Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

The Morning After	By : Queeny Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 58833 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
^{Chapter 18 � A Brief Diversion}

^{Author: Queen Celestia}

^{Disclaimer :}^{I do not own Harry Potter}

^AN:^{Here�s another chapter up and
running, This is scary, I do have a plot worked out
but for some reason I feel as if this chapter is entirely unplanned. Here goes
:) �}

⁺⁺⁺⁺⁺⁺

^{A
tangle of limbs, bodies fully relaxed, Severus buried his face deeper into
Hermiones hair, a protective feeling creeping through him. It seemed, that in
these dark times, Hermione was the one piece of happiness that he had. Sure he
was happy brewing potions, or reading but, that happiness was fleeting, not
something he could hold�
in his arms, or talk to or fight with.}

^{Hermione
gave a soft sigh and tried to roll over, only to be stopped by the weight of
Severus in her hair, giving a little grumble; she lazily swatted at him, and
getting her desired effect, rolled away from Severus.}

^{Fully
awakened by the lack of body heat, Severus opened his eyes, blinked a bit, and
then stretched in a languorously lazy fashion.}

^{An
awkward shaped lump at the foot of the bed caught his attention, and, forever
wary, he waited until his eyes adjusted, before shrigging down the bed and
poking the pile with his foot to ascertain they were what he judged them to be.
Satisfied, he stared at the ceiling, half wanting to awake, and half not. Part
of him desired to lay in bed like this forever. With
Hermione softly snoring [she vehemently claimed she did not snore, but Snape knew that the sound that issued from her
olfactory area was most defiantly a soft snore], and no one summoning him to do
things he hated to do.}

^{For
half an hour, he lay there, in comfort, before Hermione, waking up, peered over
at him, the imprint of sheets on her cheek, and interrupted it all by asking
him what he was doing.

Of course,� Severus would never admit to
what he actually was doing � absolutely bloody nothing, just reveling in the
feel of Happiness my Dear Hermione- so, as he usually did, he gave her a good
glower, and grumbled, �None of your damn business.�}

^{Ignoring
the small smile on Hermione�s face [which irked him some more, although he
couldn�t fathom the reason why], he sat up, and stretched before giving an idle
look at the pile of presents at the end of the bed. It was a rather larger
pile, larger than Severus usually got, but undoubtedly the pile was larger due
to 89% of those presents being for Hermione.}

^{Crawling
to the end of the bed, he started to riffle through the presents, and giving a
nasty glance to Hermione, who was dreamily looking at the ceiling, he picked up
a present, that suspiciously felt like a wooly jumper, and tossed it at her
head.}

^{Hitting
with such accuracy, any sportsman would be proud of, Hermione sat up and
glowered at him.}

^{�What
was that for?!�}

^{�Wakey
wakey,� he purred, before taking a present with his name on it, placing it
before him, and then staring expectantly at Hermione.}

^{Hermione
stared at him for a few moments, before, asking �Why are you just sitting there
staring at me? Am I supposed to do a couple of back flips?�}

^{Giving
her the �you must be a complete dunderhead� look, he replied, �Open our damn
present.�}

^{Glaring
at him, Hermione pushed the present aside, and stood up to stretch. �Oh, that,
I forgot to tell you, we�re having Christmas breakfast at my parents, after
which we�ll open up the Christmas presents.� tossing him a naughty grin, she
walked across the room, feeling Snapes eyes bore into her.}

^{�Why?�
he asked quietly.}

^{�Why not?}^{They�re your family now Severus, like it
or not.�}

^{Standing
up, his look grew rather dirty, �Only for a short
while my dear Hermione.�}

^{He
walked over to her, his eyes resting on her nude body as she grew tense.}

^{�What
do you mean by that?�}

^{As
he drew near her, he leaned in, his breath close to her ear as he purred,
�Because after the war, you become Muggle and get to leave me the hell alone,
that�s why, Hermione.�}

^{Turning
to glare at him, [ and to Snapes great satisfaction
getting all her bobbly bits to bobble] she replied, �I don�t care if I�m going
to leave you or not, they�re family and I want to open presents with them this
morning. Today. Now. An hour ago.�}

^{Twisting
a finger into her hair, Snape murmured, �But why do I have to put up with them?
Can�t I just stay here, and have my usual Christmas where I open up my usual
stash from the staff?�}

^{�No.
You�re opening presents at my parents house. And
surely more people than just the staff at Hogwarts give you Christmas presents,
haven�t you any relatives?�}

^{�None
that I would care to mention,� he replied.}

^{Hermione
narrowed� her
eyes, and pursed her lips, trying to read into his black orbs.}

^{After
a moment, she gave it up as not happening today, and decided to go take a
shower since eau du sex was not what she wanted to smell like while visiting
her parents.}

^{Twisting
her head away, a sharp tug to her brain reminded her that her darling husband
was still playing with her hair.}

^{Glaring
at him, she became even more infuriated at his idle smirk, as he looked at her
knowing what she wanted to do, but just waiting for her to ask.}

^{�Severus
let go of my hair so that I may shower.�}

^{�What�s
the magic word that get�s things done?� he purred, twisting her hair some more.}

^{Rolling
her eyes and heaving a big sigh, Hermione muttered. �Please.�}

^{�Please
what?�}

^{Gritting her teeth, Hermione ground out,
�PleaseletgoofmyhairsothatImayshower!!�}

^{Releasing
her captive curl, Severus stood back, and Hermione suddenly unable to resist a
childish impulse, stuck her tongue out at him, before quickly turning around to
escape � except � she found herself suddenly scooped up by an incensed Severus.}

^{�Like
hell you little minx,� he growled, his eyes flashing down at her, as he strode
towards the washroom.}

^{�Put
me down!� she struggled, as he entered the shower, and muttered an incantation
to turn it on. The hot spray hit them both fully, and Hermione seemed to relax.}

^{Gently
setting her down, Severus wordlessly, began to soap up a sponge before gently
washing his wife.}

^{Rather,
startled, and mildly disappointed somewhere deep inside, where she had secretly
been hoping for rough shower sex- Hermione quickly pushed that thought aside,
really not wanting to analyze herself and how corrupt she had seemed to become
in such a small while, and relaxed into his touch.}

^{His
calloused hands across her body, while familiar seemed to take on a whole new
dimension, as he caressingly washed her, she let go of the tension that had
built up, letting it wash away into the drain.}

^{She
let herself go, and began to wash him, memorizing his body, their actions
became synchronized, the warm water warming their bodies and hearts.}

^{Hermione
began to wash his hair, and know it all that she was, used the special shampoo
she had bought him a while ago � she had been not sure on how to approach him
about it, but it seemed to conveniently appear when she needed it, and giving a
silent blessing towards the house elves, ran her fingers through his black
hair, scrubbing away the years of grease that seemed to have formed as a
defense against the rest of the world.}

^{His
hands soon entangled in her hair, as he began to wash hers, his fingers
scraping against her scalp, leaving a trail of tingles that Hermione wasn�t
entirely sure to be the effect of how he was washing her hair.}

^{After,
when they had dried themselves, Hermione turned and smiled at Severus, and ran
her fingers through his now silky hair.}

^{�Much
better.� she murmured.� Her warm eyes
seemed to melt his insides, and chip away at his cold barriers inside.}

^{Narrowing
his eyes, he replied, �Don�t count on it to last.� before turning to their
bedroom to get dressed for breakfast.}

^++++++++

^{The
apparition point had changed, for safety measures, and the walk turned out to
be longer. They used glamours to disguise who they were, incase the Grangers
house was being watched.}

^{�What
changed your mind?� she asked, looking up at him.}

^{�About what?�}

^{�You
seemed angry when you took me to the shower,� Hermione paused,� I thought you
were intending something else.�}

^{Glancing
at her, he slowed down, letting her catch up with his strides,� Perhaps at
first, but when I got a good look at you, and a good whiff of you, I decided
that it would be preferable to just wash you. Anyways, no need to delay seeing
your parents, the sooner there the sooner we can go.�}

^{�You
could have got it wrong, the sooner there, the longer we stay,� Hermione
sniffed, as she began to try to outpace him.}

^{�Not
if I have my way,� Severus easily kept pace with her, the years of skulking the halls of Hogwarts working to his advantage.}

^{�What
do you have against my parents?�}

^{�Nothing
particularly, other than your glowering father, and the awkward conversation
with your mother,� Severus gave Hermione a rather disdainful look, �Hermione
they may love you, but I get a rather distinct feeling that they do not love me.�}

^{�That�s
obvious,� Hermione paused, �But they don�t hate you, you�re just the person who
happened to become my husband.�}

^{�Yes,
but that doesn�t mean I have to go along to their house to play the doting son
in law.�}

^{�Severus,
the last time I checked, you seemed to get along swimmingly with my parents.�}

^{Scowling,
Severus grumbled, �And narrowly escaping a dental examination.�}

^{Smiling,
Hermione linked her arm through his, letting the bag of presents swing in her
other hand, �No more complaining, we�re here.�}

^{Before
they had even knocked, the door swung open and Wendy Granger beamed down upon
the two, �It�s so nice to have my Hermione here for Christmas!� was the
exclamation as they were ushered inside.}

^{The
house had positively become festive, with a wreath on the door, and a moderate
Christmas tree, tastefully decorated in a traditional gold and silver theme.}

^{Placing
the presents under the tree [ Hermione�s mother watched in fascination as
present after present seemed to appear out of a bag that was much too small to
hold that many presents] the Grangers and Snapes sat on the couches, catching
up, and drinking some warm apple cider.}

^{After
a half hour, Wendy and Hermione stood up, to get the breakfast set out, while
Severus, much to his chagrin, was stuck in conversation with Wayne, who seemed
to be rather intent on interrogating him.}

^{�How
are things going at Hogwarts?� Wayne
began.}

^{�Fine,�
was Severus� oblique reply.}

^{Giving
Severus a once over, before taking out the Daily Prophet, Wayne began, �Now
then I didn�t want to upset the girls about this, but I figured I should let
you know whats been printed about you two, bad taste I might say, especially on
Christmas, but you know how these reporters are.�}

^{After
some more rustling, Wayne
presented Skeeters news article to Severus, who read it over quickly, his brow
furrowing for a moment.}

^{This
could be more problematic than one would initially think, but much to Severus�
surprise the mention of them not having marriage bands annoyed him the most,
especially since Draco�s taunt from earlier that night.}

^{Perhaps
tomorrow, they would go to Diagon alley, and get some rings. It would help make
this farce of a marriage seem more real.}

^{Returning
his thoughts to the present, Severus looked at Wayne, �Yes, we shouldn�t inform them now, but I suggest we do it soon. I
would rather they find out from us, instead of finding out on their own.�}

^Wayne^{nodded, acknowledging the
knowledge in Severus� advice. Knowing their wives, they would be furious if
they found out they knew and didn�t tell them about this.}

^{�But
for now, we�ll hide this, until they�ve had a pleasant Christmas eh?� Wayne muttered before
putting the paper away.}

+++++

Wendy turned to her daughter, as she set
out the table, �So how are things between you two?�

It happened to be one of those questions
that gave her the impression that her mother had been wanting
to get her on her own, for awhile to have this face to face chat.

Glancing at her mother, before setting down
the food, she paused, trying to come up with a suitable, yet honest answer.

�As well as they can be,� was her reply.

�Hermione, don�t try to be vague with me, I
see something is bothering you, come out with it.�

Sighing in defeat, knowing that such a
vague answer wouldn�t be able to dissuade her mother, Hermione replied, �Well,
you know how marriage is, give and take, but I feel as if I�m giving more than
I�m taking.�

Giving her daughter a knowing glance, her
mother tutted, placed the syrup on the table, before finally replying, �Don�t
worry, there�ll come a time where it will be your turn, being married can be
unfair at times, but I�ve found it equals out somehow in the future.�

�But what if there is no future?� she
blurted.

A sharp look from her mother silenced what
she was going to say, before Wendy calmly told her, �Then make sure there is a
future. Now then, it�s time to bring the boys to breakfast.� Turning, so that
Hermione couldn�t continue with the conversation, Wendy called the two men over
to the table.

Every Christmas, the Grangers had their
traditional breakfast of fresh homemade waffles with special flavoured syrup,
usually blueberry or strawberry, sometimes if they were feeling generous they
celebrated with some maple syrup. But this year, due to the depression of the
Wizarding Community, it was only blueberry and strawberry syrup.

After saying grace, the conversation was
muted with the sounds of eating, and drinking of cider.

Much to the chagrin of Severus, when Wayne had had his fill,
the intent to socialize was full upon him, and he had to be polite, or suffer
whatever dreadful consequences Hermione would think up.

�Have any traditions in your family for
Christmas?�

A sudden vision sprang to mind, of a twig
of a tree covered in homemade ornaments, torn paper chains and crumbling
strings of popcorn, with some presents wrapped in Christmas paper that had seen
better years.

An angry father, throwing one of Severus�
presents against the wall, growling about the cost of the boy and how he wished
he had never been born, always sucking money away from him, while his mother
locked herself into the bathroom and cried.

Yes, there had been some family traditions
for Christmas, none of them that he would like to pass on.

�No, Christmas has always been a simple
affair for my family.�

�Ah, we havnt met any of your family yet,
how are they?�

�Dead,� was his succinct reply.

An awkward silence ensued, and as much as
Hermione wanted to kick Severus, she couldn�t very well kick him for being
honest, except, the comment from earlier that morning niggled at her, as if he
wasn�t exactly telling the truth.
Whatever the matter was, she�d find out later.

�Well then, lets
go open our presents,� Wendy piped in, with a warm smile.

Grateful for the turn of events, the small family
trooped to the living room, and sat on the various chairs and couches, placed
strategically facing the tree.

Hermione, who was closest to the tree,
began handing out presents.

It was the usual motly of gifts, with the
only a few worth mentioning, Hermione received an ancient tome on the Theory of
Magick associated with Mother Earthe, from Severus, Severus received a pair of
wooly socks from Dumbledore, Wendy received a brand new scrap book from Wayne,
while Wayne got a subscription to Wizardry Dentistry from Hermione.

Hermiones gift to Severus was a daily
journal, which Severus received with well faked enthusiasm. It had a fake
dragonhide cover with twisting serpants down the spine.

Finally, and not soon enough for Severus�
liking, the socializing was over and they were heading back to Hogwarts.

The trip back was uneventful, and once
secure in their rooms, Severus decided that it was time to show Hermione the
newspaper.

She was stretched across the couch, reading
the book he had given her, when he approached her, newspaper in hand.

�Hermione.�

No response.

Narrowing his eyes, he moved so he was
standing directly behind her, exerting his presence until she could no longer
ignore him.

Twisting her neck to face him, her eyes
still noticeably glassy, she gave a wordless sound of �what?�

Giving her a rather dirty look, Severus
purred, �I thought there was an article that you might be interested in.�� He thrust the paper at her, neatly folded so
that the first thing she saw was Skeeters article.

He could see her quickly reading it, her
expression becoming full of disgust, and then outright hatred as she neared the
article.

�I believe you won�t mind shopping for
wedding bands tomorrow,� Severus interjected before she could vent her
outburst, �Because for a sham of a wedding we are rather failing in pretending to make this work.�

And without another word, he left Hermione
to her own thoughts, after all of the socializing for
the day he badly needed some solitude.

++++

AN: Don�t forget to review, sad to admit, but sometimes I check AFF to
see if anyone has reviewed� [ ok I may actually lurk AFF
to see if I�ve gotten a review� >>;;]
- 17
- 18
- 19
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Morning After