Say You Love Me

{13}

Lunch was a terrifying prospect for Hermione because she just had the strangest feeling that with not being by the sea, she would cough up a couple petals right before Severus's eyes. And if Severus deduced anything at all was wrong with her outside of the obscure symptom... well, she would be condemned for certain.

Then again, she had true faith in herself to give the same excuse she was giving to everyone else to Severus. He would get that... and hopefully he wouldn't try to fix her. Luna was plenty, she didn't need his fretting.

After learning about his... attraction to her, it would be cruel to make him go through that. Merlin, how bad would it look if she had told him no because she was dying and didn't want to tell him?

She looked at the work on her desk and sighed. Hermione enjoyed what she did, truly, but something in working had lost all of it's glamour now that she wasn't going to be there in one year, ten months, and three weeks.

She wasn't counting.

There were no promotions for her to grab at and honestly, most of the laws she wanted to pass were rightfully in place, so her purpose was moot. She could retire... but people would certainly start to talk if she did such a thing so early in her life.

Hermione considered it nonetheless.

Her desk chair was not helping her ease, as it just was not comfortable. She'd transfigured it slightly a million times at that point, and Hermione would have given up if the upholstery wasn't scratching her skin. Eventually, her ornate desk and matching chair were obsolete as she sat on the soft carpeting of her office, the solid green color reminding her of a certain Slytherin that she was to be dining with. It smelled like dust and cleaning charms, but Hermione could not have cared any less.

While she was lying there, she coughed up a couple of petals and tossed them into the rubbish bin without another thought. Hermione wasn't exactly numb to the experience quite yet, but it was actually getting less surprising at least.

And of course, sprawled on the floor would be how Severus found her at the ministry, the floor and her work robes one, her aura slightly frazzled.

She looked up at the sight of black feet and finally, his characteristic robes, and while his familiar attire settled her, his presence was a shock considering she should have heard him.

"Hello," she muttered as meekly as possible, her starfish-like behavior probably not very attractive. Not that Hermione wanted him to find her attractive.

"Hermione, may I beg the question-"

"My chair wasn't comfortable," she blurted as she rose in a flurry of robes and papers taking the brunt of her heels.

"Indeed," he said lowly,  assessing the parchment below them. "Are you ready for our lunch hour, or should we delay?"

Hermione almost knelt down to rustle all the papers herself, but thought quickly and properly, rushing her wand from her sleeve and sending everything its desired direction. She even touched up her hair, hopefully without notice, for a final touch.

Severus Snape assessed her boldly, his eyes not daring to stop, but also not being discrete. Maybe she should have left her hair.

"Shall we?" He offered his arm for side-along, and Hermione took it post haste.

They were immediately in a little wizarding cafe she had certainly never been to, and while taking it in, her hand lingered on his arm which he was not trying to push off in the slightest. There was a fireplace roaring, with a log being magically placed on it when in need, several people all consumed in their conversations, wands precariously being held, and lots of tables, the only source of food or beverage being a bar at the back.

Of course, overtaken by it all, Hermione didn't notice her throat clench up until the cough started coming over her. she could not control them, but she was doing her best to make sure he did not watch her spit up any tiger lily petals.

"Hermione?" He asked her quietly, masking them from sight and sound most likely, if his charms had anything to say about it. "Hermione?!"

She couldn't respond, her breath too stolen and chest burning, so she remained silent besides her fits of coughs. Silence was her friend, as was Severus, so tenderly holding her like he was. Did he want her beyond the casual innuendos towards his bedroom? Not that it mattered, nothing was going to happen between them anyways.

Not wanting to alarm him by letting him see her spit out the petals that she felt were coming up her throat, she hoarsely told him, "Lavatory."

He released her promptly then led her there, allowing her in by herself where she let the petals fall into the sink as coughed them up. It was three this time, and she felt so very dim.

Looking up into the mirror, her hands steady on the sink, she attempted to school her features into something presentable. Then, having handled the petals, she washed her hands in the basin and went back out to where a worried man paced at the door of the loos.

"What in Merlin's bloody name was that?" It wasn't exactly full concern, maybe part concern and part fury.

"Coughing fit. Felt like something was lodged in my throat"

It was all true, technically, but her answer wouldn't be enough for him, it never would. That didn't mean she hoped it would work out nonetheless. By the glare, like the many times he had caught her in a lie in her school days, she knew that he knew something. Bloody git.

"Have you seen a healer? A medi-wizard? It sounds a little more drastic than just a cough."

"Yes, I've seen-" Hermione stopped short of saying it was Luna just in case, "one."

Severus analyzed her with his eyes. They were black and stared into her soul... it was funny to her, actually, considering she always thought his eyes were just a dark brown, but there wasn't a single hue there.

"I suppose I do not have any say in your health for I am certainly nothing of the kind to tell you what to do."

Sometimes Severus Snape was more Snape than he was Severus.

Hermione followed behind and placed her order when he went back up front to the counter, slightly disappointed he was not going to inquire further into her outburst of pain. He did seem slightly reserved that day, maybe something was going on with him?

They sat with their pastries and hot drinks, and Hermione inhaled the lovely smell of scones and tea.

"Is everything alright, Severus?"

"Brilliant," it sounded facetious, but he continued, "Just brilliant. I am doing what I can with the circumstances, I suppose."

Never having heard that phrase come out of his mouth before, she let it pass, thinking it must be something on his mind he didn't want to share. She understood that, especially if it was exactly what she thought it was.

He diligently bit into his own scone, plain with a simple lemon glaze. His robes did not look out of place in the small cafe, things floating about them, a tray of supplementary napkins passing by the table, stopping briefly and continuing on when Hermione refused.

They talked more, luckily not about her coughing fit or his snark, and when they left, there was a moment in her office, taking her by the hand, where Severus had leaned in towards Hermione. They'd gotten so bloody close, and one of them turned, she couldn't recall who. It didn't matter who had thwarted the kiss though, it was better that way, and now that he was suspicious of her ailments her time with him outside of the beach house would have to be limited to avoid anymore of him catching on. It truly was a tragedy, but Hermione was sure it would get mucked up one way or the other.

A/N

Two things I've learned from reading the comments:
1) Y'all actually think Severus is gonna figure Hermione out??? Like he isn't too caught up in her aura and his own Dramatic Heartbreak™️. Very optimistic, I must say.
2) And apparently we all wanna see Severus' bedroom the way he's offering. This is valid.