Ten

Once Snape was out in the hallway, he Apparated back to his room at his parent's house and slumped against his bed. It was taking every ounce of his willpower to not go straight back to Hermione and take her properly. He engaged himself in a breathing exercise that Albus had once taught him to help him control his temper, and eventually, the fire in his body subsided to a low roar.

His Hermione indeed. He could not fathom the feelings that surged through him at first, but he eventually realized that he felt oddly elated. He had given Hermione a chance to leave him, and she hadn't taken it. Her parents, too, had given her an ultimatum, and yet she stuck by him. She had admitted to harboring feelings for him...and the way she had touched him. Even through the thick, uncomfortable trousers that she had forced on him, he could feel her raw skill, needing only a knowledgeable hand to guide her through.

Hermione needn't worry about passion, he decided. There would be enough for the both of them if he had his way. Love, too, may come easy to them. Her debating skills were much sharper than he would have expected, having seen her argue mostly with Weasley and Potter, and he knew all too well their lack of sharp wit. The fact that either of them had managed to make it through the war alive had been a shock.

As Snape changed into his black robes, he thought over an idea he had been brewing since the night before, when he had allowed Hermione to sleep resting against him, her head nestled against his chest. His first plan had been to see if she would leave him and go back to her life as it was before the Marriage Law had come to be. Her emphatic insistence that she would marry him regardless had modified his plan to an uncomfortable resolution. Still, if she could stand by him for eternity, he could certainly lay his pride aside for a few hours.

Resolved, he Apparated back to the Granger's house, determined to talk some sense into Hermione's stubborn father.

"What are you doing back here?" the man in question bellowed. He was still in his dressing-gown and looking rather disheveled. Perhaps this would be easier than Snape had originally thought.

"I came to speak with you regarding your daughter."

"Haven't you done enough?" Granger yelled. "Thanks to you, I no longer have a daughter!"

Snape sat down in a chair across from Granger and laid his wand on his knees. "Actually, I recall with perfect clarity that it was you who threw Hermione out of the house. I had nothing to do with it."

Granger grunted in response. "You've got a lot of nerve, Snape," he muttered.

"As do you. It's not every father who would force his daughter to rely on the kindness of friends and strangers merely because she is being forced to marry by her governors."

"Those "governors" as you call them have usurped my position as head of my family. If I knew that this was what my daughter would be getting into, I'd never have allowed her to begin her education!"

"Even if your family was magical, it does not follow that you would be head of it. I am not head of my family, and I am subject to my father's will just as Hermione is subject to the will of the Ministry of Magic. And I can assure you, had you refused to allow Hermione to go to Hogwarts, the Ministry would have removed her from your care and Obliviated your memory of her so that you would not even know you had a daughter."

Granger looked positively astonished at that. "They couldn't do that!"

"They could and have. Pity they didn't, then you and I would not be engaged in this conversation at the moment."

"All the better for you," Granger grumbled. "Then you could have just married Hermione without being forced to think about how you're ruining her life."

Putting his pride aside was getting more and more difficult. He would dearly love at this moment to simply hex his future father-in-law and then explain the situation to him. However, his feelings for Hermione's happiness prevented him from behaving as he normally would, and he thought over what he could say to make things a little better.

"I assure you that my thoughts are always on the fact that Hermione is very young, and that she must achieve her full potential. I doubt that one could keep her from doing so. Indeed, it would be quite difficult to persuade her to stop learning. No, I doubt that you will ever need worry about that." Snape became thoughtful and leaned his cheek against his hand. "No indeed, she begins apprenticing in January, and I am more than positive that she'll be a Master Healer quicker than anyone could have anticipated."

He had been lost in his own thoughts for longer than he should have, and soon Granger was looming over him, fury in his eyes. "And you'll be there the entire time, won't you?"

Snape sighed. "I'll be her husband. That's what they do, I'm told." He was quickly losing his patience and resolve to stay humble. Standing, he took an intimidating pose, his lean frame towering over Granger's. "I came here to see if there was a reasonable bone in your body. I can see now that there isn't. I couldn't care less what you think of me, and your decision to keep your daughter from you. However, Hermione is not so detached. Your refusal to give her your blessing has hurt her more than you will ever know, and I, caring for her as I do, thought to come here and talk some sense into you. I see now that my time and energy have been wasted. Good day."

He was about to turn around when a hand grabbed his arm. He looked over and found Hermione's mother holding him in place.

"Oh for goodness sakes, Gerald! Listen to the man! If you don't, then I may have to divorce you, because I don't want to live the rest of my life without my daughter."

Snape saw that Mrs. Granger had obviously been crying as much as Hermione had, and his hard heart melted just a bit for her.

"Should you wish to see her, I will be more than happy to take you to her," Snape offered. "But I must dash. I have many preparations to make."

"How will I contact you?"

"Owl me. Or better yet, have your husband owl Hermione and apologize. It may take her a while to forgive you, but I know she'll want you both to be there on Saturday."

With that, he Apparated to his father's potion and apothecary shop in Knockturn Alley. He knew that it would have been nice to bring Hermione along with him, but she'd be raving mad if she knew that he had gone to her parents, and he doubted she would have gone with him. Besides, if he went back and invited her now, she would want to know what he had been doing. No, it was best to just get the inventory over with and write out a requisition for the supplies he would need.

Making illegal potions was a risky game, and a few of the potion makers Tetricus had employed had actually spent time in Azkaban after being deceived into thinking that they were dealing with everyday evil wizards when they were making potions for undercover Aurors. Snape was not so foolish, however, and he noticed that Tetricus had actually grown slightly happier knowing that his son would be at the shop instead of the usual riff-raff he was forced to employ. "Decent" wizards did not work in Knockturn Alley.

Nor did organized wizards, he noted ruefully after three hours of trying to make sense out of the supplies he had on hand. Contrary to what he had told Hermione, the ingredients were not organized, alphabetically or otherwise. Perhaps he might have entertained the idea of asking for her help on a different day, but his pride was still smarting from his second meeting with the Grangers, and he was not in the mood to deal with Hermione's smugness when he would be forced to admit that she was right.

No, he would continue in solitude. Thank goodness he still had his wand. If he were forced to go about organizing things alphabetically the Muggle way, he'd be stuck in the office for months!

Slowly, though, he created cabinets and trays for the various bottles and beakers and vials of odd things that were now his, and he dictated each ingredient to a charmed quill and parchment. In all, it took about three hours more than he thought it would, and then a further two hours to properly clean all of his equipment. After that, it was a half-hour more to write out the materials that he required so that they would be ready for him when he returned from his honeymoon. The office was also missing several key reference books that he actually had on hand, but did not want to bring into this part of town. It would be better to buy some new ones and do most of his research at his home.

Finally satisfied, he Apparated back to the Black House to see if Hermione wanted to join him for some dinner and hopefully more snogging. He had to admit that he enjoyed kissing her, and he couldn't wait to get her alone again.

Thankfully, it didn't take too long. As soon as he Apparated, he found his arms full of a very excited Hermione who couldn't wait to tell him about how her father had apologized in a rather lovely letter.

"I don't know what to make of it, though," she said as she led him into a deserted and secluded sitting room.

"Your father severely overreacted last night. I'm sure that his senses finally returned to him." Snape sat down on a sofa and made himself comfortable against the arm, hoping that she would join him.

She did, and she pressed her body against his intimately, communicating her feelings about their session in the morning very well. "I don't know. He was apologetic for what he said to me, but he never said that he was sorry for the way he treated you."

Snape kissed the top of her head and pulled her even closer. "I don't mind. My only concern is that you will lose your family over this. I do not want that."

She looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Nor do I. But I will not forget what he said very quickly. He hurt me. You warned me about it, but...I had to hope."

She looked up at him, her face looking for permission that it was all right to feel that way.

"Of course he did, the rotten bastard. I'm sorry, Hermione, but I'd rather deal with Sirius Black than your father."

"He's not that bad," she countered, her body tensing slightly next to his. "He is my father, you know. He thinks he's looking out for my best interest."

"Then it's up to you to decide if you can forgive him for doing what he thought was best for you, as misguided as he was."

She snuggled against him once more and wrapped her arms around his ribcage. "I don't want to think about this right now. Can't we just...forget about it?"

It was exactly what he hoped for. But still... "We can for now. But you will eventually have to think about it."

"How did your inventory go?"

"Fine," he answered vaguely, tightening his arm around her shoulders.

"It took you an awful long time to take an inventory. Especially since it was all organized alphabetically."

"I had other matters to attend to. Potion making isn't my entire life, you know."

"Could've fooled me."

She was deliberately provoking him, he decided.

"I could go back there, then, and find something new to do." Snape began to pry her away from him, but her grip held firm.

"If you go without me, I'll never speak to you again."

Snape felt genuinely amused by his Hermione. He knew that she would stop at nothing to get into the shop, but he hadn't expected her to be so impatient.

"I promise that I will take you there. After we are married."

"After? Why?"

He leaned over her, pushing her almost on her back, and gave her his evilest smirk. "Because I'm the Potions Master, and I said so."

He loved how she unabashedly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her with a greedy look on her face.

"I've been thinking about what we did this morning," she whispered.

"Indeed?" He pressed himself against her and kissed her passionately, but he was not as aggressive as he had been earlier. He did not want to suffocate her this time. Taking her head in his hands, he began to direct her in their kiss, fully aware of her hands unbuttoning the front of his robe. He wondered if she knew how little he wore under it when he felt and heard her stomach growl beneath his. In frustration, his own stomach protested at the small amount of food he had nourished it with that day.

Reluctantly, he pulled away from Hermione and sat up on the sofa. She looked guilty as he redid his buttons, watching her closely.

"Let's go to Diagon Alley and eat. Then we can finish this...somewhere else."

They stood, and Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist. "Severus?"

He had his wand poised to Apparate them. "Yes?"

"What do you suppose caused my father to change his mind? He's even more stubborn than I am."

Snape thought that over. "I honestly don't know." It could have been either his entreaties, or Mrs. Grangers'. Or both, even. Either way, she didn't need to know about it.

She gave him a suspicious look, but said nothing else, for which he was thankful. They ate quietly, and no one in the dark restaurant could know that the tall, severe looking man was teasing the pretty young woman who was with him mercilessly with his hand under the table. They also couldn't see her hands, responding to his touch by exploring his thighs between bites of food.

"Are you sure you don't want to show me your father's shop right now?" she whispered when he pulled her back out onto the street and pushed her up against a wall that was hidden by shadow.

"You're a rather evil temptress, Hermione."

"I try."

With a wave of his wand, he Apparated them back to the Black House, to the very sitting room that they had occupied earlier.

"In here?" Hermione asked, confused.

"I like this room."

Snape closed and warded the door, then checked for the blighter Kreacher. Kreacher was no longer a necessity in the Black House, as Dobby had taken his place after Sirius died, but Kreacher refused to leave, even to go and work for the Malfoys. After Voldemort had been defeated, Harry had presented Kreacher with a set of clothes, but still the House Elf refused to leave. Now that he was no longer responsible for maintaining the house, Kreacher took to hiding out in various places, hoping to uncover a secret with which to blackmail someone. Snape had no idea what the creature would do with money, and he didn't want to find out.

Once he was sure that they were not being spied on, he transfigured the couch so that it was plusher and wider so that he and Hermione could both lay on it side-by-side. Wordlessly, he pulled her onto it so that she lay on top of him, her legs straddling his hips. She stared at him for a long time, unease in her eyes. He knew that she was unsure of what to do, but he wanted her to know that he was hers as much as she was his. He wanted to be her Severus.

Finally, her hands began to touch his face tentatively, the backs of her fingers skimming over his cheeks, her fingertips brushing his jaw. He did nothing, only continued to look at her. She seemed to take this as encouragement, and soon her inquisitive fingers feathered across his mouth, and he had to laugh at the small yelp of surprise she gave when he lightly bit them. She laughed back at him, her eyes shining brightly.

When her eyelids lowered, he knew that she would kiss him, but he continued to allow her to keep control of the situation. He wanted to see what she would do with him.

"Make love with me," she whispered against his ear, nipping it lightly with her teeth.

Snape suddenly realized that he hadn't thought far enough ahead. He pushed her back a little and set his hand against her cheek. "I won't, not now. Wait until Saturday."

She sighed and gave him a small pout, but she nodded and laid her head against his chest. Her hair fell against his face and arm, and he took his time arranging it so that it was out of his way. When he was done, he wrapped his arm around her, his fingers playing lightly with her ear.

"You went to see my father, didn't you?"

Snape kissed her forehead. "Yes, but that is not the reason for my restraint."

"Why? Why would you do that?"

He sighed. "I know it would make you happy to have them there when we are married."

He could feel her fingers lightly stroking his chest. "It will be nice to have them there..."

"You are angry with me."

He could actually feel her smile. "No, I am not. I promise. I'm only sorry that you had to go through all that."

"I did it for you, and I knew what it would entail. Now go to sleep."

She leaned up and kissed him again, then settled back against him. Her figure felt so good against his, her soft skin and sweet smell. He was lulled to sleep himself within minutes.

~*~*~*~

Hermione awoke with many different thoughts in her head. The first was the remembrance of how Snape had gently extricated himself from her embrace, apologizing for his urgency, but he had so many things to attend to. He promised her that he would be all hers after Saturday.

The second thought revolved around her parents. She knew that she should answer their letter, but she did not know what to say. She would most definitely need to reproach her father for his treatment of her fiancée, but aside from that, she was truly happy that her father was making a bit of an effort. She knew that it took a great deal of humility for Snape to visit her parents again, and after his visit, it took even more humility on her father's part to write to her and apologize. There was also her mother to consider. Snape had not given her details, but she was sure that her mother was beside herself. They had always been close, and this incident had upset Hermione terribly, especially when her mother did not stand up for her.

Of course, she had not been there to see if her mother had turned on her father and told him how he had been wrong. She hoped she had, but she did not know, and it seemed so horrible that she had not done it in front of her.

The third and final thought was about her wedding robes. She had planned on wearing her dress robes, since the ceremony would be informal, but after meeting Snape's family...

She sighed. She was definitely going to have to go see Madam Malkin this morning, as soon as the shop opened. Hermione decided to find Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. They would more than likely enjoy accompanying her.

First, though, she would have to figure out how Snape had warded the door...

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said brightly as she sat down at the long table in the dining room. She had donned fresh robes after taking a rather long shower.

"Good morning, Hermione. What are your plans for the day?"

"I think I should go and buy my wedding robes this morning. Would you and Ginny like to come along? Ginny could get a new dress robe as well, as she'll be my bridesmaid."

"That sounds wonderful, dear. Now, what would you like for breakfast?"

Hermione gave a little laugh as the older witch brought out eggs, bacon, toast and fruit. She knew why Harry liked keeping Mrs. Weasley around. While Dobby was a fine cook in his own right, there was something special about how Mrs. Weasley cooked. It tasted far better than anything else she had ever eaten.

"Hermione should be careful about what she eats now, Mum," Ginny cautioned as she sat down at the table. "She doesn't need all this heavy food. It could make her ill."

"We'll eat it for her," Ron volunteered, sitting next to Hermione, his mouth already full of toast.

"How gallant," Ginny answered sarcastically.

Harry sat down next to her and gave her a smile that Hermione noticed, though no one else seemed to.

"We'll be off to Diagon Alley this morning, boys," Mrs. Weasley said happily. "Promise me that you'll try to stay out of trouble."

"Sure, Mum. We were going to go and help Fred and George out anyway."

"Are you ready, Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Sure. Are you, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Yes, yes, dear. Now, boys, help Dobby clean this all up after you're finished."

"Yes, Mum," Ron promised, but Ginny gave him a look. Hermione knew that they would never help.

The three witches apparated to Diagon Alley together, and walked the lane to where Madam Malkin had her shop. Luckily, they were the first customers, and wedding robes were Madam's favorite to make.

"Here, love, try this one," The small witch said brightly, bringing out a very simple, elegant white robe.

"This is lovely!" Hermione exclaimed as she closed herself into the changing room. "This has to be the one!"

"It's so plain, dear," Mrs. Weasley clucked.

"But I like it plain."

"We'll get you a proper headdress," Madam promised. "Yes, love, with bunches of roses and pearls. I know a witch who specializes in weddings. Would you like her name?"

Hermione suddenly felt overwhelmed. "Uh, of course."

"When is your wedding, love?"

"Saturday."

"Yes, but which Saturday, love?"

"This Saturday. Three days from now."

Madam looked up from the parchment she had been writing on. "Good lord, child! It's a good job that I'm a witch who can use her wand...dear sweet Merlin. All right, I'll contact my friend for you, and we must fit your dress right away. Why did you wait so long?"

"I didn't. My parents are Muggles, and the Ministry took over as my head of family. My fiancée's father wished for the wedding to conclude almost exactly after my schooling, and I haven't had time."

Madam ushered Hermione onto a stool and shook her head. "Poor dear. Well, we'll have you looking beautiful in no time. Now lift your arms..."

Hermione succumbed to the measuring, poking and prodding that the seamstress put her through, but it was all with a light heart. Her mind was still turning over Snape's face when he promised her that he would be all hers after Saturday. He had almost smiled when he said it. She could still feel his scruffly morning beard on her forehead from where he had kissed her before he left.

Saturday. She would be married in three days to the most brilliant man alive. She was excited about how his knowledge and books would forever be at the tips of her fingers, but even more, she liked the idea of waking up next to him every morning. Having done so twice already, she could safely promise herself that it was the best feeling in the world. She even liked the way his voice cracked in an endearing manner first thing in the morning.

"All right, love. We'll have your gown to you by Friday. I'll do one last fitting then, just to be sure."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you so much, Madam. I will pay you extra for your inconvenience."

Madam shook her head. "Nonsense, love. The June wedding rush is over, and school won't start for another two months. I'm not so pressed for time in the summer."

"Again, I'm indebted to you. And now Ginny will need a new dress robe as well. Something blue, preferably."

"You go and change, and I'll find something suitable."

Hermione stepped into the dressing room and changed back into her everyday robe quickly, eager to see what dress choices there were for Ginny. Emerging, she found Ginny holding one robe out, studying it.

"I love this one," she said wistfully.

"I know, my love, but this one is more practical," Mrs. Weasley said, holding out a robe that was slightly inferior. The color was not quite right for Ginny's complexion, and the cut was for a person who was larger in frame than Ginny.

"I like the one that Ginny is holding far better," Hermione said, handing her white robe to Madam Malkin.

"I do as well," Madam said thoughtfully. "It is always hard to dress a redhead, but I think that this one will do very well."

Mrs. Weasley turned red and flustered a bit. "It's not that I don't like the other robe. I just think that, taken on the whole, this one would be more sensible."

Hermione suddenly realized what the problem was. She took Mrs. Weasley aside, out of earshot of Madam, and smiled. "Mrs. Weasley, I assure you that I am going to pay for all of this. The Snapes have taken care of all the other arrangements, flowers, the temple, and the reception. They don't understand that the bride's family always pays for weddings. This is all I have control over, and I will buy the other robe for Ginny. I am determined."

She knew that there would be no way to say it without embarrassing Mrs. Weasley, a woman she looked up to as a surrogate mother, but she needed to say it.

"Completely unnecessary, Hermione," the witch said, wiping a tear off of her cheek. "But if you insist..."

"I do."

"Oh, very well." Turning to face Ginny, Mrs. Weasley gave a smile. "Go and try on that gown, Ginny."

Ginny hurriedly did as she was told, and when she walked out of the room, Hermione was confident that she had made the right choice. Ginny almost glowed in her gown. [1]

"Lovely," Madam decided as she ushered Ginny onto the stool.

Hermione sat down in a chair next to Mrs. Weasley as she watched as Ginny was fitted to the robe.

"Who did you say you were marrying again, love?" Madam asked.

"Severus Snape, the former Potions Master of Hogwarts."

Madam almost dropped her wand. "Severus Snape? Sweet Merlin, child! What are you about? What could the two of you possibly have in common?"

"Tell her about your honeymoon, Hermione," Ginny said with a giggle.

"We're going to tour several different places. Greenland, Iceland, Egypt, and Budapest."

Madam Malkin looked at Hermione as though she had managed to grow a new head over night. "What could possibly lure you to any of those places? Aren't honeymoons supposed to be romantic? Master Malkin took me to Greece."

"Oh, we're going to try and make it to Greece, if we have the time. We're going to the other places to find rare potions ingredients. Severus's father owns a potions shop in Knockturn Alley, you know."

Ginny started to laugh at the startled looks the old witch was giving. "Don't worry, Madam. Our Hermione is every bit as eccentric as Snape. Looking for rare potions ingredients is her idea of a hot Saturday night date, especially if they leave the cauldron burning over night."

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as Hermione turned red.

Ginny only continued to laugh at the absurdity of her good friend and former teacher. It was true, though, Hermione decided. One of the greatest joys of her thoughts of marriage to Snape was that she would be able to help him make his potions. At least, he had sort of hinted that he wouldn't mind having her around if she wanted to be around. She could still remember how it felt to be in his private rooms at Hogwarts whilst he brewed the infertility potions for his brother-in-law and sister. They had shared something wonderful that day, and she attributed her happiness with Snape now to the time they spent all those weeks ago.

"Good luck to you is all I can say," Madam Malkin said as she made one last mark on Ginny's robe. "Marriage is never easy."

"That is true," Mrs. Weasley agreed.

Ginny went back into the changing room and Hermione took her coin purse out of her pocket.

"You will contact your friend regarding Ginny's and my hair?"

"I've addressed a letter already, love. You just need to take it to the post when you leave."

Hermione took the letter and paid out the necessary coin to settle the purchase of the two gowns. "We'll be back Friday morning," she promised.

When Ginny emerged, they left and went in search of lunch.

TBC

AN: [1] Okay, I really am not much for describing clothes (read: it bores the life out of me to both read and write it), but for some reason, this scene forced me to write it. Maybe it's my fierce love of Ginny. Maybe it's my fierce love of blue. Maybe I'm just sentimental. Who knows? Lock me up now.

I know that this chapter is sort of weird, and I can't say that I'm incredibly happy with it, but I wrote out what I needed to write. Also, I heard the shout of dismay when Snape said "no" to making love with Hermione, and I also heard the shout of dismay in the last chapter when Snape said "no" to taking Hermione to his potions shop. I promise (PROMISE) that it will all be explained eventually.