Vagary

{Ten}

Hermione woke up that Thursday alone. She worried briefly Severus had somehow found her out, but heard the shower and relaxed back into the covers. It wasn't like she talked in her sleep or he could read her mind then either, but every turn of phrase felt wrong when she wasn't quite herself. Almost a week they'd been here, and she felt rather settled.

Only the fear that Severus would find out exactly what she was hiding was a worry that abated and came on with great fluctuation. He was a very skilled Legilimens through wand-work. It was too late to tell him at this point, and while she argued with herself over it every day, knowing what Draco was going through with Harry justified her behavior. Just like Malfoy wasn't himself here, neither was Snape. These were different wizards both deserving of love.

She needed to protect her past best she could, however she could.

This also meant occlumency lessons from someone.

Lessons that she had already taken from Severus her seventh year supposedly. Groaning, Hermione flipped over and decided she would take a shower after work, grasping her wand and sending her clothes her way, casting a quick cleansing charm to hold her over for the day.

"Hermione?"

"Hm?" She replied, walking up to the bathroom where Severus had called her. She distanced herself in hopes to avoid the humidity. Not to mention the smell of his shaving charm made her sick to her stomach.

"Would you be so kind as to fetch me a set of robes?"

"For your meeting at the school?"

"Not my meeting, but precisely."

She smiled to herself. He really was an odd sort.

Collecting all the pieces of his outfit, frankly unsure if she'd gotten them all or not, Hermione knocked on the door, which was a notable mistake when her husband laughed in response, mockingly uttering, "Come in."

There were many things at Hogwarts that she imagined over the years which fascinated her imagination and drove it impossibly wild, or scared the living hell out of her, but the one thing that hadn't ever crossed her mind was what Severus Snape looked like under all those robes. Hermione had blissfully glossed over such a question, even as she spent the prior evenings in his company, under his arm. He'd changed, sure, and showered while she was at work, but this was just a towel slung over his hips and not exactly in a secure way.

"That look was how we created our child, so if you'd like to keep us from those actions, my dear, I'll have to have those robes."

She had a healthy attraction to her husband, there was nothing wrong with that. What kicked her out of looking wasn't even his words, but moreover the fact she nearly forgot she knew their child was a girl. Merlin, he better not look into her mind.

"Sorry," she mumbled quickly, handing over his robes and attempting her escape from the humid surroundings.

He grabbed her waist faster than she could leave, his hands soft but strong in his pursuit of her. He kissed her neck as she turned her head to find his clothes abandoned on the counter.

"I thought I was saved?"

"No, not when you look at me like that... like you want me no matter the cost."

"It's why we're together," she assumed, feeling heat rise in her. Magic really was something else, but Hermione had grown to understand over the past six days that magic had little to do with her attraction to her husband.

Holding his wet hair with her hand, he nipped at her neck, "It's why I live."

Said so cavalierly, Hermione would have missed the sincerity if her moan had been any louder, but she was decent enough to have gotten the edge as he pushed her robes a bit off her shoulder, kissing the warm skin there.