Nine

A/N: With thanks to my beta, JunoMagic.

It was still dark when Hermione awoke to the sound of a sort of whine. Struggling to clear her mind, it occurred to her that her pillow wasn't usually so warm. It also didn't move.

Severus.

Immediately alert, Hermione sat up quickly and looked down at him in concern, forgetting for a moment that she had probably used the man's stomach as a pillow for half the night.

Even in the dim, pre-dawn light, she could see that his face was tight and pinched. In fact, he didn't look too far from the state that had caused him to be brought to St Mungo's in the first place.

Oh, Merlin's balls!

There was only one solution.

Since she couldn't very well jump him without his consent, Hermione realised that there would have to be some preparatory discussion before any decision could be made.

'You know what we should do, don't you?' she asked, raising a an eyebrow at him.

I cannot believe I am suggesting this...

Apparently Severus wasn't in as bad a state as she had thought. Sitting up and crossing his arms, his, 'I don't want to have sex with you,' was so emphatic, Hermione would have been offended in a different situation.

However, she wasn't going to be deterred from helping without a better answer than that. What red-blooded, circumstantially desperate man said 'no' to freely offered sex? It would have to at least be against his morals, if not some sort of magical vow he had made to someone in the past.

'It will help, you know,' she implored.

This is almost fun despite the seriousness of his situation, she realised. Seducing Severus Snape...it's almost worthy of the title of a new romance novel!

'Are you insane?' he queried. The eyebrow he was in the process of raising faltered as a wince passed over his face.

'No, I'm really offering, and you're making it hard to help,' she told him more gently, resting a hand on his knee. It had the opposite effect to the one she intended.

Jerking away from her, he almost yelped, 'Hard to help? You just propositioned me out of the blue, witch! How do you expect me to react?'

She tried yet another angle, the snooty know-it-all. 'I expected, no, I expect you to accept my offer graciously, in the spirit it was given. You might even be grateful.'

Silence.

Well, maybe gratitude is a stretch too far...

Another attempt. 'We're both adults, Severus. I knew what I was doing when I offered to be your Healer and carer.'

'You wanted to have sex with me?'

Hermione was running out of patience. 'Look, Severus, this is really very simple. I am willing if you are, and I really can't see an alternative. I'd rather not see you doubled over in pain for the rest of the day. And besides, it's bloody dangerous!'

'You are completely mad.'

Hermione snapped. 'What is it that you want? Would you prefer for both of us to get drunk and pretend it's a one night stand? I'd personally rather not waste that time, but tell me what I need to do to get you to agree, and it will be done!'

'Really?' He actually had the audacity to smirk at her little outburst before the smirk turned into a grimace as another tremor of pain racked his body. The pain seemed to decide for him. Laying back on the sheets, he intoned, 'Do your worst.'

Trying not to roll her eyes at his martyr-like expression, Hermione asked, 'So, you will sleep with me?' Given their past interaction, a watertight clarification seemed like a good idea.

Her caution proved well-founded. 'Will you stop bloody well saying "sleep" as if it's all so bloody innocent when we both know that you mean something else? If you are really going to do this, get on with it!'

Too relieved at his acquiescence to bother being affronted by his very unflattering way of communicating it, Hermione sighed with relief. Amazement at her own bravery made her recklessly confident.

'How do you want to do this?' she asked cheekily, not really expecting him to reply.

'Merlin, woman, you're the one who's supposed to have all the answers. You decide.'

That shouldn't have made her more excited.

It really shouldn't.

Deciding that she would examine her motivations for pushing him so hard later (after all, it was his business if he wanted to suffer in silence), Hermione turned her mind to exactly how she was going to do this.

I can't just grab him by the balls and go down on him!?

Or... I could, but that just seems so sudden?!

She bit her lip and frowned at her difficult patient in consternation.

Just what was she supposed to do?

With his eyes tightly closed as he focused inwards to keep the pain at bay, Severus couldn't see Hermione's confused expression. After a few moments, when she was still sitting on him, but no move of any kind had been made to get proceedings under way, Severus opened his eyes and glared at his 'Healer'.

'Well, what are you waiting for?'

She shifted off him a bit, to the side. 'I... I'm going to touch you now.'

Biting back the acidic, 'You do that,' on the tip of his tongue, Severus closed his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek to stifle a moan as her deft fingers unbuttoned his trousers and she gently took him in hand.

Gentle wasn't going to cut it, however, so Severus reached down himself, putting his own hand over hers to guide her.

There, a bit tighter, faster...

'Um, Severus?'

Will the daft bint never stop talking?

'What now?'

'Nothing really, it's just that you are, er, ready...'

And she isn't...

Groaning a little as he removed her hand, Severus propped himself up on his elbows and raised an eyebrow at her.

'Well?'

'Well, what?' Hermione was confused.

'What can I, or can't I do? What are the "rules" of this treatment, so to speak?'

He could see her blush even through the darkness.

'I don't really mind.'

He idly ran one hand up her side to her breast and felt her lean into his touch. Letting his instincts guide him, he pulled her closer so that he could see her face properly.

'Really?' His voice was soft, enticingly so.

'It's supposed to be real, an honest magical exchange,' she started, and he was pleased to note that she was slightly breathless.

'You coming willingly to me is enough for the exchange,' Severus countered. 'But what do you want, Hermione?'

Severus was totally unprepared for her to gently touch her lips to his.

So... soft...

He wasn't complaining.

Though he was still painfully hard, now that his body sensed a possible outlet, the agony suddenly seemed much more bearable.

Allowing Hermione to set the pace and deepen the kiss, Severus started a small exploration of his own, beginning with his hands on her hips, slowing moving upwards.

As she moved from his lips to his neck, Severus almost lost control. Shifting her so that he was top, he relished the sensation of her body pressed against his, feeling his desire spike the moment he did so.

... soon...

He knew that he had to give her some time, but only within limits. Thanking his lucky stars that it was still dark, he didn't bother to hide the lust in his eyes. The fact that he was about to have sex with Hermione Granger was completely bizarre, and it was just wrong that it was proving to be so bloody enjoyable. There was no need for her to see that.

Deciding that she was rather too clothed for the relief he needed, Severus was quick to assist Hermione in wriggling out of her knickers and shorts, also taking the opportunity to kick off his own trousers. Sliding one hand down to check how much longer he was going to have to wait, he was surprised to find her not only ready, but the way she squirmed when he touched her only made him keener to get on with it.

She seemed to feel the same way. She showed her appreciation by pulling Severus into what he would later remember as one of the best kisses of his life. It didn't matter that their teeth hit each other with a click, or that she had put her hands in his admittedly slightly unclean hair.

He felt as if she wanted him, and it was brilliant.

As she started to move her hips a little and make lovely gasping noises, Severus forced her to look at him one more time.

'Are you sure?' he growled, cursing himself even as he said it.

Don't let her get away, you fool!

Ever the pragmatist, Hermione didn't waste any more time talking but instead tackled him so that he ended up lying on the bed. Slowly, she lowered herself onto him, eyelids fluttering shut in ecstasy as she stilled for a moment before pushing up and repeating the process all over again.

Merlin, yes...

Severus was entirely incapable of coherent thought from the moment he felt himself slide inside her. His control frayed, he barely moved, just rocking slightly to let her take what she could until he lost it completely.

Running his hands underneath her top to cup her breasts, he vaguely wondered why he hadn't encouraged her to strip completely, but the thought was lost as she made the most wonderful sort of moan.

Wanting to give her more, but knowing that it wouldn't happen today, Severus let the pressure build before suddenly grabbing her hips to hold her still. Then, with a few faster jerks, he ended their impromptu liaison.

Over almost before it began...

Expecting her to roll off him in disappointment or even disgust once she realised what she'd just done and with whom, Severus went completely still as Hermione moved, almost expecting a ringing slap. To his bewilderment, however, she only shifted sideways a little, one leg still lying over his as she buried her face in his neck.

'Wake me again when it's really morning.'

Still swimming in a balmy sea of blissful thoughts, not least because his penis was now well and truly soft for the first time in recent memory, Severus didn't question her.

There were worse things than falling asleep with a lovely, mostly unclothed young woman half-draped over his body.

Mmm... warm...

Tucked into Severus' side, Hermione prayed that he wouldn't push her away. Contrary to the impression he might have of her now, after that totally unprofessional display of wanton desire, it had been ages since she'd last shared her bed with a man. Though Severus certainly wasn't the devoted man of her dreams who promised to love her forever, she wanted to hold onto this feeling of safe contentment for as long as humanly possible.

Now, lying here with him, she could pretend for a night that she wasn't alone.