An Answer?

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Some of the things in this chapter happened a lot earlier than I originally planned, so I was trying to rewrite it. I didn't count on Severus and Hermione being so stubborn (they just wouldn't let me follow my outline).

Anyway, thanks to everyone who's been reading and especially to all who have reviewed. As always, gratitude to Cat (quaffswinegaily) for taming my rampant Americanisms (though some may have sneaked back in when I was trying to force Hermione and Severus to slow down!). Hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 7: An Answer?

Chagrined, Severus acknowledged the boy's point with a dip of his head, even as Hermione and Potter both groaned. "Damn!" said Potter.

"I should have seen that," Hermione said, sounding disgruntled as she slumped back in her chair. "I can't believe all the time we wasted!"

"It wasn't wasted," Severus said firmly, his urge to reassure Hermione winning out over the conflicting urge to lash out at Potter and Weasley (irrationally, since he hadn't recognised the timing problem, either). "He was hit by Rookwood, at least a little, so it's for the best that we solved at least part of his problem. Now we just need to deal with the rest of it."

Hermione seemed to take heart at his words, pulling herself together and sitting up straighter in her chair again. "Right," she said, nodding at him. "Thanks for reminding me."

"You're welcome," Severus replied with a small smile. Catching sight of Potter and Weasley's slack-jawed expressions, he frowned at them. Strangely, this seemed to reassure them somehow, as they smiled and returned to their dinners.

Severus glanced back at Hermione, who was watching him thoughtfully as she sipped her tea and waited for the rest of them to finish their meals. Catching her eye, he raised one eyebrow in silent question. In response, she flushed scarlet and looked away. Interesting, Severus thought.

They looked in the Pensieve several more times, but none of them had seen anything new. Hermione still felt certain that there was something more she was missing, but the rest of them agreed that if they had missed anything, they weren't going to find it by looking over and over again. The boys took their leave. After a short silence, Hermione said quietly, "Well, I suppose it's back to Malfoy Manor tomorrow, though I'm not sure what good it will do when we don't even know what we're looking for."

Severus replied soothingly, "We'll know it when we see it, Hermione. Don't worry."

"I can't help it!" Hermione cried in frustration. "If the Headmaster doesn't recover ..." she shuddered and didn't finish the thought. "We're running out of time!"

Severus said, "We'll figure it out. He'll recover."

Hermione glared at him. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"What good does it do to be otherwise?"

"Don't give me that," Hermione spat, suddenly irrationally angry. "We're missing something critical, and the Headmaster, one of your closest friends, is possibly never going to get well, and you don't care! Why don't you care?"

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. Or maybe the right thing, since Hermione had suddenly discovered she was very much in the mood for a fight. Severus's eyes narrowed as he obliged her. "Don't tell me I don't care, Hermione. I care more than you can possibly comprehend. Just because I choose to hold on to rational thought on the assumption that it will get us further than irrational raving doesn't mean I don't care."

"Well, then, show it!" Hermione yelled, knowing that she was being completely unfair but unable to stop herself. "Repressing everything can't be helping matters! It will cloud your thinking if you don't deal with it!"

"I can't deal with it!" Severus shouted back. "I don't have time! It's a morass, and if I try to deal with it now, it will drown me and I won't be any good to Albus or you or anyone else!"

"Well, then, what are we supposed to do?" Hermione yelled. It was suddenly too much for her and she wilted. She felt tears fill her eyes, and she impatiently wiped them away. She whispered her question again. "What are we supposed to do? I don't know what to do."

Severus's voice was quieter, too, when he responded. "I don't know, Hermione," he said softly, reaching out tentatively to touch her shoulder. She couldn't stop herself; she turned into him, sliding her arms around him as she hugged him to her. His arms came around her, and she leaned into him, drawing several shuddering breaths as she tried to calm down. She felt some of his strength flow into her, and suddenly she knew she couldn't be alone.

"Severus?" she asked in a small voice, without looking up at him.

"Hmmm?" he asked in a soothing voice.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" She felt him stiffen, but she rushed ahead. "I can't stand to be alone. You won't even know I'm there, I promise. Please?"

"Hermione –" Severus began, but she cut him off.

"Look, I know you don't like me, but if I'm alone, I'll just worry and I won't sleep, and if I don't sleep I won't be any use at all tomorrow –"

"Hermione," he interjected. "It's not a good idea for you to stay with me. Not because I don't like you," he added hurriedly. "It's just not a good idea."

"Why not?" Hermione asked, sensing that there was something he wasn't telling her. She pulled back slightly and looked up at him. To her surprise, his cheeks were flushed and he looked embarrassed.

"It's just not," he insisted. Hermione watched him for a long moment, gradually becoming aware of several facts. His heart was racing. He was holding her rather more securely than she would expect to be held by someone who didn't like her, though he simultaneously seemed to be carefully keeping space between their lower bodies. He seemed to be avoiding her eyes.

Her own heart was racing. Her skin was tingling everywhere their bodies touched. She was suddenly aware of him as a man in a way that she had never been before.

Finally, the meaning of all these facts hit her, and she breathed, "Ohhh." He seemed about to pull away, so she made a split second decision. Stretching up on her toes, she tentatively touched his lips with hers.

He pulled back in apparent shock as his eyes flew to hers. He stared for a long moment as she waited, putting every ounce of her longing into her eyes.

Just when she was sure he was going to pull away, he asked softly, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes," she began, but he didn't give her a chance to say anything more. He slammed his lips onto hers. After a stunned split second, she began kissing him back, allowing herself to be swept up into his kiss.

She vaguely heard him spell the door locked as he shoved everything off the desk and lifted her onto the newly bare surface. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I can't wait."

She tugged at his shirt and trousers even as he yanked at hers. "I don't care," she replied, and she didn't. She couldn't remember ever being so aroused in her life. Somehow, they managed to get her clothes off; his only got as far as hanging open. She stared – who knew he would have such a gorgeous chest under all those buttoned up robes?

He whispered again, "I'm sorry," and he thrust into her. She could only marvel at how deliciously full and right it felt.

"Don't ... apologise," she managed between thrusts. "Marvellous."

And it was. She lost all coherent thought as she became mired in the marvellous sensations of shagging Severus Snape. It didn't take long before she was screaming his name as she tipped over the edge into the best orgasm of her life. She was only vaguely aware of his hoarse shout of completion moments later.

Severus forced himself to stir sometime later, primarily because their position couldn't be any more comfortable for her than it was for him. She was still sprawled across the desk, with his rapidly softening cock still inside her as he slumped over her. He would be mortified at his state of half-dress later, he was sure, though at the moment he was too sated by the best shag he had ever had to care. Still, his back and knees could only manage this position for so long, so he dropped a kiss on her cheek and stood up. With as much dignity as he could muster, he righted his clothes.

Hermione didn't move right away, so he said, "All right, you may come and stay with me, though I recommend getting dressed before we make our way to my chambers."

She smiled slightly. "Give me a moment. Just now I feel like my muscles don't have the energy to coordinate themselves and move me."

Severus glanced at her, allowing himself a smug smile at the thought that he could relax her so thoroughly. The sight of her, sprawled bonelessly across the desk, with his come dripping out of her, was making him aroused again. "I could levitate you," he offered teasingly. Then suddenly it hit him. "Damn!" he said.

"What?" she asked, frowning as she slowly sat up.

He felt his cheeks flush. "Unless you want to risk the possibility of an unexpected addition to our lives, you'd better hope I have some contraceptive potion in my stores."

"Oh," Hermione said, flushing, immediately understanding his point. He liked that he didn't have to explain it to her. "We forgot to cast the charm." She stood and began dressing.

"Yes," he nodded. "And now it's too late." He was more concerned that she would be upset than actually upset himself. The idea of a child with Hermione wasn't nearly as worrisome as he would have thought.

"Right," she said. Then, tentatively, "What are the chances you have some potion?"

"Reasonably good, unless some miscreant or other found their way in and stole it." She turned pink.

"Right," she mumbled. "I can't believe we were so careless. You don't like children, and I'm not ready for them."

"Who says I don't like children?" Severus asked, frowning. "I like children. Except the dunderheads. My children, should I ever have any, won't be dunderheads. Nor, I would imagine, will yours."

She grinned suddenly. "I do believe that was a compliment, Severus." She finished dressing and turned toward the door. "Shall we –" she began, but immediately cut herself off, her eyes flying back to the Pensieve suddenly. "That's it! That's what we missed!"

Severus frowned. "What is?"

"The children!" she exclaimed. "In the Pensieve, we didn't think anything of the children!"

"You think the children hexed Albus?" Severus asked sceptically. "For what reason? And what makes you think they have that much control over their magic?"

"That's just it, Severus! I don't think they have that much control over their magic. I think whatever they did, it was an accident!"

A/N2: As far as I can recall, there's no canon regarding contraception of any kind, so I figured effectiveness might be dependent on timing for some types but not others (just like some muggle methods have to be used ahead of time or in the moment, while others are effective up to a few days afterward).