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Spa Day	By : FieryPhoenix Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 10554 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: All characters and HP names, scenes etc belong to their creator – J.K. Rowling. I make no money for this and write only to satisfy my own desire to pen my thoughts and imaginings.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
A/N: After this is just the Epilogue to go dear readers. Thank you all for reading and especially to HG4eva for your unending support and enthusiasm for the way I've enjoyed playing with the characters.

Smut warning ahead :) Enjoy!

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Ginny paced the room with increasingly frantic hand movements to go with her increasingly frantic movements. She was agitatedly trying to explain to Harry how she was in the final phase of her plan to set up Hermione with the Potioneer.

Harry, who obviously knew both sides of the story, worked hard to hide his grin. “I’ll have to make sure and thank Severus for those early occlumency lessons”, he thought to himself wryly.

He stood up and grabbed Ginny as she paced past for the umpteenth time. “My love”, he smiled softly. “You have done everything you possibly could to get them together. Now, it’s time to leave it to them. If it happens, then it happens. And if not, you need to just accept that Hermione will find her own love in her own time – when she is ready.”

“Yes but,” Ginny interrupted him and he shushed her before continuing to speak.

“Ginny, I know you want her to be happy, and I know that for some misguided reason you feel the need to see Severus happy too. Both of them are old enough to know what they want. You have set the stage beautifully and if it happens then it will happen on its own.” He ran his hands up and down her soft arms marvelling yet again at his incredibly happy life and as always, contrasting it against the miserable childhood he had known before entering this world – his real world.

Ginny started again softly, “I don’t understand why nothing has happened yet though Harry, my planning was meticulous and aside from a bit of distraction on Hermione’s side, there doesn’t seem to be anything more solid forming, no matter how many times I throw them together.” She pouted slightly, her brain working overtime to come up with a foolproof plan.

AS she stood there, relaxing into Harry’s soothing touch, she considered every possibility quietly to herself. “I could lock them in a cupboard together, or what about another potion accident – obviously that first one was a complete dud. Huh! I ought to go back to that apothecary and give them a piece of my mind. I wonder if I could convince Severus that Hermione is really very shy… There is no way Hermione would ever make the first move.” And so it went on right through dinner which Harry cooked to avoid a burnt offering while Ginny pondered and paced.

Eventually he decided it was enough. He picked her up over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and marched her to their bedroom, Ginny shrieking her protest and kicking her legs in a bid to get free. Harry walked right past their beautiful canopied 4-poster bed (a wedding gift from Bill and Fleur) and into the en suite bathroom. This room too was sumptuously laid out with every comfort a witch or wizard could want. Harry ignored all of that now and stopped in front of the double width shower. He reached in and put on the cold tap and then dumped his adorable minx of a wife into the shower. Her shrieks could be heard a block away, followed by a bellow and mixed laughter as her quick reflexes honed by her years on the Quidditch pitch enabled her to pull Harry in straight after her.

They sank to the floor together, soggy and laughing. No words were necessary as Ginny knew she had been obsessing and ignoring their time together. She smiled at Harry through the gushing water and leaned forward to kiss him gently on his lips. He growled at her and pulled her in for another kiss, deeper and more intense as their lips opened and their tongues met in a flash of lust as their hands moved over each other’s soggy clothes.

Thursday Morning

Hermione looked up and greeting Ginny with a smile as she walked into the office. “Now who looks distracted” she teased her friend. Ginny had her customary grin in place, the one that let the world know how great her night had been without needing to say a word. Her eyes were soft and her shoulders totally relaxed as she sank into her chair, spun it around twice and then sat back to contemplate Hermione.

Something was different about her friend over the past week. Exactly what, she couldn’t say. She hoped it was her plan moving along even if she couldn’t see the results.

“Hermione,” Ginny asked nonchalantly as she took another sip from her regular morning caffeinated beverage (simple cuppachino this week was her thing), “How’s life going? You still good on the new product line? Nothing else new to report?” She tried to pry without making it obvious.

Hermione looked up distractedly, “Huh?” She blinked rapidly as if trying to focus her eyes and then smiled back at Ginny. “Oh, yes, yes everything is great. Sev… um… Snape and I are in regular communication on the new lines. You were absolutely right Ginny it’s quite incredible the way that man’s mind works. His work is impeccable!”

Ginny nodded, glad that at least one part was working, eagerly searching her friend’s face for any slightest hint that the other hidden plan was also working.

“So, how was the meeting with him yesterday afternoon? I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you came back, but Harry popped around and since you made it clear the office floor was out of bounds…” She ended with a suggestive, exaggerated waggle of her eyebrows and then giggled when Hermione smiled indulgently.

“Oh yes it was fine, but we didn’t get to sign the forms actually. We will meet again on Friday to sign them.”

Ginny’s interest was piqued. “Oh? Why not? What was the problem? “

Hermione squirmed slightly in her seat before responding, “Um, well, that is things ended awkwardly between us due to a bit of… tension, so we decided to rather meet on Friday and sign them quickly without anything else to distract us.”

Ginny groaned inwardly, trying not to show her disappointment, “Oh dear! I’m sorry that you guys don’t get along – I would have thought that you would have a lot in common what with your many shared interests.”

Hermione shrugged, feeling only slightly guilty at seeing her friend squirm. “It is what it is. It appears that we can’t be in the same room together without fireworks.” She knew what a terrible liar she was and had rehearsed ways of saying the truth so that it could be construed by Ginny as she saw fit. “It’s okay really, it’s only a few more days and then the project is completed and life can go on.”

She turned away, hiding the grin she was chewing on between her lips by putting her face down close to her books and immersing herself in work.

The rest of the day passed in relative silence, with Hermione receiving a flurry of post via various bird species just after lunch. Many of the missives were met with a wry smile and a hurried response – some required more effort and longer replies. Through it all Hermione noticed the lack of regular nosey interest and curiosity from across the room. After sealing and sending a particularly lengthy note, which had required Hermione to pull out several current quarterly scholarly publications to double check facts and figures before penning her final response, she rose and crossed the room to her friend.

Perching herself on the edge of Ginny’s desk next to where she sat, Hermione noticed the tear-stained paper sitting in front of Ginny from earlier. The paper not rendered useless by the spilt drops were covered in doodles – gorgeous sketches of people, the spa, their new range and names. Names of all the people they knew written in a variety of scripts over and over. Hermione reached out to still her friend’s hand. Ginny froze and then burst into tears – loud noisy sobs that had Hermione reaching for her wand and jabbing it wordlessly at the door to seal and add a “do not disturb” sign on the outside.

Hermione pulled her friend up and into a hug of comfort. They stood there for a while until eventually the sobs subsided into a series of sniffs, hiccups and random shudders as she wrestled herself under control.

Hermione offered her a tissue from off her own desk and waited patiently until Ginny had dabbed at her eyes, blown her nose a few times and had a sip of the water that always sat on both of their desks thanks to the spa elves. “Do you want to talk about it?” Hermione enquired gently of her long time friend.

Ginny nodded reluctantly, “just give me a moment here” and flashed a weak smile at the brunette.

When Ginny was ready she squared her shoulders and smiled again. “I’m terribly sorry about this,” she waved her hand vaguely in the air “I’m suddenly very emotional and I have no idea why…”

Hermione patted her sympathetically on the shoulder. “You have been working awfully hard on this new project line, Gin. Perhaps you need to take a break.”

Ginny scowled up at her. “You don’t take breaks just before your big projects are going live! Why the month before we opened here I’m willing to bet you didn’t sleep more than 2 or 3 hours a night you worked so hard!”

Hermione acquiesced with a subtle nod.

“I created this line, it was my idea to work on it, my searching that discovered Severus and I certainly will not step down and just hand it over!” Ginny continued indignantly. “In fact, I am certain that over the next two weeks leading up to the launch party I will be practically working around the clock!”

Hermione held her hands up in a classic sign of surrender, “You are absolutely entitled to do that Ginny, just, you know – look after yourself too. Just because I’m a workaholic doesn’t mean you need to be one too. Especially now.” Hermione waved in the direction of Ginny’s abdomen.

Ginny sighed, she would really need to tell Hermione the truth about the “pregnancy” soon.

Hermione hugged her again and smiled at her, “feeling a bit better I hope?”

“Yeah yeah!” Ginny mumbled. She cleared her throat and said more clearly, “Perhaps I do need a bit of a rest – I’m struggling to focus today. Do you mind terribly if I head on home? I will be in bright and early tomorrow for the Staff meeting and will cover closing so that you can head out early.”

Hermione tried to appear casual to hide her speeding heartrate. That would be ideal – giving her enough time to prepare for her date, er, meeting with Severus Friday night. “Sure Gin, that’s totally fine with me. Perhaps you can get hold of Harry and you two can spend the afternoon together.”

Ginny moved to her desk and used her wand to pop her things into her Kate Spade bag before slinging it over her shoulder. She was unusual in the wizarding world as she preferred to use a muggle handbag to robe pockets. She had developed a weakness for beautiful bags after seeing how useful Hermione’s small pocketbook had been to the Golden Trio during their time on the run and her weakness had led to her making lists of desired bags that included Chanel, Hermes, Fendi and her latest on her “must collect list, a gorgeous white crocodile skin bag with 39 diamonds strategically placed on white gold clasps by a relatively new designer Hilde Palladino.

Those and her flamboyant coffee fixes were the typical muggle things that had become a natural every day part of Ginny’s life that always made Hermione smile and reminded her of how fun-loving Ginny really was, and how much her best friend Harry loved and indulged his young wife because those bags were really not cheap!

Hermione pulled a scrap of paper out of her pocket and passed it to Ginny. “Here’s a voucher for that new coffee place that opened near your place – they have a full range of decaf choices too!”

Ginny grinned at her friend, the only thing better than fun and funky coffee was FREE fun and funky coffee!

On her way out the door, Ginny turned and caught Hermione mid-stride back to her desk where another mail owl had just deposited another letter, “Hermione, we need to chat tomorrow about the launch party. Can we meet for breakfast before the staff meeting perhaps?” Ginny amazed herself at how she suddenly felt better after a little cry and the kindness of her friend. “Perhaps I can still pull this off afterall” she thought as the mists of an idea started forming in her mind as she started walking down the hall towards the lift.

The next day Ginny bounced into the Breakfast Barre, a gorgeous little café in Muggle Essex where the two friends always met for their planning breakfasts. They had found this place together accidentally one day while wandering aimlessly around in search of a place to sit and talk about their initial Spa ideas. The owner and manager, Celeste, was a classically beautiful ex-ballerina from France who always enjoyed trying to make up original coffee drinks for Ginny. She was totally fascinated by the pair of women who always seemed to use such strange words and she liked to imagine that they lived wonderful and daring lives as a super spy partnership or something equally exotic.

The restaurant was unique in that it offered daily dance classes for adults – mostly women, who had either danced as children or who had always wanted to dance. The small and beautifully appointed studio was situated to the one side of the entrance, while the other side led to the clustered tables, covered in white tablecloths with pastel overlays. Images of famous dancers lined the walls, many of them autographed, attesting to the former life of Celeste.

And after class, one could enjoy either a very healthy breakfast or a sinfully delicious piece of chocolate cake. Celeste believed that one should fully embrace all the wonders that life could offer, which most certainly included good chocolate.

Ginny and Hermione had been meeting here ever since, it was now their lucky spot and they took great delight in planning for their Spa while classical music played in the background.

Ginny found Hermione in their usual window table and sat down, her eyes sparkling their usual green greeting as she tried to curb her excitement. Hermione was glad to see her friend feeling better and wondered what Harry had said (or done) to bring about the miraculous transformation.

Ginny scooped up the waiting coffee in delight – eager to try and discern the elements of the drink as per the usual game she played with Celeste and turned to Hermione, “I’m feeling so much better today! Thank you again for your understanding yesterday.”

As the two witches planned every detail for the launch party, Hermione forgot all about the plan to get even with Ginny, she was so impressed by her friend’s thoroughness and determination that she found herself totally relaxed about the entire event.

They finished off their work and their delicious breakfast and started preparing to leave. As they stood to leave, *Ginny casually said to Hermione, “oh, don’t forget that we need to talk dresses for the launch event. I’m thinking that you and I need to do a little shopping in preparation.” As she sipped her to-go decaf cinnamon latte she supressed her grin.

The idea had hit her in the middle of the night. She had literally jumped out of bed and done a jig of excitement, waking Harry in the process. He had been very confused when she had coaxed him back to sleep with a kiss and a squeal of “Lightbulb moment!” as she pranced out the room to their library where her desk and work satchel lay. She had figured out her missing piece at last – the party! Both Hermione and Severus would be there, and she was determined to get them together there. She spent the next hour planning and scheming, right down to what Hermione should wear and how she would get them together to act on their feelings. She was also convinced that there had to be some latent feelings there, and she would use the time leading up to the party subtly pointing these out to both Severus and Hermione.

Later that day, it was Hermione’s turn to get agitated and nervous as her departure hour drew nearer. She became clumsy, stumbling and knocking into chairs each time she walked anywhere in the Spa. She had been caught in a day dream during the staff meeting and Ginny had needed to skilfully cover for her. She had felt alternately queasy and ravenous as the afternoon started and Ginny couldn’t help but notice the blush that grew over Hermione’s cheeks and down her neck towards her cleavage each time a particular Raven delivered messages.

Unable to watch the circus show in the office anymore, Ginny stopped Hermione from walking into the new chaise longue that they had just placed in their office near the window and pulled her friend down onto it to chat. Hermione nervously ran her fingers over the material covering the chaise, moving against the grain and then smoothing the soft material back again repeatedly as she became aware of her heart beating frantically in her throat. She idly wondered if there was a history of anyone’s demise being caused by a combination of longing and anticipation and nerves. She pressed her hand to her stomach absentmindedly and then sighed as her hand drifted up to lightly touch her lips.

Severus had just told her in a letter how he loved watching her speak, he loved the way her teeth and tongue caressed her lips, wetting them and enticing him to them. She blushed at the memory and smiled a secret smile, totally forgetting that Ginny was there with her.

“A-hem!” Ginny said in perfect imitation of the toad-like high Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge that had plagued Hogwarts back in Hermione’s 6^th year, causing Hermione to glare around frantically before realising that Ginny was teasing her.

She slapped her friend’s thigh in jest, “Ginny! You know how I despise that woman. AND when you do that! It still freaks us all out that you can copy her voice so exactly.”

Ginny grinned evilly and started to giggle, collapsing against her friend. “You should have seen your face! At least it got your attention. Ever since lunch, when you started frantically speed-owling that Raven’s owner you have been so distracted. Look, even your hair is totally dishevelled. You look like you just came out of an all-nighter in the Hogwarts library!” Ginny paused for effect as her friend took a sip of the offered water, “or an all nighter in the Slytherin dorm room.”

Hermione sprayed water as she choked in surprise. Severus had just said in his last missive how surprised everyone would have been had he ever smuggled a girl into his dorm as all his fellow Slytherin’s had. But no, there was no way Ginny could have known about that! Surely?? Hermione narrowed her eyes contemplatively as she turned her head to look at Ginny.

Ginny cheerfully continued, “You really are distracted this afternoon Hermione. You got something important planned for tonight?”

Hermione tried to look sophisticated and calm but gave it up after about half a minute. She blushed and looked down at her hands lying neatly folded in her lap.

“I have a date tonight and I really fancy him”, Hermione mumbled… Except it came out jumbled up as one singularly long word. “Pardon?” Ginny asked, peering over at Hermione and trying to get her to look up.

Hermione sighed and repeated herself, “I have a date tonight okay? I really like this guy and I’m a bit nervous about everything! I’m not sure what to wear, or how to style my hair and it really is insane that I mostly feel like a 4^th year about to go on her first date!” Hermione’s eyes fell back to her twisting hands.

The silence that filled the office was slightly uncomfortable, and Ginny felt forlorn for a split second before justifying to herself that it would never work out and her plan would still be intact for the party.

She smiled up at her friend and stood. “Well then, what are we waiting for? You have a date to get ready for and I… I am going to help you get ready. Yes, it can be a trial run for the launch party.”

The two gathered their things, left final instructions with their assistant and apparated from the apparition point outside the main entrance back to Hermione’s place.

A couple of hours later Hermione had been primped and preened more than she ever had before. She stood staring at her reflection in the mirror tugging on her dress. It was way more daring than anything she would have chosen for herself. Ginny had used a rather sophisticated alteration spell to change one of Hermione’s regular dresses into a traffic stopping masterpiece. Certainly if she decided to leave the Spa Hermione had no doubts that she could work in the high fashion industry as a designer.

As the clock showed “time to go”, Hermione turned to Ginny and smiled wanly. Ginny gave her a careful hug and whispered to her – “you look amazing! Now own that look and go get your man!”

Hermione took a few deep breaths and tucking the stray curl that had escaped from her tied up hair behind her ear, reached over to the dressing table to pick up her bag. The papers for Severus to sign were with her bag and she double checked that she had them all.

She didn’t notice Ginny come up behind her and look over her shoulder, wondering what on earth could distract her friend at a time like this. “Why do you have those papers with you now?” Ginny probed, curiosity lacing her voice.

Hermione stared wide eyed in the mirror at Ginny’s reflection behind hers. “Well, I told you I am meeting Severus tonight to sign the papers, so I am making sure I have the papers before I leave to meet him.”

Ginny was confused and wasn’t sure what to think. “So, you’re meeting Snape tonight then?”

Hermione nodded slowly.

“And then you have a date? A date that you were nervous enough to need my help getting ready for.”

Hermione nodded again, her quick brain suddenly giving her a way out to Ginny’s probing enquiry.

“Yes, that’s right, I am meeting Sev.. Snape in the bar to sign the papers and then my date will commence with dinner straight thereafter.” Hermione looked back at the papers in her hand and shuffled them together neatly before standing up straight.

* “Alrighty then,” she said firmly and slowly let out the breath she wasn’t even aware she had been holding. I am going to go and get business taken care of.” She squared her shoulders and Ginny felt cheerfully excited. If Hermione could conduct business on her way to her hot date, there was no way she really expected this budding relationship to actually work out beyond a hopefully pleasant evening. Plus Severus was about to see her in her amazing outfit. There was no way he could avoid seeing how well Hermione cleaned up.

The friends moved out into the lounge, Ginny to gather her makeup strewn all over the coffee table and Hermione to get her travelling cloak.

Ginny enquired casually as she packed up her things. “Since you are taking your cloak I assume he’s a wizard?” Hermione looked up at her in confusion. Ginny gestured towards the cloak over Hermione’s arm. “Your hot date, he must be a wizard. Are you going to tell me his name? Did we go to school with him?”

Hermione smiled a secret keeping smile at her curious friend. “You will know soon enough if things work out between us Ginny. I’d prefer to keep it to myself for now though if that’s okay with you?”

Ginny who had finished gathering her things was waving her wand around, tidying up and dimming the lights. Ginny admired her handiwork – for some reason she always got a kick out of the simple domestic spells she had learnt from years of watching her mother care for The Burrow and all it’s many occupants. “Oh, okay yes,” Ginny answered in a seemingly distracted way. “I guess I can wait.” She paused and then blurted out, “Are you going to invite him to the launch party or is it still your plan to attend alone that night?”

“I have no idea as yet Ginny.” Hermione paused, “It really does depend how things progress from here. A lot can happen in a few days.”

AS the witches moved slowly towards the door Hermione stopped her friend with a light touch to the arm, “Thank you Ginny. You really are a good friend. I know that you mean well – even when you can’t help but interfere.”

Ginny looked surprised. Hermione continued, “You have done an amazing job with this new range and you stopped bugging me about dating recently, so thank you!”

Ginny smiled, feeling only slightly guilty again for her secret plotting and scheming. The friends embraced and exited together after a final look over by Ginny.

Hermione had decided to walk that night since it was such a clear and mild evening and the trendy but sophisticated restaurant, “The Fizzing Olive” where they were meeting was close by. She swung her cloak carefully over her shoulders and after watching Ginny apparate away turned and started walking, breathing carefully to hide her physical excitement at just the mere thought of meeting Severus again.

This time she would definitely behave herself. They were both adults after all. Surely they could restrain whatever residual lust and emotions were still in effect. She idly wondered if he would approve of her dress. And tried to banish the thought of what his response would be to her new Slytherin Green underwear set. Not that he would be seeing her underwear of course she berated herself.

As she approached the restaurant she could see the light spilling out onto the pavement and could hear the gentle murmur of chatter and laughter as the Friday night dinner crowd started showing up.

She stopped outside and looked up at the Purple Olive’s attractive yet discreet signage. She gulped in great lungfuls of air, squared her shoulders and pushed her way through the doors. She gave her name softly to the Maitre’d standing just inside and followed him as he led her through to the bar.

AS she walked in, her eyes immediately found him. He stood up to greet her and stopped in his tracks. He stared at the vision before him and she stood staring dumbly at the suave wizard across the room.

The sounds of the room seemed to come rushing back into focus as Hermione willed her feet to move towards him. Gosh, suddenly it seemed awfully crowded and noisy in the bar. She tried to surreptitiously check him out as she moved closer, oblivious to the stares and furtive whispers as she passed each table.

He looked incredible in those well cut dress robes. The midnight black material seemed as if it was made for his body – it was that beautifully cut. It was only on closer inspection that one would notice the subtle green thread running through the collar and cuffs of the robes and adorning the tiny silver and green buttons that lined the robes. Hermione noticed as she came to a standstill beside him that the buttons were tiny ying yang symbols in green and silver, delicately hand crafted with the diving wavy line revealing itself to actually be a wavy serpent. The detail that was harder to see in the ambient setting was that the tiny dots on either side of the symbol were actually dark lions. A tribute to his alarmingly growing feelings for the incredibly gorgeous young Griffindor witch now standing breathlessly in front of him.

As he stood rigidly intensely watching her weaving her way through the tables he felt the breath being knocked out of him. He growled under his breath as his razor sharp hearing overheard two single mates sitting at the bar together comment on how they wouldn’t mind making a sexy witch sandwich with her later that night.

Hermione seemed oblivious to the attention she had garnered on her sultry saunter across the room. She moved with a quiet confidence that warned Severus how woefully inadequate he was in comparison to her beauty and charm.

Her sheath dress was of a gorgeous cobalt blue and clung to every curve of her body, outlining the path that Severus recalled so well massaging only a few days ago. It curved across her collar bones, with a hint of bare skin peeping out at her right shoulder. The material seemed to move easily with her and the elbow length sleeves matched the flow of the dress that dropped effortlessly to just above her knees. Her auburn hair was artfully arranged to cascade forward over her left shoulder and in this lighting he saw flashes of gold highlights amongst the lustrous tresses.

His hands itched to be running through that hair again as they had during their encounter in the library. It seemed like an eternity had passed between then and now and he marvelled at whatever luck or skill had brought her to be joining him here tonight.

They both spoke at once, breaking the spell. “Sorry if I kept you waiting “Hermione said, sounding silly to her own ears but melodious to Severus who still had to lock his knees at the sound of her husky voice to stop himself collapsing.

“I was a bit early so I grabbed us a table” Severus blurted at the same time. He surreptitiously wiped his palms against his clothes, feeling strangely like what he imagined a Hufflepuff 5^th year would feel like on a first date. Hermione drew a sharp breath as his voice washed through her, the little hairs at the nape of her neck standing up as she shivered in unrestrained delight.

She sat as he pulled the chair out for her and murmured her thanks. She drew in a deep breath as his hand brushed across her back ever so lightly. She shivered, her dress offering scant respite from the heat she felt radiating from his touch. As he sat he swallowed, visibly nervous. Incredible how they were so nervous now that they were out in public together whereas before the conversation flowed over and around them underlined by their mutual lust.

They grinned awkwardly at each other, both grateful when the waiter eventually brought over their menus. Hermione studied the print before her while surreptitiously glancing at Severus over the top of the menu. She noticed how his silky soft hair fell around his face, she stared with hunger in her eyes at his sensual lips, noticing how his tongue poked out to lick at his bottom lip. “Thank goodness he can’t see me perving over him like this”, Hermione thought, secure in the knowledge that at least one of them was actually deciding on what to eat for dinner.

She took a long drink of the pink wine that had been waiting at the table when she joined Severus. It was a good choice – light, fruity and cleansing on the palate. She absentmindedly took another and another sip, again obsessing over how amazing Severus looked in those dress robes. She idly wandered what material the robes consisted of because the way they outlined his body was nearly sinful. Her thoughts strayed to peeling them off of him and she shifted in her seat to try and stop the growing ache now twisting low down in her belly.

Severus looked up, their eyes locking. Menus forgotten they stared at each other, the tension bouncing between them much like on an African plain before a summer thundershower. As he opened his mouth to say something, anything, the waiter appeared again ready to take their order.

Oblivious to their current situation, he prattled on about the daily specials. The spell broken, Severus interrupted him eventually with a terse, “just bring us a Caesar salad to share followed by the linguine please. He snapped his menu shut and handed it to the waiter, feeling equally grateful for the interruption to his obtuse perusal of his lovely dining companion and annoyed by it. No matter the interruption, his mind’s eye had now memorised how she looked and he could envision every swathe of material that swished around her body. A body, he had to grudgingly admit, that he couldn’t wait to experience again. But that was the question... Would she listen to reason? Would she see the validity of his plan and go along with it?

It was one thing entirely to plot and plan as second year Slytherins to get revenge on a well-intentioned friend, but his plans took everything to another level entirely… He hoped that she would. If he still believed in the Gods, he would pray to them for her agreement to his plan.

He cleared his throat, aware that she was watching him intently. It unnerved him and he didn’t quite know why. Possibly because he wasn’t used to feeling unbalanced by anyone. In fact it had been an interminably long time since anyone had made him feel even close to how he felt when around Hermione. It was more than lust. He admired her grit, her determination to see things through. He remembered how she had planned and prepared for that year on the run with Potter and Weasley. It was a well-publicised fact that it was her brains and preparedness that had enabled them to not only survive the year but hunt down and destroy all the Horcruxes, but he knew more. He knew how she had stood by Harry, even obliviating her own parents to keep them safe from the death eaters. He admired the way she yearned for knowledge constantly reading, researching and learning new things. The way she was all about justice for those who couldn’t speak for themselves.

There was no doubt in his mind that Hermione was that rarest of finds; someone who was loyal trustworthy, made him laugh, and made him suck in a deep breath every single time she looked at him. She really saw him, saw through the façade he had created for the world and he couldn’t remember a time when he had felt more alive as in the last week and a bit of their correspondence and of course those incredible, intense moments of passion they had shared together.

Indeed, she had to accept his logic as the ideal solution. He only had to find the words to speak. And he would… just after dinner.

The waiter placed their meals in front of them with an oddly foppish flourish. Hermione smiled her thanks and as the server turned away from their table her eyes met with Severus’ and she couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Her lilting laugh sounded melodiously throughout the establishment and Severus found himself smiling, then grinning and eventually joining her in laughter.

Hermione thought how good it was to have someone to laugh with; they would always have this private joke now founded on this very moment. She realised with a growing soberness that they were creating a history here, right now on this date.

To hide her nervousness Hermione picked at her food.

* She was unable to eat much – the butterflies that she had felt fluttering in her stomach earlier when about to enter the eatery had morphed into giant thestrals and were currently flapping their wings enough to let Hermione feel that if she ate even a tiny morsel she may throw up all over the table. She mentally rolled her eyes at herself. Her inner goddess spoke in a sarcastic drawl, “And how sexy that would be hey?”

Hermione reprimanded her inner goddess while moving her food about her plate, “He is a business partner – I’m not supposed to appear sexy! It’s just not supposed to be like that!”

While her inner goddess rolled around her chaise longue while laughing in a decidedly unsexy way, Hermione sighed and gave a little tight-lipped smile to Severus who also appeared to be having trouble eating.

Hermione thought she would talk about the contracts as a way to hide the silence which had stretched from comfortable, companionable quietness into a gaping chasm of awkwardness.

“So, how are the final plans coming for the new products?” She asked earnestly, “Ginny is very excited to do a big launch of the range with a huge party.” She noticed that Severus paled immediately on mention of the party.

Her query was tentative, “Don’t you… um… don’t you think that’s a good idea?”

Severus made a show of dabbing his mouth with the napkin before answering, “I’m sure that a lavish launch party makes perfect sense from a business perspective. It offers free press coverage, maximum effect on current customers as well as attracting the attention of potential customers who will read about the affair in both the business and society pages of their chosen morning publications.” He paused to draw breath, steeling himself to be honest with her. “I am just not much of a party person to be truthful.” He paused again to take in her non-verbal response. “And I cannot imagine that the Great Bat of the Dungeons would be the best personality around which to launch a range for a Spa.”

There, he had said his piece and would take whatever response she gave. He was certain that this attitude would confirm for her that he was too old, too set in his ways to be more than a passing fancy.

Severus blinked in surprise, finding Hermione’s soft warm hand on his forearm from across the table.

* “Severus,” she breathed softly with a beautiful smile, “I’m not worried about what people would think. You, your genius is what is making this entire range possible. THAT, that is totally worth celebrating.”

She removed her hand to take a tiny nibble of her food before continuing in what she hoped was a casual voice, “Besides you would be astounded how many witches would do anything you asked once hearing your voice or feeling your amazing hands at work.”

She eventually forced herself to look up at his eyes which were blazing back into hers. “Hermione, I don’t really care what other witches think or want.” His intense stare made it crystal clear what he was inferring but Hermione needed to be sure.

“It’s true! Even when I was in school the other girls used to speculate about you during their… discussions.” She didn’t want to tell him that it had been during Truth or Dare games that his name had most often come up when asked who they thought of as the sexiest staff member.

“And did you ever join in these... discussions?” he enquired softly, suddenly highly curious as to what she had thought of him when she was an impressionable teenager.

Hermione dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand before looking back at her plate, “not during the group conversations, no. But then I rarely indulged in girl talk between studying and trying to keep Ron and Harry alive.”

She swallowed a sip of the wine while Severus greedily watched her throat in its fluid motions.

“But during my private moments, yes I thought of you from time to time.”

*Severus nearly missed her response, caught up as he was staring at the expanse of milky skin exposed above her neckline. He idly wondered how he could be so obsessed with her neck of all parts to be ogling.

“Indeed,” he responded dryly quite unsure how one was supposed to respond to hearing that a student had thought of him as anything other than the taskmaster he had set out to appear as during his tenure at Hogwarts. As he stared at her he noticed that she was unable to sit still despite her attempts at civil conversation. The more she attempted to turn the conversation back to the launch party and the new products, the more she squirmed in her seat, pressing her legs together in what he knew was a desperate attempt to hide her growing desire.

“To come back to your earlier question,” he smoothly turned the conversation away from her teenage thoughts of him, “I honestly do not enjoy public adulations. I much prefer to celebrate in private. Away from prying eyes.” Throughout this entire monologue it appeared to Hermione that he had not blinked once. She idly supposed that this is what made him seem so formidable and her inner goddess piped up again to wonder what it would take to turn the normally calm and collected potion master into a pile of wordless goo on her bed, or floor. Or even up against her extensive book collection the voice smirked at her.”

Hermione blushed silently, trying desperately to remember the questions she needed to square away about the contract. Right now however, her brain seemed intent on focusing solely on the mental image of Severus in black cotton boxers lying against her bright red bedcover, beckoning her closer with a crook of his index finger. She shuddered in delight as a blush rippled up across her cleavage and neck in accord with the shivers of delight tingling down her spine and tightening her nipples as the all too familiar coil started twisting in her belly.

Severus smiled at her as if he had read her thoughts. An almost feral grin spread across his features that suddenly turned her eyes into dark pools of desire. His eyes mirrored hers and both plates were left largely untouched. The tension at the little table grew swiftly and suddenly without a word being exchanged. He finished his wine in one go and she stared at his hands; so strong and capable cradling the delicate glass as though it were the most precious thing ever to be held. She wanted him to hold her like that – not because of a potion, but because he truly found her desirable.

Her tongue darted out to catch a fallen drop of the ruby wine as her eyes refused to leave his hands. His eyes roved swiftly from her eyes to her throat back up to her lightly swollen lips – she kept biting on that bottom lip and he wished that it was he biting on it, tasting the slightly sweet wine from those same lips; surely it would be lifted to the level of ambrosia coming from her lips.

As they devoured each other with their eyes, the waiter popped up at their table again to offer Dessert. Severus, his eyes never leaving hers cut him short, demanding the bill immediately. He knew what he wanted for dessert and it certainly wasn’t on their printed menu… Although he would not be adverse to having her spread out on the table.

Hermione was startled momentarily out of her lustful daydream long enough to pull out the contracts. She placed them on the table and glanced up at him again, the hunger apparent in her eyes. Merlin! She hadn’t felt this wanton in… well ever!

“We need to sign…” her words trailed off as Severus lifted her hand from where it rested on the pile of papers all neatly marked with magical post-it notes where their signatures were required.

Severus ended her words and his own torture by pressing his lips gently to her fingertips. He kissed each one slowly from tip down to where her finger met her hand, starting with her little finger. When he reached the bottom of her index finger he swiftly engulfed the entire digit in his warm mouth, his tongue swirling around and around. Hermione’s gasp of surprise and desire was audible to Severus. He moved his mouth from her finger to the inside of her wrist, flicking her hand still held in his over with one swift movement. Kissing her pulse point in a wet, hot open mouthed kiss his eyes still locked onto hers. His tongue laved the point where her pulse jumped, sending the blood pumping through her now fully alert body.

Hermione tried again weakly to focus their interactions on the business at hand, “Ginny…” her attempt was feeble although it did get his attention.

Still holding her hand, he pulled away long enough to speak in a husky voice so softly that she had to lean forward to hear him. “Yes we need to discuss our plan to teach your friend a lesson about interfering in our lives however right now I find myself quite grateful to her for her eagerness to assure your continued happiness.” He paused briefly, “Perhaps I should pen her a quick owl to thank her for her interference.” He stated this boldly without preamble, deciding that it was time to act.

Hermione was shaken out of the haze of desire, “Wait, what??!!” her face wrinkled with confusion.

Severus continued smoothly, “Certainly. If it wasn’t for your dear friend and her meddlesome ways I doubt that we would be here, together right now.”

Hermione tried really hard to maintain the farce, “But we would have met anyway to sign the agreements, and at the launch party too. So maybe not right here at this exact time and place no, but we would have met at some stage.” Her words trailed off, sounding constrained to both of them. They both understood what Severus was talking about. Hermione was not quite willing to openly acknowledge it.

Severus fixed her with a stare so deep and lustful that the intensity pierced the armour around her heart. “Hermione,” he breathed out softly, his exhaled breath caressing her name as carefully as he dreamed of caressing her skin, “Hermione, you know exactly what I am talking about. No more games, no more revenge. Just you. And I. Here and now. We need to accept that what is pulling us together is not a potion or a spell. It’s not a misguided foolish notion. This, what we feel, is most assuredly real.” Severus paused to throw the approaching waiter a death stare, effectively warning him to stay away a bit longer. “And it’s real enough that we need to decide what we are going to do about it. How we are going to move forward from here. Because I do truly believe that we owe it to ourselves, to each other to see where this goes from here.”

Hermione let out the breath she hadn’t realised she was holding in a loud whoosh of air. She felt herself getting warmer as her head spun. “Good grief girl!” called her inner goddess, “you can’t faint now – he doesn’t want a simpering weakling! He has the hots for you – let him hear you roar!”

Hermione snapped into action. She jumped to her feet and beckoned the waiter over. Reaching for her bag she pulled out a wad of notes and thrust it at him. Without looking back she grabbed Severus’ hand and pulled him out the restaurant behind her.

Severus tried desperately to slow her down, mumbling about having blown it, pleading with her to listen. But she would not slow down. She kept moving, now out of the door and down the sidewalk. Across the road and around the corner to the apparition point.

AS they got there Severus finally came round and pulled on her arm to stop her. Before he could speak, Hermione lifted her index finger to his lips to shush him. Finally she spoke, “Do you trust me Severus?” she spoke softly, nearly a whisper against his neck, gently rubbing his soft lips with her finger, tracing a random pattern over and over.

He nodded, not knowing if she was ending this potential wondrous thing before it started, but honestly indicating that she had all of his trust.

She smiled, nodded and grabbing his arm turned on the spot.

Severus felt himself slowing down from the side along apparition. He looked around cautiously to see where they stood. Hermione had brought him directly into what appeared to be a library of sorts, or perhaps a cozy lounge with too many books (If there were such a thing). He noted the slightly worn couch – long enough to stretch out on, the oversized armchair over by the tall standing lamp and the pile of books lying on the small side table between the couch and the armchair. He looked to his left and he saw a huge tan coloured beanbag that looked as though it could easily hold at least 2 adults comfortably. This was clearly a room designed to make any reader feel right at home.

But what was more eye catching was the large painting that hung on the wall, perfectly framed on all sides by continued bookshelves. The wooden frame had a slight gold tinge smudged throughout which seemed to bring out the umber hue suffusing the figure in the muggle painting. All you could see was a sensual naked back of a beautiful woman, her long auburn hair piled and pinned up atop her head. She glanced only slightly towards her right shoulder but her facial features were not clear enough to discern an identity. Her body was positioned in half recline over the arm of a green chaise longue, and the dent in her back was smooth as though the artist had captured the reality of her all the way down to the slightest hint of a rounding cheek at the very edge of the painting. The muted hues around the figure spoke of calm tranquillity, further inviting the room’s occupants to relax and enjoy their time in this peaceful room.

Severus turned to speak to Hermione, only to find her studying him intently, her bottom lip swollen and red caught again between her teeth.

Before he could speak, the air charged again with the electric feeling they had felt at the restaurant all night long. They turned to face each other, an unseen force guiding their mirrored movements as naturally as their breathing seemed to synchronise.

They stood, inches apart, toe to toe, black eyes searching hazel as the charge between them grew and pulled in ever tightening coils in them, around them and through them. Severus reached his hand slightly forward to lightly touch Hermione’s wrist.

She gasped at the contact and that slight sound filled the silence that surrounded them in the place that called to them both, lovers of books and seekers of knowledge – now both yearning to love each other, to gain intimate knowledge of all that would make the other cry out in passion.

That one touch was all it took – Suddenly the gap between their bodies was bridged, Hermione clung to his shoulders in earnest desire to feel him as he strong and supple hands wrapped around her body, splayed across her back as their mouths clashed in mutual consent of urgency.

*they mutually stumbled across the room to the couch, shedding each other’s and their own clothes in frustrated urgency as they went - first his jacket and somehow his buttons were now all undone as she pushed his shirt down over his shoulders to join her shoes on the floor. He pulled her dress roughly over her head, dropping it somewhere in the continuing trail of clothes... His shoes and socks joined his belt, the tiny green emerald eye of the serpent winking up through the lace of her discarded green bra. They stumbled over his pants, lying in a heap just near the couch, where they fell down together in a glorious heap of lust combusted.

His eyes took in her smooth skin, roving all over her body as her hands still greedily reached to pull him down towards her. He stared at her, noticing that her eyes had deepened to a smoky lust-filled haze and he was lost. Their mouths clashed, tongues dancing together in the age-old way of intense coupling. Their hands roamed frantically over heated skin to remove the final layers separating them and with a sigh from her and a deep groan from him they were finally skin to skin, moving against each other as he sank deeply into her welcoming embrace.

Hermione licked at the juncture of his neck and jaw, eager to taste more of him, panting as her legs wound round his waist. He uttered a guttural curse as he felt her inner muscles clenching him tightly, and he increased his pace. Faster he stroked into her as she called for more, her greedy cries spiralling upwards as he showed her just how much he yearned for her body.

He pulled her body up, close to his and turned to lie on his back, settling her over him, watching her eyes growing wider as she sank down, feeling him fill her completely.

It was his turn to cry out as she twisted and rocked on him, her hands clenching his chest as she rose and fell over and over again until finally they both gave shouts of completed bliss as they fell over into the abyss of pleasure together, pulsing with life and joy and the perfection of their union.
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Spa Day