Chapter Three

The characters and canon situations in the following story belong solely to JK Rowling, Scholastic and WB. I am not making any money from the publishing or writing of this story.

Also, my sincerest thanks to Laralee88 for the beta.

Severus stepped into the lab, and as was his habit, he quietly watched Hermione as she worked.

Amazingly, the girl had done it. She and her irritating friends, along with him and his godson, had managed to save every file on the OWL server. It had been a good thing that she had pushed them to work so hard, too. OWL was expected to go down permanently any day now, far ahead of schedule. However, Hermione, despite the fact that she should be enjoying a much needed break, was frantically double checking everything to be sure no information or file had been missed, much to Severus' irritation.

"Hermione," Severus said sternly, "you should not be working. You have been at that computer for nearly a week straight."

Hermione looked up from the computer. Her eyes were shadowed by dark circles, and her hair was frizzy and wild from neglect. Stubbornly, she rolled her eyes and turned back to the screen. Comments of this sort were nothing new, and he was being unreasonable, as usual.

Severus sighed and stalked across the room to where she sat. Watching from over her shoulder, he quickly assessed that she was not working on an urgent matter, and then, he reached up and pressed the button which turned off the monitor.

"Hey! I was...," she began to protest before letting out a loud shriek as she was roughly spun around in her computer chair.

Ignoring her cries, he grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. Glaring down at the petite woman, he repeated, "Hermione, you should not be working." His eyes glinted at her sternly. "The work will keep, and you need a break."

Hermione huffed in irritation. "Severus, I need to get this done," she said as her voice took on a slight whine. "What if we've missed something? OWL could go down at any moment! I simply want to be sure that we've done our best."

She was so exhausted that it took her several moments to recognize that she had made a vital mistake. Breathing in a deep breath, the knowledge suddenly washed over her. He was very close to her, too close. As if awaking from a deep sleep, she was all of a sudden aware that her hands were encapsulated by his and that each breath she was taking in was filled with a rich scent, his scent. It was so strong she could almost taste him. Weak kneed and dizzy from the overload of sensory material and fatigue, Hermione startled at the rumbling of his voice in her ear.

"Hermione," he purred, locking her in an almost hypnotic state, "you have done an admirable job of saving the knowledge that was stored on OWL. However, I will not stand idly by while you make yourself ill. The task is done. Now, you will not touch that or any other computer for the rest of the week. Do you understand me?"

His voice was quiet and calm, and it rolled over her in waves that caused her mind to go blank. Unable to form words or shake herself awake, she mutely nodded her head. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she looked up at him with questioning eyes.

Reading the confusion on her face, Severus smirked. "Good, now I think we are getting somewhere." Then, in a voice that was quickly turning stern and scolding, he continued on. "I have sat by and watched you work yourself sick far too many times. I shall not do so again, Hermione." Gently, he shook her shoulders, desperate to get his point across any way possible.

*~*~*

It was the shaking and scolding tone of his final words that brought back her voice. Sighing loudly, her words were quiet and subdued, while still somehow remaining stubborn, when she spoke. "This isn't fair. I know that you are very much aware of the effect your presence has on me. It is unkind of you to manipulate me in such a manner."

As she felt her head clear of the hazy fog of fatigue and attraction, anger stirred within her.

"In fact," she said, her voice growing stronger, "why do you even care, Severus? I know that we are friends again, but you've made it abundantly clear that you are unable to care for me as anything more than that, and as such, it isn't your place to take care of my like this. I am a grown woman, I don't need coddling."

Tears began to pick at her eyes, and Hermione knew if she were to continue to speak, her voice would betray the depth of her hurt completely. However, she could not force herself to care any longer. Not after succumbing to the months of bottled-up hurt and despair that, despite his apology, was still weighing on her daily. As her control finally broken under the tension surrounding her, with true pain in her heart and voice, she cried, "Furthermore, I do not appreciate your using the knowledge of my feelings for you in order to get me to do what you want. It is unworthy of you and disrespectful to me! I am not some student that you can terrorize into a cowering state, Severus!"

With that, she pulled herself from his grasp and turned back to her chair. Sitting, she spun around and went back to work, fuming silently at the screen that was flickering back to life before her and trying to ignore the growing weight of the grief building behind her last bit of resolve.

*~*~*

Severus was stunned silent as he watched her rip herself from his touch and stubbornly go back to work. Although his eyes saw that she was once again typing away, in direct defiance of his orders, his mind knew nothing but frantic thoughts of confusion.

He couldn't possibly understand where her outburst had come from. What did she mean by saying that my presence affects her and that I know how she feels about me? he contemplated silently.

Slowly, as understanding dawned, horror began to grow within him.

Bloody hell, what have I done? he thought.

Taking a calming breath, he quieted his mind, falling back on the skills he'd learn in his years as a spy. Then, when his thoughts and emotions had settled to a more manageable level, he carefully reviewed her words again.

It was immediately clear to him that he had misjudged her. In fact, it seemed that they had misjudged each other entirely. She clearly had feelings for him and was under the impression that he did not return them. He would have to rectify that at once.

*~*~*

Once again, she heard his stern voice growl, "Hermione, you should not be working."

As her hands were suddenly torn from the keyboard and her chair was spun around for a second time, she spat out in frustration, "Damn it, Severus. What do you want from me? Shall I prostrate myself before you and bow to your every whim? You bastard! Do not expect me to bend to your every request, especially through manhandling and manipulation. After all, it was you who made it so clear, all those months ago, that you have no use for me. How can you find this treatment of me acceptable? You do not want or need me in that way, and as such, I would appreciate if you would do me the honour of leaving me at least what small amount of dignity I have left."

Tears filled her eyes as her words were cried out in desperation, frantic pleas that tumbled and shook in her chest and on her lips. With blurred vision, she dashed away the traitorous tears which were now beginning to run down her face, no long held back by stubborn resolve. As she sat before him, her true fear exploded in her heart. She couldn't lose him now. She could live without his love, but she couldn't live without his friendship. They'd been so close to repairing it, but now, after such an outburst, surely she would lose him forever. Sobs began to shake her body as she hid her face in her hands and curled up in the chair.

"Hermione," he whispered, once again brought up short by her uncharacteristically emotional outburst. Gracelessly, he fell to his knees and reached up to her face. After gently prying away her hands, he ran his fingers ran over the soft curve of her damp cheeks, wiping away each tear.

When he had finished, he earnestly called to her again, his voice barely a whisper. "Hermione."

Slowly, the sobs quieted, and as she opened her eyes, she found him kneeling before her.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he pleaded, fighting the emotions which were spilling into his voice. "It was never my intent to manipulate your feelings. I fear that we have both grossly misjudged the whole situation."

Hermione let out a shaky breath before scoffing in scepticism. As she turned her head away from him, he could see the hurt painted across her face.

"Hermione, please, look at me," he begged.

Frustrated and saddened beyond belief, she rolled her eyes at his perverse persistence. Why had he not simply left and allowed her some dignity? She was overtired, and he knew it. The control needed to navigate this sticky situation was simply beyond her abilities right now. It was too much to ask of her fatigued mind, and with his body so close to her, taunting and entrancing her, it became a nearly impossible task.

Hermione closed her eyes again, centring herself as best she could. When she felt control once again within her grasp, she allowed her eyes to flutter open. They were swollen and red but perfectly able to take in the man who was still kneeling before her. She was completely shocked to see that, in his haste to fall before her, he had dropped every last one of his emotional walls. The concern on his face and in his eyes was raw and open, and it touched something deep inside her.

*~*~*

Severus watched on silently as Hermione took deep breaths and fought back the tears that were no doubt percolating just below the surface. He did not know what to do or how to explain things to her. He feared that she was too upset and too angry to see the reality of their situation. However, as he saw her finally open her eyes and truly look at him, he was struck by the fact that although explaining in this moment would have proven difficult, showing her was perfectly within his reach. In a swift movement that happened before he had time to contemplate the consequence of it, he pulled his young business partner down onto the floor with him. Then, wrapping her in his arms, his lips descended onto hers. He pressed his lips to hers roughly, as if desperate to burn the taste and feel of himself into her skin.

Hermione froze in shock and confusion.

He was kissing her. Desperately so.

Part of her mind curtly reminded her that this could be another attempt at manipulation, but something in her knew that it was not. Severus would never do that to her.

As Hermione sat on the floor of their lab, raw and emotionally torn, she felt Severus' lips suddenly softened against hers. Leaning into him, she felt his hand tentatively come up and cup her cheek. Finding she could do nothing but respond, Hermione slid her arms around his neck and smoothly plastered her body against his. Then opening her mouth, she slipped her tongue out and ran it along his bottom lip. A thrill ran through her, causing her knees to weaken as she tasted, for the first time, the man she loved. Hermione whimpered audibly at the delicious sensation.

Through their joined lips, Severus chuckled. "Do not worry, my love, we have all the time in the world," he told her before moving his lips to kiss a trail down her jaw.

"Love?" she gasped out, breathless, as she felt his lips and tongue began to work down her neck.

"Merlin, yes. I love you, Hermione," he whispered into her ear in a warm puff that caused her skin to come alive with electricity. "As I said before," he continued between hot kisses, "I believe we both rather misjudged the situation. It wasn't until you accused me of using my knowledge of your feelings to manipulate you that I realised that I'd made a miscalculation, that we both had made the same miscalculation."

Hermione's brain, thick with lust-addled fog, struggled to process his words. It grasped wildly to understand these new developments that were, in this very moment, flipping her understanding of the world on end. Then, appalled that she was no longer paying proper attention to the wondrous acts of the man who was still attacking her body with his heated mouth, Hermione decided that there would always be a time for analysing things later. Closing her eyes, and relaxing her head to the side in response to his playful mouth, which was currently nipping at her shoulder, Hermione gave herself over to the touch and feel and taste of Severus.