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And They Didn\'t Live Happily Ever After	By : ElizabethStump Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 90306 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
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
- 83
- 84
- 85
“And They Didn't Live Happily Ever After”

Chapter Eighty-Three
“Never Provoke a Friendly Slytherin”

Disclaimer:
The itsy-bitsy lawyer went tolling through fanfic
Down came the disclaimers and chased the lawyer out
Rowling owns Harry Potter, and I just write fanfic
And the itsy-bitsy lawyer crawled in his hole again

========================

On Friday, Lavender had proposed that Hermione move to Hawaii to open a regional office and manufacturing facility. Despite Hermione's promise to herself to look at Severus' third and final memory that Friday, she waited until the following Monday. She had hoped that Severus might have sent an albatross by now. Given the fact Severus had only written to her twice before – a sweet missive under the guise of Calleo and a terse note as himself – she wasn't surprised. Besides, Severus was paranoid, and justly so. She surmised he probably considered it prudent not to create more incriminating evidence linking himself to her, as the hunt for the two Death Eaters who had escaped England was still not solved. Given that Moody had recently searched her flat and found her books on Hawaii, it was a good thing she had no letters from Severus laying about. At least her escape box where she kept Severus' memories was left undisturbed, as she had hidden it in her underwear drawer with a charm to remain unnoticed. Thank Merlin, the Aurors had left it alone.

Opening the simple, brown wooden box that she had luckily been storing in her escape box, Hermione pulled out the vial with the yellow cap. His note said that this memory was for her personally.

Her door was already locked and everyone else had gone home for the day.

Falling into the memory, she found herself back in her flat, though actually in the memory it was still Severus' flat. He was sitting in one of the wingback chairs, dressed in his black frock coat, a dark burgundy shirt, and black trousers – the outfit that she had last seen him wearing. In the background, Marf, Dheef, Wonkle and a few other house-elves Hermione recognized from work were Apparating in and out of view, each time carrying a towering stack of books to set on the floor behind Severus, only to disappear and return with another teetering stack of books.

Hermione could place the memory to their last night together. She must have just left and the house-selves were bringing his books back from being secreted away for temporary storage in the office loft space at The Sirens' Secrets.

It was good to see the Severus she knew so well once again. She had seen the Pensieve version of Severus looking emaciated and haunted, his soul threadbare during the last days of the war, many times during her quest to re-examine his memories to find a way to clear his and Draco's names.

He was staring straight ahead as he addressed the air in front of him, knowing it would be Hermione who would be seeing him in a Pensieve.

“Hermione, if you are viewing this memory, then hopefully you've seen the two other memories.”

Hermione stood in front of the memory of Severus, his eyes focused beyond where she stood as if seeing through her like a ghost.

“I want to start by saying that come morning, or some later time, after hearing my confession about my wife, should you choose to reconsider your choice to clear my name or join me in the future, I will not hold it against you. Your insistence of your constant love for me and trying to find the best in people is what makes me love you that much more. You're one of the few decent people in this world who has yet to disappoint me, forgiving those small indiscretions in your youth. I'm made unforgivable mistakes in my youth, so I cannot fault you for those small ones anymore.

“You have made me fall in love with you, as much as I did not want to and fought against it. My heart is not easily won over, and yet you have done just that.”

Severus paused for a moment, inhaling sharply as if in preparation of something.

“It is my hope that someday, when you finish with your apprenticeship, you will come to join me once more. If you have seen the memory with the blue cap, then you know where you can find me.”

Severus' gaze dropped and Hermione could see him struggle within himself.

“And should you choose to not follow me, coming to your senses that you wouldn't want to live with your old professor who was once a Death Eater and who killed his wife...” Severus lifted his head up higher, putting on his own brave face. “... then I hope you have a wonderful life full of love, joy, and success. You've given me a chance to experience love as I've never had before, and I will always cherish how much you made me feel needed and treasured by you. And I hope the light that is inside of you, that is like a beacon, never diminishes.”

Severus stood up from his chair, continuing to gaze towards the wall on the other side of the room.

“Goodbye, Hermione.”

Finding herself back in her office, Hermione slumped to the floor and wept, her heart aching as much as the morning that Severus fled.

The old fortuneteller's nebulous words came back to haunt her now. “But if you do not leave with him, you will see him again in the future.” Seeing Severus just now in the memory fulfilled her prediction. The certainty she would see Severus in person again, even with the news of her future employment in Hawaii, seemed even less so now.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

To Severus' relief, he did not have to take Akela on as a tutoring student in order to help her get over her crush on him. A handsome local wizard about three years older than her, by the name of Ulrich, had finally noticed what a lovely young witch she had blossomed into and the two were courting.

Ulrich was quite comely, and unfortunately knew it. There was something about the boy that hit a particular nerve in Severus, like the twinge of an old injury if aggravated. It was his cocky attitude, driven on by his talent as a wizard and his good looks, that reminded the older wizard of Sirius Black and James Potter.

Mounga said he was a good boy from a good family and didn't get up to trouble like others, and given that Mounga was the local judge, he knew who the trouble-makers were. His reassurances still didn't ease Severus' suspicions about the young wizard.

Severus didn't think there would be anything left for him to teach Akela in preparation for her SAT's anyway, since the questionnaire she had filled out, and had signed by her mother, indicated she had mastered all the necessary Potions in order to pass her test with flying colors, plus she had taken on some more advanced elixirs on her own. If Akela was interested in still becoming a Potions mistress, he would contact a couple Potions mistresses he knew back in England, probably under his nom de guerre, since Severus Snape was still persona non grata, even in Potions master circles.

It was late Friday afternoon. Severus would be closing up shop in another hour so he and Draco, along with Ginny, could join the Finaus for their habitual end-of-week drinks.

The shop was quiet, as Draco had just finished with his last student for the day before the week-long Easter break began. Severus had some homework that he needed to finish grading before they could close up shop.

The door opened as Severus had his head down over his desk, checking over the ledger and appointment book to see how busy he would be next week with his students off. With the chime of the bell, he bid whomever it was to come into his office.

“Uncle Severus?” Akela addressed him. She had adopted the addressing of him in the same manner as her little sister, as her crush had waned and she wasn't quite as infatuated with him anymore.

“Akela. Come in. What is it?” he asked, curious as to why she was there.

Walking through the threshold, she kept her eyes down and quietly closed the door. Taking the seat on the other side of Severus' desk, she sat down, looking timid and demure.

“Is there something the matter?” Severus asked, wondering if there was some bad news, since she normally was a cheerful and effusive girl.

“I would like to pay you for a commission,” she stated, her gaze briefly flitting up to meet the Potions master's eyes.

He could have stopped her right there, since underage witches and wizards could not request commissions without parental approval. And anything that she was legally able to buy for Potions brewing for her age, she could easily purchase at the apothecary, and probably cheaper than what his brewing time was worth.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized the young witch in front of him who was acting strangely. Severus leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. His curiosity was piqued, and given how she seemed to be there clandestinely, judging by her behavior, he wanted to know what she was seeking.

“And just what potion are you willing to pay me to brew for you?” he asked in a cool tone, keeping his face impassive.

Akela's eyes glanced back up at Severus only to dart away again nervously. “I want you to brew a contraceptive for me.”

It was that Ulrich boy. Severus wasn't sure if he was pressuring her into sex or if she felt she was ready. That young wizard he strongly disliked was the impetus behind Akela asking for that particular elixir.

“You do realize that contraceptives are available for purchase at the local apothecary,” he prompted her.

“Yes.”

“Then why don't you purchase them there instead of seeking to pay me for my time and skills?” Severus prodded. He knew the answer, he just wanted to draw her along a line of questioning like a barrister in a courtroom would draw a defendant out into admitting his guilt. This is why Slytherins made the best lawyers.

“You know why.”

“Enlighten me,” he said firmly, his voice becoming deeper and more serious.

“Because I'm not seventeen yet. I'm under the age of consent,” she confessed, her eyes firmly fixed on the box of tissues Severus had placed at the edge of his desk. Akela didn't need a tissue, but it was someplace convenient to fix her gaze other than to look Severus in the eye.

“And what makes you think that if you could not go to an apothecary that I could brew one for you?” Severus continued with his probing questions.

Akela's eyes flitted up and were pleading. “Because you're my friend?”

It angered Severus that this girl could think that because she called him “Uncle Severus” that he would break the law and the Potions Master Code For Ethical Behavior by brewing this underage girl a contraceptive potion behind her parents' back.

Madam Pomfrey did hand out contraceptive potions like candy back at Hogwarts, but she did so because there was an unspoken rule at Hogwarts that they didn't want witches suddenly leaving their education because of a little “complication.” Severus didn't exactly tell his underage students to go to Madam Pomfrey, but by informing the students who were of age during their seventh year, word trickled down to the younger students who began exploring their sexuality before turning seventeen. Severus did his best to discourage further incidents and accidents by roaming about the castle to stop those caught in the act, especially the Astronomy Tower and numerous broom closets that dotted the vast school.

But given that Akela was not at a boarding school, far away from her parents for months at a time, he was under obligation to follow certain rules of conduct and laws. And even if he could, he would prefer not to, especially since that arrogant upstart twat, Ulrich, was involved.

“Do not think that because we are on familiar terms with one another, given the friendship I have with your parents, that I would break the law by providing a contraceptive to an underage witch without parental consent,” Severus lectured, his eyes piercing and simmering with umbrage.

“And why not? You don't want to see me get pregnant, do you?” Akela threw out as a challenge. Her rhetorical question was phrased as an implied threat that if she did have sex and became pregnant because he didn't give her a contraceptive potion, it would be his fault, not Ulrich's.

Severus was a master of spotting a fallacious argument from a mile away. She was doing a poor job of hiding her shoddily constructed argument from being torn to shreds.

“Should you find yourself with child, it will be through no fault of my own, but from your poor choices in not waiting until you are of age, and your choosing a partner who would pressure you into anything you are too young to do,” Severus hissed, glaring at the young witch who tried not to cower under his penetrating gaze.

Jutting her chin out defiantly, Akela countered, “Ulrich isn't pressuring me to do anything. My sixteenth birthday is in a couple weeks and I figure that it's time. It's my virginity, I'll do what I want with it. And I'll give it to anyone I choose, and I choose Ulrich.” Akela sounded more petulant than certain of her choice.

“Ulrich is an arrogant boy, who you have accused in the past of ignoring you, having heard you wail about like a lovesick fool,” Severus snarled. And he had heard her whine about Ulrich shunning her until quite recently.

Given how over the past few months, Akela was blossoming even more, becoming more shapely, he could understand why Ulrich was suddenly taking an interest in the young witch.

Continuing on with his lecturing, he added, “I think Ulrich is only interested in your superficial charms, not appreciating the person you are without your beauty. And a person who only is attracted to you by looks alone, disregarding you when your mind and personality was not enough, is not someone worthy of such a gift you are offering him.”

“But I love him!”

“And if he loves you, he will wait until you are of age or have convinced your parents of the deep and unshakable love between you,” Severus said, his voice booming, as he stood behind his desk, his palms flat on his desk as he leaned forward to drive his point home. “But I would bet my sterling silver cauldron that if you refuse him, he will quickly direct his affections towards another young and more foolish witch whom he will bed without a care for you.” There was a smirk upon his lips, knowing he was right.

Akela sat there stunned by this side of Severus she had never seen before. There was almost a cruel satisfaction in his tone.

Severus continued on with his diatribe. “And because you came to me, I must inform your parents of your request.”

“You wouldn't,” she breathed in disbelief. “Your sign says 'discretion guaranteed,' you can't.” Her eyes darted to the wand in her pocket, wondering if she could cast an Obliviate on him so he wouldn't tell on her, but she knew he was faster with a wand and it would only wind up getting her into more trouble.

“I can and I must, given you are underage,” the Potions master informed her. “If you are so keen on studying to become a Potions mistress, you would have already begun to familiarize yourself with the code of ethics involved to becoming accredited as one. And while some Potions masters choose to ignore some aspects of the code, I will not disregard my principles because you perceive that our chumminess supersedes the code of ethics I am bound by.”

Akela stood up and pulled the door open, stopping at the threshold to turn at glare at Severus, her eyes full of tears and hatred that only a teenager could direct at any adult who questioned her decision.

In a shrill voice, she screamed, “I thought you were cool, but I was wrong. You're an asshole, JUST LIKE MY FATHER!”

Stunned to be talked to in such a tone, and by a girl who had always been sweet and a bit overly affectionate with him, Severus almost yelled, “Fifty points from...” but suddenly remembered he was not at Hogwarts anymore. The last time any young witch addressed him like that was while he was still teaching there, and would easily result in point deductions and lots of detentions.

Draco stood up and ran to the threshold of his office to see Akela run past him and out the door, tears streaming from her eyes. Glancing back at Severus' door, he saw his mentor standing behind his desk, a fury in his face that he had only seen when Potter had been impudent and cheeky with him in the classroom.

Seeing the perplexed look on Draco's face, he shouted, “Go on! Go after her before she does something infinitely more stupid.”

Draco had no idea what she did, but it must have been something pretty spectacular for her to get Severus to yell at her like that.

Rushing out the door, Draco saw Akela run around the corner. He heard her footsteps stop once she was out of view of the shop.

Walking to the end of the lane, Draco peered around the corner to see her sitting there on the sidewalk, slumped down, her back braced against the brick wall.

Raising his brows up questioningly, he asked, “Mind if I join you?”

“Not if you're going to yell at me like he did,” she sniveled, sniffing and wiping away at her tears with the back of her hand.

Draco walked around the corner and sat down on the sidewalk next to her, aware that Severus had sneaked up behind him and was right around the corner, ready to listen in, with Akela not knowing. No doubt, Mounga would later be filled in on the details of what had transpired, and Severus was better at remembering everything said, down to the last word.

“Care to tell me what happened? You must have really gotten under his skin for you to make him yell at you like that.”

There were a great many things that made Severus yell and snarl and growl at people, but since coming to Malu Palekaiko, the causes for him to react as such had become few and far between. Miss Brown no longer was throwing little bombs into his lap, buttering him up with tea and fancy biscuits. He no longer taught at Hogwarts, and Hermione wasn't giving him mixed signals anymore. But Severus never yelled at his students anymore, especially since parents were paying per session and could take their business away should he prove too curmudgeonly. Akela was not a student of his, but she was the daughter of the Finaus, Severus' friends, who they were going to meet for drinks in about forty-five minutes.

Hiccuping through her gasps and hitching breaths, Akela whined, “Ulrich and I are in love. I wanted to have sex with him for my sixteenth birthday to prove my love for him, but Uncle Severus said that Ulrich only wants me for sex. That's not true. All I asked him for was a contraceptive so I wouldn't get pregnant my first time.”

“Oh, boy,” Draco sighed, as he conjured a handkerchief for Akela to blot her moist face. “Akela, I can't say you should wait, since it would be hypocritical of me to say wait until you are seventeen, but I can say from experience, you would do well to wait.”

“How old were you when you first had sex?” she asked.

“Too young.”

“How old,” she asked him, her voice indicating she was not in a mood to be bullshitted by hemming and hawing.

“Fifteen.”

“See, and I'm almost sixteen, and girls always have sex at a younger age than boys,” Akela surmised, thinking Draco's answer justified her decision.

“Akela, it's not like that. Trust me when I say that having sex when you are too young can be an awkward, embarrassing, and – for the witch – a possibly painful and boring experience. Especially since a lot of boys have no clue what they are doing,” Draco admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand nervously.

“If you're worried about my hymen, I lost that a long time ago. I do ride a broom, you know.” she said sarcastically.

Letting out a sigh of exasperation, Draco said, “Listen, if Ulrich really loves you, he will wait. Love is patient; it transcends time by waiting for when the time is right for you to be together.”

“But that time is now. I love him, and he says he loves me,” she insisted.

“And if he really loves you, he will wait until you are a little older. I mean, how long have you two been seeing each other now?”

“A little over a month,” Akela mumbled.

“A month? Come on! That's barely time enough for him to get a hand under your shirt at your age.”

Severus almost fell over at Draco's comment, but stilled himself to remain quiet. It would not do Draco any good for Severus to give away he was listening in the whole time.

The blond wizard, who was closer in age to Akela than to Severus, nudged her with his elbow. “Don't you think you're taking things a little too fast by pushing things ahead so quickly?”

“But he's so cute, and I want him so badly,” she pleaded longingly. “And I'm sooo horny I could snap a broom between my legs,” Akela growled with frustration.

Draco burst into fits of laughter over Akela's blatant honesty. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh, but that's an amusing turn of the phrase. But if you are really that frustrated, there are potions to turn down the heat. And trust me, they do work. I know how vexing it can be with your hormones running amok, but sex doesn't make the desire go away, it only feeds the fire. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about and I'm young enough to remember it all.”

“Uncle Severus, the way he reacted, you'd think he never had sex or was in love. And here I was thinking he was some sexy experienced guy. Turns out he's a big, fat prude,” Akela pouted, crossing her arms in front of her, kicking at a stone just beyond the reach of her foot. “Probably a virgin,” she added out of spite.

Draco would pay Severus a hundred Galleons just to see the look on his face in a Pensieve memory of overhearing Akela's assessment of his mentor.

Valiantly, Draco succeeded in keeping his face serious and not letting his amusement at her comments seep into his voice. “Severus is a complex wizard. There is a lot you don't know about him. Even I don't know everything about him. But if he refused to brew you a contraceptive, it's probably because first and foremost because you are underage. He could get into a lot of trouble if he provided one to you without your parents knowing. And your father is the town judge. How would that look to your father that a wizard who he trusted and was his friend broke some pretty basic and fundamental laws? I mean, if anything, if you really want to have sex with Ulrich so badly, then you'll just have to convince your parents that not only are you old enough, but mature enough to make this decision yourself. You have to convince them, not Severus.”

Akela sniffed a bit more, wiping away the last of her tears, seeing the logic in Draco's argument begrudgingly, especially since he didn't bark at her like Uncle Severus had.

“Yeah, I guess you're right,” she reluctantly agreed. “I don't want him to get into trouble, but I hate the way he just lit into me, and said Ulrich only paid attention to me for the sole purpose of sex.”

“Severus is a pretty observant person,” Draco noted with admiration. “He is very astute, so I wouldn't necessarily discount his opinion. He may be older, but he's been around long enough to recognize certain things.”

“Yeah, well, he's still a jerk for yelling at me.”

“And did you yell at him first? Were you disrespectful?” Draco asked, knowing she probably got into his face or got demanding.

“No,” she replied in a way that Draco knew she was lying and trying to kid herself.

Letting her lie slip this once without calling her on it, remembering how petulant and deluded he used to be at that age, he said, “Well, I recommend that you tell Ulrich you want to wait. And if he really loves you, he'll understand. He may be frustrated, but he will understand. Consider it a little test of his love. Just don't 'test' him too much.”

“Okay, thanks... I guess.”

Severus could hear the two getting up off the pavement and he silently rushed back to his shop and slipped inside before Akela crossed the small lane on her way home, since she was supposed to be home to babysit her little sister. This meant being at home before her parents left for their weekly date night.

Sitting in his office and pretending he had been there the whole time, he heard Draco enter.

The younger wizard stood in his doorway, studying the older wizard who had his nose firmly planted in his ledger.

“Did you hear the conversation?” Draco asked.

“Every word of it.”

Draco made to turn to go to his office to lock up for the night when Severus said, “Thank you for diffusing the situation.”

He didn't look back, but nodded that he understood.

It was close enough to closing time, and Severus didn't think he would have any more customers for the night. A couple of his students, as payment for tutoring, had already cleaned up his shop for the night, making sure everything was ready for the next day – fresh candles were in place, counters and bathroom cleaned, floors swept, trash taken out, cauldrons scrubbed and neatly stacked, and recent deliveries put away in the back for Severus to sort later. After checking on some potions that were simmering away in his work lab, Severus locked up and walked with Draco to the bar where Ginny was already waiting for them with Mounga and Rainbow, who waved at the pair of wizards as they entered.

Bongo called out “Aloha,” to which the rest of the bar joined in welcoming the Friday night regulars.

“Ogden's Old Firewhisky, and make it a double,” Severus ordered, his face austere as his voice. The few decorations placed around the bar for Easter were only slightly more insipid than the St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day frippery Bongo put up. It was all Severus could do not to blast the hopping bunny to bits with his wand.

“That good, eh?” Rainbow chimed in cheerfully.

Severus' eyes glanced sideways at the witch's offhanded remark before Summoning a quill and bottle of ink Bongo kept by the cash register.

Grabbing a bar napkin, Severus began scribbling down some notes.

Mounga, intrigued by Severus' mood and what he was writing leaned over sideways, but could not tell what he was scribbling.

Done with his scribbling, Severus stood up and handed Rainbow the napkin with instructions for a potion.

“What's this?” she asked.

“Mint, cilantro, and finely chopped black licorice macerated with plain vodka. Strain and add the blood of an Arctic mongoose,” Severus said before dropping his voice just quiet enough so that just Rainbow and Mounga could hear, leaning forward. “That should cool the most fiery and fervid ardor of the most hormonally-addled teenagers, given your daughter just approached me to brew a contraceptive potion by claiming she was ready to become more intimate with Ulrich.”

“What?!?” Rainbow shouted. This caught the attention of the whole bar, as everyone stopped talking to turn and look at her. Even the four people playing some honky-tonk tune on guitar, piano, hammer dulcimer, and a small drum kit stopped momentarily before playing once more.

With a glare from Rainbow, everyone went back to minding their own business.

Mounga put a hand over his face, obviously pained.

“What?” Ginny said, having not heard.

“I'll explain later, Ginny” Draco explained.

“You were there too?” Rainbow asked, looking to Draco.

Severus gestured towards Draco. “You should thank him, as I think he may have talked her into waiting, since I yelled at Akela after she tried to pin blame on me should any unfortunate consequences occur, causing her to run away in tears.”

Bongo served up Severus' drink, which he downed most of in one go.

“Oh, she didn't,” Draco remarked with astonishment, having not heard the conversation since Severus door was closed until the end. Now the blond wizard understood exactly why the Potions master blew up at the young witch.

Severus smiled sardonically, giving Akela's parents a look to let them know he was not pleased by her attempt to twist his arm in such a fashion.

“Oh, fuck me, dude,” Mounga groaned, putting his face back into his hand. The large wizard rarely swore, so for him to do so indicated the gravity of the situation.

Severus was still so livid over the experience, he said, biting out his words, “And should you care to know word for word what transpired, I'll gladly offer up my memory of your daughter's petulant whinging for viewing in a Pensieve.”

Rainbow looked like she was ready to take Severus up on his offer, but Mounga shook his head and put his hand on Severus' arm. “That won't be necessary. Thanks for coming to us, I'll talk to Akela about it. I'm sorry she put you on the spot like that.”

“I'm obligated by law to tell you,” Severus reminded him.

“I know, but still. Thanks for telling us,” Akela's father said. “And that potion you wrote down, what does it do exactly?”

“It's an antidote for when Potions masters work on love potions and other such brews of an ardent nature. It truly kills the libido. Trust me,” he assured them.

Rainbow folded it up carefully, putting it in her pocket with the intent on brewing some up as soon as possible.

Severus downed the rest of his drink, the fire of the spirit burning his throat with the same fire with which his temper was aflame.

“Also, she called me 'an asshole, just like her father,'” Severus threw in, just to make life just a little bit more difficult for the young witch, given that she had truly gotten on his bad side.

Looking back up at Mounga, having that tidbit out there, Severus saw the larger wizard looking quite serious. “What did she say?” he asked quietly, in a controlled voice barely above a whisper.

Severus repeated it, which Mounga drank in.

Standing up straight to his full height, Mounga somberly said, “I apologize for my daughter's behavior, Severus. That was uncalled for and not something her mother and I taught her. If you will excuse us, Rainbow and I need to cut our date night short. We have some matters to discuss with Akela. Immediately.”

The Potions master had never seen a look quite like he saw in Mounga's eyes before, nor his face look so stern. He just hoped he would never have Mounga ever look at him in the same way, since it was fierce enough to make even Severus a little bit fearful. It was on par with a very upset Dumbledore. Mounga was a gentle and patient wizard, but it seemed that Akela had finally overstepped a certain boundary with her behavior and she was going to be in a whole lot of trouble, and shortly.

“If you will excuse us,” Rainbow said somberly. “Ginny, Draco, Severus, you are welcome to have use of the hot springs tonight since we will not be using them. We need to go home.”

Mounga and Rainbow paid for not only their drinks, but Severus' as well as a small gesture of contrition for their daughter's behavior.

As Severus stood at the bar next to Ginny and Draco, he felt a certain smug satisfaction that Akela was going to wish she never addressed him in such a manner. Her parents seemed to have taken her request of a contraceptive potion in stride, but her disrespectful attitude was not at all to be tolerated. He was glad that her parents seemed to have the decency to not let such an impudent attitude run rampant. The former Head of House and professor wished more parents of Hogwarts students took a firmer hand with their children's attitudes, as he was the one mostly left in charge of shaping their character. It was nice that for once he didn't have to dole out the detention.

“Why don't you take the hot springs tonight,” Draco offered, patting Severus on the back softly. “I think you need a chance to unwind after today.”

Severus nodded his head in thanks for the offer. He would definitely need something to help him relax, given that the last time he was this upset, Akela had shoved that calendar of Weasley into his face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Red Ginseng was becoming a money-sink for Lavender. Having gone from four gigolos earning their keep down to one apprentice she was subsidizing for housing, Lavender could afford to lose money on this property, but she didn't like it. It was decided that she would renovate the Red Ginseng and make it more appealing to attract new tenants, with the promise to Hermione she would leave her flat alone until after she moved out of it in the future.

The renovation was a gesture from Lavender for Hermione, given that Hermione had sworn never to step foot in that atrium ever again. Perhaps with a complete remodel, it would look drastically different from the old one and no longer remind Hermione of the sight of Zabini's body hanging from several hooks, his skin peeled, his organs removed and piled on the floor. Lavender was glad she had not seen Blaise's body that way; she had enough memories from the war.

Hermione was too busy with work to notice the construction taking place on the other side of her front door. She was at work most of the day and into the night, coming home after the work crews had gone home, and rising before they began.

Marf made sure to have a hot meal ready for her when she came home, since she was often so tired, some nights she fell asleep before eating anything.

Hermione's schedule was quite full, even more so with the news that she needed learn how to run the business while Lavender was on maternity leave. In addition, with the news that Lavender was to have her start up a regional office in Hawaii, Hermione was even more driven to finish her Potions apprenticeship that much quicker.

Sitting down with Albert and Lavender, the three of them worked out a schedule for Hermione to come up to speed on the operations of The Lovely Lavender Company, while also keeping her on track with her Potions apprenticeship. Albert gave Hermione a list of the books that she would be required to read and learn during her whole apprenticeship, instead of handing them off to her a week at a time. It stunned Albert what a quick and voracious reader Hermione was, and he decided to let her read at her own pace instead of dictating the speed of her reading curriculum.

Getting up earlier than usual, Hermione began showing up to work one hour early to have the goblin accountant teach her bookkeeping, as they did it in the wizarding world. It was similar to that of the Muggle world, but there were Charms that made entries in one book show up in other ledgers automatically so one did not have to write the same numbers down multiple times. There were accounts payable and receivable, plus the goblin accountant showed Hermione how to calculate price based on materials and labor, and factor in other sundries, such as advertising costs.

Since she was getting up earlier, Hermione began making a daily trip to the Twenty-Four Blackbird Bakery. The Red Ginseng atrium, when it was finally remodeled, no longer reminded her of unpleasant visions, so she was able to walk to work once again. She had missed her habitual morning runs to the place, and the bakery also brought back ghost memories of Severus. She could almost hear the sound of his boots echoing along the empty cobblestone streets, or see the flash of a black cloak disappearing around a corner as she strolled towards work.

Instead of saving money and enjoying a free lunch cooked by the house-elves at The Lovely Lavender headquarters, Hermione Apparated to Palmers Green daily to eat at a little greasy spoon cafe near the restaurant Neville took her most Saturday nights after a day of working together at the nursery. The married couple who owned the little lunch spot had a couple of their children working there too. The whole family bickered at each other in Greek, which added more time for Hermione to immerse herself in the language. Neville was impressed with how her Greek was getting better with her little lunch trips, and even with the few vulgar words Hermione asked about, unsure what they meant since she couldn't find them in any dictionary.

Right now, Hermione was focused on mastering Greek as soon as possible so she could move on to the other languages. She now had a goal to strive towards, and blowing a few quid on a lunch special was definitely worth it to her if it would bring her closer to Severus sooner.

With her grueling schedule, even though she was truly exhausted by the end of the day, Hermione was beginning to find it harder and harder to fall asleep at night. Her attempts to masturbate in the months since Severus left had become less and less satisfying, and the tension within her was mounting. The change from having a lover she had sex with several times a week to having nothing was testing even her resolve to not become snappish. Fortunately, her work in Albert's garden and Neville's nursery gave her a chance to exorcise the nervous energy she had building up inside of her during the week, but it was still not enough.

It was Friday night and Albert said he was going to go home a little bit earlier to spend some time in the garden, puttering about. He wished Hermione a good night and reminded her that the monthly booze-up was tomorrow night.

Smiling and nodding that she was still up to going, she waited until Albert was gone before throwing her head down on her desk to groan. At the March binge party, Royston had playfully given Hermione a pat on the arse and she nearly broke his arm over it with a hex she had recently learned from Harry.

Harry had been worried about her, given that two murders had happened recently in and around the Red Ginseng and had been adding to her knowledge of defensive spells – some not so defensive. But even with her expanding knowledge of nasty jinxes and hexes, Hermione wasn't sure it would be wise to employ them at a social gathering of fellow Potions masters, especially when some of the wives would be there as well.

Hermione just wished she could just have one good shag with Severus, or at least one solid orgasm to take the edge off, so she could face tomorrow night.

Lifting her head up off her desk, she spotted the Pensieve sitting over on the shelf, having been put there when she wasn't using it to review Severus' memories.

As wrong as the idea initially seemed, there was something deliciously forbidden and erotic about the idea. It also made her a bit self-conscious. Then again, she was rather turned on by watching Ginny and Draco go at it, when she first discovered the redhead was cheating on Harry. Hermione didn't like to admit it, but she liked to watch. Even Severus was bemused and aroused by her blooming voyeuristic tendencies she was reluctant to embrace.

Checking about the office, she found out that Lavender had already gone home for the weekend, suffering from sudden bouts of fatigue. Earlier in the day, Hermione had already escorted her Aunt Christine back out to Muggle London, done with her latest projects for the week.

Secure in the knowledge that the only ones left were the house-elves, who would leave her in peace unless called for, Hermione locked her office door and put the Pensieve on her desk.

Now came the hard part. Which memory should be brought forth? As it was getting close to dinner, Hermione suddenly remembered one particular memory.

Placing her wand to her temple, she tried to recall it with the greatest clarity. Hermione pulled her wand away from her temple, she held it over the Pensieve and let it slip like amorphous silken threads from her wand, dispersing and swirling about the glowing waters.

After securing her wand in her pocket, she placed her hands on either side of the bowl and leaned forward, letting herself be pulled in to her own memory.

In the memory, Hermione burst forth from the kitchen laughing, followed by a mischievously smiling Severus, who was chasing her, holding something in his hand.

“But you know that won't work,” Hermione insisted, trying to be serious, but failing as she kept laughing lightly as Severus tried to pin her into a corner.

“Oh, but how do you know it will fail unless you try it first? Some of the greatest discoveries have come from witches and wizards challenging long-held notions that were later proven false,” he purred with a smirk.

“But honey, as a body paint?” Hermione questioned.

The real Hermione watched, remembering what was going through her mind at the moment, concerned about what a sticky mess it would make all over Severus' bed.

“Are you adverse to a little experimentation?” Severus challenged her, quirking an eyebrow at her, a smug smile plastered across his lips.

“But...”

“But what? You don't even know what type of honey I have. It is a delectable and rare honey, even one where I can stand the taste straight without finding it cloying,” the Potions master informed her, holding it up like some rare artifact for her to admire.

“Really?” The real Hermione could see her memory self drawn into Severus' trap based on the fact he used her own curiosity against her.

Moving closer to look at it, Hermione was suddenly grabbed by Severus and pulled up into his arms as he swiftly kissed her, devouring her mouth.

Initially she resisted, but quickly surrendered, kissing Severus back with equal need.

As Severus ceased kissing her, he whispered, “But this is still not as sweet as your delectable mouth.”

Hermione remembered how his wooing words made her head swoon, delirious for being called sweeter than honey.

The real Hermione now knew why she had called this memory up, as it was one of the few instances in which Severus was very playful, since he tended to be quite a serious person. His playfulness showed up in small ways, but this was one of the instances in which he was more lighthearted than usual.

Enthralled by Severus' desire for her, Hermione's eyes slipped shut and craned her neck in submission to him.

Setting the jar of honey on the table, Severus began unbuttoning Hermione's blouse, slipping it from her shoulders and arms as his mouth worked on languidly kissing her neck.

Her own hands went to work on her skirt, slipping off her shoes and kicking them across the room. One of the shoes passed through the real Hermione who was watching Severus seduce her.

It was almost as strange as watching her real self during her third year when she had used a Time-Turner and viewed herself, retracing steps that night she and Harry saved Sirius.

Severus made short work of her tights and underpants, chucking them over his shoulder carelessly before quickly undressing himself. Hermione crawled onto the bed backwards, still a bit uncertain, but game to play.

Now that the pair of them were nude, Hermione laid on her back while Severus fetched the jar of honey. Twisting the lid off, he placed it on his bedside table and held the jar above Hermione's body, a glint in his eye.

“This shouldn't be too cold,” he promised.

Dipping one finger into the jar, he coated his finger and pulled it away.

The pale amber liquid fell in a long and thin thread atop Hermione's breasts, making small curls and circles as he moved his finger that he held high above her body.

Feeling the cool honey make contact with her body, Hermione inhaled and arched her back against the bed.

“Oh look, it's not as warm as I thought it was,” Severus remarked with bemusement, noticing how Hermione's areola and nipple reacted to the contact with the cool honey. “Let me warm you up.”

Severus placed the open jar back on the table before lowering his head to began to gently licking and suckling at Hermione's breast.

Both the real and memory Hermione let out a sigh, both similar in pitch and cadence.

The real Hermione slowly slipped a hand under her skirt and underpants. Standing by the edge of the bed, she watched as Severus' eyes closed and his mouth continued to work on her nipple as his finger began smearing the remaining honey on her other breast, his fingers playing with her nipple just to make sure that he wiped the last of it off.

Watching herself and Severus, she noticed how his hair clung to her breast where he licked the honey off not moments before as he began attending to the other breast.

“What does it taste like?” her memory-self sighed.

Severus moved up and kissed her firmly. Hermione recalled how it tasted like toasted marshmallows with hints of vanilla mixed with the taste of Severus.

Lifting his head up from her face, he smiled down at her, stroking her hair out of her face lovingly.

“Let me try,” she sighed, licking the tip of Severus chin, catching the tip of his nose in the swipe of her tongue.

Severus let Hermione push him off her, and she ordered him to roll onto his stomach. Placing his chin on his hands, arms resting to his sides, he closed his eyes.

Hermione kneeled next to Severus before dipping a finger into the jar of honey. As the long thread dripped from her finger, Hermione trailed it back and forth along his spine, starting from just below where his long hair ended to the top of Severus' arse crack.

Kneeling down, Hermione began licking along Severus' spine, humming and sighing, enjoying the sweet clean taste of the honey that tasted like marshmallows and the taste of Severus' skin. Her tongue worked, laving and flicking down his spine. One hand began to slowly caress his arse cheek.

As her tongue reached the top of Severus' arse crack, her tongue continued to go down further. Hermione was not into rimming, but she loved playing with the area above that spot, knowing how good it felt, having had Severus give attention to that area on her before. She wanted to return the favor of that sensual experience.

“Did the honey go down that far?” he asked in a curious tone.

“Hmm, have to make sure I get all of it,” she mumbled into his skin.

Severus let out a long sigh, indicating his increasing arousal.

Using her hand, while still licking along the top of his arse, she nudged him to roll over onto his side. From between his legs, she reached forward and grabbed his stiffening cock, stroking it while her tongue continued working on him from behind.

The real Hermione gazed in wonderment at the look on Severus' face, seeing it so serene and lost in the pleasure she was giving him. She had not seen his face as she was busy elsewhere during the creation of this memory. Now she saw how enraptured he was by her ministrations.

Severus rolled onto his back as Hermione guided him so she could take him into her mouth, licking him once before taking a small bit of honey and drizzling down the length of his cock. Hermione engulfed him fully, sucking, slurping and greedily licking with gusto. She paused for a second to slather her own saliva along her middle finger before moving it down and between Severus' legs.

Severus adjusted his legs knowing what his lover would do next and welcoming it. As Hermione's mouth worshiped his cock, giving it most of her attention, her finger pressed up against his anus and sought permission to enter. Severus made himself relax and Hermione slipped her finger into him.

The real Hermione watched as his face momentarily twitched and winced, suddenly relaxing once more, his face beatific in a euphoric smile as the memory version of herself had found his prostate and began to gently stroke and massage it with her finger, her mouth still wrapped around his member.

A plaintive sigh escaped his lips, a sound she had missed before reviewing this particular memory. It was sweet in its surrendering susurrations.

The sounds that came from his mouth spurred the real Hermione on and her fingers began to stroke her clit in earnest, feeling the tension within herself building. Hermione had missed the sound of Severus' voice, especially while they made love.

Her memory-self continued to bob her head up and down, greedily devouring Severus until he decided he could wait no more.

Severus hauled Hermione back up onto the middle of the bed, throwing her down onto her back and he quickly settled himself between her legs, sliding into her quickly with a short grunt.

The memory version of Hermione let out a wail of pleasure, her back arched and her hands reached up over her head for the headboard, temporarily forgetting that Severus had her sideways on the bed. Instead her hands moved to reached up and began clawing at Severus' back.

Watching, fascinated by this play of give and take, Hermione could feel herself close to orgasm.

Severus began pumping furiously into Hermione as her legs began to slide up and around his waist, higher and higher, spreading herself as wide as she could to take more of him deeper.

The real Hermione moved around to watch Severus thrust into her. She loved the curve of his back, and the times when they had used a mirror, was fascinated with the way the muscles in his back flexed and bulged when he fucked her.

“Oh God, Severus,” her memory-self began to wail over and over again, eyes shut tight and hand reaching down between them to stroke her clit.

The real Hermione watched Severus' face begin to screw up, signaling he was close. She loved the look of his face when he came.

Suddenly, the real Hermione came, falling over, slumped against the side of the bed while an orgasm rippled throughout her body, warming her all the way to the tips of her appendages in the glowing thrill that coursed through her.

Slumped on the floor, next to the bed, she heard her memory-self finally climax, and a few minutes later she heard memory-Severus grunt and growl as he did when he also peaked.

The bed finally stilled.

She could hear the soft murmur of tender words spoken between them. She didn't have to hear them since she remembered them.

Suddenly she heard Severus say in a louder voice, “I love it when you speak nomenclature at me.”

Hermione recalled she had asked for the name of the type of honey Severus used, to which he informed her it was meadowfoam honey. She had given the Latin name for the plant, which caused his response.

The memory ended as Hermione's laughter at Severus' joke ebbed away.

Using her wand, Hermione put the memory back into her own mind, not wanting to leave it unattended in her office.

Once she was back in her flat, Hermione ate a quiet dinner and decided to go to bed early that night, feeling quite sleepy.

Hermione slept deeply and undisturbed, feeling far more relaxed than she had in months.

============

A/N: Thank you to my betas, thegreyladies and JuneW, for their excellent beta work cleaning up this chapter.

NSFW fan art by LadyKenora, commissioned by me, to go with the honey licking memory scene available for viewing here: http://67.media.tumblr.com/94a4fb755e22e939e5703ec2187ad387/tumblr_inline_oand74nNrr1tcckgk_1280.jpg

Meadowfoam honey really does taste like toasted marshmallow.
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And They Didn\'t Live Happily Ever After