work for just over year, mainly because her bank balance had demanded it, and after the initial adjustment of finding her feet after so long away from the workplace, she had begun to find her spark again. She was sure that if she had been just any other witch, her job would have either been dissolved or given to someone else–who else but a member of the Golden Trio could have got away with such a lengthy sabbatical? But now she was back, and her commitment was evident. The only change to her working habits was that she knocked off at five p.m. on the dot, just like everyone else. No more burning the lone candle for Hermione Granger, for she had a man to go home to. Not that any of her colleagues ever mentioned him. Anyone that tried to engage her in light banter about her 'boyfriend' was soon quelled into silence by a glare to rival Snape's.

Arriving at her office, Hermione flicked her wand lightly, and her jacket flew to hang itself on the row of hooks by the door and a hot, steaming cup of tea appeared beside the mountain of paperwork on her desk. Hermione grinned, ready to get on with her day.

***

Severus pulled his t-shirt over his head and then resumed his hoeing. The sun was hot against his skin, but he was no longer the pale dungeon lurker of Hogwarts. Instead, he was tanned, with sinewy muscles and a six-pack that others would have envied.

The garden was more overgrown than he had realised, but as he paused and looked at his progress, he was pleased. The weeds were all but gone, and all that remained were regimented rows of herbs and plants at various stages of growth. Later, he planned to harvest some, but his stomach was telling him that he had probably missed lunchtime by at least an hour, and he needed food to boost his energy levels.

Inside the cool kitchen, he made a sandwich and poured a glass of lemonade and then took both back out into the garden. Hermione had bought some cheap, plastic chairs and a table from the local garden centre, and when she had brought them home, she had taken her time and Transfigured them into wrought iron works of art. Sitting in the shade, Severus ate and planned his next lot of tasks.

***

Hermione had her head down when Harry walked into the office, and he coughed slightly to get her attention.

The progress that the Spells and Charms Department had made since her return had been staggering. He had always known she was the clever one out of all of the old gang, but her research and her lightening-quick thought processes still amazed him. She was, quite simply, a genius.

It saddened him that despite their shared childhood and everything that they had been to each other, their relationship now was purely professional, and he never saw Hermione at any other time but at work. She hadn't attended his wedding, although he knew this was more than likely his own fault. He had made it more than clear how he felt about her being with Severus, and things were now so cool between them that Hermione refused to talk about anything that wasn't work related.

Hermione raised her head and smiled a tight smile that didn't reach her eyes.

'Harry?' she prompted, breaking his reverie.

'Sorry to interrupt, but I have some exciting news.' Harry smiled brightly and slid into the chair on the visitor's side of her desk.

Hermione paused and sat back in her chair, her eyes roaming over Harry properly for the first time in many months. Marriage obviously suited him, as did Ginny's cooking, judging by his filled out frame. His face was still boyish and line-free, but he had an inner confidence that only comes from contentment and knowing that another person loves you unconditionally.

Hermione felt a small twinge of jealousy, but ignored it. She knew Severus loved her, even if he wasn't one for declaring it verbally. He was never overly effusive with expressing his feelings. She had learned to accept that he would never utter those three little words a long time ago, and what did it matter anyway? He showed it in so many other ways, there could be no doubt.

Hermione sat back in her chair and folded her hands together. 'Go on,' she said, smiling with a bit more warmth this time. Harry visibly relaxed as he caught her eye, grinning as he handed her an envelope bearing the Ministry seal.

'Kingsley wanted me to give it to you personally,' he said.

Hermione opened the letter with a puzzled frown and let out a gasp as she read the contents.

'Is this real, Harry? It's not some sick joke, is it?' Hermione looked at Harry with wide, disbelieving eyes.

'No joke. You made the short list. If you win, not only will it mean huge kudos for the Department, you also get a bursary to fund any private research you want. Not to mention being Doctor Granger, with letters after your name and everything.'

Harry grinned at her, knowing just how much the nomination would mean. The Proctor Prewitt Award for Innovative Spell Research was the most prestigious of its kind and was only awarded every fifty years.

Hermione hadn't even known the award was due to be given out again this year, nor did she know she had been nominated. Her heart was pounding with shock and excitement, and her first thought was to rush home and share her news with Severus. Standing up quickly, she rushed around the desk and gave Harry a brief but tight hug, which surprised them both for a short moment. Hermione recovered first and smiled at him ruefully.

'Thank you, Harry. I have to go, though. I really need to...' She drifted off, but Harry knew what she meant.

'Of course you do,' he said softly. If he had been in any doubt as to how much Hermione was in love with Severus Snape, it dissipated in that moment.

'Go and tell him, Hermione. I'm sure he will be very pleased for you.' He smiled at her.

'Thanks, Harry.' Hermione beamed as she acknowledged his acceptance of her relationship, then turned and almost ran down to the Floo station.

***

Two hours later, Hermione was walking around her lounge holding a large glass of white wine. Severus was re-reading her letter as he sat at the table, surrounded by the detritus of a Chinese takeaway, and his eyes glanced in Hermione's direction, taking in her flushed face and her palpable excitement. He hadn't seen her this fired up in many a year, and he smiled to himself.

'Of course,' she said expansively, sweeping her arm in a wide arc, 'there is no guarantee the award will be mine. The German candidate got the highest Charms mark ever recorded at Durmstrang, the American is the Charms Mistress at Salem... They're all so incredibly talented.' She paused and stared at Severus with wide, pleading eyes, and he didn't disappoint.

'You have every right to be amongst their number, Hermione. This is the short list, remember? They've already sorted out the wheat from the chaff.' Severus folded the letter and handed it back to Hermione as she smiled at him.

'You're right. I know. I just... Well, it would mean so much! With the bursary, I could explore some of my ideas for Fluidity and Invisibility spells. So much better than just Disillusioning, don't you think? Imagine, walking though a solid wall and not needing to be a ghost first.' Hermione grinned, and Severus chuckled at her as he stood and started to clear the table.

Hermione's personal Spell research was an extension of an idea she'd had when catching the train to Hogwarts. Being able to walk through the platform wall had always intrigued her, and McGonagall had explained that the wall had been charmed to recognise a person's magical signature and would change its structure to allow a person to walk through. Hermione had thought this was all well and good, but what about ordinary walls? And so her theory progressed. She still had a way to go, but the bursary would give her a flying start.

Hermione re-read the letter and followed Severus into the kitchen, staring at his back as he filled the sink with hot water and Fairy Liquid.

'Will you come, Severus?' she asked him.

Severus paused briefly and then grabbed the dirty plates, making a big show of scrubbing them with the washing up brush before answering her. There had been no reason for him to show his face amongst the Ministry glitterati since the end of the war, and he had no real desire to do so now. And yet, he could hear the hope in her voice, and with a sickening feeling in his stomach, he knew she was going to be hurt.

'It will be your finest hour, I'm sure,' he said slowly. Turning, he faced her and instantly felt stricken. He could see that she had anticipated his response by the droop of her shoulders and the pout on her lips, but it didn't make him feel any better.

'I really would like you to be there. I need you,' she sighed. Hazily, Hermione knew her protest was futile, and she battled internally with her deep need for him to be by her side, showing real support, to the other extreme of how excruciating it would be for everyone, having Severus in their midst.

'I won't turn your night into a circus event, Hermione. You know what a fuss it would create. It wouldn't be fair.' Severus was stoic in his resolve, and Hermione knew from experience that not only was there no moving him, he was always bloody right.

Hermione sighed deeply. 'I know you're right. I just wish you would come anyway. I'm not ashamed of being with you, and most people already know we're a couple,' she said, almost too brightly.

Severus walked over to her and planted a soft kiss on the top of her head. 'I can't, Hermione,' he said quietly.

Hermione watched as Severus walked past her and up the stairs.