Say You Love Me

{25}

Hermione and Severus were in the house in a moment, and they were headed for his bedroom. She was slightly concerned that he had a very misconstrued idea of what she would allow after that kiss, but she was left at the doorway, her fear abated while he entered the room in a fit. He was rumbling through his dressers and drawers, making quite the ruckus while doing it too. Eventually, he seemed to suddenly recall that he was a wizard, and took out his wand, muttering Accio, and then the object a lot more quietly.

She didn't know what it was that flew into his hand, far too small for her to decipher it.

Hermione didn't have to wait long to find out since he was back in an instant, his entire disposition frayed.

"Marry me."

From the running, her chest already was on fire, but the hyperventilating that came with the question was startling.

"Severus-"

"Don't think! Just answer me, Hermione. You have wasted so much of my time not being with me already, and I know you feel the same way. I could feel it in that week we spent together, your sickness or not. Merlin, you drive me to madness. I just want whatever time you have left, I want all of it. You are the only one I would let rip me apart like this."

Hot tears fell down Hermione's cheeks as she watched him pour his heart out so animatedly before her. His face was wrinkled with worry in an earnest way.

She couldn't help but think about the way he made her feel, the way his dress robes had been between her fingers, and how his lips were warm from the sun, yet tasted like the day's cocktails. He smelled of his home, even with the ocean blowing from the side. After the party had felt like a mistake because of the way she was treating him, but she couldn't imagine it was a mistake much longer now that flowers were blooming even there by the sea.

Now, there was a ring thrust between them both, his hand not even shaking. His hand might not have been, but his jaw quivered slightly from all the talking.

Hermione would've killed to say yes, as her head began to shake negatively, in very minute movements.

"I can't hurt you like that."

"I want you to," he replied almost over her, his voice laden with need. "Please, let me love you for the rest of your life, as I work out your cure!"

"No!" She insisted, the tears making her eyes hurt, the stuttered breaths coming in after them.

Hermione stumbled back, against the wall her eyes closed and hands pressed flat to the cool and smooth surface. She needed to ground herself, to make sure that she didn't give in and say yes. She could not hurt him like that. It was better to reject him and make him hate her than to let him love her for a mere two years.

Severus followed her, of course he did. He stood on the other side of the hall, however, his arm no longer extended.

"I didn't know why I kept the ring. It was my mother's. Found it in my vault a while back and thought about selling it after the war ended. Figured not a single soul would get close enough for me to even have a dalliance, let alone for me to love them."

He couldn't love her, and he was banned from saying it! She shook her head harder, still backed against the wall as if a curse was holding her there. Hermione wanted to scream, wanted to live, wanted to say yes, but none of these were options.

"Give me just a little time, Hermione, make me happy for a little while. Why make me miserable... why make us both miserable?"

"I can't," she said slowly, opening her eyes and seeing his defeated stance, leaning against the door frame.

"If it is because you do not care for me, then fine, I can take true rejection. If not... just say yes."

Hermione was actually crying now, her lungs constricting in pain as she fell to the floor, Severus following her quickly.

"Are you alright?"

She shook her head vigorously, her dress not the most helpful as she attempted to get comfortable while she began another fit of coughs and flowers. Several petals tumbled into her hands, though she did her best to just swallow them back. Not a trick she cared much for, but something she'd learned while dealing with this nonsense for so long.

"You're stressing yourself out, right now." He was petting her hair, swiping it behind her ear as gently as possible.

Hermione couldn't fight him much longer, as she looked at sad, devoted eyes.

This whole thing was a mess.

"I came to you originally to see if you could find a cure... that first time."

"I got around to that eventually, but I would have helped you that first time anyways."

"I didn't want to use you-" she hiccuped, feeling awful. "And that's what this would feel like."

Hermione grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away, looking at his spindly fingers. They were so long, and the years of potion making were obviously there. A slight burn or two, several callouses, and yet they were soft.

"Say yes."

He pulled the ring out again, Hermione unsure of where it had gone while they were dealing with her curse.

There were footsteps, and a slight slow down of them as Hermione and Severus both looked to their owner.

It was Luna, at the end of the hall, her eyes wide and breath only slightly exerted.

"Is everything alright?" There was no way she did not see the ring in Severus's fingers or their very strange position.

Even if it weren't for the audience, Hermione's answer to his question would have remained the same. To the ring hovering between them, she finally decided its destination was no better than her finger and left out her hand for him to do the honors.

It was pure shock on his face that she would accept him, but her smile must have assured his.

He slipped the ring on her finger, kissing her gently. It was the chuckle that came after that worried Hermione.

"We probably shouldn't tell Draco we got engaged on his special day."

"No," Hermione said with a laugh, recovering form the emotional roller coaster the event was. "I reckon not."

"Would you two like to come back?" Luna interrupted, as if reminding them that not only were they missing from the celebrations, but she was there as well.  

Looking at Severus for his approval, she revealed in the soft nod.

"Let's go."

And while she might feel guilty for stealing so much of his time, it was all of her time left and his willingness to share it with her that won out in the end. And it certainly would make Draco happy, as long as he didn't find out that day was when they'd become engaged. 

A/N

A reasonably timed update! Who would've thought! I'm gonna go ahead and say we all liked this one?