Morning comes early

IV. Morning Comes Early

Present day

They arrived home late, as they had nine years ago. This time, however, the silence wasn't at all awkward. A bit odd, perhaps, in the sense that Serena wasn't home, but entirely comfortable nevertheless.

Hermione asked, "I was thinking of having a hot bath. Care to join me?"

Severus smiled slightly. "Naturally. You know I never turn down an opportunity to soak with you."

She grinned. "True. At least, you haven't in years."

He chuckled. "Not since that morning."

She giggled. "Exactly."

Eight years plus three hundred sixty-three days plus seventeen hours earlier

Morning came rather too early for Severus. It had taken him hours to fall asleep, or so it had seemed. Unresolved arousal was really bad for relaxation, Severus had realized as he lay beside his naked, sleeping, almost-not-in-name-only wife. He had finally been forced to resort to taking a shower and taking care of his problem the way he had been doing for months. When he was done, he had returned to bed and finally managed to fall into a restless sleep.

As awareness returned, he suddenly remembered his plans for the morning and began feeling much more cheerful. Opening his eyes, he turned toward Hermione's side of the bed, only to find it empty. Where was she? His good mood deflated as rapidly as it had arisen mere moments earlier. Rising, he went to look for his wife.

He found her in the bathroom, soaking in a tub of rose-scented bubbles. He cleared his throat, and she looked up and smiled. "Good morning," she purred. "Care to join me?"

"No, thank you," he said stiffly.

"Are you sure?" she teased.

"I do not take rose-scented baths," Severus said. He was aware that he sounded like a cranky child, but he couldn't seem to control his disappointment at finding her anywhere but his bed this morning.

Hermione grinned, seemingly unfazed by his mood – which was probably because she knew he wasn't a morning person, and therefore wasn't taking his irritation personally. "I could drain this and run another bath with a different scent," she cajoled. "How about patchouli? Or vanilla?" He shook his head. "Almond?"

"I'd prefer it if you returned to bed for a while," he admitted finally. "I thought you wanted to ... er ..." She looked at him expectantly, but didn't say anything. "Consummate the marriage," he finally managed.

"Oh, I thought you might rather wait until tonight," Hermione said. "We have students to chaperone in Hogsmeade today."

Severus groaned. "That's hours away, Hermione. We have plenty of time, if you'd just come back to bed." He was so horny now that he wasn't even embarrassed at the whine in his voice.

Hermione said, "Are you sure you wouldn't rather join me here? Hot baths are very relaxing, and you look rather tense."

"Look, if you've changed your mind, just say so," Severus snapped, his temper getting the better of him for a moment. Her eyes narrowed, and since he didn't want to start a fight, he held up a hand in apology. "I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault, but I had hoped ..." he let his voice trail off. "Never mind, I guess it's not going to happen this morning. I'll see you later." He left her alone, deciding to head out to the sitting room and distract himself with some tea until she was finished, then take another shower and take care of his problem himself once more.

He hoped this was just a delay, not a change of heart on her part. It would be unbearably cruel of her to get his hopes up and then dash them permanently. He consoled himself by reminding himself that her mother's point still held, just as much as it ever had.

Moments later, Hermione came into the sitting room. She was once again wearing his shirt, and Severus suppressed a groan. He began striding toward the bathroom for that shower.

He had just passed her when her voice stopped him in his tracks. "I was thinking of going back to bed for a while. Care to join me?"

He turned to look at her, his heart suddenly pounding, and he had to restrain himself from tossing her over his shoulder and carrying her, caveman style, to bed. "I would like that above all things," he assured her fervently.

She smiled. "All right, then." She took his hand and pulled him, unresisting, into the bedroom. She spelled his shirt off of herself, then yanked the tie from his dressing gown and pushed the garment off his shoulders. Lying on the bed, she said, "I believe I was about here when we were so rudely interrupted last night. Remind me, Severus, where were you?"

He couldn't restrain a grin, and she caught her breath as she watched him prowl toward her. He settled himself over her and murmured, "I believe I was right about here."

She smiled. "So you were."

Fortunately, this time they managed just fine, without any mishaps or interruptions.

Afterward, Severus held Hermione in bed, stroking her bushy hair as she rested her head on his chest. After a while, she said, "Severus?"

"Yes?"

"How about we take that bath now? I promise you'll love it," she cajoled.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "As long as it's not a floral scent, I'm willing to give it a go."

She turned to grin up at him. "Afraid your big, bad Potions Master persona would suffer if you wore the delicate scent of lilacs?"

"Perhaps not, after what I did last night," he said, remembering almost fondly his creative way of getting the budding criminals to confess.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked.

"Ten points each from Slytherin and a detention with Filch," he began.

"Really?" Hermione broke in. "That sounds rather minor to me."

"Because you didn't let me finish," Severus pointed out, giving her a slight squeeze for emphasis. "As I was saying, ten points each from Slytherin and a detention with Argus for every minute it took to resolve the issue."

Hermione giggled. "All right, you win, that's pretty harsh, after all. Does Slytherin have any points left?" she added skeptically.

"Very few, actually," Severus said. "And I have to believe twenty-eight detentions with Argus will keep them in line regardless of what scent I wear."

Hermione grinned, then kissed him and jumped out of bed. "Lilacs it is, then," she called over her shoulder as she hied herself off to the bathroom.

"Hermione!" he protested, leaping from bed to chase her. He was relieved to discover she had been teasing, as she held up an almond scented bath salt for his approval when he arrived.

As she had predicted, he discovered he liked baths very much indeed – so long as his very squirmy wife was in the tub with him.

Present day

Severus was pulled from his reminiscences by Hermione's voice calling to him, suggesting that he should join her in the tub before it got cold. He hurriedly began stripping as he obeyed.

When he arrived, she was already in the tub. She had chosen a spicy scent this evening – he identified cinnamon and nutmeg, among others. With her face pink and her hair trailing from its clasp atop her head, she looked as alluring as he had ever seen her. He paused in the middle of disrobing to lean down and kiss her. "Marrying you was the smartest thing I ever did," he told her.

Her answering smile was a touch wicked. "You mean, blackmailing me into marrying you was the smartest thing you ever did."

"That's not fair," he protested. "I didn't actually blackmail you. I invoked a life debt, which is not the same thing."

Her smile widened. "If you insist, dear." She kissed him briefly. "Anyway, suggesting we should have sex was the smartest thing I ever did," she said as he moved away to remove his remaining clothing. He didn't respond until he had joined her in the tub. He settled himself behind her and began leisurely rubbing bubbles into her abdomen.

"I won't argue with you there, love," he said finally. "But I will point out that had I not invoked the life debt, we wouldn't have gotten round to that for a long time, if ever. I'd have wound up married to Sibyll, and you'd have been stuck with some unworthy dunderhead, at least until some poor sod murdered his or her very incompatible, Ministry-sanctioned spouse, thus bringing to light all Sibyll's misdeeds."

She stroked his hand, which was now wandering further afield than her abdomen. "Perhaps. Or maybe we were destined to be together either way ..."

Eight and a half years ago

Six months after the consummation of their marriage, the Ministry finally got around to investigating Severus and Hermione. After nearly a week of interviews with the couple as well as a number of their friends and co-workers, the Ministry clerk wrapped things up. "You dears don't have a thing to worry about," she told them as she took her leave. "It's quite obvious that you're well and truly married, not perpetrating a fraud on the Ministry."

"Thank you, Mrs. Merriwether," Hermione said politely.

"You'll receive official notification next week, but that's a formality. No one who sees you together could possibly doubt how deeply in love you are."

Severus froze internally, though he managed to keep his facade neutral as always. After the woman left, he excused himself, saying he had to check a potion's progress and would return shortly. When he arrived at his lab, he began pacing anxiously. In love? They weren't really in love, were they? Severus didn't want to be in love. He had been in love before, and it hadn't worked out well for him.

He had no idea how long he had been pacing when Hermione showed up. She said, "Here you are! I was getting worried! I couldn't imagine how checking on a potion could possibly take almost four hours and make you miss dinner."

"Oh," Severus said, his mind still trying to process the possibility that he might be in love with his wife. "I ... er ... that is ..."

"It's all right, Severus," Hermione said gently. "I know why you're so upset."

"You do?" he asked, hoping she could explain it to him.

"Yes, and it's all right," she said. "I know you aren't in love with me, and it's really okay. I never expected you to be."

"But ..." Severus began, then stopped, not sure what he wanted to say. It just sounded wrong when Hermione said he wasn't in love with her.

"It's all right," she said again. "And you don't have to worry about me, either. I accept that you still love Harry's mother, and will never love me."

That sounded really wrong, Severus thought. "Why would you accept that?" he asked irritably. "Why should you? You deserve someone who's in love with you, you know."

"I know," she said, a bit wistfully. "I do deserve someone who's in love with me. But I want you, even if you don't love me."

"What if ..." he began, then stopped again. "Why would you want me?"

Hermione sighed, her eyes sad. "Mrs. Merriwether was half right, at least. Even if you're not in love with me, I'm in love with you. And I know you care about me, more than you care about anyone else who's alive, so that will have to be enough."

"No, it won't!" Severus protested hotly.

"What, you're going to leave me because I admitted I love you?" Hermione asked, looking stricken.

"No, you foolish woman, you won't have to settle for me just caring about you!" he sneered. "I love you, too!"

"You do?" Hermione looked stunned.

"Well, of course I do! I'm not an idiot! Marrying you was the smartest thing I ever did, even if I didn't know it at the time."

A flash of relief crossed her features briefly before Hermione frowned. "I hate to quibble, but don't you mean blackmailing me into marrying you?"

"I didn't blackmail you!" Severus protested before he caught the twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "I invoked a life debt! There's a difference!"

Hermione was smiling broadly now, and she suddenly launched herself into his arms. He found himself holding her tight as she whispered, "If you say so, Severus." She kissed him before he could respond, and by the time they stopped, he had altogether forgotten to continue to argue his position.

Still, it was such a frequent argument that it eventually became something of an inside joke.