Chapter 11

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thanks to Nesscafe for helping me out with the lemons here. And as always, a huge thanks to my beta, June.

Chapter 11

Severus walked down the dark streets of Diagon Alley. He had felt her eyes on him for several minutes. Bellatrix was near, and he could practically feel her cold breath on his neck. As he stopped, the feeling became stronger. He turned but it was too late; she had already uttered the words.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Hermione woke with a start. For three days she had been having the same dreams. It had been two weeks now that Severus had taken to walking the streets of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. He frequented many of the shops, buying extra potions ingredients or books, or simply browsing, in hopes of drawing Bellatrix out of the shadows.

Lucius had not heard hide nor hair from her since the day he sent Rosmerta to France, which both surprised and worried Lucius. It was not like Bellatrix to have simply disappeared like that, especially after having contacted him.

Hermione looked up at the clock on the mantle. It was a quarter to midnight, and Severus had not returned. She felt restless, much more so than she had felt all these past days. She felt it coming. It was as though a huge hammer hung just above their heads, and at any moment it would come down upon all of them.

She was tired; these nightmares had taken their toll on her. She stared into the fire as she slowly fell asleep once more. She was still asleep in their bedroom when Severus came home fifteen minutes later. He saw her sitting in his black armchair next to the fire. He silently took off his cloak, then walked to her and knelt at her feet. She looked so beautiful in the firelight, but then, she looked beautiful in any kind of light. His love for her had not diminished in the thirteen years since they wed. He loved her more now than he ever had. He reached out and touched her cheek, and felt the dampness of recent tears. His brows furrowed as he realized she had been crying. She began to stir, and then opened her eyes slowly.

"Severus, is it you?" Hermione reached out to touch him, then threw herself into his embrace.

Severus began to speak, but she would not let him.

"Let me hold you, just let me hold you and know you are safe."

He held her for several minutes, and then felt her pull away from him.

"What is it, my love?" he asked, knowing full well what was on her mind, as she looked into his eyes with her own tear-filled eyes.

"Every day you leave; and I feel it will be the last time I will ever see your face, touch your skin, hear your voice," she said as she nuzzled her face into his neck. She opened her knees and pulled him closer to her. She ran her hands down his back, and kissed him on his cheek. He felt her tears again, then took hold of her and stood. He walked to their bed, then carefully placed her on the bed, and lay down next to her. He caressed her face and smiled at her.

"You have not been sleeping well. I know you have been having nightmares," he said as he ran his fingers through her hair. He was always mesmerized at the way each strand changed color in the light of the fire. "I hear you while you sleep. The words you speak are of pain and death. You have seen her kill me, haven't you?" he asked, as he used the pad of his thumb to catch another tear falling from her cheek.

"Yes," she could barely get the word out before she began to sob heavily and turned into his chest.

He let her cry against his chest for several moments, as he rubbed her back. When he felt her crying subside, he began to lightly suck on her neck. She placed her leg over his hip and rolled him over onto his back. She sat up and looked down at him. She wanted the nightmares to stop; she wanted all of this to be over. It had been so long since she had such dreams of him. Thinking back to her student days, just before the final battle, there were many sleepless nights for her back then as well.

Her thoughts all those years long ago were much the same. The only difference then was she thought she might never have the chance to tell him how she felt about him. If he died in battle, which he nearly did, there would never be a chance for her. There would never have been hope within her, that she may one day melt that cold heart of his ... that he would one day allow her to love him the way she longed to.

She leaned down and kissed him tenderly, as he slowly ran his hands up her soft thighs, then stopped at her hips. She nipped at his lips gently, then trailed her mouth down his neck, stopping at his Adam's apple. There she sucked it, as she felt him slowly stiffen beneath her now wet folds. He quickly reversed their positions, and stared down at her. His hands reached down and began to raise her nightdress.

"Let's take this off," he whispered against her mouth. She raised her hips for him as the nightdress was hiked up her body. She then allowed him to bring it over her head, and toss the garment onto the floor. Her heart skipped a beat as he gave her a devilish smirk. She was completely naked beneath him while he was still fully dressed.

He slowly slithered down her body stopping to take a delicious pebbled nipple into his greedy mouth. He suckled her aching peak, and brought a hand up to gently knead her more neglected breast. Hermione moaned and arched her back, pushing her bosom further into his mouth while she held his head firmly in place. He nursed from her without shame, nipping and flicking his tongue in sweet torture before he moved on to give the other breast the same attention.

Satisfied with his wife's eager responses, Severus moved from her breasts, kissing his way down her stomach. He circled his tongue inside her navel and gently nipped at her hipbone as he continued his path even lower. Making his way to the apex between her thighs, he ran his fingers through her damp pubic curls, teasing and petting her as she mewled and whimpered in need. Carefully he parted her folds, sliding his nimble digits down her slit, causing Hermione to groan and spread her legs wider to accommodate him. He took his time tasting her, letting his tongue lick around her swollen sensitive nub, never quite touching it fully, while one finger found its way past her folds and into her welcoming flesh. He slowly pumped his finger in and out of her excited body, watching hungrily as her breathing became more and more labored. He inserted a second finger inside her, then completely covered her clit with his mouth to suck gently on it.

"Yes, Severus, please don't stop," she begged, her voice increasing as her pleasure took on an overwhelming intensity. He smiled and sped up slightly while he continued his ministrations. He felt the walls of her sex pulse around his fingers, then begin to grip and squeeze. Hermione exploded! Severus wasted no time, quickly positioning his mouth at the entrance of her channel, and dipping his tongue inside of her. Hermione thrashed and cried out while he lapped her juices eagerly, tasting what her body freely gave. When he felt her relax under him, he drew back.

Severus whispered a spell to remove his own clothing. Impatient to feel her warm slick flesh wrapped around his aching cock, he spread her legs further apart and drove into her. He wanted to make it last for both of them, but her cries were pushing him closer and closer to the edge. He rocked against her hips, ramming in and out of her mercilessly while she strived to meet each thrust.

"I love you," she sobbed. He looked at her and realized she had been crying the entire time. "I'm so afraid, Severus."

"Shh, don't think on that. Let me love you now," he reassured her as he bent to kiss her lips. He then stilled his movements, grabbing her legs and moving them to wrap firmly around his waist. He sat up on his knees lifting her up with him, as he sat back and positioned his hands on firm buttocks. Slowly he lifted her up and down on his erection. She shuddered and gasped and held him tightly as they moved together in this new position. She groaned long and low as sweet orgasm after orgasm flowed from her. She sucked at the sensitive places on his neck, whispering her love and need for him, telling him how good his hard cock felt inside. Each new climax increased intensity and broke over her like tidal waves during a thunderstorm. Severus felt chills run up his spine when her sucking turned to biting. He began to lose control, thrusting up into her with more force. "Harder, love, harder."

Hermione let all restraint go, sucking at him harder, panting and digging her fingernails into his back as she closed her eyes and let Severus take her over and over to a place of ecstasy, away from her fears and nightmares. It was only them and their love and their pleasure. Gods, how she needed this! She felt him losing the last of his own control. He stiffened slightly and threw her roughly back down on the bed. Fucking her with a fierce abandonment. Sliding in and out of her wet core, faster and faster until he rammed once, twice, and one final time. He growled like a wild beast before he came, then she felt his body relax as collapsed on top of her.

She had accustomed him to lying on top of her for several minutes. During their first years together, he was afraid he would crush her, but she always loved the feel of his body over her. And to be honest, he loved the feel of her soft body beneath him as his body regained its strength. When he had caught his breath, he rolled himself over to his side and moved her along so that they faced each other.

"I don't want you thinking on this anymore. Hermione, I lived many years as a spy. I have dealt with worse than the likes of Bella. You will see; this will all be over soon." He kissed her, and then pulled up the comforter at their feet to cover them.

Hermione settled herself against him, and placed her head on his chest. She lay awake for several minutes until she felt his breathing slow, and was sure he was asleep.

She slowly got up from her bed and wrote herself a "to do" list. She needed to contact Remus in the morning. There was no telling how long it would take for Bellatrix to show herself, and who knows what she would do when she did. Hermione wanted to be sure that if anything should happen to Severus, she would at least be able to get to him. She knew there was only one thing that could help her do that, and Remus was the only person who could help her.

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I hope you liked this chapter. I'll post more tomorrow.