Twenty-Three

A/N: Well, after Severus was so lovely and protective last chapter, I expect he's entitled to a little reward, don't you think? Two chapters left of this fic, after this one, and not much plot to speak of. ;) Thanks for reading and big sloppy kisses to those who reviewed. No beta- all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: They are not mine; I only take them out to play.

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The sparkle of magic against Hermione's skin faded. When Severus turned his hungry mouth from her lips to the delicate skin of her throat, she saw that they were in the main room of his flat. Another flare of magic against her body and Hermione heard a sound like a box turning over in another room. A small object flew into the middle of the room and abruptly re-sized itself.

Then strong arms lifted her and laid her down on the object, which turned out to be her ratty old sofa. He fell atop her, returning to her mouth for greedy kisses. One last spell and their robes were unbuttoned. As his fingers fumbled at the placket of his jeans, she raised the skirt of her cotton sundress. With one strong hand, he wrenched the crotch of her knickers to one side and thrust home.

Now that his cock was buried in her heat, his need to rush abruptly fled. Gentle, slow strokes of his hips as he glided in and out of her flesh. His hands buried themselves in the hair on either side of her head, and he kissed her as if she was the most precious thing in the universe.

His mouth wandered to her ear, and the warm rush of his breath made her shiver.

"Oh, Hermione, you're so soft." His voice was so low, it was as if he breathed the words rather than spoke them. "So soft around me. So many nights with only my bony hand for comfort...I never knew anything could feel so soft and sweet."

Slipping her hands down his back, Hermione pressed them under the loose waistband of his jeans, under his boxers, so she could cup and squeeze his tight buttocks. He groaned in her ear. His mouth drifted down to her neck and he nipped and licked at her flesh. One of his hands moved to the low neckline of her dress, slipping under the fabric and into the cup of her bra. He kneaded her gently and rolled the hard nipple between his fingers, making her gasp.

"So soft," he murmured again.

Hermione wrapped her legs around his, her feet tucking under his shins. Her hips rose to every slow glide of his flesh into hers. When she squeezed his buttocks again, he growled low in his throat.

Still, he refused to increase the speed of his hips. Over and over, in and out, so slowly. Her orgasm snuck up on her, suddenly breaking over her in gentle waves that seemed to never end.

"So good," she sighed. "Oh, my love, you are magnificent."

Raising up on his elbows, he stared into her eyes as he continued his slow thrusting. He bit his bottom lip, and Hermione realized he was riding on the edge of bliss, prolonging that moment of no return.

Letting go of his lip at last, he whispered, "I could do this forever and want nothing else. I could fuck you forever."

"Oh, yes," she whispered back.

With his weight still on his elbows, he slid his hands under her back until he was clasping her shoulders from underneath. One last thrust deeply into her heat, holding her so tightly to him that his entire body clenched. There he held in perfect stillness as his cock finally began to pulse and pour his bliss into her.

"Hermione," he breathed into her ear.

He stayed there, caressing her shoulders and giving her an occasional sweet kiss until his cock eventually softened and slipped free of her. With some wriggling, they managed to switch positions. Severus laid on his back with Hermione draped over him on her stomach.

"Hmm...I do so like this sofa," Severus said, and then kissed the top of her head.

"Severus?"

"Mmmm?"

"I've never been so perfectly happy in my life."

He kissed her head again, and then reached blindly over the side of the sofa to find the wand he'd dropped to the floor in his earlier distraction. With a flick, a red-covered book sped into the room and into his waiting hand.

"Let's see...where were we? Here we are. Fifteenth of December. Dear Daddy-Long-Legs, Listen to what I've learned today."

Hermione realized she'd been wrong. Every single time she decided she was perfectly happy, Severus did something even more brilliant. With a contented sigh, she tucked her face under his chin and settled in to listen to him read.

Several chapters later, his reading was interrupted by an owl grumpily pecking on the window in the living room. It was Harry's, a lovely barn owl that had replaced Hedwig after she fell. She opened the window and the owl settled onto the window ledge, clicking its beak at her.

"Hello, Apollo," she said, tickling the feathers under his beak the way he liked. "Sorry for the delay. We'll get one of these windows magicked for you."

Apollo seemed to accept her apology and held a rolled bunch of paper out to her with one of his strong talons.

"Here you go, Apollo," a deep voice said behind her as Severus reached around Hermione to hand the owl a bit of cheese.

Apollo gobbled up the cheese, bobbed his thanks, and flew off. Hermione unrolled the papers and smiled.

"Look, Severus, the newspaper has put out a special edition."

His only reply was a snort. Going back to the old sofa, they sat side by side as they perused the paper. Ruffian Attacks War Heroes! the paper proclaimed in giant lettering at the top of the first page. Hermione only skimmed the article...she'd been there after all... but she was very interested in the four wizarding photographs that accompanied the piece. She hadn't realized there'd been a photographer on the street.

The first one was captioned Alive and in Love! A tall wizard in black robes looked down with adoring eyes at a small witch as he lifted her hand to his lips. That was right before the trouble started. The photographer had most likely been excited about being able to prove Severus was alive. Not that Hermione minded. It really was a lovely photograph.

The second shot showed Hermione sitting on the pavement facing away from the camera, a wild-eyed Ron Weasley tugging on her arm. A black spot of twisting robes flew up and transformed into Severus, his face furious as he raised his wand.

"Magnificent," Hermione murmured as she watched the picture go through its actions for the third time.

Severus turned her head away from the paper with one hand so that he could kiss her thoroughly as she hummed with pleasure.

"I knew you would come for me," she whispered against his mouth.

"I would go straight to hell for you," he growled back.

The third picture showed the tall wizard, his wand pointed at a pile of limbs, death in his eyes. Beside him, the small witch moved her hand down his arm until her hand rested on his. He turned to her, and with only the slightest change in his features, the deadly expression changed to one of ferocious love. This one made Hermione sigh, but it wasn't her favorite. That honor went to the last picture.

Harry Potter sat on a curb near where a tall wizard held a small witch on his lap. His head was bowed to where he studied the dainty wrist he held in one hand while he used his wand in the other. He lifted his head as she wiggled her fingers, gazing at her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. The witch gave him a beaming smile and then placed her hands on both sides of his face. As she kissed him, the crowd at the edges of the photograph clapped and cheered.

"I'm getting a copy of that one." Hermione sighed happily and ran her finger over tiny photograph Snape as he kissed his witch. The image raised its hand as if to shoo her away. Perfectly understandable. He was quite busy with the little witch in his lap.

Their perusal of the article was interrupted by Severus' stomach grumbling loudly.

"Come on, now," Hermione said, getting to her feet and offering him a hand to tug him off of the sofa. "We need to feed you and keep your strength up."

"Do we now."

"Oh, yes. I have many, many plans for you."

His laughter rang out as they headed to the kitchen.

Somehow, as Hermione made sandwiches and put them onto plates, she ended up naked. It seemed like every time she turned from one task to the next, clever fingers had divested her of another article of clothing. By the time she put their plates on the table, he was deliciously nude as well. He'd put their chairs quite close together, and could not seem to stop touching her, not even to eat.

She knew why. Proof of life. Proof she was right there, safe and sound. After Ron had attacked Severus outside the bookshop, she hadn't been able to stop holding his hand. The moments she had been forced to let it go had been agonizing. Now, she leaned into his every caress and did some touching back as well.

She did her share of looking also. Even after all their naked games together, she didn't think she would ever get enough of looking at him. Soft skin over a nicely muscled frame with delightful hair here and there. She often found herself stroking the hair on his chest as if he were a cat, but he didn't seem to mind it.

A glance at his lap...no, he didn't seem to mind it at all. What lovely games could she encourage him to try now? They'd managed quite a lot of her original mental list of what she wanted them to do to each other, but there would always be new things to explore.

There was one thing. An often read scene from one of Ginny's trashy novels. It never failed to get her hot, though she'd never had a chance to try it herself. The one time she had talked Ron into trying it, he hadn't been able to stay hard. He thought it was disgusting, and the unspoken thought was that she was disgusting to even want that. No, he'd certainly not been very adventuresome in bed.

Would Severus think she was disgusting? Merlin, she'd hate to see that sort of look on his face aimed at her. But would he? He was actually rather delightfully nasty at times. He adored it when she talked dirty to him and eagerly went down on her after he'd finished filling her with his come, lapping at their combined juices as if he could never get enough. She remembered his worried face when he'd asked her if he could do that the first time. Afraid she'd think him nasty for wanting to do it when the truth was that she found it very, very hot.

Perhaps she should admit to herself that she was a trifle nasty herself.

Remembering his anxiety, Hermione decided he was not likely to think badly of her for asking him about anything. He might not want to do it, but she couldn't imagine him holding her fantasies against her, no matter what they were. They got on so well because they were honest with each other. She should be honest about this too.

"I won't bite, you know." He sat with his elbow on the table, chin propped on his hand, gazing at her through half-lidded eyes. "Well, not much, at any rate. What's going on in that lovely head of yours?"

Merlin, but she couldn't get away with anything around him. He always knew when she was up to something.

"There's something I want you to do to me...with me...and I'm a little embarrassed to ask you about it."

He stood then, plucking her off of her chair and carrying her to the bedroom. She stroked the curve of his bicep and made a little hum of pleasure. Reaching the bed, he laid her down on it, then lay on his side facing her, his head once again propped on his hand.

"I'm afraid you'll think I'm disgusting. I've never done it before, though I have wanted to. The one time I tried before, well, it didn't end well. He couldn't stay hard. He...er...thought I was gross."

"Imbecile," Severus growled. "Hermione, pet, don't be daft. I don't know if I will want to do this or not until you tell me what it is, but I'll hardly hold your wanting it against you. Hmm...let me see...your previous poor excuse for a lover thought it was disgusting, did he?"

Then he was kissing her, rolling them so that she lay on top of him as he made love to her mouth. One of his strong hands moved down her back and to the cleft of her arse. A fingertip found the ring of tight muscle there and stroked it. She moaned into his mouth, canting her hips back into his finger as he teased her with gentle rubbing motions.

Ending the kiss, he looked up at her. "Nothing disgusting about it, pet. Had my fingers up my own arse during some of those lonely nights I used to have. Certainly wouldn't mind you doing that to me sometime, if you've a mind to. And the thought of making love to that sweet little arse of yours? Well, let's just say I won't be having any trouble staying hard."

Her responding grin was almost as wicked as his.