Chapter Text
By the time Severus had regained his energy, Elias had Chise curled up in his lap taking a nap and his hands were idly running through her flame locks. Snape slowly made his way across from them to the sofa and sat down, looking over at Elias.
“What did you see?” Elias asked softly.
“I met,” he started, and then reached for his neck, remembering the pain of their encounter. “I met a boy, he said that he had an understanding with the curse but that he would help me.” He sat forward and put his elbows on his knees. “He told me what we need to isolate it, but we will need a very strong item to transfer it to, and even, then we’ll need to make sure that no one ever touches it. It could be very dangerous, all consuming, and torturous.” He watched Elias for a reaction, and he sat back, looking at the wizard with his impassive skull and flaming red eyes.
“I will do whatever is needed, what kind of item?”
“An object that is magically already powerful, so it can contain it, strong enough to hold horrible things,” he felt uneasy as Elias’s eyes seemed to flare.
“What does it need to be? How do we obtain one?”
“It is usually good to use something that is important to the person, something that has absorbed some of their magic,” he sighed, thinking.
“I have an adder stone,” Elias started, looking over at Chise. “My puppy’s bell was no longer needed once we had our rings, so it has sat useless since.”
“Bell?”
“Yes, I placed a tracking spell on the item and then gave it to Chise to always wear, so I would be able to find her if a fae tried to take her. They know she is mine, but they will always try to lure her away. Luckily, she no longer listens to their flowered words and pretty promises.” Severus tried not to think about the fact that he put a tracking device on a young woman and moved on.
“Why would they take her?” He asked, looking at Chise.
“Her blood,” Elias looked back at Severus, whose eyes snapped to his instantly. “That is one reason it’s so difficult to find a Sleigh Bega in good condition, fae like to feed on her blood because of her magic. When I first bought her, ariels attempted to take her from me, luckily she chose to stay with me. As soon as she did, I was at her side to bring her home.” There was almost a smile in his eyes.
“It may be a good thing that it’s trackable,” Snape mused, his hand on his chin. “Then it can’t get ‘lost’,” he said, sitting back onto the sofa. “Where is this adder stone?”
“It is at our home; I will most likely need to go back and collect it; it will be much faster than asking Silky to send it.”
“Silky? You own a Silky?” he asked, with rapt interest.
“Well, no,” Elias chuckled. “I see her as more of a landlady than a servant, Silver lady tends to our home and makes Chise’s clothing, for the most part.”
“I’ve never met one,” Severus said thoughtfully. “I wonder if I could come with you when you go? I’m no longer a head of house so I won’t have to deal with students other than classes. I can ask Minerva if I can leave during office hours if I direct them to her,” he spoke to himself more than to Elias. “May I come with you?” He asked, finally looking back up.
“Of course, should we all go? We could go into London if you wish; if we need to take the train back.”
“We could apparate if I knew where your home was and then we wouldn’t need to,” he leaned forward, thinking of the logistics of travel.
“I can teleport us if that is acceptable,” Elias looked down at Chise as her eyes slowly opened. “Chise, how are you feeling?”
“I’m alright,” she sat up a bit and Severus saw the blackness that was working its way up further.
“Did that happen because of me?” He asked, pointing to her shoulder.
“No, of course not,” Chise quickly answered with a smile.
“We will be going home for a bit Chise, would you like to come with us?”
“What? Why?” She asked, looking up at him with confusion.
“We will need to collect your adder stone,” Elias pushed her red hair back around her ear, only for it to fall forward again a moment later.
“We’re going to try to transfer the curse to it,” Severus offered quickly as they heard a noise coming from the office and he checked the time on his pocket watch. “Miss Granger, are you finished?”
“Yes professor, I have a few more vials to mark, but everyone has left after cleaning their stations,” Severus smirked and leaned back to see into the office.
“Would you like to come with us to visit Professor Ainsworth’s home?” Her head popped into the room and she smiled wide.
“Yes,” she nodded happily. “When do we leave?”
“I’m just going to go speak with Minerva, and if it’s agreeable we can leave when I come back,” he stood and then looked at Elias. “We should be back tonight, right? Or shall I ensure we are alright to stay until the morning?”
“If I teleport us there and you apparate us back, then we should be able to come back this evening.”
“Excellent,” he said, heading for the door.
“Will I have time to give Joseph more water?” Chise asked Elias.
“I suppose, but I would encourage you to do it quickly.”
“Is Joseph a pet?” Hermione asked.
“No, he’s… well he’s a… friend of sorts,” she looked over at Snape, who had an eyebrow raised in question. “He’s why I’m alive today,” she said honestly.
“He’s also the reason you almost died,” Elias chided her.
“Well, the curse would have killed me by now and you can’t deny that,” she struggled up off Elias’s lap.
“Well, no, but you must admit that if you hadn’t gone with him I may have been able to—” he suddenly stopped speaking when he saw that Chise was standing with her arms crossed. Severus and Hermione stood frozen, not knowing what to do and looking between the two.
“You still don’t see anything wrong with it, do you?”
“No,” he answered flatly. “But Chise, you know that I’ll never do it again, I promised you we would find another way and I believe we have.”
“True,” she said, lowering her arms and taking a deep breath. “But please don’t speak ill of Joseph, after all, you kidnapped him in the first place.”
“You know that wasn’t my intention.”
“Let’s not talk about your intention…” She looked up and saw that the other two were standing, still watching them, and her cheeks suddenly reddened horribly. She closed her eyes, turned and went into Hermione’s room, closing the door.
“Why did you have to bring that up?” Ruth asked as he rose from black mist into his human form.
“Well, because she needs to be truthful about the situation,” he folded his arms petulantly over his chest.
“Elias, I know, I feel the same really, but we need to remember to be sensitive to her feelings. She’s quite upset at the moment; I can’t tell if she’s upset at you or because she feels embarrassed.” Ruth settled on the sofa and sat back thoughtfully. “But I think you should go to her in a moment.”
“Thank you Ruth,” Elias took a breath before standing and walking to the bedroom after her. “Chise, may I come in?”
Ruth looked up and saw Severus and Hermione looking very uncomfortable. “Joseph is Cartaphilus,” he said, in answer to the question that Severus had yet to ask. “Don’t call him that though, he becomes… difficult if you do.”
“He’s Cartaphilus?” Severus voice felt strained as he stepped forward and put his hands on the back of one of the armchairs.
“Well yes, and before you ask, you don’t want to meet him,” he looked at Severus with a firm shake of his head, his shaggy hair flopping back and forth.
“Why not?”
“Because if you thought who you met in her head was bad, you don’t want to see the real thing.” He thought of when Joseph was threatening to make him into a chimera and shuddered into his grim form. “Joseph is like a hurricane, luckily Chise has calmed him. He’d never had anyone who wanted to help him,” he sniffed at the coffee table before getting on the floor and wagging his tail.
“Well, I’m going to see Minerva, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Severus said, once he could shake himself from thinking of Cartaphilus in the flesh. He was confident he could deal with him though, after the dark lord there wasn’t much he couldn’t deal with. Once the door was shut Hermione turned to Ruth and sat in the armchair across from him.
“What happened?” Hermione asked softly, leaning toward the grim and stroking his head slowly before scratching behind his ear.
“Well, I really should let Chise tell you if she sees fit, it’s not my place to say,” he was happily leaning into her fingers.
“Oh, come on Ruth, please,” she smiled, scratching harder, and his tail began to wag faster.
“Hermione, Chise likes you and I don’t want to say something that may upset her, so you’ll have to ask her I’m afraid,” he tentatively stepped up on the armchair and curling himself onto her lap. She laughed as he settled down and she continued to stroke his soft fur.
“Fine,” she groused playfully. “Wait, I have more potions to mark,” she looked back toward the classroom. “You can come with me if you want.”
“ok,” Ruth was already jumping down and leading her back into the classroom.
XOXO
“Chise, may I come in?” Elias slowly pushed the door open and Chise waved her hand for him to enter, still sitting on the bed.
“I’m so embarrassed,” she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she looked up at him. “They probably think I’m crazy now.”
“I doubt that my love,” he sat down on the bed, reaching over to her before pulling her into his lap. “Don’t worry, all will be well. We’ll go home for a few hours and then we’ll come back to work on extracting the curse.”
“Then what? ” She asked, looking up at him.
“Well, then we’ll go home.”
“Do we have to?”
“What do you mean?”
“I kind of like it here, I want to see what happens,” Elias thought about this for a moment and then looked down at her.
“Well, we could hold off on the attempt until after the party.”
“Wait, what party?” She suddenly sat up straight, her eyes flashing with excitement.
“They are having a Yule party this Friday; we were invited, of course.”
“I’d love to go,” she leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Alright,” he answered, nuzzling her cheek. He held her tightly and took a deep breath, “I’m sorry about what I said. Joseph has been benign since that day, and you’re right, you would be dead without his eye.”
“Thank you Elias,” she looked up at him, pressing a kiss to his jaw; he sighed as his body relaxed around her.
XOXO
Hermione was on the last vial when the door swung open; she jumped at the bang it made. Turning, she saw Severus sweeping up the isle between the desks, making his way to her at a brisk speed.
“She said we can leave on Saturday; she needs me to remain in the castle until then.”
“What, why?”
“She didn’t say,” he groused as he stopped in front of the long table in front of her. “She’s getting more like Dumbledore every day,” he chuckled under his breath. “Finished?”
“Yes, this is the last one,” she lifted the last vial with a sideways smile, she cherished every chortle he allowed her to hear. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” he picked up the parchment she was using to mark and nodded approvingly as he looked them over.
“Still feeling any effects of the potion?”
“You mean… am I still happy?” He asked over his shoulder as he turned to his desk.
“Well, yes,” she replied, a bit nervous of his answer as she turned back to her work. Suddenly she felt him behind her, but she hadn’t heard him walk up; Ruth was in her shadow, so she knew it wasn’t him. She looked up, he was looking down at her and she smiled. “Are you alright with what happened?”
“Are you?” He raised a brow questioningly.
“Very much so,” she looked from his eyes to his lips before her tongue involuntarily moistened her own as she thought about their brief kiss.
“Interesting,” his tone flat as a dried lakebed. Hermione looked up at his eyes again as he turned away and walked into his office. She worried her bottom lip and put down the last vial as she made up her mind to follow him. Ruth jumped out of her shadow to rush through the office before her to get to the sitting room, closing the door behind him. Hermione found Severus sitting behind his massive wooden desk, looking at notes intently and she took a deep breath to steady herself before she spoke.
“Please talk to me,” she desperately tried not to sound pleading.
“About?” He drawled, slowly looking up at her expectant expression. He sat back in his chair and observed her for a moment, her cheeks were stained pink, and her bottom lip was turning to shreds under her teeth. “Miss Granger – “
“Hermione,” she corrected him. “After this afternoon, I would very much like you to call me by my given name,” she forced herself to keep contact with the black oblivion of his eyes. He narrowed them at her, no doubt to intimidate, but she refused to look away and she slanted an eyebrow up in challenge.
“This is what I was afraid of,” he sighed deeply, looking down at his desk. What am I supposed to do now?
“What? That I would want to be… closer to you?”
“Well – “
“Because I do,” she interrupted, and his eyes flicked back up to hers. His mouth opened and closed but nothing seemed to want to come out. “Do you?” She asked, and then waited as patiently as she could. No amount of study could help her now, she’d put herself out bare to a storm, praying that it wouldn’t engulf her.
“I don’t think we should,” he sat back as his shoulders slumped, sadness filling his eyes. That’s not what I want…
“I know I’m not…” she looked down at herself and she could feel her eyes starting to sting with unshed tears. “Very much to look at,” she finished, and her head fell defeatedly.
“What?” His voice was nothing more than a whisper as he looked at her with wide eyes. “What do you mean?” She took another steadying breath before bustling back into the classroom, he sat for a moment and then jumped up to follow her.
“You think this is because of how you look?” He asked unbelievingly from the doorway as she picked up the parchment again and went back to the last vial to hide herself from him. “That’s not why…”
“Then why?” She asked coldly over her shoulder, stifling the tears as best she could. “Am I not smart enough, or clever enough? Maybe I’m not witty enough or—“ She was interrupted by him turning her around, grasping both of her shoulders as she looked up at him, her eyes wide in surprise.
“The fault doesn’t lie with you… Hermione,” he whispered, as if he were divulging a secret no one else was meant to hear.
“Then why?” She breathed, looking up into his obsidian pools, as if they would tell her more than his words would.
“Because…” he started, feeling his throat close up a bit and he swallowed audibly. “You deserve better, I am not a good person.”
“I told you I don’t think of you like that. Whatever you’ve done, I don’t care,” she spoke quietly, and his eyes closed firmly. His fingers gripped and released her shoulders several times.
“You would if you knew,” he whispered, finally gaining the strength to back away from her. “No one could overlook what I’ve done…”
“Lily?” The name seemed to slap at him as he backed away with a grimace. “She didn’t deserve you,” his eyes snapped to hers and he froze. Disbelief ran across his face followed by regret and grief.
She couldn’t know, she doesn’t understand how I was with Lily.
“But I was… possessive and—“
“You cared,” she held out her hand, palm up for him to take and he looked down at it. “The question is, do you care for me?” He felt himself tighten, every inch of him was trying not to shake as he looked down at her hand. Lightly calloused, with tiny nicks from cutting ingredients in a hurry. A perfect offering he felt unworthy of, but one he dearly wished to take. The pause drew out as she stood still, waiting for him to move or blink, he seemed to be completely frozen in thought, his eyes never leaving her small hand.
What is the risk? What would be the reward? Is anything worth more than this feeling?
He looked up into her golden eyes, so open and for the first time he felt that his feelings could be returned, that he could have someone to love, someone to love him. ‘Do you care for me?’ It seemed like such a silly question when he thought about it, the answer was easy, the only thing standing in his way was himself.
“Yes,” he breathed.
“I do too,” Hermione took a step towards him, standing a bit taller to gather her courage. “I would say I more than care,” she continued, and he didn’t know what to do as she tentatively reached out and took his hand. She took another step, until she was directly in front of him before she pulled him towards her into a tight embrace. She gently ran her hand up and down his back as the muscles slowly relaxed under her fingers.
They stood still, his arms hanging limply by his sides as she waited patiently for him. “My wizard,” she hummed softly. When she spoke, it was as if a dam broke around his heart; he was shattering and healing in those two words. Severus’s arms wrapped around her as his head came to rest on top of hers. “You are my wizard,” she repeated, and she felt his body tremble as he held her closer.
A myriad of emotions rushed through him, a happiness that he’d never felt gripped his chest and clasped so tightly he almost couldn’t breathe. He kissed the top of her head and then rested his cheek against her, I want this, I want her, more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. She offered her love, her understanding. He couldn’t turn away from her, he couldn’t pretend any more. Pretending not to care for her was eating him inside and a part of him started to believe she really did want him. She had claimed him, and he knew how he felt, how he would always feel.
“My witch,” he whispered, slowly running his hand down her back. She gently pulled back enough to see his face; his lips were twitched up at the corners as he held his mouth tightly closed.
“Do you mean it?” She asked, and couldn’t help but beam up at him.
“Do you?” He drawled as his eyebrow shot up. Her smile added yet another thing to dizzy his mind as he basked in the rays of a smile that was only for him. She pushed up onto the balls of her feet and softly kissed him.
“Does that answer your question?” She asked against his lips before he descended on her. Their lips moving together was intoxicating and he was quickly losing himself in her passionate embrace. He held her so tightly she felt like the breath was being squeezed out of her. She smiled against his lips before he realised what he was doing and backed up enough to make sure he wasn’t crushing her.
“It’s ok,” she brought her hand to his cheek and smiled up at him. “I feel the same, like I never want you to leave me.”
“Really?” He whispered in disbelief as he pushed an errant frizzy curl around her ear and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
“Really,” she replied as she smiled, pulling him tightly against her as their lips met again. He felt like he was floating, she was soft and warm; her smell surrounding him in happiness. Her lips slowly kissed their way across his cheek before she buried her face in his neck.
“You know I am not an easy person to – “ he started, all his old doubts clambering to the surface once again.
“Shh,” she whispered into his ear, then backing up she kissed his cheek. “Relax,” her smile was kind and immediately placated him. “We’ll take things slow, and I’ll let you know if I think you’re getting too possessive or if you ever make me uncomfortable, and you do the same. I know I can be hard-headed as well, so we’ll talk things over, ok?” He looked down at her, her eyes were so honest, and her words went straight to his heart. He slowly nodded his head before pressing his lips to hers in a gentle buss; he insinuated his fingers into her hair and pulled her closer as her lips parted invitingly.
She moaned into his mouth as their tongues met, gently sweeping across each other as their lips locked and his other hand went to the small of her back, pressing her tightly against him. One of her hands ran up his back, over his shoulder, and wound around his neck as he sighed happily.
“Lunch?” She breathed and opened her eyes to see his were so much softer than usual. Severus nodded gently as he flicked her nose with his own and she laughed softly.
“And then research,” he whispered, leaning in close to her ear. “I know how much you love looking into things, my little bookworm,” she shivered as his silky voice drifted into her ear and he chuckled softly at her reaction. He gently kissed below her ear, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his soft lips leaving a gentle trail of kisses down her neck to her collarbone. He then stood straight up and held her close, looking down at her, his eyes glistening with happiness, and she couldn’t help but smile. His lips separated and his crooked teeth showed as he smiled properly at her for the first time.
XOXO
Elias sat in one of the brown armchairs in the sitting room as he waited for Chise to finish her bath. Severus and Hermione stepped into the room, holding hands before she parted from him to take a seat on the sofa, and he sat on the armchair next to Elias.
“Stop smiling,” Severus teased Elias as he looked up at his wolf skull face with a small smirk.
“You first,” Elias chuckled as he turned the page of his book. Hermione picked up a book and stuck her nose in it, trying to hide the blush that had risen to her cheeks as Chise stepped out of the room with hair dripping wet. “Chise, come here,” Elias said, lifting his hand as she approached. “Nettle in the shadow, false holly in a ring,” fire fae spun around her head, drying her hair to its normal pin straight bob.
“Thanks Elias,” she began pulling it back into a ponytail as her fringe fell forward, covering her face. She smiled at him before turning to Hermione, “is it lunch time yet?” Hermione put the book back on the table and got up to stand next to Chise.
“Ready?” She asked, offering her arm and Chise took it with a smile. “See you out there,” Hermione looked at Severus, who smirked back at her as the two left to make their way to the great hall.
XOXO
Lunch had been a meal of stolen glances, covered smiles, and Hermione laughing happily whenever she spoke to Chise as they ate. Severus drank his tea slowly as he watched Hermione. Elias couldn’t hide a satisfied smirk of his own.
“How did it go?” Elias asked knowingly as he took a sip of his own tea.
“Well,” Severus answered, sitting back in his chair. Elias noticed that his whole demeanour seemed to change, he was sitting up a bit straighter and his head was held a bit higher, but at the same time there was a relaxed way about every move he made.
XOXO
“Are you invited to the party?” Hermione suddenly realised if they weren’t it would be awkward.
“Yes,” Chise smiled brightly. “Elias let me know about it earlier, I’m not sure what I should wear, what do witches usually wear to parties like this?”
“Well, I usually wear muggle dresses. Did you bring a dress or dress robes?” Hermione asked as the food disappeared.
“I have the robes I wore here, but other than that I mainly wear things like this,” she motioned down to her Oxford button up shirt and denims.
“I may have something you can borrow, we’re about the same size. I kind of wish we could go shopping for something new, I want to look my best,” a faint blush stained her cheeks as she glanced up at the staff table and noticed that Severus was staring at her.
“I think he’ll be happy no matter what you’re wearing,” Chise laughed, but then thought about shopping. “I haven’t been dress shopping… well, ever really. My friend Stella gave me a dress for my birthday a few years ago, but I don’t go into London very often to go shopping for clothes.”
“I wonder if the headmistress will let us take a trip to Hogsmeade this afternoon to go shopping,” she glanced up at McGonagall and the older woman smiled at her with a twinkle in her eye. She is getting more like Dumbledore… “I’ll go and ask her,” she said, standing and heading up to the head table.
“Hello, my dear,” Minerva said with a knowing smile. “What can I help you with?”
“I was wondering, if Miss Hatori and I could go into Hogsmeade for a while this afternoon to go shopping for the party on Friday?” She asked, worrying at her bottom lip as she waited for the rejection that was sure to follow. Instead, the headmistress looked over at Snape.
“Severus, do you require Miss Granger or Miss Hatori this afternoon?”
“I think I can survive the afternoon classes without her if they would like to go,” he said, looking at her warmly and she smiled widely back at him.
“Well, then in that case,” Minerva turned to Hermione with a smile as she folded her hands one over the other. “You ladies can go to collect what you need for the party on Friday,” she nodded happily. “Oh, and if I may ask, could you bring me some of those lovely chocolates?”
“Of course,” Hermione smiled, nodding gently. “Thank you so much, we’ll be back before it gets too late,” she then turned and tried not to run back to Chise.
“Headmistress,” Elias started, leaning in to see her past Snape. “How will Chise pay for the items? I only have English currency.”
“Severus, will you lend him some? You are usually abreast with the exchange rates,” she smiled, and Snape gave her a curt nod.
“Of course, shall we take care of this in my office?” He asked, and Elias nodded as they made their way to the ladies. Elias held his hand out for Chise’s, settling it in the crook of his elbow as they made their way out of the great hall. As they turned and started walking down the stairs to the dungeon, Hermione sneaked her hand into Severus’s. He looked down at her, a bit surprised and then stood up a little taller with a small smile on his face.
She touched him so easily and after so long an absence of anything gentle he felt elated in a way he couldn’t quiet describe.
XOXO
Elias exchanged a check for Severus’s galleons and passed them along to Chise. Severus then slipped a few galleons into Hermione’s hand and she shook her head fervently before he said, “It’s to pay you back for lunch.” He watched her for a moment while she looked at how many he’d given her. She lifted her brow in an adorable impression of his own look which he then mirrored, and she couldn’t help but smile.
“I can’t take your money sir.”
“Severus,” he leaned in. “Remember?”
“Sorry Severus,” she blushed as she put all but one back into his hand. “I can take back what you spent on wine though,” she winked before he gave her a chaste kiss and stood up straight again, looking over at the other two people in the room.
“Ready?” Hermione said loudly, feeling a bit embarrassed and Chise nodded before looking up at Elias.
“I’ll miss you,” she slid her hand along his glamoured face and he leaned down, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up into his arms. She smiled as he placed her in the crook of his right arm, and she was suddenly taller than him. Elias looked up at her and leaned in to kiss her, her hands running through his blond hair as he did, and he hugged her tightly.
“I’ll miss you too Chise, if you need me – “
“I know, I’ll send Ruth, or you’ll know,” she lifted her left hand so he could see her ring. He gave her one more soft kiss before putting her back down.
“I love you Chise.”
“I love you too Elias,” she gave his hand a squeeze before Hermione held out a cloak for her to borrow. “I’ll see you later, oh, do you have any preference on colour?”
“You look beautiful in any colour,” he replied after a moment of thought, and she blushed brightly as she took the cloak and wrapped it around herself. Hermione opened the door and let Chise lead the way before she turned and blew a kiss to Snape, who found his heart beat a bit harder as he smiled at her. He fell onto the sofa with a soft fump as the door closed, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head as he thought.
“So, you asked her to be your date?” Elias asked, picking up a book before sitting in one of the adjacent armchairs.
“Actually… I haven’t,” he replied, leaning forward for a moment, a worried expression taking over his features. Elias looked at his troubled expression and tilted his head in thought.
“Was that not her intention in going to purchase a dress?” Elias observed as Snape’s demeanour changed slowly to one of relief before he picked up a book to read through.
“You’re right,” he said, trying to hide a smirk. “She’s had no interest until now.”
XOXO
The walk to Hogsmeade went by quickly with Hermione’s warming charm keeping them comfortable. Ruth was running about, chasing squirrels and rabbits as he saw them, much to the joy of the two ladies that found his antics quite amusing. The three of them went directly to Gladrags Wizardwear to see what they could find to wear to a party that included staff and students. There were racks and racks of long dress robes and Hermione went through them quickly, looking for something decidedly more muggle.
“What about this one?” Chise pulled out lovely long forest green dress robes and Hermione shook her head at it.
“It’s very pretty, but I really would love to look more…”
“Enticing?” Chise offered quietly as she gave her a knowing smirk.
“Well,” she started feeling her cheeks heating as she looked around to make sure no one could hear them. “Yes!” Chise laughed before putting the robe back on the rack.
“Well, where do we get something like that?”
“I’m not quite sure,” she replied, looking at the back of the shop as one of the shopkeepers popped out of nowhere.
“Can I help you find anything,” she said, with a sickly wide smile that made Chise feel like she was prey instead of a customer.
“Yes, I’m looking for something a bit more… form fitting,” Hermione said as she absently fingered a nearby dress rack.
“Well, we have a few of those upstairs,” she offered, and Hermione perked up instantly.
“Perfect! Thank you,” she turned towards the stairs and practically dragged Chise up them. The dresses upstairs were a lot more grown up, and both the ladies couldn’t help but blush when they saw them. Some were very short, and others were so low cut that neither of them thought they had the necessary assets to keep them on. They both picked out a handful of dresses and went into the changing room together.
“Ruth, get out,” Chise laughed at her shadow before either of them started taking off anything.
“Huh? Oh, yeah ok,” he muttered as she watched his shadow drift away from hers under the door.
“Boys,” Hermione rolled her eyes as she took off her shirt before pulling on the first dress. Chise had removed her clothes and squeezed into her first choice as well. The two looked at themselves in the mirror and then at each other.
“Do you think the blue suits me?” Chise asked, looking down at the sequinned dress.
“I think that you’d look better in green, it would bring out your eyes, plus your red hair would look good with green I think.”
“I’m trying to find a blue one,” she said sheepishly. “Elias always wears blue and I kind of wanted to match him,” she wrung her hands together, a bit nervously.
“In that case, what about a silvery blue? Then it will bring out your other eye and might go with your hair better.”
“Like this one?” Chise pulled a long gown out of her small pile and Hermione nodded approvingly. “Thank you,” Chise said as she shimmied her way back out of the tight dress.
“What about me?” Hermione asked, worrying her bottom lip. “Do you think Severus will like me in something like this?” She looked in the mirror and Chise put her hand on her shoulder.
“I think he’ll like you in anything, but yes the midnight blue suits you,” they smiled at each other in the mirror and then Chise pulled on the long gown that draped like water against her curves, falling past her feet.
“I think this is too long,” she giggled as she tried to lift it up off the ground.
“You look gorgeous!” Hermione gushed, “don’t worry about the length, there’s a spell for that so we can do that when we get back.”
“Really? That’s excellent,” she turned in a small circle; loving the silky fabric against her skin.
Ruth sat in one of the waiting chairs for what felt like ages until finally the two women stepped out of the changing room with dresses draped over one arm and a single one on their other arm. They threw the dresses they’d picked over to Ruth to carry so they could give the piles back to the shopkeeper before they purchased their dresses and stepped out into the snow. Ruth shivered as his black mist swirled down back into her shadow.
“Candy?” Hermione asked, remembering that she had to buy some for Minerva. Chise nodded and they stepped into the shop to purchase their promised confection. Chise asked what the most unique candy was, and Hermione handed her a chocolate frog, which she added to her little pile of goodies for Stella. Ruth brought over a pack of sugar quills and Chise nodded, more than happy to get them.
XOXO
“So, what’s this one for?” Elias asked, lifting a small vile of purple potion.
“Sleep, but it’s very powerful,” he added, looking up from his line of cauldrons as he brewed pepper-up potions for the infirmary. “It’s also highly addictive,” he said, moving from one cauldron to the next, adding the same ingredient to each at just the right time.
They were in his private labs that were only accessible through his office. He didn’t have a long list of potions he needed to make but it was enough that he was looking forward to getting them done. I wonder how our sleeping arrangements will be tonight? What am I thinking? I’ll sleep on the sofa and she’ll have my bed… but what if she doesn’t want to now? He froze for a moment in thought . I wonder if I should let her sleep on the sofa… His nerves started bubbling as slowly as the potions in front of him as he thought. Maybe I should ask her to sleep in Gryffindor tower… but I want her here with me.
“What about this?” Elias asked, picking up a jar of green powder, but when he looked over at him Elias could tell he was going down a bad road. “Severus, are you alright?” Snape looked up and nodded before going to the next cauldron. “Do you miss her?” He asked, putting down the floo powder and walking to the other side of the long counter.
“Miss her?” Severus asked, putting the ingredient into the last cauldron and looking up at Elias, “she only left a few hours ago.” He walked back to the first cauldron and lifted a stirring rod, Elias followed him, his red eyes watching him over the bubbling potion.
“How do you feel?” Elias watched Snape give the first cauldron a stir before moving on to the next. Severus felt a bit perturbed; he didn’t understand why the magus was always asking him about his bloody feelings.
“I don’t know,” he said curtly as he continued down the line.
“I had issues with deciphering emotion for a long time as well, luckily I have a very good human teacher,” Severus looked up from his work as he thought about Chise teaching this ancient fae what emotion were.
“Human teacher?”
“Yes, Chise, she is my teacher of human things,” he stated the fact easily, as if it was completely normal. Perhaps for him it was. “Honestly I didn’t think I could feel,” he started as he leaned back on an adjacent counter. “I felt things like heat, cold, pain, but I never felt things like loneliness, sadness, happiness, or… jealousy… before Chise. When she is away I always feel cold, even now, after all this time, and even in the company of a friend, I still feel cold.”
“Friend?” Severus looked up at him and whispered the word as if it were in a foreign language. Have I ever had a friend besides Lily? The Malfoys I suppose, but then again, I wouldn’t count them as friends now.
“There are very few that I would call friend, but I believe that I would call you my friend, if that is agreeable to you.” Elias watched the emotions flitting across Severus’s face so fast he couldn’t tell what they were.
“I’m your friend?”
“Yes,” he tilted his head in a show of confusion. Severus ducked his head again and continued down the line of potions.
“I would consider you a friend as well,” he whispered, looking up at Elias, who appeared impassive, but his red eyes were shining kindly at him. “I can’t say I miss Granger… Hermione,” he said with a soft smile. “I would feel pathetic to miss her after this short of time,” Elias laughed loudly, his rumbling deep chuckle made Severus jump before he couldn’t hide a smile.
“I miss Chise when she’s sleeping, I love talking with her and discovering new things about her,” he looked behind him and found an empty cauldron, then filled it with water. He brought it over, stood next to Severus, and waved his hand over the cauldron. Blue light glowed from within, little specks of glittering magic floated above it slowly and then he heard it, Hermione’s voice. Severus peered down into the cauldron and saw a roof, but could hear her voice echo as if it were under water itself.
“I hope he likes the dress.”
“I’m sure he will, you looked lovely Hermione,” Chise’s voice sounded.
“I know it’s new, but I have loved him for so long, I just don’t want to mess things up.”
Elias waved his hand over the cauldron and the light disappeared; the voices faded. Severus looked up at him, his cheeks flushed a bit, his eyes wide.
“What was that?” He asked, looking back at the cauldron of plain water.
“It’s a water mirror, normally for it to work you need both people to be channelling the spell to open the connection. But Chise’s magic is so great that whenever she is truly happy I’m able to connect to her.” He looked at the cauldron fondly before taking it over to the sink and dumping out the water.
“That’s amazing,” Severus muttered, more in regard to what he heard than of the spell itself. “Thank you Elias.”
“Of course,” Elias gently bowed his head. “I used to spy on Chise a lot,” he said sheepishly. “I have in recent years tried to stop. She doesn’t like it, so I try to keep it brief if I do it, I just love her and when I miss her, it’s hard to restrain my curiosity. Especially when it’s so easy to connect to her… or cast a charm to follow her around.” He looked down a bit embarrassed, “please don’t say anything to her about that, I don’t want her to be angry with me.”
“Of course,” Severus nodded as his heart felt like it was trying to beat out of his chest. “I don’t want Hermione angry with me either,” he shrugged nonchalantly but couldn’t hide the soft curl of his lips he couldn’t seem to control.
She loves me. She doesn’t want to mess things up. She can sleep anywhere she damn well wants, and I will do nothing but listen to her.
XOXO
They stayed in the labs until it was quite late, Elias making tea so Severus could finish the last of the potions needed.
“I was promised research,” Hermione said from the door, and Severus looked over at her with a soft smile on his face. Her breath caught when she saw it, she’d never seen him smile so much… well, ever really. Chise was behind her and as soon as Hermione had moved from the door she ran into the room and jumped into Elias’s arms.
“Chise! Did you have fun?” He happily reach out and scooped her up into his arms.
“Yes we did, I brought you something,” she beamed up at him before pulling something out of her pocket.
“A quill?”
“It’s a self refilling quill,” she explained. “Now you can write as many letters as you like and don’t have to worry about ink.”
“Really?” He looked down at the little white quill and opened his jaw into a smile, “thank you Chise, that was very kind of you.”
“Oh wait,” she looked at it with worry suddenly on her face. “Oh, I should have saved it for Christmas,” she buried her face into Elias’s shoulder to hide her burning face.
“We can call it a Christmas gift, thank you Chise,” he urged her back so he could nuzzle her cheek. “Could I see the dress you purchased?” He asked, seeing that Hermione was still standing by the door.
“Yes, of course,” she smiled as Elias set her down and took her hand.
Hermione walked over to Severus and put her hands on the counter next to him. She glanced up at him as his left hand moved to cover her right before he gave her a little squeeze. His eyes flicked down to hers; she felt her cheeks warm with her blush and she used as much control as she could not to hug him. Severus surprised her by lifting his hand and then wrapping his arm around her, bringing her in close. She wound her arm around his waist, and he leaned down to kiss her head. Sighing happily she looked up at him and rose up to gently kiss his cheek, loving the little blush that coloured them. Severus cleared his throat and looked down at her.
“I believe you wanted research,” he drawled softly.
“What did you have in mind?” She purred up at him and all he wanted to do was kiss her.
This angel loves me?
“Um, well we need a potion that will make it easier to extract the dragon curse, and only the dragon curse from Chise’s body,” he removed his arm from around her as he tried to gain some semblance of control over himself. “Luckily, we have the important ingredients, but we will need to make a base that won’t obstruct it once we find the more… rare items.” He picked up his notes and looked at them again with a sigh, “it feels more like a riddle than a shopping list.”
He looked over to see her far away expression as she lost herself in thought. Her lip instinctively caught between her teeth as she re-read the riddle.
“There must be some kind of binding...” she mumbled to herself as she thought through a number of different research papers and books she’d read, trying to see if she already had the answer. Her eyes flicked back and forth as if she were reading them now and he couldn’t help but chuckle; she looked up at him confused.
“You’re so beautiful when you’re concentrating,” he spoke softly, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her. He paused just before their lips met and she opened her eyes to see him staring at her, “you’re always so beautiful,” he whispered just before she closed the space between them. His arms enveloped her waist and pulled her as close as he could. Then she felt it, his arousal was pressed against her lower stomach and she gasped. He’d been so careful to keep it away from her to not scare her off or make her think he just wanted her body, but now, now that he knew that she loved him, he couldn’t hold back any longer.
She looked up into his eyes, seeing excitement and desire behind them. Finally! Hermione leaned in and kissed him eagerly as he ran one of his hands up her back and into her frizzy curls to tilt her head back a bit more. Her lips parted and as they did their tongues met, sending little tingling shocks through her body. She curved her back to press more fully against him, suddenly she was being lifted onto an empty counter behind them and he was pressing himself to her. Her legs were spread, and he was between them, her denims had never felt so constricting.
Both of his hands ran back up into her hair as they continued to explore and enjoy each other’s mouths as a little moan drifted out of her. She scooted forward on the counter until she was practically on the edge as she pulled him closer, her legs coming up and wrapping around his waist as her arms circled his neck and brought him flush up against her. He groaned before pulling back a little and taking his hands from her hair to place them on the counter on either side of her.
“I don’t want to rush this,” Severus whispered, and she nodded, a lovely blush on her cheeks as he looked into her eyes. Her lips were so pink, and he lifted his hand to run the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “You’re so lovely,” he leaned in and pressed a little kiss to her perfect nose and she smiled.
“You’re so handsome,” she replied, and he narrowed his eyes at her.
“Love really is blind,” he chuckled, and she froze. His brain slowly catching up to his mouth as he realised what he’d said, “I didn’t mean…” He suddenly wished her legs weren’t around him, but at the same time he didn’t want to leave. Maybe if I just kissed her I can distract her from my slip. He leaned in and moved his hand to cup her cheek, but before their lips met she pulled back a little and he looked up at her.
And she was afraid she’d mess things up.
“I do, you know,” she whispered, holding him tightly, like she thought he’d run away. He stared at her, he knew it was true, he also knew he felt the same. He pulled her close, pressed his lips to her ear and whispering so softly that only she could barely hear him.
“I do too,” he said, holding her close. Something he never thought he would have, now how to keep it without doing something stupid.
“My wizard,” she hugged him, snuggling against his neck.
“My witch,” he smiled and kissed her ear.
So, this is what it feels like to be loved.