One Step Back

Disclaimer: All characters are for J.K.R. of course. Plot thought of by Betz. The other stuff belongs to me!

As always, a big thanks to the brilliant Charmed Nay for being my beta!

Severus entered his chambers, and his eyes narrowed immediately. What the bloody hell was Potter's owl doing there? Hedwig, was it? "What do you want, owl?" he asked suspiciously.

The haughty bird hooted indignantly and turned away from him.

He untied the parchment from its leg and then sat at his desk. "Well, go on. Get out of here," he said. "I think I know where to find Mr. Potter should I want to answer his letter." Ridiculous really. Why send an owl to someone that you see at meals each day? He opened the letter and nearly collapsed. It was addressed to Mr. R. Libertine! Fear clenched his heart.

For a brief moment, he thought that Potter had found out about his new role, but then he realized the writing wasn't Potter's messy, angular scrawl. It was the legible, loopy writing of Hermione. Thank Merlin! All he needed was for Potter to find out about his side job and attempt some sort of blackmail or, worse, for Potter to try to pay for his services. Severus shuddered at the thought. So, his plan had worked! Miss Lovegood had recommended him to Hermione. According to her letter, she wanted to meet with him to get some advice on how to please an experienced man. She didn't really want any intimacy between them, but she sounded confused. She would be easy to take advantage of. She said that it had come to her attention that men see her as prudish. Obviously, she had only been talking to Potter and Weasley and their lot.

No woman that could strip out of her clothes in such an enticing manner could be considered prudish. So, some man had captured her heart then, and there was only one person Severus could think of. An experienced man. Charlie Weasley. Why else would she want to know these things? Was it just a mere coincidence that her two idiot friends mentioned the bloke and mentioned a past happening between them and now she wanted instructions with intimacy? No. She wants to practice for him. That undeserving wretch!

This was not going the way he'd planned... or hoped. A small glimmer of hope sprang to life in his heart. The conference. Perhaps she wanted to learn these things for him. They had only just decided to go to the conference together. It made sense. There was only one way to find out. He would have to agree to meet with her. It would be hard not to ravish her, if all she wanted to do was talk, but at least he would find out once and for all if she did desire him. It would be easy for her to open up to him--a paid confidant.

The women that he'd met with so far had been easy enough to read and talk to. The only one that he might consider actually seeing on a regular basis was married, and other than the need to play dirty games with a gigolo, she intended to remain that way. He grinned. He might one day find someone for himself.

But he knew that wouldn't be the case. At least not right now. It was all about Hermione Granger, wasn't it? The witch who sat next to him at meals, the witch who went running every morning, and the witch who'd consented to accompany him to a conference... overnight. He grinned wickedly. The gigolo could find out her desires, and he could use them to his advantage when they spent their night together at the end of term. It was a simple plan, but it would work. He could be smoothly seductive when he chose to be. He quickly wrote back to Hermione.

Miss Hermione Granger,

Mr. R. Libertine

There! It didn't sound too eager, nor did it sound uninterested. He hoped that she realized that she would be safe with him, and there was no need to worry about being taken advantage of. He would do what he could to get closer to her, to find out all of her secrets, but he just needed her there, feeling comfortable and confident. Severus began to mentally make plans for the evening when another owl swooped down upon him.

Damn! It was client number four. She wanted to meet with him, on short notice, in just a few hours time! Of all the nerve! He had a mind to owl a decline, but the thought of being buried within someone, whilst pretending she was Hermione, appealed to him. It had been two days, and he could still feel the imprint of Hermione's breast on his palm. He did need this. He quickly scrawled a yes to her, telling her to meet him at the normal place. After classes, he would Apparate over to prepare things. For now, it was time for the noon meal, and he would see his sweet Hermione. He made his way as quickly as he could to the Great Hall.

To his surprise, only Potter accompanied her. He idly wondered where Weasley had gone off to. It wasn't like the little swine to miss a meal. He greeted Minerva and Albus as he seated himself.

"Hello, Professor," Hermione said softly.

He nodded and grunted a reply.

"Something must be wrong. I'm off to see what's keeping him," Potter said suddenly.

"All right," Hermione replied.

"Problems?" Severus inquired, nodding at Potter's retreating back.

"Well, Ron hasn't been down yet, and it's not like him to pass up lunch. Harry is going to go check on him to be sure he hasn't taken ill."

He watched as she licked her lower lip before taking a sip of her juice.

"Perhaps he doesn't need his friends keeping tabs on him. He is grown, is he not? Come to that, he has the years behind him, though he does lack the maturity."

Hermione made a sour face and began eating again. He could have kissed her, right there, in front of the entire castle. Her fetching lips were pouting profusely, and her expression was one begging to be soothed.

"What is it?" she asked snidely.

"Sorry?" he asked, unaware of having spoken.

"You keep staring at me. If you've something to say, then please say it," she said hotly. Apparently, she hadn't liked the little malicious remark about her mate.

"I was wondering something, Professor. How is it that you seem to have grown into a proficient young adult when your two closest friends still resemble the students that they once were?" Severus couldn't think of anything else to comment about that would be along the lines of the truth.

"Boys mature at a slower rate. It's a proven statistic," she said with a shrug, looking mollified. "Oh, I meant to ask you about the conference. Do you know where we will be lodging? I could look into the area if you'd like and pick something out."

"I am familiar with the layout, having been there before. In fact, I happen to have some parchment down in my office from my last stay. If you'd like, you'd be welcome to come down to have a look, unless you trust in me to choose," he said smoothly, hoping to put her at ease. There would be no separate rooms for them. Not that night.

"That would be fine. Anything you'd like. Maybe I could come down this evening to have a look," she said cheerfully.

His heart skipped a beat. She wanted to spend time with him, alone. To plan an outing. "I think that would be..." he paused, remembering he had a prior engagement, "unacceptable. I have plans already this evening."

"Oh, well, all right then. Some other time, perhaps," she said, seemingly disappointed.

"Certainly," he purred. He smirked in distaste noticing that both of her friends were approaching them. Why did his client have to pick tonight of all nights to meet? He would much rather spend a few minutes alone with Hermione as she looked over some parchments than to be off rutting with someone.

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Hermione finished the last of her classes with a small headache forming. She made her way down to the infirmary to see if Poppy could give her some draught to get rid of it. She'd been thinking about Professor Snape all day. He had offered for her to go down to his dungeons to have a look at his parchments, and when she had asked to go this night, he had seemed on the verge of accepting, but then he'd declined her offer. Just what did he have planned this night?

Did he have a... date? Jealousy swept through her body. Of course, that had to be it. There was no Order meeting tonight, he had no detentions to administer, according to the sheet in the staff room, and he had even switched patrols for this night with Minerva. That had to be it. As quickly as possible, she took some of the draught offered by the mediwitch and made her way back to her rooms. Hermione decided to take her reading outside. She would see if he left the grounds and if he appeared to be meeting a woman. It was really ridiculous, but the curiosity was overpowering. She fetched her items, deciding to finish her letter to Charlie whilst there.

Even as she sat down, she saw the dark menacing form of Severus Snape walking in through the gates. He had been gone already? He looked the same to her. He was dressed in his dark teaching robes, his normal black frock coat and trousers were layered beneath, and his slight splash of white at the collar and sleeves were visible. His brow seemed to furrow as he noticed her. He stopped mid stride and made his way to her spot.

"Professor Granger? What are you doing out on the grounds, lying about on a duvet?"

"I decided to do a bit of reading and write a parchment to someone. Why?" she asked innocently. She didn't like his tone. It was as if she had done something against the rules.

"If you will notice, Professor, you are the center of attention whilst sitting here like this. Every schoolboy will be going to bed with fantasies of their Arithmancy professor. I suggest you sit up and act like the professional that you are," he said coldly, eyeing her parchment. "Well, well. Writing love notes to Mister Weasley, are we? And I thought you didn't like what he'd said about you? Trying to rectify things?"

Hermione eyed some of the students that were out on the grounds. The boys did have bright smiles, as if hoping her robes and skirt would fly up to reveal a portion of her bum. She sat up quickly, pulling her feet under her. Why did Professor Snape have to treat her this way? "I'll mind how I sit, Professor, and I assure you, it's no love letter that I am writing, not that it is any concern of yours."

"Very well," he said stiffly. "Good evening." He turned on his heel and swept off towards the castle with his robes billowing behind him in the wind.

The bastard! How was he able to make her feel like such a child? He'd just reprimanded her as if she were a student. The only thing missing was the fact that he'd not taken points. Just as he made his way up the stairs to the entrance, the doors flew open. Her two mates, Harry and Ron, nearly knocked him down to speed off in her direction.

"Oi!"

"Hermione!"

She waved at them, smiling broadly. She could see Professor Snape had paused to watch them. Both Ron and Harry pounced on her, tickling her until she shrieked with laughter. She finally managed to reach her wand and threatened to hex them if they didn't stop. Professor Snape was still watching and seemed to be shaking his head in disgust. She looked around and noted that more students were paying attention than before. Smoothing down her robes and flattening her hair, she tried to look respectable. It was hard to do when her two best mates often acted like there was no care in the world.

"What are you out here for?" Ron asked, looking down at her parchment.

"Figured I would finish your lout of a brother's letter," she said. "I still can't believe he led you to believe something completely different than what actually happened."

"Yeah, that was a dirty, rotten thing to do if you ask me. I hope you lay into him real harsh like, Mione. He deserves it," Ron said, throwing a twig in Harry's direction.

"I still say that we ought to pay his arse a visit," Harry said.

"What the bloody hell is that git staring at?" Ron asked suddenly, nodding over to Professor Snape. Filch had come out and seemed to be talking to the man, but his eyes were trained on the trio.

"Looks like he is looking at anything but Filch's ruddy face," Harry commented. "Don't blame him there." Harry shrugged. "Want to come down to Ron's hut?"

She smiled softly. Ron hadn't liked the idea of being given Hagrid's old quarters, but after trying to stay in the castle, he realized that living out away from the rest of the school gave him some degree of freedom that nobody else had. He'd made some changes to the place, but only what had needed to be done. It almost seemed as if Hagrid would come in at any time.

"Not tonight. I think I'm going to finish my letter and read a bit. Then, I'm going to go up for a nice, hot bath."

"Suit yourself. We've got a chess game to finish. Been going on for a week now, it has. I still say we need to put a timer on our turns. Harry just doesn't know when to give up. He's getting a bit better. I'll give him that, but only just, mind," Ron complained, leading the way down towards his hut.

Hermione shook her head while watching the pair leave. Her eyes went back to the front entrance. Professor Snape was gone. She went back to work on her letter to Charlie. After she felt that she had tastefully admonished him for the wretched things he'd said about her, she sealed the parchment. It was nearly time to go in for the evening meal.

A large, black owl flew down and landed in front of her. She saw a parchment attached to his leg with her name on it. Could it be from Libertine? So soon? She unfastened the parchment and apologized to the owl for not having a treat to give it. Her knees went weak as she read the letter. He had accepted her as a client.

We're to meet this coming Saturday! Good Lord! What had she been thinking to have actually contacted a hired man? He still seemed arrogant. He was practically guaranteeing that he had all of the answers she seeked. She supposed that was a good thing, but the explosion of nervous energy in her body seemed to disagree. What if he took advantage of her once she was there? Well, no, that didn't sound right. To hear Luna tell it, her cousin spoke nothing but great things about the man. Surely he was chivalrous and would respect her wishes.

She blindly picked up her things, making her way back to the castle whilst reading over the parchment again. Hermione couldn't believe she was doing this! A delicious scent assaulted her nostrils: some mix of spices and sandalwood. Professor Snape.

"Hello, Professor," she said upon looking up.

"Professor," he said curtly, trying to move past her.

She took in his attire. He had on thick, dark green, dress robes, and his hair was tied back near his neck. She'd never seen him looking so handsome.

"You-you're leaving?" she asked dumbly, dropping her letter from Libertine on the ground. She scrambled to pick up the letter, lest he recognize the man's name. That would be all she needed! She'd never live it down.

"So it would seem," he said, turning back to look at her. "Did you need something?"

She could see that he'd taken notice of her fallen parchment.

"N-no, sir. You look... very nice," she said and scurried inside before he could give her, what she would bet to be, a scathing remark. She ran almost all the way back to her chambers.

Severus stood there in a daze looking down the empty corridor that she had fled through. Had she just paid him a compliment? He smirked to himself for a moment before heading off to his Apparition site. Hermione was such a fetching piece when she flushed as she'd just done. Was it he who had made her color so beatifically? Or was it the panic that she'd almost been caught with that letter from her gigolo?

He'd seen the letter, and he was glad that the owl had waited until she was alone to deliver it, just as instructed. He'd wanted to call out to her friends to shove off when they were hanging about earlier, but that would have only raised suspicions. He hated the intimacy that the three shared. Why should Potter and Weasley be able to touch her and make her laugh? It just didn't seem right.

He'd tried to get her to move inside when he had noticed that she was lying down like a little trollop for all the boys to see. Well, all right. He'd had a long look. There was nothing to actually see, but that didn't stop the little brats from having a look at her. He'd heard what some of the students said about her whilst out on his patrols. They said things such as wanting to be a ranger for Granger and some other nonsense. Most of them fancied her. He hated it, of course, because, most of the time, he felt no better. It was as if he were one of the students panting after her.

Severus made sure that nobody was about when he Disapparated. He quickly placed a glamour spell on his person to change his hair color, and he fixed his mask to his face magically. Lonnie was waiting outside the door for him. He cleared his throat as he stepped up behind her. "Waiting for someone, my dear?"

"Oh! You don't know how glad I am that you were able to come. I've been thinking of you all week. When my husband said he had plans tonight, I knew I had to make my own," she gushed quickly, trying to unbutton his robes.

"Patience, my dear. We aren't even inside yet," he murmured as she attached her mouth to his throat. Once inside the room, he warded the door and pushed her away from him roughly. "You have been a naughty girl, Lonnie. I think you need to be punished."

"Oh, yes, Master Libertine, I deserve to be punished," she said eagerly.

"Disrobe yourself, wench," he commanded. He closed his eyes for a moment to conjure up Hermione's face in his mind. Lonnie would never be as pretty as his Hermione, but their likenesses were easy to see. "Unfasten my trousers and place your lips upon me." It was times like these when her disheveled hair covered her face, he could easily imagine it to be his Hermione whose lips were servicing him.

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Severus felt miserable. Why had he gone to see Lonnie? He could have spent a few quiet moments in his personal chambers with Hermione. For some odd reason, it felt as if he had been unfaithful to her. Hell, she wasn't even his woman, and he felt as if she had some say in what he did and whom he did it with. Lonnie was only adequate this night, but why was that? He normally enjoyed their games. Perhaps it was due to the things she was saying after they'd finished that had his mind speculating. She was saying that she might leave her husband one day and, if she chose to do so, would he be interested in having a few public dates with her. It had been too much!

Yes, he was on a mission to find his own Hermione, but it seemed that maybe there was no replacement for the real woman, the woman whose chambers were only three floors above his own. If he didn't have the meeting with Hermione to look forward to or the conference trip, he might have been happy with Lonnie's admission, but instead, it made him feel guilty. Why? He never had to see the woman again. No, it wasn't guilt for using this woman. It was guilt about Hermione.

Her words played over and over in his mind. You look very nice. She had meant it. Her voice had been uncertain. Could it be that she was attracted to him? Was he truly the experienced man whom she sought to please? When he'd seen that letter to Charlie earlier, he had assumed that she was trying to have a meeting with him, but the fire in her response told him otherwise. Whilst with Lonnie, his thoughts continually trailed back to the memory of Hermione's flushed face and her hushed voice as she had complimented him. He should have cancelled his appointment the moment she mentioned looking over those parchments with him.

Too late. What's done is done. He would be counting down each minute in the next few days as their meeting time came closer. This one meeting with Hermione would make or break him. He took extra care in his bath to wash off all memories of the woman he'd bedded. Just having her scent about his body seemed to be a sin. He fell into a fitful sleep.

Severus awoke on time for breakfast. The only good thing about this morning was that he would see his Hermione. He made his way to the breakfast table confidently, and he was in deep conversation with Minerva when the trio entered the hall. He heard a sharp intake of breath and some sniggering.

"Bloody hell! Looks like a Vampire got hold of him," Weasley was saying.

"Might want to budge up, Hermione. Give him some room. I hear a vampire's mate is a right jealous creature," Potter said.

Severus turned to see what they were talking about. To his amazement, they were staring at him. He glared at the three of them. Potter was trying to hide his grin. Weasley was laughing so loudly that tears were trickling down his face. Hermione looked horrified.

"What, might I ask, do you find so humorous?" he hissed coldly. How dare the twits poke fun at him!

Hermione nodded to his neck and pointed. "You've a... bite mark... just there."

Potter lost all control and began laughing as loudly as Weasley.

"A bite mark?" he asked incredulously. His cheeks pinked momentarily as he remembered Lonnie's lips upon him. She'd left a passion mark! He hadn't thought about spelling it off, what with his mood afterward! Shite!

"Yes, I suppose you had a date last evening?" she asked softly.

"I suppose you think it to be your business?" he asked acridly.

"No, Professor, I'm just trying to make conversation. We're only friends, after all. I have no say in your personal affairs," she said, sounding slightly annoyed and a little disappointed.

It wasn't her fault that her friends were acting like two fools, sniggering loudly, but he couldn't help but to want to lash out. It was embarrassing enough to be marked like a common possession, but it was equally annoying that she had seen it. "Too right you are, Professor. Just because you are accompanying me on a trip this summer, it doesn't mean you have the right to worry over my affairs."

"As you told me last evening," she said scornfully, pointing her wand at his throat, "you should try showing a little professionalism."

He felt a warmth seep into his neck for a moment before she left the table angrily. Severus didn't have to ask to know that she had soothed the mark away from the public's eye. Deep down, he hoped her reaction was because she didn't want him to be marked by another woman.

He looked to Potter questioningly, and the boy simply raised his shoulders in a shrug. "No idea."

Weasley was finally coming to his senses. "See that, did you? She's bloody scary when she's angry, I tell you," he said with a smile. "Looked to me as if she didn't like old Snape's... oof!" Harry elbowed his mate. "Oi! What did you do that for?"

"Shush, Ron," Harry said, watching Snape uneasily through his peripheral vision. The man looked like he was livid. It wouldn't do to get on his bad side so early in the day. Whatever the hell had just transpired, he wanted no part of it, and if he had to keep Ron's mouth shut by force, so be it.

A/N: Someone seemed a bit jealous, I'd say.