Part Two, Day Five

Another round of thanks to my beta, Dacian Goddess.

I make no profit with this story.

Very reluctantly, Severus and Hermione left their bed on Thursday morning. They had awakened each on their side of the bed, no longer entwined like they had been when they had gone to sleep; but still, to awake near each other for the first time was a very precious moment to store in their memories, the kind which could produce a very powerful Patronus. They smiled at each other, still comfortably ensconced under the sheets, and Severus reached out to caress Hermione's cheek. They were brought back to reality brutally when that hand went slack.

Annoyed, he grumbled, "Fate conspires against me. Why wouldn't I have an incident when in bed with you?"

"Don't move," Hermione said soothingly. "I'm going to fetch the potion."

His hand might have been useless, but his eyes were not, and he admired her form from the back from head to toe, and particularly in-between those two extremities, while she sashayed naked across his bedroom. He sighed inwardly. Their responsibilities would not leave them enough time to take care of his morning erection the pleasant way. He got an eyeful of her front when she came back with the phial of potion. She was not hiding from him, and it pleased him to contemplate the owl nest she called her hair, which was sticking out in all directions, the way his own repletion mirrored on her features, her slightly swaying breasts, the triangle of brown hair of her pubis... He quickly drained the phial and dragged her down on to him for a kiss, very heated in spite of the thin layer of the sheet between them. When he let her go, she told him forlornly, "It's nearly breakfast time. We should go, or else the gossip will be flying higher than ever."

He sighed with regret and tugged a stray lock of hair from her face. "I hate it that you're right."

She moved away from the bed, gathered her clothes and headed for her rooms. "All my personal things are in my room," she said ruefully. "I'll have a shower there and come back right after."

"I'll be counting on it. How long before you're back?"

"Half an hour should be enough."

He nodded, she left, and he felt bereft.

Hermione and Severus went to breakfast together, as always, but McGonagall gave them a sharp glance, which made Hermione self-conscious. She was sure she sported no love bites, but she had the impression that the older witch could guess what had happened just by looking at them. However, the Deputy did not make a fuss and acted as if she did not suspect anything.

At nine o'clock, after breakfast was long finished and Severus and Hermione had gone to work in the Headmaster's office, Filch announced that Percy and Arthur Weasley were there to see the Headmaster on behalf of the Minister of Magic.

"All right, Argus. Let them enter."

He pushed away the scrolls of parchment he and Hermione had been perusing and welcomed the two visitors.

"Good morning, gentlemen," Severus greeted them.

"Hello, Mr Weasley, Percy," Hermione said. There was awkwardness in her greeting, due to the fact that everyone had expected her to become a Weasley one day, but she had pushed that fate away.

"Hermione, Severus," Arthur answered for his son and himself.

Once everyone was settled, Arthur explained why they had come. "The Minister, well, Kingsley...it's a bit difficult to call him Minister after everything that happened...wanted to know in detail what your plans were for Monday's celebration. He'd like to know where people are going to be seated, where the... things you're going to use, the ornaments, etc. will be, what they will be... With the number of people who will be there, he wants the security to be perfect, absolute. We can't risk an attack by the Death Eaters still on the loose."

"I see," Severus answered. He was looking Arthur in the eyes and did not say more for a few minutes. Arthur simply held his gaze. "Since the Ministry isn't trying to control the school, I'm willing to cooperate." Percy squirmed on his chair. Obviously, he thought Severus's attitude to be supercilious. "Hermione," Severus continued, "since you organised most of the event, please explain to the Ministry's representatives what will await them on Monday."

Hermione gave them a small smile, which did nothing to hide the tension in her at being in the same room as members of the Weasley family. Arthur seemed as embarrassed as she was. Surprisingly, or not, the one to act naturally was Percy. From that moment on, he took the lead and, very much without embarrassment, grilled Hermione about the organisation of the anniversary of Voldemort's defeat. Severus added his opinion as a Dark Arts expert here and there. The rest of the morning passed in a blur of negotiations on how many Aurors would be on site and on other details pertaining to the security of the ceremony. Arthur and Percy declined the invitation to eat at Hogwarts. They did not even have time to see Ginny, for they had to report to the Minister himself without delay.

Lunch was uneventful overall, in spite of Minerva still watching them closely. Severus's acting abilities made him hard to read, but Hermione could not hide that she was glowing. Oh, she acted naturally enough. She had not changed the way she addressed Severus publicly, nor did she act as a girlfriend...Minerva snorted at the idea. The girl had not even acted as a girlfriend with Ron Weasley...but there was no other word for it, she was glowing. Did the other teachers notice? No, they were all concentrating on their plates or on small talk with their neighbours. Except Hagrid. His warm black eyes were set upon the Headmaster and his aide, but his pensive expression of the last few days was gone. It was replaced by a knowing, understanding, almost resigned one. He was not condemning!

After lunch, Minerva caught up with Severus and Hermione before they climbed the spiral staircase leading to Severus's office.

"Severus! Wait!" Severus and Hermione turned their back to the gargoyles that guarded the entrance of the staircase to transfer their attention to the Deputy Headmistress, who was out of breath. "I'd like to discuss something with you." She cast a look loaded with meaning at Hermione.

Severus shook his head. "Minerva, now is not the time. I have to write a detailed report about the organisation and details of Monday's ceremony for the school governors. They want me to present it to them during their meeting tomorrow. However, Hermione and I will have time on Saturday, morning or afternoon, at your convenience."

Minerva pursed her lips in a very unbecoming fashion. Her stern, wrinkled face was forbidding. "Well, I hope it won't be too late. I'll be in your office after breakfast." She turned on her heel and walked away without another word.

Hermione sighed. "Doesn't she trust us to behave appropriately?"

"Let's not discuss this in the corridor."

Back in Severus's office, he explained to her, "Minerva is very preoccupied with the school's fate. She probably feels that its reputation must be irreproachable after one year under the Death Eaters' command, and she fears that an affair between us would stain its record. She doesn't know you don't plan to succeed her as Deputy."

"You're probably right, but I wonder if she isn't disappointed that I didn't carry on a relationship with Ron too."

"Well, I am not."

Hermione smiled at him slyly. "Tell me, Severus, for how long have you been wanting me?"

The question took Severus off guard, but he managed to hide his surprise quickly. Not quickly enough, though. "For a while," he answered shortly. He was not comfortable with this line of questioning at all. "I suggest we start on the report for the governors."

"No, no, no, Severus. Remember: we ought to be frank with each other. And I won't let you distract me with your diversionary tactics. You know as well as I do that that report won't take us more than, well, two hours if we dawdle."

Severus considered his lover carefully. How should he go about telling things he had never told anyone in his life? Such words were usually stuck in his throat and refused to come out, however much he might try. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He knew she would not budge until she had pressed it out of him, like a winegrower pressed the juice out of grapes. "There's no easy way to tell it, Hermione." He was grateful for her silence. "When I... woke up in the Hospital Wing last year, I thought about my life and realised that nothing tied me to my past anymore. What I mean, Hermione, and you're probably not going to like it, is that everyone who had been a link to my past was dead. No more Potter and his gang, no more Lily Evans," he choked slightly on her name, "no more Voldemort, no more Dumbledore. All of them were related to periods of my life I'd rather forget about altogether. I found myself with the opportunity to build my own future. You were at my side during that time. I noticed you had changed, that you had matured. It was there, in the Hospital Wing, that I decided I wanted you. The feelings I had then grew while we were in Australia. It was there that I decided that I wanted you not only for a night, but for more, possibly for life."

"But," she interjected, "you didn't say anything about it. You didn't even give a hint of how you felt." Yet she was very pleased by what he had said and showed him by kissing his cheek.

"Would it have helped you to develop feelings to me faster, if I had?"

"I don't think so. I would have tried harder to make it work between Ron and me, only to prove to myself that I had an independent mind."

He smirked. Understanding dawned on her face.

"Oh, you, you... cunning, sly... You made sure I'd spend nearly all my time with you so that you could seduce me imperceptibly!"

It was pointless to deny it. It would be better if she saw him as he was now and accept his nature while their relationship was still young. "Admit you did not need a lot of convincing."

"Of course," she retorted a bit hotly. "You played on my feeling of guilt!"

He leaned over to her and, nose to nose, asked her, "What do you think of the result of my little scheme?"

"It was very underhanded, but I like the result... very much," she whispered. "Don't be surprised, though, if I feel authorised to use similar methods with you in the future."

"As long as there is a future," he whispered back and captured her lips with his and to hell with professionalism and decorum in the Headmaster's office. The portraits ceased to snore abruptly, but it went unnoticed by the couple at first, until a discreet cough from Phineas Nigellus reminded them they really ought to tackle the report for the governors. They even managed to keep a professional demeanour for the rest of the afternoon.

Dinner was as uneventful as lunch had been, though the most observant people, that is to say Hagrid, McGonagall and Ginny, noticed that the Headmaster and his aide touched each other quite a lot...a hand on the forearm to catch the other's attention, a brush of fingers when passing the salt, etc....and that they seemed drawn to each other like magnets... powerful magnets. The question was no longer if there was an attraction between the two, but when would it become public knowledge that they were an item.

In the evening, Severus briefed Minerva about the report and its contents. She wanted to warn him again about a liaison with his aide, even if it were probably too late, but his cold attitude toward her dissuaded her. It was with a heavy heart that she left his office. What would happen to the school if the future Deputy was also known as the Headmaster's mistress? She slept poorly that night, unlike Hermione and Severus, who made love and shared a bed for a second time. Hopefully, it would be like that for many, many years. Both had marriage on their minds when they fell asleep, though they would not approach each other with the matter for quite some time.